SCRANTON, Iowa, Nov. 4, 2017 —If you were among the 45 people attending our Greene County Historical Society program on Friday, Nov. 3, at the United Methodist Church here in Scranton, you almost certainly came away with a half-dozen or more books that you’ve now put high on your reading lists. Jane Millard, director of the Jefferson Public Library, gave an outstanding program on “Greene County authors.” She highlighted 45 of them who, collectively, have written more than 100 books, and she says she knows there are several more, maybe many more.

“It’s quite a feat, writing a book,” Millard said in opening. “How many times do we all say, ‘I could write a book!’ But not many of us ever do.”

In putting the program together, Millard built an actual file on authors with Greene County roots or ties, and she now has that available for the public reference at the library in Jefferson. And she says her intent is to have a whole section at the library for local authors. She said it’s not exclusive.

“So, who is a ‘Greene County author’?” she asked rhetorically. “Well, we pretty much claim everybody. If you’ve ever put a foot in Greene County, we’ll count you.”

The works she has collected so far from Greene Countians begin early in the 20th century, but some are new in the past two years, and she knows of a couple new books coming out in 2018 from Greene County authors.

There are many surprises on her list, or at least they seemed to be to most of our crowd. Two were especially so:

–One of those is Robert Harned, now of Brooklyn NY, who in 2015 published a book about his mother Sally Phipps, a head-turning beauty who was a star in the silent movies of the 1920s and early talking movies of the 1930s. Her second husband was Alfred Harned, who was born and raised in our Grand Junction. Phipps, in her heyday, was the talk of the movie industry in Hollywood and of all of show business in New York City. Quick browsing indicates her life was in many ways a sad, perhaps tragic one, but nevertheless very interesting.

–Another surprise to most is a 2016 book by Fred Monthei II, now of South Yarmouth, Mass., called “Iowa Farm Wife.” His grandmother Anna Cox Monthei lived out her life on a Greene County farm, and one remarkable thing about her was that she always kept a camera and often took photos of life and work happening around the farm — more than 1,600 “stunning photos of her everyday life,” as Millard described them. After she showed her visiting grandson Fred the 50 years’ worth of photo negatives stored in her attic, he made mental note to do something about them eventually. He now has done that, publishing more than 150 of them in what looks to be an excellent coffee table-type book that the library has available.

Those are just two of the authors and their books that Millard has now made many more people aware of, with her thoughtful program for our historical society. And as we said in starting, she has probably just changed the reading lists of Greene Countians for the near future.

SCRANTON, Iowa, Oct. 31, 2017 — When Jane Millard, director of the Jefferson Public Library, began a search in recent years to identify all book authors with Greene County roots or ties, she was pleasantly surprised.

“I’ve got a list of more than 30 authors right now – I think that’s pretty good – and I know I’m going to be hearing about more of them,” she said. “I look forward to that.”

She’ll share stories about those she already knows in a Greene County Historical Society program on Friday, Nov. 3, at the United Methodist Church here in Scranton.

Millard, a Jefferson native who has worked at the library since 1989 and has been its director since the year 2000, said her research project started when there was an all-school reunion in Jefferson in 2013.

“I always like for the library to be involved in community events, and I knew of a few Jefferson or Jefferson-Scranton graduates who were coming back who’d written books,” she said. “So I went to the reunion planning committee, and asked if we could also have an authors’ event at the library that weekend, and we did. I think we had 11 authors take part that day, and we had a big crowd turn out at the library — old friends, teachers and local people who just enjoy books. We had great discussions. It really turned into a fun event.”

That gave Millard the idea to expand her search for authors from all of Greene County.

“On my list now, we’ve got people who were born and raised here, others who have moved in, others who married people from here – so there’s a wide variety – but all have ties one way or another to the county,” she said. “They’ve done books on many different subjects. They include histories, biographies, children’s books, both fiction and non-fiction, accounting, golf courses and other sports.”

She’ll have books on display at the historical program.

Some of the authors were doing their writing as early as the 1940s. Some are writing today.

“I know of one woman in town who I am sure has done several books, but I think she has written them under a pen name,” Millard said. “And so far I haven’t been able to get her to tell me about her books.”

She said she not only wants to know about Greene County authors, she also wants to collect their books to have available in the library, along with books by authors from across Iowa.

