By RYAN HEINZ, Eagle Staff Writer Macomb Eagle, IL May 28 2004 Here at the Macomb Eagle, we get no shortage from week to week of proclamations from the mayor's office. At any given time, our fax machine could be clogged with notifications that this is in fact "Administrative Professionals Day," "Humming Bird Appreciation Week" or "Wear a Hawaiian Shirt to Work Month." Now don't get us wrong, we could hardly get by without our administrative professional, we think humming birds are neat and we would love to wear a Hawaiian-style uniform for a month, but some of these proclamations can get a little unusual.Then there was last week in which we received notification that it was Salvation Army Week. That didn't seem too out of the ordinary, but a release from the Salvation Army titled "The Saga of 'Joe the Turk'" did get our attention. Essentially, the release was a mini-biography on one of the Salvation Army's most colorful, real-life characters, Joe the Turk - a mustachioed man with a penchant for "flaming red, baggy zouave trousers," fezzes and Jesus. Throughout the one-page report on Joe it chronicled his life, including his rise up in the ranks of the Salvation Army and his many run-ins with the law for disturbing the peace. And then there was Joe's stint in our very own Macomb. The release read: "After rescuing a local Salvation Army officer from a lynch mob in Green Bay, Wis., Joe the Turk made his way to Macomb, Ill. in September 1892 where he succeeded in driving out the mayor of the town, said to be a desperado from Texas who had taken over the town, and himself became the acting mayor. He then appointed the Salvation Army Corps officer as chief of police and for six weeks Macomb was the only town in the world run by the Salvation Army." It sounded like a "Spaghetti Western" or at the very least a good premise for a silent film (just imagine Charlie Chaplin as Joe the Turk running around Macomb in a shoddy black and white film with a tinkering piano as the accompanying soundtrack). But while the plot would appear to be a bit outlandish, was there actually a little bit of truth to it? "Zero," said noted local historian John Hallwas. "We must understand that folklore - that is things that never really took place - are still common today. But they were even more common a century ago." And then there is Maj. Florence Moffitt's take on the story of Joe the Turk's encounter with Macomb. As director of the Salvation Army's Midwest Regional Museum in Des Plaines, she agreed that there were some holes in the story. Still, she believed the bulk of it to be true. "The story is true that (Joe the Turk) was the mayor of Macomb," Moffitt said. "It's disputed how long. Some people say three weeks, some people say six weeks, but he did used to carry a sign around with him that said 'Ex-mayor of Macomb, Ill.'" Since there is little evidence in the way of what actually did happen when Joe the Turk was in Macomb, the only thing to do is give both sides the whole saga and let the reader decide for themselves. Here today we'll give the Salvation Army's angle with the second scenario in the next issue of the Macomb Eagle. Joe the Turk takes down a desperado mayor Much of the great Joe the Turk epic was collected in March 3 and 24 (1934) issues of The War Cry - an official publication of the Salvation Army. In an article by Adjutant William G. Harris, Joe the Turk's Macomb saga is thoroughly explored, as are several other classic stories about this eccentric man's life. In fact, he was such a unique individual that Harris almost immediately pointed out in his article that, "Joe has the color of the East, the showmanship of the West, the passion of the Latins, the fervency of the colored folk, the determination of the Scot, the pertinacity of the Norseman and the enthusiasm of the Irish." Or as Moffitt put it, Joe was simply "a very colorful personality." "He made up his own uniforms; he didn't always follow the regulations as far as the military uniform is concerned," she said. "I mean, he used to wear pantaloons, bright-colored stuff and he wore a fez on his head. Well, now that's not exactly Salvation Army attire." Joe the Turk was born Nishan Der Garabedian in Tallas, Turkey in 1860. However, he was actually not Turkish, but instead Armenian. He later went by the name Joseph Garabed, although he was widely known simply as Joe the Turk. Joe was a spiritual boy growing up, but he was not always a Salvation Army devotee. Instead, he went on to become a noteworthy shoemaker, practicing his trade out of Turkey's capital of Constantinople. Unfortunately, his great success as a shoemaker was short-lived thanks to the Russo-Turkish War, during which time he lost everything. Joe then went on to Russia for a brief time to start all over again, but soon decided to move to America after receiving word from his brother that there was a great deal of opportunity there. It was on his trip to America that Joe first encountered the Salvation Army during a stopoff in Liverpool, England. Despite not knowing any English, Harris wrote that Joe was greatly awed by their meetings. But upon joining his brother's side in Worcester, Mass., he delved deeply into drink and smoke during his 13-month stay. He would later again feel the calling of the Salvation Army when he relocated to San Francisco. From there he became a full-fledged member, eventually gave up his bad habits (including his indulgence in some occasional fisticuffs) and gave his heart over to God. Moffitt said at this point in his life, Joe learned to channel his rugged, thuggish ways into becoming "a very aggressive evangelist." "He used to have a stamp that he carried that said 'Jesus Saves,' and when he was put in jail he used to stamp the walls, 'Jesus Saves,' 'Jesus Saves,'" she added. "When he went into peoples' houses, he even stamped it on the bed linens and stuff like that. That didn't always go over well." Prior to making his way to Macomb, Joe was often arrested and sometimes jailed for disturbing the peace. This had less to do with him throwing his hefty six-foot, 250-pound frame around than it did for him playing music instruments in the streets as he preached the word of God. According to Harris' article, Joe received no warm welcoming when showing up in Macomb. As a result, the Salvationist asked to see the mayor, who is not favorably described by Harris. "The mayor proved to be a desperado who years before in the days of local option, when the town had declared itself dry, invaded it with a band of his Texas henchmen. The invaders were all heavily armed, easily captured control of the place and soon had the town under their thumb," he wrote. "The mayor opened a big saloon and ran it himself and managed to retain power by the simple expedient of not allowing elections and resisting by brute force every attempt to oust him." Enter Joe the Turk, who apparently was able to successfully overthrow the corrupt mayor. Harris' article stated that Joe ordered a band of "local Salvationist forces" to the local jail one night "to cheer up their commanding officers (who had been jailed earlier) with song and testimony." The crowd was then met with by the mayor who was so furious that he assaulted the sergeant-major and then attempted to shoot him with a firearm, although the gun did not go off. Joe, upon hearing this, quickly moved to confront the mayor and soon made every effort to oust him from his post. This included going to the three local papers and writing a daily column "denouncing the conditions of the day." Eventually, the people of Macomb came together for "a great parade and rally" that was so intimidating to the mayor that he and his thugs "cleared out of town." Joe then declared himself mayor and appointed as police chief one of the Salvation Army officers, which essentially meant the Salvation Army was in charge of the town. This went on for a matter of about five to six weeks before Joe endorsed an editor of one of the town papers as a suitable replacement. Of the replacement, Harris wrote, "(Joe's) suggestion was received with great cheering, the motion being carried unanimously." http://www.eaglepublications.com/article.jhtml?DB=dbase/dbase&DO=display&ID=1085697092_24419
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