OLD’N NEWS From Around the County
ANNUAL ICE CREAM SOCIAL
All the cake and ice cream you can eat for $3.00. Now that’s a bargain in any economy. June 21 from 1PM – 3 PM is when we will have our annual ice cream social.
Rita Daly and her committee report that ticket sales are well ahead of last year. The opportunity to try your hand at painting on the mural is helping sell tickets, too. See any member of the committee or board of directors for tickets. Want to help sell tickets? Call Rita.
Black History
Sylvia Ganaway was so correct in her Letter to the Editor in the Moberly Monitor Index and Evening Democrat on Monday. We need more Black history items at the History Center as well as more members and volunteers from the Black community. And we need to display what we do have more prominently.
We have many on going projects that are specific to African American history. Starting as early as 1982, in cooperation with Dr Ann Neel, we were a significant part of the development of the history of slave women in Randolph County. The resulting book, “Sourcebook for Black Research” is available for researchers at the History Center. It is a wonderful research resource for genealogists.
Finding the original Randolph County Colored Marriage Book of 1865 in the Randolph County Court House has been one of our most exciting historical discoveries in the past 20 years. During the slavery period of America, Blacks married and had families when possible, even though it was illegal. In the book “Roots” by Alex Haley, a marriage was known as ‘jumping over the broom’ by the slave community. After the Civil War and the freeing of slaves, counties required former slaves that had ‘jumped over the broom’ to record their marriages to the County Recorder. They not only reported their marriage, but also recorded the names of their children. The Randolph County Historical Society published and has had this book for sale since the 1990’s. African-Americans from many states have done research at the Randolph County History Center and this book is one of the good sources.
The school collection at the Historical Center is extensive. People use our collection of school yearbooks quite often. Moberly High School annuals go back as far as 1909. We have two Lincoln School yearbooks. Most other school related items are in three ring binders. In the Lincoln School binder are pictures, news articles and copies of the Lincoln Chronicle, the school newspaper.
One of our members, Pam Smith, is spearh the first-ever reunion of the White Oaks Church community. White Oaks was an area northeast of Yates in Randolph County that was concentrated around land that African-American farmers bought after the Civil War. As part of the project, the Randolph County Historical Society is mapping all of the land in the White Oaks area that was owned by the African-Americans in the 1880 to 1910 era. Some of the African-American names found so far in that area include Holly, Robinson/Robertson, Viley, Graves, Hughes, Langhone and Clasberry.
To name just a few more needs at the History Center, we would like to add African-American family histories and their pictures to our extensive family history collection. We especially need pictures of Negro League baseball stars Jimmy Crutchfield and Lefty Matlock, musician Dab Hannah and other Blacks of note. And we need for people to come and identify the people in the many pictures in our files. So take Sylvia’s advice and come on in and help.
Courthouse News
These are some interesting firsts by the county commissioners (they were known as county judges until recently) in 1829 listed in the 1884 History of Randolph and Macon County. It notes the following, “The first guardian appointed by the county court of Randolph County was John Harvey, who was appointed guardian of Drucilla Wheldon, minor child of John Wheldon, deceased. Davis and Currin were granted the first license to keep a tavern; their stand was at the house of William Goggin. The license for the same cost them $10. John Taylor was the second tavern keeper.”
Correction Section
I messed up the mural painting story by saying that community painting day would be June 26. I have Marjorie Randolph Freeze of Rolla to thank for this correction. It will really be June 21, the same day as the Ice Cream Social. Come lend a hand. Brushes, etc will be provided, but you might want to wear some paintin’ clothes.
I have been reminded by Guy Wright, a McDaniel descendant, that in last month’s column I left out the name of Elisha McDaniel from the County’s first grand jury that discharged the case against the five Iowa Indians.
Another mistake, brought to my attention by Lowell Bankhead, Higbee, is that Omar Bradley was born east of Clark on the Hubbard Farm, not in Clark, MO.
Historical Mural Project
If you will go north on Clark Street from Reed or Rollins or anywhere else south of Coates, you can watch the progress of the mural. It will be about 20′ high and nearly 80" long. Artist David Lowenstein from Lawrence, KS will be working full time on the project from now until it is finished. Norma Crafton’s summer Art Class have put a primer coat of paint on the lower half of the wall and the Boy Scouts finished the top half. Actual mural painting began on Tuesday. On June 21 you will have the opportunity to do your own part of the painting during the Annual Ice Cream Social.