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Livingston County History
Celebrating 150 Years, 1821-1981

Published by The Retired Senior Volunteer Program
reprinted by permission

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BUSINESSES

ANDERSON, T.B.A. INC.

John C. (Jack) Anderson began business in a small service station at the corner of Locust and Calhoun streets on June 15, 1946. He was 22 years old and had just completed a three year tour of duty with the U. S. Army Engineers during World War II. For three years he was owner operator and sole employee, doing all the work of selling gasoline and oil, and repairing tires. In 1952, the station was torn down and a new building was erected. In April 1950, John started his wholesale business known as Anderson’s TBA. He added a truck and route salesman at that time and called on businesses throughout north and northeast Missouri selling Goodyear tires and auto accessories. The business grew and in 1962 he purchased the former Henderson Produce building at 801 Locust street and remodeled it to serve as a warehouse until 1964 when the retail store was opened. With a complete line of Goodyear tires and auto accessories, he also added speed equipment. Business continued to grow and more space was needed and so in 1977 two of his houses north of the building were razed and a new building was erected. The Anderson firm moved into the new building in January, 1978. It was on October 1, 1979, that his two sons, Michael and Patrick, joined him in the business. The corporation, now known as John Anderson T.B.A., Inc., is perhaps the biggest Goodyear Tire and Speed Shop in north central Missouri. -- Jack Anderson

 

B & M JANITORIAL SERVICE

Byron and Mary Lee Copple, Utica, Missouri, owners of the B. & M. Janitorial Service, have been doing janitorial work since 1978. In January of 1980, they officially formed the partnership of B. and M. Janitorial Service. They now operate with two cleaning crews. B. and M. does the janitorial work for several businesses in Chillicothe as well as public facilities and private homes. They offer a complete service consisting of both indoor and outdoor maintenance. Among the equipment owned by B & M is a “Billy Goat”, an industrial vacuum powered by an 8-horsepower gasoline engine which is used to clean all types of debris, dirt, leaves, etc., from driveways and parking lots, warehouses or grassy areas.

Plans for the future include the purchase of more equipment to enable B&M to expand the types of service now offered and to better serve the needs of the community.

 

BARNES BAKER MOTORS

The long record of service to the community by Barnes-Baker Motors goes back to 1932 when Prentice Barnes purchased Miner Chevrolet changing the name to Barnes Chevrolet.

Mr. Barnes had operated automobile dealerships in Elk City, Kansas, and Brookfield, Missouri, before 11o moving to Chillicothe with his wife Bernice and two children, Ted, age sixteen, and Mary Lee, age seven.

The dealership was first located at the southwest corner of Jackson and Vine, but moved to a new location - the northwest corner of Locust and Calhoun in 1933. Among the earliest employees were - Jack Wilkerson, William “Mac” McCarthy, Ray Cusick and Earl Barker.

Ted Barnes and his wife, the former Eloise Saale, joined Barnes Chevrolet as a partner in 1941. Ted graduated from Chillicothe High School in 1933 and from Kansas State University in 1938 with a degree in civil engineering. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1942-1945.

Prentice Barnes retired from the business in 1946 but remained active in business and civic affairs until his death in 1958.

Jim Baker and his wife, the former Judy Barnes, joined the business as a partner in 1962. Jim served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1956-1958 and graduated from the University of Missouri journalism school in 1960.

In 1963 Barnes Chevrolet added the Oldsmobile franchise. Soon after, in 1964, the dealership was moved to a new building on highway 65 north and the name of the company was changed to Barnes-Baker Motors.

Of the numerous honors and awards received by many of those associated with Barnes-Baker Motors, the dealership is especially proud of the Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award given to Ted Barnes in 1973. This is an annual award to new car dealers in the U.S. “for exceptional performance in their dealerships combined with distinguished community service.”

Mr. Barnes served as president of Missouri Auto Dealers Association in 1974-1975. He was semiretired in 1976 promoting Jim Baker to President of Barnes-Baker. Ted passed away in 1977.

Barnes Chevrolet began in 1933 with sixteen employees and Barnes-Baker employs thirty-six people in 1980. The success of the business is due to a great extent to the many loyal employees both past and present. Fifteen members are currently active in the Barnes-Baker Ten Year Club which was formed in 1970. Many of the employees have service records extending 20, 30, and 40 years.

 

BEARDMORE INTERIORS

Mr. and Mrs. Neil E. Beardmore started a radio repair shop in Chillicothe on January 2, 1944. Neil came from Glasco, Kansas and Virginia came from Jamesport, Missouri. They purchased the Chillicothe Auction House in 1948, from Oliver’s and expanded into television and sold antiques for about seven years at 609 Clay. They purchased the present location at 505 Elm Street and completely rebuilt and remodeled so they could move in by September, 1955. The appliance and television business was moved into this building and an interior decorating service was started by Virginia. The front of the new building was Roman style brick in pastel shades ranging from buff to pink with ceiling high plate glass. The brick extended inside the display room and matched the paneling of driftwood. The building has a center divider extending from floor to ceiling of brick and driftwood. Nearly 1,000 people registered on Grand Opening Day.

The television store was passed on to son Robert about 1970 and was sold in 1975, when Robert moved to Winnipeg, Canada to work for an Electronics Company. The business presently is an interior decorating store still operated by Neil E. and Virginia Beardmore.

 

THE BURTON TYPEWRITER COMPANY

Emery E. Burton left home at the age of 14 to secure employment at St. Joseph, Missouri. After a year of odd jobs, he was hired by the Underwood Corporation, a typewriter manufacturer, as office errand boy. Mr. Burton was born at Hollowell, Kansas, March 23, 1897. Mr. Burton advanced from errand boy to service manager, to sales manager. At one time the Underwood Corporation had in the St. Joseph office seven full time repair men and a large force of sales men. The St. Joseph office sold only typewriters and service.

Mr. Burton married Effie May Walter at Troy, Kansas on 29th of January, 1916. They had two children, Ella May, born July 21, 1918 and Donald R., born October 13, 1922.

In 1936, Mr. Burton left the Underwood Corporation to start his own business in Chillicothe, Mo. He secured an agency for the Underwood Corporation selling their typewriters in 11 counties in the north central part of Missouri. His company was known then as the Chillicothe Typewriter Company. He traveled back to his home in St. Joseph every week for one year. In August 1937, he moved his family to Chillicothe. Ella May left to enter the University at Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she graduated with a B.A. in music. After graduation, she married Alex Lewis and lived in Michigan until her death on March 10, 1970, they had three children. Donald Burton entered Chillicothe High School and graduated in 1940.

A large part of the income for the Chillicothe Typewriter Co. was from rental typewriters. From 1936, to the early 1940’s, Mr. Burton had better than 200 typewriters rented to students, schools and business. In the early part of World War II, the government needed office machines and requested that owners sell the machines to the government. Mr. Burton sold his entire stock of rental machines to the Federal Government. As no new machines were produced during the war years, this left his only income from service, repairs and supplies.

During his high school years Don helped in the business cleaning and repairing typewriters. On December 18, 1940, Don enlisted in the Army Air Force at the age of 18. He was sent to Delago Trade School at New Orleans for 14 months training on repair and maintenance of aircraft and the B-24 Bomber. He then joined the 27th Bombardment Squadron, 30th group as flight engineer, attaining the rank of Master Sergeant. The 30th Group left for the South Pacific October 9, 1943, where it did battle in the Central Pacific, Air Offensive Japan, Eastern Mandates and Western Pacific. Don returned to the U.S.A. on August 19, 1945, and was discharged August 26, 1945. He entered Chillicothe Business College in September 1945, taking a course in accounting and business. In March of 1946, he left college to join his father in business.

On April 6, 1947, he married Patricia Lindsey, a native of Chillicothe. They have two children, Susan Goff and Jayne McCoy.

In 1949 Don, was given 13 weeks training with the Underwood Corporation at Hartford, Conn. on the Sundstrand adding and accounting machines. Now, the company had machines other than typewriters to sell.

In 1952, the name was changed to Burton Typewriter Co. and a building was built at 720 Cherry St. In 1953, the building was enlarged to accommodate other lines of office equipment. During this growth period, additional personnel was added and given training on repair and service to the many machines, even to this day training is a very important part of the every day business of supplying service to the many customers.

Emery Burton was very active in the National Office Dealers Asso., metnber of the Chillicothe Kiwanis Club, Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scout Camp and served as secretary-treasurer of the Chillicothe Industrial Development Corp. for a number of years.

Emery Burton retired from active business in 1961 after selling his interest to Don who continues to run the business. Emery Burton passed alay January 11, 1977.

Mrs. Effie Burton resides in Chillicothe and is very active in her club, church and art work.

 

CHILLICOTHE BUSINESS EQUIPMENT COMPANY

This year Chillicothe Business Equipment Company celebrates its 20th year in business in the Chillicothe area. Mr. Don Hofheins present owner, began this operation out of his basement and garage 20 years ago.

Don began alone but aided by his wife, Kitty. They have one son Donnie.

Don sold typewriters for the most part in the early years. He then repaired typewriters at night after the 112 work day was over. Don gained experience by working with his father earlier while attending high school and college. Charles Hofheins owns and operates Sedalia Typewriter Company, Sedalia, Missouri. This firm has been operating since about 1940.

After the business began to expand, Don had to seek larger quarters than his home on Cooper Street. The new location was obtained at 817 Washington and leased through Jerry Broyles.

After several years of operation at this location, and the addition of more lines of business equipment, it became necessary to move again.

This move was made about 1975 to 503 Washington Street, Chillicothe, Missouri. This time the building was purchased. It is an “L” type building with the back entrance on Clay Street across from the Strand Hotel, and the main entrance on the East side of Washington Street presently next door to Christison Real Estate and Flowers by Howard.

The firm now has six full time employees and one part time employee. To celebrate the 20th Anniversary, Chillicothe Business Equipment hosted an Office Machines and Office Products Show which was held September 9, 10, 11, 1980 at the Strand Hotel.

Chillicothe Business Equipment Company now sells typewriters, copy machines, cash registers, dictating equipment, calculators, duplicators, papers forms, office furniture, and office supplies. The firm offers free consultation service to businesses in setting up new offices or remodeled offices. The firm now operates in a 60 mile. radius of Chillicothe.

PRESENT EMPLOYEES:

C. Hofheins, Owner

Steve Goodman, Sales and Service

Bill Walker, Sales and Service

James Slattery, Service

Jo Ann Thompson, Secretary

Bryan Oswalt, Stock Boy

Jimmie L. Durham, Sales and Advertising

 

CHILLICOTHE STATE BANK

The Chillicothe State Bank opened its doors for banking business at its present location at 600 Washington Street, Chillicothe, Missouri on November 22, 1937, after receiving its charter on October 19, 1937. U. E. Sidebottom was the first president of the organization, A. B. Kammerer, executive vicepresident, and Eldon Hoover, first cashier. At that time, the bank had a capital stock of $50,000.00, a surplus of $20,000.00 and undivided profits of $10,000.00, making a total capital structure of $80,000.00.

Directors of the newly formed bank were Sidebottom, A. B. Kammerer, Allen Moore, B. T. Clark, George W. Somerville, G. C. Carnahan and F. M. McCall.

After the death of Mr. Sidebottom, Mr. Kammerer became president of the bank and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1948, at which time Truman W. Richards was named president.

In 1950, the controlling interest of the bank was purchased by Leonard Simmer of Manley, Iowa.

It was at this time that the bank made the first loan in America under the Water Facilities Act to an Ex-G.I. farmer. This law, which permits loans for improvements to mortgaged farms, was proposed by the bank and guaranteed by the Farmers Home Administration. Mr. Simmer stated “A man can borrow money to improve his land under this law to help pay off his mortgage. We can help fellows we never dreamed of helping before.”

During this time, Paul W. Louden became associated with the bank as vice-president specializing in farm and city real estate loans and later became president after Mr. Simmers death in 1957.

Also, in 1957, Mrs. Rosa Simmer, wife of the late Leonard Simmer, became actively associated with the bank as vice-president and served in this capacity until her death in 1972.

In addition to being the first bank in the United States to make a soil and water loan under the F.H.A. Title legislation, the Chillicothe State Bank has continued to grow while offering many firsts to its customers over the 43 years it has operated here. It has been the first bank in the district to adopt the following:

First to install Recordak Equipment having been on the market only since April of 1939.

First bank to have a separate department for installment payment loans.

First bank to provide a community room for use of the public.

First bank to provide a drive-up window for transacting business from vehicles.

First bank in Chillicothe to display Tim6 and Temperature Sign and to give time and temperature by telephone 24 hours each day.

First bank in Chillicothe to offer its customers three modern banking facilities (two drive-in, walk-in banks in the north and south parts of the city and the modern main bank). The main bank has been completely remodeled and expanded into the adjoining building.

