Looking Back with Lora Stull
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One Hundred Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, April 13, 1921.)
Sheriff H.W. Terrell and Deputy Sheriff M.W. Snethen captured Emanuel Martin, an escaped convict from the state prison at Fort Madison, Friday evening.
The sheriff and his deputy were on their way home from the northern part of the county when they overtook Martin and invited him to ride. The invitation was accepted and when the county home was reached Martin asked to be let out so he could stop at the farm over night.
Something about the appearance of the man caused the sheriff to be suspicious and when he reached home he went to his office and found the card issued by the prison authorities showing a picture of Martin at the time he received sentence and after he had become a convict. The sheriff at once recognized the likeness and going to the county home placed the man under arrest. Martin was sentenced to the penitentiary in August 1920. Two weeks ago he escaped from the state farm at Clive. He is seventy years old.
A group of Hawaii musicians and a band of Gypsies, the latter traveling across the country in automobiles, struck Davis City, Decatur County, the same day.
A dusky Hawaiian and dusky Gypsy of the feminine persuasion casually met upon the streets of the town and the maiden aforesaid suggested to him that if he would let her hold his pocket book for a few minutes she would bless it and the god of good fortune would double the contents thereof. After wrapping the pocket book in a dirty handkerchief and going through with a ceremony in a strange tongue, she placed the pocket book in an inside coat pocket of the musician with the strict order that it must not be disturbed for a given period of time else the gods would not bestow favors upon the transaction.
With a smile the maiden passed from the view of her victim and in due time he opened his purse and found it depleted of three, five dollar bills. He sounded the alarm without delay, the town Marshall got on the trail as did also the sheriff from Leon and in due time the caravan was overhauled and the missing money recovered.
The Gypsies passed on to the next town and the Hawaiian concert troupe proceeded with its musical numbers in due form.
Births: April 9, a girl, to Mr. and Mrs. Lester Sackett…April 10, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. James Hudson.
Obituaries in this edition were: Jacob Frane and Sarah Elizabeth Johnson Mason.
Seventy-Five
Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, April 11, 1946.)
The question of whether Ringgold County shall be represented by three supervisors as under the present system or whether the membership of the board shall be increased to five will not be decided by the voters until November at the regular general election.
Fashion Fads: Let’s pull together; and it’s decorative window shade cords that we’re pulling, in order to wear them, as they do in Brooklyn, NY, as necklaces and bracelets. You will find inexpensive shade cords with cute ornaments such as bell boys, Dutch boys, peasant girls etc. Small flashlight bulbs make stunning jewelry when painted in different colors and strung on heavy thread. It is easy to drill holes in the end. That is what they are doing in Milwaukee.
Milton Henderson assumed his duties as county extension director on Monday, April 8. Ringgold County has been without a permanent director since July 1943.
Marriages: April 3, Edith Campbell and Dale Warren…Saturday afternoon Ione Thompson and John Baal were united in marriage.
Births: March 31, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Harold Wilson…April 8, a daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Barker…April 4, a daughter, Dianna, to Mr. and Mrs. Lyndon Nichols…April 4, a son Dale, to Mr. and Mrs. Merle Stephens…April 8, a daughter, Dolores, to Mr. and Mrs. Homer Day…April 5, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Clare Brown…April 2, a son, Rex, to Mr. and Mrs. Rex Beede.
Obituaries in this edition were: Lillie Jenkins Symond, Gary Lee Stephens, Manson Herren and Willis Dickson.
Fifty Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News,Thursday, April 15, 1971.)
Junked cars will become a thing of the past in Mount Ayr, if a town ordinance passed by the town council has the desired effect.
Under terms of ordinance #160, passed by the council at a special meeting Monday night. Storage of junked automobiles will be declared a nuisance with violators liable for fines not exceeding $100 or imprisonment not exceeding 30 days.
Bill Horne retires from fire department. A member of the Mount Ayr Volunteer Fire Department has been honored for 25 years of service and has received his honorable discharge.
Wayne Ivan Dolecheck, 20, prominent young farmer of Monroe township, died Monday morning in the crash of his pickup five and one-half miles northwest of Kellerton.
News of Men in the Armed Sevices: SP-4 John Crawford returned Monday to the states from Viet Nam and received his honorable discharge on Tuesday at Fort Lewis, WA.
Births: April 6, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Gary Sheets…April 7, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dierenfeldt…April 10, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Alan Culbertson…April 10, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Pete Eivins.
Obituary in this edition was: Frank W. Seasholtz.
Twenty Five Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, April 11, 1996.)
A pilot program to provide the local community with a certified family nurse practitioner was endorsed by the Ringgold County Hospital board at it’s April 8 meeting.
The featuring of Delphos, IA, population 18, was spotted by a former Mount Ayr resident, Pat Henderson, now of Lexington, KY as he read the November -December 1995 edition of a national publication, “Utne Reader.” “Utne Reader” was calling attention to something that appeared in the publication. “Our Smallest Towns: Big Falls, Blue Eyes, Bonanza & Beyond.” This book is a collection of panoramic portraits of interviews with the citizens of the least populated town in each of the 50 United States.
There was a picture and a quote from mayor, Ralph Brammer, “No crime here. Just dog killing. People dump them. I’ve killed several. I’ll admit to that. I’m a farmer. I’ve got sheep and cattle around here and I won’t put up with it.” He continues, “Delphos was platted in 1880 by the CB & Q Railroad. Back then there was a blacksmith’s shop, a shoe cobbler, a lumberyard, a grain elevator, a boarding house, a general store, a church and the post office. The last two are the only things still standing, and we’re on borrowed time with the post office. It’s not a pay proposition anymore.
Births: March 25, a son, Konner, to Mr. and Mrs. Kory Klommhaus…March 23, a son, Gage, to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Sackett.
Obituaries in this edition were: Nathan Wesley Hunter, Jack Elisha Snethen, Wesley Marion Jones, Jr.
TenYears Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, April 7, 2011.)
Ringgold County law enforcement officers are investigating the unattended death of Scott Miringoff, 59, of Redding who was discovered in Poe Hollow Park Wednesday, March 30 at 7:29 p.m. No foul play is suspected.
Concrete was being pumped into forms of the walls for the New Federal Emergency Management Agency storm shelter at MACH school that will double as a weight room and wrestling room for the school. The school district is paying for 15 percent of the cost of the facility with the rest coming from federal and state emergency management funds. The building is designed to with stand tornado force winds.
Serving as president of the Associated General Contractors of Iowa for 2011 is Terri Main, president of TEK Builders of Mount Ayr. Main was installed as the group’s president at the convention in January, making her only the second female in history of the organization to serve as president. AGC of Iowa is the association of contractors that build highways, bridges, and municipal and utility infrastructure in the state.
Obituaries in this edition were: Alice Virginia Barnhouse Boyd, Gary Lee Easton, Robert Dean Liles, and Scott (Boyd Capwell) David Miringoff.