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By Q.C. Jones

A March Miscellany of Briefs

Back in February 2021, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds declared March as Iowa History Month. The move was primarily designed to commemorate Iowa’s 175th anniversary of statehood and subsequent entry into the Union in 1846. I thought that was pretty cool.

Turning our attention to our QCA friends and family just across the river in Illinois, we could find no record of anything called “Illinois History Month.” However, our search did reveal that March is Women’s History Month in the “Land of Lincoln.”

No matter how we slice it, March is a historically bent month. This article is a collection of historical briefs with ties to March.

Leon Bismark Beiderbecke Born March 10, 2003 I always thought Leon was a cool name. I grew up listening to Leon Russell and Leon Redbone. I marveled at the acting ability of Ron Howard’s little brother Clint playing the part of little-Leon on the Andy Griffith show. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why this young Leon would take the stage name of Bix.

Bix was a QCA household name before most of were born. He lived fast, played faster, and died at an incredibly young age. Reviewing old photos, I could not help but wonder if Alfalfa of Little Rascals fame didn’t copy his signature hairstyle from Bix. That topic is one which may require further research at some other time.

Now a few points to ponder. For music lovers of the 1920’s Bix was a rockstar. He lived a rockstar lifestyle. His formative years fell during prohibition when alcohol was an illicit drug, and he died of the side effects of said drug.

Bix was one of the first in the music stars meeting a tragic end. His death at age 28 puts him within a few months of some legends of our generation who died from substance related causes: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Alan Wilson of Canned Heat all died at age 27.

See Annie Wittenmyer MarchArmed with this thought of our friend Bix drinking himself into an early grave, we found it ironic that Mr. Beiderbecke would be buried directly across the street from a facility named in Ms. Wittenmyer’s honor. We had hoped the gods of all things historical would give us a cool March date to tie to old Annie. Our internet searches did show hundreds (maybe thousands) of results for “Wittenmyer and March,”  however, they mostly referred to Annie’s favorite form of exercise. Women’s Temperance Marches.

Based on the contemporary writing, she was a social reformer and all around goodie-two-shoes. Serving as President of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union from 1874-79, she marched down to more taverns than your Pal QC Jones ever dreamt of.

The Sad Story of Marion Crandell

Marion Crandell was the first American woman to die in the war zone during World War I. She was born in Cedar Rapids, but spent several years in France, where she attended the Sorbonne University. In 1916 she came to Davenport as a teacher at St. Katharine’s School. When the war broke out, she offered her services to the Army and was assigned to caring for wounded French soldiers. Shortly after arriving in Paris in February 1918, she was killed by an exploding German artillery shell. That was March 27, 1918.

According to information shared on www.honorstates.org, Ms. Crandall “had enlisted in the United States Army. Served during World War I. Crandall had the rank of Enlisted. Her military occupation or specialty was Nurse and Aid Worker. Attached to 27th Division, 106th Infantry Regiment.” If any of you are prone to such things, you can find her final resting spot at: Plot F Row 1 Grave 24, Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne, France. Flowers from the QCA are in order.

There is a historical marker to Ms. Crandell directly in front of the Annie Wittenmyer Administration building at 2800 Eastern Avenue in Davenport. Based on personal observation, the marker is directly between Annie’s complex and Bix’s grave. We can only surmise where Crandell fell in the whole Temperance movement, but I suspect her love of “all things French” may have included a few smallish sips of Chardonnay. Annie would not have approved.

The Market Square Riot of 1912 – Rock Island

Not to leave our Illinoisan friends out of the mix, John Looney is my own personal favorite historical figure from Rock Island. Looney was an old-school gangster, and many say he literally ran Rock Island early in the last century. After a squabble with the Rock Island Mayor, he organized a drunken party in Market Square on March 27. Over 2,000 people gathered and stormed the police station. Two people were killed as violence swept across the city. The Governor declared martial law and brought in the National Guard.

The first thing the National Guard did in Rock Island was close the saloons. I believe Annie would have been pleased. Just saying…