RIPPEY, Iowa — In recent years, when the color guard of this town’s Kinkead-Martin Post #583 of the American Legion has done its Memorial Day salute to the dead in the Old Rippey Cemetery, the Legionnaires and someone playing “Taps” on a trumpet would often be the only people attending.
After all, it’s been decades since there has been a new burial in that “pioneer cemetery,” as it is now designated. “Old Rippey” is the original Rippey. The town moved three miles east when the railroad came through in 1870.
But it will be different this Memorial Day, which is Monday, May 25.
The “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey,” as we’ve long referred to them, are coming home to Old Rippey.
From what we hear, there likely will be a crowd to honor them.
Students at Greene County High School in nearby Jefferson, led by history teacher Dena Boyd, and a committee of nine members of the Greene County Historical Society, have been working for a year to bring the story of the Schoolboy Soldiers back to life. I’m chairperson of the committee and, yes, I’ve written a lot about this.
As part of Iowa’s tremendous turn-out of soldiers for the Civil War of 1861-1865, there were 32 current or former students of one of the first schools in Greene County who enlisted together. They and their two teachers closed their school and went to war. Eleven of them died in service.
Those who returned became important leaders of the still-new county, which had been founded in 1854, and of its communities. At least two also held state offices.
But as their generation passed, so did the story of the Schoolboy Soldiers.
Very few Greene County residents knew anything about the story in April 2025. That’s when teacher Boyd asked me if I would talk to her Iowa history class about local history, especially any story I knew that “might be impactful for high school students of today.”
I knew about the Schoolboy Soldiers story from old timers in the historical society. The day I told it to Boyd’s students, Oliver Harris, then a senior and who now has just completed his freshman year at Iowa State University, nearly came out of his chair.
“What! Why isn’t there a monument that tells this story?” Harris said. “Could we still put one up? Would you help us?”
Truth be told, all of us who have been involved are shocked at what has happened.
“When I first thought of doing this, I did not expect it to turn into what it has today,” Harris told me Friday. “I’m really grateful to Ms. Boyd and her students for keeping the project moving, same with the whole committee that has helped so much. It truly has blossomed into so much more than I thought it ever would.”
We put together detailed plans for projects that are winding up with a total cost of about $115,000. We have raised — or been firmly pledged — $94,000 of that, most of that coming in six grants from non-profit organizations or government agencies and one significant grant still pending.
The largest of those grants has been $45,000 from Grow Greene County Gaming Corp., the nonprofit that shares gaming proceeds from the Wild Rose Casino and Resort in Jefferson. More than $20,000 in individual donations have come from coast to coast.
So, yes, there will soon be a monument telling the story — in fact, two of them, identical. One will be on the lawn of the county courthouse in Jefferson, the other will be in the Old Rippey Cemetery, in the rural community where the story started.
Jefferson Monument Works, a local firm, is having those granite monuments made. Obelisks, they will stand 9 feet tall, with the story engraved and etched on all four sides. Each monument will weigh 5,600 pounds. Total cost of both of them: $81,867.
“It’s the largest order in the 79-year history of Jefferson Monument Works,” said co-owner Ryam Nelson.
It’s fitting, given that students really started this project, that the monuments have been designed by Greene County High School senior Aden Bardole, whose family has deep roots in the Rippey area. He’s had previous designer experience, creating stage sets for musicals at the school.
For the monument, Bardole said, “I wanted it to be something eye-catching, something you notice. Then when you walk over to see what it is, you find the story told on the four sides. The story will capture your attention and hold it, but first you’ve got to get people to notice that the monument is there.”
The title side of the monument is a near life-size drawing, which will be etched in the granite stone, of a Schoolboy Soldier. It’s been drawn by another GCHS senior, Lila Osterson. She’s an accomplished artist who has taken one or two art courses every semester of her high school years.
Her first thought about the soldier she would draw, Osterson said, “was that this is something that is going to be out there for everyone to see, and it’ll be there forever. That’s nice, but it also means everyone will have an opinion about it. So that made me a little nervous.
“From there, I decided the person should look a little bit more mature than his natural age would be, which is kind of tricky to draw. I wanted the face to show some emotion, maybe some fear or worry. It helped me develop that when I was learning more about the soldiers from their stories we found.”
The monuments will be completed this fall, erected and dedicated in mid-October.
By then there will have been up to a half-dozen appearances by our own “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” of today, in services like Memorial Day at the Old Rippey Cemetery, public parades and other programs.
Teacher Boyd is drafting students to appear in brand new Civil War-replica uniforms, we’ve purchased from James Country Mercantile in Liberty, Missouri, one of the leading suppliers of Civil War re-enactors. We’ve purchased an authentic Civil War drum from Loyal Drums in Virginia and two fifes from Peeler Fifes in Connecticut. (Note to all: We need a couple of fife players.)
When these new Schoolboy Soldiers appear, ideally they’ll have 32 students in the ranks. They will be marching with their teachers “Lt. Isaac Brown,” portrayed by Boyd, and “1st Sgt. Azor Mills,” portrayed by our committee member David Burkett of Scranton, a veteran of years of Civil War re-enactments.
