Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

A I 915 photo ofRen Finnigan and his stacker hood.
C. Lawrence. city attorney: Tom Watters. treasurer;
and George Joslin. city marshal.
Ren D. Finnigan and Jess Holden were great friends.
Ren was Jess's uncle. and they had a lot of political
debates published in the paper. Jess was a Republican
and Ren was the Democrat. The articles were widely
read and was also very much enjoyed by Ren and Jess.
When Ren was about 40 years old. he invented a
stacker hood for the threshing machine. Ren had
i
farmed and was living in Viola while doing threshing
work. using a high steam engine. Ren's son. Galen. was
working with him and they shipped their threshing
equipment to Kansas and followed the harvest to
Montana. The great need to save straw was a
continuing problem. so Ren built his first stacker hood.
He hired a fine tinsmith from the Reformatory and
manufactured the Finnigan Stacker Hood.
They were popular and sold well. Ren and his son.
Galen. traveled throughout the midwest wherever
grain was being harvested and sold the Stacker Hood.
Harvest methods changed in this area with the
arrival of the combines. However. they were used many
years on ranch-type farms in the Dakotas. Montana and
Kansas.
The business was sold to Bert Strawman. who kept it
until the Stacker Hood became obsolete. Mr. Strawman
gave the original model to the family. He felt that it
should be kept in the family and it is now in the
possession of Ren's grandson. Don Petersen.
In 1923. Ren D. Finnigan and his son. Galen. started
the Buffalo Oil Company. It was located on Main and
Cleveland streets. It was sold after the death of his wife.
Mary. in I925. He also served as chairman of the Jones
County Scrap drive during World War II. He shipped
out 3.600 tons of old iron. as WCll;3.S rags. paper. and
rubber.
He died in I947 at the age of 74.
Wrote “Flash Gordon” Comic Strip
Don Wynkoop Moore
Don Wynkoop Moore was the only son of Eugene R.
Moore and Mary Wynkoop Moore. He was born August
22. 1904. the same year his father became editor of the
Anamosa Journal. He was born in the home now owned
by Kay and Neil Dougherty. next door. south of the post
office.
Don was a quiet little boy who was close to his father
and mother and shared their love of knowledge. Both of
his parents were involved in education. His father. E.R.
Moore. sewed as superintendent of schools in the
middle 1890s and his mother was a high school
teacher at the Anamosa High School
When Don finally started his formal schooling he was
skipped through grades one through four. and went
into fifth at the age of seven.
When Don was ll years old the family moved to
Dubuque. and he started high school. graduating four
years later at the top of his class.
The family moved to Florida after his high school
graduation. He attended Dartmouth College and
graduated in 1925. standing second in a class of 387.
He then headed for New York in search of a job.
He landed a position writing for the Argosy-Allstory
Weekly that specialized in adventure and science
fiction stories. Moore eventually became the editor.
For the next couple of years Don moved through a
progression of jobs. serving as story editor for Warner
Brothers. RKO Radio Pictures. MGM television and
Screen Gems. manager of the story and script
department at CBS television. contributing editor to
Cosmopolitan magazine. and a writer for the New
Yorker. This Week and the American Weekly.
compiled by Anne B. Moore
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Don Moore. author of Flash Gordon comic strip.
and his wife. Anne.
He was primarily an editor who "moonlighted" on
the side as a writer. That's when King Features asked
him if he could write Flash Gordon.
Alex Raymond. the man who drew Flash Gordon,
wasn't really a writer. and a “ghost writer" was
necessary. Moore took the job. For a long time he
received no credit for his work and was only paid $25
per week. His association with Flash Gordon lasted 20
years — until I954 when science began to catch up