Mad dog rampages from Freedom to Russell

Aggressive immunization of domestic pets has for the most part removed rabies as something most Lucas Countyans need to worry about these days, but that was not yet the case in 1925.

In early June, an especially aggressive mad dog began attacking motorists (and others) in the southern tier of townships, commencing near Freedom in Warren and concluding near Russell, in Washington.

Here's the report, published under an imaginative headline, from The Chariton Leader of June 9, 1925:

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The rabies have been so prevalent for months past it would seem any notice of rabid dogs is commonplace and uninteresting, but on Saturday there was a scare of the usual kind. Reports were sent over the telephone that a mad dog was rampant and was running wild all the way from Freedom to Russell.

Many people had seen him, a fine Airedale, and several reported that they had been attacked by the ferocious beast while passing along the highway in their automobiles. He would leap from cover, snap at the tires, and on one occasion lit squarely in an automobile, frantically snapping at anything in sight, but fortunately did not come in contact with the occupants.

In his rounds, Dr. Purdue, the veterinarian at Russell, warded off two attacks by the beast, while throughout the day reports came in from varying places of the frantic acts of the Airedale. A posse was organized, all provided with mad dog armor, and a determined effort made to end the reign of canine terror.

He was overtaken at the W. R. Relph place, in Washington township, and was compelled to bite the dust from a volley charge and was placed under earth where he could do no more harm. The dog had come from Marion county as it had a Knoxville tag on its collar. This Marion county case is about the worst contended with during the scourge, and what results may follow can only be conjectured. The owner of the dog is at liberty to make requisition for the body at any time should he have any Airedale sentiments hovering about his vacant kennel.

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Results from state laboratory tests during 2018 show that 10 carcasses tested positive for rabies in Iowa during 2018 --- nine bats and one cow. Although the danger of contact with a rabid animal is slight, bat bites now are the most likely of all possibilities. But other mammals also are potential carriers --- skunks, coyotes, foxes and raccoons. So no matter how cute that wild critter may be, it's best just to leave it alone if encountered.

A murder, a suicide and the Gardner House

I mentioned Chariton's pioneer hotel, the Gardner House, the other day in relation to the well preserved vintage service station, now Modern Auto, that has stood on its site at the intersection of North Main Street and Roland Avenue since 1926. Dating from the 1850s, the hotel/boarding house was operated by the N.B. Gardner family until the turn of the 20th century then leased by the Gardner estate to others until its demolition during January of 1926.

This was an ideal location for a service station since, at the time, North Main was the start of the most widely traveled route into and out of Chariton --- Osceola, Indianola, Des Moines and beyond --- from and to the northwest.

But a dramatic murder-suicide that occurred in and near the Gardner House during June of 1925 may well have been another factor in the Gardner family's decision to dispose of the property. The victims were William H. Shutts, who had leased and managed the hotel since 1924, who was shot dead by his son-in-law, James Oliver Sims.

Here's how The Herald-Patriot of June 11, 1925, described the tragedy:

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One of the tragedies that sometimes come in community life was recorded here last Friday noon when two were killed as the result of an argument between an estranged man and his wife. The husband, Oliver Sims, killed his father-in-law, W. H. Shutts, and later turned his gun on himself. Shutts died instantly and Sims passed away after an hour and a half. Both were buried Sunday at Hamilton, the former family home. Shutts was 55 years of age and Sims was 31.

The first shooting took place at what is known as the old Gardner House at the corner of North Main street and Roland avenue. Mr. and Mrs. Shutts had been operating this place as a boarding house since last September. Their daughter, Mrs. Carmen Sims, came to Chariton with them and with her eight-year-old son was making her home here. It is said she and her husband had been living apart for about four years.

The story of the tragedy as told by members of the family is that Sims came to Chariton on Friday morning and demanded that his wife accompany him to Nebraska. He had before insisted that she make the trip with him, but she did not consider it advisable. He made a threat to kill her and produced a revolver. He fired and missed, say those who were at the house at the time. Here, the father, Shutts, jumped between his daughter and Sims and received the second shot in his head.

Another shot was fired at Shutts, it is related, after which Sims ran away from the house, west in the direction of the tracks just as a train was pulling out. At the rear of the Bates House he saw that he would be unable to catch it, and turned into a coal shed and shot himself in the head. Those who were pursuing him saw immediately that his wounds were fatal.

Sims was a miner living at Rexfield, northwest of Albia. Earlier, the Shutts family had lived in that section but moved to Chariton last fall. The daughter, Mrs. Sims, has been employed here and for the past several weeks was son night duty at the Lincoln Cafe. Friends of the family say she left her husband on account of non-support.

The parents of Sims live near Bussey and came to Chariton on Friday to assist with the making of funeral arrangements.

Double funeral services were held last Sunday, June 7th. After a very brief service at the Shutts home on north Main street, conducted by Rev. Frank Bean, the funeral cortege wended its way to the M.E. church at Hamilton, where services were held, conducted by Rev. Bean, of this city, assisted by Rev. Tag, of Bussey. The church and yard were filled with sympathizing and sorrowing friends and the floral tributes were profuse and beautiful. Both were laid to rest in the family lot in the cemetery at Hamilton.

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For those unfamiliar with the territory, Hamilton is a tiny town in southeast Marion County, just north of Lovilla along Highway 5.

A small reminder of a long-vanished I.O.O.F. lodge

One of the interesting things about this little medallion, which I photographed the other day while updating catalog data for memorabilia related to Chariton's fraternal organizations, is the fact that so much of its story is engraved on the back.

It's Henry H. Day's 25-year anniversary award, commemorating his membership, 1865-1891, in Chariton Lodge No. 64, Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.).

Henry (1824-1901) was a Chariton businessman, county supervisor and one-term state legislator whose principal memorial today is the "Good Luck" building on the southwest corner of the square that features a giant recently restored horseshoe-shaped window as the centerpiece of its second-floor facade. He built it during 1883 after a December 1882 fire had destroyed the frame structure that preceded it.

The lodge itself was organized with seven charter members on Oct. 11, 1855. By 1874, membership had grown so large that a second lodge, Orion No. 302, was organized to handle the overflow. The two lodges consolidated during January of 1888 and by 1904, as plans were being made for a grand new building on the north side of the square, membership stood at 240.

But time and circumstances have not been kind to fraternal organizations in general and today only Masonic organizations --- the first to be organized in Chariton during the 1850s, continue to meet. All the others have vanished, except for a few souvenirs like this one.

A horse, a dog and the 4th of July at LaGrange

As Independence Day approaches without the usual fanfare in Chariton, remember that this is not the first time in the city's 170-year history that there's been no major local celebration. This year, it's the coronavirus; it previous years it's mostly been the absence of anyone to organize and promote it.

