Russell George's Derby cafe --- in the late 1940s

I came across this photograph, identified as "Russell George in his cafe," in a scrapbook of Derby images in the Lucas County Historical Society collection, donated by the late Virginia Mart.

The best known Derby Cafe was operated from 1958 until 2000 by Gusta Flack, but of course there had been others.

This photograph probably was taken during the late 1940s with Russell (1906-1973) behind the counter, customers unidentified. It appears, based on the view from the front window, to have been a summer day. And signage at the top of the window suggests the cafe building once had been home to First National Bank.

I couldn't find any indication of when the cafe opened, but according to newspaper reports, Russell sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Conner during the late summer of 1949 and it was known thereafter as the Conner Cafe.

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Doris (Tennis) Oehlman, a Derby-area matriarch

This is Doris (Tennis) Oehlman (1822-1908), matriarch of a family that settled during 1858 near what would become Derby in Union Township, Lucas County --- one of several excellent family photographs in a well preserved album given to the Lucas County Historical Society during 1966 by Erma (McMains) Taylor (1891-1974), one of her granddaughters.

Some might argue that Mrs Oehlman looks rather grim, but I've a feeling that's more a reaction to the camera than it was to life in general. It certainly does look as if she were determined, however, as one would need to be during a lifetime that began in Germany and included the loss of a young husband, raising eight children (seven by her second marriage) as well as losing one as an infant, and life on the open prairie in pioneer Lucas County.

Here's her obituary, as published in The Chariton Patriot of Oct. 29, 1908, after she had lived in the south of Iowa for 50 years:

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Mrs. Doris Oehlman, wife of the late Charles Oehlman and one of the early settlers of Union township, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Doris Slater, Sunday noon.

Doris Tennis was born in Hanover, Germany, Dec. 22nd, 1822. She came to the United States as a child. She was married in St. Louis to Henry Burgdorf (or Burghdorf) in 1846. Mr. Burgdorf died in 1847. One son was born to this union, Henry Burgdorf, now living at Custer City, Oklahoma.

In 1850 she was marred in Quincy, Illinois, to Charles Oehlman, who died in 1891. they came to Lucas county, settling on a farm south of Derby in 1858.

They were the parents of eight children, all living except one son, George, who died in infancy. The surviving children are Mrs. Louise Dickinson of Seattle, Wash., Mrs. Frances Morey of Gordon, Neb., Mrs. Emma West of Conway, Iowa, and Mrs. Lydia McMains, Mrs. Doris Slater, Mrs. Maggie Penick and Charles H. Oehlman, of Derby.

During her fifty years residence in Union township, Mrs. Oehlman had won and held the love and esteem of all with whom she came in contact. The deceased had been a member of the Lutheran church in girlhood, later joining the Derby M.E. church. Mrs. Oehlman was an earnest christian, a kind and affectionate mother, and a most excellent friend and neighbor.

Funeral services were held at the M.E. church Tuesday afternoon, conducted by Rev. A.W. Armstrong of St. Charles, a former pastor. Interment was made at Derby cemetery.

A tiny card and Lucas County's big banking disaster

I ran across on Tuesday this little piece of ephemera tucked into a photograph slot in one of the vintage photo albums in the Lucas County Historical Society collection. It's business card size, printed on two sides, and is a promotional hand-out commissioned during 1899 by Frank R. Crocker, then cashier of Chariton's First National Bank.

At the time, Crocker was running for the post of head banker of Modern Woodmen of America, a huge fraternal benefit society headquartered in Rock Island, Illinois (then and now), that offered (then) life insurance to white males in 12 Midwestern states, including Iowa --- where the association had been founded in 1883.

The society had so many members in Lucas County during 1899 that they were able to commission a special train from Chariton to carry them to the national convention, held during June of that year in Kansas City, where Frank was duly elected.

Frank's term of service, a year, was limited by rules of the organization and there's no reason to suppose that he carried out his duties in any way that was not honorable even though he had access to the organization's vast cash reserve.

But fast forward to 1907 and it will become evident that the society's rather casual approach to huge amounts of cash could prove hazardous to its financial wellbeing. Head banker that year was Mason City's Charles H. MacNider, another prominent Iowa banker whose principal memorial these days is that city's Charles H. MacNider Art Museum, endowed by his family.

Back in Chariton during 1907, Frank was busy speculating (illegally but at first successfully) with First National Bank funds. He called upon his old friend, Mr. MacNider, who engineered a "loan" of $350,000 in Modern Woodmen of America funds to First National that Frank used feed his habit.

That all came crashing down on the morning of Oct. 31, 1907, when it was discovered that Frank's speculative career had ended in financial disaster and that he had killed himself overnight with an overdose of morphine. The bank doors were sealed as federal regulators took over. It would be years before the county recovered fully from the debacle.

Lucas County had a $50,000 cash reserve on deposit, for example, and countless other depositors large and small lost their life savings. But the biggest loser was the Modern Woodmen. Eventually, $25,000 of the original $350,000 was found stashed in a Chicago bank --- but that was all that remained.

Banker MacNider claimed that his "investment" in First National was protected by a $400,000 bond, signed by the nine prominent Lucas Countyans who formed the bank's board. It turned out, however, that Frank had forged the signatures on the bond and that it was worthless.

