Newsletter, January 2009

Scott County Missouri Historical & Genealogy Society Vol. 31 No. 1 January 2009

Commerce, Mo.

Story by Conrad Hudson

Commerce, Missouri, originally known as Tywappity Settlement, is oldest town in Scott County, but it does not get the recognition it deserves as the county‘s earliest settlement. A visitor to Commerce observes a sign upon entering indicating the town was founded in 1790. A steamboat is part of the sign. Yes, steamboats were part of Commerce‘s history but Commerce was there long before steamboats were. If the visitor goes to the other side of town, he or she will observe a sign indicating that Lewis and Clark stopped at Commerce on their trip to the northwest to learn about the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Otherwise, it is just another bedroom county in the county bypassed by the major highways crisscrossing the county. Ste. Genevieve, the oldest town in Missouri, was settled in 1735 or 55 years earlier. St. Louis was settled in 1763 or 28 years earlier. Commerce is located on the Mississippi River as are Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis. At the time these cities were settled, riverboats were the common mode of travel. They may have been canoes, pirogues or keelboats. Roads, if any, were Indian trails. Much as been written about Commerce, including a book by Edison Shrum, which may be reviewed by anyone interested in its colorful history. I am going to concentrate for this short article on some of the major events concerning Commerce. It:

has Indian petroglyphs;
was on the El Camino Real;
is located on a Spanish Land Grant;
was visited by Lewis and Clark;
was part of New Madrid County;
was a steamboat stop;
was a staging area during the Civil War;
was the government center of Scott County;
had a newspaper;
had a railroad;
is located at the head of a water control levee; and,
still has a few attractions.
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Indian Petroglyphs

Shrum reported in The History of Scott County, Missouri that he found petroglyphs near Commerce. A photograph of these carvings in his book shows a snake, an eagle and a fish. He said these are clan symbols used by the Shawnees and possibly by prehistoric Indians too. Shrum included an excerpt from a journal kept during Major Stephen Long‘s 1819-1823 Expedition concerning the Indians at Tywappity: ―n the first of June {1819}, several gentlemen of the party went on shore, six miles below the settlement of Tywappatia bottom, and walked up that place through the woods. They passed several Indian encampments, which appeared to have been recently tenanted. Under one of the wigwams they saw pieces of honeycomb, and several sharpened sticks that had been used to roast meat upon: on a small tree nearby was suspended the lower jaw-bone of a bear. Soon after leaving there they came to another similar camp, where they found a Shawnee Indian and his squaw, with four children, the youngest lashed to a piece of board, and leaned against a tree.‖―he {Shawnee} squaws wore great number of trinkets, such as silver arm bands and large earrings. Some of the boys had pieces of lead tied in various parts of heir hair. They were encamped near the Mississippi, for the purpose of hunting on the islands. Their village is on April Creek, ten mile from Cape Girardeau. While the petroglyphs are there, Shrum‘s book indicates they would be hard to locate.

On the El Camino Real

The El Camino Real, or Kings Highway, was the name given to a road by the Spanish between New Madrid and St. Louis, Missouri. Shrum reported in Commerce, Mo.: ―he earliest road out of Commerce was the river road north to Cape Girardeau and south to New Madrid. There was also a branch of this, antedating even the found of Benton, that went southwest to the Sikeston Ridge, and down this to New Madrid. These actually made up the original King‘s Highway and not that segment that ran north through the present site of Kelso and across Ramsey Creek.‖The Daughters of the American Revolution put up markers in towns along his road in the early 1900‘s. While Sikeston and Benton got markers, Commerce did not.

On a Spanish Land Grant

Shrum reported in History that the Spanish grants were made by district Lieutenant Governors or local Commandants but were incomplete titles until the claims were surveyed and the survey and Claim approved by the Governor General of the province, who was stationed at New Orleans. Commerce is located on Survey 321 for 408 acres which was granted to Thomas Waters under William Smith. It is dated 1797. Shrum noted that Waters did not buy the Smith claim until January 11, 1805. There are several other surveys near Commerce. Power‘s Island, also known as Big Island, consists of two surveys—3244 and 3257. The name on Survey 3257 is Bartholomew Cousin for 3993 acres. Dr. Samuel Dorsey is the name on Survey 3244 for 680 acres.