After starting the bank with total resources of $80,000.00 in November of 1937, the total assets by the end of 1937 were $178,237.35. By December of 1947, the total assets were $2,294,496.74; December of 1957 total assets were listed at $8,657,715.37; and by December of 1965 the total assets were $16,607,343.14.

When the bank celebrated its 30th year in 1967, total resources were listed at $18,224,171.00. In 1975, the bank listed total resources at $33,557,000.00 and at the end of 1979, the bank showed total resources of $52,384,494.63.

Presidents, other than those already mentioned, have been Gilbert C. Coleman, Robert K. Popple, Vernon E. Whisler, and Fred K. Simmer, who became the bank’s ninth president in 1979 and is serving in that position at the present time.

Other officers of the bank are Kenneth R. McIntyre, vice-president and cashier; Len A. Simmer, Vice-President; Gary J. Constant, Steven E. Koehly and Vicki Silkwood, asst. cashiers; Ruth Benson, Charlotte Edmundson, and Dana Moss, customer service officers; and Alice Swartz, auditor.

Directors of the bank at the present time are Paul Steele, chairman, W. L. Altheide, Joseph F. Gale, Woodrow F. Kline, Kenneth McIntyre, Walter T. Miller, Allen Moore III (son of original director) W. L. Shaffer 111, Fred Simmer, Len A. Simmer, and Ronald W. Somerville (son of original director). Honorary directors are Paul W. Louden, Merl Jones and John A. Cusick.

The bank presently has 38 employees and officers.

 

CHRISTISON REAL ESTATE

Christison Real Estate is owned and operated by a husband-wife team, Robert and Jeralene Christison. They first opened for business in April, 1960 at 500 Washington Street, in what was formerly the lobby of the old Ritz Theatre. In 1965 they purchased the building across the street and, after extensive remodeling, moved their office to their new location at 501 Washington Street, from which they still operate.

Both Robert and Jeralene are brokers and members of the North Central Missouri Board of Realtors, the Missouri Real Estate Association and the National Association of Realtors. Mrs. Christison has served as president of the North Central Missouri Board of Realtors and has also served a number of years as a director of the Missouri Real Estate Association.

 

CLARK’S FURNITURE

The Clark business was started in Utica in 1947. It began with Mike Clark selling appliances at his grocery store. In 1951, televisions were added. As the appliance and television business grew more space was needed for display. In 1956 the grocery department was closed out and furniture was added. In 1962 Clarks purchased an appliance business in Chillicothe. Butch Clark joined his father in the business in 1965 and managed the Chillicothe store. Mike closed the Utica store in 1967 and joined the store in Chillicothe. Noel Glidewell became a member of the partnership in 1969. 1973 saw the construction of a furniture store with Mike operating the furniture and Butch and Noel the appliance and TV business.

In 1980 there was a major change in the business operation of Clark’s. The furniture store underwent a complete remodeling with the display space more than doubled in size. Individual room groupings were constructed so customers could have a better idea of how the furnishings would look in their home. The appliance and TV-business was sold to Steve and Ed Nigh. Mike and Butch Clark along with Noel Glidewell are partners in the furniture business.

The basic philosophy of maintaining complete customer service has remained unchanged. Clarks is dedicated to providing the people of the Chillicothe area with quality merchandise at reasonable prices, and backed by the finest service possible.

 

THE COMMUNITY BANK 

EXCERPTS FROM “NOT MUCH OF ANYTHING”, AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY WRITTEN BY JOHN M. HOYT

“In the year of 1919, 1 was helping Elmer Perry thresh grain when Luther Williams and Abner Cunningham came to me and asked if I would be interested in a new bank at Dawn, so I borrowed $550.00 and went into the banking business. Had I known what was before us, I would have certainly declined.

“We had several meetings and the following board was selected: George Timbrook, Robert Jones, John Williams, Wood Midyett, Ed Murphy, Luther Williams and John M. Hoyt. John Williams stayed on the board a very short time - he went to Kansas City - and Reece Hughes was selected to take his place. As time went on one by one passed away, they too, were rep!aced.

“Later the board included Elmer Perry, Lewis Jones, Gomer Jones, James Baxter, James Condron, Kirby Condron, Bert Hoyt, Leonard Simmer and George Somerville, all now deceased, and F. M. (Pat) McCall, who resigned in favor of Gary Dickinson, who bought stock in the bank in 1969.

“Abner Cunningham was selected as our first 114 cashier and Frank Reed as assistant.

“Things went on beautifully for a while. At one time there were two banks in Dawn. There was a little flurry in the mid-Twenties. Then the 1929 crash came and the banks began to close all around us. One day I was in Chillicothe and I heard on the street that the Community Bank had closed. Shortly after that, a minister got up in the pulpit in Blue Mound and told us that he had heard that day that the bank at Ludlow and also the Community Bank of Dawn had both closed their doors. It began to look like the rumors were about to get the best of us.

“Then Roosevelt came on the scene and closed all the banks in a bank moratorium. I well remember that they sent a government man named Brown with the FDIC and he told us if we wanted to open our bank there were a few things we would have to do. One of these was put in $18,000.00. We pleaded with him, but he was a very firm man, and it was finally raised by Elmer Perry, Louis Jones, Gomer Jones, James Condron, Abner Cunningham and Albert Reidel. (I raised a measley $100.00; and others raised $17,900.00.)

“It seemed like he was pretty attentive and visited us often. During those hard times, our bank could pay our cashier only $80.00 a month. The assistant was getting $75.00. We got nothing for our directors meetings.

“Our bank rode along for many years without paying the stockholders anything and our help worked very cheap, but in the end it was one of the three that stayed open out of the 21 banks in the county.

“It has finally become possible to expand and we are able to move our Charter to Chillicothe and still retain our branch bank at Dawn.”

Following is a list of the present directors, officers and employees of the Community Bank of Chillicothe.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COMMUNITY BANK CHILLICOTHE, MISSOURI 64601

Gary Dickinson, Chairman

Larry Richards

Kenneth Griffith

Howard Mantzey

Ralph Condron

Tom Otke

John Irvin

Don Chapman Jr.

Edwin Clark

OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE COMMUNITY BANK

Larry Richards, President, Lee Keith, V.P., Ben Jones, V.P., Shirley Ann Carey, V.P., Helen Condron, Cashier, Emma Wood, Assist. Cashier, Shirley Shannon, Assist. Cashier, Sherry Reeter, Assist. V.P., Cheri Owens, Secretary, Carol Nigh, Exec. Assistant, Gladys Stark, Teller, Kathy Rennells, Teller, Vonnie Narr, Teller, Sharon Barnes, Teller, Harriet Griffith, Teller, Helen Williams, Teller, Frances Harrington, Teller, Michele Ferguson, Teller, Pat Willis, Head Bookkeeper, Janie Klingenberg, Bookkeeper, Kelly Walker, Bookkeeper and Bonnie Mann, Bookkeeper.

 

CONSTITUTION-TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER

The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune is in its 120th year of service to Livingston County and like many of the former publications of this community, which date back to 1843, newspapers have played a vital role in the development of our county and area.

From the early 1880’s until 1972 The Constitution, and later The Constitution-Tribune, was edited and published by the Watkins family. The newspaper was sold in April of 1972 by the late Charles E. (Watty) Watkins, publisher and majority stockholder of The Constitution-Tribune.

Chillicothe Newspapers, Inc., publishes an afternoon daily newspaper six times a week, Monday through Saturday, and the Chillicothe Shopper, a free distribution shopper each Wednesday. The Constitution-Tribune has a daily circulation of 6,800 plus and the Chillicothe Shopper is mailed and delivered to 10,500 homes (not including the city of Chillicothe) in Livingston County and parts of five other counties.

The Constitution was established in 1860 at a time when many newspapers were operating in the county, and the Tribune came about in 1868 after a group of men purchased The Spectator. The consolidation of The Constitution, a paper which had Democratic leanings, and The Tribune, a Republican newspaper, became effective on March 1, 1928.

James E. Watkins, grandfather of the late Watty Watkins, became editor and publisher of The Constitution in 1912. Clarence E. Watkins, son of James E. Watkins, became the sole owner of The Constitution-Tribune shortly after consolidation of The Constitution and The Tribune and he continued to publish a daily and weekly Constitution-Tribune until his death in the early 40’s.

Charles E. (Watty) Watkins returned to Chillicothe to become publisher and editor following his discharge from the Armed Services in 1946 and continued in that role and as the majority stockholder until 1972.

Douglas Pearson became the publisher in April of 1972, coming here from Cedartown, Georgia, when Inland Industries, Inc., of Lenexa, Kansas, and Smith-Walls Newspapers, Incorporated of Fort Payne, Alabama purchased the newspaper. The Smith newspaper group owns or manages twenty-two daily and weekly newspapers, including five in Missouri.

Pearson resigned in April of 1980 to return to the South and a large newspaper and Charles (Chuck) Haney, a native of Chillicothe and a member of the C-T staff for sixteen years, was named president of Chillicothe Newspapers, Inc., and editor and publisher of the Constitution-Tribune and its weekly Shopper.

The newspaper business office and plant have operated from its present location at 818 Washington, just a block north of the downtown business square since 1958. Shortly after the newspaper was sold in 1972, a new offset printing press and the most modern computerized phototype-setting equipment was installed.

In late 1979 and in 1980 the newspaper updated its operation again, adding a complete computerized newsroom and composing room. Its bookkeeping and mailroom departments were also placed under a computer operation, giving the newspaper and its customers the most modern system available.

Today, there are twenty-one fulltime and eight part-time employees at The Constitution-Tribune. The newspaper also employs nineteen area correspondents who report news from their communities and has an award winning woman columnist, Harverna Woodling, who writes a weekly column. There are thirty-eight boys, girls and adults who deliver and distribute the area’s largest and most modern newspaper and shopper.

The newspaper recently has undergone some cosmetic changes featuring standard headlines, photos of some of its staff writers on sports and outdoor columns and new standing headlines calling attention to our sports, people, opinion, television and church pages. These changes were done to make the newspaper easier to read and to standardize all of our headlines throughout the paper. The ConstitutionTribune over the years has featured strong local and area coverage of news and sports events and has won awards from The Associated Press, The Missouri Press Association and Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association for its news and sports coverage.

 

COOKE SALES & SERVICE

The Allis-Chalmers franchise in the Chillicothe territory was purchased July 7, 1944, by Oscar 0. Cooke and his brother, Ernest Cooke, and was named Cooke Bros. Both partners had several years experience as employees of the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. and had made their way through the ranks to reach management positions. Oscar O. Cooke was manager of the Omaha branch and Ernest Cooke was a special representative spending several years in Australia, later returning to the Kansas City branch in a sales capacity.

In 1945, Oscar O. Cooke purchased his brothers share of Cooke Bros. and the company name was changed to Cooke Sales & Service Co.

At this time Cooke Sales & Service facilities consisted of a small building located in Chillicothe, Missouri.

In 1952, branch facilities,were built in St. Joseph and Sedalia, Missouri. In 1966, land was purchased on the southeast edge of St. Joseph and the existing building on the Belt Highway was moved to the new site.

In February of 1955, Oscar O. Cooke sold Cooke Sales & Service Co. to his son, Oscar M. Cooke.

The following December Allis-Chalmers awarded eight new counties to the franchise and existing facilities established at Fulton, Missouri by Cooke Tractor Company was purchased by Oscar M. Cooke and added to Cooke Sales & Service Co. as a branch.

Since 1955, employment has risen from the 30’s to over 150 employees.

A recreational area consisting of 50 acres was purchased, located seven miles northeast of Chillicothe. A lake and several raising ponds were constructed, providing swimming, private picnic grounds, and fishing for all employees.

In 1968, 5600 feet of additional shop space was erected at Chillicothe for rebuilding used equipment. In 1969, 1500 feet was added for cleaning and painting. This building was also equipped with an automatic paint stripping machine. In 1972, 2500 feet was added to the rebuilding department for welding and fabricating.

In 1976, a complete new undercarriage facility was built on the east side of Washington Street in Chillicothe. This building consists of 4500’ of shop space and 3900’ of warehouse space. Also, the existing building on this site was remodeled for an undercarriage sales office and warehouse for small parts.

Cooke Sales & Service has been recognized by many of the companies they represent as being their outstanding Dealer of the Year, including winning the Top Dealer prize in 1962, for the best overall performance in service, parts, and sales penetration. They have also been recognized as being in the top ten for the United States, Canada, and Mexico in gross volume sales, and in 1979, were rated the top Fiat-Allis dealer in the United States, based on market potential.

Several tracts of land were purchased on both sides of their current location on North Washington Street in Chillicothe and added to their existing facilities.

