Dent

J. Gilbert Lay Papers, 1960s-1980s (R1327)
1 cubic foot (6 volumes)

 Finding Aid

The J. Gilbert Lay Papers include six scrapbooks containing obituaries and death notices for residents of Cook Station, Crawford County, Missouri, and surrounding communities. Also included are newspaper clippings of Lay’s poetry and writings, advertisements of his revivals, local history items, and local news. The collection also contains the Lay family genealogy with numerous pages devoted to Lay’s mother, Lena Lay.

Lecoma Mill Company Records, 1882 (R0129)
(1 roll of microfilm)

 Finding Aid

The Lecoma Mill Company Records contain a microfilm copy of individual accounts and records of cash received by the Lecoma Mill Company at Lecoma at Dent County, Missouri.

Lexington, Missouri Business Records, 1831-1869 (C4311)
2.15 cubic feet (12 folders, 1 oversize volume)

 Finding Aid

The records of banks and other businesses in Lexington, Missouri, contain account books, day books, letter books, statement books, protest of payment books, copy books, minute books, and bills of lading.

Little Piney Baptist Association Records, 1837-1935 (R0283)
0.5 cubic foot (90 folders)

 Finding Aid

The Little Piney Association of Regular Predestinarian Baptists Records contain minutes of annual meetings of the Little Piney Association, which was composed of churches in Camden, Cole, Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Miller, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski, Shannon, and Texas counties in Missouri. At various times, the organization was titled a “United” and “Primitive” Baptist association.

William Henry Lynch Papers, 1859-1905 (R0202)
(3 rolls of microfilm)

 Finding Aid

The William Henry Lynch Papers contain microfilm copies of the diaries and personal papers of an educator in southern Missouri. Lynch was a native of Houston, Texas County, Missouri. He served in the 32nd Missouri Infantry during the Civil War, and was principal of schools in Steelville, St. James, Salem, West Plains, and Mountain Grove, Missouri, following the war.

Clair V. Mann Cemetery Records, 1942-1949 (C2667)
0.1 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

Tombstone inscriptions compiled by Clair V. Mann from cemeteries in Crawford, Dent, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski, and Texas Counties in Missouri.

Mark Twain National Forest Local History Collection, 1930s-1980s (R0471)
(4 rolls of mircofilm)

 Finding Aid

This collection was selected from unofficial files on miscellaneous historical topics, including local histories, the CCC, the YCC, the "Irish Wilderness," and the Eleven Point River. There are transcriptions of interviews with older members of the community and Forest Service retirees.

Mark Twain National Forest Photograph Collection, circa 1900-1985 (R0485)
0.05 cubic foot (2 folders, 719 negatives)

 Finding Aid

These are photographs copied from holdings of the Mark Twain National Forest in Rolla, Missouri. Topics include National Forest facilities and projects; forest and wood industries; water mills; lakes, rivers, and springs; mines; dams; and the Civilian Conservation Corps and Youth Conservation Corps.

Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, Salem Ranger District Photograph Collection, circa 1937-1941 (R0921)
(4 folders)

 Finding Aid

These are photographic prints of Civilian Conservation Corps and U.S. Forest Service projects in what was then the Clark National Forest. Included are views from Centerville in Reynolds County, Loggers Lake in Shannon County, and Little Scotia Pond in Dent County, Missouri.

Martin Family Papers, 1857-1944 (R1472)
0.02 cubic foot (2 folders)

 Finding Aid

The Martin Family Papers contain an autobiographical account of Paris Clark Martin's life. The autobiographical stories include events leading up to and after the Civil War, information about southeastern Missouri, and Tom How's (Howe's) Mill. The collection also includes the memoirs of Paris Clark Martin's son, William Lawrence Martin, which discusses his father.

Martin Family Photographs, 1896-1959 (P0050)
32 photographs

Photographs of the Martin family of Salem, MO, and several relatives from extended family

Meramec Regional Planning Commission Historic Sites Survey Collection, 1980-1989 (R0454)
5.75 cubic feet (86 folders, 865 photographs)

 Finding Aid

The Meramec Regional Planning Commission Historic Sites Survey Records contains the historic site surveys, with accompanying photographs, negatives, and research materials for Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, and Washington Counties. Included in the reports are houses, churches, schools, bridges, businesses, and other structures.

Minneapolis, Little Rock and Gulf Railway Company Map Collection, 1902 (R0849)
(1 oversize map)

 Finding Aid

This is a "Map of Part of Dent county, Mo. showing route adopted by the Minneapolis, Little Rock and Gulf Railway Co., 27 August 1902." Lewis S. Reed was president of the company; Wellington B. Johnson was chief engineer.

