LEXINGTON, MO

Leaving Marshall, I head out of town on Hwy 65 toward Waverly and Lexington. At Waverly, I took Hwy 24, 25 miles west to Lexington to visit the Lexington Battlefield State Historic Site.  After my Lexington visit - it was back to Waverly for a few sites and then pick up Hwy 65 north.


This area of Missouri was settled primarily by folks from Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. They brought their slaves, culture and traditions with them and soon it became known as "Little Dixie."  They cultivated crops similar to those "back home" -- hemp and tobacco. In 1860 slaves made up more than 25% of the county's population. Residents generally supported the Confederacy during the Civil War.  The exception being the Germans and German Americans also settled in the area. They tended to be pro-abolitionist and supported the Union.

Lexington, located on the bluffs of the Missouri River, was platted in 1822. Lexington's founder, Gilead Rupe, established the first ferry in 1819. In 1823, Lexington became the county seat of Lafayette County.

John Aull opened a mercantile store in 1822; his brothers James and Robert soon joined. The Aull Brothers were soon operating stores in Independence, Westport, and Liberty. Farmers and planters who specialized in hemp, tobacco and cattle arrived. With the emphasis on trade and agriculture, Lexington and Lafayette County had one of the largest slave populations in the state.

Lexington was the largest city west of St. Louis in the 1830s and '40's, a major center for merchants and outfitters as trappers, traders, and emigrants heading west on the Sante Fe trail, California Trail, Oregon Trail, and the Mormon Trail. In the 1840s, Russell, Majors and Waddell, the largest trading firm in the West, established its headquarters in Lexington. In the 1850s, these men had 3500 wagons carrying goods from Missouri to Sacramento, Denver, and other points, and in 1860, they would found the Pony Express.

Steamboat trade was profitable and the wharf became the center of commerce. In 1852, Lexington witnessed one of the worst steamboat accidents in Missouri. The side-wheeler Saluda, carrying 250 Mormons heading to Salt Lake City, had an explosion in the boilers, killing over 150 people. Lexington families adopted many children orphaned by the blast. Coal mines, some of the first in the state, were dug into the river bluffs to provide fuel for river steamers.

The Greek Revival Lafayette County Courthouse, built in 1847, is the oldest courthouse in continuous use west of the Mississippi. The cannonball from the first Battle of Lexington stuck in one of the upper pillars of the Courthouse has become a symbol for the town.

The Masonic College, also built in the Greek revival style, operated from 1847 to 1857 and after the Civil War, it housed the Central College for Women. The Gothic Revival Christ Episcopal Church, built in 1848, has an interior finished in walnut. Lexington is still home to over 150 homes and public buildings built before the Civil War.

Lexington was the site of 2 battles during the Civil War. The Battle of Lexington is commonly known as the Battle of the Hemp Bales. Confederate Gen Sterling Price led his forces against the Union forces garrisoned in the old Masonic College and commanded by Col James Mulligan.

The Second Battle of Lexington occurred during Price's Missouri Expedition on October 19, 1864.

Lexington was known as a center for Quantrill's Raiders during the war. Two months after the Civil War ended, many guerrilla fighters had refused to honor the cease-fire and finally decided to take advantage of the special Federal amnesty and turn themselves in at Lexington. While riding into town, reportedly under a white flag, they were fired upon by Union soldiers from the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry, and Jesse James was severely wounded in the right lung. Later the James-Younger Gang targeted the Alexander Mitchell bank in Lexington for the second daylight bank robbery in US history. 

ARCHIE CLEMENT

In December 1866, Archie Clement, an accomplice of the James brothers and perhaps the most notorious of all the guerrilla fighters, terrorized the town and was shot from his horse and killed by a sniper perched in the second floor of the Courthouse.  "Little Arch" known for his brutality towards Union soldiers and pro-Union civilians in Missouri.  By 17 he was a Lt in "Bloody" Bill Anderson's guerrilla company and soon became known as Anderson's Head Devil.

