Publisher's journal: Here's to old whiskey and a good mystery

Woodrow Wilson was reelected president. Touring cars were selling for $360 at the local Ford dealerships. The Kemp Lumber Co. had “perfectly seasoned lumber of all kinds and grades,” according to area newspaper ads.

And somebody seems to have hidden a bottle of Old Charter whiskey in the wall of the Kemp Lumber Co. building in Farwell.

Last month, a worker tearing down that 119-year-old building discovered the bottle. There was a note inside.

It read “Richard Troutner – Kenna New Mex – Nov 7 – 1916,” according to the State Line Tribune newspaper, which learned the story from Steve Meeks at Farwell Hardware.

What a great mystery.

It’s unlikely we’ll ever know why Troutner would hide a whiskey bottle and put his name on a piece of paper inside. Or maybe someone else hid the whiskey bottle and planned to blame it on Troutner if it were discovered? Or maybe Troutner was hoping it would stay hidden for more than 100 years so we could all wonder, “Who was that guy?” and set about bringing his memory back to life.

Let’s do that.

There is some evidence the Troutner family owned the Kemp Lumber Co. at some point, which could explain Richard’s alleged exploits.

As for who was Richard Troutner, this is what we know:

He was born July 24, 1897, in Pittsfield, Ill., according to his obituary on findagrave.com .

He died on Feb. 28, 1968, in a Reno, Nev., hospital. He was 70 years old, had lived in Reno for 24 years and was a retired electrician.

He was a World War I veteran and active in forestry, his obit tells us.

Troutner’s connection to this region is recorded in The Kenna Record newspaper.

On June 26, 1914, he made the society page, having returned to his hometown of Pittsfield from his family homestead in Boaz, a few miles past Kenna on the Roswell highway in Roosevelt County.

On Aug. 7, 1914, he was back in Boaz after working and attending school in Illinois.

In June of 1916, he again made the society page of The Kenna Record, having recently attended “the social at Wm. Horner’s” and visited friends.

It’s possible the whiskey came from “the social at Wm. Horner’s.” … Good mysteries tend to result in wild speculation with no basis in fact.

However that bottle got in that wall, thanks for the head scratcher, Richard Troutner.

David Stevens is publisher of Clovis Media Inc. Email him at:

[email protected]

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