How I found Henry's Name

The mystery of H. Wallace Gale's name was a tough nut to crack at first since all of his records referred to him as H. Wallace Gale.  Even his cenotaph (with an error in his death age - should be 20 years old and not 21 years old) referred to him as H. Wallace Gale.  For some reason, it was important for H. Wallace Gale to use his middle name more than his first but he included the initial to his first name always.  This made him unique.  He was referred to as H. Wallace.  It took me a while to find out what the H stood for, but with the help of the National Park Service, I was able to find out his name was Henry.   Here are the screenshots from their website, that helped me crack the mystery.

https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/index.htm

Town of Volo (Forksville) Started with 150 People

Another antiquated book I came across, was written by the man that defeated Gardner Gale in 1858 for Congress, Elijah M. Haines.  The book called, Historical and Statistical Sketches of Lake County, was written in 1852 and states that about 150 people were in Forksville (Volo) and about 200 in Wauconda to begin with.  Here are some screenshots from this old book that is found online:

It appears that the family of H. Wallace Gale was in Forksville, Il by 1854 (from previous research), but there were other related Gales who were in Forksville as revealed in my book.  This now gives me a good idea of the number of pioneers (150) who settled Forksville, IL. now known as Volo, IL.

Photograph of Elijah M. Haines, Illinois politician from Lake County and former Speaker of the Illinois House.

Chicago Botanic Garden

A wonderful place to visit, Chicago Botanic Garden, has over 385 acres of walking area, gardens, and nature areas.  Periodically, the Chicago Botanic Garden has several events.  I've recently visited the Orchid Show and the Night of 1000 Jack o' Lanterns in 2016.  Here are pictures from both.  Enjoy.

The Pyramid House

In the Northwest suburbs of Wadsworth, Illinois, sits one of the most interesting homes ever built.  It was built in the shape of a giant pyramid.  The Gold Pyramid house was built by Jim and Linda Onan in 1977.  They have placed a giant statue of Ramses II and the house is surrounded by a moat. The Onans live in the house and provide tours of the home and on-site museum/gift shop for a small fee.  In addition, the son of Jim Onan has begun offering tours to Egypt.  Here are some of my pictures of the Pyramid House and a link to their website.

Gold Pyramid House

Volo Auto Museum & Haunted Tour

I've been to the Volo Auto Museum multiple times with family and highly recommend it. They have a host of various exhibits and cars ranging from classics to hollywood to historical cars. There is a bit of history in each car they display.  In addition to the cars, they also have a Military Museum with many original artifacts.  It's very good as well.  The grounds have a lot of room to walk around or sit and they have a pizza cafe (ShowBiz) on site as well.   Often times, they have live events (bands, sleep-overs, etc.) and are open most of the year.

http://www.volocars.com/

In addition to their museum, the antique barn and antique malls have many things to look at and purchase.  I've never seen so many interesting things and each time I go, it seems there is something always new.

But, as I have already discussed, their antique barn seems to be haunted by a Civil War ghost and possibly others as well.   I wrote a book about my research and experiences there.  In addition to the stories and the old cemetery across the street, the Volo Auto Museum does a haunted trolly tour in the fall.  Last year I took this tour in October.   It was quite interesting.  I won't give too much away, but the most interesting thing of all was a display case (shown only on the tour) that showed the items found under the floorboard in the old farmhouse.  It included an old Civil War knapsack, a gun, some letters, and a case.  Here is a picture of it:

At the time I went on the tour, I hadn't received the federal records regarding Henry Wallace Gale, yet. After I received them, I was surprised to see what was listed as returned to the Gale family. It included clothing, a knapsack, and a few other written items I could not read.  Here is a copy of that record:

After a lot of research,  I believe one of the items listed that was hard to read, was a Walch gun. This Civil War era gun was commonly purchased by Union soldiers at the time and a picture of it found online seems very close to what was in the case.

I would highly recommend that the Grams family continue to look under the floorboards in the old farmhouse for Henry Wallace Gale's clothes and perhaps they could use a noninvasive method to find them without lifting up all the wood (or look near where the knapsack was found).

Here are some more pictures from the Volo Auto Museum:

Did Henry Wallace Gale Teach in a Log School House?

I found a reference to an old log school in Volo.  Did Henry teach in this school before he went to war?  It seems to have been replaced by a frame school.  Perhaps he did, but research is ongoing.  Here is a screenshot of the mention:







- History of Lake County, by John J. Halsey, LL.D, Illinois , University of Chicago Library,  1912, page 725 of 904. 

The Old Volo Post Office

A small blurb about the Gales (multiple cousins and brothers had moved to Forksville/Volo) and the Volo (Forksville) post office was found in an antiquated book.  Here is a screenshot:

- History of Lake County, by John J. Halsey, LL.D, Illinois , University of Chicago Library,  1912, page 626 of 904.