Emerging from the freezer ...

The temperature outside was minus-13 when I awoke this morning, now minus-11 --- so we're emerging from the freezer here in the south of Iowa. But I've been knocked off the usual blogging schedule.

It's been colder farther north, where I lived for many years up near the Minnesota border. Up there, minus-13 isn't big news. So I should be used to it. But even there, they whimper. Including a friend who grew up in Clear Lake, North Iowa's ice cube.

So when I came downstairs yesterday morning at about 4 a.m., prepared to write, the National Weather Service report said minus-22 --- I went back upstairs, turned the electric blanket up a notch and went back to sleep.

Something similar happened this morning; didn't even bother to come downstairs; glanced at minus-13 on the phone, turned off the bedside lamp and went back to sleep. It's going to be above zero tomorrow morning and I'll no longer have that excuse.

The most inspiring sight yesterday morning was neighbor Nash Cox's vintage (think 1950s) pickup warming up in front of the house. It started right off. 

Then Tony Irving went outside and threw a pan of boiling water into the air. That was interesting --- then everyone else and his or her sister went outside and threw a pan of boiling water in the air, posted video of same and I lost interest.

Hopefully, we now can return to our regularly scheduled winter and start looking toward spring.

A little invective to get the blood circulating

Dr. Charles Fitch

I've written a number of times about the intemperate nature of John V. Faith, who founded The Chariton Democrat during 1867 and managed to drive himself (and his printing press) out of Chariton a few years later.

By all accounts John was an intelligent and talented young man who combined a fearsome temper with a lack of common sense. He eventually succeeded in making so many enemies, even among his supporters, that The Democrat no longer could survive as a business.

At the time the following was written during the spring of 1869, two newspapers were published in Chariton --- The Patriot, founded in 1857 and edited by young George Ragsdale --- a Republican newspaper; and Faith's Democrat, founded 10 years later. No issues of the early Patriot survive; most issues of The Democrat do.

The issue at hand was the medical treatment of a man named Quinn, who had died earlier in 1869 after it would seem nearly all of Chariton's medical community had been consulted, and there were five or six practicing physicians in town at the time.

After his death, some of those physicians began a long and relatively well-mannered discussion about his case in the form of a series of letters to the editors (unthinkable now), heavy on medical detail. Dr. Isaac Kneeland was the most prolific correspondent. Dr. Charles Fitch was another. He was Lucas County's senior physician, talented and revered because of his work among the pioneers that had commenced when he arrived during 1852.

Faith and Fitch became adversaries when John refused to publish one of Dr. Fitch's letters. Fitch had a considerable temper, too --- he was described this way in his 1889 obituary: "Doctor Fitch was a positive character, intense in his likes and dislikes, bitter of his hatred of those men and measures he opposed, and ever faithful to his friends."

Upon Faith's refusal to publish his letter, Dr. Fitch had taken it to young Ragsdale who --- in the highly partisan and competitive atmosphere created by the two competing newspapers --- was only too glad to share it in print. Fitch apparently also had added a few choice words about the character of Mr. Faith. Sadly, we don't have that issue of The Patriot to refer to.

But we do have Faith's reponse, published in The Democrat of April 15 under the headline, "Doc. Fitch's Progress in "Breaking Down" the Democrat" ---

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Last week we mentioned the fact that a certain Doctor had become enraged at us because we declined to publish his low and scurrilous articles in our paper and Doc. Fitch has, very properly, taken it to himself, as appears from an article of his in the Patriot. He goes on to say that we are a terrible character in more respects than one, and adds that we are "a miserable, lying, slandering thing or creature," that we edit a "nose rag," that we are a "miserable, paltry scavenger," a "miserable wretch," that our "sheet is producing an epidemic" (it looks so), that we are a "wandering profligate and drunken printer," that we have "played the part of a pimp," that we are "mean enough to cut board and wash bills," that "petit larceny is depicted in our countenance," that we have a "natural inclination to lie and slander," that we are an "hermaphrodite" or "eunuch," that we are looked upon as a "loathing, disgusting cancer," bound to "slough off," that we are an "animal," and various other pet names all in the choice, chaste language of Doc. Fitch --- which he promises to follow with something more, covering about 17 years of our life.

The editor of the Democrat must be a pretty tough character, to call out such a vomit, even from the filthy Doc Fitch. What a pity it is that it was not somebody else saying it. What a pity that Doc Fitch is so well known here, else some might believe him. In short, what a pity that Doc Fitch has not some honor, manhood or reputation of his own to give it character.

He says we contracted a board bill on first coming to Chariton, which we have never paid, but he does not say that we ever boarded or took a meal there, nor that we ever received any benefits from such a contract, and cites another instance where he says we have a board bill standing. If he will bring us a correct bill of  items, dates, &c., we will pay the "bill," if we owe any, and give him a commission besides.

But it is not now our purpose to particularize. We shall do that in the future. But we do mean to show up Doc Fitch, and we shall keep our readers posted as to his progress.

Now, Doc, you infernal old fool, we could find hundreds of Radicals (Republicans) in this county who will effect to believe part of what you say, not because you are Doc Fitch, but because we are the editor of a Democratic paper. But they know your moral character, and greatly to the loss of many of them. Why, your chum, "Brudder Wells, wid a kiss smack on your mouff," would swear to all you've said. It so happens, however, that our patrons are not all members of the Radical party, and hence will not be so likely to believe what you have said.

But you propose to give your time and influence to breaking down the Democrat do you? Well, now, you concentrated old pink of nastiness, corruption and crime, we want to see what you'll do. Let us ask, however, that you do not give us favorable recommendation nor tell our friends that we are a friend of yours; that we respect you; that we think you a decent, honest man, or that you are even capable of self-respect. If you were to do that, our fate might be considered as settled. Don't try to doctor our Democratic friends, for therein lies our greatest danger, by reason of your ignorance, bungling stupidity, and fatal results which, alas! too often follow your practice. Should all the Democrats be so unfortunate as to have to be doctored by you, there would be many more funerals and corresponding falling off in the Democratic vote.

