Sport, In Top Hat, Collar and Tie, is a Good Sport

Charles Leonard Davis, age 16, continues his diary entries.

Thursday, February 24, 1898
Pound Party at C.C. (Christian Church)
Social at Haskels.
I went to Haskels.
A "pound party" was a welcoming event held for a new preacher. Church members brought a pound of this or a pound of that to stock the preacher's cupboards.

It looks as if Lennie wasn't all that interested in stocking cupboards. Instead he went to the social at the Haskells. There were at least two households by the name of Haskell in Wakefield according to the 1900 census. One of those homes was about three houses from Lennie's house.


Friday, February 25, 1898
Took in $48 at Sea?? (Again Lennie's handwriting is difficult to decipher.)
Ruth Drshell? went home.
I went to the JOGT. (JOGT was part of the Odd Fellows Lodge)

Saturday, February 26, 1898
Took Earle's & Sport's picture.
Fixed my wheel. (bicycle wheel)
Did not go riding.
Sport is Lennie's dog. Click photo for a closer view. You will see that Sport is wearing a top hat, a collar and tie, and also has a pair of wire-rim glasses perched atop his nose. He was, after all, a "good sport". The original photo is smaller than my thumbnail and this is the best enhancement I could get on my photo software.

Sunday, February 27, 1898
Guy took our picture at the elevator.
Gim & I.
I took G. home.

Monday, February 28, 1898
Prof. got hot at me.
Wrote to Lew and Zella W.
Went to band practice.
Went home and studied.
It looks as if the Prof's temper tantrum has caused Lennie to go home and study. It's about time, Lennie!
Lew is Lewis M. Walden who used to live down the street from Lennie but who moved to Phoenix some time recently, leaving his parents and rest of the family still in their Wakefield home. Lew is currently 18 years old and works for the railroad as a telegraph operator. He will die young in 1927 at his home in Cincinnati, Ohio.


.

Sam and Lennie Walk the Girls Home While War Looms on the Horizon

Thurs., February 17, 1898
Sam and Gertie began to get like syrup.
That means Sam and Gertie are getting a little sweet on each other.

Friday, February 18, 1898
Went skating after school.
Sam & I distrubed bills around town for Prof.
(Lennie's spelling may not be perfect, but he must be making points with the professor by "distributing" said bills.)

Saturday, February 19, 1898
Sam & I went skating.
Girls went down after dinner.
Had a hot time.
Snowed last night.
(Hmmm, sounds like Lennie and his friends had a great time of fun.)

Sunday, February 20, 1898
Cold in forenoon.
Bummed all day.
Sam took Gertie home.
I took you know.
(Sam and Gertie are still sweet on each other. And Lennie is keeping mum about the name of the gal he took home.)

While Sam and Lennie are walking Gertie and "you know" home in the early evening, the disastrous explosion of the USS Maine continues to make headline news. The front page of the Feb. 19 Omaha Bee has extensive news on the Maine. We read short excerpts as follows:

HAVANA, Feb 18 -- "Captain Sigsbee (who survived the explosion) and the local board of investigation rowed today round and round the sunken, twisted masses, all that is left of the splendid battleship Maine. They could not get on board because of the orders of the authorities, at least the guards said so, and Captain Sigsbee obeyed, although his pennant was still flying from the masthead and the parts of the Maine above water (or below it either) were "just as much United States soil" as ever they were. The officers examined the position of the wreck closely. It was noted primarily that the whole force of the explosion was from port to starboard."

The article goes on to say..."the ship is practically broken in two by the explosion"...

HAVANA, Feb. 18 - "Consul General Lee has received many dispatches from newspapers in the United States with reference to the Maine disaster, to which the consular regulations prevent him from replying."

HAVANA, Feb. 18 - ............"The bodies of the sailors who went down with the Maine are getting into such a condition that they float, and the currents carry them about the harbor. More than fourteen...were found at Casa Blanca, under the walls of Cabanas fortress." The article gives much detailed information regarding the dead.

LONDON, Feb. 19.--"The Daily Chronicle has secured from Mr. Gladstone the following message for America: "I am deeply grieved at the sad loss the American people have suffered.""

MADRID, Feb. 18 -- "Today the Spanish press shows indignation because doubts are expressed in America as to the origin of the catastrophe to the Maine."

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18. -- "A debate, decided in its sensations, was unexpectedly precipitated in the senate today over the consideration of the resolution of Mr. Allen of Nebraska, directing the committee on naval affairs to investigate the disaster to the Maine."

The article goes on to state that the Illinois senator "delivered a speech in which he said that the people demanded the truth concerning the explosion, and declared that they would not be satisfied with the investigation to be conducted by the officers of the navy, who would virtually try their own case, and would cover up any blame that the officers might show attached to them."

And again, later, the article states, "The sinking of the Maine will be made the subject of immediate and exhaustive inquiry and congress will be fully advised of the result of such investigation."
Much debate followed. America will soon be at war with Spain.

Today's photo (found online) was obviously taken before the explosion. It seems strange to view this small moment in their lives while they were posing for a photographer and know that some if not all of these very men perished the night of February 15, 1898 when the Maine exploded in Havana Harbor.

