Category: Observations

In my 62^nd Rensselaer high school reunion last week,  I saw again some of the benefits of living in a small, rural community.

The concept of duty to others. one’s community and the country is often experienced early in life.  While there are many organizational and institutional practices that present this concept, I believe personal example is often the most powerful teacher.

Duty to country in times of war is one of our most hallowed civic commitments.  Growing up, the draft made this a potential obligation for all.  Military service was widely recognized.  In the Jasper County historical record from 1900-1985 there is a brief description of the First Presbyterian Church. The article points out that the first post WW II minister called was a former Navy Chaplain.  One of his initial acts was to make a  list of the forty-three members who had served in WW II.

That seemed like a large number.  However the local library found the Jasper County Veteran’s office had a list of 1,295  men for WWII that had the DD214 (discharge from active duty) form on file. The Service Record Book of Men and Women of Rensselaer, Indiana and Community maintained by the local American Legion Auxiliary Dewey Biggs Unit, shows a total of 1,814 who were on active duty.

Jasper County’s last Survivor of the Civil War

I believe that personal example whether a family member, mentor or public individual has a great influence for how one considers duty to country especially in times of conflict.

An example of this service calling is the life of George Morgan, who died on April 16, 1945.  His obituary called him the Last Survivor of the Civil War.  According to records 935 men from Jasper County enlisted for the Union, from a population of 5,000.

And when comparing the proportions of men able to fight, Indiana contributed more soldiers than any other state to the Union.^[14]

Following are excerpts from Morgan’s obituary by Lefty Clark the editor of the local daily, the Rensselaer Republican and republished in Vintage Views.

George Morgan, who left Rensselaer that sunny August 11, 1862, as a lad of 14 and one half years to lend his bit toward the preservation of a nation torn by internal strife died at the home of his daughter at an early hour Sunday April 15. . .

One day little George, not yet possessed of the beard that distinguishes the man, made his way to a recruiting office  and by a little hedging and evasion of questions, and self-admitted fibbing managed to make the recruiting officer believe that he was ready and well able to assume the burdens of a soldier.  George Morgan at the skimpy age of 14  and one half years was now a man and a soldier at that.  He had a uniform to prove it to his parents when he returned from hi stealthy visit to the “recruiting man.” It is not chronicled that any gret storm of disapproval came from the parents. . . 

Time’s haze prevents a complete description of his military career, but the unit was not too long in Laporte.  It was sent into the Tennessee Campaign wafter some duty in Kentucky.  “Grandpa” was a participant in the Battle of Chickamauga where the Union toll was heavy but its ranks victorious.  Following that there came many minor skirmishes for Little George Morgan and his comrades nd weeks of guerilla warfare with the sniping breaking out sporadically. 

And so it went through the years of 862, 1863 and 1864 andinto the final months of the war.  The kid of fourteen and one half years not approaching 17 was keeping right up with the rest of the veteran trooper as the triumphant 87^th regiment joined Sherman’s March to the sea.  It was at a military center near Washington D.C. that Mr. Morgan received his discharge papers on June 10 following the cessation of hostilities. . .”Grandpa legged it for home via a box car assigned for the transportation of troops.  He finallyed arrived in Indianapolis after a laborious journey and from there rode the “covered cars” to Bradford after which he staged-coached to Rensselaer. 

The first thing he did after reaching Rensselaer he would say, “I struck right out for home across the fields, at a dog trot, and did not stop till I reached the house.”  He said he started shouting when within range of the house, but his booming call brought no answer.  The house was empty so he started for the field.  He discovered his mother picking strawberries.  “I got me a great big bowl of freshly picked berries, stopped at the milk house and got a pitcher of cream, helped myself out of one of the containers of the sugar bag and went to work.”

The county’s last Civil War Veteran now came to town to find himself a job of work.  In those formative industrial years, he was a blacksmith’s apprentice and then a full-fledged blacksmith.  However, his is bet known fas an artisan who worked at wood working, carriage making and carpentry.  And there was a long period that he was a millwright at what ws the Babcock Hopkins elevator in Rensselaer. . .

Mr. Morgan married Mary J. Morris of Rensselaer on July 27, 1870. . .

It is interesting to note that Mr. Morgan once saw the immortal Abraham Lincoln wen the troops were reviewed by President Lincoln near Washington D.C.  it is also interesting to note that Mr. Morgan died on the day that Franklin D. Roosevelt was being buried.    He participated in all presidential elections from 1872 on.  He cast his first such ballotin 1872 for Ulysses S. Grant, his commander during the Civil War.

