Community Articles about Kinmundy, Illinois
(2000 thru current)
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The following articles are typed below in their entirety:
"Kinmundy water tower renovation begins; Structure disassembled; Project to be completed in spring" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Nov. 17, 2000
"Kinmundy Woman receives golden opportunity during Olympic torch run" (Paula Barksdale)
"Salem Times-Commoner - January 2002
"Kinmundy Public Library undergoes development in several areas" - "Marion County Town Crier" - Jan. 16, 2002
“First National Bank of Kinmundy celebrates 100th year of service" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - March 2002 “Age of simplicity comes to life in log cabin on Kinmundy farm" (Dale & Sue Hulsey) - by Mike Jones of the "Centralia Sentinel""La Posta - A Journal of American Postal History" - "The Mendenhall That Wasn't" by Jesse I Spector
- E.G. Mendenhall of Kinmundy, IL - 2006
“Kinmundy to mark 150-year anniversary later this year” “Salem Times-Commoner” -- May 11, 2007 “Kinmundy celebrates Sesquicentennial” - “Salem Times-Commoner” - Sept. 5, 2007 "Cheatums treasure historic home in Kinmundy” “Salem Times-Commoner” -- May 11, 2007
“The historic Captain Calendar Rohrbough house has been home to three of Kinmundy’s mayors” By Judith Joy – Features Editor - “The Centralia Sentinel” - June 21, 2009
"Mulvaney recognized as Steel Guitar Player of the Year" - "Salem Times-Commoner- Nov. 20, 2009
"Kinmundy Historical Society gives to life to Stars and Stripes" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Feb. 18, 2010
"Log house holds special place in heart of Kinmundy woman" Sue Hulsey - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Feb. 23, 2011
"Salem high school students explore history at log cabin" - Sue Hulsey - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL
"Ingram's Pioneer Log Cabin Village draws crowds to Kinmundy every year" - "Salem Times-Commoner- April 27, 2011
"Lions Club always there to help with community projects in Kinmundy" - "Salem Times-Commoner- April 27, 2011
"Kinmundy Historical Society growing presence in community" - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Feb. 20, 2012
"Kinmundy Hopes visitors will take advantage of various local activity spots" - "The Sentinel" - April 27, 2012
"Kinmundy-Alma firefighters help bring Christmas cheer to children" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Dec. 9, 2015 - by Michelle Baugh
"Kinmundy project set to enhance youth sports" (Webster Park) - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Dec. 11, 2015 - by Dennis Rosenberger
"Marion County farmer honored as Illinoisan of the Day at State Fair" (Russell Vandeveer) - "Salem Times-Commoner"-Sept. 2, 2016
"Kinmundy mayor talks community pride" - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Aug. 12, 2018 - by Matthew Packman
"Baseball career provides many memories for Garrett" - "The Sentinel"- Centralia, IL - Feb. 28, 2020 - By Canyon Clark
"Forbes State Park - Forbes Park bears the name of one of Illinois' first ecologists" - "The Sentinel"- Centralia, IL - May 9, 2020
By Judith Joy – Features Editor"Mission South Central volunteers turn out to assist local family" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - July 1, 2020
"Childhood rodeo dream became reality for Dusti Crain-Dickerson" - "Salem Times-Commoner"; Salem, IL - Aug. 21, 2020
"Spencer Patton enjoying chance to play in Japan" - "Salem Times-Commoner"; Salem, IL - Aug. 21, 2020
"Yellin' Helen's Ice Cream shop opens" - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Sept. 2, 2020
"Bolin Finds calling as agriculture educator" - "Salem Times-Commoner"; Salem, IL - Sept. 4, 2020
"Supporting Mission South Central" - "Salem Times-Commoner"; Salem, IL - Dec. 4, 2020
"Friends work to beautify Kinmundy" - Hometown Friends - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Feb. 23, 2021 "Non-profit aims to save Kinmundy History" - Madison Street HP - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Feb. 23, 2021 "Neighborhood Pantry reaches 15 years of helping" - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Feb. 23, 2021 "Kinmundy Group working to preserve historic buildings on Madison Street" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - March 14, 2021 "Hulsey shares love for antique tractor" - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - March 14, 2021 "Kinmundy group hosts traditional Easter egg hunt for area kids to enjoy" - "Rho Phi Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi holds event