Several of us gathered on the front porch of the Chariton Cemetery Shelter last evening to rehearse for the 15th annual Cemetery Heritage Tour, upcoming next Sunday afternoon. The event is sponsored by the Chariton Historic Preservation Commission --- that's Commission Chair Alyse Hunter in the foreground above listening attentively. She had just given the Shelter its annual fall cleaning.
This year's theme is "Where the Women are Strong and the Men are Good-looking" and that's Florence Heacock on the right, who will portray one of those strong women --- Rebecca Bell Plympton.
Farther down is the Rev. Dale O'Connell, who will portray the Rev. Johnston McGaughey, a pioneering 19th century Presbyterian missionary who found his rest on a pleasant hillside in southern Iowa after a distinguished career in Wyoming and the desert Southwest.
Volunteer re-enactors will tell the stories of five fascinating characters from Lucas County's past next Sunday. The program will begin at 2 p.m. Guests are asked to gather where driveways converge south of the Copeland Mausoleum in the southwest part of the cemetery. Seating will be provided and --- after the program --- refreshments served. In case of rain, the program will be held in the Cemetery Shelter.
There is a charge, $5 per ticket for adults, $2.50 for K-12, for this, the only fund-raising event of the Chariton Historic Preservation Commission. This year’s tour is being held near the new Potter’s Field marker, erected recently using proceeds from ticket sales during the 2016 heritage tour. Advance tickets are available at Piper’s, Chariton Area Chamber/Main Street, Clark’s Greenhouse, Cindy Lou’s and City Hall. Here are the stories that await telling:
Rebecca Bell Plympton (Florence Heacock). Widow of Nelson Bell, a young soldier who died during the Civil war, Rebecca single-handedly raised their son, Cyrus, going so far as to break prairie herself so that they could plant crops and scratch out a living. Later in life, age 46, she married Chester Plympton and was rewarded with a long and happy 40-year marriage.
Johnston McGaughey (Dale O'Connell). The Rev. Johnston McGaughey, a Presbyterian missionary, left the settled East Coast behind to pioneer in Wyoming Territory and then the deserts of New Mexico, where his most productive years were spent. Nearing retirement, he accepted a call to the Russell Presbyterian Church, then he and wife, Emma, spent 10 more years together in Chariton.
Margaret Stanton Larimer (Brenda Blong). Margaret, a granddaughter of Dr. James Eddington Stanton, a founder and later sole owner of the Chariton Cemetery, was among the last of Chariton’s grand ladies when she died during the 1960s. Active in all good causes in her community, she sailed with head held high through a 1940s divorce and continued her role as civic and social leader until death.
Dr. Thomas A Bown (Jesse Watkins). Lucas County’s first professionally trained veterinarian, Dr. Bown arrived in Chariton during 1889 and established a professional reputation across southern Iowa. He then turned to livestock buying and shipping and by 1910 was Iowa’s leading exporter of horses and mules to eastern markets.
Mary Crozier (Sherry Steinbach). Born into one of Chariton’s leading mercantile families, that of J.T. and Mollie Crozier, Mary partnered with her brother, Robert, to operate the family store, Crozier’s, on the southwest corner of the square until their retirement in 1974. The Crozier family home, at Crozier Corner in northeast Chariton, just celebrated its 100th anniversary with a birthday party thrown by current owners, Fred and Sherry Steinbach.
The Chariton Cemetery was founded in 1863 by Dr. Thomas E. Stanton and other private investors and continued to be operated privately until the 1920s, when it was acquired and extensively redeveloped by the city. More than 13,000 people are buried here. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic District.
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