Polk County Genealogical Society, Inc.
Headquartered in Bolivar, Missouri, United States of America

Polk County, Missouri History

Stories of and about Polk County, Missouri

This page is not meant to be an all-inclusive history of Polk County but just a collection of miscellaneous stories.

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Dunnegan Park, by Susan Sparks

I have many fond memories of taking my son to the park when he was little. It was cheap entertainment to buy a
loaf of 40-cent white bread and spend some time feeding the ducks. To this day my son, now 20, calls all white
bread “duck bread.”

I thought in my “history nerd” way that some might enjoy a brief history of Dunnegan Memorial Park

In December of 1920, Judge T. H. B. Dunnegan offered a 44.2 acre tract of land known as Dunnegan’s Woods to
the city of Bolivar through the Commercial Club. The land had been used for the last two or three years as a
reunion grounds for the old settlers’ picnics, Grand Army of the Republic, and various other groups.

In March of 1921, the city council accepted the land and named it Dunnegan Memorial Park. The city was responsible
for the care and beautification of the new park. The first thing they did was hire a landscape gardener to map out the
park and develop a plan of improvement. The local newspaper reported, “The park [plan] is an ideal layout for a
beautiful city park. It is nearly a half-mile long and extends out midway to almost a quarter mile. It contains 44.2 acres
with a fine growth of native oak covering it all. It includes two ravines that intersect well to the north end. A large lake
has been formed at the north end that is large enough for swimming and rowing. By just a little attention, a fine driveway
can be made.”

The city approved the landscaping plan and put out a call to the citizens of Bolivar for a “Park Working Day” to be held
on Friday, June 23, 1922. The event was to last all day and citizens were invited to bring an “ax, grubbing hoe, scythe,
picks, shovels and rakes” and “everybody works, even Father.”

The official public presentation of the park to the city was held on July 4, 1922. Judge T. H. B. Dunnegan addressed
the crowd at the presentation saying, “Realizing that as the years go, that the people will more and more be in need
of a breathing ground, and as my people have lived among this [sic] people from the earliest settlement of this county,
I have concluded to donate this plot of land to the City of Bolivar and Polk County as a public park to be known as
Dunnegan Memorial Park, to the memory of all who have fallen in defense of our land [and] country[.] [A]nd to you,
Mr. Mayor, I present this plot with the injunction that you, and your successors, preserve and beautify it for the use and
pleasure of all the people.”

The day was filled with fun and games. Events started at 9:30 in the morning with a parade and concerts from the
community band and choir. The day was supposed to end with a “big open air picture show” at the park. Unfortunately,
the electric current was not strong enough to power the projector at the park, so the picture show was moved to the city
square. The day was not without other hitches. The newspaper followed up with this report, “The deplorable and very
unsanitary tank of drinking water which was so grossly polluted at the Bolivar Public Park on the Fourth of July, and
which was not discovered by the Health Officer until he returned from Halfway at three o’clock has caused much
sickness. The tank was dipped into by children’s dirty fingers, cups dropped in the mud were dipped in the water and
water poured back into the tank from the cups… A crawfish was found in the lemonade. We wonder what else was in
it too small to see.”

The park quickly took shape and by 1925, the area was fenced with wire, wood, and concrete posts. Water service and
electric street lamps were also installed in the park the same year. In 1926, a log house was built from timbers from
the land and John A. Farmer, the park’s caretaker, resided in the park. Native stone was hauled to the park to erect a
gateway, which was completed in 1928 and the road in front of the park was graded and improved. One of the uses of
the park in its early days was as a tourist camp. Small signs would point the way from the main road to the park where
tourists were allowed to set up and camp for free. This was later disallowed.

During the summer of 1931, the drive through the park was improved and included the draining of the lake so that the
dam could be widened to a two-track width and concreted. A gravel swimming bar was added to the lake for the children.

The octagon shelter house and bandstand (now known as Pavilion 1) was added to the park in 1933. It measured 30 feet
in diameter and was built by John Woskoski. In the 1940s, improvements such as cooking fireplaces, native stone tables
and benches, a shuffleboard and oversized checkerboard were added. In 1949, the park board improved and blacktopped
the drive and added more children’s playground equipment near the shelter house.

