A transcription of: Newsom's County Directory for Bates County, Missouri, 1884 NOTE: Not all the names listed first are males. Where Mrs. occurs, the subject usually contains the name or initials of the husband, and the wife information usually has her maiden name. For example, the following entry is for Mary Catherine CRABTREE, born 1848, Kentucky, wife of William T. BLACK.. BLACK, W. Mrs. - b: 1848, KY - Spruce Township, PO Johnstown -- wife: CRABTREE, M. C. In other cases, the female's name is given first with or without her maiden name: COWDRY, Amanda Mrs. - b: 1830, OH - Deer Creek Township, PO Adrian ---- About the Author and the Directory Dempsey Giles Newsome, known as D.G., was born October 28, 1842 in Forsyth County, North Carolina. In 1861, he enlisted in Company B, 11th North Carolina Volunteers of the Confederate Army, and was active until August 1862, when he was wounded at the second battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas) and discharged. In 1864 he located at Knob Noster, Missouri, then moved to Butler in 1866. On March 13, 1870, he married Emma Frances Campbell, in Bates County. They lived most of their lives in Butler, except for a short time spent in Harrisonville. The Newsomes had twelve children, eight living at the time of the 1900 census. Being a staunch Democrat and southern supporter, he named his oldest son Stonewall Jackson, and one of his daughters, Dixie Lee, and later in life served as adjutant of Marmaduke Camp Confederate Veterans. His business interests were varied. When he first came to Butler, he employed himself as a house painter before being appointed deputy sheriff and collector of the county. After that, he worked as a clerk, and later manager, for R. Weil and Company, a boot and shoe retailer with several locations. In March of 1879, he purchased the Bates County Advocate newspaper, reestablished it as the Butler Weekly Times, then sold it on January 1 1880. In 1883-84 Newsome compiled the directory for Bates County, and hired H. Rauth of St. Louis to print it. To say the least, he was not satisfied with the job. He sued Rauth to recover $1,735 for his failure to comply with the contract, and for mistakes made in printing and binding. In June 1885, the judgment came back in Newsome's favor, the judge saying the work was carelessly done and of inferior workmanship, but since some of the errors were caused by defects in the original manuscript, he only awarded $624.86 in damages. It's impossible to tell who's error caused each mistake in the directory, but the most obvious one made by the printer is the title and author's name, Newsom, which was spelled without the "e" on the end. Also, the printing on some pages was so close to the bound edge, it was hard to read those lines without smashing the spine flat, or taking the book apart. We may never know what happened to all the copies of Newsom's 1884 Directory of Bates County, Missouri, but it was never widely advertised or sold in quantities, making it a rare find today. One reason may have been the price of $10; an outrageous sum for a book of that time. Another possible reason for its non-circulation may be how unusable the directory actually was. In his preface, Newsome explained why he had made the book: the rapid increase of population in the county; merchants and dealers wanting to reach the people by circulars; and everyone's desire to know where everyone else was born, whom they married, and to whom they are kin. But the names in the book are grouped alphabetically, and unsorted, then divided by township. To find a surname which began with an "M" a reader would have to search through all 24 townships in the M-section. To find neighbors in their own township, they would need to search the entire book to find their township listing under each letter-section. Lucky for us, when transcribed to digital text, D. G. Newsome's directory is now a valuable resource for finding information on people who lived in Bates County in 1884. Later in life, Newsome served as a Justice of the Peace, joining many Bates County couples in wedlock, and making important judicial decisions in civil cases over the years. In 1904 he drew up plans for building an airship; all he needed was financial backing to construct it. The money never materialized, but in 1913 he did patent this invention: patent number US1082039A. Dempsey Giles Newsome passed away May 3, 1925 in his town of Butler, Missouri, at the ripe old age of 82 years. His wife followed him on April 25, 1934. Both are buried at Oak Hill Cemetery. Linda M. Everhart
---- BATES COUNTY STATS & DATA FROM 1884 NEWSOM'S DIRECTORY TOTAL LISTINGS: 6718 POST OFFICE LOCATIONS Adrian, Deer Creek Twp, Bates Co, MO
OCCUPATIONS - NUMBER IN COUNTY artists - 2
PLACE OF BIRTH - NUMBER IN DIRECTORY Missouri - 2466 |
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Bates County Missouri MOGenWeb |
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