Celebrating National Historic Districts & Places That Matter

The Legacy of Jo Kilbane: A Life of Service in Joplin

Women’s History Month featuring Mary Joanne Kilbane

Were you delivered by Dr. Irvin Kilbane either at home or in a hospital? Do you know the story about the woman behind the doctor? 

In commemoration of Women’s History Month, Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc. presents the life and work of Mary Joanne “Jo” Booher Kilbane, also known to the Joplin community as Dr. Irvin Kilbane’s wife, nurse, and assistant.  Jo was born in Cerro Gordo, Illinois in 1927.  She claimed to have been born in the same bed in which her mother was born.  She attended high school in Peoria, Illinois.  Jo married Bernard Rosenak in 1945 and they moved to Joplin in 1952.

According to Joplin City Directories, Jo worked at Reserve Life Insurance in 1963.  When Joplin General Hospital at 521 W. 4th Street closed in 1963, Dr. Kilbane moved his medical practice to his house at 420 S. Byers Avenue.  In 1964 Jo started as a laboratory technician at Dr. Kilbane’s office, and in 1965 her job was listed as a receptionist.  Jo and Irv were married on September 8, 1966.  She completed her education and received her License Practical Nursing certification and license from the Missouri State Board of Nursing in 1971.  Jo assisted her husband in his medical practice until he retired in 2003.  Irv was born in 1915 and passed away in 2005.

Lori and Jeremy Haun, current owners of the Kilbane’s former house and medical office, proudly display the doctor’s sign in the house.

Jo brought five children to the marriage and Irv brought three, but through the years, the couple fostered many children.  In a Joplin Globe interview published on July 21, 2002, Jo tells the following story: “Irv delivered the baby, a girl.  The mother was single and white. [The baby’s father was African American.] She was dealing with some family issues and felt she couldn’t cope with raising a baby.  She and the baby stayed with us for a while.”  When the mother decided to join the military, she left the baby with the Kilbanes.  “We had her for seven years and felt like she was ours.  We were in the process of trying to adopt her when the mother came home and decided to take her back.”

Irv never converted to the Jewish faith, but because he was a member of a Jewish family, he is buried with Jo in the Jewish section at Mount Hope Cemetery in Webb City, and both of their names were placed on the “In Memoriam” plaque at the temple in Joplin.

Jo was active in the United Hebrew Congregation and the Temple Aid Sisterhood.  The Sisterhood sponsored bake sales, cookbook sales, and food fairs.  Jo was particularly known for her homemade cheesecakes, making around 50 cakes every year for friends, family, and bake sales.  Often times the cheesecakes were garnished with pansies from her yard.

The Kilbanes were also considered an “interfaith couple”— Jo was Jewish and Irv was a Methodist.  What would have been a major challenge for any blended family, Jo and Irv made it work with a sophisticated schedule.  According to a Joplin Globe interview with Jo printed on June 22, 1997, she said Irv attended temple (United Hebrew Congregation Temple at 702 S. Sergeant) with her on Friday evenings when he wasn’t delivering babies. On Sunday, he dropped her children off at temple for Hebrew lessons, then took his children to St. James Methodist Church for Sunday school.  Irv then returned home for Jo and she accompanied him to Sunday church services.  The Kilbanes celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah while their children were young.

The former Oak Hill Hospital in Joplin—where Dr. Kilbane served as chief of staff—also benefited from Jo’s volunteer service through the hospital’s auxiliary.  The auxiliary staffed a gift shop, held ham and bean suppers, spaghetti-chili dinners, bazaars, art auctions, bake sales, ice cream socials, and made tray favors for patients.  The money raised by the auxiliary funded the purchase of medical and educational equipment and supplies needed at the hospital.        

In 1979 the Newburger building was razed and the City built a new structure that stands today.  Carver School eventually closed in 2004 due to the lack of sufficient income and the expansion of the Head Start program.   

