Once upon a time in Lawrence County Illinois in the year 1835 Jacob Pargin was born. He was the son of Peter Pargin and Sarah Petty and in 1850, the 15- year- old teenager was living with his parents. Eventually Jacob decided that farm life wasn't exciting enough and enlisted in Captain Watts Company of the 7th Missouri infantry. Clearly, he thought marching and guard duty would be a nice change from milking cows. Jacob's brother Daniel came home disabled before Jacob was e

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

Let’s set the scene: John Pargin, feeling a bit under the weather (and perhaps sensing the Grim Reaper lurking nearby), wrote his Will on March 11, 1821. He didn’t know it, but he was about to become a local celebrity—the first person to have a Will filed in the brand-new County of Lawrence. Not exactly the kind of “first” most people aim for, but hey, history is history. In his Will, John assured everyone he was still of sound mind, though his body was apparently less enthu

Laced and Layered : The History of Lingerie 1850–1950 Presented by the Lawrence County Historical Society Lawrenceville, Illinois — The Lawrence County Historical Society invites the public to slip into something historically comfortable with “Layered and Laced: The History of Lingerie 1850–1950.” This lively program will be held Thursday, March 5, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at the History Center on the Square in Lawrenceville. This event marks the third installment in the Society’s

The Lawrence County Illinois Historical Society proudly announces the TV premiere of its  documentary, "An Eagle on his Button." This film highlights the remarkable stories of African Americans from Lawrence County who served in the Civil War. Tune in to WVUT-22 PBS on SATURDAY February 28, 2026 at 6:00 pm Illinois time (7:00 pm Indiana time) to watch this important local history event. Today we conclude our stories about the Tornado that devastated the Pinkstaff area seventy

The Lawrence County Illinois Historical Society proudly announces the TV premiere of its  documentary, "An Eagle on his Button." This film highlights the remarkable stories of African Americans from Lawrence County who served in the Civil War. Tune in to WVUT-22 PBS on SATURDAY February 28, 2026 at 6:00 pm Illinois time (7:00 pm Indiana time) to watch this important local history event. We continue our stories about the Tornado that devastated the Pinkstaff area seventy years

We continue our stories about the Tornado that devastated the Pinkstaff area seventy years ago on February 25, 1956. The tornado then began its destructive work in the town of Pinkstaff. Willis Siefert,  43-year-old Pinkstaff resident at the time, narrowly escaped being killed when the high winds drove a six-foot piece of two by four lumber through his bedroom wall, like a huge spear, barely missing the bed where he was asleep.  Mr. Seifert had just cashed his weekly paycheck

We continue our stories about the Tornado that devastated the Pinkstaff area seventy years ago on February 25, 1956. (Please refer to the map of locations published Monday February 23 to follow the path of destruction.) As remembered by 94 year old Doris Gosnell.   On February 25 th,  1956, Edgar and Doris Gosnell along with their two daughters, five year old Claire Ann and two year old Vonda were living in the old Gosnell homeplace. Their new home was being built right ne