Eveline’s Senior Year: Gatherings and Gossip

I shared a photo of my grandmother Eveline Coates’ high school graduating class in Mystic, Iowa a few weeks (now months!) ago. Along with the photo and her diploma, a couple of other mementos were saved. One is the program for the Junior-Senior Banquet in honor of the graduating Seniors. It was interesting to see how World War I seemed to be the overarching theme of the festivities. I decided to take a deeper look at what her life may have been like during the 1917-1918 school year. There was a lot going on, a war and the beginning of an influenza pandemic to name the two biggiesThe list of related posts is getting long, so I’ll link them at the bottom.

The prompt photo from Sepia Saturday made me think of social gatherings – and gossip. Be forewarned – I’ll be galloping all over the place in this post. I’ve gleaned so many little tidbits from old newspapers and it’s a shame not to use them after all those hours of reading. But I’d also like to finish this series before my hair turns completely gray, so the chase is on!

Like most local newspapers at the time, the papers that served Appanoose County had columns devoted to the comings and goings of the townspeople. Who had callers, who went shopping in another town, who is sick, weddings, funerals … There are mentions of parties and picnics and ice cream socials, and if a researcher is lucky, names are named. Unfortunately, Eveline’s family rarely made mention in the newspaper. I suppose the names that show up frequently belong to the families of professionals, business owners and mine owners – not so much the families of the mine workers.

I did find that one mention of Eveline having a party at the bridge during the summer before her senior year. What might Eveline and her friends have talked about? If the party was just her girl friends, I’d guess cute boys, “mean” teachers, movies and movie stars, who has smallpox, and whose older brother might be called up for duty next. But the newspaper says she entertained her class for the party, so maybe there were some cute boys there to talk to rather than talk about – looking a bit like the smiling young woman in the prompt photo? Eveline had just become an aunt, so she may have bragged about her niece.

A story the young people may have enjoyed involved the day marshal losing his pants.

03 July 1917 Centerville Daily Iowegian and Citizen, Centerville, Iowa

Would a group of teenagers have talked about the scoundrel who fleeced an elderly woman by pretending to be an eye doctor? The news hit the local paper just days before Eveline’s party.

14 Jul 1917 Centerville Daily Iowegian and Citizen, Centerville, Iowa

Did any of them plan to attend the special feature at the Strand Theater about the war in France?

25 Jul 1917 Centerville Daily Iowegian and Citizen, Centerville, Iowa

I wonder what food Eveline served at her party. Sandwiches? Homemade root beer? Apple slices? Cookies? Cake?

There were several recipes in the newspaper that summer and I decided to try one. Two that sounded good (because I have a sweet tooth) and easy are a recipe for gingersnaps and spice cake. I decided to bake the cake because it is just too hot to keep opening the oven for cookies. (Day 42 of triple digit temperatures this summer. Ugh!) I even made it without using an electric mixer. I think this cake would have made a fine addition to Eveline’s party, or any social gathering.

The recipe said it is good warm, and it is!

A big event in September was Mystic’s Fall Institute.

1917 Sep 10 Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa

Although referred to as the fourth annual farmers’ institute, this event was not just of interest to farmers. Thursday was miners’ day, and with notable speakers. It appears that John P. White, although scheduled to attend, was not there. But “Mother” Jones was. That was a surprise to me.

Here is how the day was described in the local newspaper. (I’ve divided the article into sections.)

Mother Jones looks matronly and perhaps motherly in the photo below, taken after a visit to the White House in 1924. She certainly aged well.

Mother Jones and Theo. Roosevelt, Jr. United States, 1924. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/94508005/.

The video below is a reenactment of a speech Mother Jones gave in West Virginia in 1920. Although it is not her speaking, you can get a sense of her fiery style. Mother Jones was 86 in 1917 and gave the speech below in 1920. I didn’t know much about Mother Jones before I started working on this post. She was quite a woman.

