Newport Township Historical Society receives a gift for Christmas

Pat Christol and Susie Anthony of the Newport Township Historical Society received a check in the amount of $2,330 from Pam Holmes, Vice Regent and Historical Preservation Chairman of the Ansel Brainerd Cook Chapter, NSDAR of Libertyville. The check was from the chapters fundraising efforts for their "Adopt Mount Rest Cemetery" project.

The chapter began fundraising in June 2020 for Mount Rest Cemetery in Rosecrans, Lake County, Illinois in order to hire Christine Hillmann, an Illinois Certified Preservationist to repair, restore and preserve 79 headstones in the 172 year old cemetery. This is slated to begin in the spring of 2021.

Early on the Ansel Brainerd Cook Chapter also wanted to give back. A percentage of all monies raised from "Adopt Mount Rest" would be donated to Newport Township Historical Society. The fundraising is ongoing until we can help bring Mount Rest Cemetery back to its original beauty.

The Newport Township Historical Society was established in 1976. It was spurred by the United States Bicentennial. A group of local citizens in Wadsworth started to hold regular meetings, determined to preserve the history of the area and of the early settlers.

Grace (Gracie) Shields was one of the original founders, and upon her death in 2002, she bequeathed her family home which was built in the late 1800s, and the adjacent family grocery store to the society. Gracie also donated many of the contents of the home and grocery store. Since 1976, the Newport Township Historical Society has been collecting and preserving everything involving Newport Township and its people.

Due to the pandemic, the Newport Township Historical Society has not been able to hold any of their fundraisers which directly go toward the upkeep of the Historic Shield's residence and grocery store. Because the Newport Township Historical Society has a large following on their Facebook page which includes a lot of family members and descendants of those buried in Mount Rest, a partnership was made. With their help spreading the word though social media, the Ansel Brainerd Cook Chapter has been successful in their fundraising efforts, all while helping the Newport Township Historical Society.

For more information on the Ansel Brainerd Cook Chapter, visit www.ildar.org/chapters/anselbrainerdcook.

For more information on the Newport Township Historical Society, visit their Facebook page or email them at newporthistorical@yahoo.com.