USA > Illinois > Woodford County > The Woodford County history > Part 23
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The name was changed from Methodist Episcopal Church to Methodist Church in 1939. The Women's Society for Christian Service was formed in 1941 from the Ladies Aid and the Missionary Society. A new parsonage was built in 1961 and dedi- cated, debt free. The old building was used for classes until it was sold and moved away. In 1964 a new education building was built west of the church.
The Trinity Lutheran Church started with several residents of Linn Township holding a meeting trying to start a church to conform to the teachings of Martin Luther. In 1871, the services were held in a combination school building and church. The charter members of this con- gregation were largely of German origin, therefore services were held in German. As a result of this, the church became known locally as the German Lutheran Church. In 1873, three acres of land were donated to be used for a cemetery and when the lots were sold, the Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery came into be- ing. This same year, the parsonage was built.
On January 2, ISSI, Janna Harms was the first child baptized and in ISS2, the first class was confirmed, being Detick Up- hoff, John Degroot, Gesche Meyer and Marie Beenders. Descendants of these peo- ple are still active members of the Lu- theran Church. The years from 1882 to 1922 show great growth in the church. During this period the Walther League and the Ladies Aid service organizations were formed and became active. In 1922, the church was moved from Linn Township to the village of Roanoke. A lot had been purchased, the house being moved to the west of the property and used for a par-
sonage. Bible Class was begun in 192S. During the week of August 17-22, 1930, the Golden Jubilee of the church was cele- brated. The church building was enlarged and modernized in 1955. Ninety-eight years of history have seen thirteen pastors and a present membership of 375. A new parsonage was built in 1966-67 on property purchased across the street east of the church.
The Apostolic Christian Church has one of the largest congregations in the town- ship. The early members came originally from Germany, Switzerland and France. locating in the southern part of the town- ship. Elder Benedict Weyeneth came to the Roanoke area in 1857. Their first church was built in IS76 on the site of the present church. It was built of wood and provided space for their horses and buggies. In 1929 the church was exten- sively remodeled and veneered in brick; modern facilities were installed. Improve- ments were made again in 1958 when a nursery, dining room and more Sunday School room was added.
On June 19, 1964, the church was com- pletely destroyed by fire. On the same site the new church was dedicated on October 30, 1966. At one time there was a small church in town on Davidson Street that was used for mid-week and evening serv- ices. In the late 1940's this church was sold and torn down. The land was subdivided into lots upon which homes were built.
Early records of the St. Joseph Catholic Church are practically non-existent. Fran- ciscan priests have been in charge of the church since 1921, when Benson and Roan- oke met together. Land was purchased from Peter Kennell in 1893 in order that a church could be built. On May IS, 1891. the newly-built church was dedicated. Ad- mission of fifty cents was charged to attend and everyone was invited to attend to help a good cause. In 1896 services were hekt once a month, the second Sunday of the month. Mr. and Mrs. August Schuler were the first couple to be married in this church. The first priest served from De- cember 1894 till November 1895 and since
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that time there have been thirty priests. Ground was broken by members of St. Joseph and St. John's Catholic Church of Benson on October, 1964 for a new 40x53 foot building at an estimated cost of $30,000. The new church, at a final cost of $50,000, was finished and dedicated in 1958. A rectory was built on the northwest corner of the lot, with a connecting breeze- way. The old church was sold and moved away to make room for a parking lot to accommodate the 107 families who attend services.
The first Roanoke Mennonite Church was built in 1875 on an acre of land do- nated by Christian Schertz. Services were held for about 20 years prior to the build- ing of the church. Christian Ropp and David Schertz conducted these early serv- ices twice a month. A new church was erected in 1920. Many Mennonites from Roanoke attend Mennonite churches in Metamora, Linn Township and Cazenovia.
Schools
In 1855 the first school was opened with less than 20 students. Some had books about a variety of subjects but there was no specific textbook. The Bunch School, named for the bunch of trees that sur- rounded it, was founded by the Christian Church and had pupils from the ages of six through 21. The cost of operation for the year was less than $100. By 1878, $7,000 per year was collected and used to maintain the schools. School property had a value of less than $15,000, whereas in 196S school property is valued at $18,771,- 184.99 and cost per pupil for the year was $539.49.
Education interest grew till there were nine good school houses when the first trustees were elected in 1862. A graded school was established in town and was located on the corner of Ann and Franklin Streets about 1891. Around 1913 there was a German Lutheran School on the corner of East Ann Street and State Street, with Hannah Schlommer as teacher.
