Progress Notes

The recent memorial given by the Tuscumbia High School Alumni Association in honor of Tuscumbia’s native son, Lee Mace was featured on the previous Progress Notes of October 11, 2010. The event reminded some of us that Miller County has had its share of musicians who came out of the old time hill country musical tradition. I have featured on previous progress notes the stories of Miller County fiddlers Jimmy Skiles (photo 01) and William Driver (photo 02):

01 Jimmy Skiles

02 Bill Driver

Lyman Enloe (photo 03) was another great fiddler of the area who was born and raised half way between Eldon and Jefferson City:

03 Lyman Enloe

We also have had any number of good guitar players come out of Miller County. In previous Progress Notes I have made reference to some of these musicians. If you want to read more about them just click on their names:

- Gene Spencer
- Earl Thompson
- Dan Thompson
- Earl McDaniel
- Roger Hawk
- Gene Edwards
- Howser Sisters

Two of the better known of this group are Gene Spencer (photo 04) and Roger Hawk (photo 05).

04 Gene Spencer

05 Roger Hawk

Gene was most famous for being the guitar player for the Lake of the Ozarks square dance team. Roger played several years as the lead guitar player for George Jones. Others could be mentioned also such as Charles Hill (photo 06).

06 Charles Hill

Most of the early local guitarists played the styles popular on radio programs of the day which were based on what was being heard on the Grand Ol’ Opry and recordings out of Nashville. However, before the 1940’s when amplification of musical instruments was invented there was a different style of guitar playing which originated from the deep country roots of the south and of the Ozarks. Much of this type of guitar playing was finger style sometimes using a thumb pick. For example, one of the first guitarists of note on the Grand Ol’ Opry was a man named Sam McGee, who played in this manner (photo 07).

07 Sam McGee

Sam played what sometimes was called the “claw” style of fingering the strings. He probably didn’t invent this style although he certainly embellished it due to his innate musical ability. With the “claw” style the musician plucked the strings simultaneously with his second, third and fourth digits while using the thumb to produce a base rhythm or occasionally to participate in carrying out the tune of the melody. Sometimes part of the tune was produced by plucking a string with a finger, but the rhythm was maintained by three or four digits plucking the strings simultaneously. It wasn’t until later that Sam as well as other musicians such as Ike Everly (photo 08), Merle Travis (photo 09) and Chet Atkins (photo 10) used the thumb to make an alternating running rhythm on the three base strings (sometimes called the “walking base style”) while carrying the tune with the second and third (or more) digits on the treble strings.

08 Ike Everly

09 Merle Travis

10 Chet Atkins

One of our own Miller County natives, Robert Stillwell, was one of those who played the guitar in the old fashioned style. Bob often also accompanied his guitar playing with a harmonica as in this photo (photo 11):

11 Bob playing Guitar and Harmonica

Bob was the son of Walter Stillwell, a prominent Miller County attorney. Walter and his family lived in Tuscumbia in a large white home which for many years was located next to the Tuscumbia High School. The home originally had been built by the old steamboat captain, John Adcock (you can read Peggy Hake’s history of this historic home on our website).

Here is a photo of the front of the home next to the school with Walter, Bob and two of Bob’s children, Carol and Roy (photo 12):

12 Stillwell Home with Walter, Bob, Carol and Roy Stillwell

Another interesting item about Walter Stillwell, Bob’s father, was that he had a unique car named the “Saxon” (photo 13).

13 Saxon Car

Read more about Walter Stillwell and the Saxon by clicking on the links.

Although Bob wasn’t raised on a farm in the country, his great grandfather on his mother’s side, Henry Fendorf, had a farm near Tuscumbia south of the river. As an interesting aside, read the following biography of Henry Fendorf as written by historian Peggy Hake (photo 14):

14 Henry Fendorf Article by Peggy Hake
Click image for larger view

However, it isn’t known exactly how Bob learned to play the guitar. Most likely, since the Grand Ol’ Opry was becoming popular at that time in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s on WSM radio out of Nashville, Bob may have been listening to Sam McGee, who was a regular on the show with his brother, Kirk McGee (photo 15).

15 Kirk and Sam McGee

Bob and his brother, Roger, who played the banjo, had a regular weekly radio show on KWOS out of Jefferson City (photo 16).

16 Roger Stillwell - WWII Veteran and Attorney in Tuscumbia

This was Jeff’s first radio station. What contributed to this duo’s musical popularity at the time was that, as I mentioned above, Bob also simultaneously played the harmonica with the guitar. They were some of the first musicians to perform live on radio in the area.

