(upbeat music) - [Narrator] "Illinois Stories" is brought to you by the Corporation For Public Broadcasting and by the support of viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) - Hello, welcome to "Illinois Stories", I'm Mark McDonald in Watseka, Iroquois County in front of the Old Courthouse.

And what makes this Old Courthouse story worthy?

Well, this year they celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Old Iroquois County Courthouse and the 50th anniversary of the Iroquois County Historical Society.

And as you'll find, this beautiful old building is now the headquarters and the museum of the Iroquois County Historical Society.

Judy Ficke, you manage this society... - Yes I do.

- And this building, and it's not every day that a County Historical Society has a museum of this size and this beauty.

It's a humdinger, ain't it?

- It's a real treasure for Iroquois County.

- Yeah.

Back in the day, I mean, they decided way back, I guess, in fifties and sixties, about that time that they were gonna build a new courthouse, this old courthouse, wasn't doing the trick anymore.

And it became available.

Now in most counties, a building like this would've been torn down.

- That's exactly right.

And it was scheduled to be torn down, and made into a parking lot.

- [Mark] Oh goodness.

- But there was a group of very interested, historically minded people and they decided, that they were going to try to save the old courthouse.

They took petitions around, and just had numerous, numerous signatures.

And so they were able to save it.

And this is what we have now.

- [Mark] What a gem.

As we look up to it, you can see that.

I mean, it was very much the style of its day.

It was built right after the civil war, I think, 1860.

- [Judy] 1866.

- And built solid as a rock.

I mean, you can see the stone and the brick work is beautiful, and I don't know much about it.

It kind of looks Italianate or something.

Do you know?

- [Judy] That's what they said.

- [Mark] Is that right?

Okay.

And so it's got a very classic architecture, and as we look at it, we can see that this is not all the original building.

It was added a onto wasn't it.

- [Judy] That's right.

On two occasions, they decided they needed more room.

And so they're...

Towards the south end, there are two additions.

- [Mark] Right.

As, as we look at the side of the building, you see where it juts out there, where it juts out is... From that on back then is the addition.

Right?

Okay.

And so to do county business, they needed within a decade or two, they needed more space.

Huh?

- Well, what really happened, yes, they needed more space there.

And then we're jumping ahead to when it became a historical society, because of the fact that there was a woman who was a very, very generous benefactor, and she left money and land for the new courthouse.

And so that, that is east of here.

And when that happened, and as I said earlier, the petition went around to save this.

Then it did become the historical society, and the old courthouse museum.

- The historical society here, do they know how fortunate they are?

Because most counties... And Iroquois is not a big county, most counties are in an old... Maybe an old library are something, you know, they're all crammed in there, but here you've got all this storage and all these rooms.

There's 40 rooms in there for you to use, and interestingly, as we go through this program, you use the rooms for themes, don't you?

- Yes, we do.

And that happened mainly because everything that we have in here has been donated.

And we are so fortunate that all these people donated these things, because without it, we wouldn't have anything.

- [Mark] Yeah.

And so, as it came in, we thought, well, this'll be nice in the school room.

This'll be nice in a military room.

That's how all these rooms did get their little expertise, I guess.

- [Mark] Yeah.

Well, let's go and take a look.

You can show us through.

- All right.

Okay, sure.

- Okay.

Judy, once inside, it's kind of cool.

We talked about how many different rooms there are, and how you have departmentalized all this.

If we look, look over here, you can see that what you got here, is you got a list for people and they wanna go upstairs.

Each of those rooms, has a special kind of exhibit.

- [Judy] That's right.

- [Mark] Right?

And all of the things that are in are...

I guess, almost all the things that are in this museum were donated by people who live or lived in Iroquois County.

- Everything was donated.

- Is that right?

And it's still coming in, isn't it?

- Oh, yes.

Day by day.

In fact, right now we have the accession committee working in the office, taking care of the things that have come in since the last time they met.

