Confederates in the attic

Elijah H. Morgan's CSA tombstone at Salem Cemetery. I'm responsible for the Confederate flag --- and for the lamentable pink silk flowers (why didn't I remove them before taking this photo?).

Start talking about the Civil War in mixed company --- and by that I mean mix folks whose ancestors fought for the Union with those whose ancestors fought for the Confederate States of America --- and you'll discover levels of complexity not evident in most of the history books ("After all, winners write the history books," a friend once reminded me). You might even discover, if you're a damnyankee like myself, that you don't have to go that far south (in some cases, just step across the state line into Missouri, perhaps to the "Rebel's Cove" conservation area down south of Exline in Appanoose County) to discover that the war never exactly ended.

This is probably not the place to launch that discussion. But it's useful to remember that the vast majority of those who fought the war, North and South, were quite similar in background and outlook --- farm and small-town boys for the most part, caught up in and divided by that massive conflict. Had circumstances been different, they probably would have been friends. After the war, many became just that.

After the war ended, a few Confederate veterans settled in Lucas County. Two of them were friends and neighbors of my family in Benton Township, and they're buried together at Salem Cemetery.

Josiah Smith's grave at Salem Cemetery is unmarked, but he is buried close to his son, Charles, whose tombstone was restored several years ago by Bill Smith of Washington state, a Josiah Smith descendant, who made a special trip to Iowa to tackle the tombstone and trim the big spruce tree that had obscured it.

Josiah "Si" Smith (ca. 1825-16 September 1880) is buried in an unmarked grave at Salem along with his wife, Sarah (Pitts) Smith (30 April 1826-8 August 1911), and several of their children.

According to his descendant, Roberta Tuller, Josiah, a Tennessee native, was a veteran of both the Mexican and Civil War. He enlisted at age 23 on 7 November 1847 for service during the Mexican war and served as a private under Capt. John S. Shavers in Co. C, 5th Regiment, Tennessee Volunteers, until his honorable discharge 20 July 1848 at Memphis.

After the Civil War broke out, Josiah, then in his 30s, enlisted in the Confederate 5th Cavalry on 1 November 1861 at Decatur, Tennessee. Captured twice by Union forces during 1864, he was paroled upon his pledge not to return south of the Ohio River.

Not wishing to return to Tennessee after the war ended, Josiah found a home for his large family near Peoria, Ill., and instructed Sarah to sell everything they had there and bring the children north, which she did. About 1869, the family came west to Lucas County.

The family was living near Derby in Warren Township when Josiah died on 16 September 1880 of typhoid fever.

Elijah H. Morgan, born during the late 1830s in Virginia, was 25 years old when he "went to the old court house in Fawnville, Virginia, and cast his lot with the Southern armies, becoming a member of Company L (apparently it actually was Company I) of the Twenty-Third Old Virginia," according to an account of his 97th birthday observance published 5 November 1931 in the Chariton Herald Patriot.

"Mr. Morgan was at Gettysburg with Pickett and in numerous other encounters with the Union forces," that account continues. "As a member of the ambulance company, he helped to bury the leg of Stonewall Jackson, shot off when the general forgot an order which he had issued.

"Upon the death of the famous Southern General, Mr. Morgan was detailed as a guard of honor at the military funeral."

After the war, Elijah came to Iowa seeking opportunities not available in the South and married Mary E. Clark 19 August 1872 in Van Buren County. They settled first in Warren County, then moved to Lucas.

Elijah died during late March, 1934, approximately a 100 years old, and was bured in Salem beside the unmarked graves of his wife, Mary (10 December 1852-11 June 1918), and son, William "Straighty" Morgan (1875-24 January 1905).

Elijah's tombstone is unique: His is one of the few graves in Lucas County marked with an official Confederate States of America headstone. It's inscription reads, "Elijah H. Morgan, Co. I, 23 Va. Inf., C.S.A."

I generally keep Elijah supplied with a Confederate flag, not the easiest thing to obtain over-the-counter in Iowa. So my old friend R. Webb Cole, a native of Lexington, Missouri --- a lovely and historic little town east of Kansas City on the bluffs above the Missouri and site of the Civil War Battle of Lexington --- picks a few up for me when he's down home. Between us, we ensure that old Elijah's Confederate heritage is recognized.

Storie Time

The D.Q. Storie house is a fine example of the Second Empire style. It has, however, been eaten alive by vast and entirely inappropriate porches added as part of an ill-fated bed and breakfast scheme.

David Quincy Storie, a physician-turned-businessman, was one of Chariton's leading merchants when he commissioned this grand Second Empire town home a block east of the northeast corner of the square, immediately adjacent to First Presbyterian Church.

Through no fault of its own, this is another of Chariton's fine old houses that has ended up in real estate limbo. Some years ago, it was the centerpiece of an elaborate plan to create an upscale bed-and-breakfast. That plan fell apart and the house has been on the market since, something of a white (actually pale yellow) elephant. Note: As of 2011 the home is occupied by new owners.

The lavish display of porch that wraps around to form a porte cochere on the west side of the house is not original, but was added as part of the bed-and-breakfast plan. Originally, a far smaller porch sheltered (and was designed to complement) the elaborate front door. Another porch sheltered the front of the lower wing to the right of the main block of the house.

The Storie house from the southeast. The tall three-story main house is surrounded by a variety of story-and-a-half or one-story wings.

These modest porches, along with the mansard roof, dormers and elaborate exterior woodwork would have made it a classic example of a mid-sized Second Empire house not designed to overwhelm, but certainly intended to announce to passers by that its owners were people of consequence.

The real estate listing for the Storie house (priced at $185,000, a mighty chunk of change for an old house in Chariton no matter how elaborate the ruffles and flourishes) describes it as a "turn-of-the-century" building. That is inaccurate. It actually dates from the late 1870s and is an exact contemporary of the Ilion (or Mallory's Castle), Smith Henderson Mallory's long-gone mansion on the north edge of Chariton.

The Chariton Patriot reported on 15 November 1877 that, "The prospects now are good for considerable building in the spring. Among those who intend to build fine residences are S.H. Mallory, D.Q. Storie and E.K. Gibbon."

The Storie house front door once was sheltered by a much smaller porch.

Excavations for the basements of all three houses probably began during the spring of 1878, and building of the Storie house probably moved along fairly rapidly because it was of wood-frame construction.

The Patriot reported on 19 April 1879 that "J.M. Carver, of Des Moines, was in the city last week taking the measurements necessary to build a grand stairway in D.Q. Storie's handsome residence. Mr. C.'s firm makes work of this kind a specialty and has a reputation in this line second to no other firm in the West." That stairway remains in place.

