If
your family is from McLean County, they share an intriguing local
history.
Since the 1880's, Bloomington -Normal was winter quarter for trapeze
artists "The Flying Wards", "The Flying La Vans" and "The
Conciellos." The Gamma Phi Circus, at ISU, has been existence
since 1929. Milner
Library, at ISU, houses a historic circus collection.
Actor McLean
Stevenson was born in Bloomington.
The inspiration for the character of Dorothy
in "The Wizard of Oz" was a niece of L. Frank Baum. She is buried
in Bloomington's Evergreen Cemetery.
Elbert Hubbard,
founder of the Roycrofters,
was born in Bloomington and raised in Hudson, IL. He grew up on Money
Creek along with Melvin Stone,
founder of the Chicago Daily News, who became well
known as the general manager of the reorganized Associated Press (WikiPedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melville_E._Stone). There is a
stone bench in Hubbard Park in their honor. Listen to an Odeo podcast about the connection between the Associated Press and the Roycrofters… and McLean County, Illinois by your host!
Speaking of names, international
company Novartis bought Funk's Seed back in 1974. The Funk name
survives in McLean County thanks to the village of Funk's Grove and the
Funk's
Grove Nature Preserve. Any traveller of the historic
Route 66 probably has stopped by Funk's Grove for their famous maple syrup. Or they
may have eaten at the Dixie Truck Stop, home to the Route 66
Museum, in McLean, IL.
One of the largest employers in
Bloomington is State
Farm Insurance, founded by George Mecherle. Mecherle has a
street named in his honor in Bloomington.
Here, at the McLean County
Trail, you'll find free research to help you in your search for McLean
County ancestors.