We don't want you to be our friend, for these reasons; we pretend to have a little decency left, and you have not; we try to be honest, but you do not; we are not a notorious thief (except in your opinion), but you are; we are not a fit or natural associate for the worst vices and lewd women, but you are, long have been and will be until you even get beneath them; we have credit to get trusted, but you have not; we try to pay our honest debts, but you do not; we never have stolen anything, but you have; we dare go before a court without fear of impeachment, but you dare not; we take care of and provide for our family, but you do not for yours; our "former record" can be found, but yours cannot; we are not ashamed of ours, but you ought to be of yours. We can trace our record into "remoteness" while yours stops where it ought to begin.

Don't do it, Doc, because we have respectable associates and connections and you have not; because we are a man and you are a brute --- in short, because you are a miserable, thieving, lying, traducing humbug, a Quack, not safe to be trusted in the society of decent women, nor to be the head of a family; fit only to be the associate of those amongst whom virtue is at a discount, and where villany commands a premium; but shunned of all where virtue is prized and decency respected.

For these and many other similar reason, Doc, we do not want you to claim friendship with us; and we are convinced that most of the respectable women and the honest men in the county will approve of our taste.

In order to assist you in straightening up your "little matters" that are standing out against you" (as you say you can buy claims against us for "25 cents on the dollar") we will give you 50 cents in your paper, for every dollar of such obligations that you can produce, and thereby you may be enabled to liquidate some of your long standing drug bills, provision bills, clothing bills and many other accounts.

Now, Doc, we have only just begun. We have made general assertions, and we shall prove them upon you from time to time. You have undertaken, in a cowardly, villainous way, to injure us and our business; but without any such purpose toward you, we intend to thoroughly air your character. As for the Patriot, which so willingly became a receptacle for your vomit, we have nothing to say. To have excluded you would have been evidence of more good sense than that concern gets credit for. We'll do you justice, or, if we don't, we hope to be rode out of the county upon your filthy carcass.

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It seems likely that some had suggested after Faith's denunciation of Dr. Fitch had been published that he'd gone a little overboard. John seems to have disagreed, and followed up with the following brief item on April 22 headlined, "A Little More to Doc Fitch."

In our last paper we expressed, quite freely, our opinion of  a certain biped, known hereabouts as Doc Fitch, which expressions were called out by an article that appeared in the colored sheet, over his signature ("Colored" refers to the Patriot's support for the rights of former slaves, something the  Copperhead Democrat consistently railed against). Since writing the article, and hearing the opinions of others in regard to that individual, we must confess that we are heartily ashamed of having given him even as much consideration as we did, and if our friends will forgive us for having appeared so ignorant and so low as to notice him at all, we will promise to never do so again. We know that there is nothing to be gained in quarreling with a man whom no one respects and whose best hold is lying and blackgaurism; who is most notorious as a liar, thief and slanderer, and who if he had his just desserts would long since have been in the penitentiary. To quarrel with a man who mocks at honesty and virtue, who boasts of the indecencies that he can perpetrate in the presence of women when they cannot resent it; and who, by his brutality, drove his mother from the protection of his own roof amongst strangers --- to quarrel with such a character, we say, is a distinction that we do not crave, and this will be the last notice that we shall ever given him, unless it be to chronicle his admittance to his proper place --- the penitentiary. Now, Doc Fitch, too low, too vile, and too indecent to be even worthy a respectiable kick, go! And may the devil claim his own.

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No more was heard of this dispute thereafter. The Democrat most likely came out on the losing end --- more Lucas Countyans respected Doc Fitch than respected John Faith. During June of 1871, John closed out the Democrat, packed his press and type and headed for Osceola. He didn't last long there. Charles Fitch continued to practice in Chariton until a year or two before his death during 1889 at age 64.

Get off Chariton's streets, you swine!

Preoccupied as we are with snow and extreme cold, perhaps it’s a good time to look back to another time, spring 1869, when Chariton faced another threat --- marauding swine. 

The practice at the time for some, apparently, was to allow their hogs to range freely. Keep in mind that many families in Chariton at the time kept on their properties horses for transportation, cows to provide milk, chickens for eggs and meat --- and fattened a hog or two, too. 

Allowing the hogs to ramble when not confined was an economy measure. But one that tended to annoy neighbors who, for example, found someone’s hogs rooting around in their gardens. 

As a result, the town council during March of 1869 adopted an ordinance (at left) regarding the “running at large of swine within the corporate limits,” effective April 1, that instructed the town marshal to capture any hogs running loose and impound them. 

In order to claim their hogs, owners were required to pay a fee of 25 cents per hog plus 5 cents per day for keeping same. If no owner appeared, the marshal was instructed after three days to post a public notice describing the pig. After five more days and still no response, the marshal could sell the animal to the highest bidder, dividing the proceeds between himself and the city treasury.

The ordinance must have been effective. Democrat editor John V. Faith reported as follows in his edition of April 8 under the headline, "The Departed:"

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"Since the second day of April, our streets have presented a solemn and desolate appearance, notwithstanding the activity in ordinary business, and the presence of an unusual number of people. The feeling that something was lacking would force itself upon every one and many spots that formerly wore an aspect of life are now quiet. The mudholes and sidewalks are no longer the resting places of their former occupants.

"All this is owing to the workings of a hoggish ordinance passed by the city council and ruthlessly enforced by the heartless marshal, Jack Hall. The familiar faces of the healthy porkers are no longer visible, except at the city pound and in private stiles, and it seems that least one-half of our former population has been restrained from the privileges of our streets, gardens, dooryards and kitchens.

"For several days, the screams and sighs of the pork family were called out by the ruthless hand of the marshal, as he was enforcing this edict against the liberties of that class of the animal family vulgarly called hogs. It is all explained by the fact that we have a hog law."

Holocaust Remembrance Day

Sunday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, an occasion not widely observed in the United States, including Iowa, although it certainly should be. The date was chosen by United Nations resolution in 2005 because Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps, was liberated by Soviet forces on Jan. 27, 1945. There are other commemorations, most notably, in Israel, Yom HaShoah, this year May 1-2. Britain has observed a remembrance day on Jan. 27 since 2001.

We've all heard a good many references to the Holocaust during the Trump administration as white nationalism, xenophobia, anti Semitism, homophobia and other forms of wickedness poke their noses out from under the rocks where they've been hiding.

But some of the studies I've read suggest that factual information about the Holocaust is in short supply among Americans in general. There are relatively few holocaust deniers among the general population, studies suggest. But as much as a third of the population --- and a higher percentage of those we call Millennials (who came of age early in the 21st century) --- tend to underestimate the Holocaust's scale and to be uncertain about its causes and ramifications.

