Will County ILGenWeb

These pages are a part of the ILGenWeb Project. They provide a resource for genealogists searching in Will County, Illinois. You can post queries about surnames you are researching, see who else might be researching the same names as yourself, ask volunteers to do reference look-ups, volunteer to do reference look-ups, and get information on searching in Will County. My name is Dennis Partridge, and I am currently the host of Will County, you can contact me here, if you have any questions. I do not live in Will County, nor Illinois, but I will attempt to answer your research questions or point you in the direction of somebody who can.

The History of Joliet

The History of Joliet represents 37 articles written by an Herald News Reporter, John Woodside in 2001. In this series of weekly chapters, John progresses through the history of Joliet Illinois, from the time of the Native American occupation through the Civil War and First World War. In his articles he touches on Slavery, Lincoln, prohibition, business men, and crime… as any news reporter frequently covering the beat, John keeps coming back to crime stories… stories of the first execution, prison life, murder, and the first hit-and-run accident which also caused the city’s first auto fatality.

Hit-and-run Marked City’s First Auto Death

The History of Joliet – Chapter 37 By John Whiteside of The Herald News (used with permission) Submitted by Nancy Vargo “The red car crashed into the seven people who were crossing the street. But the driver just kept going.” By John WHITESIDE of The Herald News “It may seem unfortunate to this man that he is the first to be convicted of such a crime in Will County. …  Automobile drivers must realize they do not have exclusive right or control over the highway …” — Judge Frederick HILL, Will County Circuit Court, Feb. 26, 1925. And 32-year-old Victor … Read more

Grand Army Upheld Ideals After Civil War

The History of Joliet – Chapter 36 By John Whiteside of The Herald News (used with permission) Submitted by Nancy Vargo “There never was a time when the Grand Army was grander than it is today.” By John WHITESIDE of The Herald News In the fall of 1923, a group of old soldiers gathered here in Joliet to remember those days that forever had bound them together. All had white hair. The youngest among them were “three score and ten plus,” The Herald News reported. They were the last of this state’s Civil War Union Army veterans gathered at what … Read more

Beer King Watched Fortunes Fizzle

The History of Joliet – Chapter 35 By John Whiteside of The Herald News (used with permission) Submitted by Nancy Vargo “The good ol’ days are now only memories.” By John WHITESIDE of The Herald News On Saturday, Jan. 17, 1920, a newspaper headline in the Joliet Evening Herald-News summed it all up: “U.S. Dry Today.” The 18th Amendment, which was approved in 1917, went into effect along with its accompanying Volstead Act. The act provided penalties for violations of making and selling liquor. The Prohibition era had started. “The final celebration of the passing of the wet era did … Read more

Maximum Security is No Match

The History of Joliet – Chapter 34 By John Whiteside of The Herald News (used with permission) Submitted by Nancy Vargo “Through the years, there were many escapes from Stateville. But not all of them were well planned.” By John WHITESIDE of The Herald News In the summer of 1919, the toughest inmates in the old Joliet prison were moved to the big circular cellhouse at Stateville. The new prison was still under construction. But its builders said that round cellhouse was absolutely escape proof. Then surrounded by only a wooden stockade, Stateville had been on the state’s drawing boards … Read more

Dangerous Celebration at War’s End

The History of Joliet – Chapter 33 By John Whiteside of The Herald News (used with permission) Submitted by Nancy Vargo “When the guns started going off at 3 a.m., one man rushed outside because he thought a neighbor had finally caught that chicken thief. ‘The chicken thief turned out to be the Kaiser,’ the man told the Joliet Evening Herald-News.” By John WHITESIDE of The Herald News When the guns started going off at 3 a.m., one man rushed outside because he thought a neighbor had finally caught that chicken thief. But he found that guns were being fired … Read more

World War I Regiment Earns Praise

The History of Joliet – Chapter 32 By John Whiteside of The Herald News (used with permission) Submitted by Nancy Vargo “The screaming convicts had set fire to five buildings and were attempting to ram a railroad freight car through the front gate.” By John WHITESIDE of The Herald News A patriotic fever swept across Joliet on April 6, 1917, when the United States declared war on Germany and joined World War I. The local recruiting office was swamped with volunteers. By the end of the month, more than 400 local men had enlisted. The following month, a national draft … Read more

Buffalo Bill Not Tall in the Saddle

The History of Joliet – Chapter 31 By John Whiteside of The Herald News (used with permission) Submitted by Nancy Vargo “The life he is leading will kill him if he keeps it up much longer.” By John WHITESIDE of The Herald News On the Saturday morning of March 31, 1915, a big man with long hair, mustache and goatee rode a white horse through the streets of downtown Joliet leading a circus parade. He was wearing fancy fringed buckskins decorated with a pair of bone-handled Colt revolvers. Buffalo Bill had come to Joliet. But William Frederick CODY, the famed … Read more

Warden’s Wife Killed in 1915 Local Mystery

The History of Joliet – Chapter 30 By John Whiteside of The Herald News (used with permission) Submitted by Nancy Vargo “The man who killed my wife must die, but I must be sure that I have the right man.” By John WHITESIDE of The Herald News They called her “the little mother at the big stir.” Odette Maizee Bordeaux ALLEN was also known as the angel of Joliet because of her beautiful singing voice. The talented singer had been a star on the stage in New Orleans before she married Warden Edmund “Ned” ALLEN. As a widower with small … Read more

Horseless Carriages Come and Go, With Model T Just Down the Road

The History of Joliet – Chapter 29 By John Whiteside of The Herald News (used with permission) Submitted by Nancy Vargo “Horse shoes just couldn’t compete in the new century with those dreamers and their horseless carriages.” By John WHITESIDE of The Herald News In 1900, business was booming for the Phoenix Horse Shoe Company in Joliet. But the beginning of the end was already in sight for horses. Horses were being replaced by horsepower in the horseless carriage. While Henry FORD and Ransom Eli OLDS were dreaming about an automobile industry in Detroit, George ELRICK, Wilbur DAYTON and others … Read more