If you want to see the front page of the Omaha Bee click here. In a strange sort of way the news seems so "current" in its intensity and uproar.

.

Upon Which We Share Two More Pages of Lennie's Photo Album

More Excerpts from the 1898 diary of Charles Leonard "Lennie" Davis, age sixteen, Wakefield, Nebraska

Thursday, February 3, 1898
Had the gloves on in depot. (Was Lennie enjoying the fine sport of boxing?)


Friday, February 4, 1898
Had examination Rhetoric - 45. (It's difficult to believe that a man who could talk so much could do so poorly in rhetoric. But then, age brings wisdom, and Lennie was only sixteen.)
Went to band practice. (We believe Lennie played the cornet in the Wakefield Cornet Band.)


Saturday, February 5, 1898
Charlie ? and ?? had a trile?? (While Lennie's hen-scratching penmanship makes some of this entry illegible, it appears that a couple fellows went on trial. But Lennie does not mention their crime! A mystery unsolved!)
Slid down hill. (There must still be snow on the ground.)
Fred & Will went to Norfolk. (Norfolk is a good 46 miles. Since they did not have an automobile I'm thinking they took the train. Or rode horseback, but that would have been quite a trip.)


Sunday, February 6, 1898
Plaid horns at elevator. (I didn't know they had "plaid" horns, but Lennie writes that they did. Okay, okay, I'm making fun of Lennie's spelling.)
Took G home. (Lennie is a little leary of someone reading his diary. He knows who "G" is, but he's not letting us in on that secret. Later on, he mentions his female friends by name...most times.)
Read. (Keep reading, Lennie. It will improve your spelling!)



Here are a couple more pages from Lennie's photo album. Lovely young ladies. I'm guessing these were pasted into his little book after he graduated from high school. Perhaps in his early twenties. You can click on the photos for a closer view.




Lennie's photo collection included his male friends as well. I wish he had written in their names.


Perhaps Monday I will show you a photo of Lennie's father, Josiah Davis. Josiah sports a marshall's star badge on his suit lapel and wears a bushy beard.

Lennie Spreads Germs Throughout the Town

Charles Leonard (Lennie) Davis, age 16, Wakefield, Nebraska continues daily entries in his pocket diary.

Wednesday, January 26, 1898
Did not feel very well. (Probably coming down with a cold!)
Went to church. (a mid-week meeting)

Thursday, January 27, 1898
Was sick all day but went to church (Spreading germs all around!)

Friday, January 28, 1898
Did not go to school in afternoon. (But he went in the morning? Half the class will be sick tomorrow!)
Did not go to the ??? (Can't decipher Lennie's handwriting... I'm glad he didn't go spread more germs!)
JOGT (Meeting at the Odd fellows)

Saturday, January 29, 1898
Did not feel well. (Get well soon, Lennie! Being sick is no fun! We wish you well!)
Snowed in afternoon.

.

Lennie Parties With His Friends

Lennie writes today:

Thursday, January 13, 1898
Had a party to Cheavers
Staid at Fred Poff.
John Dillon in ???

I think I spelled Cheavers correctly...Lennie's writing was tiny! And those tiny penciled notations were somewhat smudged.

Afterward, Lennie "staid" overnight at Fred Poff's house.

I haven't a clue as to where John Dillon was. Was he "in town"? Was he "in trouble"? We simply do not know. At first I thought Lennie might be referring to that infamous bank robber but I was wrong. That fellow's name was John Herbert Dillinger, not Dillon. And he would not be born yet for another five years. So, no, this was not the bank robber.

The word for today is "staid". Yes, Lennie used this word incorrectly. But it IS a word.

Staid - Adjective
...Marked by settled sedateness and often prim self-restraint.

I don't think anyone could ever call Lennie prim or sedate. Nobody who is out sliding down the hill nearly every day of the week could be called "staid".

.

An Afternoon in January, 113 Years Ago

Sorry that I've almost missed today's post. We've had visitors over the holidays and I'm a bit off schedule. Since it is nearing the end of the day, I will post today and tomorrow's entry in one post.

A hundred thirteen years after Lennie was sliding down a snowy hill in Wakefield, Nebraska, his grandson Jim holds in his lap Lennie's great-great-great grandson Marcus, hoping the little fellow will take a nap.

But on with Lennie's diary. He writes as follows:

January 5
Slid on hill.
Messer? had a scrap (he means someone got in a fight!)
Hot time. (which means this was a pretty exciting event!)

January 6
Got Lew's picture.
Nice day.
No letter.

Lew is Lennie's friend, Lew Walden, who had recently moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Census data shows the Walden family lived probably within two houses of Lennie's house.

Lew must have been a good friend because Lennie mentions him many times. Somewhere I have a photo postcard with a fellow in a ten-gallon hat astride a white horse. I suspect that is Lew or possibly his brother. If I could find it, I'd post it, but I can't, so you'll have to use your imagination about Lew.

Lew later moved back east, to Ohio. where he worked as a telegraph operator for the railroad. He died at age 47 at his home in Cincinnati.

P.S. Whenever I include a word with a question mark, it's because the penciled word is not legible. Even with a magnifying glass I've had to guess as to the spelling of the word.

.