Road Trip to St. Joseph – Part Two

Wednesday morning, we started our day at the Cracker Barrel around the corner from our motel. We don’t have one close to where we live, so it is always a treat to be able to enjoy a meal there!

We arrived at the Pony Express Museum about 9:30. The mural (above) is on the wall of a building facing the parking lot. The museum is located in the original Pikes Peak stables used in 1860 after the military supply firm headed by William Russell, William Waddell, and Alexander Majors was picked by California Senator William Gwin to head up a new mail service. (Photo below: Display of the three men at their office.)

Below is the contract between the Citizens of St. Joseph and the Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express.

This is the location where Johnny Fry, thought to be the first Pony Express rider, left on April 3, 1860 to pick up the mail he would carry 90 miles westward – the first leg of the ride.

Photos above top to bottom left to right: Blacksmith display showing
how the horses were shoed; Johnny Fry ready to leave the stable;
“Moment in Time” plaque above stable door; Johnny Fry on horse

Below are pictures of what was carried inside the covered wagons as people moved westward. They would hang a few articles of clothing from the spokes inside the cover.

Inside the wagons were bags of sugar and flour, mold to make candles, a chair, tools, a large pot, a jug, rope, a washboard, a grater, (this model has a) bottle of whiskey, other food-stuffs, bucket, bedrolls/blankets, and more items that were necessary for such a long journey.

Contrary to what many think, everyone walked beside the oxen pulling the wagons instead of riding inside.

A Relay Station (pictured above) was a small building used by Riders to stop for just a few minutes to get a drink and change horses. These were located about 10 to 15 miles apart, and usually two men stayed there and took care of the station. The photos above show two bunks at one end of the station and a fireplace at the other end separated by a table.

The mochila pictured above was used by one of the Pony Express riders and donated to the museum by a descendant. This is what was used to carry the mail. It had three pockets that locked but the keys were at the other end of the ride. There was also a place to put military dispatches that were picked up along the way. Only 20 pounds of mail could be carried by a rider due to weight limitations of the horse.

This well inside the museum was used to water the horses during the Pony Express era in St. Joseph. It was capped in 1881, and during an archeological dig in the 1990s, it was uncovered. There are several layers of bricks built on the top in order to make the wooden platform, but all the rest is original. The bottom picture shows all of the items that were found in the well when it was excavated.

The sculpture pictured above is “The Long Trail Home” by Vic Payne. “Old Blue” – a Texas longhorn leads the chuck wagon crew home from a cattle drive.

A sixty foot diorama fills one entire wall of the museum, and the attention to detail is extraordinary. The scenes depicted show the types of terrain and weather that Pony Express riders had to endure on their rides – boat rides across rivers, prairie lands, Salt Lake Desert, mountains, prairie fires, thunderstorms, tornadoes, encounters with the Palute Tribe, and snowstorms.

A Hall of Riders has stories about 22 Pony Express riders – some famous and some not. There is a display about the telegraph and currency from the 1860s and Confederacy.

The Pony Express Museum has a chidren’s area and programs specifically designed for school children which includes a One Room School house built recently.

In conclusion, the story of the Pony Express is important in the history of our country, and the museum is designed for both young and old alike. Please visit if you are in the St. Joseph area. The admission is less than $5 per person and is well worth it. For more information visit the Pony Express Museum website.

(All photos taken by Wendy Littrell. Information on several exhibits – Pony Express Pocket Tour Guide, Pony Express Museum, St. Joseph, Missouri.)

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Those Places Thursday – My New Adventure

My husband, grandson, and I began a new adventure recently – selling our home and moving 600+ miles away to another state. The knowledge of the move was known for quite awhile but the logistics and details were filled with stressful moments. How long would our home need to be on the market before it sold? How much would it cost to make sure the home was ready to be sold (cosmetic and other repairs)? Would there be enough “profit” for us after the sale? Move ourselves? Hire a moving company? What to take? What to pitch? What to give away? When to start packing? Where to put the boxes that were packed? And for the love of everything – what is this going to cost? (If you have ever moved, you know what I’m saying!)

U-Haul with some boxes in the over cab

Luckily for us, the selling of the house was almost the easiest part – we closed even before we had to move. Then it became a matter of how quickly can we get everything packed. Once we started packing boxes, it became pretty clear that there wasn’t any place to put them and be able to pack more! So we decided to rent a U-Haul truck in order to start getting things out of the house. 

 

My husband very meticulously figured out the best way to maximize the space inside the truck in order to pack everything in to it. There were some (in retrospect) funny moments such as when my husband and son-in-law was moving our reclining sofa and loveseat from the house into the truck. Our daughter mentioned that hers came apart to make it easier to move but since the company who delivered our furniture years ago brought each piece in as one piece and not apart, no one bothered to check. (It was only after they about killed themselves getting it out of our house, into the truck, off loaded from the truck at our new home and just before figuring out how to get it from an outbuilding on the property to the basement of the house, did my husband realize that yep – they did come apart!)

Time seemed to be our enemy on the day my husband had wanted to get on the road. Without any place to sit or sleep, we ended up staying in a local hotel overnight before braving the last bits of cramming more items into the truck or the vehicle I was going to be driving and being sure to leave enough room for our traveling items (luggage and a couple bags of “important paperwork”).

Husband and I with our daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons

With good-byes, hugs, and tears shed, we finally hit the road and left our home north of Dallas in the afternoon of June 11th. We stopped for the night at a nice hotel in a small Oklahoma town and enjoyed a delicious meal at the diner next door. The next morning, we began the last leg of the journey to our new home.

