I just plucked this off a Miller Co., MO site---- http://members.tripod.com/devere8/id20.htm I'm wondering if one of our "kuzzins" provided the information. (Utah & Texas) ?? I'm surprised that I hadn't found this before now. --Sherry Red/Baumhoer School Peggy Smith Hake Today the Red School, also known as Baumhoer school, is sitting alone and empty in Osage township about 3 miles southeast of St. Elizabeth. The building is in better condition than some of the other country schools I have visited and it seems to be silently beckoning a friendly invitation to come inside and visit its old school room where the laughter of children once ruled supreme. About 145 years ago, in February 1858, a man named Joseph McEvoy patented 160 acres of land where Red/Baumhoer school is located in northeast Miller County. I don�t believe Mr. McEvoy ever lived in our county but remained in the eastern United States. For many years the land laid unused and forgotten, but finally, in 1873, back taxes had accumulated unpaid on this piece of land so in October 1873, Killis J. Martin, M.C. sheriff, seized it and sold it to a man named Rudolphus Goodrich. Later in 1873, Rudolphus and his wife, Esther, sold the land to a group of people living in Laclede Co., MO. There was other land transferred in the transaction of 1,260 acres to the Laclede County people. They paid $1500 for the large acreage (a good deal in those days). The group from Laclede County included Isaac & Jane Hoskinson, J. H. & Jennie McDonald, Hugh & Desdomonia McCoin, and Erwin & Aristeen Ellis. They kept the land for only one month and then sold it to The Southwest Iron Company for a whopping profit...$50,000 was the selling price! The Southwest Iron Company did not fare too well over the next few years and must have had many financial problems. On March 3, 1885, those lands were sold to Hamilton and Annie Daughaday of St. Louis. Once again this piece of land was bought for $1500 through a sheriff�s sale held on the steps of the old St. Louis courthouse. Twelve years later, in 1897, the Daughadays sold 400 acres to the Osage Tie Company of Miller County. They held on to their successful investment for many years and during this time era, George L. Ramsey, president of the Osage Tie Company, granted 1 ? acres lying on his property in Section 3, Twp. 40, Range 12, to the Miller County School District. When the deed was made and granted in April, 1898, there was a sentence in the description which makes me wonder if the old Red/Baumhoer school may have once been called �Polly Hill Branch School�. The names of some of the families who have lived in the area surrounding the old Red/Baumhoer school over the past 150 years have included BOYD, HAMPTON, Goschurger, McLean, Grosvenor, Davis, Casey, Boeckman, Macklin, WEST, Crismon, Baumhoer, Ramsey, Brown, Lawson, Lueckenhoff, Kemna, Hasenbien, Bax, Singer, Holtmeyer, and others......The land where the old school sits is now owned by the Doerhoff family. I do not know the last year school was held in the Red/Baumhoer schoolhouse. By 1957, the St. Elizabeth school system had consolidated all the country schools in their district and the doors of these old one-room country school were closed forever. I have a list of country schools in existence during the school year 1930-31 with the names of the teachers and district clerks. The teacher at Red/Baumhoer (School #37) in 1930 was Gladys Belman of St. Elizabeth and the district clerk was Henry W. Steinman of Meta (mail route). POLLY HILL BRANCH SCHOOL................ I found out that the Polly Hill Branch school was located in Osage township near Weimmer and the Big Tavern creeks and was located across the road in the same general area as the Red/Baumhoer school (which I have written about in the preceding section). It received its name from �Polly Hill Branch� which laid about a �half-quarter up the road� from Red/Baumhoer. The branch circles through the area of both old schools and it empties into the Big Tavern creek to the west. I think Polly Hill Branch school, built first, and Red/Baumhoer school served the same community. Polly Hill school was probably built of logs while Red/Baumhoer was constructed of sawed lumber. I am always intrigued by unusual names and I think �Polly Hill branch� is rather different. I wondered how it came to be called by that name and for years I had the answer hidden deep in my files and didn�t realize it! John C. and Mary/Polly (KIZZIRE) HILL came to Osage County, MO by covered wagon circa 1849 with her brother, John Kizzire, and his family. John C. Hill was born about 1809 in North Carolina and Polly (Kizzire) Hill was a native of Kentucky, born circa 1813. Both were in Jackson County, Indiana when they married in April 1831. They were parents of 10 children, all born in Indiana except for the two youngest who were born after they moved to Osage County, MO. While in central Missouri, their children married into the families of BURRELL, WEST, HAMPTON, Hawkins, BRASIER, HAWK, and HAMILTON. By 1860, John C. Hill had died and Polly, his widow, was living in northeastern Miller County near the families of Grosvenor, Shelton, Kinworthy, Hawk, Brasier, Weimmer, Clark, Hampton, Duncan, and West. She was living on land near the site where Baumhoer school was later built. Since she was a widow and farmed the land, the creek became known as �Polly Hill branch� which indicated its location. Nearby was Weimmer creek, named for the pioneer family of Jacob and Jane Weimmer, and Shelton creek, named for the Tennessee immigrants, George and Celia (Burks) Shelton. Polly Hill and most of her family left their Osage township farms and moved to Iowa in 1875, settling in Decatur County. She is buried in Bethel Cemetery, Eden Township, Decatur Co., Iowa. Some of her descendants from Texas and Utah contacted me a few years ago and have sent me some data on their Hill and Kizzire ancestors. Sherry Balow balowmsg@earthlink.net