Mother Jones’ maiden and given name was Mary Harris – the same name as Eveline’s mother. I wonder if that added even more incentive for the Coates family to hear her speak. The paper reported that the crowd packed the Strand Theater.

Continuing the article about miners’ day:

14 Sep 1917 Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa
Keota Ladies Band from Keokuk County, Iowa 1916

Even if Eveline wasn’t interested in the speeches, she may have wandered the displays, listened to the band, and watched the parade. I’ll bet people talked about the Fourth Annual Farmers’ Institute for weeks.

In October, local high school girls prepared Christmas bags for soldiers in France. Eveline’s brother John had registered for the draft and was awaiting his call to service. I can imagine that Eveline would be interested in helping with this effort. The assembly of the bags would have necessitated a few gatherings of the girls and they planned to make an additional fifty. I had to look up what kind of fabric cretonne is: a strong cotton or linen cloth used especially for curtains and upholstery.

22 Oct 1917 Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa

The temperance movement was active in Appanoose County. A plan for a county campaign was made in September. An important part of that plan was to involve all of the churches in the county.

20 Sep 1917 Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa

Below is a report on one of those church temperance meetings in the nearby community of Cincinnati.

11 Oct 1917 Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa (Cincinnati news section)

There was no alcohol in adult Eveline’s home. An aunt told me that my grandfather brought home beer one time and Grandma poured it down the sink. I guess the prohibition movement had a lasting impact on her. As a teenager, what were her thoughts on a woman’s right to vote? We never talked about it, nor do I know if and how regularly she voted. Her parents never became naturalized citizens, so they never voted, but her brothers would be able to vote. The autobiography she wrote when she was sixteen showed me that she had some spunk, a competitive streak, and that she sometimes got a little riled up over perceived injustice. But I can’t know her opinion. I also wonder if and how these issues were talked about in school.

November brought a short-lived walk-out at nine of the mines in Mystic. I didn’t fully research the ins and outs of the wage dispute, but the local union leaders were in talks by mid October. Perhaps Mother Jones set a fire under them. Walk outs and strikes affect everyone in a mining community, so it must have been on many a mind and tongue.

06 Nov 1917 Marshalltown Evening Times, Marshalltown, Iowa

Another political issue that had tongues wagging and letters to the editor being written was enforcement of the “blue laws” that had evidently not been strictly enforced previously.

During the winter months, there was a blizzard that shut things down for a few days – including trains and pay checks. In an effort to save fuel, the Methodist Church offered to host other congregations in their building.

28 Jan 1918 Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa

The local law enforcement made several raids and arrests for gambling and drunkenness during the spring. All fodder for gossip.

18 Mar 1918 Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa

I’ll end on a positive note.

11. Feb 1918 Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa

Shortly after graduation, Eveline took a course to be eligible to teach. I’m sure that this commendation gave her a sense of pride in her school and teachers.

Thank you for sticking with me on the hunt for news and gossip. I have more! But not for today.

Please visit other Sepia Saturday participants here: Sepia Saturday. And if you would like to read other posts about Eveline’s Senior Year, you can find them here:
Eveline’s Senior Year, Part 1
Eveline’s Senior Year: The Draft and a Carnival
Eveline’s Senior Year: A Look Around Town
Eveline’s Senior Year: Musical Notes
Eveline’s Senior Year: Smallpox
Eveline’s Senior Year: What are you Serving?
Eveline’s Senior Year: Root Beer on the 4th
Eveline’s Senior Year: Miners, Miner and Maps
Eveline’s Senior Year: The Weight of Mining

Eveline’s Senior Year: The Weight of Mining

I shared a photo of my grandmother Eveline Coates’ high school graduating class in Mystic, Iowa a few weeks (now months!) ago. Along with the photo and her diploma, a couple of other mementos were saved. One is the program for the Junior-Senior Banquet in honor of the graduating Seniors. It was interesting to see how World War I seemed to be the overarching theme of the festivities. I decided to take a deeper look at what her life may have been like during the 1917-1918 school year. There was a lot going on, a war and the beginning of an influenza pandemic to name the two biggiesThe list of related posts is getting long, so I’ll link them at the bottom.

