Mid-Missouri History Associates

04/11/2023

Good evening all. I wanted to post an update to services available through M2HA. Cartography rates aren't really changing much aside from a flat $10 fee for shipping. This covers the cost of purchasing the shipping container and the shipping itself.

I will also offer services for genealogical research or property research (they often go hand & hand) - but because of the time that goes into something like this, I cannot offer those services pro-bono. It's a skill set that isn't difficult to master, but it is time-consuming and that's why a lot of individuals shy away from it. If you want to contact me in regards to these services, please do so at eric.mcneal@m2ha.org.

I will also be opening a patreon page in the future as I work to turn this into something that everyone can enjoy, but that produces some income that can help support my efforts.

I appreciate each and everyone of you who have liked and followed my page. If you're a consistent viewer who enjoys my content but haven't liked or followed - please consider doing so - as it will help move me towards the monetization of the channel.

I have a presence on YouTube. If you go to that platform and search the following: .historian you will come to my channel. It has some videos that I have made regarding the Second Battle of Boonville. I intend to put that to use with some of the material from my podcast as well.

I also am learning to use the Twitter Platform and can be found there by searching for the handle .

Finally, I can be found on Instagram - a platform I do not know much about, but am working on. The handle there is m2ha.historian.

Thank you very much to everyone who has supported me or complimented me on my work. I enjoy very much being able to bring the past alive for you!

--Eric

04/10/2023

Envision a door, much like the one shown, covering the walled up portion of the Old Cooper County Jail. At 52 inches high, even a man of average height would have to stoop down to enter within. There are no windows - no bars - nothing that would give a sheriff any indication of what went on within. Based on the pattern of the stones sealing off the entrance, this door had its hinges on the left and latched on the right. It would have opened outward into the hall, thus making timely response to an altercation difficult.

And apparently, Cranmer's murder was not the first incident that proved the jail held potential hazards for its law enforcement officers. Four days after Sheriff Cranmer's death, the Tipton Times printed an article that detailed the murder and expressed some concern about the structure Cooper County used as a jail.

From the article:

"This is the third attempt upon the life of an officer that has occurred in the Boonville jail during the last few years. While J.F. Rogers was sheriff, his deputy, now judge L.L. Williams of Alaska, was assaulted by the notorious crook Marion Hedgepeth with a stone hammer and such injuries inflicted that Judge Williams has never entirely recovered from their effects. About two years ago, Captain Smith, then sheriff, was assaulted by two prisoners one striking him with an iron bar and the other beating him over the head with a heavy pad-lock, but the arrangement of the jail, which it will be observed is a perfect man trap, has remained unchanged until a good man's life has been sacrificed..."

The first incident against L.L. (Louis Littlepage) Williams, occurred in 1882. He would have been approximately 25 years of age at this time and was enumerated in the 1880 census as living in the home of his father at 173 Morgan Street, an area today that is the parking log of the Isle of Capri Casino. Of note, deputy Williams was the brother of Walter Williams - the founder of the J-School at the University of Missouri.

The second assault detailed in the Tipton Times article occurred in late October 1888. There Sheriff Leslie Smith was assaulted by two individuals, one using an old lock to hit him about the face. Sheriff Smith must have been a tough man. Though one of the individuals got away, he tackled and subdued the other and held his son back to keep him from going after the prisoner.

The Tipton Times article concluded that a change was needed in the design of the jail. A change would occur, but not for decades. While I am familiar with many things about the Old Jail, it would be interesting to see if and when any other incidents occurred. I know there were at least two other escapes - but that's all the spoiler I'm giving in this post.

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It is an interesting coincidence that Sheriff Cranmer and Sheriff Smith both served in the Windsor Guards, which were part of Sterling Price's body guard. Robert McCulloch also severed as Sheriff of Cooper County in the 1870s and himself was head of the Second Missouri Cavalry. Of course it may have been no coincidence at all.

