Category Archives: Retrospect

A Mural To Celebrate 100 Years Of Sheriff Maude

Posted on by
10
Maude Collins

Next month marks the 100th anniversary of when Maude Collins became Ohio’s first female sheriff. She was appointed to the office when her husband Sheriff Fletcher Collins was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1925.

When the Vinton County Commissioners appointed the sheriff’s widow to the position, I suspect they thought it was an act of charity, something that would buy the young widow some time to plan for a fresh start. Back in the day, the sheriff’s family lived at the Sheriff’s Office. His wife was the jail matron. His five young children lived under the same roof as prisoners kept in cells. This was still customary in 1925.

So when Maude lost her husband, she lost her home too.

Maude was around thirty when she first put on the badge and I’m proud to say she proved to everyone that she was capable of doing the job. She was no one’s charity case. She investigated crimes including several murders, served warrants, patrolled the roads and arrested people just like a man would.

Women had only been voting for a few years when she was appointed Sheriff. She finished her husband’s unexpired term and then her name appeared on a primary election ballot across from some local men. She beat them pretty handily and went on to beat a male opponent in the general election. And a few years later, she went on to be elected county recorder.

Sheriff Maude busted up moonshine stills with a child at her hip. That’s because there were no social safety nets back then. There were no food stamps or welfare, no housing vouchers or even kindergarten to send her youngest to.

Sheriff Maude and moonshine still

And when she finished her day, there wasn’t an electric washer and dryer at home to make sure the family had clean clothes or microwave meals for the nights she didn’t have time to cook.

I can’t fathom how she managed.

A double murder investigation she led gained her national attention. I have a copy of a mid- century “Startling Detective Magazine” that tells the story of a sensational murder.

Sheriff Maude is also in the state’s history books for being the first woman to deliver a prisoner (a man, no less) to the Ohio State Penitentiary in 1929. Incidentally, she was a descendent of the McCoy family that gained so much notoriety as part of the Hatfield and McCoy feud.

She must have been a character. I mean, to be a single working mom would be hard enough. To do it back then would have been a Herculean task. To do something so dangerous as be a sheriff would take true nerve. She did have a male deputy who seemed to be a decent guy and supportive of his boss but it would still have been such a hard life.

Her story was mostly lost to time until about 25 years ago. In fact, Belmont County, Ohio had been telling everyone that their lady sheriff, elected in 1976, was the first to do so in the country. No offense to her legacy but that woman wasn’t even born yet when Sheriff Maude was out breaking up moonshine operations. Plus, there were a few women sheriffs before our Sheriff Maude.

This story may ring a bell for you longtime readers. I helped the local historical society get an Ohio Historical marker a few years ago and wrote that story here.

I sit on the local tourism board and we raised money to have a mural painted in Sheriff Maude’s honor. It will be dedicated on October 9, the 100th anniversary of her becoming sheriff. We’ll have an open house at the visitors center along with some vendors that evening.

When we announced the mural project, we had a local woman suggest that celebrating Sheriff Maude wasn’t the best use of a mural. After all, she just got the job because her husband died and she didn’t have to work that hard.

I would love to time travel that woman back to 1925 and let her see how hard Maude had to work to balance home and job and to keep it together. Let her do better. Why are there always naysayers?

Sheriff Maude did everything a man would do only she had to do it better, with a family to care for and undoubtedly with a lot of naysayers waiting for her to fail. Remember, this was still a time when women were expected to stay home and raise a family rather than have jobs, homes and incomes of their own.

This is why we talk about our past and study our history. It’s up to us to keep alive these remarkable stories and to appreciate how pioneers like Sheriff Maude helped shape our community and open doors for others like her.

Women today need to remember that our rights to vote, drive, be educated work, and do as we please with our lives are not a given and can be taken away much more easily than they were won by those who came before us.

I am proud of the legacy that Sheriff Maude left behind. Representation is important and I hope that little girls across the county will go by this mural and know that any dream is possible and that women like Sheriff Maude worked to make it that way.

PS: The mural is being painted by an artist who is just as excited about Sheriff Maude’s story as I am. She’s incredibly talented so I hope you’ll look up Pam Kellough Murals on Facebook. I am a big fan of her work and hope you’ll be too! She’s pictured here on one of the early days of the mural work.

Stress

Posted on by
6

My week has been unnecessarily stressful mostly because of the choices of others. I’m pretty good at keeping my life reasonably calm but struggle sometimes to navigate circumstances caused by others.

Since stress is bad for human health, I’m doing my best to deflect and tune out other people’s shenanigans. This is often easier said than done but I’m giving it the old college try.

Last night I tried some mushroom hot chocolate to help support my sleep. This book, though, foiled attempts to drift off early. The Peach Keeper is a page turner!

