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One Hundred Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, July 23, 1924.)
Reminiscences of Pioneer Days in Ringgold County by F.W. Johnson~ In the winter of 1871 and 1872 there was an Indian camp about a mile south of where Benton is now located. As I had never seen an Indian camp, I was very anxious to visit it, and borrowed an Indian pony to make the trip.
I was accompanied by two other boys. One of them was Fred Perkins, a brother of the missionary, Fannie Perkins, who is now in the foreign field, having enlisted for missionary work at the same time Helen Galloway did. The other boy’s name was Clay Wilmount, who died a few years afterwards.
We all rode over to see the camp and I will never forget that day. I wore a stiff hat and I froze my ears badly, as it was a cold day in December. As I had never seen an Indian in my life, I was very much excited and did not realize how cold it was until I reached the camp and discovered my ears were frozen.
When we got to the camp I let the other boys go ahead of me, as I was considerably frightened, as I had read so much about Indians scalping boys. I almost wished I had stayed at home, but when we got into the camp they treated us all right by commencing to beg money of us. After we gave them a few nickles they treated us kindly.
Their wigwams were made of bark and lined with blankets, with a fire in the center and a hole in the top to allow the smoke to escape. We went into one wigwam to get warm, but could not stay very long because of the smoke, which the Indians did not seem to mind. They had lots of ponies and dogs.
We returned home in the evening and, aside from frozen ears, enjoyed the trip very much. We considered it a great adventure. That was the last Indian camp I ever remember of in Ringgold county and they had only come to spend the winter to hunt.
I spoke in my letter about horse thieves being very thick in the early days. About the first of July, in 1872, Dr. Sellards had a very fine team of horses. He was so proud of them and so afraid that someone would steal them that he would sit up nearly all night to guard them. But one night when he was not on watch a thief got away with them. He harnessed them and drove them on foot to where the Neely house is now located, at which place he stole a buggy from Rev. William Brown, who built the house and lived there at the time.
He started east towards Leon. Everybody in Mount Ayr was notified early the next morning that the team was stolen and the word soon spread to the country. Everyone who could turned out to help find the thief and recover the stolen horses. They scattered in all directions. My father and the late Chris Saltzman started east and in the right direction to overtake the thief, and were fortunate enough to overtake him about 4 o’clock of the same day and recovered the team and the thief’s coat and shoes.
He had taken refuge in the thick brush along Grand River to rest himself and the team and give them a good feed, and also take a much needed nap. When he heard his pursuers coming he skipped out bare-footed. The farmers of that community all turned out to help hunt the thief and I think they did not find him for two days, and when they did come on to him he was up near Hopeville, asleep in the brush and completely exhausted.
The word soon reached Mount Ayr that the man had been captured. Two men in Mount Ayr hitched up a team and started out with some bad whisky and two 44 caliber revolvers and declared they were going to shoot the thief on sight. They met my father and Mr. Saltzman out near Merritt settlement, returning with the thief.
By that time the whisky was working pretty well and they firmer than ever in their intentions to get rid of one horse thief for good. Both Mr. Saltzman and my father had to fight to save their prisoner from death.
Some time during the night they got back to Mount Ayr and turned their prisoner over to the sheriff. Both the men who wanted to take the thief’s life are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery. The man that stole the team confessed that he had jumped a bail bond in Illinois for some offense and that his father was on his bond for $1,600. My father wrote to his father and told him where his son was, and in due time the sheriff in that county in Illinois, came out here and took his man back home with him.
Have your fortune told in the gypsy camp on the square Saturday night.
Births: born Wednesday a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Perry…July 21 a son, Richard, to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Johnston.
Obituaries in this edition were: Elizabeth Reynolds Armstrong, J.E. Ogden, Charles Ward, and Arthur Mason.
Seventy-Five Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, July 21, 1949.)
Steady streams of people going in and out of the Marrs Radio Shop this week were discovered to be curious spectators of the first television set to be installed in Mount Ayr. The set was put in Monday by Ted Marrs, owner of the store and is a Motorola product.
