Looking back – Calhoun 10.26.22

By Editor | October 26, 2022 |

25 years ago
October 22, 1997
The National Historic Landmark Delta Queen has been visiting several Illinois River ports for the first time since 1974, as she celebrates 50 years on America’s Heartland Rivers and her 70th birthday.
The visits are part of two back-to-back six-night cruises from October 15 to 27.
With these voyages, the 174-passenger steamboat re-introduced vacation cruising on the Illinois River to travelers from all over the world, including Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The Delta Queen is the world’s only fully restored, steam-powered overnight paddlewheel.
She offered overnight trips on the Sacramento River from 1927 to 1940 and served as a Navy troop ferry in San Francisco Bay during WWII.
She was brought up to the Mississippi River system in 1947. The Delta Queen by-passed Hardin on Thursday afternoon, October 16 after stopping in Grafton at the boat works. The boat will be back in Grafton on October 26 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the boat works.
50 years ago
October 26, 1972
Fred Schulze Nursery by Charles Kinder
Calhoun County, the Apple Kingdom. A man who helped make Calhoun the Apple Kingdom was Fred Schulze.
At one time, he supplied most of the apple trees for the orchards in the county.
Fred Schulze and his twin brother, August, were born August 5, 1862, in Deer Plain, several months after their father, Herman, had enlisted in the Civil War. Fred was three years old when his father returned.
Around 1880, a man called Loafer Jack, who was just passing through, happened to stop at the SChulze home.
Loafer Jack showed them how to graft and bud trees. Herman and his sons, Fred, August, and Albert then started the first Schulze Nursery in partnership.
They employed quite a few men in their nursery at this time.
In fact, the whole Ernest Geisler, Sr. family worked for them.
Ernest, Sr., worked in the nursery, his wife helped in the kitchen and the children who were big enough pulled weeds between the young fruit trees. Wages were not very much then. Ernest worked for 65 cents a day.
In the early 1900s, Fred bought the Todd farm in Golden Eagle.
A few years later, he dissolved his partnership and moved his nursery business to his farm.
During this time, he sold fruit trees to most of the orchards in Calhoun County.
Often, he delivered them himself using horses and a wagon. Sometimes he would remain overnight, or he might even spend several days with the people who bought trees from him.
He also sold trees wholesale. They were shipped by railroad car from Grafton.
The nursery business took lots of time and work, so it was necessary to employ help.
Grafting of the scions and the apple seedling roots started during the winter around February.
One end of the scion and one end of the root were slit and stuck together. This was wrapped with string which had been coated with bees’ wax.
Then, they were tied into small bundles and packed into boxes where they were kept moist.
When spring arrived, around April, they were planted.
Many evergreens were started during the spring too. During the summer, the small trees were cultivated and budding was also done.
Some trees were sold when they were one year old. These were called whips. Others were sold when they were two years old.
Most of the work— plowing, cultivating, planting and digging— was done with horses, but in later years Fred used a tractor to pull the tree digger.
In the early 1920s, Fred bought the Kanallakan farm in Beechville and moved his nursery there. He operated it with the help of his son, Clarence, and with local help.
In 1952, Fred moved to Golden Eagle to make his home with his daughter, Mrs. Lillie Kinder. Together, they took care of a small nursery until his death in 1962 at the age of 99 years, 8 months and 11 days.
The shrubs, flowers, and evergreens that still adorn many lawns yet today will make the memory of Fred Schulze and his nursery long linger in Calhoun County.
Interviews with Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Geisler and Mrs. Lillie Kinder, September 22, 1972, and from information Walter Schulze gave to Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Geisler.
75 years ago
October 23, 1947
Much of this account is abridged but can be found in its entirety at the Calhoun County Historical Society.
Interesting Story of Calhoun County 100 Years Ago
Frank Marshall, now deceased, tells of pioneer days in, ‘The Republican,’ published at Hardin, Illinois, by Thos. D. Bare, in the year 1908.
The Republican presents this week a picture of Francis Marshall, a pioneer of Calhoun County who has been a resident of Deer Plain, Point Precinct, for 77 years.
Mr. Marshall is an intelligent and highly respected man, one who has been foremost in bringing that part of the county up to its present state of development.
He furnishes the Republican with an historical sketch of the southern part of the county which follows:
“I was born on Oct. 20, 1830, near St. Peter, St. Charles County, Mo. The year after my birth, 1831, my parents moved to Calhoun County, Il. and I have made my home in Point Precinct since, excepting a little over one year. On the 20th of next October, Calhoun County will have been my home for 77 years.
