Rev. Alexander M. Sullens

Rev. Alexander M. & Martha Ritter Sullens

Rev. Alexander M. Sullens (1830-1905)  = Christian (Campbellite; Disciples of Christ) Minister. Union Soldier in Civil War.

Alexander, born in Mill Springs, Wayne county, Kentucky on Oct 15, the third of thirteen, to John (1804-1883) and Malinda Thompson Sullens (1805-1867), emigrated from Kentucky to Miller county, Missouri where his brother was born the following year. Alexander's grandparents were Peter & Mary Carson Sullens, Sr. Alexander's first cousin, Judge John H. Sullens of Adrian, Bates County, MO.,  born in Kentucky the year before he was, was elected to both circuit court and as a Missouri state legislator. As a victim of the Burnt District, John, along with other representatives, asked the editor of the St. Louis Republican paper to publish George Caleb Bingham's letter concerning General Thomas Ewing's Order No. 11.

Alexander married Martha (1831-1914), daughter of Abraham and Nancy Ritter on May 19, 1849 in Cole County, MO and to this union six children were born -- William Jasper  (1850-1829); John Thomas (1852-1935); Mary E. (b.1857); George Washington (1859-1896); Ezra L. (1861-1930); and Lewis Pinkney "Pink" Sullens (1867-1945). Their son, William, played a fiddle and it is said that he could play all night and not play the same song twice. William's son, Loyd Carl would accompany his father on his banjo.

Alexander pastored the Spring Garden Christian Church, the mother church of all the Disciples of Christ churches in Miller County. The church was organized in 1840 and two church houses were built in the northwest corner of the present day cemetery in 1845 and 1870. When his granddaughter, Cora Lee (1875-1955), daughter of William Jasper and Nannie C. Scrivner (1857-1901) Sullens, married William Thornton Rush (1874-1954), son of James M. (1826-1892) & Theresa Jane Loveall Rush (1835-1909), on March 30, 1902,  he officiated at their wedding ceremony.

 More to Read:

1.) Bingham: Fighting Artist. By Lew Larkin. School of the Ozarks Press, Point Lookout, MO. 1971. P. 293.

2.) The History of Cass and Bates Counties, Missouri. St. Joseph, Mo. National Historical Company, 1883. p. 1299-1300. Repository: Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence, MO, www.mymcpl.org

3.) Miller County, MO. Marriages, Bk. E. P. 137 By A. M. Sullins.

4.) The Rush Report. Compiled by Gaynelle Jenkins Moore with research assistance by David W. Rush. Historical Data Services, Glens Falls, NY; 2003.

5.) Peter Sullens and Mary Carson and Two Hundred Years of Descendants. By Maude Sullens Hoffman. Printed by J.W. Brown. 1971.
6.) A Photo of William Jasper & Loyd Sullens playing their instruments.

7.) Miller County, Missouri Communities: Spring Garden
8.) See the "Leaf" labeled biographies for more information.
9.) Findagrave Memorial  # 61286760 and Find A Grave Memorial # 60413035

Places to Visit:

1.) Spring Garden Cemetery, AA Hwy & Binkley Road (north of 54 Hwy), Spring Garden, Miller County, MO. 



Alexander Sullen's Civil War Tombstone
Spring Garden, MO. cemetery

Certificate that came with Civil War tombstone
signed by US President

Citation: "Rev. Alexander M. Sullens." Written by Dolores J. Rush. 3 June 2013. History Nut of Missouri, USA. 

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 

Citation: "Robert Alexander Long." Written by Dolores J. Rush. 8 August 2012. History Nut of Missouri, USA. 

Carry A. Nation

Carry A. Nation (1846 – 1911) = Best known for her hatchet as a temperance crusader. Carry Amelia Moore was born at home in Garrard County, Kentucky, November 25, to George and Mary Campbell Moore. She was a sensitive and strong-willed child.

Her father held Sunday services in his home for his family and slaves in Kentucky. When Carrie was old enough, she took over the Bible reading. Often bored in the meetings, later in life she said she was grateful for her knowledge of the Word.

Carrie moved with her family to a farm near Belton, Missouri when she was nearly nine. It was located in the northwest corner of Cass County close to the Kansas border and south of Kansas City.

Her father became a member of the local Disciples of Christ Christian Church. He persuaded Carry when she was ten to go with him to a revival being held at the Hickman Mills Christian Church across the line in Jackson County. She went to the altar, knowing she was a sinner, knelt, and felt purified at her conversion experience. The next day, she was baptized in a stream with winter ice in it.

Carry married two men. Dr. Charles Gloyd in 1867 who died of alcohol poisoning and Rev. David Nation, an ordained minister and lawyer who pastored a church in Medicine Lodge, Kansas.

Carry believed God had a special mission for her to do in life and was often at odds with the established clergy and law. It was while they lived in Medicine Lodge that her crusade against the evils of liquor began. She called herself the Home Defender and her motto was "Prohibition." She smashed bars with a hatchet in hand.

She died June 2, 1911 and was buried in the Belton, MO. cemetery.

More to Read:

1. The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation. Steves and Sons, Topeka, 1908.

2. Webster's Biographical Dictionary. G and C. Merriam, 1956.

3. Jackson County Pioneers. By Pearl Wilcox. 1975

4. “The Joint Smasher: Carry Nation” By Ellen Miller. Midwest Genealogy Center News Bytes. June 2011.

5. Dictionary of Christianity in America. Editors: Daniel G. Reid, Robert D. Linder, Bruce L. Shelley, & Harry S. Stout, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 1990.

6. The History of Johnson County, Missouri Including a Reliable History of the Townships, Cities and Towns. Kansas City, MO, Kansas City Historical Company; 1881. Reprinted 1970. P. 511.
7. Introduction to Carry A. Nation
8. Carry A. Nation's Diary and Scrapbook

9. Carry Amelia Nation's Papers
10. Kansas Carry A. Nation Trading Card!
11. Vintage Photographs
12. Findagrave #756

Places to Visit in MO. and KS.:
1. Belton Museum, 512 Main, Belton, Mo.

2. Belton, MO. cemetery

3. Carry Nation Marker, K-8, south edge of Kiowa, Barber County, KS. 37.007829, -98.489842
4. Carry A. Nation's Home Museum, 211 West Fowler, Hwy 160, Medicine Lodge, Barber County, Ks.

Citation: "Carry A. Nation." Written by Dolores J. Rush. 27 April 2010. History Nut of Missouri, USA.