August 18, 2023 • 29 mins
October 8th, 1909, John Hatch opened his general store, in the building that we know today as Zap Taco, to find that he had be robbed! Matt shares this story of two young men who robbed Hatch's store and their apparent cockiness that caught up with them in the end!
Matt and I also talk for a bit and catch up on what we have been doing this summer and talk a little about his recent blog posts and what we have coming up. Its been a busy summer but we have some great episodes in the works!
Be sure to check out Matt's blog article that this episode was based on HERE!
Be sure to check out our website @ www.MokenasFrontPorch.com
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Find Matt's Blog here: Matt's Old Mokena
Photo & Artwork Credit: Jennifer Medema & Leslie V. Moore Jr.
Do you have a question, comment or maybe an idea for an episode, you can email us at:
Podcast@MokenasFrontPorch.com
Local Shows We Recommend:
The South Side Pod
https://www.southsidepod.com
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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 withMatt Galik and me, Israel Smith.
All right, Matt, thanks forjoining me again tonight, and we
are here sitting on my frontporch again.
Another beautiful summer nighthere, so we get a little caught
up.
We're just saying we had alittle kind of a break with
(00:24):
getting busy with summer andthings.
Matt got what.
You were one of the announcersfor the Mokena Fourth of July
parade.
This year.
Matt (00:33):
Yeah, it was indeed for the first time.
Israel (00:34):
Yeah, Wow, was that?
Was that experience like?
Matt (00:36):
It was pretty cool.
Yeah, it was.
It went by in a flash.
It didn't feel like it was anhour and a half or an hour and
40 minutes however long theparade is but yeah, it was
pretty cool.
I was really, really flatteredthat the chamber asked me to do
it.
Israel (00:51):
Yeah, very cool and any favorites, anything that stuck
out to you.
Yeah, because were you a judgetoo?
Did you get to like judge?
Matt (01:00):
I did not judge, okay, unfortunately.
I would have loved to have doneit because I've done it before
and it's really fun, but I didnot judge this year.
But there were some standouts.
I really liked Curtin CallTheater because the especially
the kids they came and sang forus right when the parade started
(01:20):
.
That was really cool.
Which?
Israel (01:22):
my son was a part of.
Of course he was part of theBeauty and the Beast Junior,
yeah, he did the camp thissummer and loved it, and it was
a great production, so I'm gladyou enjoyed them too.
Matt (01:31):
Yeah, yeah, I love Curtin Call.
Curtin Call is great, yeah, andI think it was.
It was one of the churches.
It might have been GraceFellowship, I think it was.
Grace Fellowship Did a reallycool float of a little mermaid
theme which I think is for their, their vacation Bible school
they're doing this summer.
But that was really cool.
They went all out and thatfloat must have taken a lot of
(01:55):
work to make.
Israel (01:56):
I, you know, it seems like some of the most creative
ones are those the church onesfor the, maybe the vacation
Bible schools.
Matt (02:03):
Yeah.
Israel (02:04):
They really do a good job.
You can usually count on theirchurches to really yeah, and the
bands are always great.
Yeah, the marching bands werereally really interesting,
really exciting this year.
Fun to watch yeah, they werereally great.
And then so also with your blog.
Before you know, we get intoour episode today.
Yeah, and there's a reallyinteresting article on, thank
(02:26):
you, the Mokena jailbreak of1909.
Oh yeah, but you did a fourpart series on the Semler family
.
I did, yeah, yeah.
Which is really, reallyinteresting and you want to tell
us a little bit, kind of tellpeople why they're so important
to Mokena, and maybe a littlebit about what you talk about
(02:47):
over those four parts, sure.
Matt (02:48):
Yeah, and those for those who are not familiar with them
was a family Bill Semler.
William Semler was thepatriarch, his wife Margaret
Semler, and their two daughters,adeline and Ada.
They lived in the end of the1800s into the 1900s.
(03:11):
Mrs Semler lived to be almost100 years old.
She died around I must havebeen about 1988.
And both of the daughters arealso deceased now, unfortunately
.
But they ran.
They were the proprietors ofMokena's Village newspaper, the
Mokena News Bulletin, from 1919until it must have been about
(03:34):
1958 or so when they sold thepaper to a publisher based in
LeMont who kept it going for alittle while.
But the paper was a huge forcefor good in this community.
Probably the most influentialthing they did of many was
(03:56):
finally using their politicalclout, if you can call it that,
to get Wolf Road concreted forthe first time, which was
actually it's a very long story.
I go over it a little bit inthe blog piece.
It was a very politicallycharged affair that whole thing,
(04:18):
but by the time all was saidand done it was the 1930s and
that was the first real qualityhard road that Mokena had.
Israel (04:29):
Wow and directly related to their advocacy and their
Pretty much.
Matt (04:35):
Yeah, they didn't do it all themselves, but they kept it
going.
The News Bulletin kept it going, mr Semmler kept it going and
that was the end result.
Israel (04:46):
And were there any competing Mokena newspapers
during his time?
Matt (04:51):
Not really.
There weren't any othernewspapers.
In the 1930s there was anewspaper that ran for a brief
while called the Mokena Shopper.
I believe it was called theShopper Didn't last too terribly
long.
It's kind of mysterious becausenobody really remembers
(05:13):
anything about it To this day.
I don't really know who waswriting for it, who was
publishing it, how many peoplewere involved.
I don't know if publish is eventhe right word, because it was
sort of very kind of homemade,looking Like you could tell it
had all been put together on atypewriter and stuff like that.
(05:37):
Of course the Semmlers hadprinting presses and it was like
a real quality newspaper, whichwas kind of an uncommon thing
for a town of Mokena size.
For the whole time it ran.
Israel (05:51):
We also know that the Semmlers were big in the Walter
Fisher murder and the trial andadvocating on his behalf.
That's true.
Yeah, Any other big things thatstick out, any big Moquina
events that stick out that theywould have covered.
Matt (06:09):
Oh, just about everything that happened in this town
between 1919 and the end of the50s, Things like weddings,
births.
The obituaries that were in thenews bulletin were always great
because they were most of thetime like a mini biography of
the person, which are great forhistorical research.
(06:31):
Aside from that kind of stuff,they also covered property
transactions.
