The Third Cup – Pass it on!
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Brophy introduces 'Fire and Sword'Saturday, July 26, 2008
Nevada, Mo. -- Patrick Brophy has written a new book several decades in the making "Fire and Sword -- A Missouri County in the Civil War" is ready to go to the printer. |
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New look at Nevada's vintage homes
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 Molly Ferree spent weeks preparing her exhibit of Nevada's historic homes. The exhibit is now on display at the Bushwhacker Museum. --Nancy Malcom/Herald-Tribune |
Nevada, Mo. -- Molly Ferree is an outstanding young woman. Not only did she letter in tennis and track; she was the 2008 Nevada High School valedictorian as well, and the senior class secretary. She received the Laurels G.P.A. Award and served as the National Honor Society president.
As part of her duties in her gifted class (Action) she had to do a service project. With interests in writing and history, she had decided to do a newspaper article about historical houses in Nevada. Although she did complete that task, she determined to do more.
"I'm interested in photography so I expanded it to an independent study project. Most people never get the opportunity to visit these gorgeous Victorian homes so I wanted to give people a view inside."
She didn't anticipate the job would get so large. "I just wanted to take a couple of good pictures from each house. I didn't know how many houses I'd have access to, I just started calling people."
Terry Ramsey at the Bushwhacker Museum offered archived information about the Victorian homes, Ferree said, and she used that as her basic research.
She credits the discipline of setting weekly goals imposed by her teacher as her main asset.
"In my Action class I would pick certain days to contact people. I'd call people four to six different times. It was difficult to schedule a time when the owners and I wouldn't have time conflicts. I'd rush over after track and apologize for my looks. Some would give me complete tours. They all let me take lots of photos."
The interviews, photos, computer work and putting the exhibit together took all of her senior year second semester. At a time when most seniors have a thousand things to attend to, she found herself touring an average of three houses per week.
"It took me all of January through May to get it all done."
Like all artists and researchers, she has a hindsight wish list. "I wish I could have gone to more of the houses that I couldn't schedule to tour. I had a tight budget or I would have used different material for the backgrounds. I feel I rushed things a little at the end as I was getting ready to graduate."
Touring the homes was the most enjoyable part of her task. "Just being in the houses and learning their history and seeing the different rooms was great. I love taking pictures. Making it all come together was fun. I took pictures in every single room of the things I thought were eye pleasing. I brightened up some of the colors with computer software to highlight what was most impactful. I used over 80 pictures in the exhibit but I took well over 100. I thought I would take only five pictures tops when I first started out." She paused and laughed, "It expanded a lot. My dad helped hang the photos, but I did all of the actual exhibit layout myself. The hardest part was making sure everything stayed down and looked good."
Ferree said the most important lesson she learned from the experience was being organized and trying to get things done to achieve weekly goals. "I could have easily pushed things all to the end otherwise."
Another learning experience was introducing herself to strangers. "Just calling people who've never heard of me before and who were probably wondering why I wanted to come into their home, that was a new experience."
She donated the exhibit to the Bushwhacker Museum so people could share her enjoyment of Nevada's older homes. "I want people to be able to see inside these historic houses. Some of the people who live in them have decorated them like the 19th century. I hope people see how things have changed and appreciate the beauty of these old houses."
Ferree plans to attend college in Spokane, Wash., this fall to prepare for a career in journalism or advertising, but adds that she won't loose her love of history.
Houses featured in her exhibit include those of W.F. Norman, 400 S. College; John Clack, 504 S Cedar; W.A. Armstrong, 1008 N. Washington; Z.C. Kelso, 226 W. Arch; French H. Glenn, 738 W Cherry; W.T. Ballagh, 810 W Cherry; Jacob S. Wachtel, 903 W. Walnut; Albert Churchell, 303 E. Vernon; the Bushwhacker Jail, 231 N. Main; Edward T Steele, 805 W. Cherry; E.J. Warth, 819 N. Washington; Donald Stratton, 321 N. Washington; H.P. Hildebrant, 823 N. Washington; and William D. Bailey, 812 N. Washington.
Two members of the Vernon County Historical Society who are often at the Bushwhacker Museum have only praise for both the exhibit and its creator.
Jean Banks McQueen said, "We feel that Molly's research and work has definitely enhanced the information that we have concerning historic homes in Nevada."
Gary Marquardt commented on the professionalism of her exhibit. "It's not only what she's got -- it's the organization and presentation. Being able to look inside these homes is pretty special."
"Thank you to everyone who let me into their homes -- often on a short notice -- for being willing to work with me," Ferree said.
Let's celebrate Missouri music
Friday, July 11, 2008
By Nancy Malcom - Nevada Daily Mail
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Marsha Martin, Rebecca Williams of CableNet.Inc., Nancy Malcom and Peggy Pyle work on a television ad for the upcoming Meet Me In Missouri, Part IV musical event. --submitted photo |
Nevada, Mo. -- Marsha Martin, Peggy Pyle, Terry Ramsey, Nancy Malcom and Rebecca Williams met at the Bushwhacker Museum on Tuesday evening to discuss television advertisements for the upcoming two-hour musical event, Meet Me In Missouri, Part IV that will be performed at the Fox Playhouse on Saturday, July 19, at 7 p.m., and again on Sunday, July 20, at 2 p.m.
The performance is unique in that it offers music about Missouri or written, published, or originally performed by Missourians.
The original sheet music will be pictured on screen for the audience to appreciate the fine artwork. Singers will be dressed in period costumes (1868-1961) and will act out some of the songs. Sing-a-longs will be encouraged and lyrics provided to the audience.
Marsha Martin, creator and director of all four Meet Me In Missouri programs, was born and raised in Nevada and returns at least once each year to catch up with friends and for the past four years, to present a musical performance focusing on Missouri music. She now lives in Massachusetts where she stays active with teaching and performing music. She also collects antique sheet music.
"I come every summer to visit and Peggy asked if I would do a program for the Historical Society while I was here. I thought just talking about music wouldn't do and considered bringing a keyboard or something and demonstrate. Then it occurred to me, let's get other people to sing! The Community Council on the Performing Arts (CCPA) co-sponsors the event and let's us use the Fox Playhouse."
Peggy Pyle, Vernon County Historical Society member said, "Marsha graduated high school with me in 1964. She has always given back to her hometown community. While she's here each year, she performs for nursing homes and the senior center and the Methodist Church. Her son would come with her since he was a boy and play the violin. We all still consider her a resident of Nevada.'
Martin feels Nevada is where her roots are. "Lots of people here knew my Mom and my grandmother. This is a way to give back; but it's also a way of furthering values I feel are important ... like people coming together as a community and having fun together.
