Great Courage Needed To Stay in College

Note: Just thought this was interesting at back-to-school time, and to look at the historical perspective. Not sure of the exact date, but dad was a freshman in college in 1940.

Great Courage Needed To Stay in College
Says Dr. Stoffer

(Topeka Daily Capital or Washburn newspaper)

“It takes a great deal of courage to stay in college in the present times,” Dr. Bryan B. Stoffer, president, said last Friday at the freshman induction chapel, in his address “The Power to See It Thru.”

President Stoffer cited the example of Christ’s necessity for strong determination in winning His battles, pointing out that the same determination is now necessary to survive.

Glenn Cogswell, President of the student council, gave the welcoming address; Frank Eckert gave the response for the freshman class. Miss Betty Heaton played a violin solo, “The Dance of the Marionettes,” by Winternitz. She was accompanied by Betty Collins.

The Rev. L.E. Schwartz, pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian church, offered the invocation. Mr. Donald L. Coats played the processional, “Festival Processional,” by Rinck, and the recessional, “Toccata,” by Mailly.

‘Casanova Cogswell’

In a 1942-1943 Washburn University newspaper column entitled “I Only Heard” by Icha Bunk, the following article appeared, featuring “Casanova Cogswell.”

“If mudslinging is what the readers want, that’s what they’re going to get. So just remember, all you guys and gals, if you don’t like the way your name is slung around in this column, you’re the ones who asked for it!

"Another year has rolled around, and again it is time for Casanova Cogswell, now a senior, to pick himself out a nice new freshman glamour girl to rush. All eyes of the campus are turned upon him to see who will be his next victim. It is rumored that the odds are two to one for a certain little Lois Lacey.”

Even if it was rumored he had his eye on Lois Lacey during his senior year, Glenn was apparently still good friends with Royce Palmer, who, along with him, was elected "Most Decorative" in their junior year. It was Royce who wrote to him when he was away at officers' training in Chicago which caused Glenn to miss attending Washburn's 1943 graduation ceremony.

Royce Palmer, Glenn Cogswell, Best Looking

Washburn Names ‘Decorative’ Pair

Royce Palmer and Glenn Cogswell, junior students at Washburn University, have been chosen as the most decorative man and woman on the campus, their pictures to be featured in the ’42 issue of the Kaw, Washburn college yearbook...

Kaw editor Elizabeth Stanley and Business Manager John Evans explained that the soldiers were asked to make the selections in order to avoid partiality.

After looking over the pictures, the soldiers declared: “All these boys look like good Army material.”

Evans, who supervised the judging, explained that he had a difficult time hanging onto the pictures, since the soldiers thought the girls would make dandy “pin-up” girls. And he had to keep on his toes to keep the girls’ phone numbers to himself, since the entire judging had to be kept secret and free of prejudice.

Instead of the somewhat trite titles of “king” and “queen,” Miss Palmer and Cogswell will be designated “the most decorative” man and woman on the Washburn campus.

Selection of the two was made Saturday night by the board of five Fort Riley soldiers. The soldiers made their decisions after viewing pictures of the ten nominees for the woman’s honor and the nine candidates for the men’s position.

Miss Palmer, a queen in the 1941 Kaw, is the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Oscar Palmer, 1812 Willow. She is a member of the Ichadettes, Delta Phi Delta, Press club and Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

Cogswell Into Navy

Cogswell, who is a member od the executive committee of the Shawnee County Young Republican club, has been affiliated with the International Relations club and belongs to Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Son of Mr. And Mrs. C.C. Cogswell, 2109 North Kansas, he will enter training for a commission as ensign in the navy upon completion of his school work.

Glenn’s Little Family

Glenn’s first-born daughter, Carolyn, arrived November 25, 1946, at Stormont-Vail Hospital, Topeka. Someone took lots of pictures of the first-born: Carolyn and Jean, 1946; one-month-old Carolyn with Jean, Nana, Granddad and Uncle John as soon as the grandparents and the uncle arrived from England; separate shots of Carolyn with Mom, with Dad and with Nana at the Rose Garden; Carolyn with her doll and a stroller; Carolyn on her tricycle; Daddy holding Carolyn as he graduates from law school in 1947; and Daddy reading to Carolyn in a stuffed chair.

Glenn’s son, David, arrived September 21, 1949. By then, Glenn had already passed the bar, formed a law firm and been elected Judge of the Court of Topeka. As many pictures as there had been of Carolyn, there now appeared of Carolyn and David together: Carolyn shooting a water pistol into David’s mouth, as he sat in a high chair; Carolyn lifting David up off the ground in front of the house; David and Carolyn with Grandpa and a dapple gray pony; David and Carolyn in matching red and white striped jackets Nana made for them when they went to New Orleans with Mom and Dad; David and Caroyn brushing their teeth in the doorway at 711 Park Lane.

Those were the times before the trouble, when Glenn and Jean, Carolyn and David were an intact family. No one knew how times would change, but for a brief and significant space of time, the Glenn D. Cogswells were a normal family, and, other than an argument now and then, a happy family, as far as David and Carolyn knew. Maybe the trouble began when Glenn's political career taking off.

From a Tadpole to a Frog

The following article appeared in an unidentified newsprint publication describing an anecdote that demonstrates my mother’s sense of humor. Besides her petite figure and good looks, undoubtedly, this was one of the reasons my dad was attracted to her.

“’Tis said that tadpoles grow up to be frogs in just no time at all, but we hear that when fed vitamins they grow in leaps and bounds. Friday night the Jaycee Jaynes invited their husbands to a dinner-dance at Lake Linge and to the dinner table, Charles L. Davis Jr. carted a little tadpole which just couldn’t be restrained in a saucer with water, determined to have its freedom. Finally, Jean (Mrs. Glenn) Cogswell wrapped the little tadpole up in her napkin and took it outside. She returned a short while later and to the amazement of Charlie and the other guests, presented him with her napkin inside of which was a large frog. Jean assured him that she “fed the tadpole vitamins” while outside, but we hear he and the other guests were skeptical of the story! At any rate there was no lack of entertainment at the dinner table and we’re surprised that someone didn’t end up ordering a nice fresh dish of fried frog legs.”

Tribute to Peggy, the wife of Dad's old age

Wednesday, July 20, 2011, we buried Peggy, the wife of Dad's old age. I told her many times, "You are the best thing that ever happened to Dad," and I meant it.

When he was with Anne, she had decided she only wanted to see Dad's children, David and me, "one at a time," so the year my niece Rosamund was about 3, I didn't get to see her, because that was the year Anne allowed Dad to see David and not me.

When Dad married Peggy, I was getting my Ph. D. in Knoxville, so whenever I got vacations, I was able to spend about five consecutive days with Dad and Peggy.

I got to see him in his pajamas and drink coffee with him in the morning. I got to kiss him goodnight. All these things I missed when he was married to Irene and when he was married to Judy.

"This has been so healing for me, Peggy," I told her. "I appreciate so much that you care about my relationship with Dad." Seems like that was not so much the case with the others.

I had many good moments with her before she died. I believe I got to tell her everything I had wanted to tell her. I told her, "He loved you so much. You're so good."

I remember eating Thanksgiving dinner with them in 2010. Dad sitting across from Peggy and me. He looked across the table at her and so earnestly spoke these words:

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. I do, I do, I do, I do, I do."

I will never forget it. I don't think he was ever as happy as he was with Peggy. And for that I am eternally grateful.

One day, a few weeks ago,suddenly, the thing I wanted most to do was to grieve Dad with Peggy. I went by the nursing home, where she was sitting on the side of her bed. I held her and wept, and she held me. Afterwards, she said, "When you get hom, if you can't sleep, you can sleep here." Of course, that would have been impossible, unless I slept on the couch. She had an actual apartment in this facility.

Anyway, she's gone now, and I didn't get to tell all the family and friends how much she meant to me, so this is that little moment in time where I tried to do that.

She was the bullseye. She was the homerun. Nothing against the others. I loved them all. Just that this one, well, she was just special, that's all.

I know that's not very eloquent, but that was the only way I could say it in five minutes. More later.


http://www.penwellgabeltopeka.com/obituary-pg.asp?src=choice&obitid=49663&name=Peggy+Jean+Cogswell&city=Topeka&st=KS

Peggy Anderson Cogswell, 80, Topeka, passed away on Saturday, July 16, 2011, at Homestead of Topeka.

Peggy was born June 7, 1931, in Topeka, the daughter of James and Bessie Allen. She was a graduate of Washburn Rural High School.

She had been a member of First Christian Church.

Peggy married M.D. Drummond. He preceded her in death. She married Arthur D. Anderson in June 1970. He preceded her in death on February 10. 1993. She then married Glenn D. Cogswell. He died February 7, 2011.

Survivors include daughter, Pamela J. (Drummond) Hatfield and husband Dean, Tonganoxie; son, Bradley Drummond and wife, Kelly, Topeka; step-daughters, Lisa Smith and husband, Robert, Lawrence, Mary Lynn Anderson, Texarkana, AR; granddaughters, Paige Hatfield, Mallory Hatfield, Jillian Drummond, all of Topeka; step-granddaughters, Christina Smith, Jessica Smith, both of Lawrence; and step-grandson, Andrew Pryor, Texarkana, AR. She was preceded in death by a brother, Neal Powell; and sister, Ruth Duckworth.

The Wedding Letter

Editor's note: Apparently, this letter is what Glenn's dad turned into the newspaper for the story that carried the wedding picture. More later...

22 May 1945
England

My Dear parents –
I hope those affidavits are on the way because I think I'll need them quite soon. I guess you know what I mean.

Altho it’s a little delayed, I know, here’s the information about the wedding A group picture of the bride and groom plus the naval officers in attendance will come as soon as I can get it. I asked for one suitable for newspaper cut ahead of the regular order, I’ll send it as soon as possible – may be nearly two weeks.

Wedding:
The bride wore a white lace and satin gown, with orange blossoms in her hair and lashings of white tulle veiling. She carried a shower bouquet of white lilies of the valley; crimson rose buds and red carnations with a mist of asparagus fern.

Her maid of honor – Miss Roana Billett of Highfield, So’ton was floral silk, with navy blue accessories and wore a large spray of lily of the valley.

The bride’s mother wore navy blue with a silver fox fur and a spray of lily of the valley and pink carnations. The bride was given in marriage by her father who wore dark brown and wore a white carnation buttonhole. The bridegroom and best man were in Naval (blue) uniform.

Travel difficulties prevented most of the bride’s relatives from attending, tho two aunts from London were present. Thirty other guests were present including Naval officer friends of the groom and the fiancé of the maid of honor, Lt. Arvel Gruefel, U.S. Army – adding a splash of uniform to the gathering.