Israel (06:36):
Which, looking back now, are significant records that
are probably preserved betterthan most.
Matt (06:42):
Oh, absolutely yeah, absolutely yeah.
It's.
If I'm ever curious aboutsomething that happened in that
time frame there I just go.
It's probably in the newsbulletin.
Israel (06:53):
Let's go check and they have all those at the Mokena.
You're able to look out allthose at the Mokena library,
that's correct.
Matt (07:01):
Yeah, luckily this is nothing short of just an
absolute miracle.
The papers were all microfilmedin the that must have been the
1980s.
They were microfilmed and givento the Mokena library.
The Frankfurt library also hasa set and there are a couple
(07:28):
small gaps here and there wherethere are some papers missing,
but for the most part it's thecomplete run of the entire paper
, even from after the Semmlersold it.
The paper, as I mentioned was,was published by a Lamont
publisher after Mrs Semmler soldit in the 50s.
(07:49):
They kept it going until 1969.
So the whole run from 1919 to1969 is preserved at the library
.
That's incredible.
Israel (07:59):
It is.
Matt (08:00):
It's really cool and it's been a foundation of historical
research.
If it wasn't for all the workthe family did, the Semmlers did
, for all those years reportingon the news in Mokena and the
surrounding communities, whichthey also had in the paper, we
wouldn't know not even half ofwhat we know about Mokena's past
(08:22):
now today.
Israel (08:23):
And how much do you think of what you've done, the
books you've written, and thatwould you be able to do without
the work that the Semmlers?
Matt (08:31):
did Right, I wouldn't have been able to do any of it.
In fact, they've been soimportant to what I've done over
the years that I dedicated myfirst book to them, my first
Mokena book that came out in2011.
Israel (08:49):
And obviously we're going to do an episode.
Maybe it'll be more, becauseobviously there's a lot of great
information about the Semmlers.
Yeah, but is there any familythat's left of the Semmlers?
Matt (09:02):
The only family member that's still around is William
and Margaret Semmler's grandson.
His name is I can't believe I'mblanking on his first.
This is embarrassing Blankin'on his first name.
He's a Westland.
His mother was Ada Semmler, whomarried Mr Westland, and yeah,
(09:26):
I know, as soon as I go home hisname will pop back into my head
.
I have met him and he's stillin town, as far as I know.
I haven't seen him or talked tohim in quite a long time, but
yeah, he's the only one and henever had children.
So once he's gone, which ishopefully a very long time for
(09:47):
now, yeah, the family line willbe gone, so yeah, and their home
.
Israel (09:54):
The Semmler's home was on Midland road, here right
between your home and mine hereRight.
Matt (10:01):
That's correct.
Yeah, and then they built thathouse right after Bill and
Margaret got married in.
I think they got married in1914.
And then in 1944, during WorldWar II, they built a much bigger
house on First Street, just afew doors down from here, and
that's where Mr Westland livestoday.
So it's still in the family,very nice.
Israel (10:21):
Yeah, yeah.
And then real quick on.
One of the other things youwrote about was the episode, the
blog article that came out onJune 4th the birth of a village
in McTinnas Road toIncorporation, which had to be a
(10:41):
significant, was a significantmoment for the village, for sure
yeah, I might talk a little bitabout what the significance of
that was for us as a village.
Matt (10:49):
Yeah, it was a big deal when it finally happened,
because it was a force that hadbeen going on for at least five
years before Incorporationfinally went through in 1880.
There were attempts earlier inthe 1870s to incorporate the
village, but they were shot downin at vote in referendum.
(11:11):
And how it was they Won overthe naysayers to come into the
camp of incorporation, I don'tknow exactly.
But any idea what the vote, likethe numbers were yeah, I think
I have the for the, the oneElection that happened in 1875.
I did have the numbers for that.
(11:33):
I'm pretty sure they're in thepost.
But it was pretty.
It was pretty lopsided.
Israel (11:37):
The they're talking about a couple hundred people
here or that at the time, or howmany people were voting.
I think I do a rough idea.
Matt (11:47):
The numbers of each side were still below 100.
Oh wow, the town probably onlyhad a few hundred people in it
at the time, but then again onlymales were voting, so that
takes a lot out and yeah, yeah,a few hundred people and what
(12:07):
changed for what was would havebeen the most significant change
for the village byincorporating the most
significant thing that happenedfor the village was the fact
that they were able the villageboard Was able to control the
saloons in town and not thecounty, because previous to
(12:28):
incorporation, the county wasthe one who was issuing the as
they were called then, the dramshop licenses, which are like
liquor licenses, and at the time, as the the end of the Civil
War in the 1870s started, therewas a pretty strong, once again
(12:49):
what they would have called backthen a temperance element in
control of the county board, andthe temperance movement were
people who were anti alcohol andwhich is what, years later,
gave us prohibition, and theywere not a fact or a fan, pardon
me, of the fact that Mokena hadabout eight saloons in it at
(13:10):
the time, yeah, oh yeah.
And they said eight is too many,were only giving licenses for
three and and that's basicallywhat started this whole thing,
this road to incorporation, sothat the village could control
this stuff and issue thelicenses and not have the county
putting people out of business.
Israel (13:30):
Basically, so these bars have played a significant role
in our village since it started.
Matt (13:37):
Yes, they definitely have, yeah.
Israel (13:39):
Wow, absolutely.
Well, it's very interesting.
So, yeah, be sure to checkthose articles out and, as we
said, very soon will be comingepisode, at least one episode,
maybe not more, depending howmuch, how much we can talk, but
yeah, yeah, on the assemblers,which I think will be a really,
really interesting and importantepisode.
Matt (14:00):
Yeah, absolutely, Absolutely yeah.
Israel (14:03):
For this week's episode.
As we said, it's it is on yourarticle that you posted on
October 15th 2021, wow, and it'stitled the Red Hot Escape
Mokena's 1909 jailbreak.
Matt (14:17):
Yeah.
Israel (14:19):
And you got a nice picture of zap taco on the front
here.
Matt (14:22):
It's the central place of the story in that one and are we
talking about the currentlocation?
Israel (14:27):
Are we talking about the , where we sitting with at that
time?