The Stories probably were able to move in at the latest during 1880 while construction apparently continued on the Ilion. The Ilion, roughly four times the size of the Storie house and a fortress-like structure with solid brick walls, exterior and interior, from the top of its stone basement to the full height of its tower, took far longer.

David Q. Storie was born in St. Lawrence County, New York, 28 November 1838, and enlisted for Civil War service in the 21st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. In service throughout the war, he worked as a hospital steward during its final two years.

Immediately after the war, during 1866, he came to Chariton and on 8 July 1869 married Della A. Jackson here.

Della, born 19 November 1842 in Canada, moved with her family at age 13 to Gouverneur, New York, where she attended college, then went to Jacksonville, Ill., where she served as principal of the high school before moving to Chariton.

The Stories, along with many other prominent Chariton residents, including Smith H. and Annie Mallory and Edward Ames and and Elizabeth J. Temple, were early and consistent members of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.

Not long after landing in Chariton, Storie moved temporarily to St. Louis to attend medical school, returning after he graduated to commence his practice.

Quite early in his practice, Storie opened a drug store on the west side of the square and as the years passed that became his principal focus. It's always useful to remember that 19th century physicians rarely became rich. It was an extremely hard life, and medical professionals with aspirations to wealth had to develop sidelines to generate more income.

What began as a one-story frame building was replaced as the years passed by a three-story, three-bay building with a cut-stone front that rivaled in quality (although not in size) the Mallory Opera Block, its immediate neighbor to the north on the north half of the west side of the square.

Gushing over the Storie building during the 1880s, the editor of the Chariton Patriot wrote, "no city of the size of Chariton, east, west, north or south can boast of a more elegant drug store and building than that belonging to D.Q. Storie.... The stock carried is equal to an ordinary wholesale house, and indeed he does quite a jobbing trade. He also has a full line of school books and jewelry."

Storie also was interested in horses and, according to his Patriot obituary of 16 November 1916 at one time "owned a string of fine horses which attracted much attention in this section of the state."

Storie was in his mid-60s and at the height of his powers when a massive fire during January 1904 began in the Mallory block and spread into the Storie building, destroying both. Storie's loss was estimated at $30,000, a huge amount at that time, of which $12,000 was covered by insurance.

According to his 16 November 1916 Chariton Leader obituary, "One of the greatest disappointments of his life was the result of the great conflagration in Chariton a decade and a half since, when he beheld his fine business block and the establishment he had spent a life time in building up a ruin. After this his life seemed changed and spirit broken and he never again entered into the spirit of affairs with the same enthusiasm as before."

"He disposed of most of his interests," the Leader reported, "and retired to a greater privacy, only taking a passive interest in affairs."

Storie died at his home on Monday evening, 13 November 1916, just short of his 78th birthday, after two weeks of critical illness. Funeral services were held on the 16th of November at the house and burial followed in the Chariton Cemetery. Della Storie died two years later, during November of 1918, and was buried by her husband's side.

The name embedden in the sidewalk in front of the Storie house dates from the time of Dr. Daivd Quincy Storie Jr., killed in a 1926 car acident.

The Stories had two sons, Ed. H. and Dr. David Quincy Storie Jr., who practiced medicine in Chariton until his death in an automobile accident in northern Iowa during 1926.

As the years passed, the old Storie house was divided into apartments and gradually receded into obscurity, its light dimmed by First Presbyterian next door. It remained there until the bed-and-breakfast project aroused a good deal of interest, and that interest continues in a way as those who like the fine old building fuss about what in the world will become of it.

Long time passing: Ellis Hatfield

A memorial stone for U.S. Army PFC Ellis Hatfield is located at Salem Cemetery, but his body rests with 10,489 of his comrades in the Lorraine American Cemetery near St. Avold.

A small U.S. flag usually flies year-around above the small memorial stone at Salem Cemetery that is a tangible reminder of Ellis Hatfield, one of Lucas County's World War II dead whose remains were not repatriated after combat ended in Europe.

Salem's sometimes shaggy informality is in sharp contrast to the manicured precision of the Lorraine American Cemetery near St. Avold, not far from the French-German border, where Ellis rests with 10,489 of his comades --- the largest American cemetery in Europe. But Lucas County was home, and I think Ellis would like to know that he is remembered here.




Ellis Hatfield's memorial stone at Salem Cemetery

Born 24 February 1919, Ellis was the youngest of his father's, Calvin Ellis Hatfield's, family of 14 children, two of whom died as infants. Calvin was married twice, first to Tessie Ann Parsons (daughter of James and Catherine Myers Parsons), to whom four children were born: Pearl, Sylvia, Hazel and Robert D. Tessie died 9 March 1899, the day of Robert's birth, and the little boy followed five months later, on 13 August. They were the first to be buried on the Hatfield lot at Salem.

Three years later, Calvin married Nancy Jane Hawkins, daughter of Wesley W. and Elsie Jane Hawkins. They became the parents of 10 children: Gladys, Theodore, Elma, Martha, Doris, Kenneth, Twila, Merle, Ellis and Lois, who died in infancy during 1917.

The Hatfields were living in Millerton, just across the line in Wayne County, when Calvin Hatfield died 5 February 1932. Ellis was just short of 13 at the time, and moved not long thereafter into Chariton with his mother and siblings.

He graduated from Chariton High School with the class of 1936 and within a year or two married Wilma Moss. They had three sons in quick succession: Melvin, Ellis Dale and Gerald.

As World War II spread across the globe, the family moved to Chicago, where Ellis worked at a defense plant prior to his induction into the U.S. Army on 2 June 1944. Wilma and the little boys then returned to Chariton to live with her mother, Margaret Moss.

Ellis trained at Camp Fannion in Texas and at Camp Meade in Maryland before deployment during late 1944 to the European theater of operations with the 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division, assigned to the Seventh Army in France.

He earned the Combat Infantryman Badge in France, awarded "for satisfactory performance of duty in ground combat against the enemy," a designation that meant $10 more would be added to his monthly pay, sent home to Chariton to help support his family.

And Ellis shared with many others credit for the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to the Third Battalion of the 398th Regiment, then "engaged in some of the most bitter fighting on the entire Maginot Line," the Chariton newspapers reported during early 1945.

The Third Battalion had forced its way into Fort Schiesseck, a key defensive bastion on the Maginot Line, during December 1944 and then went on to participate in the three-month winter siege of the ancient fortress city of Bitche, which fell to the 100th on 16 March 1945, earning special recognition for the courage and tenacity of its men --- and the designation Sons of Bitche for those who fought so gallantly there.