at city park" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - 2021 "Mission South Central volunteers focus on needs of local residents" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Aug. 20, 2021 "Forbes State Park - "Forbes SRA offers many activities for public to enjoy" - Salem Times-Commoner" - Aug. 20, 2021 "South Central High School Cougars 2021 IHSA Class 1A State Baseball Champions" - "Leader-Union" - Vandalia, IL - July 8, 2021 South Central High School Baseball Champs - "Jones builds winning tradition at South Central" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Aug. 20, 2021 "Class 1A State Baseball Champs" - South Central High School Baseball Champs - "Farina News" - Aug. 2021 ""Hulsey enjoys restoring antique tractors" - Salem Times-Commoner - Aug. 20, 2021 Kinmundy-Alma Firefighters dedicated to community service" - "Salem Times-Commoner - Aug. 20, 2021"FFA hosts Kinmundy Labor Day Car Show" - "Salem Times-Commoner - Sept. 17, 2021
"Happy Hearts Quilt Guild - Karil Garrett"
"Kinmundy water tower renovation begins; Structure disassembled; Project to be completed in spring" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Nov. 17, 2000
"Kinmundy Woman receives golden opportunity during Olympic torch run" (Paula Barksdale)
" Salem Times-Commoner - January 2002
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"Kinmundy Public Library undergoes development in several areas" - "Marion County Town Crier" - Jan. 16, 2002
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"La Posta - A Journal of American Postal History" - 2006
"The Mendenhall That Wasn't" by Jesse I Spector
E.G. Mendenhall of Kinmundy, IL
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"Kinmundy - “I didn’t know if the house met all the criteria for the
National Register”, said Elwyn Cheatum, when he and his wife Louise decided
to try to enroll their home on the National Register of Historic Places.
Built in 1875, the elegant Calendar Rohrbough was the home of a Civil War
soldier, who fought for the Union at Vicksburg and later became president of
the Kinmundy Building and Loan Association. “There are two criteria you
have to meet,” explained Cheatum, “to get the house listed on the National
Register. The first is the architectural design and the second is its
historic significance.
The Calendar
Rohrbough house is in a style known as Italian Southern Villa and its
builder merits several pages in Brinkerhoff’s History of Marion County,
Illinois. Fortunately a previous owner of the house had left his copy of
Brinkerhoff’s History in the house, which helped the Cheatums prepare the
lengthy application form to get the property listed on the National Register
in 1979. In the 134 years of the home’s existence, it has only had
three owners. The first of these was Capt. Calendar Rohrbough, who was born
in 1834 in West Virginia and moved in 1857 to Hancock County, Ill., where he
taught school. By 1860, Rohrbough was keeping a store in Basco, Hancock
County, but he gave up his business career in 1862 and began organizing
Company H, 118th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
Mustered in
as a second lieutenant, Rohrbough rose to the rank of Captain and was in
command of his company through the Vicksburg campaign and thru various other
encounters in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. In all, he participated
in more than 50 battles and skirmishes and survived having two horses short
out from under him. Prior to his enlistment, Rohrbough had married
Anna M. Moore, “the refined daughter” of Andrew and Abigail (Tweed) Moore,
who grew up in Carthage, Ill. The couple had six children, two of whom died
in infancy. Reading Brinkerhoff’s History today is always amusing, as there
isn’t a man listed who’s not a pillar of the community, successful in
business and a regular church-goer, while the women are all refined,
charming and devoted to their families and domestic duties. Aside from
these ordinary virtues, Capt. Rohrbough, according to Brinkerhoff, was a
faithful worker in the cause of temperance and helped organize the Grand
Council Royal Templars of Temperance in Illinois in 1880. His wife, Anna,
was active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and served as
treasurer of the local chapter.
The present
owner, Elwyn Cheatum, never knew the Rohrboughs but he did grow up in a
house across the street and knew the next owner, Fred O. Grissom, who
according to Brinkerhoff, was “essentially a man of the people, a true
American of the period in which he lives and possessing the esteem of his
fellow citizens.”
