Paul Henning

Paul Henning (1911-2005 ) = Radio, TV, Film Writer & Producer. Paul was the youngest of ten children, born September 16 on a farm. His artist father decided he didn't care for farming so he moved his family to Independence, MO. Among other jobs, Paul worked in Brown's Drugstore in Independence's town square same as former US President Harry S. Truman and attended the Kansas City School of Law in 1932 The following year, he began his career as a staff member at the radio station KMBC (now KMBZ, f. 1921) in Kansas City.

Paul married Ruth Margaret Barth in January of 1939. Three children were born to this union -- Carol Alice, Linda Kay, and Paul Anthony.

Ruth's grandparent's, Willis and Martha Burris owned a small country hotel in the late 1920s near a railroad station in Eldon, MO. They had five girls and Ruth's mother was the oldest. Ruth said her mother would send her on a train down from Kansas City to visit her grandparents during the summer. This inspired Paul to create three top-rated television sitcom series and their spin-offs in the 1960s; The Beverly Hillbillies (1962); Petticoat Junction (1963); and Green Acres (1965).

Paul was an idea generator and he used that gift many times in his career. Once, his boss at the radio station in Kansas City said he had good ideas and he wanted him to write a program which launched Paul's writing career. Later, when Paul was writing for  the George & Gracie Burns radio show in Hollywood, CA., Mr. Burns fought to get him a deferment from the WWII draft, because he thought it was important to give people something to laugh about in troubled times.

Paul retired in 1975 to spend more time with his family which by this time included grandsons, Alex and Jesse. 

More to Read:

1. Eldon. . . A Look Back: 1882 to 1982.

2. "The Ozarks Then & Now" by Russell Hively. The Ozarks Mountaineer, Nov/Dec 2012, p. 31. (This issue was the last one of the Ozark Mountaineer magazine.)
3. The First Beverly Hillbilly: The Untold Story of the Creator of Rural TV Comedy. By Ruth Henning. Woodneath Press, Sept 20 2017. 280 pages.

4. The Museum of Broadcast Communications

5. Petticoat Junction

6. Wikipedia Biography
7. Findagrave #10675779

Places to Visit in Mo:

1. Independence, MO. Town Square Marker

2. Main Street and Maple Street by the Rock Island tracks, Eldon, MO.
3. Miller County Historical Society Museum, Tuscumbia, MO.

4. Ruth & Paul Henning Conservation Area, Branson, MO

5. Ruth & Paul Henning State Forest. Hwy. 76, Branson

6. Ralph Foster Museum, College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout (The Beverly Hillbillies truck is here)

Martha “Mattie” A. Livingston Lykins Bingham

Martha “Mattie” A. Livingston Lykins Bingham (1824-1890) = Teacher. Ancestor signed the Declaration of Independence. Cousin to General “Stonewall” Jackson. Born in Kentucky, near Frankfort. At three, her parents died. Afterwards, her grandmother raised her. She left school at sixteen to live with two of her married sisters, Mrs. Thomas J. Hughes of Jefferson City, MO, then with Mrs. W. W. Owen, of Shelbyville, until 1847. She taught at a private school for young ladies in Lexington, MO after that.

Mattie married her first husband, Dr. Johnston Lykins (1800-1876) on October 12, 1851. Johnston had a daughter from his previous marriage, Julia (1839-1872), who married Dr. Theodore S. Case, one of Kansas City's historians, in 1858 and blessed them with three grandchildren -- Lilah, Johnston, and Ermine.

What’s that saying? “Marriage is made in heaven, but so is thunder and lightening.” Can you imagine their dinner conversations as Johnston was a loyal Unionist and she a secessionist?

Two years after Dr. Lykins passed away, Mattie married artist George Caleb Bingham on June 19 at the Calvary Baptist church. Dr. Chambliss officiated. She dealt with many losses in her life; first as an orphan, then twice widowed. Even though  there was some opposition to her plans, Mattie opened a home, called the Lykins Institute, for orphaned children of Confederate veterans and their widows. In 1877, it became a state institution, then reverted back to the founding society. To provide support and education for the remaining five orphans, Mattie found it necessary to board young ladies too. All proceeds less expenses went towards that. 

She also taught Sunday School for Rev. Nathan Scarritt at one of the new churches he organized.

