THE STREETERS IN DODGE DISTRICT

Narrator: Mrs. Josie Borden, 70, of Hamilton, Missouri

Cox Family

Half Way House

Stage Coach and Women's Styles of the 70's

Mrs. Borden is a daughter of Judson Streeter, the eldest son of Horace Streeter who came into Caldwell County 1855. Her mother was Maria Frances Cox daughter of Daniel L. Cox who lived this side of Kingston. He had three children, Mrs. Streeter, Fred who was struck by lightning and John Cox who drove a stage coach from Lexington to Gallatin. Judson Streeter lived on a farm west of the "Half Way House" and later on a farm east of the "Half Way House." During his service in the Civil War his family lived with Grandpa Horace Streeter, Grandpa Daniel L. Cox and with Betty Dodge at Kingston.

The "Half Way House" (half way between Kingston and Hamilton) has always been a familiar landmark to travelers along the road. Mrs. Borden did not know the first owners; but she knew that in the late sixties it was owned by Sam Lane whose wife on her death bed gave her baby to Mrs. Mary Edminster to raise. The baby now is Mrs. Ida Lane Rauber of Hamilton, Missouri. Lane sold it to Mr. Ford (see Sigman papers) who tore down the log house and erected a good frame house.

Mrs. Borden recalls seeing her Uncle John Cox driving the stage coach past her home. The coach was high with steps at the back, railing at the top to hold baggage and aisles at the sides. The driver sat outside the front of the coach with a long whip to drive the four horses.

The old stage road ran from John Whitt's house north; and at the south west corner of the present Borden ten acres (then owned by Fred Gibson), it went diagonally to join the south end of Main Street. In later days Billy Dodge drove a hack daily from Kingston to Hamilton and later moved to Hamilton and started his hack out from that town to Kingston with mail and passengers.

She recalls some of the long ago styles in clothes. Hoop skirts were very fashionable and Mrs. Borden wore them. She was fond of riding horse back so she slipped a hoop over the saddle horn and the hoop skirt gave her no trouble. Every woman wore a chemise (often pronounced shimmy) for every day; drawers extending below the knee were made of brown muslin in summer and canton flannel in the winter. Three or four starched white skirts were not at all uncommon. She recalled that J.F. Colby's wife and Mrs. Van Slyke both wore white pantelettes showing under their dresses and she wondered if all Adventists (to which church both ladies belonged) had to wear them.

She attended school at the Dodge (Independence) School then on the present site of the Ollie Dunlap home. Some of her teachers were Hannah Ford (Schartzer), Mary Kingsbury's father, Willis Allee and Louisa Leavitt.