The Polk County Genealogical Society Research Facility has an undated cloth poster of rules on display from the park
that likely dates from the 1940s: “Notice to everyone visiting the Park - All well-disposed persons are cordially invited
to visit the park. In driving into the park, keep to the right. Do not try to turn in the driveways but keep on till you come
out. Owing to depredations committed at night, the Park Board has ordered the gates shut and locked at 9 o’clock at night.
The trees, shrubs and flowers are for all visitors to see and enjoy, so please do not break or pull them. For if you do there
soon will not be any left for anyone to see. No hunting with dogs or guns allowed. Leave your dogs and guns at home.
Be careful with fires. Leave no trash scattered about. Do not molest the birds, squirrels, or other wild animals about the
park. State law regulates fishing in the lake. See the park keeper about fishing permits. No gambling or improper conduct
allowed. Camping in the park is prohibited! This rule will be strictly enforced by the keeper.”

This park is truly one of the “Gems of the Ozarks”, so pack a lunch and enjoy, as Judge Dunnegan said, “the breathing ground.”




Orphan Train comes to Bolivar, by Susan Sparks

The Children’s Aid Society of New York was founded in 1853. The mission being that they could take
children from the streets and orphanages of New York and send them to a better life in the Midwest. The
orphan trains, which ran from 1853-1929, were designed to transport orphans and half-orphans to a better
life in the Midwest. This must have been a culture shock to children that had never experienced the hills and
hollows of the Ozarks. Most had never seen such wide-open spaces, cows, deep woods, orchards and ticks.

In December of 1889, the first train of orphans from New York arrived in Bolivar. The trip was a success
with seventeen of the children being placed in homes around Polk County. The process for taking in the
children was, as follows: committees of men were chosen by the Society to screen potential families. The
Polk County committee consisted of D. W. Faulkner, T. H. B. Dunnegan, J. J. Akard, J. W. Ross and F. A.
Affleck.

The families had to agree to the following conditions: children fifteen years old are expected to work until
they are seventeen years old for their board and clothes; then they are at liberty to make their own arrangements.
Children between twelve and fifteen are expected to work for their board and clothes until they are seventeen,
but must be sent to school for a part of each year, and after age fifteen they should receive some wages. Children
under twelve are expected to remain until they are eighteen and must be treated by the applicants as their own
children.

When the train reached Bolivar they had seventeen children on board, thirteen boys and four girls, ranging in
age from seventeen to four years. An agent accompanied them from the Children’s Aid Society of New York,
Mr. E. Trott. The citizens of Bolivar, who met the train, were pleasantly surprise by the appearance of the children.
Instead of being rough, uncouth and ignorant the children appeared well-dressed and intelligent-looking. The
newspaper reported "It is to be feared that the impression made upon the children by the citizens was not so
favorable, for one little fellow exclaimed, as he stepped from the car and looked at the crowd, "Well, is this
Bolivar’s best! "

The children were transported to the courthouse and seated in a row of chairs within the railing of the courtroom.
When applications for children were called for by the Mayor, the responses were so numerous that it soon became
evident that there were not enough children to go around. The names of the applicants were given to the local
committee whose approval had to be obtained before a child could be awarded. The approved applicants were
then allowed to make their choices. It fell to Mr. John F. French of Rondo to make the first choice. He picked
out a "bright thirteen year old boy" named Henry J. Smith.

The following is a list, as it appeared in the Bolivar Free Press, of the children spoken for:

Robert Hicks, ten years old, taken by S. S. Carrier, of Bolivar;
Mary Hicks, nine years, taken by R. J. Gage, of Bolivar;
Sarah Hicks, ten years, taken by W. R. Spoon, of Bolivar;
Mary Hicks, eight years and six months, taken by F. W. Adams, of Bolivar.

(The first two children named above are brother and sister, and the next two are sisters, and cousins of the first.)

