High-resolution, full color images available online
Search, browse, read, and print yearbook pages
View college, high school, and military yearbooks
Browse our digital annual library spanning centuries
Support the schools in our program by subscribing
Privacy, as we do not track users or sell information
Page 29 text:
“
Rowlands were of thts early Englrsh and lrlsh stock many of whorn ha I9 lned w1th me for the century and have been promment ln my htstory Now for the Court House The flrst County Cornmtsstoners rn l84l Lot Basden Amos Bullard and Hugh Calhoun held thetr ftrst meetmg rn the log cabln of Bentamtn Bogard wht h stood on the present stte of the Charlte Harpster place on East Maln Street Thls may be located by those who do not know the Harpster place by the fuzzy old aroup of trees near the c1ty l1m1ts on tne north srde of East Maln In 1842 the Commrsstoners agreed wtth the Trustees of the newly organlzed Methodtst Church to erect a comblned Court House lvlethodrst Church and School House at a cost of not to exceed S200 Thrs noble butldrng was con structed of logs elght rounds hlgh The Methodlsts burlt 1t and the contract called for nrne rounds hrgh but when 1t was flnlshed 1t only counted up to erght Thrs means that there were only erght logs htgh mstead of nme and that any srx foot plussers who h1t the1r heads on the low rafters were sure to blame the Methodrsts for not l1v1ng up to tl'e1r contract Thts bu1ld1ng was located on Lot 4 of Lllley s addttron and stood for many years Just across the street west from the present lllmots Central depot In 1843 the second court house was erected on the present stte and was a commodrus two story structure costrng over S3 OOO It bankrupted the con tractors Asa Bearrd and W H Reed out was fmrshed by the help of Henry Sprrng three story monument of archttecture costmg over S25 OOO Whrch was destroyed by flre catchlng from a locomottve IH the brrds nests rn the belfry The present very fme butldlng was constructed IH 1916 at a cost of about S100 U00 and should be good for many years There IS only one thrng that I do not llke about the present court house and that IS the clock The clock ltself IS all rtght but the old school bell that was taken from the old Central School bulldmg burlt 1n 1867 doesnt always agree wlth a 1916 clock The clock was donated by Mr Iames E Wharf one of the former mayors and son Eugene Wharf and other rnterested CIIIZGHS and IS a good clock but oh' that bell' A few years ago rt got some very embar rassrng publrcrty by gotng on a strrke which would make one of our modern C I O strlkes look amateurrsh That clock struck over three hundred ttmes vrthout tollrng a breath and IS sald to ha I9 created a world s record for strrkes and was my face red? If they hadn t got the d rned thtng stopped I d have been 200 by now I lrke to dote on those early years as all old folks love to do I was known far and w1de as the pamted town Most early towns were largely log cab1ns llke Watertown Eransonla and Eatrvrew Not so Olney From the very flrst, rrost of the houses were made wtth real clap boards and were pamted whmte and as today I am noted for my whlte squtrrels so a century ago I was noted for my whlte houses Whlte has always been my predomlnant color Whtte houses whrte people and whrte squrrrels I have gone to consrderable detall to grve you the flrst few years of my ltfe From now on I must of necesstty htt only the hrgh places By 1847 I had grown to where I was gettlng to be a problem so tt was suggested that I be Twenty frve . , . , v The second court house served until 1874 when it was replaced by a , . I I K I I Y I I ,,-. . ' e ' , ' A , . .
”
Page 30 text:
“
made an lncorporated vtllage Thts was done and Mr henry Sprmg became the Presldent of the V1llage Board lohn M VV1lson wno was later Mayor and Clty Attorney was my Vlllage Clerk Twenty years later l had grown so rapldly that 1t was thought well to 1ncorporate me as a Ctty and 11'1 1867 l became a full fledged Clly government and have remalned so ever smce Mr lohn M Wtlson became my f1rst Mayor SINCE 1916 1 have been governed by the Comm1ss1on form of government and one of these days they are llkely to put me under thls new tangled Clty Manager plan but I should worry I ha Je gone along wtth whatever they gave me and made the most of xt lt 1snt so much the klnd of government as the krnd ol men who are ln charge of 1t that counts anyway l have had plenty of good bad and mdtfferent men partxct larly the la ter Dr Fntschle has been at the helm most of the t1me durtng the last twenty four years and v1h1le l may not have broken any speed records under Doc s gtndance as have some of h1s famous race horses 1 havent any quarrel w1th Doc We ve gotten along and have made good steady progre s Nh1le some of our more ambltlous nelghbors may soon be feellng l1ke the morn1ng after the mght before Chnstlan Porter IS my present boss as h1s father was before h1m and I th1nk Chrls and I w1ll h1t 1t off 111 fme style 1 have always been Justly proud of my reputat1on as a bus1ness center ot thls part ol the state and Justly so My reta1l d1str1ct has always been far ln advance of any nelghborlng c1ty of approxlmate S1 e and IS even more so today than formerly lf you dont belleve me look me over and compare me wlth some others Then you w1ll se that no mtstake was made when 1 was chosen mstead of Watertown Fransonla or Fatrvlew Pray look at them now and then take a prolonged sgumt at me Watertown and Fransoma are no more although there IS st1ll a school house by the latter name FGITVIGW st1ll remalns but that name IS gone and 1t 1S now Calhoun and wrth the exceptlon of a basketball tournament a number of years ago has never been a ser1ous r1val My early merchants Havtllah Gunn Henry Sprmg and Wm Newell not only d1d a blg reta1l busmess but engaged 1n pork pack1ng Wlth the exceptton of Mr Sprmg they shlpped thetr p1ckled and salted pork down Fox from Watertown durmg the sprmg flood tage to New Orleans and that brlngs us to our next 1Op1C Now hold on to your seats w1'h both hands whlle 1 back up about ten years But what 1 ten years tn a century? Certatnly noth1ng to worry about About 1850 I began to hear rumbllngs and grumblmgs that I was stuck ln the mud and wouldnt get any place unttl l got a ra1lroad Ra1lroads were all the style then as concrete hlghways and atrports became n uch later As ludge Shaw came to my rescue ln the begmmng so agarn a w1se and uprtght Iudge was responslble for my gett1ng the ruch needed ra1lroad ludge Alfred Kttchell who owned about ha11 of n y south half dedtcated h1msel' to the task of gett1ng a ra1lroad He he pea organtze ard fmance the OhlO and MISQISSIDDI Ra1lroad and when tney probablv w1th mahce aforethouuht planned to run the road a couple ot mtles south ludae Kttchell 1 ent down 1n h1s own pocket and pa1d them several tho sands t dollars to con e through T enty sur , . . 1 . 1 . 1 . , , ., .. 1 1. . . 1 , . 1 f s . . 1 1 . . 1 . 1 V 1 . 1 Q Q . I , , A . .1 1 .1 . . . 1 D Y 1 1 , 1 1 . . , , 1 1 1 1 ,S ' , . . . 1 1 ' I , . . . .Z . 1 . . , 1 ' ' Q ' - . V 1 c, , . 1 , . . I 1 1 1 - 1 - 1 . . 0 . ' Q ' . .F . 1 1 . .J . .. . . Y . 1 1 . . 1 . . 1 V 1 . . . . V . 1 1 , . , 1 Y . . 1 , 1 . , 1 . . 1 1 1 1 1 . 1 1 1 1 A - 1 , 4 , , . lv . , , 4 1 1 1 l l ll 4 w 1 c.. ., C 1 1 VAV , ' 1.
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