Cooke Sales & Service continues to grow by adding such facilities as fuel pump rebuilding stand, dynamometer for running in both construction and farm engines, a substantial increase in investment in better equipped service trucks, including air compressors, generators, special oil reservoirs, cranes, etc. to maximize customer service, and a separate operation for rebuilding components such as engines and transmissions.

 

DARR’S HOME FOR THE AGED

Darr’s Home For the Aged, located at 300 J. F. Kennedy Avenue, is a Licensed Nursing Home, giving care to those that are unable to care for themselves.

The Home was originally Fitzpatricks Home For The Aged. Mr. and Mrs. George Darr purchased the Home in October of 1968. They resided in a mobile home located on the same grounds and have cared for several aged persons from Chillicothe as well as surrounding areas. Mr. and Mrs. John Gallatin resided in the Home for many years. The oldest resident was Ida Leavell who was 105, and there have been many others that were near or past the century mark.

Of the present nineteen residents ten are past ninety. With God’s blessing it is a service we desire to continue to give to those that cannot do for themselves.

 

DR. PEPPER - ROYAL CROWN BOTTLING COMPANY

In 1939 W. L. Shaffer, Jr. purchased the Nu-Icy Bottling Company, 1201 Washington Street, from A. G. Moyer, and re-named the business the Dr. Pepper Bottling Company.

In 1970 W. L. Shaffer, 111, joined his father in the business, which includes the W. L. Shaffer and Son Vending Company.

In 1978 the business moved to a new location on 415 Harvester Road and is known as the Dr. Pepper-Royal Crown Bottling Company. Other products include Canada Dry and Seven Up.

 

EMERSON - PFAFF REALTY

Emerson-Pfaff Realty, a franchisee of the Gaslight Real Estate Corporation, is located at 448 Washington Street, Chillicothe, Mo., and was opened August 1979.

The Gaslight Corporation now has 30 offices in Western Missouri and Kansas. The owners of the Emerson-Pfaff Realty are John Emerson and Mrs. Toby (Marge) Pfaff and the secretary is Miss Sharon Pence. The Real Estate Associates are: Mrs. Cherry Evers, Mrs. Shirley Carr, Bud Griffin, Mr. Benny Littrell, Ms. Marsha Slater, and Rick Walker.

Mr. Emerson has had an extensive agriculture experience in North Missouri, having been a field representative for the Olin Corporation for 18 years. Prior to entering the real estate business he was associated with Golden Harvest, Columbiana Seed

Company, as a Regional Sales Manager. Emerson graduated from the University of Missouri, majoring in soils. He is currently the 1979-80 North Central Board of Realtors president.

Mrs. Pfaff was formerly with the Gaslight Corporation and the Eugene Brown Company in the Kansas City area. Her residential sales repeatedly placed her in the “Million Dollar Producers Club.” She served on the Eastern Jackson County Board of Realtors from 1972 to 1977, as a director on the Missouri Real Estate Board for two years, and on the Independence Chamber Board of Directors. She is a native of Livingston County and is the daughter of Clyde Alexander, Chillicothe.

 

ENGELMANN’S SHOES

In February, 1936, a new family shoe store opened in Chillicothe, in part of the present Penney Store location. The owner was Randolph Holt, of Maryville, Missouri. In 1938, a partner, J. D. Engelmann, joined the business. A native of Kansas, he had been associated with shoe stores in Oklahoma and Nebraska. In 1944, Mr. Engelmann went into the U.S. Navy and served in the South Pacific area. His wife, Ursula, operated the store, with two local employees, and some part time Chillicothe Business College students. In 1946, Mr. Engelmann returned, and the business prospered in the post-war years. Shoes were rationed during the war and continued to

be very scarce and hard to acquire for some time afterwards. In 1949, the Engelmann’s purchased Mr. Holt’s interest in the store, and changed the name to Engelmann’s Shoes. Their principles of providing excellence in fitting service, with quality merchandise proved successful. Brand names like Red Cross Shoes, Cobbies, Nunn Bush, Child Life and Miller Barefoot Freedom were added to the well-known lines already carried, including Trim Tred, Poll Parrot, Rand and Star Brand. In 1952, Engelmann’s acquired Leon’s Shoe Store, and operated it also, as J.D.’s Shoes for two years, before combining both stores in the present location at Webster and Locust Streets.

In 1964, Engelmann’s Shoes was honored with the prestigious Brand Name Shoe-Retailer-of-the-Year Award, given by the National Brqnd Names Foundation of New York, for the successful promotion of Brand Name merchandise. This award enabled Engelmann’s Shoes to further promote, through newspaper, radio and direct mail advertising, their merchandise and services available to the northcentral Missouri trade area.

Russell’s Sport Shop, at the rear of Engelmann’s became available, and was acquired to enlarge the store in the early 1960’s.

In 1975, Darla Macoubrie acquired the store, and it continues to operate with the same quality products and professional service, including prescription fitting of orthopedic shoes. The store presently employs five people, with a total of eighty years experience selling Engelmann’s shoes. They are Darla Macoubrie, 5 years; Frank Shannon, 30 years; Larry Saale, 29 years; Mary Frances LaFever, 15 years and Tammy Atwell, 1 year. Mrs. Keith Beardmore is the bookkeeper.

 

FARMER’S STONE - TRAGER OUARRIES CO.

Farmer’s Stone - Trager Quarries Company’s main office and yard is located in the Stone’s Addition in the western part of Utica, Missouri in Livingston County. This company is made up of two corporations in joint venture, Farmer’s Stone Products Co. and Trager Quarries Inc.

Trager Quarries Inc., originated from Frank Trager Contractor in 1958 when Frank Trager Sr. divided his company into the construction division and quarries division. Frank Trager originally started in business in Kansas City in the early 1930’s with the delivery of material in dump trucks. This was followed by the assembling of his rock crushing plants. These plants were used in many parts of Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Illinois in the crushing of limestone by the Trager firm. In the late 1950’s the firm settled northeast of Chillicothe, Missouri and west of Trenton, Missouri to establish permanent quarries for the production of road stone and agricultural limestone used for local sales. Many projects of the local highway system were built by the Trager firm. In the mid 1960’s quarries between Braymer and Cowgill, Hamilton and Gallatin, and north of Gilman City were opened for local sales. In July, 1966, the assets of

Farmer’s Rock and Lime, Inc., Cecil Moore and Howard Barnhart, officers and owners, was purchased by Frank Trager and his son Robert Trager. The firm was named Farmer’s Stone Products Co. and had quarries located northeast of Mooresville, Missouri, and northeast of Nettleton, Missouri. Later Farmer’s Stone Products Co. built a fertilizer blending facility in west Utica, Missouri. In 1974 Trager Quarries Inc. opened another new quarry in north Daviess County near Pattonsburg, Missouri. This later proved very convenient for the work involved in the fifteen mile construction of 1-35 in 1975 and 1976.

The firm now operates seven quarries and one sand site from the Utica office. There is one quarry and a sand plant located in Livingston County. Three production crews are maintained by the firm which travel from one location to the other depending upon which side needs material produced. 67% of our total employed staff comes from Livingston County.

The material produced by our firm is used in the construction of Missouri State Highways, city and county roads, parking areas, airport facilities, concrete structures, filter material, river protection stone and agricultural limestone.

 

HARDEN, CUMMINS, MOSS & MILLER

Harden, Cummins, Moss and Miller, Certified Public Accountants, was founded in the fall of 1947 by Ted J. Frick. Mr. Frick came from Kansas City to begin the one man operation, called Ted J. Frick, C.P.A., in the firm’s present location on the southeast corner of the square in the Citizens Bank and Trust building.

When Frick opened his office, he hired William G. Cummins to manage another office in Maryville, Missouri. Cummins was later admitted as a partner and the name was changed to Ted J. Frick and Company.

In the early 1950’s, Kenneth E. Harden, a Kansas City CPA and attorney, purchased an interest in the firm. During this time, Walter T. Miller and Bob R. Moss joined the firm as employees and were admitted to the partnership after obtaining their CPA certificates.

In the mid-fifties, Frick left the firm and the name was subsequently changed to Harden, Cummins, Moss and Miller.

In the early sixties, John E. Cook and W. Thomas Brown joined the firm as employees and subsequently became partners. Brown later transferred to Kirksville to manage a new office.

Michael R. Council, a former staff member of the Denver office of Arthur Young and Company, joined the firm in 1975 and was later admitted as a partner.

HCMM has grown in thirty-three years from a one man office to seven partners and thirty employees in the three offices which are located in Chillicothe, Kirksville and Maryville. The current partners are K. E. Harden, W. G. Cummins, B. R. Moss, W. T. Miller, J. E. Cook, W. T. Brown and M. R. Council.

 

HEDRICK MEDICAL CENTER

Since May 17, 1889, when the Sisters of St.,Mary received their first patient in a frame building on these same grounds, the Hedrick Medical Center (formerly named the Chillicothe Hospital), has strived to provide the finest patient care available. The Sisters enlarged their frame hospital twice, added new equipment and operated the hospital until 1916, when Drs. H. M. Grace and A. J. Simpson bought the hospital and continued its operation. In 1936, Dr. Grace and Mrs. Simpson donated the entire hospital plant and its grounds to the city of Chillicothe. A new 3-story brick hospital was built on the land adjacent to the original frame structure and that construction was completed in the following year, 1937. Two new wings were added in July, 1954.

Additional property was acquired to the north, and in 1972, an entirely new 80 bed hospital facility was completed adjacent to the older building. At the new hospital dedication ceremony, the institution’s name was officially changed to “Hedrick Medical Center” in honor of Mr. Ira G. Hedrick and Mrs. Minnie B. Hedrick, founders of the Hedrick Foundation which made construction of the new multi-million - dollar facility possible. Following completion of the new hospital, the 1937 3-story brick structure was renamed Hedrick Office Building, renovated, and rented for physicians’ offices.

 

INVESTORS (CHILLICOTHE) FEDERAL SAVINGS & LOAN

Few businesses in the United States have a more interesting history than the savings and loan institutions.  The first savings and loan institution in the United States was organized in 1831 when Andrew Jackson was president and there were only 24 states in the Union. Its birthplace was Frankfort, Pennsylvania, a borough of some 2,000 inhabitants a few miles northeast of the city of Philadelphia, then the United States of America’s largest city.

The Chillicothe Federal Savings and Loan Association was organized on the3rd day of April,1934.

The following were the original subscribers at the organization meeting: J. D. Rice, Roy Moore, W. B. P. Atwell, Earl Bradbury, Don Chapman, John Cook, E. O. Welch, F. M. McCall, Dr. R. J. Brennan, Fred Cornue, George Somerville, John Sigler, Marvin England, Ernest Shannon, F. A. Meinershagen, F. W. Gunby, Dick Curry.

The location for the new association was in the Gunby Abstract and Insurance office, 712 Washington Street, with Fred Gunby as the managing officer. Chillicothe Federal Savings and Loan Association grew steadily under the guidance of Mr. Gunby for thirty years. At the end of the first year, the association’s assets totaled $10,142.46 and in 1940, the association reached over $100,000.00 in assets. In 1944, at the end of ten full years of operation, assets had grown to $135,282.51. In 1954, at the end of twenty full years of operations, assets had grown to $811,647.32 and the next year the association had over $1,000,000.00 in total assets and had over $2,000,000.00 by 1960. On December 31,1963, assets totaled $2,819,022.20.

In1964, Mr. Gunby passed away and Earle S.Teegarden, Jr. was employed to replace him. Mr.

Teegarden, a Chillicothe nativeand graduate of Chillicothe High School, had been previously employed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as an Assistant Bank Examiner since his graduation in June of 1960, from the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he earned his B.S. degree in Business Administration.

Growth in assets, employees and service to the community continued and by 1969 assets were over $5,000,000.00. The $10,000,000.00 mark was achieved by 1972 and the $20,000,000.00 mark by 1976. By 1978, the association had over $30,000,000.00 in total assets and the present footings exceed $38,000,000.00.

On May 25, 1965, the association’s board authorized the purchase of the library building at the southwest corner of Washington and Jackson streets from the Livingston County Memorial Library, and after extensive remodeling, moved into the present location of 522 Washington Street in September, 1966.

On September 25, 1974, a special meeting of the members of the association was convened. The purpose was to change the name of the association to Investors Federal Savings and Loan Association. This name change would enable the association to establish branches in nearby communities and use a neutral name.

The first branch office was opened April 15, 1975, at 305 North Davis, Hamilton, Missouri, and the next branch was opened for business May 18, 1978, at 104 East Grand, Gallatin, Missouri.

The following have served as Chairman: Allen Moore, 1977-1978; Robert T. Fairweather, 1978.

The following has served as Vice Chairman: Edward P. Milbank, 1980.

