The building has been bought and plans are under way for the Illinois Rural Heritage Museum, which is dedicated to educating the public and preserving the rural heritage of Illinois.

During the 51st annual Steam, Gas & Threshing Show Aug. 18-22, the museum building hosted a quilt show to raise funds. Quilter Flossine Schrader organized the event and many of her quilts were hanging in the display.

Although there were various quilts to view, one that hit the theme of the museum perfectly was her creation called “Rural Reminders.”
“Sparta, Illinois, was home to the Sparta Plow Works,” Flossine shared – and she created an image of the plow as part of the quilt. She also included some of the crops from her own farming memories: “I got married in 1948 and we didn’t raise soybeans. We raised wheat and corn and had a dairy herd.”

Growing up on a farm, Flossine knew she would soon be tied to it, so she said, “We took a month-long honeymoon. I knew I’d never get away again!” she laughed.

Flossine and her husband are also involved with the American Thresherman’s Assoc. annual show. “We have a Keck Gonnerman Steam engine and a 1940s John Deere tractor that was used during World War II to move planes,” she said.

Before getting married, Flossine worked in downtown St. Louis in a dairy cooperative as a secretary and her husband did custom baling. Flossine’s twin sister, Irene, she said, “married a city slicker.”

For Flossine, quilting is therapy. After back surgery she worked on nine piece blocks which were later put into a beautiful quilt. There were many quilts from the 1940s, such as the two that were given to teachers and autographed by the students. A quilt that is an underground railroad design and one called “Chicken Linen,” made out of feed sacks, were a few of the offerings on display.
“We used feed sacks for everything. During the war, there was no material to be had,” Flossine said.

There was a baby quilt belonging to museum President Charlie Greer and many other nostalgic quilts that drew about 80 visitors a day during the busy show.

The museum is located on a four-acre lot adjacent to the north side of the Pinckneyville Fairground at 1877 Fairground Road, where the museum is quickly becoming a reality. While today there is only one building where farm equipment is stored, the end result will include an entry into the museum through a barn for horses, an old granary, an 1800s style farmhouse, exhibit area and much more.
According to the museum’s brochure, the highlight of the museum will be “the machinery and equipment displays. Steam engines, threshing machines, plows, sawmills and the earliest of tractors will be on display.

“All displays will have a full explanation of the equipment, how it was used, its place in the evolution of farm equipment and the individual who permitted the equipment’s use.”

For more information about the Illinois Rural Heritage Museum, contact Greer or his wife, Mary, at 618-521-2243 or e-mail irhmuseum@gmail.com

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.