The Class of 1915

Esther Albrecht, Leona Allen, Barbara Anderson,

Mabel Ballschmidt, Dorothy Bauscher, Emeline Beardsley, Jerald Bigelow, Lucile Bookman, Jeanette Bowler, Martha Brockmeier, Donald Burns,

William Calkins, Ruth Capron, Fern Clarno, Harriet Cox,

Estella Davis, Lawrence Dippell, Margaret Doyle,

Mildred Edler, Valda Eels, Ethel Eels, Noel Elvey, Robert Elvey,

James Fitzpatrick, Torrey Foy, Lorene Frank, Dorothy Fuller, James Fulwider

Ruth Gasser, Isabel Gugger, Julius Guhl,

Lloyd Haase, Winnifred Harea, Grace Hartman, Wilhelm Heeren, Oscar Hill, Emil Hoefer, Karl Hoffman, Margaret Hookstra, Helen Hoy

Oliver Jastram, Marjorie Johnson, Imogene Jungkunz, Stella Jury-Korthmeier

Orrin Kohl, Myrtle Karlen-Fritz, Leo Koehler, Russel Knoble, Kenneth Knowlton, Grace Kuhneke-Lapp

Marjorie Lacy, Russell Liole, Bee Langenstein, Harry Liggett, Harry Ludwig,

Frances Manchester, Kathleen McCoy, Gertrude McDermid, Elizabeth McNary, Eva Murdaugh, Mabel Murphy,

Helen Palmer, Helen Phillips, Dorothy Place-Cobb, Lucretia Porter,

Nellie Resh, Merton Rogers, Russell Ryan, Ruth Rubolt,

Helen Sage, John Scanlon, Marie Schlenk, Irene Schofield, Doris Schumaker-Waldecker, Margaret Schulte, Alice Shafer, Myrtle Shearer-McGrath, Earl Sinclair, Reint Sluiter, Lucile Smith, Paul Smith, Hazel Snyder, Ruth Stewart, Nathan Studebaker,

Mary Taft, Charles Taylor, Etta Tisdell, Esther Trollope,

Marjorie Ullman,

Wescott Walker, Rachel Walters, Helen Wells, Harry Wheat, Julia Wheat, Ruth Wicks, Royal Wilds, Naomi Winters, Margaret Wilson, Earl Woodring,

Pearl Yeager, Wilson Young.

World War I Veterans from the Class of 1915

Jerald Bigelow, Sergeant, Camp Merritt, New Jersey.

William Calkins, Headquarters Company, 37th Division, Army of Occupation, A.E.F., Seeters, Germany.

Lawrence Dippell, 60th Coast Artillery.

Noel Elvey, Quartermaster's Corp, Camp Grant.

James Fitzpatrick, S.A.T.C.

Torrey Foy, Navy Musician, Brest, France.

James Fulwider, Lieutenant, Aviation, Ellington Field, Texas.

Julius Guhl, Infantry, France.

Lloyd Haase, Regimental Supply Sergeant, Camp Jackson, South Carolina.

Oscar Hill, Infantry, Camp Jackson, South Carolina.

Karl Hoffman, Navy Musician, Great Lakes Training Station.

Russel Knobel, Company H, 11th Regiment, France.

Lieutenant Kenneth H. Knowlton, 33rd Division, Infantry, "Argonne Battle" France.

Leo Koehler, Quartermaster's Corps, France.

Lieutenant Harry B. Liggett, Company A, 122nd MG Battalion, 33rd Division, Infantry. Distinguished Service Cross, France.

Harry Ludwig, Navy.

Merton Rogers, Army.

Reint Sluiter, Infantry.

Paul Smith, Aviator.

Charles Taylor, Lieutenant, Aviation.

Harry E. Wheat, 3rd Instruction Company, Signal Corps, Radio School, Franklin Cantonments, Camp Meade, Maryland.

Basketball State Champions

The Freeport Boys basketball team was the Illinois 1915 State Champions.