Matt (14:30):
Yeah, in 1909, the building that currently houses
zap tacos, or hatch hall it'sbeen as it's been known for so
many years, was in the locationwhere it is now I was.
It was built in the 1890s, butnot moved to where it is now
until 1901, so so yeah, as thisstory is happening, hatch hall
(14:52):
was was where it is now Okay.
Israel (14:55):
Yeah, and anything else that you know.
We, we tend to have a coupleyou know, and it's funny some
people on Facebook had said howit you know, a lot of these
stories make it sound likeMokena was a rough.
Town and a lot of negativeimages are back in that time.
Matt (15:12):
Yeah, yeah, for one.
Israel (15:14):
I think those are most of times the interesting stories
that stick out Absolutely howmuch as you cover the good stuff
and those, the fun times and,yeah, homecomings, things like
that, there were number instancethat Incidents that tend to
stick out right, yeah, one ofthem, oh, sure yeah.
So you want to give a littleoverview before we get into the
(15:36):
episode.
Matt (15:37):
Yeah, it's the story of a burglary that took place in 1909
.
We're a couple of guys, reallyyoung guys, from the city, from
Chicago, kind of breezed intotown and they broke into John
Hatch's general store which iswhere Zaptacos is nowadays and
(15:58):
Stole some stuff and wound upgetting caught and they were put
into the village Calibus, orjail as we would call it
nowadays.
A Calibus is kind of anantiquated term.
Israel (16:11):
It just means a little building where offenders are
kind of locked up just overnightand then Calibus, as you know,
talk about but you show thepicture of it is still in
existence today.
Matt (16:22):
It is, yeah, the Calibus, the Mokena Calibus, miraculously
still exists, still stands.
But it's not in Mokena, it's inLockport, in the Will County
Historical Society's HeritageVillage, which is a really cool
place where they have historicbuildings that have been moved
from all over the county.
Israel (16:44):
Okay, I have not been there yet.
Is there a plaque or anythingthere that that says any, or is
it acknowledged that it was aMokena building?
Matt (16:51):
Yeah, I think there's a.
I've been there quite a fewtimes.
I seem to remember there beinga sign on it that says just
Mokena Calibus.
There's not really likeanything that goes into detail
on the history of it, but ofwhich there's a lot.
Israel (17:08):
We've covered it a couple of times.
It keeps coming up in thepodcast here and there.
Oh sure, yeah, yeah, so good.
Well, it's an interesting story, kind of funny to look it back
and you'll hear it's not likethey didn't rob the guy blind it
was fairly insignificant, butyou see what happens to him
(17:29):
afterwards.
So with that, matt, pleaselet's hear this article the Red
Hot Escape Mokena's 1909jailbreak.
Matt (17:38):
Our fair village is generally a peaceful place, as
it always has been.
However, if one knows justwhere to look, provocative cases
of crime can be found in thepages of our history, while
stories of malice and violenceare hidden in certain places.
Most of the stories oflawbreaking in Mokena's long
history are relatively smalltime affairs.
(17:59):
Nevertheless, in brittlenewspaper clippings and long
forgotten memories there is onetale of a treacherous burglary
followed by a daring jailbreakunder the cover of darkness.
Let us turn the hands of timeback to 1909 and set the stage
in John A Hatch's general storeon Mokena Street.
The shop was a one stoplocation for the Moquinian of
(18:22):
the early 20th century, fromboots and shoes to groceries and
even sewing supplies.
Hatch headed all, one of thevillage's founding fathers and a
much respected citizen.
On October 8th 1909, he openedthe store, much as he did on any
other morning.
Inside, though, something wasamiss.
Sometime during the night,burglars had struck the store
(18:44):
and plundered it of goods.
After they climbed in through awindow in his storeroom, hatch
figured out that the thieves hadsnatched 30 cents from a slot
machine, as well as a hodgepodgeof pipes, cigars, chewing gum
and combs.
To his relief, thestorekeeper's cash drawer was
untouched.
When word spread through tinyMokena that Hatch had been
(19:06):
looted, some towns, peopleremembered having seen a pair of
strangers milling around someneighboring coal sheds.
Those who saw them rememberedthat they were young men, 16 or
17 years old, more like boys.
Their light colored suits andtan shoes stuck out and were
noticed by Moquinians.
On the same day of the burglarythe two were arrested on
(19:28):
suspicion of having been thethieves and gave their names as
Edward Clark and William Rhodesof Chicago.
An early report of the arrestpointed out that the duo were
inveterate cigarette smokers.
John Hatch was a man known intown for his gentle ways with
area youngsters and after theboys were taken into custody,
(19:48):
was willing to go easy on them.
It was his wish that if theirparents could come to town and
make good for his losses, hewould not press any charges.
In the meantime the teens werelocked up in the Village Calibus
by Constable Conrad Schenkel,Mokena's one man police force.
The jail was barely more than asmall wooden shack furnished
(20:09):
with a potbelly stove.
As the autumn night descendedover the village, the two youths
felt a chill in the air.
They mentioned to the Germanborn Schenkel that they were
cold, and a warming fire wasbuilt for them inside the lockup
Long after Mokena was asleep.
They then patiently heated afire poker to a red hot glow and
(20:29):
used it to singe a wooden postupon which the shack's door hung
.
After diligently working, thedoor had been loosened enough
for them to slip away into thedarkness.
That Thursday's issue of theJoliet Weekly News heralded the
escape by screaming use red hotpoker to gain liberty from its
headlines.
(20:49):
The jailbreak was even said tohave caused a mild sensation in
the county seat.
Back in Mokena, uncomfortablequestions began to be raised to
Constable Schenkel, namely as tohis whereabouts that night and
why he hadn't kept a better eyeon the lockup Firing back.
He defended himself byproclaiming that there was never
(21:10):
a poker in the Calibus.
To begin with, he suspectedthat some town boys may have
slid it to the prisoners througha barred window.
Without realizing theconsequences, schenkel phoned
neighboring towns with the namesand descriptions of the
suspects, hoping to catch thembefore they got too far from
Mokena.
The officer's frustration withthe entire situation only got
(21:31):
worse when he followed up on thecity addresses given to him by
his arrestees.