On approachable place for Iowans to begin is the Iowa Holocaust Memorial, located on the grounds of the state capitol in Des Moines. It's Web site is located here.

And here's a very brief but informative video from the British Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

But did George Washington see Jeremiah Callahan?

Interesting stuff turns up in old Lucas County newspapers, but until I pulled up the local news page of The Chariton Democrat of Jan. 21, 1869, I'd never found a potential link to our founding father, George Washington.

But there it was, dropped casually in among other news: "We have but one man  in Lucas county who ever saw General George Washington, and that is old 'Uncle Jerry Callahan' --- aged 76."

A minor claim to fame, but still ....

Jeremiah Riley Callahan is hardly a stranger. In fact, I attended Dry Flat country school with three of his great-great-great-grandchildren, the Vincent kids, and we remain friends. They descend via Mary Jane Callahan, daughter of Jeremiah R. and his wife, Harriet, who married Jacob Leamon Admire and accompanied her parents and siblings to Lucas County during 1851.

The Callahans and the Admires settled in the highlands northwest of Chariton overlooking the White Breast Creek valley near the current location of Grimes Cemetery, where all four are buried. That's Jeremiah's tombstone at the top (thank you Doris Christensen and Find a Grave). Jacob Admire was a pioneer farmer and brick-maker whose kiln was located somewhere near his farm. Jeremiah, in his late 50s when the families moved from Indiana to Iowa, farmed as best he could with a hand crippled during service in the War of 1812 and taught school on the side.

There are no other references linking Jeremiah to George Washington --- the connection even may be news to his descendants. But there's no reason to doubt it. Online sources give Jeremiah's date of birth as July 22, 1793, although his tombstone states only that he was in the 81st year of his age when he died on Oct. 31, 1873. Bath County, Virginia, is given consistently as his place of birth.

Bath is a relatively small county created in 1790 from portions of three others and located in the mountains west of the great Shenandoah Valley. It's now on the line between Virginia and West Virginia.

And George Washington certainly was alive and well --- and president --- when Jeremiah was born, not retiring to Mt. Vernon until March of 1797. He accepted the appointment as commanding general of U.S. armies during July of 1798 and served in that capacity until his death at age 67 on Dec. 14, 1799. In other words he was a healthy and active man until felled by a chill that was treated by doctors who bled him excessively, certainly contributing to if not causing his death.

Philadelphia still was the temporary U.S. capital when Washington died, but he traveled widely and often was at home --- so it is very likely that somehow, somewhere in Virginia, the young Jeremiah was taken by his parents to view the great man himself. It's unlikely we'll ever know the circumstances.

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Jeremiah probably lived in Virginia until about 1810-11, when his father and other family members moved west to Ohio. He would have been about 18 at the time. 

On the 15th of April 1812, at Chillicothe, Ohio, Jeremiah enlisted for six months of service in Capt. Henry Ulry's Company, Col. Duncan McArthur's Regiment, Ohio Militia Volunteers, and saw action in the occupation of Sandwich and the Battle of Brownstown, Canada. During the latter engagement, he was wounded when a musket exploded then captured and finally paroled. That's a tale for another day, since it involves Jeremiah's epic 50-year encounter with government bureaucracy as he attempted to prove his service and claim a pension for his injury.

After the war, Jeremiah moved to Kentucky where he married Harriet Leach, reportedly on Jan. 30, 1823. Their eldest, Mary Ann Callihan Admire, was born in Kentucky the next year, but ca. 1827 the family moved to Indiana, where they still were living when the decision was made to head west to Iowa in 1851.

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There are few additional references to Jeremiah in those early newspapers. Dan Baker, writing about his first year in Lucas County had the following to say: "During the summer (of 1854), Whitebreast township built her first school house; a little log concern situated just north of (what became) the railroad crossing on the old Osceola road a few miles west of town. Mr. Jeremiah Callahan dedicated it by teaching the first school, the writer of these sketches constitutes one of his brilliant subjects upon which to operate during the term."

Jeremiah's occupation was given as "teacher" two years later, in the 1856 state census of Whitebreast Township, but as "farmer" when the federal census was taken during both 1860 and 1870.

The Democrat of Sept. 7, 1869, gave some idea of Jeremiah's religious outlook when the following notice was published: "Old School Baptist Meeting --- There will be a meeting of the Old School Baptists at the residence of J.R. Callahan in Whitebreast township, at 11 o'clock, in the forenoon of the fourth Sunday in September."

And finally, there's the following poem, published in The Democrat of June 8, 1869, with an introduction by the editor, John V. Faith:

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The following lines have been sent us by old Uncle Jerry Callahan, aged about 76 years, and one of the oldest settlers of Lucas county. We publish them, not for their peculiar poetical merit, but more to illustrate the ideas of the past generation, and to give our young ladies of the (current) period an insight into the notions that prevailed when their mammas were girls.

As I went out one morning,

The weather being fair,

The mother and the daughter

I chanced for to hear.

The daughter talking seriously,

She did declare and vow,

"I must and will get married,

For the fit is on me now."

Mother:

O hold your tongue, dear daughter,

O hold your silly tongue,

For if that I was willing,

You know you are too young;

In olden times they'd no such thought,

Till they could weave and spin,

And to deceive a young man then,

They thought would be a sin.

Daughter:

O hush, my dearest mother,

And do not vent your spleen,

I think myself a woman,

For I am just thirteen.

There is no certain period,

And I have made a vow,

And I must and will get married,

For the fit is on me now.

Mother:

And if that I was willing,

Where would you find a man?

(Oh, then, replied the damsel:)

I am sure there is a pretty man.

He called me sugar and honey,

When milking of our cow,

And I must and will get married,

For the fit is on me now.

Mother:

Just think, my dearest daughter,

One hundred years ago,

You would be ranked as children,

As the world would know.

But times have changed and girls are raised

In idleness and pride,

It taints their morals into vice,

And all that's wrong beside.

J.R. Callahan

And so it appears that, even then, the morals of the younger generation were deteriorating.

I'll have a more complete report on Jeremiah's ongoing struggle to have his War of 1812 service recognized --- and obtain a pension --- in another post.

