People from the Past: William "Uncle Bill" Guthrie

I find it interesting to learn about some of the characters who lived in Raymond long before I was born, and even before my parents were born. One of those characters was William H. Guthrie.

The following information appears in a self-published book by former Raymond resident, David A. Sorrell, called “As I Remember.” The book features Mr. Sorrell’s recollections about the early days of Raymond. The stories appeared in a weekly column in The Raymond News from 1963-1972. 

Here is a man that the folks in our town called “Uncle Bill.” Uncle Bill was well known to everyone in Raymond and Harvel. He was not a big man neither was he a small man. I remember him best by his huge gray beard and his great shock of iron gray hair. As did many of the men of his day, he seemed to always have had on a pair of leather boots with his pants legs stuffed into the boot tops. He was a cane carrier, but he never seemed to use his cane to help him in getting about. He was a gregarious man who loved to talk with his fellow man, and one would often see Uncle Bill sitting in the shade of the porch that was in front of Kim Bradley’s elevator office, or in the little Post Office or in Charley Scherer’s grocery store talking with some friends or perhaps arguing the political issues of the day. Uncle Bill was what we called a strong Republican and he was not one to hesitate to state his views on a subject.

Grave of William and Elisabeth Guthrie at Asbury Cemetery 

William Guthrie was born over in Green County, Illinois, on October 3, 1840. His folks were natives of Kentucky. Milton and Catherine (Fisher) Guthrie came over from Kentucky to Madison County, Illinois, when Uncle Bill’s father was a small boy. Uncle Bill was the third son in his father’s family. He grew up in Greene County, and on November 9, 1865, he married a pretty neighbor girl by the name of Elisabeth Martin, a daughter of Josiah and Eliza Martin.

William and Elisabeth first settled in Raymond Township and later moved into Havel Township where they bought land located in Section 29 and today this land is still owned by their daughter Laura.

There were six children born to the William Guthrie’s and as a boy, I knew all of them except one. Dennis is the one best remembered for he had polio as a young man and became a life-long cripple. His father set him up in the jewelry business on Main Street (called Broad now) and Dennis became a successful businessman for a number of years.

Uncle Bill lived to a ripe old age and then one day he was no more. There are few living in the old hometown today that will remember him, but those who do will always have a pleasant memory.

Rollback

Check out the prices at Mizera's Market in Raymond in July, 1964!  Who couldn't use 12 rolls of toilet paper for $1.00? 

Summer 4-H Fun

The following article appeared in The Raymond News on August 6, 1964:

Steve Wagy 

Main Sreet Musings: Raymond Super Service

The following was taken from Raymond’s 125 Years of History Book published in 1996:

Pinkston's Raymond Super Service Building on Broad Street in 1983.

 On June 1, 1943, the Raymond Super Service, an auto and farm machinery repair shop, was opened. Originally, this was a three-way partnership venture, but by the end of the second year, the other partner was bought out, leaving Glen Pinkston as the owner. Due to the war, no new cars were being built at this time.

For the first few years, there were many farmers from as far away as Tuscola, Lovington, and Arthur who came to Glen for rebuilt magnetos, since he had made quite a name for himself when he worked for Johnson Implement Co. in Taylorville. In 1945, Glen Pinkston signed a contract with Chrysler Corporation to sell Plymouth and DeSoto automobiles as the factories were now gearing up for building cars again. The following year, Glen purchased the building from L.E. (Shorty) Hendrickson of Litchfield who had built it about 1918. It was operated as a general repair shop by Ray Guthrie and later Ray Trinkle operated a Chevrolet dealership there until World War II. The Pinkston family credits the First National Bank of Raymond for its importance in helping Glen secure sole proprietorship of the business as well as purchasing the building and a home for the family. In the early years, Glen also handled small and large appliances, as new cars were hard to get when they first came out.

Glen "Buck" Pinkston and  Carl Routt at the Raymond Super Service in 1954.

Wayne “Barney” Henderson was a mechanic for the business for many years. He often worked side by side with Glen. All of Glen’s mechanics had the advantage of Chrysler Corporation technical training. Glen made many of the tools used in serving new car, and quite often improved upon some of the many new ones he purchased each year. Upon Glen’s death, Bates Motor Co. of Litchfield purchased his entire tool collection.

Glen died in 1983 just two weeks short of his 69^th birthday. He had suffered a serious heart attack in 1968, but had recovered enough to continue working.

Glen and his wife, Mildred, were married May 21, 1936. Mildred was born in 1917 in St. Elmo and grew up in the town of Bethany. She worked full time at the business firm from 1943 to 1969 when she took a job with the Illinois Department of Revenue in Springfield. After that, she continued to work part-time at the garage until it closed and full time at the Department of Revenue until her retirement in 1989.

They became the parents of eight children: Gene, Bob, Marcia, Sheryl, Pat, Glenda, Debra, and Brenda. The Pinkston family lived in a home at 211 N. McElroy, which they purchased in 1946. It had formerly been the home of Stephen and Sophia Schulte, a brother and sister who operated a bakery attached to the back of the home for many years. At the time of purchase, the back half of all three lots was occupied by raspberry bushes and a grape arbor extended from across the back of the bakery down to the alley. There were also quite a few trees around the rest of the lots, but disease and storms decimated their number, until now only three walnut trees are left.

One night, 15 owls lit in an elm tree and were a source of delight to the neighborhood children. The next morning they were gone. In his youth, Billy Ross Hough would come to the house and conduct funerals for dead birds and kittens there, complete with flowers, mourners, sermons and committals.  

New Ride

The following photo appeared in the July 16, 1986 issue of the Panhandle Press. 

I’m pretty certain that July 14, 1986 was one of the happiest days of my Dad’s life when he received a brand new moped as a gift from the Raymond Fire Department upon his retirement after many years of service to the department. Right after the photo above was taken, he took his first ride on the scooter, buzzing straight home to show mom and me, before heading back uptown to the old firehouse where the retirement party continued. Although he had officially retired from the fire department, from that day on, he continued to serve by manning the radios at the firehouse during calls. When the fire siren rang, you could almost always count on seeing Charlie Bandy on his bright red scooter hightailing it uptown to help.

Dad with one of my nieces, Lara Lebeck, in 1987

He added a small white utility basket on to the front of the scooter, big enough to carry a loaf of bread and other items he might pick up on a quick trip to Mizera’s Market or while running errands at the bank, the post office, or the drug store. You would also see him tooling around town on his scooter while checking on elderly friends and neighbors. 

Dad made room in the garage for a parking spot for his beloved scooter, and he was meticulous about maintaining it. Even after many years passed, it was still in wonderful condition and was practically like brand new. He rode it almost year round, weather permitting, for the rest of his life. When he died, someone drove it inside the Raymond Methodist Church for the visitation and funeral. It was comforting to see the shiny fire engine red scooter there among the dozens of flower arrangements and photo tributes, parked right next to his giant fire boots and the white chief’s helmet that he had worn for 25 years.

It’s interesting to note that on another Monday, July 14th, this one 22 years to the day that Dad received the surprise scooter, I received unexpected news that my mom had died.  I guess July 14^th goes down as one of the happiest days and saddest days in my family history.