Hometown Heritage
Contact
  • Home
  • About
  • PerryScope
  • Blog
  • Exhibits and Events
  • Collection
  • Contact

Gary Ernest Smith Visual Learning Event

5/25/2016

0 Comments

 
Good Afternoon Readers,

Those of us here at Hometown Heritage are happy to inform you about the first event related to our Gary Ernest Smith Exhibition!

Speaker Lynette Pohlman, Chief Curator and Director of University Museums at Iowa State University, will hold a learning and discussion session about how to connect with the artwork we see. She will be speaking at the Hotel Pattee on Tuesday, May 31st from 5 - 7 p.m.

Gary Ernest Smith, Idaho artist, will have a display of his distinguished art in Perry and in Ames beginning in August and lasting through December. Programs for the Art Show will need volunteer guides here in Perry. We invite you to this May 31st event to introduce you to connecting with the artwork of Gary Ernest Smith. We hope you will be inspired to pass the connection to others in Perry through the planned programming. This will also be a great opportunity to prepare yourself for the upcoming Exhibit, so that you can have a deeper connection with the pieces of art that will be on display both here and in Ames.

If you plan to attend, please let us know by sending an RSVP to info@fcctrust.org. We encourage all of you to attend!

0 Comments

Minburn Shootout

5/18/2016

0 Comments

 
Good Afternoon Readers!
 
Today I have another exciting crime story! Small town Iowa may seem like it is not a very lively place, but crime does happen. Sometimes, as you will see today, there are even bandits!
 
Thursday, July 23, 1931. The paper that came out that day told a frightening story under the headline “Bandits Shoot Marshal”. Early in the morning that day, between 3:30 and 4:00, three bandits robbed several business firms in Minburn. Gottschalk, E. H. Shaw grocery, a Minburn Oil company station and Butler’s garage were all hit during the robberies. In total, they stole some tires, tubes, and $205.00 dollars from all for places (that is worth about $3,011.65 today!) The bandits, however, did not quite get away clean. Mrs. Henry West, a night telephone operator in the building next to the Gottschalk store, heard the men moving around. She quickly spread the alarm, calling Bill Hagenstien, who called J. C. Untied and S. R. Gottschalk. Together, these three went to Virgil Untied, the marshal. A stranger who had heard the excitement joined the four men to confront the criminals as well. Together, all five went to the business district.
 
Once in the business district, the five men decided to split up to cover more ground. The marshal and Hagenstien were together when they were surprised by one of the bandits! The bandit commanded the men to back down or he would shoot. It is unknown if Untied refused to comply, but unfortunately for him the crook started firing at him with a sawed-off 12 gauge shotgun. Untied fell under the gunfire, and the bandit made off to a waiting car where he and his accomplice were whisked off. Presumably the third bandit was the getaway driver. The Minburn men exchanged shots with the fleeing vehicle, but the bandits made their getaway without any believed injuries. The car they were driving was either a Dodge or a Ford with a Polk County license plate.
 
Virgil Untied, the wounded Marshal, was immediately rushed to the Kings Daughter hospital. Upon arrival he was taken to the operating room, where Dr. Pond operated on him. The doctor unfortunately gave little hope for his survival. Virgil had his right eye shot out, the bullet entering the brain. He also had a slug in his abdomen, cutting the colon and making two perforations through the bowels, and a slug enter his left arm and one in his left leg. The article does not reveal more on Virgil’s condition, but one can assume that with such wounds he did not make it.
 
Sheriff Davis of Green County and Sheriff Knee of Dallas County began working on the case that day after the shootout. Based on their evidence, the bandits had also robbed places in Jefferson and Rippey. They had little other evidence to go on. No description of the men was provided, and the scene of the crimes left little evidence. There was a crow bar found, but no prints were left on it, meaning the men were wearing gloves. Brass shells were also found, but they proved to be no help either. Evidence from Rippey showed that a crow was used to get into the places that they robbed.
 
Despite all the tragedy, there was a slightly humorous moment in Rippey. The manager of the Hanson Lumber Company unwittingly left the card containing the safe combination on the dial of the safe. The bandits had found this and wrote a note on the back reading “We thank you for the combination but where in Hell is your money?” Only fifty cents in pennies was taken from the lumber office.
 
Were the bandits ever captured? Even I don’t know, as the article ends with a confirming that Virgil Untied’s condition has not changed. However, come back next week and I will find out if the story continues in another article!
0 Comments

Catching a Counterfeiter

5/11/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Hello Readers!
 
