Community: Caldwell family, Shabbona

Above image: Shabbona Grove School, 1921. Photo courtesy Shabbona-Lee-Rollo Historical Society.

The Caldwell family story is a little different when compared to the experience of Blacks in the northern part of the county. According to the 1910 census records, the Caldwells arrived in Shabbona before the Great Migration and then disappeared from the Shabbona census by 1940. Currently, we do not know what brought them to DeKalb County, why they left, or where they moved. The below research provides a bit of insight into the Caldwell’s time in Shabbona.

The 1910 census shows that the Caldwells arrived in Shabbona before the Great Migration:

Richard	Caldwell	Livery	M/B/49	Shabbona	KY
Anna	Caldwell		F/B/39	Shabbona	Ky
Bryant	Caldwell	Laborer	M/B/21	Shabbona	KY
Leonard	Caldwell		M/B/17	Shabbona	KY
?	Caldwell		M/B/14	Shabbona	KY
Ralph	Caldwell		M/B/	Shabbona	Ky
Eva	Caldwell		F/B/5	Shabbona	KY
Grace ?	Caldwell		F/B/39	Shabbona	KY
James	Watson	Barber	M/B/54	Shabbona	GA
George	Princeton?	Laborer	M/B/35	Shabbona	Ky
Laura	Princeton?		F/B/33	Shabbona	KY
John	Princeton?		M/B/10	Shabbona	Ky
Harry	Princeton?		M/B/66	Shabbona	KY
William	Caldwell	Laborer	M/B/26	Shabbona	KY
Ethel	Caldwell		F/B/23	Shabbona	KY
Dorothy	Caldwell		F/B/3	Shabbona	KY
Esra	Caldwell		F/B/6 mos	Shabbona	KY
Todd	?	Boarder	M/B/20	Shabbona	KY
James	Caldwell	Farm Lab	M/B/42	Shabbona	KY
Molly	Caldwell		F/B/35	Shabbona	KY
?	Caldwell		M/B/21	Shabbona	KY
George	Caldwell		M/B/16	Shabbona	KY
Zara?	Caldwell		F/B/13	Shabbona	KY
Madeline	Caldwell		F/B/12	Shabbona	KY
Sara	Caldwell		F/B/11	Shabbona	KY
Margie	Caldwell		F/B/11	Shabbona	KY
Louisa?	Caldwell		F/B/2	Shabbona	KY

The Shabbona-Lee-Rollo Historical Society’s collection includes several class photos that include the Caldwell children. However, a newspaper articles suggests that some of the Caldwell children attended school in Chicago.

Shabbona Grove School, 1931-32. Photo courtesy Shabbona-Lee-Rollo Historical Society.

Another interesting part of the Caldwell story is that the family is regularly included in local newspaper social columns, and their color is not mentioned in any of the articles.

There is also long and sad obituary for Lucy Caldwell who died soon after giving birth to twins. The DeKalb County Express article explains how Caldwell moved from Kentucky to Shabbona Grove in 1911, and later to Shabbona. It also mentions her connection to the Sycamore Baptist Church, and later the Shabbona Baptist Church. Several friends from Sycamore attended her funeral including Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Crosswell (see post about Samuel’s life in and service in World War I).