As they turned out to be fake,along with their names.
His vexation reached a peak twoweeks later, when he took a
phone call from Orland.
Schenkel learned that a similarburglary had taken place there
and that two males were incustody whose looks matched that
(21:51):
of the boys.
Upon their presentation to him,he was bowled over to see that
these were not the two he waslooking for.
To add insult to injury, in thelast days of October Schenkel
received what was mildly calleda comic postcard with a Chicago
postmark referencing the wholeepisode, and some were of the
opinion that it was from hisfugitives.
(22:14):
Luckily for Conrad Schenkel, hereceived word from authorities
in the city that a Pinkertondetective had caught his
suspects, whose real namesturned out to be William Reel
and Edwin Scott.
They were shipped back to Mokenain handcuffs on November 5th,
where they stood trial byMagistrate Willard Owen.
They emitted their guilt underlittle pressure For long.
(22:36):
They were sent to Joliet towithstand sentencing by the
grand jury.
While there, their jailer madea comment to the weekly news in
which he cracked that anyfirepokers would be kept on the
opposite side of the bars fromthem.
In the end, william Reel andEdwin Scott were given 100 days
in the county jail for theirtheft of hatches store.
The juxtaposition of the twocity boys and their crime
(23:00):
against then-rural Mokena wasgreatly enjoyed by the day's
media.
The news editorialized that thetemptations and pitfalls
presented by the city of Chicagowere ultimately responsible for
Reel and Scott's immoral act.
So it was that they earnedtheir place in our community's
history, a footnote among otherstories of love, friendship and
(23:23):
memories.
While some may not be fond ofreminiscence of tales like this
one, a full understanding of ourillustrious history cannot be
had without them.
Israel (23:34):
Oh, that's pretty interesting.
I like the humor at the endwhere they said they're going to
keep the pokers away from usyeah yeah, yeah, yeah, that's
great.
Matt (23:43):
Yeah, everybody thought it was hilarious when it happened.
Israel (23:47):
And was that more of a joke on Mokena?
Do you think a prod at Mokenaor just a general humor maybe?
Matt (23:54):
I kind of think it was in.
I mean, of course I could bewrong because I wasn't there etc
.
Etc.
But looking at the reportagethat appeared in the Juliet
papers over this whole incident,it kind of sounds like they're
sort of looking down on Mokena,like a big city looking down on
(24:15):
just the country farm town thatMokena was at the time.
Israel (24:19):
Sure, yeah, yeah.
And speaking of that Mokena, atthe time Conrad Schenkel was
the one man police force.
Matt (24:27):
Yes, he was.
Israel (24:28):
Yes, he was indeed, so do you have any background on
that?
What the story is there and howlong was he alone as our law
enforcement?
Matt (24:37):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Conrad Schenkel, or he wassometimes referred to as the
village marshal.
He was the other one man policeforce for quite a long time.
He was appointed by the villageboard in the early 1900s.
Let's see, I'm kind ofsearching my mind as to what I
(24:59):
want to say those.
Roughly around 1905 orthereabouts he got his post and
then he kept it up all the waythrough.
Around the end of World War Onehe resigned.
So it's not like he lost hisjob over this or anything.
He stayed on the scene and wasalways putting people in the
(25:23):
calibus, so usually people thatwere causing trouble in the bars
and stuff like that.
Israel (25:32):
So he was.
And then was there any pointduring his time where there was
anybody else assisting, or doyou know of any deputies or
anything like that?
Matt (25:45):
Not that I know of it was not uncommon on big holidays
basically by that I mean the 4thof July when there was like a
lot of festivity, a lot of merrymaking.
Sometimes the village boardwould appoint one or two special
deputies for the day.
(26:05):
But as far as history shows,conrad Schenkel never really had
anybody working under him.
Israel (26:14):
It was just him taking care of things around here, and
then would there still have beena Will County deputy as well in
addition to him.
Matt (26:21):
Yeah, there are.
Yes, they, they were, but theywere not.
They don't seem to have beenposted here, not, it doesn't
seem to have been quite thesituation.
It was during the 1920s when wehad Walter Fisher on the scene,
where we had a villageconstable In his day was John
Frisch, and then Walter Fisherhimself was a Will County deputy
(26:42):
.
Yeah, it looks like.
Looks like Conrad Schenkel wasthe only the only law
enforcement in town back then.
Israel (26:50):
And these guys were.
Well, we assume they're.
They're bold enough to send apostcard.
Matt (26:55):
Yeah.
Israel (26:56):
Kind of again prodding at the sheriff in the town here.
Matt (26:58):
Yeah, yeah.
Israel (27:00):
But in the end they're sentenced to a hundred days in
jail.
Yeah, yeah.
And do we ever hear anythingmore of them afterwards?
That that you've seen come up?
Matt (27:09):
No, I haven't their.
Their names stayed off thepages of our history after that.
So we don't know if they juststeered clear of Mokena after
that, figuring maybe certainpeople here in town would
remember them, or maybe theymoved away.
Israel (27:28):
They're timing.
The Cal Boost taught them well.
Yeah, they learned their lesson.
That's right.
That's what I like to think.
Matt (27:34):
Yeah, Well good.
Israel (27:36):
Well, again another very interesting article.
Thank you, I need to see thekind of a piece of this history
is still around.
Matt (27:43):
It is yeah.
Israel (27:43):
Lockport and where was on?
Where was the Cal Boost onFront?
Matt (27:48):
Street.
Oh, good question.
So the Cal Boost was in a fewdifferent places here in Mokena
when it was still in town.
At this time, the Cal Boost wasstood exactly where the asda
building is nowadays, which isjust east of division street on
the north side of the street.
So it's just a set right at thebase of the water tower at that
(28:13):
time.
Israel (28:15):
Great.
Well, again, we'll post thelink to the article and we'll
share the pictures as well thatyou have in here.
Yeah and yeah, just be sure youknow if you're listening, be
sure to share this, you know,with your friends.
Please like this.
Like, follow Matt's blog so youget updated on the new articles
(28:36):
as he comes out with those, andthen follow our podcast as well
, so you get updates when thenew podcasts come out.
So thank you for listening,matt.
