Recently I noticed that a woman was caught petting a buffalo at Yellowstone National Park. I found this interesting because growing up our family had a pet buffalo. My brother and I had named her Buffy and she shared a pen with our deer, goats and other animals. Friends and family would come over and take pictures, but it wasn’t unusual for us to go in the pen to pet and feed her. Thinking back, I want to guess that we got her when I was in my early to mid teens. I have a picture of my mother in the pen feeding the chickens right in front of Buffy, but none of us petting her.
She was a huge animal and the one time she escaped from the pen, it took several men to get her back in. She had been scared through the fence by an owl that had tried to go into our chicken coop (an old converted corn cob silo). The owl had folded it’s wings to fit down through the hole at the top and then couldn’t fly back out. As the owl fought to try to get out, it’s flapping scared the buffalo and it went straight through the fence. – Really meaning the fence was just there as a suggestion that Buffy normally followed.
My parents found nothing unusual about sending my brother or I into the pen to get eggs and feed the animals and we would stop and pet whatever we felt like along the way. To be honest my brother’s horse was probably meaner. Personally I was scared the most of geese. Geese still scare me, and their bite really hurts. Geese will chase you down and attack….
Now having three boys and not living on a farm 100% of the time, I can’t picture telling my boys to go into a pen with a buffalo – even if I thought (or knew) it was tame. We don’t even have a dog of our own. That is through my husband’s choice, not mine – but still the boys all have not been near animals bigger than a chinchilla for any length of time.
I clearly don’t understand someone approaching and petting a wild animal in a national park, but then again thinking back I’m unclear on why it was considered safe for my brother and I to do half the things we did as kids. My mother pointed out that the time that was really something was when my dad and two other guys tried to put Buffy in a trailer to move her.
When my dad bought Buffy, he went with a friend who bought her brother also. Her brother was living a few miles away near a fairgrounds. After I left for college my dad decided it was time for Buffy to mate, so he and friends loaded her up and took her over to be with the other Buffalo….
As I’ve said before, I’m still amazed we survived childhood…
Robbie with Rosy the Goat
Judy and Diane McArdle
My cousin Judy passed away last Friday. The story I remember best about her was one my mother told about Judy going to get her Phi Beta Kappa Key from the University of Illinois. Judy was smart, VERY SMART, but she looked like a sorority girl. The long bright red hair, Hawaiian shirt, and always ready to go out and have fun attitude. Well, Judy got in line to receive her key, and was told by the person in front of her that she must have the wrong line! Why? Because it was an honor society, not a sorority. Judy belonged there probably more that many of the people in line, but her looks, and maybe even the generation (and she was a woman)…. led her to be suspect to being in the wrong line.
Judy went on to get her PhD from University of Illinois in Clinical Psychology and work at Adolf Meyer Health center in Decatur Illinois up until it closed. She originally wanted to work with kids, but the job was with adults, and every time she tried to quit they just kept giving her a raise. (At least that’s the story she told us)….. I remember calling her while I was working on my degree in Psychology at EIU in Illinois and asking about my plans as I questioned my career choices. She talked to me and advised me “Don’t go into Psychology”. I did go on and get my Bachelors, but taking her advice – I became a computer programmer even before I graduated and never used my degree – going on to get a Masters in Business.
The last time I had spoken to her, it was a while back, but she was evaluating workers for mental stability at the nuclear power plant. I always assumed there would be more time to see Judy again. We plan to move home after we retire, giving us time to see everyone then…… but is it really. Judy’s passing was a sad thing, and occurred way before it should have been her time to go. It’s now impossible to turn back the clock and get more time…..
Dr. Judy A. McArdle, of Westville, passed away at 3:17 p.m. Friday, April 8, 2016, at her home.
She was born on Aug. 18, 1944, in Danville, the daughter of Frank and Ruth (Wilson) McArdle, both deceased.
Judy graduated from University of Illinois and received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and worked as a Psychologist. Judy had a passion and love of animals. She was always rescuing strays and a supporter of the local humane society. She had four cats who were family, Gracie, Wolf, Opal, and Tom-tom, and encouraged everyone around her to rescue animals. Not only was Judy a brilliant academic, but a supporter of the arts. Judy loved to draw, listen to music, and was a voracious reader. She was a runner, mushroom hunter, horse-back rider, and had a green thumb that could grow anything. She will be missed by all, especially by friends in Decatur.
Judy will also be dearly missed by her brother, Gary McArdle of Westville; her sisters, Diane Saddler and Brenda Erickson, both of Danville; her nieces and nephews, Dr. Tracy McArdle, Dr. Amber McArdle, Brock McArdle, and Jenna Maxian, whom she was extremely proud of and of their accomplishments and was a huge advocate for education.
