Route 1 was being widened south of Carmi and a house along the roadway was slated to be razed to accommodate the project. A young man from Albion Il, a log cabin enthusiast, passed by the road project and felt sure that underneath the siding of the house was a log cabin. After the investigation, he found out he was right. Research followed and it was determined that this cabin is only one of only two, known eighteenth century cabins still standing in white county. This is one of the reasons the white county Historical Society purchased the cabin from the state of Illinois in 1993 for the sum of $1.00. The state agreed to pay the cost of moving the cabin into Carmi.
The cabin would help the white county Historical society tell a story. There were already three museums owned and operated by the Society and each one was outstanding, representing different phases of life in county's history. But, the cabin was different from the other museums because it depicted the life of a family who once tilled and worked the soil in the 1800's. The family was named Matsel.
Matsel Cabin had been moved several times before coming to Carmi. It is con
sidered a one and one half story, side gable, single pen, log house denoting the type of log construction. It was likely constructed in the 1850's or 1860's. The logs used in the cabin are of hewn oak and are six inches thick in the lower level and four inches thick in the loft. While the clapboard siding may be out of place on a log cabin, it was commonly used in this period to protect and preserve the logs which provided the frame work. The floor framing, roof framing and the floor boards are "radially sawn" using a saw blade which is not available till the 1850's. Today you will see the two rooms in the Matsel Cabin. One of them is the kitchen.
Henry C. Matsel moved with his wife, Sarah, to white county about 1830. The William Hill Matsel is recorded living in the cabin in the 1860 and that helps confirm it is an example of a "second generation type" log house. It was typical to have a house raising day when a new family came to the area. Neighbors helped one another. The day after the house raising, the owner would chink and daub the cabin for a family home. Visitors coming through the cabin remark "This house reminds me of Little House on the Prairie." Indeed it was a "little house" on the vast prairie of rural White County in the mid 1800's.
The Matsel Cabin was moved to its present location in Carmi in 1994. It was in poor condition and citizens and concerned taxpayers complained that it was a real eyesore adjoining the Old Graveyard. But, the Historical Society was determined to restore the little building and applied for and received a matching grant from the State of Illinois in the amount of $20,000. The same amount was raised during a fund drive. Individual donations ranged from $5.00 to $1,000. Larger amounts were received from banks, local business and government entities.
Before the Matsel Cabin opened to the public it was furnished with period antiques. An effort was made to find them in White County. Friends and members of the Historical Society, antique dealers and cabin enthusiasts donated appropriate artifacts.
About 170 people attended from the formal opening of the Matsel Cabin on August 25, 1996. Gene Matsel and Ted Matsel, descendants of the original owners, and their wives, were honored guests. Donna Matsel, widow of another descendant, Roy was also present.
There is a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings and photographs of the Matsel Cabin as restoration took place. You will find it in the kitchen of the cabin.
Quite often, visitors show more interest in the furnishings of the cabin than in its structure. In the living room is an one hundred year old rope bed. The mattress is filled with straw from a White Country farm. Underneath the bed is a chamber pot and over the bed hangs a gun. There is a tumbling block quilt; there are two canned chairs built by the Great Grandfather Matsel. There are portraits of two of the Matsel men hanging on the east wall of the living room. William Hill Matsel has a beard and hangs to the left of Samuel Henry Matsel. You may want to open the door in the living room and go upstairs and see the loft. In this area the original logs are exposed.
In the kitchen there is a step back cupboard found in the basement of the historic Webb-Hay House and donated to the cabin. There are two brass candlesticks, and a bowl on the washstand found in the Pomeroy House. Hanging over the stove is some equisetum brush. It is native to White County and was an abrasive used from cleaning pots and pans. Be sure to look up at the ceiling near the cookstove. There is something hanging there. Do you know what it is and what and what it was used for? The dry sink to the right of the back door has an original Sandwich Glass Knob on the drawer.
In the yard there is an "outhouse" which is of real interest to school children. There is a pump house which was built of old barn wood to house a faucet and hoses. Landscaping was completed in the summer of 1997. This included the rail fence and plants, many of which was donated.
Every effort was made to keep the historical integrity of Matsel Cabin intact as restoration progressed. But, it was important to add electricity, a security system and a smoke alarm for the cabin to function as a museum. An architect from St. Louis, Jack Leur, was a consultant during the restoration process and a local contractor, Dale Pet
