THE OLD PICTURE MAY BE FADED WITH AGE, BUT NOT THE SENSE OF HISTORY THOSE EARLY SETTLERS
FELT.
THEY WERE THE INSPIRATION IN
1890 FOR THE FORMATION OF A
LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
UNFORTUNATELY, FIRE WOULD
DESTROY THIS ROOM ALONG WITH
SOME OF THE ARTIFACTS.
HELLO.
I AM JIM WILHELM.
NOT TOO LONG AGO THAT SPIRIT OF
PRESERVING MORRISON'S PAST WAS
REKINDLED.
TODAY THE LOCAL HISTORICAL
SOCIETY OVERSEES A GROWING
COLLECTION WHICH IS HOUSED IN
TWO SEPARATE BUILDINGS.
THE FIRST BUILDING WE WILL TOUR
WAS CONSTRUCTED NEAR THE END OF
THE CIVIL WAR IN 1865 AND WAS
ORIGINALLY USED AS A CON
GRATIONNAL CHURCH.
LATER IT BECAME THE TOWN'S
LIBRARY, AND NOW IT IS HOME TO
THE ODELL AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE
MUSEUM.
INSIDE THE WALLS ARE LINED WITH
THE MYRIAD OF ITEMS DATE FROM
TURN OF THE CENTURY TO THE MID
50'S.
JUST FOR FUN, WE WILL HAVE A POP
QUIZ TO SEE IF YOU CAN IDENTIFY
OBJECTS ON DISPLAY.
FIRST UP IS THIS CONTRAPTION
HANGING IN THE CORN GROWING
SECTION OF THE MUSEUM.
BELOW IT IS A HAND CRANKED JOHN
DEERE KERNEL REMOVER.
THIS SCOOPS GRAIN.
THIS IS A MUST FOR BUGGIES AND
WAGONS. CAN YOU IDENTIFY THESE
TWO OBJECTS?
THIS FIRST ITEM IS A FOOT NOT.
IT WAS STRAPPED TO THE LEG AND
USED TO CUT THE CORN STALKS,
LEAVING THE HANDS FREE.
IN THE SECOND ITEM WE SHOWED YOU
WAS A BUGGY WEIGHT USED TO TIGHT
HORSES TO WHEN THERE WAS NO
HITCHING POST AVAILABLE.
OUR NEXT ITEM IS LOCATED IN THE
MUSEUM'S POULTRY SECTION.
STANDING NEXT TO THE CHICKEN
COOP AND FEEDERS IS THIS
INTERESTING CASE WITH GLASS
DOORS.
OBJECT NUMBER FOUR IS THIS ODD
LOOKING PIECE FROM THE BARN
AREA.
WHAT DO THESE TWO ITEMS USED
FOR?
THIS CASE HAD A HEATER IN THE
BOTTOM.
ABOVE, WE WERE TOLD, WERE PLACED
TRAYS, NOT OF EGGS, BUT OF SOIL
AND SEED.
IT WAS USED TO GROW GRASS SO
THAT THE CHICKENS COULD HAVE
FRESH GREENS DURING THE WINTER.
THIS IS A KEROSENE HEATER THAT
WAS PLACED UNDER HOG TROUGH TO
KEEP THE WATER FROM FREEZING
DURING THE WINTER.
NOW FOR A COUPLE OF TOUGH ONES:
WE ARE TOLD THIS ITEM WAS A
LOCAL INVENTION, AND WOULD HAVE
HAD A BLADE ATTACHED TO THE TOP.
THIS LARGE ITEM WAS DEFINITELY
HORSEPOWERED, BUT FOR WHAT?
THIS IS A HOG NOSE TRIMMER. IT WAS USED TO CLIP THE ANIMAL'S NOSE MAKING IT SO SENSITIVE THAT
THE HOG WOULD STOP ROOTING.
AND THIS IS ANOTHER WINTERTIME
ITEM.
THIS IS A HORSE DRAWN ICE CUTTER
WITH THREE SETS OF GRADUATED
BLADES, EACH ONE CUTTING A BIT
DEEPER.
ALTHOUGH IT IS FUN TO LOOK AT
ALL THESE IMPLEMENTS AND LEARN
HOW THEY WERE USED, THEY ALSO
SERVE A LARGER PURPOSE.
THEY ARE A VIVID REMINDER OF HOW
HARD FARM LIFE WAS AND HOW MUCH
TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED OUR LIVES
IN JUST A FEW DECADES.
BEHIND ME IS THE CARLTON HOUSE, THE OLDEST STRUCTURE IN TOWN. LIKE THE AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM, IT
WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT AS A
CHURCH.
BUT UNLIKE THE MUSEUM, THIS ONE
HAS HAD A ROUGH JOURNEY.
DURING THE WINTER OF 1859 IT WAS
MOVED FROM ONE MILE WEST TO THIS
LOCATION.
WHILE TRAVERSING THE FROZEN ROCK
CREEK, THE ICE GAVE WAY AND THE
OLD CHURCH SANK INTO THE SHALLOW
WATERS.
EVENTUALLY IT WAS RAISED AND BECAME A HOTEL. LATER IT BECAME MORRISON'S FIRST
HOSPITAL.
TODAY IT HOUSES THE REST OF THE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S COLLECTION
WHICH FOCUSES ON LOCAL BUSINESS
AND AREA HISTORY.
ON DISPLAY IS THIS LEDGER BOOK
FROM 1898 LISTING THE CARLTON
HOUSE EXPENSES.
NOTICE AT THE TIME THREE CANS OF
CORN COST A QUARTER.
HERE IS A GUEST REGISTER FROM
1875 WHEN THE HOTEL WAS KNOWN AS
"FRANKLIN HOUSE."
THIS ROCKING CHAIR BELONGED TO
LOCAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER.
LEGEND HAS IT IT IT WAS A GIFT
FROM A FRIEND THAT USED TO GO
HUNTING WITH, THAT FRIEND'S NAME
WAS BILL CODY.
WE KNOW HIM BETTER TODAY AS
BUFFALO BILL.
SPEAKING OF FAMOUS PEOPLE, THE
MOST DISTINGUISHED PERSON BORN
THUS FAR IN MORRISON IS
DR. ROBERT MILL KEN, HE IN THE
ONLY ORGANIZED THE PHYSIC
CURRICULUM FOR UNIVERSITY OF
CHICAGO, BUT IN 1923 WON THE
NOBEL PRIZE FOR RESEARCH WORK IN
THAT FIELD.
IN 1982, THE POST OFFICE ISSUED
A STAMP TO HONOR HIS ACHIEVE
MENTS WHICH INCLUDED STUDIES ON
X-RAYS AND COSMIC RAYS WHICH HE
NAMED.
INTERESTINGLY, HIS FATHER WAS
APPROACHER AT THE CHURCH WHICH
NOW HOUSES THE AGRICULTURAL
MUSEUM.
IN THE CORNER STANDS THIS FANCY
STOVE MADE AROUND LATE 1800'S BY
THE SUMMIT STOVE COMPANY RIGHT
HERE IN TOWN. NEARBY IS A LATER
MODEL FROM THE 19 20'S WHICH
INCLUDES A BIN FOR HEATING WATER
AND THESE SHELVES USED FOR
KEEPING THE FOOD WARM UNTIL
SERVED.
>> WELCOME BACK TO MORRISON, AND THE GROWING COLLECTION OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY WHICH
INCLUDES ALL THE EQUIPMENT FROM
THE MICHIGAN AVENUE OFFICE IN
CHICAGO OF THE NOTED DENTIST
DR. ALBERT DAHLBERG.
A PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
CHICAGO, HE IS RENOWNED FOR HIS
STUDIES IN HUMAN GENETICS AND
DENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY.
HOWEVER THIS OFFICE EQUIPMENT IS
A REMINDER OF A DIFFERENT TYPE
OF HE EVOLUTION, THAT OF THE
DENTAL PROFESSION.
THERE IS A BUNSEN BURNER ON THE
INSTRUMENT TRAY USED TO HEAT
GOLD FOIL WHICH WAS USED AS A
FILLING.
FOR THE FIRST 30 YEARS OF
DR. DAHLBERG'S CAREER, HE USED
THIS BELT DRIVEN HAND PEACE, BUT
IN THE 1960'S A NEW INTENTION
CAME ON THE SCENE.
ATTACHED TO THE TRAY ARM IS THIS
CONTROL PANEL FOR A NEW HAND
PIECE THAT CHANNELLED WATER AND
USED COMPRESSED AIR TO ACHIEVE
HIGH SPEEDS.
