Mrs. W. F. Mitchell President Des Moines Women's Club 1906

 

Picture from the Des Moines Register. September 30, 1906.

Mrs. W. F. Mitchell became the president of the Des Moines Women's Club in September 1906. She succedded Mrs. H. L. Carrell.

Colonel Earl D. Thomas Fort Des Moines 1906

Colonel Earl D. Thomas, commander of the Eleventh Cavalry at Fort Des Moines, took command several cavalry units in Cuba in 1906.

Thomas began his military service as a private in the Eighth Illinois, rising to sergeant-major during the Civil War. He graduated from West Point in 1869 and was assigned to the Fifth Cavalry where he took part in many of the Indian Wars. He fought in the Indian campaigns in the Republican River Country, the Apache Campaign of 1872-1874, at Four Peaks, Salt River Canyon, Music Mountain, and many more campaigns in the West.

Thomas was on frontier duty in Kansas and Nebraska from 1878 to 1885, led a surveying expedition in 1879, and fought in the Western Indian Wars from 1885 to 1898. 

When the Spanish American War broke out, he helped outfit Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, then served as an inspector general of volunteers. In 1899, he became an associate judge in a provincial court in Cuba. He returned to the United States in 1900 and served on the frontier for several more years.

Thomas was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1904 and took command of the Eleventh Cavalry at Fort Des Moines in April of that year. When he headed to Cuba in 1906, two-thirds of the 851 men at Fort Des Moines went with him.

Artists' Sketch Proposed Fleming Building in Des Moines

The Des Moines Register printed an artists' sketch of the proposed Fleming Building in its September 30, 1906. The building was to be erected on the southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and Walnut Street. When completed, the ten story building would be the largest office building in the city, and one of the most expensive at a cost of $350,000. Each floor would house 28 offices.

Capitol Park High School Baseball Team 1903

The Des Moines Register printed this picture of the Capitol Park High School baseball team on May 3, 1903. They didn't identifty the players in the picture, but they did list the team members and positions. 

Robert Gates, catcher; Andrew Chalmers, pitcher and team captain; Martin Peterson, first base; Fred Gates, second base; Walter Sargent, third base; Ray Prather, shortstop; Burt Sargent, left field; Ray Hampton, center field; John Dwight, right field; and Benjamin Franklin and Charlie Holmes, substitutes.

Capitol Park High School Football Team 1903

The Des Moines Register printed this picture of the Capitol Park High School football team in a special section on area schools in th May 3, 1903 issue.Unfortunately they didn't name the individual players.

Robert Gordon Cousins Eight Term Iowa Congressman

 

Watercolor after a photograph in the Des Moines Register. February 16, 1908.

Robert Gordon Cousins grew up on a farm near Tipton where people argued politics as seriously as they planted corn. By the time he left Cornell College in 1881 he knew two things: how to work and how to talk.

 

He started in the Iowa House in 1886, cut his teeth in an impeachment trial, and proved he could prosecute a case without blinking. In 1892, he landed a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and stayed there for eight straight terms.

 

Washington at the turn of the century was loud, partisan, and spoiling for big arguments. Cousins thrived on it. He memorized his speeches and delivered them like a man who trusted his own voice. When he stood up, people listened.

 

After the Spanish-American War, the country split over what to do with the Philippines. Cousins backed expansion and said America couldn’t grab global power and then pretend it was shy. Strength meant responsibility. Retreat meant weakness.

 

His showpiece was a speech called The Glory of the Republic. It was red meat patriotism, wrapped in constitutional language. He talked about sacrifice, duty, and the price of liberty. Newspapers picked it up. Crowds asked to hear it again. He became one of the Republican Party’s go-to voices when the subject was national pride.

 

He chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, stayed firm on America’s role in the world, and then stepped away in 1909. He went back to Iowa, took to the Chautauqua circuit, and kept preaching citizenship under canvas tents.

 

Cousins died in 1933.

 

Civil War Letter Fourth Iowa Cavalry At Vicksburg

 

Union advance at Vicksburg, from an 1885 print

Following is an extract of a letter from James B. Gregg, a soldier in the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, written from Bear Creek, Mississippi on July 6, 1863. It was published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye on July 25, 1863.

 

Our regiment has not been idle. Since we left Helena on 29 April, we have not lain in camp more than ten days altogether. We have scouted and explored all the country for 40 miles around Vicksburg. We have been engaged in a great many skirmishes, some which would’ve been called battles a year ago.

 

In all these, we have lost as many men as any one of the regiments engaged in the investment line of Vicksburg, excepting a few; we are satisfied, we will become generally known and respected by the rebels we have met in battle, and the smoke houses and beehives we have visited. The Fourth boys are fond of ham, honey, and milk.

