My Week

What an exciting week that included my mini-vacation.  I had doggie withdrawal and was glad to see Sophie when I got home.

Before leaving, I brought food to John and Lana.  She recently got out of the hospital for heart surgery and had an unpleasant stay.  They have done so much for our American Legion Post that it's only right.   I also dropped a get well card off at church for Fr Dennis who suffered a stroke.  While there, I also dropped off some cans and Doritos for the food pantry.
My car's tire light came on so I checked my tires and pumped up the air compressor.  It seems to be mostly on the one tire that didn't have a tube cap on it.
I learned Fr Dennis would not be back.  It wasn't a stroke but complications of meningitis and mini-strokes.  His family was called.  Apparently he collapsed during a wedding rehearsal.  The bride was a nurse and called 911.
I dropped my car off while on my trip for the bumper repair and I picked up a loaner car.

Thursday through Sunday I went on an educational trip through Lincoln Land Community College:
http://www.llcc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Civil-War-flier-and-Itinerary.pdf
My pictures are on Facebook but the album is set to friends only.

Our bus arrived in Moline and we had a quick lunch at McDonalds and had a tour of Rock Island Arsenal, home of the 1st Army. We met up with a local guide and Vietnam veteran named Alan Larson.  We learned that there is a difference between an armory and an arsenal.  Rock Island was established in 1862 as part of the 1860's Land grand college act.  It is bigger than I realized, 945 acres, and a National Historic Landmark.  http://www.rockislandpreservation.org/postcards-from-home/clock-tower-gatehouse-arsenal-island/
The golf course is the site of a prison for Civil War Confederate prisoners that equaled the size of Anderson prison.  1,964  died of diphtheria, diarrhea, etc and there were no doctors as the camp was not equipped for the influx of prisoners.  Davenport was named after Col George Davenport in 1833 was a sutler.  Rock Island has four quarters of which Quarters One is fancy and the fence is made from melted Confederate cannons. We were pointed out the Antoine LeClaire House across the river.  We toured the Rock Island National Cemetery and the Confederate cemetery.    Chris Lieneke was our dinner speaker in the hotel.  Everyone was curious about a section of the cemetery with five lone stones and Chris got back with us the following day to say that they were place markers for the center location rows in a new section.

Friday morning we had breakfast in our hotel and then checked out.
We toured the Moline Historical Society and had a little presentation by on the Sanitary Commission.  Kathleen Seusy told us about the women making over 400 havelocks for prisoners at the island.  I think this is something we may be able to incorporate into our SAS presentations.

 Since I am a member of the Soldiers Aid Society, I was really interested in the United States Sanitary Commission.  They wanted President Lincoln's approval and they got it though privately.  They talked with the "ordinary soldier" and made hospital ships out of captured confederate boats. They provided special relief by transitional soldiers homes and formed a network of needs and needs that were fulfilled writing to newspapers to let everyone know what they received for encouragement.  She passed around a pickled potato jar.  At sanitary fairs, there were grab bags sold and one had a gold ring.  The man winning the ring donated it back to raise more money for the cause.

We toured the Butterworth Center & Deere-Wiman House which were on adjacent corners to the historical society.  There was a cucumber magnolia and a horse chestnut on the grounds.  One of the ladies saw a fox but it was gone before I looked.  We were not allowed flash photography and lighting was wrong but I had to stand by the tub to get a picture of this wicker toilet.

The house had an early form of power jets in the shower too. I found a video about the house here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwy63dGGQt0

We arrived in Galena which is Latin for "lead" because there was a big mining industry there.  Galena has been referred to as an "Outdoor Museum".  The rooms were named after famous people like Abraham Lincoln.  My roommate, Barb, and I got a room named Robert E Lee. The DeSoto Hotel (see link for video) has an original front desk and original staircase that even Abraham Lincoln walked on.  It's been a long time since I stayed in a hotel with a real metal key.

Friday night I went on a "History Mystery Tour" of Galina by librarian, Steve.  This was just a video of one of his stops (with permission) before it got too dark. 

Just one stop on the History Mystery Tour on 5/15/2015 All About a Ghost Tour - Galena
Posted by Rose Connolly on Monday, May 18, 2015

All About a Ghost Tour - Galena

Did you know that in 1909 that Galena was visited by the World Champion Chicago Cubs?

Saturday we had a nice breakfast in our hotel.  I had cinnamon strawberry french toast with cream cheese.  It was so good and not quite as rich as all that IHop stuff.  We then visited the Grant home historic sight.  90% of the home is original.  I didn't realize that the cigars led to Grant's death of cancer and he had a low tolerance to alcohol. I remember the painting of Sheridan's Ride.  Then we had lunch in Grant Park under the pavilion.  After lunch we toured Greenwood cemetery where 5 local CW generals were buried.  I placed a penny on each of their graves.  Those with our group were unfamiliar with the tradition of leaving a coin on a grave.  The did understand the Jews leaving a rock on a grave like in the movie Schindlers List.  I just visited the VFW bar in Galena, IL. What better way to get a glass of wine on a trip than on Armed Forces Day.

I toured the Dowling House which is the oldest house in Galena and no photos were allowed inside. 

Much of the house had the same trinkets and bowels inside as most others but I did learn something new.  The guide pointed out the cross doors that we still use today.  You are reminded as you leave your room the cross pattern and an open Bible.  I never though about the pattern.  The guide showed us a photo of the Nicholas Dowling monument. It was tall because the custom was for the widow to visit daily but she was an invalid and couldn't visit the cemetery so the monument was made tall enough that she could see it from her house. I picked up two souvenirs in Galena: a black shawl at an antique shop and a boot roach from the blacksmith shop.

I went to Saturday evening Mass at St Michael with a few other ladies on our tour.  We saw our tour guide, Steve there as well.  After Mass we went to see the hillside terrace landscape that we were told about in the dark during our "History Mystery Tour".  I pointed out a deer on the hill and before I could grab my camera, I only got the escape.  So I walked over to the Veterans memorial and took a few pictures there.  I came back to our hotel and took a picture of where the lady in black was said to descend the stairway and go into a wall which later, after renovations, revealed she entered the wall into an old door/passageway.

On the way home we toured the Utica Museum and LaSalle. On the way to Ottawa, our local guides boarded the bus and had the driver go past St Mary's Catholic Church.   On Holy Thursday, April 11, 1675, Francis Jacques Marquette offered the first parochial Mass in the Illinois Country at Utica in the presence of 5,000 Native Americans who were impressed.  On the way past Starved Rock, our guide pointed out a Civil War Camp that once was the training camp for the 11th Illinois, the 104th , 53d Illinois and the 4th IL Cavalry Camp.  Last unit there was the 138th Hellraisers known for the fact that the camp burned down the night that they left.  The cemetery that we went by had two Medal of Honor recipients buried there:  Lt. Col. Douglas Hapeman and Sgt. George Marsh, both of the 104th Illinois Infantry.   I loved the many murals on the buildings in Ottawa.  The town has great pride.  We saw the square where the first Lincoln-Douglas debate took place. 

We were very fortunate with the weather we had because the predictions were bad.  Most of the rain was at night and Saturday was overcast in the morning like it wanted to rain on our trip.