THE RAPE OF
HOWELL AND HAMBURG, MISSOURI
(An American Tragedy)
by
Donald
K. Muschany
COPYRIGHT © 1978 BY DONALD K. MUSCHANY. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED.
PART FOUR
PHOTOGRAPHS
[NOTE: Due to
copyright arrangements involving third parties for a number of the photographs
published in the book, only the captions and credits of the photographs are
presented here. Other, similar photos showing some of the same subjects may be
seen elsewhere on this website.]
[PLATE 1]
There was no question
who had possession of the property. The Government was quick to post signs.
Some owners thought this happened before ownership was really in Government
hands.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
Some may call this
Howell’s Main Street. As a young boy I thought it was the only street.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 2]
A view of Hamburg,
Missouri where its residents lived in peace until 1941.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
Hamburg had a one-room
schoolhouse. For some reason this building was not torn down in 1941, but was
burned in 1978.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 3]
The one-room
elementary school at Howell, Mo., where my grandfather, James U. Muschany,
taught school from 1894 to 1898. I was a student here from 1922 to 1930.
Picture courtesy
Lilian Hays Oliver
Francis Howell High
School
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 4]
The Howell Methodist
Episcopal Church was built in 1911. My grandfather, James U. and my father,
Morris I. Muschany were Sunday School Superintendents of this church for many
years.
Photograph courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 5]
South Dardenne
Presbyterian Church, Howell, Mo. Many of the furnishings of this church are now
in the Dardenne Presbyterian Church.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 6]
Uncle Karl and Aunt
Vera Muschany were living here in 1940. I lived here at one time. The home was
built by Dr. and Mrs. A. A. Perry.
Picture courtesy Karl
and Vera Muschany
Muschany Brothers
General Store, where not only foodstuff and supplies were purchased but all
gossip and wild stories were shared and retold many times. The Mechanicsville
Masonic Lodge was on the second floor.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 7]
The first schoolhouse
on Howell’s Prairie before the Civil War. The school was located on the Lewis
Howell farm near Howell, Mo.
Picture courtesy
Lilian Hays Oliver
The first home of my
grandfather and grandmother, James Urban and Margaret (“Maggie”) Muschany. My
father, Morris I., his two brothers, Claude and Karl, and his sister, Ethel,
were born in this home. Yes, I, Don K. Muschany, was born here too. Walter Post
owned this home in 1940.
[PLATE 8]
My grandfather and
grandmother, James U. and Margaret Muschany lived here, and then my father and
mother (Morris I. and Nell Muschany) and I lived here for several years. It was
originally known as the Lewis Howell home in Mechanicsville.
Blacksmith Shop at
Howell
[PLATE 9]
The Francis Howell
residence. Better known to me as the Jake Burgermeister home.
The Spring House
protected a remarkable spring that never ceased to flow in the worst of
droughts.
[PLATE 10]
The home of J. N.
Castlio and, later, Calvin Castlio. Mr. Calvin was living here with his
daughter, Doll, and her husband Linton McCormick and their two children in
1940. This was the last family to move from the area.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
My grandmother Emma
Keithly’s home from 1919 to 1926 when she sold it to Reverend William Crow who
owned the property in 1940. The real old timers will recall it as the John
Stewart home.
[PLATE 11]
The Howell Institute.
(A bronze marker in the yard certified that this was the highest point in St.
Charles County.)
Picture courtesy
Lilian Hays Oliver
Elsie Knippenberg and
her daughter, Evelyn lived here. You may have guessed by now that this is the
Howell Institute with a different front porch and fewer trees.
Picture courtesy
Lilian Hays Oliver
[PLATE 12]
Dardenne Creek was the
favorite fishing hole, swimming spot, and the most tranquil place you could
desire.
Scenic country roads
were a delight to behold whether you be a native or a visitor.
[PLATE 13]
A rambling stream was
a refreshing scene for a thirsty visitor in the area.
In Autumn some of the
most scenic spots in Missouri were found along the Missouri River, which was
the Eastern Boundary for the area.
