The Cabins
Anderson Cabin
The Anderson Cabin was originally located eight miles southeast of Kinmundy. A stove was used for warmth and cooking. This cabin was one of two cabins found without a fireplace.
It was used by a cobbler and constructed in the 1850’s. Supposedly eight children were raised in this home.
Jacob's Well Stagecoach Inn
This inn was built in 1828 part of a stagecoach stop located on the old Egyptian Trail which ran from Rockford, Illinois to Cairo, Illinois. It has been said that the famous and not so famous have slept here such as Abe Lincoln and Jesse James. A black and white movie featuring Jesse James was made in the 1920’s when the inn was still on the trail.
Rudolph Dust (Rudolph died at the age of 100) of Effingham, Illinois said he ate many a meal here as a boy. For five cents the butcher furnished the meat and the innkeeper furnished the vegetables in season and all the beer one could drink. The butcher and innkeeper divided the profit.
The original inn had 3 floors, with the upper level being reached by climbing a ladder from the outside. The 3rd floor was not added when it was rebuilt.
Doolen Cabin
The Doolen cabin was built about 1860. Benjamin Doolen was born in Foster Township on February 23, 1843 and died March 1, 1926. He married Laura Ann Jones born January 16, 1843 on September 30, 1860. Both Benjamin and Laura were 17 years old. At age eighteen their first child was born, Harriett Llewellyn.
At age nineteen Ben enlisted in the Union Army serving in Company D 111th Illinois Infantry from 1862 -1865. His Company was with General Sherman on the famed “march to the sea”.
Benjamin and Laura had three more children: Sherman, born April 1866 died thirteen days old; Icy Dora, born March 1867; and Charles Isham, born August 1869.
After the death of Laura, Ben married Mrs. Inis Tate on September 26, 1896.
Benjamin is buried in Doolen Cemetery with his two wives.
Robb Cabin
The Robb cabin was found and moved from an area eight miles northwest of Kinmundy.
Francis McKendrie (F.M.) Robb (1847-1934) married Julia Melissa Lowe (1847-1925) on January 31, 1867. They lived in this cabin with their first six children: Harriet Elzora (Hat), born February 1868; Margaret Rosella (Dell), born December 1870; Martha Pamelia, born 1873 and died June 1876; Infant, born January 1876 and died 10 days old; Mary Agnes (Ag), born June 1878; and Emma Ann, born April 1881 Harriet married Leroy Green. After his death, she married Joe Arnold. Margaret married Charles I. Doolen. Mary married Emmit Jones. Emma married Guy Arnold.
F.M. and Julie continued their family: Lula Belle married Frank Jones; Samuel Eli married Josie Balance; Ella Elizabeth died in infancy.
Davidson Cabin
This cabin was built in the 1830’s and located on the old Carlyle Road near Vandalia, Illinois. The building was purchased from Claud Davidson. The outside was weather boarded with a lean to kitchen added. At this time, it has been completely remodeled and is used as the Watchman’s home.
A politician once lived here and it is said that Lincoln often visited here.
Millican Cabin
The Millican was built by Alexander and Clementine Millican in the 1840’s. Alexander was born in Massachusetts on April 7, 1817. He migrated to Illinois by way of Ohio, where he married Clementine Atalia Earl on September 21, 1843 in Portage County.
The location of the cabin prior to being moved to Log Cab Village, was about one mile east of Omega.
After coming to Illinois, Alexander and Clementine had six children: Maria Eliza, Robert Jacob, William, Henry Filmore, Amanda, and Charles Lee.
Stein Cabin
The old two-story house that sat on U.S. 50 just west of Shattuc Road in Clinton County was a familiar landmark to almost everyone in the area. It sat empty for a number of years before the owners of the property, decided to have it torn down. It wasn’t until demolition began that anyone realized that hidden under the siding outside and plaster walls inside was a well-preserved log cabin!
