Nearly everyday a collection of lost items were listed in the classified ads of the 1916 Pantagraph. Purses, jewelry, pets, packages would reach their owners through the kindness of the good people of Bloomington. Some of these list the address of the owner and I thought it would be interesting to find a story from this column.
Someone from the Dalieden home lost a package of quilting pieces. She wrote :
Mathias and Anna Dalieden lived with their three children, Lona, Joseph and Monica, all three of whom worked. Lona was at Beichs, Joseph was a sawyer at M Walch and Sons and Monica was a stenographer at the gas and electric company. A quilt of this pattern (below) would have required a good deal of work and skill!
The Ward family of circus fame lived at 1201 E Emerson in 1916 and advertised the loss of their Irish Setter, Jack. Ed and Marnie Ward lived there with Elza Ward who was a farmer and Robert Ward, who had no designated employment.
Someone from the John O'Connor residence of 513 S Clayton lost a gold engraved bracelet. John O'Connor was a "roadmaster" with the Illinois Traction System. John and Mary had five daughters, Margaret, who was a clerk with the telephone company (of which there were two in 1916) and Helen, Jane, Kathryn, and Alice, who were all students. Following a family of the name of O'Connor, with a collection of very Catholic names is a little difficult, but in 1926 Helen married Daniel Tuohy of Bloomington. Helen had attended the St. Mary's High School and Mr. Tuohy had attended Columbia University in Iowa and the Wesleyan Law School. They moved to Chicago where he was employed. Alice O'Connor married in 1933 to Louis McFadden at Trinity Church. Louis was a teacher in the junior high schools in Springfield and they made their home there.
Another dog was lost in February 1916. Lain Foster's collie dog went missing, along with his brass studded collar. Lain was a student in Bloomington and was just fourteen years old. His father Charles was a farmer and the family lived at 516 E Chestnut. Lain Foster pursued his education through three years of college and then farmed. He was on the Board of Assessments for McLean County for several years and always lived in Normal. He continued farming and was trained as an accountant.