December 19, 2023 • 61 mins
Schools are the lifeblood of a community and they carry the tremendous responsibility to educate the youth of our town. A desirable school district increases home values and make a community more desirable.
Though it was not the first Mokena school house, the grand 2 story schoolhouse that sat at today's Front Street and Schoolhouse Road, was at the leading edge of features when it was built and offered Mokena families a quality education within walking distance. This was a time when there was no high school in the area and kids would have to take the train out of town if they chose to continue their education beyond grade school.
Matt shares some great information about the school during this time and some of the early teachers and principles along with some of the amazing stories from through the years. This was a beautiful building that drew acclaim from around the area.
We hope you enjoy this story and our conversation!
You can find Matt’s Blog Post about this article here!
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Find Matt's Blog here: Matt's Old Mokena
Photo & Artwork Credit: Jennifer Medema & Leslie V. Moore Jr.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Israel (00:00):
Welcome to Mokena's Front Porch.
A Mokena History podcast withMac Dalek and me, israel Smith.
Matt (00:07):
Before the sale.
The school's old iron bell,installed in 1881, and the work
of Philadelphia's McShaneFoundry, was removed from its
tower and stored at FrontStreet's Village Hall.
There it was held on to forsafekeeping, with the news
bulletin, deeming that it maycome in handy for future use.
(00:27):
It is the legacy of hundreds ofMokena children who attended
class in our town in the buoyantdays after the end of the Civil
War.
For over half a century, theornate two-story Mokena public
school stood on the northwestcorner of Front Street and
today's Schoolhouse Road, aplace that loomed large in the
(00:48):
lives of generations ofvillagers.
Israel (00:51):
Alright, this episode.
We're talking about the articlethat you wrote, matt, you
published on Saturday, august5th 2023.
Yeah, definitely, and it wastitled Reading, writing and
Rhythmetic the Mokena PublicSchools from 1872 to 1929.
Yes, yeah, so, and just briefly, what was the, what is the
(01:14):
significance of that time frame?
Matt (01:16):
Yeah well, those years, or the span of years between those
two, was when the schoolhousethe Mokena schoolhouse was in
use.
That stood on the let's see,that would be the northwest
corner of today's Front Streetand Schoolhouse Road.
Israel (01:35):
And you talk in the article how really at the time
when that school was built, whatwe now know as Schoolhouse Road
was really like a country road,I mean it's at the edge of town
.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
This was all kids walking toschool, largely right and people
from the right there in thecommunity, there were no school
buses and things like that.
It was true yeah, definitely not, not yet so and you continually
(01:59):
hear this school referred to,as you know, one of the grandest
schools, one of the you knowgreatest buildings or school
buildings in Will County and thepictures on the blog really do
show what a cool building thiswas.
And you know a two-story with agrand, you know bell tower at
the top and really neat building.
(02:21):
And it's kind of hard to youknow.
With some of the pictures thatyou post you kind of get the
idea of where it sits.
But there's so much change now.
Now on that it sits kind ofwhere that yellow house is is
that right?
Matt (02:36):
Yeah, more or less where the yellow house is.
I don't think it may be setexactly in the footprint,
because when you look atpictures of the Schoolhouse it
looks like it was set back fromthe road a little bit.
Israel (02:50):
So, maybe close.
Matt (02:52):
maybe the back was closer to First Street, that's kind of
the notion I'm getting yeah orthat I've always gotten yeah.
So it kind of sat between onthat corner but between Front
Street and First.
Israel (03:02):
Street, and so 1872, the school is built.
And at that time, what was theschool system in Moquina looking
like?
High school, wise, sure, yeah,I know you covered a little bit.
We'll get into an article.
Matt (03:19):
Yeah, so in 1872, there wouldn't have been any high
school to speak of.
There was already a schoolhousein town.
So this schoolhouse, ourschoolhouse here on the corner,
was not the first one in town.
There was a much smallerbuilding that had stood in or,
pardon me, that was built in1855 for about cost about $1,000
(03:43):
to build it when they built it,and it was a.
It was a handsome littlebuilding, but it was nowhere
near as big and as grandiose asthis schoolhouse was, and it
stood on what then was calledthe public square, which kind of
describe where that was or isand never really went anywhere.
But it would be.
(04:03):
The southern boundary of thepublic square would be Second
Street, with the easternboundary being Union Street,
northern boundary being ThirdStreet and the western boundary
would have been roughly where StJohn's is nowadays, maybe a
(04:27):
yard or two to the west of whereSt John's Church is.
This was a tract of ground thatwas set aside by our founding
father, alan Denny, in the 1850sstrictly to be used for schools
and churches, and that's why StJohn's is still there, because
that's where they've always been, in that parcel land somewhere.
(04:47):
But this original schoolhouse,that was the first building
built on the square when itopened in 1855 was stood kind of
tough to explain.
Kind of close to where StJohn's is nowadays but not
exactly in the footprint.
We could walk out there and wecould stand right about where it
(05:10):
was, but it doesn't neatly fitinto the footprint of any
building that's there nowadays.
But kind of stood between whereSt John's is now and where their
Christian community center isKind of in that driveway parking
lot kind of area there stoodthere and interestingly this
(05:31):
building is still with us intown today, just not in its
original location.
St John's.
St John's Church, which thenwas called the German United
Evangelical St John's Church,purchased the building from the
school board Few years after itwent out to use, probably around
1875 or so, and they had itmoved and tacked on to their
(05:54):
parsonage which stood on thesouth side of Third Street, and
this old schoolhouse was used bySt John's as a schoolhouse for
Sunday school and occasionallymeetings and so on and so forth.
And then in the 1920s theschoolhouse was detached from
the former parsonage buildingand rotated a little bit so that
(06:17):
part of it fronted on ThirdStreet and so it sits today as a
residence.
Israel (06:23):
Sure, and that's the one .
The first house directly westof the parking lot, yeah, that's
right Of St John's.
That's the one, yeah.
Matt (06:30):
Yeah, okay.
Israel (06:31):
Interesting.
Matt (06:32):
Yeah, and it's one of the few houses in town, because it's
one of the few where we canactually affix its date of
construction to it.
With so many of the otherreally really old ones, we only
have kind of a rough estimate asto when it was built.
But since that building was theschoolhouse and its history was
very well documented, we knowit was built in 1855.
Israel (06:56):
And I don't know if you've ever been in that
building, or yeah.
So we don't know if there's anyremnants of the schoolhouse or
the looks of Right.
Matt (07:08):
Yeah, unfortunately I've never been inside.
I would absolutely love to, soif anybody out there knows the
owners and would like to give usa tour.
But I've been told and this isgoing back a little bit so this
may not be the case anymore butI told back in the 90s so 20
(07:29):
plus years ago that the originalwooden beams, the supports in
the floor, were still visible inthere.
From the basement you can seethem.
So I don't know if they'restill exposed or they've been
covered up over the years, butat least as of back then they
were still there.
Israel (07:49):
And I know it's sold not too long ago, that's right,
yeah.
There might be some picturessomewhere on the Internet of
that.
Matt (07:55):
Yeah.
Israel (07:56):
So that was the original , the first known school house
in Moquina.
Matt (08:02):
Yeah, that was the first schoolhouse in Moquina proper,
not counting the countryschoolhouses that we had.
But yeah, that was the firstone and our schoolhouse and
schoolhouse road was the secondnew and improved schoolhouse.
Israel (08:17):
And as again, as you say and as we've covered in
previous episodes, that buildingstill kind of lives on with
other homes, homes that werebuilt from it, which you'll talk
about in the article.
Yeah, definitely, which is kindof interesting.
I mean you need to be able towalk through this beautiful
building but, as we hear, thatwas kind of a struggle too, or a
(08:38):
fight in town of what happenswith that building, Absolutely.
So you talk in the verybeginning a little bit.
You mentioned some of thestreet names and how it relates
to town and the founders andthat, and so, reading again the
article, I thought you know Isee a lot of the street names
(09:00):
around town and not always surehow they're related or who if
they're named after somebody.
So I had a short list I thoughtwe'd go through and see if we
can shed any light.
Matt (09:11):
And if not, you know that's fine too.
Okay, yeah, we'll see.
Israel (09:14):
So north the tracks, there's Cross Street, yep, and
then there's St John's there.
Matt (09:19):
Absolutely.
That's named after a gentlemanby the name of Cyrus Cross who
was one of our early settlersnot the first, but he was.
He was on the scene almostgoing back to day.
One came to us by way of HomerTownship I believe he was a born
New Yorker, if I'm not mistaken, but he subdivided that little
(09:44):
area along Cross Street.
That was originally part ofDenny's addition to Moquina, but
then, a few years after Dennyhad laid out the town, cyrus
Cross bought that little chunkof it and he then chopped it up
further into lots and the streetjust so happened to be named
after him because it was hisproperty.
Israel (10:06):
Interesting.
I always thought it was maybe aconnection to St John's and a
religious, but that that makessense.
Cross Street is one of myfavorite streets to walk down
around downtown.
It's just a cute little street,neat houses on.
Matt (10:19):
Yeah, a lot of history on Cross Street.
Absolutely.
Israel (10:22):
All right, how about Carpenter Street?
Matt (10:24):
Carpenter Street is another interesting one, another
early guy in Moquina's history.
He was a contemporary to AlanDenny and Cyrus Cross.
What's interesting aboutCarpenter Street?
Once again we have a streetnamed after a subdivision, by
the man who subdivided it.
An early settler who came alongsaw that Moquina was growing a
(10:48):
little bit.
The Rock Island had just comethrough.
Alan Denny had subdivided, soldoff some lots, people were
building houses and businessesand stuff like that, as did John
McGovney, alan Denney'sneighbor, however, or I should.
I should backtrack a little bit.
So this is what Carpenter isdoing to over in that neck of
the woods on Carpenter Street.
(11:09):
But which Carpenter that streetis named after is kind of foggy
because there were twoCarpenter's who at that time
were kind of wheeling anddealing and dealing in property
speculation in Molkina back inthe 1850s and I've looked into
(11:30):
the genealogy and I believethese two men were brothers or
cousins.
There was Chauncey Carpenterwho I believe we talked about
when we talked about Laura ThielSolon on Front Street.
He I believe he had aconnection to the early history
of that house and was the otherone that Norman Carpenter, I
(11:55):
want to say.
So it could have been namedafter either one of them, or
both of them, even, who knows?
Israel (12:01):
Okay, but yeah, all right.
And how about Parker Street?
Matt (12:06):
Parker Street is another interesting one.
It's kind of a mystery to me,kind of nebulous A theory, an
idea I have.
Maybe it was named after alocal guy, thomas P Parker, who
was a farmer not really close totown.
(12:27):
He was more out in the townline road area, or what we now
know is town line road whichthere's another Parker not far
from there either, right Exactly.
It could very well be namedafter the same family, but
Thomas Parker volunteered in theUnion Army during the Civil War
and was ultimately killed atthe Battle of Chickamauga in
(12:48):
September 1863.
So I wondered well, maybe itwas named after him, but I'm not
totally sure because ParkerStreet wasn't platted.
It wasn't laid out until wellafter Thomas Parker died.
So he died in 1863.
(13:08):
Parker Street was part ofBenedict Marty's subdivision to
Mochino, which he had laid outin.
That must have been around 1904or thereabouts.
So there's quite a passage oftime between Thomas Parker and
the street coming along.
So maybe, but I can't say withany definitive.
Israel (13:33):
OK yeah, how about Revere Road?
Matt (13:36):
Revere.
I've always just kind of kindof thought that was named after.
It was just somebody beingpatriotic naming it after Paul
Revere.
That's kind of what I wasthinking, but you never know,
yeah, yeah, I've never heard oneway or the other, but that's
what I always figure.
I mean, I've never happened tocross any Revere's in Mochino's
history.
Yeah, ok, so I think it sayspatriotism.
Israel (13:59):
So we said, or if we had south of the tracks a few more?
Yeah, Obviously McGovney andDenny are.
They're definitely well knownstreet names, absolutely.
How about Cluth Drive.
Matt (14:10):
Cluth, that's a good one.
So Cluth Drive More or less notexactly, but pretty much
follows a little what used to bea little farm lane that led
west off of Wolf Road back intowhere the end of the street is.
