About the Author

About the Author by the Publisher

     Mrs. Elizabeth Tuttle was born and reared on a farm in Atchison County,Missouri.  She was graduated from a rural school and from high school in Rock Port, MO.

      She taught in both rural schools and in the public school system of St. Joseph, MO.

      She relates, "On June 28, 1914, the day Gifford and I were married the clock struck thirteen.  It was the day Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo by a  Serbian student.  It triggered World I.  We knew only peace, tranquility and the pursuit of happiness until that day. War around the world has been dominant ever since."
     The Tuttles moved to Chariton in 1923 and engaged in the retail hardware business, retiring in December, 1958.

      Mrs. Tuttle led an adult class in Bible study in the Presbyterian Church for 19 years, engaged in a wide variety of community activities and was named Lucas County "Woman of the Year" in 1973.  She began

writing these stories in September  1967.

Dedication

To:
Mrs J.G. (Irene) Garton whose untiring efforts did so much to bring into being our Historical Society and Museum.

And to:
The late Mrs. M.C. (Margaret) Fisher who established the triple catalog system in the Museum and whose faith, encouragement and assistance was so valuable.
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Editor's note - Articles included in the volume were written at various times from 1967-73,  They were timely when written and must be read in this context.
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Preface

  This is only a small part of Lucas County's fascinating story.  There was much more as families left their homes in the east to confront the elements and hazards as they made their quest in the westward movement during that century of hitherto unparalleled adventure.

    As we approach the Bicentennial of our nation, we offer this collection of vignettes as typical of life throughout the middle west during those y ears while its sinews and strengths were being forged on the anvils of hard work and high resolve in the grey dawn of a new era.

  These slices of life had their counterparts in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas - indeed throughout mid-America where families came to settle.  It is only that these have been written out, gathered from fragmentary records of those who though their experiences worthy of preserving for their children and grandchildren, either on pages of diaries, in scrapbooks, or by word of mouth.  These were they from whom we have come.  They laid the foundation upon which we have built.

     May you enjoy while reading, as I have felt while writing, the jolt of the covered wagon as it made its toilsome way over uncharted terrain, risking life and limb of both man and beast,.  One grateful diarist wrote:  "Don't forget the patient, struggling oxen.  Without them we could never have made it".

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Acknowledgements:  
     I sincerely thank the many persons who have so kindly assisted me during the seven years spent in compiling these stories.  First of all, to my husband who has driven many miles with me over the county to interview people and to research cemeteries.  I am grateful to those who have accompanied me into the cemeteries and who have given me much information about the lives and achievements of those who rest there.  I thank those who have loaned photographs, scrapbooks, diaries, newspaper clippings and whose names are included in various ways in the book.  I thank the Chariton Librarians, Mrs Nila Nicke and Mrs. Yvonne Taylor, for their excellent help in research and finally, I am grateful to the Chariton Newspapers who have been helpful in publishing the stories,.  To one and all, my sincere appreciation.

In the Beginning

Chapter 1

     A new - but soon to become regular - column appearing in the Chariton Newspapers makes its debut today under the headline "Museum Musings." The column is written by Mrs. Elizabeth Tuttle who will report on the rapidly growing Lucas County Historical Museum, list new acquisitions by the museum and contain a sprinkling of tid-bits on Lucas County history.
      It was just 120 years ago this month that William McDermit, a native of Ireland settled with his wife and four children, in Cedar Township.  This was the first permanent white settlement in Lucas County and he named it "Ireland", after his native land.
      He built a cabin of logs and filled the cracks with prairie mud.  There was one window and one door.   From one of the sills, a small bowl was turned out and beautifully finished by the Rev. Archie Beals.  This bowl is soon to be given to your Lucas County Historical Museum.
     A Museum is a LIBRARY OF THINGS, established for only two reasons:  1.  A repository for objects which must be preserved because of their aesthetic, historic, or scientific value.  2.  A storehouse for materials that have educational usefulness.  It must never become a community attic but must always be relevant to its particular community.  Each article must be accurately identified, documented and card-indexed.  The rules and regulations for this procedure have been developed over several generations and are now generally accepted in all museums.
     Apples in the Museum orchard are now ready.  Red and Yellow Delicious and Jonathans.  The trees have been pruned, fertilized and sprayed under the direction and supervision of J.L. Hamilton of Derby.  If you wish to buy apples, contact Frank LL. Mott, 203 South 12th Street, Chariton, telephone 774-4320.
     The Puckerbrush School House, Ottercreek No.3, has recently been purchased for your museum with donations received through the efforts of that community and other friends of the museum.  The school was  built in the summer of 1874.  At one time it had 50 pupils and two teachers - all in one room 20X28-feet.  Funds are now being received for the cost of moving and for laying a foundation for the building when it is placed on the museum grounds.   Anyone wishing to contribute, may do so by sending his contribution to Mrs. Bill Osenbaugh or to Mrs. Ralph Pim, both of Lucas or to Gilbert Garton at the First State Bank.
     Some lovely articles have been given for the front living room of the museum.  Needed now is a love seat and some chairs of that period.

     If the old is not preserved, future generations will be deprived of one dimension of their environment.  Let us revere the past, study the present, build for the future and enjoy all.

Page 1

The Mines, The Payroll and Sawed-off Shotguns

Chapter II

     In the fall of 1923, a newcomer to Chariton, Iowa chanced to be in the right place at the right time to see the mine payroll go out. It was dramatically spine-tingling to one who had never lived in payroll country. Two armed guards stood at the door of the then State Savings Bank. Two other men came out carrying a large wooden box containing from $60,000 to$80,000 in gold – the regular two-week mine payroll. The box was loaded into the car, two men in the front seat, two armed guards in the rear with sawed-off shotguns and away they went to the offices of the five mines then operating in Lucas county, of which the largest were Tipperary and Olmitz.

   One wondered if it might be held up, but authorities were always on the alert and if, as sometimes happened, there was anything that looked suspicious, two Pinkerton men were called and they always followed in a car behind. The Lucas county payroll was never held up.

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   The miners and their families were colorful, interesting and valuable citizens. They or their ancestors hailed from all over Europe, England, Wales, France, Italy, Armenia, Poland, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Sweden ,and many others. They all brought a rich culture, which is indelibly woven into the life of our community to become our own heritage. But there were disillusionment. They have heard of this land of milk and honey but how could they have plumbed the depths of the cold winter, the thin houses, the thickness of the ice in the kitchen water bucket each winter morning, or the frozen bread that Mom had to thaw before she could pack Daddy’s lunch bucket? How could they foresee the inhumanly long hours they would have to spend below to earn enough to feed and clothe their families?

     But these good folk were made of the stern stuff of heroes and these privations were a small price to pay for the sweet freedom of America. They endured and they raised their families, many of whom have risen to high places in our democracy. They earned well, they bought well, and paid their bills. They gave their stamina to our community and it is the richer for their having been in our midst.

     They were the cleanest people! They bought fine ranges with the largest reservoirs available. There must always be an abundance of hot water, for them, cleanliness and godliness dwelt together. 

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     But change was on the way. Other fuels came of age. The mining industry flagged, withered and all too soon the heyday vanished. Gone too, was that vivid, illustrious company whose skill, talents and labors had given it success. Yes, they are gone but their requiem echoes and re-echoes in the hearts of all of us lucky enough to have shared their friendship. The rest is silence. 

