130 Years Ago
April 22, 1893
Our citizens will be glad to hear that Rev. W. L. Riley of the Baptist Church has decided to remain as pastor here for another year.
Additional interest was lent to the school election last Saturday by reason of the ladies championing a ticket with two members of their own sex as candidates for the board. They won over two other tickets, electing Miss Olive McKee and Mrs. J. W. Walton.
Milt Hood, of Forrest, is now acting in the capacity of night telegraph operator here.
Stanley Perlee has purchased the residence property of Dave Wright on East Elm street and will occupy it soon.
120 Years Ago
April 24, 1903
A bowling team consisting of Bob Carter, Orval Payne, Ro Bartlett, J. L. Purdum and Carl Herzog went to Chatsworth on Thursday evening and defeated a team there by a total of 115 pins.
Wednesday afternoon the floor in Keller & Reany's grocery store gave away and 260 sacks of flour went down into the cellar. Dan Calmer, the drayman, who had just finished unloading the flour went down with it, along with some shelving, two barrels of oil and other grocery store articles. Mr. Calmer was slightly injured.
A genius up in Streator is going to build an airship. He has organized a stock company with a capital stock of $5,000 and expects to turn out a flying machine in short order. His ship will be 50 feet long, 18 feet wide and 27 feet high. If you happen to see anything that size floating around in the atmosphere don't pull your popgun, but just take a good look at the first flying machine ever seen in Livingston county.
110 Years Ago
April 25, 1913
T. R. Voorhees returned Monday evening from Cody, Wyo., where he had been for two weeks on business. His business took him 65 miles from Cody, which part of the trip he made on horseback.
Representative Henry A. Foster returned to Springfield Monday after a short visit to his home in this city.
Dr. J. H. Langstaff is going to build on his lots in the Taylor addition and is getting ready to put in the foundation. They have been occupying the Daniel Dwyer property in the new addition. Mr. Dwyer will remodel his home and occupy it.
Cropsey — G. M. Meeker is having the roof raised on his kitchen; also putting in bath and toilet.
100 Years Ago
April 20, 1923
Walton Bros. Co. have been busy this week getting ready for the opening of their temporary general store which will occupy the rooms where their furniture store is now located, or rather has been located, for men and trucks have been busy the past two days taking the furniture out. In the meantime plans are taking shape for the new building which will go up this coming summer.
Workmen started yesterday morning taking out the large plate-glass windows in the post office and American Legion buildings that were broken in the Walton fire, and installing new ones.
Last evening a little before eight o'clock, Deputy Sheriff Codlin and Policeman Hallock of this city, assisted by Sheriff L. M. Shugart and Deputy Sheriffs Robert Gorman and Arthur Somers, swooped down on the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Davis in the northwest part of town, seized about seven gallons of "white mule" and a still in operation and placed Mr. and Mrs. Davis under arrest. Evidently Mr. and Mrs. Davis were not afraid of their own product, as they both bore evidence of having indulged in it when they appeared before Justice Bennett for a hearing.
90 Years Ago
April 28, 1933
While grinding feed with a power grinder operated by a tractor at the farm, owned and operated by Jacob Ebach, three miles southeast of Wing, Monday afternoon about 3 o'clock, Mr. Ebach's left foot became caught in the mill and the front part of that member, including the toes and as far back as the instep, was so badly mangled that it was necessary to amputate that portion. He was brought to the Fairbury Hospital, where the operation was performed and he is getting along nicely.
The saw mill just at the east edge of Fairbury, which Clarence Clanin has operated for the past two years, was burned yesterday. Several hundred feet of walnut lumber that had been planed was burned and the machinery, including the planer and saws and a gasoline engine ruined. The big steam tractor that furnished the power for the big saw was also badly damaged. There was no way of fighting the fire and with a rather brisk wind blowing the building was soon a mass of flames. There was no insurance.
Some shooting that might have resulted in the loss of an eye or other serious injury occurred on Tuesday afternoon. As it was, John Langstaff and Perry Munz required the services of a physician to pick some particles of lead from their anatomy. These boys, together with some other boys, were out near the old coal shaft, when one of the boys shot at an old chain with a rifle. The bullet went true to its mark and John and Perry were pelted with particles of the lead which flew back.
80 Years Ago
April 23, 1943
An acetylene torch was used yesterday in opening the post office safe, but it wasn't burglars that did it. When Postmaster McAllister went to open the safe yesterday the outer door opened without any trouble, but with the inner vault door it was a different story. After repeated efforts and no results, Eli Moser with his acetylene torch started to work. A hole was cut through the 2¼-inch steel door and the tumbler rods dropped down, allowing the door to be opened.
