Iowa Methodists and those disaffiliation blues

I've been intending to write something about Iowa United Methodists and the trials and tribulations they face because of LGBTQ+ folks like me since May 24, the day after a special Iowa Conference session approved the disaffiliation petitions of 83 congregations, or roughly 11 percent of the 750 or so parishes in the state. Here's a link to the official news release about the session, should you wish to read it yourself.

But only two of the 83 departing congregations --- Trinity United Methodist in Albia and Faith United Methodist in Centerville --- are anywhere near Lucas County, so I've kept putting it off.

Albia, with 526 professing members in 2021, is one of the region's largest protestant churches. Centerville Faith, a newer congregation that grew out of a knock-down drag-out several years ago in its home city over whether to restore or replace an historic downtown building (still home to Centerville First United Methodist), had a healthy 171 members.

By way of comparison, Chariton First United Methodist had 418 professing members in 2021; Russell, 129; and Norwood, 20.

So for the time being, the great majority of United Methodists in the south of Iowa remain in the Iowa Conference fold --- although another round of leave-taking will take place in November. Congregations that still wish to officially consider a disaffiliation vote have until June 30 to declare and if disaffiliation is approved, will depart at the end of the year. After that, disaffiliation procedures will be reset during the 2024 General Conference.

Disaffiliation is expensive. United Methodist properties are not owned by congregations, but held in trust for the church as a whole and Iowa Conference rules require --- before deeds are handed over --- payment of unpaid apportionments for the current year, anticipated apportionments for an additional year, and a congregation's unfunded share of pension obligations.

For Trinity, $122,241 is due by June 30; and for Faith, $34,194. First United Methodist Church of Marion, one of the largest departing congregations in Iowa, will be required to cough up $362,312 in order to leave with keys to the front door.

+++

So how long has the current situation been developing? Well, I had just returned from a year in Vietnam back in 1972 when well intentioned United Methodists attempted to add the following to their Book of Discipline: "Homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth."

Now United Methodists in general are nice folks, but not all are that nice. So delegates declined to approve this line until after the period had been turned into a comma and the following added, "though we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian doctrine."

The incompatibility clause still is found in the Book of Discipline, although "teaching" has replaced  "doctrine," and has been enlarged upon to forbid the ordination of non-celibate gay clergy and the participation of United Methodist clergy and congregations in same-sex marriage.

And that clause has remained the principal bone of contention year after year as progressive United Methodists, conservative United Methodists and global United Methodists, most from conservative conferences in places like Africa, butt heads.

+++

As the years passed, progressives gained ground among U.S. United Methodists --- as they did in other "mainline" denominations. Within recent years, my own Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and others --- after considerable drama and substantial leave-taking --- dropped restrictions aimed at LGBTQ+ people.

But for United Methodists,  U.S. and global conservatives generally teamed up to tip the balance toward conservative stances when LGBTQ+ issues came up.

And so it went, general conference after general conference.

Finally, at the 2016 General Conference, delegates voted to defer action on LGBTQ issues pending further study, and the denomination created the Commission on a Way Forward to do that work. 

Three plans resulted. Progressives favored a plan that would have removed incompatibility language and allowed pastors and congregations to follow the lead of conscience when dealing with LGBTQ+ people and issues. But delegates to a special conference in February 2019 favored the "Traditionalist Plan" which affirmed the denomination's harsh teaching on homosexuality and hardened its approach to rulebreakers. 

Then the pandemic, postponed general conferences, considerable confusion and lots of politics, including the formal launch of a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church, very anxious indeed to provide a home for disaffiliating United Methodists.

In Iowa, the Annual Conference Appointive Cabinet and then-Bishop Laurie Haller put in place, effective Jan. 1, 2022, something quite similar to the progressive plan defeated during February of 2019. Decisions about ordaining LGBTQ+ clergy and performing and/or hosting same-sex marriages were left to individuals and congregations. 

Also put into place was the disaffiliation procedure followed by the 83 congregations, now scheduled to become independent (among them, Trinity Church of Albia) or to  join the Global Methodist Church or another denomination. 

The curious thing about that disaffiliation procedure --- it was set up originally for use by progressive congregations which, it was thought, would want to leave because the traditionalist plan had been adopted. As it turned out, it's been used most often by traditionalists.

+++

I'm not quite sure how much of a future these newly disaffiliated congregations have. It's probably the end of the line for some smaller congregations, once current members have kicked the bucket. 

Even larger congregations may struggle. There are plenty of evangelical churches already out there that are specialists in homophobic branding, so refugees from big-tent United Methodism are going to have to toughen up and be prepared to get down and dirty in order to survive and thrive in the religious right marketplace.

"Open hearts, open minds, open doors" just isn't going to cut it.

Chariton high & dry as 1903 Midwest floods rampage

It's dry as a bone here in the south of Iowa as May 2023 winds down, but that was distinctly not the case back in late May and early June of 1903 when devastating floods soaked a broad region of the heartland.

Lucas County's towns and villages are built for the most part on high ground and not subject to major flooding, but the headlines above from the Des Moines Register and Leader of June 1, 1903, give some idea of the problems elsewhere.

The report in The Chariton Herald of June 4, below, focused as might be expected on disruptions to rail transportation --- Chariton was a major rail hub at the time. It was published under the headline, "Destruction by Floods: Worst Damage in the History of the West Wrought by High Waters:"

+++

The rains of the past week have caused the worst floods in the history of Iowa and the west. In this immediate vicinity no great damage has resulted, but at Des Moines, Ottumwa, Kansas City, Topeka and many other points many lives have been lost and millions of dollars worth of property has been destroyed.

In Lucas county, the Chariton river and various creeks have overflowed enough to wash out bridges, drown some stock and block up highways. But that is nothing compared to what has happened around us.

On the main line of the Q at Ottumwa, the Des Moines river rose over the track between the bridge and the city, and no trains have crossed since No. 7 last Friday. It is thought that considerable of the track has been washed away, but the water has not abated sufficiently yet to find out the full extent of the damage. South Ottumwa has been inundated, and several thousand people rendered homeless. One man lost his  life in trying to save his family. The water works, the gas plant and the large factories are flooded and are shut down. The city has been shut off from all railroad connection for a week, except a few trains from the east.