The latter was the case in 1910, but there were plenty of celebrations elsewhere in Lucas County, some of those places now almost forgotten. Here's a brief rundown as published on July 7, 1910, in Henry Gittinger's Chariton Leader:

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There were a number of celebrations in Lucas county on the 4th, generally on the picnic plan, at Belinda, Newbern, LaGrange, Highland, Lucas, Oakley and other places. Many Chariton people followed the band to Lacona but almost every place in the county was represented. Perhaps the largest celebration in the county was held at Belinda. Rev. J.H. Booth, late Democratic candidate for congress, addressed the multitudes. Also, William Collinson and W.W. Bulman, of this city.

A goodly assembly was held at Lucas, and here, as well as at the other places, well arranged programs were carried out.

It was a fine crowd that assembled at LaGrange and the drills, music and general entertainment furnished by their young people showed that they had made preparations for the occasion.

Everywhere there was an array of fireworks at night and the national emblems were conspicuous on every hand. In fact, this county never offered a more satisfactory plan of commemorating the day than this year.

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The Chariton Band, without a local celebration, was featured entertainment at Lacona, up in Warren County; and Gittinger himself, although he didn't mention it, was the principal orator on the 4th at LaGrange. Here's Henry's story of how he got from here to there --- behind a horse --- also from The Leader of July 7. The item is headlined, "The Poor Man's Auto."

The Leader man has recently made a discovery which will be a boon to the poor man who wants to travel and keep up appearances.

It has long been our desire to purchase a 90-horsepower automobile, but the exchequer was dead set against it --- there is no use further in concealing this.

All great discoveries have been made through accident and this late one is no exception to the rule.

Recently the writer had occasion to make an overland trip to a distant part of the county (LaGrange) and borrowed a horse and buckboard for that purpose.

The horse was of the bronco breeds, with all the wrought iron endurance for which they are noted. It was also a hay burner and had the yankin' heaves.

We hadn't fairly got started on the road before the wonderful mechanism, peculiar to a heavy horse, commenced action. Its flanks played sidewise like the riddles of a threshing machine while its diaphragm vibrated back and for the other way, all the times emitting sounds like a diapason. In fact, to a novice it appeared that the horse would die at almost any moment, but a companion gave assurance that it was the nature of the brute and that all was well. Next there was a chugging which seemed to let a whole lot of machinery in the animal's interior loose, with a wheezing sound in front, for the world like an auto makes when it gets stuck on a hillside.

We wanted to get out under the horse with a monkey wrench but the other fellow said that it was not necessary in this case and that it offered an advantage over the gasoline wagon.

Next, the animal started up in a sudden spurt and a drum corps could not have created a greater combination of sounds than that nag with the heaves as its hoofs beat the turf.

It shot forward working sidewise and frontwise and bridlewise and several other wise --- for a heavy horse is a very "wise" quadruped. Then it began to puff, whistle, wheeze and clatter all at the same time. People rushed to their doors to see what was passing. Dogs ran out and barked and everybody said, "Oh, just an automobile whizzing by in a cloud of dust."

But it wasn't an automobile at all. Did you ever drive cross country with a heavy hoss?

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Once at LaGrange, the Gittinger family dog, Snick, which had trailed along behind the buckboard, disgraced him, resulting in the following piece, also from The Leader of July 7, headlined "Home for Dog Wanted."

The Leader man is desirous of finding a good home in which to place his dog Snick --- one in which there would be sociability and companionship. We have not the time necessary to devote to the training of a dog of his superior intellect and breeding and as a result he has humiliated us again.

For the past 18 months he has been the official gopher claw eater in the county auditor's office, but he seems not to appreciate that position, so we have decided that the county board can secure a plebeian hound for that purpose if a suitable place can be secured for Snick as a companion for small children and tall cats.

He is affable in nature, friendly to a fault and can be maintained cheaply, as he licks the axle grease off the wagons around the square each Saturday.

On the 4th of July he followed the family buckboard to LaGrange, there to attend the patriotic picnic. Here he barked at the parade, whined when they sang "America" and cut up generally. We could have stood all this had it not been for his action at the noon hour.

The ladies had spread the cloth on the grass and were placing thereon the fat of the land when Snick landed square on the table --- the exact spot in which senator Cummins once stood on the "standpat platform" --- right in the center of it, and seized the hind quarter of a fricasseed chicken.

Of course we never volunteered to answer the question asked in concert, "Whose dog is that?"

But this little incident has caused us to make up our mind to part with him, providing a suitable home can be secured --- and we will not be overly particular about it either.

We confess the dog is somewhat deficient in manners, but all this is more than made up in breeding. Besides, he is an excellent judge of good food.

Toppled statues & what to do with them ....

Here's a link to an interesting BBC News article that explores the experiences of four nations as they dealt with cast or sculpted images that served as reminders of dark historical eras --- Iraq, India, Germany and the United States.

In Iraq, statues of Saddam Hussein have been destroyed; in India, reminders of colonialism have been removed to  obscure locations and largely forgotten; in Germany, graven reminders of the Third Reich have been destroyed but the nation sought and found another way to commemorate, and learn from, its dark past; and in the United States, monuments to secessionist Civil War notables currently are under attack ---- again.

Much of the conversation in the United States has been skewed by the false impression that these images are "history" when in fact, they're merely objects that play roles in the narrative of history. How they're dealt with will be just another footnote.

One of the suggested solutions has been to remove these images to museums, cemeteries or history "parks" where they can be re-erected and appropriately interpreted. The difficulty faced by many cities and institutions that have removed statues, however, is that no one seems to want them. Or at least no one wants to spend the cash required to develop places for them.

There's been a good deal of screeching and hollering lately among white folk about these images and how they're being treated. Often overlooked is the fact that a majority were erected many years after the Civil War as part of a conscious effort to reinterpret a grubby rebellion to preserve slavery into some sort of glorious lost cause. That makes them interesting objects, but not "history" in the larger sense.

So the emphasis often shifts, as white folks clutch their pearls, away from the reasons why black folks and their allies are angry enough to deface and/or pull those statues down. And that's what everyone needs to focus on, looking hard at the root causes of discontent and working to find solutions.

Korea: Remembering the start of our "forgotten" war

At Chariton's Veterans Memorial Park

Eleven years ago, the Moving Wall --- a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. --- was brought to the Round Barn Site just east of Allerton in Wayne County. I drove down to see it, then went back on Saturday afternoon for a commemorative program.

The speaker, as it turned out, was lamentable --- a self-styled chaplain and alleged counselor who seemed fixated on mythical Buddhist curses that supposedly had affected the outcome of the war.

But he did do one memorable thing.

