USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume One > Part 27
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Mrs. Mort Thompson was the first president, Mrs. S. Murray Clark was the second president; Mrs. Giddings, the present secretary, served as the fourth and seventh presidents and Mrs. Charles Nelson has served three terms as president.
Nearly twenty-eight years ago this fall six Danville women met one day at the home of Mrs. Medora Hendricks and organized the Musical Cycle.
Probably no organization in the city has had such a tremendous influence upon the cultural life of Danville as the Musical Cycle. No one of the six women who made musical history for Danville on that October day in 1902 could have visioned the Musical Cycle of 1928, with its membership in the Civic Music Association, a national movement.
Those women were: Mrs. Medora Hendricks, who originated the idea and invited five of her musically inclined friends to join with her in doing something worth-
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while for Danville; Mrs. Lulu Mize, Mrs. Cal Hodges, Mrs. Babcock, Mrs. Ike Levin and Mrs. Grace Peckham.
The new organization had for its objective the study of music and meetings were held bi-weekly, alternating on afternoons and evenings. The afternoon sessions were devoted to study and the evenings to recitals. Musicians outside the club membership took part in the programs, which were for the most part of a miscellaneous nature.
One artist recital was given each year until 1912 and after that the premier recitals were increased to three and four each season. The study sessions were held at the homes of the members until 1912, when, the membership having been increased to thirty women, the meetings were held in the Chamber of Commerce auditorium, at that time opposite the post office.
Many noted artists appeared at the early recitals, including :
Margaret Romaine, soprano; Barbara Maurel, mezzo; George Meader, tenor; Alberta Salvi, harpist, now known as one of the greatest living harpists; Walter Keller, of the Sherwood School of Music, Chicago; Miss Henrietta Webber, famous music critic, who gave a course of lec- tures; Detroit String Quartet; Tallefson Trio; Minneapo- lis Symphony Orchestra; Francis Alda, Metropolitan Opera Company; David Bispham, one of the greatest bari- tones; and Anna Shaw Faulkner, lecture-recital.
In 1910 the Cycle made a distinct contribution to the musical development of Danville when a chorus of women's voices was organized with Miss Bertie Braden as director. Later the chorus was directed by Miss Laura B. Shawe.
This chorus was reorganized in 1916 with Walter Kel- ler, of Chicago, as director, and in 1922 a large mixed
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chorus was formed with G. Magnus Shutts, of Chicago, as director.
From the small beginning in 1910, through the suc- cessive reorganizations, there developed the Danville Choral Society, which has been self-governing for several years, but which is a "child" of the Musical Cycle, and which has contributed materially to the enjoyment of the musically-minded Danville.
In 1924 the membership of the Musical Cycle had grown to more than six hundred, and the time had arrived when the work of the Cycle had developed a taste for better music and more artist concerts in Danville than it could provide.
This led to its affiliation with the Civic Music Asso- ciation of Chicago, a national organization. The Musical Cycle, as the result of its connection with the national movement, sponsored the organization of the Danville Civic Music Association, the membership of which is now eleven hundred. The goal of the association is eighteen hundred members, this being the seating capacity of the High School auditorium, where the artist concerts are held.
The Civic Music Association plan provides for one week in each year being set aside for the payment of dues and reception of new members. After this week the member- ship is closed for another year. This plan enables the Musical Cycle board to know in advance just how much money will be available for talent for the coming season. Any possible deficit at the close of the season is thus auto- matically disposed of and the plan in its four years of operation has proved very successful.
Members of the Civic Music Association are given the privilege of attending four artist concerts each year at the High School Auditorium and eight local concerts at the
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Young Women's Christian Association. The eight local programs are presented by the Musical Cycle and include the concerts to be given by the Danville Choral Society.
It has been the policy of the board of directors to afford every opportunity for the development of local talent and to bring such artists here as will inspire every resident of Danville who cares to take advantage of the opportunity of attending these concerts.
Mrs. Medora Hendrichs was the first president of the Musical Cycle. Her successors have all been women who have been prominently identified with the better things of life, women whose names have been found behind every movement for civic betterment.
