Remembering the Argos Boy Scouts: A 1950s Story

Remembering the Argos Boy Scouts: A 1950s Story

by | Mar 20, 2026 | Argos

Feature Image. Argos Explorer Scouts two weeks before their canoe trip in Wisconsin, ca 1954.

First Row (Sitting L-R):Mark Dunlap, Gene Good, Jim Free, Robert Kepler, Eugene Snyder, Maurice Hagan, Steve Gonce, Art Redinger, Larry Gordon.

Second Row (Kneeling L-R): John Drapalik, Jim Herrin, Sonny Kepler, George Stults, Ted Hooker, Terry Gonce, Ross Mackey, Walter Gordon, Robert Grossman.

Third Row (Standing, L-R): Edwin Pearson, post committeeman; Bob Brooks, write for Boys’ Life Magazine; Jack Overmyer, Dick Shunk, Ed Hill, Nick Kring, Warren Davis, Jarrell Hagan, Henry Kepler, post committeeman, and Bruce Van Der Weele, post advisor.

By Kerri Langdon-Martin and Jon VanDerWeele

In the 1950s, scouting was woven into the fabric of American life. Troops gathered weekly in church basements or school gyms, boys wore their uniforms with pride, and weekends often meant pitching tents in nearby woods, cooking over open fires, and learning skills that built confidence as much as character. For many small towns, including Argos, the local Boy Scout troop was a source of pride, shaping young men into leaders while giving them a sense of adventure and belonging.

An Argos Troop Goes National

For the Argos troop, one of those campouts would become much more than a local memory. What began as an ordinary weekend in Wisconsin turned into a moment of national recognition when their camping adventure was captured on Walter Cronkite’s CBS radio program You Are There and later profiled in Boys’ Life magazine. Suddenly, the values lived out by a handful of boys from Argos were being shared with audiences across the country.

At the time, You Are There was a groundbreaking program that invited viewers to “experience” stories through the lens of radio journalism. For Cronkite, turning the attention on a troop of scouts from Indiana was a way to illustrate the deeper values behind America’s youth movements: teamwork, outdoor education, and civic responsibility.

The segment features the Argos Scouts from the 1950s. National attention was drawn to the Argos Scout troop because what may have felt like a one-of-a-kind campout for the boys quickly became an extraordinary camping adventure. Families from coast to coast saw the Argos troop as a living example of what scouting represented in the 1950s.

Plymouth Cycle Manufacturing Co.

At the same time, Boys’ Life, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America blending real-life adventure with educational content, carried their story into print, offering readers across the country a closer look at the Argos scouts. The publication, read by millions of boys and their families, amplified the troop’s recognition and cemented Argos as part of scouting history.

Decades later, as part of a commemorative project spearheaded by the Marshall County Historical Society, video interviews were conducted with George Stults and Gene Snyder, two individuals who led the Argos troop. Museum staff were able to stitch together portions of the interviews with photos from the era, the Walter Cronkite program and clippings from the Boy’s Life article to produce a video. Stults reflected warmly on the values that scouting had instilled – teamwork, perseverance, and a commitment to service. He recalled how being in Boys Scouts instilled connection with community and gave the scouts of Argos a sense of pride and recognition beyond their small community.

Snyder, whose family also has deep roots in Argos, shared his perspective of how leadership, pride, and service instilled intergenerational bonds with scouting – how fathers, uncles, and local leaders all played roles in guiding the boys and building a community. Together, their interviews preserve the memory of a unique cultural moment while affirming the timeless values of scouting.

A 14-year-old Steve Gonce receives packing advice from Explorer advisor Bruce VanDerWeele before their 1954 wilderness trip.

The Argos troop’s national recognition may have been unique, but the spirit it represented was shared by thousands of troops across the country. In the mid-20th century, scouting stood as one of the most influential youth programs in America. Its focus on character, citizenship, and outdoor skills connected to the era’s emphasis on building strong families and strong communities.

In Argos, as in many towns, the Boy Scouts were more than a pastime. They were part of the community’s identity, a place where boys grew into men who would carry forward values of service and leadership.

