Iron County Historical Society Newsletter

Spring 2013
Mailing Address P.O. Box 183 Ironton, MO 63650 Museum Address Whistle Junction Train Depot Highway 21, Arcadia, MO

Iron County Historical Society

E-Mail: ironcohissoc@hotmail.com

Founded 1974

Website: www.rootsweb.com/~moichs
Telephone: (573) 546-3513

Next Meeting: 2 p.m., Sunday, April 21st First Presbyterian Church, Corner of Knob & Reynolds, Ironton ~ Program ~ Arrow Rock and George Caleb Bingham presented by Randall Cox ~Refreshments by ~ Arcadia Valley Womans Study Club

Presidents Message
John Abney I want to begin this newsletter by again thanking all of our members for their continued support and to ask for your ongoing support in the upcoming year. I would also like to thank all the volunteers who help keep the Whistle Junction Visitors Center and Museum open for the public to visit. Finally a special thanks to our Museum Director, Assistant Museum Director, WebSite Administrator, as well as all the other officers, Board members, Program Director and Newsletter Editor. Without all of your hard work, there wouldnt be an Iron County Historical Society. Our Annual Meeting and elections will take place on April 21st and I hope you can join us. Besides the wonderful refreshments that are always provided at this meeting by the Arcadia Valley Womans Study Club, Randall Cox will present a program on the history of Arrow Rock, Missouri and George Caleb Bingham. I would also ask that you consider ways that you can become more involved. Perhaps you could present a program? How about writing an article for the newsletter? Also, on April 1st, we resume our full schedule at the Visitors Center and Museum. We are always in need of volunteers and if you can help out at all, please contact Wilma Cofer.

Museum Directors Report

Wilma Cofer New Accessions: We have received a bound folder of photographs entitled Pilot Knob Revisited donated by John Townsend and brought in by Ann Townsend. There are eight photos of Pilot Knob Mountain and the old mining area including workers cabins, etc. at the foot of the mountain in Pilot Knob. Joyce Camden also brought in seven 8X10 photos taken of places of interest around the area in the 1950-1960s. Donations / Memorials Received: Monetary donations in the amount of $39.64 were received this month. Visitors: We had 93 visitors in March from nine states and Canada. We have just started our new hours:

Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Membership Chairmans Report

Wilma Cofer We currently have 89 members and six exchange members. Please consider giving a gift membership. New member(s): None

REMINDER: Your Historical Society membership expires in April Please remember to pay your dues 1

A CELEBRATION WORTH REMEMBERING COOKBOOK UPDATE

By the time you receive this Newsletter, the Society should have received the book entitled A Celebration Worth Remembering from the publisher. Through the efforts of many individuals, this book has surpassed our expectations. An individual from the publishing company has termed it as being a classy publication. It is 8-1/2 by 11 inches in size, containing over 190 pages and approximately 70 photos, all centering around Iron Countys Centennial Celebration held in 1957. The Society would like to thank those members and area businesses which provided the funds through sponsorships to publish the book. Because of this generosity, all books sold will be 100% profit to the Societys treasury for the continued operation of its museum for the presentation and preservation of Iron Countys history. For the members who have ordered books, they will be sent to you as soon as the books are received. For members who would like to order book(s), you may do so by using the form below. Any order received by May 1, 2013, from members which requires mailing will not be charged for postage and handling. Orders received after that date, should add an additional $4.00 for media mailing. Thank you for your support -- we think youre going to like it very much!!

A CELEBRATION WORTH REMEMBERING ORDER FORM Your Order

A CELEBRATION WORTH REMEMBERING at $15.00 per book Media Mail Postage and handling at $4.00 per book

Quantity

Total $

$ TOTAL $

NAME:_______________________________________________________ ADDRESS:____________________________________________________ CITY/STATE/ZIP:______________________________________________ TELEPHONE:__________________________________________________

Please make checks payable to: Iron County Historical Society P. O. Box 183 Ironton, MO 63650

