September 6, 1987
A lady came in today to see if I could by chance help her on a little bit of a mystery. She had a card that had been written to her mother in Poland. It came back to this country in some of her personal things after her death. The card mentioned that Oscar had come to stay with them while going to school, and it was signed “Charlie and Julia.: That was easy, as the boy was Oscar Larson and the folks were Charlie and Julia Skold. I knew them well. The house still stands. This home was on my way to school and about one and a half block from my home.
This same day a couple came in wanting some help on a family tree. This couple lived in California. Since they were coming to Iowa, the lady doing the family tree asked them to stop in Chariton and ask some questions. They had been to the courthouse and other places with no luck. Upon learning the family name, I said a man by that name had worked for us sixty-five years ago on one of our farms. They said this man had taken his own life by shooting himself. This was false, as it was his brother who took his own life. They could hardly believe this as it was contrary to family writings.
In those days Father didn’t drive and my brother Joe Howard and myself had taken him to the east farm to look at the stock. We boys went up to the house to play, but the family was away and here this brother lay on the ground with a bottle of strychnine lying nearby. Father sent us to town for help. We found the sheriff, Charles Lyman, who was Willard Lyman’s father, and the coroner, Dr. D. Q. Storie. Dr. Storie said to Father. “Joe, they have a fire in the cook stove because smoke is coming out the chimney. Take that bottle of strychnine and throw it in the fire before someone else gets hold of it.” Today, it would have been saved for evidence. Nick Melville was the undertaker and their place was where Hellyer’s Jewelry used to be. The K.P. Lodge used to be upstairs in this building. In fact, the KP’s built this building. All this information seemed to fill a hole in the family tree.
When Father did learn to drive, he did so after ripping out several sets of gears. His comments were, it was his car, his money, and his gears”. We always joked and said it was possible the three-for-a-nickel cigars that he smoked that stripped the gears.
A man from Altoona, Pennsylvania, wrote asking two things. The first was, “Was the body of young Dusty Duncan, who drowned in the Chariton River south of town, not found for several weeks?” That is true. It seems kids were playing in the river and this boy turned up missing. A search was made and a watch was kept, to no avail. When the rains came, resulting in high water, his body was found high up in some driftwood. Second question was, “Did the undertaker leave his body in a basket out behind the undertaking establishment for some time while people walked up and looked?” Yes, he did. I was real small and tough as nails, but after looking at his body I slept with my mother for two weeks. This was way back before any present funeral establishments were here. How anyone could drown in that swimming hole was a puzzle, as the water was thick as gravy.
Our ride -
George Dunshee is in Colorado visiting. Charles Prior and myself took off in my car at 2 p.m. and came back at 6 p.m. We worked the roads around Lucas and north to Norwood.
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