It was great to talk to youagain and we'll see you next
time, absolutely.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate it.
We hope you enjoyed thisepisode.
There's a link in the shownotes to Matt's blog article
that this episode was based on,so be sure to check that out.
(28:57):
If you have any ideas for ashow or have any questions, we
can try to answer.
Please send us an email atmokenasfrontporch@gmail.
com .
We'd love to hear from you andhopefully answer your question
on the show.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next time on Mokena's
Front Porch.
Welcome to Mokena's Front Porch.
A Mokena History podcast withMatt Galik and me, Israel Smith.
All right, Matt, thanks forjoining me again tonight, and we
are here sitting on my frontporch again.
Another beautiful summer nighthere, so we get a little caught
up.
We're just saying we had alittle kind of a break with
(00:24):
getting busy with summer andthings.
Matt got what.
You were one of the announcersfor the Mokena Fourth of July
parade.
This year.
Matt (00:33):
Yeah, it was indeed for the first time.
Israel (00:34):
Yeah, Wow, was that?
Was that experience like?
Matt (00:36):
It was pretty cool.
Yeah, it was.
It went by in a flash.
It didn't feel like it was anhour and a half or an hour and
40 minutes however long theparade is but yeah, it was
pretty cool.
I was really, really flatteredthat the chamber asked me to do
it.
Israel (00:51):
Yeah, very cool and any favorites, anything that stuck
out to you.
Yeah, because were you a judgetoo?
Did you get to like judge?
Matt (01:00):
I did not judge, okay, unfortunately.
I would have loved to have doneit because I've done it before
and it's really fun, but I didnot judge this year.
But there were some standouts.
I really liked Curtin CallTheater because the especially
the kids they came and sang forus right when the parade started
(01:20):
.
That was really cool.
Which?
Israel (01:22):
my son was a part of.
Of course he was part of theBeauty and the Beast Junior,
yeah, he did the camp thissummer and loved it, and it was
a great production, so I'm gladyou enjoyed them too.
Matt (01:31):
Yeah, yeah, I love Curtin Call.
Curtin Call is great, yeah, andI think it was.
It was one of the churches.
It might have been GraceFellowship, I think it was.
Grace Fellowship Did a reallycool float of a little mermaid
theme which I think is for their, their vacation Bible school
they're doing this summer.
But that was really cool.
They went all out and thatfloat must have taken a lot of
(01:55):
work to make.
Israel (01:56):
I, you know, it seems like some of the most creative
ones are those the church onesfor the, maybe the vacation
Bible schools.
Matt (02:03):
Yeah.
Israel (02:04):
They really do a good job.
You can usually count on theirchurches to really yeah, and the
bands are always great.
Yeah, the marching bands werereally really interesting,
really exciting this year.
Fun to watch yeah, they werereally great.
And then so also with your blog.
Before you know, we get intoour episode today.
Yeah, and there's a reallyinteresting article on, thank
(02:26):
you, the Mokena jailbreak of1909.
Oh yeah, but you did a fourpart series on the Semler family
.
I did, yeah, yeah.
Which is really, reallyinteresting and you want to tell
us a little bit, kind of tellpeople why they're so important
to Mokena, and maybe a littlebit about what you talk about
(02:47):
over those four parts, sure.
Matt (02:48):
Yeah, and those for those who are not familiar with them
was a family Bill Semler.
William Semler was thepatriarch, his wife Margaret
Semler, and their two daughters,adeline and Ada.
They lived in the end of the1800s into the 1900s.
(03:11):
Mrs Semler lived to be almost100 years old.
She died around I must havebeen about 1988.
And both of the daughters arealso deceased now, unfortunately
.
But they ran.
They were the proprietors ofMokena's Village newspaper, the
Mokena News Bulletin, from 1919until it must have been about
(03:34):
1958 or so when they sold thepaper to a publisher based in
LeMont who kept it going for alittle while.
But the paper was a huge forcefor good in this community.
Probably the most influentialthing they did of many was
(03:56):
finally using their politicalclout, if you can call it that,
to get Wolf Road concreted forthe first time, which was
actually it's a very long story.
I go over it a little bit inthe blog piece.
It was a very politicallycharged affair that whole thing,
(04:18):
but by the time all was saidand done it was the 1930s and
that was the first real qualityhard road that Mokena had.
Israel (04:29):
Wow and directly related to their advocacy and their
Pretty much.
Matt (04:35):
Yeah, they didn't do it all themselves, but they kept it
going.
The News Bulletin kept it going, mr Semmler kept it going and
that was the end result.
Israel (04:46):
And were there any competing Mokena newspapers
during his time?
Matt (04:51):
Not really.
There weren't any othernewspapers.
In the 1930s there was anewspaper that ran for a brief
while called the Mokena Shopper.
I believe it was called theShopper Didn't last too terribly
long.
It's kind of mysterious becausenobody really remembers
(05:13):
anything about it To this day.
I don't really know who waswriting for it, who was
publishing it, how many peoplewere involved.
I don't know if publish is eventhe right word, because it was
sort of very kind of homemade,looking Like you could tell it
had all been put together on atypewriter and stuff like that.
(05:37):
Of course the Semmlers hadprinting presses and it was like
a real quality newspaper, whichwas kind of an uncommon thing
for a town of Mokena size.
For the whole time it ran.
Israel (05:51):
We also know that the Semmlers were big in the Walter
Fisher murder and the trial andadvocating on his behalf.
That's true.
Yeah, Any other big things thatstick out, any big Moquina
events that stick out that theywould have covered.
Matt (06:09):
Oh, just about everything that happened in this town
between 1919 and the end of the50s, Things like weddings,
births.
The obituaries that were in thenews bulletin were always great
because they were most of thetime like a mini biography of
the person, which are great forhistorical research.
(06:31):
Aside from that kind of stuff,they also covered property
transactions.
Israel (06:36):
Which, looking back now, are significant records that
are probably preserved betterthan most.
Matt (06:42):
Oh, absolutely yeah, absolutely yeah.
It's.
If I'm ever curious aboutsomething that happened in that
time frame there I just go.
It's probably in the newsbulletin.
Israel (06:53):
Let's go check and they have all those at the Mokena.
You're able to look out allthose at the Mokena library,
that's correct.
