Forest of Words

Written by Lynn Allen, Executive Director/Curator~ Brown County Historical Society

History is a delightful journey that you can travel at any time! It can be remarkable, breathtaking, and sometimes even awe-inspiring!! One has only to reach out to uncover the history, the mystery, and sometimes if you are lucky, a bit of both! John Rockefeller Jr. had grown up being afforded many opportunities, including celebrating festivals and traditions. One of the traditions included celebrating Christmas! Did you know that in October 1929, Rockefeller leased a section of land he had hoped one day might feature the Metropolitan Opera? A short time later, the stock market crashed, tumbled, and shattered the world in an economic downturn that would take more than a decade to recover. The economic downturn resulted in the Metropolitan Opera backing out of the project. Rockefeller had suffered significant financial losses but took time to step back from the original project design and reinvigorate a new plan. Rockefeller saw an opportunity to inspire a little magic in the heart of NYC. Remember that during the Depression, Rockefeller park created 75,000 jobs, and every employee was grateful to have a job!

Flash forward, Rockefeller development has been underway for approximately two years. It is now 1931, and the employees went and purchased a 20-foot tree and decorated it with cans, cranberry garland, and paper decorations, which would serve as the first Rockefeller Christmas tree. The Rockefeller tree became a beacon of hope across New York City. Since then, subsequent Rockefeller trees have continued to adorn the space, instilling hope for anyone who cares to look. May your way always sparkle and shine brilliantly! As always, there is so much more to every single story! Find it, be sure to stop by and share with me what you discover! #HistoryMysteries

Written by Lynn Allen, Executive Director/Curator~ Brown County Historical Society

Special Note: Brown County Historical Society Board of Directors wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you have other Thanksgiving holiday memories from school, such as coloring pictures of a cornucopia, pilgrims, and indigenous people gathered at a feast? Sadly, to arrive at that peaceful table, there were many not-so-wonderful memories. So, here are a few details that may illuminate the holiday! The first celebration took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621, and it was not a one-and-done meal but a three-day festival! Add that gravy boat to your hat! The indigenous tribe was the Wampanoag people; for them, it was a day of remembrance rather than a food-inspired feast! The first Thanksgiving included at least 90 tribal members, and 50 pilgrims were at the dinner! We may encounter a few more reasons to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! The original journey of the pilgrims to the colonies was difficult! Seventy-five percent of the women perished. The remaining pilgrims comprised 22 men, four women, and 25 children and teenagers! What the cornucopia!!! Who was doing the dishes!!! And I thought dinner for eight to ten-ish was a nightmare! The celebration included games of marksmanship (like archery) and hunting. It took the tribal leaders a two-day walk to get to the feast! The Wampanoag leader, Massasoit, negotiated the peace treaty in 1620! The peace remains intact for approximately ten years following the treaty’s signing!

The dinner table most likely did not have your usual Thanksgiving food items, and the meal would have included staples of the day such as seal, cod, bass, duck, goose, deer, swans, and turkey. The vegetable lineup would have included the table included onions, beans, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, carrots, and perhaps peas. Maize (corn)(keep in mind corn was not native to America, and we must remember to give thanks for this wonderful treat.) once removed from the hull and ground into cornmeal, then boiled and served as porridge, sometimes sweetened with molasses. Hold onto your as potato, sweet or white, was nowhere to be found at that first feast and equally alarming while both parties at pumpkins and squash the resources that included butter or flour for a crust were unavailable. The pumpkins met another delectable fate: they would add milk, honey, and spices to the hollowed-out gourd and place it over the fire, creating a custard of sorts! It sounds like a tradition I might have to give a whirl or a hollowed-out gourd whirl! As always, there is so much more to every story! Gobble.. Gobble.. them up! And be sure to stop by and share with me what you discover! #historymysteries

Pictured Thanksgiving Postcard Treasure is part of the Brown County Historical Society Collection.

Written by Lynn Allen, Executive Director/Curator~ Brown County Historical Society

Special Note: Brown County Historical Society Board of Directors wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving!

As usual on a journey this morning, exploring all things history and history rarely disappoints and always leaves me with a profound sense of gratitude. As we venture closer to the Thanksgiving holiday, I hope each of you finds a reason to celebrate. I hope your Thanksgiving surrounds you in sparkle and, of course, more reasons to be grateful than you can count! As always, my gratitude list is ever-evolving and growing, and I am thankful for family and friends both near and far! I wish everyone peace and the wisdom to look at the world with wonder and gentleness. Every one of us has the opportunity to share bits and pieces of kindness and sparkle, and I hope you do!

In keeping with the tradition of holidays, it only seems fitting to pay tribute to the reasons and story behind the first thanksgiving celebration. Today, each of us (I think) observes the holiday as an opportunity to each magnificent amounts of turkey, mashed potatoes, your favorite bread and pie, and a gravy boat the size of the Titanic! Of course, I am in no way whatsoever meaning to elude or exclude any fantastic foods or traditions we might have the opportunity to explore at this food festival! Perhaps I recall food because, as you might remember, the olfactory system is one of our “superhero” senses!