Shrum reported in Commerce200 years of History that probably the firs settler in this {Tywappity} bottom was William Smith, who came from Kentucky and settled on the Mississippi in 1797, and BUILT AN ESTABLISHMENT FOR THE CONVIENIECE OF STRANGERS, opposite Wolf Island, EVIDENTLY A SORT OF TAVERN, in 1800 sold to John Johnson. Shrum reported that Thomas Waters arrived in Tywappity in March 1804 and previously lived in Newberry County, South Carolina. Shortly after arriving, according to

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Shrum, he formed a trading partnership with a young man named Robert Hall un the firm name Waters and Hall and later a partnership with another young man, James Brady, their firm being know as Thomas Waters and Co. Waters and Brady immediately began acquiring land, and Waters and Hall began trading in a wide variety of products, including lead, accord to Shrum. Shrum argues in Commerce, that except for St. Louis and St. Charles, Commerce is the oldest town in the state still occupying its original site. He points out that New Madrid and Ste. Genevieve had to be moved because of flooding. Whether Commerce is the third or the fifth oldest settlement in Missouri, it is the oldest settlement in Missouri, and it is the oldest settlement in Scott County.

Visited by Lewis and Clark

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Co-captains of the Corps of Discovery, met at Louisville, Kentucky to begin their journey together. They traveled down the Ohio River to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and rested for a week in November 1803. Then they headed up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. They arrived just below the Tywappity Settlement on November 22, 1803, according to a sight sign at Commerce placed by the U. s. Department of the Interior and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Lewis wrote in his journal: …‖rrived opposite three new habitations of some Americans who had settled under the Spanish government. This settlement is on a bottom called, Tywappity…was informed by a Mr. Findley the owner of this habitation that there were fifteen families in this settlement…‖The sign indicates that they observed remarkable tall stands of what Lewis called ―and or scrubbing Rush‖ {also known as scouring rush, or horsetail, or more properly Equiseturm Hyemale}. Lewis, according to the sign, had never seen this plant grown in such thickness or to such great heights and measured one stalk and found it to be 8 feet, 2 inches in length and 3 and 1/8 inches in circumference. He found it to grow as thickly as stalks of luxuriant wheat, according to the sign. The sign further states that as the party came to the upper end of Tywappity Bottoms, Lewis saw a handsome farm and the beginning of a highland{the Commerce Hills} which was the highest land he had seen since entering the Mississippi River. Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1803-04 at Camp Dubois near St. Louis and began their epic journey up the Missouri River in May 1804. Until the sign was put up in Commerce, folks may have forgotten that Lewis and Clark stopped there on their journey. Shrum did not mention it in Commerce 200 years perhaps because history highlights the Missouri River segment of the trip. Yep, horsetail still grows at Commerce.

Part of New Madrid County

Shrum reported in History that Upper Louisiana, including the future site of Scott County, was officially transferred to the United States in ceremonies at St. Louis on March 9, 1804. He reported that the Act of 1805 created the Territory of Louisiana and defined the character and powers of its government and General James Wilkinson was appointed Territorial Governor.

Prior to Wilkinson‘s appointment, the boundaries of the Cape Girardeau and New Madrid Districts had remained approximately where they had been during the Spanish regime, which was an east-west line from the Mississippi River at approximately the latitude of the present town of Blodgett, according to Shrum. He reported that in 1805, Governor Wilkinson arbitrarily moved it to the center of the lowlands now occupied by the Diversion Channel. Of course, this put Commerce in the County of New Madrid. This caused such inconvenience, according to

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Shrum, that in 1806 the boundary was shifted back to its earlier location. Can you imagine the complaints of the Commerce citizens? They were a few miles from Cape Girardeau but had to travel to New Madrid, almost 50 miles away, to conduct their legal business? Missouri became a state in 1821. Scott County was also established at this time and Benton, laid out in 1822, became the county seat.