Matt (07:01):
Yeah, luckily this is nothing short of just an
absolute miracle.
The papers were all microfilmedin the that must have been the
1980s.
They were microfilmed and givento the Mokena library.
The Frankfurt library also hasa set and there are a couple
(07:28):
small gaps here and there wherethere are some papers missing,
but for the most part it's thecomplete run of the entire paper
, even from after the Semmlersold it.
The paper, as I mentioned was,was published by a Lamont
publisher after Mrs Semmler soldit in the 50s.
(07:49):
They kept it going until 1969.
So the whole run from 1919 to1969 is preserved at the library
.
That's incredible.
Israel (07:59):
It is.
Matt (08:00):
It's really cool and it's been a foundation of historical
research.
If it wasn't for all the workthe family did, the Semmlers did
, for all those years reportingon the news in Mokena and the
surrounding communities, whichthey also had in the paper, we
wouldn't know not even half ofwhat we know about Mokena's past
(08:22):
now today.
Israel (08:23):
And how much do you think of what you've done, the
books you've written, and thatwould you be able to do without
the work that the Semmlers?
Matt (08:31):
did Right, I wouldn't have been able to do any of it.
In fact, they've been soimportant to what I've done over
the years that I dedicated myfirst book to them, my first
Mokena book that came out in2011.
Israel (08:49):
And obviously we're going to do an episode.
Maybe it'll be more, becauseobviously there's a lot of great
information about the Semmlers.
Yeah, but is there any familythat's left of the Semmlers?
Matt (09:02):
The only family member that's still around is William
and Margaret Semmler's grandson.
His name is I can't believe I'mblanking on his first.
This is embarrassing Blankin'on his first name.
He's a Westland.
His mother was Ada Semmler, whomarried Mr Westland, and yeah,
(09:26):
I know, as soon as I go home hisname will pop back into my head
.
I have met him and he's stillin town, as far as I know.
I haven't seen him or talked tohim in quite a long time, but
yeah, he's the only one and henever had children.
So once he's gone, which ishopefully a very long time for
(09:47):
now, yeah, the family line willbe gone, so yeah, and their home
.
Israel (09:54):
The Semmler's home was on Midland road, here right
between your home and mine hereRight.
Matt (10:01):
That's correct.
Yeah, and then they built thathouse right after Bill and
Margaret got married in.
I think they got married in1914.
And then in 1944, during WorldWar II, they built a much bigger
house on First Street, just afew doors down from here, and
that's where Mr Westland livestoday.
So it's still in the family,very nice.
Israel (10:21):
Yeah, yeah.
And then real quick on.
One of the other things youwrote about was the episode, the
blog article that came out onJune 4th the birth of a village
in McTinnas Road toIncorporation, which had to be a
(10:41):
significant, was a significantmoment for the village, for sure
yeah, I might talk a little bitabout what the significance of
that was for us as a village.
Matt (10:49):
Yeah, it was a big deal when it finally happened,
because it was a force that hadbeen going on for at least five
years before Incorporationfinally went through in 1880.
There were attempts earlier inthe 1870s to incorporate the
village, but they were shot downin at vote in referendum.
(11:11):
And how it was they Won overthe naysayers to come into the
camp of incorporation, I don'tknow exactly.
But any idea what the vote, likethe numbers were yeah, I think
I have the for the, the oneElection that happened in 1875.
I did have the numbers for that.
(11:33):
I'm pretty sure they're in thepost.
But it was pretty.
It was pretty lopsided.
Israel (11:37):
The they're talking about a couple hundred people
here or that at the time, or howmany people were voting.
I think I do a rough idea.
Matt (11:47):
The numbers of each side were still below 100.
Oh wow, the town probably onlyhad a few hundred people in it
at the time, but then again onlymales were voting, so that
takes a lot out and yeah, yeah,a few hundred people and what
(12:07):
changed for what was would havebeen the most significant change
for the village byincorporating the most
significant thing that happenedfor the village was the fact
that they were able the villageboard Was able to control the
saloons in town and not thecounty, because previous to
(12:28):
incorporation, the county wasthe one who was issuing the as
they were called then, the dramshop licenses, which are like
liquor licenses, and at the time, as the the end of the Civil
War in the 1870s started, therewas a pretty strong, once again
(12:49):
what they would have called backthen a temperance element in
control of the county board, andthe temperance movement were
people who were anti alcohol andwhich is what, years later,
gave us prohibition, and theywere not a fact or a fan, pardon
me, of the fact that Mokena hadabout eight saloons in it at
(13:10):
the time, yeah, oh yeah.
And they said eight is too many,were only giving licenses for
three and and that's basicallywhat started this whole thing,
this road to incorporation, sothat the village could control
this stuff and issue thelicenses and not have the county
putting people out of business.
Israel (13:30):
Basically, so these bars have played a significant role
in our village since it started.
Matt (13:37):
Yes, they definitely have, yeah.
Israel (13:39):
Wow, absolutely.
Well, it's very interesting.
So, yeah, be sure to checkthose articles out and, as we
said, very soon will be comingepisode, at least one episode,
maybe not more, depending howmuch, how much we can talk, but
yeah, yeah, on the assemblers,which I think will be a really,
really interesting and importantepisode.
Matt (14:00):
Yeah, absolutely, Absolutely yeah.
Israel (14:03):
For this week's episode.
As we said, it's it is on yourarticle that you posted on
October 15th 2021, wow, and it'stitled the Red Hot Escape
Mokena's 1909 jailbreak.
Matt (14:17):
Yeah.
Israel (14:19):
And you got a nice picture of zap taco on the front
here.
Matt (14:22):
It's the central place of the story in that one and are we
talking about the currentlocation?
Israel (14:27):
Are we talking about the , where we sitting with at that
time?
Matt (14:30):
Yeah, in 1909, the building that currently houses
zap tacos, or hatch hall it'sbeen as it's been known for so
many years, was in the locationwhere it is now I was.
It was built in the 1890s, butnot moved to where it is now
until 1901, so so yeah, as thisstory is happening, hatch hall
(14:52):
was was where it is now Okay.
Israel (14:55):
Yeah, and anything else that you know.
