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FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS The name of the first white man who set foot on the territory that is now the State of Missouri is not known, nor is it known at what period the first settlements were made. It is thought that the first settlements were made in the autumn of 1735 by the French at Saint Genevieve. Daniel Boone was 65 years old when he walked to Missouri from Kentucky in 1799. He settled in the Femme Osage country near St. Charles and spent his last 21 years in Missouri. However, Boone never lived in the area that is known today as Cooper County. On one of his hunting expeditions, Boone came into Howard County and discovered a salt spring about eight miles northwest of New Franklin. Daniel Boone’s sons established a salt works at this location. The area soon came to be known as “Boone’s Lick” and from that the whole region took its name. Hannah Cole Monument at Laura Speed Elliott School Hannah Cole s tatue and the b usts of influential Boonville citizens in the background. Morgan Street Park - Located at the corner of Main and Morgan Streets. November 6, 2005 by Wayne Lammers Wayne Lammers holding one of Hannah Cole's sons flintlock rifle, standing beside the Hannah Cole statue at Main and Morgan Streets DANIEL BOONE It has been written that Daniel Boone visited his first cousin, Stephen Cole, and Hannah Cole, widow of Stephen’s brother, William T. Cole, at the Cole's’ fort. The fort was located where the present Boonville is today. Boone died in 1820 at his home in what is now Marthasville, at the age of 86. References: In 1805 Daniel Boone, who then lived near St. Charles, discovered the Boone’s Lick Salt Springs, in Howard County, thirteen miles from Boonville, where Nathan and David Boone, his sons, settled and made salt from 1806 to 1810. This seems to have been the earliest settlement in Central Missouri, and from it an indefinite region, from St. Charles westward, on both sides of the river, was called the ‘Boone’s Lick Country.’ Other settlers followed, and as early as 1810 a small community had built and occupied Kincaid’s Fort, a few hundred yards up the river from the present site of Old Franklin (directly opposite Boonville) www.mogenweb.org/cooper , while another was established in Cooper’s Fort. Boone died in 1820 at his home in what is now Marthasville, at the age of 86. A direct descendant of Boone gave her opinions on these books on Boone, along with her critiques of them. Most can probably be found in state libraries or on Amazon, but some may only the available from a "used" book seller. Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone by Timothy Flint. (This was written during Boone's life time --1833 and was sold as non-fiction when in fact is almost all fiction, and Daniel was very unhappy with the way it was written. Daniel Boone (The life and legend of an American Pioneer) by John Mack Faragher. This is fairly accurate book but not an easy read. My Father Daniel Boone--This is from the Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone (Daniel's youngest son) and edited by Neal O. Hammon. The Draper Interviews are believed to be very accurate and this is after all from the memory of Daniel's youngest son. Because the Draper Interviews are difficult reading and written in an "old time" style, Mr. Hammon has tried to clarify some of the language. Boone A Biography by Robert Morgan. I really like this book. It is over 450 pages but I found it to be an easy read. “The writer has obviously done a lot of research and I felt I had a better understanding of Daniel after I read this book.” Norma Johnson. EARLY LAND OWNERS Joseph Marie settled upon land in Franklin township, Howard County in 1800 . The land was sold on April 13, 1816 , to Asa Morgan in the first deed recorded in Howard County. Morgan, an early resident of Howard County, and Charles Lucas, a St. Louis resident, laid out the town of Boonville on August 1, 1817. Ira P. Nash was granted land in Howard County in 1800 . He came to the site in February, 1804, remained a month and went home. In July of the same year, Nash and four others returned and surveyed, but did not stay. THE COLE FAMILY - FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS IN COOPER COUNTY Stephen Cole and William Temple Cole were born in New River, Virginia. They married sisters with the last name of Allison, and moved to Cumberland, Kentucky. In 1807, they came to Upper Louisiana Territory, and settled on Loutre Island, across the river from the present-day town in Hermann, Missouri, about the same time that the Coopers settled on that island. In 1810, a band of Indians stole seven horses from the Loutre Island settlers. The Cole brothers were among the volunteers that pursued the Indians. Two days into the pursuit the volunteers, while sleeping, were ambushed by Indians. William Cole and others were killed. It is written that Stephen Cole killed four Indians, wounded a fifth, and sustained 26 wounds before he escaped and found his way back to Loutre Island. A month later, Hannah Cole, widowed and almost 50, and her nine children, plus Stephen Cole, his wife Phoebe, and their five children, accompanied a group of men, led by Benjamin Cooper, on an overland Journey into the wilderness. The group arrived at a point just upriver from the present town of Boonville on the north side of the Missouri River. The Coopers decided to settle there; however, the two Cole families decided to cross the Missouri River to the south side and build their cabins on the east edge of what would later become Boonville. The families of Hannah Cole and Stephen and Phoebe Cole settled in what is now Cooper County in 1810 . At that time there were no other white Americans living in Missouri west of Franklin and south of the Missouri River. The families that settled north of the Missouri, were the Cole's nearest white neighbors, but most of these were two or three miles distant. The seventeen members of the Hannah Cole and Stephen Cole families made the first settlement in what is now Cooper County. The Coles lived for nearly two years with their closest neighbors across the Missouri River. Some of their activities included raising corn crops and tending them with a cow hitched up to a plow. In the fall and winter of 1812 other families settled nearby on the south side of the river. The first shelter they built was a cabin built of round logs notched together at the corners, ribbed with poles, and covered with boards split from trees. The one room cabin had a fireplace, puncheon floors, a clapboard door, a window, sometimes covered with greased paper, and furniture made from trees. Artist's Conception of Hannah Cole's Fort This is not the Cole Fort, as that fort was constructed in 1812-1813. This a later building built on the solid rock bluff and was also easy to defend. Barn with windlass Bluff reduced for two sets of rails in late 1870's Here is believed to be a very early photo of the stone outcropping where Hannah Cole’s Fort was located in the early 1800's in east Boonville. This image was taken by early photographer James McCurdie in the 1870's. Years later, the Boonville rock quarry would be located in that area, when the Missouri Pacific RR constructed the rails on the River Route down to Jefferson City. This railroad company had to blast away and remove much of this outcropping for the rails to continue down river. Note: The windlass to the left of the barn on top of the outcropping reaching down to the water's edge, was to supply water for the people and animals up on top. The early settlers had a similar windlass to supply water for those inside the fort that allowed them to be able to withstand the attacks of the Indians during the War of 1812. When these pictures were taken, Hannah Cole no longer lived in the old fort, as she moved farther into central Cooper County in the early 1840s and died in 1843. It is unknown at this time, who lived in the old fort after the Coles left. There does not seem to be a lot of information available about Hannah Cole. The same facts seem to be repeated over and over on various documents. However, Hannah must have been an excellent and generous leader. She opened her fort to her neighbors who were seeking safety during the buildup to and during the War of 1812. She made provisions for the children in her fort to receive an education and arranged for religious services to be conducted at the fort as early as 1811. She was evidently interested in politics and her fort was the location of the first County Seat of Howard County. The first circuit, county, and probate sessions were held there in 1816 and it was a polling place in the election of 1819. Her fort also served, at one time, as a community center, post office, hospital and a place for hunters to cast bullets for their flintlocks. In 1817 her fort became the first school house, although it is known that children in the fort were also taught during the war. She also was a business woman who was granted a license for a ferry on the Missouri River, which was operated by her sons. Reference: 1998 Wm. D. Lay In 1843, Hannah moved 13 miles south of Boonville from her fort on the bluff overlooking the Missouri River to a cabin where she lived with Lucy, her beloved slave. She died in 1843 at the age of 79, and is buried in Briscoe Cemetery near Bunceton. Sadly, very little information is available about Hannah’s sister Phoebe, and brother-in-law Stephen Cole and their family. We know that the two families traveled together to Missouri and were the first white Americans to settle on the south side of the Missouri River. Stephen supervised the building of Hannah’s and his own fort. Stephen died near Santa Fe, New Mexico when attacked by Indians. He and Hannah Cole's son (his nephew), were journeying down the Santa Fe Trail in about 1822. We do not know if there is a marked grave. Phoebe died in 1825 in Cole County, but no more information is available on her passing or her grave. We do know that some of the Cole family went to Southern Missouri. These three early settlers and their children must also have been very courageous and strong of character to venture into the unknown and make their home here. We are grateful that they did! - Barbara Dahl, Editor References: Bicentennial Boonslick History p 12-13 Cole Family Records Discover Cooper County by Ann Betteridge Talk by Bob Priddy for Cole Reunion August 9, 2020 Cole Family Association Facebook Cole Family Mysteries Cole Family Reunion, August 9, 2020 Talk given by Bob Pritty Cooper County was named after Sarshell Cooper, a relative of Steven Cole, (Hannah’s husband) and a well-known and greatly admired frontiersman, Indian fighter and War of 1812 hero. He was a friend of the Cole family and is the one who originally showed the Coles the best place to cross the Missouri River. We may wonder why Cooper County was not named Cole County, honoring the first white family to set foot on the South side of the Missouri River. Possibly, a reason may have been that Hannah Cole, the leader of the group, was a woman, and in the 1800’s, women were not credited as leaders or founders of anything. But, honoring Sarshell Cooper was a wonderful way to recognize a true American hero who was well known in the area. There is a Cole County in Missouri, which was established November 16, 1820, and named after Stephen Cole, Hannah’s brother-in-law. He was a lawyer, originally from Virginia. He was also a Justice of the Peace in Missouri, and laid out the original Howard County seat in Franklin, and a member of the Legislature. He was highly regarded in Missouri. He was an early trader on the Santa Fe trail and he and his nephew, also named Stephen Cole, were killed by Navajo Indians near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cole County is the site of the State Capitol of Missouri. Source: Bob Priddy Mike Dickey wrote the following after reading Mr. Priddy's talk: I would advocate that Bob’s Priddy's article be posted in total if possible on the section of the Cole family/Cole Fort. It is about the best detective work regarding the Cole dilemma that I have seen. Something Bob Priddy said is key to interpreting the whole Territorial – War of 1812 period: “oral history, while valuable, can be flawed.” It is extremely difficult to tie down many events and family histories during this period. Governor Lewis ordered the Coopers out of the Boonslick in 1808 because it was still un-ceded Indian territory. From the federal governments point of view, the Boonslick would now be open for settlement regardless of claims to the region by the Sac & Fox and Ioway. I have not checked the Missouri Gazette for an announcement of the ratification, but it is quite possible that it was several weeks before the news made it to St. Louis and then Loutre Island. Thus, a move by the Cole family from the Loutre settlement to the Boonslick in July or later of 1810 would make far more sense than February 1810 (not to mention the weather). The Osage signed the land cession treaty on November 10, 1808. Congress ratified the treaty April 28, 1810.

