Fast away the old year passes ....

Here we are at the end of another year, so I'll use this old postcard (sent to my maternal grandmother from Kansas in 1912) to wish one and all a happy 2021.

I've been practicing a little gratitude this morning, so it's a good time to say that I'm grateful for those who show an interest in The Lucas Countyan by reading what I post here. 

And I'm also grateful to the bloggers and vloggers worldwide who keep me amused, entertained, informed and inspired at a time when the only practical form of travel is virtual.

Then there have been the small things in recent days --- friend and neighbor Darin, who bladed the driveway yesterday morning after overnight snow; Sherry, who baked the best mince pie ever created just before Christmas (my measure of a successful Christmas involves mince pie); and Kathleen, Kylie and Karoline, who provided my favorite varieties of cookies (with bread thrown in for good measure).

Every time I go to the grocery store I'm grateful to everyone there who is wearing a mask (and do my best to avoid those who aren't). That gratitude extends to everyone, paid or volunteer, who meets the public daily in the ongoing effort to keep us all warm, well-fed, healthy and safe.

We live in interesting times --- and I'm hoping for better during 2021. Happy New Year!

Chariton's Dr. B. F. Dougherty answers Ireland's call

I've resurrected this photograph of Chariton's 1901 Noxall Club football team because it contains, at left in top hat and carrying a staff, the only image I've got of Dr. Bernard Francis Dougherty. Some 27 years after the image was taken, in 1928,  he became so far as I know the only Lucas Countyan to have gone to glory in the south of Iowa and then been transported (after cremation) to his birthplace in Ireland for burial. It's kind of an interesting story, or at least I think so.

If you're interested in the Noxall Club, you can read more about it in this post entitled, "What It Was Was Football."  Yes, the team mascot was a goat. Team members standing to Dr. Dougherty's left are identified as Bill Eikenberry, Dr. Perry, Dr. Ford, Fatty Culbertson and Lawrence Haselquist. Others are (middle row from left) Shorty Blake, Harve Gookin and Bert Jackson; and (seated from left) Bob Manning, Charlie Goldsberry, Joe Kridelbaugh and Charlie Guthrie.

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Dr. Dougherty (his Irish family spelled the name Doherty) was born April 16, 1860, to William and Sophia (O'Donnell) Doherty, near Church Hill, a village some seven miles west of Letterkenny, County Donegal, in what now is the Republic of Ireland. Then, Donegal was the most westerly county in the historic Irish province of  Ulster, a region especially hard hit by the Potato Famine of 1845-49.

The partition of Ireland during 1920 added Donegal to the republic, but broke its traditional ties to other Ulster counties, thereafter part of what became Northern Ireland, still a part of the United Kingdom. That partition also left Donegal isolated, connected only by a narrow strip of land to the remainder of the republic.

Bernard was the second eldest in a family of at least 10 children, a family that seems to have had at least some advantages. As a young man, he traveled to Dublin where he was able to enroll at Trinity College, earning his A.M. degree there in 1877 and his M.D. degree during 1879.

A year later, during 1880, Bernard emigrated to the United States, perhaps with other siblings. Six of the surviving Doherty/Dougherty siblings eventually left Ireland for America --- John, Bernard, James, Daniel, Patrick and Elizabeth.

After some years in Philadelphia, he moved west to Chicago where he became associated with Dr. Christian Fenger, a Danish-born surgeon, pathologist, and medical instructor and one of the most highly regarded surgeons in the United States. He also enrolled at the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons (now the University of Illinois College of Medicine), earning a second M.D. degree there during 1889.

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Also during 1889, Bernard married a fellow physician, Dr. Barbara E. Schlenz, in Kankakee and they established a joint practice there, which continued until about 1898, when they relocated briefly in Des Moines and then settled permanently in Chariton after purchasing the Whitlock Drug Store on the west side of the square during March of 1899. At the time, physicians generally dispensed their own medications and it was relatively common to operate a drug store in conjunction with a practice.

Two years later, the Doughertys were prospering and moved their drug store and their joint practice to the north half of the brand new Ensley-Crocker Block, which was designed specifically for them by Frank Crocker, the investor who built it. The drug store occupied the first floor of the building and that stone staircase with the lion at its base alongside the alley just to the north led to the couple's offices and apartment upstairs. 

The Doughertys had no children, but took into their home and raised a niece and nephew, Marie and Patrick Dougherty, children of Bernard's brother, Patrick Dougherty Sr., who had died during 1908. Both were Chariton High School graduates and Patrick went on to graduate from both the University of Iowa and Yale University before beginning a successful career as a research chemist in New York. He remained the mainstay of his Aunt Barbara for the remainder of her life.

After 23 years in business on the square, the Doughertys sold their drug store to E.J. Jones and W.B. Sullivan during July of 1923 and retired, but retained ownership of the building --- which they eventually had purchased --- as an investment property and continued to live upstairs.

During 1927, Dr. Dougherty became ill with colon cancer and it claimed his life on July 18, 1928, at the age of 68. Ten years earlier, he had written his will and in it specified that "I direct my body be cremated and ... my ashes be placed in or scattered over my mother's grave in Ireland."

Dr. Barbara and her nephew, Patrick, carried those instructions out, sending the body to the Harbach Crematory in Des Moines and shipping the ashes to his brother, William, who had continued to farm and raise his family at Church Hill, County Donegal. Four other Dougherty siblings survived, John and James at St. Regis, Montana, and Daniel and Elizabeth (Dever) in Philadelphia.

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Bernard's mother, Sophia Doherty, had died during January of 1905 and her remains had been buried with other family members in the Gartan Graveyard, a short distance northwest of Church Hill, enclosed within walls in a pasture that slopes down eastward toward Lough Akibbon, a lovely setting. And it was there, presumably, where William Doherty deposited his brother's ashes --- although we really can't prove that.

Many years later, family members erected a modern stone that commemorates many family members interred in the cemetery, including William Doherty Sr., Sophia, his wife, and William Doherty Jr. Bernard's name is not on the stone and it's quite possible that those who placed the monument simply had forgotten (or didn't know) that he was there.

