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At the April Logan County Genealogical
and Historical Society meeting, members of the New Holland Planning
and Writing Committee talked about the book they had compiled to
celebrate the town’s upcoming 150th anniversary.
LCGHS Program Chair Marla Blair
said various members of the planning and writing committee were
going to discuss their experiences, the project and the process of
writing the book and hopefully tidbits they had found out about the
town.
Roseanne Coers, who co-chaired the
committee, asked people there if they had ever written a book. Coers
said she had helped on books, but had never written a book or done
anything like it before. She helped organize the book.
Coers’ daughter-in-law, Annie Coers, had told her someone needed to
write up a history for New Holland’s 150th anniversary. Roseanne
Coers loves history, so her daughter-in-law had her at history.
Before starting the book, Roseanne Coers had to find a committee to
help with it. She had been given a list of a couple people, so she
spoke to them and they said yes.
There were eight people on the committee and Coers said they all
worked hard on the book. Seven of the eight were at the LCGHS
meeting. The committee first met April 1, 2024 and Coers said, “none
of us knew what we were doing.”
The committee met three or four more times and Coers said they
started throwing out ideas. Committee members began offering to do
certain sections. Whenever she offered a suggestion, Coers said they
got the ball and got it done.
To get information for the
beginning of the book, Coers looked at the books from the 100th and
125th anniversaries and copied what was in them. They picked out
important parts and developed them.
One interesting piece of information Coers found was that New
Holland has a “tourist site,” which is a buffalo waller. It is west
of New Holland around county road 2100. Because the buffalo wallowed
around in the mud to get their bath, the ground became very
compressed. Coers said no one has ever been able to farm the land
because when it rains, it holds water.
The book’s cover has an old and a
new photo of downtown New Holland. Coers said the top one appears to
be from the early 1900s and the more recent photo is from December
2024.
Something Coers recalled is that when Oliver Holland first sold
property, it was in the deed that no one was allowed to serve any
liquor. Anyone who owned the deed that was caught serving liquor
would have to forfeit the deed and Holland would get the property
back.
Coers said Holland had gone out to California and hated the saloons
and the way people got drunk and rowdy. Therefore, when Holland came
back and started the town, he said no drinking in the town. To find
out more about the stories Holland’s son tells, Coers said you need
to read the book.
If you look at the newer photo on the book cover, Coers said you
will see a beer sign now. She said things seem to have changed in
New Holland in 150 years.
Chris Hinch worked on the section
of the book that discusses teachers who not only taught in New
Holland but also raised their families and lived there the rest of
their days. She was surprised how many teachers there were who made
New Holland their home.
After listing names they could think of, Hinch said she contacted
families of the teachers who are deceased. She got stories about
their teaching and their personal lives and said it turned out to be
a very nice section.
Barb Streubing helped with this section. Streubing’s 104 year old
mother Mildred Streubing was a fourth grade teacher in town and is
still living.
Nancy Schaub mentioned that Paul Merry, who is listed in the book,
wrote the Lincoln Community High School song, “Lincoln, we are proud
of you” (along with Dave Hanger). Schaub had Merry as a piano
teacher and has an autographed copy of the song.
Another section of the book was
about doctors in New Holland. Marge Medina researched New Holland’s
Spanish Flu epidemic with help from Bill Donath and Gary Dodson. She
said New Holland had three doctors in practice at one point. Donath
helped her find articles about the doctors and cases they dealt
with.
Articles Medina found included one
about someone who got a rattlesnake bite and a child who had his arm
amputated after getting shot while out hunting.
One of the saddest stories Medina
found was that one of the doctors in town died of the Spanish Flu
after the first week of treating people. The doctor who came to
replace him practiced there for thirty years.
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From reading Donath’s book about
the Spanish Flu, Medina said she learned her grandparents had it.
All the people treated for it made the newspaper.
There were two drug stores in New Holland, and they did the best
they could to treat the Spanish Flu. Doctors in Mason City and
Lincoln helped. Medina said they worked well treating people under
hard conditions.
Sharon Davison did the index for
the book contributing the names and the page numbers. Davison likes
history, but did not want to do the writing. She decided she was
willing to work on the index. Coers said Davison went through the
whole book matching names with page numbers. When Coers would proof
it, she looked through the index and if there was a page number
wrong, she and Davison had to decide which one had it wrong.
The original goal Coers had for the
book was 150 pages with one page for every year. By the time they
compiled everything, they had over 217 pages.
Annie Coers did the logo for the
book, which includes a picture of the only working wooden water
tower in Illinois. Kathy Williams helped with the logo.
The book has several articles from former New Holland members and
citizens sharing memories of the town. There are many stories people
have written about their families and growing up in New Holland.
Coers said they are grateful for the articles people submitted.
Some are from organizations and veterans. Roseanne Coers did
research on veterans from New Holland and Sheridan Township. She
looked at volumes one and two of Logan County veterans and Donath’s
book on World War One veterans and spent four days photocopying
every page that mentioned veterans from New Holland and Sheridan
township.
After Coers handed over 45 pages to her daughter in law, Annie Coers
typed the section on veterans. Of the three [New Holland
anniversary] books, this one is the first book to recognize the
veterans from there. With photographs added, this section is 68
pages. Many veterans were happy to share history.
There are several articles on agriculture. Perry Kohl worked on that
section. Coers said there is a photo in the book of Kohl driving a
tractor to the next field when he was only six years old. A car
stopped and said to Kohl, “aren’t you a little young to be doing
that.” Coers said Kohl told the man, “I gotta work” and just drove
on.
Once the committee had finished the book, Coers said they ended up
with 217 pages including articles, family histories and the index.
The book was finished in March and has been proofed and reproofed.
Coers said it went to Lincoln Printers at the end of March.
All the people who worked on the book learned something new as they
wrote the book and Coers said they are all proud of the book. She
said the book was only successful because of the committee, a lot of
prayers and a husband who didn’t yell very loud when she hounded him
about it.
The wooden water tower may soon be replaced. Since the wooden water
tower is the only one in existence in Illinois, Gary Dodson asked if
it could be saved as a landmark or placed somewhere else. Donath
wondered if they should have a committee to save the water tower.
The town board has to decide whether to save the water tower, but
Coers said it is not likely. Keeping it would likely cost a lot.
Progress doesn’t always leave room for old things.
When asked if there were family
histories in the book, Coers said there were many of them. They are
stories the families have written such as one about Harold Harnacke
who had huge animals in his front yard. Nancy Schaub wrote one about
growing up in a small town.
Medina said there are farm stories in there, too. Medina’s family
farm has been in her family for 80 years. Her grandpa started the
Lutheran church in New Holland, and she found out more about it as
they researched.
Curt Fox asked whether New Holland ever had its own newspaper.
There was once a New Holland newspaper that Coers said it was called
the New Holland Journal. Tazwell County digitized many of the
archives, and they can be found online.
When asked where the town got its name, Coers and the other
committee members said people would just have to read the book to
find out.
Pre-orders for the 150th anniversary book are now being taken. The
price for the book is $25 and order forms will be available at the
Tremont First National Bank in New Holland. Books may be picked New
Holland Sesquicentennial on Saturday, June 7.
Next month’s LCGHS meeting will be held Monday, May 19 at 6:30 in
the old Atlanta Museum.
[Angela Reiners] |
