Brink, John Quincy, Family Papers, 1868-1890, 1927-1933, 1963 (C2885)

.1 linear foot

INTRODUCTION

Papers of the Brink family including John Quincy Brink, his son John Robert Brink, their children, and grandchildren. The Brink family lived in Holt and Nodaway counties in northwest Missouri. The collection includes family letters and receipts from various businesses in and around Maryville, Missouri, in addition to some reminiscences and genealogical information on the family

DONOR INFORMATION

The John Quincy Brink Family Papers were donated to the University of Missouri by Betty Hosmer Miller on August 21, 2002 (Accession No. 5952).

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

John Quincy Brink, son of Isaac and Betty Sikes (?) Brink, was born October 1, 1829, in Ross County, Ohio. He married Mary Jane Cryder on March 3, 1853. Mary Jane was born February 11, 1830, also in Ross County, Ohio. Her parents were John (or Jonathan) and Elizabeth Ricketts Cryder. John Q. died February 22, 1907(?)

John Robert Brink was born near Chillicothe, Ohio, on September 27, 1857, the son of John Quincy Brink and Mary Jane Cryder. In his personal memoirs he records that the family left Ohio in 1865 when he was 8 years old, and visited briefly with relatives in Illinois where he remembered his father attending Lincoln’s funeral. Soon after that the family, which included "father, mother, myself and a brother and three sisters" continued west into Missouri. They settled on a farm north of Graham, Missouri and lived there until 1867 when John Quincy Brink bought an interest in a "general store" in Graham.

In 1876 John R. taught school in the Barnes rural school district. Between 1877 and 1889 he taught at David School, later known as "Punken Center." During the 1879/1880 school year he attended the University of Missouri. The letters he wrote from Columbia to Helen Kavanaugh who became his wife on October 5, 1880, give interesting descriptions of his impressions of Columbia, especially his reactions to students at what was then Christian College.

In January 1881, John R. bought into the Mound City News and became one of its editors, a job he gave up for farming in 1883, saying that the close work of editing had almost cost him the sight in one eye. After that he farmed for a while, became acquainted with the railroad stationmaster in Mound City, where he learned telegraphy and was given a position as assistant agent. He later transferred to Bigelow, then to Quitman, where he worked as both station agent and express agent. By September 1892 he had sold his interests in Mound City and moved his family to Maryville where he owned and operated various businesses. He became the official district weather observer, a position he held for 35 years. About 1914 John R. took a position as superintendent of construction and maintenance at "the college" which later became Northwest Missouri State University.

John R. and Helen had two daughters, Bessie (Mrs. R.P.) Hosmer, and Marie (Mrs. Harold) Bellows.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Brink family papers consist of correspondence, receipts and invoices from northwest Missouri businesses, memoirs written by John R. Brink, and various notes from his days as a schoolteacher. The main body of correspondence covers the years 1868 to 1890 and 1927 to 1933. The only letter from 1963 pertains to the donor’s application for admission to the Daughters of the American Revolution.

FOLDER LIST

f. 1	Correspondence, n.d.
f. 2	Correspondence, 1868-77
f. 3	Correspondence, 1879
f. 4	Correspondence, 1880-1889
f. 5	Correspondence, 1890
f. 6	Correspondence, 1928, 1932-33, 1963
f. 7	Teaching exercises (c. 1879) and business cards
f. 8	Article and memoirs

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.

• Brink, John Q.
• Brink, John R.
• Christian College, Columbia, Missouri--Student life, 1879
• Cryder, Mary Jane
• Dodge, Levi
• Farm life, Missouri
• Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826)
• Kavanaugh, Helen Margaret
• Kavanaugh, Nicholas Archer
• Leonard, Nelson
• Meteorology--Observatories, 1894-1927
• Miller, Betty Hosmer
• Missouri, Columbia—Description, 1879
• Missouri, Graham
• Missouri, Maryville, 1887
• Missouri, Nodaway County, 1865
• Missouri, St. Joseph
• Printing--Specimens, 1870s
• Sallee, William
• Saunders, Serepta
• Skeels, John R.
• Skeels, Serilda A.
• Teachers, 1879
• Teaching--Aids and devices, 1879
• University of Missouri--Student life, 1879