Gartan is an ancient ecclesiastical site reputed to be the birthplace of St. Colmcille (Columba), 521-597 A.D.,  the greatest of the Donegal saints, who is credited with spreading Christianity across Scotland. 

Dr. Barbara Dougherty continued to live in Chariton until July 20, 1951, when she died at the age of 83. Her nephew, Patrick, arranged for a memorial service conducted according to the rites of the Episcopal church and for cremation of her remains which then were interred near a simple stone in the Chariton Cemetery.

This image of the Gartan Graveyard was borrowed from a post entitled "A Fox Becomes a Dove" published on the site "Walking to Donegal" by New Zealander niece and uncle Sarah and Jack Doherty. The broad framework for this Lucas Countyan post was provided by Dr. Dougherty's detailed obituary, published during July of 1928 in both The Leader and The Herald-Patriot.

Carrying Christmas forward ...

The neighbors have turned off their Christmas lights, so there was nothing to see when I glanced out into the darkness before going to bed last night.

Can't complain too much --- I've had no lights to turn on or off this year other than those that ordinarily burn. But it does seem odd to dismantle physical reminders of the holiday at a time, headed into a new year and a predicted winter storm, when we need to be working on strategies to carry its messages forward.

I shared Howard Thurman's brief poem "The Work of Christmas" (above) on Facebook the other day after it popped up as a memory. The graphic is something I did a few years ago. It bears repeating.

Thurman (1899-1981; left), a grandson of slaves who was ordained a Baptist preacher in segregated America, went on to broaden his theological --- and social --- horizons considerably, studying with Quaker mystic Rufus Jones, even Gandhi. His became an integrated, intercultural, interdenominational faith of non-violence that incorporated a call to action. He became a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders.

Here's another Thurman piece, "The Candles of Christmas." 

I will light Candles this Christmas,

Candles of joy despite all the sadness,

Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,

Candles of courage for fears ever present,

Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,

Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens,

Candles of love to inspire all my living,

Candles that will burn all year long.

If you know anything useful about the Christian church you'll know that the season of Christmas continues until Epiphany, Jan. 6, so there's still plenty of time to light candles. Get busy!

But what became of Col. Bellor?

Far too much time was frittered away (by me) on Sunday, trying to figure out what became of C.C. Bellor, who seems to have dropped off the face of the earth at some point following the death of his wife, Ella, in Chariton during July of 1928. He was in his early 70s at the time, so most likely death was the cause. But I sure would have liked to have found him --- dead or alive. Oh well ....

This photo from the Lucas County Historical Society collection was taken about 40 years earlier, ca. 1890, when Mr. Bellor was operating a meat market in a frame building on the north side of the Chariton square --- in a building destroyed in a fire during March of 1894. Presumably one of the two aproned men standing in front is the proprietor.

There's been some misunderstanding over the years about Mr. Bellor's given name. His parents, Dominick and Lucille Bellor, probably named him Christopher Columbus Bellor when he was born ca. 1856 in Michigan, but at some point he reversed the two and was known thereafter as Columbus C. Bellor, Col for short. He was most definitely not a military veteran and certainly not a colonel.

Col and his older brother, Barney, seem to have arrived in Chariton together about 1878. He married Ella Hawkins during September of 1880 and after working as a butcher for others opened his own meat market on the north side of the square during 1887.

Rather than children, the Bellors had a mother-in-law, Margaret Hawkins, who moved in when they were married and remained until her death during 1909 at the age of 82 after a lifetime of what was described as fragile health (and nine children), lovingly tended to by Ella.

By 1909, Col Bellor had moved on --- sort of. He sold his business in Chariton during 1900 and relocated first to Ottumwa, where he went to work as a butcher, occasionally as a clerk. He also lived in Des Moines for a time. And by 1928, he was a resident of Boone.

Col and Ella remained married and newspaper reports record his occasional trips home to Chariton to visit with wife and friends; rarer visits by Ella to wherever Col happened to be living at the time. The couple had built a cottage at 420 South 8th Street, where Ella continued to live with her mother.

Although still married, it would be stretching that fact to suggest that the Bellors were close. Ella's health was failing by 1928 and during the spring of that year, the couple sold the family cottage to Zora Harper, a close friend of Ella's, although she continued to occupy it.  Col was called to Chariton from Boone when Ella died on July 9, 1928, but had not been present for her passing. After paying her burial expenses at the Chariton Cemetery, he returned to where he'd come from and (from my point of view) vanished.

Ella had prepared a detailed will, carefully disposing of her furniture and other personal property among her friends --- but there was no mention of her spouse.

Ella's only cash bequest, $200 (as well as use for life of her furniture), went to Helen Hettinger, who had lived with Ella since the death of her mother 20 years earlier. Mrs. Harper allowed Miss Hettinger to remain in the Bellor cottage until she died at the advanced age of 93 on May 10, 1930.

In my merry Ransom E. Olds-mobile ...

I wish that I knew this photograph's full backstory --- but don't. We have two copies in the Lucas County Historical Society collection, one in slightly better condition than the other, but neither arrived with its history intact.

The image shows about 20 new automobiles recently unpacked but still aboard flatcars parked alongside the Chariton Ice Company's plant about 1915 (the ice plant was built during the summer of 1913 adjacent to the C.B.&Q. Freight Yard, northwest of the current Freight House events center, fronting on Brookdale Avenue).

By that year, the Chariton REO Garage Co. was Lucas County's largest automobile dealer. Some idea of its scale can be gotten from this brief article, published in The Chariton Leader of May 20, 1915: "This is a fast age and the automobile has come to stay. On Saturday, May 8, the Reo Garage Co. of this city sold six cars --- 3 Reos, 1 Buick and two Fords. But on Saturday, May 15, this record was beaten and 12 cars were sold and  5 more ordered, which could not be supplied from the stock on hand, which was 17 for the day. Those delivered consisted of 1 Reo, 2 Buicks and 9 Fords. Besides these Saturday sales, the firm had averaged a sale of a car per day during that time, distributed through the week. This is going some."

