If you grew up in the Chicago area, you may remember these WGN classics:
Suzy Snowflake:
Hardrock, Coco and Joe:
Frosty The Snowman:
Merry Christmas from The McHenry Area Historical Society!
Friday, December 24, 2021
Monday, December 20, 2021
Memories Of Winter And Christmas In McHenry
If you missed the program last week, hosted by The McHenry Landmark Commission, you can now enjoy watching the video and listing to the stories growing up in McHenry here:
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Memories Of Christmas And Winter In McHenry
Date: Saturday, December 11, 2021
10 A.M. - 11 A.M.
Place: Hidden Pearl Coffee
1250 N. Green Street in McHenry
Hosted by the City Of McHenry Landmark Commission
Come and share your stories of Winter and Christmas in McHenry
Petersen Farm artwork by McHenry High School students will be onb display as well as photos of past McHenry Winters.
Sunday, October 17, 2021
The Martin Boyle Farm House
Tucked away in what is now the Lakeland Park subdivision, lies the old homestead of Martin Boyle.
Born in Kilkenny, Ireland in 1815, Martin came to McHenry in 1849 and worked for several local farmers.
In 1855, he was married to Margaret Davis and purchased 110 acres of farmland slightly southwest of McCullom Lake.
The 1862 McHenry County Plat map shows the location of his home:
The 1872 McHenry County Atlas shows that he added a few more acres and again, you can see the location of the farm house:
When Martin passed away in 1899, his son John took over the farm and lived there until his death in 1931. John Boyle was the McHenry Township Road Commissioner for 30 years.
According to Realtor.com, the home now sitting on the exact location of the Martin Boyle house, was built in 1900. I believe this is a vague estimate. The McHenry Plaindealer yielded no record of the original farm house ever being replaced.
Since John Boyle was born in 1861 on the homestead of his parents, I believe the house, perhaps with some additions, is the original house built prior to John's birth.
There are no historic photos of the house in our collection. Perhaps a reader has more information. If so, please drop us an email.
This is a current photo of the house. (Please respect the privacy of the owners.)
Click on any image to see a larger version.
Further reading:
Sunday, October 3, 2021
Murder Near The Clemens School
The Clemens school house, built prior to 1872 on what was once part of the Chester Clemens farm, was located on the northwest corner of Crystal Lake Road and Bull Valley Road in what is actually Nunda Township.
In 1872, the property where the school was located belonged to Amos Whiting. The Clemens farm was located on the east side of Crystal Lake Road as seen on the map below.
A tragic event occurred on 20 October, 1927 at the Clemens Farm.
Occupied by the Christopher Schumacher family, the first murder in McHenry in 20 years, took place at this location.
While milking his cows on the evening of 20 October, a shot rang out, hitting Christopher Schumacher in the head and killing him on the spot. Two of his young children were in the barn with him at the time.
For 36 hours, it was not known who fired the shot that killed the 54 year old farmer until his oldest son, William Louis Frederick Schumacher made a full confession.
According to articles in The McHenry Plaindealer, William had been planning this for 7 years.
In November of 1927, William plead guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 1 - 14 years in Joliet prison.
After serving 2 years and 39 days of his sentence, William was released from Joliet and restarted his life as a farmer. In 1936, he married Eleanore Mirecki. They lived in the Barrington Illinois area and had 3 children.
William passed away on 22 April, 1951 in Wauconda, Illinois.
So what was William's motive for the murder of his father? Further reading will answer that question.
Further Reading:
The McHenry Plaindealer 27 October, 1927 Page 1
The McHenry Plaindealer 27 October, 1927 Page 5
The McHenry Plaindealer 27 October, 1927 Page 8
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
The McHenry Brewery
Built in 1868 by George Gribbler, according to the 1885 McHenry County History book, The McHenry Brewery still stands today on it's original location.
 |
| 1901 |
In the early years, it was run by several different people including Ed Owen, Mr. King and Schreiner & Benfield. In 1880 the proprieter was Gottlieb F. Boley who purchased the property for $1,400.00.
Mr. Boley was constantly adding improvements to the brewery and in addition to that, he owned a large malt-house where he manufactured his own malt for beer making.
Just before his death in September of 1900, remodeled the brewery adding a 2 story wooden building at the cost of $5,000.00.
From the 1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map you can see where the Brewery structures were located:
Upon the death of Mr. Boley, the brewery was taken over by Grott and Damgard. They ran it for five years. In 1906 the brewery was taken over by Mr. Boley's children and operated it under the brand name "Buffalo Beer".
1919 brought in prohibition and the Brewery Corner became the Brewery Service Station.
During the prohibition, the brewery was producing Root Beer along with making beer in a hidden location in the basement. It was piped under Pearl Street to a Speak-easy. Michael Worts who was married to Mr. Boley's daughter Katherine, served 2 sentences for selling beer.
When prohibition was appealed in 1933, the brewery was sold to William Kline. Remodeled again, the brewery continued to operate until 6 months after the Pearl Harbor attack.
From 1942 until 2009, the building housed several restaurants and pubs.
After several fires, only the basement and back third of the original building survived. According to the McHenry Brewing Company website, the front portion of the building was rebuilt on the original foundation.
In 2012, the Brewery Corner was purchased by Curt Ames and 2013, the brewery is operating again on it's original historic site.
Further reading:
Gottlieb F. Boley biography at Find A Grave
The McHenry Plaindealer 20 July, 1933 - History Of The McHenry Brewery
Friday, September 10, 2021
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