Where History Is Happening

Links to some upcoming events:

Norwood Park 136th Birthday Party
Saturday, July 24
12:00pm - 4:00pm
and 5:00pm - 10:30pm
The Norwood Park Historical Society celebrates the city's 136th anniversary with two free events on the grounds of the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House.
Re-enactor Kevin Naughton sets up a Mini Civil War Encampment camp on the lawn from noon to 4 p.m.
Guests are encouraged to visit him, ask questions, and learn all about the life and times of a Civil War soldier.
In the evening, bring your blanket and picnic dinner after 5 p.m., and dine al fresco on the front lawn of Chicago's oldest home. At 8:30 p.m., a comedy will be shown. While these events are free, donations will be gladly accepted.

Steam Century Mystery
Saturday, July 17
2:00 pm until 10:00 pm
Midway Village Museum in Rockford invites guests into the fantastical alternative history that is known as steampunk. Steam Century Mysteries presents "It came from the Arbor or The Implications of Ill-Gotten Memoria Upon Community Hematology." Guests will experience a unique, truly immersive Victorian era science fiction/fantasy with the entire Victorian Midway Village as a backdrop. A special barn dance and steampunk vendors are also part of this event.
Group reservations and Victorian costumes are encouraged!
Cost is $35 per person and $30 for museum members. Recommended for ages 14 and up unless accompanied by a parent.
Registration required.

Summer Sundays at the Colonel Palmer House
Sunday, July 18
1:00pm -4:00pm
Join us for a peek at 19th century farming and household chores.Take a wagon ride through the field, learn to shuck and
shell corn and then grind it to make meal. Try your hand at kneading bread, shelling nuts, and making butter. Then try
doing laundry in a wash tub with a wringer, cleaning rugs on a clothes line or piecing a quilt on a treadle sewing
machine.
Demonstrators will encourage you to give it a try. Fun for kids and adults alike. Tour the historic home and learn Palmer family history from costumed staff. Displays and a craft area for the children. Admission is free.

Unearthing Buried Secrets about Our Local History

Kate recently spent an afternoon at Garfield Farm in LaFox near Geneva helping with the archeological dig that was held for two weeks during June. After taking part in the Joseph Naper Homestead dig in Naperville, Kate was excited to find yet another project where she could help and learn more about Illinois in the early 1800's.

If you go out to Garfield Farm today, the main feature is the brick inn that stood off the Chicago-St. Charles road. Timothy and Harriet Garfield bought an already-existing farm and built the inn in 1846. They dug the clay from the banks of the river, molded and fired the bricks, and then built the handsome structure that you can visit today.

The inn offered meals, lodging and stabling for travelers horses as they traveled up to or down from Chicago. A separate ladies parlour added elegant privacy to this still-rustic frontier landscape. Gentlemen could buy whiskey and tobacco to enjoy in the taproom which was less refined.

The farm stayed in the family for generations until the last of the family, Elva Ruth Garfield turned it into a museum on early farming life in 1977. It is rare among living history museums in that all of the buildings belong to the site where they are currently found instead of being moved from their original sites.

While the Garfields started the innkeeping business, they purchased the land from the Culverson family who lived in a log house that they built in 1836. No doubt the Garfields also lived in the log house until the brick inn was built.

Many other buildings have been built on the grounds, including a hay and grain barn, a horse barn and several other structures. In the last twenty years the 1840's Atwell Burr house was also moved onto the grounds. But the original log house disappeared long ago.

Locating the foundation for this cabin was one of the goals of the archeological program, as well as finding artifacts from the era. A dig in 2006 revealed the cellar and a five-year investigation is planned.

The day that Kate went, the archeologist was continuing from the previously revealed cellar. Most of the land around there had been cultivated through the years, so artifacts have been churned into the ground, mixing beer tabs with old pottery, but there were a few interesting finds.

Glass, both old and new, and ceramic shards were found, as well as brick, worked flint chips and nails.