In September of 1890, Mattie Livingston Lykins Bingham passed away and was interred in Kansas City’s Union Cemetery between her two husbands.

More to Read:

1. Missouri Star: The Life and Times of Martha A. “Mattie” (Livingston) Lykins Bingham. Rose Ann Findlen, 2011.

2. The History of Jackson County, Missouri. Kansas City, MO; Union Historical Company, Birdsall, Williams & Co., 1881. Reprinted: Cape Girardeau, MO, Ramfre Press, 1966.

3. Here Lies Kansas City: A Collection of our City’s Notables and Their Final Resting Places. Wilda Sandy, 1984. 
4. Applicants to the Confederate Home, Higginsville, MO. 
5. Postcards from Old Kansas City. By Mrs. Sam Ray. 1980.

6. Union Cemetery Historical Society Walking Tour Map. 

7. History of Kansas City, MO., with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Women and Pioneers. By Dr. Theodore S. Case.

8. Findagrave #16626970

 
Historical Note: The Lykin's mansion on Quality Hill stood until 1989.

Places to see in Mo:

1. Bingham-Waggoner Estate, 313 West Pacific, Independence

2. Stand on the corner where the Lykins Orphans Institute once stood at 32^nd and Locust St, Kansas City.

3. Former Residence of Dr. Theodore S. Case = 900 W. 13^th, Kansas City

4. Union Cemetery, 227 East 28^th Terr. Kansas City. 64108 (Mattie)

5. Elmwood Cemetery, 4900 Truman Road, Kansas City, (Julia)
6. Union Prison Collapse

Julia Dent Grant



Photo taken by Matthew Brady Studios

Julia Boggs Dent Grant (1826-1902) = Army wife and First Lady of US President, Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885). Daughter of Col. Frederick and Ellen Wrenshall Dent, she grew up on a plantation called White Haven near St. Louis and attended the Misses Mauros' boarding school there. She wrote in her memoirs that her childhood was idyllic: "one long summer of sunshine, flowers, and smiles."

She met her future husband "Ulys" at her home. He, son of Jesse Root and Hanna Simpson Grant, was a West Point classmate of her brother Fred, Jr. She fell for him, dreamed about him, and felt lonely without him. They became engaged in 1844, but the Mexican war interrupted their plans to marry for four long years. Finally, on August 22, 1848, she was swept off her feet and carried over the threshold into the life of a army wife. "Dearest Julia" lived with her handsome husband wherever he was stationed except in the remote west and near Civil War battlesites . After many years of adversity and anxiety, she, the encourager, rejoiced in his fame as a victorious general.

Meantime, several precious children were born to Julia and Ulysses-- in 1850, Frederick Dent Grant; in 1852, Ulysses (Buck), Jr.; in 1857, Ellen "Nellie"; and Jesse.

On the arm of the new President (1869-1877), she entered the White House and entertained on a presidential scale, dressed in the  finery of the day -- jewels, silks, and lace. Upon leaving Washington, D.C., the Grants made a trip around the world and were welcomed warmly wherever they went.

Considered a business failure by some, Ulysses, dying of cancer and yearning to provide for his family beyond the grave, was barely able to complete and have published a two-volume autobiography. Julia, his ever devoted and loving wife, died seventeen years later.

More to Read:

1. Mathew Brady Photograph, Library of Congress.

2. Bufton's Universal Cyclopaedia. Edited by Wm. Colledge, Paul Neergaard, Samuel MacClintock, Earl Jeffery, Ulysses G. Alexander, Elmer RUSH, Charles Higgins, & C.W. Crampton. Illustrated by Mr. & Mrs. Walter Bailey. Mutual Pub, KC; 1925. Vol. 2. 3. Our First Ladies: Martha Washington to Pat Ryan Nixon. Jane & Burt McConnell. Thomas Y. Crowell Co, NY; 1969.

4. Julia Dent Grant's Memoirs, unpublished until1975.

5. The Presidents in American History. By Charles A. & William Beard. Julian Messner, NY; 1977.

6. The First Ladies. Margaret Brown Klapthor and The White House Historical Association. Washington, DC.; 1979.

7. Heart & Soul of the Nation: How the Spirituality of Our First Ladies Changed America. Cheryl Heckler-Feltz. Doubleday. 1997.