It is also worth noting, on this 158th anniversary of the Surrender at Appomattox that the community of Boonville actually served as an example of how well the North and the South could reconcile after the war. Joseph Eppstein served as a school board member and the post master while Jacob Gmelich served as Mayor, and eventually Treasurer and Lieutenant Governor of the State. John Cosgrove served in the New York State Militia and was stationed on the border between New York, Vermont, and Canada after the Confederate raid on St. Albans. When he relocated to Missouri he served as a US Representative to Congress and practiced law here till his death. Cosgrove was a pallbearer for Sheriff Cranmer.

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If you enjoy my content, please give my page a like and a follow!!! It is much appreciated!!!

I hope this post has been both entertaining and enlightening. I also hope everyone had a blessed Easter Sunday!

--Eric

04/09/2023

Hwy 41 going north from Cooper to Saline County. Nothing now but fading memories...

04/09/2023

Hahaha! This was a good one.

Few things are as odd as Victorian Greeting cards.

The museums will be closed today.

04/09/2023

This well know image was painted by Tom Lovell and depicts the surrender of General Robert E. Lee to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant on 9 April 1865.

The textbooks frequently cite this date as the end of the American Civil War, though significant events were to occur and battles to be fought following the events at this small central Virginia town known as Appomattox Court House.

During the summer of 2003 I was fortunate enough to be able to intern at the National Park at this location. I spent ten weeks living on the grounds, walking the trails, and visiting the locations where the major events occurred. I helped develop a database of Confederate parolees, man and interpret at the visitor center, the McClean Home, and participate in Living History Programs where I cave a first person interpretation of a soldier stationed there in the summer of 1865.

I became very familiar with the story in a very personal and sincere way that just the study of books can never really equal. Because of this, I have always had an appreciation for the surrender story. It may not have been the end of the American Civil War, but Appomattox was the place where the country first sought how best to reunite.

Grant could have arrested Lee. He could have imposed unconditional surrender terms on the Army of Northern Virginia. He chose to do neither of those. He fed his enemy, paroled them, and allowed them to go home. Lee for his part encouraged them, in his farewell address, to be as good of citizens as they were soldiers.

There are a great many stories to tell about these events. I highly recommend going to visit the park if ever you have the opportunity. You won't be disappointed.

Also, a blessed Easter Sunday to everyone!

04/09/2023

Work continues on the script for Part II of the story of the Murder of Sheriff Thomas Cranmer. It should be published by the latest - one week from tomorrow.

Here's a sneak peak at some other episodes that have potential to show up over the next couple of months.

- The story of Colonel William Brown, leader of Missouri forces at the Second Battle of Boonville.
- The Second Battle of Boonville (multiple parts)
- The life and death of Richard Durrett (Saline County)
- The saga of the July 28, 1926 robbery of the Bank at Pleasant Green
- The murder of Harry Lewis by Rube Boone, a story of Jim Crow Era Pilot Grove (these guys were brothers-in-law)
- The life of John Poindexter, Missouri Guerrilla and second in command of Missouri forces at Second Battle of Boonville
- The story of runaway slaves and their role in the Second Battle of Boonville

These are just starters. Which of them would you like to hear first?

04/08/2023

There's another side of history into which researchers and genealogists frequently run. I'll admit, I've had a good run of luck in posting about different personalities and have been fortunate to not hit too many dead ends. In the family history field we call that a "brick wall."

This stone is one of those for me. Theophilus Ward Noel was born October 7, 1794 in Virginia. He died in Cooper County and was buried at Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Cemetery.

I know that because it's very elegantly written on his tombstone. I know nothing else. I've looked through records and while I haven't given up the search... anything about this man is proving elusive.

But read his epitaph: universally respected for his strict honor and equally beloved for his kindness, generosity, and benevolence.

That sounds like a human being I want to know more about! But he's just out of reach - a memory perhaps destined to always be chased.

