Margaret Downing's recent posting activity

Margaret Downing

Margaret Downing wrote a history column for The Herald for about 15 years for Rock Valley Publishing, mostly selections from Herald editor Edson I. Carr, going back to the 1800s. She grew up in Harvard, Illinois, retired from AT&T/Illinois Bell in Rockford after 27 years, currently am administrative assistant at Rockton United Methodist Church, and a reporter for Rock Valley Publishing (which she calls "my hobby job” for the past 30 years). She is a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals in South Beloit. Besides obtaining old Rockton Herald news from the Talcott Library, she also spent several years transcribing the journals and diaries written by Roscoe’s Alice “Allie” Dodge (McCurry) in the latter 1800s. She writes, "So many of the people she wrote about, along with her and her husband Kay McCurry, are all still together in the Roscoe Township Cemetery. I have been a history buff for most of my life!"

Rockton Thu. Nov 17 2022

Local history: a Rockton hero — General Elon John Farnsworth

Elon John Farnsworth, a hero of the Battle of Gettysburg, is buried in Rockton Township Cemetery.

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

Local history: a Rockton hero — General Elon John Farnsworth

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

Roscoe Thu. Nov 3 2022

Local history: taking the train from Roscoe to Harlem

Trains ran regularly through Roscoe and Rockton in the late 1800s.

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

Local history: taking the train from Roscoe to Harlem

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

Roscoe Wed. Apr 6 2022

Historical photo: Roscoe Methodist Church circa 1870

Roscoe Methodist Church has met in several buildings since its founding in 1836.

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

Historical photo: Roscoe Methodist Church circa 1870

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

Roscoe Thu. Mar 31 2022

Robert J. Cross, Roscoe's first recorded settler

Robert Cross helped to form Winnebago County and write the Illinois constitution.

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

Robert J. Cross, Roscoe's first recorded settler

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

Roscoe Thu. Mar 24 2022

The Roscoe flood of 1858

The pastor was rescued but all eight members of his family were lost in the flood.

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

The Roscoe flood of 1858

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

Roscoe Thu. Mar 3 2022

Historical photos of Roscoe and Rockton

Hundred-year-old images from before Leland Park was developed

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

Historical photos of Roscoe and Rockton

Margaret Downing Rockton-Roscoe News

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