"The History of Decatur County, Iowa: 1839 - 1970"

by Himena V. Hoffman
Published by Decatur County Historical Society, Leon IA, 1970
 
Part V - The Years of Change 1920 - 1970
Transcription by Sara LeFleur

“So many things have changed but most of all I miss hearing folks laugh.
Once when you came to town you saw men on the street telling jokes, and heard them laugh.
Women laughed too, even if they worked hard, and children were always laughing.”

- AVIS STRONG RUNLEY

The Years of Change

Section II – AFFLUENCE AND FEARS
 
The years between 1945, when World War II ended, and 1970, with which this history of Decatur ends, have been years of affluence unknown in any other period, a time of fears, many of them unknown before World War II, and a period of changed for which few, if any, were prepared.

It has been a period of affluence because of the high price of land, because wages, salaries and professional fees increasing and business prospered, and because men and women could secure employment for which they were qualified. These are years in which homes were remodeled and refurnished, new dwelling places built and furnished, two- and three-car families are not unusual, vacations enjoyed by all employed, and travel a part of the way of life. Also, between 1945 and 1970, more state and federal money came to Decatur County in a month than had come in a generation in the years before World War I; and federal grants were made for various project including funds for a new county hospital, for Graceland College, and most recently a prospect for money for a low-rent housing project.

At the same time, at the first of this period, it was hoped that peace had come with the end of World War II, changes in existing institutions were something to be discussed but not the be attempted, and a better life possible for all. Crime was something to read about but not near enough to cause alarm here. Inflation was welcome because land values increasing and more was paid for farm products.

It has been a time of fears because peace did not come, but problems of crime did, because changed ended much that had been cherished, and because inflation threatened to destroy the security it had at first seemed a to promise.

With the affluence, with the fears and with the changes, there is so much that is contradictory that it will be years before future historians can attempt to determine what has been progress and what has been catastrophe.

Whatever the outcome the outcome, these have not been years for carefree laughter.

Because the price of land is, as it always has been, so important, it will be considered first as an indication of the affluence of this period. Land that had so little value during the depression that own much of it meant to be land poor became more valuable each year – not more valuable as in the years after the Civil War, when an increase of fifteen dollars in ten years was considered impressive, but often doubling or even tripling in value in that time or less. In proof of this, JESSE MCKELVEY, real estate dealer for over forty years, in an interview in March 1965, told of selling land purchased for $40.00 an acre in 1940 for $250.00 an acre in 1964, of 840 acres for $45,000.00 in 1957 and sold for $100,000.00 in 1965, and of 1,000 acres purchased for $37.00 an acre in 1960 for which the owner was offered $900.00 an acre in 1963. Increases in land values such as these explain why older farmer in the county sold their land and retired with far more money than they ever expected to have, and they are able to buy good houses in the county or go to live in Florida or on the west coast, particularly since they now have social security checks.

Those who bought the land were younger farmer who needed more land to farm profitably, farmer from other states where land prices were even higher, me who bought land as an investment and depended on farm tenants or farm managers, and in a few instances Eastern investment companies. Among those who came because of land prices were Mennonites, of whom there were in 1966 seventeen families, joined by others more recently.

Though the price of land has so increased, farm machinery so costly and taxes so high, the prices paid for hogs, cattle, grains and other farm products has remained high enough for some profit. Not only are retired farmer more affluent but those on farms have had a degree of financial security. Farm families live in houses equal to those in town, buy new cars and enjoy the same way of life as families of the business and professional people in the A county, depending upon the size of their farms and their skill in management for their degree of affluencey. A study made by Mrs. LENA HAGEN shows that between 1922 and 1925, after World War I, the number of foreclosures increased each year and continued to increase until in 1932, when there were 103 foreclosures. Thirty years later, after World War II, there were none. Decatur County farmer have had their problems between 1946 and 1970, but few farmer have lost their land because it was mortgaged.

Not only did the value of land increase so rapidly ad the price of farm products continue to be higher than in the other periods, but wages, salaries and fees all had a part in making this a time of affluencey.

As to wages, men who before World War II had worked for less than $2.00 a day as unskilled labors were now paid $1.50 an hour, and as few would consider themselves as anything but skilled, higher wages were expected both on the farms and in the towns Woman who did housework for 50 cents an hour just after World War II are paid at least $1.25 an hour in 1970 or if classed as homemaker under E. O. A. received $2.00 an hour. Only the elderly or ill in Decatur County have what used to be called or “hired girl.” Elderly women or young girls who cared for children are rated as baby sitters and their pay varies.

The charge per hour for all trades had increased, particularly because there is such a shortage. Carpenters, plumbers, painters, mechanics are all in great demand and often make more a month than men in business or in the professions earned during the first years of this period.

The pay for those employed in business places, particularly women clerks, has not increased as much as has that of other wage earners, but has improved. Most of those who own a business have made a reasonable profit and a few have done very well.

Salaries of teachers and administrators increased rapidly, particularly after 1958. In 1970 an experienced teacher with a B. A. degree receives more than a superintendent did in 1950. Registered nurses’ salaries increased. The charges made by dentists and optometrists doubled or tripled. Lawyers’ fees increased and while doctors were paid less than in cities they are among the affluent.

Despite the increase in the value of land, better prices for farm products, higher wages, increased salaries and fees, all of which made business more profitable, it is one of the contradictions in this period that the average income in the county was so low that Decatur County is in an area were the Economic Opportunity Administration program has been established with headquarters in the county courthouse and that there is a community center at Veterans Hall. In 1970 three Vista staff members were added. It has also meant a grant for building of a new hospital and an expectation of more than a half million dollars for low-rent housing. Also, because of the low average income and certain other factors, schools in the county have received federal aid which has increased employment in connection with the school.

Because so many in the county are over sixty-two, more government money comes into the county each month in the form of social security checks than once came to the county in ten years, while for various other reasons other federal money has come to the county.

One evidence of the affluence of this period is the fact that not only are incomes higher but vacations are a part of the way of life and travel the expected thing.

Though much of the travel in this country, trips to Europe, to South America, to Asia or even around the world are not considered unusual. Some have gone to visit members of their family in services – as LULA LEEPER visited her son, Col. JOHN LEEPER, and family in Germany; when THELMA PICKERING BLACK visited her son, also an Army officer, in Turkey; or when RUTH HARDEN WARREN joined her husband in Germany where their son, JEFF, was born. Where it was possible, men in service stationed overseas have been joined by their families and have seen much of the world – ash has PHYLLIS FLETCHER FULLER, who had joined her husband in Europe, and the family of J. L. HOFFMAN who joined him in Iceland. LYNN and MADELINE GRIFFIN LAFOLLETTE flew to England to attend the wedding of their son, Col. WILLIAM COZAD and his family lived in Europe before he retired. However, most travel has not been due to men being in the armed forces stationed in other lands. Students have taken summer courses that included a European tour, farmers have gone with farm groups, college alumni have gone on tours and various organizations have formed tours. Some, like ORANGE DORSEY, made their own travel arrangements and have gone with a relative or friend.

The days are long past when the journeys of FRANCIS VARGA were spoken of with awe, when GEORGE REDMAN’s trip to England to remarry attracted such attention or when S. W. HURSTS representing Iowa at the Paris Exposition was so much discussed. In 1970, when PAT and RON HULLINGER went to Russia, it was not where they went that was of such interest but rather the fact that RON was to appear on the program of an international meeting. Men had gone to the moon - no place on earth seemed a great distance. The people of the county travel because they wish to see distant places and have money to pay for what they want.

While not everyone who had a vacation went to distant places, almost everyone did have a vacation. Some had both a summer and winter vacation. In 1970 it is one of the signs of affluency that both employers and employees enjoyed vacations, long weekends and daily coffee breaks. There may be some in the county who, like the pioneer, work seven days of the week, twelve months of the year, ten hours a day; but if so, they are unknown.

