Caching in Nevada, MO 8/28/2010

Today was our last chance to do the rest of the caches here in Nevada as we are heading out tomorrow morning. Off we went with Muffy and Raggs to the first cache at Walton Lake Park on a trail under a bench. Next were 2 caches in a small park both at opposite ends of the park in the woods. Next was a cache under an underpass that you drive through that had sidewalks on each side of the bridge.

Our next cache was in front of the Bushwacker Jail and Museum. For 100 years, spanning the Civil War and the postwar outlaw era, the Vernon County Jail consisted of a single stone building. The structure was designed for incarceration and not rehabilitation. A single light bulb lit the cellblock, and the building was heated with one central pot-bellied stove. The sparse conditions earned the jail the title of “cell of medieval malevolence.” Prisoners offered to serve a double sentence if they could be transferred to the state penitentiary. The last prisoners left the building in December 1960. Today, visitors can walk along the cellblock and the attached Sheriff’s home, which served as the residence for the jailer and his family. During the Civil War the town of Nevada, Missouri became known as "the Bushwhacker's Capital". The town was burned by Federal troops in 1863. A "Bushwacker is in the Civil War- a confederate guerrilla. The Jail is said to be haunted also according to this story. Bushwhacker Jail allegedly has its own ghost as well, according to Terry Ramsey. Mr. William Wright killed his wife in plain sight. "He took an ax and hacked her to pieces in the middle of the street, east of Deepwood Cemetery." said Patrick Brophy. Wright was then taken to the old jail, where he proceeded to spend his remaining time on earth in a cell, spitting his tobacco into a spittoon. Years and decades later inmates complained of a pinging noise, that some say was the distinct sound of man spitting into a spittoon. Brophy believes that the legend was invented. But there are those who believe Wright relieves his torment, over and over again, night after night at the Bushwhacker Jail.


Next cache was at the Vernon County Courthouse. Vernon County, Missouri was organized on February 27, 1855 and is named for Miles Vernon, a three-time Missouri Senator from Laclede County. In the same year commissioners bought 50 acres for $250 as the site of the county seat. The county seat was first called Fairview; later the name became Nevada City. Now known as just Nevada, it is geographically located in the center of the county.
The first courthouse was completed in 1857. The upper story was used for county offices and the lower floor held the courtroom and was also available for religious services of all denominations. This building was located one block west of the public square. Appropriations of $900 were made for construction of the building which measured 28 feet by 18 feet with the first story nine feet high, the second story seven feet. This building was burned with the rest of the town by Federal troops on May 26, 1863. For lack of a suitable building in Nevada, the first post-war sessions of the County Court were held at Little Osage.
The second courthouse was built in the center of the Nevada City square in 1868. The final costs totaled approximately $25,000. The 50-by-60-foot brick building had a 15-foot tower that rose from a 10-foot base. The building faced south. In time it deteriorated and was sold and razed in 1906.
The present Vernon County Courthouse was completed in 1908. The three-story, Carthage limestone, Romanesque Revival style building measures 80 by 100 feet and rises to 126 feet at the top of the dome. It was the first courthouse built in Missouri after the Civil War and for a time, viewed as the finest in this part of the state.
The original call for bids stated: “…that the said building be of a size to meet the wants and needs of Vernon County for fifty years. The size must not be so large as to sacrifice quality to size, that it should be proportionate to the perspective of the square, that said building complete shall not exceed the cost of $75,000.” During construction, rapidly rising costs caused alterations to be made to the original plans. An example of materials substitution was the change made to the main staircase from marble and iron to quarter-sawed oak. In actuality the final costs for the courthouse amounted to almost $80,000.
Our Courthouse was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places on June 27, 1997.
A life-size bronze statue, erected by the State of Missouri, was dedicated on the Courthouse lawn in Nevada in 1935 to the memory of William Joel Stone, a Vernon Countian who served Missouri as a Congressman, Governor, and United States Senator. From 1872 to 1874 he also served as Prosecuting Attorney for Vernon County.


Next was a cache on a caboose in a small park. Next was another cache in a park in a tree. Then we did 2 cemetery caches one at Moore Cemetery c1850 and the other at Deepwood Cemetery c1869 and that cemetery is reputed to be haunted. Many local Nevadans know of and have even seen for themselves this tale of the morbid. Deepwood Cemetery on Washington Street houses some of Nevada's oldest residents, some of its most esteemed and even less than savory. This tale precedes the days of the "flapper" and takes us back to the era of the "Gibson girl."
Cordelia Doras was only 17 when she lost her husband, F. Lon Doras, in 1897. F. Lon was only 26 when he died, and his young wife was not about to let him go so easily. Local legend says that, in the hope that he might return to her, his tomb was specifically designed to suit her needs.
She had a Bible made of stone placed on the top of this unique tomb. Cordelia had a button placed next to the Bible and underneath a glass pane, so she could view him forever. Day after day Cordelia watched over her husband through his mirror. When he began to decompose before her eyes, she went insane and the family had the tomb sealed up.
"One day when she went to move the Bible back and saw condensation she thought he was breathing and tried to free him," according to tales passed down, said Julie Righter, publisher of the Nevada Daily Mail. Righter is not the only resident who knows this tale, but it's still a fresh story, since in the late 1980s F. Lon's head was stolen from his tomb.
When F. Lon's head was stolen the Nevada Daily Mail published a photo on the front page in 1989. It was not returned to the body, but buried next to the tomb.


After we finished that last cache we stopped at Wal Mart for a few things and then it was back to the coach for the rest of the day. Well that is all from here for today so until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick