West Branch Times, West Branch, Iowa, September 27, 1928
Transcribed by Sharon Elijah, December 29 2018
FORMER RESIDENT WRITES OF HERBERT HOOVER
Editor’s note:--The writer of this article, Mrs. Marian M. MacGregor, was reared from early childhood in West Branch, the little Iowa town in which Herbert Hoover was born. Like Mr. Hoover and his family, she was a Quaker and was brought up among the strict Quaker influences of the village. The children that Herbert Hoover had played with were her playmates, the little Friends meeting house that the youthful Herbert knew was her place of worship. The villagers of West Branch were and still are her friends, although her home now is in Chicago. The brook pasture through which meandered the tiny stream that contained “the old swimmin’ hole” whose cool depths on hot summer days delighted the boys in Herbert Hoover’s early youth, is familiar to her, as are the old band stand from which the town gave an hour’s concert every Saturday night in warm weather, the tree-bordered country roads, dusty in season, but shady and restful, and all the other sights and sounds so dear to those who were reared in the country. Mrs. MacGregor in this article explains surroundings that she believes have had so much to do with forming the character that is Herbert Hoover.
“As the twig is bent the tree is inclined.”
This ancient maxim comes to my mind often, these days, as I read of certain acts and sayings of Herbert Hoover that are perfectly clear to me who was reared a Quaker of Quakers, as he was, but that may not be so readily understood by those not of that faith. For Mr. Hoover’s little home town, West Branch, Iowa, with its vine-covered cottages, its shady lawns, its pleasant porches on which friendly neighbors gathered on hot summer nights, its strict religious tenets, its utter honesty of thought and purpose, was also my home town.
Thus when I read Mr. Hoover’s paragraph in his acceptance speech on “tolerance,” I recalled how the two congregations of Friends in West Branch, one the strictly orthodox Quakers and the others the “advanced” or liberals, dwelt side by side in perfect amity although they differed on certain essentials of the creed and worshiped in separate meeting houses. One of the most liberal Wilburs, as the orthodox congregation was known, in commenting upon the withdrawal of the “advanced Gurneys,” or “Fast Friends” and the establishment of a separate church said: “The Lord did move upon the spirits of these whom He had raised up and set forth to labor in his vineyard, to travel by a different route.”
Doubtless Herbert Hoover in his acceptance speech had in mind the memory of some such teachings from his Quaker mother in the long ago in West Branch, for she must have read to him, as had the other Quaker parents to their children, extracts from “The Journal of George Fox,” telling of his persecution (in England in 1653) for his beliefs; and how this persecution and his suffering had resulted in the tenet of the Creed of Friends which acknowledges that “it is the right of every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.”
Many memories of the past came crowding upon me as I sat in my home listening to the words from the lips of this man as his voice came to me across the air, and I fancied I could see running through it all the results of those early teachings, how by heeding these precepts he had been so occupied with building his own character that he had no time left in which to criticize others; how he was doing as he had been taught, to “labor lovingly and patiently, by example, with thine adversary until he shall see more of the Light.”
My parents located in West Branch in July, 1874, one month before Herbert Hoover was born, and I arrived five years later. I was only six years old when he left the Minthorns for the West, and although I cannot say I recall the young boy, I remember his cousins, uncles and aunts very well. My parents lived in West Branch until they died and they are buried in the little cemetery near West Branch close by the graves of Jesse and Huldah Hoover.
Hoover’s Formative Years
In this article I shall try to set out the environments of Herbert Hoover in his early, formative years with the thought that this information may serve somewhat to account for some of his present characteristics. Maybe after he has learned something of the lives of the West Branch Quakers as they were lived some half century ago, the reader may be the better able to see the Herbert Hoover of today because of his background. At least that is my hope.
The first Quaker meeting house in West Branch was a tiny place seating not more than fifty persons, next door to the home of Isaac and Lydia Walker, parents of Dr. William Walker who died recently. An article in the West Branch Times says that when Herbert Hoover visited West Branch two years ago and learned that “Uncle Billy” Walker was not in the best financial circumstances, Mr. Hoover saw to it that his old friend’s declining days were made more comfortable. Isaac Walker for years was “head’ of the Quaker meeting. My earliest remembrance of going to church was in this little meeting house where we assembled for silent meditation on Fourthday and Firstday morning at ten o’clock, and once a month on Seventhday morning. Isaac Walker, as “head” of the meeting, sat in the top row, facing the congregation, and “broke” the meeting with Daniel Green.
Everybody has heard the expression, “quiet as a Quaker meeting.” It is such a gathering I now am attempting to describe.
