Very interesting article. I hope to visit this home when I'm next in area. Jim Meissen in Stillman Valley, where my ancestry lies, is a one-man historical society for that town and has been very helpful to me on several occasions. His wealth of knowledge might also be beneficial to the County H.S. or to anyone re-discovering their roots in that area. Barbara in Nevada ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, December 01, 2003 6:05 AM Subject: [ILOGLE] Ogle Co. Historical Society > >From the December 1, 2003, Rockford Register Star: > > New facility welcome addition for Ogle’s historical society > The expansion behind the Nash Home will be completed next year. > By MELISSA WESTPHAL‚ Rockford Register Star > >> Click here for more about Melissa > > > OREGON — Barbara Barnes shakes her head while thumbing through yellowed > papers stuffed inside a wicker suitcase in the Nash home’s musty basement. > Proof, she says, that the historic house and museum has outgrown its > 125-year-old space. Leather-bound law books line the floors, and only a small open > path runs between shelves and tables. > The pile of brick behind the house is a welcome site for Barnes, 74, and Vada > Wood, 89. By next year, they can look out the back window and see a new > 2,100-square-foot carriage house poised to display the Ogle County Historical > Society’s expanding collection of antiques. > Both women collectively nod when they think of how long it took to get this > far. > “At times, we almost threw up our hands and quit,” Wood said. “We’re so > full in here that we can’t even hang another picture on the wall.” > A trip back in time > Barnes and Wood have spent a combined 20 years in the historical group, which > formed in 1954. Members approved construction on the new space in August, and > the Oregon City Council finally approved zoning changes in October. > A garage used to cover the empty space behind the Nash home, 111 N. Sixth > St., just a few blocks from downtown Oregon. The Nash Home and Museum opened in > 1964 and quickly filled with donated heirlooms from local families. > Items often were sent directly to the garage for storage. > “We could barely get in the garage a few months ago,” Barnes said. “It was > full.” > Chester Nash and his family moved into the home in 1878. Nash invented the > cultivator, a farming tool, and was a contemporary of John Deere. > Though Nash worked mostly in the fields, he also enjoyed music, putting his > hands to use making violins. A carved wooden violin sits atop a piano played at > Illinois Gov. Thomas Ford’s 1842 inauguration in the museum’s front room. > Nash’s daughter, Ruby, lived in the house after her parents died. She worked > as a local schoolteacher for 50 years until her death at age 86 in 1960. > A portrait of Ruby Nash, created by a former student in 1935, hangs at the > foot of the stairs near the museum’s entrance. The oil painting portrays Nash > with her hair pinned back wearing a blue dress and pearls around her neck. > Upstairs, four rooms transport visitors back to the 1800s. Ruby Nash’s Oregon > High School diploma hangs on one bedroom wall and the creaky wooden floors > support rod-iron beds and chipped-face porcelain dolls with blond ringlets. > Though the museum has limited hours, it caters to schools groups, researchers > and Ogle County residents. > “Kids will see the tiny chairs or the little cradles and beds and say, ‘ > These would fit me!’ ” Barnes says with a smile. “Anyone can call and ask about > the house. We don’t mind coming down here and opening for people.” > A roomier future > Ruby Nash left her family home to the historical society after her death. > After a few fund-raisers and donations, the group was able to care for the home > and turn it into the museum. > Such items as an old-fashioned treadmill, kerosene stove and a wicker sleigh > have remained in storage or have been loaned to other groups because the > museum is full. > The society’s office sits in a small room on the home’s first floor next to > a Lorado Taft bust and shelves full of binders containing county history and > genealogy research. > Barnes and Wood say the new building will have an office and enough space to > display the society’s collection without looking too cluttered or crowded. The > new space won’t have a theme, like the downstairs military room or upstairs > sewing room, but should serve the group for years to come. > Construction is expected to be done by early next year. Movable partitions > will allow the historical society to change rooms as it receives more items. > Both women hope the museum addition appeals to the community and allows for > more people to see the society’s collection. > “It’s their museum as well as ours,” Barnes said. > > > ==== ILOGLE Mailing List ==== > If you have old pictures, biographies, or obituaries of Ogle Co. family that you would like to share with others on the Ogle Co. Genealogy site, please send them to Roger Cramer at [email protected] > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >