This is Throwback Thursday #107. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc ...), please sent them to [email protected]. Thanks!
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Harriet Williamson
If you grew up anywhere in the area, you may remember G-Shaft Candy. It's a hard candy, brown in color with a light colored line running through it. It has a unique taste, with hints of anise or peppermint. Currently, you can buy it from Dan's Homemade Candies in Joliet. They are said to use the original recipe, which they bought from the Williamson family. The candy has an interesting origin story, part of which appears on the current label for the candy.
The origin story appeared in Will Grundy Genealogical Society (WGGS) Quarterly, Vol XXIX, No 1.
Readers, I hope you enjoy revisiting the story of the ever-popular "G-Shaft" Candy.
In the 1800's, before Mrs. Harriet Williamson left Sheffield, Yorkshire, England to join her husband in the United States, her father gave her a recipe for a candy called Bull's-Eye. Family legend has it that he told her it might help her make a living one day.
Mrs. Williamson came with her husband to Galena, Illinois in 1866 where he was a hoisting engineer. Coal mines were being developed in Braidwood, Illinois, and so the family moved there in 1872. Mrs. Williamson would make the family candy recipe and it became popular. She became known as the candy lady who lived near the "G" Shaft. In those days, mines were named by the alphabet.
Tragically, on Sept. 9, 1881, Mr. Williamson was killed in a mine accident when the roof and scaffold in the engine room of the I-Shaft began to collapse on top of him. He worked diligently at the hoist controls while this accident was occurring to make sure the miners below were brought to the surface. Mrs. Williamson suddenly was left with six children to support and no income. Remembering the popularity of her "Bull's-Eye" candy, Mrs. Williamson began her candy-making business.
Enlisting the help of the children, she made and distributed the candy to local merchants in Braidwood, Illinois and surrounding communities. She named the confection "G-Shaft" Candy, because that mine was visible from her kitchen window. As her candy grew in popularity, Mrs. Williamson obtained a copyright for the recipe and registered the "G-Shaft" trademark, granted in 1893.
Mrs. Williamson lived to nearly 80 years of age, and when she died in 1914, her son, Harry, received the recipe and trademark as inheritance. The candy has been made in Coal City, Illinois and Minooka, Illinois, where it was made in Harry's home and packaged and distributed by his children. Some was shipped to customers out of state.
During WWII, two things occurred which caused the business to cease, 1) rationing of sugar, and 2) the tragic death of Ralph Williamson along with 67 other men in a disastrous explosion at the Joliet Arsenal in 1942. Ironically it was a tragic death that made the business and a tragic death that ended the business.
Editor's Note -- It is possible to purchase "G-Shaft" candy today, but those who savored the Williamson's own say it just isn't the same. It is sold this time of year at Dan's Homemade Candies in Joliet, Illinois.
This is an original label from a box of G. Shaft candy made by the Harry Williamson Candy Co.
Chicago, Wilmington & Vermilion Coal Company's "G" shaft mine
Harry Williamson Family, 1912
A kettle like this was used to make the original G-Shaft Candy.
Reference material for today's post came from the Carbon Hill School Museum (Facebook) and the Coal City Library. The Carbon Hill School Museum is an excellent place to learn about the history of the surrounding area. The curator, Michele Micetich, has a wealth of information at her fingertips, if not in her amazing memory. Give them a visit some time, it's like taking a step back in time!
Regular hours
Open Mondays Noon - 4 PM
The museum also opens by appointment
for interested individuals, families or groups.Michele Micetich, Curator
The original 1893 schoolhouse displays hundreds of original artifacts depicting immigrant turn-of-the-century life of families, businesses, and coal mines. Original items include the jailhouse iron doors, soccer trophies and bocce balls, coal mining tools, furniture and household items, old store supplies, Illinois coal reports, maps and plats, and plenty of family memories; there is something to interest everyone.
