Murton Sommerville

Murton (Murt) Sommerville came to Marceline from Oskaloosa, Iowa at an early age and married Celia Snider who was born east of Marceline before the town was organized. They had eleven children, one Mrs. Ray Helton, who still resides here. Murt Sommerville and Garrett Eilert organized the Marceline Concert Band about sixty years ago. Mr. Sommerville was the director for a few years and then was secretary and treasurer. The band played for fairs at Brookfield, Mendon, and neighboring towns. They also led the Civil War Veterans to the cemeteries on Decoration Day. A concert was held each Saturday night in the city park. Each year a show troupe would come to Marceline and the concert band would play a few numbers outside the opera house to attract a crowd and advertise the show. Mr. Sommerville died in 1932.

rancis Freemont
*Filliams Family

Keeping a sharp lookout for marauding renegades, Emma Williams and her three young sons came to Missouri during the turbulent days of the Civil War to be united with her husband, Owen Williams, who had gone before her to seek employment in the St. Louis area. LeRoy, the eldest son, shot rabbits for meat, greens were plentiful, while a cow hitched at the back of the covered wagon furnished milk for the family. A churn tied to the side of the jolting wagon soon converted any surplus milk into butter. Owen Williams’ father, David Williams, had been a Welsh immigrant who had settled in Lansing, Michigan, where young Owen had been born. Owen had grown up there, married Emma Wilson, and fathered three sons before he started out alone to find a place where he could better maintain his family. He was quite successful and after a short time was able to send for them with glowing promises of a fine life in Missouri. There was no happy reunion. The travelers found the father dead and buried and themselves almost destitute. Fortunately for the sorrowing mother, she soon obtained a place near St. Louis as housekeeper with the motherless family of Dr. Williams, and was thus assured of a comfortable living and a place to raise her children with the doctor’s own son, Crawford. Emma Williams did not long remain the doctor’s housekeeper – she married him. Her circumstances were now such that when her Francis, who had been born in Lansing on March 21, 1855, grew older, she was able to send him to college at Glasgow, Missouri. Finishing his work at college, Francis took a position as teacher, married Emma Wilhoit, and began to raise a family. Two children, Maude and Austin, had been born when the news of the coming of the steel rails of the Santa Fe began to spread over the state. Francis Freemont Williams could not resist the lure of the Magic City. Together, he and his stepbrother, Crawford, moved their families to Marceline. Crawford operated an amusement park near the present junction of Highway No. 5 and County Line Road while Francis opened a grocery store in a small building near the Santa Fe viaduct. Very soon Francis was able to get a larger place. This frame building occupied the plot on which the Zurcher Jewelry now stands. The grocery business was in front while the family occupied the rear as living quarters and it was there that two more children, Della and Edith, were born. The father, Francis Freemont Williams, died September 3, 1906. The eldest daughter, Maude, became the wife of Ollie Hedrick; Austin married Elizabeth Riley and for many years followed in his father’s footsteps in the grocery store; Della became the wife of William Baty and Edith married George Willis. Of these four children, only one daughter, Mrs. Della Baty, survives. FRANCIS FREEMOND WILLIAMS FAMILYStanding: Maude Williams, Austin Williams.SEATED: Francis F. Williams (holding) Della Williams, Emma Wilson Williams.

Claiborn Fox Jackson Family

In the spring of 1887 the Claiborn Fox Jackson family came to a place in Linn County which later was named Marceline. This family consisted of Claiborn, the father; Laura Bell, the mother; a daughter, Etta; a daughter, Sarah Ann; a son, James William; who is still living in Marceline. For a brief time the family located on some land that was later sold when the city started selling lots and streets were laid out. Claiborn bought a small lot on what later became known as East Curtis Street. At the time only 11 houses stood in the vicinity. Mr. Jackson built a small frame house, boxing it in on the outside with tar paper. The family lived in the make shift house the first year. Mr. Jackson went to work for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe as a trackhand. At that time the construction going on was about halfway between Marceline and Rothville. When the tracks were laid, Mr. Jackson went to work as a carpenter. The son, James William, later operated a dray many years in Marceline. He served as Fire Chief here many years. 1895-Nichpls, PhotographerFRONT ROW: Bertha Jane, Mrs. Fred Wolfskill; George Holloway Hazelrigg, Deceased; Nina Myrtle, Mrs. Dan Haney; Mary Morgan Hazelrigg, Deceased; Susan Frances, Mrs. Homer Teeters, Deceased. BACK ROW: George Wesley Hazelrigg, Lucy Ella, Mrs. Will Butterfield, Deceased; Loretta Ann, Mrs. Charles Wylie, Deceased; Fannie May, Mrs. David Lee Teeters, Deceased. The youngest child Mrs. Nina Haney will celebrate her 75th birthday this year.

