Frances
Kathleen Scobee Henderson Collection # 2
The
following articles are from the scrapbook of Frances
Kathleen Scobee Henderson (24 May 1903 – 20 July
1998). Submitted
by Darla Henderson.
Florida
Methodists Worship Here
“Florida has a fine brick church,” a
correspondent’s report noted in the Monroe County Appeal June 6, 1874 while the 1876 Atlas of Monroe County shows that
only a Methodist Church is at Florida so the fine
brick church is supposed to be the Methodist Church.
Reports later noted that the Church at Florida
had been furnished with a $50 chandelier and was to
have a new roof.
Although the original church was brick it
burned and records were lost so the only reports on
the early church are from newspaper clippings and
personal written records.
In the October 31, 1897, issue of the Monroe
County Appeal,
the following story appeared on the dedication of the
new church: “The largest crowd ever seen at a church service in Florida
attended the dedication of the new Methodist Church
last Sunday morning.
The singing was splendid and Rev. Warren’s
sermon interesting and appropriate.
The church was paid for before the dedication
by a collection was taken up for the purpose of seats.
A basket dinner was served by the people of
Florida and her fame for whole-souled hospitality was
fully sustained.
The Florida Methodist Church is one of the
oldest church organizations in the country.”
In 1933 the church had a homecoming with a huge
crowd and basket dinner.
Former pastors took part in the services at the
time. Pastors who served the little country church
since 1907 include:
the Reverends C. J. Chappell, J. M. Hornback,
A. C. Zumbrunnen, C. L. Hess, H. D. Marlin, Ray S.
Tomlin, W. B. Selah, Aubrey Harcourt, Howard Woodruff,
Orville Jackson, Leland Loy, L. L. LaFrance, F. Bean,
Frank Byrnes, T. P. Middleton, D. T. Morrison, W. K.
Harper, Harold Dodds, James S. Kabler, Glenn Ruhl,
Wesley L. Brun, O. David Griffin and Don Miller. The
pastors are from Monroe City and serve the Florida
church as part of their mission to the people of this
area. The accompanying picture and information were
loaned to the NEWS by Frances Henderson of Florida.
The church with snow for a background forms a
perfect setting for a house of worship for Florida
Methodists.
Note:
“Text/Juanita Yates.
Information and picture by Frances
Henderson.” Included
at the end of the article.
Homecoming
to Honor Class Members
The classes of 1923 and 1948 will receive
special recognition at the homecoming events on
Friday, October 13 during the football game.
Members
of the class of 1923 were:
Mrs. Robert (Frances Alexander) Hecker, Shawnee
Mission, Kans., David Bridgford, Colorado City, Texas,
Mrs. Russell (Marie Capps) Bishop, Santa Fe, John
Critcher, Moberly, M. C. Curtright, Brookfield, Ill.,
Mrs. William (Florence Dowell) Vanlandingham, Mexico;
Mrs.
Glen (Fannie Hartman) Myers, Moberly, Mrs. Gilbert
(Dorothy Hess) Breckenridge, Carmichael, Calif., Mrs.
Norma Key Richardson, Aptos, Calif., Mrs. Vernon
(Helen Payne) Ford, Hope Hull, Alabama, Mrs. John
(Ruby Phillips) Byrmes, Oakhurst, Calif., Carl Snell,
Speedway City, Ind., Lee Sutton Columbia, Mrs. Guy (Maydie
Parrish) Gaines, Madison, Emmitt Wilkes, Mexico,
Mrs.
John (Polly Rodgers) Wilson, Mrs. Weldon (Pauline
Waller) Rodgers, Fred Warren, Mrs. Ernest (Berniece
White) Brengle, Mrs. Bertha Williams McGee, Mrs. John
(Rebecca Forsythe) Evans, all of Paris.
Eight
members are deceased.