The following have served as President: F. A. Meinershagen, 1934-1949; J. D. Rice, 1949-1958; George W. Somerville 1958-1966; Allen Moore, 1966-1977; Earle S. Teegarden, Jr., 1977.

The following have served as Executive Vice President: Fred Gunby, 1964; Earle S. Teegarden, Jr., 1972-1977.

The following have served as Vice President: J. D. Rice, 1934-1949; George W. Somerville, 1949-1958; Claude Botsford, 1958; Allen Moore, 1958-1966; Robert T. Fairweather, 1967-1978; Edward P. Milbank, 1978-1980; Larry Johnson, 1980.

The following have served as Secretary-Treasurer; F. W. Gunby, 1934-1964; Earle S. Teegarden, Jr., 1964-1972; Larry Johnson, 1977-1980.

The following have served as Treasurer: Mildred Thomas, 1972-1976; Dale L. Bowe, 1980.

The first Board of Directors was as follows: F. A. Meinershagen, 1934-1949; F. W. Gunby, 1934-1964; Claude Botsford, 1934-1958; George W. Somerville, 1934-1966; J. D. Rice, 1934-1958; R. J. Brennan, 1934-1936; John G. Sigler, 1934-1939; F. W. Cornue, 1934-1967; W. G. Keith, 1934-1935.

Other directors have been: E. W. Shannon, 1935-1938; F. M. McCall, 1936-1973; Don H. Wiggins, 1938-1949; Robert E. Blaun, 1950-1953; Lee Meek, 1953-1965; Allen Moore, 1958-1978; Ted Barnes, 1958-1977; Earle S. Teegarden, Jr., 1964; Tom Botts, 1966; Robert T. Fairweather, 1966; Morris Willis, 1968-1980; Edward P. Milbank, 1974; Armand J. Peterson, 1978; George Shepard, 1978; Rex Smith, 1980.

The present officers are as follows: Chairman, Robert T. Fairweather; Vice-Chairman, Edward P. Milbank; President, Earle S. Teegarden, Jr.; Vice-President and Secretary, Larry Johnson; Assistant Vice President and Treasurer, Dale Bowe; Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager, John Saccaro; Loan Officer and Assistant Secretary, Charley Merrill.

Other employees are: Patsy Ripley, Debbie Surber, Ruth Pennington, Mari Lynn Estabrook, Sandy Wheeler, Janet Adkison, Dixie Vanatta.

The men and women working in and charting the course of this financial institution have had one basic assurance which surrounds the future with light even if it could not present a crystal ball. They have found the strength and the wisdom to surmount the many difficulties and grasp the unparalleled opportunities presented in the last 46 years. There is every reason to think that they will not be daunted by the new decisions faced in the years ahead and that Investors Federal can become yet a more effective instrument for improving the lot of the citizens of those communities in which it serves, as the 20th Century rolls into its last two decades.

 

JOHN GRAVES FOOD SERVICE, INCORPORATED

John Graves Food Service, Incorporated, was founded by John Graves with one truck and one assistant, Wilbur Parrish, in Chillicothe, Missouri. Mr. Graves, formerly employed as a salesman for Swift and Company, moved to Chillicothe with his wife, Evelyn, and a six year old son, Jon Richard (Dick) to go into business for himself in the late summer of 1947.

In 1951, a building for the business was erected at 245 S. Washington Street. In 1968, a move was made to a new location at 725 Industrial Road, where the Corporation now in 1980 operates with 35 employees and 18 vehicles, including one tractor trailer, seven sales cars and ten delivery trucks. The business, during the years, has changed from service to local grocers and restaurants in Chillicothe and surrounding towns to Institutional trade in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Kansas.

The John-Graves family, in 1948, added a daughter, Lynn, to its numbers. At the present time, May 1980, Jon Richard (Dick) maintains a residence in Jefferson City with his wife Suzy and three children, Chip, Lolli and Tucker. Lynn resides in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Robert M. Hardy, Jr., and one daughter, Anna.

Dick in 1976, purchased John Graves Food Service, Inc. from John and Evelyn, and plans to continue its activities. Dick has also, during the past nine years, founded a similar food service company known as Menu Maker in Jefferson City. His present plans are to continue to operate both plants in the future.

-- Mr. and Mrs. John Graves

 

IRVINBILT COMPANY

Irvinbilt Company originated in 1934 when its founder, John Melvin Irvin, son of Maude and Clifford Irvin, and a native of Chillicothe, Missouri, began contracting farm improvements for the Prudential Insurance Company. Mr. Irvin was graduated from Chillicothe High School in 1929 and attended the University of Missouri. On September 21, 1935, he married Miss Virgie Kibler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Kibler of Chillicothe.

His first job was at Blair, Kansas. He finished the job in one week and made a profit of fifty dollars, which in 1934 was a lot of money. Laborers earned one dollar per ten-hour day. Carpenters and other craftsmen made twenty to thirty cents an hour. Meals cost only fifteen cents or so and a night’s lodging was twenty-five to fifty cents.

The new company did not own much equipment - just a saw and a hammer. Concrete was mixed by hand, shoveled into a five gallon can and carried to the forms. That was easier than using steel wheelbarrows on rough farm ground. They later rigged a concrete mixer on a truck and used a washing machine motor to power a table saw - and were pleased with their equipment.

John Irvin continued doing farm building improvements until 1939-40 when he returned to Chillicothe to contract, design and build houses. He later began to design and build on a commercial scale.

After Pearl Harbor, the only building done was in connection with the war effort. During 1941-45, he manufactured wagon boxes, scoop boards, hog feeders, hog houses and baler blocks which were sold all over the United States. Thus, the name “Irvinbilt” was originated.

In 1948-49, he built the present Ben Bolt Theatre in Chillicothe. From then on he had at least six jobs going all the time.

In 1948, there was a terrific demand for new schools, as few had been built since 1930. There was also a shortage of contractors and Irvinbilt Company expanded to meet the need. By the year 1977, Irvinbilt Company had built over sixty-five schools, seventeen under one architect.

Irvinbilt Company was incorporated February 23, 1955, by John Irvin, Virgie Irvin and Mabel Matson. The corporation rented the premises at 304 Clay Street for offices and a-cabinet shop. Lowell Burghart, a mechanical engineer and graduate of Kansas State College, and Morris B. Willis, an electrical engineer and also a graduate of Kansas State College, became shareholders and officers of Irvinbilt Company ‘in April, 1955.

A profit-sharing plan for the benefit of employees of Irvinbilt Company was adopted February 25, 1957.

In the minutes of June 17, 1957, it is recorded that Irvinbilt Company would not pursue additional contracts at the time, due to the pressing needs of supervision on the existing work they were doing. This helps explain their consistently high quality of building.

On May 29, 1961, Irvinbilt Company was authorized to conduct business in Iowa as well as Missouri and Kansas.

The company’s office was moved to 10 Hickory Street in March, 1967. Miss Mabel Matson, due to illness, resigned as secretary of the corporation on March 18, 1968, after working for Mr. Irvin twenty-one years. Miss Matson died in the fall of that year.

On August 16, 1971, Irvinbilt became an equal opportunity employer and also committed itself to the goal of continuing to provide the best possible working conditions with respect to safety and health.

John Irvin, at the age of sixty-six, resigned as chairman of the Board of Irvinbilt Company on September 20, 1977, and Morris B. Willis was elected to that position.

At the time of this writing, Irvinbilt Company builds schools, hospitals, sewage disposal plants, water plants, power plants, industrial buildings, banks, offices and shopping centers.

It is significant that the Irvinbilt Company now employs ten superintendents, all of whom started as carpenters or laborers in the early years of its formation. They are: Larry Alexander, Marvin Alexander, John Case, Norman Case, Dale Inman, Bob McCollum, Bill McNally, Doug Reeter, Jack Thierne, and Wilbert Treon.

The present owners and officers are:

Jeff Churan, an engineering graduate of the University of Missouri. He began working for Irvinbilt Company as a carpenter in 1962 and became majority shareholder and President in 1973.

Don Garrison, a graduate engineer from the University of Missouri. He joined Irvinbilt Company in 1972 and was elected vice-president in 1973.

Ron Clevenger, a graduate of Central Missouri State University. He began working for Irvinbilt Company in 1973 and is the current secretary treasurer.

 

KANAN ABSTRACT COMPANY

Kanan Abstract Company, Incorporated, is located on the North side of the square at 703 Webster Street, in the building constructed by the First National Bank in 1887, for a bank. It has been an Abstract Office for sixty-nine years and was opened by Jno. A. Ryan and B. V. Gill January 2, 1911.

In August, 1924, Grover C. and Maude Carnahan purchased one-half interest in the business and in 1942, purchased the remaining interest, and operated the Abstract Company until September, 1947 when title was transferred to V. F. Kanan.

In 1951, Carl Kanan, who had been employed in Washington, D. C. by the Civil Service Commission f or twenty-four years returned with his family to Missouri, and purchased one-half interest in the Abstract, Real Estate and Insurance business. In December 1953, a Corporation was formed and later Mr. Kanan purchased all of the outstanding shares. Along with the other business interests, he was appointed the agent for Cameron Savings and Loan Association for the agency in Chillicothe.

Carl Kanan and Dorothy Fraley were united in marriage at the St. Columban’s Catholic Church in Chillicothe on June 10, 1967. Together, they continued to operate the business until the death of Mr. Kanan on September 10, 1979. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Kanan became the owner and president of the Corporation.

Mrs. Myrl “Frances” Wilson, an Abstractor and close friend, who has been associated with the organization since 1963 when she was employed by Mr. Kanan, has continued with Mrs. Kanan in the business of Abstracts, Title Insurance, and the Agency for Cameron Savings & Loan Association.

Mrs. Anita Fisher is an apprentice abstractor. Mrs. Wilma Hamilton and Mrs. Louise Courtney are part time employees.

 

KCHI RADIO

KCHI-AM Radio Station began its first broadcast day on March 3, 1950. The 252 foot tower and broadcast studio facilities were located on highway 65, about one mile south of Chillicothe.

The station was only the fourth radio station to begin operation in Missouri north of the Missouri river. KCHI-AM operates from local sunrise to local sunset with a broadcast signal that reaches over 100 miles in all directions.

Cecil Roberts owned the station, and Howard Rion was the manager with Russell Walz as chief engineer.

In 1966 the studios were moved to 917 Jackson and a remote system was installed to operate the transmitter from the down town location.

The radio station was offered for sale, due to the ill health of Mr. Roberts, and a corporation was formed to buy the station by Ron Hatten, Ted Griffin, and Dick Lindman. The name of RONTEDICK was used and the corporation purchased the station effective October 1st, 1974.

Mr. Hatten planned to move to Chillicothe to manage the station; however ill health prevented this and Jerry Peterson was hired as manager from 1974 until 1976.

In October 1976, the FM Broadcast station was added when a new FM transmitter was installed three miles northwest of town. The FM allows longer broadcast hours and is authorized to stay on the air 24 hours per day when needed.

After the death of Mr. Hatten, Eugene. and Marjorie Vaughn of Moberly purchased the stock he had owned and assumed management of the station late in 1976.

The station purchased the old bowling alley building at 421 Washington and moved the studios there August 1st, 1979, to gain additional room for broadcast studios. KCHI is 1010 on your dial.

 

L & O SALES COMPANY

Two good friends, Gilbert R. (Gibby) Olenhouse and F. A. (Mossy) Lionberger, were talking one day and decided that it would be a good idea to start a salvage outlet store in Chillicothe. They found a salvage stock of fountain pens and tools which they bought and peddled this stock to the public, Mossy selling from his auto salvage yard, and Gibby selling from the trunk of his car on his territory which he covered while representing Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Company, a hardware jobber in Chicago. This was during the years, 1947 and 1948, and in 1949 they thought it was improved enough they bought more stocks and rented a basement room under what is now Fletchall Office Supply and opened up this one room to the public. Polly Banta, wife of Lloyd Banta, who was then head of the Maintenance Department of the State Highway Department in Chillicothe, was in charge of the sales room.

By 1950, sales had improved to the extent that Lionberger built a building at 109 S. Washington for the L & O Sales Company, which is the south part of the building the L & O still occupies. Business continued to improve and in 1953 another room was added on the north side of the first building to enable them to add furniture, appliances and other items.

In 1952, they leased a building at 202 S. Main, Brookfield, Missouri, and opened the second L & O Sales retail store. This continued to operate until Mr. Olenhouse became ill in September 1973, and the store was closed October 23, 1973.

Carl Nichols, a son of A. C. Nichols of Chillicothe, Missouri, was a friend of both Gibby and Mossy, and after he had moved to Boulder, Colorado, the three decided that a similar store would operate good in that location. The store was opened in 1952, and operated under the name of L & O Sales with Mr. Nichols as the manager and the other two as partners. In 1954, Olenhouse and Lionberger sold their interest to Mr. Nichols in order that they could devote more time to their local businesses.

