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, 9 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 19, Pg. 1, Col 3--MRS. J. C. TAYLOR DEAD--Mrs. J. C. Taylor died at her home near Armstrong Thursday, September second. She had been in ill health for some time but her condition was not serious until a short time before her death. Mrs. Taylor was fifty years of age. She is survived by her husband, Judge J. C. Taylor, and one son, Robert. Funeral services were held Saturday afternoon at two o'clock conducted by Rev. John M. Turnage, assisted by Rev. U. S. Randall. Interment was made in Old Chapel Cemetery.--Fayette Advertiser. Thursday, 9 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 19, Pg. 1, Col 3--JUNIOR KEITER INJURED--Junior Keiter, son of Rev. and Mrs. E. Y. Keiter, of 901 South Williams street, is recovering from injuries received while he was playing football Thursday evening. The South William's street junior eleven was practicing near the home of C. C. Hon of 730 South Williams street when Junior was tripped and fell backwards striking his head on the curb. The result was a slight concussion of the brain.--Moberly Home Press. Thursday, 9 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 19, Pg. 1, Col 5--HIGBEE BOYS DOING WELL--J. S. Warford who returned Saturday from a visit with his son, Roger, at Ridge, Montana, tells us that he saw Charles and "Babe" Solberg, each of whom has a big ranch near that town, and who are prospering, their friends in old Higbee will be glad to learn. Mr. Warford says they have several hundred head of cattle, all as fat as butter, and about 200 acres of as fine alfalfa as one would care to see, as well as good wheat. The latter, however, owing to the fact that they are fifty miles or more from a railroad, is not as profitable as it would be otherwise, but good roads and trucks will soon take care of the difference. Mr. Warford said that when he spoke of their being so far from a railroad, "Babe" came right back at him with the remark "I wish we were another 50 miles away." Mr. Warford's son, Roger, has a ranch of 320 acres and is going to file on that much more, Mr. Warford stated. He says that game is quite plentiful, as are, also, rattlesnakes, and states that while he was there Roger killed one of each with a monkeywrench. He says that all the boys sent so many messages back to old friends that he can't think of even half of them. One message to the NEWS from Chas. Solberg was for us to keep whooping 'er up for Jim Reed--the biggest man in the country, and who he will gladly support for the presidency if the Democrats only have brains enough to nominate him. According to Mr. Solberg, Senator Reed has the confidence and respect of the entire West, because they know he is honest, is never afraid to express himself and one always known where to find him. In Mr. Solberg's opinion, Reed could come nearer carrying the Northwest than any man the Democrats could name, and that Republicans in that section would vote for him by the thousands. Tens of thousands of Republicans the country over are praying for a chance to do that very thing. Thursday, 9 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 19, Pg. 1, Col 5--RAGSDALE FAMILY REUNION--The fourteenth reunion of the Ragsdale family was held at the new country home of Mr. and Mrs. Willard Owens north of town last Sunday, and despite the mud and rain a good crowd was on hand. It was the first time in the fourteen years that the pleasure of the occasion had been marred by rain. While the attendance was necessarily smaller than on any previous occasion, the day was enjoyed by all fully as much as any of the previous reunions, and the dinner served was also up to par, if not a little beyond. Those present: Mrs. Thos. Owens and sons, Joel and Clarence, Ft. Collins, Col; Mr. and Mrs. O. W. Hume, Mr. and Mrs. Clint Barry, Kansas City; Mrs. Henry Powell and son, Frank, Mr. and Mrs. Bert Hughes and children and Mr. and Mrs. Peter Gruber and children, and Chas Owens of Prairie Home. Thursday, 9 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 19, Pg. 1, Col 5--NEW KROGER MANAGER--C. H. Jones, manager of the Kroger store here for a year or more, resigned the latter part of last week and has been succeeded by E. A. Steffins of Marshall. Mr. Jones is thinking of going to California, we learn. Thursday, 9 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 19, Pg. 1, Col 6--CLODS RATTLED ON COFFIN; HE CAME FORTH--The reunion of Thomas Barnes of Kirksville and Oliver J. Morrison and J. W. Murphy of Burlington, Iowa, last week, their first meeting in 59 years, recalls an item that was given to the Appeal last summer by the minister who baptized Barnes, who once was pronounced dead, placed in a coffin, lowered into the grave and shocked back to consciousness as the clods rattled down upon the coffin. In 1867 the three friends, then small boys, playmates and schoolmates, were living in the little town of Luray, Mo. In the summer