For many years she was a volunteer and board member of George Washington Carver Memorial Nursery School, formerly located at 520 S. School Avenue in Joplin’s Ewert Park.  The school was formed for children of working Black families.  The mission was eventually expanded to include all children.  According to a Joplin Globe article on May 4, 1952 when the school moved into the Newburger Community House, the concept of the school started around 1926 on the “…dreams and hopes of the Negro citizens…”  Prior to the donation of land and money by Viola Newman Newburger and her late husband, Gabe Newburger, the school was held in a pavilion at Ewert Park. 

Another example of Jo’s commitment to education was as a board member of Women in Community Service, Inc. (WICS).  WICS was started in Joplin in June 1966 by the National Councils of Church Women United to serve as Job Corps recruiters to help find jobs for underprivileged girls 16 to 21 years old.  Jo represented the Council of Jewish Women on the WICS board.  Also on the board was Minnie Hackney representing the Council of Negro Women.  Girls attending Job Corps training centers were given transportation, room and board, some clothing, medical and dental expenses and $30 a month.  Girls were accepted for the Job Corps who had completed high school, but who had not obtained job skills, or who had dropped out of school.  Girls in the centers who had not completed high school could acquire an equivalent to a high school diploma.

Amber Ashby grew up at 419 S. Moffet, across the alley to the west of the Kilbane home and office.  She worked for Dr. Kilbane for over 18 years up to his retirement.  Her sister, Deanna Doss also worked for the doctor.  When interviewed for this story, Amber said, “Jo was a one-of-a-kind lady, very unique, and you always knew where you stood with her.” 

Amber further stated, “The yard was another love of Jo’s; it was always well manicured and one year she had hundreds of tulips planted along with pansies, rose bushes, and peonies.”  In June of 1996, the Kilbane yard was part of a garden tour featuring bird houses, perennial beds, window boxes, and container planting.

Jo was also known for their collection of antiques: furniture, children’s toys and furniture, clothes, musical instruments, kitchen utensils, miniature figures, fine china, sewing machines, portraits, photographs on tin plates…and 35 stoves.  At their Murphysburg home, there was at least one antique stove in every room.

Amber further reported, “If anyone else had such a large collection of antiques in their house, it would look like a hoarder lived there, but Jo made the house look like a livable museum.”  She would have a small trinket box or basket sitting on a table with smaller trinkets inside.  “There was never an empty ‘anything’ in the house.” 

Mary Joanne passed away in 2013 after a long struggle with Alzheimer Disease—and after a long history of family and community service.  According to her obituary in The Joplin Globe, “Her home was always open, and there was always room at her table and a brisket in the freezer [ready to cook for company, events, or funerals.]  She gave her children and grandchildren her infectious joy and sense of humor for the human condition, and encouraged and supported each of them to be whoever they wanted to be.”

Photograph of the Kilbane House looking west. The Medical Office is the detached red brick building pictured in the upper right corner of the property.

HISTORY OF THE HOUSE AT 420 S. BYERS AVENUE & ITS DOCTORS

The red brick house was built around 1890 in the Queen Anne style and was designed by the local architect, C. W. Kellog.  The first owner of this elaborate house was a dry goods merchant, Simon Schwartz and his wife Hennie. 

The second owner, John Graham (1872-1917) was a wholesale grocer and horse lover.  In 1898, Mr. Graham constructed an elegant brick stable at the back of the property to accommodate his beloved horses. 

The next owner, Dr. Samuel Ashby Grantham (1866-1938), housed his medical office in the parlor of the main house but in 1916, relocated it to the stable.  Dr. Grantham, an orthopedic surgeon, constructed a blacksmith shop above the office where he could make the pins and braces he needed for his many patients.  When Dr. Grantham died, his younger son, Sam, took over the practice.

Dr. Irvine Kilbane (1915-2005) purchased the house and “stable” on September 22, 1963, just four days after Joplin General Hospital closed, most likely with the plan of moving his practice to Dr. Grantham’s former medical office.  Through the years, he made house calls and answered late night emergencies.  He provided immunizations, conducted examinations, performed lab work, and did minor surgeries at his home office.  Jo’s job was to make sure the clinic (and her husband!) operated smoothly.

After Dr. Kilbane’s death, and after Jo moved out of the house, the Kilbane/Rosenak children auctioned off the house and its contents in 2007.