EARLY CHURCHES Very early church. Notice two entrance doors – one for men, one for women. Segregated seating divided by a wall. Drawing by Florence "Winky" Friedrichs Adapted from “Discover Cooper County” by Ann Betteridge The settlement of the County and the organization of the first churches took place at the same time. Throughout the centuries, missionaries often accompanied the first advance of civilization, and such was their coming in Cooper County. The first Americans who rushed into the Boonslick area were predominantly Protestant, and it was a race between the Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians. Later, by steamboat, came the Episcopalians, the German Catholics and Evangelicals. By arriving in family or neighborhood groups from various “Old Countries,” they continued their old community in the new. The pioneer considered his church to be of primary importance. When a new settlement was established, a church would usually be organized. The pioneers lived humble lives and many practiced their faith each day. The early churches were held in the people’s homes, which were log cabins and huts. The early preachers preached the same gospel that is preached today in huge magnificent buildings. They had a faith that was earnest and simple like that of the early Christians. An interesting story about an early minister named Reverend Pennywell Peter Woods, who was one of the first ministers of Mt. Nebo Baptist Church, organized in 1820 just north of Bunceton. He grew up as a Presbyterian, believing Baptists were unworthy of respect from honorable and high-minded persons. His brother joined the Baptists, disgracing the family. Peter read the New Testament to learn about the true church and the true baptism, placing a red string at each mention of sprinkling and a blue string for each mention of immersion in the Bible. All the strings were blue and he threw his Bible down in disgust. But soon he was a pioneer itinerant Baptist preacher. It is not known when Peter first visited the Boonslick. Samuel Cole, the youngest son of Hannah Cole, stated the first preacher in the area was Peter Woods, and the Cole family history states that Peter Woods conducted the first worship service on the south side of the river in Hannah Cole’s cabin in 1811 . THE FIRST ORDAINED BAPTIST MINISTER IN COOPER COUNTY Luke Williams was the first ordained Baptist minister in Cooper County. He preached without fee or reward as the early settlers had nothing with which to pay him. Cooper County was little more than a wild territory. He used to say, “I need no money to travel among brethren and friends.” He traveled on foot over a large part of the territory when visiting the members. When he was not engaged in preaching, he supported himself and his family by working on his farm. An early settler recalled a church meeting he had attended before statehood, at which Luke Williams was the minister. Luke Williams was dressed in a complete set of buckskin clothes. Many of the worshipers were likewise attired. The lady was new to the area, having just moved there from North Carolina. The appearance of the congregation so upset her that she cried during the entire service. Also, at the service, grease from bear meat stored in the loft of the house where they were worshiping, dripped down and spoiled her shawl. At that time, in the wilderness, the shawl could not be replaced. THE FIRST CHURCHES IN COOPER COUNTY In 1817 , the first church building in the County was built. It was named Concord Church, and was located about six miles south of Boonville near Bunceton. It was a Baptist Church and the first minister to preach there was Luke Williams. Later, Luke Williams was pastor of Mt. Nebo Baptist Church from 1820-1823 . When he died, the church members gratefully provided for his widow. About the same time, in the same area, a small group of Baptists were meeting in various homes. Eventually, in 1837 , the Vine Church was constructed across the road from the Concord Church. The Concord Church and the Vine Church merged in 1847 . The Church celebrated their Centennial anniversary in 1917 , and disbanded in 1919 . The cemetery is still there, but no trace of either church remains. Other early church congregations that were founded were: 1818 Nelson Memorial United Methodist – Boonville 1819 Pisgah Baptist – Pisgah 1820 Cumberland Presbyterian – New Lebanon 1820 Mt. Nebo Baptist – Pilot Grove 1821 First Presbyterian – Boonville 1821 Otterville Presbyterian Church – Otterville The Nelson Memorial Church was the first Methodist Church in the Western Conference in Missouri, and held the very first religious service in Boonville in 1817 . It built its third church at the same location in 1915 . Early churches were held in homes until sufficient funds were raised and the actual church could be built. Most of the early churches were built from logs, similar to the way early homes were built. Later, many churches were also built from wood, but the logs still had to be cut, sawed into planks and smoothed with planes - all by hand. Some were built using bricks that were usually made on site. Building a church without modern tools was a true labor of love. Often, churches also served as early schools until rural one-room schools became available. Sadly, many of the early churches are gone without a trace of where they had once been. Some were torn down and a new one built, and if the congregation dwindled down in size, or a new church, closer to town claimed the congregation, the original church was abandoned or used for another purpose. A few churches were damaged or destroyed during the Civil War. Abandoned churches were often torn down and the materials used elsewhere by thrifty settlers, leaving no trace as to where the church had been. Some churches were destroyed by tornadoes or lightning, and others by fires. Churches then and now were not without serious disagreements between the members. The Mt. Nebo church was very prosperous until about 1826 , when there arose a division due to a difference of opinion on the question of paying ministers and sending missionaries among the “heathen” nations. After considerable excitement, and several stormy meetings, the two factions separated. John B. Longan, who was leader of the faction who favored paying the ministers and sending abroad missionaries, drew off a large majority of the members of the congregation, and built a church at Henry Woolery's mill, which was called "New Nebo” Church. The opposing faction continued in possession of "Old Nebo” Church," and still holds services. There seems to be no record of what happened to the “New Nebo” Church. The Civil War caused divisions within the churches. Many of the early parishioners were originally from the South and favored secession, while others strongly favored staying with the Union. Many churches did not hold services during the Civil War as members feared for their safety. Small towns flourished during the heyday of railroads, but once the railroads left the area or bypassed the towns, businesses closed, populations moved and the membership of churches suffered a reduced number of parishioners. Several of the early churches in Cooper County were founded by German immigrants. It was very common for these immigrants to conduct their services and teach their schools in German only. This changed quickly once World War I started. It is wonderful that so many of the early County churches are still in existence, and that they are still ministering to the needs of their parishioners. (See chart below for church name, date of founding, when the latest church was built, if it is still active, the location, plus if a church is associated with a cemetery (If the congregation built more than one church, the most recent date is listed.) Unfortunately, dates of the construction of a 2nd or third church seem to vary, depending upon which early history book you read. Founding dates are believed to be fairly accurate. Also, many of the records of the early churches, and some not so early, are cannot be found. If a church no longer exists, it is not listed. LISTING OF ALL PAST AND PRESENT CHURCHES & Their History Name, location, date established and cemetery, church information and records: Cooper County Churches General Information on Townships and Old Cooper County Churches BLACKWATER TOWNSHIP Town Blackwater Churches Blackwater Church of Christ - 307 Scott Ave. 660-846-2821 Blackwater United Methodist Church - Established 1887, Not Active BOONVILLE TOWNSHIP Towns Boonville Windsor Place Unincorporated town: Billingsville Churches Christ Episcopal Church – Established 1835, Active, No cemetery First Baptist Church – Established 1843, Active, No cemetery First Christian Church D.O.C. – Established 1887, Active, No cemetery First Presbyterian Church – Established 1821, Active, No cemetery Morgan Street Baptist – Established 1865, Active, No cemetery Mt. Hermon Baptist Church – Established 1868, 13394 B Hwy. Active, Cemetery Nelson Memorial Methodist Church – Established 1817 Active, No cemetery St. Johns United Church of Christ Billingsville – Established 1855, Active, Cemetery St. Mathew AME Church – Established, Active, No cemetery Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church – Established 1851, Active, Cemetery West Boonville Evangelical Church – Established 1893, Not Active, Cemetery CLARK’S FORK TOWNSHIP Unincorporated towns: Clark’s Fork and Lone Elm Churches Zion Lutheran Church – Lone Elm. Established 1896, Active, Has Cemetery Trinity Lutheran Church – Clark’s Fork. Established 1863, Active, Has Cemetery CLEAR CREEK Unincorporated Towns C lear Creek Pleasant Green Churches Pleasant Green Methodist Church – Established 1825, Active; Cemetery St John’s Catholic Church Clear Creek – Established 1850, Active; Cemetery KELLY TOWNSHIP Town Bunceton Link to general information Churches Federated Church of Bunceton – Established 1871, Active, No Cemetery Bunceton Baptist Church – Established 1887, Active, No Cemetery Bunceton United Presbyterian Church – Established 1860, Active, No Cemetery 5 additional cemeteries listed – Chilton, Hopewell, Howard, Masonic and Woods. LAMINE TOWNSHIP Unincorporated Town Lamine Churches Old Lamine Church of Christ – Established 1843, Active, Large cemetery Douglas Weekley-660-621-1167 Peninsula Baptist Church – Established 1873, Active, Large Cemetery Other Cemeteries William Henry Ashley – Burial Site (where the Lamine and Missouri rivers meet) ; Herndon Family Cemetery , Higgerson Family Cemetery , Hoke Family Cemetery , Samuel McMahan Family Cemetery , Thomas McMahan, Jr. Family Cemetery , Thomas McMahan, Sr. Family Cemetery Schuster Family Cemetery , Turley Family Cemetery LEBANON TOWNSHIP Unincorporated Town New Lebanon Churches New Lebanon Cumberland Presbyterian Church – Established in 1820. Stopped holding services in 1968. A cemetery is associated with this church Cemeteries New Lebanon Cemetery Additional Information Cooper County MoGenWeb Cooper County MoGenWeb Chapter 4 NORTH MONITEAU TOWNSHIP Unincorporated town Pisgah No map exists, but Pisgah is on Missouri Route O, 8 miles east of Bunceton Churches Pisgah Baptist Church – organized June 19, 1818, present building erected 1926 – Active membership Pisgah Baptist Cemetery nearby South Moniteau Township Overview MoGenWeb Pisgah Baptist Church Missouri Gravestones SOUTH MONITEAU TOWNSHIP No towns No churches Cemeteries Renshaw Smiley OTTERVILLE TOWNSHIP Town Otterville-First called Elkton, organized in 1836 Unincorporated town Clifton City Churches Otterville Methodist Episcopal Church South – organized in 1869 Active; No Cemetery First Baptist Church of Otterville – organized in 1866 , Active, No cemetery Otterville Presbyterian Church – organized in 1882 , Active, No cemetery St. Joseph’s Catholic Church – Clifton City – established in 1882 , Active, Cemetery More information about Otterville Presbyterian Church Other cemetery Shackleford PALESTINE TOWNSHIP Unincorporated Towns Speed Bellair Churches Bellair Methodist Church – established 1860, Not Active, No cemetery Speed Bethel A.M.E. Church – organized 1887, Not active, No cemetery Speed Union Church – organized 1891, Active, No cemetery Concord Baptist Church – established 1817, Disbanded 1919 – demolished. Earliest church in Cooper County – Large Cemetery Other Cemeteries Briscoe Cemetery on Highway 5 – Monument to Hannah Cole, first woman settler in Cooper County Tuscumbia Free Will Baptist Cemetery – located near Ravenswood on a locked property – Charlie Leonard has to unlock it. Other Family cemeteries: Eweing Family, Lowery Family, Charlie Leonard has to unlock the gate. Waller Family Cemetery PILOT GROVE TOWNSHIP Towns Pilot Grove Chouteau Springs – extinct town Churches Mt. Nebo Baptist Church – established 1820. Located 3 miles northeast of New Lebanon Active; Cemetery associated with this church Pilot Grove Baptist Church – organized in 1876, Not Active, No Cemetery Saint Joseph Catholic Church – organized in 1883, Active, Cemetery associated with this church Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church – organized 1866, Active, Cemetery is associated with this church One church with 4 name changes: St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church – 1873 St. Paul Evangelical and Reformed Church St. Paul United Church of Christ : Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage and Death records located at this site Pilot Grove Community Church – Active, Cemetery associated with this church Other Cemeteries – Mount Vernon, Pleasant Hill, Saint Joseph, Saint Martin’s in Chouteau Springs PRAIRIE HOME TOWNSHIP Town Prairie Home Churches Prairie Home United Methodist 544 Hwy. – Dr. 660-841-5226 Unincorporated towns organized 1881, Active, Cemetery associated with this church Prairie Home Baptist Church – organized 1890s, Active, No Cemetery St. Peter’s United Church of Christ – organized 1877, Active, Cemetery associated with this church Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church – year established, unknown. Disbanded 2019, still standing. Cemetery is associated with this church 5 Additional Cemeteries – Ellis, Harris, New Salem, Providence and Robison SALINE TOWNSHIP Towns Wooldridge Overton Pleasant Grove Churches Wooldridge Baptist Church – organized 1900, Active, Cemetery associated with this church Pleasant Grove Lutheran church – was organized 1855, Active, Cemetery associated with this church St. Peters Pleasant Grove – organized 1848 Active, Cemetery associated with this church REFERENCES: Church Histories TRAVELING MISSIONARIES AND CIRCUIT RIDERS Before there were churches and ministers, and when weather permitted, a traveling missionary would preach to the settlements. People would come in wagons or by foot to hear the message of God. This would also be a time to exchange the news and visit with others. “Brush arbors,” where protracted meetings would be held, were assembled from branches of trees for shade from the hot sun. The meetings would sometimes last for hours and lead to the organization of a permanent church. Later, when funds were available, churches would be built. Revivals would be held in the summer, fall, or spring. At this time many new members were added to the church. The Revivals sometimes lasted for several days. The traveling missionaries, often called “Circuit Riders” would travel on foot or on horseback, stopping at homes as they went. This was a very strenuous and hard life and many of the circuit riders died in their 30’s or early 40’s. They were dependent on food and shelter at the homes that welcomed them, and in the early days of Cooper County, homes were few and far between. They were subject to bad weather, getting lost on the open prairie and had no protection from those who would cause them harm or rob them. In later years, Revivals or Camp Meetings were held in tents, but the goal was always bringing folks back to or into the church. Pilot Grove Township was distinguished in the early years by the number and variety of camp meetings which were held there. The Presbyterians and Methodists were rivals for the honor of conducting the biggest and best camp meeting each year. People attended from great distances, as it was a social event as well as a religious one. Methodist Circuit Riders Methodism became prominent in Missouri in the early 1800’s through “circuit riders” who were lone preachers on horseback who spread the Word of God to rural settlers, and relied on these same settlers for food and shelter. These early preachers had no church or congregation of their own, as all preachers were itinerants. Their circuits were of varied sizes, depending on the number of settlers in their circuit area. In the new Territory of Missouri, on the south side of the Missouri River, their circuits were very large, and it usually took the preacher about six weeks to complete. The circuits varied from 200 to 600 miles. Circuit Riders were usually young, single men with an agricultural or artisan background. They could read and write, but were normally not well educated. However, when they felt called to preach, they received a course of study in the Bible, the Methodist Hymnal, and were well versed in the theology of John Wesley. They were paid a salary of $80 per year. They had to supply their own horse, saddle and bridle and all their clothing. Some complained that the food they received was poor and they often had to sleep on the floor of a shed. But, homes at that time were very small and already crowded. In 1816 there were only eight