Mr. Morgan was the sort of the personal property of every RensselaerIan.  He became known as “Grandpa.”  All loved him.  . . A kind man, a courageous man, s msn colored with the romantic days of the wilderness and with the present day.  He was idolized and cherished as the last representative of the treasured race of man-the Civil War soldiery. . .

One Person’s Life of Duty

So honored was “Grandpa” Morgan that the local newspaper would publish periodic updates on events in his life.  A July 1, 1890 a front page article reported that he had been granted a pension.   The story noted that he was the youngest of the three Morgan brothers to volunteer and concludes with this statement: “Although so young he was a thoroughly good soldier and never shirked his full sized share of the hardships and fighting.  He well deserves the pension he gets, and a good deal more.”

On February 14, 1945, the Rensselaer Republican’s  front page story was headlined, Time Marches On, So Does Grandpa.   It was Morgan’s 97th birthday.

Morgan’s life of duty: A person of 14 who volunteered for war, raised a family. worked in the community and voted in every presidential election from Grant to FDR.

In Rensselaer we saw and experienced first hand, daily, persons who lived responsively for their families, community and country.  It is these examples we all knew and helped shape who we would become—with our own personal sense of duty.

The first visit was on Friday December 17, 1937 at the National Guard Armory where he brought the professional basketball team, the Cleveland Olympians to play the Peerless Athletics from Lafayette.

The second was on April 16, 1959 to address the annual Hi-Y (high school YMCA) banquet in the Fellowship Hall at the Methodist Church.  My dad had invited Owens to speak.  I attended the event along with many of my high school sophomore classmates.

Owens’ Brief Biography

There are two extraordinary athletic achievements by Owens that are still celebrated today.

On May 25, 1935, he set three world records and tied a fourth in a span of 45 minutes during the Big Ten meet at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

At the 1936 Olympic games he won four gold medals in three individual events and as a member of the 4 by 100 relay team.  This triumph has been memorialized in numerous films which celebrate a black American’s triumph in front of Hitler and his belief in the superiority of the Aryan race.

After the games, the entire Olympic team was invited to compete in Sweden. Owens decided to capitalize on his success by returning to the United States to take up some of the more lucrative endorsement offers. United States athletic officials were furious and withdrew his amateur status, which immediately ended his career.

Owens was angry and stated that “A fellow desires something for himself.” He argued that the racial discrimination he had faced throughout his athletic career, such as not being eligible for scholarships in college and therefore being unable to take classes between training and working to pay his way, meant he had to give up on amateur athletics in pursuit of financial gain elsewhere.

Owens struggled to find work and took on menial jobs as a gas station attendant, playground janitor, and manager of a dry cleaning firm and at times resorted to racing against motorbikes, cars, trucks and horses for a cash prize.

He was prohibited from making appearances at amateur sporting events to bolster his profile, and found  commercial offers had all but disappeared. In 1937, he briefly toured with a twelve-piece jazz band and made appearances at baseball games and other events.  Hence his trip to Rensselaer.

While in town he gave free autographs at the Rensselaer Republican’s news office.   During halftime at the basketball game he put on a running exhibition.  One youngster recalling the event years later said, “it was absolutely amazing, the speed Owens possessed.”

The Second Visit

Owens tried to make a living as a sports promoter, essentially an entertainer. “There was no television, no big advertising, no endorsements then. Not for a black man, anyway.”

Owens ran a dry cleaning business and worked as a gas station attendant to earn a living, but he eventually filed for bankruptcy. In 1966, he was successfully prosecuted for tax evasion.

At rock bottom, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower enlisted Owens as a goodwill ambassador in 1955 and sent him to India, the Philippines, and Malaya to promote physical exercise.  He also promoted American freedom and economic opportunity in the developing world.

Rensselaer’s 1959 Hi-Y banquet celebrated the service club’s students’ role in the community.  There were two groups, the seniors with dates and the junior Hi-Y members with their dads.  The Rensselaer Republican’s account of Owens’ remarks is brief.

“Mr. Owens told many of his experiences then made a dramatic appeal to the young men of the Hi-Y organizations to assume positions of leadership in the community for which their Hi-Y work prepares them.” 

Two Appearances, 22 Years Apart-Did They Matter?

Owens’ first appearance was as an entertainer trying to make a living in a segregated world cut off from the traditional sources of support for other Olympic athletes.  A local family of three generations, the Bausmans, connects these two events.