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    Did you know that the first electric light in the state of Iowa was turned on in Lucas? Yes, in 1880 and remember that Edison had invented it only the year before! The little plant had been exhibited at the Philadelphia Exposition and was bought by the mine officials for Whitebreast No. 1. This mine was east of Lucas, in the town of Cleveland. The same year this mine stated digging, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone – 1876 – and four years later the mine, its offices and the railroad station were connected. The output per day was about 700 tons with the labor of 360 men and boys and a stable of 40 mules. This was prior to the child labor laws. Compare this with the output of the fully mechanized ‘Big Ben’ mine east of Williamson in the year of 1967, which has an output of the same tonnage requiring only 13 men to throw the switches that run the machinery! 

    John L. Lewis, Lucas county’s native son, worked in the ‘Big Hill’ mine at the west edge of Lucas. He was ten when he started digging coal. He had a thirst for knowledge and became an outstanding student. He experienced the misery, the rigorous dangerous life of miners and became their staunchest champion, astonishing the world with the power of his expressive vocabulary. 

     About this time there came to Lucas another boy of ten years, Thomas L. Moses. At age 11, he began work in the mine, opening and closing fresh air doors. His father was killed in the mine shortly after and his brother had been killed some time before, leaving the hapless lad to be the sole support of the family. He too, climbed the ladder of success holding high offices in several large mining companies in the east. He finally was chosen president of the National Coal Operator’s Association, which position pitted him at the conference table again the dour Mr. John L. Lewis in the great labor disputes of the 1950’s. These two men from the mines of Lucas, Iowa, have concluded practically all the big mine strikes throughout the east. There were several other distinguished men who derived from Lucas, but they must wait for a future column. 

    In the early years, unprotected man and cruel mine were pitted against the other while the weight of centuries hung above. Men and boys were killed, maimed for life with no cushion for them or their families. Through great struggles, conditions were changed to situations befitting human dignity. These unhappy facts have been written in order that those who were not privileged to live through any part of the boisterous, exciting, often tragic days of the mines, may have some idea of the price in human life and limb that was paid for that industry in this county. 

    And this, reader, is precisely why you have an Historical Society and a museum to preserve as nearly as possible the heartbeats, the sorrows and triumphs of those years. Your Historical Museum is in the process of arranging a diorama depicting something of the mining industry here. The corner has been made ready, some items have been collected and what is needed now is the painting of the Mural. If you know of information or items that will be valuable for this project, please contact any member of your Historical Society.

    For the historical facts concerning the mines at Lucas, this column is indebted to Mr. Gerald Baker who has been privileged throughout his life to observe first hand the entire mining industry there.

Pages 2,3 and 4

The Red Man’s Farewell

Chapter III          

     The original town of Chariton was a perfect square of 160 acres and cost $200.  This whole area and much more had belonged by right of possession and government treaty to the Sac and Fox Indians.  They, poor, innocent children of the forest, surrendered it to ‘The Great White Father’ in the Black Hawk Treaty of 1848 and were given three years to move out beyond the Missouri River and on their way toward the setting sun.  The inevitable march of empire was on its way.            

     Look at your map and see the sharp pyramidal angle of the Chariton River just south of town.  Shortly after the Sac and Fox Indians had gone, a band of Mormons came along on their epic migration westward, found the inviting area in the very apex of the river’s angle and decided to stay.  They were the first white people ever to set foot on Lucas county soil, but they were sojourners – not settlers.  They did settle down for the winter, built six shanties of poles, prairie grass and mud and with dried grass for mattresses, lived quite comfortably for a time and named the place ‘Chariton Point’.  Late the next year they decided to resume their pilgrimage and press on toward their land of promise – the placid waters of the Great Salt Lake and the fertile valley where they would build their New Jerusalem. 
     As the Mormons moved out, the first white settlers started moving in.  Ever since our independence from England, hordes of Europe’s oppressed had flocked to Freedom’s shores and were now billowing joyously over the lush fertile plains of the midwest and into Iowa.  ‘Beautiful Land.’  Two years after the Red Man’s exodus, the government gave this 160 to one John Joppert, a private in the Third Missouri Mounted Regiment for his military service.  He promptly sold his land warrant to James G. Robinson, who in turn conveyed it to Lucas county for the aforesaid $200.

     In that long-gone day, Lucas and Monroe counties were one for election, revenue, and judicial purposes and under its original name ‘Kiskekosh’ – the name of an Indian Chief.  The last territorial legislature passed an act to establish a new county which he called Lucas county, honoring Governor Robert Lucas, Iowa’s last territorial governor.  That was in 1846.  A second act, supplementary to the first, was passed three years later, to organize the new county as of July 4, 1849.  Three commissioners were appointed to locate the county seat:  Wareham G. Clark of Monroe Co., Pardon M. Dodge of Appanose Co., and Richard Fisher of Wapello.

     The Commissioners lost no time.  In August they set out northward from Chariton Point to find the right spot.  They came to a big stake four feet high.  It was a government land mark and Mr. Clark said something like, "Boys, help me up on this stake.:  He surveyed the great panorama and said, “Gentlemen, this I s the county seat of Lucas county.”  The boundaries were defined and the name “Polk” was given it in honor of the retiring President James Polk, but the people didn’t like that name.  They preferred Chariton Point, but since there was another locality so near by the same name, it was decided to use just Chariton.  The date was 1852 with formal incorporation coming in1857.  The civic machinery was put into action and Lucas County, though wild, untamed and harsh, and Chariton assumed their rightful places in the great state of Iowa and the young nation.

     Many people have wondered about the origin of the name Chariton.  It is French and here is the story:  In a very early day, a French Indian trader located a trading post at the spot where this river, then unnamed, flowed into the Missouri, and to this stream he gave his own name.  There is no further information about him.
     The first election was held in the log cabin of the first white settler, William McDermit in ‘Ireland’ which later became Cedar township.  Twenty-five men voted.  (Woman suffrage had not yet been dreamed of generally, although Susan B. Anthony was already having brain waves in that direction).  Eleven officials were elected but their offices were in their hats.  Now a courthouse must be built.  The Commission called for sealed bids.  The detailed specifications make delightfully quaint reading but for this column it must suffice to say that courthouse would be of logs, a story and half and a contract was let for $374.  When it was finished, another contract was let for benches of good hewn lin wood and with oak legs and a good substantial pulpit.  Then one dollar was allowed for paper and quills for the Oco\ber terms of court.  The Historical Society has a replica of that log courthouse.  Ask to see it the next time you visit our museum, which is open from 2 to 5 each Wednesday afternoon.

     The second courthouse was beautiful building in the Georgian style of architecture.  It was a red brick but with a log foundation and only lasted about ten years.  Your Historical Society is eager to have a replica of this beautiful building and has a picture of it from which a replica could be made.  Is there anyone reading this column who would like to make this very fine contribution to the museum?  Is so, please contact any member of you Historical Society,.  It will be greatly appreciated.

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          After the second courthouse was found to be unsafe, court was held in churches for a few years then an election was held to authorize the building of a new one.  The contract was let to the G. J. Stewart Lumber Company who “faithfully followed the plans and specifications of a Des Moines architect, with the result of a fine, substantial building at a reasonable price.”  The Stewart Lumber Company served this community for many years.  G. T. Stewart was the father of the late Mrs. Zora Stewart Harper and of Harry Stewart, both of whom many readers of this column will remember.
     There were still remnants of Pottawattamie Indians around for a good many years, so reluctant to leave their loved homelands that they camped along the steams of the county, such as Cedar, Whitebreast and Wolf creeks where, friendly and harmless, they “called”76 on the settlers, always hungry, always begging and slyly helping themselves to leftovers.

