MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW

THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI, COLUMBIA THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI The State Historical Society of Missouri, heretofore organized under the laws of the State, shall be the trustee of this State-Laws of Missouri, 1899, R.S. of Mo., 1969, chapter 183, as revised 1978. OFFICERS, 1998-2001 LAWRENCE O. CHRISTENSEN, Rolla, President JAMES C. OLSON, Kansas City, First Vice President SHERIDAN A. LOGAN, St. Joseph, Second Vice President VIRGINIA G. YOUNG, Columbia, Third Vice President NOBLE E. CUNNINGHAM, JR., Columbia, Fourth Vice President R. KENNETH ELLIOTT, Liberty, Fifth Vice President ROBERT G. J. HOESTER, Kirkwood, Sixth Vice President ALBERT M. PRICE, Columbia, Treasurer JAMES W. GOODRICH, Columbia, Executive Director, Secretary, and Librarian

PERMANENT TRUSTEES FORMER PRESIDENTS OF THE SOCIETY H. RILEY BOCK, New Madrid ROBERT C. SMITH, Columbia LEO J. ROZIER, Perryville Avis G. TUCKER, Warrensburg

TRUSTEES, 1997-2000 JOHN K. HULSTON, Springfield ARVARH E. STRICKLAND, Columbia JAMES B. NUTTER, Kansas City BLANCHE M. TOUHILL, St. Louis BOB PRIDDY, Jefferson City HENRY J. WATERS III, Columbia DALE REESMAN, Boonville

TRUSTEES, 1998-2001 WALTER ALLEN, Brookfield VIRGINIA LAAS, Joplin CHARLES R. BROWN, St. Louis EMORY MELTON, Cassville VERA F. BURK, Kirksville DOYLE PATTERSON, Kansas City DICK FRANKLIN, Independence JAMES R. REINHARD, Hannibal

TRUSTEES, 1999-2002 BRUCE H. BECKETT, Columbia W. GRANT MCMURRAY, Independence CHARLES B. BROWN, Kennett THOMAS L. MILLER, SR., Washington DONNA J. HUSTON, Marshall PHEBE ANN WILLIAMS, Kirkwood JAMES R. MAYO, Bloomfield

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Eight trustees elected by the board of trustees, together with the president of the Society, consti­ tute the executive committee. The executive director of the Society serves as an ex officio member. LAWRENCE O. CHRISTENSEN, Rolla, Chairman JAMES C. OLSON, Kansas City WALTER ALLEN, Brookfield ROBERT C. SMITH, Columbia BRUCE H. BECKETT, Columbia Avis G. TUCKER, Warrensburg H. RILEY BOCK, New Madrid VIRGINIA G. YOUNG, Columbia DICK FRANKLIN, Independence MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW

VOLUME XCIV, NUMBER 3 APRIL 2000

JAMES W. GOODRICH LYNN WOLF GENTZLER Editor Associate Editor

J. SCOTT PARKER SHANNA WALLACE Information Specialist Information Specialist

The MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW (ISSN 0026-6582) is published quarterly by the State Historical Society of Missouri, 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, MO 65201-7298. Receipt of the MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW is a benefit of membership in the State Historical Society of Missouri. Phone (573) 882-7083; fax (573) 884-4950; e-mail ; web site . Periodicals postage is paid at Columbia, Missouri. POSTMASTERS: Send address changes to MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW, 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, MO 65201-7298. Copyright © 2000 by The State Historical Society of Missouri

COVER DESCRIPTION: In 1833, Swiss-born artist Karl Bodmer accompanied Prince Maximilian of Wied on a scientific exploration up the Missouri River. During the journey, the young Bodmer sketched and painted portraits of Native Americans and landscapes. The Bodmer engraving repro­ duced on the cover depicts the perils encountered by early steamboats on the river. In preparation for the trip, Bodmer and Maximilian studied drawings and paintings by artists who had accompanied ear­ lier expeditions, including those rendered by Titian Peale and Samuel Seymour during Stephen Long's 1819-1820 expedition. In this issue, beginning on page 241, Jonathan M. Jones examines the military expedition sent up the Missouri in conjunction with Long's scientific mission. "When Expectations Exceed Reality: The Missouri Expedition of 1819" focuses on supply and transporta­ tion problems, particularly the difficulties encountered by the government contractor in charge of subsistence and transportation, James Johnson. [Cover illustration in the State Historical Society of Missouri's art collection] EDITORIAL POLICY The editors of the Missouri Historical Review welcome submission of articles and documents relating to the history of Missouri. Any aspect of Missouri history will be con­ sidered for publication in the Review. Genealogical studies, however, are not accepted because of limited appeal to general readers. Manuscripts pertaining to all fields of American history will be considered if the subject matter has significant relevance to the history of Missouri or the West.

Authors should submit two double-spaced copies of their manuscripts. The footnotes, prepared according to The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed., also should be double-spaced and placed at the end of the text. Authors may submit manuscripts on disk, preferably in Microsoft Word. Two hard copies still are required. Originality of subject, general interest of the article, sources used, interpretation, and style are criteria for acceptance and publica­ tion. Manuscripts, exclusive of footnotes, should not exceed 7,500 words. Articles that are accepted for publication become the property of the State Historical Society of Missouri and may not be published elsewhere without permission. The Society does not accept responsi­ bility for statements of fact or opinion made by the authors.

Articles published in the Missouri Historical Review are abstracted and indexed in Historical Abstracts, America: History and Life, Recently Published Articles, Writings on American History, The Western Historical Quarterly, and The Journal of American History.

Manuscript submissions should be addressed to Dr. James W. Goodrich, Editor, Missouri Historical Review, State Historical Society of Missouri, 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, MO 65201-7298.

BOARD OF EDITORS

LAWRENCE O. CHRISTENSEN ALAN R. HAVIG University of Missouri-Rolla Stephens College Columbia

WILLIAM E. FOLEY VIRGINIA J. LAAS Central Missouri State University Missouri Southern State College Warrensburg Joplin

SUSAN M. HARTMANN DAVID D. MARCH Ohio State University Kirksville Columbus

ARVARH E. STRICKLAND University of Missouri-Columbia CONTENTS

WHEN EXPECTATIONS EXCEED REALITY: THE MISSOURI EXPEDITION OF 1819. By Jonathan M. Jones 241

"I AM HOPING FOR A SPEEDY REUNION": THE CIVIL WAR CORRESPONDENCE OF PRIVATE HENRY HOBERG. By Jarod H. Roll 264

"A PAYING PROPOSITION": THE JEROME BRIDGE IN PHELPS COUNTY. By David C. Austin 287

SHOW ME MISSOURI HISTORY: CELEBRATING THE CENTURY, PART 2. By Linda Brown-Kubisch and Christine Montgomery 303

HISTORICAL NOTES AND COMMENTS

News in Brief 329

Local Historical Societies 330

Gifts Relating to Missouri 338

Missouri History in Newspapers 341

Missouri History in Magazines 346

InMemoriam 351

Graduate Theses Relating to Missouri History, 1999 352

BOOK REVIEWS 353

Parrish, William E. Frank Blair: Lincoln's Conservative. Reviewed by Herman Hattaway.

Petrone, Gerard S. Judgment at Gallatin: The Trial of Frank James. Reviewed by Thomas W. Carneal.

Banasik, Michael E., ed. Missouri Brothers in Gray: The Reminiscences and Letters of William J. Bull and John P. Bull; Porter, Charles W., and ed. by Patrick Brophy. In the DeviVs Dominions: A Union Soldier's Adventures in "Bushwhacker Country." Reviewed by John F. Bradbury, Jr.

Miller, John E. Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman behind the Legend. Reviewed by Shelly Croteau.

Clayton, Bruce. Praying for Base Hits: An American Boyhood. Reviewed by Robert W. Richmond.

BOOK NOTES 361

Hubbell, Victoria. A Town on Two Rivers.

Mallinckrodt, Anita M. To Fence, Or Not To Fence: St. Charles County's Long Road to Laws Putting Farm Animals Behind Fences and Off City Streets; Mallinckrodt, Anita M. Freed Slaves: Ex-Slaves and Augusta, Missouri's Germans During and After the Civil War.

Rothwell, Dan A. Along The Boone's Lick Road: Missouri's Contribution To Our First Transcontinental Route - U.S. Highway 40.

Sanchez, Jose. Sanctuary In Soulard: The First 150 Years of Saints Peter and Paul Parish.

Simpson, Leslie. From Lincoln Logs to Lego Blocks: How Joplin Was Built.

Davis, Robyn L., and J. Marshall White. St. Joseph, Missouri: A Postcard History.

Juern, Joan M. More Than the Sum of His Parts: Arnold Krekel; Juern, Joan M. Call to the Frontier: Gottfried Duden's 1800's Book Stimulated Immigration to Missouri.

CONTRIBUTORS TO MISSOURI CULTURE: CLARA CLEGHORN HOFFMAN Inside back cover ^^^^^fa^^^pyiiii^ -.

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State Historical Society of Missouri

Military authorities were relatively unfamiliar with much of the Missouri River when Secretary of War John C. Calhoun proposed an expedition to the Mandan Villages in 1818. When Expectations Exceed Reality: The Missouri Expedition of 1819

BY JONATHAN M. JONES*

Beginning in the winter of 1818 and continuing through the summer of 1819, the U.S. War Department sponsored a major operation on the western frontier that the newspapers labeled the "Missouri Expedition."1 The public in general, and the people of the West in particular, closely followed the expedition's progress through the press. Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, as well as President James Monroe, supported the movement of two infantry regiments to the Mandan Village in present-day North Dakota.2 The new post would lay over fifteen hundred miles west of the Mississippi River, hundreds of miles beyond the closest American settlements. The goal of the operation

* Jonathan M. Jones is an adjunct professor of history at the State Technical Institute of Memphis and the University of Memphis, Tennessee. He holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Memphis.

1 Only a few secondary sources examine the expedition. See Roger L. Nichols, General Henry Atkinson: A Western Military Career (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965), 47-108; Roger L. Nichols, ed., The Missouri Expedition, 1818-1820: The Journal of Surgeon John Gale, with Related Documents (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969); Roger L. Nichols and Patrick L. Halley, Stephen Long and American Frontier Exploration (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1980), 41-100; Charles M. Wiltse, John C. Calhoun: Nationalist, 1782-1828 (New York: Russell and Russell, 1968), 164-173, 182-185. 2 Harry Ammon, James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity (New York: McGraw- Hill, 1971), 352-395.

241 242 Missouri Historical Review was to establish a military presence in the vicinity of the very profitable British fur trade, looking eventually to take over the trade from the Hudson's Bay Company. Unfortunately, the mission failed. The troop movements up the Missouri River fell well short of the goal set by the War Department. In the end, the cost of the expedition exceeded all expectations, and Congress attempted to hold the contractor, James Johnson, and his brother, Richard M. Johnson, responsible for the failure of the operation. The failure, however, occurred because the War Department moved too quickly, resulting in a poorly timed, planned, and executed expedition. By the summer of 1818, Calhoun had developed an optimistic plan to push the American military presence farther west than any of his predeces­ sors had done. At the time, four military posts guarded the frontier: Forts Crawford and Howard in Wisconsin and Forts Armstrong and Chicago in Illinois. Calhoun's plan called for relocating two infantry regiments from the East to new positions on the western frontier. One regiment would ascend the Mississippi River to the mouth of the St. Peters River, near present-day St. Paul, Minnesota. The second regiment would extend the American mili­ tary presence to the mouth of the Yellowstone River on the current Montana- North Dakota border.3 The new post would lay well beyond the civilian settlements, in the vicinity of the Mandan Village, where the British presence remained strong. The last government-sponsored mission into the trans-Mississippi frontier had been the Lewis and Clark Expedition that wintered at the Mandan Village in 1804 and 1805.4 Americans considered the village strategically important because of the numerous British and French fur trappers who visited it to trade with agents of the Hudson's Bay Company.5 Calhoun's proposal focused on two goals, which he explained in Report on the System of Indian Trade, a December 1818 message to Congress. The

3 Calhoun based his plan on a strategy conceived in 1815 by Secretary of War James Monroe. See Nichols, General Henry Atkinson, 47; Wiltse, John C. Calhoun: Nationalist, 164-174; John Niven, John C Calhoun and the Price of Union: A Biography (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988), 58-79. 4 In 1806-1807, Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike explored the West in search of the headwaters of the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers. His orders, however, came from General James Wilkinson, governor of the Louisiana Territory, not the War Department. See Marshall Smelser, The Democratic Republic, 1801-1815 (New York: Harper and Row, 1968), 111, 115, 129-131. 5 House, Report of the Committee on Military Affairs, in relation to the expenditures which have been, and are likely to be incurred, in fitting out and prosecuting the expedition to the Yellow Stone river. . . . , 16th Cong., 1st sess., 1820, H. Rept. 24, 6-7; Lexington Kentucky Gazette, 25 September 1818. See also John Bakeless, ed., The Journals of Lewis and Clark: A New Selection (New York: Mentor Books, 1964), 96-137; Stephen E. Ambrose, Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996), 191-210; Wiltse, John C. Calhoun: Nationalist, 166. When Expectations Exceed Reality 243 secretary of war wanted trading houses to follow the establishment of mili­ tary posts, thus affording the greatest protection to the American fur trade. Calhoun described the areas proposed for military establishments and trading houses as the "best region for fur and peltries on this continent." If the United States took this initiative, he stated, within a few years the fur trade would "be exclusively in our possession." He concluded, "To produce these desirable results, foreign adventurers, whose influence must, at all times, be hostile to our interest and dangerous to our peace, must be excluded." Calhoun's message made clear his intent to have the military protect the existing fur trade in order to promote American economic goals in the West.6 The Missouri Expedition was the more ambitious of the two missions because the Mandan Village lay so far from the westernmost American set­ tlement. Colonel Henry Atkinson of the Sixth Infantry Regiment command­ ed the expeditionary force. In March 1819, the War Department transferred Atkinson and his men from Plattsburg, New York, to the military headquar­ ters near St. Louis. Atkinson's orders were to depart in the spring of 1819 from near the mouth of the Missouri at Fort Bellefontaine, then join the First Battalion wintering on Cow Island near present-day Leavenworth, Kansas. The enlarged force would proceed up the Missouri on steamboats and keel- boats to the Mandan Village, build a fort near the mouth of the Yellowstone River, conduct a variety of surveys, and cultivate friendly relations with local Native Americans.7 Calhoun appointed Major Stephen H. Long of the Corps of Engineers to lead a separate scientific expedition to accompany the military regiments up the Missouri River. Long received permission to purchase a steamboat to transport his crew, which included a botanist, a zoologist, and a geologist. The major was to survey the borderlands between Canada and the United States at the forty-ninth parallel because the "extents of our limits being known will tend to prevent collision between our traders and theirs." By adding a scientific and explorational crew, Calhoun further expanded an already major military operation.8 Arrangements had to be made for food, clothing, and supplies to be transported to the troops. The War Department contracted this job to James Johnson, the older brother of Congressman Richard M. Johnson of

6 Richard K. Cralle, ed., The Works of John C. Calhoun (New York: Russell and Russell, 1968), 5: 20. 7 Robert L. Meriwether, et al., eds., Papers of John C. Calhoun (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1959- ), 3: 297-298, 440, 627, 639-640, 649, 650, 695. Fort Bellefontaine was located near where the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi, approxi­ mately twenty miles north of St. Louis. 8 Ibid., 3: 422-423, 639; Nichols and Halley, Stephen Long, 61-100; Lexington Kentucky Gazette, 1 May 1819. 244 Missouri Historical Review

Stephen Long's 1820 explorations took him and his party up the Platte and South Platte Rivers, along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, and down the Arkansas River.

Library of Congress, Diet. ofAmer. Portraits Kentucky.9 A veteran of the War of 1812 and a successful businessman in central Kentucky, James Johnson operated a stagecoach enterprise with runs between Louisville and Wheeling, Virginia, and between Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky. He and his brothers also ran a "domestic manufac­ tures" store that carried a variety of wares ranging from broadcloths and "cas- simeres" to hardware, paper supplies, and "negro cloths."10 In addition to being engaged in overland transportation and the dry goods store, Johnson had acted as a government contractor who supplied the army during the War of 1812. Following the war, he continued to receive government contracts, with some underwritten by his brothers. Except for Richard, who served in Congress, nearly the entire family was involved in the contracting business.11

9 Richard Mentor Johnson of Georgetown, Kentucky, served as a congressman and a sen­ ator. He first gained fame during the War of 1812 as the alleged slayer of Tecumseh, the rebel leader of the Shawnee tribe. Johnson also gained notoriety for his public relationship with one of his slaves, by whom he fathered two daughters. Despite the controversy of his private life, Johnson served as vice president in the administration of Martin Van Buren. See Leland W. Meyer, The Life and Times of Colonel Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky (New York: AMS Press, 1967). 10 J. Winston Coleman, Jr., Stage-Coach Days in the Bluegrass (Louisville, Ky.: Standard Press, 1935), 45-46; Lexington Kentucky Gazette, 4 December 1818. 11 James Johnson was also politically active, serving in the Kentucky state legislature and in Congress. See Meyer, Colonel Richard M. Johnson, 213, 225; James A. Padgett, ed., "The Life and Letters of James Johnson of Kentucky," Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society 35 (October 1937): 303, 307-318. See also House, Documents in Relation to the Claim of James Johnson for Transportation on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, 16th Cong., 2d sess., 1821, H. Doc. 110, 60-66; hereinafter cited as H. Doc. 110. The Johnson brothers involved in the contracting business included Joel, Henry, Benjamin, and John T. When Expectations Exceed Reality 245

Richard, a member of the House Military Affairs Committee, clearly served as point man for his brother. In June 1818 the congressman wrote to Calhoun, offering his opinion about the proposed military expeditions up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and the use of steamboats to transport troops and materials. Johnson declared that the secretary had "some very interest­ ing and grand ideas" concerning the mission. He concluded, "It will, at all events, make a fair experiment, and will reduce to certainty, whether steam boats may be made subservient to military purposes upon those distant waters."12 By November 1818, Congressman Johnson was communicating with Brigadier General Thomas S. Jesup, the quartermaster general for the War Department. He solicited Jesup's support for granting James Johnson the transportation contract for moving and supplying the troops involved in the proposed expeditions. Johnson stated that his brother had built one steam­ boat and ordered two more boats "designed for the same waters, provided he can receive employment." To enhance the deal, the congressman's letter also pledged a security bond of $500,000 if Jesup would give his "encouragement to this species of enterprize."13 Jesup appeared to agree with the proposed use of steamboats; four days later, Johnson again wrote to him and enclosed a rough draft of a contract. On November 25, 1818, while the transportation contract was under con­ sideration, Richard signed an agreement with George Gibson, the commis­ sary general of subsistence, requiring James Johnson to deliver rations for the expeditions to the headquarters near St. Louis. This contract called for the delivery of a massive amount of supplies—670,000 rations in all—to be shipped in two installments, with half due by June 1, 1819, and the remain­ der due four months later. Once again, the Johnson brothers pledged them­ selves as security for the contract, to the amount of $173,000, with Richard acting as the "attorney of record."14 On December 2, 1818, General Jesup signed the transportation contract with James Johnson, who was again represented by his brother and the attor­ ney of record, Richard. The contractor agreed to transport the "provisions, and munitions of war, detachments, and their baggage" to the proposed mil­ itary posts in the Far West. Johnson was to furnish at least two steamboats for the job, although "one other, or more steam boats" might be required

12 H. Doc. 110, 178. 13 Ibid., 178-179. 14 Ibid., 67-71. According to the December 6, 1818, contract, the government defined a ration as 1.25 pounds of beef or three-fourths of a pound of salted pork; 18 ounces of bread or flour; and 1 "gill" of rum, whiskey, or brandy. In addition, soldiers received 2 quarts of salt, 4 quarts of vinegar, 4 pounds of soap, and 1.5 pounds of candles per 100 rations of food. 246 Missouri Historical Review

South Carolinian John C. Calhoun served in the U.S. House of Representatives before becoming sec­ retary of war in the James Monroe administration. Before his death in 1850, Calhoun had also served as vice president, secretary of state, and twice as a senator.

State Historical Society of Missouri when given "reasonable notice." If the steamboats became incapacitated, the contract required him to provide keelboats to complete the transporting of troops and supplies. In fulfilling the contract, James received a guarantee of "reasonable compensation" for himself, his property, and his crews.15 As chairman of the Military Affairs Committee, and therefore privy to information about proposed military operations on the frontier, Richard M. Johnson clearly proved to be the most instrumental person in the family busi­ ness. He also had access to important members of the War Department, espe­ cially Secretary Calhoun and Quartermaster General Jesup. In fact, the quar­ termaster general never requested bids from other private contractors.16 Thus he did not select the lowest bid; instead, he chose the brother of a member of the Military Affairs Committee. Ultimately, that committee's support was needed for the success of the expedition. Richard M. Johnson did not simply act as a concerned relative. He was also taking steps to secure his own future. In February 1818 the congress­ man had declared his intention to retire. He stated in a letter published in Kentucky newspapers that he would refuse reelection because he needed "at least a temporary retirement from the turmoils of public life." Although his announcement was well timed, no evidence exists to suggest that he knew of the proposed expeditions prior to June 1818. Clearly, Johnson used his office

15 House, Report of the Secretary of War, of the Terms on Which Contracts Have Been Made for the Transportation of the Troops Ordered on the Expedition to the Mandan Villages, 16th Cong., 1st sess., 1820, H. Doc. 50, 7-8; hereinafter cited as H. Doc. 50. 16 House, Executive Documents, 16th Cong., 1st sess., 1820, Doc. 65, 7; hereinafter cited as Exec. Doc. 65. When Expectations Exceed Reality 247 to influence the War Department and, in the process, secured lucrative gov­ ernment contracts for himself and his family. When the Fifteenth Congress adjourned in March 1819, Johnson returned to Great Crossings, Kentucky, and joined the family business.17 Thus on December 2, 1818, James Johnson became not only the princi­ pal supplier of the military posts in the West, but also the sole contractor for the Mississippi and Missouri Expeditions. One man assumed the responsi­ bility to provide a staggering amount of supplies to the headquarters near St. Louis and to transport that cargo and the troops hundreds of miles beyond any American settlements on the western frontier. Moreover, his family became heavily involved by providing securities totaling several hundred thousand dollars. The government placed a great deal of responsibility—not to mention faith—on one contractor whose primary mode of transportation had yet to be tested on the waters of the upper Missouri River. Preparations for the expeditions began shortly after the signing of the contracts. On December 10, 1818, James Johnson received an order for 420,000 rations due by March 21, 1819, at Fort Bellefontaine. Two months later, Commissary General Gibson requested an additional 250,000 rations to be delivered to the same location. Gibson wanted the supplies delivered by early spring because the subsistence contracts required that everything be inspected before being shipped west. Since the War Department wanted the troops settled before the winter, the inspections had to occur as early in the spring as possible.18 James Johnson arrived at Fort Bellefontaine on May 18—two months late—and presented himself to the commanding officer, Colonel Talbot Chambers. Unimpressed by Johnson's conduct, Chambers immediately wrote to his commanding officer in St. Louis, General Daniel Bissell, and complained about the government contractor. His letter contained a bitter assessment of Johnson—so critical in fact that it began by stating that his main reason for writing was to "exonerate" himself of any blame that "must be the inevitable consequence of such arrangements."19 Chambers complained about the steamboat Expedition, which was designed to carry two hundred tons and displace seven feet of water when loaded. The engines were "feble," and the boat had required five days to trav­ el the twenty-five miles from St. Louis to Fort Bellefontaine. Chambers also declared the boat deficient in both number of crew and equipment needed to make the trip. Anyone familiar with the Missouri River, the colonel insisted,

17 Paris (Ky.) Instructor, 2 May 1818; H. Doc. 110, 183-184. 18 H. Doc. 110,70-71. 19 Meriwether, et al., Papers of John C. Calhoun, 3: 318; Padgett, "Life and Letters of James Johnson," 318-320. 248 Missouri Historical Review would agree "there exists but little doubt but that she can never reach her des­ tination." Chambers then criticized the quality of the contractor's cargo. He had to order Johnson to repack all the supplies, especially the beef and pork. The brine was so tainted that the meat would have spoiled in less than a month unless new salt was added. Upon weighing a few of the barrels, the officer had found them "on an average deficient about twenty pounds." According to Colonel Chambers, the most serious problem facing James Johnson was a judgment against him secured by plaintiffs in a civil suit. The sheriff apparently had received permission from a judge in St. Louis to seize any of Johnson's property. Johnson seemed "determined to resist by force" any attempted seizure. He also refused to pay for the repackaging of sup­ plies. Chambers concluded his letter by stating, "I confess myself much at a loss to define when the expedition will be in readiness to commence a move­ ment."20 Johnson vehemently denied Chambers's charges.21 The contractor explained that the two-month delay had occurred due to problems with the steamboats. The Johnson, which arrived at Fort Bellefontaine a few days after the Expedition, was late because it had spent the winter on a sandbar in the Ohio River. The damage to the boat had required it to be refitted with a new boiler and firebed. The Jefferson had been delayed at St. Louis to repair a broken piston head. As for the Calhoun, the newest boat in the Johnson fleet, recurring mechanical problems prevented its use on the expedition.22 The most interesting aspect of the delays at Fort Bellefontaine concerned the St. Louis sheriff's intent to serve Johnson with a court order to seize the contractor's property. Johnson allegedly owed the Bank of St. Louis $50,000 because of transactions unrelated to the expedition, and the goods could sat­ isfy the debt. Johnson contended that the bank was an "insolvent and bank­ rupt institution" that had resorted to false charges and coercion to save itself from collapse.23 He sought protection from Colonel Chambers. The colonel refused to respond, believing he could not interfere with the sheriff, nor would he store the provisions from the Expedition in the fort's warehouse until they had been inspected. Chambers seemed to ignore Johnson's status as a government agent and the fact that his cargo belonged to the War Department. To continue evading the authorities, Johnson requested an onboard inspection, which Chambers refused. He insisted that the barrels and sup-

20 Padgett, "Life and Letters of James Johnson," 319-320. 21 Johnson replied to Chambers's letter on May 23, May 27, and November 26, 1819. See ibid., 320-325; also H. Doc. 110, 13-19, 45-51. 22 H. Doc. 110,44-45. 23 Ibid., 18. When Expectations Exceed Reality 249 plies be unloaded on the riverbank. The boat's captain, Silas Craig, complied with Chamber's request when Johnson headed downriver to check on the steamboat Johnson. In the contractor's absence, the sheriff and his deputies attempted to seize the supplies. Captain Craig interceded, aiming a pistol at the sheriff until the crew had loaded the barrels back onto the boat.24 Risdon H. Price, president of the Bank of St. Louis, described the insti­ tution's problems later that summer. According to Price, the bank had been declared insolvent in 1818 and closed for twelve months. When it temporar­ ily reopened in March 1819, the board of directors had resumed attempts to collect from past debtors to meet the demands of current creditors and investors. The poor economy, however, made it difficult to collect the debts. The most prominent disappointment, Price said, was the "delinquency of the Colonel's James and R. M. Johnson of Kentucky, in not paying the large sums of money (amounting to about $56,000) lately awarded against them."25 According to the Lexington Kentucky Gazette, Price visited Richard M. Johnson at his farm in Kentucky. The congressman rejected Price's court- ordered award, asserting that the proper jurisdiction for a lawsuit against him and his brother was in the federal court in Kentucky. Meanwhile, the Johnsons filed their own suit against the Bank of St. Louis, claiming the insti­ tution owed them $50,000.26 James Johnson and his crews thwarted the sheriff by resorting to an inventive but costly solution. Johnson's cargoes still had to be repacked and inspected on dry land, and at first he balked because he claimed the subsis­ tence contract did not require him to pay for repacking. Finally, because of Chambers's stubbornness, Johnson relocated his base of operations to the Illinois side of the Mississippi River—out of the jurisdiction of the St. Louis authorities. Rumors had already circulated that the sheriff intended to return with a larger contingent "and that they were making preparations to use force." Johnson took these threats seriously. On May 24 he decided to "fall back to the mouth of the Missouri," where he built a storage facility to house the inspection.27 The bank's board met a final time on September 15, 1819, and decided to close their doors forever. No other announcements appeared in the St. Louis newspapers, and the sheriff did not harass the contractor after the incidents of late May. Although Johnson's efforts to avoid the sheriff accounted for part of the delay, the more serious complaint leveled by Chambers concerned the condi­ tion of the steamboats. The colonel correctly described the Expedition as

24 Ibid., 45-46. 25 St. Louis Enquirer, 28 July 1819. 26 Lexington Kentucky Gazette, 6 August 1819. 27 H. Doc. 110,46-49. 250 Missouri Historical Review rfll^ilWHSHIFS |J*4SM>MM, BANG! 7 EAST.

State Historical Society of Missouri

Established in 1810, Fort Bellefontaine (below the shaded portion on the south side of the Missouri River) was superseded in 1826 by the construction of Jefferson Barracks. being too big for its "feble" engines to navigate the Missouri River, and it was fortunate to have reached Fort Bellefontaine. The upper Missouri remained relatively unexplored in 1819, but a number of frontiersmen plied its waters in search of game and furs. The most seasoned of these men speculated that only steamboats between 50 and 80 tons could successfully reach either Council Bluffs or the Mandan Village. The smallest vessel in the fleet, the Johnson, weighed 110 tons, while the Calhoun was 130 tons. The two largest boats, the Jefferson and the Expedition, each weighed 175 tons.28 It seems clear that Johnson believed his steamboats were in excellent shape for the operation, but their size evinced Johnson's unfamiliarity with the region. To reach the Mandan Village, the expedition needed to leave no later than May. By mid-July the waters on the upper Missouri began to recede due to a combination of the end of the winter run-off created by melted snow in higher elevations and the decline of rainfall during the summer.29 The low waters created a number of natural barriers to large steamboats. Although the river was quite wide in places, the piles of debris, shallows, and sandbars increased the obstacles. Thus, timing was crucial for the expedition to suc­ ceed. The Missouri Expedition was running behind schedule the moment James Johnson arrived at Fort Bellefontaine, but his problems multiplied

H. Doc. 110,22. Meriwether, et al., Papers of John C. Calhoun, 3: 498. When Expectations Exceed Reality 251 during June. Because of bad weather, Colonel Atkinson and his men did not arrive until June 7. This made little difference since Johnson had to correct the packaging of the barrels and continue to procure the large amount of sup­ plies required by the subsistence contract. He was still purchasing goods when the soldiers arrived.30 Colonel Atkinson kept a record of the trip and wrote periodic progress reports to Calhoun. His first report, written on the day he arrived, was less than optimistic. He had found only two of the four steamboats operating con­ sistently and the heavy demands on the only contractor increasing with every passing day.31 Twelve days later, on June 19, Atkinson again wrote Calhoun that another two-week delay would ensue because Johnson needed time to gather more supplies. At mid-June he had only five months of rations for the soldiers, and Atkinson did not want to leave without a sufficient supply.32 Johnson conceded that he lacked the required amount of provisions, but he blamed the delays in May and June on Chambers and his men, who had unfairly detained his property at Fort Bellefontaine.33 According to Johnson, the detention periods amounted to nearly forty days of inactivity for the steamboats and prevented him from procuring more supplies. Furthermore, the crews stranded by the detention had been forced to live on the provisions meant for use on the trip. Apart from the logistical problems, Johnson's business also struggled financially. In letters written to the War Department in February 1819, he complained that the costs incurred from steamboat construction exceeded $100,000. He also found it increasingly difficult to purchase supplies because the "times are so hard here that money cannot be had by any nego- ciations [sic]. Banks and individuals are hard run."34 Although his reputation suffered because of the problems with the Bank of St. Louis, the effects of the Panic of 1819 were clearly taking a toll. Consequently, Johnson sought financial aid from the government. Each of the contracts stipulated that the contractor could be given, when necessary, "reasonable advances" of cash to expedite matters. This meant that Richard Johnson, who was, by March 1819, working as his brother's agent in Kentucky, could write to Jesup, Gibson, or even Calhoun to obtain payments for work yet to be performed for the expedition.35

30 Ibid., 649, 663, 695. After being delayed by weather, Atkinson was summoned to Washington, D.C., for a final briefing with Calhoun. The meeting was cancelled while he was en route to the capital. 31 Ibid., 159-160. 32 Ibid., 160-161. 33 Ibid., 140-146, 148. 34 Ibid., 571. 35 Ibid., 570, 574. 252 Missouri Historical Review

Prior to his appointment to command the Missouri Expedition, Henry Atkinson had served in the War of 1812 but had seen little combat. He served the remainder of his duty pri­ marily on the frontier.

Illinois State Historical Library

In letters Richard Johnson wrote to Calhoun at the end of March, he described the difficulties while appealing for money: "I had no conception of the pressure of the times here [Kentucky], nor the great expence [sic] of the steam boats which must be employed under the transportation arrange­ ment."36 He argued that he needed at least $50,000 from the War Department or else the expedition would be jeopardized. Colonel Johnson also enlisted the help of Richard Smith, a cashier at the Bank of Washington in the District of Columbia. For years, Johnson had relied on Smith as his personal agent. Since the cashier resided in the nation's capital, he was in an advantageous position to receive money direct­ ly from the War Department and to press for more cash advances. In late March, Johnson made Smith an authorized agent to receive funds from the government in order to pay drafts on behalf of his brother.37 Despite the pressure, the War Department did not respond to either the colonel's or Smith's pleas for financial help. In April 1819, Johnson again wrote to Calhoun, informing him that "every thing is coming to a crisis." The poor economy and lack of credit forced Johnson to admit, "I cannot meet the demands against my Brother."38

36 Ibid., 708. 37 Richard M. Johnson to Richard Smith, 29 March 1819, Richard M. Johnson Papers, Library of Congress. 38 Meriwether, et al., Papers of John C. Calhoun, 4: 19-20. When Expectations Exceed Reality 253

Johnson filled his letters to Smith during the same period with apologies for overdrafts, followed by directions on how to pay the debts. Overdraft notices had begun to arrive, so he sought loans from friends. Since their friends also suffered financially, the Johnsons' problems only intensified. Richard Johnson's letter to Smith in May included a telling confession about people who owed him money: "I can assure you that I have been the most unfortunat [sic] man on earth in my friendships for others. It has given me great uneasiness & produced great derangement in my pecuniary concerns." He concluded optimistically, "I must wind up things & I must act more exclu­ sively for myself till I can see a perfect sunshine again."39 By the summer of 1819, however, the only solution was to seek more advances from the War Department so that the contractor could continue acquiring supplies. The government responded slowly to the contractor's needs. To prevent further delays, Richard M. Johnson began using his own funds to finance his brother's operation.40 He eventually obtained the advances but not in time to prevent James from falling further behind in procuring supplies. By June 1819, they received $115,000 from the Quartermaster Department. In May alone, they had received $65,000 in advances from the government—and the expedition had not yet begun.41 Colonel Atkinson and his men finally departed Fort Bellefontaine on July 5. Four companies traveled in keelboats while the remaining four com­ panies were divided among three steamboats already heavy with provisions. Since James Johnson still struggled to procure the rest of the provisions required by the contract, he remained at his facility in Illinois. The bad luck that the expedition had been experiencing continued as two of the steamboats ran aground the first day. The keelboats, however, moved easily upriver. When Atkinson wrote Calhoun on July 11, the keelboats were eighty miles ahead of the steamboats, and the Jefferson had broken another piston head. Atkinson expressed doubts about the success of the mission. He decided the most realistic goal was to reach Council Bluffs by the end of the season, especially if the troops continued to rely on steam power for trans­ portation. He also lacked confidence in James Johnson's ability to fulfill his subsistence contract. Although Johnson had remained behind to oversee the

39 Johnson to Smith, 16, 21, 30 April, 14 May 1819, Johnson Papers, Library of Congress. See also Richard M. Johnson to Richard Smith, 20 April, 8 May 1819, Richard M. Johnson Correspondence, Filson Club, Louisville, Kentucky. 40 For a better explanation of the Johnsons' financial problems see Meyer, Colonel Richard M. Johnson, 323-324, 336-369, 374, 376, and Jonathan M. Jones, "The Making of a Vice President: The National Political Career of Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky" (Ph.D. diss., University of Memphis, 1998), 114-117. 41 Exec. Doc. 65, 6. 254 Missouri Historical Review remaining arrangements, Atkinson alerted the commissary officer to be pre­ pared to supply any deficiencies. James Johnson's problems continued to multiply. He found it difficult to make purchases in Missouri because "great pains had been taken in St. Louis, and its vicinity, to destroy my credit, so that I was unable to purchase any thing."43 He sent a steamboat back to Kentucky to pick up supplies purchased there; unfortunately, it was delayed by low water on the Ohio River. Thus the contractor sought additional advances from Quartermaster General Jesup. While James wrestled with the logistical problems in the West, Richard Johnson continued writing to Richard Smith, seeking further advances on the contracts. In several of his letters, Johnson referred to a $70,000 payment due from Colonel Gibson, the commissary general of subsistence, with whom the Johnsons had contracted in November 1818 to supply rations for the expeditions. Gibson eventually paid $35,000, but over the next three months, Colonel Johnson continued to press him for the other half of the pay­ ment.44 Gibson's reluctance to pay the other half of the claim can be explained by examining James Johnson's similar experience with Jesup. On July 4, 1819, the contractor received word that his request for additional funds had been rejected because of budget limitations. Jesup stated firmly, "It will not be in my power to make you any further advances." He explained that $190,000 had been budgeted for the transportation of men and supplies on the western rivers. According to Jesup, James had already drawn "upwards of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars" but had yet to complete the required tasks.45 If the Johnsons' contracting business had reached the limit on the quartermaster's budget, then they most likely had done the same with Gibson's budget for the subsistence contract. Records indicate, however, that Richard Smith received a $50,000 advance from Gibson on May 11. Thus, Richard Johnson secured an additional $15,000 above his original request. Despite the most recent cash advances from the War Department, the Johnsons' financial situation continued to deteriorate. Richard Johnson used his political influence to gain the support of President James Monroe, who was touring the western states that summer. In July, Monroe, accompanied by General Andrew Jackson, made a slight detour to spend the night with the former congressman in Scott County.46

42 H. Doc. 110,27-28, 161-162. 43 Ibid., 48. 44 Meriwether, et al., Papers of John C. Calhoun, 3: 708-709; Johnson to Richard Smith, 21 April, 14, 27 May, 16 June 1819, Johnson Papers, Library of Congress. See also Johnson to Smith, 8 May 1819, Johnson Correspondence, Filson Club. 45 H. Doc. 110,26. 46 Lexington Kentucky Gazette, 2 July 1819. When Expectations Exceed Reality 255

Colonel Johnson apprised his two distinguished guests about his broth­ er's progress with the Missouri Expedition. More importantly, he persuaded the president to provide financial assistance. Monroe wrote to Calhoun on July 5, instructing him to make more money available to the Johnsons "to prevent the loss, embarrassment, and disappointment to the government and to the country, which would be the inevitable consequence of the failure of the expedition destined for the mouth of the Yellow Stone river." The secre­ tary of war was ordered to advance an additional $107,500 to the Johnsons. According to Monroe's stipulations, the first $50,000 was payable immedi­ ately, with the remaining $57,500 to be transferred when the government received the titles of ownership to the four steamboats being used for the expedition.47 Richard Johnson wrote to his cashier on July 5, informing him of the president's decision and directing the immediate dispersal of the money. Clearly, the new advances relieved him, and he expressed his joy to Smith, "My friends need not fear; our misfortunes for several years have been great, but we are unbroken in spirit or prosperity; & we expect to conquer all diffi­ culties & have more than I want after." Johnson mistakenly believed that all the bills relating to the expedition could now be paid. Smith was advised to stop using the colonel's personal funds to pay the operation's expenses.48 Although James Johnson could rely on his brother to try and save him from financial ruin, he could not control events transpiring on the expedition. The Missouri River proved to be too much for the Jefferson. On August 13, Colonel Atkinson received word that the boat could go no farther. He sent a messenger back to St. Louis to retrieve keelboats to transport the steamboat's cargo.49 Atkinson stated in his next report that he regretted allowing the Jefferson to attempt the expedition. He had relented, however, fearing the government might lose more money than the advances if he interfered with Johnson's ability to carry out the contract. As the days passed, the frustration with Johnson's work increased. Colonel Atkinson, perhaps James's only supporter at this time, began to lose patience with the contractor. Although Johnson continued supplying the expeditions, he proved unable to transport goods from Fort Bellefontaine to the posts on either the Missouri or the Mississippi. The officers at the fort had anticipated this problem. In July 1819, not long after the expeditionary force departed, Captain James McGunnegle, General Jesup's deputy quarter­ master, reached an agreement with the St. Louis contracting firm of Knox, Haldiman, and Company. He arranged for the company to provide within ten

H. Doc. 65, 11. Johnson to Smith, 5, 9 July 1819, Johnson Papers, Library of Congress. H. Doc. 110, 163-165. 256 Missouri Historical Review

State Historical Society of Missouri

Problems with Johnson's steamboats necessitated the use of keelboats to transport men and supplies upriver. days' notice "well rigged keel boats" for the "transportation of troops, provi­ sions, and all other articles" to the posts.50 These actions violated Johnson's contract, which required him to furnish additional keelboats upon thirty days' notice. The new arrangement repre­ sented disgust with and a lack of confidence in the contractor. With the end of summer fast approaching, opportunities to supply the troops on the fron­ tier would be seriously diminished by the threat of poor weather. Believing he had no choice but to break the contract with Johnson and hire additional contractors, Atkinson authorized McGunnegle to do so. In his July 11 letter to Calhoun, he stated that although James had "received large supplies of provisions," he doubted the shipment was enough, nor did he believe it could reach the troops in time.51 After traveling upriver for a little over a month, the expedition had only reached Chariton, a village approximately 220 miles from the point of depar­ ture. Atkinson's next report to Calhoun indicated he had grown impatient and frustrated with the lack of progress. He suggested that future contracts procure supplies locally since beef, pork, and flour could be purchased from settlements along the Missouri, thereby saving the government additional freight costs.

H. Doc. 50, 8-9. H. Doc. 110, 162-163. When Expectations Exceed Reality 257

Atkinson leveled his strongest remarks at Johnson by suggesting that a new contractor should be found for the next year. The colonel declared that he did not intend to impeach "the integrity of Colonel Johnson, but I deem it a sound maxim not to trust the man who has once disappointed you."52 James Johnson no longer had an ally among the expeditionary force. On October 3, 1819, Colonel Atkinson and the Sixth Infantry Regiment finally reached Council Bluffs. They had traveled only 450 miles in three months, and they remained almost 600 miles away from the Mandan Village.53 Their slow progress related primarily to the failure of the steam­ boats. The experiment of travel and transport by steam proved nearly a total failure as the last boat, the Johnson, never made it past the post at the Martin Cantonment, nearly 300 miles below Council Bluffs.54 In his final report to Calhoun, Atkinson still worried about the last ship­ ment of provisions not reaching the troops at Camp Missouri, the new post erected at Council Bluffs. Once again, the commissary department was pre­ pared. After the first steamboat broke down less than 150 miles from Fort Bellefontaine, Captain McGunnegle had made yet another agreement with a St. Louis contractor named John Walls. The new contractor arrived in time to rescue both the men and the cargoes. While Atkinson waited for the remaining supplies from Johnson to reach Camp Missouri, he took some added precautions, purchasing several hundred head of cattle to be driven overland to the new post.55 Although James Johnson continued working for the government through the late fall, controversy concerning the expedition and finances plagued the family for several more years. Despite the generosity of the government and President Monroe, the Johnsons' financial problems worsened. Their biggest creditor was the Bank of the United States, and several of the largest loans the Johnsons had obtained, from either Philadelphia or the branch bank in Lexington, were due for payment in August 1819. Aware of the impending demands, the colonel attempted to warn Richard Smith as early as July. Johnson wanted to approach the bank's branch in Lexington for $10,000, but he remarked that the institution "has been rigid with me & I have paid them heavily which payments have been made prin­ cipally in Bills to the East, about 20,000$ [sic] of which will come due in Augt. & after."56 In other words, Johnson had resorted to obtaining loans

52 Ibid., 165-166. 53 Ibid., 168. 54 Ibid., 168-169. 55 H. Doc. 50, 9-10; H. Doc. 110, 169-171. 56 Johnson to Smith, 13 July 1819, Johnson Papers, Library of Congress. 258 Missouri Historical Review from the bank in Philadelphia to meet his obligations at the branch in Lexington. Johnson was obviously concerned about borrowing from the main bank to pay off one of its branch institutions. He again wrote Smith and included a list of the bills "which will have to be paid in Phia. & in Augt."57 Johnson urged Smith to keep as much money on hand as possible and to "see Mr Calhoun & do all you think expedient." Once again, Johnson attempted to solve the financial problems by seeking further advances from the govern­ ment. The Johnson family continued to draw heavily on the Quartermaster Department throughout the summer and fall. Between June 25 and August 31, 1819, they obtained a total of $75,721 in advances. The majority of the loans, $60,721, were made between August 12 and September l.58 Despite the fact that all three steamboats were stranded on the river until the spring thaw, James Johnson supplied the expedition until November 1819.59 He returned home to prepare his statement of prices and work per­ formed. In December 1819 he submitted his account for work performed and materials and equipment supplied. In February 1820, the House Military Affairs Committee requested the War Department to furnish Johnson's statement along with an auditor's report. The report received by the committee revealed some astonishing financial details.60 The first document, the auditor's report, showed that

57 Johnson to Smith, 14 July 1819, Edward Greenway Collection, Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. 58 Exec. Doc. 65, 6. 59 St. Louis Enquirer, 9 October, 27 November 1819. 60 Exec. Doc. 65, 1-11. None of James Johnson's steamboats reached the Missouri Expedition's 1819-1820 winter headquarters in present-day Nebraska.

State Historical Society of Missouri

. : '111 ^Si- P^H^Wl^v. .•

! |l§§H.-, %:^|MSfef^*^y|^^^gJ - i4sfs:j*iii^# L V'£\-*a

*BfTf When Expectations Exceed Reality 259 between February 17 and November 8, 1819, the War Department had advanced $229,762 to the contractor. Johnson's statement showed expenses in the amount of $256,818.15, including an additional fee of $20,533.33 for the nearly forty days his two steamboats were detained by Colonel Chambers at Fort Bellefontaine during the inspection and repacking of supplies. The committee, however, chose not to act on the reports because the case had been turned over to arbitrators. According to the transportation contract of 1818, if the two parties could not agree on a settlement, then an appoint­ ed panel of three arbitrators would settle the dispute.61 The War Department disallowed several of Johnson's charges, especially the reimbursement for the detained boats, which was "considered entirely inadmissible." Although the committee hesitated before taking action on the Missouri Expedition, Congress was not so reticent. In his annual address of December 1819, President Monroe had requested additional funds for the troops in the West in order to complete the mission to the Mandan Village. In April 1820, however, as a result of the numerous cost overruns and delays, Congress ended the expedition up the Missouri by refusing to fund Calhoun's plans for additional military posts on the frontier.62 That same month a panel of three arbitrators began considering the Johnsons' claims. Their report, titled "The Claims of James Johnson," con­ sisted not only of the case for Johnson but also the rebuttal by the govern­ ment. Despite having returned to Capitol Hill as the junior senator from Kentucky, Richard M. Johnson remained very much involved with his broth­ er's business. In fact, he continued to serve as his brother's agent and attor­ ney. The document made apparent the colonel's legal training and political influence, as several of the affidavits were addressed to him. Perhaps the most noticeable change in the Johnsons' case was that the initial claim had been lowered to $189,889 by mutual agreement. The new fee was based on a charge of 16.25 cents per pound for supplies transported to Council Bluffs.63 The Johnsons primarily wanted to prove that the government had created an additional hardship on James by detaining the steamboats and that he there­ fore deserved to be reimbursed for the lost business. The government's case, prepared by Quartermaster General Jesup, sought to prove that Johnson had been responsible for the failure of the expe­ dition to reach the Yellowstone River and that he had overcharged the gov­ ernment by thousands of dollars.64 Jesup solicited the opinion of William

61 H. Doc. 110,5-12. 62 Nichols, General Henry Atkinson, 67. 63 H. Doc. 110, 18-171, 228-229; Lexington Kentucky Gazette, 26 November 1819. 64 H. Doc. 110, 228-229. James Johnson's case is found on pages 18-171; the case pre­ sented by the War Department on pages 171-273. 260 Missouri Historical Review

Congressman Richard M. Johnson, later vice president in the Martin Van Buren administration, proved influential in securing the Missouri Expedition trans­ portation and subsistence contracts for his brother James.

Diet, of American Portraits

Wirt, the U.S. attorney general, who agreed that Johnson had overcharged the War Department for his services, particularly by claiming a transportation fee for the steamboats that never made it to Camp Missouri. Wirt also agreed with Jesup in rejecting the Johnsons' claim for reimbursement for the deten­ tion of the steamboats. He argued that the order to idle the boats could have been avoided had the contractor provided proper supplies.65 The last and most damaging conclusion of the War Department's case significantly lowered Johnson's charge for transportation up the Missouri River. Jesup suggested that the department owed only $97,896.12, an amount he arrived at after considering the cost for hiring the two contractors from St. Louis, as well as affidavits he obtained from his officers in Missouri.66 The arbitrators issued their decision on May 8, 1820. The report brought good news to James Johnson because the committee determined that he owed no money to the government. The panel agreed that Johnson was to be paid at the rate of 16.25 cents per pound of rations and for all the work he per­ formed, including that done by the keelboats when the steamboats failed. They also awarded him money for the steamboats idled by the military at Fort Bellefontaine. Finally, the contractor received compensation for the three

Ibid., 258-273. Ibid., 229. When Expectations Exceed Reality 261 steamboats abandoned by Atkinson and his men in their haste to reach Council Bluffs.67 The panel decided Johnson was owed $275,215, which included costs for transporting troops and supplies up the Mississippi River to the mouth of the St. Peters. The War Department, however, had submitted a revised state­ ment for the cash advances made to the contractor. The arbitrators accepted this report, written by a Treasury Department auditor who concluded that Johnson had received $351,588.29, based on "moneys advanced, supplies furnished, and transportation paid for, by the Quartermaster's Department."68 Johnson secured a victory. When the amount of the award was subtracted from his total advances, he had earned $76,373.29 from the War Department. The Johnsons were forced to wait for the settlement because Congress had adjourned until the following November by the time the arbitrators com­ pleted their report. The issue of Missouri statehood again delayed the deci­ sion.69 Finally, in December 1820, John Cocke of Tennessee opened the debate by expressing shock and dismay at the expenses incurred by the Missouri Expedition. He questioned several parts of Johnson's claims, including the price for transporting supplies upriver and the charge for the detention at the mouth of the Missouri. Although William Lowndes of South Carolina and David Trimble of Kentucky defended the contractor's claim, the House appointed a select committee to investigate the expedition.70 On February 27, 1821, Thomas Jesup submitted to Cocke "The Claims of James Johnson" along with the arbitrators' findings. The select commit­ tee reviewed the case and on March 21 reported back to the House of Representatives.71 The committee rejected much of the arbitrators' report. They criticized Johnson's performance as the sole government contractor for the western expeditions and denied the army's responsibility for detaining the steamboats. The committee believed that Johnson's incompetence had led to his inability to complete the contracts. The committee also objected to the sum of $41,275.13, which the arbi­ trators had determined to be just compensation for the boats trapped on the Missouri River during the winter of 1819-1820. They argued that Johnson

67 Ibid. See pages 278-293 for the arbitrators' report. The arbitrators were General John Mason, Commodore John Rodgers, and Walter C. Jones, an auditor from the Treasury Department. 68 Ibid., 290-292. 69 George Dangerfield, The Era of Good Feelings (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1952), 217-241. The debate on Missouri statehood lasted from December 8, 1819, to February 26, 1821. 70 Washington, D.C. Daily National Intelligencer, 2 December 1820. 71 House, Report of the Select Committee on the 26th December, to who was referred the documents and award, relative to the transportation of troops, &c. in the expedition ordered to the Yellow Stone River, 16th Cong., 2d sess., 1821, H. Rept. 70, 1-5. 262 Missouri Historical Review already had been compensated for the damages to the boats; therefore, they were "unable to discover even an apology for this allowance, and are satis­ fied no principle of justice will sustain it." Lastly, they objected to the cost of freight being set at—to them—the exorbitant price of 16.25 cents per pound. This was a particularly sore point with the committee, because they possessed documents showing much lower bids from other contractors for the same distance.72 Cocke and the committee believed that Johnson owed the government, and they moved to recoup those losses. Based on the committee findings, the House set aside the arbitrators' findings and directed Attorney General Wirt to file a lawsuit to "recover for the United States whatever may be due from said Col. James Johnson." The government sued the contractor in the feder­ al court at Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1822, seeking to recover $260,000 in dam­ ages. The jury, however, found in favor of Johnson and awarded him over $13,000.73 Although the outcome of the events surrounding the Missouri Expedition seemed to suggest James Johnson bore responsibility for its failure, the War Department clearly shared the blame. The operation approved by the secre­ tary of war included far more than any single contractor could have managed. Yet the government nonetheless signed contracts granting Johnson a monop­ oly for transporting and supplying provisions to a large military force in parts of the country that had barely been explored. Furthermore, the transportation contract was vague and poorly conceived. It did not establish maximum rates for freight transportation, only the "ordinary rates of transportation," which proved open to interpretation by both sides and subject to the inflation that occurred during the worsening national economy. Finally, the government had too quickly agreed to the use of steamboats, which in their infancy remained unreliable. Furthermore, the Johnsons overextended their contracting business from the start. In the beginning, they attempted to honor three contracts with only one steamboat in operation. Failing to do so, the Johnsons acquired massive new debts by purchasing three new steamboats. They proved overconfident in their abilities to supply and transport simultaneously several tons of sup­ plies and hundreds of troops. They also showed too much faith in steam trav­ el. Constant malfunctions caused delays and so frustrated Colonel Atkinson and his men that they abandoned the boats in order to reach Council Bluffs before winter.

72 Ibid., 3. The committee became upset because they realized the quartermaster had not solicited bids for the job. Therefore, the government was forced to honor Johnson's contract, which charged fees higher than those paid to other contractors for the same amount of work. 73 Ibid., 5; Niles' Weekly Register, 21 December 1822, 245. When Expectations Exceed Reality 263

Undoubtedly, greed motivated the Johnsons' decision to risk so much money and expand the contracting business so quickly. James Johnson and his brothers attempted to capitalize on the westward expansion by joining the military vanguard heading for the frontier. The lure of financial rewards was the catalyst, and financial backing from the government helped the business to expand. The Johnsons proved too overconfident and inexperienced to pro­ vide effectively for the needs of the soldiers. For its part, the War Department, especially Secretary Calhoun, attempted to transfer soldiers to the western region of the country without proper planning and organization. James and Richard Johnson might have succeeded if the Panic of 1819 had not caused prices to fluctuate wildly and cash reserves to dwindle and made credit more difficult to obtain. As their debts began to accumulate, whether from past failed business investments or overambitious current ven­ tures, they looked to the government for cash advances. When the steam­ boats failed and the advances eventually stopped, the Johnsons were left with more financial problems than before they began the expedition. The Missouri Expedition was completed in the summer of 1825 when the army established a fort at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. Henry Atkinson, who became a general in 1824 despite being associated with the first failed attempt, commanded the mission.74 Had the War Department made better plans in 1818, the first attempt might well have succeeded. The Missouri Expedition of 1819 instead will be remembered as a failure because poor planning and execution dashed the high expectations of the War Department.

74 Nichols, General Henry Atkinson, 90-108.

From Poetry to Promotion

Kansas City Times, September 17, 1897. The poet starved for years and years; His lays were all of love and hope; But now no hunger-pangs he fears— He sings of liver pills and soap.

—Chicago Record

Painful Guidance

Hamilton News-Graphic, January 5, 1888. "He gave me some pointers," said the tramp of the fanner; "he jabbed me with a pitch­ fork."—Drift. Jarod H. Roll

"I am Hoping for a Speedy Reunion": The Civil War Correspondence of Private Henry Hoberg

BY JAROD H. ROLL*

"[The Confederates] are being driven back everywhere now," Henry Hoberg penned during the momentous summer of 1863. Multitudes of Gettysburg dead and a crumbling Vicksburg had rendered the already tenu­ ous Confederacy maimed and broken. Having witnessed firsthand the scenes of this American tragedy, Hoberg wrote, "My prayer is that the kind God may give us the glorious victory soon."1 Triumph, however, did not come easily;

*Jarod H. Roll is a senior majoring in history at Missouri Southern State College, Joplin.

1 Henry Hoberg to Wilhelmina and Hermann Witthaus, 24 September 1863.

264 Henry Hoberg 265

Confederate resistance in both the East and the West lasted well into 1865. Hoberg's role in this struggle was not that of a distinguished officer or an influential strategist, but of the common soldier. He witnessed the Civil War from the perspective of most who fought in it—from the field of battle. Fortunately, Henry Hoberg's war experience has been preserved in letters. The following letters are the property of Adelia Phariss, granddaughter of Henry Hoberg, who has granted the author permission to reproduce them. Because the original letters, written in German, have been lost, a translated version appears here. That translation was completed in the mid-1960s by an unidentified individual assisted by Professors Ralph Fraser and Karl Rupp of Wake Forest University.2 Existing notes from that work include a brief expla­ nation of the translation method and endnotes regarding specific translation intricacies. The translator's endnotes included in this article are differentiat­ ed by italics. Readers should consider that the translator "attempted to ren­ der the German in idiomatic English while trying to preserve some of the rus­ tic flavor of Hoberg's German, but it is readily apparent that there is no sub­ stitute for seeing the original language." The author has strictly adhered to the word order and choice of the translated version and attempted to identify all persons and events that appear in Hoberg's writing. The letters are bridged with headnotes explaining events, both general and specific, that occurred in the interim. To fully appreciate Henry Hoberg's life as a soldier, the reader must understand the war on larger terms before viewing it through the periodically clouded, but always genuine, lens of Hoberg's experience. During the war, Henry regularly wrote to Wilhelmina and Hermann Witthaus, his sister and brother-in-law who remained in Missouri. The seven letters reproduced here constitute all that survive and span his tour of duty as a soldier. Although at times curt and admonishing, the letters generally strike the reader as cool and somewhat distant. Always present in them, however, are indications of Henry's staunch Christian faith and his love for family. Hoberg's words provide the reader with an extraordinary glimpse into the life and mind of a volunteer soldier. One is struck by his lucid accounts of bat­ tle, ceaseless prayer for divine blessing, and meditations on the nature of war and life. His words, nearly 140 years old, still resonate with vitality and power. Heinrich Christopher Hoberg, born in Flotho, Prussia, on June 24, 1841, emigrated to the United States with his family in 1851. Henry's father, Frederick, a lifelong farmer, sought the rich, bountiful farmland of the American Midwest. Upon reaching Warren County, Missouri, the senior

2 The author contacted Professor Fraser for information about the translation, but he could not recall assisting with the project or identify the original translator. Professor Rupp has not been located. 266 Missouri Historical Review

Hoberg acquired a tract of land in the fertile, black-earth valley of the Missouri River. The family prospered amidst the growing German popula­ tion of that area. Frederick Hoberg died in 1856, only five years after bring­ ing his family to America, and two years later, his wife, Margaret, followed him to the grave. After the loss of both parents, the Hoberg children went their separate ways. Henry and his younger brother, August, accepted employment as farmhands for their neighbor Frederick Noltensmeyer.3 During this period, Noltensmeyer and Hoberg struck a close bond, and the former began to treat Henry as a son. The Hoberg brothers lived with the Noltensmeyer family until the summer of 1862, when they, along with Frederick's son Hermann, enlisted in the Union army.4 As the summer of 1862 waned, Henry, August, and a substantial group of ethnic Germans from Warren County volunteered to serve their adopted homeland. Their regiment, the Thirty-third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, was mustered into service at Benton Barracks, near St. Louis, on September 5.5 By December, the Hoberg brothers saw active combat when their regiment received orders to reinforce Columbus, Kentucky, a vital Union position along the Mississippi River. For the next three years, the Thirty-third Infantry was extensively involved in operations intended to open up or defend that waterway. After being mustered into service, the Thirty-third marched and trained throughout south-central Missouri. Leaving Rolla on October 18, 1862, the regiment passed through Salem, Houston, and Hartville before returning to Rolla on December 18.6 From there, they traveled to St. Louis and received orders to move south. Henry wrote the first letter in this series, dated December 26, shortly after arriving in Columbus, Kentucky. Situated just below the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, Columbus com­ manded a position of vital strategic importance. Union forces there con­ trolled access to the northern half of the Mississippi River, protecting railroad

3 The Ozark Region: Its History and People (Springfield, Mo.: Interstate Historical Society, 1917), 2: 349-351. The children of Frederick and Margaret Hoberg have been difficult to trace. The information available reveals that Henry Hoberg had one brother, August, and three sisters. Of the three sisters, only one, Wilhelmina, the recipient of these letters, has been identified. The status of Hoberg's other sisters remains uncertain. By the 1860 federal census, the first that included the Hoberg family, all of Henry's sisters resided in other households. 4 U.S. Census, 8th Report, 1860, "Warren County, Charrette Township," Roll 659, RG 29, National Archives. 5 Compiled Service Records of Soldiers serving in Volunteer Union Organizations, "Henry Hoberg," Roll 631, RG 94, National Archives. Hereinafter cited as Compiled Service Records. 6 Compiled Records Showing Service of Military Units in Volunteer Union Organizations, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Regimental Movements," October-December 1862, Roll 100, RG 94, National Archives. Hereinafter cited as Records of Military Units. Henry Hoberg 267

State Historical Society of Missouri

Rolla was the starting point of Hoberg's training missions. and communication lines between the command hubs of Memphis and St. Louis. The Confederates seriously threatened the understaffed garrison late in 1862. On December 24, Columbus's commanding officer, Brigadier General Thomas A. Davies, facing what he believed was a Confederate force of forty thousand, urgently asked General-in-Chief Henry Halleck to rein­ force the garrison of five thousand soldiers. Halleck replied: "Columbus must be held at all hazards. You will be immediately reinforced."7 That same day, Halleck dispatched the Thirty-third Volunteer Infantry, along with other regiments from St. Louis and nearby Cairo, Illinois, to assist the Union force at Columbus.8 Shortly after arriving in Columbus, Hoberg, facing combat for the first time, wrote his family.