Baby in the Bushes

FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH, WE PRESENT A MYSTERY IN MURPHYSBURG

In honor of March as Women’s History Month, we bring forward a true unsolved mystery set in Joplin’s Murphysburg Historic District.

It was a dry 71-degree summer night on July 11, 1945 at 10:20 p.m. in what is now Joplin’s Murphysburg Historic District.  World War II in Europe had just ended with Germany surrendering on May 8, 1945.  The conflict in the Pacific (Ocean) Theater would soon end when Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945.  

On this particular Wednesday night, Mrs. Jennie Potlitzer was at her home at 219 South Sergeant Avenue with her sister, Mrs. Ruth Weil, and a nurse, Mrs. Don Sanford.  Jennie had suffered with a heart condition since 1933, which could explain the presence of a nurse at such a late hour.  Jennie’s husband, George had passed away 14 months earlier.  The Potlitzer’s daughter, Mildred was living in St. Louis, and son, Sidney was living here at the home.  

Ruth was also believed to be widowed sometime between 1935 and 1939 and was visiting Jennie on this fateful night.  Ruth’s son, Edward Weil, Jr. was in the army and would not rejoin his mother in Joplin until his discharge in January 1946.  But surely a nurse and two loving mothers were perfectly capable of managing the situation that was about to unfold.

Mrs. Sanford heard a child crying outside, so the three ladies went to investigate.  They found a blue-eyed, red-haired baby girl, not more than eight weeks old, hidden in the shrubbery!  The child was well bundled and at its side were clothing, baby powder, oil, and other needs for its care.  Most likely the baby would have been shielded from view of passing traffic due to the jagged-top, three-foot high stone wall that surrounded the property.

Baby Abandoned in the Bushes

Of course, the police were summoned.  City Detectives W. D. Holladay and Roy Isgrigg took the baby to Dr. V. E. Kenney, the city health commissioner.  He determined the baby was healthy in all respects.  The baby was then taken to the home of Reverend William Kelley, the county juvenile and probation officer, who would decide, along with Juvenile Judge Woodson Oldham, what to do with her.  Mrs. Kelley looked after the care of the child.  Dr. C. C. Coats, the city physician, also examined the infant and said she appeared to be a perfectly normal baby.

The next day more than 50 Joplin families offered to adopt the abandoned baby—telephone calls bombarded the juvenile office and the Kelley’s home.  However, Reverend Kelley remained hopeful that the mother would change her mind and claim the child, which he believed would be the best solution.                                

The Joplin Globe’s headline on July 13th was “Clew to Identity of Baby Obtained.”  (see sidebar) The first rumor investigated by the county probation office was that the baby could belong to a 15-year-old Webb City girl—but that soon fizzled out. The Joplin Globe’s headline on July 14th was “Police Work on New Clew to Identity of Baby Abandoned Here.”  The second rumor was provided by a Neosho physician claiming

to have delivered a baby girl to a 17-year-old McDonald County girl seven weeks earlier.  Police Chief Henry Vermillion and Newton County Sheriff Cline visited the mother of the girl, who said her daughter had taken the baby and left July 3 to visit her father in California.  On July 14th, via a telegram from California authorities, the red-headed baby in question was found to be safe with the suspected young mother in California. Headline reads, “Message from West Voids Baby Case Clew.”

On September 5, 1945 the Joplin Globe reported “Abandoned Baby Redhead” to be thriving, healthy, happy, and growing at the home of her foster parents.  The baby was to remain a legal ward of the juvenile court for at least two years unless the real parents appeared and could establish parenthood to the satisfaction of the court.  After that, she could be legally adopted, probably into the foster home where she had been placed. 

The foster family identity was never revealed in newspaper reports or even the first name that eventually was given to the baby.  The baby was assigned a birthdate of June 1, 1945.

The Joplin Children’s Home cared for many orphaned and otherwise unfortunate children between 1905 and 1957.  However, while researching this story, the orphanage was never mentioned in local news articles as an option for the baby.

