ROCHELLE — Rochelle City Council member Tom McDermott, who also serves as the designated historian for the Rochelle Flagg Township Museum, has completed a second book of local stories to raise funds for the museum. The new volume, featuring 52 short historical accounts of Rochelle families and events, follows the success of the first book. Stories in the latest collection highlight figures such as Elsie Cooper, the Guest family, and Civil War veteran Henry Hensie, who accompanied Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train.
McDermott said the book is expected to be printed by summer, with all proceeds going directly to the museum.
“The plan right now, what they got the grant for, is to redo a hundred more of book one, because it keeps selling out, and then 400 of book two. The initial talk is $20 per book, or $35 if you want to get a set,” he said.