Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

Wapsipinicon State Park: Donna Oltmann for the
plan for a playground in the west part of town: and the
Anamosa high school library assistants for moving the
school bell from the elementary school tower and
mounting it in the high school lobby.
Kathryn Flaucher made arrangements with the
schools. churches and the reformatory for bells to be
rung on July 4. 1976. at 1 p.m. for two minutes. as part
of the nationwide activity, symbolizing the moment in
history in the year 1776. when the Liberty Bell
proclaimed the signing of the Declaration of
Independence.
Anna Brickley and Jo Russell. representing the
Anamosa Committee. attended “Bicentennial Day" at
the State Fair on August 19. 1976. and participated in
the dedication of the Great Stone Map of Iowa, the
official commissioning of the Wagon Train. and the
reception at the State Capitol rotunda hosted by Gov.
Robert Ray. A Stone City stone was taken to Des
Moines and placed in the area designated for Jones
County. The plan was for rocks from each of the State's
99 counties to be cut in the shape of its county and then
fltted on the ground into a grand map of Iowa.
Students who attended the event were Tamia
Buscher. Sue Piower. John Fayram. Brant Mayer.
Beverly Russell. Barbara Bray. Tom Siver. Becky
Carlson. Jon Alderdyce. Carl Hartwig. and sponsor Carl
Achenbach.
The ANAMOSA JOURNAL-EUREKA published a
special "History of Newspapers" 1952 to 1976. with
reproductions of twelve original pages. and a
reproduction of the August 18. 1938. edition of the
JOURNAL with the headline. ”Anamosa and Iowa Start
on Second 100 Years."
Within the limits of time and energy I have made
every reasonable attempt to insure the accuracy and
completeness of this historical account of scouting in
Anamosa. I have attempted to include all the units that
could be found through various records and have listed
a cross section of as many individuals as feasible to give
a reasonable perspective of adult leadership in scouting
in Anamosa. Representative times in the history of
It probably seemed unlikely that when Lieutenant-
General Sir Robert S.S. Baden-Powell organized the
first English scout troop in 1907 that his initial concept
would grow into the worldwide organization it now is.
When William E. Boyce. with the help of Ernest
Thompson Seton and Daniel Carter Beard. founded the
Boy Scouts of America in 1910 they also could scarcely
imagine how quickly the movement would spread
across the country and around the world to ultimately
involve over 12 million boys in 105 countries. Lord
Baden-Powell organized the first scout camp on
Brownsea Island in Poole Harbor off the southern coast
of England in 1907. Scouting arrived in Anamosa in
May of 1912. It was somewhat by accident. and
somewhat by a series of circumstances. that the history
of scouting in Anamosa finally began to fall into place.
Boy Scout Troop. about 1913. (Photo submitted by
Glen McLaughlin)
Boy Scouts of Anamosa
by Robert M. George
1
The Beginning
271
each unit have been randomly selected and no one
person. event. group or activity has been intentionally
omitted. Records in the Hawkeye Area Council office in
Cedar Rapids do not go back earlier than about 1926
regarding Anamosa Troops. Some records have been
lost and others probably misplaced. Also early records
were hand-written and in certain cases very difficult to
read.
The earliest charter to be found in the council office
was for a Troop 1. dated 1926-1927. This was a
recharter indicating that it had been in existence at
least in the previous year. or years. but how many.
becomes the intriguing question.
A John T. King. then living in Cedar Rapids. in a
letter to a resident of Anamosa in 1977. referred to his
participation in Troop 1 of Anamosa. with his
registration card dated May 5. 1919. signed by Lee
Sanner. Scoutmaster. Both Howard Remley and Don
Goodman. Anamosa residents. have further mentioned
a Captain WIN. Hathaway as preceding Lee Sanner as
scoutmaster. Hathaway was. according to Remley. a
Captain in World War I and later became a custodial
officer at the Men's Reformatory at Anamosa. Goodman
also speaks of being involved in scouting as a Lone
Scout during WWI and participating in scrap drives for
the war effort. Further. St. Patrick's Church sponsored
Troop 33 in 1928-29 and Glen McLaughlin. Anamosa
resident. was one of the names on the troop charter. In
visiting with Mr. McLaughlin. he revealed that he was a
scout in Anamosa in 1912 and 1913.
Scouting began in America in 1910. so all at once. the
search for the beginning of Anamosa scouting began to
appear to be at a much earlier time.
Glen McLaughlin indicated that his scoutmaster was
Warren C. Pollard. who is pictured in the 1912-13
Anamosa High Scool yearbook as the music. drawing
and manual training teacher. Glen also spoke about
camping on Rhoten Creek. west of Anamosa at the end
of the Fish House Road. hiking out and back.
swimming in the Wapsi river. and practicing
firebuilding and engaging in other pertinent activities
as befitted a scout troop of that time.