- And everything has to be listed and cataloged, and then you've got software... - And then the number.

- Yeah.

So, you know, right where it is , and who gave it, right?

That's pretty neat.

We just saw the outside of the building, and this... Come, if we look over here, we can see that the building didn't always look the way we see it.

- [Judy] No.

No.

- [Mark] It had this kind of cupola or a bell tower.

A rounded bell tower on it.

Didn't I?.

- [Judy] With the chimney stacks on the side.

- [Mark] Yeah.

And these, I mean, this shows you how many fireplaces there were, but these are no longer there are they?

- [Judy] No.

No.

- I guess when they stopped using the fireplaces, they just took the chimneys down because I guess, well, they're gonna fall down sooner or later.

So let's just get rid of it.

- [Judy] That probably was the reason of the upkeep in a building like this is.

It's just astronomical.

- Yeah.

If we look down here, we can see that this would've been the main hall of the old courthouse and see where that arch is down there.

That's where the original building stopped.

Huh?

- [Judy] That's right.

- And then they add it on.

- [Judy] Mm hmm.

- Okay, well, let's start by going in this room.

- [Judy] Okay.

- After you.

Ma'am, - [Judy] all right.

- And we'll take a look at what's going on here.

First stop on the right, Judy, when you come in is a room full of artifacts.

- That's right.

Native American artifacts.

- Mm hmm.

- And as you can see up there, you've got native birds, native animals, things that were in Illinois at one time, but much of that is covered up because March is quilt month.

(Mark laughs) - [Judy] Like national quilt month.

- [Mark] National quilt month.

And so you end up like every March.

What do you do every March?

- [Judy] Well, we pull the quilts out of the vault, All these quilts have been donated to us.

- [Mark] Mm hmm.

- [Judy] And we've got a lot more than this.

We just didn't have more room to put them up.

As we go down, the rooms here you'll see one more.

- [Mark] Okay.

Let's go in there.

Let's go ahead and find our way in there.

It'd be nice to talk about all these artifacts, and arrowheads and everything, but okay.

Okay.

Before we get to the next quote room, this is interesting too, because you also have an, you have an art area.

- That's right.

- And you change this out all the time.

- Every two months, and local artists, and not always local artists bring their things in to display them.

This particular time, We have... (Judy clears throat) Excuse me.

Two different artists.

One has her fiber arts in here and the other man, has his paintings and his woodworking, and over there, there's a whole table filled with things.

- [Mark] A Lot of flavor, you know, rural Western flavor.

Very nice.

And you know, Mr...

I think his name is Quackenbush.

Is that right?

- [Judy] Yeah.

That's right.

- [Mark] Jean Quackenbush.

He's also a woodworker.

Ain't he?

- [Judy] Yes, he is.

- [Mark] Because, if you get away from his art, which is very nice, you also see some of these wonderful, wonderful models.

- [Judy] And he does just for a hobby.

- [Mark] He's built a lot of these things.

And these are just on loan for his exhibit, huh?

Is that.

- [Judy] Yes.

For two months.

And on April 3rd, we're going to have an artist reception.

- Mm hmm.

- We have those, if the artist like having those, and they invite all their friends and family to come in, and meet with at the artist.

And then, as we go into the other room, you'll see the Victorian parlor.

And over there we have refreshments and the little reception.

- [Mark] Oh, I see.

That's what you keep the parlor for.

- That's right.

- [Mark] Ah, nice.

Okay.

Well, his work's really nice, especially like that big lodge that he built there.

Well, let's move in here and see... - [Judy] Okay.

- [Mark] See what else you got.

Well, Judy, it's not Coke and it's not Pepsi, but it looks like a soft drink.

Doesn't it?

- [Judy] Yes.

(both laugh) - [Mark] What was Sweet Tooth?

- [Judy] Prolly it's all the sugar in it.

(both laugh) - [Mark] A lot of sugar.

