Somonauk, Illinois in 1867 The Half-Shire Men Got Drunk

From the MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1867, 153 Years Ago.

""Somonauk is a smart little village situated about three miles west of Sandwich.    It has seven fine churches, but two saloons; three good grain elevators; a fine agriculture depot; two lumber merchants, one of whom sold over one million feet of lumber last season.

"There is a fine large brick block; a good hotel kept by a well-known landlord, John M. Goodell.

"We noticed some drunkards in town but they were Half-Shire men who had come over to buy up votes and not meeting with good success had drunk up their own whiskey  and were too drunk to get home."

Now I imagine that Half-Shire story would be an interesting one to know more about.

--RoadDog