Today is Sunday and the beginning of our 3rd week.  We started our day by heading back to Ozark for church at James River Assembly where my friend, Randy Quackenbush, is the Music Minister.  
 

We had a wonderful time praising the Lord and were able to meet Pastor John who had presented an absolutely riveting sermon on the Middle East culture, 
the Taliban, and why they hate the United States so much.  He quoted from both the Bible and the Koran and you could tell he had really done his research.  
 

We followed that with lunch with Randy’s brother & sister-in-law, Larry & Cathy, and had a really nice visit with them in their home.

 

The rest of our afternoon and evening were spent tooling around Branson, discovering new sites, and shopping for groceries.  In all, a very relaxing day, which was good because we have a very busy day tomorrow!

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Today is our last full day in Branson.  We woke up to blue skies which turned to rain by the late afternoon, but by evening the rain had passed leaving behind very windy conditions.

 

We started our day by riding a DUCK.  It is an amphibious vehicle that holds about 30 people.  It has no windows.  They let down a heavy clear vinyl curtain to protect you from wind and rain.  Everyone has fun aboard a Ride The Ducks sightseeing tour of Branson. It's the best way for families to enjoy Branson because we combine fun and music with history and sights. Adults and seniors will have just as much fun as kids. 
It's the best way for locals and visitors to see all that Branson has to offer. Ride The Ducks is the Branson attraction to experience when you visit just for the day, a weekend or a week.
 

The Captain en-tour-tained us with stories of past and present. We learned about Ozark Mountain history, the lakes, its famous personalities and its impact on the state and our nation and included information about Branson's role in film, song and sports too!  We were each given one of the famous Wacky Quackers™ that become a part of the show as you roam the 'heart of the Ozarks'. Free with every ride, the Wacky Quackers™ will grab locals' attention and get the Duck rocking as you roll through the city streets.
 

After our "DUCW" experience we headed into Old Branson and took a ride on the Branson Scenic Railway.  America’s romance with the vintage passenger train lives on through excursions on the Branson Scenic Railway aboard a collection of unique passenger cars that travel through the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. This one hour 45 minute trip takes passengers through tunnels, over trestles, and through the southwest Missouri or northwest Arkansas wilderness that is still home to much wildlife and to the ruins of long-ago communities now only names on a railroad map.

 

The historic 1905 depot in downtown Branson, just one block west of Lake Taneycomo (formerly the White River), is the headquarters for the Branson Scenic Railway. The depot houses the administrative offices, the reservation and ticket office, and a gift shop that carries many train items including a wide variety of Thomas the Tank Engine merchandise for the kids.

Traveling on a working commercial railroad line, the train's direction of travel (depending on freight traffic and/or track conditions) is determined by the Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad just prior to departure. At that time, the train will go either north or south. (All excursions depart from the old depot.) The northern route goes as far as Galena, Missouri, to the James River Valley; and the southern route extends into Arkansas to the Barren Fork Trestle.
        
Today we took the southern route.  Three to four times daily, depending on the season, Branson Scenic Railway explores territory inaccessible by automobile and offers views that are unattainable by any other means of transportation. A lively narration points out the landmarks such as Crest Tunnel, Cricket Tunnel, Walnut Creek Trestle, Barren Fork Trestle, and Tharp’s Grade; and the extinct communities of Gretna, Melva, and Ruth are described as they were in the early 20th century. Also included in the narration is a description of the wildlife and landscape and an outline of the railroad’s role in shaping the Ozarks. The routes take passengers about 20 miles from Branson before reversing direction and returning on the same tracks.
    
Although there is plenty to see through the broad windows and the three dome cars with their panoramic views, visiting each car can occupy much of the excursion. Seating is unassigned, and passengers are invited to tour the entire train. The cars have been restored and refurbished to offer the same first-class experience and ambiance to today’s passengers as to those they carried fifty years ago. While on the tour w met a couple from Texas and we had a wonderful time getting to know them while enjoying the sites.

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After a short nap, we headed back up to the lake for a Riverboat ride on the Branson Belle, which includes dinner and a show.  We had prime rib and baked Alaska and the variety show included a big band sound, singing, dancing and a ventriloquist that really stole the show with his talking dog!

 

We traveled to Kansas City, KS today.  One of our shortest travel days so far in that it only took about 4 hours to complete our trip. We will be staying at the Homestead Suites in Kansas City. However, we had to stop in a little place called Carthage, MO to visit the Precious Moments Chapel and grounds.  It is a stop well worth making . . .

 

There are many reasons that hundreds of thousands of people choose to visit Precious Moments Park each year. Once here, most agree it is a place set apart . . . a place where peace, joy and happiness are celebrated. Many visitors begin their experience at the Visitor Center, especially designed by Precious Moments artist, Samuel J. Butcher, to reflect the warmth of a small English country village of yesteryear. It is the perfect setting to step out of the everyday world and into a world of Precious Moments.  This little village is also home to the world’s largest Precious Moments gift shop, Royal Delights sandwich shop, visitor comfort amenities, and the ever popular wishing fountain. It is from the Visitors Center that guests often begin their exploration of Precious Moments Park.    
 