The REO Garage Co. was founded in Chariton during 1909 by the Albia REO Garage Co., then sold during 1910 to the Miley Bros., Oscar W. and Pearl "Jack," Marion/Lucas county natives, but then of Maryville, Missouri. Originally located just south of the southeast corner of the square, the brothers during 1911 purchased the Chariton Auto Co. building on North Main Street and added Buicks and Fords to their offerings.

The REO line of vehicles had been launched in Lansing, Michigan, during 1907 by Ransom E. Olds, who had founded Oldsmobile during 1897, then left it to form a new enterprise, condensing his initials to form the name for a product line that included automobiles until 1936, when the emphasis switched to trucks. REO remained in business in one form or another until 1975. Volvo currently owns the REO trademark.

On the second day of Christmas ....

Here it is the second day of Christmas, typically the time of the season when I start to develop a little enthusiasm for it --- just as many are ripping down their decorations and holiday music abruptly disappears from the various media.

So here's a favorite carol, "In the Bleak Midwinter," a Christina Rossetti poem (1872) with a lovely setting by Gustav Holst (1906). The words are some of the loveliest in the English language, I think.

The performance was from this year's Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, in this coronavirus year a pre-recorded program from the King's College Chapel, Cambridge, empty save for technicians, the organist and director, boy choristers and members of The King's Singers, standing in for undergraduate senior choir members in quarantine because of exposure. (Apparently, you'll need to click on the "Watch this video on YouTube" link that comes up when you activate the preview in order for this to play.)

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan;
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain,
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty —
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim

Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom Angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and Archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim

Thronged the air;
But only His Mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am? —
If I were a Shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part, —
Yet what I can I give Him, —
Give my heart.

Happy Christmas one and all!

 

Academic excellence (& a rooster) at Myers School

Here it is Christmas Eve and the coldest early morning of the season, to date, so I've pulled out a photo from warmer days --- taken in front of Myers School about 1912-13 on a late spring or early fall day when not a shoe was in sight.

I can identify only three of the scholars --- my aunt, Flora Myers, is the little girl in the check dress second from right in the front row. She is standing shoulder to shoulder with her first-cousin, Harold Johnson, and Harold's brother, Richard, is the little boy fifth from right in the front row. My dad would have been an infant when this photo was taken.

Myers School was located in Section 27 of Benton Township, so-called because it was located on land donated by the Myers family and at one time populated largely by scholars who were Myers cousins. The Daniel Myers on the map was my great-grandfather and Irwin Myers, my grandfather; Mt. Carmel was the family church. The family settlement had been founded by Daniel's parents, Jacob and Harriet (Dick) Myers and their home farm was owned by time this map was produced, in 1908, by J.F. Anderson.

Some 20 years later, on Christmas Eve 1931, Myers School made the front page of The Chariton Herald-Patriot with this little report, celebrating academic excellence and reporting on the scholars' holiday play, "Kidnapping Betty," which does not seem especially Christmassy. Here's the report, headlined, "Myers School Maintains High Scholastic Average With 12 Above 90%." I find it interesting that a live rooster apparently was in attendance, too.

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The Myers school of Benton township shows a report of 12 pupils, out of the 19 on the roll, that made grades above 90 percent. Those 12 pupils are Gail Parker, Neil Myers, Martha Ann Myers, Dean Burnett, Dorothy Wilson, Dean Parker, Margaret Wilson, Jack Thomas, Hayes Cumptston Jr., Wallace Patterson, Frances Myers and Cleo Myers. There were 14 pupils neither absent nor tardy.

On Thursday evening December 17, the school presented the play, "Kidnapping Betty." The cast was as follows: Dan Fielding (Stanton Poush), Betty Meadows (Margaret Wilson), Nat Meadows (Wallace Patterson), Mollie Fielding (Cleo Myers), Joanna Fielding (Frances Myers), Bud Simpson (Hayes Cumpston Jr.) and Sally Perkins (Harold Rasmus).

Although the roads were bad, the school house was filled to its full capacity and everyone enjoyed the play that the school had so well rendered.

Lindsey Wilson received the prize for guessing correctly the number of grains of corn that a hungry rooster would eat. The rooster ate 13 grains.

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By this time, my dad was attending Chariton High School, but four of his little first-cousins are included in the list --- Neil and Martha Ann Myers, children of Nolan and Mary (Stephens) Myers, and Cleo and Frances Myers, daughters of John and R.G. (Burley) Myers. Cleo and Frances were taken in by my grandparents after their mother died, so I always looked upon them as aunts.

Happy 89th birthday, Chariton City Hall

It would not be inappropriate during this Christmas season to wish Chariton's City Hall a happy 89th birthday --- although so far as I know there will be no cake.

The most logical date would have been Dec. 18, when the contractor --- E. H. Best & Sons --- turned the building over to the city, pronouncing it complete. City offices were moved in the same day from rented rooms on the first floor of the Hotel Charitone Annex. But Dec. 21 would have been appropriate, too, as that was the date upon which City Council officially accepted it.

As the photographs suggest, the building is holding up well, although a number of modifications have been made. The biggest came 40 years later when the new fire station wing was built to the south, allowing city offices to expand into the space where fire trucks and other equipment previously had been located.

Chariton's first fire station had been built on the city hall site during the late 1870s, but went up in flames (along with the equipment it contained) during September of 1883. A two-story brick replacement was built on the same site, conveniently located across South Main Street from the livery stable where the necessary horses were kept.

That building, with garage on the first floor and firefighters' club rooms on the second, was badly deteriorated by 1930. In addition, city offices had never had a permanent home, wandering as the years passed from rented space to rented space.

Early in 1931, voters approved the new City Hall project and $35,000 in bonds were sold to finance it. The building was designed by William L. Perkins, Chariton architect and city engineer, in a restrained Art Deco style (the article that follows describes it as "dorinthian," but there is no such thing). Demolition of the old building and construction of the new began during June and the cornerstone was placed with considerable ceremony on July 3.

