Pankeyville

Everyone thinks that Phil is joking about Pankeyville. There really is a Pankeyville, an unincorporated community that consists of a church and one lane, Pankavilla, with homes.  It is 2 miles from Harrisburg.

Phil grew up in Harrisburg, Illinois, one of the leading coal-mining centers of the Midwest and a strategic spot on the railroad route.  The Harrisburg library has a genealogy department that contains the Pankey family history. Phil is standing by a photo in the library of his mother and father.

One of the local artist created Harrisburg as it was when Phil was growing up and Pankey Bakery operated by Phil's dad and uncle, was a thriving business that employed 80 people.  At it's peak, Harrisburg had a population of 16,000 in the 1930's.  Harrisburg has seen some economic decline due to the decrease of coal mining and the removal of the New York Central railroad and has 'around' 9,000 population.

The same high school that Phil attended is still being used today with the addition of a new wing.

Phil stands by the house where he was born, and the lower photo where he lived in grade school.  Phil's dad, Lowden, liked to build a house and sell it after living there. He bought the land called Pankeyville with his father (Phil's grandfather) and operated a pig farm and later turned it into a tree farm and sold plots for houses.

Phil's Junior High School, a beautiful old red brick building surrounded by giant, old shade trees. 

The Pankeys came to Illinois in 1804 and represent a big part of the history for that area.  John Pankey along with James Harris donated the land for Harrisburg in 1852. 

Phil places flowers and flags on the stones in the Pankey Family plot at Sunset Lawn Cemetery in Harrisburg, founded in 1880. There is Pankey family at Ingram Hill Cemetery dating back to 1834. His great-great grandfather's stone in the middle of a farm, which was Pankey land at one time.

Phil has one sister, Elizabeth, who spent time with us during the visit.  The B & B offered us a great place to gather in the living room or sun room.

Phil's only niece lives in Dallas and her daughter, Ana, lives in Carbondale, Il and was able to join us for lunch.

Phil arranged a lunch with Harrisburg friends that were not in his class but he stays in touch with.

The first night was meet and greet with a bar-b-que dinner. From a class of 146, 73 are living and 38 attended the 65th high school class reunion for the class of 1947.  I was impressed with the number of women in this class that obtained college degrees.

One of our gatherings in the B & B where most of 'Phil's group' stayed.  We were able to have breakfast together, and plan time together during the day.

There are not many places available in Harrisburg to hold the 2 nights of the reunion and the Shriner's Club is usually the place.

Phil has a group photo, I got there a minute late as a few people had walked away, it was cold and had rained earlier. Some impressive careers came from this class of 1947, that included a major league baseball player, a psychotherapist, Navy Admiral, College professor, and state legislator to mention a few.

Every one said their goodbyes and started back home to California, Florida, Delaware, Kentucky and various parts of the country. I guess Thomas Wolfe was wrong when he said, "You can't go home again."

Pankeyville is in the southern part of Illinois, almost Kentucky-almost Indiana.  Harrisburg is included in the Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky Tri-state area.  Motto: Gateway to the Shawnee National Forest and nicknamed 'The Burg'.