"It's people just spending time with friends and neighbors to hear old time songs that are fun songs. We have sing-a-long songs so people can join in." She added that the songs themselves represent important values for any community.
"Songs that talk about people being together 50 years, friendship, loving Missouri! Lately it's not been so popular to talk about where you live, people don't have roots like they used to have. These songs are sweet and they brag about your state."
The programs are planned around song categories and this program contains at least one of the following; ragtime, World War I World War II, romantic, humorous, square dance, advertising, historical, mother and other songs the audience can sing along with.
She likes to include at least one political song. Since this is an election year, she wanted to include one about that. "The only presidential song I had was 'Hail to Eisenhower''' she said with a laugh.
"The program offers every kind of music, everyone will find something they like," Martin said.
A song is included this year from the most popular list a few years ago. "Norman" was a hit record in the early 60s sang by Sue Thompson, who was born in Nevada.
Martin said she tries to find out all she can about the composers and uses Missouri composers when she can.
"I wanted to do all Charles L. Johnson songs this year, but could only find nine and they couldn't fill all the categories."
Another composer who will be featured is James W. O'Connell, a Nevada man who wrote "It's The Closest Place to Heaven (Where The Little Shamrock Grows)." Lyrics were done by Charles L. Johnson.
This rare sheet music was donated to the Bushwhacker Museum by long-time supporters of the Vernon County Historical Society Dorothy and Joe Kraft. The song will be dedicated to them at the performance.
The Missouri Singers are all local talents. Linda Carlton, Bonnie Query, Teresa Sword, Scott Theis, Kenny Jones, John Scarborough and Tim Wells.
Terry Ramsey, coordinator for the Bushwhacker Museum feels the presentations are important to create a better appreciation and understanding of history. "Music isn't created in a vacuum; it reflects the lives of people living at the time it was written."
Martin agrees. "The lyrics of a popular song reflect people's everyday lives...people of other generations come alive and we can relate to the songs and the people who wrote them." Admission to Meet Me In Missouri is free. Donations are gratefully accepted.
For more information, call the Bushwhacker Museum at (417) 667-9602.
New type of exhibit on display at Bushwhacker Museum
Friday, May 16, 2008
By Nancy Malcom Nevada Daily Mail
 Nancy Malcom/Daily Mail- Don Traub and his son Nicholas, designed and installed four transparent panels for the Bushwhacker Museum's Never Ending Story exhibit. |
Don and Nicholas Traub, father and son, have a museum exhibit design firm in Spring Hill, Kan. Recently, they were hired by the Vernon County Historical Society to add some extraordinary exhibits to the Bushwhacker Museum.
"We have a small firm," Don Traub said. "It's all family-operated. My wife is president and marketer, and one of our researchers. I'm the primary designer and Nicholas is the graphic designer.
"Everything is done in-house. We are well known for our graphics."
 Nancy Malcom/Daily Mail-- Terry Ramsey, museum coordinator, points out details in the new panels. "We hope people will read these and want to know more about Vernon County history. |
The Traub Design Associations were well researched by local folks before they were selected to do the job at the Bushwhacker Museum. Don Traub proved his company and his family were well trained and equipped for the project.
"I've been doing museum exhibits for 40 years now," he said. After years of doing exhibit designs in New York and Pennsylvania, the family business moved to Kansas 14 years ago. Traub said he's found it's easier working with the people and doing business in the Midwest.
Some work they've done locally includes two recently opened exhibits in Olathe, Kan., for the Olathe Heritage Center and the historical society, in two different large galleries in the same building.
Last fall they created an unique exhibit in El Dorado, Kan., in the Kansas Oil Museum for the Butler County Historical Society.
"That featured 10 original panoramic color photographs 10 feet long. Nicholas did the custom photo work on that," Traub said proudly.
Another recent exhibit has proven to be an overwhelming success and involved use of many media. It tells the story of John Brown and the Pottawatomie Creek massacre in Franklin, Kan.
"It's an immersion exhibit," Traub explained. "We took photos of a creek bottom and arranged them so they surround the area people walk through. The massacre happened at night, so we used back lighting to set the mood while depositions of the widows of those killed in the massacre can be heard. It's really impressive and we're very proud of how that turned out."
The Traubs are now working on exhibits in Montana outside Yellowstone Park. "We go anywhere," Traub said with a grin.
"You can see what we've done in the past at our Web site at traubdesignassocia-tions.com," he said.
He said that even after 40 years, the work has stayed interesting and challenging because they are always working with different people and topics.
Putting together the four transparencies and three other panels for the Bushwhacker Museum was another first for them.
"These are our first transparencies," Traub said. "In making them, the layout is about the same for other designs, but the materials are different."
He smiled and added, "These transparencies are wonderful. They give you the most bang for your buck." Museum staff and volunteers assembled a large selection of photos, signs and information and turned that over to Traub's company. From all those items they picked those that were most immediately descriptive of what each panel would represent.
"We spent two full weeks designing the panels," Traub explained.
Museum Coordinator Terry Ramsey is pleased with the final products. "I don't know how he pulled the perfect elements out of all the items we sent him. I am so pleased with what they've done!" Ramsey explained that the decision to hire professional help was made because it was felt the museum volunteers had gone past what they could do in-house.
"We've done most of our own labeling in the past because it was the least expensive way to do it. But we have been working on this exhibit (The Never Ending Story) for several years and people have been making donations for it for years. We finally got the money to get professional help," she said.
Subjects depicted include mining the mineral wealth of Vernon County, the old railroad depot, the W.F. Norman Company and an introductory panel.
"We wondered how to introduce the our Never Ending Story exhibit because it continues to evolve," Ramsey said.
"Traub asked good questions about what we wanted the panels to portray. We decided the constant factor in Vernon County history and development is the character of the people. The people haven't changed no matter how things have changed around them." Other panels are about how the railroads affected communities.
"The railroad offered employment for many local people with the shops and the roundhouse," Ramsey said.
Another panel is on the telegraph. "That exhibit will become interactive eventually," Ramsey explained. "Visitors to the museum will get to send and receive their own telegraph messages." The Never Ending Story was designed to change and develop over time. "We will continue to work on this exhibit this year and next winter," Ramsey said. "People's donations have allowed us to have these wonderful panels that do such a great job of telling our story."
The Bushwhacker Museum, located at 212 W. Walnut, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, or to volunteer as a docent, call (417) 667-9602.
Nevada-made antique reel sells for $2,400
Saturday, June 7, 2008
By Steve Moyer ~ Herald-Tribune
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Two Talbot reels are part of the Bushwhacker Museum's collection, one made in Nevada and one that was made in Kansas City. The reels are normally in a locked case and were just out long enough for the picture to be taken. Inset: a tile entryway still bears the name of the fishing reel manufacturer that made its home in Nevada in the early 1900s. Owner William Talbot was co-owner of a watchmaking and jewelry business, at 108 E. Cherry, but moved his business to 121 W. Cherry about four years after incorporating the reel company. Today, the reels are much sought-after collectibles. Photos by Steve Moyer/Herald-Tribune |
The entrance to the Vernon County Public Defender's office is like many others in Nevada, except for the name inlaid in tile at the entryway -- Talbot.
