Millport: A small town that “was”
… with a very ‘Large’ Northcutt family history
Letter #127, Postmarked June 1, 1964, Addressed Mrs. Douglas Green, East Lansing, MI
Sunday night
Dear Helen,
It is always so good to hear you on Sunday night. This is really been a half week given over to honoring the memory of the departed. I’ve had too much. I’m almost morbid. Nell stopped one evening as she was on her way home from consulting Dr. Libman and asked me to come to Knox on the bus Thursday and go with her to Millport. I had cut all the flowers I had earlier because of rain and I knew they not until Saturday so I took them. They were too droopy to put into vases too few. Nell had artificial ones from over there. I think I’ll not go to Millport again. I think it is time to let those people rest in peace. We went to Knox later and I snagged a ride home Friday evening late. Mildred took me back to Knox with my artificial flowers – pretty ones – and then out here to your fathers. It was pitched dark when we got out there. We were late starting and then from Knox. She took me out to see her wonderful prospect for a crop. Saturday right after dinner and Mrs. Clinton came and took me back with a geranium Nell had sent, which I forgot when I went with Mildred. Jeannette arrived in town about two and laid in the evening. We went back out to see how pretty things were. It will be lovely along time for most of the decorations was artificial or potted plants – they won’t keep unless they are watered.
Jeanette has no electricity and no city water. She uses her well-water to flush the toilet and a kerosene lamp. This morning she took a kettle of boiling water and a pitcher of drinking water down from here. I wanted her to eat dinner with me, but she insisted on taking me out to Parrish Place and then we just drove and stopped, drove and stopped at places where she wanted to see people – two places in Quincy – two in Lewistown out to big Jim’s in Ursa, through Canton - up on the new development beyond the college and it was 6 o’clock when we got home. I rested an hour, got supper, and then the corn I had soaking either had to be planted or thrown out and the ground was ready and rain eminent so I cracked the sabbath and planted the two rows. The garden looks nice and early stuff ready to use – radishes as good has gone so soon. Strawberries are available to – still $.45 per quart, but their season is so short. I’ve never felt extravagant about using them. I never freeze nor preserve them.
I am working on Penny‘s quilt, it is pretty. We got to the new post office in the morning. It is 10:45 pm so I’ll hit the hay. I am “that “tired.
Lots of love, Mother [May Emma Northcutt Hinkson]
Millport, MO, a location that today is merely classified as a “populated place”, was at one time in the Northcutt family tree, a very important town and home base. My great-grandmother, May Emma, was born in Millport just a few miles northwest of Knox City on May 10, 1880. At that time, Millport was unfortunately beginning its decline after nearly four decades of notable growth and expansion.
Established around 1840, “Milford” as it was originally called, became an ambitious little town built around a watermill on the Middle Fabius River. The town’s name changed to “Millport” sometime in the early 1860s when a second mill, a sawmill, came into existence. In 1867 it became an officially recognized town with the establishment of a post office.
I believe Hosea Northcutt (eldest brother to May’s father JR Northcutt) may have been the first to move to Millport (Benton township). He married Nancy Beach in 1865 and become the preacher at the newly established First Christian Church. Within three years another Northcutt sibling appeared to also move to Millport. Nancy E. Northcutt (oldest sister to JR) married Dr. Barton Stone Crawford, the town’s physician, in 1868. I suspect that Nancy met B.S. Crawford through her brother’s church and that Hosea was in addition to being an excellent preacher, also a good matchmaker. On second thought it may have been Hosea’s wife Nancy Beach who was the matchmaker. In 1871 the youngest Northcutt daughter, Susan Virginia, also married a prominent Millport businessman, Mr. Fealdon 'Alexander’ Adams.
I’m not sure when the rest of the Northcutt clan relocated from Kirksville to Millport. But by the early 1870s it was clear that everyone from the Benjamin Franklin Northcutt (May’s grandfather) and wife Lydia Jane down to their youngest child John Chapman Northcutt called Millport home.
In 1876, the Northcutts weren’t just residents of Millport; they were among the town’s largest landowners. The Illustrated Atlas of Knox County, MO of 1876 shows Benjamin Franklin (B.F.) and his son Hosea (H.A.) as substantial landowners next to the mill tract (see blow).
During the early 1870’s H.A. in addition to preaching was also actively involved in establishing a school in Millport along with his sister Nancy. This Edina Sentinel news item found in a longer report from the Knox County Superintendent from 1871 indicates that the school was doing well with 85 students enrolled. I find it interesting that Hosea is only noted as teaching vocal music. I assume the bulk of the teaching responsibilities were on Nancy, who had recently earned her education credentials from the Kirksville Normal School.