Columbus, Kentucky Decern the 26, 1862

Dear Brother-in-law and Sister:9 Since I have the opportunity now, [I shall] write you a few lines [describ­ ing] what we all face here. Thus we are still alive and healthy, thank God, and I hope the same [is true] of you. I received your letter the 19th of Dec.

7 U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880- 1901), ser. 1, vol. 17, pt. 2: 470. Hereinafter cited as O. R. Unless otherwise noted, all refer­ ences are to series 1. 8 Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Regimental Movements," October-December 1862, Roll 100. 9 Translator's Note: Special thanks is due to Professor Ralph S. Fraser, chairman of the German Department at Wake Forest University, for checking my translation and making valu­ able suggestions. Professor Karl Rupp gave invaluable assistance in deciphering the German script. Any mistakes in the transcription of translation, however, are my own. A cursory glance at the transcription of the first letter will reveal a startling number of misspelled German words. ... It would be pedantic to note every instance of misspelling which 268 Missouri Historical Review as we were in Rolla and we saw from that that you were all still well which made us very happy.10 Already I had expected a letter from you for so long. I received none until lately. Have you thought about us just once? I must say it is a wonder that you have thought about us once again. I thought you had not received my letter, that you did not know where you had to write, and I had already written long ago. But I had forgotten the address. I had already written at F. Nol.11 He should have sent me the address from you, and I still do not know the correct address now. Dear Brother-in-law and Sister accord­ ing to your writing it appears to me as if you believe we were in a depress­ ing situation and at the same time as if we are pitiable culprits because we have become soldiers. No, do not believe this. We are willing to remain sol­ diers as long as the war lasts or as long as we have sworn together [even] if we certainly have already had hard times now and then. I think we now have done most of the marching [that we are going to do,] for now we are always near water or the railroad. On the 20th we came from Rolla to St. Louis by [railroad] cars arriving in St. Lo. at about 10 p.m. We were in Benton Barracks until the 23rd. Around twelve o'clock we marched off onto the steamboat. We sailed about 4 or 5 hours from St. Louis and arrived here the evening of the 24th around 5 o'clock. We were sent directly to a fort where we still are. And they say that the Confederates intend to attack us here. Some from our Regiment have already been on the battle line for two days,

the alert reader could see for himself I have chosen, therefore, to note only the difficult or especially noteworthy spellings and to leave the others in the transcription without comment. In defense of Henry Hoberg's spelling it should be said that he was brought to this country before he was ten without the advantage of much if any formal education, and there was no strong emphasis on correct grammar and spelling in his experience of the German language. It is noteworthy that he spells words by sound, which reveals the strong emphasis on the spo­ ken word in his community rather than literary accuracy. His phonetic spellings are, on the whole, not bad. One is able to tell from this spelling that the dialect from Westfalen has been preserved in this country. . . . I have attempted to render the German in idiomatic English while trying to preserve some of the rustic flavor of Hoberg's German, but it is readily apparent that there is no substitute for seeing the original language if one wishes to fully appreciate this char­ acteristic. It should be noted that capital letters are used erratically and punctuation is scanty. 10 Hoberg's use of first-person plural is significant. The Thirty-third Regiment comprised primarily soldiers from Warren County, Missouri, and Hoberg served with a close circle of boy­ hood friends and acquaintances. This letter is evidence of the communal attitude concerning information from home among the circle of soldiers. 11 Henry refers to Frederick Noltensmeyer, with whom he lived from 1858 until enlisting in 1862. Henry undoubtedly placed tremendous importance on his relationship with Frederick. Henry Hoberg 269

State Historical Society of Missouri

Situated on the banks of the Mississippi River, Columbus, Kentucky, was of strategic importance to both Union and Confederate forces. and last night they attacked.12 Also they tore out the railroad track.13 Approximately 8 miles from here a locomotive stood idle yesterday the whole day long. Nothing but this break-through has happened. We are alright here so far. Now if the Confederates would only come. We want to greet them well with our many bulldogs which we have here.14 If they do not attack us here then we shall apparently go further down [into the South]. This is all the news which I am able to write now. Write me dear Brother-in- law. If you send postage stamps then I shall write you. Yes, dear Brother-in- law if you would send me some I would love that for I have no money with which to buy [them] and we cannot get postage stamps everywhere. When we came here I still had two or three and when they are all [gone] then I can­ not write anymore. Now I must come to a close. Do not forget to pray for us for we need your intercession. We live here among cursing and swearing.

12 Hoberg must be describing either a limited engagement or skirmishes because the anticipated Confederate assault never materialized. Although still menaced by Confederate forces in the Columbus vicinity, reinforcement commander Brigadier General Clinton Fisk wrote to Major General Samuel R. Curtis, commander of the Department of the Missouri, on December 27 expressing his doubt of any subsequent Confederate assault and thanking him for the prompt dispatch of aid. Facing a diminished threat, the Thirty-third Missouri remained in Columbus until January 5, 1863. O. R., vol. 17, pt. 2: 494-495. See also Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Regimental Movements," October-December 1862. 13 General Davies, describing the same railroad damage that Hoberg mentions, wrote to Halleck, "I find the road is greatly damaged, not so much in the wood-work as in the rails. They built fires upon the rails on one side, which expands the rails and throws the track, ties and all out of place, and when the iron gets so hot that it can push no farther the rail knuckles, and when it cools breaks the rails. I understand miles of the road are thus destroyed." O. R., vol. 17, pt. 2: 493-494. 14 Hoberg is referring to the artillery equipping the Columbus garrison. 270 Missouri Historical Review

Oh, may the Almighty bring us all to mercy there above where all our dear forefathers are. Write again soon.

Your loving brother Henry C. Hoberg

A great deal happened concerning the regiment and in Hoberg's life before he next "took up the pen." After leaving Columbus, the Thirty-third steamed downriver to Helena, Arkansas, where it remained until January 11, 1863. From Helena, the regiment joined an expedition into the Arkansas interior. Moving up the White River, Union troops penetrated as far as De Vall's Bluff before returning to Helena by January 24. Once in Helena, the regiment was ordered to join the Yazoo Pass expedition into Mississippi.15 While participating in the White River campaign, Hoberg suffered a tremen­ dous personal tragedy. On January 25, 1863, nineteen-year-old August Hoberg died on the hospital boat Goody Friends in Helena. The cause of death was recorded as "disease of the lungs."16 Interestingly, Henry does not mention his brother's death in the March letter written to his brother-in-law and sister. Either he did not know about his brother's death (which seems unlikely), or he hoped to spare his family from grief. In the second letter, Henry provided a detailed account of the Yazoo Pass expedition. Ulysses S. Grant designed it to open a route of advancement toward Vicksburg, Mississippi, which served as the bastion of Confederate defenses along the Mississippi. As long as Vicksburg remained hostile, Union forces could not freely navigate the river. Because Grant believed the Vicksburg fortifications guarding the Mississippi unassailable, he hoped to land his army above Vicksburg and bring it and a shallow-draft navy down a system of rivers to attack the city from the north, behind its defenses. To accommodate the necessary ships, the expedition opened Moon Lake and moved into the Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers with plans to reach the Yazoo River, which fed into the Mississippi at Vicksburg. Movement pro­ gressed slowly, however, as a flooded Mississippi caused the marshy land and bayous embracing the intended route to become impassable for the infantry. The advancing Union forces met further resistance at Fort Pemberton, a hastily built garrison at the junction of the Tallahatchie and Yazoo Rivers. The flooded land surrounding the fort, along with its mud,

15 Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Company H," Muster Rolls, January and February 1863, Roll 100. 16 Compiled Service Records, "August Hoberg," Roll 631. Henry Hoberg 111 timber, and saturated cotton bale walls, gave Confederate forces an impreg­ nable position that terminated Union progress. The Yazoo Pass expedition failed as a result.17

[In the field] March the 22, 1863

Dear Brother-in-law and Sister: Once again I take up the pen to write you a few lines and hope they find you in good health. I received your letter of February 24th and was happy to see from that that you are all well. As for me I am still very healthy and well so are my friends who are still here. Christ Wehmeier stayed behind in Helena. He should have his discharge because he has already been sick for over two months, and I believe that he is already at home.18 Dear Brother-in-law and Sister I shall let you know where we are now. We started out from Helena February 24th. We have two gunboats, four or five battleships, and I do not know how many transport ships there are with us. We traveled down the Mississippi a few miles and entered the canal which flows into Moon Lake. From Moon Lake we came again to a small river which carried us into the Tallahatchie. This river is so narrow and crooked that it is impossible for the big boats to travel on it. We arrived here

17 O. R., vol. 24, pt. 1: 371-422. See also Leonard Fullenkamp, Stephen Bowman, and Jay Luvaas, eds., Guide to the Vicksburg Campaign (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998), 85-111. 18 On April 16, 1863, Christian Wehmeier, of Warren County, received a discharge for dis­ ability. Compiled Service Records, "Christian Wehmeier," Roll 636.

State Historical Society of Missouri

tm^m^lmid^M^^xW - /M 'y/ Nv \ m w^mmim'Mmm The Tallahatchie River was one of several waterways used ; -l •«(&*«* in the failed Yazoo Pass k -.,:!?$&&^-*~- -. ^SS ''^^^^^^- Expedition. pHli HRH^SS^^^^S^

WHlB^SS^S^^w^'^^''^ • 272 Missouri Historical Review below at a Confederate [f]ort on the eleventh of March.19 On the afternoon of the eleventh our gunboats opened fire all at once, but they drew back again for a little while because the Confederates shot a bombshell among our can­ nons and killed three instantly and wounded fourteen one of whom died the following night.20 Three of the fourteen were blinded by it and very likely will remain blind. This is what happened: our men had just picked up a bombshell in their hands to load the cannon when the shell from the fort land­ ed and both exploded near the gun. The next morning our regiment had to skirmish. We took a negro with us from the farm where we landed.21 He showed us the [place] where they take refuge. When we came there we found no one except a friendly negro and a few negro women from the farm. They had to do all his [the farmer's] work; we did not find him there. We took this friendly negro along for he knew where the Confederates had placed their pickets. This negro brought us back to our boat again intact. Not until then did we break for lunch and dried out our stuff for we had been through the river several times which was 3 or 4 feet deep. After we had eaten lunch we set out again, and our company always has to lead because the other compa­ nies have not learned how to skirmish yet. Now we are marching out in the fields never thinking that we were already so near the pickets. Suddenly we saw two of them jump up: bang, bang, then three more and a few with revolvers. Now we heard that one of them had gotten too much.22 Then we advanced and took one prisoner, and we carried the wounded one to the boat where he died the same night, however. And we could not get anything out of the other one.23 We had to go to the canebrake again that afternoon. From that day on we had to keep moving through canebrake which are the pipe cane, and they are so thick that one cannot get through. Two days later our gunboats put it [Fort Pemberton] to the test once more but they had

19 Fort Pemberton, also known as Fort Greenwood, was located near Greenwood, Mississippi. 20 Of the two Union gunboats accompanying the expedition, only the Chillicothe saw action on the eleventh. Early in the engagement, the Confederates landed one fortunate shot from a six-and-one-half-inch rifle, causing fourteen casualties. Damage to the Chillicothe delayed the Union attack one day. James H. Wilson to Ulysses S. Grant, 13 March 1863, O. R., vol. 24, pt. 1: 378-379. Referring to the incident, Lieutenant Colonel Wilson wrote, "To let one 6 1/2-inch rifle stop our navy. Bah! ... one chance shot will do the work; we may not make it in a thousand ... we are stopped now for certain." Wilson to John A. Rawlins, 13 March 1863, ibid., 379. 21 Hoberg refers to Tindall's plantation. The regiment was ordered to the plantation as a reconnaissance and foraging party on March 14. Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Regimental Returns," March 1863, Roll 100. 22 Hoberg refers to a Confederate soldier wounded during the skirmish. 23 "On the 14th . . . the Thirty-third Missouri . . . were engaged in making important reconnaissances on both sides of the river. Two prisoners were taken by the Thirty-third Missouri." Leonard F. Ross to Benjamin M. Prentiss, 21 March 1863, O. R., vol. 24, pt. 1: 397. Henry Hoberg 273 to draw back again.24 The next day we had a mortar test it but also in vain. It is only a small fort with few guns, but because the river is so small they are able to hit our gunboats at will. And with the infantry we cannot make much [headway] because on one side lies the river and on the other is the bulwark. On the twentieth we traveled back to Helena again, but we had not gone far when we began to encounter still more troops. That was yesterday evening. And one [group] had a staff of commanding officers which we do not have.25 Now we are going to the Fort again in good spirits, and we hope that we [can] drive them out or capture them all at once this time. I must note also how we surprised a Confederate boat as we came down and set it afire. It was loaded with cotton, which [is] to say that it had four thousand bales [on it]. The whole river was afire during the night. Those who were on it also were taken prisoner. One morning while we were still there 10 negroes came down in two canoes, and on the two days that we traveled up also the blacks came to meet us in small canoes. Many rashly came so close to our boat that they were swamped. Thus we saved two who lost their canoe, and one negro waved his hat vigorously. You don't get to see any whites here. Dear Brother-in-law and sister I cannot describe this trip to you as I would like. This trip was the last straw because there still have been no troops here.26 Most of the time we have beef.27 I have certainly learned that the North can­ not kill off the South by [taking away its] food because there are plenty of corn [and] potatoes here. Now I must come to a close. If the Lord lets me live and we see each other again then I shall describe it all to you since I can­ not write [it]. Pray diligently for me and also for us all so that if we do not get to see each other again here we may all meet together there above. Oh, may we be ready for heaven and the eternal ages. O dear sister, forget me not in your prayers. Greet all the friends and acquaintances for me, and still

24 The Union attack of March 16 proved short-lived. Only fifteen minutes into the assault, Confederate artillery again severely damaged the Chillicothe. Union officers deemed further action unsafe, and the advance withdrew. Ibid. 25 Hoberg's syntax is unclear. He is most likely referring to the Confederate opposition having staff officers in the field. 26 Hoberg is commenting on the lack of reinforcements and inadequate supplies that doomed the expedition. Brigadier General Leonard Ross, attempting to explain the failure, commented, "Every attempt to find any feasible point of attack for infantry failed. The rebels' works were so surrounded by swamps, bayous, and overflowed country as to be inaccessible for land forces. The iron clads were nearly out of ammunition, and the Chillicothe so damaged as to be disabled. We had heard nothing from reenforcements that were expected. . . . Under these circumstances, being wholly destitute of siege artillery, or any means of effecting the reduction of the fort, it was thought advisable to fall back." Ibid., 398. 27 Translator's Note: It is unclear whether this word should be Bufor Beef. In either case, he probably means they are eating well. 274 Missouri Historical Review write as often as possible. The letters follow us. I remain your loving [broth­ er] H. C. Hoberg.28

The Thirty-third returned to Fort Curtis in Helena on April 4 and remained garrisoned there until early 1864.29 Those months were not quiet ones. On July 4, 1863, Confederate forces launched a massive assault against Fort Curtis, aimed at breaking the Union hold on Helena. Because of "the deleterious effect on that portion of the State cursed by their presence," Confederate General T. H. Holmes explained, "it was deemed of very great importance that they should be driven from this their only stronghold in Arkansas."30 The attack came in the morning with tremendous speed and fury. Although outmanned nearly four-to-one, the four thousand-strong gar­ rison held the city. In the middle of the Union line, defending high ground termed "graveyard hill," stood the Thirty-third. Although initially driven from their position by a brigade of Missouri Confederates led by Sterling Price, the Thirty-third rallied with the assistance of accompanying regiments to recapture the position.31 The Confederates sustained over twenty-five hun­ dred casualties, while Helena's defenders suffered losses of less than three hundred.32 Union Major General Benjamin M. Prentiss exulted, "The attempt to haul down the Stars and Stripes, on the 4th of July, was an ignominious failure."33 Because Hoberg did not write the third letter in this group until late September, he made no reference to the momentous events of July 4. He was garrisoned for a long time in Helena, where he had lost his brother, and saw little active combat from July 1863 until January 1864. Henry undoubtedly had a great deal of time to ponder his situation.

28 In this letter, Hoberg scribbled the following short messages in the margins: '"With God for king and country' that should be our motto until we win dead or alive"; "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and satisfy my conscience in order that I may walk in thy way"; "The Lord is my light and salvation"; "Write me diligently"; "I believe that you still have the address"; "I wrote it poorly because I thought you had time to study." 29 Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Company H," Muster Rolls, March 1863-February 1864, Roll 100. 30 Lieutenant General Theophilus H. Holmes to Brigadier General W. R. Boggs, 14 August 1863, O. R., vol. 22, pt. 1: 408-409. 31 Lieutenant Colonel William H. Heath to Colonel Samuel A. Rice, 6 July 1863, ibid., 400-402. Sterling Price, an antebellum U.S. congressman and governor of Missouri, served as an influential military and political leader of the state's pro-Southern faction. 32 Major General Benjamin M. Prentiss to General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck, 5 July 1863, ibid., 386. 33 Prentiss to Lieutenant Colonel John A. Rawlins, 9 July 1863, ibid., 387-390. Henry Hoberg 275

State Historical Society of Missouri

Hoberg spent most of 1863 garrisoned in Helena, Arkansas, where he lost his broth­ er, August Hoberg, in January.

Helena, Arkansas September the 24, 1863

Dear beloved Brother-in-law and Sister: I have to agree with the verse: How long and hard the time when for so long your letter does not make me glad. I had received no letter from you in two months, but yesterday, the 23rd, I finally received one and I properly rejoiced that you are still alright, alive and well. As for me, I am still healthy and well. I cannot write you much news this time. We are still here in Helena and it appears as if we shall stay here for the entire winter.34 We are having very good times now and the weather is somewhat more pleasant. The fever reigned here, but our company is quite fit, once again in suitable health. Generally I do not think there are as many sick here now as two or three weeks ago. My friends and comrades from Warren County who are still about are all well. Hermann Noltensmeyer is at home. He was a prisoner in Little Rock for a month. I surely do wish I were in his place now.35 However, I hope that I may have the opportunity soon to visit my sisters, brothers-in-

34 The regiment remained garrisoned at Helena from April 8, 1863, until January 15, 1864. Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Company H," Muster Rolls, March 1863-February 1864. 35 Confederates captured Noltensmeyer during the July 4 attack on Helena. He remained a prisoner of war until August 25, 1863, when he was delivered to the mouth of the White River and exchanged. Apparently initially sent home on furlough, Noltensmeyer returned to the reg­ iment on October 13, 1863. Tragically, a Confederate rifle shot killed him at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, on April 9, 1864. He was the lone casualty of Company H. Compiled Service Records, "Hermann Noltensmeyer," Roll 633. Hoberg, in extant correspondence with his fam­ ily, never mentioned the death of his friend. 276 Missouri Historical Review law, friends, and acquaintances, but I cannot say that I am longing for a fur­ lough. I think little about home. Most of all I have to think about is my lit­ tle sister. Again though I hope that she is behaving well, and when she can­ not be with her sisters she must turn to friends and then she will have it even better than with her sisters. Dear Brother-in-law you wrote me in the last let­ ter that you have received a letter from Germany. I wish you would send the letter to me if you still have it and if you write back again greet everyone warmly for me. I have written to my brother again but still no answer from him.36 I wish you would do one more thing for me - write how the crops are there. According to Fred Nolten.'s letter it appears that you [are not suffer­ ing] much from the war there at home. He wrote that he has harvested some­ thing over 300 bushels of wheat and is getting 15 cents a bushel in Washington [Missouri]. Now I hope that the war is over soon for they are being driven back everywhere now, and my prayer is that the kind God may give us the glorious victory soon.37 I believe that Jeff Davis with all of his Confederates are now almost played out, and as long as they do not surren­ der under our Stars and Stripes we shall continue chasing and fighting them wherever we meet them. Now dear Brother-in-law I found a postage stamp in your letter. I cannot think why, why you have sent it to me. I have enough of them and also have no need for money. We get paid every two months. Now I must come to a close. I should like to explain something to you. Especially about the Meyer[s]. I know nothing against them; they are good people, and I think the whole family is. I welcome them to write and I shall answer them also. I am hoping for a speedy reunion. Greet all my friends and acquaintances for me. Write again as soon as possible. I remain your loving brother.

H. C. Hoberg, Comp. H 33 Regt. Mo. Volters., Helena, Ark. Pardon my bad writing; done in a hurry.

36 This allusion remains mysterious. The author's research indicates that Henry Hoberg had only one brother, August, who died early in 1863. A Hoberg family legend mentions anoth­ er brother who reportedly served in the Confederate army. Several attempts to verify the leg­ end have revealed only one Hoberg enlisted with a Confederate organization. Private A. Hoberg served in Werner's Company, First Regiment South Carolina Artillery, for twenty-four days and was killed at Fort Walker on October 31, 1861. If the Hoberg family had emigrated to the port at Charleston, South Carolina, a connection might be possible; otherwise, any rela­ tion is unlikely. The miniscule amount of information on A. Hoberg can be found in The Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers who served for the State of South Carolina, Roll 66, RG 109, National Archives. 37 Hoberg wrote this letter following the Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg on July 3 and 4, respectively. Henry Hoberg 277

The next extant letter is dated September 27, 1864. Although Hoberg's commentary on the interim is lost, his experience can be traced. The Thirty- third departed Helena in January 1864, bound for Vicksburg and points south. The regiment performed picket duty and scouted the Mississippi countryside until joining Major General Nathaniel Banks's disastrous Red River cam­ paign on March 10.38 Advancing with the Union column, the regiment marched through the marshes and swamps of interior Louisiana. After par­ ticipating in the battles of Fort De Russy, Henderson's Hill, and Pleasant Hill, the Thirty-third served as rear guard to the debilitated, retreating Union force. Following the failure in Louisiana, the regiment returned north to join the command of Major General A. J. Smith, where it assisted patrols in western Tennessee.39 After this campaign, Hoberg became ill and was placed in a Memphis, Tennessee, convalescent camp in September.40

38 The Red River campaign, designed to capture Shreveport and secure western Louisiana, was a Union debacle. Accompanied by a fleet of Union gunboats, Banks led his army north through the swamps surrounding the Red River. After several hard-fought victo­ ries, the Union forces were staunchly checked at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. This forced Banks to abandon his designs on Shreveport and retreat. Low water on the Red River nearly stranded the accompanying fleet, but ingeniously built dams allowed the boats to escape and spared further disaster. Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., The Civil War in the American West (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991), 191-224. 39 Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Company H," Muster Rolls, May and June 1864, Roll 100. 40 Compiled Service Records, "Henry Hoberg," Roll 631.

Union forces were routed at Pleasant Hill and other locations in Louisiana as part of the diastrous Red River campaign.

State Historical Society of Missouri 278 Missouri Historical Review

Hoberg wrote the fourth letter in this series after being moved from the Memphis convalescent camp to one in Little Rock, Arkansas. Although he was not seriously ill, circumstances appeared to be taking a toll on Henry. Separation from his regiment and friends and constant exposure to the sick and dying caused the young soldier to be in terribly low spirits.

Little Rock, Ark. Sept. the 27, 1864 May the grace of God be with you

Dear Brother-in-law and Sister: Since I have the opportunity now I shall attempt to write you a few lines, and hope that these few lines will meet you in your best health. Since the first of Sept. I have not felt well, and could not do service. I had to leave the regiment already on the 10th or 11th when the troops were marching by land. All who were not able to march were sent by railroad to Brownsville from De Vall's Bluff [Arkansas]. All we crippled met our Regiment in Brownsville. For a few days we camped there where we had very bad water and the sick list became larger and larger. On the 16th we were sent by cars to Little Rock. Our division marched from Brownsville on the night of the 16th to the 17th.41 It is reported that they are at Pilot Knob now, and we are still here in the convalescent camp and we do not know when our orders to combat [will come] again. Now I feel fairly good again, and I praise and glo­ rify my God because he has removed so much from me as well as my com­ rades. Over 40 men have already been taken to the hospital from those who were sent here with me. There is a lot of sickness here. There are over 1200 in the hospital, but I hope that soon we shall be sent to our command again. I received your letter, but I had no paper and postage stamp to answer it for my money was all gone. However, because the Christian Commission is here any soldier without money is welcome to write a letter, and so I also have taken [advantage] of it. When you write again send me a postage stamp and envelope for I do not know when we shall get paid. I can manage alright without money if I only have postage stamps and envelopes. Now they are saying that we can receive no more letters here until we return to our Regt. I believe that we shall find out soon [when we shall return]. I cannot write you

41 While apart from the regiment, Hoberg missed the most difficult marching endured by the Thirty-third. After leaving Brownsville, Arkansas, on September 17, the regiment marched 320 miles in nineteen days, arriving in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, early in October. The com­ pany muster roll reported the regiment "ragged and one-third of the men barefoot... the last day . . . marched 33 miles through mud and rain." Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Company H," Muster Rolls, September and October 1864, Roll 100. Henry Hoberg 279

Convalescent camps housed sick and injured soldiers throughout the war.

State Historical Society of Missouri

much news. The nights are fairly cool now and we do not have our blankets with us. Now I shall come to the end and ask you not to forget me in your prayers. Greet old friends and acquaintances for me. Greetings to you - your loving brother.

Henry C. Hoberg Co. H 33d Regt. Mo Volters Memphis, Tenn. Or in the field is the address

After being released from the Little Rock convalescent camp in November 1864, Henry was furloughed to visit his friends and family in Missouri.42 After his visit, he traveled over two weeks to rejoin his regiment in early December. While Henry made his way from Missouri to Tennessee, the Thirty-third took part in the Battle of Nashville on December 15-16 and suffered forty-three casualties.43 Hoberg wrote the fifth letter from near the

42 Compiled Service Records,"Henr y Hoberg," Roll 631. 43 Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Regimental Returns,' December 1864, Roll 100. 280 Missouri Historical Review

Mississippi state line, three weeks after the Union victory at Nashville. The sixth letter was written at Cairo, Illinois, a stopping point for the regiment as it prepared to travel down the Mississippi River into the deep South.

Near Tennessee River Januar the 4, 1865

Dear Brother-in-law and Sister: Since I have the opportunity now I shall let you know how I am. On the 25th of December I came to the Regiment; I found my comrades all healthy and unhurt. It took me from the 12th to the 25th of December to come to the Regiment. Now you must not take it that I have not written [due to] misfor­ tune because it was possible for me to write earlier. I cannot write much news to you. [John Bell] Hood is completely beaten and our army is right on his trail.44 They say that today we are going out to the Tennessee River, but still one cannot be sure. We had a difficult march from Franklin, Tenn. It did rain so much and some snow fell on top of that. They say that Hood is in Corinth and we will travel approximately 75 or 80 miles by river and then march by land to Corinth if Hood is still there.45 The prospects are now that the war may be over in 3 or 4 months time. May dear God grant it. As for me I am healthy and unhurt, thank God, and also hope this little note of mine will find you in good health. I must close now because we are moving on again. Greet all my friends for me. Greetings to you from your loving broth­ er H. C. Hoberg

Co. H 33rd Regt. Mo Volters St. Louis or in the field

That is the most precise address I can give you. Pardon the bad writing for it is done in haste. Write again soon.

44 At the Battle of Nashville, Union forces routed units led by Confederate General John Bell Hood. Following his defeat, Hood fled toward Corinth, Mississippi. Union General A. J. Smith led the Sixteenth Corps in pursuit of the fleeing rebel army. 45 The Union army never caught Hood. After Hoberg wrote this letter, he and the Thirty- third traveled to Eastport, Mississippi, just east of Corinth, and were then dispatched to New Orleans via Cairo, Illinois, and Vicksburg. Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Regimental Returns," December 1864. Henry Hoberg 281

Cairo, Illinois Februarthe9, 1865

Dear Brother-in-law and Sister: With God's help and assistance I shall try to write you a few lines to let you know where we are now. And [I] hope that these few lines will find you in good health which I have always enjoyed up to now. We are now on the steamboats at Cairo, and are going to New Orleans or all the way to Mobile. One cannot say for sure. I cannot write you details. In January I wrote you a letter in Tennessee, however [I] still have no answer, and so it goes with all my relatives and friends. I left there two months ago and still no letter from you all. I thought for sure I would receive a few when we arrived here at Cairo but I hoped in vain. Now I hope that you are not as negligent in men­ tioning me in your prayers as you are in writing.46 May the love of God keep us in his grace until our end comes, is the prayer of your loving brother. We were in Eastport, Mississippi for a month, and we were sorry that we had to leave our huts so soon again because we had it good there. But now confi­ dently and boldly we move further into the Southland in order to gain the glo­ rious victory soon. May the almighty God restore the precious peace of our land again. Now I shall come to a close. [I] hope that you answer this letter. Greet all my relatives and friends and also Oten and his wife. My best regards to Meyer and family. Greetings also to you. Your loving brother,

H. C. Hoberg Comp. H. 33rd Regt. Mo Volters Memphis, Tenn.

Address my letters like this then I shall receive them. Pardon the bad writing.

