photograph circa 1925.
photograph circa 1925.
| This beautiful Victorian farmhouse, built
circa 1885 by George Asa Armstrong (1864-1942), stood on the south side
of the Reading Road about a quarter mile west of the Ancona-Kangley road.
At some point after this picture was taken the front porch was replaced
by one of brick and concrete.
Water was provided by two windmills-- The windmill visible in this picture pumped rainwater that was collected from the roof and stored in a cistern behind the house. Rainwater was used mainly for washing clothes (a load of which can be seen hanging to dry on the right). The windmill that provided drinking/cooking water stood over the well about 50 yards NW of the present house. When the wind blew it pumped water into a holding tank in the attic. When there was no wind someone had to go out and pump the tank up by hand. The well is 8 feet in diameter and at least 35 feet deep. Hand dug and brick lined, it has never run dry even in droughts that dried up wells on neighboring farms. Still serving the needs of the present house, it's water is extremely hard with a distinct but not unpleasant taste. The house was lit with acetylene gas provided by an underground carbide tank located about 100 yards west of the house. The house's amenities included a gasoline engine powered washing machine in the basement. Toilet facilities, however, were to be found in "that little house in the back" and baths were taken in a tub in the kitchen on Saturday nights. A bathroom and toilet were installed upstairs after the house was electrified in 1937. This house burned to the ground, cause
unknown, in 1945. According to Margaret Armstrong Covill's account,
everything was fine when she went into Streator around 11:30am. When
she returned and hour and a half later all that stood was the chimney.
Apparently the fire started in the attic-- Ethel Armstrong related that
she was making lunch when her husband George Arlie Armstrong charged in
yelling to grab the grandchildren and get out because the house was on
fire. She didn't believe him until he dragged her out the back door
and pointed to the roof. Ethel placed her then 4 year old granddaughter
into a laundry basket out of harm's way in the back yard, thrust her younger
sister into the basket with her and ordered "Don't you move!". Neighbors
pitched in and helped haul out anything they could lay their hands on while
the house burned. A surprising amount of the downstairs furniture
was saved, including an upright grand piano. Fortunately no one was
injured.
George Asa's grandson George Edward Armstrong commissioned an oil painting made from this photograph some years after the fire. In the painting the house's color scheme was dark red with yellow trim and a gray roof. |
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