Lifting up the kingdom ....

Jim Palmer is widely known as a Christian preacher who ended up leaving his faith behind entirely as the years passed --- a not uncommon response.

But many of the concepts incorporated in that faith resurface, now and then.

Including this approach to the "kingdom of God," which some interpret to result from faith, prayer and the like; others, including many Christians, from effort on the part of believers and non-believers alike  to follow a path set out in directives attributed to Jesus.

In one approach, the kingdom drops from heaven; on the other, it is lifted up.

The story-telling obituary of Russell's William Goltry

The interesting thing to me about this obituary, other than the life of the subject himself, is the amount of information the author has managed to pack into relatively little space.

It was published on Dec. 3, 1903, on the front page of The Chariton Herald, attributed to a Russell correspondent.

Here's the text:

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Wm. Goltry was born Sept. 4, 1826, near Tyrone, Steuben Co., New York; died at Russell, Iowa, Nov. 28, 1903, at the age of 77 years, 2 months and 24 days. When about 10 year of age, he with his parents moved to Jennings county, Indiana, where he resided until Oct. 2, 1853.

In 1846, when war was declared by the United States against the government of Mexico, he enlisted, and was in Gen. Scott's army in the assault upon the city of Vera Cruz, and all the battles that led to the capitulation of the city of Mexico.

In 1862 he again enlisted in the cause of his country, serving as 1st Lieutenant of Co. G, 34th regiment of (Iowa) volunteers.

 On Oct. 30, 1851, he was united in marriage to Cordelia, daughter of Peter and Mary Youtsey. To them were born 10 children, four of them preceding him to the grave, the remaining six being with him during his sickness.

On the second day of October, 1853, they with an ox team, started westward to make a home, locating in Lucas county, Iowa, where they have resided for 50 years --- a half century. In 1901 they removed to the town of Russell, where they have since resided.

The funeral services were held at the family residence at 10:30 a.m. December 1, 1903, after which interment was made in The Russell cemetery. For some time Mr. Goltry has been totally blind, but did not grow despondent over his condition, being able, until recently, to attend to his business affairs and always glad to visit with friends.

Thanksgiving in 1945 --- and now

 

I was struck this morning by the final line of this Thanksgiving greeting, published on Nov. 22, 1945, in Chariton's Herald-Patriot --- "(that) those who gave their lives that the true spirit of Thanksgiving in America might live on forever."

World War II had just ended: Germany surrendered on May 8; Japan, on Sept. 2. There was indeed much to be grateful for. But while most Lucas County families were celebrating, others were mourning lost young men; still others were awaiting final reports on the missing.

Looking back 78 years from Thanksgiving 2023, the dream of world peace continues to be only a dream as violence accelerates; domestically, we're more divided now than I can ever recall --- and my useful memory stretches back into the 1950s.

Here's the text of that 1945 greeting. Perhaps there's still time to learn a little from it:

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Reunited at last! Heads bowed in prayers of thanksgiving; sons and daughters returned from the wars to the warm love of a mother's aching heart --- a father's strong, silent yearning --- the eager adoration of younger brothers and sisters. Thanksgiving dinner with all its trimmings and not one vacant chair! The world at Peace! Is this not reason enough for heads to be bowed in prayer --- prayers of thankfulness for having lived in a land that escaped the ravaging hand of a deadly enemy --- a land whose brave sons and daughters fought and died that truth, humanity and righteousness might triumph over deceit, cruelty and treachery --- and today whose flag flies victoriously over a vanquished enemy. On this Thanksgiving, above all, our first since the end of a tragic and bestial war, there is much for which to be grateful --- much for which to thank the Almighty. And those of us who are fortunate enough to have our loved ones home, in our joy, let us not forget those less fortunate, whose loved once will never return --- those who gave their lives that the true spirit of Thanksgiving in America might live on forever.

Thanksgiving in Iowa Territory, 1846

Iowa still was a territory as Thanksgiving 1846 approached. (Statehood would arrive that year, but not until Dec. 28.)

In Lucas County, John and Hannah Ballard --- first settlers --- had brought their family to live in English Township during September. The Freeman Nickerson family party --- fleeing Nauvoo --- found refuge that fall, too, at Chariton Point. These were the only known residents of Lucas County that long-ago winter.

Iowa City had become the official territorial capital during 1841, replacing Burlington, but Gov. James Clarke (left) continued to make Burlington his home and it was from there that he issued his Thanksgiving proclamation:

By the Governor of the Territory of Iowa.

PROCLAMATION

Conformable to the request of many highly respectable persons belonging to the several religious denominations of the Territory, and in obedience to a venerable and generally approved of usage, I hereby name Thursday, the 26th Day of November Inst. as a day of general Thanksgiving throughout Iowa and recommend that it be celebrated by prayer, humiliation, and abstinence from secular employment.

It is meet on an occasion like the present, when as a people we are about assuming new and important responsibilities, that light and wisdom should be invoked from above. Moreover, the past year had been fruitful of blessings to our favored Territory, for which we have abundant cause to feel deeply grateful.

Thanks for our continued existence and prosperity as a community; for augmented human comforts; for health, and a bountiful yield of the necessaries of life; for the advance of learning, science and educational, for the onward march of the doctrines of christianity; for the triumph of our county's arms on the ensanguined field --- all these, and more, we are called upon to render.

The spectacle of a whole people voluntarily uniting on a particular day in a tribute of praise for the blessings they enjoy is one of the most impressive character, containing the best assurances of the durability and permanency of the liberal institutions under which we live.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and caused the Great Seal of the Territory of Iowa to be affixed, at Burlington, this sixth day of November 1846,

(Signed) James Clarke

By the Governor: Jesse Williams, Secretary of Territory

The several newspapers of the territory are requested to publish the above.

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The governor's proclamation was published in The Burlington Hawk Eye of Nov. 5, 1846. And then The Hawk Eye of Nov. 27 noted: "Today is set apart as a day of Thanksgiving throughout Iowa as well as a majority of other States.