The vagaries of wind blow grass, leaves and other debris into the entrance, often obscuring the name. But it takes more than a little clutter to blot out the Talbot name or lessen the impact it had on turn-of-the-century Nevada.
Although it's been decades since those tiles were laid and more than three-quarters of a century since one of their world-famous reels was produced, the Talbot name is still recognized by fishing paraphernalia collectors and enthusiasts. In a time when a fishing reel could be had for less than $2 from Sears, Roebuck and Company, a Talbot reel would set affluent anglers back at least $34.
The Talbot reel was made with high-quality materials including sapphire bearings which made the reel practically noiseless. It also used "German Silver" or nickel which gave the reel a shiny appearance. A Talbot with a personalized presentation box inlaid with ivory could set an angler back more than $800.
William H. Talbot was a watchmaker who had many interests, one of them was fishing. He began making fishing reels in 1877 but it wasn't until 1904 that he filed incorporation papers for the William H. Talbot Reel Company. Originally William was in business with his brother John in a watchmaking/jewelry business at 108 E. Cherry and moved to 121 W. Cherry in 1908, a building had previously housed a bank.
In addition to laying down the mosaic, the Talbots suspended a large pair of eyeglasses above the entranceway to denote yet another of their businesses, optometry. William then opened a factory at the corner of Washington and Austin to produce the reels and Jan. 7, 1901, the Nevada Daily Mail reported that Talbot had purchased an electric motor to power his machinery and proceeded to heap fulsome praise upon the man.
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"W. H. Talbot, the inventor and manufacturer of the famous Talbot Reel has purchased an electric motor, which will furnish the power to his machinery.
"The Talbot Reel is recognized as the most convenient and durable reel on the market, its points of mechaicism (sic) surpass those of any other reel and Mr. Talbot has had ready sale for them, in fact the demand has been so strong that he has been unable to supply it. W. H. Talbot is a genius and besides a most clever gentleman and an estimable citizen."
Talbot continued making his reels in Nevada until 1913 when he moved to Kansas City and partnered with the Schmelzer Arms Company, a large store at 1218 Grand Avenue. The Schmelzer storefront was five stories high and advertised "Fishing Tackle, Fire Arms, Fire Works, Cutlery, Athletic Goods & Bicycles, Talking Machines, Kodaks, Toys."
Talbot was eased out of control of the Talbot Reel Company and the reels continued to be made but the Great Depression soon ended that. According to Charles Schmelzer III, great-grandson of the founder of Schmelzer Arms and a lawyer and lead partner of the Smelzer Law Firm, by 1938 the company sold off what inventory it could to pay its bills before closing for good.
"By 1938, the end of the depression, they had all kinds of inventory that wasn't selling," Schmelzer said. "They liquidated the company and paid off their creditors and that was that."
According to Al Fenske, who became interested and investigated the company, a Talbot reel was purchased at an auction in Sheldon in April for $750 and the winner turned around and sold it on eBay for $2,400. Today, two examples of Talbot reels reside in the Bushwhacker Museum, just outside the door to director Terry Ramsey's office.
A Vernon County daughter who went far leaves memorable legacy
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Patrick Brophy-Daily Mail
 submitted photo-- The railroad depot at Eve. |
Yes, she went far. But no wonder. She was, after all, born in a railroad station.
Back in the Bush-whacker Museum's first year, an actress named Alice Ghostley chanced to mention on a television talk show that she was born in a railroad depot at Eve, Mo.
Instantly, Joe Kraft, the ever-alert founding spirit of the museum, pounced on this writer, its corresponding secretary: Hop to it! Get in touch with that woman! We'll sweet-talk her into financing moving that depot into the museum's back yard!
To hear was to obey. Dutifully, I wrote to Alice Ghostley in care of the likeliest sounding place. And surprisingly, right back came an answer, a leisurely handwritten letter, friendly and enthusiastic -- though, alas, saying nothing about putting any money where the enthusiasm was, a possibility that had been very delicately woven into the initial approach.
 Alice Ghostley |
Then the enthusiasm balloon deflated on our end when it was learned that the depot of Alice's nativity no longer existed (Eve being one of the few Vernon County communities to have two railroad depots: Katy and Kansas City Southern).
What with my usual punctilious scholarly concern for cataloging and filing every scrap of paper, all but down to the toilet kind... er, yes, that precious piece of authentic Ghostleana sort of mislaid or lost itself. The search goes on, but with dwindling hopes.
Meanwhile (or rather more recently), back at the ranch (or rather the Museum), one John Graham telephoned coordinator Terry Ramsey from southern California. Alice Ghostley had died in September 2007, at the age of 84, leaving her estate, including her career memorabilia, in the hands of Graham, her longtime friend. "I set my goal to finding a loving home for it," he wrote of the material he soon sent, "where it can be properly preserved and archived and made available to the public. Your museum will perform all these tasks, I am certain."
The big bundle Graham forwarded included many of Alice's family and career photos and papers, playbills and other show business ephemera.
"I have 30 binders of additional memorabilia and photos from her career," he added. "I do have her Tony award, and would be willing to loan that to you for display purposes, along with several other priceless items."
Plans are for a season-long "temporary exhibit" for the museum's 2009 season. Museum folks like the idea, and are looking forward to an "Alice Ghostley Retrospec-tive."
Who, you ask, was Alice Ghostley? Well, being a fan neither of Broadway nor of sitcoms and talk shows, I wouldn't know the answer either, but for that long-ago swap of letters. Thereafter I occasionally spotted her in a television comedy role, but I never came to learn much about her career overall, nor realized how "virtuosic" it truly was.
In the early 1920s Alice's father brought the family from Minnesota down to Eve, where he pursued his occupation of railway telegrapher, and where Alice was born in 1923. The augmented nomadic family soon moved on, eventually settling, in Henryetta, Okla., long enough for Alice to graduate from high school there.
At age 18 she went to New York, where she took an unlikely job with a detective agency, followed by a stint as "the slowest typist in the history of Life Magazine."
She took her first step into show biz, as a moviehouse cashier, and became acquainted with famed opera teacher Eleanor McClellan. Her only formal training was this, in operatic singing, and her first professional engagements were as a nightclub singer. In the late 1940s and 50s she also played "pre-Broadway," mostly singing and comedy roles. From 1952 to 1958 she was in summer stock, and into Broadway itself. In 1953 she met actor Felice Orlandi (love at first sight, she said). Unless you count their 50-year marriage, they performed together only once.
