Pickings from Pike’s Past 3/9/22 – 125 YEARS AGO: HILLS IN PLEASANT HILL TOO STEEP

By Editor | March 8, 2022 |

150 Years Ago
March 14, 1872
I am pleased to inform you Mr. Editor that New Canton is still moving ahead. We now have six trains a day and two mails by rail in addition to our stage line. There is to be a great sale of town lots here on the 25th.
A fine lot of cattle was shipped from Morgan County to New York last week. They weighed an average of 1950 pounds and were expected to bring the prevailing market price of six and three fourth cents a pound.

125 Years Ago
March 16, 1897
Warm, fair weather. Gentle Annie is fast approaching. Get ready to make your gardens.
The hills in Pleasant Hill should be graded down. There are hills in this town that have been worked so they are steeper than they were when Adam went to Calhoun for apples.
The Pittsfield High School cadets were drilling with sure enough guns last Friday, and we presume will continue at it now that the ground is becoming somewhat settled.
It has been many a day since there were as many horses with saddles on hitched around the courthouse park. It is supposed that certain, or rather uncertain, mudholes in the public roads had much to do with the reason therefor.
Charles Strong of Pittsfield is suffering from appendicitis. He went to St. Louis for examination last week and returned. He will leave tonight by the westbound train to return to St. Louis to be operated on. He has many friends who will watch with interest the result.

March 19, 1897
The spring school opened Monday in Detroit with an enrollment of 56 pupils and of course one teacher finds enough to do in attending to the work.
The El Dara-Barry telephone fails to work when you need it. It goes by spells and is often misspelled.
Off with the big hats ladies, when the curtain goes up.
The river at Cairo is 25 miles wide and about Memphis is 30 miles wide. The rains still descend.

100 Years Ago
March 15, 1922
The Kinderhook High School basketball team, winner of the district tournament at Quincy, was defeated by Peoria 50-14 at the Peoria tournament. Peoria (Central) went on to take third place in the state tournament at the University of Illinois.
Pike County was visited Monday night by one of the heaviest rainfalls that has occurred in years. Creeks were clear out of their banks, water stood in regular lakes in all directions, and the Illinois River is said to have raised 3 ½ feet.
Engineer George Galusha and has assistants are putting the finishing touches on the survey of Route 36 between Pittsfield and Florence.
After two Sundays without services, a great crowd gathered for services in the new building at the Methodist Church in Pittsfield. Despite bad roads and illness, which kept many away, there were 349 for Sunday School, and many more came for the morning worship.
The C & A Railroad reports that Nebo is one of the very few towns in this division to show an increase of business in the past few months. Last Friday, March 3, was the biggest day for business in the history of the town, 39,000 pounds of freight in less than car loads were received on that day.
The estate of E. J. Strauss is worth $125,000 in real estate and personal property. Among his many generous bequests are $2000 each to the four longest-serving clerks at Strauss & Brother.

75 Years Ago
March 12, 1947
Isaac Strauss, one of Pittsfield’s most prominent and widely known retired businessmen, died at his home in Pittsfield this morning. He was born in this city in 1881, and graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1899. Following the death of his cousin, Emmanuel Strauss in 1922, he became active in the management of the store until it was sold to Henry and Albert L. Wuellner of Alton in 1944.
Playing one of their best basketball games of the season, Pittsfield High School won the Regional championship here Friday night, defeating Winchester 47-24.
The spread of communism and the threat of communism spreading into the few democratic countries in the world seems to be back of most of the strife in the world today.
The Ministers’ Association announced a series of services during Holy Week at the Methodist, Baptist, Christian, Congregational and Nazarene churches.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Foster, Pittsfield, (Cecile Smith) had a daughter born at Illini March 8, 1947, named Carolyn Meredith.

50 Years Ago
March 15, 1972
Dr. G. E. Conroy of Griggsville was presented his 65-year pin at the regular meeting of the Griggsville Lodge No. 45 A.F. & A.M. on March 7. Dr. Conroy has been a dentist in Griggsville for 69 years, and is believed to be the oldest practicing dentist in Illinois at the present time.
Three Pittsfield post office employees, Phil Niebur, Tom Bradburn and James McGinley, have accumulated over 2000 hours of sick leave, which they have not used. This will be used for retirement credit.
Pike County GOP chairman George Wilson welcomed a crowd of about 225 to a Republican potluck in Orr Hall last week. Various candidates, including eight of the nine GOP candidates for County Board, were in attendance.

25 Years Ago
March 12, 1997
Employees of AAA Sandblasting of rural Baylis are busy removing graffiti, some of it vulgar, from Pittsfield High School and South School. It occurred last fall, but the school district had camouflaged much of the vulgarity by painting over it.
Illini Hospital has the lowest cost in the area for baby delivery. There were 51 baby deliveries at Illini last year, and already 40 are scheduled. The addition of Dr. Warren Barrow for deliveries has helped the increase in scheduled deliveries. Previously, Dr. Ronald Johnson and Dr. Karen Hines were the only doctors willing to do deliveries.
Neil Simon’s comedy, “God’s Favorite,” will be presented by the Pittsfield Theatre Guild March 21-23 at Historic East School in Pittsfield. Cast members are Teresa McCartney, Dan Long, Mike Peebles, Jenny Peebles, Chris Mitchell, Candi Moore, Kevin Dyer and Sarah Bagent. James T. Smith of Pleasant Hill is the director.
Jill S. Dunham of New Salem was named to the fall semester academic dean’s list at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He parents are Roger K. and Charlotte A. Dunham.
The Griggsville/Perry Middle School eighth graders ended their season with a 17-6 record and a berth in the Elite Eight. They are coached by Ken Stauffer and his son, Kent Stauffer.

10 Years Ago
March 14, 2012
The Pearl power plant operated by Prairie Power will be closing at the end of May, resulting in 10 lost jobs by May 30, and nine more within the year. The small coal-fired plant was built in the early 1970s.
Local auctioneer Brian Curless made the final cut last week in the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship. He received first place in the competition, netting him a trip to the nationals in June.
Betty J. Killebrew, 87, of Pittsfield, died Friday, March 9 at her residence. She married Dale Killebrew in 1947 in Pittsfield, and he survives. She had been a nurse for many years, including Illini Community Hospital and a number of years as Pittsfield Unit 10 School RN.

■ Compiled by Michael Boren