Another indication of the affluence of the period has been the building of new homes, though almost no new places of business nor few public buildings were built. During the depression there had been no money for building and during the war a scarcity of labor and material. As result, there was real need for new dwelling houses and for additions and repairs of houses built before the depression. The Lamoni Chronicle stated in an issue in 1961 that ninety-five new houses had been built in Lamoni between 1946 and 1961, and a survey in Leon in 1960 showed that over sixty houses had been built since 1950. Between 1960 and 1970 the building of new houses has continued despite the increased cost of construction. The ten thousand dollars that would have built a mansion in 1870 would only build a very small house in 1970. New houses were built not only in Leon and Lamoni but on farms and a few in the smaller towns.

Most of the houses built were ranch type or of spilt-level construction and included an area called a family room that served the same purposes as the back parlor or sitting room in the earlier years. A bathroom had been a reason for pride in 1900, but in 1970 two or three bathrooms are included in many house plans. When old houses are remodeled, the rooms most often added are a family room or another bathroom. The first room to be remodeled is most often the kitchen.

As new houses are built, new sites must be found. Few houses now have big lawns or gardens and two or three houses are built where once there was one. There are, for instancing three houses and a trailer on the ground of what was the GEORGE T. YOUNG home. In addition, houses have been built on land not used before as dwelling sites. JOHNATHAN HAMILTON’s pasture has become the HENDERSON addition to Leon, and the VAN WERDEN addition, where few houses were built before 1946, now has houses on most lots, which had been vacant since they were surveyed and sold before World War I. Both Leon and Lamoni have grown in all directions.

The furnishing of the new houses and the refurnishing of the old has received much attention. Electrical and gas appliances of all kinds have been bought and include electric dishwashers, washer and driers, garbage disposals and so much else that a power failure seems a major disaster.

Houses depend on electricity or gas for heat, many have air conditioners and some have central air conditioning. Much new furniture has been bought, but there is also interest in antique and in articles not old enough to be classified as antique yet of interest, particularly if they have been a family possession.

Though the high cost of construction and decreasing population has meant that few business places have been built, store fronts and interiors have been modernized, offices paneled and carpeted and high-priced equipment bought in to both Leon and Lamoni. For the same reasons public buildings have not been constructed to any great extent but these, too, have been modernized. Most stores and offices are air conditioned and some public buildings including the offices of the administration in some schools are air conditioned.

Affluence is also indicated by the number attending college or universities. Though in the days of the early settlers, a good common school education was all that was considered adequate and graduation from a high school was a matter of pride in the years before World War I; and though attending college was a privilege before World War II, after 1946 a college education became the expected thing and graduate study not unusual. Though part of this was due to the fact that those in college or universities were exempt from draft, and part of it was because of so many more scholarships, government grants and G. I. education benefit, the great emphasis on a college education as essential to success was the major cause. The affluence of the period made is possible for so many to attend, though the cost of one semester became equal to that of four years in college before World War I.

It would be too lengthy a list to name those in the county who have received bachelor degrees since 1946. It includes veterans who entered school after the war, teachers who were without degrees now require to have further education, married women returning to work who wished employment which require a degree, and each year the many who had entered college as soon as they graduated from high school. Many who completed four years remained to do graduate work. Some entered a college of law or medicine or prepared for some other profession. Among those of pioneer families who earned PH.D.’s are LOIS ACKERLEY, a grand-daughter of MARIETTA WALKER; DORIS YOUNG KUHN, great-granddaughter of JOHN STRONG and of LEWIS RUMLEY; GLENN HEMBRY of the pioneer HEMBRY family; RON HULLINGER, descendant of WILLIAM HAMILTON and grandson of MARK RIDDLE; and RON BUNCH, great-great-grandson of JACOB WARNER and descendant of SAMUEL GARBER. JACK BOIES, great-grand son of Dr. WAIGHT. ED EPPERLY, son of EDGAR EPPERLY, and LEO MUNDAY, son of LEO MUNDAY, are Ph.D.’s, as are others born in county. JOHN HANSELL and JERRY KOUFER are dentists. Several are now attorneys; JON CARLSON graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy.

Scholarships, too, are more available even to Eastern schools, CHARLES PITMAN, grandson of a Civil War veteran, had a four-year scholarship to Dartmouth, and RAMON LEEPER had a scholarship to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Because of the shortage of doctors, it is of interest that during this period CHARLES PYFER and BRUCE HOPKINS graduated from the medical school at Iowa City, while PHILLIP SULLIVAN and JOHN VINER, great-grandson of CARL HOFFMAN, are enrolled, and that FRITIZ VINER is a second-year medical student at the University of South Dakota. JOHN MAUGHN, son of Dr. CLYDE MAUGHN and HELLEN GAMMIL MAUGHN, also entered the medical profession during this period as did JEROME DOSS, son of Dr. DOSS. DAVID ELSON is a pre-medic in 1970. The ten or more years required of those who enter the medical profession contrast with the early days when a doctor’s training might be limited to study in another doctor’s office for a few years in a medical school that had few entrance requirements.

Other reasons for considering the years between 1946 and 1970 a period of affluence could be given, but those given seem sufficient. However, though this was a period of affluence, it was also a time of fears and of anxiety, some of them connected with changes few expected. It was not a time of carefree laughter.

First of all, while World War II ended, and the United Nations was formed, there was no real peace. During this time [there was] the Korean Conflict, the Cuban Crisis, and involvement in Vietnam. The drafting of men continued. Decatur County men died in distant lands; and in every family where there was a son approaching draft age there was anxiety. Particularly during and just after the Cuban Crisis there was talk of bomb shelters and of the horrors of an atomic war which might be experienced even here.

During the Korean Conflict, OFFIE LEEPER Jr., of Leon, son of Col. OFFIE LEEPER and of LULA RUMLEY LEEPER, was killed in Korea. He received the Silver Star and Purple Heart, both posthumously. His death ended a life of great promise. JACK TAPSCOTT of Lamoni, son of EMERALD and GLOW SALISBURY TAPSCOTT, was killed in Korea. He had served in World War II, had been cited for bravery and was one of the men sent to Washington to receive recognition from President TRUMAN. He, too, had much for which to live.

In 1970 there had been ten years of war in Vietnam. Decatur County men have died in the service of their country and were deeply mourned. All who went have been in danger.

Though in other periods newcomers have always been welcome, and though the county needs increasing population, there is fear when land is sold. Some fear that the new owners may be hippies, yippies or some some militant black organizations. Others are alarmed because the land may have been purchased by a company that organizes the so-called Rock Festivals that have been connected with the selling of drugs as well as other evils. Others are apprehensive because headquarters for a gang of criminals or subversive group that plots to destroy the government might be established near them. Never before in the history of the county has there been this much suspicion when land was sold.

During the early part of this period, drug addiction, riots, demonstrations against the government and increasing crime had caused concern but did not seem to threaten Decatur County; but when a group of some sort took possession of the park at Davis City and were so objectionable that it was necessary to call the state police, when Graceland College students picketed the draft office, when dope is reported as sold here, and when former residents were convicted of robbing a bank here while threatening to kill hostages, there is realization of what can happen. Though three has been no real invasion of hippies or Black Panthers, though the demonstrations by students have been peaceful and the bank robber a fiasco as far as those involved in committing the crime were concerned, there is fear not only of war but about conditions in our own country.

The decreasing population of the county, too, has caused fears. Though there were once over 18,000 people in the county, there are now a little less than half that number. Farms are larger so there are few of them. Except for Leon and Lamoni, the towns are smaller and are no longer centers of business activity. Though these towns were with such high hopes, and though there were such great expectations in the years before World War I, there is little left in their business sections except empty buildings. In none of the towns except Leon or Lamoni, is there a bank, a newspaper, a drug store, a hotel. In some there are empty schoolhouses, and in the churches where services are still held there are either nonresident ministers or those with other occupations. Because of all this there are far fewer farmers in the county and in the small towns few businessmen and almost no one in the professions. The increase in population in Lamoni and Leon is small compared to the decrease in the county.