The Burlington has abandoned all of its trains except 3 and 4, which run from Creston to Albia, and 9 and 10, which run from Creston to Chillicothe. All other trains have been specials and at very irregular times, running south from Burlington to K.&W. and up to Chariton from Humeston, and also by way to St. Joseph. All telegraph operating for the middle division has been done from the Chariton office. The water is still over the track at Ottumwa, but fell eight inches yesterday. No through traffic can be started before Saturday or Sunday, at the earliest.

At Des Moines, the river rose 23.5 feet, the highest ever recorded. The loss of property was very great, and the city east of the river was flooded. The new Sixth avenue bridge was washed out, and all railroad bridges were damaged so that no trains moved for several days. Six or seven persons lost their lives in the flood. The school houses and churches were thrown open for the homeless people, and an epidemic of fever and pneumonia was feared after the waters subsided, but that danger is lessening today.

A Wabash passenger train from Des Moines to St. Louis was stalled in the water on the Rock Island track north of Indianola, last Friday, and had to wait there with the engine fires out until last Tuesday, when the water subsided and the train proceeded on its way, arriving in Chariton Tuesday on its way south over the Q.

At Kansas City and Topeka the greatest damage is wrought. The railroad bridge across theMissouri went out at  Kansas City,  carrying down 20 or more engines that were on the bridge to hold it down. Seven feet of water was flowing through the union depot and the loss of life and property is appalling.

At Topeka, 34 people were drowned, and the  north half of the city was inundated. In addition to the flood, several fires broke out and destroyed many dwellings and helped to swell the death list.

20,000 people are homeless at Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kans. The river was 35 feet above ordinary level at Kansas City.

The high water was just reaching St. Louis yesterday, and immense damage may be done there and farther down the river.

Decoration Day at Oise-Aisne American Cemetery

The Washington Post published this Memorial Day-appropriate story a couple of days ago, telling of the discovery some months ago in rural France of the remains of an unknown American soldier, buried in an unmarked grave in a village cemetery for more than a century.

Plans call for a military funeral on June 7 and reburial with honors in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery some 70 miles northeast of Paris where more than 6,000 U.S. troops who died during World War I already are buried.

Lucas County is represented at Oise-Aisne by the remains of Pvt. Fred A. Culbertson, which arrived there by a somewhat complicated route.

Fred was born in Chariton during 1895 and was a football hero before graduation with the Chariton High School Class of 1914.

Drafted during 1918, he was assigned to the Veterinary Medicine Detachment of the 605th Engineers and set sail for France with his unit aboard the U.S.S. George Washington from Hoboken, New Jersey, on Sept. 30, 1918. A few days later he came down with influenza and on Oct. 9 died aboard ship of pneumonia, one of its complications.

Fred's remains were embalmed aboard ship and delivered to U.S. authorities upon arrival in France, then buried in a temporary grave. After World War II ended, the remains of U.S. troops who had died in France were gathered to be repatriated, if that was a family's wish, or reburied in newly established American cemeteries. 

Fred's survivors --- a brother and a sister --- decided during 1922 on burial in France --- at Oise-Aisne. I've written an earlier post here about Fred, accessible by following this link.

Among Fred's distinguished neighbors at Oise-Aisne is Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918), writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem entitled "Trees."

... "three final nights in vibrant Saigon"

The slickly produced brochure, shared last week by a friend, begins by inviting University of Wisconsin Alumni Association members to, "encounter Vietnam’s breathtaking natural beauty, abiding traditions, and profoundly hospitable people" on a "comprehensive 15-day journey" during January-February, 2024 (starting price, $3,495).

Among highlights --- "the beautiful, remote Mekong Delta" and the "French-accented capital, Hanoi," a "relaxing three-night interlude" at a beachfront hotel in Da Nang, a journey to Hue and cruise on the Perfume River. Then "thee final nights in vibrant Saigon."

I remember Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City) as vibrant, too --- more than 50 years on, of course; headquartered there for a year.

But I also think quite often, more than scenery, of the 58,220 U.S. troops who died in Vietnam (average age 23), the 75,000 severely disabled, those I am profoundly honored to have served with in a deadly war that had no purpose.

So the juxtaposition seems a little odd to me --- although I've certainly no objection to Vietnamese tourism efforts nor to those who wish to visit what undoubtedly is a beautiful and interesting place. 

 

+++

U.S. Army Captain Michael Davis O'Donnell (left, above), just 24, a helicopter pilot assigned to the 170th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade, shared this poem first on 2 January 1970 --- the day after he wrote it --- in a letter, datelined Pleiku, to his best friend, Marcus Sullivan, a combat engineer in Vietnam himself during 1967-68, who had made it safely home to Milwaukee.

If you are able

save a place for them

inside of you ...

and save one backward glance

when you are leaving

for the places they can

no longer go ...

Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always ...

Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own ...

And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call this war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes

you left behind ...

Less than 3 months later, on March 24, 1970, O'Donnell was killed some 14 miles inside Cambodia while attempting the rescue of a Special Forces long-range reconnaissance patrol team. Three crew members and eight patrol members died with him, blown out of the sky by a missile while lifting off.

More than two decades after Michael's death, human remains were recovered from the crash site in Cambodia and, in 1995, repatriated.

Vietnam journeys of other sorts.

I've written more extensively about O'Donnell and his poetry in an earlier Lucas Countyan post, located here: "Michael O'Donnell: A poet, a poem and Vietnam."

Remembering the fallen in Chariton back in 1892

J. A. Penick

It's a challenge to imagine, looking back from May of 2023, a time when Decoration Day weekend events could draw standing room only crowds in Chariton on not just one, but two occasions. But that was the case in 1892, when Civil War losses still were relatively fresh in the minds of many.

May 29 had been designated Memorial Sunday that year and several congregations marked the occasion in their own buildings, but First Baptist Church and First Methodist Church organized a 11 a.m. community service at the Mallory Opera House on the northwest corner of the Chariton square.

"Before the hour for opening of services, the large hall was crowded with members of the several benevolent and civic societies and citizens generally," The Herald of June 2 reported. "Many were unable to even obtain standing room. The hall was beautifully decorated with flowers, flags, and bunting draped and festooned in delicate taste and artistic contrast."