One of Alice's stage successes was "Nunsense," which she was still playing in various theatres as late as 1993. Dividing her time between Broadway, television, and Hollywood, she appeared in 20 movies, including "To Kill A Mockingbird," "The Grad-uate," "Viva Max," and "Grease." She made guest appearances on countless sitcoms, and scored big as Esmeralda on "Bewitched" and as Bernice on "Designing Women," which ran from 1986 to 1991. She won two Tony awards for Best Supporting Actress, and was nominated for a third.
Reportedly Eve had a population of 60 at the time Alice was born there. Presumably the family lived in the station, a common practice of telegraphers.
Just when the Kansas City Southern depot was dismantled isn't clear, but it was already gone when this writer corresponded with Alice in the mid-1960s. The Katy depot still stood, if just barely. Abandoned and badly dilapidated, it soon went the way of its twin.
Alice's feeling for the unusual place of her birth is attested in a photo Graham sent, showing the interior of Alice's apartment in Studio City, California -- with a big blowup of the Eve depot to be seen up over the mantel!
To those who knew Alice Ghostley only from her work, she was a memorable character, regarded with admiration and affection.
Though she "hated to be called a comedienne," seeing herself rather as "an actress who can do comedy," she was best known and doubtless will be best remembered for her comedy roles.
Her comedic technique was unclassifiable, and had to be seen to be understood and appreciated. Somehow she projected that life after all was a good-natured comedy, and the best way to get through it was with laughter, especially at oneself.
Vernon County Historical Society kicks off the 2008 Bushwhacker Museum season with guest speaker
Thursday, April 24, 2008
By Nancy Malcom - Nevada Daily Mail
 Nancy Malcom/Daily Mail-- Terry Ramsey, Bushwhacker Museum coordinator, sits in the "recitation" seat of the new exhibit of a typical rural schoolroom, complete with interactive material for a "hands-on" experience. |
The Bushwhacker Museum is ready to open its doors for the 2008 season starting May 1. There are several new exhibits, additions to established exhibits and even more information to share with visitors.
Before the season starts, the Vernon County Historical Society will hold its quarterly meeting Sunday, April 27 at 2 p.m. in the Bushwhacker Museum located at 212 West Walnut Street just off the Nevada Square. The meetings are free and open to the public.
The featured speaker will be Dr. Steven D. Reschly, Truman State University, Kirksville, who will give a presentation on The Old Order Amish in Missouri and the Midwest.
Reschly will tell the history of the Amish and related groups, with a focus on the Midwest and on 19th century and contemporary Missouri. The Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonite presence in the state in the early 21st century is visible and growing, with good prospects for the near future. There will be time for questions and answers on all aspects of Amish and Mennonite history and culture.
Reschly's appearance was made available to the Vernon County Historical Society through the Missouri History Speakers' Bureau, a program of the State Historical Society of Missouri.
Visitors will note that the stairway to the museum contains an exhibit for the first time this year. It features the Fowler family and their Century Farm award.
Terry Ramsey, Bush-whacker Museum coordinator explains.
"We want to do this each year with a long-term local family or business. We can only do that if the family is willing to loan us the photos and information. Those will be returned at the end of the year."
Lots of work has gone on by volunteers while the museum was closed this winter.
New lighting has been installed in many display cases, an arch has been built leading into the agricultural exhibits and new exhibit display cases have been constructed.
Large exhibits are available for the first time this year. A mail hack and doctor's buggy are on display.
"We will be installing new interpretive back-lit panels in our Never Ending Story exhibit as we continue to develop that space," Ramsey said.
Connie Denning has put together a temporary exhibit of the Texaco memorabilia that her family started collecting in 1918.
The Bushwhacker Museum is not only a place to see and learn history it is also a growing tourist attraction. With the sesquicentennial of the Civil War on the immediate horizon, the museum has garnered lots of attention nationally.
"We have a tour group of 53 representatives from the public television station of Topeka, Kansas arriving Saturday," Ramsey said proudly. "They are doing a border war tour and the only place they are visiting in the state of Missouri is the Bush-whacker Museum. They are specifically interested in discovering Missouri's story.
"Last weekend the Civil War Preser-vation Trust toured here. The build-up for the nationwide sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War is just starting. So far this season we have booked 12 tours," Ramsey said.
She added, "Of those 12 tours, six are coming just to learn more about Vernon County's unique role in the Civil War. They are coming from all over the nation. A group from Virginia is bringing a tour! That's unique in itself that Virginians would travel to learn more about the Civil War. The interest in the trans-Mississippi is increasing because the type of war we fought here was very different than that fought in other areas.
"We also expect The Blue and the Gray Education Society whose individuals will be flying into Kansas City from all across the USA for a tour of the border. They have been here once before and are coming back, which makes me very happy."
Ramsey explained that a lot of studies have been done on heritage tours and found that they spend more money than other tour groups.
"The best part for Nevada," she added, "is two of these tours will be spending one or two nights in Nevada, visiting various Civil War sites along the border and eating their meals here."
Another new exhibit is a remarkable display of various barbed wires created and donated by Wally Sloan.
Ramsey commented on the exceptional gift, saying, "I found it's really very interesting. One example is wire that came from the POW era of Camp Clark."
One of the newest exhibits is a representation of a rural schoolroom.
There will be interpretive panels and chalk and slates for today's students to try answering some of the questions that were requirement for eighth grade graduation in 1895.
"I couldn't pass it," Ramsey said with a laugh.
Here are some sample questions:
Define verse, stanza and paragraph.
Write a composition of 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical uses of grammar.
And the math was worse: A wagon box was two feet deep, 10 feet long and three feet wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
Find the bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
History questions were hair-twisters:
Describe three major battles of the Civil War.
Name the events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849 and 1863.
The Bushwhacker Museum continues to bring the past alive to Vernon County residents of all ages as well as enticing visitors from across the nation. The season opens May 1.
The Vernon County Historical Society meeting will be Sunday, April 27. at 2 p.m., in the museum.
For more information, call (417) 667-9602.
THE SPIRIT OF GIVING WAS ACTIVE WITH NINA SWAN
BY CAROLYN GRAY THORNTON Special to the Daily Mail
The Christmas season is here and most of us are thinking of what we will give to our family members. However there have always been generous people such as Nina Swan who did not limit her giving to her loved ones. Nina Swan gave abundantly to the soldiers in World War II.
