Having been on the road for 3 months and heading to Denver to see Chris, Christina and the girls, Maddie and Eleanor, we wanted to make some time so drove 1100 miles in three days to Hannibal, MO. The plan was a stop in Hopkinton, Iowa, the birthplace of my father. I also saw that there was a scenic "river road" going north along the western side of the Mississippi.
I either never knew or long ago forgot that Hannibal was the setting for Tom Sawyer as well as Mark Twain's boyhood home. It is yet another town with lovely old buildings and homes. However, whatever industry fueled its prominence in the past seems long gone and the main attraction now is tourism. There are extensive building devoted to Mark Twain's legacy and tourist themed activities for kids and adults.
The museum contains much about his life and a highlight for me was the display of original Norman Rockwell art which was completed in the mid 1930's to illustrate Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. They are a treasure to see and bring to life the shennanigans of the boys.
When we took a Mississippi cruise many years ago, from Memphis to the gulf, we were surprised that our views were pretty much limited to barge traffic and the river side of levees which obscured towns and homes on the shore. On this part of the Mississippi there are cliffs on the western side and, if you are on a road close to the river, you have a view. I think a cruise on this part of the river would provide better views although the barge traffic seems much less active.
 |
| Mississippi view from a cliff in Hannibal |
Locals in Hannibal told us that flooding of the city occurs periodically and one woman described how her husband had to commute via boat to his downtown bank job and walk to the 7th step via a plank to enter the building. She said that dampness and mold are a real problem in the basements of the old buildings.
 |
| Picture from past flood in Hannibal |
 |
| Downtown Hannibal in prior year's flood |
I always head for museum shops to see what treasures I need to get for friends and family. Maddie and Eleanor have new books and I have a book of Mark Twain Quotes to enliven our upcoming drive across the plains.
Some of my favorite Mark Twain sayings are:
 |
| A Magnet for my Collection |
"SUPPOSE YOU WERE AN IDIOT, AND SUPPOSE YOU WERE A MEMBER OF CONGRESS; BUT I REPEAT MYSELF."
"FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT-AND CHILDREN"
'THE MOST USEFUL AND INTERESTING LETTERS WE GET FROM HOME ARE FROM CHILDREN, SEVEN OR EIGHT YEARS OLD...THEY TELL ALL THEN KNOW AND THEN STOP."
"A BANKER IS ONE WHO LENDS YOU HIS UMBRELLA WHEN THE SUN IS SHINING AND WANTS IT BACK WHEN IT RAINS.'
From Hannibal we headed north along the River Road scenic drive, entering Iowa with an intermediate destination of Toolesboro, site of some 2000+ year old Indian Mounds. We pulled off the road to a small parking area where four men were working on a monument. I asked where we could park to look at the mounds and they began to kid and told me we could stay right where we were as the Sheriff wouldn't be around till Sunday and the mayor lived next door. Conversation ensued about what they were doing and a great story followed, the kind that really make travel special. The shortest man in the picture, in the blue shirt, is active in the local history museum. Not long ago he was contacted by someone wondering if he would like a scrapbook from the 1920's which contained newspaper clippings regarding local events. Of course he did and that led to a project which will culminate in the dedication, by the Governor of Iowa, of the memorial in the background. Those clipping revealed a long lost story.
 |
| Men working on Littleton Monument |
Prior to the Civil War a family named Littleton settled in this part of Iowa after migrating from the east. They had six sons and several daughters. Records indicated that the husband was a "mulatto" but no further research nor some living relative DNA testing, could determine whether that was Native American or African American heritage. The six boys fought for the Union and all six died, extinguishing the male lineage. It is thought to be the largest single family loss in the history of the US. Of note is the fact that the other well known family loss, resulting in the military rule that siblings cannot serve together, was that of the Sullivan brothers who were also from Iowa. The local group raised 1/4 of a million dollars for this monument. The boys would have been many times great uncles of the tall man in the bright shirt. He said that there will be 40 or so relatives coming from all over the country for the dedication.
After such a special interlude, we walked up to see the mounds. The interpretive center was closed but we learned that these mounds are burial places and that they are common throughout the Mississippi area and in areas to the east. In such mounds, artifacts have been discovered from as far west as the rockies, down to the gulf and all the way to the east coast.
We then headed north to Hopkinton, Iowa. With about 700 inhabitants this is not a major tourist destination, but for me it represented a chance to visit the state and town of my father's birth. I wish I had been more diligent about my genealogical research to pin down dates and locations but that will come now that I am inspired. I only remember hearing of the town, knowing that the family farmed, that at some point they went north to Saskatchewan, where they also farmed, that they returned and in the 30's all moved to Los Angeles. I knew that Dad attended "Normal School" and taught at some point in a one room schoolhouse. The family were active Covenantors, a small offshoot of mainstream Presbyterians.
Before arriving I called the Delaware Historical Society and learned that they do not open until June. The museum consists of ten buildings, including the Covenantor Church, the former Lenox College, a Farm Machinery Display and a one room schoolhouse. I was so fortunate to find Patty Hucker, who graciously made time to open up the museum and help me navigate its enormous collection.
 |
| The most gracious Patty Hucker opened the local Historical Museum |
Our first stop was the church.
