52 Ancestors: FIRE! - William McAboy's Greenhouse

This week's blog prompt immediately reminded me of the fire in my 2x great grandfather's greenhouse in Clinton, Illinois in 1883.  I've written a few times about William Warren McAboy which you can read HERE and HERE.  William was a bit of a "black sheep" but after learning more and more about him, it seems that he had a bit of a difficult life.

Map of Clinton, Illinois

I know from previous research that William's nursery was in Block 21 which was 4 blocks south of the public square.  I believe the area circled in pale orange is the public square - Johnson Street is noted by the green arrow.

Online publication - Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.
History of De Witt County, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of the scenery,
and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. Philadelphia: W.R.

Before opening the nursery, William was the janitor of the public school building, which was an elected position.  His salary was $500 per year.

In 1879, he resigned his janitorial position perhaps to get the nursery business started.

Clinton Register,  Fri, Sept 12, 1879, page 1

William did a bit of advertising to entice people to visit the nursery.

Clinton Register, 20 September, 1882, page 5

And then the unthinkable happened on Saturday, December 30, 1882 - William McAboy's greenhouse suffered a fire.  I can't even imagine the horror of battling a blaze and watching the destruction of your business.

Clinton Register, Fri, 5 January 1883, page 3

It looks like the business recovered and William was able to show some "curiosities".  The mention of figs is interesting as William later moved to Fresno, where figs are plentiful.

Clinton Register, 15 August 1884, page 4

And then William shared a bouquet of flowers with the Clinton Register.  I wonder what prompted that?  But since the newspaper was the social media of the day, they felt it was worthy of mentioning it in the paper.

Clinton Register, Fri, 5 September 1884, page 4

Want to see some novelties from Florida?  I guess you could say that a lime the size of a football would definitely be a novelty!  And the name A.V. Lisenby means something, although at this moment I don't know what.  But his name has definitely come up in some of my research.  And six bits - my grandmother and dad used to use the terms "bits" when they talked about quarters - six bits would have been 75 cents.

Clinton Register, 27 March 1885, page 4

The Clinton Register seemed very interested in the Greenhouse, calling it Clinton's Greenhouse.  I haven't found the name of the greenhouse so, perhaps, this was it.  I like reading that William was sociable and pleasant, a description I have not heard before.

Clinton Register, 7 May 1886, page 2

The business seemed to flourish and by 1889, William was ready to expand the business by erecting two new green houses.

Clinton Register, Friday June 7, 1889 - page 3

I love reading the details of the improvements.  There it is again - sociable and pleasant.  Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all.

Clinton Register, Friday, August 23, 1889, page 3

But wait!  All of these improvements and just a few short months later, he sold the greenhouse to Mr. C.W. Moore.

Clinton Register, December 6, 1889, page 5

From the Clinton Register, Friday, January 3, 1890, page 3 I learned that William was to make his future home in Fresno.  Of course I knew he moved to Fresno but even now, I have no idea why.  More research needed.

Clinton Register, Fri, 3 January 1890, page 3

So while the fire was a tragic occurrence, it seems that William Warren McAboy, my 2x great grandfather, was able to salvage his business and even expand it in later years.