Think of how many lives that have been lived which are unrecorded, how many nameless photographs stare out at us from old shelves - anyone who could have told us about them long gone. Every stone and burial is a story. Try as we might, we cannot tell them all...

04/08/2023

Here's a bit of a fun share from a page called the Victorian Historian.

Personal cameras became available to consumers beginning in 1888, providing those who could afford one an opportunity to capture memories without having to make an expensive visit to a photography studio.
Being able to personally take multiple pictures allowed for creative opportunities, such as this photo of friends from the 1890s.

04/08/2023

Big shout out to my newest top fans! 💎

Blake Rhode, Mark Wieland, Vonnie Mason Fairley, Neil Twenter, John William Tisue

I'm not sure how this works, but it must mean you interact with my page quite a bit! So I'm throwing a thank you at you! Much obliged for your support!

-Eric

04/07/2023

This map insert is from the 1896 County Plat of Saline County. The city on display is Saline City. North and east of Arrow Rock, the town was platted out in 1858. During the years 1869 and 1870 there was a post office in operation called Saline City P.O. A post office known as "Little Rock" was established in 1878 and was in operation until 1907.

In his 1910 work "Past and Present of Saline County," William Barclay Napton wrote that the town was situated on a high bluff bank of the Missouri River and was said to be the best and one of the most favorable places for the building of a bridge across the river between St. Louis and Kansas City, but no railroad company as of that time had adopted it for that purpose.

The town was cleared off by Rufus Biglow. Colonel George W. Allen surveyed and platted the town. The landing was said to be good and significant shipping was done from its shores. When the post office was established in 1869 it was found that there was already a post office in Missouri named Saline City and so the place was registered later as Little Rock because the town was long called "Little Arrow Rock."

An article from the Kansas City Times details the situation with the railroad. Dated 29 March 1873, the article relates the idea of the Keokuk and Kansas City Railroad. The article stated there was some conflict between the citizens of Arrow Rock and the younger town of Saline City. Arrow Rock was not in favor of Saline City being a railroad crossing as they viewed that this would make Saline City become a competitor.

While the Keokuk and Kansas City Railroad did run from Glasgow to Salisbury, no crossing was ever made connecting Saline City to the line. Instead, the crossing occurred at Glasgow.

Today there is virtually nothing left of Saline City, the area is rural and home to large rolling areas of farmland.

04/07/2023

The man in this image is the Reverend Maurice Edwin Broaddus. A baptist minister, he was instrumental in the calming of crowds and the raising of money on the day of the death of Sheriff Thomas Cranmer. Had it not been for his statement to the crowd around noon, the prisoner - John O. Turlington - might well have been lynched.

Reverend Broaddus was born in the community of Sparta, Caroline County, Virginia in 1849. His father, James, was a lieutenant in Company H of the 30th Virginia infantry, known as the Sparta Greys. He participated in many battles, among them - Gettysburg - and in particular, Pickett's Charge. Three months after the close of the war he was killed by a kick from a horse.

Maurice was the eldest of six children. He attended the Oakalone Academy in Essex County, Virginia. He left home at the age of seventeen, making his way to Missouri, and arrived in St. Louis. An industrious and hard working man, he worked for various farmers in Missouri and Kansas to establish an income. While in Nevada, Missouri he worked at the carpenter's trade for four years in the employ of Dungan and depay. He officially united with the Baptist church in October 1872 and went to Greenville, South Carolina, where he entered there into the southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He graduated in the class of 1876 and spent the summer at the Centennial Exposition in 1876.

He next became a pastor of a church in Newberry County, South Carolina and was afterward at Camden in that state. He spent the year 1884 in Europe, where he studied and traveled, and upon his return to America he became pastor of the Baptist church in Clinton, Missouri, in 1886. Later he accepted a call from the church at Boonville and while there was instrumental in erecting a church at the cost of twelve thousand dollars.

