Snapshots of History by Mike Avitt
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
This week’s postcard has no information on the back, but the photo appears on page 85 of the Mount Ayr Centennial Book and the names appear in the book. Before I give you the names, let’s look at what the picture tells us.
The band members are wearing uniforms. Uniforms cost money. But bands were so popular, the band probably had little trouble raising the money through donations.
Another thing we see is each band member displaying the instrument he plays. They are all woodwinds and percussion instruments as far as I can see. I also noticed none of the men had facial hair nor eyeglasses. So, how much more are the names going to add to the photo? I mean, we don’t even know if the Mount Ayr Centennial Book got the names correct.
But, we have no reason to believe the names are in error. In the front row we see Bob Askren and George Shepherd. Robert H. Askren had a career as a painter and wallpaper hanger and was very active in the community. He graduated from Mount Ayr High School in 1900, served in the Army in World War I, belonged to Faith Lodge 179 (Masons), and the United Presbyterian Church. In the future, he would be a charter member of the American Legion Post 172 and the Mount Ayr Golf and Country Club. A civic-minded and highly respected member of the community. George Shepherd followed his father, J. S. Shepherd, as editor and publisher of the Mount Ayr Journal newspaper.
In the middle row the names listed are: Clint Allyn, Grant Hayes, George Galloway, Lindsey Wright, unknown, and Clare Allyn. Brothers Clint and Clare Allyn were the sons of Mount Ayr Bank co-founder, George S. Allyn. They followed their father’s footsteps in the banking and real estate business succeeding in their own right. Clint learned the abstract trade around 1915 and worked with Frank Sheldon and later Clyde Lesan as an abstractor. He worked until his passing in 1949.
Grant Hayes is a familiar name to many as he served as County Attorney of Ringgold County for 34 years. He had a private practice for over 50 years. He lived to be 102 years old, passing in 1992. Grant was the father-in-law of George Flagg, the honored Des Moines attorney (George Flagg Parkway) who worked with the Des Moines City Government for decades.
I tried to research Lindsey Wright with little luck, even though he is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery. Then I made a discovery – Lindsey went by the nickname of Lester. He died in 1936 but I was unable to find his obituary.
Then I made another discovery – a photo of this band appears on page one of the January 11, 1910 Mount Ayr Record-News. The photo is low-quality and has the band members in two rows instead of three. The two men seated in front are now in the back row in the newspaper picture.
The newspaper photo identifies all the members, whereas the centennial book lists three of the members as “unknown.” Frank Wilson was one of the members listed in the newspaper so now we know is he one of the unknowns. Frank, an attorney, is another familiar name to old timers.
In the back row is Charlie Reger, Bruce Galloway, Luther Bonham, Fred Luce (director), Elmer Maxwell, Ivor Malone and unknown. Ivor Malone is listed as having graduated from Mount Ayr in 1910, so he was still in high school when this photo was taken.
The digitized newspapers allowed me to do most of this research. We now have a better idea of the make up of the Mount Ayr Band – lawyers, bankers, painters and high school kids. A pretty good combination.
