October 2016

Gazette

Ogle County Historical Society

4TH

GRADERS VISIT

On Thursday and Friday, September 22nd

and 23rd

, the Oregon Elementary

School 4th

graders visited the Historical Society. Two classes came each morning,

while the other two visited the Chana School. As usual, the students enjoyed

looking at pictures on the stereoscope, trying on hats and helmets in the Veteran’s

Room, and making “checks” with the imprinting machine. They also had a chance

to examine one of the Tic-Tac-Toe blocks from Project Play. Our volunteers were

amazed to discover that even though that wooden playground behind the school

had been gone only a few months, in the minds of 4th graders it was already ancient

history. Our thanks go out to volunteers Janet McMillan, Joanne Pennock, Arlene

Sangmeister, Bill Bailey, Dotti Bowers, Diane Wenck, and Michal Gigous.

Fourth grader Cora signs the guest book while her classmates wait to sign in, too.

Eight days later Cora became a repeat visitor when she brought in her older sister

and their grandpa from Ohio during Autumn on Parade.

MORE PHOTOS INSIDE

Page 2

RECENT ACQUISITIONS

This period of acquisitions began and ended with donations from items collected by local author and historian Esther Buskohl of Leaf River. They in-cluded a newspaper supplement titled “20th Century Review: A Look Back at Ogle County”, a tourism map of scenic and historic Illinois from 1949, several Oregon area postcards, and political campaign buttons for Roosevelt and Wal-lace (1940 presidential election) and William Stratton (1952 or 1956 Illinois gu-bernatorial election). They were given by her daughter, Historical Society mem-ber and docent Joanne Pennock. Another member, Jackie Bacon, brought in two paintings of nurses and a “Quiet Please” sign, all of which used to hang in the waiting room of Warmolts Clinic in Oregon. They were saved by her mother, Ferne Burright, when the clinic closed.

In the area of genealogical research, Linda Lee of Bellevue NE sent us a copy of her book on the Peter and Sarah Bowden Horrock family, some of whom settled in Ogle County. Another book we received was a copy of The Wit and Wisdom of Margaret Fuller Ossoli by Lauren James. From the estate of Rochelle school teacher Nancy Babb we obtained several items, including a transcription of the 1854-55 Ogle County Directory, as well as a reprint of the 1872 county atlas.

Shirley Anderson Battin, a 1958 Oregon High School graduate, gave us a pitcher, basin, and chamber pot from the Nash family. She had purchased it as a teenager from Ruby Nash at the Women’s Club Antique Show and Sale when it was still being held at the Coliseum. Shirley said it was an impulse buy using change left over after attending a Saturday matinee at the Oregon Theatre. Jef-frey Blair of Texas sent us some very nice Schiller Piano Company sales litera-ture from about 1920. His grandfather-in-law was a Schiller sales representative in central Illinois in the early 20th century. Almost all of what we previously had about the piano factory dealt with manufacturing, so it’s nice to have some-thing from the sales end of the business.

We received 1941-1944 Mt. Morris High School yearbooks from a family member of Jean Allen Gecan, a 1944 graduate. When Project Play, the commu-nity built wooden playground behind Jefferson School in Oregon, was removed this summer for safety reasons (too many injuries from large splinters), the nine Tic-Tac-Toe blocks were raffled off. Historical Society Junior Docent Ty-ler Mowry won one of them and donated it as a future artifact. The 4th and 7th graders who have toured the museum recently were surprised to find some-thing that they used displayed as a historical object.

Page 3

Oregon area native Mike Leary, who recently returned home after a career in government service, brought in enlargements of ten photos from the dedication of Camp Lowden Boy Scout Camp in 1940. The photos show not only the ceremony at the camp, but also a parade through downtown Oregon.

Our largest acquisition recently was a bookcase from the Oregon Public Library. This is one of five bookcases that were made for the library at the Schiller Piano Factory in the 1920’s. At 7’ high and 12’ long, it will easily hold all the county school record books which we received last summer when the Lee/Ogle Regional Office of Education merged with Whiteside County and will still have lots of room left over. Our thanks go out not only to the library, but also to Mike Bowers for the use of a trailer to haul it and to board member Dave Head for bringing a crew of willing volunteers with strong backs from F. N. Smith.

Bob Chamberlin, who has donated several items of local history over the years, brought in a group photo from an OWLS picnic. Unfortunately it’s not dated, but seems to be from the 1910-1925 time period. We also received two photos from Midway Village Museum in Rockford. They were in a collection received from Bar-ber-Colman Co. and are of Oregon residents who worked there in 1968 during Oregon’s 125th anniversary. The photos show the three men in their beards and wearing period hats and string ties. Some or all of these photos may soon appear on our website and Facebook page so people can help us identify them.

We are currently working on obtaining a valuable item or two from Ogle County history. Look for them in the next issue.

THANKS Once again, the Northern Illinois Antique Dealers Association has

graciously donated a portion of the proceeds from their annual antique

show and sale to the Ogle County Historical Society. We greatly

appreciate all organizations and individuals who give to help keep our

society going, but especially those who do so regularly. Thanks again

NIADA.

