Don't Forget

Our Civil War Series We Were Neighbors:  The Civil War in Johnson County Missouri, in conjunction with the UCM Lifelong Learning Series and with help and sponsorships from a lot of folks ( many thanks to the Missouri Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities for the grant!)  will begin on Tuesday, with Joseph Beilein on Guerilla Men, Rebel Women and Household War in West Central Mo....  Few know these stories.  Join us in the Old Courthouse , the next three Tuesdays (October 4, 11, and 18)  at 3 p.m.
*In case you didn't know, the Old Courthouse was built beginning in 1838 and was the the center of Warrensburg and Johnson County until the railroad came to town at the end of the 19th Century Wars.

Newsletter Response

Two times a year the Johnson County Historical Society publishes "The Bulletin".  In this issue, I told an old story that my grandmother also knew about.  So had the girls on the Warrensburg H.S. pep club bus. The older girls taught us as we rode the bus to games by the Pittsville cemetery we were supposed to wave for luck.  Since working at the JCHS I have looked a little bit into the "Bradley Brothers".  
Well, since the newsletter came out last week, I have found out "the rest of the story".
Not only are the Bradley Brothers the only stone facing U.S. Highway 50, one of two brothers, Richard Bradley had the grave turned 90 degrees to face the new highway, because Reuben would have wanted to see the cars go by.  Reuben passed away in 1937 and his brother followed, after a few happy years of retirement in the Ozarks before he, too, was laid to rest next to his brother. 


-- Pittsville is listed as Jackson County, it seems, on Google Maps (it let me edit though), but everywhere else, it is counted as one of our Johnson County Towns.

Simmons Studio

Last year we received a donation from Ben Pierce who now owns two storefronts in the 200 block North Holden Street.  Boxes and envelopes full of negatives from the Simmons Photography Studio, which was later sold to Burr --so many portraits.  After some research on this building it turns out that more photographers had worked on the second floor of the building.  Hinkle, Truby, Barnes, Blake, and Powell, since at least 1900.

This photo is one of a small collection which a wonderful person at UCM helped us to convert from the large negatives (4 x 5")  These ten photos show the studio of Mr. Simmons and include some informal family shots which indicate that the Simmons family lived in the space.  A wonderful peek into the work of a Johnson County photographer, ca. 1935-50.  More to come...

The Plot Thickens

So, in the last few days of rehearsing and developing the play "Murder in the Courthouse" many perspectives have been uncovered concerning the death of Marsh Foster by a bullet from the gun of either his longtime opponent/colleague James McCown -- or McCown's son William H. (Billy)...
These two men had both been editors of newspapers in Warrensburg and had also held clerkships with the municipal, county and circuit courts.

Anyway, Rebekah Bowen, field archivist for the Missouri State Archives , helped us by unearthing a court document that was referred to in a Liberty Tribune of March 1861. A change of venue had moved the trial to Independence. and the facts had changed considerably.(Thanks Rebekah!)

There is also a fragment of a letter which reports the incident that was in the belongings of "Grandpa Foster" It has no date, no to nor from... only pages 4,5,6,& 7, alas, but it is the only eyewitness account of the incident.

the local files are missing and the Jackson County document only outlines the "crime" as manslaughter 2nd Degree. James McCown seems to be completely out of the picture.

In any case, the Friends of the Johnson County Historical Society will present our best approximation of these political clashes which perhaps have never ended. To stay in the union or to secede, that was the question in Warrensburg, that fateful night February 18, 1861.
Thanks to Anne Mallinson who has developed the script and the 20 or so actors who will bring it to life--- 3 performances this weekend! Friday at 7, Saturday at 2, and Sunday at 2.

Best to all, please share with friends!

Sarah Lavinia Eby Baile and John Gaty Business Transaction 1885

This week's discovery is personal... usually we are
digging  around in the lives of historic personages who have distinguished themselves in some out of the ordinary way.  But recently the papers of my great grandmother Sarah Lavinia (Eby) Baile were donated to the society's collection and  seemed too interesting to just box up and put away.  They were the receipts of her life in Warrensburg from 1867 -until her death in 1911(and letters from her friends and family back in Preble County, Ohio.  Many biographies in the 1881 History of the County include roots from that area.  )
This receipt is representative of the of the collection.  Three items of interest:
1.  The receipt is for payment on work on her business house at the corner of Holden Street  and Culton Street  (full receipts for construction of building  also in the collection)
 2.  The reverse side engraving shows Johnson County Today (1880s) and 50 years ago.
3.  The slip of paper documents the real estate business of John Gaty, land agent.
There are hundreds of documents in the collection and some place businesses that have not been found in the city directories and other ephemera of the time.
What a lot of great things to find out about my widowed Great Grandmother, who joined her daughter, Nancy Jane Roop (and many of her other Dunkard offspring in Johnson County after the close of the civil war. )

The Old Courthouse ca. 1970s

The Old Courthouse, when purchased from the Cole (Davis) Family by the JCHS had been through several changes of owners.  But until it became a museum in the mid 1960s, it had been home to several generations -- since about 1884.  This photo, a companion to the last photo of the Lodge, was taken by a young photographer .

Exposed sections of the original brick are well documented in this image, perhaps better than in any photo in the collection. The soft brick (clay locally dug and fired by Joe Wade starting in 1838) was covered with stucco before the building was sold by the county.    The windows in the front door and the half circle above had been added by one of the families who lived there, and were ruby red glass.  At this stage, the front porch had been removed as well as other external additions.

Thanks to our friend who shared this great view of this treasure of our local heritage before restoration.

The Lodge at Pertle Springs

A view of the old lodge.

    Quite a few folks around here lament the demolition of a lovely building... the old lodge at Pertle Springs.  If you peer through the trees, you can sense some of the grandeur of the lovely structure. The original hotel at the springs was was much larger and had over 100 rooms. It was destroyed by fire by the 1940s (actual date available upon request.  : )   )
     Through the 1970s and 80s this Lodge was used for group meetings and parties. We appreciate the contribution from a friend who recently found several photos that he shot around the 'burg when he was just learning to use his camera ... a completely different process than learning to "take pictures" today, but that's another post.

Discoveries of Jno. Gallaher

We have come upon the Missouri Geological Survey, written by the state geologist, Jno. A. Gallaher for the State of Missouri in 1900.  He wrote of the"unique" 300 mile magnesian lens in Missouri which he described in great detail.  The presence and type of fossils in this lens indicate, as concurred by his contemporaries, proved the presence of  sargasso seas in parts of Missouri.  One photo of Johnson County, taken by Chas DeGroff, is of a quarry and equipment to make blocks: the only limit of size-- a railroad flat car.  (DeGroff worked with Stone as photographer for Pertle Springs Resort south of Warrensburg. 


There is a coal component to the survey, too, and apparently Johnson County, Missouri coal is great for use in the home!!!. 


Though the sandstone mentioned was much softer that the granite in the south of the state, it was easier to work and quicker to take from the ground.  There were two colors, white and blue.   So, that's why Warresburg stone got shipped all over the midwest, and why it was called "The Quarry City".