By Charlene Shields
Notes from the White County Historical Society as they appear in "The Carmi Times."
Copyright ©2000 by "The Carmi Times" Permission to reprint granted to Cindy Birk Conley and the ILGenWeb by Tammy Knox, editor, "The Carmi Times."
Model T, Model A seen about Crossville
By the nature of my volunteer genealogy work, I spend a lot of time thinking about the past--people, places and things. For a moment one day last week, I thought I'd spent TOO MUCH time in that manner. You see, I looked out my kitchen window and thought I saw a Model-T Ford parked on my neighbor's lawn! I had some serious doubts about my vision, so I went over to investigate. Sure enough: There on the lawn at the L. P. Cox home in Crossville was a splendid shiny, black 1921 Model-T coupe with black leather seats. L. P. said he drove it from Barnhill to Crossville in 1 1/2 hours, and on two occasions, he actually got it up to 35 m.p.h.! What a great Christmas present for his wife. Later I noted how incongruous it looked, parked in the Cox garage next to Margaret's Lincoln.
Then one sunny day this week I saw Bill and Keitha Dobbs tooling around Crossville in a green Model-A with yellow spoke wheels and a classy ah-ooga horn. Maybe we'll have some more interesting entries in our parades with these two autos around town.
It made me remember how my dad used to laugh at himself over a remark he once made. He had owned a 1923 touring car with side curtains and traded it in on a 1926 model (both black, of course). The 1926 coupe was all enclosed and had a starter (no side curtains and a crank not generally needed). My dad thought the new car was the most ultra-modern thing ever and remarked, "This is it. This car has everything; they can't improve on this model." Long years afterward, he used to tell this on himself.
I'm sure some of you know when cars became prevalent enough that gas stations came into being. (That's another of the things I should have asked my dad.) I just remember old-timers said gas for the early cars was bought by the quart at hardware stores.
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In the past week, members of the White County Historical Society have received their first newsletter of the new year. I wonder how many readers of this column belong to our historical society. I'm sure there are many out there who are into genealogy or are interested in local history and in trying to preserve our past, and yet have not been asked to join our group. Well, I'm asking you now. We need you. There are several kinds of annual membership:
Individual, $15
Family, $25
Sustaining, $50
Patron, $100
Contributing $500 plus a life membership for $1,000.
Anyone who wishes to join may send a check (along with name, address and phone number) to White County Historical Society, PO Box 121, Carmi, IL 62821-0121, and we'll be delighted to add your name to our roster. Sam Endicott is membership chairperson. If you have questions about joining, call him at 382-7097.
One of the benefits of membership is a quarterly newsletter, about 98 percent of which is put out by computer-whiz Pat Davis. I haven't seen a county newsletter anywhere which is any more professional in appearance.
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The Genealogy Library is closed this month.
Gen Lib typed 1/4/00 barry's mac, cq
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