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A peek into the past Remembering Bristow
We tend to think mostly in the present -- that things stay the same as they always have been. However, economies change, people die or move, and communities fade away. Such is the case of Bristow, Mo.
The 1903 plat map of Vernon County shows Bristow, describing its location in legal terms. Smith's Shop was listed and the nearest neighbors were S. Wise and Mary Sullivan, and a name that looks like C. Bland. The 1886 map shows nothing, but the 1928 plat books shows a G. K. living there. This was George Lee and Nellie May (Nordurff) Kessler. They lived there in 1933 when their daughter, Anna Mae, married R. L. Willson. R. L. had a sister, Thelma, who later married Condon Story. Their son, Gene, shared these pictures.
Thelma Story remembered the Kessler Blacksmith Shop, Kessler house, Bealer house, Modern Woodman Hall, and the Highway School on the north side of the highway and a house with unknown residents on the south side. Gene remembers going to the blacksmith shop, and has some of the tools and an anvil that came from the shop.
Gilbert Willson is the son of Anna Mae and R. L. Willson, and the grandson of George and Nellie Kessler. He remembers going to the blacksmith shop and store. He said his grandfather ran the shop for 30 years. His parents ran the store when the Stoller family left. They ran the store for several years until it closed in about 1944 according to Dee (Willson) Jacks who lived there with her parents.
According to Gilbert, the shop had a one-cylinder engine that drove everything on a drive shaft with a belt that stretched across the length of the shop. He doesn't remember his grandfather shoeing horses, but he made the horseshoes in the forge. His family used to live about three miles from his grandfather's shop and Gilbert would ride his bicycle to get him to put new points on the old cultivator shovels, and then ride his bicycle back home. Once, his grandfather took him in his old International pickup to fish in Clear Creek near Montevallo. He thought it was a long trip. He also has an anvil and some tools from the blacksmith shop. George Kessler died May 10, 1957, and all the blacksmith equipment was sold after that time.
Dee Jacks said she spent a lot of her childhood time in the blacksmith shop and store. She said she thought they were helping, but her grandfather probably thought they were getting in the way. She remembered that Lewis Stoller, whose family ran the store and lived in the back, was also the rural mail carrier. He had an old car, but when it was muddy the car was useless so he would borrow a horse from her dad, R. L. Willson, and carry the mail on horseback. She said there was a pump for gasoline outside the store. The neighbors she remembers were the house right across the road was a family named Spainhoward, and about half a mile on the opposite side past the school was the Allen Hollin family. She thought the Modern Woodsmen met in a room in the back of the store, but couldn't remember for sure.
Doyle Johns moved to the Bristow area in 1951, the roads were so muddy that he got stuck trying to get to his house. He had George Kessler repair his "worn-out" machinery many times. He was amazed that Mr. Kessler welded without any goggles. Doyle drove the first school bus from the area after the school consolidated with Nevada beginning in 1954 and drove until 1964. He said the old school house was moved across the road and is now a shop at the Wayne Pennock farm. He remembers the old building that was the Modern Woodsmen building because it was no longer used for meetings and he stored from 700-800 bales of hay in it each year.
Local history books were silent about the community of Bristow; but there had to be several people within a few miles in order for a Modern Woodman Hall, and the Highway (Bristow) No. 80 School to have been built. The Highway School was in Badger Township. Joseph W. Smith and J. E. Smith, wf, of Kentucky deeded it to Directors of Disttrict No. 80, F. W. Journey, E. M. Rhodes and Charles Cline for $25 on Oct. 4, 1892.
Some or the school's teachers were: 1894, Gertrude Wilcox; 1915-'16, Ethel McGovney; 1917-'18, Marguerite Lawrence; 1919-'20, Mrs. Brokaw; 1920-'21, Lelia Nall; 1921-'22, Sarah Strange; 1922-'23, Miss Lila Johnson; 1923-'31, Katherine Culbertson (Eisenhower), 1939-'40, Marie Harmon with 18 pupils; 1941-'42, Marie Harmon with 7 pupils; 1944-'45, Ethel Unruh; 1945-'46, Mrs. Martin; 1946-'47, Kathleen Underwood; 1949-'50, Mrs. Simpson. Directors in 1939 were Stanley Butner, R. H. Allen, and R. L. Willson. Famiiels and students in 1952 were: John Burnos-children-Johnny 14, Tommy 12, Mary 11, Danny 9, Bobby, 7; Fred Berndt-children-Edward 9; Walter Campbell-children-Stevie 10, Johnny 9, Mary 8; Duane Dahmer-child-Alameda 9; Oliver Edstrom-children- Carolyn 7, Ollie 15; Ben Hopkins-child-Benita-16; Adam Jones-children- Martha 15, Wilma 13, Jerry 10; C. E. Hiestand-children- Myron 13, Wayne 18; Doil Johns-children- Ronnie 8, Donnie 6; Jay Robinson-children- Ann 15, Pat 17, Sue 11, Mary 10, Johnny 8, Billie 9; M. B. Soverns-child-Verna 13; Adam Jones-child- Loretta 18, R. Spellman-child Virgie 7. The school joined Nevada in 1953.
Modern Woodmen of America was founded by Joseph Cullen Root in 1883. He wanted to create a fraternal benefit society that would protect families and their financial futures following the death of a breadwinner, offer more stability than other fraternals of that time and strengthen families, communities and the nation. The Hutchison, Kansas camp organized the first drill team. Drill teams became nationally known for entertaining crowds at parades and other events. The photograph that is shared courtesy of the Bushwhacker Museum has written on the back, "Modern Woodmen, Bristow, Mo., 7th person is identified as Percy Cohich (?), and the 8th is Elmer Eslinger. In 1901, Modern Woodmen life insurance in force exceeded $1 billion. In 1910, membership totaled 1 million. There were a lot of Modern Woodmen in the area because you find the tree stump monuments engraved with Modern Woodmen symbols in a lot of the area cemeteries. The Modern Woodmen Society did not supply these monuments or provide monetary assistance for them. They did offer grave markers that families could purchase for deceased members until the mid-1970s. The grave markers were 7.5-by-20 inches, made of solid aluminum and designed so that a small American flag could be inserted and held by two loops on the back of the marker. They featured the working tools, motto and initials of the Modern Woodmen.
The working tools are the axe, beetle and wedge.
Author's note: Charles and I took a drive down K highway, but there is nothing left to show that any of this existed, from the highway, anyway. One thing about our lives--change is constant. What is today may not be tomorrow. The community of Bristow remains only in the minds of a few individuals. If anyone has memories or photos to share, please give me a call at (417) 465-2389.