JOPLIN HIGH SCHOOL
During the fall of 1915 Joplin voters passed a $350,000 bond issue to purchase property, as well
as construct and furnish a new high school. In 1916 the Kansas City architectural firm of Smith,
Rea, and Lovett, along with Austin Allen, were selected to design the high school. At the time
Mr. Allen had offices in Joplin and Kansas City. Less than a year later, school officials were
saddened by the news concerning the death of Austin Allen.Ten out of twenty school district buildings were damaged or destroyed by the 2011 Joplin
Tornado, but this historic building was spared. Today it houses Administration, the Gifted
Center, Franklin Technology Center-Adult Education, and Memorial Education Center. The
building will continue to serve Joplin into the next 100 years.Unfortunately, Mr. Allen never saw
the completion of this three-story red brick structure. Classes began at Joplin Hight School on
January 21, 1918, with 31 teachers consisting of 22 female instructors. Their maximum salary
was $80 a month. The august structure has been the most versatile building in the Joplin School
District. Students, representing ages from preschool to high school, passed through the storied
walls. For a decade the building was the home of Joplin Junior College. (1958-1967) – Excerpt
from the Joplin History & Mineral Museum 2021 calendar.
The Joseph S. Walker House
Joseph Scott Walker, Sr., along with his wife Mary Ellen, were original owners of this house. They moved out in 1903. Joseph was considered a “capitalist” and an ore buyer for the Edgar Zinc Company of St. Louis. He was superintendent of the Sunday school at the First Methodist Church of Joplin and for six years was president of the Jasper County Sunday School Association.
Next came Charles W. McAbee, and wife Louella. He was vice-president of Independent Powder Co. of Missouri and later president of Independent Candy & Manufacturing Co. at 4th and Missouri Avenue.
George Washington Moore resided at the house from 1931 to 1937. However, in 1938, he and wife Ida moved across the street to the “old Schifferdecker home” at 422 S. Sergeant. It is noteworthy because he “swapped houses” with the Hurwitz-Luecke Family that had lived at the mansion since 1920. According to the Webb City Sentinel, George was elected the mayor of Webb City in 1904 and was credited with lifting Webb City out of the mud and otherwise modernizing what was then a rough mining community. George was also an ore buyer and associated with numerous mining and smelting industries. The Moores lived at the Schifferdecker house until 1947 when it was sold to the Hurlburt-Glover Mortuary—a saga onto itself—eventually settled by the Missouri Supreme Court!
Postscript: George’s “palatial home” at 903 S. Madison Avenue in Webb City, built in 1908, is slated to be demolished in the summer of 2023 to make way for new commercial development. Thankfully, the two historic houses in Joplin that are associated with George and Ida listed above have been preserved. After extensive renovations to the Schifferdecker Mansion by Joplin Historic Neighborhoods, George W. Moore remains engraved on the front step.
Bertha Hurwitz Luecke moved into the house in 1938 and remained until her death in 1952. Bertha’s husband, Julius died in 1933; he was a jeweler. Her brother, Dr. Leon Hurwitz also lived at the Schifferdecker House with the Luecke Family. Dr. Hurwitz died in 1936, ten years after being convicted of selling morphine illegally, serving three years in Leavenworth prison, and understandably losing his medical license! At one point, he was also appointed as the City Physician. All of this could explain why Bertha was ready to “downsize” by moving to 411 S. Sergeant.
Bertha’s son, Carl Luecke continued living here until his death in 1969. He was an engineer for the Empire District Electric Company for 41 years. Carl’s wife, Ruth Fleischaker Luecke held a master’s degree in special education and was the first teacher of the sight-saving classes in the Joplin school system. Carl and Ruth continued living here until their deaths in 1969 and 1973 respectively.
In the spirit of keeping the house in the family, Ruth’s nephew, William “Bill” Fleischaker moved into the house in 1975. The extended Fleischaker Family factors prominently in Joplin’s early history and that of the United Hebrew Congregation of Joplin. Several family members continue to serve the community today.
ARCHITECTURE
The two-and-one-half-story Queen Anne house has a limestone foundation, a hip roof with lower cross-gables and a side-wrap porch with a gabled pediment. It has brick piers, round wood columns and dentil molding. A transom can be seen over the front door.
William Henry Picher House
421 South Sergeant Avenue
Colonial Revival, circa 1899
Features: Porte Cochère and Stained Glass Transom
William Henry Picher (1851-1924) was married to Susan Brummel Jones Picher (1851-1904).
The Picher name has long been associated with Joplin’s lead and zinc mining history. In 1875,
William and his brother, Judge Oliver Hazard Picher organized the Picher Lead and Zinc Co. and later they merged with Eagle Paint Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio to become the Eagle-Picher Lead Co., one of the largest lead smelting concerns in the world. The City of Picher, Oklahoma was named after the Picher family.
By 1920, Mr. Picher was living at the Olivia Apartments. He bequeathed $500 per year for 20 years to the City of Joplin. The $10,000 ($176,000 in 2023 dollars) was to be “used for caring
for the poor of the city.”
ARCHITECTURE
The two-and-one-half-story Colonial Revival house has a limestone foundation and hip roof. An enclosed shed roof porch projects from the east elevation. Three gabled dormers rise from the west slope of the roof. The center dormer is larger with a scrolled parapet. A single gabled dormer rises from the north and south slopes of the roof. Two brick chimneys rise from the roof. A wide wood cornice with modillions ornaments the roofline.
Paneled wood columns articulate the corners. A full-width flat roof porch spans the primary (west) elevation and continues north as a porte cochère. It has wood Doric columns and a turned wood balustrade. This elevation has three symmetrical bays. Bay 2 has a wood door with multi-light beveled glazing and a stained glass transom on the first story. A band of two single windows, separated by a medallion pierces the second story.
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.
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.
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.