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Questers donate stove for Campton Twp. farm's Hired Man's house

The Charlemagne on the Fox chapter of the Questers has purchased a stove from the early 1880s to contribute toward the restoration of the Corron Farm Hired Man's House.

The Questers Illinois State Matching Grants Program provided half of the funds used to purchase the cosmetically restored stove.

Corron Farm was the first acquisition made by Campton Township with Open Space funds. Corron Farm was a dairy farm until it was purchased by Campton Township in 2002. Corron Farm's farm land is in the process of being restored from agriculture back to native plantings.

Although the farmstead is presently not open to the public, the rest of this property can be accessed from a parking lot on the east side of Corron Road, between Silver Glen and McDonald roads. The future plan of Campton Township is to have a museum that will include the Hired Man's house, as well as other buildings on the farmstead.

The Hired Man's house was built in 1884 and was only lived in for one year. There was never running water or electricity in the home. It did have a stove for heating, but at some point the stove was removed. The Charlemagne on the Fox Questers purchased an antique box stove, which would have been typical for heating a home of its size in that era. Box stoves have become scarce because many of them were melted down to make ammunition for World War I.

Questers, an international study organization, is made up of collectors of antiques, collectibles and history. There are more than 900 chapters with approximately 15,000 members in the United States and Canada, including four chapters in the Fox Valley area. Donations from Quester chapters help to preserve and restore antiquities, buildings and historic sites, as well as provide scholarships to graduate students studying in the area of reservation and restoration.

For information on Questers, visit www.questers1944.org or call (630) 377-0440.

For information on Campton Township Open Space, visit camptontownship.org or call Town Hall at (630) 377-5705. Join them from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 11 for Campton Township Prairie Fest.