Background

George and Jennie Potlitzer were very well known in the Joplin community due to their activities in welfare and civic affairs.  George and his father owned Potlitzer’s store specializing in women’s wear at 419 and later 418 S. Main Street in Joplin.  George and Jennie lived at 219 S. Sergeant for about ten years.  George was president of the United Hebrew Congregation and the Jewish Welfare Board for many years.  He was involved with the Joplin USO Council, Joplin War Dad’s Club, Salvation Army, the Shrine, United Cities Lodge, B’nai B’rith, Joplin Elks, and World War II bond and Community Chest campaigns.  George was born in Germany in 1878 and came to Joplin with his parents when he was two years old.   He died on May 22, 1944 at the age of 66.  His will stipulated a bequest to the Joplin Children’s Home and numerous other charities.  George married Jennie in Carthage in 1904 and they had one daughter, Mildred and one Son, Sidney.  Sidney was a manager for the Potlitzer’s store.

Jennie was born in Neosho.  She was a member of the United Hebrew Congregation of Joplin and the Temple Aid Sisterhood, Joplin League of Women Voters, and the Joplin Woman’s Club.  In 1932 she was chair of the Council of Jewish Women unit that was part of the Red Cross sewing committee which made clothing for impoverished families from cloth furnished by the government.  This small portion of her life is interesting since the Potlitzer’s livelihood was based on ready-to-wear retail clothing stores.

Jennie died on June 4, 1958 at the age of 75.  Jennie and George are buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Webb City.  

Theories & Timelines

  • Is it possible that Jennie or her guests did know who the baby belonged to but chose to keep it a secret?
  • Assuming the baby was full term, she would have been conceived sometime in September or October 1944 during World War II.
  • Did the baby’s mother know the father’s identity?  Was the baby’s biological father a defense worker or a Word War II serviceman who passed through Joplin or Camp Crowder in Neosho?  The Joplin USO Council operated at 310 S. Wall Avenue (extant) from September 27, 1942 to June 30, 1946.  The Negro Service Council of Joplin operated at 221 S. Main Street (non-extant) from February 6, 1944 to September 1946.  The Neosho USO Clubhouse on Park Drive was opened on February 22, 1943.
  • Did the baby’s mother become pregnant elsewhere and chose to abandon her baby in Joplin?
  • Was Jennie’s son, Sidney Potlitzer the father?  He would have been around 37 years old at the time and single, having married Louise Newman on September 1, 1946.  Was Ruth’s son, Edward Weil, Jr., the father?  He would have been around 20 years old at the time and single.
  • The baby’s mother/father/family may have been familiar with the neighborhood, the Potlitzer & Weil families, and or the fact that there was a nurse on duty at the house. 
  • Is it possible that the baby’s mother/father/family wanted to leave the baby specifically with a Jewish family? 

Better Options Today Borrowed From History

Many states have adopted legal and safe procedures for a parent to give up their baby.  The Missouri Safe Haven Laws were set up so that infants, 45 days old or younger, can be handed over to an employee at a police station, hospital, fire station, maternity home, or pregnancy resource center.  If the baby has not been neglected or abused, parents will face no prosecution.  For complete anonymity, many states have recently installed “Safe Haven Baby Boxes.”  Baby Boxes are currently installed at Joplin Fire Station No. 7 and Carthage Fire Station No. 2.

 

 If you wish to donate, make checks out to Safe Haven Baby Boxes-Local 59 and mail to Local 59, P.O. Box 1712, Joplin, MO 64802 or drop off at Fire Station No. 1 at 303 East 3rd Street, Joplin. 

But the drop-off box is not a new idea.  The concept can be traced back to the Middle Ages and has existed in many countries throughout the world.  There are many names for the box such as Baby Hatch, Foundling Wheel, Stork’s Cradle, and Turning Cradle. 

Conclusion  

Did the baby ever learn about her biological family and situation?  She would now be close to 80 years old and possibly still living in the Joplin area.  Hopefully she had a safe, loving, and a happy life. While we respect the sensitive situation for all concerned and the possible need for confidentiality and privacy, we would appreciate knowing how this story began and ended.  By state law, juvenile records are closed and even records for old cases such as this one could not be disclosed. If you have any information regarding this Mystery in Murphysburg, please contact Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc. at murphysburg@gmail.com.

