The Logan County Tourism Bureau
and Kickapoo Cognizors partner for a new display at the Mill on
route 66 Museum
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[April 12, 2024]
On
Saturday, April 6th the Mill on 66 Museum was open and hosting an
open house to unveil a new display honoring composer and Logan
County native Horace Grant Fletcher. The display is being provided
at the Mill thanks to a collaboration between the Logan County
Tourism Bureau and the Kickapoo Cognizors Chapter No. 645 of
Questers International.
In early 2023 Lynn Spellman with the Cognizors addressed the board
of the Logan County Tourism Bureau explaining that there was a grant
available through Questers International that would help defray the
cost of establishing an historical exhibit about local history. The
Cognizors including Spellman and Nancy Rawlings Saul had dove into
researching a song written by Fletcher with the subject matter of
Coonhound Johnny, a local bootlegger with a colorful history
connected to the Mill.
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The club wanted to apply for the grant and would in
the grant promise a prominent display as a tribute to Fletcher. They
wanted to have that prominent display at the Mill because they
planned to highlight the Coonhound Johnny song. The felt that
because Johnny had history with the Mill in the days of Blossom
Huffman, it would be more than fitting to do so.
The Tourism Bureau accepted the suggestion and the Cognizors went
about making their plans.
This month those plans came together as the exhibit opened at the
Mill. During a brief speech, Saul talked about the process of
researching Fletcher and then creating the display.
![](../images/041224PIX/s%20DSCN1078_small.JPG)
On Saturday afternoon, Tourism Director Alice Roate
thanked guests for coming and said that the bureau was very excited
to partner with the Cognizors in creating the new display.
She introduced Saul who then spoke about the project and the man it
honors.
![](../images/041224PIX/s%20DSCN1083_small.JPG)
Sault began by explaining what the Questors
International is and does. She said that they were an antique study
group that also supports historic sites. The work on informational
exhibits and historical artifacts.
Saul said that the project began several years earlier when the Mill
was collecting items for its display cases. She said one of the
items donated was a piece of handwritten sheet music, donated by the
late John Sutton. The music was an original composition by Fletcher
and dedicated to his Uncle Dutch. The music was titled Coonhound
Johnny.
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Saul said she had always been curious about the
artifact and about the identity of Grant Fletcher, thus she began to
do some research. She found that Horace Grant Fletcher was a Logan
County native, born in Hartsburg in 1913 to Ulysses and Della Kief
Fletcher.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Apr/12/images/ads/current/burtonview_sda_SFARM_2024.png)
Saul had been curious about who Uncle Dutch was and
why the Coonhound Johnny song had been dedicated to him. It turned
out that Fletcher and a brother had lived for a time with their aunt
Clara Kief. Uncle Dutch was their maternal uncle, C.L. “Dutch” Kief
and also a two term Logan County Sherrif. The two boys had heard
stories about Coonhound Johnny from their Uncle Dutch.
The Coonhound song was written in 1948 for piano with a percussion
version published in 1969.
Saul also shared facts about Fletcher’s musical education and career
including his role as the musical director for a production of
Julius Caesar starring Charlton Heston as Marc Antony before he was
actually famous.
![](../images/041224PIX/s%20DSCN1091_small.JPG)
![](../images/041224PIX/s%20DSCN1093_small.JPG)
![](../images/041224PIX/s%20DSCN1060_small.JPG)
The display at the Mill includes a large poster with
an abbreviated biography of Fletcher, an larger collection of
materials that can be viewed page by page, a vintage looking
turntable with a vinyl LP of Fletchers music and the album jacket
for the same.
The Mill on Route 66 Museum, located at 728 South Washington Street
in Lincoln, is now open for the season and hours are Tuesday through
Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. and closed on Sunday and Monday’s.
[Nila Smith]
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