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| "The Gilbert Sisters" |
I remember my Aunt Pauline talking about her friend, Maime Osborn, and her daughters, known as "The Gilbert Sisters." I came across the Gilbert family history in the Raymond's 125 Years of Memories book. It turns out that their father, Lee Gilbert, built the White Cottage (originally a gas station and ice house), and according to the family history, a time capsule was placed in the front corner of the building. I wonder if anyone ever found it?
The family history below (author unknown), is from the Raymond 125 Years of Memories book, published in 1996:
Lee and Mayme (Luking) Gilbert’s family of ten children have six generations going back in three directions, buried in Asbury Cemetery. The family names are Potterf, Luking, and Gilbert.
Reuban Taylor and Sarah Emma (Tittle) Potterf are great grandparents
to this family. He was a Raymond merchant for many years. He and his sons built
the store buildings where Mizera’s market is now. This is at the end of
downtown Raymond, in the business district, at the corner of Broad and McGown,
as the streets are now named. The steel doorway plates had the name “POTTERF”
imprinted on them. One still remains. Reuben Taylor Potterf was the elected
Justice of the Peace. He also made the pine boxes that were used for burials of
the day. So it was said of him that “he married them and he buried them.” Something
more added to that was -- he used the hearse as a paddy wagon and he “hauled
them off to jail.” This early Raymond couple have quite a few descendants in
the area and many more scattered. They lived in Raymond in the late 1800’s and
early 1900’s.
The great grandfather and mother of the Lee and Mayme
(Luking) Gilbert family were William and Minnie and they are both buried in
Asbury Cemetery. There were three Luking sons: Frank, John, and Henry. Frank
and Henry lived out their lives in the Raymond vicinity. John, the grandfather
of the Gilbert family of ten, went West and is buried at Missoula, Montana. He
was a storekeeper most of his life and owned and ran a small neighborhood
store.
The Gilbert ancestors first settled in Jefferson County in
1838. Eli Wilson and Abbigail -- “Wils and Abbie” -- the grand grandparents of
the Gilbert family, grew up there. They married and brought their family to
Sangamon County, farming near Pawnee. They retired in 1903 and moved to
Raymond, buying the house next to the Raymond Cemetery. At this same time,
1903, James Wilson and Martha Caroline (Uncle Jim and Aunt Matt to many) bought
a farm east of Raymond.
Lee Gilbert was about eight years old and grew up on
this farm. In 1914 he married Mayme Luking. Their first five years of married
life was on a homestead near Roy, Montana. There were crop failures and finally
a hailstorm, and they were forced to give it up. The next two years or so they
lived in Hettinger, ND. They got back to Raymond in 1923 and the fifth child
was born in January of that year. They lived first on the farm east of Raymond
that was owned by Grandfather James Wilson. Then they lived for six years in
the house by the Raymond Cemetery that was the home of Eli Wilson and Abbigail,
the great grandparents who are buried in Asbury Cemetery, passing in 1911 and
1920, respectively. If that little house could have talked, it would have had a
lot to say. Two more of the family were born in those six years. In 1930, the
family moved to the property where the White Cottage restaurant is now. The
last three of the ten children were born at this place. Lee was the “ice man”
for the town in the 20’s and early 30’s before refrigerators. He also delivered
coal which folks burned for fuel to heat homes, schools, and churches in those
days. The early 30’s is when Rt. 127 and Rt. 48 were put through Raymond. The
White Cottage was built by him as a filling station and ice house. In 1935 and
1936, the ages of the children ranged from one year to 19. There were seven
girls and three boys.
The girls became known as the “Gilbert Sisters.” They did a
tumbling, acrobatic act and performed at area picnics and other affairs. The
older girls formed a quartet and took part in church services, minstrels, and
other programs. The family fell on hard times, and in 1941, most of the family
undertook to leave Raymond and settled in Cedaredge, Co. Lee was killed in an
accident and subsequently the rest of the family came back to Illinois. Raymond
citizens collected a fund to help the family get back. In 1996, there are about
107 descendants of the Gilbert family -- Lee and Mayme (Luking) Gilbert’s
family of ten. Mayme later remarried and was known as Mayme Osborn.
The White Cottage building has a time capsule in the front corner nearest to town. They thought of several things to put in it. Someday someone will find it.
The White Cottage building has a time capsule in the front corner nearest to town. They thought of several things to put in it. Someday someone will find it.
