Mary Kirk Kelly: Joplin Junior College Teacher

Legendary American Ceramic Artist (aka as ceramist)

The second woman to be highlighted this year is Mary Kirk Kelly.  Coincidentally, she also lived at 101 North Sergeant Avenue between 1958 and 1963.  Mary Kirk had no relationship or association with Dora Kneeland or the Williams family. 

Mary Kirk was born in Axis, Alabama on December 24, 1918 and died on May 6, 2013.  She had two daughters, Mary Elizabeth and Ruth.  We interviewed Mary Elizabeth by phone in May 2021 and she said her father was “out of the picture” when she was seven years old, but that didn’t stop her mother from achieving a remarkable career.  Mary Kirk had a Bachelor of Arts from Alabama College; a Master of Arts from Vanderbilt University; and graduated from George Peabody College for Teachers. 

Mary Kirk was on the faculty at Joplin Junior College (precursor to Missouri Southern State University) between 1957 and 1963.  She taught American history, U. S. government and sociology; and was the faculty advisor for the student senate.  She was the faculty advisor for the first Model United Nations Convention that Joplin Jr. College attended in 1963 and accompanied the student delegates from Joplin to St. Louis for the event.  The Model UN languished at the college in the 1970s but in 1984, Dr. Paul Teverow restarted the program which continues today.

Mary Kirk was also chairman of United Nations Day in Joplin, which was held at the city’s famed (nonextant) Connor Hotel roof garden.  In October 1962, she was presented a service award for her efforts in promoting interest in the observance of United Nations Day.  The plaque was signed by President John Kennedy and Robert Benjamin, president of the U.S. committee of the U.N.  She was commended for her outstanding job in promoting Joplin’s first U.N. Day.  The U.N. works to improve the lot of mankind and maintaining world peace. 

The Joplin branch of the American Association of University Women also benefited from her involvement, membership, and chairmanship in international relations. 

She retired from teaching in the early 1970s and moved back to her ancestral home, Kirk House, in Alabama.  There she was prolific in creating ceramic art pieces from clay that she gathered from nearby Gunnison Creek.  Before long, Mary Kirk produced realistic, true-to-life size ceramic fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries, eggs, pineapples, mushrooms, potatoes, leaves, magnolia blossoms, Osage oranges, and even shrimp.  She also produced utilitarian porcelain art pieces such as tureens, bowls, plates, and tea sets that looked like cabbage, lettuce, or melons; ceramic plaques with daisies; candlesticks fashioned after banana stalks; and trays that looked like banana leaves.  People from all over the world purchased and collected her art pieces.

Mary Kirk Kelly

According to the Worth Point website, “Both her artistry and painstaking attention to detail are obvious.  Each is made by hand from earthenware or porcelain clay in liquid form (slip).  Ms. Kelly hand sculpts the greenware, then paints it before bisque firing.  After firing, she brushes or sponges metallic oxide colorants to capture the realism so highly prized by collectors.  Each piece is signed by Ms. Kelly.  They range in size from 3” to 6”.  Generally, her works sell in the $175 to $300 range (per piece), depending on the intricacy of the design.  These look beautiful in just an ordinary fruit basket.  People WILL try to eat them…”

To view or purchase some of Mary Kirk’s works of art, just search the internet under Mary Kirk Kelly, American Artist.

United Nations Day, celebrated every year on October 24th, marks the anniversary of the UN Charter that was ratified in 1945.  There is no other global organization with the legitimacy, convening power and normative impact of the United Nations.  Today, the urgency for all countries to come together, to fulfil the promise of the nations united, has rarely been greater.

Mary Kirk Kelly

Enclosed roof garden on the Connor Hotel pictured in 1916.  Joplin Historical & Mineral Museum.

The Connor Hotel pictured courtesy of the Mark & Paula Callihan archives

Missouri Southern State University, Joplin has continued the Model United Nations class.  Every November they take students to the American Model United Nations conference in Chicago.  According to Dr. Chad Stebbins, MSSU professor of journalism and director of the Institute of International Studies, “The students usually represent the country that is the focus of MSSU’s themed semester that fall.  In Fall 2022, they represented the Czech Republic.  In Fall 2023, they will represent Ireland.”  Dr. Stebbins is also the author of Joplin’s Connor Hotel; first published in 2021.

