My favorite place to do research is in Lafayette County, Missouri. I have so many relatives that came from here! This trip served two purposes: to visit my great aunts and to research in the Mayview Museum and Lexington Courthouse.

I have two aunts still living. My Aunt Em is 97 and lives in an assisted living complex in Lee’s Summit. The other, Aunt Gladys, turns 102 next month and still lives at home. How I hope I have such a rich life as them. I got to visit both, as well as my cousin Denise and her husband Richard.

We stayed at the KOA in Oak Grove, Missouri as the state parks in Lee’s Summit don’t open until April 1st. It was not an exciting place to stay, but the only campground around. Much better was the campground in Mayview which we have stayed at before. So quiet and hearing the train at night brings back memories of staying at my grandparents when I was a child. I got to visit the Mayview Museum and an old classmate of my mother’s, Elaine. I also had a nice visit with Martha Lou Hawthorne who is a Schmutz cousin. She had many stories to tell me about Great Grandpa Schmutz! I also visited the Lafayette County Courthouse in Lexington and obtained copies of deed from the early index book that had many Barkers, Ashcrafts, and an Alumbaugh or two. Now I need to decipher the handwriting and figure out a timeline of their purchases and where they might be located.

The house is where my great-grandparents lived in Mayview, including the creek where my father slip-slided around bare butt with his brothers. The BEST chicken fried steak can be found at Michelle’s place in Mayview. And the campground is the KOA, of which I was not impressed!