The Rev. D. Austin, of the Methodist Church, opened the service with prayer; and then after suitable hymns had been sung, the Rev. A. Jacobs, of the Baptist Church, delivered a 40-minute sermon from the next, "For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me."

+++

Decoration Day itself --- Tuesday, May 31, --- "dawned cloudy and during the entire forenoon the sky was threatening rain and even after dinner a shower was not wholly unlooked for, but notwithstanding this, profuse and beautiful decoration was made by the firms and citizens of the city," The Herald of June 2 also reported. "At 10 o'clock, the business center was well dotted with people hurrying to and fro preparing for the parade.

"About 1:30, the procession formed and several societies, marching to the sweet strains of music, proceeded to the cemetery in the following order --- Martial Band, Members of the G.A.R. Post, Woman's Relief Corps, Daughters of Veterans, Sons of Veterans, Cornet Band, Daughters of Rebecka, Odd Fellows, Ancient Order of United Workmen.

"On arriving at the cenotaph in the cemetery, a square was formed and music rendered by the choir. The exercises here were in charge of the G.A.R. Post during the process of which undivided attention was given. This being over, the veterans strewed flowers over the graves of the 37 fallen comrades who there lie beneath the sod. 

"The column was reformed and marched to the opera house where exercises were opened by music from the choir. Miss Mattie Waynick rendered an appropriate recitation, which was well received. Jas. A. Penick, Esq., addressed the  large audience and for a time held them spellbound by his ready wit and brilliant oratory. Another song was announced which closed the exercises and the celebration of Memorial Day.

"The exercises throughout were impressive and appropriate. Each succeeding year the number who  are left to relate the joys and sorrows on the battlefield will grow fewer until the last hero is laid  into the silent tomb and the G.A.R. uniform has been worn for the  last time."

+++

A highlight of Decoration Day for at least one old soldier was the address delivered by Mr. Penick, a prominent Chariton attorney and occasional state legislator sometimes described as a "silver-tongued orator" and in wide demand as a public speaker at a time when a rousing speech was widely appreciated.

The old soldier, who didn't share his name, submitted the following letter of appreciation to The Chariton Democrat, also published on June 2:

Mr. Editor --- Our last Decoration Day was one of special interest in all its features. Indeed it seemed as if this great national holiday was about to supplant the 4th of July in the hearts of the people. As the angel of death flung the shadow of his wing over almost every threshold during the war, so every hearthstone is brought in close and sympathetic touch with the beautiful ceremonies of Decoration Day.

The moistened eye of the soldiers told how vividly their grand cause and their great sacrifices were brought back to memory by the recitation of Miss Waynick and the eloquent address of Hon. J.A. Penick. It seems as if the sight of the flag of his country was all that was necessary to open the springs of the patriotic eloquence in this gifted Henry Clay of the Iowa forum.

Though but a child during the war, Shiloh and Vicksburg, Atlanta, Savannah, Gettysburg and Richmond are not empty names. In his speech the old soldier could  again smell the powder and hear the roar of great battles and the tread of heavy battalions as they shook the earth with the jar of their heavy tread.

His speech was a most perfect and condensed analysis of the political history that led to the war, and seldom has so much solid thought been condensed in so brief a space. But what touched the soldier most was the patriotic fire that lit up the whole speech and made it a vivid reproduction of the days of the war.

 Mr. Penick has not only shown his rare knowledge of the political history of the war, but has proved by his brilliant and eloquent speech, that his ear has always been in touch with the hearts of the soldiers, and they will  hold him in grateful remembrance as long as they live.

Righteous among the nations ...

The story of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds (1919-1985) has been told many times since 2015 when he was named Righteous Among the Nations, a designation from Israel's Holocaust remembrance and research center, Yad Vashem,  reserved for non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

But it seems appropriate to share it again near Memorial Day during these contentious times when the flames of hatred are being fanned again by right-wing politicians, evangelical Christians and the mindless souls they manipulate. 

Edmonds, of Knoxville, Tenn., participated in the landing of U.S. forces in Europe and was captured in the Battle of the Bulge. Held at a Nazi POW camp near Ziegenhain, Germany, he was the highest-ranking American soldier there.

When the Germans demanded that all the Jewish POWs in the camp identify themselves, Edmonds ordered all the U.S. soldiers to step forward — hundreds of them.

"We are all Jews," Edmonds reportedly said, citing the Geneva Conventions as he refused to identify any prisoners by religion. Threatened by a German officer with a pistol, Edmonds' response was, "If you shoot, you'll have to shoot us all." The officer backed down.

Four other Americans also have been named Righteous Among the Nations --- Varian Fry, a U.S. journalist who helped refugees escape from France; Waitstill and Martha Sharp, a Unitarian minister and his wife, whose work was in Czechoslovakia and southern Europe; and Louis Gunder, a Mennonite who operated an orphanage in France for the Jewish children she rescued.

The end of an era of relative peace ...

A young man from Lucas County named Carl L. Caviness (left), just 21, was killed in combat in France as Decoration Day 1918 approached, shot dead by a sniper on May 20 while on patrol.

Carl was the county's first combat death of World War I; also the first Lucas Countyan to die in combat since the Civil War had ended more than 50 years earlier --- the longest period of relative peace in Iowa history.

His death was noted with little fanfare in a short story on the front page of The Chariton Leader of May 30, as follows:

+++

Carl L. Caviness, of this county, has given up his life in battle in France, having been killed in action Monday, May 20th. His sister, Mrs. John Frazier, received a message Friday afternoon conveying the sad intelligence of his death.

When a young boy, he was a member of Company H of Chariton and was in service on the Mexican border for several months. About a year ago, he visited relatives in Chariton, after which he joined the Rainbow division in New York, sailing for France shortly afterward.

He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. David Caviness, of near Lucas, and made his home in Chariton with his sister, Mrs. John Frazier, and attended the city schools.

His death is a severe blow to his mother, who resides in Caldwell, Idaho, and to other member of the family and to his many friends. It is the sad messages from our boys in the camps and across the seas that make us realize more fully that we are at war and reminds us of our duties as citizens here to protect them in every possible way.