Once in New Orleans, the Sixteenth Corps, to which the Thirty-third belonged, stood poised to inflict a final blow upon the Confederacy. From there, the entire corps moved against the Confederate fortifications at Mobile, Alabama. Although Admiral David Farragut and Union naval forces had closed Mobile Bay the previous summer, the city of Mobile remained heavily garrisoned and defiant. On March 20, 1865, the Sixteenth Corps

46 Translator's Note: This rather caustic letter got results. Among the letters is a some­ what apologetic letter from the brother-in-law dated February 18, 1865. 282 Missouri Historical Review moved to the mouth of the Fish River, on the outskirts of Mobile. It then divided to simultaneously attack the two principal Confederate obstacles, Forts Spanish and Blakely. Unable to overrun Fort Spanish immediately, the division that included the Thirty-third resorted to siege tactics. On April 8, after nearly three weeks of constant battle, the Confederates evacuated Fort Spanish. The Sixteenth Corps then reunited to move against Fort Blakely, which fell the next day.47 The Union victory in Mobile marked the end of sig­ nificant Confederate resistance in the Mississippi Valley. Two days after Hoberg wrote the final letter in this series, Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse. For all intents and purposes, the Civil War had ended.

47 Records of Military Units, "Missouri 33rd Volunteer Infantry, Regimental Returns,' April 1865, Roll 100.

State Historical Society of Missouri

This map of Mobile Bay shows the loca­ tions of Fort Spanish and Fort Blakely (upper right-hand corner), which Hoberg and the Thirty-third Missouri Infantry helped overrun in April 1865. Henry Hoberg 283

Fort Spanish near Mobile, Ala. April 12, 1865 Grace and Peace.

Dear Brother-in-law and Sister: I cannot now neglect to share with you some of our triumphs which we have [had] here, and I hope that these few lines which I am writing you in a hurry will find you in good health. I am, thank God, still right well and healthy. Also we have had good times since we left New Orleans. Even more we can also say that Mobile is ours now. On the 27th of March we marched to Fort Spanish where we promptly beat the Rebels back into their entrench­ ments. Then shovels, picks, and axes were brought [and] also muskets and cannons at times.48 On the fifth of April it [Fort Spanish] was heavily bom­ barded from about five o'clock until dark, but the Rebels were quiet and returned little fire. On the eighth the cannons opened fire again with approx­ imately as much gunfire [as on the fifth] and at about the same time, 5 o'clock. Around 6 o'clock about 300 prisoners were taken. The shelling lasted until nightfall. We also took a battery. In some places our sharp­ shooters were twenty steps from the Rebels, ten steps away from their breast­ work going around the fort. At 12 o'clock [midnight] the shout rang out to the sharpshooters to cease fire for we were already inside the fort. There was a great shout of jubilation at midnight; they had abandoned the fort. On the morning of the 9th many of the Rebels were awakened in their [rifle] pits where confused they looked up and said, "Where then is our side?" The number of prisoners taken in the morning brought the total to 500 men. On the afternoon of the same day, the 9th, Fort Blakely was also taken with 3,000 men.49 Last night the news came that Grant beat Gen. Lee and has taken 2,000 prisoners and Richmond is ours, and that the Rebels have cleared out of Mobile. This is certainly true, and if that [news] is correct about General

48 Listing the tools used, Hoberg refers to the digging of siege works such as trenches and bomb-proofs. Lieutenant Colonel William Heath, commander of the Thirty-third Regiment, commented on his soldiers' labor, "The work here was very severe indeed. The enemy's sharp­ shooters were bold and vigilant and our works incomplete The entire brigade was kept con­ stantly employed day and night in sapping, strengthening half-finished works, and constantly skirmishing, and while here advanced . . . nearer to the enemy at that time than any other por­ tion of our lines." Heath to Lieutenant Henry Hoover, 12 April 1865, O. R., vol. 49, pt. 1: 245. 49 The fall of Fort Blakely, the most salient Confederate position defending Mobile, doomed resistance in the city. Once beaten, rebel forces fled in full retreat. The assault on Mobile was the last active engagement for the Thirty-third Missouri. 284 Missouri Historical Review

Grant then it certainly [will] not be long until we are home again. They say now that our army corps will pursue the Rebels the 16th. It is not certain but we are going to march, for we already have been on duty every day for twen­ ty [consecutive] days and under marching order. I hope that we shall not see anymore hard times. Now I shall close with a thousand greetings to all my friends and relatives. Write me about that which I formerly wrote you in March; I hope that you received the letter.50 I remain yours, loving you until seeing you again soon.

Address H. C. Hoberg Co. H 33rd Regt. Mo. Volters 3d Brigt., 7th Devis. 16th Army Corps near Mobile

Henry Hoberg was mustered out of the army on August 10, 1865, and he returned to Missouri, where he married Caroline Schloman on November 12.51 The couple had six children and resided in Richland, Missouri, until 1883, when Henry purchased 230 acres in central Lawrence County.52 Hoberg's new estate, established in 1884, straddled the Spring River and blossomed into one of the most productive farms in the area. In 1903, Hoberg donated a portion of his land to the Missouri Pacific Railroad to serve as a right-of-way for a new line extension. The railroad built a temporary depot near Henry's home in late 1903, christening it Hoberg, and a village soon grew around it. Located just south of Mount Vernon, the seat of Lawrence County, the town of Hoberg embodied the ambition of its founders. Nestled in a fecund river valley and accommodat­ ing the freight and passenger capacities of the railroad, the town seemed des­ tined to flourish. A general store, a lumberyard, and a hotel were in opera­ tion by early 1904, and by June the railroad completed a permanent depot and station house. A mill was built in 1905 using dismantled buildings from the St. Louis World's Fair. On October 29, 1905, the Reverend George Harbour dedicated the Hoberg Union Chapel and opened its doors for wor­ ship. The townspeople built a schoolhouse adjacent to the church. The gen­ eral store moved into a newly built brick building that year, and August Carl opened the town's second grocery and general store just to the west of that

This letter is no longer extant. Compiled Service Records, "Henry Hoberg." Ozark Region, 2: 350. Henry Hoberg 285

Jarod H. Roll Railroad Depot, Hoberg, Missouri building. A post office opened on July 18, 1905.53 As more families moved in, the number of houses increased. To serve the expanding population, esti­ mated at two hundred citizens in 1910, a group of investors organized the Bank of Hoberg in November 1911.54 A drug store, complete with an ice cream parlor, opened in 1915, marking the last bit of expansion. In a little more than a decade, Hoberg had grown from the home of one family into a community of many.55 Henry Hoberg died on December 31, 1928. During his lifetime, he exerted an extraordinary and dynamic influence on the lives of countless Missourians. He spent the greater part of that life sharing, living, and work­ ing in a community created largely from his vision. When he died, it seemed that a piece of the town he had helped to establish died with him. Shortly before Henry's death, thieves robbed and burned the Carl build­ ing, then occupied by the Northcut general store. The Bank of Hoberg, hav­ ing weathered the financial storm of the Great Depression, merged with a larger Mount Vernon bank in 1937. Rural school reorganization sent Hoberg

53 Dan H. Stearns, "Hoberg," in Lawrence County Missouri History (Mount Vernon, Mo.: Lawrence County Historical Society, 1974): 159. 54 Fred G. Mieswinkel, "Razing of Hoberg Depot Marks End of Era," Lawrence County Historical Society Bulletin, no. 6 (November 1962). 55 Stearns, "Hoberg," 159. 286 Missouri Historical Review students to schools in the county seat. By 1960 the population had stagnat­ ed and hovered around one hundred persons. Passenger trains ceased run­ ning in 1961, prompting the railroad to raze the Hoberg depot a year later. The hotel burned in 1965, followed by the mill in 1971.56 The population continued to diminish, forcing the church to close its doors in 1991. Today, Hoberg is home to only a handful of families. Although nearly nonexistent some seventy years after Henry's death, evidence of a once-thriving town can be seen along Hoberg's cracked streets and dilapidated buildings. Henry Hoberg's Civil War letters, written during terrible times, introduce readers to him long before his rise to prominence in southwest Missouri. They chronicle the trials of a young man facing death and fighting to preserve his idea of truth.

56 Ibid., 162.

Shelling Out Billions

Maysville Weekly Western Register, January 7, 1869. The United States contain 103,500,000 hens, with an annual laying capacity of 18,250,000,000.—Exchange. It must have required considerable ca'c-ulation to get the number so eggs-act.

The Near Future

Unionville Putnam Journal, August 1, 1902. Mrs. Uptodate (to maid)—Marie, you need not set out the capsules for Mr. Uptodate's dinner. I have received a Marconigram that he will not be home until ten o'clock, as his Santos- Dumontobile has had a breakdown.—Judge.

Welcome Weather News

Canton Press, February 11, 1898. Extracts from the Klondike Gazette. . . . The thermometer on our office stove registered 97 below zero yesterday at noon, was a pleasant change from the intense cold of last week.—Harper's Bazaar. Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-Rolla

The Jerome Bridge (in the foreground) opened for traffic in 1928. It served as a con­ venient passage across the Gasconade River for tourists visiting the popular Jerome and Arlington resort areas. "A Paying Proposition": The Jerome Bridge in Phelps County

BY DAVID C. AUSTIN*

During the first quarter of the twentieth century, the rapid proliferation of automobiles and a growing clamor for good roads led to an evolving state highway system. The passage of the Centennial Road Law in 1921 marked the culmination of Missouri's good roads legislation. It sanctioned the Missouri State Highway Department, under the authority of the new Missouri State Highway Commission, to construct a network of modern roads across the state. Throughout the 1920s, the emerging highway system and the ever- increasing numbers of motor vehicles provided a tempting climate for entre­ preneurs. Gas stations, tourist courts, garages, and cafes began to appear alongside the new highways. In Rolla, a group of businessmen hoped to gar­ ner a share of profits from the burgeoning travel industry. Although Missouri's road-building program was an ambitious one, it initially provided

*David C. Austin is a historian in the Cultural Resources Section, Design Division, of the Missouri Department of Transportation. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an M.A. degree from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

287 288 Missouri Historical Review for only a skeletal framework of improved highways. The Rolla group would capitalize on this deficiency and erect a toll bridge across the Gasconade River at the resort community of Jerome in western Phelps County.1 Jerome had been founded soon after the Civil War when John Charles Fremont, the well-known explorer, soldier, and political aspirant, gained con­ trol of the bankrupt Southwest Branch of the Pacific Railroad. Fremont's Southwest Pacific laid track west from Rolla, traversing only twelve miles down the Little Piney Creek valley to the Gasconade River before a depletion of funds halted further construction. In April 1867, Thomas C. Harrison plat­ ted Arlington along the new railroad on the east side of the Gasconade, while Fremont's associate William F. Greely platted Jerome on the opposite bank.2 As the railroad's western terminus, Jerome enjoyed immediate and rapid growth. The town site covered several acres centered around a large square, where Greely started construction of a massive stone hotel. Within two years, Jerome's estimated population stood at nearly fifteen hundred people. In 1869, however, construction of the rail line resumed under new owners. No longer a strategic railroad terminus, Jerome quickly declined. Its inhab­ itants deserted en masse, Greely's unfinished hotel lay abandoned, and the post office soon closed. The Phelps County Court officially vacated the plat of Jerome and its additions in 1874. By then the town consisted of a single store, a schoolhouse, and three sawmills. Nearby Arlington fared little bet­ ter, serving as a lumber shipping point with a post office and two stores.3 Lumbering of the region's oak and pine forests provided both towns with some commerce in the late nineteenth century. Timber harvested throughout the Gasconade, Big Piney, and Little Piney drainages departed Jerome and Arlington as finished lumber and railroad ties. John F. Rucker and his son, Booker Hall Rucker, operated a lumber business from Arlington in the 1880s and 1890s, supplying the Missouri Pacific and the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroads with cross-ties. Booker Rucker also served as Arlington's postmaster and owner of a general store in the 1890s. While

1 Floyd Calvin Shoemaker, ed., Missouri and Missourians: Land of Contrasts and People of Achievements (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1943), 2: 507-523. 2 Phelps County Centennial Association, Our Centennial Book: "Yesterday Lives Again" in Phelps County, Missouri (Rolla, Mo.: Phelps County Centennial Association, 1957), 79, 83; Phelps County Genealogical Society, Phelps County, Missouri, Heritage (Rolla, Mo.: Phelps County Genealogical Society, 1992), 6; H. Craig Miner, The St. Louis-San Francisco Transcontinental Railroad: The Thirty-fifth Parallel Project, 1853-1890 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1972), 56. 3 Howard L. Conard, comp., Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri (New York: Southern History Company, 1901), s.v. "Jerome"; R. A. Campbell, Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri (St. Louis: R. A. Campbell, 1874), 435; History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, Pulaski, Phelps, and Dent Counties, Missouri (Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1889), 641, 643, 675. "A Paying Proposition " 289

Arlington's post office continued to operate, by 1901 reportedly only one occupied building remained in Jerome—the clubhouse of the Jerome Hunting and Fishing Club established by a group of St. Louis sportsmen.4 The clubhouse reflected the birth of a new industry. Jerome and Arlington began to revive around the turn of the century as the stretch of the Gasconade River at the mouth of the Little Piney became a favorite spot for fishing, boating, and other outdoor recreation. One account of nearly forty people who traveled to Arlington in June 1904 demonstrated the locale's pop­ ularity by that time. The party rented boats from local outfitters and later gathered at the Gasconade Inn for chicken and fish dinners. In the evening, the group crossed the Little Piney to an outdoor pavilion where Perry Andres (one of the boat suppliers) and other musicians furnished dance music.5 Eventually, the resort industry prompted the rejuvenation of the Jerome post office, which reopened in June 1910 after thirty-eight years of dormancy. Around 1916, Sylvester J. Bryant established Bryant Resort at Jerome. Within ten years, Bryant Resort was reputedly "one of the largest and most famous resorts in the middle west."6 The popular resorts at Arlington and Jerome gained a substantial impe­ tus in 1925 when the Missouri State Highway Department constructed a sec­ tion of Missouri Route 14 west from Rolla, bridging Little Piney Creek at Arlington. Although at first only graded and graveled, Route 14 soon became a part of U.S. Route 66, arguably one of the nation's premier transportation corridors. In tandem with the advancement of this major highway, the state's ambitious road-building program fostered increased travel and tourism. The Ozark Playgrounds Association, a group formed in 1919 to promote tourism in the region, estimated that half a million tourists visited the Ozarks in 1925 and that the numbers doubled in the 1926 vacation season to one million vis­ itors.7 Sylvester Bryant added nine cottages to his complex at Jerome in the

4 Conard, Encyclopedia, s.v. "Jerome"; Milton D. Rafferty, The Ozarks: Land and Life (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980), 172-174; "Veteran Resident Recalls Days on Gasconade in 1880s," Rolla Daily Herald, 26 August 1955, centennial edition; Walter B. Stevens, Missouri: The Center State (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1915), 3: 829- 832. 5 Rolla Herald-Democrat, 16 June 1904, reprinted in John F. Bradbury, Jr., "Summers Past in Phelps County," Newsletter of the Phelps County Historical Society, n.s., 6 (October 1992): 7. 6 J. Hoyle Mayfield, comp., "Post Offices and Postmasters," Phelps County Genealogical Society Quarterly 11 (January 1995): 28; Rolla Herald, 16 September 1926. 7 Rafferty, The Ozarks, 192; Shoemaker, Missouri and Missourians, 2: 507-523; Missouri State Highway Commission, "Plan and Profile of Proposed State Road, Phelps County, Route 14, Section 48," 1925, Plans and Records Office, Design Division, Missouri Department of Transportation, Jefferson City; Robert C. Barnett, "The Pot of Gold at the Rainbow's End," Missouri Magazine 1 (May 1928): 12; John F. Bradbury, Jr., comp., "The Early Years of Route 66," Newsletter of the Phelps County Historical Society, n.s., 8 (October 1993): 3-18. 290 Missouri Historical Review spring of 1926 to better accommodate the growing numbers of vacationers. During the next summer, Bryant brought in the Bryant Jazz Orchestra—"a dandy good orchestra"—who played in his new open-air pavilion every night. By that time, other proprietors operating resorts at Jerome included J. R. Andres, Tilden Andres, Mrs. F. K. Garey, and Mrs. Louis Hellweg. Across the river at Arlington, Judge and Mrs. G. V. Randolph operated Piney View Cottages. They opened the 1927 summer season with twenty-three guests. Other local residents rented boats for float trips or acted as guides for vaca­ tioning fishermen.8 The increasing tourism and unprecedented traffic likely prompted the investment scheme to construct a private toll bridge across the Gasconade River, linking the newly built U.S. Route 66 with the nearby Jerome resorts. Presumably, Lawrence W. Fitzpatrick, president of the St. Louis Construction Company, conceived the plan. Fitzpatrick remains an obscure figure whose

8 Rolla Herald, 8 April 1926, 9, 30 June 1927; The WPA Guide to 1930s Missouri (1941; reprint, with a foreword by Charles van Ravenswaay, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1986), 415; Dixon Pilot, 14 July 1927.

The Hellweg Summer Resort, owned and operated by Mrs. Louis Hellweg, was one of many family-owned resorts available to Jerome tourists.

Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-Rolla L CEJ p: "A Paying Proposition" 291 background is unclear. He appears, at least, to have possessed some ambi­ tion, imagination, and a degree of engineering expertise. In 1922 he was serving as vice president and treasurer of the St. Louis Bridge and Supply Company, a bridge construction company headed by W. J. Patton and J. E. Patton.9 By 1925, Fitzpatrick had formed his own St. Louis Construction Company, along with L. E. Greathouse as vice president and J. H. Keuter as secretary-treasurer. They set up offices at 906 Olive Street, St. Louis, adver­ tising as general contractors specializing in bridge construction.10 One of their first contracts was signed in late 1925 when the Gasconade County Court awarded Fitzpatrick's company nearly $15,000 to erect the three-span Miller's Ford Bridge over the Bourbeuse River. Subsequent business may have been elusive, however, as other partners joined and left Fitzpatrick in quick succession. In 1926, J. E. Williams served as the company's new vice president, Keuter had become secretary of the company, and George P. Ware the treasurer. In the following year, H. C. Grunewald became the company's third vice president while Keuter and Ware continued in their positions.11 Fitzpatrick may have proposed the idea for a toll bridge at Jerome during late 1926 to secure additional work for his company. In October 1926, Fitzpatrick paid $2,000 to the Phelps County Court for a fifty-year franchise allowing him to erect and operate a toll bridge across the Gasconade River between Jerome and Arlington. The county court reserved the right to purchase the bridge from Fitzpatrick at any time after five years. The court set toll rates at seventy-five cents for automobiles and at lesser amounts for pedestrians, horse-drawn vehicles, and livestock. Fitzpatrick then gathered local support for the project. By mid-March 1927, he had reportedly secured $30,000 in financing from unspecified sources. The Rolla Herald suggested portions of the money had come "through the efforts of the people of Jerome, united in support for this much needed bridge." Fitzpatrick had also contracted with the Missouri Bridge and Iron Company, a reputable St. Louis firm, to engineer the bridge design and fab­ ricate the steel for $39,500. He pledged to devote another $4,500 to improve the roads leading to each end of the bridge. Fitzpatrick offered the public the

9 Fitzpatrick's name does not appear in St. Louis city directories prior to 1922, nor did the author find it in the 1920 U.S. census records for Missouri. Gould's St. Louis Directory, 1922 (St. Louis: Polk-Gould Directory Company, 1922), 984, 2137, 2723. 10 Gould's St. Louis Directory, 1925 (St. Louis: Polk-Gould Directory Company, 1925), 988, 2232, 2898. 11 Clayton Fraser, comp., "Miller's Ford Bridge (GASC06)," Missouri Historic Bridge Inventory, Draft Inventory Report (Loveland, Colo.: Fraserdesign, 1996), 4: n.p.; Polk-Gould St. Louis Directory, 1926 (St. Louis: Polk-Gould Directory Company, 1926), 985, 2890, 2223; Polk-Gould St. Louis Directory, 1927 (St. Louis: Polk-Gould Directory Company, 1927), 1025, 3074, 2368. 292 Missouri Historical Review

opportunity to buy shares of stock in the toll bridge venture, promising inter­ est dividends of 7 percent. An open meeting held on March 16 in Dixon, Pulaski County, initiated some of the first stock subscriptions. The Rolla Herald reported that "Dixon is enthusiastic in its support" since the new toll bridge would cut twenty miles off of a trip to Rolla. The newspaper urged its readers to back the enterprise. "Rolla should get behind this public necessi­ ty," it declared, "and aid wherever possible in accomplishing the building of this bridge."12 The newspaper failed to report that Fitzpatrick had already won impor­ tant local backing from some of Rolla's leading citizens. On April 9, 1927, nine prominent Rolla businessmen and political leaders joined Fitzpatrick in formally incorporating the Jerome Bridge Company, which would assume the finances, oversee the construction, and manage the toll bridge operations. The men filed their articles of incorporation on April 18 after the Missouri State Highway Department had reviewed and sanctioned the general bridge design.13 Forming the three-member board of directors with Fitzpatrick, who became the company's vice president, were Charles Lewis Woods and Booker Hall Rucker.14 Charles Lewis Woods became president of the Jerome Bridge Company. Woods had been the editor and publisher of the Rolla Herald since 1899, when he married the widow of the paper's former owner. Originally a lawyer, Woods had been elected the prosecuting attorney of Phelps County in 1898, also becoming secretary of the executive committee of the Missouri School of Mines, a position he held until 1908. A fervent Democrat, Woods served as an honorary lieutenant colonel on the military staff of Governor Alexander M. Dockery from 1901 to 1905 and as an honorary colonel on the military staff of Governor Frederick D. Gardner from 1917 to 1921, from which he earned the lifelong sobriquet "Colonel Woods." While recognized as a prominent editor—he attended the World's Press Conference in 1926— Woods retained his membership in the Missouri Bar Association and in 1920

12 Phelps County Court Journal, 12 October 1926, Book S: 161-163 (microfilm), Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City; Rolla Herald, 28 October 1926, 17 March 1927, 20 February 1936. The Dixon Pilot did not mention Fitzpatrick's visit or the bridge project. 13 The Rolla Herald reported on April 14, 1927, that the approval of the bridge plans by the Missouri State Highway Department had been a cause of delay. The single blueprint sheet of the general bridge and pier designs is dated the following day, April 15. Jerome Bridge Company, "Proposed New Toll Bridge over the Gasconade River between Arlington and Jerome, Phelps County, Missouri," blueprint, 15 April 1927, Bridge No. Z-828 File, Bridge Division, Missouri Department of Transportation. 14 Rolla Herald, 17, 24 March 1927; 'Articles of Association," 9 April 1927, Jerome Bridge Company Papers, Corporations Division, Missouri State Information Center, Jefferson City. "A Paying Proposition' 293

Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-Rolla

The Main Building at Bryant's Cottages became a commissioner of the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Woods served as Rolla's mayor from 1922 to January 1927, when he resigned to take a seat in the Missouri General Assembly, succeeding Booker H. Rucker as the representative of Phelps County. In the opening days of the 1927 legislative session, Woods became a member of the House Committee on Roads and Highways, an assignment that coincided well with his new interests in the Jerome Bridge Company.15 Booker H. Rucker, the former Arlington lumberman, became secretary- treasurer of the Jerome Bridge Company. Rucker had risen to local promi­ nence after having been appointed Phelps county clerk in 1899. While serv­ ing in that capacity through 1908, Rucker became a full partner in an abstract, insurance, and real estate business. Rucker also formed the Rolla Land and Investment Company in 1904. Meanwhile, he studied law and was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1905. A leading member of the Democratic Party at the county and state levels, Rucker served as Rolla postmaster from 1915 to 1924 and as a member of the Rolla city council for six years. He also became president of the Rolla Savings and Loan Company formed in 1921.

15 Phelps County Genealogical Society, Phelps County, 420; Shoemaker, Missouri and Missourians, 4: 462-463; "Charles Lewis Woods," Missouri Historical Review 48 (April 1954): 293; Rolla Herald, 6, 27 January 1927. 294 Missouri Historical Review

Rucker was elected the Phelps County representative to the Missouri General Assembly in 1924 and had just completed his two-year term around the time the Jerome Bridge project got underway. All the while, Rucker had main­ tained his abstract and real estate business. Part of his large holdings were in and around Jerome.16 The other seven original shareholders of the Jerome Bridge Company included law partners Rowland L. Johnston and George Homer Rinehart. Johnston had recently relocated to Rolla from St. Louis. First admitted to the bar in 1894, Johnston had served three terms in the Missouri General Assembly as a representative of St. Louis County, then had been the county's prosecuting attorney, as well as the assistant circuit attorney for the City of St. Louis. Johnston moved to Rolla in the late summer of 1926, only months before the formation of the Jerome Bridge Company. A Republican, Johnston would be elected to Congress in 1928.17 Johnston's new law part­ ner, Homer Rinehart, was a Phelps County native and former schoolteacher. After serving in the army during World War I, Rinehart received his law degree and began a practice in Maries County, where he served one term as prosecuting attorney. He then moved his law practice to Rolla, becoming deputy circuit clerk within the year while working in association with Senator Frank H. Farris. Farris's death in 1926 may have prompted Rinehart to team up with Johnston. The two men handled the matters of incorporation on behalf of the bridge company.18 The remaining incorporators of the Jerome Bridge Company included Fred C. King, the successful owner of King Motor Company, an automobile dealership, and part owner of the Ozark Bus Line, which made daily trips between Rolla and Cabool; Leo W. Higley, a general agent for the Central States Life Insurance Company and a newly elected member of both the Rolla Chamber of Commerce board of directors and the Rolla school board; Henry Barker Perry, the Phelps County deputy circuit clerk; and O. W. Anderson and Sam Lewis.19 The latter two men have not been identified,

16 Shoemaker, Missouri and Missourians, 5: 467-470; Stevens, Missouri, 3: 829-832; William Rufus Jackson, ed., Missouri Democracy: A History of the Party and its Representative Members—Past and Present (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1935), 3: 171-173; Rolla Daily News, 25 January 1957. 17 Shoemaker, Missouri and Missourians, 2: 345, 348; Rolla Herald, 19 August 1926. The first advertisement for the Johnston and Rinehart law firm appeared in the November 14, 1926, issue of the Rolla Herald. 18 Shoemaker, Missouri and Missourians, 5: 500-501. In July 1928, soon after the com­ pletion of the Jerome Bridge, Rinehart dissolved his partnership with Johnston and moved his practice to Howell County, Missouri. Rolla Herald, 9 August 1928. 19 Rolla Herald, 2 December 1926; Phelps County Genealogical Society, Phelps County, 228. Advertisements for the King Motor Company appeared regularly in the Rolla Herald. Rolla Herald, 10 March, 7 April, 26 May 1927; Rolla New Era, 18 March 1927. "A Paying Proposition " 295 although initially the finances of the Jerome Bridge Company were handled by "Anderson and Lewis who are well known for ability along these lines."20 According to its articles of association, the Jerome Bridge Company started with $3,500 in cash capital. Its declared purposes were to construct and operate toll bridges and adjacent filling stations. The company issued 250 shares of preferred stock and 250 shares of common stock, all of no par value. Presumably, the stock had an actual value of $100 per share, which, when sold, would have given the bridge company $50,000 in capital. Each share of the preferred stock would earn 7 percent ($7.00) annually, payable ahead of dividends on the common stock shares. Voting power would be vested in the common stock unless payments of the annual dividends were defaulted for two consecutive years, then holders of the preferred stock would also receive voting power. Lawrence Fitzpatrick's name headed the list of incorporators. He held the most shares—thirty-five each of preferred stock and common stock. The other nine men each bought one share of com­ mon stock. The Missouri secretary of state issued the certificate of incorpo­ ration on April 20, 1927.21 Throughout spring 1927, Fitzpatrick marshalled materials and equip­ ment in preparation for the bridge construction. Rucker, as secretary-trea­ surer, garnered financial support through the sale of the company stock. Woods published advertisements for the Jerome Bridge Company that promised investors the 7 percent return from predicted earnings of $8,000 annually, "or about 2 1/2 times the interest charge on the investment." Further safeguarding the investors, the ads advised, were the guaranteed toll bridge franchise from the Phelps County Court and the approval of the over­ all bridge design from the State Highway Department.22 Covering the project in his weekly newspaper, Woods provided various reasons for his readers to back the venture. The most important reason was the potential financial gain. "From an investment standpoint," Woods wrote, "it will be a paying proposi­ tion from the day the bridge is opened. We believe it will receive fine encour­ agement from the people of Rolla and from the county."23 Woods again point­ ed out that the bridge would provide a twenty-mile shortcut from Rolla to Dixon and that Rolla businessmen would see "an increase in patronage from the now famous summer resorts of Jerome."24 The editor speculated that

20 Rolla Herald, 17 March 1927. 21 'Articles of Association," 9 April 1927, Jerome Bridge Company Papers. 22 Rolla Herald, 12 May 1927. Identical advertisements for the Jerome Bridge Company ran from June 2 through July 7. 23 Ibid., 14 April 1927. 24 Ibid., 2 June 1927. 296 Missouri Historical Review

Charles L. Wood, a Virginia native, assumed responsibility as editor and publisher of the Rolla Herald in 1899. Wood combined his journalistic back­ ground with his active political role in Missouri to help the Jerome Bridge pro­ ject become a reality.