The following description of the building is taken from The Chariton Leader of Feb. 23, 1932, and was published in advance of official dedication of the building on Feb. 26:

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From the outside the building presents a charming appearance, being finished in variegated colored bricks. On the left from the front are the huge folding doors of the fire station, behind which is stored Chariton's firefighting equipment. These doors are mounted on tracks and instantaneous opening is always assured.

The city hall offices occupy the right half of the lower floor. A huge double door, framed in columns of stone, presents a picturesque view. Dorintian architecture is the predominant note of the simple decorations. In the center of the decoration over the door is the date of the building, etched in stone, "1931."

A pier lantern of statuary bronze surmounts the building.  Panes of circular glass enclose six 100-watt bulbs and when the lantern is lighted a yellow glow is shed over the building.

Entering the door the impressive offices of the city are  located on the right, diagonally from the door. The first door to the right is that which leads to the office of A.C. Riebel, mayor.

A huge grilled window has been installed in the window of the clerk's office and all city business is transacted through this grill. Furniture in the city clerk's office is of light oak and incudes a flat top desk for the deputy clerk, Mrs. Effie Peterson, and a roll top desk for Theo. Rosa, city clerk.

The mayor's office opens off the east end of the city clerk's office while on the west doors open into the council room.

The council room is one of the most outstanding rooms in the building with an admirable color scheme providing much beauty. The mural decoration is in a pastel shade of green while the ceiling is finished in cream. A ten-foot table and ten chairs of solid walnut, with the chairs upholstered  in sober blue leather, add a delightful contrast to the mural colors.

Opening off to the south is a 12 by 14 foot vault where official city records are kept. The vault is completely equipped with steel shelving and cabinets by the Lyon Locker company through their agent, C.C. McCormick of Des Moines.

A door in the west wall of the council room leads into the furnace room and workshop room of the building. The city water department has its workshop in this room.

An oil burner, Century make and type 2, furnishes the heat for the building while a Kewanee boiler, type c, is included in the installation. The oil burner was installed by Dean Ferguson of Chariton, while C.B. Ensley sold the boiler. Ensley also held the plumbing contract on the building.

Reverting back to the lobby of the building, just within the front door, a sweeping flight of steps, built of terrazzo, may be seen on the left. The steps lead to the second floor of the building.

At the top of the stairs the auditorium of the building is the first room to be seen. The auditorium seats from 300 to 400 people and has already found a useful place in furnishing a meeting room for the various organizations of the city and county.

Leaving the auditorium along the corridor that parallels the steps, and walking west, the city treasurer's and the cemetery board offices may be found. In this room, George Carpenter, A.C. Riebel, J.H. Curtis, I. L. Guernsey and E.H. Best, the members of the cemetery board, hold their meetings. Miss Maggie Beem, city treasurer, has her office in this room and E.E. Lamb, cemetery superintendent, also has offices there.

Down the corridor to the east in the adjoining room is the Community club and the Woman's club meeting room. This room has just been furnished by the two organizations and has tables and chairs of walnut upholstered in leather.

Across the corridor is the firemen's club room. Two pool tables and shower baths are features of this room the floor is composed of cork carpet.

All the floors in the building with the exception of the auditorium, the firemen's club room, the fire equipment storage room and the furnace room, are made of terrazzo. This contract was held by the J. T. Ure company of Cedar Rapids.

The woodwork of the building is entirely of walnut although little wood has been used in the construction. The floor of the auditorium is of oak on steel joists.

The Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel company of Des Moines held the contract for all the steel used in the building. Byron Blanchard of Chariton completed most of the wiring in the building.

State officers whose work has caused them to visit the city hall have expressed the belief that the city hall is one of the finest in Iowa, regardless of the size of the city. All Chariton may take a reflected pride in the structure when it is officially dedicated to the public use on February 26.

Chariton's venerable "Fluke's" --- in two locations

Charles E. Fluke (1876-1948) had been in business on the square in Chariton for 50 years when he retired during 1944, selling "Fluke's" to his younger half-brother, Mack Young, and two other investors, Jay Roush and C.E. Dunn.

He'd begun his business career during 1893, when he was 17, by setting up a newspaper and periodicals stand --- along with a few sundries --- at the hotel on the south side that his father, Joseph (1856-1895),  leased briefly from Victoria (Branner) Dewey. That venerable building had begun life as the St. John House.

He soon moved to the first of three locations on the east side of the square --- and this photograph depicts one of them, but I can't say exactly where it was located. That's "Charlie" standing in front. The image is one of three related to the business that I moved from one location to another this week at the museum.

Fluke was a talented businessman and his shop, perhaps best described as a stationer's, developed a regional reputation for two products among many others --- wallpaper and books. If you were a student in Chariton, this is where you bought your books and, if you'd been careful, traded them in when coursework was done. If you wanted to repaper a room, a visit to Fluke's was mandatory.

During 1904 --- in the aftermath of a massive fire that destroyed the Mallory Opera Block and two other west-side buildings --- Simon Oppenheimer built the double-front Oppenheimer Block, opening his own business in the north half, leasing the south half to Charles. This image was taken soon after Fluke's had moved in.

Charles continued to operate the business at this location for nearly 40 years, until the year before his retirement, when he moved it farther south on the west side, to the location some still remember as Fluke's but more most likely remember as Young's.

Mack Young (1900-1992) bought out his partners as the years passed, but continued to operate under the name "Fluke's" for quite a few years, changing the name eventually to "Young's." His son, Dick, then purchased the business and operated it until retirement. These images were donated to the museum by Dick during 2014.

Lessons & Carols, the coronavirus and King's Chapel

Every Christmas Eve, in plague times and not, I do my best to listen to the live broadcast from King's College Chapel, Cambridge, of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, a magnificent program from a magnificent medieval building that still is an active Church of England house of worship (images here are from Wikimedia).