Not only is the population less but the proportion of old people is a matter of concern. In 1856 CARL HOFFMAN wrote, “Most of the married persons of the county are under thirty”; now it can be said that most married persons are over forty, though the number of those married who are under twenty may be greater than in 1900.

Because of the dwindling and aging population, business men and women are concerned as to volume of business and those in the professions doubtful as to their future in the county.

Inflation, too, first welcomed because it meant increasing farm values, better prices for farm products and better income, has by 1970 become a cause for anxiety. The high cost of living can cancel the advantages of higher incomes, hospital charges alarm even those with financial security, savings for college education prove insufficient older people on fixed incomes have reason for worry and those on public assistance fear they will not even be able to buy what is necessary to live.

High taxes alarm the farmer and businessmen, already troubled by problems of inflation, and in all the professions there are fears. The doctors fear socialized medicine, are disturbed by the frequency with which doctors are sued, burdened with demands made on them by Medicare and Medicaid and, in rural sections, overworked because so few doctors are interested in general practice. The lawyers find that some laws passed by the legislators and some decisions of courts are disturbing. They are concerned about disrespect for law and when there is often defiance of established court procedure. Teachers and school administration officials fear the loss of control of student conduct and school curriculum and are unhappy that in their profession there is division between the radicals and the conservatives. Ministers are dismayed by divided leadership in many churches, by demands for drastic changes by a few and the indifference of the many.

There are fears, too, as to air and water pollution, as to how to combat chinch bugs, grasshoppers and corn borers that destroy the crops, what insecticides and weed killers should be used as to diseases and blights that threaten plant and animal life such as the corn blight and the elm disease.

Already hundreds of elms have died and have been cut down and many are standing that should be cut. Farm houses that were once surrounded with beautiful trees look bleak without them and the streets once shaded by elms are too often without trees. Though the elm was the favorite shade trees of the early settlers, there were also many maples and pine trees planted. Fortunately, some of them are still standing. In recent years spruce and hard maples have been planted and in the last two years many red bud trees were planted in Leon as a project of the Amicitia Club with LUCILE CARTER as chairman. JOHN HOFFMAN has supplied friends with red buds and other native trees. Not only have people in the county grieved when cherished elms have died, but there are fears that some disease may destroy other trees and plants.

Besides the affluence and fears of this period, it has also been a period of sudden changes for which few were prepared. Some were good, some had both good and bad effects, some seem disastrous, some are welcomed or condemned depending on who makes the evaluation. Some are connected with the affluence of these years and almost all of them have fears connected with them in some form or other.

The most drastic changes came as far as the schools were concerned. Decatur County that once had over a hundred rural schools, with some students from the county in the Clark County School District and some attending high school outside the county as part of the Grand Valley Community School District and Mormon Trail School District.

While smaller high schools had closed, and even before World War II the number of rural schools and definitely decreased, the State Department of Education under laws passed by the State Legislature did not take decisive action until 1958; but once action was started, changes were rapid.

In 1970 the rural school buildings have either been torn down, converted to other uses or in a few instancing are left standing to fall into ruins, reminders of a school system of which the county was once very proud! There are also school buildings in Van Wert, Weldon and Pleasanton empty or used for other purposes.

Of the three high schools, only Lamoni retains its name. The other two are Central Community, which includes Davis City, Decatur and Pleasanton, with the high school in Leon, and Mormon Trail, which include LeRoy, Humeston and Derby, with the high school in Garden Grove.

The advantages of the reorganization are the larger number of students in a school, more subjects taught, special classes for the retarded and those needing remedial classes, and the adding of school librarians and guidance directors to the school staff. It is possible also to have more instruction in music, including school bands and more school sports. Whether the increases in the salaries of teachers and particularly in the pay of the administrative and business staff would have come anyway because of inflation and the shortages of educators and how much is due to reorganization is not clear, but it seems evident that it has increased the size of the administrative staff and it is probable that it is a factor in the pay increases of all school employees.

Though it may seem to some that only good has come from the changes in the schools, there are those who are far from enthusiastic. Those who expected reorganization to lower school taxes have found that instead these taxes much higher, and seem to some exorbitant. There are parents who protest that their children spend too many hours on a school bus, sometimes overcrowded and sometimes under supervised, to be taught by teachers the parents do not know, using new methods that may or may not be better than those discarded. These parents would prefer a smaller neighborhood school. Though reorganization did not bring rebellion against authority, drug addiction or juvenile crime, there are those who think the smaller schools had advantages in dealing with such problems.

However, though all this is true, there are not only the fears as to the present in connection with the schools but fears as the future. The same forces that brought about reorganization before 1970 now urge still larger schools to seek to have county or inter-county high schools. This would mean heavier taxes for new buildings, longer bus rides for high school students and many other problems. Yet it is also true as far as taxes are concerned that new buildings will be needed in the present districts as none of those used now are adequate according to present-day standards.

Decatur County is also taxed to support an area college at Creston which, while approved as teaching skilled trades and being less expensive, may mean an increased tax burden.

Mention has already been made of the number from the county attending college or university, but it should be added that not only is attending college or university costly but the disturbances that have taken place, including riots, arson and other violent demonstrations, present an unpleasant aspect of college life. Parents are concerned, too, as to how radical fellow students and faculty members may influence a son or daughter. There is often as much anxiety as joy connected with entering college in 1970.

The changes as to churches that is most obvious is that the number of churches in the county continued to decrease. Now only a few hold services regularly, and while schools reorganized and combined, the number of churches in the towns increased, particularly in Leon where there are twelve church buildings and thirteen congregations, as the Lutherans hold evening services in the Presbyterian Church. In Davis City there are five church buildings.

Ecumenicity is discussed favorably in some churches and condemned in others. The indications of the ecumenical trend are the union of the Presbyterian and Methodist churches in Garden Grove with a Christian minister from Humeston as pastor, the sharing of a minister by the Presbyterian and Christian churches in Leon, and the World Day of Prayer services in Leon, when women of the Presbyterian, Christian, R. L. D. S., Methodist, Catholic, and at times those from some of the other churches, unite for service.

The Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ, most often referred to as the R. L. D. S., has the largest congregation in the county with over eight hundred members at Lamoni and has the finest church building. The only brick church built in the county during this period was the R. L. D. S. Church at Leon. Several frame churches were built by the Baptists, the Nazarenes, and the Independent Bible Church.

The Brethren Church has twice had withdrawals. The first one brought a case in the district court as to ownership of the church property, and the second resulted in the forming of the Independent Bible Church.

While such a division has not taken place in any other church, there have been members who transferred membership or became inactive, and there are differences of opinion which in some churches are centered on whether the church is a place for worship or a place to protest social injustice.

Because there are so many churches, few of the congregations are large and there are few that do not have financial problems. Particularly in the churches that require college and seminary training there is a shortage of ministers and it is difficult for the churches in Decatur County to pay what is necessary to secure one. One of the fears of such churches is that they will be without a pastor.

Only a few of the rural churches survived, but High Point and New Salem are particularly active as are a few others.

There have been many changes in organizations, but most of those who survived the depression also survived the war. Among those are the Masonic organizations, the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs, the Rotarians, Business and Professional Women’s Club in Leon, P. E. O. in Leon and Garden Grove, W. C. T. U. in Lamoni, American Legion and it’s women’s auxiliaries, numerous women’s clubs, bridge clubs, and for those of school age, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cubs, Brownies, 4-H Clubs, and special interest groups, as well as school organizations such as FHA and FFA, church organizations, and organizations of farmers.

