Civil War Comes to Cass County

Article Contributed by Carol Bohl, Executive Director of Cass County Historical Society, Inc.

Cass County Historical Society is using the 150th anniversary of the Civil War as an opportunity to raise local awareness of the impact of the war on local residents.   Following a Missouri Humanities Council Charette in 2003, CCHS focused its programming on investing in people by providing life-changing opportunities in the form of living history performances and festivals, writing and producing plays, sponsoring heritage dances, and reaching out  to schools and youth. This emphasis is reflected in its Civil War activities.

 Curriculum coordinators in all public and private school districts were personally contacted by a CCHS Board member offering them enrichment packets with local Civil War history components. Included was a list of first-person performers available to visit the schools to recount the Civil War in Cass County through the eyes of citizens who experienced the war. These storytellers are also available for programs for other groups.  A list is available on the Missouri Kansas Border War Network website. http://moksbwn.com/CaughtCrossfirefirstpersons.pdf

 The school packets also included a 2011 calendar tracing national and local Civil War events of 1861 with photos, history and background. CCHS will produce a calendar each year of the 150th commemoration to document the Civil War events in our county.

 CCHS partnered with the Civil War Kids Club, which meets monthly at the 1835 Sharp-Hopper Cabin in Harrisonville, which offered a Civil War Weekend May 30-31, 2011, at the cabin targeted at youth and families. Reenactors camped out and offered tours of the cabin and Civil War encampment, organized kids’ games, played music, acted in Order #11 skits, and hosted a Civil War ball with caller and music provided by young local musicians. This is the third year the youth have organized the event entirely by themselves under the direction of ninth grader John Allin.

Members of the Civil War Kids Club taught dances to other youths during the May Civil War Weekend at the Sharp-Hopper Cabin in Harrisonville

 CCHS members are writing monthly newspaper columns outlining county events 150 years ago. These are archived on the CCHS website and will be compiled at the end of the 150th anniversary into a booklet which will provide a timeline and pictorial history of the war in the county.

http://casscountyhistoricalsociety.com/news%20article%20august%201861.pdf

 CCHS scheduled tours of the two main skirmishes in Cass County in 1861. The first tour showcased the July 17, 1861 skirmish between southern sympathizers from Harrisonville who confronted raw German Union troops under the command of Kansas City Mayor Robert Van Horn. It also featured scenarios of Jennison’s Jayhawkers raid on the Harrisonville square on July 26 when every store was looted and the bounty carried back to Kansas. More than 60 persons took in the event.

CCHS Board member Larry Boucher portrayed Harrisonville jeweler, L.O. Kunze, whose store was looted on the Harrisonville Square by Doc Jennison’s Jayhawks in July, 1861. Cathy Gottsch and Marilyn Stein portrayed women shoppers.

Camp cook, Kevin Allin serves Rolf Crockett, who portrayed his great-grandfather, an authentic camp meal of stew, cabbage and corn-on-the cob for the Morristown Tour.

 The second tour showcased the Battle of Morristown which took place on Sept. 18, 1861 near the present-day town of Freeman, MO. The Aug. 20 tour attracted over 80 persons who heard local historian, Jay Roberts provide historical context and narrated a bus tour of the site. Five first-person portrayals brought to life local residents, including Rolf Crockett portraying his great-grandfather. A Civil War era meal cooked and served authentically, and sharing of local history by residents of the western Cass County area topped off the evening.

 Several more activities this year will include the Folk Life Festival Oct. 1 with a Civil War encampment, music, dance and skirmishes at North Park Activity Center in Harrisonville. The highlight is the Civil War Ball which attracts two to three hundred dancers each year. Cass County’s own South Fork String Band provides the music.  The band members are in their early twenties and play for three or four contra dances a year which attract several hundred whose average age is about 20.

 On November 19 there will be a play entitled “Dance at the Mockbee House” presented in the historic second floor courtroom in the 1897 courthouse on the Harrisonville Square. The play will illustrate the story of how Cole Younger was forced to leave Harrisonville which led to his riding with the guerrilla bands of western Missouri. It is written and acted by Cass County citizens.

 It is the firm belief of CCHS that developing the arts of storytelling, music, dance and drama using local history and folklife for content is an effective way of reaching residents of all ages and offers life-changing opportunities.

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