"The Rev. Wm. Salter will deliver a discourse this day at 11 o'clock in the new meeting house on Fourth Street. As we have no doubt it will be appropriate and interesting we hope the house will be full.

"After the services a collection will be taken up in behalf of the poor."

Of course newspapers had not yet been dreamed of yet in Lucas County so we have no way of knowing if there were observances here in the Ballard or Nickerson households.

A centennial supper with Chariton Methodists

Chariton Methodists observed the centennial of their 1851 congregation in 1951 during a variety of events, including an old-fashioned sit-down supper in the church basement for some 300 parishioners and guests on the evening of Wednesday, April 25.

That's when these two wonderful images, donated recently to the Lucas County Historical Society by Lois Hutchison Schleuter, were taken.

Guests in the first image are not identified, but Lois and her parents, Esther and Otto L. "Hutch"  Hutchison, are seated to the right with their backs to the camera at the base of a pillar.

After the meal, guests were invited into an improvised church "parlor," designed by Mary Louise Hoegh among others (She would become Iowa's first lady during 1955 after Leo Hoegh was elected governor).

A program of hymns, special presentations and reminiscing followed.

More of the people in this image are identified, including (from left) Kristin Hoegh, Marvel Shore, (woman in rocking chair unidentified), Louise Leonard, Mary Louise Hoegh, Lois Hutchison, Janis Hoegh, T. Franks, Mrs. Swick and Rev. Swick. The two women at far right are not identified.

Making the world a better place ...

Here's a quote to start the week on an uplifting note from Lori Deschene, founder of Little Buddha, one of those sites I've invited at some point to stream such things into my social media feeds. 

Goodness knows there's enough to think about otherwise. The passing of Rosalyn Carter, of course. And then the Rev. Carlton D. Pearson, died on Sunday, too, at the age of 70. Pearson is widely known in some circles as a fundamentalist megachurch pastor dismissed as a heretic when he embraced universal reconciliation (aka universalism) --- the concept that godly love embraces everyone.

Today also is Transgender Day of Remembrance, set aside to remember those who have been killed for no reason other than their gender identity.

That came to mind over the weekend when I was visiting with someone who attends one of Chariton's largest fundamentalist churches where position papers crafted by congregational leadership condemning transgender people and Critical Race Theory currently are circulating.

I remember a time when fundamentalist churches focused more on winning hearts and minds for Jesus and less on the politicized cultural hotspot of the day. As a rule, I'm not sentimental about the past, but in this instance I miss the good old days.

Methodists abandon mother ship, climb to the roof

I was reminded of this cartoon from 2021 yesterday as 59 more Iowa United Methodist congregations, some quite small, jumped ship and climbed to the roofs of their buildings, eyes turned skyward, voices crying, "Dear Lord, save us from the flood of LGBTQ+ members who want to marry and be ordained as clergy."

The 59, announced Saturday after an Iowa Annual Conference special called session conducted via Zoom, join 83 congregations that disaffiliated during May for a total of 142. Albia's Trinity Church and Centerville's Faith Church left during May; Moravia's Grace Church was among the latest to depart. All Lucas and Wayne county congregations have remained with the mother ship.

The process used by these congregations to depart --- a congregational vote and agreement to pay off financial commitments --- sunsets at the end of 2023. There's no telling what will happen if more congregations decide to leave. As in many other denominations, the annual conference owns the property of its member congregations.

The whole process is sad --- on a couple of fronts. Iowa United Methodists have worked hard as the years passed to keep its small congregations afloat and I'm guessing quite a few of these smaller parishes, now independent or involved in a new affiliation, just won't make it. Owning a building is one thing; paying the bills and finding and supporting a pastor, another.

And then there are LGBTQ+ people, too, some of them adults who still want to be involved in the religious life of their communities and some of whom, younger, are being raised (generally unbeknownst) within them.

For the time being at least, no United Methodist Church can be considered a safe place --- a sad occurrence at a time when the church as a whole is becoming increasingly irrelevant. But no one wants to walk into an intrachurch squabble while in search of a place of refuge.

Truth be told, there aren't enough LGBTQ+ folks out there, even when parents, family and friends are added to the mix, to make us worth considering when crunching numbers in a big congregation.

But the following is attributed to the big guy: "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me." 

And that might be worth attending to.

Eulogy for a horse with a perfect attendance record

This is the seasonal illustration that greeted subscribers to The Humeston New Era when they opened their newspapers on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 1913, as Thanksgiving approached.

But there was sad news, too, on the front page of this edition --- a short story headlined, "Horse Dies From Fright," a eulogy to Topsy, a venerable and much-loved driving mare who had been scared to death by Charles Humeston's automobile.

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Topsy, a 16-year-old family driving mare owned by E. S. Evans, dropped dead in the shafts from fright Thursday evening. Miss Hattie Evans was driving home from her school Thursday when she met Charles Humeston in his car. The horse became frightened. The animal fell to the ground and died almost instantly.

Topsy was kept tied in the school yard, and Wednesday she became badly scared at a passing auto and broke loose. The second shock was too much for her.

Mr. Evans had owned Topsy 13 years. She started to school at an early age. She had never been tardy or missed a day because of bad weather. During the past six years, Miss Hattie had driven her to school. Topsy was a good, kind, gentle animal and will be sadly missed by Mr. Evans and his family.

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Topsy's owner was Evan S. Evans, an honored Civil War veteran, school teacher and farmer who had just recently retired due to failing health and moved his family into Humeston from a farm in the Green Bay neighborhood.

A year and a half after Topsy's death, Evan died, too --- while sitting on a bench in the yard after enjoying a hearty lunch on April 15, 1915. And thus were man and faithful horse reunited.

Chariton's venerable Fire Department banquet

So here are the particulars for this year's version of Chariton's annual Firemen's Banquet, surely one of the most venerable events of its type in the south of Iowa. As you can see, serving at Carpenters Hall will be from 4:30 until 7 p.m. Saturday; the cost, a very reasonable $10 with oysters available as an add-on.

