Epistles from Pap | Page 5

the reputation of having attended every Legislative Session from 1913 to 1951.
Throughout his life, Russellville was a continuing source of gratification to Pap, and also provided a wealth of material for anecdotes of small-town life, which were incorporated into his public-speaking and his voluminous correspondence.
The family farm just outside the village was also a valued source of income, as well as sustenance, and Pap took a personal hand in its operation, spending more and more time there as he grew older.
Andrew E. Durham passed away at home in Greencastle, July 23, 1954.
GLOSSARY
Pap was an inveterate inventor of nicknames, applied mostly to his family. Some of the letters in the collection contain the following references:
"Annabelle Lee" (Mrs. Ralph Weinrichter of Menlo Park, California) has a daughter, Kathryn, and a son, Ralph Weinrichter II, also of Menlo Park.
Deceased daughter Sarah Jane (Mrs. Robert Anderson) had five children: Heather (deceased) Scott, Roderick, Jennifer (now Mrs. William Amon of Fairfax, Virginia) and Cathy (Mrs. Richard Sandler, also of Fairfax.)
Joan's four include William McGaughey, Jr., and Andrew D. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, David P. of Rochester, New York and Margaret Durham McGaughey Isaacson of Brunswick, Maine.
In addition to the two sons mentioned by Frank (George and Andrew) he has two daughters, Stephanie (Mrs. Stephanie D. Burton, of Winter Haven, Florida) and Madeleine (Mrs. Keith Thomas of Shelbyville, Indiana.)
Aunt Margaret -- sister, Margaret D. (married name, Bridges)
Franklin Pierce, a.k.a. Frankfurter -- son J. Frank
Francisco -- daughter-in-law Frances (nee Haberkorn)
Ira -- Ira Flauer, hired hand on the family's Russellville farm
Jane -- daughter Sarah Jane (married name, Anderson, now deceased)
Joan, a.k.a. Jonie Bonie -- daughter Mary Joanna (married name, McGaughey)
Margaretta -- daughter Margaret (deceased)
Munny, a.k.a. Munny-Bun -- wife Aura May (nee Sawyer)
The Old Brakeman -- Walter J. Behmer, retired Gen. Supt., The Pennsylvania Railroad
"Red" Purnell -- Fred Purnell, Congressman from Indiana
Sugar Foot, a.k.a. Footser -- daughter Aura May
Uncle Ernest -- brother J. Ernest Durham
ABOUT THE CO-AUTHOR
J. Frank Durham, who compiled this anthology of his father's letters, was born in Greencastle, Indiana, October 3, 1915. He went to work early, as a newsboy carrying the Indianapolis News and local paper, and then began his education at the legendary Dan Beard's Boy Scout Camp, in Pike County, Pennsylvania. He was subsequently a member of the Phillips Exeter Academy Class of 1934, obtained an AB degree from hometown DePauw University in 1937 and LLB from Indiana University in 1941.
Frank's budding law practice was interrupted by World War Two. He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, graduating from bomb disposal school and serving on Guadalcanal, where he received a field promotion to the rank of ensign. After being released from active duty, Frank chaired a committee that secured the only captured German V-1 Rocket ever put on public display in the United States. A unique war memorial, this "Buzz Bomb" rests atop a solid limestone V-shaped base at the southwest corner of the Putnam County Courthouse, in Greencastle.
In 1944, Frank married Frances M. Haberkorn of Detroit, Michigan. They had four children, Andrew H., George B., Stephanie and Madeleine. During a 1975 tour of the Pacific, Frances suffered a fatal aneurysm. In 1979, Frank married Elaine Eide Moe, of Sacramento, California, who is not only a gourmet cook but an active jazz band pianist.
Although he never developed his father's intense interest in politics, there are similarities. Frank was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the 64th Judicial Circuit for two terms, and then Greencastle City Judge for two more terms. He still practices probate law; was a trust officer of the Russellville Bank for 25 years, and a former bank vice president.
For recreation, Frank runs a bulldozer and backhoe on the family farm near Russellville, continuing to actively participate in its management, like his "Pap" before him. The farm also has the hangar and airstrip for Frank's Cessna, which he enjoys flying when not engaged in his law practice or farming. He first soloed in 1935. In 1971, he was a guest of the Canadian Government, helping celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Northwest Territory by flying with a small group down the Mackenzie River. He has flown a small plane to Alaska and back seven times, and was a guest writer in a published book by Loren McDonald, "A Very Private Pilot." On another occasion, Frank and a friend took his young sons on a float trip down Alaska's Porcupine River, using kayaks they built themselves from kits in an Eskimo village.
At age 82, J. Frank Durham is a worthy scion of his very active lineage.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Acknowledgments and thanks are long overdue to Elaine, my lovely spouse, who is largely responsible for the success of our marriage; my sister Aura May Durham, for all the proof-reading and telephone-answering; my sister Ann (Mrs. Ralph Weinrichter of Menlo Park, CA), for her research and help; my sister Joan