Murrayville and Jacksonville, Illinois/ CF Strang Archive

Published by Murrayville, IL

About this Item

Small archive of photography and papers from Murrayville and Jacksonville, Illinois. Condition ranges from fine to fair with most items good to very good condition. The most obvious flaw is moderate to strong fading of the large format mounted classroom photos, several of which are included simply to complete the archive and are likely useless to a researcher. Archive consists of approximately 55 items including 2 full plate tintypes, 7 large format mounted photos of school students, 2 CDV's with revenue stamps, 17 cabinet cards of portraits, 7 photo postcards, several smaller portrait images and a small selection of paper. The paper includes a short manuscript history of the Murrayville Cemetery, a booklet of Rules and Regulations of the Murrayville Cemetery from 1916, a program for the first Annual Commencement of the Murrayville Graded Schools, a manuscript record of the First Annual Anniversary of the Methodist Ladies Aid Society of Murrayville, plus a printed linen souvenir kerchief for the 1908 Annual Commencement of the Murrayville Public School. Most of the photos are identified. A highlight is an interior photo from 1912 of what might be a post office with great detail. Caption on back identifies the four subjects. The real photo postcards show wonderful content including several downtown Murrayville views, three different Murrayville churches and a view of Main St. South with a large collection of people in their Sunday best. Surnames from the collection include Hughes, Daniel, Miller, Wright, Strang, O'Hara, Murray, Beuscater, Potts, Grimes, Wyatt, Summers, Spencer and Israel. Archive includes the two full plate tintype photographs. One is labeled C. F. Strang House (showing 12 adults and children) while the second is the Ben Wright House (9 adults and kids) in Greasy Prairie, IL. We also have a large format mounted photograph of the Strang residence (with 37 kids and adults) from December 25, 1911. C. F. Strang was born in 1838, moving with his family in 1851 likely to the house in our photo. Married twice (widowed once) Strang had 9 children and is listed as a farmer and livestock grower but also owned considerable land. Land for the Murrayville Cemetery was acquired from Strang as noted in the manuscript history of the cemetery. Strang' step-father was Samuel Murray, of whom Murrayville was named. A careful genealogical study would reveal much more history from this small yet fun and unique archive. Photos upon request. Also included are up to 50 additional photos not identified yet arrived with archive and likely related to this group. Seller Inventory # 021634

Bibliographic Details

Title: Murrayville and Jacksonville, Illinois/ CF ...

Publisher: Murrayville, IL