Huh?

What was Sweet Tooth?

What was it?

- [Judy] It was some kind of a soda.

- [Mark] A soda made here in Watseka?

No kidding.

- [Judy] But that was way back.

Way back.

- [Mark] Well, I assume that would've been like, the twenties or something like that.

Huh?

Maybe even longer ago you think?

Long time ago?

- [Judy] Long before me.

That's all I know.

(both laugh) - [Mark] Okay.

Now, as we can see, as we back out of there, we can see that, oh, it's quilt month again.

And so really one room's not enough for your quilts.

- [Judy] Yes.

- [Mark] You take several of them out.

Let's just walk back if we can.

- [Judy] Okay.

And we'll try to make room for the camera as we go.

This roll right here.

And then let's turn to our right, and our left so he can see this.

And this is kind of neat.

This is a good example of a local quilt.

What's the story behind this one Judy?

- There was a Quaker church over, on the corner, and this quilt was made by the ladies from that Quaker church.

- [Mark] Mm hmm.

- [Judy] And it's called the friendship quilt.

And you'll see all the names listed from the people that made it.

That's really about all I know.

- [Mark] Yeah.

But a whole group of ladies gets together, and they share their time putting these squares together, and each one signs it.

- [Judy] That's right.

- [Mark] So that's why it's called a friendship quilt.

Okay.

And you're lucky to have it because this is... - [Judy] This just came in in the last month or two.

- [Mark] Is that right?

- [Judy] This is the newest quilt that was donated to us.

- [Mark] Mm hmm.

Yeah.

It's really cool.

It's got...

It Screams local.

Doesn't it?

- [Judy] Mm hmm.

- [Mark] Yeah.

Well, Rolland Light, you're the president, - Yes I am.

of the Iroquois County historical society.

- Yes.

Mm hmm.

- Right?

- Okay.

How long have you been involved?

- Close to 25 years.

- Is that right?

- Mm hmm - (whispering) 25 years.

And so ever since you've been involved, you've had this wonderful space.

- To work in.

- Yes, yes, It's marvelous.

- And you...

It is Marvelous.

And you understand the importance of people donating items because really without local people donating items, you don't have much, do you?

- We wouldn't have anything.

- [Mark] Nothing.

- No.

No.

They've been very generous.

The people of Iroquois County they've given us things that, you know, a lot of people wanna hang on to.

- [Mark] Yeah.

Yeah.

- And... - [Mark] Well, they know it's in good hands, don't they?

- Yes.

Yeah.

It's for everyone to see.

- [Mark] Yeah.

For everybody.

We're in the military room.

- Yes.

- And I asked you to take us through here, because you do a little military collecting yourself.

Don't you?

- A little bit, a little bit.

(both chuckle) - Okay.

Right.

Well, let's move on down the road here... - Okay.

- As we go here.

Our destination is gonna be a medal of honor, which was won by a local man.

- Yes.

- But as we go by here, for instance, let's take a look.

You've got uniforms from every war.

Don't you?

- We have...

Yes, we have a lot of uniforms, even have a WAC and a WAVE uniform... - [Mark] uh-huh.

- For the women in the service.

And it's just fantastic.

- [Mark] These are all... And these are all local families.

Aren't they?

- Local family.

Yes.

- Yeah.

- Almost all Iroquois County residents.

- Mm hmm.

This is interesting.

An antique wooden rocking horse.

- Yeah.

- Donated by AJ Day.

And that would probably be.. Well, it's called the... - The saddle is the interesting thing.

- uh-huh - From 1859.

Wow.

- [Rolland] Yeah.

I would point out to you a Japanese machine gun, that was brought back from world war II.

Of course, it's been rendered unable the fire.

- It's just as well.

You just wanna look at it, right?

- Yes.

- But as we go by here, look, there's another, what's that machine?

- This is a German machine gun from world war I.