Although the first session has passed, volunteers will be needed for the second session in September. If you are interested in helping with the dig, you can register by contacting the farm at info@garfieldfarm.org.

Congratulations to Our Bookfest Winner!

The Glen Ellyn Bookfest was held downtown on Saturday, June 19, sponsored Glen Ellyn's Downtown Alliance. Shops hosted local authors for book sales and signings.

Kate enjoyed hanging out at the Vintage Living Store, a charming couple of rooms overflowing with old photos, textile, jewelry and other treasures. Chatting with visitors about local history and their own writing aspirations was quite enjoyable!

Visitors were able to sign up to win a family pass to the Naper Settlement Living History Museum. The drawing was held and congratulations go to Luisa from Glen Ellyn! Luisa was thrilled and said it was the first time she had ever won anything. Her pass for two adults and two children is in the mail to her now.

A big thank you to Luisa and all the other people who stopped by to buy books and say hello! Hopefully, Glen Ellyn will hold another Bookfest next summer!

Where History Is Happening

Links to some upcoming events:

Summer Fashion Show
Saturday, July 31
12:00pm - 3:00pm

Come be a part of the Flagg Township Museum Summer Fashion Show and Luncheon!
See the show or be a model yourself! We will be serving a light lunch before the show.
$25/ticket-includes the luncheon and fashion show.
Contact: hubhistory@gmail.com or 815-762-6199
Seating is limited.

Guided Walking Tour of Somonauk Street
Sunday, July 4
1:00 pm

Guided walking tour of historic Somonauk Street are led by Stephen Bigolin on the first Sunday of the month throughout the summer. The tour takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Handouts are included.t
$5 per person
Begins at Sycamore Farmer's Market, Somonauk and Elm Street.

1840 Durant House Museum
Sundays until
October
1:00am -4:00pm

Visit this season for the utmost in 19th-Century hospitality and innovative living history programs!
Our dynamic approach breathes new life into history and highlights the extraordinary realities of 1840s life. Pastimes, laundry, food preparation, and tools are just a few of the regular features. Complete your trip back in time by trying a few period games and toys, as well as heirloom arts and crafts.
Be sure to also visit Sholes Schoolhouse across the road from the Durant House.

Local Brewery Figures in National Lore

Naperville was first settled by New Englanders, but German immigrants were right behind them -- and they brought the beer.

Although Naperville was first settled by New Englanders of Irish and Scottish extraction, a wave of German immigration occurred soon after and they brought their beer-brewing tradition with them.

One of the early brewery operators was Peter Stenger. Peter and his wife Barbara arrived from Bavaria with most of their large family. The oldest daughter, Anna, remained in Bavaria with her husband, but the other nine children immigrated with their parents to America.

Peter Stenger purchased a small brewery already in operation in Naperville and with his sons, John and Nicholas, built it up into the largest brewery in Naperville. The Stengers also hired a young master brewer who had been apprenticed in Dortmund and worked as a brewer in several German cities.

This young man impressed the Stengers with both his brewing and business skills. In fact, the legend has it that they were so impressed, Coors was encouraged to become a permanent employee of the Stenger Brewery by marrying one of the boss's daughters.

Apparently, the young brewmaster was not interested, because in 1872 he left Naperville and traveled west to Colorado where he purchased a share in a Denver bottling company. Soon, he acquired the entire company, and by 1873 he had also bought the Golden City Tannery, turning it into the Golden Brewery.

That brewery in Golden, Colorado still brews beer bearing the young brewmaster's name, which was Adolph Coors. Some Illinois folks remember when one couldn't buy Coors beer on this side of the Mississippi, but few remember that he started his American career in the Chicago area.

Adolph Coors died in 1929 at the age of 82 after falling from a Virgina hotel window. Some accounts say it was an accident, but others say it was suicide. The 1929 date is suggestive, but the Crash was still some months off. Perhaps the old brewmaster, forced to manufacture malted milk because of Prohibition, had simply had enough.