This year, despite the coronavirus, the choristers planned to soldier on --- although with a number of changes. Ordinarily, the building is packed on Christmas Eve and filled with the sound of congregational singing, too. That was  not to be the case this year.

The original plan  had been a live broadcast by the choristers and choir from an otherwise empty chapel. The 16 boys who provide the treble voices live together in a boarding program at the college and had been protected from the virus. The 14 undergraduate students who provide the deeper voices have not been sequestered, however, and two of them came down with mild cases of the virus at the last minute, throwing all of those singers into self-quarantine.

Without pause, The King's Singers, a six-member a cappella ensemble founded at King's College in 1968, stepped in for the choir --- but it was decided at that point to pre-record the entire service, a process completed last Sunday.

So this year's service will be broadcast at the usual time, but will be remembered as the first break in the live tradition since 1930.

 If you'd like to tune in here, broadcast time (audio only) will be 9 a.m. Thursday (Iowa time). You can live-stream it from the BBC World Service web site and from the American Public Media web site. Minnesota Public Radio (owned by American Public Media) will broadcast the program, but apparently Iowa Public Radio is not a subscriber.

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The festival service itself is not especially old, devised during 1880 by Edward White Benson, Bishop of Truro and later Archbishop of Canterbury, and conducted on Christmas Eve that year in a temporary wooden building in use because Truro Cathedral still was under construction.

It first was celebrated at King's College in 1918 during the aftermath of World War I and live broadcasts from the chapel commenced during 1928.

As the title suggests, the service consists of nine readings from the Bible interspersed with nine carols. With two exceptions, carols vary from year to year. The readings and brief prayers are constants.

The service always concludes with "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" but opens with a lesser-known carol, "Once in Royal David's City," written in 1848 as a hymn for children by a clergyman's wife, Cecil Frances Alexander.

And that is one of my favorite carols of the season, especially as presented during the festival service. 

As the boy choristers and the choir prepare for the Christmas Eve processional at King's College, the director selects the chorister who will open the service with the first verse, sung a cappella. The full choir then joins as the procession commences and, finally, the voices of the chapel organ and congregation are added. Listen especially on the final verse for the glorious David Willcocks descant.

The Yengels and their meat market

One of the minor tasks during reorganization of some displays at the museum last week was to remove this fading image of Yengel Meat Market from the general store, where it had been displayed in a frame, extract it from that frame and archive the increasingly fragile image in the library. In general, it's not a good idea to frame and put on long-term display a vintage photograph, especially one that is obviously fading.

Jacob Yengel (1840-1916), born in Germany, established the family business on the south side of Chariton's square not long after his arrival in 1866 and was joined by his sons during 1896 --- Fred J. (1872-1944) and Robert J. "Bert" (1874-1949).

That year, 1896, Jacob partnered with Henry Kubitshek to build what generally was known as the Kubitshek Block on the southwest corner of the square. Yengel owned the the eastern quarter of the building; Henry, the rest.

This image probably was taken prior to 1896 in the original Yengel location, but I just can't be sure of that. The window on the left and the vintage appearance of the fixtures suggest that it dates from before the Kubitshek Block was constructed.

Only two of the three men are identified on the back, Fred and Bert Yengel, and its not clear which is which. The third man may be Jacob; I just can't say.

The brothers continued the business into the 1940s --- Fred died in 1944 and Bert carried on alone until retirement in 1946. After that, the space was used by a variety of other businesses. The Kubitshek Block itself (below, on the right) was destroyed in a 1965 fire.

Wayne County's paragons of patriarchal pulchritude

I stumbled across this little celebration of pioneer patriarchy in The Centerville Citizen of Dec. 22, 1886, while looking for something else the other day. The family is that of Susan Marksberry Davis (1820-1890) and her husband, Robert L. Davis (1811-1888), buried in the Confidence Cemetery, who made a sincere effort to populate the south of Iowa by producing 14 children, 11 of whom lived to become adults, eight among the survivors who were sons, three of whom were daughters.

The daughters get short shrift here, so I'm going to name them first: Nancy Davis Barker (1842-1919), buried at Promise City; Sarah Davis Mackey (1854-1946), buried at Russell; and Jerretta Davis Frye (1864-1889), buried at Confidence. I've altered the transcript a little by substituting full names of the sons for the initials used in the original.

Here's the report. I can't say if these paragons of pioneer patriarchal pulchritude remained teetotalers until death and continued to live exemplary lives, but considering sheer volume there probably are descendants out there who could fill us in. (Thanks to Find a Grave for the image of the Davis tombstone in the Confidence Cemetery.)

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A little circumstance happened here last week which deserves particular mention and we doubt if such a thing has happened elsewhere in the state for years. There called at this office last Thursday seven brothers, formerly old residents of this county, and all but one now residents of this and Wayne counties. the total weight of these seven brothers is 1,220 and 1/2 pounds, or an average of 174 and a fraction pounds, and their united ages 296 years.

The parents of these men came to this county in 1852, and are still living and keeping house together in Wayne county. There were fourteen children in the family, nine boys and five girls. Eight of the sons are yet living and three of the daughters. Six of the sons are farmers, one a gold miner living in Oregon, and one a blacksmith. five of them live in Wayne county, one in Appanoose county, one in Kansas and one in Oregon; all eight have a common school education and they say can all play on the violin. Seven of these men take the Citizen, the oldest and best county paper in southern Iowa.

The names are as follows: The father's name is Robert Davis, aged 75, and the mother, Susannah Davis, aged 66. Columbus C. Davis is the eldest son, aged 51, and resides in Oregon; Richard M. Davis, 49; James R. Davis, 48; John M. Davis, 46; William G. Davis, 42; George T. Davis, 40;  Landon Davis, 37; and Samuel Davis, 29.

There is not one of this family given to the use of intoxicating liquors. They are all stout, able bodied men, and a credit to any community. It is very seldom we see a family composed of so large and able physical manhood as these men are. This is the kind of men who have made Iowa the name she has at home and abroad --- that has made the prairies to blossom as the rose, that has subdued the soil and made Appanoose county second to none in the state. The parent are Kentuckians by birth, of the good, strong, daring people that have made their mark in the world.