The Roanoke Grade School was built on its present site in 1910. Since that time it
has undergone many changes on the in- terior. Now this building only has fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes. The first three grades attend Sowers Elementary, erected in 1962. The kindergarten, which was started in 1957-58, also is housed in this building. The seventh and eighth graders attend classes at Roanoke-Benson Junior High in Benson.
The present high school building, cost- ing $112,000.00 was opened for classes in 1920. The new high school was named Roanoke Victory High School till Benson and Roanoke schools were consolidated and the name was changed to Roanoke- Benson. There is a difference of opinion as to when the first graduation exercises were held; but, according to the Roanoke Call, a class of three girls graduated in 1896. They were Orpha Fisher, Grace Upton and Gertrude Wheelwright. Miss Upton was hired as teacher the following year. De- seendants of Orpha Fisher and Gertrude Wheelwright are still living in Roanoke to- day.
During the 1920's, 30's, and early 40's the enrollment fluctuated between 100 and 230 students. At that time there were eight teachers in comparison with the 23 today. The enrollment for 1967-68 school year was 1,140 students. The high school band was formed in the 1930's.
Roanoke and Benson schools were united into a unit ( Unit 60) in 1949 and were consolidated in 1956-57. Benson high school students come to Roanoke in ex- change for our seventh and eighth graders. All rural schools were disbanded when the unit went into effect.
Throughout the years the schools have been remodeled and new additions built. In 1954 a new addition and gym were dedicated; the total cost of these being $383,000. All departments are equipped with the most modern equipment. The Na- tional Honor Society was instituted in 1957 with 15 members.
Educational television was installed in all classrooms in 1966. Adult classes, col- lege extension classes, and veteran's classes make up a part of the whole school system.
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1905 photo of Roanoke coal miners ( mule drivers ).
On May 21, 1965, Roanoke along with other Woodford County towns, voted to join Peoria and Tazewell counties in sup- port of a tri-county junior college. It was named Ilinois Central Junior College and it gave many more Roanoke-Benson stu- dents a chance for higher education.
In 1967-6S the high school again took part in the Student Foreign Exchange Pro- gram. Jean Gingrich was the first student from Roanoke to study abroad. She spent the summer studying in Colombia. In the fall, three students, two from Peru and one from Brazil, came to study here for three months. Another exchange student was a boy from Germany who was here in 1963.
Industry
The second coal mine in the county was sunk in Roanoke in ISSI. A company, with Isaac Snyder, Peter Kennell and Peter Bels- ley, as chief investors, was formed and the shaft was sunk in the cast part of town to a depth of 480 feet. They found a very
good vein of coal at this depth, although two other veins had been found which did not promise as rich a return. In ISS9, men who worked the mine were of many na- tionalities-Scotch, English, German, Irish, and a few French and Italians. During the next four years many more French and Italians came to work.
The property was sold to the Roanoke Mining Co. in 1889. By 1910 it was owned and operated by the Duggan Bros. At this time it was producing about 500 tons of coal per day and employed approximately 300 men. After the hard road was built much coal was trucked to Peoria. Roan- oke's prosperity more or less depended on the mine until February 1940 when it closed. The large pile of clay at the mine, known as Mt. Jumbo, has been one of Roanoke's landmarks.
Another early industry was a tile and brick yard that was owned by George Wil- lems in ISS9. In 1906 he sold his interests in the yards to the American Clay Products
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Co., but Mr. Willems still managed the plant with 25 year-round employees. The Baron Brick and Tile Co. purchased it in 1914-15 for the production of kiln dried brick and tile products. It closed its opera- tion in the late 1930's.
Altorfer Bros. Manufacturing Co. was organized in 1909, manufacturing A.B.C. washing machines which became nation- ally known. The first machines were made in the present Roanoke Hardware build- ing. A two-story building was erected at the present site, but it was destroyed by fire on February 12, 1914. The same year the company built the present one-story building and also built the A.B.C. factory in Peoria, because of the growing demand for their machines. The company was sold to the Kelvinator Manufacturing Co. in 1935. The local plant, that was used for parts assembly center, is now completely closed.
A study was made in 1940, after the coal mine was closed down permanently, to determine what could be done with the tile plant to give employment to some of the men who were out of work. In the spring of 194I, the buildings were revamped and new equipment installed and alfalfa acre- age contracted for and operations began of the Prairie Dehydrating Co. It is a cor- poration with D. B. Hodel as president.