A lunch at 12 noon in the church hall in Scranton is $8 for historical society members, $10 for non-members. The members should phone reservations to their community contacts by Wednesday, Nov. 1. Others can RSVP for lunch by calling Nancy Hanaman, vice-president of the historical society, at (515) 436-7684. The program at 1 p.m. in the church sanctuary is free.

RIPPEY, Oct. 1, 2017 — Nancy Bardole Hanaman and Cindy Anderson Cole grew up as daughters of the competing bankers in the town of Rippey. They’ll come together to share the fascinating banking history of the community in a Greene County Historical Society program on Friday, Oct. 6, at the United Methodist Church in Rippey.

Hanaman, an East Greene High School graduate in 1964, now lives just outside Rippey.  Cole, a 1972 East Greene graduate,  lives in Omaha.

Hanaman’s father Clark Bardole was at the old First National Bank, which was the predecessor of today’s Peoples Trust & Savings Bank in Rippey. Cole’s father was Walt Anderson at the old Rippey Savings Bank, which preceded today’s Rolling Hills Bank & Trust.

“The earliest bank connected with the First National Bank was founded in 1884 by Charles Suyham,” Hanaman said. “The Rippey Savings Bank and First National Bank were both chartered in 1905, the Savings Bank under state regulation and the First National under the federal government. We will be sharing some banking history, including the experience of these two banks during the ‘Bank Holiday’ in 1933.”

And they’ll tell of bank robberies in 1896 and 1967.

She noted that while the bankers were competitors during the business day, “they and their families were involved together in many community, school and church events.”

A lunch at 12 noon in the church hall is $8 for historical society members and $10 for non-members. The members should phone reservations to their community contacts by Wednesday, Oct. 4. Others can RSVP for lunch by calling Hanaman, the vice-president of the historical society, at (515) 436-7684. The program at 1 p.m. in the church sanctuary is free.

JEFFERSON, Iowa, Sept. 25, 2017 — Alma Shorey Young was recognized as the only woman running a grain elevator in America when she was general manager for grain at Milligan Bros. in Greene County from the 1950s into the ’70s. The Greene County Historical Story presented her story this past summer during a “history chat” at the county fair. It was videotaped for later telecast by Jefferson Telecom, and a copy of the program was sent to Young, now 91, at her home in an assisted living facility in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

“That was like bringing a little piece of home to me,” Young said by phone. “In fact, I enjoyed it so much that when my nephew down here asked me what I wanted for my birthday a couple weeks later, I said, ‘You know, I’ve decided I want to come home one more time.’ ”

So she and nephew David Schmidt, 64, a native of Jefferson who is now a rancher and builder in north central Arkansas, are driving to Greene County this coming weekend, Sept. 29-Oct. 2. They will be staying at the Cobblestone Hotel & Suites in Jefferson.

Alma Shorey Young, holding a favorite “therapy dog,” at RiverLodge Assisted Living in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

And the historical society is hosting a public reception in Young’s honor this Saturday, Sept. 30, at 10 a.m. at the museum in Jefferson, to see old friends and make some new ones. The event and refreshments are free to the public.

About 10:30 a.m., there will be a short program about her business career and life, with Young being questioned by retired news reporters Chuck Offenburger and Jerry Roberts, both of the historical society. They were moderators of the history chats at the fair this past July.

It’s been nearly 40 years since Young has been involved in a grain harvest, but if the weather is good Saturday early afternoon, she’ll be riding in the combine being used by the team from Lawton Farms in the Cooper-Greenbrier area. She’ll make a visit to the former Milligan Bros. elevator that she once operated on the edge of the Greene County Fairgrounds in Jefferson, where it is expected to become an agricultural and historical landmark.  And then she’ll have a mid-afternoon briefing by the staff at Landus Cooperative’s huge facility in Jefferson.

To complete the corporate history involved here, Milligan Bros. was a successor company to the “D. Milligan Co.,” which was founded in Jefferson in 1905. By the 1930s, they owned 14 grain elevators and lumberyards in western Iowa, and they also sold coal.

The Great Depression and droughts in 1934 and ’36 were very hard on the company. In 1942, it was divided. “E.A. Milligan and Son” moved to Des Moines, while “Milligan Bros.” continued in Jefferson under a partnership of brothers Frank Jr. and Bob Milligan, with two elevators in Jefferson and others in Cooper, Farlin and Adaza. Their general business office was located downtown in the lumberyard building that is now the home of “RVP 1875” and “History Boy Theatre Co.”

