January was a 19-year-old race horse that went undefeated for 16 years straight at the Rochelle Fairgrounds.

On September 15, 1886, the horse finished in second place and fell over dead right afterwards.

The crowd was so distraught by January’s death, that they buried the him on the fairgrounds and later placed a memorial on the spot. That memorial, a tree-stump stone. The fairgrounds is now a city park, called Memorial Park, and now has a sheltered box built around it in order for it stay preserved.