With the Siegfried Line broken and all enemy units cleared from the west bank of the Rhine, the U.S. Seventh and Third armies crossed the river and began the final drive into Germany. On 5 April, in Germany, Ellis was killed. First reported missing in action on 18 April, he was listed officially as killed in action on 15 May, 60 years ago this month.

The official declaration of his death came a week after Germany's unconditional surrender and the end of World War II in Europe.

Because Ellis was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, we know the circumstances of his death. The citation that accompanied his medal reads in part as follows:

"When the weapons platoon in which Private Hatfield was an ammunation bearer became surrounded by a numerically superior German force, he courageously maintained a steady supply of ammunition at hand for his weapon and then, as the situation grew progressively worse, he started out with a companion to contact a machine gun squad on his flank.

"When they became targets for an auntomatic weapon and his comrade was seriously sounded, Private Hatfield defied the imminent danger and began to carry him to a place of safety. While thus engaged, Private Hatfield was instantly killed by enemy machine gun fire. His valiant and intrepid action is in keeping with the highest traditions of the Army of the United States."


The Lorriane American Cemetery, where Ellis is buried.



Brownlee Cemetery: Dead End?

The dead end road to Brownlee, which is just over the brow of the hill and to the right, surrounded by overgrown fence rows.

Now there's food for thought. I'm sure it seemed like a good and practical idea to post the little green and white Iowa Prison Industries "Brownlee Cemetery" sign just below the big yellow "Dead End" sign alongside that narrow lane headed west, but there's something dangerously close to editorial comment here, and if I were one of the Brownlee tenants, easily offended and such things were possible --- a little haunting might be in order.

A Memorial Day display of peonies marking graves not far from the east edge of Brownlee Cemetery.

Not that Brownlee Cemetery isn't a lovely --- although somewhat obscure and dilapidated --- place to rest. It is the largest and oldest of English Township's three cemeteries (the others are Spring Hill to the northwest and Pine Hill, also known as Bingham, over east on the Melcher-Dallas road with its spectacular northward view).

Many of English Township's first settlers are buried at Brownlee, and I'm certain it takes its name from the Brownlee family, who were among those early residents and perhaps owned the slope above a creek where it's located.

A lavish floral tribute to Daniel and Susannah Willoughby. There are both Willoughbys and Willibys buried in great numbers at Brownlee, so you'll need a scorecard to sort them out.

To get there, drive about four miles north north out of Chariton on Highway 14, swooping northeasterly down through and up out of the Little White Breast Creek valley, then note the Williamson crossoroads (Williamson will be a mile to the east astraddle a paved turnoff). Drive just a little farther north on 14, not even a quarter mile, then take the gravel road that heads due north off the angled highway. Three-quarters of a mile north on gravel, that narrow "Dead End: Brownlee Cemetery" road leads off to the west. If you're going too fast, you'll miss it and have to back up.

Last January, I promised John Shockley of Topeka, Kansas, that I'd get out to Brownlee to check up on his kin buried there. Monday was a great day to do this, late in the afternoon on the pre-Memorial Day pilgrimage from Oxford to Columbia.

Brownlee has had is ups and downs maintenance-wise. There have been very few recent burials --- but just enough to deny it Pioneer Cemetery status. So it still depends on the English Townshp trustees. Because it is out of sight and descendants of pioneer occupants either bury elsewhere or have left the county, many grand old stones have been allowed to tumble and some years it's looked just plain awful --- grass shaggy, weeds high and branches everywhere.

I remember the days when it was shaded by massive old white pines that the wind always whispered through. Time, however, has claimed those.

It was looking good Monday, however, neatly mown, a little pesticide judiciously applied to keep weeds down, all the branches and fallen trees taken away. The fence rows have been allowed to grow up, so Brownlee is green-walled. Indifferent maintenance in other years has ensured survival of graveside plantings, so there were some lavish displays of iris and peony. And because of its remote location, not a sound other than the wind and birdsong.

John Shockley tracked me down last winter after discovering a cousin of his, Laura Shockley, age 8, enumerated in the 1880 census as "adopted daughter" in the English Township household of my great-great-grandparents, Jeremiah and Elizabeth (McMulin) Miller. What was going on here, he wondered.

I was able to tell him what I knew --- that Jeremiah and Elizabeth had taken Laura into their home not long after her mother died to fill, in part, the void left by the deaths of their own daughters. The Millers had 10 children total, all but one born while they were living one county east in Pleasant Township, Monroe County. The boys, William Owen, Joseph Cyrus, Richard, James Harvey, Gerial Trescott and Harry, all thrived. But the little girls, Mary Cynthia, Miriam Jane, Eliza Elizabeth and Harriet Clara, all died between 1855 and 1864 at ages ranging from a few days to 12 years and were buried in the Miller family cemetery in Monroe County, Pleasant Corners. The Millers moved west into English Township, where many other family members had settled earlier, during 1867, and I'm sure the loss of those little girls still was felt deeply.

Laura was one of a set of twins. Her sister, Delpha, my granddad said, had been taken in by Mrs. J.F. Spiker after Mrs. Shockley's death.

John was able to fill in more of the details. He told me that Laura and her sister, Delpha (also known as Della), were daughters of his great-uncle, John McGill Shockley, and his wife, Hannah Luman, who had married in Illinois.

John said the Shockleys, who apparently came to English Township soon after 1860, had at least six children, Mary Katherine, Manuel, Louisa, Milton C., Delpha and Laura.

The 1870 census of English Township suggests that there were more children. The Shockley family was enumerated that year one household removed from that of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Miller and included John M.G. Shockley, 38, born Ohio; Hannah, age 34, also born Ohio; Thomas E., age 16, born Illinois; Mary C., age 13, born Illinois; Manuel E., age 9, born Illinois; Lavon A., age 4, born Iowa; Milton H., age 2, born Iowa; and Elmer, age 9 months, also born Iowa.

Another son was Jesse, whose tombstone is next to his mother's at Brownlee.

According to John's records, Hannah died 4 August 1873 (a date confirmed by her Brownlee Cemetery tombstone), not long after Laura and Delpha were born.

Three years after Hannah died, John Shockley married Sarah Jane (probably the widow of a Johnson) as his second wife, on 6 June 1876 at an unknown location, and they had a son, John A., John Shockley said. John M. and Sarah Jane also had a son named Harry who died young, I discovered during Monday's visit.