Mary Beth Mies, stationed at the WAAC training center, Des Moines, Iowa, has been advanced in rank to first officer, equivalent to army captain. She is assistant chief of the Bakers and Cooks section at Fort Des Moines.
Lester Harms, aged 41, living about a half mile from Charlotte, passed away at the Fairbury Hospital yesterday morning at seven o'clock, following injuries received Wednesday evening when run over by a wagon partially filled with corn. He suffered a skull fracture and other injuries. It was about five o'clock in the afternoon and Mr. Harms had about 40 bushels of corn on the wagon. At this point the team became unruly and Mr. Harms went around to their heads. While in this position the team bolted and knocked Mr. Harms to the ground, the wagon running over his chest and head.
70 Years Ago
April 23, 1953
Fairbury merchants did $4,597,050 worth of retail business last year, the tax receipts liability calendar for 1952 issued by the state, disclosed this week. The tax receipts in Fairbury for 1952 amounted to $91,941.35, which would mean that over four and a half million dollars worth of taxable business was transacted by the city's 104 merchants. The total business was an increase of approximately $25,800 over 1951.
Mrs. Una Schmidt escaped injury when her automobile was bumped off the road into the ditch Tuesday afternoon. Mrs. Schmidt was driving west just east of Forrest, when a truck approaching her, entered her lane to pass an automobile. A group of passers-by helped get the automobile, which almost overturned, back on the road. The car was not badly damaged.
Cold weather, and of all things – snow, jarred this community from its complacent dream of Spring for a time this week, but things were getting back to normal yesterday. A good, solid snowfall of about one-inch fell here Friday afternoon, leaving the ground white through the night. It disappeared Saturday morning, but during the night and again on Sunday more snow fell, although not in any great quantity. The weather, freakish as it was, failed nevertheless to set any records.
60 Years Ago
April 25, 1963
More than a million bushels of locally originated corn, owned by Commodity Credit Corporation, is in the process of removal from elevators in the Fairbury area. Local observers say that the movement, mostly by rail, is going on at an unusually high speed. Nearly 300 cars have been, or are scheduled to be shipped through the local offices of the T. P. and W. and Wabash Railroads. Since January 1, 140 cars, averaging 2,000 bushels each, have been shipped out of Weston Grain, and 124 cars from Farmers Grain in Fairbury.
Fairbury residents were fortunate this past week when tornadic winds whipped about farms and towns 90 miles south of here, hail pounded Cropsey, and lighting struck a barn near Pontiac, but this community remained unscathed. A deputy sheriff on patrol in Cropsey Monday reported that the hail was so heavy that he thought it was going to break the windows out of the squad car. He said the ground was white with hail after a few minutes.
A buried telephone cable, carrying 200 pairs of lines, was cut by accident last Thursday afternoon at the corner of Third and Maple Streets in Fairbury. The interruption occurred when a crew from CIPS was boring a hole to set a new post as part of the current intersection-widening program now under way by the city. The break was repaired by Max Reeser and crew, who worked all night to restore service by Friday.
50 Years Ago
April 26, 1973
Livingston County residents yesterday experienced one of the year's strangest phenomena. Through Wednesday, the area had experienced four consecutive days of sunshine and warm weather, a sight which rain-plagued farmers had begun to feel was only a memory. The welcome sunshine, vitally needed to dry out fields so that already-delayed spring planting can get underway, came on the heels of another wet week, during which 3.01 inches of rainfall were recorded at Fairbury Waterworks. Since Jan. 1, nearly 15" of precipitation has been measured here.
Plans for a quarter-million dollar addition to Fairbury Hospital to house an intensive coronary care unit are now on the drawing board and final architect's drawings are expected "hopefully by May 15" according to Don Patterson, hospital administrator. The unit would be located at the northwest corner of the main hospital building extending slightly to the west of the present building and also moving north in front of the recently added radiology department.
Easter Sunday, more than 50 youngsters scrambled for goodies and prize winning eggs in the traditional Jaycee Easter egg hunt held at the Fairbury fair grounds. Six prizes were presented to the following: Tina and Gina Hedrick, twin daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Hedrick of Pontiac; Sue Legner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dale Legner of Pontiac; Kyle Woodward, son of the William Woodwards; Wendy Long, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Scotty Long; Jill Schmitz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harris Schmitz; and James Wager, son of the Robert Wagers, all of Fairbury.
40 Years Ago
April 21, 1983
County veterinarian Walter Boddington warns Fairbury residents to beware of "strange acting" animals after a rabid skunk was killed in the community late last week. Dr. Boddington reported Wednesday that state lab reports confirmed a skunk killed Thursday in the yard of the Elmer Meints residence was indeed rabid. Mrs. Meints saw the skunk in the yard near one of the family cats. One of her sons then shot the skunk. Since the rabies test has come back positive, Dr. Boddington said the Meints cats would either have to be destroyed, or quarantined up to six months.