Many years later, a band of Indians camped for a few months south of Chariton on the bank of the river where Chairton’ late Dr. H. D. Jarvis was called to deliver the baby of a young Indian mother.  Some time later, these mystical children of Nature, as it were, gathering honey from the weed, gather pretty boughs and grasses, dyed them lovely colors with the extracts of roots and herbs known only to them and brought them to their Doctor friend who kept the treasured token in his office for a long time and related the episode to this writer many years later.

    Thus was spoken the Red man’s final and tender farewell to Lucas County in the person of one of our widely known “angels of mercy” the late Dr. Jarvis.

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   Your Historical Society takes pride in making possible a repository for such episodes as record the heartbeats, the errands of mercy and the acts of brotherhood in the day-to-day living during the years of struggle, hardship and -er- fun that came from the hands, the hearts and minds of those who have molded the history of the Midwest.  It is done that your children and your children’s children may know and feel the pride of their heritage.  Your family is invited to be represented in the privilege and honor of this repository.

Pages  5 thru 8

For the Love of Knowledge

Chapter IV

       The rural school has held a unique place in our national life.  It has taken its place beside the church.  Our forefathers reasoned that an enlightened citizenry would know how to build and preserve their freedom and they built schools of all kinds on this premise.  Lucas County had some 83 to 90 rural schools through the years, each of which contributed to our history and our heritage.  This column is pleased to record the sagas of some of these schools.

  In the march of progress came reorganization and the beginning of the end of the rural school area.  Most of the school buildings which had known the antics, capers and happy voices of children at play, suffered the harsh ring of the auctioneer’s hammer, the pain of being torn from their moorings and reduced to the ignominy of becoming animal shelters.

        Happily, though several of them evoked an echo from the hearts of certain citizens who wished not only to preserve them, but to continue with their worthy past.  It is a delight to record that Stanley was one of these.  It is now the club house for our 20^th century equestrians, the Chariton Saddle Club.  Not only do they hold their regular meetings there, but in the summer, family reunions, picnics and other gatherings enjoy the rustic facilities.  Other organizations may use it for a small fee.

    In the early days, Stanley was a part of Grove district, south.  The school house was in the Grove part which made about five miles for some children to walk.  When a new school had to be built, both north and south wanted it.  A vote settled the matter by dividing the district and Stanley was built in 1872 three miles north of Chariton on land owned by Robert Stanley.  In the next 15 years 13 children by the name of Stanley from two families were registered at the same time as the largest group in the records with the same family name.

   School started in the fall of 1872 with Lou Culbertson as teacher at a salary of $30 per month for 24 weeks.  A registry was made of all parents and guardians of children between the ages of five and 21.  James McDiffit was the first chairman of the board and John Bigham, grandfather of J. C. Williamson, was the first sub-director.  To Mr. Bigham go the thanks for setting out the maple trees in the school yard, some 17 of which are still living.

       In 1877, Stanley was moving right along.  They voted to introduce American school books, to allow Sunday School to be held regularly and to have eight-months school.  Two years later they voted for nine months and to buy bracket lamps.  The teacher’s contract specified that he must refrain from any series of profanity or improper conduct in the presence of the pupils and that he must build the fires.

       In those early days there were often three terms in the year, sometimes with a different teacher for each term and always a month or more vacation in the fall to allow the big boys to help with the corn husking.  The lower salary was $18 per month and the highest $30.  Winter teachers were paid more because attendance in winter was larger and discipline a greater problem.

      Much of the social life of the community centered around the school.  The chief amusement of the young people in winter was spelling bees, one school challenging another.  There were singing schools, taught by a paid teacher.  A Literary Society was formed.  There were always Christmas programs with the traditional Christmas trees trimmed with strings of pop corn and balls, polished red apples and bright chains of tin made from scraps of metal gleaned from tin shops in Chariton.  Every child received a bag of candy.  Gifts were hung on the tree – never placed under it.

     Sunday School was often held Sunday afternoons, especially after many new families came during the years when the mine was working.  As stated before, the Lucas county mines brought a high class of people from Europe.  The Evans family was one of these.  They were a very talented singing group.  Father Evans was a Welsh coal miner.  He was also a natural song leader for all community gatherings, son Will played the organ, daughter Carrie was a fine soprano and young Davey was a good bass.  Carrie and her father won a contest singing a duet at the Easteddofd, a Welsh Society of singers.  Davey was later a member of the Chariton Male Chorus conducted by Lloyd Mikesell.

      In 1895-6 Enos Anderson was Stanley’s teacher with 39 pupils.  He later became an attorney in Chariton.  Roy Gittinger taught at Stanley in 1898-9 became Dean of the University of Oklahoma at Norman, Ok.  Charles Hamilton, brother of Mrs. J. C. Williamson was both a pupil and then a teacher.  He graduated from Central College at Pella, then Rochester Theological College in New York and held pastorates in Iowa and Nebraska.  In 1899 the late Elsie Courter (Newell) taught at Stanley.  Her brother, Hugh Courter and his wife live in Chariton in the home where all the family grew up.

       In 1886 the board adopted the Eclectric series of study books, McGuffey’s Readers and Physiology, Reed and Kellogg’s Grammer, Swinton’s Geography and Barnes’ History.  Your Historical Museum has some of these books and would like to complete the sets.  If you have any that you would like to give, you may check with any board member.  It will be greatly appreciated.

       In 1902 Nelly Matheny Goltry taught at Stanley.  She is now in McCollum Nursing Home in Chariton.  In 1904, the late B. W. Frazier and his son John who still lives in Chariton were engaged to build a porch on the east end of the building at a cost of $30.20.  Five years later, the Fraziers were again contracted, this time to build an extension on the west end at a cost of $342.60.  The board also contracted with Ensley Hardware for a furnace costing $119.50.

      The late Ralph Bowen was a Stanley student.  He became Mayor of Chariton, serving from 1958 to 1962.  His brother, Gerald, also a pupil at Stanley, was killed in WWI.  In 1904 J. C. Williamson was elected secretary, a position he held for 53 years.  In 1908 the board voted to buy 17 single desks, two double rear seats, and two recitation seats seven-foot long.

      In 1913 the teacher, Ida Boyles, reported 100 books in the library and 45 trees in the yard.  Some time later a contract was let to dig a well at $1.60 a foot and for coal to be delivered at the school for 13 cents a bushel.  By this time the Inland Coal Mine was operating and school attendance had grown to 69 pupils in 1914 when Mrs. Maude Campbell was a teacher.  The board contracted with A. A. Swanson to build a room on the south for $280.  A second teacher was then employed.  Irene Shields, and the two rooms accommodated 74 pupils.

     Dr. Ralph Williamson, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Williamson, finished school at Stanley, graduated at Chariton High, received a B. S. from Iowa State University at Ames in diary husbandry in 1934.  HE was awarded an STB from Boston University, an MS from Cornell University in New York, a PhD in Rural Sociology from Drew University in Madison, N. J.  He was minister in larger parishes in New York and taught Rural Sociology in South Dakota Wesleyan University and is now professor of Rural Sociology in International Theological Center in Atlanta, Ga.  During the past year, he has been on sabbatical leave teaching in Universities in Japan, Thailand and Kenya.