Hazelrigg Family Group

George Holloway and Mary Morgan Hazelrigg came to Missouri with their family from Barry, Illinois. They traveled by covered wagon and crossed the Mississippi River at Hannibal, Missouri on a ferry. Their furniture was sent by the way of the Burlington Railroad to Bucklin, Missouri. The family settled on a farm just north of the Marceline Junction where Mr. Hazelrigg engaged in farming. He retired a few years before his death and moved to Marceline and settled on Holmes Street. They were the parents of thirteen children with the three surviving members still residing in Marceline. They are Nina Haney, Bertha Wolfskill, and George W., who came in the covered wagon when he was six months old. The Hazelriggs originally came from England in 1659 and settled in Northcumberland County, Virginia. Many of the early members of the family served in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

U.S. Post Office

The first Post Office was established in Marceline in 1888 and was located on East California Street where the Gucker Coal Co. is presently located. The first Postmaster was Mr. Ed West. Thereafter, the Post Office was moved five times until it was settled permanently in the present building in 1936. It has been located at the site of the present Masonic Temple, in the rear of the Zurcher building, the corner of the Allen Hotel building and for a time at the Hier building where the Stanley Market is presently housed. In 1892 Mr. J. A. Smith was appointed Postmaster and he was followed by Mr. D. N. Wheeler in 1893. Mr. Jackson Whiteman was selected in 1900 and he was succeeded by Mr. G. W. Bigger in 1904. During that same year Mr. J. D. (Cap) Bush was appointed and his term of office ran to 1909. Mr. F. M. Wolfe’s term of office lasted until 1913 when he was replaced by Mr. J. S. (Shupe) Walker. In 1922 Mr. L. T. McKinney was appointed by President Harding. It was about this time that City Carrier Service was established. Village Delivery service had been established sometime in 1917. Pres. Roosevelt appointed Mrs. Anna Watson as Postmaster in 1933 and her term of office ran until 1955 when she was succeeded by Mrs. Josephine Gambill as Acting Postmaster. In November, 1958, Mr. John R. Allison was appointed as Acting Postmaster and in June, 1959, he was appointed as a permanent Postmaster by President Eisenhower. The receipts of the Post Office coincide with the growth of the town. The records show that in 1893 the receipts were $3,120. In 1910 they doubled as did the town to $6,700. Then in 1918 after the first World War, they again doubled to $11,300. The receipts were more or less stationary until 1943 when they again rose to $17,000. During the boom years of 1949 the total increased to $26,202. This was about the time that the printing companies were introduced to Marceline on a nationwide basis. The receipts in 1962 were $51,900 which will undoubtedly make Marceline a first class office. PRESENT STAFF OF THE POST OFFICE Earl Rioth, Assistant Postmaster; Elmer Stanley, Clerk; Lyle Armstrong, Clerk; Wilbur Ralston, City Carrier; Eugene Wiggins, Sub. City Carrier; John Helton, Jr., Sub. Clerk; William Klein, Rural Route Carrier; Joe Lewis, Rural Route Carrier; William Twitchel, Rural Route Carrier; Oscar Pischel, Fireman; Eugene Padgett, Custodian; Robert Rieck, Sub. Rural Carrier; Claud West, Sub. Rural Carrier; V.R. Preston, Sub. Rural Carrier; Frank Formento, Mail Messenger; John R. Allison, Postmaster. Painter Thomas Hart Benton, who would have been 100 this year had he lived beyond 1975, cast his long artistic shadow on Marceline in 1938. Benton, famous for his murals (the most notable being those in the Missouri State Capitol,) influenced another painter of murals, Joseph Meert, who was commissioned to paint the mural in the newly constructed Marceline Post Office, which was built in 1936. The mural still decorates the lobby of the post office. Throughout the State, various groups will pay tribute to Benton during 1989. Events include a special exhibit at Nelson-Atkins Art Gallery in Kansas City. Joseph John Paul Meert was born in Brussels on April 28, 1905. After studying in Europe, he arrived in the United States and eventually became a student of Benton at the Kansas City Art Institute. Meert became a teacher at the institute by 1940. He assisted Benton on some works. During the mid-1930s, Meert was commissioned to paint murals in three post offices. In addition to Marceline’s, he painted murals in the post offices of Mount Vernon, Missouri, and Spencer, Indiana. The Marceline mural bears a striking resemblance to the distinctive style of Benton, who painted curving lines of motion using basic colors. It depicts the history of Marceline’s economy of coal mining and agriculture. It measures 12 feet by five feet. Immediately prior to working in Marceline, Meert was on the faculty of the St. Genevieve artist’s Colony Summer School of Art, where he lectured along with Benton in a class on murals and public art. The mural was funded by the Federal Works Progress Administration, one of several federal programs for artists, writers and photographers up to combat joblessness during the Great pression of the 1930s. Images