In 1953, they branched further out by leasing a building in Trenton, on Main Street, and opened the third L & O store. They operated on this location about three years, then leased a larger building and added more to their items or merchandise.

In April 1956, Mossy Lionberger sold all of his interests in all L & O stores and merchandise to Gibby Olenhouse, and since that time Gibby and his wife, Claire, continued to operate the three stores. In 1961, lots were purchased in Trenton and a new building was built to house the L & O Sales at 1937 East 9th. This was the location of the L & O at the time the Trenton store was closed July 8, 1974, when Mr. Olenhouse became critically ill.

Since the death of Mr. Olenhouse in November 1974, the one remaining store, the main store, at Chillicothe has been continued and operated by Gary B. (Butch) Olenhouse taking over the duties of his father, and Claire continuing as bookkeeper and supervisor of the office and personnel. This arrangement still continued in 1980, with the addition of Marsha, the wife of Butch, being added to the office staff as secretary and assistant bookkeeper. At the present time they have 15,000 sq. ft. floor space for retail sales and approximately 16,000 sq. ft. ware house space - CONSIDERABLY LARGER THAN A TRUNK OF A CAR, isn’t it?  (A family member reported that the name should be Cary B. (Butch) Olenhouse, not Gary as it is printed in the original.  3/27/02)

 

LIGHTNER INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE

The Lightner name has been in Livingston County since the mid 1800’s. Chapman Lightner was a large land owner in the 1840’s and his grandson, Richard Lightner, was a banker, land owner, and stockman in the Chula area of Livingston County. Bill Lightner, his son, is now the owner of Lightner Real Estate and H & R Block franchise in the Chillicothe area.* He started his business in Chillicothe in 1959. Denny Lightner, a grandson of Richard Lightner, joined his father and took over the insurance part of the business in 1973. The present location of this establishment is at 415 Washington and has been since 1973.

Some of their regular employees at this time are: Pam Bruce, Mary Lightner, Willa Vee George, Burl Williams, Sharon Linville and Joyce Lightner.

In recent years the continued growth of the Lightner business has established it as an economic addition to the Livingston County area. Bill Lightner is a member of the North Central Realtors Association and in 1980, he and his wife Mary, were awarded for their fifteen years excellent service at the H & R Block annual awards banquet. Bill attended Chillicothe Business School and has thirty years accounting experience.

Denny Lightner is a member of the North Central Realtors Association, a graduate of Life Underwriters Training Council, Vice-President of the North- Central Missouri Life Underwriters Association, two years National Quality award winner and a member of the Independent Agents Association of Missouri. Denny is a 1971 graduate of Central Missouri State University with a B.A. in Political Science and Law Enforcement toward Pre-Law Study

 

LINDLEY FUNERAL HOMES

In 1867, D. F. Chapin and George Fobis started a furniture business which was in the 400 block of Locust Street. Through the latter 1800’s the business had other partners. In 1871, a Mr. Baker became partners with Mr. Chapin and in 1895 Mr. Chapin and his son A. F. Chapin bought out Mr. Baker.

In 1899, I. M. Greer and F. A. Meinershagen started a funeral business at 507 Washington and a furniture store at 509 Washington which was also owned by these partners.

After Greer’s death Mr. Meinershagen was joined in business by his son Julius. In 1943, they purchased residential property at 910 Washington from Louis Stein and moved their funeral home business to that location. This structure was built in 1889 by the Leeper family and was later owned by the Wallbrunn family. Mr. Stein acquired the property through the Wallbrunn estate.

In 1958, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Keeney bought the funeral business. Nine months into their operation, Mr. Keeney died. On June 1, 1959, Mrs. Keeney sold the funeral business to Mr. and Mrs. B. J. Lindley of Nevada, Missouri. Jack was born and raised in Cedar County, Missouri, where he was a member of the First Christian Church Disciples of Christ. He was a 1945 graduate of Stockton High School and served one year in the United States Navy. He married Dorothy Kohler, the daughter of John Harold and Dora Kohler in Harrisonville on April 24, 1949. He completed his degree from the St. Louis College of Mortuary Science and received his Missouri Funeral Directors and Embalmers License in 1951. Jack worked for the Runninburger Funeral Home, Harrisonville, Missouri from 1949 to 1951; and later the Langsford Funeral Home in Lee’s Summit, Missouri in 1951 through 1955. While living in Nevada, Missouri from 1955 through 1959, he worked at the Ferry Funeral Home. Mr. and Mrs. Lindley and their children, Becky, Scott, Bruce and Tim made their residence in the upstairs apartment of the Funeral Home for 17 years. In expanding the funeral business, Mr. and Mrs. Lindley acquired the Robertson Funeral Homes at Laredo and Chula, Missouri, in 1965, and the Austin Funeral Homes at Hale and Tina, Missouri, in 1968.

In the spring of 1974, after receiving his degree in applied science from Forrest Park Community College in St. Louis and acquiring his Missouri Funeral Directors and Embalmers License, Scott Lindley returned to Chillicothe to become a partner in the firm.

To modernize the funeral establishment to better serve the community’s needs, the existing structure at 910 Washington was razed, and a new facility was completed and dedicated in Oct. 1976.

In August of 1977, Bruce Lindley completed his degree from the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science and returned to Chillicothe to join the firm. After serving a one year internship, Bruce received his Mlissouri Funeral Directors and Embalmers License.

The present family members are Jack, Dorothy and Timothy Lindley of the home at 911 Cherry St. Mike and Becky (Lindley) Ransdell and son Michael, Trenton; J. Scott and Deborah (Masters) Lindley, Chillicothe and Bruce and Susie (Gardner) Lindley, Chillicothe.

The Lindley Funeral Home has the distinction of being the only family owned and operated funeral business in Chillicothe and Livingston County.

 

LIVINGSTON TV and APPLIANCE

On April 1, 1972, Steve Keuhn of Trenton and Jim Schreiner of rural Purdin purchased Bowe Radio and TV at 709 Locust from Russell Bowe.

They chose the name of Livingston County TV and carried the Quasar line of TVs and stereos while servicing all makes of electronic equipment.

A short time later they enlarged their business to carry more stereo equipment and then added the Magnavox and Zenith lines.

In 1974, they expanded to 707 Locust in order to enlarge their line of stereo equipment. In the fall of 1975, they purchased the Baldwin Furniture building from Jim and Hazel Baldwin located at 619 Elm Street. This made a much larger area for display, service work, and warehousing.

In July of 1977, Livingston County TV added the Whirlpool Appliance line and revised their name to Livingston TV and Appliance.

In March of 1978, they purchased Klinginsmith TV and Appliance in Trenton, Missouri, from Raymond Klinginsmith and changed the name to Livingston TV and Appliance. Tom Klinginsmith manages the store and offers the same merchandise and service as does the Chillicothe store.

Jim and Janet Schreiner (part-time secretary) reside on Route 2, Chillicothe and are the parents of two children: Angela 4, and Anthony, 17 mo.

Steve and Marjorie Keuhn (part-time secretary) reside on Route 5, Chillicothe. They are the parents of one child, Philip, 3.

 

LUDLOW NATIONAL BANK

The Ludlow National Bank opened for business on August 31, 1889, and has been in continuous operation since that date except for the bank holiday in 1933, when all banks in the country were closed for a time by presidential decree.

The bank was first organized as a state bank and titled the “Farmer’s Bank”, but on April 22, 1907, it was granted a national charter and became the “Farmers National Bank”. Then in 1929, a reorganization was effected and the present title was chosen. The bank has been in its present location since 1917, when a new building was constructed. Prior to that time, it was housed in a building adjacent to its present site.

The first stockholders of the bank were: Samuel Berry, Frank Copple, N. S. Copple, J. R. Dalby, J. M. Davis, C. Fink, Manloff Gregory, Fred S. Hudson. A. Johnson, B. H. Kite, R. R. Kitt, R. J. Lee, F. A. Stouffer, George W. Timbrook, J. P. Welsh, Alonzo Wells, Horace Wightman and D. C. Wilson.

Charter depositors were: J. P. Welsh, Perry Borders, J. M. Buckman, Franklin Copple, N. S. Copple, Pierce Copple, Dr. C. O. Dewey, Evan Evans, C. Fink and son, B. H. Kite, Horace Wightman, and the First National Bank of Chillicothe. The first day’s business consisted of deposits totaling $5,229.59. At the end of the first year, deposits totaled $62,943.94.

Richard Lee has been given credit as having been the most instrumental in organizing the bank and was its first president. Upon his death in 1904, his son R. J. Lee was named as president. He served in the capacity until his death in 1938. His nephew, M. E. Lee, was then elected to the office. Following his death in 1951, B. B. Lee, son of R. J. Lee, was elected and served for a time. Since then, three others have served the bank as president; L. R. Hamblin, Joe Cherry, and David James, who holds the office at the present time (1980).

Fred S. Hudson was the bank’s first cashier. He was followed by Lee Barton and Joe Messenbaugh, each of whom served for only a short period of time. Fred Wightman served from 1896 to 1905, Joe Dusenberry from 1905 to 1923, J. E. McNabb from 1923 to 1937, Carl Goll from 1937 to 1960, Tom Johnson during 1960, Joe Cherry from 1960 to 1971, David James from 1971 to October 1976 and Clithro L. Anderson since that time.

Since beginning its first year of service with $62,000.00 the Ludlow National Bank has now grown to $7,000,000.00. Heritage is deep in the bank’s history, as many of the charter depositor’s families still do business there. 

 

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN

“Seems like a nice town, don’t you know,” the late Colonel Harland Sanders said of Chillicothe during a visit in June, 1975 to Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Colonel Sanders came to present a special award to the restaurant, 1200 North Washington Street, and owner Del. Newkirk.

Kentucky Fried Chicken, which opened for business in February, 1973, was the second restaurant in Missouri and among the first twenty in the nation to win the special cleanliness and sanitation award. The Colonel had started a White Glove Program and wanted to present the placque in person. During his visit he posed for pictures with local residents and taught employees the fine art of gravy making with his solid gold spoon!

Since 1975 Chillicothe Kentucky Fried Chicken has won the award anew each year. The Chillicothe restaurant was recognized by Kentucky Fried Chicken as raising the most money for an individual restaurant in the 1979 March of Dimes/Kentucky Fried Chicken campaign. Photographs of fund raising activities by the local staff were a feature in a company magazine distributed nationwide.

Chillicothe Kentucky Fried Chicken was remodeled in 1979 to the new image of brown and light beige instead of the familiar red and white stripes. The restaurant has seating for 42 and also features catering for many sizes of groups.

The restaurant participates every year in the coop student program by employing high school students.

Mr. Newkirk is a director in the Missouri Restaurant Association, a member of the National Restaurant Association, and a founder and officer of the Kansas City Kentucky Fried Chicken Advertising Cooperative, a group of some fifty restaurants in Kansas and Missouri.

Mr. Newkirk and his wife, Letty, also own Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Brookfield, Trenton and Cameron, Missouri and in Olathe and Leavenworth, Kansas.

 

MIDWEST CONCRETE AND ASPHALT COMPANY

Midwest Concrete and Asphalt Company was formed October 30, 1961, at 304 Clay Street, Chillicothe, Missouri, Livingston County.

On June 29, 1962, the original company was reorganized with John Irvin, Virgie Irvin and Maude Irvin being the directors. John Irvin was the president. Shortly thereafter the corporation acquired the Redi Mix plant and asphalt plant belonging to AtkinsonWindle and leased the real estate at 10 Hickory Street with option to purchase, this acquisition permitting them to expand into paving of roads, general excavation, engaging in the general contracting business, buying and selling lands and real estate and otherwise working in or with building materials of all kinds, gravel, steel, and any and every other material necessary for or convenient in construction, engineering or maintenance.

In September, 1962, the registered office was moved to 10 Hickory Street, Chillicothe. Officers were John Irvin, president, Maude Irvin, vice-president, and Virgie Irvin, secretary-treasurer. Carl Elliott was the superintendent.

On January 25, 1964, Morris B. Willis became a director and was elected to the vice-presidency. In January 1965, Carl Elliott retired and Morris B. Willis also became superintendent of operations. May Hougland, who had been with Atkinson-Windle for some twenty years, served as office manager. At that time, concrete sold for $16.50 per cubic yard.

On March 1, 1969, Midwest Concrete and Asphalt Company exercised their option to purchase the real

estate at 10 Hickory from Atkinson-Windle Co. Shelby Flowerree, who stayed with the company through all changes in ownership, was the head mechanic. Neal Corbin headed up the asphalt crew and Bob Maberry had taken the position of assistant plant superintendent. Glenn Ashlock, manager of the sand plant, E. S. (Buster) Campbell, equipment operator, and Mickey Childs, superintendent of the asphalt plant and the dry mix plant, were key employees.

