Newspaper Clippings for
August, 1940
loose obituary, source unknown 15 August 1940
Ellin S. Bain
Mrs. Ellin S. Bain, long a resident of Millburn, and widow of the
late Alfred Bain, passed away this morning at the home of Dr. Homer
Jamison where she resided.
Mrs. Bain was born April 23, 1863 at Millburn and was married
September 27, 1889 to Alfred Bain, the marriage united two well know
families of the county.
Surviving is a daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Westcott of New York, a
sister Mrs. Lucy Bonner of Millburn, three brothers, John of South
Dakota, Richard of Colorado, and Albert of Oklahoma, two
grandchildren, Mary and Alfred Westcott. A sister, Mary, two
brothers, Will and Fred, passed away a number of years ago. Funeral
arrangements are pending awaiting word from out-of-town relatives.
16 August 1940
(Editor's note: There are several factual errors in this clipping,
primarily involving the names, but it is a good yarn about the pots
of gold)
RECALL TALES OF M'ALISTER POTS OF GOLD
Back in 1880's Old Sandy Was Millburn's Impromptu Money Lender;
Monuments Tell Story of Pioneer Families.
By Athlyn Deshais
Dig, visitors, dig. There may be a pot of gold still buried in the
old McAlister barn out in Millburn.
However, when hundreds of men and women return to the town of their
childhood, for the Congregational church centennial celebration on
Sept. 6, 7 and 8, they'll probably concentrate on realities.
They'll look at the assembled collection of old coffee urns, vases
and bric-a-brac, picked up here and there; at the burned fingers of
the Ladies' Aid, which, to its last member will be in a frenzy to
get hot rolls out of the oven in time for the fiesta; at the tuneful
voices of today's little children, lisping the words, "Our Dear
Church Was Built With Prayer--Long Ago."
It's more fun, though, to revert to the halcyon days of the 80's.
Just imagine sitting on the fence back of Pantall's store, chewing
on a blade of grass and wishing for a pot of gold. Then close your
eyes again and fancy yourself being led to a pile of glitter and
hearing old Sandy McAlister's hearty voice booming, "Help
Yourself."
At ten per cent, of course.
Came From Canada
From out of the Canadian wilderness had come the rugged McAlister,
to woo and win Jane Strang, the village belle, and to settle down to
the quiet routine of farming.
"Honest," says Ed Martin today, "old Mack had pots of gold. Buried
in his barn. He knew just where he had it planted. He'd walk two
paces one way, three paces another and then he'd stop and dig. Sure
enough, he'd reach down and dig up a hundred, three hundred, five
hundred, whatever you'd need."
Ed Martin wasn't around when McAlister might have been reading Edgar
Alan Poe in his leisure moments. But if he didn't, then his
ingenuity in mapping out his buried treasure would be just another
item that made him such a big hit in the village.
McAlister looms up as one of the vivid characters of earlier days,
because he had married into the Strang family. A visit through the
cemetery proves that the Strangs were in the majority.
Here and there in profusion are the monuments to loved ones, erected
by Jane Strang McAlister who, before her death, was to come to
Waukegan to play a great role in this city's history, in her
contribution of the hospital, Victory Memorial's predecessor.
You glimpse her own tombstone, and on the same lot, that of Rev. S.
W. Chidester, and a place for John Baggett, when he goes to
rest.
In this well-cared-for cemetery, old names loom up. Humphrey, Yule,
Maggie and Thomas Mason, George and Elizabeth Gurrie, Clark Gillett,
Archibald McCredie, James Pollock, Civil war soldier; Freeman, Rev.
A . R. and Ellen Wesson Thain; Oscar S. and Rebecca Thain; the elder
Cummings, who moved to Waukegan and built on Cory ave.; their
children, Clarence, Agnes, Chancy; one mysterious bronzetone marker,
with the lone name "Genevieve," the Bonner lot; the graves of Dr.
