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, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg. 5, Col 3--Joe Spurling, who came home last week for a short visit, left Thursday night for Des Moines, Iowa, to work for his old employers as linotype operator for a few days. Joe, who learned the general workings of these machines at a linotype school in Chicago, is now putting in all the time he can in perfecting himself in accuracy and speed in operating one of them, with the end in view of landing a real job. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg. 5, Col 3--Will Thomas, who returned from Wyoming about a month ago, for a visit with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Dave Thomas, left Tuesday for Chicago with the intention of locating there if he can find employment and should he like city life. If not, he will likely return to the West. As Will has spent several years in the West, it is our guess that Chicago will not be able to keep him any great length of time. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg. 5, Col 3--Mrs. Joe Hackward, Mrs. Geo. Lay and Mrs. Jas. Paulfrey attended the funeral of Joseph Burton in Moberly Tuesday. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Burton of near Moberly, and is survived by his parents, his wife and one son, three sisters and three brothers. Deceased was 37 years of age and for several years was manager of the Moberly district of the Prudential Insurance company. His death occurred in the Baptist Sanitarium, St. Louis, where he had gone a short time before for treatment. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg. 7, Col 1,2&3--THIS WEEK IN MISSOURI HISTORY. Compiled by The State Historical Society of Missouri. Floyd Shoemaker, Secretary, Columbia, Mo.--(edited by compiler)--This week marks the sixty-second anniversary of the Centralia Massacre and the Battle of Centralia, events of the Civil War in Missouri which are almost without parallel. The date is September 27, 1864. "Bill" Anderson, John Thrailkill and George Todd were then at the head of a guerrilla force of 350 men. After sacking the town of Allen, near where Moberly now stands, they moved eastward to the farm of Col. M. G. Singleton, which was within a few miles of Centralia. They made their camp here, and on the morning of September 27 about eighty men, led by "Bill" Anderson, entered the town. Centralia at that time was only a small village and contained one hundred inhabitants. The bushwhackers robbed the two stores and the dozen homes of food and supplies and waited impatiently for the arrival of the state from Columbia. When it arrived the passengers were immediately robbed. Some of the passengers, as Hon. James S. Rollins, congressman, and Sheriff James H. Waugh of Boone county, were noted Federal sympathizers and would have been killed or held for ransom if they had been recognized. The attention of the guerrillas was soon diverted by the approach of the North Missouri (Wabash) passenger train from St. Louis. The trainmen saw the bushwhackers and decided to put on full steam and pass the station. This was prevented by the men at the station who hastily placed ties across the track. Others opened fire on the train, and the fireman was slightly wounded. There were about 150 people on the train, twenty-three of whom were Federal soldiers, either discharged or on furlough. They were unarmed, and no shots were fired from the train. The soldiers and passengers were robbed of money and other valuables, and the baggage car safe yielded Anderson $3,000. A much larger sum in the baggage car was not discovered, for just at this time a cry came from Frank James and others: "Good God! here's thousands of greenbacks! Whoopee! Run here, quick!" A valise had been opened which, it is said, contained $10,000. Many of the Federal soldiers were stripped of their uniforms to their underwear, and though jostled and kicked about by their captors and insulted and struck in the face with pistols they uttered no word of remonstrance. The passengers were ordered to leave the train and it was set fire and the fireman was made to open the throttle. The blazing train ran about two or three miles west of town and there burned until it was completely destroyed. At last Anderson gave the command to have the twenty-three soldiers taken to the south side of the railroad and formed in line. One man, a German, who wore a military blouse and cap, protested in vain in his native tongue that he was not a soldier, but he was lined up with the others. When asked what he was going to do with them Anderson answered sardonically, "Parole the, of course." Preparations were continued and Arch Clements was placed in charge of the firing squad. Anderson's order was: "Arch, when I give the word, pour hell into them." Anderson then asked if there were any sergeants in the line. There were three or four men of that rank, but at first none spoke. When the question was repeated Sergeant Thomas M. Goodman, of colonel Flad's First Regiment, Missouri Engineers, stepped forward. It was expected that the officers would be shot, and the others released, but the opposite was true. Much to his surprise, Goodman was taken out of the line, and the order given to protect him, probably for purposes of exchange. Then Clements began to carry out his orders. The guerrilla opened fire with revolvers at about twenty paces, and half the Union men fell at the first volley. Others staggered about and were shot again and again till they fell lifeless to the ground. One man, Sergeant Peters, of the Missouri