State Historical Society of Missouri

when the highway department paved Route 66 in the foreseeable future, it would detour traffic over the Jerome Bridge. He stated that this would not only provide the company with further toll revenues, but with an improved road from Route 66 to Dixon. He further imagined that the state might even buy the bridge outright for its use on the detour.25 By mid-May, Fitzpatrick was ready to commence construction, expect­ ing to have the structure completed by September 1. Unusually heavy rains in May—almost four times the normal amount—raised the river level and delayed the start of the project until early June. Fitzpatrick rechecked his soundings of the riverbed and began shipping materials by rail to Jerome. Meanwhile, the bridge company purchased the Jerome ferry from its licensed operators, Charles and George Prewett. Woods admitted his delight that the project was underway. "No one rejoices more over the fact of the beginning of the bridge than the Editor of this paper, who is President of the Bridge Company and who with other officers have done everything to safeguard the investor." He noted that many Rolla merchants had bought stock in "this great public necessity" and urged others to do so, promising "the investment is safe and secure."26 Remarkably, over the following months, Woods's newspaper provided no further coverage on the progress of the bridge construction, although the paper did continue to run the advertisements for the Jerome Bridge Company stock into July. Curiously, the detailed construction blueprints provided to

25 Ibid., 17 March, 14 April, 2 June 1927. 26 Ibid., 2 June 1927. "A Paying Proposition " 297

Fitzpatrick by the Missouri Bridge and Iron Company were dated June and July 1927, when construction should have been well underway. In August, Fitzpatrick permanently moved his family from St. Louis to Rolla. Later that month, Fitzpatrick's bridge construction foreman, Ira Stater, was hospitalized with a severe head injury suffered on the job but was reported to be recover­ ing rapidly.27 The bridge construction did not proceed as rapidly as had been expect­ ed, for by mid-January 1928—months after the predicted completion date— the first two spans were still being erected. Felix Gamier, a St. Louis invest­ ment broker, visited the bridge site with an obvious interest in its progress. His firm, Felix Gamier and Associates, had purchased the remaining stock of the Jerome Bridge Company in return for a mortgage on the structure. Gamier was reportedly pleased with the construction and professed "no anx­ iety whatever" about the prospect of selling the remaining securities. In reporting Gamier's visit, Woods took the opportunity to solicit additional investors, assuring them that once the bridge was completed, the traffic would double from the twenty cars and trucks currently using the ferry every day. "The bridge will mean much to the business interests of Rolla and Newburg. It will open up a new trading territory that will spend thousands of dollars in these towns. Every business house, every bank and every busi­ ness man will share in the business that will come to Rolla and Newburg fol­ lowing the opening of the bridge in the early spring."28 On February 9, 1928, a few weeks after Gamier's visit, Woods and Fitzpatrick showed off the bridge to Robert P. Garrett, the vice president and treasurer of the Missouri Bridge and Iron Company, designers of the struc­ ture. By then Fitzpatrick had finished the steelwork and laid the wood deck, leaving only the completion of the roadway approaches. Satisfied with his inspection, Garrett complimented Fitzpatrick on a "beautiful job" and a "splendid bridge," remarking that he had "never seen a more perfect align­ ment."29 The Jerome Bridge opened for traffic sometime later in 1928, with no fanfare. Its prospects appeared bright with an earlier announcement that a group from Maplewood, St. Louis County, would open the Millway Haif­ a-Hill resort hotel in Jerome. In August, the Jerome Bridge Company placed

27 Ibid., 2, 9 June, 25 August, 1 September 1927; Missouri Bridge and Iron Company, Untitled Construction Drawings ("Contract No. 4831"), four blueprint sheets, 7 June, 19, 25 July 1927, Bridge No. Z-828 File. 28 Rolla Herald, 12 January 1928. 29 Ibid., 16 February 1928. 298 Missouri Historical Review a classified ad in the Rolla Herald to sell the old Jerome ferry, "including a good ferry boat, cable, and all necessary equipment. Can be seen at Jerome Bridge."30 Lawrence Fitzpatrick's supervision of the erection of the Jerome Bridge proved his expertise as a bridge construction engineer. He sited the structure at the base of a tall bluff dominating the east bank of the Gasconade, just upstream from the mouth of Little Piney Creek. Route 66 was only a third of a mile away from the bridge's east end, and Arlington another half mile beyond. Jerome stood less than half a mile north of the bridge's west end. The bridge itself consisted of four steel Pratt through truss spans, each 126 feet long. As an independently built structure, it departed from the bridge design standards employed by the Missouri State Highway Department. Two large reinforced concrete abutments on the riverbanks adequately anchored the structure but differed in type and size. The river piers were unusual cylindrical column tubes constructed of one-fourth-inch-thick riveted steel plates filled with concrete. Instead of steel beams, the lower chord members along the bottoms of the trusses consisted of thin, paired steel eyebars, and the diagonal ties of eyebars and round rods. The trusses also used outmoded pinned connections rather than riveted ones. The somewhat narrow roadway across the bridge measured only eighteen feet wide, with a deck of three- inch-thick yellow pine lumber instead of reinforced concrete. A makeshift cut-limestone retaining wall buttressed one side of the east approach.31 Having abandoned his St. Louis Construction Company, Fitzpatrick remained in Rolla, at least for a time, as an independent bridge construction engineer. Later in 1928, he completed repairs to the Mill Creek Bridge on behalf of the Phelps County Court. In early 1930, he contracted with the St. Francois County Court to erect its portion of the Blackwell Bridge over the Big River on the Jefferson County line. Fitzpatrick's later whereabouts remain unknown.32 Even while under construction, prospects formed for the Jerome Bridge becoming a part of the state highway system. In 1927, the Missouri General Assembly passed the Painter-McCawley Act, which provided for the creation of county highway commissions to designate certain county roads as supple­ mentary state highways. In May 1928, the Phelps County Highway

30 Ibid., 9 February, 23 August 1928. The ad to sell the ferry continued for two more weeks. 31 David C. Austin, "Jerome Bridge, Historic American Engineering Record, HAER No. MO-89" (Jefferson City: Cultural Resources Section, Missouri Department of Transportation, 1995), 1-24. 32 Fraser, "Blackwell Bridge (JEFF04)," Missouri Historic Bridge Inventory (Loveland Colo.: Frasierdesign, 1996), 4: n.p.; Phelps County Court Journal, 1 October 1928, Book S: 607. "A Paying Proposition " 299

Commission finalized its proposed supplementary system, including within it the three-mile-long road running from Route 66 across the new Jerome Bridge to the county line. In November 1928, Missouri voters approved Proposition No. 3, which earmarked revenues for construction of the supple­ mentary system. Charles Woods, president of the Jerome Bridge Company, remained an enthusiastic advocate for improving the state's highways. He had joined the Citizens' Good Roads Committee formed in 1927, which cam­ paigned for the passage of Proposition No. 3. As a state representative sit­ ting on the Committee on Roads and Highways, as well as a noted luminary of Phelps County, Woods probably used his influence to ensure that the Jerome Bridge became part of a state supplementary route.33 The Missouri State Highway Commission authorized the construction of other supplementary roads in Phelps County before finally approving, in May 1932, the construction of Supplementary Route D, which would utilize the Jerome Bridge. Another two years passed while the Missouri State Highway Department surveyed Route D and designed the preliminary construction plans. The department's proposed route headed directly west from the

33 Shoemaker, Missouri and Missourians, 2: 528-529; Rolla Herald, 24 May, 14 June 1928.

The piers are one of the unusual design features of the Jerome Bridge. Fitzpatrick departed from the design standards used for most state bridges.

Missouri Department of Transportation 300 Missouri Historical Review

Jerome Bridge over new ground, bypassing Jerome and continuing to Dixon. This displeased Booker Rucker, the secretary-treasurer of the Jerome Bridge Company, and by then a reelected state representative. In April 1934, Rucker headed a delegation appearing before the State Highway Commission. Rucker protested the proposed placement of Route D. He wanted the high­ way to follow the old road leading from the bridge through Jerome (where he owned some riverfront real estate). The commission ordered a "further inves­ tigation" and, at their next meeting in May, approved Representative Rucker's more lengthy and circuitous route through Jerome.34 More than a year later, on June 11, 1935, the commission awarded the construction contract for the Phelps County section of Route D. The plans called for the Jerome Bridge to continue as a privately owned toll bridge, but apparently Woods and Rucker had other ideas for their structure.35 Very like­ ly, the toll revenues had been insufficient to pay off the mortgaged debt, let alone the promised dividends. The Jerome Bridge had become a financial burden, inclining Woods and Rucker to sell it to the highway commission. On July 26, with the new Route D under construction, Rucker and Woods met with the highway commission and the heads of the highway department at Sugar Tree Lodge on the Gasconade River a few miles below Jerome. Over "an elegant chicken dinner," the men reportedly discussed the general high­ way construction program, but clearly Woods, Rucker, and the commission members spent the evening discussing the sale of the Jerome Bridge.36 Several months later at the November highway commission meeting, L. V. Stigall, the department's chief counsel, related the difficulties encountered in finalizing the purchase of the bridge. Stigall reported that a St. Louis bro­ kerage firm (likely Felix Gamier and Associates) was attempting to foreclose on the $25,000 mortgage but was encountering difficulties in securing writ­ ten permission from a two-thirds majority of the stockholders in the bridge company. The firm had been attempting to secure powers of attorney to obtain the necessary signatures. Stigall said that Woods and Rucker con­ trolled "a substantial number of the bondholders" but were "holding up the proceedings" until certain of being reimbursed for a $3,500 debt incurred on

34 "Additions to Supplementary System," 10 May 1932; "Delegation from Phelps County Concerning the Location of Route SD," 10 April 1934; "Matter of Deferred Hearings," 8 May 1934, all in Minutes of Proceedings of Missouri State Highway Commission (MSHC), Secretary's Office, Missouri State Highway Commission, Jefferson City; hereinafter cited as Minutes, MSHC. Missouri State Highway Commission, "Plan and Profile of Proposed State Road, Phelps County, Route SD, Section 2," 1935, Plans and Records Office, Design Division, Missouri Department of Transportation. 35 Missouri State Highway Commission, "Plan and Profile of Proposed State Road, Phelps County, Route SD, Section 2." 36 Rolla Herald, 1 August 1935; "Inspection Report, Bridge Over Gasconade River on Route SD, Pulaski [sic] County, at Jerome," 8 May 1935, Bridge No. Z-828 File. "A Paying Proposition " 301

Booker Hall Rucker's political involve­ ment began in 1899 when he was elect­ ed Phelps County clerk. While fully involved in the political arena on both the local and state levels, Rucker main­ tained a successful abstract, insur­ ance, and real estate business.

State Historical Society of Missouri the bridge. The commission authorized Stigall to negotiate "a proper adjust­ ment of said $3,500 indebtedness" with Woods and Rucker by adding the costs of the bridge approaches to the purchase price. The commission also ordered that an appraisal be made of the approaches.37 By early February 1936, the details of the transfer had been completed in a roundabout way. Rucker and the chief engineer of the highway depart­ ment, T. H. Cutler, had agreed to the "methods and amounts" in transferring ownership of the bridge. Rucker had obtained sole title to the structure upon foreclosure of the mortgage and had paid back taxes of $1,500. Based on appraisals by highway department engineers, Cutler placed the price of the bridge at $21,173.84, with an additional $3,658.16 for the value of the work on the approaches and roadway. The price totaled $24,832—about $14,000 less than the cost of construction. On February 11, 1936, the highway com­ mission voted to accept the bridge, pending a review of the title, and to pay Rucker out of the state road fund. The final deeds were recorded on February 17, and the Jerome Bridge became a state-owned toll-free bridge the follow­ ing day. Editor Woods seemingly took the matter in stride. "It can readily be seen that the State secured a bargain in the purchase of the bridge," Woods wrote. "Too bad the stockholders sustained a complete loss. The bond hold­ ers received about 80 cents on the dollar."38 Soon after the purchase, the

37 "Jerome Bridge in Phelps County," 12 November 1935, Minutes, MSHC. 38 "Matter of Purchase of Jerome Bridge, Route SD, Phelps County," 11 February 1936, Minutes, MSHC; Rolla Herald, 20 February 1936. 302 Missouri Historical Review

Missouri State Highway Department refurbished the rusty superstructure with a new coat of paint and replaced the deteriorated wood floor with a rein­ forced concrete deck and curbs. The Jerome Bridge continued to carry traf­ fic on Route D for another sixty years.39 With all confidence and expertise, Woods, Fitzpatrick, Rucker, and the other investors had successfully bridged the Gasconade River in an ambitious attempt to profit during the new automobile age. They believed their toll bridge would be a lucrative gateway to the vacation amenities at Jerome, while incidentally widening Rolla's trading territory. Their aspirations proved too high. The bridge evidently did not draw sufficient traffic to become profitable. The company also failed to build any associated service stations as its charter had allowed. Even though Jerome remained a popular vacation spot and a string of new tourist developments sprang up along near­ by Route 66, the ongoing Great Depression in the 1930s may have lessened the anticipated toll revenues.40 Other Missouri toll bridge enterprises of the period had mixed success­ es. In a momentous effort, the citizens of Cape Girardeau raised enough cap­ ital to complete a toll bridge across the Mississippi River in 1928; however, the Cape Girardeau Bridge Company that operated the massive structure was bankrupt within four years.41 In contrast, a group from Hermann and Gasconade formed the Gasconade Bridge Company in 1930 and successful­ ly operated their toll bridge at the mouth of the Gasconade River until 1958.42 The failure of the Jerome Bridge Company to generate easy profits for its investors perhaps reflected the overconfidence characteristic of many finan­ cial ventures during the legendary exuberance of the late 1920s.

39 Scheduled for replacement in 1996, the Jerome Bridge has since been removed. "Inspection Report," 8 May 1935, Bridge No. Z-828 File; "Award of Contracts for Materials for the Repair of Bridges," 9 November 1936, Minutes, MSHC. 40 John F. Bradbury, Jr., "Route 66 East to West: A Self-guided Tour Through Phelps County," Newsletter of the Phelps County Historical Society, n.s., 9 (April 1994): 23-24; Elbert I. Childers and John F. Bradbury, Jr., "Basketville and the Roadside Craftspeople on Route 66," Missouri Historical Review 91 (October 1996): 24-26; C. H. "Skip" Curtis, The Missouri U S Route 66 Tour Book (Lake St. Louis, Mo.: Curtis Enterprises, 1994), 14-15, 108-111. The WPA's guide to Missouri described Jerome as "a sprawling fishing resort" of about two hun­ dred people, with boats and guides available for fishing and float trips. The WPA Guide to 1930s Missouri, 415. 41 Mary Harriet Talbut, "The Bridge That Spanned the Great Depression," Missouri Historical Review 88 (January 1994): 176-188; Lawrence L. Ayres and David C. Austin, "Cape Girardeau Bridge, Historic American Engineering Record, HAER No. MO-84," (Jefferson City: Cultural Resources Section, Missouri Department of Transportation, 1995), 1-38. 42 David C. Austin, "Gasconade Bridge, Historic American Engineering Record, HAER No. MO-82," (Jefferson City: Cultural Resources Section, Missouri Department of Transportation, 1994), 1-34. Show Me Missouri History: Celebrating the Century Part 2

BY LINDA BROWN-KUBISCH and CHRISTINE MONTGOMERY*

To commemorate the turn of the twentieth century, the State Historical Society of Missouri is producing a video that will survey the last one hundred years in the Show Me State. The following is the second installment of excerpts from that project. Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs are from the Society's collections.

*Linda Brown-Kubisch is a reference specialist at the State Historical Society of Missouri. She received the M.A. degree in history from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Christine Montgomery, photograph specialist at the State Historical Society of Missouri, has a B.A. degree in fine arts from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion.

303 304 Missouri Historical Review

After the fighting ended with the armistice on November 11, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson joined other world leaders at the Paris Peace Conference to develop a treaty ending the First World War. The resulting Versailles Treaty contained a controversial covenant, which would create the League of Nations. To garner popular support for the League, Wilson under­ took a whirlwind tour of the country in 1919 that took him to twenty-nine cities in twenty-two days. The tour was cut short when Wilson collapsed in ill health in Colorado. Despite modifications to the initial draft, a Republican- controlled Congress rejected the treaty in 1920. After Warren G. Harding

President Wilson visited St. Louis to rally support for the League of Nations. Republican Senator James A. Reed (right) opposed the League, fearing membership would allow small nations to interfere in U.S. affairs.

* %<• ' ;--. '""*"* K - Wfr ?mSk ff^Jfjfcf* -- e* «, IBBJiBB^1 it ^ _^ ^AiA^^^^^l

HykCj v- 4JHBI • ^ f«BpgMg| ^^^^^^^^fl Celebrating the Century 305 became president in 1921, separate treaties between the United States and Germany and Austria officially ended World War I. With Harding's death in August 1923, Vice President Calvin Coolidge became president.

Charles Trefts Collection, SHS Daniel Fitzpatrick's "The Cash Register Chorus" illustrates the popularity of Coolidge's "hands-off" economic policy with certain segments of the population. The Southwestern Bell Telephone building in St. Louis was an impressive thirty-three stories high. For the first time in the country's history, city dwellers outnumbered the rural population. Industrial production boomed, and wages for skilled and unskilled laborers increased. As electricity and indoor plumbing became more widely available, urban homeowners could take advantage of new and improved labor-saving devices such as wringer washing machines and vacu­ um cleaners. Kansas City and St. Louis remained the state's largest manu­ facturing centers with a diverse array of industries. St. Louis ranked first in the boot and shoe industry, while Kansas City claimed the distinction of being the largest marketplace for farm tractors, hay, clay products, Hereford cattle, and winter wheat. A construction boom gave a new skyline to the

Gerald Massie, SHS 306 Missouri Historical Review

Washington University professor David F. Houston served as Wilson's secretary of agriculture from 1913 to 1919. By 1925 farm foreclosures were "A Sign of the Times." cities as each builder attempted to make the next office building, hotel, or apartment building the tallest. New factories incorporated electricity to power machinery and assembly lines. While their urban neighbors took advantage of modern amenities, few Missouri farm families enjoyed indoor plumbing or access to electricity. Despite ranking fifth nationwide in agricultural production, farmers faced difficult times after the prosperity experienced during the war. Encouraged by the government to increase production, farmers had purchased more land to cultivate and increased their output. Commodity prices collapsed when European recovery decreased the foreign demand for American agricultural products. While prices for products remained low, the cost of machinery, land, labor, and taxes continued to climb. Farm values declined, and many banking institutions, especially in rural areas, failed.

•JSKV >v*yr Celebrating the Century 307

Mrs. Frank Leach, the "Spirit of Missouri," and her attendants performed at the centennial state fair in 1921.

Between 1910 and 1920, Missouri dropped from the fifth largest state in population to the ninth largest. In an effort to attract new businesses, Missouri boosters hosted a giant celebration commemorating the state's one- hundredth birthday. In August 1921, the Missouri Centennial Exposition and State Fair in Sedalia featured history pageants and exhibits, a flying circus, agricultural and manufacturing displays, and an auto race to promote the state. The State Fair Board, which operated under the direction of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, published a handbook of suggestions on how to celebrate the centennial. Recommendations included forming a local

The St. Charles community unveiled a plaque at the site of the state's first capitol building in 1921. 308 Missouri Historical Review THE DEMO€UAT-TRlBUNE. jEflgr.»*3ft" JfcfrJrTKSON UTY. MJSSOUH1 fm'RhOAY, US DRY

historical society, erecting historical markers, producing school pageants, sponsoring essay contests, and publishing a local history. Prohibition and women's suffrage continued to be major social concerns. Beginning in the late 1800s, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League struggled to ban the production, sale, and transportation of liquor. Carry A. Nation, who lived at various times in Holden and Belden, became famous for using a hatchet to wreck saloons. Clara Cleghorn Hoffman, president of the Missouri chapter of the WCTU for over twenty years, became one of the movement's most effective leaders. During her tenure, the Missouri General Assembly passed a "local option" law, which stated that a majority of voters in any county or city with a pop­ ulation of at least 2,500 could adopt prohibition. At Hoffman's death in 1908, 81 of Missouri's 114 counties had outlawed saloons. In 1919, Missouri Governor Frederick D. Gardner signed the Eighteenth Amendment, which continued prohibition for fourteen years.

Like Clara Hoffman, Carry A. Nation (right) did not live to see passage of the Prohibition Amendment. Nation died in 1911. Celebrating the Century 309

Governor Frederick Gardner signed the Nineteenth Amendment, insuring women suf­ frage, on July 3, 1919, just months after the state legislature had passed the amend­ ment on prohibition.

Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 gave women the right to vote. In 1922, Missourians elected their first women legislators: Mellcene Thurman Smith represented the Second District of St. Louis, and Sarah Lucille Turner became representative of Jackson County's Sixth District. In 1910, Tony Benoist piloted the inaugural airplane flight at Kinloch Aviation Field in St. Louis. The world's first parachute jump from an air-

Mellcene Smith (left) and Sarah Lucille Turner (right) were the first two women elect­ ed to the Missouri legislature. 310 Missouri Historical Review

Bellevue Valley Historical Society, Caledonia After reading a how-to manual, Tony Benoist built and piloted his own airplane with­ out the benefit of a flight instructor. Benoist opened the first business in St. Louis that sold only aviation parts and became an innovator in hydroplane design. plane took place in that city in 1912. Albert Berry jumped fifteen hundred feet from a plane operated by Tony Jannus. The men wanted to demonstrate the efficiency of flying machines and parachutes in facilitating military com­ munications. Thanks to the work of early pioneers like these, the U.S. gov­ ernment put planes and parachutes to military use for the first time during World War I.

Tony Jannus (left) and Albert Berry (right) successfully com­ pleted the world's first para­ chute jump from an airplane in 1912. Berry attached the parachute to the plane with rubber bands designed to break away under his weight, allowing him to drop into Jefferson Barracks. Celebrating the Century 311

After the war, veteran and novice flying enthusiasts purchased stock­ piled military airplanes and began barnstorming throughout the state. In 1921, St. Louis resident Marie Meyer broke into the male-dominated world of aviation by performing aerial maneuvers at aviation shows across the state. In 1924 she formed the Marie Meyer Flying Circus with her pilot and hus­ band, Charles Fower of Macon. Airman Charles A. Lindbergh achieved worldwide fame in 1927 when he flew nonstop from New York to Paris. A group of St. Louis businessmen had provided Lindbergh's financing so he named his plane The Spirit of St. Louis. The daring flight earned the young

Tony Jannus and William Trefts took off from St. Louis in a Benoist hydroplane on a journey from Omaha to New Orleans. Completing the trip in a record thirty days, the pilots presented the mayor of New Orleans with a case of St. Louis-made Lemp Falstaff beer.

Charles Trefts Collection, SHS

Marie Meyer Fower scrapbook, Macon Public Library

As part of her flying circus, Marie Meyer (above) performed many death-defying feats, such as wing walking. 312 Missouri Historical Review

Charles Trefts Collection, SHS

Before taking off on his transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh flew airmail deliver­ ies between St. Louis and Chicago for the Robertson Aircraft Corporation. pilot a $25,000 monetary prize along with numerous badges, awards, medals, and trophies. St. Louis University station WEW introduced Missourians to the radio in April 1921. Other stations quickly followed. Early radio transmissions included weather, music, and market reports. University of Missouri School of Journalism graduate Mary Margaret McBride became one of Missouri's

Charles Lindbergh posed beside his famous plane during a St. Louis stopover. Songs like "Hello Lindy " and dances such as the Lindy Hop helped promote Lindbergh as a cultural hero.

, :Wtw %e 0j|ic,orSpintofSl.QBiis VeUii«»So^ 'HELLO L1NDT Celebrating the Century 313

Oliver and Goldena Howard, SHS

Mary McBride (right) interviewed Missouri author and historian Goldena Howard. best-known radio personalities during the 1920s and 1930s. McBride moved to New York after her graduation in 1919 and broadcast interviews with celebrities from station WOR. By 1934, Jane Froman, "the blues singing coed from Missouri University," was the number-one female vocalist on radio. After growing up in Clinton, Froman went on to sing with bands under the leadership of Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman. After changing their name from the Perfectos in 1899, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Yankees to win the 1926 World Series. The

Western Historical Manuscript Collection, Columbia

Jane Froman, pictured here with her mother, Clinton native Anna Barcafer Froman, suffered serious injuries in a 1943 plane crash. Despite numerous surgeries and continual pain, the singer went on to star in several Broadway plays and to host a television program from 1952 to 1955. 314 Missouri Historical Review

Sportsman's Park, home of the St. Louis Cardinals, became Busch Stadium in 1953. After a series of expansions, the stadium was torn down and replaced by present-day Busch Memorial Stadium in 1966.

Cardinals played in Robison Park until 1920, when they began sharing Sportsman's Park on Grand Avenue with the American League's St. Louis Browns. Branch Rickey, president and manager of the Cardinals, developed the "farm system" in 1919. Players would be "farmed" out to the minor leagues, and those who demonstrated significant improvement would be pro­ moted to the majors. Springfield served as the Cardinals' farm and sent play­ ers including Blix Donnelly, Stan Musial, and Joe Garagiola on to enjoy major-league careers.

Cardinal "Gas House Gang" members, brothers Jay "Dizzy" Dean and Paul "Daffy" Dean, delighted fans with their antics and were instrumental in winning the 1934 World Series. Hollywood movie stars George Raft and Joe E. Brown enjoyed one of the games.

Photos from the Charles Trefts Collection, SHS Celebrating the Century 315

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Kansas City Monarchs, 1924 Founded in Kansas City in 1920, the National Negro Baseball League provided opportunities for minorities to play ball in a segregated sport. The Kansas City Monarchs won the first Negro League World Series in 1924. With thirty-seven seasons of play, the Monarchs maintained the longest-run­ ning Negro League franchise. Once Monarch player John Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson broke the color-barrier by playing with Branch Rickey's Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, other Negro League baseball greats such as Satchel Paige, Ernie Banks, Elston Howard, Hank Thompson, John "Buck" O'Neil, and Willard "Home Run" Brown moved on to the major leagues.

Jackie Robinson, first row, second from left, played for the Monarchs in 1945.

Both photos on this page are courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, N.Y. 316 Missouri Historical Review

Zoe Akins Sara Teas dale Missouri served as the birthplace of a number of nationally known writ­ ers. Poet Zoe Akins began her career as a writer and drama critic for Marion Reedy's St. Louis weekly, The Mirror, in 1905. Born in Humansville, Akins moved from St. Louis to New York where she achieved further fame as a playwright. St. Louis native Sara Teasdale's first published poem appeared in Reedy's Mirror in 1907. Teasdale won the Poetry Society of America's annual prize in 1917 for Love Songs and the Columbia University Poetry Society prize in 1918. Joplin-born James Langston Hughes published his first book of poems, Weary Blues, in 1926. Besides poetry, his impressive writing career included short stories, novels, plays, song lyrics, and two auto­ biographies.

Joplin Museum Complex Born and reared in Joplin, Langston Hughes stated that writing fueled his desire to "explain and illumi­ nate the Negro condition in America." Celebrating the Century 317

Missouri author and humorist Homer Croy grew up on the family farm near Maryville.

Homer Croy, of Maryville, enjoyed his first literary success in 1923 with the publication of his best-selling novel, West of the Water Tower. Croy's experiences growing up in Maryville provided the background for much of his work. St. Louis native Fannie Hurst graduated from Washington University in 1909 and later became the highest-paid short story writer in America. Her novels and collections of short stories, including Four Daughters, Back Street, Lumox, and Humoresque, became best-sellers and were made into popular motion pictures. While serving pastorates in Kansas, and later in Kansas City and Lebanon, Harold Bell Wright spent his summers in the Missouri Ozarks. During his stays there, he formed relationships with people who served as the basis for the characters in his 1907 best-selling novel, Shepherd of the Hills.

Harold Bell Wright Fannie Hurst

llti- Jl • • • 318 Missouri Historical Review

During the 1920s, many women bobbed their hair, gave up the corset for the brassiere, and shortened their hemlines. They joined the workforce in increasing numbers but remained largely confined to professions traditionally open to women: teach­ ing, nursing, and social work.

Attorney Clarence Darrow called MU zoology profes­ sor Winterton C. Curtis as a witness for the defense in the famous 1925 Scopes trial. The Tennessee court found teacher John Scopes guilty of teaching evolu­ tion theory. In 1927 an anti-evolution bill was defeated in the Missouri legislature.

During Governor Sam A. Baker's administra­ tion (1925-1929), the Missouri legislature passed the Workmen's Compensation Act and authorized the state to raise $75,000,000 for road construction. Celebrating the Century 319

Opera houses and vaudeville venues such as the Stephens Opera House in Boonville (right) were often converted to movie theaters during the 1920s. The Fox Theatre in St. Louis opened as a combination movie and stage theater in 1929. Charles Trefts Collection, SHS

Silent motion picture shows provided entertainment at the turn of the century. A local organist or piano player supplied the accompaniment. In 1928 technology integrated sound with film, and Technicolor added another feature in the late 1930s. One of Hollywood's most prominent producers, Walt Disney, spent his childhood on a farm near Marceline and in Kansas City, where he attended Benton Grammar School. In Kansas City, Disney did freelance artwork and developed ideas for animated cartoons, which led him to Hollywood. He created the world's best-known cartoon character, Mickey Mouse, in 1928. Five years later, Disney won an Academy Award for his first full-color animated cartoon, Three Little Pigs.

© Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Walt Disney 320 Missouri Historical Review

Daniel Fitzpatrick's "The History of 1929" illustrates the radical changes brought about by the 1929 economy. Caught between inadequate federal policies and the constraints of the state's mandate for a balanced budget, Missouri Governor Henry Caulfield (1929-1933) could only apportion what little money remained in the state's treasury.

By 1929 the value of Missouri's products reached more than $1.9 mil­ lion, and the state ranked eleventh in total value of products manufactured. Extravagant speculation, credit, and reckless installment buying character­ ized much of the prosperity of the 1920s. When the stock market crashed in 1929, Missouri became part of the worst economic depression in the nation's history. In previous hard times, a predominantly agrarian population man­ aged to grow their own food, but by 1930, 51 percent of Missouri's popula­ tion lived in urban areas and depended on a paycheck to provide necessities. By 1932 unemployment in the U.S. hit 33 percent.

Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-St. Louis

President Herbert Hoover's unwillingness to provide direct monetary relief drove many of the homeless and unemployed to live in shacks, which became known as Hoovervilles. Celebrating the Century 321

Democratic presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt visited St. Louis in October 1932 and advocated "New Deal" programs to stimulate the American economy. Impressed by what they heard, the majority of Missouri voters cast their ballots for Roosevelt. During the Roosevelt administration, Congress passed numerous emergency bills establishing agencies to regulate banking, provide relief for the poor, and attempt to increase agricultural and industrial production. More importantly, the New Deal introduced measures to provide job opportunities for the unemployed. The Civilian Conservation Corps, known as the CCC, enlisted young men to work on conservation projects. Over one hundred thousand men worked on Missouri projects between 1934 and 1942.

White women found employment canning in relief factories like this one in St. Joseph. Black women worked in the can­ nery laundry.

This Works Progress Administration crew fixed sidewalks in St. Louis.

Axt Witman, photographer, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-St. Louis

Community relief gardens allowed urban residents the opportunity to grow their own produce.

\^K^IK^UI Minx, uic- y^^invit \ 322 Missouri Historical Review

Civilian Conservation Corps camps, like the one at Deer Run, provided temporary housing, food, and jobs. CCC crews built roads around the newly constructed Bagnell Dam and the Lake of the Ozarks. In 1929, Union Electric Light and Power Townsend Godsey Collection, SHS Company of St. Louis started con­ struction of Bagnell Dam, one of the few major projects carried through during the Great Depression. In addition to the employment of CCC road crews, construction of the dam created 20,500 needed jobs.

Charles Trefts Collection, SHS

CCC crews planted trees and built roads, cabins, trails, shelters, and bridges in ten of Missouri's state parks. The Resettlement Administration offered emergency help in relocating farmers and provided temporary loans for feed, seed, and livestock. Its suc­ cessor agency, the Farm Security Administration, also assisted low-income families with loans, technical knowledge, and new homes, but a loophole in government policy allowed farm owners to deny sharecroppers their portion of the payment. In mid-January 1939, many Bootheel sharecroppers moved onto the rights-of-way along Routes 60 and 61 to protest their plight. The strike in southeastern Missouri ultimately led to reform in sharecropping rights.