Willie Gardner, nine years, taken by H. F. Caldwell, of Bolivar;
James Gross, seven years, taken by W. W. Lusk, of Halfway;
Frank Buck, aged five, taken by C. M. Bowman, of Bolivar;
Geo. A. Owens, aged six, taken by E. S. Bronson, of Bolivar;
James Devine, aged six, Ira P. Warren, of Bolivar;
Wm. J. Brooks, aged seventeen, E. F. Mayfield, of Goodnight;
James Jackson, aged sixteen, taken by S. A. Griffin of Shady Grove;
John L. Davis, twelve, R. B. Lee of Bolivar;
Arthur Van Orden, aged ten, W. H. Branham of Halfway;
Annie Schlinder, eight years and three months old, taken by Alexander Griffin of Brighton;
Freddie Wodruff, four years, taken by W. J. Wallace of Bolivar;
and Jacob Good, aged six, taken by Rev. J. F. Martin of Bolivar.

After the children were awarded to a local family, they were encouraged to write to the Society about their
care and could be removed if it was not adequate. The Society also planned yearly trips to check on the children.

Since the children were dispersed in 1889 and the 1890 census does not exist anymore, I turned to the 1900
Federal Census of Polk County to try and find these children. I did not have much luck but did find three of
them still living in the county in 1900. One of them was embraced by the family and even took their surname.
The other two were listed as laborer and servant under different families than the ones that originally took them
in.

I found it interesting how small towns like Bolivar helped a huge city like New York take care of their
cast-off children. I can only hope they found peace and happiness in our Ozark Hills.

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Fossils and Footprints by Susan Sparks (See The Rest of the Story below)

Bolivar's first streets were made of mud and crushed rock. At each of the crosswalks around the
square there were large flat rocks so that people using the rudimentary sidewalks of the time would
not have to dirty their feet, or the ladies their long dresses, while crossing the dirt street. The streets
surrounding our courthouse were paved for the first time in 1912. The entire project cost $9,000,
with the county paying $5,300 and the business owners on the square picking up the remaining amount.
As soon as the paving was completed, the city crew started tearing up the crosswalks so that they could
also be cemented. While tearing up the crosswalk on the northwest side of the square, a geological
discovery, of great importance at the time, was made. When one of the large flat stones was turned over,
the underside was found to contain two impressions of a child's foot. One of the tracks, the one made by
the right foot, was very distinct. All that remained of the other was the heel mark, the balance having
eroded away or having been chipped off when the stone was quarried. The footprints were shod in
moccasins and were as clear as if they had just been made. The stone was quarried about 20 years
previous to its discovery. This stone was taken to a local expert, J. M. Leavitt. Leavitt had been a
collector of Indian artifacts for years and had a house full of items that he had collected in Polk County
during his lifetime. Local photos were taken of the stone and then the U. S. Geological Survey was
alerted to the find. Where are these today? No one knows but they may have been sent to Washington,
D.C. or used as a doorstop until lost to time.

THE REST OF THE STORY

By Jean Pufahl Vincent

I received my monthly edition of the Polk County Genealogical Society's newsletter and, as usual, read
it with great interest. I found Susan Sparks' article about the "Moccasin Rock" to be the most interesting
thing I had read for some time. She mentioned that the rock had been given to J. M. Leavitt and that no one
knows where the rock is today. However, David and I do know where the rock is, and here's the "rest of the
story."

I grew up in a neighborhood populated by many family members. My Grandparents Pufahl lived across the
street in one house, and my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin lived next to them. They all lived in wonderful, big old
houses--ours wasn't nearly as big as theirs, but we all had free access to the houses, the yards, and the fields
out behind. My uncle, Pete Leavitt (son of J.M. Leavitt), had marvelous things in his back yard-all kinds of
animals in cages (including skunks) that he took in when they were injured and 'doctored' them, and he also
had a fascinating rock. It had a depression in it that looks just like what a moccasin-clad child's footprint
would look like if the child stepped in the mud. I always thought the rock was a wonderful thing.