By the time the 1880 Lucas County census was taken, John M. and Sarah Jane had moved into Chariton, where his profession was given as plasterer. Their household included children Manuel, age 19; Lavisa, age 14; Delpha, age 8; John A., age 3; and Minnie Johnson, 11, Sarah Jane's child by her previous marriage. This suggests that the Spikers kept Delpha only a few years, probably until after John M. remarried.

Laura grew up with the Millers, using the Miller surname sometimes and her birth name, Shockley, at others. She certainly was considered a sister by the Miller boys and a daughter by Jeremiah and Elizabeth.

According to John Shockley, John M. Shockley and other members of his family went west after 1880. He died 23 July 1914 in Smith Center, Kansas, and is buried there. John hadn't been able to determine what became of Sarah Jane.

Twin sister Deplha (or Della) ended up in California and married William G. Polcene on 5 October 1895 in Los Angeles, according to John Shockley. Polcene's occupation was given as policeman in the 1900 census of Riverside County, California. They had a son and grandson, both named Elliott Polcene.

So far, we've not tracked Laura down. During the late 1890s, Elizabeth (McMulin) Miller and Laura traveled west to visit Elizabeth's son, Harvey, and his family who had settled some years earlier on farm near Garden Grove, California. Laura apparently remained in California and was reunited with her sister. She was living with Delpha/Della and William Polcene in Riverside when the 1900 census was taken, her occupation listed as orange-picker.

I know that she survived at least until 1927, when she was listed as a surviving "sister in California" upon the death of Harry Miller, but beyond that I have no further information.

There are three Shockley tombstones still standing in good repair at Brownlee, and I suspect that other children died young and are buried there. The Shockley lot is just to the left (west) of the center drive, midway into the cemetery. The inscriptions on those stones read as follows:

HANNAH

WIFE OF

JOHN SHOCKLEY

DIED

Aug. 4, 1873

AGED

37 Y, 8M, & 4Ds

Note: The Lucas County Genealogical Society's 1981 "Lucas County, Iowa, Cemetery Records" misreports Hannah's age at death as 32 years, 5 months, 4 days.

JESSE A.

Son of

JOHN M. & HANNAH

SHOCKLEY

DIED

Feb. 14, 1870

AGED

9 Yrs, 7 Mo. & 4Ds.

Note: The Lucas County Genealogical Society misreported Jesse's inscription as "Jesse A., son of John, died Feb. 14, 1921, age 9y, 2m, 1d."

HARRY

Son of

J. & S.J. SHOCKLEY

DIED

(Remainder of inscription buried)

Note. The Lucas County Genealogical Society overlooked this tombstone entirely.

So that wraps up the Shockley report.

A few members of my family also are buried at Brownlee, nearly all of them in unmarked graves.

The only grave marked by a tombstone (which I found once leaning against a tree stump but couldn't located Monday) is that of Clarence B. McMulin, son of Joseph Ezra and Sophia Cabot (Severn) McMulin, who was born according to family records 20 February 1867 and died 23 April 1867.

Buried in an unmarked grave is Elizabeth (Vickroy) Miller, first wife of Owen Miller (son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth), who died during the night of 26/27 June 1890, age about 42.

Also buried in unmarked graves at Brownlee are Mary Miller, age 12, and Alonzo Miller, age 3 (who died of a rattlesnake bite), children of Jeremiah Miller's youngest brother and sister-in-law, Sylvanus and Adelia Permilia Lucinda Phylena (Nottage) Miller. Mary died about 1873. Alonzo's death year isn't known.

So many graves, so little time

Back when my folks were growing up, let's say 1915-1933 or so, it was Decoration Day, not Memorial Day, and although set aside to honor the nation's war dead it had become a day to visit and place fresh flowers at the graves of any loved ones within convenient reach.

A good many cemeteries weren't maintained back in those days, so it also was a day to clean up the family lots before decoration commenced. My mother used to talk of her parents arising at dawn and after chores, sweeping through the flower beds to cut all blooms (peony, iris and more) that looked fresh, gathering up the gardening tools, rounding up the kids, then hitching up the old spring wagon, loading flowers, tools and children therein and heading for Columbia Cemetery, where the Browns and Clairs reposed.

Granddad Miller didn't always approve of change (and never spent what little money he had during those early years without careful thought: the internal combustion engine might be a passing fancy), so he still was traveling by horse and buggy during the mid-1920s, much to the embarrassment of my Aunt Mary I've been told.

I still have my grandparents' wonderful account books from the date of their marriage during 1904 forward: Every penny and every purchase, no matter how small, accounted for.

By the time I was growing up, we'd lurched into the 20th century and were driving cars. Cemeteries generally were maintained, but the prodedure remained roughly the same. Up at dawn, fill gravel-weighted Hi-C orange juice cans hoarded during the year with water and fresh flowers from the garden, pack the bouquets in boxes, load same into every available free space in the car and head for Salem, Oxford, Columbia and beyond sloshing water all the way. The trek to Columbia involved stopping at Granddad Miller's (now driving cars himself and a hazard to everyone else on the road because he still followed horse-and-buggy rules) to form a Columbia-bound caravan.

And it goes on still, although now that nearly everyone has disconcertingly died I generally carry on by myself with anyone else interested tagging along, in competition with cousin Esther Belle (Miller) Steinbach to see who can get to the most graves first.

Silk has replaced garden-fresh, I'm afraid, but my mother was a gardener on a grand scale and I'm not. I'd like to be, but time is lacking.

Over to Salem first (where my parents, alas, have joined the ancestors): Grandma and Grandpa, Irwin and Ethel (Dent) Myers and Aunt Flora Myers, bless her heart; Great-grandparents Daniel and Mary Belle (Redlingshafer) Myers; Great-great-grandparents, Jacob and Harriet (Dick) Myers; Great-great-great-grandmother, Doratha Redlingshafer; and an infinite variety of great-aunts, uncles and cousins. Flowers for everyone there, unless I run out.

A sidetrip to Waynick, where Great-great-grandmother Eliza Jane (Brown/Dent) Chynoweth reposes along with a few other kin. Into Chariton to visit John G. and Isabelle (Greer) Redlingshafer, more of my great-great-grandparents, and others from a dizzying number of family lines. This year there will be side trips to the graves of Demming J. Thayer and little Louise, reflecting a current Mallory obsession.

Then out to Oxford northeast of Chariton: Great-grandparents Joseph Cyrus and Mary Elizabeth (Clair) Miller, Great-great-grandparents Jeremiah and Elizabeth (McMulin) Miller, and more.

