History of Starline, which has local ties, shared during the event
By Penny Gruetzmacher
Correspondent
The Historical Society of Walworth and Big Foot Prairie held its annual banquet on April 27 at Starline in Harvard, Ill. The event kicked off with a social hour, allowing attendees time to see a variety of historic items related to Starline.
Nancy Lehman, president of the historical society gave her welcoming remarks and introduced the special guests of the evening, including: Orrin and Karen Kinney; Greater Harvard Area Historical Society Members; Black Point State Historical Site Director; David Desimone and staff member, Michael Rehberg; Sidney Bliss, Jr. of Bliss Communications Inc., and; Rev. Dr. Lance Herrick, son of Robert Herrick who owned Herrick Feed Company of Harvard.
More than 100 people that attended received a 16-page booklet about Starline that included historical photos with a few pages sharing information about The Historical Society of Walworth and Big Foot Prairie.
Mary Kirkpatrick, wife of the late Tom Kirkpatrick, a semi driver for Starline, led the group in grace. A buffet dinner followed and a coffee and mini sweets table was available.
The speakers then took turns at the front of the room, all of whom are related to historical figures.
In the booklet, the families mentioned were the beginning of the Starline history, including Henry Laken Ferris, who invented a hay carrier in 1881 and continued to improve the device. According to the booklet, a patent was secured on April 17, 1883. Charles Hunt and Nathan Helm convinced Henry to move his shop into the basement of their Harvard, Illinois hardware store. This developed into the Hunt Helm, Ferris & Company.
In 1888, the company located to Front Street to be near the railroad and continued to expand. It incorporated in 1931 and at one time they had 300 employees. The name was changed into Starline because they manufactured the “star,” a leading line of agricultural equipment.
Starline also boasts a strong connection to the Walworth and Fontana areas as many people traveled to Harvard to work for the company. Some of the local people mentioned in the program included: Jon August, Ruth Ann Beyers, Tom Birdsall, Francis Burton, David Cash, Cynthia Cooper Rauland, Judy DeMay, Newt Dickie, Betty Gary, Jerry Haldeman, Katherine “Peachy” Hawver, Wilber Higgins, Elzora Kottke, Grace McCullough, Roy Seaver, Gary Vose, Jerry Wagner, Louise Woultman Czaja and Robert Yeuger.
The final speaker for the event was Orrin Kinney, who was responsible for renovating the former Starline Factory into a multipurpose building used for weddings and other banquets.
Kinney also started an art event, “Fourth Friday” at Starline, that draws as many as 600 people. Following his speech and the presentations, Kinney gave a tour to the attendees.