preachers to cover the entire area that was to later become the state of Missouri. They ministered to those who lived on scattered farms or in small villages that would be unable to support a full-time minister. If possible, the circuit rider preached every day in what ever building was large enough – barns, taverns, homes, under trees or in “brush arbors. They often started as early as 5 AM in the summer so that farmers could get out to the fields to work, or were done in the evening after farming work was done. Wherever there were enough people in an area, the preacher would start a class and appoint a lay person to conduct classes in order to keep the people together until the circuit rider made his rounds and returned. These classes became a basis for a new church to be established. The preacher was not looking for Methodists, he was looking for anyone who wanted to hear the word of God and eventually become a Methodist. Camp meetings and revivals were held at least once each year and often lasted for week. People would come from miles away for these revivals and a for a chance to meet friends they had not seen for a year or more. Many new members to the church would be added at this time, plus weddings and baptisms performed. “Sermons were practical, moral, and dramatic. Methodist doctrine fit well with the spirit of the frontier. The emphasis of free will, and grace, unlike to the limited grace and predestination preached by the Presbyterians and Baptists appealed to those independent souls who had moved to the frontier and who felt They were in control of their destiny”. (1) Boonville was incorporated into a circuit in 1818 by a local preacher, Justinian Williams, and by 1840 became a station and became the second largest in the state of Missouri. Stops for the early circuit riders included Boonville, Pilot Grove and a German settlement 12 miles south of Boonville. Reference: Circuit Riders to Crusades by John O. Gooch, Ph.D. Circuit Riders to Crusades pages 10, 11 Baptists During the first five years of settlement in this area most services were held in homes by a passing missionary or circuit rider. In 1815 , Luke Williams, who later preached at Concord and Mt. Nebo, held services at Hannah Cole’s Fort. He was born in Virginia, in 1776 , and settled in Cooper County in 1816 . The other missionary who preached in the Fort was James Savage. Both of these men were of the Baptist denomination, which was the prevailing one in early Cooper County. In early Boonville, Missouri, there was no "German Church" where first- and second-generation immigrants could worship in the custom familiar to the then fewer than forty families who had migrated Westward during the early 1800's. In 1849 two German circuit riders, the Reverends Rauschenbach and Kroenke, were in Boonville on a regular but infrequent basis for the Evangelical United Church of Christ. Then, in 1850 , the Rev. Hoffmeister, an Evangelical minister serving Moniteau County, agreed to conduct services twice a month at Boonville. His ministry at Boonville was brought about as a result of the amount of $250 annually provided by the Presbyterian Church Mission Board's decision to support a church for their German friends. New Lebanon The Cumberland Presbyterian Church of New Lebanon established a seminary in that trained young men to become circuit riders and ministers EARLY CHURCH DISCIPLINE The discipline of the early church was strict. Instances of discipline involved: card playing, drinking liquors in excess, fights between members (pulling off their coats in an “affray”), marriage troubles, dishonesty in horse trading, making false statements against the pastor and non-attendance at church. No servant or servants were allowed to sell beer, cakes, cider, melons, or anything of that kind within one mile of the church. Churches were affected by the Civil War. Some churches were destroyed or burned, and congregations had to work together to heal the wounds of war. The healing in most cases came slowly. Black members, who had before worshiped with the white members (blacks were forced to sit in the back of the church building), formed their own churches and cemeteries. Some of the early churches had two entrance doors. Some also had a partition through the center section of the building separating the men and women so there would be no “distractions” during worship. BAPTISMS Some of the churches conducted baptismal services at a nearby creek. After the Sunday morning service, the congregation would go to a nearby creek and after a service of prayer and singing at the water’s edge, the pastor immersed the candidate for baptism. An amusing incident was told in connection with an early baptismal service. A crowd of people had gathered on the banks of the stream where the baptism was to take place. Simons climbed up a small sapling which stood on the edge of the creek. John Hutchison, thinking that this would be a fine opportunity to have some fun, took out his pocket knife and began cutting away on the little tree where it was bent over by the viewer’s weight. Lower and lower bent the tree but the victim was so interested in the baptism he did not notice what was happening. At last the tree was cut in two and Simons fell into the water with a loud splash. The crowd laughed so long and loud that the minister almost dismissed the crowd, but finally they became quiet and the service was finished. Although the church was noted for its strictness, this illustration shows the members could also enjoy a good laugh. The grasshopper invasion of 1875 caused much concern. Tuesday, May 18th, of that year was set aside as a day of prayer to God for his blessings upon the local churches and the nation in the removing of the insects that were devastating the land. People from different churches met together on that day to pray. CHURCH PROGRAMS WERE SUCCESSFUL Churches began to have Sunday Schools in the early 1900 ’s. At this time the women of the churches were forming missionary and prayer societies and they began to become active in their churches’ programs. Vacation Bible School started in the 1930 ’s and 1940 ’s. Many people in the county reflect with happiness upon their experiences at Bible School. Many of the churches in the County continue to have Bible Schools each summer. Some of the churches have a day each week set aside for church instruction. Three churches in Cooper County have their own church school. A history of these schools can be found in the website section on schools. RESOURCES: LISTING OF ALL PAST AND PRESENT CHURCHES in Cooper County Name, location, date established and church information and records: A list of churches will come up. Click on the one you wish to read about and watch for a blue arrow in the upper right had corner. If you do not see the arrow, click again. If you wish to study several churches, close the one you were just looking at and click on a new name. Resources at the CCHS Research Center – (listed in genealogy section of this website) List of all Cooper County Churches we have information on in our files list of all church history books at the Center List of all church Centennial books “Cooper County Church Sketches” by Florence Chesnutt available at CCHS Research Center for only $9 Map of Churches in Church Sketches At one time there were three Black churches in Boonville: Sixth Street Church, which has been razed, Saint Mathew’s A.M.E. Church (1881 ) and Morgan Street Baptist (1865 ). Pisgah also had a Black church which was formed after the Civil War. Prior to the war Blacks and Whites worshiped together. There is a small Black Church near Prairie Home (Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church) which was disbanded in 2019 . Resources : LISTING OF ALL PAST AND PRESENT CHURCHES in Cooper County Name, location, date established and church information and records: Missouri Genealogical Website Church Records in Cooper County A list of churches will come up. Click on the one you wish to read about and watch for a blue arrow in the upper right had corner. If you do not see the arrow, click again. If you wish to study several churches, close the one you were just looking at and click on a new name. Resources at the CCHS Research Center – (listed in genealogy section of this website): List of all Cooper County Churches we have information on in our files: List of all church history books at the CCHS Center List of all church Centennial books “Cooper County Church Sketches” by Florence Chesnutt available CCHS Research Center $9 See below – History of some of the oldest Cooper County churches and a Tour Map Winki Book.pdf

EARLY COOPER COUNTY PERSONALITIES This adapted from “Discover Cooper County by Looking Back" by Ann Betteridge BLACKHAWK Blackhawk was a Sac Indian. He was living in the east part of Cooper County in 1810 when the first white settlers arrived. He became an Indian chief and an English general during the second war with England from 1812 to 1815. In 1832 his Blackhawk War spread over much of the Mississippi Valley. The two Cole families, first settlers in Cooper County, helped Blackhawk in his desire to understand the white man’s way of life. MRS. WILLIAM H. ASHLEY Elizabeth Ashley, the daughter of Dr. J. W. Moss of Howard County, was the wife of General William H. Ashley. Before her marriage to the famous fur trader she was the widow of Dr. Daniel Wilcox. After Ashley’s death she married John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky. A fictional history of her life, The Three Lives of Elizabeth, was written by Missouri author Shirley Seifert. WILLIAM H. ASHLEY William Ashley was born January 10, 1764, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He came from Virginia to Missouri in 1803. He was elected the first Lieutenant Governor of Missouri in the state’s first election. He was a fur trader who influenced the exploration and settlements of the West. He founded the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He was not afraid to take his trade to places other people would not go. He was a member of Congress and served in the twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth congresses. He owned approximately 28,000 acres along the Missouri River. He died on March 3, 1838, and is buried in an Indian mound on his land overlooking the Lamine and Missouri Rivers. See more about Ashley here . DAVID BARTON David Barton was a pioneer Cooper County lawyer and was involved in the early political activities of Missouri. Soon after moving to Boonville, Barton served as a judge, representative, and author of our state’s first constitution. He was elected the first United States Senator to Congress from Missouri. David Barton Elementary School is named for him. In 1821 Missouri finally was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. One of the main men involved in this process was David Barton who chaired the Constitutional Convention and who wrote the Constitution which was submitted to Congress for the admission of Missouri. Barton County in southwestern Missouri is named for him. He then became the first Senator and represented the new state in the U.S. Congress. Barton died in Boonville in September, 1837, and is buried in the Walnut Grove Cemetery, where there is a monument honoring him. The restoration of his tombstone, lot, and adjacent horse watering tough was an appropriate Missouri Bicentennial Project and was undertaken by the Walnut Grove Cemetery Board and the Hannah Cole Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. See the section on cemeteries for the DAR Restoration of David Barton’s Tombstone. Background of DAVID BARTON David Barton was born on December 14, 1783, in Greeneville, North Carolina. In 1809, Barton moved to St. Louis. During the War of 1812, he joined Nathan Boone’s company of mounted rangers which in turn got him plenty of recognition in Missouri. Barton was serving Missouri prior to 1821 when it became the 24th state in the Union. He was elected attorney general of the Missouri Territory in 1813, was Howard County’s first circuit judge in 1815 and presiding judge in 1816. In 1818, Barton was a member of the Territorial house of representatives and served as speaker. He wrote Missouri’s first constitution when he served on, and was president of, the convention which was formed in 1820 to write the state’s first constitution. Barton was unanimously elected to be one of Missouri’s first US Senators and it was his suggestion that Thomas Hart Benton be the other US Senator. Barton served from August 10, 1821, until March 4, 1831, and was chairman of the Committee on Public Lands. After failing re-election to the US Senate, Barton ran for and was elected to the Missouri Senate where he served from 1834-1835. David Barton died in Boonville on September 28, 1837, and was interred at Sunset Hills Cemetery, otherwise known as the Old City Cemetery. After Walnut Grove Cemetery was established in 1852, it was decided that one of Missouri’s first US Senators and author of the state’s first constitution was deserving of a more fitting burial site. David Barton’s remains were moved to Walnut Grove Cemetery. Barton County, Missouri, is named in his honor, as is David Barton Elementary School in Boonville, Mo. COLONEL CHARLES CHRISTIAN BELL Charles Christian Bell was born in Nassau, Germany, on August 30, 1848. After moving to the United States, he lived his early life on a Missouri farm near Mr. Sinai schoolhouse. His father, John Adam Bell, planted one of the first vineyards and orchards in that neighborhood, and taught his son the art of fruit growing, a business which he followed most of his life. He served in the Union cavalry and was held prisoner by General Joe Shelby’s command for two days and was then paroled. In 1879, he was commissioned by Governor Phelps as first lieutenant of the Missouri State Guards. In 1877, he and his brother established the firm of C. C. Bell and Brothers, wholesale shippers of fruit and farm products. He later purchased his brother’s interest in the company. In 1886, he organized the Central Missouri Horticultural Association, serving as its secretary for 29 years. He also served this organization as president. He founded the International Apple Shipper’s Association in 1894, and was elected its first president. He experimented with and developed the Lady Apple tree in the Bell Apple Orchard, located about six miles east of Boonville. For years, each pupil in the Boonville Schools found a Lady Apple on their desk the first day of school. He is known for his many public services. GEORGE CALE B BINGHAM As a young boy, Bingham lived in Franklin with his parents, where his father was a hotel keeper. As a young man he was apprenticed to a Boonville cabinet maker. His first wife, Elizabeth Hutchison, was from Boonville. He served in the Missouri legislature and was Adjutant General during the Civil War. He lived in Howard and Cooper Counties and built a home in Arrow Rock, which has been restored. George Caleb Bingham statue at Boonville He is famous for his paintings, many of which were painted while he was living in Cooper County. He liked to paint portraits and scenes of everyday life. Some of his paintings can be seen in Boonville at the Boonslick Regional Library, the Masonic Hall and the Rotary International Headquarters; two are also hanging at Ravenswood. DANIEL BOONE Daniel Boone is known to almost everyone. He was born in 1728 and died in 1820. He came to Missouri about 1797 from Kentucky, and hunted up and down the Missouri River. His two sons, Nathan and Daniel Morgan Boone, ran a “salt lick” in 1807 about ten miles north of Boonville. The Boone brothers boiled the salt water, saved the salt, packed it in hollowed logs, covered the salt with mud, and floated the logs down the river, to St. Louis, to trade. KIT CARSON Kit Carson, whose real name was Christopher Columbus Carson, was born in Kentucky. His parents moved to Missouri where he was raised in Franklin, Missouri. He was taught to work in a saddle shop. He had been in the saddle shop only a few months when he ran away and joined a wagon train which was bound for Santa Fe, in Mexico, this was the start of his career as an Indian scout and trail maker. Kit Carson was never a resident of Cooper County, however he spent time here hunting and visiting with relatives. HANNAH COLE Hannah Cole was born in 1764 and died in 1843. She was the first white woman to settle south of the Missouri River. She came as a widow with her nine children and built a cabin on the present site of Boonville. A fort was built later which became known as Hannah Cole’s Fort. More than a lifelike statue of Hannah Cole in Boonville The marker is hewn from a large natural stone. The cemetery itself contains about an acre of ground and the D. A. R. Chapter intends that it shall be made beautiful ... stones gathered from all parts of the Hannah Cole Country; the historic connection will be complete." October 31, 1932 From the Pilot Grove Record "Grave Formally Marked" -"Tablet at Hannah Cole Grave is Unveiled" "With fitting ceremony, the grave of Hannah Cole, Cooper County's pioneer mother..." See the full Briscoe Cemetery story here . BENJAMIN COOPER Benjamin Cooper, Revolutionary War veteran, is regarded as the first permanent settler in this area. His wife and five sons moved to the Boone’s Lick country in the year 1808. They settled in the Missouri River bottom about two miles southwest of Boone’s Lick, which became known as Cooper’s Bottom. This area is not part of the present Cooper County established in 1818. Even though the Coopers lived in Howard County, they played an important part in the history of Cooper County. Benjamin built a cabin and cleared the ground for a permanent home, but he had to leave because he was too far from the protection of government troops. He returned two years later to the same place with a group of settlers, who built forts in Howard and Cooper counties. The fort helped protect them from Indians during the War of 1812. SARSHALL COOPER Sarshall Cooper came to the Boonslick area in 1808 with a group of settlers led by his brother Benjamin. The group left the area and returned in 1810. They built four forts in Howard County: Cooper, Hempstead, Kincaid, and Head. Sarshall was chosen as Captain of the Military Rangers. There were Indian raids from 1812 through 1815. Sarshall was killed in one of the raids in 1814 as he sat by his fireside with his family in Fort Cooper, near the present town of Petersburg in Howard County. Cooper County was named in honor of Capt. Sarshall Cooper. BILL CORUM Martene “Bill” Windsor Corum was born near Speed, Missouri, on July 29, 1894. He attended grade school in Old Palestine and attended Boonville Public High School. He attended college at Wentworth Military Academy and the University of Missouri. Bill was among the first to enlist in World War I. He was a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross. He was commissioned Major of Infantry, the youngest in the American Expeditionary Force. Following World War I, he enrolled in the Journalism School at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he graduated with two degrees. He became assistant sports editor of the New York Times. He was featured as sports columnist for the New York Evening Journal. He performed well at three different jobs. He was a good writer, and in addition, found time for radio and television commentary. He was especially well-informed in horse racing, baseball and boxing. Perhaps the most important activity in spreading his fame was the commentary on radio and television of the New York Yankee baseball games. He was president of Churchill Downs Race Track in Louisville, Kentucky from 1950 until his death. WALLACE CROSSLEY Wallace Crossley was born in Bellair, Cooper County, Missouri on October 8, 1874. He was a graduate of the University of Missouri. He was interested in the field of education for many years. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Missouri in 1916. He was chosen president of the Missouri Press Association in 1932. He died December 13, 1943. REVEREND FATHER RICHARD FELIX, O.S.B. Reverend Father Richard Felix came to Pilot Grove to serve as pastor of St. Joseph’s Church. He was author of six books. He delivered an extended series of lectures over three radio stations. Father Felix had three degrees: an A.B. in theology from St. Vincent’s Seminary, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, an A.M. from Catholic University, Washington, D.C., and a B.D. from Harvard, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. JACOB F. MELICH Jacob Gmelich was a native of Germany, who located in Boonville in 1860 when he was 20 years old. He remained a resident of Cooper County until his death 54 years later. He served as state representative from 1905 until 1909, and as lieutenant governor during the administration of Herbert S. Hadley. He was a Union veteran of the Civil War, a merchant, bank president and four times mayor of Boonville. PAYTON R. AYDEN Payton Hayden was the first lawyer certified to practice law in the Missouri Territory outside of St. Louis. He was the first lawyer to pass the bar, July 1819, in Cooper County, even before Missouri became a state. He was a native of Kentucky. He came to Howard County, Missouri, in 1818, and located in Boonville in 1819. He taught school in Old Franklin, one of his students being Kit Carson. Hayden died in Boonville on December 26, 1855. A Supreme Court Justice, Washington Adams, studied law in his office. THOMAS JEFFERSON HOWELL Thomas Jefferson Howell was born near Pisgah in 1842. In 1850, he went to the state of Oregon with his parents. He was a farmer, stock-raiser, botanist, woodsman, mountaineer, and the discoverer of the weeping spruce. Because of his interest in botany, he became interested in the flowering plants of the northwest. In 1903 he published the Flora of Northwest America. FRANK & JESSE JAMES Jesse James was born in 1847 on a small farm near Kearney, Missouri. Jesse was 14 when the Civil War began, and left to fight in the war when he was 16. In 1865, he became an outlaw, along with his older brother, Frank, and some of the men who fought with them during the Civil War. Between 1866 and 1882 the James gang robbed trains and banks in Missouri and other states. Most of the railroads and banks were owned by Northerners. The banks charged high interest rates on loans to people trying to recover from the war. People also had to pay high taxes to support the railroads, and to pay high rates for transporting freight. Because of these injustices, many people were glad when the James gang robbed a bank or a train. Some people even helped the gang hide when the law was looking for them. In an effort to stop the robbing, in 1881, Missouri’s governor, Thomas T. Crittenden, a former Union officer, offered a reward for the capture of Jesse James. In 1882, Jesse was shot in the back of the head by one of his own men, Robert Ford, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Jesse was 35. Soon after his brother’s death, Frank surrendered and the career of the James gang was ended. FREDERICK T. KEMPER Frederick Kemper was born in Virginia. He established Kemper Family School in 1844, which later became Kemper Military School. The school steadily grew until it became one of the finest schools of its kind in the United States. Crosby Kemper, a banker in Kansas City who gave money to different organizations and causes in Boonville, is thought to be distantly related to Frederick T. Kemper. See more under Kemper Military Academy under schools section. Kemper at Memorial Statues at Boonville THOMAS KIRCHMANN Thomas Kirchmann from Pisgah is known for inventing the cyclone “stacker” on threshers and the self-tying hay baler. He also made improvements on the steam engine. NATHANIEL LEONARD Nathaniel Leonard was born at Windsor, Vermont, June 13, 1799. He founded Ravenswood Farm in 1825, and was the first man to bring registered shorthorn cattle into the state of Missouri and into the United States west of the Mississippi River. The English herdsman, Thomas Boyen, set out from Chillicothe, Ohio, on May 22, 1839, to deliver the historic shipment of fine stock. He had to travel two days on a canal boat until he reached the Ohio River, then transfer his stock and forage onto a riverboat for the trip down the river until he reached Cincinnati or Louisville, transfer boats again to go down the Ohio to the Mississippi, then upstream to St. Louis, where he changed to a Missouri riverboat to take him to Boonville, with the last part of his long journey overland about 12 miles. Nathaniel Leonard successfully carried on farming and stock breeding on the Ravenswood Farm during his lifetime. He died at his farm on December 30, 1876. He was succeeded by his son, Captain Charles E. Leonard. CAPTAIN CHARLES LEONARD Captain Charles Leonard was reared on Ravenswood Farm. He received his education at Kemper Military School and the University of Missouri at Columbia. After receiving his education, he returned to the farm and was actively engaged in farming most of his life. He served as director of the American Shorthorn Association from 1882-1906. He was also president of the Central National Bank of Boonville. NATHANIEL CHARLES LEONARD Nathaniel Charles Leonard, only son of Captain Charles Leonard, was educated at Kemper Military School and Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. He completed a law course in 1898, after which he spent most of his time continuing the breeding of shorthorn cattle. CHARLES WILLARD LEONARD Charles Willard Leonard, son of Nathaniel Nelson Leonard, purchased the remainder of the farm from his brother and sister. His son, Charles Edward Leonard (great-great-grandson of Nathaniel Leonard) managed the farm until Charles W. died January 5, 2002. After the passing of Charles Edward in 2015, Ravenswood Farm passed into a family trust. WILLIAM MITTELBACH William Mittelbach, a pharmacist, graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and received an honorary Doctor of Science in recognition of his service and dedication to the practice of pharmacy and his community of Boonville. Dr. Mittelbach was active in the Evangelical Church and many civic groups, including many years of service to the Board of Education. A memorial fountain in his honor stands just inside the Walnut Grove cemetery entrance. A 1926 biography stated, “No man in the history of Boonville has held more positions both honorary and active than this esteemed citizen.” He was also a nationally recognized pharmacist, serving as president of national and state pharmacy organizations, and the Missouri Board of Pharmacy. He was a recognized authority in pharmaceutical science and a research associate of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. JORDAN O’BRYAN Jordan O’Bryan served under General “Old Hickory” Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans. He moved to Cooper County soon afterward. He was a state senator during the 13th and 14th general assemblies, 1844 and 1846. He was county representative in the third, fourth and eighth general assemblies in 1824, 1826, and 1834. He was a Baptist leader known throughout Missouri. He was on the committee to locate William Jewell College. In an effort to establish the college at Boonville, he was able to deadlock the committee’s decision. The town of Liberty finally won by one vote. W. L. NELSON Nelson was a representative in Congress 10 of the 14 years from 1919-1933. In 1934 he was elected from the new second district of Missouri. He was also one of the first rural weekly editors in the United States to regularly feature farm and livestock news in the newspaper The Bunceton Weekly Eagle. WILL ROGERS Will Rogers attended Kemper Military School in Boonville from 1896-1903. Years later he became famous as an actor, humorist, writer, and philosopher. LON V. STEPHNS Lon Vest Stephens was a native of Boonville. He came from a family with banking history and was a graduate of Kemper Military School. He was governor of Missouri from 1897-1901. Before becoming governor, he was the state treasurer. During the time he was governor, the first Missouri State Fair was held and many state institutions were established. Some of these include: The State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia, the Fruit Experiment Station at Mountain Grove, a School for the Feeble-minded and Epileptic in Marshall, a state hospital for the insane at Farmington, and the State Board of Charities and Corrections. JAMES MILTON TURNER James Milton Turner was born a slave in St. Louis, Missouri in 1840. His parents were John Turner Colburn and Hannah. John was a horse doctor. He bought his freedom and then in 1843, the freedom of his wife and son. In 1847, a law was passed in Missouri that forbade blacks to be educated. This did not stop the Turners, as James was educated in secret. He attended Oberlin College for one term when he was 14, but was forced to leave school in 1855 when his father died. He returned to St. Louis and supported his mother by working as a porter at the beginning of the Civil War. Turner became a body servant (valet) to Madison Miller, who joined the Union as a captain of the 1st. Missouri infantry. Among other battles, they served together at Wilson's Creek and Shiloh. By the time the war was over, Miller was a Colonel. Colonel Miller's brother-in-law, Thomas Fletcher, was elected Governor of Missouri in November 1864. Governor Fletcher appointed Turner Assistant Superintendent of schools where he was in charge of establishing schools for blacks. Over thirty schools were opened across the state while Turner served in the Department of Education, including Lincoln Institute in Jefferson 'City, now known as Lincoln University, which was the first black high school and teacher training school in Missouri. A civil rights activist, Turner was one of the founders of the Missouri Equal League. This was the first black political organization in the state. In 1871, Turner was appointed Ambassador to Liberia by President Ulysses Grant. Serving in Monrovia, Liberia, from 1871 to 1878, Turner was the first African American diplomat to a foreign country. When Turner returned from Liberia. he continued to reach out and help others succeed in the white man's world. He served on the Refugee Relief Board, and in 1881 he and Hannibal Carter organized Freedman's Oklahoma Immigration Association to promote homesteading in Oklahoma. He spent the next 20 years of his life in Indian Territory, fighting for the rights of blacks. He died in Ardmore, Oklahoma on November 1, 1915. A bust of James Milton Turner stands on a pedestal in the Morgan Street Park on the northwest corner of Main and Morgan Streets in Boonville. References: Elizabeth Davis, "Historically Yours"; James Milton Turner 1840-1915 James Milton Turner -SHSMO - Historic Missourians Jame Milton Turner - (1839? - 1915) Missouri Encyclopedia James Milton Turner (1840-1915) BlackPast James Milton Turner - Wikipedia GEORGE GRAHAM VEST Senator George Graham Vest represented Missouri in the United States Senate from 1879-1903. He was an early Boonville lawyer, involved in the building of Thespian Hall, a state legislator from Cooper County, and a supporter of the secessionist movement. He left Boonville at the First Battle of Boonville on June 17, 1861. He is most remembered for his famous “Eulogy to a Dog,” given before a jury at Warrensburg, Missouri. PAUL WHITLEY Paul Whitley was born 13 years before the American Revolution, on July 20, 1762. He died September 23, 1835. He made provisions in his will to leave money to the “poor children” in Cooper County. His will stated “at the death of my wife whatsoever may remain I wish placed by my executors in the hands of the County Court of the County of Cooper, and that they cause the same to be disposed of for schooling of the poor children in the township of Moniteau in said County of Cooper and State of Missouri. The amount of his estate was $3,768. Following the death of his wife in 1855, the money was turned over to the county court to be given to the poor in the schools. The amount grew to $13,000 due to interest because it was several years before it was used. Money was given to the schools each year. In one year, 1927, 877 boys and girls enjoyed the gift given to them. In the early 1900s, his body was removed from the grave on the bluffs of the Missouri River near Wooldridge. It was taken to Harris Cemetery near Prairie Home where a monument was erected in his honor. WALTER WILLIAMS Walter Williams was a distinguished editor. He founded the first School of Journalism in the world and was President of the University of Missouri, at Columbia. He was a native of Boonville. He took his early training as an apprentice on a Boonville newspaper, later becoming its editor as well as the editor of a Columbia newspaper. He was a firm believer in the free press. He died in 1935. HORACE GEORGE WINDSOR Horace George Windsor was the first president of the Missouri Corn Growers Association, serving until his death. In 1915, he raised the first 100 bushels of corn per acre crop in the world. He raised 116.9 bushels of corn per acre in 1917. In one year, he won first prize for the best corn in six state fairs. DE WITT C. WING DeWitt Wing was a native of Lamine township. He started his career as editor of The Missouri Democrat. He was editor of the Chicago Breeder’s Gazette for 26 years. He was editor of the Rural New Yorker, New York City. He was an information specialist for the Federal Agricultural Adjustment Administration. CHARLES WOODS Cooper County Missouri Justice of the Peace, 1820-1829, Justice of the Court, 1825. Woods was Born 1791 in Madison County, Kentucky, the fourth child of Rev. Peter Woods. In 1810 he moved to Franklin County, Tennessee. He entered the service in 1812 and Tennessee in 1814. He served as a Corporal and as a Sergeant. He served under Colonels Thomas Hart Benton and William Pillow. In both cases, the General was Andrew Jackson. Charles received 160 acres in the form of a military warrant for his service in the War of 1812. He was named a Justice of the Peace of Lamine Township, Cooper County, in 1820 by Governor Alexander McNair. The 1883 History of Cooper County lists him as a settler of Kelly Township in 1818. Charles was also named a Justice of the Peace for the Township of Moniteau, County in 1829, this time by Governor Frederick Bates. Each of these offices were for four years in duration. Charles was a County Justice, which is the equivalent of a County Commissioner today, in the May, through November Terms of 1825. According to minutes of these terms, this body was involved in the decisions of where to place roads, who would operate ferries, caring for paupers, appointed road overseers, appointed “Captain of the Patriots” in Boonville (and relieved the same), administrated patrols, approved repairs of the jail and other public properties as well as the costs associated with these, administrated the activities of the Sheriff, as well as other county officers. Charles is described in the 1883 History of Cooper County as being “for many years the leading Democrat in his neighborhood. He wa s a man of no ordinary ability, of pleasant address, and a liberal-high-toned gentleman. “Charles Woods died in January 1873 in Tipton, Missouri. He and his wife, Susan Jennings Woods, are buried in a cemetery named Woods Family Cemetery Number Two. HARVEY BUNCE Harvey Bunce was born in North Port, Long Island, New York, on October 28, 1816, the first of two children of Harvey and Keziah Jarvis Bunce. He received his education there in the commons schools. He was apprenticed to Messrs. Bayless & Co. in New York to learn the ship builder’s trade when he was 16. Four years later, he came to Missouri because he believed there were better opportunities out west for those willing to work hard. He spent the next ten years building bridges and working as a carpenter. During this time, he gained a reputation as a superior mechanic, a good businessman, and an excellent citizen. Bunce took up farming in 1847 and his political career began the following year when he was elected county assessor. He was elected sheriff at the next election and was re-elected until 1961 when he resigned. But Bunce’s service to the county were not yet over. In 1862 he was appointed public administrator, a position he held for 12 years. At the same time, he represented Cooper County in the state legislature in 1862-63. In 1864 he was a member of the state constitutional convention. His personal life as a businessman was equally successful. He was one of the leading farmers in the county and a leading bank stockholder. He was made a director of the Central National Bank of Boonville in 1866, a position he held until 1881 when he was elected vice-president of the bank. With all his interests, he was one of the most important citizens in the county. In 1868, a town about 15 miles south of Boonville was laid out and platted. It was named after Harvey Bunce. Harvey Bunce died on May 14, 1893, and was laid to rest at Walnut Grove Cemetery in Boonville. Source: Elizabeth Davis "Historically Yours"