Mrs. Hendrichs and Mrs. Anne Wolford Ridgely were presidents until 1910, when Mrs. H. P. Blose was elected to that office. Mrs. Blose served for three years, being succeeded in 1913 by Mrs. George Wright, who served one year and who was succeeded by Mrs. Benjamin English, who also served one year, 1914.
Mrs. A. E. Dale served in that position in 1915, 1916 and 1928, being succeeded in 1917 by Miss Bertie Braden, who was president during 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1920, and in 1929 by Mrs. Chester Erickson.
Mrs. W. T. Shaffer was president in 1921, 1922 and 1923, being succeeded by Mrs. Louis Bishop, who filled the office in 1924 and 1925. Miss Ruth Guy followed Mrs. Bishop as president, serving through 1926 and 1927.
The present officers are : President, Mrs. Chester Erick- son ; vice president, Mrs. Oswald Yeager; financial secre- tary, Mrs. W. T. Shaffer; recording secretary, Mrs. Doug- las Stevens; corresponding secretary, Miss Reva Clair Hoff; treasurer, Don H. Wilson.
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Several years after the organization of the Musical Cycle, some of the members decided that the youngsters should be given an opportunity to develop a love of music and the Junior Musical Cycle was formed.
The Junior Cycle, which numbers approximately one hundred and fifty young people, has been one of the out- standing achievements of the older organization. It has numbered among its members some of the most prominent Danville musicians, among them Mrs. Rosetta Samuel French, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who came back to Danville two years ago for a piano concert.
Mrs. Sayle Budd is the chairman of the Junior Cycle committee, her two assistants on this committee being Miss Neva Fortner and Mrs. J. C. Higgason. Although spon- sored by the Musical Cycle, the juniors have their own organization, the officers of which are: President, Clark Huffer; secretary, La June McIntire; chairman program committee, La Verne Hickman.
At first one program was prepared each year for the Junior Cycle. This was presented, however, several times at the various churches. Now a new program is presented each month. The Junior Cycle has its own meetings in its own room at the Young Women's Christian Associa- tion, one-half of the program being devoted to the lives of composers and the other half to diversified musical pro- grams.
The Danville Choral Society is a separate organization, despite the fact that many people confuse it with the Civic Music Association. After a vacation during the summer months it started rehearsals of the present season Tuesday night, October 2.
Officers of the Choral Society are: President, Mrs. Claus Rohweder; vice president, Herbert L. Miller; finan-
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cial secretary, Miss Dorothy Packard; recording secretary, Miss Roma Thomas; treasurer, Miss Marie Lane; libra- rian, Miss Pearl Smith; director, G. Magnus Schutz; accompanist, Miss Ruth Guy.
Danville is a city of clubs, for both women and men, but there are three women's organizations, limited in mem- bership, that may well be said to provide the social and cultural background of the city.
These three clubs and the dates of their organization are: Home Decorative Club, 1889; Clover Club, 1894; and the Monday Art Club, 1901.
The three clubs have an exclusive membership, repre- senting the older families of the city, in fact the rosters of the three organizations might well be termed the regis- ter of the "First Families" for Danville. Many of the names will be found on all three rosters.
While the Woman's Club, founded in 1895, perhaps is a broader representation of the Danville of today, it was the outgrowth of an old Chautauqua study class and its charter membership owed much to the interest of the mem- bers of the Home Decorative and Clover Clubs.
The Home Decorative Club was organized in 1889 by a circle of women who met and enjoyed discussions on home decorations. Mrs. W. E. Fithian and the late Mrs. Charles Giddings were the founders of this club. From the first its membership was restricted to twenty-five women and at the present time the roster carries twenty- one names.
Naturally there have been many deaths in this club during the forty years of its existence. Vacancies caused by death have not been immediately filled. In many instances daughters of the older members have been accepted into the club.
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Today, it might well be called the "Mother and Daugh- ter" Club. There is one out-of-town member, Mrs. Abram Mann, of Rossville. Mrs. J. G. Hull has the distinction of being the oldest member, in point of age.
The present officers are: President, Mrs. W. E. Fithian; vice president, Mrs. E. B. Cooley ; secretary, Mrs. A. A. McCann; treasurer, Mrs. Rose Wainscott.
The Clover Club was formed in 1894 by a small circle of women who had been members of a Chautauqua study class. The Chautauqua movement carried a special appeal to the women of all communities who were interested in the higher and better things of life and the Chautauqua plan of home study provided the objective program for many cultural societies of the nineties.