When I wrote my last post, I completely forgot about Eveline’s brother Joe! When Joe registered for the draft in 1917, he reported that he worked for Thomas Lee – not the same employer as his brothers.

Thomas Lee was one of three brothers who owned the Lee Brothers Coal Company. Thomas managed the Twin Mines, where he employed 300 men in 1916. Twin Mines had two 40-feet shafts, one on either side of the railroad tracks that led to long tunnels to two mines. I updated the map I shared last time to indicate the two mines where Eveline’s brothers, and probably her father, worked. The Coates family lived southeast of the #12 mine, less that 0.3 of a mile away.

Red = Diamond Block/Lodwick Mine #12
Purple = Twin Mines
Arrow is an approximate of location of the Coates’ home

During the days while the mines were operating in full swing, the lives of the miners’ families were practically ruled by the mine whistle. At 6 a.m. the whistle signaled the miners should be up and getting ready for the days’ work. The 7 a.m. whistle meant it was time for the day’s work to begin. The noon whistle signaled lunchtime for both the miners and the school children. The 3 p.m. whistle signaled that the miner would soon be home and that it was time for his wife to start the evening meal. One long blast at 4 p.m. meant that there would be work tomorrow, and three blasts meant no work.

HEUSINKVELD, W. M. 2007, THE HISTORY OF COAL MINING IN APPANOOSE COUNTY, IOWA, P. 20.

One can imagine the Coates home – and most of the community – rousing with the 6:00 whistle. Although I suspect many of the wives and mothers were up earlier, preparing a hearty breakfast and hot coffee for their miners and packing lunches for them too. For Eveline’s mother, that meant breakfast, coffee, and lunches for the four miners in the family plus feeding Eveline and her five younger siblings and getting them off to school. With no electricity, no running water, and a coal stove. As the oldest daughter, Eveline may have had some morning duties before leaving for school, perhaps helping the younger children. Joe had a longer walk to work, so he likely left home earlier than the others. As a side note – when Eveline married, her husband (my grandfather) also worked in the coal mines. Even long after retirement in another city, she seemed to keep that early schedule. Up very early (I never ate breakfast with them when I lived in their home), the evening meal around 4:30, and off to bed at 8:00.

Eveline’s father, Joseph Coates, is sometimes listed in the census and other records as a miner and sometimes as a carpenter. I was always told that he was a carpenter in the mines, although I now know that there were years that he was shoveling or picking coal. After some time working at both mining and carpentry, maybe he was hired to do carpentry work in the mine. His own father was a joiner (carpenter) in a coal mine in Durham, England. In the 1910 federal census, Eveline’s brother Carl is listed as a mule driver in a mine. In other years, he is listed as a miner.

When the whistle wailed day or night, it was a frightening sound because it was a danger signal. It might be a warning of a fire so that everyone would grab a bucket and rush to the scene. At night the wailing sound might warn of an approaching storm so that people could seek the safety of their storm caves. However the sound that was seldom heard, but could send shivers up one’s spine was the six long, sad wails that told that a miner was dead. All the women came out to find out if their loved one was a victim of one of the many underground dangers.

HEUSINKVELD, W. M. 2007, THE HISTORY OF COAL MINING IN APPANOOSE COUNTY, IOWA, P. 20.

The quote above implies that the whistle signaled a death only when the death occurred in the mine. Many injuries would have been minor and not requiring a stretcher lowered into the shaft to bring up the injured miner, but that was obviously not always the case. Living in a small mining community, everyone surely knew everything that happened in the mines – and not just the mines in Mystic. The miners had a union and the newspaper reported injuries and deaths throughout the county. My limited research found some serious injuries and some deaths in Mystic during Eveline’s senior year of high school. Fortunately none in her family.

In June of 1917, a Mystic man died of injuries sustained at the Horridge Mine. Did the whistle wail six times? Probably not, as he was alive when he was pulled out of the mine and died in the hospital three hours later.

Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa
18 June 1917

Charles Mickey, also of Mystic, was injured at the Porter mine in January of 1918. He died in April.

Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa
04 April 1918

Another death at the Horridge Mine, this time in April 1918.

Semi Weekly Iowegian, Centerville, Iowa
15 April 1918

There were also reports in the news of more minor injuries and a couple of lawsuits brought by miners for injuries sustained at work.

Not only was coal mining a dangerous job – there were other difficulties. Wages were low; there was not always work, especially during the summer; there were layoffs and strikes. The war also impacted the work and wages of the miners. I’m not going to attempt to delve into any of that.

Below is an undated photo of my grandfather, Thomas Hoskins (Eveline’s future husband), and Miles Bankson (her sister Blanche’s future husband), sitting atop some structure along a track at one of the coal mines. They are not dressed for work – looks like their Sunday best.

Thomas Hoskins and Miles Bankson, undated, Mystic, Iowa

Another mining related family photo – Eveline’s sister Blanche, who married Miles Bankson. Were they on a date?

Miles Bankson and Blanche Coates, undated, Mystic, Iowa

The video below offers a glimpse into mining in Appanoose County. The New Gladstone Mine was in operation until March 1971, when it closed for highway reconstruction. The Gladstone Mine was the last pony mine operating in the United States. Shetland ponies were used to haul coal from deep shafts to the surface. Before the mine was completely closed and sealed, Iowa State University in Ames made a 23-minute documentary of the mine. Mine workers re-opened the mine and started the machinery long enough to make the film. One of the miners said that he began working in the mine in 1916. He is the man with an accent that differs from a typical Iowa accent – and is a reminder of the many immigrant families who migrated to Appanoose County to work in the mines. There is electricity in the mine in this film – lightbulbs strung throughout, which was not the case in 1918. There may be a few other improvements that occurred over the years, but it looks like it must have operated very much like it did when it first opened, even into 1971.

Miners were paid by the weight of coal they produced each day. Everyone bore the weight of potential injury or death of themselves or loved ones. Often that injury was caused by the weight of a large piece of coal falling. Coal mining families bore the weight of little, or no, income. Needless to say, coal mining was work that could “weigh” on a person.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday, where the prompt photo suggests we consider weight.

Please visit other Sepia Saturday participants here: Sepia Saturday. And if you would like to read other posts about Eveline’s Senior Year, you can find them here:
Eveline’s Senior Year, Part 1
Eveline’s Senior Year: The Draft and a Carnival
Eveline’s Senior Year: A Look Around Town
Eveline’s Senior Year: Musical Notes
Eveline’s Senior Year: Smallpox
Eveline’s Senior Year: What are you Serving?
Eveline’s Senior Year: Root Beer on the 4th
Eveline’s Senior Year: Miners, Miner and Maps

Eveline’s Senior Year: Root Beer on the 4th

I shared a photo of my grandmother Eveline Coates’ high school graduating class in Mystic, Iowa a few weeks (now months!) ago. Along with the photo and her diploma, a couple of other mementos were saved. One is the program for the Junior-Senior Banquet in honor of the graduating Seniors. It was interesting to see how World War I seemed to be the overarching theme of the festivities. I decided to take a deeper look at what her life may have been like during the 1917-1918 school year. There was a lot going on, a war and the beginning of an influenza pandemic to name the two biggiesSee:
Eveline’s Senior Year, Part 1
Eveline’s Senior Year: The Draft and a Carnival
Eveline’s Senior Year: A Look Around Town
Eveline’s Senior Year: Musical Notes
Eveline’s Senior Year: Smallpox
Eveline’s Senior Year: What Are You Serving?

It is Independence Day weekend in the United States, which got me thinking about something my mother wrote about her childhood.

Memories written by Doris Hoskins Hockensmith, undated

We used to have family gatherings a grandma Coates’, especially holidays like July 4th. We would make home-made ice cream and grandma made root beer which was always cooling in the cave.