Edna Catherine Jackson Houk

Edna Catherine Jackson Houk | Mrs. William Houk
218 South Sergeant Avenue | Joplin Missouri | Circa 1903 | Extant
Edna was an active worker in the cause of prohibition, a supporter of everything tending to uplift and better the community, and one of America’s early leaders in the cause for women’s rights.

Edna was born, August 15, 1852 in Eckford, Calhoun County, Michigan.

She married William Houk in 1891.

William was born in Dayton, Ohio on January 20, 1859 and died February 26, 1927 in Joplin.

William and Edna had one daughter, Helen Adelaide Houk, born on September 17, 1895 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The family moved to Joplin in the late 1900’s.

Helen died August 25, 1912  at the age of 16 in Joplin of typhoid fever.

Edna died June 1, 1911 in Joplin of cancer. 

Edna had been associate editor of the Cincinnati Post and was considered one of the most accomplished journalists in the area.  She was also a writer and special correspondent for a number of large newspapers and for many years was a highly valued assistant of the Scripps-McRae news service.  She wrote many poems and short stories which were published in newspapers and magazines throughout the East.

She was an active worker in the cause of prohibition, a supporter of everything tending to uplift and better the community, and one of America’s early leaders in the cause for women’s rights.

“…every girl should learn a trade or a profession…for it is a safer provision for the future, than money in the bank.”   

Edna wrote a book in 1893 titled Women Wealth Winners; or How Women Can Earn Money. Printed reproductions of the book are available through Amazon.  Edna lists several jobs that a woman could take on before the turn of the century.  One such example was that of a mature woman who gave in-home lessons in the science of housekeeping to the mistress of the house, her daughters, and the hired help.  Another example is that of a semi-invalid 15-year-old girl who boarded pets for society ladies.  Edna stated in her book that “…every girl should learn a trade or a profession…for it is a safer provision for the future, than money in the bank.” 

William Houk (1859-1927) consolidated several mining operations into the Conqueror Zinc. Co. serving as its President and Edna as Vice President.  In 1905 he co-founded the Conqueror Trust Company and was elected President. 

NOTE:  Mr. Houk subsequently married Frances R. Hengelsberg of St. Louis after Edna’s death.  To this union two daughters were born, Emily in 1913 and Edna in 1914.  

Edna wrote to her daughter Helen and husband William poignant letters of farewell on April 17, 1911 that survived in the family archives.  Mama writes to her daughter words of encouragement days before traveling to St. Louis for her second examination. Edna wrote, “Always think of me as happy and at rest, and having lived nearly the allotted life of mankind”.  Edna died 48 days later.

Edna and family are interred at Mount Hope Cemetery, Webb City, Missouri.

Historic Murphysburg has not been able to find a photo of Edna. Pictured is Henrietta Cosgrove, Edna’s sister.

Bill Caldwell wrote about Henrietta in his Globe column in 2016 on Women’s History Month, ”Cosgrove was a writer, philanthropist and a political worker at the turn of the century.”

“Henrietta Cosgrove, of Joplin, was one of the city’s first proponents of social reform, fighting to secure better treatments for families left behind when workers were killed in mines.”

Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc is proud to remind our readers about two sisters committed to the betterment of the inhabitants of Joplin before women even had the right to vote!

Learn more about the Women of Missouri from National Trust for Historic Preservation at Women’s Heritage Month. 

HMP’s mission is to implement charitable and educational activities that promote and stimulate historic awareness throughout the neighborhood.  We strive to educate people about the Murphysburg Historic District and the value of historic preservation to our economy, local quality of life, as well as state and national value.

The David Castle Tandy

Born 1823 | Died 1875 | Physician | Land Speculator

So, just who was Mr. David Castleman Tandy and what was his connection to our area?

If you own land in the Murphysburg Historic Residential District, specifically in Section 3, or land in other Joplin Sections 7, 10, 11 or 14, you might have seen the name of David C. Tandy on your abstract as the “original” owner of the land.  The abstract may also read, “Copy of Patent or Special Warranty Deed with dates of 1851, 1859, 1864, and “Consideration – Military Service”. Current landowners may assume that Mr. Tandy served in the military.

Self-proclaimed amateur history detectives Mary Anne Phillips and Paula Callihan decided to find out what branch of service and which war Mr. Tandy served in.  With the assistance of the Jasper County Records Department’s staff and volunteers, they discovered that the 1860 U.S. Census revealed David Tandy lived at 123 Olive in St. Louis and was married to Anna Cabell Castleman.  Mr. Tandy never resided in Joplin. According to the Bureau of Land Management’s website, Mr. Tandy acquired land all over the state of Missouri, not just in Joplin.

