Local Man Has Connection To Truman

By Jim Bush
I have many memories of people, places and events in Trenton. Even today I will drive around town with my mother, Wilma Bush, and other friends and family and relive those days. I caused a few problems for some, was a joy to many and I pray that my retirement in Trenton has more than made up for my lack of wisdom as a child.
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
— 1 Cor 13:11
When I read your article, “THE DAY THE PRESIDENT CAME TO TRENTON” on Jan. 16, it brought back memories of the 17th Street Bridge, the Peyton Hotel, the railroad depot and the Ferguson Grocery Store on 17th and Nichols streets.
I was nine years old, standing on the south rail of the 17th Street Bridge, looking at the commotion going on in the rail yard at the Depot. It was Sept 18, 1948. I’m told it was about 7:30 p.m. (I didn’t own a watch or have a smart phone back then, so I never was aware of the time) The train was facing south and I had a great view of the presidential car, being the last car on the train. I couldn’t make out a lot of the details that I was seeing, and I certainly didn’t understand what President Truman was saying, but there was no mistaking the applause from the large crowd that they were pleased with what he said. I don’t remember anyone else being on the bridge with me.
I had left the Peyton Hotel earlier as mom was working at the hotel in the kitchen, making sandwiches for the huge crowd that was gathering, and I was to get home and babysit. I don’t know how long I watched, but I lived at 2014 Princeton Road and I needed to get home before dark. A few months later I watched his inauguration in the window of the Ferguson Grocery Store on one of the few televisions in town.
Little did I know that many years later I would be invited to President Truman’s annual meeting, hosted by Mr. Darby and Mr. Hallmark, and that President Truman would give me a medal. President Truman said he had “been to Trenton many times as a young man and knew a lot of people here.” (Larry Stoops had one of Truman’s early Ford Model T’s. When I saw it in 1995, it was just a pile of junk, but it had Truman’s name on the title.)
And who could imagine that 24 years later on Dec. 26, 1972 I would be called to active duty in the Navy, to be in President Truman’s honor color guard at his funeral on Dec. 27, 1972, on the grounds of the Truman Library where he is buried. I carried the American flag. Those pictures are still on the Truman Library website. Maggie and I were invited to a memorial dinner in 1984 honoring President Truman and selected veterans from the area. Rest in peace, Mr. President.
Many of the neighborhood kids would often play in and around the Rock Island Freight House as Larry Morley’s dad, Ray Morley, worked there or hauled local freight from there. Some of us would ride the mail carts at the depot and once in a while there would be a hand rail car that we could move up and down the tracks. It seems we could get away with a lot more things as kids.
That was not so with the Peyton Hotel run by Dean and Don Peyton. Many of us would go to the hotel for a hamburger and soda and play the five-cent pinball machine. Often we would get caught trying to cheat the machine by putting it on our toes and being careful not to tilt the machine. If it tilted, game over. Or if Don caught you, game over and you were booted out of the hotel. Many of the same kids ran around together, Jim and David Brodie, Frank Layson, Rex and Jerry Stevenson, Marvin Arbuckle, Frank Trump, Larry Sharron, Andrew Wisner, and J.L. Stottlemyre to name a few.
I am very fortunate that I got my start in Trenton. A small town and humble beginnings, that’s for sure, but look where it allowed me to go and do. I tell people that I am a byproduct of many people’s efforts and if they like what they see, and had a part of me, they can thank the Lord. If they had a hand in a part of me and don’t like what they see, they need to correct it. Even from the smallest seeds grow the largest trees on earth.

About the Author: A Trenton native, Jim Bush joined the Navy in 1959 and left Trenton. He traveled to and served in 54 countries during his stint in the military, moving back to Trenton after retiring in 1994. He and his wife, Maggie, own and operate the Trenton Cinema. He also serves as a fourth ward councilman.