Times Past
Mrs. Maud Ford began crocheting afghans for her family around 1970. The one covering her lap is the first one she ever made. The one on the extreme left is one she is making for herself. The middle one is one she is making for a great grandson.
By Mary Ruth Luna
Reprinted from in the June 20, 1974, edition of the Ozark County Times.
Mrs. Maud Ford will celebrate her 89th birthday Sunday in much the same way she has spent most Sundays in her life - with a family dinner in her home in Gainesville.
As long as Mrs. Ford can remember,...
For more than 100 years, this grand house stood on what is now County Road 902 northwest of Theodosia. It was built by Joseph Everett Peacock sometime before his death in 1901 at age 39. Joseph had shared the home with his wife, Florence Emeline Maritt Peacock, and their four children. In 1903, the widowed Florence married her widowed brother-in-law, Henry Kelly Derrick, whose first wife was Joseph’s twin sister, Eliza Ann Peacock Derrick. Eliza had died six days before her 30th birthday in 1892, after giving birth to twins, who survived only seven months. Kelly brought his three surviving children to the second marriage, making the combined family of seven children both first cousins and step-siblings. Together, Kelly and Florence had four more daughters: Jessie, Glessie, Leah and Flossie. Those pictured are, front row, from left: Florence and Kelly Derrick and his three children, Lou, Joseph and Millie Derrick. Back row: Florence’s four children: Edith, Leroy, Arthur and Kelley Peacock. Later, Kelly Derrick had the second floor of the house removed, perhaps fearing a fire. On Oct. 21, 2019, a large tree fell on the house during a storm, damaging it beyond repair. This photo is from the collection of Sally Lyons McAlear, who suspects it may have been taken on Kelly and Florence’s March 7, 1903, wedding day, because Kelly’s daughters are holding bouquets of flowers. The little girl in the white dress, Edith Peacock Edmonds (1891-1948), was Sally’s maternal grandmother.
Ozark County News
June 21, 1883
The number of sportsmen increase daily at the pigeon roost.
Ozark county farmers are finding that corn and small grain are more profitable than cotton. . . . We are glad to note that no farmer in this county, so far as we know, is raising cotton as a crop this year....
Bug’s Cafe, Gainesville, 1950s This photo, taken around 1950, shows Bug’s Cafe on the former High Street (now Third Street) in Gainesville, mentioned in the 1954 Times Past item below, which reports that the cafe had reopened after remodeling. The cafe’s 1949 menu is shown, at right. Gainesville resident Barbara Rackley Luna, granddaughter of cafe owners John Lonzo "Bug" Farel and his wife, Grace, said in a February 2017 story in the Old Mill Run that both Bug and Grace cooked at the cafe. Their daughter, Dorcas Rackley, "waited tables until two days before I was born on May 23, 1948," Barbara wrote in the story. Soon after she was born, Barbara said, "Dorcas went back to work, taking me with her where I slept in hideaways such as the bread storage cabinet in the kitchen."
Ozark County News
June 7, 1883
A pigeon roost has been formed on the west side of the county near G. W. Webster's place. A party of men arrived here Thursday with nets, etc., to catch them.
Some of the merchants of this place have commenced freighting from West Plains.
Several applications to make...
The cow’s udder must be cleaned each time before hooking up the milker. Above, Nancy is wiping off the cleaning solution, preparing to prestrip this cow.
Reprinted from in the June 15, 1994, edition of the Ozark County Times.
By Marilyn Luna Tilley
The day starts at 4 a.m.. Not just today, but everyday. That’s the time the Kellys start to do the chores.
Troy and Nancy Kelly, of Dora, have a dairy farm. And as Nancy said, “You can’t get sick...
This photo, originally tagged “Spring at Sycamore,” is from the collection of the late John L. Harlin. It is one of several photos in an album of photos taken in 1913 by Henry Stark, official photographer of the Frisco and Union Pacific Railroad, when he accompanied E. Y. Mitchell here to create incentives for people who he hoped would “colonize” about 45,000 acres of Ozark County land. The album, believed to have been compiled by or for the late Johnny Harlin, John L. Harlin’s grandfather, was discovered several years ago in an old, unused vault at what is now Century Bank of the Ozarks, which was founded in 1894 by the Harlin family as the Bank of Gainesville.
compiled by Sue Ann Jones
Ozark County News
May 30, 1889
The grave yard below town was cleared off and the trees trimmed up this week by citizens of town. It is to be fenced during the summer for which a subscription has been taken up.