As the program opened, he first asked World War II veterans to stand, and some did; then Vietnam veterans --- and we did, too. Next he recognized Gulf War veterans; finally, active duty personnel.

As he was preparing to move on, a lone voice sounded behind me --- "What about Korea?"

The whole thing kind of summed up the nation's collective memory of Korea, sometimes described as America's forgotten war.

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For those who keep track of such things, today --- June 25, 2020 --- is the 70th anniversary if the date when North Korean forces, backed by the Soviet Union and China, crossed the 38th Parallel and advanced into South Korea. The United Nations Security Council immediately authorized the formation of the United Nations Command and dispatched forces to repel invading troops. Although 21 nations eventually contributed to the force, the United State provided 90 percent of the military personnel.

The fighting did not end until July 27, 1953, when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, creating the Demilitarized Zone that still divides North and South. No peace treaty ever has been signed and a state of war remains frozen in place, technically at least.

An estimated three million civilians and military personnel died in the war, including roughly 37,000 Americans of the 1.8 million U.S. troops who served. An estimated 85,000 Iowans served and 508 died.

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Nine young men who either were native to Lucas County or who had close ties to it died in that war, and it's appropriate today to remember them.

U.S. Army Private Donald Lee Halferty, only 17, Co. C, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, killed Aug. 6, 1950, at Naktong Bulge, was the first from Lucas County to die.

U.S. Army Sergeant First Class George Musick, age 33, Co. H, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, was killed in action on Sept. 3, 1950, at Yongsan. He was a World War II veteran who had re-enlisted just two months before his death. His remains have not been recovered.

U.S. Army Corporal Elmer A. Rowe, age 20, Co. F., 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, was killed in combat on Aug. 12, 1950. His remains, too, remain unrecovered.

U.S. Army Private First Class Lyle R. Shelton, age 20, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, was critically injured in combat on Nov. 26, 1950, in the vicinity of the Chongchon River and died of his wounds Nov. 27.

U.S. Army Master Sergeant Manuel J. Spoon, age 32, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, was captured in combat in the vicinity of Kunu-Ri Gauntlet, North Korea, on Nov. 30, 1950. He died in enemy hands five months later, on April 30, 1951, although his family did not learn that until August, 1953.

U.S. Army Corporal Roy R. Kirton, age 40, assigned to Service Battery, 39th Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, was, like Manuel J. Spoon, captured in combat near the Kunu-Ri Gauntlet, North Korea, on Nov. 30, 1950. He died in enemy hands more than a year later, on Dec. 1, 1951. His remains have never been recovered.

Sergeant Jerry Parker, 23, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, was captured in the vicinity of the Chongchon River on Nov. 26, 1950, the same day Lyle Shelton was killed there. He died in enemy hands on March 6, 1951.

U.S. Marine Corps Captain Alfred H. Agan, 32, Marine Fighter Squadron 212, 1st Marine Air Wing, was the pilot of a F4U-4 Corsair fighter deployed aboard the carrier USS Bataan. His aircraft was damaged by the explosion of its bombs on Jan. 20, 1951, and he crash landed it in the water a mile off shore and eleven miles south of Inchon and died in the water there of exposure.

Private Harold H. Thorne, 21, was assigned to the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, when he was killed in action on July 15, 1953, just days before the Armistice was signed.

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It's our obligation to honor these young men and all the others who died in that now long-ago war. They gave up their lives on our behalf as citizens of the United States of America and the least we can do is repeat their names and remember them.

Some years ago, I wrote and published a piece about the Lucas County nine. Among the comments on that piece was one from a citizen of South Korea who wrote, "Thank you for saving Korea. We will never forget."

The fact that South Korea remains as a free and democratic nation is their legacy.

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I'm cheating a little. There will be a brief  program at 8 a.m. today at Veterans Memorial Park in Chariton to commemorate those who served and died. I'll be saying the same thing written here, more or less, then and there.

Bartholomew, black troops & a secessionist general

Orion A. Bartholomew

The year 2020 is, among other things, the 155th anniversary of secessionist Gen. Robert E. Lee's April 9 surrender of his Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant, commanding general of the United States, at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the U.S. Civil War.

Chariton's Col. Orion A. Bartholomew (brevetted brigadier general), then in command of the several hundred fighting men who formed the 109th Regiment of United States Colored Troops, was among the witnesses. And as the 50th anniversary of that momentous event neared in 1915, Bartholomew recalled an elaborate prank that he and his men had played during the surrender ceremonials on a secessionist general who made disparaging remarks about black troops.

Their target was secessionist Gen. Henry A. Wise, who had been serving as governor of Virginia during 1860 when abolitionist John Brown was executed for his lead role in the raid at Harpers Ferry. 

Approximately 180,000 black troops fought as part of the Union army during that war and Col. Bartholomew, still in his 20's at the time, had organized four regiments, including his own battle command, the 109th, the first black regiment organized in Kentucky, assigned to the Army of the Potomac during the Battle of Appomattox Court House.

An estimated four-five thousand black troops forming six regiments were boots on the ground during the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse, including the 109th --- part of a force described by one Union staff officer as "a regular checker-board" of black and white. Although their units were segregated and they were commanded by white officers, these "colored" troops were combatants vital to the Union cause. 

Here's the story as Col. Bartholomew told it to the editor of The Chariton Leader, who published the account in his edition of March 15, 1915:

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Col. O. A. Bartholomew, who is here at his old home (in Chariton) from Minneapolis, grew reminiscent yesterday, in conversation, and after inquiring whether there would be a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the surrender of Gen. R.E. Lee and the Confederate army at Appomattox, said:

"I can hardly realize that it has been 50 years since the surrender. So far as I know, Capt. (James H.) McFarland and myself are the only ones at present in Chariton that were at the famous courthouse at the time.

"I was colonel of the finest regiment of colored troops in the army and they made a fine appearance and were under perfect discipline. Some distinguished person had made a slighting remark about the colored troops whom I found out to be Gov. Wise, of Virginia. You will remember he was the governor who executed John Brown, of Osawatomie Creek, for his exploit at Harper's Ferry.

"I marshaled my regiment in front of the place he was stationed and gave the signal. Every man in the regiment was a vocalist and they paraded in front of the governor singing:

"Old John Brown's body lies mouldering in the tomb,

but his soul goes marching on."

Continuing, the Colonel said:

"In spite of prejudice the colored men made good soldiers. My regiment was composed of big portly fellows and never shrank at command. Few of them could read or write when enlisted, but there was not a man among them who could not when discharged. Every company had its teacher.

"After the battle, here was the biggest open grave in the annals of the war. This regiment dug the trench and laid hundreds of the fallen side by side -- the blue and the grey --- and they lay unmarked and unknown."

