CHILLICOTHE TOWNSHIP

Chillicothe Township, irregular in form, is shaped like the letter "L." Grand River, in its twistings and windings, flows along the border about thirty miles, thus forming the western and southern boundaries. Originally called Medicine Creek, the name it bore from April 6, 1837, until 1839, it included Wheeling, Cream Ridge, Medicine and Rich Hill Townships. The township is made up of land varying from swampy tracts of bottom acres to beautiful, level, improved farms. Driving over any of the several roads through the higher level country of the township, travelers are struck with the beauty of its farms and well kept homes.

The first settler was Joseph Cox, who came in 1833. It was at his home the first courts were held. William Linville came in 1834, and soon Brannock Wilkerson and Caleb A. Gibbons were here. Elisha Hereford moved from his earlier home on Medicine Creek eight miles east, and settled on Grand River south of Chillicothe, near Hereford's Ferry, in 1834. In the northern part of the township land was not opened to entry until 1839, although in the southern part land was on the market in 1835.

In 1836, before Livingston County was organized and in what was then North Carroll County, three speculators bought land and laid out twenty-five acres for the first town in the county. They called it "Jamestown," but it has always been known as "Jimtown." The founders thought it would be the county seat, since it would be centrally located and was on the river, a nice shipping point when extensive navigation began. But John Graves, a formidable opponent, willed otherwise. Several times "Jimtown" seemed to take on life; a ferry, a house, a store or a saloon would start, but each time the struggle proved too great, and at last "Jimtown" settled into real apathy. This point on the river, where now three piers of an old bridge stand, knows one lasting honor - that of being the site of the oldest town in the county.

On August 7, 1837, at the County Court, John Graves was appointed to lay off lots in the county seat wherever it might be located. The order included the name of Chillicothe, which Mr. Pearl, deputy county clerk, spelled with one "L." The name was for Chillicothe, Ohio, county seat of Ross County and originally spelled "Chil-li-co-a-thee." The name is from the Shawnee Indians, who used it to signify the "big town where I live," or "our big home," to distinguish it from a smaller town they had.

October 16 and 17, 1837, after the posting of five notices over the county and the running of three ads each in the Missouri Republican of St. Louis, and Boone's Lick Democrat of Franklin, Howard County, the big sale of lots came off. Every third lot in each block save the public square was sold, and N. H. Gregory, Commissioner, was ordered to enter the town immediately. For some reason he failed to get around to it so the new settlement belonged to the United States until 1839, when it was entered by William Pearl. This same year the clerk ordered two acres in the northeast corner of the southwest block "to be set aside for a berrying ground." This burial place is now deserted, and Edgewood in the northwest part of the city serves the city as a cemetery. On July 15, 1839, the town was declared the county seat, an office it had filled unofficially since its creation.

Life was uneventful unless frequent attacks of chills and fever might be called a diversion. In its early years even Springhill fared better. Although kept alive as a county seat, Chillicothe was merely a thick settlement of unkept yards and buildings with no sidewalks except an occasional strip before a store. There were no sanitary laws, so its few inhabitants waded back and forth through mud, filth and slops. Goods for Chillicothe were laboriously hauled from Brunswick, where Ballentine & Outcalt sold everything from "hardware to millinery, from school books: to whiskey." Money everywhere was scarce. If a family had a dollar or two they sat up nights figuring out the best way to spend it when the covered wagon hit the trail to return with sugar, coffee, salt, ammunition, quinine, calico, books and almanacs, A man earned twenty-five cents a day working as a hand, but his pay was usually hides, honey, venison or knitted articles, and almost, never money. Religious services were rare for churches did not exist, and the one small private school was poorly attended. Not until 1841, when the old log court house was used for a school, did the town turn at all to public education. On August 13, 1851, on petition of two-thirds of its inhabitants, Chillicothe was "hereby Declaired a boddy Polatic and Corporate." At that time the city directory was about as follows: "Attorneys W. Y. Slack, Henry Slack, W. C. Samuel; physician, Doctor J. H. Ellis; hotel, by John Graves; one newspaper, the North Grand River Chronicle, by. James H. Darlington; a carding machine, by Joseph Miller; two blacksmith shops, by Elijah Hill and Joel Bargdoll, besides two or three general stores." - 1886 History.