And at left, from the Lucas County Historical Society collection, is an invitation to the first anniversary banquet, held on Dec. 4, 1878, at Mallory's Opera Hall. 

The department was organized formally on Dec. 7, 1877, in the aftermath of a fire on Oct. 29, 1877, that destroyed the first of three big buildings to stand on what we now call the Columbus School hill. Without proper organization and equipment, the residents of Chariton could do little more than stand by and watch as a source of great community pride was gutted by flames. Organization of the department filled that major hole in Chariton's defenses.

For many years, the banquet coincided more or less with the early December anniversary, but has advanced by now into November.

Files of Chariton newspapers for November and December of 1878 have been lost, so there's no telling what the menu or the price of admission for that banquet was.

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But here, from 80 years ago, is The Chariton Leader's promotional story for that year's banquet, published on Nov. 30. So we know what was on the menu --- and how much it cost: 75 cents a head.

That big Thanksgiving dinner was just a preliminary. The main bout is coming up Thursday at the Methodist church when the Chariton Volunteer Fire Department serves its 66th annual banquet to all comers.

Mrs. James Baker, who heads the staff of chefs and cooks in charge of preparations for the meal, checked over her grocery list this morning.

It included 250 chickens. The second item on the list was: Oysters --- 19 gallons."

And here are some of the others: Eight bushels of Irish potatoes, four bushels of sweet potatoes, 48 pounds of cranberries, 100 pounds of cabbage, 40 pounds of crackers, 100 pounds of sugar, 65 pounds of butter, 30 gallons of milk, 30 pounds of coffee, eight gallons of cream plus ...

... 30 gallons of ice cream.

For the city's elderly people, the banquet will begin at 4:30 p.m. The price is 75 cents.

A dance at the American Legion home will follow the banquet. 

Mrs. Smith's house of bad repute

One of the sorrows of a researcher's life is the fact that so many issues of Chariton's early newspapers are missing, including those for the opening months of 1878.

So I turned to the Weekly Pella Blade of Feb. 19, 1878, for the following report concerning Mrs. Smith, her house of bad repute and the penitent patrons who paid her fine. Sadly, no more information is available.

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And now Chariton has a sensation. A Mrs. Smith was fined for keeping a house of bad repute, and finding that her effects were about to be taken for the purpose of securing the fine assessed, said that there were a number of men who had visited her house, and a still few owed her money and she further said that if they did not "come to Limerick" she would "blow" on them, which she finally proceeded to do, and sixteen of them marched up to the Captain's office and "fessed up," and paid $8 each. They gave fictitious names, in order to avoid notoriety. We learn from the Patriot.

On the watch for monsters ...

It's seemed to me lately that some days we're having collectively what used to be called a nervous breakdown, what with one thing and another.

So it was reassuring to find this cartoon by Tara Shannon, part of her Bear & Rabbit series, in my social media feed this morning.

With it comes the reminder that there are monsters out there and in most instances its evident who they are. And they are, almost without exception, fully human.

An "unmotherly sort" from Lucas County

I came across this sad little story involving a young woman reportedly from Lucas County in The Red Oak Express of Sept. 13, 1877. Yes, there was a Lock family living in Lucas County during both 1870 and 1880, but no --- there's no way to link it to the woman and her brother, mentioned here.

Whatever the case, the hope is that there was a positive outcome for both mother and child.

The Montgomery County map is taken from the Andreas Atlas of Iowa, 1875.

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One of the Unmotherly Sort --- A prominent citizen of this place, on returning home Friday night, found an interesting looking package on his doorstep; on examination it was discovered to be nothing less than a child, some five or six weeks old, that had been left there in the absence of the family.

The proper authorities were notified, and in the morning a woman by the name of Lock, some 25 years old from appearance, was arrested on suspicion and upon investigation of the case, she was found to be the mother of the child.

According to her story, her parents live in Lucas county, and to escape disgrace she left home early in July and went to Fremont county, where the child was born. She came up on the branch road and was met, by previous arrangement, at the depot at this place, by a brother who lives in this county, some six or eight miles northeast of Red Oak. It seems to have been the brother that engineered the affair.

Taking her statement the parents knew nothing of her condition when she left home, and she was to return as if she had been on a visit to her brother during the summer.

She was finally released --- took the child, and was glad to get away.

Hooch, choctaw and the legendary Tipperary

Tipperary, that legendary coal mine and related village deep in Lucas County's Pleasant Township hills, also was command central for a leading cottage industry --- homebrew --- back in the good old days. 

Prohibition had been law of the land since 1920, but Lucas County miners (and many others) still had a thirst and there were plenty of creative cooks out there to meet that need.

The little industry also kept law enforcement busy --- raiding homes and searching the hills for homemade hooch (whiskey) and choctaw (high-octane beer) and the paraphernalia needed to produce it.

Here's a report from The Herald-Patriot of March 16, 1922, about the biggest raid to date. Note the list at the end --- I know several folks who will find the names of their ancestors there (although quite possibly misspelled).

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One of the biggest liquor raids in the history of southern Iowa was staged Friday by a band of nine local, state and federal officers when they entered and searched 18 homes in Tipperary and Olmitz, mining centers in the northwestern part of Lucas County.

The officers participating in the raid were Sheriff C.C. Lyman, Deputy Sheriff W. A. Knotts, Constable W. C. Milthorpe, Marshal T. A. Norman, County Attorney C. F. Wennerstrum, D.F. Wilson, federal prohibition agent; C. M. Hanson, state agent; H. M. Stoner, state agent; and H. C. Gibson, of the Iowa Anti-Saloon League.

Of the 18 homes raided, all but four were found to contain stores of liquor and materials for manufacturing it. The goods were all confiscated. Samples of each lot of liquor were taken for analyzing and as evidence, and the remainder was destroyed. The stills and manufacturing devices seized were brought to Chariton and stored in the county jail.