Alma Fuller Shorey, a native of Farnhamville, joined Milligan Bros. about 1952 as a secretary, learned the grain business from Bob Milligan, and by 1959 was named the general manager for grain. She continued in that position until about 1975.

Milligan Bros. was acquired in 1977 by the Farmers Cooperative Association, headquartered in Ralston. Two years later, Farmers Cooperative also acquired the larger cooperative in Boone and then became “West Central Cooperative.” In April 2016, West Central merged with “Farmers Cooperative,” which earlier had operated from Farnhamville, and became Landus Cooperative with headquarters in Ames.

Larry Thomsen, of Jefferson, a retired West Central executive, came to know and respect Alma as a competitor when he was starting his own career.

“I remember that when the co-op managers from all over the country would have their big conventions, Alma would be the only woman there,” Thomsen said. “And let me tell you, she could hold her own in this business. She was a tough, tough person, and she knew her grain business extraordinarily.”

Alma’s marriage to Lyle Shorey ended in divorce, and in the 1960s she married Bob Young. They adopted a son, Alan, and that’s when Alma decided to leave the workforce. The Youngs moved first to Twin Lakes in Calhoun County. In 1978, Alan died in a car wreck at a rail crossing. In the early 1980s, Bob and Alma Young moved on to Arkansas, where Bob died later in the ’80s.

Alma has continued a very active life there. She golfed until recent years when her vision began to weaken, and she still loves to dance. “I have a good life,” she said from her home at RiverLodge Assisted Living.. “I’m up and dressed every day, I still get my hair done once a week, and I always try to look good. Two years ago, they voted me ‘Queen of RiverLodge!’ ”

She also said she is looking forward to some gaming at Wild Rose Casino & Resort while she’s visiting Greene County this weekend.

JEFFERSON, Iowa, Sept. 19, 2017 — One of the most significant anniversaries in Greene County history passed recently with little formal observation, and the Historical Society plans to make right on that this Sunday with a program on “150 years of railroading” in the county.

Mike Wendel, director of the James H. Andrew Railroad Museum & History Center in Boone, will present the program at 2 p.m. at the Greene County Historical Museum in Jefferson. Admission and refreshments are free.

That outstanding five-year-old railroad museum in Boone, built adjacent to the headquarters of the very popular Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad, is named after the late “Old Jim” Andrew. He was the Jefferson farmer, railroad collector and county historian who died at the age of 93 in 2014. It was his eye-popping collection of railroad memorabilia and information that fills most of the museum in Boone.

Wendel will talk about how the various railroad companies helped organize and map most of the towns in the county as they pushed their rails in all directions on rights-of-way that were granted. Stylish depots were built in many of the communities to serve passengers and shippers of livestock and other freight.

Today the county is served by two rail lines, both operated by the Union Pacific. The very busy east-west mainline uses the original route through Grand Junction, Jefferson and Scranton. There is also the line operating north from Grand Junction through Dana and Paton. The former north-south Milwaukee Road rail route from Jefferson south through Cooper is now the beautiful Raccoon River Valley Trail for bicycling, walking, running and other outdoor recreation.

The inspiration for this Sunday’s program at the historical museum in Jefferson was a column by Rick Morain in the Jefferson Herald in June, 2016. In it, Morain took note of several important anniversaries that were near, including the 50th of the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower, the 100th of the Greene County Courthouse, and the 150th of newspapers in the county.

The arrival of railroad service on July 30, 1866, meant “connecting Greene County to the rest of America,” Morain wrote, and “was one of the most important events of the 19th century here.”

He also quoted the Jefferson Era, the newspaper that preceded the Jefferson Bee, in its portrayal of the importance of the moment.

“The locomotive has finally overcome all obstacles and made its advent in Jeff,” the Era’s editorial comment went. “We are no longer in a wilderness of prairie, but on the great thoroughfare leading from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast – one of the most desirable roads on the continent. Why should we not rejoice over this good freak of fickle fortune?”

CHURDAN, Iowa, Aug. 23, 2017 — The deep historical roots of quilting, as well as its mushrooming popularity today, will be the subject of the Greene County Historical Society program on Friday, Sept. 1, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Cedar, located about five miles west of Churdan.