In 1943, the Eureka Milling Co. was established and the company was in the bean processing business from approxi- mately 1944 to 1952, also, at which time it made a complete line of formulated feeds for all livestock, plus custom grinding and mixing. In 1954 the company discontinued making its own feed and took Master Mix Feeds as the sole line of feed. In 1955 they took out all the old processing equipment and replaced them with new. In 1966 the company was sold to Art Wilkey, El Paso, and Donald Nelson, McNabb, the present owners. The name was changed to Roan- oke Milling Co.
Ulrich Manufacturing Co. came to Roan- oke late in 1944 as a subcontract machine shop using 5,000 sq. ft. of floor space and employing a dozen men. Since then it has
grown steadily until it has become a sig- nificant supplier of equipment for the earthmoving industry. Ulrich manufactur- ing operations are divided into four cate- gories being, earth moving, finished parts for Caterpillar equipment, hydraulic equip- ment, and sump pumps. Beginning with the 5,000 sq. ft. of floor space as office and shop, the company has grown to where they now occupy 10,000 sq. ft. of office space on Husseman Street and a factory of over 50,000 sq. ft. located on a site of something over three acres on Front and Green streets.
The Illinois Builders Material Company was organized prior to 1946 as a rental lumber yard. In 1946, the company incor- porated with home town capital, practi- cally all stock being locally owned. In 1947 they began to manufacture concrete blocks. As demand for its products increased, new, modern equipment was installed in 1952 and the production of Haydite blocks be- gan the same year. Starting with one em- ployee, the company now has 12 men and a stenographer. They have a modern of- fice and a show room building on Front and Green streets.
Roanoke Concrete Products was organ- ized in 1958 and they now produce the cement products which Ilinois Builders Materials Co. formerly made. They employ about 15 persons.
Woodford County Service Company was formed around 1929-30 with a plant in Roanoke and offices in Eureka.
Included among Roanoke's new in- dustries are the corn dryers added to the Roanoke Farmer's association.
The Spacific Pathogen Free Abian Sup- ply of Norwich, Conn. started a unique industry in Roanoke in April, 1967, to produce disease-free eggs and chickens. This is the third plant in the world for this purpose, the others being in Connecti- cut and in Germany. Eggs are sold to laboratories and universities in the mid- west. Wayne Steffen, of Fairbury, manages the firm and lives on the farm. The com- pany employs from four to six men. Roan- oke was chosen for this because of the
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fairly central location in the market area. This firm is located two miles south of town on the farm owned formerly by Lce Scherer.
Although many industries are found in Roanoke, which employ many of the resi- dents, about 40% of its workers are em- ployed at Caterpillar Tractor Co., Le- Tourneau Westinghouse, and other Peoria area firms.
Transportation and Communication
The first post office was established in Roanoke in 1872 with Frank Pifer as post- master. A new building erected in 1955, was remodeled and enlarged in 1967, he- cause of the increased volume of mail. An- drew Zimmerman has been postmaster for the past 21 years. According to records, there were only four other postmasters in Roanoke, J. Wheelwright. B. Belsley, J. Sand and R. Full.
Telephone service locally owned by the Roanoke Telephone Co., with E. N. Wheel- wright as owner, started operations about 1903. It was sold to Standard Telephone Co. of Illinois, January 24, 1928, and later sold to Illinois Commercial Telephone Co. In 1910. there were 265 phones and in 1968 there are over 800. The village board signed a 50-year franchise with General Telephone Co., which purchased the com- pany in 1955. Roanoke's switchboard was discontinued and offices were moved to Washington, Ill. in March 1958. A dial system has been installed.
Peoria Rockford Bus Co. has supplied Roanoke residents with passenger service since about 1936. There is a local truck carrier to Peoria and five interstate truck lines serve the town. We also have the services of the United Parcel and R.E.A. Freight.
In 1872 occurred an event in the history of Roanoke Township, that has had a marked effect on its prosperity. In that year, the C.P. & S.W. Railroad, known then as the Hinkley Road, was projected and built. A number of townships along the proposed line had voted bonds for aiding the company, and thereby seenred its lo-
cation through this part of the country. Al- though this township voted no bonds, sub- scriptions amounting to $5,000 were raised by private individuals to pay for the right of way. This brought this community an outlet for the large shipments of grain and livestock which previously had to be hauled from eight to 15 miles to the near- est railroad points. The A.T.S.F.R.R. pur- chased the line in ISS7. It is still in opera- tion for freight only. Passenger service was completely discontinued in January, 1956. Services of Western Union Co. may be ob- tained through the local railroad agent.