   His brother Raymond is a minister of the Independent Fundamental Church.  After graduating from Stanley and from Chariton High, he attended Iowa State two years, then graduated from Moody Bible institute and is now in charge of extension work of the Independent Fundamental Church of America.  He lives and works in Wisconsin.

      Carl Caviness was a Stanley student.  He was the first Lucas county boy to make the supreme sacrifice in WWI.  His body lies next to that of his mother in the Chariton cemetery, but his name is honored for all time by his compatriots in the title of their organization “The Carl L. Caviness Post of the American Legion.”

      This column is indebted to Mrs. J. C. Williamson, formerly of Chariton, now of Wychwood, N.J. for the excellent history of Stanley.  Mrs. Williamson wrote history in 1950 from a carefully kept set of records.  She donated the original history to your Historical Society and loaned to this writer a copy from which this column has been compiled.  Stanley’s doors closed in 1959, having served well for 87 years.  Mrs. Mabel Cavett was the last of a goodly list of teachers there.

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    Clinton No. 4 was another lucky school house.  Originally it stood a top the big hill south of Lucas.  Some years later, the district was divided.  Clinton was moved to the valley below where it was known as Happy Hollow.  There it stood until the surveyors for Highway 54 ordered it moved a short distance east.  Mrs. Will Ashby, a former Lucas county teacher, had long desired to own a rural school house.  When Clinton was put up for sale in 1959, her dream came true.  It was renamed Ashby Dells and is now the center of happy family reunions, Club and Circle meetings and weekend retreats.  The children love to romp and play while the adults relax – all in a whole valley full of peace and contentment.

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    The Graves School in English township was the alma mater of the Rev. Guy Howard.  He lived in the community awhile, then moved to the Shepherd of the Hills country ministering to the people of that whole area.  His book, “The Walking Preacher of the Ozarks” brought fame and fortune.  In his own words, the book is the saga of a country preacher who walked literally into the lives of countless Ozark backhills people and a revelation of their physical and spiritual existence.  His second book, “Give Me Thy Vineyard” published in 1949 won the $10,000 first prize in the International Fiction Contents.

    Graves school also produced Avery Graves who had a beautiful voice and was in theatre work for a time.  On tour with Helen Hays in “Victoria Reginia’ one of his appearances was in Des Moines.  He later, however, went into the insurance business in Los Angeles. 

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   Your Historical Society would like to have a memento from each rural school in the county.  If you have something from your schoolhouse that you would be pleased to see in the museum, it will be greatly appreciated.

Page 8-12

Puckerbrush

Chapter V

     Puckerbrush!  What a Name! What thoughts it conjures up! Tangled undergrowth, dense, forbidding briars, the lair of reptiles, rabbits, chipmunks, frolicking squirrels and other denizens of the woodlands.  Evan an ideal hideaway for old time horse thieves!  The crackle of dry leaves and falling nuts, long curing canes of wild blackberries; the hush of deep snows, yet, in nature’s expertise with the bitter and the sweet, there were wild flowers, blue birds, the whispering wind and the twitter and chirp of early spring.

    Whence the name?  The early history of any community is shrouded in the mists of human memory, family traditions and legend.  There seems to have been a feud between two families, the name puckerbrush was coined, resented but caught on.  In time it was accepted, became popular and eventually was applied to the whole community.  Today there is considerable pride in having been a resident or the descendent of a Puckerbrush ancestor.  We have been given many interesting anecdotes, which space precludes giving at this time.  Lists of teacher’s names cannot be given because of inadequate records.

       A former resident, Dr. J. R. Johnson, Professor of History in the John F. Kennedy College at Wahoo, Nebraska, has written a book titled ‘The Puckerbrush Kid’.  Dr. Johnson lived there until he was 15 years old.  He says, ‘The book has all the characters I knew as I grew up and it’s full of folklore.  More than half of it deals with people and events.  Some names that appear are:  Haltom, Benge, Marker, Doherty, Nine, Cackler, Bennett, Penick, Ashby, Pennington, Clore, Blackstock, Barger, Sones, Edwards, Baker, Nicholson, Harvey, Mills and Webster.”
     Mr. William Osenbaugh was born and reared in this community and has given us much of interest.  His grandfather with three sons migrated from Illinois in 1873 looking for a location in brush and hill country devoid of chills and fever and where there was less danger of prairie fires.  The rest of the family came the following year.  At the time of state-hood the Federal Government set up ‘School 80’s’ in checkerboard fashion over the state.  After the district was laid out, the location of the building had to be decided up.  It was not always possible for it to be in the exact center of the district.  Some children would have to walk father than others.  A battle raged over this matter and one man blocked the road.  He was fined $300 and had to haul 13c corn to Chariton in the bitter cold of winter to pay it.  The school was built in 1874 named ‘Hazel Dell’, later changed to Otter Creek No. 3, then to Pleasant Ridge No. 3 and finally by common usage to Puckerbrush.  In 1889 the land passed into private ownership of Mrs. America Blackstock.

     The boundaries of the school district were definite but of this unique community, they were singularly undefined.  The whole region was individual, even queer in some ways, but of good citizenship.  Most of the people had little education but were substantial, honorable and kind-hearted.  Being removed from urban life, they were very appreciative.  High academic standards were not required of teacher.  Any persons 18 years or over who could pass the County Superintendent’s examination could teach.  This was standard practice in that day.  However, the lack of formal education was in part made up by the emphasis on basic subjects plus the building of good character, exemplary conduct, personal honor and integrity.  There were many capable and dedicated teachers whose high ideals thus came an integral part of the fabric of our culture and national life.

      The name of the first teacher is not available, but one of the earliest was Miss Lydia Lel Pfrimmer who taught in 1876-7.  Her certificate is dated March 15, 1876.  She later became Mrs. Thompson David Ashby, Sr. and in the fullness of time, two of her children, George and Nina Hanks followed in her footsteps and taught at Puckerbrush.  Until about the turn of the century, all rural schools had three terms each year – two months in the fall – November was corn husking month, and thus no school.  The winter term filled the next three months and this was the term when older pupils were in large attendance.  This was followed by the spring term of two or often three months.

    The district was six square miles instead of the standard four, thus including more families and resulting in larger enrollment.  The reason at that time there was a state law to the effect that children could not be required to cross a running stream.  Otter Creek divides about two miles north of the school house, one branch, called North Otter, running almost due west, the other running mostly south and along the east edge of the district.  The school lay inside that fork.  At one time there were 50 pupils and two teachers, each taking turns at conducting classes and keeping order.  Ages of pupils ranged from five to 21 years.  Some seats held five pupils, other three.

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     The school was a community center as were most rural schools of that time.  There were box suppers, literary meetings, talk fests in which current events and topics were discussed and there were itinerant teachers of singing and penmanship.  In one of these penmanship classes a prize was to be given to the one who made the greatest improvement.  One fellow of more while than others, wrote the first lesson with his left hand and the last with his right.  Yes they had them then too!