On December 22, 1969, the corporation purchased the assets of Cooley Gravel Company which included a sand plant and three hundred sixty acres of land. The company processed sand there until October 18, 1976, when they moved the sand plant to Grand River on leased ground. During this time they started rehabilitating the land and installed a small cattle operation.

On January 4, 1974, the corporation purchased an additional three hundred acre farm from Mr. and Mrs. Horace New and began to concentrate more in farming. In October 1975, they became involved in the production and marketing of Dry Mix products and enlarged the plant in 1976.

In December 1977, John Irvin resigned as president, and became chairman of the Board. Morris B. Willis became president and Bob Maberry became the general manager.

In January 1978, the assets of the company, except for farms, were sold to Chillicothe Ready Mix. The registered office of Midwest Concrete and Asphalt Company was then moved to R917 Jackson Street, Chillicothe, Missouri and at that time the company became primarily a sand, excavation and farming operation. Miss May Hougland, who had been secretary- bookkeeper in the construction business for forty years, retired.

John Irvin is now chairman of the Board, Morris B. Willis, president, Virgie Irvin, vice-president and Dottie Yeomans, secretary-treasurer.

 

MILBANK MILLS

The history of Milbank Mills in Chillicothe begins in 1867, when George Milbank came to Chillicothe to found the first merchant mill in the area.

Operations of Milbank Mills in Chillicothe have continued under the ownership and active management of the Milbank family through four generations.

Today, Edward Milbank is president and general manager of Milbank Mills, while John Palmer Milbank is chairman of the board.

Originally, Milbank Mills was a flour mill, with the by-products from the flour being used to manufacture feed for livestock. One of the distinctions of Milbank Mills when it was first founded in Chillicothe in 1867, was that it provided the first cash market for wheat in the area.

The flour produced by Milbank Mills was shipped by rail as far as Florida, Texas, Nebraska and Chicago.

The first location of Milbank Mills was at the corner of Washington and Bryan Streets, where the Taco Tico and Kentucky Fried Chicken buildings now stand. In 1867, this site was a field of oats, outside the city proper. A dam was erected across a ravine, which created a pond. The water was used to operate a steam engine, which in turn operated the mill, through a series of drive belts and line shafts. In 1903, the original steam engine was replaced with a new and improved model that had first been exhibited at the St. Louis Worlds Fair. It furnished power for thirty years until being replaced by a more modern diesel engine. The mill pond also served as a swimming hole, fishing hole, skating rink and baptizing ground.

The first light in the mill was furnished by whale oil lamps. Later a small electric generator, driven by the steam engine, was used for lighting only.

The first telephone in Chillicothe was a one-line system, connecting the office at Milbank Mills with the home of George Milbank. The first copying machine in Chillicothe was a hand-operated “wet press” which took two hours and a strong arm to produce a copy. The first moisture tester for grain in the area was at Milbank Mills. The first dump for automatic unloading of grain was a hand-operated hoist which raised the front wheels of the wagon off the ground.

In 1960, after 93 years of continuous flour milling operations at the same location, a decision was made to halt all flour milling and to concentrate on the production of animal feed. In 1963, a feed mill of slip form concrete construction, fully equipped with automatic machinery, was built in south Chillicothe. In 1964, the original mill location was destroyed by fire. Since that time all operations of Milbank Mills have been headquartered at 1 Brunswick Street in south Chillicothe.

Today, Milbank Mills continue to provide a daily cash market for grain, just as they have done for the past 113 years. The original cash market for wheat has been expanded to include a cash market for all types of grain. More than 80 different Silver Moon feeds are manufactured, for all types of livestock and poultry.

No business is complete without its people. Throughout the years, Milbank Mills has been fortunate in the caliber of its people, and the contributions made by past and present employees should be recognized.

Key personnel at Milbank Mills today include, John E. Yeomans as sales manager; Delmar Keller, Jr., as production manager; Paul E. Jones, as customer services manager; and Paul Lamb as manager of technical service. June Thompson serves as personal secretary to Edward Milbank; and Susan Applebury heads the computerized accounting department. Max Helms is assistant sales manager, while Charles Emerich serves as mill superintendent and head of maintenance. These key people are backed up with a total staff of approximately 35 additional people.

With the experience of its dedicated employees, together with the support of its loyal customers, Milbank Mills confidently looks forward to serving the agriculture of this area in the century ahead, just as it has in the century past.

 

MISSOURI DISTRIBUTING COMPANY

LAMBERT MANUFACTURING COMPANY

It all started in 1933 by Joe H. Lambert just after he graduated from Raytown High School. He was born March 28, 1912 in the Missouri Bootheel at Benton, Missouri, and his family moved to Lee Summit and then to Raytown where his father owned grocery stores. Jobs were scarce so he started peddling sundries and a few gloves from the back seat of his old car. Soon he was making $15 to $20 per day which was really something in the “Big Depression.”

In 1934, he and his brother, James S. Lambert, born also at Benton, Missouri September 24, 1908, decided to make Chillicothe, Missouri their base. Manufacturing was not dreamed of at this time, however the move to Chillicothe proved to be a fortunate one.

In 1936, the brothers formed the Missouri Distributing Company and moved their merchandise from cars to trucks. “We Deliver the Goods” became the slogan. As more sales routes and trucks were added, work gloves became the major item. During the early 1940’s and World War II, gloves were hard to obtain. The Lambert brothers decided to manufacture their own gloves.

The Lambert Manufacturing Company was organized in 1944, and Plant #1 was opened at 5011/2 Jackson Street, Chillicothe, Missouri, They made cotton gloves. As the demand became greater, Plant A2, was built in 1947, in Kirksville, Missouri to manufacture Jersey gloves. By 1949, they purchased a building at 1016 Washington Street in Chillicothe and opened Plant #3, which produced leather work gloves.

Caps had become a big sales item and in 1953, they decided to begin manufacturing their own line. Plant #4, was started in November 1953, in an old store building in Gallatin, Missouri with seven employees and moved into a new building in 1954, with a total of 27 employees. Demand increased and the plant expanded in 1959, and again in 1967, and were then employing 140 people. In August, 1970, the second cap factory was started at Bethany, Missouri which was Plant #5, and in 1974 Plant #6, opened at Maysville, Missouri.

Joe Lambert sold his half interest in Lambert Manufacturing Co. and Missouri Distributing Company to his brother, James S. Lambert in 1962. At the death of his brother in 1965 Joe purchased a substantial interest in the original companies to see that they were operated in the Lambert tradition until his nephew, James W. Lambert, son of James S. Lambert, was in a position to enter the business. James W. Lambert was born July 19, 1946 in Chillicothe, Missouri.

In the meantime, Joe Lambert started the Mid West Glove Corporation and Lambert Sales, Inc. in a new building at 835 Industrial Road, Chillicothe, Missouri on January 14, 1963. They manufactured both cotton and leather gloves. It was for the remarkable success of these businesses that Joe Lambert was chosen Small Businessman of Missouri in 1966.

In 1966, the policy of keeping trucks on sales routes was discontinued and salesmen were put in cars.

Joe Lambert, due to ill health, sold his interest in both companies to his nephew, James W. Lambert in 1972. The companies have continued to grow and with the addition of catalog service sales cover all 50 states and several foreign countries.

James W. Lambert is currently the president and sole owner of both companies which employ approximately 600 people.

 

MISSOURI MOBILE CONCRETE INC.

The Missouri Mobile Concrete Inc. was founded in June 1977 by the owners and founders, Robert D. Day and R. Wayne Cunningham. They have three trucks, both owners drive trucks and their other employees are David Bradley, driver and Susan Cunningham, secretary. The business is located at 507 McCormick Street.

The Concrete-Mobile is a combination materials transporter and mobile concrete mixing plant, .mounted on a truck that carries sufficient unmixed, dry, bulk cement, sand, coarse aggregate and water to any job site to produce fresh concrete mixed to design specifications. It is a precisely calibrated mechanism that enables a competent operator to produce concrete that will meet and exceed A.C.I. standards for design strength.

With the Concrete-Mobile, concrete can be produced in the exact quantity needed, as it is needed, right on the job site, up to five yards per truck. The operator can deliver concrete made to many designs or specifications without moving the Concrete-Mobile or causing delay.

Ordering concrete is simplified because only a rough yardage estimate is required. Each truck is equipped with a meter that indicates the exact amount of concrete that has been mixed. There will be no unused concrete to be paid for because of over-estimated yardage, or waiting because of an underestimate.

 

MOORE, SAALE & SHEPARD INSURANCE

The Allen Moore Insurance Agency was the initial venture into the insurance business by Allen Moore 111. The agency was started with the purchase of the M. J. Rice Insurance Agency on January 1, 1953. The insurance office was housed at 5011/2 Locust Street in what, at that time, was known as the Boehner Building. Mr. Rice had been engaged in the property and casualty insurance business since 1922.

The agency was moved to 511 Washington in 1960. Moore purchased the Flick Girdner Insurance Agency in May of that year; the Girdner Agency had been in existence since 1939. The operating name of the agency was changed to Allen Moore and Associates after the Girdner acquisition. In 1961 the Mervin Cies Agency was purchased; Mr. Cies had been in the insurance business for over forty years.

In 1971 George D. Shepard joined the agency as a partner. He had served as an insurance company representative prior to his joining the firm. A branch office was established at Lexington, Missouri, June 1, 1976, under the name of Braswell Insurance Services. The Don Saale Insurance Agency was merged into Allen Moore and Associates January 1, 1977, and the operating name of the insurance agency was changed to Moore, Saale and Shepard. Mr. Saale had been in the property and casualty business twelve years prior to the merger.

The existing agency presently represents twentyfive insurance companies and writes all types of property and casualty insurance in addition to life and health insurance. Today it’s one of the largest independent insurance agencies in North Missouri.

 

THE MOORE MONUMENT COMPANY

The Moore Monument Company was founded by George W. Moore in Hamilton, Mo. in the back of a blacksmith shop in the year 1890. In order to obtain more capital, a partner was taken into the business in 1892, and it operated as a partnership until the partner’s death in 1900. During the time the business operated in Hamilton, memorials were placed from Missouri City and Orrick on the Missouri River to as far northwest as King City and Stanberry, and as far east as Brookfield.

In order to gain better shipping facilities, the business was moved to Chillicothe and the present plant and facilities were built in 1924. When the move was completed in 1924, the company employed 16 to 18 people in the shop, plus office and sales personnel.

Vincent Moore joined the business with his father after he graduated from high school in 1937, and following the death of G. W. Moore in January of 1946, assumed full-time operation of the business.

In 1965, the firm purchased the Fulkerson Monument Co. of Brookfield and still operates it as a sales outlet. In 1970, a sales display and showroom was opened in Carrollton, Missouri, and this year a sales outlet was placed in Milan, Missouri. The firm currently furnishes memorials from the Iowa line south to the Missouri River, east to Bevier and west to Cameron.

Mildred Moore became secretary-treasurer of the business in 1967 and David Moore joined the business with his father in 1971, becoming sales manager.

The company is affiliated as a member of the Monument Builders of North America, and International Association of Retail Memorialists in the United States and Canada. Vincent Moore served as president of the Monument Builders of North America from 1965 - 1967.

The firm attempts to furnish memorials of symbolic and reverent design which truly represent the lives of the individuals they are intended to commemorate. “Monuments are erected not because someone died, but because they lived.” “A monument says you are remembered.”

 

NORMAN FUNERAL HOME

The Norman Funeral Home was founded by F. B. Norman in 1916 at 437 Locust. Mr. Norman’s brother, Earl Norman, joined him later that year. In 1924, Chillicothe’s first exclusive funeral home was built on the grounds of its present location.

Mr. Norman’s sons, Elton F. and Ralph V., joined their father in the funeral business in later years. Elton joined the firm in 1936, and left in 1942, to serve in the Armed Forces. He returned in 1945, and remained until retirement in January, 1979. Ralph joined the firm in 1942 and remained until retirement in 1975.

F. B. Norman was active in the firm until time of death, March, 1941.

Earl Norman was also active until time of death, April, 1944.

Tom Otke joined the firm in March 1965, and purchased the stock from Ralph V. Norman in 1975.

James K. Wagy joined the firm in 1976, as a stockholder, and later purchased the stock from Elton F. Norman in 1979.

In 1976, the funeral home was completely remodeled and a new chapel, family room, music and flower room and foyer added.

James K. and Patricia A. Wagy purchased the remaining stock from Tom and Mary Otke in May, 1980.

In September, 1980, the final phase of remodeling was completed with the new casket showroom and preparation room, with all the latest equipment installed. Upon this completion all the funeral facility is on the ground floor.