After the Civil War, Lexington was replaced by Kansas City as the largest city in western Missouri and was known as The Athens of Missouri. In part due to the arrival of the transcontinental railroad and due to the number of institutions for higher learning. Especially significant were 3 schools for women, the Elizabeth Aull Seminary, Lexington Baptist Female College, and Central College for Women. For men there was the Masonic College and the Wentworth Male Academy.

The Wentworth Military Academy & College remains in Lexington and is the oldest Military school west of the Mississippi. Founded in 1880 as Hobson’s Select School for Boys, a year later, the school became Wentworth Male Academy when the school’s benefactor, Stephen Wentworth, purchased the school and re-named it in memory of his son, William. Today the Academy also accepts women.  Park University shares classroom space with the Wentworth Junior College.

BATTLE OF MARSHALL, MO

Missouri, a state divided, was vulnerable to cavalry raids. The area of Marshall, MO was often called "Little Dixie" because of the number of families living in the area from the southern states of Kentucky and Tennessee. Confederate Colonel J. O. Shelby's raiders departed Arkadelphia, Arkansas, on Sep 22, 1863 on their raid through Missouri and arrived in Marshall the middle of October, 1863.

The civil war Battle of Marshall was fought on Oct 13, 1863.  The day long battle, primarily fought within the town,, had approximately 1,800 Union troops commanded by Gen Egbert Brown against about 1200 confederate raiders led by Col J O Shelby.  

The Confederates had to charge across a deep ravine facing heavy rifle fire from the Union.  This was an overwhelming task and Shelby's men fell back.  Then Shelby put  2 units against the Union center. Three charges were repelled.  

As the Union militia was finally beginning to mass and concentrate their forces into a strong defense,The Union force attempted to encircle and divide Shelby's troops but Shelby and his raiders fought their way out.   Shelby divided his forces and withdraw from the state.

Union forces pressed the 2 columns of Shelby's raiders hard as they retreated toward Arkansas.  The raiders were forced to destroy their train of captured goods. 

The Battle of Marshall was the culminating event of Shelby's 1863 Raid into Missouri from Southern Arkansas.

MARSHALL, MISSOURI & JIM, THE WONDER DOG

Once I approach Marshall, MO, there are 3 towns that have history that  includes Colonel J O Shelby and his raid through Missouri...Marshall, Waverly and Lexington.

Sixty-five acres of land was donated by Jeremiah O’Dell and deeded on April 13, 1839 for the town of Marshall, named for the US Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Marshall.  After 2 fires, the current Saline County Courthouse was constructed in January 1882. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The Sante Fe Trail passed just north of Marshall and is still celebrated with Sante Fe Days.

MARKER SANTE FE TRAIL 
1821-1872
Marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution
and the State of Missouri 
1909






During the Civil War, Union troops were posted at Marshall. Although strategically unimportant, the town saw 2 Confederate raids and is the site of the Battle of Marshall.  It was, however, the culmination of J O Shelby's Confederate raid through Missouri that led to the Confederate loss of the state.

World War I "Doughboy" statue at the Court House

During the 1920s & '30s, the Nicholas-Beazley Airplane Company was an American aircraft manufacturer headquartered inn Marshall. At its peak, it was producing one aircraft per day, however, the depression closed the doors in 1937.   

During the 1930s, Marshall was enamored with the abilities of Jim, The Wonder Dog, probably the town's most famous citizen.

Missouri Valley College is a private, 4 year liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. On October 27, 1874, representatives of several Presbyterian synods met to discuss founding the school. Founded in 1889, the school has 27 academic majors and an enrollment close to 1,800 students. 

JIM THE WONDER DOG

Marshall is home to Jim the Wonder Dog. During the 1930's, Jim puzzled psychologists from Washington University, St. Louis, and University of Missouri in Columbia with his amazing ability to understand. Dr. A. J. Durant, director of the School of Veterinary Medicine, examined Jim and could find nothing physically abnormal. He was tested by a group of college students and passed each command.  Dr Durant concluded that Jim, "possessed an occult power that might never come again to a dog in many generations."

Jim was a Llewellyn Setter born of pureblood champion field stock in Louisiana. His litter mates were selling for $25 each, a considerable sum in 1925, but he was considered lacking the necessary quality to hunt.  Sam Van Arsdale purchased him for less than half of the amount of the other pups.