They are Harold Arnold, Vivian Ball, William
Brown, Mary Christian, Mrs. Arthur (Katheryn Lowery)
Simon, Lucille Murphy, Peggy Nickell Boyd, Mrs. Jessie
(Garland Roney) Gentry, Mrs. Viola Wood Peak.
(Note:
This is where my grandmother cut the article,
so the class of 1948 is not listed.
In addition, I could not find out what school
this was.)
New
Post Office and Postmistress
During
the last 25 years many small post offices have been
closed throughout the United States, many of them
inside Monroe County, and it is seldom that one is
re-opened. The village of Florida in eastern Monroe County, birthplace
of Mark Twain, is an exception.
Shown above are the postmistress and the postal
boxes at the new office there, which opened November
1.
At
left is Mrs. Glenn (Louise) Huffman, the postmistress,
standing back of the postal counter. At right are the 44 boxes that have been provided for the
office, a sub-station of the Stoutsville office. Mrs.
Huffman is authorized to perform any of the services
that any third class post office can provide,
including mail orders, sale of stamps and other
things.
At
present her cancellation stamp carries the caption
“Florida, Mo.”
It is planned to secure an additional one which
will show that it is the birthplace of Mark Twain, or
the location of the Mark Twain Shrine and Birthplace.
The post office sub-station is operated in the
Huffman general store in the village.
Until the reopening of this sub-station, all
subscribers in the village were served by a rural
route out of Stoutsville. Now many patrons get their mail at the Florida office.
It
is thought the office will be particularly valuable
next spring when the tourist season opens for those
who visit the Twain birthplace and Shrine, as well as
the historic village of Florida, and wish to send out
mail marked as having been mailed from the birthplace
village. It
is also expected that because of the new sub-station
and cancellation insignia, considerable postal revenue
will be added.
Of
25 Floods in 30 Years, This Was The Highest
Of
the 25 floods that have occurred on Salt River in 30
years and that have been officially recorded, the
recent one was the record breaker, with a crest of
29.95 feet last Saturday at New London, east of here
on the main river.
The crest was reached on Middle Fork at Paris
on Friday. Previous
high was on June 21, 1928, when the river reached 28.8
feet.
The
official height for the 25 recorded floods and the
date on which the record was made, follows:
28.80
– June 21, 1928
21.36
– Oct. 6, 1941
25.35
– June 28, 1942
24.32
– Dec. 29, 1942
27.18
– May 19, 1943
21.29
– June 12, 1943
22.49
– Mar. 17, 1944
26.15
– Apr. 13, 1944
26.32
– April 25, 1944
19.24
– May 2, 1944
21.32
– Mar. 22, 1945
22.61
– April 15, 1945
23.29
– June 10, 2945
19.15
– June 17, 1945
22.03
– Jan. 10, 1946
20.11
– Jan. 7, 1946
22.72
– June 10, 1947
22.96
– June 21, 1947
19.12
– Mar. 19, 1952
19.95
– Mar. 18, 1951
20.40
– Feb. 21 1955
20.46
– June 15, 1957
21.01
– July 17, 1958
27.15
– July 22, 1958
29.95
– Aug. 2, 1958
FLOOD
WATERS
For
the second time in July the Florida community was hit
with a disaster from flooded rivers.
All previous records of high water were broken
after a near 6-inch rain fell Wednesday night.
What crops had been left by the last deluge
were swept away.
Then, to add to the already high water, another
torrential rain fell, with near tornado winds, Friday
afternoon. It
measured 2.8 inches.
The small branches on the J. C. Roberts farm
were overflowing across the road and held up traffic
until they had time to abate.
Cars were lined up on both sides.
All the traffic had to pass through this way
from 36 and 154.
So we were thankful for a good gravel road to
accommodate them.
Florida was without electric power for a while
when trees over South River were caught in the high
lines. A
large oak tree near Huckleberry hall was blown down.
Thousands of people passed through Florida to
view the high water.
A cow was seen floating through the north
bridge. A
groundhog had sought refuge in a tree above the water.