Organizations founded and disbanded during this period include some Square Dance Clubs, an Esquire Club in Leon, Junior Chamber of Commerce, also in Leon, and several social and study clubs.

New organizations include Rod and Reel that owns a wooded tract of land and a small lake; Lions Club, a very active organization; a Leon Country Club and include in its membership those form other towns and in the county and which owns a clubhouse with a schedule of dinners, dances and other social events and a golf course. Assisted by the staff at the Community Center, Senior Citizen groups have been organized in several towns.

Membership in federated clubs has declined. Though at one time there had been eleven federated clubs in Leon, there are now only two. There are also two in Lamoni and one at LeRoy. However, all are active. The number of special interest clubs has increasing each year. These include the Buttoneers, Garden Clubs, the Decatur County Historical Society, the Hospital Auxiliary, Band Mothers, Saddle Clubs and organized groups of weight watchers with names to indicate interest in reducing.

In almost all of the organizations for adults the need is for more and younger members. Too few wish to hold offices and almost no one seeks office. Then there are those to whom any organization means much fear for what will happen in the years to come. There is concern, too, because national and state dues have been so much increasing.

A major problem of the organizations for those of school age is to secure qualified adult leaders who are satisfactory to the group and able and willing to give the time necessary, Mrs. EDGAR HANSELL was far many years a leader in the Girl Scout organization and Mrs. T. R. VINER was a leader for fourteen years. 4-H clubs have had many fine leaders and in 1970 thirty-two are listed as leaders of eighteen clubs. The Leon Junior Garden Club has for a number of years had Mrs. HARLAN SCHNOOVER as adult leader and won various honors.

For some ten years an unusual number of Scouts in the county became Eagle Scouts. In Leon the list included three grandsons of HARRIET and JOHN MCKIBBEN, two great-grandsons of SUSAN and CARL HOFFMAN, two great-grandsons of SAMUEL and HILA PENNIWELL as well as several others whose great-grandparents had been among the pioneers. GERALD GRAVES, FOREST MILLER and ERNEST COLEMAN assisted by other men interested in scouting were leaders. In 1970 Scouts are again active with DONALD RAINER as leader. Youth groups need adult leaders and parent support. There are Scout troops in Lamoni and Garden Grove. Dr. C. K. FELLMAN of Garden Grove is an active Scout leader in the district.

There had been little changes in the political parties, which are essential to our form of government, as far as Decatur County is concerned.

Just as in the past, there is political activity in both parties during election year, and though “as goes Decatur County, so goes the nation,” to quote a grandson of Judge JOSEPH WARNER, is not always true, yet most often in the last twenty-four years, as in earlier years, Democrats hold county office when a Democrat is President, but are defeated if he is a Republican. Yet at the same time the appeal that a candidate has for the voters may not depend on his party, and he will be elected even if most of his party are defeated.

Just as in the past, too, few women are nominated for county office and fewer still elected. Only EVA RHEA MCGINNIS has been given more then two terms. In this period WILLA BRYANT served as recorder tow terms, and in 1970 GRETA WILLIS, a descendant of the pioneer GAMMILL family and of MILES WASSON, is county clerk.

In party organization the Republicans have changes as to county chairmen including BOB PEARSON, LEE ELSON, HERBERT LOVETT, and HOWARD BAKER. The present chairman is JERRY RUNKLE, JOHN FULTON has been county chairman of the Democratic party through most of this period, and his interest continued while FRANKLIN MAIN was chairman and now when ROBERT FULTON, his cousins’ son, is chairman. ELEANORA MILLER and THELMA WARREN are among the women who have been active in the Republican party. DOROTHY RAUCH was for a number of years a county chairman of the Democratic party. BETY HULLINGER and FREDA HAMILTON are among the active present precinct chairman.

In recent years THOMAS WILLIAMS, LORNE WORTHINGTON and, FRANKLIN MAIN, all of Lamoni, have served in the state legislature, as did ARLO HULLINGER and HOMER WARREN. FRANKLIN MAIN was also state senator. All these men represented the county ably. LORNE WORTHINGTON also served one term as State Auditor and is now on the Insurance Commission. STEVEN CARER, as already mentioned, was serving his first term as congressman at the time of his death. He was the county’s first congressman and had a position of leadership in his party.

The changes in county government have been little discussed, and at first glance it might seem that nothing had happened about which there could be either enthusiasm or concern, but as a matter of fact, there are changes that are ominous. Those who have felt that there would always be a Decatur County have reasons to doubt if that is true.

First of all, there is the loss of representation in the state legislature on a county basis. When Decatur County was combined with another county or even counties in electing a state senator, it was accepted without much protest, as the county still elected a representative. After a representative district was formed, the county was fortunate in having men from the county elected and so did not realize what the changes might mean, though there was realization that reapportionment might shift political power from the rural counties to the cities. What really is most ominous is the disregarding of county lines so that under the present plan part of Decatur County is in one voting district for state representative and part in another, which makes it doubtful whether anyone from Decatur County can win a nomination for that office if he has opposition in his primary.

This disregard of county lines had already been shown in school reorganization and county unity weakened when part of Decatur County was in the Clark County Community District and another part in Grand Valley Community School District with its high school in Ringgold County, while Mormon Trail includes two counties.

Among the businessmen in Leon are several descendants of the pioneers. DON BROWN, of Mid American Book Store, is a great-grandson of JOSPEH BEAVERS. JOE DOBSON of Coast-to-Coast is a great-grandson of JACOB WARNER. Both LORAL HULLINGER and ARCHIE STUTEVILLE are descendants of WILLIAM HAMILTON, FOREST MILLER, is a descendant of the pioneer STEPHENS family, JIM SCOTT of Leon Concrete Building Supply is a descendant of both the ALLEN SCOTT and EURITT family. WILLIAM LINDSEY is a grandson of SAMUEL and HILA FISHBURN PENNIWELL and FRANK SLADE is a grandson of FRANCIS VARGA. CARL LONG sold his store one hundred years after his grandfather established it during the Civil War. ROBERT BOORD of Clarence Boord & Son is a great-grandson of CALVIN BOORD. ODA MCKERN of Mid American Book Store is a descendant of a VANDERPOOL who voted here in 1851. Other long-term businessmen are CARL PITMAN, son of HENRY PITMAN; CURTIS BIGLEY, son of NATHAN BIGLEY; MILO HAMILTON of the pioneer HAMILTON family; and CHARLES CLEMONSON of the STEPHENS family. K. K. BARTLETT is the grandnephew of Captain BROWN. JOHN MOORE, postmaster, is of pioneer descent as is CLIFFORD COWLES.

Industry is needed in Decatur County and during this period a small group of men have worked to secure a plant or factory. After several bitter disappointments, and only after giving the company a hundred thousand dollars, they were able to have a branch of O’Bryan Company established in Leon. It now employs over a hundred and seventy-five women and a small staff of men. More industry is needed.

Once during this period it was hoped that oil would be found in the county. LEWIS B. JACKSON of Tulsa, Oklahoma, whose grandparents were Decatur County pioneers, drilled for oil; but just as there was no gold in 1956 and no coal before World War I, no oil was located.

There does not seem at present any reason to be hopeful of additional business in the smaller towns. Leon has a small factory and there is a new county hospital, and it is encouraged by the success of the Mid American Book Company as a mail-order company selling books on antiques and of the Clarence Boord & Son expanding business consolidated. Lamoni’s future seems assured provided Graceland College continues to grow as it has in the past ten years. Its present enrollment is over twelve hundred.

There have been many changes in farming since 1946, some of which have already been mentioned. Not only is much more land required but thousands of dollars worth of machinery which the farmer must now have to operate and keep in good condition. The successful farmers must know how to use fertilizers, weed eradicators and pesticides, or if he raises stock, have much of the knowledge needed by a veterinarian, together with all the other qualities and skills that are a part of farming.