Mormon Trail mural on the move ...

It's not been a good year for museums small and large for obvious reasons --- including the Lucas County Historical Society. Ordinarily open by appointment only during the winter when staff hours are limited, it's been more than a year since our museum campus has been fully accessible. Hopefully that will change during 2021.

But that doesn't mean that lots hasn't been going on behind the scenes, including considerable activity yesterday when the Mormon Trail mural that has dominated for many years a wall in the Perkins Gallery --- the first room that visitors generally enter --- moved to a more spacious home in the Crist Gallery.

The mural was painted by Ron Bingham, commissioned by Nick and Deb Cattell for the visitor center they operated for a time on U.S. 34 west in what now is the main building of the Country Cabins complex. When the visitor center closed, they donated the mural to the museum. The Mormon Trail is of great importance in Lucas County's earliest Euro-American period, beginning in 1846, and the mural is very useful in helping us to tell that story.

The move has been planned for months, but we waited until Karoline Dittmer, who led our reorganization efforts earlier in the year, came home on holiday break from her PhD program at the University of Illinois at Chicago to get under way. Board member Mike Smith was enlisted to head the technical end of the operation, assisted by Patrick Dittmer and Karoline. Office manager Kathleen Dittmer and I were there, too (watching other people work is a hobby of mine).

We opened a generous display area in the Christ Gallery by, first, moving a semi-permanent partition elsewhere, then relocated into storage another large item previously displayed in that area. Then it was time to detach the mural in one gallery and reattach it to the wall in the other, an operation that went smoothly. 

So now the mural has room to breathe and we have room to display with it related artifacts that haven't been displayed very coherently until now.

This is almost the final phase of clearing the long north wall of the Perkins Gallery, which now will be repaired and repainted. Earlier, an incoherent display of firearms was moved into a new Vredenburg Gallery military collection annex.

At some point during 2021, a new Hy-Vee related installation, professionally developed in part with a major grant from the Vredenburg Foundation, will be installed against that refurbished wall. So there are still exciting days ahead --- and we hope we'll be open by midyear and able to show off everyone's hard work.

Leading by example ...

A search for the meaning of life among the social media earlier today turned up this one, attributed to Brazilian-born lyricist and novelist Paulo Coelho.

But it's become such a popular basis for memes it's become unhitched from its context. Was it taken from his best-known work, 1988's The Alchemist? Perhaps.

Whatever the case, there's a good deal of wisdom here for the new day.

Santa Claus arrives at Spring Hill School

I wrote the other day about Christmas tree celebrations staged in Chariton churches during Lucas County's early days, but in rural areas --- where church buildings were few and far between --- school houses doubled as community centers and the sites for community celebrations as the holiday drew near.

Here's a brief report published in The Chariton Patriot of Jan. 1, 1879, about the gathering at Spring Hill School, southwest of Lucas, on Christmas Eve 1878. The correspondent who submitted the piece is identified only as "Frank." A circle on the 1905 map above locates the school.

"Mr. Editor --- We are going to try and tell you of the good time the citizens of Spring Hill had on Christmas Eve. It had been circulated that there was to be a Christmas tree at the Spring Hill school-house. So I went over; and such a  sight! There was a tree loaded with presents ready to be distributed as soon as Santa Claus should make his appearance. After a few good and appropriate remarks made by Mr. Kent, Santa Claus made his appearance in his traveling suit, and after a merry Christmas to all proceeded, with the help of Miss Ella Hewitt and Mrs. Lucy Riggle, to give to old and young their presents. The tree was soon relieved of its burden and the hearts of all made glad. After thanking the good Santa for his services, we went home feeling like the rest --- glad that Christmas had come, bringing such good times."

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Curious, I decided to find out what I could about Santa's associates, Ella Hewitt and Lucy Riggle. Lucy, I discovered, was a newlywed and lived nearby with her husband, Borton F. Riggle. Not too long after this celebration they moved to Custer County, Nebraska, to farm and raised a family of three children there. Lucy died in Custer County on Feb. 23, 1924, at the age of 64.

Ella, then 18, and her younger brother, Robert, 8, also lived nearby --- the only survivors of what had been a large family devastated I'm guessing by tuberculosis. By the time this celebration occurred, both of her parents, Robert (died 1870) and Elizabeth (died 1874) Hewitt, had been buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, some distance north of Spring Hill School, as had four siblings, all of whom died between 1860 and 1877, Oliver, George, Frank and Charles.

During 1880, Ella married Lucas druggist George W. John and they had two children Claudia, who died at age 6 months on Jan. 12, 1882, and was buried at Rose Hill, too; and Stella, born during January of 1883, who lived a long life, surviving until 1972 when she died at age 89 in Denver, Colorado.

Ella, however, became increasingly ill with tuberculosis after Stella's birth. It was thought at the time that a change in climate might offer relief, so the young family moved during the fall of 1883 to San Jose, California, where she died on Dec. 31, 1883. Her remains were returned to Lucas County for burial at Rose Hill.

George never remarried and raised Stella on his own with assistance from his mother, Mary. He continued to operate drug stores in Lucas, then in Des Moines, until his death during 1925. He was buried beside Ella at Rose Hill, but no stone marks his grave. 

A Christmas bacchanal at Spence Wadlington's store

I crossed the county line into Appanoose yesterday in search of pre-Christmas inspiration and found a story that while not especially uplifting is at least amusing. Although repeated many times in many places as the years have passed, the original telling in print was in the 1878 history of Appanoose County, published during the same year the host for this pioneer bacchanal, Spencer F. Wadlington, died at his fine brick home in Independence Township, close to the point where Lucas, Wayne, Appanoose and Monroe counties join. 