Nowadays there's a little kindof like a court at the end of
(14:32):
the street.
Right where that is and wherethose houses are, there was a
little homestead that the Cluthsisters lived in and they were I
believe I know exactly who Icould ask this question to to
get the definitive answer.
But I believe the Cluths wererelatives of the Sandrock family
who were pretty early settlerswho lived at that same site, and
(15:00):
the Cluth sisters lived forpretty long time yeah, the time
frame Well into the 20th centurypost World War II.
Oh wow.
Israel (15:09):
Yeah, but they were.
Matt (15:10):
They were pretty old when they passed away and they had a.
Yeah, it's a pretty rusticlittle homestead back there and,
were they like, lived theirwhole lives in Moquina Once
again, as always, I maybe I'mwrong, but I don't think they
lived back there their wholelives, even though I'm pretty
sure that property was in theirfamily.
But yeah, they nevertheless.
(15:34):
They lived there for a verylong time and up until recent,
or some somewhat recently, inthe grand scheme of things they
had still had family membersliving in town.
But yeah, when that area excuseme, when that area was
developed back there, they wereremembered and when that street
was laid out, it was basicallymore or less followed the little
(15:56):
lane that went back to wherethey lived.
Israel (15:58):
That's pretty cool.
Yeah, yeah, how about EverettLane?
Matt (16:03):
Everett that's named after Mr Mike Everett, who was our
mayor back in the 1980s, andhe's still around.
Israel (16:10):
Was a school board member up until recently.
Matt (16:12):
Yeah, he was yeah, he's still.
He's still been involved instuff around and of course now,
without having my my details infront of me, I couldn't tell you
what exactly his term was.
I want to say he was in officeas mayor from roughly 1982 or 83
until maybe 1989 or thereabouts.
(16:35):
Maybe he's listening and he can.
He can correct us, but thattimeframe, for a good part of
the 80s, he was mayor.
Israel (16:43):
And Swanburg Lane yeah.
Matt (16:46):
Swanburg Lane is named after Charles Swanburg.
Chuck Swanburg, who was anothermayor he was mayor back in the
1960s.
Another guy who was verycivically minded, wore a lot of
hats around town was also verywell known for being a
businessman in town.
He owned a farm implementdealership.
(17:06):
Excuse me again, I believe healso sold some cars too.
His business was down on WolfRoad, just north of La Porte
Road, on the western side of thestreet where, I believe, just
right north of the post office.
I think that's like a sign shopnow.
That's where Mr Swanburg'sbusiness was for many years.
Israel (17:31):
And Scarth Lane, another mayor.
Matt (17:34):
Another mayor.
Yeah, a lot of those streets,or maybe it's just those three
thinking offhand up in thatgrass mirror.
I think the other subdivisionis called Green Meadow, like
that neck of the woods therewere streets named after mayors.
But yeah, Mr Scarth was mayorfrom.
Oh, let's see, I believe he wasmayor in the 1950s and a lot of
(17:56):
Mokenians once.
I'm getting ahead of myself hewas.
I believe he was one of theowners of the Mokena wallpaper
mill.
He wasn't the only one.
There was a few guys who were,yeah, owners together.
In any case, he was running thewallpaper mill, so he was
(18:18):
another big businessman in townand Shazar Drive in Foxboro
Estates.
Israel (18:24):
that one I know is after Bob Shazar, a former mayor who
recently passed away.
Matt (18:29):
No, unfortunately recently passed.
Very nice man.
Israel (18:33):
And I didn't know him.
I got to hear more about himsince he's passed and he was a
longtime Mokena lion and verycivically involved Sure.
Matt (18:42):
He was with the Scouts as well.
Yeah, he did a lot for Mokena,that's for sure.
Israel (18:47):
So and that obviously in one of the newer subdivisions
fewer mayors names over there.
Matt (18:54):
Yeah.
Israel (18:54):
But he's one that made it, so that's great.
He did indeed.
And then the last one.
How about Reagan Road?
That's another good one.
Matt (19:02):
So Reagan Road, it's kind of an interesting little area
back there because technicallythat's New Lenox Township.
But they might have Mokenaaddresses, if I'm not mistaken,
and it's sort of like right inthe borgor.
So a lot of people willconsider that Mokena.
But Mr Reagan is not RonaldReagan the president His first
(19:22):
name's escaping me right now buthe was a very successful farmer
in that area for many years.
Israel (19:31):
So would he have farmed that area off of what's Reagan
Road now?
Yes, he did.
Matt (19:37):
He did.
He had a name for his farm thatwas.
If I'm not mistaken.
It was named after one of thenative tribes.
Was it the Ojibwe farm?
It's buried in a file at home.
I can dig it out.
But yeah, I had a kind of likea romantic, poetic kind of name
(20:00):
to it.
Israel (20:00):
It's an interesting area down Reagan Road because you've
got to the north from ReaganRoad all the way to the highway.
There's that big open field.
A lot of people do someoff-roading back there.
That's now listed for sale.
We have Marshall Cemetery andthen those houses as you drive
(20:21):
to Parker Road beautiful, biglots, great houses.
You really are in the countrythere.
Matt (20:28):
Oh, definitely.
Israel (20:29):
So kind of a neat area.
It is Absolutely Well good,that's good to know, I'm sure.
A local farmer, oh, definitely,yeah, yeah, good.
Well, this is a reallyinteresting article.
We've talked about the Molkinaschools before a little bit Not
in any way as in depth as thisarticle gets.
We've talked about Mamie Bexten.
(20:53):
We had the recording we gotfrom Dr Cohen and the school
district there Again reallyinteresting.
The pictures are awesome.
We'll be sure to share these onFacebook, but as well as the
link to Matt's blog here.
I think it's a neat to notethat the bell that's on top of
(21:14):
there is still around.
We can still go see it at MESbehind there, behind Mokena
Elementary School, and hopefullyfor a long time it comes, I
hope so the names of ourvillages roads are a peek into
our history.
Matt (21:31):
Some bear the names of founding fathers, such as Denny
Avenue and McOveney Street,while others were called mayors,
such as Everett Lane andSwanburg Lane.
After all, the name of WolfRoad, originally a Potawatomi
path, harkens back to none otherthan Fikaki Tayanaki, or their
word for Trail of the Wolf.
Through the Wonderful Land,schoolhouse Road also makes an
(21:53):
appearance, not only being oneof our main thoroughfares but
also taking its name from alocal institution of many years
standing.
However, in our fast-paced 21stcentury world, how many modern
Mokenians actually reflect onthe place from which the road
gains its namesake?
For over half a century, theOrnate two-story Mokena public
(22:16):
school stood on the northwestcorner of Front Street and
today's Schoolhouse Road, aplace that loomed large in the
lives of generations ofvillagers.
While it was the grandestschool in our history, it was
far from the first thathonorable designation.
Going to the schoolhouse, thatwas the inaugural building
(22:37):
constructed on our public squarein 1855, three years after the
arrival of the Chicago, rockIsland and Pacific Railroad.
A small, low-slung Greekrevival building boasting of one
classroom, lightning rod andmodest bell.
It also served as a meetingplace for Mokena's newly formed
(22:57):
religious congregations andwhoever else needed the space.
By the time the Civil War endedin 1865, the ten-year-old
building was already bursting atthe seams with students.
It was time to upgrade and,mirroring the up-and-at-them
post-war mood in our neck of thewoods at the time, no expense
was spared.
On the edge of town, at thenorthwest corner of Front Street
(23:21):
and today's schoolhouse roadand an unnamed farm lane, a
magnificent two-story woodeneminence began to grow.
Built under the leadership oflocal contractor and native
Englishman James B Eason and theassistance of Carpenter George
Schweizer, the new school boretouches of Italianate
(23:41):
architecture then in vogue inthis part of the state, with the
elaborate brackets supportingthe roof and window frames,
complete with its bell towerstanding triumphant, which,
before the completion of ourfirst water tower in 1898, was
the highest point in town.
All in all, the new structuremeasured in at 45 x 78 feet.
(24:02):
Inside, two sets of windingstairs led down from the second
floor.
The meat of the structure wereits two large classrooms, one
upstairs and one down, eachmeasuring in at 20 x 60 feet.
Two round wooden pillarssupported the ceiling in each
room, although in later yearsmore walls would be built to
(24:24):
subdivide each room by the timeconstruction was complete.
The final cost of the newschool, plus its furnishings,
came out at $10,000.
In those early years it waswidely considered to be one of
the crown jewels of WillCounty's school system.
Only five years after itsopening, eminent Will County
(24:45):
historian George Woodruff statedthat it is a flourishing school
, ably managed and well attended.
Well, years later, the MokenaNews Bolton humbly wrote that it
was the talk of the town andsurrounding country in its day,
so acute was the need for thenew building that it was in use
(25:06):
before it was even finished,with the ground floor being open
for students in the fall of1872, while the second was still
under construction.
When the doors first opened,none other than George Kimball
was one of the first pupils whowould be remembered as the real
bad boy of the school.
He was an orphan who lived withthe Breumann family south of
(25:28):
town and he was said to havebeen a great tobacco truer and
could spit the farthest of anyboy.
Through the muddle of time, itis agreed that Professor Harris
Smith was the new school's firstprincipal, a man whose life in
Mokena's history remainsnebulous at this late date.
Who the other firsts wereleaves room for debate.
(25:50):
Whenever the subject came up inthe decades thereafter,
memories were fuzzy.
However, it can be certain thatMiss Sarah Baldwin, miss Sarah
Mather, miss Clara Williams, mrand Mrs Buck, mr Harrower and Mr
Woolison were all there in theearly days, although the first
(26:10):
names of the latter educatorsare long since lost to the ages.
In the beginning, the statelyschool housed grades 1 through 8
, while around 1908, the passingof a state law proved
fortuitous to local pupils.
The long and short of itprovided the rural students'
home school district to paytuition for a high school of
(26:32):
choice, thus opening the door toa high school education in a
time and place when youngMokenians would not normally
have had it.
Some village youth tookadvantage and commuted by train
to Blue Island in this era, astretch further down the Rock
Island.
At this time, most of thesepupils were girls, as local boys
(26:52):
were needed to do farm work.
A little later, Mokena's owntwo-year high school was rung in
in 1913, under the leadershipof Professor SJ Eakley, an
accredited chemist Holding classin the Front Street building.
A third year was added to thehigh school in a period of
prosperity, having existed inthe blink of an eye from 1925 to
(27:16):
1927.
In this inaugural year, theseupper classes counted nine
students, to which anotherteacher was added, bringing the
total number of educators in thebygone school to five.
For many in the village, theirday began with the 830 tolling
of the school's bell, whichcould be heard anywhere in
(27:37):
Mokena, peeling around eight toten times.
Town folk grew accustomed tohearing it and would even set
their clocks to it.
Mamie Beckstein, member of awell-known local family who
served as principal at theschool from 1910 to 1912,
painted a vivid picture of thebell.
Years later she would describefeeling its weight when she
(27:59):
pulled the inch-thick rope thatcame down from the school
ceiling.
That took quite a jerk to setinto action.
As the day came to life, allpupils walked to school, some
coming from as far as two milesaway.
On rainy days, those whomarched over the muddy rural
roads to get to school wereallowed to take their boots off
(28:22):
and wear house slippers inside.
At nine o'clock the dayofficially started, which was
heralded with three or four morestrokes of the bell.
The fifth through eighth gradesheld court in the upstairs
classroom, which had space forabout sixty students, while the
room on the main floor had spacefor fifty children of the lower
grades.
(28:42):
Each classroom had a platformupon which the teacher's desk
stood, with bench seats beingavailable for the pupils who
came to the front of the room torecite their studies.
Unlike today, there was noorganized lunch system at the
school, with the childrenbringing what they could on
their own.
Mamie Backstein remembered thatsome brought it in buckets and
(29:06):
some brought it in their pockets, with some of the foreign
children often bringing achicken leg and homemade bread.
The spacious building on thecorner was heated entirely with
coal, the ashes of which wouldbe dumped in the road.
A janitor was employed whosejob it was to build the fires,
although throughout the day theteachers would add to it from
(29:27):
lumps of coal in buckets.
The coal was originally storedin the school's basement, but
later on a storage building wasput up on the west side of the
grounds, which decades later wasmoved and turned into a small
residence just west of town onFrancis Road.
