Cedar County Historical Society meets

by Connie Maupin

The Cedar County Historical Society met on Monday, Oct. 25, at the museum in Stockton. The meeting was called to order and the Pledge of Allegiance recited.

Bob Phillips brought in pictures of the Bear Creek School after it had burned many years ago. He noted that the stone from which the building was constructed came from a quarry less than a mile from the building site. The stone is called “cotton rock” by locals and is the same type of stone that the Stockton Community Building and the old Cedar County jail were constructed of. It is a soft stone and could be hand chiseled to form blocks. After the building was sold the back half of the roof collapsed sometime in the 1970’s. The owner attempted to run an antique shop in the front half until some unknown person set fire to the building and all that remained was the stone part of the structure.

President Judy Nichols gave a recap of the Walnut Festival and thanked all for their donations and help during the festival.

The society will contact the Cedar County Library Board to make sure their historical archives are not disposed of if they decide to close the genealogy section of the library at Stockton.

The revised edition of “Arnica in Days of Yore,” is now finished due to the efforts of Anna Hopkins and Judy Nichols. Copies are $10 each, plus shipping and handling.

Over a year ago, the Society voted to donate some of its carved stones from the old 1888 Cedar County jail building in Stockton to the Veterans Memorial Park currently under construction near the U.S. Army Corps office at the Stockton Dam. Scott Smith is one of the contractors for the project and a society member, Chris Barber, is working with him. Thirty to forty stones will be placed around the perimeter of the park. An interesting point of fact about the placement of the stones in this location, is that they will only be a short distance from the quarry they originated from, just down the hill on the Hembree pioneer farm.

Natural gas rates have gone up and electric rates are soon to follow. This will mean an increase in the museum monthly expenses.

Research was done on Zimri Crabtree, the donor of the land in 1846 for the Stockton square and courthouse.

Dave Branstetter stopped by the museum to do some research on the history of Caplinger Mills. His daughter and son-in-law, Leah and Scott Blondin, have purchased the campground on the south side of N-Spur at the Caplinger Mills bridge and have named it, “Hideaway River Farm.” They are making improvements to the campground and plan to only allow family friendly customers to camp.

The society received a call from a previous customer, saying that his copy of “Cedar County, History and Families” that he purchased years ago, had some blank pages, from page 66 through 81. Copies of those missing pages will be mailed to him. The book was printed by the Turner Publishing Company.

Kelly C. Sartorius, Ph.D., Director of Advancement, Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area, the daughter of Don and Chris Levi and niece of Sharyl and Vernal Henry, visited the meeting to give an overview of their historical organization that was created in the 1980’s during President Regan’s term in office. She was quite informative and will return in the future to present a program about women in history along the Kansas, Missouri state line. An announcement will be made at a later date.

Donations this month: Janice Ashlock, several Stockton Lake plates from the 1970’s and some children’s shirts advertising Stockton Lake; Bob Phillips, a copy of “Shelby and His Men,” by John Newman Edwards and Claud Hoffman, another one of his publications on surveying Alaska.

NOTICE: The Cedar County Historical Society will only be able to provide minimal research or look-ups for patrons due to lack of available staff. The museum research library is open for those wishing to complete their own research. Members can also suggest other resources, libraries and internet sites. Society publications, that contain a multitude of information, are always available for purchase.

The next meeting will be at 1 pm on Monday, November 29, 2021, in the Stockton Museum at 106 West Davis Street. This will be the last meeting until Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. The museum is only open during the winter, from 1 to 4 pm on meeting dates, is always free and open to the public. Check out the Facebook page for open dates and special events at “Cedar County Mo Historical Society.” For information, appointments or to purchase publications, call 417-276-1142, by email at cedarcomohistsoc@gmail.com or by mail at P.O. Box 111, Stockton, MO 65785.