The first church house was built by the Christian denomination in 1856. It is a plain frame building, and situated in the little hamlet of Zabriska, in section 22. The church is yet standing and in a fair state of preservation, and the passer-by would conclude that it was built by the Catholics, as the cemetery grounds are situated in the same lot close by the church.
The first justice of the peace elected was John Montgomery Senior. He died only two years ago, a citizen of the town, and was nearly a centenarian at his death.
The second justice was John B. Swearingen, who now resides in Minnesota.
The first post-office was established in 1845, and was kept Abraham Swearingen at his private residence in section 15. In 1849, it was moved to the hamlet of Zabriska, and subsequently to Wapella.
I distinctly recall St. Patrick's Parish celebrating 150 years in the church business sometime before 2006. I also recall historical note in a New Deal spun history that said Catholics in small towns typically don't respond to historical surveys, which strikes me a patronizing, but accurate.
The references to the Swearingen's is gratuitous, as Al Swearingen is my favorite TV Character since Col. Klink (well, maybe Donnie Most as Ralph Malph).
In Dewitt County
The storm in Wapella was severe. Trees were broken in every part of the city. The roof to the old Illinois Central freight office was blown off, as were the cupolas to the school house and opera house. Plate glass of the Wapella bank was blown in. CHARLES HUNT’s new barn was blown down and one side of the JAMES M. GREEN grain office was blown in. FORBES LEGGITT’s cattle barn, two miles north of Wapella, was unroofed, also unroofed kitchen and dining room of W.H. THORPE’s residence. Also CHARLES SCOTT’s home west of town.
The Daily Review, Decatur, IL 12 Jun 1902
Some Fischer facts
As most who read and/or peruse this board can attest, Wapella High
School was no doubt one of the finer institutions of higher learning in
the Midwest, if not the country. Legendary educators walked the hallowed
halls, and passed along knowledge with fervor and aplomb. In the early
90's for example, Hall of Fame teachers like Ric Imig, David Bowman,
Mitchi Tucker, Jerry Peroutka mixed with future Hall inductees like Alan
Thompsen and William Hutchinson, all under the watchful eye of William Robert
Hedgecock.
But today we tip our hats to Wapella's less decorated, lesser known
gurus - the substitute teachers, the student teachers, and those that
only spent a short time at WHS. For example, as far as student teachers
are concerned, our very own DIT, who stepped in to fill Jerry Peroutka's
shoes (no doubt bought at Gerry and Al's) tops the fan favorite poll,
along with such luminaries as Tony Tennerelli (sp?) who stepped in for
Dave Bowman's biology, and then the almighty Mr. Murphy (first name
anyone?) who stepped in for Mathematics.
The list of substitutes who put in time at WHS is near endless. Another
fan fave being our own Kansas Cat, who filled in large gaps for Mitchi
Tucker.
Teachers who provided short tenures at Wapella were also numerous,
personal faves being Zelda Thorp, Mary Harweger (sp?) and Teresa
Nietske(sp?) and these are but a few from my era. What about you? Any
shout-outs to Wapella's lesser-known harbingers of knowledge?
And a quiz...What WHS student teacher later went on to marry a Clinton Graduate with a renowned Wapella name, her family being one of Wapella's oldest, having multiple generations of WHS and country school grads?
Update: Quiz Answer
The WHS Student teacher? Mr. Bruce McCominsky who taught English at WHS and later went on to marry Clinton Maroon and Purdue Boilermaker, Cindy Ryan, daughter of WHS '52 Jerry Ryan. Bruce and Cindy are both now English Professors in Alabama.
The Wapella flag flies high today for Ernest Thorp.
