In rural America between about 1870 and 1900, dentists often served communities in a practical and irregular way rather than functioning like the modern family dentist. Regularly scheduled preventive visits were not generally considered necessary by many families; people usually sought dental care when pain, infection, broken teeth, or the need for an extraction made treatment unavoidable. Because small towns and farming communities could not always provide enough steady pati

Daniel Swinehart Jr. was born in Ohio in 1827 and later made his home in Lawrenceville, Illinois. By 1878, he was advertising in the local paper as a veterinary surgeon—an occupation that would have carried real value in a rural community where horses, cattle, hogs, and other livestock were essential to transportation, farm labor, food, and family income. In the late nineteenth century, a “veterinary surgeon” in the countryside was often called when an animal’s illness or inj

Allen Charles Gosnell was born in 1822 in Ohio. Three of his daughters married Ruddy brothers in Vincennes. When the 1870 census was taken Allen was a shoemaker in Lawrenceville, Lawrence County Illinois. In the 1878 Rural Republican, A C Gosnell advertised that he was a shoe and boot maker and repaired harness. In the late nineteenth century, a boot and shoemaker held a practical and highly visible place in a small town. Before ready-made shoes were widely available to ever

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For the Ladies: At our infamous lingerie program, Nancy King revealed that the Ladies of Lawrence bravely squeezed into these “engineering marvels”—risking a little health for a lot of va-va-voom. As the April 1881 edition of the Rural Republican reported: “The Robinson Brothers moved into the rooms formerly occupied by Barnes and Abernathy ." The editor could hardly contain his excitement when he discovered Bortrees’s Adjustable Duplex Corset —'undeniably the best on the m

Dr. Harlie V. Lewis, the oldest physician in Lawrence County in 1939, died at his home at 809 13th St at 3:25 pm Saturday February 1. He suffered a stroke at 8:30 that morning and his condition was considered serious from the first. Dr. Lewis had been in his usual health the last month except for a slight cold that had confined him to his home in the latter part of that week. Dr. Lewis was born in Bridgeport, Illinois, the son o f William M. Lewis and Katherine Eaton Lewis

Friday, January 14th, 1881 The weather was thawing, and the fine sleighing of the past month was almost over. Wanted : A good lively undertaker to bury deadbeats. The editor appeared to being having a problem with ‘leeches’ reading the newspaper as long as they wanted and then leaving it at the post office to be returned with “refused” marked on it. Wanted: to trade or sell one- horse light open buggy. Will trade for a good milk cow. Harness goes with the buggy. Notice: The

George W Glover held the record for being in the same line of business longer than anyone in Lawrenceville at the time of his death. He opened his confectionery on the West side of the square on a Sunday morning in March 1942 to begin the second half of a century in business. He had completed 50 years when he closed the store Saturday night. Fifty years in one city is a long time when one considers that he worked seven days a week, including the holidays. Arriving at noon M

January 7 1881 ‘Ye tax gatherer is abroad in the land with his big book; Don't sic the dog on him.’ The tax collector counted 1,430 dogs in the county and hopefully was not bitten by any of them. The 17 th snowstorm of the year occurred the day before the paper was published. Notwithstanding the extreme cold weather, a little Seed came to the surface in Lawrenceville last week. (The researchers haven’t learned who the parents were yet.) Reverend John Hennessy delivered qui

The Redman General Merchandise Store in Sumner was owned by Albert Lloyd Redman. Albert Lloyd Redman was born In Mount Carmel Illinois on June 8, 1861, to William and Jenny Redman . He was nine years old when the 1870 census was taken; he and his family lived in Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana. Ten years later the family had moved to Mount Carmel, Wabash County, Illinois. Albert was working as a clerk in the dry goods store. He had managed to get an 8 th grade educat