In 1839, the capital of Illinois was moved to Springfield. Before that, Vandalia was its capital, and for several years, the legislature met in this building, still a county courthouse. I usually want you to visit the places we stop at, but I think you can skip Vandalia if you want. It was, to be fair, the western terminus of the National Road, and that is of historic interest, but you can read about that in a book. Or a blog post.

I was certain that there was more to Vandalia than those two facts, and went to Wikipedia to learn more. What did I discover? I found out that in 1915, the Liberty Bell was sent to San Francisco for the Panama Pacific International Exposition and, on the way back, passed through Vandalia!

The ride yesterday was very nice, with sun replacing the clouds and the six or so trees we saw as we drove through the farmland of Indiana and Illinois looked beautiful with their changing colors.

When we got to St. Louis, we first visited our cousins Donna and Ed. Donna’s mother and my mother were sisters. Donna had been cleaning out some boxes of stuff that she hadn’t looked at since she cleaned out her parents’ house, and found some family memorabilia. I know you aren’t all interested, but here a a little of what she found.

The resolution is not the best, but here is my mother and Donna’s mother at the Kentucky Derby in 1937. They would have been 20 and 24. Maybe staying with my grandfather’s brother Sam in Louisville.

Twenty horses ran in the Derby that year. The winner was War Admiral. Billionaire came in last. Hard to imagine Billionaire coming in last in anything today, except for maybe a popularity contest.

And then there is this picture of the Margulis family. My grandfather standing on the far right. Where was this take? Looks like Ukraine or Poland or Galicia, right. The answer is: St. Louis. Things were different then. I would guess “then” to be about 1895.

The Margulis clan was originally from Ukraine. My grandmother’s Wrobel family was from somewhere in Austria-Hungary’s Galicia, but settled in Vienna some time in the mid or late 1800s. Somehow, my great grandfather Joe Wrobel found himself in London, where he married Gitel Nadel (who became Kate in America). I know little about her family. No idea when she came to London. Was she also from Galicia? Did they know each other in Vienna?

I have no answer to those questions. All I know is:

that they were married in London at the Hambro Synagogue in 1884. The Hambro Synagogue was a breakaway congregation from London’s Great Synagogue. Its building was demolished in 1892, as part of a London slum clearance project, and eventually merged back into the Great Synagogue. I picked up this info from a quick visit to JewishGen. There is obviously more to this story.

Okay, one more.

A picture when I was cute. Along with Donna, my late sister Joan, and my grandfather. Oh, yes, I am there one in front.

Last night, we were with nine classmates and their plus-ones at a catered dinner at friend Wendy’s house.  Three of us were the three Arthur’s in the class. Here we are, the Three Not-so-Lively Arts.