The Metamora Association for Historic Preservation Newsletter comes out 6 times per year. Some highlights are listed here for each issue, but each has more than mentioned in the summary. Enjoy! A few issues are missing; we're still working on working on getting them ready for upload.
Electronic versions are small PDF files, mostly under 2MB each. If you'd like to sign up for new issues via e-mail, send e-mail to subscribe.
- October 2022 — Morsetown Cemetery Underground Railroad Conductor marker ceremony of September 25, 2022 (with conductor gravestone photos); 1949 4-H Club photograph; Adlai Stevenson "Copperhead" rumors
- August 2022 — Wawros present the Stevenson House with paintings by Mary Schiltz Heinzmann, wife of Metamora physician Dr. C.B. Heinzmann (family name sometimes spelled "Heinzman"); C.B. & Mary Barbara Heinzmann car crash article; photo of sons & names of children of Adam and Walfreida (Herzog) Waldschmidt of Metamora Township; various postcards of Metamora & Germantown
- June 2022 — Underground Railroad marker ceremony coverage; MAHP video tour of Metamora now available on YouTube; illustration of Maple Grove School by Kay Sears; old birth certficate and local ads; photos of Emergency 116 Ambulance crew and of a St. Mary's event (all undated)
- April 2022 press release — Underground Railroad events: May 12, 2022 presentation by Linda Kern Moore in Roanoke; May 15, 2022 grave marker placement at Oakwood Cemetery in Metamora; The Underground Railroad in Metamora book availability
- April 2022 — Underground Railroad marker ceremonies; pictures of St. Mary's School history, railroad removal near Lowpoint, and the house that became the Mason Funeral Home
- February 2022 — sign from Schlipf's implement & appliance store; Abraham Lincoln 8th Circuit markers & rededication; difficulty tracing old roads; old jail/John Zimmerman Boarding House
- December 2021 — stage coach route and train in Metamora; rememberences of Lincoln's time in Metamora; Fandel family photos
- October 2021 — about 10 old post cards with local photos, donated as unneeded by Metamora Courthouse State Historic Site; small excerpts and images from the 1873 county atlas; "Mrs. S. M. Snyder" typewritten details of "History of Doctors Whitmire Homes" and "The Stevenson Home"; James S. Whitmire (1827-1891) tombstone; J.F. Isch store flyer from July 26, 1930; coopers' tools on display at Stevenson House; unidentified wedding photo with Magdalen Hagemann attending; 1946 letter from Lincoln R. Scott in 1946 describing J. Randolph Scott involvement in the Underground Railroad
- August 2021 — highlight items of 79-year-old Bob Remmert's audio interview about old Metamora and growing up in the 1940s-1950s; conflicting details about where the American Hotel was located; map of 50+ historic buildings & sites in Metamora (possibly from 1980s)
- June 2021 &mdash addresses of old village leaders' homes and businesses; "missing pieces" from the last newsletter, including many photos of grocery & general stores; group photos of St. Mary's Grade School graduating class of 1927, St. Mary's picnic in 1947, and Metamora Township High School yearbook photos from May 1944
- April 2021 — Abersol/Isch's store photos, including before the house was moved west; Metamora High School boys baseball from 1951; Christian Union classes; Peoria-Chillicothe extracts from 1913 King's Official Route Guide
- February 2021 — Abraham Lincoln facts; construction of the Metamora Courthouse; early local post offices
- December 2020 — Metamora's earliest origins, organizers, and nearby services; Metamora High School girls basketball team do Stevenson House grounds maintenance in October 2020
- October 2020 (main) — The Metamoran, a new 2020 history book by Ron Wagner; St. Mary of Lourdes Church history book photos, including St. Mary's Ladies' Society, St. Joseph's Young Men's Society, St. Cecilia's Young Ladies' Society, in 1907, with names; 1929 Parrot Yearbook from Metamora Township High School; "Welch's System" teacher's record book for the Oak Hill/Scott School, with records 1922-1930
- August 2020 — class photos of Metamora High School Class of 1898 and Germantown School (i.e. Germantown Hills grade school) 1899 & 1900; Metamora east-side business district fire, May 27, 1941; death of Cpl. Harold Garber in a World War II plane landing accident, 1943; St. Mary of Lourdes School history
