Johnson County Genealogical & Historical Society

Our Land Before the Pioneers

 The Johnson County Genealogical & Historical Society is honored to host Max Hutchison as he presents his pictorial presentation of Johnson County before it was settled by our earliest pioneers. The public is invited to this presentation on Sunday, September 20th, at 2:30PM in the Community Room of the Vienna Public Library. 

 Memories of Wartrace

Wartrace is one of the oldest communities in Johnson County.  Located across the highway from the Shawnee Correctional Center, this small village was once a thriving little town in the southeastern part of this county.

"Memories of Wartrace" is the featured article in JCGHS's September issue of the Heritage Journal.  Mrs. Nadene Slack tells of her memories of the small Johnson County community of Wartrace where she grew up and has lived for many years.  She recounts some of the stories, that as a child, she heard the old timers telling, such as the time the horse thief, Patilo, was hanged there.  She tells about the construction and paving of Illinois State Route 146 back in the 1930's.

Mrs. Slack provides a list of all the families that have lived in or near Wartrace since her childhood days.  She has lived in this small community for eighty years and remembers almost everything that has happened in this time period and recalls so many things from her youth that was told to her by her parents and neighbors.

For more information on this community in Johnson County, see the full story, written by Gary Hacker, in the September 2009 issue of the “Johnson County Heritage Journal,” published monthly for distribution to members of the Johnson County Genealogical & Historical Society. See our website for information on membership at  http://johnsoncountyil.net