Col. Bartholomew was brevetted a brigadier general for meritorious service in the field.

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I'll have more to say about Col. Bartholomew another time, but it's enough now to note that from 1871 until early in the 20th century he was one of Lucas County's most prominent attorneys as well as a large-scale farmer. He's not widely remembered now in part because he and wife, Mary, moved to Minneapolis --- where three of their sons had settled --- during the fall of 1914. He died there during September of 1919 at the age of 82 and was buried in Lakewood Cemetery.

An historic preservation award for the Krutsingers

Rodney and Susan Krutsinger's Modern Auto building on North Main Street in Chariton is a carefully preserved 1926 service station that took a direct hit early last year from an out of control vehicle driving at considerable speed that struck and caved in the front of its somewhat later service bays.

In response, the Krutsingers carefully restored the structure and now you'd never know that the crash occurred. Here's how the building looked during July last year, after the front had been rebuilt but not yet repainted.

That restoration effort as well as their long-term care of Chariton's best preserved original service station is why the family on Monday was awarded the Chariton Historic Preservation Commission's 2020 Historic Preservation Award. The Krutsingers are at left; commissioners (from left) Dave Edwards, Alyse Hunter, Frank Myers and Melody Wilson, at right.

The award goes annually to building owners who adapt and when necessary upgrade vintage structures for modern use while preserving or restoring the integrity of their original design.

Before 1926, this corner was the location of the Gardner House, dating from the 1850s and one of the city's oldest hotels, operated until 1896 by the N.B. Gardner family and owned by descendants into the 1920s.

During January of 1926, the hotel's site was sold to the Shaffer Oil and Refining Company and a Deep Rock Petroleum Company "oil station" built after the old hotel had been demolished. That station, the north half of the current structure, still looks much as it did then thanks to the Krutsingers.

July 4, 1900: "The Eagle Screamed Right Merrily"

The question "How long has Chariton celebrated Independence Day?" comes up nearly every year --- and the answer is, forever, although "forever" here translates as since 1850, the city's first full year.

There are no surviving reports of the earliest, but most likely they followed the same pattern as others reported upon a few years later: A community picnic in a grove near town (there were few if any trees in Chariton during 1850), patriotic speeches, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, simple games and fireworks. Later on, as trees sprouted in the courthouse park, the location shifted.

All in all, these were simple one-day celebrations and all who attended were expected to listen to one or more patriotic speeches delivered by whichever worthy gentlemen could be rounded up and planted on a makeshift platform --- ladies need not apply.

This year, the year of COVID-19, will be considerably different. There still will be fireworks, courtesy of the Chariton Volunteer Fire Department, at 10 p.m. on the 4th at Northwest Park. But the grand parade will be "reverse" this year --- folks will be invited to drive around and admire holiday decorations around town rather than packing themselves onto the square to watch entries pass by.

Other homemade details may be added as family and friends gather and there are a few ideas in this report published in The Chariton Democrat of July 5, 1900, of that year's observance. The headline, read: "Chariton's Celebration: The Eagle Screamed Right Merrily; A Large Crowd in Attendance at the Exercises."

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Never did the glorious bird of freedom scream more lustily than she ded in Chariton yesterday. In the "wee small" hours of the morn, Young America ushered in the day which marked the 124th anniversary of freedom, not exactly by the beating of tomtoms, but with equally as great discordant and nerve destroying noises. The morning dawned bright and clear and by ten o'clock the streets were thronged with people, many of them clad in fine raiment. Everybody turned themselves loose to have a good time and we believe they had it.

At eleven o'clock the assembly was called to order by the president of the day, Dr. C.T. Brant, and after the invocation by Rev. W.V. Whitten, Col. Warren S. Dungan delivered an address which was listened to with great interest. The Colonel is a fluent speaker and can easily hold the attention of his hearers. Rev. A.C. Ormond read the Declaration of Independence. He speaks clearly and distinctly and the audience was able to catch every word.

After dinner, Senator W.H. Berry of Indianola delivered the address of the day, and we may say that it was one of the finest patriotic speeches Lucas county people ever listened to. At the close of his remarks the amusement program was carried out. The races resulted as follows:

Wheelbarrow --- Chas. Lewis, 1st prize, a hammock.

Greased Pole --- Thorp, 1st prize, two watches; Tom Barnes, 2nd, a football.

Fat Man --- Tom Hooper, 1st prize, 50 Andy Jack cigars donated y Storie & Lusk.

Potato Picking --- Tom Barnes, 1st prize, riding bridle; Fred Schreiber, 2nd, bedspread.

Greased Pig --- Claude Johnson caught him and took him home.

Foot Race, 100 yards --- Chas Lewis, 1st  prize, silver butter dish.

Wood Sawing --- Smiley Littleton, first prize, a hammock, time 1 minute 1-1/2 seconds; John McBride, 2nd, bedspread; B. Wallmer, 3rd, a vase; H.A. Erickson, 4th, a whip.

Bicycle race, seven mile handicap --- Chas. Smith, 1st, mandolin; Kent Hooper, 2nd, solar gas lamp; Etheridge Rogers, 34rd, leggins; Max Blous, 4th, foot pump; Ed Woodman, 5th, bell; Charles Percifield, 6th, toe clips and lamp bracket; Roy Murray, 7th, toe clips; Stant Hooper, 8th; Geo. Sage, 9th; Walter Schreiber, 10th. The first time prize, a silver cake basket, was won by Max Blous, time 27  minutes and 50 second. The second prize, leggins and toe clips, was won by Ed Woodman, time 28 minutes and 3 seconds.

We were unable to learn the name of the winner of the sack race.

Throughout the day the City Guard Band discoursed sweet music which was greatly enjoyed by the vast throng. In the evening a grand display of fireworks took place. A large number of elegant pieces had been secured and all spoke in the highest praise of this feature of the entertainment. The display was first class and was as fine as was ever witnessed in our city. The day passed off pleasantly and everything was conducted in a proper manner. Peace and harmony prevailed and everybody enjoyed themselves hugely.

In honor of the solstice ...

... a bouquet gathered late yesterday in the museum garden and a solstice poem by Tess Taylor:

How again today our patron star
whose ancient vista is the long view

turns its wide brightness now and here:
Below, we loll outdoors, sing & make fire.

We build no henge
but after our swim, linger

by the pond. Dapples flicker
pine trunks by the water.

Buzz & hum & wing & song combine.
Light builds a monument to its passing.

Frogs content themselves in bullish chirps,
hoopskirt blossoms

on thimbleberries fall, peeper toads
hop, lazy—

Apex. The throaty world sings ripen.
Our grove slips past the sun’s long kiss.

