Hiram E. Leonard Diary, August 28 – September 3, 1867

“28^th Wednesday  rather a fine day  I did my choars was at the office all day & in the eve came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 9 ½ nearly sick C Owen here & lodged.

“29^th Thursday  A fine day & evening  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ and went to bed at 9 ½ nearly sick [in margin] Owen thrashed at Rickards.

“30^th Friday  A fine day  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 9 ½ nearly sick.

“31^st Saturday  rained pretty steddy all the forenoon  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 9 ½ nearly sick.

“September 1^st Sunday  rather a fine cool day  I did my choars went to the office & back choared round the house the most of the day & went to bed about 9 tiard & about sick  George went to see Tom to Mrs Smith, and H Gould came here about 10 & went to away between 3 & 4.

“2^nd Monday  rather fine weather  I did my choars was at the office all day came home about 8 ½ went to bed about 9 ½ tiard & nearly sick.

“3^rd Tuesday  fine dry fall weather  I did my choars was at the office all day & evening came home about 8 ½ & went to bed about 9 ½ lonely tiard & nearly sick with a cold etc.”

Fashion Friday featuring the Well-Dressed Women of Warrenville, Celebrating 50 Edition Part 2

It’s Fashion Friday again at the Historical Society! Enjoy these Well-Dressed Women of Warrenville from local artist Mildred Baldwin’s popular column from the Warrenville Digests.

These women were featured during 1967, the year that Warrenville incorporated as a city. Our feature includes the wife of newly elected Mayor Bill Stafford! This month we have also left the full page of the Digest by request, as we know many of you love reading through those!

If you’d like to learn more about Mildred Baldwin, the local artist whose column featured many women of Warrenville, see our earlier blog post here https://warrenvillehistorical.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/womens-history-month-mildred-baldwin/. You can also join us on the evening of Sunday, October 15th for our Annual Cemetery Walk which will feature some Well-Dressed Women of Warrenville!

Hiram E. Leonard Diary, August 21 – 27, 1867

“21^st Wednesday  fine weather for the season, I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 10 nearly sick with a cold etc.

“22^nd Thursday  rather fine weather  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ and went to bed at about 10 nearly worne out with trouble, Wallace Jones & a Miss Taylor were married at her fathers below Naperville & Hobsons Mills.

“23^rd Friday  fine dry weather  I did my choars was at the office all day came home about 8 ½ & went to bed at 10 nearly sick with a cold W Jones & lady went to DuPage.

“24^th Saturday  A fine day & warm  I did my choars was at the office all day & evening came home at 8 ½ and went to bed at 10 nearly sick with a cold etc.

“25^th Sunday  A fine pleasant warm day  I did my choars was at the office after breckfust came back & choared round the house & fixed my eve spouts etc went to bed at about 9, about sick, William M Butler & children came here about 10  I put his horse out & he went with the children to Bliss & to meeting came back about 1 & then went to Bliss & Carpenter went with him & children to the burying ground, he came back & eat supper between 3 & 4 and started for Danby about 4 ½ Cal & Rol came here at night.

“26^th Monday  A fine day  I did my choars was at the office all day & evening came home about 8 ½ & went to bed about 10 sick  Rol Cal, Mrs Stone & George went to Naperville & got back about 4 they called at Mr Goulds  George got his photograph taken.

“27^th Tuesday  it rained a part of the day I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed about 9 ½ nearly sick.”

Hiram E. Leonard Diary, August 14 – 20, 1867

“14^th Wednesday  A fine warm day & night  I did my choars was at the office all day & evening came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 10 tiard & nearly sick Charles Leonard started to go to Bloomington about 4 P M in the stage [in margin] Charles Leonard started to Chicago.

“15^th Thursday  rather fine dry weather for the season  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 10 nearly sick.

“16^th Friday  rather fine dry weather  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 9 ½ & went to bed at 10 nearly sick  Elder Hunts wife had a son tonight.

“17^th Saturday  A fine hot day & dry  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 10 nearly sick Elder Hunts wife had a son this night.

“18^th Sunday  A fine pleasant warm day  I did my choars & went to the office & back was round the house all day a choaring etc went to the office with Frank Hollis about noon, I went to bed about 9 nearly sick  Jude Garys wife her third son this morning in a little over 2 years.

“19^th Monday  fine weather & dry  I did my choars was at the office all day & evening came home about 8 ½ & went to bed about 10, tiard & nearly sick, Rol, Cal, Mrs Stone went to Naperville.

“20^th Tuesday  fine warm dry weather  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 10 tiard & nearly sick with a cold & trouble.”

Hiram E. Leonard Diary, August 7 – 13, 1867

“7^th Wednesday  fine weather & hot  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 10 nearly sick & worne out.

“8^th Thursday  A fine pleasant hot day  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed about 10 nearly sick & worne out with trouble  Resseguie stack the first part of my oats, Charles R Leonard got here from New Lebanon at noon.

“9^th Friday  a fine forenoon but several showers in the afternoon  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 10 nearly sick.

“10^th Saturday  A pretty fine day  I did my choars was at the office all day came home at 8 ½ & went to bed at 10 nearly sick  Charles went to Naperville in forenoon & to Carpenters in the afternoon with Mrs Bliss & got back in the evening [in margin] R B Pollard got home tonight.

“11^th Sunday  A fine cool pleasant day with some clouds  I did my choars went to office with Charles & back choared round the house some & laid down in the middle of day & went to bed about 9 tiard & nearly sick  Dr Charles Estes & wife & daughter were here after supper & stayed a short time with Mrs Bliss, they with Carpenters folks were at Bliss to tea  Charles went & stayed to Carpenters over night.

“12^th Monday  rather a fine day with a shower in afternoon or several showers  I was at the office all day came home about 8 ½ & went to bed about 10 nearly sick, Charles Leonard went to Aurora with Mrs Bliss & got home after dark  they went to P. Carpenters & took supper.

“13^th Tuesday  A cloudy muddy morning but more pleasant in afternoon I did my choars was at the office in the morning & got ready & started for Batavia with my sister about 10 oclock  got there at noon & got back at 3 P.M. was at the store the rest of the day & evening came home at 8 ½ & went to bed about 10 nearly sick & worne out with trouble [in margin] I took Sister to the Insane hospital at Batavia.”

A Mayor is Elected! #Celebrating50

As the City of Warrenville and the Historical Society continue to celebrate the City’s 50th Anniversary, we highlight the election of our first Mayor!

After Warrenville residents voted to incorporate on May 20, 1967, it was time to select a government. On August 3, 1967, the Warrenville Digest reported that Warrenville had elected a Mayor! Out of the three candidates, Bill Stafford was the choice!

The Mayor was sworn in and got to work right away. It would be another month before the City Clerk, Treasurer and Aldermen would be elected and the first Council meeting held.

It was an exciting time to watch the new city take shape!

On Sunday, September 17th at 1:30 p.m., the City will continue the celebration by opening a time capsule at the Albright Park Gazebo during Art on the Prairie. Join us that day to see the items that were placed in the capsule 30 years ago when the Gazebo was built.

You can also help us decide what should go into the 2017 time capsule. This 2017 capsule will be opened in 2067 when Warrenville celebrates its 100th! If you have ideas of what should be included to represent our lives in 2017, email us at info@warrenvillehistorical.org.