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.