The ceremony was performed by the Rev. H. Leslie Clarke at the Church of the Ascension, Bitterne Park, So’ton, at 10:00 o’clock on May 1st. It was a cold morning but the sun was brilliant.

The church was pretty – decorated with masses of flowering shrubs, including guild rose, pink double cherry blossom and (hydrangea).
The usual wedding march was replaced by “Trumpet Voluntry” – (at the bride’s request) and played by Mr. W. Brattle, organist and choir-master of the church. Other music included Shubert’s “Serenade” and Brahms “Lullaby.”

Among the hymns were “Oh Perfect Love” (don’t remember any of the others)
Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” was exit. The reception was at the Castle Inn (Hotel) in Midanbury.

The cake was two tiered beautifully iced – surprisingly “pre-war” – both in looks and taste (miraculously procured – usually iced cakes are a memory in England these days). There apparently was plenty of food and drink for all – and all seemed to have a fine time (!).

The Honeymoon, as you know, was in Bournemouth – a seaside resort on the South Coast of old L’Angleterre!

The end of the 7-day leave was V-E Day (8th) that night the old 506 and old Cogswell was churning toward France – such a life.
All that info is bolony – but you can have what you want of it. Sorry it wasn’t sooner but we just couldn’t seem to get time to sit down and figure it all out.

There may be some rather fast developments on coming home so please rush those affidavits if you haven’t sent them.

Lots of love –

Jean & Glenn

P.S. Jean just received your letter, Dad – It didn’t go airmail because of “insufficient postage.” Should have been 8 cents I guess.

Lots of Things are Different Now

1944 July 16

Dear Folks,

Sunday afternoon, like any other, is indistinguishable from the afternoon before; a little different from the old days when the gang would congregate at White’s. Lots of things are different now. They tell me now the censorship regulations will allow us to say where we’ve been in England, so long as we don’t mention any place within the county we are operating from now. So…here goes.

As you know, I called home from Boston the one night we were there. We left early the next morning. I guess you got all my postcards from New Orleans and New York. I could have come home in either of those ports, except that they never let us know how long we’d be there.

We went from Boston to Halifax, N.S. Boy, that was a cold spot! Much more American than British, though, as far as the people were concerned. We came across by way of the North Atlantic, and it was plenty cold, but we had good foul weather gear and were never subjected to any system longer watches than were necessary, that is, we worked out a relief system within the watch. We had to wear facemasks and even then, our breath would freeze.

Thank goodness we didn’t have to get into that water – a normal person could last only about five minutes in it. Well, we saw no submarines, in fact we sighted no enemy at all, although our convoy course was changed several times to miss zones of enemy operation. The LST convoys before and after us, in a matter of days, both lost a couple of ships.

We came around North of Ireland into the Irish sea which is as green as clover. Very pretty sight though. We first landed at Milford Haven, Wales. It was a little mining town almost exactly like the Welsh village in the show “How Green Was My Valley.” The high cliffs were beautiful, and the hills presented a pretty picture with little old castles here and there.

There were no vehicles in the street but military ones, jeeps, command cars, etc. The thing that really was noticeable was, despite the serenity of the setting, little anti-aircraft pillboxes everywhere, and some rather large guns. These soon became common sights as well as rather extensive anti-invasion obstacles and anti-tank defenses, as we got to England.

We went from there to Plymouth, England, which was the terrifically bombed-out city I mentioned. Of course, we saw, and landed with my assault boat at Pilgrim’s Pier, from which the Pilgrims embarked for America.
Falmouth was our base for quite awhile, and it was a pretty fair city – of course, nothing like our own, but you could buy a few things there, and for an English town was pretty well advanced.

Fowie was our next base. It was a little berg, but loaded down with supplies and amphibious craft.

A few days before the invasion we went to Plymouth again. You could never hope to see so many ships in one place in all your life. Destroyers were a dime a dozen, a couple of battleships, lots of cruisers, mostly British, and innumerable landing craft. It was there we were loaded with infantrymen and AA artillery.

We were the first ship, along with another LST in the follow-up phase, which immediately follows the Assault…as I’ve told you, we hit about H plus 8, or about four in the afternoon of D-Day. We had started out a day earlier, and had gotten about a third of the way and were sent back, because the weather had not permitted aircraft operations. This was bad for the morale, and we were beginning to think there wasn’t going to be an invasion after all. We were relieved when we were ordered out again, just 24 hours later.

I told you already of our experiences D-Day and shortly following. We operated from Southampton until a short time ago, and are now operating frm the base to which we were supposed to return after D-day. Southampton was not very far from Wilts county, but I didn’t have a chance to get up there. In fact, our first liberty since about June 1st was our last trip.
Well, that gives you an idea of where I’ve been in England. We’ve not been in Northern England, but they say there’s not a lot of difference.

I still deeply respect the English civilians in many ways, but am getting plenty fed up with the outfit as a whole. Whenever we take English across, we about go nuts before we get them off. And seeing the way they handle mechanical vehicles, I don’t have much faith in them.

A Warrant officer in port last time sad a woman came up to him a while back and asked him if he wasn’t a technician. He said yes, he guessed he was…

”Well,” she said, “You Americans are supposed to be technicians…when are you going to do something about these flying bombs – they’ve been coming over now for three weeks, and you haven’t done a thing about them!” He told her to duck, that’s what he’d do.

Another Limey, a pilot (navigational) told us seriously over a cup of coffee, that he thought the US should become one of the Dominions, after the War. One damn fool Wren (Wave) thought because American seamen are allowed to raise mustaches that, “They have no discipline – they do as they please.” They don’t allow mustaches in the “Royal Navy.” Of course, they can, and many of them do raise long dirty beards, and let their hair grow over their ears. They think our “BUTCH” haircuts look like convicts – they wouldn’t think of such an undignified thing (nor sanitary one).
So much for the “Bloody blokes.” Personally, I think they’re a simple bunch who are riding for a terrific fall, and I think it’s about time.

We’re making quite regular trips, and the Isle is beginning to raise out of the water again as we’re getting the American equipment across the Channel. Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently; the American soldier and sailor is by far the best equipped, best paid, and best looked out for of any in the world. And the German is next. Actually, I have more respect for the German soldier in many ways than of any of our Allies. Of course, I know nothing first hand about the “Russ.”

I surely appreciate the ‘Capitals’ and I want you to let me know if and when my watch arrives. I’m beginning to worry a little about it.
I weighed the other night and weighed 13 stones and 10 pounds, which is 192 pounds. Feeling fine, but getting out if condition. Hope everything is OK at home. Write often.

OCEANS OF LOVE.

Glenn

'Never thought the coast of England could look so good to me...'

Editor's Note: This letter, written four days after D-Day.

Back in England, June 10 (1944)

Dear Folks –

I never thought the coast of England could look so good to me as it did last night when we pulled in. It was wonderful.

Believe me, War IS Hell – with a capital “H.” And I’ve about had my fill of it. I’m only thankful I’m not in the Army – although, I guess the soldiers feel just the opposite. I’m thankful, too, for the first time, that I’m aboard an LST instead of a Troop Transport (P.A.) with my assault boats.

In fact, I’m thankful for a good many things right now. We have a wonderful skipper, and I think we had a little help from above, too. Anyway, the worst is over, now – so don’t worry. I won’t see anything I haven’t seen the last six days.

Dad, my shaver’s monitor was a real comfort to me a couple of times – I mean that.

We’ve been getting so little sleep that until now I haven’t been able to sleep over two hours at a time. Well, there are lots of things to tell you – if you want to hear them – but I can’t write much at the present time.
Anyway – “I was there—“ and we’ll be keeping a constant shuttle service across the Channel for awhile.

We had some German prisoners – very interesting – one Holland Dutch. Drafted from the Netherlands, a German Jew, a 20 year soldier and a true “Superman” Luftwaffe officer – pilot – just like the movies show them (the Pilot, I mean) among others.

Well, enough for now – Pray for us and we’ll pull through. Tell Ralph “Happy Birthday” – I notice today is his day.

Love to all – and write I don’t know where our mail is being sent, but will catch up with us some time. Send my love to the rest of the family.

Your Son.

Sad Shops and Terrible Women, May 16, 1944

Editor's Note: Here, Glenn writes about German propaganda,a shark hunt,a flood in Topeka,horses at the farm,a watch in need of repair, wanting the local newspaper sent, pistol-shooting practice and hunting plans for when he gets home, a vivid description of the English countryside,its sad shops and "terrible" women -- and a not-so-complimentary comment about Texas.

Around and About England, May 16, 1944

Dear Folks –

Received your V-mail of Apr. 24 to-day. It’s the first mail the ship has had for over a week. You’ve no idea what an effect that hold-up of the mail has on the morale of the ship.

Sorry to hear of the flood – hope it didn’t do too much damage. It isn’t as if you all didn’t have anything else to worry about right now.

What is the horse situation now – still have the Percherons and black gaited mare? That Arabian would probably have financed the farm if he’d had a little lineage.

I may send my watch home – I can’t get anything done to it over here – I can’t get anybody to even look at it.

I’ll be sending some money home, too. I haven’t been ashore for two weeks and there’s nothing you can buy when you do go. As soon as I draw another pay I’ll send a batch home.

I’ve been doing a bit of pistol shooting with my .45 auto. Gov’t furnishes plenty of cartridges and the gun so I might as well have the fun and experience. I’m going hunting with Cozy when I get home.

The propaganda the Germans throw out over the air is so thick a knife won’t cut it. I can’t see how it can do any good – it’s so heavy – it just disgusts me. You can catch a bit of German in the English (not American) they broadcast in – it’s rather an amusing mixture – not that it’s a poor job of English – it just doesn’t ring quite clear.

I guess I told you about the big shark hunt the other day. That was really fun – they’re all gone now – I think they come in only a couple of times a year or something.

You ask about the country here – It’s very pretty – the fields are small and fenced with shrubbery and trees, and being rather hilly it presents a pretty picture. They have some beautiful horses and cattle around here – not many, but nice ones.

The soil, cliffs and all have lots of color. The villages are quaint – very narrow streets and sidewalks and small old buildings. None of the buildings have central heating so they have one or two chimneys with about four flues in each one.

That’s about all I can say. The stores are sad and the women are terrible (--to look at – that’s as far as I can get).

Did you ever subscribe to the Daily Capital for me?

My Co – Small Boat officer and I, being from Texas and Kansas, respectively, have the big arguments a bout our states – Don’t you think Texas stinks?

Write.
Lots of love,
Glenn

'When D-Day comes – drop a little prayer or two, will you, please?'