- June 2020 — class reunion photos from Metamora Township High School classes of 1918, 1924, 1937, 1938, 1942, and 1946; grade school class photos of Hickory Point School in 1905, Oak Hill School in 1911-1912, and Lowell School in 1914-1915 and 1935; "Lincoln, as Prof. Radford of Eureka Knew Him", article in the Metamora Herald, June 6, 1920
- April 2020 — pre-1915 photo of northeast corner of Metamora Sq., numbered "26613"; August 1859 notice for the September 5, 1859 school board election, possibly the first, of "District No. 2, Town of Metamora" (what later became Morsetown School District 42); "Woodford County in Grip of Epidemic of Influenza", Spanish Flu article from the October 11, 1918 Metamora Herald; Metamora Township High School Class of 1944 and other Metamora Herald photo clippings
- February 2020 — Helen Ahrens
scrapbook newspaper photos, including engagement photos and announcements, Metamora dance pupils of Prenda East of Peoria, Woltz Studios photos of various Metamora children, and George E. Klein and Leo C. Fandel family portraits; 4 of our over 700 funeral announcements
- December 2019 (revised) — old county seat Versalles and nearby Bowling Green: excerpts from The Past and Present of Woodford County; recent field trip to the sites of the old towns and Lincoln's trail through them and Panther Creek on the 8th Judicial Circuit, including overview maps; Metamora Herald photo clippings: 1949 Metamora Township High School Basketball team, 1985 Biddy (MYSA grade school age) basketball team, 1978 Metamora Grade School Thanksgiving play costumes
- October 2019 — photos and articles from Durward Guth & Charles Kamm, including Metamora Women's Club (1982-83) and Metamora Township High School production of "A Ready-Made Family (1951); the Herman Weber "rock house" moved from IL 116 to N. Prairie St. in 1959; photo of Mr. Willman on the inside of his store
- August 2019 — photo clippings of Metamora Prep League baseball and Metamora Township High School homecoming, plays, and cheerleaders, and American Legion school award winners from Germantown Hills and Metamora; WWII biography of Joseph C. Alig (1894-1975) and WWII story of Ed Bumeter
- June 2019 — 75th anniversary of D-Day, with news photos and clippings; photo of Metamora Township High School Class of 1946, with names; Sr. Cecilia Fandel books about the Alig and Fandel families and local history, with names of other families mentioned in the histories
- April 2019 — 1893 plat of Metamora; grade school photos (1905 at Hickory Point School between Germantown Hills and Metamora, St. Mary's Catholic School graduating class of 1927, and 1935 at Lowell School 1 mi. E. of Metamora on IL 116); Methodist Church/Christian Union Church on S. Hanover St.; "Germantown Memories" by Scott Turley (also at 2015 post at Meanwhile, Back in Peoria)
- February 2019 — Metamora Herald excerpts from 1864 to 1908, including articles about Adlai Stevenson I being accused of being in the Knights of the Golden Circle, a group of copperhead southern sympathizers
- December 2018 — John & Linda Keys clippings, including: Adlai Stevenson II visits the Abels, who owned the Stevenson House since 1935; farmer finds 2000 prehistoric Indian skeletons in 1954; Walt Laitas, first Metamora High School football coach
- October 2018 — Metamora High School football; Chief Black Partridge of the Potawatomi, and local things named Partridge after him
- August 2018 — more news clipping and photographs from Bob Remmert, and from Magdalen Hagemann's collection provided by Larry Hagemann
- June 2018 — Metamora Boys Off to World War I (100 years ago this month); commentary about the Stevenson House from Curt Andes, grandson of long-time Stevenson House owners Charles & Lillian Abel; history of Metamora Mennonite Church and its historically-related Partridge, Harmony, and Union congregations; licenses, political ad clippings, and other papers from Bob Remmerts' collection
- April 2018 — the old gun shop, the 1830s house at 109 W. Partridge St. next to Eli's Coffee Shop; MAHP receives Bertha Snyder's wedding dress; Morsetown School
- February 2018 — 1st of Bob Remmert's photos & Metamora Herald news clippings file — people shown in this issue:
- Gay M. (Stivers) & Ben M. Schierer 50th anniversary (1966): married October 5, 1916 at Sacred Heart Chuch, Peoria IL; Ben in the dairy business with sons in Metamora; 2 sons, 6 grandchildren, 1 great-grandaughter
- Pauline M. (Gangloff) & Edward J. Schierer 50th anniversary (1958): 215 W. Washington St., Metamora; married October 6, 1908 at St. Mary's Church, "here in" Metamora IL; 8 children & 25 grandchildren
