J.P. Richardson, Jr: The Big Bopper TX7686

Jiles Perry "J.P." Richardson, Jr. was born on October 24, 1930 to Jiles and Elsie Bernice (Stalsby) Richardson in Sabine Pass (26 mi.SE); the family moved to Beaumont when he was six. As a teenager, Richardson began writing songs with country and western influences. Following graduation from Beaumont High School in 1947, he attended Lamar College, where he sang in the choir and played in the band. He also became a disc jockey for radio station KTRM. It was there he developed his "Big Bopper" character and his musical style shifted toward rockabilly, combining country and western with rock and roll. He served two years in the Army but returned to radio work in Beaumont, and as a DJ in 1957 Richardson raised money for charity by spinning records continuously for more than 122 hours. Around the same time, Mercury Records executive Shelby Singleton signed him to a contract, and the Big Bopper went on tour along the east coast. His recording Chantilly Lace was on the top of the charts for six weeks in 1958 and earned him a gold record after being listed among the Top 100 for 25 weeks. At the age of 28, married with two children, rock and roll star J.P. Richardson joined a group of young musicians on another national tour. Tragically, on February 3, 1959, their plane crashed in Iowa, killing him and fellow artists Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. Richardson's body was returned here for burial. In addition to the 21 songs he recorded as the Big Bopper, he wrote many more, including Running Bear and White Lightnin', made popular by other singers. J.P. Richardson, Jr. is remembered for his musical talent as well as his larger-than-life persona as the Big Bopper.

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Hillside Cemetery TX7687

The new community of Cuero was surveyed for the Cuero Land & Immigration Co. in 1873. That same year, the city incorporated, and the GWT&P Railroad extended its track to it from Indianola. The land company conveyed 12 acres at this site for use as a municipal burial ground in 1875. By 1880, local women formed a cemetery association to maintain burial plots. They raised funds and collected dues to employ a groundskeeper to make cemetery improvements. The site grew to include additional acreage and the once segregated African American cemetery, Evergreen. The Ladies' Cemetery Association turned over its duties to the city in 1972, but an endowment established in 1919 continues to generate funds for cemetery projects. Today, Hillside Cemetery is the final resting place for generations of area residents. In addition to pioneer settlers, artists, writers, educators and civic leaders, those buried here include elected officials and military veterans of conflicts dating to the Mexican War. Large monuments are reminders of the victims and survivors of the Indianola storms of 1875 and 1886.

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Hunt TX7579

Farmers and ranchers settled along the North and South Forks of the Guadalupe River in the late 1850s, forming the Japonica and Pebble communities. In 1912, Alva and Lizzie Joy bought land at the confluence and named the central settlement that developed there in honor of Robert Hunt, the prior landowner. Alva Joy established a Post Office in 1913, and an independent school district formed in the 1930s. By the 1930s, the area began attracting artists, including the acclaimed E.M. Schiwetz. During the next decades, Hunt became a center for summer camps, exotic game ranches, and religious and corporate retreat facilities, but retained its identity as a small, rural community.

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Old Gray Cemetery 1E102
Old Gray Cemetery, incorporated in 1850, is the resting place of William G. Brownlow, Tennessee Governor and U.S. Senator, as well as two other U.S. Senators, eight U.S. Congressmen, 26 mayors of Knoxville, and numerous ambassadors, judges, editors, artists, authors, educators, military leaders, physicians, and industrialists.

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Abduction of the Daughters MO351

A painting by Jean-Francois Millet and Karl Bodmer, 1852. The painting depicts Daniel Boone's teenage daughter, Jemima, and two future cousins, Fanny and Betsy Callaway, as they are kidnapped by a party of Shawanoes and Cherokee in 1776. The rescue of the girls after two days in captivity, unharmed, caused a sensation and became one of the most popular subjects for artists during the 1800s.

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History of Jefferson City Area - 1840 MO232
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON CITY AREA
1840

Union or Confederate?
During the Civil War, Gov. Clairborne Jackson had planned for Missouri to join the Confederacy but was forced to flee in 1861 when the city was occupied by Union forces led by Gen. Nathaniel Lyon. The city continued under federal control despite an 1864 attempt to capture it by Sterling Price, a former Missouri Governor and Confederate General.

