Some of my earliest memories revolve around Alexander County, Illinois, the southern most county in Illinois. For what seems like eras, my mother's family have called this bucoclic, yet poor, county home. Nestled in the heart of the county, hailed Ralph Denton, a man I remember who walked with a limb, spoke sparsely, and lived as a bachelor.
Well, I truly remember his 100s of acres juxtaposed against a house that had no running water or electricity. Surrounding the dilapidated house were seemingly thousands of barns full of millions of "old stuff." By old, I mean Ralph probably never bought anything he didn't inherit from his parents. Being that he was my grandpa's uncle, well... this was an American Pickers' dream.
Sadly probably in 1997, Ralph passed away, and this dream came to an end, as the family had to tear down the house and "burn" most of the stuff. Yet, the family did keep many items, and one that stood out was a hundred year old two person saw. As today was my first day at the Sawmill Museum, I went up to this two person saw on display. I swear ours was twice as big, and twice as heavy. Funny how memory works. And to be honest, even when I first interviewed for this job, I forgot about the rich lumber history my family had.
The lumber industry started with, well I don't really know. I guess it started with my great-great grandfather, if not before. My grandfather's grandfather must have started it when he settled in Alexander County. By settle, I mean he shot his mother or father "accidentally," and was driven out of the house. He "settled" with a local man named Denton, or so I think. Anyways, Ralph was my grandfather's uncle. Most likely in the 50s or the 60s, Ralph was applying his trade in our woods, mind you successfully. This being before the days of OHSA, even the best of workers could fall pray to the bad ideas. While Ralph was sawing down the tree, his bud was to push the tree out of the way. Not by hand, but with a bulldozer.
Imagine a 1950s bulldozer. Imagine lil ol' Ralph, maybe 5'8 120 pounds. Imagine a giant tree. Now imagine how well all of these go together with Ralph's head being the center of attention. Ralph loses and dies. Being the family story, he died to all who had sense, except himself as he had no sense -- he was knocked out. He eventually woke, and walked out with a life long limp.
So that's my affairs with the lumber industry. I look forward to expanding my knowledge about the lumber history, and most of all, Clinton's role in this history. Remember to check this out from time to time for more stories and notions.
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