White Building, Hotel Histories Remembered

Those attending the Tuesday, Oct. 21 meeting of the Heritage League of Northwest Illinois took a look into the past as they heard the history of two of the oldest downtown Stockton buildings and their businesses. The narrative, read by Ruth Fleming, told of the red brick structure located on the corner of Main and Front Streets that today houses the same clothing store that began there in 1908.

The 1897 building, with its multifoils and festoons, replaced another that stood at this site. It was a two story frame structure erected sometime between 1888 and 1890 by William and Mary O’Rourke. They ran a general store and post office there. When William dies in 1891, Mary continued as postmistress and proprietor until 1897. Then the property was sold to Wilbur E. White, whose general store, located in the Eade Building, was burned out in Stockton’s disastrous fire of 1896.

The original frame building of the O’Rourkes, was partially razed to make way for White’s sturdy brick building, built by Peter Schroeder. Remnants of the old building are still visible in the current building. When the new building was completed White’s general store reopened there. He stayed until 1908 when Paul Jones and George Hermann moved in from next door.

This partnership of 1908 established the business that became a village tradition. Don Hermann, retired former owner, said, “1908 was not the beginning of the Hermann family’s interest in haberdashery. My father, George Hermann, began his lengthy career in 1902 when he was employed by the Edward Bishop Company, whose owners came from Elizabeth in 1888 to ply their trade in the thriving community that was soon to become Stockton.

The Jones and Hermann Store, named the “Headlight,” not only had a new building but all the modern equipment of the times. The store’s interior looked much like it does today except for a highly polished oak railing around an open staircase that lead from the center of the store to the basement where merchandise was also on display. Today the stairs are gone and the space in the basement is vacant.

The same ornately designed tin, lines the ceiling, and the four original fans circulate air just as in earlier times. The 8 ½ foot ladder on a track travels along the east wall to assist  the sales clerk in obtaining merchandise. Missing from the present furnishings are two pot-bellied stoves. In 1920 a modern, pipeless, coal-burning furnace with a large floor register was installed. It was changed to oil in 1930, and updated to gas much later.

Don Hermann, who began his association with the firm one week after graduation from high school, remembers. “It was 1930, when the heating system was changed to oil, that Dad and his partner decided to remove the floor register. “Farmers comprised the bulk of the trade then and they wore overshoes to which snow, mud, and a bit of barnyard would cling. When they stood on the floor register to get warm, the snow would melt and along with other material, drip to the floor of the furnace where it would sizzle, steam, and spread unpleasant odors throughout the store.

“That is why the register was moved to the middle of the west wall back of the counter,” Don said. Today when the customers of James and Patricia Cahill, lay down their merchandise, it is the original solid counters that are scarred from many years of use. Sales are rung up on the same register that was purchased in 1911 when the first partners owned the store. During the course of the 78 year old history of the store only six persons have been owners. The partnership of Jones and Hermann lasted until 1945 when Paul Jones retired to ill health.

Then the store became Hermann Clothing Company and George ran the stole as sole owner until his son Donald completed a stint in the navy. On March 1, 1946 father and son became partners. In 1954, when George retired, he was replaced by Richard DeBauche, who left the company in June 1965 for a position in the United Postal Service.

Don Hermann was sole owner when the 66 year old business was sold to James and Patricia Cahill on Jan. 1, 1974. The name of Hermann was retained for the business that had endured for so many years. When White ran his general store in the new building, he also had tenants upstairs, Dr. W.A. Stephenson practiced dentistry there beginning in 1898 when he graduated from Chicago Northwest Dental College. Dr. L.M. Cox, a physician, also had his office there. Stockton’s Township Library had its rooms on the second floor and Walter Eaton’s law office was housed there. After Jones and Hermann moved in the second floor continued to house businesses, professions, and even living quarters. George and Mamie Hermann had their honeymoon apartment at the rear. Jack and Nell Lyach also occupied it and later it soon became the home of the Stockton American Legion Post. During prohibition days, Tony Niemeyer had a private club there. To gain entrance, one would knock, be observed through a flap in an opening in the door, and if recognized as a member, be allowed in.

Two chiropractors, Dr. Oscar Dotzel and Dr. Bosma had offices there and Dr. Melvin Gouse, Dentist, occupied the front office over the building’s entrance for many years. Mary Jeanette Brown, daughter of Scott and Helen Brown, had a beauty shop in rooms on the second floor. Don Hermann was a janitor of the building for many years. He was paid $2.00 a week for his custodial services, which also included sweeping and dusting the offices. The coal bin, according to Don, was located in the rear of the building where the barber shop now stands. The bin had a stairway that led to the store’s basement, providing easy access to the inside. After the third robbery cleaned the store out of merchandise, the entrance from the bin to the basement was bricked in and there were no further robberies. The Wilbur E. White building is the only one in Stockton’s downtown that has been owned by one family during its entire existence. Miles White, a third generation member, currently administers the property.

