Black Communities

Black Communities of Miller County's Past

by Kelly Warman-Stallings

Published to WTTP on 7 September 2026

Across Miller County’s early landscape, three small Black communities—Eldon, Iberia, and Olean—lived, worked, worshiped, and raised families in ways that were known to their neighbors but left largely unrecorded by official history. Their stories survive instead through scattered traces: a school reclaimed by the woods, a church remembered in passing, a handful of surnames carried forward by descendants. A couple of articles by Peggy Smith Hake and Maude Wright touched briefly on the African-American population of Miller County, but it was mainly recollections and anecdotes about the Black families they once lived nearby. What remains today is not a complete archive, but a quiet outline of lives that shaped the county’s past. This article gathers those fragments, honoring what can be documented and acknowledging what time and omission have erased.

ELDON

Unlike Iberia and Olean, Eldon never developed a formal Black community. Instead, it had about a dozen families of African‑American descent living within the city limits and likely a scattering of rural Black households in the surrounding countryside. Regardless of the exact head count, Eldon had enough Black children that a school became necessary.

In the years following the Civil War, small “Negro Schools” — as they were called at the time — began appearing across Miller County. At least three schools for Black children are documented, though whether additional ones existed remains unknown.

The Negro School, located a few miles north of Eldon, was known to be in operation before 1904. Whether an earlier school existed in or near Eldon is unknown, though it is possible that classes were held in private homes during that period. While no student names were recorded, a later teacher from the 1930s was remembered by George Evans (1902–1995), a Black citizen of Olean. The teacher he recalled was Mrs. Otis Mulkey, who had been educated at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.

It is unknown when the first documented school building was constructed, but by 1938 Eldon’s Negro School had been destroyed. Newspaper accounts from the Eldon Advertiser and the Iberia Sentinel reported that the building burned in 1938 and again in 1939. Both fires destroyed the structure, and in each case the cause was listed as "undetermined".

Eldon Advertiser - 1939

Iberia Sentenial - 1939

This recollection was documented in 1985. George Evans shared a vivid account of the Negro School fires, saying:

“There was some kind of a ruckus at the old school in years past. There was kind of a disagreement over something, but I couldn’t find out what… there was some shooting, but no one was killed. The schoolhouse was burned down and then a lawsuit followed. A year or two later, another school was built on the edge of the Sam Mulkey and Bob Taylor places way back off the main road. It also burned down, and then a third school was built on the road on the Sam Mulkey place. Part of it still stands today.”

The third school Mr. Evans described was later established near the Manning community, close to Independence School, a White school. Its construction and closing dates remain unknown. The partial building still stands abandoned along J Highway today, a quiet reminder of a history nearly forgotten.

It is unlikely that Eldon had any Black‑owned businesses during the late 1800s or early 1900s, but as a railroad town it employed a number of Black men and older teenage boys as laborers. The railroad that came through Eldon in the early 1880s was the Jefferson, Lebanon and Southwestern Railroad, popularly known as the Bagnell Branch. During this same period, Black agricultural workers could still be found throughout the area, earning their living on white‑owned farms well into the 1900s.

There are no known cemeteries specifically associated with Eldon’s Black families. Their exact burial locations remain unclear, but a plausible assumption is that they were interred in sections of Eldon City Cemetery or Salem Cemetery, and possibly in one of the county’s many “lost cemeteries,” such as the Taylor Cemetery. Miller County has thirty‑five documented lost cemeteries, with four of them listed as being in or near Eldon.

Among the African-American family names historically associated with the Eldon area are Berry, Coleman, Crowder, Denny, Garin, Harris, McAllister, Meader, Meadows, Mulkey, Parks and Taylor.

IBERIA

The history of Iberia’s African-American residents is nearly as scarce as Eldon’s, but Peggy Smith Hake documented several names in her research that help bring this community into clearer focus. Unlike Eldon, Iberia had a distinct Black neighborhood, a school, and separate church services apart from the White community.

It is unknown whether Iberia had any Black‑owned businesses during the late 1800s or early 1900s, but it is certainly possible. According to town “old‑timers” interviewed by Peggy during her research, Iberia’s Black population during that era may have even outnumbered its White population.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Iberia’s Black population did not have a separate, formally named permanent church building of their own. Instead, their worship services and spiritual life centered around the local log schoolhouse and itinerant brush arbors. One early traveling minister of color, known locally as “Preacher Brisco,” frequently passed through the area. In 1903, he even preached a sermon to the White congregation at the Baptist Church. According to Peggy Smith Hake, this was likely William Brisco (or possibly his son), who married Lucretia Shell that same year.

