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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and trying to preserve as many historical documents as possible.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.
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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 |