When Uncle Pete and Aunt Helene died and my cousin, Lorraine, moved to a smaller home she took the rock
with her. In time, the rock came in to my possession. I've tried to keep it under the eaves and protected from
the weather. When I moved to Maryland the rock stayed here on the farm. The folk who rented the place also
cared for the rock until we moved back in 2006. The rock was in residence when we moved back; there was
a lot of remodeling and landscaping still going on at that time. David and I were afraid the rock would get
covered up, and talked about moving it to a safer place. Then we went back to Maryland to conclude some
business and pick up our car. We didn't think about the rock for some time except to wonder, now and then,
"where could it be?". Then we read Susan's article and that set things in motion. Up to that time I had no idea
about the history of the rock… I only knew it hadbelonged to Uncle Pete. I went out and dug a trench around
the porch where I thought the rock should be. It wasn't there. Uncle (Mynatt Scott) brought out a probe, and
between Uncle, David and myself we probed the whole flower bed and dug up about half of it. We found
bricks, rebar, all kinds of rocks and several sections of the foundation of the house that used to be here, but
no moccasin rock. We were all afraid it was gone forever.

Later that same day, David and I were walking across the barn lot when a particularly square-shaped rock
caught our eye. Susan had mentioned that the rock had been quarried. We walked over to it. David turned
it over, and there was the moccasin print! Rarely has such excitement ensued in Polk County over the location
of a rock! After we found the rock David remembered moving it to keep it safe before we went back East. As
soon as he said it I remembered him telling me about it while we were on the trip. We shall use the excuse
of having too much on our minds at the time. We're just glad this piece of Polk County History is still safe
and secure.

Note : The rock is now on display at the PCGS library for all to see. Come visit us!

Nifty Café by Susan Sparks

The original café at the Nifty’s current location was opened in 1928 by Charles Hicklin, called The
Student Eat Shop, with the tag line of “A Sandwich a Minute.” The Student Eat Shop was purchased
in 1930 by “Ma and Pa” Floyd and Ethel Cunningham. They quickly held a contest to rename the
restaurant and offered a ten dollar gold piece for the winning entry. Mrs. Harlan Maas entered the
winning name--Bolivar’s Nifty Barbecue. Nifty was slang from the 1920s that meant great or
wonderful. The new name also came with a new tag line “A Meal a Minute” and “Every Bite Just
Right.” They sold “lip smacking” sandwiches, barbecued or otherwise, ice cream, soda pop, and
tobacco products.

The Nifty specialized in chili, plate dinners and barbecued meats. The method they used to prepare
the barbecue was called Polk County Style as they only used Polk County hickory wood to smoke
the meat. The buns for their toasted CunningHAM sandwiches were specially made by a local baker
and were reported to be twice the size of a regular bun. Ma and Pa Cunningham were always on the
cutting edge, installing Bolivar’s first neon sign, offering drive up service and even air-conditioning
by 1939.

Pa Cunningham, although blinded in a streetcar accident in Kansas City before moving to Bolivar,
still managed to work the front counter of the café with a few modifications, one of which was his
soda pop cooler. He had the company install dividers between the different kinds so that he could
find the requested bottle by feel. This must have kept him busy because Coca-Cola reported that the
Nifty had sold 14,400 bottles of their product in 1932, more than any other business in the area.
Prohibition of alcohol was repealed in 1933 and the Nifty was one of the first cafes to offer a glass
of cold Budweiser beer with a meal.

In 1934 the Nifty doubled in size, with an addition being added to the north side of the building out
to the alley. This area was a dining hall where they served “family style all-you-can-eat meals” priced
at 25 cents per person. No beer was served in this new area.

Pa Cunningham died in 1940 from complications created by high blood pressure. His wife Ethel and
their son Henry continued running and expanding the Nifty. Pa and Ma had built the building to the
south of the Nifty in 1936 and rented it out to the Bolivar radio shop until 1941. Ma and Henry then
took back the building and opened a dining annex to the Nifty. This room had a separate entrance and
was to be used for private parties and daily dining overflow. Once again, beer was not allowed in the
new hall, but the menu expanded to include steaks and catfish dinners. By the end of 1941, Pa
Cunningham’s brother Elmer “Sparky” Cunningham became a partner in the Nifty.