Finally, after regulators had spent years squeezing every possible dime out of remaining bank assets and wrestling with the bank owning Mallory family for ownership of all its assets in Lucas County, the Modern Woodmen recovered in excess of $100,000 of its original $350,000 investment and other depositors received similar percentages of their deposits.

Mr. MacNider faced a variety of accusations, even threats of lawsuits from within the Modern Woodmen organization, but  he proved to be bullet-proof and remains widely revered in Mason City.

Lucas County has for the most part forgotten Mr. Crocker by now --- his physical remains were whisked away to Minneapolis where the family had a summer home to which the remaining Crockers repaired after his death. But we do have this small card to remind us.

Kent family homes --- near Lucas and in England

William (1826-1906) and Hannah Wherrett Kent (1842-1922) brought their two sons, Charles and John, from Chicago to a 320-acre farm three and a half miles west of Lucas during March of 1869, introducing a family name that's still a familiar one in Lucas County.

Both were natives of England who arrived in the United States as children and married in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, during 1860, then lived in Cleveland and Chicago before William turned his hand from carpentry to farming and the couple settled down.

More than 150 years later, a compact photo album that most likely was theirs, in better condition than most that arrive at the Lucas County Historical Society but still fragile, has an archival box to itself in the museum library. It was donated during 1970 by their granddaughter, Ethel Kent Wood (1889-1971), daughter of John.

So I scanned three of the images in it that I found most interesting on Tuesday to share here this morning. The first (top) shows the family home in Jackson Township. In front are (from left) John Kent, Charles Kent, Hannah Kent, Florence Erb (an adopted daughter) and, behind the team, William Kent.

The second photograph was taken in front of another side of the house with the extended family in front. Only four are identified, however: Charles Kent seated at left, William and Hannah Kent seated in the middle, and John Kent, standing at right. I'm guessing the little girl standing between Hannah and John was John's daughter, Ethel, donor of the album.

Here's a description of the Kent farm as published as part of a larger biographical sketch of William and Hanna in the 1896 "A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa" ---

"The land he developed into one of the finest farms in this part of the country and on it built one of the most beautiful rural homes in the county. He has since given a portion of his farm to his sons, retaining for himself 170 acres. His modern residence, a story-and-a-half cottage, is located on a natural building site some rods back from the main highway and is surrounded with an attractive lawn, ornamental shrubbery and trees, the entire surroundings giving evidence of taste and culture as well as prosperity; and in the interior of this dwelling the same air of refinement prevails. The walls are adorned with pictures, the shelves are lined with books, and here is also found a choice collection of bric-a-brac. It is, indeed, a delightful home, and both Mr. Kent and his amiable wife are the personification of hospitality. On this farm is also found a large barn and other substantial buildings and good fences, an orchard of two acres, and what may be called complete water-works. Springs of pure water gush from hillsides and a modern windmill supplies the power by which this water is forced through pipes up to a large tank, from which reservoir the water is carried to both the house and barn."

The third photograph, of Hannah's birthplace in the village of Stonechurch near Stroud in Gloucestershire, southwest England, was commissioned by fellow Lucas residents, Mr. and Mrs. Evan B. Morgan, when they were touring that area, then brought home and given to the Kents, finding its home eventually in the photo album now housed in the museum library. The people are unidentified but most likely include the Morgans.

Miss Mabel Black joins her brothers in death

I came across this image of Mabel Black, who died in Chariton at the age of 21 during late December, 1900, on Monday in a scrapbook maintained by members of the Pandora Club, organized by and for young women in Chariton during the 1890s. Club records, including two scrapbooks, are part of the Lucas County Historical Society collection.

I've written about this family before because two of Mabel's brothers, Sgt. William T. Black and Pvt. Walter N. Black, were among Lucas County's Spanish American War losses, both claimed by typhoid fever during 1898 --- See, if you like, "The men of Company H. say farewell to Sgt. Tom," "The Blacks, typhoid and Spanish American War loss," and "War, remembrance and the Black brothers."

Mabel was the third of Charles N. and Amanda Black's nine children to be claimed by typhoid during a two-year period and was buried beside her brothers in the Chariton Cemetery although their parents, who eventually moved back to their native Sandyville in Warren County, are buried there.

Here's the text of her story-telling obituary, published in The Chariton Patriot of Jan. 3, 1901, and pasted alongside the photograph on a fragile page in the Pandora Club scrapbook:

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Died, Sunday, Dec. 30, 1900, at midnight, at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C.N. Black in this city, Miss Mabel Ann Black.

Funeral services were held from the Presbyterian church Wednesday afternoon at 3 o'clock, conducted by the pastor, Rev. A.C. Ormond, and all that was earthly of that lovely girl was laid to rest in the Chariton cemetery beside her brothers --- Thomas, who died of typhoid fever at Jacksonville, Florida,  July 19, 1898, and Walter, who also contracted the disease there and died Sept. 28, 1898, while enlisted with Co. H.

She had been seriously sick for four weeks with typhoid fever, but was thought to be out of danger, when acute pneumonia set in, causing death in a few hours.

Miss Mabel Black was born near Milo, in Warren county, Aug. 18, 1879. During the years 1896-96 she attended Simpson College, in Indianola, and while there joined the Mehodist church, but had never removed her membership (from the Presbyterian Church). About six years ago she came to Chariton with her parents and made this city her home. 