The owners of small farms in 1970, if they wish to farm profitably, must buy more land. Some prefer to live on the farm and supplement their income with some other employment.

Because labor-saving appliances are available in farm homes, many farm women are employed in the stores, in the offices, at the factory, or as teachers. It is also true that because farm labor is so difficult to secure some farm women work with their husbands at harvest and planting time, simply because no other help is available.

As has been mentioned before, there has been much change in the owners of the land in these twenty-four years. One group of newcomers, as already mentioned are the Mennonites. Though their way of life means that they do not buy some of the things former owners of the land did, and though the fact that most often their children do not attend high school and so reduce enrollment, they have been welcomed as law-abiding citizens, industrious farmers, and good neighbors. The Mennonites have leased the Franklin Church and hold services there. Mrs. CLARA MILLER has since coming to the county written and published three books and is a recognized Iowa author.

Though there are many newcomers, there are descendants of the pioneers. The sixth generation of MENDENHALLS live on the land where SAMUEL MENDENHALL settled and where his son ELIJAH first broke the soil in what is now High Point Township. No HAFTIELD has as many of his name living in the county as REUBEN HATFIELD once had, but there are still those of that name in the county. Perhaps no CREES thinks of his land with the pride JOSEPH CREES did, but there are descendants of GEORGE REDMAN, of PHILLIP BEERS, and of JOESPH LEEPER. CHARLES BOLON is a grandson of JOHN CLARK and WILLIAM BARRETT is a descendant of JOHN BARRETT. Though he has left the county, ARNOLD LOVETT, descendant of SYLVANUS ARNOLD, was for years a leading farmer in the county. RICHARD RIDGWAY is a great-grandson of SAMUEL GARBER. Both CECIL and RUSSELL GOODMAN are grandsons of a pioneer. RUSSELL CHAMBERS is a grandson of AMOS CHAMBERS and great-grandson of HENRY VOGT. JOHN STONE, whose mother was MARY SPRINGER, represents those two pioneer land-owning families.

In connection with the farmers, it is of interest that there are those associated with pioneer families who have had much to do with the farm Bureau and the extension office which was established in 1917 with FRED WOOLEY as the first president. WALTER OSBORN, whose wife was related to the REFINE JACKSON family, was at the head of the extension office during some of the years most difficult for farmers. ARVID MILLER was with the extension service for thirty-one ears. His wife GWEN is a descendant of the ARNEY family and a great-granddaughter of BARBRA WADSWORTH PENNIWELL and SAMUEL PENNIWELL. EARL HANTHORN is the president of the Farm Bureau.

A check of the telephone directory indicates some of the changes in farm ownership and related businesses. There are more BOSWELL families in the county than there once were HATFIELDS, and more HULLINGERS than GAMMILLS or more MCCLURES than STANLEYS.

As to which of the early landowners now has the most descendants is a matter of conjectures. DAVID THOMAS made the claim for the NORMAN family and for descendants of MODECAI MILLER with which the TONEY family is connected. Others have stated that it is the descendants of JAMES DALE or WILLIAM HAMILTON or ASA BURRELL that have the greatest number. Perhaps the MCDANIEL family can lay claim to as many family connections as once did the WARNERS. However that may be, there are no landowners in the county with the STEARNS name, just as there are no longer members of the S. W. HURST family in business or an attorney of the MCGINNIS name in the county.

In the vicinity of Garden Grove there are several descendants of ROBERT MCBROOM, who secured the first marriage license, including KENNETH MCBROOM, JOHN MCKIBBEN of the pioneer MCKIBBEN family, and DON WAGNER, great-grandson of BRYSON BRUCE and a descendant of PETER SCOTT. In the Van Wert vicinity are farms of the descendants of GEORGE REDMAN and of the pioneer BINNING and HEMBRY families. No one by the name of BUFFUM lives in LeRoy and there is no Heaton store. There are KYNERS, BUMGARNERS and descendants of the CALHOUNS and THURLOWS among the families long established there. CECILE FLORA MCALLISTER still lives on the land that was once her father’s; RONALD SCOTT, grandson of CARTER SCOTT, farms land once owned by his father, ERALD SCOTT. Dr. JEFFRIES lives on the JEFFRIES farm. JULIAN FROST and DILLON FROST are descendants of WILLIAM FROST. RALPH RIDGWAY is a descendant of SAMUEL GARBER.

Some of the farmers of pioneer descent have retired in recent years. Those include HOWARD SAGE, son of GID SAGE who lives in Davis City. R. F. DALE, whose lives in Garden Grove, and SAM METIER, CARL GITTINGER, GUY SKINNER, whose wife is a descendant of the MCCLEARY family, and ROY COX, husband of GRACE BEAVERS COX, have retired, as have NILE MENDENHALL, ALVA DURRELL, NEIL SMITH, ROSCOE SCOTT and many others.

V. R. CREES, whose wife is a granddaughter of WILIAM YOUNG, lives near Garden Grove. There are still members of the FEAR and FIERCE families in the county, as well as BURCHETTs and BOYDs, KENDALLs and KINDREDs, ELLERs and SELLERs. HORNEYs and HOWELLS, MCCLAINs, MCCLUREs, BEARDSLEY, and BLAKESLEYs, as well as many other descendants of pioneers, whose names do not have a similar sound.

But whether they are newcomers, belong to families that came after the Civil War or descendants of the early settlers, all who farm live in a period of change. As the cost of machinery has increasing as labor is scarce, custom farming is already being considered in the county. Tenant farmers have become farm managers. Farming becomes more and more a combination of science and business. There is a Farm Bureau organization, and some farmers belong to the National Farm Organization.

Because depression affects farming first, there is fear among the farmer whenever prices fall and anxiety when weather conditions are unfavorable. Perhaps there will never be another year of continual rain as in 1851 or drought as in 1936, but what has happened is feared every time when here is too much or too little rain.

Some regret, too, that feeling which centered around the rural school and the rural church is gone. Even the names are forgotten: Boothtown, Crown, Spring Hill, Buzzard Roost, and all the rest. However, in an emergency the old spirit of hospitality and of neighborhood spirit is found to still exist.

There have been many changes in business, some of which have already been indicated, particularly as to the small towns.

In these days of quick transportation it is easy for those in the county to not only shop at Leon or Lamoni or at Osceola or Chariton but also at Des Moines or Kansas City. In the telephone directory of 1970, only one store is listed at Davis City, Decatur, Garden Grove, LeRoy or Pleasanton, and in other small towns and rural areas there remain only a store at Woodland.

There are changes in Leon and Lamoni. Food is bought at Pyfer’s Food City or at the HyVee Food Store, both modern markets with much else on sale. Leon has in the business section just one drug store, Hopkins Rexall Drug Store, that includes a gift shop and is an excellent place to buy many articles besides drugs. One of the new places of business Young’s Pharmacy, not far from the Decatur County Hospital.

The aged and ill are cared for at West View Acres and at Elder Lane Manor. Elder Lane includes care of veterans, and was formerly the Frost Nursing Home. It was the first of its kind in the county. It was established by HIMENIA RUSSELL FROST. The new hospital was completed in 1970.

The changes in the professions vary somewhat, but there are some changes that are the same in each profession. The number in each profession is smaller, the time required for preparation is longer and all are better paid and, except for doctors, work shorter hours.

The greatest shortage is in the medical profession. In 1970 there are only seven doctors in the county, Dr. T. R. VINER and Dr. THOMAS MCMILLAN are at the Leon Clinic. Dr. KENNETH BROWN and Dr. HARVEY FEENSTRA each have an office in downtown Leon. Dr. E. E. GAMET, Dr. N M NELSON and Dr. G. W. SWANSON are at Lamoni. Dr. J. D. MYERS retired and Dr. DOSS, who returned to Leon after World War II, established a clinic, but left to join the staff of a veterans hospital. Three other doctors have been on the staff at the Leon Clinic, but left because did not with so continue in general practice. Dr. FRED BOWMAN retired and died shortly afterwards. There is no osteopathic physician in the county since Dr. CLYDE MAUGHN retired shortly before his death.

