Monthly Archives: April 2018

Bryan Bolton, gangster

Note: This entry has been updated with information questioning Bryan Bolton’s role in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Bryan Bolton, a Thayer farmboy turned Springfield businessman turned gangster, claimed to have taken part in the St. Valentine’s Day massacre and … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and vice, Law enforcement | 6 Comments

Buffalo Hart Presbyterian Church

When European settlers first came to the Buffalo Hart area in 1824, the most noticeable feature of the landscape was a large grove of trees surrounded by prairie. Most of the early residents built their homes on the edge of … Continue reading

Posted in Churches, Historic Sites, Social life | Leave a comment

Buffalo Hart tornado deaths, 1927

Three people, including two children from one family, died when a tornado destroyed Buffalo Hart the afternoon of April 19, 1927. “Until yesterday this town was a quiet and contented village,” the Illinois State Journal reported in a story written … Continue reading

Posted in Communities, Disasters | 1 Comment

Charles and Amy Reed (Sangamon County Poor Farm administrators)

Charles Reed (1854-1927) was a livestock farmer and politician. As a farmer, he raised purebred Duroc and Jersey hogs as well as sheep. He was also a strong Republican who served as Sangamon County deputy sheriff and was superintendent of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Family life at the Sangamon County Poor Farm

My grandparents on my mother’s side, Charles and Amy Reed, were superintendent and matron of the Sangamon County Poor Farm from 1915 to 1927. They had eight children, and my mother was the youngest. They moved into the poor farm … Continue reading

Posted in Children, Family life, Sangamon County | 4 Comments