Muskrats and fish were seen in the backwater.
According to the critics, “the canasta games
must go on in spite of hail and high water,” so one
enthusiastic gentleman drove his car, picked up the
members, bedecked in their wet weather apparel, and
took them to the home of Mrs. J. C. Roberts for their
usual good times Friday afternoon.
ICE
CREAM SUPPER
The
Mark Twain club ice cream supper was held at
Huckleberry hall Wednesday evening.
Those who ventured out got wet before they
reached their homes.
LOSERS
FETE WINNERS
The
losers in the canasta tournament, Mrs. Fred Dore and
Mrs. Jim Turner, entertained the winners, Mrs. Duard
Henderson and Mrs. J. C. Roberts and Mary Jo, with a
dinner at the park Monday.
The afternoon was spent at the home of Mrs.
Fred Dore.
(Note:
a date of 1958 written in.)
N.
T. Cartmell Retires
N. T. Cartmell retired at the close of business
Monday as rural mail carrier after serving 18 years
and five months.
In an interview with Mr. Cartmell, he sated he
started carrying mail on June 8, 1942, at a salary of
$1840.00 a year.
Mrs. Cartmell stated:
“This was the happiest day of his life and he
always enjoyed carrying the mail.” In 1942, Route 2 out of Stoutsville covered 33 miles of fair
roads and some mud roads.
At present the route is 41 miles and is all
gravel roads or pavement.
The present salary is $5,480 a year.
In relating some of his experiences over the
years, Mr. Cartmell said he had found sticks and rocks
and even a cat in various mailboxes.
The most memorable experience was the day he
found Buster Searcy had not got his mail on the day
before. Sensing
something was wrong, Mr. Cartmell secured help and
went to investigate.
They found Mr. Searcy dead in his home.
Patrons on the route could always set their
clocks by his arrival.
In the 18 years he never missed a day because
of bad weather. He
also said the worst weather was the deep snow of this
last February. He
has used a jeep and 10 cars in his trips.
Mr. and Mrs. Cartmell were surprised by friends
Friday who met at Florida and presented them with
gifts and refreshments.
Saturday evening friends and patrons met at the
recreation hall in Stoutsville to honor Mr. Cartmell.
Restoring
A Log Stage-Coach Stop
Mr.
and Mrs. Larnie Janes of south of Florida are shown
standing beside the former Lizzie Young property in
the village, which they are restoring.
It was once a stagecoach stop and team-change
station. It
was formerly the home of Ike Greening, a pioneer
resident of Florida, father of Towney Greening, now of
Perry.
According
to the historical information which Mr. and Mrs. Janes
have unearthed, it was used by the stagecoach which
operated across this section, coming to Paris from
Florida over the old Florida road that runs into Paris
from the east. Here
it was that weary horses were unhitched and fresh
teams put to work on pulling the cumbersome
stagecoaches over the rutted, rough and oftentimes
extremely muddy trail that led to and from Paris, the
county seat in the time that Mark Twain was born.
Here
it was that the owner of the building kept stables of
horses back of his place, and fed and warmed travelers
and drivers, as well as the animals which made their
trips possible through what was then largely a
wilderness. Some
of the road sections, especially those across the
bottom morasses on the route, were what was called
“Corduroy,” that is, they were paved with small
poles (saplings to most of us) laid cross ways of the
roadway.
While
these corduroy roadbeds kept wheels out of the mud
they were not exactly designed for smooth riding,
resembling very much a washboard.
With the springless coaches and wagons of the
early days, modern day folks can imagine the end
result.
One
commentator has remarked that there probably weren’t
many false teeth in those days of corduroy roads and
stage coaches, and that those who had them probably
deposited them in a pocket before undertaking a
cross-country journey.
When
Mr. and Mrs. Janes began work in their spare time on
working over and preserving the old building, they
found the original structure was log, apparently in
good condition. It was of two rooms, one story high where as the present
structure is two stories high in front, the only part
of the house that contains any of the original
structure. [part of the article is missing and
continues] may be the spark that lights great
enthusiasm for the proposed project.
