Category: Sheldon, Illinois

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Sheldon’s First New House in Seventeen Years

We congratulate the Dan Schlotmans as does all of Sheldon!

They recently moved into the above house on east Concord street and thereby became the first in Sheldon in seventeen years to occupy a new house. The last new house built in Sheldon prior to this year, according to our best information, is the one now occupied by Dr. Hungness.

The house of the Schlotmans is pictured above. It faces south on Concord street and is located between the C. K. Bussert and W. L. McCloud residences in the first block east of the Sheldon grade school.

The house is of a modified Cape Cod style and contains five rooms, bath, a full basement, with provision for two rooms upstairs. The overall size of the building is 26×34 feet with an additional 4 foot projection in front for the vestibule. It is fully lined and covered outside with Johns Manville cement asbestos shingles. The roof is of asphalt composition.

The windows in the house are of the airtight type, fitted with unique balances. Green shutters are very attractive accessories to the outside of the building. An ornamental light is over the front entrance while a small canopy covers the rear door.

Hardwood floors are found throughout the house and the walls are of white coated plaster.

Touring the building we enter the front door to find an entry way four feet wide with a coat closet off to one side. This entire section is eight feet wide. This entry way leads into the living room which is in the southeast corner of the building and is 12 and 1-2 feet by 19 feet. In the northwest corner of the room is a large archway which leads into the dining room, which is in the center of the north side of the house. It is 8 1/2 by 12 1/2 feet and in it we find a built in china closet. In the southeast corner of the room the stairs lead up to the second floor.

From the dining room in the southwest corner you go into a hall which leads to two bedrooms and the bathroom. The bathroom is located on the west side in the center with a bedroom on either side. The bedroom on the north side of the bath is 9 1/2 by 12 feet while the one on the south is 9 1/2 by 14 feet. Both rooms have clothes closets.

Also off from the hall is a broom closet and a linen closet. The bathroom is 5 1/2 by 8 feet. It has a built-in-square tub, large size lavatory, built in medicine cabinet and a towel cabinet at the end of the bath tub.

Going back to the dining room we go east from it into the kitchen which is in the northeast corner of the building. It is 10 by 9 feet. On the south side is the refrigerator and electric range. Along the north wall is built in cabinets and sink, In the southeast corner of the kitchen is the exit to the landing and rear entrance and entrance to the basement.

Along the north side of the basement is the coal bin, a warm air furnace and laundry equipment. A workshop is in the southeast corner. Under the vestibule is a fruit room.

The drive is on the east side of the house and comes along side the rear entrance and leads on to the garage just north and east of the house. It is 12 by 20 feet.

The people of Sheldon should be mighty proud that the Schlotman have made this beautiful addition to our town. And furthermore, they should point with pride to this first house to be occupied in 17 years and built new from the ground up. It may the forerunner (and we hope it is) of a building boom in Sheldon. It is badly needed. Another new house has just been occupied in Sheldon and we shall soon review it for you. We shall also in the near future review two new houses in Iroquois and one east of Sheldon. Watch for them.

Source

Unknown newspaper, but probably the Sheldon Journal, Sep 1939

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Sheldon Fun Days: A Grand Parade!

Sunday, July 11, 1976, 2:00

(Spirit Photos by Brent N. Bahler)

Senior King & Queen: Mr. and Mrs. Dan Schlotman

Sheldon Fun Day King and Queen, Dan and Clara Schlotman present trophies to Betty Davenport of Sheldon and Terry Goodman of Early Park for winning floats.

Source

Watseka Spirit, unknown date, but after 11 Jul 1976

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Seniors Hear Travelogue

(Sheldon) – Mr. and Mrs. Dan Schlotman presented a color slide travelogue of the 2200 mile conducted bus tour of England and Scotland they had taken in August when the Sheldon Senior Citizens met on October 16. There were forty-three persons in attendance at the pot-luck dinner hostessed by Rose LeSage and Doris Long. Mrs. Long gave the invocation before the meal.