 

HENRY OVERTON MOTOR SALES

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Overton came to Chillicothe in 1936 and bought the lot where the business is located on North Washington Street from Ross Bryan. They started building the filling station and garage as a 24 by 24 with a 14 foot lean-to for living quarters. These were depression days and times were hard.

Business was good, so another fourteen feet was added to the building including a bedroom and bath to the living quarters. In 1945, the Overtons bought their home at 402 Kennedy Avenue and put a 40 foot tile building on the north side of the original building and the living quarters were converted to parts and office space. The present building is 78 by 40. As the business continued to grow, in 1961 a trailer court was started in back of the garage.

In 1964, a fifty foot lot was purchased from Bill Stillwell joining the property on the north, and three additional places for trailer homes were added there plus an overnight hook-up for people driving through with campers.

The business does general auto repairing, small engines and welding and-is a Standard Oil station. They sell Lawn Boy Lawnmowers and service them with a good business. In 1960, the Overton’s son Donald began working as a mechanic. In 1975, he became a partner in the business and takes care of the mechanical work. Leon Ireland started as a mechanic in 1961, and has been with the firm for almost twenty years.

 

PABI’S PATCH

PaBi’s Patch, a gift and decorative accessories business, opened October 1, 1977, in Chillicothe at 914 Calhoun. The business is owned and operated by Bill and Patti Stewart of Chillicothe. The unusual name for this gift shop was derived from taking the first two letters of each owner’s first name and combining them for Pa Bi’s.

Unique gift items are available at Pabi’s Patch as well as special decorative accessories for the home. A variety of items designed in brass, copper, pottery, pewter, crystal, and ceramics are displayed in casual surroundings (atop orange crates, under cedarshingled canopies, on brass adorned French baker’s racks, or nestled within wicker etageres at Pabi’s.)

Special promotions during the year include an October 1st anniversary celebration when PaBi’s Patch plays BINGO by spinning the cage to determine % off the purchase price of all merchandise in the store. B-10%, 1-20%, N-30%, G-40% and O-50% off.

During the Christmas season, PaBi’s Patch is decorated with garland, lights, wreaths, and several Christmas trees that display tree ornaments from around the world. The Christmas advertising campaign uses “Magoo”, the Stewart’s old English Sheepdog, as spokesman for the store. “Magoo” invites everyone to visit the store to see the special gifts available for those “hard to buy for” on Christmas lists. After Christmas, PaBi’s Patch holds a “Meet Magoo Day” for everyone to shake hands with “Magoo” in the store.

Special services at PaBi’s Patch include free gift wrapping in colorful patchwork paper, free delivery in Chillicothe, a bridal registry and wedding arrangements and wrapping for mailing. Throughout the year, Patti Stewart provides programs to community groups about flower arranging, holiday decorating, dinner napkin folding, and antique printer’s drawers personalized with miniatures.

This unusual retail business is located off the beaten path (not on the town square) but can be easily found by driving one block west of city hall at 914 Calhoun in Chillicothe.

 

PETTITS

Pettit’s Store, located at 506 Locust, was originally started in the fall of 1945 as a combined appliance and paint and wallpaper store. It was opened by two brothers, Phillip and Reginald Pettit. It was the first store in Livingston County to offer television sets for sale and picked up television from St. Louis before Kansas City T.V. stations were on the air.

In January 1961, Phillip and his wife Margaret, purchased his brother’s share of the business and are the sole owners and operators of the store. They dropped the appliance lines and went strictly into paint, wallpaper, and interior decorating. In 1971, they added picture framing to the business and are staying with this decor until the present time. The accompanying picture shows the store front as it appeared in April, 1950.

 

PURCELL MERCANTILE COMPANY

June, 1890, Dawn, Missouri: Some things I remember about the business in Dawn usually referred to as Purcell’s store.

Officially for a short time known as Purcell Brothers (Bert and Ralph) then for a short time as Purcell and Ferril (Bert and Ernest) and as Purcell Mercantile Co. for many years as well as the present time.

The store opened for business in the I.O.O.F. building on June 1, 1921, on the south side of Main Street and continued at that location until 1931. Then it moved to its present location on the north side of Main where it is now. A new building was erected in 1931 and enlarged several times over the years. It has been mostly a general store, groceries, dry goods, hardware, meats, etc. A food locker plant became a part of the operation and is a part of the business at the present time. At the close of the second World War, C. J. North, Patricia, his wife, Lee Lewis and Helen, his wife, became associated with the business. After my retirement, C. J. North became the official head of the business and remained so until his death at an early age. Patricia having found other work more to her liking remained a full partner but Lee having officially retired left Helen as head of the firm which she is now. Over the years plumbing, in and outdoor work, became a part of the business. This was sold at C. J.’s death and continues under other management at the present time.

The Purcell Store has been and still is one of the very best of small town stores in Livingston County. May it continue for many more. In the decline of the county stores we are losing one of the threads that has held the small communities together and made them a vital part of the larger communities.

 

POULTRY HOUSE

The Harkins family, A. M., and Alice and their six children, Milo, Mina, Sherman, Everett, Kelly and Audrine bought the business from the Jack Johnson family in 1952. It was located between Macklin

Bargain Store and Raymond Smith’s Cream Station at the corner of Ann and Locust Streets. They bought the present building at 105 North Herriford from Ole Parker. The upstairs was made into living quarters and the family moved there in 1957.

Mr. Harkins died in 1958, and Mrs. Harkins and the children carried on with the poultry work with the help of Ray Bate. In 1960 Mrs. Harkins became Mrs. Ray Bate and the business name was changed from “Harkins” to “Alice’s Poultry Dressing Plant”.

This was the only poultry dressing plant in northern Missouri. Poultry came from all around to be cleaned. The poultry house also bought live chickens from farmers as well as eggs. A hen house was built to care for the chickens until they were butchered and also raised to be sold as fryers. Poultry and eggs were sold to grocery stores, restaurants and individuals.

A yearly occasion was the “Wild Goose and Duck Season”. The family really kept busy and had to hire outside help. Because Chillicothe has good food, lodging, and entertainment, hundreds of hunters from about every state in the union have patronized “Alice’s poultry” to get their wild birds processed. The business building was to State specification. After Mr. Bate had two heart attacks in 1972, Mrs. Bate’s daughter, Mina and her family, Ron, Alicia, Cynthia and Killi Lea managed the business for five years. Betty Breeden had it for one year and now Mrs. Bate’s grandson, Rodney Harkins, is running the business. He also has a body shop at the Herriford Street location.

 

QUEEN CITY MOTEL AND RESTAURANT

The business is located in block one of the Weed and Curtiss addition at 310 South Washington in Chillicothe. Elmer and Carole Fowler are the present owners of the business (July, 1980) and have owned the business since May, 1973. Frank G. and Patricia A. Clark are the present managers of the business and have been managers since May, 1973. Other employees are: Cooks: Carol Howe, Dorothy Green, Robert Kerns and Bonnie Nally; Waitresses: Rowena Staples, Andree Doosing and Christine Doosing; Kitchen assistant Cindy Beetsma; Motel Maids: Etta Batson and Cindy Beetsma.

The business consists of a modern thirty room motel with room phones, air conditioning, cable color TV, electric heat and a family type restaurant with a seating capacity of eighty in the main dining room. The restaurant has a party room downstairs which seats forty-five and a party room upstairs which seats twenty-five. The restaurant features American foods and has built up a reputation for delicious food with that home-cooked flavor and goodness including home-made rolls, pies, meat loaf, noodles and salad dressings. The restaurant is open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. The business also has six rental spaces for mobile homes.

The business was originally started by T. J. Wisehaupt and was known as the “Midway Tourist Court”. The house which is occupied by the restaurant was built as a personal residence by Mr. Wisehaupt in 1949, according to the blueprints. The business was later owned by F. A. “Mossy” Lionberger and Gerald Vinson under the name of “Lazy L Motel”. Cleo and Edith Sisk purchased the business from F. A. Lionberger and later sold it to Carole and Elmer Fowler.  (See Also Midway Cabin Camp)

 

QUEEN’S RANSOM

Queen’s Ransom located in Park Center Shopping Center was opened in October, 1975, to bring specialty items to Chillicothe and surrounding areas. Several designer lines are featured in clothing, accessories and fragrance. Also available are swimwear, robes, outerwear, maternity wear, lingerie, sportswear, and formals. Prices range from moderate to more expensive. A large lounge area provides a place for friends waiting while customer tries on clothing.

 

REEDS SEEDS, INC.

Reeds Seeds, Inc., consists of wholesale and retail divisions, as well as cleaning plants and warehouses, located at Chillicothe and Jamesport. There is also a warehouse at St. Joseph for the convenience of their small bag dealers.

Reeds Seeds had its beginnings forty eight years ago in Jamesport when the present owner, Charles Reed, and his father, W. L. Reed, started a produce, feed and seed business. They handled seed on a retail basis, as well as buying seed from farmers and selling it on an uncleaned basis until the first seed cleaner was purchased in 1939. 1942 saw the first major expansion when the Reeds purchased an old tile elevator in Jamesport, converting it into a seed plant. They also added two more cleaning mills and a seed laboratory. The next enlargement was in 1950, when they added three more cleaning mills as well as more warehouse and office space. 1956 brought major changes. At that time the business was incorporated and the wholesale seed division was separated from the feed and grain divisions. In that year, also, a 60 x 100 foot warehouse with office space was built in Chillicothe. The Chillicothe facility was increased in 1959 with two cleaning mills, bulk unloading facilities and bulk storage bins, and again two years later with a 60 x 60 foot warehouse. More storage bins and another cleaning mill were added in 1963. In 1976, a 60 x 140 foot warehouse was constructed, and in 1978, a fescue cleaning facility was added with a new mill and Carter Discs. Also in 1978 Reeds installed an on-premise computer system, with terminals at each of the facilities in Chillicothe and Jamesport and two printers in Chillicothe. One printer is used exclusively for making the tags which go on each bag of seed sold by Reeds. Reeds outgrew its present location in 1979 and moved two blocks north for the construction of a 100 x 200 foot warehouse and seven grain bins.

The business consists of the feed and grain divisions at Chillicothe and Jamesport and wholesale seed divisions in both towns, the head office being located in Chillicothe. The present owner, Charles Reed, has been joined in the firm by his sons, Blackie and E. L. Reed. The eldest great-grandsons of the original owners, Darren and Robert Reed, began working in the business during the summer of 1980, making four generations of Reeds in the business, and a total work force of some forty-six employees.

The main products handled by Reeds are seeds of all types, feed, chemicals and twine. The wholesale division works with contract growers who use seed stock provided by Reeds to produce wheat and soybeans -which are then cleaned, bagged, processed and sold to dealers all over the United States, Canada and South America for use as seed stock. Other small seeds produced in this area are purchased directly from farmers and handled in the same way. Seeds not grown in this locality are purchased already cleaned and bagged for resale to dealers in the area, including seed corn which comes from Columbiana Seed Company in Illinois. Twine and farm chemicals are also purchased in truckloads or carlots for resale to area dealers. There are completely equipped seed laboratories at Chillicothe and Jamesport staffed by analysts who sample all seeds coming into Reeds. They are tested for purity and germination and tags prepared for every bag according to state and federal requirements.

The retail divisions handle feed, equipment and lawn and garden chemicals, as well as, carlot grain, which is sold to processors for various uses, including food for human consumption.

Reeds Seeds, Inc., hopes to continue its growth and service to the agricultural industry of the area for many years to come.

 

SAVAGE GROCERY

The first Savage Grocery was established in 1945 by Edward Barlow Savage in Chillicothe at 401 Polk Street. This was a small neighborhood store which had free deliveries. The family’s home and the store were in the same building. Mr. Savage’s wife, Grace, and his children, Billie Norma and Edward Barney, helped in the business. In 1947, the store was sold to Ray Saale.

On December 4, 1947, Mr. Savage and his son, Barney, opened Savage and Son Grocery at 813 First Street in Chillicothe. They carried groceries, meats, and vegetables and had free deliveries. The hours of operation were 6:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. six days a week and 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Sundays and holidays. In 1980, the store is still open these same hours.

E. B. Savage sold his interest in the store to his son, Barney, on January 1, 1964 who carried on with the business at 813 First Street until his accidental death on October 7, 1978. Barney’s four sons, Edward Bryan, Dennis Wayne, Andrew Carter, and Timothy Dan all worked in the grocery store while attending school.

Today the same Savage Grocery at 813 First Street, Chillicothe, Mo. is being operated by Dennis Savage and Andrew Savage.