Steamboat Stop on the Mississippi River

The early river boats were not steamboats. They were canoes, pirogues and keelboats requiring poles or paddles for power and steerage. The first steamboat arrived in St. Louis in 1817. It had to pass Commerce on its way from New Orleans and may have stopped at Commerce to replenish the wood burned in its steam engine. Can you imagine what the people of commerce thought when they heard a steam whistle in the distance letting people from far and wide know a new kind of boat was headed in their direction? And, can you imagine what the people thought when they looked at this strange boat moving up the river pushed by a paddlewheel that used a steam engine for power? Shrum reported in Commerce that the ―ape Girardeau‖ran regularly in the St. Louis-Cape Girardeau-Commerce trade. He also presented a picture of ―he Commerce of Cairo,‖bringing a boatload of Cairo Citizens to see the sights in Commerce. In addition, he showed a 1920 picture of SEMO College students returning to their homes in Commerce aboard the steamboat ―ltha Smith.‖The steamboat ―rago‖burned in Dog Tooth Bend near Commerce, MO on February 6, 1865, according to Samuel Clemens‘ Steamboat Career, Shrum reported the scattered remains of a steamboat, of unknown name, that sunk in the Santa Fe Chute prior to 1908. This is also near Commerce. Yes, Commerce played a role in the steamboat era! Commerce was probably in its heyday at this time. Some of the citizens of Commerce probably enjoyed the gayety on a few of the steamboats. They surely used them to ravel to other cities and to get their harvest to market.

Staging area During the Civil War

Shrum states in Commerce that twice in the first year of the war, Commerce was the staging area for major Union expeditions into Southeastern Missouri. Beyond that, the war here was a matter of small skirmishes, guerilla and bushwhacking activities, thievery, arson, destruction, illegal searches, seizures and imprisonments; in fact all forms of outlawry including murder. He states also that scouting parties crisscrossed the county frequently, and their collisions account for the relatively numerous skirmishes that occurred almost throughout the war. A partial list during 1861 he presented mentioned Commerce in three of four incidents. One of these incidents was Brigadier General Jeff Thompson‘s descent upon Commerce. Thompson‘s report, written in New Madrid, stated:

―e dashed into this place {Commerce} about 10 a.m. The town was completely surprised, and I soon had all of the male inhabitants assembled and guarded. I then had the stores of two Federals opened, and allowed my men to select such wearing apparel as they were in need of. About 2:30 the steamer ‗ity of Alton‘ came in sight. I made arrangements to surprise her, not having cannon, but was defeated in my plan by the women of Commerce, whom I could not prevent giving the alarm. She approached the shore, however near enough to get a good peppering, and she backed down the river several miles, and had not attempted to pass up when I left, which was nearly sundown. I got muskets, two rifles, six horses, 15 or 20 suits of clothes,

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and returned {after stampeding the Union men of Scott County} safely to this post, having marched 106 miles in 40 hours.‖The ―omen of Commerce,‖according to Shrum, was Mrs. Sarah L. Eversol. The Alton Packet Company, he said, presented her the sum of $200, in acknowledgement of her courage, humanity and patriotism. Shrum also stated in Commerce that Brigadier General John Pope‘s February and March 1862 operations out of Commerce were the largest to affect Scott County during the Civil War. Shrum stated that when Pope landed at Commerce the night of February 21st, he had only 140 men, but by the time he left a week later, his force consisted of 26,153 officers and men: a number that was considerably augmented by troops that were landed at Commerce after he had begun his movement toward New Madrid. Shrum presented Pope‘s account of coming upon Jeff Thompson‘s band and pursuing them. It ends, ―hus for nearly twenty miles the flight and pursuit swept on until they approached New Madrid, and the remnant of the flying foe sought the shelter of its friendly guns.‖According to Shrum, the depot at Commerce was ordered broken up in March 1862.

Government Center of Scott County

The sign erected by the State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission in 1961 on the courthouse grounds states that Benton, the county seat, was laid out in 1822 but that from 1864 – 1878 the county seat was located at Commerce. This relocation was the result of the Civil War in southeast Missouri. Shrum stated in Commerce that the last year of the war found Commerce in an extremely favorable and almost unique condition, in comparison, especially, to the small towns to its west and southwest. None of its buildings had been destroyed and only a very few had sustained even minor damage. Its business houses had not been damaged at all, and even its big Grand Chain Flouring Mill was still in operation. Business, moreover, as a whole, he said, was active, if not actually booming. River traffic to the north was unimpeded, and virtually so to the south, and mail and freight to and from the town, as a consequence, was handled almost as it was before the war. Sikeston, he said, had been badly hit and its post office discontinued. The situation was even worse in Benton and its post office was discontinued in 1864, according to Shrum. He said that on January 26, 1864, the State Legislature authorized the removal of the county‘s offices to Commerce. While discussing the demise of the Commerce Dispatch, Shrum mentions that county seat was moved back to Benton in the year 1878.