Editor's Note: This letter, as the others, shows Glenn's respect and love for his parents,and his close communication with them. This letter also highlights his desire to emulate his father and make him proud ("I, too, am figuring on some 'big things' someday, Dad.").

Serving in the Navy was changing his value system ("I've learned that a car isn’t as indispensable as I once thought – a lot of other things too, for that matter."), yet he wanted his father to know he was grateful for the car ("I’m awfully glad I had that car, though, and appreciated it a lot.")

Glenn's love for family and appeal to his parents' faith is inspirational, and his declaration of love to "the little nieces and nephews" speaks of the devotion to family and loved ones that characterized his life.

Britain, May 28

Dear Folks –

Received your clipping and letter of May 18. Several days ago – but have been quite busy. Those airmail letters came in a hurry. I enjoyed the clippings – that was an especially good editorial on the Ward deal.
I guess the only difference in our accounting was because of my not knowing when you started buying bonds.

I want to check together every once in awhile, so we won’t get fouled up. The present rate of bonds will be OK until you get $500 worth, then let it ride, until I lay away $1,000 cash – that should take care of it for awhile.

I hope you got a good deal out of the Ford. I’ve learned that a car isn’t as indispensable as I once thought – a lot of other things too, for that matter.

I’m awfully glad I had that car, though and appreciated it a lot.
From the magazines we get, Life, etc., the LSTs are shown a good deal in advertisements and in cartoons, etc. I guess it’s about the only ship that none of the other countries have. At least, no one should ever mistake us for an enemy. Of course, my primary duty still involves operation of a Small Boat (LCVP) Flotillas.

I think Beven [Lt. (JG)] We met in Kansas] is here in the same town – I’m going in tomorrow and try to find him.

I, too, am figuring on some “big things” someday, Dad – but for the time being all that has to ride, I guess. As soon as this invasion’s over, if I don’t get transferred, I’m getting into those correspondence courses.

I agree with you that Navy is best field – The Army end of this Amphib operation is really rugged.

I’d like to be in Chicago with you – do a good job in there. A Republican looks awfully good from here. There’s only one Demo. Officer aboard – an Irish Catholic from the Bronx.

The rest, most of them are rabid Republicans – anxious to get F.D.R. back to Hyde Park. Dewey looks awfully good to most of us. Haven’t heard about McMillan or others – though neither of the prominent Ohioans cut much ice. Most of the boys seem to think Stassen’s day will come later.

The German Radio gives us no end of entertainment – they broadcast, especially for the invasion forces – I’ll tell you all about it some day. They give terrific newscasts and little “warning lectures.” It makes me all the madder to hear them.

Well, write often and take care of things. Give all the little nephews and nieces my love.

Love to all,
Glenn

When D-Day comes – drop a little prayer or two, will you, please?

Letters Home 1944, June 27, From English Channel, Reference to Father's Day

Editor's Note: This is a post D-Day letter home, written from LST(Landing Ship Tank) 506 in the English Channel, where U.S. Naval Reserve Lt. (J.G.) Glenn D. Cogswell, along with many of our fathers and grandfathers who survived D-Day, June 6, 1944, continued to carry casualties of D-Day across the English Channel.

English Channel

Dear Folks –

We’re rolling quite a bit just now, but I’ll try to write anyway. Maybe you can read it.
We finally got some mail, Dad’s K.G.M and snapshots and two letters (4th and 13th) from Mother. I enjoyed them all a great deal.We are hoping for some more this trip.

We are having quite an experience – there’s never a dull moment, though I can think of more pleasant ones. Our job now is not exceptionally dangerous, but always something different over there. We’ve been hitting various beaches.

I read the overseas edition of Time, June 19, and it had a pretty good picture. They are much more frank and honest than anything the British have. All the British papers and radio can talk about is how the wonderful British are winning the war. Their newspapers read like a high school paper, petty remarks and “bull” so thick you can hardly find the news.
The Phonograph – P.A. just whipped out with “I’ll be home for Christmas” – I’d sure settle for that!!

Dad, Father’s Day sort of slipped up on me – every day is the same here – there’s not much use trying to keep track of time. I know you’ll forgive me, though, because I am pretty busy these days, and I think of you at home every day, holiday or not.

That strawberry shortcake sounds like awful good duty from here. Best we have that on the menu when I get home.

Back again, just had time out for chow. It was terrible. By the way, Dad, I don’t think dehydrated potatoes are so hot. In fact, they’re definitely not a good idea. On the whole we have much better chow than the Army – or British civilians – but we think it’s pretty awful sometimes.

We still get a smattering of German prisoners – usually wounded ones, now, along with our own casualties – they look like anything but “Super-men.”
They’re a pretty sad looking bunch. Several groups of pretty large numbers of prisoners were marched along the beach into other LST’s specified for their return to England. We evacuate casualties, usually.

This war is certainly a wasteful enterprise. It’ll be a great day, when it’s over.

I’m hanging on to a faint hope that I might get home in October or so. It would be awfully nice – too good to expect.

Well, keep writing, tell all the folks hello – I’ll try to write often, too.

Oceans of love,
Glenn

Letter to Mother from U.S. Naval Midshipmen's School, 1943

Editor's Note: Glenn was selected with four other young men from Washburn University to attend Naval officers' training at the U.S. Naval Midshipmen's School in Chicago in preparation for military service in Europe. Training in Chicago meant that he would graduate from college in absentia in May of 1943. He wrote the following letter to his mother in honor of Mother's Day.

U.S. Naval Midshipmen’s School
Tower Hall
820 Tower Court
Chicago, Ill.

May 7, 1943

Darling Mother,

We got “liberty” tomorrow, to go down town, and I’ll try to wire you a Mother’s Day greeting. Since I can’t be sure how successful I might be in that endeavor, due to conditions with which you are familiar, I am writing you this letter.

I’m sorry I can’t be home with you this Mother’s Day – perhaps in another year I may be able to. We’ll hope so at least.
I don’t need to really remind you of how wonderful you’ve been to us all, or what we think of you, but I will take this opportunity to say a word or two.

You’ve had quite a time with us four boys, and we’re caused you lots of grief. I only hope that I, for myself, may be able to partially repay you, by doing the kind of things in the way, and being the type man you will be proud to call “your son.”

I am a man now, and should be well along the road. With this short interlude complete, perhaps I will be able to complete that job.
This school has put out about 9,000 naval officers in the past three years, of which only 50 have been killed, 100 more missing. The executive officer here, who may know many things we don’t, thinks we will be the last class to actively engage in this war. I hope he’s right.

The point I hope to make by that was that things are not, possibly as dark as they may seem.

Please don’t worry about any of us if we all have to put in some service. I certainly have confidence in my brothers to take care of themselves – they were brought up that way, and they’ll do themselves and you proud, too – they were brought up that way, too.

The Japs and Germans just didn’t know what kind of mothers we have, over there – or they wouldn’t have started this thing.

Keep the home fires burning, I’ll be rolling in there to see you, one of these days, with a little gold star and stripe on my sleeve (I hope). I hope you have a swell Mother’s Day.

All my love, your son,

Glenn

A Father's Legacy

A Father’s Legacy

I found out more about my father after he died than I ever knew about him while he was living. Digging through a box full of his scrapbooks, I found out about the fascinating and illustrious life he lived long before he ever thought about becoming my idol, my hero and the one I was privileged to call Daddy. He was an acknowledged leader in academics, debate and school government. He was popular and an athlete. He was also extremely good-looking. This was not something I was unaware of, but seeing it recur as a theme throughout his life gave me deeper insight into his personality. I almost want to say he was dangerously good-looking.

Glenn had wavy, black hair and the most beautiful hazel eyes I ever saw. His cheeks had just a hint of dimples, and his smile was electric. He stood 6’2” and had long legs for playing basketball, but he had the softest hands in the world. Someone said he probably got those hands from washing dishes, and he did wash a lot of dishes in his life. I saw him wash a lot of them myself, and his cousin, Nina May, told me a story about him washing dishes as a boy, which appears a little later on.

His hands were also beautiful to look at. His fingers were long and tapered, and his nails always perfectly manicured. But it was not just his good looks and athletic build that made him attractive. He had charisma. He had a voice you could listen to all day, a youthful voice with laughter and a smile in it, one that drew you in, that told you you were important, that he wanted to know what you had to say. He listened, and he responded. He had time to talk to you.

He left me a legacy. I believe that when he gave me all those scrapbooks, he must have wanted me to know he didn’t mean for some things to happen the way they did. When I was his little girl, he was a shooting star. That little boy born on a farm in Pretty Prairie that grew up to be the vice-president of his high school senior class, president of his college freshman class, an officer in the navy and a hero of World War II became a judge who believed in families staying together. I believe he wanted me to know how much he believed in that. I believe he tried to tell me many times and was never able to articulate it, or there wasn’t time, or the circumstances were not convenient.

In a letter he wrote me in 1985, he said, “Hi, Honey – I don’t know why it is so difficult for me to sit down and write to you. I think about you every day and have such good intentions but just don’t get it done. I think perhaps it’s because there is so much I want to say to you – and I don’t know where to start.

“The most important – and I know you know it – but I sometimes get a terrible feeling that I have failed to communicate this to you like I should.

“I really do love you very much. You are special and I don’t want you to ever lose sight of that!”

Could anyone ask any more from a Dad? I often ask myself that question. But I did ask more from him. My life was devastated when he and my mother got a divorce, and the jury is out as to whether or not I have fully recovered or ever will fully recover from the effects of that divorce on this side of eternity. But to find out now just how much he never intended for that to happen has helped me heal, and perhaps he knew that it would. I guess I never really knew what people meant when they said, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I’m sure it has something to do with the idea that committing to something and staying with it is more important than just starting out wanting to do the right thing. Still, some of what the divorce wrought in me has begun to change direction somewhat since I have begun to study my father’s life, and I want to share these insights with others.

After the divorce, everything changed. He quit politics, he quit aspiring to greatness, he just began to roll with the flow, to take the path of least resistance, to settle, perhaps, to survive – but not to thrive. And that’s what the rest of us did as well – my mother, my brother and I. We all became survivors. But now that he’s gone and he’s given me all this new information about his life and about who he was, I believe that his legacy to me is something that should be shared with others who have suffered losses associated with divorce.

“Did you ever see the farm in Pretty Prairie where I was born?” he asked me several times when he was starting to lose his memory.

“No,” I said. “Or, if I did, I was too young to remember.”