The Development of Northeast Marceline

by Marilyn Foley The small town of Marceline, Missouri, was gradually growing in population and expanding in area. By the turn of the century she was a prosperous mining center. The Santa Fe Railroad had been going through since 1887. J. C. Taylor owned approximately fifty acres of ground in the northeast part of Marceline. He had the land surveyed and plotted into lots. Each lot was 25 by 140 feet and they numbered about six hundred. These lots had the streets and alleys laid out even though no one was living on any of them. There was one house already built on one of the lots, and to encourage sale of the lots they were sold like a lottery with the lucky person receiving the house on the lot he paid $25 for. No one knew exactly which lot did hold the house until the drawing. Persons purchasing lots without the house soon neglected their land. It was used mainly for fencing and gardening by adjoining property owners, and was generally known as “No Man’s Land.” In the year 1917, my great-grandmother bought this house and since then it has never left the hands of our family. In 1931, it came into my grandmother’s possession. Among the sad events related to this property was the death of my grandmother’s brother. While leaving for work, he was shot and killed in the front yard by his rival for a sweetheart. His killer was caught and sentenced to a ten-year prison term. In 1933, a highway was constructed along the plots of ground. My father was not old enough to work, so was hired as a water boy. This part of town has now grown into an important recreation center, with a bowling alley which draws the attention of hundreds of people.

Memories of Marceline

The early days of the “Magic City” (as our town was called) were marked by excessive unlawfulness. Fights, murders and thievery being in the headlines as did incendiary fires which did a lot to make our early history black. If a Saturday night passed without two or three fist fights on main street ending up on the county line to stay far from the law in our city, it was an unusual night. There was a curfew and teenagers were off the streets by 10pm unless accompanied by their parents. In 1901 a vigilante committee formed and took a large part in curbing unlawfulness in our town. All towns had their characters and ours was no exception. We had the “Woman in Black” who whisked around in a ghost like manner. No one ever seemed to know who she was but was often seen and struck fear in all, especially children. What ever became of her no one knows. We had our “Topsy” and in later years we had “Wampus”, a colored boy that met most of the passenger trains and entertained the passengers with his French harp and crazy dances. In 1900 the railroad ran a special train from Marceline to Carrollton for sightseers to view the hanging of Frank and Will Tayler, who were to be executed for the murder of the Weeks family. A large crowd went from here but were denied the privilege of witnessing the execution, the law forbidding. It is worthy to note here that one of the boys escaped the night before the date set for the hanging and was never heard of since. H. S. Miller, one of the pioneers of the city came here and opened a livery stable in 1895 in the location now occupied by the telephone company. After disposing of this stable in 1896, he operated one on the site where the O. K. Tavern now stands. He had as his partner in the venture Mr. Sam Moore. In 1901 the severe drought caused a shortage in farm products and a bad time for everyone financially. Mr. Miller laid the plans for the first rural mail service out of Marceline and was assigned Route No. 1. Guy Bigger had route 2 and Lon Whiteman, the son of the postmaster, route 3. In 1888 the Q strike caused several families to leave town on the Burlington railroad and come to the Santa Fe – two families were P. J. Dailey and the Gilmores who still have children among our citizens, Mrs. Ray Miller, Tom Dailey, and John Gilmore. Christian Braggan, who lived in what has later been called Braggan’s Addition, served in the Civil War as replacement for a man who had more money than patriotism and paid Mr. Braggan to go in his place. After the war he returned to the old home place and when the engineers for the railroad were surveying for the right of way in 1885 or 1886, they were boarders and roomers with the Braggans while in this vicinity. Luther Braggan, a son of the ex-soldier, was the proud owner of the first Maxwell automobile in our city, a two cylinder affair he purchased from the Campbell Auto Agency, in 1908. Mr. Campbell was the grandfather of Will Campbell, now a resident of our city. Other owners of cars of that vintage were “Dutch” Clawson, Dr. Putman, Dr. Hancock and Ercell Miller. Mr. Pfister had a two cylinder run-about and took joy in showing his car and joy riding all the children in it. by Mrs. Ray Miller