EARLY TRANSPORTATION Immigration into the county had been halted by the War of 1812 but, by 1815 , there was a steady flow of people coming to the county. Settlers brought with them wagons and horses. Mules were brought in from Santa Fe after the opening of the Santa Fe trail in 1821 . Settlers began to mark out roads and to cut their way through the forest. Oxen were often used for wagon transportation and continued to be used for many years. The prairie presented few obstacles to travel, but to go through a forest was an entirely different matter. A wise selection of a route was needed or there would be lots of labor in cutting trees and fording streams. No public roads were laid out (on paper) until 1819 . But no construction work was done upon the roads nor were they thought necessary for a many years. The first petition for a public road in Cooper County was presented by B.W. Levens. It asked for the location of a road leading from Boonville to the mouth of the Moniteau Creek. The second petition for the location of a public road was by Anderson Reavis, presented on the same day. The road that was petitioned for ran from the mouth of the Grand Moniteau to the Boonville and Potosi road. When Cooper County was officially organized as a county in 1819 , the stream of immigration to the south side of the river was increasing and roads were needed. STAGE COACHES When many of us think of stage coaches we think of them in relation to the “wild west”. But stages coaches were a very important means of travel in Cooper County for many years. A stage coach was a vehicle much like an enclosed wagon with a high roof, wooden sides and doors with windows on both sides. It had an elevated seat in the front where the driver, or “whip,” was seated. Inside were seats for the passengers. The passengers sat with their baggage on their lap and mail bags under their feet. If they wanted to sleep, they had to sleep sitting up. The stage coaches were designed for travel, not comfort! They were safer than traveling alone and were often the only way to travel any distance. Roads at this time were only dirt, often rocky, and muddy after rain or snow. Coaches were pulled by draft horses, many of them Clydesdales, because of their good temperament. Stages were pulled either by two horses or a team of four. The coaches were called “stage” coaches because the travel route was done in “stages.” Stations, or stage stops were usually 10 to 15 miles apart. The horses traveled about 5 miles per hour, and pulled the coach for two to three hours. At the end of the trip between one stop and the next, the horses were replaced by another team and the tired horses rested until the return trip. Some stages traveled 60 -70 miles a day. At some stops a meal or beverages might be available, (at an extra cost) and some had provisions for sleeping. The cost of the journey was usually 10 to 15 cents per mile, which would be quite expensive based in today’s dollars. In the 1830s , a stage coach depot was located along the road between Boonville and Jefferson City. Known as "Midway" the stop was about 1 ½ miles east of the present site of Prairie Home, at Tompkins' Inn. In the mid-century, stagecoaches made regular trips to various towns in Missouri. The Tipton to Boonville Stage Coaches operated in the Cooper County area from 1850 to 1860 . An interesting account of the Tipton-Boonville Stage written by Mrs. L.H. Childs appeared in The Boonville Advertiser - Rural Life Edition, in 1940. Tipton-Boonville Stage Changed Horses at Biler Home Near Speed One and one-half miles east of Speed, in central Cooper County, stands a dilapidated but vivid reminder of the past. On the southwest corner of the crossroads at that point is an old-fashioned log house, and to the rear, only partly standing is an old barn. Up until 1868 this place buzzed with activity. It was the home of Mr. Abram Biler, his wife and two daughters, and the Boonville-Tipton stage coach made a regular stop there to change horses. The horses were cared for until the return trip, when they were changed again. The ladies served meals to the travelers. Mr. William Eller told that when he was a small boy, he would hear old Mike, the driver, come down the road blowing a bugle to let the people know the stage was coming. It is said Mike could crack his whip so loud the sound would travel almost a mile in the clear air as he drove his fine horses. Sometimes the road was hard and dry, and at other times the mud was ankle deep or the snow was drifted high, but the stage went through. The road, which now is of all-weather construction, was little more than a trail at that time. Jr. Irving Harness’ father sold the stage line a number of fine horses, as only the best animals were used to pull the coaches. It was quite a thrill for a number of small boys of the neighborhood when Mike would let them ride the stage to the bottom of the hill to the south. They never seemed to mind the tiresome walk back. Stage coach days carried their humor and tragedy, as all generations do. When Mike would linger to talk to Miss Puss Biler, some of the passengers would grow quite impatient, but that would have no effect on Mike as he would have his little visit out before he would go. During the last years of the Civil War period, an order was issued calling in all guns in an effort to stop guerrilla warfare. One evening, however, the report of a gun was heard and when neighbors investigated, they found M. Biler slain in his cucumber patch. Mr. Biler is buried with many other pioneers in the old Concord cemetery. When the branch railroad was completed between Boonville and Tipton, there was no further need for the stage line and it faded into history. Probably the last visible stage stop in Cooper County is located on the North side of Highway 5 between Boonville and Billingsville. The limestone block building was built by O.H.P. Shoemaker in 1860 and the stone was cut from a nearby quarry. He used smoother stone for the front of the building and rough-cut stone for the sides. The road in front of the house was the stage coach road/mail route to Warsaw. On the lintel above the door of the house is engraved “O.H.P. Shoemaker 1860 ” (see picture). The Shoemakers were Unionist, coming originally from Kentucky and Illinois. A son (or nephew) Horace, became a Captain during the Union occupation of Boonville and organized a voluntary cavalry unit to escort the mail, guard the telegraph wires and escort captured Confederates to Jefferson City. Capt. Shoemaker became a marked man when he took a local man named Spencer from imprisonment at the Boonville courthouse to Harley Park and hanged him without a trial. When General Price and the Confederates took control of Boonville in October 1864, Shoemaker surrendered and was confined with his family to his house in Boonville. In the dark of night, according to Van Ravensway, Spenser’s sons came for Shoemaker pretending to have orders from General Price. They took him away and Horace Shoemaker was never seen again. General Shelby was quoted later that the incident “will remain the most regrettable occurrence during the war”. East of the stone house three serious skirmishes took place that October. General Fagan stood off attacks by Union Generals Eppstein and Sanborn with heavy loss of life at Anderson’s Branch. Mrs. Shoemaker and her family, fearing further retribution fled to Oregon. The property was parceled and sold in 1866 $2,000 to Christian Osten and John Dumolt. In 1868 The Osage Valley and Southern Kansas Railroad was completed between Boonville and Tipton and the stone house was convenient to the depot at Billingsville. New immigrants arriving from Germany by steamboat took the train to Billingsville where they found welcome in their native language with the Dumolts who were originally from Alsace Lorraine. Once the railroad came through Cooper County, there was no longer a need for the stage coaches. Interestingly, once trucks and cars became popular, there was little use for trains for transportation and most of them eventually disappeared. The Dumolts and Fredericks lived in the stone house for many years, adding a kitchen and an extension to the living space at the back of the stone building. There were extensive log and frame stables on the property until the present owners, the Burnetts, cleared away the worn wooden structures, but saved the stone cottage and a large chiseled stone horse trough to preserve this part of Cooper County history. Dumolt Stage Stop on Route 5 near Billingsville

EARLY BUSINESSES Lone Rider on muddy Main Street Hill looking north. Circa 1870's Downtown Boonville in the 1930's Boonville Female Seminary 1870's by James Macurdy. Corner of Sixth and Locust St. A fire destroyed most of the building but it still stands today. You can find the story about this in Wayne's book. From the Wayne Lammers collection Main and Chestnut streets circa 1880's, looking north Harvesting Ice on the Missouri River. Photo by Max Schmidt. Circa 1900's Hotel Frederick, Main St. circa 1930 Ferd E. Arn seen behind the boy with the striped shirt in front of his Sporting Goods Store on Main St. circa 1890's. The pelican was killed by someone off the Missouri River here at Boonville. Photo by SHSMO This is inside the Ferd Arn Sporting Store where Maggie's Bar & Grill is today. Ferd is the man on the right in center in black Ferd E. Arn sold the first car in Boonville. From the Wayne Lammers collection Man biking on Main and Morgan Streets. circa 1890's. Ferd E. Arn also sold bikes in Boonville. Photo by SHSMO Gmelich Schmidt Jewelry Store Group circa 1890's. Maximilian Schmidt 2nd from left Inside Holt's cafe circa 1930/40 From the Wayne Lammers collection Garthoffner Cigar Store located where Knights of Pythias Building is today. Notice the Indian Cigarman behind the third and forth men on the right. circa 1880's. Photo by SHSMO Crowd at Zuzaks Wonder Store circa 1920. From the Wayne Lammers collection Morgan and Main Street southwest. The Senate Saloon on the corner with the James Macurdy. Photography Studio to the right. Circa 1880's. 1867 From the Wayne Lammers collection Inside Craig's Dairy on Main Street. Circa 1930/40's A.M. Koontz at 217 Main St . had a shipment of 333 wooden boxes, circa mid 1880's, of Chase & Sanborn Coffee & Tea from Boston Mass delivered via steamboat here to Boonville. This location is where Ann Harman and The Celestial Body is located today. From the Wayne Lammers collection Chief Red Fox stayed at Pete's Cafe for years telling about his life. He was a nephew of Chief Crazy Horse, the famous Sioux who fought General Custer at the Little BigHorn. Pete's Cafe has served the Boonslick area since 1920 The story of Chief Red Fox This is a broken glass plate negative taken by Max Schmidt in front of his jewelry store Gmilick & Schmidt on Main, looking toward Morgan St. Circa 1890s From the Wayne Lammers collection Beautiful home built by riverboat Captain John Porter at 312 Center Street . Circa 1890's Painting owned by the Dick Blanck Family Pottery in Boonville. Dick Blanck collection. This 9 inch jug was built by The Vollrath or Blanck Pottery Co. on Locust Street. My friend Sam Jewett dug it out of a ditch where broken pieces were discarded. The back side had a chip broken off. I repaired it and love it in my collection. Photo by Wayne Lammers Oct. 23, 2022. Walz Family Serves Boonville Grocery Store and Jewelry Born in Germany on July 29, 1838, Nicholas Waltz immigrated to the US with his family in 1846. They settled in Chicago, Illinois, where Nicholas finished growing up and received the rest of his education. When Nicholas was 19, he followed his father to Boonville where he worked as a clerk in his brother-in-law’s store. Three years later, Nicholas bought the business that he ran so well until his retirement in 1884. Nicholas grew his store to be the largest grocery store in Central Missouri and, for a number of years, could boast the largest volume of business in this part of the state. Nicholas Walz didn’t confine his interests to his business. He also devoted a good deal of his time to his community and his family. Walz served three terms on the Boonville City Council. Nicholas Walz and Julia Brenneisen, who was also born in Germany, were joined in Holy Matrimony in 1845 and the union was blessed with five sons and three daughters: Leopold C., John E., Herman G., Louise, Charles A., Julia, Laura, and Henry G. John Walz was born on November 3, 1864. He received his education in Boonville and then, in 1880, began learning the trade of watchmaker and jeweler from the firm of Hannacke and Kauffman. After four years, Walz joined the firm of Gmelich and Huber where he continued to learn the business for another ten years. In 1894, two years after his father died, Walz established his own jewelry business. A younger brother, Charles A., became his assistant. Like his father, John Walz was active in community affairs. He served as director of the Boonville Commercial Club. John was also responsible for Boonville’s “White Way” project. The plan was to light Main Street in downtown Boonville. He originated the plan, promoted it, solicited contributions, secured sufficient funds to place eight standards, and persuaded the Sombart family, who owned the electric company, to donate the power. Later, when the company was sold, he got the new owners to extend the contract for free power. For all his work on this project, Walz became known as the “Father of the White Way.” He was so well thought of that the Republican Party twice asked him to run for Mayor. Both times Walz declined saying he had no desire or preference for political honors. David Andrews, another community leader When David Andrews arrived in Old Franklin and Boonville, he was 19 and so poor he had only the shirt on his back which he washed in the Missouri River. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on May 2, 1809, and would work hard using his financial and management gifts to eventually become one of the wealthiest men of Boonville. Andrews started out in Boonville as a tanner. Once established he went back to St. Louis for Margaret Baird whom he married. Life wasn't easy for Andrews. Twice he lost his shop by fire, but each time he rebuilt and his business continued to grow. In 1839 Boonville was incorporated into a city by the state of Missouri and Andrews was elected one of Boonville's first city councilmen. The other six were William Shields, J. L. Collins, Jacob Wyan, Charles Smith, J. S. McFarland, and J. H. Malone. Marcus Williams, Jr. was elected the first mayor and J. Rice the president of the board. Andrews didn't fair too well during the Civil War. Making canteens for Southern soldiers caused him a great deal of grief with the Union. He was attacked, beaten, and left for dead. Only by the hand of his loving wife was he found and nursed back to health. Andrews was then arrested and imprisoned in Jefferson City where General Lyons wanted him shot as a rebel sympathizer. Mrs. Andrews went to the capital determined to get him freed and did manage to secure his release. After the war, Andrews opened the first hardware store in Boonville and grew his assets to $300,000. He also took an active role in local government for a number of years by serving on the city council and becoming mayor. David Andrews died in Boonville on April 30, 1893, and is buried at Walnut Grove cemetery.