THE OLD BELT DRIVEN DRILL
OPERATED AT 3,000RPM'S WHILE
THIS ONE SPUN AT 300,000RPM'S.
IN ADDITION TO DR. DAHLBERG'S
CHAIR, HIS INSTRUMENTS AND ALL
OF HIS PATIENTS' RECORDS, MUSEUM
ALSO RECEIVED ALL OF HIS
EQUIPMENT.
IN THE DAYS BEFORE
SPECIALIZATION AND COMMERCIAL
LABS, THE DENTIST WOULD ALSO
MAKE ALL THE FALSE TEETH AND
RESTORATIONS.
HERE IS 1887 COLOR GUIDE USED TO
DETERMINE THE PROPER PORCELAIN
MIXTURE FOR FILLINGS. INTEREST
THAT SAME ERA IS THIS SET OF DEN
DENTURES MADE OUT OF VULCANIZED
BONE.
BEFORE THAT, WOOD, OR EVEN CAST
MOAT AL WERE USED.
LANGING ON THE WALL IS THIS
DIPLOMA FROM NORTHWESTERN
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY
FROM 1892.
IT WAS ONLY THE SECOND CLASS TO
GRADUATE FROM THAT INSTITUTION.
BUT WHAT MAKES THIS DIPLOMA EVEN
MORE INTERESTING ARE THE
SIGNATURES AT THE BOTTOM.
IT IS SIGNED BY SOME OF THE
HEAVYWEIGHTS OF THE PROFESSION
WHO WERE TEACHING AT THE COLLEGE
AT THE TIME.
FOR INSTANCE, JB BLACK,
CONSIDERED THE FOUNDER OF MODERN
DENTISTRIES.
HE HAD MONTHS NIS, AND SIGNATURE
TEXTBOOK AUTHOR THOMAS GILMOUR.
WELCOME BACK TO MORRISON WHICH HAS A GENESSEE STREET AND WALL STREET.
THAT'S BECAUSE IT WAS PLOTTED
OUT IN 1855 BY A GROUP FROM NEW
YORK.
BUT THE BUSIEST AVENUE IN TOWN
WAS ONE THAT FIRST HELP CONNECT
THE NATION.
TODAY ROUTE 30 RUNS IN FRONT OF THE AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM, BUT BACK IN 1913 IT WAS PART OF THE
FIRST TRANS CON TEN INTAL ROAD
IN AMERICA.
NAMED THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY, IT
WAS A BOLD INITIATIVE PROPOSED
AT A TIME WHEN DIRT ROADS SNAKED
BETWEEN TOWNS.
NOT ONLY WAS THE HIGHWAY USED TO PROMOTE THE PAN MAW EXPOSITION OF 1915 IN SAN FRANCISCO, IT WAS
ALSO USED TO PROMOTE THE
CONSTRUCTION OF HARD ROADS.
IN FACT, THE FIRST MILE OF
CONCRETE FOR THIS ROAD WAS LAID
JUST SEVEN MILES WEST OF DEKALB.
SCATTERED AROUND TOWN ARE COUPLE
OF THE ORIGINAL HIGHWAY MARKERS.
EACH ONE WAS EMBEDDED WITH A
BRONZE COIN BEARING THE FACE OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
IN THE DAYS BEFORE NUMBERED
ROADS, INDIVIDUAL ROUTES WERE
IDENTIFIED BY COLORED STRIPES.
MOST COMMONLY THE STRIPES WERE
PLACED ON UTILITY POLES, WHEN A
NUMBER OF ROUTES SHARED THE
ROAD, IT BECAME CONFUSING
BECAUSE THE POLE WOULD SUPPORT A
MULTITUDE OF COLORED STRIPES.
LIKE THE OLD MARKERS, MORRISON
TODAY CONTINUES TO HANG ONTO
PART OF ITS PAST.
A TRADITION THAT BEGAN IN THOSE
EARLY DAYS WHEN THE COUNTY
SETTLERS WOULD GATHER IN THE
TOWNS PARK TO REMINISCE AND
SHARE STORIES.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE
MORRISON HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND
WHEN THE MUSEUMS ARE OPEN, CALL
(815)772-8889.