A Spring 2009 Trip

Time to get out of Nebraska and see some of the country. Spring is a beautiful time in Indiana and that’s where Anne is. So, it was off to Indiana over the Memorial Day (late May) week. There is so much to see along the way to Indiana, a 14.5 hour drive, and we like to see something different each time we go out there. This time, it was the Amish country near Arthur, Illinois. The Amish are a religious sect that originated as Anabaptists from the Germanic area of Europe. They forsake modern amenities (for the most part), like cars, electricity, telephones, etc. They are mostly farmers and have a somewhat communal lifestyle. We stayed over in Springfield, Illinois and the next morning drove to Arthur. We saw a few Amish out for a drive in their horse-drawn wagons, but the town of Arthur was pretty quiet. It turns out that they were all in church, as it was Ascension Thursday. All their shops and Amish attractions were closed for the day. Fortunately, some shops are run by people who aren’t Amish or maybe aren’t as strict. We stocked up on some very tasty cheeses, cookies and jams (gooseberry, apple butter and blueberry). No photos of any of this. Next trip we will check the religious calendar and make another stop. A local restaurant was our stop for lunch. They had an unbelievable buffet, but we resisted that and enjoyed homemade pie ala mode.

The next six days were spent with Anne in Bloomington, Indiana. It is always so nice to spend time with one’s adult children (funny term, are they adults or children?). Anne is enjoying life and has a great circle of friends. Much of the time there was spent in conversation. A highlight was our day spent at Brown County State Park, where the spring foliage was exquisite.







Anne’s cat, Sunshine aka Sunny, provided hours of entertainment. A very playful animal. He does work up a thirst with all that activity and quenches it in his own way.



One day while Anne was at work, we traveled to Indianapolis to see some of the sights. I am a member of The American Legion, a veterans organization. The national headquarters is in Indianapolis, so that called for a tour of their facilities. I am sitting in the desk of the national commander in one photo





Indianapolis is known for its many monuments and museums. We viewed the soldiers and sailors monument, which honors veterans of all the many conflicts of the USA.





Attempted to visit the war memorial museum – unfortunately, it was closed that day – the outside was impressive. Maybe another time.



Enjoyed a good hearty lunch in a local pub. Then, on to see the house of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd US President (1889-1893). His mansion is quite ornate, reflecting how the wealthy lived in the 1880s. The home was built in 1874-5 in the Italianate Victorian style (whatever that means).









Political dynasties are not a new thing in the USA (e.g. the Bush and Kennedy families). Benjamin’s father served in the US Congress for two terms; his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, was the first Governor of the Indiana Territory and the 9th US President. He gave a long inaugural speeches in 1841. It was a cold rainy day and William Henry didn’t listen to his wife: “Henry, put on a coat or you’ll catch your death of cold.” Well, he caught a cold and developed pneumonia and died after a short one month in office.





Benjamin’s great-grandfather was the Governor of Virginia and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Benjamin was a Brigadier General in the USA Civil War (AKA War between the States) and a successful lawyer. Benjamin’s first wife, Caroline was an accomplished pianist – there are several very old pianos of hers in the house. Caroline died of TB while he was President. He later remarried a very young Mary Dimmick, with whom he promptly had a baby girl, Elizabeth when he was in his 60’s.





After a very full day in Indy (no, we did not go to the race track), we returned to Anne’s for the evening.

Following this, we drove to West Branch, Iowa, the birthplace of our 31st President, Herbert Hoover. On the way, we toured the David Davis mansion in Bloomington, Illinois (Anne lives in Bloomington, Indiana not Illinois). Unfortunately, they forbid photos inside the mansion. Here’s the outside.



Another wealthy lawyer, just like Benjamin Harrison, Davis was a friend and campaign manager for Abe Lincoln. Thanks for the help David – say, how would you like to be on the Supreme Court? Nominated and approved in 1862. He had the house built in the 1870’s (like B. Harrison above) and retired to it when he gave up his seat on the bench. The interior is even more ornate than Harrison’s. He had a system of bells and intercoms to summon servants and relay instructions (this is the 1870’s). The home also featured a pressurized hot and cold water system – complete with interior toilet and bath tub – almost unheard of at the time. The water pressure was maintained by having the servants run manual pumps to bring water to a tank in the attic, and the hot water required the servants to keep a fire going under the boiler. Morale of the story, it was better to be a rich lawyer than a servant.