In 1982 Bob recorded about forty of the songs he had in his repertoire on a cassette tape and sent the tape to me. Here are five of those songs listed which you can hear by clicking on their titles:

Notice in this next recording of Sam McGee made many years ago, probably in the late 1930’s, how similar are the styles of Sam and Bob. This recording is found on YouTube at this link:

Bob and Roger Stillwell were graduated from the Tuscumbia schools. Roger married Juanita Messersmith, who was the Queen of the Miller County Centennial Celebration (1937) (photo 17).

17 Juanita Messersmith - Queen of Centennial

Bob married Marie Bear (photo 18) of Tuscumbia in 1934. She was my mother’s sister.

18 Marie Bear Stillwell

After being graduated from Tuscumbia High School Bob attended the University of Missouri earning his degree in electrical engineering. Those were the depression years and jobs were hard to find, even for electrical engineers. So he and Marie first worked in the general store that Marie’s father, Madison Bear, owned and operated in Bagnell. Later, Bob obtained a position at the Union Electric Company owned by Bagnell Dam. The couple lived in one of the five room houses that Union Electric provided for some of its employees (photo 19).

19 Home at Bagnell

After about three years Union Electric transferred Bob to a position in St. Louis so the couple moved to that area settling in the nearby city of Alton, Illinois. During that time Bob’s career was interrupted by WWII in which he served as an electronics engineer in the Navy (photo 20).

20 Robert Marvin Stillwell

Through the years the Stillwells’ would visit Tuscumbia often. Many times Bob brought his guitar and harmonica to play for family and friends, some of whom brought their own instruments. I and my sister, Patricia Pryor, would join in too. Quite a few tape recordings were made during those years but the passage of time has caused some of them to deteriorate, unfortunately. In later years Bob suffered a significant hearing deficit, perhaps originating from his service in the Navy. However, his skill in playing his flat top guitar never suffered from his auditory deficit; somehow, he could feel his way through a song in a way that compensated for his hearing loss. More than anything, degenerative arthritis of his finger joints bothered him most. Bob passed away in 1987, two years after his wife, Marie, had passed away in 1985. They had three children, Carol, Roy and Raymond, all of whom still live in Alton, Illinois, the city to which Bob and Marie moved after leaving Miller County.

A very nice article about Bob and Marie (photo 20a) was published in the large book, Lake of the Ozarks: 50th Anniversary of Bagnell Dam 1931-1981 p. 532:

20a Marie and Bob Stillwell

Robert and Marie (Bear) Stillwell

The Lake of the Ozarks area has a special significance to the Stillwells, who were products of the “Great Depression.” After their marriage in April, 1934, by Reverend Chandos Smutz, pastor of the Tuscumbia Presbyterian Church, Bob was presented with the fabulous news that some measure of financial stability appeared in prospect with a job on the labor gang at the Bagnell Dam. Three years later, he was transferred to the St. Louis office to an engineering assignment. This opened the door to a thirty nine year career with Union Electric, mostly at St. Louis and Alton, and included sixteen years as Electrical Superintendent of the Alton District.

During World War II, Bob served two years in the U.S. Navy, the last fifteen months overseas. While he was away, Marie supplemented tending the children by teaching in the Alton school system.

Bob and Marie were both born and raised in the Tuscumbia vicinity and graduated from the local high school. Both have ancestors documented as Soldiers of the American Revolution, with later families immigrating through separate routes to Miller County, Missouri, in the early 1850’s. Subsequent generations, extending to their parents, Attorney Walter S. and Lydia Fendorf (Martin) Stillwell and Madison and Sadie (Abbett) Bear, all participated actively in the military, political, civic and commercial development of Miller County.

The Stillwell children, Mrs. Richard (Carol) Teichmann and Attorney Raymond S. Stillwell, live in Godfrey, Illinois, and Dr. Roy E. Stillwell is located at Jackson, Mississippi.

The Stillwells are probably destined to remain at their present location at Alton, Illinois, but they will, in view of their many local relatives and friends, continue to regard the Lake of the Ozarks country as their “second home.”