- [Mark] Mm hmm.

wow.

- And it was found in a hayloft in a barn near Donovan, Illinois, which is Northeast of here.

- [Mark] It was found in a hayloft.

- [Rolland] Mm hmm.

- [Mark] my goodness.

- [Rolland] Nobody knows why it was there.

Who put it there.

(Mark laughs) - Well it's meant to be here.

Right?

- This is the place for it.

- Absolutely.

Wow.

I'll tell you what.

You wouldn't want to see one of those things peeking out of a barn.

Would you?

- No, no.

The bullets come out awful fast.

- Oh man.

- And there's some German uniforms.

- [Mark] Oh yeah.

The Swastika arm band.

- [Rolland] Yeah.

And brown shirt, remember hearing about this.

- I certainly do.

I certainly do.

Wow.

So every war you've got every war covered in here, right?

- World War II.

Yes - world war II.

- And some more world war II.

- Mm hmm.

- We got a lot of those.

- Mm hmm.

Yep.

Yep.

- Because... - Well, there were so many people involved.

- Yes.

- You know, almost everybody was... - That's right.

- Knew somebody or a family member in the war.

This is, what's kind of my destination here.

- This is our pride and joy.

- Okay.

Tell us about this medal of honor.

- Okay.

This was presented to a Sergeant, John Darrow, for his actions during the civil war in 1864, I believe it is.

And he was with a regimen that was sent...

They were in Memphis, Tennessee, and they were sent to Mississippi to destroy some railroad tracks that the Confederate were using, - [Mark] Mm hmm.

and they were in two gun boats.

They pulled up to shore and the soldiers got out, and the Confederates were hidden with the battery of artillery and they opened fire.

The gunboats took off and left the soldiers on the shore.

So it was a devastating battle.

And so those that couldn't get away, started downstream on foot.

- Mm hmm.

- And John Darrow was one of those, and the boats went down farther and picked up some of 'em that got there in time.

And then the boats left.

Well, John didn't get there in time.

And so he walked downstream, came to a mile wide Bayou that he had to swim.

Well, he didn't think he could get across with his uniform gun and everything.

So he looking for a log in, in the rush, and instead he found a canoe.

So he put the canoe in the water, and started to go downstream.

- Yeah.

- And he happened to see a union soldier on the bank behind him.

So, he turned around despite the enemy fire.

And they went back and the man happened to be a captain, captain Beckett.

And John got him in the boat, and they made it to the other shore.

- Wow.

So we went back upstream into the line of fire... - Mm hmm.

- To get this man and save him.

- Yes - Brought him back and they both got out alive.

(indistinct) Wow.

That's a great story.

- Terrific.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- So he didn't get that medal of honor though, until about, I think it was 1895.

- Mm hmm.

Sometimes they're pretty slow.

Aren't they?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Well, thank you.

- You're welcome.

Yep.

It's very interesting.

- [Mark] Rolfe Jaremus you have more than a passing interest in the Lincoln Memorial, don't you?

- [Rolfe] I sure do.

(Mark laughs) Yeah.

- [Mark] you've done a lot of research on this.

- [Rolfe] I Have.

I actually discovered that Henry Bacon, the designer of the Lincoln Memorial, was born here in Watseka a few years ago.

And I was kind of surprised because I thought I knew about all the people in Iroquois County, and all the main players you might say.

- [Mark] Yeah.

Yeah.

- Like Gordon Hubbard who passed through here in the early 1800s, and kind of was instrumental in the founding of this area, and some of the towns in here.

And also became a prominent member of the Chicago board of trade.

But when I found out about Henry Bacon, I was kind of shocked.

- [Mark] Yeah.

- Because I thought I had read most of the history about it, (Mark laughing) and here's the guy that's designed the Lincoln Memorial, and there wasn't a whole lot of information about it.

So I decided to try to change that.

- Yeah.