The North Grand River Chronicle was the first newspaper in the county. Certainly its life was spasmodic, for in 1856, the, year it should have been in its thirteenth volume, it had only entered its eighth. As a side line in his office the editor sold Dr. Bragg's Celebrated Indian Queen Vegetable Sugar

Coated Pills and a little medical work entitled "Sappington on Fevers." In spite of such resourcefulness times were hard. In 1855 the editor’s son, E. S. Darlington, took charge and published the Chronicle until the outbreak of the Civil War, when Colonel L. J. Easton became the editor and publisher.

March 1, 1855, an act of the Legislature made the town a city, and February 26, 1869, municipal government vested the city with a mayor, a councilman-at-large, and one councilman for each ward. Since then changes in its government have resulted in the following offices with their occupants: Grover C. Carnahan, Mayor; John McBride, Councilman-at-Large: Frank C. Lang, Councilman First Ward; Sam A. McDowell, Councilman Second Ward; Harold F. Way, Councilman Third Ward; N. J. Wilkerson, Councilman Fourth Ward; Elmer C. Johnson, Auditor; Maurice Dorney, City Constable; Ila Summerville, City Clerk; Joseph H. Warren, City Treasurer; W. W. Dunn, City Assessor; Arvid V. Owsley, City Attorney; Buel B. Staton, Police judge.

Work began in August, 1852, on the east end of the Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad, but progress was slow. By 1857 the work started on the west end. When the two ends were about one hundred miles apart a stage was put on to carry passengers back and forth. It ran through Chillicothe and business was better. A sort of boom set in and the population increased from 800 to 1,200 by 1859, and to 1,800 by 1861.

Mr. J. E. Jameson, whose daughter, Annie Jameson, now lives in Chillicothe, assisted Mr. Orin Garver in making an official survey of the town in 1859.

By 1855 more than fifteen trades and occupations were listed in the city directory. After the boom set in, a group of young men in Chillicothe organized, in 1857 or 1858, an amateur dramatic club, called the "Chillicothe Thespian Society." The orchestra had one member, for Doctor Green had a violin. No ladies consented to play act, but they furnished the apparel for the young men who took the feminine roles. The first performance was "Toodles;" at 25c admission, it drew a packed house upstairs in the building on the southeast corner of Locust and Jackson Streets. By 1861, amateur performances were no longer a

novelty and no longer a success for several years.

When the Civil War came, prosperity in Chillicothe seemed struck down. Business shrank or perished, and schools closed. Men spoke in loud voices of secession, and women stitched Confederate flags for them. General Slack left with his troops to join General Price in 1861. In the fall Captain W. F. Perry, with his Jackson Township recruits, passed through the town. The next spring a company from the Forks broke open the jail and freed some rebel prisoners. From the fall of '61 until the summer of '65 Federal soldiers occupied the streets of Chillicothe at will. Confederate citizens resented Union soldier injustices, and Union citizens complained of Confederate occupation. But the situation was far better than in most places, although the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was burned, so it was said, by Federal soldiers, and although both sides suffered from threats, foraging and plundering.

After the war new families moved in, business picked up again, and schools were given more attention. The Seminary ran the following notice in the Chillicothe Spectator:

Chillicothe Seminary

and

Normal School

for

Males and Females

Will be opened for the reception of Pupils,

September 14th, 1868

For particulars, address,

H. Ellis

Principal.

The Board of Education took the census in 1866 and found it to be 2,141 including 840 children of school age. That year fifteen new businesses opened and six brick buildings were erected on the west side of the square. The assessor's report of the county, including property which escaped assessment, totaled $2,413,920.00. A number of new homes were built throughout the county.

It was in 1868 that Nelson Kneass, the man who set to music the beautiful words of "Ben Bolt," found his way to Chillicothe. With his little theatrical troup, he stopped at the Browning House, Chillicothe's leading hotel, where his untimely death from pneumonia shocked and grieved the citizens. Now his grave is marked with a "slab of granite so grey" and the story of his song is engraved on a copper plate inserted in the south wall of the Clark building at the southeast corner of the square.

