Princeville High School Class of 1922

As the school year is coming to a close, many of us are celebrating graduations.  The seniors at Princeville High School are graduating on May 27 and the Princeville Grade School Junior High Promotion is May 25.  Do you remember your high school or grade school graduation?  What was it like 90 years ago? 

Today, I want to share with you a program from the Princeville High School graduation in 1922.  There were 18 students in the graduating class.  Many of the students were from families who have been in Princeville for decades.  The 3 photos below depict the cover, inside and back cover of the graduation program.  The graduating students were Elizabeth Cheesman, Esther Calhoun, Sherman Cornish, Lucile Cushing, Ruby Cutler, Evelyn Emery, Armond Foster, Mildred Graham, Paul Hough, Leora Kneer, Jennie LaMay, Emily Matthews, Lois McWhorter, Hazel Pierce, Lowell Pierce, Cecile Sheelor, Gladys Taylor, and Maude White. 

In 1922, there were 7 faculty members at the high school. The Princeville High School faculty in 1922 included C.C. Byerly, Wm. T. Axline, Besse DeBord, Francis Jackson, Gertrude French, Danelia Janssen and Harriet Fast.  One thing that hasn't changed since 1922, is that there were 7 members of the Board of Education.  The board members included HL Matthews, HC Rose, Dr. AJ Hawkes, Dr. EE Henson, Edgar Tretheway, Mrs. Charles Auten and Mrs. Etta Kelly.

Princeville Celebrates 175 Years

The 175th Anniversary of the Village of Princeville is this year.  There are many events planned to celebrate this milestone, many of which, are scheduled during Heritage Days which is June 21 to 24 at Stevens Square.  The Princeville Heritage Museum is working with the Princeville Civic Association to help plan all the festivities.  We are especially excited about the reproduction (pictured above) of the panoramic photo of the Princeville Business District .  Hold yesterday in your hands as you remember Princeville's Demisemiseptcentennial.  Cherish our sepia toned memory of downton Princeville circa 1915, available in the 5" x 30" sintra mounted print or an impressive 60-inch print ready for framing.   All proceeds benefit the Princeville Heritage Museum.  These would make great gifts and would be ideal for hanging in your office or conference room.  Photos are available at the Princeville Heritage Museum.  For questions, please call the museum at 385-1916 or email phmdirector@frontier.com.

5" x 30" panoramic photo: $50
8" x 60" panoramic photo: $175

Princeville's Three Hospitals

Did you know that at one time Princeville had 3 hospitals?  Recently, the Webster family shared some scrapbooks with us.  The scrapbooks had clippings from as early as the late 1920s.  We think this article is from 1943 and appeared in a newspaper from Peoria. 

The caption at the bottom is " This community of 1000 inhabitants, located 25 miles northwest of Peoria is proud of the three hospitals located here.  The Seven Oaks Sanitarium was opened here in 1929 by Miss Marie Moore, RN.  The Princeville Rest House has only been open for one year.  It is run by Mr. and Mrs. John Frericks.  The Nickols Sisters Rest Home has been caring for patients since 1931."

The house at the top is the Seven Oaks Sanitarium and is located on the south side of town on Douglas Street.  It is currently a private residence.  The house in the middle picture was built by the Friedman family and is on the corner of Walnut and High Streets.  It is currently the Hammitt-Hott Funeral home.  This home has undergone many renovations.  The front door the funeral home on High Street is the side of the house.  The house in the bottom picture is on South Cottage Grove and was built by Dr. T.E. Alyea around 1890.  It is currently a private residence.

Last week, a visitor at the museum told us the story of staying at the Nickols Sisters Rest Home before and after she gave birth to her oldest son.  Do you have any memories of these hospitals?

175th Anniversary Cookbook

The 175th Anniversary of the Village of Princeville will be celebrated this year during Heritage Days, June 21-24, 2012. To honor this milestone, the Princeville Heritage Museum is compiling a 175th Anniversary Cookbook. From now until April 1, 2012, we are accepting recipe submissions from current and former residents and families. Recipe forms are available at Princeville Heritage Museum, Princeville Village Hall and Lillie M. Evans Library. You may also submit recipes by email. To email a recipe, click on the link below:

http://www.princevilleheritagemuseum.com/recipe.html

Please submit more than one recipe. Help us out by forwarding this information to your friends and family and ask them to submit some recipes.

If you have any questions, please email phmarchives@frontier.com or call the museum (309)385-1916.

Calendar of Events at the Museum

The museum has quite a few upcoming events on the calendar:

Saturday, February 25 is the fourth annual Snowflake Luncheon. This event if not just for the ladies! Chris Delbridge will be the entertainment. The catered luncheon is served on the museum's snowflake china. There are a few tickets left which can be purchased at Princeville State Bank and the museum. This is a fun event that helps to support the museum so call a friend and plan on attending.