On occasion I have been presenting on this page biographies of Miller County citizens of the past who were considered to have been important contributors to the Miller County community as selected by the Goodspeed Publishing Company. This company in the late 1800’s compiled biographies from a number of counties of Missouri and other states of individuals deemed worthy by their fellow citizens to be included in the Goodspeed County History project. This week I will copy from the Goodspeed Miller County History the biography of William P. Freeman (photo 21):

21 William P. Freeman

William P. Freeman

Goodspeed History of Miller County
p.766

William P. Freeman, circuit clerk and recorder, was born in Miller County, near Brumley, June 15, 1858, and is the son of Andrew J. and Editha A. (Tinsley) Freeman, the father a native of Missouri, and the mother of Virginia. The paternal grandfather emigrated from Tennessee to Missouri at an early day and settled in Hickory County, where he died in 1872. He served as a private in the Mexican War. Andrew J. Freeman, father of the subject of this sketch, was a tiller of the soil. He came to Miller County in 1857, and entered land and settled near Brumley. Here he resided until 1861, when he answered his country’s call, and enlisted in Company E, thirty third Regiment Missouri Infantry Volunteers, on the 11th day of August, 1862, and served as corporal until the 15th day of December, 1864, when he was discharged for disability, the effects of a gunshot wound in the right shoulder, received at the battle of Tupelo, Mississippi, on the 15th day of July, 1864. After his discharge he returned to his home in Miller County, and died from the effects of the wound on the 14th day of November, 1874. To his marriage were born five children, one son and four daughters: William P., Lucy E., wife of William Golden; Paralee F., wife of J.M. Cox; Belle, wife of F. hooker, and Dora. William P. Freeman assisted his father on the farm until twelve years of age, when he took upon himself the duties of a “printer’s devil” in the Miller County Vidette office. He worked at the trade until twenty one years of age, and was at one time local editor and business manager of the Lebanon, Missouri Journal, and was also one of the publishers of the Richland Missouri Sentinel. He was clerk in a general store at Tuscumbia for two years, and in 1881 was appointed deputy sheriff and collector by C.P. Myers, who then held those offices, and served as such for two years, when he was again appointed deputy sheriff and collector, which position he held until his election to the office of clerk of the circuit court in 1886, which office he holds until 1890. He, at an early age, took a great interest in politics, identifying himself with the Republican party, and has many times represented his county in the State and congressional conventions of his party, and is now and has been for a number of years a member of the congressional committee of the Eleventh “Congressional District. He was married September 19, 1881, to Miss Alice Harris, a native of Laclede County, Missouri, by whom he has two children, Harry and Elsie. Mrs. Freeman is a member of the Christian Church. Mr. Freeman is a member of the Masonic fraternity and Odd Fellows, and is also a member of the Christian Church. He is self made, having attended school but fourteen months, and that when yet a mere child, and in the old log country school house. He is a bright young man, having by his own exertions worked himself up to his present position, and is a prominent citizen of Miller County.

Peggy Hake researched both the Freeman and Frazier families of Miller County. She discovered that an aunt of William, Mary Freeman, married Andrew Jackson Frazier. Following is the history Peggy wrote which is taken from our own website:

THE FRAZIER/FREEMAN FAMILIES

Sometime between 1862 and 1867, Andrew Jackson Frazier moved to Miller County from Pettis County, MO. While in Pettis County, Andrew and his first wife, Jennie, became parents of a son, Francis Marion Frazier, born 2 August 1862. Five days later, on August 7, Jennie died from childbirth complications.

After Andrew moved to Miller County he married Mary Freeman on April 23, 1867. Their marriage was performed by John Bear, a justice of the peace in Equality Township. In the Miller County census of 1870, Andrew and Mary were living in Equality Township near the families of Martin, Smith, Horton, Cooper, Umstead, Wyrick, Barton and Weitz. In their home were three children and 2 more were born before 1880.

The children included:

-  1. Francis Marion Frazier b. 1862 Pettis Co., MO
-  2. Amelia Elizabeth Frazier b. c/1867 Miller Co.
-  3. Epsey Isabella Frazier b. c/1869 Miller Co.
-  4. Parilee Josephine Frazier b. c/1873 Miller Co.
-  5. Augusta J. Frazier b. c/1878 Miller Co.

There is no further record of the Frazier family in Miller County after the 1880 census. A descendant of this family says the family moved to Saline County, MO where Andrew Jackson Frazier died in 1921.

I suspect the second wife of Andrew Frazier, Mary Freeman, was a sister to Andrew Jackson Freeman and James M. Freeman, both of Glaize Township. I couldn't find definite proof but all clues seem to point in that direction.