My Bonie Bell --- and bluebells

'Tis the morning after Burns Night here in the south of Iowa, light snow is falling and the temperature is steady at minus-3 (f). There's no leftover haggis to offer, but a poem (or song) by the master himself (24 January 1759-21 July 1796) instead. And some snapshots of bluebells I took during an outing with friends along the South Chariton down in Wayne County back in May of 2014.

The smiling Spring comes in rejoicing, 

And surly Winter grimly flies; 

Now crystal clear are the falling waters, 

And bonie blue are the sunny skies. 

Fresh o'er the mountains breaks forth the morning, 

The ev'ning gilds the ocean's swell; 

All creatures joy in the sun's returning, 

And I rejoice in my bonie Bell. 

The flowery Spring leads sunny Summer, 

The yellow Autumn presses near; 

Then in his turn comes gloomy Winter, 

Till smiling Spring again appear: 

Thus seasons dancing, life advancing, 

Old Time and Nature their changes tell; 

But never ranging, still unchanging, 

I adore my bonie Bell.

Robbie probably was referring here to a love interest and the enduring nature of the related emotion  rather than to the flower --- but spring flowers seem in order this morning. The lines reportedly date from 1791.

If you missed Burns Night, most frequently celebrated now on the anniversary of the poet's death, remember that the first observances were held by our Scots friends and forbears on the anniversary of his death in July. By that time, the snow should have melted.

Think this winter's harsh? Consider 1936

There's no doubt that Iowa is having a harsh winter --- the reading was minus-9 when I awoke and about two feet of snow covers the ground. But if it's any consolation, January and February of 1936 were worse, so bad that they're legendary.

The average state-wide temperature that winter was 12.6 degrees and the average statewide snowfall, 42.9 inches. In parts of northwest Iowa, temperatures remained below zero for 35 days running. The whole business began with a major snowstorm --- more severe in the south than north --- on Jan. 16 and just got worse.

Iowa was coal-powered at the time and the mines and miners struggled to keep up with demand. Union miners, now guaranteed weekends off, agreed to work Saturdays. Some farm families were isolated by blocked roads for up to seven weeks. 

Here are a few stories from the front page of The Chariton Leader of Feb. 11, 1936, that give an idea of conditions in the south of Iowa:

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BLIZZARD PUTS SNOW BLANKET AT 23 INCHES

Another Storm Reported on Way from Northwest as Mercury Climbs to Zero Reading

RURAL ROADS BLOCKED

Hay, Grain Supplies Being Depleted on Many Farms

Lucas county today was shaking off the effects of one of the most bitter storms in recent years and looking apprehensively to the northwest for another.

A blizzard which swept Iowa Saturday put the local snow blanket up to the 23-inch mark and sent the mercury 20 and more below zero Saturday and Sunday.

It had warmed slightly today (Tuesday), with a reading of zero reported by C.C. Burr, official statistician, at noon.

Another wave of extreme cold, accompanied by snow, was reported headed this way from the northwest today. It might or might not die before reaching this section, Mr. Burr said. The outlook, he declared, is for continued cold, however.

Rural roads throughout the county are blocked. Principal attention since the blizzard has been given to those roads which lead to mines.

Most farmers who live off main highways have reached town only by walking. The roads can be determined in some places only by their relationship to tops of fence posts.

Lucas county now has had 22 consecutive days of sub-zero weather.

Only one case of serious freezing has been reported during the period. Neither have there been any great losses of livestock, although supplies of hay are running short or have disappeared on a number of farms.

Transportation was returning to normal on highways and railroads through here today.

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BLOCKED ROAD STOPS ACTION AT ONE SHAFT

No Actual Suffering From Shortage of Coal Is Reported for Chariton

EGG SUPPLY DEPLETED

Dairymen Maintain Delivery of Milk Despite Road Conditions

Chariton is experiencing a "shovel to furnace coal situation."

While no actual suffering from a shortage of fuel has been reported, many residents have experienced anxious hours watching their supplies fall off in the face of information from dealers that neither amounts nor time of delivery for coal could be definitely promised.

Chariton fuel firms have managed to have at least one car of coal on hand during most of the past week. They have distributed their supplies in emergency allotments in order to answer as many requests as possible.

Some truckers managed to break through the snow to and from mines Monday afternoon and today. Fuel was pouring into many basements throughout the city after dark Monday.

The Central Iowa Fuel Company's No. 5 mine was idle Monday and today because of a snow-blocked road. Two crews of WPA workers were shoveling at the drifts today and it is believed that the road will be open to permit operation of the shaft Wednesday.

The company's No. 4 mine was in operation today and so was the Rock Island Improvement Co. Mine No. 3, which also was idle Monday. The railroad track leading to No. 3 was not cleared until late Monday and a snow plow was stranded in one of the heavy drifts during the afternoon, it was reported.

Unlike some other cities, Chariton is not experiencing a shortage of milk. Dairymen have been delayed in making deliveries, but have managed to make their rounds. There is, however, a shortage of eggs. One grocer said there have been no eggs received for two days.

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15 MEN MAROONED AT CENTRAL IOWA PIT ON SATURDAY

175 Miners Abandon Cars, Spend Six Hours in Reaching Home

Several employees of the Central Iowa Fuel Co. were marooned at No. 5 mine from Saturday until Monday.

The 175 miners who worked at the pit Saturday escaped being trapped there by walking from the shaft to Williamson. Chariton men who left the mine at 3 p.m. did not reach their homes until six hours later (once in Williamson, railroad tracks were clear into Chariton for the miners who lived here).

About 15 men, bosses and office workers spent Saturday night at the mine. Several of them walked to Williamson Sunday while others remained until Monday.

Frozen faces and hands were experienced by the miners who made their way through the peak of Saturday's blizzard to Williamson. They started in cars but were forced to continue the journey on foot when about a mile from the shaft. One aged man collapsed during the three-mile trek to town and had to be carried, it was reported. Most of the men wrapped towels around their faces to lessen the bite of the bitter gale.

Those who remained at the shaft Saturday night had plenty of food and kept warm in the company office, it was said. Members of their group who made their way to Williamson Sunday said most of the cars in the caravan abandoned by the miners had two or three flat tires.

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HELP PLOW

A snow plow was taking second place in a battle with drifts two miles north of Chariton on Highway 14 Sunday morning. Drifts for three-fourths of a mile were so high that the plow wore out a set of chains attempting to hack through them.

Clearing the road was essential, since it leads to one of Chariton's coal sources, Mine No. 4 of the Central Iowa Fuel Co.