Being of that kind and sympathetic nature that always wants to help persons in distress, she decided to become a professional nurse, taking a course of two years in the Iowa City Training School for Nurses. While there she became acquainted with Dr. J.R. Gardner, to whom she afterward plighted her troth and who came and assisted in caring for her during her illness. She came home last April to become more proficient in household duties, and fit herself to preside over a home, and prepare for the happy event which should link her life with that of Dr. Gardner.

In compliance with urgent requests, she occasionally would take care of a patient, and it was while nursing Mrs. Keller in Benton township that she contracted the fatal disease.

She was an honored member of the Pandora Club, who gave a beautiful flower piece. The nurses of Iowa City also sent a lovely bouquet, and the floral offerings from other friends were numerous and beautiful.

The death of that noble girl is indeed a sad blow to the parents and six sisters who are left to mourn the departure of a dear daughter and sister, and to Dr. Gardner, to whom she was to have been married during the holidays. She was modest and retiring, but possessed a cheerful disposition, ever ready to assist the needy, and scattered sunshine wherever she went. Although her sufferings during her sickness were intense, yet during her conscious hours she never uttered any complaint.

The death of such a promising, useful young woman makes us silent before God, yet where He brings His cross He brings His presence, and uses sometimes the very grief itself, straining it to a sweetness of faith, unattainable to those ignorant of any grief. She has escaped the weariness, the toils, the struggle and temptations of this chequered life, and who shall not say, sorrow laded though we be, that it is not better so. That a higher than human power may comfort and console the afflicted ones under this heavy stroke is the hope of the entire community.

Partying in Chariton with the queen of the night

Several varieties of night-blooming cacti can claim the name night blooming cereus, but only one --- Selenicereus Grandiflorus (aka Queen of the Night) --- blooms just once a year, overnight, then closes at dawn and fades away.

This rare occurrence was the cause of a gathering of family and friends at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Harris Van Nice on the evening of July 23, 1891, as reported in The Chariton Herald of July 30:

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A "Night Blooming Cereus" was the center of attraction at the home of W. H. Van Nice on last Thursday night, where a number of neighbors and friends had gathered to watch the unfolding of its beauty and inhale its fragrance upon the only night in the year when these pleasures were to be enjoyed. The flower began to open soon after sunset, reaching full bloom at about 9 o'clock, remaining in bloom all night. It began to close soon after sunrise and at about 8 o'clock it had entirely closed. Cashier Culbertson of the Savings Bank took the plant to the bank Friday morning where it was on exhibition during the day.

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I decided to do a little further research and see if other reports of similar gatherings might have been published in Chariton newspapers over the years --- and was not disappointed.

On Sept. 14, 1930, a plant owned by Mira McFarland, then living with her daughter and son-in-law, Maude Mary and Albert B. Gookin, burst into bloom and was the centerpiece of a similar gathering at the Gookin home.

Fifteen years later, Loyd and Cora Paschall invited friends and neighbors in when their plant burst into bloom on the evening of Sept. 17, 1945. Three years later, on July 3, 1948, the Paschall plant bloomed again and was the centerpiece of a similar gathering.

Mae Glenn Gasser & her washing machine

The 17th annual Chariton Cemetery Heritage Tour, cancelled last year because of restrictions related to COVID-19, is back on the schedule this year --- planned for a Sunday afternoon in mid- to late September. We'll keep you updated on the details.

The event is sponsored by the Chariton Historic Preservation Commission --- currently Alyse Hunter, Dave Edwards, Melody Wilson, Florence Heacock and Frank Myers.

One of this year's subjects will be Mae Glenn Gasser (1884-1969), one of Chariton's great characters, who happens to be buried in the far northwest corner of the cemetery, where this year's tour will be focused.

And that brought to mind this photograph of Mae from the Lucas County Historical Society collection that I looked up yesterday while doing a little cataloging at the museum.

It was taken some time during the 1920s in the storefront show room on the square of the Southern Iowa Electric Co., successor to the 1914 Union Service Co., which had purchased the city of Chariton's electrical generating plant that year and then proceeded to establish the first "grid" to serve Lucas County --- extending power generated in Chariton to Russell and elsewhere.

The company also was the major purveyor of up-to-date electrical appliances, including washing machines, in the area at the time. 

If the sign is to believed, Mae had owned the first electric washing machine in use in Chariton and had arranged for its delivery to the show room for this promotional display. Hopefully, she had taken home a brand new up-to-date appliance.

The annual July lily extravaganza ....

Almost missed obligatory photographs of the big lily show --- the last major production in the museum gardens as the various plants gather strength for a new season and summer heat intensifies.

These were taken Thursday evening when I drove out late to push the trash trolley down the drive to the curb for Friday morning pickup.

Most of these were planted some years ago when Kay Brown, now semi-retired, was chief museum gardener.

The Stargazer lilies (top) continue to steal the show.

But the daylilies are pretty spectacular, too, when in their prime.

The delta variant and stupid pills

It's been a relief during the last few weeks to go grocery shopping without wearing a mask and to leave the house without needing to remember to stick one of those pesky things in a pocket --- advantages of being fully vaccinated.

And the numbers in Iowa --- other than the overall inoculation rate --- have been encouraging. But that may be changing.

Our state passed into the "rapidly increasing" category of states so far as new COVID-19 cases are concerned during the last week as the delta variant spreads and our neighbors to the east in Monroe County reported the highest positivity rate among recent tests in the state.