Source: Commercial News, Dr. Judy McArdle Obituary 4/11/2016
I remember growing up being so proud that I was 25 percent Italian. Every time I would say it though my father would get upset and point out that I was 100 percent American. Yes I am and was 100 percent American and I am proud of my heritage and history in the US also. My family on many lines has been in the US since before the US was the US. That doesn’t stop me from also being proud of my genetic heritage also and how much my ancestors went through to get to the US. My grandmother’s family left Italy in the early 1900s and came through Ellis Island with my Great Grandfather coming first. My Great Grandmother came over by herself with three very little kids, afraid that she would be turned back if anything went wrong – including a runny nose! I feel I have to acknowledge ALL the strong amazing people in my history, not just the relatives that were born in the US. In some cases the ancestors that fought to gain citizenship and then lived through being treated like second class citizens because of coming over to the US later than others have more to be admired for. They have amazing stories that should be told also.
My great grandfather came to the US to make a place for my great grandmother and settled in Clinton IN (they later moved to Belgiumtown in Illinois). He took a job in the coal mines – which is not easy work, and made a home for the rest of his family to come over and settle at. He passed away when my grandmother was just a couple years old of the flu of 1918, leaving my great grandmother a widow with 10 kids and no means of support. My great grandmother went on to raise a garden – they ate what they could raise, clean houses for some of the widowers, and her sons that were still unmarried and were old enough to go to work in the mines took jobs. At the time though, the oldest children were less than 18 years old….
My grandmother ended up being the only child to go on to high school and as the youngest all her siblings contributed some money for her to get to attend. She finished high school and became a kindergarten teacher. Grandma borrowed books and did what she could to get through school….
Each time I see the recent news against different immigrants coming into the US, I can’t help but be reminded of how my great grandparents were treated – especially during the World Wars when Italy was at odds with the US. My ancestors had sworn allegiance to the US, but were still viewed as suspect. I feel the times weren’t as dangerous then as they are now with the current acts of terrorism, but treating any American that has a certain genetic makeup as if they are not 100% American is not following the ideals this country was founded on.
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
This country was founded to be a great American melting pot. Everyone in the US (other than the Native American’s) is descended from an Immigrant. They may have come before the country was founded but they still came over from another country. It amazes me that being here first seems to give some people the feeling that they are able to choose how to treat other groups.
All in all though I do still feel proud of my genetic background, but I’m also proud that I am 100% American also. Being American will not stop me from following the traditions and researching more about the groups that I descended from.
Growing up, our first ‘house’ was really a trailer in my Aunt’s yard. When I reached second grade my parents bought a historic home that had history that included my family. The Abraham Illk house. It was currently owned by Ralph Goodrich. At the time my parents bought it with most of the contents included.
The house had over time been added to and changed. The original house was made from bricks made in the nearby woods, and hadn’t included electricity or even a regular kitchen.
The house by the time we owned it, had electricity added, plumbing for the kitchen and one bathroom was stuck onto the side of the house. The window in the picture is where the door to the lean to was. My parents added a bathroom upstairs and a half bath downstairs, then took the lean to of the house and replaced all the windows.
Over time they also added an attached garage to the house and redid most of the inside. My brother now has taken over the house and has been working on it room by room.
The history of the house starts with the house being built by Abraham Illk. It’s in the Lakeshore School District in Oakwood Illinois. Abraham lived from 1835 to 1916 and was from Germany – married to Catherine Ford. As far as my family, Abraham and Catherine’s daughter Frannie married my grandfather’s twin brother, Lesley. I’ve mentioned the house and Catherine’s history before.
Growing up I’ll always remember though how strong the house seemed. Inside the house nothing could be heard from outside. My father would say that the house has been standing for 100 years and will be standing for 100 years more. Ralph Goodrich was related to the family also through the daughter Catherine who married a Goodrich.
Tried to e-mail you, Jeff but didn’t go through. – just happened to find your post on Uncle Samuel Illk – don’t know much about him, but do have some records that I got from Ralph Goodrich – whose mother was Catherine Illk, daughter of Abraham Illk of Vermillion County, Illinois. She married George Goodrich, and lived s.west of Oakwood on the Illk farms. My mother, Ethel Illk Oakwood was the daughter of Frederick Illk and Mary Watson Illk – my grandfather Fred was a brother to Abraham, the first Illk brother to come to America. So Aunt Kate, as my mother called her was a first cousin to my grandfather; and Ralph and my mom and uncle, Glenn Illk were second cousins. We were very close to Uncle Ralph as we called him. …. –from ancestry boards
The house was not huge, but to me as a child it looked huge! Now going back, I’m surprised at how much smaller it was than I though it was. The house originally had four bedrooms upstairs that, three that we used and one that my dad turned into a hodge podge of rooms that included a full bathroom, a closet, a gun shell loading room, and a hallway. The area included a window that looked out over one of my parents fields. The house wasn’t built with closets originally – when the house was built houses were taxed based on the number of rooms and closets counted as rooms, so my parents paneled every bedroom adding a closet at one end and drop ceilings to lower the ceilings to a more normal height.
My brother and I had a great time with the drop ceilings using them to play hide and seek. The main rule was that you had to stay on the cross beams holding up the tiles. One wrong step and you would be in the room below. There were at least a couple tiles stapled up to fix missteps. We would climb up the shelves in our closets and disappear. The top of my brother’s closet was huge and became a hang out for a while. There are probably still little odds and ends up on the ceilings in some of the rooms.
