2019

Programs

NOV MEETING:

John and Gail Guzzardo are pictured during John's "Our Italian Heritage" presentation at the annual meeting of the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society at the Blue Dog Inn.

LINCOLN - Longtime Lincoln restaurant owner and former mayor John Guzzardo presented "Our Italian Heritage" at the annual meeting of the Logan County Genealogical and Historical Society on Monday.

Guzzardo's father, Dominic (Doc) Guzzardo was born in Italy and moved to Lincoln from LaGrange in 1947 and brought Willow Farms Dairy to Lincoln. The dairy was located in the basement of the long time Guzzardo Family home at 812 Clinton St. It later became known as Fullerton Dairy. In 1957 Doc and his wife Rose opened a pizza business in the rear of the Arcade, which gradually expanded into the present day facility and serves hundreds of diners weekly. His son Nick is the third generation family member to operate the business.

OCT MEETING:

Nancy Gehlbach of Lincoln spoke on Chautauqua Summers and Saturday Nights in Logan County during the 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21, meeting of the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society.   Gehlbach, a researcher and writer for the Our Times publication, displayed a map of the Chautauqua Grounds.




<--
click here for more
<-- New Herald News:  Chautauqua Summers and Saturday Nights revisited at the LCGHS
SEPT MEETING:  
LDN: 25 Sept., 2019 Donath restoring newly found 19th century Lincoln newspaper collection  Bill Donath presented an update program on projects he has been working on, primarily, the Shew Collection. This donated collection consists of Lincoln Herald newspapers covering the period, 1873-1895 and print jobs done by the Lincoln Herald covering the period, 1897-1901. The collection was donated by the Shew family after they closed MKS Jewelry in 2017. They found the collection in a closed off storage area in the attic. Since then, Bill has been working on preserving the collection and preparing it for digitizing. He will be completing the second year of working on the collection in November.
 
The original condition of the Shew Collection of The Lincoln Herald when it first came to LCGHS. Bill Donath is transforming this jumble into a well cataloged and usable research tool.

Some of the tools of the trade for the preservationist include protective gloves, simple pink erasures, breathing protection, and a gentle vacuum.

Before cleaning on the left and after a partial cleaning on the right, the paper went from not being legible to easy to read. This is the February 12, 1880 edition of The Lincoln Herald. “Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln,” said Bill Donath.
JULY MEETING:  
      Abraham Lincoln was not an, "Aw Shucks kind of guy” according to Ron Keller, who spoke about his book, "Lincoln in the Illinois Legislature” this week to members and guests of the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society.  Keller said Lincoln, who served in the Illinois Legislature from 1834-1846, had developed political ambitions during a time when the population of Illinois was rapidly expanding and Illinois was becoming known as the Capital of the Midwest.
As a native, Lincoln utilized the political power of Sangamon County and in 1839 had the state capital moved from Vandalia to Springfield. At that time he was the leader of the "Long Nine,” with all members of the group being six foot or over in height.
    
     Accomplishments during Lincoln’s tenure included forging the separation of Logan County from Sangamon County, creation of the Illinois-Michigan canal, and opposing the separation of Chicago from the State of Illinois. Lincoln also supported teacher certification and was the only member of the legislature in 1837 who was listed in favor of protesting against slavery.  During the Panic of 1837 Keller said Lincoln advocated the continuation of internal improvements and became known for building opportunities for the common man, stating, "Lincoln never forgot the people.”

For complete article, go to --> New Herald News - Keller LCGHS Talk
Ron Keller will be presenting, "Lincoln in the Illinois Legislature," at 6 p.m. Monday, July 15, at the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society, 114 N. Chicago St.  "Lincoln in the Illinois Legislature," is the title of Keller's most recent book, which follows Abraham Lincoln through his days in state government.
Keller is an associate professor of history and political science at Lincoln College, serves as a Lincoln city alderman, and is managing director of the Abraham Lincoln Center for Character Development at the college.  In addition he is a past director of the Lincoln Heritage Museum at Lincoln College. 
< click here for more >

JUNE MEETING: Lawyer Abraham Lincoln Circuit Markers ...
Chuck McCue talking about the DAR monuments on the 1850's Illinois 8th Judicial Circuit.  McCue presented a program on the Lincoln Circuit markers in Logan County during the 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 17, meeting of the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society, 114 N. Chicago St. in Lincoln. 