Today I have another exciting story about an infamous member of the Perry community. In fact, this story is about three men who were arrested for nothing less than making counterfeit coins!
 
An issue of The Perry Press came out on Friday, May 20, 1938 with the headline “Counterfeiting Plant Found On Perry Farm.” According to the article, federal authorities were holding three men on charges of counterfeiting: V. R. Starling, his son Forest W. Starling, and Cartha M. Candall. They were arrested in a raid containing the combined forces of federal, state, county, and city officers on the Starling farm. Counterfeiting equipment was found in various places around the farm. The press was found in the basement, along with about $200 worth of fifty cent coins. A roller, furnace, and casting forms were found in the machine shed. Dies, crucibles, and punches were buried in a barrel under the dirt floor of the garage.
 
According to Starling, he had been making fifty cent coins since 1934. He claimed he and his son distributed the coins, but authorities suspected that others may be implicated in their distribution. The counterfeits were almost true reproductions of legal pieces, containing a good proportion of silver making them practically impossible to recognize them as fakes. Skilled Chicago Federal Reserve bank employees, who noticed an almost invisible flaking and pitting, first detected the fakes. They confirmed their suspicions after a microscope test.
 
After detection of the counterfeits, federal authorities started a search. A tip from an Iowa jeweler, who told authorities that Starling was buying all the scrap silver he could get, lead authorities to the farm. The plant that they found on the farm was reported to be the most complete plant both from a manufacturing and distributing point that had ever been found in Iowa. It was equipped to turn out a large amount of coins, as evidenced by the large amount of dies that were found. The coins were dated for several years, but the majority were either 1899 or 1912. The Starlings had distributed most of the coins through five and ten cent stores or tobacco shops throughout Iowa and surrounding states.
 
It is amazing to think that such a small group of people were able to make near perfect copies of fifty cent coins! V. R. Starling plead guilty to his charges, while his son plead not guilty and Cartha Candall was released after it was found he was not directly implicated in the case. Reading about this makes you wonder: do any of these coins still exist? I suggest checking your 1899 and 1912 fifty cent pieces (if you have any) to make sure they are real!

0 Comments

Smith Conspiracy Finale

5/4/2016

0 Comments

 
Hello Readers,
 
Today you will all be excited to know that we have finally made it to the trial of Mr. Smith! What will the verdict be? Will all get the answers to our questions about the case? Read on to find out!
 
We start the story of the trial on September 28, 1931. In that days edition of the Perry Chief, it is announced that Smith will come to trial on Tuesday (the next day). State Agent Tullar had been travelling nearby states the previous two weeks, investigating matters related to the case. He stated that he believed the “case against Smith is now airtight.” The case was built upon a charge of conspiracy to defraud an insurance company, and it was this charge that Smith would face the next day. The trial was to begin if the proper witnesses were secured to appear. Specifically, Doctors Wittle of Clarinda and Donohoe of Cherokee were slated to appear as the first two witnesses.
 
The next day, September 29, 1931 was the day of the trial. Perhaps surprisingly, the jury deliberated for only fifteen minutes before reaching a verdict. With a single sentence came the closing of the Smith Conspiracy: “We the jury find the defendant John M. Smith to be insane.” Judge W. S. Cooper immediately announced that Smith would be taken to the Criminally Insane Ward at Anamosa, until such time he was deemed sane upon which he would be returned to the Dallas County Sheriff for a second trial. What happened to the airtight case that Tullar was boasting about? What happened that caused Smith to be declared insane so quickly? Well, to start only Dr. Max Wittle and Dr. George Donohue were heard as witnesses before the jury. Both of these witnesses claimed unquestionably that Smith was insane. Dr. Wittle, for instance, said that Smith could not tell right from wrong, and that he was susceptible to suggestions from others who could influence him to act. Dr. Donohue said the same thing, adding that he though Smith was “too dangerous to be discharged.” Thus, the entire trial last only from 9 a.m. to 10:35 a.m., when the jury presented their verdict declaring Smith criminally insane. As if to prove the verdict, upon leaving the courthouse Smith collapsed at the bottom of the first flight of stairs. He appeared to be in a semi-conscious stupor and continually called for “Edith” his wife, even though she was with him the whole time.
 