That picture and the one below is what it’s all about! Big sky, rows and rows of corn, soybeans, and wheat! Gravel roads and country lanes. Barns and tractors. People who wave as they drive by. Neighbors who bring corn, corn, and even more corn! Furry critters and feathered friends to watch and marvel over. Small towns and big hearts.

 

Our life is a little more slower paced these days – at least until our grandsons starts high school soon. My deadlines are 7 a.m., 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. (breakfast, lunch and dinner – oh wait, here it’s called breakfast, dinner and supper!). There’s always laundry to be done, weeds to be pulled, flowers to be watered, and new places to discover. It’s not quite retirement but it’s pretty dog gone close!

Stay tuned for more stories of our life in Missouri – and what this means for my genealogy research (hint: I’m really excited!!)!

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Those Places Thursday: My Connection to George Washington – Sort of

No, not that type of connection! As far as I know, I am not related to George Washington through his mother or his father. This is similar to the “Six Degrees of Separation” game (and no, I haven’t found any connection to Kevin Bacon either!). I did however, discover that one of my ancestors had something in common with our country’s first president. It was a particular place.

As I was researching information on my  4th great-grandmother, Elizabeth Lutz, I came across an interesting piece of information. The daughter of Adam Lutz and Maria Rucht was baptized on September 24, 1762 in the First Reformed Church of Philadelphia by Rev. Frederick Rothenbuehler. The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 35, No. 1, published in 1987 lists this on page 11. It mentions that her father was “of the Palatinate (came on the ship Lydia from Rotterdam, 13  Oct. 1749…)” and lists her sponsors.

Wanting to know more about this church, I used Google to see what I could find. The First Reformed Church of Philadelphia was also called the German Reformed Church of Philadelphia and was founded in 1727 by German immigrants. The minister, Rev. George Michael Weiss, arrived with 400 other people from the Palatinate region of Germany. Today, the church is called Old First Reformed UCC (United Church of Christ).  For more on the church’s history, you can go to History of Old First Reformed UCC, Old First Reformed Church, and The German Reformed Church. I was excited to find that my 4th great-grandmother was baptized in a church that is now part of the denomination of which I’m a member!

I also learned that in 1800 memorial services for George Washington was held at that church! Well, not in the same building because the congregation had moved down the road a bit but the congregation still had the same history as it did when Elizabeth Lutz was baptized 38 years before!

My 4th great-grandmother married Adam Goul and went on to have eight children. My direct ancestor was their first son, John W. Goul, through his daughter, Melissa Goul, through her daughter, Katie J. Blazer, through her son, Glen R. Johnson, through his daughter, Mary Johnson (my mom!). Elizabeth died in Champaign county, Ohio on November 13, 1845 and is buried in Treacles Creek Cemetery in that county.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons; photograph in public domain)

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Those Places Thursday – Connecticut

The John Hollister House in Glastonbury, Connecticut was built about 1649 according to “The HIstorical Society of Glastonbury” (Architecture page). It is located at 14 Tryon Street. This was the ancestral home for the Hollister family for many generations.  Lieutenant John Hollister was born in 1612 in England and came to America around 1642 (1). Lt. Hollister married Joanna Treat, daughter of Richard and Joanna Treat, and eight children were born to this union: Elizabeth, John Jr, Thomas, Joseph, Lazarus, Mary, Sarah, and Stephen. Hollister Sr. died after April 3. 1665 and left a will naming his widow and living children and the children of daughter, Elizabeth. His burial location is unknown.

John and Joanna Hollister are my 8th great-grandparents through their son, John Jr. He married Sarah Goodrich and through their son Thomas who married Dorothy Hills. Their daughter, Hannah Hollister, married William House and through their son, my 4th great-grandfather, Lazarus House. He married Rebecca Risley and their son, Allen House, married Editha Bigelow. Their son, Florus Allen House, married Julia Ann Lewis, and their son, James Emory House, was the father of my paternal grandmother, Ella Maria House, with his second wife, Frances Virginia Ogan.

My House and Hollister ancestors all lived in Hartford, Connecticut since the mid-1600’s. They were founders of Wethersfield and many are buried in the Ancient Burying Ground in Hartford county. I would like to visit the area to walk the same places they did; view the historical John Hollister House; and pay my respects to all my many times great-grandparents in the cemeteries there.

 

(1). The Hollister Family of America: Lieut. John Hollister, of Wethersfield, Conn., and His Descendants; Case, Lafayette Wallace; 1886; Fergus Printing Company; p 19; Digitzed 19 Sep 2006; American Libraries; Internet Archive.

 

(Photo credt: Connecticut Historical Society)

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Those Places Thursday – Bethlehem Grange Hall

 

The Bethlehem Grange Hall in Coshocton County, Ohio about 1968 during the Amore – Baker Reunion. This is the building where we – descendents of Henry and Annie Amore – would all gather. There would be plenty of food – it was always pot luck – and conversation. I’m sure at some point there was the “business” end of it – electing the officers for the next year to put together the next reunion, keep track of the funds, and plan any “entertainment.” The two men in the photo above are my Uncle Paul and my dad (wearing the hat and camera). Behind my dad it appears to be a child who is in the middle of a game of horseshoes!

The July 28, 1968 issue of the Coshocton Tribune reported:  “The Amore-Baker reunion was held Saturday, July 20, at Bethlehem Grange Hall with 70 in attendance. The oldest member of the family present was Rev. I. Amore, Coshocton, who is 91 and the youngest was five-month-old Lucinda Lee, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Yeater, Nashville, Ohio.”

 

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