ARCHITECTURE AND HISTORY OF THE LENNAN HOUSE

The house is named for the first owners, Thomas and Charlotte Gregg Lennan.  This stately home was built in 1917 and was designed in the Colonial Revival style by renowned Joplin architect Austin Allen.  He designed many structures that still exist in Joplin such as the current Joplin City Hall at 6th and Main, formerly Newman’s Department Store.  Austin also designed the United Hebrew Congregation Temple at 7th and Sergeant Avenue and Joplin Elk’s Club at 4th and Pearl Avenue; both of which were within walking distance and handy since George was an active member in both organizations.  

The most unique features of the house are the massive exterior brick chimneys, pierced with windows.  Gabled wings project from the north and south sides of the house.  Inset arched dormers rise on the top floor front roof.  The central mass of the primary elevation has five symmetrical bays.  The center bay has a historic wood panel door with multi-light sidelights, a carved frame with Doric columns, and a segmental arched wood transom with curved pediments. 

In 1893 Judge Oliver Hazard Picher owned the entire block of Moffet and Sergeant between Second and Third Streets.  He landscaped it as a private park surrounded by a stone wall.  Picher’s mansion was located at 206 S. Moffet.  Eventually, the block was divided into five properties.  During the Great Depression (1929-1930s) the owner of the house lost all his money and the bank foreclosed on the property.  Rather than find a new owner, the bank demolished the venerable old house.  Amazingly, the stone wall around the block remains to this day—the very wall that protected the blue-eyed, red-haired baby in the bushes.

  EVOLUTION OF CLEW TO CLUE

In Greek mythology, Theseus unraveled a ball of thread as he went into a labyrinth and used the thread to trace his way back out after slaying a half-man and half-bull creature named Minotaur.  The idea of using a ball of thread (clew) came from a woman named Ariadne.  

Clew is from Old English cliwen and cleowen, meaning a ball formed by winding yard, twine or thread and is still one of the meanings of clew. 

As the original image of a ball of thread used in the labyrinth, clew was gradually forgotten, and the literal sense of clew became obscured.  The word eventually took the modern meaning of something that helps to solve a problem or unravel a mystery, its prevalent form/spelling being clue.

Although the “clue” spelling is now the prevailing one for this situation, the old spelling of “clew” can still be found in American newspapers from as recently as the 1970s.

COSGROVE BUILDING

Built by Henrietta Jackson Cosgrove (1849-1927) who was a mine operator, writer, civic
leader, suffragist, philanthropist and involved in real estate. One of her greatest
accomplishments was securing pensions for miners’ widows by proposing that states adopt
widow’s pensions rather than vagrancy laws, thus saving the states’ money. By the 1920s, all
but four states adopted widows’ pension laws. She was married to Aruna P. Cosgrove (1842-
1901) and they had one daughter.
 
In May 2014, Mr. Allen was forced to sue Mrs. Cosgrove for the balance due on his commission
for the building. In December 2014 the case was dismissed when she finally paid him the
$460.32.

Businesses were located on the bottom floor and offices and living quarters on the top floor. In
December 1915 while Mrs. Cosgrove slept upstairs, robbers entered the Graham Brothers’
Grocery Store downstairs and stole chewing gum, cigars, chewing tobacco, ate lunch, and kept
warm around an oil lamp!
 
Through the years many different companies have officed here including the City of Joplin
Commissioners and Atlas Powder Company in 1914 and the Joplin Convention & Visitors
Bureau in the 1990s and early 2000s.
 
To learn more about the future of this building, contact Heather Lesmeister, Executive Director,
Spiva Center for the Arts at 417-623-0183.

Mary Kirk Kelly: Joplin Junior College Teacher

Legendary American Ceramic Artist (aka as ceramist)

The second woman to be highlighted this year is Mary Kirk Kelly.  Coincidentally, she also lived at 101 North Sergeant Avenue between 1958 and 1963.  Mary Kirk had no relationship or association with Dora Kneeland or the Williams family. 

