|
At the July Logan County
Genealogical and Historical Society meeting, Shelly Klinger shared
some little known Middletown history.
LCGHS program chair Marla Blair said Middletown used to be a more
important town in the county, and the area, because there was so
much going on there. With much of it “faded” and “gone away,” Blair
said, we don’t think of Middletown having the history it does.
Klinger lived in Middletown from
birth to age 18 then lived in various other places in Illinois for
the next 40 years before moving back to help care for her aging
mother. Klinger said people act like she was never gone.
As Klinger sorts through the many items in her mother’s house, and
many storage units, she has found a variety of artifacts from
Middletown.
Klinger brought some of the
artifacts including newspaper clippings, a 1952 Lincoln Community
High School yearbook and a book called Memories of Middletown
Illinois.
Middletown used to have three churches and three bars. The
Presbyterian Church in Middletown is still there. Established in
1835, it is the oldest Presbyterian church in Logan County. Klinger
said, once a month, she and several others cook meals in the
basement of the church to distribute to the elderly.
The church bought pews from another
Presbyterian Church in Springfield that Abraham Lincoln and his
family attended. When Klinger is at church, she wonders whether she
is sitting in the same spot Lincoln sat in. She will even move down
the pew a bit thinking it may be his old spot.
A few years ago, the Knapp Chestnut Becker Library in Middletown
caught fire when a neighbor’s fire got out of control. The roof was
destroyed. The top part of the library contained uniforms of people
from Middletown who fought in different wars. Klinger said people
came together and raised thousands of dollars to help repair the
building. It has not yet reopened, but they hope to someday.
The library is the oldest brick
building in Logan County. Klinger said, in the library, there were
two drawers full of birth and death certificates dating all the way
back to 1848. Causes of death noted on the certificates include
childbirth, flu, cancer and being drug down the street by a horse.
Klinger brought samples of her birth certificate and her older
brother’s birth certificate to show how different they looked.
In 1860, Klinger said the first murder in Middletown occurred when
John Renna shot and killed James Rockford.
Stagecoach Inn was originally in Middletown. Klinger said the inn
was disassembled and moved about a mile and a half out of town.
Later, the inn was moved back to Middletown piece by piece.
[to top of second column] |
Abraham Lincoln
reportedly stayed at the inn on his route between Peoria and
Springfield when he travelled the circuit. Unfortunately, the
books with his signature burned. Klinger said there is
confirmation that Lincoln’s wife and children stayed there July
1847 and October 1848. She would love to know where the books
are at confirming the information.
When items found in the inn were auctioned off, KIinger’s mom
bought a tall wooden piano from Abraham Lincoln’s days there for
one dollar. Klinger said the piano made a “thunk” sound and when
they opened the lid. They found a coronet, accordion and one
dollar bill inside. Klinger donated the piano back to the
Stagecoach Inn in 1988 but is unsure where the piano is now.
The Stagecoach Inn building is now called Dunlap House. Klinger
said people can make appointments to tour the house. People come
all the way from Peoria to see it.
Middletown was established in 1832, so the town will have a
bicentennial anniversary in six years. About 50 years ago, the
town’s population was 650. Klinger said it is now just 316. In
1910, Middletown had a big upswing and the population grew to
751.
There has been some speculation that Middletown was being
considered as the capital of Illinois, though Klinger does not
have a true record of that.
The town is nine blocks long, six
blocks wide and .24 square miles. Klinger said in the 1940s, 1950s
and 1960s, there were brick buildings up everywhere in Middletown.
Over the years, Middletown has had a laundromat, restaurant, opera
house, grocery store, feed store and candy store. Klinger recalls
buying two pieces of hot dog shaped bubble gum at the candy store
for a penny. The town had a ballroom that later became a roller rink
and bowling alley.
Middletown had a jail at one point and iron bars from it were later
on a window in the library. Unfortunately, these bars were thrown
away after the fire at the library.
Biggs feed store had a soda machine. The sodas cost a nickel, and
Klinger said it was a challenge to get the soda out. The floors were
beautiful old wood and very dirty, but Klinger said she loved “the
smell of history in there.”
Just a mile and a half outside of town, there was a coal mine.
Klinger said there are now several sinkholes in Middletown. One is
almost big enough a car could fit in it.
Upgrades planned for Middletown include the park getting new
equipment and a new water treatment plant being built just outside
of town.
The old grocery store is being rebuilt to use as a storage facility.
Though Klinger is not quite sure where Middletown got its name, it
possibly comes from being in the middle of the state. Others note it
is also halfway between Peoria and Springfield.
Events in Middletown
Many years ago, Senator Daniel Webster ended up in Middletown when
his wagon wheel broke. While in town, Webster visited the school and
then the grocery store. Klinger said it was a highlight for the
kids.
When Klinger was growing up, she remembers being involved in many
parades down the park square in town.
Middletown used to have car races twice a year for two weeks. People
would come from around the state and several states away for the
races.
The Vin Fiz flyer [which was piloted by Cal Rogers and intended to
be the first American transcontinental flight] made an unplanned
landing in Middletown years ago. Klinger said people were excited to
see the plane.
Klinger recalls attending Royal Neighbors of America meetings with
her mom and still has a gavel with the name on it. There would be 30
or 40 women at these meetings. Klinger said Royal Neighbors of
America started as more of a social club, then many became involved
in the suffrage movement. Later, it focused more on offering life
insurance. Chapters of the Royal Neighbors of America also help with
special projects in communities.
With the bicentennial coming up in 2032, Klinger is hoping
Middletown has a special celebration to commemorate the anniversary.
She would like to see the town have a parade and perhaps even a
carnival.
The next Logan County Genealogical and Historical Society meeting
will be Monday, September 21 at 6:30 in the LCGHS building on
Chicago Street.
[Angela Reiners] |