By 1870, the population had increased to almost 4,000, when such a slump set in that for years recovery seemed uncertain. During the next six years the population decreased almost five hundred. Even the advantage of the completion of the Brunswick Railroad in 1871 was offset by the failure of the Chillicothe and Des Moines Road, for which all the bridges had been built, when the project was abandoned. From an article written by the late Mr. Douglas Stewart, we learn that during the early '70s the buildings on the square were nearly all frame. The old red brick court house had been torn down in 1865 and the brick used in Bell and Moore's Hall, a building housing at present the Stagg Haberdashery and Woolworth's Store. The public square was a thicket of black locust trees, underbrush and weeds. When farmers came to town, they tied their teams to the hitch racks in front of the board fence around the square. The streets looked like a shiftless farmer's barnyard strewn with corn stocks, hay, and cobs, among which rooted pigs seeking grain dropped from the horses' feed.

The vote for $35,000.00 in bonds for a school building (old Central) in 1876, met with fervid opposition before it won. A public enterprise was completed in the building of the first city hall at a cost of $20,000.00. When in March, 1876 it burned, another and finer building, costing $25,000.00, was completed within a year. It was a handsome structure where the courts were held on the first floor, and on the second was a public hall with a seating capacity of five hundred.

The spirit of the town began to revive, for about 1877 the Kansas City Guards came to Chillicothe on a special train to be the guests of the Chillicothe Light Guards. The occasion was an important one for it marked the opening of an opera house. Though the affair must have been resplendent with showy uniforms, it is doubtful that it could have been of as much profit to the citizens of either city as was the friendly visit of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce in the winter of 1936. Be that as it may, by 1880 another tide of prosperity had set in and by 1886 the town numbered about 5,000. The Leeper Hotel, built in 1884 and 1885, was then as it is now, one of the finest hotels for counties around. Soon Chillicothe was literally pulled out of the mud, for the streets around the square and a few blocks adjoining were paved. More than eighty places of business flourished in the little city. These included four livery stables and four carriage and wagon factories. In 1885, the town was lighted by electricity, a service which for a number of years ran till midnight, six days a week. It is to be presumed church goers needed no light to guide them home after a Sunday night meeting. The next year Mr. J. L. Mastin was permitted to establish a water works, an enterprise which the next three decades saw variously owned and favored with fortunes sometimes good but more often bad.

At 715 Locust Street, the same year, Mr. L. G. Jarrett put in the first telephone exchange; it served thirty telephones. Only five years later the People's Telephone Exchange took its place and served the public well until 1912, when they sold out to the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. The present number of local connections established each day is 10,500.

The Farmers' Store, which was established in 1868, moved to the west side of the square during the '80s, when the New York Store, which had been located on the west side of the square since about 1867, moved to South Locust Street. For many years these were the largest department stores in Chillicothe.

The First National Bank erected a building on the north side of the square and in 1887, started business. Judge James M. Davis was the first president; Mr. George Milbank, vice-president; and Mr. Adamantine Johnson, cashier.

The '80s saw further progress, for in 1889 the Citizens National Bank, which has served the community long and faithfully, moved to the first floor of a three-story brick structure. Mr. Thomas McNally was the first president, and Dr. W. W. Edgerton, cashier. Only last year the bank purchased this building which they remodeled and furnished with the most modern equipment.

About this time the state deemed Chillicothe important enough to have a state institution located in the town, and in 1888 the corner stone of the first building, Marmaduke, was laid for the State Industrial Home for Girls. Now ten large buildings, dotted over a beautiful campus, house this institution. Three of these buildings are just now complete.

Chillicothe at one time had a street railway with four cars and eight or ten nice little mules to haul them from one depot to the other, around the square, and to the Chillicothe Business College. The distance from the Milwaukee to the other railroads seemed to make this service necessary. It was discontinued after about ten years as a non-paying concern and, finally, even the tracks were torn up.

Chillicothe was now decidedly advancing. In 1890, Mr. Allen Moore, Sr., owned the Chillicothe Normal School. There were only two buildings for the institution at this early date. Here many of the citizens of this and other counties were trained as teachers. Now the school operates as a business college, with an enrollment of more than 2,000 students the year round. Students come from every state in the Union and from foreign countries to obtain a business education. At the present time a smaller but an equally good school called Jackson's University of Business, gives thorough training to stenographers.

1890 to 1900 saw a number of changes in the town. The old Browning House burned and was replaced by the Henrietta Hotel, which stood until 1919, when it, too, burned. In 1893, free mail delivery began. Mr. J. W. Toppas was postmaster at the time. Mr. W. E. Walsh, now retired, began his service as a mail carrier in that year. It was hard work carrying mail in those days. The "fellows" who had that part of the city where there were plank walks had the easier time.

