IAGenWeb Project
Iowa History

       An IAGenWeb Special Project



Alumni and Ex-Students of Iowa State College
1872-1914


...with notes from 1917

Class Reunions


Forty-fifth Reunion Will Be Celebrated

The class of '72, under the generalship of Dr. Cessna and Dean Stanton, is planning a big reunion to celebrate their forty-fifth anniversary at Commencement. They are inviting members of the classes of 1873 and 1874 to meet with them, and many of the old guard have expressed their intention to respond to the roll call next June.

 


'77's Will Be on Hand

Prospects are bright for a big reunion of all the living members of the class of 1877. J.W. Doxsee of Monticello writes that he has favorable replies from a number of members and he is sure there will be a large representation on hand for the gathering.

 


A Message from the Seventies

Kiowa, Wash., March 29, 1917
Mr. Ward M. Jones,
Ames, Iowa.

My Dear Mr. Jones:
The students of the late seventies will no doubt be glad to learn of the Misses Minnie and Ida Beach, the former having almost completed the course with the class of '79, and the latter, I think, a member of '82. I had not heard of them since '79 or '80, till last autumn, when a new teacher came to our local school, named Mrs. Beach - a widow. On talking with her I learned tha ther late husband, who had been drowned two or three years ago at Gray's Harbor, on the western coast of Washington, was a younger brother of Minnie and Ida Beach.

Minnie Beach Ex-'79, is now Mrs. Capron, of Glasco, Cloud county, Kansas. Her husband is a brother of Miss Ella Capron, who was a student at Ames in '79. Miss Capron, by the way, married a lawyer, and last fall they were living at La Porte, Ind. One day her husband took a train for Chicago, and an hour or so later was found dead in the car seat. The widow soon afterward moved back to Sioux Falls, S.D., which had been their former home. Minnie Beach Capron has three grown children, all graduates of their local high school.

Ida Beach Botsford lives at Hereford, Texas (in the Panhandle), where her sons are engaged in the cattle business. She has four children, the youngest having recently been married.

Both the Beach girls after marriage had experience in homesteading - Minnie in western Kansas, and Ida near Pierre, S.D. - with the customary hardships, both suffering from drought and both later going into stock raising. I have heard that both are in comfortable circumstances now.

H.D. Harlow, the old proctor of the '70's and early '80's, recently sold out his dairy herd at Spokane, Wash., giving in a newspaper interview as his reason the cutting of prices by the big concerns to drive the little fellows out of business. He said he had made money with his dairy some years back, but that there is nothing in it now. Harlow has a good greenhouse and market garden in the outskirts of Spokane.

A.G. Admans, Ex-'74, whose home is at Long Beach, Calif., has been for some time at Parker, Arizona, developing a copper mine which he and some friends have owned for a good many years. At last account he was negotiating a sale of the property to the Guggenheim syndicate.

T.H. Illes, Ex-'74, is said to be living at Meeker, Colo.

S.G. Isaman, Ex-'74, is in quite feeble health at his home in Lewiston, Idaho, where he has lived for thirty-seven years.

Yours very truly,
W.M. Scott, '79

 


'82's Laying Their Plans

Through the enthusiastic efforts of Nellie (Merrill) Wheeler, the members of the class of 1882 are being mobilized for a reunion at Commencement to celebrate their thirty-fifth anniversary. The following are excerpts from some of the replies:

"I am in receipt of your letter of February 12th, in which you suggest the propriety of a reunion of the class of '82. I note your inquiry if I could be at Ames at that time. I am aware as a matter of loyalty to my alma mater it would be my duty to be present at the Alumni Association meeting and especially if there is to be a reunion of the surviving members of the class of '82 effected. June is usually a very busy month for me. The best I could do at this time is to say that if there is to be a reunion of the surviving members of the class of '82, I will attend at that time if I can arrange my business affairs to make it possible."
W.D. Atkinson, Parsons, Kansas

"The effort to hold a reunion of the class of '82 has my full support. I have planned for several years to attend the reunions, but have been disappointed. I trust that I will be able this year to again visit the old college and shall be pleased indeed if I can meet all or at least a goodly number of the members of the class of '82."
D.T. Stockman, Sigourney, Iowa

"I wish I could write you that I am heartily in favor of a reunion and would be there to help make it a success. I almost envy you your task of writing to the members of the class; at least I would like to peep into the replies you receive. I would be glad to help toward a class reunion, but at this writing do not think I could possibly be present."
Nellie Coe Lorbeer, Claremont, Calif.

"I agree with you as to the desirability of our class getting together at Commencement time. I think we have been very negligent in this matter. I regret that I cannot give an absolute promise of my presence. I hope, however, it may be possible. I hope that a large number of the class of '82 may find it possible to attend the reunion."
W.W. Dudley, Indianola, Iowa

"I shall certainly be glad to co-operate with you in getting together as many of our classmates as possible for a reunion. I will try to be there myself and induce others to come if I can. I am in favor of a reunion and if I can do anything to aid you, I am at your service."
O.C. Peterson, Chicago, Ill.

"By all means have a reunion. If I were well, I would surely be there. How I would love to go back. I would love to know where all of the Seventeen left - live and their views."

Della A. Neal, Hamilton, Pa.

 


P2's Attention!

June 5 and 6 are the dates.
Ames is the place.
25th reunion is the occasion.
Everybody out.
Roll call by Gen. Lincoln on the morning of the fifth.
Anyone absent will be sent to the president.
Expulsion from a '92 reunion for five years will be the punishment.
Those neither tardy nor absent will get to go to the class breakfast, attend the president's reception and hear ex-President Taft.
On account of the good behavior of the classes of 91 and 93 during the last two years of their college career, they will be allowed to join us, and greetings as loud and as long as greeted them on the nights we wrested the class pictures from them, will be given them.
Make your plans NOW.
Don't forget the DATE.
Be on the GROUNDS when the band begins to PLAY.
By order of the committee.

