Thank you Kathy. I work third shift and just woke up. So I may come back to add to this reply later. Must have coffee :). I know for a fact that it was not Braidwood, so that can be deduced. Whatever town it was, made Braidwood look as bustling as Joliet. We stayed in Braidwood or near there. It was the motel that John Candy and the other guy filmed part of "Trains, Plains and Automobiles." Well anyways, the day we went to the small town, we started in Wilmington. Left Wilmington and visited the other town. Came back to Wilmington to go to Braidwood. I recall that the road that the factory was on was between the business district and the factory. We pulled over the car to look. We were there for quite a few minutes and not one car passed us.
I am Kathy Wells. Yes, the Donald you mentioned is my great grandmother's b-in-l. I don't know if the well-known company bought the farm from Donald or later on. The family moved to Durand around 1914. We were there in about '88 or 89.
I have already been in contact with Coal City Library. They could not find information.