Haunted Volo

Prior to 1839, McHenry County Illinois included the area that is today, Lake County.  It was formed by an act of the Legislature approved on 16 January, 1836.  The territory was taken from the northern portion of Cook County.

By another act of the Legislature on 1 March, 1839, McHenry County was divided and Lake County was formed.  It was determined that the line between McHenry and Lake Counties would be 3 miles east of the Fox River.  This would put the county line slightly east of Lily Lake.

Named for the junction of the Chicago, Lake Geneva, Waukegan and Woodstock Stagecoach trails, what we now know as Volo, Illinois in Lake County was once called the Village of Forksville.   Forksville never prospered due to the railroads having bypassed the area.  In 1868, the name was changed to Volo.

One of the earliest families to settle in the little village was the Gale Family.   Gardner Gale moved his family from Vermont to Forksville/Volo in 1853.  He was married twice and had 3 children with his first wife and 6 children with his second wife.  In 1854, he owned 338 acres of land. 

 

From the 1861 Lake County Illinois Plat Map

According to the Grams family, current owners of the property, the land was a dairy farm developed back in 1848.  

The farmhouse was completed in 1853 and still stands today.  It has been in the Grams family since 1960.

Today, we know the property as the Volo Antique Malls and Antique Auto Museum.

Brian Grams grew up in the farmhouse and has shared many tales of unusual, "not of this world" activity. 

One story shared by Brian, occurred prior to his birth.  Brian's father had noticed smoke coming up from the floor boards in the upstairs of the house.   His father tore up the floor boards and found smoldering wires.  Next to the wires was an old backpack.  

The backpack was put aside and forgotten about until Brian's mom started doing some research.  She found that the Gale family had a son named Wallace Henry Gale.  He was 10 years old when the historic barn was built. 

He became a teacher and taught at the Volo schoolhouse near the family property.  At age 18, he went to fight for the Union in the Civil War.  Two years later, he died from Typhoid Fever in Nashville, Tennessee at Fort Donelson. 

 

The backpack found under the floor boards of the house contained items typical of those carried by a Civil War soldier.  Was Wallace trying to tell the Grams family that his backpack was under the floor?  It seems to be the case.

Customers and employees of the Antique Malls also report some strange, ghostly activity.  One that I have personally experienced while shopping upstairs in Mall 1 was the intense smell of pipe tobacco.  Other's have reported it as being cigar smoke but when I was there, it smelled like pipe tobacco.  My dad used to smoke a pipe and my high school music teacher smoked a pipe.  There is a distinct difference.

Photos taken in the mall show orbs, blurs and images of a man in a civil war uniform.  Customers have reported seeing items in the mall suspended in thin air.  

Just last week, security cameras caught the top of a heavy glass candy dish roll from a table and onto the floor.  You can see that video on the Volo Antique Mall Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/volo4antiquemalls/videos/3449133788646997/

Several years ago, The Discovery Channel sent out their Ghost Lab team to Volo.  The episode is called "Shadow Man".

 

Be sure to watch both videos.

So where is Wallace Henry Gale buried?  There seems to be a little bit of controversy here.  

Find A Grave has a listing for a PVT Henry Wallace Gale buried in Nashville National Cemetery.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3187973/henry-wallace-gale

The historic Volo Cemetery in Wauconda Township, located just west of the Volo Antique Mall also has an internment listed for H. W. Gale along with his family members.  

A second listing at Find A Grave for PVT Gale which shows him buried in the Volo Cemetery.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7793841/henry-wallace-gale

We may never know if his body was moved from Tennessee to Volo but it's rather nice that he is recognized and remembered in 2 locations.

In the meantime, his spirit seems to remain on his family property.  Is he the only ghost there?  Who knows.  He doesn't seem to bother anyone except for occasionally and unintentionally startling a customer or an employee.  

Do you live in an older home or work in a historic building in the McHenry Illinois Area?  We are looking for your stories!!!  And we gladly assist you with research!!  

Please email your stories to the McHenry Area Historical Society.

Resources:

History Of McHenry County 1885 (book)

Village Of Volo History

Volo Historical Society 

Historic Volo Cemetary 

Encyclopedia Of Chicago 

History Of Volo Article by Brian Grams 

Volo Antique Malls 

Volo History And More 

Volo Antique Malls Facebook Page

  

 

Dating An Old Photograph

 

Dating an old photo.

Last week on the McHenry Area Historical Society Facebook page, I posted this old photo of Green Street looking north towards Elm Street. Due to being short on time, I dated it to being pre-1922.

 

Taking a little more time this morning, I was able to date this photo to 1911 or earlier.

So how did I date this old photo of Green Street? Look closely at it. In the left-hand corner, there is a building. Not much of it shows but judging by the building on the right-hand side, we know the building on the left sits where Green Street Cafe is today.

Knowing the early history of McHenry, that building in the photo is the old Owen Bros. Mill built in 1851. To the north of it, stood the Owen Bros. Implement Store.

 

 

Working with the McHenry Plaindealer and the old Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for McHenry which cover the years 1893, 1898, 1912, 1922, and 1933, I found that the Mill still stood in 1898 but by 1912, only the Implement building was there. By the 1922 map, the McHenry Ice Cream Company was located on that site.

I found an article in the Plaindealer showing that the Implement building was razed in 1915.

So when was the Mill razed? There were no front page articles discussing it. No photos of it being torn down.

In this case, perseverance paid off. I just kept digging until I found a small ad placed in the Plaindealer and dated 6 July, 1911 by Wm. Bonslett. He had purchased the old run down mill and was selling off the lumber from it before razing it completely.

 

 

Not all photos are this easy to date. You have to look for the details in the photo and know where to find the information that you need to date it.

Thank goodness we live in a time where we have access to great tools like the old McHenry Plaindealer available at Newspapers.com and the old Sanborn Fire Ins. Maps.

Here at the MAHS, we have put together a booklet containing all 5 years of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of McHenry, Illinois. If you would like to purchase a copy for your own research, you can find it here:

https://www.magcloud.com/user/mahs