Inspired by Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel in Rome, Precious Moments artist and creator, Samuel J. Butcher, designed and constructed the Precious Moments Chapel as his way of sharing the joy of his faith with the world, and it has become his crowning work. The Chapel is so much more than just a building, touching the lives of those who enter its doors with a sense of peace, hope, and promise since it opened in 1989.  Sam used his beautiful and innocent Precious Moments messengers to bring well known and loved stories from the Bible to life in dozens of murals – all hand-painted by Sam himself. From the story of creation to the promise of the resurrection, the Chapel tour guide takes guests through the many stories of God’s love for us.

 

The art on the east side of the Chapel depicts the Bible’s Old Testament stories; while New Testament stories are shown on the west side. The mural “Hallelujah Square” celebrates the lives of real children whose lives ended too soon, but whose stories continue to bring a message of love, hope and peace. All of the murals combine to cover nearly 5,000 square feet – truly a breathtaking sight.

 

Nestled in the rolling foothills of the beautiful Ozark Mountains sits Precious Moments Park. With your first step onto the grounds, you’ll discover why so many have found this place to be a haven of peace and tranquility. The Park is home to acres of manicured grounds and dozens of gardens featuring flowering plants of many stunning varieties. You don’t need to have a green thumb to appreciate the perfect beauty of this natural wonder.

 

Near the calm waters of Center Creek, the Chapel gardens are a place where guests to Precious Moments Park often find opportunities to escape the rush and hurry of the everyday world beyond. A walk down the Avenue of Angels where sunlight and shadow create a place for quiet reflection, and moments of togetherness with friends and family are often favorite memories of a Park visit.  Each season brings its own beauty for all to enjoy. No matter what time of year, everywhere one turns another photo opportunity appears.

We also were able to visit the Gallery & Gift Shop where every item created by the artist is on display and available for purchase from the small porcelain statuettes to large full size statues, cards, buttons, everything.  It was truly worth the time to stop and we had a hard time leaving.  It is a very emotional place to visit.  We even saw the island castle the artist built for his grandchildren.  A must see place.  And there was much we didn't see as we chose not to pay for the tram tour.  One could spend hours there, such that if (and when) we return, we certainly will.

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We ended our day in search of the ultimate BBQ dinner.  We had heard that Kansas City is the home of the BBQ and so with the help of a few of the locals suggestions we found a place called Gates BBQ.  They have several stores but we went to the original Gates BBQ, where it all began. It was actually in the Missouri side of Kansas
City but just a short drive from where we were staying.  The food was wonderful and we ate way too much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we go in search of recent family members who have passed on but are buried here in and around Kansas City.  My Uncle Harold, and Aunt Dorothy are here.  This was also the birthplace of my Dad, Floyd.

 

Our first stop was the Memorial Park Cemetery (3223 N. 18th St. Kansas City, KS). After help from an attendant and lot of searching we found the headstones of my Aunt & Uncle Gilbert & Dorothy Williams.  We actually found Gilbert's parents Daniel & Susie Williams first.  Both stones were completely covered by grass and it took about 15 minutes to uncover and trim each stone so that you could read them.  We also asked the attendant if there were any other McHenry's interned here and he only found one but it had no information regarding its place in the cemetery.  A look in the hand written ledger revealed that Estella McHenry was 94 years old and buried in the Sunset Gardens portion of the cemetery.  We had to leave the cemetery we were at and drive through some pretty suspicious neighborhoods to find the Gardens but when we finally found it the gate was locked.  Fortunately you could walk around the gate and soon the search was on.  I had guessed that Estella might be buried in either section 1 or 2 and began my search by clearing away the grass of each stone I found.  After clearing about 15 stones I actually found her and recorded all the information I could find and also the info of the stone next to her so as to help the attendant to correct the information he had on the computer.  Turns out that she was not 94 years old but only 72.  Hopefully when I get home I will be able to trace her lineage and place her in my family tree. (It turns out that she was not a relative . . . )

 

Our second stop was across town and into Missouri.  After driving for what seemed forever, we finally found the Floral Hills Memorial Gardens (7000 Blue Ridge Blvd., Kansas City, MO).  Uncle Harold was in the Garden of Time Eternal section plot #400. This cemetery is well kept and nearly every stone had flowers on it.  The attendant said that when people put flowers on the site they leave them until the weather takes them away or destroys them.  We placed some flowers on Harold's grave took pictures to preserve the moment and left to find a shopping mall.

 

We first stopped at Union Station and were totally disappointed.  Next we searched for Country Club Plaza and found a wonderful 20 blocks of shopping heaven.  I think we walked the entire area finally stopping for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (our first time ever) and had a wonderful dinner.

