Weathers Family, Papers, 1868-1991 (C4014)
3 linear feet, 1 audio cassette
INTRODUCTION
The Weathers family papers document the lives of Virginia "Kate" and Benton H. Weathers of Howard County, Missouri, and the lives of their children and grandchildren. In addition to genealogical materials on the Weathers, Duncan, and Grigsby families, the collection includes some materials on the Weathers Lumber and Hardware Store in Fayette, Missouri, and the Missouri Polled Hereford Association Records.
DONOR INFORMATION
On September 6, 2002, the administrator of the Weathers' estate, Edris Wilhoit, donated the James Weathers Papers to the University of Missouri (Accession No. 5947). April 30, 2007, Gene Weathers, Jr. donated the rest of the collection to the State Historical Society of Missouri (Accession No. 6130).
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
The Weathers family of Howard County, Missouri, is descended from James Weathers and Rachel Roberts, both of Madison County, Kentucky. The two moved to Howard County in 1819 and married in 1821. Many children were born to James and Rachel, including Columbus M. Weathers, a middle child. Columbus married and had only one son, Benton H. Weathers, who married Virginia Katherine Grigsby in 1898. Benton and Kate went on to have six sons, Louis, James, Benton, Eugene, Robert, and John.
Kate and Benton Weathers made their home in Howard County, Missouri, and tried their hand at farming in several different townships on rented farms. Between 1913 and 1915, the Weathers family lived in the Hickman House in New Franklin and farmed the surrounding land. Later in life, James Weathers donated $100,000 to the University of Missouri to help restore the four-room brick structure, originally built in 1819, by Thomas Hickman. By 1920, the family retired from farming and bought a home in Franklin.
James married Viola Potter in 1924, and together they managed the La Crosse Lumber Company in Fayette. In 1946, James, with his brother Eugene, opened Weathers Lumber and Hardware, also in Fayette. In addition to the lumber business, James was instrumental in establishing the Missouri Polled Hereford Breeders Association in 1944, and he maintained his own herd of cattle on his 95-acre Hillview Farm.
Eugene Weathers married Norabelle Duncan in 1931, and received his bachelor's degree from the University of in that same year. They had two children, Eugene K. Weathers, Jr. and Benton Duncan Weathers. The family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where Eugene worked at the chemistry department in the Agricultural Experiment Station. Between 1942 and 1945, he worked for the Plate Mill Smelter in Alcoa, Tennessee. In 1946, the Weathers moved back to Fayette so Eugene could partner with his brother James in the lumber and hardware business and begin his own Polled Hereford cattle herd.
Eugene Weathers died January 3, 1988, and James Weathers died January 17, 2000, at the age of 91.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Weathers family papers primarily center on the lives of Eugene and James Weathers and their families. The papers contain genealogical materials on the Weathers, Duncan, and Grigsby families, including photographs, diaries, correspondence, financial ledgers, and scrapbooks. The collection also holds records pertaining to the Weathers Lumber and Hardware store in Fayette and the Missouri Polled Hereford Cattle Association. The papers are arranged chronologically into three series:
FOLDER LIST
The Genealogical Material series contains family correspondence, the diaries of Kate Weathers and scrapbooks she made for her children, as well as several files of family history sheets and vital statistics records. This series also contains financial information pertaining to the farming activities of the Weathers family in Howard County, including receipts, ledger books, and other farm records. There are several folders of photographs and negatives documenting family vacations and special events.