Running water inside the schoolwas a luxury that could only be
dreamt of.
There was a shallow well on theproperty, water from which was
(29:51):
blamed for an outbreak of thegrip which swept through the
school in early 1911, and wasalso the root of rumors a year
later that it was causingjaundice, so powerful was the
innuendo that local hardwaremerchant and school board member
, william Neatammer, had asample of the stuff tested by
two separate laboratories inChicago who pronounced it safe
(30:13):
to drink as it was.
The well was also known to befinicky, not to mention the fact
that older students had to helpthe younger ones operate the
stiff pump.
So many of the pupils broughttheir own tin cups that they
filled at the John Ericksonfamily hand pump just across
today's schoolhouse road.
On a normal day, an earlyrecess would be had from 1030 to
(30:36):
1045, with more ringing fromthe regal bell.
Bells had ample space to playcrack the whip, while boys would
play baseball, which led to theoccasional problem of a ball
flying across the Rock Islandtracks and being unretrievable
due to traffic on the railroadAround.
The turn of the 20th century,boys would also play shinny, an
(30:58):
informal kind of hockey.
Nevertheless, casualtiesmounted and the powers at the
school came to find the game toorough and dangerous, which
ultimately led the school boardto ban it in November 1910.
Bill Semler, our correspondentto the Juliet Weekly News,
carried the word in his moquinacolumn, to which the editor
(31:20):
chipped in ah, what a wealth ofmemories the game of shinny
brings forth.
Who has not landed in the gamein time to get the battered tin
can in the face or the hickoryclub in the shins?
Better call it golf and let thelads have all they want of it,
so long as the teacher keeps outof harm's way.
Israel (31:37):
So real quick.
Um, it sounds like a brutalgame.
Matt (31:42):
Yeah, it definitely does.
Israel (31:44):
Yeah, enough that the school board stepped in and said
no more, right, exactly, um,interesting.
So you mentioned about the JohnErickson family.
Then John Erickson Farm AcrossSchoolhouse Road.
Yeah, so is that the same farmand building that's still there
(32:04):
today?
Yep, that's the same.
Wow, that's the same one.
Yeah, and how long has thatfarm been there?
Matt (32:12):
It's very, very old, the house, the farmhouse probably
and this is a prime example ofwhat we were saying in the
earlier part of the episode.
Um, we don't have an exact dateof construction but based on
the little elements of itsarchitecture that you can kind
of recognize and pick out, Iwould reckon the house being
(32:32):
built probably not too longafter the Civil War.
Wow, so it's.
It's been around it.
I can say for a fact it wasalready there in 1873, because
there is a lithograph of anotherfarm in town and as the artist
(32:53):
put it together, he kind ofsketched what was around the
farm and in the background youcan see what was later known as
the Erickson Farm.
That was 1873.
So probably it was pretty newat that point.
Israel (33:07):
And did they have children going to the school at
that time?
Uh, dad, I'm not sure of uhthey, they otherwise they just
had all these school kids comingover and using their well.
Matt (33:19):
The John Erickson family did have children.
Uh, let's see.
Their son was Charles Erickson,who was, uh became an
auctioneer in town, a farmerhimself, a pretty well-known guy
.
He was born.
He must have been born around1884 or 1885.
So when did they acquire?
(33:39):
I can't remember off rightoffhand when exactly the John
Erickson's bought that farm.
I'm kind of thinking their son,Charles, did not go to school
there once again.
Maybe I'm wrong, but just justkind of thinking and trying to
do the math real quick in myhead.
Um, I want to say they moved inaround the early 1900s, but in
(34:03):
any case Mr and Mrs Ericksonwould have been used to having
lots of kids around coming in touse the uh, the hand pump on
their well, and after a day'slearning the pupils would gather
their books and head home atfour o'clock with two or three
more strokes of the bell.
Aside from the drudgery oftheir studies, the school could
(34:24):
be a lighthearted place.
Pupils were known to slide downthe black walnut railing of the
building's staircase, and musicwas supplied by a Julius Bauer
piano installed in the upstairsroom in the spring of 1911, paid
for by two plays staged by thestudents Not to be outdone
eleven years later.
(34:45):
In the spring of 1922, twoVictrola phonographs were
purchased for the school, animprovement which the news
bulletin hailed as never dreamedof.
At the same time, newplayground equipment was put up,
consisting of teeter, totters,slides and the like, the cost of
which was footed by dozens ofMokenians who helped raise the
(35:06):
money.
In describing these newniceties, the news bulletin
proudly stated that Moreimprovements have been made this
fall than have been made in thelast twenty years.
Nevertheless, as nice as thenew playground was, could also
be a risky place.
In the spring of 1927, anunimaginable accident befell
(35:28):
ten-year-old Iris Hamilton when,in using the slide, a long,
jagged sliver of wood droveitself into her leg.
The school's principal,professor Clarence Ull, was
quickly on the scene and hastily, determining that two arteries
had been cut, stanched the flowof blood by pressing his thumbs
against them.
Iris was transported to FrontStreet's Cooper and Hosterd Ford
(35:52):
Agency with the sliver still inher leg until professional
medical help arrived forty-fiveminutes later.
The news bulletin monitored thehappenings closely and stated
that the quick action andthought of Professor Ull was the
only factor that prevented thechild from bleeding to death,
and his many friends here say heis worthy of a Carnegie Medal
(36:15):
for saving a life.
The pupils at the Mokena Schoolwere generally happy.
However, an incident from 1913stands as a stark contrast on
the record of the years.
In February of that year, thehalls of learning came nigh
being the scene of a strike,when some of the students
threatened to walk out and notcome back until their complaints
(36:38):
were taken seriously.
The scholars told their parentsof petty annoyances and
bristled at what they thoughtwas discipline that was too
strict.
In many cases, the parentsbacked up their children.
Luckily for all, cooler headsprevailed and the trouble was
smoothed out.
Mokena and Bill Semmler, ourvillage's correspondent to the
(37:01):
Joliet Weekly News, was of theopinion that overindulgent
parents were to blame, writingthat Overfined parents are often
a hindrance to the welfare of achild and such parents cannot
see the faults of a child aswell as a teacher can, and that
when tales of petty annoyancesare told at home, parents should
investigate, air-giving thechild their opinion.
(37:24):
A similar incident occurred atthe end of the 1917 school year,
when some of the high schoolersin their class publication, the
Blab, raked the Board ofEducation's members over the
coals.
Bones of contention were theaforementioned pump and the lack
of running water in the school,the fact that the entire
(37:44):
building had yet to beelectrified, with the honor only
belonging to the upper room atthat point and the absence of
screens in the school's windows.
A defender of the Board ralliedto their aid and in the latter
point, retorted that An epidemichasn't yet made apparent of
screening the rooms to protectthe children against the flies
(38:05):
that swarmed there during thefall months.
Going on, this individual saidthat the Blab's comments were
entirely uncalled for and thepaper should be discontinued for
its sarcastic remarks.
So it was that pupilsoccasionally had grievances
against the school's leadership.
On the other side of the coin,for a good span of the
(38:26):
building's life, punishment wasdealt out with a rod and switch.
In Florence Pittman's seminal1963 work, the Story of Mokena,
she recalled that In the 90s itwas the universal policy of
parents to start their childrento school with the admonishment
If you get a whipping at school,you will get another when you
(38:46):
get home.
Nevertheless, there was a limitas far back as the spring of
1874, when the school on thecorner was a brand new structure
.
Professor Harris Smith, theschool's first principal, landed
himself in trouble for dealingout chastisement.
That was a touch tooheavy-handed.
He struck a small boy with ahickory whip-stock for refusing
(39:11):
to get a scuttle of coal, towhich the Joliet Republican
snidely remarked that strictnesscost him the little sum of $25,
or the equivalent of about $665in today's money, as it were.
Smith was not a popular man inMokena.
The same paper's towncorrespondent a few weeks later
(39:32):
penning that Mokena has one ofthe finest school buildings in
the county.
It is wished that we had halfas fine a principal to run it.
While going on that, the manwho tries to run it now says If
you don't like my style, keepyour children at home.
Our local writer estimated thattwo-thirds of Mokena's parents
were doing just that.
(39:54):
In addition to being a house oflearning, the school also served
as a community showcase, withcountless entertainments being
given there over the decades.
Typical was the exhibitiongiven on Saturday evening,
february 24, 1883.
The weather that night was lessthan ideal, but Mokenians
braved the muddy roads andturned out in full force.
(40:16):
Music was supplied by theMokena Coronet Band, backed up
by Mrs N Enders and Ms LizzieBrumond on the organ.
An opening song was given bythe school, followed by various
recitations, readings anddramatic pieces such as Johnny
Shrimp's idea of amusements,watermelon pickles and a
(40:38):
pantomime called A TemperanceStory, all of which were put on
by the students and teacherswhen a final tableau titled
Comfort was due to be framed.
School directors John A Hatch,george Schweizer and Robert H
Turner were called to the stage,where they thought they were
being asked to speachify.
Much to their surprise, itturned out they would be taking
(41:02):
part in the tableau.
An elegant chair was placed foreach of them on the stage, each
one a gift from the teacher andstudents, thanking them for
their kindness and interestmanifested in making things
comfortable for them.
One who was there said that thethree men were so overcome they
could not find words to expresstheir gratitude.
(41:23):
When all was said and done, theproceeds netted from the
night's festivities were $25.75,or around $835 in modern funds.
Alas, the good old days weren'talways good, as is demonstrated
by a peculiar incident thatoccurred in the fall of 1908.
(41:45):
On Wednesday morning, october14, 12-year-old Viola Hansen
opened the schoolhouse doors andwent upstairs by herself.
Upon doing so, she happenedupon a strange unknown man lying
on a bench in a side room nextto the library.
She thought he appeared to beasleep, but couldn't be sure.
Viola was thoroughly shaken upby her discovery and sprinted
(42:09):
back to her front street home,and when others came to
investigate, the stranger wasgone.
It was gathered that he gainedentrance to the building through
a downstairs window.
The school was also subject toextreme temperatures during the
more inhospitable months.
For most of the building'shistory it had no central heat
to speak of, with warmth beingprovided by two coal-burning
(42:32):
stoves in each room.
Local sage Clinton Krause wouldrecall that he and his fellow
students in pre-World War I dayswould gather around the stoves
and study, with the best-casescenario being that the pupils
near them would be in torridheat while those farther away
would freeze.
Such was life until 1911, whenthe school board had a
(42:55):
state-of-the-art heating systeminstalled, being the first
school in Will County to be soequipped.
On the other hand, airconditioning was still decades
away and as something the schoolwould never boast of.
At the beginning of the schoolyear in 1893, an unlucky
combustion of coal stored in thebasement ignited a fire that
(43:17):
caused quite a little excitementfor a time.
Luckily, things were quicklybrought back under control and
the flames made no seriousheadway, but nevertheless the
starkness of the situation waslost on no one.
Talking to the JoliacRepublican, Mokena village
leader Azias McGovney grimlysaid that if the fire had gone
(43:38):
unchecked, the whole buildingwould have been lost.
Fires again reared theiruninvited head on a school day
in the winter of 1922,.
When, on February 6th, theashes in an overheated stove set
the floor of the upstairs roomablaze, pupils were marched into
the cold outdoors, some of whompurportedly were unaware of
(43:59):
fire was happening, and theflooring torn up, once again
preventing a small fire frombecoming a serious one.
Indeed concern over fires was adeep one for the school board.
After the infamous Inferno atCollingwood, ohio, in March 1908
, it was resolved that a fireescape would be built on the
exterior of the aging structure,and by the following August, a
(44:23):
Joliet concern had finished thesteel stairs.
The school's main doors facingFront Street were also fixed.
Now they opened outward insteadof inward, which to that point
had been the case.
When the first official firedrill was carried out toward the
end of 1910, the pupilsexpertly used the escape, even
(44:43):
though a few of them felt someinitial trepidation.
Israel (44:46):
So fire again, which has been a theme throughout Moquina
in its early days.
Fortunately they were able tocatch this.
But you mentioned the infamousInferno at Collingwood Ohio in
March 1908.
Can you just share a little bitabout that?