Fortunately Mrs. C. Kanal realized the significance of the structure and contacted Mrs. Ingram with an offer to donate it to Ingram’s Log Cabin Village. Mrs. Ingram, who was noted for paying for all of the cabins in the Village, refused to accept the donation of the cabin and insisted on purchasing it instead. Like the other cabins in the Village, the logs were numbered, disassembled and transported to the Village north of Kinmundy where it was reassembled, making it the last log cabin to take its place among the other relics of a bygone era.
Mr. Stine was an immigrant from Germany, he built the cabin about 1840 and was an ancestor of Mrs. Kanal.
Old Stable
Mrs. Kanal also brought Mrs. Ingram's attention to the old stable site located in the same area. The Stein cabin and the Old Stable were moved to the village in 1976.
Lester Cabin
This cabin was originally located eight miles west of Kinmundy close to the little community of Lester. In 1895 a Mr. Jenkins as a young child visited with Mr. and Mrs. Auble/Aubel. Mr. Auble/Aubel was a doctor that treated with herbs.
The cabin itself was built around 1835 with no interior walls. The mantle is original to the structure.
On the south wall you can see a dual purpose piece of furniture popular around 1820-1850. It could be made into a full size bed or raised to make an enclosed child’s bed or used as a divan. Erma Ingram purchased this piece in 1961 from the Ed Stappleman auction. The small cupboard was also popular at that time. Notice the many types of medicine bottles on the shelves to the right of the door.
This cabin was reconstructed on a day when Erma was not on site resulting in the Lester Cabin’s back entrance facing the public lane, therefore known as the backwards cabin.
Schwarm Cabin
This cabin was built by John and Barbara Schwarm in the late 1840’s. John was born in Lebanon County Pennsylvania on June 15, 1812. He married Barbara in Ohio on October 6, 1842. When they reached Illinois, John purchased land from the U.S. Government for $1.25 an acre. The location the cabin was built on was near Hickory Creek close to the Old Loogootee Cemetery just north of Route 185 at the top of a hill.
When John and Barbara settled in the area there were no church buildings, so from 1849 to December 1852 they invited their neighbors of like mind to worship with them in their home.
Strullmyer Cabin
The Strullmyer Cabin was originally built west of St. Peter, Illinois around 1828. It was sold to Herman Strickler of Loogootee, Illinois.
In 1869, Wilhelm H. Strullmeyer (December 25, 1827-June 30, 1908) and his wife Wilhemena (August 12, 1831-May 5, 1896) arrived in the United States from Prussia, Germany with a 6 year old son, William H. They first settled in Washington County, Illinois and later moved to Marion County between Kinmundy and Farina believed to be the present home of Maxine Loy.
In 1903, William Strullmyer (January 23, 1863-February 27, 1950) and his wife Bertha L. Runge Strullmyer (September 20, 1861-April 25, 1933) moved into a log cabin believed to have been moved to their farm from a prior location in LaClede Township, Fayette County, Illinois. In this cabin they raised three sons, Albert, Edward and Otto and a foster daughter Vera. (William Strullmyer had dropped one “e” out of Strullmeyer which accounts for the difference in spellings)
In 1968, Ivan and Willard Strullmyer, grandsons of the original Strullmeyer sold the cabin to the Ingrams where it was re-located to its current home in Kinmundy Log Cabin Village.
In a cabin such as this, any small window meant there was an enclosed stairway to the upstairs.
Preacher/Wagoner Cabin
The preacher’s cabin was located near Forbes Lake. It was built for a circuit rider of the Methodist faith. The second preacher was a Wagoner. He also ran a sorghum mill. Preacher Wagoner added a leanto for a kitchen but this addition was not replaced since it was not part of the original cabin. The third preacher was Reverend Miller.
Russell Wagoner moved into this home with his father, mother and older brother as a small child of two years in 1939. Russell, nicknamed Cotton, lived here a short time. The cabin had belonged to his great grandfather, Steven Jacob Wagoner
Erma Ingram purchased the log cabin when the Forbes Lake was being built.
Stevenson Cabin
The Stevenson Cabin was moved from a few miles South of Decatur, Illinois.
If anyone has information concerning this cabin, please contact the Historical Society.