Peggy Smith-Hake's
"Window to the Past"
Skinner's Tomb​
(Printed in THE MILLER COUNTY AUTOGRAM-SENTINEL in the column, 'WINDOW TO THE PAST', Sept 30, 2012)
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“Howdy-do old Skinner, how are you doing in there?” . . . . . I once heard my grandfather utter those words as we were traveling up Highway 52 on our way to Eldon. Surprised, I said, ”Why did you say that?” With a twinkle in his eye, Granddad told me that he always sent his greeting to old Jim Skinner every time he passed by.
All I saw that day was a stone structure sitting in a small cemetery and I was amazed to learn he was speaking to someone or something in that old graveyard!
The years passed by and I forgot about Granddad’s hearty “howdy-do”, but not long ago someone asked me if I had ever researched the story of the Skinner Tomb. The years melted away and once again I recalled those words of long ago, so I decided to be inquisitive and in the process I learned a wonderful story of an Englishman who settled in Miller County after the Civil War and lived the remaining years of his life in northern Equality Township in the Flatwoods community and in the city of Eldon.
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James S. Skinner Sr. was born in Cook County, England near London circa 1834. As a young child of seven years James, his parents, and a brother named Tom, set sail for America to seek a new homeland. Enroute his father died at sea, so his mother found herself in New York, a stranger with two small children, no money, and no way of supporting herself. She bound out young James to a wealthy New York family where he worked as a servant for the next 14 years.
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After serving his term of indenture, James Skinner went out into the world on his own and traveled to Schenectady, New York where he met his future wife, Lucy Miriam Folsom. Lucy was a cousin to Mrs. Grover Cleveland (Francess Folsom Cleveland), wife of America’s 22nd president. President Cleveland was 27 years older than Frances when he married her at the White House in Washington D.C. in 1886. I have wondered if James and Lucy Skinner may have attended this wedding, but I could find no proof that they were in attendance.
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At the age of 24 years, approximately in 1859, James and Lucy moved to Palmyra, Wisc. They did not stay there long until they moved on westward to Pettis County, Missouri, settling in Sedalia. James was a talented carpenter by trade and built what may have been the first house in Sedalia. Their first child, Isabella, was born and was reputed to have been the first white child born there. Two other children were born to them while in Sedalia, but died in infancy. While in Sedalia, he went into the mercantile business but was burned out during the Civil War. After the war, they moved to Knob Noster where he operated a saloon for several years.
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Their next move was to Miller County where they settled in Equality Township a few miles northwest of Tuscumbia. In 1868, James had purchased 80 acres of land in this area from William A. Folsom (the father of Lucy Skinner). The Folsoms were living on an adjoining farm to the Skinners in the 1880 census. Jim and Lucy Skinner were enumerated in the 1870 census of Miller County but the Folsoms were not found, so evidently they had purchased land in Miller County in the 1860’s but did not move here from New York until after 1870. Lucy Folsom Skinner probably wanted her elderly parents near them after they settled in the county. James Skinner purchased many other tracts of land in various parts of the county and became one of the largest land owners in the region.
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After moving into Miller County, five more children were born to James and Lucy Skinner: Ellen, Mary, James Jr., Lucy and Hattie. James built a large log house with a huge fireplace and a shed on the side. He had brought a horse, a cow, and a team of oxen with him from Pettis County and housed them in the attached shed. It was thought by a few that Jim brought a lot of money here with him and kept it hidden in a beer keg. Pure speculation.
He became prosperous, acquiring much property and he hired farmhands who worked his farm clearing the land and making rails. Jim Skinner also built his father and mother-in-law a log home nearby and Mrs. Folsom was always on hand, assisting in all the births of Lucy’s children born in Miller County.
When their daughter Lucy died, at the age of 5 years in 1876, Jim fenced off a plot near their home and it was there the Skinner Cemetery originated. A few years later, Jim started to build a new house farther up the hillside. They first lived in the basement area, built of bricks made by Jim and his farm employees. Later the large white house was built over the basement where it now stands. All the lumber was hauled from Moniteau County near California by an oxen team.
There was no school in the area, and Jim donated land so one could be erected. He and Lucy were both educated folk and wanted the same for their children. He built the school himself and called it Skinner School. Anyone who has traveled Highway 52 north from Tuscumbia has passed this school many times. It is still standing and is the present home of Skinner Ridge Plants and Greenhouse (1987).
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