Bob Piper's Corner - Septemberf 27, 1987

September 27, 1987

Several times lately I have mentioned the Maple and Baker Bookstore that was where Dr. Grappendorf has his office now. Today I received a letter from Martha Holmes Baker, whose father-in-law was James Baker of the Maple and Baker firm. We were trying to answer a lady’s question as to whether the Maples had children. According to Martha’s letter, Leban and Ella Maple had three daughters: Edith, Florence and Margaret. Now that the name Florence has been mentioned, many of us will remember her real well. I remember James Baker the best when he was fire chief. Leban Maple was postmaster here in early years. I remember setting our house on fire while playing with matches, and then I hid under the porch and watched Old Betsy come smoking up the street. The fire was out in a short time, but my mother warmed me up to a greater degree than Old Betsy.

I feel that I must say more about Harold Brightwell since he has gone on. Years back he could have been known as Mr. Music Man of Chariton. He was very active in the town band for years, and when the city of Chariton gave our local bandstand to Russell, he was active in keeping a band concert weekly there. Harold, my son-in-law Bob Johnson, and several others went down there weekly to help out. In Chariton, the bandstand stood in the northeast corner of the courthouse park. When the pavement around the square was widened, this took ground from the courthouse park. This left the bandstand too close to the corner. It had to be moved, and since it wasn’t being used just then, it was given to Russell. It was not large enough for our band in later years. Harold traveled regularly to Des Moines for years to play in the Masonic Band there. The band was a show band and very good. They traveled the state and Harold told me that was one of his big joys. In later years it seems the band members were older and they rode on a huge flatbed truck.

I must mention Emma Thomas again. She lives on Highway 34, across north of the Red Haw Lake dam. She is a naturalist of the first order. She finds wild plants, takes one home, gets them to grow and spreads the seeds. Several times I have found flowers in places and I couldn’t understand how they got there. In talking to her, I found she had scattered the seed there. I have always understood that pokeberries were poison, but Emma nibbles them sparingly. I have mentioned this little trick before, but it’s worth another time. She was bothered by poison ivy. She read that a famed naturalist said to put the first green leaves of ivy in a sandwich like you would lettuce. She did this several years and has had no problem with ivy since. I think you need to do this each spring. She makes lovely winter flower arrangements and is a wonderful cook.

Here are two quotes from early Chariton people. Mrs. D. B. Cowles liked this one: “Sin has many tools, but a lie is a handle that fits them all.” This one from J. L. Lukens: “When driving a team and buggy hold the lines high, taut and in both hands, all the while keeping your bottom flat on the seat.”

Jim Fuller was in town last week visiting his sister-in-law Irene Fuller (Mrs. Don). Jim is a nickname, as his real name is Wendell Robert. In Colorado, he is Wendell and here, he is Jim. He was a joy to me as he remembered so many things I have written about and backed me up. Also, he recalled people and places that I had forgotten. He doesn’t go back as far as myself, but he really has loads of information. We could talk for days instead of fifteen minutes. Fullers lived across the alley from us, and we saw a lot of each other. Fullers at one time lived in the big house just east of the Presbyterian Church and Dick Kelley fired their furnace. Dick was black and had lots of songs and stories to tell to such a youngster as Jim was at that time. Jim reminded me that around the first of March every year Dick would start wearing his hard sailor-type straw hat. People watched for it and he never failed them.

Our ride -

The three of us left here at 2 p.m. and got back at 6 p.m. We went south clear into Missouri. Traveled some little-used roads for sure. Many spectacular groups of purple asters and goldenrod. Many hawks and vultures in the air.