Following Family Footsteps in Andrew County, Missouri

Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Post #25

by Tonya Graham McQuade

I never thought I'd be making three separate trips to Missouri in less than four years, but then, I didn't know I'd be writing a book based in Missouri! Mike and I just returned Sunday night from my third trip, and I've got a lot of new information to process, books and articles to read, conversations to recall, notes to record, and writing to do! 

My first trip to Missouri was in April 2019, when I flew to Springfield with my mom and sister-in-law Laurie over Spring break. Our primary destination at that time was Branson, where we saw two concerts and two shows, plus visited the Titanic Museum. We also visited the Precious Moments Park & Chapel in Carthage, the George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder House & Museum in Mansfield.

Standing on the porch with Laura Ingalls Wilder 

In April of this year, as I shared in earlier posts, Mike and I flew to St. Louis, then visited the cities of Hannibal, Centralia, and Jefferson City, before being joined by my parents, with whom we explored St. Louis then traveled to Kirksville to do family research on my great grandparents, Nora Elma Petree and William Francis Traughber, and two different sets of great-great grandparents - Bailis Petree and Mary Ann Hale Petree in Kirksville, and Francis Marion Traughber and Marnie Bryson Traughber in Centralia.

This trip took me one generation further back - to Andrew County, where my GGG Grandfather James Calaway Hale and Bailis's brother, Benjamin Petree, lived with their families at the time of the Civil War. This trip, of course, was inspired by the letters they wrote - and the need to gather more information about this northwestern corner of the state, which sits on the 1836 Platte Purchase and which plays such an essential role in the books I am writing.

A sign outside the Courthouse explains some history of Andrew County

With that goal in mind, Mike and I flew to Kansas City to begin this third adventure in Missouri - with a busy itinerary (as usual) scheduled for the next four days. I'll be talking about many of the places we visited in my next blog posts.

In Andrew County:

• Andrew County Historical Society & Museum
• Downtown Savannah/Savannah Square
• Family Farms in Andrew County (near Savannah and Rosendale)
• Fillmore Cemetery

In St. Joseph (in Buchanan County about 20 miles south of Savannah):

• Pony Express Museum
• Patee House Museum (Pony Express Headquarters & Civil War Site)
• Jesse James House & Museum
• Missouri River - Site of Ferry Crossing
• Site of Hannibal-St. Joseph Railroad Terminal
• Robidoux Row Museum (St. Joseph history)
• St. Joseph Museums (Black Archives, Native American, Doll, and Glore Psychiatric)
• Vineyard Mansion & Carriage House (the B&B where we stayed)
• Wyeth-Tootle Mansion 
• "Voices of the Past" at Mt. Mora Cemetery

Andrew County Museum in Savannah, Missouri

Our first stop was at the Andrew County Historical Society and Museum, where I met with Genealogist Kathy Ridge, who had offered to help me with my research. She was very excited to hear more about the Civil War letters I had and to see (and scan) the sampling of originals I brought with me. I'm very excited to have her as a resource and a reader for my manuscript!

Genealogist Kathy Ridge showing us one of her book recommendations

When we arrived, we discovered Kathy had already been hard at work, gathering information about various Hale family members (including GGG GF James Calaway Hale and two of his brothers, Elijah and Meshack, who also settled in Andrew County) and tracking down land purchases and sales through deed records. She discovered that Meshack, who was 13 years older than James, made his first land purchase in Andrew County in Nov. 1845 - just four years after the county was first established. James made his first purchase in Jan. 1850, with Meshack buying another adjacent property. 

Meshack was the brother who, according to a note I found on Ancestry.com, was killed by Confederate sympathizers in 1861 - an event I include in my book. According to the letter I have written by his wife while traveling along the Oregon Trail a year later, he died on June 9, 1861 - but she provides no details about his death. Kathy did not have any records of a guerrilla attack on that date, but of course they were not all recorded, and she said no newspapers exist from that time period because each side kept attacking newspaper offices supporting the other side. (And yes, that will also come up in my book). She said she will do some digging to see if she can find any more details on Meshack.