Eveline was my mother’s mother and “grandma Coates” was Eveline’s mother. It made me wonder if Grandma Coates started making root beer for her own children and family when Eveline was a girl – possibly for the 4th of July in 1917 and 1918.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a family recipe for root beer saved among the recipe cards. But a quick google search led me to several recipes and images – mostly of advertisements and recipe booklets for yeast. Below is the cover and list of recipes from Fleischmann’s in 1917.

Recipes: White Bread, Quick Method; White Bread, Sponge Method; White Bread, Over-night Method; Graham or Whole Wheat Bread; Bran Bread; Oatmeal Bread; Gluten Bread; Raisin Bread; Nut Bread; Parker House Rolls; Tea Biscuit; Tea Rolls; Dinner Rolls; Lunch Rolls; Wheat Muffins; Graham Muffins; English Muffins; Oatmeal Muffins; Cornmeal Muffins; Potato Biscuit; Potato Buns; Sally Lunn; Waffles; Wheat Griddle Cakes; Buckwheat Cakes; Plain Frosting; Currant Tea Ring; Children’s Buns; Sweet French Buns; Hot Cross Buns; English Bath Buns; Oven Scones; Zwieback; Cinnamon Cake; Apple Cake; Doughnuts; Coffee Cake; Toast; Bread Crumbs; Steamed Bread; Steamed Bread Pudding; Brown Betty; Savarin; Rum Sauce; Refreshing Summer Drinks; Lemon Pop; Root Beer; Kumyss; Dandelion Wine.

Fleischmann’s Yeast even included a poem about root beer in a pamphlet.

Root Beer, the finest summer draught
That ever slaked man’s thirst,
By grateful millions daily quaffed,
As made by matrons versed,
Owes all its life – and ’tis a feast,
To Fleischmann’s Peerless Compressed Yeast.

The Yeast Foam Company used this attractive ad and recipe.

accessed from Pinterest

Old Thyme Recipes blog shares this recipe from a 1915 Fleischmann’s pamphlet:

Root Beer

1 cake Fleischmann’s Yeast
1 bottle root beer extract
5 gallons fresh water, slightly lukewarm
4 pounds granulated sugar

In extremely hot weather use one-half cake of Yeast.

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the extract, then the Yeast thoroughly dissolved in a little water, mix well and bottle immediately, using strong bottles or jugs, and tie the corks in securely. Set in a warm place thirty-six to forty-eight hours; in cold weather, a little longer. Then remove to cellar or other place of even temperature, but do not put it on ice until a few hours before using.

I’m tempted to give it a try, but maybe a smaller batch! McCormick has two recipes on their website – one that uses yeast and one that doesn’t, if you’re game.

This was also the time of the Temperance movement and root beer was promoted as a tasty alternative to alcohol. And in mining communities like Mystic, where they sometimes referred to their community as “little Chicago,” I imagine it was hoped that root beer would slake the thirst of hard working miners.

In August of 1917, shortly after the United States joined WW1, the United States Food Administration (USFA) was created to focus on food rationing for the greater good. Restrictions on sugar were especially pronounced. “Sugar Means Ships” stated one popular poster. While Eveline’s mother may have served her family root beer on July 4, 1917, it is less likely that she did for July 4, 1918. (More on food and cooking in a future post.)

My mother and her mother (Eveline) always loved ice cream. When my mom and I lived with Eveline and my grandfather Tom Hoskins, grandma would order her groceries to be delivered on Saturdays. Every Saturday there was vanilla ice cream (Grandma’s favorite treat) and root beer (Grandpa’s favorite treat) after supper. Saturday was a good day!

Oh yes – about that cave … when my mother said the root beer was stored in the cave, she was referring to the cellar where they kept potatoes, canned goods, and so on. Not a real “cave” cave.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday, where the prompt photo encourages imagination. I encourage you to pay a visit!


Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images. If you want to play along, sign up to the link, try to visit as many of the other participants as possible, and have fun.