The First Baptist Church of Warrensburg

The First Baptist Church of Warrensburg was organized in a Masonic Hall in 1847 with ten charter members including the Revs. Jerry Farmer, D.W. Johnson, WPC Caldwell and Amos Horn.  The church was disbanded during the Civil War and reorganized again in 1867.  In 1881 a brick building was erected on the southwest corner of Holden and Gay.  This served until 1904 when it was removed and the structure pictured below was built.

By the 1970s, membership had grown so large that Minister Dr. Earl Harding published a booklet complaining that, “... the overflowing condition of the departments and classes shows the impossibility of caring for our membership with our present Sunday School facilities… God is challenging us to march forward by faith and expand our program for greater service.”  

One of the pictures included in the booklet was similar to this from the Simmon's Studio collection showing the choir crowded together in front of the organ with the explanation, “Our beautiful choir has no suitable space in which to rehearse and to store their vestments and music.”

When the new Baptist Church on the corner of Hale Lake Road and Mcguire was finished in 2002, this old church was torn down to make way for the Johnson County Justice Center.

This cute picture from the Simmons Studio collection shows the photographer stepping out from behind the camera to say something to the family that has come in for a portrait.

From the surprised look on the Dad's face, I imagine that he's just told Dad what he's going to charge for this picture.

Note that Dad's coat has a smudge on it and that dirt on the negative makes the baby's arm look diseased.  These negatives are old and have been stored under less-than-optimum conditions for over fifty years.  Although we are trying to produce the best photographs possible, they are more valuable as historically interesting items than as frameable portraits.

If anyone knows the names of any of the people in this shot, leave us a message in the comments section.

C. A. Baile (NOT)

A mystery has surfaced at the Historical Society, which is nothing new since the place is full of mysteries.  This particular one involves a negative from the Simmons Studio collection that should have been easy to solve.

The negative has C.A. Baile written on it. So I took it to members of the family who confirmed that it was indeed NOT Clifton Agustus Baile.

When I developed the negative I saw that the customer (C.A. Baile?) had brought in an old picture and asked that one individual be isolated out of a family portrait.

The photographer cut out a silhouette which was still stored with the negative.

Placing the silhouette over the negative

gives you a picture that looks like this:

Suitable for framing.

The Flower Girl

Here are some charming pictures of a little flower girl found in the Simmons Studio collection.  The name penned onto the edge of one of them is Mohler. These portraits were probably done in the late 40s or early 50s. Does anyone recognize this girl?