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.