“Well, we’ll have to take you there sometime,” he said. I never did see the farm in Pretty Prairie. I have seen a blurry photograph of my young grandparents with my father’s oldest brother when he was a toddler, standing in front of a two-story farmhouse that’s really more dust than house in the photograph. I wish I could go see it, if, it is still standing, but the best I may be able to do is try to bring to life some of the events that began there.

Glenn Dale Cogswell, was born Feb. 1, 1922, on a farm in Kingman County, Kansas, the youngest of four sons, to Susie Alma Schisler (1888-1988) and Carl Clifford Cogswell (1889-1975). Carl and Susie had four boys: Carroll Clayton (1912-1994), Kenneth Marvel (1915-1995) and Ralph Eldon (1917-2004). Glenn frequently told his children how his mother, Pennsylvania Dutch and a “Dunkard,” was the 18th of her mother’s children, the 17th being her twin brother, George.

Susie’s mother, Matilda, died in 1890 giving birth to a daughter, also named Matilda, her 19th child, who also died. Today, nothing more is known about whether the baby was already dead or suffered some complications during childbirth. After Matilda’s death, family friends Haden and Martha Long of Pretty Prairie took in Susie, who would have been two by then, and, as far as I know, her twin brother, George.

Glenn and Susie referred to Martha as both Grandma Long and Grandma Evans, and Susie referred to Martha as her “foster mother.” Matilda’s death left 9 siblings age 15 and under to be cared for by someone. Their names from oldest to youngest were Mary (Molly), Sarah (Saddy – I wonder if this may have been pronounced “Sadie”), Benjamin, Henry, Archie, Jesse, Katie, Susie and George. They may be the nine pictured in the big, oval portrait I have of Grandma and 8 of her (17) siblings. Perhaps the older children may have been married and on their own by the time that picture was taken.

In a cardboard box I found a dot matrix printout with genealogical records I believe my Uncle Ralph obtained in California and later delivered to my father. Tiny type states that Susie was also known as Susie Long, and that later her foster mother, Martha Long, married a Mr. Evans. Anna, Benjamin and Matilda’s oldest child, was 27 when her mother died. Joseph was 26, John, 25, Will, 23, Martin, 22, Edwin, 20, Lydia Ellen, 19, Charles, 18, and Ammi, (possibly pronounced “Amie”), 16. Matilda had her first child at 18, but I found no more information on what happened to the family structure when she died.

Based on this genealogical information, Martha and Haden are both buried in Sego Cemetery, west of Pretty Prairie, Kansas. The printout also states that some records indicate Susie’s father, Benjamin, married a Mary Reed after the death of his wife, but there is no more information available about Susie’s relationship with her father after the death of her mother. The record shows that Benjamin lived until 1921, but it is “Mrs. Martha Long” whose name appears on the wedding invitations to Susie and Carl’s February 23, 1910, wedding on my grandmother’s birthday.

Glenn’s father, Carl, was the firstborn of his mother, Eliza Jane O’Leary, whose birth year is 1870, but the date of her death is not recorded in The Descendents of John Cogswell or on the printout. His father, George Kirkpatrick Cogswell, was born Jan. 9,1867, and died Oct. 7, 1949. Between his birth and that of his younger brother, Guy Kenneth, arrived two sisters, Edna Faye and Elva Grace. Glenn referred to these as Uncle Guy, Aunt Faye and Aunt Grace.

One-Room Schoolhouse to Topeka High
Glenn, as his three older brothers, attended a one-room rural schoolhouse. Peggy Greene reported in The Topeka Daily Capital, Sunday, Aug. 9, 1953, he was “the only pupil in his grade and the teacher put him through both the first and the second grade in one year.” Glenn Cogswell’s son, and my brother, David Glenn Cogswell, said that Grandma Cogswell told him, “Glenn was the smartest of my boys.”

Glenn reported to “Peggy of the Flint Hills” that he grew up on a farm, milking cows, hoeing potatoes and herding cattle. He told Mrs. Green he owed the latter to a “wise old cow pony the family owned.” Glenn said it would be more accurate to say the horse rounded up the cattle, nipping them as a dog does, and that he simply “went along to keep the pony company.”
Nina May Geist, Glenn’s cousin, the daughter of his Aunt Faye, told my friend Alice Thacker and me the story of visiting her Uncle Carl and Aunt Susie in Pretty Prairie in the 1920s and 30s. Nina May said that, since Susie had no girls, all the boys cleaned up the kitchen after the family and guests finished eating. Nina May said she noticed that young Glenn, instead of throwing the water out of the glasses left on the table, drank the water out of the glasses before washing them.

The family moved to Topeka in 1933 when Carl was appointed by Governor Alf Landon to serve on the state tax commission, a position he held from 1933 to 1937. In 1922, Carl had been elected state lecturer of the Kansas State Grange, and served as state master from 1928 to 1946. Glenn’s parents, Carl and Susie, met at a debate tournament. Apparently having inherited his parents’ verbal abilities, Glenn starred on Topeka High School’s debate team and in speaking events sponsored by the Young Republicans throughout his high school career. But his promise as a communicator was evident much earlier.

When Glenn was 15, the Grange held a safety essay contest and Glenn’s essay, “The Grange and Highway Safety,” won first place in the state. The essay begins, “It is a matter of record that the grange, the oldest and largest farm organization, has never failed to lead in any movement that was for the betterment of the country or any community. Therefore, it seems only natural that this great organization should lead the crusade for safety on our highways.” In language far more eloquent than that of most of today’s 15 year-olds, he detailed the 1936 traffic statistics, rebuked drivers for blaming their cars for accidents, and listed 10 specific behaviors that would prevent mishaps. These include “driving at a reasonable speed at all times,” “keeping attention on the road,” and “refusing to drive when drinking.”

Although capable of the most serious of academic endeavors, Glenn also demonstrated an appreciation for and the ability to express humor. A clipping in one of Glenn’s scrapbooks, apparently printed in the Pretty Prairie newspaper, says, “Glen Coggswell of Topeka, came in Monday afternoon to pay his father’s debt of 2c tax, which Carl failed to remit when he paid his subscription recently. Glen said:

“I wrote to dad and told him I would pay his debt, but that he might leave me short of finance, and that I would expect him to send me a check.”

“This relieves us of sending the marshal to Topeka to collect this debt, for which we are all thankful. Glen is visiting with Mrs. A.C. Evans,” that is, his Grandma Evans, his mother’s foster mother.
Another version of the story may have appeared in the Topeka paper. Many of the clippings are not dated, although most indicate what newspaper they appeared in, whether the Topeka Daily Capital, the Topeka State Journal, the Topeka High School World, or the Pueblo (Colorado) Star-Journal:

“Glen Cogswell, Topeka, son of Carl Cogswell, chairman of the state tax commission, called at the office of the newspaper in Pretty Prairie, the old home of the Cogswells, and handed Editor C. W. Claybaugh two cents. “Dad owes you this in tokens,” said Glen. “He forgot to send it in renewing his subscription. Yes, I know he’s the head of the tax commission and ought not forget about tokens. But he did. Here’s the two cents. Don’t send the sheriff after him.”

A story in the front page of one of his scrapbooks, called “Boswell ‘Girls’ Not All That They Seem’ carried a photo showing Glenn in the back row on the right. In the photo, he is not holding his violin, which he played from an early age. In a family photo, his mother and all his brothers are sitting on the front porch of a house with different instruments in their laps. The article, included below, appeared sometime between 1934 and 1936.

“Boys will be boys, even though they have to be girls to do it. Fourteen Hi-Y boys from Boswell school proved the fact a few days ago.
It seems the Girl Reserves at Boswell were holding a Major Bowes amateur contest. In no uncertain terms they made it clear that the competition was for girls only.
When the contest was well under way, fourteen “gorgeous girls” appeared, their instruments intact, and displayed their charms and musical accomplishments before the judges.

Needless to say, the “girls” won first prize. Whether it was awarded on the basis of musical merit or for unique taste in clothes has remained something of a mystery.

Anyway, the prestige gained by the win served to help the orchestra get a worthwhile ‘contract,’ namely, a personal appearance at the Y.M.C. A. Wednesday noon, during the luncheon meeting of the ‘Y’ workers carrying on the annual maintenance canvass. The campaign ends with a banquet at 6:30 this evening.

At least two fathers recognized flesh and blood behind lip rouge and flowing skirts in the orchestra. Henry Snyder, co-chairman for the canvass, discovered Henry, Jr., in a lovely blue creation, leading the orchestra.

Art Schober, a team captain, grew weak when he discovered his son Bob hiding under a cute little white hat and a half a pound of lip rouge, back among the wind instruments.

It was a great aggregation and the applause after each number was more than heartening. The personal appearance was not without its educational value for the drummer of the band. Harry Snyder, genial park commissioner, brought the house down with a prolonged “roll” on the snares that reverberated through the rafters and between the walls of the handball courts, high above the ceiling of the ‘Y’ gym.”

A Lot of Basketball
Glenn played basketball for Boswell Junior High and for the Indians in the Y.M.C. A. junior basketball tournaments, in what was referred to as the City League. The other team names were the Midgets, North Topeka and Lafferty’s Aces. In the Ripley Park Tourney, he played for the North Topeka Trojans against the Carbondale Oilers.

In 1936, 14 year-old Glenn played basketball for his church in the Sunday School league for the Central Congregational Intermediates and the Lowman Methodist seniors. The team standings were “Intermediate,” “Senior,” and “Adult.”

The teams played Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. Sometimes teams forfeited games for not showing up or if not enough team players showed up. The team that showed up “won by default” or by “forfeit.” Teams also forfeited for not having their players registered.

By the time Glenn went to high school, the emphasis on athletics seems to have waned, and he became more studious. However, he continued to play basketball in the Sophomore intramural basketball league.

“Glenn Cogswell and Kenn Rogers continue to set the pace for the sophomores,” the paper reported. “They have 51 and 43 tallies respectively.”

“Glenn Cogswell is setting the pace with 43 tallies in the three games played.”

Glenn clipped an article describing an event featuring Emil S. Liston, a Baker University coach, speaking to men and boys of the Lowman Methodist church.

“Recreation as an aid to Christian living will be stressed and recognition will be given to the winning Lowman senior basketball team,” the article said. “Seating for the dinner and program will be limited to 400.”

Glenn played for two years on the Washburn College basketball squad and played for his fraternity. “Intramural Jottings” columnist Bill Rigby, noted that, “Phi Delts, behind the power of Glenn Cogswell, moved into first place with a victory over Kappa Sigs 21-19. The game ran into an overtime, but Cogswell sank a long shot from the side of the court to cinch the game and bring the trophy one step nearer the Phi’s.” In another column, Rigby stated that Glenn played forward.