Over on Locust Street, in the 400 block, stood the fire department building. A reader going over old records and histories cannot but be impressed with the appalling number of fires whose history begins with the history of the county and continues to be recorded with it. In 1893, the building housing the means of putting out fire was itself destroyed by the demon it sought to extinguish. Then the department was moved to a building on the lot adjoining the city hall. It was on a Sunday in the spring of 1925 that the second city hall, after serving the city for almost fifty years, burned, and with it many valuable records. Chillicothe acts quickly in time of necessity, so by 1926 the new city hall, costing $80,000.00 was finished and dedicated. To make room for the three-story brick structure, the old fire house was razed and a new home was provided for it in the city hall, where every type of modern equipment has been added for fire prevention. Our fire department at the present time boasts a record for excellent service which is not excelled in the state.

It was in 1895 that Mr. Zibe Myers purchased the site for the Louella Theatre, and soon the structure was completed. Here for years, even after picture shows came to town. the folk of the county listened to opera or attended current plays. Before the new high school was built, classes were graduated there. At last Louella Theatre was forced to give way to the cinema, which it housed under the name of the Dickinson Theatre until it burned about four years ago.

Of all the circuses that have come to town, perhaps remembered best by those who were of school age at the time, is that one in 1900, for school was dismissed one afternoon that the students might see the miraculous invention the circus had advertised - a horseless carriage! At the Burlington station the wonder was unloaded and taken to the public square, around which, under its own power, it circled several times. That evening mothers tried to teach their children a strange new word, "automobile."

It was only a short time before Chillicothe boasted three cars of her very own. At the time when windshields and tops were added luxuries, Doctor A. J. Simpson, Mr. Percy Brightman, and Mr. Will Gunby each bought a car. Mr. Gunby was just as accommodating to his friends at that time as he is now. Many times during those first few days, he took people for a ride of several blocks. Once, because they requested it, he took an old gentleman and his wife for a ride. When the ride was over, the little old lady, who was then past eighty, exclaimed, "Now, I'm ready to die!"

Chillicothe's first tourists were the Gunby and Wigely families, who early one morning started to Cleveland, Ohio in Mr. Gunby's new car. They had seven blowouts between Chillicothe and Wheeling, ten miles away. It was no wonder that by the time they reached Brookfield these bold adventurers rented a room to rest awhile! By night they had reached Macon. Perhaps no more happy and thankful travelers have since returned to Chillicothe than these who stayed away several weeks and visited as far away as Cleveland.

Dr. Stephens, father of Byron Stephens, was among the first to own a car. Perhaps he had not read the book of instructions as carefully as he should, because after he started the machine he could not stop it and so was forced to drive around the block until finally the car was out of gas.

Thus in Chillicothe began such change in the mode of travel that now filling stations, garages and auto laundries replace the many livery stables before which, in chairs tilted against the wall, old men sat to discuss politics and crops. When the Wilson livery barn, an old land mark for forty-eight years, was destroyed by fire in 1920, there remained only one business of the kind, the G. G. Brown livery stable, an old business, and it disbanded soon after. Another old land mark disappeared with the razing of the Garr Building in 1921. It was from this building that for years grade school children were graduated to the basement of the Methodist Church where they attended high school. Life was very full for Livingston County from 1900 to 1910. New Central was built and Chillicothe knew for the first time a building devoted solely to high school work. Although the moving of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul division shops from Chillicothe deterred progress for a long time, the sturdy little city recovered from its loss and set about building beautiful new homes and churches.

Time and labor to promote a new civic project resulted in 1911 in a vote of the city to form an electric light department of its own. When the old light owners contested the election, the case was carried to the Supreme Court which declared the election legal. Mr. John H. Taylor was mayor at the time. It was not until 1915, when Mr. Stephen Hawkins was mayor, that the city bought the old water plant for $77,000.00 and formed a water department of its own. The inspiration followed the successful ownership of the light plant. The water project was equally successful. At the present time Chillicothe citizens pay one of the lowest light rates in the state. The water system is exceptionally fine and rated among the highest in purity. Indeed, so successful has the city been, that the money saved in these two enterprises amounted to a large enough sum to further benefit the community. On July 29, 1935 enough money was released from the light and water fund to pay 55 per cent of the building expense for a new hospital. PWA funds furnished the remaining 45 per cent.