Suzanne Sievers, owner of The Stitch quilt shop in Jefferson, will be presenting and is bringing along a special guest, Jeanette Harms, of Panora, who will display some quilts dating to the 1800s in her family. Harms will tell how those quilts were found in her grandmother’s attic, as well as talking about the techniques quilters used back then.

Sievers and Harms are calling the program “Quilting Then and Now.”

A lunch at 12 noon in the St. Patrick’s basement is $8 for historical society members and $10 for non-members. The members should RSVP to their community contacts by Wednesday, Aug. 30. Others can RSVP for lunch by calling vice-president Nancy Hanaman at (515) 436-7684. The program at 1 p.m. in the church sanctuary is free.

“No one knows the origin of quilting,” Sievers says, “but quilted garments were found in Egypt in about 3400 B.C. We do know that quilting was brought to America by the colonists.”

She was a high school home economics teacher for 25 years – three years in Walnut and 22 at Jefferson-Scranton — before she got into the business of quilting.

“I’ve always loved quilts, but didn’t make one until I took a class from Marilyn Allender in the late 1970s,” Sievers continued. “Then I didn’t quilt again until the late 1990s – and haven’t stopped since!”

In 2006, she opened The Stitch in Jefferson – it’s now next door to the Greene County Historical Society – and it’s become one of the busiest quilt shops in central Iowa.

She met Jeanette Harms as a customer.

“Jeanette comes to my shop, and she was telling me about the quilts she inherited, and that she thought they should be shared somehow,” she said. “When I was asked to do this program for the historical society, I thought of her and asked her to join me.”

Sievers said her own presentation will address how quilting techniques and tools have changed. She’ll show some of her own quilts and demonstrate a couple of tools. “I also have some interesting facts about who today’s quilter is, the amount of money they spend each year on quilting, and how much a quilt costs to make today,” she said.

JEFFERSON, Iowa, July 28, 2017 — Roger Aegerter says in 39 years of living in Jefferson within a block of the Lincoln Highway, his curiosity about the historic transcontinental roadway finally caught up with him. And so last October, he took off from his home here and drove about 1,800 miles of the route – all the way to its terminus in Lincoln Park in San Francisco.

“I’d done some research and heard so many stories about the towns on it, the historic hotels and restaurants, and the monuments,” Aegerter said. “I decided I just had to go see them.”

He’ll share his observations and some photos in a program for the Greene County Historical Society on Friday, Aug. 4, at the First United Methodist Church in Grand Junction.

A lunch at 12 noon is $8 for historical society members and $10 for non-members. The members should RSVP to their community contacts by Wednesday, Aug. 2. Others can RSVP for lunch by calling vice-president Nancy Hanaman at (515) 436-7684. The program at 1 p.m. at the church is free.

Aegerter, who is in his fifth year as executive director of the historical society, is usually helping organize the programs at the monthly meetings rather than presenting them. But his adventure last fall piqued the wanderlust of many who’ve heard about it.

He brings unusual perspective to discussions of the Lincoln Highway. A native of Rockwell City and a graduate of Iowa State University, he’s a former art teacher who is still a working artist today, with his painting and artistic woodworking. He is also a former school curriculum director, elementary principal and superintendent. And in the 1990s, he wrote a 230-page book “Golf Courses of Iowa,” which has been updated in second and third editions.

“Over the years, my wife Jan and I had driven most of the Lincoln Highway to the east of Jefferson,” Aegerter said. “When we’ve taken different trips to New York City and other places in the east, I’d guess we’ve probably covered 80 to 90 percent of it. But I’d never been on most of it in the west.”

He did the trip last fall quickly – in about 3 ½ days.

“I had a list of places I really wanted to see along the route,” he said. “I’d get there, look them over, shoot some pictures and then be on my way. I probably didn’t spend more than 10 to 15 minutes at most of them, but I wanted to see as much as I could in the time I had.”

After completing his Lincoln Highway trip in San Francisco, Aegerter drove on north to Seattle, and there met his wife Jan, who’d flown out. Then they had a leisurely drive back to Jefferson, using a generally northerly route that took them to seven national parks. “Two or three of those parks, we couldn’t get beyond the front gate,” Roger said. “By mid to late October, some of them were already shut down because of heavy snows.”