125 years ago this week in Nodaway County:
A young farmer near Hopkins accomplished an impressive feat by shucking and cribbing 140 bushels of corn in a single go.
The Jackson Society at the Maryville Seminary presented the drama “Hazel Adams.” The performance was well attended by a highly appreciative audience, and the group made more than 18 dollars from the event.
It was announced that the mid-winter musical and literary festival to be held January 14thand 15thwouldbepostponed for two or three weeks because two of the participants were no longer available.
Judgement was made against the Maryville Light Company for $70 in damages. Mrs. James E. Oliver, who lived on East Fourth Street in Maryville, had filed a suit against the company for $250 in damages to trees on her property.
Miss Ara Davis of Burlington Junction was awarded the gold medal in the elocutionary contest held in Skidmore by the Epworth League. Davis was just one of six total young women who competed in the contest.
Caleb G. Jesse was pardoned by Governor Lon V. Stephens on Monday. Jesse had been charged with shooting and killing Frank Griffin, who was the editor of the Maryville Daily Review. The shooting occurred at the corner of Main and Third streets of Maryville in front of Signs & Sons' clothing store on Saturday, April 8thin 1899. Jesse and Griffin were involved in a terrible struggle on the street before four shots rang out. Griffin died from his wounds later that day. Jesse was quickly arrested and placed in jail. At a special term of court held the following October, he was placed on trial where he was charged with murder in the first degree. Because both men were widely known, the case attracted much attention. Jesse’s pardon from the governor marked the end of that dramatic incident.
75 years ago this week in Nodaway County:
The Clearmont Tigers bested the Elmo team in a basketball match with a final score of41 to 18. Clearmont also won the junior high battle with a score of24 to 19.
William Brandenburg, the dean of faculty at Northwest Missouri State College, was the main speaker at the county administrators meeting.
Coach Bob Gregory's Maryville high school Spoofhounds would take a shot at their third straight conference victory when they hosted the Rock Port Blue Jays this week in 1951. The 'Hounds already had defeated Savannah and Tarkio in league games. The Maryville squad had a season record of seven wins and three losses. They had lost only to Lafayette of St. Joseph and DeLaSalle of Kansas City.
Two Nodaway County men who had been wanted by local law enforcement officers since September were taken into custody this week. One of the men was wanted for jumping bond on a two-year jail sentence imposed in 1949. The other man had recently broken out of the county jail. Two other men had also participated in the jail break but were caught just a few hours after their escape.
The Nodaway County draft board released the names of 15 men who would make up the county’s quota for January. The men were scheduled to leave for Kansas City on January 18th. The men included: Joseph Espey, Melville Strong, Ivan Espey, and Russell Mackey of Maryville, Henry Mattson, John Schieberand Lawrence Henggler of Conception Junction, Walter Huff of Elmo, Robert Smith of Clearmont, Calvin Nelson of Bolckow, Robert Grimes and Harlan Traster of Hopkins, Billy Dean Clements of Barnard, William Everhart, Jr. of Burlington Junction, and Armond Hofer of Skidmore. All of the men were between 22 and 25 years old.
50 years ago this week in Nodaway County:
For the second straight year, the ratio between the number of divorces and number of marriages in Nodaway County had decreased. During 1975, a total of 280 marriage licenses were issued in the county recorder's office. During the same period, a total of 60 divorces were granted in circuit court. That figures out to 20.1 divorces per 100 marriages. In 1974, there were 281 marriages and 60 divorces, or 21.4 divorces per 100 marriages. The highest ratio of the past few years was in 1973, when there were 241 marriages and 64 divorces, or 26.6 divorces per 100 marriages. All of these figures were considerably less than the national average of one out of three marriages ending in divorce, but many of the marriage licenses granted in Nodaway County were to college students whose divorces would not be reflected here.
A new fire truck arrived in Maryville this week. The truck was yellow and had a pumper capacity of750 gallons per minute. It would be used for all rural fire calls and for fires within the city when it was needed.
Communities around Nodaway County that had received an official American Bicentennial designation were having foot-square emblems added to their city limit signs. The cities that already had received the emblems were: Barnard, Graham, Guilford, Hopkins, Maryville, Parnell, Ravenwood, and Skidmore.
A felony warrant was issued for a man from Licking, Missouri. Authorities said that he arrived in Maryville on December 19thand left three days later with nearly $850in cash and merchandise, all from bad checks he wrote.
The Nodaway County Welfare Commission had not met since the fall of 1974 but was resurrected this week. The commission was the liaison between the public and the Nodaway County Division of Family Services Office. The commission also would be studying the various programs administered by the family services office, such as blind pensions, general relief, nursing care, and Medicaid.
“This Week in History” is brought to you by the Nodaway County Historical Society and student historians at Northwest Missouri State University.