| f. 1 | Correspondence, 1909-1922 |
| f. 2 | Correspondence, 1936-1945 |
| f. 3 | Correspondence, 1946-1963 |
| f. 4 | Correspondence, 1988 |
| f. 5 | Postcards, Greeting Cards, 1908-1961 |
| f. 6 | Announcements, Invitations, 1929-1991 |
| f. 7 | Benton Duncan Weathers, 1934-1956 |
| f. 8 | Duncan Lee Weathers, Graduation, 1979 |
| f. 9 | Duncan Family, 1913-1950 |
| f. 10 | Weathers Family, 1938-1971 |
| f. 11 | E.K. Weathers, 1937-1960 |
| f. 12 | E.K. Weathers, Graduation, 1924 |
| f. 13 | Norabelle Duncan Weathers, DAR Papers, 1991 |
| f.14 | Norabelle Duncan Weathers, 1986-1988 |
| f. 15-17 | Weathers' Genealogy |
| f. 18 | Newspaper Clippings and one cassette tape with campaign ads, 9th District Congressional Race, Eugene K. Weathers, Jr., 1976 |
| f. 19 | Newspaper Clippings, 1976-1981 |
| f. 20 | Scrapbook, 1880-1890s |
| f. 21 | Scrapbook, 1938 |
| f. 22 | Scrapbook, 1920s-1950s |
| f. 23 | Diary, Katherine Weathers, 1905-1906 |
| f. 24 | Diary, Katherine Weathers, 1912-1915 |
| f. 25 | Diary, Katherine Weathers, 1956-1957 |
| f. 26 | Land Records, 1868-1907 |
| f. 27 | Ledger Book, Household Expenses, 1922-1942 |
| f. 28 | Order Book, Ladies Stockings, 1915-1917 |
| f. 29 | Ledger Books, Household Expenses, 1908 |
| f. 30 | Receipts, Household and Business Expenses, 1908-1948 |
| f. 31 | Farm Records, 1909 |
| f. 32 | Federal Crop Insurance Papers, 1980-1981 |
| f. 33 | Polled Hereford Cattle, 1900-1910 |
| f. 34 | Almanacs, 1907, 1941 |
| f. 35 | Photographs, Grigsby Family, 1927-1938 |
| f. 36 | Photographs, 1940s |
| f. 37 | Photographs, 1956 |
| f. 38 | Photographs, Vacation, Spanish Mission, 1958 |
| f. 39 | Photographs, Vacation, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Marineland of the Pacific, Disneyland, and Hoover Dam, 1959 |
| f. 40 | Photographs, Vacation, Colorado, 1960
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| f. 41 | Photographs, 1960s |
| f. 42 | Photographs, 1960-1973 |
| f. 43 | Photographs, 1970s-1980s |
| f. 44 | Photographs, Duncan Lee Weathers graduation, 1979-1980s |
| f. 45 | Photographs, Barbara Jo Light Wedding Announcement, 1959 |
| f. 46 | Negatives, 1950-1960 |
| f. 47 | Negatives, 1959 |
| f. 48 | Negatives, 1980s |
The Weathers Lumber and Hardware Records series include ledger books that record cash sales and sale catalogs.
| f. 49 | Cash Sales, 1946-1948 |
| f. 50 | Ledger Books, Cash Sales, 1947 |
| f. 51 | Ledger Books, Cash Sales, 1948 |
| f. 52 | Parts Catalogs, 1960-1965 |
The Missouri Polled Hereford Breeders Association Records series document the beginnings of that organization and includes their bylaws, correspondence, directories, sale records, Pulled Hereford publications, certificates of entry, and receipt books.
