lillie Barger Scott: memories in Atchison co, Mo

I just came across a short story of how my grandmother & grandfather Clayton R. SCOTT met & the activities that took place in Atchison County at that time. She wrote this to my mother in 1962 a year before her death & it names a lot of other people in the area as well.

Clayton and I met at a party at the Mable CRAIG place. People by the name of HARVEY lived there at the time.

Then Clayton came to the Bartlett Schoolhouse where ministers came from Tarkio to preach and assist with Sunday School also. We then became better acquainted.

We attended lecture courses in Westboro and Tarkio had literary debates, spelling bees, ciphering matches, entertainment by local talent, box suppers, skating parties, celebration of the Fourth of July, Christmas entertainment and trees, dancing and card parties.

We did not allow the weather to interfere if had plans made. As recall one instance when the thermometer registered 22 degrees below zero. Clayton came with a sleigh with bells and his beautiful ponies and we went to an oyster supper up near Westboro and played Flinch.

With temperatures such as the above, we dressed differently than today. Men needed to wear either fur or fur lined caps and the ladies Facinators (a crocheted scarf or a Tobogan) a long knitted stocking leg cap which could be folded many times for warmth.

After our marriage we lived with Clayton’s folks for a short time then moved to the little house back from the road, a short distance directly north of the airport at this date 1962. We then moved to Aunt Fanny‘s (SCOTT) which is the first house south of Grandfather John William SCOTT (Hannah Susan SCOTT SMITH also lived in this house).

Our next move was approximately one-half mile north of Grandfather Isaac Lee BARGER’s home and on the west side of the road. This is where Pauline L. SCOTT was born January 18, 1911. Dr. Goltry of Westboro, Mo. was the attending physician.

This place was originally the Aron COE home. They also one of the early settlers---but has changed hands a number of times within recent years and the house no longer there.

This is also where Clayton and I had different views as to where he should hang his coat. The house had been freshly painted and papered and was very nice. He hung the coat where it was handy but it didn’t make a very desirable picture from the living room. So I asked him to hang it elsewhere. He did not choose to do so, so I waited a few days then broached the subject at a different angle since he had just purchased the latest style high wheel buggy and we had 2 high class driving horses and he said they to be mine.

I inquired if I went to the barn and hung my harness somewhere that he would rather not have it, if he would move it ? He replied “you may hang your harness any place you wish and if I move it I’ll move my coat”. Now what puzzled me was where in the world to hang the harness so I hurried to the barn after Clayton went to work and as I opened the barn door I thought “THIS IS IT”, so I found the largest spike nail available and drove it in at an angle, that alone would prevent the door from closing, then hung the harness on the spike which left it so the horses could not enter the barn without removing the harness.

We moved back to Grandfather John William SCOTT’s place March 1, 1911 and lived there until coming to Tarkio in 1950.

Clayton often went on a wolf chase where a bunch of men would go on horseback where they thought they could scare up several wolves to get their hounds on the chase, then would circle around and if the dogs couldn’t kill the wolves the men would shoot them.

One time Clayton and Lorraine (his cousin) went coon hunting. They tracked a coon about 40 yards to where it entered a hollow maple tree. Lorraine climbed to the top of the tree where soon the coon ran past Lorraine, but he grabbed him by the tail then wondered what he should do but the coon was heavy so naturally he had to let him drop to the ground. The coon then ran back into the hollow part of the tree at the bottom. They probed with a piece of fence post and had a piece of wire looped at the end hoping to fix his head and mouth so he could not open his mouth. They needed something besides the wire so Clayton used his suspenders to help hold the wire in place. By that time the coon tumbled over and the boys both pulled their heads back at the same time and got fastened so they had some skin peeled from their faces and head by the time they were free from the hole in the tree.

They thought they had him so he couldn’t open his mouth but he bit Clayton on the knee (still has the scar) before they finally did get the wire so could take him home for Lorraines hounds to chase and kill.