Looking Back by Lora Stull
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One Hundred Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News, Thursday, July 30, 1919.)
Roy Emerson, convicted of the murder of his mother, Mrs. Kate Emerson, and sentenced to life imprisonment last Thursday, made his escape from the deputy sheriff of Union County and E. B. Hayner and his guard, Rev. William McFarland, early this morning at Kellerton and ended his life by hanging. Deputy Sheriff Hayner and William McFarland went to Des Moines and placed the convicted man under arrest and were on their way to Mount Ayr to place him in the Ringgold County jail when he escaped. On the drive from Des Moines, which was made during the night, Emerson stated that he would never go to the penitentiary. When Kellerton was reached one block north of the Grand Hotel, the car stopped on account of engine trouble and the deputy sheriff held a light while the driver made the necessary adjustment. When the trouble was corrected Rev. McFarland turned to the prisoner and said “come on, Roy, the boys are ready” and the prisoner, who had been nervous and excited during the stop, replied, “just a minute,” and then without warning, broke into a run. He went north into a yard at the Artie Allen home, passing between the house and the garage, and as the dawn was just breaking was soon out of sight. The alarm was given, Union and Ringgold County officers notified and a general line call sent out over the farm lines. In response to the telephone call, Frank Allen reported that he had seen a man run under the bridge just south of his residence, which is located 2 miles north of Kellerton. Deputy Sheriff Hayner, accompanied by Ed O’Maley, Roy Hart, Curt Lutz and others went to the bridge and there found the prisoner hanging by his belt to the bridge. Only a few minutes had elapsed, but when the officers arrived life had passed out. Emerson had secured a piece of barbed wire from the fence around the well on the Allen farm, about fifty feet from the bridge and after fastening the wire to his belt, placed it around a his neck. Thus ends one of the most sensational murder cases in the history of Iowa.
Marriages: July 28, Bessie Long and Clifford Barborka…July 9, Earl Batman and Beulah Stroup.
Obituaries in this edition were: Willam A. Harvey, Rachel E. Smith Burnison, Deanna Geanelle Williams, and Lyle Johnston.
Seventy-Five
Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News, Thursday, August 3, 1944.)
During the last four months, 22 eighteen year olds whose birthday anniversaries occurred during that time, have registered at the local Selective Service office. Those who have registered are: Robert Lee Guess, Kellerton; Gene Robert Hoffman, Kellerton; John Keith Sickels, Redding; Gerald Edward Todd, Lamoni; Leslie Clair Olney, Mount Ayr; Earl Henry Sigel, Redding; Eugene Virgil Brooks, Kellerton; Kenneth Dale Mickael, Kellerton; Ray Lee Creveling, Ellston; Virgil Dean Howie, Redding; Gerald Henry Baker, Clearfield; Melvin Dean Cavendar, Delphos; Edwin Lee Campbell, Nebraska City, NE; Hugh Wayne Walters, Benton; Texas Dwane Thompson, Redding; Harold Elwyn Norris, Bedford; Raymond Earl Woollums, Ellston; John Edward Dugan, Maloy; Doyle James Denhart, Mount Ayr; Edwin Arthur Kilgore, Diagonal; Merritt Earl Link, Diagonal; and Clifford Melton Peterson, Diagonal.
Cpl. Charles Reynolds has been reported missing in action since July 15 over Jap Island. He was a nose gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber.
Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Roe have received word from their son, Pvt. Elmo Roe, that he is now out of the hospital after suffering from dengue fever (Dengue is a viral infection that is transmitted via the bite of particular types of mosquitoes. It most commonly occurs in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.) Excerpts from his letters received recently by his parents are as follows: I am now in New Guiena and getting along fine. It is a tropic climate and the country is more or less mountainous and they raise mostly coconuts and a few bananas here. We are in a combat zone now. We have seen some Jap prisoners and have witnessed air raids. Our camp is about 100 yards from the ocean shore and we have a nice place. Sgt. Cloud and I have painted a few boxes and dug a foxhole today and I also cleaned my rifle. That is about all I have done today. Sgt. Cloud and I walked down to a native village a day or so ago, they live in grass huts and sure are filthy and diseased. I hope everyone at home is well and getting along ok, your son, Elmo.