As a wider Knox County resource it appears that Millport also hosted a Teacher’s Institute in March 1871. The Institute involved a program of four sessions over two days exploring and debating important educational topics of the day. In all four sessions, either H.A. Northcutt, B.F. Northcutt, or both were actively involved as speakers or debaters. The topics selected (aka “resolutions”) for the Institute provide an interesting insight into the state of elementary education in the later 1800s.
From all indications Millport continued to prosper into the late 1870s when it established the Millport Grange (1873), a farming cooperative boasting thirty-five members. Both B.F. Northcutt and his daughter-in-law, Emma Houser Northcutt (first wife of Ambrose Dudley Northcutt), served as officers.
In 1877 James Robert Northcutt (May’s father) returned to Millport after graduating from Keukok Medical College and practiced medicine for a few years with his brother-in-law Dr. B.S. Crawford. In June 1879 he married Ella “Lee” Houser and a year later they welcomed their first child May (my great-grandmother) on May 10, 1880.
While the town continued to prosper and grow well into the 1880s, its fate became sealed in 1887 with the expansion of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway. Looking for the best way to connect the railway system that already stretched from Kansas City to Santa Fe, New Mexico further east to Chicago, the rail company selected the neighboring town of Rutledge (a mere 3 miles north) instead of Millport as a stop for its expansion across the northern eastern plains of Missouri. The map below shows the location of the three railroad lines that crossed through Knox and Lewis counties in 1890. Both LaBelle and Knox City were fortunate to have been connected to the Quincy, Omaha, and Kansas City rail in 1877. Millport, however, was not so lucky.
The laying of the tracks for A,T & SF railroad across Knox County proved to be a devastating blow to the town of Millport. By 1881 all the Northcutts, along with many of the town’s population had moved to other communities. A small news item announcing their departure was published in the Knox County Democrat under the Millport news section on December 1879.
B.F. along with three of his sons (H.A, A.D, & J.C.) bought land 13 miles southeast of Millport, just outside of Knox City. James Robert (J.R.), the remaining son, stayed in Millport for two more years with his medical practice before moving to Greensberg, MO in 1881, and finally relocating to Knox City in 1883. The image below, from the 1898 map of Myrtle township within Knox County, shows the location of the four Northcutt brothers' properties just outside Knox City. Benjamin Franklin purchased a home in Knox City and in 1883 J.R. (May’s father) contracted to have a new home built within the town limits on Thomas St. to begin to establish his medical practice.
In 1901 the US Postal Service closed its Millport location and the town from that point forward begin to fade away. By 1920 the former once thriving town had been reduced to a small crossroad of just a few old homes and aging buildings, including a church with a cemetery and a one-room school house. Both the church and school house are still standing in large part due to preservation efforts.
But despite the loss of the town, Millport still held a special place in the hearts of many Northcutt family members. For nearly 25 years (1865-1887ish) it had been “home.” During that time the roots to the community had grown deep, so much so that four generations of Northcutts were buried in the Millport cemetery.
In 1920, May, her father, children, cousins, and living aunts and uncles all gathered at the Millport Church for a family reunion. This piece from the LaBelle Star highlights the family members in attendance.
For family members not familiar with the relationship of the surnames Dare, Crawford, and Coil in attendance at the reunion here’s a brief overview:
Mrs L.F. Dare is Lillie Northcutt (daughter of A.D. Northcutt and first cousin to May)
Dr. Franklin Crawford is the son of Nancy Northcutt and B.S. Crawford (he was May’s first cousin)
Lee Houser Coil is the son of Virginia Ray Northcutt Coil (May’s sister) making him May’s nephew.
Northcutt family members buried in the Millport Cemetery include the following:
Hosea Northcutt (1779-1866) - May’s great-grandfather
Benjamin Franklin Northcutt (1820-1895) - May’s grandfather
Lydia Jane Barnard Northcutt (1820-1901) - May’s grandmother
Nancy Northcutt Crawford (1845- 1878) - oldest daughter of B.F. and Lydia Jane Barnard Northcutt and wife of B.S. Crawford
Susan Virginia Northcutt Adams (1852-1877) - youngest daughter of B.F. and Lydia Jane Northcutt and wife to F.A. Adams
Hosea Allen Northcutt (1843-1906) - oldest son of B.F. and Lydia Jane Barnard Northcutt.
