LOCAL HISTORY
BY BETTY OBENDORF Curator, Polo Historical Society I received a packet of information from Mary Hofmann of Wisconsin. It is always exciting because I never know what I will find. This time it was information from the family of George Read and some of the history of Anna Parmelee. It had all been saved by Dorothy Read Graebal with instructions to send it to Polo Historical Society, Dorothy’s husband was Rev. Richard Paul Graebel who had been the pastor of the Polo Presbyterian Church in 1936. Her father was George E. Read and there was a notation that George had owned Aplington House in 1925 or 1926. I knew that George Read had his law office in Aplington House but I did not know that he owned the home at one time. We know very little about early Aplington House after the Aplington’s left it. I will now find out more about George Read. The first big “find” was an early picture of the Dr. William Burns House. It was a Christmas card from Arthur and Emma Pearson who lived in the
doctor’s house after the doctor had left it. Ruel Pearson moved into the house in 1869. There is no date on the card since it was not sent through the mail. The card shows the Burns’ house with a building hooked on to the back of it. The early Sanborn Maps showed that something had been there but we did not know what it was or when it was taken off the building. We always thought that Dr. Burns had a place for his horses and probably a buggy in those early days. The card had been sent to Anna Parmelee because the verse on the card had Anna’s name in it. Also on the back of the card was a notation about how the Pearson family would have holiday meals with the Read family “across the street.” This card had been saved by Dorothy Read Graebel. Dorothy was the one who had written the extra comments on the back of the card. She also wrote how Miss Parmelee had taught her father, George E. Read and her father’s sister, Aunt Julia Read Lawrence in those early school days in Polo. While Anna Parmelee was not relat-
The Christmas card sent to Miss Anna Parmelee by Emma and Arthur Pearson showing the Dr. William Burns House. This was an early picture showing the part that had been built on the back of the house. Do not know when it was torn off. This is the oldest picture of the Burns House in the archives of the Polo Historical Society. ed to the Read family, she was closely connected by being a teacher of Read family members. Dorothy kept quite a bit of information on the life of Anna Parmelee and I will tell you about Anna’s life later. Anna lived to be 97 and she lived just down the street from me as I grew up.
I also have been getting information on the train wreck that Jerry Brantner wanted. Jerry was the one who brought me memorabilia of his grandfather, Ralph Keckler and not Jim. I will tell you about the train wreck later. All these are interesting stories from the past.
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OGLE COUNTY NEWS Ogle County Newspapers / oglecountynews.com • Friday, September 25, 2020
Early picture sheds light on Burns House
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