Another well‑known traveling Black preacher was William Driver, Sr., a Freewill Baptist minister. He was instrumental in bringing the Word of God to the Black community of Iberia and to the wider southern Miller County region. He and his family became citizens of the Pleasant Hill community near Iberia after arriving in the area in the early 1900s. His son, William “Bill” Driver, Jr., who may have come to the Iberia region before his father, was a renowned fiddle player and well‑known throughout the community. He frequently played at local gatherings and events during the early 20th century.

Hardy Park, once located on land near today’s H & L Market, was named for Hardy Lawless, a Black resident of Iberia. The Lawless family lived in an old log cabin on a grassy knoll overlooking the park, with a small creek running through the grounds and a beautiful grove of trees surrounding it. Their cabin remained standing for many years after the family moved away.

Another log cabin, situated across the street from the Iberia Academy, housed a Black family named Shell. A relative, Bythia Shell, lived in a separate log cabin directly across the road from the Shells. Her cabin is the one most people remember sitting on the Iberia Academy campus, where it was used for many years as a knitting and weaving classroom. All three log cabins have been gone for many decades.

In 1869, Iberia became the first town in Miller County to build a Negro School. It was located about one mile west of town and stood near Mace School, a White school. The length of time the Iberia Negro School remained in operation is unknown, but it had ceased to exist before 1939 - the Iberia Sentinel noted that the Eldon Negro School was the last black school standing in the county, per the newspaper article about the fires. The names of its teachers and students were largely lost to the written record, though it was almost certainly listed at one time within the Iberia school district.

The Birthright family was fairly large and is documented as living in the Pleasant Hill community during the latter part of the 1800s. In the 1880 census, they were recorded southwest of Iberia, near the families of Lawless, Whittle, Spearman, Thompson, Condra, Allen, and Wood. It is notable that all of these neighboring families were White, with the exception of the Lawless family. The Birthrights moved to Miller County around 1870, probably from Arkansas. By 1900, the only member of the Birthright family still living in Miller County was James Albert Birthright. He had married Georgia A. Lawless earlier that year, and the couple was living in the home of his uncle, Jacob Landers, near Iberia. Also residing in the Landers household were Hester M. Williams and her daughter, Violet. Jacob and Hester married in September 1900.

It is unknown whether there were any exclusively Black cemeteries in or near Iberia, but African‑American families are buried in the Iberia Cemetery and likely in other nearby cemeteries as well. Local accounts state that a significant number of Black residents were interred in unmarked graves in the old section of Iberia Cemetery. Another long‑standing tale suggests that Black burials may also be located south of Iberia Cemetery in a “lost cemetery” deep in the woods.

Among the African‑American family names historically associated with the Iberia area are Allen, Balance, Birthright, Driver, Gardner, Landers, Lawless, Shell, Tucker, Williams, and Yarrington. It is also interesting to note that at least two Black families lived near Brumley: Caliman and Lett.

OLEAN

At one time, it is probable that the largest concentration of African‑American families in Miller County lived at Olean, which had a substantial Black neighborhood. According to Erma Taylor Gunn, although both Black and White families lived in Olean, they were segregated. White families lived up on the hill, while Black families lived at the bottom of the hill beyond the railroad tracks. This pattern of segregation continued well into the mid‑ to late‑1900s. According to George Evans (1902–1995), a Black resident living near Olean in 1985, the town had a large and close‑knit African‑American community around the turn of the 20th century. Evans explained that his grandfather brought the family to Olean from Kansas City in 1904.

Whether any Black‑owned businesses operated in Olean is unclear; no African‑American names appear in the town’s recorded industrial history. Like Eldon, Olean was a railroad town along the Bagnell Branch—later part of the Missouri Pacific Railroad—and it most likely employed some of the Black men who lived there. Agricultural labor was also in steady demand during this period, and it is probable that Black residents found work in the local general stores and at the roller mill, a major part of Olean’s identity.

Olean once had a school for Black children, though no teachers’ or students’ names were recorded for posterity. The school was known locally as the Taylor School. According to family accounts, Charles Roscoe Taylor was instrumental in establishing it. Missouri law in the early 1900s required at least fifteen Black children to qualify for a separate school district; Olean had only fourteen. Until the community reached the required number, Mr. Taylor taught those fourteen children in his own home. The school building, likely built around the early-1920s - per a snippet of information found, still stands along Greenridge Road near Greenridge Baptist Church, though today it is in severe disrepair and has been reclaimed by nature.