Iowa Barely Noticed The First Plot To Kill John F. Kennedy

 

Watercolor drawing of a public domain image from Wikipedia

A plot to kill President elect John F. Kennedy in December 1960 barely got a mention in the Des Moines papers.

 

The Des Moines Tribune reported the story on page 7 in the December 16, 1960 issue. Headline: “Plot to Kill Kennedy, Man Seized.” The December 19 issue of the Des Moines Register buried the story on page 9, lumping it in with an article titled, “Kennedy Sets Talks On Bills.”

 

The Iowa City Press-Citizen was the only paper to run the story on the front page. It was one small column wedged between an article on the plane crash in New York and Christmas for missing airmen. The tiny headline said: “Hold Man In Death Plot On Kennedy.”

 

The story that claimed the front page that week was the crash of two airliners in New York, which claimed 126 lives. The Kennedy story faded into the background.

 

And yet, what happened in Palm Beach that week could have blown the entire decade apart.

 

The man at the center of it didn’t look like a villain out of central casting. Richard Paul Pavlick, 73, was a retired postal worker from Belmont, New Hampshire. The guy you’d expect to argue about stamps, not wire a car full of dynamite.

 

But he’d convinced himself Kennedy was dangerous. Too rich. Too Catholic. Propped up by “big money.” Pavlick decided the country needed saving.

 

So he bought explosives.

 

Not one stick. Not a little bundle tucked under a coat. Authorities later said there was enough dynamite in his Buick to level a building. He rigged it with blasting caps and a detonator. The plan was simple and horrifying: park close to Kennedy, hit the switch, and die along with him.

 

This wasn’t Dallas. No rifle. No long distance.

 

It was going to be a suicide car bomb in broad daylight.

 

Kennedy was in Palm Beach in December 1960, staying at his father’s estate and easing into the role of president-elect. He hadn’t taken the oath yet. The inauguration was still weeks away. Security was present, but nothing like the wall of protection that would surround presidents after 1963.

 

Pavlick followed him.

Des Moines Iowa Automobile Advertisements 1909

Iowa residents had a large assortment of automobiles to choose from in 1909. Like today, you could select a gas or electric model, and in some cases steam driven. 

Here are two advertisements from Des Moines Automobile dealers taken from the Des Moines Register. November 28, 1909.

Thomas Flyer - Model H, sold by Moyer Auto Co,

Proposed Route Davenport-Iowa City Interurban Railway

 

Map showing the proposed route of the Davenport-Iowa City Interurban Railway. Company name: Davenport, Iowa City & Western Traction Co. It would run within five miles of the Rock Island and Clinton-Iowa City branch of the same road.

(The Daily Times. October 18, 1909)

Joan Hammill of Britt Iowa

Joan Hammill, wife of John Hammill, who served as a state senator from 1909 to 1913, representing the 43rd district. The couple lived in Britt, Iowa. 

John Hammill served as Lieutenant Governor from 1921 to 1925, and as Governor from 1925 to 1931. In 1913, Mrs. Hammill was elected associate grand conductress of the Order of the Eastern Star.

(Photograph from the Des Moines Register. October 26, 1913)

Great Eagle Hearse Stops in Des Moines 1913

On the stranger side, the Great Eagle hearse from San Francisco made a stop in Des Moines in September 1913. The vehicle was carrying the body of Michael Moran whose last wish was to travel the continent one final time. The hearse was accompanied by undertaker R. H. Hambley; W. A. Peck, sales manager for the United carriage company; and R. A. MacBride, a Des Moines Undertaker.

Waveland Park Golf Club Des Moines

 

Waveland Park Clubhouse in 1913

Waveland Park Golf Club had nearly 250 members in 1913. Not bad for a club that started in 1907.

The present building went up in 1911 on ground leased from the city. It was three stories and built to be used.

The main floor held dining rooms, reception rooms, and a kitchen. Upstairs was a card room and a ladies’ locker room. The basement had another locker room and bath equipment. You could play 18 holes, eat, smoke, wash up, and sit down for cards without leaving the building.

The club met every week. There were smokers, card parties, and dances. The smokers meant cigars, speeches, and stories that improved with each telling. The card parties meant competition that lasted longer than daylight. The dances brought in the rest of the membership and made the place feel less like a sports club and more like a social one.

Fan Riding Hot Air Balloon Over Football Field 1913

This 1913 cartoon from the Des Moines Register (September 7, 1913) shows that football was as big a part of Iowa life then as it is today.

Photograph: Columbia Theater & Hotel Davenport Iowa

 

The Davenport Democrat and Leader printed this picture of the newly built Columbia Theater and Hotel in 1913. The building at Third and Ripley Street in Davenport was built by T. J. Walsh at a cost of $150,000.