Youths from the Chariton CCC camp answered an emergency call for aid. One hundred and twenty of them attacked the drifts with shovels and in three hours the plow was able to continue work.

When the highway was open, the CCC workers went on to the mine where they loaded their trucks with coal. the camp fuel supply was almost depleted at the time. No casualties from the subo-zero weather were reported.

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One of the most harrowing trips during that weekend blizzard had been made by Lt. Marian G. Ferguson, his wife, Ruth, and their two-month-old daughter, Suzanna, a six-hour marathon from Corydon to Chariton.

Marian Ferguson had arrived in Lucas County two years earlier as commander of the CCC Camp in east Chariton. He met Ruth Van Dyke, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Van Dyke, and they were married during February of 1935 and moved into one of the new apartments over the Ritz Theater. During June of 1935, the Fergusons were transferred to Hampton, where he opened a new CCC camp, and then to the Clarion camp, where he was stationed that winter.

During early February, 1936, the Fergusons had made a quick trip to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, to introduce their two-month-old daughter, Suzanna, to her paternal grandparents. While there, an emergency message resched Lt. Ferguson, telling him that fuel and food supplies at the Clarion CCC camp were nearly exhausted and that he needed to return as soon as possible.

So that was the reason why this young family was out in the storm --- Lt. Ferguson had planned to drop his wife and daughter off at her parents' home in Chariton, then make his way north to Clarion. The trip went fairly well until they reached Corydon. Here's part of the account from the Feb. 11 Leader describing events of the next six hours:

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Leaving spring-like Arkansas at 1 p.m. Saturday, (the Fergusons) did not reach Chariton until 8 a.m. Sunday. Amost a third of the 19 hours they spent trying to cover the 18 miles between Chariton and Corydon.

Arriving in Corydon about 2 a.m. Sunday, they found the shortest route, Highway 14, impassable. So they drove to Humeston, also in Wayne county, hoping to find Highway 65 to Lucas open. It wasn't.

Again they drove to Corydon. There still were no plows operating. The mad see-saw continued as the trio made its second journey to Humeston. Fate seemed to smile on them as a snow plow was journeying out on Highway 65. They followed, but only for two miles, as the plow turned back again. Hoping to find a route through Leon, they again went toward Corydon. The road to Leon was blocked.

Mr. Ferguson then enlarged his field, driving to Centerville, in Appanoose county. There they fell in behind a plow headed toward Albia and followed it all the way to the Monroe County seat. Arriving there, they learned from the operator that he should have stopped at the Appanoose-Monroe county line but had continued in order that the Fergusons might not be marooned.

They turned their car into a snow plow for the trip from Albia to Chariton. Frequently the lieutenant had to push as Mrs. Ferguson drove.

Chariton and the homeless in winter 1922 --- & now

Representatives of Lucas County's Interchurch Council are headed for Des Moines today to visit with staff members of a homeless shelter there, hoping to develop a working partnership that will provide a more organized way to assist the homeless here --- and homelessness is an issue in Chariton just as it is in cities large and small across Iowa although many of us are not especially aware of it.

The Interchurch Council, however, serves on the frontline --- as it does in feeding the hungry through the Ministry Center food bank.

Visiting with the Rev. Fred Steinbach after Compline prayers last evening at St. Andrew's Church, I mentioned that I'd happened upon an article published in The Chariton Leader on April 23, 1922, that gave some idea of the scale of homelessness in Chariton a century ago and the way the city had dealt with it then. So here it is.

The shelter that year was the fire station, located as the map above shows on the current location of our current city hall and fire station, built in 1931 with later additions. The fire station at that time was a single-front two-story brick building. The second floor had been intended originally to serve as city hall, but city offices had been moved to rental quarters elsewhere and the somewhat dilapidated second story of the building was available, along with the fire station below, to offer shelter.

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TRAMP HOTEL CLOSES SEASON

Guests at Fire Station Notified to Move on as Weather Warms Up

The Chariton Leader, April 13, 1922

Last week a sign was posted in the fire station notifying the lodgers that the season was closed and suggesting that the guests be on the move and seeking employment or support in other parts. The guests of the Hotel de Tramp immediately acted upon the suggestion, as there was little packing to be done.

Since last fall the fire station has furnished quarters for the wandering unemployed gentry. As many as twenty-five were taken care of at times and it is probable that the number averaged twenty a night during the winter season. On the basis of a 120-day season and an average of twenty a day that would mean that the city fire station housed in the neighborhood of 2,200 during the winter. Most of these 2,200 probably sought assistance from the citizens, either at the back door for a hand-out or on the street where the appeal, "Mister, can't you stake me the price of a breakfast" was heard with considerable frequency. As the season progressed there was a noticeable difference in the attitude of the station guests. Early in the season a refusal to help was frequently accepted with surliness. The longer they stayed the more polite they became.

The newspaper offices came in for the nightly visits of the wandering guests. They came in flocks for old papers on which to sleep. Some asked for something to "flop on." Others asked for "Harding blankets."

The fire station furnished fairly comfortable quarters for these men. There was a place to sleep, and plenty of hot water for bathing, shaving and laundering of clothes. Most of these men presented a fairly clean appearance which would seem to disprove the accepted notion that tramps have a dislike for cleanliness. It is said that one night there was a big wash hanging on the fire trucks to dry while the owners of the wearing apparel slept. An alarm of fire was turned in during the night and a mad scramble ensued to rescue the wearing apparel.

Some of the lodgers spent the winter here, it is said, but the majority of them were transients who spent only a night or two in our midst.

Dan Baker takes us back to Lucas County in 1854

This image is a segment of the J.H. Colton & Co. 1855 map of Iowa. The full map is shown at the end of this post. A higher resolution version of the map can be located online by anyone interested.

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Daniel M. Baker was a lad of 11 and second-eldest of Walker W. and Eliza Jane Baker's 15 children when the senior members of that vast family rolled into Lucas County during the fall of 1853 and settled on a prairie farm atop the White Breast Creek hills in Whitebreast Township west of Chariton.

Just shy of 20 years later, Dan was named editor of The Chariton Leader, which arose on April 27, 1872,  from the ashes of John V. Faith's Democrat. Mr. Faith, a gentleman of considerable talent but with a cantankerous nature and no humor, had worn out his welcome in Lucas County and headed for Osceola with printing press, cases of type and family in tow.

