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Each person who brought a quilt was asked to share
the history of the quilt and who made it if they knew. Reference
books on the table provided more information on different types of
quilts.
Diane Osborne was the first one to show her quilt,
which has been in her family for years and is signed L. Matlock.
Osborne said it was made in 1890 by her 79 year old great great
grandmother. Several images are embroidered on the various quilt
blocks including a carry cart, frogs, flowers and eagles. President
McKinley’s name was also on one quilt block.
Next up was a crazy quilt
made of silk neckties on a white cloth backing found by Scotty
Hinman at a thrift store
years ago. It was stored away and forgotten. Eight
months ago, the quilt was found again and Helen Knecht was asked to
finish it with a darker background.
Lincoln native Abbie Alexander, who now lives in
Peoria brought a quilt made by Mrs. William R. Hill, her paternal
great grandmother in 1882 or 1883. Another quilt Alexander has was
designed by Abraham Lincoln as he waited for dinner at the home of
one of Alexander’s ancestors. The design was then made into a quilt
by someone. Alexander used to work for a museum that had a quilt
identification organization system to register quilts because of
their history. She loves the history of quilts like the ones that
have been found which shared messages and directions for people
traveling via the underground railroad.
Rojean Logan brought two quilts to show. One was made
by girls in the Honor home at the state school/Lincoln Developmental
Center. The other one was made by Logan’s maternal grandmother and
had family names embroidered into it. Her grandmother had extremely
poor eyesight, but still did all the handwork.
One of the quilts shown was the Madigan quilt made
for former Illinois Representative Edward Madigan by the Gelbach
family. The quilt hung in Madigan’s office in Washington D.C. The
quilt has the state of Illinois sewn on it. After the Madigan family
gave the quilt back to the Gelbach family, they donated it the Logan
County Genealogical and Historical Society.
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The quilt Gary Frieze brought was made out of
colorful feed sacks by family members. Many members recalled that
feed sacks were used to make clothing and towels years ago.
Diane Farmer brought a quilt she believes was made by
her late husband Bob Farmer’s grandmother or great grandmother. It
was passed down to Bob’s dad and when his stepmother moved away, it
was passed to Bob and Diane. Diane is not sure what it is made of
but plans to pass it to her grandson eventually. Her daughter in law
is good about taking care of keepsakes and will likely teach her son
to care for it.
One member named John had a memory to share about a
quilt made by his mother. When items were being passed down after
his father passed away, both of John’s daughters wanted one special
knotted quilt. The girls recall untying knots on the quilt when they
lay down on their grandmother’s bed while their grandmother napped.
He said the older daughter ended up with the quilt.
After the quilts were shown a short business meeting
was held beginning with the installation of officers. The officers
were read the list of their responsibilities in administrating the
policies of LCGHS and bylaws they need to become familiar with. They
were then asked to promise to faithfully fulfill the duties of their
office for the success of LCGHS.
Left to right: JoAnne Marlin,
Diane Farmer, Bill Donath, Brenda Jones and Diane Osborn
The officers installed were President Bill Donath,
Vice-President Diane Osborn, Recording Secretary Brenda Jones,
Corresponding Secretary JoAnne Marlin, and Treasurer Diane Farmer.
LCGHS board members and committee chairpersons were then asked to
accept the charge to cooperate with the officers at all times.
At the March meeting, Pam Moriearty will speak on the underground
geographical secrets of the county.
[Antela Reiners] |