Grissom, who
was born in 1876 in Meacham township, began his printing career with the
Farina News and later purchased the Kinmundy Express. In 1899, he married
Jennie A. Bascom, “the refined and accomplished daughter of the Rev. S.B.
and C.M. Bascom” of Ramsey. Fred Grissom, like Capt. Rohrbough, was a
mayor of Kinmundy. Strangely enough, all three owners of the house,
including Elwyn Cheatum – who served two, four-year terms – have been mayors
of the town. Cheatum was still in grade school when his folks moved from
Mason to Kinmundy around 1936. After graduating from high school, Cheatum
began working for the Illinois Central as a telegraph operator and train
dispatcher. During the 17 years he worked for the Illinois Central, he and
his wife, Louise, to whom he has been married for 59 years, lived in
Effingham and Arcola.
Founded in
1857, Kinmundy’s early prosperity was largely due to the fact that two of
the state’s longest railroads, the Illinois Central and the Chicago and
Eastern Illinois (earlier known as the Chicago, Peoria and Memphis) crossed
in Kinmundy. Although there are several stories about how Kinmundy got it’s
name, Cheatum believes it was because one of the I.C. officials came from a
county in Scotland called Kinmundy (sic) and there is also a town in
Scotland called Kinmundy. Brinkerhoff, however, says the town was named for
a Scotsman, who was a stockholder in the I.C. and visited Illinois at the
time of the railroad’s construction.
Cheatum
recalled the days working for the I.C. with pleasure, as he and his wife
were able to travel all over the country on passes, even though they were
often required to take second class passenger service instead of the crack
trains. In 1975, the Cheatums were living in Peoria when they came home to
Kinmundy for a visit and Elwyn took some photos of the house and gave them
to Fred Grissom, who was then getting on in years. “One of these days,
I’d like to buy your house,” Cheatum told Grissom. To his surprise,
Grisssom expressed a willingness to sell the home – with the understanding
that he could live there until his death. “My mom had always wanted to live
in a big house,” recalled Cheatum, and so his parents, Ervin and Nina
Cheatum moved into the home while Elwyn and Louise continued to live in
Peoria. “There was a question in our minds as to whether we’d ever get
to live in it ourselves,” says Cheatum, “but when the opportunity came, we
took it.”
During the 50
years that Fred Grissom lived in the house, several changes were made to the
interior – among them moving the location of the stairway and removing a
hall partition. Grissom also added a fireplace – originally the house was
heated with coal stoves. The house was one of the first in Kinmundy to
having running water, which was collected in a large trough on the second
story. The water collected in gutters drained into this trough, which is
concealed within a porch, and flowed by gravity to the kitchen. The
house sits on a 2.5 acre lot, so there is plenty of room for a garden and a
small fruit orchard, where Cheatum has planted apples, peaches, pears, and
one apricot tree. Although the apricot sets fruit, Cheatum says the
squirrels always beat him to the harvest and he has never tasted a single
apricot. The original carriage house was torn down before the Cheatums
purchased the property and the boards used to build a garage. One of the
great improvements Cheatum has made are the brick walks that replaced the
old cement ones. The bricks were purchased when the village of Kinmundy
replaced it’s old brick sidewalks, some years ago. Last year, when the
Cheatum’s oldest son was scraping the old white paint off the porch pillars,
he discovered they were originally painted cream color and green. The
original color scheme has now been restored for, as Cheatum says, ‘We want
to keep it as original as we can.”
Kinmundy’s
other National Historic Landmark is the old cypress water tower, which
serviced locomotives on the I.C. during the age of steam and was used from
1885 to 1953. Following it’s service with the I.C., the tower was used by
the village for the water supply until 2000 when it was abandoned after 115
years of service.