Lucas County's fully-vaccinated rate --- 37 percent --- certainly is not impressive. But two of our neighbors here in the south of Iowa, Davis and Decatur, have the lowest vaccination percentages in the Iowa, along with Lyon County in the extreme northwest. Wayne is way down there, too.

You tend to wonder what gets into people --- and who is dispensing the stupid pills.

The vaccine is readily available --- at Lucas County Public Health, the Hy-Vee pharmacy and elsewhere. There's no charge. 

Everyone age 12 and older now is eligible and I see that Public Health will be administering the shots on Aug. 6 during back-to-school night at the fairgrounds. So there's really no excuse in 99.9 percent of the unvaccinated cases, other than those aforemenitoned stupid pills.

Tracking down John Adam Fight (Veith)

I happened upon John Adam Fight last week while trawling Iowa's pre-1867 newspaper archives in search of Lucas County mentions. We have issues from 1867 and beyond of The Chariton Democrat, launched that year, but nothing earlier of The Patriot, which began publishing 10 years earlier.

This sad account of a young Civil War veteran from rural Newbern who survived three years of combat and disease only to return home once the war was over and then die in an accident two months later was republished from The Patriot in the Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye Gazette of Oct. 14, 1865:

"HORRIBLE ACCIDENT --- We learn from the Chariton Patriot that on Saturday evening last John Fight, while on his way from Newbern to his home, two miles northeast from that place, was thrown from his wagon while endeavoring to stop his mules from running away, and terribly mangled, and died in a few minutes. His father was badly injured at the same time. John was a good soldier, had served three years in the 40th regiment Iowa infantry, and was liked by all of his comrades. He leaves a father, mother, brother and sisters to mourn his loss."

I checked John's service records and discovered that he had enlisted in Company G, 40th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, at age 19 on Aug. 16, 1862; was mustered on Sept. 20, 1862, at Davenport; and served honorably until Aug. 2, 1865, when the 40th was discharged at Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation (Oklahoma). Unit members then were transported to Davenport where the unit was disbanded on Aug. 16.

Locating John's burial place turned out to be more of a challenge, but that was only because he is buried under his birth name, Veith, rather than the Anglicized version he had used, Fight, or the other common variant, Feight --- the latter both familiar surnames in Lucas, Marion and Warren counties.

The grave is located in Tickel Cemetery, shown on the map below, located between Bauer and Melcher-Dallas (the Melcher half of Melcher-Dallas hadn't developed when this 1901 map was created), northeast of Newbern and only a few miles north of the Lucas-Marion county line.

The tombstone photos here are from Find a Grave --- one of its current shattered state, the other taken when it was intact.

John's parents, Frederick George and Mary Catherine (Rinehart), also are buried here, although only Frederick, who survived his son by four years and died in 1869, has a stone. He, too, is buried as "Veith," the version of the surname these emigrants from Germany brought with them.

Liberté, égalité & adultère in Chariton, 1864-65

"Dear John" letters are one thing, but quite another when both the departing wife and her lover sit down to write the aggrieved husband --- in this case an unidentified soldier from Lucas County --- as happened during the summer of 1864 as the Civil War was nearing its end.

The Chariton Patriot published a report a year later, after the husband had returned home to Chariton and filed suit for divorce, and the editors of The Daveport Daily Gazette found it interesting enough to republish under "Iowa News" in its edition of Aug. 17, 1865.

Patriot editions from this period have vanished, and we'll most likely never know the particulars, but perhaps, today, somewhere in France ....

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A suit for divorce has been commenced in the District Court for Lucas county by a soldier whose wife, during his absence in the field, eloped with a Frenchman and is now, as is supposed, in la belle France.

The Chariton Patriot publishes a letter from the absconding wife to her husband and also one from her new love, both written from New York, in August, 1864. The wife coolly tells the deserted husband that she could not love him, therefore does not repent, and is very happy with "Frank," a "noble man."

Frank as coolly writes: "I am not repented, for every day I see that she is a noble woman. I know I have done wrong in taking her away from her husband's home while he is in the field of braves, fighting for the great cause of liberty, but I can't help it. Every man has his weak points. If you ever take the notion to overtake us, it will be a very dangerous expedition because we may all three be buried at the same time; nothing but death can separate us."

In 1859, the road to gold passes through Chariton

Traffic on the old Mormon Trail into Chariton from the southeast had slowed by the spring of 1859 as travelers chose instead the newer state road --- a route that followed the general path of today's U.S. Highway 34 west from Albia, entering Lucas County at Lagrange.

After crossing the Chariton square, that road angled northwest out of town along the approximate route of Osceola Avenue and its extension, 495th lane (now a dirt road), before turning west to cross Whitebreast Creek, pass the stage stop at Tallahoma and exit into Clarke County, Osceola-bound, on the ridge northwest of where Lucas eventually would be located.

There had been a sharp uptake in traffic on the road during April as its ruts dried after the spring thaw and grass alongside greened sufficiently to support the yokes of oxen that provided "horse power." 

This would be the peak year for the Colorado gold rush, which had commenced during midsummer 1858 and would continue into 1861. An estimated 100,000 fortune-seekers traveled west to the Rockies during those years --- many through Chariton. And of course others still were intent on seeking their fortunes in California.

During early May, the editor of The Chariton Patriot commissioned someone to count the number of emigrant outfits that passed his office on the square May 5-10 and published the result. No issues of The Patriot from that year survive, but his news item was picked up and republished in the Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye of May 18 as follows:

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"Below we give the number of teams that have passed our office for five days in succession, which is about average for the last two weeks. The emigration is about equally divided between California and Pike's Peak. The teams will average four yoke of oxen to the wagon.