8. Memoirs and Selected Letters, Ulysses S. Grant, New York; The Library of America, 1990.
9. US GrantTrail: Missouri's Civil War Official Trail Guide. Missouri's Civil War Heritage Foundation, 2012.

10. Homes and Libraries of the Presidents. By William G. Clotworthy. McDonald & Woodward, 2008.

11. Missouri: Day by Day. By Floyd C. Shoemaker, Editor. Mo State Historical Society, 1942.

12. Findagrave #9238

Places to Visit in MO.

1. Ulysses S. Grant Monument. 350 S. Main St. Ironton.

2. Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site (White Haven). 7400 Grant Road, St. Louis.

3. Anheuser-Busch's Grant's Farm (Hardscrabble), 10501 Gravois Road, St. Louis

Abner H. Deane

Rev. Abner Holton Deane (1828-1912) = Baptist minister. Major in Union Army. Best known for his refusal to take the Oath of Allegiance. He was born in Bracken County, Kentucky and died in Harrisonville, MO.

Perhaps providence prevented his leaving for the gold fields in 1849, for a horse fell on him and crushed his ankle before he could go. Instead, he received his license to preach in 1850; emigrating to Austin, Missouri in 1856 to pastor a circuit of four churches, two in Cass County (Austin; Dayton) and two in Bates County (Crescent Hill; Knob Creek).  When the Civil War broke out, these same churches recruited four companies of men for the Cass County Home Guards (Union).

After the war, he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance (1865-1889) and was consequently jailed for it. First, he was confined in the jail at Harrisonville, Missouri and then moved to Independence in Jackson County. He stated in his refusal that: “I have proved my allegiance to my government by fighting for it; I received my license to preach from a higher power.” George Caleb Bingham was so moved by his dissention that he decided to paint a picture of Dean in jail. So in July of 1866, Bingham took his paints to the jail to fashion two pictures of Dean. One showed him sitting in the lobby of the jail with a Bible across his knees. The second, in the cell, reveals a noble man on a cot by a small barred window reading the Bible. Nearby was a copy of the Baptist Journal on the floor. The saying “one picture is worth a thousand words” brought about the intended effect and Deane was released.

Historical Note: Rev. A. H. Deane was first listed in the Blue River Baptist Association, MO. minutes in 1856. In the 1860 Blue River Association meeting, he was appointed to serve as an evangelist. In the 1877 meeting, he preached an introductory sermon from Psalm 6:4 and in 1885, he preached on "The Atonement." These are the churches he organized or served within that association:

Antioch Baptist Church (f. 1889), changed to Buckner Church in 1883, 5 mi. NW of Harrisonville, MO.

Hopewell Baptist (f. 1835), aka Harrisonville Baptist Church (1849), Harrisonville, MO.

First Baptist Church (f. 1860), Paola, KS.

First Baptist Church (f. 1872), Belton, MO.

Freeman Baptist Church (f. 1872), Freeman, MO.

Peculiar Baptist Church (f. bef. 1883), Peculiar, MO.

Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church (f. 1868), 6 mi. south of Harrisonville, MO.

Pleasant Valley (f. 1883), present Cleveland Baptist Church, Cleveland, MO.

United Baptist Church of Blue Ridge (f. 1848), present First Baptist Church, Grandview, MO. (Former member: Harry S. Truman)

More to Read:

1. Bingham: Fighting Artist. The Story of Missouri’s Immortal Painter, Patriot, Soldier and Statesman. By Lew Larkin. Burton Pub., KCMO., 1954. (Reprinted School of the Ozarks Press, Point Lookout, MO.; 1971)

2. Caught Between Three Fires. By Tom A. Rafiner. Xlibris Corporation, 2010.

3. Jackson County Pioneers. By Pearl Wilcox. Independence, MO. 1975.

4. Reminiscences of Half a Century. A.H. Deane. Nos. 1. 3. 1903. Jackson County Historical Society.

5. The Missouri Statesman, July 6, 1866.

6. The History of Cass and Bates Counties, Missouri. St. Joseph, MO; National Historical Company, 1883. P. 138, 206, 366.
7. History of Cass County, Missouri. By A. L. Webber. 1908.

8. Blue River Baptist Association Missouri. By Marshall Louis Mertens & O.P. Joyce. Brown-White-Lowell Press. Kansas City, MO.; 1947.

