Long ago on independence square (Jackson, California: fruit, 2013, house)

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

In the early days of Missouri when a county was created by the state legislature it was attached to and came under the lawful authority of the county commissioners of another county.

This attachment was for military, legal, and political purposes until such time as the new county was lawfully organized—which could take several years after creation. In the meantime, the new county was effectively part of another county because of the attachment.

Jackson County was created by the state legislature on February 16, 1825, but would have no distinct local control for almost two years.

Blue, Kaw, and Fort Osage Townships were the three original townships of Jackson County and these townships were created by the county commissioners of another county. The township policemen—the constables—of Blue, Kaw, and Fort Osage reported to the sheriff in the other county. The township state courts—presided over by a justice of the peace—reported to the state district court in this other county.


Name the county and the county seat that Jackson County was attached to for life support before becoming legally organized on December 15, 1826.

Lafayette and Lexington?

[Mad Anthonie]

It's a Monday Morning Flashback! This photo was taken in 1982. Your assignment is to tell me where this house once stood.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

Lafayette and Lexington?

Yes, that is the answer.

(One Sunday in high school I did not have anything to do, so I drove to Lexington to take a look at the still embedded cannon ball in the Lafayette County courthouse left over from the Battle of Lexington. It is still there today.

The trip was only about 35 miles along the then river route hugging 24 highway for several miles into the town. There use to be a bridge right at the foot of the town crossing the Missouri River. The bridge connected Lexington with Richmond, the county seat of Ray County, where Minuteman Robert Bolivar DePugh and William Chrisman 1941 graduate died a lonely man a few years ago. That bridge is no longer there having been torn down and replaced by another further downriver.

The Lafayette County courthouse is the oldest still in use courthouse west of the Mississippi River having been built in 1847.)

[WCHS'59]

I hated hominy as a kid, but I like it now. Problem is, the wife hates it.

If someone wanted to do it, a very dangerous recipe for making homemade hominy calls for a very careful approach and preparation to circumvent a potential disaster. Dried corn kernels are soaked in lye water.

Lye is a powerful ingredient used in drain cleaners and is very caustic. The corn is soaked for some time creating the hominy, which is then boiled and rinsed, boiled and rinsed, boiled and rinsed, and re-rinsed before being declared edible.

By volume, one gallon of corn kernels makes two gallons of hominy.

Hominy was an alternative to grinding dried corn to make edible food. In the old days, the people of Jackson County, Independence, and the Indians made hominy all the time. However, they did not have lye—or did they?

How did our local predecessors make hominy?

[Major Tom 58]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

It's a Monday Morning Flashback! This photo was taken in 1982. Your assignment is to tell me where this house once stood.

Have to disqualify myself from this one. I thought this might have been posted before....it was.

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by Major Tom 58

Have to disqualify myself from this one. I thought this might have been posted before....it was.

Brownie points to you for digging through 800 pages to check this out! If no one answers by morning you may reveal your findings.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I hated hominy as a kid, but I like it now. Problem is, the wife hates it.

If someone wanted to do it, a very dangerous recipe for making homemade hominy calls for a very careful approach and preparation to circumvent a potential disaster. Dried corn kernels are soaked in lye water.

Lye is a powerful ingredient used in drain cleaners and is very caustic. The corn is soaked for some time creating the hominy, which is then boiled and rinsed, boiled and rinsed, boiled and rinsed, and re-rinsed before being declared edible.

By volume, one gallon of corn kernels makes two gallons of hominy.

Hominy was an alternative to grinding dried corn to make edible food. In the old days, the people of Jackson County, Independence, and the Indians made hominy all the time. However, they did not have lye—or did they?

How did our local predecessors make hominy?

The first step called for making their own lye water from the natural source of lye—wood ashes. One way they did this was by placing wood ashes in a receptacle and running creek water or well water through those ashes several times. Replacing the wood ashes with fresh ashes and running the solution through the new ashes made the lye water more caustic.



