Farmers Weekly Review

By Sandy Vasko It is the spring of 1877. Once again, the coal companies propose to reduce the wages of the miners. But the miners…

By Sandy Vasko In the last few years, many have lost their jobs, many saw inflation take them into poverty, many saw hard times. These…

By Sandy Vasko We are back to the Civil War. It is early in the war, and most of the men had not really “seen…

By Sandy Vasko Set the way-back machine for June, 1877; place Mokena. From the Joliet Weekly Sun: “Mokena is a good-sized village. Seven hundred is…

By Sandy Vasko Once again, we are going to look at the small bits that made up a town’s everyday life, if not its history;…

There are times in my research that I come across a bit that probably will never work up into a story, but makes me smile…

By Sandy Vasko February 1862 saw the 20th on the move. On Feb. 2, they left Cairo aboard steamships bound for Fort Henry on the…

By Sandy Vasko Today we look at the area known as Twelve Mile Grove, named such because it is twelve miles from Joliet. What! You…

By Sandy Vasko When we left the 39th, it was New Year’s Eve 1861. Battle came to them on the wings of the new year.…

By Sandy Vasko I suppose that when you think of excitement and crime, Florence Township does not spring to your mind. It’s true that it…