September 13, 1987
Dear Bob,
We read and enjoy your articles in the Chariton paper every week. In fact, they are probably the only thing that keeps us still taking the paper, since we have not lived there since 1942. Your article in the paper dated July 30, 1987, was about two fellows I knew quite well, so will give you some dates from the family history I have. First, a lot of people thought they were twins, but Leland Irwin Callison was born October 25, 1989 in Lamar, Missouri, and Lilbern Banks Callison was born November 4, 1900, in Lamar. I was born November 17, 1918, in the home mentioned in your article, eighteen years later. Obviously, the folks thought they were beyond having children. Maybe that’s the reason for my being 6 feet 4 inches, and Shorty 5 feet 2 inches tall. Shorty always told everyone that when he was small, every time he got into trouble Dad hit him on top of the head, and when I came along he realized his mistake and kicked me in the behind when I got into trouble.
I had never heard the story of the cow, but I heard Dad was helping a neighbor one day and ran across a large soldering iron in his workshop. Upon inquiring where he got it, the neighbor wanted to know why. Dad said, “It looks like mine.” Whereupon the neighbor said, “Maybe it is, and if you will repair the hole it made in the roof of my house, you can have it.” It seems the boys had been using it as a ramrod and got it stuck, so just shot it out.
Sincerely,
Lewis Callison
P.S. Thanks again for all your many good articles. We also enjoy Baldridge’s column.
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Real names of people past and present that just roll off my tongue -
Trissie Pister, Blodwin Goldma, Joleeta Beer, Fama Fike, Bennie Bologna, Harry Legge, Tiger Lurring, Jeremiah Bonbreak, Dryden Ream, Lilly Brown. Speaking of names, Pat Jennings told me they were going to name their first child Danielle, but felt her friends would call her Danny. They chose Shantelle and you guessed it, now they have Shanty and she loves it. A beautiful woman was in the store with her husband. He called her Sheety. You know me, I couldn’t resist asking about the nickname. She said her maiden name was Sheet, and she had been called Sheety all her life and didn’t mind.
George Williamson was in town last week from Florida. He looked just the same as he did years ago when he left Chariton. He is in his eighties and I didn’t see a wrinkle. Plays golf three times a week doing eighteen holes and walks it clean around.
Wild flower lovers must be alert to what is in bloom now. Eupatorium is in full bloom. It is the tall white flower on the fields and roadsides. Almost a silver color. Lobelia is the beautiful blue flower in the roadside ditches. It must have moisture so watch the low places. Don’t confuse with five star bellflower. Same blue color, but five star bellflower has five petals and lobelia had three petals, one up and two down. Jewelweed is in full bloom. It must have shade and dampness. Look for it at Red Haw or out at Swede Hollow along the roadsides. It’s a dainty little butter-colored sweet pea like flower. The shrub is lush this year and the flowers are fewer in number. Plenty to catch your eye, and why the orange-colored ones are not there is a mystery. They usually bloom right together. Look for Solomon’s seal with its bunch of bright red berries on top. The pampas grass is beautiful.
Marjorie (Evans) Sipes writes asking several questions about old firms that were on the square. She asks about a bakery and our post office being where Hawkeye Drive-in Bank is now. Yes, our local post office was there and the Red Ball Bakery was there too. The bakery was one of a chain. Three other bakeries were here and that proved too much for them. The other bakeries were Peterson’s Quality, Tacker’s and Piper’s. Yes, there was a big stable where Chariton Lumber is now. Yes, there was a Dunshee boy killed there when kicked by a horse. I don’t remember a harness shop on the west side of the square. There might have been. She mentions Tim McLeod’s Pool Hall that was where the tavern is now. Hatcher’s Millinery was just south of McLeod’s. She mentions Edwin Jarl’s grocery store. That would have been in what is the west half of the Hawkeye Bank building. She asks if they used to grind peanuts and make peanut butter. They did and most other stores did too. Later Pipers bought peanut butter in sixty-gallon steel drums. People bought their own containers. It was nine cents per pound and very good. Speaking of bulk items, we sold a baking compound that was part lard and part vegetable oil for nine cents per pound. These prices were taken from an old ad I have.
She mentions Bud Fluke having a bookstore where Dr. Grappendorf’s office is now. I don’t remember this, as Bud Fluke was always in the restaurant business as far back as I can remember. This building where Dr. Grappendorf is was Miners’ Union Hall and was built by them. The only bookstore I ever knew to be at this location was Maple and Baker’s. They were downstairs in the Miners’ Union Hall for years. Charles Fluke had a bookstore just north of where Jones Drug is now. In those days this drug store was Jones and Briles Drug. Bud Fluke had a restaurant where Swanson’s Plumbing is now. Almquist Grocery was there later, and then after a few years moved to where the Hellyer Jewelry was. Charles Tate had the only harness shop on the square that I can remember. It was right south of Bud Fluke’s Café, where the children’s clothing store is now. She mentions that the square is not like it used to be. Some may not agree with all this, so let us know what you remember. This give and take is part of the fun. Marjorie Sipes says she remembers stores that let you grind your own coffee. It is my recollection that several stores did this.
George Dunshee and myself often drive out to Red Haw Park after work to relax and look for deer. We stayed around a half hour. George has eaten, but I haven’t so we cut the drive short. Last evening I felt like going to Red Haw, but George was gone and I couldn’t find Prior, so I took Charles Brueklander along. We saw no deer at Red Haw, but on the way home we saw two deer run across the pavement from the telephone building area into the farm machinery grounds.
Some black people from Des Moines were in the Last Chance Church area seeking the place of their birth. It seems the place may be in government grounds now. Some of you old-timers in that area bone up on this and let us know what you can dig up.
Our ride -
George is still gone, so Charles Prior and myself toured the country south of Humeston, west of Derby, north to Woodburn. Discovered the little town of Woodburn had three cemeteries right near. One is Ottawa Cemetery, second is the Catholic Cemetery and the third is the Woodburn Cemetery, and the hitching rack for horses is still standing ready for use.
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