- Emma (Meismer) & August Scheirer 50th anniversary (1959): 315 N. Hanover St., Metamora; married February 9, 1909, St. Mary's Church, Metamora; 7 children & 23 grandchildren
- Mr. & Mrs. Frank L. DuBois 50th anniversary (news November 8, 1957): Metamora; married November 19, 1907 at St. Mary's Church, "Lourdes, Ill." then lived in South Dakota but "most of their lives" in "Metamora and vicinity"; 1 daughter & 3 grandchildren (see also next line)
- Elizabeth (Chilly) & Frank L. DuBois 60th anniversary (news November 16, 1967): 303 W. Partridge, Metamora; married November 19, 1907 at St. Mary's Church, Lourdes, then lived in South Dakota, then back to Metamora vicinity; retired from farming 1948 and "moved to town"; 1 daughter, 3 grandchildren, 7 great-grandchildren
- Maisie (Webster) & Cloise Mayfield 25th aniversary (1972): 309 S. Niles, Metamora; married June 21, 1947 at the Methodist Church, Croydon, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; 4 children & 1 granddaughter
- Catherine (Adams) & Frank Kieswetter 50th anniversary (1969): Metamora; married September 30, 1919 at "Lourdes Church, Metamora" (probably St. Mary's of Lourdes, not Metamora); 9 children & 35 grandchildren
- Mr. & Mrs. Andrew W. Ehringer 50th aniverary ("Feb. 2nd", no year)
- Helen (Schierer) & Elmer DuBois 55th anniversary (1988): Metamora; married September 26, 1933, in Metamora; 4 children, 9 grandchildren, 1 great-grandchild; Elmer DuBois "in the trucking business in the Metamora-area for the past 57 years"
- Evelyn & Don Whittington 50th anniversary (undated): rural Metamora; married "50 years June 7"; 3 children & grandchildren
- Bernice P. (Shea) & James P. Murphy 50th anniversary (1998): 217 N. Hanover St., Metamora; married June 19, 1948 at St. Mary's Church in Metamora; 1 son
- Helen (Durst) & Albert Sluga: married September 29, 1919 in Peoria; 2 children, 4 grandsons, 1 grandaughter
- Mary Reeser Petrosky & Charles Petrosky 50th anniversary (1996): Metamora; married March 10, 1946; 8 children, 13 grandchildren, 4 step-grandchildren, 3 step-great-grandchildren
- Delores (Noll) & Wesley Klein 50th anniversary (1996): 904 State St., Washington IL; married June 8, 1946 in Metamora; 2 children, "and grandchildren"
- Rosemary (Elbert) & Arthur Mischler 40th anniversary (news April 23, 1986): 315 W. Monroe, Metamora; married April 24, 1946 at St. Mary's Catholic Church; 5 children & 13 grandchildren
- Magdeline (Engst) & Robert Harbers Sr. 60th anniversary (news September 11, 1986): 108 N. Hancock, Metamora; married September 14, 1926 at "St. Mary's of Lourdes, Metamora" (so probably not Metamora); 2 sons, 11 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren
- Violet I. (Trantina) & Howard Mason 50th anniversary (news February 7, 1985): Metamora; married February 14, 1935, in Metamora; 2 sons & 7 grandchildren
- Edith Gail (Wiles) (known as Gail) & Carl Webb 50th anniversary (news July 9, 1987): Metamora; married July 11, 1937, in Roanoke; 3 children, 8 grandchildren, 1 great-grandchild
- a later photograph of Gail & Carl Webb, same couple as in the article to the left, at bottom center of last page
- Carolyn (Eckhoff) & John Rauh 40th anniversary (1996): 314 S. Morgan, Metamora; married November 18, 1956 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Benson; 3 children — 10 grandchildren; John Rauh has spent 51 years at Metamora Telephone Company
- December 2017 — life and work of local stone-mason Herman Albert Weber; rediscovery of the village square well where the town pump house used to be
- October 2017 — the origins of the Old Settlers' Association, and Old Settlers Days through the years
- August 2017 — Phyllis Dietel's intricate, scale model of Lincoln's Springfield home on display at the Metamora Courthouse
- June 2017 — samples of items on display at the Stevenson House, including old photos, Cardinalis yearbooks, and posters
- April 2017 — the "standard schools"; a short Metamora quiz; bottles from the "Bottling Company Metamora Ill"; Whisler's corner gas station on Illinois Route 89 near Lowpoint
- February 2017 — history of Black Partridge, Worth Township, Woodford County, Illinois, the settlement that later because known as Lourds or Lourdes; the Chicago & Alton Railroad and train wrecks at Washburn in September 1910 and Metamora in March 1918
- December 2016 — Metamora's boarding houses: the Metamora House, Carpenter House, and American House
- October 2016 — Germantown Hills schools before the 1960s.