All attempts to field train Jim seemed to fail.  He didn't seem to show much interest during training sessions, however, as soon as he was taken to the field he proved to be an outstanding quail dog. On the hunt, he knew where the quail were and refused to hunt where they weren't.  Van Arsdale traveled many states hunting and, over the years, kept track of birds shot with Jim at his side. He stopped counting at 5,000, a total no other dog had reached. Outdoor Life Magazine termed him "The Hunting Dog of the Country".

Jim's story says that his amazing abilities were discovered by accident during a hunt, when Van Arsdale told him they should rest under a nearby Hickory tree.  A variety of trees to choose from, Jim went to the hickory tree. Amazed, he asked Jim to go to a walnut, then a cedar, a stump, and a tin can, which he did rapidly and without error.

It was as if Jim could not only understand what Van Arsdale was commanding, but soon would exhibit talents "beyond human". His list of abilities included finding a specific car, with a specific license plate number, or a car by color, or from another state. It is reported that he could also pick out, from a crowd, specific people of the community, whether they knew Jim or not.

Van Arsdale also communicated commands to Jim in foreign languages and short hand.  After his performance at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, newspaper and magazine writers came to witness Jim and wrote of incredulous things they saw.  Jim's fame spread. Featured in Ripley's Believe it or Not, at the height of his talents, Jim had the ability to predict the future. Jim picked the winner of the Kentucky Derby 7 years in a row. He also predicted the Yankee victory in the 1936 World Series and the sex of unborn babies.

Called before a joint session of the Missouri Legislature, Jim was put through one of the biggest tests, a communication method even Van Arsdale didn't understand...Morse Code.  Attempting to debunk the dogs amazing abilities, and believing that Van Arsdale was somehow "guiding" the dog, the code was tapped out instructing Jim to go to a specific person, which to the astonishment of the Legislators, he did.

In 1935 Jim performed at the Kemmerer Hotel in Kemmerer, Wyoming. After his successful perfomance, an article was written in the Gazette of Kemmerer on Friday, August 30, 1935, telling of this performance and referring to Jim as "The Wonder Dog".

Over the years, Sam Arsdale kept Jim close by, always worried he would be kidnapped or harmed by gambling interests or others. He refused offers from food companies to use his amazing pet in their advertising.

When Jim died, March 18, 1937, at the age of 12, the Van Arsdales asked that he be buried in Ridge Park Cemetery. The sexton agreed to burial just outside the cemetery fence, "since Jim was smarter than most people in here, anyhow." Over the years, the cemetery eventually expanded around Jim.

Marshall, MO has great affection for Jim. In 1999, Jim the Wonder Dog Memorial Gardens was dedicatedand is located on the site once occupied by the Ruff Hotel where Jim lived with his owner Sam VanArsdale, the hotel manager. Wonder Dog Day is held in Marshall on May 16, and there is a Wonder Dog Museum in town.

Otto Frederick Rohwedder & Sliced Bread

Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, invented the first loaf-at-a-time bread slicing machine.  In 1917 a fire broke out at the factory where Rohwedder was manufacturing his machine and destroyed, not only, his prototype, but the plans and blueprints.  It was not until 1928 that he had a fully working machine ready. 

Born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1880, the son of Claus and Elizabeth Rohwedder, he was the next to youngest of 6 children.  He lived in Davenport until he was 21, attended public schools and apprenticed to a jeweler.  He attended Northern Illinois College or Ophthalmology and Otology in Chicago, graduating in 1900, but became a jeweler as a career. 

He became the owner of 3 jewelry stores in St. Joseph, MO, and used his work with watches and jewelry to finance his inventions. Convinced he could develop a bread slicing machine, he sold his jewelry stores to fund the development and manufacture of the machine. 

In 1927 Rohwedder successfully designed a machine that not only sliced the bread but wrapped it. He applied for patents and sold the first machine to a friend and baker Frank Bench, who installed it at the Chillicothe Baking Company, in Chillicothe, MO, in 1928. The first loaf of sliced bread was sold commercially on July 7, 1928. Sales of the machine to other bakeries increased and sliced bread became available across the country.

