Nodaway County, Missouri
Nodaway County is a
county located in the
U.S. state of
Missouri. The county was organized in
1845 and named for the
Nodaway River.
As of 2000, the population was 21,912. Its
county seat is
Maryville.
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Map_of_Missouri_highlighting_Nodaway_County.png |
It is the largest area wise of the counties added to Missouri in the 1836
Platte Purchase and the fourth largest county in the state of Missouri.
It has a rich agricultural history including the home of trainers Ben Jones and Jimmy Jones whose horses won six Kentucky Derbies and two Triple Crowns.
The grounds of
Northwest Missouri State University make up the official Missouri State Arboretum and were a recreation of the landscape of the
1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
ESPN has carried appearances of the university in three national championship football games (which it won two).
Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas gave up his quest to become a priest while attending
Conception Seminary College (which also includes a minor
basilica). The
Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration convent in neighboring
Clyde, Missouri has 550 relics of saints -- the largest collection in the U.S.
Located in
Tornado Alley there have been numerous tornados to hit the county including an F4 tornado on
April 10,
1979, that obliterated the town of
Braddyville, Iowa just across the county line. Tornados have struck two of the county's biggest buildings -- the Administration Building at the Northwest University and
Conception Abbey. An
F5 tornado is believed to have hit the county on June 12, 1881.
Some sensational murders have drawn attention to the county including a profile by CBS
60 Minutes as well as movies.
Life in the county was chronicalled by native
Homer Croy in a series books, article, movies and Broadway shows in the 1920s and 1930s.
Main article: Nodaway River
The origin of the name "Nodaway" has been attrbiuted to a Pottawatomie name for "placid", a Dakota Souix name for "crossed without canoe" and various tribes names for "snake."
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Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) - The President was never a true county resident but he owned a farm south of Graham.
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Robert Marcellus Stewart (1815-1871) - Made his fortune in
Platte Purchase along with Isaac Hogan in
Graham, Missouri and elected governor from
St. Joseph, Missouri during the run up for the
American Civil War from 1857-861
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Albert P. Morehouse (1835-1891) -
Maryville, Missouri resident who succeeded to governor from 1887 to 1889.
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Forrest C. Donnell (1884-1980) - Native of
Quitman, Missouri who was a Republican governor from 1941-1945 and U.S. Senator from 1945-1951.
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Time Magazine cover of May 30, 1949, featuring Calumet trainer Ben Jones |
Among the famous farms of Nodaway County:
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Herbert Hoover Farm -
Herbert Hoover had a farm south of
Graham, Missouri. Hoover never actively farmed the land he owned but he did visit in the 1930s after leaving office.
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Jones Horse Racing Dynasty - Horse racing trainers
Ben A. Jones and his son
Horace A. "Jimmy" Jones had a farm near
Parnell, Missouri and retired there. During their tenure at
Calumet Farm they trained six
Kentucky Derby and two
Triple Crown winners. Extensive memorabilia from the racing days are in the Nodaway County Hisorical Society Museum.
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Bilby Ranch - The
Bilby Ranch founded near
Quitman, Missouri had holdings throughout the West in the late 1800s and early 1900s and claimed to be second only to the
King Ranch in size and a dispute over its cattle reached the
United States Supreme Court.
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Faustiana Farm - Isaac N. Prather was one of the first settlers in Nodaway County settling there from Kentucky in 1839 shortly after the
Platte Purchase established a farm just west of
Maryville, Missouri. Prather imported the famous English thoroughbred Faustus and named his farm Faustiana after this horse. The Townsend family, who had made their fortune from the
St. Joseph, Missouri department store
Townsend & Wall, used the name for their
Percheron,
Standardbred and
American Saddlebred horses when they owned. Many national champion horses come from the line. The farm is a now Maryville housing subdivision.
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Rancho del Rayo - William Robbins, who made his fortune with the Robbins Lighting Rod company in Maryville, established a ranch near
Hopkins, Missouri that claimed to be the biggest ranch in Missouri after the Bilby Ranch dissolution in the 1919. Robbins, who was active in Republican politics, hosted numerous political picnics attended by all levels of U.S. senators and Missouri governors.