Nurses from the Iroquois County Public Health Service gave free flue shots to eighteen members. Some members also had a blood pressure check. President Clara Ingalls conducted the business session. Secretary Laverna Marshall read the account of the September meeting and Harry Brubaker gave the financial report. Lillie Arseneau, Florence Bonnett and Martha Sabo observed October birthdays. Sixteen Sheldon Seniors had attended the September meeting of the Martinton Good Neighbors Club.

John Kuntz, Iroquois County Clerk and Recorder, will be present at the November meeting to give instructions on the use of the voting machines which will be used in coming elections.

Recipe blanks were distributed for members to submit favorite recipes to be used in compiling a cookbook to be sold to the benefit of the Volunteer Services projects.

A donation of $20 was voted from the treasury to the Iroquois County Transportation Service which provides multiple trips and telecare transportation. The Sheldon Senior Citizens will ride on the mini-van to Bloomington on Wednesday, October 31 to visit the Beich Candy Factory. Gk

Source

Watseka Spirit, 24 Oct 1979

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Sample Ballot – Sheldon Township Officer Election 1900

SAMPLE BALLOT

To be voted at the Annual Election for Township Officers in the Town of Sheldon, April 3d, 1900.

REPUBLICAN
For Supervisor,
176 – R. B. MYERS
For Town Clerk,
246 – A. F. MOORE
For Assessor
259 – JOHN E. MORRIS
For Collector
277 – WM. WEDGBURY
For Commissioner of Highways
228 – JOHN EWEN
For School Trustee
244 – J. R. RUSSELL		DEMOCRAT
For Supervisor,
288 – A. GILMORE
For Town Clerk,
216 – J. R. STRICKLER
For Assessor,
201 – H. V. CROSSLAND
For Collector,
184 – DAN’L FINLAYSON
For Commissioner of Highways,
232 – DAN’L SCHLOTMAN
For School Trustee,
216 – CHAS. FLEMING

Notes

The numbers written on the ballot are total votes and difference in votes.

Here’s a little more information on the candidates, including their 1900 occupations

  • Crossland, Hiram Venton (1848-1917) – Farmer
  • Ewen, John (1863-1938) – Farmer
  • Finlayson, Daniel – Unable to find information on him
  • Fleming, Charles (1865-1939) – Farmer
  • Gilmore, Albert P. (1857-1907) – Farmer
  • Moore, Aaron Foreman (1842-1921) – Clerk
  • Morris, John E. (1848-1917) – Day Laborer
  • Myers, Reverdy B. (1848-1913) – Shoe Store Salesman
  • Russell, James R. (1835-1919) – No 1900 occupation listed
  • Schlotman, Daniel Franklin ‘D.F.’ (1850-1908) – Farmer, my ancestor
  • Strickler, Joseph Richard ‘Tuck’ (1875-1936) – Insurance Agent
  • Wedgbury, William (1829-1910) – Tax Collector
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First Mail Route Left Sheldon P. O. on May 15, 1901

Yesterday, May 15, was the forty-fifth anniversary of the first rural delivery of mail in Iroquois county, and that was from the Sheldon post office.  Chas. Bussert, one of our esteemed citizens, was the carrier for this first route.

In an interview with Mr. Bussert the fore part of the week, he stated that he served until May 15, 1934.  During this time he was under nine postmasters in Sheldon.  Postmaster Ranton drove the first trip with him 45 years ago, and Postmaster Walter Maddin drove with him his last trip 12 years ago.

Mr. Bussert received a total of $500 a year when he began the route.  He recalls that it was in 1915 that the team gave way to the auto, but then only in good weather.  The team made the route in bad weather for four or five years after that.

It was way after dark many the day when he came in off his route.  That is a far cry from the time needed today to cover a rural route.

Two more routes were started in Sheldon in 1902 with Harry Shaw and Steve Reighart as carriers.  About 1930, with the retirement of the late Albert Burroughs, the three routes were consolidated into the present two routes.

Concerning the establishment of this first route a May, 1901, issue of the Journal says:

The free rural delivery route as submitted by Postmaster Ranton has been endorsed by the department, and the farmers along the line will have free delivery after May 15.