Born Feb. 6, 1807, in Caldwell County, Kentucky, Spencer took a bride named Eliza D. Cooksey on Sept. 18, 1840, county records show, but the union did not endure. Approaching 40, he arrived single in the south of Iowa during 1846 with a small stock of goods and began storekeeping just outside the Appanoose County seat, called Chaldea initially, soon Centerville. By the time this story transpired, he had moved his cabin and his stock of goods to a point near the town square --- now recognized as Iowa's largest.

Wadlington went on to become a successful merchant, civic leader, farmer and dealer in livestock. He's generally referred to as an "eccentric" bachelor, but there really is no sign of eccentricity, other than the fact he remained single after his initial marital adventure and that in those times was considered eccentric. Whatever the case, here's the story:

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In 1846, Spencer F. Wadlington erected a cabin a little northeast of where Centerville now stands, and proceeded to "keep store" in the wilderness. It is stated that the first year's sales of our pioneer merchant were a dozen pairs of coarse shoes, half a dozen calico dress patterns, as many bolts of brown muslin and a few coarse casinets. These, with a sack of coffee and a few other groceries, constituted his stock in trade. In order to reduce his expenses to the measure of his profits, he did his own cooking. Most of the settlers at this early day were without families. Mr. Wadlington slept on a bed made of deer and bear skins, with a bundle of coon skins for a pillow. He subsequently became an extensive farmer and stock dealer. He was the first Mayor of Centerville, and had also been Probate Judge, Justice of the Peace and Deputy Clerk.

On the afternoon of Christmas, 1847, a party of the "boys" living in the northeast part of the county, some of them belonging in the vicinity of Unionville, agreed that it would hardly be right to let the day pass without a suitable observance. They accordingly wended their way to the county seat, and to Wadlington's store --- who had transferred his place of business to Chaldea --- arriving at the store about dark.

They began their celebration with an internal application of "su'thin,' " and to neutralize any subsequent bad effect took another horn. These potations were repeated at suitable intervals till midnight. The young pioneers indulged in various amusements during their hours of celebration. They would frequently issue from the store door, whoop loud enough to scare the wolf cubs in their dens between the forks of the Chariton, and then return to warm their throats.

The first half of the night was quite warm, as a damp snow was falling, and, the store having no floor yet, their heavy boots tramped the interior of the cabin into considerable of a mud-hole. About midnight, the spirits had done their perfect work, and each fellow selected a buffalo-robe or deer-skin and lay down to rest on the natural floor, damp as it was, although it is more than likely that Wadlington tucked them in as they became insensible.

The weather turned very frosty toward morning. Shortly after daylight, Mr. Stratton, who was the nearest neighbor, visited the store to learn the cause of the noises heard by him, and found each reveler snugly frozen to his earthen bed, and the edges of the skins frozen tight, also. It was an amusing spectacle, and a modern teetotaler could hardly have avoided a show of laughter at their situation. They were thawed out after and hour or two and returned to their homes none the worse for their night's frolic.

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As noted earlier, the host here eventually turned to farming and dealing in livestock and located on a farm some distance northwest of Centerville in Independence Township. He built a fine brick home there, now in ruins, of limestone quarried nearby and bricks burned on the site.

An infected leg injury complicated by pneumonia claimed his life on Nov. 4, 1878, and he was buried as he wished in the side yard of his home, the spot marked now by a red cedar tree and his iron-fenced tombstone.

It's not that difficult to find him, if you're interested in a visit (although it does help to know the territory). Just drive south out of Russell on County Road S56 for several miles until you make another turn south at Confidence and then watch for Sunnyslope Church of Christ on your left. Turn left (east) there and just follow the gravel road as it meanders east. You'll know you've gone too far if you drive into Lake Rathbun, where the road now ends a short distance southeast of Spencer's grave.

It's election day, again ....

AP file photo

Today's the day presidential electors gather in Iowa and elsewhere to cast their votes, 306 for President-elect Biden and 232 for his opponent. Here's a link to a brief explainer from The Associated Press.

While it's lovely to think that this decisive act will calm the political waters as Christmas approaches, experience suggests otherwise.

Trumpian Republicans no doubt will continue their treasonous posturing and pandering; Trumpian religionists no doubt will continue to worship their golden calf.

As for me, I'm hoping to devote more attention to cultivating an appreciation for the season.

Christmas crowd leads to Methodist floor failure

Christmas trees were few and far between in Chariton as the big day approached during December of 1878. This had nothing to do with a lack of holiday spirit; more to do with custom than anything else. 

This was before the days of a Christmas tree (or two or three or more) in every home. Instead, the various churches in town took it upon themselves to set up trees in their sanctuaries and invite all comers to Christmas Eve gatherings that featured carols, candles (and buckets of water in case the tree was inadvertently set alight) and distribution of gifts, many brought from home and addressed to specific children, plus candy, peanuts and other treats for everyone.

Chariton's 1864 brick Methodist Episcopal church at the intersection of North Main and Roland was packed that long ago Tuesday evening, but a problem developed --- as reported in The Patriot of Jan. 1, 1879:

"The Christmas tree at the M. E. church drew an immense crowd, and the weight on the floor was so great that it gave way and sunk over a foot in the middle. Considerable commotion prevailed in a portion of the audience for a few minutes."

Although the floor was raised and reinforced, the near-calamity was taken --- along with others --- as a sign that the old building was in need of either a major upgrade --- or replacement.

Caution prevailed and by midyear 1879 the decision had been made to used the existing building as the base for a major remodel and the Des Moines-based firm of Blake & See was employed to draw up plans and specifications for a gothicized embellishment of the original complete with mighty bell tower.  Bids were opened on June 23. This is what the reincarnated structure looked like.

In the meantime, the congregation decamped for the assembly room (courtroom) of the 1858 Lucas County Courthouse where services were held for the balance of the year. The congregation's Christmas tree was located there on Christmas Eve 1879, but soon thereafter the refurbished building was ready.

The refurbished building did not work well, however. It was too small and structural quirks related to the 1864 original continued to plague the congregation.

As a result, this building was demolished during June of 1899, just 20 years later, and the current rather grand building dedicated on the same site during July of 1900. 