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R.T. Wright University Farm -
Northwest Missouri State University owns a 750-acre farm north of the campus (called locally the "North Farm"). Among the research evolving from the farm is the use of
global positioning satellites for farming and a
biofuel project which garnered
U.S. Patent 6,149,694 for transforming manure into fuel pellets that burn with no odor and does not release dangerous gases. The farm is conducts experiments in genetic combinations for plants. In 2006 Northwest drew the ire of
Anheuser-Busch when it proposed a partnership with
Ventria to develop genetically altered rice.
For famous students and teachers at the Maryville college see: Northwest Missouri State University*
Sarah Caldwell - Boston opera diva
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Dale Carnegie - How to win friends and influence people
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Homer Croy - Author and screenwriter who wrote about life in Maryville
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Albert David - Medal of Honor winner for capture of
U-505 during
World War II*
Edward H. Moore - U.S. Senator in Oklahoma
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Harley Race - professional wrestler
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Marcus Morton Rhoades - cytogeneticist
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Grant Wallace - Writer of the occult
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Jerry Wallace - pop-country singer and actor
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In Broad Daylight movie about the Ken McElroy murder in Skidmore |
Despite the name allegedly meaning "placid," Nodaway County is anything but. In the 1930s a mob took accused rapist and murder
Raymond Gunn to the alleged scene of the crime, a little school house on the outskirts of town. The mob proceeded to tie Mr. Gunn to the roof of the school house and set it on fire with him atop, avenging the rape-murder of a young schoolteacher.
In 1981, the townsfolk of Skidmore rid themselves of a notorious
criminal,
Ken McElroy, in what has become one of the best-kept secrets in the county. He was shot while sitting in is truck on the street in
Skidmore. There were multiple shooters, as was evident by the different caliber bullets found in the truck. When questioned by the Sheriff, everyone claimed that they dove under the pool table at the town bar when the shooting started. Sheriff Estes was later quoted as saying "That must have been the biggest damn pool table in the world." The book and movie
In Broad Daylight is based on these events.
1992 saw the disappearance of a FBI drug informant.
Christine Elkins was kidnapped and knocked unconscious by the Emory Brothers (
Tug Emory and
Tony Emory). Elkins was then thrown in the trunk of her car and driven to the Missouri River. The brothers then drove the car into the river off of a boat ramp. The car was found in 1999 with Elkins' body still in the trunk, rolled up in a carpet. Dental records helped to identify the skeleton.
In 1994,
Bill Taylor, who had been having marital problems with his wife, was found guilty of her murder. According to the court report, Mr. Taylor punched his wife and left her behind the family combine. He then backed over her with the combine, crushing her to death.
June of 2002 saw a deranged man break into the county's monastery at
Conception Abbey and start shooting monks before their morning
vespers. The man then shot and killed himself in one of the pews in the church before authorities could enter the church.
December of 2004 saw a return of crime to Skidmore when
Bobbie Jo Stinnett was murdered in her home and had her unborn baby cut from her womb, launching one of the weirder
Amber Alerts in the program's history; Authorities had no idea what the baby looked like, since the kidnapper was the first one to see the child.
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 21,912 people, 8,138 households, and 4,817 families residing in the county. The
population density was 10/km² (25/mi²). There were 8,909 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (10/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.58%
White, 1.35%
Black or
African American, 0.23%
Native American, 0.87%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 0.21% from
other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. 0.71% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 8,138 households out of which 27.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.00% were
married couples living together, 6.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.80% were non-families. 30.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the county the population was spread out with 19.40% under the age of 18, 25.10% from 18 to 24, 23.10% from 25 to 44, 18.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 99.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.00 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $31,781, and the median income for a family was $42,203. Males had a median income of $28,388 versus $21,267 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $15,384. About 8.30% of families and 16.50% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 11.20% of those under age 18 and 13.30% of those age 65 or over.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,273
km² (878
mi²). 2,270 km² (877 mi²) of it is land and 3 km² (1 mi²) of it (0.13%) is water.
Adjacent counties
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Page County, Iowa (northwest)
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Taylor County, Iowa (north)
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Worth County (northeast)
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Gentry County (southeast)
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Andrew County (south)
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Holt County (southwest)
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Atchison County (west)
Major highways
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U.S. Route 71*
U.S. Route 136*
Missouri State Highway 46*
Missouri State Highway 113*
Missouri State Highway 148*
Missouri State Highway 246Cities and towns
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Nodaway County Historical Society*
Rootsweb, Nodaway County, Missouril