9. Missouri Roadsides: The Traveler's Companion. By Bill Earngey. University of MO Press, 1995

1o. Missouri Baptist Ministers. Click here. 
11. Cass County, MO. US Gen Website
12. Missouri Death Certificate #35548
13. His wife's Death Certificate #24231
14. Findagrave  #7681720

Places to Visit in MO and KS;

1. William Jewell University, (Deane’s portrait), Liberty, MO.

2. Abner Dean's Home (Built 1867), 702 W. Wall St., Harrisonville, MO. (private home)

3. Cass County Historical Society, 400 E. Mechanic St., Harrisonville, MO. 816-380-4396

4. Miami County Historical Museum, Paola, KS.

Biography written by Dolores J. Rush, Updated: 10/27/2020. 

Moses R. Grinter

Moses Reid Grinter (1809-1878 ) = Farmer. Ferryman. He was born March 12, in Logan County, Kentucky to Frank and Susannah Reid Grinter. Moses emigrated to Kansas at nineteen.

Anna Marshall was born January 8, 1820 in Miami County, Ohio. Her father was a white trader and her mother a Lenape (Delaware) Indian. She survived the forced march from Ohio to Kansas under the administration of the Fort Leavenworth Indian Agency. When she arrived here, she was 12 years old.

Moses married Anna in 1836. They raised a family of ten children. It was said of him that he was a kind man.

Moses operated a trading post, opened a post office in 1850 in Muncie, presently part of Kansas City, Wyandotte County, KS. and a ferry across the Kaw or Kansas River at Delaware/Secundine Crossing. He charged fifty cents for passengers and two dollars for wagons to cross the river. He operated the ferry until 1860.

The Grinters farmed and planted an apple orchard on the Wyandot-Delaware Reservation land Anna received from the government. Their large two-story brick home was completed in 1857. It sits on top of a hill overlooking the Kansas River.

After relocation, the Delaware invited Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian preachers to build missions among them to teach American customs. The Johnson brothers, Reverends Thomas and William helped establish a circuit of Methodist missions in response to their invitation.  The Grinters were prominent members of the White Methodist Episcopal Church, South and there is a stained glass window in the present church in memory of them. The first log meeting house was replaced in 1844 by a white-painted, wood frame church. Later, it was rebuilt using native stone and includes many other stained glass windows. Moses died at his home on June 12, 1878 and Anna died June 28, 1905.

More to Read:

1. He Came to Pray: History of White Church Christian Church, 1832-1996.

2. A Historic Outline of Grinter Place from 1825 to 1878. Compiled by Harry E. Hanson. 

3. The Interpretive Site Coalition (ISC) Kansas City’s 2011 Passport to Adventure.

4. Grinter Place State Historic Site Tourist Brochure & the back of a Photo Trading card.

5. Frontier Military Scenic Byway Tourist Brochure

6. National Historic Trails Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide: Western Missouri Through Northeastern Kansas, National Park Service, US Dept. of the Interior, Sept. 2005. www.nps.gov

7. History Map Directory of Historical Sites & Organizations. The Heritage League of Greater Kansas City. Fourth Edition Brochure. 2010.

8. Grinter Times. Applefest, September 26/27, 1998. 

9. The Marriage Records of Jackson County, Missouri: 1827-1850. By Mrs. John Vineyard, Independence, MO, 1967. Vol. 1.
10. History of Wyandotte County, Kansas: and its people. Edited by Perl Wilbur Morgan.  Vol. 1
11. 1849 Kansas Territory Indian Reservation Map
12. Grinter Chapel Cemetery Index. Wyandotte Co. Historical Museum, Kansas City, KS.
13. White  Church Cemetery Index. 2200 N. 85th St (north of Parallel Ave), KCKS

14. Findagrave #13941288

Places to Visit in KS.

1. Kaw or Kansas River.

2. Grinter Place State Historic Site, 1420 South 78^th Street, Kansas City,

3. Grinter’s Applefest, usually in September.

4. White Christian Church/Delaware Indian Mission/Cemetery, 2200 N. 85th St., (north of Parallel Ave.), Kansas City
5. See John Calhoun's Candlebox, Constitution Hall, Lecompton

Historical Note: The first mission was established in 1830 among the Shawnees, on the south side of the Kansas River near the present site of Turner, Kansas. Another mission was located north of the river approximately at 78^th Street just north of Kansas Avenue in 1831. Rev. Thomas Johnson relocated to the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Ks. in 1839 and White Church grew out of these two nearby missions.