State chemists have analyzed the samples seized and report each of alcoholic content, varying from 3 to 55 per cent. As of yet, no arrests have been made. It was at first planned to issue warrants for the 14 people in whose homes liquor was found, but County Attorney C.F. Wennerstrum announced Wednesday that since the grand jury will convene almost within a week he we will dispense with preliminary hearings and lay the cases directly before the grand jury. This action will save the county the expense of preliminary hearings for each of the accused.

March 22 has been set as the date for the hearing on the goods that were confiscated, when the former owners may appear before the court and set forth their claims of possession.

In spite of the territory embraced and the number of houses marked for search, the raid was planned and carried out without a single hitch. The local officers had been contemplating it for some time, while awaiting the assistance of the state and federal agents. They had reconnoitered and laid complete plans for each detail and the outside men, veterans of dozens of such raids, were able to ferret out the hiding places of the hootch and stills until the most cleverly concealed jug was brought to light.

The day was auspicious for the officers' plans. It was the day before pay day at the mines, and the bootleggers had full stores on hand to be ready for the heavy rush of business that would come when the miners received their wages. Moreover, it was such a disagreeable day that all who were not working would be sure to be found at home.

The party of nine men set out from Chariton early in the morning in the face of a snowstorm that became nearly a blizzard in the hilly mining country. The roads were almost impassable in spots and it took nearly two hours to reach Tipperary. One car, with Officers Lyman and Stoner, remained at Olmitz, where a few homes were marked for search, but the others spent the entire day at Tipperary.

Arriving at Tipperary, the officers split into two groups to work on opposite sides of the railroad tracks. These groups proceeded as rapidly as possible from one house to another, searching and seizing, and carrying the confiscated goods back to the cars, where they were guarded from recapture by two men.

Most of the homes visited were owned by foreigners, some of them miners and others evidently without any visible means of support. One was a woman. There were Italians, Slavs, and some whose nationality defied classification. Some of them welcomed the officers with smiles, and some with curses, in broken English. Some were frightened while others appeared calm and unconcerned, sure that their liquor was hidden in a secure spot. None of them attempted to offer any resistance to the officers, some of whom were not even armed, and every one of them protested volubly that he was a law-abiding citizen and would not think of keeping liquor on his premises, much less of manufacturing it.

Ingenious hiding places were uncovered by the officers. In some cases the liquor was found in caves in the hills near the homes, and in others jugs were found hidden away in cellars and other remote spots.

After the search had been made and the damaging evidence brought to light, many were the excuses offered. It some cases, it seems, over a hundred gallons of choctaw or moonshine were kept on hand because the doctor had prescribed whiskey for a bad cold, or as a tonic. others professed ignorance of the stores and wonder as to its source.

In the homes, officers found parts of stills, but never a complete still. A coil was found here, a boiler there, and other parts in other places which, when assembled, would be a distilling outfit. But no complete still was found. The copper coil and the metal parts --- only some junk that had been lying around the house, the officers were told. But the raiders were incredulous, and the "junk" is now in the hands of the sheriff to be used as evidence.

At some homes officers reported having been offered bribes varying from $10 to $100 for leaving some of the hootch undestroyed, or for forgetting entirely that they had found any contraband.

At each home the visit of the raiders was a complete surprise. The officers worked so rapidly and systematically that those who were visited first were unable to warn the others of the raid and give them opportunity to destroy the evidence.

Aside from being the biggest in the history of the county, the raid was unique in the degree of cooperation shown between the local and outside officers. The state and federal men, with their experience in such raids, and the local officers, with their knowledge of the ground to be covered, worked together so efficiently that their net caught even more offenders than had been hoped.

The following places were raided and seizures made as noted:

1. Mrs. Wren Gailey (Tipperary): 7-1/2 gallon white moonshine whiskey, one 10-gallon copper boiler cooker with top soldered on with neck; 18 gallons choctaw found, sample taken, remainder destroyed; 80 gallons fruit and grain mash, samples taken, remainder destroyed.

2. Matt Vidas (Tipperary): 3-1/2 quarts colored moonshine whiskey found in grip; 3 gallons corn and rye mash, samples taken, remainder destroyed.

3. Dominic Vernetti (Tipperary): 35 gallons finished choctaw, samples taken, remainder destroyed; 62 gallons fruit and grain mash, samples taken, remainder destroyed.

4. Andy Doolin (Tipperary): 15 gallons colored moonshine whiskey, 1 copper coil, 1 copper-top elbow for cooker, all seized.

5. Pete Cheri (Tipperary): copper coil (been used), brand new copper coil in original box as shipped, 1 copper top for cooker, copper tubing, lead tubing, roll of sheet copper, copper spouts, 2 copper necks for cooker, 12 pieces of copper sheets; bar of solder, soldering iron, pair tin snips, mallet, copper chimney for cooker, quart bottle bond whiskey, all seized; 100 gallons of fruit and grain mash, samples taken and remainder destroyed.

6. Alex Claro (Tipperary): found in Pete Cheri home, said to be a roomer --- 2 quarts white moonshine whiskey, seized;

7. Wat Davis (Tipperary): 1 brass blow torch, 1 funnel filler, 1 rubber hose, 1 top of boiler cooker with neck soldered on, three 50-gallon empty barrels with odor of moonshine whiskey therein, all seized but the barrels.

8. Tony Kauzlich (Tipperary): 100 gallons of peach and pruine mash, sample taken and balance destroyed; 16 gallons of choctaw, sample taken and balance destroyed.

9. Pete Viero (Tipperary): 110 gallons of choctaw, samples taken and balance destroyed; 5 gallons raisin mash, destroyed.

