|
 Donath said that there were many people involved in getting the
walk organized, and the program handed out at the beginning of the
tour testified that there were about 40 people involved in putting
on the event.
Donath said that all the credit for the organizing of the day
went to the walk committee, which consisted of Marcia Schaub, Mary
Ellen Martin and Carol Radespiel.
He said that the committee had worked very hard on organizing the
event and deciding which individuals would be honored.
Many of the scripts for the presenters were written by Lynn
Spellman. However, a couple of the presenters, including Donath,
wrote their own scripts.
In all, eight famous area individuals were highlighted on this
walk through Old Union.
Colby Knapp settled first in Middletown, where he was the
postmaster for 20 years. He moved to Lincoln in 1864 and
consequently became the city's mayor, an office he held for three
terms.
Knapp also donated the property for Lincoln's first high school.
Jeff Kindred, who played Knapp, said that this is the second time
he has been called on to participate in the walk, and he really
enjoys getting the opportunity to do it.
Another mayor of Lincoln who was represented at this year's walk
is Silas Beason. Beason, played by Brandon Davis, was raised on a
farm near Atlanta, practiced law in that community and then moved to
Lincoln, where he was elected and re-elected for a total of four
terms as the city's mayor.
Beason was also the founder of Beason in Logan County and did a
great deal to bring the railroad through that community.
When Beason retired and moved to Iowa, he was in a tragic
accident, falling from and run over by a fully loaded hay wagon. His
family brought him back to Lincoln for burial.
This is Davis' first year of helping with the cemetery walk.
However, he is no stranger to acting, as he has been involved with
several community theater productions.
Bill Donath portrayed John Boy. Donath is actually a descendant
of the character and said that he wrote the script based on all the
research he has done for his own family genealogy.
John Boy was placed on a ship by his father at a young age so
that he could escape oppression in German Prussia. After two years
at sea, John Boy stepped on American soil and began his journey that
ended in Logan County, where he raised a family, held public office
and ran a business in Postville.
Boy's name came, according to the speaker, because during his
years at sea, he was called "Boy." He also feared giving out his
real name because of his Prussian heritage. Donath says that to this
day, the true name of the family isn't known, although he hopes he
will soon be able to uncover it.
Frank Frorer came to Lincoln in 1853. He began as a journeyman at
Stillman's Hardware, then purchased his own hardware store. He
gathered scraps of old tin and metals and became a tinsmith in the
city as well.
Along with others in the community, such as Silas Beason, Frorer
also invested in a coal mine south of town. Purchasing shares of
stock, he eventually bought out all the other stockholders but one,
and the mine became the Harts and Frorer mine.
In the end, Frorer was the victim of a horrific crime. As the
president of the First National Bank, he
set out one day to deliver the mine payroll. Shortly after leaving
the bank, he was accosted by two criminals who knocked him in the
head and left him for dead along the road. Though he survived the
immediate blow, the internal injury took his life within months.
Mike Fak portrayed Frorer, subbing for Tim McCormick, who broke a
hip recently.
Alexis Asher represented Violet Scully. A first-time participant
in the cemetery walk, she claims that she was chosen because of her
English accent. Asher said that she was quite worried about
portraying the part of one of Lincoln's leading ladies but enjoyed
it and did learn a great deal about Violet.
Her speech describing the Scully family detailed her husband's
land acquisitions and a tenant plan that brought farmers to Logan
County, thus assisting in populating the area and making the town of
Lincoln prosperous. She also spoke about Violet's love for gardening
and the efforts she made to give Lincoln beautifully landscaped
aesthetics, including improvements to what was then named Washington
Park and later renamed in her honor as Scully Park. She also played
a large role in creating a forestry program in the city and planted
the first trees around the courthouse in Lincoln.
While Violet is honored in the Old Union Cemetery, Asher revealed
to guests that when she died, she was cremated and her ashes were
scattered in the rose garden at the Scully mansion.
[to top of second column] |
Margaret Dunlap played an important part in our nation's history,
but not in Logan County. Dunlap, who was portrayed by Julie King,
served as a Red Cross nurse during World War I, leading a contingent
of nurses and setting up Army-based hospitals in France.
She was instrumental in establishing the Red Cross ambulance
service, and in her visit with guests she explained the emotional
connection she had with her nurses and the soldiers they took care
of.
In a tear-ridden, emotional moment, she read to the group a
letter she had written to the family of one of her nurses after that
nurse had died. She explained that all had been done that could be
done, but it had been discovered that the brave nurse had
relinquished her protective mask to a wounded solider during a
mustard gas attack.
King also explained to her audience that when she became ill
herself, her good friend Mrs. Foley invited Dunlap into the Foley
home, where she lived until her death, and the Foleys then honored
her with a space in their family section of Old Union Cemetery.
Mrs. Foley, the wife of Judge Stephen Foley, was portrayed by
Jean Gossett. Gossett, an active member of the community who does a
great deal to promote local theater, said that playing a role in the
cemetery walk was a favorite activity.
She expressed that doing the annual walks brings history to life
for the audience and hopefully promotes an interest in the
historical facts of the city and county.
She added that the scripts, which where beautifully written,
included many names and dates, but more importantly they included
anecdotes about each character that brought that person to life for
the spectator.
Stephen Foley was first elected judge of Logan County in 1877.
Also an architect, he designed many buildings in and around
the city of Lincoln. Along with Col. Robert Latham, he was
instrumental in bringing the Carnegie Library to Lincoln. He was also
the first owner of the city's gas manufacturing plant and partnered
with Frank Frorer in the Cork-Faced Collar Co.
The family was quite social, and Mrs. Foley said during her
discussion that she truly enjoyed going out with her husband to different
events.
One might wonder if spirits stay up with the times. Mrs. Foley
verified that they indeed do, as she knows that the wonderful home
she and her husband built is still standing. She said that it
is currently occupied, and she has heard that the owners are working
to restore it to its original grandeur, something that pleases her
immensely.
The same is true of Latham, one of Lincoln's founding fathers, as he expressed his disappointment over the
closing of the state school. Latham was instrumental in opening the facility then referred to
as "for the feeble-minded," along with playing a role in the
development of Lincoln College and the Carnegie Library.
In addition he was a primary participant in bringing the railroad
to Lincoln, as well as establishing a railroad and train stop in
Latham, on the county's southeast side, which earned him the honor
of having the town named for him.
He was also a friend of Abraham Lincoln and was a member of the
group who told Honest Abe that they wanted to name their town for
him. It was then that Abe Lincoln proclaimed that it might not be a
good idea, as nothing named Lincoln ever amounted to any good.
Latham's part was played by Bob McCue, who has had a hand in many
historical events around about the county, including portraying
Sheriff Hurt during the "Cast Iron Tombstone Trial" re-enactments at
Mount Pulaski.
While the historical society is involved in many special-interest
projects, such as the restoration of the old Civil War soldier
monument on the courthouse lawn, Donath said that the $5 admission
charged at the cemetery walk would go to the daily operations of the
Chicago Street location.
He invited folks to take time to stop in, as they have completed
remodeling that has really made the storefront location very nice
and very visitor-friendly. The hours are Tuesday through Friday 11
a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 to 1.
[By NILA SMITH]
 |