We dress.
We head home in other starlight.

Our earthly time is sweetening from this.

Fare thee well, Aunt Jemima ...

"Well," huffed the worthy white matron whose comment somehow ended up in my Facebook feed earlier this week. "I'll be using the Bisquick recipe for my pancakes from now on!"

This after learning that one of the nation's oldest trademarks, Aunt Jemima, would be retired by the Quaker Oats Co. as part of the conversation about racism that has developed since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis during late May.

The response among some white folks made it seem as if the Tooth Fairy had switched overnight from delivering dimes to dispensing stupid pills.

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The Aunt Jemima pancake mix recipe was developed by white entrepreneurs in St. Joseph, Missouri, during 1889, and given the name of a popular vaudeville character widely portrayed at the time by white folks in blackface.

"Aunt" was an honorific used by whites in the South when referring to older black women; the costume and the concept, including kerchief head covering, reflected romanticization of plantation culture --- who, after all, would not want a docile enslaved "mammy" in one's kitchen to crank out breakfast pancakes for her beloved white family?

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Outrage over the imminent departure of Aunt Jemima somehow last week became focused on a real person, Nancy Green, born into slavery and employed in 1893 to represent the brand and conduct a pancake-making display at the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. 

Green remained an employee of what became the Aunt Jemima Mills Co. until her death in 1923, but as a residential housekeeper during and after 1910 and she was just one of dozens and dozens of portrayers hired during that period and thereafter, into the 1960s, to make personal appearances representing the brand.

Contrary to the stories circulating this week, she did not develop the pancake mix recipe, nor did she grow rich. When she died, she was buried in an unmarked grave in Chicago. Had she traveled extensively, it seems unlikely that she would have been allowed to stay in white-owned hotels or eat Aunt Jemima pancakes in white-owned restaurants.

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One poor gentleman, in concluding his diatribe about Aunt Jemima's departure last week, screeched: "Nancy Green was a remarkable woman... and has just been ERASED by politically correct bedwetters."

Which is absolutely hilarious when you think about it. Prior to the Quaker Oats Co. decision to rebrand, perhaps 12 among millions of consumers of Aunt Jemima pancakes or syrup had ever heard of Nancy Green.

Now she's one of the most widely known women in the Americas. Good one, that.

Grandpa was driving (a horse) drunk when he died

It's the details rather than the dates that make family history interesting and occasionally those details sneak up on a guy.

Earlier this week, I was surveying digital back issues of Iowa newspapers looking for mentions of "Chariton" during the year 1863. I do this sometimes for various years because the earliest surviving Lucas County newspapers date from 1867 and the years before that are a black hole newswise.

But editors of other newspapers often picked up and republished interesting tidbits from their exchanges, so now and then something useful turns up attributed to The Chariton Patriot, our pioneer publication. Like this little item, published in The Sioux City Register on Jan. 31, 1863:

"The Chariton Patriot says that Thomas Etheridge of Cedar township, Lucas county, was thrown from his wagon while intoxicated last week, and injured so that he died in a short time afterwards."

Well, this was a family story not told my my maternal grandfather, an earlier keeper of family legends and lore. And the death actually had occurred on Christmas Eve, 1862, more than a month before this item was published in Sioux City

Thomas Etheredge, buried in Bethel Cemetery, Cedar Township, is not actually an ancestor of mine, instead the second husband of Eliza (Rhea) Rhea-Etheredge-Sargent, my great-great-great-grandmother. 

Eliza's first husband, her first-cousin (the Rhea family was very close shall we say) Richard Rhea, was a farmer and Baptist preacher who died on Nov. 17, 1839, in Sangamon County, Illinois, at the age of 30. Their children were Mary A., James M. and Elizabeth Rachel (my ancestor). Three years later, Eliza married Thomas Etheredge (born June 20, 1802, in Norfolk County, Virginia) and they had four children --- Virginia, Lucinda, Robert and Dempsy.

The family moved west to Jefferson County, Iowa, during the 1840s and arrived in Cedar Township, Lucas County, during the fall of 1854 after a brief stay a few miles north on the Lucas-Marion county line. Their farm was just north and east of the current location of Bethel Church and Cemetery and actually included the oldest portion of the cemetery, where they are buried.

My grandfather's only mention of Mr. Etheredge that I recall was the story that he was kind of mean and that this was one of the reasons Elizabeth Rachel left home to marry James Wayne Clair during January of 1853 when she was 15 and he was 16. The newlyweds apparently were fond of each other, producing an even dozen children before they were done.

By all accounts, the widowed Eliza was a very strong woman who made her own way in Cedar Township during the remainder of the 1860s, enduring the loss of two sons --- James M. Rhea and Robert Etheredge --- to the Civil War.

In 1870 she treated herself by marrying something of a toy boy, Edward E. Sargent, 20 years her junior, and they seem to have lived happily ever after --- until her death on Aug. 7, 1888, at the age of 77.

The story behind an 1862 Civil War map

This is a bad photograph of something good --- one of the Lucas County Historical Society's rarest artifacts, a map hand drawn during October of 1862 by T. Park Coin of Camp Lauman, located  on high ground immediately west of Burlington and the muster site for the 10 companies of the 34th Iowa Volunteer Infantry. It is the only known image of the camp; even Camp Lauman's precise location has been lost.

The map, in the collection for nearly 50 years, is framed and so this image was taken through glass, which explains some of the difficulty. It looks better in person. 

The map depicts the quarters of the regiment's 10 companies grouped around a parade ground with regimental quarters to the west. A formation seems to have been drawn in at the top, the vertical slashes representing men of the various companies aligned behind regimental officers, including Chariton's Lt. Col. Warren S. Dungan, second in command. Col. George W. Clark was the commander. Cooking grounds, guard posts and a variety of other details are included, plus a few calligraphic flourishes.

The 10 companies of the 34th were raised in the south of Iowa during the summer of 1862 --- three in Lucas, four in Warren, two in Decatur and one in Wayne counties --- following President Lincoln's July 2, 1862, call for 300,000 3-year enlistments. Gov. Samuel Kirkwood then ordered the 34th to assemble at Camp Lauman during August and September of 1862 --- the last company and the commanding officer, Col. George W. Clark, arrived on Sept. 17. The regiment, 951 men rank and file, was mustered into federal service on Oct. 15.

The camp was named in honor of Gen. Jacob Gartner Lauman (1813-1867), a Burlington businessman who rose in rank to brigadier before being relieved of his command after the Siege of Jackson, Miss., during 1863 for failure to execute orders resulting in heavy losses, a charge he contested but never overturned.