The older men or “elders” sat on a row of elevated benches at the front of the house, facing main floor where the younger men sat. The older women sat across the aisle from the elders, in front, facing the younger women. Thus was the silent meeting organized.
Was Herbert Restless
I remember that hour of absolute quiet seemed very long to me, a little girl. I wonder how much longer it seemed to Herbert Hoover, the restless little boy so fond of outdoor activities? I pondered then as to how the older Friends could sit so still, without seeming to move, during the entire meeting. The children sometimes “fidgeted,” of course as children do, but they were quickly repressed by their parents. I told mother one day that I thought I had detected some of the older members nodding during the hour of meditation, but mother assured me I was mistaken.
One morning while the meeting was on, a swarm of bees belonging to Isaac Walker flew in the open door and “settled” on the rafters without disturbing the serenity of the gathering although some of us younger members may have suffered a little from suppressed excitement.
Still vivid in my memory is the picture of Ruthanna Crew and Elma Ellyson, who wore black mits and who sat with their hands crossed at a certain angle during the long hour. Another source of wonder to me was how the “head” of the meeting knew when the hour of meditation had passed since there was no clock in the meeting house and he did not look at his watch, but when the hour was up he would raise his head, turn to the man at his left and solemnly shake hands. That was the signal that the meeting had “broken”. Then this man, Daniel Green, would turn and shake hands with his neighbor on the left, Elias Crew, and so on; the women also shaking hands until everyone in the little church had done the same thing.
A diversion in those days was a drive to Hickory Grove meeting school for the children of Friends. Later the Wilburs built a large meeting house down in the hollow south of Main Street in town and this meeting house is still used by the Wilburs. Later the advanced Gurneys, or “Fast Friends” built a church on North Downey street, which is still standing. J. Y. Hoover was head of this last named church for years and all the Hoovers and their cousins, the Miles family, attended that meeting.
The advanced Gurneys adhered, in the main, to the orthodox belief of the Friends but were much broader in their views, having music in their churches, a Sunday school and revival meetings. Their conviction was that they could, in spirit, remain loyal, consistent members of the orthodox Friends and yet enjoy a few of the worldly pleasures that the latter believed they did not need.
Our home library, which was not dissimilar to the libraries of most other Friends and probably was very like that in the house where Herbert Hoover dwelt, consisted entirely of books written by William Penn, George Fox and other Friends, to which was added the official magazine of the sect—“The Friend—which is still published in Philadelphia. Later we children were permitted to read the “Youth’s Companion,” “Pilgrim’s Progress”, “Stanley in Africa,” and Bellamy’s “Looking Backward.”
Children Read Bible
Every meal in a West Branch Quaker home in those days was preceded by silent grace, and each morning after breakfast, my father read to us from the Bible, this followed by audible prayer and a period of silent meditation. As we children grew older we were taught to take turns in reading aloud from the Bible. On Fourthday the children were excused from school at ten o’clock in the morning to attend meeting. There were not night services except on rare occasions during the Yearly meeting. Sometimes a special session was held after Fourthday meeting to discuss financial affairs and other business. No collection ever was taken at the meetings for worship and finances never were discussed on the Sabbath.
A Quaker Wedding
My brother, Alfred, and Emma Jane Smith were married in the Quaker meeting at West Branch. Notice of the approaching marriage was read at the close of the regular service one month before the wedding. After that a committee from the church called upon the bride and bridegroom and gave them religious counsel. The ceremony itself, as was the custom, was public, but invitations were sent out to a reception at the home of the bride on the wedding day and another at the home of the bridegroom on the following day. I remember that Friends came to our house for weeks before the wedding to help my mother prepare huge fruit cakes and other good things for the guests.
The marriage ceremony was simple in form but solemn. With the guests assembled, the bride and bridegroom entered from the front side doors, the bride accompanied by her mother and nearest women relatives, and the bridegroom by his father and nearest men relatives. The members of the bridal party took seats facing the congregation, the men on one side of the main aisle which divided the women’s section from the men’s, and the women on the other.
After a period of silence the bride and bridegroom arose, joined hands, and the bridegroom speaking first, pledged: “Friends, in the presence of God and this assembly I take Emma Jane Smith as my lawful wife, promising, with Divine assistance, to be unto her a loving and faithful husband until death shall separate us.” The bride then made the same pledge, both of them signed the church register; this followed by the signatures of all the guests, and all proceeded to the bride’s home for the reception. After the wedding their license was taken to the county clerk by the bridegroom to be recorded. Although Friends seldom have individual photographs taken, regarding that as a form of vanity, frequently, as I recall it, photographs were made of wedding parties.
A divorce is an unheard-of thing among Quakers.