As I embark on the journey of memories, I remember the bustle of grandmothers, moms, dads, aunts and uncles, cousins, all gathered in anticipation of the forthcoming feast! I remember the delightful aromas that danced around from room to room. I remember my Granny’s sonnet she would recite each time a piece of apple pie was carved for someone! “An apple pie without any cheese is like a hug without any squeeze!” Do you have any of these beautiful memories that are a part of your history? Share the past, write it down, and celebrate it with the people you love! As always, there is so much more to every story! Gobble.. Gobble.. them up! And be sure to stop by and share with me what you discover! #historymysteries

Pictured Thanksgiving Postcard Treasure is part of the Brown County Historical Society Collection.

On a journey this morning, as usual, searching for all things history, my travels always take me on a unique exploration, and as I went into the Herbert Room, the mystery began to unfold. Inside the Herbert room, I opened the gorgeous steam trunk that once belonged to Delores Herbert Hohnbaum and uncovered a beautiful gem from the past! Everyone can agree that the Hiawatha High School Class of 1933 red velvet exterior lined diploma is quite a gem! Inside the diploma, upon closer inspection, there were several names that you might recognize from the community. Every history journey is an incredible journey where you can uncover mysteries to your own story or perhaps mysteries that lead to other destinations. As always, there is so much more to every story! Find it! Be sure to stop by and share with me what you discover! #historymysteries

Pictured Hiawatha Diploma Class of 1933, the image is part of the Delores Herbert Hohnbaum family collection which is a part of the BCHS collection.

A side note on today’s history journey, many have heard me speak about Theodore Korthanke and the incredible story of the Sugar Maple in Brown County! I hope each of you has been celebrating the colorful history we can each enjoy through the Sugar Maple’s bright displays. Each of us has the opportunity to celebrate this colorful history that began with a dream by Mr. Theodore Korthanke. Today we have more reasons we can be grateful because Grimms Gardens has been working hard on a Hiawatha Sugar Maple Hybrid. I hope everyone might consider planting one, two, or even fifty. Whatever colors your world brilliantly! Each of us in Brown County has a beautiful opportunity to cherish and treasure the Hiawatha Sugar Maple Trees and repopulate the area with the vibrant colors that make each of our worlds a whole lot brighter!

Once upon a star-kissed dream, I leaped, and from somewhere out of the blue, love reached out and found me.
Across the sands of time, countless other love stories have been told
but this once-in-a-billion-trillion lifetime love story began to unfold,
it can stop your heart
it even has the power to make your heart beat! Race, in fact,
it’s electrical
chemical
a magnetic forcefield kind of storm
its the kind of love that you only dreamed might be
and it can set you free
it is the kind of story that makes your heart race
send goosebumps up and down your spine
send the color flooding into your cheeks
has the ability to make you feel both lost and found
the kind of love that is beyond rare in this day and time
perhaps going extinct
once upon a star-kissed dream

You reached out and found me
I never want to imagine a world where there is not a YOU and ME
I will never be the same,
Love reached out across the sands of time and set me free!

Written by Lynn Allen, Executive Director/Curator~ Brown County Historical Society

This week’s article is a little more about reflection than about history. Although history speaks for itself, and each year, the BCHS corn-picking event gets better and better. We want to dedicate the 2022 BCHS Corn Picking event to Eugene Swearingen. Of course, this year was incredibly successful, and we were more than a little sad that Gene was not present. Each year, in the weeks leading up to the corn-picking event, Gene would be out to check the crop’s progress. 2022 will not be the same because he could not check the crop and visit each of us about it. I would like to believe Gene looked down from Heaven and smiled over us. Gene, you were a one-in-a-million guy and have left a tremendous spot to fill.

BCHS would like to send a huge thank you very much to everyone in the community who helped to make the corn-picking event a huge success! To Jim and Denise Wolney for the incredible chili lunch! The Antique Tractor Club for all their help and support. Many thanks to Griff Howard for providing and planting the seed. Thank you to Allen Torkelson, Ryan Shockley, and Tom Hooper. Thank you to AG partners and Hiawatha Implement, who always show up with their profound support of the community, and we are lucky to be on the receiving end of that support! With extreme gratitude Joey May for ensuring that each BCHS event is visible to the community. We are incredibly grateful for Joey and the support we receive through her publications in the newspaper and the images she provides. Many thanks to Brown County commissioners, who were on hand demonstrating their loyal support of the community and the BCHS corn-picking event!. 

Pictured 2022 Corn Picking Event the photographs are the intellectual property of Larry Day and Tim Wenger.

