Cooper

Photos from the Road Collection, 2018-2019 (C4389)

Sean Rost serves as the Oral Historian for the State Historical Society of Missouri and the Missouri Humanities Council. He started this position in January 2018. The images in this collection were taken during Rost's travels throughout the state on oral history projects and on personal time.

H.H. Pigott Scrapbooks, no date (C2476)
0.28 cubic feet (2 volumes)

 Finding Aid

Scrapbooks of newspaper clippings from the 1880s: poems, jokes, stories, and truisms. Vol. 1 is a ledger from a Boonville general store, of which about 25 pages are free of clippings. Vol. 2 seems to be a lawyer's notes on land transferals in the 1860s, mostly without clippings.

Amber Haley Powell Collection, 1853-1896, n.d. (C1845)
0.04 cubic feet (2 folders)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains letters, receipts, and army passes from the Civil War, and miscellaneous material of the Gregory, Haley, and Wood families of Sullivan County, Missouri, including letters from California; an obituary of Elijah M. Gregory; pictures and history of Boonville, Missouri; a description of Locust Street in Boonville about 1840; and undated genealogies of the Gregory, Haley, and Wood families.

Prairie Lick Presbyterian Church (Prairie Lick, Mo.) Records, 1885-1901 (C3028)
1 roll of microfilm

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Records of the church, containing meeting minutes and lists of new members.

Prairie Point Baptist Church (Cooper County, Mo.) Records, 1842-1949 (C3281)
0.04 cubic feet (2 folders)

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Original church record book of the Prairie Point Baptist Church, dating from 1842 to 1897. Includes the articles of faith, rules of decorum, covenant, monthly business meetings, subscription pledges, and current members. Renamed three times--Pleasant Grove, Ebenezer, and Blackwater Baptist Church. Miscellaneous items from 1913 to 1949.

Ramsay Place Names File, 1928-1945 (C2366)
6 cubic feet (12 boxes), 4 rolls of microfilm

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Card file of origins of Missouri place names, compiled by students of Robert L. Ramsay, University of Missouri professor of English. Cards are in alphabetical order by place name.

Rankin Family Papers, 1834-1868 (C0393)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

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Letters and papers of a Boonville, MO, family concerned with the McFarland estate, Rankin estate, and the firm of William and Smith Rankin.

Peter Goodman Rea Papers, 1838-1899 (C0152)
0.12 cubic feet (6 folders)

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Letters to a pioneer Presbyterian minister, containing early church history, and autobiography giving account of a trip on horseback to Texas in 1849-1850. Originals are in the possession of the donor.

Hazel Reed Papers, 1913-1975 (SP0055)
1 cubic foot (39 folders, 19 photographs)

 Finding Aid

The Hazel Reed Papers contain correspondence, genealogical research, photographs, and newspaper clippings created by Hazel Irene Carmack Reed. The collection includes material concerning various families from Missouri including Allee, Bartlett, Birdsong, Bybee, Carmack, Decker, Hill, Howard, Reed, Smith, and Yarbrough. There is a significant focus on the Allee family history and Pulaski County, Missouri.

Gordon Renfrow Photograph Collection, 1938 (P0412)
3 photographs

Copy photos of successful bass fishermen (Lake of the Ozarks) and goose hunters (Boonville, MO), 1938.

Herbert Francis Rice Papers, 1944-1963 (C2903)
0.1 cubic feet (5 folders)

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Personal correspondence with friends and business associates, largely concerning the Civil War in Missouri; manuscripts of articles by Rice on various Missouri history subjects; newspaper clippings from the KANSAS CITY TIMES; Rice's obituary; and miscellaneous handbills and programs.

"The Rise of Higher Education in the Missouri Valley, 1818-1900," Earl Leon Heck, 1965 (C2914)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

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Histories of academics, colleges, and universities in the Missouri Valley.

Maximilian E. Schmidt Photographs, 1895-1930 (P0001)
950 photographs

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A Boonville photographer, Maximilian Schmidt's photographs consist of glass plate negatives and prints from ca. 1895-1932. Schmidt captured his family, and Boonville inhabitants and their environs including early Missouri River floods, steamboats and ferries, views of Boonville streets and the riverfront area, Chouteau Springs, and the Kemper Family School buildings and students.

