VANDALIA - "To me, history is more than just dates," said Vandalia Butler Historical Society member Phil Frantz, adding with a wink, "That's why kids hate history, too many dates!"
Frantz and other members of the Vandalia Butler Historical Society have worked for the past 30 years to preserve much more than just sterile dates and names. The society's museum on Alkaline Springs Road provides local residents with hundreds of tangible links to area history.
The society will be celebrating its 30th anniversary on Jan. 24, marking the occasion with an anniversary dinner.
"The Historical Society is one of the best kept secrets in Vandalia," stated Franz. "People tend to be 45 or 50 before they will join. That's usually after they have lost their mother and father...When their parents are gone, they want to know more about the past, so they join the Historical Society."
Frantz has had a life long interest in history. The Eagle Scout and former Historical Society president first came to the Vandalia area in 1956.
"When I came to the city there were about 800 people," remembered Frantz. "People ask me if I have always lived around Vandalia, since I know so much about the area. I say no, I'm a foreigner, I'm from Indiana. I've just got a lot of curiosity, I guess."
That curiosity prompted Frantz to search through the records of every Vandalia City Council meeting in pursuit of local history.
A heritage of local history
In a sense, the history of the Vandalia Butler Historical Society Museum began with one family. Ferdinand Hoottinger purchased 19 acres on Alkaline Springs Road in the 1880's. The Swiss immigrant raised a family of three sons and three daughters on the property with his wife Elizabeth.
Also on the property is the spring that gave the road its name. At one time suffering from ill health and convinced that the spring water had medicinal qualities, Hoottinger began selling the water to the public for five cents a bottle.
"Hoottinger swore that the water had healing powers," Frantz explained. "He wrote about it to his father in Switzerland, who was a medical officer in the Swiss army."
The nature of Hoottinger's ailment is unknown, but he was certain that the spring water had healed him.
"I don't know if he had an ulcer or what, maybe he was just irregular," smiled Frantz. "It turns out that the spring water is full of magnesium. Milk of Magnesia, as you know, is a very good thing for older people."
The Historical Society still makes the spring water available to the public, but the price has gone up. A donation of 25 cents will purchase a gallon of spring water from the Alkaline Spring.
Hoottinger's daughter, Mary, was born on Jan. 30, 1904 in the homestead still standing on Historical Society grounds. The future charter member of the Vandalia Butler Historical Society became the last surviving Hoottinger in 1953.
"Mary had sold water out of this building, as her father and her older brothers had done," said Frantz.
Bicentennial fervor
The national bicentennial in 1976 sparked a new interest in local history. 66 families from Vandalia and Butler Township banded together to form an organization dedicated to "preserving your parent's past for your children's future."
"As a result of the bicentennial of the nation, everybody became more aware of their heritage, more so than they had in years," explained Frantz.
The organization became a non-profit corporation on Jan. 24, 1977. With no official facilities, members began storing acquisitions and records in private homes.
"Here were these 60 some families bringing things in and we had no place to store it all," said Frantz.
Meanwhile, Mary Hoottinger was feeling pressure to sell off the family land for development. In 1980, the feisty senior citizen chose not to sell eight and one half acres of land near her home. By donating the land and buildings to the Vandalia Butler Historical Society, Mary preserved local history and her own privacy in one step.
"She was no dummy," smiled Frantz.
Mary continued to live on the property until the age of 90 when her health necessitated a move to SpringMeade nursing home. She lived there until her death in 1997 at the age of 93.
Log Cabin
Soon after forming, the society learned of a two-story log cabin soon to be burned down in Russia, Ohio. The society purchased the cabin for $900.
"I thought it was a good buy for 900 dollars," said Frantz. In weather that Frantz describes as "miserable" historical society volunteers tore down the structure, painstakingly labeling each log. The cabin was later reassembled and still stands on Historical Society grounds.
Brown School Restoration
In 1991, a local one room schoolhouse on South Brown School Road was in need of rescue. According to Frantz, people lined the streets along the route when the 1860's schoolhouse was delivered to society grounds.
"It took four hours to move the building," remembered Frantz. "It was pulled by an old Chevrolet chassis. There was no body at all. Just a seat and three transmissions behind a six-cylinder engine. We had good luck. We lost one brick!"
It took volunteers 18 months and $62,000 to complete the restoration. The schoolhouse is now used as an educational aide for local students.
Federal Farm House
When Mary Hoottinger moved to SpringMeade nursing home, her family home was restored so that visitors could see how an 1840's farmhouse was furnished.
During the $60,000 restoration, volunteers made an interesting discovery. A stockpile of food dating back to World War II lay hiding in the attic. Items were dropped to the ground from an attic window. The most memorable ejection was a 10-pound bag of granulated sugar.
"It never even broke, it was so hard," laughed Frantz. "It would have made good levy protection in a flood!"
Other Projects
In 1999, space was becoming a real issue. With the help of a local contractor, a meeting house and shelter were built on the Alkaline Springs property.
2001 saw the restoration of the Hoottinger barn. Groundhogs had damaged the lower level, making entering the building perilous. New wiring, roof, lights and a concrete floor solved that problem. Tools, buggies and other items are currently on display there.
In 2002, the society completed restoration of the Spring House, where the Hoottinger family sold spring water for generations. Termites had damaged the building, driving up the costs of restoration. The final restoration of the small building cost $23,000 and involved the addition of electric heat, a new foundation, new floor joists and flooring, new interior walls and exterior siding and all new plumbing.
Nuggets of History
In the course of his research, Frantz has come across several stories explaining how Vandalia got its name. Tales abound of tired pioneers, surveying companies and even bandits.
"One reason given is that the town was named for the vandals that used to hide out here where the falls are," Frantz explained. "They would hide in the trees and as the wagons came up the incline on the National Road, boom, they'd drop out of the trees and relieve the pioneers of their watches and hard cash."
According to Frantz, the most likely reason lies with Benjamin Wilhelm, the village's founder and owner of the original 33 lots that became Vandalia.
"I think Wilhelm named it," said Frantz. "The 'Van" was for Van Buren, who was president at about that time...There's a lot of hills and dales in this little village and around it. 'Dalia,' is a German word for hills and dales. I think he just combined the two."
Frantz concedes that there is no way to know for sure which story is correct.
"All these things are possibilities, but nobody could prove it," Frantz stated, adding: "When they start asking questions, I start digging."
Frantz's research on the history of the village of Vandalia and the Wilhelm family genealogy is part of Historical Society archives.
Continuing Contributions
In addition to caring for the museum on Alkaline Springs Road, the society maintains a web site with several online exhibits. The web site, www.historicalsocietyvandalia-butler.org, offers information and photographs on the village of Tadmor, the Al Johnson Flying School, the history of Vandalia-Butler schools and other areas of local history.
Museum buildings are open by appointment during winter months by calling Frantz at 898-5672 or by calling Historical Society president Chuck Geiger at 898-2742. All buildings are open to the public on the first and third Sundays of the month from 1 to 3 p.m., April through October. There is no charge for admission.
Aging Membership
Donations and the occasional fundraiser have provided monies for all the restoration and preservation works of the past 30 years.
As members of the society age, membership has begun to decline. Once 200 strong, Historical Society membership has dwindled to 87 volunteers.
Frantz concedes that the organization is in need of new blood.
"I don't know if, when we are all gone, there will be any members," Frantz stated. "It will probably be in a trusteeship."
An endowment fund has been established that will reserve funds, hopefully allowing the facilities to be continually cared for.
In the meantime, historical society volunteers continue to work together to provide links to the past.
"I'm just trying to do my part to perpetuate history," stated Frantz.