Growing up, this religion was central to our life though my parents did not adhere to its more strict prohibitions. As I understand it, the Reformed Presbyterians, known here as Covenanters, took issue with the failure of the mainstream Presbyterians to insist that the government (originally in Scotland I believe) formally recognize the primacy of Christ. As a result, many went to Ulster and later Canada and the US. The religion prohibited voting for political office, serving on juries, singing of hymns ( Psalms were to be sung accapello), drinking, smoking, dancing and playing cards. The observance of the Sabbath was strict and I was never allowed to attend Sunday birthday parties.
The church we attended in LA was ample in size and amenities but nothing to behold. I was taken back by the beauty of my father's boyhood church. The stained glass windows were imported from Bavaria and, with the sun streaming through, were stunning. The wood working was exquisite, including curved pews, oak floors and an incredible 10-12' high roll down door. The historical society has maintained it beautifully. It was very fun to think about the family sitting in those beautiful pews looking at the windows.
 |
| Wooden Roll Down Door |
 |
| The construction of the wooden pews is impressive |
The next treat was across the road to the Lenox College Campus. On the way to see the college I asked Patty whether it was ever known as a "Normal School." While she said that it was, I did not know where Dad attended Normal School. Given that this Normal School was in his hometown, I suspected it could have been his alma mater.
When we entered the first building on the campus there was a large display of of Lenox College graduates. While Patty and I were talking and looking through documents, the Big Dog spied my father's name (J. T. Foster Chambers) , and then the name of my uncle (Cecil Chambers). It was an emotional moment to see Dad's name and realize this was where he first went to college.
The Big Dog continued on his mission and found Dad's graduation picture.
 |
| Dad is the tall man in the third row up, in the center. |
The college is a treasure. There is so much to catalog and display. For my pharmacist friends Dave and Myra Willingham, I took a picture of the turn of the century era drugstore recreated in one of the college rooms.
Given that Dad attended and then taught in a one room schoolhouse, I was eager to see the one that was moved onto the Delaware County Historical Society's Museum complex.
The picture doesn't show it well but the teacher's desk is very small. It was hard for me to picture my 6' Dad seated at this one. The classroom has pictures of Presidents Washington and Lincoln and a 1921 map that depicted Europe after "The Great War."
It would be instructive to study the map but one area that caught my eye was Western Turkey. There was a section called Smyrna, shown as under "Greek Administration." Having been on a trip to Turkey organized by Sue Willingham of Vashon, I knew there was some history of Greeks living in Turkey and Turks living in Greece.
I refreshed my memory of the issue on the internet-for those interested I have included the following:
"
The Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front (Turkish: Batı Cephesi) of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign (Greek: Μικρασιατική Εκστρατεία) or the Asia Minor Catastrophe (Greek: Μικρασιατική Καταστροφή) in Greece, was fought between Greece and the Turkish National Movement during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May 1919 and October 1922.
The Greek campaign was launched primarily because the western Allies, particularly British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, had promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of the Ottoman Empire, recently defeated in World War I. The armed conflict started when the Greek forces landed in Smyrna (now Izmir), on 15 May 1919. They advanced inland and took control of the western and northwestern part of Anatolia, including the cities of Manisa, Balıkesir, Aydin, Kütahya, Bursa and Eskişehir. Their advance was checked at the Battle of Sakarya in 1921 by forces of the Turkish national movement. The Greek front collapsed with the Turkish counter-attack in August 1922, and the war effectively ended with the Great Fire of Smyrna by the Turkish forces.
As a result, the Greek government accepted the demands of the Turkish national movement and returned to its pre-war borders, thus leaving East Thrace and Western Anatolia to Turkey. The Allies abandoned the Treaty of Sèvres to negotiate a new treaty at Lausanne with the Turkish National Movement. The Treaty of Lausanne recognized the independence of the Republic of Turkey and its sovereignty over Asia Minor, Constantinople, and Eastern Thrace. Greek and Turkish governments agreed to engage in a population exchange."
What I remember was walking through what had been an ethnic Greek town in Turkey. It was abandoned and crumbling-the casualty of the "population exchange" where ethnic Greeks were removed from Turkey to Greece and the same was done to ethnic Turks living in Greece. In each case, the removed populations may not have spoken the language corresponding to their ethnicity nor had the skills for their new home. It was so interesting to see the map in a tiny schoolhouse from the 20's in rural Iowa.
The next treat was the farm machinery buildings which contained large numbers of donated equipment from the era of my father's farming days and earlier.
 |
| Early Wooden Threshing Machine |
I remember Dad and Grandpa talking about harvest time and the traveling crew of threshers. They would harvest the crop and Grandma would spend hours preparing huge meals for the family and crew on a wood burning stove in the heat of summer.
 |
| This is a navy bean sorter |
Patty truly extended herself on our behalf and through a friend at the Assessor's office found the parcel that was likely where my father's family farmed.
 |
| Intersection of the likely Chambers' Farm |
At Patty's suggestion we had lunch at the local cafe whose much loved specialty is Tenderloin. Pork tenderloin is sliced, tenderized, breaded and then fried. It is about 10" at its widest and served on a soft bun. True to its name, was very tender. I am told, by my brother John in South Texas, that the cafe on the Rio Grand features this specialty for the Iowa snowbirds.
 |
| Cafe serving pork tenderloin sandwiches |
After much family and Hopkinson history we took a drive in the area and found several Amish establishments, including a fun bakery.
 |
| This must have inspired the now annoying bicycle signs |
Max was not neglected as our handy RV park had lots of critters to see on his long walks.
And finally, though I loved learning more about my Dad's early life and farming in those times, the following probably reflects my thoughts.