David B. Taylor, and wife Josephine Dodge; Dr. Homer E. Jamison and
wife, Mattie.
You roam through the village and the old homes are pointed out.
More Strangs. The lovely red brick house built in 1857, and
belonging to Jessie, who became the wife of Rev. Wilcox. (She
promises to be back for the reunion , although her husband is too
ill to accompany her.)
The little house across from Martin's, and the big house, where
Victor Strang now lives.
Ed Martin can spin other yarns about the famous Jane and her equally
famous husband.
"Mack was a hard-livin'', fearless sort," he says, "with a great big
heart and lots of fun to him. One weekend one of the ministers of
the church was a guest at his house. Early in the morning old Mack
yelled upstairs, 'Hey, preacher! Get up! Jane wants the sheet for a
tablecloth!"
And the fashionable Mrs. McAlister, with all her fine linens, would
lightly laugh off her husband's robust humor.
"And another time," says Martin. "It was really funny, Jane and her
sister, Mrs. Joshua Wedge, had a habit of thinkin' they were goin'
to die, every time they got a cold or something. Then they'd call
all the children to the bedside, to see who could cry the most.
They just wanted to know how much their relatives thought of them.
One day Jane was sick. It happened that Jake Strang was going to
Waukegan, and that's a long trip. So old Mack gave Jack five
dollars and told him, 'You'd better make arrangements for Jane's
grave to be dug. She'll be dead before you get back. No sense
making two trips.'
"She didn't die though," says Martin. "Mack went way ahead of
her."
But for Jane, there was work to do in Waukegan in the years to come.
Living became a serious thing. No more pots of gold. No more
McAlister humor. And the old farmhouse, two miles away from the
village proper, is all boarded up and sad and gray.
from a loose clipping, source unknown 18 August 1940
FARM BUREAU MEMBER DIES
Henry Ames, 66,
Breeder of Holsteins for 20 Years,
Taken by Death.
Henry Ames, 66, a member of the farm bureau for 26 years and a
breeder of Holsteins for twenty years, died last night in the home
in which he had been born, on Route 173, Newport township. He
belonged to a pioneer family in the county.
Although Mr. Ames had been suffering with a heart ailment for some
time, he was apparently in good health yesterday, and until he
became ill just before retiring.
He will lie in state on the Ames farm after tomorrow noon and
until the 2 p.m. service Wednesday at the Rosecrans church, with
burial at Mt. Rest cemetery.
Surviving are five sons, Alfred at home, Arthur, Roderick and
Wallace of Galesburg and Otto of Waukegan; one daughter, Geneveve
at home, and three grandchildren.
22 August 1940
RESIDENTS OF MILLBURN SET FOR FESTIVAL
Mrs. Jessie Lowe and Mrs. Eliza Bonner
Two of Village's Popular Figures
as Centennial Approaches.
By Athlyn Deshais
"Ohhhh, gracious no!" Mrs. Jessie Bonner Lowe's face is wreathed in a
big smile of defense. "I didn't come to America to get a husband". She
throws her head back proudly. "That was all set before I left Scotland,
when I was 17. He had been there to visit."
Mrs. Lowe is one of the grande dames of the village whom visitors will
want to call on when they go to Millburn for the Congregational church
centennial celebration on Sept. 6,7, and 8.
From a laughing young lassie gathering heather in Aberdeen, Mrs. Lowe
became an American housewife, first in a pleasant place on McAree rd.
across from where Bonnie Brook now stands. Later they moved to a
grander and more permanent place, the red brick house built in 1857 by
Jake Strang.
Two Popular Names
"The Strangs and the Bonners were the two names that predominated in
this village," she contributes. "I was a Bonner, too.
"Did I have a dowry? Well, yes". Gently, linens, silver, and blankets
that were so fine that I'm still using them.
