“Schoolboy Soldiers” on the air! Iowa Public Radio’s Charity Nebbe shared our Civil War story.

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER

JEFFERSON, Iowa, Aug. 2 — The very popular Iowa Public Radio and Iowa PBS-TV show host Charity Nebbe will bring the nearly-forgotten story of our “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” to listeners on her “Talk of Iowa” radio show this Monday, Aug. 3, at 10 a.m. CDT.

My readers now know much of the story, which a committee of 14 of us in Greene County have been researching and presenting in several different ways over the past 16 months, including in a half-dozen columns on this site. I hope they’ll tune-in anyway.

In 1861 and ’62, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for the nation to “raise an army” to defeat the rebelling new nation of the Confederate States of America. In the new Greene County here in west central Iowa, young teachers Azor Mills and Isaac Brown closed what had been the first school built in the area. With 32 current or just-former students, they marched away to serve in the Union Army. In fighting until 1865 across six states, mostly in the South, 11 of the “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey,” as we call them, died in combat or from disease epidemics that ravaged their camps.

Charity Nebbe. (Photo by Pat Kinney of the Iowa Writers Collaborative)

When I told that story to the Iowa history class at Greene County High School here in April of 2025, teacher Dena Boyd’s students were shocked, even upset. Why, they asked, are there no public monuments about that today? How doesn’t everybody around here know that story?

They quickly decided to do something about it, and asked me and other members of the Greene County Historical Society to help.

After raising $96,950 in grants and donations, we’ll soon be erecting two 9-foot-tall granite monuments that will indeed tell the story.

Also, we’ve had teacher Boyd, her high school students and some veteran Civil War “re-enactors” — wearing new replica Union Army uniforms and equipment — marching in area parades and memorial services.

They will also be marching, acting and telling their Schoolboy Soldiers’ stories when the State of Iowa has its official “America 250” celebration on Oct. 24 on the State Capitol grounds.

And on Nov. 13, 14 and 15, when Greene County High School presents their annual fall play, it’ll be an original production “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” written by professional playwright John Busbee, of Des Moines, who also serves on our memorial committee.

Teacher Dena Boyd, as a Civil War lieutenant, with some of her troops.

But there’s now even more news about the memorial project, as four of us from the committee will be telling Charity Nebbe on Monday:

—The “Weary Ramblers” are going to join our salute to the Schoolboy Soldiers. On Friday, we reached an agreement hiring Chad Elliott, of Jefferson, and Kathryn Severing Fox, of Creston, to write and record the music that will be the “underscoring” for our play in November. Performing folk, blues, rock and Americana music as the Weary Ramblers, Elliott and Fox have recently won national acclaim and major awards for their work.

—As our research on the Schoolboy Soldiers has continued, leading us to several Civil War scholars, we discovered a family relationship that surprised us. Our teacher Azor Ruggles Mills turns out to be a cousin to the legendary abolitionist John Brown, of “Underground Railroad” fame. Some say they were “first cousins, once removed,” however you define that, some say they would be “second cousins.” What we know is that John Brown’s grandparents, Michael Mills and Mercy Lawrence Mills, were also the great-grandparents of Azor Mills. So, what does that mean? We’re not certain, but it does seem to give us new understanding about the earliest settlers of Greene County, and perhaps why they were quick to embrace military service against the Confederacy and win freedom for enslaved people.

—The 9-foot-tall “obelisk” monuments honoring the Schoolboy Soldiers are going to be formed, engraved and etched by firms in Milbank, South Dakota, on black granite extracted in India. One of those obelisks will be placed on the grounds of the Greene County Courthouse in Jefferson, the other in the Old Rippey Cemetery near the site of the pioneer schoolhouse the soldiers attended. The monuments have been designed, written and illustrated by students at Greene County High School. Our committee is paying $81,867 to have them made and erected. Ryam Nelson, co-owner of Jefferson Monument Works, tells us that ours is the largest order in the 79-year history of their company. But there is a problem. The memorials to our Schoolboy Soldiers are being held prisoner, so to speak, in another war: U.S. vs. Iran. Nelson said she was bewildered and angry to learn about a month ago that our blocks of granite, along with the stone for several other grave markers she has sold, are sitting on an ocean-going vessel that was, maybe still is, blockaded in the Strait of Hormuz. “All I can tell you today is the granite is still on the ship, and I don’t know for sure where it is,” she said on Saturday.

The Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey, at the Memorial Day service in late May at the Old Rippey Cemetery.

The public response to our project by individuals, families, organizations and government agencies, has been tremendous.

The most recent major grant for $10,800 has come from the Iowa Arts Council and the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

The largest grant has been $45,000 from Grow Greene County Gaming Corp., which is the license holder and distributor to non-profit organizations of a portion of gaming receipts from Wild Rose Casino & Resort in Jefferson.

Other grants include $10,000 from the State Historical Society Inc., of Iowa City; $5,000 from the Greene County Board of Supervisors; $3,000 from Humanities Iowa; $1,700 from the Jefferson Rotary Club; $1,200 from three local Questers groups, and other notable grants form the Greene County Historical Society and the Rippey Lions Club.

Contributions of $20,250 from individuals and families have come from across the nation.

If you would like to help, checks can be written to the Greene County Historical Society, which is a 501.c3 organization that is serving as our fiscal agent. Note that the checks are for the “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” memorial project, and mail them to the historical society at 219 E. Lincoln Way, Box 435, Jefferson IA 50129.

You can also help by purchasing our commemorative T-shirts, which are deep blue and trimmed in white. They were designed by today’s high school students and produced by the local company, ShineOn designs. You can buy the T-shirts in-person at the ShineOn store on the north side of the courthouse square in Jefferson, or order them using the historical society address. The shirts are $20 each, and please add $5 for shipping.

For Monday’s radio show, you can locate your Iowa Public Radio station, get details about listening live online or listening later on podcasts, by clicking right here. Charity Nebbe will be talking to teacher Dena Boyd, committee member Mary Weaver of Rippey, student leader Oliver Harris, and me.