Waukegan Bachelors' Club

In 1891, a group of Waukegan businessmen formed the Waukegan Bachelors' Club—a men's club for social and "improvement" reasons. Members included the elite of Waukegan such as future mayor, Dr. William Pearce, banker Theodore Durst, general store proprietor George Warren, and county clerk Lew Hendee.

Lake County official, Lew Hendee, was one of many Waukegan Bachelor Club members. Shown here circa 1910. Dunn Museum 94.34.220

The founding members purchased property on the east side of Third Lake and built a clubhouse with eight bedrooms, a large gathering room with a piano, and a large kitchen.

  Opening Day photo, June 14, 1903. "Opening Day" was usually held on a Sunday in June. According to an invitation sent by Lew Hendee and other members, the event began at 4 a.m. and continued until it was "time to go to work the following day." The bachelors decided the fate of one of their own at that first meeting each year. According to Dr. Pearce, "a candidate was selected by ballot to make a proposal for marriage that year. Some took the verdict good naturedly, others became terror stricken, but before the year had elapsed they have, thus far, persuaded some trusting damsel to share their fortunes."

Bachelors and clubhouse at Third Lake, June 1908. Dunn Museum.

Even after the men married, they remained dues-paying members to help with the property taxes on the clubhouse. The club also held a Family Day when bachelors could bring their girlfriends, and the married men could bring their wives and children for a picnic. The bachelors hosted exclusive parties, but also spent a good deal of time outdoors fishing, boating, hunting, and even had a baseball team.

Bachelors playing baseball at their clubhouse on Third Lake, June 1908. Dunn Museum.

As time went on, more of the men married and interest in the club declined. In 1905, Lew Hendee ended his bachelor days by marrying Miss Lila Favor.

Waukegan Daily News, August 23, 1920. 

By 1920, only four of the original 25 bachelors remained single. With few regular members, the Bachelor's Club turned over the use of their Third Lake clubhouse to local Boy Scout packs. 

In 1922, a new subdivision was created near the Club's property on Sunshine and Lake Avenues. The site of the club was eventually sold and developed. 

- D. Dretske ddretske@lcfpd.org

The Great Anniversary Festival

John Adams, the second president of the United States, declared, “I believe that [the Fourth] will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.”

This postcard (circa 1930) is a view of the Battle of Concord, April 19, 1775 diorama once featured at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

The American Revolutionary War (1775 – 1783) was the culmination of a political revolution in which the thirteen united former British colonies rejected the right of Great Britain’s Parliament to govern them and formed a Continental Army to fight for independence.

Though the war began in 1775, our nation's independence is dated to July 4, 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress.

In 1776, small celebrations, including toasts to the new nation were made, but the first official celebration was held July 4, 1777 in Philadelphia. The custom spread to other towns quickly and included parades, games, military displays, and fireworks.

The first Fourth of July celebration in Lake County, Illinois, was held in 1844 at the confluence of Second and Third Lakes, in today’s Village of Third Lake. Nearly 100 people gathered from neighboring communities, including Nathaniel Vose, who acted as the celebration’s “marshal,” Amos Bennett and his family who were the first African American settlers in the county, and Reverend Dodge of the Millburn Congregational Church.

David Gilmore, a settler from Massachusetts, made chowder, and other families brought pumpkin pie (made from pumpkins harvested and dried the previous fall), sorrel pies, and seed cakes.

After the meal was eaten, Reverend Dodge gave a prayer for the freedom of the slaves in the South, and Nat Doust read a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Since there were no fire crackers or fireworks, but people wanted a bit of noise to celebrate, B.F. Shepherd said, several boys “got hold of a little powder, wet it and filled some wild goose quills… when they were touched with a live coal they would go around in all directions.”

Two Revolutionary War veterans are buried in Lake County. Henry Collins (1763-1847) served in Massachusetts from 1781 to 1783, and is buried in the Mount Rest Cemetery in Newport Township. Reuben Hill (1765-1858) served in New York State from 1780 to 1783, and is buried in the Wauconda Cemetery.

(Postcards in this post, unless otherwise noted, are circa 1905 - 1915)