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An Evening with Col. Reuben May
A talk on I WILL UPHOLD THE FLAG, a book published on the life of Col. Reuben May, was recently presented to the Vernon County (WI) Historical Society by co-author Dale Sternberg. He reported that it was nicely attended, and stimulated lots of discussion. Several members of the audience had attended the Col. May School, which was built in 1867 on land he donated on his farm . One was in the 5th grade when the last class graduated in 1962. The other person had graduated from high school in 1940 and had attended early grades at the Col. May School. Both very interesting to talk to. Quite a few individuals who own land that had once belonged to Col. May were present, including the man who lives on the farm that Col May had owned. One lady who is on a parcel of his land indicated that remnants of his lead mine can still be seen in one of the fields. A member of the Masons was interested enought to look into the records of the local chapter and discover that Col. May had transferred his membership from the Masonic Lodge in Manchester, Clay Co., KY. [Reuben lived in Clay County before the Civil War began and his brothers were active in the Masonic Lodges in Pikeville and Prestonsburg, KY.] We took along the albums we had at the 2004 May Reunion and people crowded around them. One lady was particularly interested in the Layne line. She states the name is now pronounced "Laynee," but didn't know if that was the case back then. She got away before I could ask her more about her connection to the family, although seemed to recognize the photo of James H. Layne. Too many people to connect as much as I would have liked. There were probably about 30 or more there which the Historical Society said was the largest attendance they had had in some time.
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