Slim Bausman, the grandfather, was a successful high school coach who took his son “Dode” to see Owens run at a meet in Soldier Field in Chicago.  Dode was an exceptional athlete who set the Rensselaer high school record in the 100 yard dash at 10.2 seconds that still stands today.  And just one second slower than Owen’s world record of 9.2 seconds.

Dode and his son, Gordon, attended the 1959 banquet at which Owens spoke.  Not as an entertainer, but as a representative of core American values and leadership.  Rensselaer had no black families.  The idea of civil rights and school de-segregation had no immediate resonance for this rural farming community.   Rather he was there expressing the best of what America could be.

Did Owens’ visit in 1959 make a difference?  Two years ago after another reunion,  a classmate, Dale Garriott, sent an email asking if I recalled when Owens came to Rensselaer—and how my Dad had taken all of us to the dinner.  Did I remember anything about the event?

At last week’s reunion I found the Republican news article and an earlier description of Owens’ first visit in Vintage Views, the publication of the Jasper County Historical Society.   At our Saturday evening dinner I sat with Gordy Bausman who still lives in Rensselaer and confirmed his father’s track record—but admitted the time had been equaled by three later runners. He also recalled the Hi-Y banquet.

Examples of sports excellence and more broadly leadership success, can leave a lasting impression on upcoming generations, especially when the speaker comes from a big city, like Chicago, to a small town.  It’s a special deal.

Another name stands out from the news article.   He was a senior, who gave the invocation as the Chaplain for Hi-Y. and sung in the boys quartet that evening. Richard Scharf lettered in all three high school sports-football, basketball, and track.  He was admitted to West Point, retired as a US Army colonel, completing 27 years of commissioned service. He earned a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering and Economic Planning from Stanford University and was involved in architectural engineering and construction for 15 years.

In the an article on his later career, he announces his candidacy for a seat on the Dawson County Board of Commissioners, Georgia with this statement:

Scharf is also interested in the welfare of our next generation. “We need to ensure that we make provisions for the young people in the county,” he says, and asks, “How do we give them some options for the future?” 

A native of Indiana, Scharf says that he grew up in a small rural community, the son of a college coach and athletic director and, while he’s not a farmer, he “understands the rigors of those who provide for the rest of us.” 

As a board member, I will be an active and focused team player, able to add an experienced rational outlook on the infrastructure challenges we are facing and help the board remain focused on the community’s future. My goal is to do the right things to achieve long-term community viability.

An example of a leader’s ongoing contributions that Owens had spoken to, formed by his Rensselaer experiences.

What makes a community for most is finding groups and activities  to which one can belong.  From the initial days as a Brownie or cub scout, to the morning coffee conversations at a local café in retirement, finding social connection makes life worth living.

In my recent high school reunion, some classmates meet for coffee every morning around the old St Joe College fountain on the edge of town.  Others volunteer at the library, the Historical Society or still attend church on Sundays.   Being with others after raising families or a lifetime of work is vital to one’s well-being.

The Founding of the Welcome Wagon

In November 1957 the town of Rensselaer formalized the process of welcoming new residents in an inaugural meeting forming a Welcome Wagon Club.   The monthly meetings were to greet the newest members in town and introduce them to some “pioneer” residents who could brief them on getting to know the city in a minimum of time.

The meeting was led by the club’s Hostess, Marietta Henry, a community leader who presented the newly formed organization’s  purpose.  Then several representatives described different aspects of the town.  George Long (owner of Long’s Drug store) gave a history of the city’s past.  Then Mayor Hanley talked about present-day Rensselaer.   Rev. Charles W. Filson (my dad) welcomed the group on behalf of the city’s churches.

The sixty-three attendees, most wearing their Sunday best, were then photographed with all the names listed below the picture.  In the foreground are welcome baskets filled with items from the town’s local merchants.

The Importance of  Being Welcoming

In many ways Rensselaer was and is a stable community.  Change does occur; however the economic farming base and land ownership does not lead to dramatic population turnover either in or out.  Bringing in new residents is still key to maintaining a viable economic and diverse demographic social base.

The Welcome Wagon is a concept inspired by the Conestoga “welcome wagons” that provided food and water to travelers moving west.  The concept was the basis for the organization founded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1928 by Thomas Briggs, Think of the Welcome (Wells Fargo) Wagon song from the Music Man which greeted Harold Hill’s band instrument delivery into town.

Small towns are more intimate than cities and suburbs.  Everybody knows most everyone else, or if necessary, someone who does know them.   Family history and connections will go back for three, even four generations.  One of the organizers of our reunion, where we are all at or near 80, still visits her mother daily who is 102.