Boone & Mishler's marble shop at this place has just...
Jean Herd stands by the door of her fourth grade classroom at Gainesville Elementary School. The room has been cleaned and desks polished since school closed, but next year, when the seats are occupied again, Miss Jean will not be there - she retired this spring closing out a 31-year career in county schools.
Reprinted from the June 13, 1984 edition of the Ozark County Times.
by Sue Ann Jones
When Jean Herd retired in May [1984] after 31 years of teaching, she left behind a career that included other tasks besides imparting knowledge.
In 1953, when she began teaching, she presided over a one-room...
The Bakersfield High School golf team took home the first place plaque in the April 15 Clever Invitational Golf Tournament and another first place plaque in the April 12 Willow Springs Invitational tournament. The team, pictured from left, includes: Coach Micheal Mahan, Ethan Cotter, CJ Carey,...
Bakersfield’s track relay team competed at sectionals last week, and while they didn’t advance to state, the team did achieve a personal record. Shown are Nathan Watlington, Gaige Samuels, Coach Tammy Lamb, Jacob Watlington, Brooks Amburgy, Amani Kowiti and assistant Kurt Watlington.
Fifty years ago, these 10 Ozark County girls were selected from 21 contestants as Hootin an Hollarin hostesses for the 1972 festival, as reported in the Times Past item at the left. The queen pageant in those years was a two-pageant process, with the hostesses selected in August and the queen chosen later, during the festival. The 1972 hostesses were, front row, from left: Peggy Rackley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Don Rackley, Gainesville; Sidney Duncan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Curt Duncan, Gainesville; Debby Lee, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Lee, Dora; Mary Lester, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Lester, Pontiac. Back: Nancy Loftis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sonny Loftis, Gainesville; Rhonda Evans, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Burl Evans, Gainesville; Jessie Sweet, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roland Sweet, Hardenville; Brenda Hambelton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Loyd Hambelton, Gainesville; Barbara Davidson, daughter of Polly Davidson, Gainesville; and Betty Green, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Green, Hardenville. Sidney Duncan (Casey) was later selected as the 1972 Hootin an Hollarin queen. Rhonda Evans (Suter) was selected as Miss Sweetie Pie. This year’s Hootin an Hollarin queen pageant will be held Thursday, Sept. 15, on the first night of the 2022 festival.
Ozark County News
Aug. 16, 1883
Parties from this county, who attended the Springfield reunion, have all returned, and report the affair’s grand success. Probably 15,000 visitors were in attendance, embracing several hundreds of the participants in the battle of Wilson Creek. Many distinguished men...
In this photo, probably taken in 1909, Florence Hunt (1869-1951), left, and her sister-in-law, Alpha Bet Morrison (1886-1953), take Alpha’s kids for a pretend drive in the early Model T touring car owned by Alpha’s husband, A.P. Morrison. Alpha and A.P.’s son, Verd Morrison of Hollister, said Sunday he thinks the little girls in the backseat are twins Lola and Nola Morrison, born in 1906, and the boy at the steering wheel is probably Afton, the Morrisons’ oldest (born in 1905), while baby Lloyd, born in 1909, is held by his mother. Verd thinks the photo was probably taken near Zanoni, where the Morrisons lived, and he speculates that Florence or one of the men standing on the porch may have ridden the horse, at left, to visit his family. The photo is from the collection of the late Reva Luna Miller and was shared by Jan and Mark Miller.
Ozark County Times
July 13, 1917
The Lieutenant Governor granted six paroles on July 4. Among the number is Ben Richardson, serving a sentence of 99 years for the killing of Alf Henry in 1920.
Richardson was convicted of cattle theft in Ozark County and was in the Howell County jail for self...