"Mulvaney recognized as Steel Guitar Player of the Year" - "Salem Times-Commoner- Nov. 20, 2009
"Kinmundy Historical Society gives to life to Stars and Stripes" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Feb. 18, 2010
"Log house holds special place in heart of Kinmundy woman" Sue Hulsey - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Feb. 23, 2011
"Salem high school students explore history at log cabin" - Sue Hulsey - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL
"Ingram's Pioneer Log Cabin Village draws crowds to Kinmundy every year" - "Salem Times-Commoner- April 27, 2011
"Lions Club always there to help with community projects in Kinmundy" - "Salem Times-Commoner- April 27, 2011
"Kinmundy Historical Society growing presence in community" - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Feb. 20, 2012
"Kinmundy Hopes visitors will take advantage of various local activity spots" - "The Sentinel" - April 27, 2012
"Kinmundy-Alma firefighters help bring Christmas cheer to children" - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Dec. 9, 2015 - by Michelle Baugh
"Kinmundy project set to enhance youth sports" (Webster Park) - "Salem Times-Commoner" - Dec. 11, 2015
"Marion County farmer honored as Illinoisan of the Day at State Fair" (Russell Vandeveer) - "Salem Times-Commoner"-Sept. 2, 2016
"Baseball Career provides many memories for Garrett" - "The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Feb. 28, 2020
"The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL- Aug. 12, 2018 - Jane Middleton - Kinmundy Mayor
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"The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - May 9, 2020 - Forbes State Park - "Forbes Park bears the name of one of Illinois first ecologists"
"Salem Times-Commoner"; Salem, IL - July 1, 2020 - "Mission South Central volunteers turn out to assist local family"
"Salem Times-Commoner"; Salem, IL - Aug. 21, 2020 - "Childhood rodeo dream became reality for Dusti Crain-Dickerson"
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"Salem Times-Commoner"; Salem, IL - Aug. 21, 2020 - "Spencer Patton enjoying chance to play in Japan"
"The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Sept. 2, 2020 - "Yellin' Helen's Ice Cream shop opens"
"Salem Times-Commoner"; Salem, IL - Sept. 4, 2020 - "Bolin Finds calling as agriculture educator"
"Salem Times-Commoner"; Salem, IL - Dec. 4, 2020 - "Supporting Mission South Central"
"The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Feb. 23, 2021 - "Friends work to beautify Kinmundy" - Hometown Friends
"The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Feb. 23, 2021 - "Neighborhood Pantry reaches 15 years of helping"
"The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - Feb. 23, 2021 - "Non-profit aims to save Kinmundy History" - Madison Street HP
"Salem Times-Commoner" - March 14, 2021 - "Kinmundy Group working to preserve historic buildings on Madison Street"
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"The Sentinel" - Centralia, IL - March 14, 2021 - "Hulsey shares love for antique tractor"
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"Salem Times-Commoner" - 2021 - "Kinmundy group hosts traditional Easter egg hunt for area kids to enjoy" - "Rho Phi Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi holds event at city park"
"Salem Times-Commoner" - Aug. 20, 2021 - "Mission South Central volunteers focus on needs of local residents"
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"Salem Times-Commoner" - Aug. 20, 2021 - Forbes State Park - "Forbes SRA offers many activities for public to enjoy"
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"Salem Times-Commoner" - June 23, 2021 - South Central High School Baseball Champs
"Leader-Union" - Vandalia, IL - July 8, 2021 - "South Central High School Cougars 2021 IHSA Class 1A State Baseball Champions"
"Salem Times-Commoner" - Aug. 20, 2021 - South Central High School Baseball Champs - "Jones builds winning tradition at South Central"
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"Farina News" - Aug. 2021 - "Class 1A State Baseball Champs" - South Central High School Baseball Champs
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"Salem Times-Commoner - Aug. 20, 2021 - "Hulsey enjoys restoring antique tractors"
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"Salem Times-Commoner - Aug. 20, 2021 - Kinmundy-Alma Firefighters dedicated to community service"
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"Salem Times-Commoner - Sept. 17, 2021 - "FFA hosts Kinmundy Labor Day Car Show"
"Salem Times-Commoner - Sept. 22, 2021 - "Happy Hearts Quilt Guild" - Karil Garrett
We welcome your suggestions, submissions, or any additions & corrections you can help us with! You can contact us at Dolores@ford-mobley.com Site and contents copyright - Kinmundy Historical Society, a nonprofit organization.
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