+++

First buried with a few others near where he fell, Carl's memory was honored during 1919 when members of Chariton's newly formed American Legion post designated themselves Carl L. Caviness Post. No. 102.

In France, the remains of U.S. troops scattered across the countryside were gathered after war's end into national cemeteries and families were offered the option of having their sons' remains repatriated to the United States.

And so on the evening of June 3, 1921, Carl's remains --- as well as those of Pvt. Henry R. Johnson --- arrived in Chariton from France. Funeral services for both were held the following day and both were buried in the Chariton Cemetery.

In all, 26 young men from Lucas County gave up their lives during World War I and losses during World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Somalia have brought the total to approximately 90.

It is their memory --- and thousands upon thousands of others across the United States --- that Memorial Day is intended to honor.

+++

If Carl's death marked the end of a long period of peace, a minor occurrence during the week his death was reported marked the end of another era in Chariton. The Leader of May 30 also reported, "The chain around the court house square, which has been used for many years as a hitch rack, is being taken away, with the exception around the northeast and southwest corners. As most of the farmers nowadays come to town in automobiles, it was thought that the amount left would be adequate for the demand. It certainly makes a wonderful improvement of the court yard as the old rack was certainly in a dilapidated condition."

Horse and buggy days were almost over.

But the brick walls were supposed to be red ....

About this time in May, 106 years ago, construction commenced on Chariton's new post office at the intersection of South Grand and Linden. The Leader of May 17. 1917,  reported it this way:

"E. L. Chubbs arrived from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, last week, and has begun the preliminary work for the erection of the federal post office building in Chariton. He is supervisor of construction for the Charles Weitz Sons, of Des Moines, who have the contract, and will remain on the grounds until the building is completed. He is a young man and has had charge of the construction of several government buildings similar of late. The tool house is now being erected and the grounds prepared, excavating done, etc."

The bit of trivia built into this reminder of that anniversary is the fact that the building, as designed, was to be faced in conventional red brick. But a community effort that included a petition drive caused a change in plan, as reported in The Herald-Patriot, also of May 17:

"Through the efforts of the Chariton Commercial Club, the architects of the new post office building have agreed to change the smooth red brick, which was to have been used in the construction of the building, to rough-faced gray brick, which is more expensive --- but is also much more satisfactory."

Although the wood trim on the post office no longer holds paint especially well, and causes those responsible for maintaining the building occasional fits, that brick has proved to be a sound investment and the post office still looks much as it did when first occupied on June 24, 1918.

Back in 2018, centennial year of its opening, I posted here a series of 10 photographs detailing its construction. If you're interested, go take a look at "Centennial: The Chariton Post Office's baby pictures."

Say "thanks" to your Pioneer Cemetery Commission

Memorial Day almost is upon us --- and that was my excuse early Monday evening for lining up these six  members of the Lucas County Pioneer Cemetery Commission at the end of their regular meeting, held at the Lucas County Historical Society Museum. These are the ladies and gentlemen who, along with four others, are responsible for the care and maintenance of 26 Lucas County cemeteries designated "pioneer."

They are (seated) Ron Christensen and Linda Jurgens and (standing from left) James Dixon Jr., Ron Ruddell, Mike Goben and Mary Ruth Pierschbacher. Other commission members are Dave Beatty, Don Brown, Michile Goben and Don Holmes.

The Pioneer Cemetery Commission was formed during 1997 after the Iowa Legislature offered the state's 99 counties the option as a way of dealing with abandoned or indifferently maintained cemeteries that were no longer in use. A pioneer cemetery currently is defined as one in which 12 or fewer burials have occurred during the last 50 years.

Counties that established commissions were authorized to levy a small tax to fund restoration and maintenance of these cemeteries, usually assuming responsibilities previously held by township trustees, and over the course of 25 years, all of Lucas County's "pioneers" have been restored.

The cemeteries range in size from a single grave (of my great-great-great-grandfather, William Clair, in Pleasant Township) to large cemeteries like Greenville in Washington Township.

There's still work to be done. This year, for example, the commission fenced Gay-Plymate Cemetery in Warren Township at the request of the owner of surrounding farm land (there are no marked graves at Gay-Plymate).

Maintenance is ongoing and commission members monitor their cemeteries and arrange for repairs to stones that deteriorate or are damaged as time passes. A current goal, once enough funding has been gathered, is to arrange for repairs to stones at Greenville, restored originally 25 years ago.

Here's the list of Lucas County's pioneer cemeteries: AME at old Cleveland, Allen, Arnold, Belinda-Swede, Brownlee, Clair-Clear, Wells-Clore, County Home, Douglas, Fletcher, Gay-Plymate, Freedom, Greenville, LaGrange, Murray, Niswender-Dillman, Parr-Wheeler, Pine Hill-Bingham,  Prather, Rosehill, Ragtown, Spring Hill, Strong, Walker-Black,  Webb-Fisher and Wren Hill.

A peaceful story hour & an inaccurate headline

I was fussing a little yesterday morning about the potential for ugliness at an afternoon drag story hour, a privately funded event held in rented quarters at the downtown Des Moines Public Library. 

Iowa's gotten quite enough bad press this year as the Legislature targeted LGBTQ+ folks, among others, and in other states similar far-right campaigns have generated a good deal of ugliness directed toward drag performers and events like the Sunday afternoon story hour.

But there seems to have been peace in the valley here. A crowd estimated at more than 200 packed the room where the event was held; those opposed to it gathered in a non-confrontational "prayer circle" outside.

The Des Moines Register published quite a long report this morning under the headline, "Crowds gather for Des Moines Public Library's first drag story hour."

The difficulty here --- the headline inaccurately implies that the story hour was a library-sponsored event. 

The Des Moines Public Library system, or any other library in the state, certainly would be within its rights to schedule a drag story hour if the decision were made to do so. But this was a privately funded event sponsored by Iowa Safe Schools with Polk County Supervisor Matt McCoy covering the bills.

The media struggle these days to overcome accusations of bias --- and actually conveying misinformation in a headline, no matter how insignificant it may seem, really is an issue. My old copy editing professor, Fr. John B. Bremner, would not be amused. I can almost hear him yelling now.

