Progress Notes

One of the pioneer families of Miller County is the Livingston family which settled here north of Iberia in 1855 having come from Kentucky. Intertwined with this family are the Waite and Castleman families as well (I discussed last week the Waite family).

Descendents of these families were many, especially those of the Livingston family, some of whom were very well known not only locally but also in other states to which they had moved. Two Livingston family descendents, Carolyn Levell and Catherine Ponder, both who are grandchildren of Frank Livingston, have been very helpful through the years to our museum and historical society. Catherine, who lives near Iberia, is a board member of the historical society and is our current secretary (photo 01).

01 Catherine Burks Ponder

Carolyn, who lives in Springfield, is a historian who has supplied our museum with much information. Most recently, she donated to the museum a rare large map of Miller County which contained detail as to historical locations no longer present. Here is a photo of Carolyn holding a framed deed of the Livingston farm registered by her great grandfather, William Noe Livingston (photo 02).

02 Carolyn Burks Levell

Here is a closeup of that deed (photo 03).

03 Livingston Deed

The first Livingston to enter Miller County was Daniel Livingston. According to DeVere Whitaker all the Miller County Livingstons were descendents of Daniel:

“I believe that most Livingstons in Miller County today are from Daniel & Parthenia Livingston. Everyone in the family was born in (Ky). Their youngest child was 5 years old so they had to be fairly new to the area for the 1860 census. Most of the Livingstons came to Miller county at about the same time. This tells me they were related. There were no Livingstons coming in later. Everyone is homegrown. One came directly from Ireland but it is obvious he knew where he was going.

I have researched most of the families they married into and they married the cream of the crop. One family is my Wests. You will find them buried at Livingston Cemetery. I put flowers on their graves last year.

There are lots of Livingston descendants still around, right where they settled, in the Richwood Township, 140 years ago.”

The descendents of Daniel and Parthenia Livingston have been recorded by Olive Ethel Waite Livingson in her narrative about the family:

Family Record of Daniel and Partheny Livingston

Daniel Livingston -- born October 15, 1807. Died July 11, 1864.

Partheny Parish Livingston -- born December 19, 1811. Died March 27, 1894

Parents of thirteen children as follows:

1. Mary Jane - Born Nov. 23, 1833. Died 1909. Married William Shelton Watkins. Mother of five children as follows: Perry, Bowlin, Bird, Emmett, and Lauretta

2. William Noe -- Born Jan. 29, 1835. Died Feb. 18, 1909. Married Mary I. Castleman. Father of ten children: Mary (died in infancy), Joseph B., Richard M., Samuel and Sarah (twins), Mary E., David A. Later married Sarah James and was the father of twins James and Olive Ethel, and Frank Parish. (photos of Willam and two wives)

3. John T. -- Born July 27. Died Jan. 31, 1896. Married Mary McCubbins. Father of five children: Martha, Henry, William D., Jesse, and Betty.

4. Joseph B. Born Jan. 27, 1838. Died about 1910. Father of two children.

5. Henry B. Born Jan. 11, 1844. Died June 22, 1869. Married Jane Castleman. Father of one child, Arazona.

6. Elizabeth Ellen. Born Feb. 7, 1842. Died Feb. 1922. Married Zadoc Casey, no children.

7-8. Richard and Peter - Born Jan. 11, 1844 - twins. Richard married Emily Womack. No children. Peter married Albertine Gover. Father of eight children: Augusta, Zadock, Octavia, Malvin and Alvin (twins), Nevada, Cleveland, and Wesley.

9. Martha Susan - Born Jan, 15, date of death unknown. Married Hanks, mother of four children: Charley, Daniel, Elizabeth, and Martha.

10. Virginia - Born March 15, 1848. Died March 18, 1932. Married Benjamin Castleman. After his death she married Henry Bear and was the mother of three children, the first dying in infancy; Willard and Lucy.

11. Lucy Ann - Born June 21, 1850. Died Aug. 17, 1872. Married Lewis Castleman. Mother of two children one dying in infancy; Levi.

12. Laura E. Born Oct. 7, 1852. Died about 1900. Married Simeon Casey. Mother of seven children; Jennie, Milton, Benjamin, Lucy, George, Mary, and Ida.

13. Benjamin F. Born April 22, 1855. Died Sept. 8, 1876. Married Martha Cooper. Father of one child, Viola.

This listing totals 49 grandchildren and 150 great-grandchildren. So it would be an exhaustive effort indeed to review here the history of each of these of Daniel’s family tree, interesting as that would be.

