A Soldier of the Cross --- on furlough

 Neighborhood correspondents who reported what used to be called "chicken dinner news" from across Lucas County formed the backbone of journalistic endeavors here until well into the 20th century. Sometimes they were imaginative and enterprising, other times not so much. Only rarely were they identified by name, although everyone in their neighborhoods knew who they were.

The Greenville correspondent of the early 1880s was not only a talented writer, but also a witty one, so his (or her) columns generally are a joy to read. They generally were signed, "Peck." Here's an example from The Democrat-Leader of Jan. 21, 1885:

+++

N. W. Kendall is a regular attendant at church, and is looked on by some as being a model christian gentleman; when, if the truth was known, he is really no better than some of the rest of us who would pass muster as sinners in any community. A few Sundays since he was approached by the minister with outstretched hand who inquired:

"Are you a member of my congregation?"

"W-e-ll, no-o not exactly," not wishing to insinuate that he belonged to no church at all.

"Oh yes," said the minister, "I understand. But you are a Soldier of the Cross I presume."

"Y-e-es, I-I guess so. I only wish this skirmish with the devil was over, and we had our pay and was discharged."

"Then you're willing to help the good cause until the very end, are you?"

"Yes, sir. I'd like to knock the props from under his Satanic majesty and all of his infernal kingdom."

"Well, here; sign $5 for the conversion of the poor heathen."

"Oh-o-o you see, Brother, I can't."

"What! Can't? I thought you was a Soldier of the Cross."

"Y-e-es I am, but you see I'm on a furlough now."

+++

Brothers Nathan W. (1842-1925) and Elijah L. (1828-1900) Kendall were well known and highly respected residents of the Greenville neighborhood, both having served as fifers in Company C, 18th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War. That's Nathan (top) with his fife, flanked by drummers, in a photograph that dates from 1921.

They had returned to Greenville after the war and settled down to raise families. Elijah, whose son was Nathan E. Kendall, a future governor of Iowa, eventually moved to Chariton, but Nathan remained a resident of the Greenville-Russell neighborhood until he died.

Neither seems to have been especially religious for most, or all, of their lives. When Elijah died in 1900, his obituary duly reported that, "He never professed any form of religion, but was quick to recognize the great good that religious organizations are accomplishing."

Nathan, however, eventually saw the light --- as reported in his 1925 obituary: "In the tabernacle meeting held in Russell by Rev. William Stough in August, 1909, he was converted and united with the Methodist church." So in the end Nathan did indeed become a dues-paying Soldier of the Cross.