Had a Newspaper

Shrum described in Commerce the advent of the Commerce Dispatch: ―he first issue of the Dispatch appeared on March 2, 1867…The Dispatch was established by Horatio P. Lynch and William Ballentine and it was a top-notch weekly paper until Ballentine withdrew from the partnership. He was an uncommonly intelligent and able man and it was some time before he could be replaced by an equally able journalist, Fred I. Dean. Under his management Dispatch news increased in both quantity and quality.‖

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Shrum listed several Dispatch accounts: Feb. 1, 1868 ICE ON THE RIVER ―he River is still crossable for walkers and skaters; we have been crossing the river on foot for three weeks. This is as long a period as any of our ice bridges having lasted in one winter and no indications of a speedy breakup are apparent. Thermometer last night dropped to seven below zero.‖April, 20, 1868 Mr. Anderson returned from St. Louis with a new horse and buggy. During the war the town could boast of only one pleasure vehicle, a battered old sulky. Now there are five respectable turnabouts here. Nov. 14, 1868 The track of the Iron Mountain Railroad was laid into Morley this past week. July 4, 1868 W. H. DOUGLAS, ―hotographist‖of Cape Girardeau, is here and will open rooms next week in the courthouse, where all desiring pictures will be accommodated. Nov. 14, 1868 Judge Hawkins & family have moved to Commerce and occupy the residence of the late J. T. Anderson. May 15, 1869 Louis Houck, of Cairo notoriety, has opened a law office in Cape Girardeau. Louis is a big gun and gives himself both a name and reputation wherever he goes. Shrum reported that the newspaper crippled on until the fall of 1881. David Loy Hoffman, according to Shrum, had the honor of being its last publisher, having acquired the newspaper in March of 1878.

Had a Railroad

The Belmont Branch of the Iron Mountain Railroad crossed Scott County from the northwest to the late 1860‘s. Towns founded by this railroad in Scott County were Oran, Morley, Blodgett, and Diehlstadt. Commerce was by-passed. So was Cape Girardeau. Louis Houck, now a Cape Girardeau attorney, realized that Cape needed a railroad and built a branch from Cape to Delta to attach to the Iron Mountain. According to A Missouri Railroad Pioneer by Joel P. Rhodes this unremarkable fifteen miles of track between Cape Girardeau and Delta in Late 1880 launched a rather remarkable career in railroading. According to Rhodes, Houck formed ―Houck‘s Missouri and Arkansas Railroad‖to connect Cape Girardeau to Morley the Watermelon Capital of Southeast Missouri. The first thirteen miles of Houck‘s Missouri and Arkansas Railroad between Commerce and Morley were "rapidly and defectively constructed" watermelons a month were arriving at the river bank. Rhodes also reported that on New Year’s Day 1900, Louis {Houck} marked the anniversary of his first train pulling into Cape Girardeau by hosting a maiden excursion of prominent citizens down the long-awaited extension from the Cape to Commerce on his Missouri and Arkansas railway. Thus, Commerce was connected by rail to the rest of the Nation.

Located at the Head of a Water Control Levee

According to the History of the Little River Drainage District, before a series of large levees were constructed by the federal government to harness the Mississippi River, its flood waters regularly spilled across much of Southeast Missouri. The Missouri Bootheel once was a natural basin to catch all of this water, a swamp unsuitable for any kind of habitation. Soon after the beginning of the 20th century a group of visionaries saw the potential benefits of converting the swamps into an area that would be suitable for habitation. They knew if they drained the swamp the soil beneath the water would be some of the richest soil in the nation for farming.

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The History stated that there had been talk around 1900 about draining the land. Finally, in January 1905 a meeting was called the Cape Girardeau, Missouri to discuss how the project could be completed. At this meeting the ground work was laid for undertaking what soon would become the largest drainage project in the United States. The Little River Drainage District was created. A plan for construction of an elaborate network of drainage ditches, canals and levees was devised and eventually carried out. One of these levees starts just south of Commerce and travels along the Mississippi River for many miles. At the time it was constructed, Commerce did not have a flood problem, according to a resident. However, with the building of flood walls by cities along the Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, the floodwaters are being diverted to more elevated floodplains. Commerce has not built a floodwall. The flood of 1995 was a greater problem to Commerce than the flood of 1993 because the Ohio River was also flooded and was causing the water in the Mississippi above the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio to back up. Hence, more water at Commerce. Thus, it is ironic that Commerce is located at the head of a water control levee on the Mississippi River which does not prevent it from experiencing flooding from that river.

