Frumet and Big River

This is the 1898 Township map (double click to enlarge) showing my great-grandfather's farm on the far right (Thomas Long), but this blog is about the area to the left by the Big River wending it's way up the map.

My Graham ancestors are often said to be from Frumet (seen above on the map--where their land was is outlined in yellow) Almost all of my ancestors on Grandpa Roy Long's side of the family are from Big River Township---the Longs, Reiters, Tyreys, Browns and Grahams. As children, my cousins and I played in the Big River at Uncle Lawrence's club house.

The Quest to Find William Graham's Land

Looking west toward Big River near Highway H in Missouri

On genealogy web-sites William Graham and Margaret [Mc] Carroll (my 4 greats) were said to live in Fremont which is supposed to be Frumet Missouri. But, we never really knew where they lived until Dwight carefully read an article on the Jefferson County Historical Society web site. Scroll down to the Dugan Cemetery and begin reading on the second page:

28th June 1825 we find deed from William Graham to Stephen Lamarque of Washington County, 640 acres, for $426.26, being the settlement right of Elijah Benton and by him conveyed to Burnell J. Thompson who sold it to William Clinton who sold it to William Graham, as recorded in Book B Page 214.

Scroll down a bit more to see where the red crosses are on the maps which Dave Halleman has provided. Independently, Dwight and I agreed where the land was on a Google map. With the GPS co-ordinates, my husband and I headed to Frumet, Missouri.

I was concerned that I might not be able to find a place to explore on the west side of Big River, so my first plan was to go down Hidden Valley Ranch Lane to see if I could photograph the hill side across the river.

I met two young men who were "processing" a deer they'd just shot. They told me that Norm Valle owned the land---they warmed up a bit when I told them I was related to Norm and had talked to his aunt a few months ago. So, they looked at my maps and pointed me in the right direction.

Fishing Photos

LeRoy Long, Louise Wicker Long, Jaclyn Long and Linda Jane Long 1950's Big River

My family has lived by water for centuries---the Mississippi, Meramec, Missouri and Big Rivers have been very important to our travel, survival and more recently, recreation. I wrote several posts about meeting my family at Uncle Lawrence's Clubhouse on the Big River. [click here]
This photo is also the number of people who would typically be there on a weekend. Though blurry, I can tell who some are. The tall man on the left is Roy Long with his wife Vivian Maupin Long in front. Next to Vivian is Norma Long and the boy in front is Ron Long. This was taken in the early 1940's.
I have no idea who these men are, but it does look like Big River.
[l-r Ray ????, LeRoy Long, Hank Pelsory]
But, the rest of the photos are Lake of the Ozarks so this could be a cove there, too. Mother told me these were Dad with his cycling buddies.
This was much too nice of a cabin for the Big River Clubhouse, so I'm guessing this is Lake of the Ozarks. Dad [LeRoy Long] is on the right.
The only thing that puzzled me was. . .if this was Dad and his cycling buddies, then they usually road their bikes even hundreds of miles---did they really go in a car?
A few photos later gave me the answer---they road their bikes and the earlier photos were Lake of the Ozarks---see Dad's posture and shirt?
And, here was proof. So, the car was probably a "sag wagon" or carried all of their food and gear.
And, to prove these photos were Lake of the Ozarks, here is Bagnall Dam.
And, this is also Bagnall Dam which is the dam which forms Lake of the Ozarks. These photos were probably late 1930's or early 1940's---just by the amount of hair my dad has! For more on my dad's cycling, click here.

Finding John Graham's Land 1797

One of my goals this week was to find where John Graham's Spanish Land Grant was. I found the map above at the Genealogical Society with the key below. (Double click to enlarge) His is that block in green across from the island. The other two which I've highlighted belong to the Quicks and Carricos who were friends who witnessed his son's probate. The Missouri River is at the top and the Mississippi to the side.
I was initially surprised that it was on the Mississippi River because I knew from other documents that he lived in the Cold Water/ Spanish Lake area which I associate with the Missouri River. I looked at that island in the water trying to find it on a map, but realized there had been a lot of floods and a major earthquake since John Graham's land grant.

Map shows Lewis and Clark's route going west and coming home. The blue river is today's river bed compared to what they witnessed in white.

If you'll look directly across from Spanish Lake, you'll see that island in the OLD riverbed (white) so that told me the island did not exist today.

John Graham's Spanish Land Grant

So, if John Graham was in Missouri in 1805 to witness a burial, I wondered how early he could have been there. In Historical Records of St. Ferdinand (p.109) it stated that April 1803 John Graham attended the sale of Hezekiah Land (deceased) property along with Vincent and Denis Carrico. On 13 Sep. 1808 he gave testimony (p. 36):

"John Graham sworn says that Ezekial Land made an improvement on the place claimed in 1797 and began to build a grist mill and saw mill in 1798, cleared a field, raised corn, and finished his mills; that said land has been inhabited and cultivated ever since."

That land in dispute was at Coldwater Creek and Bellefontaine near Fort Bellefontaine.

Tyrey Family on a Flatboat

This is an image I snatched from the internet, but I wanted to show what it must have been like to travel down the Mississippi River on a flatboat. Two relatives have related the story that Jacob Tyrey and Celecia Kilpatrick Tyrey with their children---Francis M. Tyrey and Caroline Tyrey Valle (and possibly my g-g grandmother Eliza Ellen Tyrey Reiter who is listed as being born in Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin). Here is a web-page which explains the dimensions and logistics of a flatboat a little better.