Volunteers and Knapp-Chesnut-Becker Library/Museum board hosts fundraisers for restoration of historic building and contents

 

[November 11, 2023] 

Few people know or have the passion for the history that sits at 101 S. Clinton Street in Middletown, like Shelly Klinger. An avid book reader and history lover she started her career as a volunteer at the Knapp-Chesnut-Becker (KCB) Library/Museum in 2021 and shares a title with veteran Librarian Vivian Brakefield.

The brick building is the oldest in Logan County and just celebrated its anniversary last September. A native of Middletown, Winifred Golden spearheaded the restoration of the building over 30 years ago into the Library/Museum that it is today.

This historical building was the site of a general store that Abraham Lincoln frequented. It was next a bank and now, for the past 30-plus years the library and museum.

On a sunny Friday afternoon, July 28, 2023, a fire started on the second floor of the KCB Library/Museum. The Middletown Fire Department was first on the scene and was assisted by many other agencies throughout the afternoon in putting the fire out and trying to preserve as many historical documents as possible.

This building was filled with hundreds of valuable, irreplaceable documents about the history of Middletown, birth and death records, law books, encyclopedias, and many different books from the 1920s and 1930s in addition to various documents about Abraham Lincoln.

The fire destroyed the top floor of the library/museum, and most second-floor items were lost. Due to the quick actions of the fireman, most of the first floor was saved and those items were moved to the basement of the Methodist Church in town.

An old blanket donated by Anne Woods in 2016, the logs of who and what has been donated over the years, and all the items in the vault were saved as well. Other items that were destroyed were the large copier/fax/printer machine, computer system, TV set-up for the kids, and furniture. The items that were smoke, ash, or damaged by water are currently being preserved by professionals.

Insurance will be able to help with the rebuilding of the historic structure, but it will not cover other items lost. There is no government funding for this historical site, and although the precious historical items are forever gone, getting the Library/Museum up and running again for the County and the school kids to utilize, will require a lot of extra help to restore, repair, and replace miscellaneous items.

Klinger has organized three different benefits to help raise money to replace the items lost in the fire.

The first benefit was a bake sale at the Methodist Church and the second was a Chili Benefit at the Stagecoach Bar & Grill in Middletown. To date, she has raised $2,466.

There is another benefit scheduled for November 19, 2023, at the Middletown American Legion Post 672 at 602 6th Street, Middletown. This event will be a leader-led paint party by Connie Belt with Christmas-shaped galvanized cut-outs. A portion of the price of each cut-out purchased will be given to the KCB effort. The different cut-outs vary in size, shape, and cost. Due to the nature of this event and the materials that will need to be provided, those interested must sign up and prepay via social media to attend this event.

Please sign up at: https://facebook.com/events/s/paint-event-fundraiser-for-kna/350843427312102/.

KCB members will be on-site at the event to accept donations.

If you would like to make a simple donation to the restoration, please mail checks to the Knapp-Chesnut-Becker Library/Museum Treasurer at P.O. Box 175, Middletown, IL 62666.

The restoration is slated to be completed sometime in the first quarter of next year and the KCB Historical Society board members along with Brakefield and Klinger would like to invite you to attend the open house. Please stay updated on the restoration process, additional fundraising efforts, and the open house announcement via the social media site ‘Knapp Library Museum’.

If you are interested in learning more about getting involved with the Knapp-Chesnut-Becker Library/Museum or becoming a member of the KCB Historical Society please contact Marilyn Deters at 800 No. Adams Street, Lincoln, IL 62656.

The Knapp-Chesnut-Becker Historical Society, Klinger, and Brakefield wanted to thank everyone who donated their time or money to help preserve and restore this iconic historical building and its contents.

To the younger generation repairing old books, restoring an old building, or retaining a historical document might not be very important, because why keep all that stuff when there is Google?

We can only hope that as each generation gets older and new ones are being born, the preservation of information about our ancestors, information on how our town or county was born, and the artifacts of our history as a nation, will still be around in places like KCB Library/Museum. As good ole’ Honest Abe said, “We cannot escape history.” (1) and “The struggle of today is not altogether for today – it is for a vast future also” (2).

[JA Hodgdon]

1. Annual Message to Congress, 1 Dec. 1862
2. Abraham Lincoln (2012). “The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln”, p.747, Modern Library