In any case, I spent a little time over the weekend with digital files of The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye from 1862 that contained reports of the 34th in Burlington, commencing with the following, published on Sept. 27:

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The 34th Iowa Infantry is now at Camp Lauman adjoining this city, with full ranks and with all its officers. The barracks erected for them are ample and excellent of their kind, and both officers and men are pleased with their situation. The work of drill and discipline has been commenced and all are earnestly endeavoring to prepare themselves for the field, in which we doubt not, the 34th will maintain the honor of the State at the high position its predecessors in the field have earned for it.

We have been favored with a list of the Regimental and Line officers which we insert below:

Colonel Geo. W. Clark of Indianola, Warren County; Lieutenant Colonel Warren S. Dungan, of Chariton, Lucas County; Major R. D.  Kellogg of Garden Grove, Decatur County; 

Surgeon C. W. Davis of Indianola; Assistant Surgeons V. H. Coffman of Indianola and H. W. Jay, of Chariton; Adjutant (     ) Bryant of Indianola; and Quartermaster John D. Sarver, of Lucas County.

Company A --- Captain E. H. Alexander, 1st Lieutenant J. R. Walters, 2nd Lieutenant R. D. Sloan, Decatur County.

Company B --- Captain Wm. P. Guthrie, 1st Lieutenant J. C. S. Wasson, 2nd Lieutenant J. A. Dunegan, Warren County.

Company C --- Captain D. Lyon, 1st Lieutenant H. C. Henderson, 2nd Lieutenant J. S. Clark, Warren County.

Company D --- Captain J. Knox, 1st Lieutenant E. W. Perry, 2nd Lieutenant J. M. Lee, Warren County.

Company E --- Captain N. B. Gardner, 1st Lieutenant F. Nolan, 2nd Lieutenant J. Swank, Lucas County.

Company F --- Captain J. N. McClanahan, 1st Lieutenant J. B. Hatton, 2nd Lieutenant B. F. Jared, Wayne County.

Company G --- Captain S. B. Lowe, 1st Lieutenant Wm. Goltry, 2nd Lieutenant M. L. Doty, Lucas County;

Company H --- Captain J. Kern, 1st Lieutenant E. Herring, 2nd Lieutenant Thos. G. Milligan, Warren County.

Company I --- Captain Thos. Ward, 1st Lieutenant John R. Anderson, 2nd Lieutenant W.K. Maxwell, Decatur County.

Company K --- Captain Wm. Boyle, 1st Lieutenant John O. Coles, 2nd Lieutenant Jno. Chaney, Lucas County.

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Disease was the principal issue facing men of the 34th while encamped at Lauman, as reflected in this report from Surgeon Charles W. Davis found in the Hawk-Eye of Nov. 1:

Mr. Editor --- As your excellent paper is freely circulated through the various counties in which the 34th were recruited, I thought it would not be amiss to give you an occasional statement as to the sanitary condition of our Regiment.

There have been near 300 cases of measles, several cases of typhoid fever and an abundance of ague. We have on hand, at present, 172 cases. A large majority are measles. Many cases have assumed a typhoid or rather congestive type, rendering the disease malignant as well as very dangerous. Two patients have died from the sequela of measles, one of appoplexy, and two of inflammation of the brain. At  present, with but few exceptions, the patients are doing remarkably well. Our aim is to present a good record in point of successful termination of our sick. Many regiments have lost from 60 to 100 cases with the measles. Truly, C.W. Davis, Surgeon, 34th Iowa Infantry.

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On Nov. 17, as deployment neared, the citizens of Burlington present the men with a flag to carry into battle with them, as reported in the Hawk-Eye of Nov. 22:

On the afternoon of the 17th inst., a beautiful Regimental Flag was presented to the 34th Iowa Regiment at Camp Lauman, in this city.

The flag was donated by the citizens of Burlington, and was made at the establishment of Messrs. Greenbaum, Schroder & Co., was of the finest quality of silk, regulation pattern, fringed and embroidered with gold, and the handsomest we have yet seen. A large crowd of our citizens were present.

The presentation was made by Charles H. Phelps, Esq., of this city. Col. Geo. W. Clark, on behalf of his regiment, replied. At the close of Col. Clark's speech, Lieut. Col Dungan proposed three cheers for the patriot citizens of Burlington, which were given with hearty good will. Major Kellogg then proposed three cheers for the flag, with which the agreeable ceremonies terminated, the whole being highly satisfactory to all concerned.

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The men of the 34th left Burlington after a march through the city on Saturday morning, Nov. 22, as reported in The Hawk-Eye of Nov. 29:

The 34th regiment left us on Saturday morning last. The steamers Ad. Hines and Ella, light draft vessels, with two barges in tow, having arrived at our landing, the regiment marched through the city to the boats at about nine o'clock in the morning and immediately embarked. This being completed, the two boats took their departure at about eleven o'clock, amid the cheers of a very large concourse of our citizens, assembled to bid them a hearty farewell.

It is unnecessary for us to repeat what we have heretofore said of the exemplary conduct of the members of the 34th since it has been stationed at Camp Lauman. If their conduct in camp be taken as evidence of what it will be before the enemy, as probably it ought to be, the fame of the 34th will prove as world-wide as that of the very best and bravest which has already proved its mettle against the rebels. The citizens of Burlington will always feel a deep interest in its welfare, and be gratified as much as if it were our own, at the honorable mention they confidently expect to have made of it. We are not at present advised of its immediate destination.

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The 34th's destination was Helena, Arkansas, and the companies arrived there just in time to get caught up in a smallpox epidemic --- and to participate in Sherman's disastrous expedition against Vicksburg and the capture during the following January of Arkansas Post.

The regiment then was ordered to escort some 6,500 captured secessionist troops upriver by boat to Chicago, plagued again by disease.

By the time the war was over and final losses tallied, the record shows that only one officer and 11 men of the 34th were killed in combat, but 2 officers and 244 enlisted men died of disease. Others were sent home in the hope they might recover there; some did, many others died and are not carried on official records as fatalities of the war.

T. Park Coin, the artist, a teacher and lawyer in civilian life, was stricken as the 34th came back downriver from Chicago to St. Louis during February of 1863, discharged and sent home to Chariton because physicians were unsure he ever would recover, or if he did, would be strong enough to serve again.

He did recover, however, and during 1864 moved his family from Chariton to Boone County where he resumed teaching and served as county superintendent of schools from 1872-1876.

In 1879, the Coins headed west to Superior in Nuckolls County, Nebraska, where he practiced law until 1884, served a two-year term as county judge and finally returned to education, working as teacher and principal until his death on Nov. 7, 1890. He is buried in Superior's Evergreen Cemetery behind a military tombstone that records his service in Co. K, 34th Iowa Volunteer Infantry.