Matt (45:08):
Yeah, a little bit.
I'm not intimately familiarwith the event, but after having
heard of it in accounts fromback then, I had never heard of
it and wanted to find out more.
So I looked around online alittle bit and apparently that
was a fire in a school in thisplace, collingwood, ohio, where
(45:28):
a lot of students died.
It was this really tragic,horrible event and the whole
thing could have been preventedif they had adequate fire
precautions in place.
Israel (45:42):
So that probably kind of rang out across the country as
kind of a warning sign that theyneeded to take some precautions
.
Matt (45:50):
Yeah, that's the impression I got.
Yeah, the Moquina school boardwas pretty shook up about it,
which then led to them havingthis fire escape built and the
doors fixed.
Yeah, and the doors.
Israel (46:02):
I mean, that's something you don't think about.
They had to reverse the doors,so the doors are going out and
stuff which is now a morecommonplace thing.
Interesting, and the first firedrill was held at the end of
1910, you mentioned, so Moquina.
(46:26):
Teachers have been doing firedrills for about 113 years.
Matt (46:29):
Oh, yeah, very long time.
I remember doing them atMoquina schools too.
As the decades came and wentand life went on in Moquina, the
school was beginning to showits age.
By July 1922, the House ofLearning had sagged to such a
degree that an architect fromthe county seat was called out
who was greatly alarmed at theway the stone foundation on the
(46:51):
east side of the building hadbulged outward.
To remedy this, it wasrecommended that 21 concrete
piers, each three feet square,be built underneath the school.
Alas, it was only a temporaryfix.
As the decade progressed,talkin' Town heated up about
constructing a new school and,after 57 years of serving
(47:15):
Moquina's youth, the grand oldlandmark was ready to be taken
out to pasture.
The last classes were held herein June 1929.
The same year, the new schoolon Carpenter Street opened,
which now serves the communityas our city hall.
Pupils were happy to make themove, with one being exuberant
about getting to the newschoolhouse, away from the noise
(47:38):
of the railroad, where we willhave more room to play.
So it was that America plungedinto the Great Depression and
the grand old school sat vacantfor the next four years, during
which time conjecture swirledabout its future.
At Christmas time 1933, willCounty Superintendent of Schools
and Moquina native, august Maui, advised our school board to
(48:02):
let it stand, citing hisexperience that in every
district in which the oldschoolhouse was sold or torn
down has been that very soonthereafter the building was
needed for regular schoolpurposes.
In the spring of 1934, thequestion was posed to Moquinians
during the annual schoolelection as to whether the
building should be sold or not.
(48:23):
The village's news bulletin wasfirmly in the former camp,
writing that the place was"abandoned and facing ruin and
that the community would bebetter off with the school board
profiting from the sale of theproperty".
The election came and Moquina'svoters gave the green light for
the building to be sold atauction on Tuesday May 15.
(48:45):
Before the sale, the school'sold iron bell, installed in 1881
, and the work of Philadelphia'sMcShane Foundry was removed
from its tower and stored atFront Street's Village Hall.
There it was held on to forsafekeeping, with the news
bulletin deeming that it maycome in handy for future use.
(49:07):
As the sales calls were criedand bids cast into the air on
that spring day, lester Sheikcame out as the winner, beating
out everyone else by offering$325 for the old school.
Sheik will be known tolisteners as Moquina's genial
Dairy man, who was also a memberof the school's first high
(49:28):
school graduating class in 1914.
Incidentally, one of theschool's outhouses was sold to J
M Yonker for $5, and the otherto Ed Marshall for $7.50.
Starting up with hisbrother-in-law, byron Nelson,
lester Sheik set about todisassemble the landmark at the
end of May 1934.
(49:49):
The two men were of anadmirable generation that didn't
waste and set forth to use theschool's robust lumber of which,
it was reckoned, there was atleast three boxcars worth, and
just as good today as the day itwas first used to build some
new houses in town.
This author is aware of atleast six houses in Moquina,
(50:13):
including his own on MidlandAvenue, that claim to come from
school lumber.
Alas, with the unmercifulpassage of time, it is
impossible to verify whichclaims are authentic.
The deconstruction of the schoolturned out to be a veritable
trip down memory lane.
When the blackboards were takenout in the spring of 1929, the
(50:34):
back of one of them was found tobe covered with writing bearing
the date September 21, 1902.
On it were enumerated the namesof the Board of Education
Tuwitt, christian Beckstein,simon Hollenstein and Irwin
McGovney, as well as teachers WJCunningham and Leah Smith, not
(50:55):
to mention Carpenters J Biggerand Charles Mowey, indicating
that the moment preserved intime must have taken place
during a renovation project, asthe walls came down bit by bit.
A book on grape growing,published in 1850, was
discovered between them, as wasalso a hammer with a broken
handle lost by some ancientworkmen.
(51:16):
Incidentally, the process oftaking apart the old school was
helped along by what was deemeda baby twister, which struck
town in early July.
Shingles, laths and pieces oflumber were described as flying
through the air, all of whichsent Byron Nelson, running south
of the Rock Island tracks, tothe Conoco Oil Station for
(51:39):
shelter.
The work was completed in thelast week of July 1934, with our
news bulletin heralding on itsfront page that the old Moquino
school is a thing of the past.
While those venerated halls ofeducation have long since
disappeared from our landscape,their legacy lives on in some
(52:00):
very tangible everyday ways,such as the road named after the
school and the houses builtfrom it, all of whom are just as
sturdy now as the day theschool first went up in 1872.
Not to be forgotten, however, isthe fact that the school's
erstwhile bell a very importantpart of life in the Moquino of
our forefathers still remainshere in town and can be readily
(52:23):
visited.
As the years went on, the oldbell made its way to the fire
department, who trooped it outoccasionally on parades.
In 1979, the bell wasrediscovered in our midst and as
the 1980s carried on interestin the historic relic bloomed,
school superintendent RayGarretano came up with a plan to
(52:45):
build a new bell tower in town.
Much in the style of the oldschools, and after a period of
brainstorming, the bell and itsnew home were officially
dedicated on September 12, 1985,to the students' past, present
and future of Moquino PublicSchool.
Thus the bell, whose strain hadechoed over the rooftops of the
(53:07):
village for decades, was given anew place of honor on a sunny
knoll between the library andthe schools.
A neat ceremony was held,complete with the Pledge of
Allegiance led by Craig Yonker,the recitation of the Eleanor
Fair John poem, school Bell byAmy Danyelowicz and releasing of
(53:27):
balloons by third gradestudents.
The bell still reposes there tothis day, a small piece of one
of the grandest schools WillCounty ever knew.
It is the legacy of hundreds ofMoquino children who attended
class in our town in the buoyantdays after the end of the Civil
War, spanning the years untiljust before the start of the
(53:49):
Great Depression.
Their ways of life are todaybut a distant memory, almost
lost in the haze of time.
Today, this August, iron Bellserve as a permanent reminder of
their stories.
Israel (54:02):
Wow, how cool that that bell is still around and still
on display for us to see.
Yeah, I love it.
So you said the last class,last class is in the old school.
We're held in June of 1929.
Yes, and then the property orthe school is taken apart, as
you said.
Do you know when the land wassold or when anything else?
(54:26):
The next?
I assume the house that's therenow was the next building that
was there.
Matt (54:31):
Yeah, that is true.
As it's known around town, theYellow House was the next
building built after the school.
However, it came along quite along time after the school was
taken down.
That property on the corner wasvacant for many, many, many
(54:53):
years.
The house has always been therein my lifetime, but it's
definitely a post-World War IIconstruction.
Israel (55:03):
Strange that that lot would just sit empty when maybe
it was the time.
I mean, we talk about the GreatDepression at a time, but with
Mochina developing and downtownbeing very active at the time,
yeah, yeah, it's strange thatsomething wouldn't have happened
(55:23):
earlier.
Matt (55:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not sure as to why that is.
I'm sure there was a reason,but yeah, why it just kind of
sat there for so long, that I'mnot sure.
Israel (55:35):
And you mentioned the six homes that you believed were
all built from the lumber.
Are all of those on Midland orare there some other places?
Matt (55:46):
That's a good question.
So let's see here, goingthrough them in my head most of
them are on Midland.
Let's see One, two, three, fourOkay, I can think of offhand
right now, I can think of fouron Midland Avenue, between,
let's see, between CarpenterStreet, going north too, okay, a
(56:10):
Parker Street.
Then there's another home andWolf Road, a little ways.
Let's see a little ways southof Revere and the.
They'd be the east side of theroad, across from Wolf Point,
the condominiums, there'sanother house and the corner of
(56:35):
the northern side, of the cornerof Midland and Parker I think
it's Parker and Carpenter thatwas also said to have been built
out of schoolhouse lumber andbuilding materials.
And all of these houses aretotally possible because they're
all were built right in thatera, like the 1930s, around the
(56:58):
time the original schoolhousecame down.
But just, yeah, there's.
There's just no way to verifyit.
It's just stuff.
We have these houses identifiedjust because it's been passed
down in Moquina lore over theyears that this house and that
house were were built out ofschool lumber.
Israel (57:16):
So do you know, did they have any connection to that,
those lots, or do they own thatproperty already down Midland?
Do you know?
Matt (57:26):
Yeah, no, I don't, Unfortunately.
I do know that, for example,the the house I currently live
in on Midland Avenue I like tobelieve it's an authentic school
lumber house, because we doknow for a fact that Lester
Sheik built the house and youknow he had at the same time was
(57:48):
owning the schoolhouse and wastaking it apart.
So it makes sense that he wasjust moving the stuff from one
piece of property in town to thenext.
Sure, to build from it.
But but yeah, no, that's a goodquestion.
Yeah, that I'm.
That I'm not sure of yeah.
Israel (58:03):
Yeah, and I thought it was interesting you talk about
this, how they were excitedabout the school moving away
from the tracks.
Yeah, yeah, you think yeah,that's a that's a lot of noise
and especially for kids.
I'm sure they were.
Every time a tree went by theywere staring out the window and
not paying attention to theteacher.
Matt (58:20):
Yeah, right, right, sure yeah.
Israel (58:22):
Yeah, so that's very interesting.
And again, we mentioned maybeback steam, who was principal
from 1910 to 1912.
Yeah, yeah, really interesting,you know it's.
It's interesting to see theschools and the school system
progress.
Matt (58:38):
It is so much.
Israel (58:39):
I mean, think about they don't have screens on their
windows and you know there'slive embers flying around from
you know, compared to you know,what our kids have now is a vast
difference, major, majorimprovement in a lot of ways.
Matt (58:56):
It is complete, total night and day difference in what
the Mokenians of your wereexperiencing when they were
going to school.
Israel (59:04):
Yeah, I mean in the commitment of these teachers.
I mean being a teacher today, Ican't imagine but me neither In
a day when you know you'redealing with so much.
Yeah, yeah, it's.
It's amazing that that we hadso many people that were willing
to do it and yeah, so well,this is a great story, matt,
(59:28):
anything else that you want toadd before we close.
Matt (59:32):
Just other than that, this was one I really particularly
enjoyed writing and gatheringall the material for and kind of
making it into a narrative.
Yeah, because it's a reallygreat story, like I was saying,
that really kind of illustrateswhat the what life was like for
for Mokenians over a century ago.
Israel (59:54):
Yeah, and I think we're going to do.
We're going to have a few morethings about the school, the
bell, the, the placecape nowthat's at MES.
You know I thought it was youmentioned about how you know
families and parents and thatraised money back, you know in
1922 for the new playground, andthat just reminded me of the
same.
You know a similar effort thattook place to build that, that
(01:00:17):
placecape the wooden placecapethere that exactly the so many
people are passionate about andcare about.
Oh, yeah definitely,unfortunately, the you know the
tragedy that happened with theyoung girl and you know cutting
herself and yeah, and this storyafter kind of changes the tone
a little bit, but yeah, it'sneat to see.
You know, like, schools arealways a place where community
(01:00:38):
comes together fund raisers,things like that.
So, absolutely, again, reallyneat to see and I look forward
to you know hearing more aboutthe bell and and what the school
is going to be doing with thatgoing forward as well.
So, definitely, well, great,matt.
Thank you, you're welcome.
Great story.