My Memories of Marceline

As told to John Keller by Thomas Moss I, Thomas Moss, was born in Chariton County, Missouri, June 8, 1880, the son of Leonard and Manda Moss on their farm near Mike. My age now is 83 years, and I have lived in Linn and Chariton Counties all my life. I attest the following to be as near to fact as’ my memory can serve me: The first building in Marceline was built by an old wares peddler named Fred Loeb in 1887 on what is now known as Kansas Avenue. After he had established some business, he constructed a shack in which he sold his wares and lived part of the time. Not long after old Fred came, the first Marceline grocery store was built by the father of the well-known townsman, Jim Hier. Hier’s grocery was built first of wood frame and then later of brick. This was about the year of 1887. The first hotel was started by Bon Hottell, and constructed across from the railroad tracks where a small row of houses now stand. His hotel, which was also of wood frame construction, did good business, most of which came from train travelers. The hardware store, which no decent town could be without in those days, was run by a partnership of Brown & Taylor. The two ran the store for many years, and I believe, they both passed away not too many years ago. By this time, the great “Iron Horse” had finally completed its long run through the northern part of Missouri. The time is 1889, and a man by the name of Bill Scandlin decided it was about time for the young town to have a blacksmith shop. He set up shop on a lot located east of what is now the hospital, and at one time had such a thriving business that he had to employ five “smiths.” Not more than a year after Bill set up shop, a Mr. Herbert brought the livery stable to Marceline. He carried on a successful business for many years on almost the location of the present day Walsworth Building. Only a few steps down the street from the livery stable was the depot. There have been three constructions of the building, the first being in 1888, the second in November, 1911, and the third does not come to my memory. By this time Marceline was climbing over that long hill toward the road to success and the town was thriving. In a meeting the people decided that the town should have a school, and such a school it was! Bright because it was new wood painted a gleaming white, and it looked like a mail package from St. Louis. I can still remember the many people from far and near who had come to the dedication. That was a proud day for Marceline. Then more proud days for Marceline began as the new No. 4 mine opened. The mine itself was of abnormal size and can still be clearly seen when entering Marceline from the north. At its highest peak the mine employed over three hundred miners and was run by a man known as Bill Taylor. Even in these days the old No. 4 mine would be considered a large operation; it took a four-team rig to haul the flour along for the men, and as for the food itself, I have no idea of the daily consumption. One of the finest men Marceline has ever known, and the founder of the hospital was Doctor Ole Putman. The way he came about this building is most interesting in itself. One day the doctor called all of the miners together and told them that if all the men who owed him money (most of them did) would come over to this site of ground which he had selected and work for him a week or so, he would cut their bills in half. Most of them agreed to this proposition and Marceline came to know its first place for the care of the sick and injured, thus relieving the burdens of the other men and the wives. Finally the last building of great importance in the area was the Presbyterian Church, which was completed in 1887. With this established, the town could now call itself a community. This is the history of Marceline from the start. The rest is still in the memory of you that have lived there and grown to love it since you can remember. I have watched the town grow for 83 years – its ups and its downs, its hard and its good times, through war and through peace. It is a town of close friendship and of wonderful people. I wish it, many more years of happiness. Surely a town with such great spirit and closeness will live for many, many more.” This story was written by: Thomas and Anne Moss, Roberta and Tom Treemain

D. A. R.

Thirty-two years after the first Chapter of Daughters of American Revolution was organized in Washington, D.C., Marceline Continental Chapter was effected, Nov. 10, 1922, with a membership of twenty-seven. The first Regent was Mrs. E. W. Gilmore. Present officers are: Gertrude Kincheloe, Regent; Myrl Oldham, Vice-Regent; Iva Nash, Recording Sec’y.; Maxine Buck, Corresponding Sec’y.; Ethel Dexter, Treasurer; Josephine Gambill, Registrar; Bertha Schutte, Historian and Librarian; Geneva Rioth, Chaplain. Daughters of American Revolution is reserved to those whose ancestry aided in establishing American Independence. In September, each year, Constitution Week is observed, and in February, American History Month is sponsored. Continental Chapter gives each year American History and Good Citizenship awards to Marceline and Northwestern schools. Gifts are given each Christmas to School of the Ozarks. The programs are those recommended by the National Society, using special historical themes. The present membership is 33, with the following five charter members: Messers C. U. Murray, Ruby Wolfe, Myrtle Steiner, Robert Cruze and Annah Pearl Whiteman. The picture was taken when State Regent, Mrs. J. Bentley Cash, Springfield, made a visit to Marceline to honor the Charter Members.

Business & Professional Women’s Club

The Business and Professional Women’s Club is an International Federated Club. The Marceline Business and Professional Women’s Club was organized June 9, 1927, with forty-five members, by Dr. Vera Young, assisted by Kathryn Wallar Sailor of Chillicothe. The club was always interested in the good of the city and the community. Special projects and work of the club were to help with the Tri-County fair, at which it sponsored a flower show. The club met with the State Highway Department and discussed with them plans to beautify the Junction of Highway 5 and 36. A survey of people interested in factory work was made in an effort toward securing a factory for Marceline. Club members met with the City Council to promote the project of a recreation area at the City Reservoir. This was done, and the Club gave two tables and ovens to this recreation area. The Club surrendered its Charter in 1938.