NEWSLETTER OF THE WAYNE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

P.O. Box 104, Corydon, Iowa 50060 September 2009 641-872-2211 ptmuseum@grm.net

www.prairietrailsmuseum.org

8th Annual Pioneer Festival October 3 – 3:00 pm

Come join the fun at the Museum! It’s time for the 8th Annual Fall Pioneer Festival at the Prairie Trails Museum’s Heritage Barn, a

celebration of our pioneer heritage and days gone by. Would you like to learn how things were made years ago? There will be a variety of people demonstrating almost forgotten crafts. You can learn how a rope was woven or watch a broom made from a special variety of corn like that grown in front of the Heritage Barn. Try your hand at weaving a rug on the loom with the help of Joan Byrns & Christie McDonald. Watch as Betty Bear &

Gwendolyn Lohmann spin wool into thread. Enjoy a lesson from Paul Gunzenhauser in crafting shaker boxes. Blacksmith Jim Ratliff will have the forge hot as he bends iron into useful or decorative items.

Old fashioned games and pumpkin painting are just some of the fun activities for children. There will be several chances to win a delectable treat in a cake walk. A calk walk will be held each time there are enough participants to fill the circle in front of the barn. And don’t forget your ticket for a chance to win one of the hourly door prizes.

In the afternoon Welcome We Help will have ice cream and brownies or cake. Proceeds from sales will benefit activities of Welcome We Help.

Wayne Community High School Tag Students will be pressing fresh apple cider, have a glass or take home a jug for later. Proceeds from this activity will

benefit the Wayne High School Tag Program. Always a crowd favorite, horse-drawn wagon rides will begin at 3:30pm. Ron Redmond & Mauretta

Perryman will bring a team and bright red wagon this year. Brenda Hebl, Cambria will also have her horse and carriage on the north side of the barn to load and unload passengers.

After an enjoyable afternoon we hope you have worked up an appetite because beginning at 5:30 p.m. a chuck wagon meal of grilled pork or roast beef, salad, baked beans and drink will be served by Burton & Linda Prunty with a suggested donation of $7.00

Shane & Natalie Brown of Seymour will round the evening entertaining with a mix of country and gospel songs. This husband and wife team recently made a CD of some of their music.

Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy a wonderful fall afternoon at the Prairie Trails Museum. **************************************************************************************

Calendar of Events October 3 – Pioneer Festival – activities begin at 3:00 P.M. October 16 – Wayne County Hospital Grand Reopening Gala Fundraiser 6:00p.m. – 9:00p.m. “Taste of Wayne County” with local restaurateurs and caterers tasty specialties Hosted by Wayne Co. Hospital at Prairie Trails Museum October 31 – Last day for regular hours in 2009 November 8 – Volunteer Picnic at Museum 1:00 P.M. December 4-5-6 – Festival of Trees sponsored by Corydon-Allerton Chamber of Commerce Proceeds to Empty Stocking Program - Held at Prairie Trails Museum

Excerpt from “Behind the Barnyard Gate” written in 1961 by Eda Kelley Harper. Eda was born in Allerton on March 22, 1900, daughter of Byron & Clara Kelley. After graduating high school in 1917, she left Allerton to attend University of Iowa where she met and married Floyd Sprague Harper of Newbury, MI in 1921. Eda went on to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Mathematics. Eda passed away in Lincoln, NE in 1983. A copy of her memoirs was recently donated to Prairie Trails Museum by granddaughter, Jenny Yearous of Bismarck, North Dakota.

Gypsy Visitors

I knew in a rather vague way that gypsies were a

group of people that wandered from place to place begging for food, or telling fortunes to earn a little money. It was September and my three sisters had been going to school for a couple of weeks but I still missed them very much. I had the habit of going to the gate that opened near the mailbox to await them coming down the road. I was surprised to see only a big cloud of dust between me and the schoolhouse, and after a few minutes it seemed to be getting bigger and coming closer, I heard dogs barking, the moos of a cow and I saw men and boys walking beside a canvas-covered wagon. When they were about a block from the gate, I rushed to the house to tell my mother. She was busy stirring peach butter on the range and suggested I come into the kitchen with her. By this time, she could also hear the noises of the group for they were on the road in front of the house by this time. They stopped their wagon under the maples that bordered the peach orchard. I am sure they had noticed the trees were laden with ripe fruit.

Soon a young gypsy and her little boy in tattered overalls knocked on the kitchen door. She asked Mother if she could buy a dozen eggs ands some butter. Mother knew she would make excuses for not having the money to pay so she gave her a dozen eggs and about a pound of butter and told her she could pick up peaches from the ground. The mother and boy went back to the wagon.

Soon my sisters came home and they were as curious about the gypsies as I was. We could see that

there were several children, as many dogs, a cow led behind the wagon and three or four men and as many women. They unhitched the horses from the wagon and tied them to the fence to graze. They soon had a fire

built and were busy cooking a meal. When it was bedtime, I got ready for bed and knelt by the window with

the light off and watched the shadows of the gypsies moving around the fire. Someone was playing a guitar and voices joined in a haunting chant. I became cold and crawled into bed and was soon asleep with their soothing music.