"I have been back to Scotland (she pronounces it, of course,
'Scawtlant') and I don't know why any one likens Millburn to a bit of
it. Maybe," is her afterthought, "because so many Scotch people settled
here. The similarity in scenery is slight, though."
Among her blessings Mrs. Lowe lists splendid eyesight and a devotion
to needlework, which most certainly go hand-in-hand. Bazaar-goers in
the village say that her embroidered luncheon sets are snatched up
before anyone has a chance at them.
Use News-Sun Outline
She crocheted a bed-spread in four months one time, and she did a table
cloth without a pattern. A thing that tickles her about this table
cloth is the fact that she copied its outline from one published in The
News Sun.
Another grande dame, and one who will give a most able resume of the
past century to the visiting cousins and aunts and friends on that day
is Mrs. Eliza Bonner.
Like Mrs. Lowe, she has little humor crinkles about her eyes when she
talks. Mrs. Bonner appears to be the more solemn of the two, and as
they would say downtown, "she doesn't give her hand away."
But you'd give a dearly-treasured 1940 nickel to know what she's
thinking back to, while she bustles around at the dishes or dusting, and
then comes forth with accurate data for her daughter Vivien, a member of
the historical committee. Being a Lake county product, she has a wee
bit of an advantage over Mrs. Lowe.
Booklet Off Press
The historical booklet covering the events of a century is off the press
now, having been compiled by the following: Vivien Bonner, Alice Bauman
Anderson, Richard Martin, Victor Strang, D. H. Minto, Rev. Melvin Lynn
Frank.
The prelude to the book reads this way:
"In Memoriam--
"Cathedral Chandeliers, in memory of Mrs. W. B. Stewart.
"Chancel Cross, in memory of Rev. Victor F. Clark, minister in 1883
"Painting, "Christ at the Door," in memory of Ernest Hall of the Third
Congregational church at Oak Park, Ill.
Evergreen trees on north side, in memory of Mr. and Mrs. John
Crawford.
"Blue Spruce tree in church yard, in memory of the Rev. Samuel Holden,
minister in Millburn, 1933-39.
"Dedicated, in 1931, stained glass windows, in memory of Mr. and Mrs.
George Strang and W. B. Stewart."
Early societies at Millburn were the church school, the Christian
Endeavor society, the Ladies' Aid society, the Couple club and the Boy
Scout troop.
loose clipping, source unknown 28 August 1940
Mrs. Murrie, 89, Is Dead
Mrs. Eva R. Murrie, 89, died yesterday at the home of her
niece, Miss Floy Dixon, Rosecrans. Her husband, Alexander,
who died several years ago, was one of the early
blacksmiths in Millburn and later in the Rosecrans
community. Both had been active members of the Russell
Baptist church for many years.
Services will be conducted Saturday at 3 p.m. at the
Rosecrans Methodist church. Interment will be in Mt. Rest
cemetery.
Born in Newport township, her entire life was spent there.
She was well known and liked.
"Definitely belonging to the old school, she was the kind
of neighbor who mothered the children and youth of the
community," declared one of her boys, himself now white
haired.
Three children, Earl, Martha and Elmer, preceded her in
death.
loose obituary, source unknown 29 August 1940
Eva R. Murrie
Mrs. Eva R. Murrie, 89, member of a pioneer family, the Dixons, and
affectionately known as "Grandma" Murrie to her countless friends,
died last evening at the home of a niece, Miss Flora Dixon, in Rosecrans.
Her late husband, Alexander Murrie, had a blacksmith shop at Millburn
for ten years, where the two are dearly remembered as a kindly, lovable
old couple.
The deceased was born in Newport township on Aug. 16, 1851. Both she
and her husband were members of the Russell Baptist church. They had
three children, Earl, Martha and Elmer, all of whom have died.
Mrs. Murrie will lie in state at the Dixon residence tomorrow morning,
until the service at 3 p.m. in the Methodist church at Rosecrans.
Burial will be at Mt. Rest cemetery.