- August 2016 — "The Real Lincoln Highway: The Forgotten Circuit Markers" by Guy C. Fraker.
- June 2016 — The Engel family (who settled just west and south of Metamora) and their history; a new series of Association notecards.
- April 2016 — Schertz family farming portrait around 1909 on Illinois Route 116; a purported 1923 teaching contract, spread by mimeograph.
- February 2016 — 1940s aerial views of St. Mary's and the north side of the square; the Wiltz family of Lourdes, Hickory Point, and the west side of Metamora.
- December 2015 — Names for the Lincoln Tap bowling team and 1920 Metamora Grade School violin class; Santa Claus visits Metamora in 1910.
- October 2015 — Civil War letter from Underground Railroad conductor's wife Nancy Dutton to her son Harvey, whose brother had just died at 19; Metamora aerial photos from 1939.
- August 2015 — Civil War soldiers from Metamora: roster and stories; the March 2, 1865 train wreck that killed 5 Metamora-area people from the 33rd Illinois Veteran Volunteer Regiment, including Henry Walker, Sr.
- June 2015 — Upper Free Bridge; before the bridge; and the roads down from Metamora.
- April 2015 — Metamora township roads and old maps.
- February 2015 — The Underground Railroad. (6 page special)
- December 2014 — Photos and details: Seasons Greetings from the Christian Union Church (with people identified in the photo); a history of renovations to the village square through 2014.
- October 2014 — Shirley Adams retires from the MAHP board. Photos: An old-fashioned fall.
- August 2014 — Story: An odiferous nickname. Photos and story: the Engel Farm.
- June 2014 — More photos of WWII Metamora from the Metamora Lions Club book, and a couple of Caterpillar and LeTourneau's.
- April 2014 — Western Metamora Township school districts merge in 1909. Book of WWII Metamora photos by Metamora Lions Club on display. 1909 burglars blow safe in Parr's Saloon.
- February 2014 — Photos and a history of Metamora bands. People who lost their lives at Vicksburg.
- December 2013 — Excerpts from The Past and Present of Woodford County (1878), including laws, animal census, and the first post offices. Donation: 1846 letter from father to son, through the Partridge post office.
- October 2013 — Donations: Videotape of the 1976 bicentennial re-enactment of the Melissa Goings/Abraham Lincoln trial at the Metamora Courthouse, now converted to digital video file; WWI clothes; 1976 aerial photos of Metamora. Photos: Video stills from re-enactment; 1910 Oakenwald School (Partridge Twp. sec. 36) with students; recluse Martin Becker with his cow-drawn cart.
- August 2013 — Photo: 1924 Metamora Township High School cooking class group portrait.
- June 2013 — Popularity of Metamora: A Rich and Proud History already demands a second printing. Photos: H.J. Waldschmidt furniture business.
- April 2013 — MAHP's 44-page Metamora: A Rich and Proud History goes on sale.
- February 2013 — Photos and story: The Metamora Garage/Dollar General and the pre-1914 buildings it replaced.
- December 2012 — Photo and story: arrival Santa by car in 1910, from the Metamora Herald.
- October 2012 — The store before the May 1948 Garber's supermarket. Donations: WWII and U.S.S. Talahatchee County military uniforms; Metamora souvenir history books from the 1960s.
- August 2012 — Photo and notes: Parade for Lyndon Murray, first soldier going off to WWI from Metamora. Cass Irving and his house.
- June 2012 — Photos and stories: Lincoln Circuit Marking Association marker on Tazewood Road & Washington Blacktop. William Hoshor's Germantown House/Union House at Lourdes Road and Illinois Route 116, built in 1850, rebuilt in 1870, and torn down in 1965 to make way for the State Police District 8 headquarters.
