Williamsfield Historical Society

06/08/2026

THANK YOU to all the guests & especially to the guest speakers who joined us May 16th for our 4th annual Genealogy Saturday & Cemetery Tour.

At Trenton Cemetery near Dahinda IL, we remembered:
Dr James Bedford, (1846-1940), Civil War artillery veteran & longtime community doctor

John Simeon Davis (1851-1932) & Retha (Thurman) Davis (1868-1940), longtime Trenton residents

Barack T Butt (1818-1854), businessman & one of the earliest residents of the stagecoach stop in Trenton IL

Gale Brooks (1924-1991), US Army Air Corp veteran & WW2 P.O.W.

Chet Kimler (1913-1987), WW2 Army veteran & longtime Dahinda resident

+also Lovette Farquer & family

And in Bradford Cemetery near Dahinda IL, we remembered:
Charles Bradford (1777-1868), decendant of governor William Bradford of the Mayflower & Plymouth colony, one of the earliest settlers & land owners in Persifer Township, first postmaster & host of the first church services in the township as well

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You’re still welcome to share any additional notes & stories about these folks as we celebrate their memories.
Thank you from the Williamsfield Historical Society

06/03/2026

Happy to share for our friends to the south 🙂

The Elmwood Historical Society will be selling sundae’s in the food tent for Strawberry Festival 2026. Stop by and support us 🍓!

We will also have a booth so you can find out more about joining our organization or supporting us with a donation. We hope to see you Saturday, June 6th.

05/28/2026

Dahinda School

05/03/2026

So it seems like everyone has a good Lapham School story, so let’s hear some more! And moreover, whose idea was it to put a schoolhouse up there? 🙂

04/28/2026

What can you tell us about Trenton School (District #93)?

04/28/2026

In light of our recent & well-attended discussion on the local country schools, we thought it would be appropriate to take our show (& conversation) online.
So what more can you tell us about Salem School (District #72)?

According to the retired teachers book of Knox County country schools, Salem was the first schoolhouse built in Victoria Township & was built un 1837. The original building was built of logs & was located about 1 mile northwest of the 2nd schoolhouse, which was built in 1870. Henry Shurtleff was the 1st teacher.

04/23/2026

What a great day for the young AND the old! (The collections, not the volunteers 😜)
The Historical Society played host to Mrs Fuller’s 4th grade class this afternoon. Lots of great questions & stories. It’s wonderful to see kids interested in history!

03/11/2026

Dahinda folks, what can you remember about “old Doc Bedford?” We have this article (written by Erma Nodeen in the Register Mail) from a couple decades back framed inside the building. And we intend on visiting his grave & others in Trenton Cemetery during our cemetery tour in May.

01/11/2026

https://youtu.be/QCwDDkWT6hw?si=gxQqIa-zfIxyuiy5

Williamsfield Historical Society - Mary Jane Lafollette - Country Schoolhouse Presentation 04/16/23

11/09/2025

This was worth sharing. Having worked with a terrific group of volunteers last Saturday to cleanup the abandoned Tucker Cemetery (southeast of Williamsfield on the Knox-Peoria County line), Dave Doubet shared with us some of Mildred Doubet’s (& likely Kate Spencer too) research on the Tucker Cemetery & the namesakes family. The first photo is the family of John “barefoot” Tucker, taken at the family farm just north of the cemetery. The names are written on the back (photo 2). And Mildred & Kate’s known cemetery burials are photo 3 & 4 (though there is rumored to be considerably more)