Lee County, Illinois - Chapter 37, 1920

Chapter 37

When the war came upon us, Pahnyra was not organized satisfactorily to hamllc the propositions of raising money. The first method used was to allow <'acli iiiili\idual to sul:>scribe what he thought best. This proved very unsatisfactory :is sonic who were well alilc did not sulsci-ilic thcii- share. Later financial committees were appninted and asked to fix the quotas of each person. The different committees met at the ihfferent school houses in the township on set dates and the citizens were iinitcil to attend and subscribe their quotas. This method was followe(l in all .hives and pi'ovcd satisfactory. To create interest, meetings were held at the town hall, ami addivsses were delivereil by speakers from Dixon and elsewhere. Many meetings were held, but the most imiiressive one was when the Germans were driving the allies back and the wai- seemed al)out to be lost. The citizens seemed foi- the first time to realize the seriousness of the situation and gathered in gi-oujis, aftia' the meeting, to discuss this seeming ciiMcal period.

The success of all the drives for I^onds, lied ( 'ross. United War Work an.l others were due in a great measure to the township Hnan.aal and distiict connnittees.

The men who served on the district conunittee were; William Straw, .lessie Sivits. William Maxwell, Frank Beede, Frank Sills, Keith Swartz, A. J. Piindaville, liussdl ]\Iay, Herman Hughes, Wallace Eatinger, Mart Lenox, Fred G)ll)ert, Samuel .Mc( laffey, Ben Smith, John McKenna, Ira Rutt, Paul McGinnis, Fred Fivdericks, John Lawrence ,Ir., Austin Powers, William Andreas, Lloyd Shawgur, Bert Beede, Ivlward lilindes. ('liarles H. Lawton, Edward McGrath and Hoi-ace Gilbert.

In responcHng to the call foi' money foi- the Red Cross and war activities the i-ecord of Palmyra is one to be proud of. In the first drive there was no organized eifort, ami all money raise<l was subsci-ibed at the near-by towns, and no account kept.

The 1918 Palmyra's SI membeisliip di-ive amounted to S7.55.00, every i)erson over six years of age becoming a member. This made our township 100 per cent at a time when the roads were blockailed with snow and the weather very severe. The membership reached double the number asked, and Palmyra won the Red Cross banner offered to the township having the greatest mendiership, according to population.

111 the Kcd Cioss idll call of 1919, the «1 laenibcrships amounted to $350.00 and the junior 25 cent iiiciiiliciships $17.25, makmg; a total raised in all drives of .$2,575.75.

Palmyra gave .'-;i,S27.50 to the United War work fund, with 217 suhsci-ihcrs, making a total given hy the various organizations of $5,687.75.

In the Second Liberty loan drive. Supervisor .John P. Drew was appointed chairman of the township, and with the lielp of a few others raised $25,850.

The Third Liberty loan found the township well organized with a good financial committee, and three men in each district were appointed to solicit. This loan, like all others, was oversubscribed; $46,800 being raised, while our ([iiota was but s24,l)()().

Record Of Council Of National Defense

Thefiist war calllliat cainc to the women of Pahu>'i-a tounite in closer friendship to help our boys in the camps and " ovt'r there" was tlu' appeal to the women to register, and 1o state what they coukl and would do in the line of service work. Palmyra, as a township, w.-is unrorlunate in one respect - she has no town which serves as a central meeting place, so it was somewhat difficult to reach all the women of the township. Two places of registration were chosen and 110 women responded to the call and pledged tluanselves to do as nmch as p.issiblc.

Early in .January, 1918, the Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense ]ierfected their plans for relief work, knitting and refugee sewing. About a week later IMrs.Wuerth and Mrs. Forsythe accepted an invitation tomeet the ladies of the Prairieville Social Circle, al the home of Mrs, William Andreas. They brought with them .^amp-

The record of the knitting -lone l.y the ladies ,,f the Prairieville So.ial ( 'm le is meoniplete because so many of the knitters went t<i the Coumal inoni, sccinvcl theii' yai-n, and returned the completed article themselves, without repoiting it to the township chair- In July, 191S the ladii's of the Wolverine di.strict organiz.'d for work. They met at the various homes and hold the enviable record of making is hospital shiits at each time of meeting. During the busy time of silo filling they did not hold their meetings for a few weeks, but altogelho- they have splendi<l reason to be pioud of their work. They accomplished more in piopoition in the few weeks they met than the other oiganizations of the township.

No record was kept of the knitting done by the women of the Wolverine <listrict. The ladies of the Palmyra Mutual .Vid of Sugai' Crove woiked almost entirely for the Red Cross uiUil late in the fall of lOlS, Their knitting was als,, done for the Red Cross. No mattia- which society it was made for. if it kept our boys warm oi- in any way gave them comfort, it was blessed.

For the work of the Council of Defense Palmyra town.ship had lour natural divisions, the Oak Forest district, the \\'olveiine district. Sugar drove Mutual .Vid. an. I Prairieville Social Circle. Each division was anxious to work and each tuna'd in splendidly completed articles.

asked to ajipinnt women to assist the men in this work. This was doiu> in part of the school districts and would have been done in all had the telephone tieen working properly. In the Third Liberty loan the women in their soliciting took subscriptions for over $8,000 in Liberty bonds. During the l'"ourth loan we were asked to turn all the money solicited by the women over to the men who were soliciting, so no separate account was kei)t of it. In the Fifth loan the subject matter, badges, etc., were received so late that part ol the districts had already ma.le lluai' ([Uota and all had been solicUed before the women received their (lin'ctions. ( )nlv al out s:i(l() were solicited by the women during the Fifth loan.

Had we known a permanent wai- iccord was to be published we would ha\e been more careful in having everything reported, but the women of Palmyi'a weii' not working tor honor and a big name: tlie>- weic working for their lioys and their neighboi-'s boy and all the brave boys who went, not only from Lee county but from every county in this beautiful country.

The most es.sential part of all was the man jxiwer of the nation, and to ascertain this ixnver in the great world war the government caused all men between the age of IS and

Miss Ruth Seavey - daughter of Fletcher and Evaline Eastwood Seavey, was born in Palmyra township June 6, 1877. She entered the service as a nurse at Camp Taylor, Louisville, Ky.,on October 6, 1918, and was taken ill with imcumoiiia, which resulted in lier death, on the Kith .lay of that month. Her body was returned to her home and laid at rest in the Pahnvi-i cemeterv.