It is understood that a civic organization will
restore the old Gen. Grant place, the Baker property,
if it can get permission to do so.
Structures
In Monroe County’s Early Settlement Studied For
Historic Significance
Monroe
County Appeal,
Madison Times
& Paris Mercury, Paris, Mo., Thursday, April 14, 1977
Text
and Photos by Blair Hansen of the Appeal Staff
One of the two earliest settlements in Monroe
County was located between the Middle and North Fork
of the Salt River between Paris and Florida, according
to the 1884 edition of the History of Monroe and
Shelby Counties.
This settlement was designated by the early
settlers as the “Smith Settlement.”
This early settlement, located in the heart of
the Cannon Lake area, is now being studied before the
land is cleared in preparation for the lake.
The history book listed above states that the
Smith Settlement and another, known as Fox’s
Settlement, located about three and one-half miles
east of Middle Grove, were established about 1820.
Many of the early structures are still
standing, and Karen Platz, who is working with the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Cannon Reservoir
Archaeological Project as a historical archaeologist,
is making records of them.
One of her main endeavors now is trying to
determine which sites are eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places.
Ms. Platz’s study centers around six
structures in the Smith Settlement, all having been
built circa 1840.
The structures themselves help in understanding
the settlers’ ways of life.
Many suppose that the early settler lived a
primitive life, and that his dwellings were less than
desirable. Ms.
Platz suggests that this supposition is probably not
true. Four
of the six structures she is now studying are made of
logs. Nearly
all the log structures were covered over with
clapboards, a kind of siding, to protect the logs.
Hence, many houses that appear to be common
frame-type structures could possibly be log.
The Jordan house, located west of the junction
of Highways 107 and 154 on Highway 154 is a good
example of the early settlement structure.
The Jordan Branch lies to the west of the
house. Ms.
Platz noted that while this house has deteriorated
with age, it was once a fairly fancy structure.
Harvey Jordan settled the land in 1829, and it
is supposed that the house was build shortly
thereafter. Ms.
Platz noted that Jordan must have brought fine
carpentry tools with him, due to the fine detail in
the ceiling and floor joists, as well as intricate
detail in the moldings on the inside of the house.
The logs in the house are joined at the corners
with a full dovetail – another mark of fine early
carpentry work. The
house is the typical one and one-half story structure
common to that time.
It is now owned by the Pease family.
The Shelton house, which neighbors the Jordan
house on the west, is a similar house to the Jordan
house, and was constructed for the use of an early
iron stove. Again, the logs in the structure were covered with clapboards
to protect the logs and better seal the house.
The land in the area of the Shelton house was
settled by Samuel Irvine in 1834.
The house is now owned by the Corps of
Engineers.
An interesting characteristic of nearly all the
early Smith Settlement houses is that they are near to
both timber and the prairie.
It is suspected that most of the early settlers
that most of the early settlers were from Kentucky and
Tennessee, which were densely wooded areas, and to be
without wood or easy access to a stream was
inconceivable. A
supply of close-by timber made building a house much
easier and provided fuel in the winter.
A few miles west of the Shelton house is the
John McKamey house, now owned by J.J. Higgins of
Mexico. This
land was settled about 1830.
The unique aspect of this structure is that it
is the only full two-story house so far discovered in
the Smith Settlement research.
The logs of this house were covered with
clapboards, then later were covered with an asbestos
type material, making it look to the uneducated eye
like a common frame house.
The house is only one room deep, but is two
rooms wide. Another
interesting feature of this house is the root cellar,
which has been preserved.
It is round and looks like a part of a ball
protruding from the ground.
Probably the fanciest house in the early Smith
Settlement was that of Matthew Mappin, located
northwest of the previously described structures.