We'll share, like I said, the,as always, the, the link to the
(01:01:01):
blog post, the photos all thaton our Facebook and show notes.
So check those out.
Thanks, matt.
We hope you enjoyed thisepisode.
If you're enjoying our show, itwould really help us out a lot
if you leave us a rating and areview, especially on Apple
podcasts and Spotify.
There's a link in the shownotes to Matt's blog article
(01:01:22):
that this episode was based on,so be sure to check that out.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next time on Mokenas
Front Porch.
Welcome to Mokena's Front Porch.
A Mokena History podcast withMac Dalek and me, israel Smith.
Matt (00:07):
Before the sale.
The school's old iron bell,installed in 1881, and the work
of Philadelphia's McShaneFoundry, was removed from its
tower and stored at FrontStreet's Village Hall.
There it was held on to forsafekeeping, with the news
bulletin, deeming that it maycome in handy for future use.
(00:27):
It is the legacy of hundreds ofMokena children who attended
class in our town in the buoyantdays after the end of the Civil
War.
For over half a century, theornate two-story Mokena public
school stood on the northwestcorner of Front Street and
today's Schoolhouse Road, aplace that loomed large in the
(00:48):
lives of generations ofvillagers.
Israel (00:51):
Alright, this episode.
We're talking about the articlethat you wrote, matt, you
published on Saturday, august5th 2023.
Yeah, definitely, and it wastitled Reading, writing and
Rhythmetic the Mokena PublicSchools from 1872 to 1929.
Yes, yeah, so, and just briefly, what was the, what is the
(01:14):
significance of that time frame?
Matt (01:16):
Yeah well, those years, or the span of years between those
two, was when the schoolhousethe Mokena schoolhouse was in
use.
That stood on the let's see,that would be the northwest
corner of today's Front Streetand Schoolhouse Road.
Israel (01:35):
And you talk in the article how really at the time
when that school was built, whatwe now know as Schoolhouse Road
was really like a country road,I mean it's at the edge of town
.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
This was all kids walking toschool, largely right and people
from the right there in thecommunity, there were no school
buses and things like that.
It was true yeah, definitely not, not yet so and you continually
(01:59):
hear this school referred to,as you know, one of the grandest
schools, one of the you knowgreatest buildings or school
buildings in Will County and thepictures on the blog really do
show what a cool building thiswas.
And you know a two-story with agrand, you know bell tower at
the top and really neat building.
(02:21):
And it's kind of hard to youknow.
With some of the pictures thatyou post you kind of get the
idea of where it sits.
But there's so much change now.
Now on that it sits kind ofwhere that yellow house is is
that right?
Matt (02:36):
Yeah, more or less where the yellow house is.
I don't think it may be setexactly in the footprint,
because when you look atpictures of the Schoolhouse it
looks like it was set back fromthe road a little bit.
Israel (02:50):
So, maybe close.
Matt (02:52):
maybe the back was closer to First Street, that's kind of
the notion I'm getting yeah orthat I've always gotten yeah.
So it kind of sat between onthat corner but between Front
Street and First.
Israel (03:02):
Street, and so 1872, the school is built.
And at that time, what was theschool system in Moquina looking
like?
High school, wise, sure, yeah,I know you covered a little bit.
We'll get into an article.
Matt (03:19):
Yeah, so in 1872, there wouldn't have been any high
school to speak of.
There was already a schoolhousein town.
So this schoolhouse, ourschoolhouse here on the corner,
was not the first one in town.
There was a much smallerbuilding that had stood in or,
pardon me, that was built in1855 for about cost about $1,000
(03:43):
to build it when they built it,and it was a.
It was a handsome littlebuilding, but it was nowhere
near as big and as grandiose asthis schoolhouse was, and it
stood on what then was calledthe public square, which kind of
describe where that was or isand never really went anywhere.
But it would be.
(04:03):
The southern boundary of thepublic square would be Second
Street, with the easternboundary being Union Street,
northern boundary being ThirdStreet and the western boundary
would have been roughly where StJohn's is nowadays, maybe a
(04:27):
yard or two to the west of whereSt John's Church is.
This was a tract of ground thatwas set aside by our founding
father, alan Denny, in the 1850sstrictly to be used for schools
and churches, and that's why StJohn's is still there, because
that's where they've always been, in that parcel land somewhere.
(04:47):
But this original schoolhouse,that was the first building
built on the square when itopened in 1855 was stood kind of
tough to explain.
Kind of close to where StJohn's is nowadays but not
exactly in the footprint.
We could walk out there and wecould stand right about where it
(05:10):
was, but it doesn't neatly fitinto the footprint of any
building that's there nowadays.
But kind of stood between whereSt John's is now and where their
Christian community center isKind of in that driveway parking
lot kind of area there stoodthere and interestingly this
(05:31):
building is still with us intown today, just not in its
original location.
St John's.
St John's Church, which thenwas called the German United
Evangelical St John's Church,purchased the building from the
school board Few years after itwent out to use, probably around
1875 or so, and they had itmoved and tacked on to their
(05:54):
parsonage which stood on thesouth side of Third Street, and
this old schoolhouse was used bySt John's as a schoolhouse for
Sunday school and occasionallymeetings and so on and so forth.
And then in the 1920s theschoolhouse was detached from
the former parsonage buildingand rotated a little bit so that
(06:17):
part of it fronted on ThirdStreet and so it sits today as a
residence.
Israel (06:23):
Sure, and that's the one .
The first house directly westof the parking lot, yeah, that's
right Of St John's.
That's the one, yeah.
Matt (06:30):
Yeah, okay.
Israel (06:31):
Interesting.
Matt (06:32):
Yeah, and it's one of the few houses in town, because it's
one of the few where we canactually affix its date of
construction to it.
With so many of the otherreally really old ones, we only
have kind of a rough estimate asto when it was built.
But since that building was theschoolhouse and its history was
very well documented, we knowit was built in 1855.
Israel (06:56):
And I don't know if you've ever been in that
building, or yeah.
So we don't know if there's anyremnants of the schoolhouse or
the looks of Right.
Matt (07:08):
Yeah, unfortunately I've never been inside.
I would absolutely love to, soif anybody out there knows the
owners and would like to give usa tour.
But I've been told and this isgoing back a little bit so this
may not be the case anymore butI told back in the 90s so 20
(07:29):
plus years ago that the originalwooden beams, the supports in
the floor, were still visible inthere.
From the basement you can seethem.
So I don't know if they'restill exposed or they've been
covered up over the years, butat least as of back then they
were still there.
Israel (07:49):
And I know it's sold not too long ago, that's right,
yeah.
There might be some picturessomewhere on the Internet of
that.
Matt (07:55):
Yeah.
Israel (07:56):
So that was the original , the first known school house
in Moquina.
Matt (08:02):
Yeah, that was the first schoolhouse in Moquina proper,
not counting the countryschoolhouses that we had.
But yeah, that was the firstone and our schoolhouse and
schoolhouse road was the secondnew and improved schoolhouse.
Israel (08:17):
And as again, as you say and as we've covered in
previous episodes, that buildingstill kind of lives on with
other homes, homes that werebuilt from it, which you'll talk
about in the article.
Yeah, definitely, which is kindof interesting.
I mean you need to be able towalk through this beautiful
building but, as we hear, thatwas kind of a struggle too, or a
(08:38):
fight in town of what happenswith that building, Absolutely.
So you talk in the verybeginning a little bit.
You mentioned some of thestreet names and how it relates
to town and the founders andthat, and so, reading again the
article, I thought you know Isee a lot of the street names
(09:00):
around town and not always surehow they're related or who if
they're named after somebody.
So I had a short list I thoughtwe'd go through and see if we
can shed any light.
Matt (09:11):
And if not, you know that's fine too.
Okay, yeah, we'll see.
Israel (09:14):
So north the tracks, there's Cross Street, yep, and
then there's St John's there.
Matt (09:19):
Absolutely.
That's named after a gentlemanby the name of Cyrus Cross who
was one of our early settlersnot the first, but he was.
He was on the scene almostgoing back to day.
One came to us by way of HomerTownship I believe he was a born
New Yorker, if I'm not mistaken, but he subdivided that little
(09:44):
area along Cross Street.
That was originally part ofDenny's addition to Moquina, but
then, a few years after Dennyhad laid out the town, cyrus
Cross bought that little chunkof it and he then chopped it up
further into lots and the streetjust so happened to be named
after him because it was hisproperty.
Israel (10:06):
Interesting.
I always thought it was maybe aconnection to St John's and a
religious, but that that makessense.
Cross Street is one of myfavorite streets to walk down
around downtown.
It's just a cute little street,neat houses on.
Matt (10:19):
Yeah, a lot of history on Cross Street.
Absolutely.
Israel (10:22):
All right, how about Carpenter Street?
Matt (10:24):
Carpenter Street is another interesting one, another
early guy in Moquina's history.
He was a contemporary to AlanDenny and Cyrus Cross.
What's interesting aboutCarpenter Street?
Once again we have a streetnamed after a subdivision, by
the man who subdivided it.
An early settler who came alongsaw that Moquina was growing a
(10:48):
little bit.
The Rock Island had just comethrough.
Alan Denny had subdivided, soldoff some lots, people were
building houses and businessesand stuff like that, as did John
McGovney, alan Denney'sneighbor, however, or I should.
I should backtrack a little bit.
So this is what Carpenter isdoing to over in that neck of
the woods on Carpenter Street.
(11:09):
But which Carpenter that streetis named after is kind of foggy
because there were twoCarpenter's who at that time
were kind of wheeling anddealing and dealing in property
speculation in Molkina back inthe 1850s and I've looked into
(11:30):
the genealogy and I believethese two men were brothers or
cousins.
There was Chauncey Carpenterwho I believe we talked about
when we talked about Laura ThielSolon on Front Street.
He I believe he had aconnection to the early history
of that house and was the otherone that Norman Carpenter, I
(11:55):
want to say.
So it could have been namedafter either one of them, or
both of them, even, who knows?
Israel (12:01):
Okay, but yeah, all right.
And how about Parker Street?
Matt (12:06):
Parker Street is another interesting one.
It's kind of a mystery to me,kind of nebulous A theory, an
idea I have.
Maybe it was named after alocal guy, thomas P Parker, who
was a farmer not really close totown.
(12:27):
He was more out in the townline road area, or what we now
know is town line road whichthere's another Parker not far
from there either, right Exactly.
It could very well be namedafter the same family, but
Thomas Parker volunteered in theUnion Army during the Civil War
and was ultimately killed atthe Battle of Chickamauga in
(12:48):
September 1863.
So I wondered well, maybe itwas named after him, but I'm not
totally sure because ParkerStreet wasn't platted.
It wasn't laid out until wellafter Thomas Parker died.
So he died in 1863.
(13:08):
Parker Street was part ofBenedict Marty's subdivision to
Mochino, which he had laid outin.
That must have been around 1904or thereabouts.
So there's quite a passage oftime between Thomas Parker and
the street coming along.
So maybe, but I can't say withany definitive.
Israel (13:33):
OK yeah, how about Revere Road?
Matt (13:36):
Revere.
I've always just kind of kindof thought that was named after.
It was just somebody beingpatriotic naming it after Paul
Revere.
That's kind of what I wasthinking, but you never know,
yeah, yeah, I've never heard oneway or the other, but that's
what I always figure.
I mean, I've never happened tocross any Revere's in Mochino's
history.
Yeah, ok, so I think it sayspatriotism.
Israel (13:59):
So we said, or if we had south of the tracks a few more?
Yeah, Obviously McGovney andDenny are.
They're definitely well knownstreet names, absolutely.
How about Cluth Drive.
Matt (14:10):
Cluth, that's a good one.
So Cluth Drive More or less notexactly, but pretty much
follows a little what used to bea little farm lane that led
west off of Wolf Road back intowhere the end of the street is.
Nowadays there's a little kindof like a court at the end of
(14:32):
the street.
Right where that is and wherethose houses are, there was a
little homestead that the Cluthsisters lived in and they were I
believe I know exactly who Icould ask this question to to
get the definitive answer.
But I believe the Cluths wererelatives of the Sandrock family
who were pretty early settlerswho lived at that same site, and
(15:00):
the Cluth sisters lived forpretty long time yeah, the time
frame Well into the 20th centurypost World War II.