of that year there came a visitation of the Asiatic cholera to the town with a caravan of immigrants moving overland to Kansas. The afflicted families lay out on the ground in the rude camp, near the Barnes home. In a short time all the Barnes family were down with the cholera. Daniel Barnes, the father, his wife and one son, George, died of the disease and were buried in the Combs cemetery. Thomas Barnes hung on, clung to life but finally, as it appeared, died. Dr. Payne, the village physician, pronounced him dead. Preparations were made to bury him. He was placed in a rude coffin and taken to the cemetery on a hand cart. Not many persons volunteered in those days for such purposes. The two mourners and cart pushers were Oliver J. Morrison and Riley Draper. Thos. Rives and Wm. Todd had dug a shallow grave, not over two feet deep, during the night. It was now 4 o'clock of an October morning and a drizzling rain was falling. The coffin and its occupant were lowered in this shallow grave. At this juncture Mr. Draper insisted upon conducting a religious service and went across the road to a nearby house to obtain a Bible. Quite providentially this short delay saved Barnes' life. Tired of waiting for the return of Draper, Morrison had thrown a few shovels full of dirt on the foot of the coffin. The noise served to arouse Barnes from his trance. He managed to push the lid off of the coffin and sit upright. His first words were, "What are you going to do with me, Oliver?" Then he fell to screaming with terror, being a boy of only 13 years, but good Mr. Draper took him in his arms, comforting him and quieted his fears and Todd braced him up with a drink of whisky. This all transpired 59 years ago at the Combs burying ground at Luray. Tom Barnes recovered his health, grew to manhood, has lived a long and industrious life, and at 72 has a bright mind and normal body. His home for many years past has been at Kirksville, Mo. In his drive over here last Sunday he stopped at the old Barnes homestead near Luray and at the Combs cemetery, and was able, with the assistance of Byron Combs to locate the exact spot where Rives and Todd dug his grave in 1867. "I knew when Dr. Payne felt my pulse and remarked to Draper and Morrison that I was dead--and concluding from this that I must be dead and on my way to some other state of existence, I lapsed for the time into unconsciousness. Since then, after thinking about the matter for many years and from every possible angle, I have reached the conclusion that father and mother and brother George may also have been buried alive and in a comatose state. Of course there is no language adequate to tell the horror of such a fate. But I blame no one. Two or three cholera victims were dying every day in the little town. It was a time of panic, confusion and terror in Luray, and the big job was to get the dead buried at all. While grave diggers could be secured, they ran away when this was done. Only two men in the town had the courage to bury the dead. These two men were Riley Draper, 40 years of age, and Oliver Morrison, 16 years of age. So far as I know, Riley Draper and Oliver Morrison buried all who died, including Benjamin Morrison and wife, who were stricken with the disease while serving as volunteer nurses in the immigrant camp. "It was the clods rattling on my coffin, and the horror that suddenly dashed into my mind of being buried alive that enabled me to cry out in time to save myself," said Barnes. "it is very probably that I am the only man who has heard the clods falling on his own coffin and then got out alive. I sometimes wonder when I wake up in the middle of the night how many persons have heard the clods fall on their own coffins and who did not live to tell it. The fate is a fearful one, even just to think about."--Paris Appeal. Thursday, 9 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 19, Pg. 4, Col 3--SAWS THUMB OFF--Louis Thompson, residing near Burton, while working with a power saw Monday, got his left hand caught and pretty badly mangled, the thumb being injured to such an extent that it had to be amputated. The fingers it was thought, could be saved. Thursday, 9 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 19, Pg. 4, Col 4--Will Morlee returned the first of the week from Columbia where he had been to place his son, Gatha, in the University. He also had the pleasure of attending the corner-stone laying of the new Odd Fellow hall, which is to be, it is said, the first of its kind in the United States. Thursday, 9 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 19, Pg. 4, Col 4--Mrs. A. J. Snedeker is the guest of Higbee friends. She informs us that Mr. Snedeker's father, who lives at Laddonia, was stricken with paralysis five weeks ago and has since been in a very serious condition. Mr. Snedeker has many acquaintances here where he has frequently visited, and all join the NEWS in the hope for his recovery. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.