Lives Between the Dimensions

The subject of Eminent Domain came up at the last Moore Family Reunion in Arnold, Missouri on September 6, 2014... specifically as to how many acres of land were owned by Daniel Moore at the time of the government seizures.  I had read somewhere of 120 acres, and Uncle Cecil Wilson clearly stated that he felt it had been much more than that.  I knew he was right, but, couldn't get a fix on where I had come up with that figure. Since our next reunion is at Rucker in Wayne County, September 5, 2015, and a visit to the Moore Spring and the old home sites along Wet Fork Creek in the Ojibway Valley, I felt the subject was due some research. I believe we all will have an enhanced appreciation of our sight line from the ridge where Daniel Moore's home once gave shelter to  Bessie,  Ann, and Ted  (Doad), across the creek valley in front in one direction and to the wooded hills in the back as a result of the research.  We can only imagine at the effort and sacrifice of our ancestral G

Another Chapter of Our Story By Keith Wayne Ragan    The Civil War in Wayne County, Missouri was not fought with bugles, swords, and spotless uniforms.   It has been said to be, by several historians, the seat of the bloodiest guerrilla warfare of any arena of the Civil War in the United States..   Pretty much everyone knew everyone else.   If they weren’t neighbors, they knew each other from extended family alliances, trips to the general mercantile, the sawmills, the gristmills, blacksmith shops, or church or arbor gatherings.    The militias that were formed for both sides were often composed of those that advocated slavery and/or had strong ties to Southern ancestry, vs. those that did not.   Just as often, the alliances chosen were simply community or neighborhood commonalities.   The old locales of the Ojibway and Lost Creek communities, for instance, were not seats of slavery, their immediate ancestry were not prosperous owners of vast plantations that e

Honoring the Memory and Sacrifice of RAYMOND DONALD DALLAS (OCTOBER 19, 1923 – AUGUST 2 1944) And the Crew of the “I’ll Get By” Lt. Raymond Donald Dallas The Final Mission Raymond Dallas, Navigator, 1 st LT., while on a combat mission aboard the B-17 “I’ll Get By”, perished along with 6 other crew members on August 2, 1944 near Airan, France.   The exact location is Airan, Calvados between Caen and Lisieux. The crew of “I’ll Get By” on that mission were: Capt Robert Oris Baber, Pilot, KIA 1 st Lt Jasper W. Kaylor, JR., Co-Pilot, KIA 1 st Lt Raymond Donald Dallas, Navigator, KIA 1 st Lt Frank T. Sohm, Bombardier, KIA T/Sgt Oscar C. Walrod, Flight Engineer, KIA T/Sgt Robert V. Hill, Radioman, KIA S/Sgt Donald W. Phillips, Ball Gunner, POW S/Sgt Walter J. Collyear, JR., Tail Gunner, POW S/Sgt Barney Lipkin, Waist Gunner, POW Capt Elmer E. Brockman, Observer, KIA Anthony (Tony) Dallas is the lone surviving sibling of Raymond D

                                                                            Robert Nathaniel Ragan; circa 1978 Robert Nathaniel Ragan was born 100 years ago to the day at the time of this posting, February 19, 1914 near the small town of Toone in Hardeman County, Tennessee.   He was the first born of nine children to Jacob William Ragan and Lizzie Ann Jackson Ragan.   They in turn were descendents of Ragan and Jackson clans that had been in Hardeman County on lands near present day Chickasaw State Park since before 1830.   His Grandfather, Nathaniel “Thannie” Francis Ragan was a well-known farmer, rancher, timber man, livestock dealer and grocery and meat market owner in nearby Jackson, Tennessee and the Bolivar and immediate communities in Hardeman County. He was named for both grandfathers, Robert David Jackson and Nathaniel Francis Ragan.  He was called Thannie, as was his Grandfather, Nathaniel, before him, by family and schoolmates.His high school diploma from Ridgely Hig