   In very early times there were no ordained ministers residing in or near these outlying areas.  Only when one came travelling through, could there be services such as marriages or funerals.  In cases of death, burial was made but the service was postponed until a minister came along.  In marriages a contract was drawn, the contracting parties signed in the presence of witnesses, the bride in one corner and the groom in the opposite.  The contract was torn perpendicularly down the center, the bride’s half given to the groom’s family, the groom’s to the bride’s family for safe keeping in case any question of legality should ever arise.  When an ordained minister came along, the service of holy matrimony was performed and it was not unknown for the couple’s child or children to stand with the parents during the ceremony.

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     In the school reorganization of 1960, Puckerbrush was the last to close its doors.  As with all rural school buildings, this one was put up for wale.  The local Historical Society wanted it and Mrs. Ralph Pim and Mr. and Mrs. William Osenbaugh raised the money in the neighborhood to buy it.  There were no other bidders so the school board sold it to them for $1.00.  The money that had been raised to purchase it then was allocated for its restoration.  Much more money and more work will be needed.

On February 1968 “Puckerbrush” school house became part of the Lucas County’s Museum complex.  Untold hours of hard work and a generous quantity of devotion had gone in to the preparation of the old building for the trip – the jacking up and reinforcement of decayed timer to stand the strain of 22 miles.  The day was cold, crisp and beautiful, the historic task, heart warming.  This school is to be a symbol of all rural schools in this county.  At 9 o’clock every man was at his post.  Keith Kent of Lucas, whose mother had been a teacher there, had his big machinery lined up with his customary precision.  The coterie of helpers was:  Glenn Burgett, L. H. Dearson, George Durham, Elmer Fullmer, Herbert Hamilton, George Kinkead, Frank L. Mott, Charles C. Noble, Bill Osenbaugh, Vernard Oxenreider, Louis Pearson, Young Pearson, Don Super and Carl Taylor.

There were men from Clark Electric Cooperative (it was in this school house that the Clark Coop held its first sign up for electric service) Iowa Southern Utilities Company, Lucas Co.  Road Maintenance Crew, Deputy Sheriff Albert Johnson, telephone men – all working together to accomplish a velvet smooth piece of history.  Mr. Kent skillfully maneuvered the long lo-boy under the building without shaving off even a toothpick.  Soon the heavy support timbers and jacks were removed and the building eased into her “saddle.”  (A venerable, well-loved old building can be as feminine as a ship, can’t she?)

   Not a movement was lost.  At 10 o’clock, the circuitous passage began – down the slope, curving across the ravine where it had been necessary to cut one tree and trim another, gently gracefully winding out to the steep incline where a ‘cat’ waited to hook on and give the added power pull to the highway.  The procession was on its historic way.  First the Sheriff’s car with blinding light atop, next the ‘caution’ car furnished by Mr. Kent and caring the huge warning sign.  Next came Puckerbrush in all the dignity of her 94 years of history and sentiment, riding majestically as a queen, her carriage so expertly making the curves and turns that she never once wavered.  A queen must have her retinue and this one no less – three truckloads of heavy cribbing material which, with certain tools were furnished by Renus Johnson, who also furnished the permit allowing the building to be moved through the streets.  Jeffries Construction Company and the Gillespy DX Station of Oakley also loaned equipment as did Dave Halferty.  At the city limits, the police met the procession and escorted it to the museum grounds where the work of restoration has already begun.  While the foundation is being run, the building rests on long strong timbers furnished by Ray Daugherty.

   There were in all 56 “wire crossings” where linemen lifted wires, either with long poles or with an Iowa Southern Utilities cherry picker for the building to pass under.  Three bridges were crossed, some with very limited clearance, and a few signs had to be trimmed a little:  Otter Creek, Whitebreast, and the Golf Club Lake bridge.  Crossing a railroad with a house on board is quite involved but this too had been carefully anticipated by Don Fuller, local Agent operator, who arranged with Walter Lauer signal inspector out of Chicago who just happened to be here.  D. E. O’Brian, signal maintenance man and C.C. Smith, Division Lineman – all of whom most cheerfully gave their assistance.  This project was community effort at its best.  Every man was there because he wanted to be and because of the satisfaction of doing something for the community in which he and those who follow can take just pride.

Pages 13-18

Bright Highlights

Chapter VI

  

    The French have a word for it - :pot pourri: - meaning a medley, a mixture.  Such is this column.    Your Lucas County Historical Society has just received from a local artist, Boyd F. Norberg, a very fine mural depicting the work of the coal mines in Lucas County.  Dominating the scene, but in proper proportion, is the portrait of John L. Lewis.  In the near background -  in the dark “below” - stands a youth with a mule.  A driller is working by the flickering light of the lamp on his cap.  Near by, another is shoveling the coal.  In the far background is a row of company houses.  The tipple is a reproduction of the tipple at the old Bucknell mine No. 5.  Some material was supplied to Mr. Norberg by the U. S. Bureau of Mines in Washington, D.C.           

This is a comprehensive work, ably conceived and masterfully wrought.  One may stand before it and visualize something of the whole panorama of the mines as they were in their heyday.  The Historical Society greatly appreciates the time, thought and effort given to this work and the more so since Mr. And Mrs. Norberg have been engaged in a joint effort of writing a book entitled “Psimplified Psychiatry” – a satire on the Psychiatric field.  Publisher is Stuart James Company, Bordentown, N.J.

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      Robert Chase of the Russell community has a 10 x 18-inch piece of wall paper on the back side of which was printed the G. A. R. Edition of the VICKSBURG DAILY CITIZEN.

      It belonged to Mr. Chase’s father.  Vicksburg had been under siege since April 16, 1864 and this little paper had been set up to issue on July 2.  Vicksburg fell that day but under Gen. Grant’s orders, it was printed and issued on July 4.  This is the footnote:

      Two days bring great changes.  The banner of the Union Army floats over Vicksburg.  Gen. Grant has dined in Vicksburg and he did bring his dinner with him.  The CITIZEN has lived to see it.  For the last time, it appears on wall paper.

No more will it eulogize the luxury of mule meat and fricaseed kitten – urge southern warriors to such diet nevermore.  This is the last wall paper CITIZEN and excepting this notice, is from the type as we (the Union Army) found them.  Printer soldiers set this note and work the form.

          It will be valuable hearafter as a curiosity.

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   Lucas County's first Historical Society was organized June 10, 1901.  It’s first president was Col. Warren S. Dungan, father of Mrs. Edna Culbertson of McCord Rest Haven and of the late Miss Myra Dungan, lifelong resident of Chariton.  Miss Margaret Brown (later Mrs. John Herrick) was secretary.  She later was instrumental in negotiations with the Carnegie Foundation to get our present Free Public Library.  She left a handsome bequest to the library for the purchase of children'’ books.

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    Mrs. M. C. Margaret Fisher coined the name MUSEUM MUSINGS for this column.

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      Mrs. J. D. Wayt of Shenandoah has joined the membership of the Historical Society.  She was Margaret Grimes, sister of Frank Grimes of Derby.  She recalls the musicals of their youth in the new Derby Opera House and the delightful parties put on for them by their elders around Christmas vacations.  She speaks of attending the Aeolians Concert two or three years ago and enjoyed it so much.  She sent a copy of MANTI by Ralph Cunningham of Shenandoah – a booklet about the Morman migration across the southern party of the state.  Mrs. Wayt has been a subscriber of the Chariton Newspapers for 50 years.