Although the land was settled around 1828, the
house is not made of log structure, but is made of
heavy cut timbers, then clapboards were put over the
outside. An
interesting feature of the house is the “catted
noggin.” The
early settlers used this method, that of splitting
saplings and putting them between the timbers then
dabbing mud and straw onto them as a kind of plaster,
to better seal the house.
The house was originally constructed with an
outside, second story balcony, overlooking the Middle
Fork of the Salt River.
The house, which is owned by the Corps of
Engineers, is now occupied by Raymond Scott.
The Samuel H. Smith house, located a few miles
northeast of the Mappin house, is an unusually fine
example of the early log construction.
Many of the logs in this house are as large as
17” wide and were joined at the corners with
dovetails. The
land in the area of this house was settled in 1828.
The Monroe County History notes that Samuel H.
Smith was appointed as the first Monroe County
Collector during the second term of the Monroe County
Court, held May 2, 1831.
He also served on the third grand jury in the
county, the history notes.
The Smith house is also known as the old Scobee
house, and was known as the Barker place when it was
sold to the Corps.
The James Miller house, located on Corps of
Engineers land, is one of the later houses built in
the Smith Settlement.
The land was settled in 1837.
Ms. Platz noted that there may be more
structures which were part of the Smith Settlement,
and urged anyone knowing of a structure which could be
log to contact her.
Contrary to the belief that the settlers used
crude and primitive methods of construction, the
houses of the Smith Settlement were well constructed,
apparently by people who were acquainted with fine
carpentry methods.
Most of the houses also have painstakingly laid
floors. Although
much can be gained by a study of the structures, Ms.
Platz stressed the need for original source material
in her search. She
requested that persons with primary documents, such as
letters, photographs, diaries and journals contact
her. They
could prove more invaluable to more fully
understanding the settlers’ way of life.
The
Turning Page
Fifty
Years Ago
-
Dr.
S. W. Downing of Thompson, came to Perry and
opened a drug store.
-
Mrs.
Beshears, of Salem, passed away.
She was the mother of Hiram Beshears, of
Center.
-
The
steamer “Flying Eagle” with about 200 Sunday
School children aboard, sand at the drawbridge
just north of Hannibal.
Four people were drowned.
-
A
baby daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Thos.
Scobee, near Goss.
-
Robert
Carman and Miss Alice Gibbs, of near Florida, were
married.
-
Mr.
and Mrs. Chas. Sankpill, of near Hutchison, were
the parents of a baby son.
-
T.
A. Fitzpatrick was postmaster of Perry.
-
Winters
& Tucker, of Perry, sold the Levi Keithly farm
of 400 acres near Center, to Peter Sandel, of
Illinois.
(Note:
the baby daughter mentioned was my grandmother,
Frances Kathleen Scobee Henderson.)
Twenty-Five
Years After Graduation From High School
Here
is part of the Paris High School class of 1925, as
they appeared at a class reunion Sunday, 25 years
after graduation.
With them are R. T. Scobee, supt. in 1925, and
E. T. Fuller, speaker on Sunday.
Story on Page 2.
Those in picture, left to right:
Cecil Ensor, Clyde H. Wood, E. T. Fuller,
Virgie Lee Peters, Paul Gerster, Ray Francis, Beulah
Dean Phillips, Mary Legrand, John Warren, Ruth
Sheerman, Brooks Vaughn, Anna Mae McGahen, Berniece
Hawker, Ralph Howe, Edna Gwynn, R. T. Scobee, Harley
Jackson, Lon James, Perlie Murphy, Annabelle Lyle,
Erma Tipton, Estil Pugh
(Note:
This is the caption for a picture.
The article was not attached.)
The
ninth grade has been increased by six in the past
week. Pauline
Waller comes from Powers school; Frances Scobee and
Edna Roney from Kirkland school: while the Smizer district furnishes three – Fannie Lee
Riley, Margaret Shumard and Raymond See.
(Note:
Date would be approximately 1919.)
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