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[Bill's Nutt.FTW] After Etta's death, Tom moved to RR2 to be near his daughter, Ethel Nutt Macy. Maryruth Nutt writes: For many years, Grandfather Tom and Grandmother Etta had a berry farm north of Neosho. They raised strawberries, boysenberries and raspberries. This was in addition to his regular work as a mason/cement worker. The farm joined the Harpool place, which was just off the Neosho-Joplin highway, Alternate 71. The fence along the lane to their house on the east side of the farm was the divider between the two farms. Granfather often used this lane, because, at the north end of it there was a gate which gave access to the road on his place. He would often stop at the Harpool home and visit a few minutes, and then pick up some boys who wanted to pick berries. I believe only one was a Harpool and all the others were locals and friends who wanted the work. All of them would hop on the bed of the truck and ride over to the berry patch ...this probably was the Daniel Homer Harpool family. This was the John Dudley Harpool place. Merle C. Nutt writes: "Thomas Franklin Nutt, grandson of Henery and Celina Rutledge Nutt, was born in Neosho, Mo. 12 Sept 1866. Tom always pronounced Celina's name as Salina. Thomas Nutt recalled very little about his father, and rarely spoke of him. However, Thomas did say that he was related to the 'Texas Nutts', the Dr. Nutt who invented the Cotton Gin, the Nutts of Philadelphia, and all of those in Mississippi. He related a family story of the two ancestral brothers who 'took the old road that leads from Tennessee to Mississippi.' Obviously, he was speaking of the Natchez Trace. Thomas Nutt was a small boy when his father died, and he went to live with his grandparents Rutledge at the sawmill. His father is believe to have died away form Neosho. Family tradition holds he had started to Texas to visit the family there and was killed in Texas. Tradition further holds that he was scalped by Indians and that one of the Nutt brother came to Neosho to notify his mother of her husband's death and burial somewhere in West Texas." "Thomas Franklin's mother has not been positively identified. She is believed to be Sarah (she was Angeline). Thomas, himself, stated his mother was married three times. Her second Husband wanted to adopt him, but Tom preferred to remain with his grandparents. He never spoke unkindly of his stepfather and said he was treated well by him. The adoption was never legalized because Thomas wanted to keep the surname Nutt. Thomas thorougly enjoyed life at the farm home of his grandparents and had many fond memories of both the farm and sawmill. His mother's third husband was named Laws, by whom she had other chilren...how close we came to loosing the Nutt name!" "Thomas Franklin Nutt was a cement finisher and mason. There are many monuments to the raftsmanship and skill of Tom in and around Neosho, still attesting to his ability. The Newton County Courthouse, finished when Tom was in his late 70's, is one of the most prominent. He came out of retirement to be the mason-concrete foreman for the work. The stonework on the ponds at the U.S. Government Fish Hatchery are his handiwork also. He built much of the old 'Prize Drive', Highway 71 through southwest Missouri. He was a master without equal in his chosen work, considered to be the expert craftsman of his trade. The Nutt thirst for land must have been strong in Thomas, too, for as a young man he and a Rutledge cousin WALKED west from Neosho to the Pacific coast appraising the land situation. He often recalled segments of this trip, remarking especially of the far reaching, un-broken expanse of the prairie, rising steadily, higher to the foothills of the Rockies. He talked about the view of the broad Arkansas River valley, visible for miles and sloping gradually downward to the winding river bordered by groves of cot- tonwood trees. For himself, he selected a section of land now on the edge of Wichita, Ks., bordered on, the west by Oliver St. and on the south by Central Avenue of that city." "In those years, the river could be glimpsed from that site, he said. However, he travelled on to the coast and then, after the absence of several months, returned to Neosho, Mo. After such a journey, home and relatives must have seemed best, because he decided not to prove his Kansas claim. When questioned about this in the later years of his life, he recalled that his decision was made because the Kansas country was yet wide open and unsettled. He was in love and the thought of the west as an unfit place for a young wife and raising a family. Often on this journey, he said that he glimpsed tribes of Indians and saw their camps. "Thomas Franklin Nutt married Etta Orvilla Griffith in March, 1893, having 'courted' her since she was fourteen. She was 23 and he was 26 at the time they married. He said his decision to marry her was made on the trip west and hurried his return to Missouri. They took claim on the last known piece of homestead land in the Neosho- Newton County area. The land is located south of Neosho on the old Pineville Road. It lies just east of the Burr Crossing on the KSC Railroad and just north of Fort Crowder and is now the property of the Landis family. Patent to the homestead was signed by President Grover Cleveland, The place was known as 'Bonny Crest'- the family built a 'permanent' log home there and lived in it until about 1910, when they moved to town and bought a home at 310 Grant Street in Neosho, this house remains virtually unchanged today. "But once again the pioneer spirit and the quest for land dominated, and the family migrated to Florida during the land boom c 1921. Again they took a homestead--the last available to the family near Winter Garden, Florida. When Etta became homesick for her family in Missouri, they returned to Neosho cl924 and lived in the 300 block of West Coler Street in the house later known as the Dr. Lampson house. They next bought the home at 417 West Coler, which was the family home until 1941 when they sold it and moved for a short time to the Los Angeles, Ca. area to be close to their