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      The first sliced bread was introduced in Chariton in 1932 by the Quality Bakery, owned and operated by C. R. (Code) Shelton.  During the 1930’s there were five bakeries here.  The bakery we now have was established well before the turn of the century and was called the ‘State Bakery.’  Mr. Shelton bought it in 1928 and changed the name to “Quality Bakery”.  He attended a Baker’s convention-exposition in Buffalo, N. H. and bought a high speed mixer and a wrapping machine.  In 1932 he attended the National Convention in Atlantic City and bought the electric slicer.  This was one of the first slicers between Ottumwa and Omaha.

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 Corilla Copeland Lewis, second cousin of the late Howard C. Copeland, wrote the lyrics of ‘Ol Thirteen’ the song of the Chariton Chapter of the D.A.R.   Mrs. Lewis was a charter member.  The music was composed by Harriet Hayden Hayes.  This was authenticated by the sheet music shown this writer by Mrs. Daisy L. Hooper, who presented a copy to each member of the Chariton Chapter and one to the museum.

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  Your Lucas County Historical Society is having its Annual Membership Campaign.  A great effort is being made to contact everyone in the county.  If any have not yet received a call, it is very likely that the caller did not find you at home.  If you are missed, please report to any member of the Society and your membership card will be issued to you.  It costs only $1.00 and is good until March 1, 1969.

Thomas Arnold, an outstanding English educator, tells us that there are two things we should learn from History.  One is that we are not, in ourselves, superior to our fathers.  The other is that we are shamefully inferior to them if we do not advance beyond them.

Pages 18-20

Salute to Russell

Chapter VII

     The Lucas County Historical Society is delighted to salute the people of the Russell Community upon their highly successful Centennial celebration.  The long-range planning and its flawless finale was nothing less than a superb achievement.  The remembrance of those well-ordered days of entertainment and reminiscences can bring only joy and pride to all who gave so much time and talent and to all fortunate enough to attend the festivities.

     This Historical Society also takes this opportunity to express its deep appreciation to the many energetic citizens of the Russell Community for their wholehearted support of the participation in this organization and the many fine contributions they have already made to the Museum.

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     Did you know that Lucas County had the first Historical Society in the state of Iowa?  It was organized June 10, 1901 under the leadership of Mr. Theodore M. Stuart, great-grandfather of State Supreme Court Judge William C. Stuart.  Mr. Stuart had learned of such a society in Washington County, PA.  It was believed that in due time every county in Iowa would organize and if Lucas should be first, it would have that honor.  For years it flourished but later, interest flagged, the charter expired and was not renewed.

     Your present Society, incorporated under the laws of Iowa June 22, 1965, was blessed with a Board that could “look through the tunnel” and see the absolute necessity of a Museum.  Then with great courage and foresight, they confidently launched the museum project.  The county has too rich a heritage to be lost.  It must take its place among other progressive counties to preserve that which is so uniquely its very own.

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     Your present museum was built in 1909-10 by Andrew Jackson Stephens, a widely known builder-contractor.  His daughter, Mrs. Fern Stephens Starr of Buena Vista, CO., gave us this in a recent letter.

     “My father was an admirer of southern style architecture.  I remember well the day he started building.  He said to my mother, ‘Well, today we start the mansion.’  Mrs. Strr went on to say.  “He drew the plans and did most of the work himself inside and out.”

     Other records state that he laid every brick and stone with his own hands.  Its architectural proportions are perfect.  The grounds were laid out and planted by a landscape artist.  The house has a striking resemblance to “The Hermitage” – Andrew Jackson’s house near Nashville, Tennessee.  Martha Slattengren Westling was a classmate of Mary Stephens, class of 1919 and remembers well the junior-senior reception held in the Stephens home that year.

     Yes, there is beauty, dignity and a “heap o’ livin” in your lovely old museum.  As time moves along with the cooperation of all the people of this county, the place will emerge once again as a “thing of beauty and a joy forever:” Its restoration is a labor of love in which folks all over the county are already eagerly joining.

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     Dumps and yawning ditches have been the unworthy recipients of unnumbered gems of yesteryear.  Not long ago, a traveling man coming into Chariton, overtook a pickup loaded with “junk” on the way to the dump.  Something atop the load caught his eye and he followed.  At the first opportunity, he hailed the driver and asked him what he’d want for that old lamp and shade doddering along on top.  The driver said: “Oh, half a dollar.”  Two hours and a hundred miles later, the buyer was offered $50.00 by an antique dealer.  The lamp was Art glass.  In that moment, Lucas County lost an irreplaceable treasure – not alone in monetary value but in a deeper sense, part of some ancestor’s heritage in our county – someone into whose life fabric the light of that old lamp had woven one bright thread.

Pages 20-22

To Love and To Lose

Chapter VIII

     On Mother’s Day in 1964, Mrs. Harold Leonard took an armful of lilacs to her mother’s grave in the Chariton cemetery.  She observed two women walking among the graves, carefully reading each stone.  Presently they approached her and asked if she might be able to help them locate the grave of a soldier of WWII.  Then began the unfolding of a story of the beauty and strength of woman’s devotion – the affection that hopes and endures and is patient, a story of love destined to blossom only in heaven.      

     During WWII when our Navy used foreign ports for shore leaves and supplies, it was in a foreign port that Orin Wilbur Westfall, S1 USNR and Isabel Davies of Australia became friends.  Orin had enlisted in the Merchant Marine in WWI, stationed at Great Lakes Naval Station, but the war was over before he shipped out.  He continued with the Navy, in the Commissary Department, stationed at Midway Island.  After Pearl Harbor, he reenlisted and was assigned to the aircraft carrier, USS Hornet, the ship from which Major James Doolittle led sixteen B25 bombers in the surprise attack on Tokyo on April 18, 1942.  The Japs sent wave after wave of bombers to sink her and when she began to list, the crew was ordered overboard.  Orin and his shipmates were in the water an hour and a half.  They were picked up and taken to New Caledonia.  Later it was found that his discharge x-rays showed tuberculosis.  He was ordered to the hospital where he had chest surgery and became an arrested case, but was never able to work.

   The years were gliding by.  Orin and Isabel continued to love and to plan if only his health could be restored.  Between hospital visits he lived with his sister in California, always hoping that he could bring Isabel to the land he loved so well and had offered his life in two world wars to defend.  But it was not to be.  One lung was removed, a heart condition developed, and then cancer – until in 1962 when death, the great counsoler, released him from further suffering.

       His request was that he be laid to rest beside his mother and grandmother.  His mother had died when he was ten years old and his grandmother in Knoxville had raised him. Orin’s sister, Alice, had informed Isabel of his death.  Thereupon, Isabel and her mother planned a trip around the world with the ultimate goal to be a visit to Orin’s grave in Lucas County, Iowa.  Here it was in the Chariton cemetery that they met Mrs. Leonard who ferreted out for them the sources of information that crowned their quest with success.  Paul Holmberg, secretary for Lucas County Soldiers Relief, found t hat burial had been made in Oak Hill (also known as Stoneking Cemetery) on the hillside by Stephen’s Forest.  Mr. and Mrs. Holmberg took Isabel and her mother out to Oak Hill.  The little party of four walked to where Isabel could be directed to the hallowed spot.  There she stood for a time, alone with her thought of love and the echoing sign of the forest, then rejoined her new made friends, murmuring, ‘ My mission is finished.’  Next day they resumed the journey back to Australia half a world away.

