The Time Capsule | Roy Marshall

 

Some of the best columns to appear in this space were written by George Madden. Readers may remember George, who once walked from Indiana to southwest Iowa. In 1854, he claimed pre-emption rights (a form of homesteading) on a piece of land along the Nodaway. He broke sod, built a cabin, and kept a diary that offers a perspective that history books do not. 

He was keenly interested in current events and would have loved a twitter account. Madden got his news from the occasional traveler and an Indiana newspaper that arrived, if at all, weeks after it had been published. He was a Democrat with a Democrat’s passive view on slavery. He disliked Lincoln, thought him radical, yet he answered Lincoln’s call, joined a southwest Iowa militia unit and marched off to his death in the Civil War. 

The diary excerpts we used in an occasional column over a two- or three- year period often required explanatory notes for various reasons, one being that some words and terms of his time now have different meanings. There were several that baffled me. One was a reference to chickens. 

Madden writes about them two or three times, but not in detail. He tells us Lizzie, the cousin who became his beloved wife, was greatly excited to acquire a pair of “Shanghai chickens.” Later, when her flock has multiplied, he refers to the Shanghai as being much desired by neighbors. 

For several years I’ve kept a couple of laying hens. We’ve tried numerous breeds and I thought I knew at least the common ones, but I’d never heard of the “Shanghai” variety. The internet supplied the answer; in George’s time the Cochin was called a Shanghai as they originated in China. Popular then, they are not commercially important today for egg production because other breeds lay more and do better in confinement. Neither are they profitable as meat chickens, as hybrids grow faster. 

Pioneers liked their Shanghai chickens because they were hardy, industrious foragers. The feathers on a Cochin are lush and fluffy, extending over their legs and feet, helping them do well in cold weather. Lizzie was able to sell chicks to start other flocks because the Cochin hen has a strong brooding instinct and becomes an excellent mother. 

While mourning the passing of the last of my previous layers I decided the replacements would be barred rocks. We’ve had them before, found them to be docile birds that lay well and make a living on garden bugs. A relative who works at Murray McMurray hatchery made the selection. He reads the column sometimes, but I don’t know if he met George Madden. It was probably a coincidence that he added to the trio of barred rocks a pair of “Shanghai chickens.” 

These are perhaps 150 generations removed from the Cochins Lizzie was fond of, but I suppose their characteristics are much the same. If so, Lizzie liked them for more than their eggs and flesh. They’re exceptionally friendly birds, following me around as I work in the garden, hopping onto the golf cart, threatening and chasing the dog. 

George never had much livestock. He couldn’t afford a cow, and traded or exchanged work for an occasional pig to be fed and butchered. Only his horse, a bargain for a reason, and the chickens were long-term propositions and he gave them the best care he could. During a harsh winter, with the feed supply exhausted and the prairie blanketed by deep snow, he gives his horse the straw from his mattress. A dwindling bit of corn meal was shared with a pair of chickens. 

A couple of years ago I found George Madden’s grave and paid my respects. Lizzie, widowed at age 23, remarried, and I don’t know the location of her final resting place. 

Roy Marshall is a local historian and columnist for the Red Oak Express. He can be contacted at news@redoakexpress.com.

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