Glenn’s Early Demonstration of Scholarship and Patriotism
At Topeka High School, Glenn was an honor student, a star debater, vice-president of the senior class, and one of four student speakers at his class commencement ceremony.

Glenn followed his parents’ example, excelling in debate at Topeka High and advocating for the forensic department.

During his high school years, Glenn demonstrated a passion for academic excellence and a gift for communication. While a member of the Topeka High School forensics program, Glenn wrote a letter to the high school newspaper advocating for the activity and seeking support for it.

Glenn wrote in a letter to the editor of the Topeka High newspaper, The Topeka High World, that the school was “more widely known for her forensic record than for any other activity.

“In the past six years,” he wrote, “Topeka has won the state championship four years successively… In 1936, Topeka High was awarded the National Sweepstakes, representing the highest average, over a period of five years, of any secondary school in the United States.”

“With all due respect to the other activities,” he continued, “I believe the forensic department is of more permanent worth, and more worthy of support than any other activity.” In the rest of the letter he urged students to support the debaters by offering moral support and also by volunteering to act as debate chairmen for the annual debate tournaments held at Topeka High.

In his senior year, 1938-1939, Glenn was an honor student, vice-president of the senior class and one of ten varsity debaters, selected by the debate coach for the National Forensic League. Glenn and Barton Bayly received the degree of distinction from among the four categories of distinction, excellence, merit and honor. The team competed with debaters from Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas in the Tri-State Debate Tournament in Pittsburg. That year the Topeka team also debated in Kansas City, Salina, Emporia, Lawrence, in Denver, Colo., and at the Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Kansas.

Glenn kept his grades up while participating in a rigorous schedule, traveling every weekend with the debate team. At the Wyandotte debate tournament, the Topeka team consisting of Glenn and Harold Stuewe on the negative side and Harry Grassick and Bill Everett on the affirmative side, won second place. The following week, Jan. 20 and 21, in Salina, Harry and Bill won first place. According to the Topeka Daily Capital, at Emporia, Jan. 27 and 28, 237 debaters on 90 teams from 39 schools participated in a division of the annual College of Emporia (now Emporia State University) invitational debate tournament. At that event, Bill and Glenn did well until they faced the Fort Scott team, bringing home a second place trophy. The following week, Topeka High won first place at the Eastern Kansas conference debate at Topeka High School, Bill and Harry on the affirmative side and Barton and Glenn on the negative side. Lawrence came in second and Emporia third. The Topeka High World reported that the forty-fourth and forty-fifth trophies won by Trojan debaters were shown to the students at a school assembly.

The Topeka Daily Capital reported that the Topeka High team was going to Denver to debate the affirmative side of the resolution that “the United States Should Establish an Alliance With Great Britain.” According to Edgar Ray Nichols, editor of the Year Book of College Debating Intercollegiate Debates, 19th edition (1938), this topic would be the “national High School subject for 1938-1938.” On the way, they would stop over in Pueblo to engage in three exhibition debates, two against Centennial High School and one against Central High. Glenn did not like to lose. The Pueblo Star-Journal reported that the Centennial High School team defeated the Topeka team, which was “ranked one of the best teams in the nation.” In the photo accompanying the article, seated in the lower left of the photo beside his partner, the winning team beaming behind them, the frown on Glenn’s face is palpable, with his eyelids half closed, his eyes rolled upwards and his forehead furrowed. Upon their return from Colorado, the Topeka High World explained the Trojan defeat and the consternation on Glenn’s face in the photo. Glenn and Harry were “rather dismayed,” the high school newspaper reported, to find out they were to debate negatively in Centennial the topic they had prepared to debate affirmatively in Denver. Evidently, no one coached them to prepare both sides of the argument.

After the tournament, The Topeka High School debate coach, J. Edmund Mayer, received two letters of congratulations from speech professors who heard the boys speak. The Topeka State Journal reported that Elwood Murray, head of the speech department at the University of Denver, wrote the following in one of the letters:
“They were two of the most effective high school debaters I ever saw. They were, besides, very apparently the finest gentlemen, which isn’t always the case with many high school debaters.”

Possibly in his junior year, Glenn won first prize in the Shawnee County Young Republican Oratorical contest speaking on the topic, “The Constitution Is Essential to Individual Liberties.” The first prize was $10. One of his debate partners, Harry Grassick, spoke on, “Must America Fight Another European War.” The winner of this speech would go on to a state, a regional and a national contest. There are no follow-up reports, but he following year Grassick won the county contest. That year Bill Everett was elected president, and Glenn, vice-president of the senior class for the following year. Glenn and Bill teamed up for a different type of event, described in this brief, entitled, “Adults Can Hear It”:

“Two high school boys, Glenn Cogswell and Bill Everett, will put on a debate in the adult department of the Lowman Methodist Sunday School Sunday morning at 9:30 o’clock. These boys and others recently presented a pro and con argument in the Lowman high school department on the benefits of High School Bible credit work in the Church School and now the adults will be given a chance to hear it.”

Glenn was one of four students chosen to deliver the 1939 commencement speech. The theme was “What I Owe America and What America Owes Me.” The Topeka State Journal reported they based the speeches on the premise that “all men are created equal, with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Glenn spoke first. According to the article, in his address, entitled “Our Heritage,” he “expounded the glories of an American heritage” and explained that “the sources of liberties enjoyed today have been passed from generation to generation like a torch from runner to runner.”

Yearbook dedications, 1939

One of Glenn’s debate team members, Harold Stuewe, wrote in Glenn’s yearbook, “Dear ‘Unc,’ I should know you rather well. I studied, slept, debated and traveled with you, and the highest compliment I can give is to say that you are still as fresh, clear, and witty as the day I first saw you. Good luck in law and politics. Harold Stuewe.”

Harriet Ann Smith, another commencement speaker, wrote this:
“Here’s to Glen Cogswell, fellow commencement speaker. You’ve done swell in high school being on the debate squad, vice president of our class, etc. Let’s see you keep it up next year. Be good to Ruth and don’t forget. Harriet Ann Smith.”

Here’s another complimentary note from a female friend:
“Glen,
Remember English and all the fun. Congratulations on all the debate honors and being speaker. No use wishing you luck with your personality and ability to make friends. You’re sure to get it. Viretta Shaw.”

His debate partner Harry (presumably, Grassick) wrote:
“As politicians we failed miserably – but you as a politician and vice-president have been a great success. This isn’t my last rebuttal, Glenn, so it’s all the truth, you are the best friend I have ever had; you know that’s saying an awful lot, when you consider all my (colorful) friends. But sincerely, I certainly hope to remain a friend of a boy I have always admired. Your selection of girls is the tops – wish I had some courage, and a little of your personality.

“Receiving distinction in debate was certainly coming to you, and all my talk about ‘abroad’ was just to keep you from going high hat. Best of luck, Glenn, to you and all the Cogswells (especially any little ones that may come along) Harry.”

“To the brilliant lad in History IV, he’s so brilliant, he shines all over. Billye Stewart

“Dear Glenn, May you always have the very best of luck and happiness that you so well deserve. I hope you keep on with debating, etc. Your commencement speech was very good. (Queen) Pat (Long).”

From a teacher:
“I have watched your high school career with interest. I hope you will continue to use your ability in public speaking. R. Grandon”

And the principal:
“Keep working! You have It. W. N. Van Slyck.”
Topeka High School’s principal was not the only one who thought Glenn had “It.” According to a notable Topeka journalist, a female student also cast a vote of confidence about Glenn’s charismatic good looks.

Zula Bennington Greene, “Peggy of the Flint Hills,” began writing features for the Topeka Daily Capital in 1933. Sometime during Glenn’s high school career, she reported that “a letter signed ‘Miss Topeka High School’ wrote that Carl Cogswell should be elected to some high office. While the young lady recognizes Mr. Cogswell’s qualifications to serve the public, her interest is centered in his son, Glenn, who, she says, ‘in a Tuxedo would easily be mistaken for a Hollywood movie actor.’ She thinks it’s time we had a Governor with sons, ‘to thrill the hearts of the girls.’
Topeka High School to Omaha Beach

During the summer of 1939, after high school graduation, Glenn went to Wichita with 28 boys, most from Topeka, as the Shawnee County delegation to the Sunflower Boys’ State in Wichita where he was elected lieutenant governor. His frequent debate partner, Bill Everett, was elected governor. Boys State, sponsored by the American Legion, is an event that taught promising young men about community leadership and participation in the processes of government.

Governor Payne Ratner, who came to speak at the inauguration ceremony, said, “Honestly, I have never seen such a fine group of clean-cut, intelligent, American youths as I did at the Boys’ State. Those lads are a credit to their parents and their communities; and by giving them this training in citizenship, the American Legion is doing a real service to the state and the nation. Those lads are capable of doing great things.”

Ratner told the audience, “This month, boys in Kansas and many other states are learning just how government affects their life, liberty and happiness. Such knowledge is essential to the life of a useful citizen.”

Lieutenant Governor Glenn Cogswell, 17, assumed his duties as president and presiding officer of the senate. Governor Bill Everett recommended to his general assembly that it pass a measure making compulsory Wasserman tests for all couples contemplating marriage. This was a test for venereal disease. The political parties for Boys’ State were the Federalists and the Nationalists. Glenn was a Federalist. The Federalist Courier stated that, “According to Lt. Gov. Cogswell, the bill for compulsory Wasserman tests will probably not pass the House where the Nationalists have the way, because the Nats will be afraid to take the test.”

“Social disease is one of the nation’s most costly problems, and Kansas is far behind in efforts to control it,” Gov. Everett said. He also “lambasted the Kansas highway department as ‘the most expensive in the country’ and told the general assembly it should be taken out of politics and placed under civil service. The third recommendation was that a joint committee system be implemented, for both legislative bodies instead of each having their own, which he considered a waste and “faulty.”

Glenn was elected president of the freshman class and of Washburn College in 1939-1940 and played forward for Washburn’s basketball team in 1940-1941. In 1941-42 he was selected by a group of soldiers from Fort Riley as “most decorative.” The Fort Riley officers selected Royce Palmer as the “most decorative” woman. The two are featured in full-page photos in the 1942 Kaw (Washburn yearbook).

In 1941-1942 Glenn was elected president of Washburn University Student Council. In 1943, Glenn, along with four other Washburn seniors, was chosen to enter training for a commission as ensign in the navy through officer’s training at Northwestern Midshipmans’ School in Chicago and was called into active service as an Ensign, United States Naval Reserve in 1943.

In 1942-1943, Glenn was a member of Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, was rush captain for the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, executive secretary of the collegiate Young Republicans of the state, and received a call to Sagamore, one of the highest honors of the student body. He graduated in absentia from Washburn University with an A.B. degree in 1943.