The progeny of William Noe Livingston, son of Daniel, may have been the best known in the county (photo 04).

04 William Noe Livingston

At a family reunion on William’s farm in 1979 the newspaper account related that six of his thirteen children had descendents in Miller County. Here are scans of that newspaper article published in the New Iberian (photos 05, 06 and 07):

05 Livingston Waite Reunion - 1979
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06 Livingston Waite Reunion - 1979
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07 Livingston Waite Reunion - 1979
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The farm at which this reunion occurred was first settled by David Castleman. David’s daughter, Mary Castleman, married William Noe Livingston, son of Daniel Livingston (photo 08).

08 William Noe and Mary Castleman Livingston

David Castleman committed suicide after which, several years later, William and Mary bought out the heirs of David Castleman and moved into the old home with Mrs. Castleman, Mary’s mother (photo 09).

09 Castleman Livingston Home

Since that time until recently, the farm has been in the ownership of the Livingston family. This farm is the one historically most associated with the early Livingston family. The original home was made of logs and was occupied last by Frank Livingston and his family until Frank built a new brick home on the hill above the cabin in 1928 (photo 10).

10 Frank Livingston Home

Frank was the grandson of Daniel Livingston, and son of William Noe Livingston by his second wife, Sarah James (photo 11).

11 Frank Livingston and mother Sarah James Livingston

The history of the old home is told in an article published by the Iberia Sentinel in 1948 (photos 12, 13, and 14).

Click on the thumbnail images to view a larger version:

In the late 1940’s or early 1950’s the home was bought by someone outside the area and moved to a different location. Now the site where it was located is bare (photo 15).

15 Original Castleman Livingston Homesite in Miller County

On the hill above is the home built by Frank Livingston in 1928 (see photo 10 above). The last Livingston to own the home farm was Frank’s son, Ellis Livingston (photo 16).

16 Ellis Livingston

A most interesting history which reveals the close relationship of the Livingston, Castleman and Waite families was written by Olive Ethel Waite Livingston, Frank Livingston’s wife, who was Gene and Norris Waite’s aunt (photo 17).

17 Frank and Olive Ethel Waite Livingston

I previously discussed Gene and Norris and the Waite family last week uitilizing much of the material about the Waite family written by Olive Ethel.

The narrative by Olive Ethel is long but interesting, especially in the way Olive Ethel describes just how primitive living conditions were more than a century ago and how our forefathers survived and often prospered under conditions most of us now could not imagine. I will place Olive Ethel’s narrative here as an attachment since it is rather long (photo 18).

18 Castleman / Livingston / Waite Family by Olive Ethel Waite Livingston
Click image to read entire PDF document

One of Frank and Olive Ethel’s children, Ellis Livingston, who as I mentioned above was the last Livingston to own the home farm, was a hero of WWII winning a bronze star. Later he became a distinguished educator at the University of Minnesota. Ellis died almost two years ago. More detail is given in his obituary:

ELLIS NOEL LIVINGSTON

Duluth News Tribune

Ellis Noel Livingston, 88, of Duluth, passed away peacefully on Friday, Dec. 26, 2008 at St. Luke's Hospital.

Ellis was born Nov. 27, 1920 near Iberia, Mo.

He graduated from high school in Tuscumbia, Mo., attended Iberia Junior College, and graduated PHI Beta Kappa from Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., in 1942 with a degree in History. Ellis was a Marine veteran of World War II, serving in the first Armored Amphibian Battalion in the Pacific, commanding a platoon of amphibious tanks in Guam, Marsalles, and Okinawa. Ellis was awarded the Bronze Star. He was appointed Commanding Officer at the Duluth Marine Corps Reserve, retiring in 1980 as a Lieutenant Colonel. In 1945, Ellis married Edith Nixdorf in Eldon, Mo. He graduated with a PhD. in history from the University of Minnesota in 1953, and then served as a professor of American History at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, from 1949 to 1983, and he attained full professor rank in the early 1960's. He and Edith moved back to the family farm on Barren fork Creek in Miller County, Mo. Ellis became a Licensed Minister of the United Church of Christ, serving as Minister for the Iberia Congregational Christian Church.

He was a long-standing member and deacon of Pilgrim Congregational Church in Duluth, a member of the Issac Walton League, and member of the NAACP.