We, we tend to have a coupleyou know, and it's funny some
people on Facebook had said howit you know, a lot of these
stories make it sound likeMokena was a rough.
Town and a lot of negativeimages are back in that time.
Matt (15:12):
Yeah, yeah, for one.
Israel (15:14):
I think those are most of times the interesting stories
that stick out Absolutely howmuch as you cover the good stuff
and those, the fun times and,yeah, homecomings, things like
that, there were number instancethat Incidents that tend to
stick out right, yeah, one ofthem, oh, sure yeah.
So you want to give a littleoverview before we get into the
(15:36):
episode.
Matt (15:37):
Yeah, it's the story of a burglary that took place in 1909
.
We're a couple of guys, reallyyoung guys, from the city, from
Chicago, kind of breezed intotown and they broke into John
Hatch's general store which iswhere Zaptacos is nowadays and
(15:58):
Stole some stuff and wound upgetting caught and they were put
into the village Calibus, orjail as we would call it
nowadays.
A Calibus is kind of anantiquated term.
Israel (16:11):
It just means a little building where offenders are
kind of locked up just overnightand then Calibus, as you know,
talk about but you show thepicture of it is still in
existence today.
Matt (16:22):
It is, yeah, the Calibus, the Mokena Calibus, miraculously
still exists, still stands.
But it's not in Mokena, it's inLockport, in the Will County
Historical Society's HeritageVillage, which is a really cool
place where they have historicbuildings that have been moved
from all over the county.
Israel (16:44):
Okay, I have not been there yet.
Is there a plaque or anythingthere that that says any, or is
it acknowledged that it was aMokena building?
Matt (16:51):
Yeah, I think there's a.
I've been there quite a fewtimes.
I seem to remember there beinga sign on it that says just
Mokena Calibus.
There's not really likeanything that goes into detail
on the history of it, but ofwhich there's a lot.
Israel (17:08):
We've covered it a couple of times.
It keeps coming up in thepodcast here and there.
Oh sure, yeah, yeah, so good.
Well, it's an interesting story, kind of funny to look it back
and you'll hear it's not likethey didn't rob the guy blind it
was fairly insignificant, butyou see what happens to him
(17:29):
afterwards.
So with that, matt, pleaselet's hear this article the Red
Hot Escape Mokena's 1909jailbreak.
Matt (17:38):
Our fair village is generally a peaceful place, as
it always has been.
However, if one knows justwhere to look, provocative cases
of crime can be found in thepages of our history, while
stories of malice and violenceare hidden in certain places.
Most of the stories oflawbreaking in Mokena's long
history are relatively smalltime affairs.
(17:59):
Nevertheless, in brittlenewspaper clippings and long
forgotten memories there is onetale of a treacherous burglary
followed by a daring jailbreakunder the cover of darkness.
Let us turn the hands of timeback to 1909 and set the stage
in John A Hatch's general storeon Mokena Street.
The shop was a one stoplocation for the Moquinian of
(18:22):
the early 20th century, fromboots and shoes to groceries and
even sewing supplies.
Hatch headed all, one of thevillage's founding fathers and a
much respected citizen.
On October 8th 1909, he openedthe store, much as he did on any
other morning.
Inside, though, something wasamiss.
Sometime during the night,burglars had struck the store
(18:44):
and plundered it of goods.
After they climbed in through awindow in his storeroom, hatch
figured out that the thieves hadsnatched 30 cents from a slot
machine, as well as a hodgepodgeof pipes, cigars, chewing gum
and combs.
To his relief, thestorekeeper's cash drawer was
untouched.
When word spread through tinyMokena that Hatch had been
(19:06):
looted, some towns, peopleremembered having seen a pair of
strangers milling around someneighboring coal sheds.
Those who saw them rememberedthat they were young men, 16 or
17 years old, more like boys.
Their light colored suits andtan shoes stuck out and were
noticed by Moquinians.
On the same day of the burglarythe two were arrested on
(19:28):
suspicion of having been thethieves and gave their names as
Edward Clark and William Rhodesof Chicago.
An early report of the arrestpointed out that the duo were
inveterate cigarette smokers.
John Hatch was a man known intown for his gentle ways with
area youngsters and after theboys were taken into custody,
(19:48):
was willing to go easy on them.
It was his wish that if theirparents could come to town and
make good for his losses, hewould not press any charges.
In the meantime the teens werelocked up in the Village Calibus
by Constable Conrad Schenkel,Mokena's one man police force.
The jail was barely more than asmall wooden shack furnished
(20:09):
with a potbelly stove.
As the autumn night descendedover the village, the two youths
felt a chill in the air.
They mentioned to the Germanborn Schenkel that they were
cold, and a warming fire wasbuilt for them inside the lockup
Long after Mokena was asleep.
They then patiently heated afire poker to a red hot glow and
(20:29):
used it to singe a wooden postupon which the shack's door hung
.
After diligently working, thedoor had been loosened enough
for them to slip away into thedarkness.
That Thursday's issue of theJoliet Weekly News heralded the
escape by screaming use red hotpoker to gain liberty from its
headlines.
(20:49):
The jailbreak was even said tohave caused a mild sensation in
the county seat.
Back in Mokena, uncomfortablequestions began to be raised to
Constable Schenkel, namely as tohis whereabouts that night and
why he hadn't kept a better eyeon the lockup Firing back.
He defended himself byproclaiming that there was never
(21:10):
a poker in the Calibus.
To begin with, he suspectedthat some town boys may have
slid it to the prisoners througha barred window.
Without realizing theconsequences, schenkel phoned
neighboring towns with the namesand descriptions of the
suspects, hoping to catch thembefore they got too far from
Mokena.
The officer's frustration withthe entire situation only got
(21:31):
worse when he followed up on thecity addresses given to him by
his arrestees.
As they turned out to be fake,along with their names.
His vexation reached a peak twoweeks later, when he took a
phone call from Orland.
Schenkel learned that a similarburglary had taken place there
and that two males were incustody whose looks matched that
(21:51):
of the boys.
Upon their presentation to him,he was bowled over to see that
these were not the two he waslooking for.
To add insult to injury, in thelast days of October Schenkel
received what was mildly calleda comic postcard with a Chicago
postmark referencing the wholeepisode, and some were of the
opinion that it was from hisfugitives.
