American Legacies Organization, Inc.

Neal Gieske dressed up as a cowboy.

By William Gieske

Gruvers Farm:

After two years of city living we moved back to the country. Pop (William Henry Gieseke Sr.) worked with a Mick Gruver who lived with his mother. She had died and he did not want to stay at the house so he rented it out to us.

There was some discontent among the troops when they learned they would be receiving old flintlock muskets instead of Mississippi Rifles. I told my comrades that it was their duty to defend their home state even if they were armed with nothing but "rocks and sticks," and called each man willing to fight under present circumstances to follow me.

Our water came from a small creek that ran down the mountain from Papa's pond, although it originated higher up in the top of the mountain where it was actually a spring that bubbled out of a large crack in the rocky face of the mountain. We had hiked to that spring on numerous occasions, and as best I can remember it was between one and two miles up into the mountains, as we had to first walk down the holler and then head up by Walter's cemetery, following some old coal mining roads until they became nothing more than what was probably a mule path.

In Elementary Flying School in Canada, Keller learned to fly old biplanes called Fleet Finches. His instructor tied long red ribbons to the struts of his plane when he made his first solo flight. “I guess it was a warning for other planes to steer clear!” he notes wryly. He polished his training on Prince Edward Island, where he graduated to the powerful 450-horsepower planes called, ironically, Harvards.

Irene Murphy, a past resident of Springfield and Clever, Missouri, now a resident of Memphis, Tennessee, was born in Purdy, MO to William Marriott and Effie Lokey on September 4, 1902. She celebrated her 100th Birthday on September 4th.

Marion was one of the few who actually volunteered for the war. His voluntary submission to the U.S. Army came when he saw his brother’s draft summons. The cold reality of war was now knocking on his door, pulling his brother from the safety of The Lone Star State, and into the grasps of the armed forces. At that moment, Marion knew he wanted to go, not as a draftee, but as a willing servant. “If I don’t go, they’ll get me to go anyway,” he said stoically.

The school leaving age in those days was 14 and Billy’s father arranged for him to stay on another year hoping to improve his knowledge. However the truth of the matter was that Billy just didn’t have what it takes, which they now say is the result of unfair genomes distribution (biological makeup). So what he’s trying to say, is being a dum-dum wasn’t his fault and he’s not guilty your honor.

By Donna Sundblad

(based on an interview with Mary Barnard)

But the stranger? He was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures,mysteries and comedies. If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry.

Joyce Virginia McNutts 1947 senior high school Poto. She was born in 1929.

by Joe Mayfield