At some point during The Leader's first two years, Dan wrote the following memoir of his first full year in Lucas County, 1854, his own memories augmented no doubt by stories he had heard from others and a little research. Surviving files of The Leader do not commence until August of 1874, so this little piece would have vanished had a copy of the issue in which it appears not fallen into the hands of a much later Leader editor, who republished the history and a few local items in his edition of April 13, 1922.

Baker remained at the helm of The Leader until April of 1881, when he sold his interest in the newspaper to devote full attention to editing, promoting and writing the local history section of Lucas County's definitive history, dated that year and published by the State Historical Company, Des Moines. Two years later, Dan and his family moved to Santa Ana, California, and he picked up his newspaper career there and earned a reputation as one of southern California's leading print crusaders.

Here's the text of what remains the earliest surviving example of his history-related writing:

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As the geologists say, let us give a scenic description of the country at the time we reached it.

The western part of the county was still a wilderness. From the beautiful prairie where we located, we could see, far to the southwest, the cabins of Jacob Burley and the Powers. Away to the west could be seen the little log house of Wm. Quinn, on the county line --- other cabins at intervals occasionally gladdened the eye of the traveler, but were few and far between.

The prairie grass was generally long and heavily matted, and was well calculated to cut out pants and boots in a short time; accordingly, many of the settlers had adopted the novel, yet economical, plan of "foxing" the forepart of their pants with buckskin or bed ticking, which afforded a good protection for them.

Game abounded in great quantities, and the game trails were as numerous then as were the paths and highways traversed by man.

Snakes formed one of the objectionable features of the country, and especially rattlesnakes, which were exceedingly abundant, and it was generally remarked that it was unsafe to start across the prairie without first sending a messenger ahead to snake out the road, which usually meant to kill the venomous portion of the original tempters, so that a moderate degree of safety on the trip could be assured to the cautious traveler. 

Many were the prodigious snake stories repeated to newcomers by the early settlers, who had probably told them so often that they at least believed them themselves. And it was truly amusing to see the huge google eyes of a backwards Hoosier protrude from his head with amazement when some waggish settler would quietly inform him that killing and piling up two cords of snakes before breakfast was considered a fair morning's job, especially if the season was favorable.

Hunting was both a luxury and a necessity; Sunday hunting constituting the luxury. And many are the good, honest and sincere Christians of the present day who piously devote  their Sabbaths now to searching for the ways of peace, who then spent their time just as industriously in hunting for deer on Sunday, and were probably just as successful in their researches then as now.

Chariton was small, but Ed Culbertson had finished up and opened out in good style the hotel now known as the Chariton House (later known as the St. John House, located east of the alley on the south side of the square).

Times were good, and the town and county were completely overrun with strangers in search of land. Gold and silver were abundant. the land office refused to take any other kind of money, hence all the newcomers were careful to provide themselves with a legal tender that moth could not eat and that bore on its face evidence of its worth. Dry goods and groceries were high, everything being hauled from Burlington or Keokuk in wagons at from $1.50 to $2.00 per hundred, the trip occupying from twelve to eighteen days, according to the condition of the roads. (Note: The federal land office serving the southern district of Iowa moved from Fairfield to Chariton during February of 1853.)

The first survey of the B. & M.R.R. (Burlington & Missouri River Railroad) was made in October, 1853, and of course the people felt considerable elated at the happy prospect of so great a blessing (the railroad was not built until 1867).

Emigration continued the whole winter of 1853-54, the roads being in splendid condition and the weather mild. The hardy emigrants could be seen wending their way westward, with stovepipes stuck out at the top of their wagons, as comfortable as could be wished for.

The spring of 1854 was very forward and beautiful, and plowing began in February, while most of the small grain was sowed before March had passed.

The April election, as usual, came around, there being but two officers to elect. Mr. Ed Temple was the democratic candidate for school fund commissioner and Mr. James Hall, candidate for prosecuting attorney, to fill a vacancy, probably --- both were democrats and no opposition was made by the Whigs to their election. They were somewhat disheartened over the previous democratic victories of the August election, and were doubtless gathering strength for the next August contest. Of course, both gentlemen were elected.

Mr. Ed A. Temple still lives in Chariton and occupies the responsible position of cashier of the First National Bank of this place.

Mr. James Hall many years ago removed with his family to the state of Minnesota, where he has since held the responsible position of district judge, and at last accounts was still in that state practicing his profession.

Mr. J.E. McClurg was chosen by the good people of Liberty township as the successor in the justice's chair to Mr. J.B. Custer, who had moved away. McClurg was every way fitted for the position. Of rather a wild and turbulent nature himself, he was peculiarly adapted, from his original ideas of law and legal formalities, to fill the seat of justice with honor to his constituents. He totally disregarded all the simple, little legal technicalities that had hitherto obstructed the pathway of his predecessor and adopted a code of his own. Desiring to make out a deed for a tract of land he gave a description of it by "commencing at Mumford's corner; thence north, east, etc., back to said Mumford's corner." With the assistance of a few plat books, the county surveyor and all the neighbors, the purchaser after some difficulty was enabled to find his land. McClurg, living not far from the Marion county line, was one day called upon by a party residing in Marion to come over and officiate at a marriage ceremony in that county. He promptly responded and with his usual spirit of courtesy and accommodation went over and united the loving souls in the bonds of bliss. Not till it was intimated to him that there was some danger of prosecution being commenced for the offense, did it occur to this modern solon that he had transcended his authority by going out of the county to perform a marriage ceremony. McClurg cooly told them "they could all go to ---- if they didn't like it," and so the affair ended.

Substantial improvements began to appear the present year (1854) throughout the county. A steam sawmill was built at Newbern by Mr. I.C. Cain and others. A man named Shed also put up one on the spot where the brewery now stands and another one was erected near Freedom.

During the summer, Whitebreast township built her first school house; a little log concern situated just north of (what became) the railroad crossing on the old Osceola road a few miles west of town. Mr. Jeremiah Callahan dedicated it by teaching the first school, the writer of these sketches constitutes one of his brilliant subjects upon which to operate during the term.

James Baker, another attorney, located in Chariton during this year; also Honest John Edwards, of national fame, made his appearance in Chariton and was admitted as a practioner at the Lucas county bar at the November term of court.

The tax list of 1854 for county purposes was $2,158; for state, $552; for school, $331, the levy not varying but little from previous years.