10. August Dunovich (Tipperary): 32 gallons choctaw, samples taken and remainder destroyed.

11. Tony Gurgovich (Tipperary): 20 gallons choctaw, samples taken and balance destroyed.

12. Marko Vudkovich (Tipperary): 16 gallons choctaw, samples taken and balance destroyed.

13. Robert Brown (Olmitz): 30 gallons peach and prune mash, destroyed.

14. Levi Zimmerman (Olmitz): 30 gallon copper cooker seized.

A few lines from Dr. Caleb J. Lines

I'm a fan on several social media fronts of Dr. Caleb J. Lines, senior minister of University Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in San Diego.

So here are a few thoughts for a Sunday morning from Dr. Lines, aimed at those of us who still go to church but sometimes are asked (or wonder) why. 

The most straightforward advertisement I've seen on a sign outside a Chariton church popped up many years ago, promoting a congregation's offering to the public as "fire insurance."

That congregation's denomination (and I'm not going to tell you which one it was) has mellowed considerably as the years have passed --- and I doubt anyone there would think of posting it today.

But many churches we call "fundamentalist" continue to maintain that their paths represent the "gospel" --- or the "good news" --- a prescribed formula to avoid hellfire and damnation.

The Lines list incorporates a more accurate representation of the good news and an invitation to get on with the work of proclaiming and promoting it. Much more could be added. 

One way to do that is in collaboration with others in a progressive congregation where radical hospitality is fundamental. So there's one reason for rising up on a Sunday morning --- when you'd really rather nap --- and heading to church.

Out and about on Veterans Day

So there I was yesterday morning, jammed shoulder to shoulder just inside the Hy-Vee entrance and looking I guess a little dazed. The parking lot had been full and a big flag was waving from the boom of a fire truck parked nearby.

The goal had been to pick up a few groceries --- overlooked was the fact Hy-Vee's annual Veterans Day breakfast had been scheduled for Nov. 10 rather than Nov. 11.

This guy with a big grin spotted me and asked, "Are you a veteran?" I allowed that I was. Where did you serve: Vietnam; what did you do: it's complicated.

After turning down a free calendar and an invite to an anti-fraud seminar, the next stop was the end of the food line --- cinnamon rolls, bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy, hash browns, scrambled eggs, drink of choice. Good stuff.

Then I sat down across the table from Amy Sinclair, rural Allerton, who is our state senator. Sen. Sinclair led the charge this year for Iowa's new school voucher plan --- channeling public dollars into private education.

She has an engaging personality and a firm handshake. I introduced myself as a gay Democrat who would never under any circumstances vote for her --- but welcome to Chariton anyhow.

I may have embarrassed Earl Comstock, who was sitting there, too. I hope not. But a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do.

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The illustration here is intended to honor all of our LGBTQ+ veterans who had to fight the prejudices of their fellow countrymen in order to serve and, in many cases, die for them.

You're my heroes this Veterans Day --- and always.

And thanks, Hy-Vee, for the breakfast!

City marshal goes underground, nails a horse thief

Fort Fetterman

John H. Cole was Chariton's city marshal for 10 years, from 1878-1888, but I found this account of what probably was his most widely known exploit in The Beatrice (Nebraska) Republican of June 19, 1886.

The back story is a little garbled in the report, so in order to clarify: A Lucas County horse trader named Victor Cavallin made a deal during 1885 with another Lucas Countyan, Jim McCoy, who was anxious to move west. McCoy was to drive a team owned by Cavallin to Norfolk, Nebraska, where the horse market was hot, then sell it and forward the cash to Cavallin.

McCoy sold the team instead at Burnett, Nebraska, then held onto the cash and high-tailed it for Wyoming, coming to rest in the neighborhood of Fort Fetterman. Marshal Cole took on the case and tracked Mr. McCoy down. Here's the report:

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Fort Fetterman (Wyoming), special to the Omaha Herald: An important arrest was made at the new town of Fetterman some miles southeast of this place, Saturday, by John H. Cole, marshal of Chariton,  Ia., and Charles Trumbull, deputy sheriff of Laramie county, Wyo.

It seems that a year or so ago a team valued at $400 was stolen at Norfolk, Neb., by one Jim McCoy, who subsequently disposed of it for about that figure at Burnett, Neb. McCoy was for some four years a resident of Lucas county, Iowa, before coming west, and was well known by Officer Cole, who has served eight years as marshal of Chariton, and some three months ago the latter began to work up the case.

He soon got track of McCoy and finally traced him as far as Lusk, Wyo., where he fell in with a former pal of McCoy's, who was suspected of knowing all about the theft. Marshall Cole represented himself to be a "tough," and proceeded to work himself into the good graces of the fellow by taking in the town and getting on a tear, taking care, however, to see that the man did most of the drinking.

The result was that the officer was soon in full  possession of the entire facts about McCoy stealing the team, and also learned that he had but a day or two before gone to the new town of Fetterman. Taking Deputy Sheriff Trumbull with him, the two procured a livery team and pulled  out for Fetterman, where they arrived Saturday about noon.

Leaving the driver and team some distance from the present town of tents, the officers proceeded to skirmish around among the campers. They soon spied their man, and before he was aware of it he was in irons.

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The rest of the story?

Jim McCoy was tried for thievery in Nebraska and sentenced to two years in the state penitentiary. 

John Cole returned to his job as Chariton city marshal, but two years later --- in the fall of 1888 --- succumbed to what was described as a case of "California fever," loaded up his family and headed for Westminster in western Orange County where the remainder of his life was spent.

The Cavallin family moved on, too, but Victor remained short some $400 --- the value of the team he had entrusted to Mr. McCoy.

Pella rises from southern Iowa prairie

Image: Pella Convention & Visitors Bureau

So back in the summer of 1847, 800 or so Dutch immigrants led by Hendrik "Henry" P. Scholte, an affluent Dutch Reformed minister and leader of a secessionist faction within that denomination, arrived at the site of a town they named Pella --- just up the road and across the Red Rock Dam from Lucas County.

Today, we think of Pella in terms of tulips, Central College, Vermeer, Pella Windows, extreme neatness --- and more Reformed churches than you can shake a stick at. Those Dutch are still going strong.

