OLD’N NEWS From Around the County

A guerilla fighter, born and raised in Randolph County, was killed north of Orrick by the United States military 139 years ago this week. “Bloody Bill” Anderson was born at Huntsville in 1840 to William and Martha Anderson. William was a hatter and was a charter member of the Huntsville Odd Fellows Lodge. The family moved to what is now Lyon County, Kansas in 1857. When the Civil War started in 1861, Bill Anderson joined Quantrill’s Partisan Rangers.

You can learn more about ‘Bloody Bill’ and guerilla warfare at the Randolph County History Center or at the Little Dixie Regional Library in Moberly. This library is fast becoming a premier collection of rare, out of print and new books about the Civil War due to the contributions of the Coach Light folks, Dale and Liz Sosnieki. They have committed to make our Civil War collection at the library one of the finest in the state by 2011 through donations of a certain percent of their income to the project. The 150th anniversary of the start of the war will be coming up in eight years.

The book, They Called Him Bloody Bill, The Missouri Badman Who Taught Jesse James Outlawry, is for sale in the Randolph County History Center Gift Shop.

GENE AUTRY MOVIE

Gene Autry is going to be ridin’ high on the Country Club television set this Sunday at 3:00. Champ will be there of course and I’m hoping to see (Frog) Smiley Burnett, Ring Eye and Pat Butram, too. Now it’s going to cost more than a dime to get in, but you won’t have to pay a nickel for a little sack of popcorn (eat all you want – we’ll pop some more) and you will get a drink free and lots of different kinds of cheese (now that’s a little different) and you’ll also get a free wine glass with an etching of the 4th Street Theater on it. Some deal! Having all of this fun is designed to raise more money for the restoration of the Fourth Street Theater in Moberly. This is a fun and painless way of supporting the restoration project. Call Carolee Hazlet, Project Director, for tickets at 263-3345.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT THE MOVIES

I don’t remember all of the cartoons that were popular in the late 40’s and early 50’s, but I do remember that our favorite was the Road Runner, because we used the term BEEP! BEEP! a lot. Pluto, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Popeye — what were some others? Let me know and we’ll reminisce.

Gene Autry was the favorite feature show for the boys. We didn’t like any kissin’ and that sort of mushy stuff and Gene didn’t do it. He’d sing to the women and then just ride away. Now the girls were always partial to Roy Rogers. I think it was because he kissed his girl friend and then wife, Dale Evans, right in the movie, while we boys would groan. But, both Gene and Roy had good horses – Champ and Trigger. Neither cowboy ever killed anyone. They’d just wound them and take them to the sheriff. Both these cowboys and all of the badmen were terrible shots. They would shoot 15, 20 or more shots out of a ’six shooter’ and still not hit each other. Lash Larue and Lone Ranger were probably our next favorite cowboys. Lash could snap the gun right out of a badman’s hand with his whip from a long distance.

GENE AUTRY in PERSON

One of the most thrilling days of my younger life started one day when my folks went to the city to buy a new rug for the living room. We noticed a sign on the way there that the Gene Autry Show was playing live at the auditorium. They kept talking about how nice it would be if we could go, but that we had to get back home. Well, as we supposedly started for home with the rug tied on top of the car we drove past the auditorium. Dad stopped the car and said we’d just go up there and see if we could get a glimpse of him. Well, we did see him because they had already bought the tickets to the show. I was one excited cow hand when I found us going inside to see the show. And yes, Champ was there and did a few tricks on stage and I patted him on the rump after the show as they walked him out to the horse trailer. That was better than getting Gene’s autograph for me.

I had that autographed program for years. When I left home I didn’t take it, never thinking that my Mother would not keep all of my stuff. But, the old Gene Autry program with Gene’s autograph is probably in the same garbage dump as my wind-up model train. Now if Mother was still with us she could watch the Antique Road Show and….well, we’ve all done it.

AROUND THE HISTORICAL CENTER

Our featured attraction during this period is our collection of Elizabeth Siefert novels. Mrs Elizabeth Gasparotti, who lived at 511 Fort in Moberly, died 20 years ago, but the more than 80 romance novels, that she wrote under the pen name of Elizabeth Siefert, are highly regarded by collectors. We have 28 of her books on display along with some old news articles about her. We are still collecting. If you have an Elizabeth Siefert ‘novel laying around in the attic. We would love to add it to our collection. Come by and see the collection.