[PLATE 14]
Hamburg, Mo. On the
left I recall that Vernon and Daisey Sutton lived here and on the far left is
the home of Currier and Inez Fridley. I’ve had some great times in this home.
John Seitz’s home is on the right.
The George and Annie
Bigelow residence. Marie and Wesley Stevenson lived here with the Bigelows.
[PLATE 15]
The “Sink Hole” seen
from the hill where Hodgen Bates’ home once stood.
All cemeteries in the
area were soon forgotten by the Government after the Weldon Springs Ordnance
Plant was closed. The Government’s pledge to perpetually care for all
cemeteries was never kept.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 16]
The Old Union Church
at Mechanicsville (Howell, Mo.) built around 1867 by the Methodist and
Presbyterian congregations.
The Miller Elementary
School was completed in 1941, but Hamburg and Howell children never attended
it.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 17]
The Thomas Howell
residence. Daniel Boone frequently visited here. Adam Schneider inherited the
property from his father and owned it in 1940. Only solid walnut and cherry
wood were used in the interior of the home.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
The William Kaut home
still stands today in the hollow behind which the community of Howell once
stood.
[PLATE 18]
I recall that Dwight
Castlio and his family lived here. The residence was originally known as the
Lewis Howell Home.
Photograph courtesy
Lilian Hays Oliver
This was the home of
Frank Stewart. It was one of the oldest buildings in Howell and served as a
slaughtering house in 1866.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 19]
Dr. O. L. and Viola
Snyder owned this home near Howell, Mo. Nell Fulkerson and her daughter, Mary
Ross, lived here in 1940.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
The E. P. Silvey home.
I recall that William (Bill) and Eula Zeyen lived here, also Pat and Carrie
Muschany; also Frank and Madelyn Post. Muschany Brothers owned it in 1940.
[PLATE 20]
The Howell Garage
The first Claude and
Hester Muschany home, Howell, Missouri.
[PLATE 21]
To me this was the
Isaac Stewart home, later owned by my uncle Claude and aunt Hester Muschany.
The Dr. L. E. Belding
residence. It was later owned by my aunt and uncle, Leora and Robert Fulkerson
up to 1940.
[PLATE 22]
The Gordon home. It
was better known to me as the Serena and Lilian Hays residence. Later, Stella
Blize and her children Waunita and Roy lived here.
Picture courtesy
Lilian Hays Oliver
The John Harrison
Castlio home. I remember the Herb Yahn family living here and the last
occupants were the O. E. Bacon family.
Picture courtesy
Lilian Hays Oliver
[PLATE 23]
I didn’t mention
Toonerville in the book, but it was located at the fork of a road between
Howell and Hamburg. You are looking at all of it.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
J. E. Schneider built
this residence in Hamburg. He was well known for his excellence in
weaving—truly a great craftsman.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 24]
This two-story brick
home was built in Hamburg about 1840. It was not destroyed in 1940 and is still
standing.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
The residence of
Theodore and Leona Mattus, and Leslie in Hamburg, Mo.
[PLATE 25]
The Louis Wackher home
in Hamburg.
Picture courtesy Karl
and Vera Muschany
The Henry Seib home in
Hamburg.
Picture courtesy Karl
and Vera Muschany
[PLATE 26]
Every small town has
at least one or two stores. Hamburg had the Seib-Wackher-Schneider Store, which
also housed the Hamburg Post Office.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
The
Missouri-Kansas-Texas (M-K-T) Railroad Station, Hamburg, Missouri.
[PLATE 27]
The first home on the
left is that of Louis and Lyte Wackher and Kenneth, then the Henry Mattus Home,
and just behind that is the Hamburg Bank. To the right is the Theodore and
Annie Seib residence and lower right is the Henry Seib residence.
Picture courtesy Karl
and Vera Muschany
The H. J. Seib
residence in Hamburg was built in 1896.
Picture courtesy St.
Louis Globe-Democrat
[PLATE 28]
Back of Howell in “The
Hollow” were these two lovely scenes. The road could have been an old logging
road leading to nowhere, and the branch scene was one of tranquility.