A month later it was announced that Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hendrickson had bought the Nifty.
Interestingly, the dinner prices in their advertisements took a jump and they discontinued beer sales.

Through the years the Nifty has gone through many different owners and menu changes, but it has
always been called the Nifty and has apparently never closed its doors for any length of time. This
makes it over 78 years old and probably the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Polk County.

Bolivar Cheese Factory Gives Rise to Dairy Day by Susan Sparks

One day Jack Glendenning mentioned "Cheese Hollow" to me [Susan Sparks] in a conversation about local history.
Well, being a Wisconsin Girl transplant to Bolivar and very much in love with any kind of cheese, I became fascinated
with the thought of locally made cheese. And so began my journey to learn the history behind "Cheese Hollow."

The first documented creamery operation was started in January of 1889 by L. Hughgotor and was located on lot 2,
block 9 of Nelson’s Addition (two blocks east of Albany on Broadway Street; this is not the location of the famed
Cheese Hollow). They made butter and cheese for the Springfield and Bolivar markets. The daily supply of milk in 1889
approached 1,200 pounds with the Lindsey family supplying about one-third of that amount.

In January of 1928, a group of Wisconsin promoters opened a cheese factory in Bolivar with plans to open others
in Buffalo, Morrisville and Stockton. The company was called the United Cheese and Butter Company. The company quickly
expanded with additions to the original building by the end of 1928. The factory building was built by local builder Perry Ryan
and leased to the United Cheese and Butter Company. The factory building still stands at the corner of Jefferson Street and
South Benton Ave. and currently houses the Huckleberry Layne Candle Company.

The Bolivar Chamber of Commerce agricultural committee decided, with the opening of the cheese factory, to make the
dairy industry their main objective for the year 1928 and started a promotion called Dairy Day. The chamber would purchase
a cow from the Wisconsin investors and give it away on the last day of each month. The first Dairy Day was on March 31, 1928.
A ticket was given to shoppers for each dollar they spent with certain merchants for the month of March. One of the first rules
was that "the event was for out-of-town shoppers only." I assume the reason for this was that a town dweller would have no
means of taking a cow and building up a herd in the city.

On the day of the drawing, the prize cow was put on display on the courthouse lawn starting at 2:00 p.m. with the
drawing commencing at 3:30 p.m. The ticket holder needed to be present to win and could not qualify for
another cow for one year. The first cow given away was described as "a pretty yellow Jersey with a
high production record" and was won by Frank Standley of Violet, MO who held the winning ticket numbered 033630.
The thirty merchants that gave out tickets for dollar sales estimated they had given out over 30,000 tickets.

The second Dairy Day was held on Monday, April 30, 1928 with the winning ticket being held by Lloyd Dixon of Morrisville.
He took home a fine Guernsey cow. A special feature of the second Dairy Day was the free lunch of cheese, crackers
and coffee served in the courthouse basement. It was reported that 1000 lbs of cheese from the Bolivar cheese
plant was consumed.

By the time we had our third Dairy Day on Thursday, May 31, 1928, (when Fennie Payne won a Holstein cow), we had
attracted statewide attention with many other towns in the state copying our event. The Bolivar Chamber of Commerce
traveled to Osceola to help them start their own Dairy Day. After the May drawing the committee in charge of purchasing
the cows decided to add a few bred heifers to the mix and also added a drawing for a dairy bull. Ruth Grinstead won the heifer.
Ruth took the option of auctioning off the heifer and went home $105 richer. The bull was to be awarded to a school district
and was to be used in that district for three years to improve the herds in the neighborhood. The first bull was won by the Forest
Grove school district.

In October of 1928 the chamber arranged for special premiums to be given away, the first being 10 ducks. Others included
through the years were sheep, geese and turkeys. In November 1928 they drew tickets for two of the geese and then threw the
other four into the audience, which started quite a scramble.