Jennie Morrison Beyer
Estella Blaine Spence
Kittie B. Freed
Louis B. Spinney

 


No-Eyes Laying Their Plans for a Big Reunion

The class of '97 have their plans well under way for a big "Come Back" June 5th and 6th, to ceelebrate their twentieth anniversary. Some of the replies have come from members of the class who have never attended a reunion, but they are planning on being back this year for the celebration. Here are some of the messages:

"My wife, son and myself are planning on attending the reunion this year and unless something happens to prevent, we will be there."
George C. Dana, 2311 Washington Ave., Racine, Wis.
P.S. - C.A. Bergeman was married nearly a year ago (Mar. 30, 1916)

"I do expect to be present at the Alumni Meeting this year. I am an ear, nose and throat specialist."
Dr. Margaret (Jones) Monahan, 30 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill.

"I will do my best to be at the '97 reunion in June."
Frank W. Bouska, American Association of Creamery Butter Manufacturers, Chicago

"I am surely planning to be there with you and do not intend to allow even business to interfere with my coming. We are all, of course, more or less busy, but we should not forget our old school and the sincere friendships developed while there. It will do us all good to pause for a few moments in our busy vocations and renew acquaintances - talk over old times - and see each other after the long and stormy journeys we have made."
Carl LeBuhn, manager of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., Davenport, Ia.

"I am particularly desirous to attend the June reunion and will certainly do so unless prevented by unforeseen causes. I would say that I am a country lawyer and about as busy as a No-Eyes '97 should be."
W.C. Garberson, Sibley, Ia.

Charles C. Helmer, now of Carroll, Ia., and senator from the Forty-eighth district, writes from Des Moines, where he is busy in legislative affairs: "I entered school with the class of '97, was out a year after my first term, and dropped back into the class of '98. In my senior year I quit school and was in the service during the Spanish-American war. After I was discharged from the army Inentered the State University and took a law course. Under the circumstances, I am hardly eligible to be classed as a member of the class of '97. I have always been sorry I did not complete the course at Ames, although it would have delayed me a year in getting through the law department at the State University. I had many good friends who were members of the '97 class, and I am glad to know that so many of them are prospering and successful."

George L. Sterns, who is manager of the Thief River Falls, Minn., exchange of the Tri-State Telephone and Telegraph Co., says: "I will be there unless some unforseen thing prevents." Mr. Sterns has been actively engaged in the independent telephone field for nearly twenty years and has made good.

 


Xanhos

You, the members of the class of 1902, do you realize what this year brings to you? This spring marks the 15th anniversary of that glorious time when life seemed to hold out such bright prospects for the future, when there was a feeling of a race well run and the goal within sight, when there was sadness at the thought of parting, but an eagerness to be up and doing and to bring to realization those day dreams of the past. It marks the 15th anniversary of that commencement when the sheep skins were received from the hand of our dear Dr. Beardshera, the last ones he was ever permitted to give. It recalls the old dining hall with its baked potatoes and cod fish, the class victories lost and won, and the thought that XANHO was at all times at the top, even to the top of the derricks at new Engineering Hall.

Do not these recollections bring back a longing to visit the old school once more, to look into the familiar faces and grasp the warm hands of old classmates, and to talk over old times with those comradeship we used to enjoy. Fifteen years is a good while as human life is measured and many changes have occurred in your life and your alma mater's. Have you had successes or failures, joys or sorrows? Have your ambitions been attained. Come back this spring at Commencement time, compare notes with the others, and get a new inspiration for the future. And above all, let your old school show you what changes have taken place in her. She, too, has had her ups and downs, but all for the good, and her growth has been phenomenal.

Those of you who haven't been back since 1902 will need a guide to prevent your being lost (these will be furnished by the local alumni), as the old buildings are now in the decided minority, and the campus has been wonderfully improved. The faculty has increased three fold, but there are many old faces that you will enjoy seeing again. The alumni association is now established on a firm footing under the new order of things and you will get much out of the annual business meeting.

The '03's and '04's know what the '02 enthusiasm used to be. Let us all turn out enmass this year and show them this enthusiasm has not decreased. At our tenth anniversary there were not as many out as there have been other years. Let's make a record this year. Everyone boost for it and make a special effort to be there and we'll all feel greatly repaid after it is over.

Three cheers for our 15th reunion! We'll all be there.

Yours for a big time,
M.P. Cleghorn '02

 


Naught Sevens Making Preparations

It is very much desired that all members of the 1907 class make an effort to be present at all of the Commencement week exercises. While the number of local alumni is not large, yet our spirit runs high and even though we have been out of college ten years, we have not forgotten our classmates. We would very much like to hear from each and every individual member of the class as to what he or she is doing and also to receive the good word that all are going to return to Ames in June. It might be well to add that a letter is being sent to each individual member of the class. Probably two or three letters will be sent within the next few weeks. Miss Gertrude Herr of the Mathematics Department has been appointed local secretarty. All communications should be addressed to her.

W.H. Pew

 


'12's Have Plans Well Under Way

The 1912's have their reunion campaign well under way. The first issue of their paper, "The Wendigoes War Cry," appeared about the twentieth of March. Other issues will appear from time to time and will contain news from the members of the class who are planning on coming and other items of interest. The '12's have started their campaign right.

 


~
General Transcription notes
~Transcribed by Sharyl Ferrall for the IAGenWeb Iowa History Project
~Source:
1) The Alumnus of Iowa State College, April, 1917, Vol XII, No. 7

back to the ISC Table of Contents
back to Iowa History Project Index