What story will Jesus read this afternoon?

I'll be watching for reports later today from downtown Des Moines as Polk County Supervisor Matt McCoy and the advocacy group Iowa Safe Schools sponsor a drag story hour at the central campus of the Des Moines Public Library.

The sponsors have rented the room, by the way; the library is not a sponsor of the event.

The story hour has been reported upon widely and, as one might expect, the shocked and appalled contingent has been busy, too. One of my social media feeds this morning, for example, included a rallying post from Moms for Liberty, an association that could hardly be described as LGBTQ+ friendly.

There's potential here for the event to turn ugly, or not. It all depends --- primarily upon the demeanor of those who disapprove.

All things being equal, I'm reasonably sure that Jesus will be there --- nothing flashy, just a little makeup and a pair of sparkly sandals.

But what will he read? Something based upon a riff from Matthew 25 perhaps.

Birdie Hughes and his sisters at New York

Why in the world would someone name a little boy "Birdy," I got to wondering the other day after happening upon the following brief account of his accidental death as published in The Chariton Herald of June 14, 1888:

+++

"Birdy Hughes, age 13 years, son of Mr. Hamilton Hughes, of Warren Tp., met with a fatal accident on last Tuesday evening. He was out in the barn lot with some horses, when one of them ran against the fence, pushing the end of the top rail past the post, striking him  on the head, crushing his skull. He died last evening and will be buried tomorrow at the New York cemetery, Wayne Co. The bereaved family have our deepest sympathy."

+++

So I looked him up on "Find a Grave" and sure enough there was the tombstone in the New York Cemetery bearing his name, spelled "Birdie."

As it turns out, however, this youngest child of Hamilton and Mary Ann Hughes had been named "Burch," the maiden name of his mother, so "Birdie" was a nickname --- but obviously the name he answered to and the name his loved ones wanted him to be remembered by. And so he is.

+++

Two older sisters joined Birdie the New York Cemetery during the next few years. 

Lillian, married to William E. Nichols, was 31 when she died in Chariton on May 16, 1893, following surgery. Her death was reported as follows in The Herald of May 18:

"Monday morning, Mrs. W.E. Nichols living 10 miles south of Chariton underwent a very severe operation in having an ovarian tumor weighing 50 pounds removed. Drs. Stanton had the operation in charge, and was assisted by Drs. Culley, Todd and Yocom. Mrs. Nichols received every possible attention in the infirmary of Dr. Stanton, but in her weak condition the shock proved too great for the emaciated body and she passed away Tuesday evening about 6 o'clock. The funeral services will be held today and interment take place at New York cemetery. She was a daughter of Hamilton Hughes, and leaves a large circle of relatives and friends to mourn her departure."

Anna died eight years later, on July 25, 1901, age 32, having outlived her first husband, Charles E. Tuttle, and survived by her second, Andrew W. Hanson, as well as a son, also Charles E. Tuttle. Her death was caused by "paralysis," The Herald of August 8 reported.

+++

After that, Hamilton and Mary Ann, now approaching 70, relocated to Kansas, where all of their surviving children --- Sarah, Richard, Frank and Riley --- now lived. Mary died in Pratt County during 1906 and Hamilton followed during 1910.

Instead of squealing like a stuck hog ....

My dad favored Hampshire hogs --- for reasons I've long forgotten after many years off the farm; in modest numbers as was the case in most of Lucas County at the time. There were two smallish farms and a mix of cattle (dairy and beef), sheep, hogs and poultry with carefully maintained and rotated fields of row crops, lots of hay and plenty of pasture.

The hogs led rather pleasant lives with plenty of opportunities to display their sometimes annoying personalities as those inevitable appointments with culinary destiny approached.

Dad followed the pasture plan and sows roamed free until giving birth in the small red-painted frame duplexes on skids that were a feature in season in the south pasture, neatly arranged in the lane connecting that pasture to the barnyard when not in use.

Now, of course, grocery-store pork --- and I prefer pork to beef or poultry --- originates for the most part in massive confinement operations where sows are imprisoned during their productive years in crates so narrow they can't turn around, pumped full of food, water and semen to generate a steady stream of piglets kept always beyond their reach before being turned into sausage themselves after about two years.

Combine this with the filth generated by thousands of confined hogs in the form of slurry and it's enough to cause one to consider becoming a vegetarian --- and I would, were I not so lazy. Besides, I really enjoy well-cured bacon and other pork products.

Anyhow, back in 2018 Californians --- among the major consumers of Iowa pork --- passed the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, also known as Proposition 12 --- legislation that would establish minimum space requirements for all farmed animals and ban the sale of pork from hogs kept in gestation crates altogether.

During October of 2022, the hog industry --- National Pork Producers Council, Farm Bureau Federation, etc. --- challenged Proposition 12 in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier this week, the court rejected that challenge.

Now representatives of the pork industry, including Iowa's U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, are squealing like stuck hogs. Grassley has proposed, I see, that the feds move to overturn the California law.

Here's another approach, proposed by Art Cullen, editor and publisher of The Storm Lake Pilot Tribune, who reminds pork producers that "Those Californians are your customers."

A return to the days when Zephyrs ruled the rails

Lucas Countyans had front-row seats during late May, 1934, when the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad introduced what became known as the Pioneer Zephyr --- the first diesel-powered streamliner in the United States and the first to enter commercial service.

The powerful trainset stopped as it rolled through Chariton on Saturday, May 19, attracting 2,000 visitors; then roared back through on Saturday, May 26, as it set a new land speed record, a breathtaking 13 hours and 5 minutes, for a trip between Denver and Chicago.

Here's how The Chariton Leader of May 22 reported the first visit:

+++

More than 2,000 persons Saturday inspected the Burlington Zephyr, new streamline flyer, during its hour stop here in the late afternoon en route to Denver, Colo.

Approximately 15 Chariton people rode from Albia to Chariton on the motor train and at one time were traveling at a speed of 90 miles per hour. Others rode from Chariton to Osceola.

The crowd at the station here was said to be the largest of any between Ottumwa and Creston.