Tentative plans for an entertainment program costing $1,500 for the Ringgold County Fair have been outlined by Stuart W. Hoover, secretary of the county fair association. The program includes professional entertainers and cash prizes for a home talent contest for the four days August 17-20th.
Births: July 14, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Merle Butler…July 15, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Milton Bressler…July 12, a son, Arthur, to Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Luckinbill…June 23, a son, Larry, to Mr. and Mrs. Don Campbell…July 14, a son, Kenneth, to Mr. and Mrs. Howard Reece.
Obituaries in this edition were: Adella Overholser and Marina Alma Sheldon Jackson.
Fifty Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, July 25, 1974.)
A blazing sun continued to beat down on the Ringgold County area out of clear skies the last week, continuing one of the longest hot spells since the mid-30s.
Of the first 21 days in July, 16 days had temperatures in the 90s with the topper coming Saturday when the mercury hit 101 degrees on the official weather bureau thermometer of Barton French.
Mount Ayr firemen were called to the Standard Oil bulk storage tanks just west of the town water tower Sunday when a gasoline leak was discovered.
According to fire chief Max Anderson, evidentally vandals rolled a bulk delivery truck of Bastow Feed and Grain into the bulk tanks sometime early Sunday morning. Some 5,500 gallon of gasoline drained out of the storage tank onto the ground before the leak was discovered.
The Mount Ayr Raiderettes won games 30 and 31 to advance to the finals on the last night of the girls’ sectional tournament at Bedford.
Mount Ayr beat Bedford 9-1. Against Bedford Mount Ayr scored three runs in the second inning on singles by Diane Wilson, Ruthie Bryan, and Cathy Foltz, two walks and a sacrifice. They added five more in the fourth on two walks , singles by Jenifer Parker and Debbie Ballard and two Bedford errors. Their final run came in the fifth, on an error, a walk and a single by DeeDee Frost.
Births: July 17, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Larry Bowen…July 17, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Gebhardt…July 18, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hunt…July 18, a daughter, Michele, to Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Cavin…July 19, a daughter, Rebecca, to Mr. and Mrs. Jim Clark…July 16, a daughter, Leslie, to Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Sickels… a daughter was born to Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Jobe.
Obituary in this edition was, Grace Hall Allen.
Twenty-Five Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, July 15, 1999.)
Molly Lynch of Redding was crowned queen of Ringgold County Fair and Elisha Doubleday of Mount Ayr was crowned princess on opening night of the fair.
They symbolic first shovel of dirt was turned for the new clinic at the Ringgold County Hospital in a ceremony at the building site north of the hospital.
Annie Roed’s lazy daisy quilt was named best of show in the open class competition at the Ringgold County Fair.
Pies sold at the 1999 Ringgold county 4-H pie auction brought a total of $2,990 for the 4-H fund Monday.
The Ringgold county teen center is now open to all area youth and their guests every Friday and Saturday night. Friday will be junior high night and Saturday will be high school night.
Obituary in this edition was, Winnie Morgan Greene.
Ten Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, July 17, 2014.)
A rural Mount Ayr woman and her son escaped injury following a violent home invasion and resulting hostage situation last week.
Valerie (Karr) Longstreath and her 14 year old son Nathan were held at gun point by Longstreath’s estranged husband, Randy Longstreath of Bethany, MO for two hours Wednesday July 9.
Royalty for the Ringgold County Fair crowned opening night, queen was Katilyn Klommhaus and princess was Adalynn Dredge.
June in Iowa was wettest in 141 years. The June statewide average rainfall was almost 10 inches ad for the most recent two weeks the rainfall of 4.3 inches was nearly double the normal of 2.2 inches.
Birth: July 8 a son, Calvin, to Ashley Brobst and Andrew Robb.
Obituaries in this edition were: Richard Lilienthal, Sylvia Mae South Hall, Jacob Allen Phelps, Frank Garner Saville and Jacquelyn Iwalani Ching Allen.