The Clover Club still retains that early interest in the improvement of the mind and has always stood for the best things in literature and art.
It is carrying on an interesting program for the com- ing year. There is a membership limit of twenty-four women. In the event of the death of a member, the vacancy is held open for one year before a new member is accepted to fill the vacancy. There are now twenty-one members.
The women who started this club were believers in the Chautauqua movement, which originated in 1874 and which was based on the belief that knowledge of the better things of life, both in art, letters and music, should be made available for all and that one's education should not stop with the graduation from the high school or univer- sity. The club meets every Monday.
The officers are: President, Mrs. J. E. McMillan; vice president, Miss Helen Louis; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. M. L. Howard, historian, Mrs. W. R. Jewell.
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The Monday Art Club is the baby of the trio. It was organized in 1901 by a group of young women, some of whom had just returned home from university and col- lege, and who felt the need of developing a greater knowl- edge of art in Danville.
This was a very informal organization, comprising only four or five girls at first, among them being Miss Alice Shedd, now Mrs. Walter H. Martin, and Miss Flora M. Woodbury.
The club met each Monday and the study of art was undertaken seriously. With the passing of years the study program branched out to include current events and edu- cational topics of interest.
The membership of this club, also, is limited, there being fourteen members on the roster. The officers for the past year were: President, Miss Flora M. Woodbury; vice president, Mrs. W. H. VanValkenburg; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. Howard Ely.
These three clubs never extended membership privi- leges beyond the circle of intimate friends. The organiza- tions were simple in nature, the members devoting their efforts along the lines of home study and discussion.
This failure to expand the organization was not due to an aversion to extend the privileges of membership to other women, but mainly to an aversion to accept the responsibility of a larger organization and thereby, per- haps, lose the value of the study programs in a larger circle of women, whose interests would be more diversified.
The women of these three clubs never shirked their responsibility to the community and the names from these club rosters will be found on the rosters of every worth- while movement in the city of Danville.
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Beautification of Danville and its suburbs is the objec- tive of the Garden Club, founded about six years ago by Mrs. William C. Rankin, assisted by Mrs. William R. Jewell, both nature devotees and lovers of beautiful gardens.
Garden lovers who delighted in working in their own gardens and who were interested in the development of a community love for the beautiful in nature, met infor- mally and organized the Garden Club.
Winter meetings are held at the Young Women's Chris- tian Association, and the meetings during the summer months are held in the members' gardens. There is a membership of seventy-two women at present, with no restrictions on the size of the membership in the future.
Mrs. Rankin became the first president; Mrs. Victor Yeomans, the first secretary and treasurer; and Mrs. J. G. Shedd, the first corresponding secretary, an office that has since been abolished.
The club is building its program each year on the edu- cation of the public in a love for flowers and the beautiful in nature. It is striving particularly to awaken interest in flowers and gardens and the creation of attractive back- yards.
Officers of the club are: President, Mrs. C. E. Wilkin- son ; vice president, Mrs. F. E. Tyson; corresponding sec- retary, Mrs. Harry Webber; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. Henry J. Bahls.
One of the most unique clubs in the city is the Midwest Stamp Club, organized February 18, 1929, for stamp col- lectors, or philatelists. This club, with between twenty and thirty members, all adults, the minimum age limit being sixteen years, staged a philatelic exhibition the first
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year of its existence and it enjoys a monthly dinner, fol- lowed by a discussion of their hobby by the members.
The officers are: President, Miss Grace McCoy; vice president, W. F. Baldwin; secretary, Mrs. Phoebe L. Williams; treasurer, Ernest R. Jones; exchange manager, Miss Ruth Flynn; librarian, Mrs. Pearl B. Jones.
This club has for one of its objectives the authorization by congress of a special stamp to commemorate the service of Uncle Joe Cannon, Danville's greatest statesman, who served nearly a half century in congress and was speaker of the house, to his country. Nearly every part of the country has enjoyed the issuance of special commemorative stamps for some patriotic purpose and it is felt that a special Uncle Joe Cannon stamp would perpetuate the memory of the man who made Danville known from coast to coast and throughout the world.