"Thursday, May 5, 67 teams; Friday, May 6, 16 teams; Saturday, May 7, 37 teams; Sunday, May 8th, 37 teams; Tuesday, May 10th, 32 teams.

"There were also several droves of loose stock, intended for California."

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If that seems like a lot of oxen, remember that at least three yokes (six oxen) were required to pull a large heavily loaded wagon. Sometimes a fourth yoke was part of the hitch; at other times it trailed behind or alongside to provide relief or extra power if an incline like one of the Whitebreast hills was encountered.

So if you're up on the square today, glancing out a window toward the courthouse or parked on a bench on the courthouse lawn surrounded by a sea of pickups, consider what your view would have been on a summer day 162 years ago.

Reminders of vanished glory ...

Someone asked the other day about this decorative panel that hangs at the head of the stars to the lower level galleries of the Lucas County Historical Society's Lewis Building in Chariton.

Actually, we now have two of these panels. This one, a gift of the late Oran Garrett, was donated many years ago; the most recent arrival accompanied the Hass desk, donated by Curt Hass during June of 2020. It now hangs above the desk in the Vredenburg Gallery.

The key to their origin is the monogram at the center of each --- "FNB" or First National Bank.

Garrett was a long-time director of the bank; Albert R. Hass, first owner of the desk, president and/or chairman of the board from 1949 until 1963.

The panels originally were embedded in the base cabinetry of an extraordinarily elaborate set of mahogany banking furniture installed in First National Bank, then located in the Union Block, during the fall of 1899.

This photo was taken not long after the remodel. Pictured are (from left) Frank R. Crocker, cashier; Willard P. Beem, assistant cashier; William B. "Bert" Beem, his younger brother, collector; and Clarence Blake, probably the bookkeeper. Bank owner Smith H. Mallory's portrait hangs above the vault.

Here's a closer view of one of the monogram panels.

This type of banking cabinetry became increasingly obsolete as the years passed and generally was modified at first and then replaced entirely.

That's what happened at First National Bank, but the monogram panels were saved, most likely presented to banking officers at the time the grand woodwork vanished almost entirely.

The Union Block itself, built in 1881, was demolished during the 1970s and the one-story building that now houses Great Western Bank constructed in its place.

The secret of the Hass desk's hidden drawer

Dave Edwards, whose hobby is antiques and collectibles, volunteered last week at the Lucas County Historical Society Museum, giving him a chance to spend quality time with the Hass desk. If you're a regular here, you'll remember that the desk, which arrived in June 2020, was moved earlier this month from an A.J. Stephens House parlor into the Lewis Building's Vredenburg Gallery where it is better lighted and more accessible.

We'd suspected that the desk's elaborate cabinetry concealed at least one hidden drawer --- and Dave was able to find it. While there was nothing in the drawer other than a wire hook designed to be used in case of equipment failure, we're happy to know where it's at.

To find the secret, you'll need to keep your eyes on the two small drawers, lower right, just above the writing surface and below the square incised drawer with a lock.

The key to the secret here is that these drawers are far smaller than they should be if they extended back to take advantage of the full depth of the case, as illustrated by the left drawer.

The right drawer, if pulled straight out, is the same size and looks the same as the left. But if you move the right-hand drawer carefully to the left before pulling it out, a hook embedded in the back catches an eye in the front of what's behind it.

And that allows you to pull the hidden drawer out, attached to the smaller drawer in front of it, exposing your stash of secrets.

Any secrets the drawer once contained have long since been removed, but you can tell it's been used in the past --- and we're happy to know where it's at. So thanks, Dave!

The museum is open from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and at other times by appointment (call 641-774-4464). The office opens at 10 a.m. Tuesday through Friday.

The sad backstory of Luleen Thompson's dictaphone

I wrote last week about the Hass family desk and its move from one place to another on the Lucas County Historical Society Museum campus (The Hass desk gives up one of its secrets). At the same time, we moved this item, too, an Edison dictaphone that so far as I know had stood in a corner of the Stephens House front parlor since it was donated by Raymond and Carolyn Pim during 1969.

At the time, the Stephens House was the only building on the museum campus. As more buildings and display areas were added, the dictaphone, for some reason, never was moved to a more appropriate setting. But it is a piece of office-related equipment, so it made sense now to pair it with the desk, which also began life in an office, and display the two pieces together in a new setting.

After the move, I decided to check out its backstory and discovered, in looking at the original deed of gift, that it had belonged to Raymond Pim's aunt, Miss Luleen Thompson, who was a professional stenographer at a time when professional women were the exception rather than the rule. She died in Osceola during 1915 and is buried with her mother in Bethel Chapel Cemetery in far northeast Clarke County, not far from the Lucas County line.

Sadly, her end was a tragic one --- as told in a front-page story in The Osceola Sentinel of May 6, 1915 --- but that's part of the record, too. Here's the story:

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One of the most distressing events that has occurred in the city of Osceola in many months took place at the home of Mrs. Sarah Thompson in the southeast portion of the city Saturday afternoon when her daughter, Miss Luleen Thompson, took her own life with a revolver.