She was born in 1895 and lived to be over 100 years old. Her husband, Oscar Swan, a farmer who later became an engineer at the State Hospital, preceded her in death in 1963. Together they raised two daughters and four sons. Lawrence (deceased), Kenneth and Neale, both of Nevada and Gordon, who lives in Independence. The daughters are Fern Pratt, of College Station, Texas, and Eleanor Olson of Nevada. These daughters have given the Bushwhacker Museum a heartwarming story about their mother's giving spirit. Fern Pratt has written a story about her mother's activities during World War n. I will quote from her letter.
"While our Armed Forces defended our country both at home and overseas, other folk made their contributions as well. Many local ladies volunteered to assist the Red Cross by knitting their yarn into sweaters, socks and gloves for our soldiers. One of those was Nina A. (Mrs. Oscar) Swan. "The Swans lived at 1120 N. Cedar and had reared their six children. Although at this time they had with them a grandson who's father had recently died. Their daughter, the boy's mother, worked in Kansas City.
"This 8 year old lad would walk with his grandmother, pulling his red wagon filled with yarn from the library. Then theywould do the return trip with completed sweaters.
"The pattern was always the same, worked from directions from leaflet No. 172 (cost 10 cents) and plastic needles size three and five. The plastic replaced steel needles, which were unobtainable, and were not very durable. Nevertheless Nina produced over 50 sweaters and no one knows how many socks and gloves.
"During this time she also wrote many letters to her own G.I.s: T Sgt. Kenneth Swan, who was in England from 1943 to 1946; Cpl. W. Neale Swan who served from 1943 to 1946 in the European Theater of Operations; and Cpl. Gordon W. Swan would later serve with the Army of Occupation in Germany, 1952 to 1954.
"Little Joe Lee Kirk, who pulled his little red wagon for his beloved Grandma grew up to serve in Korea. Another grandson, Ronald Swan, did his duty in VietNam."
The sister have donated an olive drab sleeveless sweater their mother knitted along with a parr of the plastic knitting needles and the instruction book for the sweaters to the Bushwhacker Museum as a tribute to their mother and her dedication to the soldiers. An interesting note is that the author of the quoted article, Fern Pratt, became the husband of the Adjutant of Camp Clark when it was the camp for the Prisoners of War from Italy and Germany.
Another item in the donations was an advertisement from the Chadwick's Red Heart Knitting Worsted Company. The ad has pictures of fighter airplanes above the words, "Knit for Defense." It explains that the National Defense Program isn't all tanks, airplanes and battleships. It's people, too. "You, too, can play a leading role in this greatest defense program of all history by anticipating the needs of our boys in training." It continues by telling how the soldiers will appreciate the warmth of woolens knitted especially for him.
I'm sure that was true for those that received Nina Swan's beautifully knitted sweaters.
Charline Sweet retires from Bushwhacker Museum
by Carolyn Gray Thornton
Special to the Daily Mail
The Bushwhacker Museum honored Charline Sweet, an Experience Works employee, at a recent farewell dinner hi the museum's meeting room. The Experience Works Program is the name for the former Green Thumb Program which employs older workers in a not-for-profit agency to provide training for the worker and to assist the agency's programs.
Charline Sweet, who lives in Rich Hill, Missouri, became such an employee after her husband died. She said it was a blessing to her because she had been reluctant to get out of the house and do things after losing her husband who was a retired Assembly of God Minister. They had lived in various places during his ministry and had retired to Rich Hill in 2003. He had served as a pastor from 1972 to the year 2000 when he retired.
Charline is a native of Springfield, Mo., and her children and grandchildren live there now. She
has decided that she will move from Rich Hill to Springfield to be closer to her family.
The position at the Bushwhacker Museum gave her a reason to get out of the house each day and to be out among the public. She said she is over the hump now and credits her work at the museum with helping her through this period of her life.
The benefits were not all psychological, however. There is a salary involved in this Title V Program and her responsibilities at the museum gave hertraining in control and inventory on the computer. This will help her in future jobs if she chooses to find a job in the Springfield area.
She has not decided if she will ask to be assigned to a similar job through Experience Works after she gets settled in Springfield. Working at the museum was a great experience for Sweet. She said that it was a wonderful place to work and the staff and volunteers were all very helpful to her. She appreciated that the 20 hours of work her contract called for was arranged around her schedule and she praised the atmosphere of the work place.
Other not-for-profit agencies in Nevada also have Experience Works staff members. Among those places are Loretta's Attic, Community Outreach, and the Missouri Career Center.
A recent worker at the library was hired to work full-time after receiving training in the Experience Work program.
The museum appreciated the work that Sweet did and is already in the process of interviewing a replacement for her from the Experience Work Program.
There is much behind the scenes work at the museum as they keep records of their archives, receive and inventory donations, and box and file materials so that they are preserved for the future. This is in addition to meeting the public, conducting tours, arranging displays, and generally keeping everything in top-notch shape for the public and to preserve the past history for our county.
Therefore the staff and board of the Vernon County Historical Society are happy that they can have additional help through Title V to supplement their staff.
They all join in expressing regret at Charline Sweet's departure but wish her well in her new location.
First Cemetery Walk scheduled in Deepwood Cemetery
By Nancy Malcom
More than a year ago, Terry Ramsey, coordinator of the Bushwhacker Museum, and Lois Pendrak, teacher of Nevada High School’s Advanced History Classes first heard about an event called a Cemetery Walk.
With Deepwood Cemetery chosen as the place for the cemetery walk, students have researched notable persons selected from a list provided by Terry Ramsey and Patrick Brophy, curator of the Bushwhacker Museum. Ramsey and Brophy also made students aware of research materials available from the museum’s books and other primary source research materials.
The students were responsible for gathering information and transforming it into an encapsulated written and an oral report of that person’s life and achievements.
Pendrak said, “My class is a dual enrollment class. We have quarterly projects and this seemed like a viable option for a project. We divided it into two quarters, with the first dealing with the research and the second the oral presentations.”
With 43 students participating, teams of two partners were formed. Both partners researched and will do the presentations on the same notable person.
Three other students are serving as narrators prior to each presentation and are also responsible for producing a brochure each visitor will receive listing the students and a few lines about the notable persons represented.
Pendrak explained that each pair will be responsible for researching one person and will turn in a three-to-four page background report, develop a five minute talk in the first-person and obtain an appropriate costume depicting their person & time period.
The narrators will be responsible for devising a map for patrons and developing a speech giving an overview of the project to be presented before each performance.
The first partner of each team will perform their speech twice one weekend, and the second partner will perform twice the next weekend.
Four students were available for comments.
Ariel Rhoads is doing the life of John Birdseye, depicted through his wife’s viewpoint. “I put in three to four hours every day for about three weeks,” Rhoads said. Her research included genealogy and Vernon County history. Rhoads said, “He built the first brick house in Nevada following the Civil War. They were very rich people and involved with the society. He was a lawyer and she was from Vernon County. They had paid servants, they didn’t believe in slavery.”