And in fact, you're in the midst of getting a plaque made, what dedicates him as... Would be a national historic plaque, or what will be... - It will be Illinois, and Illinois state historical marker plaque.

And I actually put that out there in an article that I wrote for the historical society last year in January.

And we were fortunate enough to have one of the charitable organizations basically come up with the funding for the plaque.

So we wanna memorialize him.

- [Mark] Yeah - What I came to realize was that, after doing some research on Henry Bacon, that there had been a number of articles written in the Kankakee journal, and the Iroquois Times Republic Paper, but... And along with mine, I'm thinking, you know, this is kind of transitory, and a lot of people miss those things, but we need a plaque to memorialize him, and the great work that he's done.

- [Mark] We've got a picture of him right here.

And he is a very, a sort of sophisticated looking fellow, isn't he?

- [Rolfe] Yeah.

His dad was a professional man, and he ended up going to what would become the University of Illinois, right?

- [Rolfe] That's right.

He went to the Illinois Industrial University, in 1884 for about a year, and then he went on to become a draftsman, and eventually an architect with one of the prominent architecture firms in New York.

- They completed the Lincoln Memorial.

I think you said in 1911.

- In 1911, there was a... Actually there were plans in place to develop a Lincoln Memorial in the very early parts of the last century.

Around 1911 is when things really heated up, and a competition occurred between him, and John Russell Pope, who was another prominent architect at the time.

And the decision was made by a committee to go ahead and develop the Lincoln Memorial in 1912.

- [Mark] Yeah.

- The actual completion of the Lincoln Memorial...

The Lincoln Memorial was not completed until 1922.

- [Mark] Wow.

Took him a long time.

- Yeah.

- [Mark] Didn't it?

- And the ironic thing was that Henry Bacon, received the gold medal for architecture in 1923, and then a year later he died.

- uh-huh.

- So he, you know, he didn't...

It was kinda like his...

The fulfillment of his life.

- [Mark] Yeah.

- And I have great respect for Henry Bacon because he did a lot of prominent public architecture in Washington, DC and various monuments.

And he worked very closely with William Chester French, who was the designer of Lincoln inside the Memorial.

So, you know, the two of them worked together, and just did a magnificent job.

- Well, he got to see his work completed.

- Yes.

- And I think we said that they finished it for a total of just under 3 million dollars.

Couldn't do that today.

Could you?

- [Rolfe] And it was really...

It's a beautiful neoclassical design.

But the interesting thing about the Lincoln Memorial, is that it has all...

It has a lot of modern engineering features.

It's built on 65 feet.

They had to go down 65 feet with pylons, to support this tremendously heavy structure.

So, they used a lot of very modern techniques, and there was a lot of great engineering that was occurring at the turn of the century that allowed them to do that.

But it was also a very controversial project.

When the Lincoln Memorial was proposed, and during the teen early years of the 19th century, there was a strong movement with automobiles coming along to have a Lincoln Highway built, which eventually was approved, but there was a... You know, should we spend money on a highway, or should we build a Lincoln Memorial?

You know, should we honor Lincoln, the great man, with the practical thing a highway, or with the Memorial.

- [Mark] Yeah.

- And there were a lot of people that were opposed to it, but it finally won the day.

And like I said, in 1911, 1912, during a very juried process and some new commissions that were created in Washington, and here's the result.

- [Mark] Bacon got the nod.

- Yes, he did.

- [Mark] Well, thank you, sir.

- Sure.

- Judy, we mentioned earlier, sometimes you have those receptions for the artists.

- Yes.

- At the art exhibit we talked about.

And that happens in this room, and this is probably your most popular room, right?

- Yes it is.

- In the building.

(Mark laughs) - Food is served in here.

- Just because food is served.

(both laugh) What you've done.

This is really...

I don't know what this was used for originally.

It might have been a honchos office or something, 'cause it's really a nice space.

But now it's your Victorian reception room.

- Yes.