About all that has to do with Lucas County is the fact that William McDermott and his family, first settlers in our Cedar Township, had settled near what became Pella first, but sold their claim to Mr. Scholte for $1,000 that long-ago summer and headed south and west to Lucas County.

Here's how Dan Baker describes McDermott's arrival in his 1881 history of Lucas County: "He (McDermott) came from Illinois and first settled near Pella, Marion county, but the Dutch were crowding too closely, and he sold his claim there for $1,000, and pushed out to a new locality. With his capital thus acquired, two yoke of cattle, a wagon, his household effects and family, he started for Monroe county, where he reached the house of Henry Harter, in August, 1847, with whom he left his family while he made a prospecting tour for a new home. He came into Lucas county, some fifteen miles distant, and he was so pleased with the country that he laid claim to one hundred and sixty acres in section 16 (Cedar Township) of its virgin soil upon which to make his future home and rear his family."

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Mr. Scholte (left) and his party had regrouped in St. Louis during the spring and early summer of 1847 after arriving in the United States and made arrangements to have cabins built on their newly acquired land in Marion County before moving there during August --- or so they thought. As it turned out, the cabins hadn't been  built and the new arrivals found themselves camped out on the prairie.

A correspondent for The Church Intelligencer visited Pella during late winter 1847-48 and a bit of his report was published as follows in The Davenport Gazette of Thursday morning, April 6, 1848:

Interesting Dutch Colony --- The Holland immigrants recently settled in Iowa have named their new settlement "Pella," from Pella beyond the Jordan, to which the early Christians fled upon the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. It is two or three months old, and numbers 800 inhabitants. Large numbers are to join them in the spring, when their Pella will suddenly become a populous prairie town.

It is a singular sight, says a correspondent of the Church Intelligencer, the velvet jackets and wooden shoes of the Puritans of the 16th Century in the midst of the prairies of the New Purchase, that stretch from the Des Moines to the Cheeaque, in Iowa. They are living in camps covered with tent cloth, or grass and bushes --- the sides barricaded with all sorts of odd-looking boxes and chests from the Netherlands.

These people are respectable and intelligent. When they took the oath of allegiance to the United States a few weeks since but two made their marks. Many of the leading men possess unusual refinement and education.

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Progress had been made a year later when the following dispatch was published in the Weekly Miners' Express, Dubuque, on Jan. 9, 1849:

PELLA --- This village, the site of the Holland settlement in Iowa, we learn presents a thriving appearance. A saw mill lately constructed by Mr. Scholte has commenced operations and cuts on an average four thousand feet of oak timber daily. It is intended to put in operation by means of the same  power several run of stone next spring.

During the coming season, a considerable body of emigrants, it is expected, will be added to their number.

Habits of industry are gathering around them the elements of comfort and wealth, and the traveler in a few years will find in the wilderness of the prairie a populous and highly cultivated district --- Holland in miniature.

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By 1851, Pella was beginning to take shape and some of the traits that still mark it were coming to the fore. Here's a final report for this morning from The Iowa Democratic Enquirer, Muscatine, of Saturday, Sept., 13 1851.

Pella: Our recent visit to this town has convinced us that the untiring industry and commendable economy of our Holland neighbors will eventually build up a town and country that for wealth, beauty and convenience will be second to none in the State of the same population and advantages. We noticed a number of substantial and ornamental improvements since our last visit a little over a year since.

The heavy crops of corn, potatoes, garden vegetables, &c, all testify that the husbandman has not been idle, and give the further assurance that industry directed by a proper knowledge of practical farming will be rewarded by a profitable yield, even through the season may have been an extraordinary one.

The comparatively good state of the roads also show that while our people have generally been grumbling about mud, mud-holes and bad roads generally, they have been industriously engaged in a sensible way in repairing them. In this particular we are sure there are many communities in this State that might learn an important lesson.

The public square in Pella, instead of being a noisome dust-hole, and a common resort for horses, cattle, sheep, hogs and other animals, is neatly enclosed with a plain fence. The inside is partly devoted to horticultural purposes and partly to shrubbery.

On the outside, and entirely surrounding the square, is a paved walk for the accommodation of pedestrians in muddy weather. The principal streets are also improved on each side with stone pavements.

We have not visited a village for a long time that has made so many valuable, substantial and ornamental improvements in the same space of time.

The traveler will find a good hotel, and an accommodation landlord at the Pella House, where he can obtain food and rest, and all the necessary accommodations to make a short stay agreeable.

That was the election that was ....

Well, I was happy to see this morning that Steve Fenton --- a former neighbor, actually since we were kids if you broaden the "south of Russell" neighborhood enough --- has been re-elected to another term on the Chariton City Council. 

Gary Shutt, a newcomer, took the other open seat --- which is fine. I voted instead for Carl Tubbs because he had previous experience as council member and mayor at his former home, Brooklyn (Iowa). 

So far as school board was concerned, Sarah Willis (incumbent), Jarid Howell and Ryan Dachenbach were the winners in a field of seven. I preferred Alesha Urich and Jamie Aulwes, but so be it.

Whatever the case, I hope Alesha, Carl and others who demonstrated commitment to their community by running in the first place won't be too discouraged --- and will stay involved.

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In general, it appears that progressive candidates dominated the field in Iowa's larger school districts --- and that's a positive.

Over at Pella, a non-binding resolution that would have encouraged City Council to wrest control of the public library from the independent board it appoints in order to assume control of book buying failed. That's encouraging, too.

The resolution grew out of an effort to ban or restrict access to Maia Kobabe's LGBTQ+ memoir "Gender Queer" at the library. The failed effort was led by an on-air personality at Pella's Christian radio station.

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Elsewhere in the country, response to Republican efforts to eliminate or restrict reproductive healthcare rights for women produced results encouraging to Democrats.