Scout’s also doing his part to keep life pleasant as he alternates between luxuriating in sunny patches and curling up next to me every chance he gets. He rests most peacefully when his little body is pressed against my side. His purrs are mixed with sweet snoring when he’s truly relaxed.

We’ve had a fair amount of rain this week and loads of morning fog. Yesterday I looked out to find the butterfly bush by the window filled with spider webs. Someone was very busy, creating these magnificently complex designs.

They’re mesmerizing.

They’re also a timely reminder of how everything is connected and how pulling one thread can unravel the whole darn thing – whether it be in nature or in society at-large or in someone’s incomprehensible actions.

Remember this, friends: no one deserves your peace, your time, or space in your head unless you believe them worthy. As life, work, and the news seemingly become more busy and more convoluted with every passing day, it’s best to draw some boundaries and then do your best to stick to them.

A cat, a book and a cup of hot chocolate are powerful tools for holding the line against stress in my corner of the world. I hope you find something that works for you as well!

Unintended Consequences

Posted on by
8

While doing some yard work this week I accidentally uncovered this nest of pretty eggs. I was cutting a bunch of tall weeds and some bird had carefully crafted her nest in the top of a very small cedar tree beneath those weeds. Now the nest is exposed because of me and I’m sure the mother won’t be back.

This is your friendly reminder that, as you go through your day doing what you think is right, there could be unseen consequences for others.

It’s often unavoidable and usually not intended. All the same, your choices can cause a domino effect and you may not even know it.

Have a good Saturday, friends. If we are lucky, maybe some of this unintended consequences will be for the good today!

The Real Things

Posted on by
7

“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”

Laura Ingalls Wilder

24 Years

Posted on by
4

Today is September 11, 2025. That means 24 years have passed since that awful day that we said we would never forget. It has been 24 years since the horrors of that day caused so many of our citizens to set aside their differences to do what was right and to unite under one flag. There was no room for partisan politics.

We were Americans.

I hope to someday see our country that united and committed to a singular cause and in circumstances less tragic. A few years ago I wrote a story about the Flight 93 Memorial. I encourage you to read it and to think about my words. Click here.

Routine Versus Ritual

Posted on by
10

My last few months have been occupied by thoughts of routines and rituals.

Why?

Well, it occurs to me that we spend a lot of time doing things we have to do – cook, wash dishes, brush teeth, make the bed, and mountains of other chores. We tend to build routines around these chores so we remember to do them and to simply make them more efficient.

After a while, it starts to feel like work. Depending on the routine, it can range from boring to drudgery. Why would we want to spend our lives like that when there are ways to make those routines something special?

After painting my bedroom earlier this year, I began focusing on bedtime rituals. This was easy because the new paint color and decor made me long to spend more time in my room, enjoying its new vibe. You can read about the new bedroom here but note the winter bedding has been swapped out for blue and white floral sheets and a fluffy white comforter. The curtains are now flowy and white too! It’s much prettier now!

I turn on some music – typically a classical selection of soft music accompanied by the sounds of nature. Frogs, rustling leaves, and flowing water are understated and relaxing. I flip on the nightstand light and turn down the bed before stepping into the bathroom. There I brush and floss before washing my face and moisturizing.

This step is vital because I visualize literally washing away the day and letting it all go.

Sometimes I journal or read in bed. Sometimes I scroll Pinterest but try to avoid stressful places like the news or Facebook. No need to junk up my brain with social media nonsense when I have worked so hard to clean away the grime from the outside world.

I often start to drift off while reading, sometimes outlasting the music and sometimes out like a light.

This is the only time of my day when I’m able to do exactly what my body says it needs.

This is my evening ritual and it has mostly served me well.

This summer I began turning the ceiling fan on low and that has added a whole other level of relaxation to the evening. Soft sheets, the fan breeze, and waning summer light create a delightful space to simply exist without external demands.

Scout has embraced this ritual as well. If I don’t collect him on time, he will follow me around, silently asking with those big, beautiful eyes why we aren’t resting yet.

Why not romanticize these chores a bit and transform them into a ritual I can enjoy?

I’ve been doing this for months and occasionally wonder what other ways I can incorporate rituals into my day. The bedtime routine has worked great because I do it every day around the same time.

The rest of my day tends to be incredibly unpredictable and often rushed. I have thought about working on a morning ritual, inspired by blogger tips about waking with the sun or sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee. I don’t know what those people do for a living but I tend to drag my sleepy-eyed self out of bed before the sun is up and race to make it to work at 7:30.

There’s not much time for porch mornings!

Perhaps ritualizing meal prep would help me make tastier, healthier dishes to nourish my body. That sounds reasonable.

Do you have rituals? I would love to hear about them!