Top row: Coach D. B. Daugherty, Chester Langenstein, Glen Holmes
Second row: Torrey Foy, Oscar Hill, Leo Koehler, Manager Julius Guhl
Bottom row: Russell Mulnix, Paul Gilbert, Herbert Biersach

In the Quarterfinals, the score was Freeport 41, Granite City 20.
In the Semifinals, the score was Freeport 38, Carbondale 14.
And in the State Final, the score was Freeport 27, Springfield 11.
Freeport was coached by Dan Daugherty. The team's final record was 18-2. There were 567 students in the four classes that year.

The leading scorer for the State Tournament was Torrey Foy. Leo Koehler was third, and Oscar Hill was fourth.

Four Freeporters made the All-Tournament Team:
Torrey Foy, Freeport, 5-8, Sr.
Oscar Hill, Freeport, 5-7, Sr.
Leo Koehler, Freeport, 5-8, Sr.
Chester Langenstein, Freeport, 6-0, Sr.
Edward Sternaman, Springfield, 5-5, Sr.

Koehler also made the All-Tournament team in 1914. Freeport finished second in 1914, finishing 17-1, its only loss coming in the title game.

This is the front page of The Polaris newspaper, predecessor to the Pretz News, showing the 1915 State Championship.

This is an inside page of the same issue, with portraits of the 1915 State Championship team.

And this is the staff of the 1915 Polaris newspaper staff:
James H. Fulwider and Dorothy X. Fuller, Editors
Elizabeth Mcnary, Exchanges
Russell Ryan and Elizabeth Osten, Athletics
Helen Phillips and Donald Burns, Notes and Jokes
Marjorie Johnson, Society
Eleanor Sanford, Music
Ruth Capron, Latin-German
Nathan Studebaker, Commercial
Roscoe Askey, Manual Training
Marguerite Doyle, English
Dorothy Place, History
Hazel Snyder, Mathematics and Science
Raint Sluiter, Agriculture
Oliver Jastram, Oratory
Myrtle Prall, Alumni
Imogene Jungkunz, Domestic Science
Boyd Hill, Illustrations
Wm. L. Calkins Jr. and Lawrence Dippell, Business Mgrs.
Miss Mabel Goddard, Faculty Advisor.

Russell Ryan was a fast athlete. During his career at Freeport High School and the University of Chicago, he was an outstanding track athlete, specializing in the quarter mile. He won first place for FHS in the state meet and also was victorious in many dual meets for the Pretzels. At the University of Chicago he also registered numerous points for the Maroons in the quarter mile. After graduating from college, he went to Houston, Texas, where he opened offices as a consulting petroleum geologist. He was fatally injured in an automobile collision which took place near Houston. He was driving his car along a country road, which was partly obscured because of dense smoke arising from grass fires. His car collided head-on with another car. He served with the U. S. army during World War I, assigned to an engineering corps overseas for several months. He was 33.

In 2015, FHS celebrated the 1915 State Championship basketball team with a celebration and t-shirts.

An article in statelinesportshub.com used photos I provided to help report the celebration. Dave Schmidt at Stateline Sports Hub provided the photo above.

Freeport General Hospital in 1915.

Freeport's Superba Theater, which opened in 1915. It closed in 1928.

Many members of my family worked at the Arcade Manufacturing Company. This view is looking northeast. The elevated Illinois Central tracks are shown at the right, with the overpass shown going over S. Arcade Avenue. East Shawnee Street goes between the tracks and the factory, the only entrance into the Arcade subdivision. S. Hancock Avenue is to the left, in front of the Arcade. Some of the buildings are still standing as a part of Modern Plating.

Knowlton Park

Blurry postcard view of the waterfall at Krape Park postmarked in 1915. The stairs are visible at the right of the falls.

First United Brethren Church at Main and Locust. The parsonage is on the right.

While researching something else, I ran across this ad in the December, 1915, issue of Popular Mechanics, page 161.

Julius Kegel on a Harley-Davidson in 1915 at age 24.