Candles light 1840s tavern in Campton Hills

Mitchell Awdziejczyk, 11, spent Sunday learning about 1840s farm life — a topic he finds genuinely interesting — during a living history lesson Sunday at the annual “Dulcimer Music & Candlelight at the Inn” event at the Garfield Farm Museum.

All weekend, volunteers and museum employees dressed in period clothing and shared what life was like for the Garfield family, running their inn at a time with no electricity. Candles filled the tavern at dark and dulcimer music played in the house.

“It’s interesting how it’s all what happened in the past but they preserved it for the future,” Awdziejczyk said.

Awdziejczyk, of Hoffman Estates, predicts he would have been the one clearing mice out of the storeroom had he been alive when the inn was still operating — not the most glamorous job, but better than emptying the guests’ chamber pots each morning.

Helen Bauer, of Campton Hills, a museum board member for 10 years, helped guide guests through the tavern Sunday. She said the Garfield family moved from Vermont to Illinois in 1841, building the house they ran as an inn in 1846. Part of the reason its history is so well-preserved is because the home stayed in the same family until it was turned into a museum in 1977.

“This is one of the most historically intact properties I’ve ever been in,” Bauer said.

The farm still operates with museum employees raising endangered plant and animal breeds all year. It is open for drop-in visitors on Wednesdays and Sundays from July through September and otherwise open by appointment.

Executive Director Jerome Johnson said the museum is focusing on restoration at this point in its evolution. There are 26 structures that must be maintained including four houses, dairy barns, granaries and carriage sheds.

Guadalupe Lynch, of Maple Park, meandered through the tavern Sunday with her daughter Loretta. Both had been to a candlelight reception at the inn about 10 years ago but returned this year for a second tour.

Lynch said she especially likes the 1840s time period and Lincoln’s presidency. Though it was hard work to maintain the farm, Lynch mentioned a sense of nostalgia for the simple life in the country the Garfield’s had.

“I’m glad that they keep the tradition alive,” Lynch said of the museum.