The bell and the belfry.
by Rogier Donker
Well known Wabash Valley artist potter-craftsman-cabinetmaker Rogier Donker is at it again....This time his efforts do not have anything to do with pottery or school demonstrations, but rather a local piece of history and then some! One thread of this story starts in Clay County, Indiana, home of the Clay City Pottery Festival and Rogier's wife Ellen A.Brothers-Donker 's ancestors. As was the custom in the late eighteen hundreds communities set aside land for the building of schools. Thus was the case in rural Clay County, where one Mr. Horton set aside some acreage for the District 4 school. The school was to be named the "Horton School" and consisted of a clap board building with a couple of outhouses. The school was originally built on the West side of what is now IN 59, two miles south of Clay City, in the bottom lands of the Eel River. The school opened for classes in 1868 or there about. As the population of Clay City grew, it was thought by the local school board to relocate the Horton School and have it closer to the town and the students. The school board president was William Mitchell, the grandfather of Marjorie Reagan and John Cashman. Mr. Mitchell proposed and all agreed that the new "Horton School" would be built one quarter mile to the East of highway 59, on CR 1200 East, on land donated by Mr. Mitchellıs wife, Sarah. Even though the school would sit on "Mitchell" land, in reverence to Mr. Horton , the school would remain known as the "Horton" school. A clap board building was erected and the "new" Horton School opened for classes around 1885. Around 1895 the school board decided to replace the small clap board building and a brick building was erected in 1897. A prominent member of the school board at that time was one Charles Brothers, Ellen Donker-Brothers' grandfather. The bricks used to build the Horton school were made locally, from locally dug clay. The new building had a basement, consisted of one large room with tall windows and had an entry hall with a tower that sported a beautiful cast iron bell. The nick name of the school was "Shake Rag", the reason why it had that nickname or where the name came from is lost in history. Ninety three year old Thelma Weatherwax-Liechty of rural Clay County, remembers well her days at the "Shake Rag" that she attended from 1917 to 1923. Only a quarter of a mile from her home, she would walk to school each morning accompanied by class mates Marjorie Reagan and little Stanley Nelson Brothers (Ellen A.Donkerıs father) Young Stanley would later excite the local population with his exploits on the basketball court. In 1929 Stanley Nelson Brothers, Loydd "Jug" Griffith (the late former owner of the Clay City Pottery) and their team mates would lead the Eels to the Sectional Championship. During the summer months ,when school was not in session, the school grounds would serve as a camp ground for "gypsies" and other "undesirables" who made their living any way they could, much to the chagrin of the locals....Given population and economic changes of the thirties the Horton School ceased operation in about 1935 and the building fell into disrepair. In the late forties a family even moved into the once beautiful school house and lived there briefly. In time the school house and the land it sat on reverted back to the heirs of Sarah Mitchell , which indirectly included Marjorie Reagan. By 1958 half the roof of the school house had caved in, the window and door casings had rotted out and by 1967 the building was in such dilapidated state that it was decided to demolish it. The job of tearing down the building fell upon the 18 year old nephew of Marjorie Reagan, William Shonk, the great-grandson of William Henry and Sarah Mitchell. Part of young Billıs compensation for his efforts was that he was allowed to keep the cast iron school bell. All 165+ pounds of it! He stored the bell in his aunt Margeıs corn crib.....