The research opened her eyes to a broader playing field. “It makes me want to live a better life, because if someone does something like this in the future about me, I want it to be reflected as a good one.”
Travis Pitts will do a presentation about William Lowe. “I picked him because he was a Texas Ranger and that was pretty cool,” Pitts said. “I’ve done six hours of research. There was a lot of material available about him. He was hard working, a Texas Ranger and sheriff and he was a businessman -- he ran a sawmill.”
The research brought out something Pitts had never considered. “He was in the Gold Rush. I didn’t think people from here or Texas went to the Gold Rush. He didn’t make much there though and came back. I’d never heard of him before. It makes me wonder how many other interesting people lived around here.”
Josh Palmer researched Sheldon Amos Wight. “He was one of first lawyers in Vernon County,” Palmer said. “Also he became president of Thornton Bank. He named the town of Sheldon. He owned the land where it was built.”
He and his partner spent several hours on research. “We started off with Vernon County History and my partner went to the Bushwhacker Museum and got some information there.”
Palmer said doing the research affected him in that “It shows there were some important people in this small town of Nevada.”
Rebeccah Sitz researched William Franklin Norman. “He was in the first graduating class in Nevada and he married one of his classmates,” Sitz said. “He had a place on the square named after him. I had heard about him a lot before, but didn’t know much about him. He was a spontaneous person and made fun decisions. He went to California in the Gold Rush and had a gold mine but it didn’t have any gold in it.”
Sitz conducted several hours of research each week reading about him in books and looking through several files about him at the Bushwhacker Museum. “I didn’t know anything about Vernon County before, but now I do.”
Students and who they will represent are: Jordan Bell and George Brauer as Harry C. Moore & Glessner Moore Few; Trey Miller and Chris Bray as William Henry Taylor; Sabrina Jones and Bailee Claypool as Maria Douglass Cogswell; Taylor Edmonds and Devin Chapman as D.C. Hunter;
Andi Corneel and Marisa Doane as Dr. Albert Churchell; Colby shepherd and Tyler Gast as Senator William Joel Stone; Serena Rawlings and Veronica Fairchild as Rebecca Gabbert; Stephanie Mosbrucker and Ashton McVay as A.B. Cockerill; Rebecca Prewitt and Jessica Davis as W.W. Prewitt; and Felicia Keller and Whitley del Rosari as Dr. Albert Badger. Kaleob Norbury, Kyla Thomas and Brittany Jenkins will be the Narrators.
Pendrak said, I think this has the makings of an extremely profitable experience in the areas of education, community involvement, and in simply being able to make local history come alive.”
Visitors will be free to move from tombstone to tombstone to hear the students give their presentations about the person buried there. There is no charge, but donations to the Bushwhacker Museum will be accepted. The first presentation will begin at 3:30 p.m. on October 27 at Deepwood Cemetery in Nevada. Each show will last about an hour and will be repeated at 4:30 p.m. on October 27 and twice again starting at 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on November 3. Each student’s presentation will run about five minutes.
Patrons are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs. For more information contact the Bushwhacker Museum at (417) 667-9602.
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Nevada Hearld/Tribune October 21, 2007
JEAN EDWARDS, PROUD OWNER OF A BY-LO BABY
By Carolyn Gray Thornton
Nevada Daily Mail
05/04/2007
Visitors to the new displays in the Bushwhacker Museum will notice an unusual baby doll in the 
Dry Goods store window. This doll was given to Jean Eddleman (now Edwards) in 1930 or 31. The By-Lo Baby was a special doll created by Grace Putnam. The dolls are now collector’s items and are especially valuable if they have Grace Putnam’s name on the back of the doll. Jean’s doll does have this authentic name, as does the small version of the same doll that is cradled with the larger doll in the display.
Jean said she received the doll for Christmas but never played with it very much as she preferred climbing trees to playing dolls. Her older sister, Sue Beeson, had one earlier which she says Jean broke. Since Jean did not play with the doll very much, it still is dressed in the original gown that it wore when she received it.
After Jean no longer climbed trees or ignored her dolls she graduated from Nevada High School and went on to graduate from Missouri University in 1946.
She returned to Nevada to work for the Nevada Daily Mail when Warren Edwards was the editor. They were married in 1947 and she did not think it was right to continue working there so she helped in her parents’ store on the south side of the Square. When her husband went to Texas in 1948 to be editor of a paper there, Jean worked for Humble Oil Company for seven years. While they were in Texas their oldest son, Marc, was born.
Warren’s next job was with the Detroit News. Their younger son, Clayton was born there. After the boys were both in school Jean also returned to school and got her Master’s Degree in Library Science from Wayne State in Detroit.
They had been in Detroit for 10 years when Warren died. Jean and the boys returned to Nevada where both boys graduated from Nevada High School.
Jean used her new degree and worked in the Nevada library for 18 years.
Since her mother had been involved in the museum for several years, Jean also became very active. Franklin Norman talked her into becoming president of the Vernon County Historical Society for four years. She is no longer on the board but is a valued volunteer in all the activities of the Bushwhacker Museum and the Historical Society.
She also has served on the Bank Board for the Charter Bank for 12 years, volunteers for Meals on Wheels and is very active in the work of the Presbyterian Church.
She said she likes to volunteer at the museum because she liked to meet different types of people and likes to help them research information that they need. She said that Nevada has strong ties for her and she thinks her sons feel the same way.
Marc is a lawyer in Oklahoma City and Clayton is an engineer in water management in Tulsa. He has four children, so Jean may still learn to enjoy playing dolls.
The two By-Lo babies will remain comfortably in the display at the museum and enjoy seeing visitors that will come to see the new displays.
The museum is now open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Jean says that the local people will be very pleased with all the new displays that are arranged for their enjoyment and education.
WHY WE RETIRED IN NEVADA;
THE DAVID AND JUDY MAUPIN STORY
By Carolyn Gray Thornton
Nevada Daily Mail
05/04/2007
When David and Judy Maupin lived in their new home in Fort Collins, Colo., they were each very busy in their professions. Judy was a Registered Nurse who was Director of a Home Health Company and David was a Project Manager for a large plumbing company. They were spending so much time on their jobs that they began to feel that they were not spending enough time together. They decided to change that way of life so they put their home on the market. It sold in two and a half weeks.
They put their antique furniture in storage and spent two months traveling around Missouri to find a place to retire. They chose this state since David was raised in northern Missouri (Orrick) and had attended college in Warrensburg.
Both David and Judy were antiques buffs and they had a dream of restoring a Victorian house someday. It was this search for such a home that brought them to Nevada. When they entered the house at 812 N. Washington, which was built in 1886, they felt they had found the home they wanted. They bought the home and moved here in 2001.