They Were There

by John Abney Next year (2014) marks the 150th anniversary of Prices Raid into Missouri and the Battle of Pilot Knob. To honor and remember those who participated, our newsletter will tell some of their stories over the next several editions. If you have a story from someone who was there, please consider sharing it. Please email your story to jabney@hughes.net or mail it to John Abney at the Societys mailing address shown on Page 1. Willis Cole and Frank Hogins At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, Willis Cole and Frank Hogins had two things in common. They were both young, black men and they were both slaves. Yet, by the often strange circumstances brought about by war, they would find themselves on opposite sides of the fighting during the Battle of Pilot Knob. Willis Cole was born into slavery near Memphis, Tennessee on 15 November 1840.1 When the area fell into Union hands in 1862, he escaped slavery and became a teamster for the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry and served them in that capacity for the next 13 months.2 When the 1st Wisconsin returned to Pilot Knob in early 1863, Cole came with them.
3 4 1

Cole helped to build Fort Davidson in 1863 and continued working as a teamster, now under Captain Dyer, the posts Quartermaster.3 Once the new fort was completed, Cole hauled the artillery ammunition from the old fort, Fort Curtis to Fort Davidson.4 When Ironton was attacked by Prices forces on 26 September 1864, Cole joined a group of 60 to 70 free blacks, forming a company under the command of Captain Lonergan, the Provost Marshal at Pilot Knob.5 Cole survived the battle on the 27th and the subsequent retreat of Ewings forces. Cole eventually made his way to St. Louis where he found work as a roustabout on a steamboat around March, 1865.6 He returned to Ironton in 1872 and after the death of his first wife, Hannah, in December 18837, he later married Maria Brannum in September, 1884.8

Willis Cole later in life. Photo from the collection of the Iron County Historical Society

Willis Cole, death certificate no. 36739 (1920), Missouri State Board of Health, transferred to: Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City. Digital image, (http:www.sos.mo.gov/archives/death certificates :accessed 27 February 2013). 2 Henry C. Wilkinson, transcriber, Statement of Willis Cole, 8 July 1904, Box 3, Folder 3, Battle of Pilot Knob Research Collection, 1862-1914, Missouri Historical Society Archives, St. Louis, 1.

Ibid. Ibid. 5 Ibid., 2. 6 Ibid. 7 Hannah Cole,12 December 1883 burial entry, John Albert Undertaking Ledger, Ironton, Missouri. Digital image, (http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/: accessed 27 February 2013). 8 Willis Cole and Maria Brannum marriage certificate, Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, Missouri, Missouri State Archives microfilm. Digital image, (www.ancestry.com: accessed 27 February 2013).

Later in life, Cole recorded parts of his life story and Civil War experiences in a series of letters, quoted here, and now part of the Battle of Pilot Knob Research Collection in the Library of the Missouri History Society in St. Louis. Willis Cole died at the Iron County Poor Farm on the day after Christmas, 1920 and was buried in the Poor Farms cemetery two days later on December 28th.9 Like Willis Cole, Frank Hogins was also born into slavery in Tennessee, though he was born in Dickson County in about 1837 and moved with his owners family to Pope County, Arkansas in 1841.10 In September 1863, his owners son, Reece B, Hogins, then 16 years old, enlisted in Company A of Hills Regiment of Arkansas Cavalry.11 As was a fairly common practice, he took one of the family slaves (Frank) with him. Hills Regiment was assigned to Cabells Brigade of Major General Fagans Division during Prices Raid. Young Reece was shot through the thigh while charging Fort Davidson on 27 September 1864 and Frank was said to have carried his wounded master for miles on his back, trying to get him to safety. In spite of Franks valiant efforts, he (Reece) was taken prisoner and instead of running away, Frank returned to the company and served until the end of the war.12 Reeces carded service record reflects that he was taken prisoner on 17 October 1864 and was held at

