The following are selected articles from a Newspaper titled, "The Higbee News" which was issued out of the town of Higbee, in Randolph County, Missouri from the years 1888 through 1953. The editors were W. H. Welch and his son H. Scott Welch. This paper covered the Higbee area and also a great deal of the northeastern part of Howard county. The copyright notice at the end of this transcript is there for the sole purpose of keeping this work free to the public, and to ensure that it is not harvested by a fee-based corporate genealogy site, or published in any format for profit. If you decide to use the information from this transcription, PLEASE LIST ME AS THE SOURCE, rather than the paper. My transcription is another generation removed from the microfilm, and would thus be a third generation copy of the original paper. For proper documentation, a researcher should obtain a photocopy of the microfilm for their own permanent records, and use my transcript as a guide or index. The microfilm is available for interlibrary loan through the State Historical Society of Missouri, and a copy is also on file at the Moberly Public Library, generously donated by the Higbee Historical Society. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, 13 Jan 1927, Vol 40, No 36, Pg 2, Col 3--OUR HUNTSVILLE LETTER, By. W. T. Dameron--(Edited by compiler)--Mr. and Mrs. Hayden L. Rutherford, old and highly respected couple of Huntsville, passed their 65th wedding anniversary last Saturday, January 8, 1927. They spent the day quietly at home, not wishing to have a formal celebration of the event. But a few relatives and friends informally called during the day to congratulate them and extend a few words of cheer and good wishes. They were quite feeble now. "Uncle Hade and Aunt Viccie," as all their friends affectionately call them, have traveled arm in arm the highway of connubial bliss far beyond the average married couple. Like many a couple who have traveled life's pathway, they have had their "ups and downs," gone through prosperity and adversity, but their love for each other has clung to them and their married life has been a blissful one. Uncle Hade is 86 and Aunt Viccie is 82 years of age. Uncle Hade was the only son of William T. and Jane Dameron Rutherford. His mother died when he was about five years old. His father Uncle Bill Rutherford, as he was called, was a pioneer of Randolph county, being a native of Jessamine county, Kentucky. For three-quarters of a century he was one of the most public spirited citizens of this county. He was a successful farmer, tobacconist in pre-Civil War days, and for many years thereafter. he was one of the largest tobacco buyers and shippers in north central Missouri, and shipped many a hogshead of leaf tobacco to a firm in England, hauling them by wagon to Glasgow, Mo., and shipping down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers by boat to New Orleans, and reloaded for shipment to England. Soon after the close of the Civil War he engaged in the operation of mines, and gave employment to hundreds of men for many years. He did more to upbuild Huntsville than any one man who ever lived here. His son, Hayden, was associated with him in most of his enterprises. He died at his home here on May 14, 1903, at the age of 90 years. Aunt Viccie Rutherford was a daughter of Thomas and Mildred McDavitt Humphrey, also pioneers of this county, settling in Silver Creek township, where they resided until 1863, when they moved to Huntsville, where Mr. Humphrey died October 28, 1871, at the age of 71. After his death, his wife "Aunt Millie," as she was affectionately called, lived with Uncle Hade and Aunt Viccie until she died on Dec. 19, 1899, at the age of nearly 90 years. She was a native of Culpeper county, Virginia, and was born Sept. 4, 1809, and her husband was born in Caswell county, North Carolina, July 4, 1800. For many years Uncle Hade has been president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank. he was mayor of this city for eight years under the old charter and six years under the new, making twelve years in all. He was a director of the public school for twelve years. Uncle Hade and Aunt Viccie have been devoted members of the Christian church for about 70 years. He was an elder in the church for about 25 years. He has been a prominent and bright Mason for 65 years. They have four children living--Mrs. Jean Saye, Mrs. W. T. Rutherford, Jr., Mrs. Laura Payne, all of Huntsville, and Mrs. Lillie Isaakson of Sioux City, Iowa, and four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Uncle Hade and Aunt Viccie are popular with everyone and especially great favorites with the young people. The marriage of Mr. Hayden L. Rutherford and Miss Victoria Humphreys was the most brilliant wedding that had ever occurred in the