Then they soaked the corn kernels in the lye water solution for a lengthy time and then boiled-rinsed several times resulting in good old hominy. Hominy is further ground to make hominy grits, something that I am not so fond of.

Many settlers had what was called an ash hopper—a large vee shaped wood bin with a slanted bottom in which they tossed their cold fireplace ashes. Come hominy making time, they poured water into this bin collecting lye water at the bottom of the slanted lower end.



Although hominy was made, another huge use for lye water was making soap.

I recall my grandmother making soap but have no remembrance of where she got her lye—maybe the general store. I do not recall her ever making hominy.

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

The first step called for making their own lye water from the natural source of lye—wood ashes. One way they did this was by placing wood ashes in a receptacle and running creek water or well water through those ashes several times. Replacing the wood ashes with fresh ashes and running the solution through the new ashes made the lye water more caustic.



Then they soaked the corn kernels in the lye water solution for a lengthy time and then boiled-rinsed several times resulting in good old hominy. Hominy is further ground to make hominy grits, something that I am not so fond of.

Many settlers had what was called an ash hopper—a large vee shaped wood bin with a slanted bottom in which they tossed their cold fireplace ashes. Come hominy making time, they poured water into this bin collecting lye water at the bottom of the slanted lower end.



Although hominy was made, another huge use for lye water was making soap.

I recall my grandmother making soap but have no remembrance of where she got her lye—maybe the general store. I do not recall her ever making hominy.

The bigger question is why anyone ever thought of putting perfectly edible corn into a dangerous caustic chemical!

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

The bigger question is why anyone ever thought of putting perfectly edible corn into a dangerous caustic chemical!

Or, maybe, rub lye soap on yourself to get clean. I think Indians used some kind of plant for soap.

The lye soap was made with animal fat left over from slaughtering them for food.

Besides using it for batheing, I also remember my grandmother putting some clothes in a round galvanized tub and then taking a knife to slice off some slivers of lye soap that she had made. She then hand washed clothes with a rubbing board.

[sally36]

Hello Folks. I started this account of sally36 for my mother as a way to connect with folks from her hometown and state. My mother started this thread a few years ago as I was teaching her how to use the Internet.

I recognize many of your call names as being constant participators in this thread as well as folks that she talked about often as she enjoyed this conversation and reminiscence so dearly of her hometown.

She may have mentioned on here that she was ill and hospitalized. I did help her post some comments while she was indeed in the hospital. I posted as she dictated while in the hospital on a few occasions. Those would be her final posts.

I know many of you may be wondering why the sudden disappearance and I know that she would want me to explain as she became quite fond of this thread and you folks.

My Mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Renal cancer in the Fall of 2012. It was quite advanced and the symptoms were an onslaught. This is still very hard for me to write as it’s been a very difficult time. She passed away in February of 2013. It has been extremely difficult for me as I adore her very much and its taken me a while to be able to come on here to touch base with you all.

It just blesses my heart to see this thread with over 8,000 comments and thriving at the top of the Forum!! She would be SO TICKLED to know this. I can tell you, as her son, and having a very close relationship with her, that her growing up years and tie to Independence, Missouri was an everyday constant adoration and passion for "Home". While she raised her children in California and spent more than 50 of her 76 years in CA, she will always tell anyone that IndepMO is Home.

I got the chance to take her back to visit old friends and family as well as see the area multiple times. It blessed me to see where she grew up, hear all the stories, see her home on South Main and share that joy with her. She just lit up coming back to Independence. I'm a strong family person, so this meant a lot to me as well to visit there and see where she comes from. I can tell you from my travels all around the Midwest, the Jackson County Courthouse is by far my favorite courthouse!! I very much hope to make it back to the area to visit again. I do love Missouri and its people and have fondness in my heart for Independence.


Thank you all for your continued participation in this thread and I'm so glad it has been a pleasant experience for you as much as it was for her. Unfortunately, she didn't live to see its enduring success these past years but I have. And I can tell you that the time she spent on this thread, she treasured and talked about so often. Your interactions meant so much to her!


In memory of sally36