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Today we drove to Topeka to find my grandparents gravesite.  We had a list of 11 cemeteries to search, 3 of which didn't even have names and which we never found.  After walking three of the cemeteries’ we decided to head over to the largest in hopes of finding a proprietor who would have some written records of the deceased.  So far we hadn’t seen any such person at the one's we had visited.  The cemetery we chose was the Topeka Memorial Cemetery and after a short search of the records we found my grandparents, Bert and Goldie McHenry and also their daughter Stella who only lived 2 days. The proprietor gave us copies of the cemetery records which showed us the section, plot, and site of each and we went to find their stones.

 

After much searching, we failed to find them but discovered the exact place where they are buried.  There were no stones and I hope one day to get some placed there. We took pictures of the area, took a GPS reading and then ventured off to the north in search of their parents, my great grandparents. 

 

We eventually ended up in Hiawatha, KS were we assumed that my great-grandparents were buried. By the time we got there it was almost dark and we discovered that there were actually 2 cemeteries (Claytonville & Mt. Hope) in the area.  We found the proprietor of the     Claytonville cemetery, found that the McHenry's were more than likely buried at Mt. Hope.  He was nice enough to give us the name of the proprietor and since it would be closing in just a few minutes we ecided to abandon our search and head for the home of Jay and Shelly Cook in Albany, MO.  where we would be spending the next 4 days searching for more of our ancestors.

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I had met Shelly online during my family research of the area.  She had a pretty good history of the McHenry's here due to the fact that her family, the Henry's and ours intermingled during the 1800's.  We arrived at 7:00 pm and Shelly had dinner waiting.  We had a wonderful chat, met each of their four children, and made plans to visit as many cemeteries as we could . . . and there are a lot of them!  I made it a point to contact the proprietor of the second cemetery we 
weren't able to visit in Hiawatha, KS and they promised to look up the information and mail it back to our Sacramento home.

  

We started out early today visiting several cemeteries.  The first one we stopped at was Westley Chapel in Martinsville.  Here we found Joseph & Mary Wright.  Mary was my great, great, grandfather Almond's daughter.  We then went to the West Eagleville Cemetery and had not planned to walk the cemetery but did anyway and boy am I glad I did!  We discovered, quite by accident, the stones of the parents       and other family members of my great-grandmother Melissa M. Barber who was married to my great-grandfather Samuel Volney McHenry, had been buried here.  We also found a stone that appeared to have the name of Annie McHenry.  After some research and a couple of phone calls, we think this might be the stone of Elizabeth Angela McHenry who had died at an early age from burns.

 

We then visited the Masonic Cemetery at Eagleville.  Charles & Stella McHenry are buried there.  Charles is the brother of Samuel. We also discovered the stones for Winnie Stevens.  Winnie is Charles daughter.  We also saw Luther & Lillian Sturdevant.  Lillian is Winnie's daughter.  To all of you, it is probably very confusing but to me it's Gold!

    

Some of the stones had become pretty illegible and so Shelly showed us how she cleans the stones using shaving cream.  It breaks down the moss and other particles and fills in the engravings so that they stand out better and makes them legible.  The rain eventually washes away the residue from the shaving cream and leaves behind a fairly clean stone ready for the next discoverer to come along and decipher.

 

Shelly then took us into the town of Eagleville to a restaurant called the Square Meal for lunch and we met a few of the locals.  We then went by Almond's home, the one he built.  It has been changed and modified over the years and doesn't really look like it did back in the late 1800's.  

 

Our final stop on our cemetery tour was Yankee Ridge and visited the site of Slade Purdun (no relation).  This young boy was cut down at the age of 10 by brain cancer.  That was nearly 2 years ago but the stone had just been placed and it was absolutely beautiful!  The company that created the stone had etched a photo of Slade onto the stone, preserving forever his memory.  It was a brand new process and one which I am sure will take off across the country.

 

We also stopped by John Taraba's home and caught him harvesting his beans.  He later came over to Shelly's and we verified several names and dates on our list of McHenry's.  In all, it was a very good day of family history hunting.  I know that when I get all this new information included in my files at home, it will answer a lot of questions about my family.  What a great day!

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Today's cemetery tour started at the Ridgeway Cemetery.  We met Kathy Barmann a distant cousin who lives just across the border in Iowa, who had come down to meet with us.  Almond McHenry, my great-great-grandfather and his wife Mary Rogers are 
buried here at Ridgeway along with several of William Harrison Henry's family members, most notably Eliza and Ella McHenry, the two eldest daughters of Almond, who married William and produced a total of 15 children for him.

 

Our visit with Kathy went well.  She told us stories of how she had visited Ireland and she produced pictures and lots of documentation regarding the McHenry's.  We will be taking a lot of this information home and making copies and sending the originals home to Shelly Cook for her to obtain copies.

 

The last half of the day I took some time off from cemetery hunting and played golf with Jay, Zeb, & Jed.  Jay had played before but it was very clear that Zeb, and Jed had not.  We only played 9 holes and I spent most of that time teaching the boys the basics.  Both of them show signs of having the ability to master the game but both need a lot more patience to do that.

 

After dinner Shelly, talked us into a game of dominoes which we have played with our friends back home.  First round was multiples of 5 which took a long time.  Second set was just matching the numbers.  Still took a long time, but it was lots of fun and the evening was over before we knew it.

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