AGRICULTURE Adapted from Discover Cooper County by Ann Betteridge The first settlements in the county were made during the period between 1810 and 1820. However, it was not until the 1830s that any widespread farming began to take place. Before the 1830s, settlers relied on the trade center in Boonville to provide most of their needs. Early settlers avoided bottomlands and prairies. Because of the supply of wood for fuel and building purposes, the presence of good springs, and the good supply of game (which was the main food source at the time), settlers built their homes in the high-timbered area of the county. CENTURY FARMS Since the “Century Farm” program began in 1976, more than 8,000 Missouri farms have received the Century Farm designation. To qualify, the same family must have owned the farm for 100 consecutive years. The line of ownership from the original settler or buyer may be through related family members or spouses. The farm must be at least 40 acres of the original land acquisition and make a financial contribution to the overall farm income. LIVESTOCK In the 1830s, settlers began to recognize the value of the prairie lands for grazing livestock and growing crops. The native prairie grasses provided excellent grazing, and their extensive root systems helped develop and retain a deep topsoil layer that was very helpful in raising agricultural crops. A substantial amount of central and southern Cooper County was native prairie. By the 1840s, many farmers were raising livestock, a trend that continues today. Early settlers who came to Missouri from the southern states brought a few head of livestock with them. Raising of livestock became the basis of early Cooper County agriculture. EARLY OUTSTA NDING FARMERS Some of the people who contributed to the field of agriculture in the county were: The first purebred hogs, Duroc Jerseys, were the first west of the Mississippi, and owned by S.Y. Thornton. Ravenswood, located south of Boonville, was the site of the first purebred cattle in Missouri. These Shorthorns were the oldest herd west of the Mississippi River. Fairfield, located near Boonville, was the home of Walter B. Windsor, world-record early corn grower (1880s-1920s). Chris T. Smith, gold-medal winner for corn sample (Carter corn) at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, lived at “Walnut Dale Farm” in Cooper County. James Chambers owned the first nursery in Cooper County and grew cherry and apple trees. It was established in 1817. The first imported sheep of the Cotswold breed to Missouri were owned by Samuel H. Groves, of Cooper County. Mr. And Mrs. Thomas Nelson owned “Eminence Stock Farm” south of Boonville, near Bunceton. Mrs. Sarah Nelson was the first woman to make a specialty of producing poultry of the better breeds and of pure strain, Barred Rocks poultry. Thomas J. Wallace was known for buying, breeding, and developing saddle stock. He and his son, A.A. Wallace, owned four of the finest stallions in the country: Denmark Chief, Crigler’s Denmark, Blackbird, and King Chester 294. MULES IN COOPER COUNTY The mule has played an important part in helping people in Cooper County achieve their goals and farm their land. Besides being a power source for farmers, mules were a good cash crop. Mules have often been a supplemental source of power to the horse. However, when the going was hard, the heat intense, and the food and water scarce, the mule out-performed his horse half-brother. The Missouri Mule industry was born at the turn of the 19th century when the Santa Fe Trail opened. People returning from the Spanish town of Santa Fe, Mexico, brought gold, silver, furs, and mules with them. By 1820, Franklin, across the river from present day Boonville, was at the end of river transportation. Trappers, explorers, and other travelers rode upriver from St. Louis by boat as far as Franklin and outfitted themselves at Franklin before heading for the western world. William Becknell, explorer, returned from a trip to Santa Fe in 1822 with mules he had purchased. This was the first record of mules in Missouri. Mule power was used heavily in the Civil War and were saluted by Civil War soldiers in the song Selby’s Mule. Over 350,000 mules were sent to the British military during World War I. They were also used in World War II. During the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, a Missouri man drove his six-mule team past all the other competition and permanently placed the phrase “Missouri Mule” in the global vocabulary. By 1870, Missouri was the major mule producing state in the nation. Many mules were bought and sold in Cooper County. During the next 30 years, mule production was the highest. In the summer of 1995, the mule was recognized by the Missouri Legislature as the official state animal. The mule is an offspring of the male donkey (Jack) and the female horse (mare). FARMING The county was also well adapted to crop farming. It was not long before raising crops also became an important part of the farming in the county. Initially, the main crop was corn. Other crops raised were wheat, oats, and barley. Many German immigrants came in the 1850s, and raised grapes and planted fruit orchards. MISSOURI STATE FAIR The major business in Cooper County in the 1850s was agriculture. The first official state fair in Missouri was held October 3-7, 1853, near the site of the old St. Joseph’s Hospital building in Boonville. The state fair was a way for farmers to get together and trade information about agriculture practices, as well as to see the finest livestock and produce raised in the state. The next two state fairs were also in Boonville. The state legislature didn’t appropriate any funds for the fair after that, although there were many county fairs throughout the state. The next official state fair was in 1901 and at that time it was moved to Sedalia, where it has remained. THE GRANGE New Lebanon had an active Grange organization in the 1870s which was an organization of farmers, established in 1867. It was officially titled “Order of Patrons of Husbandry.” The farmers were concerned with the practice of the railroads and grain elevators. By 1875, Missouri led all states in membership, but it soon began to decline. The year 1890 marked a turning point in county history because, in this year, total county population reached an all-time high. For the next 90 years the general tendency in county population was downward and people moved from farm to town. FRUIT GROWING IN COOPER COUNTY Colonel Charles Bell founded the International Apple Shippers Association. He experimented with and developed the “Lady Apple” tree in the Bell Apple Orchard located about six miles east of Boonville. For years each pupil in the Boonville Schools found a “Lady Apple” on their desk the first day of school. Apples being delivered to Boonville merchants Bell Orchard Apples being delivered. Notice the bronze dogs which are now above the entry doors at Laura Speed Elliott school. Workers at Bell Orchard Photos from Wayne Lammers Collection THE CIVIL WAR AND W WII AND AGRICULTURE During the Civil War, agriculture in the county was brought nearly to a stop. The most severe effect of the war was the drastic reduction in livestock. Crops were burned, farmers were terrorized and sometimes killed, barns and houses were burned and ransacked. Cattle and other livestock were stolen or slaughtered for food for soldiers. It wasn’t until the 1870s that farmers were able to rebuild their herds and begin farming again. WORLD II Farming began to show a slow recovery by the end of the 1930s, and then came the outbreak of World War II. Many young farmers went off to war and never came back. Those who stayed behind to farm their land were given extra support to increase their productivity, and soil conservation work began with terracing, soil liming, contour plowing, and pond building. It was about this time that the government started its “Balanced Farming” educational programs to area farmers. In 1940, Cooper County led all counties in Missouri in the number of farms on which terraces had been constructed. On December 1, 1940, the number was 207. A total of 70,000 trees were planted in gullies and eroded areas in the spring of 1940. FARMING AFTER WWII After World War II, a new era in agriculture began. In 1949, Edgar Nelson made the following observations: Tractors are fast replacing horses and mules. There is much more farm machinery used meaning more acres farmed by fewer persons. This means fewer people on the farms and a tendency toward larger farms. Practically everyone is growing hybrid corn. Lespedeza has proved a lifesaver for poor soil. There has been an increase in dairying as well as in the development of herds of beef-type cattle. Mr. Nelson’s comments were mostly good; however, at this time there was also concern that while many farmers had improved their soil, the majority of them had allowed their soil to become overworked because of the demand for crops at high prices. Due to the negligence of the soil, there has been a general loss of topsoil and soil fertility. Farmers currently rely on big applications of fertilizers to keep high yields. Farmers began to use chemical insecticides and herbicides in the early 1950's. COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE New Lebanon Home Improvement Club Since the colonists first landed on the shores of North America, men and women have been joining together for survival and social activities. Granted, many social gatherings revolved around barn raisings and quilting bees, but any excuse to get together was welcome. Years passed and times changed, but the need to socialize never went away. In June 1937, Miss Margaret Van Orsdol came to Cooper County as the new County Home Agent. Barely two weeks later, she was at the little country school house in New Lebanon explaining to a group of busy rural ladies how to organize an extension club. The New Lebanon Home Improvement Club was founded that same day with 11 charter members and officers were elected. The group decided to meet in members' homes on the fourth Thursday of each month. Dues were one cent a month. By 1970, they had risen to $1.25/year. Membership reached 19 by the end of the year. Six more extension clubs were organized that year. With the three that had been formed in 1936 (Lone Elm Lively Ladies, County Line Homemakers, and Brick Extension Club), the county now had ten such clubs. By the end of 1942, Cooper County could boast 23 extension clubs. Like their ancestors, these get-togethers were more than social events. The ladies learned cooking, canning, food preservation, gardening, dress making, aluminum etching, glass etching, textile painting, yard improvement, remodeled kitchens, and community improvements. They learned about health, first-aid, and other interesting, beneficial and educational topics. While social events included bridal and baby showers, they were not limited to the ladies. There were annual family Thanksgiving suppers, ice cream socials, picnics, trips and tours. According to the “History of New Lebanon, Cooper County, Mo” which was published in 1976, the organization's 35th Anniversary was observed on June 22, 1972, at the home of Mrs. Clarence Brumback.

COOPER COUNTY RIVERS & STREAMS RIVER TALK “Headwater ” is the origin point of a stream. “Mouth ” is where it empties into another body of water. Thus the headwaters of the Lamine are in Pettis County while its mouth is in Cooper County on the Missouri River. A “Tributary ” is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stream (or parent) river. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. A “Confluence” is where two or more bodies of water meet together, and usually refers to the joining of tributaries. A “Spring ” is a point at which water from an aquifer flows to the surface. A “Seep ” is a wet or moist place where groundwater oozes to the surface. A “Creek ” is a natural stream of water normally smaller than and often tributary to a river. A “Stream ” source can be from a spring or it can form at a point where the drainage of rainwater comes together. RIVERS AND STREAMS Cooper County has been blessed with an abundance of water from springs, creeks, streams and rivers. The two main rivers are the Lamine and the Blackwater. The main creek is the Petite Saline. After joining the Missouri River, the water travels to the Mississippi River and down to the Gulf of Mexico. The LAMINE RIVER is a 63.8-mile- tributary of the Missouri River in Cooper County. It is formed in northern Morgan County , about 4 miles southeast of Otterville by the confluence of the Flat and Richland creeks, and flows generally northwardly through Cooper and Pettis counties. In northwestern Cooper County the Lamine collects water from the Blackwater River and flows into the Missouri River northeast of Lamine and 6 miles west of Boonville . At Clifton City, the river has a mean annual discharge of 455 cubic feet per second. Below the mouth of the Blackwater River, its discharge averages 1,279 cubic feet per second. The river was named by French explorers for the mining operations in the area, the river has also been known as "La Mine River" and as "Riviere a la Mine." Source: Wikipedia The water from Chouteau Springs (two clear water and 3 Sulphur water springs) in Pilot Grove Township flows into Chouteau Creek then into the Lamine, which eventually reaches the Missouri River. These springs discharge water at the rate of ten gallons per minute or 14,400 gallons per day. The BLACKWATER RIVER is formed by the confluence of the North Fork Blackwater River and the South Fork Blackwater River in Johnson County approximately 6 miles northwest of Warrensburg . The river flows generally east-northeastwardly through Johnson, Pettis , Saline and Cooper counties, past the towns of Sweet Springs and Blackwater . It flows into the Lamine River in northwestern Cooper County, approximately 4 miles southeast of Blackwater. The Blackwater River is 16 miles longer than the Lamine River, of which it is a tributary. The Blackwater River is a 79.3-mile-long tributary of the Lamine River via the Lamine and Missouri rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River . The Blackwater River was named from the character of its banks and water. Source: Wikipedia PETITE SALINE CREEK is a stream in Cooper , Moniteau and Morgan Counties. It is a tributary of the Missouri River . Petite Saline Creek was so named for the salty character of its water. The stream source area is along the Morgan-Moniteau county line just north of U.S. Route 50 two miles east of Syracuse and three miles west of Tipton at an elevation of about 920 feet. The stream flows north into Cooper County crossing under, and flowing parallel to, the west side of Missouri Route 5 . The stream turns east again crossing under Route 5 just south of Billingsville . The stream flows generally east passing under Missouri Route 87 southeast of Boonville . The stream continues east to southeast passing under Missouri Route 179 south of Wooldridge . The stream enters the Missouri River bottom just south of Wooldridge in eastern Cooper County and the confluence with the Missouri is in the northern corner of Moniteau County across the river from McBaine and an elevation of 564 feet. Lewis and Clark passed by the Petite Saline on June 6, 1804 and made mention of this creek in their journals. ‘Passed the mouth of a creek called ‘saline’ or ‘salt’ creek. This river is about 30 yards wide and has so many licks and salt springs on its banks that water of the creek is brackish. One very large lick is 9 miles up on the left side. The water of this spring is strong. So much so, that it is said one bushel will make 7 pounds of good salt.” Source: Wikipedia COVERED BRIDGES There once were five covered bridges in Cooper County: Crawford, Hurt, Connors, Shoemaker, and Big Lick. They all spanned the Petite Saline Creek. All the covered bridges were replaced many years ago by either metal or concrete structures. Sadly, there are no known photos of any of the covered bridges in Cooper County. This is a sketch of the covered bridge on highway 5 between Boonville and Billingsville by Florence Friederichs. The Swinging Bridge Pretend you are a child in 1930 and your dad is going to drive you across the brand-new swinging bridge for the first time. You are tall enough to see the steep hill going up to the bridge. The truck starts across the wide boards that don't look a bit safe. You dad is driving very slowly, but you can hear creaking and bumping of the metal against metal and the wooden planks. You press your nose against the passenger window and see the dirt-brown Lamine River looming 30 feet below. The trip across the 231-foot bridge seems to take too long. Then comes the stomach-churning descent on the other side. Your dad shuts off the engine and you hop out to watch vehicles behind you crossing. Some drivers turn around, not brave enough to venture across. When the bridge is empty, your dad reaches out his hand and says, “Let's walk across.” Your heart pounds at the thought. He grabs your hand, leading you up the steep hill. A gentle breeze causes the bridge to sway. You take one step and another until both feet are planted on one of the wooden boards. The world is moving beneath your feet, pitching and rolling, like a carnival ride. Your dad tells you that farmers wanted a bridge built northwest of Pleasant Green, Missouri. They hired a man named Joe Dice, who had built other bridges like this one. A lot of local people helped build this bridge. Your dad showed you two thick groups of wires that helped reinforce the structure. More than 300 individual wires make up each bunch. Two 22-foot-deep holes on each end of the bridge were filled with hand-made concrete that served to anchor the bridge. Pretend now, it's 1994 and you are an old person. You see the bridge floor collapsed from heavy flooding, sinking into the river. It is no longer safe. The Cooper County Historical Society tries to save it, but the cost is too expensive. In 1996, you stand and watch as the bridge is removed from the Lamine River. You think back and can almost feel that bridge swaying beneath your feet. Swinging Bridge near Lamine Underside of Swinging Bridge over Lamine Old Bridge over Lamine River

