Perry DAR

The Eccentrics

Gwen: History…. wouldn’t pretend to know anything about history which the DAR doesn’t. But… perhaps a slant on things that you hadn’t considered…an observation that may be new to you. The Eccentrics of Perry…  ec·cen·tric Greek ekkentros : ek-, out of. See ecto- + kentron, center adjective

Departing from a recognized, conventional, or established norm or pattern. See synonyms at strange.
. Having the axis located elsewhere than at the geometric center.

I was born next to Drummy Sutton. For non-Perry residents, he was the town’s leading eccentric at the time. Lived in a spooky house next to us. Toilet built up high. Store up town.. only went in once and ran back out… Business man, entrepreneur, eccentric. All Perry residents have their own Drummy Sutton stories.

Would like to speak to these questions:

Does Perry have more than its share?
If so, why?
What’s happened to them?
What effect have they had on the rest of us?

Non-Perry members, excuse my talking about Perry only. I’m sure you have a few of your own…

I was born at the tail end of the age of eccentrics in Perry. We still have them, but their of a more refined type. And what was eccentric to me, may very well have been quite normal to others.

A few examples… Pop Van Pelt (Earl)… stone gravestone.. Eye-bungers…. Slowly drove around town and everyone got out of his way. Once, Grandpa Brad didn’t.

Bugsy _________. Snake. Horses.

Lappy Six… slowly walking back and forth in front of the Perry Hotel.

Chicken House Charlie Williams… old brooder house. Cecil’s trash… pipe…

Archie… drove team by our house..

Did Perry have more than its share? I submit that the answer is YES. At times, they came close to becoming the rule rather than the exception.

Why have we had more than our share? I would imagine for the same reason that Pike County does. .. for the same reason that the entire county has a “can do for ourselves” attitude found in few other places.

Geographical isolation for so long. Isolation breeds Independence. The Heart of Forgottonia.

There are also undoubtedly answers to this question to be found in the immigration patterns in our county’s founding but I wouldn’t pretend to give this group any new knowledge on that.

What’s happened to them? Two answers: Technology and Social restructuring Tech:. Changed now: Better roads, Interstate…. a more mobile society. When I was growing up, it would have been ridiculous to say that Pittsfield stores were in competition with Quincy. Or even that Perry stores competed with Pittsfield. Now it’s very much the case. Television: It’s hard to be an eccentric with mass media reminding you of what normal should be. Even local dialects are disappearing. Me: speech contest… Pike County

Social: Chicken House Charlie would be in a retirement home. Drummy would be tested and put somewhere. Lappy Six… I don’t know. Bugsy … would definitely come under the jurisdiction of several social agencies.

What have we gained from them and what have we lost in their absence? Economic progress often is the death of character. The French President Jacques Cherack found this out last week. I used to know a lot about a person by their handwriting. Now.. their Email tells me nothing.

New Salem…Abraham!… Studying… many scholars believe New Salem was the turning point in Lincoln’s life. …more eccentrics per square inch than any place in downstate Illinois at the time.. … more than Springfield.. more than Jacksonville. … a mix of Upper-South, New England, Great Britain… more college degrees per foot than any town in Illinois… same reason the town only existed for less than ten years.. impatient. ---Jack Kelso… eccentric. .Hollow.. Burns and Shakespeare ---Mentor Graham … taught most children .. until they gave tests to teachers ---Jack Armstrong and Clary’s Grove boys.. would come tear up the town periodically ---George Warburton … entrepreneur, alcoholic .. finally threw himself in Sangamon ---A certain group who went on to play prominent positions in the life of Illinois College, McKendrie College, Knox College

It was here Lincoln learned tolerance… imagination… experimentation… the desire to learn.

My Book and column, the Coonridge Digest…. based a great deal on the Eccentrics of Pike County and Perry. Dad filled us with stories. Poodle Sweeting, Bob Chenoweth, Rue Witham, Bob Blevins, (some of these people I don’t even remember seeing yet I know a great deal about them)

Where else does a person keep peacocks in their yard… …does a one-man run a one-employee grocery store, flip you double or nothing for groceries, run across the street to get his Wall Street Journal, order Cardinal fans out of the store, and carry thousands of dollars under his shirt? …. find ceramic pigs nightly on his doorstep …..a man build boats in his basement, hang stuffed eagles above his meat counter, build a blue plaster house, …..or dress like a clown and drop his pants in public?

Florence…. Guide… this place was nutty! Rome residents would travel here just to watch the strange people.. It too, was geographically isolated and a mix of cultures.. Within a two block space… Michaelangelo, DaVinci, and Maciavelli

Lest you think that what I’ve pointed out today is commonplace in all small communities, let me say otherwise. Arenzville… Chapin… Concord… Beardstown… German, Dutch, and very Lutheran.. very homogeneous in formative years… still yearns to be. Most belonged to same church. Most were related closely. Most were wealthy and very clannish. To this day, the churches will not come together for a joint worship. Few stories of eccentrics. Town characters are few and not especially admired. ---I may be the closest thing Arenzville has to a local eccentric… in the middle Burgoo and cornfields, I write plays and play the bagpipes… ---this morning… Clyde Ginder drove by slowly to see what I was doing.. I put out snow shovel… Then a rubber chicken Half hour later… his brother Jiggs Ginder Often come out front door and see a couple simply sitting and staring at my house..

We have done the county histories, the town histories, the cemetery histories and church histories… I’d pay top dollar for a book on Pike County’s colorful characters of the last 100 years. Wonderful project for some organization as county-wide as the DAR.

Of course, be careful… Bob Brim might be on somebody’s list.. and Harris Bradbury, and John Kennedy, J.D. Liehr, J.L. Orr,

I thank God for being brought up in Perry were the eccentric was not only tolerated, but greatly enjoyed. We are all winners because we knew them and we’ve lost a great deal when they’ve gone.