Mary Kirk was born in Axis, Alabama on December 24, 1918 and died on May 6, 2013.  She had two daughters, Mary Elizabeth and Ruth.  We interviewed Mary Elizabeth by phone in May 2021 and she said her father was “out of the picture” when she was seven years old, but that didn’t stop her mother from achieving a remarkable career.  Mary Kirk had a Bachelor of Arts from Alabama College; a Master of Arts from Vanderbilt University; and graduated from George Peabody College for Teachers. 

Mary Kirk was on the faculty at Joplin Junior College (precursor to Missouri Southern State University) between 1957 and 1963.  She taught American history, U. S. government and sociology; and was the faculty advisor for the student senate.  She was the faculty advisor for the first Model United Nations Convention that Joplin Jr. College attended in 1963 and accompanied the student delegates from Joplin to St. Louis for the event.  The Model UN languished at the college in the 1970s but in 1984, Dr. Paul Teverow restarted the program which continues today.

Mary Kirk was also chairman of United Nations Day in Joplin, which was held at the city’s famed (nonextant) Connor Hotel roof garden.  In October 1962, she was presented a service award for her efforts in promoting interest in the observance of United Nations Day.  The plaque was signed by President John Kennedy and Robert Benjamin, president of the U.S. committee of the U.N.  She was commended for her outstanding job in promoting Joplin’s first U.N. Day.  The U.N. works to improve the lot of mankind and maintaining world peace. 

The Joplin branch of the American Association of University Women also benefited from her involvement, membership, and chairmanship in international relations. 

She retired from teaching in the early 1970s and moved back to her ancestral home, Kirk House, in Alabama.  There she was prolific in creating ceramic art pieces from clay that she gathered from nearby Gunnison Creek.  Before long, Mary Kirk produced realistic, true-to-life size ceramic fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries, eggs, pineapples, mushrooms, potatoes, leaves, magnolia blossoms, Osage oranges, and even shrimp.  She also produced utilitarian porcelain art pieces such as tureens, bowls, plates, and tea sets that looked like cabbage, lettuce, or melons; ceramic plaques with daisies; candlesticks fashioned after banana stalks; and trays that looked like banana leaves.  People from all over the world purchased and collected her art pieces.

Mary Kirk Kelly

According to the Worth Point website, “Both her artistry and painstaking attention to detail are obvious.  Each is made by hand from earthenware or porcelain clay in liquid form (slip).  Ms. Kelly hand sculpts the greenware, then paints it before bisque firing.  After firing, she brushes or sponges metallic oxide colorants to capture the realism so highly prized by collectors.  Each piece is signed by Ms. Kelly.  They range in size from 3” to 6”.  Generally, her works sell in the $175 to $300 range (per piece), depending on the intricacy of the design.  These look beautiful in just an ordinary fruit basket.  People WILL try to eat them…”

To view or purchase some of Mary Kirk’s works of art, just search the internet under Mary Kirk Kelly, American Artist.

United Nations Day, celebrated every year on October 24th, marks the anniversary of the UN Charter that was ratified in 1945.  There is no other global organization with the legitimacy, convening power and normative impact of the United Nations.  Today, the urgency for all countries to come together, to fulfil the promise of the nations united, has rarely been greater.

Mary Kirk Kelly

Enclosed roof garden on the Connor Hotel pictured in 1916.  Joplin Historical & Mineral Museum.

The Connor Hotel pictured courtesy of the Mark & Paula Callihan archives

Missouri Southern State University, Joplin has continued the Model United Nations class.  Every November they take students to the American Model United Nations conference in Chicago.  According to Dr. Chad Stebbins, MSSU professor of journalism and director of the Institute of International Studies, “The students usually represent the country that is the focus of MSSU’s themed semester that fall.  In Fall 2022, they represented the Czech Republic.  In Fall 2023, they will represent Ireland.”  Dr. Stebbins is also the author of Joplin’s Connor Hotel; first published in 2021.

