| It’s Your Museum--Enjoy! By Carolyn A. Larsen, Curator Durkes The following is a sketch of one of many women who came to this area in Weston’s early years. Many times little is written about these women and instead the focus is on the husband, father, male citizen. From time to time I hope to write about some of these women. Sarah Grace Wilkinson was born in Wicklow, Ireland, January 20, 1845, and raised in England. She came with her family through Ireland where they lived for twelve years before sailing to the new world. Shortly after she and her parents arrived in Weston her father opened a small distillery in partnership with Capt. Charles Guenther. Grace first met here and later married John Adam Durkes who came to this country from Germany. They were one of the first couples to be married in the Episcopal church on Washington and Thomas streets. Adam and Grace first lived within the city but later moved to a new house that Adam had built for them on a farm one mile west of Weston. The Durkes farm was something of a mecca for the young people of the entire area. Grace had a lovely English accent and loved to tell and read stories, mostly Biblical in nature, to the many guests who came. She also loved telling stories about England and Ireland. She was a Episcopal Sunday School teacher and an enthusiastic leader in much of the work in her church. While her husband was first a farmer, he started a hobby of small fruit farming. The hobby became a full time occupation and Grace loved filling her cellar with jellies, preserves and other products she made from the fruit. Proud of her husband and his work in the orchards she also encouraged his work with the Platte County Horticulture society. While little regular farming--crops, cattle, and hogs--was not done anymore on the farm, Grace continued to raise chickens for eggs and food. In March of 1914 she had 256 baby chicks that hatched and she was very busy keeping them warm and alive. She also loved to garden and in 1927 proudly showed off a peony bush that had been in her garden for sixty years. Theirs was a loving and lively home with their children and the children of friends in and out constantly. They were allowed to pick fruit from the orchards and many people came to the Durkes home to purchase items from the nursery that Adam had begun. Here too, Grace was a helpmate in caring for the young plants and watching over them while Adam, now a noted horticulturist, was often gone on speaking engagements to and for the horticultural societies of Platte County and the State of Missouri. Adam died in June of 1917. Grace followed twelve years later, at the age of 84, February 1929. The two are buried side by side in Graceland Cemetery in Weston. |
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| The Historic town of Weston has many popular events scheduled throughout the year. For more information 816-640-2909 www.westonmo.com |
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| It’s Your Museum--Enjoy! By Carolyn A. Larsen, Curator Fire! Through its history, Weston was hit with two major fires in its earlier years. The one I will talk about today occurred in December 1896. It was Friday, Dec. 4th, at 2:45 in the afternoon. The fire originated on the second floor of the old furniture factory on Main Street, owned by Railey & Bro. building. Mayor Walruff, seeing that the entire town was in danger, telephoned to Fort Leavenworth for assistance. They refused to send over their chemical engine but sent Lieutenant Howard with thirty-five men over at 5:15 who offered his assistance. Sparks from the flames flew all over, especially toward the north part of town, all of which were promptly put out by the citizens of Weston, with the exception of the Baptist church and it, along with the furniture factory were burned to the ground. The two-story residence of R.H. Mundy, next to the church, was badly damaged. During the fire all the merchants moved their goods into the streets. None of the stock was damaged by fire but the damage to some is heavy from breakage and from being lost in the melee. The origin of the fire was never ascertained with any full degree of satisfaction, as the building was unoccupied at the time. It was thought that perhaps tramps or crap shooters dropped a cigar or cigarette on the floor after they had obtained entrance into the building. Following is a list of buildings damaged and destroyed and if insured or not: Three-story warehouse,150 feet long, 50 feet wide; owned by Railey Bros., total loss; $1000.00 insurance. First Baptist church, two story brick, total loss. No insurance. Two story brick, formerly occupied by bank, damaged in rear, insured. Opera house, owned by R. Shenkner, damaged, insured. Brick building occupied by A.H. O’Dowd, undertaker, slight damage, insured. Brick building occupied by M.V. Schindler, damage. Stock removed, insured. Brick building occupied by J.W. Coburn, damaged. Library removed, not insured. Brick building occupied by W.A. Roelle, boot and shoes, stock and building slightly damaged, insured. Brick building occupied by Thomas Barton, wholesale liquor dealer, and owned by W.G. Noble, slight damage. Two brick buildings owned by William Linn, and occupied by Paul Vogelman, bakery, and Sebus & Haas, general merchandise, stock and building slightly damaged. In the months following the fire, Weston Chronicle editor, B.J. Bless, Jr., heavily editorialized about the need for good fire equipment, plenty of it and the need for training for the men using the equipment. In 1897 the city fathers decided to purchase the needed equipment. This all comes from the file of the Fire Department in your museum. C’mon in and see what great information we have here. We’d love to see you. |
As you know, school is now back in session for another year and football season has also started. The following is an article about a W.H.S. vs. Platte City Possums football game. It came from the “Jo Dill” souvenir edition of The Weston Chronicle, in December of 1914. This spirited game, between arch rivals took place ninety- three years ago. “For a half hour after the game was finished not a Platte City lad was seen in Weston, and not one has shown up since. But the saddest part of the whole business was that the P.C. mascot was not given a chance to exhibit itself to the assembled multitude. This refers to the possum that had been carefully prepared by the Platte City rooters and labeled with sundry sentences reflecting on Weston’s supposed slowness, and which was to have been released on the ball ground in view of the crowd if the Platte City team had won the game. But they didn’t win, so his possumship didn’t materialize, but faded away into the eastern distance along with his owners. The score, 10 to 6 in favor of Weston, was made by a drop kick by Waters in the second quarter, a touch down by Elmer Hall and a kick goal in the third quarter. Touch down was made on a forward pass. The game was regular old line football with fine team work by the Weston boys. The referee was Harrison of St. Joseph and the umpire was Miller of Camden Point. The Weston team is composed of Corwin Adkins, John Cain, Paul Shouse, A. J. Lober, Wilburn Taulbee, Charles Summerfield, John Dale, Sam Roberts, Leo Evans, Tom Burns, Paul Waters, George Marr, Elmer Hall, Frank Hollied and Brownie Hull.” At the time of this game, our mascot was an owl. Wonder when Platte City went from being the Possums to the Pirates? The picture of the 1914 team is included but identifications are not made. With the list of names in this column, can anyone identify the players in the photo? There is much more on our football teams down through the years. Interested? Come see us at the museum, we’ll let you see all of it. |
| Weston Historical Museum 601 Main Street - Weston, MO 64098 |
a German Lithograph painted late 1800's, depicts Weston, Mo when the town was a busy river port
| Weekly columns written by a former curator Carolyn Bless Larsen, Click on the titles below left to read your past favorites! |