Continued research uncovered Mr. Tandy on the U.S. Civil War Draft Registration records from 1863-1865. The document revealed that he was a physician, that had been born in Kentucky and still lived on Olive Street in St. Louis. In the “remark” column, it revealed that Donald Cameron was hired as Tandy’s military “substitute” on November 16, 1864.  Cameron’s Civil War service was in the Eighteenth Regiment of the Missouri Infantry and was listed as a Private.

So, the question still remains—how did Tandy acquire land in Joplin? The answer lies in the Bounty-Land Warrants for Military Service, 1775-1855 Congressional Acts.  Starting in 1775, the United States granted bounty-land warrants for military service, including volunteer militias primarily to encourage volunteer enlistments. They also rewarded veterans for service during the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, the Mexican War, a variety of Indian wars, Indian removals and other military actions during the 1850’s.

During that time the area was sparsly populated, the early Joplin pioneers, John Chandler Cox, Solomon Rothenberger, Reverend Harris Joplin and William Tingle civilized the area by forming a town.

Many veterans who received bounty-land did not take possession but sold them to another party.  The land that was granted was “public land” and the authority was granted through the “Scrip Warrant Act of 1855″.  U.S. land acquisition from Native Americans, Louisiana Purchase, etc. is a conversation for another day.

According to Joplin Title Company, the information on the actual signed Warrant has all of the necessary information going back to the land grant via the General Land Office in Springfield, Missouri. The abstract has “abbreviated” information and in this case, only shows Mr. Tandy. 

Following are some details on the original Joplin warranty deeds:

Section Three (Includes Murphysburg)           

A Fractional Quarter

  • President Millard Fillmore caused the letters to be made Patent
  • The US Government gave the land to William Cabell, a private in Captain Owen’s Company,of the Fourth Regiment of Kentucky Volunteers,
  • Land was transferred to John Chandler Cox, an assignee of  William Cabell on September 1, 1851                                                      

Southeast Quarter

  • President James Buchanan caused the letters to be made Patent
  • US Government gave the land  to John Ozman a private in Captain Bryan’s Company, Maryland Militia, War 1812
  • Ozman assigned the land to David C. Tandy on June 10, 1859

Did David Tandy buy the land grants from Ozman or did   he get them as an heir of his great-great grandfatherColonel William Cabell for his military service that includes:

  • Colonel William Cabell (1699- 1774) 
  • Graduated at the Royal College of Physicians of London
  • Surgeon in the Royal Navy, then emigrated to Virginia about 1723, where he obtained extensive grants of land along the James River
  • Appointed under Sherriff of Henrico 1726,
  • Justice of the first Goochland County Court, 1728-9
  • One of the first Justices of the first Court of Albermarle Co,.1744-1745
  • Capitan in the Indian Wars, 1726
  • First presiding Justice for the United States after the Declaration of Independence,
  • Chosen first Senator from the eighth district
  • Member of the Committee that prepared the Declaration of Rights             

Other sections of Joplin that David Tandy received or bought from heirs are:

Parts of Section Eleven

  • President James Buchanan caused the letters to be made Patent
  • The US Government gave the land to George Houck, Seaman, United States Ship Germantown, United States Navy, Mexican War
  • Houck assigned the land to David C. Tandy on June 10, 1859

Parts of Section Seven 

  • President James Buchanan caused the letters to be made Patent
  • The US Government gave the land to James Gould, Private, Captain Lynch’s Company, Maryland Militia, War 1812
  • Houck assigned the land to David C. Tandy on June 10, 1859

Parts of Sections Ten, Eleven, and Fourteen

  • President Abraham Lincoln caused the letters to be made Patent
  • The US Government gave the land to Benjamin Harding, a private in Captain Leigh’s Company, Virginia Militia, War 1812
  • Harding assigns the land to David C. Tandy on December 1, 1864

Yeats later,  tracts of land were laid out in town lots and sold to such notable people as Oliver H. Pitcher, Oliver S. Pitcher (early spelling for Picher), Mrs. Adelia Moffet, William Sergeant and W. P Davis, Patrick Murphy’s business partner.