Ellis was preceded in death by his parents; daughter, Mary in 1984; wife, Edith in 1992; brother, Frank Bryan, and sister, Iris Burks.

He is survived by his sister, Wilma Hickey of Boliver, Mo.; daughters, Lydia Jean (Charles) Walters, and Martha (Don Dallmann) Livingston, both of Duluth; sons, Frank on Oakland, Calif., Tom (Katherine Kavanaugh) of Baltimore, Md., and Anthony (Amelie Lindberg-Livingston) of Proctor, Minn.; four grandsons, Adam, Dan, Aaron and William; and five granddaughters, Athena, Sabra, Annelie, Angela, and Edith.

After retiring from his professorship at the University of Minnesota, Ellis returned to the home farm in 1983 and in addition to what was detailed above, voluntarily served as President of the Miller County Historical Society for seventeen years. In 2001 he returned to Minnesota to be closer to his children. He was the last Livingston to own the farm.

Another Livingston who left this area to become a distinguished academician was Ross Livingston (photo 19).

19 Ross Livingston

Ross was the son of Joseph B. Livingston, son of William Noe Livingston by his first wife, Mary Castleman (photo 20).

20 William Noe and first wife Mary Jane Castleman Livingston

Ross was a “half first cousin” to Ellis since Ellis was the son of Frank Livingston who was the son of William Noe Livingston by his second wife, Sarah James (photo 21).

21 William Noe Livingston and second wife Sarah James

Frank and Joseph B. Livingston were half brothers.

Ross was a professor of history at the University of Iowa for almost forty years. He had an exceptionally distinguished career, enough so that I want to place as an attachment here his biography written by one of his associates at the University of Iowa. Take the time to read it because it is quite interesting (photo 22).

22 Ross Livingston Curator of British Documents
Click image to read complete PDF document

The obituary of Ross Livingston offers a short synopsis of his life.

An Iowa City daily paper, January 1, 1979

W. Ross Livingston, 85, who taught history at the University of Iowa from 1925 to 1962, died Saturday at Lantern Park Care Center in Coralville after a short illness. Masonic services were at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, Jan 2 at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Iowa City. Beckman-Jones Funeral Home was in charge of the service. Cremation of the body followed afterward.

Mr. Livingston, a son of Joseph B. and Alzena Bond Livingston, was born Oct. 14, 1893, in Miller County, Missouri. He was raised in Miller County and graduated from the academy in nearby Iberia. He married Mary Zella Bear, May 15, 1920 at Eldon, Mo.

Livingston received his bachelor's degree from Knox College, his MA from the University of Missouri and his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. He first taught at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. In 1925 he joined the history department at University of Iowa where he specialized in British and American history.

On leaves of absence from University of Iowa, he studied in Australia and New Zealand and was a visiting professor at the University of California in Los Angeles.

He served as an aerial observer in World War I. In World War II he commanded a military governing group in Europe. He was transferred to the history group of the 8th Air Force in London and when the war ended, he returned to Baltimore, Md., and completed a history of the 8th Air Force.

He then worked for Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, and wrote the history of Gen. Spaatz during W.W. II. He was also the author of several books on the British Empire.

He was a professor at University of Iowa until his retirement in 1952, when he became a professor emeritus. He became a visiting professor at numerous colleges and universities.

He was a 32nd degree Mason in the Davenport Consistory, Kaaba Temple, and a member of the American Historical Association.

Survivors include three daughters, Mrs. Jean Dunkle of Sioux City, Mrs. Bennett (Yvonne) Fischer of Vinton, and Mrs. Yaro (Irene) Schnoebelen of Milwaukee, Wis.; 11 grandchildren and one sister, Evelyn Hofer of Gaylord, Kan.

One interesting thing to me personally is that Ross’s wife, Mary Zella Bear, was a cousin of mine being the child of Absolom Bear, my great great uncle. In addition, Ellis Livingston’s wife, Edith Nixdorf, was the granddaughter of another great great uncle of mine, George Bear. And Virginia Livingston, tenth child of Daniel Livingston, married another great great uncle of mine, Henry Bear, with whom she had three children (photo 23).

23 Henry and Virginia Castleman Bear

Peggy Hake wrote an article about Virginia Livingston, Henry’s wife, which is on our website. I will copy that here as an attachment (photo 24):

24 Virginia P. Livingston by Peggy
Click image to read complete PDF document

The Livingston family was one of the first to arrive in Miller County, so it is that many generations later, quite a few people today can find one or more members of this important Miller County family in their background. The above discussion of the history of the Livingstons’ is only a selective synopsis; it would require a book size narrative to present the complete story of this large and important Miller County family.