Missouri Baptist Associations Records, 1912-1980 (R0394)
17 folders microfilmed

 Finding Aid

This collection consists largely of printed minutes of annual meetings of United or Missionary
Baptist associations in southern Missouri. The minutes include the records of annual sessions,
committee reports, and statistical information on the associations and their constituent churches.
Also included are a few miscellaneous Baptist publications.

Missouri Extension Homemakers Association, Inc., Sacred Stones and Stained Glass Windows Project Records, 1977-1980 (C3723)
7.1 cubic feet (334 folders)

 Finding Aid

Statewide documentation of local churches by county. Includes cultural arts reports, church histories, floor plans, architectural details, clippings, slides, photographs, and miscellany.

Missouri Federation of Women's Clubs, Sixth District Records, 1932-1943 (R1175)
(1 volume)

 Finding Aid

These are the secretary's minutes of the annual meetings of the Sixth District, Missouri Federation of Women's Clubs. The record book includes minutes of the twenty-ninth through fortieth annual meetings, 1932-1943.

Missouri Forestry Records, 1929-1994 (R1341)
2.25 cubic feet (53 folders)

The records of Missouri Forestry contain materials from the administration of directors George O. White, Osal B. Capps, and Jerry Presley. This includes materials related to Smokey Bear, fire safety, and the promotion of science, practice, and standards of forestry.

Missouri Place Names Study Papers, 1927-1928 (C3459)
0.6 cubic feet (40 folders)

 Finding Aid

Missouri, Inland and Southern Railway Company Map Collection, 1910 (R0850)
0.25 cubic feet (2 maps)

 Finding Aid

These are route and profile maps for the Missouri, Inland and Southern Railway Company in Dent County, Missouri. The company was a short-lived organization formed to build an electric railway southward from Rolla, Missouri.

Morrow and Skaggs Families Papers, 1843-1995 (R1520)
3 cubic feet (109 folders, 1,139 photographs, 75 negatives, 5 tin types)

 Finding Aid

The Morrow and Skaggs Families Papers contain materials related to the Morrow and Skaggs families predominantly of Miller County, Missouri. The bulk of the materials is an expansion of Joe Morrow’s genealogical compilation, Ancestors and Descendents [sic] of George & Ethel (Skaggs) Morrow, privately printed, June 1980. The materials include correspondence, family trees, photographs, certificates, and personal documents.

Lynn Morrow Papers, 1804-2015 (R1000)
24 cubic feet (1051 folders, 5 oversize folders, 11,170 photographs, 852 negatives)

 Finding Aid

The Lynn Morrow papers contain correspondence and research papers, with an additional significant collection of late twentieth-century promotional and advertising items. The papers reflect major areas of Morrow’s research on the southwest Missouri region; Iron, Shannon, and Washington counties; Theodore Pease Russell and his writings; and the writings of Silas C. Turnbo. The collection also includes a large selection of promotional publications and ephemera associated with late 20th century tourism in Missouri and Arkansas.

Penninger and Bolin Families Collection, 1823-2023 (R1517)
12.5 cubic feet (358 folders, 1 volume, 13 compact discs, 168 photographs, 6 negatives)

 Finding Aid

The Penninger and Bolin Families Collection contains genealogical research conducted and collected by Linda Marie Penninger Henry on the Penninger and Bolin families, of whose descendants many settled in Christian, Dent, Greene, Howell, Jackson, Phelps, Shannon, and Stone counties in Missouri.

Phelps County, Missouri Booklet, 1925 (R0678)
(1 folder)

 Finding Aid

This is "A Message to the Homeseeker," advertising the towns and principal businesses of Newburg, Rolla, and Saint James in Phelps County, and Salem in Dent County, Missouri. The booklet contains brief descriptions of businesses and illustrations of commercial establishments and public buildings.

L. N. Phillips Papers, 1871 (R0863)
(1 folder)

 Finding Aid

This is a holograph letter dated March 31, 1871, from L. N. Phillips in Dubuque, Iowa, to D. Lansing in New York, New York. In the letter, Phillips tries to interest Lansing in the St. James and Little Rock Railroad Company and lead mining opportunities in Missouri and Iowa. Included is a hand-drawn map of existing and proposed rail lines.

