Ray County, Missouri - Miscellaneous - Wilkerson Tells of Olden Times Up Near Knoxville Richmond Missourian 1942 Mrs. W.H. Wilkerson Tells of Olden Times Up Near Knoxville Mrs. William H. Wilkerson, who was a welcomed visitor at The Missourian, lives all alone at Taitsville and is the widow of the late William H. Wilkerson, who died 13 years ago. She celebrated quietly her 81st birthday on March 9th. Her nephew Charles Baird, son of the Chauncy Baird of Prairie Ridge neighborhood, and now a rather large land-owner in Wyoming, sent her a birthday cake and other gifts. Mr. Wilkerson was a son of the late George Wilkerson, who lived a good many years of his life in the Zimmerman bridge neighborhood of West Ray. Uncle George Wilkerson was happiest when running a threshing machine or a saw mill, and Jewell Mayes remarks that he wonders if uncle George is fully happy in Heaven, unless they have a horsepower thresher or a portable steam saw mill up there. Uncle George and his family were born mechanics. Mrs. Wilkerson’s maiden name was Myra Baird, and she came with her parents to the Prairie Ridge section, west of Polo, when she was 12 years of age. Her father was Watson Baird. Jewell Mayes remembers her three brothers. William N. Baird lives at Republic, Mo., and has his second wife. His first wife was Miss Paulina Brown of north Ray. Riley Baird died in Kansas City. Charles Baird lives at Osceola, Mo. Father Baird and his family moved to Knoxville township, after having lived a few years near his brother, Chauncy Baird, five miles west of Polo. Mrs. Baird remembers having gone to school with the late Sarah Martin, John O. Martin and Bill Martin, in the Martin-Ziekle neighborhood. Jewell Mayes asked Mrs. Wilkerson if she remembers a long list of old-timers in Knoxville township and she knew them all but one. She told of being at a "peach-cutting party" at the old Mayes farm, the David T. Mayes place. It was in the younger days of Sam G. Gant, son of Dr. Jack D. Gant, whom she calls "one of the best men that ever lived." She says that Sam was very bashful, at the party, but mischievous, always. The young fellows decided that it was a goodly time to pay Sam Gant back for some of the things that he had previously done to them. While Sam was trying to talk to the girls, the boys went out and “turned his saddle around” and put a rock under it. When he went to leave, he had an audience, the word having been whispered around. His horse bucked and threw him. Dr. Gant is a nationally known surgical specialist, having recently retired, and now lives in Miami, Florida. Mrs. Wilkerson remembers all the Arnotes, the Zimmermans, Greens, Crenshaws, Hayters, Vanbebbers, Slacks, Davises, Albights, Gorhams, Bathgates, Kincaids, Wilkersons, Rainwaters, VanBebbers, and everyone else who used to live in Knoxville township. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkerson never reared any children of their own. They reared an adopted daughter, Edna, who married Hans Christpherson. Mrs. Baird’s visit stirred memories for Jewell Mayes, who told her of his riding (as a small lad) behind her brother Bill on a mule, along with his father, Wiley Mayes, jr. They went from the Mayes farm three-quarters of a mile south to the Mayes branch, where they robbed a hoot owls nest of three half-grown owls. Young Mayes was riding behind Bill Baird. The young owls took to squalling. The mule took to running. The owls clawed the mule. They tried to drop the owls, but the sharp claws dug into the mule’s hide and it was a mess that can not be politely described in print. Since the above lines were set into type, Mr. Mayes has recalled that the mule took a would-be scare at a hog in a fence corner and jumped, causing the young owls to get a shaking-up that started all the squalling and the resultant mess. Mrs. Myra Baird Wilkerson will always be welcome at The Missourian office, and we hope that she finds her lost toad, and wish that she doesn’t have so much bother with the boxelder bugs next fall, as she did last year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Jenna Zunker USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for profit or any form of presentation, must obtain the written consent of the file submitter, or their legal representative, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------