The close association of members and ideas, enjoyed by these small clubs, has had a tremendous effect upon the intellectual side of Danville and membership in them has been valued beyond a dues-paying basis. The result has been organizations that are just as strong today, and in which the members are as intensely interested, as they were when they were founded.
There are other clubs and organizations, perhaps as old, which are worthy of more than passing mention, but some of them were purely social in character, or had ob- jectives, other than the improvement of the mind. These clubs have also played an important part in the develop- ment of Danville.
The Pedestrian Club, for instance, organized in 1898 by the late Mrs. Joseph Fairhall, which had for its goal the stimulation of interest in walking, as an aid to health.
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Mrs. Fairhall came as a bride to Danville from Eng- land, where walking clubs were quite the thing. She imme- diately became part of a circle of young women who were quick to take interest in her discussion of the value of walking.
A number of congenial women were invited by Mrs. Fairhall to her home on South Gilbert Street one after- noon thirty-odd years ago and the Pedestrian Club was launched with a membership of fifty. Mrs. Fairhall, who recently died, became the first president.
The second meeting, the first regular session of the new club, was held at the home of Mrs. S. Murray Clark, who is still an interested member. At this and subsequent meetings the roll call was answered by the members giving interesting observations of their walks.
Walking, however, never had the wave of popularity here that it did in England and the members of the Pedes- trian Club gradually reverted to their enjoyment of horses and carriages.
And then came the automobile, the advent of this mode of travel leaving the Pedestrian Club, a walking club in name only. The members even gave up walking to club meetings, using automobiles for over a few blocks.
It is still a thriving club, however, a group of happy- fun-loving women, the meetings of which are free from petty gossip. Time and money have been freely given by the members to charity calls of many kinds.
Meetings are held once a month, with two yearly events that feature the program-the annual picnic in the sum- mer and the gay Christmas party during the holiday season.
Deaths and removals from the city have reduced the membership to thirty. The officers for the current year
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are: President, Mrs. Columbus Schatz; first vice presi- dent, Mrs. R. H. Johnson; second vice-president, Mrs. Harry Freeman; secretary, Mrs. A. C. Church; treasurer, Mrs. Elizabeth Mercer.
While on the subject of clubs, there are eighteen women, of whom twelve are residents of Danville, who are in pos- session of a secret that was first shrouded in mystery some forty years ago, 1889 to be exact.
This secret concerns the meaning of the initials, "G. I. P." which is the name of one of Danville's oldest clubs. This organization was of admitted social origin. There have been no new members and there are now twelve mem- bers living here and six living in other cities, eighteen members in all.
This is one of the most unique clubs in the world. It has no officers, no constitution and no by-laws, not even a regular meeting day. It meets whenever the members decide to get together, once a week, once a month, maybe once in two months.
None of the uninitiated have been able to find out what "G. I. P." stands for, in fact some of the masculine rela- tives of members have been brutal enough to declare that the mystery initials did not stand for anything. The mem- bers neither deny nor admit this allegation.
The local members are: Miss Fannie Gregg, Mrs. George M. Wright, Mrs. W. H. Van Valkenburg, Mrs. Ed. Raimer, Mrs. Charles Lewis, Mrs. Sam Short, Mrs. E. K. Wolgamot, Miss Flo Woodbury, Mrs. Clara Tincher, Mrs. J. C. Woodbury, Mrs. Kate Voorhees, Mrs. E. Y. English.
CHAPTER XXV
VERMILION COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR
DECLARATION OF WAR-RECRUITING-BATTERY A AND COMPANY L- FIRST IN THE SERVICE-HEAVY ENLISTMENTS-VERMILION COUNTY'S CLAIM AS THE MOST PATRIOTIC COUNTY IN AMERICA SUBSTAN- TIATED-CASUALTIES IN FRANCE-DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS- SIGNING OF THE ARMISTICE-TOTAL ENLISTMENT FIGURES FOR VER- MILION COUNTY.
Participation of the United States in the World War was preceded by a small war cloud that hovered over the Mexican border and saw two Danville and one Hoopeston state militia units called into Federal service.
Battery A, under command of the late Captain Curtis G. Redden, and Company L, under Captain William Beeler, went from Danville in July, 1916, to the Mexican border. They each served three months on the border and were mustered out of Federal service October 27, 1916, without the loss of man in either outfit.