A baker in St. Louis bought his second machine and developed a better way to have the machine wrap and keep bread fresh. In 1930 Continental Baking Company introduced Wonder Bread as a sliced bread. By 1932 the availability of standardized slices had boosted sales of 'pop-up" toasters, a 1926 invention of Charles Strite. In 1933 American bakeries, for the first time, produced more sliced than unsliced bread loaves.

Rohwedder sold his patent rights to the Micro-Westco Co. of Bettendorf, IA; he joined the company as vice-president and sales manager of the Rohwedder Bakery Machine Division.

In 1951 Rohwedder at age 71 retired from Micro-Westco Co. and moved with his wife to Albion, Michigan. He died on November 8, 1960. 

CHILLICOTHE MO -- Home of Sliced Bread

Leaving Sedalia, I wasn't sure how far I would get.  I was about 300 miles from my destination, Marshalltown, IA.  I knew I wouldn't have time to make the stops I had planned and get to my sisters before I 'pooped out!"  So....I headed off to Chillicothe MO, less than 100 miles straight up Highway 65.  Planned stops included the murals at Chillicothe, a battle field or two, the Mormon village at Garden Grove, Iowa -- and anything else that would strike my fancy as I drove on up the road. 

On July 6, 1928, Chillicothe became the birthplace to one of the greatest innovations of modern times...sliced bread!   Chillicothe Baking Company founder, Frank Bench, took a chance on a mechanized loaf-at-a-time bread-slicing machine invented by an Iowa-born, Missouri-based jeweler, Otto Rohwedder.  Just one week after introducing sliced bread to his customers, Bench’s sales increased by  2,000%! 

Settled in the early 1830s and first incorporated August 13, 1851, Chillicothe's proximity to major travel routes made it a good location for business, manufacturing, and as a livestock and agricultural trading center.

The name "Chillicothe" is Shawnee for "big town". There is also a Chillicothe, Ohio, Ohio being the original home of the Shawnee.

The Osage and Missouria were in the area when French explorers and traders arrived. By 1800 the Shawnee and Iowa had migrated here.  The Shawnee, originally from the Ohio Country, were under increased pressure from the more aggressive Iroquois, a situation they had experienced since prior to the Revolutionary War. Their arrival had displaced the Osage.  The Shawnee made their major villiage, known as Chillidothi, about a mile from the present-day city.  Other Native American tribes in the area were the Sac and Fox, and Pottawatomi.

In the early 19th century, European-American migration to Missouri increased. The area was settled by immigrants from Ohio and other "Old Northwest" states.

The original survey of Chillicothe filed for record August 31, 1837 and was incorporated as a city March 1, 1855. 

In 1859 the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad was completed into town. From that time on Chillicothe made a slow, steady growth.  The growth accelerated in 1886 when the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad arrived. That year also saw the introduction of the "Water Works" and electric lights.

During the last two decades of the 19th  century, Chillicothe was a center for education with the Chillicothe Normal School (later Chillicothe Business College), the State Industrial Home for Girls, the Chillicothe Conservatory of Music, the Chillicothe Normal School and Maupin’s Commercial College.

Driving around town looking for the murals, I was in awe of the beauty of the old buildings, recovered after removing "modern" false fronts. 

CHILLICOTHE MURALS

This mural depicts Webster Street on the north side of the square

in downtown Chillicothe circa 1916.

Lobby of Citizens Bank & Trust circa 1907. 

  Window in Time: As if looking through a window in time, this mural showcases piecesof Chillicothe’s history including five multi-generational businesses still in existence and many others where people have lifelongmemories. What was once a blank wall now paints a portrait of many life stories and serves as a community conversation piece.

 

Palace of Fashion Mural showcases

a vibrant, early 1900s women’s apparel and hat store. The mural itself is a piece of

work. Using the French technique of trompe-l’oeil (trick the eye),

this mural entertains the illusion of the once existent upper level

staircase and balcony.

Pre-World War I Chillicothe street scene.  Train Depot shown at the end of the street.