Businesses Past and Present
According to a history written in 1878, there were 22 businesses in Roanoke. Since that time there have been so many that it would be impossible to name every one. This is a partial list of those that served our community for from 25 to 50 years.
John Franz owned the first grocery store, which he operated in his home. Over a period of time the following have operated grocery stores and meat markets; Herbst & Co., Sam Zimmerman, Joe Pio- letti, Riley IGA, and Harold Schrock.
Hatcher & Jeter established the first hardware and plumbing business and some others who followed were Altorfer & Sauder, E. L. Herbst & Sons, Matt Paluska & Sons, and at the present time Elmer Weidman.
Roanoke has had two hotels-The Rapp and the Darling-which were in operation for quite a long time. L. D. Schwender was Roanoke's first hotel keeper. The Oak Ranch Motel was our first motel.
One of the oldest established firms. still in business, is Sauder Furniture Store, which has been handed down through three generations. Godfried Harseim was the first furniture dealer.
Schafer Shoe Store has been operated by the same family for at least 50 years. C. Gozinger was in the shoe business in 1878.
Barber shops have been owned by Yeck,
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Ilusseman, Pettigrew, John and Andrew Paluska.
A. Veuve, and S. Sorg were in the jew- elry business for many years. R. Plattner is now Roanoke's jeweler.
Jacob Stephenson was the first black- smith. Darling, Full, Hillen and Martin Bros. were in business for long periods of time. The Fehr blacksmith and machine shop has been operating since 1917.
William and Peter Crow built the first grain elevator. Such names as Hollenback, Greiter, Wrenn bring memories of our ele- vators. Roanoke Farmer's Association pres- ently operates a corn drier at the elevator and has one in the country. In 1929, for a short time, a corn dryer was operated by Hodel & Saleski in the present Garber's Sundries building.
Funeral directors have been Morrow, Sauder, Vincent, and Remmert.
The bank's name has been changed four times in its history. Those names have been Farmer's Bank, German American Bank, Roanoke State Bank, and now the People's State Bank.
Farming equipment has been in great demand since our earliest history and in 187S the businesses listed in this category were: Harness-T. Brown, Marti, and in later years, L. Knoll; wagon makers-I. Fisher and U. Beer. At the present time we
have Martin Implement, Roanoke Equip- ment, and B. P. Martin. T. E. Brown was the first contractor as far as we could find. Now we have Illinois Builders Products, A. Bowald, and Amigoni Excavating. J. B. Snyder, J. N. Fisher and McCord were a few of the early contractors.
McNeil & MeNeil were the earliest at- torneys. In 1968 B. H. Huschen is our only attorney and also serves as state's attorney.
The history of Roanoke's businessmen would not be complete without mentioning a few of those who spent a great deal of their lives in business in Roanoke. Charlie Swartz (a teamster), Joe Amigoni, Pete Micca, and Joe Bussone were in the dray business. Bussone is the only survivor.
Roanoke's theatres were Airdome, owned by Sand; Pallisette, owned by P. Herbst; Oak Theatre, owned by Phillips; and Roan- oke Theatre, owned by Moritz. There have been many bakeries in Roanoke. Two of the bakers who operated businesses for a long time were F. Hessing and F. Herbst. Pete Micca's saloon was the meeting place for the miners, who, in 1903, formed the Union Italian Club. Paul Audi, Jack Grey, and Tim Collins also owned saloons in the early 1900's. In the late 1930's Bill Heedt owned the only junk yard that Roanoke ever had.
Roanoke, in 1968, supports many other
FROSTERITY CLUB.
ARIZED SEPT 1-21403,
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businesses including five beauty shops, two service stations, two ladies' ready-to-wear, one men's clothing, one bowling alley, one cleaner, one laundramat, seven food and drink establishments, three garages, five insurance agents, (M. L. Mock being the first in 1878). Roanoke has been the dis- tributing point for the Woodford County Service Co. since 1947, with C. Aeschleman as local distributor.
Our humble apologies to those whose names might have been inadvertently over- looked and not mentioned.
Newspapers
A weekly newspaper named "The Era" with George Holton as editor was pub- lished in 1884, one copy of which remains on file-Vol. 1, No. IS, July 26, 1884.
