Early Days at SIUE

Centennial Picnic Held at Oakdale

Learn about the remarkable life of Mr. Dilliard, and his decades-long connection to the MCHS

The Illinois State Historical Society has recognized the work of Charlotte E. Johnson by presenting her with the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in documenting the stories of Black families in Illinois.

In 1963, the Madison County Historical Society purchased the Weir House, built for John Weir in 1836. Here you can read about the Weir family and their many contributions to Madison County.

Roland Harris has been collecting and sharing the history of communities in the eastern part of Madison County for 70 years. His collective works have now been recognized by the State of Illinois.

From 1899-1930s there were streetcars, known as electric railways, crisscrossing Madison County. The last holdout was a line between St. Louis and Granite City that discontinue service in 1958.

More than a century ago orphans in need of care came primarily from local families, but also from St. Louis, Chicago and from the famous Orphan Trains of the New York Juvenile Asylum.

The last quarter of the year 1918 was a difficult one for the country as well as Madison County where residents experienced wartime shortages, the medical crisis of the flu epidemic and the last days of WW I.

In this issue, Lincoln scholar Dr. Stephen Hansen writes about Abraham Lincoln’s numerous journeys to Madison County where he met political friends, conducted business and a participated in a famous debate.

A pictorial exhibit at the Glen Carbon Heritage Museum was the inspiration for this newsletter that tells the story of early Glen Carbon through artifacts and photographs on a timeline of history.

On Easter Sunday of 1917, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church held the first service in their new church, the third building for the small congregation, founded in 1841, that held the status of “mission” for many years.

The Godfrey Mansion still stands near the town of Godfrey, a town named for Captain Benjamin Godfrey. The stately home is one of a number of houses pictured in the 1873 Atlas of Madison County.

After several unsuccessful attempts, in 1887 a group was finally organized to preserve Madison County’s History. They were the Madison County Old Settlers Union, but many called them “snow birds.”

Here are the stories of four Madison County Residents known nationally in their time, but forgotten today: Minna Inglis Clark Fletcher, Charles Helmuth Seybt, Vasil Stephanoff, and Charles Boeschenstein.

Five authors, all descendants of immigrant families from Granite City’s Lincoln Place neighborhood tell the stories of their Armenian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Mexican ancestors.

During WW II, area residents were hungry for news of local servicemen. One of the ways they stayed informed was through letters and news stories that dominated local newspapers.

Historian Cheryl Eichar Jett shared a few of Madison County’s most sensational crime stories that she has found in the course of her research on Route 66.

Some Madison County residents were known nationally in their time, but few know their names today. Here are stories of Emma Kubicek, Jacob Ammann and Walter Benjamin, all worth remembering.

Nationally recognized authority on Route 66, author Cheryl Eichar Jett, shared stories of America’s Mother Road in Madison County communities.