 

Locust Street, 1890

Even some of the businesses get 'into the act."  
On a building that houses a store for the hunting and fishing

Radio Station:  The Wave

A "Ghost" sign from days gone by

RATHER THAN SURRENDER....

General M. Jeff Thompson's command was widely dispersed throughout northeast Arkansas at the end of the war. In March 1865, as commander of the Northern Sub-District of Arkansas, he agreed to surrender his command at Chalk Bluff, Arkansas on May 11, 1865.  His men were ordered to assemble at Wittsburg and Jacksonport, Arkansas, lay down their arms and receive their paroles.  Some units disbanded rather than surrender their colors;  many just went home. About a 1/3 of his men refused to surrender. J O Shelby's Missouri Brigade, along with elements of Green's and Jackman's Missouri Brigades, headed for Mexico. 

Most men on the parole lists actually served in the unit with which they surrendered.  Some men, having seen no service, attached themselves to various regiments solely for the purpose of surrendering. They thought that having a parole would provide them, former confederates, with protection from arrest or capture.

Also, following the war, General Sterling Price took his troops to Mexico rather than surrender.  Price became leader of a Confederate exile colony in Carlota, Veracruz, but when the colony proved to be a failure and he was unsuccessful in seeking service with the Emperor Maximillian, he returned to Missouri. 

GENERAL M. JEFF THOMPSON

Meriwether Jeff Thompson was born at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, now West Virginia. Following his education, he found employment as a store clerk throughout Virginia and Pennsylvania, then moved to Liberty, MO in 1847.  The following year, he moved to St. Joseph, MO.  Starting as a store clerk, he took up surveying and served as the city engineer. He later supervised the construction of the western branch of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. He married Emma Hayes in 1848.

Thompson was a colonel in the Missouri State Militia at the outbreak of the Civil War. In late July 1861, he was appointed brigadier general of the First Division, Missouri State Guard. He commanded the First Military District of Missouri, which covered the swampy southeastern quarter of the state from St. Louis to the Mississippi River. Thompson's battalion soon became known as the "Swamp Rats" and he was referred to as the "Swamp Fox of the Confederacy." Although Thompson frequently petitioned for the Confederate rank of brigadier general it was never granted. His brigadier rank came from his Missouri State Guard service.

When Union General John C. Fremont issued an *emancipation proclamation to free the slaves in Missouri, Thompson declared a counter-proclamation and his force of 3,000 soldiers began raiding Union positions near the border in October. On October 15, 1861, Thompson led a cavalry attack on the Iron Mountain Railroad bridge over the Big River near Blackwell, southwest of St Louis. After successfully burning the bridge, Thompson retreated to join his infantry in Fredericktown, south of St Louis. Soon afterwards, he was defeated at the Battle of Fredericktown and withdrew, leaving southeastern Missouri in Union control.

                    * The Frémont Emancipation was part of a military proclamation issued by Major General John C. Frémont on August 30, 1861 in St. Louis. The proclamation placed the state of Missouri under martial law and decreed that all property of those bearing arms in rebellion would be confiscated, including slaves, and that confiscated slaves would subsequently be declared free. It also imposed capital punishment for those in rebellion against the federal government. 

In 1862, Thompson was reassigned to the Trans-Mississippi region, where, accompanying General John Marmaduke, he engaged battles in Arkansas and accompanied Marmaduke on his raid into Missouri. 

Thompson was captured in August in Arkansas, and spent time in St. Louis' Gratiot Street prison, as well as at the Fort Delaware and Johnson's Island prisoner-of-war camps. "Poor old Jeff, how my heart went out to him; he a prisoner and his devoted wife in a madhouse". ~~ My Life and My Lectures by Major Lamar Fontaine, a prisoner with Thompson in Fort Delaware.

In 1864 he was exchanged for a Union general. Later that year, Thompson participated in Major General Sterling Price's Missouri expedition, taking command of J O Shelby's famed "Iron Brigade" when Shelby became division commander.

After the war, he returned to civil engineering and went to New Orleans. He designed a program for improving the Louisiana swamps, a job that eventually destroyed his health. He returned to St. Joseph, Missouri in 1876 where he died of tuberculosis, September 5, 1876 at the age of 50.