Dr. Ruth Tunnicliff – Bacteriologist / Developed First Inoculation for Measles
Ruth May Tunnicliff was the youngest of three remarkable sisters born in Macomb. Like her sisters, Ruth was tutored at their home, probably by her mother, and then attended Vassar College and received her A.B. degree with Phi Beta Kappa honors at the age of 19, as did her sisters. Ruth took pre-med courses at the University…
Read MoreMcDonough County Historical Society
Since 1969, the McDonough County Historical Society, a not-for-profit organization, has been an important force for promoting historical understanding and preserving materials that reflect the Forgottonia county’s heritage. Their mission supports the preservation of McDonough County, Illinois heritage. The organization also offers free historical programs at their meetings five times a year (September, November, January, March and…
Read MoreU.S. Presidential Visits to Macomb & Unforgettable Forgottonia
Macomb and Unforgettable Forgottonia has been visited by several US Presidents over the years. Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan have all made short addresses in Macomb and McDonough County. Additionally, on two separate occasions Barack Obama visited Macomb. Abraham Lincoln was Macomb and Unforgettable Forgettonia at least four times addressing…
Read MoreNagel Brothers – Inventors of Rolled Oats
The Nagel Brothers of Bushnell, IL were the first to invent a process of making rolled oats without having to steam the oats. Until that time, the oats were first steamed to separate the groat from the hull. The brothers patented the new process and later sold it to the Quaker Company, who in turned changed…
Read MoreSwearingen’s Old Mill Tourist Camp Windmill
In 1927, Ralph Swearingen’s Old Mill Tourist Camp opened in McDonough County‘s village of Industry, IL. It was an oasis for tourists featuring cabins, a restaurant, a gas station, and this windmill. After the business closed in 1960, all of the structures were torn down except for the iconic Windmill which still stands today.
Read MoreShoeless Joe Jackson & Baseball’s “Black Sox” in McDonough County
“Shoeless” Joe Jackson, the man Babe Ruth said he modeled his hitting style after, played at the Macomb fairgrounds in 1921. Considered one of the best players to ever play the game, Joe Jackson was known for his ability to catch impossible fly balls, throw the ball from the outfield on the fly around 400…
Read More“Kelly” Wagle – The Bootlegger
During Prohibition of the 1920s and ’30s, Chicago was the headquarters for the illicit bootlegger activity of mob boss Al Capone and his syndicate. Capone held a tight rein on any buying, selling or transporting of alcohol in a territory that reached south of Peoria and further. “Kelly” Wagle of Colchester, known as the most…
Read MoreLou Sabin – NFL & AFL Champion Player / Coach
Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played for Indiana University in college and as a professional for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference between 1946 and 1949. Lou Saban then began a long coaching career. After numerous jobs at the college…
Read MorePeter Newell – Famed Illustrator
Peter Sheaf Hersey Newell (March 5, 1862 – January 15, 1924) was an American artist and author who built a sought after reputation in the 1880s and 1890s for his humorous drawings and poems, which appeared in Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar, The Saturday Evening Post, Judge, Scribner’s Magazine, and numerous other publications. Newell was a native Forgottonian born in McDonough County who…
Read MoreThe Republic of Forgottonia
The lore of “The Republic of Forgottonia” was created in the late 1960s in what is the very heart of the “Republic”; Macomb, IL. A group of concerned citizens dubbed the area “Forgottonia” in protest of the lack of state and federal investment in highways and other infrastructure in a sixteen-county section of West Central Illinois. Variously described as…
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