The story of the tragedy including the events that led up to it briefly told are as follows. Some months ago the deceased, a lady 35 years of age, having completed a course of stenography under the direction of Court Reporter Wm. Hyland resigned her situation with the Iowa Telephone Company and accepted a position as stenographer with the First National Bank at Lexington, Nebraska.

Her health having failed her, she returned home during the early part of the winter and with the exception of a few weeks stenographic work in Des Moines remained at home with her mother until the final day.

During the early part of last week she applied to the authorities for permission as required by law to purchase and carry concealed weapons, giving as the reason the fact that she and her mother lived alone and that they might feel more secure with a revolver about the house. So frankly and light heartedly did she make the application that there seemed no good reason for not granting her request.

With the authority granted, she went to Paul's hardware and purchased a Herrington-Richard self action 22 cal. rim fire revolver with which her life was ended a few days later.

In so far as the reporter could learn nothing unusual occurred in the young lady's conduct about her home until Saturday afternoon when her mother returned about 1 o'clock from her usual hour's shopping trip up town and found the daughter in the downstairs bedroom sitting upright in a rocking chair apparently dead. In response to the alarm that was given, Chas. Stahl, a next door neighbor, entered the room and found Luleen Thompson dead with the above described revolver lying by her side still clutched in her right hand.

The following note written with a typewriter and signed with pen and ink was found in the room:

To Whom it May Concern ---

This is my voluntary act and deed. There is absolutely no one to blame for it in any shape or manner. Bury me at Bethel and I want to be embalmed, also use my own clothes for I abhor shrouds. (signed) Luleen Thompson

In response to the alarm that was given, Dr. Hollenbeck arrived immediately and soon Sheriff Tillotson accompany by Justice W.E. Morrow, acting coroner, to take the body officially in charge. An examination revealed that the bullet had passed directly through the heart. There was very little indication of an external wound. It was the judgment of the officers that no inquest was required.

Funeral services were conducted at the residence by Rev. J.D. Duling of Garden Grove at 9 o'clock on Tuesday morning after which the body was laid to rest in Bethel cemetery.

Luleen Thompson grew to womanhood in Clarke county and she has a wide and favorable acquaintance in Osceola and surrounding community. She was a bright and attractive young lady and a member of a highly respected and well-to-do family. The sympathy of a host of friends goes out to the grief stricken mother and sisters. The obituary is given below.

Luleen Thompson, daughter of Lorenzo and Sarah Thompson, was born near Nevada, Iowa, December 6th, 1879.

She moved with her parents to Liberty township (Clarke County) where they resided on a farm until the spring of '97 when death claimed the father. The mother then in company with the daughters came to Osceola to reside. She attended school for a time, then accepted a position in the telephone office which she filled with credit for many years. It was said in her seven years service she was never  a minute late, ready and willing at all times to do all her strength would permit and many times went beyond her strength. After severing her connection here she accepted a position in the First National Bank at Lexington, Nebr. After several months of faithful service her health began to fail and she gave up her work and came home.

Luleen was one whom only those who knew her best could understand. In her quiet way she went about ever trying to lighten the burdens of others with little thought of self. One must know her to understand and love her. And even now as we look into her sweet face we cannot understand it is the last deep sleep.

There is left to mourn a heartbroken mother and three sisters, the father and a brother having gpreceded her in death many years ago. The sisters are Mrs. Frank Pim of Lucas, Iowa; Mrs. Hue Watson of Dayton, Wyoming; and Mrs. Dan Thurlow of Le Roy Iowa.

The funeral service was held from the home at 9 o'clock Tuesday morning. Rev. J.D. Dulling of Garden Grove, assisted by Rev. W.C. Cole of this city, conducting the service.

Find a Grave photo

Diogenes & the hobo life at Chariton in July 1931

The Great Depression was in what generally is considered to be its second full year on July 9, 1931, when this editorial cartoon was published on the front page of The Chariton Herald-Patriot.

The reference is classical --- to Diogenes the Cynic, who reputedly wandered ancient Greece with a lantern in search of an honest man. Curiously, more Chariton newspapers readers would have understood the reference in 1931 than 2011.

I'm guessing that the cartoonist was referring to the volume of theories about what was causing the economic depression and the number of proposed ways to end it --- when, in fact, no one had much of a clue.

One symptom of the depression in Chariton was a sharp uptick in the numbers of hoboes who used freight trains on the east-west Burlington route and the north-south Rock Island road as their principal means of transportation. And Diogenes himself, after all, was a hobo --- homeless, sleeping rough in a large ceramic jar.

So it was appropriate that two reports about consequences of the hobo way of life also appeared on the front page of that edition of The Herald-Patriot, one headlined "Four hoboes lose new shirts and get scare in laundry robbery" and the other, "Hoboes hurt bumming a ride." Here are the reports:

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Four hoboes pounded hasty feet outward bound from Chariton Wednesday evening with an imaginary posse hot on their heels. The boys didn't wait for the convenience of a passing freight. They started on foot with their future address anywhere away from Chariton.

Wednesday afternoon, a bundle of laundry was taken from the porch of Harry B. Stewart on Auburn avenue. H.N. Smith, deputy sheriff, was summoned and made an investigation of the crime.

Simultaneously, four hoboes near the Burlington yards flashed out in new white shirts. When Deputy Sheriff Smith and his force appeared, they readily accompanied the officers first to Kestler's laundry, where the shirts were removed, and then to the county jail where they remained for a short time before they were released.