The MCHS Museum has many artifacts dedicated to the history of scouts in our Boy Scouts Room upstairs. Our Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

One-Room Jail in the Fire House

One-Room Jail in the Fire House

by | Mar 19, 2026 | Crime, Plymouth

Feature Image. Old Marshall County Jail and sheriff’s residence, postmarked 1911.

A “calaboose” was usually a one-room jail used to house transients and drunks overnight, before sending them on their way. The following un-edited articles were found in a couple of our early newspapers.

Dealing With Crime

According to the Marshall County Independent of November 23, 1894, “Every day a number of tramps drift into Plymouth and enjoy the luxuriant sleeping accommodations of the city calaboose. It is due to the efforts of Marshalls Meyers and Mead that these gentlemen of indolent leisure are induced to continue their weary wanderings after only partaking of Plymouth hospitality for a few hours. Unless this class of citizens is watched closely by the police everywhere, and more especially in the smaller cities, they quickly become a nuisance. The way to treat them is to give them some place to sleep at night and then send them on their way.”

The Independent of December 2, 1898, said “A report made by the committee on police, heartily recommended that a new calaboose be built, and more, that it be built on the city’s property now occupied partially by the waterworks plant. It was deemed advisable to heat the structure with the waste steam from the exhaust pipe of the pumping engine. The facts which seem to argue strongest for erecting the new calaboose are, first, that the old one is uninhabitable and unsafe. Second, $12 a year rent must be paid for the old one, and the fuel costs much more. The matter of locating and constructing the building has been left in the hands of a committee who will report at the next meeting.

A New Calaboose

Apparently, the new calaboose was built, because the Independent of April 20, 1900, stated” The new calaboose has already been put to a very good use. For several nights it has been filled with those knights of idleness commonly called hobos and others of a more degenerative order.”

Interestingly, Plymouth’s last “calaboose” was located inside the old Fire House. The headline of the Weekly Republican of October 13, 1910, was “Hobos in Fire House.” The article went on to say “The old calaboose in which many a “weary willie” has been sheltered from the icy blasts of a cold night in Plymouth, is soon to be effaced from the landscape of Plymouth. In its place, a cell is to be fitted up in the fire house, which will harbor the unfortunates during the winter months. The abandonment of the calaboose was made necessary because of the impossibility of heating the little house, as before. The council last evening voted to fix up a cell in the fire house.”

Using the Calaboose

The new calaboose was put to good use according to the Weekly Republican of September 21, 1911. “A well-dressed young man who was decidedly under the weather, made his appearance on Michigan St. Saturday at a little past 7:30. Being unable to keep the sidewalk, officer Jacoby was called to his assistance, and placed him in the cage at the fire house.

The man was well dressed and offered practically no resistance to being locked up. Officer Jacoby states he is from Fort Wayne.”

If you love trivia about history, check out the newspaper files in the Historical Society & Museum archives. We are open from 10:00 until 4:00, Tuesday through Saturday.

Plymouth Was a Bicycle Manufacturing Hub

Plymouth Was a Bicycle Manufacturing Hub

by | Mar 13, 2026 | Business & Industry, Plymouth

Feature Image. Rialto line to see Smiley Burnette, ca 1952.

By Dennis Gibson

During the 1890s, the U.S. was in the midst of its first bicycle craze. Bikes helped bridge the gap between horses and automobiles. The boom awakened an interest in good roads, furthered the cause of women’s liberation and was even linked to changes in social behavior. Improvements in bike technology fueled the fad. Once it was both safe and comfortable to ride, everyone wanted in. The average cost of a bike in the 1890s was $75 – that’s $2,625 today!

Plymouth Cashes In On Bikes

The attitude toward women riders was still very conservative during the 1890s. There were questions of whether women should ride, how they should ride, whom they should ride with and what their reputation would be if they did ride! The long, heavy skirts women commonly wore also made biking difficult. Bloomers and shorter skirts were an option but could draw scorn and unwanted attention. However, suffrage advocates praised the bicycle as means of giving women more freedom.

Marshall County cashed in. Bicycle parts made in Plymouth were sold to dealers throughout the United States. There were two bicycle factories located here, as well as one that manufactured handlebars.