Crops were unusually good, and the farmers' corn pens, which were substituted for cribs, groaned beneath their load a grain. With a beautiful fall and serene commencement of winter, the year 1854 quietly disappeared, leaving a memory of its past to be written on the tablets of time.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. & Chariton, 1963

Some of the commentary yesterday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, focused on what sometimes is called the "whitewashing" of Dr. King's memory and message. In other words, the tendency, especially among white folks, to focus on peace and love while downplaying the then-radical nature of his calls to action and the fight for equality.

That tendency in turn gives those who would have despised Dr. King 50 years ago --- including our current president and Iowa's own Steve King --- permission to invoke his memory with a feel-good quote or two (although Steve King's 2019 Twitter quote apparently wasn't a quote at all).

So I got to wondering how Dr. King had been covered in Chariton newspapers during the 1950s and 1960s, then took to the searchable digital archives to see if I could find out. These search engines are far from fool-proof, but the answer seems to be --- hardly at all. That's not surprising, considering the nature of weekly newspapers and the somewhat insular nature of places like Chariton.

I did find an interesting series of letters to the editor published in early November 1963, however --- written after a long and decisive summer: John F. Kennedy's landmark civil rights speech and call for legislation on June 11 (the same day Alabama Gov. George W. Wallace made his "stand in the schoolhouse door" in Tuscaloosa); the June 12 assassination of Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi; the massive Aug. 28 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; and the Sept. 15 bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four young girls.

The first of the letters was published in The Herald Patriot of Nov. 7, written by the Rev. W. LaRoy Anderson (1919-1995), then pastor of the Chariton Bible Church --- a fundamentalist congregation that no longer exists although its building still stands at the intersection of Roland Avenue and North 15th Street. Here's the text.

Dear Mr. Editor,

In recent issues of our local papers, articles pertaining to the civil rights of the Negro race have been presented from the angle of the present day incidents of violence and abuse.

I as an American citizen am for the Negro people having good schools, churches, training and employment that they can and will qualify for filling. However, there is a picture behind the scenes that we must face in looking over the past history, how much has been gained by mob violence? More can be accomplished by calm, clear-headed reasoning and planning.

The leader of much of this internal strife is Dr. Martin Luther King, a Negro and Pro-communist. He is president of the Southern Leadership Conference. He has 60 communist front citations, as documented by Karl Prussion, ex-FBI counterspy for 22 years, who says, "King is a member of more communist front organizations than any communist in the U.S." (Coped from the Sawdust Trail, Oct. 27, 1963, issue.)

God help us to be loyal citizens of our beloved land and not be swayed in thought or action by one who has been proved to be affiliated with the enemy of not only Democracy of America but of the Eternal God.

We as a nation have been blessed of the Living God, who created the universe, and by his help we have been a land of freedom and a haven from the tyranny of persecutions of other lands. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and ALL the nations that forget God." (Psalm 9:17)

Most sincerely yours for the upholding of Constitutional Americanism and for the counteracting of Godless Communism."

Rev. W. LaRoy Anderson, Pastor

Chariton Bible Church

Chariton, Iowa

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A second letter in a similar vein was published in The Leader of Nov. 12, this one written by a layman who, unlike the Rev. Mr. Anderson, was not a public figure. It contained a more direct suggestion that Chariton's newspaper editors (Brace Owings of The Herald-Patriot and John Baldridge of the Leader) were King sympathizers and a longer and more detailed list of the alleged subversives with whom Dr. King was supposedly affiliated. 

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A response was published in The Herald-Patriot of Nov. 14, written by Ronald E. Roberts, a Chariton native and graduate of both Graceland College and Drake University who was working on his master's degree that fall at the University of Louisiana, Baton Rouge. He would join the University of Northern Iowa faculty in 1969, teach there until retirement in 2001 and write extensively about, among other topics, the coal mining industry in and around his hometown, Lucas. Here's the text of his letter:

To the Editor

I recently read a letter in the Open Forum that disturbed me greatly. The Rev. LaRoy Anderson took it upon himself to call Dr. Martin Luther King a "pro-communist" and communist."

I trust the reverend informed the proper authorities of his great discovery. It is strange that Dr. King has been cleared by 1. federal courts, 2. the FBI and 3. the United States Justice Department. Obviously, Anderson knows more than these agencies, as he reads "The Sawdust Trail," a combination fundamentalist-John Birch type publication. Dr. King is perhaps one of the greatest Christian activists in the county today. He sees discrimination, prejudice and centuries of violence committed against his people and attempts to solve these problems even if it means confinement in Southern prisons.

It is indeed unfortunate that our "christian" churches have not taken a stronger stand on civil rights. It seems obvious to me that a man should have the right to vote, to live where he pleases, or to sit down at a lunch counter regardless of the amount of pigmentation in his skin. Unfortunately others disagree with this.

I picked up a southern newspaper last night which accused President Kennedy of being a "card carrying communist." It went on to say that he was "stirring up the negroes."

I have lived in the deep south for over a year now and have learned to expect stupid and irresponsible statements from the wild eyed segregationists. I hardly expected to hear the same thing from the state and county in which I was raised.

I intend to participate in every civil rights movement that I can at the risk of being called irresponsible names by irresponsible people.

Sincerely,

Ronald E. Roberts

Louisiana State University

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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The Sawdust Trail was a publication, popular among Midwest fundamentalists of the day, issued by the Billy Sunday Memorial Tabernacle (now Morningside Bible Church) in Sioux City.

After this brief exchange, there are a few scattered references to Dr. King in Chariton newspapers during the balance of the 1960s, but nothing that gives any idea how Lucas Countyans were responding to news of the civil rights movement.

It's generally thought that Dr. King had a disapproval rating of roughly 75 percent among white Americans during his lifetime. That disapproval rating might have edged a little higher in Lucas County, I'm guessing --- and I'll bet that if you poked and prodded a little it still would be able to find folks here who consider this towering human rights pioneer nothing more than a communist troublemaker.

Glory ...

Such a dumb kid back then --- on the 4th of April 1968, when Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis.  A product of Lucas County's white ghetto, undergraduate senior at the University of Iowa, worried about the draft.

Not that long before, I'd gotten to know --- for the first time --- people who weren't the same color as me.