both the Gratiot Street Military Prison in St. Louis and at the Alton Military Prison in Alton, Illinois.13 Both Frank and Reece would survive the war and return to Pope County. Reece Hogins would eventually be elected the sheriff of Pope County and would later serve as the Warden of the Arkansas State Penitentiary.14 Frank remained with the family after his emancipation and one Hogins family member, Ben Hogins, remembers knowing Frank; and says he had his own little table in the dining room, and at big family dinners he was urged to sit at the big table with the others, but always said, No, it isnt proper! No one ever had a more loyal friend, or was held in higher regard by a family.15 When Reece passed away, it was said that there was no one outside the immediate family that was more a sincere mourner than Frank.16 When he was 78, in 1915, at the solicitation of friends among the white folks, among whom he has many, Uncle Frank made application for a Confederate pension. 17 His application was initially denied because he hadnt actually enlisted. 18 A subsequent application was approved in 1917. That subsequent application contained a notarized statement from two veterans of Hills Regiment, W. H. Poynter, Sr. and F. L. Lee, which stated that, He [Frank] could have deserted camp as other colored help did, but he stayed with the Confederates till the war was closed. We consider his service as valuable as any regular soldier in the company. 19

Willis Cole, death certificate. Barrow, Charles K. and Segars, J. H. editors and compilers. Black Southerners in Confederate Armies (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Co., 2007), 75. 11 Ibid., Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Arkansas, NARA M317, roll 26, carded records of Reece B. Hogins, Pvt., Co. A., Hills Arkansas Cavalry. Digital image, (www.fold3.com: accessed 6 February 2013). 12 Black Southerners, 75, 76.
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13 14

Compiled Service Record. Black Southerners, 75. 15 Ibid., 75. 16 Ibid., 76. 17 Ibid. 18 Arkansas State Auditor. Arkansas, Confederate Pension Applications. Arkansas History Commission, Little Rock, Arkansas. Digital image, (www.familysearch.org: accessed 6 February 2013.) 19 Ibid.

From the Collection

By John Abney This is another new column debuting in this newsletter and it will focus on items in the Societys collection. Our debut column focuses on the Hardy photograph negative collection. The majority of the information within the article comes from information provided by one of the Hardys daughters, Dorothy J. Allmon. The Hardy Collection According to the old adage, A picture is worth a thousand words. If thats the case, we have several millions worth of words stored in a cabinet in the office of the Whistle Junction Visitors Center and Museum. The Hardy collection includes thousands of photographic negatives donated to the Historical Society in 1986 by Hurschel H. and Reca Hardy. The majority of the collection covers the years from 1952 to 1985, though it also includes negatives from copies made from older privately-owned photographs brought in to the Hardy Studio for copying and retouching. The Hardy family moved to Iron County in 1935. Hurschel was the high school principal in Annapolis and Reca taught elementary school there. Besides being the principal, Hurschel also taught math and science, was the girls volleyball coach, and started a school newspaper called the School Echo. The next year, the School Echo became the Mountain Echo. In 1944 the Hardys moved to Arcadia. They bought a vacant 100 year old building across the street from the movie theater and began the publication of the Mountain Echo on a weekly basis. The newspaper prospered and the Hardys business interests expanded into printing, office supplies, and even office furniture. In 1953, they bought a fine camera and were soon busy in another line of work photography. Hurschel and Reca sold the newspaper in 1963 and they both returned to teaching. When he was 70 years old,

Herschel retired again from teaching and focused his efforts on their photography studio which they operated from their home on South Iron Street. In 1985, with both Hurschel and Reca in their 80s, they finally retired for good and sold their photography business to Mike Carr. The following year, the Hardys donated their extensive negative collection to our Historical Society.
Hurschel and Reca Hardy Photo from Past & Present, A History of Iron County Missouri 1857 1994, Vol. I and provided by Dorothy J. Allmon

Over the years, the Hardys documented life in the Arcadia Valley and beyond. Included in the collection are the negatives of news photographs published in the Mountain Echo from 1953 through 1963. This includes the photographs taken during the 1957 Iron County Centennial celebration. Reprints of many of are included in the upcoming release of the reprint of the Centennial cookbook, A Celebration Worth Remembering, (see page 2 of this newsletter). The majority of the negative collection consists of the work of the Hardy Studio and includes pictures documenting weddings, reunions, and other special occasions as well as school, baby, and passport pictures. Hundreds of the negatives document the construction of the Electric Pumped Storage Plant on Profitt Mountain, the Pilot Knob Pellet Iron Mine in Pilot Knob and the Rubberoid (now ISP) Granulated Roofing Plant in Annapolis. Hurschel passed away in 1988, just shy of his 90th birthday and Reca passed in 1996 at the age of 93. Yet, while they are gone, their work lives on and our Historical Society as well as future generations of historical and genealogical researchers, are the benefactors of their efforts.

