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Diane Osborn brought a quilt made from fabric pieces her mother kept
in a linen closet for years. They were passed down to her mother
from Osborn’s grandmother and Osborn’s mother always intended to put
together a quilt from them.
When her mother died, Osborn’s sister who was a seamstress inherited
the pieces, but she never got around to making a quilt from them
either. After Osborn’s sister died a few years ago, her niece gave
Osborn the pieces. Osborn then had Carla Ackerman make a quilt from
the pieces. A note on one quilt block reads, “To Helen from great
grandma Matlock, age 88, September 11, 1908.” The quilt is one of
many Osborn has.
Diane Farmer brought a photo of a claw-legged coffee table with a
removable glass top passed down to her. Farmer remembers the table
being in her grandmother Pushala’s house on Delavan Street over 70
years ago. Farmer said it is a beautiful piece and has asked that
her children and/or grandchildren keep it as a wonderful keepsake of
her family. Farmer lifts the top up and uses the table to store
photos or holiday decorations.
Farmer also brought some glass her father made when he was a machine
operator at what was originally the Lincoln Glass Bottle Company and
later the Lincoln Container Corporation on land owned by Stetson’s.
Farmer’s father was walking down the nearby railroad tracks looking
for coal and someone came up and asked if he wanted a job at the
factory and he worked there until his retirement.
Original family documents were brought by Gary Freese
to show everyone. Two were written in German. These documents
included his grandfather’s birth certificate from September 10,
1872, his grandfather’s confirmation certificates, and his
grandparent’s 1898 marriage certificate. Freese passed around a
photograph of his grandmother’s sewing machine he has at home. He
recalls his grandmother sewing with it when she lived with his
family.
Curt Fox brought in a Zippo cigarette lighter with coins embedded in
it. The lighter belonged to Fox’s father and his initials are
inscribed in the lighter. Fox said the unique thing about the coin
is it not a United States coin.
During World War II, Fox’s father was in the army. He was a doctor
and went to India then over the Himalayas into China. Fox said the
lighter was likely a souvenir from when his father passed through
India. The coin is a rupee inscribed George VII, King and Emperor
because during that time India was ruled by England.
In 1880, when Joanne Marlin’s great grandparents got married, one of
their wedding gifts was a glass plate depicting the Last Supper. The
plate was passed down to Marlin’s mother and then to Marlin. Marlin
put blue backing on it to make the Last Supper depiction easier to
see.
When Ruby Bartman Nimke’s mother was young, Nimke’s mother had a
doll from the McCormick’s in Emden that had been a Christmas
present. Nimke remembers the doll being kept in a linen drawer when
she was a child. In the 1970s, Nimke’s brother and sister-in-law
took the antique doll and had it mounted in a case and Nimke now has
it. The McCormicks also gave her mother and aunt wooden rockers that
have been passed down to Nimke, who has had them refurbished. Other
items Nimke showed were a handkerchief box and a pillow from the
1933 World’s Fair. She said these are all items she cherishes.
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Old photos Abbie Alexander showed
were of Lincoln Lakes and other local sites. Some at Lincoln
Lakes were taken standing in the canoe shed Alexander’s father
built as an Eagle Scout project and others were taken when he
was in his canoe. One photo Alexander shared had a house with
the windows blown out, but she was not quite sure of the story
was behind it. Alexander had her father help identify people in
several photos but hopes to find someone else who can identify
people in other photos.
John Durdle shared a button collection passed down to him. His
sisters collected buttons over the years and now he collects them
too. In the collection Durdle brought, there are some sets. It is
unusual to find sets like that together. Durdle’s aunt had one of
the largest button collections and his dad bought it at her estate
auction. When Durdle was a child, he recalls looking at some of
these buttons his aunt kept in her cedar chest.
New LCGHS member Marge Gehrke Medina brought a wooden apple that was
part of a miniature tea set and is over 100 years old. She also
showed an antique ballerina spinning top her aunt had owned that
still works. Medina remembers playing with both items as a child.
Another special item, which Medina was unable to bring, is a Titanic
book with the names of all the passengers. This book had been gifted
to Medina’s grandmother at age 16 and now Medina’s brother John has
it.
A box of memorabilia from Galen Wickline’s father included bills
from the reserve bank of India. He had some worth ten rupees and
some one rupee notes from the Japanese Occupation Forces. Wickline’s
father got these bills when he was in the service.
Other items Wickline brought included documentation of the issuance
of awards to his father for his service in the Chinese Offensive
Central Burma Campaigns during World War II. One award was a Bronze
Service star and another a certificate from 1955 recognizing his
father for being a Master Sergeant in the Army Reserves. From this
same era, Wickline had a paper with what he believes to be Chinese
characters. He is hoping to find someone who can translate the
characters on the paper.
A scrapbook of postcards from the early 1900s was
what Debra Aper showed to everyone. These were postcards Aper’s
grandparents, Lewis Baker and Edith Schwantz, sent to one another
during their courtship. Some of the postcards had familiar Lincoln
sites on them and others were holiday postcards. A few appeared to
be made of leather. When Aper was younger, she remembers playing
with the postcards her grandmother kept in a shoebox.
Last but not least, Bill Donath brought memorabilia that had
belonged to his great grandma Donath, who was widowed at 28 with
five children. One item was a brooch with her late husband’s photo
Donath’s great grandma always wore. Donath also brought a pin that
signified Haley’s Comet and a lapel button one of his great uncles
wore on his uniform in World War I.
A unique item Donath brought was a key fob. On one corner of the key
fob is a bow and several arrows and tomahawks. Underneath that are
the letters IORM, which stands for Improved Order of the Red Men (a
Fraternal Organization. Stamped into the fob is J.A. Donath, who is
Bill Donath’s grandfather. Other words stamped on it are Kickapoo
Tribe 188 Lincoln, Illinois. Donath believes it may be the key for
the hall where the Red Men organization met.
The items and their history provided a fascinating Logan County
Genealogical and Historical Society program. In some previous
meetings over the years, people have brought keepsakes and had the
others guess what they were. Members said they enjoy these “Show and
Tell” events.
The next Logan County Genealogical and Historical Society meeting
will be held at the LCGHS Center at 114 N. Chicago Street on Monday,
March 20 at 6:30 p.m. The program for the evening is to be
determined.
[Angela Reiners]
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