Arrival of 6,000 National Guardsmen in 1909 had some women worried

Over 6,000 National Guardsmen were coming to Elgin for a summer encampment in 1909 - and the presence of that many men had some women worried.

The same month also saw the arrival of an Elgin business that would eventually become known across the country.

And, those who think paid athletes weren't embroiled in controversy years ago only need read what happened to two semipro baseball players. Here's a look at those stories and others that made Elgin area headlines in June 1909.

Worries at Wing Park: Elgin's Wing Park was about to play host to over 6000 National Guardsmen coming for a summer encampment - and the presence of that many men had some women worried.

After being denied a request for extra security personnel by the Kane County Board, a well-intended woman organizer turned to the Elgin churches for help.

"The only way we can be on the lookout for these girls is to be on the lookout every possible evening and take every possible safeguard," she said. "Ten women volunteers per night would be enough."

The safety-minded individual said she was also open to other ideas to protect the safety of Elgin women.

Larkin benefit: The likelihood that the Larkin Home - now the Larkin Center - might be able to raise the funding for a new building seemed much greater after citizens turned out in large numbers to pack the city's opera house for a benefit concert.

Begun over a decade earlier in an east side Elgin home, the institution was currently caring for twenty children - two over capacity - in a house at Washburn and State streets.

Proponents argued that the facility was worthy of community support since it provided a local place where young people did not have to associate with the "criminality and pauperism" found in state-run institutions.

Cop capers: Sometimes police officers turn up in the oddest situations. Onlookers were surprised to see a car being towed into town with a police officer riding in the front seat - a hitchhiking he requested in order to reach a required call more quickly.

On the city's near west side, another rather zealous officer was seen scaling a 125-foot-tall light tower in order to arrest an inebriated subject who made his way to the top.

And, near Trout Park on the northeast side, an officer patrolling the Fox River by boat arrested a man for having no light on his boat - an equipment violation the offender was quick to point out also pertained to the arresting officer's craft.

Athletes' feat: At least athletes in the good old days weren't suspended from play like they are today - or were they?

After being caught playing in a semipro game, two Elgin High School players were suspended from future high school competition by state level officials.

The ruling was later appealed by a friend from the Y.M.C.A who had the decision reversed, saying the youths "were first time offenders who did not understand the magnitude of their actions." The decision also freed up the young men to play in Y.M.C.A. games.

Sewn up: Consider it another win for the newly formed Elgin Commercial Club - now the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce.

After being offered $4,000 by the businessmen's group to move to Elgin, Western Thread Company of Chicago announced that it was relocating to property on the Elgin's southeast side near Bluff City Boulevard and Raymond Street. Employing over 100 men and doing an annual business of over $150,000, the firm would later become Collingbourne Mills, and finally LeeWards - an Elgin icon - before being bought out by Michael's Stores in the 1990s.

Farewell: Finally, Elgin said goodbye to Lydia Keyes Becker, a historian who had chronicled the city from its days as a rural village in the 1850s.

"The moon was the only illuminator at night," said Becker of her early years and who also described her childhood climbs from the river up Walnut Avenue hill - now West National Street - as "going to Canada."

Becker's "Glimpses of Elgin Long Ago," which appeared in the "Every Saturday" newspaper along with a history of the Elgin Academy, where she had taught for nearly 20 years, may still be found in the collection at the Gail Borden Public Library.

• Jerry Turnquist writes about Elgin and its history. To contact him, e-mail ibemrt@aol.com or write to him c/o Daily Herald, 385 Airport Road, Suite A, Elgin, IL 60123.