Oh wow.
Israel (15:09):
Yeah, but they were.
Matt (15:10):
They were pretty old when they passed away and they had a.
Yeah, it's a pretty rusticlittle homestead back there and,
were they like, lived theirwhole lives in Moquina Once
again, as always, I maybe I'mwrong, but I don't think they
lived back there their wholelives, even though I'm pretty
sure that property was in theirfamily.
But yeah, they nevertheless.
(15:34):
They lived there for a verylong time and up until recent,
or some somewhat recently, inthe grand scheme of things they
had still had family membersliving in town.
But yeah, when that area excuseme, when that area was
developed back there, they wereremembered and when that street
was laid out, it was basicallymore or less followed the little
(15:56):
lane that went back to wherethey lived.
Israel (15:58):
That's pretty cool.
Yeah, yeah, how about EverettLane?
Matt (16:03):
Everett that's named after Mr Mike Everett, who was our
mayor back in the 1980s, andhe's still around.
Israel (16:10):
Was a school board member up until recently.
Matt (16:12):
Yeah, he was yeah, he's still.
He's still been involved instuff around and of course now,
without having my my details infront of me, I couldn't tell you
what exactly his term was.
I want to say he was in officeas mayor from roughly 1982 or 83
until maybe 1989 or thereabouts.
(16:35):
Maybe he's listening and he can.
He can correct us, but thattimeframe, for a good part of
the 80s, he was mayor.
Israel (16:43):
And Swanburg Lane yeah.
Matt (16:46):
Swanburg Lane is named after Charles Swanburg.
Chuck Swanburg, who was anothermayor he was mayor back in the
1960s.
Another guy who was verycivically minded, wore a lot of
hats around town was also verywell known for being a
businessman in town.
He owned a farm implementdealership.
(17:06):
Excuse me again, I believe healso sold some cars too.
His business was down on WolfRoad, just north of La Porte
Road, on the western side of thestreet where, I believe, just
right north of the post office.
I think that's like a sign shopnow.
That's where Mr Swanburg'sbusiness was for many years.
Israel (17:31):
And Scarth Lane, another mayor.
Matt (17:34):
Another mayor.
Yeah, a lot of those streets,or maybe it's just those three
thinking offhand up in thatgrass mirror.
I think the other subdivisionis called Green Meadow, like
that neck of the woods therewere streets named after mayors.
But yeah, Mr Scarth was mayorfrom.
Oh, let's see, I believe he wasmayor in the 1950s and a lot of
(17:56):
Mokenians once.
I'm getting ahead of myself hewas.
I believe he was one of theowners of the Mokena wallpaper
mill.
He wasn't the only one.
There was a few guys who were,yeah, owners together.
In any case, he was running thewallpaper mill, so he was
(18:18):
another big businessman in townand Shazar Drive in Foxboro
Estates.
Israel (18:24):
that one I know is after Bob Shazar, a former mayor who
recently passed away.
Matt (18:29):
No, unfortunately recently passed.
Very nice man.
Israel (18:33):
And I didn't know him.
I got to hear more about himsince he's passed and he was a
longtime Mokena lion and verycivically involved Sure.
Matt (18:42):
He was with the Scouts as well.
Yeah, he did a lot for Mokena,that's for sure.
Israel (18:47):
So and that obviously in one of the newer subdivisions
fewer mayors names over there.
Matt (18:54):
Yeah.
Israel (18:54):
But he's one that made it, so that's great.
He did indeed.
And then the last one.
How about Reagan Road?
That's another good one.
Matt (19:02):
So Reagan Road, it's kind of an interesting little area
back there because technicallythat's New Lenox Township.
But they might have Mokenaaddresses, if I'm not mistaken,
and it's sort of like right inthe borgor.
So a lot of people willconsider that Mokena.
But Mr Reagan is not RonaldReagan the president His first
(19:22):
name's escaping me right now buthe was a very successful farmer
in that area for many years.
Israel (19:31):
So would he have farmed that area off of what's Reagan
Road now?
Yes, he did.
Matt (19:37):
He did.
He had a name for his farm thatwas.
If I'm not mistaken.
It was named after one of thenative tribes.
Was it the Ojibwe farm?
It's buried in a file at home.
I can dig it out.
But yeah, I had a kind of likea romantic, poetic kind of name
(20:00):
to it.
Israel (20:00):
It's an interesting area down Reagan Road because you've
got to the north from ReaganRoad all the way to the highway.
There's that big open field.
A lot of people do someoff-roading back there.
That's now listed for sale.
We have Marshall Cemetery andthen those houses as you drive
(20:21):
to Parker Road beautiful, biglots, great houses.
You really are in the countrythere.
Matt (20:28):
Oh, definitely.
Israel (20:29):
So kind of a neat area.
It is Absolutely Well good,that's good to know, I'm sure.
A local farmer, oh, definitely,yeah, yeah, good.
Well, this is a reallyinteresting article.
We've talked about the Molkinaschools before a little bit Not
in any way as in depth as thisarticle gets.
We've talked about Mamie Bexten.
(20:53):
We had the recording we gotfrom Dr Cohen and the school
district there Again reallyinteresting.
The pictures are awesome.
We'll be sure to share these onFacebook, but as well as the
link to Matt's blog here.
I think it's a neat to notethat the bell that's on top of
(21:14):
there is still around.
We can still go see it at MESbehind there, behind Mokena
Elementary School, and hopefullyfor a long time it comes, I
hope so the names of ourvillages roads are a peek into
our history.
Matt (21:31):
Some bear the names of founding fathers, such as Denny
Avenue and McOveney Street,while others were called mayors,
such as Everett Lane andSwanburg Lane.
After all, the name of WolfRoad, originally a Potawatomi
path, harkens back to none otherthan Fikaki Tayanaki, or their
word for Trail of the Wolf.
Through the Wonderful Land,schoolhouse Road also makes an
(21:53):
appearance, not only being oneof our main thoroughfares but
also taking its name from alocal institution of many years
standing.
However, in our fast-paced 21stcentury world, how many modern
Mokenians actually reflect onthe place from which the road
gains its namesake?
For over half a century, theOrnate two-story Mokena public
(22:16):
school stood on the northwestcorner of Front Street and
today's Schoolhouse Road, aplace that loomed large in the
lives of generations ofvillagers.
While it was the grandestschool in our history, it was
far from the first thathonorable designation.
Going to the schoolhouse, thatwas the inaugural building
(22:37):
constructed on our public squarein 1855, three years after the
arrival of the Chicago, rockIsland and Pacific Railroad.
A small, low-slung Greekrevival building boasting of one
classroom, lightning rod andmodest bell.
It also served as a meetingplace for Mokena's newly formed
(22:57):
religious congregations andwhoever else needed the space.
By the time the Civil War endedin 1865, the ten-year-old
building was already bursting atthe seams with students.
It was time to upgrade and,mirroring the up-and-at-them
post-war mood in our neck of thewoods at the time, no expense
was spared.
On the edge of town, at thenorthwest corner of Front Street
(23:21):
and today's schoolhouse roadand an unnamed farm lane, a
magnificent two-story woodeneminence began to grow.
Built under the leadership oflocal contractor and native
Englishman James B Eason and theassistance of Carpenter George
Schweizer, the new school boretouches of Italianate
(23:41):
architecture then in vogue inthis part of the state, with the
elaborate brackets supportingthe roof and window frames,
complete with its bell towerstanding triumphant, which,
before the completion of ourfirst water tower in 1898, was
the highest point in town.
All in all, the new structuremeasured in at 45 x 78 feet.
(24:02):
Inside, two sets of windingstairs led down from the second
floor.
The meat of the structure wereits two large classrooms, one
upstairs and one down, eachmeasuring in at 20 x 60 feet.
Two round wooden pillarssupported the ceiling in each
room, although in later yearsmore walls would be built to
(24:24):
subdivide each room by the timeconstruction was complete.
The final cost of the newschool, plus its furnishings,
came out at $10,000.
In those early years it waswidely considered to be one of
the crown jewels of WillCounty's school system.
Only five years after itsopening, eminent Will County
(24:45):
historian George Woodruff statedthat it is a flourishing school
, ably managed and well attended.
Well, years later, the MokenaNews Bolton humbly wrote that it
was the talk of the town andsurrounding country in its day,
so acute was the need for thenew building that it was in use
(25:06):
before it was even finished,with the ground floor being open
for students in the fall of1872, while the second was still
under construction.
When the doors first opened,none other than George Kimball
was one of the first pupils whowould be remembered as the real
bad boy of the school.
He was an orphan who lived withthe Breumann family south of
(25:28):
town and he was said to havebeen a great tobacco truer and
could spit the farthest of anyboy.
Through the muddle of time, itis agreed that Professor Harris
Smith was the new school's firstprincipal, a man whose life in
Mokena's history remainsnebulous at this late date.
Who the other firsts wereleaves room for debate.
(25:50):
Whenever the subject came up inthe decades thereafter,
memories were fuzzy.
However, it can be certain thatMiss Sarah Baldwin, miss Sarah
Mather, miss Clara Williams, mrand Mrs Buck, mr Harrower and Mr
Woolison were all there in theearly days, although the first
(26:10):
names of the latter educatorsare long since lost to the ages.
In the beginning, the statelyschool housed grades 1 through 8
, while around 1908, the passingof a state law proved
fortuitous to local pupils.
The long and short of itprovided the rural students'
home school district to paytuition for a high school of
(26:32):
choice, thus opening the door toa high school education in a
time and place when youngMokenians would not normally
have had it.
Some village youth tookadvantage and commuted by train
to Blue Island in this era, astretch further down the Rock
Island.
At this time, most of thesepupils were girls, as local boys
(26:52):
were needed to do farm work.
A little later, Mokena's owntwo-year high school was rung in
in 1913, under the leadershipof Professor SJ Eakley, an
accredited chemist Holding classin the Front Street building.
A third year was added to thehigh school in a period of
prosperity, having existed inthe blink of an eye from 1925 to
(27:16):
1927.
In this inaugural year, theseupper classes counted nine
students, to which anotherteacher was added, bringing the
total number of educators in thebygone school to five.
For many in the village, theirday began with the 830 tolling
of the school's bell, whichcould be heard anywhere in
(27:37):
Mokena, peeling around eight toten times.
Town folk grew accustomed tohearing it and would even set
their clocks to it.
Mamie Beckstein, member of awell-known local family who
served as principal at theschool from 1910 to 1912,
painted a vivid picture of thebell.
Years later she would describefeeling its weight when she
(27:59):
pulled the inch-thick rope thatcame down from the school
ceiling.
That took quite a jerk to setinto action.
As the day came to life, allpupils walked to school, some
coming from as far as two milesaway.
On rainy days, those whomarched over the muddy rural
roads to get to school wereallowed to take their boots off
(28:22):
and wear house slippers inside.
At nine o'clock the dayofficially started, which was
heralded with three or four morestrokes of the bell.
The fifth through eighth gradesheld court in the upstairs
classroom, which had space forabout sixty students, while the
room on the main floor had spacefor fifty children of the lower
grades.
(28:42):
Each classroom had a platformupon which the teacher's desk
stood, with bench seats beingavailable for the pupils who
came to the front of the room torecite their studies.
Unlike today, there was noorganized lunch system at the
school, with the childrenbringing what they could on
their own.
Mamie Backstein remembered thatsome brought it in buckets and
(29:06):
some brought it in their pockets, with some of the foreign
children often bringing achicken leg and homemade bread.
The spacious building on thecorner was heated entirely with
coal, the ashes of which wouldbe dumped in the road.
A janitor was employed whosejob it was to build the fires,
although throughout the day theteachers would add to it from
(29:27):
lumps of coal in buckets.
The coal was originally storedin the school's basement, but
later on a storage building wasput up on the west side of the
grounds, which decades later wasmoved and turned into a small
residence just west of town onFrancis Road.
Running water inside the schoolwas a luxury that could only be
dreamt of.
There was a shallow well on theproperty, water from which was
(29:51):
blamed for an outbreak of thegrip which swept through the
school in early 1911, and wasalso the root of rumors a year
later that it was causingjaundice, so powerful was the
innuendo that local hardwaremerchant and school board member
, william Neatammer, had asample of the stuff tested by
two separate laboratories inChicago who pronounced it safe
(30:13):
to drink as it was.