The greatest fear in connection with the doctors is that those now here will go elsewhere or retire and that no one will come to take their places.

Though there are fewer lawyers in the county than there were at an earlier period, it seems that the number here is sufficient. Only one of the present Decatur County Bar Association, MARTHA HOFFMAN, was a member of the Bar before 1946. The present attorneys are HOWARD STRAND at Lamoni, ROBERT BURDETTE, ROBERT FULTON of the pioneer FULTON family, LEE ELSON, G. F. HOFFMAN, great grandson of CARL HOFFMAN, ROBERT STEWART and MARTHA HOFFMAN at Leon. DIO MCGINNIS and ROY HAWKINS both retired and are now dead. STEVEN CARTER became a member of Congress. After his death during his first term, his office remained closed until purchased by ROBERT FULTON in 1970. Both the attorneys and their clients view with concern the suggested consolidation of counties and fear the time may come when Leon and Lamoni may be without attorneys as are towns such as Garden Grove that for years had a resident attorney.

The changes in the teaching profession have been indication in connection with change in the school, but it should also be noted that some of the requirements written into contracts no longer exist. Teachers are often nonresident and the restrictions as to smoking, drinking, or gambling no longer exist. If a teacher attends church, it is a matter of choice, not an obligation of the profession. Though during the years before this period married [female] teachers were not employed, there are now very few unmarried women teachers. Each year the number of men teachers increases.

The fears in connection with schools have already been discussed and those related to ministers have also been mentioned.

The chief changes in the nursing profession are the large number of licensed nurses and the number of nurses aids.

There are now three dentists in the county – Dr. SHIPMAN and Dr. VITEK in Lamoni and Dr. BENSON in Leon. Dr. C. D. SCOTT retired, and after the death of Dr. ELING. Leon had no full-time dentist until the coming of Dr. HARRY VANDERHOCK, except that Dr. VITEK of Lamoni maintained a part-time office in Leon until 1970. Dr. EMO BARNUM is the only optometrist in the county, following the profession of his father, Dr. CEIL BARNUM.

Because so few churches pay a salary that is adequate, ministers either serve two or more churches or have other employment. Some are farmers some have done carpenter work, been employed at a funeral home, sold insurance or taught in a school. It is a fortunate congregation that has a full-time minister.

There are vacant parsonages and manses or they have been sold or are rented. There is no resident minister in Garden Grove, no resident Methodist minister in Van Wert, Weldon, Davis City, Decatur, nor resident Presbyterian minister in the county and only one resident Christian minister. The Lutheran minister lives in Osceola. The Episcopal Church at Garden Grove is disbanded and the building has been torn down. In some churches there is no Sunday School and in some no choir. All these conditions are matters of concern to a certain extent, but the greatest fears are those related to the changes within the churches, the divided leadership in many churches and the need of some churches to develop among themselves more Christian fellowship.

The changes in transportation that started with the invention of the horseless carriage continued during this period.

In 1970 the only trains that go through the county are small freight trains that go over the Burlington branch line. There are bus stops at Leon, Davis City and Lamoni, and except for those towns there is no more public transportation than in the days before the first stagecoach line. Few remember when Leon had six passenger trains a day, when Van Wert was a railroad center where a line going north and south crossed an east-west railway, and when the future of towns such as Pleasanton seemed assured by their railroad station.

Most of those who travel go by automobile, sometimes with a mobile home or camper if vacationing. The cars owned vary from Cadillacs and Lincoln Continentals for the most affluent to Model T Fords, valued as antiques. Two - and three- car families are quite usual. If both husband and wife are employed, two cars are often necessary, and while every boy does not have a car when he is sixteen, he is likely to feel underprivileged without one.

Bicycles are the means of transportation for those too young to drive a car or ride a motorcycle and are sometimes ridden by adults.

Saddle horses are useful on a stock farm and there are those whose ownership of a fine saddle horse is a status symbol. There are several saddle clubs in the county that are seen in parades and complete for honors in horse shows. However, on many farms there are no horses. Tractors and trucks do what was once done by horse power and farm families travel in cars.

While many in the county have made plane trips, few have owned planes. EDGAR HANSELL, prominent Leon businessman and one of the first in the county to own a plane, died in a plane accident. LORAL HULLINGER and MARSHALL WARREN are the only ones in Leon to own planes.

Decatur County before World War I was proud to have the Jefferson Highway, The Mormon Trail, and the Waubonsie Trail routed through the county. After World War II, the two principal highways were 69 and 2 with their juncture at Leon. In 1970 Interstate 35 is being built with intersections near Decatur and Van Wert.

While fine highways and the improved ways of transportation are most important yet there are fewer that go with all these changes in transportation. There are those that question whether the vast expenditure for highways is justified and whether the emphasis on car ownership does not mean too many spend money on cars that they cannot afford. It seems evident too that to be able to go so fast and so far has its perils as well as its advantages. The increased number of accidents brings discussion as to the causes, with charges that cars are defective, that too many drivers are too old, that young drivers are reckless or that speed has become more important than safety. In addition, in 1970 the relation of air pollution to our means of transportation has been established. No solution to all these problems have been found, but whatever changes are made to solve them, it is quite certain that nothing will bring back to Decatur County the dirt roads, the rubber-tired buggies, the spring wagons, the bobsleds and the passenger trains of the years before World War I.

Besides these changes there were changes in business, in farming, in the professions, in organizations and, of course, the way of life including social life, recreation and cultural interests.

There have been many changes in business in this period, some of which had their beginning after World War I. As has already been stated, the smaller towns are no longer centers of business and there are few businessmen in any of them, and as to rural stores, the only one listed in the telephone directory in 1970 is at Woodland.

There are no grocery stores or meat markets in Leon, but food is bought at Pyfer’s Food City or Hy-Vee, both markets where much besides groceries and meat are sold. There are more beauty shops than barber shops. The only department stores are chain stores with managers in charge.

Lamoni, too has two markets, Edgerton’s and HyVee, and two florists and a pizza house are indication it is a college town.

There are only two banks in the county, the Decatur County State Bank at Leon, whose chief stockholders since HARRISON LONG disposed of stock are nonresident, and the State Bank at Lamoni, of which VERN DESKIN was president for most of this period. WARD KILGORE heads the bank at Leon in 1970.

The only newspapers in the county are the Lamoni Chronicle, published and edited by DAVID ALLEN, and the Leon Journal Reporter, published by W. L. LINDSEY, whose wife, MARGARET LIONBERGER LINDSEY, is editor.

While few men in business in either Leon or Lamoni were here before World War II and while some stores have frequent changes in managers, JACK STEWART owns the business his father established in 1911. FOREST MILLER carries on the business of his father, WILBUR MILLER, and VAUGHN SMYTHE, photographer, celebrated fifty years in business shortly before his death in 1969. In Lamoni, RALPH DERRY is at the location which his grandfather established. WILLIAM WHITE, whose wife is a granddaughter of DAVID DANCER, belongs to a family long established in Lamoni. JAMES SMITH of the J. R. SMITH family is a leading citizen of Lamoni where his great-grandfather was an early settler.

For the most part the changes in social life have been desirable, but little of it is home centered and there are those that fear that some social standards have been lowered.

As home-centered social life has decreased, interest in team sports has increased. There are few, if any, home tennis courts and croquet is played only by children. The favorite spectator sports are football, basketball and wrestling connected with schools. A few go elsewhere to see games played by a college or university or by a professional team.