The Depression hurt the cheese factory just as it did other businesses and they could not pay their creditors, so in May 1932
the plant became a locally owned property. In July 1932 the plant was sold to J. E. Mayfield of Cassville, MO and reopened.
The Dairy Day committee started giving out trade tickets as prizes, worth $10, to be redeemed at local merchants.

By 1933 it was reported that 93% of the farms in Polk County had dairy cows thanks to the Dairy Day promotion.
The plant was sold once again in October of 1933 to Ernest Porter of Mountain Grove, MO.

In March of 1935 the N. W. Maas & Sons Company purchased the Bolivar Cheese Company plant. They soon after sold it
to O. E. Moore & Sons of Aurora, MO who renamed it the Bolivar Milk Products Company.

In February 1936, a leap year, the Dairy Day committee offered a free wedding with merchant prizes to any woman
under 80 that would get married that day, February 29. The wedding was to take place on the steps of the public library.
Unfortunately, there were no takers. (At one point, in Dairy Day history, the tickets were also drawn on the front steps of
the library.) By 1937 the Dairy Day was to be held on the last Saturday of every month instead of the last day of the month.

In 1940 the Dairy Day had been running for 12 years and the Chamber of Commerce decided to change the name and
hold a Trade Day instead. Trade Day also had a ticket that was torn in half with the merchant keeping the tickets
until the last Wednesday of the month. The tickets were then gathered from the merchants and numbers drawn.
The winner walked away with trade cards to be used at local stores. During WWII war bonds were given as prizes.

In 1942 the Moore & Sons Company built a new cheese plant just south of the old one. During the war years the whey,
a by-product of the cheese making process, was given back to the farmers to feed to their hogs and chickens. If the whey
was not wanted it was pumped into the Town Branch to be carried downstream. I believe this is what gave rise to the
moniker "Cheese Hollow" for that area of town. In 1944 the cheese plant invested in whey-drying machinery so the whey
could be sold. The city had also installed a sewer system in 1935; both of these improvements did wonders for the
Town Branch and for the quality of life in the neighborhood.

In January of 1946 the committee changed the name back once again to Dairy Day with the prize of a heifer being awarded.
The Bolivar Milk Products Company was sold to Standard Brands, Shefford Division, New York. In October of 1950
they gave away four registered ewes. Dairy Day seemed to just fade from view sometime in the late 1950s.

In 1958 the cheese operation shut down and the building became a collection point for milk. The milk was sent from
here to an Aurora plant for processing. It briefly reopened cheese production in May 1959.

March of 1966 signaled the end of the Bolivar plant when Standard gave the Pet Milk Company a lease-option arrangement
and Pet Milk had the milk sent to their Humansville plant.

I am sure that there are many longtime locals that could add more information and memories to this collection
of history from the Bolivar Herald-Free Press about "Cheese Hollow." I would like to invite them to stop by the Polk
County Genealogical Society Research Facility on the southeast corner of the square and share pictures, tickets or memories
with the staff. Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. and Sat. 10-2. www.pcgsmo.com

Submission to the Great Missouri Treasure Hunt; it was one of the Top Five Finalists in Civil War History

State v Isaac M. Willingham, John Beck and John Crocket

Susan Sparks

Bolivar, MO

Institutions Used: Polk County Circuit Court

As a volunteer at the Polk County Genealogical Society Research Facility in Bolivar, Mo., I am
always on the lookout for interesting stories to share with our membership. The Missouri Secretary
of State’s Office is processing the circuit court records for Polk County dating 1835-1900 for
microfilming and patron usage. I never realized how much social, economic and personal history
could be found in these records until this project was undertaken, and now I am hooked! I have
learned a lot about the hidden history of Polk County and Missouri since this project started.