Now the longer drive down to Columbia: Grandparents William Ambrose and Jessie (Brown) Miller, Uncle Richard Miller, the much-loved Verna Brown, Great-uncle Joe Brown, Great-grandparents Joseph and Chloe (Boswell/Prentiss) Brown, Aunt Emma Prentiss, Aunt Laura (Prentiss) and Uncle Alpheus E. "Al" Love and their daughter, Alma; Great-great-great-grandmother Mary (Saunders) Clair and two lost Clair boys, Jasper Sylvester and William Richard. A Confederate flag for Nathan Love, Uncle Alepheus' father. And finally, down a twisting gravel road southeast to Great-great-great-grandfather William Clair, who died during 1852 before there was a Columbia Cemetery and thereby ended up all by himself in a hayfield alongside the road (I'm badly behind if Esther Belle has gotten here first).

Generally, I get to Corydon: Great-great-grandparents Peachy Gilmer and Caroline (McDaniel) Boswell and assorted Boswell kin. That usually means side trips out to Hogue (pretty place down a long lane above a big pond): Thomas and Jane (Boswell) Ratcliffe and George and America "Aunt Mec" (Boswell) Cox; a swing through Clio (cousin Dorothy Rosa Elson and her family plus a few Calbreath kin) and down across the state line to Cleopatra, Missouri, where all the rest of the Calbreaths and a couple of Browns rest at Wilder.

On a really good year, I'll get to Monroe County: Great-great-great-grandparents William and Miriam (Trescott) Miller and Joseph and Mary (Young) McMulin and many more; then down to Cincinnati in Appanoose County for more Browns and Boswells, although reaching the Boswell Cemetery there requires a long trek on foot across pasture land and through a creek, so that doesn't get done very often --- especially if the water's high.

If it's an exceptionally really good year, I'll cross the line into Missouri to the ghost town of Mendota, find the almost-hidden entrace to the cemetery lane, twist up the hill and visit the DeMacks, going through eternity holding on for dear life on that precipitous hillside to avoid sliding into the creek.

Whew! Why?

Well, I know all of these people. It's a mixed blessing for genealogists: Sometimes you know the dead better than you know the living; occasionally you like them better. I like to think of each and every one as a living, breathing soul as I poke a sprig of silk alongside his or her tombstone. We are, you know, the sum total of all who came before us, in more ways than one. It never hurts to pay homage to those from whom we've sprung.

Besides, I like to think I'm single-handedly supporting for a brief shining moment as Memorial Day nears the silk flower sweatshops spread across the Orient. "You know, there are children starving in China," Grandma used to say when I was pushing food around the plate rather than eating it --- and I believed.

Old Glory: First Methodist Church

First United Methodist Church (built as First Methodist Episcopal during 1899-1900) stands a block north of the northwest corner of the Chariton square.

How can you help but love what undoubtedly is Chariton's finest unaltered 19th Century public building?

Construction of this late Gothic Revival wonder began 18 June 1899 and was completed by 8 July 1900. The architect was Samuel A. Bullard of Springfield, Ill., one of the nation's leading architects of that time with a multi-state client list. It was constructed of Bedford stone with a slate roof and cost $18,000, excluding windows and lighting.

This is a view along the west facade of First United Methodist Church, looking south. 

The stone work is superb, the detail beautifully executed, the stained glass windows just right. Everything works.

Stained glass in giant gothic arches on both the west and south facades lights the main sanctuary.

The frosting on that cake is that it's been beautifully maintained and it hasn't been altered. That's not always been the case in southern Iowa. Centerville has a wonderful old Methodist church, but the congregation there allowed structural problems to creep up on them and lately has been tearing itself apart in a squabble about whether it should be repaired or replaced. The Knoxville Methodist church, a wonderful Richardson Romanesque structure, still looks good, but it's been patched and poked at and a rather odd educational wing intended to complement the original building tacked onto one side. The protective glass added to that church's huge windows is foggy, giving the whole structure a blind look.

Here's the corner stone of First United Methodist Church. "1899" is carved on the south face of this stone.

None of those problems have developed in Chariton. The educational wing that replaced the old parsonage just east of the church during 1962 makes no effort to compete with the original building, or to pretend that it's anything it isn't.

Wonderful stone work is evident everywhere you look at First United Methodist.

It's a wonderful building and deserves its place on the National Register of Historic Places.

 Note: A sympathetic addition has been made since this was written to the north end of the original building, but it does not distract in any way from it.

The Joseph Cyrus Miller Family

The Joseph Cyrus Miller family in 1890.

Here's a Joseph Cyrus Miller family portrait probably taken during late 1890. Note that Emma and Lizzie are wearing the same dresses and necklaces in both this photo and the Sunnyside School photo, below. Cyrus is seated in the center with Mary Elizabeth (Clair) Miller at his right. The daughters standing are (from left) Cynthia, Dora Emma, Elizabeth Mary and Adda. My grandfather, William Ambrose Miller, is seated at the right. Mary Elizabeth is holding daughter Easter, born Easter Sunday (6 April) 1890. James Clair Miller is at his father's knee. Jeremiah, born 30 April 1892, hadn't arrived on the scene yet.

Five years later, on 26 July 1895, Mary Elizabeth gave birth to the couple's final child, a boy named Joseph Cyrus for his father. The infant was sickly and Mary Elizabeth was not well herself. Medication was prescribed for both. On the 14th of August 1895, Cyrus confused the medications, accidentally giving baby Joseph a dose intended for his mother. The infant died. That tragedy broke Cyrus' heart. On the 15th of November, while hauling a wagon load of hogs into Chariton he collapsed, fell backwards among the animals and died.

William Ambrose Miller, teaching Centennial School that fall, gave up his dreams of pursuing a career in education and came home to help his mother farm and raise the children. Eventually, the family farm was divided, Granddad purchasing the larger portion. Great-uncle Jerry, the youngest son, purchased the remainder. Both farms remain in the hands of descendants.

Keep on the Sunnyside

This photo of Sunnyside School, its scholars and their teacher, R.J. Woody, was taken during December of 1889. Identifications are below.

This old photo of scholars and their teacher at Sunnyside School predates Mother Maybelle and the rest of the Carter family by a good many years, but when you're reaching for a play on words, who cares?

This was taken during December of 1889, and it must have been quite an occasion. All the students are dressed in their Sunday-go-to-meeting best and I recognize the dresses and neckaces the Miller girls are wearing from a portrait of Joseph Cyrus and Mary Elizabeth (Clair) Miller's brood that must have been taken at about the same time, although the family portrait obviously was taken at a studio in Chariton.