Wednesay, March 14 is the next Community Coffee at the museum from 8:00 am to 10:30. We serve coffee, tea, donuts and home baked goodies. This is a popular event and you never know who will be there. It is fun to sit and visit with friends and neighbors. During the coffee, we usually bring out some old pictures and/or artifacts and usually get some great stories from our residents about the items.





This year is the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the Village of Princeville. The museum is collecting family favorite recipes to publish a cookbook in honor of the Semidemiseptcentennial Anniversary. Recipe forms are available at the museum, Lillie M. Evans Library and Village Hall. Recipe submissions are due by April 1 at those locations. Please send in your family's favorite recipes. This is a great way to honor your ancestors by sumbitting a recipe in their memory.

In May, the museum will be hosting the annual garage sale fundraiser. Doing some spring cleaning? The museum is taking donations now for the garage sale. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and will provide a receipt for your donation just like Goodwill and Salvation Army. Please consider supporting the museum with your cast offs. If you have an item too big to deliver, please call and we can make arrangements for a pick up.

Lastly, we are planning a beer and wine tasting in April. In the past, we have done this event in February. We will send out more information as soon as the details are finalized.

As always, we are looking for volunteers. Whether you can help weekly, monthly or occasionally, we rely on volunteers. Our volunteers help with artifacts, clerical work,event planning, event set up and much more. Please call the museum and let us know when you can help.

Northwest Corner of Walnut and Evans Streets

Today I want to share with you two pictures of the northwest corner of Walnut and Evans street. The color postcard is from the files at the Lillie M. Evans Library, the other is from a 1942 Peoria Star newspaper. The Lillie M. Evans Library is currently on this corner. The color postcard shows a two story building in the background with a balcony. At that time it was known as the Hitchcock Building and, according to stories, housed a tavern, dance hall, meeting room and was used as a place to meet. The building in the foreground was Village Hall. In the newspaper photo, you can see that the building had been added on to. If you look closely, you can see "Weaver's Hatchery" on the building. From reading papers here at the museum, a person could buy eggs, chickens and other goods at the hatchery. Do you know any more about this building and how it was used?

UPDATE: One of our members just stopped by and says he remembers the second floor of the Hitchcock Building had a wood floor. The wood floor was great for dancing. They even roller skated up there. He also mentioned the second floor of Village Hall had a basketball court. The windows were covered with wire fence. They boy scouts met upstairs as well as other community groups. The first floor had a kitchen. The Princeville Kiwanis Club met on the first floor with the ladies cooking a meal in the kitchen to serve the members. Please share any of your memories of these buildings with us by leaving a comment.

The Thief Detective and Mutual Aid Association of Princeville

Recently, the museum was given the opportunity to view and scan some old photos, booklets, newsletters and papers that have been in storage at the Lillie M. Evans . We will be sharing many of these items with you via the blog. The originals are available by request at the library. One of the first items I want to share with you is from a booklet published by the Princeville Telephone in 1902.

The Thief Detective and Mutual Aid Association (T.D. & M.A.A.) of Princeville was organized during the Civil War in August of 1863. Horses and mules were in great demand during the war which resulted in organized horse theft across the country, reaching the Princeville area in 1863. The purpose of the T.D. & M.A.A. was to recover stolen property and capture the thief. During the years the T.D. & M.A.A. was in existence, they recovered quite a bit of stolen property for its members including horses and clover seed.

The T.D. & M.A.A. was founded by William P. Smith, Solomon Bliss, Charles Beach, Vaughn Williams, and S.S. Slane. William P. Smith was the first captain and was succeeded by Solomon Bliss, H.F. Irwin, John Corbett, J.D. Hammer, and S.S. Slane. Other members named in the booklet include J.T. Slane, T. Moody, Frank Beall, Emmanuel Keller, John Miller, A.B. DeBord, Charles Taylor, M.V. Conklin, Dr. T.E. Alyea, Joseph Friedman and W.H. Wisenberg. Photos of many of these men are in this booklet. The photos are at the bottom of this post. They are a group of serious looking men!

The booklet includes a few stories about how they recovered horses and captured the thieves, including a trip to Cuba, Illinois, to pick up horses that were stolen from Edward Auten. There is another story about the capture of the thief of clover seed and the return of the stolen goods.

Come on out to the museum to see a copy of this booklet and view the other pieces of Princeville history that we have on display. Researching your family history? The museum has numerous resources available to help you research families from Princeville and the surrounding area.