|
|
The Montgomery County Historical Society (MCHS) is a 501(c)(3) corporation. The Society owns two buildings in Montgomery City that house an extensive genealogical library and a museum of artifacts and antiques. All research requests replies, building staffing/maintenance and website management are donated by volunteers.
If you like what you find here, please become a member and/or make a donation to help us continue our mission. We also welcome contributions of your own research, be it family history or documented historical articles that would interest other visitors.
Pioneer Days, a 96-page illustrated history of the County, has been well-received by both those new to our history as well as long-time residents.
Images of Missouri Supreme Court Judges ???
At the Supreme Court of Missouri, there are portraits of numerous past judges, but missing
are Judge Lovelace and Judge McGirk who both resided in Montgomery County.
Judge Walter L. Lovelace was born in Virginia in 1831 and moved to Montgomery County as a child. In 1853, he opened a school in Danville. He was admitted to the bar and elected as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives. Governor Thomas Fletcher appointed him to the Court and he served until his death on August 5, 1866.
We are also searching for an image of the first President/Chief Justice of the Court, Judge Mathias McGirk (1783-1841). It is said that George Caleb Bingham painted his portrait in 1835 that is either lost or destroyed. We have reached out to multiple descendants (through his siblings) but no one has located an image or the portrait. Various resources found here.
If a reader has information to share with MCHS and the Supreme Court of Missouri please reply to webmaster@mchsmo.org.
County Poor Farm
Click here for full article. Poor farms were rural institutions that cared for indigent people in the 19th and 20th centuries. Funded by county governments, the farms provided housing, clothing, medical care, and sustenance for the poor. Residents who entered a county farm surrendered personal money/property and their rights as citizens, including forfeiting the right to vote. For more general information, see Over the Hill to the Poor Farm: Rural History Almost Forgotten.
In Montgomery County, the County Poor Farm was located west of New Florence. See map in article. The 1900 census reported 16 inmates, including 11 females, 5 males, 3 blacks, and 13 white persons. Newspaper articles on “Receipts to Pauper’s Fund” illustrate while it was not a profitable operation, neither was it a total fiscal drain. By 1920, the land was shown to be private property. Residents were likely relocated to a Montgomery City house that was likely less costly for the County. to maintain.
Many thanks to a volunteer/member for providing the research for this article. What can you share with website visitors?
.
World War II - Letters Home
This fall, Reedy Press releases Letters Home from WWII: St. Louis, a book by historian Christopher Alan Gordon that examines World War II through the lens of letters written by servicemen and women from the St. Louis region to their families and friends back home, while also exploring the war's impact on the city and surrounding area. Gordon's book features letters compiled from local archives that tell inspiring, enduring, and sometimes heartbreaking stories.
One set of letters features Montgomery County soldier John J. Cunningham writing to his sister, Mildred. Cunningham was stationed in Italy and wrote dutifully to Mildred (Milly), who had left Montgomery City to take a job at a department store in St. Louis. Their letters reveal the deeply personal side of a world at war and remind us of how crucial the mail was in maintaining the morale of those serving thousands of miles away, keeping them in touch with those they loved.
Letters Home from WWII: St. Louis will be available in bookstores and online retailers in late October. Click here.
AI Helps with Full Text Search
 Check out the new Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered feature in FamilySearch called “Full Text Search.” With handwriting recognition and OCR software, images of text (cursive handwriting) are converted to a machine-readable format. The AI is smarter and faster than the human eye in reading and interpreting records.
There may be little to find in Missouri, but this author “hit the jackpot” with South Carolina court records (and other) around 1800. “New” documents with the family name were identified and yielded great clues. Since many original Montgomery County residents came by way of the east coast, this tool may be useful to visitors researching their English-Irish-Scottish ancestors.
Family Search is free, but does require an account set-up.
A Great Find - Free MO History Videos
- Crossroads of a Continent: Missouri Railroads, 1851-1921
- Along the Boone's Lick Road: Key Link to the West
- The 1849 Cholera Outbreak in Jefferson City
- Blood Feud on Bull Creek: The True and Complete Story of the Meadows-Bilyeu Feud
- The Missouri Home Guard: Protecting the Home Front during the Great War
- The History of Fort Leonard Wood
- Steamboat Disasters on the Lower Missouri
- Many, many, more!
|
|
