The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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June 13, 2010

Frankie Meyer: Book rich with McDonald County details

By Frankie Meyer Globe Columnist

JOPLIN, Mo. — Researchers of ancestors in McDonald County and adjacent areas will be interested in the latest book by James Reed. He has compiled two more years of articles about people and events that were mentioned in the Pineville News and the Pineville Herald.

The newspapers were published by his great grandfather Claiborne Duval. Reed inherited the set and has been diligently compiling articles from the fragile sheets. Since no other known copies of the newspapers are known to exist, his books are the only resource for many of the details. His latest book is called “A Unique Little History of McDonald County, Missouri. 1893/1894.” Reed’s book is particularly rich with the names of average citizens and details of everyday life. Articles pertain to schools, churches, entertainment, arrests, trials, business, farming, marriages, deaths, births and illnesses.

The following event was the most traumatic for the northwest part of the county in 1893. The Kansas City, Fort Smith & Southern Railroad was sold to the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad. Soon thereafter, the new company decided to quit using the Splitlog spur. An article noted that Splitlog leaders were looking for an undertaker to perform the funeral of the town.

A few deadly diseases during that time period were consumption, pneumonia, malaria and typhoid fever.

One article is about hunting seasons. Woodcocks could be hunted anytime but Jan. 10 through July 1. Turtledoves, meadowlarks and plovers could be hunted Feb. 1 through Aug. 1, Quail, deer and prairie chickens could be hunted Oct. 1 through Jan. 1. The season for hunting wild turkeys was Sept. 15 through March 1.

Scores of articles are about train trips taken by citizens. Some attended the Confederate reunions at Bentonville, Ark., and Higginsville, Mo., while others attended the GAR encampment at Joplin. Some residents went to the Interstate Fair at Kansas City, the World’s Fair at Chicago, and the St. Louis Fair and Exposition. A few men were noted as heading to the Cherokee Strip in hopes of getting a claim. Smaller trips included excursions to Siloam Springs and masked balls at Sulfur Springs, Ark. Other types of entertainment were basket dinners, fishing parties, oyster suppers, shooting bees, county court sessions, cornet band performances, an ice cream and berry festival, marble games, a July Fourth fireworks display, picnics and circuses.

New communities were Madge, Tribulation, Buzzard Glory and Nubia. After the Splitlog spur was discontinued, the old depot at that town was moved to a new railroad stop called Donohue.

Because residents often attended court sessions, the date of upcoming trials, along with other details about each case, were often included in the newspaper. A popular trial in 1893 was that of William Simmons, who was being tried for the murder of his girlfriend Lula Noel. Simmons was held at the Neosho jail.

Reed has included a helpful index. For further details, contact him at P.O. Box 33, Powell, Mo. 65730. Also, call 417-435-2241 or e-mail claibornecastle@hotmail.com.

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