And besides the artist receptions, we have a lot of receptions in here.

When we have programs up in the courtroom, we come down afterwards, and this is just mainly the focal place.

- Mm hmm.

- And we have many, many, many different things going on up in the courtroom, as I said.

- Yeah.

And so they come down here, they...

This room can be rented by individuals, we haven't had anything lately.

- Mm hmm.

At least since I've been here.

But you know, we have weddings upstairs, and this room could be rented for a little reception... - Sure for a small group.

- Or showers or whatever.

- Sure.

- [Judy] We even had a mystery dinner at one point in here, where we served the food, and then we had the mystery people walking around.

- [Mark] Uh- huh.

Maybe it works for that, doesn't it?

- [Judy] Yes, it does.

- [Mark] This is interesting, because all through this old building, you'll find these built in vaults.

- [Judy] Yes.

- And this was a very secure building, wasn't it?

- [Judy] Oh, yes.

- And you all don't need vaults anymore, but you use it for storage, right?

- [Judy] That's right.

- So it works out well for you too.

- [Judy] It does.

- You can use that space.

There's one other story in here, that I would like for you to tell us.

(Judy clears throat) This is a remarkable little piece of art, I guess isn't it?

- [Judy] Yes, it is.

- And there's...

I guess back in the day, people used to use human hair for art, but this story is particularly poignant.

- [Judy] It is.

It's a sad story.

In 1875, the lady who did this work, lost seven children in the same year.

And so she went ahead and made this cross out of their hair.

Only one survived.

And he lived to be 94 years old.

- [Mark] (whispering) Oh, my goodness.

So all of her seven kids are memorialized.

- [Judy] That's right.

Mm hmm.

- [Mark] Well, Judy, as a guest to the history museum, one of the things you get to see is the basement where the old boiler is.

- [Judy] Well that's if we open the door, we don't have it open all the time because of the boiler, (mark laughing) the working boiler in there, but yes, this is something that not too many people ever get to see.

- [Mark] No, a lot of times these old boilers would've been torn out, you know?

And they wouldn't...

This probably wasn't original to the original building, but it would've been put in when the radiators were put in.

- [Judy] Right?

Mm hmm.

- [Mark] And as we looked there again to the left, you can see that, this was also had, an opening to the jail cells.

The original jail for the county building was down here.

- [Judy] That's right.

- [Mark] And you can see that those aren't in use anymore.

But what one thing you do have, is you have, as part of the history museum, you have the old jail cell intact, and we can go take a look at that.

Right?

- Yes.

Mm hmm.

- Okay.

Because oh, boy, they built him.

So I doubt very much if anybody ever escaped from this place.

- [Judy] Well, it is hard to tell , because none of us have been around, but I would hope not.

- Yep.

Small quarters, small quarters and thick bars.

You can see from looking at this.

You're not gonna tear this out.

- [Judy] That's right.

- And these two jail cells, two beds in each one.

(Mark brushes his hands together) (door creaks) - Creaky, old iron bars.

(soft thud) - [Judy] We also have some prisoners in there as you can see.

- You have some prisoners in there, I know.

I better close this because I don't want anyone to get out.

- [Judy] That's okay.

(Judy laughs) - Okay.

Terrific.

Yeah.

This is...

These old buildings, you know, if this would've been torn down, the old jail would be gone too, I mean.

- That's right.

Well, you know, they did tear a jail down, which was down the street.

It was a beautiful old building.

I never got to see it.

It was torn down beforehand, but it is just a shame that they tear these down.

- [Mark] Yeah.

Yeah.

You remember we discussed Henry Bacon, the architect who designed the Lincoln Memorial.

Well, that marker commemorating him, will be finished soon and they hope to place it here next to the courthouse this summer.

The old courthouse museum is open Monday through Friday, and the first Sunday of each month.

With another Illinois story in Watseka, I'm Mark McDonald.

Thanks for watching.

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