Although it was scheduled to pass through Chariton on the way to Denver, definite information that it would stop here was not received until Friday.

While the train spent an hour at the Burlington depot to allow the large crowd to file through the two passenger coaches, the American  Legion Junior Band played a concert.

The Zephyr will pass through Chariton again between noon and 1:30 p.m. Saturday on an attempted record non-stop run from Denver to Chicago. The fire siren will be sounded 15 minutes before it is due to pass through here  in order that Lucas county residents may see the record attempt.

The actual running time in the dawn-to-dusk jaunt is expected to be about 15 hours. The average scheduled speed will approximate 70 miles per hour.

+++

And here's how The Leader of May 29 reported upon the Zephyr's return trip across the Midwest:

Hundreds of Lucas county residents, grouped along every Burlington railway crossing from Lucas east to Russell, Saturday, saw the Zephyr flash over the rails on a record-breaking nonstop run to Chicago.

The new streamlined motor train took off from Denver at 6:04 a.m. and zoomed into Chicago at 7:09 p.m. to set in 13 hours and 5 minutes a world's record.

Expecting to see the Zephyr whiz by with bullet speed, the many persons who watched it from vantage points within Chariton were disappointed as it slowed down for the constant curves that the rails follow through here. On the straight stretch between Chariton and Russell, however, the onlookers were thrilled as the train hit an estimated speed of 90 miles per hour.

The Zephyr crossed Iowa, 274 miles, in three hours and 32 minutes, averaging 73.3 miles per hour. It passed through Chariton near 3 p.m. and was at Melrose about nine minutes later and in Ottumwa at 3:43 p.m.

Between Villisca and Corning the Zephyr was traveling at 92 miles per hour, but from Osceola to Melrose dropped to an  average of 72.

Burlington employees guarded every crossing in Lucas county, and along the entire route to Chicago more than 2,000 men were posted.

A coast-to-coast reunion of Piper descendants

Janice Piper Galloway, of Pleasant Hill, California, and having celebrated 92 birthdays, gathered her family around her from coast to coast  --- literally --- this week for a reunion in Chariton, Iowa --- the town where she grew up.

Barrington, Rhode Island, represented the east coast; Cincinnati and Chicago, the middle.

Mrs. Galloway's parents were the late Bob and Ruth Piper, owners and operators of Chariton's iconic Piper's Grocery and Homemade Candies, now owned and operated by Jill Kerns.

So the agenda included a tour of the store and and of the candy-making operation.

Late Tuesday morning, the family arrived at the Lucas County Historical Society Museum to see, among other things, the vintage peanut roaster (above) and other artifacts from Piper's earlier days that have been rehomed in our pioneer store display. We still use the roaster a couple of times a year and serve the fresh-roasted result to guests at some of our events.

Later on Tuesday, the family headed for Waterloo where they intended to explore memories of the Galloway family before heading back to their respective homes.

The family party was made up of (from left) Alex McPherson, James McPherson, Donna Galloway, Janice Piper Galloway, Jim Galloway, Susan Galloway McPherson, Jack Galloway, Cory Galloway, Alex Galloway and Jeff Galloway.

Face to face with Roy Ellis at Chariton's Lake Ellis

I'm happy to report that U.S. Army Air Corps Staff Sgt. Roy Ellis, after whom Chariton's Lake Ellis is named, will be honored this summer by installation of this interpretive sign on the north shore of his lake. 

Eighty-one years have passed since the young man from Williamson gave up his life while in service to his country during World War II; eighty years have passed since the lake and its companion, Lake Morris, were named to honor Lucas County's first confirmed fatalaties of World War II.

City Manager Laura Liegois signed off on the design last week, authorizing its designer Patrick Ranfranz, to place the order. It will be shipped to Chariton upon completion.

+++

The project to recognize both Ellis and U.S. Navy Storekeeper 1st Class Lyle H. Morris, after whom Lake Morris is named, began during 2014 when Lyle's nephew, Don Evans, who lives on the Micronesian island of Yap in the southwest Pacific, teamed up with Patrick Ranfranz of Wisconsin, founder of the Missing Air Crew project, to design appropriate signage for both lakes.

The Morris family, led by Don, funded the Morris project and Ranfranz aided in research, much of which has appeared on The Lucas Countyan over the years, then took the lead in design and production. The Lake Morris sign was installed during September of 2015. Here's the link to a post about the installation.

The Lake Ellis part of the project needed separate funding in order to be realized, funding that was not available until this year.

+++

Here's how the text on the new Lake Ellis sign will read:

The Man: The name "Lake Ellis" honors the memory of U.S. Army Air Corps Staff Sgt. Roy Ellis,  son of Frank and Mary Ellis of Williamson, who was the first confirmed Lucas County fatality of World War II. Roy's parents were both immigrants from Italy who married at Attica in Marion County in 1916. The family name was Lesali, but "Ellis" was chosen because they both passed through Ellis Island on their way to new lives in the United States. Roy Graduated from Williamson High School in 1937. After graduation, he joined his father working in the nearby coal mines. Roy enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on Oct. 8, 1940, at age 20, in Ottumwa. After initial training, he was assigned to the 38th Bombardment Squadron,  30th Bombardment Group, stationed in New Orleans. By June of 1942, Roy had been assigned as a radioman to the 11th Air Force,  28th Bombardment Group, 21st Bombardment  Squadron, headquartered at Elmendorf Airfield at Anchorage.

The Plane: The B-24 Liberator was a four-engine American heavy bomber. It was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft of World War II and still holds the record as the most produced U.S. military aircraft. Often compared to the better-known B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 was a more modern design with a higher top speed, greater range and higher bomb load. The B-24 provided excellent service in a variety of roles thanks to its large payload and long range. 18,482 B-24s were built by September 1945.