Local  community groups and activities provide a grounding that can prepare one for life and importantly, opportunities beyond a small town.  For it is the values,  commitments, mentors and work ethic that will settle in and carry one into the bigger world beyond.

The learnings essential for life and a worldly welcome wherever one settles down are an enduring foundation for the graduates of small town America.

Or so said Thomas Wolf, the novelist.   But you can visit with the perspective of years and see what makes small towns in the Midwest a special place in many people’s lives

I just returned from my 62^nd high school reunion in Rensselaer, IN.  A journey of nostalgia but also discovery and learning.  While I only lived there for five years, from middle school through the first 21/2 years of high school, they were formative in ways one can only see later.

At the moment two Vice Presidential candidates talk about their small-town roots.  One does so with joyful remembrances of people knowing and looking after each other.  An experience of community that orients one to what matters in life.  The second is a somewhat darker story of the problems and poverty in rural America.

My return visit was filled with multiple conversations with people continuing to make this farming town of around 5,000 a place for understanding how community matters and its role in instilling the  special American spirit of enterprise and duty.

I will share events such as the Friday Night Lights Senior recognition during half time at the Bomber’s football game vs. West Lafayette; the two visits Jesse Owens made to Rensselaer ; the grave of the first woman ordained in any part of the Methodist church in 1866; and Brigadier General Millroy who criticized the Union’s West Point Generals at the battle of Bull Run apparently in the presence of the President and the Secretary of War, Stanton.

The Worldly Education of Small-Town Life

Rich Kupke is not a name that readily comes to mind unless one recalls he was one of over 100 American hostages held for 444 days in Iran.   He came back home to a hero’s welcome in Indiana.  After retiring from the State Department he settled in Rensselaer where he had grown up and graduated from high school.

His return to Rensselaer is explained in this article about his post hostage  life:  Former Iranian Hostage Relishes Quieter Life Today

Even after his Iranian captors finally released the hostages in early 1981, Kupke continued working overseas in Thailand, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Mexico. “I was one of the first who went back overseas. The type of people I worked with, being an ex-hostage wasn’t a big topic that came up all the time,” he said. “It helped not to make it bigger than it was. I always disagreed with the psychiatrist who talked about post-traumatic stress happening five to 10 years later. I told him he was planting that in people’s minds. He got mad at me for disagreeing with him.”

If there is one lingering effect for Kupke, it’s in the way he’s often presented to new acquaintances in Rensselaer. “I’m often introduced as, ‘The former hostage in Iran.’ But most people go out of their way not to have me rehash the whole story. That’s a nice part of being in a small town.” 

Divorced in 1991, Kupke has been a single father ever since to his two sons. The three of them lived together in Jamaica and Mexico, but when the boys neared high-school age, their father figured there was only one place to continue their worldly education. “I was born here and went to high school here, and I thought it would be an excellent place for my boys to go to school. Back home in Indiana,” he said.

In addition to watching over 15-year-old James and 14-year-old Bill, Kupke keeps busy as a volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels. He also works part-time six days a week at the Jasper County Animal Shelter while waiting to hear about the possibility of returning to a stockbroker position. The only connection to his State Department days is the book he started writing a few months ago — a fictionalized account of a foreign service officer who faces one dramatic situation after another while traveling from country to country, based on his own experiences.

“Rensselaer is just an outstanding place to live. I couldn’t have made a better decision,” he said. “My life is a little slower these days. I don’t need to rush. I’m taking time to smell the daisies. Or is it the roses?” 

Life and Truth in It

Maybe quieter in some respects but life is no less purposeful.   Rensselaer epitomizes being in a community.   For it is in living with others that we find meaning and self-worth.

Thomas Wolf wrote:  Telling the truth is a pretty hard thing. And in a young man’s first attempt, with the distortions of his vanity, egotism, hot passion, and lacerated pride, it is almost impossible. “Home to Our Mountains” was marred by all these faults and imperfections…[Webber] did know that it was not altogether a true book. Still, there was truth in it.

I will share some stories of individuals shaped by this small town experience. One is about the Rensselaer High School Senior in 1937 who set the school record for the 100 yard dash, which still stands at 10.2 seconds. He met with Jesse Owens in 1937.  His grandson attended a Hi-Y banquet in 1959 at the First Methodist Church where Owens was the featured speaker, 22 years later.   Or the obituary of the last surviving Rensselaer soldier from the civil war who volunteered at 14 in 1861 and died in 1945-a sense of duty that carries on still today.