Mrs. A. C. Wiehe and charity work in early McCook

My memory of getting my first license to drive involved my mother and my birth certificate. My memory of registering to vote for the first time (at the then legal age of 21) involved my having identification in the form of a valid driver’s license and this was in one of those woo-woo states. My memory of applying for jobs outside of McCook or with large corporations involved my having identification plus submitting my social security number on my application. If you see where I’m going with this you’ll understand that I don’t have a problem pulling my identification out when requested, especially when it involves something I wish to do or participate in. Bars ask for ID, banks ask for ID, concerts ask for ID, renting an apartment or house requires an ID and purchasing certain items requires an ID. The list goes on. If you really want to participate in ANYTHING, including voting, you will take the steps necessary to join in the fun. Of course, if you live in the wilderness, gather berries to eat, homeschool your cubs and never wander into society for any reason you may not have an ID and that’s OK because you probably don’t want to vote for the crazies that run for office anyway.

Over the years, I have known many strong women, but I missed ever knowing this one and I wish I would have. When you use the word singlehandedly, sometimes you are exaggerating, but with Mrs. Wiehe, it is the only description you can use for her charity work.

So, this is the way it was with women back in the day, every time her name appeared in the paper, she was identified as Mrs. A. C. Wiehe. She and her husband (A.C.) came to McCook when he joined the machinists at the rail yard and moved into the Donavan residence on North Madison Street. The society column tells of her many trips, hosted parties, and general involvement in the social scene of McCook, but not her first name!

McCook’s Golden Anniversary Souvenir publication tells a bit of the real story concerning her and the work she did for the destitute in our town. “Mrs. A. C. Wiehe, welfare worker for the Associated Charities and police matron for the City of McCook, has been engaged in charity work for the last 12 years. Born October 22, 1865, in Ft. Dodge Iowa, and coming to McCook from Cherokee, Iowa, in 1900, Mrs. Wiehe began her charity work independently in 1920. With only donations obtained from business men , a little charity office was donated in the city. In 1925, the welfare worker took up her duties with the Salvation Army but at the end of about a year the business men felt the expense too heavy , and with the aid of Mrs. Wiehe the Associated Charities was begun. Mrs. Wiehe has been police matron of the city for the past four years. She began her duties in that field under Mayor M. Lawritson and has continued to the present time under Mayors G. F. Moss (George Moss of the McCook National Bank) and M. Campbell.”

That publication was written in 1932, McCook’s 50th anniversary. At that time, she would have been 67 and still going strong. I wanted to know about her, so I went to my Ancestry.com account and found that she had died in 1949. Searching farther, I found that she and A. C., who I found was August C. Wiehe had two children: Ruth born in 1890 and William born in 1893. I also found that her name was Lillian! Lillian and August’s daughter Ruth married Cornelius Quick (a familiar name around Hugh Butler Lake), and they lived in the Indianola area. Two of their daughters were Esther and Charlotte. Ruth lived until November of 1995, having reached, if my math serves me well, the age of 105 years old!

Back to Lillian who established a charity organization (of one probably) in the 1920’s. She needs to be remembered for the work she did in our town serving the poor and also serving as the police matron. She is among the many stalwart women who helped make McCook a better place to live.

SWNGS library is open from 1-4 PM, Thursdays. We are located in the Temple Building, 322 Norris Ave., on the second-floor rooms 2-7.