Volume 2, Number 1 - Fall 1964
Sixty Years Ago in Taney County
Names from the Past: 1904
From the Taney County Republican
Forsyth, Sept. 1, 1904. --Not long since, W.N. Danvers of the Danvers Carbon Studio, St. Louis, was here in company with Ferd Ruhland of the same place, both armed with fine cameras and seeking relaxation and pleasure ‘Near to Nature’s Heart'. A few days ago the Republican was pleased to receive a little brochure of views taken hereabout, accompanied by the following very interesting sketch
From Chadwick, the terminal of the Frisco branch of that name, to Forsyth, the county seat of Taney County, there are four or five...villages which afford by their picturesqueness much pleasure. Over the hills and valleys and fords of Swan creek of bewitching beauty, one forgets the irksomeness of the journey until Forsyth is reached and a halt is made. This is one of the oldest towns in Missouri and has a reminiscent war history, most of the town being demolished by Sanborn’s men in 1863, the present commissioner of pensions assisting in the job, being with the artillery which was stationed on an eminence north of the town.
‘Nestling in the valley surrounded by the lofty hills made famous by the Bald Knobbers, and watered by Swan creek and White river, this town leaves nothing to be desired in natural surroundings. There are several nice residences of up-to-date appearance, large and commodious stores--many of them built of stone--stone church, schoolhouse and court house--the latter of which would do credit ton town of 10,000, as it does now to a population of 200.
‘Conveyances of all kinds can be procured in Forsyth for journeys, and hotel accommodations eschew any necessity of ‘roughing it’.
‘Over the mountain to the eastward and down in the valley of Big Beaver Creek is the village of Kissee Mills, a delightful spot with a romantic history and a spicy local flavor. It was at Kissee Mills that the Indians made their last stand in Missouri against the encroaching whites.’
REPUBLICAN TICKET
National
For President: Theodore Roosevelt
For Vice President: Charles W. Fairbanks
Congressional
For Congressman: W.T. Tyndall
Judicial
For Circuit Judge: John T. Moore
County
For Representative: J.M. DePuy
For Prosecuting Attorney: J.C.L. McKnight
For Sheriff: J.W. Reese
For Collector: A J. Brazeal
For Assessor: Cyrus A. James
For Treasurer: A.H. Parrish
For Surveyor: M.E. Bird
For Judge Eastern District: W.T. Floyd
For Judge Western District: A. J. Craig
For Coroner: Dr. J. W. Brown
T. A. Layton, father of Claude Layton, died August 13 at Sour Lake, Texas of blood-poisoning following an operation made necessary by a recent injury. Mr. Layton was circuit clerk and recorder of this county for about ten years beginning in 1877.
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Sept. 8, 1904. -- The saloon building has been treated to a coat of paint and much internal improvement. If the business itself could be made as white as readily as the building, what a happy thing it would be for the community.
Swan, Sept. 15, 1904.-- Jake Ingenthron celebrated his 28th birthday the 6th, and a number of friends came in and surprised him. All report an enjoyable time.
Licensed to Wed
The following marriage licenses were issued by the circuit court for the week ending Sept. 14, 1904: W.B. Hicks of Bradleyville and Susan Curtis of Protem; J.D. Blankenship and Arlena Evars of Protem.
J. A. Tolerton was in Branson last week improving the telephone property by putting in some fine new poles and placing the office on the main street.
BOX SUPPER at the Cedar Creek schoolhouse Friday night, Sep. 23d. A $1.75 parlor lamp for the prettiest young lady, nice doll for the prettiest little girl, and a bar of soap for the hardest looking man. A gay time is expected and all are invited to come with strong appetites and well-filled pocketbooks. This last applies especially to those of the masculine gender. Don’t forget the date.
S.D. Whelchel, Teacher.
Branson. - -School began Monday, Sept. 5, with E. P. Randall as teacher, and is progressing, fifty-five being enrolled the first day.
Oct. 6, 1904.--Branson is making the best pull she can for the Presbyterian College which is only the more reason why we should not let up on our work until the final decision shall have been made.
FORSYTH GETS THE COLLEGE
Nov. 3, 1904.- -At the meeting of the synod at Cape Girardeau last week it was decided to locate the Presbyterian school at this place. Our first news of the decision was conveyed by a telegram sent by Mr. Hughes who was our representative at the synod, and upon its receipt everybody congratulated everybody, realizing that Forsyth and Taney County had secured an institution that means more for the advancement of the community in all that goes to make life worthwhile than anything that has offered in the history of the county.
It is understood that the synod contemplates the expenditure of about $10,000 in the beginning and that a man will be on the ground within a few days to set things in motion.
We are glad, not because Branson failed to get the college, but because we succeeded. There is no gloating in our gladness, and no students will be more cordially received than those who may enroll from the first railroad town in the county.
RAILROAD REACHES REED SPRINGS Nov. 10, 1904. --The track layers on the White River road reached Reed Springs Monday with the rails and the citizens gave them a banquet in honor of the event. Between Reed Springs and Branson is much heavy trestling which will require considerable time, and it is not likely that Branson will be able to celebrate the arrival of the locomotive before the first of February, while the tunnel at Omaha will probably hold back the completion of the line until next fall.
THE BIBLE IN THE SCHOOLS by Rev. T. B. McLeod
Nov. 17, 1904. --There can be no true religion without a lofty morality, and no more can there be a lofty morality without true religion. Christianity being thus essential to the highest national virtue, then the man who would aid in the exclusion from the schoolrooms of our land that means of instruction which gives light to the mind, rectitude to the conscience, and power to the will needs to be labored with if he is ignorant or, if not ignorant, ought to be resisted as the enemy of free govern-
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ment and of the human race.
It is the duty of the state not simply to tolerate or sanction, but to make religious instruction one of the prime factors in its system of popular education. If a sound morality is an essential condition of national safety and prosperity and if the sublime teaching and temper of Christianity essential to the development of the finest virtues in social and public life, then the policy which dissociates religion from education, which puts secular knowledge above morality and religion, which rules in geology and rules out Genesis, rules in science and rules out the Bible, which rules in evolution and rules out God, rules in Herbert Spencer rules out Jesus Christ, is suicidal policy which, if persisted in, must eventually provoke the common destiny of all things godless.
As a nation we cannot hope to escape the dire consequences of the present policy. Things may go on for a time in a somewhat orderly fashion. Our contemporaries may not feel it much. It may take some time to make a full-blooded atheist out a scion of twenty generations of Christians. Our schools may go on for a time, though their origin be disavowed. But sooner or later their character will be stamped with irreligion and irreligion when complete will bring forth death.
(Our thanks to Mr. W. E. Freeland for permission to use the files of the Taney County Republican for 1904.)
The regular Fall dinner meeting was held October 24, 1964, at The School of the Ozarks. About ninety members and guests attended. Retiring president Ralph D. McPherson introduced the new officers, and President Claude Hibbard presided at the business meeting. Vice-presidents Dr. O. Myking Mehus and Mr., Kenneth D. Ford had arranged for an enjoyable program of folk music and square dancing. The singers were Jerry and Jimmy Wilson, and the lively square-dancing was done by a group of young people from the folk-dance classes of The School.
Riddles At Least A Century Old
My first is a game; my second is what we use our eyes for; my whole is one of the United States,
(Tennessee)
My first is a color; my second is rough; my whole is a story you know well enough.
(Blue-beard)
Little Miss Netticoat, with a white petticoat And a red nose,
The longer she stands, the shorter she grows.
(A candle)
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