Caldwell County MO Archives History .....CLAYPOOL AND THE GOODMAN HOTELS IN HAMILTON  
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Karen Walker khw4@yahoo.com September 4, 2008, 6:04 pm

THE CLAYPOOL AND THE GOODMAN HOTELS IN HAMILTON OF THE SEVENTIES
	Narrator:  Eva Glasener, 69, Hamilton

     Miss Glasener's mother is Mrs. Holliday, now 95, the oldest person in 
Hamilton.  Shortly after the Civil War, she came into town, she had to make a 
living for her family, and being a fine cook, she was frequently called upon 
to act as extra cook in both the Claypool and the Goodman hotels, both fine 
hotels in Hamilton in the late sixties and seventies.  In general, the women 
of a hotel family did the work, the cooking, waited tables and bedroom work.  
     The old Goodman frame hotel or "Western House" as called on the signs, 
was in the middle of the first block north of railroad west side, embracing as 
Miss Glasener the site of Cole's barber shop almost up to the south Penney 
wall.  The ground floor of the hotel had an office, hotel parlor, family 
living room, dining room, kitchen, and at the back was the bar, also often 
called, Goodman saloon.  This was approached by a plank walk running from the 
front street walk to the saloon door between two store buildings. (That type 
of back door entrance at the end of a walk was not uncommon in a Main street 
which had gaps in it, note the early Kingston post office.)  This made a dark 
walk, scary to youngsters at night.  The bar was tended by Charley Stevenson, 
(father of Libby who now lives in Hamilton with her uncle Bert Goodman).  
Charley Stevenson was an early character here, who was quite attractive to a 
large circle of friends, despite his occupation.  Lee Cosgrove was another 
bartender, he married Eva Glasener's aunt and was the father of Frank, Cora 
and Claud of later history.  When Col. and Mrs. J.M. Harper arrived in town to 
buy a farm, they stayed at the Goodman "Western House" till they were 
settled.  Mr. and Mrs. Robt. Houston, bankers, stayed there as continual 
boarders for several years.  It was standard and satisfactory.
     The Claypool Hotel was the old Davis house (the site of the north half of 
the present Johnson store, on Davis street, east side, second block north from 
the railroad.  This also was a very popular hotel, especially for Sunday 
dinners.  There were plenty of Claypool girls to do things, but one Sunday, 
all the Claypools wanted to go to a creek baptizing.  So they had hired Mrs. 
Glasener (who had not yet married Holliday) to cook.  Dinner hour came on, the 
dinner was ready to serve, the boarders were there and very hungry, but the 
Claypool girls who were dining room girls were not there.  Mrs. Holliday was 
not supposed to go into the dining room to serve, not dressed for it.  Finally 
the boarders declared they were going elsewhere for dinner if they were not 
served in ten minutes.  Lee Cosgrove, who was a boarder there, put the food on 
the table in a hurry, and every one had a good Sunday dinner before the 
Claypools got back.
     Private parties who took in boarders in the late 70s were Henry Reed who 
lived in the Bristow house west of the old Davis house in north east Hamilton, 
James Orr, who lived in present Taylor Allee house, Mrs. Robt. Ogden in the 
present Whitman home site.
     Interviewed  November 1934.


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