Mrs. Mary Tells Marlee About Mr. Human

When Mrs. Mary handed Marlee the little booklet there was a picture of a man whose name was James Gilliam Human. Marlee pointed to his picture and asked Mary who this man was and did she know him.
Mrs. Mary smiled and said, "No I didn't know him, but he sure was an important man in these parts. He was married three (3) times and had a total of nineteen children of which seventeen survived. He lived in the same county I did only he was a lot older than me. His father ran off so his mama had to raise him by herself. I'd say she did a really good job. He was kind of like me. He wanted to see new places and do new things. He went to Tennessee and Illinois before he settled in this county of Polk in Missouri. He was a soldier (Lieutenant in the Black Hawk War and briefly as a Private in the 8th Missouri State Militia Cavalry during the Civil War which would later be commanded by his son, Captain William C. Human. Oh he did lots of things. He was a judge, he was a Representative for Polk County, but if you asked him he would say he was just a farmer. He was holding the office of Justice of the Peace in his latter days. I know he had a little store up the street there a ways a long time ago. I wrote a little something for his new marker to make sure folks knew how much Mr. Human meant to all of us.
Do you remember how much you liked the taste of the water? Well, Mr. Human discovered that big spring and decided right then and there he wanted to live here. He doesn't know that as time went by there was what folks call progress. Progress about the spring water meant that folks would put things in the water so there wouldn't be germs in it and they said it prevents tooth decay. That made the spring water taste like everyone else's.
The original Spring House is still there as well as the spring. This is a small picture of it in back of a care center now. It is still very beautiful.
The care center is appropriately called Big Springs Care Center. It was originally three stories high, but it too, was torn down to make it more modern and easier for the folks that live there to walk and enjoy the wildlife and fresh air. See the gazebo? (Grandma Lu's best friend started working for the Big Springs Care Center years and years ago. She did laundry and told her friend Grandma Lu how she would hang up sheets on the clothesline for hours. It was hard work, but that got her foot in the door and eventually became a social worker for another care center for more than twenty years.)
Marlee said, "My Grandma B makes me brush my teeth all the time and so does my mama." Mrs. Mary smiled and said, "That's a good thing. Got to keep them clean."
"Mr. Human bought some land so long ago you can't even count how long. I think it was in 1837 then a year later he built a log cabin on that land.
His home is gone now, but he surely will be remembered because this little town is named after him; Humansville. That's quite an honor isn't it to have a town named after you? Guess what, little one, It's the only town in the world with that name. It is so special, but you already know that don't you?" Marlee nodded her head, but not really looking at her.
Mary was pretty much talking to herself because Marlee was looking around at something that was really exciting to a little girl. There was a building called an Opera House. They had real people dressed up like the Wild Wild West going to do a play for folks. I think it may have cost twenty-five cents to go to that show. The name of the play was called The Cattle Rustlers. I don't know about you, but it looks exciting to me too! Guess what, Mrs. Mary's husband, Rick was in that picture too.
Mrs. Owens could tell that Marlee was getting restless and ready to see some more of her hometown in the twenties. Tomorrow I think they will take a walk in the park.
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These are four (4) of the little booklets that Mary A. Owens wrote. Many with pictures with texts that describe who originally had the buildings, how many times they were torn down, or burned and rebuilt.
I will continue to add and delete as this series continues because new things keep coming to my attention and facts will be inserted so that Marlee's family will not only enjoy the story but get the majority of it correct as I can write it for them.
This picture as well as some others were sent to me by Pat Kelly. Mrs. Owens had given her husband, Mike some of these as well as pictures when she visited him on "her rounds" as folks call Mrs. Owens walks.