The Chillicothe hospital has an interesting beginning. In 1888, Father Hugo of St. Columban's Church was wakened one night by people who sought refuge for a young man injured on the railroad. Though he was not equipped to care for the patient, pity prevented Father Hugo's refusal to the anxious group. The young man remained and soon was well. This incident prompted a letter from Father Hugo to St. Louis, explaining the need of a hospital here, and so promptly was the need answered that by July 2, 1888, the Sisters of St. Mary had arrived and opened a hospital, supported in part by large funds subscribed by the community. As necessity demanded, several times the building was enlarged and equipment added. Many years ago the Sisters sold their interest. This spring a three-story fire-proof brick hospital was opened to the public. Doctor H. M. Grace and Mrs. A. J. Simpson gave to the city the site and the old building with all its equipment. The old building was razed following the completion of the new one, and the work of landscaping and beautifying of the grounds is in progress. The hospital is governed by a Board of Hospital Commissioners, approved by the City Council.

After many elections in which they met defeat; bonds were voted in 1912 for a new court house. The magnificent structure in the center of the public square was completed in 1914 at a cost of $100,000.00 Some thirty years before this time Doctor Greene, a pioneer dentist of Chillicothe, had planted rows of elm trees in the park. Each year he had them trimmed and cared for; therefore he was exceedingly happy when enough of these beautiful trees were left standing on the lawn to lend a stately setting to the white stone house of justice. By 1914, a newspaper states, "Chillicothe is building with a broad vision," and so it was. In 1915, the corner stone of the $124,000.00 Federal Building was laid. This three-story edifice of yellow brick, with its red tile roof, is one of the most beautiful buildings of our county.

As late as 1912 the Livingston County Fair continued to attract large crowds from this and neighboring counties; for here were the best horse races in all North Missouri. This, too, was the decade of the chautauqua and Chillicothe excelled in the quality of entertainment for edification that was offered to the public. Household plans started in the spring when summer clothes were stitched and schemes were laid against the big event where there were programs varying from dignified lectures to comic opera and sleight of hand. Entire families went. Mothers sat down front where they listened and fanned and visited at intervals, while children milled about the edge of the tent-like canopy eating ice cream cones and comparing the quality of new dresses or white buckskin shoes.

With the ardor of a zealot, Chillicothe watched the building of a great unpainted wooden tabernacle, for a union revival as big, emotional and fine as Billy Sunday meetings was getting under way. During the weeks which followed, many hardened sinners hit the sawdust trail, and many young couples learned the thrill of romance. At last the meeting ended and the great barn-like structure stood in empty silence until a resourceful citizen thought of a county show, a Farm Congress. What a success it was! For four years every township displayed in booths built for them, corn, wheat, oats and other grains finer in quality than like products shown at the State Fair. The county was advancing. By 1916 the total assessed valuation reached $10,228,613.00.

Some four miles south of town and right beside the river was a lake where school children and grown-ups had picnicked for years. It was a favorite spot in spite of' the mosquitoes attendant in all such swampy places. One morning the public awakened to a kind of sadness when it was learned that old Bear Lake, just over night; had quietly passed into the river. All the old loved spots were disappearing. Only Graham's Mill, with its dam and bridge, was left. Now the mill itself and the dam are gone, and the old covered bridge stands in danger of being washed away; but a movement headed by Reverend Hargis and supported by hundreds of citizens, fills us with hope for the preservation of our last old landmark.

When the World War came, Chillicothe joined the county in support of the nation, Liberty bonds were sold, Red Cross chapters were organized, and long trains filled with soldiers were cheered on their way to the front. Women young and old, knitted woolen mufflers, socks, and sweaters. Silent picture shows paused each night while a loyal citizen spoke inspiringly to equally loyal audiences. From the myriad white gauze bandages, flawlessly made by little girls, to the giving of priceless lives of young men, our county did her part. We who are grown remember those days and we carry with us one prayer, that war may never come again.

During the War, women's clubs had learned the art of raising money; and now they turned their efforts successfully to the organizing of a county library. Here every day small boys and girls rub elbows with their elders as they sit reading the numerous magazines and books. Before many years it will be recorded that Livingston County has built a magnificent structure to house the numerous fine books on her library shelves.