Mt. Zion Colored Baptist Church at Olean was organized by Rev. Gilbert Ballance around 1873. According to Goodspeed’s History, the congregation had 48 members in 1889. The church, a sturdy frame building, served the community for many years and was affiliated with the North Missouri Baptist Association. During the late 1800s, many Black Christians in Miller County attended White churches, making Mt. Zion’s presence within Olean especially significant. In 1889, the town had three churches—two for White residents and one for Black residents. Notably, Mt. Zion was located within Olean’s city limits, in the southeast section of town, a rare placement for a Black church during that era. The date of its disbandment is unknown, but the building was torn down in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

By the 1990s, Olean had diminished in size as its commercial businesses and small industries closed. One of the town’s last mayors was Ernest L. Taylor, a Black native of Olean who served during the 1980s. His election marked a remarkable shift in the town’s history. For a community where Black families once lived “on the wrong side of the tracks,” having a Black mayor represented a significant and hard‑earned milestone for Olean’s African‑American population.

Most of Olean’s Black residents were buried at Greenridge Cemetery or in small rural cemeteries, including “lost” burial grounds such as the Hite Cemetery and Mulkey Cemetery. According to Erma Taylor Gunn, there are no Black burials in the Olean Cemetery. This absence reflects the segregation that shaped Olean’s social and religious life during that era, a pattern that continued in its burial practices.

The Black families of Olean—Berry, Brockman, Bush, Cox, Crowder, Dodson, Evans, Johnson, Lewis, McCallister, Meader, Meadows, Mulkey, Parks, Richardson, Smith, Stills, Taylor, Walker, Webb, and Wilkes—formed a resilient community whose presence shaped the town for generations. Though the neighborhood, school, and church have faded, their legacy remains an important part of Olean’s history.

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Peggy Smith Hake’s research provides rare insight into the lives of early Black families in Miller County, complementing the community histories of Eldon, Iberia, and Olean presented above.

ABRAHAM FLOOD....A Wonderful Old Character Of Saline Township, Miller County, Missouri
(Taken from the old newspaper, THE MILLER COUNTY AUTOGRAM, 16 April 1908)

by Peggy Smith Hake

“County Court met here Monday to make some disposition of Abe Flood, an old colored gentleman, who until a few years ago was a resident of this county. He is about 100 years old and has become senile and weak minded and wants to wander about the county. He has children who would gladly keep him, but he won’t stay anywhere very long. A few weeks ago the train on the Branch Road was barely stopped in time to have his life and on the return of the train that night he had to be dragged off the tracks again. The Court met here on Monday to find a place where he might be kept, but he is still confined in the jail. To pacify him, Sheriff Martin told him he was putting him in a “church house”. After surveying the surroundings, the old darkey said, “Say, boss, I’se been in a good many churches, but I’se nevah seed beds in ‘em before.”

In the 1900 census of Miller County, Abraham Flood, age 70, and a widower, was living alone near the families of Sullens, Hackney, Stubblefield, Scott, Harrison, and Templeton in Saline township of northern Miller County. He was born in Kentucky in February 1820, so by 1908, when this episode occurred, he was actually 78 years of age and not “close to 100 years” as stated in the news item.

A lady once wrote me to say she remembered old Abe Flood. Maude Sullens Hoffman of Konawa, Oklahoma (now deceased), said she could remember old Abe so vividly and I will quote some of her letter.....”I was born in 1904 and can remember my parents, brothers, and sisters having talked about Abe Flood so much. They told me that he rocked me to sleep many times in an old rocker mama kept in the yard in the summertime. He wasn’t a slave because he roamed the country at will. (Note: By 1904, there were no slaves in Miller County). He wasn’t a big man and he had white hair and was stooped with age. Mama sometimes would feed him when he came around and he would “mind” her little ones while she would wash and do other chores. He was a gentle person; loved the Lord; and would sing about Him as he roamed about.”........What wonderful and delightful memories Mrs. Hoffman had of Abe Flood.

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RECORD OF BIRTHS FOR BLACK CHILDREN FROM 1883-1890

Taken from a book at the Miller County Courthouse called "Births and Deaths 1883-1890"

by Peggy Smith Hake

BERRY, Cora Mae---dau. of Eva Ann Berry (no dates given)

LAWLESS, Missouri---b. 5 Jul 1886...dau. of Hardy Lawless/Lollis age 52 b. KY and Bett Shell, age 27 b. ARK

PARKS, Anna Gertie---b. 25 Oct 1883...dau. of Miles Parks, age 28 b. Moniteau Co., MO and Harriett Clayborn, age 26, b. Cole Co., MO

ROBERTSON, William Erwin --- b. 6 Feb 1890...son of Frank Robertson age 23 of Moniteau Co., MO & California Brockman age 26 of Cole Co., MO

SHELL, Ollie---b. 23 Jun 1886...dau. of John Lawless age 25 Miller Co. & Frankey Shell, age ____of Miller County