"A Short Sketch of My Experiences During the First Stages of the Civil War," R.C. Carter, no date (C2911)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

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The collection contains a memoir describing experiences of a Confederate lieutenant. He includes the battles of the Hemp Bales, Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, and Boonville in his reminiscences.

George W. Smith Autobiography, no date (C3085)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

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Smith, born in Albemarle County, VA, settled in Cooper County, MO, ca. 1837.

Nancy K. Smith Postcard Collection, 1900-1970 (P0029)
268 postcards

Postcards, all views of hospitals and clinics and some sanitariums across Missouri.

Southwest Missouri Library Service, Inc., Records, 1957-1982 (SP0084)
1.5 cubic feet (37 folders, 2 photographs)

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The Southwest Missouri Library Service, Inc., Records contain the by-laws, meeting minutes, correspondence, financial records, and membership papers of Southwest Missouri Library Service, Inc., headquartered in Bolivar, Missouri.

Sproull Family Papers, 1822-1839, 1869 (CA6594)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

The collection contains letters of the Sproull and related Fergus and Riddlesbarger families of Cooper, Howard, Saline, and St. Clair Counties, Missouri. Includes a probate record for Francis Sproull.

J.L. Stephens et al. Subpoena, 1877 (C1573)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

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The subpoena commands Andrew B. Moore, Thomas Argenbright, Felix Crockett, and J.L. Stephens to appear before T.M. Rice to testify for the plaintiff in the case of Thomas W. Norris against Charles F. Moore, Cooper County Circuit Court, Boonville, MO.

Margaret Nelson Stephens Papers, 1823-1927 (C0311)
1.05 cubic feet (22 folders)

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The diaries of Margaret Nelson Stephens, the wife of Missouri Governor Lon V. Stephens, 1897-1901, document her daily life from 1875 to 1927. Genealogy notes describe Margaret's ancestry and other documents cover a wide range of topics pertaining to relatives through her sister Nadine's marriage to Charles E. Leonard. Most deal with Charles E. Leonard himself, and his brothers Leverett and Abiel. Two Missouri Militia muster rolls, 1862-1863, and a bill of sale for slaves, 1849, are most notable.

Pauline H. Stratton Papers, 1841-1870 (C0842)
0.15 cubic feet (7 folders)

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The papers contain a typescript of a diary of Pauline Stratton’s life in Virginia and Missouri. She writes of spinning, weaving, soap making, rearing her children, enslaved people, the Civil War, and business difficulties after her husband’s death. Also included is a photostat letter written by her to her husband in 1841 before their marriage.

William Franklin Switzler Day Book, 1895-1898 (C1270)
0.07 cubic feet (1 volume)

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Day book of newspaper and printing business in Boonville, MO. Also Switzler's personal expenditures.

Thespian Hall (Boonville, Mo.) Blueprints, 1976 (C3683)
4 oversize items

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Blueprints done of Thespian Hall for the Historic American Buildings Survey by John A. Huffman, restoration architect. First floor, second floor and balcony plans and longitudinal sections are included.

Carol Jo Thompson, History of Overton, Missouri Project, 1977, 1989 (CA6370)
0.1 cubic feet

Project and paper on history of housing in Overton, Missouri, done by a University of Missouri student for a class. Also includes photographs and negatives of Overton, Missouri.

Lizzie Thompson Letter, 1864 (C2208)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

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To Beverly [Thompson], [Arrow Rock, MO], from Boonville, [MO], Nov. 1, 1864. Horror of war in Missouri, "a bone of contention." Fire destroyed a block on Main Street in Boonville. General Price camped in Boonville, stripped town and country of cattle, forage, and staple goods. Best citizens have fled, friends joining both armies. Family information.

Thomas M. Todd Papers, 1938-1950 (C3790)
0.8 cubic feet (46 folders)

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Papers of Thomas McCutcheon Todd, a World War II soldier from Nevada, Missouri, comprised primarily of letters written to Todd’s family. Many of the letters were written while Todd was in military training and during his enlistment in the U.S. Army; they detail issues of work, family, war, and death during the 1940s.

