Vanderflute, Henry

VANDERFLUTE

Posted By: Mary H. Cochrane, Volunteer
Date: 7/9/2019 at 18:22:32

HENRY VANDERFLUTE
Lamoni, Iowa

Lamoni's Passing Parade
Anthony, Joseph H. p. 98. ca. 1948

During my early days in Lamoni the local stockyards played a prominent part in the life of the community. The fact that in those days all livestock was held there pending shipment and that all the shipping was done by railroad made the yards really the center of livestock activity, and there the farmers and stock buyers met to transact their business relative to this important phase of community industry.

As a youngster I was not especially interested in the details of the livestock industry, the the thing that made the stockyards of more than ordinary interest to me was the fact that at frequent intervals shipments of western horses would find their way into Lamoni, and from this point they would be dispensed to farmers and others interested in the purchase of this type of animal. And as the sale of each western horse brought forth some display of broncho-busting technique, it proved not a little interesting as well as exciting to all the youngsters who made an especial effort to be on hand whenever this condition existed.

While this type of entertainment was the kind that interested us most, yet there were many other incidents which were more or less interesting in a casual sort of way. Most of the farmers drove their stock to market then, either in herds or singly, so it was nothing unusual to see a cow or hog brought to market in this manner; but I remember one accasion when this rather commonplace procedure aroused more than ordinary interest as we witnessed a couple, man and woman, driving a hog through one of the principal streets on the way to market. They were both tall and slenderly built, and the thing which seemed so unusual was the fact that they were both dressed in their Sunday best – she wearing a flower-bedecked hat and long, flowing skirt so typical of that period, and he a white stiff collar and tight-legged trousers which emphasized his unusual height and slenderness as well as the length of his steps as he endeavored to step over the many low, muddy spots in the road and at the same time keep a headstrong and unruly pig upon the charted course. As they reached the vicinity of the stockyards there were plenty of interested spectators who gave assistance in guiding the unruly animal and finally succeeded in lodging it safely in a pen behind one of the heavy gates.

“Vot a pig! Vot a trip!” exclaimed the tall, mud-bespattered owner of the animal in a dialect flavored strongly of old Holland, which also carried an indisputable tone of relief that the animal was finally and safely taken care of. “Mut puttles all de vay, and every one of them he had to hit until I mit mut am all covered alreaty.”

Sensing his plight one was forced to question the advisability of trying to deliver a pig to market while dressed in Sunday clothing, but probably in the old country this was the custon, and in one respect we will admit their method was superior to that of the Iowa farmer, for once their animal was delivered to the buyer, and with his check safely in their possession, they were now ready without further delay to go places and do things-unless, of course, they were not too concerned over a few splotches of mud or other slight indications of dishevelment or other disorders. At any rate this was my introduction to Henry Vanderflute, who had left his native Holland and with others of his family had settled in this vicinity during the early days of Lamoni. Though he endeavored to adjust himself to new ways of living and a new environment, it was quite evident that he would never outgrow entirely the ways and customs which had surrounded his ancestors for many generations.