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| David, Iowa,
1898 |
The book,
Thou Shalt Not,
was published a year ago.
Over one hundred years ago, an incident occurred in David,
Iowa, that remained the talk of the county for decades. After reviewing scores
of newsprint from that period of time, this story
evolved into "Thou Shalt Not."
**********
Since last April....
*A book signing was held at our county historical museum with over 100 in attendance.
*Persons have come up to me and said, "I read your book in one sitting. I couldn't put it down."
*A middle-aged man stopped me in Hardware Hank with, "My mother-in-law cleans the David Church and gets the jitters every time she's there." I asked why?
That wasn't my intention--giving people the jitters. "She sees DeForest in the back of the church over-looking the congregation, and it gives her the jitters every time."
*The book has made it to other states, over-seas, other libraries because people who enjoyed it, here, in Osage, Iowa, have stuck it in the mail to their friends and relatives.
*Also, since last April, we have had illness in our family, a move into town from an acrege we raised our family on, etc. A lot can happen in a year! But, interest in the book trickles out, and I praise God for that.
******.
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| Do I have a story for
you! |
Penney Morse gave me the news articles from that time and encouraged me to write this story. Penney has gone on to other adventures...
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| No it's not Pingry; it's
Pingree. |
Vivian DuShane, at over 100 years of age,
remembered her father telling the story of what happened in David, her hometown.
Her memory was excellent.
She had a familiarity with family names and their spellings.
Since last April, Vivian, along with her son, has published another edition of the history of David, Iowa.
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| You're not done yet, are
you? |
Dorcas, a friend and fellow Alpha Writer,
read the book and handed it back to me with--
You're not done yet,
right?
I
thought I was!
But, she was right.... I was not done....
I don't think writers are ever "done."
But we get to the point where we put it away
or send it away and say "good enough!"
 |
| Margaret at
work. |
Margaret, my editor, has gone on to other enterprises--including her own memoir--growing up in Croatia.
********
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| David Community Church,
1890s |
|
|
Since the book was published, many have ventured to Shadow Avenue in Mitchell County to what used to be David, Iowa, to see the small church (where services are still held on Sundays during the summer months). It is now surrounded by corn and bean fields. The town of David is no longer.
*******
What follows is the introduction to "Thou Shalt Not."
If you haven't read it, the introduction may pull you in.
INTRODUCTION
In the spring of 1977, a rusted, lime-green, 1950 Chevy
slowly crept up the driveway of the Gary and Cheryl Pearson farmstead. An older fellow stepped unsteadily from the
car.
“Is this David?” he asked.
Gary Pearson studied the man. Definitely not from around here. A string bean of a man, weak, and pallid, the
stranger wore clothes that were clean, but he seemed to be uncomfortable inside
them.
Gary nodded and said not a word.
“I’ll be right upfront with you,”
the stranger stated. “I just got out of
prison.” With a cracked voice as if not
much used, he continued, “I was a cellmate of someone who used to live here.”
Almost twenty years later, in 1996,
Gary Pearson began tilling the ground with intentions to build a small
playground in the area next to the David
Community Church
so that the Bible school children would have a place to play. According to Michael Troyer, Press News
reporter at the time, what Gary Pearson found had more to do with the past than
with the future. Concrete remains of the
foundations of buildings which lined the main street of David were unveiled along with cinder
remains—more than likely sidewalk materials.
Typically,
historical fiction tells a story set in the past with the characters tending to
be fictional. Although genres vary, the
made-up account of ordinary people is inter- weaved with historical events of
the time.
Thou Shalt Not is the exception.
The characters existed, the setting was real,
and many of the incidents are authentic
Much of the conversations were taken directly from court documents as
printed in the area 1898-1899 newspapers.
As I read these accounts over and over, took notes, and started reading between
the lines, the narrative developed.
If you haven't read the story,
check it out by clicking on
amazon.com or barnes and noble sites
to the right of this article....
Kathleen E. Stauffer
