Bit of History -- October 28, 2026

This time of year, the papers are full of stories about the upcoming election and in 1910, the Ridgeway Journal was no different. There were at least eleven amendments on the ballot that year, but the most contentious item was Amendment 10 for the prohibition of the manufacture of alcoholic beverages except for medicinal or religious purposes. Rev. J. H. Burrows, a pastor in Cainsville, strongly endorsed the 10^th amendment in an article in the October 27, 1910 edition of the Ridgeway Journal.

Burrows wrote this opinion at the end of his guest editorial urging voters to pass the 10^th amendment: “If prohibition is beaten (God forbid) then the pendulum will swing backward into the shades of crime and lawlessness run riot. Reader, it is up to you, and for the first time in the history of this grand old commonwealth you have a chance to hit this traffic square on the head by putting prohibition into the organic law of Missouri. Will you do it? God grant that you may.”

Though Ridgeway voted to go “dry” by a nearly 2 to 1 margin, none of the eleven amendments on the ballot passed that year statewide. (Columbia Missouri Herald, Nov 11, 1910 and Ridgeway Journal, Nov 10, 1910.)

Bit of History -- March 25, 2026

 An article in the April 14, 1910 edition of the Ridgeway Journal proudly announced that “Ridgeway can boast of six automobiles, all of the best makes, three Fords and three Velies.” The latest car to be owned by a Ridgeway resident was a Velie touring car, purchased through the Bridges & Bartlett agency here in town. It was bought by Rev. W. H. Hobbs, pastor of the Christian church and “was brought home from St. Joseph” and cost “something over $2000”.

To bring it to Ridgeway, the drivers started at 2 am, but stopped in every town along the way to show off the car. “The machine is a large black forty-horse touring car and is the best machine in the county.”

I found an ad for a Velie sold by the Stanley & Ranger agency in St. Joseph in 1909. The cost for a completely equipped touring car was $1750, which is a little less than $60,000 in today’s money. (St. Joseph Gazette, Sept 9, 1909.) I didn’t find any automobile ads for local dealers, however, I did find a Bridges & Bartlett ad for a Velie wrought iron buggy.

Bit of History --- February 18, 2026

From the Ridgeway Journal dated February 17, 1910:

On Saturday, March 5, a special train was expected to arrive in Ridgeway at 11 am. This train, sponsored by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, featured speakers and exhibits to provide education on “dairying”. The train included “an Arms Palace Car, containing some of the most improved dairy bred animals to be used at each stop to demonstrate the essential points to be observed in selecting and breeding great economical and profitable milch and butter producing cow” and a baggage car that had “ miniature silos, cow testing machines, dairy literature and other necessary equipment for demonstration.”

On hand to talk about dairy farming were men from the Department of Agriculture, the Iowa State Dairymen Association and other experts in the field. These men are recognized as authorities on subjects pertaining to dairy farming, who will lecture on the subject of breeding and caring for the dairy herd and making the farms more productive and profitable. All of this was free to the local farmers and they were strongly encouraged to take advantage of this educational opportunity to learn more to improve their herds, milk production and their farms. They were encouraged to bring their families as well: “Bring your wives, sons and daughters along. They need the training as well as you, for they are to be the farmers and farmers’ wives of the future.”

The train was due to leave Ridgeway at 12:00 when it would “depart for Blythedale and other northern points.”

Bit of History -- July 16, 2025

In 1910, the arrival of Halley’s Comet was heralded in the Ridgeway Journal as early as January 27. You could already see the comet on a clear night and as “This comet only appears about every seventy-six years so you had better watch the skies, for, in all probabilities, few of us will live to see it again.” The paper noted that astronomers told everyone that the comet would be at its brightest in May, so there was still time to see it. The article went on to add: It would be interesting to our readers to read its history, but it is too lenghty (sic) to publish in this issue of the Journal.”

On April 21, 1910, the Journal did publish a much longer article about Halley’s Comet with a great deal more detail about the most recent journey around the Earth at the time. The comet was expected to be at its closest to the Earth on May 18 when it would be the most visible in the evening sky. At the end of the article, readers were told “The thing to do is to hold tight, don't lose courage, and keep your eyes open. For you're likely to see things you can tell about to your grandchildren.”

The comet returned in 1986 and a new generation turned out to see it. My husband, Tracy, told me that he and the other members of the senior RHS class of 1986 went out to Tim Williams home to view the comet. They went out to a field far away from any lights to view the comet with their advisor Mr. Leeth. Tracy thought the whole experience was “very cool” and unforgettable.

Bit of History -- June 11, 2025

These are a few of the ads from the Ridgeway Journal dated June 30, 1910:

Grocery store owner O. P. Bennet had an ad on the front page in which he asked “Did your children enjoy the Pony Show?  Wouldn’t it be nice for them to have a pony of their own, if it cost you nothing?”  The store was going to give away “one of the best Shetland Ponies in Harrison County” to a patron who spent at least $1 in the store.