Next stop was the Hoover boyhood home.



Not as ornate as the Harrison’s or Davis’s. Herbert was born in 1874 to modest (to say the least) means. What this man did with his life is a remarkable story. It seems that all the history books want to remember him by is that he caused the Great Depression from which FDR rescued this country. No doubt as to the political views of the textbook writers. If you ever tour Las Vegas, you can take a short ride to tour Hoover Dam. If he was so bad, why name a dam after him? Of course FDR couldn’t have a dam named after his rival and promptly changed it’s name to Boulder Dam. Nice try Frankie, by 1947, Congress said it will be Hoover Dam and that is how we know this facility. BTW, they give a great tour at the dam.



By age 10, young Herbert was an orphan and at 11 was farmed out to live with an uncle in Oregon. At age 17, he was accepted into Stanford University’s first enrollment. He graduated in 1895 & went to work as mining engineer in the California goldfields. Age 23 found him in Australia doing the mining engineer thing. He managed the mine so well, that the firm ( a British firm) doubled his salary and offered him a position in China. He made a quick trip to the USA in 1899 to marry Lou Henry his Stanford sweetheart. Then they were off to China. A short 6 months later, they found themselves inside the foreign compound in the midst of the Boxer Rebellion. After being liberated by a multinational force, the Hoovers settled in London, where he establish his own international firm of engineering consultants. By age 40 (1914), he had traveled to well over 40 different nations – quite an accomplishment in that era. He also was a self-made multi-millionaire.
At the outbreak of WW I, there were over 120,000 US citizens stranded by the conflict in Europe (USA was neutral until 1917). In 7 days, he organized their evacuation.

Belgium was a neutral country in WW I. A happy position to be in, as the allies were blockading the seas and the Germans the land access to Belgium. Thus, 10 million Belgians were slowly being starved to death for having the audacity to locate their nation between the belligerents. Hoover was made the Chairman for the Commission for Relief in Belgium. The Belgians were very grateful. The Allies wanted him shot (or was it hung?) for aiding the enemy. The Germans were looking for him as a spy to shoot (or was it hanged?). Well, they finally decided that the Quaker, Mr. Hoover was just a good guy and let him be. After 1917, President Wilson (he kept us out of war – his campaign slogan a short 6 months earlier) insisted that we go to war. Oh, such a wonderful man. Wilson also insisted that the armed forces be segregated. He did make a good choice in his Food Administrator – yes, Herbert was back at the plate. Victory Gardens (called Hoover Gardens then) were all the rage.



After the war ended in 1918, he became the director of a food program that helped keep from starvation 350 million people in 21 countries affected by the hostilities. For 7 years, 1921-8, he served as secretary of commerce. He served as president from 1929-1933. He also was the first person to be on an intercity television transmission. That’s right, first person.



It was unfortunate for him that Black Friday, the stock market crash occurred shortly after he became president. What caused the depression is debatable. It certainly was not caused by Hoover. What kept the depression going was greatly the actions of the tariff increases, which shut off international trade. Must admit, Hoover goofed on this one by signing the Smoot-Hartley tariff. Hoover had promised during his campaign to raise tariffs to protect USA farmers. He lived up to his promise when he signed – he should have known better, considering what was happening around the world. Another major contributor to the depression was the actions of the US Federal Reserve – which decided to decrease the money supply – which effectively required the banks to call in perfectly good loans. When the lenders couldn’t pay right now (after all, why would they have a loan if they could pay it off?), the banks swooped in & closed down businesses. For those of you who are not familiar, the Federal Reserve is not a government agency, it is run by private banks and bankers. Well, the Depression put Herbert out of a job by 1933. He continued to serve on many boards of youth organizations and charities well into his 80’s. Herbert died in 1964 (90 years of age) and is buried next to his beloved Lou in West Branch, Iowa on a hill which overlooks his birthplace.





From Iowa, we made the drive to South Dakota to attend the wedding of Dan Spielmann, one of Elaine’s brothers. Coincidences are strange. His wife, Gayle, was our next door neighbor when I lived in Crooks, SD (1978-1986)



Then home, for what I thought would be an enjoyable summer. How wrong I was to be.