Church in a Schoolhouse

By Thelma Burleson.

 

Church in a schoolhouse – no spire and no steeple,
Just a group of good humble people;
Shabbily dressed, but in their best, those brave pioneers
Came to worship God, and let Him dispel their fears.
No recreation room or kitchen in that church was found.
But we were blessed with all day preaching and dinner on the ground.
We had no budget committee to settle our fate
Just relied on God, and passed the plate.
Church in a schoolhouse – one roomed at that
They were all over this country – Oak Dale, Little RUSH and Elm Flat.
We had no stained glass windows or dome
But we took a Spiritual blessing back home.
At the old double desks, hands folded in prayer
A feeling of reverence ALWAYS was there.
Sunday School in the cloak room for the littlest child.
The bright Sunday School cards were hoarded and filed.
The lessons he learned there, he kept all his life
To help me withstand today’s turmoil and strife.

Glenn Cunningham

Dr. Glenn Cunningham (1909--1988) = Track Athlete. Two-time Olympian (1932; 1936). Best known as a world record miler. Glen was born on August 4 to Clinton H. and Rosa Cunningham, both Kansas natives. He was one of eight children: three brothers, Floyd, Raymond and John, and three sisters, Margie, Letha, and Melva. One sibling died of influenza shortly after its birth.

Although Glenn’s mother kept her Bible in a trunk in the attic and his father was leery of organized religion,  a young Glenn made a commitment to God at a home Bible study with a simple prayer: “God, I’m sorry I’m a sinner. Please make me all right inside.”

At the age of seven, after his legs were severely burned in a schoolhouse fire accident near Rolla, Kansas, his parents were told by the doctor that he would probably never walk, nor run again. Glenn overcame through sheer grit. He dreamed of running repeatedly to pass the time during his convalescence and once he was on his feet again, he exercised his legs by grabbing the tail of a cow on his father’s farm and letting it pull him around.

He attended high school in Elkhart, then worked to pay his way through the University of Kansas in Lawrence. He joined the Navy in 1944 following the Olympics and more education. After his military discharge, he moved to Emporia where he met his second wife, Ruth Sheffield. She was a praying woman and her prayers were answered as God directed him towards his next career -- having a large family, both natural and foster. 

He won numerous awards, but the most important award of all were the blessings of peace and satisfaction provided by Christ in his life.

Dr. Cunningham passed away on March 10, 1988 in Arkansas.

More to Read:

1. 1930 United States Federal Census. Ancestry.com

2. American Men of Olympic Track and Field. By Don Holst and Marcia S. Popp. 2005.

3. Morton County 1886-1986 Cornerstone of Kansas. By Morton County Historical Society.

4. Never Quit. By Glenn Cunningham with George X. Sand. 1981.

5. The Old Timers As I Remember Them. By Chester C. Tucker. c. 1963.

6. Webster’s World Encyclopedia 2000 CD.

7. "Leave It To Miss Annie" By Georgia Tucker Smith. The Allen Press, Lawrence, KS; 1952.

8. "Elkhart Today," Morton County, KS. videos, episode 16 and episode 23

9. Glenn Cunningham's Kansas Trading Card! 
10. Findagrave, #43762031

Places to Visit in Kansas:

1. Morton County Historical Society Museum, US Highway 56, Elkhart,

2. Elkhart Sports Hall of Fame

3. University of Kansas Athletic Hall of Fame, Lawrence

4. Kansas State High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame (Inducted 1983)

5. Rolla Cemetery (Floyd Cunningham), ½ mile west, Rolla, Morton Co., KS.

Robert Alexander Long

Robert Alexander Long (1850-1934) = Lumber Baron. He was born December 17 in Shelby County, Kentucky to Samuel M. and Margaret (White) Long. He was a frail, Bible-reading business man who might have passed for a country preacher, but by 1920, Long was worth tens of millions of dollars until hard times fell on America between 1929 and 1932. When Robert first came to Kansas City, he began his career by opening a short-lived butcher shop on Broadway, then after moving near Columbus, Kansas, several years later he opened his first lumber yard. Eventually he formed the Long-Bell Lumber Company with his cousin Victor B. Bell and returned to Kansas City in 1892. Within 15 years he built a skyscraper, the R. A. Long Building at 10^th Street and Grand avenue as his headquarters. He owned quite a bit of land and other businesses by that time and designed an entire city he called Longview in Washington state.