Iron and Iron County: A History of Iron Mining in the Area

By John Abney Part One: Precambrian Era - 1850 Some may disagree, but I believe a strong argument can be made that iron not only provided our county with its name, but has also been the single, most important factor in Iron Countys history. Besides the periods of economic boom and bust this once abundant natural resource brought, it was also directly responsible for the creation of the longest plank road in the nation. It was the reason the railroad first came here and that railroad along with the iron mine was the reason Union forces were stationed here in such numbers during the Civil War. While iron hasnt been mined here since1980, tourists still come today to learn about the history of the mining in this area and the Battle of Pilot Knob as well as to participate in the reenactments held here. Without the iron, the railroad may have never been built. Without the iron and the railroad, those Union forces would have almost certainly not been here and that battle would not have taken place here. This two-part article will trace the history of iron mining in Iron County and will attempt to make the case that without the iron, our county would not only have a different name, but would be a very different place. Geologists have differing theories regarding the exact origins of the iron deposits in the area, but all agree that the deposits are related to the volcanic activity that was present in the St. Francois Mountains hundreds of millions of years ago in the Precambrian era.1 The first iron mine in Missouri was located on Sheppard Mountain, with mining beginning there in 1815.2 A total of 75,000 tons were removed from the mountain and smelted at the nearby Tong-Ashebran furnace located near the Stouts Creek Shut-Ins.3 Eventually, iron would be mined from locations throughout what would become Iron County, though in the early days the two most well
1

known locations were Iron Mountain, in nearby St. Francois County, and Pilot Knob. The five square miles of land surrounding what would become the mine at Iron Mountain, Missouri was conveyed to Joseph Pratte by a Spanish Land Grant in 1797.4 The mountain itself was originally believed to be entirely composed of iron ore and was described in an 1843 St. Louis newspaper as follows: It is about a mile broad at the base, 400 feet high and three miles long; and has the appearance of being composed of masses of iron ore. It is literally a mountain of ore so pure that it yields from 70 to 80 per cent under the ordinary process of converting it into malleable iron. At the base the ore lies in pieces from a pound weight upward, which increases in size as you ascend, until they assume the appearance of huge rocks, which would remind the beholder of those "fragments of an earlier world" of which the Titans made use. Six miles southeast is another mountain called Pilot Knob, composed of a macaceous oxide of iron lying in huge masses. This ore will yield about 80 per cent of metal.5 As described by Walter B. Stevens in his Centennial History of Missouri, published in 1921, the iron mountain was regarded by some as a myth: The time was when the people of the Atlantic seaboard called the Iron Mountain of Missouri a fable. They referred to it as a mineralogical joke. At a White House dinner, the president, with a skeptical smile, said to the wife of a senator from Missouri, Mrs. Linn, I hear you have, in your state, iron ore so pure that it does not have to be smelted; that you forge directly from the ore. Yes, Mr. President, Mrs. Linn replied, that is true. And when Mrs. Linn got back to Missouri, she sent to the president a knife made by a Missouri blacksmith from a chunk of ore.

Eva B. Kisvarsanyi and Arthur W. Hebrank, Guidebook to the Geology and Ore Deposits of the St. Francois Mountains, Missouri (Rolla, Missouri: Missouri Department of Natural Resources Division of Geology and Land Survey, 1981), 113, 114. 2 Ibid., p. 111. 3 Ibid.

William R. Edgar History of Iron Mountain (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mostfran/mine_history/ir on_mountain.htm: accessed 26 February 2013). 5 Ibid.