Lee Anderson told the history of the Great Western Hotel that opened its doors on Christmas Day 1899. It was just another enterprise of Charles Hermann, a pioneer merchant of the growing village. According to the Herald-News of Feb. 2, 1899 Charles Hermann sold his 80 acre farm north of town to O.J. Hogan for $6,400 and bought the John Howell corner lot for $800 and will build a first class hotel in Stockton. John Howell’s lot was Lot No. 7 in Carpenter’s Original Town-Block 2 and was located on the corner of Main and Queen Streets. Work on the structure started promptly by Schroder Brother’s Contractors. When it was finished the hotel was acclaimed as being an architectural achievement with its Mansard roof and its elaborate design including cupolas, festoon and scroll trim, oval windows and windows with colored glass trim. The building was three stories high, built of pressed brick and contained 40 rooms that were heated by hot water radiators and lighted with electricity. The interior was described as having a sample room on its first floor where salesmen could show their wares.  They would travel to Stockton by train and walk the short block to the hotel. Off the reception desk there was a large parlor where guests could be entertained. The large, elegant dining room was not only frequented by hotel guests but by the public as well.

Charles Hermann, his wife Anna Horsch Hermann and their children George, Cora, Lucille, Wally, and Ora ran the hotel from its opening day in 1899 to 1908. George was 18 at the time and he and his sister Cora waited tables in the dining room. Lucille, now Lucille Hall, was three years old in 1899, Wally was a baby and Ora was born during their stay in the hotel. The Hermanns often had trouble staffing the hotel. It was a particular problem with cooks. But they kept some food in readiness by having their own chickens for eggs and meat and a cow for milk. An old post card, showing the south side of the building where a cow was tethered and chickens are milling around the yard, was recently reproduced and being sold by the Heritage League. The hotel became the center of activity in those early years. Betty Bowman Drane, who with her husband later ran the hotel as an apartment house, tell that her mother, Hattie Quinn, and two of her father’s sisters, Cora and Cleva Bowman along with Alma Lawhorn worked at the hotel as maids and waitresses when they were young girls.

On Nov.28, 1908 Charles and his wife Annie sold the hotel to Charles and Jennie Parkin from Lamar, Ma. For $13,000. The Hermanns moved to Lamar, and established themselves on the farm formerly owned by Mr. and Mrs. Parkin. It is believed that the farm was swapped for the motel but there is no evidence of this in the records at Galena. It was at this time that the hotel began its era of changing ownership that persisted to this day. The Parkin family ran the hotel for about one year and on Oct. 29, 1909 sold it to Robert Westacott of Grand Forks, N.D. for a sum of $10,000 and “other consideration.” In the early days, the Clause “other consideration” was inserted in a warranty deed to prevent others from finding out the exact amount that was paid for the property. Today, it is not possible to conceal the amount as tax stamps are affixed to deeds that tell the amount paid. The Wilcoxes owned and operated the hotel until Dec. 3, 1910 when they sold it to J.S. Hatcher of Grand Forks, N.D. for $14,000, subject to a $5,000 mortgage and 1910 taxes. Then the hotel changed hands three more times before being purchased by Leslie and Laura Aurand of Wards Grove for $8,00. The Aurand family operated the hotel for a little over a year. Glenn Aurand, son of Leslie and Laura, was five years old at the time the family lived in and ran the hotel.

His main recollection was the Christmas they spent there. He recalls seeing the large decorated tree in the lobby and his father, dressed up as Santa Claus waiting below as he and his brother, Alvin, Descended the open stairway to celebrate Christmas. On June 3, 1916 Leslie and Laura Aurand sold the hotel to Benjamin Gordon for $7,500. Ben was a barber, by trade, and his shop having bath facilities was first located in the building where Gallentine’s Jewelry Store is now located and after that in the rear of the hotel. Many people remember the eccentric man, who always wore a long black coat and a derby hat, but there is little agreement about whether or not he ran the hotel. Some think he did, others not. Eavelyn Webb recalls purchasing their Sunday supply of homemade ice cream there for 50 cents a quart. But if Ben did not operate the hotel as much, he did rent to atleast two other families that did.

In August 1927 the Gustavus and Sophia Morgan family moved to Stockton from Darlington, Wisconsin and rented the hotel. They operated it for a one year. During this time Route 78 was being constructed and the construction gang along with the railroad men comprised most of their business. Mrs. Morgan cooked and served meals to both guests and the public. Sara Gustafson recalls that she and her husband, the doctor, always ate Sunday dinner there. Laura Morgan Lahey, of Warren remembers that her mother would arise at 3 a.m. each day to bake pies that would be fresh for the lunches she would pack for the highway crew.

She also recalls that there was a family by the name of Brysden who preceded the Morgan family in operating the hotel. But not specific information could be found on this family and the hotel Roy Bowman took over the hotel from Ben Gordon in 1939. According to Betty Drane the building had been vacated a long time and was in bad condition.

“We worked all summer, that year, stripping the old wallpaper off and getting it ready for renovation,” she said. It was then that the old building became an apartment house. Row Bowman had an egg business he operated from the rear of the hotel and besides apartments there was space provided for commercial and professional endeavors. During the time the Bowmans owned the property they donated 30 feet on the south side of the building to the village so they could widen Queen street. The Dranes inherited the property from the Bowmans in 1965 and operated the apartments until 1977 when they sold it to Lowell Hennigh and wife Gail for $45,000. On Oct. 1, 1979 the Hennighs sold the property to Mary Lou Flannagan on an agreement for a warranty deed by installment purchase. A deed was never obtained by Flannagan and Hennighs took the property back. On April 20, 1983 they sold the building to Roger and Marilyn Smital for $31,250. The Smitals are currently operating the apartment house, and this December the venerable old building will celebrate its 87th birthday.

Written by: Ruth P. Fleming chairperson Program and Publicity.