Granite stones bearing the words, "Abraham Lincoln Traveled This Way As He Rode the Circuit," were placed at each courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law, including those at Postville and in Mt. Pulaski.  For more, go to --> http://newherald.news/marking-the-th-judicial-circuit-p9977-103.htm

Lincoln Daily News Article <-- click here

Editor's notes: 

     In 1848, David B. Campbell was elected Prosecuting Attorney for the 8th Judicial Circuit and retained this post until his death in 1855. [Stringer, p 325] The shifting of the county seat to Mount Pulaski and the election of Davis and Campbell “really marked the beginning of a distinctive Logan County residential bar. Prior to that, Logan County had been one of the legal ‘stakes of Zion’, Zion, in this case, meaning Springfield.” The first group of Logan County Lawyers were: Lionel P. Lacey, Samuel C. Parks and William H. Young, all three of whom settled for a time in the county seat town of Mount Pulaski, and later moved with the court to the town of Lincoln. [Stringer, p. 323]

     Through his successful law practice, Lincoln had accumulated a little more money, so he set up a onehorse buggy, a “sorry and shabby looking affair, which he generally used when the weather promised bad and this he frequently rode from Springfield into Postville and Mount Pulaski. It was on this famous Eighth Circuit, of which Logan was a part, that Lincoln shone as a nisi prius lawyer, cracked his jokes, told his stories, fraternized with the people, entered into their joys and sorrows, and laid the foundations of his future greatness.” [Stringer, p. 215]

     Throughout most of these years, the Illinois 8th Judicial Circuit required traveling approximately 450 miles by horseback or horse and buggy through fourteen counties [reduced to eight counties in 1853 and further reduced to five counties in 1857], including Mount Pulaski, the Logan County Seat from the spring of 1848 through the fall of 1855. The circuit was nearly 140 miles north by south and 110 miles east by west, nearly one-fifth of the entire area of the state. [1850’s Illinois 8th Judicial Circuit]

For a more complete researched article, go to -->  Mount Pulaski & the Lincoln Court in Mount Pulaski 1836 – 1855


 

MAY MEETING: Cheryl Baker of Emden on her Postcard Collection
Logan County Genealogical and Historical Society hears how postcards show us our history ... "“Postcards are a unique way to study history,” Baker said. Postcards not only contain messages, but the cards themselves tell a story." -  
<-- click above

APR MEETING:  Bill Donath - The Spanish Influenza Epidemic in Logan Co., Illinois -

1st Report ... go to --> http://newherald.news/lcghs-meeting-apr-donath-to-present-spanish-influenza-epidemic-p9198-103.htm
"Bring out yer dead!" Donath presents on 1918 Spanish Flu Edidemic ... T.A. Bergin, Sat., Apr. 20, 2019
As reports of measles outbreaks spread across the country in 2019, Lincoln researcher Bill Donath brought the local horrors of a century-old epidemic to life in his presentation on the Spanish flu, which killed over 600 people in Logan County, over 600,000 nationwide, and 50 to 100 million worldwide from 1918 to 1920, at the April meeting of the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society.  "It was like a switch flipped on, then off,” Donath said of the epidemic; the first local case was documented Oct. 5, 1918 and the last in April 1920. He spent hours researching newspaper and other archives and reviewing death certificates at the Logan County Courthouse, which he said gave him an odd, nauseas feeling at times. "This was an extremely difficult research. I had to walk away multiple times.” The origin of what has come to be known as the Spanish flu is still debated, but it is thought to have been a mutation of Type A/N1H1 influenza spread from pigs in Kansas to birds to humans, then carried around the world by soldiers as World War I wound down. 
2nd Report ... go to --> http://newherald.news/bring-out-yer-dead-donath-presents-on-spanish-flu-epidemic-p9293-103.htm
   
MAR MEETING:  Pat Freeze - Can you find your genealogy in your church?  
   
FEB MEETING:  Ann Mosley - Abraham Lincoln & the Founding Fathers -
Anne Moseley, Director of the Lincoln Heritage Museum, is pictured during her presentation of "Lincoln and our Founding Fathers" to members and guests of the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society on Monday evening.  According to Moseley, Abraham Lincoln's favorite founding fathers were Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. Lincoln gained insights from Paine's skepticism and humor, Jefferson's way with words and writing style, and Washington as a freedom fighter. Lincoln often referred to the Bible, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
 
   



JAN MEETING:  
 
 
 Previous LCGHS Programs & Events <-- click here