Built in 1891, covering nearly 50,000 sq. ft., even featuring its own fire department, the Indiana Novelty Manufacturing Company was one. It was the largest factory in the world that made wooden rims for bikes, as well as mud and chain guards. In 1893, co-founder George W. Marble patented a method of making one-piece bicycle rims from ash that were both lighter and stronger than metal ones. Two carloads of lumber were used daily and by 1895, the plant was producing 700,000 rims a year, as well as 100,000 sets of guards. Indiana Novelty supplied nearly all the leading bicycle companies in the U.S. and had agents in most principal cities, as well as Toronto, London and Paris. They made more than half of the wooden rims used by bicycle manufacturers.

Plymouth Cycle Manufacturing Co.

Safety bikes were the alternative to high wheelers, or penny farthings, introduced in the 1880s. Some sources credit Marble with inventions linked to these and other early types of bikes. Marble also created most of the machinery used by Indiana Novelty in the manufacture of its wooden rims. In 1892, he and several other founding members of Indiana Novelty formed the Marble Cycle Manufacturing Company, with the addition of W.D. Smalley, who also had years of experience in the bike trade, and was the namesake for their bike, the Smalley.

In 1894, the company was sold and became the Plymouth Cycle Manufacturing Company.

“It is estimated that the company made approximately 700 bikes a year for the first two years. The output was increased to 4,500 bikes in 1895, with hopes of making 6,000 for 1896. It was reported in the Plymouth Republican that ‘Plymouth Cycle had been operating for months at 13 hours per day. The factory was limited to 5,000 bicycles but now has orders for 2,000 more.’”

However, the country was in recession, and large orders that had been placed were never paid for. Plymouth Cycle was taken over by creditors Bass and McDonald. They reopened the factory in 1897 as the Elektron Cycle Company, but work was halted in 1898 and a judgment secured by former employees for wages due. The company’s machinery and materials were sold to the Shelby Manufacturing Company and moved to Ohio. The bicycle business that had boomed in the early 1890s became a thing of the past. According to the Department of Transportation, bike sales nationwide plunged 79 percent from 1897 to 1904. The craze was over.

Smalley pins.

Unfortunately, the MCHS Museum does not currently have a Smalley or Elektron bicycle to display, but we do have more good information on display in our transportation room. We always welcome donations of any items made by any Marshall County manufacturer! Our Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Mildred Bovee (1909-1979)

Mildred Bovee (1909-1979)

by | Mar 4, 2026 | Plymouth

Feature Image. Image of Esther Badiac, Mildred Bovee and Berniece Strang, ca 1958.

To celebrate Women’s History Month, we are highlighting some of the remarkable women who have improved the quality of life in Marshall County and beyond, not just for women, but for all of us. The following is a lightly edited story written in the 1980s by Betha Haag.

A Portrait of Mildred Bovee in Words

Some people do big things and some little

Some succeed each time – some fail

Some become famous and some never do,

And some put their fingers in so many pies

nothing comes through

But this lady with hair turning grey, blue eyes sparkling bright and a gracious smile to greet friend or foe, finds that in the end the foe always becomes a friend.  She meets each challenge that comes her way with courage and wisdom, and never quits a task until completed  and completed successfully.

This blue-eyed, eager, busy woman was born February 28, 1909 in the city of Chicago, the oldest of eight children.  She was born under the sign of Pisces, and is intelligent, brave and outgoing.  She has all these traits, and with her love of others she has a deep wish to make the world better, beginning with her own community and spreading out from there.

After high school, Mildred graduated from Trooks Commercial College in Chicago, and always worked in real estate and the building and loan field in the city.

In 1931, she married Carl Bovee in Chicago.  They are proud of their two sons, Kenneth and Curtis, and their five grandchildren.  But God works in a mysterious way “His wonders to perform”.  Both boys developed an asthmatic condition when small, and the doctor suggested they get the boys out of the south Chicago air into some area where the air was clean and pure.  Now where could anybody find better or purer air than in Marshall County?  Not only is the air purer, but many other things are better about this locale.

They were impressed with Plymouth, and because of Carl’s previous business dealings with Allen Rudd, selected the Plymouth area.  They moved here in 1947 and began operating a motel.  The boys were never again bothered with any serious asthmatic attack after coming to Indiana.