His daughter, Loula Long Combs (d. 1971) was born in 1881.

In 1911, he built a 72-room palatial home, called “Corinthian Hall” on Gladstone, presently the Kansas City Museum. Near Lee’s Summit,  Longview Farms was created in 1914. When new, the forty Spanish designed buildings stood on 1700 acres.

Today, there is little left of the farm but a few original buildings and a small chapel. Longview Junior College, Longview Lake, new homes and a strip mall were built over pastures where horses once roamed. 

Robert was largely responsible for the building of the Independence Boulevard Christian Church which he served as an elder. He was a large giver to civic Kansas City, setting into motion the building of the WWI Liberty Memorial, but his gifts to church institutions were tremendous, totaling several million dollars.

He died on March 15, 1934, at age 83.

Note: My husband’s cousin, Charles Joseph Loveall (1900-1974) was a “Deacon Emeritus” of Independence Boulevard Christian Church.   

More to Read:
1. Here Lies Kansas City: A Collection of Our City’s Notables and Their Final Resting Places. Wilda Sandy. 1984.
2. The Interpretive Site Coalition (ISC) Kansas City’s 2011 Passport to Adventure.
3. Postcards from Old Kansas City. By Mrs. Sam Ray. 1980.
4. Shifra Stein’s A Kid’s Guide to Kansas City, By Diana Lambdin Meyer & Kathryn Lutz Dusenbery
5. Mr. & Mrs. R.A. Long's 50th Anniversary Celebration
6. Longview Farm Tour with guide Dr. Michael Raynor
7. "Robert A. Long." History of Kentucky and Kentuckians. By E. Polk Johnson. Lewis Publishing, Chicago, IL, 1912. Vol. III. pp. 1384-1389. 
8. Kansas City, Missouri: Its History and Its People. 1808-1908. By Carrie Westlake Whitney. S.J. Clarke Pub. Co, Chicago, 1908. Vol. 1, p. 425
9. Robert's Mo. Death Certificate #9018
10. Findagrave # 6821401

Places to see in Mo.

1. Independence Boulevard Christian Church (f. 1873), 606 Gladstone Ave, Kansas City
2. Forest Hill Pantheon, 6901 Troost Ave. KCMO.
3. Longview Chapel Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church, 850 SW Longview Rd, Lee’s Summit.
4. Longview Farms, 3361 SW Longview Road, Lee's Summit, (group tours available by appointment)
5. Longview Lake Park, 9898 Longview (I-470 S. between Lee’s Summit and Grandview), Kansas City
6. Liberty Memorial and Museum, Union Station Plaza, 100 W. 26^th St, Kansas City,
7. Kansas City Museum, Corinthian Hall, 3218 Gladstone Boulevard, Kansas City (Note: Museum closed temporarily due to some much needed renovation until late Fall 2020.)

Circuit Riding Preacher

The circuit ridin’ preacher
Used to ride across the land
With a rifle on his saddle
And a Bible in his hand;
He told the prairie people
All about the promised land,
And he went riding by.

The circuit riding preacher
Traveled through the mire and mud
Told about the fiery furnace,
And of Noah and the flood.
He preached the way to heaven
Was by water and the blood,
As he went riding by

~ Tim Spencer, Manna Music.

Henry William Brinkman

Heinrich Wilhelm (Henry William) Brinkman (1881-1949) = Architect. On April 30, Heinrich, one son of twelve children, was born to Theodor and Fredricka Marie Voeste Brinkman in the German province of Westphalia. The following year, his family emigrated to America, first moving to Decatur, Illinois, then to Garnett, Kansas, and finally settling in the German settlement at Olpe, some ten miles south of Emporia, Kansas. His father first worked as a builder, then in the hotel business, a merchant and finally was the director of the Olpe State Bank. Henry’s younger brother, Leo J., grew up to become an accountant.

