| East Jackson, looking west |
 |
 |
Postmark:
Sullivan Ill, Feb 17 9PM, (year unknown)
Addressed to:
Mrs. Harriet Young
St. Elmo
Ill.
Message:
Sullivan Ill
Feb-17-13
This sure was a fine day. I am allright. (sic) We are going to leave here tomorrow for Bourbon. You can write me there. We will be there about all week. I will write you a leter tomorrow Take good care or yourself
Your Le Roy
Bourbon is in Douglas County.
The writer may have been LeRoy O. Young who was 21 and unmarried in 1910, working as a hired man for William and Nancy Stine. Leroy was the son of Louis and Huldy C. Young, of Wheatland, IL, eight miles from St. Elmo.
The nearest home on the left is in the 900 block of East Jackson, and today's Cottontail Lane intersects Jackson near the closest utility pole on the right. |
| Harrison Street, looking west, 1907 |
 |
 |
Postmark:
Sullivan ILL Sep 27 1907, 7 PM
Countermarked: Pawtucket RI Sep 29 6:30 PM '07
Addressed to:
Addressed to: Mr. Elwyn Webster Pawtucket Rhode Island 308 Room
Message:
Thanks for the cards. May I ask why you say Dear Old Brown?
Respectfully, I.R.V.
This photo, taken just west of the Harrison/Seymour intersection, shows the south side of West Harrison's 500 block. |
| Harrison Street, 1908 |
 |
 |
Postmark:
Missoula Mont, Dec 30 1908 5:30 PM
Addressed to:
Mrs. Lizzie Caldwell Lees Summit Missouri
Message:
Dear sister I thank you for the lovely card. We are well it has turned cold again. Snow on the ground, but I rather enjoy it yours with love
Amanda & Guy
William A. and Elizabeth (Dale) Caldwell had five children: Helena M, Virgil, Minnie, Mary L., and Sarah. The sender was presumably Rose (Fry) Michem, Elizabeth's younger half-sister. |
| Harrison Street, looking east, 1912 |
 |
 |
Postmark:
Sullivan Ill Jul 22 2PM
Addressed to:
Mrs. Wallace D. Smith
126 W. Bird St.
Portsmouth
N.H
Message:
Sullivan Illi.
July. 21-1912
Dear Friend:
Rec'd your card some time ago was awfully glad to hear from you. Pardon the delay in answering. We have been having some very warm weather & and are not feeling so very well. Mr. & Mrs. Monroe
Wallace D. and Elizabeth H. Smith were both born in the 1860s in, respectively, Vermont and New Hampshire; thus they had no obvious Illinois connections. There were a number of Monroe families of approximately the same age in Moultrie at the time, but I've not discovered what connection any of them may have had with New Englanders.
The vantage point is from the middle if the 900 block of West Harrison, with the intersection of Harrison and Camfield just beyond the first house on the left. |
| Harrison Street, looking east, undated |
 |
 |
Postmark:
Unused and undated
This view is of the same Harrison/Camfield intersection. |
| Andrew and Laura Little residence, about 1900 |
 |
 |
Postmark:
Unused and undated
This is a modern postcard from the Little House on the Prairie bed and breakfast. The photograph is a family portrait of proprietor Guy Little Jr.'s Grandparents and family. The home later became the B&B.
Left to right:
Front: Laura A., Andrew J.
Rear: Olive, Edny B., Guy (later, Guy Sr.)
I don't normally alter images, but I've blurred the contact information because the Little residence is no longer operated as a B&B: Please do not call for reservations. |
| William and Julia McCaig residence, about 1910 |
 |
 |
Postmark:
Unmailed and undated
Addressed to:
Miss Lena and Blanche Monroe
Canon Colo.
Message:
Dear Nieces, am glad you are having a good time. No we haven't had much rain a shower or two. Very hot.
Mary is better I've went to church & I tell you I am (?) glad she is beter (sic)
first have the best time you can for when you get old its to late.
With lots of love from all.
Aunt Julie.
(on the side)
Aint this a pretty picture of me?
Lena and Blanche Monroe were daughters of Millard and Asenath Monroe, and Lena was the sender of this card.
In the spring of 1910, Lena and Blanche toured the West. Their aunt, Jullia Monroe McCaig, wrote this during their trip, but apparently gave it to them on their return. The McCaig home was about a mile and a half west of Sullivan. |
| Charles and Mary Shuman residence, about 1915 |
 |
 |
Postmark:
Sullivan Ill, May 23, 7 AM
Addressed to:
Mar. and Mrs. Crawford
Room 508
Hotel Acacia
6th and Hope
Los Angeles
California
Message:
Sullivan, Illinois
5-22-'21
Dear friends,This is our home and we reached here Saturday morning. We enjoyed the day at the Canyon, also had a good day at Adamana's. Not so much to see there. Our baggage came through fine. Due to your assistance, we think.
Today we had lettuce, onions, radishes from our own garden, which our folks had made for us. My brother brought us butter, eggs & milk, se we have plenty to eat. Best wishes from both of us -- B Shuman.
Bertha Shuman (b. about 1878) was the daughter of Charles and Mary R. (McPheeters) Shuman. Mr. Shuman was the president of the First National Bank, and this home and automobile (a Maxwell of about 1911) reflect his station in the community. The brother to whom she refers was Irving.
After Charles' death in 1916, Mary Shuman was elected by the board to fill the rest of his unexpired term. Chester Horn then assumed the presidency.
The list of automobile owners in the 1917 Prairie Farmer's Reliable Directory of Farmers and Breeders' list of automobile owners fails to list such a car owned by the Shuman's. Since the Maxwell was several years older than this publication, it had presumably been sold before 1917, perhaps after Mr. Shuman's death.
The home, at the northeast corner of Polk and Adams, still stands. |
| William and Mary Steele residence, 1906 |
 |
 |
Postmark:
Sullivan Ill. Apr 18 1906 11 AM
Addressed to:
Mrs. A Sargent
Windsor
Ills.
Message:
Steele House
On front:
Phlox today -- from Lilac Lane Ill.
Orin A. and Sarah R. Sargent were residents of Shelby County, near Windsor.
William A. and Mary H. Steele were the parents of Dazey Ella (aka Daisy).
Mr. Steele had previously worked as a cashier at the Mattoon National Bank, but in 1885 he moved to Sullivan and assumed ownership and the presidency of the Merchants' and Farmers' Bank, originally founded by William Elder. It was located on the northwest corner of the square, in the building now occupied by the Sullivan Light and Water Department.
He was also president of the Sullivan Chamber of Commerce, retiring from that post in 1917. It was by this time that circumstances had begun to turn against him: his daughter had died three years earlier, and his wife that year. By 1920, the bank had failed after $260,000 in funds disappeared; though still nominally president of this moribund entity, Mr. Steele had apparently lost the house, as he was listed as a rooming house tenant in the 1920 census.
In November and December 1921, he was tried for embezzlement and was acquitted; he having blamed his longtime clerk, Zachariah Whitfield, son of Zachariah Whitfield, Sr. I have not been able to determine whether Mr. Whitfield was ever charged or tried.
This home, which stood on the east side of Calhoun at Harrison, has since been demolished. |