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     It is a peaceful spot – this cemetery with its ball-clipped evergreens, its well kept lawn and its unimpeded view toward the setting sun.  In a very early day Mr. and Mrs. Adam Stoneking, grandparents of Mary Gladson, migrated on a covered wagon from Wheeling, West Virginia and arrived at what is now Stephen’s Forest over the self same road that is still in use.  Here they camped until they could build a log cabin.  Their son Joseph bought forty acres near by.  Later another family came by in a covered wagon on their way to Missouri.  They had a sick baby.  No doctor was available and there was no effective medicine so the little one joined the company of the angels.  Said Mr. Stoneking, “We will bury the baby here on the hilltop”.  The little form was laid to rest in the northeast corner of the forty acres that Joseph had bought and he later gave and deeded to Lucas county this acre.  No tombstone was to be had so they placed a stone from the forest to mark the tiny grave.  Regrettably it is no longer there.  Brave sun, shine softly there; zephyr winds, blow gently there; kind traveler, tread light there, the baby is asleep.

Pages 22-24

A Foursome of Death

Chapter IX

      On the first day of April 1893, there was a tragedy which is vividly remembered by many Lucas county residents.  Henry McKinnis and his three sons were working on the engine of a saw mill a few miles northwest of Oakley.  The water in the boiler was low and the father sent 12-year-old Henry, Jr., up with a bucket of water to fill it.  The explosion was heard for miles around.  There were killed instantly.  The body of Henry, Jr. was blown tree top high.  John, 19, was found on the bank of Little Whitebreast Creek, still alive when his mother came.  The four of them lie in Mt. Zion Cemetery, near the spot where the disaster occurred.  Their tombstones are all of one piece and inscribed:” keep your lamps trimmed and burning for in an hour when he knoweth not, the Son of Man commeth.’

     Each section has its own inscription.  For Henry, Jr., ‘This boy went to the boiler’s top, obeying his father’s command.  When he poured the cold water in, the flues did all expands.”  For Billie Ted, 10 yes old, "Jolly, laughing little Ted.  He was an angel on hearth, now he is an angel in heaven.”  For John, “His party words I shall never forget.  Said he, ‘Your time to die will come.  It matters not whom we leave here yet, soon we will all be gathered home.’  For the father, Henry McKinnis, age 51, Co.B3 Iowa Inf.’Soldier Rest’  ‘Four loving ones from us have gone.  Four voices we loved are stilled.  A place is vacant in our home that never can be filled.

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     Mt. Zion Cemetery is on the hill, sentineled by a great spruce tree.  There, too, stands the church.  We are indebted to John Stierwalt for the use of a remarkable set of records from which we have drawn for this bit of its history. In March, just one hundred years ago, four devout persons assembled to organize the ’Primitive Baptist Church’.  They were:  The Rev. W. S. Hughes, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Welch and Thomas C. Stone.  The congregation grew and prospered and met in various places – school houses, the home of members and for several months in the station at Lucas until 1880 when they built the church at a cost of about $550.  There were many strong pillars of that church thru the year, some of whose descendants are with us now and whose assistance has been invaluable in this collection of its history.

   The Rev. W. S. Hughes was a preacher of great ability and was famed far and wide for that day.  He was a prosperous farmer and he drove a carriage with fringe on top, drawn by a pair of sleek jet black horses.  Primitive Baptist preachers received no salaries in that day but went about as near as possible in the manner and spirit of the early apostles on their own.  Saturday was their Sabbath as late as about 1940.  Their roster of membership has such names as Mr. and Mrs. Millard Musselman, grandparents of Lois Frank of Frank’s Tea Room; William and Martha Cottingham, parents of Mrs. Lewis Beem and Mrs. Roscoe Redigo; the Rev. Andrew Goforth; Mr. and Mrs. William James, grandparents of Ray and the late Delbert James; Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Burgett, grandparents of Glenn Burgett.  (Mr. Burgett walked from Brown County, Indiana to Lucas Co. to make his home); William and America Skidmore from whom the four- acre tract of land was bought for $1.  They were grandparents of Mrs. W. C. Evans of Lucas.  James F. Baugh and wife, Margaret Byrd Baugh, a descendant in the line of the Admiral Byrd family of Virginia, were the grandparents of Burdette Conrad of Lucas.

   Today in our age of skepticism, cynicism and unbelief, it is refreshing and reassuring to read the pages and between the lines of ordinances and ritual of these devout people.  They practiced the ritual of washing of the feet.  Some of our citizens cherish the memory of witnessing this impressive lesson in humility.  They girded themselves with a towel, took a basin of water, and performed the ceremony in humble accordance with the command in the Gospel of John.  In the dawn of Christianity, the followers of Christ used the Jordan River as their baptismal font.  In like manner, these Primitive Baptists used Whitbreast flowing near by.  There is an entry in their record of June 1943 stating that a baptismal ceremony was so performed by Elder J. W. Vincent.

     On the first Saturday and Sunday in June of each year, there was a conference of several churches of this denomination as far away as Grinnell, Iowa, and other distant places.  They came in buggies, spring wagons and carriages for a week long convention.  These were honored guests.  Hospitality during these happy times was graciously extended in all homes around about regardless of church affiliation.  There would be twelve to fifteen or more in each home and since no house was large enough to accommodate so many, the men would take blankets and comforts to the hay mow, sometimes to the corn crib, to sleep while the women and children were billeted in the house.  This was enjoyed by all because guess brought news from the outside in a day when communication was scarce.  As one pursues the carefully handwritten records of their worship services from the beginning to the early 1940’s one is impressed with the genuineness of their faith, their trust and their dedication.  Verily, they possessed a gem of great price.

Pages 24-26

Oh! Susanna

Chapter X

     Susanna Millan was born in Virginia of patrician parentage whose uncles and great uncles had served their state under presidents William H. Harrison and John Tyler.  Since t his girl was later to become the grandmother of Chariton’s late postmaster, Howard C. Copeland, her colorful life-history, taken from her own hand written "journal" and given to this column by Mrs. Edith Copland is worth reading and preserving in the annals of Lucas county.

     Her father was Henry B. Millan of the Virginia State Militia.  The description of this young many springs to mind Saul, the Benjamite, tall, dark, handsome and withal, stalwart and progressive.  A very spacious stone house built by the British near their Virginia home looked irresistible to the Captain because his mother had had two pairs of twins and it seemed wise to him to seek a large house.  As soon as his bride-to-be could finish her pillowslip full of home-knitted stockings and a dozen patch work quilts (without which no Virginia girl ever married) the wedding took place with many gifts and the regular complement of slaves.

     The stone house, vine clad and surrounded by great trees had been vacant for many years, ever since the "Britishers" moved out and left it to the bats and owls, but it had now been renovated and furnished for the new family.  They lived there several years but the young mistress was unhappy because the slaves had convinced her that it was haunted.  The night sounds inside and out were the g ghosts of the "Britishers" whom the slaves were sure would carry off their young mistress some dark night.  The Captain looked upon a frame house with disdain but the wife preferred it so they moved to another place where they had a form garden, arbors and lawn seats and a cemetery in which peach and pear trees grew.  Susanna writes that the most delicious pairs grew nearest the graves and she always wondered while eating them, which ancestor they were eating!  She had learned that in the economy of nature, "nothing is ever lost or added and thus it is possible that the particles of which we are made are all as old as the Creation."