As most history chasers would say that the more answers we find, the more questions we have. Colonel William Cabell was the great-great grandfather to both David and his wife Anna Cabell Castleman Tandy.

Sources: 

  • Archives of HMP, Inc.
  • Bureau of Land Management website
  • U. S. Census website captured on October 2, 2012
  • Civil War Registration
  • Congressional Acts – Bounty Land Warrants for Military Service 1775-1855
  • National Archives and Records Administration’s website http://www.archivs.gov
  • Find-A-Grave
  • Ancestry 

Mr. Charles Schifferdecker

Born August 28, 1851 | Died October 30, 1915
Businessman | Philanthropist | Capitalist

Charles Schifferdecker
Charles Schifferdecker

A lot can be said about Mr. Schifferdecker, one of Joplin’s most prominent citizens of his time. Originally from Baden, Germany, Mr. Schifferdecker worked with Mr. Edward Zelleken at Zelleken’s brewery and later the two opened a bottling business, then established a wholesale beer and ice business in Joplin.  Mr. Schifferdecker quickly moved on to the more lucrative banking and mining ventures.

Mr. Schifferdecker was not technically a “veteran,” but he enabled Joplin men to serve our country during the Spanish-American War in 1898.  He died during the middle of World War I.

But first a little background and facts about this brief war between the United States and Spain.

  • The United States involvement lasted only four months
  • One of the many reasons for the war was the sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba on February 15, 1898
  • The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898
  • The Spanish government gave Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the U.S. and U.S. gave Spain $20 million dollars.
  • Theodore Roosevelt fought in the war before he was President
  • William McKinley was President
Schifferdecker House
Mr. Schifferdecker’s home at 422 South Sergeant Avenue and Mr. Zelleken’s home next door at 406 S. Sergeant are currently undergoing extensive restorations by Joplin Historical Neighborhoods, Inc.

According to Joel Livingston’s account of Mr. Schifferdecker:

His liberal was cheerfully extended to the Joplin Rifles, the first military company organized in Joplin, in 1881, and its ample equipment was largely due to him.

He was equally helpful in affording influence and means toward the organization of Company G, of the Second Regiment, National Guard of Missouri, for service in the Spanish American War, and his patriotic enthusiasm moved him to many acts of liberality while that command was in the field.

In the Joplin Keepsake Album, the authors chronicled the following about Company G:

Joplin men entered the war as “volunteers” because state guards could not serve as general defense.  However, the men of Company G were disappointed when they were never sent to the war zone.  Instead they were moved from camp to camp in the United States.  

…however, the boys of Company G fared well, distinguishing themselves as the regiment’s color guard and by their skill in the dress parade, which caused other regiments to break ranks and look on.

While Mr. Schifferdecker was no doubt admired for his generosity during the Spanish-American War, the German community in Joplin were not admired during World War I.  As explained in Joel Livingston’s account in the history of Jasper County, Missouri:

  • In 1876, when the Germania Social and Literary Society of Joplin formed, it had over fifty charter members.  Thus, it was a small, but established German community. 
  • At the height of World War I, there came a hysteria to the Joplin community [and the country] about people of German origin, and the town felt threatened by the
  • German community though unfounded fear.  One man, Gustav A. Brautigam that owned a local delicatessen literally had to leave town for fear of his life.

The following significant houses were built in the Murphysburg Historic District in 1898 and 1899 – boom due to sale of war supplies:

  •  William H. Miller House | 111 South Sergeant
  • Adam Scott House | 202 South Sergeant
  • William Picher House | 421 South Sergeant
  • George Lavery House | 608 South Sergeant
  • A. B. McConnell/Sol Newman House | 115 S. Moffet
  • John Wise House | 504 S. Byers
  • Alfred H. Rogers House | 623 West Fourth
  • A. L. James House | 619 West Second

Sources:

  • Wikipedia 
  • Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, MCMLXXXVI  
  • Joel T. Livingston. History of Jasper County, Missouri and Its People, Volumes 1 & 2.   Chicago, Illinois:  Lewis Publishing Company, 1912.   
  • Brad Belk, Andy Ostmeyer, Katy Schrader, and Leslie Simpson.  Joplin Keepsake Album.  St. Louis, Missouri: G. Bradley Publishing, Inc., 2000. Pages 32-33.   
  • Joel T. Livingston. History of Jasper County, Missouri
  • Historic Joplin

Mr. Lee Taylor

Born February 28, 1837 | Died December 13, 1917
Confederate Soldier | First Elected Mayor of Joplin | Mine Owner
His Second to last home was located in the Murphysburg Historic Residential District at 5th and Byers Avenue

Mr. Lee Taylor

In an era of interpreting how we view or romanticize Joplin’s historical facts related to the American Civil War, and with the understanding that Joplin and Missouri were split politically and morally between the Union and Confederacy, HMP’s philosophy is to look at historical facts with a neutral eye.  In this spirit, HMP does not honor the war, but rather honors the history that shaped our nation, state, and city, plus those who gave of themselves.

