Friday, February 25th , 1881   “What light through Yonder window breaks?” It is a snowball and Yonder goes the son of the glazier, reported the editor.  More rain, bad roads and high water. The Vincennes paper reported that the little schoolhouse across the river was under water, and the roads on the Illinois side had been rendered impassable by the high waters. Mr. L J Hostetler, a salesman for Dr JH McLean of Saint Louis, met with a very narrow escape from drowning himsel

In the mid‑1850s, Jacob May was running a busy general store in the newly formed village of Sumner, Lawrence County, Illinois. Fortunately for us, his account book for 1853-1857 survived and was later published by the Richland County Genealogical and Historical Society in 1991, giving us a wonderfully nosy look into everyday shopping habits of the era. Benjamin Umfleet was a schoolteacher in Lawrence and Richland Counties. The Account book shows that even then, schoolteach

February 18th, 1881 (Forgive us, we are a little bit behind in the old news, so this is really OLD news) The editor described the night before as so mild and moonlit that even the frost couldn't resist joining the party. But rain then followed bringing gloom. In the morning for sake of variety, the county was having rain and sunshine at the same time. The wicked Wabash was still on the rampage. The classic old stream became more and more frightful each minute of the day. Hun

Th e Rural Republican, published in Lawrenceville, Illinois on Friday, February 11th, 1881     The editor said that while the new bell on the Christian Church rang in soft tones, the weather was still bad.  “The Groundhog did it--saw his shadow and now we have cold weather for six more weeks.” Having had three months of regular old- style winter, the streets were muddy, and there were about a dozen cases of measles in town that had already resulted in one death.   Will M Garr

Friday, February 4th, 1881 Both Vincennes and Lawrenceville newspapers The editor announced that there were six more weeks of winter so don't trade off your overcoat yet and he cautioned not to forget to send her a valentine. The previous Sunday was like a spring day, warm and the sun shone brightly, the snow disappearing rapidly under the warm rays. However, the previous extremely cold weather had affected the health of the county; in many places, measles, pneumonia, rheuma

January 28, 1881:  Still the winter held on with snow and ice, and the sleigh bells sounded merrily in the county’s villages. The weather was disagreeable, the roads were slippery, but health was good. While A W Leech of Sand Barrens was out sleighing, his sleigh turned over and threw him and his lady fiend out.  The editor admonished him to drive with both hands next time.   Mart Drake received an increase in his war pension of $12.00 per month, and the reporter noted that