Written by Lynn Allen, Executive Director/Curator~ Brown County Historical Society

One of our fellow history investigators reached out with a question, and this sent me on a Sycamore Springs mission. As I was digging, I uncovered a gem! The gem is “The Water Way to Health,” a book offered and published by Sycamore Mineral Springs Company. Here are a few things I didn’t know, Sycamore Springs was the dream of Mrs. Alice Williams, and you will be as surprised as I was by some of the discoveries. First, let me go a little further back in history. Mr. and Mrs. John Gray of Hiawatha, Kansas, had a daughter named Alice. The Grays were some of the earliest settlers in the area, so the young child, Alice, was raised among the indigenous people and was highly regarded for her cheerful disposition and red hair. There is a superstition about the importance of red hair. I did a little digging and am still looking for information about superstition. The Kickapoo Chief, “Chawkeekee,” became very fond of the family and began sharing stories of “healing waters.” After many requests, the Chief consented to take Alice and Mr. Gray to the healing waters. When the group of travelers arrived at the healing waters, the Chief urged Alice and Mr. Gray to “drink and grow strong!”

Alice carried this dream and story with her into adulthood, where she would marry and bring the goal of a healing spring to life. The springs in Northeastern Kansas were regaled nationwide for their healing properties! Two of the earliest physicians treating patients at Sycamore Springs were Dr. Hibbard and Dr. Rucker. There are so many other treasures in this book, and perhaps you will take a little time to explore some of them. As always, there is so much more to every story! Find it! #HistoryMysteries

Pictured “The Water Way to Health” Sycamore Springs Mineral Company Health Home photographs. The book is part of the Brown County Historical Society collection and book circa unknown.

Once upon a time, in a cruel and often imperfect world, there lived a girl. A girl with dreams who believes we all can see past colors, races, ages, and all that other stereotypical bullshit. Yep, you guessed it, in this fairy tale, the fairy tale girl sometimes has a trench mouth! And whether you like it or not, we all bleed the same color, and there is not a single person on the planet who has cornered the market on “I am better than you!” So get a flipping grip! The reality is that age, color, and race are insignificant if you don’t care for and love everyone!

Reality check!

Did you know that I am a person that has kind of quirky things that make my heart happy? Recently, one of our fellow history investigators reached out with a treasure I love. I think you might love this one too. The people in Brown County have always loved local treasures, and I am confident this treasure will be no different. Here is just another spoonful of reasons to fall in love with Hiawatha. Check out this incredibly detailed spoon. Thank you so much, Marilyn Elrod, for preserving these treasures and sharing them. PS. I don’t have the exact creation dates on these items, but I think you will all agree in 2022, these are all pristine! #historymysteries

In addition, I would like to take a moment to remember Eugene Swearingen, who passed away on Monday, October 10, 2022. “Gene” was a dedicated member of the Historical Society, and Gene was always willing to help. I know Mrs. Benson and I, and our second-grade visitors, will be so sad this year because Gene will not be joining us for lunch as he has done every year since I began working for the Historical Society. Gene would donate his time and answer the children’s questions about life in the one-room schoolhouse. Gene also dedicated his time and energy to so many other projects for the Historical Society!! All will greatly miss Gene! There is more than a heaping spoonful of reasons that Gene will be missed and equally more than a heaping spoonful of reasons why Gene was so loved.

I was reading a quote from Sarah Prout, and she said, “Be the Love you feel you deserve, and you will change the WORLD!” that is so powerful! and so unbelievably TRUE!

I have always believed in being kind, intentional, gentle, and trying to honor my presence in the world (HUMILITY, hello!) I also read the love you DESERVE will show up when you least expect it. And boy, oh boy, is that a powerhouse powerful statement and intention. When it shows up, you also will scarcely believe it to be true! (Also true!) and that perhaps you don’t deserve that kind of love (OuCh, but also true!) You will have prayed for this love for a long time (Amen!)

But as I read… the WROnG person will never LOVE you like you deserve!!! They will NEVER see in YOU what you saw in them! (UGH…. amen again!) The disappointment felt is going to be crippling! But…. (there is always a BUTT….) don’t give up… listen to that very small voice within your heart, soul, and head! And then, believe this!

THE LOVE YOU DESERVE WILL NEVER TAKE YOU FOR GRANTED! (AHEM! READ THAT AGAIN!!!) It is PATIENT and KIND! (MY FAVORITE VERSE IN THE BIBLE) They will always make you feel safe, protected, and cared for! They will always make you feel seen and heard!! The love will be worth the wait! They will show you parts of yourself you never knew existed! The love will be incomparable to any other love you have ever experienced.

Once upon a star-kissed dream, a gentle dreamer sent out a wish with the hope that her desire someday might be

Never would have imagined the love that was sent to ME

and what you might ask is the moral to this little story be

never ever stop dreaming

and don’t ever stop wishing

because in the end, you could stumble upon your happily ever after