The Mission: On June 11, 1942, Roy's B-24 bomber was shot down by anti-aircraft fire attacking the Japanese-held Aleutian Islands. Roy was killed in action on his first mission. The Japanese landing and occupation of Kiska and Attu, Alaska, in June 1942, were the only two invasions of the United States during the war. The mission was the first by the 11th Air Force against Kiska, Alaska, and consisted of six Liberators with Roy's plane, piloted by Jack Todd, in the lead. The planes took off from Cold Bay Airfield, landed at Umnak Airfield to load bombs and then headed to Kiska. Over Kiska, Japanese anti-aircraft fire hit the lead plane with Roy and nine others aboard. The plane exploded in midair with so much force that it jammed the bomb-bay doors on the two flanking B-24s, then crashed in pieces onto the tundra on a hillside overlooking Trout Lagoo, killing all 10 aboard. Three of the planes were able to drop their bombs, and five of six returned safely to home base. In 1949, the remains of the Todd crew were recovered on Kiska. The remains were buried together in 1949 in one grave at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery in Kansas.

+++

And here's the sign honoring Lyle Morris, installed during 2015 (the original sign also will be replaced with a duplicate this summer because of damage inflicted by vandalism).

Lake Ellis was built during 1915-1916 as the source of Chariton's water supply and Lake Morris was added during 1941-1942 to supplement it.

The lakes had no formal names until 1943, when a naming contest was held. It was Mrs. Clara Rutherford who suggested that they be named to honor the two young men who were Lucas County's first confirmed deaths during World War II --- Roy on June 11, 1942, and Lyle on Oct. 26, 1942. That was made official by a City Council resolution dated May 3, 1943.

After World War II ended, it was discovered that U.S. Army Air Corps Sgt. Andy Knapp actually had been the first Lucas Countyan to give up his life --- on or about June 2, 1942, in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, Bataan, the Philippines.

Lakes Ellis and Morris provided Chariton's water supply until quite recently, when the city joined the Rathbun Rural Water Association. The new signage is part of an ongoing project to form an action plan for the lakes' future as recreational assets for the city.

The luck of the iris ...

After a couple of indifferent seasonal performances by the Lucas County Historical Society Museum iris, they're back in full force this spring, marching along the south side of the A.J. Stephens House.

There's still a lot of work to do in that big flower bed, but the ground was too wet to work on Sunday so I crawled around among the iris for a while, and here some of them are.

These are hybrid, larger and more elaborate than our gardening ancestors would have known.

But we do have some of the old-fashioned ones, too.

One task I did accomplish on Saturday involved rooting out "naked lady" or "surprise" lilies (Lycoris squamigera) that had invaded the iris bed over the course of several years.

I do not like these lilies --- called "surprise" because the bulbs throw up lush foliage in the spring that dies back, then the flowering stalks pop up unexpectedly several weeks later. If left unattended, the bulbs reproduce enthusiastically and form a thick underground mat. Meanwhile, the foliage --- until it dies back --- shades out other plants trying to grow nearby, including iris.

So now another bushel of those bloody bulbs has been rooted out and disposed of.

In a fine Spencerian hand ....

Yes, children, there was a time in the distant past when keypads (or keyboards) did not exist and youngsters were launched into the world equipped with training in cursive handwriting. Prior to 1850, the favored form was called "copperplate." Then Platt Rogers Spencer (1800-1864) introduced the simplified "Spencerian" school, which endured until about 1920. By the time I came along, the Palmer method of penmanship was favored.

Not only was penmanship taught in public schools, but free-standing courses also were offered by specialists in the field. In Chariton, during the spring of 1868, a course taught by a Prof. Henderson was heartily endorsed by several prominent residents. Their endorsement was published as follows in The Democrat of May 2:

+++

Chirography --- Prof. Henderson has just closed his lessons to a second large class in penmanship in Chariton. The Professor has been long and favorably known among us, having taught classes in his art here every year for the last four or five years. The system which he teaches is the Spencerian, so justly celebrated for its beauty,  simplicity and adaptation to business. It is universally pronounced by experienced judges to be the best system extant. Professor H. deserves, and has met with, remarkable success among us. His methods of teaching are unsurpassed, and he himself is seldom equaled as a penman, in either the plain or ornamental branches. Great demands have been made upon him for fancy card-writing, in which he excels. We cheerfully commend him as a person in every way deserving of public patronage, feeling confident that those who gain the benefit of his instructions will never have cause to regret it.

(Signed) J.B. Custer, County Treasurer; N.B. Gardner, Clerk District Court; W.A. Nichol, Principal Chariton Public Schools; W.H. Maple, County Superintendent; Prof. A.P. Lathrop, Prof. C.C. Burr, Prof. J.W. Perry, Warren S. Dungan, D.T. Henderson.

+++

And still today, if you visit the Lucas County Courthouse and ask to see the earliest records (or consult records from that era online in digital format), you'll find page after page of deeds and wills and court transcripts painstakingly entered in huge volumes in fine Spencerian handwriting. So courses like Prof. Henderson's were not in vain.

The most destructive legislative session ever?

Here's a link this morning to a piece by Rep. Sami Scheetz (D-Cedar Rapids), an Iowa legislator I started to follow on social media during the session just completed because of what seems to me, at least, his potential for a positive political future in service to our state.

Posted last week at Iowa Starting Line, the headline "Most Harmful and Destructive Iowa Legislative Session Ever" fairly well sums it up.

It's a challenge to decide what will in long run be the most destructive act of the session, but I'll put my money on Gov. Kim Reynolds' "voucher" system, designed to enrich private schools at the expense of public education. That's going to be a difficult one to back away from when the consequences become evident in a few years.

Where did the name "Chariton" come from, then?

One of the most frequently asked questions about the Chariton River and its namesakes involves the source of the name. "Chariton" sounds French, many think. But then so does Des Moines and, truth be told, no one really knows how, why, after whom or by whom either of these two streams was named.

The most frequent explanation for the name is shared here by Dan Baker on Page 395 of his 1881 history of Lucas County:

"Chariton is a French name," Dan declares. "In a very early day, a French Indian trader by that name located a trading post on the north bank of the Missouri river, at a point where the Chariton empties into it. To this latter stream the trader gave his own name, 'Chariton,' and subsequently, when the early counties of Missouri were being defined, the one at the mouth of this river was also given the name of Chariton. This settles the query in the minds of very many citizens of the county, as to the derivation of the name of their county town."

The difficulty here --- no one ever has located a trader of any nationality named Chariton and there is no indication that any sort of trading post had been located near the mouths of the Chariton as early as the late 18th century, when the name first appears.