In summer there are town baseball teams where there is interest in Little League and Babe Ruth teams. In Leon there is a well-lighted field where teams play, with a volunteer coaching staff and a paid director. There is much interest in golf with golf courses at both Leon and Lamoni. Bowling, too, is popular. As for swimming, Graceland College has a fine indoor pool and the outdoor pool at Leon is enjoyed by many throughout the summer, particularly those of school age. Swimming at Grand River or in a pond or creek is a thing of the past, but may swim at Nine Eagles.

Picnicking in some nearby woods is almost unknown, but there are picnics at Harvey Park in Leon, at the Nine Eagles State Park near Pleasanton or at Davis City Park on Grand River. Doubtless next year many will go to Slip Bluff, which is now a recreational area established by the County Conservation Board.

Dances are held at the Leon Country Club, and for younger people there are not only the Teen Club dances at Leon but other dances in the county, most often sponsored by some group or organization, which at least are semi-public. Of course, Graceland College has a complete social program including dances, and there are a few dances sponsored by the high school.

The cultural interests in the county center around study clubs, schools and certain church groups, Graceland College events, and of course, the public libraries. There are two libraries in Lamoni, a public library and excellent college library with a professional staff. Mrs. THOMAS WILLIAMS was a college librarian and after her husband’s death became librarian at the town library. In Leon, Mrs. ROY STOUT, now deceased, was for forty years the librarian. Garden Grove, too, has a library and librarians have included Miss MABEL MCCLUNG and Mrs. GLENN VAIL. There are librarians at each of the high schools.

Whether television is a cultural interest or merely entertainment may be a matter of opinion, but it is least one of the few home-centered interests of this period, and is surely partly the reason way the moving picture places of entertainment, once in almost every town, are almost nonexistent. Leon that once had two now has one that is open only four days a week in 1970.

We have called attention to all the ways to enjoy life in the county. We will close this section not by telling of either affluence or fears, but by recounting things that show that there is still possible a good life in Decatur County.

First of all, while many complain about not receiving enough social security benefits or too little public assistance, the older people are the first generation to have their saving supplemented by the government, without which some would be dependent on relatives, charity, or at the county farm, which is no longer a “poor house” for paupers, but a home for those whose mental condition requires such an institution. Many, too, have been able to be employed even though older, and many are in far better financial circumstances than they ever dreamed of being in depression days.

Other adults in whatever occupation have shorter hours, more vacations, and more income than ever before. Whether on the farm, in the stores, or in the offices, there are labor-saving devices undreamed of in the past.

As for the children, many of them have more to spend each day than children of the depression year had in a month. Though they complain bitterly about ridding a school bus and the food at the school lunchroom, their grandparents walked to school most often and ate cold lunch from a lunch box or dinner pail if home was not near. While they resent discipline, they know nothing of the corporal punishment once commonly used.

All lived more comfortably. Even the poorest house in the county has some advantages that the best of the homes of the early settlers did not have.

This part of the history of Decatur County must conclude with the names of a few of those who have accomplished much for the county and those who have during this period held offices at the state or national level.

Four men still residents of Leon have been selected by the Leon Chamber of Commerce as Man of the Year in each of the past four years: LORAL HULLINGER for his leadership in securing the O’Bryan Factory and in connection with the E. O. A.; Dr. C. D. SCOTT because of his work in connection with the County Conservation Board, the Decatur County Historical Society, and the application for a low-rent housing grant; OLIN RIPPEY for his accomplishments as Mayor and active interest in the 4-H fair; and GERAL GRAVES, a descendant of the GARDNER and SCHENK pioneer families, as scout leader and in service affairs, giving much of his time and often taking responsibility. All four men had contributed to community welfare in many ways besides those listed.

While no award has been made in Leon as to Women of the Year, there have been in recent years, as in the past, women who have deserved recognition for community service. Mrs. JACK STEWART has been for years a member of the Park Board and has taken a lead in activities related to welfare and health. Mrs. ROY STOUT, as town librarian, went far beyond the call of duty to serve those who came to the library and particularly to encourage and help children and young people. Mrs. EDGAR HANSELL gave much time to affairs related to the schools and to youth organizations. Mrs. R. L. HOPKINS has continued since her husband’s death and since her marriage to RALPH HIBBS to give leadership in community project, particularly to those related to the county home and the Decatur County Hospital. Mrs. WILLIAM BARRETT has shared with her husband interest in the A. F. S. organization, Red Cross, and organizations concerned with the mentally retarded.

Other men, too, have deserved recognition. Among these are some who are descendants of pioneer or connected with pioneer families. DON BROWN, great-grandson of JOSEPH BEAVER, a past president of the Chamber of Commerce and the Historical Society, is in 1970 chairman of the Library Board and of the Red Cross Board. ODA MCKERN is treasurer of the Red Cross, the Library Board, and the Historical Society. Dr. T. R. VINER, whose wife is a great-granddaughter of CARL and SUSAN WARNER HOFFMAN, in spite of the demands of his profession, has served on the School Board, has been on the City Council and has served as president of the Chamber of Commerce, as well as making generous contributions to community projects. FOREST MILLER of the STEPHENS family has been active in many community affairs, as have CARL COFFEY and ROBERT PEARSON.

These mentioned are only a few of those in Leon who deserve recognition in addition to the business and professional men already mentioned.

In other towns, too, there are those who rate recognition. Dr. W. G. JEFFRIES of Davis City, who has since retired from city practice, has done much not only for the community where his father once lived but also for the county. His leadership in connection with the building of the County Hospital under construction in 1970 was most important. Descendants of JOHN CLARK, who lives in or near, Davis City, include HILDRED MCCLARAN MARTIN, who with her husband, GEORGE MARTIN, are influential in community affairs, as is CHALES BOLON, whose wife is a descendant of ALFRED CUMMINGS.

In Lamoni, leadership centers in the R. L. D. S. Church and in Graceland College. Bishop COLEMAN was for years at the head of the church. Members of the Graceland faculty well known in the county include JERRY RUNKLE, RAYMOND ZINSER, and FRANK HOUGH. The present president of Graceland College is WILLIMA HIGDON. Mrs. and Mrs. THOMAS WILLIMAS L compiled local historical material and carried on the record of Lamoni history which had been written earlier by JOSPEH ANTHONY in his The Passing Parade. Since her husband’s death, Mrs. WILLIAMS has continued this interest.

Though many of the descendants of early settlers in Garden Grove have gone elsewhere, including most recently ARNOLD LOVETT, members of the LOVETT family live in or near Garden Grove. Included is MARIE BEACHTOLD LOVETT of the pioneer family that settled in New Buda. LAURA WARRINGTON JUDD lives in the RACINE KELLOGG house. MAY HENDERSON represents the WATERS family, and MARGARET NORTHUP BEMIS and her husband, LESLIE, are influential in the community.

In each of the other towns and in rural neighborhoods, there could be listed men and women equally worthy of mention – descendants of pioneers and representatives of newer families.

Marriages continue to unite families long in this county. MARY BARRETT, descendant of JOHN BARRETT, married RON BOSON, great-great-granddaughter of JACOB WARNER. Her brother, RICHARD, married JUDITH BOLON of the family of JOHN CLARK. SUE CONEN, great-great-granddaughter of ELI ALEXANDER, married ROBERT CHASTAIN. BRENDA CHASAIN married MAURICE FULTON. SUSAN CHASTAIN married KEITH HINDS, descendant of the ONEY family who were early settlers. RON HULLINGER married PAT BINNING. The great-grandparents of these couples must have known each other in Decatur County over a hundred years ago.