| f. 53 | Bylaws, Incorporation Papers, Certificates of Membership, 1944, 1947 |
| f. 54 | Membership Directories, 1940-1976 |
| f. 55 | Breed Show and Sale Records, 1945-1957 |
| f. 56 | Sale Records, 1951-1977 |
| f. 57 | Polled Hereford World Magazine, 1949-1958 |
| f. 58 | Polled Hereford World Magazine, 1978-1980 |
| f. 59 | Sale Catalogs, 1930-1956 |
| f. 60 | Sale Catalogs, 1957-1975 |
| f. 61 | Dispersion Sales, 1973-1977 |
| f. 62 | American Polled Hereford Association Publications, 1940-1979 |
| f. 63 | Newspaper Clippings, 1940s-1950s |
| f. 64 | Correspondence, 1944-1975 |
| f. 65 | Certificates of Entry, 1953-1969 |
| f. 66 | Receipt Books, 1944-1948 |
| f. 67 | Receipt Books, 1952-1953 |
| f. 68 | Receipt Books, 1955-1958 |
| f. 69 | Gammon's All-In-One Private Herd Record, 1957-1966 |
| f. 70 | Miscellaneous |
| f. 71 | Posters |
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
| Agriculture--Economic aspects | f. 31, 32 |
| Almanacs--Dream books | f. 34 |
| American Polled Hereford Association | f. 54, 65 |
| Birth records | f. 17 |
| Bloom, Judith Elaine Digges | f. 16 |
| Budgets, Household | f. 29, 30 |
| Catalogs--Repair parts--Automatic livestock waterers and feeders | f. 52 |
| Catalogs--Sales--Polled Herefords | f. 59-61 |
| Cattle--Pedigrees | f. 33 |
| Cattle--Polled Hereford | f. 33, 53-71 |
| Cobb, Thomas M. | f. 9 |
| Coldwater, Mary Ann | f. 6, 10, 11 |
| Commencements--Colleges and universities | f. 10 |
| Commencements--Lanphier High School, Springfield, Illinois | f. 8, 10, 12 |
| Cotton Belt Railroad | f. 1 |
| Death records | f. 17 |
| Diaries--Farm life | f. 23-25 |
| Digges family--Genealogy | f. 16 |
| Directories--Polled Herefords Breeders Association | f. 54 |
| Douglass family--Genealogy | f. 16 |
| Duncan, Jesse J. (1870-1944) | f. 9 |
| Duncan, Joseph | f. 9 |
| Duncan, Marion J. | f. 9 |
| Elections--Missouri, 9th Congressional District, 1976 | f. 18, 19, a.c. 1 |
| Fayette, Missouri--Sesquicentennial | f. 19 |
| Grigsby family | f. 35 (pictorial image) |
| Grigsby family--Genealogy | f. 15 |
| Grigsby, J.M., Jr. | f. 1 |
| Land records | f.26 |
| Ledgers | f. 27, 28, 49-51 |
| Livestock--Polled Hereford | f. 54-71, 62 |
| Livestock--Prices | f. 55, 56, 59-61 |
| Marriage records | f. 17 |
| Missouri Polled Hereford Breeders Association | f. 53-71 |
| O'Brien, J.J. | f. 1 |
| Politics--Missouri, 1976 | f. 18,19 |
| Polled Hereford World | f. 57, 58 |
| Publications--Polled Herefords | f. 62 |
| Receipts | f. 66-69 |
| Robinson, J. B. | f. 3 |
| Rogers, Mrs. A. E. | f. 3 |
| Sales--Accounting | f. 66-69 |
| Scrapbooks | f. 19-22 |
| Shuey, G. A. | f. 3 |
| Smith, S. Ed. | f. 9 |
| Swamp-Root Almanac, 1941 | f. 34 |
| The Bank Almanac, 1907 | f. 34 |
| The P.E.O. Record | f. 14 |
| University of Tennessee, Agricultural Experiment Station | f. 3 |
| Vital statistics | f. 17 |
| Weathers family | f. 36-48 (pictorial image) |
| Weathers family--Genealogy | f. 13-17 |
| Weathers Lumber and Hardware, Fayette, Missouri | f. 49-52 |
| Weathers, Barbara Jo Light | f. 3, 10 |
| Weathers, Benton Duncan (1934-1978) | f. 2, 7, 10 |
| Weathers, Benton Hutch (1860-1929) | f. 6 |
| Weathers, Duncan Lee | f. 8 |
| Weathers, Eugene K., Jr. (1936- ) | f. 6, 10 |
| Weathers, Eugene Kenneth (1906-1988) | f. 2, 3 11-13 |
| Weathers, James (1901-2000) | f. 53, 56, 63, 64 |
| Weathers, Katherine Rea (1970- ) | f. 16, 17 |
| Weathers, Norabelle Duncan (1908-1991) | f. 9, 10, 13, 14 |
| Weathers, Virginia Katherine Grigsby (1871-1959) | f. 10, 23-25 |
| Williams, U.M. | f. 1 |
| Willson, Charles A. (1879-1936) | f. 11 |
| Women--Societies | f. 13, 14, 16, 17 |
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