Bucky, Marble Hill Rescue Deer 14 May 1969, Wed The Daily Standard (Sikeston, Missouri) Newspapers.com

The May 14, 1969 issue of The Daily Standard newspaper (Sikeston, Mo.) published an update on “Bucky” a deer that had been injured near Marble Hill, Missouri and rescued by a local couple. The “Bucky Report” appeared in newspapers across Missouri.

The “Bucky Report” provided the latest updates on the deer as well as a bit of background on the circumstances that made the deer famous:

“Bucky is all right. He is happy in his new home and already has made many fine friends. He is getting only the best of food and care and sends his love. He says he misses you all.

Bucky is a deer not quite a year old who was found south of Marble Hill with a broken leg after he had been run over by a mower. Mr. and Mrs. Tom Runnels took the fawn into their home and arranged to have the broken leg set.”

The report continued:

“As Bucky grew , he became more of a pet of the Marble Hill community rather than a one – family deer. But Bollinger County conservation agent Tom Wilder began to worry that when Bucky grew antlers, he might puncture some of the citizenry since he already playfully butted people.

Bucky’s friends regretfully agreed that Buck must go, so it was decided he would, so to speak, be sent to a camp- more specifically, the Charles W. Green Wildlife Area near Ashland.

It was a sad day in late March when they came for Bucky who didn’t resist as he was crated. There were moist eyes and tremulous “goodbyes” to Bucky who made a silent farewell to Marble Hill. It was rumoured a single tear trickled down his hairy cheek.”

24 Apr 1973, Tue The Daily Journal (Flat River, Missouri) Newspapers.com

The April 24, 1973 edition of The Daily Journal newspaper reported on efforts to save the northern portion of the Belmont Branch of the Missouri Pacific Railroad from abandonment. The paper reported:

“L. J. Miller of S.F.C. Homes Incorporated at Farmington has filed suit in the Circuit Court in St. Francois County seeking an injunction to forbid the abandoning of service between Bismark and his home factory just west of Highway 67 south of Farmington.

Another suit has been filed by a Joint Committee For Transportation in Madison County which is a cooperative organization formed to oppose the abandoning of the Belmont Branch.”

The Daily Journal also reported that:

“The S.F.C. Homes suit is based on what Miller claims was a verbal assurance that the rail line would be continued indefinitely to the factor site adjacent to Highway 67.”

23 Sep 1972, Sat The Kansas City Times (Kansas City, Missouri) Newspapers.com

The September 23, 1972 issue of the Kansas City Times reported of a “Hail Mary” pass of sorts by those who opposed the abandonment of the Belmont Branch by the Missouri Pacific railroad.

According to the Times:

“The Interstate Commerce Commission has been asked for a rehearing on a proposal by the Missouri Pacific Railroad to abandon a branch line serving four counties- Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Madison and St. Francois.

The counties and businessmen along the route expressed opposition to abandonment at a 3 day hearing in May, 1971. The examiner ruled that the railroad be allowed to abandon the line, and last September, 1 a commission review board voted to uphold the ruling, with the order to be effective October 3.

Opponents of abandonment of the 65-mile Belmont Branch line say the railroad did not want it to show a profit. They say the service is vital to the economy of the four counties and 16 towns on the line.”

Belmont Branch Abandonment 23 Oct 1970, Fri The Daily Journal (Flat River, Missouri) Newspapers.com

The Daily Journal newspaper, in its October 23, 1970 issue, reported the bleak future of Missouri Pacific railroad’s Belmont Branch.

The Belmont Branch, originally built by the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern railroad, connected St. Louis and southeast Missouri with the Southeast United States beginning at Bismarck and terminating at Belmont where it connected with a ferry on the Mississippi River.

When the Belmont Branch was completed in 1869, the line was an important means of transporting area timber, mineral and agricultural resources but by 1970 was struggling to turn a profit. Despite this fact it was still a valuable resource for communities along the line that hoped to attract industry through their rail connection. As the Daily Journal noted, one of those industries was Ozark Steel Fabricators, located in Farmington.

“While the historic site of the proposed abandonment of the Belmont Branch Line of the Missouri Pacific Railroad is discussed, stronger opposition to the proposal is expected to come from communities and industries served along the 65 mile stretch of railroad, including Ozark Steel Fabricators in Farmington… the historic line runs from Bismarck to Whitewater, which is located north of Jackson. It is the only rail service for the communities such as Fredericktown, Lutesville and Marble Hill.”

David Keith Pomeroy 26 Aug 1968, Mon The Daily Standard (Sikeston, Missouri) Newspapers.com

The above photo was published in the Daily Standard’s (Sikeston, Mo.) August 26, 1968 issue. This particular scan is not the best quality, but it is all I could find.

Army Pfc. David Keith Pomeroy was killed on February 18, 1968 while serving in Vietnam. The Daily Standard reported:

Mrs. Faye Pomeroy of Lutesville, in a ceremony at the Bollinger County Bank, Monday received posthumous awards honoring her husband, Pfc. David K. Pomeroy.

Making the presentation was Lt. Col. J. J. Reedy, commanding officer of the fifth U.S. army advisory group in Cape Girardeau.

The awards included the bronze star and purple heart medals, good conduct medal, combat infantryman badge, national defense service medal, Vietnam campaign ribbon and the expert badge with rifle and pistol bar.

A detailed description of Pfc. Pomeroy’s service is included in the clipping below.