DID YOU MISS OUT ON THE “GOOD OLD DAYS”? 1939 Boonville Movie Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Below are the time codes for each person identified in the movie LAMMERS VIDEO PRODUCTIONS Wayne Lammers, Producer/Director 1509 Jefferson Drive Boonville, MO 65233 lammers.video.productions@gmail.com Phone: 660-621-0135

FUNERALS & FUNERAL HOMES American funeral traditions can vary so much among communities. Regardless of the individual's beliefs or societal group, funerals have one thing in common; they are meant to give people an opportunity to honor and say "goodbye" to someone they loved. Mourning the Dead: Funeral Practices in 1870 until 1900 Since the beginn ing of time, death has played a role in the lives of every person. Disease, the lack of proper nutrition, the lack of sanitary conditions, childbirth, and the lack of medical knowledge often played a role in the average life span. In pre-Civil War America, mourning and funerals were deeply personal. The Civil War, however, brought new meaning to death in America. The war’s casualties brought about the need for creating new practices in the funeral industry, and by the end of the Civil War, those new practices had changed the way Americans mourned their loved ones. The 1900s saw funeral practices, and mourning customs started to shift even more to private affairs. To better understand the shift in customs and practices, it is essential to understand where they started. In pre-Civil War America, death, though familiar and a part of everyday life was deeply personal. Funerals took place in the home, with women and men from the community assisting the family in preparing the body for burial by washing and laying out the body. Someone would sit up with the body for three days to ensure that death had occurred, and the men would dig graves. In other words, only those who knew the family closely would actively participate in ensuring a proper funeral. However, the Civil War would actively change the practice. Mourning customs, however, did not change as much during the war era. According to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, men were not exempt from mourning customs. They did, however, have it significantly easier than women. The appropriate mourning attire consisted of a dark or black suit with a black armband or hatband for men. Mourning expectations for widowers did not exceed three months. Unlike their counterpart, widows remained in mourning for two and a half years. Dress for women in mourning encompassed three stages – Deep Mourning, Second Mourning, and Half Mourning. In a deep mourning period, women wore black dresses with no trim, and the only acceptable jewelry was jet—furthermore, women in deep mourning worn long veils initially made of crepe. Due to health concerns, however, the crepe veils were discontinued. Each subsequent mourning stage lessened the restrictions upon women based upon colors they could and could not wear. Additionally, mourning was dependent upon the individual that died. "Mourning should be worn" said a professed authority, For a husband or wife, from one to two years, though some widows retain their mourning for life. Queen Victoria of England wore black dresses for the rest of her life after the death of her beloved husband Albert. For a parent or grandparent, from six months to a year. For children above ten years of age, from six months to a year; for those below that age, from three to six months; and for an infant, six or seven weeks. For brothers and sisters, six to eight months. For uncles and aunts, three to six months. For cousins, or uncles or aunts related by marriage, from six weeks to three months. For more distant relatives or friends, from three weeks to as many months, according to the degree of intimacy. Additionally, there are rules about receiving visitors, sending and receiving mail, and invitations and announcements for the deceased. The Civil War Brought the Advent of Embalming This process preserved the body to prevent decomposition from occurring immediately, enabling bodies to be shipped from the battlefield to home. In many cases, the embalming process occurred on the battlefield, and the body was delivered to their home’s front door. In April 1865 and the two-week viewing and travel schedule that finally took him home to Springfield, Illinois, the death of Abraham Lincoln created a powerful marketing tool for the idea of a non-decomposing body. This new marketing tool paved the way for the undertaker to earn an income by selling his services. The late 1800s through to the early 1900s saw professional undertakers’ creation, with schools for morticians as they now would be called forming around 1882. Funerals moved out of the home and into newly created funeral parlors. Caskets became more of what we know today, and the process and responsibility for preparing the body for burial no longer fell to the women of the community. Though, in rural areas, this remained the exception. One such funeral home is the Diuguid Funeral Home, located in Lynchburg, VA. According to their website, the Diuguid Funeral Home is the second oldest funeral home in America and the first one in Virginia. Started by Sampson Diuguid, a hand-carved furniture maker known for his craftsmanship, the Funeral Home started by happenstance rather than design. As his reputation grew for his furniture, Diuguid started receiving requests for coffins. On an exciting note, the Diuguid’s are responsible for designing and creating a church truck, which in the funeral industry allows for the casket to move up church aisles without the need for pallbearers to carry it. The cost of funerals in 1870 varied from anywhere from $30 to $75, or more for the very wealthy. Source: The Solitary Historian Note: In sending letters of condolence, announcements of death and sending letters of acknowledgment from received letters, the paper was always edged in black. Source: Schmitt, “Home Funeral History,” For Fashionable Mour ning By 1900, funeral practices and mourning customs started to shift. Though most of the mourning clothing remained the same, there are slight differences in the styles. Fabrics also changed, and it was increasingly popular to purchase mourning clothing instead of making it at home. Additionally, prices did not necessarily reflect change so much as it did the financial standing of the family paying for the funeral. Funeral homes tended to charge those who were well off more for their funerals than someone who could not afford it. In fact, in Lynchburg, VA there was an Overseer of the Poor who often paid for the services provided by the funeral at a significantly lower cost. The ledgers of the Diuguid Funeral Home in 1900 changed significantly from a hand-written ledger to a pre-printed ledger that recorded more information such as cause of death and much of the information that can now be found on death certificates. In fact, their records are so detailed that should a record not exist for an individual with the State records it is highly possible that Diuguid’s records contain what any researcher or genealogist may need to locate. Source: The Delineator, October 1900. A Special Architectural Feature In the 1800's and early 1900's, until about the time of World War I, funerals were mostly a quiet family affair held at home. Funerals were held in the parlor with family and a few close friends in attendance. Since families tended to be larger than today, the second floor of most homes was devoted to sleeping quarters. In many homes at this time, the stairs to the second floor went straight up, reached a small platform (or "landing"), and then, the stairs turned to the left with about 4-5 additional steps to reach the second floor. When a family member died, they were placed in a casket and carried downstairs. If the pallbearers were not very careful, they would accidentally bang the casket into the wall when they turned, and descended the stairs, thus damaging the plaster on the wall. An interesting architectural idea helped save many walls from damage. It was called an "alcove" and was a recessed area in the wall at the top of the stairs, just before the turn to the left was made. A small portion of the wall, about waist high, was gently curved inward, about six to eight inches, so that when the casket came down the stairs to the landing, it could be moved into the alcove without damaging the wall. When not in use, the alcove was used as a decorative area containing a sculpture, a vase of silk flowers or other decorative items. Very few alcoves are left today as they were later plastered over and made to look like a regular wall. Here is a photo of a Cooper County home that chose to keep the alcove, but covered it entirely with a painting. No longer do families build homes with funerals in mind, and no longer does the deceased remain in the home until burial. Funeral Services have altered significantly the way that families mourn. The death of a loved one went from a very private showing to a more reserved public affair. Source: Editor, Barbara Dahl Note: In sending letters of condolence, announcements of death and sending letters of acknowledgment from received letters, the paper was always edged in black. Source: Schmitt, “Home Funeral History,” FUNERAL HOMES IN COOP ER COUNTY MISSOURI Currently, there are six active Funeral Homes in Cooper County. They are: Howard Funeral Home Boonville (formerly Davis) H T May & Son Funeral Home Boonville Markland-Yager Funeral Home Boonville Meisenheimer-Page-Dady Funeral Home Pilot Grove Meisenheimer-Page-Dady Funeral Home in Otterville (Goodman and Boller) William Wood (Thatcher-Wood) Funeral Home in Boonville Funeral Homes/Chapels Cooper County funeral homes seem to have changed ownership infrequently, but no one is quite sure about the date of founding or the date the name was changed to a new owner. One thing that is unique about the buildings where they reside, is that in the early to mi d 1900's, some of the funeral homes also served as the local hardware or furniture store. Davis Funeral Home was started by John Davis of Boonville. He sold it to Chris Howard who had been an employee. Chris renamed it to Howard Funeral home. John Davis said he always wanted to be an undertaker in the funeral business. Before William Wood Funeral Home came into being, is was Goodman and Boller Funeral Service. It was located in downtown Boonville at the Hittner building. William Wood served his apprenticeship under Mr. Goodman and Mr. Boller in 1947. William Wood then purchased a funeral home in Aurora, Mo. when Mr. Goodman died around 1954, Mr. Boller asked William Wood to move back to Boonville and become his partner. The funeral home had relocated to 517 Fourth Street by then where it still resides. Years later after Mr. Boller died it became Thacher-Wood, Inc. Fun Fact: My mom took me to the funeral home in Pilot Grove and there was a cute little you tea set that I really wanted. I was around 5 years old and would occasionally still suck my thumb. My grandfather promised me the tea set if I quit and I immediately did! I loved that tea set! Source: Kathy Murdock Thacher-Wood Funeral H omes Berry Thacher was born in Odessa, Mo and was childhood friends of the folks that owned the funeral home there. He spent a lot of time at the funeral home. Later in life after successful sales careers in Michigan and Texas he decided that he would like to buy a funer al home in a small town in Missouri and raise a family there. He heard that there was a funeral home for sale in Boonville, Mo at that time called Stegner Funeral Hom e located at 629 E. Morgan Street. Berry could not get off work to visit the funeral home so his wife, Frances Jorgensen Thacher made the trip to Boonville from Kansas City by herself to look at the facility and talk numbers, etc. She went back home and they decided that they would purchase the facility although it needed quite a bit of repair and cleaning. This was in the 1950s when they moved to Boonville with their son, Frank B. Thacher II who was in the first grade I believe. Berry and Frances began working on the funeral home and made the second floor of the house into an apartment where they lived until 1971 when they moved to a house on High Street. They lived in Boonville for the rest of their lives and are buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery. Some years later, perhaps in the mid 1960s, Berry and Frances bought a small funeral chapel in Prairie Home which was owned by Albert and Lorene Hornbeck. The Hornbeck’s owned a Hardware store which was next door to the funeral home on the square in Prairie Home. They were getting older and wanted to just focus on their hardware business. It became known as the Hornbeck-Thacher Funeral Chapel. It was open for many years until it burned down and the chapel was moved to another location in downtown Prairie Home. It closed some years later. Before the advent of cell phones, fax machines, call forwarding, etc., the funeral business entailed a great deal of time sitting inside beside a phone waiting for it to ring. A lot of time was spent being “on call”. Berry and Frances and Bill and Ruth each were wanting to have more free time while still attending to business. In the 1960s I believe they got together and talked about forming a corporation in which they would have more “time on/time off” while still taking care of business. They would keep the individual funeral homes but would work together. Berry always told the story that they consulted one of the larger funeral enterprises in Kansas City and they said “well it hasn’t been done, but it’s a great idea and you should try it”. So Thacher-Wood was born with William and Ruth Wood and Berry and Frances Thacher as the co-owners. In subsequent years, Frank Thacher and Charles Murdock (The Woods son-in-law) went to Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science and came back to Boonville to join the family corporation. In the year 2000, owners Charley and Kathy Murdock and Frank and Julie Thacher sold the corporation to Stewart Enterprises. Stewart Enterprises bought the name rights and it continued to be called Thacher-Wood Funeral Homes. Today the facility at 629 E. Morgan is a private home owned by Tanner and Casey Wendleton Bechtel. Other information: Kathy Wood Murdock and Julia Tuttle Thacher were both certified Funeral Directors by the State of Missouri. We were not licensed embalmers. Source: Julie Thacher This is a late picture of the “Princess” Theater in Bunceton. It was built in 1925 as a movie theater seating 233 people for silent movies. Once the “talkies” became popular, it was closed. It later became the HT May & Sons, Funeral Chapel and a furniture store. Later, it became a laundromat and finally a bar. Today it has been converted to apartments. Mentally paint the building white and add some gold paint to the ornate trim and you can imagine what the building looked like in the late 1930’s. Source: Kathy Wood Murdock May Funeral H ome's History The May funeral home was originally started in 1922 by my grandfather H.J. May’s uncle H.R. Martin. He operated the H.R. Martin funeral home until his death in 1925. I was told his original building waa the old victory cleaners building on Morgan street in Boonville. I believe Taylor’s Bakery now owns that space. It was at the time that my grandfather Holwell J. May (H.J.) took over the business. According to my father, my grandfather had some sort of agreement with James Stegner of Stegner funeral home to rent a small portion of the funeral home as needed, at times most of the funerals in the black community were held at the church. My father H.T. May said that at that time when you would come in the side door at what later became the Thacher funeral home, there was a small room where the black families were able to view but not hold services. This continued until the funeral home was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Thacher in the 1950s, then my grandfather H.J. May moved the business to 814 Porter Street in Boonville which is next to the current YMCA swimming pool. The business operated at this location until 1969. My father H.T. went to Worsham Mortuary School in 1960-61 in Chicago, IL. He then came home to Boonville to help his father run the business in Boonville. In 1969, the current day location at 405 Sycamore was purchased and the business was moved there. H.J. May died in 1974 and my father then took over the running of the business. I went to Dallas Institute of Mortuary Service in August of 1979 and graduated in August of 1980. I worked with my father until his death in 2005. At that time my mother Estelle May and I continued the operation. My son Howell J. May II then entered the Kansas City Kansas School of Mortuary Science and graduated in July 2011. Currently we operate the Boonville location. By: Thomas May History of Hays-Painter Funeral Home Bob Painter was born in Bellair and raised on a farm near there. He graduated from Pilot Grove High School in 1932 and farmed on his family farm. Bob became interested in being an undertaker. In the late 1930s, he enrolled in, and graduated, from the Kansas City School of Embalming in Kansas City, Kansas. After graduating, he worked in the Kansas City area for Newcomers Funeral Homes. Later, he worked in Concordia for a funeral home there. When Mr. Stoecklein retired, Bob joined Stoecklein–Hays Funeral Home in Pilot Grove. They owned a funeral home in Otterville. In 1940, Bob became a partner with Earl Hays, forming Hay s -Painter Funeral Home. The Pilot Grove Facility was a Funeral Home and Furniture hardware store. They sold furniture, paint, linoleum, wallpapers, appliances, and even lawnmowers. This business model was common for funeral homes. The funeral home also offered an Ambulance Service. The equipment was a station wagon with an ambulance cot and red lights. Most people were transported to the hospital in Boonville or Columbia. The Boonville police would wait at the bottom of Golf Link Hill and escort the ambulance through town. The Ambulance part ended in 1974 when the business was sold, and Cooper County established an Ambulance District at the hospital. After Pearl Harbor, Bob enlisted in the Navy and, being 29 years old, was made a Pharmacist Mate. He was over a hospital section in Scotland treating the wounded. Note: In the Navy, Morticians were often assigned to Fleet Marine Service (combat medic services). In 1950, he married Jo Gettel, who he met in Kansas City; they had two children, Pan and Bobby. In 1960, Mr. Hays retired. Bob continued as Hay’s Painter until 1974, when he sold the business to Wayne Woodard of Woodard Funeral Homes in California, MO. The store was closed and made into the casket display room and Senior Center. Carl Bo Hayne worked with Bob in the early 60’s and into the 70s. Andy Newman also worked and helped on many things. In 1976, Wayne Woodard sold the Funeral Home to Ed and Ken Misenhiemer; they ran the business, opening a home in Tipton in the 80s. They died, and the business was sold to the Hueletts, they operated the business until 2020. It was sold to the Page-Dady Funeral Home. By: Bob Painter Funeral Homes Provided Ambulan ce Service Back in those days the ambulance service was also provided by the funeral homes. Frank said the “ambulance” was a station wagon a nd they only carried a bottle of oxygen and a cot in it. Berry said they only had one person die in transit in all the years they provided that service. I believe that the cost for transporting someone was $5. As medical care changed so did the ambulance business. Cooper County took over the ambulance business and Berry Thacher and William Wood were more than happy to donate the keys to their 2 station wagons to the County after many years of making ambulance calls all over the county at all times of the day and night! I can’t remember the exact year but it could probably be accessed from the Cooper County Ambulance Service. Local Funeral Ads Steve Twenter shared these ads from his collection from the “Advertiser”: July 31th, 1953 May 28th, 1937 May 28th, 1937 July 25th, 1952 July 25th, 1952 July 25th, 1952 July 21th, 1939 July 25th, 1941 July 25th, 1941 July 26th, 1946 July 25th, 1941 July 26th, 1946 July 26th, 1940 July 26th, 1940 July 26th, 1946 July 26th, 1940 July 26th, 1940 July 26th, 1940 July 26th, 1940 July 27th, 1945 July 27th, 1945 July 26th, 1940