He was afterward at Columbia, where he built a church costing twenty-five thousand dollars. He next became president of the Burlington Institute and the pastor of the first church at that place, and from there he went to Greenville, Mississippi, to accept the pastorate of the Baptist church. After occupying a similar position in Bristol, Tennessee, he went to Norfolk, Virgiinia as a paster of the south side pastorate, but again returned to Missouri and was official lecturer for the Frisco Railroad Company for three years in connection with pastoral work at Pierce City, Missouri. He then returned to Clinton and served the Baptist Congregation there.

Reverend Broaddus eventually retired to Texas where he passed away. His burial occurred in Clinton, Missouri. This was a very busy and well-traveled man whose brief stop in Boonville resulted in the erecting of the Baptist Church and the quelling of an angry mob bent on revenge for their fallen friend.

What an amazing life that touched Boonville, albeit briefly, at a very critical moment!

Source Material from "Missouri: The Center State, 1821-1915, Volume 3" by Walter Barlow Stevens.

Photo from Findagrave.

04/06/2023

A note on Chay Houx - the man who was serving a six month sentence for adultery in June 1890. I have found no image of the individual whom Sheriff Tom Cranmer grew to trust. All versions of the shooting that mention Houx indicate that he never tried to escape, but rather helped the Sheriff and ran outside for help.

But what happened to him later in life? His name is unique and is French. His age is never given in any of the articles, but it is possible that he was either a former slave, or the child of a former slave who belonged to the Houx family that once lived in the area surrounding Pilot Grove.

Like so many individuals of his race during the Jim Crow era, it is difficult to track information. Second class citizenship and poverty often times made for a lack of records or respectful treatment before the law. Fortunately for us, a man named Dr. Emile Paillou, wrote a small book called "Hometown Sketches," which focused on unique personalities from his early life in Boonville.

One of the final entries into his word, which can be found on the Cooper County Missouri Genealogy Web (https://cooper.mogenweb.org/Biographical/Home_Town-Sketches_PP_001_100.pdf) involved a man named Chay Houx. The entry reads as follows:

"Chay Houx! That name makes you smile broadly if you are an old timer and attended theatricals at the old Thespian Hall in the eighties. Was there ever heard such ribald laughter since the time of Gargantua himself?

"Ow! Haw! Haw! Haw! Oo-o-o-o--h! Har! Har! Har!" In gusts, in bursts, in avalanches of joyous abandon from the great original "clacque solitaire" of Boonville, for there was only one Chay Houx and no theatrical performance was a complete success without him
and none a total failure with this "colored man and brother" present.

You could read amazement on the actor's face at the outburst of Houx's applause. He seemed to say to himself, "Is it possible that I am that funny?" and always the laughter broke out in gales at the laugher, and with every one following the laughing jackass, it was easy to see that a pleasant time was had by all."

If Chay was immured during an engagement calling especially for his professional attainments, then some hasty compromise must be made with authority and fines liquidated to the end that this artist could join forces with visiting comedians for our entertainment.

I wonder where this stentorian laughter is today? Wherever he is, I hope he is still laughing and has grown exceeding fat withal."

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That final question is a relevant one. The writing suggests that Chay Houx was active at Thespian Hall during the 1880s. This would suggest another reason for his treatment while in jail. He was probably a well known face for anyone who had been to a show at Thespian Hall. Perhaps Tom Cranmer had done so.

But this writing by Dr. Paillou is the latest writing that mentions the name of Chay Houx. A quick search of Ancestry.com reveals one final note. In the first decades of the 20th century, a Chay Houx lived in the city of St. Louis at 810 N. 10th Street. That street eventually became Route 66 and today, not of the buildings from that period exist. In 1902 a city directory lists a Chay Houx as a barber practicing at 1114 Morgan Street. Located close to the Mississippi River - this location was obliterated by the creation of I-44. Were these directory listings the same man? It is possible. The name is a unique one. But from this point on Chay Houx is a ghost in the pages of history.

Nothing else about Chay Houx is known...