David Keith Pomeroy 26 Aug 1968, Mon The Daily Standard (Sikeston, Missouri) Newspapers.com

The December 23, 1909 Democrat – News ( Fredericktown, Missouri) announced that only the southbound local freight train of the St. Louis , Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, would carry passengers between Bismarck and Glen Allen. The paper cited that the railroad now had two passenger trains running north and south daily and that the public should patronize them.

Passenger service, Glen Allen , Missouri 23 Dec 1909, Thu The Democrat-News (Fredericktown, Missouri) Newspapers.com

I was invited to speak to the Wayne County [Missouri] Historical Society on April 5, 2021 and I have to say that I’ve never met a more welcoming, friendly and generous group of people. I would like to thank David Bollinger for the invite and all of those who came to listen to me speak. I had a great time and met so many great people afterwards. Wayne County, you really know how to make a guy feel welcome!

Below are some photos I took of the Luna Museum, located at 108 W. Elm Street, Piedmont, Missouri.

Lutesville, Marble Hill, Missouri, 1982 Flooding 05 Dec 1982, Sun St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) Newspapers.com

In early December, 1982 the towns of Lutesville and Marble Hill were devastated when area flooding caused Crooked Creek to overflow its banks and entered local homes and businesses. The flooding was so severe it made the headlines of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in its December 05, 1982 edition which reported:

“Lutesville- Crooked Creek is a stream that is so small that it does not show up on maps of Bollinger county in southeast Missouri, due west of Cape Girardeau. Usually it meanders harmlessly.

But by Saturday it had become a river, putting two towns on either side of it under water. Crooked Creek flooded an area one mile wide and six miles long, inundating Lutesville to the west and Marble Hill to the east.”

The Post- Dispatch reported that downtown Lutesville and Marble Hill was under at least three feet of water, the force of which was so strong it shattered the windows of the local IGA grocery store, leaving the communities without food.

The local pastor of the First Baptist Church, Don Simmons stated that his congregation was collecting food for those who were effected by the flooding.

Also quoted in the Post-Dispatch article was Southeast Missourian newspaper editor B. Ray Owens who stated:

“I can’t ever remember anything [flooding] quite this bad.”

Birdwell Obituary Thu, Mar 14, 1929 – 1 · Greenville Sun (Greenville, Missouri) · Newspapers.com

The March 14, 1929 Greenville Sun carried the obituary of Mrs. J. N. Birdwell (other papers reported her name as J.M. Birdwell), which stated, in part:

“Mrs. J.N. Birdwell, aged Patterson citizen, passed away at her home there Tuesday after an illness of almost three weeks with pneumonia following an attack of the flu. Mrs. Birdwell was born in Jackson March 11, 1847, and had passed her 82 birthday by one day. She moved to Wayne county when a small girl and had since resided here, making her home at Patterson for many years, where she was loved and cherished by all citizens.”

The obituary also states that:

“Mrs. Birdwell bore the distinction of having been hostess and cook to [Confederate] General Sterling Price and his staff officers when they came through Patterson in September, 1864 on their way to Stoney Battery and Pilot Knob, where they routed the Union forces. Because of the good cooking of Mrs. Birdwell, General Price left several of his men at the Birdwell home as a guard to protect the young woman, then Julia English, and her sister, mother and aunt from bushwhackers and marauders. The English home was guarded under special orders from General Price for several months. It was the means of saving the family from the raids of the Northern spies, who might have burned their cabin because it had sheltered Price.”

Interesting to note is the fact that Mrs. Birdwell’s father was a soldier in the Union army.

Since Confederate General Price was a former Governor of Missouri, one can claim that with the inclusion of taking care of former Governor Baker in her later years, she had served two Missouri governors.

The obituary states that Mrs. Birdwell was buried in the Old English cemetery on the Ironton road one mile northeast of Patterson.

Bollinger County Bank Robbed Tue, May 23, 1972 – Page 1 · The Daily Standard (Sikeston, Missouri) · Newspapers.com

The May 23, 1972 issue of The Daily Standard (Sikeston, Missouri) reported the robbery of the Bollinger County Bank the previous day. According to the paper a masked gunman entered the bank with a revolver and demanded the teller empty her cash drawer. The teller stated that she thought it was a joke at first and described the robber as being white, in his early 20’s, medium build and about five feet, nine inches tall. The suspect was driving a tan 1969 Ford Fairlane which was later discovered to be stolen from Cape Girardeau an hour before the robbery, the suspect got away with approximately $9,000.00.

Tue, Jul 25, 1972 – Page 10 · The Daily Standard (Sikeston, Missouri) · Newspapers.com

On July 25, 1972 The Daily Standard reported that most of the $9000.00 (the actual amount stolen was $9,410.00) had been recovered and that the main suspect in the case was being held in the Bollinger County jail. The paper identified the suspect as Robert Chase of Chicago, Illinois. Chase had been freed from a Wisconsin prison a year early after serving a portion of a ten year prison sentence for robbery.

Chase led police where he had hid the money, which turned out to be two miles south of Crump on Route U near the Cane Creek bridge. The money was found in an overnight bag, along with the 38 caliber pistol he used in the robbery and 44 extra bullets.

The Daily Standard ended the story as follows:

“A car stolen the day of the robbery in Cape Girardeau and positively identified as having been used in the crime was found in the woods weeks after Chase was arrested. But no evidence could be gleaned from the vehicle, officers said.

After the recovery of the loot and other items, Chase made a full confession to the deputies, Trooper Kenneth Howell, Bollinger County Prosecuting Attorney Kenneth Shrum and FBI agent Douglas Rosenberger.”