I enjoy contributing to the River Hills Traveler from time to time but I mostly enjoy reading the articles on a more regular basis.
I took special interest in the Greenville story in the April issue.
My grandparents, Roy and Ella Kinnison, owned a farm on Rings Creek south of Patterson.
In fact, if you go to the “main road” and turn right, you go to Greenville and not Patterson.
When Dad could not take us to or pick us up from the farm, we would take the L&N train to St. Louis and the MoPac from St. Louis to Piedmont.
I could not put in words how exciting that was for a youngster.
The last hill before Piedmont was Gad’s Hill and the train would come bucking into the station on the down slope.
After the trains stopped passenger service and when Dad could not do shuttle service, we would go to Greenville to catch a Trailways bus to St. Louis and a Greyhound to Mt. Vernon.
In the article, I noticed the sign had it “Harry S. Truman” and the author “Harry S Truman” – no period after the “S.”
The author was more correct with no period. The “S” stands for Truman’s grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young, or so the story goes. I know many in Missouri know this.
Harry Truman was, and is, a Missouri legend; one known around the world also.
He became President upon Franklin Roosevelt’s sudden death. FDR had a habit of selecting relative unknowns for his Vice Presidents to avoid any competition.
