Author Archives: editor

Two Mile House

Posted on March 22, 2018 by editor

Two Mile House was an 1840s inn that became Sangamon County’s first poorhouse. It also was the scene in 1849 of a possum hunt that went wrong. Two Mile House got its name because it was about two miles from … Continue reading →

Posted in Hotels & taverns, Maps, Transportation | 3 Comments

E. Cook Matheny

Posted on March 20, 2018 by editor

E. C. Matheny was a son of pioneer Charles Matheny and an adventurer himself. Read more on E.C. Matheny in SangamonLink’s entry on the Carrie Post King’s Daughters Home for Women. 

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King’s Daughters Home

Posted on March 20, 2018 by editor

See Carrie Post King’s Daughters Home for Women.

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Carrie Post King’s Daughters Home for Women

Posted on March 14, 2018 by editor

Update: The vacant King’s Daughters Home was damaged by a fire – possibly arson – in early March 2026. Owner Yolonda Rice, however, said she still planned to renovate the building as an affordable residence for nursing students and travel … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Prominent figures, Social services, Women | 8 Comments

Kidnapped banker, 1932

Posted on March 2, 2018 by editor

Springfield coal miner James Gammaitoni lost his life savings when Taylorville’s John B. Colegrove State Bank failed in 1929. So Gammaitoni took direct action: He kidnapped Colegrove. John Benjamin Colegrove had been a lawyer and real estate investor before he … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Crime and vice, Depression, Law enforcement | Leave a comment

Leander Shoup

Posted on February 21, 2018 by editor

Leander Shoup vowed to go down fighting rather than give up his farm for inundation by Lake Springfield. See Lake Springfield holdout, 1933.

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Austin Jones

Posted on February 21, 2018 by editor

Austin Jones was a Springfield police officer and detective for 26 years. For more, see Lake Springfield holdout, 1933.

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Lake Springfield holdout, 1933

Posted on February 21, 2018 by editor

Leander Shoup vowed to go down in a blaze of gunfire rather than relinquish his 123 acres of farmland to inundation by Lake Springfield. The city of Springfield won a lawsuit to take over the land, a little over a … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and vice, Farming, Law enforcement, Local government, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

The Helmle family, architects and builders

Posted on February 19, 2018 by editor

Three generations of the Helmle family left their mark on the built environment of Springfield. The original Helmles in Springfield were George William Helmle, a skilled woodcarver from Germany, and his wife, Elise Marschutz Helmle, who arrived in Springfield in … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Business, Prominent figures | 13 Comments

C.W. Hotz (hotel operator)

Posted on February 11, 2018 by editor

C.W. Hotz and his wife Hazel managed the Argus Hotel, 214 S. Fourth St., for several years in the 1930s. Hotz also was a Lincoln collector and property developer. See First Lincoln Home.

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