Logan County authors the topic at August meeting of the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society

 

[August 21, 2024] 

At the August meeting of the Logan County Genealogical and Historical Society, local authors were invited to speak about their books.

LCGHS Vice President Diane Osborn searched many lists to find the names of people in Logan County who have authored books. From her research, Osborn came up with a list of over 70 local authors. Five were able to be at the meeting.

Renowned authors who lived in Lincoln years ago include Langston Hughes, William Maxwell and Reinhold Niebuhr. Osborn said within a 15 year period, the three reportedly all lived in the same neighborhood and attended Central School. Dr. Lee Gurga lived just down the street from Maxwell.

The first local author was Bill Detmers, who authored the book Be Careful Crossing the Hard Road. Detmers always told his kids stories of what his life was like when he was a kid, so his wife convinced him to write a book about these experiences. He said the title came from what his mother told him when he would go to “uptown” Emden to get a loaf of bread. Some have called his book a history of Emden in the 40s and 50s.

Gil (Samuel) Schriber said he started writing books after he retired from Caterpillar and now has written six books. Schriber’s first book was ten short campfire tales inspired by a camping trip when he made up and told stories to those with him.

Schriber’s most recent book, “All My Rivers” is set in the era between 1824 and 1840 during the Western fur trade when beavers were prime and used to make hats. The book is about a young boy and girl in the Missouri wilderness whose mother hid them in a root cellar by the Meramec River after hearing the cabin was going to be attacked by Indians.

When the cabin is burned down and both parents are killed in the attack, the boy has to bury his parents. He and his sister find their hidden canoe and set out downstream. They end up living in an Indian encampment for several years. The two find adventure and peril and learn to live off the land by developing their own skills. Later the boy becomes a fur trapper in the west.

Lincolnite Ron Keller, who is Director of the Lincoln Heritage Museum, has written two books. The first book, co-authored with Tara Hennessy, is called “Respect for the Office—Letters From the Presidents.” The book contains transcriptions of letters and documents from presidents and factoids about the presidents. It starts with first President George Washington and ends with President Barack Obama, since it was published during Obama’s presidency.

Keller’s other book is “Lincoln in the Illinois Legislature,” which he said is part of a topical series of books about Abraham Lincoln (by various authors). This book talks about Lincoln’s four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives and shows how it helped Lincoln develop his leadership skills and political philosophies.

Retired Lincoln Christian University professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling Tom Ewald wrote “Judas and the Criminal Mind,” which explains how the Bible gives three reasons for Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. As the books’ description says, “the words of Jesus, other New Testament passages, and contemporary psychiatry provide ample support for an antisocial criminal diagnosis of Judas Iscariot.”

Retired schoolteacher Kay Dobson wrote “Meditations From a Stripper or Finding God in the Process of Restoration.” Her book shares lessons she learned as she restored her 100 plus year old home. It is a devotional based on the parallels between restoring old houses and how God restores us.

LCGHS President Bill Donath, who was unable to be at the meeting, has authored several books including “Generosity: The Story of Logan County During the Great War 1917-1919” and “The Spanish Influenza Epidemic in Logan County, Illinois, 1918-1920.”

Osborn said Donath’s books are all non-fictions written from his researching old news accounts and county records. Donath’s purpose in authoring the books was to record the effects of historical events on the residents of Logan County as they show the responses of the residents to these events. Donath also edits the LCGHS quarterly newsletter “Roots and Branches.”

Some of the other authors Osborn briefly profiled from her extensive list included:

Logan County historians such as Judge Lawrence Stringer, James T. Hickey, Leigh Henson, Paul Gleason and Paul Beaver. Each one has authored books with historical information about Lincoln and/or other parts of Logan county in various eras.

Stringer’s history records Logan County’s settlement, organization, process and achievement. Among other works, Gleason and Beaver published a pictorial history of Logan County. Henson has a website called findinglincolnillinois.com with extensive information about the town throughout the years.

Former First Presbyterian Church Pastor Bruce Allison authored a book called “Links.” The book is made up of bulletin messages from the church mouse.

Paul A. Adams and Norma Adams Price of Atlanta, wrote “Twelve Momentous Years in the Other Atlanta, 1853-1865: With post Civil War glimpses of Central Illinois.” They later followed it up with “More Momentous Happenings in Atlanta.”