Frank Kestler, owner of the laundry, refused to file charges against the men and after a severe "scare," the jail doors opened and the four men went scurrying on their way.

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Martin Leon Zickers, 21, of Brookhaven, Miss., and Jack Smith, 32, of Chicago, wee taken to the Lucas county farm shortly after noon Thursday suffering from badly crushed feet.

Both men were riding on a Burlington freight train and were allowing their feet to dangle out the side of the car when the passed the narrow bridge near Afton. The abutment on the structure raked the feet of the men and bruised and lacerated them seriously. The two men were saved from death under the wheels when they were caught by companions as they hung precariously on the open door of the car after striking the bridge.

The men were brought to Chariton and they were given first aid treatment by a railroad surgeon. They were taken to the county farm where the kindly matron, Mrs. W.C. Synder, gave them their first square meal in weeks, they said.

Dr. Lazear Throckmorton, of Chariton, was summoned and treated the men late Thursday afternoon. The feet of both men were badly crushed and it will be several weeks before they will be able to leave the county farm.

The two men are the eighth and ninth "free" passengers to suffer serious injury on the Burlington over this abutment. The injuries sustained by the men are always the same with broken bones in both feet.

The night the aeronauts invaded Derby

The Gordon Bennett Cup, launched during 1906, is the oldest gas balloon race in the world, according to our friends at Wikipedia. Sponsored originally by James Gordon Bennett Jr., owner of The New York Herald newspaper, it also is known as the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett and the most recent winner, during 2019, was Switzerland.

Back in 1911 --- the fifth year of the race --- the international event was held in Kansas City and as a result of a fickle twist of the wind several entries in the American Nationals, preliminaries to the big event itself, floated over Lucas County overnight on July 10-11, hovering at times low enough for crew members to converse with natives on the ground.

Here's how The Chariton Herald reported these encounters on the front page of its edition of July 13:

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Derby people who were up late on Monday evening or arose early Tuesday morning enjoyed the thrills experienced at an aviation meet when seven balloons racing in the National Balloon Race which started from Kansas City at five o'clock Monday evening visited Derby either when going north in the evening or when going south in the morning. While they were pretty well up in the world, they were not above interviewing Derby citizens and farmers.

About 11:30 o'clock Monday evening the balloon Buckeye, an Ohio balloon with J.H. Wade as driver and R.H. Hitchcock as aide, was sighted by Dr. R.F. Throckmorton. The balloon rested over the doctor's residence while the driver informed the doctor he had lost his compass and also his chart of Iowa. He was amazed to find they had traveled so far and did not think they were far from Kansas City.

The doctor then followed in his automobile, on terra firma of course, and was able to get two other interviews, the substance of which was telegraphed at the request of Mr. Wade to the Kansas City papers.

Messrs. John Troutman and Nath Patterson, west of town, and Carl Taylor, northeast of Derby, were among the farmers who had talks with the aeronauts. Three of these balloons went west of Derby, two over the town and one just southeast of town.

These balloons are in an elimination contest for the James Gordon Bennett cup next fall. The two leaders will be privileged to sail two of the three balloons in that contest. Miss Sofia, one of the leading lady aeronauts of this country, is in this contest and driving her balloon, the Miss Sofia, but if she was among the number that was seen here she was not recognized.

The balloons were carried along by a stiff breeze northeast from Kansas City, but sometime in the night the wind in the north drove them south again, when they were seen in Derby between 4:30 and 5 o'clock in the morning.

Some of the balloons were also seen by farmers in Warren township, it is reported, and others crossing above Cleveland. All of them alighted in safety after a good run, but none of them alighted near here.

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We'll most likely never know if any of the three U.S. finalists were among those who floated over Lucas County. They were Lt. Frank P. Lahm, of the U.S. Army, and Capt. John Barry and William S. Assmannu, both of St. Louis. In addition, there were two entries in the Gordon Bennett Cup race from Germany and three from France.

The goal of the race was to fly the greatest distance from the embarkation site after launch in Kansas City on Oct. 5 and the winner was Lt. Hans Gericke, of Germany, in command of the Berlin II. He landed some 440 miles to the northeast at Holcombe, Wisc., on Oct. 8 and returned home with the cup.

Behold, the rain man cometh --- but not the rain

Something was said in church Sunday morning to this effect: "If you've been praying for rain, please stop." Goodness only knows Lucas County has had plenty of precipitation in recent days.

But that was not the case during the long, hot --- and dry --- summer of 1894. It was so dry that when a rain man rolled into town from Nebraska on the C.B.&Q. quite a few reputable citizens of Chariton bit --- although very carefully and with their cash guarded by an iron-clad contract.

The practitioner was Ursa Swisher, 23-year-old son of William B. Swisher (1825-1914), known as Dr. Swisher --- a Civil War surgeon and practicing physician. He was one of several professional rain makers Nebraska had generated during the 1890s and widely known across the Midwest.

Here's The Chariton Herald's account of the rain making operation, as published on Thursday, Aug. 2, 1894. The photo, from the Nebraska Historical Society collection, shows one of that state's rain making operations --- although no Dr. Swisher's.

