No matter what is written in an obituary, nothing captures the entirety of a life’s work. The recent passing of Dudley Brandom and his obituary printed in this newspaper recently underscores the point.
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There was no mention of Dudley’s achievement of being an Eagle Scout. That’s a significant oversight. Dudley’s father, Charles Brandom, was the very first Gallatin youth to earn Eagle Scout. That was in 1938, six years after Gallatin Troop #67 was chartered.
Eric Corwin (clock keeper of the ol’ Seth Thomas mechanism in the courthouse dome) maintains this count, updating the list filed in the county clerk’s office when necessary. And the list was recently amended to eliminate the oversight of Dudley’s designation onto that list.
You don’t have to inquire to look over the 37 names on the Eagle Scout honor roll. A handsome plaque is mounted on the first floor wall of the courthouse outside the assessor’s office. I realize exterior repairs on the courthouse have commanded attention recently, but you might be surprised at what else you can see on display on the inside.
Perhaps the most prominent plaques memorialize those from Daviess County who have fallen while in the military service of this country. The largest lists names of our war dead from World Wars I & II, but you’ll also find plaques honoring Korean and Vietnam veterans. Perhaps plaques honoring our warriors are expected. But you’ll also see another plaque honoring heroic chaplains who died while supporting our troops in harm’s way.
There are other memorials, such as a large plaque for the American Cancer Society Memorial Program. At first glance, this plaque appears rather old and incomplete. There are so many nameplates left blank. But perhaps that is more accurate than it could be left in any other way, see how this disease fingers out to touch so many. Listing countless names seems pointless. Thus, even this “outdated” plaque sparks emotions of poignant regret and loss.
There’s also another display listing names memorialized by redbud tree plantings. But there’s more than memorials in our courthouse.
Look upward as you walk through the east doorway entrance and you’ll see a mural of Lady Justice. The Egyptians and the Greeks helped develop the personification of moral force in judicial systems, but the Romans stamped their ideas of divine order, law and custom in the form of Justitia. She is often depicted with a set of scales typically suspended from her left hand, upon which she measures the strengths of a case’s support and opposition. She also carries a double-edged sword in her right hand, symbolizing the power of Reason and Justice, which may be wielded either for or against any party.
Look left to the south of Lady Justice and you’ll see a genuine (and very large) 45-star American flag which once flew over our nation’s capitol. Below it on the first floor is a Flag Retirement Station, another Boy Scout project that offers physical evidence of our customs and values, as important as the flags lining the courthouse lawn and the Civil War cannon and memory brick walkway.
Across the hallway is not only a time capsule display but an actual time capsule, positioned about where the weights of the Seth Thomas clock once crashed through stone and flooring. This capsule was placed in 2006, not to be reopened until 2056.
The north first floor hallway is dominated by an informational display of the Seth Thomas Clock – revealing by photographs what you cannot easily see for yourself still at work in the uppermost parts of the courthouse dome.
Our courthouse decor is not perfect. There’re improvement projects just waiting for some willing organization or group, to dust off some musty display case relics or embellish what we have in other ways. But our courthouse is distinctive, inside and out. It’s the centerpiece of where we live. I’m happy to see those in charge authorize exterior repairs when needed, and I appreciate the maintenance efforts that keeps a shine on one of our best assets.
We’ve got something here that people from across our great country have literally died for, since 1776.
Much has been and will be “cussed and discussed within these walls” of the Daviess County Courthouse. But what we choose to put on the walls says much about who we are and what we value. Take a look for yourself sometime. See if you’re like me, walking away thinking that it’s another reason why it just feels right to call this place “home.”
Thanks for reading.