Pleasant Grove United Baptist Church, Iron County, Missouri Records, 1856-1972 (R0400)
3 volumes microfilmed

 Finding Aid

These are record books of the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church near Viburnum in Iron County,
Missouri. The records include minutes of meetings and membership rolls beginning with the organization
of the church on 12 April 1856 and continuing through its dissolution on 15 October 1972.

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

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

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.

James S. Rice Notebook, 1856-1875 (C2373)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Notebook of a Baptist minister in Salem, Dent County, MO. Accounts, 1859-1876; proceedings of board of education, 1867-1870; marriage records, 1860-1875; eighteen rules of mathematics; fifteen "rules of decorum of Baptists." Rice organized Lost Creek Church, ten miles north of Salem.

William George Roberts Papers, 1908-1962 (R1386)
0.25 cubic foot (11 folders, 23 photographs)

 Finding Aid

The William George Roberts Papers contain early correspondence between Sarah, Carrol, Emma, and Andrew Roberts. The collection also includes correspondence and papers involving William G. Roberts during his service in World War II. Also included are photographs from his military service and personal papers involving William G. Roberts' life before and after the war.

Nelson F. Rogers Papers, 1894-1996 (R1318)
1.75 cubic foot (79 folders, 9 volumes, 231 photographs)

 Finding Aid

The Nelson F. Rogers Papers contain the professional papers of Nelson F. Rogers, a forester with the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research Center. He conducted research at the Sinkin Experimental Forest and Central States Forest Experiment Station, studying reforestation of strip-mined areas and experiments involving the cultivation of shortleaf pine. The collection also includes personal papers and Rogers family genealogical material.

Richard Huston Ryall Papers, 1863-1864 (R0499)
1 folder

 Finding Aid

These are Civil War letters of Richard Ryall, 6th Missouri Cavalry, from New Iberia, Louisiana.
The letters, written to his brother, Isaac, in Maries County, Missouri, concern war news and
family matters including the death of a brother in Union service. With the letters are typescripts, a
photograph of Ryall in uniform, and a biographical sketch provided by the donor.

Salem Academy Collection, 1930 (R0500)
0.1 cubic foot (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

This is a booklet of letters by alumni of the Salem Academy at Salem in Dent County, Missouri. Compiled by John Massey, the booklet includes biographical news of former students, and reminiscences of the years 1874-1884, when the school was under the direction of Professor William H. Lynch.

Salem Association of Baptists Minutes, 1827-1934 (C1374)
0.1 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

Printed minutes of meetings of the Association for 1827, 1829-1839, 1841-1860, 1866-1877, 1880, 1881, 1884-1887, 1890, 1892-1894, 1896, 1899, and 1928-1934.

Salem Association of Baptists Minutes, 1878-1926 (C1375)
0.1 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

Printed minutes of meetings of the Association for 1878, 1882, 1883, 1889, 1891, 1895, 1897, 1898, 1900-1915, 1917-1922, 1924, and 1926.

Salem Public School Collection, 1921 (R0571)
(1 folder)

 Finding Aid

This is a printed program for a "Springtime Pageant" performed by the First and Second Grades of the Salem Public School, Salem, Missouri, at the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, on April 29, 1921.

Norbert Shacklette Collection, 1891-2023 (R1511)
3 cubic feet (53 folders)

 Finding Aid

The Norbert Shacklette Collection contains railroad financial records and correspondence, transportation publications and related labor union communications from South-Central Missouri, and Missouri Democratic Party event programs and memorabilia.

John James Sitton Papers, 1860-1913 (R1286)
(1 roll)

 Finding Aid

The John James Sitton Papers consists of a three volume journal, scrapbook, miscellaneous papers, and photographs, 1860-1913 of a Missouri confederate soldier and postwar resident of Oregon Coounty, Missouri. The journal, 1860-1882, documents service in the Missouri State Guard and other confederate units in Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi during the Civil War. It also includes his veterans activities and other aspects of Sitton's life.

Sligo Furnace Company Map Collection, 1908 (R1270)
(1 oversize map)

 Finding Aid

This is a blueprint plat of the Sligo Furnace Company plant at Sligo in Dent County, Missouri, showing the furnace, charcoal kilns, chemical plant, and track of the Sligo and Eastern Railroad. The plat also shows residences, shops, and other structures in the village along with associated streets and water mains.

Sligo Furnace Company Records, 1898-1934 (R1269)
(4 rolls of microfilm)

 Finding Aid

These are the time book and miscellaneous business papers of the Sligo Furnace Company in Dent County, Missouri. The time book includes the names, occupations, and wages of workers from April 1898 through March 1900. The miscellaneous papers include an inventory of the property in 1904, and papers concerning operation of the Sligo Mercantile company stores at Sligo and East End, and the operation and abandonment of the Sligo and Eastern Railroad Company.