Since they arrived in our city they have been very busy. David, who had been in the plumbing business all of his life, has called his work here in Nevada a labor of love. All but three rooms of the large home on N. Washington have been restored. David plans to work on those rooms now. He had postponed that last restoration to be a volunteer in the Bushwhacker Museum where he was helping create the new displays in time for the recent seasonal opening.
In the meantime Judy has been equally involved. She is using her RN training as coordinator of Home Health at Wilkinson Pharmacy. She joined the Garden Club and served as their president for three years. She also is a Master Gardener, a member of Soroptomist International of Nevada and is continuing her collection of German pink pigs.
In addition to the house remodeling and helping with the displays at the museum, David enjoys playing golf at the Country Club course.
His hobby is collection string holders. Part of his vast collection is on loan at the museum. He began collecting string holders when he accompanied his nephew, who lives in Lexington, MO., as he was searching for additions to his string holder collection. David thought he would also get involved to match his wife’s collection of pink pigs.
The part of his collection that is on display at the museum fills a large glass enclosed case. Some of David’s favorite pieces are too fragile to move around for display and await a permanent spot in the Maupin’s home.
The string holders were essential in the days when string was always used to tie up a package. Now different types of tape secure wrapped packages such as meat in a butcher shop. The string holders were used to keep the string handy and untangled. The commercial ones were heavy so they would not be pulled off the counter. The ones used in the home were first designed for functional use, but in the 1930s they began to be decorative. In the museum display the holders vary from beautiful ones to comical or personalized holders.
David and Judy both agree that their choice of a house has turned out great for them. Judy says that Nevada is very welcoming, and David adds that he likes the small town atmosphere where they have made many friends.
BUSHWHACKER MUSEUM PREPARES FOR NEW SEASON
By. Lynn A. Wade
Herald-Tribune
04/29/2007
NEVADA, Mo – It’s only fitting that one of the new exhibits in the Bushwhacker Museum this year is a collection of string holders – because, like a never-ending ball of twine, the never-ending story of Vernon County is continually and fluidly depicted in a special exhibit of local events, landmarks and lifestyles.
An ever-evolving exhibit, Vernon County, the Never-Ending Story, first dramatically but humbly appeared in 2005, then gradually grew and evolved as the concept became reality. The exhibit area is entered through a replica of a Victorian store front, made of pressed metal panels from the W.F. Norman Corporation.
“It’s really growing. They (the volunteers) have really put a lot into it.” Said Peggy Pyle, of the Vernon County Historical Society.
Touted as one of the best and most unique parts of the exhibit there’s a space set aside for special, temporary displays such as the string holder collection. Pyle said that long before masking, Scotch and filament tapes assumed their position of prominence as the sealing material of choice, string was king. It was a household staple, and holders in many creative shapes and sizes, designed to tame the tangles of loose string. In industry and at home, string was a staple, and such holders became commonplace. They are now a valued and much sought-after collectible, Pyle said.
“We do a temporary exhibit each year. In this one, the variety is amazing – cats, animals and a lot of faces – Betty Boop for example – and they-re quite valuable. They are extremely collectible,” said Museum director Terry Ramsey.
The owners, David and Judy Maupin, didn’t bring the entire collection, but several of the unique pieces are on display. Many of the string holders are made of porcelain or other less-than-durable materials and are easily chipped, so it’s difficult to transport them.
“They’re really fun to look at. People forget there was a time when tape wasn’t available. I think of the song (“My Favorite Things’) that says ‘Brown paper packages tied up with strings…’ That’s how everything was packaged including things in the grocery store,” Ramsey said.
The museum’s 42nd season started on Tuesday, May 1, and will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Group tours should be arranged in advance by calling the museum. Special events planned for the upcoming season include a storytelling presentation by Mollie Postlewaite, who will share ghost stories with listeners at the Museum during Bushwhacker Days.
Summers at the Bushwhacker Museum also offer a unique volunteer opportunity as well, Ramsey said.
Volunteer docents are needed to spend a few hours each week greeting the public and sharing local history with visitors.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for someone who likes to meet interesting people,” Ramsey said.
For more information, call the museum at (417)667-9602.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Deerfield, Mo -- Local historians Terry Ramsey and Patrick Brophy braved the elements on Wednesday morning -- the wind whipped with a chill that no fleece or cardigan could protect against.
On a day when most people were staying inside, Brophy and Ramsey were outside, watching with anticipation as Jim Denney, a historian with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Prairie State Park employees were breaking ground.
Organizers and workers were gathered together to commemorate the placement of a commemorative roadside plaque placed in Vernon County, in honor of the Battle of Drywood.
"This is the 18th plaque placed (out of many to be placed) over all in the state." stated Denney.
The first plaque that the state of Missouri placed was located in Belmont, Mo. It's a ghost town now, but it wasn't in 1864. According to Denney, it was where a young Ulysses S. Grant fought his first Civil War battle.
These plaques are "just a way of telling the Civil War story of Missouri, getting it out." explained Denney.
Eldon Steward had relatives who participated in the Civil War battle, and it was he who first "got the ball rolling" toward commemorating the battle in some way.
Steward was so interested in this battle not only because it is located in his home town county, but his great-great-grandfather fought with the Confederates in the battle.
Brophy and Ramsey explained that this marker is part of a statewide initiative to mark and commemorate Missouri's role in the Civil War on the western borders for the sake of informing and entertaining visitors.
The project is slated to be completed just in time for the Civil War sesquicentennial in 2011.
The cold drove most of the historians inside, while Prairie State Park employees stayed outside, drilling holes to accept the poles that would support the plaque.
The plaque is located alongside U.S. 54 Highway, at what some know as Leon Emery's truck stop in Deerfield.
"If it wasn't for these folks we couldn't have gotten it done. Leon Emery donated his property that borders the highway, thereby making the sign visible for passers-by." Ramsey said.
The historians sat around a warm table in the truck stop, each with a coffee in hand, discussing the hurdles that they have overcome, on this project.
Many Nevadans and Vernon Countians have ancestors who fought in this Battle, with names like Thomas.
"This one sign adds to the whole of the tour, this historical marker shows a little of what has happened. So, it's a taste, and hopefully after visitors stop and read the sign they will say 'let's go to the Bushwhacker Museum and get the rest of the story.' It's another piece of the pie." said Ramsey.
"Nevada is not a tourism destination, but it is part of a story, and if we give visitors enough information to stay a few more hours, then they might get a meal, fill up on some gas and so on."
Ramsey believes that this one sign will add to the small tourism business that the area has; however, there are more battles in the area that locals want to see marked.
The marker enables visitors to visualize the site of the battle, two miles south of the marker's new home. It reads, "A state divided: The Civil War in Missouri."