I awakened to the sun sifting through the curtains at the window. I

quickly jumped up to look at the gypsies but the wagon and all the people were gone, probably hunting another free meal and a warmer climate toward the south. As I listened to my parent’s conversation at breakfast, I understood they had probably helped themselves to some chickens as well as the fruit and food Mother had given them. I was glad they had left and felt thankful for a comfortable home and for my good parents and sisters. Eda Kelley Harper circa 1918

******************************************************************** Memorials: Since our last Newsletter the Wayne County Historical Society has received gifts in memory of: Carl Bracewell, Amy Robertson, Dr. Leo J. Freese, Jamie McMurry, Bob Crawford, Nimrod Poston, Edith Rider, Clyde Dyer, Dorothy Dyer, Maurice Kent, Lloyd and Ila Mae Green, Edith Taylor, Barbara Jennings, Phyllis Hornocker, and Cleva Van Fleet. We have also received a contribution honoring J. C. Brown. We sincerely thank all those who have chosen to remember and honor these fine people through a gift to the Historical Society.

One-Room Schools in Iowa and Wayne County By Brenda Beckner

Early pioneer children in Iowa were often taught in their homes by mothers or older sisters. As populations grew in areas of the state, citizens organized local schools called subscription schools. Children could attend these schools as long as their parents shared the expenses for supplies and teachers. In 1839, a law passed by the territorial legislature made each county responsible for opening and maintaining public schools. According to a letter written to the Wayne County Democrat in 1908 by James S. Whittaker, an early settler and teacher in Wayne County, “The first school house built in Wayne county was built about 1 ¼ miles east of where Lineville now stands, in 1842 or 1843.”Not all children attended school because they were needed on the farm, and mothers, aunts, and friends would do their best to teach children to read and write.

In 1858, another law was passed, and each township in Iowa became responsible for organizing schools. These new school districts built schools and provided tuition-free elementary education to all children between the ages of five and twenty-one. Nine schoolhouses were built in each township and students only had to walk a mile or two to school. Wilma West wrote in Wayne County History, “Over 100 rural schools dotted the hillsides and valleys of the county at one time.” A few of the names were: Calathump, Old Blue, Greenridge, Shane Hill, Nip and Tuck, Cockleburr,

Jerk Tail, Clay Center, Hogue, Pine, Star, Oakdale, often called Wild Cat, German Center which became Liberty Center during World War I, Log Chain, and West Union. By the turn of the century, there were almost 14,000 one-room schoolhouses across the state. Many rural schools looked alike. Most were built from wooden boards and painted bright red or white. Students stored coats, boots, and lunches in the school entryway. Desks stood in rows in the classroom. A wood burning stove blazed in the winter, and a student was lucky if he or she sat near the stove. Students often shivered as they tried to learn in the cold winter months. In a book of teacher memories at the Prairie Trails Museum, V. Lucile Riggs Patterson wrote, “The teacher was janitor, music teacher, arts or crafts or industrial arts teacher, (we did a little of each), supply clerk, and play director. It was customary to have a ‘program’ followed by a ‘box supper’ every fall, usually about Halloween time, another program at Christmas, and one at the end of the school year, sometimes followed by a community picnic.” Other recollections in the book of teacher memories included reading Bible verses on Monday morning for opening exercises and reciting the Lord’s Prayer every morning. Sometimes snow banks were so high students and teachers could not get to the school for a week with mules and sleds. Some walked railroad track when the roads were blocked by snow. Dirt roads often became impassable during the late winter and spring, and school had to be held in a home rather than have the children miss weeks of school. By 1958, because of consolidation, only two rural schools were in use in Wayne County. In 1965, the legislature wrote the end of the story of the one-room school. It passed a law ordering all schools to become part of legal school districts with high schools, and by July 1967, most of Iowa’s one-room schools were closed.

July 4th Freedom Ring

A cool rainy day greeted folks on July 4th, but there was still a nice crowd at the museum by 3pm. Members of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, dressed in historically correct uniforms, added much to the program. The group included wives dressed in period costume. David Lamb, Chief of Staff, Dept of Iowa, SUVCW spoke of Iowans role in the Civil War. The group later participated in the July 4th parade around the Corydon square.

Cemetery Walk

The second annual Cemetery Walk was well attended on Friday evening August 7. The event was held in conjunction with Corydon’s Old Settlers festivities. Pictured are Glen Williamson as Pat Allred; Moriah Morgan as Marguerite Brubaker; John Martin & Shara Becker as Neil & Iowa Niday, and Lacie Sharp as Ethel Miles.

******************************************************************** Lt. Governor Visits Museum

Iowa Lt. Governor Patty Judge visited Prairie Trails Museum of Wayne County on Wednesday August 26 as part of Travel Iowa '09. This summer she has traveled around the state visiting some of Iowa's well-known attractions and hidden treasures. Her tour has shown Iowans and others all the opportunities within our state for a fun and economical family vacation. At left, Lt. Gov Judge and Nancy Landress of the State Tourism Office enjoy the Mormon Trail exhibit.

Vietnam War Exhibit

The special exhibit corner of the Armed Forces gallery now holds a display depicting the Vietnam War. The United States involvement in Vietnam lasted from early 1965 until 1975 when the last American troops evacuated Vietnam.

This exhibit depicts soldiers walking through a Vietnamese jungle. In one corner of the exhibit is a POW/MIA flag hanging above a cage constructed of bamboo. American soldiers taken prisoner in the jungle were sometimes held in small bamboo cages.

Honoring those who served in Vietnam, this exhibit will remain on display for the next two years.