Snapshot of History by Mike Avitt
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Huckster wagon from about 1900.
This photo was at the Mount Ayr Depot Museum when I joined in 2001. There is lettering on the wagon that appears to say,”A. D. Chance.” This would be Dorington Chance and the man in the wagon could be Dorington or one of his sons. A huckster wagon, seen here, was a traveling store which sold notions, jewelry, and other small items for a retail outlet in town.
A large number of artifacts and pictures have been donated to the Depot Museum this winter and I’ll tell you about some of them.
Deb Murphy donated the book, “The Family of Hy-Vee (1989),” the first history book on that food store. Another Hy-Vee history book was written about 15 years later as more history was uncovered. I have been somewhat obsessed with Charles Hyde, Hy-Vee’s co-founder, because he spent so much time in Mount Ayr in the 1920s and in Kellerton in the 1930s. Hy-Vee got its start in 1929 when Charles Hyde and his partner, David Vredenburg, bought a store in Beaconsfield. The two met in Woodbine, Iowa in 1921 and later came to Lamoni because Vredenburg was hired by the Reformed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to manage the warehouse they owned. The warehouse provided goods to the grocery stores they “sponsored.” It’s an interesting story.
Annabel Walkup sent me a newspaper clipping about a “displaced” family from Latvia. Luke Hart, of St. Louis, Missouri and formerly of Maloy, had contacted the Displaced Persons authorities in Washington, D. C. to find a family to operate a farm in Maloy. The family’s name was Mr. and Mrs. Albins Simons and their five children. The clipping appears to be from the 1950s. Mr. Hart was an attorney and was once head of the Knights of Columbus in the United States.
Jeff Klein e-mailed me a photo of his great-grandfather E. S. Downie in an open automobile from about 1908. I have since misplaced the photo, but Mr. Downie was the father of Aileene Beaman and the grandfather of Jacqueline Klein and Lolly Summerwill. E. S. Downie was a real estate agent and a “mover and a shaker” during the years 1910 to about 1945. I have too many folders on my hard drive but I’ll find the picture eventually.
Billy Powell donated a wooden clothes hanger from the J. W. Mapel & Son Clothing Store. John Mapel bought the clothing store at 116 W. Madison in 1907 and sold it to Price & Agee in March 1910. I believe the son involved with the store was Charles Mapel and he became manager of the Mount Ayr Lumber Co. in January 1910, necessitating the sale of the clothing store. J. W. Mapel spent most of his life as a carpenter and died in 1917.
There’s more but I’m out of space. Thanks for all the contributions, photos, and artifacts.