Mildred Bovee will be remembered by many mothers and fathers, for she arranged for them to talk to their soldiering sons via ham radio.  Through her kindness and thoughtfulness, happiness was given and lonely hours became perfect hours – not only between parents and soldiers, but between friends and relatives when sorrow struck, or when “Merry Christmas” was sent across the air waves to a daughter far away from home or an ill aunt.  American Field Service students were thrilled to talk to their families, even though an ocean might separate them.

Mildred aided in all Civil Defense work when needed.  She could never sit with idle hands when there were tasks to be done – especially if those tasks would help others.

Having started the motel business in West township, she became interested in the community and the 4-H programs.  She became a 4-H leader and West township was the first to have an electric project, which Mildred instructed and directed.  She was also active in the Parkview hospital auxiliary and in the work of the First Methodist Church.  She also found time to manage the family business.

Her ham radio experience proved invaluable to the Civil Defense, and it served as a wonderful basis for 4-H leadership.

Mildred has served on many county boards, providing constructive ideas and suggestions to improve and implement programs for the community and the organizations.  These organizations include the American Red Cross, the County Mental Health Association, Parkview hospital board of trustees and the Civil Defense board.  Mildred was a member of the Parkview hospital board for 11 years.

As a member of the public relations committee of the Plymouth Business & Professional Women’s Club in 1958 with chairperson Bernice Strang, a survey of Plymouth industries and their products was conducted.  Employment and potential expansion plans were also part of the survey.

With the cooperation of Plymouth industries and “The Pilot-News”, a week was designated as “Salute to Plymouth’s Industries”, with articles and pictures highlighting each industry.  There were articles about this project in the “National Businesswoman”.  One of the industries featured was Lemert Engineering, and the head of the business, Mrs. Eva Lemert, was then a member of BPW.  Her firm had produced an invention that marked a great forward stride in the aircraft manufacturing industry.  Eva Lemert and her firm’s invention were written up in two trade publications with a national distribution.  An article also appeared in the “Independent Women Magazine” of Washington, D. C., and the 1961 issue of “Who’s Who in American Women” included her in their publication.

To this day, the members of the committee that promoted this project are convinced that their studies and actions were the inspiration to the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce when they later formed the Plymouth Industrial Development Corporation.  This committee, Mrs. Bovee believes, convinced PIDCO that a woman should be on their board, whereupon BPW member Rosetta Beiter Casbon served as the secretary-treasurer for several years, serving with distinction.

Mildred has always had many hobbies.  Besides her pet hobby, that of being a ham radio operator, was the making of lovely arrangements of everything from the most beautiful flowers to the lowliest weed.  All through spring, summer and fall she gathered these items, and her completed arrangements would end up in the hospital, nursing homes, some sick room, or anywhere that they might add a little sunshine.

Her latest hobbies are macrame and lapidary.  She and her husband Carl especially enjoy making lovely gems from just simple rocks.  They have ordered their own equipment so that they may make them at home at their leisure, instead of using the club house equipment.  They give away almost all the items they make.

Eight years after the Bovees moved to Marshall County, Mildred became a member of the Plymouth Business & Professional Women’s Club, and in 1958-1960 she served as president, when the membership reached 148.  She gives the entire credit for her later attitudes, ambitions and achievements to the wonderful women she worked with through the years.  Without the leadership abilities that she acquired through her BPW responsibilities, she would never have attempted to be active in politics on a local or county level or served on the various county boards.

In her new community of Hawthorne (a Leesburg, Florida suburb) she recently has become the editor of their community newsletter, “Penn-Notes”.  It is just two years old, beginning with four pages and growing to the present eight pages.  Last year she helped organize a tax aide service.  She and 11 other qualified residents attended a two-day training session and twice a week they counsel any senior citizen in the county.  These counseling sessions are held at Mildred’s church, the Methodist church, where she is also active in the Methodist Women’s group.  Missing her hospital auxiliary work back here in Marshall County, she recently signed up for service at her local county hospital in Florida.

Mildred is in excellent physical health and keeps it that way by hiking, along with her husband, two and three miles a day.  The rest of their waking hours are spent outdoors as well, swimming, golfing, playing shuffleboard and enjoying archery, the consumption of citrus fruits and the Florida sunshine.

