Madison
County Genealogical Society
Minutes of the Meeting - November 12, 2009
The November 12, 2009, meeting of the
Madison County Genealogical Society was held at the Edwardsville Public Library
in Edwardsville, Illinois.
President, Robert Ridenour, called the
meeting to order.
Reports:
***
NOTICE ***
Dues for 2010 are now being accepted. We would very
much appreciate receiving your renewal checks by 1 January 2010. Present
members will receive one more Stalker in December and two Newsletters in
November and January.
GIFT
MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE
Do you have a family member that is
interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A membership in the Madison
County Genealogical Society would be a very thoughtful Holiday Gift. A gift
card will be sent to the recipient of any gift membership.
The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $20.00
Patron Annual Membership $30.00
Life Membership $250.00
Contact our Secretary, Barbara Hitch, at racerbarb@aol.com,
about a gift membership.
November
Meeting
On November 12, 2009, William Nunes presented a program titled Interesting Facts About Illinois.
Mr. Nunes grew up in East St. Louis. He taught Social
Studies for one year at Bayliss High School in St.
Louis, at Collinsville High from 1964 to 1970, and at Edwardsville High School
form 1970 to 1993. He said he was not interested in Illinois history until
after he retired from teaching. He started on his literary career by writing a
book about growing up in East St. Louis. He has since written over a dozen
books about Illinois and Missouri. Bill's latest book is Big Book of St. Louis
and Southern Illinois Crime.
Mr. Nunes gave the audience many interesting facts
about Illinois (these "facts" are claimed to be such by Mr. Nunes):
The two oldest brick buildings in the state are in Cahokia and Edwardsville.
Standard Oil of Wood River built the community a concrete swimming pool in 1924
- at that time it was the largest swimming pool in the world! Owens-Illinois
Glassworks in Alton - inventor of the glass ashtray - was the largest
glassmaker in the world! The sand bottom swimming pool in Jones' Park in East
St. Louis was the largest inland beach in America.
The Chain of Rocks Bridge near Granite City, Illinois, is the longest
pedestrian bridge in the world. When it was on US Route 66, it was the most
significant bridge on Route 66.
Decatur, Illinois, claims to be the soybean capital of America. Moline,
Illinois, is the farm implement capital of the world. Peoria, Illinois, is the
earth moving equipment capital of the world.
Tower Rock in the Mississippi River near Grand Tower, Illinois, is the nation's
smallest national monument. The nation's smallest Post Office, with a lobby, is
in Muddy, Saline County, Illinois.
No state can match Illinois for living famous politicians: Donald Rumsfeld,
Dick Durbin, Dennis Hastert, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson,
Carol Moseley-Braun, and Phyllis Schlafly.
Illinois artists are responsible for creating Dick Tracy, Tarzan, Moon Mullins,
Popeye, Blondie, Willie & Joe, and Little Orphan Annie.
The Springfield Illinois Race Riot of 1908 was responsible for the founding of
the NAACP.
Many well known criminals have ties to Illinois: Al Capone, John Dillinger,
John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck, Nathan Leopold and
Richard Loeb, Charlie Birger, Paula Sims, the Shelton
Gang, Buster Wortman, the Unabomber - Theodore
Kaczynski, James Earl Ray, the Looney Gang, Johnny Torrio,
and the Tylenol Killer (who was never apprehended).
Illinois is not thought of as "The Wild West," but the state produced
Pawnee Bill, Black Bart, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Ned Buntline, Jack Slade,
and Wild Bill Hickock.
The list of famous Illinois Civil War names includes Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses
S. Grant, John Pope, Steven Douglas, Ben Grierson,
and John Logan (America's greatest political general during the Civil War). A school teacher from Mendota, Illinois, William Quantrill, led
the sack of Lawrence, Kansas, during the Civil War.
For decades, The Centralia (Illinois) High School basketball program had more
wins than any other prep basketball program in the nation.
The nation's largest train robbery was perpetrated at Roundout, Illinois (near Chicago), by the Newton Boys from
Texas.
Mr. Nunes also entertained the audience with several
humorous stories based on his research for his books
Bill said that, according to the Illinois State Library, he is the most
prolific living Illinois history author.
Mr. Nunes had copies of all his books for sale at the
meeting, some at greatly reduced prices.
If you wish to know more about Bill Nunes and his
books, you can visit his website: BillNunesNostalgia.com.
This presentation was very well received by the audience.