Attractions

What attractions does Commerce still have? Well, it is an always will be the oldest town in Scott County as well as one of the oldest in the State of Missouri. It has a church, a museum and at least a couple of buildings on the National Register of Historical Places. One is the Anderson House whose owner hosted the Christmas Party Bill & Susan Bailey. It also has the River Ridge Winery just north of Commerce near the Mississippi River. And, of course, it still has the petroglyphs if you can find them and still has horsetail growing there. Isn‘t it time you visited this town with its colorful history? Just do it! Author‘s note: About the time I finished writing this article, I received an invitation to become a member of The Commerce Historical and Genealogy Society. The invitation invites a person to join in preserving and telling the history of the Commerce area and the people who lived and died there. It also states that they are reclaiming the Old Commerce/ Anderson Cemetery on the Hill in Commerce and have already cleared about one third of it. Maybe they will find the petroglyphs too!

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Will Hawkins Story Continues

Chapter 12 Will now writes in the voice of Union-soldier-Will, uncle of Will-the-newspaper-article's-source. After Grant's five battles and victories in less than three weeks, he succeeded in cutting off all communications and supplies to Vicksburg and settled down to starve Gen. Pemberton and the Rebels into submission and surrender. The constant shelling and incessant probings of the Infantry kept the Southerners off balance, closing the siege-ring around the city tighter and tighter. On July 3rd, 1863, Gen. Pemberton, under a flag of truce, rode to Gen. Grant's headquarters to discuss surrender terms. Grant was polite but firm: "Unconditional Surrender" were his terms (that's where Grant got the name Unconditional Surrender Grant, tho his name actually was Ulysses Simpson Grant). Pat's note: his name was Hiram Ulysses, changed in error at West Point. Gen. Pemberton, with practically no ammunition, no food and starving army and town folk, agreed to the conditions, so on the following day July 4, 1863, surrendered the city and his forces to Gen. Grant. On this same day, hundreds of miles to the northeast, in Pennsylvania, at Gettysburg, Pickett's charge was repulsed by the Union forces under Gen. Meade, and Gen. Lee's army suffered its most crushing defeat of the Civil War. But Gen. Meade, his army victorious, tho exhausted, allowed Gen. Lee and his rebels to escape into Virginia. Those early days in July, 1863, were hopeful ones to all of us in Gen. Grant's forces. Vicksburg captured, Port Hudson, 200 miles down river surrendered (as President Lincoln said, "The Mississippi now rolls unvexed to the sea."). Lee's defeat on July 4th, his retreat into Virginia, with a 17-mile-long wagon train of frightfully wounded men, leaving a trail of shocked horror thru the once peaceful countryside.

Never in this nation's history had Americans worked harder for victory than in the Civil War. Both sides threw themselves into the task of supplying their respective armies. Both governments made tremendous demands on civilians, and, in general, received willing cooperation. By 1863, the northern economy was rumbling along at great speed. Everything from steamboats to scoop shovels was needed, and produced. Denied Southern cotton, textile mills turned to wool for blankets and uniforms. (It was pitiful to see the condition of the Rebels at Vicksburg; torn, worn-out clothes; you couldn't call them uniforms, on tired, hungry, starving soldiers. It made us Union boys,

