Time Was

To be or not to be, the strike of '74

Published by admin on Tue, 10/12/2021 - 10:06am

Who was he? I keep asking myself. The articulate man calling himself Black Diamond is a mystery. We continue looking at his letters to the Joliet Signal that gives us a grass roots view of the miners' plight in 1874. Last time he told of the agonizing slow times in Braidwood during May of that year. His story continues in June.
The miners' contract was up and the coal companies had banded together to lower the already rock bottom wages of the miners.

Damming a river, an important part of our history

Published by admin on Tue, 10/12/2021 - 10:04am

Last week we looked at just one part of the great Kankakee improvement, the mill race. Today we look at building the dams, and what it meant to the prosperity of early Wilmington.
Although the Kankakee was Wilmington's highway to the rest of the world, the ride was bumpy. The Kankakee is broad and shallow in many places. During the fall, when rain is usually scarce, there may be only inches of water. Certainly, a problem for boats.

October 1921, old pioneers move on

Published by admin on Tue, 10/05/2021 - 10:54am

The first week of October, 1921 had weather somewhat like we are having now. The clouds form, rain a bit, and the sun comes out, only to have another shower later on. We know this because a baseball tournament was scheduled that week.

October 1880, money and good times abound

Published by admin on Tue, 10/05/2021 - 10:50am

Winter was coming, a fact that made the miners smile. Coal and more coal would be needed, translating into more hours in the mine and more money in the pocket. October was still warm however, and outdoor sports like quoiting were still being played. But let's start at the beginning.

Black Diamond's views of Braidwood, 1874

Published by admin on Tue, 09/28/2021 - 1:12pm

In 1874 times were tough in Braidwood.
`Worked had slowed down to a trickle, money was scarce, and the rumor was that, if and when the mines started up again, there would be a pay cut.
One man, who called himself Black Diamond, started writing a series of letters to the editor of the Joliet Signal, Cal Zarley. He was obviously well educated and articulate. He might have been a miner or a newspaper editor, we will never know. The letters he wrote give us a first hand glimpse of real life in Braidwood.

From a race to a canal, the grand experiment

Published by admin on Mon, 09/27/2021 - 4:39pm

One of the most interesting spots in Wilmington to view the remains of the grand experiment is at the south end of the South Island.
What we can see gives us just a small glimpse into the 1870's when Wilmington's expectations were high. Construction gangs were everywhere, money flowed like water over the new dam, and the face of Wilmington was changed forever. But let's start where we left off last week.

Excursions, where should we go from here?

Published by admin on Tue, 09/21/2021 - 10:20am

When the weather gets warm and the days get longer, traveling comes to mind. While a two-week vacation may be impossible, in many cases, a day trip will do. Time was when these trips were called excursions. Where did they go? Let's see.

The mill race, the reason Wilmington exists

Published by admin on Tue, 09/21/2021 - 10:17am

I have heard the words mill race bandied about lately. Some call it a ditch, some say it is unnatural therefore shouldn't exist, but I have yet to hear the one thing that the mill race is, without a doubt. It is the reason the Wilmington began and continued to grow when little towns around it disappeared.

The unsettled spring of 1908, which way to turn

Published by admin on Tue, 09/14/2021 - 5:00pm

To quote the great philosophers of the 20th century, the Jefferson Airplane, “life is change, how it differs from the rocks.”
Life in 1908 was changing fast; everywhere you turned there was new decisions to be made. The old was melting away, the new was everywhere you looked, not unlike today when seniors are scratching their head about using their smart phones.

Another place, another name, the end of Le Caron

Published by admin on Tue, 09/14/2021 - 5:00pm

This is our final look at Henri Le Caron, Braidwood doctor, pharmacist, and British spy. Last time we met, we told of Robert Huston's suspicions about the good doctor.
In 1883, the Irish rebels in Ireland had enough of talk, they determined it was time for action. The action they decided upon was to blow up London Bridge. One of the men in the plot had worked with Le Caron in Detroit while a medical student. Unfortunately for him, he knew more about medicine than dynamite and the plot failed when the dynamite went off prematurely taking the Irish terrorists with it.