     But life in Virginia was to come to an end.  The big world outside was beckoning.  The Captain had a brother who had emigrated to Missouri and whose letters were glowing with the riches and blessings to be enjoyed in this "new west."  Eventually, the urge overcame all family protests and bribes and the day came for departure.  It was a sad, sad day.  Everyone was weeping, caught in the agony of farewell and not the least was dear old black Aunt Hannah, in whose spacious and generous arms each child had been tenderly nurtured.  Aunt Hannah refused to be sold.  She could not part from her mistress and family nor could she bear to leave her husband, Uncle Ben, who was owned by another planter.  When he came over to bid her goodbye, the "fruitful river in the eyes" of all were loosed and shattering sobs took hold of everyone.  It was too much for the Captain.  He mounted his horse, rode over and bought Uncle Ben for $800.  Returning, he told Uncle Ben to get his clothes and come along.  Uncle Ben threw his hat on the ground, gave Mrs. Mill a tremendous hug and went to the Captain crying: "God will bless you for this Marse, Henry!”  Susanna wrote, "It was here that my father first realized that he had a heart and he felt that God was on his side."  A happy "camp meeting" was held that night to celebrate the purchase of Uncle Ben.

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     Next day the big schooner-like, six horse wagon pulled out, plodding along for eight days toward the Ohio River, there to meet the steamer that would take the family to the junction of the Mississippi, then up to Green’s Landing 12 miles north of Hannibal.  Uncle Ben was left behind to bring the teams and wagon through.  As he came through the free states of Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, he was told many times the he was now in free country and was foolish to go on being a slave, but he was true and loyal and would not leave "Marse Henry" and the family.  (In the slave states, a slave could not go a mile from his master’s property without being asked for his "pass").

     Weeks’ later came the rendezvous and this called for another camp meeting celebration.  Finally, they were all settled in their new home in Canton, Missouri.  Susanna writes, "We have found everything better than what we had left.  Even the 'common' schools were excellent."  From the common school, Susanna was sent to a private school for the last five years of classical education.  Graduates from this school, in addition to all other prescribed subjects, must be able to memorize and recite all the kings and queens of England from Ethelred to Queen Victoria; all the 24 Empires before the Christian era; all the states of the Union and who settled them; all the planets and their satellites and many of the asteroids.

     By this time, the restless spirit of the Captain had occasioned another move for the family, this time to Lancaster, Missouri.  Another family from Virginia was already there – the Custer family.  They had three daughters and one "shy, bashful" son, who was greatly attracted to Miss Susanna, but her father had laid down the law that any man she wished to marry must be a Virginia, a Whig and a Methodist.  The Custer family scored on the first qualifications, but alas! and alack! they were Democrats and Presbyterians!  But love finds a way.  The unacceptable was changed to the acceptable and wedding bells rang, not only for James B. Custer and Susanna Millan, but for two other young people in these families.  Susanna's father, the Captain, was not yet ready to live in a "free" state, so the family remained in Missouri, but the three young couples, Mr. and Mrs. James B. Custer with their two brothers-in-law and their wives came to what would later become Liberty Township, Lucas County, Iowa in the year 1848.  There were neither towns nor roads.  They followed the Mormon Trail to Chariton Point, then leaving it, they traveled by compass and some knowledge of surveying, following the divide between the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers, as did all the early explores and settlers.  The blue stem prairie grass was so tall that a man on horseback could not be seen.

    Shannon Point was where Oakley now is.  Mr. Custer bought 600 acres of land.  In no time they built a 12-foot square cabin with one door but no windows.  Indians were all about.  One day while James was out where the men were breaking prairie with six yoke of oxen, several Indians came to the cabin.  Susanna saw them coming, put a ladder against the house, climbed to the roof with her baby in her arms and pulled the ladder up after her.  The Indians went inside but her husband had seen them and came galloping in.  He ordered them to stay away, saying his "squaw" was afraid of them.  One of them answered, "your squaw no good squaw."

    Two years went by when Susanna never saw a white woman.  The two brothers-in-law had bought land also but too far apart to admit of fellowship.  Susanna wrote, "One day James had to go out to hunt the mules when he returned he found me crying.  He said, ‘Oh, Susanna don’t cry.  You don’t know what good news I have for you.  I saw some men up on the prairie who are going to lay out a town and then you can go to church.’  The town was Chariton."

     In due time the township was organize and Mr. James B. Custer at age 23 was chosen Justice of the Peace.  There was no courthouse so his cases were tried in their log cabin.  Susanna wrote that while the first case was in progress, she was down at the barn dressing a chicken for the gentlemen’s dinner, "which they seemed to relish so much."  Later, Mr. Custer was elected County Treasurer and continued to be re-elected for ten years.  Their daughter, Caroline, married Howard Darlington Copeland and the son of this union was the late Howard C. Copeland, postmaster of Chariton for many years.  Susanna’s youngest sister, Pocohontas Millan, married Major Gardner Hooper and they became thew parents of the late Harry Hooper, Thomas M. Hooper and Stanton Hooper and of Mr. L. Kent Hooper who still resides in Chariton.

     Chariton was growing.  There was great joy in the spring of 1853 when the Land Office was located here.  No longer was it necessary to "send to Knoxville for mail and for Dr. Huff."  Dr. Charles Fitch located here.  He later married and became the father of five children, one of whom was Miss Laura Fitch, who became Lucas County School Superintendent and later a teacher in the Chariton Schools for many years.

     There was a new log courthouse.  "Preaching" was held there on Sunday mornings whenever an itinerant preacher came through.  On one occasion, two or three men who were out making hay, came in, set their scythes at the door and attended the meeting.  At the close of the service an announcement was made that there would be a dance in the courthouse that night and everyone was invited.  Eventually there was Chariton's first hotel - a double log house on the southeast corner of the square.  Henry Allen was proprietor.  Dances and prayer meetings were held there alternately.

     Susanna writes:  "There were many doctors and too many lawyers.  We have the honorable T. M. Stuart" (the great-grandfather of Justice William C. Stuart) and we need no other.  We are saving him for President and I’m going to live longer to go to Washington City to hear him deliver his inaugural address.  It will be the proudest day of my life."

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     A much later entry in this journal is this: “Chariton is now quite a city with two important railroads, the C B & Q and the Rock Island and a fine prospect for a third – the Northwestern.  Won’t we grow! We now have four fine school buildings – not made of logs – a fine courthouse and six or seven fine churches.   I was the oldest grandmother here – there may be two or three persons older but they did not come before the town was laid out.  When I look back and contrast that with the style we put on now – our churches, sidewalks, paved streets, I really don’t know whether this is me or not, but I hope it is.”

     Time eventually built the entry “I am nearing my 86^th milestone. I am not as active as I was when we came over that road 65 years ago, but I feel that I am the mother of Lucas County that we tried so hard to find.”

     Oh, our Pioneers!  Are there any words to express the debt we owe them?  Their relatives back east were ashamed of them and taunted them with “Only trash go to that jumping-off place!  It is outside the pale of civilization.”  How wrong, how very wrong they were!  Today as we spin along the concrete ribbons and gaze at the incomparable beauty of the broad field, the comfortable homes and the mechanized farming industry, let us sometimes turn our minds to visualize the hostile prairie, the sullen forests, the overwhelming prairie grass, the lurking death and the unspeakable loneliness…”  Lest we forget, lest we forget.”

Pages 26-31

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