Those from the county that have held state or national office include OFFIE LEEPER, who held offices in the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masons, was Illustrious Grand Master in 1962-1963, served on national committees and was a favored candidate for a national office the year of his death; EDGAR EPPERLY held state offices in Royal Arch Masons and was Grand High Priest; ELEANORA MILLER was State President of the Auxiliary of Veterans of Foreign Wars, has been active in Red Cross and civil right organizations at the area level and in 1970 is State President of the Iowa Pen Women; HAZEL HINES was State President of the Federation of Music Clubs; Mrs. RALPH VINER was State President of the Iowa Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1968-70; Mrs. W. L. LINDSEY is Vice President of the Iowa Women’s Press Association, and W. L. LINDSEY is a past State President of the Iowa Press Association; JOHN VINER is a member of a national committee of Sigma Alpha Epsilon; Mrs. WILBUR PRALL is national Secretary of Buttoneers; and Mrs. T. R. VINER served on the Moingona Council of Girl Scouts. As was mentioned earlier, STEVEN CARTER was elected to Congress and LORNE WORTHINGTON was State Auditor and is now on the State Insurance Commission.

IDA VEE CROUSE (after the death of her husband, ROBERT CROUSE, now Mrs. ORVILLE REED) received state recognition as a newspaper woman. ALICE AKES held state office in the organization of women in banking. In 1970 JACK HUGHES, who, though his farm is in Ringgold County, belongs to the Leon Council, became Illustrious Grand Master of the Council of Royal and Select Masons, and DONALD BACON, CHESTER CARTWRIGHT and FOREST MILLER held state positions in Masonic organizations. WARREN HANTHORN also held office and has been particularly active in the Order of Eastern Star and in local projects. Twice in recent years the Iowa Teachers of the Year has been from Decatur County. Both Mrs. CARL WARRICK and Miss LENORE PERCELL have been honored with this title. Mrs. WARRICK has also had a state committee position in the Business and Professional Women’s Organization. Dr. ELMO BARNUM has served for several years on important committee of the state organization of optometrists. Miss MARGARET MEEK served on the State Board of the Iowa Educational Association, and Mrs. CHARLIE JOHNSON of Weldon is on the State Board of HEATHER MANOR. Mrs. LILLY FLAHARTY of Garden Grove is a qualified judge for flowers shows of Federated Garden Clubs of Iowa. Recognition has come to former Leon residents, members of pioneer families, including Dr. LELAND ALBAUGH, Dr. JOHN STOCKTON, and Dr. JOHN GATES.

Though these named are for the most part connected with Leon, in all of the towns and in the rural section there are those who have become known beyond the county, particularly in church affairs or in their political parties. Members of the Graceland College faculty include always those who hold or have held positions of importance and have their writing published.

Because the Decatur County Historical Society is most interested in the recording of county history and directly responsible for the publishing of this book, it is to be expected that it should close with an account of the leaders, its accomplishments and its goals.

DON BROWN and Dr. C. D. SCOTT are past presidents, ODA MCKERN is the current president. RUTH LEE BAILEY and EILEN SCOTT HAMLIN, both of pioneer families, have served as secretaries. The present secretary is VIRGINIA WILLIS, daughter of PERRY LATTA. The present treasurer is CHESTER REDMAN, son of MAURICE and ELIZABETH MCMORRIS REDMAN. BERT MCGAUHEY has been an active membership chairman for several years. HARRY GRAVES, son of GERALD GARDNER and GLENDEAN STUTEVILLE GRAVES, has directed variety shows for the benefit of the museum and, assisted by CHESTER REDMAN, has had the major responsibility for the publishing of this book. TERESA TULLIS , great-granddaughter of JOHN GARDNER, is co-chairman of the museum receptionist staff. Over thirty people have assisted as receptionists including some not members of the society, but those with the records of most hours on duty are NEVA PARSONS MEDENHALL, EDNA YOUNG, HELENA MENDENHALL, EDITH CHAMBERS, LOUVA HANNER NEIGLEY, EILEEN HAMLIN, and TERESA TULLIS.

Members of the society come from all parts of the county. The first active member from Lamoni was PEARL ROBINSON LEONARD. ZULA HAMILTON DOWNEY and CECILE FLORA MCALLISTER were among the first from Davis City to join. CARRIE REDMAN and other members of that family, Mrs. LEO HEMBRY and members of the BINNING family are among those from the Van Wert vicinity who have been interested. Mrs. ART LANDIS and Mrs. MARVIN WALLACE, both of Weldon, and Mrs. TOM MURROW of Des Moines, daughter of Dr. FOXWORTHY, has made valuable contributions. MADGE MCMORRIS WOODARD was one of the first members from Decatur, where she is active in community affairs, though now a resident of Leon.

The major project of the Historical Society is the Decatur County Museum of which ORANGE DORSEY is the curator. A task to which he has given many hours every month. Without assistance such as his the museum could not have existed.

The first collection given the museum was the valuable ORVILLE BOYCE gun collection. ROLLIE FIGHT, CARL COFFEY, Dr. SCOTT and JOHN HOFFMAN have been frequent donors. BERT and RUTH KEMP made valuable additions. Mrs. VERE BLAKESLEY provided an exhibit of Indian artifacts and a display case was provided for special exhibit by Mrs. STEPHEN CARTER. The hundreds of items on display have come from these and many other donors who have a share in making the museum worthwhile.

Decatur County has had no general since General GEORGE POMUTZ, but both Admiral BRUCE and Admiral ARNOLD were from Garden Grove. A uniform of Admiral JUDD ARNOLD is on display in the museum.

The museum not only has objects of interest on display but has some sources of information and has a record of others. At the museum are copies of The History of Decatur County by HEMAN C. SMITH and J. W. HOWELL and the Biographical Record of Ringgold and Decatur County. Also on file is the unpublished manuscript, “History of Decatur County,” written by HARRIET KELLOGG. There are copies of publications on the county written by GUS TINCH and articles by DAVID THOMAS on Terre Haute, first settled by MORDICII MILLER and on Tuskeego. There are also copies of church history written for some of the churches of the county and the book about the Catholics in Decatur County written by Father HARKEN, who while in Decatur County became Monsignor HARKEN. While not on file, the records at the museum show that the STEWART-SANGER family, the BEERS family, and the FOLAND family have their family histories compiled, and it is assumed that other families in the county have records as to those living in Decatur County, though those in charge of the museum have not been informed as to this. DOROTHY STILES SMITH, who is a daughter of BERT STILES and MARGARET MULLIN STILES, is among those who have a family record and interesting pictures showing members of pioneer families.

The book Hawkeye School Master in Horse and Buggy Days by CHARLES TYE includes chapters on life in Decatur County in the early days. Mr. TYE is a brother of GROVER TYE, a lifelong resident of Pleasanton area.

The museum has been made possible because of the efforts of the Historical Society, the interest of the County Conservation Board in the preservation of local history and the cooperation of many with similar concern.

This book reflects the life of its writer and her family and is based on what material was made available. Doubtless many who read it will know of member of their families of equal or more importance than those named. Others will recall events that should have been recorded. Such material should be published by those who have it or preserved for the use of some future historian. For errors, apology; for all who have helped, sincere thanks.

So now we come to the end of the writing of this history. What is past is over, what the present represents we can only evaluate as it seems to us now, what the future will bring we do not know.

As life in the cities continues to be less desirable and suburban problems increase, life in the small towns seems more attractive and modern farms have more appeal. Perhaps Decatur County will again have settlers who seek “a fair land in which to live” and who will find here those whom GUS TINCH described as “intelligent, generous, industrious and, above all friendly.”

Perhaps, too, some of those far scattered descendants of those who once lived here will come back to the place dear to their ancestors, and those who went elsewhere to make their fortunes will return.

It may be true that there is no magic springs along Grand River or that those who live long enough in Leon to like its water will always be thirsty elsewhere, but those who have a deep interest in Decatur County and know its history, like PAMELA PATTERSON, want “no handsomer or richer land this side of paradise” and think as Captain BROWN did that for them there is no better place on earth.

Perhaps, too, the time will come when there is such economic security and the fear of war will be so forgotten that the laughter AVIS RUMLEY remembered will be heard again in the small towns and farm homes everywhere. Then another chapter will be written of another period in the history of Decatur County.
 
 
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