Nancy Elvira Beach Northcutt (1846-1872) - wife of H.A. Northcutt
Emma Houser Northcutt (1852-1878) - first wife to A.D. Northcutt and Lillie Northcutt’s (May’s cousin) mother.
Guy Dudley Northcutt (1886-1891) - May’s brother who died of influenza at age 5.
Lulu Maude Northcutt (Mar 1884- Nov 1884) - May’s baby sister who only lived 6 months.
Infant daughter Adams (1872) - stillborn child of F.A. and Susan Virginia Northcutt Adams.
Before I close out this chapter, I wanted to highlight a family relationship that might be missed if I don’t.
Emma Houser Northcutt, listed as one of the deceased above, was not only the first wife of Ambrose Dudley Northcutt (May’s uncle); she was also the sister to May’s mother, Ella Leota “Lee” Houser. Yes, two Northcutt brothers married two Houser sisters. I have not determined how they originally met. But, I do know that A.D. married Emma in 1873 six years before his brother James Robert Northcutt (May’s father) married Ella Leota “Lee”, in 1879. Emma was a year older than her sister “Lee.”
There’s not much known about Emma as she died as a young woman (26 years) when her daughter Lillie Lee was just over a year old. I suspect she may have died in childbirth as the timing of her death was roughly 17 months after Lillie’s birth. James Robert’s marriage to her sister “Lee” Houser happened in the spring of 1879, nine months after Emma’s death. When my great-grandmother May was born in 1880 she was given the middle name Emma, in honor of her deceased aunt.
Now onto the subject Decoration Day (a topic in the letter)
In my great-grandmother’s letter, I was surprised by her stated fatigue and weariness with the annual observance of “Decoration Day”. I know from other letters that I have read that this was a tradition that she very much took to heart, both in the selection of flowers and in remembrance of former loved ones- as expressed in this letter from 1961.
The belated flowers have come out in force everywhere – they were practically none out for the Decoration Day - Iris and some places, but nothing else. The florist did a flourishing business in potted plants and boxes and artificial flowers. Jeanette took me to Knox- I got artificial ones for up there (Knox City cemetery) and a new one for your father. I had a pretty bouquet to buy. Three stocks of red glads to go with my pale yellow iris. I took the two artificial ones that were out there over to the other lot, one for Ernest and Neva (Geneva)*had one for grandpa and grandma Hinkson. Letter #14 , May 22, 1961
* Earnest Hinkson was Thomas Hinkson younger brother. ‘Neva was his wife.
But I would guess at 83 years of age, the annual trip to as many as four different cemeteries may have started to weigh her down, especially considering that there were more contemporary family members below ground than above ground. And even though all four cemeteries were in relatively close proximity to each other (the farthest distance between La Belle and Millport was just 20 miles) it would have been quite a full day to visit all four.*
Decoration Day, as it still would have been officially called in 1964, is the annual observance holiday of honoring the deceased, especially those who had died in military service. Although it had become commonplace after WWII to call the day “Memorial Day”, that name was actually not officially adopted by the federal government until 1967.
The holiday itself was something that had become a practice after the Civil War. Surprisingly, in my research on Millport I came across this lovely detailed newsworthy item recapping Millport’s Decoration Day ceremony in 1892. The town, at that time, was substantial enough to gather and host “a large crowd” that by 12 o’clock noon was “of several hundred.” The event included a short oration given by none other than B. F. Northcutt. It seems fitting to highlight this as a way to wrap up this chapter on a town that no longer exists… but at one time was the center of the Northcutt family ancestry.
Note: The four cemeteries within Lewis and Knox Counties that you will find Northcutt and Hinkson family members buried in are:
Millport Cemetery, Millport, MO
Knox City Cemetery, Knox City, MO
LaBelle Cemetery, LaBelle, MO
Sharpe-Hinkson Cemetery - located on private land just a mile north of LaBelle, MO, that once belonged to the Hinkson family.
Addendum: Northcutt home in Millport
This small news item from 1946 provides insights into what happened to the former Northcutt home in Millport. It was torn down in 1946 and material from the home, which was largely walnut, was used for other purposes.
The news article below has a small misprint. J.R. lived with his widowed “brother” (not his mother). J.R.’s father, the Rev. Ben Northcutt, did not die until 1895, several years after the family moved to Knox City. Hosea Allen (H.A.) Northcutt, J.R.’s brother was widowed in 1872, while the family lived in Millport.
