** Cache is not at the posted coordinates **
This series of caches was put out to celebrate our ten years of geocaching. We have spent many hours volunteering at the Atkins-Johnson Farm and also wanted to celebrate this historic area.
The Atkins-Johnson Farm has only been owned by 5 families since 1824 and was purchased by the City of Gladstone in 2005. The property was listed on the National Register for Historic Places in 2007. The City acquired the abandoned Big Shoal Cemetery in 2009. The City and the Friends of the Atkins-Johnson Farm have worked to restore the farmhouse and the cemetery. The house is available for free tours Wednesday through Saturday, April to early December, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The farmhouse is built around the original two story log cabin. The walking trail and cemetery are available year-round during daylight hours.
Spend some time enjoying the serenity of the farm. Keep your eyes open for the deer, turkeys, ground hogs, and other wildlife.
Permission granted by the City of Gladstone.
Big Shoal Baptist Church
The church was founded May 21, 1823 by Elder William T. Thorp, a pioneer Hardshell Baptist. Big Shoal Church became part of the Fishing River Association on November 8, 1823. “Hardshell Baptists” did not admit children to full church membership, nor did they believe in missions or Sunday School. They held two services a month. They did not believe in “passing the plate,” but usually called the preacher to one side and gave their gifts in private.
Services were first held in a rude log school house, which stood near where the first meeting house was constructed in 1827. One acre was set aside for the church. The building was a 20’ x 48’ log structure hewn from the virgin forest. It had a vestibule in front and an offset in back, each 6’ x 8’, and hence was called “the church with the twelve corners.” The building was unique in that it had a real board floor, and a lathed and plastered ceiling. The laths were of oak and the plaster made from the sand of nearby Shoal Creek. The lime was burned from nearby rock ledges. Split logs, with the flat sides up, formed the seats, with strong pegs for the legs. One part of the room was set apart for enslaved persons who came with their owners.
Initial services lasted all day, without intermission, but in the years following, the day was broken by a basket dinner. Only two services per month were held. After basket dinners became part of the day, people from four counties (Clay, Ray, Platte and Clinton) came and lined the fences on both sides with horses, wagons, buggies and ox teams. There were no evening meetings at the church, but some prayer meetings were held in private homes.
John and France Atkins (parents of Jonathan Atkins) and Richard and Mary Barnes (sister to Jonathan Atkins) were some of the first members of Big Shoal Baptist Church. Other first members included: George Burnett and his wife; Peter Burnet; Elisha Todd and wife; John Crowlye; Elizabeth Moore; Christina Moore; Jane Cain; Daniel Hughes (first clerk) and wife; Edward Mails; and Garrett Arnold.
As large as the crowds were during regular meetings, they were nothing compared to the big Association meetings, which were held annually and came to Big Shoal every ten years. The meetings began on Saturday and continued through Monday. The people stayed in private homes, and more than 100 people could be at a single house. The women and older men slept in the house, while the rest slumbered on shakedowns in the hemp and tobacco barns.
Big Shoal became a major center for religious activity in Clay County, and a highlight of the year was the second Sunday in May service, known as the Bonnet Show or Bonnet Festival. The Bonnet Show lasted for more than 80 years.
In 1918, Col. D. C. Allen talked with W. S. Embree, a 96-year-old man who had attended Big Shoal Church. Embree said of the Bonnet Show: “Merchants of Liberty began to purchase for local trade in the winter fine goods, bonnets and the like from Philadelphia, which began to arrive by steamboat during the latter part of March or forepart of April. Then it was a race for all girls for the first pick of sun bonnets. The custom began about 1826 and for more than 80 years, the May service of the annual meeting was a great event for the community.” Some of the bonnets worn by the belles were treasured relics for years.
By 1851 the log building for the Big Shoal Church was too small as the membership had grown to 200. Hence it was torn down and a brick building erected. The bricks were fired on location. Jonathan Atkins and his brother-in-law, Richard Barnes, were members of the building committee. The first pastor of the new building was John Knight, a veteran of the War of 1812. The new structure cost $2,200.
A 1910 newspaper article described the Big Shoal church as “what St. Peter’s is to Rome, St. Mark’s to Venice, St. Paul’s to London and Notre Dame to Paris, Big Shoal meeting house is to its countryside.”
A clipping reveals that in 1916 a movie was made with the “Bonnet Show” as its theme. The movie was entitled “Two Girls and One Bonnet” and was made by the Missouri Valley Historical Society, with amateur actors in quaint costumes with picturesque natural scenery weaving a romance around the historical church. Several of the scenes were photographed in the old Harris home at 40th and Westport Road and an exact replica of the old Baptist meeting house in Clay County was constructed at 46th and Walnut.
Attendance at Big Shoal Church declined over the years and the last regular service was held in May1917 when an attempt was made to revive the May Bonnet Show. About 100 people came, but few brought lunch baskets as was the custom in earlier days. By the middle of the afternoon, when the Bonnet Show services were formerly at their height, the church was as silent as the cemetery by its side. Elder W. Pence presided at the last service and baptized one member.
The Big Shoal Church was torn down in late 1948 after decades of neglect. Some of the bricks were used in the construction of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church.
The original Big Shoal school was located south of the cemetery and the church, centered in the graveyard and facing it.
** Cache is not at the posted coordinates **
This cache is a true letterbox hybrid so to find the actual container stand in the doorway of the former church and look to the southeast about 50 feet where the old tree is eating the fence. That is where you will find the container. On your way to the container you should walk between the tombstones of Baker and Lindsey. There is a stamp in the cache please do not remove it.
FTF Congrats to Haines_Family