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well-fed, well-clothed, with good guns and plenty of ammunition cry to see them.) Hides by the thousands were turned into shoes, harness, saddles; ironworks manufactured locomotives, guns, cannons, armor plate. Agriculture boomed, with machinery doing the work of farm workers drawn into the army. King wheat replaced King Cotton in foreign trade. In short, everything the Union needed to fight this war was being produced in uncounted numbers. Life behind the Confederate lines was grimmer. At the outbreak of hostilities the South was pitifully short of everything except good fighting men, and its economy moved backward at an increasing rate as the conflict went on. The Confederate currency, unbacked by anything substantial, became worth less and less, until by the end of 1864, it was worth nothing at all. Altho the South managed to keep its superb fighting men supplied with weapons and ammunition all thru the war (with most of it from captured Union forces) it was hard pressed to feed and clothe its men. (Those fighting Rebels we fought in Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee, while superbly armed, were so poorly dressed and many of them were barefooted, particularly from March to November). After Vicksburg, the bulk of our Union army wandered around the mountainous country of northern Mississippi and Georgia, trying to come to grips with the Rebel Gen. Bragg's forces. Finally on Sept. 10th the two armies met in gloomy woodlands around Chickamauga Creek, about a dozen miles south of Chattanooga. All the first day's fighting was indecisive, but the next day Gen. Longstreet, who had been sent west with 2 divisions from Lee's army, punched a hole in the Union center, where I was fighting, and split our forces in half. Most of our Union forces fled toward Chattanooga, but Gen. Thomas, under whose command I was at the time, pulled enough of our men together to resist the Rebels and hold our ground. This engagement earned for Thomas the name "Rock of Chickamauga" and gained enough time for all our forces to safely escape to Chattanooga. Chickamauga was the only important victory the South ever won in the West, and the Rebel Gen. Hooker proceeded to throw it away. In spite of the pleadings of his officers, he let us establish ourselves in Chattanooga, while he was content to occupy Missionary Ridge, overlooking the city, and sit there trying to starve us into surrender. Later we learned the high command in Washington jumped into action. Lincoln insisted that heavy reinforcements be sent from Meade's army in Virginia and from Sherman's forces in Memphis. Gen. Rosecran's of the Union forces, who had allowed us to be bottled up in Chattanooga, was replaced by Gen. Thomas, and to our great joy, Gen. Grant was made supreme commander in the West.

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Grant's first job was to open a supply line to surrounded Chattanooga, which he proceeded to do. It's a little out of the way, but Grant's plans and our boiling tempers all joined to get us out of besieged Chattanooga. We had been so derided and joked about by the forces sent from Virginia and Memphis, their saying they had to come "rescue" us. Grant's order of the day was a "feint" attack at Missionary Ridge, where Rebel Gen. Bragg's Confederates were entrenched. We delivered the "feint" as ordered, alright, then, without orders, we charged directly up the steep face of the ridge and drove Bragg's Confederates reeling back into Georgia. We showed who had to be "rescued."

New Library

The New Benton Riverside Regional Library continues to move ahead. The Board of the Scott County Historical Society will met at 6:00 p.m. January 20th 2009 at the Old Benton Riverside Regional Library to talk about equipping our new 14x18 room. If you want to set in are have input please feel free to attend this meeting or contact Deborah Gunter 573-545-3507.

President Gail Hennecke
Vice President Margaret Heuring
Secretary Caryl Hairston
Treasurer Lois Spalding
Board members Deborah Gunter Chair Gary Ziegler Tom Dirnberger Susan Bailey Bill Shell Francis Siebert – Advisor Historian Gary Ziegler Newsletter Deborah Gunter – Conrad Hudson

Book Sale This month we are featuring These books at 10% off the price Listed Ancestor Chart Book $35.00 History & Families of Scott Co $55.00 Reminder Remember to send your email Address so we can keep you Updated on the months There is not a newsletter!

Notice of Meetings January 20th 2009 Benton Riverside Regional Library 7:00 p.m. The Board will meet at 6:00 p.m. Before the meeting at the library. (Please contact D. Gunter if you are unable to attend). An email will be sent out a week before the meeting to update you on topics we are covering. February 17th 2009 Joel Evans Will speak to us on Grant Programs At 7:00 p.m. Benton Riverside Regional Library

Letter from the President The new year is upon us. And it looks like it will be a wonderful year. We will be moving to a new location along with the Benton Riverside Regional Library. Our board is working to get us ready for the new move. We will be needing volunteers to work the hours the Library is open to have our room open. We will also need donations to purchase equipment for our new room. We will need 5 chairs, two office chairs, a computer, a copy machine, a desk to set the computer and copy machine on. We need someone to volunteer to be the new Chairman of the Library Committee, a new Chairman for the Program Committee and one for the Membership Committee. We are receiving more and more Queries and need more volunteers. We still are working at the Courthouse to separate Will for the Probate Court. See Gary if you can volunteer. ……Gail Hennecke

In Memory Of those Members who Past Away in 2008 Tom Lett Brenda Stroder Elman W. Gibbs Past President Past President Member Welcome New Members Christopher T. Smithson Sam & Carol Babb Patricia A. Travis

Port Deposit, Maryland Bertrand, Mo. Seattle, Wa. Russ & Judy Stewart Bill Dahuke