Glenn wrote home from Europe every couple of days during the year of the D-Day invasion. Like thousands of other young boys in the 1940s, his goals and plans for his life had to take a back seat to his service to his country.

As a lieutenant J.G. in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Glenn served on active duty 1943-1946, with the Naval Amphibious Forces, European Theater, including the D-Day landings on Omaha Beach and Normandy Invasion, 1944. Glenn was assault boat officer of a ship beaching on the French shore on D-Day and after a year as an ensign was promoted to lieutenant J.G., serving as first assistant to the executive officer of his ship.

“I, too, am figuring on some ‘big things,’ someday, Dad,” Glenn wrote from Britain, to his parents in a letter dated May 28, 1944, “but for the time being all that has to ride, I guess. As soon as this invasion’s over, if I don’t get transferred, I’m getting into those correspondence courses.” After sending his love to “all the little nephews and nieces” and signing the letter “Love to all, Glenn,” he wrote at the bottom of the letter, “When D-Day comes, drop a little prayer or two, will you, please?”
“This war is certainly a wasteful enterprise,” he wrote on June 27, 1944, from the English Channel. “It’ll be a great day when it’s over.” He said he was involved in carrying German prisoners of war and “casualties” back and forth across the Channel.

On June 10, writing from “Back in England,” Glenn wrote, “I never thought the coast of England could look so good to me as it did last night when we pulled in. It was wonderful.
“Believe me, war IS Hell – with a capital “H.” And I’ve about had my fill of it. I’m only thankful I’m not in the army – altho I guess the soldiers feel just the opposite. I’m thankful too, for the first time, that I’m aboard an LST instead of a troop transport (P.A.) with my assault boats.

“In fact, I’m thankful for a good many things right now. We have a wonderful skipper, and I think we had a little help from above, too. Anyway, the worst is over now, so don’t worry. I won’t see anything I haven’t seen the last six days…

“Anyway, ‘I was there.’ And we’ll be keeping a constant shuttle service across the channel for awhile.
“Pray for us and we’ll pull through. Tell Ralph ‘Happy Birthday.’ I notice it’s his day.”

Glenn Meets His Bride
Glenn had many girlfriends: Ruth Beeler in High School; Martha Lee and Royce Palmer at Washburn. But he finally settled on a girl he met on his LST while serving in the Navy in England. Her name was Jeanette Hallewell. He wrote the following letter home to his folks, most of which was quoted verbatim in the newspaper society sections in Wichita and Topeka and printed below the wedding photo showing Glenn and Jeanette surrounded by Glenn’s officer colleagues from the war.

“22 May 1945
England
My Dear parents –
I hope those affidavits are on the way because I think I'll need them quite soon. I guess you know what I mean.

Altho it’s a little delayed, I know, here’s the information about the wedding A group picture of the bride and groom plus the naval officers in attendance will come as soon as I can get it. I asked for one suitable for newspaper cut ahead of the regular order, I’ll send it as soon as possible – may be nearly two weeks.

Wedding:
The bride wore a white lace and satin gown, with orange blossoms in her hair and lashings of white tulle veiling. She carried a shower bouquet of white lilies of the valley; crimson rose buds and red carnations with a mist of asparagus fern.

Her maid of honor – Miss Roana Billett of Highfield, So’ton was floral silk, with navy blue accessories and wore a large spray of lily of the valley.
The bride’s mother wore navy blue with a silver fox fur and a spray of lily of the valley and pink carnations. The bride was given in marriage by her father who wore dark brown and wore a white carnation buttonhole. The bridegroom and best man were in Naval (blue) uniform.

Travel difficulties prevented most of the bride’s relatives from attending, tho two aunts from London were present. Thirty other guests were present including Naval officer friends of the groom and the fiancé of the maid of honor, Lt. Arvel Gruefel, U.S. Army – adding a splash of uniform to the gathering.

The ceremony was performed by the Rev. H. Leslie Clarke at the Church of the Ascension, Bitterne Park, So’ton, at 10:00 o’clock on May 1st. It was a cold morning but the sun was brilliant.

The church was pretty – decorated with masses of flowering shrubs, including guild rose, pink double cherry blossom and (hydrangea).

The usual wedding march was replaced by “Trumpet Voluntry” – (at the bride’s request) and played by Mr. W. Brattle, organist and choir-master of the church. Other music included Shubert’s “Serenade” and Brahms “Lullaby.”

Among the hymns were “Oh Perfect Love” (don’t remember any of the others)
Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” was exit. The reception was at the Castle Inn (Hotel) in Midanbury.
The cake was two tiered beautifully iced – surprisingly “pre-war” – both in looks and taste (miraculously procured – usually iced cakes are a memory in England these days). There apparently was plenty of food and drink for all – and all seemed to have a fine time (!).

The Honeymoon, as you know, was in Bournemouth – a seaside resort on the South Coast of old L’Angleterre!

The end of the 7-day leave was V-E Day (8th) that night the old 506 and old Cogswell was churning toward France – such a life.

All that info is bolony – but you can have what you want of it. Sorry it wasn’t sooner but we just couldn’t seem to get time to sit down and figure it all out.

There may be some rather fast developments on coming home so please rush those affidavits if you haven’t sent them.
Lots of love –
Jean & Glenn

P.S. Jean just received your letter, Dad – It didn’t go airmail because of “insufficient postage.” Should have been 8 cents I guess.”

Washburn Law School to Probate Judgeship
After the war, Glenn returned to Topeka and with the help of the G.I. Bill of Rights, received a Juris Doctorate from Washburn School of Law in 1947. He was admitted to the Kansas Bar in 1947 and was elected judge of the Court of Topeka in 1948 at the age of 26, recognized by the Junior Bar Section of the American Bar Association in 1948 as “the youngest judge sitting on any bench in the United States.”

Bride Helps Glenn in First Election
Glenn’s bride helped him campaign, as recorded in the following article from the Topeka State Journal, July 31, 1948.

“Red-headed, English-born Jean Cogswell, wife of lawyer Glenn and mother of 2-year-old Carolyn who looks just like her, is the only GI bride to get caught up in the Republican primaries, as far as we know.

If Jeans’ hard labor can make any difference, Glenn Cogswell is going to be judge of the Court of Topeka come the elections. It’s her first political campaign, anywhere. However, she learned the ropes stenographing for Glenn in the first weeks of the campaign and now boldly rings doorbells and says her piece.

“Everybody’s so nice to me,” she says. “I was a little afraid of politics, but I’ve got to know more people in our neighborhood and made more friends than I did in all the two years since I came here. People offer me cokes and lemonade – no one’s offered me a cup of tea yet !”
She was working in the drawing office of a Spitfire plant in Southampton, England, when she met Glenn, a U.S. Navy lieutenant on an LST. They were married on May, 1944. She got a training enduring suspense in those days that stands her in good stead now that the warfare is political rather than naval. – J.S.”


Note says, “Journal – 31st only!” July 31, but what year? 1948. Dad won the Republican nomination for Judge Court of Topeka, as reported in Topeka State Journal, August 4, 1948.

He served as judge of the probate and juvenile courts of Shawnee County from 1951 to 1957, was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1956, and was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Kansas in 1958. He partnered in law practice with Frank Miller, the law firm of Goodell, Casey, Briman, Rice and Cogswell, and Cogswell and Storey with Topeka attorney Bob Storey.

In 1955, when Glenn was 33, the Wichita Eagle reported that Glenn “had been named the year’s Outstanding Young Man of Kansas, an award made annually by the Kansas Junior Chamber of Commerce, and announced at annual convention of the Jaycees. In the article, he was described as “Topeka probate judge and a leader in state juvenile delinquency and mental health reforms.” He had previously been named Outstanding Young Man of Topeka. He was cited for “outstanding personal and civic accomplishments over a period of years.” The article said he was “active in enacting reforms of Kansas laws relating to juvenile offenders, and dependent and neglected children.” Specifically, he had the language changed with regard to juvenile delinquents. In addition, he has “urged more sympathetic treatment in the commitment of the mentally ill, and has revised commitment forms used by his court to emphasize hospitalization rather than insanity.” During that time he was also chairman of the Kansas Young Republican Federation and was a delegate in 1954 to the national Young Republican convention in Detroit.

According to Peggy Green in a feature story in the The Topeka Daily Capital, August 9, 1953, called “Help, Not Punishment, Is Goal of Probate Judge,’ “Cogswell has had the wording of the titles of juvenile cases changed to eliminate any idea of prosecution or punishment. Instead of ‘versus,’ the phrase was changed to ‘in the interest of.’ This is characteristic of his attitude that the welfare of the child is the chief objective of the court and it is the court’s duty to help rather than to punish.”

Topeka State Journal writer Joe Western reported that Glenn D. Cogswell had “revamped the wording of the entire stack of legal documents necessary to hospitalize a mentally ill person.” Instead of reading “in the matter of the insanity of…,” the documents were changed to say, “in the matter of the hospitalization of…” The article stated that Judge Cogswell believed “because friends and relatives do not now have to sign papers with ‘insane’ or ‘lunacy’ all over them more persons will be committed, and more patients will volunteer for treatment.”

Timeline:
1922(Feb. 1): born in Kingman County, Kansas
1933: moved to Topeka, Kansas
1939: graduated from Topeka High School, was elected lieutenant governor at Sunflower Boys State in Wichita
1939-1940: served as president of the freshman class of Washburn College.
1941-1942: elected president of the Student Council and designated “Most Decorative” at Washburn University.

1942-1943: chosen with four other Washburn seniors to receive training for a commission as ensign in the navy through officer’s training at Northwestern Midshipmans’ School in Chicago,
appeared in Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, Volume IX, 1942-1943, was rush captain for the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, executive secretary of the collegiate Young Republicans of the state, and received a call to Sagamore, one of the highest honors of the student body.

1941-1954: served in the United States Naval Reserve.

1943-1946: served on active duty in the United States naval amphibious forces, European Theatre, including D-Day landings on Omaha Beach in Normandy, 1943-1946.

1942-1943: received A.B. degree, graduating in absentia from Washburn University.

1947: received his J.D. degree from Washburn University Law School and admitted to the Kansas Bar.

3,000 Boys Attend “The Boys’ State”

Movement Sponsored by the American Legion Teachers Government Operations

By Glenn Cogswell

Democracy must depend upon an enlightened citizenry for its existence. Then if the idea of self-government is to continue, or be successful, it is essential that this citizenry have a fundamental understanding of the structure and function of city, county and state governments.