Engineers, described as of Herculean stature, was shot five times through the body, but fought furiously and breaking through the firing line, stumbled to the station platform. He crawled under it, but was dragged from his hiding place and shot through the head. The murdered soldiers were left lying where they fell. Most of them were from the First Iowa Cavalry and the First Missouri Engineers. The depot was burned and the guerrillas made their way back to camp, carrying their spoil. among other things they took a large quantity of whisky in boots, both of which they had stolen from the stores. That afternoon about three o'clock a Union force of 175 men mounted under Major A. V. E. Johnson of the 39th Missouri Infantry arrived in Centralia. He learned of the massacre, and believing that the main force of the guerrillas had been over-estimated he determined to pursue them. He formed about 200 men in the open prairie, having detailed some thirty-five men to care for the horses and wagons. Meanwhile the guerrillas had sent out a small scouting party under Dave Pool, instructed to "toll" the Union men near the place where their main force was hidden. Major Johnson and his men followed this party, and eager to avenge the death of their comrades, came upon the guerrillas near their camp. The latter had part of their force concealed and Johnson could not tell the actual number of his adversaries, so did not realize the danger of an attack. Frank James, who was with the bushwhackers, said in 1900, "I don't care what your historians say, they carried a black flag. It was apparently a black apron, tied to a stick. We captured it in the battle that followed." The battle was short but furious. The Union troops, raw recruits, were poorly mounted and armed with muzzle loading Enfield muskets, equipped with bayonets. The guerrillas, trained marksmen and born fighters, were finely mounted on fresh horses and each had from two to four revolvers. Major Johnson ordered his men to dismount, and every fourth man was left to guard the horses. The bushwhackers remained on horseback, and crouching low charged furiously upon the small force, firing with deadly effect. The Union force was completely demoralized, and panic spread among them. The men who were holding the horses tried to flee, but they were pursued and killed. No quarter was asked or given. It is estimated that not more than twelve men, at most, could have escaped, and Maj. Johnson was killed--some say by a bullet fired by Jesse James. Capt. Smith, of Adair county, and Lieutenant Strafford, of Clark county, also were killed. the guerrilla loss was two killed and three wounded. After the retirement of the guerrillas the people of Centralia gathered dead bodies and brought them to the platform of the depot. A number were taken to Mexico for burial, and seventy-nine were buried in a single long trench near the railroad, in the eastern part of Centralia. Not long afterward the trench was enclosed by a plank fence, and at the head of it was placed a limestone monument, fifteen feet in height, inscribed with the words: "The remains of Companies a. G. and H. Thirty-ninth Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, who were killed in action at Centralia, Missouri, on the 27th day of September, 1864, are interred here." Several years later, the trench was reopened and the remains taken to Jefferson City and reburied in one common grave, in the National Cemetery at that place. It was reported that every body reinterred showed a bullet hole in the forehead directly between the eyes. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg.8, Col 2--SOUTH OF TOWN ITEMS--Owen Asbury was the guest of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Asbury, of Harrisburg Sunday. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg.8, Col 2--SOUTH OF TOWN ITEMS--Mrs. Hazel Hargis and son, Ralph, were Saturday guests of her sister, Mrs. Roxie Asbury. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg.8, Col 2--SOUTH OF TOWN ITEMS--Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Blaise had as Sunday visitors three of their daughters, with their families, Mr. and Mrs. James Evans, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Ridgway and sons, Hugh and Kenneth, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Harris and daughter, Belva. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg.8, Col 2--SOUTH OF TOWN ITEMS--Mr. and Mrs. Homer Hargis and baby, Valeta, were Sunday guests of Mr. and Mrs. Wayland Sumpter. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg.8, Col 2--SOUTH OF TOWN ITEMS--Mrs. Emmett Ridgway and Mrs. Hazel Hargis visited their mother, Mrs. Emma Blaise, Friday. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg.8, Col 2--MT. PLEASANT ITEMS--Gertrude Porter is visiting her brother, J. O. Porter, and family this week. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg.8, Col 2--MT. PLEASANT ITEMS--Chas. Eaton and wife visited with Wm. Hilt and wife Sunday at the home of their mother, Mrs. Sam Naylor. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg.8, Col 2--MT. PLEASANT ITEMS--Guy Long, Wm. Naylor, Harry Naylor and Paul Naylor attended the Arthur Palmer trial at Fayette Monday. Thursday, 30 Sep 1926, Vol 40, No 22, Pg.8, Col 2--MT. PLEASANT ITEMS--Wm. Naylor and family and Paul Naylor and family attended a birthday dinner at John Robb's at Higbee Sunday. Needless to say, all enjoyed the day, especially the splendid dinner, and departed late in the day wishing John many more such birthdays. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.