Ken Steinhoff, Author at Cape Girardeau History and Photos

April 29, 2013

Opportunity and Overalls

I was trying to figure out what I was going to put up today when a friend posted an old Thomas Edison quote on her Facebook page.

Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

I don’t know if Bill Robinson made the most of all his opportunities, but he DID have overalls and I’m pretty sure he has stared work in the eye. I photographed Bill on Robinson Road in Athens County in 1969. I’ve written about Bill and his buddy Jesse King before.

April 29, 2013May 21, 2021

Apple Creek Presbyterian Church

Missourian blogger James Baughn did one of his “Blogs with few words” on the Gaslight Sing at Apple Creek Presbyterian Church.

Ramblin’ buddy LaFern Stiver and I visited the Pocahontas church and cemetery in 2011. I’ll follow James’ lead and run just a few words and let the pictures tell the story.

Area settled by McLain Clan

LaFern, a McLain, provided this background information: This area was settled early by the McLain Clan, from the Isle of Mull in Scotland. The family came from S. Carolina and established itself here before 1815 which were the earliest tax records. Alexander McLain, was one of four brothers who fought in the Revolutionary War. John, the older brother was killed as he fought for our freedom. For his sacrifice, his family was given one half bushel of salt.

Slave buried in “hallowed ground”

Alexander, the brother who settled in Missouri, is buried in Apple Creek Cemetery next to his slave Peter. How he got a slave buried in hallowed ground is beyond me. Peter’s grave is encircled with large stones which could not have been easy to do. We do not know where his wife is buried. Records of Alexander’s trek and his request for pension are located in the Archive Center of SEMO University.

On an earlier trip, we visited the Indian Creek Community and McLain’s Chapel where I heard about a mix of Revolutionary War soldiers, Indian maidens, the Trail of Tears and a Civil War atrocity all wrapped up in about 640 acres.

Primitive 19th Century experience

James points out that the church, which has neither electric lights nor indoor plumbing, provides the most authentic 19th Century experience of any local church. You can read more about its history in this piece by Frank Nickell.

Church and cemetery photo gallery

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the side to move through the gallery.

April 27, 2013April 28, 2013

1943 Flood Aerial

After I ran photos of the Flood of 1943 from Dad’s scrapbook, a member of the Lamkin Family sent me this aerial photo of the flood. I asked who took it so I could credit the photographer, and he said, “No idea. It hung in my grandfather’s office for as long as I recall.”

Themis Street is on the left and Broadway is on the right. You can see the steeple of Trinity Lutheran Church and the Academic Hall dome in the background. Buckner-Ragsdale is the three-story building on the right, at the foot of Broadway. The St. Charles Hotel is the tall, light-colored building on the left side of Themis. The building with the checkered tile and sharp-peaked roof is Hecht’s Department Store. The Sturdivant Bank Building is between the St. Charles and Hecht’s.

Click on the photo to make it larger.

Here are some earlier stories about Buckner’s and the Lamkin family.

April 26, 2013

NOT the Pink Moon

While looking for photos to go with the Flood of 1943, I ran across these photos shot on the riverfront August 11, 2011. The moonrise isn’t pink like everybody is posting this week, but the sky certainly was. (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)

Train crews still wave

This toddler doesn’t quite know what to make of that loud thing going by, even if the crewman is giving him a friendly wave. I miss the old steam engines we had when I was a kid his age.

The shot these the evening the Duncan Kids from Kennett learned the venerable art of rock skipping. And, to show you how things remain the same, here’s a link to rock skippers in 1966.