Page 4

OES 4TH

GRADERS

ENJOY THE

MUSEUM

Page 5

OES 4TH

GRADERS

ENJOY THE

MUSEUM

Page 6

OGLE COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR

by Bill Bailey

#25—Company G, 75th Illinois Volunteer Infantry

In August of 1862, a group of Ogle County farm boys met in a barn in Taylor Township to decide “what to do about the War.” On August 12, twenty-seven young men from Lafayette and Taylor Townships traveled to Franklin Grove to enlist in the 75th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was being recruited from Lee and Whiteside Counties. By the time the regiment was mustered in to Federal ser-vice on September 2, there were 40 Ogle County men in Company G, and another dozen or so would serve in the company as the war progressed.

David Sanford of Taylor Twp. was elected 1st Lt. of the company, and William Vance was one of the 5 sergeants. After only 25 days of training at Camp Dement in Dixon the regiment headed south, crossing the Ohio River on Sep. 30. They were attached to the 9th Division of the Army of the Ohio and marched to Perry-ville KY. Less than 2 months after their meeting in a barn, the boys from Ogle Co. were heavily engaged in one of the major battles of the war. Of the 9 men of Co. G who were killed at Perryville, 4 of them—Rathbone Bly, Caleb Forbes, Henry Frost, and Marvin Wade—were from Ogle County. In all, the regiment lost 47 killed and 150 wounded in this, their first battle. Before the end of the year Lt. Sanford was promoted to Captain of Co. G, and Sgt. Vance to 2nd Lt. At the Battle of Stones River, Dec. 31,1862-Jan. 2,1863, the 75th had only 2 men killed, but 25 wounded and 21 captured. Four of the Ogle Co. men in Co. G, William Clarke, Walter Gilbert, John Stevens, and William Taylor, died in mid-March, either from Stones River wounds or from disease.

The 75th was at Murfreesboro TN until June, occasionally going on brief expe-ditions in the area, and then participated in the Tullahoma campaign, where the Union army under Gen. Rosecrans forced the Confederates under Gen. Bragg to retreat over 80 miles, giving up most of middle Tennessee, while suffering less than 600 casualties. After a brief rest the army, including the 75th, forced the Con-federates to abandon Chattanooga TN, thus severing the shortest rail route be-tween Richmond VA and the Mississippi River.

The 75th was guarding supply wagons and the pass at Steven’s Gap through most of the Battle of Chickamauga, but fought several rear guard actions during the retreat to Chattanooga. Following the arrival of Gen. Grant, and his replace-ment of Gen. Rosecrans with Gen. George Thomas, the regiment took part in the Battle of Lookout Mountain on Nov. 24, and 3 days later was part of the force that marched to the relief of Gen. Burnside’s army at Knoxville TN. The men

Page 7

spent the winter in camp at Blue Springs TN except for a brief patrol to Dalton GA in late February.

On May 6, 1864 the Ogle County boys and the rest of the 75th marched out with Gen. Sherman on his campaign to capture Atlanta. They fought at Dalton, Resaca, Marietta, Kennesaw Mountain, and many smaller battles and skirmishes. Following the capture of Atlanta the 75th was part of the force that fought against

Confederates led by Generals Hood and Forrest in the northern parts of Georgia and Alabama until early November. They then returned to Tennessee, where they took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville. On the second day of the Battle of Nashville the regiment captured 228 prisoners and a large quantity of arms and equipment. They had 8 men wounded in this, their last fight.

Company G and the rest of the 75th were on garrison duty in Huntsville AL and Nashville TN until being mustered out on June 12, 1865. Only 12 of the original 40 Ogle County men who were mustered in on Sept.2, 1862 were present. The rest had either been killed in action, died of wounds or disease, discharged early (usually for medical reasons), deserted (only 2), or transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps. These last were men who, because of wounds, illness, or the rigors of hard marching and bad food, were no longer capable of fighting, but could still guard supply de-pots, prison camps, and railroad bridges. Nine of the original 40 were in this group.

The regimental chaplain, William H. Smith of Fulton, wrote a reminiscence in 1907, which was edited and published in 2002 by the Lee County Genealogical Soci-ety. A copy of it is on the bookshelves in our veteran’s room and can be checked out by members.

INVASION OF THE 7TH

GRADERS!

ON OCTOBER 20 THE 7

TH GRADE STUDENTS FROM DAVID

L. RAHN JUNIOR HIGH IN MT. MORRIS MADE THEIR ANNUAL

TRIP TO THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. A FULL STORY AND

PHOTOS WILL BE IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE GAZETTE.

The Ogle County Historical Society

PO Box 183

Oregon, Il. 61061

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Application for Membership

_____$35 per household per year

__$5 per year for hard copy of Gazette

Renewals due in November for following year

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The Gazette is published quarterly, by The Ogle County Historical Society, PO Box 183, Oregon, Il. 61061.

oglecohistory@frontier.com

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