Civil War hostilities and blood shed started early in Jasper and Newton Counties with brother against brother – Missouri against Kansas – slave owners against non-slave owners and abolitionists – neighbor against neighbor.  Significant battles occurred at the Sherwood/Rader Farm  northwest of present day Joplin, in Jasper County.

The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 to May 9, 1865) was also known in northern states as the War of the Rebellion and Great Rebellion.  In southern states the war was often times referred to as the War of Northern Aggression, War Between the States, and War for Southern Independence.

One of Joplin’s early settlers after the war was Mr. Lee Taylor.  He was born in Manchester, England on February 28, 1837 and eventually settled in Arkansas.  He entered the Civil War in Washington County (Fayetteville) Arkansas as a Sergeant in the Army of the Confederacy, 34thArkansas Infantry Regiment, Company A, Brook’s Regiment, Fagan’s Brigade.  His rank out was Second Lieutenant.

Many men, and most likely Mr. Taylor, enlisted in the militia for what they were told would be “local protection” duty. But after the draft was imposed by the Confederacy, the militia ended up fighting throughout Arkansas and points south as a member of the Confederate Army.

According to Jim Scott, Murphysburg homeowner and Mr. Taylor’s great grandson, in 1901 Mr. Taylor became a U. S. Citizen. He submitted proof of being married to Mildred Mellisa Wilson, an American citizen, and “…renounced all allegiance and fidelity to Victoria, the queen of Great Britain.”

United Confederate Veterans  –  Mr. Taylor was a member of Jasper County’s Camp No. 522 of the United Confederate Veterans, which was a society organized on May 22, 1894, with forty charter members.  At one time, the camp had 174 ex-Confederate army veterans on its rolls.  They raised money so that former soldiers could live out their lives at Confederate homes, specifically the “Home at Higginsville.” Members erected a monument at the Confederate cemetery in Springfield, Mo. and a monument at Palmyra and Neosho, and held annual picnics and reunions. “…at gatherings the members have lived over the old days that tried men’s souls and have, in memory, sat around the camp fire and recounted the pleasures and the sorrows, the hardships and the recreations of the soldier’s life.”  The Society was part of the state organization. 

Current Historic Sites

One of the monuments still stand in the Neosho I. O. O. F. (a.k.a. Odd Fellows) Cemetery. Look for “The Grey Soldier” statue with the engraving that reads In Memory of Confederate Dead.  Jasper County’s Camp No. 522 contributed $100 toward the monument, which adjusted for inflation is $2,810 in 2018.

The “Home at Higginsville” or Confederate Soldiers Home of Missouri provided comfort and refuge to 1,600 Civil War veterans and their families for nearly 60 years, closing in 1950.  Today, visitors can visit the restored chapel and the Confederate cemetery, as well as three other historic buildings.  The Camp contributed $1000 toward the building, which adjusted for inflation represents $28,100 in 2018.  They also contributed $775 toward its maintenance.

The Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.)—a faternal organization of veterans of the Civil War Union Army—also had a prescence in Joplin and Jasper County.  Many early prominent Joplin leaders were members of various G.A.R. posts, one of which was Mr. C. J. G. Workizer.  Interestingly, both GAR and UCV members served together for a common purpose such as board members that initiated the charter request so that Joplin could become a city.

Front Engraving: 1902 |  In Memory of Confederate Dead | Side Engraving: James England, Maker Neosho Mo.

Top Flag:  Third National Flag | aka the “Blood Stained Banner” | adopted March 4, 1865 | Bottom Flag: Missouri State Guard flag during the Civil War

Sources:

  • The History of Jasper County, Missouri, History of Carthage and Joplin, other towns and townships, 1883; Des Moines, Iowa: Mills & Company; Joel T. Livingston. Pages 602, 603