Despite the cold weather, embarrassed officials, and angry landowners, the Bootheel strike continued. The strikers founded Cropperville, near Poplar Bluff, and the gov­ ernment finally assisted the community by providing housing. Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-St. Louis

324 Missouri Historical Review Celebrating the Century 323

An escalating crime rate con­ tributed to the end of the "Noble Experiment." Governor Guy Park signed the "Beer Bill" as prohibition ended in 1933.

Townsend Godsey Collection, SHS

Missouri voters helped to return Franklin Roosevelt to the White House in the presi­ dential election of 1936.

Governor Lloyd Stark (1937-1941) presented the first check drawn from the Missouri Unemployment Trust Fund in 1939. 324 Missouri Historical Review

Despite attempts by both Democrats and Republicans to fight corruption in city government, Tom "Boss" Pendergast maintained a firm hold on Kansas City for twenty-eight years. After he assumed control of the politi­ cal machine created by his older brother, Jim, in the 1910s, Pendergast grew so powerful that even state office seekers found it necessary to gain his sup­ port to secure office. The Great Depression provided Pendergast the oppor­ tunity to strengthen his hold by offering his constituency food, shelter, and Works Progress Administration jobs in exchange for party loyalty. With Pendergast in charge, bootlegged liquor flowed freely in the nightclubs of Kansas City.

Pendergast fostered local support by distrib­ uting food baskets to Kansas City's unem­ ployed in front of Democratic headquar­ ters in 1932. [Goin to Kansas City Collection, Courtesy Kansas City Museum, Kansas City, MO, and Bernard Ragan] Celebrating the Century 325

Black Archives of Mid-America The Corner of Eighteenth and Vine Streets, Kansas City

Around Eighteenth and Vine Streets, in the heart of the Kansas City African American community, the nightlife proved to be the perfect environ­ ment for the development of Kansas City jazz. The depression limited trav­ el for bands such as Andy Kirk's 12 Clouds of Joy, Bennie Moten's Band, the Blue Devils, the Jay McShann Orchestra, and the Kansas City Rockets. Some of the most famous names in twentieth-century music got their start in Kansas City: Count Basie, Charlie "Bird" Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Mary Lou Williams, among others. Integrated audiences enjoyed the music in the African American district venues. Clubs in major hotels such as the Plantation Room at the Muehlbach and the Casbah Room at the Hotel Bellerive, however, served only white audiences. In 1939, Pendergast's reign as "Boss" of Kansas City ended with his conviction on charges of tax evasion. Along with the collapse of the Pendergast machine and the waning of the depression, Kansas City's jazz era

Born and reared in Kansas City, Bennie Moten helped define Kansas City's big band sound. Friendly with Pendergast, Moten controlled many of the music jobs in town. Count Basie joined the popular orchestra in 1929. When Moten died from complications during a tonsil­ lectomy in 1935, Basie formed his own band with some of the orchestra members and the Blue Devils. [Goin' to Kansas City Collection, Courtesy Kansas City Museum, Kansas City, MO, and Herman Walder] 326 Missouri Historical Review

Fulton High School coach W. B. Moore (above) thought his watch was broken the first time he clocked Helen Stephens.

began to decline as musicians moved on to opportunities opening up in New York and Chicago. During the 1936 Olympic Games held in Germany, U.S. track star Helen Stephens, known as the "Fulton Flash," won gold medals in the 100-meter race and the 400-meter relay. Overall, American athletes gave a strong show­ ing in the Olympics, which were marred by the politics of the Third Reich.

The successes of Helen Stephens and teammate Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the Olympics, helped women and African Americans gain respect in the world of sports. When Hitler realized his photo had been taken with the eighteen-year- old American track star, he knocked the cam­ era from the photographer's hands.

Photos courtesy of William Woods University, Fulton, MO, alma mater of Helen Stephens Celebrating the Century 327

German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's aggression into Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland caused much anxiety in the western world dur­ ing the 1930s. Most Missourians did not want the U.S. to become involved in another European war. In an effort to assist the Allied powers without negating its neutral status, the United States passed the 1941 Lend-Lease Act, allowing the government to "lend or lease" munitions to England and France.

The Lend-Lease Act of 1941 helped end the depression as workers found employment in ordnance factories like this one in St. Louis. Art Witman, photographer, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-St. Louis 328 Missouri Historical Review

The legislation prompted a manufacturing boom for munitions industries, and Missouri's economy began to recover as thousands of workers found employment in these factories. On December 7, 1941, Japan launched an aerial attack on the U.S. mil­ itary installation at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Sedalia resident Lieutenant George Whiteman, for whom Whiteman Air Force Base is named, was the first Missouri casualty. As a result of the raids in the Pacific, the U.S. declared war on Japan on December 8, followed by a declaration of war against Germany and Italy on December 11.

To celebrate a recent promotion, Whiteman sent his parents this photo of himself short­ ly before his death, with the inscription, "O lucky, lucky me!"

[to be continued] 329 NEWS IN BRIEF

The watercolors and drawings of St. school, which will focus on one of French Louis-born artist Charles W. Schwartz are on colonial Ste. Genevieve's intriguing myster­ display through April in the State Historical ies—the late-eighteenth-century Kern- Society's art gallery. Schwartz, a self-taught Delassus House. For further information artist and photographer, combined his artistic contact Dr. Bonnie Stepenoff, History talents with his scientific training as a biolo­ Department, Southeast Missouri State gist and became a nationally renowned, University, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. award-winning wildlife illustrator and film­ maker. The pencil and ink drawings exhibit­ Several tour groups visited the Society's ed are but a few of the four hundred original libraries and gallery in November and illustrations created for The Wild Mammals of December. They included beginning geneal­ Missouri. The book, by Schwartz and his ogy class members from the Columbia Adult wife, Elizabeth, presents facts about sixty- Education Center, elementary students in art two species of mammals. and history classes from Lee Elementary School in Columbia, and education classes Southeast Missouri State University and from the University of Missouri-Columbia. the Missouri Department of Natural Resources will present the fourth annual On December 5, 1999, over fifty guests Historic Preservation Field School in Ste. attended a reception to mark the closing of Genevieve from June 13 through July 7, the Gary R. Lucy exhibit in the Society's art 2000. Dr. Bonnie Stepenoff will direct the gallery.

THE LEWIS E. ATHERTON PRIZE The State Historical Society of Missouri seeks nominations for the first Lewis E. Atherton Prize, to be awarded to an outstanding master's thesis on Missouri history or biogra­ phy. Criteria for selection include originality of subject matter or methodology, effective use of sources, clarity of style, and contribution to the understanding of Missouri history. The Lewis E. Atherton Prize honors an outstanding scholar of the history of Missouri, the South, and the West, who taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia and served as a trustee and president of the State Historical Society of Missouri. Nominations must be made by the department that granted the degree, and no more than two nominations are accepted annually from each department. Nominees must have complet­ ed the master's degree between July 1, 1998, and June 30, 2000. The award is given at the dis­ cretion of the Lewis E. Atherton Prize Committee, comprising three individuals selected by the executive director of the Society. The recipient receives a $300 cash prize and a certificate, which will be presented at the Society's annual meeting in October 2000. Three copies of the thesis should be mailed to James W. Goodrich, Executive Director, State Historical Society of Missouri, 1020 Lowry, Columbia, MO 65201-7298. The deadline for receipt is July 1, 2000. This is an alternating award, with master's theses considered in even-numbered years and doctoral dissertations in odd-numbered years. The second competition, to be held in 2001, will consider dissertations on Missouri history or biography completed between July 1, 1999, and June 30, 2001. 330

LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETIES

Adair County Historical Society place on December 5. Members sponsored a The November 8 program at the Travelers Carol Sing on December 19. The Society's Hotel in Kirksville featured Patricia Luebbert new publication, Audrain County Reflections of the Missouri State Archives. Luebbert pre­ of the Past: A Pictorial History, 1945-2000, sented "State Archives: What Resources are by Gayle Messer, is now available. For There and How Can They be Helpful to Local ordering information contact the Society at County People." Adair County high school P.O. Box 398, Mexico, MO 65265. seniors Mandy Reese, Bobbi Bradley, and Sapphira Booth received history awards, Ballwin Historical Society comprising a certificate and a $100 savings Members held business meetings on bond, from the Society. Ellen K. Davison, November 9 and January 11 at the Govern­ longtime curator of the Society, passed away ment Center. Bob Parkin's report on the his­ in January. Officers for the 2000-2001 term tory and genealogy of John Ball, founder of are Pat Ellebracht, president; Walter Davison, Ballwin, is available. Jr., vice president; Claire Jepson, secretary; and Denise Treasure, treasurer. The Society Barry County Genealogical meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month and Historical Society at 211 South Elson, in Kirksville. The Society meets the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 P.M. at the Cassville Affton Historical Society Community Building in Cassville. The twenty-second annual Santa's House for children of all ages took place November Barton County Historical Society 27 through December 7. Children visited Nearly fifty-five members attended a with Santa, attended a puppet show, and quarterly meeting at the United Methodist received a cookie from Mrs. Claus. Nearly Law Chapel in Lamar on January 30. Judge twenty-five hundred people attended the Charles D. Curless presented "The Court event held at the Oakland House. Society System in Missouri." members attended the annual Christmas party at Oakland on December 11. Bates County Historical Society Andrew County Museum Society members participated in a show- and Historical Society and-tell program at the monthly meeting at The director/curator of the Andrew the Stagecoach Depot in the museum in County Museum in Savannah, Patrick S. Butler on January 13. Clark, received a 1999 Governor's Humanities Award on October 14 for his Belton Historical Society "exemplary public involvement" with the Officer Bill Peek, of the Belton Police museum. Members and guests attended the Department, discussed the DARE program Winter Event, "Christmases of the 20th training at the January 23 meeting. The Century," at the museum on December 3. Society meets on the fourth Sunday of Volunteers have refurbished an exhibit of January, April, July, and October in the Old Navajo weavings, cleaning and preparing City Hall in Belton. The museum is open them for rolled storage. The museum is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, Monday through Saturday, 10:00 A.M.-4:00 1:00-4:00 P.M. P.M., and Sunday, 1:00-4:00 P.M. Boone County Historical Society Audrain County Historical Society The Society has a number of exhibits in The Society's annual Christmas Tea took place at the Walters-Boone County Historical Historical Notes and Comments 331

Museum in Columbia: Bringing the Sabbath the annual Christmas Holiday Headquarters to Boone County: Early Churches 1817- on the square in Carrollton. Officers for 2000 1860; County Lessons: Early Schoolhouses include Lillie Audsley, president; Mary Lou in Boone County, Hot off the Press: News Wolf and Lois Forsythe, vice presidents; from Boone County; Museum Medley; Boone Margaret Gentry, secretary; and Katy County: Crossroads of the New Frontier, Schlueter, treasurer. Boone County Merchants: The Earth Family; Jane Froman: The Voice of the Century', and Cass County Historical Society Child's Play: Games, Toys and Fun in Boone Robert E. Kennedy presented "History of County. Exhibits in the Montminy Gallery Pleasant Hill" during the 1999 annual meet­ include Threads of Inspiration, showing until ing on November 13 at Pearson Hall in May 30. This exhibit presents childhood Harrisonville. The Society participated in the sketches, paintings, and drawings by Tracy Harrisonville annual Country Christmas Montminy. Also on display until May 30 is event on December 4. Three Centuries of Textiles, which includes household furnishings and artwork that docu­ ment women's ongoing interest in using fiber Cedar County Historical Society arts to enhance the quality of life. Lowell Meyers, of Humansville, dis­ cussed the conception and completion of his Boone-Duden Historical Society first book at the November 29 meeting held at The Society sponsored an open house at the county museum in Stockton. the Kamphoefner House in New Melle on December 27. Walter D. Kamphoefner, a Centralia Historical Society native of St. Charles County and a professor The Society's Salute to Veterans exhibit of history at Texas A & M University, shared on display October 17-November 21 includ­ information about German emigration to ed military uniforms, photos, and newsclip- Warren, Franklin, and St. Charles Counties at pings from World War I and World War II. the December 29 meeting held at St. Vincent More than two hundred visitors and members De Paul School in Dutzow. attended the annual Christmas Open House at the museum on December 4-5 and 11-13. Brush and Palette Club This year's theme focused on Christmas Club members met on January 18 in the around the world, spotlighting holiday tradi­ Gasconade County Historical Society meet­ tions from various countries. ing room in Hermann. Elected officers for 2000 include Lois Puchta, president and trea­ Chariton County Historical Society surer; Horace Hesse, vice president; and Rita Louise Haston Rice shared her Civil War Thomas, secretary. The Club recently pub­ family Bible with Society members at the lished the third in a series of color postcards quarterly meeting at the museum in Salisbury featuring Hermann-area landmarks and on January 16. scenes. The third card features the Missouri River Bridge at sunset. Civil War Round Table of St. Louis Carondelet Historical Society Herman Hattaway, professor of history at Roger Linden, "Magician Extraor­ the University of Missouri-Kansas City, dis­ dinaire," entertained guests at the Society's cussed the presidency of Jefferson Davis at Christmas party on December 12 at the the December 1 meeting. Michael E. Carondelet Historic Center. Banasik presented "The Battle of Prairie Grove: Myths, Legends, and Truths" at the Carroll County Historical Society January 26 gathering. The Round Table In December, Society members hosted meets at the Two Hearts Banquet Center. 332 Missouri Historical Review

Clay County Archives Friends of Arrow Rock and Historical Library Members gathered for the Friends' forti­ The annual membership meeting took eth anniversary celebration dinner at Prairie place at the Old Country Buffet on November Park, the home of Day and Whitney Kerr, on 6. Joe Kelly, of the 1859 Historic Jail in October 23. Life member Gladys Thomas Independence, discussed the Civil War in announced a gift of $100,000 to the Friends eastern Kansas and western Missouri. to be used for the renovation of the Dee Officers for the 2000 term include Patty Lawless house. The Friends have placed two Rendon, president; Kevin Fisher and Bill new historical markers, one at the site of the Hawkins, vice presidents; Stuart Elliott, trea­ Arrow Rock Cemetery and the other at the surer; and Sallie Hobbs and Carol Olson, sec­ site of Memorial Presbyterian Church and retaries. The Archives and Library in Liberty General Thomas A. Smith's home, are open Monday through Wednesday, 10:00 "Experiment." The organization has received A.M.-4:00 P.M., and 6:30-9:00 P.M. the first a $10,000 "Millennial Visions" grant from Wednesday of each month. the National Endowment for the Humanities to help develop new touring experiences. Students and interns from Missouri Valley Dallas County Historical Society College in Marshall will assist the Friends Chris Keller accompanied a sing-along with the project. following the Society's potluck supper at the Buffalo Head Prairie Historical Park in Buffalo on November 18. The annual meet­ Friends of Historic Boonville ing took place on December 3 in the Crescent Terry and Angie Smith received the School located in the historical park. Friends' 1999 "Volunteers of the Year" award at the annual meeting. Officers for 2000 DeKalb County Historical Society include Janice Casanova, president; Ron The October window display at the muse­ Lenz, vice president; and Danny Kammerich, um in Maysville honored Halloweens of yes­ treasurer. teryear. The November Veterans Day win­ dow display celebrated the one hundred-year Friends of Jefferson Barracks anniversary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The Friends received a $10,000 grant Sharon Martin was installed as first vice pres­ from Union Electric to fund outdoor lighting ident at the November meeting. for the facility.

Dent County Historical Society Gasconade County Historical Society On November 10, members gathered for a On February 5, the Society held its annu­ Thanksgiving dinner and business meeting at al dinner dance at the Immaculate the Walnut Bowl Restaurant in Salem. Conception parish hall in Owensville. The Clifton Brown presented a program on fami­ Blue Knights provided music for the event, ly genealogy research at the January 14 meet­ which raised funds for the Society's museum ing. Officers for 2000 include Deloris Gray in Owensville. Society members gathered in Wood, president; Ken Fiebelman, vice presi­ the Gasconade County Courthouse in dent; Carolyn Tilford, secretary; and Virginia Hermann on February 6 to hear Kenneth West, treasurer. Winn, director of the Missouri State Archives, discuss the importance of local Ferguson Historical Society archives. Officers for the 2000 term are Society officers for the 2000 term include Edwin L. Langenberg, president; Herbert Peggy Tucker McDonald, president; Ank Lindroth, vice president; Harlan Tappmeyer Historical Notes and Comments 333

German-Austrian-Swiss Heritage Grundy County Historical Society and Historical Society of the Ozarks The Society meets the second Monday of More than 140 Society members attended each month at the museum in Trenton. The a "German Twelfth Day of Christmas museum will be open on weekends, 1:00- Commemorative Meeting" on January 8 at 4:00 P.M., May through October. Old St. Peter's German Church in Billings. The event included music by Harold Bengsch Henry County Historical Society and the St. Peter's Choir and a program by The Harvest Dinner took place on David Rauch, Lucille Napper, and Ervin November 16 at the Adair Annex in Clinton. Hering about the history of the Billings The Society sponsored a "Living History" German community. night at the museum on November 26, and members held a business meeting on Glendale Historical Society December 1. Frances Knutson Menown shared her experiences as a stewardess-nurse on the Historic Florissant Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the 1940s at The organization recently purchased, and the annual Christmas meeting held at City will be restoring, a 1910 cottage in Florissant. Hall on December 9. More than 350 people toured landmark hous­ es decorated for the holidays as part of the Golden Eagle River Museum Christmas in Old Florissant celebration held Ken Buel showed slides of his trip to the on November 28. Far East at the January 23 meeting held at Grone's Cafeteria in St. Louis. Historic Madison County Shaen Pogue, a student at Fredericktown Grain Valley Historical Society High School, shared her essay, "America's William Worley portrayed Tom Role in the Next Century," at the November Pendergast, the leader of the political 16 meeting. Local musicians Blaine and machine that ruled Kansas City from 1910 to Jennye Kauffman provided music and 1939, at the November 18 meeting. The Christmas carols as members gathered for Society sponsored the fifth annual cookies and punch at the Christmas meeting "Christmas in the Country" homes tour on on December 21. Bill and Ruth Hart shared December 4. Debra Parson, educational di­ stories from their trip to New York at the rector of the Jackson County Historical January 18 meeting. The Society meets on Society, presented "Bess Truman" at the the third Tuesday of each month at the Old January 27 meeting. The Society meets in its Historic Jail Building in Fredericktown. building at 506 Main Street. Historical Society of Polk County Grand River Historical Society Society members attended the "Annual and Museum Social Affair" at Simon B's Restaurant in Members heard Sue Jones present Bolivar on November 16. "Lewis M. Best, Slave Trader of Livingston County" at the January 11 meeting at the HST Independence 76 Fire Company American Legion Building in Chillicothe. Members gathered for a general meeting Frank Stark will serve as president for 2000. on January 25 at Rustler's Bar-B-Q in Independence. Greene County Historical Society Dorothy Lemon discussed "The History Jasper County Historical Society and Restoration of the Gilloiz Theater" at the Steve Weldon gave an update on the status December 10 meeting at the Heritage of the archives at the meeting on December Cafeteria in Springfield. 12 at 1718 Garrison in Carthage. 334 Missouri Historical Review

Kansas City Posse of the Westerners ident; Jane Pritchett, vice president; Dorothy Members heard Gus Montalto discuss the Votaw, secretary; and Mayo Votaw, treasurer. Lincoln County War in New Mexico at the The Society meets on the third Wednesday of December 14 meeting. Bray ton Harris January, March, May, July, September, and talked about newspaper reporters who cov­ November at the Scenic Regional Library in ered the Civil War at the January 11 meeting, Pacific. and Steve Collins, professor at Kansas City Kansas Community College, discussed "Old Mid-Missouri Civil War Round Table Quindaro and the Underground Railroad" at Bobby D. Bedsworth presented "The the February meeting. The Posse meets in Battle of Mount Zion Church" at the Round the Wyndam Garden Hotel. Table meeting at the Boone County Historical Museum in Columbia on Kingdom of Callaway Historical Society November 16. Videotapes of programs pre­ Joe Harl, of Archaeological Research sented at the St. Louis and other Civil War Center of St. Louis, presented "The Callaway Round Tables are available for members to Farms Site" at the November 8 annual meet­ ing. The Society held a Christmas homes tour on December 5. The museum and Miller County Historical Society library in Fulton are open Tuesday through Several members performed in What If Friday from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. You Had Been at Bethlehem during the Society's annual Christmas dinner and party Kirkwood Historical Society on December 12 at the museum building in The Society sponsored a Victorian Tuscumbia. Member Esther Clawson wrote Christmas Tea on December 12 at Mudd's and directed the performance. Grove. Stephen P. Walker, a noted Lemp family historian, presented "Edwin, last of Mine Au Breton Historical Society the Lemps" at the December 14 quarterly The Society meets the second Tuesday of meeting. each month at 7:00 P.M. at the Washington County Library in Potosi. Lawrence County Historical Society Brad Wommack, of Wommack Moniteau County Historical Society Monument Company, discussed types of The November 8 meeting took place at St. stone used, cleaning methods, as well as Paul's Lutheran Church in California. The restoring and repairing old tombstones and Spirit of the Manito award was presented to monuments at the November 21 meeting at Carole Schroeder for her dedication to the Jones Memorial Chapel in Mount Vernon. Society. Jan and John Shoemaker gave a pre­ All current officers were reelected. sentation about appraising antiques, then auc­ tioned off reproduction antiques, with the Lincoln County Historical proceeds being donated to the Society. and Archaeological Society Members participated in a "Show-n-Tell" More than seventy members and guests program during the January 10 meeting. attended the Victorian Christmas gathering in New officers for 2000 include Nancy Martin, the Sheriff's Residence of the Old 1870s Jail president; Dottie Gump, vice president; Museum in Troy on December 12. Mildred McPherson and Delia Huff, secre­ taries; and Grover Snead, treasurer. Meramec Valley Genealogy and Historical Society John G. Neihardt Corral of the Westerners On October 11, Society members took a Members gathered at Jack's Gourmet field trip to Cahokia Mounds in Illinois. New Restaurant in Columbia for a performance of officers for 2000 include Ruth Muehler, pres­ traditional and Christmas harmonica music Historical Notes and Comments 335 by Knox McCrory, accompanied by Cathy ing at the church. Meetings are held the Barton and Dave Para, on December 9. fourth Friday of each month, January through October, and the November meeting date is Nodaway County Historical Society determined by the Thanksgiving date. The The museum in Maryville reopened for Society does not meet in December. researchers on February 15. Perry County Historical Society Members gathered in the Society's office Old Trails Historical Society library in Perryville on January 9 for a gener­ John Kenawell presented "Vancroft, A al business meeting. The office and library Look at the Past" at the November 17 meet­ will be open the first and third Saturday of ing at Manchester United Methodist Church. each month, April 1 through October 21. The Vancroft is a one hundred-year-old estate in museum will be open from 1:00 to 3:00 P.M. West Virginia that recently became a proper­ each Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday ty of the Catholic Knights of America. beginning in May and will close at the end of Members held a "Gingerbread House," fea­ October. Business meetings are held on the turing crafts, cookies, and holiday gifts, at the second Sunday of odd months in the office Bacon Log Cabin in Manchester on library in Perryville. December 11-12.

Perry County Lutheran Historical Society Osage County Historical Society Members viewed a video about the 150- Greg Hawley, co-director of the Arabia year anniversary of the founding of the Steamboat Museum in Kansas City, talked Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at the with Society members at the school hall in October 17 meeting. Settlers who came to Loose Creek on November 29. Officers for the east Perry County area were among the 2000 include Roberta Schwinke, president; principal founders of that synod. Walt Ryan, vice president; Sandra Holder, secretary; and Donna Zeilmann, treasurer. Pettis County Historical Society The museum is closed on Sundays until May. Society members met on November 29 at State Fair Community College in Sedalia. Overland Historical Society President Rhonda Chalfant announced that The annual Christmas luncheon took the McVey School had been added to the place at the Seidel (Golden) Mansion in National Register of Historic Places. John Overland on December 4. The Society held Hankey reported on the Katy Depot Museum candlelight tours on December 11 and 12, renovation project. Chalfant and Bill which included a display of Luella Eckert's Claycomb presented a program on railroad button collection and a spinning demonstra­ labor unrest and union activities in Sedalia in tion by Marty Arnold. Bill Bray, Gretchen the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth cen­ Crook, and Kay Spring presented "St. turies at the January 31 meeting at State Fair Ferdinand de Florissant: 1760-1860" at the Community College. general membership meeting on January 24. Platte County Historical Pemiscot County Historical Society & Genealogical Society Members met in the Presbyterian Church The Society dedicated a new historical basement in Caruthersville on November 19. marker at the former site of Noah's Ark Denny J. Meredith III discussed his role as Covered Bridge in eastern Platte County on state representative for the 162nd District. October 2. A grant from the Kansas City Ellen Madison presented a program about 150th Anniversary Legacy Fund allowed the Caring Communities at the January 28 meet­ Society to finance the project. 336 Missouri Historical Review

Ray County Historical Society and a wiener roast. Speaker Robert L. Cook Society members gathered for the annual discussed "Presidential Wit and Humor." On meeting and carry-in dinner on January 27 at December 3, the Society held its holiday the museum in Richmond. party and sneak preview of the candlelight tours at Robidoux Row. Candlelight tours Raymore Historical Society and a bake sale followed on December 4-5 The museum, located on the lower level and 13-16. of the Cullen Funeral Home, is open 1:00- 4:00 P.M. on the second Saturday of each Scott County Historical month. The Society meets at 7:00 P.M. on the and Genealogy Society second Tuesday of each month. The Walter Bizzell, a longtime collector of Society's web site is . County area, showed part of his collection to Society members at the November 16 meet­ Raytown Historical Society ing at the courthouse in Benton. Fifty people attended the Volunteer Breakfast at the museum on December 4. Shelby County Historical Society The annual Clam Chowder and Steak Soup On November 8, Society president Dinner took place on January 17. Henry R. Kathleen Wilham spoke to the Scotland Marnett, a rail buff, photographer, and histo­ County Genealogical Society in Memphis rian, served as the speaker. The museum is about the Society's holdings and her sponsoring a celebration of the incorporation genealogical research business. She present­ of the city of Raytown in July 1950 with ed "Famous and Infamous Monroe and monthly displays. The January exhibit fea­ Shelby Countians" to the Monroe and Shelby tured early transportation in the area. Retired Teachers Association on November 18 at the Eastern Star Building in Paris. Ripley County Historical Society North Shelby second-grade students experi­ The Society meets the second Monday of enced a step back in time when they visited each month at 7:00 P.M. at the Community the one-room Rookwood School on Center in Doniphan. November 24.