It holds numerous media enhancements including a map of the battle, a visage of Lt. Col. Frederick W. Beneen and Col. James Montgomery.
Additional markers at other sites are slated to be in place by 2011.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Patrick Brophy, the director of the Bushwhacker Museum has written much on the Osage in Vernon County. That is why he was chosen to be interviewed on Tuesday afternoon.
But, this wasn't just any interview, Brophy, his constituent Terry Ramsey and two educators met on M Highway, and caravaned out to Halley's Bluff which is on property owned by the Church of Israel, located near Schell City. Tim Gore is the education director for the Round Trips Interactive video video learning project, he is joined by his partner Jim Sturm.
Gore was a teacher in Nevada, Mo., from 1981 to 1993, where he then moved to the St. Louis area and taught speech and debate for the Clayton County school district. Sturm and Gore are both middle school teachers, Sturm was a teacher of science and mathematics. Ramsey, introduced the crew to the Rev. Dan Gayman and laid out her itinerary. The first area that the group hit were the bluffs. Strum stopped, turning on his camera, getting a panoramic shot of the Osage River below the peaked bluffs.
The November day was bright, sunny and autumnal. Ramsey, led the group to the cache pits below what was Fort Carondelet in the late 18th century. There Gore began to interview Brophy, about the pits themselves, their purpose and even the gradations of the limestone rock. The caches have changed a bit since they were in use -- they are now carved and eroded away.
Historians estimate that at one time there were more than 23 cache or storage pits at Halley's Bluff, but now there are less than 10. Brophy explained that these pits might have been developed to store furs for the trappers who moved up and down the Osage River during that time. Fort Carondelet was built in 1794 by Auguste Choteau who proposed to the Spanish officer Baron Carondelet that he would build a fort as protection from the Osage in return for a great amount of monopoly of the fur trade. Since the proposition required no expenditure of money on the part of the Spanish, Carondelet agreed.
Brophy then took the group past a break in the boulders that served as an quick access to the caches from the fort above, now long since shifted, with the rocks having moved in closer to the crack. Ramsey took the group to the top of the bluffs where Brophy began to explain to the crew about archeological excavations that had taken place on the site of what was Fort Carondelet.
"All they found were post hole evidence, so then they gathered that the stockade lay about here." explained Brophy as his arms swept across the front of the view. Brophy explained that deterioration from the original oak fortifications was found by Dr. Chapman's archeological crew in the 1960's. Gore and Strum took some last shots of the area and then it was off to Blue Mound the traditional burial place of the great Osage chief Pawhuska or "white hair." He is so named, it is told, that during a battle in the Ohio river valley a young warrior went to scalp his victim, and without need of a knife the victim's hair came off. It was a powdered wig, but forevermore, the young warrior donned the wig and as tradition holds he was formally called Pawhuska. The grave is gone and long since forgotten by the Osage people.
Brophy remembers that his father had told him that as a child, on the way to blue mound, Osage Indians would camp by the roadsides, on a pilgrimage of sorts to the traditional grave of Pawhuska. According to Brophy, there isn't any evidence on the mound, only tradition.
After visiting the site, the group moved on to Truman Elementary School in Nevada, where Strum and Gore checked in with the fourth grade class.
The educational program is geared towards fourth graders, "the children from one area share their county with other fourth graders in the rest of Missouri." explained Gore.
Nevada's fourth graders are presenting famous Missourians, which include the Hornbacks, Jessie James, Virginia Alice Cottey, Harry S. Truman, and William Joel Stone. This isn't the first project for Gore and Strum, the pair worked with the National Park service to generate educational footage for the Lewis and Clark Centennial. "This project if focused on Missouri's regions, it's time tell their story. It is designed so that they can share targeting topics." explained Gore.
Ramsey and the two visitors are excited about the upcoming program. Students from area schools will be able to view and participate in the program via the Web and video teleconferencing. According to Gore, the schools jumped on board as soon as they caught wind of the opportunity. And, as Gore states, "it's a way to show the kids the applications of subjects and the history of the state."
For more information, visit Roundtrips interactive Video Web site at www.ali-apple.com/lewisandclark.
Monument Dedication An Upbeat Occasion
By Patrick Brophy
Cooperation
between the Vernon County Historical Society and the Sons of Confederate Veterans should
come as a surprise to no one familiar with local history. According to record, 19 out of 20 Vernon Countians were Confederate
sympathizers, and proportionate to population the county sent more men to the Confederate
army than any other in
As an organization devoted to the truth of local history, the VCHS logically finds itself enjoying common interests and objectives with the SCV. The latter’s whole purpose is the preservation and commemoration of the Confederate heritage: the valor and sacrifices of the men who fought on the southern side in the War Between The States. The SCV tries to stay out of politics, though it sometimes finds itself compelled to defend the heritage against mindless politically-motivated attacks.
The most recent occasion of cooperation between the Society and the Sons might well have served as a refutation of some of those attacks leveled against the latter in the political sphere. A happier, more positive public event could hardly be imagined.
November 1 saw
the dedication of a monument to the Missouri Confederate Brigades, in the roadside park
overlooking the scenic Sac-Osage river junction, just west of
The new Missouri Red granite monument is the latest project of the Col. John T.
Coffee Camp #1934 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a west central Missouri group
organized only a couple of years ago. Several
of the Camp’s officers are VCHS members, and the largest number of the Camp’s
activities have taken place in
The Missouri
Brigades were the some 12,000 men, originally of the Missouri State Guard, who mustered in
the “Sauk River Camp,” as it was called, in the fall of 1861, after their
victory in the Battle of Lexington. Commanded
by Gen. Sterling Price, they drilled and learned the art of war, and were enlisted in the
regular Confederate army.
After defeat at Pea Ridge, the following spring, most of them were sent east, and
fought out the war far from home. Of the
12,000, only a few hundred survived to return to
Moreover, of the men gathered in the Osceola camp, some dozen would go on to become Confederate generals.
Osceola was a major town, with a population of 3000, before it was burned by
marauding Kansans, only a month before the
Among the speakers on Nov. 1 was Johnson’s great-grandson, Bill Farmer
Other speakers included William G. Piston, professor of history at
The ceremony concluded with a salute by three cannons, manned by costumed reenactors. Some 40 other reenactors, participating in a nearby weekend encampment, were also on hand. Many of the estimated 200 spectators showed up in period costume.
One couldn’t help being struck by the traditional, mainstream nature of the occasion. It was a happy moment of peace and good will in a day and age pervaded by discord, debunkings, cynicism, and animosity. The participants were as unapologetic in their religious as their Confederate piety.
The chaplain unashamedly asked God’s blessing “in Jesus’s name.” The onlookers went away thinking that perhaps God was in his heaven, and all, if not quite right with the world, at least was not hopelessly wrong with it, after all.