On January 5, 1925, the new $300,000.00 high school was opened and dedicated before a large throng of proud citizens. The building has forty rooms arranged about a magnificent auditorium which seats 1,100 people. The stage of this auditorium serves as a gymnasium as well.

Chillicothe had been known as the "Highway City" for a decade before Washington Street was officially declared a part of No. 65. Mr. William Scruby was mayor at the time, 1926. In 1927, when Mr. Harry Pardonner was mayor, Highway No. 36 was completed through Chillicothe and Chillicothe held a celebration. Now, so accustomed are we to paved connections, it is difficult to remember how long it used to take to reach Trenton or Brookfield, especially after a rain. Chillicothe is favored in the matter of location, for three main line railroads and two United States highways make it a central point for travel and trade.

Among the new buildings erected in Chillicothe during the last few years is the Strand Hotel, a beautiful modern, fireproof structure. In 1927, Chillicothe witnessed the dedication of the Christian Church. In 1929, one night in January, when the thermometer registered 28 degrees below zero, two buildings burned on the east side of the square, the American Candy Kitchen, and the hardware store which, until a short time before the tragedy, was known as Minteer and Williams. These buildings were replaced with more modern, handsome structures, as was the block where the new Hurley Lumber Company and the Grace Hatchery stand. These last named businesses burned in 1936. After this terrible fire, Chillicothe added another fire engine to cope with future conflagrations.

No doubt the finest gift Chillicothe has ever known was that of Doctor and Mrs. A. J. Simpson in 1928. The gently rolling wooded acres just north of the city limits seemed meant for a park. Doctor and Mrs. Simpson realized this and acting generously as they always did, they deeded the land to the city and dedicated beautiful Simpson Park "to the children and citizens of Chillicothe." In a short time the city built a swimming pool. One needs but to pass by any day from early spring until late fall to realize how much Chillicothe loves the place. Crowds, both young and old, from this and neighboring communities find pleasant recreation beneath the many stately elm trees. So perfectly is Simpson Park cared for that the trees and grass of velvet green excite exclamations for its beauty from every passerby. It is the pride of our city and the envy of our neighbors.

When kittenball sprang into vogue, Chillicothe straightway organized a number of teams. For a place to play, Doctor Simpson deeded to the town a field adjoining the south side of the park. Here, almost every night for five cents admission, a fan may watch the fortunes of his favorite team.

Looking back on the years beginning with 1929 and the stock market break, we wonder why more of us did not see trouble coming, but few did. On buses and trains every shop girl and filling station employee had a newspaper open at the market page. At social gatherings people talked of big money in exchange of stocks. Then the crash came, leaving the country stunned. Because Livingston County is primarily agricultural, it seemed at first as if the blow might not be so severe, but that idea, too, was an illusion. A few years passed and just as the farmers of Livingston County seemed to breathe a bit easier, they were confronted with the summer of 1934. It was a season of intense heat and drought, and dust storms from western states to add to the discomfort of the people. Corn curled, burned and died. Grasshoppers started their deadly work even in Missouri. Still the spirit of the county was unbroken. The summer of 1935 followed with rain at the wrong season, so that a rank growth of weeds sprang up where crops should have been. Only the wheat was saved. Coming as it did on the heels of the depression, such adversity was hard to bear, but our farmers are brave. In 1936, again they planted, and the summer following made the one of 1934 seemed mild. All heat records were broken as days upon days the temperature registered above 100 and even 110 degrees. No rain fell. Grasshoppers swooped upon fields and destroyed them. Dust filled the air. Water for families and stock had to be hauled from Grand River. Stock was fed as if it were mid-winter, and thousands of head were sold because the price of feed was prohibitive. Business dragged, and one long siege of endurance set in while every one waited for rain and the blessed cool of fall time.

Now, in the summer of 1937, Nature is kind again. Save for some damage by black rust to wheat, the crops are excellent, the weather is ideal, and Chillicothe is preparing to play hostess at the celebration of her county's hundredth birthday. Those who visit here will find several hundred thriving business enterprises in a beautiful little city where comfortable homes nestle among spreading shade trees. Here excellent schools, fine churches, a lovely park, two beautiful country clubs, each with a splendid golf course, and best of all, a friendly people make this the enchanting place we love, our big home, Chillicothe.

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