Flash back to 1955......and another thread in this story A lot of people are aware that Rogier Donker, husband of Ellen A Brothers-Donker grew up in a castle in Holland. Loevesteyn Castle was built in 1357 and has now been completely restored by the Dutch government. When Rogier lived there in the middle fifties he grew quite attached to "his" castle and spent his youthful time and energy exploring every square inch of the medieval fortress. Quoting from the book "Of Faith, Miracles, Memories and Reflections" ,Wabash River Press1995, by Rogier Donker : "...Originally Loevesteyn was built with three main towers, but during an attack by the French in 1794 the center tower of the castle had its top shot off. Literally. Rather than repairing the damage , the powers-that-were simply installed a sloping roof on the remains of the tower. The sloping roof was very steep. It was of the so called "lectern" variety and getting up on it was dangerous business. According to Peter [ the castle keep at the time,1955 ,ed ] , no one had been up on that roof or inside what remained of the tower for decades . The interior was very run down and dilapidated. One had to jump a five foot hole in the only staircase to even get into the tower. The hole in the staircase was some forty feet deep and had standing water from the moat in it ; sudden death for sure should one fall into it ! Peter was writing a book about the history of Loevesteyn and was very curious about the inscription on the brass bell that hung in the little bell tower atop the steep lectern roof. Being young and inexperienced I just had to climb the roof to investigate. Encouraged by Peter , I made my way across the hole in the stairs. Still encouraged by Peter , I made my way through centuries old debris and rotten flooring and via a window finally emerged on the steep roof. There I was, fifteen years of age, shaking on my knees, but determined to go all the way. In trepidation I crawled all the way up to the bell tower to read off the Latin inscription on the bell to Peter, who was safely below on terra firma! The fantastic panoramic view I had from way up there was spectacular . After that initial climb I would just go up to the bell tower on many a summer evening and just sit there on the roof , my back leaning against the little bell tower, dreaming of adventures past. ..."
Loevesteyn Castle belfry in 1955
When Rogier emigrated to the US in 1960 his castle roots and memories shaped the young immigrants life. One dream he has always had is to one day have a little bell tower like the one of his beloved Loevesteyn Castle. In the summer of 2001 Rogier came down with a sudden case of pancreatitis that almost killed him. Known for his generally optimistic outlook on life and a deep Faith rooted "joie de vivre" , those nine days in the hospital, the first five on the critical list , caused even more of an appreciation of life's blessings and possibilities.
Fast forward to the present and the third thread in this story:
After this yearıs Clay City Pottery Festival, Rogier went to visit an old family friend. A wonderful lady , Marjorie Reagan, 88 years young , had babysat Ellen and her twin brother fifty two years earlier. During the visit the subject of old school houses came up and Marjorie mentioned the Horton School. "Did it have a bell?", Rogier inquired. "Why yes", Marge said......"So what happened to the bell, Marge?" Rogier asked. "Over there in the old corn crib" , Marge said. Off to the corn crib Rogier went and there, in a corner, rusting away, dusty and covered with bird droppings, was the BELL!!! Hello! Could it be that Rogierıs dream was about to be fulfilled? Wheeling and dealing time ! The bell was purchased from its rightful owner, William Shonk, nephew of Marjorie Reagan and great grandson of William Henry and Sarah Mitchell for "one dollar and other valuable considerations". Then, with help of a friend, the bell was removed from itıs resting place of the last thirty five years, loaded up and jubilantly transported to Riverview, a hamlet in Fairbanks Township, Sullivan County, Indiana. After an initial sand blasting to remove layers of old paint and rust ,the bell proved to be in excellent shape. The hanger bolt was almost rusted through, but that was easily replaced (Thanks Mr. Thompson!) and the few little nicks on the edge of the bell proved to have no bearing on its pleasant sound. Some sanding here and there, some new paint and there was one beautiful bell in all its one hundred year old or so glory!
"A belfry we shall build" , Rogier proclaimed! Not just any old belfry, but a replica of the old Loevesteyn Castle belfry Rogier so fondly remembered. Out came the old scrap books and bell tower pictures. Rogier went to work . One week later : behold one belfry, definitely resembling the 1794 version of Rogierıs memory. The old country and the old of the new country united in down town Riverview IN. ..
The New Belfry in Riverview, Indiana 2002
Today at age sixty, Rogier has recovered from his bout of pancreatitis and he is ready to tackle the world, again. His activities range, still and once again, from designing and building custom kitchens, repairing kilns all over the Midwest and doing school demonstrations. This yearıs live Raku demonstration at the Clay City Pottery Festival proved to be a huge and well received success and will be repeated next year. Rogier feels richly blessed with Ellen, his wonderful loving and supportive wife of 32 years, a National Merit Scholar son Elias, 22 , a room full of HO scale trains to play with, a restored bright yellow 74 VW bug to run around in and now, atop his studio in downtown Riverview, a real honest-to-goodness belfry. The joyful and mellow clanging of the old bell is once again proclaiming and edifying the joys of this world and the blessings of our Creator... We are blessed beyond measure indeed!
Riverview, Summer 2002
Here comes the final touch.
Almost there.....
"The Eagle Has Landed." On the belfry that is .........."
Nifty, nifty.....