Dr. Floyd F. Barringer, who lived in Emden then later lived and practiced in Lincoln and wrote “Wartime Odyssey: a Sequel.” It has 149 letters written from a son to his father during a time period moving from the son’s innocence to his awakening.

Dr. Barbara Burdett, wrote “Defining Line” in memory of Charles [Chuck] William Bennis. Bennis was an All-American [football player] in 1933 and 1934 at the University of Illinois and a World War II Survivor. Burdett also authored a fictional novel called “Possum Sing.”

Chuck Bennis wrote “Illinois Zup and I.” It was Bennis’ story of becoming a co-captain of U of I’s finest football teams. He later played for the Bears and became an Illini coach.

Atlanta’s Gene Brandt wrote an autobiography titled “A Wonderful Life.”

Lincoln native and radio sportscaster Scott Lynn Betzelberger wrote “Thorn Ridge: the Perfect Season in Black and White.”

Former Lincoln Police Officer Tom Brewster wrote “The Road to Floradixie” and “The Hung Jury.” Brewster is working on his fifth book.
Betty Brandt Cheek wrote “Say it with Music” about the Brandt sisters from Atlanta. Atlanta’s Eminence Church got interested in barn dance music and held a barn dance in conjunction with a Chicago radio station. The Brandt sisters sang at the barn dance and slowly jumped into the national spotlight from that performance. They went from town to town representing a tractor dealership.

John Fuller wrote “A Deeper Dive into the Good Government Council of Logan County in 1950s Lincoln, IL.”

Betty Kraus Hickey wrote “An Incredible Journey from an Orphan to an Administrator at Lincoln Developmental Center.” She writes about the severely, profoundly and non-ambulatory handicapped people of all ages at LDC.

The late Lynn Hieronymus’ writings include “Eminence: A Steeple Above the Prairie.”

Emden’s Donald O. Hildebrant wrote “The Community House.” The book is about the Emden Community House.

Mt. Pulaski’s Katie (Maske) Florcyzk wrote a children's book called “Super Sassy Spectacles.” The book was inspired by Florcyzk’s daughter Anna getting glasses at a young age.

Nancy Gooding, who wrote “Whispered Warnings.”

Susan Kirby of Atlanta wrote a main street series of books about Route 66. Her main character was usually a child. Kirby’s latest series is titled “American Quilts.”

E.G. Keith, who wrote “Havoc” and “Serenity.” Both are young adult fantasy fiction novels set in the mystical world of magicians and dark magic powers along with good witch powers. These books also delve into teen relationships. Her mother Jennifer Keith is the author of “Fixing the Funny Bone.”

William Krueger wrote “A Force for Evil: Assassination in a Small Town.” It is a true crime novel based on 1976 murders conducted by Russel Smrekar in Lincoln. His book “Between Moonlight and Murder” was based on a true crime which took place in Lincoln in 1882. Krueger served in local law enforcement for 55 years, retiring from the Lincoln Police Department in 1980.

Bonnie Thompson wrote “Buried Truth: The Unabridged Trilogy” also examines Smrekar’s murders. Another one of her books is “True Facts and Findings,” which is a critical review of Krueger’s book A Force for Evil.

Sports columnist Dave Kindred of Atlanta authored several books, including “Heroes, Fools and Other Dreamers: A sportswriter’s gallery of extraordinary people” and “Sound and the Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship.”

Cartoonist Julie Larson wrote the syndicated comic strip “The Dinette Set.” Larson found inspiration for her comic strip when she moved from the fast pace of Chicago to a small town to raise her family.

Elkhart’s Gwen Suttery Rosenfeld wrote “Echoes from the Branches” and “Elkhart is Like a Box of Chocolates.”

These are just some of many Logan County authors Osborn compiled on her extensive list. Some of the authors there had copies of their books for sale and would autograph them if asked. Several books mentioned can be found on Amazon or other online outlets, though a few older books on Osborn’s list are out of print.

After a short business meeting, everyone was invited to stay and have treats and visit with the authors.
Next month’s meeting will be Monday, September 16 at 6:30 at the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society Building at 114 N. Chicago. The topic will be a history of the Catholic churches in the area.

Additionally, every Saturday in October, LCGHS member Gary Dodson will offer a genealogy class with subjects such as filling out forms plus checking land bounties, ship passenger lists, military listings and gravesites. Dodson will also show attendees free internet sites that will help with their research. The classes will start at 10 a.m. and end around 2 p.m.

[Angela Reiners]