Woman’s History Month…Two Untold Stories

Dora Annabelle Jesse Kneeland…The woman behind a famous seasoning

Dora was born in Diamond, Missouri in 1879 and moved to Joplin in 1895.  Her husband, Guy Kneeland was an engineer for a zinc mine and passed away in 1923.   Dora eventually came to live at 101 North Sergeant Avenue with a daughter, son-in-law, and grandson until her death on July 29, 1945.   Dora was a member of the Zinc Rebekah Lodge and First Baptist Church.

Why is Dora’s story special and carries on to present day?  The answer begins with Dora’s son-in-law, Cecil LeRoy “Roy” Williams, who was the founder of the C. L. Williams Chili Seasoning Company, now known as Williams Foods, Inc.

According to the Williams Foods website, a 1998 article in the Biz Journal (Kansas City), and a 2008 article in Ingram’s magazine, Mr. Williams started the Williams Chili Seasoning company in Webb City in 1937 and began by “…selling his mother’s chili seasonings…” in small brown paper bags and selling them out of his home.  However, there are two wrinkles to this account.  According to Dr. Benjamin Rosenberg, it wasn’t Roy’s mother’s recipe—it was Dora’s, his mother-in-law’s recipe.  The other wrinkle is the location and date.  According to a 1972 Joplin Globe article, “Many years ago, in a small garage in Joplin, (at Roy’s home) using a blender just about the size of today’s coffee blender, the original formulation of pure spices and seasonings were combined by C. L. Williams, the beginning of Williams’s Foods, Inc.”

The 1939 Joplin City Directory shows the Williams family living in Joplin at 101 North Sergeant Avenue.  The Rosenberg family lived across the street at 101 South Sergeant.  

Dr. Benjamin Rosenberg is a long-time Joplin resident, former City Councilman, and local dentist.  Dr. Rosenberg says the seasoning was made in the (extant) detached garage behind the William’s house on Sergeant Avenue.  While attending Columbia Elementary School (five blocks north at E Street and Sergeant Avenue) “Benji” would often ride his bicycle home for lunch.  At that time, Columbia did not serve lunch.  On some days Benji would eat chili for lunch served by the Williams family.  During the cooking, Dr. Rosenberg said, “You could smell chili all over the neighborhood.”

It appeared that no one else was selling packaged seasoning mixes for home use.  Later Mr. Williams was the first seasonings maker to put the product in aluminum pouches.  Once established, Mr. Williams approached the City of Joplin for a special use permit so that he could legally continue the process in his garage.  According to Dr. Rosenberg, City officials denied the request.  Mr. Williams moved his operation from the “small garage” to Webb City around 1942, although some reports site 1945.  However, the family continued to cook chili and the aroma filled the air.     
Interestingly, Roy continued his “real job” as the purchasing agent for Myers Motor Supply Company at 5th Street and Wall Avenue between 1925 and 1952.  Roy died in 1975 and his wife Ida in 1988.

The seasoning’s popularity grew and was distributed throughout the Midwest.  Mr. Williams sold the firm to Conrad Hock, Jr. in 1963 (although some reports site 1961) who continued operating under the Williams brand at the 1502 South Madison plant in Webb City.  By 1972, the seasoning was sold in some 30 states, many countries, and military commissaries.  In 1984, Hock moved the company to Lenexa, Kansas, which was not well received by Webb City residents and is still lamented today!  The company was sold again in March 2008 to C. H. Guenther & Son, LLC.  The manufacturing plant is still in Lenexa with the Guenther corporate office in San Antonio, Texas.

Thank you, Dora Kneeland, for creating a chili seasoning mix that started in a humble Joplin garage and continues to help people get dinner on the table some 86 years later.

The Fred & Red’s chili (spaghetti red) recipe is closely guarded, but many cooks believe the secret ingredient is Williams Chili Seasoning.  Fred & Red’s restaurant is located at 1719 South Main Street, Joplin.

Williams Chili Seasoning packets can be purchased at G & W Cash Saver Grocery Store at 811 West 7th Street, Joplin and across America.  Visit https://williamsfoods.com for the product locator then type in a zip code.