The Morning of June 16
First Stop
McKendree College
Lebanon Illinois
Unloading the buses at McKendree College McKendree College Bothwell Chapel
Tim Harrison, of McKendree College, fills in Family Tim Harrison fills in Family members on History of
Members of the history of the College Talks about the David Caughlan Bell
Family member, Craig Caughlan,
Was one of many who climbed to the
Bell tower to view the bell
Mary Kelley (Caughlan), great granddaughter
of Bell maker David Caughlan, with husband Bob Kelly looking on,
Talks to a reporter Alisa Tang of the Belleview newspaper
(See Article Below)
“Church bells
unite family”
3 generations come together for first time
by Alisa Tang
LEBANON – Despite her broken arm,
70-year-old Mary Caughlan Kelley, with the help of several relatives, climbed a
vertical ladder into the Bothwell Chapel spire.
There she ran her fingers across the
church bell cast by her great-grandfather, David Caughlan, whom she has
extensively researched for 20 years.
When Kelley climbed down from the
steeple, just a few minutes before the 11 a. m. ringing, she was elated.
‘It was worth it,’ said the Virginia
resident. ‘I’m very emotional. I’ve got tears in my ears.’
Kelley and about 60 descendants of David
Caughlan and his two brothers gathered in the metro-east this weekend to see
the bells he cast and the St. Louis grave site of his mother, Sarah Childers
Caughlan, born 200 years ago this month.
Three generations of Caughlans came from all over the United States, and
even Mexico, for the family’s first gathering.
They stopped Saturday
morning at McKendree College’s Bothwell Chapel to pay homage to one of the
bells cast by the David Caughlan Foundry in St. Louis. They also visited Alton’s Metropolitan
Methodist Church and Granite City’s Niedringhaus United Methodist Church, each
of which also has a David Caughlan bell.
Kelley, the bell expert of the
Caughlan clan, does not know how many bells her great-grandfather made, but she
has documented 17 so far.
Brothers Bill and Brian Patrick
Caughlan, of Philadelphia and Granite City respectively, helped make the
Caughlan Clan gathering happen. They
have worked on the genealogy of Sarah Childers Caughlan descendants for 10
years.”
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Alton Illinois
Last modified on Monday, December 16, 2002