Much missionary effort was required to impress the people of the east with the truth about the mineral riches of Missouri. Senator Linn obtained from the much ridiculed Iron Mountain a lump of ore weighing two tons and sent it to Paris for examination by men of science. Those experts gave formal judgment that this Missouri ore was the best of iron, and for many purposes, far superior to any they had ever seen. They were so much interested that they made a set of ornaments from this ore and sent it to the wife of the senator. Mrs. Linn wore her Paris made jewelry of iron for the benefit of the Washington doubters.6 When the Missouri Iron Company was incorporated in December, 1836 it described the supply of iron on Iron and Pilot Knob mountains, both mountains are perfectly paved with broken pieces of ore, from the base to the summits, in sufficient quantities to supply the consumption for thousands of years.7 Although their claim proved to be highly exaggerated, it was no more exaggerated than the plans the company had for the creation of a new city, Missouri City, on 300 acres of land near Iron Mountain. Included in the plat were parcels of land for Missouri City University, a young ladies institute, five churches representing different Protestant faiths, an orphans asylum, a lunatic asylum, a hospital, a deaf and dumb asylum, a city hall, an asylum for the blind, a widows asylum, a house of refuge for juvenile delinquents, schools, parks, two market houses, a flower garden, and a cemetery to be laid out along the same plans as Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston.8 With the financial Panic of 1837, the grand plans of the Missouri Iron Company came crashing down and, in 1841, the property of the company was sold at public auction to Conrad Ziegler.9 Ziegler, along with James Harrison, then bought out the interests of the various heirs of Joseph Pratte, the original grantee, and formed the American Iron Company in 1845.10
6

Excerpt from 1837 plat map of Missouri City

Two years later in 1847, the Missouri Legislature granted a charter to Evariste F. Pratte for a company to be called the Madison Iron and Mining Company. The purposes of the company are to mine iron ore, to erect iron works, and to make all types of iron articles. In November, the company is finally organized, and mining of ore begins on the north slope of Pilot Knob. Construction of a blast furnace to turn the iron ore into pig iron is also begun.11 The companys blast furnace was completed in 1848 and the first pig iron was produced that August.12 The name for this material comes from an early processing technique. When the hot melted ore was poured out of the blast furnace, it ran into a long tray, called a runner, with several smaller inlets off a main branch. The runner and its small offshoots were said to resemble a sow and piglets, hence the rise of the common name, pig iron.13 The next year, construction is begun on a forge to further refine the pig iron from the blast furnace. By January, 1850, the blast furnace is reported to be operating successfully, making seven to eight tons per day. By October, the forge has been completed and put into operation. A total of 50 men are employed at the works.14

To be continued.

Walter B Stevens., Centennial History of Missouri (The Center State) One Hundred Years in the Union 1820 1921(St. Louis, Missouri: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1921), 353, 354. 7 Floyd C. Shoemaker, ed., Missouri Day by Day, Vol. II: (State Historical Society of Missouri, Mid-State Printing Co., Jefferson City, Missouri, 1943) 462. 8 Edgar. 9 Edgar. 10 Stevens, 354.

11

Jon Berganthal, A Summary of the Pilot Knob Iron Company, Box 60 (Iron County Geology and Mining), File 60-1, Iron County Historical Society Archives, Arcadia, Missouri.. 12 Ibid. 13 What is Pig Iron, (http://www.wisegeek.com/: accessed on 2 March 2013). 14 Berganthal.

Answers to last issues Who, What, Where: Who: B. Gratz Brown What: Antique spelling board game Where: Exterior of the Graniteville Catholic Church in Graniteville

What Is It???

Who Is It ???

Where Is It???

Time to test your Iron County trivia knowledge. If you would like to submit an answer telling us what each picture depicts, please do so and send your answers (with a postmark no later than April 30th ) to: Iron County Historical Society Trivia P. O. Box 183, Ironton, MO 63650 We will randomly draw a winner from all entries that have correctly identified the pictures. Your prize will be a copy of: Readin, Ritin and Rithmetic, A History of Schools in Iron County, MO., 1840 1981, by Clarence R. Keathley Here are the pictures that we have chosen this quarter Good Luck to each of you!