St. Clair County Historical Society Sons and Daughters of the Blue and Judith Guthrie presented "The Dirty Gray Civil War Round Table Thirties: A Look at the Great Depression and George Abraham Hinshaw discussed its Consequences" at the November 16 meet­ some of the challenges faced by Abraham ing held at the Senior Center Building in Lincoln during the early days of the Civil War Osceola. The Society has begun publishing a at the November 21 meeting held in the con­ quarterly newsletter, Osage Current. ference room of the St. Francis Hospital in Maryville. James Curram presented "The St. Francois County Historical Society Battle of Plattsburg, Mo." at the January 16 The Society meets at 7:30 P.M. at Ozark meeting. Federal in Farmington on the fourth Wednesday of the month, January-October, Stone County Historical/ and the third Wednesday of November. No Genealogical Society meeting takes place in December. Kay Johnson, of Monett and Missouri History Day Teacher of the Year in 1998, St. Joseph Historical Society spoke at the November 7 meeting about the Members gathered at Robidoux Row on History Day contest. Bob Butler presented November 21 for the Society's annual meet­ "What is a Fiddle Anyway?" and Rick Ulman ing, presentation of the Robidoux Awards, spoke about the history of the "blues" at the Historical Notes and Comments 337

December 5 Christmas Old Recipe Dinner. Washington Historical Society Members elected the following officers: Jay In November, Society members wel­ Pace, vice president, and Lynn Kleiber, trea­ comed seventeen travel writers from around surer. The Society meets in the Christian the country and Canada to the museum dur­ Church in Galena. ing a Chamber of Commerce wine-tasting reception. Preservation efforts on the Kiel Texas County Missouri Genealogical Franklin County History Collection were and Historical Society completed in September, and the material can Officers for the 2000 term include Shirley now be found in the Society's library in Wenger, president; Christine Hadley, vice binders and on microfilm. Members attend­ president; Doris Montgomery and Velma E. ed the Society's annual Christmas dinner at Adams, secretaries; and Oneta Farris and the museum on December 14. Velma E. Adams, treasurers. The Society meets at 1:00 P.M. on the second Friday of Wayne County Historical Society each month at St. Marks Catholic Church in Nearly twenty members met at the Wallis- Houston. Dunnegan Cemetary in October to clear underbrush, trees, and vines from the area. Union Cemetery Historical Society Members attended the Society's annual meeting and holiday luncheon on December Webster County Historical Society 4 in the Garden Center at Loose Park in Several members participated in the Kansas City. "Millennium Minutes" program at Webster Elementary School in Marshfield on Vernon County Historical Society December 3. The program was geared to In November, Society members visited help elementary schoolchildren comprehend the Badger House, Butler and Stepp the importance of the turn of the century. The Cemeteries, and Greene Springs, located Society met on December 28 in the basement eight miles east of Nevada, as well as the of Empire Bank in Marshfield and honored Ball-Robinson Cemetery, south of Dederick. Crump McClure for his contribution to the Members Terry Ramsey, Shirley Ann Bastow, preservation of the history of local rural and Patrick Brophy shared Bushwhacker his­ schools. The January 25 meeting included a tory with second-grade students and parents demonstration by Helen Grace Muzzy of at Benton Elementary School's Parent spinning and weaving tools and techniques of Enrichment Night on November 9. On the past three centuries. Meetings are held December 1, several members visited the fourth Tuesday of every month at 7:00 Hogan's Ford, the site of the Civil War Battle P.M. in the Webster County Historical of Dry wood in September 1861. The Museum in Marshfield. The museum is open Society has created a partnership with May-October and by appointment. Nevada High School history students. Students have been using resources from the White River Valley Historical Society museum for research projects as well as con­ At the December 12 meeting in the ducting oral histories of local residents. Friendship House at the College of the Members viewed a PBS video about Ozarks in Point Lookout, Roger Former pre­ Nevada's W. F. Norman Corporation, the sented "The Baldknobber Jail." He shared nation's leading maker of pressed sheet metal his research findings from transcribing the products, at the January 23 meeting at the Christian County Jail Record Book, 1887- Bushwhacker Museum in Nevada. 1894. 338

GIFTS RELATING TO MISSOURI Mary Shore Barnes, Kirkwood, donor: Extensive collection of books relating to Missouri's political, social, educational, and mil­ itary history, especially the Civil War. (R)* Robert Baumann, St. Louis, donor: Exploring Missouri Wine Country, 2nd edition, by Brett Dufur; Nature Conservancy of Missouri, Annual Report, 1997-1998. (R) Evelyn J. Brown, Manhattan, Kansas, donor: John Brown (1797-1842) and Elizabeth Sample (1796-1886): Their Descendants and Some Ancestors, by the donor. (R) David Brydon, Jefferson City, donor: An Index of Missouri Gunsmiths by Counties of Residence: A Supplement to "The Gunsmiths of Missouri," by Victor Paul. (R) Lawrence O. Christensen, Rolla, donor: Missouri Biography, five compact discs of radio programs, by the donor. (R) Martha Cooper, Maryville, donor: Resources for LaFayette Dawson Star Celebration and Resources for Elizabeth Howell Star Celebration, both by the donor. (R) Jim Craigmile, Columbia, donor: Journal of Joseph Cellars, an Atchison County Justice of the Peace, 1860-1866, by Joseph Cellers. (M) & (R) Double Vision Television, New York, New York, donor: Video tape of Gunfighters of the West, "Jesse James" episode. (E) Friends of Keytesville, donor, via R. Wheeler: Civil War Letters from the Hill Homestead, by the donor. (R) Skip Gatermann, St. Louis, donor: Numerous articles, pamphlets, and bills concerning motorcycle riding in Missouri; pho­ tographs and postcards of buildings and scenes in Missouri. (R) & (E) Lynn Wolf Gentzler, Columbia, donor: Country Harvest Memories, by Country Harvest Festival Committee, Maysville. (R) Mary K. Goode, Otterville, donor: Leaves of the Page Family Tree, Morgan County, Missouri, by Mary Mertgen Goode. (R) James Goodrich, Columbia, donor: Brunswick, Missouri Telephone Directory. (R) John Gray, Columbia, donor, via Joan Sorrels: Cooperation, Consideration the Key to Our Success: Resident Handbook of the Housing Authority of the City of Columbia, Missouri, by the Housing Authority of the City of Columbia, Missouri. (R) William Marion Harlan, Columbia, donor: Marriage and Death Notices Found in Randolph County Newspapers, 1930-1934, by the donor. (N) Etta J. Hays, Golden, Colorado, donor: Color photograph of Passover School in Camden County. (E) Sharon A. Huffman, St. Louis, donor: St. Louis Public Schools: 160 Years of Challenge, Change and Commitment to the

*These letters indicate the location of the materials at the Society. (R) refers to Reference Library; (N), Newspaper Library; (A), Art Collection; (E), Editorial Office; (M), Manuscripts. Historical Notes and Comments 339

Children of St. Louis, by the St. Louis Board of Education. (R) Kathy Johnson, Houston, Texas, donor: Architectural drawings, correspondence, and other items relating to the professional prac­ tice of Clifford H. Johnson; photographs of buildings and construction elements. (M) & (E) George G. Kane, Chicopee, Massachusetts, donor: Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 69, Springfield, Roster; Grand Army of the Republic; O. P. Morton Post No. 14, Joplin, Roster and History. (R) Russell Key, Moberly, donor: Minutes of the One Hundred Seventy-Sixth Annual Session of the Fishing River Association of Primitive Baptists Held with Old New Garden Church, Ray County, Missouri, September 24, 25, & 26, 1999. (R) Virginia J. Laas, Joplin, donor: Bridging Two Eras: The Autobiography of Emily Newell Blair, 1877-1951, edited by the donor. (R) Verda K. Leonard, Salem, donor: Hold to the Truth (Tenez Le Vraye): A Townley Family History, by the donor. (R) Missouri State Genealogical Association, Cemetery Location Project, Columbia, donor, via Nelda McCrory: Boone County, Missouri: Cemeteries - Their Names and Locations; Ralls County, Missouri: Cemeteries - Their Names and Locations, by the donor. (R) Anna Louise Sanford Myers, Mendocino, California, donor: James Glen Sanford: Born January 26, 1919, Moberly, MO, Married: 1943 and 1950, Died: March 17, 1957, by the donor. (R) Marian Ohman, Columbia, donor: Historical Sketches of the Warm Fork Hill Country, edited by Dorys Ward and Joe Senn; photographs of nineteenth-century buildings and first state capitol building in St. Charles. (R) The Opera Quarterly, Rochester, New York, donor, via E. Thomas Glasow: "The Early Days of Grand Opera in Kansas City, 1860-1879," by Harlan Jennings, in The Opera Quarterly 15 (Autumn 1999). (R) P.E.O. Chapter EJ, St. Joseph, donor, via Suzanne Lehr: Reflections of Women in Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of Chapter EJ, P.E.O. 1924- 1999, Savannah, Missouri. (R) Charles J. Ragland, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, donor: A Structure of the Fontaine Family from 1658 as Reflected through the Lineage of Active Members of the Fontaine/Maury Society, by the donor; Alexander Spotswood (1676-1740), Governor of Virginia, including Some of his Ancestors, British Cousins and Ten Generations of His Descendants', and Ancestors and Descendants of The Reverend Peter Fontaine (1691-1759) of We stover Parish, Charles City County, Virginia. (R) Terry Ramsey, Nevada, donor: Past Perfect: True Tales of Town and 'Round Nevada and Vernon County, Missouri, by Patrick Brophy. (R) George S. Reuter, Jr., and Helen H. Reuter, Holden, donors: "Research Data of Some of Our Books, Studies, etc.," lists publications written by the donors. (R) Susan Romines, Sikeston, donor, via H. Riley Bock: Various issues of the Illmo High School Mustang Signal and the New Madrid Civilian Conservation Corps Company's Swamp Angel. (R) Howard Roth, Lockport, New York, donor: Photographs of Sikeston-born inventor James Henry Joyce. (E) 340 Missouri Historical Review

Elenore Schewe, Vandalia, donor: Little Collectibles: Selected Poems; New Road, New Song; and These Things They Thought: An Anthology of Poetry by Missouri Writers, all by Jean Aston Fulkes; Audrain County, Missouri: Reflections of the Past, 1945-2000, by Gayle Messer. (R) Walter A. Schroeder, Columbia, donor: The Geographical Bulletin, Volume 3, by Michael W. Jinks. (R) Herb Waeckerle, Kirkwood, donor: Centennial edition of the Chariton Courier, six articles by the donor. (N) & (R) Kenneth E. Weant, Arlington, Texas, donor: Lafayette County, Missouri: 5245 Death Reports and Chronological Index to Selected Articles from the Higginsville Advance, 8 January 1906 to 24 December 1920; Montgomery County, Missouri: 3847 Death Reports and Chronological Index to Selected Articles From Miscellaneous Wellsville Newspapers (1204 World War I Draft Registration Names Included), 23 August 1889 to 27 December 1935; Montgomery County, Missouri: 4021 Death Reports and Chronological Index to Selected Articles from the Wellsville Optic News, 3 January 1936 to 27 December 1951, all by the donor. (R) Carol Whitson, Rolla, donor: The Journey of Hiram and Elma Carson, Cora and Edna and Hugh and Ethel Norton. Havelock, Iowa to Bradleyville, Missouri, 1897, by the donor. (R) Robert Gail and Margie McDaniel Woods, Hannibal, donors: Photographs of people and churches in Hannibal and other locations in Missouri; Sinfully Delicious, by Moscow Mills United Methodist Church; The Connecting Link, by Canton Immanuel United Methodist Church; Hydesburg United Methodist Church, Hannibal, Missouri, directory. (E) & (R) Robert J. Wybrow, Bromley, Kent, England, donor: Jesse Woodson James - A 'Noble Robber?'; "Splashed to the Brows in Blood": The Winston Train Robbery and the End of an Outlaw, both by the donor. (R)

Molasses Mischief

Oregon Holt County Sentinel, January 10, 1873. A young lady writes to an exchange giving a receipt for having fun. She says invite half a dozen boys and girls to your house when your pa and ma are away; put a half-dollar silver piece in a dish with molasses an inch deep in it, and offer it to the boy who gets it with his mouth. The more the boys try to get it, the more fun will there be. That girl surely deserves a diploma.

A Sharp Answer

St. Louis Daily Times, September 2, 1876. When a boy was asked "Where was the text this morning?" he replied: "It was somewhere in hatchets." "In hatchets? No, it was in Acts." "Well, I knew it was something that would cut," said the boy triumphantly. 341

MISSOURI HISTORY IN NEWSPAPERS

Aurora Advertiser December 29, 1999: "A Brief Look Back At The 20th Century: People Of The Summit City Moved Forward," contained articles and recollections of significant events in Aurora throughout the twentieth century.

Belton Star-Herald January 27, 2000: "History Trail 2000" included articles describing Belton at the begin­ ning of the twentieth century and the importance of the city's airport.

Braymer Bee January 13, 2000: The "Marking the Millennium" series featured "Letters from Caldwell Countians," letters written back by former Braymer residents who moved west in the 1800s.

Butler news-Xpress October 29, 1999: "They fought like tigers,'" the first African American soldiers to be wounded and killed in action during the Civil War in Bates County, 1862, by Chris Tabor.

California Democrat January 1, 2000: The "Millennium Keepsake Edition" featured articles and photographs concerning historical events in California and Moniteau County.

Cameron Citizen Observer January 27, 2000: "If This House Could Talk . . . Stucker Clothing Co. still remembered for top-notch service," by Clela Fuller.

Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian December 26, 1999: "2000: Back and Beyond" edition contained articles describing important events, people, and places in southeast Missouri over the last 250 years.

Carthage Press November 30, 1999: "Saloon battle [over temperance] once raged in downtown Carthage," by Sue Vandergriff. December 1: [Memphis, Carthage, and Northwestern] "Railway service energized growth here," by Marvin VanGilder. December 31: "Pages of the Century," a special section, reprinted the front pages for 1961 Jackson Hotel fire, 1941 declaration of war on Japan, 1945 death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1945 end of World War II, 1963 assassination of John F Kennedy, 1966 explosion at Hercules Powder plant [in Carthage], and female astronaut [and former Carthage resident] Janet (Sellers) Kanvandi.

Chaffee Scott County Signal December 26, 1999: "A brief history of Scott County, Missouri"; "Beechwood Plantation Scott County, Missouri," home of General Nathaniel Watkins. Both articles by Margaret Cline Harmon.

Chillicothe Constitution Tribune January 3, 2000: "Now & Then Chillicothe," aerial photographs of the city from the mid- to-late-twentieth century. 342 Missouri Historical Review

Columbia Daily Tribune January 16, 2000: "Raising the old curtain," bringing back movies to the Missouri Theater, by Pete Bland.

Columbia Missourian November 25, 1999: "Dawn of the Nuclear Age: The [St. Louis] Cardinals and black ura­ nium rock Missouri in the '40s," by Erica Berardi.

Edina Sentinel December 15, 1999: "1899 Worried But Not About Y2K," by Carol Kincaid.

Fredericktown Democrat News January 12, 2000: "The History of Madison County" highlighted the founding of St. Michaels Village, later part of Fredericktown, and Marquand, by Glenna Bollinger.

Gainesville Ozark County Times November 10, 1999: "Historic bi-plane crashes."

Humansville Star Leader January 14, 2000: "Humansville founder James G. Human"; "City's 125 year history reveals what makes Humansville unique."

Jackson Cash-Book Journal November 3, 1999: "Oak Ridge R-6 [school district] celebrates 125th anniversary"; "Oak Ridge building history." December 22: "Christmas in Jackson a century ago," by Beverly K. Hahs.

Jefferson City News Tribune October 31, 1999: Kansas City "Legend of Union Station [1933] Massacre's 'bullet holes' tested," by Jeffrey Spivak. November 7, January 16, 30, 2000: The "History Matters" series, by Gary Kremer, fea­ tured the settlements of Lohman and Olean, the Dred Scott case, and St. Mark's School for Boys at Portland. January 1: "At the millennium" special edition reflected on the past one hundred years in the state's capital city, with sections devoted to news, business, government, education, sports, weather, and lifestyles.

Joplin Globe November 17, December 1, 15, 1999, January 19, 2000: "The way we were," a pictorial series, featured the Bateman House Hotel, meat markets in early-twentieth-century Joplin, steam powered drilling, and blacksmiths and their importance to large mining companies. December 26: "Views from the road: Capitol exhibit pays homage to America's Main Street," U.S. Route 66, by James F. Wolfe.

Kahoka Media December 22, 1999: "Growing Evidence Shows Clark Co. as Site of First Contact Between Indians & 1673 Marquette & Joliet Expedition."

Kansas City Star January 1, 2000: "Our City, Our Century" section included articles, timelines, and illus­ trations depicting Kansas City throughout the twentieth century. Historical Notes and Comments 343

Liberal News October 28, 1999: "Jones Drug Store Remembering the Days of the Soda Fountain," by Ona Mae Winship.

Linn Unterrified Democrat December 22, 1999: "Argyle Lake a landmark of steam railroading in southern Osage County." January 5, 2000: "The meandering Maries [River] spans 280 years of modern history." This and the above article by Joe Welschmeyer.

Louisiana Press-Journal/Bowling Green Times December 29, 1999: The "Turn Of The Century Edition" contained articles recounting Pike County's preparedness for World War I, the men from the county who fought in World War II, Bowling Green's sports history, Bowling Green's sesquicentennial celebration, and the his­ tory of Bowling Green up to 1922.

Marshfield Mail November 17, 1999: [Mt. Olive] "Lodge members take steps to renovate long standing Webster County building," by Mike Cullinan. December 29: "Special Millennium Section" featured articles on George Lawson, Webster County's last surviving Civil War veteran; sports teams; the lynching of Richard Cullen in Marshfield; the triple murder of the Buckners, a Webster County family; and the visit of George Bush to Marshfield in 1991.

Mexico Ledger October 28, 1999: Special commemorative edition, "Spanning the Century 1900-99," fea­ tured articles on Missouri's outlaws, farming history, economics, political figures, and military.

New London Ralls County Herald-Enterprise November 25, 1999: "Ralls County Recollections" featured Harry Truman. December 9: "Ralls County, Missouri: Historical Past—Prosperous Future" discussed his­ tory of courthouse in New London and a brief overview of the county's heritage.

Osceola St Clair County Courier December 10, 1999: "The first St. Clair County school bus."

Owensville Gasconade County Republican January 19, 2000: "The Century Series" featured "Railroad [St. Louis, Kansas City, and Colorado] tracks, crews were the big news story in Owensville in 1900," by Dave Marner.

Republic Monitor January 20, 2000: "Republic, the first 100 Years, and Beyond," a special section, contained articles on the history of Republic and photographs of its citizens in the twentieth century.

St Joseph News-Press January 27, 2000: "Tales of the Midland Empire" series featured "Memories abound of Hotel Robidoux," by Alonzo Weston.

St Joseph Telegraph November 25, 1999: "Churches are moving spiritually, literally," by Robert Cushman. 344 Missouri Historical Review

St Louis American November 25-December 1, 1999: "Historic Tales: St. Louis [Ross] Family has historic memories to share," by Dunkor Imani.

St Louis Post-Dispatch October 31, 1999: "St. Louis at the Millennium: Top Moments of the Century" section included a decade-by-decade account of political, social, economic, and environmental events that shaped the lives of St. Louis residents in the twentieth century. The life story of Junius Pulitzer Shaw, the first baby born in St. Louis at the beginning of the twentieth century, is also recounted within the section. November 7, 14, 21, 28, December 5, 12, 19, 26: "The 20th Century and St. Louis" series featured, respectively, floods, the literary world, consumer goods, the Mississippi River, deseg­ regation, technology, Weatherbird, and the future. December 5: "Hunting lions on island in Mississippi drew world-wide attention, ridicule."

St Louis Review November 19, 1999: "Sparkill Dominicans to celebrate 100 years in St. Louis," by Jean M. Schildz.

Ste. Genevieve Herald January 5, 2000: "Marking The Millennium" special supplement featured articles on the history of Ste. Genevieve and Ste. Genevieve County from the 1700s to the present.

Sedalia Democrat January 9, 2000: "Postcards from our past" featured photographs of downtown Sedalia, the Pittsburgh-Corning plant, and houses on Harrison Avenue.

Shelbyville Shelby County Herald December 29, 1999: "Shelby County car dealership [Smoot Motor Company] burns in 1929," by Charlie Van Houten.

Southwest City Republic January 5, 2000: "Early thirties hold molasses memories" recalled molasses making in southwest Missouri during the depression, by Ray Johnson.

Springfield News-Leader October 26, 1999: "Harvey Houses [restaurants] popped up for rail passengers," by Vera- Jane Goodin. December 31: "Ozarks Reflections" section highlighted events of the past one hundred years through articles and recollections of people who lived through the events.

Stover Morgan County Press October 27, 1999: Civil War "Col. John H. Stover gives name to community."

Tipton Times November 11, 1999: "Mt. Olive [Baptist Church, Florence] celebrating 125 years."

TYiscumbia Miller County Autogram-Sentinel December 2, 1999: "Bank [of Iberia] survives fire, depression on way to 100th anniver­ sary," by Ginny Duffield. Historical Notes and Comments 345

Warrensburg Gazette January 20, 2000: "Innes Mills building is being dismantled," by Holly Bolton.

Washington Missourian December 1, 1999: "'Country' Church [Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Labadie] Preserves Its Past," by Karen Cernich.

Webb City Sentinel November 12, 1999, January 7, 14, 28, 2000: "Ancestors, Legends, and Time" series, by Jeanne Newby, featured the Wagner Building, Webb City and Joplin depots, St. John's Hospital, and J. W. Freeman.

Webster-Kirkwood Times November 5-11, 1999: "The Magnificent 'Mighty Mo,'" U.S.S. Missouri, by Don Corrigan.

Better Put It Off

Kansas City Times, March 10, 1966. Philadelphia (AP)—The Procrastinators Club of America staged a protest demonstration here yesterday. . . . Seven members of the club . . . marched near City Hall, bearing signs with such slogans as: "Procrastinators protest the War of 1812!" "President Madison this is your war" .... Les Was, 44, club president, a producer of radio and television commercials, said the club was formed in 1957 "to promote the benefits of procrastination." "Many things would be much better put off for later," he explained.

Thanks But No Thanks

Maysville Western Register, May 26, 1870. We have seen in all our exchanges how an Iowa woman helped her husband to raise sev­ enty acres of wheat. It is explained that the way she helped him was to stand in the door and shake the broom at him when he sat down to rest, and terrifying him in other ways. We don't want any help about raising wheat.

Colorful Language

St. Louis Daily Times, March 2, 1877. When a railroad man gets a divorce, he calls it breaking his coupling from his caboose. 346

MISSOURI HISTORY IN MAGAZINES

America's Civil War January, 2000: "Battle of Pea Ridge: Deciding the Fate of Missouri," by Richard H. Owens.

Area Footprints, Genealogical Society of Butler County November, 1999: "Timber Boom Sparks Need for [Missouri Southern] Railroad," by Michelle Friedrich.

Arkansas Historical Quarterly Winter, 1999: "Shawnee Convergence: Immigrant Indians in the Ozarks," by George E. Lankford.

Blue & Gray Magazine December, 1999: "The Travels of A Fallen General: Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, USA," by Jeffrey L. Patrick.

The Blue and Grey Chronicle October, 1999: "Twenty-Year-Old Murder Mystery is Recalled in 1864," the murder of Antonio Jose Chavez, and "Guess Who's on the Steamboat," Bettie Tillery, both by Joanne C. Eakin.

Boone's Lick Heritage, Boonslick Historical Society December, 1999: "One Hundred Years of Soda Water Manufacturing in Boonville," by Robert L. Dyer.

Bushwhacker Musings, Vernon County Historical Society January, 2000: "Sleuthing an Old House," history of Hall home in Nevada, by Gordon Langley Hall.

Columbia Senior Times November, 1999: "Only Artifacts Remain from Boone County's Missing Towns." January, 2000: "The Daniel Boone Hotel: Columbia's City Hall Honors a Great Pioneer." This and the above article by Michelle Long Windmoeller.

DeKalb County Heritage January, 2000: "Christian Chapel Church Destroyed," by Phillip Bray.

The Despatch, Recreated First U.S. Infantry and Boone's Rangers November/December, 1999: "The 1820 Scurvy Outbreak," by Bob Dorian.

Fence Painter, Mark Twain Boyhood Home Associates Fall, 1999: "Panoramas of the Mississippi."

Friends of the James Farm Journal Winter, 1999: "Lost in the Background: Jessie Richard Cole: Brother of Zerelda James- Samuel," by Phil Stewart and Marcia Horn; "When Jesse James Played Santa," by Phillip Steele; "The Great Train Robbery," reprinted. Historical Notes and Comments 347

Gateway Heritage, Missouri Historical Society Fall, 1999: "Seeking St. Louis," a special issue focusing upon exhibits in the historical society's new facility, the Emerson Electric Center.

Heritage, Missouri Parks Association December, 1999: "Ste. Genevieve And the Felix Valle State Historic Site."

The Jefferson Barracks Gazette, Friends of Jefferson Barracks January-March, 2000: "Sylvan Springs as a County Park," by Anne Proctor.

Kansas City Genealogist Fall, 1999: "Thomas Jefferson: The Man and his Legacy," Jefferson's impact on Missouri history.

Kansas History Autumn, 1999: "Riding With the Devil: The Movie Adventures of William Clark Quantrill," by John C. Tibbetts; "La Voz de la Gente: Chicano Activist Publications in the Kansas City Area, 1968-1989," by Leonard David Ortiz.

Missouri Archaeologist, Missouri Archaeological Society December, 1996: "Historical Iowa Settlement in the Grand River Basin of Missouri and Iowa," by Timothy E. Roberts and Christy S. Rickers; "Preliminary Archaeological Investigations at the First Missouri State Capitol, St. Charles," by Robert T. Bray.

Missouri Army Argus November 1, 1999: "Tales of the War: Personal Reminiscences of the First Regiment of Missouri Infantry, C.S.A.," Part V, by Joseph Boyce, reprinted. December 1, 1999: "Tales of the War: Personal Reminiscences of the First Regiment of Missouri Infantry, C.S.A.," Part VI, by Joseph Boyce, reprinted.

Missouri Conservationist January, 2000: "Missouri's First Botanists: Early Explorers Were the First to Collect and Catalog our State's Unique Flora," by George Yatskievych.

Missouri Folklore Society Journal Volume 21, 1999: "The Story of Wine at Hermann," by Linda Walker Stevens; "Edward Kemper's World: An Essay on the Architecture and Cultural Landscape of a Nineteenth Century German American Community," Hermann, by Erin McCawley Renn; "An Interview with Anna Kemper Hesse," by Adolf E. Schroeder; "Jesse James: His Legend has Never Done Him Wrong," by Cathy M. Jackson.

Missouri Humanities Council News Winter, 2000: "Depot Calls 'All Aboard!' in Sedalia," by Melody Withers.

Missouri Life December 1999/January 2000: "Time Capsule," Missouri's first millionaire (John Mullanphy), Missouri lead and zinc production, and Richard Henry Jesse; "Guarding Fort Osage," by Renee Martin Kratzer; "Sunny Days in Springfield: Southern Charm, Midwestern Sensibility, Western Boldness," by Charlie Farmer. 348 Missouri Historical Review

Missouri Monitor, American Rivers October, 1999: "Missouri River History: River Bend Chapter Identifies Lewis and Clark Sites"; "Washington Celebrates German Heritage," by Kelly Miller.

Mizzou Winter, 2000: "Soundings on Huckleberry Finn," by Dale Smith.

The Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly Winter, 1999: "Thoughts on the Mountain Man and the Fur Trade," by Charles E. Hanson, Jr.

Newsletter, Augusta Neighborhood News November-December, 1999: "Schluersburg-The Rest of the Story," by Walter D. Kamphoefner.

Newsletter, Boone-Duden Historical Society November/December, 1999: "One Room School Teacher: Irene Helmich," by Daisy Diederich.

Newsletter, Chariton County Historical Society January, 2000: "The Old Brunswick Militia," by Blake Sasse.

Newsletter, Friends of Arrow Rock Fall, 1999: "Dr. John Sappington: Southern Patriarch in the New West, Part III"; "Forty Years of Preservation in Arrow Rock."

Newsletter, Gasconade County Historical Society Winter, 1999: "The Death of Capt. Charles Manwaring," by Arthur G. Draper.

Newsletter, Jefferson County Historical Society January, 2000: "The Mystery of Glenfinlas," an early post office located west of De Soto near Big River, by David Hallemann.

Newsletter, Osage County Historical Society November, 1999: "More about Linn and the Osage County Centennial."

Newsletter, Saint Charles County Historical Society December, 1999: "St. Charles Academy."

Newsletter, Scott County Historical and Genealogical Society November, 1999: "Major James Parrott, CSA." January, 2000: "W. C. Lambert."

Newsletter, University City Historical Society December, 1999: "All Saints [Catholic Church]: A Rich Heritage," by Rebecca Marsh.

Ozark Happenings Newsletter, Texas County Missouri Genealogical and Historical Society October, November, December, 1999: "Slabtown," in the Big Piney River area outside of Licking, by Kathleen O'Malley Davis. Historical Notes and Comments 349

Ozarks Mountaineer April, May 1999: "Cedarcreek Woodsongs," by Jory Sherman; "The Search For an Ozarks Family's Patriarch," Hiram Wood, by James E. Gentry; "A Cub Reporter Visits with Rose Wilder Lane," by Fern Nance Shumate. October, November 1999: "Rediscovering A Pioneer Resort: The Story of Woodlock" in Davisville, by Nancy Merz; "Forgotten Sons of Jesse James," by Judy Summers. December, 1999: "Historic Hardy Has Much To Offer: Survivor of fire and flood, Hardy faces the new millennium with high hopes," by Barbara Massie; "Wyatt Earp: Lamar Lawman," by Larry Wood.

Perry County Heritage Vol. 17, No. 3, 1999: "Perryville, 1860-1865."

Platte County Missouri Historical and Genealogical Society Bulletin August, September, October, 1999: "Styne School," in Camden Point, by Mildred Jones Smith.

Reporter, Genealogical Society of Central Missouri January/February, 2000: "Some Incidents of the Civil War in Columbia & Boone County," by North Todd Gentry.

Resume, Historical Society of Polk County November, 1999: "On the Road to Buffalo: Polk County's Legendary Schoolteacher and Writer Tells About the Wagon Days," by Verna Lea Lunceford Peterson.

RidgeRunner Fall, 1999: "Moark Baptist College," in West Plains, by Suzanne Huff; "[Pythian] Castle of Springfield: Our Own Camelot," by Courtney Fisher.

The River's Bend October, 1999: "Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in Platte City," by Captain Ernest M. Raub.

Rural Missouri December, 1999: "The House that Time Forgot," the Baker Plantation House in Danville, by Jim McCarty. February, 2000: "Weather for the Record: The wettest, weirdest, and wildest weather of the 20th century," by Duane Dailey.

St Charles County Heritage January, 2000: "Forgotten Church-The Presbyterian Meeting House at Eagle Fork, Missouri," by Barb Eisenbath Mittelbuscher; "Our Hometown Playwright," Eugene Hafer, by Elaine Goodrich Linn; "More St. Charles Landmarks Identified: Peter Hausam's Sawmill and Lime Kiln," by Robert A. Myers.

St Louis Bar Journal Summer, 1999: "Murder on The Great Republic-Part II," by Marshall D. Hier. 350 Missouri Historical Review

St Louis Commerce December, 1999: "Top 20 of the 20th Century," influential twentieth-century business leaders in St. Louis, by Liese Hutchison and Carol Schwab.

St Louis Lawyer December 1, 1999: "A Time of Change," Albert Burgess as first African American attor­ ney to practice in St. Louis, by Marshall D. Hier.

South Central MO Genealogical Society Newsletter October, November, December, 1999: "Professor [William Henry] W. H. Lynch."

Springfield! Magazine December, 1999: "Early Community Antenna Television Helped Widen Pioneer ETV Coverage," by Robert C. Glazier; "The Songs of Jimmy [Lang] and Gene [Autry] Part II: A Gold Record for 'Daddy,'" by James Kemm; "Queen City History (Part XXXII): Scot R. Ritchie Robertson Led Kilt-Clad Drum Corps," by Robert C. Glazier. January, 2000: "The Songs of Jimmy [Lang] and Gene [Autry] Part III: The Families," by James Kemm; "Queen City History (Part XXXIII): Women's [Art Study] Club Incorporates as Art Museum in '28," by Robert C. Glazier.

Terminal Railroad Association of St Louis Historical and Technical Society Newsletter Winter/Spring, 1999: "Moving Mail on the MoPac: Missouri Pacific Nos. 3-4 was an Ozark Original."

Tree Shakers, Meramec Valley Genealogy and Historical Society November-December 1999: "Fun Valley Lake," in Jefferson County, by Virginia T. Dailey.

Universitas Fall, 1999: "Claiming a Place," the admission of women to Saint Louis University, by Joe Muehlenkamp.

Waterways Journal November 1, 1999: "Fort Union on the Missouri was Served by Steamers," by James V Swift.

White River Valley Historical Quarterly Fall, 1999: "Recruiting in Dixie," Part I, a memoir by Lyman Bennett, edited by James J. Johnson.

Trying Hard to Run

St. Louis Daily Times, September 2, 1876. A South Carolina man thoughtlessly set some spring-guns in his poultry yard, and the next morning in the rising sun he rubbed his spectacles and stared in speechless amazement at eighteen candidates for Governor, sitting on the front fence, picking bird shot out of their thir­ ty-six legs. 351

IN MEMORIAM

PHIL GOTTSCHALK History Award from the Military Order of the Award-winning journalist and author Phil Stars and Bars for best work in Southern his­ Gottschalk died in Columbia on February 12, tory. 2000. Gottschalk was born Philip Eugene Survivors include one daughter, Lynn Anderson in Detroit, Michigan, on December Roper of Lincoln, Nebraska; two sons, J. 23, 1920. As a child, he moved to Jefferson Michael Gottschalk and John Gottschalk of City to live with his mother's sister, Helen Omaha, Nebraska; one stepdaughter, Patti Gottschalk, and her husband, Edward, after Brown of Columbia; and two stepsons, Tim both of his parents died. Gottschalk graduat­ Echternach and Ron Echternach of ed with honors from the University of Columbia. Missouri-Columbia in 1941 and commanded a field artillery battery in World War II. He married twice, and his second wife, Patricia BORTSCHELLER, RICHARD A., Brooklyn Winchell Echternach, preceded him in death Park, Minnesota: March 28, 1952-March 11, in 1994. 1999 Gottschalk owned and published newspa­ HACKMAN, IRENE, St. Joseph: pers in Rushville, Hay Springs, and Sidney, July 14, 1912-October 5, 1999 Nebraska, before coming to Columbia. He LITTLE, ANDREW T., Portland, Oregon: edited the world news at the Columbia April 15, 1916-October6, 1999 Tribune from the late 1960s until 1986 and TURNER, TERRY A., Columbia: wrote a highly popular sports column for the April 4, 1947-June 17, 1999 paper until 1998. In 1991 he published In WOODS, DICK H., SR., Kansas City: Deadly Earnest, a comprehensive account of March 20, 1913-November 10, 1999 the Missouri Brigade in the Civil War. The WOODWARD, CHARLES L., JR., St. Louis: book won the Douglas Southall Freeman December 17, 1923-February 25, 1999 352

GRADUATE THESES RELATING TO MISSOURI HISTORY, 1999 NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY, MARYVILLE MASTER'S THESES

Hillhouse, Richard, "The Effects of Rural Electrification on Ozark County, Missouri."