In view of this fact, the American Legion sponsored the first Boys’ State in Illinois in 1935, with 200 boys attending. The success of this movement to instill into the youth of America, a practical, working knowledge of the government, has been borne out in the following four years. Kansas starts its “Sunflower Boys’ State” in 1937. Last year there were 20 “states” with an enrollment of over 3,000 boys. This year Kansas led a procession of 29 states in a continuation of this youth program.

Three hundred eighty-one boys, sponsored by various organizations, and further recommended by their high school principal or faculty advisor, enrolled for the third Annual Sunflower Bous’ State, held at the Wichita North high school this month.

The first day the boys were checked in, assigned to their cities, and given physical examinations. Their party affiliations were announced. That is, each boy was either Federalist or a Nationalist. Party caucuses, organizing parties and establishing newspapers, were held.

The primary election, followed by intense campaigning until the minute the polls opened, climaxed, perhaps, the most interesting campaign in the history of Boys’ State.

The election resulted, with no third party, in a landslide for the Federalist party. Bill Everett of Topeka was elected Governor by a majority of 2 to 1, and of the entire state ticket, only the state treasurer, chief justice and one associate justice were elected from the Nationalist ranks.

Immediately after the election the state went into action. The legislature was organized, and all city, county and state governments were in operation. Governor Ratner was guest of honor at the inauguration and the ball, shortly following.

The legislature, considered the most successful in the history of the state, passed six measures, two of which were vetoed by the governor.
Perhaps the major plank of fthe victorious party’s platform, that of compulsory Wasserman or similar test to every couple contemplating marriage, was considered the height of legislative achievement.

Another major Federalist plank which was passed was the recommendation that a joint-committee system, similar to the Massachusetts plan, be adopted, replacing the present antiquated and confusing committee system used in our state legislature.
The two other bills, pertaining only to Boys’ State, were passed with little difficulty.

The last night, a public trial, in which the secretary of state, Keith Sanborn of Wichita, was acquitted of the murder of a counselor on the banks of the Little Arkansas river, was held. The case was tried before Chief Justice McKay of the Supreme Court. The state was represented by Attorney General Bill Clothier and his staff. Harold Stevens and John Amott comprise the defense counsel.

Although there was considerable work and study, the boys didn’t forget to have a good time. Recreation, sports, and the facing of actual state affairs enabled the boys at the “Sunflower Boys’ State” to have an experience they will never forget. The American Legion is indeed to be commended for the splendid work in this program. Particularly the Kansas Department 4, who sponsored not only one of the earliest and best Boys’ Staes, but also, began here in Kansas, this year, the first Girls’ State, which, from all indications, will become as popular and worthwhile as the Boy’s State movement.

“Debate” From Topeka High School Yearbook, 1939

Winning first or second in five tournaments out of nine entered, the Trojan debate squad finished the season with a better than average record.

Although the orators got off to a bad start at Pittsburg, where two Topeka teams were eliminated by a Fort Scott team, they soon began winning tournaments. At Wyandotte, the third tournament of the year, a four-man team composed of Harry Grassick and Bill Everett, Glenn Cogswell and Barton Bayly, captured second place. The team lost only one debate, that one to Newton on the negative side in the finals. The affirmative side defeated the Newton negative.

Next came the Salina contest, where Harry and Bill as a two-man team came through to defeat Russell and win first place. Harry came down with a cold just a few days later, and Glenn became Bill’s colleague for the Emporia tournament. Although the boys had never debated together before, they won second place, losing only in the finals to Fort Scott.

Not content to rest on their laurels, the orators went through the Eastern Kansas Conference tournament undefeated. Harry proved his ability further by winning the unanimous decision of three judges for first place in the extemporaneous speech contest.

Misfortune now fell on the team. First, it was found that the state debate rules would ot allow two of the boys to make the trip to Denver for an exhibition match which they had been planning on for several weeks. When that difficulty was solved and arrangements were made for the team to go, it was learned that Bill Everett was ineligible for further debate in high school. Bill’s ineligibility made it necessary for the team to return the Eastern Kansas Conference cup, as Bill had debated in that tournament.

This also forced J. Edmund Mayer, debate coach, to use another man for his four-man team in the state district contest. Paul Moser, a sophomore, was the fourth member of the team, which won the district contest undefeated.

With the exception of first and second places won by Harry and Glenn in the district extempore contest, there were no more wins by the Trojans. The last tournament of the year was the Wentworth Military Academy tournament, where Harry and Bill lost in the quarter finals to Springfield, Mo.

The 1938-39 season saw the Trojan debaters get off to a bad start, then win five consecutive tournaments, and at last, because of sickness and ineligibility, finish rather poorly. In spite of their difficulties, however, it can truly be said that the debate team more than upheld the honor of Topeka High School in forensic contests.

“National Forensics”

Organized in 1927, the Topeka High School chapter of the National Forensic League grows stronger every year. This league requires candidates for membership to earn points through participating in some form of speech activity before they can become members.

Continued service and ability are recognized by the awarding of jewels to be placed in the membership pin. Three debaters earned enough points this year and last to earn the highest degree. Harry Grassick, Glenn Cogswell, and Bill Everett through participation in the state meet and a number of invitation tournaments received the degree of distinction. All are seniors.

Yearbook dedications, 1939

During his high school years, Glenn demonstrated a passion for academic excellence and a gift for communication. At Topeka High School, Glenn was an honor student, a star debater, vice-president of the senior class, and one of four student speakers at his class commencement ceremony.

The Topeka State Journal reported they based the speeches on the premise that “all men are created equal, with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Glenn spoke first. According to the article, in his address, entitled “Our Heritage,” he “expounded the glories of an American heritage” and explained that “the sources of liberties enjoyed today have been passed from generation to generation like a torch from runner to runner.” The debate squad had spoken about creating an alliance with Great Britain.

Being the month of May, high school and college students are graduating again. I thought it would be appropriate to include some yearbook dedications from Glenn’s Topeka High School Yearbook his senior year.

One of Glenn’s debate team members, Harold Stuewe, wrote in Glenn’s yearbook, “Dear ‘Unc,’ I should know you rather well. I studied, slept, debated and traveled with you, and the highest compliment I can give is to say that you are still as fresh, clear, and witty as the day I first saw you. Good luck in law and politics. Harold Stuewe.”

Harriet Ann Smith, another commencement speaker, wrote this:
“Here’s to Glen Cogswell, fellow commencement speaker. You’ve done swell in high school being on the debate squad, vice president of our class, etc. Let’s see you keep it up next year. Be good to Ruth and don’t forget. Harriet Ann Smith.”

Here’s another complimentary note from a female friend:
“Glen,
Remember English and all the fun. Congratulations on all the debate honors and being speaker. No use wishing you luck with your personality and ability to make friends. You’re sure to get it. Viretta Shaw.”

One of his debate partners, Harry Grassick, wrote:
“As politicians we failed miserably – but you as a politician and vice-president have been a great success. This isn’t my last rebuttal, Glenn, so it’s all the truth, you are the best friend I have ever had; you know that’s saying an awful lot, when you consider all my (colorful) friends. But sincerely, I certainly hope to remain a friend of a boy I have always admired. Your selection of girls is the tops – wish I had some courage, and a little of your personality.
“Receiving distinction in debate was certainly coming to you, and all my talk about ‘abroad’ was just to keep you from going high hat. Best of luck, Glenn, to you and all the Cogswells (especially any little ones that may come along) Harry.”

“To the brilliant lad in History IV, he’s so brilliant, he shines all over. Billye Stewart"

“Dear Glenn, May you always have the very best of luck and happiness that you so well deserve. I hope you keep on with debating, etc. Your commencement speech was very good. (Queen) Pat (Long).”

From a teacher:
“I have watched your high school career with interest. I hope you will continue to use your ability in public speaking. R. Grandon”

And the principal:

“Keep working! You have IT. W. N. Van Slyck.”

Boswell Girls Not All They Seem

In another demonstration of Glenn's sense of humor is this story from a Topeka newspaper. It maintains the odd spelling of the word "tho" for "though" used at that time. They also abbreviated "through" with the spelling "thru." Glenn attended both Boswell and Crane Junior High schools. We don't know what year this was but was probably between 1934 and 1936.

Boswell Girls Not All They Seem

Boys will be boys, even tho they have to be girls to do it. Fourteen Hi-Y boys from Boswell school proved the fact a few days ago.

It seems the Girl Reserves at Boswell were holding a Major Bowes amateur contest. In no uncertain terms they made it clear that the competition was for girls only.

When the contest was well under way, fourteen “gorgeous girls” appeared, their instruments intact., and displayed their charms and musical accomplishments before the judges.

Needless to say, the “girls” won first prize. Whether it was awarded on the basis of musical merit or for unique taste in clothes has remained something of a mystery.

Anyway, the prestige gained by the win served to help the orchestra get a wroth while “contract,” namely, a personal appearance at the Y.M.C. A. Wednesday noon, during the luncheon meeting of the “Y” workers carrying on the annual maintenance canvass. The campaign ends with a banquet at 6:30 this evening.

At least two fathers recognized flesh and blood behind lip rouge and flowing skirts in the orchestra. Henry Snyder, co-chairman for the canvass, discovered Henry, Jr., in a lovely blue creation, leading the orchestra.

Art Schober, a team captain, grew weak when he discovered his son Bob hiding under a cute little white hat and a half a pound of lip rouge, back among the wind instruments.

It was a great aggregation and the applause after each number was more than heartening. The personal appearance was not without its educational value for the drummer of the band. Harry Snyder, genial park commissioner, brought the house down with a prolonged “roll” on the snares that reverberated through the rafters and between the walls of the handball courts, high above the ceiling of the “Y” gym.

No Need For the Marshal

Glenn had a serious side; he also had a funny side. A clipping in one of Glenn’s scrapbooks, from the context, must have been printed in the Pretty Prairie newspaper. It says, “Glen Coggswell of Topeka, came in Monday afternoon to pay his father’s debt of 2c tax, which Carl failed to remit when he paid his subscription recently. Glen said:

“I wrote to dad and told him I would pay his debt, but that he might leave me short of finance, and that I would expect him to send me a check.”
This relieves us of sending the marshal to Topeka to collect this debt, for which we are all thankful. Glen is visiting with Mrs. A.C. Evans.” (This was his mother's foster mother, whom he called Grandma Evans)

Another version of the story may have appeared in a Topeka paper. Unfortunately, many of the clippings are not dated or do not indicate what newspaper they appeared in:

“Glen Cogswell, Topeka, son of Carl Cogswell, chairman of the state tax commission, called at the office of the newspaper in Pretty Prairie, the old home of the Cogswell, and handed Editor C. W. Claybaugh two cents. “Dad owes you this in tokens,” said Glen. “He forgot to send it in renewing his subscription. Yes, I know he’s the head of the tax commission and ought not forget about tokens. But he did. Here’s the two cents. Don’t send the sheriff after him.”