county in that day and time. There were about 350 invited guests present and the bride and groom were arrayed in the most rich and fashionable fabrics of that day, some of which they still have. The Rev. E. J. Lampton of the Christian church pronounced the beautiful and impressive words that bound them man and wife for life. A rich and sumptuous wedding dinner was served on a long and tastefully decorated table, dimly but beautifully lighted by the fashionable candles of that time. Of the large numbers of guests present the following named are the only ones now living known to the family: Mrs. Anna Wisdom, San Fernando, Cal., aged 86; Mrs. Rebecca Thompson, Caney, Kan., 82; Mrs. Addie Watts, Rolla, Mo., 80; Mrs. Anna Denny, Armstrong, Mo., 85; Mrs. Mary Stark, Clifton Hill., Mo., 87; Mrs. Lizzie Finnell, Clifton Hill, 89; Porter Mayo, Clifton Hill, 89; John A. Mayo, Clifton Hill, 85, and W. T. Dameron. I was an eight-year-old child then and went to the wedding with my parents, who were close neighbors, as I was a favorite with "Aunt Millie," she having named me when I was born, and the thing that impressed me most was the rich viands on that elegant table, a big turkey at one end and a roasted pig at the other end with a big red apple in its mouth and a white ribbon tied on its curled tail. Thursday, 13 Jan 1927, Vol 40, No 36, Pg 2, Col 4&5--OUR HUNTSVILLE LETTER, By. W. T. Dameron--(Edited by compiler)--Met our old bachelor friend, Scott Turner in town one day last week, and we passed a few good jokes. His stomach was not working just right, and he came down from his farm to consult a doctor. Before Volstead days Scott could whet his stomach occasionally with "Old Crow" and keep 'er grinding. But the best Old Crow is soaring so high now and so hard to catch, "without being caught," that he is about to rebel against the powers that be. He can't stand this "bootleg appetizer" that is being peddled about, and his physical condition is becoming grave. In pre-Volstead days he and his brother, Warren, kept on hand a small supply of Kentucky's best, and they never had any stomach ache trouble. He thinks that if he could get to even smell a quart of good Old Crow it would cure his stomache trouble without taking a swallow of it, and put some old-time pep in him. Well, Volstead or no Volstead, Warren and Scott are two of the best and most "notorious" old bachelors in the county. They have plenty of this world's goods which they made by hard licks, and if the government did shatter their "personal liberty" they can stand the "shock" if Uncle Sam can, Scott thinks. Scott and Warren still claim that they are still in the heyday of their lives to marry, and that they can give proof of it with the right kind of a lady to match them. A few years ago they erected a nice, large, two-story dwelling on their farm and furnished it nicely thinking it might catch them a nice "bird" each. but they didn't have any luck, and Scott said he sold the best pair of mules that he ever owned and bought a $600 piano as a further inducement for the sweet maids and gay widows to think over the matter. He said Warren had the first proposition to marry a widow with nine children, ranging in ages from one to fifteen years, including two pairs of twins. Then Scott had an offer to marry a widow with eight children, ages from one to seventeen years, with one pair of twins. So he and Warren held a very profound conference and decided that seventeen children in one house was too much "music" to start with and raise another "crop" and they declared further negotiations with widows with children closed. Then he said, they bought a new five-passenger Ford, but they had no luck with that. Now, he says, agents are trying their level best to sell them an up-to-date radio set, but said he and Warren had not bee able to figure out how one of those things would be any better for them to win a worthwhile wife each than a $600 piano and a $1000 Ford. On account of the alarming number of divorces being granted these days, Scott says Warren and he are seriously thinking of withdrawing from the matrimonial field. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright notice: All transcriptions in this email are copyrighted by their creator. They may not be reproduced on another site or on any printed or recorded media, CD, etc. without specific written permission from Kathy Bowlin. Although public information is not in and of itself copyrightable, the format in which it is presented, transcriptions, notes & comments, etc. is. It is however, quite permissible to print or save the files to a personal computer for personal use only. Permission is granted to public libraries, and genealogical and historical societies to print and bind for the use of their patrons. Kathy Bowlin Additions, corrections, comments welcome.