Bob Piper's Corner - October 12, 1986

October 12, 1986

As I have said before, Mrs. Mallory and Mrs. Palmer were not real close friends. However, Palmer’s son Charles and Mr. Mallory were quite close. They had many of the same interests. The Palmer family had come from England. They built the beautiful home at the corner of Twelfth and Park. A new house has been built out in front of it. Many of the fancy frills have been removed from the old house. They, too, had a beautiful carriage as I have mentioned before. The Palmers built a country lodge about two blocks northeast of where the water tower at First and Armory now stands. It was a lovely brick structure. The upper floor was all a game room. Long after both families were gone the building stood there as evidence of grander days. It could be called a hunting lodge as this interest drew Palmer and Mallory together.

Remember in those days the railroad and the mines had not yet come into this area and the area in far east Chariton was one of rolling hills and beautiful estates. This area was never the same after the railroad went through. Of course, by then the families with estates had passed on and another era took over.

Back to the Mallory story. As I mentioned before, the Mallory Estate had two close brushes with fame, so to speak. After, or rather during WWI, several veterans’ hospitals were to be built in the Midwest. Chariton was very much in the running for one of these. The Mallory Estate was plenty large enough. The railroad had agreed to run a spur into the place. Remember the Mallory’s were gone and there were new owners. People worked hard on it, but there was a feeling among people that the inmates posed a problem if they strayed away. My father worked hard on this. People couldn’t see the potential of the whole thing. In the end, the government seemed to get wind of where they felt more welcome.

It was not long until the National Order of Moose wanted to locate a children’s home in the Midwest. We had everything they wanted as to land and a railroad spur to the land. The former Mallory Estate was OK, but lacked one acre. They wanted 1000 acres and there were 999 acres. The extra acre was secured. People realized by now what they had missed by not getting the veteran’s home here and really worked hard. We were in the finals and were one of three places. It finally went to Mooseheart, Illinois.

Several times, later, several organizations talked of making the castle a historical site or a home of some type. It was too large, such high ceilings and big rooms. Later the whole estate was bought by Otto Brown. The castle was taken down as the expense was too great to do it over. Two nice homes in town were built with the dimension lumber from the castle. The Mallory family is buried in Florida. The only one buried in the Chariton Cemetery is their son-in-law, Ed Thayer. I often think it has been a fitting end for the castle grounds to have the many beautiful homes built there.

Charles Prior and myself left at 2 p.m. for a ride into the country. Went to the Chariton River bottoms to see if any great blue herons were there. We saw five at quite close range. Would like to know how many were hiding in the tall grass. If they don’t move, it’s hard to see them as they blend into the landscape. It was a great day for hawks. Mostly red-tails. Went to Brown’s Slough. Water was high and roads down to it were muddy. We didn’t get too close. George will be along next week, but he was in Colorado this week. Got back at 6 p.m. The word battle for this ride was over the use of these three words: acclimate, orientate and familiarize.

The old Salem School is gone, torn down. Repairs too costly and its need had passed. It was located on the old Bluegrass Road toward Russell. Now the Salem Church and School are both gone. In later years the building was used as the Benton Township community building. I always get a kick out of someone sticking up for their rural school and the good time had there. The comradery was at its best. One lady who had attended Salem School told me she would rather see an old school torn down than become a hog house. I agree with her.

Up west of Liberty Center a pond was lost. The rains washed out the overflow and left about an acre of mud and water about a foot deep. Nothing could be done in the rain and many fish went out the overflow as well as right over the dam. People came and pitched the fish up on the banks. Next day all were gone. Coons, coyotes, skunks, herons of several types, fox and many other creatures had worked all night and had eaten or carried away all of the fish. Several turtles were still around. I understand that many pond dams had damage and lost lots of water, but weathered the high water. Later I was told a dead coyote was found along the bank of the washed-out dam. Had a gash over its eye. They reasoned a blue heron struck it with its beak. They are powerful and can split a wooden oar.

Bill Snyder, son of Bill Snyder, who ran the County Home for years, told me some more about the little cemetery on the grounds. He said his father told him that four or five Indians were buried there. They were working on the railroad and became ill. He brought to mind another old-time fact. When the Snyder’s were at the farm, it was self-supporting.