Andrew Jackson Freeman, born in Tennessee, married Editha A. Tinsley in Miller County on Sept. 8, 1857. They lived in Glaize Township near the town of Brumley. His brother, James M. Freeman, also born in Tennessee, married Mary M. Golden on January 10, 1861 and they lived in the same area as Andrew and Editha. According to a biographical sketch of William P. Freeman (son of Andrew and Editha) in GOODSPEED'S 1889 HISTORY OF BENTON, COLE, MORGAN, OSAGE, MILLER, MONITEAU AND MARIES COUNTIES, the Freeman family moved from Tennessee in the 1840s and first settled in Hickory County, MO where the father died in 1872.

Andrew J. Freeman came to Miller County in 1857 and settled near Brumley. Shortly after arriving, he married Editha Tinsley. He served in the Union army during the Civil War in Company E, 33rd Regiment, Missouri Infantry Volunteers. Andrew died in 1874 from old war wounds that had caused him many complications.

Before his death, he and Editha had five children born to them including:

-  William P. Freeman b. 1858 m. Alice Harris;
-  Lucy E. Freeman b. c/1860 m. William Golden;
-  Paralee F. Freeman b. c/1862 m. James M. Cox;
-  Isabelle Freeman b. c/1866 m. F. Hooker;
-  Armenta J. Freeman b. c/1869 m. Charles C. Hickox; and
-  Dora Freeman b. c/1871.

Recently, former Tuscumbia native Elmer (Dub) Brown (photo 22), who has been a Wisconsin resident for many years now, wrote me a note commenting about the big pumpkin I saw in Wisconsin back in September which I photographed and put on the website:

22 Elmer Brown

Here is the photo I took of the pumpkin to which Dub is referring (photo 23):

23 Big Pumpkin

Here is what Dub wrote:

And here is the pumpkin to which Dub is referring (photo 24):

24 Really Big Pumpkin

I’ll have to say that’s a mighty big pumpkin. In fact, according to the newspaper article, it is the largest pumpkin ever grown in the history of pumpkins!

Here’s the comment from the local newspaper about the big pumpkin:

Pierce County Herald

Published October 10 2010

New Richmond pumpkin sets new world record

NEW RICHMOND - Where's Charlie Brown? The great pumpkin resides in New Richmond.

Chris Stevens grew the pumpkin that weights in at one-thousand, 810 and a half pounds. It was submitted at the Stillwater, Minnesota Harvest Festival yesterday.

When the official weight was announced, 1,810.5 pounds, a huge cheer rose from the gathered crowd. Stevens pumped his fists into the air.

That weight is 85 pounds heavier than the official world record for pumpkins, set last year in Ohio. Stevens gives credit to sunshine, rain, cow manure, fish emulsion and seaweed for his giant pumpkin's size.

The pumpkin was significantly larger than the previous world record pumpkin of 1,725 pounds grown in Ohio in 2009. Another pumpkin tied the world record earlier this year. Stevens said he'd hoped that his pumpkin would break the record, but he wasn't certain.

Stevens, along with several other local pumpkin enthusiasts, have been striving for the big one for years. This year's record breaker will likely catch the attention of the Guinness Book of World Records.

The largest pumpkin ever grown in Wisconsin was also grown near here.

John Hopkins of rural New Richmond grew a 1,675-pound pumpkin this season and took it to the Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest earlier in October for a weigh-in and set the state record. That pumpkin was also on display at Saturday's Stillwater event.

Thanks Dub for the update on Wisconsin pumpkins!

Dub was in the area only recently when he came for the Tuscumbia High School Alumni Reunion Saturday, October 9. While in town he came over to visit us at the museum the same Saturday when we were having our car show and chili dinner. Also present that day were his nieces Kathy (Martin) Fields and Elizabeth (Martin) Deffenbaugh.

Again this week I will present another chapter from Vance Randolph’s book, Ozark Superstitions p. 240-264 (photo 25):

25 Ozark Superstitions - Animals and Plants
Click image to read entire chapter in PDF format

This week Vance writes about “Animals and Plants.” Refer back to the Progress Notes of August 30 to read Vance’s biography (photo 26).

26 Vance Randolph

And on that note that’s all for this week!

I want to give extra credit and thanks to David Statler, our website expert who had the equipment and skill to transfer the Bob Stillwell recordings from an old cassette tape to an MP3 format suitable for our website. Thanks so much David for all the wonderful work you do for our website!

Joe Pryor

Previous article links are in a dropdown menu at the top of all of the pages.