Frankfort Township, the early years

May 9, 2024 /

By Sandy Vasko Will County is known across the state as the “Stairstep” County. Making up one of these stairs is Frankfort Township. It was…

Read More

Civil War: August 1864, in the trenches at Petersburg

May 2, 2024 /

By Sandy Vasko When speaking about great battles of the Civil War, many names come to mind, such as Gettysburg. Rarely does anyone speak about…

Read More

The I&M Opens: A grand celebration run aground

April 25, 2024 / Comments Off on The I&M Opens: A grand celebration run aground

  By Sandy Vasko We are in the final week of celebrating the 175th anniversary of the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. However,…

Read More

Civil War: July 1864, Atlanta falls, but the war goes on

April 18, 2024 / Comments Off on Civil War: July 1864, Atlanta falls, but the war goes on

By Sandy Vasko Last time, we left the 100th just after the assault on Kennesaw Mountain. We continue with their story: The 1st of July…

Read More

Civil War: June 1864 – Kennesaw Mountain takes a toll

April 11, 2024 / Comments Off on Civil War: June 1864 – Kennesaw Mountain takes a toll

By Sandy Vasko Georgia in June can be a beautiful place. Not as nice as Will County, but the men of the 100th could not…

Read More

The spy among us, Henri Le Caron

April 4, 2024 / Comments Off on The spy among us, Henri Le Caron

By Sandy Vasko Last time, we read about the real Henri Le Caron and his double life. We continue with his incredible story: In the…

Read More

Vasko Honored with Best of Illinois History

March 28, 2024 / Comments Off on Vasko Honored with Best of Illinois History

The Illinois State Historical Society announced it will honor Farmers Weekly Review columnist Sandy Vasko with a 2023 ISHS “Best of Illinois History” award, recognizing…

Read More

The (in)famous Dr. Henri Le Caron, pride of Braidwood

March 28, 2024 / Comments Off on The (in)famous Dr. Henri Le Caron, pride of Braidwood

By Sandy Vasko Several former Braidwoodites have achieved national and even international recognition. We think of Anton Cermak for instance. But few think of the…

Read More

Civil War: May 1864, recruiting 100-day men

March 21, 2024 / Comments Off on Civil War: May 1864, recruiting 100-day men

By Sandy Vasko In the spring of 1864, the Governor of Illinois put out a call for 20,000 “three-month men” to take the place of…

Read More

No rhyme or reason, quirky bits from the past

March 14, 2024 / Comments Off on No rhyme or reason, quirky bits from the past

By Sandy Vasko As you have probably gathered by now, I get much of my information from newspapers. Not every edition has important articles; most…

Read More

Events

May 2024
June 2024
July 2024
August 2024
No event found!
Prev Next