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Sudden Endings: The Tragic Tale of Singleton Gardiner

   Gertrude Woodard was only seventeen years old. Popular and well-liked by many, young Gertrude lived with her parents near Hale, Missouri.    She, just like most people that age, no doubt had her hopes and dreams, of what adventures would fill the years of life that stretched out in front of her. Gertrude might

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The Person in the Background: Going Unnoticed Through History

I loved movies when I was a kid, especially westerns. They were great fun, but like most movies from back then, nothing bad ever really happened. Well, nothing bad without some kind of sounding resolution. I mean, Devil Dandridge rustled up some cattle, but Daring Dardanelle was always there to stop him and return that

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Fire in the Snow: The Sudden End of Singleton Gardiner

Winter driving can always be sketchy in the Midwest. Snow, ice, and plummeting temperatures can create dangerous road conditions. Almost one-hundred years ago this month, a Davenport man named Singleton Gardiner tragically found that out. Insurance Agent    Singleton Gardiner was the superintendent of the Davenport division of the Prudential Insurance Company. He had originally

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Dark Winter’s Past: The Unfortunate End of Singleton Gardiner

              This past weekend, the Midwest faced down Winter Storm Jupiter, what was promised to deliver a whole lot of nastiness. Thankfully, here in eastern Iowa it turned out to not be too awfully bad, but still bad enough to cause a lot of people to fall on icy sidewalks and streets and go to

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