“Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” on Memorial Day
We’ve been telling you about this Greene County High School project to bring a forgotten episode of county history back to life. Here you can get a good look at it happening, in 27 photos.
RIPPEY, Iowa — A long overdue salute to 34 soldiers who in 1861 and ’62 left one of the first schools in Greene County for service in the Civil War was wonderfully presented on this Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, at the Old Rippey Cemetery near this small west central Iowa town.
More than 200 people looked on with obvious respect and admiration. Most of them had parked at the nearby farm of Dennis & Sharon Ulrich and were shuttled to the cemetery by a brigade of local farmers driving their “gators.’’
Presenting most of the program were Greene County High School history teacher Dena Boyd and her current students. For a year, they’ve been researching and studying the story of the “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey,” as we’ve named them. Those soldiers from long ago experienced some of them worst fighting in the Civil War, seeing combat in six or more states in the South. Eleven of them died in service.
Their interest was kindled in April of 2025 when teacher Boyd had asked me to speak to her Iowa history class about Greene County history. I told them the story of the Schoolboy Soldiers, and how, sadly, it had been almost forgotten 165 years later. I’d learned it during my years as a member of the board of directors of the Greene County Historical Society.
A committee of Boyd, a half-dozen students and a half-dozen historical society members have been at work for more than a year now giving the story new life.
A troop of 34 current students, in new Civil War replica uniforms, will be marching in parades this summer. They’ve been involved in fundraising for two large monuments that will soon tell the story — one going on the Greene County Courthouse lawn in Jefferson and the other in the Old Rippey Cemetery. And in November, many will be involved in a newly commissioned school play, “The Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey,” being written by playwright John Busbee, of Des Moines.
The committee has raised more than $90,000 so far toward a project total cost of about $115,000.
You all can still help us by writing checks to the Greene County Historical Society, which is a 501.c3 tax-exempt non-profit corporation that is serving as our fiscal agent. Designate that your donations are for the “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” memorials. Mail them to the historical society at its museum, 219 E. Lincoln Way, Box 435, Jefferson IA 50129.
The Old Rippey Cemetery is located at the original site of the town of Rippey. The town, platted and founded in 1855, moved three miles east in 1870 when the railroad came through that area. All that’s left of the original town is the pioneer cemetery, where there have been no recent burials. Memorial Days in recent years featured salutes by the color guard of Rippey’s Kinkead-Martin Post #583 of the American Legion and a trumpet player performing “Taps.” But usually there have been few, if any other people attending.
This year’s Memorial Day at the Old Rippey Cemetery was different. And, as I said, wonderful.
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Chuck Offenburger writes as a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Learn more about the group and consider becoming subscribers — for free or for modest fees, your choice — by using the link below here. Your support keeps them all writing for you!
Thanks for the reporting and pictures. May that segment of USA history never repeat. Iowa was an abolitionist state which is something to remember. Applause to all you made this happen and of course to you Chuck for planting the seeds of learning and action.
What a privilege to be among the crowd gathered. Dena and you lit a fire within these proud young people. Our children are hungry for history. You should be so proud of this unique project.