The Brinkman's were devout Catholics, very active in church affairs, and this may have led Henry to specialize in the design of churches and related facilities. He graduated from the school of architecture at Kansas State University in Manhattan in 1907. While he designed many other types of buildings during the course of his long career (1910 –1947), such as residential and civic ones, the main body of his designs were for the glory of God.

On June 24, 1908, Henry and Elizabeth K. Kuhlmann were married in his hometown of Olpe. They had four children born to this union – Eleanore, Joseph Jerome “Jerry,” Gloria Ann, and James Warren Brinkman. Jerome Brinkman followed in his father’s footsteps and joined Henry in his architectural firm after World War II, finally becoming a partner in the firm when Henry retired in 1948.

Henry was an active lay member of the Sacred Heart parish in Emporia, Kansas, a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Rotary Club, and was for sixteen years a director of the Citizens National Bank of Emporia. He died on December 7, 1949 and was buried in the St. Joseph Cemetery in Olpe, Kansas.

More to Read:

1. Brinkman Family Records. J.W. Brinkman. Emporia, Kansas.

2. Germantown, Missouri and St. Ludger Church: 1833-2002. Donna Koch Talbott. 2002.

3. “Henry W. Brinkman, Architect.” By Larry Hancks, 2004.

4. Kansas Historical Society Kansapedia website article 

5. Lyon County Historical Museum (ask to see Brinkman’s family clipping file), Emporia

6. The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas: 150 Years of Faith 1850-2000. By Todd Habiger. 2000.

7. The Emporia Gazette (articles on Henry Brinkman), December 8 & 10, 1949

Building Permit Records
8. John Stanley Hagen, Architectural Firm Partner. Findagrave #89465500. 

9. Findagrave #81798917

Places to Visit:

A Partial List of Churches designed by Brinkman:

Kansas:

1908-10 = St. Joseph Catholic Church, Olpe

1910 = Methodist-Episcopal Church, Americus

1911 = Sacred Heart Catholic Church, First & Exchange, Emporia

1912-17 = St. Joseph Catholic Church, 105 N. Oak St., Damar, Rooks Co. (National Register, 2005)

1912 = Brinkman’s 1st Personal Residence, 917 State, Emporia.

1913 = St. Bede’s Catholic Church, Kelly.

1916 = St. Lawrence’s Catholic Church, Easton.

1916 = St. Joseph’s Catholic Church (basement), 811 Vermont Ave, Kansas City.

1917 = Parsonage, Andale.

1917-18 = St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 630 South Pyle St, Kansas City. (closed)

1920 = The Seven Dolors Catholic Church, 731 Pierre St. (NE corner of Juliette & Pierre St), Manhattan, Riley Co. (National Register, 1995)

1920-21 = St. Joseph Catholic Church (completion), 811 Vermont Ave., Kansas City. (A Polish national parish; merged with St. Benedict parish in 1976)

1920-22 = St. Martin’s Catholic Church, Piqua.

1922-24 = St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Emporia

1922 = St. Benedict’s Parochial School, South Boeke St.& Pacific Ave., Kansas City.

1922-26 = Mother House, Order of Sisters Servants of Mary, 800 North 18th St, Kansas City

1922 = St. Joseph’s Parochial School, Olpe.

1922 = Brinkman’s Personal Residence II, 508 Exchange, Emporia.

1922-23 = Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 2203 Parallel & Troup Avenues, Kansas City.

1924-27 = St. Peter’s Cathedral, 414 North Grandview Blvd. Kansas City. (Seat of the Archdiocese).

1925-27 = Church of the Holy Family & Rectory, 6th & Ohio and 274 North Orchard St., Kansas City.

1925 = St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, 4th & Maple St, Fowler.

1925- 41 = Bishop Ward High School and addition, 708 North 18th St., Kansas City.(Dedicated on Oct. 11, 1931)

1927 = St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Offerle.

1928 = St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Emporia

1928 = St. John’s Rectory, Spearville.

1929 = St. Patrick’s Parochial School, Corning.

1929 = St. John’s Parochial School, Hoisington

1929 = St. Andrew’s Parochial School, Wright

1929 = Sacred Heart Parochial School and Rectory, Dodge City.

1929 = St. Anthony’s Hospital, Sebetha

1930 = Church of the Holy Redeemer, Tampa

1942-43 = St. Agnes’ Catholic church, 53rd & Mission Road, Roeland Park.