The well was also known to befinicky, not to mention the fact
that older students had to helpthe younger ones operate the
stiff pump.
So many of the pupils broughttheir own tin cups that they
filled at the John Ericksonfamily hand pump just across
today's schoolhouse road.
On a normal day, an earlyrecess would be had from 1030 to
(30:36):
1045, with more ringing fromthe regal bell.
Bells had ample space to playcrack the whip, while boys would
play baseball, which led to theoccasional problem of a ball
flying across the Rock Islandtracks and being unretrievable
due to traffic on the railroadAround.
The turn of the 20th century,boys would also play shinny, an
(30:58):
informal kind of hockey.
Nevertheless, casualtiesmounted and the powers at the
school came to find the game toorough and dangerous, which
ultimately led the school boardto ban it in November 1910.
Bill Semler, our correspondentto the Juliet Weekly News,
carried the word in his moquinacolumn, to which the editor
(31:20):
chipped in ah, what a wealth ofmemories the game of shinny
brings forth.
Who has not landed in the gamein time to get the battered tin
can in the face or the hickoryclub in the shins?
Better call it golf and let thelads have all they want of it,
so long as the teacher keeps outof harm's way.
Israel (31:37):
So real quick.
Um, it sounds like a brutalgame.
Matt (31:42):
Yeah, it definitely does.
Israel (31:44):
Yeah, enough that the school board stepped in and said
no more, right, exactly, um,interesting.
So you mentioned about the JohnErickson family.
Then John Erickson Farm AcrossSchoolhouse Road.
Yeah, so is that the same farmand building that's still there
(32:04):
today?
Yep, that's the same.
Wow, that's the same one.
Yeah, and how long has thatfarm been there?
Matt (32:12):
It's very, very old, the house, the farmhouse probably
and this is a prime example ofwhat we were saying in the
earlier part of the episode.
Um, we don't have an exact dateof construction but based on
the little elements of itsarchitecture that you can kind
of recognize and pick out, Iwould reckon the house being
(32:32):
built probably not too longafter the Civil War.
Wow, so it's.
It's been around it.
I can say for a fact it wasalready there in 1873, because
there is a lithograph of anotherfarm in town and as the artist
(32:53):
put it together, he kind ofsketched what was around the
farm and in the background youcan see what was later known as
the Erickson Farm.
That was 1873.
So probably it was pretty newat that point.
Israel (33:07):
And did they have children going to the school at
that time?
Uh, dad, I'm not sure of uhthey, they otherwise they just
had all these school kids comingover and using their well.
Matt (33:19):
The John Erickson family did have children.
Uh, let's see.
Their son was Charles Erickson,who was, uh became an
auctioneer in town, a farmerhimself, a pretty well-known guy
.
He was born.
He must have been born around1884 or 1885.
So when did they acquire?
(33:39):
I can't remember off rightoffhand when exactly the John
Erickson's bought that farm.
I'm kind of thinking their son,Charles, did not go to school
there once again.
Maybe I'm wrong, but just justkind of thinking and trying to
do the math real quick in myhead.
Um, I want to say they moved inaround the early 1900s, but in
(34:03):
any case Mr and Mrs Ericksonwould have been used to having
lots of kids around coming in touse the uh, the hand pump on
their well, and after a day'slearning the pupils would gather
their books and head home atfour o'clock with two or three
more strokes of the bell.
Aside from the drudgery oftheir studies, the school could
(34:24):
be a lighthearted place.
Pupils were known to slide downthe black walnut railing of the
building's staircase, and musicwas supplied by a Julius Bauer
piano installed in the upstairsroom in the spring of 1911, paid
for by two plays staged by thestudents Not to be outdone
eleven years later.
(34:45):
In the spring of 1922, twoVictrola phonographs were
purchased for the school, animprovement which the news
bulletin hailed as never dreamedof.
At the same time, newplayground equipment was put up,
consisting of teeter, totters,slides and the like, the cost of
which was footed by dozens ofMokenians who helped raise the
(35:06):
money.
In describing these newniceties, the news bulletin
proudly stated that Moreimprovements have been made this
fall than have been made in thelast twenty years.
Nevertheless, as nice as thenew playground was, could also
be a risky place.
In the spring of 1927, anunimaginable accident befell
(35:28):
ten-year-old Iris Hamilton when,in using the slide, a long,
jagged sliver of wood droveitself into her leg.
The school's principal,professor Clarence Ull, was
quickly on the scene and hastily, determining that two arteries
had been cut, stanched the flowof blood by pressing his thumbs
against them.
Iris was transported to FrontStreet's Cooper and Hosterd Ford
(35:52):
Agency with the sliver still inher leg until professional
medical help arrived forty-fiveminutes later.
The news bulletin monitored thehappenings closely and stated
that the quick action andthought of Professor Ull was the
only factor that prevented thechild from bleeding to death,
and his many friends here say heis worthy of a Carnegie Medal
(36:15):
for saving a life.
The pupils at the Mokena Schoolwere generally happy.
However, an incident from 1913stands as a stark contrast on
the record of the years.
In February of that year, thehalls of learning came nigh
being the scene of a strike,when some of the students
threatened to walk out and notcome back until their complaints
(36:38):
were taken seriously.
The scholars told their parentsof petty annoyances and
bristled at what they thoughtwas discipline that was too
strict.
In many cases, the parentsbacked up their children.
Luckily for all, cooler headsprevailed and the trouble was
smoothed out.
Mokena and Bill Semmler, ourvillage's correspondent to the
(37:01):
Joliet Weekly News, was of theopinion that overindulgent
parents were to blame, writingthat Overfined parents are often
a hindrance to the welfare of achild and such parents cannot
see the faults of a child aswell as a teacher can, and that
when tales of petty annoyancesare told at home, parents should
investigate, air-giving thechild their opinion.
(37:24):
A similar incident occurred atthe end of the 1917 school year,
when some of the high schoolersin their class publication, the
Blab, raked the Board ofEducation's members over the
coals.
Bones of contention were theaforementioned pump and the lack
of running water in the school,the fact that the entire
(37:44):
building had yet to beelectrified, with the honor only
belonging to the upper room atthat point and the absence of
screens in the school's windows.
A defender of the Board ralliedto their aid and in the latter
point, retorted that An epidemichasn't yet made apparent of
screening the rooms to protectthe children against the flies
(38:05):
that swarmed there during thefall months.
Going on, this individual saidthat the Blab's comments were
entirely uncalled for and thepaper should be discontinued for
its sarcastic remarks.
So it was that pupilsoccasionally had grievances
against the school's leadership.
On the other side of the coin,for a good span of the
(38:26):
building's life, punishment wasdealt out with a rod and switch.
In Florence Pittman's seminal1963 work, the Story of Mokena,
she recalled that In the 90s itwas the universal policy of
parents to start their childrento school with the admonishment
If you get a whipping at school,you will get another when you
(38:46):
get home.
Nevertheless, there was a limitas far back as the spring of
1874, when the school on thecorner was a brand new structure
.
Professor Harris Smith, theschool's first principal, landed
himself in trouble for dealingout chastisement.
That was a touch tooheavy-handed.
He struck a small boy with ahickory whip-stock for refusing
(39:11):
to get a scuttle of coal, towhich the Joliet Republican
snidely remarked that strictnesscost him the little sum of $25,
or the equivalent of about $665in today's money, as it were.
Smith was not a popular man inMokena.
The same paper's towncorrespondent a few weeks later
(39:32):
penning that Mokena has one ofthe finest school buildings in
the county.
It is wished that we had halfas fine a principal to run it.
While going on that, the manwho tries to run it now says If
you don't like my style, keepyour children at home.
Our local writer estimated thattwo-thirds of Mokena's parents
were doing just that.
(39:54):
In addition to being a house oflearning, the school also served
as a community showcase, withcountless entertainments being
given there over the decades.
Typical was the exhibitiongiven on Saturday evening,
february 24, 1883.
The weather that night was lessthan ideal, but Mokenians
braved the muddy roads andturned out in full force.
(40:16):
Music was supplied by theMokena Coronet Band, backed up
by Mrs N Enders and Ms LizzieBrumond on the organ.
An opening song was given bythe school, followed by various
recitations, readings anddramatic pieces such as Johnny
Shrimp's idea of amusements,watermelon pickles and a
(40:38):
pantomime called A TemperanceStory, all of which were put on
by the students and teacherswhen a final tableau titled
Comfort was due to be framed.
School directors John A Hatch,george Schweizer and Robert H
Turner were called to the stage,where they thought they were
being asked to speachify.
Much to their surprise, itturned out they would be taking
(41:02):
part in the tableau.
An elegant chair was placed foreach of them on the stage, each
one a gift from the teacher andstudents, thanking them for
their kindness and interestmanifested in making things
comfortable for them.
One who was there said that thethree men were so overcome they
could not find words to expresstheir gratitude.
(41:23):
When all was said and done, theproceeds netted from the
night's festivities were $25.75,or around $835 in modern funds.
Alas, the good old days weren'talways good, as is demonstrated
by a peculiar incident thatoccurred in the fall of 1908.
(41:45):
On Wednesday morning, october14, 12-year-old Viola Hansen
opened the schoolhouse doors andwent upstairs by herself.
Upon doing so, she happenedupon a strange unknown man lying
on a bench in a side room nextto the library.
She thought he appeared to beasleep, but couldn't be sure.
Viola was thoroughly shaken upby her discovery and sprinted
(42:09):
back to her front street home,and when others came to
investigate, the stranger wasgone.
It was gathered that he gainedentrance to the building through
a downstairs window.
The school was also subject toextreme temperatures during the
more inhospitable months.
For most of the building'shistory it had no central heat
to speak of, with warmth beingprovided by two coal-burning
(42:32):
stoves in each room.
Local sage Clinton Krause wouldrecall that he and his fellow
students in pre-World War I dayswould gather around the stoves
and study, with the best-casescenario being that the pupils
near them would be in torridheat while those farther away
would freeze.
Such was life until 1911, whenthe school board had a
(42:55):
state-of-the-art heating systeminstalled, being the first
school in Will County to be soequipped.
On the other hand, airconditioning was still decades
away and as something the schoolwould never boast of.
At the beginning of the schoolyear in 1893, an unlucky
combustion of coal stored in thebasement ignited a fire that
(43:17):
caused quite a little excitementfor a time.
Luckily, things were quicklybrought back under control and
the flames made no seriousheadway, but nevertheless the
starkness of the situation waslost on no one.
Talking to the JoliacRepublican, Mokena village
leader Azias McGovney grimlysaid that if the fire had gone
(43:38):
unchecked, the whole buildingwould have been lost.
Fires again reared theiruninvited head on a school day
in the winter of 1922,.
When, on February 6th, theashes in an overheated stove set
the floor of the upstairs roomablaze, pupils were marched into
the cold outdoors, some of whompurportedly were unaware of
(43:59):
fire was happening, and theflooring torn up, once again
preventing a small fire frombecoming a serious one.
Indeed concern over fires was adeep one for the school board.
After the infamous Inferno atCollingwood, ohio, in March 1908
, it was resolved that a fireescape would be built on the
exterior of the aging structure,and by the following August, a
(44:23):
Joliet concern had finished thesteel stairs.
The school's main doors facingFront Street were also fixed.
Now they opened outward insteadof inward, which to that point
had been the case.
When the first official firedrill was carried out toward the
end of 1910, the pupilsexpertly used the escape, even
(44:43):
though a few of them felt someinitial trepidation.
Israel (44:46):
So fire again, which has been a theme throughout Moquina
in its early days.
Fortunately they were able tocatch this.
But you mentioned the infamousInferno at Collingwood Ohio in
March 1908.
Can you just share a little bitabout that?
Matt (45:08):
Yeah, a little bit.
I'm not intimately familiarwith the event, but after having
heard of it in accounts fromback then, I had never heard of
it and wanted to find out more.
So I looked around online alittle bit and apparently that
was a fire in a school in thisplace, collingwood, ohio, where
(45:28):
a lot of students died.
It was this really tragic,horrible event and the whole
thing could have been preventedif they had adequate fire
precautions in place.