Marriages: July 28, Alice Feuring and Pfc. Donald Keller…July 23, Gwendolyn Penniwel and T-3 Arvid Miller…July 8, Yvonne Ore and Everett Ferree.
Births: July 31, a son, to Pvt. and Mrs. Burl Roudybush…Born at Clarinda Hospital a son to Mr. and Mrs. Ivor Wackernagle.
Fifty Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News, Thursday, July 31, 1969.)
The twelve Ringgold County Fair queen canidates are as follows: June Jackson, Kathy Jones, Peggy Terwilliger, Nancy Beymer, Debbie Taylor, Debbie Richards, Deanna Powers, Kathy Boyd, Terry Smith, Pam Lynch, Kathy Johnson & Roseann Wurster.
The Ringgold County local board of the Selective Service System ordered the following men to report for physical examination on July 29; Richard Pence, James Johnson, Thomas Sublett, Jerry Kneedler, Kenneth Deemer, Merrill Still, Jack Gross, Robert Swartwood Jr. and Paul Hileman. The board also ordered Steven Caldwell to report for induction on the same day.
Pearl Henry and Harold Grout of Tingley were united in marriage July 12 at Grace Methodist Church in Des Moines.
Births: July 28, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Spainhower of Grant City.
Obituaries in this edition were; Henry Allen Kettle and Harry A. Reynolds.
Twenty Five Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News, Thursday, July 28, 1994.)
Ed Fallon studies confinement issues. “Large livestock confinement operations are the potentially most far reaching issue for rural Iowa in a long time,” Ed Fallon, State Representative for the Iowa House, District 70 in Des Moines, said after a visit to Ringgold County last week. Fallon spent some six hours visiting with Ringgold County residents and at an organizational meeting of the Citizens to Protect Our Environment last week. Fallon said that the main purpose of the visit was to educate himself about the issue. “Urban legislators need to be concerned about agriculture because Iowa is basically a rural and agricultural state,” Fallon said. “If gone unchecked, the large hog confinement operations have the potential to destroy the quality of life that rural Iowans value,” according to Fallon. The operations have ramifications for urban residents as well as rural residents.
Ringgold County users of electric service from I.E.S. Utilities Inc. may be facing an almost 16 percent hike in their electric rates soon.
Kristy Weddle has been named as laboratory manager technical supervisor at the Ringgold County Hospital. She assumes the position left vacant when Mike McGrath passed away on May 28.
Births: July 19, a daughter, Taylor Ann, to Mr. and Mrs. Rob Washburn…July 15, a daughter, Micaela Ann to Mr. and Mrs. Mike Combs.
Obituaries in this edition were: Harold Irwin Shade, Addie Beall Hoffman and Mary Lucy Matthews Thomas, and Alvin Lester Gregg.
Ten Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News, Thursday, July 16, 2009.)
No state highway construction projects had been planned in Ringgold County in the Iowa Department of Transportation’s 5-year plan, but money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is providing funds for a major project now. A project to widen and resurface U S Highway 169 from Mount Ayr to Afton in Ringgold and Union County was announced this past week.
Another successful fair is in the books and each year the fair grounds show improvements as people come to spend five full days on the fair grounds. One of the major additions this year was the camping pads with water service that were provided on the north end of the fair grounds.
Jamie Novak of Mount Ayr was named queen and Hallee Stewart of Mount Ayr was named princess of the 2009 Ringgold County fair.
Weston Pierschbacher, a senior, at Mount Ayr Community High School, has earned a position on the Iowa State High School Rodeo team and will travel to Farmington, NM from July 19-25 to compete in the National High School Finals Rodeo.
Obituaries in this edition were; Opal Olive Smith Paist and Doris June Woollums Saville.