From 1920 until 1971, Karl King conducted the Fort Dodge Municipal Band. In 1921, King was instrumental (arr arr) in the passing of the Iowa Band Law, which allowed cities to levy a tax for the upkeep of a municipal band. He even went on to compose a march called “Iowa Band Law.” King’s best-known piece is said to be “Barnum and Bailey’s Favorite.”

See more designs from the Fort Dodge set here.

Ottumwa’s stadium is named Schafer Stadium in honor of 1913 graduate Walter Schafer. His picture in the 1913 yearbook is accompanied by the line, “Comb down his hair; look! look! It stands straight up,” which (as I’m sure we all know) is a quote from Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 2.

After high school, Schafer played football at the University of Chicago and studied to be a cartoonist at the Art Institute of Chicago. These pursuits were interrupted by his enlistment in the Army during World War One. On October 26, 1918, the Des Moines Tribune reported:

By the time the article ran in October, Schafer had been gone for months, having passed away in a German prisoner-of-war camp in April—just months before the end of the war.

See more designs from the Ottumwa set here.

St. Albert is named for Albertus Magnus, patron saint of natural scientists, teacher of Thomas Aquinas, and general 13th century smarty pants. There is an asteroid named after him (20006 Albertus Magnus), and a pretty cool typeface (Albertus.) In a chapter entitled, “Of Purity of Heart, Which is to be Sought Above All Else,” he wrote:

A legend nearly universally regarded as false holds that Albertus Magnus discovered the philosopher’s stone and gave it to Thomas Aquinas on his deathbed (despite the fact that in reality, Thomas died before Albert.)

See more designs from the St. Albert set here.

According to its student handbook, St. Edmond is named for three different people: ninth century saint and king of East Anglia Edmund the Martyr; thirteenth century saint and Archbishop of Canterbury Edmund Rich (said to have been named after the first guy); and Edmond Heelan, Bishop of Sioux City and subject of a previous newsletter entry.

Edmund the Martyr was said to have been tied to a tree, shot by arrows, and then beheaded by Vikings after he refused to renounce his faith. Here’s a picture from a thirteenth-century illuminated manuscript of how that may have looked:

See more designs from the St. Edmond set here.

Tri-Center is in Neola, Iowa, but I found a funny exchange with Tri-Center Basketball Hall-of-Famer Katie Morse (“Katie was an outstanding player who often had to carry her team offensively despite constantly being double-teamed.”) Morse went on to play basketball at Nebraska, and in a Q&A with her in The Daily Nebraskan, she was asked to get to the bottom of the Tri-Center name.

“That’s four” cracks me up.

This seems to be more or less the case, although sometimes it seems as if it’s Minden that is left out. Perhaps it’s worth noting that Katie Morse is from Minden….

I really love this shirt design. Would wear.

See more designs from the Tri-Center set here.

According to Wikipedia, “With the coming of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in 1869, the town of Underwood was established three miles northeast of Downsville, which was later abandoned and has entirely disappeared (with the exception of a cemetery.)”

Our old standby, the History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa concludes its section on Asa and Drusilla Downs thusly:

Those are nice words! I would like to be known as one of the best and most useful, and to have a village named after me. But as we know, it wouldn’t last. By 1930, a plat book shows just a small portion of land being owned by a Downs. That property, in section 29 of Norwalk Township, is where the Downsville Cemetery is today—the only remaining evidence of the vanished Downsville.

See more designs from the Underwood set here.

Adrian Constantine Anson is said to have been the first white child born in Marshalltown, Iowa. At the age of nineteen, he had begun to play professional baseball for a team called the Rockford Forest Citys (NOT to be confused with the Cleveland Forest Citys.) After his death, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Cap Anson’s record on race relations was perhaps what is to be expected from the son of a guy who settled down in a place where people were already living and decided to name it after his favorite town in Michigan. Anson reportedly refused to play in any game with African-American participation.

In the January 4, 1920 New York Times, legendary pitcher Christy Mathewson detailed a conversation with a sixty-seven year old Anson in an article titled “Anson Champions Oldtime Players.” Their discussion sounded familiar to intergenerational ones I’ve been hearing lately about things in baseball like the pitch clock and universal designated hitter.

See more designs from the Marshalltown set here.

I’ve seen Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse twice, and I sure didn’t regret it either time. I’ve heard people complain about the ending, but I loved it! Catch it on the big screen.

Mrs. Downs is a Quakeress. See you next week! Tell your friends!