By Ben Cox
Photos/Ben Cox
The Morgan County Historical Society members got a pleasant surprise when the 1975 time capsule was unearthed in downtown Jacksonville back in March.
Inside the capsule were hundreds of letters, but one in particular was pretty significant to the society’s members. Inside an officially stamped envelope was a series of documents addressed to “The President and Directors, Morgan County Historical Society or The Daughters of the American Revolution, Jacksonville, Illinois.”
The sealed envelope contained a small number of unique documents that give a glimpse back to 1975 as well as a look at some pretty relevant Jacksonville history.
“In the first letter, it kind of goes through the history of the society,” current Morgan County Historical Society Vice President Chad Boehlke said, “We actually go back further than what was dated in the letter.”
The letter says that the current edition of the historical society was founded in 1904 and outlines each of the chairmen to the society’s board of directors until the time capsule’s burial in 1975.
“The letter gives you the annual dues and they are still a dollar today. I’m not really sure if we actually collect them,” Boehlke said. Boehlke says the most significant document in the envelope was the listing of the Old Main building of the Jacksonville State Hospital (later the Jacksonville Developmental Center).
Built under the Kirkbride Plan, the main building was five and a half stories high, with two separate wings for each gender extending with staggered setbacks from the center. In 1975, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, although it was demolished in 1980.
Documents enclosed show that the historical society had started the process almost a decade earlier to mark the site of the building.
Boehlke says there is not much of a marker for the site at this time, “There’s currently an Illinois State Historical Society plaque there. It’s where [Immanuel] Cemetery is located. I think it’s mostly about Dorothea Dix and her role in helping get the hospital created, but as far as I know there is not much information [on the marker] about the hospital itself.”
Boehlke believes it’s important that at least some information about the hospital remains, especially if and when the remaining buildings are torn down. Boehlke says that a brief history about the state hospital compiled and written by Dr. Andrew Hoekstra and Lois Wells was also included in the envelope. Hoekstra was briefly the superintendent at the Jacksonville State Hospital before moving on to work in Springfield as a noted psychiatrist until his death in 1993. Wells had long connections to the Jacksonville Public Library.
The final piece inside the envelope was a hand-signed guest list of the April 17, 1975, spring meeting of the historical society. In all, 44 members signed the list.
“I imagine most of the people on the list have passed on,” Boehlke said, “but there are some people on here that I am sure many will recognize.” Boehlke says that society is currently putting together ideas on how to make the items available to the public for viewing, but he believes folks will be able to view them all in person at some point.
