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, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 1--W. D. Edwards spent the first of the week in Kansas City with his son, Charles, and family. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 2--Postmaster Leonard Ancell spent Sunday in St. Louis with his daughter, Mrs. Lilburn Hawkins. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 2--Jas. Roberts returned to Chicago Saturday after a visit with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jasper Roberts. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 2--Mr. and Mrs. G. T. Scott of Indiana, are the guests of the latter's parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Cooper. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 2--Mrs. John Lewis and daughter, Mrs. Julius Reuter, spent Saturday until Monday with relatives in Columbia. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 2--Mrs. E. D. Martin returned to Kirksville Sunday after visit with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth Little. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 2--Miss Ida Mae Sharp returned to her home in Clark Monday after a visit with her brother, R. S. Sharp, and family. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 2--Mrs. J. W. Brundedge and daughter, Mrs. Cleo. Lowe, of Eureka, are the guests of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Brundedge. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 2--Durwood and King Taylor of Phoenix, Arizona, are the guests of their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. L. S. St. Clair, of south of town. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 2--Mrs. Flora Warford and son, R. S. returned to their home in Woodriver, Ill., Monday after a visit with Higbee relatives and friends. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 3--Mrs. Wisdom Burton and daughter, Miss Marjorie, spent the first of the week in Columbia attending the commencement exercises of Christian College, Mrs. Burton's eldest daughter, Miss Aleen, being one of the graduates. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 4--MRS. J. J. MORRIS--Mrs. J. J. Morris, of near Yates, whose tragic death is mentioned in our account of the Yates storm, was born in Chariton county on June 24, 1875, and whose maiden name was Sheaves. She was united in marriage to J. J. Morris in February 1890, and by whom she is survived. She also leaves four brothers, Clarence, Elver, Tove and John Sheaves, and two sisters, Mrs. Virgil Winn and Miss Henrietta Sheaves. She was a member of the Methodist church at Roanoke, with which she united several years ago, and was a truly consecrated christian character, and was held in the highest esteem by all who knew her. Funeral services were conducted Sunday afternoon at Sharon by the Rev. J. M. Major, the building and grounds being far too small to accommodate the crowd. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 4--JOHN E. FRAY--John E. Fray, who was killed in the storm at Yates Friday of last week, was a native of this county and was born on September 10, 1857. He was united in marriage on July 22, 1877, to Miss Susie Banning, who with their two sons, Estill of Yates, and Edgar of Mulberry, Kansas, survives. A third son died in infancy. He is also survived by four brothers, O. S. and R. G. Fray of Yates, W. C. of Riverbank, Cal., and Columbus Fray of Monroe county; also two sisters, Mrs. Addie Minor of Huntsville and Mrs. Lelia Kirkpatrick of Marshall. He had been a member of the Presbyterian church for many years, and was a hard working, high class christian gentleman, held in the highest esteem by all who knew him. Funeral services were held at the Baptist church in Yates Sunday afternoon, and interment made in Pleasant Grove cemetery near Yates. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 4--MRS. J. R. WILLIAMS--Mrs. J. R. Williams, who died a few hours following the storm at Yates Friday of last week, was the daughter of George Yates, and was born in this county, and within a stone's throw of the home in which she died, on September 29, 1851, and was married to J. R. Williams on December 23, 1880. They were the parents of six children, four of whom, with the father, survive, viz: Mrs. Julia Holly, Prescott, Arizona; William and Francis Williams and Mrs. Ida Goon. She also leaves thirteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She was a member of the Christian church, uniting with the church here many, many years ago under the preaching of the Rev. Hollis, one of the early pastors of the church. She was a devoted wife and mother and was noted for her kind words and deeds. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 4--MRS. ALICE TUGGLE--Mrs. Alice Tuggle, a sister of Mrs. Williams, and who was also injured in the same storm, lingered until Sunday night, when she passed away. She was born on the same farm on October 14, 1853, and was in her 74th year. She was married on April 12, 1893 to John Tuggle, who was accidentally killed on June 6th of the same year, since which time she had made her home with her sisters, Mrs. Williams and the late Mrs. Ann Dysart. The two were the last of their father's family. She is survived by a number of nieces and nephews and other more distant relatives, besides a legion of friends. Funeral services for the two sisters who had spent practically all of their lives together were held at the home of Boz Yates, a nephew, with whom Mrs. Tuggle made her home, Tuesday afternoon by the Rev. E. Y. Keiter of Moberly, in the presence of a very large assemblage, and interment made in the family burying ground near by. Like Mrs. Dysart, these ladies were known by their sunny dispositions and their warm hearted sympathy and help on all occasions. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 5--CARD OF THANKS--We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to our dear neighbors and friends for their kindness shown us on the death of our dear husband and father, John Kirby. We also wish to thank those who sent flowers and furnished cars. May each and every one of you have such dear friends in your time of need.--Mrs. Emma Kirby and Children. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 5 Col 6--Mrs. Paul Kelso, who went to Kirksville Sunday for a visit with friends, was taken suddenly ill Monday and was brought home Tuesday, Mr. Kelso and her mother, Mrs. John Hudson, going after her in a car. Mrs. Hudson arrived home about as sick as her daughter, and both have since been in bed. They are suffering from a sort of lead poisoning, contracted, it is thought, while doing some painting about the home. They were thought to be some better yesterday. Thursday, 2 June 1927, Vol 41, No. 4, Pg. 8 Col 1&2--IN THE LONG, LONG AGO, By Pete McNamara--Editor The Higbee News. In my first letter I attempted to picture to you the first time the Higbee Juvenile Band played in public. In this letter I shall try to describe the first time the Higbee baseball nine (composed of boys ranging in age from ten to thirteen years)--please do not conflict this nine with the Higbee baseball team, as that club was one of the best in north Missouri. This nine I am telling you about was composed of the following boys: Am. Lambier, Matthew Evans, Morgan Williams, Daddy Lambier, Dan Welch, Ed McNamara, a colored boy whose name I have forgotten, Jack Little, myself, Ed Reese and Johnny (Strawlegs) Herron. The first scheduled game was to be contested at Renick. And what a contest it was! Mr. Dysart donated the use of a horse and wagon--not a buggy,--just a wagon. The eve of the game and for many evenings we practiced along the side of the tie piles in front of the jail, or, as we used to call it, the calaboose. Our uniforms consisted of one piece, that is, a pair of trousers, or, as we called them turkey red, bought at the company store for five cents a yard, but what it lacked in price was made up in color, for believe me, this cloth was RED! The morning of the game came as all things do. I was captain and my duty was to collect the horse and wagon, also the players. Knowing nothing of the intricacies of harnessing a horse, I can see the look of reproach to this day in the face of that wise old animal. Day had not broken when I started to round up my team. In the excitement none of us had eaten any breakfast. Matthew Evans held up the start, due to the fact that his pants were not finished, but the rest of the nine were in and hanging on the wagon in front of Matthew's house, everyone of us shouting at the same time for him to hurry. Finally Matthew came bouncing out of the house and what a fit he was in pants! His poor mother had made those pants in a hurry for they looked like a big pillow slip with two holes in the bottom corners for his legs. They were square! Away we went, bound for Renick. Remember, we were on our way about 8 o'clock a. m. About an hour out from town we all discovered that we had eaten no breakfast. The Renick boys must have been just as excited as we were for they met us about a mile outside of town. Each boy was to bring a Higbee boy to his house for dinner. The Christian boys brought my brother Ed and myself to their house to dinner. Their house was a large, old-fashioned mansion with a great orchard surrounding it. I can see good Mrs. Christian now and hear her saying, "Perhaps the McNamara boys would like some cherries." (Perhaps!) These cherries were of a dark red variety. In a second we were up in a tree and what we did not do to those cherries! We stayed in that tree until dinner time. They had fried chicken and all that went with it, and after all this, Pie--cherry pie--an open work pie. By that I mean that the cherries were exposed and were only partly covered on the top side by strips of dough. I have been to dinners, banquets and all other kinds since that day, but of them all, that meal was the best. It tasted better, and of this fact I am absolutely sure, I ate more. The game was scheduled to start early. The other members of the Higbee nine must have held their own in the eating line for at game time we all wanted to sleep. The colored member was delegated to carry water and when we would sight him struggling from a near-by house with a big pail (we called it a bucket), we would al pounce upon him and the bucket. The game finally got under way. I was the pitcher in the parlance of ball players. A pitcher is supposed to have something on the ball. Well that day I had absolutely nothing. Those Renick boys, my, how they could hit! They stepped into each ball with all the savagery of a Ruth or a Hornsby. Some of those balls never did stop. I think they are still going. Matthew Evans was our center fielder. About the second inning, I, being captain, and, consequently, the boss, and blaming all the disaster on Matthew, decided to take him out and substitute the colored water boy. I was conceited enough to blame Matthew and thought he should cover more ground. Poor Matthew had a terrible time with those square pants. Many accidents happened to those pants, but no one cared. Besides we had no audience. About the third inning I firmly decide as a pitcher I was a good outfielder. Of course, I kept this to myself and then put in Daddy Lambier to pitch. It is the ambition of every healthy boy to be a pitcher. On this particular day Daddy was not healthy. And I know that even today he will admit that he was a dire failure. As a rule boys playing a ball game argue and fight the opposing nine, but that day we argued and fought among ourselves. We were ingloriously beaten. In the fifth inning dusk was on us, so we called it a day. Everyone had pitched, and in defense of myself I will state now the pitching had gone from bad to worse. I gathered the horse and wagon and we started our gloomy retreat for home. What a difference from the happy shouting boys of the morning! Ed Reece had gotten a concoction of large sticks called Black Heel Gum and had his mouth full of this chewing gum and when nearly home he blamed the whole loss individually on me. Of course, I took exception to this. Reese then stopped the wagon and massaged my hair with the gum. Plainly speaking, he made me like it, but, he was the bigger and older. It was many days before my hair was in a presentable condition and the only one I ever told the score to was my mother, but she understood. Of course I also described the pie. That ball game has been one of the outstanding events of my life. Many years later in my wanderings I would always manage to get back to my mother, and she knew I was coming, too, and at the first home meal there always would be a big cherry pie with the open work top and it was every bit as good as Mrs. Christian's, maybe better. that is my secret. And in my mother's good face I could see an expressed thought that was meant just for me alone and I think that thought was, the fault of the game was not your pitching. Mothers think that. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.