Photo by Lloyd Borer, 2015.
Almost every small town in Ohio had a
“town marshal” a century ago. They had
many of the same duties and responsibilities as a chief of police does
today. In villages, the town marshal was
the entire police force rolled into one person.
That person was not necessarily trained in law enforcement. They were often political appointments, or
were named marshal by their toughness, bravado, or willingness to accept an
occasionally risky job.
William Henry "Harry" Kauffman
(1886-1951) was the town marshal in New Riegel in Seneca County in the
1930s. New Riegel, a farm hamlet of
about 300, was never a hotbed of criminal activity. Yet there was an occasional need for a
marshal, and Kauffman fit the bill. The
village blacksmith for many years, Harry was an imposing physical specimen,
with many years of shoeing farm horses as exercise. Everyone in a small town knew what everyone
else did all day, and that made for good stories. Here are a few:
Much of what passed for entertainment at
this time was held at the New Riegel Moose Hall. The Moose lodge clubbers had a dance hall
above and a saloon below. In 1934, one
of the offerings of the Moose was “Montana Meechee and his Cowboy Band.” Wearing cowboy hats and real spurs, on a
stage ornamented with saddles and lassos, the band played an early form of
country and western. Fiddles, guitars,
piano, bass, and drums, their concert was well received, with an audience so
large there was no room for dancing.
Marshal Kauffman, who occasionally
played guitar, asked “Montana” if he could join the band for a few sets. Meechee, who didn’t want the marshal digging
into his past, agreed. Harry rushed
home, and returned with a white shirt and a black suit. His playing was received with great
applause. Whether that was because of
his playing or because he was a local boy is not recorded.
In 1935, Kauffman directed a play, a
melodrama about a jilted sweetheart.
Nick Borer was the MC; Harry did not act in the play but was the
producer/director. The play as performed
under Harry’s leadership was perhaps more towards the comical than
dramatic. Most memorable however was
Harry playing two pianos at the same time.
Locals differ on whether it was two hands or hands and feet, but it was
quite a show.
1936 brought “Chief Gray Eagle” and his
medicine show to New Riegel. Gray Eagle,
a Cherokee, traveled with his wife and daughter, who tap-danced between sales
pitches. The Chief, dressed in a
business suit, sold a line of products called Mo-Tee-Na, which included cough
medicine, salve, tooth powder, and the like.
One night, the chief was doing a good
business when Ross, one of the section hands on the railroad, came to the Moose
Hall. Half-drunk, Ross started yelling
at the Chief. “You’re nothing but a
fake.” Gray Eagle politely asked him to
calm down, but Ross continued to holler.
The Chief asked Marshal Harry to intervene. Harry told Ross to go home, but he refused. Harry lunged at Ross, who ducked. Harry roared, “OK, you are going to
jail.” The fists flew between two of New
Riegel’s strongest men. Gray Eagle got
the audience to turn around so he could continue his spiel, but the fight went
on. The Marshal eventually dragged Ross
to New Riegel’s one cell jail. Ross was
released the next day. No trial or
judge; Ross’s pounding head the next morning was punishment enough.
Harry Kauffman worked in art iron later
in life. He could sometimes be seen in
shabby work clothes singing, “I’m in the mood for love” at the top of his lungs
as he walked down the street. Kauffman
knew that he was a character in a village full of watchful eyes. Whether singing, acting, or fighting such
crime as there was, Harry was part of the village scene, and enjoyed his role
in life.
[I wish to thank Ray Schindler for
sharing his memories with me.]
Now, if we could only get some stories from the corner-T bar......
ReplyDelete