McGuire, John, "Truman in '40: The Missouri Senate Democratic Primary."

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA MASTER'S THESIS

Jolly, Kenneth Stuart, "The Fairgrounds park incident and the Jefferson Bank campaign: a comparative study of violence in St. Louis, Missouri, 1949- 1964."

DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Morrison, Kathleen Blakeney, "The poverty of place: A comparative study of five rural counties in the Missouri Ozarks."

THE RICHARD S. BROWNLEE FUND In 1985 the executive committee of the State Historical Society of Missouri established the Richard S. Brownlee Fund to honor the longtime executive director upon his retirement. Income from the corpus of the fund is used annually to provide cash awards for individuals and organizations proposing to publish, or make other tangible contributions to, the history of Missouri and its citizens. Individuals, local historical societies, muse­ ums, and governmental and nongovernmental agencies are eligible to apply for funding. Residency within the state is not a requirement. Applicants for Brownlee Fund monies should direct their proposals to James W. Goodrich, executive director of the Society. A cover letter out­ lining the goals and presenting a synopsis of the project should be accom­ panied by an itemized budget detailing the manner in which the requested funds will be used. The deadline for 2000 applications is July 1. 353

BOOK REVIEWS Frank Blair: Lincoln's Conservative. By William E. Parrish (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1998). xv + 318 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $29.95.

The Scotch-Irish line of Blairs who became Americans included a good­ ly number of persons with considerable intellect and the impetus to become involved in public service. The first of them were Presbyterian ministers. By the middle third of the nineteenth century, several were politically active. One, Montgomery, would be in Abraham Lincoln's cabinet. Frank, the sub­ ject of the biography under review, was a successful lawyer, investor in real estate, and Missouri politician. Indeed, politics became "the consuming pas­ sion of his life" (p. 33). Frank was originally a Jacksonian, though later attracted to the Free Soil doctrine; an uncompromising Unionist; and an amateur soldier—eventually seeing much combat during the Civil War and demonstrating a genuine abil­ ity to command. Possessed of an Anglo-Saxon bias, he was noticeably prej­ udiced against Indians and Mexicans. He owned slaves, but he freed them shortly before the Civil War and became committed to antislavery. Nevertheless, he remained firmly convinced that African Americans could never live harmoniously in the United States and consistently favored the col­ onization of freed blacks in Central America. Strongly opinionated and out­ spoken, he clashed vitriolically with his opponents and enemies. He found the love of his life, Appoline Alexander, an attractive—though Parrish asserts "not beautiful"—and pleasant girl, when she was only thirteen years of age (p. 31). After waiting a decent interval for her to mature, they married, and she proved to be an intelligent and valuable helpmate. Their marriage was a long and happy one. Elected to public office on a number of occasions, Blair served in the Missouri legislature, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate. A Whig Party activist, and later a molder of the Republican Party's conserv­ ative wing, Blair indefatigably worked for the issues and causes in which he believed. He possibly pushed himself too frantically at times, perhaps induc­ ing or exacerbating some of his illnesses. He apparently was, however, a well-liked and sociable fellow. Lincoln's naval secretary, Gideon Welles, who kept a voluminous and valuable diary, compared Frank with Ulysses S. Grant: "Grant loves drink for the sake of drink. He is not like Blair, con­ vivial, social and given to a spree" (p. 65). Early in the Civil War, Blair asked for and received the chairmanship of the House Military Affairs Committee. He vigorously helped to generate support for Lincoln's agenda. As the war progressed, he was frequently in the field on active military duty and then occasionally back at work in Washington or Missouri. A brigade commander in William Tecumseh 354 Missouri Historical Review

Sherman's army, Blair served prominently in the Chickasaw Bayou and Vicksburg campaigns and the marches through Georgia and the Carolinas. During their years together, Sherman and Blair grew "quite close" (p. 226). Blair continued to be politically active after the Civil War, serving untir­ ingly in the U.S. Senate. His unrelenting activism and push may have brought about his untimely death on July 9, 1875, at the age of fifty-four. Parrish has done a commendable job. His writing style is pleasant. There is evidence of painstaking research, a vast amount of it in primary sources and original documents. The book is a welcome and useful addition to the genre.

University of Missouri-Kansas City Herman Hattaway

Judgment at Gallatin: The Trial of Frank James. By Gerard S. Petrone (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1998). xviii + 222 pp. Illustrations. Bibliography and Note References. Index. $28.95.

When this reviewer first received Judgment at Gallatin to review, he thought, "Oh no! Not another one on the James Gang!" After starting to read the book, however, he realized that Dr. Petrone, a physician and amateur his­ torian turned professional writer for this book, has researched a most contro­ versial nineteenth-century American trial. He has done more than just write a book; he has provided a social history of the post-Civil War years and the events surrounding the James-Younger Gang in history. The treatment of women attending the trial, for instance, drew several comments from the author. This is not only a methodical chronicle of Frank James's trial at Gallatin for the Winston, Missouri, train robbery and murder of Frank McMillan during the holdup; the research also reveals new facts and inter­ pretation of this controversial event in Missouri history. Many legal experts, the press, and the public have condemned the jury justice system for the acquittal of O. J. Simpson in his double-murder trial in 1994. What Dr. Petrone portrays is the same type of criticism about Frank James's trial in the 1880s. The author leads the reader through the details of William H. Wallace's competent prosecution. His forceful and moving clos­ ing argument should have made clear what the duty of the jury was, but instead, the jurors, much to the surprise of the nation, returned a not-guilty verdict. Perhaps the jury was swayed by the eloquence of John Finis Philip's defense argument. Using material from local newspapers, books, and memoirs, Petrone's research is very complete. The exact transcript of the trial is not available, but the author made use of the 1898 book, The Trial of Frank James for Murder. This current volume should be the definitive study on this notorious trial, but a new historical question about the jury arises. Book Reviews 355

The American system of justice is not perfect, but as in any trial, the ver­ dict is made by human beings, and sometimes they make errors. Further research needs to be done on the jury members of Frank James's trial. Petrone attempts to explain their actions, but he also hints that there may have been tampering with the jury selection process. The background of each juror may be more critical. Did he fight in the Civil War? What was his exact background, and how was he selected for this duty? Future Ph.D. candi­ dates—here is a dissertation topic. This book is a must for all historians, amateur and professional, as well as anyone interested in Missouri history and students of America's outlaws. It is a must for all undergraduate libraries as well as Missouriana collections. This reviewer recommends the volume to all interested in late-nineteenth- century history and finds it to be an excellent contribution to our historical knowledge of the period.

Northwest Missouri State University Thomas W. Corneal

Missouri Brothers in Gray: The Reminiscences and Letters of William J. Bull and John P. Bull. Edited by Michael E. Banasik (Iowa City, Iowa: Camp Pope Bookshop, 1998). x + 179 pp. Illustrations. Maps. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $12.50, paper, plus $2.50 postage and handling. In the Devil's Dominions: A Union Soldier's Adventures in "Bushwhacker Country." By Charles W. Porter and edited by Patrick Brophy (Nevada, Mo.: Vernon County Historical Society, 1998). xiv + 215 pp. Maps. Index. $14.95, paper, plus $2.50 postage and handling.

Missouri Brothers in Gray is the inaugural volume of Camp Pope Bookshop's series of unpublished or hard-to-obtain eyewitness sources for the Civil War in the trans-Mississippi theater. Edited from papers at the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, the volume is a compilation of mem­ oir and letters by Confederate soldiers William Jeffery Bull and John Payne Bull, members of a prominent St. Louis mercantile family who served most­ ly west of the Mississippi River. They commenced their careers in the pres­ tigious Missouri Volunteer Militia before hostilities began and were among the militiamen captured by Nathaniel Lyon at Camp Jackson in 1861. After parole, the Bulls joined Henry Guibor's Missouri battery, served in Sterling Price's artillery at Elkhorn Tavern, Arkansas, and moved with his army east of the Mississippi River. At Memphis the brothers transferred to another artillery unit, known variously as Gorham's/Tilden's/Lesueur's/Third Missouri Field Battery. After serving at Corinth and Tupelo, the Bulls recrossed the Mississippi River in July 1862 and spent the rest of the war in the trans-Mississippi. William remained an artilleryman, but John took commissions in Missouri and Arkansas cavalry units. 356 Missouri Historical Review

William Bull's 1906 memoir is Part I of Missouri Brothers in Gray. The narrative begins with an obscure May 1861 incident in which militiamen saved state gunpowder from federal seizure and continues through various episodes in Missouri, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Bull's battery was blooded at Pea Ridge but unengaged at Prairie Grove. At Helena, William left his gun and charged with the infantry. His account of the Battle of Helena is one of the best passages of the memoir. Bull served at Little Rock and Camden for the duration of the war but saw no additional combat. His last military act was to blow up the powder magazine at Camden. Part II consists of wartime letters from both brothers to their parents in St. Louis. As well as comments on food, clothing, and scarcities, the corre­ spondence includes details on camp life, battery personnel, the underground mail system in occupied Missouri, and the recovery of Emmett MacDonald's effects after his death at Hartville. Letters written by Confederate cavalry­ men in the trans-Mississippi theater are rare, and it is unfortunate that more of John Bull's letters are not extant. The volume includes several appendixes. The roster of Gorham's/ Tilden's/Lesueur's/Third Missouri battery is appropriate, but the lists of indi­ viduals associated with Camp Jackson, and especially the appendix featuring biographical sketches of trans-Mississippi military leaders, would have been better placed in separate volumes dealing with those subjects. Editor Michael Banasik displays an encyclopedic knowledge of the war in the trans-Mississippi. Given the lack of combat described in the memoir and letters, Banasik's notes are often more informative than the accounts by the Bull brothers themselves. In the Devil's Dominions is another primary account from "Bushwhacker Country" published by the Vernon County Historical Society. The present offering derives from the journal of Charles W. Porter, a native of Baraboo, Wisconsin, and a Union cavalryman, in the collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. The publication includes selected por­ tions of Porter's journal for 1862-1865 concerning service in the Third Wisconsin Cavalry, one of the few eastern Union regiments to serve exclu­ sively west of the Mississippi. Porter rose from the ranks to become captain of Company F. Porter learned the cavalryman's trade during the Prairie Grove campaign in Missouri and Arkansas. The Third Wisconsin conducted scouts against regular Confederate units and guerrillas, protected the Union flank at Prairie Grove, and raided Van Buren, Arkansas. Among noteworthy incidents were a grand review that ended when drunken soldiers stoned the dance hall, strik­ ing General John M. Schofield in the head; cavalry actions in northern Arkansas; and the summary execution of three captured guerrillas. Porter spent the next year based at Fort Scott, Kansas, and outlying gar­ risons at Balltown, Deerfield, and Nevada in Vernon County, Missouri. The Third Wisconsin never again campaigned with an infantry army but served in Book Reviews 357 details rarely exceeding a hundred men. The unit protected communications with Fort Smith and Fort Gibson, guarded river crossings, and conducted counterinsurgency sweeps against guerrillas along the western edge of the Ozarks. When not scouting or fighting, Porter battled the elements and bore­ dom, cultivated acquaintances with local residents, and wrote in his journal. He described several instances of liquor-induced indecorum by soldiers, but visiting, dancing, and romancing were much more frequent diversions. Even in "secesh" Vernon County, more Wisconsin soldiers found brides in the neighborhood than became combat casualties. Porter became well acquaint­ ed with the residents of Balltown and eventually married Bettie Rowntree, a widow with a young daughter. Although the editor quips that "Venus was in the ascendant . . . not Mars," Porter and his regiment saw considerable campaigning and combat (p. xiii). The Third Wisconsin skirmished regularly in 1863 and 1864 with guer­ rillas including James "Pony" Hill, William Marchbanks, and Henry Taylor, former sheriff of Vernon County. The Third Wisconsin joined forces coun­ tering Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition in 1864, but Porter served as mili­ tia quartermaster at Wyandotte, Kansas. He came close to the fighting at Westport but fled the battlefield pursued by the enemy when raw Kansas militia panicked and ran. In 1865, Porter rejoined his company at Balltown and traveled to Fort Leavenworth, witnessed a gunfight between Kansas betes noirs Charles R. Jennison and Daniel Anthony, received and resigned his captain's commission, and returned to Wisconsin. Porter's journal is rich with details on the Third Wisconsin Cavalry, Fort Scott, Vernon County, small-unit operations, and the guerrilla war in that region. Editor Patrick Brophy identifies most of the references to persons and places in Vernon County, but wider audiences occasionally may find his editing too provincial. Omissions of entries for days when little happened make it sometimes difficult to determine the location of subsequent entries. Brophy resents Porter's "ludicrous bias" toward his foes and satanic epithets for Vernon County as "the Devil's Dominions" but reads too much into a sol­ dier's hyperbole (pp. xi-xii). While it was hard war in the region, Porter expressed no deep-seated hatred toward the citizenry, and there were indeed plenty of armed men in the brush willing to send Porter to an infernal region. Missouri Brothers in Gray and In the Devil's Dominions are among the better accounts in the recently published spate of primary materials for the trans-Mississippi. Neither are riveting reading, but they are standard sources for their topics. Researchers will be pleased to have them readily available.

Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Rolla John F. Bradbury, Jr.

Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman behind the Legend. By John E. Miller (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1998). xii + 306 pp. 358 Missouri Historical Review

Illustrations. Notes. Index. $29.95.

The books of Laura Ingalls Wilder have provided an autobiographical look at life on America's agricultural frontier in the 1870s and 1880s. First published between 1932 and 1943, Wilder's eight books gained instant pop­ ularity with children and adults and continue to be widely enjoyed. In recent decades, Wilder's pioneer childhood, appearing in such disparate venues as women's studies, regional and popular history, and the television series Little House on the Prairie, has spawned a proliferation of Little House and Laura ephemera. Today we know two Lauras: the young girl and woman of the books and the old lady who lived in the Missouri Ozarks and wrote about the younger Laura. John E. Miller, a professor of history at South Dakota State University in Brookings, seeks to unite the two Lauras by providing a histor­ ical and cultural context for Wilder, the woman. Although Miller acknowledges a "paucity of sources that speak directly to the questions of what kind of person she was and what kind of life she lived," he draws upon her unpublished autobiography, family correspon­ dence, newspaper articles, and other documentary evidence to weave a detailed tapestry from Wilder's life (p. 11). Miller's straightforward and well-written biography focuses on Wilder's development as a writer and her remarkable relationship with her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, a figure in the American literary world during the 1920s and 1930s. Interestingly, Miller argues against the widely held view that Lane trans­ formed and polished her mother's prose. Lane's impressions of her mother, taken from her diaries and journals, make it clear that the relationship between mother and daughter was complex and fascinating. Miller believes that, although Lane may have encouraged and advised Wilder in her literary career, much of Wilder's prose was capable of standing on its own without Lane's editing and writing skills. Wilder's transformation from rural farm wife into internationally acclaimed novelist becomes less improbable as we follow her through the twenty years she spent honing her skills as a columnist for the Missouri Ruralist, a bimonthly farm paper. In these columns, Wilder used the themes and values that formed the basis for the Little House books, including the virtues of rural life, the advantages of technological progress, and the neces­ sity for family cooperation. From the beginning of her career, Wilder's work was distinguished by a union of descriptive detail and broad moral lessons that, with her keen insights and observations of family and friends, made her columns more than simple records of frontier hardship. Miller has taken on the Little House sentimentalists and, through the facts of Wilder's life, portrayed the real world of the nineteenth-century American prairie, but Laura Ingalls Wilder's evolution into popular novelist remains intriguing. Miller's volume is as well crafted and well researched a Book Reviews 359 biography as we could hope to read of a woman who left behind surprising­ ly little evidence about herself.

Missouri State Archives Shelly Croteau

Praying for Base Hits: An American Boyhood. By Bruce Clayton (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1998). viii + 267 pp. Illustrations. $16.95, paper.

Once in a great while, a historian reviews a book that elicits chuckles and even a belly laugh or two. This is one of those books; however, it is not just a comedic recitation. It also offers insights into the growing-up process, fam­ ily relationships, and the Kansas City, Missouri, of the 1940s and 1950s. Bruce Clayton is a respected professor of history at Allegheny College, and this memoir takes him through his early years and his teens to his dis­ covery of the joy of learning at the college level. Clayton's interest in base­ ball is central to his recounting of his youth—from his efforts to play the game skillfully to the newly arrived Kansas City Athletics when they came to town in 1955. Clayton grew up in the northeastern part of Kansas City, a neighborhood that had some of the same characteristics as the rural communities from which his family had come. There were neighbors with eccentricities and also philosophies of value. Clayton recognized and appreciated both. His relationship with his father was often strained, although his father was amaz­ ingly generous at times, and they got along even though the senior Clayton had no use for baseball. His mother was a warmer parent to whom piety was most important, so the boy spent a great deal of time at protracted funda­ mentalist church services. In addition to his love of athletics, Clayton shared most of the same inter­ ests embraced by his friends: sexual fantasies, playing in a jazz band, "hot" cars, pinball machines, hanging out at a neighborhood hamburger joint, and (occasionally) high school homework. He, unlike some of his buddies, rec­ ognized how uneducated they were in high school, and he comments at some length about that. Clayton was occasionally an ornery kid, but he and his friends never engaged in malicious or felonious activities. They devised a system for sneaking into Athletics games; they loved to try to disrupt burlesque perfor­ mances; and they figured out how to get away with free drinks at the neigh­ borhood drugstore, the proprietor of which they thoroughly disliked. Although this reviewer is Clayton's senior by more than a decade, he found it easy to relate to many of the author's experiences. Not a kid when he went to Athletics games at Municipal Stadium or took in a show at the old 360 Missouri Historical Review

Folly Theater, this reviewer too wanted Gus Zernial to hit a homer and hoot­ ed at bad baggy-pants comedy at the seedy burlesque house. There is poignancy in Clayton's memoir and great warmth in his remem­ brances of the people he knew while growing up. There is romance too, for the girl to whom he gave his high school letter sweater became his wife. His narrative moves easily between boyhood thoughts and adult observations, and the reader has no problem understanding the perceptive views from both vantage points. This is a book of great charm. Adding to its appeal are the illustrations, primarily provided by family snapshots. While Praying for Base Hits has a particular relevance to Missourians and Kansas Citians, it also should inter­ est anyone who shared the years of Clayton's youth—as a child or as a par­ ent of similar boys. Bruce Clayton has made a special contribution to our history with this work, and the University of Missouri Press is to be com­ mended for publishing it.

Robert W. Richmond

Cold Weather Advice

City of Jefferson People's Tribune, December 19, 1866. Hall's Journal of Health gives the following advice how to go to bed in winter time . . . : "Do it in a hurry, if there is no fire in the room and there ought not to be unless you are quite an invalid. . . ."

A Preferred Talent

Maysville Western Register, July 28, 1870. "A man is in general better pleased," says Dr. Johnson, "when he has a good dinner than when his wife talks Greek."

A Handy Pocketful

Hannibal Tri-Weekly Messenger, July 22, 1852. The editor of the Boston Post says that a newly invented dozen bladed knife has been made by a Yankee cutler, which has in addition to its blades, a corkscrew, a bodkin, a hair­ brush, and a boot-jack, besides a season ticket to the theatre. 361

BOOK NOTES A Town on Two Rivers. By Victoria Hubbell (Osage Beach, Mo.: City of Osage Beach, 1998). vii + 287 pp. Illustrations. Maps. Bibliography. $30.00, plus taxes ($2.17) and $6.00 shipping and handling.

A Town on Two Rivers discusses the town of Osage Beach, Missouri. Its intent is to present a picture of the area and its evolution from 1870 to the 1970s. The work is abundantly illustrated with pictures, maps, and newspa­ per and magazine advertisements that relate to what has become one of cen­ tral Missouri's top resort cities. Eighteen well-written chapters highlight everything from farm life before the building of Bagnell Dam in the 1930s to schools, boats, churches, entertainment, and language over the last fifty-plus years of the twentieth century. To order contact the City of Osage Beach, 1000 City Parkway, Osage Beach, MO 65065.

To Fence, Or Not To Fence: St. Charles County's Long Road to Laws Putting Farm Animals Behind Fences and Off City Streets. By Anita M. Mallinckrodt (Augusta, Mo.: Mallinckrodt Communications & Research, 1999). 20 pp. Illustrations. $4.00, paper, plus postage. Freed Slaves: Ex-Slaves and Augusta, Missouri's Germans During and After the Civil War. By Anita M. Mallinckrodt (Augusta, Mo.: Mallinckrodt Communications & Research, 1999). 20 pp. Illustrations. $4.00, paper, plus postage.

Through local records and newspapers, Mallinckrodt discusses two local history topics in St. Charles County in these booklets. To Fence, Or Not To Fence traces nineteenth-century legislation aimed at controlling stray animals and documents the reactions of county citizens through newspapers and jus­ tice of the peace records. In Freed Slaves, the author examines the nine­ teenth-century attitudes of the Augusta-area German Americans toward African Americans and, through newspaper items and excerpts from local business records, provides information about the presence of African Americans in the community in the years following the Civil War. Both booklets can be ordered from Mallinckrodt Communications, 498 Schell Road, Augusta, MO 63332.

Along the Boone's Lick Road: Missouri's Contribution To Our First Transcontinental Route - U.S. Highway 40. By Dan A. Rothwell (Chesterfield, Mo.: Young at Heart Publishing Company and St. Charles, Mo.: Greater St. Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau, 1999). vii + 101 pp. Illustrations. Maps. Bibliography. $17.00, paper, plus $3.00 shipping and handling. 362 Missouri Historical Review

This important work tells the story of the famous Boone's Lick Trail, which ran from St. Louis to the salt manufacturing works at Boone's Lick in Howard County. It later served as the beginning segment of the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon Trails, then as a trace (defined as an "improved trail"), and finally a road—a part of the first transcontinental route across the United States (U.S. Highway 40) and later Interstate 70. Through numerous photographs, illustrations, and maps of old landmarks and communities, Dan Rothwell captures the colorful history that sprouted up along the trail. The book's county-by-county look at important sites illustrates how the trail influenced the history of Missouri. The book can be purchased from Dan Rothwell, 15720 Callender Court, Chesterfield, MO 63017-7306.

Sanctuary In Soulard: The First 150 Years of Saints Peter and Paul Parish. By Jose Sanchez (St. Louis: Sts. Peter and Paul Church, 1999). 107 pp. Illustrations. $20.00, paper, plus $3.00 shipping and handling.

The Saints Peter and Paul Church, located in the revitalized Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis, has a long, distinguished history. The parish was founded in 1849 to meet the needs of the city's growing German population. Over the course of its history, the church has undergone tremendous changes, both good and bad, but has persevered and become an "inspiring parish com­ munity that today serves the faithful from all over the metropolitan area." Author Jose Sanchez uses descriptive writing and numerous photographs to tell this story. To order contact the church at 1919 South Seventh Street, St. Louis, MO 63104.

From Lincoln Logs to Lego Blocks: How Joplin Was Built. By Leslie Simpson (Joplin, Mo.: Winfred L. and Elizabeth C. Post Foundation, 1999). 24 pp. Illustrations. Index. $2.00, paper, plus $1.50 shipping and handling.

This book chronicles the history of Joplin by looking at its buildings. Leslie Simpson's work covers construction in the city from before Joplin's incorporation as a town in 1873 to the present. She comments on and pro­ vides pictures of a wide variety of structures, including private homes and businesses, depots, and churches, to illustrate how the people of Joplin have built up their city. The volume can be ordered from the Post Memorial Art Reference Library, 300 Main Street, Joplin, MO 64801-2384.

St. Joseph, Missouri: A Postcard History. By Robyn L. Davis and J. Marshall White (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 1999). 127 pp. Illustrations. $18.99, paper.

In its first century of existence, St. Joseph grew from a frontier town into a lively city, where catalog, manufacturing, and warehouse businesses flour- Book Notes 363 ished. In this work, Robyn L. Davis and J. Marshall White illustrate that transformation through postcards featuring various aspects of the city's life. Focusing mainly on features of the city in the early 1900s—including public buildings, businesses, the stockyards, entertainment, advertising, houses, res­ idents, clubs, schools, and churches—the book captures the essence of early- twentieth-century St. Joseph. The book can be purchased from Arcadia Publishing, 2A Cumberland Street, Charleston, SC 29401, or by calling 1- 3-313-2665.

More Than the Sum of His Parts: Arnold Krekel. By Joan M. Juern (Augusta, Mo.: Mallinckrodt Communications Research, 1999). 24 pp. Illustrations. Maps. Bibliography. $4.00, paper, plus postage. Call to the Frontier: Gottfried Duden's 1800's Book Stimulated Immigration to Missouri. By Joan M. Juern (Augusta, Mo.: Mallinckrodt Communications Research, 1999). 40 pp. Illustrations. Maps. Bibliography. $4.00, paper, plus postage.

Each of these works focuses on the life of a significant, yet often-ignored contributor to the history of Missouri. Arnold Krekel came to St. Charles County from Germany in 1832, immediately after losing his mother on the overland journey to Missouri from New York, without the ability to speak English, and with little money. From these humble beginnings, Krekel went on to serve in various appointed and elected positions in St. Charles County and beyond. Included among his many distinctions were stints as a justice of the peace, surveyor, engineer, and attorney in St. Charles County, election to the state legislature, and service as U.S. Western District judge for twenty- three years. A lawyer, Duden arrived in Missouri in 1824 with hopes of com­ piling a report on the state that could be sent back to his homeland and ease immigration for other Germans. The result was A Report on a Journey to the Western States of North America, which played a significant role in convinc­ ing numbers of Germans to relocate to the United States. By focusing on the immense natural resources available in the New World, the writings of this "one-man advertising agency" were salve to Germans blistered by a series of political, social, and economic upheavals in their homeland. Both booklets can be ordered from Mallinckrodt Communications, 498 Schell Road, Augusta, MO 63332.

Some Confusion Here

Hannibal Tri-Weekly Messenger, September 18, 1852. The last case of absence of mind is that of a ship carpenter, who bit off the end of a cop­ per spike, and drove a plug of tobacco into the vessel's bottom. 364

Founded in 1898, the State Historical Society is the preeminent research facility for the study of the Show Me State's heritage. It is the only statewide historical society in Missouri. The Society has assembled the second-largest specialized research library in the state and the largest collection of state news­ papers in the nation. The Society invites interested individuals to support its mission of col­ lecting, preserving, and making accessible the state's history by becoming a member. Members receive a one-year subscription to the Society's quarterly publication, the Missouri Historical Review. The State Historical Society is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization. Gifts of cash and property to the Society are deductible for federal income, estate, and gift tax purposes.

Individual membership $10.00 Contributing membership $25.00 Supporting membership $50.00 Annual sustaining membership $100.00 to $499.00 Annual patron membership $500.00 or more Life membership $250.00

To join the Society or to inquire about gifts or bequests contact:

James W. Goodrich State Historical Society of Missouri 1020 Lowry Street Columbia, Missouri 65201-7298 Phone (573) 882-7083 CONTRIBUTORS TO MISSOURI CULTURE Clara Cleghorn Hoffman

As longtime president of the Missouri Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Clara Cleghorn Hoffman led her "beloved comrades of the White Ribbon Army" on a crusade against the sale and consumption of liquor in the state. She also urged women to seek the right to vote, to become involved in partisan politics, and to become aware of and fight oppression and injus­ tice around the world. Born in DeKalb County, New York, in 1831, Clara Cleghorn was educated in New York and Massachusetts. After living in Iowa for a time, she taught school in Columbia, Illinois, where she met and married German-born Goswin Hoffman in 1862. The couple and their two sons moved to Warrensburg, Missouri, in 1869 and then to Kansas City in 1871. Hoffman became a teacher at Lathrop School in Kansas City shortly after their arrival. In 1873 she accepted the principalship of the school, a position she held for ten years. In April 1882, under the guidance of temperance leader Frances Willard, interested women organized a Missouri chapter of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Attending as a delegate, Hoffman was urged by Willard to accept the presidency of the newly formed affil­ iate. She declined. At the national WCTU convention held in Louisville, Kentucky, that fall, however, she agreed to accept the office. With the exception of a two-year hiatus due to poor health, 1902-1903, she served as state president until her death in 1908. As president, Hoffman worked tirelessly on behalf of temperance and prohibition. At the 1896 annual meeting, she reported that she had held 346 meetings in Missouri (268 includ­ ed public addresses) and attended 15 district and county conventions and 2 chautauquas dur­ ing the preceding eleven months. In addition to this grueling schedule, which included work on behalf of the national organization in Oklahoma, Hoffman endured the death of her older son. Hoffman advocated that WCTU members look beyond temperance and prohibition. She promoted the hiring of police matrons to look after girls and women in city and county jails and joined in national WCTU efforts to raise the age of consent for girls. She applauded the efforts of local chapters that established schools for working girls and evening classes for street waifs. Most of all, Hoffman encouraged women to realize their individual talents. Referring to the WCTU in 1888, she remarked, "If it had done nothing for the cause of temperance, (and it has done much,) what it has done to develop, State Historical Society of Missouri broaden and strengthen women would justify its existence." In addition to serving as state president, Hoffman assumed the office of WCTU nation­ al recording secretary in 1896, a post she also held at the time of her death. An eloquent speaker, she addressed the British Women's Temperance Association; lectured in France, Germany, and Switzerland; and served as a del­ egate to the international WCTU convention in London in 1895. She spoke before audiences throughout Missouri as well as all the other states. One hearer recalled, "The deep, organ tones of her voice filled the room, and her dra­ matic emphasis made a profound impression on *:he audience." Hoffman last appeared before the mem- of the Missouri WCTU in September 1907 twenty-fifth annual convention. She, . .vever, continued to administer her duties as her health permitted until her death on February 13, 1908. Fittingly, the state WCTU conducted her funeral services, which at her request dis­ played no sign of mourning, and speakers included officers from both the state and national organizations.