Nowhere is the beauty of the Quaker faith so wonderfully shown as in cases of distress. My father was a paralytic many years, but his days were made happy and his nights comfortable by the tender ministrations of these people. In afternoons they read to him from the old books that had brought him solace and later they took turns staying with him at night. Simple little gifts they brought to him because they knew these would please him and lighten his heavy load of suffering.
No Mourning at Funerals
Friends do not wear mourning at funerals. They gather at the home where the service is to be conducted and meditate silently for an hour or two, the silence sometimes broken by a few words of eulogy from those who knew well the one who is dead. There are no flowers, no sign of display or ostentation. As soon as a death becomes known, neighboring women hasten to the home and take charge of household affairs, relieving the family from all responsibility of that kind. Cakes, pies and other food they bring and they remain until after the burial. They then return quietly to their homes knowing the same kindness will be shown to them under similar circumstances.
Herbert Hoover’s willingness at school to help those who were in financial straits and his ingenuity in raising money to keep himself and other students out of debt, probably had their origin in his Quaker training. If a Friend in those old West Branch days was known to be under financial stress, a meeting was held and arrangements were made to give him relief. Sometimes the one who was benefitted repaid what was given to him, but this was not expected. They simply “tided over” the victim of misfortune until he was on his feet again, knowing he would do the same for them. If one Friend had a large crop of fruit in his orchard, or his garden yielded an unusually bountiful supply of vegetables, he distributed the surplus among any neighbors of friends who may not have been so fortunate.
An orthodox Friend does not uncover his head in meeting nor in saluting a passing acquaintance since he does not recognize any man as his superior and feels that certain forms of salutation may be considered a sign of servility. He is without a feeling of subservience just as he is without a feeling of ostentation. He will not appear in a court against another Friend, but if called as a witness he will “affirm” that he will tell the truth, finding it incompatible with his belief to take an oath. Likewise when one Friend transacts business with another of his church, all arrangements and terms except necessary memoranda are verbal. No written agreement is necessary and the conditions are always fulfilled.
Other Quaker Customs
The Quakers do not address one another as “Mr.” or “Mrs.”, nor do they say, “Sir,” and “Madam,” but use the Christian names of their friends. Formerly it was “Sister Lydia,” “Brother Nathan,” “Sister Agatha” and “Brother Eli,” but in later years they seemed to have dropped the “brother” and “sister” from their salutations. On my visits home (and West Branch always will be “home” to me) I find myself automatically dropping into the old-time “thee” and “thou” form of speech as I alight from the train, and addressing elderly men and women who were friends of my parents as “Jane” and “William,” for, although I have been away from home many years except for occasional visits, I shall always think of my old friends there as brothers and sisters.
The orthodox Quaker women wear quiet colors, gray and black, but their Quaker bonnets often are exquisitely made of finest silk with many tiny pleats and tucks and a soft facing of finest white silk net.
The Vosbergh sisters, Christiana and Mathilda, fifty years ago, were the village dressmakers and while they themselves always dressed in the height of fashion, they sewed for the few Quakeresses in West Branch who did not make their own gowns. These latter dresses were all made in the same style, with a long, full skirt and a separate basque, sometimes with a few tucks but oftener plain and formfitting with a soft fichu of white net, or a white band around the straight standing collar. The styles never changed and men wore their suits until they were ready to be discarded.
He Liked “The Mocking Bird”
The Quaker children of West Branch did not attend the ice cream sociable and entertainments given by townspeople, nor the home talent plays in the village hall. The town band gave concerts in the summer on Saturday nights, playing from the little stand over the village pump. On rare occasions my father permitted me to go to his store and listen to the music. He once admitted a fancy for hearing the band play “The Mocking Bird,” so once in a while the band would give this selection for his special benefit. Tal Mackey, a classmate of Herbert Hoover, at that time was the bandmaster.
A tragic happening in our village life was the burning of the first school house, in 1890. This consisted of four small rooms, housing respectively the primary, intermediate, grammar and high school classes. Herbert Hoover’s cousin, Vernon Hoover, who died at the age of seventeen years, attended school there in my class.
After the school house burned, the young men organized a volunteer fire department. The sole equipment was a few water buckets which always stood near the town pump.
If I have been somewhat discursive in this article it is only because by the inclusion of some of the homely details of the village life as it was led in West Branch in Herbert Hoover’s early boyhood I have sought to draw something of the picture, however poorly it may have been linned by me, of the customs and morals that must have impressed themselves deeply on the consciousness of the little boy who, I hope, is to be the next President of the United States. If I have helped anybody, however slightly, to better understanding of him and of what may be expected of one who has had such training, through my throwing a feeble ray of light back through the years upon the people who were “his people”, then this effort will not have been wholly in vain.
