George Champlin Sibley

Major George Champlain Sibley (1782-1863) = Factor of Fort Osage. Surveyor. George left Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis and headed up the Missouri River to build Fort Osage. He kept a journal of his trip and noted on September 5, the boats were unloaded, tools laid-out, and a sketch of the fort's layout was drawn. Paint indicated which type of buildings went where – red for blockhouses, green, the factory and his home, and blue for the officer’s quarters. A trading post and a church was soon built close by. After signing a treaty with the Osage Indians, Fort Osage was christened on November 10, 1808.

The War of 1812 caused the evacuation of the Fort from 1813 to 1815 and when George returned, he brought back his bride of fifteen years, Mary Easton (1800-1878), born in Rome, New York, the daughter of Rufus Easton, St. Louis' first postmaster. They married in September of 1815. Fountain Green, a home he built for them outside of the fort, was filled with furniture, books and a piano. The Indians were fascinated by the piano and would gather outside whenever Mary played. They adopted three children, orphans of their long-time Osage friend, Sans Oreille.

When missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (Boston, Massachusetts) arrived at Rapid de Kaw (Collen’s Ford) in 1821 to build Harmony Mission School at the request of some of the Osage Tribal Chiefs, Sibley was there to oversee the work on the construction of a government trading post near the mission. In 1825, Sibley, Ben, Alexander Majors' father, and others surveyed the Santa Fe Trail, a distance of about 775 miles.

After Sibley's retirement, George and Mary joined Old Blue First Presbyterian Church (f. 1818) in St. Charles. They are buried on the Lindenwood University campus.

Historical Note: Chester Harding painted a portrait of George Sibley sometime in the 1830s. Mr. Harding also painted a portrait of Daniel Boone.

More to Read:

1. Jackson County Pioneers. By Pearl Wilcox. 1975.

2. “Genealogy News Bytes” April 2008. (e-newsletter); "Letters Received by Agents from All of the Factories" (microfilm) and "Indian Trade Letters, January 19, 1822, Serial 60" (microfiche) at Midwest Genealogy Library, 3440 South Lee’s Summit Road, Independence, MO

3. Seeking a Newer World: The Fort Osage Journals & Letters of George Sibley. By Jeffery Smith. 2003

4. A Condensed History of the Kansas City Area: Its Mayors and Some V.I.P.s 1850-1950 ” Assembled by George Fuller Green. City Historian. The Lowell Press; Kansas City, MO. 1968.

5. Empires, Nations and Families: History of the North American West 1800-1860. Anne F. Hyde. University of Nebraska Press, 2011.

6. Wikipedia article

7. Santa Fe Trail Map, either obtained from the National Trails System Office or the Santa Fe Trail Association, Larned, KS

8. The Survey and Maps of the Sibley Expedition, 1825, 1826, & 1827. By Stephen Schmidt & Richard E. Hayden. Santa Fe Trail Association, August 2011. 
9. Kansas City, Missouri: Its History and Its People 1808-1908 By Carrie Westlake Whitney, S. J. Clarke, Chicago, IL, p. 28

10. Findagrave  Memorial #21640843

Places to Visit in Mo. & KS:

1. Missouri River
2. DAR "Trail to Ft. Osage" marker, Main St, St. Charles, MO.  

3. First Presbyterian Church (est. 8/30/1818). Founded as the Old Blue Church by Rev. Salmon Gidding and Rev. M. Matthews. St. Charles. St. Charles County.

4. Lindenwood University (f. 1827), 209 S. Kings Highway, St. Charles

5. Fort Osage, 107 Osage Street, (formerly: Six Mile), present-day Sibley.

6. Fort Osage Historical Marker, put into place by the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas City,

 7. Try to trace the old Mission Road. It began between Lexington and Fort Osage, running through Van Buren Township in Jackson County to the north bank of the Marais des Cygnes River in the extreme southern part of future Bates County, near Papinville above the point where it merges with the Osage River.

 7. National Trails Museum, 318 W. Pacific, Independence (across the street from the Bingham-Wagner home).

 9. Santa Fe Trail

 10. Papinville Historical Society Museum, Market Street,  Bates Co. and the Marais des Cygnes River

11. Sibley's Ridge, US 56, Larned, KS. (August 31, 1825, Sibley Survey Campsite)

The Trail to Fort Osage
Western Trailhead
Ca. 1808
The trail from St. Charles to Fort Osage was likely the earliest American Overland Trail across present-day Missouri. Its origins date to 1808. William Clark, then a Brigadier-General in Louisiana's Territorial Militia, accompanied the St. Charles Dragoons to this site for the purpose of Building a US Fort and Government-Trading House.
Under the Guidance of Daniel Boone's son, Nathan Boone, the expedition traveled through open prairies to Arrow Rock, and from there along a path parallel to the Missouri River, passing in the vicinity of the later towns of Marshall, Grand Pass, Waverly, Dover, Lexington, Wellington, Napoleon, Levasy and Sibley.
Dedicated October 31, 2010
Missouri State Society Daughters of the American Revolution-Fort Osage Chapter, NSDAR.