Special Delivery Agent A. B. Smith was here Saturday and, in company with Postmaster Ranton, went over the proposed route.  Mr. Smith found that the route had been carefully planned, and did not think it necessary to make any change.

The route is the same as published in the Journal last June, and is as follows:

Beginning at the west side of the corporate limits of Sheldon, a distance from the post office of one-half mile, thence south one-half mile, three miles west to Lister’s Point, two miles south to Pleasant Valley school house, two miles east to Center school house, two miles south to Amos schoolhouse, one mile east, one mile south to township line, one mile east three miles north to Willow Grove school house, one mile east one mile north, one-half mile to state line road, three miles north through Effner, west one and a half mile, south one mile, west one-half mile, south one-half mile to post office.  Making a total of twenty-five miles.

The cost to the farmer will be $3 for a box, lock and steel post, or $2.50 without the lock.

There are 125 houses on the route, and there will be about 110 boxes.

Postmaster Ranton has worked hard for the establishment of the route, and his efforts are doubtless appreciated by the farming community.  He is the first to secure one in Iroquois county.  Milford, Onarga, and Buckley come later.

In addition to this route another is under consideration covering the rest of the territory surrounding Sheldon.

The establishment of the routes will not necessarily increase the labor in the post office here, outside of the increased business that will follow.

The office at Effner will be abolished after May 15th, and the one at Eastburn after June 1st, if the other route is established.

The mail wagon will leave over its route immediately after the arrival of the 11:27 train from the north, and make daily trips, Sunday excepted.

Mr. Smith, who during his travels over the country, visits a great many post offices, and has many opportunities to observe a thing or two, complimented Postmaster Ranton very highly on the way the office here was conducted, and said it was one of the neatest and best equipped offices it has been his pleasure to visit for some time.

Source

Sheldon Journal, Sheldon, Illinois, 16 May 1946

Notes

People mentioned in this article

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Clara Schlotman — Fifty Years a Royal Neighbor

Honored at a meeting of the Sheldon, Ill., camp, were Neighbors Genevieve Keller and Clara Schlotman, pictured at right, left and right, respectively, when they were presented their coveted gold 50-year membership jewels. A detailed account of the meeting may be found in the Illinois camp news section of this issue of the Royal Neighbor.

Source

Unknown publication, unknown date, the even took place on 21 Apr 1972.

Present Fifty year RNA pins to Sheldon two

SHELDON — Benevolence Camp 521 of Sheldon met in the library hall on Friday, April 21 with vice oracle, Mrs. Charles Burton, presiding.

Eight members of the Stockland Camp were visitors and were welcomed by receiving the grand honors. They were Mrs. Curtis Sever, Mrs. Evelyn Beall, Mrs. Mildred Coryell, Mrs. Ruth Bury, Mrs. Bertha Handy, Mrs. Alice Whitesel, Mrs. Edith Sullivan, and Mrs. Vic Gillan.

The password was collected by Mrs. Larry Hartlep, marshal and Mrs. Burl Houston, assistant marshal. The opening and closing prayers were given by chancellor, Mrs. Albert Whaley. The odes were sung with Mrs. Joe Keller at the piano. Mrs. Emmett Bigger, the recorder, read information received from the head camp at Rock Island.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of 50 year pins to Mrs. Joe Keller and Mrs. Dan Schlotman of Sheldon by Mrs. Joe Turpin. She read two poems entitled “Friendship” and “Old Friends.” A humorous article, “Remember When” was read by Mrs. Albert Whaley.

Grand Honors were given to the two new 50 year members and also to the other 50 year members, Mrs. Edythe Newman, Mrs. Charles Burton, Mrs. Louie Poster of Sheldon and Mrs. Bertha Handy and Mrs. Edith Sullivan of Stockland. They all were presented with a corsage form the Sheldon camp.

Meeting close in usual form. Games were played with all winning prizes and a potluck lunch was enjoyed by those present.

Source

Unknown newspaper, 2 May 1972