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Thanks, Susan.  You really “outdid yourself” this time.

The mention of Mildred and Wally Hulver brings to mind Beverly, the “valedictorian” of our class (’51), as I recall.  She and Marge Rodenberg were fast runners and outpaced the boys by quite a distance.  Marge Schoeppenhorst died in Alabama (gulf coast) in 1997; I had a nice reminiscence from her husband, a Higginsville native, I think.  She was an active supporter of the fine arts. 

With the 150th anniversary coming up, would you know if any copies survive of the little booklet I published in 1952 on the Battle?  It used to be for sale at various historical sites around town.  I saw it excerpted on one of Lexington’s websites not many years ago.  I just have one copy left.  It could be a useful item to have available to visitors in September.

The unknown story of how it originated:  It was my term paper for freshman English at WMA in the ’51-’52 school year, taught by Jean Madden, a recent grad of MU at that time.  It might have been his first year at the Academy.  Not long thereafter he left Lexington to work at KOMU in Columbia; I saw a notice of his death in 2001.  He suggested publishing the term paper, so I added a little more to it and contacted the Lexington Press. There were several subsequent printings, the first of which corrected typos.  It wasn’t a very scholarly thing; the “research” consisted of sitting in front of old histories of Lexington and Lafayette County in the Public Library and copying whatever was relevant.

I don’t know why I chose to write about the Battle; probably because we used to enjoy romping around on the Battlefield, only a half mile north of where we lived on 16th St. (each time passing by that covered wagon sculpture Shirley Guevel mentioned, as well as the Old Ironsides Cannon in the Park).  It would be interesting to know how it got there. 

Another motive was probably a story that circulated in our family about the first McIntyres in Lexington.  Margaret (my great-grandmother), a young lady at the time, her mother, and other Lexington ladies are said to have gone out to the battle site after sundown (when the fighting had stopped) to tend the fallen.  Margaret also recalled a moment when soldiers came to their home and asked them to cook a meal for them.  The family had only recently (mid-1850s) arrived in Lexington from Ireland and found a house near the Catholic Church (on Highland Ave.).

When I inquired about the Catholic Church on Highland, Jack responded:

Actually there have beenthree Catholic church buildings, each larger and more solidly built.  The first two were wooden structures on Highland, where the majority of the Catholic population lived in Lex’s early years (including “Irishtown.”)  The second one was destroyed in a “windstorm.”    The land for the present church (and the quarter block that includes three other buildings) was purchased thereafter, in the 1880s, and the present church was finished in the 1890s.  But from the beginning (1842), it was just one Catholic parish.  The name (Immaculate Conception) began in 1854—the second church—when the Pope declared it as one of the Virgin Mary’s titles; this became famous following her appearances at Lourdes under that title in 1858.

Bob '58 Ball wrote about interest in TLC on the World Wide Web!

Lots of folks seem to be interested in your prose!  So far this year, the web site averages over 300 unique visitors each month!  And what are the pages they look at?  Well, the home page, of course, and the current issue -- but after that, it's archives!  The index page for the archives is the second most popular page, right after the home page!  Folks are catching up on issues from when they weren't subscribed or, perhaps, folks are fascinated by the stories of Lexington.  Hard to guess.  The United States, of course, leads the pack in terms of readers, but for some reason, Israel is second!

Israel?!? Jane Ann Whitney '56 Hunt reads regularly:

As far as looking for “lost” classmates, I wonder what ever happened to Ruthie Lindsheid. We never could find her for any of our class reunions. After graduation, she seemed to fall off the face of the earth. Probably no one else knows either.    Her dad taught at Wentworth for a few years and then left. I think he taught briefly at Peru St College in Peru, Nebraska. Then no more info.    Ruthie was so cute----had the biggest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.   

Jane Ann - You are not the first to inquire about Ruthie. Does anyone have a clue? TLC - Tracer of Lost Classmates!

John Willard, resident of Higginsville, enjoys reading about our past:

It’s good to hear from you.  You asked about my “growing up” locale and I don’t know that we have ever really talked about it.  My folks had a farm 15 miles from Odessa, Higginsville, and Warrensburg.  We used to laugh and tell people it was as far away as you could get from anywhere!  Ha!  That’s the way I felt about it, too! 

I went to school in Higginsville because their bus came within a quarter of a mile of our home and that was the best transportation available when I started to high school in 1962.  The old farmhouse was built in 1880 on the “Old Stage Road” otherwise known as the Lexington-Warrensburg Road.  It was the main route between those two towns and the road Sterling Price took from Springfield as he prepared for the Battle of Lexington.  I understand, too, that the stone used for the Lafayette County Courthouse came from Warrensburg quarries via that route. The farm was originally granted to my great-great uncle, John Atkinson.  My brothers and I still own it today, though we lease it to a farmer from Odessa.

My only Lexington experience was through my great aunt, Rosa Hayes, the nurse who took care of Dr. Ryland and then, later, his wife after he had passed away. They lived across the street from the Catholic Church in the house that Marcia Hicklin now owns. Then too, my Dad was friends with Paul and Mary Slusher and there were times, as a family, we would visit them. My Aunt Rosa used to tell stories about the Civil War period as it was experienced by our ancestors. Of course being in historic Lexington and in that house with all its old photographs and antiques everywhere, my imagination was quickened, to say the least.

John, thanks for writing. I urge you and others who have memories of being told about the Civil War in Lexington, please write them down! Several people have mentioned that recently, and I am singing the song wherever I can. There are people eager to compile anecdotes of that period for use during the Sesquicentennial observation of the Battle of Lexington.

Even people new to town are interested in and enjoy our history. Jacque Chinnery shared the following. (See the photo on our website.)