In Ohio, a ballot measure establishing a right to abortion in the State Constitution won by a double-digit margin in a decidedly conservative state; down in Kentucky, Andy Beshear, Democratic governor, won a second term after a campaign fueled by the abortion issue; and in Virginia, Democrats won control of both chambers after campaigns focused largely on abortion, too.

Election Day: Now go forth and vote

One of the things I miss about being knee-deep in old-fashioned newspaper work is the depth of knowledge I used to have about candidates in local elections. That came initially from covering countless meetings (and elected officials), then editing the work of others who did the actual leg work.

So I went to the polls for years knowing who had a broad-based concern for the best interests of the city or school district, who was a one-issue candidate with little depth and whose name belonged on the loon list.

It's more complicated now, but I think I'm ready. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. My polling place is City Hall.

If you still have general questions about the election, here's a link to the county auditor's "Lucas County, Iowa, Elections" web page. Now go forth and vote --- and make good decisions.

The tragedy of Joseph C. Hornbach's death

U.S. Army Tec. 5 Joseph C. Hornbach, 28, was another of those young men who gave up their lives while in service to their country during World War II --- but in a way that must have seemed especially tragic (and perhaps shameful) to his family: suicide.

Joseph had no connection to Lucas County --- except for the fact his death occurred aboard an east-bound Burlington Northern passenger train as it approached Chariton on July 8,1944.

Here's the text of the story reporting his death, published in The Chariton Leader of July 11:

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Joseph C. Hornbach, 28, home address unknown, took his life by hanging Saturday about 10 a.m. on an east-bound Burlington train. Coroner Brittell was called and removed the body to the Beardsley funeral home where it awaits orders from the government.

According to train companions, Hornbach, a sergeant in the Army, has been some 27 months in the Pacific area in the thick of the fighting. He had been sent back to the United States with a group of other soldiers being returned for rest. He boarded the train at Oakland, California, at 5 p.m. July 5 and was being shipped to a reconstruction camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana.

He had, according to men on the train with whom he was riding, been rather despondent. His seat companion said he went to the wash room as the train left Creston and he was found hanging from a hook with his belt tied around his neck about the time the  train came into Chariton. He had been dead, said Dr. Brittell, about 10 or 15 minutes when the train stopped at the station.

His home address is not known and instructions are being awaited as to disposition of the  body.

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Born March 16, 1916, near Yorkville in Dearborn County, Indiana, Joseph was among the six children of John F. and Helen Hornbach and at the time of his enlistment during November of 1941 at Louisville, Kentucky, was employed by the Seagram Distilling Co.

Assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 147th Infantry, at the time of his death, he would indeed have been in the "thick of the fighting" in the Pacific Theater of operations. 

Joseph's remains were returned to his family in Indiana and a funeral Mass was held at St. Martin's Church in Yorkville on July 17 --- followed by burial in the church cemetery.

Neither then nor now do we know why the young soldier decided to take his own life. We do know more about PTSD and other hazards of war that in the past have been dismissed, however, and that suicide, too, can be a fatal wound of war.

In memory of Conrad Francis McDonald

It's difficult to imagine in this day and age a time when every Lucas Countyan lived on edge --- not only because of concern about the great world war then raging but also because practically every household was related to someone in harm's way, serving in either the European or Pacific theater of operations.

So there were sighs of relief on May 8, 1945, when Germany surrendered, and more on Sept. 2, 1945, when Japan surrendered after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

But just two days later, on Sept. 4, 1945, Conrad Francis McDonald, U.S. Navy aviation radioman 3rd class, age 20, of Williamson, was killed in a plane crash "somewhere over the pacific."

Conrad's parents were my childhood barber, Francis McDonald (1903-1987), and Rosa (1904-1994), his wife. Francis worked as a barber in both Williamson and Chariton.

Conrad was born in Lucas County on April 12, 1925, and graduated from Williamson High School with the class of 1943 before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, inducted Aug. 23, 1943.

As noted Friday in a post headlined "The valor of U.S. Marine Corps PFC Franklin W. McDonald," Conrad's first-cousin, Franklin W. McDonald, had been killed in action a year earlier, on June 15, 1944; and the text that had accompanied his posthumous Silver Star Medal was published on the front page of the Chariton Leader of Sept. 18, 1945, which also reported Conrad's death.

Details of the crash that claimed Conrad's life are frustratingly scarce, but an article published in The Herald-Patriot of June 21, 1945, about his unit provides a good deal of information:

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Utility Squadron Seven is a jack-of-all trades outfit "somewhere west," a roving group which performs many tasks for the vast Pacific Fleet. Its pilots and aircrewmen fly single-engine aircraft today and twin-engine jobs tomorrow. They go early, fly long, come home late and do the same thing the next day.

Officially, Squadron VJ-7 performs these tasks, among other things: 1. Towing targets, "dragging rags" for warship gun crew practice; 2. Helping to train shore batteries in anti-aircraft fire; 3. Giving technical aid in various kinds of new developments, working with every outfit from submarines to jet-assisted aircraft; 4. Providing fighter, dive bomber and torpedo groups with gunnery facilities.

In addition, there is the Fleet Air Photographic Laboratory, now assigned to VJ-7. It is the central clearing house for combat photography for the entire Pacific air command. Its photographers fly long, over-water missions and participate in every phase of the squadron's varied duties.  Most of their work cannot be told, but one of their most important assignments is reconnaissance photography.

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Conrad's remains were not recovered. He is commemorated on Tablets of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii, and on a cenotaph in the Chariton Cemetery.

Standard time marches onward ....

Just a friendly reminder that daylight saving time ends early tomorrow (Sunday). You know how it goes: "Spring forward, fall back."

Those of us who go to church will be on the lookout for fellow parishioners who have forgotten --- and have been sitting around for an hour, waiting.

The New York Times has an article this morning that covers all the ins and outs of this time-keeping oddity. Here's the link: "Why Do We Change the Clocks, Anyway?"