William H. Trigg Collection, 1776, 1835-1899 (C0281)
1.2 cubic feet (5 volumes)

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Books from the collection of William H. Trigg, Boonville, MO. Accounts of the Banking House of William H. Trigg and Co. and a scrapbook containing miscellaneous material, mostly news clippings from the 1860s and some paper money from the 1700s and 1800s.

E.W. Tucker Papers, 1920-1980 (C4000)
1.2 cubic feet (65 folders)

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The papers of Colonel Eugene W. Tucker, staff member and later executive officer of Kemper Military School, include lecture material, articles, speeches, correspondence, school catalogs, financial reports, and miscellaneous items.

Turley Family Historical Research Association Records, 1740-2005 (R1068)
6 cubic feet (182 folders, 66 photographs)

 Finding Aid

The Turley Family Historical Research Association Records contain historical and genealogical materials related to the Turley family collected by the Turley Family Historical Research Association. The records include copies of family papers, genealogical research, photographs, correspondence, and financial records of the Association.

Tuttle Family Collection, 1906-1973, 2019-2020 (CA6576)
1.7 cubic feet, 4.2 MB of digital files

 Finding Aid

The collection contains material concerning a prominent farming family in Cooper County, Missouri. Includes World War II correspondence of Joseph Tuttle; correspondence concerning the family’s ham business; farm ledgers of Morton Tuttle; a timeline and history of Woodland Farms compiled by William Ellis Tuttle Jr.; and miscellaneous material.

U.S. Census, Cooper County, Missouri, 1850, 1850 (C1281)
0.23 cubic feet (2 volumes)

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Vol. 1 (Schedule 1) enumeration of free inhabitants giving age, sex, and place of birth.
Vol. 2 (Schedule 2-6) slave inhabitants, including age and sex; deaths in previous year, including age, place of birth, cause of death; agricultural production; industries; and social statistics, including schools, churches, libraries, value of real and personal property.

U.S. Work Projects Administration, Historical Records Survey of Missouri, 1935-1942 (C3551)
302 cubic feet (24,282 folders); also available on 817 rolls of microfilm

 Finding Aid

Correspondence, records, and working files. Originally designed to survey and inventory all county government records, the survey finally included inventories of church records, manuscript collections, vital statistics, American imprints, and federal archives. Incorporates records of the Federal Writers Project for Missouri.

Charles Van Ravenswaay Collection, 1820-1971 (C2668)
1.2 cubic feet

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Material relating to the Trigg family of Boonville, MO; the papers of Harvey Bunce, Cooper County civic leader and vice-president of the Tebo and Neosho Railroad; and Charles Van Ravenswaay's correspondence and research notes on various families, institutions, historic sites and events in Cooper and Howard Counties, and miscellaneous material related primarily to Boonville, MO.

Charles Van Ravenswaay Papers, 1841-1990 (C3873)
21.8 cubic feet, 1 audio cassette

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Correspondence, research notes, photographs, and literary manuscripts of historian and author Charles Van Ravenswaay, former director of the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis; Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA; and the Henry F. duPont Winterthur Museum and Gardens, Wilmington, DE.

Charles van Ravenswaay Photograph Collection, 1814-1975 (P0014)
0.81 cubic feet

 Digitized Materials

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Collected photographs and other visual materials, primarily documenting Boonville, Missouri in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Mildred Durr Wilcox Papers, 1859-2010 (CA6640)
1.4 cubic feet

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The papers of Mildred Durr Wilcox include correspondence, photographs, business records, family papers, genealogy, legal documents, deeds, and miscellaneous material.

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Williams Photograph Collection, 1871-1945 (P0535)
45 photographs

Copy photo of Presbyterian Church, ca. 1871, Boonville. Photos of Phelps, Franklin, Carter, Greene, and Crawford counties, focusing particularly on caves and other natural features.

Roy D. Williams Papers, 1853-1972 (C3769)
2.0 cubic feet (122 folders)

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Papers of Judge Roy D. Williams of Boonville, Missouri, containing speeches (primarily on local and regional history), historical notes, clippings, correspondence, photographs, and miscellany.

Winterbower-Wooldridge Family Papers, 1836-1926 (C3046)
2 rolls of microfilm

 Finding Aid

Correspondence, legal documents, financial records, and miscellaneous items of the Winterbowers and Wooldridges, prominent Cooper County, Missouri, families.