Life In A Small Town. . . .

The Million Dollar Courthouse
built in 1871 is now a museum.

This courthouse was built
in the late 1930s and is
where I worked.
It is still in use today.






There is something very special about living in a small town.
The camaraderie among the residents encompasses all ages.
The friendships that are established extend back through
many generations. Your best friend, was in all probability,
the daughter or son of your parents best friend, whose
parents were also best friends.

Panaca was the first permanent settlement in Southern
Nevada. Her founding fathers were Mormon pioneers and
their posterity continued on to play major roles in it's history.
As I could trace my genealogy back to Panaca's first settlers,
so could many of those who were by best friends as I was
growing up. Even today, many of the residents of Panaca are
direct ancestors of those original settlers.The beautiful little
towns of Caliente, Pioche, and Alamo, are the other major
towns in Lincoln County. Like Panaca, my life and the lives
of my family, were also entwined with the lives of the residents
of those towns. Thinking about the people mentioned in the
story I posted of the events leading to mine and George's
wedding, a multitude of memories were brought to mind.
My boss in that story, Esther Rollins, the Lincoln County
Clerk, had great admiration and respect for my father.
She often told me that he was her mentor and instilled
within her a desire to make Lincoln County a better place
to live. Before I left for Salt Lake City after my graduation,
she told me that if I did well in my studies at the LDS
Business College, when I came home she would try and get
me a position in her office.

Esther lived in Pioche. Her two sons, Jim and Jack Rollins,
went to Lincoln County High School with me. They were a
year ahead of me. Jack, especially, was a good friend of mine.
George played football with them, and we shared other
school activities. Jack was a pilot in the navy and an officer.
During the Vietnamese War, he was held as a prisoner of
war for four or five years. We were living in El Cajon,
California at that time. I will never forget the morning I
was watching television and the news showed a number of
released POWs stepping of a military plane and walking
down the tarmac. One of them was Jack. Lincoln County
welcomed home a hero and those of us who lived away
rejoiced with them. His picture hangs in the courthouse
of my story.

I have previously written that I was often called to assist
in the District Attorney's office when Esther could spare
me. Dolores Werber was DA Roscoe Wilkes secretary.
When depositions were being taken, extra help was needed.
Dolores was two years older than me and was in my brother
David's class. She was a happy, laughing girl, a prankster,
affectionately called Dee Dee by her family and friends. She
was very intelligent and committed to her studies.I looked
up to her. She was one of the original members of the newly
established Tocahadode Commercial Club at Lincoln High
and during her senior year she was elected it's president.
She encouraged me to study hard and improve my skills in
typing, shorthand, business machines and all other studies
associated with the commercial department. When I was
a senior, I was elected president of the club and I gave
Dee Dee a lot of credit for that. She continued to mentor me
when I began my job at the courthouse. When I would be
"quaking in my boots" and dreading another confrontation
with the DA, and the terror of being called to take another
important deposition, she was always there to calm me and
laugh away my fears. She would assure me that beneath his
demeanor as the stern DA, Roscoe was a big Teddy Bear, an
image I was never able to bring to mind when thinking
about him!

DA Roscoe's sister, Kathryn Wilkes, was one of my favorite
high school teachers. She taught commercial classes and was
also an advisor to the Tocahadode Commercial Club. She
remained a caring friend to me after I graduated. And so, in
yet another way, our everyday lives were forever entwined.

The Werbers had lived in both Pioche and Panaca. Dee Dee's
mother, Lydia, was an amazing woman. She was a little woman
with a huge singing voice, a beautiful pure contralto. For those
of you who are not familiar with a woman's contralto singing
voice, it has the lowest range of all of the women's voices. It
is equal to the men's counter tenor singing range. It was
thrilling to hear her sing. When this little woman would begin
to sing, those listening were equally amazed and thrilled. As
often as I heard her sing, the first notes of a song never ceased
to astound me. After all of these years, I still get goose bumps
thinking about it. She was very modest of her talent, never
seeking the spotlight, even though she was widely coveted as
a soloist. While talking to Pete and Delores recently, I asked
them to verify several bits of information I was going to use
in this post. While talking about Lydia, they told me a
wonderful story about her. She was visiting family in Las Vegas
and some of them went to dinner at the Olive Garden
Restaurant. The strolling musician was playing his accordion
and entertaining the patrons as they dined. As he was playing
the song, "Somewhere My love". without rising from her chair,
Lydia spontaneously began to sing to his music. Everyone
stopped eating and listened, enthralled. It was said that the
standing ovation she received was long and enthusiastic.

Speaking of the District Attorney's office brought to mind my
family's involvement with that office. My Uncle Frank, one of
dad's older brothers, Franklin Ernest Wadsworth, was elected
District Attorney of Lincoln County in 1920 and held that
position for sixteen consecutive years. During that time, he
handled between 125 and 130 felony cases and with the
cooperation of his fellow officers, got the evidence needed to
obtain guilty pleas in all but ten cases.

My brother, James Leo Wadsworth, served several times as
District Attorney. During the 31 years he practiced law in Las
Vegas, he served as non-resident District Attorney in Goldfield
and spent four years as DA in Lincoln County. Upon his return
to Panaca in 1986, he was again elected to the office of Lincoln
County District Attorney. He prosecuted and won convictions
in some very crucial cases in the history of Lincoln County.

Pioche being the County Seat of Lincoln County, the courthouse
was located there. The first courthouse was built in 1871. It
was designed by Edward Donahue along the borders of the
"Classic Revival" style of architecture. It was constructed of
brick and stone. It was originally projected and budgeted to
cost $16,000.00. In the history of Lincoln County, it reads,
"From the get-go courthouse politicians prodigally delayed
payments, mounting interest, and these cost overruns
ballooned the cost of construction into a million dollar price.
Known thereafter as the Million Dollar Courthouse, it was finally
paid off in 1936 four years after it was condemned for use.
A new courthouse was already being built. That courthouse is
the one I worked in as secretary to Esther Rollins. Over the
years there have been some renovations but it is still in use
today. While serving as DA, Uncle Frank had his office in
The Million Dollar Courthouse. It has been restored and
designated a Historical Building for the state of Nevada and
is now a museum detailing and portraying the history of
Lincoln County.

Those were exciting times and the people mentioned in that
part of my life as I was "Growing Up Ina" in Lincoln County,
are a significant and important part of who I am today.