Who is this?

What is the item in this picture?

What was the name of this school?

IRON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS

P. O. Box 183, Ironton, MO 63650 (order from above address)

Title / Author CENTENNIAL: Ironton, Missouri, May 30 June 2, 1957 Dorothy Reese: Ironton/Arcadia Valleys Cheerleader, Historical, Civic Leader, And Teacher: A Tribute, by Randall Cox Early History of Arcadia Valley, by C. S. Russell, edited by Robert Pollock History of the 33rd Regiment Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War In the Arcadia Valley Publication Details / Cost Reprint, soft cover, comb bound. 58 pgs. $6.00 plus $2.50 S & H Soft cover, comb bound. 19 pgs. $2.00 plus $1.50 S & H Soft cover, comb bound. 33 pgs. $5.00 plus $2.50 S & H Excerpts, 21 pgs. $3.00 plus $1.00 S&H Reprint from Iron County Register Supp ;/1800s. 50 pgs $10.00 plus $2.50 S & H Reprint, soft cover, comb bound. 144 pgs. $20.00 plus $2.50 S & H Soft cover, comb bound, photos, 195 pgs. $20.00 plus $3.50 S & H Soft cover, comb bound, maps, photos, Ca 1984. 16 pgs. $3.00 plus $1.50 S & H Manuscript, indexed, comb bound. 76 pgs. $6.00 plus $2.50 S & H Indexed. 147 pgs. $10.00 plus $3.50 S & H Hard Bound, indexed. 434 pgs. $49.95 plus $4.50 media rate or $10 1st class priority S & H 7 pgs. $2.00 plus $1.00 S & H Soft cover, photos, etc. Ca. 1981. 136 pgs. $8.00 each or 2/$10.00 plus $3.50 S & H Soft cover, comb bound. 33 pgs. $5.00 plus $2.00 S & H Soft cover, photos, maps, Ca. 1984. 17 pgs. $3.00 plus $1.50 S & H Soft cover, comb bound. 73 pgs. $10.00 plus $2.50 S & H Manuscript, comb bound, indexed. 34 pgs. $6.00 plus $2.50 S & H Comb bound. 101 pgs. $10.00 plus $3.00 S & H

Iron County Brought Into Focus Iron County Family, Business, and Organization Stories: A Supplement to Past and Present Iron County, Missouri, Year By Year, by Clarence R. Keathley John Albert Undertaking Business, 1878 1921 My Perfect Life, by Robert Pollock Past and Present A History of Iron County 1857 1994 Topical/biographical history of Iron County, Missouri Perpetual Diary of Capt. P. Ake Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, Ironton, MO (A Civil War Diary covering the year 1865) Readin, Ritin and Rithmetic, A History of Schools in Iron County, MO., 1840 1981, by Clarence R. Keathley Russell Cemetery Association United States Post Offices in Iron County, Missouri, Then and Now, by Clarence R. Keathley W. J. Hinchey Diaries, Portrait of a community during the Civil War, edited by John and Elizabeth Holloman White Funeral Home Register, Caledonia, Missouri, 1907 1934 Witnesses to History - Stories from Park View Cemetery, by John Abney

OTHER HISTORICAL SOCIETY ITEMS FOR SALE (Same address as above) $10.00 per deck plus S/ H if mailed Educational Civil War Playing Cards $5.00 per deck plus S /H if mailed Explore Missouri Playing Cards

Battle of Pilot Knob Sesquicentennial Coffee Cup Now Available

Stop by the Whistle Junction Visitors Center and Museum and pick up yours today ! Just $6.00 each

Iron County Historical Society Membership Application

Date________________

New_____ Renewal____

Name______________________ Spouse____________________ Address________________________ County_______________ City____________________ State_____ Zip Code____________ Phone__________________ Email____________________

Please complete form and return with membership dues of $10.00 to: Iron County Historical Society, P.O. Box 183, Ironton, MO 63650. For information please call (573) 546-3513
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Signature____________________ Received by_______________