10 Years Ago Ken Locke got hooked on historical flags when they were used during a Scout leadership camp ceremony a few years ago. He began collecting U.S. flags, then he became interested in Revolutionary War banners. His favorites are the 13 Colonial and United States flags on display at the Billy Sunday Visitors Center and Museum. One of the most pleasing star designs is the 1861 34-star flag flown by Abraham Lincoln. In its square of blue is a center star surrounded by two circles of stars with a star in each corner. During the Civil War, Lincoln raised the 34-star flag over Independence Hall on Washington’s birthday. “I keep researching the main flags.” The 48-star flag served as the national flag from 1912 to 1959. 25 Years Ago The John Pound Store Museum at Oswego is open for the summer and it marks the 150th anniversary of the John Pound Store. Three Frenchmen, Ezekel French, William Barbee and Rowland Willard, built the building in 1838 to house their Indian trading post, named Willard and Co. Ezekel French became Oswego’s first postmaster at the store in 1840, the first of 19 postmasters through 1935. Pound bought the store in 1889 from Charles A. White, and provided a home beside the store for his family and to ensure constant service to his customers. The store and property were owned by the Pound family until 1968 when Harold Pound, John’s son, presented the store to the Kosciusko Historical Society. On June 12, Jane Kinney and Charlotte Siegfried will be there with their spinning wheels. 50 Years Ago The Claypool High School Alumni Association will hold its 45th annual banquet May 18 in the high school gym. Members of the Class of 1913 will be the guests of honor. They will be celebrating their 50th annual reunion. Commencement was held April 17, 1913, at the Claypool Methodist Church. The class motto was “Esse est occupari” (To be is to be occupied). The class colors were purple and cream, and the class flower was the pink rose. Mrs. Royal (Erba) Pottenger was an instructor and principal at that time. The class roll included Sherman Deaton, Syracuse; Edward Cauffman, deceased; Lawrence Beigh, Claypool; Beulah Bloom Schade, Warsaw; Samilda Deckard Whittenberger, California; and Ruby Smith, deceased. 75 Years Ago Mary Jane McKown was chosen from a class of 300 pupils to appear in the Violet Reinwald revue at the Shrine Temple in Fort Wayne. She will entertain with vocal and tap-dancing numbers. Sonys McKown, her younger sister, will appear in several acrobatic numbers. Attending from Warsaw are Mr. & Mrs. Fred McKown, Mr. & Mr. Rulo Minear, Howard Levin, Ike Hatfield, Martha Peterson, Robert Buell, and from Mentone, Mr. & Mrs. Carl Myers with daughters Patty and Sally. F. J. Croop, Warsaw, sophomore, registered in mechanical engineering; F. W. Gilliam, Warsaw, freshman, agriculture; and G. I. Hatfield, Winona Lake, sophomore, science, are among the 27 students from Kosciusko County, out of 7,125 students, registered at Purdue University.