Update on Glenn's Winning Essay

This piece follows up the news about Glenn winning the safety essay contest in 1936. When we left off, we had reported that after winning the state contest, the essay would be sent to compete in the national contest.

The newspaper clipping in his scrapbook reads:

“After placing first in the state essay contest given by the National Highway Commission, Glenn Cogswell, a member of David T. Lawson’s reporting group, received a letter from the master of the National Grange, telling him that his essay has been judged the fourth best in the national judging. Glenn is to receive a cash prize of $35.”

The $35 was apparently a combination of $10 for winning first in the state, plus $5 from the state Grange and $20 for taking fourth place in the national contest. He also received a silver medal from the National Grange when he won the first place prize at the state level. Glenn had won second prize the year before, in 1935.

Winning Safety Essay by 15 year-old Glenn Cogswell, 1936

Note from the Editor: Try to imagine a 15 year-old of today writing something this elegant. This essay won first prize in Kansas and was sent to a national competition. For some reason, the rest of the last sentence was cut off when Glenn glued the article into his scrapbook.

The Grange and Highway Safety

It is a matter of record that the grange, the oldest and largest farm organization, has never failed to lead in any movement that was for the betterment of the country or any community. Therefore, it seems only natural that this great organization should lead the crusade for safety on our highways.

Before we can determine methods of fighting this great menace, we must face some of the facts. In 1936, 7,410 persons were killed because of exceeding the speed limit; 3,410 persons were on the wrong side of the road when their fatal moments arrived; 3,300 more drove off the highway to their death; 3,160 persons thought they had the right-of-way, and were killed. Reckless driving was responsible for 2,930 deaths and 2,520 other unfortunate drivers crashed to death because of cutting in, passing on curves and hills, failing to signal, etc., making a total of 22,730 deaths n which the driver was at fault, in 1936.

Many drivers blame their automobiles for their accidents, but in most cases that is a fimsy excuse, because in 93 percent of the accidents, the car was, before the accident, in good condition. Faulty brakes, defective steering apparatus, weak or no lights, and blow-outs contributed their part in wrecking 1,649,360 automobiles in 1936. Usually it is not the loose nut in the mechanism that causes the trouble, it is the “nut behind the wheel.”

Most drivers do not realize the time and distance that it takes to stop an automobile, until it is too late. Most of us consider 55 miles per hour a fairly reasonable speed on good highway, yet, with the average brakes, going 55 miles per hour, after danger looms, one second of inattention takes you 81 feet. A split-second of reaction takes you 59 more feet, and 151 more feet for actual braking, makes a total of 2291 feet. This will vary with the size of the automobile, condition of brakes, road, etc., and the driver’s time for reaction.

Although some people deny it, the number of accidents caused by alcohol have greatly increased since the repeal of prohibition. In 1936, 7.3 percent of fatal accident drivers, and 4.3 percent of non-fatal accident drivers had been drinking. If you drive – don’t drink; if you drink – don’t drive.

Nearly 1,000 tiny children were killed while they were learning to walk, and 1400 more, before they had learned to talk, in 1936. Grange members, as well as others should keep their children away from, and teach them to fear the highways.

Inattention is the cause of many accidents. It fills more hospitals than any germ in the medical index. We should remember, “Day-dreams behind the wheel often become nightmares in a wheel-chair.”

The owners of glaring headlights and blaring horns are a menace to traffic. Many night accidents are caused because of blinding lights. Do not have lights that you would not like to face. The blaring horn owner should remember, “The devil is recognized by his horn.”

Although two out of three of the accidents occur in the rural districts, most of them are caused by vacationists and weekend visitors from the city. For this reason the Grange is handicapped; however, there are a number of things the Grange can do.

The Grange should urge city organizations to help in the fight and cooperate with them. The subordinate Grange should stud the defects and causes of accidents in the community and correct them.

The Lecturer should devote at least one meeting a year to the safety cause. Moving pictures and speeches would be of interest. The roll may be answered by giving causes of accidents. Posters posted in and around the hall would help keep patrons “safety conscious.”

The essay contest is an excellent thing. Every contestant will be safer, more sane and “safety-minded” because of entering this contest.

The Grange papers should be used to help pass legislation of safety, such as: uniform traffic laws, non-political highway patrol, the proper use of highway funds to improve and complete our highway system, and other such laws of safety value.

If the Grange will do some, or all, of these things, and perhaps more, it will be doing what is expected of such an organization. The Grange should impress upon all individuals the importance of:

1. Driving at a reasonable speed at all times.
2. Keeping attention on the road.
3. Refusing to drive when drinking.
4. Obeying all signals and signs.
5. Never passing another car unless the way is clear.
6. Keeping automobile in good condition.
7. Dimming lights, when meeting cars at night.
8. Teaching children to fear the highways.
9. Signaling intention to turn or stop.
10. Always be alert and…

Judge Cogswell Urged Family Court

Glenn D. Cogswell was passionate about marriage and family. He believed there was a strong link between divorce and juvenile delinquency, and believed that through the establishment of a family court, children of divorce could be cared for by the courts. He even hoped to save some marriages through the implementation of a family court.

In 1955, after serving two terms as probate and juvenile judge of Shawnee County, Kan., Cogswell came to the conclusion that the problem of juvenile crime should be fought at its source – in the divorce court. He believed Shawnee County needed a new division district court – a court of domestic relations, or a family court.

Having learned of family courts already established in Baton Rouge, La., and in Toledo, Oh., as well as recommended by the New York Bar Association, Cogswell suggested that the three largest counties in Kansas, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte, should pursue the establishment of such courts.

Cogswell believed the courts should take jurisdiction of the children involved in divorce actions in order to protect them from juvenile delinquency. Seeds of juvenile delinquency flourish in the broken home, he said, and the manner of handling divorces is partially to blame.

“Two people will have a fight and decide to get a divorce,” the Topeka State Journal quoted him as saying. “They will go to their respective attorneys and one will file against the other.

”The wife usually gets the children. She goes to work. The husband doesn’t keep up payment and he must be cited for contempt and made to pay.
“In all of it, the children are left alone, reared with no father, and, if the mother works, practically without a mother, Many later end up in juvenile court, and it’s too lat ethen. The battle is half lost."

Jail Terms Advised for Drunken Drivers

This article appeared in the newspaper in the mid-50s when Glenn Cogswell was judge of the probate and juvenile courts of Shawnee County, Kan.

[Editor’s note: The Daily Capital has invited several judges and law enforcement officers to write articles expressing their opinions on how best to curb drunken driving. This us the second article in the series.]

By Glenn D. Cogswell, Judge, Probate and Juvenile Courts, Shawnee County (Kansas)

As long as history has been recorded, society has had the problem of the excessive drinker. When we combine this age-old problem with the relatively modern problem of safety on our streets and highways, we have the extremely serious and complex problem of drunken driving.

The problem of the drunken driver will not be legislated away. It is easy to fall into the fallacy of thinking that all we must do to solve a problem is to “pass a law.” This fallacy is convenient because it is a means of passing the responsibility on to someone else.

Our first excuse for doing nothing is to blame the legislature for not passing the law and if and when the law is passed, we can always complain that it is not being enforced by the law enforcement officers and the courts.

There are many sincere persons who believe that the punishment for those convicted should be made more severe. By giving the convicted drunken driver a heavy jail sentence or handing him a heavy fine he may be kept out of circulation for the immediate present but I doubt if it has any great general retarding effect.

In my experience as judge of the Court of Topeka, I do not recall a single case where a man was convicted a second time for driving while drunk. This is not to say that no one has ever been convicted a second time but certainly this occurs infrequently.

Thus it would seem that the punishment is severe enough to have a deterring effect on the offender himself. The effect upon the general public is not great because most people do not seem to concern themselves with what happens to others.

Making the punishment more severe may have the opposite from the desired effect. It is a fact well known to the prosecutors and those experienced with criminal jurisprudence that by making the penalty too severe, the chance for a conviction is lessened.

I believe our present law provides for ample punishment. It provides for up to one year imprisonment, a find from $100 to $500 for the first offense along with a mandatory revocation of the driver’s license.
The great success of the English criminal law has often been attributed to the philosophy that it is not the severity but the certainty of punishment that deters others. Under this philosophy the criminal incidence rate in England is much lower than in this country.

If imprisonment in jail is to be the manner of dealing with criminals as it has been for a good long time, then drunken drivers, being criminals, should be imprisoned in jail. The length of time to be served should be left to the trial judge who has all the facts of the offense and the mitigating circumstances.

No law can be enforced as a mathematical equation as A commits B type of crime thereafter sentenced to C type of punishment. An attempt to apply such an equation is an oversimplification and cannot result in just administration of the law. The judges who dispose of cases of drunken driving need more than to be honest and conscientious, they need the support of the community.

It is one thing as a private citizen to say blandly that every drunken driver should be jailed and given severe punishment and quite another to sit as the sentencing magistrate and look down upon the offender who is now quite sober and who looks very human and like the man next door and to see his sad-faced wife and a stair-stepped line of children; to hear his attorney making a plea for leniency and even to hear the prosecuting attorney, who is also human after all, suggest to you that about the only result from imprisonment (sic) this man will be to take him from his family and require the county to support his family for him.

From the judge’s standpoint these cases are not cold statistics but individual persons with families and in individual and unusual circumstances.

All this leads up to these recommendations for the curbing of drunken driving:

1. All offenders should serve some time in jail.

2. The certainty of jail punishment for drunken driving should be publicized.

3. The law enforcement officers and courts should be supported by a great majority of the citizens of the community and the judges should know they are supported.

In order to carry out these three points, a committee or committees might be formed of persons who are interested in this problem to add influence and to spearhead a program of education through campaigns and advertising projects of civic-minded groups, newspapers, radio and television that would help to make everyone fully aware that if he drives under the influence of liquor he is a criminal and since criminals go to jail, he will go to jail.

A good many conscientious citizens as the result of such a program might well stop short of the drink that will impair their driving ability, or think ahead to make arrangements to get home in some other manner than to run the risk of driving while drunk.

Through the efforts of this committee or similar committees, the judges would be kept aware that the community is backing them in their endeavor to administer justice fairly and reasonably and they will be able to overcome the influences for leniency in cases where leniency is not justifiable.

These suggestions are not intended as a solution to the problem. There is no solution. I do believe they constitute a possible line of approach in attempting to curb the serious problem of drunken driving.