|
|
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.
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?
.
Churchill Museum in Fulton - highly recommended!
Winston Churchill was a fascinating character, brilliant politician, dogged soldier, prolific writer, and a “wise guy.” He offered several insightful quotes about history:
- Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
- The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.
- History … can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future
- History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.
Learn more about Churchill and history at America’s National Churchill Museum in nearby Fulton on the campus of Westminster College. Established in 1969, it memorializes the “Iron Curtain” speech Churchill gave at the school on March 5, 1946. The Museum includes the majestic 17th-century church of St. Mary the Virgin, created by British architect Sir Christopher Wren. Badly damaged by London bombings in the Second World War, the building was relocated to Fulton. The largest continuous section of the Berlin Wall in North America, now a sculpture by Edwina Sandys (Churchill's granddaughter), is on the grounds.
A visit is well worth the time – allow for a couple hours to explore.
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!
|
|