HARLEY PARK Harley Park “Gifted Park to Citizens of Boonville” Major Wm. Harley was an Irishman having been born in Don Donald, county Antrim, fourteen miles from Belfast, Ireland, on May 6th, 1793. He came to America in 1811 at the age of 18 years. He then moved to Howard County as a merchant during his later years of the 1830’s. He died at his home in Boonville on November 8, 1891. On June 2, 1887, for years before his death, Maj. William Harley and his wife, Cornelia, presented a deed to the mayor, councilmen and citizens of Boonville and their successors, eight acres of land in west Boonville, to be used as a public park with certain conditions specified in the deed. This beautiful park, Harley Park, is located on elevated ground one-half mile west of the M.K.&.T depot on Morgan Street. It is claimed he was the oldest Mason in the United States, having joined that historic fraternity in Louisville, KY in 1818—-73 years before his death. By: Wayne Lammers April, 2023 Here is the entrance to Harley Park taken by Max Schmidt back in ca 1890's. At center left is the ball diamond with an entrance at bottom left. The mud road is Santa Fe Trail. Much has changed since then This is at Harley Park's Look Out, looking to the west over the Missouri River. Mother and son walking at Harley Park The Cooper County Baseball Association Little League baseball field J. Melton and Big Sky Park Elston Joseph Melton was born in Jefferson City on November 17, 1891, and grew up around California, Mo. After high school, he attended the Chicago Art Institute before turning to newspaper work, first in California, Mo., then in Miami, Ok., and finally back in Mo. at Clayton. During the Great War, Melton served in the navy at US Naval Base 17 in Scotland. After the war, he returned to the newspaper business working for papers in Pilot Grove, Sedalia, Boonville, and Caruthersville working as a printer, reporter, editor, partner, and even owner/publisher. He sold The Caruthersville Republican in September 1925 when Governor Sam Baker appointed him deputy state oil inspector for southeast Mo. Melton launched the Boonville Republican in April 1929, publishing it as a weekly for four years before turning it into a daily. A year later he merged it with the Boonville Daily News. Fourteen months later, he sold out and stepped down as editor. Although the majority of Melton’s time up to 1935 was spent in the newspaper business, he did have other interests. After selling his share of the Boonville Daily News in 1935, Melton continued to write, doing special pieces for the Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian and a syndicated column called “Pen Pointers.” In 1936 he published “Will Rogers, Kemper Valedictorian ’98.” It was probably during these two years that he started writing his history of Cooper County, Missouri, which was published in 1937. That same year, he published “Billy Aikors history of 1937.” Along the way, his daughter Mary grew up and married Harry Eugene Hall. The couple gave Mary’s parents four grandsons. Mark Melton Hall was born in 1949 and Michael Owen Hall followed in 1950. The twins, Dale Todd Hall and David Paul Hall, were born in 1952. Then tragedy struck. In June 1961, Mary died unexpectedly at the couple’s home in Canton, Mo., leaving behind a husband and four pre-teen sons. In January 1968, a $1,000.00 certificate was donated to the City of Boonville by Mr. & Mrs. E. J. Melton to start a trust fund as a memorial to their daughter, Mary Melton Hall. The Park Board members were to be trustees and administer the funds with the interest being used for improvements and plantings in an area west of Harley Park to be known as “Big Sky Park.” On May 6, 1968, the Boonville City Council unanimously approved an ordinance which created and defined the Big Sky Area of Harley Park along with its trust fund. Today, on Riviera Dr. , a plaque can be found on a large rock overlooking the area. It reads: “Harley Park, ‘Big Sky Area,’ In Memory of Mary Melton Hall, Denoted by E J Melton Family.”

The Cooper County Historical Society is a nonprofit 501© (3) organization, founded in 1990, with a focus on collecting and preserving documents, records, historical books and other historical information on Cooper County. We have a free research library to assist the public in finding the information. THANK YOU, HANNAH COLE Picture of the Hannah Cole statue P rior to the coming of the Cole families, what would someday become Cooper County was explored by several early explorers starting with Charles Ravensway in 1658, Daniel Boone in 1799 and later Lewis and Clark in1803-1804 after Missouri became a state. The area was already well known to fur traders. Hannah Allison Cole must have been a very adventuresome, determined, courageous and hardy woman. She was a widow, and almost 50, when she crossed the Missouri River in something similar to a large canoe, called a “dugout” or “pirogue.” She was accompanied by her nine children, her beloved slave Lucy, her sister Phoebe, and Stephan, her husband, and their five children. That’s 18 people in a hollowed-out log, which was usually 15 to 18 feet long. The pirogue or dugout would usually be maneuvered through the water by men using long poles. Although explorers and trappers visited what was to become Missouri in the 1600’s and later, the Coles were the first white families to settle on the South side of the Missouri River. When the family crossed the Missouri River, just before Christmas in 1810, the river was swift and full of ice. Evidently, the men made two trips across the river, the first to carry the women and children to their planned destination, plus swim their stock across the river. The second, to retrieve supplies and provisions that could not fit in the boat on the first trip across the river. That second trip also included dismantling their wagon and bringing it, and probably tools and seeds to the other side of the river. However, the day after they made their initial trip across the river, there was an violent storm. Due to the raging river and ice, the men had to wait eleven days before they could retrieve their wagon and supplies. As the family probably had no little or food with them in the dugout, all they had to eat were acorns, slippery elm bark and one wild turkey. Due to the bad weather, game would have been hard to find, and since it was December, most of the acorns would be gone. That must have been very disheartening for the 18 members of the family. Yet, they all survived! Hannah’s family constructed a small cabin near the river’s edge just up from where Boonville is located today. They lived peacefully for a year or so until there was an Indian uprising, encouraged by the British, known today as the War of 1812 (Yes, the same war when we fought the British and they burned Washington). By this time there were other hardy souls who had crossed the river for a new life in the newly opened territory. Later, for protection, a fort was built on a rocky, very steep bluff that jutted out almost to the river. Looking at the property today, which is still very heavily wooded, you will wonder “how in the world, did they get up there,” as the location had to be reached by climbing through the dense, almost vertical virgin forest and then down a very steep forested hill. Hannah must have been a very giving person who really loved people. During the Indian uprising she invited other families to stay in her fort, providing them a safe place to live. She eventually found teachers to provide education for the children, and preachers to provide hope and inspiration to everyone. The fort had many other uses after the War. Click here for more information

SANTA FE TRAIL 1821 (1821) William Becknell left Franklin, Missouri, pioneering the route that would become the Santa Fe Trail. “The new nation of Mexico (receiving independence from Spain in 1821 reversed Spain’s ban on trade with the United States. Taking advantage of this new commerce, Missouri trader William Becknell and 20 men with trade goods left Franklin on an 800-mile journey to Santa Fe. By 1824 , the trail was well established and trade continued between the white settlers and the Mexicans and Indians in the Southwest for the next 24 years. Independence would eventually become the starting point on this hard and dangerous journey. Yet, there was much to be gained by the trade route. Mexican silver stimulated the Missouri economy. And, the Mexican burro was introduced to German settlements by way of the trail. German settlers mated their Belgian draft horses with the burro to produce the true Missouri mule”. The Santa Fe Trail can be thought of as America’s first commercial highway, covering about 800 miles across Missouri and the Great Plains. The route connected Santa Fe, New Mexico with the newly formed state of Missouri. The trail head started in Old Franklin, Mo, then on to Arrow Rock to Independence Missouri, ending the journey in Santa Fe New Mexico. Much of the trail follows the Missouri River. William Bucknell pioneered the trail in 1821 with the idea of opening up new markets for Missouri goods. This was a very active trail until 1880 when the railroad arrived in Santa Fe. Courtesy of: Missouri Bicentennial Timeline The Santa Fe Trail, Pre-1821 to 1850 The Santa Fe Trail was first officially started when William Becknell left Franklin, Missouri in September 1821 with a small group of men. Becknell had made a series of bad business deals, was deep in debt and facing jail time if his debts were not paid soon. In May 1821 Becknell advertised in the Missouri Intelligencer for men to go with him on the trip. In August of the same year a meeting was held in the home of Ezekiel Williams. There were 17 people at the meeting. The Becknell party left on 1 September 1821 and arrived in Santa Fe on 16 November the same year. While on their trip they were met by a troop of Mexican soldiers who informed them that Mexico had gained its independence from Spain and that they would be welcomed in Santa Fe. The group left Franklin with $300 worth of trade goods and returned with $6000 in silver. This excursion was not without risks. There had been several who had made the same trek only to have bad outcomes. In 1804 Baptist Leland went to Santa Fe but did not come back. In 1805 James Pursely also went to Santa Fe but did not come back. In 1806 Zebulon Pike went as a government agent. He pretended he was lost, and the Mexican government took him prisoner to Chihuahua for 6 months. In 1812 Robert McKnight, James Baird and Samuel Chambers with 10-12 others made the trip. They were arrested and kept 9 years in Chihuahua. In 1817 August Pierre Choteau made the trip and he was arrested in Santa Fe. The group headed back to Franklin on 13 December. Only one of the four who came with Becknell on the initial trip to Santa Fe was in the return trip. Becknell’s second trip to Santa Fe left Franklin on 22 May 1822 with 21 men and 3 wagonloads of goods worth $3000. They returned earning $91,000. Becknell’s third trip as a member of a party of 81 men, 25 wagons, 200 horses and mules and $30,000 of trade goods yielded $180,000 in silver coin and $10,000 in fur pelts. Two main routes developed early to traverse the trail. The northern, more mountains route took about 77 days to travel. The southern or Cimarron route took a few days less to travel. Sometimes wagons had to be taken apart to go over mountainous areas and put back together. Wagons broke down and soon parts were strewn along the trail. The Cimarron route was smoother but was called the Journey of death by the Mexicans because it was so dry. Summers could be hot and dry on both routes and winters could be so full of snow and ice and bitter cold. Rivers could be flooded or completely dried up. Problems such as dust storms, gnat swarms, rattle snakes, buffalo stampedes, etc., always made for a hazardous trip. Indian raids became more of a problem the larger the trade trips became. After a while, wagons took the place of pack horses/mules because they could haul more goods. The Cimarron route was 865 miles in length and 75% of the trade took place through that route. The Northern route was 909 miles in length and 25% of the trade took place through that route. Up until the Mexican American War in 1847 , international trade both ways took place. Then in 1848-1850 trade was national in nature as New Mexico became a United States Territory. The first wagons used on the trail were farm-type wagons. Then as the volume of trade goods increased Conestoga-type wagons from Pennsylvania became the norm. Later the Conestoga-type wagons were built in Missouri. Benefits of the Trail: The profits that were brought back added needed money into Missouri and Boonslick economies; The Trail opened the way for the California gold rush and the Oregon Trails; Facilitated westward movement of people all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Probably helped enable New Mexico to become a territory, and then a state. Although the Santa Fe Trail did not originate in Cooper County, many of the supplies needed for the Trail came from Cooper County merchants and manufacturers. After the 1827-28 floods, Westward trade in Boonville was greatly increased. Although the trade route brought new population and businesses to Cooper County, many people left the County to participate in the trade opportunities in Santa Fe and/or the California Gold Rush, and decided to stay in California, Oregon, or Washington. While the Becknell group weren’t the only ones looking for a better trade route to Santa Fe, they were the first to arrive there. Many such trips followed by Becknell and others. Because of William Becknell’s efforts to open the trail, he is known as the “Father of the Santa Fe Trail.” Sources: History.com , Encyclopedia Britannica , Wikipedia , Ann Betteridge Source: Ray Glendenning, South Howard County Historical Society researcher. References : Santa Fe National Historic Trail : Although the NPS map does not show the trail in Cooper County, we do know some traders were from Cooper County and trading parties left on occasion from Boonville after purchasing supplies. Wikipedia - Excellent article and map. Boone’s Lick Road Association - Excellent information on their website. The Boone’s Lick Road Association (BLRA), incorporated in Missouri in 2011, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our mission is twofold: First, we want to preserve and tell the fascinating stories of the first major road into the heart of Missouri. Secondly, we hope to secure federal recognition of this road as a National Historic Trail. We aim to be the most comprehensive and authoritative source for information and research into this historic trail. Other References: Santa Fe Trail: Author's Journey Missouri Stories from the Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail: A Guide (Hal Jackson) by Hal Jackson and Marc Simmons Commerce of the Prairies (University of Nebraska) by Josiah Gregg Kit Carson’s Autobiography (University of Nebraska) edited by Milton Milo Quaife Matt Field on the Santa Fe Trail (University of Oklahoma) edited by Mae Reed Porter and Clyde Field Down the Santa Fe Trail and Into Mexico, the Diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin (University of Nebraska) edited by Stella Drumm Original Conestoga Wagon – Wayne Lammers' Collection Modern-Day Conestoga Wagon South Howard County Historical Society