My first recollection of Calhoun County takes me back to the time when it was nearly all timbered. There were scarcely any roads and most of the “highways” then were foot paths and trails. There was all kinds of game. Deer went in droves. I saw 25 deer in one drove. At times they would come within gun range of the house. At one time I saw father stand in the door and shoot three deer. There were catamounts, wild cats by the hundreds and some few panthers, squirrels, coons, turkeys, geese, swan, ducks and quail by the thousands.
Houses were few and far apart those days. I will try to give you an idea of how we lived in those days and the amusements we had.
When I was a young man, I think there was only one frame house in the south end of the county. That was Major Roberts’. All the rest were round log houses and many had dirt floors. People had to cut the timber from their lands. They could cut up the big timber and then ask the neighbors to come over and help. Such events were called “log rollings” and at night the neighbors would assemble and have a dance.
Nixon and Shaw, Bolter and Ray were the only people who farmed about here at that time. Not more than half the people raised a garden and very few potatoes were raised. We lived on bread, meat, coffee, honey and hominy, that is, we would have bread when we could get it. There was no mill here at that time. John Metz had a little concern on the creek above Brussels, but he did not grind half the time. The residents were all considered poor and they could not buy flour at this time, consequently, they lived on hominy, honey and meat.
Meat was plentiful, so was wild honey. One could find all the game he wanted and the trees were full of honey. We had a barrel of strained honey at one time. It candied and we cut it out into chunks. We could not sell or give it away.
In 1835, my father lived on the Illinois River where John Wheeler’s house stands. Four steamboats were running on the Illinois River then. They were the Winnebago, Joe Davis, Exchange and Friendship. At that time at this particular place, there was no timber. The only timber was over on the Mississippi bottom. It was all grass up to the Round County Farm. Every evening the wolves would come out of the bottom and set up their nightly howls. We all steered clear of these fellows.
The Mississippi bottoms were full of wild hogs. The excitement of coon hunting those days would come when the dogs would run into a bunch of wild hogs. The dogs would run back to the hunters and the hunters would either have to take to a tree or the consequences.
In 1836, we moved up to the hills back of Milan. Bolter had a store there. One day, ‘Squier Shaw came into the store and asked for “pearl ash.” That was used in place of soda. After that, they used saleratus and since it got to be soda. There were no public schools then and no school house in Point. There were no churches. There was not one cooking stove. Cooking was done on fires. The first cooking stove was sent here in ’42 by a company of St. Louis men who were operating the coal mines at Winneburg.
I have read about men running for office barefooted. I can say that I saw one in the early fifties. He was out for justice of peace and was elected. He was barefoot and wore a buckskin coat and trousers with fringes. His name was Amos Stiles, Dave Stiles’ uncle.
The principal occupation in the early days was lumbering, cutting staves, boards and cord wood. I helped to make the boards to weatherboard the Catholic church at Brussels, also the sheeting. We made the boards 18 feet long, four inches wide and one inch thick. Amos Stiles lived on the prairie near the Ruskstahl lane. Henry G. Stiles settled on the Keehner farm about 1836. He sold out to Keehner in 1853 and moved to Wisconsin.
In 1838, my father went to Missouri and harvested for 50 cents per day. In 1843-45, we cut cord wood. For hickory we got 50 cents a cord and for other wood 40 cents. We made rails, hauled and bored them to Missouri for $1.50 per hundred. For clapboards, we got 50 cents per hundred. We made staves and boated them to Alton for $5 per thousand.
Those were the good old days. Everybody was happy. The most of them knew no better. A great many could not read or write. There were few horses in the county then and they were used only for riding and a little plowing. All the hauling was done by oxen. There were no wagons or buggies. Two-wheeled home made carts were used and there was no iron about them. My father used a cart for a year before he had “boxon” and tires put on.
In 1849, E.C. Basbyshell lived on the Lawrence Arnold farm on the prairie. He started a little store. He then captured the post office from Bolter. He moved it over to the prairie and named it Deer Plain. Deer ranging daily on the grass between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers suggested the name. I have John Lammy’s history of the early days in Calhoun County and can say so far as my recollection serves me it is correct.
Francis Marshall
100 years ago
October 26, 1922
578, 520 barrels of apples handled in five years
George Yuede of the Frank Yuede Commission Company of St. Louis spent Sunday evening in Hardin interviewing some of our orchardists. Mr. Yuede is one of the best and most widely known commission men doing business in St. Louis and he receives quite a lot of consignments from Calhoun County.
He handed us two dollars while here to have the News sent to his place of business so that he can keep in touch with our farmers and apple growers.
We thank him for the following information concerning the number of barrels of apples shipped to the St. Louis market during the past five years. This statement is an official report and includes the shipments up to Oct. 21, 1922:
1918: 145, 624
1919: 147, 063
1920: 122, 171
1921: Failure.
1922: 163, 662
No compilation was made for 1921 on account of crop failure that year. Baskets include counting three to the barrel.