In honor of his 100th birthday on March 29, resident Debold Householder received an American flag that was displayed at the White House, Washington, D. C. recently. This was a gift from Sen. Charles Percy. This week, Householder was notified that house joint resolution 19, State of Illinois, 83rd general assembly, house of representatives was offered by Rep. Thomas Ewing and Sen. John Maitland. This resolution stated: "We honor and commend Debold Householder upon his long and fruitful life, and express our gratitude for the many contributions he has made to the people of this State; and be it further resolved that a copy of this preamble and resolution be presented to him as an expression of our deep esteem and best wishes for happiness and success in his further endeavors."
30 Years Ago
April 22, 1993
Dr. John Kelly will open an office in mid to late May at 112 E. Locust St., Fairbury, for his general internist practice. Dr. Kelly, from Michigan City, Ind., is being brought to Fairbury by Saint James Hospital of Pontiac. An undergraduate of Notre Dame and graduate of Indiana University with a Doctor of Medicine degree, Dr. Kelly has been a practicing internist since 1976. Dr. Kelly's wife, Jane, who will be joining him soon, will also work through Saint James Hospital. She has a Ph.D. in allied health services.
Investigators from the State Fire Marshall's office have determined there is "no doubt" that the cause of a fire at the home of John H. Unger was "electrical." The fire, which began shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday, gutted the frame home, causing $43,000 in damage. Unger had moved into the home only six weeks before and had not even unpacked. Fairbury firefighter Michael Huling, 40, was taken to Fairbury Hospital after the air tank he was wearing ran out of air. Also injured in the fire was Fairbury fireman Martial Roy who suffered a burn to the neck.
Kay Hammer and Becky Shafer were recently notified they have been named Illinois Education Association Region 14 winners of the Teacher Excellence Award. The awards were given based on seven different criteria, including contributions made to the school district that promote excellence and high standards in the classroom and/or the general school environment, community involvement and other activities that benefit children and education, and actions by the nominees that have gone above and beyond the minimum standards to promote students, teachers and administrators.
20 Years Ago
April 23, 2003
Fairbury's City Council approved a police contract at its meeting on Wednesday night. It is a basic contract asking officers to sign a two-year contract with the city. The canine officer will be asked to sign a three or four-year contract. If any officer does not fulfill his contract and decides to leave his position, he will have to reimburse the city for his training according to the time left on his contract. The city has the option to fire any officer who does not fulfill his duties in the manner that the police department demands.
Sara Potter, a junior at Prairie Central High School, has been selected by the John Joda Post American Legion Auxiliary to attend Illini Girls' State in June. She is the daughter of Jeff and Janis Potter. Alternate is Jenna Tollensdorf. Sara is a member of the Concert Band, Concert Choir, Jazz Band I, Musical Pit Band, Flag Squad, where she is captain, and the National Honor Society. She plans to attend college after high school, to possibly major in Sociology.
Jodi Leman of Forrest and Matthew Kaisner of Fairbury are announcing their engagement and approaching marriage. Parents of the couple are Ernie and Carol Leman of Forrest and Jerry and Donna Kaisner of Fairbury. The bride-to-be will graduate from Heartland College in May. Her fiance is employed at State Farm Insurance in Bloomington. The couple will be married on June 15, 2003, at Forrest Apostolic Christian Church.
10 Years Ago
April 24, 2013
A lightning strike is being blamed for causing a large power outage on Tuesday night, in numerous area towns. An Ameren spokesman said lightning struck a pole, which caught on fire, south of Forrest shortly after 7:30 p.m. impacting 3,900 Ameren customers. Service was restored two hours later. Around 700 Eastern Illinois Electric Cooperative customers also lost power following the lightning strike. According to an EIEC spokesman, most of their substations are fed by Ameren transmission lines. When Ameren has an outage, it can impact EIEC customers as well. Residents of Sibley, Strawn, Anchor, Fairbury, Forrest, Piper City and Cullom were among those impacted by the outage. Firefighters from Forrest and Strawn initially responded to the pole fire two miles south of Forrest, along Livingston County Road 600 North.
A ribbon cutting was held recently at Mind, Body & Sole Massage LLC in Fairbury. Mayor-elect Roger Lynn Dameron and Fairbury Chamber of Commerce executive Secretary Rebekah Fehr were on hand for the ribbon cutting, along with business owner Robin McPherson LMT, NCTM. The business is open by appointment. An open house is planned for May 4.
(Looking Back is sponsored each week on Fairbury News by Duffy-Pils Memorial Homes, with locations in Fairbury, Chenoa and Colfax)
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