I recently ran across a file created in 1866 with Civil War ties. The file was State v Isaac M.
Willingham, John Beck and John Crocket, for first-degree murder of Robert Barnes. (1) I was
surprised to find a tintype photo of Isaac M. Willingham attached to the file. (2) The photo made
the journey of finding out who Isaac was much more personal. This was a change of venue from
Cedar County. According to the file, the three men charged shot Robert Barnes in the chest nine
times and left him for dead. Isaac denied having anything to do with Robert’s death. His lawyer
sent a request to Arkansas, (3) for depositions from soldiers that knew his whereabouts on June 19,
1863, the day of the murder. A current photo of Isaac was included in the request, most likely to help
the soldier’s being deposed. Depositions recorded from fellow Confederate soldiers in Capt. John F.
Winfrey’s company, of Col. John B. Clark Jr., 9th Missouri Volunteer Regiment. Andrew J. Foster,
William Wynn, Mathew C. Moore, William F. Hamilton and John Steward gave deposition "that Isaac
had not been out of the state of Arkansas until after September 15, 1863; they stated that Isaac’s twin
brother, William, took sick in February and Isaac, who was also sick, stayed with him until William
died at Little Rock in March 1863.

They were then moved to Ft. Pleasant until April of that same year. On June 27 the company was
ordered to move down the Mississippi River. Isaac, still being sick, was left at Ft. Pleasant. In
August 1863, Isaac rejoined his unit at Capt Winfrey’s residence on Frog Bayou. Isaac apparently
recovered from his illness and participated in the Second Battle of Carthage where he and Samuel
Winter were taken prisoner by Union forces on October 18, 1863. He spent the rest of the war in
Rock Island (Illinois) Prison. He was exchanged on March 20, 1865, and paroled in Jackson,
Mississippi, on May 19, 1865. (4) Within a year, in May 1866, he was back in St. Clair County
facing a charge of murder. In September 1866, the charges were dropped, maybe due to the
depositions of his fellow soldiers. (5) This was a wonderful journey and I found myself consulting
the photograph at each new discovery and asking myself "are those the eyes of a killer or an
innocent man?"

Footnotes

(1) Polk County Genealogical Society, Bolivar, Mo, Circuit Court Records, B10, F52
In researching this file I found that the three original defendants were from Speedwell Township,
St. Clair County, MO and that the victim was from Cedar Township, Cedar County, MO. The two
townships, even though in two different counties, are next to each other. James and John
Crockett were the brothers of Isaac’s wife, Nancy Jeanette. Robert Barnes, though too old to
fight in the war, sent three of his sons, Lindsey, William and Robert P., to fight for the Union in
60th Reg’t EMM Co E. http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/soldiers/

It appears that Robert had a run-in with John Crockett’s brother, James P., in August of 1861
when a band of 30 confederate men stole two of Robert’s horses and some bridles. Robert filed
a report with the Provost Marshal and James was arrested in April of 1862. Robert stated "he
was 54 years old and had known the said James P. Crockett for 14 years and that they were
neighbors."

(2) see attached photo #1 We have over 200 cubic feet of Circuit Court files and this is the only
photo that has been found.

(3) Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas, 6 August, 1866

(4) National Archives Catalog, Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought
in Confederate Organizations, compiled 1903 - 1927, documenting the period 1861 – 1865,
www.footnote.com/image/#88579201

(5) Polk County Genealogical Society, Bolivar, Mo, Circuit Court Docket Book, Book F, pg 297,
Isaac appears to have moved his family to Erath County, Texas by 1885. Isaac was brought up
on charges of assault with intent to murder in Erath County, Texas but was never captured. A List
of Fugitives From Justice – 1878, 1886, 1891 & 1900, Willingham, I. M., assault to murder, 1885,
age 40 to 45, 5 feet 8 or 9, sandy complexion, farmer and stone mason
www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txerath/fug/fugitives.htm Nancy Jeanette (Crockett) Willingham,
born 10 Feb 1837, died 9 Aug 1912, West End Cemetery, Stephenville, Erath County, Texas.
www.findagrave.com In the 1910 Erath County census, she is listed as a widow. No location for
Isaac has been found.

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Copyright 2003-2011, Polk County Genealogical Society, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Last revised: November 18, 2011

Located on the southeast corner of the courthouse square in Bolivar, MO

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