The Sunnyside district comprised four sections beginning at the west edge of what now is Williamson --- there was no Williamson during 1889 --- in the extreme southeast corner of English Township, so named for English Creek, which rises in the Williamson Pond conservation area and flows down through the Miller farms still in the family before meandering off northeast to Gosport and Knoxville and then to the Des Moines River in eastern Marion County.

My great-great-grandparents, Jeremiah and Elizabeth (McMulin) Miller, moved from Monroe County to a farm just east of Sunnyside during the spring of 1867. Their four younger sons, Richard, James Harvey, Gerial Trescott and Harry, all attended Sunnyside, as did most of their grandchildren and many of their great-grandchildren. Some of the Miller boys taught there, and when the district finally was consolidated and disappeared, Granddad (William Ambrose Miller) received an odd little award from the state that's still around here somewhere acknowledging that Millers had served in various district board positions for a century, concluding with himself as the final treasurer.

Sunnyside, as was the case with most early rural schools, was the only public building in the neighborhood, so it served as a community center, too. Central Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church was not organized until the 1890s, so a Sunday school was organized at Sunnyside and preaching services were held there as well upon occasion. A Sunday school library was maintained at Sunnyside, so that youngsters would have access to elevating literature. Obviously, the separation of church and state in public schools had not yet become an issue.

Sunnyside vanished several years after having been allowed to deteriorate by the people who bought it from the consolidated Chariton school district. If you drive straight east out of Williamson to the "T," Sunnyside was there. A rickety old trailer house sits on the site now.

The teacher, seated in the foreground here, is R. J. Woody.

Seated in the front row are (from left) Emma Miller, Maude Brown, Anna Lawson, Louella Brown, Myra McDowell, Adda Miller, Otis Brown, Frank Patterson, Jimmie Brown, Chas. McDowell, Arthur Bungar and Lawrence Avitt.

The older boys standing at the back are (from left) James Brown, John Williamson, Patres Johnson, Charles Savage, Harry Miller, Dick Foster, Patres Lawson (or Edgerton, Granddad wasn't sure) and Dave Johnson.

Standing in the middle are (from left) Gaybrella Webb, Lizzie Miller, Cora Carson, Ida Patterson, Samantha Foster, Cora Patterson, Cora McDowell, Cora Williamson, Mattie Savage, Willie Miller (my grandfather), Willie McDowell, Laura Miller (Shockley; she had been adopted by Jeremiah and Elizabeth Miller), Harry Edson, Lena Foulks, Harvey Savage, Effie Avitt and Harry Foster. There's a glitch in the identifications in this row. Granddad neglected to identify one of the boys standing to his left, and I don't know which one, so the sequence may not be right.

This is a well-traveled old photograph. Granddad had it, but gave it to my Uncle Owen Miller, who took it home to his ranch north of Buffalo, Wyoming. Uncle Owen sent if off to our cousin, Elizabeth (Miller) Jordan, in Texas. And Elizabeth sent it back to me in Lucas County, keeping the circle unbroken, bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye ...

Prather (Roland) Cemetery

Fragments of surviving tombstones were gathered, reassembled and mounted in this memorial area when the Prather/Roland Pioneer Cemetery was rescued from brush and weeds.

On cemetery patrol Monday, I took a quick trip out to Prather in Cedar Township, east of Chariton --- just to see how it was doing. Prather, so called because it was surrounded for many years by Prather land rather then because Prathers are buried there, is one of Lucas County's pioneer cemeteries.

"Pioneer cemetery" requires a little explanation. Most rural cemeteries in Lucas County are administered by the trustees of the townships in which they're located. The trustees levy a small township tax to fund lawn-mowing and other chores and one of their principal jobs is keeping the cemeteries in good repair. If the trustees get careless, irate family members generally raise their consciousness fairly quickly, so most Lucas County cemeteries have been kept in decent through good to excellent repair.

That was not, however, the case with several of the earliest cemeteries. Some, as nearly as could be determined, had never been maintained. Others, no longer used or in obscure locations, were allowed to deteriorate because no one was around to yell about it.Finally, Iowa passed pioneer cemetery legislation that authorized appointment of independent pioneer cemetery commissions with the authority to levy a small county-wide tax to ensure restoration and upkeep of these oldest cemeteries. Lucas County's Pioneer Cemetery Commission has done wonderful work during the last few years, and Prather Cemetery was one of its first projects.

To get there, drive about seven miles east out of Chariton on (paved) County Road H32, sometimes called the Squirrel Road because, although it's a really nice road, it doesn't go anywhere in particular other than to the general neighborhood of state forest land where squirrel hunting's reportedly pretty good.

Anyhow, about seven miles out you'll see Bethel United Methodist Church and Bethel Cemetery on your left as the road curves. Once you've passed Bethel, watch for the first gravel road leading south off the pavement, take that road south for half a mile, turn left (east) onto another gravel road and keep watch along the south side of this road for Prather. It's very small and if roadside vegetation is at mid-summer height, easy to miss.

I first visited this cemetery when quite small during the 1950s with Grandpa Miller on one of his cemetery expeditions. We were looking for Ethelinda Etheredge, who at that time we thought was a daughter of my great-great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth (Rhea) Rhea/Etheredge/Sargent, and her second husband, Thomas Etheredge. As it turns out, our looking was in vain --- Ethelinda turned out to have been the illegitimate daughter of Mary (Rhea) Dunn,  Elizabeth Sargent's third child by her first husband, Richard Rhea. After Mary married Joseph Francis Dunn in Lucas County during 1856, they moved to Gentry County, Missouri --- taking Ethelinda, very much alive and well at the time, with them.

At the time we made that expedition, Prather was a weed and brush patch, although we did find a few fallen stones --- none of them for obvious reasons Ethelinda's.

Prather always has been a part of the genteel brawl about which cemetery in Lucas County is oldest. If you're a purist, Salem (the Myers family cemetery in Benton Township), Douglass just off the Blue Grass Road southwest of Chariton and Last Chance (in Union Township) probably are the top contenders. All reportedly developed around the graves of Mormon pioneers who died along the trail.

But Prather certainly is a contender, as is its neighbor now known as Bethel because of its proximity to Bethel United Methodist (formerly United Brethren) Church. Bethel Cemeatery was begun by William McDermott on land he thought he owned (but actually didn’t) to provide a burial place for Nathan Louder (generally referred to as William Louder I suspect because of inaccuracies in the 1881 Lucas County history), whose estate was the first to enter probate in Lucas County --- on 7 October 1850. Louder’s death has been described as the first at Ireland, a settlement that grew up around McDemott’s cabin quite near Bethel.