Of her years as a member of the Plymouth BPW, Mildred has this to say: “We have had some great leadership in the club and the district, and I am certain that the newer women are availing themselves of all that the BPW Club has to offer its members.”

I will close this biography of a very wonderful person, one whom Marshall County hated to lose and one who hated to leave us, too.  We close with her own philosophy of life, and I quote: “I feel that you are what you make of yourself or – we are our own destiny.  As you well know, we are happiest when we are serving others.”

This is just one example of the personal stories and biographies contained in our archives. We welcome researchers to our library. The Museum is open from 10:00 until 4:00 from Tuesday through Saturday. Located at 123 N. Michigan St. in Plymouth, and our staff is always willing to help. For more information, call us at 574-936-2306. Check out our website at www.mchistoricalsociety.org.

Ben Shaffer Gets Bremen Some Artillery

Ben Shaffer Gets Bremen Some Artillery

by | Feb 28, 2026 | Bremen, War

Feature Image. Celebrating a monument for Union soldiers on Decoration Day, ca 1903

By Derek Jensen, President of Historic Bremen, Board Member, Marshall County Historical Society.

Benjamin Shaffer (1844-1912) was an interesting character in Bremen history. His father emigrated to Bremen from Germany and became a wealthy farmer. As a young man, Benjamin served in the Indiana 74th Volunteers (infantry) Company F during the Civil War.

After the war, Shaffer returned to Bremen and took up farming. He later moved to town and became an investor and also assistant town marshall in the 1890s. He was known for his rattlesnake hunting prowess. The Bremen Enquirer of August 25, 1910, states “Benjamin Shaffer killed seven rattlesnakes yesterday about two miles south of town.”

Honoring Civil War Soldiers

Shaffer was proud of his military service and honoring Bremen’s Civil War soldiers was a point of pride. He belonged to the Grand Old Army of the Republic post in Bremen. Through his efforts, Bremen was awarded a cannon for their cemetery in 1902. Shaffer helped to get the cemetery incorporated in 1903 and was named president of the cemetery association in 1904.

The May 16, 1902, edition of the Bremen Enquirer said: “Benjamin Shaffer, commander of the Hardzog Post G.A.R. of this city, is in receipt of a letter from Senator Beveridge stating that the ordnance bureau has instructed the commanding officer at Ft. McHenry, MD, to turn over to the Post one eight-inch Rodman gun and 20 eight-inch shells. The piece will not be mounted, and transportation charges must be borne by the Post. A carriage will be made for the gun here, and arrangements made for its immediate shipment. It will be mounted in the Bremen cemetery as a monument to the Union soldiers buried in unknown graves. It is a matter of regret that the arrangements could not have been completed in time for Decoration Day.”

Presenting the Artillery

The June 13, 1902, the Enquirer stated: “The cannon presented by the government to the Bremen G.A.R.  arrived yesterday morning. Last Friday Mrs. Dr. Smith and Mrs. Marquet circulated a subscription paper and in a short time secured $200 to be used in paying transportation charges and mounting the piece in the cemetery. It will be placed at left of the main driveway, just inside the gate, and mounted on a pyramid of limestone 40 inches high and with a base of 10-1/2 X 12-/2 feet. At each side of the gun will be a small pyramid of shells. The gun is 10-1/2 feet long, 8-inch caliber and weighs about 3 tons.”

The gun was placed in a custom-cast tilting carriage made by the local Holland Radiator foundry, marked with “1902,” at a cost of $15.50. The town was able to celebrate the monument in style on Decoration Day of 1903, and the Women’s Relief Corps draped the cannon in flags for the ceremony.

About "Ben" Shaffer

Benjamin Shaffer.

When he died in 1912, Benjamin Shaffer was buried in the family plot, right next to the cannon. Having been survived by five daughters, his descendants in the area today include Senffs, Ruffs, Stouders and Jensens, including this author.

The Benjamin and Mary Ann Shaffer family.

The Marshall County Historical Society and Museum is located at 123 N. Michigan St., Plymouth. We are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 until 4. We have an unlimited supply of great stories and pictures in our archives!