Many of you may be wondering if this is it. Unfortunately, it appears to be so. Even the paper says that the entire debacle is a “mystery which still has many loose ends and which will probably never be fully told.” For example, the story of the body found in the car will never be fully told. A story about Smith did reappear in May 1932, but it was a small article about an interview where Smith claimed he was the victim of a “gigantic conspiracy”, and that he remembered nothing “from the time he was bumped on the head” the night the truck was found until he was found near Garner, Iowa. You will have to decide for yourself if the jury was correct, because for now, this case, is closed.
0 Comments

    Archives

    March 2020
    October 2019
    February 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    March 2015

    Categories

    All
    1800s
    1900s
    2nd Avenue
    4th Of July
    Abandoned Towns
    Adage
    Adrienne Gennett
    African Americans
    All About Bacon
    Alley Oop
    Ames
    Anamosa
    Ancestors
    Angus
    Animal
    April
    Arcade
    Arcade Café
    Art
    Art And Seek
    Art Cart
    Art On The Prairie
    Art Tour Odd Thursday
    Attendant
    August
    Authorities
    Automobile
    Babe Ruth
    Bacon
    Ballroom
    Bandits
    Bank
    Barbershop
    Bars
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Beaverdale Books
    Betsy Peterson
    Betsy Peterson Designs
    Bike Trail
    Bill Clark
    Bill Wagner
    Bird
    Blue Jay
    Boat
    Bob Meusel
    Bonnie And Clyde
    Book
    Boone
    Bouton
    Box
    Boy Scouts
    Brunnier Art Museum
    Building
    Bureau Of Investigation
    Bus
    Butter
    Buxton
    Café
    Camp Mitigwa
    Camps
    Candy
    Captain Hook
    Car
    Carl Hansen
    Carnegie Library
    Carolyn Guay
    Carpenter And Son
    Cart
    Carter Block
    C. Durant Jones
    Celebration
    Cemetery
    Chad Elliot
    Chair
    Change
    Charles Joy
    Chautauqua
    Cheerleaders
    Chicago
    Chicken
    Childhood
    Children
    Children's Room
    Chocolate
    Chocolate Shop
    Christmas
    Christmas Tree
    Civil War
    Coal Mine
    Code
    Coins
    College
    Collins
    Color
    Commercialized
    Confession
    Cookies
    Cork
    Corn
    Costume
    Counterfeit
    County Attorney
    Court Case
    Courtroom
    Craft Beer
    Creative Mornings
    Crime
    Crocodile
    Curtains
    Dairy
    Dale Grow
    Dallas County
    Dance
    Database
    Dave Willis
    Dawson
    Dayton
    Death
    Depression
    Deputy Sheriff
    Des Moines
    Des Moines Bacon Company
    DeSoto
    Dexter
    D. H. Burrell
    Dice
    Dick Shoesmith
    Dinner
    Dog
    Donald Johnson
    Door
    Dress
    D. R. Jones
    Dr. Pam Jenkins
    Dr. Randy McCaulley
    Early Settler
    Education
    Elementary School
    El Rey
    Emergency
    Engineer
    Entertainment
    Equipment
    Event
    Explosion
    Family
    Farewell
    Farm
    February
    Festival Of Trees
    Fire
    Firefighters
    Fire Hall
    Fireman
    Fireman's Convention
    Fireplace
    Fire Truck
    First National Bank
    Float
    Folklore
    Food
    Forest Park Museum
    Forest W. Starling
    Fort Dodge
    Fort Leonardwood
    Foxy Theatre
    Frank Fullhart
    Friends
    Fullhart Carnegie Charitable Trust
    Fun
    Future
    Game
    Gang
    Garner
    Gary Ernest Smith
    Gary Ernest Smith Exhibiton
    Gasoline
    Gas Station
    Genealogy
    George And Merle Watson
    George Soumas
    Gift
    Gilded Age
    Girl Scouts
    Glenn Theulen
    Graduate School
    Grand 3 Theatre
    Grand Jury
    Grand Opera House
    Greene County
    Greenfield
    Guthrie County
    Haircut
    Hair Salon
    Halloween
    Haunted
    Hay
    Hearse
    Heater House Hotel
    Henry Draper
    Henry Hock
    High School
    Highway 169
    Hoagland Grocery Co.
    Holidays
    Homecoming