For the Educator:

Educational Experiences Outdoor Field Trips

Teachers Guide to Missouri Town and Fort Osage

Fort Osage Curriculum Guide

James M. "Kain Tuck" Rush

James M. "Kain Tuck" Rush (1826-1892). Carpenter. Farmer. Pioneer. James M. was born in 1826  to Henson and Margaret Stout Rush, the first son of six children.

James married 2 times, first to Mary Blake circa 1848. They were the first Rush family to migrate to Missouri from the present-day Adair County, Kentucky. The following year, after Mary died in childbirth in Booneville, he headed west to California's gold fields.

Wedding Photo: James and Theresa Rush

Enroute with his wagon train, he stumbled across a nearly dead man who had been fenced in because he had fallen ill. Rather than risking the spread of a possible deadly disease, wagon trains often left the sick in wooden pens to ward off wild animals, with enough food and water to last them for a few days. As the wagon train meant to camp close by a few days, James nursed the man, named John Walls, until he regained his strength and was able, with James' help, to keep up with the travelers when they moved on. Mr. Walls dubbed James "Kain Tuck," because James was a "Kaintuckian" (from Kentucky); he felt indebted to the man who rescued him.

James had little success in finding gold, so he returned to Missouri, sailing around South America. He married his 2nd wife, Theresa Jane Loveall (1835-1909), February 1, 1855 in Miller County. Seven children were born to this union.

James was listed as a southern sympathizer in August of 1862 after the Civil War began, automatically revoking his citizenship. However, since he served in the Union Army as a private in Co. B, 6th Regiment MO. Cavalry from June 11, 1863 to July 18, 1865, was honorably discharged with no injuries, his citizenship rights were restored in May, 1866.

Both were laid to rest in the Rush Chapel Cemetery, Miller County, MO.

More to Read:

1. The Rush Report. Compiled by Gaynelle Jenkins Moore. Research Assistance: David W. Rush. March 2003.

2. The Loveall Report. Compiled by Gaynelle Jenkins Moore. April 2010.
3. See the Leaf labeled biographies for more information.

Places to Visit:
1.  Miller County Museum, 2005 Highway 52, Tuscumbia, MO.

2. Rush Chapel Cemetery, (see his Civil War Veteran tombstone), on Rush Road between Mary's Home and Tuscumbia, Miller County.
3. Findagrave # 40277126

Jabez Ham

Elder Jabez Ham (1796-1842) = Farmer. Primitive Baptist minister. Born on August 3 to Rhoda and Stephen Ham, Sr. of Madison Co, KY.

Jabe married Hannah S. Todd (b.1798), daughter of Hannah and Peter Todd [1756, PA.- c.1841, Ky.) a former Revolutionary War Soldier , on January 13, 1814. They emigrated to Missouri in 1817 and altogether had 14 children. A dark chapter came into their lives when Indians massacred all passengers, including two of their boys, on a wagon train going west but one, Joel Campbell Ham (1818-1887). He escaped by crawling into a haystack and the Indians overlooked him. He returned to Missouri.

Elder Jabez Ham organized a church on Loutre Creek in Montgomery County, Missouri called New Providence *. In a letter, written by a Callaway County woman to her sister in Kentucky about a wedding she attended officiated by him, she described him thus: "He had on a long buckskin overcoat that looked so funny! Mr. Ham was a spelling and reading the ceremony from the book." He was said to be quite a character. Another story involves a State senator, one Mr. Harper who left Montgomery County to get a load of corn in Callaway County. Harper wore his usual home-spun clothes and on his way back home, he went by a house where Jabe was preaching. Harper stopped by to hear it and during the services, Jabe asked the congregation to kneel in prayer, which all did except Harper, who leaned his head upon his hand. Then Jabe prayed that the Lord would bless "that Virginia man, who had on store clothes, and was afraid or too proud to get down on his knees."

He passed away in Callaway County, Missouri on December 12, 1842 and is buried in the New Providence church cemetery.