 

SCRUBY HARDWARE

The first Scruby store in Livingston County was in Wheeling where William Scruby who had moved to Wheeling Township in 1872 started a store in partnership with Dr. William Wilbur Edgerton. They sold machinery and implements and had a general store. When Dr. Edgerton sold his share, Fred Wiley became William Scruby’s partner. In 1888 William Scruby moved to Chillicothe and in association with his sons, purchased the Wes Jacobs Implement 136 Company which was located on the present Strand Hotel site. In 1893 the father and sons purchased a lot, and the sons built with their own hands and some hired help the building located at 508 Washington Street, the present home of Scruby Hardware. The business was known as Scruby Brothers Grain and Implement Company. The business was incorporated in 1905. The Scruby brothers sold and bought grain, sold a line of International Harvester equipment, and handled such implements as plows, cultivators, binders, buggies, surries, spring wagons, harness, and windmills.

In 1926 Stanley Scruby purchased the wholesale and retail feed and grain business from Scruby Brothers. In 1929 he also started buying and selling livestock. In 1932 Stanley and Horace Dwight Scruby, his cousin, formed a partnership to start the Independent Provision Company, a wholesale meat and butchering firm. They continued in this business until about 1945. In the meantime, they had also opened a retail fuel business called Scruby Coal Company, later Scruby Fuel Company, when oil was added to items for sale.

After William Scruby’s death in 1942, Horace and Stanley leased the Grain and Implement building to Mr. Belmont Bradley for a hardware store. When Mr. Bradley became ill around 1959, they again made it Scruby Hardware. Horace and Stanley dissolved their partnership in 1963, with Horace retaining the hardware store, in association with his daughter, Eleanor and her husband, Robert Fairweather, the present owners.

 

SINGER LOCKER SERVICE

The Locker Plant in Chillicothe had its beginning in February 1939. It was started by Walter S. Ratcliffe, who came here from Terre Haute, Indiana, and was called Chillicothe Locker Storage. He started the business with 35 lockers at 433 Locust and grew to 1018 lockers and expanded to the adjacent building at 435 Locust.

On July 15, 1954, Ratcliffe sold the business to Mr. & Mrs. H. E. (Joe) Singer, Jr. of Hale, Missouri, who are the present owners of the business. Ratcliffe, also, owned the Locker Plant in Hale and Joe had managed that plant for two years before going into the U. S. Marine Corps during the Korean conflict in March 1952. Ratcliffe sold the Hale Plant which the Singers had hoped to buy, because he could not get adequate help. Upon Joe’s return to civilian life, Ratcliffe offered to sell the Chillicothe plant to the Singers and they bought the business two weeks later.

The locker business was very much a part of the agricultural community in the beginning as it is today; however, a lot of changes have taken place. Many garden fruits and vegetables were packaged, frozen, and stored in the lockers. Butchering of beef and pork was seasonal being done in the winter time by the individual farmers with the locker doing the processing. After World War II, the deep freeze became the way of life and as fruits and vegetables were prepared more by commercial companies, people began to have less done by the locker and began to butcher more meat.

The Singers knew that the locker needed slaughtering facilities to make their business complete and less seasonal. In 1959, they purchased the Independent Provision Company building at 412 Madison, remodeled it, and began slaughtering operations there, hauling the meat to the locker building to be processed. The dual operation was not the best as the business grew, the Singers felt they could operate more efficiently and economically if the plant was all under one roof. In 1965 the building at 412 Madison was torn down and a complete new 50’ x 96’ pre-fabricated steel frame building was built. The building consists of a locker room with 384 lockers, an office, lobby and processing area, sharp freeze, curing room, aging cooler which holds 40 cattle, pre-chilled room which holds 30 cattle, lard and smokehouse room, offal and hide room and a complete slaughterhouse. Also, under roof and enclosed are the holding pens which hold 55 animals. In addition to processing, the Singers also sell frozen meat. The entire operation is under federal inspection.

The name of the business was changed to Singer Locker Service and the new plant was opened in October 1965. The Singers celebrated their 25th year in business with open house for the community and surrounding areas in July 1979.

Mr. and Mrs. Singer have two sons, Randy, a salesman for John Sexton Food Company, and Ronnie, who is serving a four year enlistment in the U. S. Marine Corps. Both Mr. & Mrs. Singer have been active in their church, school and community activities.

 

THE SUMMERVILLE INSURANCE AGENCY

The Summverville Insurance Agency was founded in 1910 by James Floyd Summerville. Floyd was the son of Azel Freaman Summerville, who was born in Penniylvania, the 8th child of James Summerville and Sara (Scott) Summerville. Floyd lived on a Missouri farm and Oct. 6, 1909, married Alta Mae Steen. After a year of farming, he established the Summerville Insurance Agency in a log cabin on his father’s farm. In this log cabin his only child, Clifford, was born May 9, 1911. As Secretary of Farmers Mutual Insurance Company of Livingston County, Floyd sold insurance by traveling in a two wheeled cart pulled by his horse, Dock. He often had supper and spent the night with the farmers he visited. After Floyd moved his family to Chillicothe, his office was in the court house for several years where Alta was his secretary. Later he moved to the Citizens National Bank building (now known as Citizens Bank and Trust), where it remained until his death. The agency’s office is currently at 1211 North Washington.

Thirty six years after the founding of the Summerville Insurance Agency, Cliff joined his father in the business. Floyd Summerville died in 1948. Cliff was appointed Secretary of Farmers Mutual and continued the Summerville Agency until 1971 when his son James Clifford joined him as the third generation of insurance agents.

 

VINSON AMUSEMENT SERVICE

During the late 1930’s Elbert V. “Pop” Vinson, owner of small cafes in Chillicothe, started placing jukeboxes, games, slot machines, and Charlie Boards in a few locations. Gerald E. Vinson joined his father February, 1943. The father-son operation opened their first shop (600 squ. ft.) at 107 Elm, present location of Boss Mfg.’s new addition. During the days of honky-tonks and roadhouses, service calls were answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at home by Gerald’s wife, Ann. For a short time Pop and Gerald moved the business to the 700 block of South Washington. Pop and Gerald built the present location in 1947 at 104 Elm. Giving their growing amusement service 5400 sq. ft. May 1953, Vinson Amusement Service became the first radio dispatched service in the state of Missouri. The 2-way radio communications between routeman and office improved service and customer relations. Due to the changing of Missouri laws, Charlie Boards and other types of machines were abandoned. Vinson’s pursued other lines of vending. Cigarette and candy machines were added in 1954. Cigarettes vended for 250. Actual cost 230, the customer received 2 pennies in return inserted between the pack and cellophane, placed by a small hand operated machine. Candy bars were 50. Business grew till the need for the two man operation to expand to six. Pop died September 1, 1956. Gerald assumed sole ownership from 1956 to July 1, 1980 when Vinson’s incorporated, naming Gerald, president, Ann, vice-president, Tom, treasurer, and Nancy, secretary. Gerald hired his son Tom, January, 1971 making the 3rd generation in the business. The first woman routeman, Tom’s wife, Nancy, was hired January, 1979. Pop and Gerald started out with Wurlitzer jukeboxes, a nickel played one of the 24 selections of 78 rpm’s records. The 78 rpm made room for the smaller more popular 45 rpm’s in 1950. This change increased the selections offered to 100. During the mid-50’s small albums were used, but discontinued because of public non-acceptance.

The new microprocessor jukeboxes offer 200 selections, one play for a quarter. The first pinball games gave you five balls for a nickel to maneuver down the playfield into a hold by body-English. The flippers were added to pin games in 1943 on Gottieb’s Humpty-Dumpty. Electro-mechanical games advanced, adding score reels, thumper-bumpers, and tilt controls. The flipper game evolved overnight in 1977 to a computer controlled, solid state digital read out, sophisticated machine. Pinball was reborn. Video invaded the game industry in 1975. Variations of T.V. pong lead the way to advanced computer logic space therned games. While mechanical experience is necessary it’s not sufficient in the vending industry. Training and understanding of electronics are vital. “Pop” and Gerald worked hard in the beginning,-hand counting nickels to build a good family business. Satisfying and giving the customer the best service available was their number one priority then and still is today. The business has grown from a few pieces of equipment and locations in Chillicothe to a full line of vending equipment servicing 15 surrounding counties.

 

WESTLAKE HARDWARE

Westlake Ace Hardware, a multi-store group of Ace Hardwares, opened in Chillicothe, Mo. in October of 1971. The 18,000 sq. ft. building located in the Southtown Shopping Center was built new for Westlake’s by the Dannen Corporation of St. Joseph, Mo. Westlakes has continued to operate at the same location for the last nine years.

The Chillicothe operation was the eighth Westlake store in the chain when it opened. Since that time the group has grown to include stores spanning Central Missouri on west to Lawrence, Ks. including four outlets in the metropolitan Kansas City area. In 1980 Westlake’s opened a store in Raytown, Mo. and scheduled to open in October is the new St. Joseph operation located in the Mitchell Avenue Shopping Center. Westlake’s is completing a new store in Shawnee, Ks. which is expected to open later this year.

The operation of Westlake Hardware Co., the retail division, and the Westlake Hardware Supply, Inc., the whole-sale and transportation division, is headquartered at Moberly, Mo. where the president, F. K. Westlake, maintains his office.

The Chillicothe as well as the St. Joseph 138 operation are co-owned by F. K. Westlake and Doug Burton, Westlake’s nephew and grandson of the original founder, W. I. Westlake. Westlake’s is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary having been founded in 1905 with the first store in Huntsville, Mo.

In the fall of 1905 W. I. Westlake, a young clerk in a hardware store in Clifton Hill, and his new bride Miss Scottie Knox of Clifton Hill, bought the Bagby interest in the Bagby-Doyle Hardware store at Huntsville. Two years later Mr. Westlake purchased the Doyle interest in the firm and the store was named Westlake Hardware, which W. I. Westlake managed until his death in 1959.

Mr. Westlake’s only son F. K. Westlake followed him into the hardware business. By the time F. K. was 12 years old he was participating in the management of the store. Following graduation from the University of Missouri School of Business in 1936, F. K. Westlake purchased his first store in Shelbina, Mo. Soon after his arrival in Shelbina he met Kenneth Dickson, who was to become his partner in numerous business ventures. The first partnership was in the formation of the Uregas Service, Inc. beginning as a small propane gas company they opened at Moberly. Westlake, well pleased with his Uregas Co. formed the Westlake Hardware Co. which handled hardware, appliances, and served as the local distributor for Uregas. The Westlake Hardware in Moberly, the first store opened under the new company, was something new for its times, being set up for self selection with open displays. Special emphasis was given to “do it yourself” items for the homeowner and the farmer. Between the years 1959 through 1980 the company has expanded into a multi-store operation. Doug Burton, like his grandfather and uncle, followed his family in the hardware tradition. Burton’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Casto, operate Brunswick Hardware which was formerly a Westlake Hardware. As Burton was growing up he worked in the Brunswick business. Soon after graduation from Central Methodist College with a degree in business, he began working part-time for Westlake’s in Columbia while attending graduate school at the University of Missouri. Doug began working full-time for Westlake’s and before coming to Chillicothe he held the position of assistant manager of the Mexico operation where he took a key role in merchandising the new store there. The store in Chillicothe continues to carry on the Westlake tradition by offering high quality hardware, electrical, and plumbing supplies. The store also features a gift department with Hallmark cards and items. Westlake’s is known for being the home of 25,000 items.

The Westlake store in Chillicothe presently employs ten people: Doug Burton, co-owner and manager; Art Romeiser, assistant manager; Kenneth Stodgell, Dale Thomas, Jim Clemens, Annabel Stuver, Mickey Cox, Wanonia Gardner, Sherry Shockey, and Marcie Plowman. Westlake has grown to become the nation’s largest group of Ace Hardware dealers. In 1973 the Westlake Hardware Group was named National Brand Names Retailer of the year. This award is often compared to the motion picture industry’s “Oscar” and is based on outstanding retail citizenship, consumer information, and brand name merchandising programs.

 

WINKELMEYER FURNITURE INC.

In December, 1945 Kirk R. Winkelmeyer opened Winkelmeyer Furniture in the building formerly occupied by Singer Sewing Machine Company at 445 Locust Street, presently the south half of the first floor. Later, in 1946, the north half of the first floor - McClintock Grocery - was acquired.

Later expansion was done, the basement was opened up to access from the first floor. In 1955 the second and third floors that had formerly been a hotel were included in the operation. Some of the original rooms were left for display rooms. There has been much remodeling done and there are still many plans for the future.

In June of 1959 Kirk Winkelmeyer died suddenly. Amy Winkelmeyer continued on with the business, and in September of 1959 Rex J. Smith joined the firm as manager.

In September, 1970 Susan Winkelmeyer Boehner returned to Chillicothe to work in the family business. At that time Winkelmeyers started offering design services.

Winkelmeyer’s have remained in the same location, with expansion, for 35 years. They are looking forward to more growth and modernization over the next 35 years.

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