Boyd, as you have probably guessed, is a fun, lively and very effective teacher.
She is a 38-year-old native of Story City, Iowa, who graduated in history and education from Central College in Pella. She previously taught 14 years in Ogden. While there, she helped organize Memorial Day services and a hall of fame at the school. She and her husband, Luke, a math teacher at Greene County High, have three daughters and a son between the ages of 8 and 1.
I told her it must be so fun at their house that I’d buy a ticket just to come watch all the activity happening there. “But you probably wouldn’t want to stay very long,” she said.
The Schoolboy Soldier events are scheduled to stretch from Memorial Day next week, through this summer and fall, and just beyond Veterans Day in November.
On the second weekend of November, the drama department at Greene County High School will present its annual fall play. This time, it’ll be an original, “The Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey,” which we’ve commissioned by professional playwright John Busbee of Des Moines, who also now serves on our memorial committee.
What will that be like?
“It will be an original two-act play that will be anchored in the known history of the 32 schoolboys and their two teachers who answered the call to service in the Civil War,” said Busbee, who is known widely for his “The Culture Buzz” radio shows and blogs.
“Select story threads, coupled with researched trends and culture of that era in pioneer Greene County, will give audiences a deeper understanding of who these soldiers were,” Busbee continued. “The concept for the play will be reminiscent of ‘Our Town.’ It will have representational scenic design elements, with added enhancements through digital projection and original music underscoring composed and recorded by local musicians.”
There are major media stories about the Schoolboy Soldiers coming from Iowa PBS television and the “Our American Stories” national radio series. And we are registered and recognized as one of Iowa’s “America 250” celebration projects.
Its public launch is next week, with the Memorial Day service. Here are the details you need to know about that:
—The service will be held at the Old Rippey Cemetery, which is three miles west of the current town of Rippey, and is just up a country lane from County Road E57. There will be signage and attendants helping with location and parking. You might want to bring a lawn chair or blanket for sitting.
—Service promptly at 10 a.m., in silence from the crowd, with the Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey marching-in, in formation.
—National Anthem sung by Carter Petterson, William Graham, and Calleigh Fitzpatrick, Greene County High School seniors.
—Opening prayer by Rev. Heather Dorr, pastor of the First United Methodist Church in nearby Jefferson.
—Speech by Greene County High School senior Lila Osterson, portraying one of the Schoolboy Soldiers, Gillum S. Toliver, a post-war community leader whose 239-page handwritten memoir has been the source of much research on Greene County in pioneer times.
—A reading by Jed Magee, a member of our committee, of his own poem, “Ode to the Student Soldiers of Old Rippey.”
—Singing of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Greene County High School seniors Carter Pettersen and William Graham.
—Formal rifle salute to the deceased from the color guard of the Kinkead-Martin Post #583 of the American Legion, and “Taps.”
—Closing prayer by Pastor Dorr.
—A time for the public to talk to the Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey, by name, as portrayed by the GCHS students of today.
When you read all that is happening with this project, and think about the study and research that has made it all possible, how much learning has there been for everybody involved?
“Way more than you find in any history textbook,” said Boyd. “It’s hands-on, everything from creating belts and replica guns to making ‘hardtack’,” a food item that Civil War soldiers actually survived on in lean times of supply.
She said students were deeply moved by the personal stories of the local soldiers. They were guided to those Dianne Piepel, a member of the committee who is also co-director with her husband, Mike Piepel, of the Greene County Historical Museum.
“Dianne’s research helped immensely,” Boyd said. “She led students through the museum and showed them where the resources are. She led us to the gravesites of Schoolboy Soldiers in four different cemeteries around the county. They loved the field trips.”
Any real surprise for Boyd?
“Yes,” she said. “They’ve actually come to enjoy our marching! I didn’t expect that. I’ve had them come up to me, excited and saying, ‘Are we going outside today?’ And they’ve realized that ‘recruiting’ other students can be fun, too.”
Busbee, the playwright, sees the whole Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey project having “an unprecedented impact” on Greene County and beyond.
“The project is a perfect storm of inspiration followed by community collaboration,” he wrote to me. “From an initial seed of a history class presentation about an almost forgotten chapter of Greene County history, a group of high school students sought to create a proper memorial to honor the Schoolboy Soldiers. That expanded to include fundraising for 34 replica Civil War uniforms with full gear for modern-day representation at community events, commissioning of an original play, a dedication memorial stones, informational brochures to inform the public and other pending additions to this project.
“That initial seed will produce a community-unifying appreciation for a unique and important chapter of this region’s history,” he concluded, “something that families new to the area, as well as those who are multi-generation residents, can share and embrace.”
The story is certainly giving the town of Rippey a new shot of pride.
Mary Weaver said that as a Rippey representative on the Schoolboy Soldiers committee and a native of the community, “it is very heartwarming to see our little town come together to recognize and celebrate this 165-year-old story.”
Veteran Iowa newsman Chuck Offenburger chairs the Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey Memorial Committee.