Miner & Frees encouraged farmers to start thinking about fall already, claiming that “NOW is the time to buy the best SILO made.”  Bartlett & Bridges likewise advertised to farmers withWe have the largest line of Harvesting Machinery to be found in this section, and not only the largest but the best.”

Miner & Frees had another ad telling readers to “Wake up! You are not at the beach but at home and the house is full of flies.  The only relief is to buy one of those good Screen Doors from Miner & Frees.”

C. O. Buzzard offered gasoline cook stoves for sale, claiming that “Baking and cooking can be done on these stoves just as well as on any coal or wood stove, with less trouble and no dirt, and much more comfort, especially in the hot summer months.”

The opera house was going to present, for one day only on July 2, “Witherel's Scenic Prison Show: "The Twin Hells” of Kansas and Missouri.  Two hours behind the walls of Famous Penitentiaries. The only prison show of the kind in the world It is an object lesson to the young and an entertainment of merit for older people.”  

Bit of History - October 5, 2022

On the southwest corner of Main and Pine streets sits a little brick building that was once a hub of Ridgeway communication.  Completed 1910 by the Farmers’ Mutual Telephone Company of Harrison County, the building served as one of Ridgeway’s telephone central offices, eventually becoming the only central office.    Built by W. J. Noll of Gilman City and J.T. Carroll of Denver, CO, the two-story 30’ by 30’ brick building was started in November 1909 on a site formerly owned by A. A. Gutteridge. (Ridgeway Journal, Nov 11, 1909).  This site was also once the home of the first dry goods store in Ridgeway, owned and operated by S.D. Rardin. (Ridgeway Journal, 3/17/1910).

At that time, the lead operator(s) lived on the first floor of the building, and I guess the telephone operators worked upstairs.  The first people to move into the new telephone exchange were Mr. and Mrs John Rake. (RJ, 3/10/1910).  Another family, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Kampman, their daughter Claudine and their son Dean, moved from the central office when Mrs. Kampmann retired from the switchboard after providing years of excellent service.  (RJ, 4/4/1934).  The building remained in use until 1956 when rotary dial telephones replaced the old ones and switchboard operators were no longer needed.  The building has also served as Trophy Taxidermy and as a rental home.   I don’t know when the upper story was removed but would be very interested in learning that story.

Bit of History - September 28, 2022

I wrote before about the “Local Mentions” column in the old papers and how they reminded me of modern social media in that you found frequent ads interspersed with sick list notifications, people visiting back and forth, or going out of town for business or pleasure.  But back in the early 1900s, you also found companies requesting that people pay their bills and sometimes they got quite blunt about it.

All these examples come from the 1909 and 1910 editions of the Ridgeway Journal.  The first was from the paper itself and politely explained why subscribers needed to come in to pay their bills.  Other advertisers were more direct.  “Pay me, for I need the money.  MIKE” got his point across. Lair & Harrison asked nicely: “Please call and settle your account as we want to close up our business.”   O. P. Bennett, co-owner of a dry goods store, later owned a grocery store in the building that would be Scotts Grocery, also wrote “I NEED THE MONEY” and asked that anyone who owed Stoughton & Bennett to pay up.  I. M. Reeves, owner of a hardware and harness store, believed that advertising often would bring in the overdue accounts – he frequently had 3 or more ads in each paper: “Come in and lets square accounts.”, “I. M. Reeves needs the money.  Pay your account.”, “If you owe me, pay me.”, and “I mean business.  Settle your accounts at once.”.   I wonder how successful he was at getting paid as these ads were printed several weeks in a row. 

Bit of History - September 7, 2022

The Northwest Missouri Fox Hunt Association was very big part of Ridgeway society for nearly 70 years.  The earliest article that I found was in the St. Joseph Gazette dated Sunday, October 2, 1910, originally published in the Ridgeway Journal.  The fox hunters were holding their third annual encampment near Ridgeway that year.  They had twenty-six packs of fox hounds, and fifty-seven horses were ridden the first day of the hunt. They scared up a fox early on the first day of hunting and chased it for three hours before it went underground near the camp.  Afterward, all the hunters enjoyed a big breakfast courtesy of Mrs. J. W. Leazenby and her “corps of assistants”.  The hunts went on through Saturday with several foxes being changed and one being taken alive.  The event also included hunters and their animals participating in field trials which were enjoyed by good sized crowds.  In 1910, Mack, owned by J. W. Leazenby (a Ridgeway resident, businessman and Missouri state legislator who was also an officer of the association) won the championship stakes and the hunting horn was won by L. W. Weather’s dog, Sailor.

The Northwest Missouri Fox Hunters’ Association met yearly through 1969 when they disbanded, according to the Ridgeway: Then and Now centennial book.