- April 2012 — Typhoon in Lt. Emma Sommer's Letter from Okinawa, April, 1945; Caterpillar Inc. matching gift program doubles $1,150 of donations from Cat employees and retirees.
- December 2011 — History of railway service in Metamora.
- October 2011 — History of the 1855–1922 Christian Union Church on S. Hanover St.; map and addresses of the pre-1855 churches. George C. Lemon, the other 19th-century owner of the Stevenson House. Owners of the Lee Log Cabin now in Black Partridge Park.
- August 2011 — Photos: pre-1940s Wagner & Belsly Implements "leaning building of Metamora" on N. Menard St.; Chicago & Alton train in 1914; the 1874-1931 wooden bandstand.
- June 2011 — Pre-1953 eyewitness account of early days of Metamora by Madeline (Isch) Sullivan, granddaughter of pioneers John and Catherine Abersol.
- April 2011 — Biography of attorney Edward Absersol. Donations: Garber ice cream conatiners; Wernsman's Restaurant menu with history since 1939; Metamora Fields invitation; wooden walker used by Sophie Loser (died 1954). Artifact computer database starting.
- February 2011 — Stories and photos: John F. Isch's store at Abersol's Corners (W. Partridge St. at N. Menard St.); John Snyder's 1830s house (north on Wiedman Rd.); the ferry across the Illinois River narrows at Little Detroit (no photo), and the Upper Free Bridge that replaced it across the narrows at the Water Park.
- December 2010 (may require downloading prior to viewing due to a file glitch) — Lots of MAHP progress. Photos: Santa arrives in a car in 1910; three million dollars of prototype Tucker automobiles in front of Ezra Schlipf Auto Sales (306 W. Walnut St.). Donations: Camel-back trunk, braided rug, wall oil lamp, and Fire House millstone.
- August 2010 — History notes about Santa Fe Trail, authorized by the state in 1833. Photos: 19th-century Christian Union Church on S. Hanover St., Colin Foley's Stevenson House diorama.
- February 2010, scanned: 1 page — Oakwood Cemetery monument "in memory of U.S. Soldiers and Sailors", containing stone specimens from the area; Lincoln notecards for sale from MAHP; Museografic software purchase by MAHP; observations of Something of Men I Have Known by Adlai Stevenson I
- October 2009, scanned: 1 page — August 22, 2009, Metamora Square unveiling of new Lincoln statue with Melissa Goings statue based on Shirley Adams
- April 2009, scanned: 1 page — How Lincoln would have looked when visiting Metamora; Isch's Store photos, both as single-width before 1901 and double-width after 1901; notes on Stevenson House paint and window updates
- June 2008 — $1000 grant to renovate Stevenson House windows. Metamora-area post office trivia. Photos: Metamora Grade School 1938-1939 student body. Photos of historic Metamora homes: 220 W. Partridge St. (Sol Egbert home "Honeymoon Cottage"); 405 N. Davenport St. (Mrs. Dora Schertz inn, later owned by Bernard & Marie Burns); 504 W. Mt. Vernon St. (Isaac Wykoff home, where group met to merge Protestant churches into the Christian Union Church).
- February 2008 — Photos: Metamora Public School (1873-1952); first class to graduate from the 1953 Metamora Grade School; Gene Springer holding family member Bertha Snyder's original painting donated to the MAHP; 1975 Class 3-A state champion Metamora High School football team, with the press box.
- December 2007 — MAHP landscaping and annual meeting photos; Uncle John's saloon; the ice houses.
- October 2007 — Photos of outhouse move from Dan Tullis Farm to Stevenson House. Donations, including St. Mary's calendars 1951-2007. National Register of Historic Places plaque installed.
- August 2007 — Photos: Metamora's first band photo, 1871; S.M. Snyder in his 1904 Gale automobile circa 1949. New donations: Cazenovia Co-Op legal stamp; scrapbook of Metamora engagement and wedding photos.
- June 2006, scanned: 1 page — summary of Adlai Stevenson I; Veterans Room in Stevenson House; first 2-seat car in Metamora owned by J.C. Snyder and 4-cylinder Glide vehicle owned by brother S.M. Snyder
- February 2006, scanned: 1 page — Stevenson House open houses for Valentine's Day and Hand Weavers Guild; Metamora Packing Company 1934 history
- February, unknown year (not 2006 or 2010), scanned page 2? — 1975 state champion Metamora Township High School football team photo
Coming later: missing 2006-2010 newsletters.
