September 28, 1986
Left here at 2:10 without Charles as he had other plans. We were in George’s new blue Pontiac. We headed in the general direction of Red Rock to catch a glimpse of the hundreds of pelicans there. We went to the beautiful museum at the south end of the dam. The young lady there informed us the rangers said there were around 125 in White Breast Creek where it empties into the lake. We had no way to go there. At Roberts Creek we saw hundreds of terns on the beach. We couldn’t get close enough to identify them, but the girl at the museum said they were Caspian terns. Beautiful birds. Every time we visit the museum we see something else. That is the test of a good museum. Shortly before we got there it rained a half inch in a very short time. The rain and the wind played havoc with the beautiful goldenrod and the showy Spanish needles. Visit this museum sometime as it is large and well-done and very interesting. We got back at 6 p.m. The topic of conversation on the ride was thunderheads. Everyone seems to have a different idea just what composes a thunderhead.
More about the Mallory Estate, known as Ilion. Why it was called Ilion is not clear, as Ilion was the Greek name of the city of Troy. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stroud worked there for years. I never knew Henry too well, but his widow lived years after his death and I was well acquainted with her and recall many a conversation with her. In early years Henry was sometimes driver, and often coachman, at the rear of their beautiful glassed-in carriage. In later years, when the Mallory era came to an end, Henry was overseer of the land for the new owners. The carriage always came out the front gate and up to Ashland, then east. This was to keep from going by the Palmer Estate. There was great rivalry between the two ladies as to whose carriage, etc., was the fanciest. Mr. Palmer and Mr. Mallory were friends, as I will tell about in a later story. This route to town brought the carriage by our house. As Mrs. Mallory and my mother were friends, quite often the carriage would stop and they would chat.
Mrs. Mallory had two favorite trees, pine and catalpa. Mrs. Stroud told me she and Henry planted an acre of catalpas farther back in the land. I have seen this when I was a youngster. They were close together and trimmed up to a height of fifteen feet or so. Being so close together they grew straight and tall. That is unusual for catalpa trees. She wanted some good catalpa lumber.
Mrs. Stroud told me that Mrs. Mallory drove a light rig around the estate as a road had been laid out. The path or road led down from the castle to the dam. A bridge was over the over-flow, allowing a complete circle of the estate to be made. Her trip always included a stop at the Red House. This house was back on the land and a tenant always lived there. This was a mysterious place and the subject of many stories. As I have said before, this house was later moved to town and later moved again where it still stands and is occupied. It’s still a good house.
John Frazier of the Chariton Manor and 104 years of age, told me years ago that he made a boat out of catalpa for Mr. Mallory. Years later the boat was the property of Robert Larimer of this city. It lasted fifty some years. Each fall Mr. Frazier would sink the boat under water and get it up in the spring, clean it off, paint it and it was ready to go. This boat had two pairs of oars and one pair was sold to me and I used them for several years until they were stolen. More about this later.
Dick Anderson, son of Victor and Mildred Anderson of our church, was here over Labor Day weekend. They did some riding around. They went down to the McMain’s rural school in southwest Lucas County where Victor attended school. They got permission from the Richmond’s, who own the land, to enter the old building. Inside they found part of the old blackboard. They made a deal with the Richmond’s for the blackboard. It was brought to Chariton and Dean McNeish trimmed off the broken edges and cut the board into two pieces that Dick can use for his children to write on. Isn’t that a bit of thrilling history?
While out there they sat under the tree that Victor’s father slept under the first night he came to that area from Chicago. His father came over from Sweden in the hold of a boat with one hundred other people. People died, babies were born, and life went on day by day. They landed in New York and were then shipped to Chicago. Victor’s father came to this country, landing in 1882 and his mother came over in 1885. Then he came to this area where he spent the first night under a tree.
While out there finding the school, the three of us saw a red-tailed hawk pick up a viper snake. Our car frightened the hawk and it dropped the snake and flew a short distance away. The snake was definitely injured and could hardly crawl. We drove on as you must not interfere with nature, or should not. The hawk would be back for sure.
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