The Roanoke Call was evidently the next newspaper for Roanoke. The editorial in the first issue made a comment on begin- nings in journalism, etc. This paper was first published Thursday, August 6, 1891. with P. B. Hobbs, editor.
On Tuesday, June 17, 1913, T. P. Petti- grew took over as editor of the Roanoke Call. The paper had been published on Fridays for some time, and had been a six column paper. Mr. Pettigrew started with a seven-column sheet.
On Tuesday, July 13, 1913, issue No. 48. the Roanoke Call was renamed the Roan- oke Post, reason being given that there were financial difficulties with the Call which could be clarified by reorganization. With the issue of Tuesday, January 18, 1944, the Post was renamed The Roanoke Review, which name it still carries.
Effective December 9, 1952, Miss Marj- orie Thompson purchased the Roanoke Review from Mr. Pettigrew, who retired after 61 years in the newspaper business. lle started as a boy, selling papers, later writing for the Roanoke paper, and finally buying it in 1913.
On May 1, 1955, the Woodford County Journal of Eureka purchased the Review from Miss Thompson. Printing is done at the Journal plant in Eureka. Editorial of- fices were set up at 102B W. Husseman
Street, where they are at this time, Janu- ary 1968. Dr. Burrus Dickinson is editor.
The only other newspaper in Roanoke, to our knowledge, was the Roanoke Rec- ord, established by B. J. Radford in 1914. About 1919 it was consolidated with the Roanoke Post.
Health
As far as records show, the first medical doctor in Roanoke was A. Ickstadt in 1891 and our first dentist was E. L. Finchum in 1896. Our present doctor, Dr. R. J. Davies, has been a resident and practicing phy- sieian for the past 25 years. Dr. Robert Wallace, our dentist, took over the prac- tice of his father. Dr. Edgar Wallace. His father had been practicing in Roanoke for over 50 years.
Roanoke is proud of its home for the elderly citizens, Roanoke Manor, which was built in 1958 by Bernie Remmert. At that time it was licensed for 57 beds. It was sold to Roanoke Manor, Inc. in 1962 and later that year it was enlarged to ac- commodate 77 beds. The present owners are Burt Cohn and Mrs. Ruth Steinberg.
There have been only two veterinarians who have served Roanoke Community for over 50 years, Dr. Isaac Rogers and Dr. Silas Kemp. Dr. Kemp retired September, 1964. and now Dr. Steffen of Goodfickl serves Roanoke a few days a week.
Community Organizations
Roanoke Businessmen's Association is one of the earliest organizations in Roan- oke. A group of businessmen, calling them- selves the Commercial Club, met on July 29, 1913 and decided to organize. A com- mittee, composed of Risser. Ilubbell, and Pettigrew, was named to set up the by- laws. The basic reasons for organizing were to build civic interest, build up Roanoke's welfare, boost its interests, and help mer- chants to keep in harmony. These same principles apply to the present association in 1968. This organization has been known under other names such as Civic Associa- tion and Community Association. Early ac- complishments were many, but to mention
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a few-the organizing of a town baseball team in 1914; oiling of village streets, by donations, in 1914; helping to get the Building and Loan Association started. Later they helped a great deal in getting the streets paved and in the installation of a water purifier. It is still their aim to make Roanoke a more pleasant place to do your shopping.
The American Legion, Post 463, and American Legion Auxiliary are also active organizations. The Legion was formed soon after World War 1 and today has a membership of 183. The Auxiliary was granted its charter in the early 1920's and now has 75 members. These organizations are both constantly working for the better- ment of the community as well as benefits for veterans.
Boy Scouts started meeting in the 1920's, although there are few records kept as to membership. In 1968 there are 50 Cub and 40 Boy Scouts, who meet every week. There has been only one Eagle Scout in our history, Tom Riley, and he earned this award in the fall of 1967. Mrs. Annoyna Mueser began holding Girl Scout meetings around 1935 with 20 girls in one troop. En- thusiasm has grown through the years, we now have 93 Girl Scouts, which make up five troops and there is one Senior Scout, Glenda Miller. Many Scouts enjoy camping at Camp Tapawingo and Camp Wokanda.
A great many belong to the Woodford County Farm Bureau which was estab- lished in 1919. There are three active Homemaker Extension Units-Roanoke, Center, and Maple Lawn. Through these organizations several 4-H clubs have been started.
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