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It was rumored about town Thursday of last week that a veritable "rain maker" was in town anxious for a job, and in response to a call a meeting was held at the courthouse Friday morning at 10 o'clock, attended by a large body of citizens, to listen to what the rain maker had to say. The gentleman's name is Ursa Swisher, and he represents the Swisher Rain Company of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Being called to the stand, Mr. Swisher said they did not claim to make rain --- they only produced it. That they had made nine operations this season, one being a failure and two partial failures. After replying to numerous queries propounded by those present, the answers to which failed to disclose the theory or plan of operation, Mr. Swisher proposed to the meeting that he would produce one inch of rainfall over a radius of 10 miles in every direction from Chariton within five days from the beginning of operations for $500. No rain, no pay. Additional rain thereafter, over the same area, at $250 per inch.

A committee composed of Thomas Gay, G.J. Stewart and T.M. Stuart was appointed to draw up a contract covering the above stipulations, which was done and signed. A subscription paper was passed and the necessary $500 raised.

After consulting a barometer, Mr. Swisher announced that he would begin operations to produce rain at 5 o'clock on Friday evening. He secured a small room on the second floor of the post office building for the work and at the appointed hour began shooting chemicals into the air in the form of gasses. During the first night's operation the usual rain symptoms began to appear, since which clouds of varying density have partially obscured the sky. A few drops of rain fell each day except the last --- Wednesday --- leaving pock marks in the thick bed of dust, and on Tuesday morning we had a nice sprinkle that superseded the use of the street sprinkler for a few hours, rain falling to the depth of one-sixteenth of an inch as reported, while in some other parts of the county copious showers are reported.

Believing Herald readers would be interested in knowing something of the theory upon which the company works, a representative interviewed Mr. Swisher one day this week, and although finding him quite weary from loss of sleep he cheerfully furnished us the following information.

The operating utensils consist of two large earthen air-tight jars, two 8-foot lengths of one-inch gas pipe, funnels, a china pitcher, a one-gallon measure, and a quantity of chemicals, the names of which are unknown to all except the operators. The gasses which are generated in the jars by chemical action are liberated through the gas pipes to the atmosphere.

Mr. Swisher says, "We all know that air is composed of oxygen, hydrogen and a small proportion of nitrogen. We believe dry weather is caused by the excess or deficiency of one of these elements and in order to equalize these we produce a vacuum in the atmosphere, concentrate the moisture and produce precipitation in the form of rain."

Mr. Swisher uses three kinds of gasses, though only two are used at a time. The jars are recharged every two hours continually, day and night, from the time contract begins. 

In reply to our query as to the cost of chemicals used during his work here, Mr. Swsher said they had cost him about $80. He seemed well pleased with his success here, is satisfied he produced the rains that have fallen during the past week and says it has rained every day except one since he began operations and that it has covered the entire county.

The contract time was up yesterday afternoon at 5 o'clock. The rain producer has spent his time and cost of chemicals, the people have still their money and the principal part of the county is still suffering for the want of moisture, while the heavens are as clear as a bell.

The general impression among our people is that the same clouds and rain would have appeared had the rain-maker never been heard of. While it may be within the scope of science, to be developed by someone at some future day, to condense the moisture in the air and produce rainfall, that Mr. Swisher has sufficiently mastered the forces of nature as to accomplish that object may well be doubted.

The Hass desk gives up one of its secrets

I introduced the Hass roll-top desk a year ago, during June of 2020, when it was donated and delivered to the Lucas County Historical Society Museum by Curt and Judie Hass, of Marion --- the third generation to own and use it.

Because it is very large, the desk was moved into the front parlor of the A.J. Stephens House just because that was where space happened to be available. But this was not an especially good location. Backlit by windows in the bay where it stood and otherwise illuminated by a lovely but rather dim chandelier, it just didn't show up very well despite its size.

So on July 2, when an outstanding group of volunteers was available to undertake this and other heavy-lifting tasks, we moved the desk to its permanent location in the Lewis Building's Vredenburg Gallery. The top, secured by dowels, lifts off so that it can be transported separately --- but it still was quite a job.

The desk began its association with the Hass family in 1917 when Curt's grandfather, Albert R. Hass (1870-1963), arrived in Chariton and went to work for what then was the Lucas County National Bank, located in a long-vanished three-story building that once stood on the northwest corner of the square.

It continued to serve as his desk through that bank's consolidation into First National Bank & Trust Co. and his service as bank president (1949-1956) and chairman of the board (1956-1963). First National now is Midwest Heritage.

The desk then passed to his son, Judge Albert "Abe" Hass (1909-1996), Chariton attorney and district court judge; and finally to Judge Hass's son, A. Curtis Hass. It left Chariton with Curt and traveled to northeast Iowa, then New Mexico, and finally back to Marion before the family decided to bring it home to Chariton.

This photograph shows Albert R. Hass (right) and Charlie Haver in the Tingley State Bank, where the two men worked together until Albert moved to Chariton.

And this bust of Albert R. Hass, created by one of his daughters-in-law, also was part of the donation.

Also included was this framed First National Bank monogram that we think was part of the bank's original woodwork. 

The old desk had a surprise for us on July 2.

As the desk was resting in two pieces, waiting to be reassembled, Office Manager Kathleen noticed a gold watch dangling from its innards. This was identified later by Curt as his grandfather's pocket watch. Found nearby was a small gold bullion wrist watch.

Kathleen called Curt and they drove down Friday to pick up these family heirlooms and take them home.

During one of its several moves --- or at some other time --- the watches, once stored in a drawer, apparently had slipped behind it and into the case of the desk where they rested until shaken loose during this latest move.