With her help, we were able to find the location of the farm on which James and his family lived in the 1860's, as well as the farm to which his daughter Mary Ann and her husband Bailis Petree (my GG GP's) later moved near Rosendale. That's where my great grandmother Nora Petree and six of her siblings were born (the other three were born before the move). Mike and I were able to later drive to the general areas of the sites, but the 1860's farm is now a quarry. The area near Rosendale is still rural farmland, as seen in the photo below.

Farm area near Rosendale, about six miles north of Savannah

According to a note I have written by Nora's sister Lettie, her parents moved in 1867 and resided on a farm six miles north of Savannah, MO, prior to moving to Kirksville in Adair County (which I visited on my trip to Missouri last April). All ten of the Petree children were born in Andrew County, with all born on the farm outside Rosendale except the first three - James, Louis, and Ernest - who were born 2 1/2 miles south of Savannah. This information matched up exactly with the map Kathy had highlighted showing the various land purchases.

During the Civil War, James and his family lived in the highlighted area 2 1/2 miles south of Savannah; Mary Ann and Bailis later moved to the highlighted area 6 miles north of Savannah

Kathy proved to be a wealth of information, with thick folders filled with articles, documents, timelines, and research notes related to the Civil War, guerrilla battles, slavery and slave-holding families in Andrew County, land deeds, schools, churches, cemeteries, newspapers, and more. She shared many book suggestions, and I took lots of photos of news articles, maps, and other notes. The museum, too, had many interesting displays on a wide variety of topics, teaching about the rural history of Andrew County since 1841, as well as providing helpful timelines and descriptions of important historical figures and information about the Civil War and Slavery in Andrew County. 

Part of the Civil War Display at the Museum

On one of the large display maps, I found Bailis's name listed on a small plot of land. In another display, there was an 1890 picture of Civil War veterans living in Fillmore, but unfortunately, my GGG GF James Calaway Hale was "absent" on photo day. Boo. I'm pretty sure he was living there at that time - that's where he was buried in 1899. 

The name "Baylis Petree" appears here towards the center

Veterans of the Civil War living in Fillmore in 1890

After becoming museum members and buying a large book on the History of Andrew County at the gift shop, Mike and I headed out to explore downtown Savannah, which was the nearest town to the family farm during the war and served as the county seat. I was able to see old photos and illustrations of Savannah Square, but today's downtown has changed significantly. 

Savannah Square in 1868

The current courthouse that dominates the square was built between 1898 and 1900. A two-story rectangular brick structure stood as the courthouse in the 1860's.

Andrew County Courthouse in Savannah, Missouri

The view from the front of the Courthouse

From there, we drove out to Fillmore Cemetery to see if we could track down the tombstone for James and his wife Elizabeth (my GGG GM) - and after walking up and down quite a few rows and seeing various other more distant family members' graves, I spotted it. It still stands tall, bearing their names as well as that of their daughter Amanda Hale Jenkins, who died in 1890 before either of her parents. I have not been able to figure out what happened to her husband Benjamin Jenkins (and have found no death date for him). They married in 1868, but by 1880, she was back living with her parents (according to Census Records). 

Tombstone for James Calaway Hale & Elizabeth Caroline (Brown) Hale,

as well as daughter Amanda M. (Hale) Jenkins, in Fillmore Cemetery

Fillmore is definitely a very rural area, surrounded by lots of corn fields and cows. It's a very peaceful place, though, and it felt fulfilling to touch the names on the tombstone and walk in the footsteps of these ancestors who I feel like I've gotten to know through the letters they left behind.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about the first day of this recent Missouri adventure. Tune in next time to hear about our visit to the Pony Express Museum and learn more about how the Pony Express fits into the book I'm working on, Missouri Daughter.