Missouri:

St. Peter’s Elementary School, Joplin

St. John Hospital addition, Joplin

1912 = Guardian Angel(s) Catholic Church (1st phase), 4232 Mercier, Kansas City.

1922 = Guardian Angels Church, Kansas City, Jackson Co.

1922-23 = Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, Kansas City, Jackson Co.

1922-24 = St. Francis Seraph, Kansas City

1922 = Sacred Heart Parish hall, 814 West 26th St, Kansas City.

1922-23 = Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, 2554 Gillham Rd., Kansas City

1924-28 = Holy Name Catholic Church (completion), 2201 Benton Blvd., Kansas City

1924-25 = St. Francis Seraph Catholic Church, 807 North Agnes Ave, Kansas City (closed 1991)

1925 = St. Catherine’s Home for Working Girls (Sisters of Mercy), 1026 Forest Ave., Kansas City

1925 = Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 930 Norton, Kansas City

1926-32 = St. Therese of the Little Flower Parochial School & addition, 5809 Michigan Ave, Kansas City.

1927 = Our Lady of Guadalupe Parochial School, 2310 Madison, Kansas City

1927 = St. Ludger Catholic Church, Germantown, Henry Co.

Catholic Church, Blue Springs

Updated: 9/17/2020, Post Written by Dolores J. Rush.

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Hobbs Keckley

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Hobbs Keckly (c. 1820 - 1907) = Light-skinned black slave. Teacher. Best known as former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s modiste (dressmaker). Elizabeth was born into slavery near Dinwiddie Court House, Virginia to Agnes, a woman owned by Colonel Armistead Burwell. There is some question as to who Lizzie’s biological father was. Was he her mother’s sweetheart, George Pleasant Hobbs, a slave on a neighboring farm? Or was it, as Agnes confessed on her death bed, Master Burwell?

Several years after Lizzie’s birth, George moved to Tennessee with his owner Grum, eventually losing touch.

In an era when certain civil liberties were forbidden to slaves such as marriage, voting, and going to school, Elizabeth learned to read and write as well as domestic duties. When she was fourteen, Burwell sent her to work in his minister son, Robert’s household. There she was given to Alexander Kirkland, a white man whom she had a son by. The pair, Lizzie and George W.D., then 18 months old, were sent to live with Robert’s sister, Anne, and her husband, Hugh A. Garland when Kirkland died.

Garland, a merchant and later the attorney for the defendant in the Dred Scott v. Sanford case, moved to St. Louis, MO. From his heirs in 1855, she was able to obtain their emancipation papers for $1200. Shortly thereafter, she married James Keckley, then separated from him after eight years. She moved first to Baltimore, Maryland and then to Washington, D.C. to establish her dressmaking business.

In 1859, her son attended Wilberforce University, Xenia, Ohio and in 1861, was killed during the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in Missouri.

Elizabeth died in her sleep on May 26, 1907. Rev. Dr. Francis Grimke officiated at her funeral and she was buried in the Harmony Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Historical Fact: On July 13, 1787, when the Northwest territory (Ordinance) was signed into being (this included the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota), slavery was prohibited in the territory, except for indentured servants, which meant a slaveholder could send a slave from out of the territory to work his land or harvest his crops for a limited length of time in the territory, but this "servant" could not be bought or sold within the territory. There was also a fugitive slave law clause, so any slave who was caught escaping through the territory would be returned to their master, however, in 1848, Illinois passed a law making it a free state.   

More to Read:

1. Behind the Scenes. By Elizabeth Keckley. Edited by Frances Smith Foster. RR. Donnelley & Sons Co., Chicago, First published 1868; reprinted 1931; 1998.

2. Biography

3. Hugh A. Garland, of St. Louis, MO. Lawyer and Author Biography

4. "A Virginia state senator found headstones on his property. It brought to light a historic injustice in D.C." By Gregory S. Schneider. Washington Post. 26 Oct 2020. Microsoft News.
5. St. Louis Courthouse Postcard by Raphael and Tuck
6. Findagrave #7153815 and #106853064

Places to Visit:

1. Old St. Louis Courthouse. 11 N. Fourth St. St. Louis. (Place of Dred and Harriet Scott's Trial. Dred Scott is buried here.)

2. Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, 6424 West Farm Road 182, Republic, MO.