It would take a war and years after that before Dr. King's legacy began truly to penetrate my thick head and fuzzy understanding of American history and the society it had generated. And to realize that the potential of his dream had not been realized and that the road ahead would be a long one, as it still is.

I've been listening this morning to performances "Glory" --- John Legend's and Common's Academy Award-winning theme from "Selma." Here is one version of it --- recorded during the awards ceremony:

Happy birthday P.E.O. & a nod to Mary D. Smith, too

Doris Christensen/Find a Grave

Monday will be the 150 anniversary of the P.E.O. Sisterhood --- represented in Chariton by Chapters N and O.S. --- organized on Jan. 21, 1869, by seven young women on the campus of Iowa Wesleyan University, Mount Pleasant. So happy birthday!

Chariton's Chapter N came along when P.E.O. was 18 years old, on Feb. 19, 1887, at the home of Gertrude Aughey (Gertrude Aughey Stanton after her marriage to Dr. John H. Stanton).

According to a report in The Chariton Herald of Oct. 28, 1908, the eight charter chapter members were Lulu Smith Copeland, Jessie Millisac Leipsey, Clara Hollinger Culbertson, Laura Putnam Couch, Gertrude Aughey Stanton, Zora Stewart Harper, Rose Freel Muehe and Mollie Freel.

According to The Herald, "The local chapter grew out of an idea conceived by Miss Aughey while visiting her friends in Albia. She was pleased with the P.E.O. chapter and its work in that city and came home with the determination to interest some of her associates in a similar organization, her primary motive being to benefit the town by way of improvements, etc. Three young ladies, members of the Albia chapter, came to this city on the date above mentioned, and in the afternoon, the Chariton girls met at the home of Rev. Aughey, then pastor of the Presbyterian church, and effected the order which has enjoyed such prosperity in the last sixteen years and now numbers nearly one hundred members."

The Herald of 20 years earlier had carried news of the chapter's organization in its edition March 17, 1887, reporting in terms that seem now to be distinctly patronizing: "We are informed that an organization known among the ladies as the P.E.O. has invaded the ranks of the fair sex, and that eight or ten of the young ladies of Chariton have submitted to its seductive influences, through the agency of a bevy of young sisters from Albia. They say our young ladies have a club and wear badges. Whenever you see the badges, look out for the club."

Most likely the editor had not anticipated that all of the male organizations of the day, other than the fire department and the Masons, would dry up and blow away as the years passed. P.E.O. is still here and still focused on good works, however.

Once organized, raising funds for worthy causes began almost immediately. On May 27, 1887, P.E.O members hosted a strawberry lawn party at the M.P. Baker home on West Court Avenue. Strawberry, chocolate and vanilla ice cream was sold; live music was provided. On Saturday, Aug. 27, the women sold coffee, sandwiches, cake and ice cream from 11:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. in a vacant storefront on the north side of the square.

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Mary Dungan Smith (1851-1946) was the senior member of P.E.O. in Chariton at the time of her death at the age of 94 --- and believed then to be the longest-lived among the "Women of 1869," the charter members of P.E.O. and those who joined the Mount Pleasant chapter during its first year.

Mary, born in Pennsylvania, was a daughter of George W. and Nancy Dungan, who brought her west to Knoxville when very young then moved to Chariton soon thereafter. George Dungan was a cousin of Warren S. Dungan, pioneer Chariton attorney, Civil War hero and accomplished historian. Mary and her Dungan cousins, Warren's daughters, remained close throughout her life.

After completing the first phase of her education in Chariton, Mary enrolled in the "seminary" for young women attached to Iowa Wesleyan, then was a student in the University program at the time she joined P.E.O.

She returned to Lucas County to teach school and in 1875 married Channing Smith, a young man from New York who after his discharge from the Union army arrived in Lucas County during October of 1867 and found a job as a clerk in G.W. Blake's hardware store where he worked for 25 years. 

Mary was not a consistent member of the Chariton chapter since the Smiths also lived in both Chicago and Ottumwa during their marriage, which produced two sons who died in infancy. But they always returned to Chariton where Channing later worked as secretary and treasurer of the Chariton Telephone Co. and as Chariton city treasurer. Their final home on South 8th Street still stands.

After Mary's health failed, her cousin --- Myra Dungan --- moved in with her and helped care for her. When she died some five years after suffering a debilitating stroke, Myra described her this way: "Her life was characterized by many kindly deeds of charity and good will" and that's probably how one of Iowa's earliest P.E.O. members would have liked to be remembered.

Stay on the courthouse sidewalks, or else!

World War I had ended, the boys were coming home --- and members of Lucas County's Board of Supervisors had turned their attention to other important stuff. Like the fact their constituents were straying from the sidewalks that led to the courthouse in Chariton and creating unsightly paths in the grass.

The result was this notice, published on April 10, 1919, on the front pages of both The Chariton Leader and the Herald-Patriot, competing newspapers at the time, published on the same day.

It would appear that the supervisors were less concerned, however, about cutting the grass when it began to grow in earnest. Leader editor Henry Gittinger noted the following in his edition of June 30:

"Recently the grass had grown quite tall on the courthouse lawn, but the workers with scythes and lawn mowers have about obliterated the prairie-like appearance and it is presumed the green grass has been carted away to feed the geese."

The state of the lawn that June reminded Henry of a story, as most things did --- he was an accomplished story-teller, although at times did just make things up. That does not appear to be the instance in this case as he recalled a scene from his childhood in the Greenville neighborhood southeast of Russell:

"It (the courthouse lawn) caused the writer to remember the first time he ever visited Chariton. We arrived via wagon, from one of the outlying townships, near the middle of the day, and after unhitching the team on the east side of the square, the horses were tethered to the back end of the wagon and given their feed of corn.

"There was no municipal pride in those days and the square resembled a camping ground. The court house square was enclosed by a high board fence and some men had just finished mowing the hay about the old brick courthouse, which lay in long windrows. By the time we got ready to leave, most of the hay was in cocks all over the ground.

"This might be termed the medieval age --- the time between pioneer days and present. Such a condition at this time would appear somewhat peculiar."

Henry was born in 1861 and thanks to Jack Hultquist of Minden, Nebraska, we have this photograph of the north side of the 1858 courthouse as it appeared about 1869, most likely not long after Henry had made his first trip from the wilds of Washington Township into Chariton. 

Note that a stile rather than a gate provided access to the courthouse lawn --- and a privy was located conveniently near it.