children. However, they returned again to the Neosho-Newton Co., Mo., area and purchased land in the rural community later in 1941. They first purchased a farm south of the town of Seneca, Mo., and then moved to the Belfast area west of Neosho. Etta Nutt died in 1949 and Thomas Franklin Nutt died in 1959. Both are buried in Belfast Cemetery. After Etta's death, Tom walked to her grave every day. He was, of course, an old man and used a cane. His dog, Isaac, always accompanied him. During the years that Thomas worked as a cement finisher, and the children were growing up, Etta owned and operated the News Stand on the south side of the square. The children delivered papers and they also sold magazines, candy and tobacco. After the family returned from Florida, Etta ran a bookkeeping and collecting service for local merchants who did not require the services of a full-time accountant. At the time she left for Calif- ornia, she was the treasurer and collector for the Royal Neighbors Lodge and Insurance. Thomas Nutt did recount some of the family history, telling of the family decision to move to Texas, as related to him by his father and grandfather. Uncle Jake and Uncle Lee Nutt were believed to have visited in Neosho after their blindness, probably during the 1920s. As stated before, Tom Nutt recounted his family's journey down the old road that leads into Tennessee. He stated that although Eli Whitney is credited with the invention of the Cotton Gin, the first successful gin was built and patented by his great-great uncle??? The fact that an earlier gin was invented by a Nutt was recorded in Mississippi history. Thomas also said that his grand-father and family walked from Tennessee through Kentucky to Newton County, Mo. The area, at that time, was uncharted and the roads were not distinct enough or smooth enough to ride or pull the wagons much of the time. So, the men of the family walked ahead and tried to clear the way for the rest, so that they could follow. Dave Nutt's (father of Henery and grandfather of Thomas) blacksmith shop was located one block north of Spring St. on the corner of College and McCord Streets in Neosho,Mo. A family home also stood at this site, although it is not known just when the family lived there, or for how long. The shop was later owned and operated by a 'Black' who was known as "Uncle Aaron." He told Claude F. Nutt, son of Thomas) that he was born in the old cabin across College Street west from the shop, and that his father came to Neosho with his white master who taught him the trade and later gave him the shop. Probably this occurred when David left Neosho and moved on to Texas. Then he was freed, Aaron took the name of Aaron Aarons - never used the name Nutt. The blacksmith shop stood on the site until the late 1940's or early 1950's, operated by a Mr. Nally. He was believed to be the last operating a forge in Newton County, Mo., when he closed the shop. Mr. Nally was not a relative and the date or circumstances of his purchase of the shop are not known. Thomas Franklin and Etta Orvilla Nutt had eight living children (as listed under Family No. 192A in this book) and at least four children were stillborn. The home of the Nutt family at 417 West Coler Street in Neosho, Mo. was built prior to the Civil War at the Edge of the old Civil War Cemetery where many of the veterans of skirmishes of that era (when Neosho was the Confederate capital of Missouri) were buried - which have now been removed. The house was truly ante-bellum, having cast-iron window frames, sills and door frames; and was of , Southern style with a breezeway, or dog trot, to the detached kitchen to the rear. The old kitchen was never used as a kitchen by our family, but it was used as a storage area and Tom Nutt parked his Model T Ford truck in the breezeway. During the time of their residence in this house, Tom and Etta ran a berry farm - northwest of Neosho. He introduced the first Boysenberries into Newton Co., Mo. He also grew and sold strawberries and black and red raspberries. They also bought and sold nuts. Early memories of the family were of the large gunny sacks of nuts stored in the house. Tom shelled walnuts and hickory nuts by using the rear wheel of the Model T.. .he constructed a trough and by setting the wheel over the trough, built a workable shelter. He jacked up the truck and turned the engine and the shells just flew. Although built of brick, the house burned in the 1960' s and the owners made it into a one-story house and the charm of the story and a half house was lost. The house was razed in the 1970's and a fast food business now stands on the site. Little is known of the descendants of Henery and Celina Rutledge Nutt, other than the direct descendants of our line. The children of Jack Nutt, second son of Henery and Celina were Clella, Nellie Fowler-Tucker), George, Charlie and Dave. Clella lived for a time in Joplin, Mo. Nellie lived in Newton Co., Mo., near Granby, Mo. She attended the funeral of Thomas Franklin Nutt and made herelf known to the family. Recently contact was made with her son, Harry F. Fowler. He retired from the Railroad and his last known address was 630 S. Maple St., Space 30, Montebello, Ca. George, Dave and Charlie lived in Calif...addresses unknown. Bill Sheldon advised that Henrietta (Pet) Nutt Sheldon was a miliner and for many years ran a very famous hat shop in the Frisco Building, Joplin, Mo. She and her sisters Evaline Harpool & Phoeba McKnight are buried in a cemetery in the Joplin, Mo. area. Sue Nicely is bur. in Jay Bird Cem northwest of Neosho. Henrietta's son William was a career military man and worked during the 1960's at the base commissary, McConnell AFB, Ks. Lee Nutt married a woman named Blanche and lived in the Joplin, Mo., area. They had two children, Roy and Gladys. Ethel Blanche Nutt Macy was named for her. Lee and his second wife, Ollie Frances also lived in Joplin, Mo. and had eight children. Their son, Carl, was a member of the Joplin Police Force and stated that hls father lived in Granby, Mo. near the Silver Plene Mine and that his father lost an eye and the use of an arm in a mine accident. "
Robert \\\\
Crowe