James Roland had purchased the land surrounding what now is known as Prather Cemetery on 19 May 1849, according to Lucas County’s “Abstract of Original Entries.” His daughter, Nancy, generally recognized as the first child of permanent settlers born in Lucas County, died 12 October 1852 and occupies the earliest marked grave in the cemetery. Another Roland child, James, who died at age 21 during 1858, also is buried here. The latest marked grave here is that of Andrew Mace, who died during May of 1861.

It is my theory that the Rolands established Prather Cemetery upon the death of Nancy, choosing to bury her close to home on their own land rather than a mile across the prairie at what became Bethel. A few of their neighbors chose to bury loved ones here, too.

Whatever the origins of Prather Cemetery were, it was soon abandoned in favor of Bethel Cemetery and allowed to fall into great disrepair.

By the time the Pioneer Cemetery Commission took it on, all tombstones had disappeared and only a few fragments could be located. The commission cleared the site, mounted the fragments in a central memorial area and now maintain the cemetery very nicely.

Fortunately there is a record of such Prather Cemetery tombstones as were visible during the 1950s, made by Charles M. Wright during a visit made at about the time I first was there.

According to Charles, the following tombstone inscriptions were readable at Prather Cemetery at that time. I've interspersed photos of surviving stones, now mounted in a central memorial area.

This is all that survives of the tombstone of Abraham Mace, who died during May of 1861 at the age of 56. Duane Shamburg added the following comment to this photo during July of 2005, shortly after it was posted in its original format: "Abraham Mace was my g-g-grandfather. His daughter, Eliza Jane, married by great-grandfather, Daniel Shamburg and later moved to Kansas."

Abraham Mace, died May 22, 1861, aged 56 yrs., 10 m., 6 d.

William A. Hall, died March 24, 1855, aged 22 yrs., 10 m., 28 d.

The graves of Mary and Lutitia Hutsonpiller were marked by a single stone. A quarter of the stone has gone missing..

Mary R. Hutsonpiller, died Nov. 28, 1858, aged 44 yrs, 8m., 23d.

Lutitia I. Hutsonpiller, died Sept. 9, 1858, aged 7 yrs., 1 m., 26d.

Mary C., daughter of S.V. & S. H. Derrickson, died Oct. 22, 1857, 1 yr., 13 d.

This intact tombstone marked the grave of the first child of permanent settlers born in Lucas County, Nancy M. Roland. The inscription reads, "In memory of Nancy M., dau of J. & E. J. Roland, who departed this life Oct. 12, 1852, Aged 4 Yrs, 2 Ms & 15 Ds. Nancy's parents came from Indiana to Cedar Township during June of 1848.

In memory of Nancy M., dau. of J. and E. J. Roland, who departed this life Oct. 12, 1852, aged 4 yrs., 2 m., 15 d.

Here are fragments of the stone that marked the grave of Nancy Roland's older brother, John.

John A., son of J. and E. J. Roland, who departed this life May 19, 1858, aged 21 yrs, 1 m., 23 d.

Urin (Uriah?) M., son of W. and A. Story, died Jan. 21, 1857, aged 15 yrs., 11 m., 21 d. Peaceful be thy silent slumber, Peaceful in the grave so low, Thou no more will join our number, Thou no more our song shall know.

A great day for Presbyterians

This is how Chariton's First Presbyterian Church looks now. A dome once crowned the roof, covering (and illuminating) the inner dome of stained glass that still is visible in the sanctuary.

Nancee (McMurtrey) Seifert, a Lucas Countyan in exile, does a great job of keeping subscribers to the RootsWeb Lucas County mailing list informed and entertained by transcribing and posting on a daily basis articles from old Chariton newspapers.

This postcard view shows how First Presbyterian looked in 1909, when it was dedicated.

A Wednesday post dealt with completion and dedication during 1909 of Chariton's First Presbyterian Church, a grand old structure that continues to serve its congregation. Just for the heck of it, I'm going to swipe her work, post in here and put up some current (taken Sunday) and a vintage photgraph of the church.

The major change over the years, which you might not notice if you weren't aware it once was there, is loss of the dome that once crowned the building and in part lighted the interior of the main auditorium. The gorgeous stained glass domed ceiling remains intact and visible from the interior, but a shed-like structure now covers it on the roof.

The name of the church is evident in stained glass over the front door.

I'm not a big fan of the ramp added a couple of years ago at the entrance to ease access for the handicapped. But I know the Presbyterians thought long and hard before adding it.

Here are the articles as transcribed by Nancee:

A GREAT DAY FOR PRESBYTERIANS

The Chariton Leader, Thursday, 25 February1909

After a year and a half's waiting, the long looked for day is near at hand. On next Sunday the new house of worship is to be thrown open for service and dedicated to the sacred cause. For many months has the work been in hand --- Precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until the perfect building stands forth. That is, as near perfect as it is possible for human architects to build. It is a shadow of the great and flawless structure not built by hands, with foundations as broad as the universe and as enduring as the eternal years.

The cornerstone inscription gives the date of the congregation's origin, 1856, which makes it one of Chariton's earliest.

The Leader is not going into long details but suffice it to say almost two years ago it was decided by the Presbyterian class here that the good of the church demanded a more commodious house of worship, one which would fill the modern demand. Later the old edifice was torn down and more than a year ago the foundation walls were laid.Then came discouragements and doubt; later the horizon clearified and the work was renewed until on next Sunday the builders, Messrs. Johnson & Best, will turn it over as completed. The days of rejoicing have come.

The ground plan of the building is 48x90 feet, stone foundation and the superstructure is of brick with pressed cement block veneering, one of the most handsome and enduring building materials in existence. The architectural style is on the dome plan, and shaded lights and makes an imposing appearance. The front is full height, dropping down at the back, thus breaking the monotony of contour. The construction cost in round numbers was $20,000.00.

The stained glass, including this --- the major window on the west front --- is not especially elaborate, but works well for a sanctuary lighted on three sides that with its domed glass roof resembles a jewel box.

The interior decorations are superb and the arrangement pleasing to the vision. The pulpit and choir loft are placed at the northeast corner of the auditorium within easy range of the entire floor space. The main auditorium is 48x48 feet, pew seated, with hardwood floor and covered with cork carpet. The Sunday school room covers a space 32x44 feet, seated with chairs, ceilings lofty and the ventilation good. Off the Sunday school room opens two classrooms and a ladies parlor.

The basement ceilings are 9 feet high, well lighted and airy. The entertainment room is directly under the auditorium, covering same space and kitchen is beneath the Sunday school room. This department is furnished with closets, cupboards, drawers, sink, drain boards for dish washing, pie and cake shelves and ample table room, cold and hot water. Next to this on the east is the furnace and coal room. One of the equipments of the kitchen is a Buck range presented by Blanchard & Beem and the Buck Stove and Range Co., of St. Louis. The building throughout is heated by double pipe system. The dining room is supplied with large tables 3x14 feet, 28 inches high and between the kitchen and dining room are two large serving windows. The floors are cement and perfectly dry. Thus, it is a well appointed structure from earth-line to altitude and from center to circumference, in which all take a pardonable pride and certainly commend the church people in their enterprise. To be admired it needs only to be seen and when once seen,entered, to be fully appreciated.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH DEDICATION

Sunday, Feb. 28 '09, 10:45 a.m.

Next Sabbath will be a great day for Presbyterians in Chariton for then they will open their new church. Over a year ago work was begun on the new building but was interrupted by the failure of the bank. If "hope deferred makes lean" surely hope realized makes fat. It is true the Presbyterians will be glad to get back home. To the opening of their new building they invite the citizens of Chariton, who have kindly helped in the erection. To all we acknowledge our gratitude and bid you a hearty welcome. The church will be formally opened by Prof. Willis G. Craig, D.D., L.L.D., of McCormick Theological Seminary. Dr. Craig is a southerner with the southern gift of eloquence and a man well qualified for the work.

Long time passing: Loren E. Nussbaum

Marine PFC Loren Nussbaum died in combat in the Marshall Islands on Feb. 20, 1944. His body was returned to Lucas County in November of 1947.

I drive often along what now is Lucas County S23 as it sweeps, curves and rolls north from Oakley in Liberty Township down through the White Breast Creek valley then up, over and down again, finally to Lacona tucked among the hills just across the line in Warren County.

The lane west to Mount Zion Cemetery, once a through road, is a left turn just north of the White Breast bridge, but drive straight on up the hill and at its crest you'll see a pond to your left. Glance west up a short lane north of the pond and you'll see what once was home to the family of Ferman and Chloe Charity (West) Nussbaum and their five children, Etha, Wilma, Norma, Corwin and Loren.

Loren, the youngest,  was born there on Sept. 24, 1920, on his mother's side part of my Grandmother Jessie's big and complex family. Loren's grandmother, Eva (Prentiss) West, and Jessie were half-sisters, although that "half" was never considered significant and all the Wests had a special place in Grandmother's heart.

Loren grew up on that farm, graduated from Lacona High School and continued his education at the Chillicothe (Missouri) Business College before accepting a job at the munitions plant near Burlington as World War II approached. Then, as hundreds of thousands of young men did, he enlisted: On Jan. 18, 1942, in the U.S. Marine Corps.

After completing basic training at Camp Elliott, San Diego, Loren spent 20 months on Pago Pago, British Samoa, and in the Wallis Islands. His unit returned to Hawaii for six weeks during late 1943, then joined the great effort to wrest the central Pacific Marshall Islands from Japanese control.

The week-long battle to capture Enewetak Atol, some 44 islets around a central lagoon at the northern end of the Marshalls and site of a Japanese airfield, began during mid-February 1944. It was there on Feb, 20 that Loren died in combat.

His family was told much later that he had been wounded in the right forearm, but refused to be evacuated. As the battle continued, his company commander was wounded and while Loren was attempting to aid in his rescue, he was caught in crossfire and died instantly.

Of course Loren's family knew none of this as they waited in Lucas County for news. It was not until late March, more than a month later, that the Nussbaums learned of Loren's death.

The Chariton Leader reported on 4 April 1944, "Priv. (f.c.) Loren E. Nussbaum of the United States Marine Corps 'was killed in action in performance of his duty and services to his country,' his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ferman E. Nussbaum of Route 2, Lacona, were informed last week by Lt. Gen. A. A. Vandgrift.

"Private Nussbaum was serving in the Pacific theater. His parents were asked not to reveal the place of his death, or his unit.

"The message that Private Nussbaum had died in action was the first news his parents had of him in three months."

We are accustomed now, after the dawn of the 21st century, to the prompt return of the bodies of our war dead, allowing at least some degree of closure. But that was not the case during World War II, and Loren and his comrades were buried in temporary graves on Japtan, one of the Enewetak islets.

Brownie Coldiron, now of Oregon, served on Enewetak after it was firmly in U.S. control and recalled in an online account of his World War II service visting the temporary cemetery. Visitors were not encouraged, so Coldiron swam to Japtan from the islet where he was stationed, then walked through lush jungle vegetation into a clearing and "there before me was row upon row of head markers on graves. There were literally acre after acre of rows of graves ...."

After the war ended, the United States began the work of gathering the remains of its dead from temporary resting places in obscure locations around the globe and bringing them home. Loren's body, sealed in a brown steel coffin, was among the first returned to the United States, arriving in San Francisco with 2,038 others from the Pacific theater aboard the transport ship Honda Knot during late October 1947.

After considerable ceremony in San Francisco, Loren's remains were shipped to a distribution center in Kansas City, then arrived in Chariton by train at midnight on Nov. 7, 1947. He was the first of Lucas County's war dead to come home.

Funeral services were held on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 9, at the Methodist Church.

Veterans of the great war, now returned to civilian life, rallied to honor Loren and support his family. The Rev. J.T. Bloom, a former army chaplain who had been called to serve First Christian Church, officiated, along with the Rev. W.E. Samp, the Methodist pastor. Music was provided by a quartet of veterans: Don Fuller, Bob Elgin, George Dunshee and William Dunshee. Former Marines served as pall bearers: Rex Benway, Raymond Logue, Waldo Brown, Vernard Oxenreider, Orval Arnold and Leck Young.

At Chariton Cemetery, atop a gentle rise in its southwest quadrant, American Legionaires Leo Hoegh (later governor of Iowa), W.L. Frank and Victor Lindquist assisted in the graveside rites as a color guard and firing squad stood by.

And in that manner, Loren came home.

My dad remembered attending Loren's funeral along with other family members, but as often happens, it was the odd detail that stood out after 50 years had passed. Entering the church behind the distinguished county judge of that day (whose name I've forgotten), Dad watched as the judge took off his hat and began to reach across Loren's coffin to hang it on a rack in the church foyer. A member of the Marine honor guard grabbed the judge's wrist, told him to hold onto his hat and move along.