* Historical Note: According to my unpublished research into pioneer Missouri churches 1541-1910, Joseph Baker (d.1811) came from Kentucky to Montgomery County in 1809 and  organized a Baptist church in 1810 on Loutre Creek, called "The Church on Loutre." In September of that year, the congregation called Joseph Baker as their pastor, electing William Savage clerk and set apart Samuel Brown as deacon. Baker's church and Ham's church may have been some distance apart on the creek, or perhaps, for some reason, the congregation drifted apart and Jabez Ham reorganized the church body. More study is needed.

More to Read:

1. The Ham Family Kith and Kin. By Rev. Ervin Charles Tipton. San Rafael, CA. 1977.

2. Madison County, Kentucky Marriage Records, Vol. 1, p. 113.

3. Pioneer Families of Missouri. By Byron and Rose, History of Pettis Co, p. 972. 
4. A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri: With Numerous Sketches … By William Smith Bryan. (Side note: the author is related to Daniel Boone's wife Rebecca). 

5. Revolutionary War Records for Peter Todd, #S31430, Rowan County, NC under Capt. Robert Moore
6. The Ghost Towns of Central Missouri: Callaway & Osage Counties. by Kelly Warman-Stallings. Ketch's Printing, Jefferson City, MO, 1998. Vol.2.

7. J.K. Martin's Ham Page

8. Ham Country
9. Primitive Baptist Church Library in Carthage, IL
10. Access Genealogy
11. Charles Harper, 2nd District (1842) Missouri State Senators
12. Findagrave #28718049

Descendants:
"History of Elk Fork Township: Joel C. Ham."  The History of Pettis County, Missouri, p. 972

Activity: Pray for the descendants of those he ministered to. 

Mary Engelbreit

Mary Engelbreit (b. 1952) = German-American Artist. Best known for cherries, checks, cottage roses, dots, hearts, Scotties, and Ann Estelle, whose namesake is Mary's maternal grandmother and wears glasses like Mary (second grade).

Once upon a time, a little girl was born on June 5 to "Papa" (d. 1990) and Mary Lois Engelbreit and she grew up in St. Louis, Missouri along with her younger sisters, Alexa and Peggy. She loved to draw and her first studio was in a linen closet. Some of her childhood memories are the shopping trips downtown with her mother for new straw bonnets for her and her sisters to wear to church on Easter Sunday and rambling together through flea markets.

When her high school guidance counselor at Visitation Academy recommended an university educator degree, Mary ignored the advice, skipping both university and art design school and immediately began her career in the arts at various jobs such as a free-lancer, after school at an art supply store, then at an advertising agency, as an editorial cartoonist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and for greeting card companies. Early on she made it a policy to associate with supportive people.

Like one of her illustrated fairy-tales, Mary began dating Phil Delano, an administrator in the county juvenile court system, in 1974 and married producing two sons, Evan in 1980 and Will, 1983. Eventually a granddaughter, Mikayla and a storybook cottage came along.

Mary's dearest dream was illustrating children's books, like the vintage ones her mother read to her growing up and in 1993, she finally realized it with the first of many, Hans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen. Many of her nostalgic and charming designs are translated into other products and today, her "Empire of Cuteness," is a multi-million-dollar company. Yes, she bloomed where she planted.

Quote: "She creates things that touch your heart. Her drawings have that nice quality. Crudeness and vulgarity hit us in the face everyday. Mary's pictures capture something we love and are losing fast." (Mary Lois Engelbreit.)

More to Read:

1. Mary Engelbreit, INK. See especially "About Me."

2. Mary Engelbreit: The Art and the Artist. By Patrick Regan with Mary Engelbreit. Andrews & McMeel, Kansas City, MO., 1996.

3. Home Sweet Home: A Journey Through Mary's Dream Home. By Patrick Regan. Andrews McMeel, KCMO, 2004.

4. Mary Engelbreit: Cross Stitch For All Seasons. Meredith Press, 1997.

5. Missouri Legends: Famous People from the Show-Me State. By John W. Brown, Reedy Press, St. Louis, Mo; 2008.

6. A Mary Engelbreit Flickr Fan Group
7. Mary's YouTube Channel

Read biographies of Mary's Favorite Artists: Joan Walsh Auglund, Seymour Chwast, Milton Glaser, Johnny Gruelle, Peter Max, Maxfield Parrish, and Jessie Wilcox Smith

Places to Visit:

1. Mary's Studio, 4814 Washington Blvd., Ste. 230, St. Louis (visit by appointment only)

2. Andrews McMeel Publishing Co, Kansas City


Extras for (Home) Educators:
Many classroom and teaching aids can be found such as bulletin board displays, calendars, charts, coloring, and children's books  at Mary's website. Click on the link to her website above.