    Hometown Heritage
    Horse
    Horseshoes
    Hose
    Hotel
    Hotel Pattee
    House
    Illinois
    Immigrants
    Inflation
    Insurance
    Integration
    Intern
    Introduction
    Iowa
    Iowa State University
    Italian Immigrants
    Jacob Heater Jr.
    Jail
    Jamaica
    Jared Bloom
    Jefferson
    Jennifer Drinkwater
    Jeweler
    Jim Autry
    Jim Godown
    John Darling
    John M. Smith
    Jones Business College
    Jon Wolseth
    July
    Kansas
    Kids
    Kid's Fest
    Kitt's Locker
    Ku Klux Klan
    Landscape
    La Poste
    Latino Americans: 500 Years Of History
    Lecture
    Leo Landis
    Leo-LaVonne Carr
    Life Preserver
    Light And Water Plant
    Louise Fullhart
    Lucinda
    Lucinda Street
    Majestic Theatre
    Manhattan Oil Co.
    March
    March Madness
    Marshal
    Marvel
    Mascot
    McCreary Community Building
    McDonalds
    Mechanical
    Memorial Day
    Memories
    Men
    Mental Health
    Metal
    Michael Darling
    Mike's Pub
    Milwaukee
    Milwaukee Line
    Milwaukee Road
    Minburn
    Mining
    Model T
    Mom
    Money
    Moon
    Moon Landing
    Moran
    Morbid
    Morning
    Mother's Day
    Moving
    Mural
    Museum Curator
    Museum Studies
    Music
    Mystery
    Neighbors
    Neverland
    News
    Newspaper
    November
    Occasion
    October
    Office
    Opening Reception
    Oral History
    Original
    Outside
    Overalls
    Parade
    Party
    Pella
    Performing Arts Center
    Perry
    Perry Chief
    Perry High School
    Perry High School Band
    Perry High School Drama
    Perry High School Music
    Perry Historic Preservation Commission
    Perry Marching Band
    Perry Public Library
    Pete Malmberg
    Peter Pan
    Photos
    Piano
    Pie
    Pipes
    Pirate
    Play
    Present
    Presentation
    President
    President Eisenhower
    President Truman
    Price
    Prizes
    Programing
    Prom
    Pump
    QR Code
    Queen
    Questionable Items
    Raccoon River Valley Trail
    Rachel Schwaller
    Radio
    Railroad
    Read Farm
    Recreation Center
    Red Cross
    Refreshments
    Restoration
    Rex Theatre
    Rhodes
    Rick Stewart
    Rippey
    Robbery
    Robert Dean Harrison
    Robert Spellman
    Room Of Wonder
    Rooster
    Roundhouse
    Routine
    Rude Auto
    Sad
    Saint Louis
    Saint Valentine
    Santa
    School
    Scraps Of The Past
    Second Language
    Second Street
    Secret Service
    Security Savings Bank
    Seed Corn Belt
    Segregation
    September
    Seventh Street
    Shave
    Sheriff
    Shuler
    Sign
    Singing
    Skeet Shooting
    Small Town
    Smith Conspiracy
    Snow
    Snow Blower
    Sonia Nazario
    Soumas Court
    Spanish
    State Agent
    State Historical Museum Of Iowa
    Store
    Stories
    St. Patrick's School
    Stroudtman Farm
    Summer
    Summer Break
    Sunday
    Swimming
    Swing
    Table
    Teacher
    Technology
    Teenagers
    Television
    Thanksgiving
    Theatre
    Theperrynews.com
    The Perry Press
    Thrasher
    Tickets
    Tile
    Tool
    Tour
    Tournament
    Town Craft Building
    Toys
    Track
    Tradition
    Trains
    Travel
    Trial
    Trivia
    Truck
    Turkey
    Uniform
    Valentine's Day
    Valentine's Day Cards
    Vault
    Vehicles
    Verdict
    Veterans
    Violet Hill Cemetery
    Visual Learning
    Volunteer
    Vote
    V. R. Starling
    Wagon
    Wall Of Witnesses
    War
    Water
    Waukee
    Wealthy
    Weekend
    Welsh
    Wendy Darling
    Whistle
    William Jennings Bryan
    Willis Avenue
    Wimmer Building
    Wind
    Windmill
    Winterset
    Wood
    Woodward
    Woolworth Store
    Work
    Worker
    World War II
    Youth

    RSS Feed

All Rights Reserved, Fullhart Carnegie Charitable Trust, 2014-2019
This website is possible with the support of the
Dallas County Foundation