WEBB, male---b. 30 Sep 1890---son of Riley Webb age 28 b. Dent Co., MO and Mary Ann Webb age 25 b. Cole Co., MO

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RECORDED DEATHS OF BLACK RESIDENTS OF MILLER COUNTY, MO IN THE 1880s

Taken from a book at the Miller County Courthouse called "Births and Deaths 1883-1890"

by Peggy Smith Hake

DATSON/DODSON, Emily (black) ...female...age 79...d. 22 Sept 1885...widow died of hydrothorax... b. c/1806 North Carolina...She had been a resident of Miller County for 51 years (c/1834)... Buried at Mt. Vernon Cemetery, Saline township...Emily Dodson was in the 1880 Miller Co. census living in the home of Hiram and Nancy J. Brockman. (Nancy was her daughter. According to census records, Emily was 81 years old (b.c/1799 North Carolina). If that is true, her age at death was 86 years, not 79.)

BIRRY/BERRY, Minnie (black)...female...age 30...housewife of African descent...d. 24 Jul 1884...b. c/1854 Cole Co., MO...cause of death was phthisis pulmonalis (some type of lung disease)...buried Cole Co., MO...no cemetery listed. (I believe Minnie Berry was the wife of Henry Berry, born c/1855, a son of Martha Berry. During the 1880 census, Henry and Minnie were living in Saline township near the family of Hiram and Nancy Brockman. Minnie was 24 yrs. old and had one child, Amanda, age 10 months.)

BROCKMAN, Gabriel (black)...male...age 16...farmer...d. 11 May 1885...he was single...c/1869 in Missouri...cause of death was phthisis pulmonalis (lung disease)...buried Mt. Vernon Cemetery, Saline township...

(Gabriel was a son of Hiram & Nancy J. (Dodson) Brockman and a grandson of Emily Dodson (listed above). He was one of several children born to Hiram and Nancy including Aaron, Alexander, Lewis, Andrew, James, Squire, & Eliza J.)

HICKORY, Della D.E. (black)...age 1 year...d. 28 Jul 1885 of cerebral menigitis...b. c/ 1884 Miller Co., MO....buried Moniteau Co., MO..no cemetery listed.

(I could find no further information on this child through census or birth records. I do not know who her parents were.)

HICOX, _______ (black)...female...age 25...married...d. 1 May 1885 of phthisis plumonalis (lung disease)...b. c/1861 Cole Co., MO...buried Porter Cemetery.

(I do not know if this cemetery is in Miller County or a surrounding county. No further information found for this female. Could not find the name Hicox in Miller County records.)

LEE, William (black)...age 14...laborer...single...d. 15 Jul 1885 of tuberculosis...b. c/1871 in Cole County, MO.....buried at Porter Cemetery (No further information found for this young man.)

MULKEY, David (black)...age 24....farmer...single...d. 24 May 1885 of phthisis pulmonmalis (lung disease)...b. c/1861 in Miller Co., MO....buried at Mt. Vernon Cemetery, Saline Township.

(In the 1880 census of Miller County, David Mulkey was found living in the home of a woman named Susan South. Also in the home was Samuel Mulkey and 2 young children with the surname of Ballance.)

WILKES, Saphnonia/Sophronia (black)...age 8...d. 20 Nov 1886 of typanic abcess (abcess of the ear)...b. c/1878 in Miller County....buried at Hite Cemetery in Saline Township.

(Sophronia was a granddaughter of Violet Wilkes Meador/ Meadows. In the census of 1880, Sophronia was one of 10 grandchildren living with Violet ! ! Actually she was listed in the census as "Frona Mulkey", age 2 years old.)

ALLEN, James L (black)... age 14... d. 15 May 1881 of drowning.

(THIS INFORMATION DOES NOT APPEAR IN THE BOOK AT THE COURTHOUSE BUT WAS FOUND IN AN OLD 1881 NEWSPAPER CALLED "THE MILLER COUNTY VINDICATOR": James L. Allen, a colored boy of 14 years, was drowned in the Tavern Creek about 2 miles east of Iberia. He is buried at Iberia Cemetery. He was a son of Josephus and Stephanna Allen of Iberia (former slaves of the Elias Allen family from Barren County, KY).

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Though the written record offers only fragments, the lives of Miller County’s Black residents were never invisible to the places they shaped. Their homes, churches, schools, and surnames left impressions that still echo through the county’s back roads and memories. By gathering what remains—however small, however scattered—we acknowledge a history that was lived even when it wasn’t formally preserved. These communities may have been known but unrecorded, yet their presence endures in the land itself.