(22:14):
Luckily for Conrad Schenkel, hereceived word from authorities
in the city that a Pinkertondetective had caught his
suspects, whose real namesturned out to be William Reel
and Edwin Scott.
They were shipped back to Mokenain handcuffs on November 5th,
where they stood trial byMagistrate Willard Owen.
They emitted their guilt underlittle pressure For long.
(22:36):
They were sent to Joliet towithstand sentencing by the
grand jury.
While there, their jailer madea comment to the weekly news in
which he cracked that anyfirepokers would be kept on the
opposite side of the bars fromthem.
In the end, william Reel andEdwin Scott were given 100 days
in the county jail for theirtheft of hatches store.
The juxtaposition of the twocity boys and their crime
(23:00):
against then-rural Mokena wasgreatly enjoyed by the day's
media.
The news editorialized that thetemptations and pitfalls
presented by the city of Chicagowere ultimately responsible for
Reel and Scott's immoral act.
So it was that they earnedtheir place in our community's
history, a footnote among otherstories of love, friendship and
(23:23):
memories.
While some may not be fond ofreminiscence of tales like this
one, a full understanding of ourillustrious history cannot be
had without them.
Israel (23:34):
Oh, that's pretty interesting.
I like the humor at the endwhere they said they're going to
keep the pokers away from usyeah yeah, yeah, yeah, that's
great.
Matt (23:43):
Yeah, everybody thought it was hilarious when it happened.
Israel (23:47):
And was that more of a joke on Mokena?
Do you think a prod at Mokenaor just a general humor maybe?
Matt (23:54):
I kind of think it was in.
I mean, of course I could bewrong because I wasn't there etc
.
Etc.
But looking at the reportagethat appeared in the Juliet
papers over this whole incident,it kind of sounds like they're
sort of looking down on Mokena,like a big city looking down on
(24:15):
just the country farm town thatMokena was at the time.
Israel (24:19):
Sure, yeah, yeah.
And speaking of that Mokena, atthe time Conrad Schenkel was
the one man police force.
Matt (24:27):
Yes, he was.
Israel (24:28):
Yes, he was indeed, so do you have any background on
that?
What the story is there and howlong was he alone as our law
enforcement?
Matt (24:37):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Conrad Schenkel, or he wassometimes referred to as the
village marshal.
He was the other one man policeforce for quite a long time.
He was appointed by the villageboard in the early 1900s.
Let's see, I'm kind ofsearching my mind as to what I
(24:59):
want to say those.
Roughly around 1905 orthereabouts he got his post and
then he kept it up all the waythrough.
Around the end of World War Onehe resigned.
So it's not like he lost hisjob over this or anything.
He stayed on the scene and wasalways putting people in the
(25:23):
calibus, so usually people thatwere causing trouble in the bars
and stuff like that.
Israel (25:32):
So he was.
And then was there any pointduring his time where there was
anybody else assisting, or doyou know of any deputies or
anything like that?
Matt (25:45):
Not that I know of it was not uncommon on big holidays
basically by that I mean the 4thof July when there was like a
lot of festivity, a lot of merrymaking.
Sometimes the village boardwould appoint one or two special
deputies for the day.
(26:05):
But as far as history shows,conrad Schenkel never really had
anybody working under him.
Israel (26:14):
It was just him taking care of things around here, and
then would there still have beena Will County deputy as well in
addition to him.
Matt (26:21):
Yeah, there are.
Yes, they, they were, but theywere not.
They don't seem to have beenposted here, not, it doesn't
seem to have been quite thesituation.
It was during the 1920s when wehad Walter Fisher on the scene,
where we had a villageconstable In his day was John
Frisch, and then Walter Fisherhimself was a Will County deputy
(26:42):
.
Yeah, it looks like.
Looks like Conrad Schenkel wasthe only the only law
enforcement in town back then.
Israel (26:50):
And these guys were.
Well, we assume they're.
They're bold enough to send apostcard.
Matt (26:55):
Yeah.
Israel (26:56):
Kind of again prodding at the sheriff in the town here.
Matt (26:58):
Yeah, yeah.
Israel (27:00):
But in the end they're sentenced to a hundred days in
jail.
Yeah, yeah.
And do we ever hear anythingmore of them afterwards?
That that you've seen come up?
Matt (27:09):
No, I haven't their.
Their names stayed off thepages of our history after that.
So we don't know if they juststeered clear of Mokena after
that, figuring maybe certainpeople here in town would
remember them, or maybe theymoved away.
Israel (27:28):
They're timing.
The Cal Boost taught them well.
Yeah, they learned their lesson.
That's right.
That's what I like to think.
Matt (27:34):
Yeah, Well good.
Israel (27:36):
Well, again another very interesting article.
Thank you, I need to see thekind of a piece of this history
is still around.
Matt (27:43):
It is yeah.
Israel (27:43):
Lockport and where was on?
Where was the Cal Boost onFront?
Matt (27:48):
Street.
Oh, good question.
So the Cal Boost was in a fewdifferent places here in Mokena
when it was still in town.
At this time, the Cal Boost wasstood exactly where the asda
building is nowadays, which isjust east of division street on
the north side of the street.
So it's just a set right at thebase of the water tower at that
(28:13):
time.
Israel (28:15):
Great.
Well, again, we'll post thelink to the article and we'll
share the pictures as well thatyou have in here.
Yeah and yeah, just be sure youknow if you're listening, be
sure to share this, you know,with your friends.
Please like this.
Like, follow Matt's blog so youget updated on the new articles
(28:36):
as he comes out with those, andthen follow our podcast as well
, so you get updates when thenew podcasts come out.
So thank you for listening,matt.
It was great to talk to youagain and we'll see you next
time, absolutely.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate it.
We hope you enjoyed thisepisode.
There's a link in the shownotes to Matt's blog article
that this episode was based on,so be sure to check that out.
(28:57):
If you have any ideas for ashow or have any questions, we
can try to answer.
Please send us an email atmokenasfrontporch@gmail.
com .
We'd love to hear from you andhopefully answer your question
on the show.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next time on Mokena's
Front Porch.
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.