As had been the case in 1878, the congregation removed temporarily to the courthouse --- the new one, built in 1893 --- for the duration. And that's where Christmas 1899 was observed.

Chariton's ambassador at large

I wish that I could share this morning the hour-long presentation several of us watched last night as the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs' annual "Celebrate Iowa" gala aired online. It was, however, a tickets-only event and you had to have one to participate.

The department is an administrative umbrella for the State Historical Society of Iowa, the Iowa Arts Council and Produce Iowa (the state office of media production). This is an annual fund-raiser for a perpetually underfunded department and in normal years is semi-formal (with black-tie aspirations) and held in person in Des Moines. This year, due to COVID-19, it went virtual.

At the heart of the celebration was an hour-long production highlighting Iowa cultural and historical treasures --- including Chariton's Piper's grocery and candy store, in business at the same location on the northeast corner of the square since December of 1908. 

The store's current proprietor, Jill Kerns (left), was magnificent as she stepped into the role she frequently fills as one of Chariton's  most effective ambassadors.

There were lots of other highlights, ranging from well-known treasures like Simon Estes to a considerably younger musical duo, the Brazilian 2wins, at the American Gothic House in Eldon.

It doesn't seem quite fair to tease like this, when you can't watch. But the hour-long production used a private "YouTube" platform and I'm hoping it will be made public one of these days so everyone can watch. If and when that happens, I'll let you know. In the meantime, you're just going to have to take my word.

 

The dastardly safety razor & barbering's decline, fall

In the dim and distant past, when giants roamed the land and male facial hair was given the same degree of care afforded an English country garden, more than a dozen barbers were arranged in various configurations around the Chariton square. There were no counterparts for women, expected to modestly attend to tonsorial needs in the privacy of their own homes.

As Christmas 1913 approached, the city's barbering fraternity assembled and set uniform hours as reported on the front page of The Herald-Patriot of Dec. 11 as follows: "On and after December 10th, 1913, all barber shops in Chariton will open at 8 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. except Saturday when shops will open at 7 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. On evenings previous to holidays all shops will remain open until 10 p.m. The following days will be observed as holidays: Christmas, New Years, Decoration Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day and Thanksgiving."

The most elaborate of these establishments, including the shop in the basement of First National Bank on the northwest corner of the square, still had bathrooms attached where, for example, traveling salesmen could walk from the nearby Bates House (then the city's finest hotel) or take a hack from the depot to wash and change their shirts and underdrawers as part of the beautification process, too, before a shave and a trim.

Barbershops, too, were centers for socialization, gossip and --- occassionally --- intrigue.

That had begun to change, however, when King Camp Gillette (left) introduced at the turn of the 20th century a safety razor that for the first time employed a disposable double-edged blade. Although it would take a century for the barber pole to become almost extinct, the handwriting was on the wall when the U.S. Army began to issue Gillette shaving kits to servicemen during World War I.

And just a year earlier, on July 4, 1912, The Chariton Leader had published the following prescient lament:

"The ingenuity that devised the safety razor has spread contentment far. It has saved aeons of time, too, an item not omissable in an age which has made a fetish of economy. But there is a minor chord in the carol. It has undermined a venerable institution. Rarely now is seen the striped pole, gloriously capped with golden ball. Less frequently now we hear the clear notes of stroping steel. Fewer now behold the glint of true artistic gratification when the perfection of edge has been obtained. Those wonderful symposia wherein were solved all the problems attached to history in the making --- where are they now?

"To be sure the barber shop is not obsolete. And it must continue an essential for man's presentability unless we become a race of Rockefellers. But the cutting of hair was never more than craftsmanship.  It was in the shave the barber's art was tried; it was his skill in bloodless surgery and painless extraction that proclaimed him the artist. the safety razor has all but robbed him of that function."

Quick-thinking teacher saves the Lucas school

Goodness only knows teachers face many challenges in these troublesome times, but at least contending with temperamental heating stoves, one per classroom, is no longer an issue.

That was not the case at Lucas back on Wednesday, the 4th of December, 1901, when a quick-thinking teacher, aided by the janitor, kept the village school from going up in smoke.

This is how the school looked five years later, during 1906. It had taken form during 1896 when two identical four-room school building (two up and down) --- one on the hilltop school site in Lucas and the other, moved in from the declining mining town of Cleveland just to the east --- had been joined to form an eight-room t-shaped structure.

Here's The Chariton Leader report of this near miss, published on Dec. 5, 1901:

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The school house came near being destroyed by fire Tuesday morning. That it was not is entirely due to the timely and persistent efforts of Prof. Baynor and the janitor.

It seems that the stove in the high school room has been unsafe for some time, and it was while waiting for repairs for it that the accident happened. The professor had just crossed the room when he heard an unusual noise which attracted his attention, and as he turned to look from whence it came and what was the cause, he was startled to see the stove on the verge of falling over.

In a moment more it was upon the floor in several pieces with at least a bushel of live coals to contend with. No sooner had it happened than the room was filled with the stifling smoke from the coals, making it almost impossible to do anything; but, regardless of this, he attempted to and succeeded in saving the building.

The coals had no sooner struck the floor that it took fire. With due presence of mind he raked the shovel out from under the debris, burning his hand quite badly in doing so, and began removing the fire as much as he could. By this time the janitor had arrived with water, the use of which checked the fire enough that it was gotten under control and extinguished.

It was only presence of mind and quick action that saved the building from total destruction, which would have made a loss of some $6,000 to the town, as it would have taken that much to replace it. This occurrence should be enough to prove the advisability of sinking a good well on the premises, thus making it unnecessary for water to have to be brought so far.

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Lucas got 31 more more years of use out of this building, covered as the years passed with stucco and served eventually by a basement furnace. A free-standing gymnasium also was built nearby.

But on the morning of Dec. 12, 1932, that new-fangled furnace overheated, the building caught fire and this time it burned to the ground. Firefighters were able to save the gymnasium.

The Lucas school building that still stands was built during 1933 and until it was completed, students met for classes at scattered locations around town.