Israel (45:42):
So that probably kind of rang out across the country as
kind of a warning sign that theyneeded to take some precautions
.
Matt (45:50):
Yeah, that's the impression I got.
Yeah, the Moquina school boardwas pretty shook up about it,
which then led to them havingthis fire escape built and the
doors fixed.
Yeah, and the doors.
Israel (46:02):
I mean, that's something you don't think about.
They had to reverse the doors,so the doors are going out and
stuff which is now a morecommonplace thing.
Interesting, and the first firedrill was held at the end of
1910, you mentioned, so Moquina.
(46:26):
Teachers have been doing firedrills for about 113 years.
Matt (46:29):
Oh, yeah, very long time.
I remember doing them atMoquina schools too.
As the decades came and wentand life went on in Moquina, the
school was beginning to showits age.
By July 1922, the House ofLearning had sagged to such a
degree that an architect fromthe county seat was called out
who was greatly alarmed at theway the stone foundation on the
(46:51):
east side of the building hadbulged outward.
To remedy this, it wasrecommended that 21 concrete
piers, each three feet square,be built underneath the school.
Alas, it was only a temporaryfix.
As the decade progressed,talkin' Town heated up about
constructing a new school and,after 57 years of serving
(47:15):
Moquina's youth, the grand oldlandmark was ready to be taken
out to pasture.
The last classes were held herein June 1929.
The same year, the new schoolon Carpenter Street opened,
which now serves the communityas our city hall.
Pupils were happy to make themove, with one being exuberant
about getting to the newschoolhouse, away from the noise
(47:38):
of the railroad, where we willhave more room to play.
So it was that America plungedinto the Great Depression and
the grand old school sat vacantfor the next four years, during
which time conjecture swirledabout its future.
At Christmas time 1933, willCounty Superintendent of Schools
and Moquina native, august Maui, advised our school board to
(48:02):
let it stand, citing hisexperience that in every
district in which the oldschoolhouse was sold or torn
down has been that very soonthereafter the building was
needed for regular schoolpurposes.
In the spring of 1934, thequestion was posed to Moquinians
during the annual schoolelection as to whether the
building should be sold or not.
(48:23):
The village's news bulletin wasfirmly in the former camp,
writing that the place was"abandoned and facing ruin and
that the community would bebetter off with the school board
profiting from the sale of theproperty".
The election came and Moquina'svoters gave the green light for
the building to be sold atauction on Tuesday May 15.
(48:45):
Before the sale, the school'sold iron bell, installed in 1881
, and the work of Philadelphia'sMcShane Foundry was removed
from its tower and stored atFront Street's Village Hall.
There it was held on to forsafekeeping, with the news
bulletin deeming that it maycome in handy for future use.
(49:07):
As the sales calls were criedand bids cast into the air on
that spring day, lester Sheikcame out as the winner, beating
out everyone else by offering$325 for the old school.
Sheik will be known tolisteners as Moquina's genial
Dairy man, who was also a memberof the school's first high
(49:28):
school graduating class in 1914.
Incidentally, one of theschool's outhouses was sold to J
M Yonker for $5, and the otherto Ed Marshall for $7.50.
Starting up with hisbrother-in-law, byron Nelson,
lester Sheik set about todisassemble the landmark at the
end of May 1934.
(49:49):
The two men were of anadmirable generation that didn't
waste and set forth to use theschool's robust lumber of which,
it was reckoned, there was atleast three boxcars worth, and
just as good today as the day itwas first used to build some
new houses in town.
This author is aware of atleast six houses in Moquina,
(50:13):
including his own on MidlandAvenue, that claim to come from
school lumber.
Alas, with the unmercifulpassage of time, it is
impossible to verify whichclaims are authentic.
The deconstruction of the schoolturned out to be a veritable
trip down memory lane.
When the blackboards were takenout in the spring of 1929, the
(50:34):
back of one of them was found tobe covered with writing bearing
the date September 21, 1902.
On it were enumerated the namesof the Board of Education
Tuwitt, christian Beckstein,simon Hollenstein and Irwin
McGovney, as well as teachers WJCunningham and Leah Smith, not
(50:55):
to mention Carpenters J Biggerand Charles Mowey, indicating
that the moment preserved intime must have taken place
during a renovation project, asthe walls came down bit by bit.
A book on grape growing,published in 1850, was
discovered between them, as wasalso a hammer with a broken
handle lost by some ancientworkmen.
(51:16):
Incidentally, the process oftaking apart the old school was
helped along by what was deemeda baby twister, which struck
town in early July.
Shingles, laths and pieces oflumber were described as flying
through the air, all of whichsent Byron Nelson, running south
of the Rock Island tracks, tothe Conoco Oil Station for
(51:39):
shelter.
The work was completed in thelast week of July 1934, with our
news bulletin heralding on itsfront page that the old Moquino
school is a thing of the past.
While those venerated halls ofeducation have long since
disappeared from our landscape,their legacy lives on in some
(52:00):
very tangible everyday ways,such as the road named after the
school and the houses builtfrom it, all of whom are just as
sturdy now as the day theschool first went up in 1872.
Not to be forgotten, however, isthe fact that the school's
erstwhile bell a very importantpart of life in the Moquino of
our forefathers still remainshere in town and can be readily
(52:23):
visited.
As the years went on, the oldbell made its way to the fire
department, who trooped it outoccasionally on parades.
In 1979, the bell wasrediscovered in our midst and as
the 1980s carried on interestin the historic relic bloomed,
school superintendent RayGarretano came up with a plan to
(52:45):
build a new bell tower in town.
Much in the style of the oldschools, and after a period of
brainstorming, the bell and itsnew home were officially
dedicated on September 12, 1985,to the students' past, present
and future of Moquino PublicSchool.
Thus the bell, whose strain hadechoed over the rooftops of the
(53:07):
village for decades, was given anew place of honor on a sunny
knoll between the library andthe schools.
A neat ceremony was held,complete with the Pledge of
Allegiance led by Craig Yonker,the recitation of the Eleanor
Fair John poem, school Bell byAmy Danyelowicz and releasing of
(53:27):
balloons by third gradestudents.
The bell still reposes there tothis day, a small piece of one
of the grandest schools WillCounty ever knew.
It is the legacy of hundreds ofMoquino children who attended
class in our town in the buoyantdays after the end of the Civil
War, spanning the years untiljust before the start of the
(53:49):
Great Depression.
Their ways of life are todaybut a distant memory, almost
lost in the haze of time.
Today, this August, iron Bellserve as a permanent reminder of
their stories.
Israel (54:02):
Wow, how cool that that bell is still around and still
on display for us to see.
Yeah, I love it.
So you said the last class,last class is in the old school.
We're held in June of 1929.
Yes, and then the property orthe school is taken apart, as
you said.
Do you know when the land wassold or when anything else?
(54:26):
The next?
I assume the house that's therenow was the next building that
was there.
Matt (54:31):
Yeah, that is true.
As it's known around town, theYellow House was the next
building built after the school.
However, it came along quite along time after the school was
taken down.
That property on the corner wasvacant for many, many, many
(54:53):
years.
The house has always been therein my lifetime, but it's
definitely a post-World War IIconstruction.
Israel (55:03):
Strange that that lot would just sit empty when maybe
it was the time.
I mean, we talk about the GreatDepression at a time, but with
Mochina developing and downtownbeing very active at the time,
yeah, yeah, it's strange thatsomething wouldn't have happened
(55:23):
earlier.
Matt (55:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not sure as to why that is.
I'm sure there was a reason,but yeah, why it just kind of
sat there for so long, that I'mnot sure.
Israel (55:35):
And you mentioned the six homes that you believed were
all built from the lumber.
Are all of those on Midland orare there some other places?
Matt (55:46):
That's a good question.
So let's see here, goingthrough them in my head most of
them are on Midland.
Let's see One, two, three, fourOkay, I can think of offhand
right now, I can think of fouron Midland Avenue, between,
let's see, between CarpenterStreet, going north too, okay, a
(56:10):
Parker Street.
Then there's another home andWolf Road, a little ways.
Let's see a little ways southof Revere and the.
They'd be the east side of theroad, across from Wolf Point,
the condominiums, there'sanother house and the corner of
(56:35):
the northern side, of the cornerof Midland and Parker I think
it's Parker and Carpenter thatwas also said to have been built
out of schoolhouse lumber andbuilding materials.
And all of these houses aretotally possible because they're
all were built right in thatera, like the 1930s, around the
(56:58):
time the original schoolhousecame down.
But just, yeah, there's.
There's just no way to verifyit.
It's just stuff.
We have these houses identifiedjust because it's been passed
down in Moquina lore over theyears that this house and that
house were were built out ofschool lumber.
Israel (57:16):
So do you know, did they have any connection to that,
those lots, or do they own thatproperty already down Midland?
Do you know?
Matt (57:26):
Yeah, no, I don't, Unfortunately.
I do know that, for example,the the house I currently live
in on Midland Avenue I like tobelieve it's an authentic school
lumber house, because we doknow for a fact that Lester
Sheik built the house and youknow he had at the same time was
(57:48):
owning the schoolhouse and wastaking it apart.
So it makes sense that he wasjust moving the stuff from one
piece of property in town to thenext.
Sure, to build from it.
But but yeah, no, that's a goodquestion.
Yeah, that I'm.
That I'm not sure of yeah.
Israel (58:03):
Yeah, and I thought it was interesting you talk about
this, how they were excitedabout the school moving away
from the tracks.
Yeah, yeah, you think yeah,that's a that's a lot of noise
and especially for kids.
I'm sure they were.
Every time a tree went by theywere staring out the window and
not paying attention to theteacher.
Matt (58:20):
Yeah, right, right, sure yeah.
Israel (58:22):
Yeah, so that's very interesting.
And again, we mentioned maybeback steam, who was principal
from 1910 to 1912.
Yeah, yeah, really interesting,you know it's.
It's interesting to see theschools and the school system
progress.
Matt (58:38):
It is so much.
Israel (58:39):
I mean, think about they don't have screens on their
windows and you know there'slive embers flying around from
you know, compared to you know,what our kids have now is a vast
difference, major, majorimprovement in a lot of ways.
Matt (58:56):
It is complete, total night and day difference in what
the Mokenians of your wereexperiencing when they were
going to school.
Israel (59:04):
Yeah, I mean in the commitment of these teachers.
I mean being a teacher today, Ican't imagine but me neither In
a day when you know you'redealing with so much.
Yeah, yeah, it's.
It's amazing that that we hadso many people that were willing
to do it and yeah, so well,this is a great story, matt,
(59:28):
anything else that you want toadd before we close.
Matt (59:32):
Just other than that, this was one I really particularly
enjoyed writing and gatheringall the material for and kind of
making it into a narrative.
Yeah, because it's a reallygreat story, like I was saying,
that really kind of illustrateswhat the what life was like for
for Mokenians over a century ago.
Israel (59:54):
Yeah, and I think we're going to do.
We're going to have a few morethings about the school, the
bell, the, the placecape nowthat's at MES.
You know I thought it was youmentioned about how you know
families and parents and thatraised money back, you know in
1922 for the new playground, andthat just reminded me of the
same.
You know a similar effort thattook place to build that, that
(01:00:17):
placecape the wooden placecapethere that exactly the so many
people are passionate about andcare about.
Oh, yeah definitely,unfortunately, the you know the
tragedy that happened with theyoung girl and you know cutting
herself and yeah, and this storyafter kind of changes the tone
a little bit, but yeah, it'sneat to see.
You know, like, schools arealways a place where community
(01:00:38):
comes together fund raisers,things like that.
So, absolutely, again, reallyneat to see and I look forward
to you know hearing more aboutthe bell and and what the school
is going to be doing with thatgoing forward as well.
So, definitely, well, great,matt.
Thank you, you're welcome.
Great story.
We'll share, like I said, the,as always, the, the link to the
(01:01:01):
blog post, the photos all thaton our Facebook and show notes.
So check those out.
Thanks, matt.
We hope you enjoyed thisepisode.
If you're enjoying our show, itwould really help us out a lot
if you leave us a rating and areview, especially on Apple
podcasts and Spotify.
There's a link in the shownotes to Matt's blog article
(01:01:22):
that this episode was based on,so be sure to check that out.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next time on Mokenas
Front Porch.
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