A two-volume book, “Remembering Elsah,” and 850 page newspaper compilation regarding 19th century Elsah, Jersey County, by Beverly A. (Porter) Bauser, has been released. Bauser is a local resident and has roots in 19th century Elsah.This work is the result of five years of research by the author, and is composed of the correspondence sent in by local residents to thew weekly newspapers in the area during the 1800s. While researching for family genealogy (including the name Porter, Langley, Whitten, Segraves, Carroll and Sherman), the author discovered details of 19th century Elsah never seen before. This includes detailed descriptions of the village and surrounding area, railroad construction, elsah School, Notch Cliff mansion (Beverly’s grandfather was one of the caretakers of the mansion), and the Piasa Bluffs Hotel. Notch Cliff mansion is now the location of Principia College, where her father worked as a guard and chauffeur.
The book is on display at the Elsah Museum, located at the Elsah Village Hall on LaSalle Street. The book is also available for sale as an e-boom, on DVD. To purchase the book, visit the Elsah Museum or Jeremiah’s Consignment Shop, both on LaSalle Street in Elsah or contact the author at: remembering.elsah@yahoo.com.
The author will be at the Elsah Museum during the “Bake and Book Sale” Saturday, October 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. DVDs will be on sale at that time; 10 percent of all DVDs sold will be donated to the museum. Bauser is also the Madison County IL GenWeb Coordinator and is extensively researching Madison County, Illinois.