A cause for celebration during Pride Month

I posted this image elsewhere last night --- just because it made me happy in a time of general turmoil. And it still makes me happy, so here it is again.

The photo was taken Saturday after the ordination and consecration at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis of the Rt. Rev. Deon K. Johnson as the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. He's shown here with his mother, his husband (Jhovanny Osorio), and one of their two children.

The Diocese of Missouri, founded in 1814, currently incorporates 54 counties that form the eastern half of Missouri. The Diocese of Western Missouri, which covers the balance of the state, was created in 1889 when the impracticality of administering a very large state from St. Louis became obvious.

Bishop Johnson is a native of Barbados who studied at the General Theological Seminary in New York City and served congregations in Ohio and Michigan before accepting the call to serve as bishop in Missouri.

Although neither the first black bishop nor the first gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, he is the first "combination" --- and that's a cause for celebration during Pride Month.

Muscatine to Chariton: A two-day trek in 1866

Chariton's city manager, Laura Liegois, has spent quite a bit of time during the last few months commuting to and from her former home in Muscatine while her family wraps up obligations there and prepares to move southwest. That's a fairly quick trip in this day and age.

But back in the summer of 1866, had she accepted a similar job in Lucas County, the trip would have taken two days --- one way. From Muscatine to Burlington by packet boat, from Burlington to Eddyville by train and from Eddyville to Chariton by stagecoach.

The gentleman who wrote the following account of his July 1866 journey is unidentified. He was from Tipton, seat of Cedar County just north of Muscatine, and that's where his trip began. The report was published in The Tipton Advertiser of July 26, 1866. 

Rail access to Lucas County at the time was available only as far as Eddyville, where construction had stalled at the outset of the Civil War. The first passenger train would not roll into Chariton until July of 1867.

And quite obviously Chariton failed to impress. I'll have to check with Laura to see if she encountered any bare-footed waiters in Chariton; also to seek her first opinions of Lucas County coffee and biscuits. Here's the report:

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Having had a little business in the southern part of the State, I left the quiet city of Tipton on the morning of July 10th, and after a lovely ride in my buggy, of four hours and forty minutes, I arrived at Muscatine. About 5 p.m., I took passage in the packet, "City of Keithsburg," Capt. Campbell. Here I had the pleasure of meeting my genial friend and fellow townsman, Dr. P.T. Smith, and a number of other gentlemen of the Dental persuasion, among them Dr. Tulloss, of pleasant memory, who were on their way to Burlington to attend the Iowa State Dental Association. I have the pleasure of testifying that I have never in an assemblage of so many professional men (clergymen excepted) seen a finer looking and better behaved set of men. I fear very much that as many gathered promiscuously from the medical and legal professions, would not have deported themselves as gentlemanly. I did not, on the whole trip, hear a profane or obscene word, or see anyone drinking or under the influence of strong drink.

The ride down the "Father of Waters" was exceedingly pleasant, though the heavy growth of timber along the river prevented us from seeing much of the country beyond its banks. My mind ran back to the many scenes of historic interest that have lately occurred along its waters, and I thought as I looked down that noble stream, no wonder the people of the great Northwest rose in their might and said that it belonged to the Nation, and that it should flow unobstructed and uninterrupted until it empties its waters into the Gulf of Mexico.

On our way we passed Port Louisa, in Louisa county, Iowa, and New Boston, Keithsburg, and Oquawka, in Illinois. The three last named places are built on the immense sand banks with scarcely a blade of vegetation to be seen.

Opposite New Boston, the Captain called attention to a craft anchored in the river, called the "Floating Palace" --- one of those dens of disease and licentiousness where disease and disgrace, like twin sisters, go hand in hand. To the credit of Iowa, he said that when they anchored off Ft. Madison and Burlington they were informed by the city authorities to leave immediately, stating that they and their craft would be sunk if they didn't. It is needless to say that they made haste to escape the righteous indignation of the people. They have, however, plied their nefarious trade at Oquawka, Keithsburg and New Boston without molestation.

I arrived at Burlington and put up at the Barrett House. Had an opportunity, by gas-light, of running about the city some. It is one of the finest, briskest business places I have been in in Iowa or west of Chicago. The  buildings are of a good substantial character, and they seem to be doing a large business.

I left the next morning about 5 o'clock on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad for Ottumwa. On my way, I passed through Mt. Pleasant, Fairfield and a number of smaller towns in Des Moines, Henry, Jefferson and Wapello counties. I arrived at Ottumwa about noon, and went thence on the Des Moines Valley Railroad to Eddyville, 12 miles distant. I had a miserable dinner here at the Slemmens House --- on cold potatoes.

At 2:30 p.m.  I took  passage with the Western Stage Line Company, for Chariton --- 45 miles distant. On my way I passed through Albia in Monroe County, and through Stacyville, where I was shown a large stone edifice --- 60 x 100 feet --- partially completed, and known as the Fenian Headquarters. They tell me this town of Stacyville is Fenian throughout. Stopped the the post office, which is a dry goods and grocery store, with a beer saloon in the rear. Called for a drink of water. Was informed that the article wasn't kept there. A fellow passenger, almost famished for a drink, called for a beer and offered to treat me, which I very respectfully declined in view of pressing obligations elsewhere. (Note,  Stacyville now is known as Georgetown and the stone edifice was the incomplete St. Patrick's Catholic Church.)

Thence to LaGrange, in Lucas county, and finally to Chariton, where we arrived at midnight on Wednesday. Stopped here at the Chariton House, "the finest House in the city." It proved one of the most miserable apologies for a public house I ever saw. It literally abounded with bed-bugs and badly cooked victuals. The chief waiter was an ill-shaped specimen of the male biped commonly called man. He was stooped, had hideous features and an idiotic stare; and when passing "beef steak, sir!" he displayed a pair of the dirtiest and most highly odoriferous naked feet it was every my misfortune to encounter. The female waiters were quite as dirty,  apparently, but kept their shoes on, which I admired in them very much. A well dressed Baptist friend, who was a fellow  passenger in the stage and who was rooming with me, went into verbal extravagances when descanting upon the biscuits and coffee. It does seem so strange that  people will pretend to keep a "first-class hotel," and yet  not know how to make a decent cup of coffee or a digestible  pan of biscuit.

This being the extent of my journey, as soon as I had my breakfast I went to the Court House and soon dispatched my business. The Court House is in rather a dilapidated condition --- will bear no comparison with ours.

Hired a livery rig and drove seven miles into the country to look after some land interests for a friend. The country here is very rugged compared with our beautiful Cedar county. It is good farming and grazing land, however. Stone, timber, water and coal seem quite plentiful.