Yes, "mouths" of the Chariton. During the late 18th and early 19th century, two branches of the Chariton, big Chariton and little Chariton, emptied separately into the Missouri River in what now is Chariton County. Silting and channel shifts eventually reduced this to one.

Despite his elusive nature, that mythical French trader named Chariton remains among the most common explanations for the names of the river, a Missouri county and an Iowa county seat town.

+++

Quite a few years after the initial Chariton creation myth had been formed, historians got their hands on the expedition diaries of a documented French trader (and St. Louis school teacher) named Jean-Baptiste Truteau (aka Trudeau). 

Truteau (1748-1827) led a trading and exploratory expedition that departed St. Louis on the 7th of June, 1794, reached the villages of the Arikara people in present-day South Dakota the following year, and returned to St. Louis during June of 1796. In a way, he blazed part of the trail west for Lewis and Clark (that's a segment of William Clark's map above, showing "the two Charatons."

One member of his party was Joseph Chorette (aka Choret, Charet, Charette), in his early 30s, who is remembered now primarily because he was the only member of the party to die during the expedition --- on the 10th of July, 1795, somewhere along the Missouri in South Dakota.

Truteau's journal entry reads, "On the tenth of July, I unfortunately lost one of my Frenchmen, named Joseph Chorette, who was drowned while bathing alone at dusk, in the Missouri."

Once this incident came to light, those in charge of developing theories about Missouri place names shifted their allegiance from a mythical trader named Chariton to a documented trader named Chorette.

The current Wikipedia entry for Chariton River reads in part, for example, "the river is believed to have been named for Joseph Chorette, who drowned while swimming in the river as he accompanied the French Jean-Baptiste Truteau expedition up the Missouri in 1795."

That's a bit of an overstatement, there are various reasons to doubt its accuracy and I am not among those who believe.

For example, as the Truteau expedition was making its way up the lower Missouri during June of 1794 --- when Joseph Chorette still was alive and well --- Jean-Baptiste noted in his journal that his party had passed the "two Charatour rivers" and then, "the Grand River," soon after the 19th.

Remember that, at the time, two branches of the Chariton River, the big Chariton and the little Chariton, entered the Missouri River separately, and the mouth of the Grand River was just upstream.

So a name for the stream we know as Chariton, "Charatour," already was in use at that time --- and if an "r" in the original handwritten journal might have been an "n" instead, we'd have something very similar. 

This is all conjecture, of course, but there is no more reason to believe the Chariton River's name honors the memory of a drowned trader named Chorette that to believe it honors a mythical trader named Chariton.

+++

And then I've not even mentioned St. Chariton the Confessor, an obscure Christian monk who is venerated as a lesser saint by both the Eastern and Western Christian Church.

Personally, I doubt that the river was named for a person at all. Few were. But having said that, I've no more idea than the next guy about where "Chariton" actually came from.

Sailing away on the U.S.S. Chariton River

This seems to be turning into Chariton River trivia week, but that's fine. Who  knew, for example, that once upon a time there was a U.S. Navy vessel named the "U.S.S. Chariton River?" 

It was a small vessel, the name was applied 10 years after launch --- and only lasted three years --- but she was all ours for that brief and shining moment. Launched on Feb. 12, 1945, the vessel was commissioned that year as LSM(R)-407. Decommissioned in February of 1947 when transferred to the Pacific Reserve Fleet, she was recommissioned as the U.S.S. Chariton River on Oct. 1, 1955.

I've not been able to find anything to tell me why.

Three years later, now decommissioned, she was sold and converted into a barge --- a less than glorious end.

Here's the Wikipedia entry for the U.S.S. Chariton River as well as an image of her from the same source.

+++

U.S.S. Chariton River (LSM(R)-407 was an LSM(R)-401-class medium-type landing ship (LSM) built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for the Chariton River in northern Missouri and southern Iowa, she was the only U.S.  Naval vessel to bear the name.

Laid down at Charleston Navy Yard on 22 January 1945, she was launched on 12 February 1945. Among those present at the launching party were Rear Admiral Jules James, commandant of the 6th Naval District, and Mrs. J.E. Hunt, ships sponsor and wife of U.S. Navy Captain J.E. Hunt. The ship was commissioned as LSM(R)-407 on 9 May 1945 with LT (jg) Robert C. Van Vleck, USNR, commanding.

The ship saw no combat action in World War II and was placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet near Astoria, Oregon, on 10 February 1947. The ship's name was changed to the U.S.S. Chariton River on 1 October 1955. Struck from the U.S. Naval registry in 1958, the ship was sold to the Tacoma Tug & Barge Company of Tacoma, Washington, in 1960 and underwent conversion to a barge.

So, where does the Chariton River rise?

I wrote yesterday about Caleb Bolin's visit to Lucas County --- and his trip onward to visit the source of the Chariton River: Caleb Bolin & Chariton River history, legend & Lore.

What I didn't do was write about the source itself --- I was scrambling to locate a map that illustrated this and ran out of time. So here we are this morning.

If you Google "Chariton River," you'll be told that it rises in southeastern Clarke County, Lucas County's neighbor to the west. 

But that's not exactly true, and nomenclature's the culprit here --- the names assigned to streams during earliest surveys, then carried forward to today's maps.

What actually rises in Clarke County is Chariton Creek, a tributary of the Chariton River. It comes in from the west to join the river in Lucas County's Union Township near Last Chance.

The river itself rises at a point due south, in what now are farm fields west and southwest of Humeston in Wayne County's Richman Township. Chariton Creek is outlined in blue on this adaption of a DNR map of drainage patterns. The Chariton River is pink.

This map also shows White Breast Creek, both the main creek and its south branch as they join in one of the Clarke County units of Stephens State Forest, then flow united east-northeast into larger units in Lucas County.

The ridge dividing the Chariton River drainage (Missouri River) and the White Breast Creek drainage (Mississippi River) is very narrow here and the route of the Mormon Trail (sometimes called "trace") that was followed LDS pioneers from the summer of 1846 until about 1850 as they headed west to Mt. Pisgah in Union County, then onward to Council Bluffs and, eventually, Utah's Great Salt Lake valley.