Company B, Third Regiment, of Hoopeston, entrained June 24, 1916, for Camp Dunne, Springfield, under Cap- tain John H. Steward, later being ordered to the border where the company was stationed eight months, being transferred February 21, 1917, to Fort Sheridan, where the outfit was mustered out of Federal service.
Battery A, Company L, colored, and Company I, volun- tarily entered the Federal service again at the beginning
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of the World War and Company B, Hoopeston, was mobil- ized July 25, 1917, and six weeks later entrained for Camp Logan, Texas, later going to Camp Upton, from where they started overseas May 10, 1918, reaching Brest May 24, 1918.
The Hoopeston company experienced its baptism of fire July 4, 1918, near Hamel, when an Illinois unit, in con- junction with the Australians, captured Hamel.
Before leaving the United States, Captain Steward was transferred to Company D, and Captain Burghein came to Company B.
Company experienced its first casualty in the Albert Sector, with the British forces, where Corporal Hart Sartwell received a shrapnel wound that finally invalided him home.
At the height of the Meuse-Argonne battle, Sergeant Fred A. Kennedy, a railroad employe at Rankin, and Albert Kallinski, an employe of the Vermilion Malleable Iron Company, were killed, also a drafted soldier, named Lawrence, who had been assigned to the Hoopeston unit. Sergeant Earl R. Dick was wounded in the right leg, ampu- tation later being necessary.
Following the war, the Hoopeston unit spent the winter in Luxembourg and returned to Hoopeston June 7, 1919.
Three Hoopeston nurses volunteered for service in the war,-Misses Kate Wintermantel, Nellie Ross and Frances Bradley, the first two serving with the Red Cross in France.
Lieutenant Ralph W. Stine, formerly with Company B, was in the Verdun battle with Company L, One Hundred Thirty-second Infantry, where he was killed September 26, 1918. He was formerly high school principal in Hoopes- ton but came from Paxton, where his parents lived. He
VERMILION COUNTY MEMORIAL TO HER WORLD WAR DEAD, DANVILLE, ILL.
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was the only member of Company B to be honored with a Distinguished Service Cross for bravery in action, this being issued after his death.
Danville enjoyed the distinction of having a draft board-Martin F. Keagan, Doctor T. E. Walton and Har- vey C. Adams, only one of eleven such boards in the United States, that did not charge for their services.
There were draft boards in Danville, Hoopeston and Georgetown.
Harry Carpenter, of Potomac, was the first Vermilion County soldier to give his life in the World War. He perished when the Tuscania was torpedoed February 5, 1918.
Company L, the colored company, had a distinguished career in the war. It left Danville with one hundred and thirty-two volunteers, was recruited up to one hundred and ninety-seven at the training camp, and returned home leaving forty-nine men on the battle fields.
Vermilion County's part in the World War is told con- cisely in the following article which was written by the late John H. Harrison, editor of The Commercial-News, and a member of the Illinois Council of Defense, and which appeared several years ago in the American Legion Review :
"Vermilion County, Illinois, of which Danville is the seat, laid claim during the war to being the most patriotic county in America. The honor was disputed but once, and that was by a small town in the state of Washington. While that town equalled the record here, Vermilion county as a whole still holds the unique honor.
"The claim was based on the fact that this county was not touched by the first draft, because we had more volun- teers in service than the draft called for. The record
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would have persisted throughout the war if the govern- ment's plan of giving credit for volunteers had prevailed in all draft calls. But Uncle Sam conceded that credit only in the first instance. When the first call for draft was issued the government announced that the volunteers from a county already in service would be credited against the quota called for, and only enough drafted men would be taken to make up the quota. Vermilion county at that time had enough volunteers in the service to be twenty-five per cent more than the draft called for. Therefore the first draft did not take one man from Vermilion county.
"Thereafter, when draft calls were made, quotas were assigned and taken regardless of how many volunteers had already gone. The volunteer spirit continued in Vermilion county throughout the war, so that practically nobody would have been drafted had the credit for volunteers been continued.
"Between five and six thousand men were sent to the training camps from Vermilion county during the war. Of this number, probably one-half went overseas and one- fourth saw active service in the front line trenches.
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