Chariton is destined to be a good business point. They expect to have the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad completed to this place in the course of the winter. It is now finished a few miles beyond Ottumwa. I saw, in passing along in the stage from Eddyville to Chariton, that in a number of places they were busily at work, and huge piles of ties are at Ottumwa awaiting the completion of the bridge across the Des Moines river, when they will be run out on the cars and laid down at once.

Chariton has ten doctors, ten or twelve lawyers, two select schools, besides a common school, and quite a number of business places. They claim a population of 2,000; I think, however, that 800 might be much nearer the truth. The country is filling up rapidly; land is raising in value from $5, former price, to $10 and $15 per acre. Town property is very high, with an upward tendency. Chariton formerly was the location of the land office for the southern district of this State, and was known as Chariton Post (Chariton Point).

Having my business affairs settled up, I had the pleasure of leaving my barefooted friend and of enduring the melting discomforts of a ride in a crowded stage to Eddyville, where I arrived about two hours after midnight. In my next, I will write concerning Ottumwa, Mt. Pleasant and the Insane Asylum, which I visited; and I would recommend my readers, in the meanwhile, to remain satisfied that they are citizens of noble old Cedar.

Slave to free: Elizabeth Nance Gordon's story

I've written several times about Lucas County's historic black population, which peaked at perhaps 450 during 1885-95 when coal mining was in its heyday in the boom towns of Lucas, Cleveland and East Cleveland. A majority of these miners and their families began to arrive by train from Virginia in the fall of 1881, recruited by the Whitebreast Coal Co.

But our first black pioneers, a majority of them born into slavery, began to arrive in Chariton during the Civil War and the years immediately after. When the 1870 federal census was taken, 34 men, women and children classified either as black or mulatto were enumerated.

Among them was a 35-year-old washerwoman named Melissa (or Malissa) Nance and her 9-year-old daughter, Eliza J. Mrs. Nance owned her own home, valued at $250 and therefore very modest, and also personal property valued at $100. She could neither read nor write. And almost miraculously --- or so it seems to me --- I'm able to tell you quite a bit of her story, based upon official records and newspaper accounts, concluding with an obituary published in Norfolk, Nebraska, on July 1, 1904.

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Melissa was born a slave in Kentucky about 1835, owned by a young and prosperous farmer named Larken Field. As was the custom, she took his surname. Mrs. Larken Field's given name was Melissa and the infant apparently was named after her. Our Melissa would abandon that name when she left Chariton during the early 1870s and was known thereafter during her new life in Nebraska as Elizabeth, or Lizzie.

Little Melissa would have been about 4 years old when the Fields brought their children and their slaves during 1839 to a farm near Trenton in Grundy County, Missouri, located in the second tier of counties south of the Iowa state line, within what now is easy driving distance from Lucas County along Highway 65.

When Melissa was 23 she married another of the Fields' slaves, Archibald Nance, born about 1819 and therefore some 15 years older. Missouri did not recognize the marriages of black people at the time, so there was no license or official record. Melissa recalled the date, however, as Feb. 15, 1858, and the place as the Larken Field farm. Their only surviving child, Eliza J., was born on Jan. 1, 1861, also on the Field farm near Trenton. Melissa had at least one older daughter at the time.

During the summer of 1863, Archibald, Melissa and the children escaped from slavery --- she recalled the date as July 20 --- and most likely followed the underground railroad to Albia, then a stop on that famous route, and settled there.

On the 15th of August, 1863, Archibald enlisted at Albia as a private in what became Company E, 60th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops, and was mustered into Union service during early October at Keokuk, leaving Melissa and their daughter behind in Albia.

A year later, Archibald became ill with typhoid fever and died on either the 25th or 26th of September, 1864, in the regimental hospital at Helena, Arkansas.

As the widow of a Union veteran, Melissa was entitled to a pension for both herself and her daughter and the extensive paperwork she completed with assistance from attorneys in both Albia and Chariton is the source for most of what we know of her earlier years.

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It's not clear how Melissa came to move from Albia to Chariton, but most likely she accompanied friends. Nor do we know where or how she met George Gordon, whom she married during the early 1870s and accompanied west into Nebraska. He, too, was a U.S. Colored Troops veteran who reportedly had served as a cook.

We do know that the George and Melissa, by now known as Elizabeth, arrived in Norfolk, Nebraska, by stage coach during 1875 as that city's first black residents --- and settled down there for the remainder of their lives. George's occupation was given as gardener when the 1880 census was taken. He seems to have died between 1885 and 1890, but I couldn't come up with a specific date.

Elizabeth continued to live in Norfolk --- with the exception of a year in Sioux Falls, S.D. --- until her death during late June of 1904. The following obituary was published on the front page of the Norfolk Weekly News Journal on July 1, 1904, under the headline, "Bury a Former Slave."

There is a bit of misinformation in the obituary. Larken Field was not an uncle of Marshall Field, for example. Both George and Elizabeth Gordon are buried in the Norfolk Cemetery, Prospect Hill, but their graves are unmarked.

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The funeral of Mrs. Elizabeth Gordon was held from the M.E. church yesterday afternoon at 3 o'clock, the G.A.R. and the W.R.C. having charge. Rev. J.F. Poucher preached the sermon, a touching discourse upon the life of slavery and freedom which Mrs. Gordon had lived.

Elizabeth Gordon has lived a life which few persons in this country today have gone through. A slave during her girlhood days, owned by a southern master of note, married to a man who was killed during the Civil War and later to George Gordon, her early life was a thrilling one to a degree.

She was born in Lexington, Ky., seventy-four years ago. Her master was Larkin Field, an uncle of Marshall Field, the great Chicago merchant. A short time before the war, Mr. Field moved to Grundy county, Mo., taking his slaves with him. At that time Archibald Nance was the husband of the young woman who died in Norfolk. Nance was killed in the war and in 1875 his widow was married to George Gordon at Fremont, Neb.

About a year ago George Coleman, a son-in-law, moved from Norfolk to Sioux Falls, taking the  old lady with him. All winter she has been ill and a week ago she was brought back to Norfolk, where she lingered for a few days, finally dying in the old home that had sheltered her for so many years, on Braasch avenue.

Lizzie Gordon was one of the oldest former slaves in the north. Before the war she was owned in the southland and after the bloody strife was over, she came north with her husband and settled in Norfolk. Among her children here is "Aunt" Jane, a character well known to Norfolk people.

"She was the only friend I had on earth," said Jane, in speaking of her mother. "With her gone, there is nothing left in the world for me to live for. She was a good mother to  us children. When I was little, and we were all owned in the south, I  used to think I was abused. But my mother was the best mother in the world, and she's all I  had to live for. I don't care now when my time shall come --- I hope it will be soon. My mother is dead and she was all in all to me."