Many will be able to slip behind the paywall to read it; I've "gifted" the article on my Facebook timeline for those who can't.

The valor of Marine Corps PFC Franklin W. McDonald

George and Artie McDonald, of rural Lucas, learned via telegram on July 5, 1944, that their 19-year-old son, U.S. Marine PFC Franklin W. McDonald, had been killed in action three weeks earlier --- on June 15, sometimes referred to as the Pacific D-Day.

Chief crew operator of an amphibious tractor, he had been mortally wounded while moving his vehicle onto the beach at Saipan in the Marianas as that great and costly battle against Japanese forces was launched.

Born Sept. 24, 1924, in Lucas County, Frank was a 1942 Lucas High School graduate and had enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Oct. 31, 1943.

More than a year after his death, on Sept. 18, 1945, The Chariton Leader published the citation text for the Silver Star Medal that had been awarded to him posthumously for valor on that far-away island. Here's the text:

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The Silver Star Medal has been awarded posthumously at Lucas to Frank W. McDonald, USMCR, for "conspicious gallantry and intrepidity" during the assault on Jap-held Saipan in June, 1944.

The medal was presented to Pfc. McDonald's parents, Mr. and Mrs. George W. McDonald, RFD 1, Lucas, in the name of the President for the Commandant of the Marine Corps by Major Robert S. Stone, USMCR, who commands the Marine aviation detachment at the Naval Air Station, Ottumwa.

The citation accompanying the medal set forth the Lucas Marine's bravery during the savage fighting by the Marines attempting to gain a foothold on the most formidable of the Jap fortresses in the Marianas. It said:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with the Fifth Amphibian Tractor Battalion, Fifth Amphibious Corps, Fleet Machine Force, during assault operations against enemy Japanese-held Saipan Island in the Marianas on 15 June 1944. Undaunted by the terrific opposition encountered while moving his tractor in on the beach during landing operations on D-Day, Private First Class McDonald advanced indomitably under the powerful barrage of shattering mortar fire from concealed Japanese weapons. Although mortally wounded when the enemy scored a direct hit on his vehicle, he continued to push relentlessly forward and succeeded in reaching the beach, before he collapsed and was evacuated to a hospital ship offshore where he ultimately succumbed to his wounds. His determined aggressiveness, unyielding fortitude and valiant devotion to duty in the face of extreme peril reflect the highest credit upon Private First Class McDonald and upon the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country."

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PFC McDonald's remains had been buried initially at the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Saipan, but were repatriated to the United States during late 1948. Funeral services were held on Sunday, Jan. 2, 1949, at First Nazarene Church; burial followed in the Chariton Cemetery, where his grave is marked by a simple GI tombstone.

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The text of Frank's Silver Star Medal citation was published, as noted earlier, in The Chariton Leader of Sept. 18, 1945. A separate column on the same page of that edition was headlined, "Another County Lad Apparent War Casualty." It reported the death of Conrad Francis McDonald, of Williamson, first-cousin of Franklin W. McDonald.

The dreaded finger of war has apparently struck another Lucas county home this week when word was received Monday  by Mr. and Mrs. Francis A. McDonald, Williamson, that their son, Conrad Francis McDonald, 20, aviation radio man 3-C, was missing following a plane crash in the sea somewhere in the Pacific on September 4.

Full details have not been received by the family, outside the above facts, but a full report was promised later by the navy department.

McDonald entered the service in August, 1943. He is the second serviceman in the McDonald family from this county to become a casualty. Earlier in the war his cousin, Franklin W. McDonald, was killed in action.

Outrageous. but entertaining

My blogging plans for the morning were upset by the realization that more research was required, so that set me scrambling again for the meaning of  life as reflected in the social media.

This, from Tiny Buddha, was the best I could come up with on short notice.

So enjoy yourself. Do something outrageous (but harmless). And thereby give others something to talk about. Have a great day causing trouble in a productive way.

Chariton's paving anniversaries ....

Driving across the south side of the square Sunday morning, I noticed that the last two light poles of Chariton's two-year sidewalk revolution have been placed. Although two of three pocket parks and other details remain, this two-year project in the Courthouse Square Historic District now is for the most part complete, as of Nov. 1, 2023.

Think back two years and you'll remember broken sidewalks, some in place for more than a century, street lights from the 1960s, overhead wiring and more --- now swept away. Commencing on the north side of the square and working around clockwise to the west, old sidewalk was taken away, voids under some of those sidewalks filled, new sidewalks with decorative brick, bump-outs to slow traffic and landscaping installed. And, of course the new lights.

But go back 120 years --- to Nov. 1, 1903 --- and Chariton was celebrating paving of another sort: Completion of brand new brick all around the square --- previously a dust bowl when it was dry and a mudhole when it wasn't.

The Chariton Patriot of Nov. 19 reported, "The paving on the public square has been completed and the streets are all now opened for traffic except one block on Main street, which is rapidly nearing completion.

"The opening of the square will cause our merchants to rejoice, for it is well known that business in Chariton has suffered much this fall because the farmers would not  come here to trade while they could not hitch on the square or drive up to the front doors of the stores."

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Before those bricks started going down, every street in Chariton had been dirt. City Council finally approved during the spring of 1903 the city's first paving project --- a street-width stretch of brick all around the square, two blocks of brick paving on North Main from the square to its intersection with Auburn Avenue and a block and a quarter of pavers west on Auburn to the railroad tracks.

Before authorizing the project, the city obtained a commitment from Lucas County Supervisors to spend $5,000 to expand the paving around the square --- widening the city-financed bricked surface as far inward toward the courthouse as $5,000 would take it. The gap between new brick and the old courthouse grounds was filled by extending the grounds.

The image at the top here was taken as paving --- completed during November --- commenced during August of 1903. 

That brick has long since been buried in asphalt or hauled away and replaced by concrete, but November remains a month to celebrate not only new sidewalks, but Chariton's general rise from mud to pavement, too.