Missouri's Capitol Buildings
In just 11 years, the government had outgrown its statehouse and the General Assembly approved construction of a new Capitol. This came just in time, as the existing Capitol was soon destroyed by fire, and the new building was occupied in 1840. Business boomed in the 1850s. The Pacific Railroad brought goods from the east, which continued west by steamboat.

As the 19th century ended, there were calls to move the capital from Jefferson City. When that failed, several pushes were made for a new building. Gov. Herbert S. Hadley warned that the old Capitol was a fire hazard, but cost remained an obstacle.

On Feb. 5, 1911, a bolt of lightning struck the Capitol dome, igniting it. The loss of the building prompted another attempt to move the state government out of Jefferson City. Citizens blocked the efforts by once again voting for Jefferson City to remain Missouri's capital.

In response, the General Assembly recommended the issuance of state bonds for a new and much larger Capitol. A design reminiscent of the Capitol at Washington, D.C. was selected, and although it was not yet complete, the building was occupied in 1918.

The tax, which funded construction of the Capitol, produced a million-dollar surplus, which was used to hire notable artists from America and Europe. As a result, the Capitol contains a resplendent collection of stained glass, murals, carvings and statuary.

[Top Photo: The second Capitol, occupied in 1840, was built with stone quarried from nearby Missouri River bluffs. Remodeling, completed in 1889, gave the state's second Capitol a new dome.
Photo used by permission, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia;
Middle pair Photos: When fire destroyed the second Capitol in 1911, hundreds of people rushed to save the records.
Photo [upper] by Thomas G. Cooper and used by permission, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia. [lower] photo used by permission, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia.;
Bottom Photo: Missouri's third and present Capitol, built 1913-1917, contains many works of art that portray Missouri's people, legends, rivers, countryside, history, cities, and cultural achievements.
Photo used by permission, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia.

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Dawn Manor - Site of Lost City of Newport WI26
Herre on the Wisconsin River the village of Newport was begun in 1853, planned for a population of 10,000. Assuming that the Milwaukee & Lacrosse Railroad would cross the river here, over 2000 settlers quickly came to Newport, causing a lively land boom. When the bridge and dam were ultimately located a mile upstream after an alleged secret moonlight survey, Newport was almost completely deserted in favor of Kilbourn City (today Wisconsin Dells). Only Dawn Manor, with it servant quarters, remains. Dawn Manor was completed in 1855 by Capt. Abraham Vanderpoel, friend of Lincoln and a signer of the Wisconsin Constitution. The home is built of Potsdam sandstone, white mahogany and white pine, put together with brass screws and wooden pegs. Dawn Manor houses the art collection of George Raab, one of Wisconsin's famous artists.

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Natural Bridge A-72
Natural Bridge holds a unique place in American history as one of the natural wonders and first tourist attractions in the New World. Artists and illustrators popularized its image. This natural semiellptical arch is made of limestone carved by nature over millions of years and is approximately 200 feet high. The Monacan Indians held the site sacred and worshiped there. Thomas Jefferson obtained a land grant on 5 July 1774 to preserve it and to ensure the public could visit it. Natural Bridge was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1887 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998.

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Georgia O'Keeffe Q26
Georgia O’Keeffe was born in Wisconsin in 1887. Her mother moved to Charlottesville in 1909 and rented the house here. Beginning in 1912, O’Keeffe intermittently lived with her mother and sisters. She took a summer drawing class taught by Alon Bement at the University of Virginia. O’Keeffe used a number of mediums to showcase her artistic talents throughout her long career. In 1916, noted photographer, art impresario, and future husband Alfred Stieglitz began to promote her work. O’Keeffe later became one of America’s most renowned artists. She died in New Mexico in 1986.

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Vietnam Memorial MO1

The small town of Wentzville is about 40 miles west of St. Louis, on I-70. In December 1967 the citizens of Wentzville strung a 30-foot tree with lights in honor of the town's military men serving in Vietnam. The memorial's original intention was to raise funds to send Christmas gifts to local men and women serving in Vietnam.

The following year, two local artists created a sculpture for the site, and in 1984 a larger memorial was dedicated. The Wentzville Vietnam Veterans Memorial today is a tall column crafted of red Missouri granite, with an eagle perched at its top.

Many consider it the first Vietnam Memorial in the US.

It reads:
Vietnam Veterans Memorial December 1967

"Whither Thou Goest I Will Go" Ruth. 1:16

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