Sumner Press November 4, 1897 "Sheriff Rodrick with Deputy Thorn and C. W. Roberts, took three prisoners, Harry Wilson, for burglarizing a pie and S. T. Mickey and John Solinger for murder, to the Chester penitentiary on Monday. The pie eater got between five and twenty years, while the murderers get four and one year respectfully." One year for murder..... 20 for stealing a pie. That must have been one Heck of a Pie! Researchers were intrigued by this article, so decided

From the Memoirs of Marion Wright Often times an occasion arose when we needed something from the store and there was no money. If the need was urgent, an article of exchange had to be found. The first resource to check was the egg basket, if there were no eggs, we decided whether or not we could spare old hens. All country stores had a little chicken house to keep the chickens in until the produce man made his weekly pickup. Uncle Sam Moore ran a country store, and they alw

Lester Goff and his wife, Sophronia, are shown with the ice truck that Goff used for his career hauling ice around Lawrence County in the early 1900’s. Prior to taking the route as ice man, Goff hauled materials to construct the Lawrenceville Texaco Refinery. Goff owned a team of horses that was used to pull the ice wagon, but in later years, he obtained the truck. His work hours spanned from 6 a.m. to midnight on most days. The route extended west of Chauncey, south to Lu

Born in Alsace, France, in 1814, Charles Guthneck came to America with a French colony in 1837 and settled near Vincennes. He became a skilled stone-and-brick contractor, building numerous bridges for the Baltimore & Ohio and Southwestern railroads. After marrying Annie McManus in Lawrence County on December 9, 1840, Charles settled there with his family before moving to Jasper County, where he built the Newton jail. Of Charles and Annie’s eight children, five reached adulth

John McCausland was born in 1794 in Ireland. He and his wife Catherine moved from Ohio with their eight children to Lawrence County and purchased land from the US Government for $1.25 an acre in what would become Christy Twp. As a farmer John had to file an agricultural report. He stated that 50 acres was improved and 51 acres was in its natural state. The cash value of his farm was $400. The value of his farming implements was $80. The family-owned 5 horses, 4 mules, 3 milk

Jacob May was a merchant in the newly formed village of Sumner, Lawrence County, Illinois, from 1853 to 1857. His surviving account book, published by the Richland County Genealogical and Historical Society in 1991, offers a revealing glimpse of everyday life in a mid-nineteenth-century rural community. A general store then served as grocer, clothier, hardware supplier, credit desk, and informal gathering place—all before anyone thought to call it “one-stop shopping.” On Octo

On November 8, 1870, 63-year-old farmer Richard Swinson of Petty Township, Lawrence County, Illinois, sat down to settle his affairs by writing his Last Will and Testament—and apparently to assign rooms with the precision of a hotel clerk. After his debts and funeral expenses, his wife Annie received use of the southwest room in the family home, whatever furniture she needed, enough income for her comfort, and a decent burial. The children’s shares had more range. Elizabeth J

Monday we wrote about this boy's father. Here is the son's story. From a Lawrence County hotel to the Union military wire, John C. Watts built a remarkable life around nerve, railroads, and the sound of dots and dashes. Born near Chauncey, Illinois, on February 16, 1847, John Culbertson Watts grew up in a world newly connected by rail and wire. In 1860, his father kept a hotel in Christy Township where two telegraph operators boarded. Family historians recalled that young Jo

In the spring of 1864, Union prisoners at Camp Ford in Texas watched an unlikely farm take shape beyond the stockade. Twenty men leaned into a plow while an older, gray-haired captain directed the work. The ten-acre patch of corn and beans was his answer to hunger—and only one chapter in the remarkable life of Captain John Wesley Watts. Born September 1, 1820, in Scott County, Indiana, Watts came with his family to a farm near Chauncey in Lawrence County, Illinois. After his