I am thankful to sisters Carolyn Burks Levell and Catherine Burks Ponder for most of the information in this narrative. Frank and Ethel Waite Livingston were their grandparents.

One day back in the early 1960’s I was at home playing around on my mandolin with a tune I had heard somewhere but didn’t know the song. My aunt Ellie (Abbett) Sooter who was visiting us that day came into the room and said, “I know that tune! Me and all my friends used to sing it all the time! It’s called ‘You’ve Gotta Quit Kickin’ My Dog Around” (photo 25).

25 Ellie Abbett Sooter

I had heard the tune but I never knew the words of the song, so I asked Aunt Ellie to write them down for me. Here is what she wrote on the back of a Loc-Wood boat dock flier (photos 26 and 27).

26 Ellie song lyrics written on back of Loc-Wood Flier
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27 Quit Kickin' My Dog Around
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The other day I found the original recording of the song on YouTube. More history of the song is given there also. Click on play button of the video below to get the history and hear the song from the old recording (photo 28):

If you can’t make out the words by listening, they are briefly revealed in print on the YouTube screen. However, I did copy them down and you can read them here (photo 29):

29 Lyrics Kickin' My Dog Around
Click image to read complete PDF document

Aunt Ellie had a pretty good memory! Most of her lyrics are the same or similar to those of the song which she remembered from many years before. She was a sister to my grandmother, Sadie Abbett. Here is a family photo of all the Abbett siblings (photo 30).

30 Abbett Family: Sadie, Alma, Barcy, Ella, Cleo, Herman, Charlie and Ernest

And here is her obituary which tells more about her immediate family.

Ella Abbett Sooter

Ella Sooter, 90, Tuscumbia, died Sunday at Still Regional Medical Center (May 23, 1993)

She was born November 29, 1902, in Tuscumbia, a daughter of Eli and Susie Forrester Abbett. She was married July 20, 1918, in Granite City, Illinois, to Alvin Sooter who died September 23, 1963.

She was a lifelong resident of Miller County and worked for over 20 years as a seamstress at the Glaser Brothers Pants Factory, Eldon. She was a past member of the Tuscumbia Christian Church.

Survivors include one daughter, Reba Graham, Tuscumbia; two sisters, Ruby Martin, Tuscumbia, and Cleo Malmber, St. Louis; seven grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren. Two sons, Ercil Sooter and Alvis Gene Sooter, preceded her in death.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Stevinson-Mossman Funeral Home, Iberia. Bro. Gene Edwards and Bro. Lee Todd will officiate. Burial will be in the Mt. Zion Cemetery, Tuscumbia.

Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Monday.

Memorials are suggested to the Tuscumbia Christian Church.

Again this week I will present another chapter from Vance Randolph's book, Ozark Superstitions (photo 31).

31 Vance Randolph

Refer back to the Progress Notes of August 30 to read Vance’s biography.

This week Vance writes about pregnancy and childbirth in the Ozarks as it was a century ago (photo 32):

32 Ozark Superstitions - Pregnancy and Childbirth
Click image to read entire chapter in PDF format

A couple of years ago I wrote about two interesting brothers who lived in Tuscumbia, Charles (Catfish) and Willard (Friday) Williams.

Recently, I was emailed a letter by Nina Strange, granddaughter of Charles Williams, about that narrative (photo 33).

33 Nina Strange

Nina said that one conjectural statement by Mildred Messersmith Gray, who had contributed some information about the Williams brothers, was in error. Here is what Nina wrote me:

Thanks Nina for correcting the record in regard to the statement by Mildred.

Nina continued with the following:

Thanks Nina for the photo. I think it is better than any we have of Charles “Catfish” Williams. I don’t think the man on the left is Willard “Friday” Williams because he doesn’t have the injured left eye which Friday suffered, nor was Friday taller than Catfish. Maybe some of our readers will recognize this gentleman?

Recently, we were given an old photograph of a building which had the name Dr. S.L. Baysinger painted on the upper façade which extended well above the roof (photo 35).