To add conventional heat my parents used the vent work that was in the house as much as possible. The old house had some vents in place for coal in the basement in order to circulate air, but they were few and far between. My parents put in vents up the side of rooms in the downstairs under the paneling going up to the upstairs and added heat. Later they included an air conditioner when they found my hay fever was too much for them to bare living with. After a few years they added an option for a wood burning furnace. – We split our own wood and added a wood burning stove to the kitchen also.
The house was always in a state of flux. To finish off the upstairs, my parents wanted a better way to reach the attic. The original house had a little square in the ceiling with a metal ladder that was in the hallway at the top of the stairs. I never saw in the attic myself. My dad though came up with the idea to build a set of stairs up to the attic out of their bedroom closet. – My parents had the one room upstairs that was built with a closet originally. So my dad removed one side of the closet and put in plywood over the stairs at a slant. I think each project started during the winter and came to an end at harvest season. This was one that never started up again. So the plywood slant over the stairs became a place to store clothes and things for my parents.
Downstairs, my parents, added a wood burning stove in the kitchen, redid the kitchen, and I remember them frequently moving where the doorway was for the living room. It reminds me a little of the Winchester House when I think of my childhood and my parents never finishing our house. My brother now is redoing the house. He is doing a beautiful job and hopefully will finish in his lifetime.
On the wood burning stove I remember my mother making deer jersey and even maple syrup from the trees in our yard. We even had a few instances of my mother raising chickens in our kitchen. I’ll also never forget the day my mother caught the house on fire with dry wood in the fireplace. My mother was burning wood that was really dry and the fire got extremely hot. The supports under the bricks in front of the fireplace caught on fire and the fire department was called. My dad had already gotten the fire out, but all the firemen had to trek through the house and check.
There is also the day that my mother got a new dryer. My dad let my brother and I disassemble the old one… and play with all the parts. When the new one arrived, the turn to the basement was 2 inches to small. The delivery person said he couldn’t get it down the stair without the 2 inches…. So my mother got a hammer. I think the delivery person about panicked, when my mother said are you sure you just need 2 inches? and then proceeded to make 2 inches more out of the wall (with the hammer!).
The basement was another great place to play in the house. I think my brother now uses it for haunted houses but for us kids it was pretty cool. There were three rooms, one that contained the hot water heater – we just never seemed to enter, one that we played school in with some old school desks mom found (and we kept our hamsters there for a while), and the laundry room which included a furnace that took up half the room. The stairs were old rickety wooden stairs that seemed fine as a child, but looking back…. My mother stored old lunchboxes and things under the stairs. To the right of the bottom of the stairs was an open door that went to dirt steps going up to the floor of the kitchen.
I remember my cat having kittens under the kitchen and having to climb up every so often to check on them. The steps originally went out of the house and out to the old summer kitchen which was long gone by the time we got there. There were a few other places that the foundation was open to the dirt. With a shovel, I don’t think you could ever get completely trapped in the basement – which probably explains the mice that were always getting in the house throughout my childhood.
As I search for information about why my ancestor Corbley lost his farm, I find information on a lawsuit filed by a person named Wilson against Corbley for slander. The case went on to be used as a foundation of law as it was reversed by the supreme court at one point. The law review book shown here describes the case as being originally lost by Corbley when Wilson presented a court case of the act Corbley had ‘accused’ him of and that the end result of the criminal case was not guilty.
When the case was appealed at the supreme court it was decided that the result of the criminal case had no baring on the slander case, so the original finding was reversed.
Each time the case was decided or reversed the case at the time made the paper being big news at the time. I haven’t found so far where to find the specifics of the trial case – what was Corbley accused of saying about Wilson? I do know that Edward Corbley’s brother Lindsey was a lawyer and would have been surprised if he had not taken on a case involving his brother. From what I know now, the plaintiff in a case normal doesn’t have to pay out until all appeals are resolved… So I would think from all of this that Corbley never had to pay out to Wilson. Lawyer fees would have been another matter.
None of the articles I’ve found so far include Wilson’s full name or the crime he was originally accused of. I’m not completely positive of the year also….
The Supreme Court case was decided in 1878 (10/7) and in the paper is listed as Edward Corbley vs. Benj. Wilson. So I am guessing Wilson’s name was Benjamin. Muncie had been platted in 1875 and Corbley’s farm was sold for bankruptcy in 1881 (Sept). Corbley was next found in Missouri in 1884. His residence was listed in Missouri at the time he passed away in Illinois in 1891. Interestingly enough his wife passed away in 1885 in Kankakee Illinois. My great grandmother (their daughter) had married just a few years before (1882), so it may have been that Mary Ann Littler Corbley stayed, not wanting to leave her daughter and new grandchildren. She may also have been in ill health. Kankakee was the location of a hospital at the time. Maybe even the selling of the farm caused health issues?