South-West Railroad Records, circa 1914-1916 (R0516)
0.01 cubic foot (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The South-West Railroad Records are notes, maps, and draft of a pamphlet concerning construction of a railroad from Saint Louis, Missouri, to Lewisville in Lafayette County, Arkansas.

Southern and Central Missouri Collection, 1856-2015 (R1442)
5 cubic feet (236 folders, 2 VHS, 7 CDs, 1 45 record, 1 cassette)

 Finding Aid

The Southern and Central Missouri Collection is an artificial collection combining acquisitions related to individuals, places, organizations, and events. The collection mostly covers the Missouri counties of Crawford, Dent, Phelps, Pulaski, Shannon, Oregon, Barry, Miller, Taney, Jasper, and Laclede, among others.

Southern and Central Missouri Map Collection, 1874-2011, bulk 1930-2005 (R1466)
6 cubic feet (30 oversize folders, 145 maps)

 Finding Aid

The Southern and Central Missouri Map Collection contains highway, railroad, geological, topographical, mining, tourist, city, county, and state maps. The maps focus on the southern and central counties in Missouri including Crawford, Dent, Franklin, Gasconade, Howell, Iron, Jefferson, Laclede, Madison, Maries, Miller, Morgan, Phelps, Pulaski, Reynolds, Saint Francois, Sainte Genevieve, Texas, Washington, and Wright counties.

St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company Records, 1859-1980 (R0362)
(178 cubic feet)

 Finding Aid

These are corporate minutes and financial account books, and other records of the St. Louis-San Francisco ("Frisco") Railway Company (1916-1980) and predecessor, subsidiary, and constituent companies, most notably the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway (1876-1896) and the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad (1896-1916). The "Frisco" operated in Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. It became part of the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980. Also of note are four architectural drawing boxes that include the blueprints for structures along the St. Louis-San Francisco Line. A detailed inventory of the drawings is included in each of the four boxes.

J. Andrew Stewart Papers, 1975-1994 (R1471)
0.25 cubic foot (5 folders, 1 photograph, 9 slides)

 Finding Aid

The J. Andrew Stewart Papers contain the personal papers of J. Andrew 'Andy' Stewart dealing with his involvement with the Shannondale Community Center and Shannondale United Church of Christ. These materials include photographs, correspondence, church bulletins, pamphlets, devotionals and Bible studies.

"A Trip Down The River," Mr. and Mrs. Robert Johnson, no date (C2184)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

History of Montauk Springs and the Current River by the former caretakers of the Montauk State Park.

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.

Union Independent Academy Records, 1856-1859 (R0127)
(1 roll of microfilm)

 Finding Aid

The Union Independent Academy Records contains a microfilm copy of meeting minutes of the directors, a list of stockholders, and the constitution of the Union Independent Academy at Laketon (now Lake Spring) in Dent County, Missouri.

United States Bureau of Mines, Rolla Research Center Records, 1915-1996 (R1321)
17 cubic feet (372 folders, 4 maps, 3,238 photographs, 68 negatives, 936 slides, 3 volumes)

 Finding Aid

The United States Bureau of Mines, Rolla Research Center Records contain the records of the Bureau of Mines office and research facility established in Rolla, Missouri in 1915. The records include correspondence, operational reports, project reports, photographs, newspaper articles, program materials, and maps.

Margaret Ray Vickery Papers, 1887-1974 (R0366)
105 folders microfilmed

 Finding Aid

These are papers of Margaret Ray Vickery, a newspaperwoman and author of Salem, Dent
County, Missouri. The papers consist of clippings, correspondence, photographs, and miscellaneous
historical research material, most of which pertain to her award-winning weekly column, "Sugar and
Spice," published by the Salem News, 1952-1971. The collection also includes papers of the Vickery
and Ray families.

Margaret Vickery Photograph Collection, 1896-1986 (P0610)
12 photographs

Copy photographs of Dent county homes, businesses, and buildings.

John J. Watts Papers, 1874-1912 (R0038)
2 cubic feet (38 volumes, 6 rolls of microfilm)

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The John J. Watts Papers are notebooks of genealogical records kept by a circuit-riding Baptist minister in the northern Ozarks. The records cover Phelps, Pulaski, Texas, and parts of Maries, and Dent counties in south-central Missouri.