35 Dr. S.L. Baysinger - Tuscumbia, Missouri
Click image for larger view

We don’t know exactly where the building was located nor do we know for sure whether the man, woman and baby are Dr. Baysinger and his family. However, some information gathered from research does give some clues. For example, the building style and size almost exactly duplicates a building still standing in Tuscumbia along the river which in my lifetime was the old barber shop. Beverly Pendleton has restored this building beautifully and it is worth a trip to lower Tuscumbia to see how she has improved the landscape all along the river.

But we don’t have any clear record that a Dr. Baysinger practiced in Tuscumbia. We do, however, know a few things about him. According to marriage records, a Stuart L. Baysinger married Jennie C. Williams on 22 February 1893 in Aurora Springs, Missouri. Also, we have records which mention a Dr. Baysinger as practicing in the area. Peggy Hake, in her history of Iberia, wrote:

Early physicians in the vicinity included Jesse B. Smith, a native Missourian born in 1826; a Dr. Mitchell who served the populace in the 1860’s; Dr. H. John Moore from Virginia was a druggist.

Other names found in old records are John L. Short, J.W. Wade, D.A. Lynch, George A. Mace, J.L. Benage, S. L. Baysinger, George W. Curtman (his father was Dr. Charles O. Curtman, a native of the Grand Dutchy of Hesse, Darmstadt of Germany, who practiced the medical profession in Osage township near St. Elizabeth for 2 decades prior to the Civil War and in the 1860’s he moved his family to the St. Louis area); A.P. Nixdorf who was a native of Prussia and S.P. Hickman.

In addition, a notice in the Autogram in the late 1800’s read:

NOTE: On 6 August 1892, the Miller County Medical Society was formed at Tuscumbia. The doctors present at the time included Dr. S. P. Hickman as well as Drs. Baysinger, W.W. Norwood, Anthony, Kouns, J.B. Norwood, McKee, and Conner.

So we do have records of Dr. S.L. Baysinger having been in Tuscumbia at one time. His death certificate confirms that his wife was named Jennie as noted above (photo 36).

36 Death Certificate for Dr. Baysinger
Click image to view larger PDF document

Sometime later he and Jennie moved to Rolla. An article in an old newspaper, “The Columbia Evening Missourian” December 21, 1921 includes his photo with a short narrative (photo 37):

37 Dr. Stuart Lee Baysinger

Columbia Evening Missourian

Thursday, December 22, 1921

Dr. Stuart Lee Baysinger of Rolla, Missouri, who is a member of the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri, was born in Hardinsburg, Kentucky, February 22, 1869. The family moved to Illinois when he was only 2 years old. He attended the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis and received his degree on March 4, 1890.

Doctor Baysinger was first appointed on the Board of Curators by Governor Folk in 1907. He was reappointed by Governor Major in 1913 and again by Governor Gardner in 1919.

“Of course,” said Doctor Baysinger, “I have a general interest in all the departments of the University of Missouri. But at the present time I am particularly interested in the School of Medicine and the School of Mines and Metallurgy located at Rolla.

This website offers some more family history about Dr. Baysinger:

According to this website he was born in Hardinsburg, Kentucky on February 22, 1869 and died in Rolla, Missouri on January 28, 1953. He was the son of Danial Baysinger and Louisa Baysinger. This site also confirms he was married to a Jennifer Baysinger. They were the parents of Helen Baysinger. Also, the site indicates Dr. Baysinger was a major in the Medical Corps during WWI.

The most interesting thing to me about this story is that the building in the photo looks so much like the old barber shop building in Tuscumbia (including the hill behind) that I think he may have practiced there for a time. For example, here is a photo of Herb Carrender in front of a building which we know is next to the old barber shop in Tuscumbia (photo 38):

38 Herb Carrender standing at building next to Barber Shop in Tuscumbia

And here is a photo of the old barber shop in Tuscumbia taken from the east side (photo 39):

39 Barber Shop Tuscumbia

However, it is possible that a similarly constructed building was present in Aurora Springs, the town where Dr. Basinger, we know, married his wife, Jennie Williams.

We just don’t know for sure; apparently, he lived in the area for too short a time for much to be known about him.

However, the subject of barber shops and doctors is interesting since about a hundred years before Dr. Baysinger practiced, barbers used to perform surgery, mostly blood letting type procedures. So it would be a somewhat interesting coincidence if Dr. Baysinger’s medical office was in Tuscumbia in the old barber shop building. You can read more about barbers doing surgery at Wikipedia.

Scroll half way down the page to read about barbers and blood letting.

That’s all for this week.

Joe Pryor

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