Our All-Time Favorite Reading Books

Awhile back, one of my first cousins was looking to purchase a book for her nephew for Christmas. She wanted to give him a book that was popular with her age group and asked for our advice.  We thought her suggestion was too mature for his age and level of understanding, so we told her of several other books that we thought would be more appropriate.  That's when I decided to compile a list of our all-time favorite chapter books and I'm finally getting around to it. 😄

(Pssst! Many of them have been made into audio books and movies too. A book and the corresponding CD or DVD  would make an excellent birthday or holiday gift. They can listen to, read and/or watch and compare the story lines. And I was able to find a few free e-books for your I-Pad, Kindle, Lap-Top, Nook, or Smart Phone. They are linked in. Our favorite bookstore is Half-Price Books. We discovered it during our homeschooling days. We also visit our local library and thrift stores for books.)

Author - Book Title(s).
(Many of the books may be appropriate for both boys and girls.)

for boys 

1. Bender, Esther  - Thank God for Rocks.
2. Bowen, Robert Sidney  - Dave Dawson (book series); Dave Dawson on Guadalcanal (audio)
3. Burgess, Thornton W. - The Adventures of Bob White (audio); The Adventures of Buster Bear (audio); The Adventures of Bobby Coon (audio); The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel (audio); The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse (audio); The Adventures of Grandfather Frog (audio); The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat (audio); The Adventures of Johnny Chuck (audio); The Adventures of Lightfoot the Deer (audio);  The Adventures of Mr Mocker (audio); The Adventures of Old Man Coyote (audio); The Adventures of Paddy Beaver (audio); Adventures of Peter Cottontail (audio); The Adventures of Sammy Jay (audio); The Adventures of Prickly Porky (audio); The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum (audio);  The Adventures of Poor Mrs Quack (audio); The Adventures of Reddy Fox (audio); The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk (audio); The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad (audio);  Bowser the Hound (audio);  The Burgess Animal Book for Children (audio); The Burgess Bird Book for Children (audio); Blacky the Crow (audio); Buster Bear's Twins (audio); Happy Jack (audio); How Old Mr. Crow Lost His Double Tongue (audio);  How Old King Eagle Won His White Head (audio); How Old Mr. Mink Taught Himself to Swim (audio); Mother West Wind's Animal Friends (audio); Mother West Wind's Children (audio); Mother West Wind "How" Stories (audio); Mother West Wind When Stories (audio);  Mother West Wind 'Where' Stories (audio); Mother West Wind 'Why' Stories (audio);  Old Mother West Wind (audio); Mrs. Peter Rabbit (audio); Old Granny Fox (audio); Tommy and the Wishing Stone (audio);  Whitefoot the Wood Mouse (audio); Why Hooty the Owl Does Not Play On the Green Meadow (audio)
4. Burroughs, Edgar Rice  - Moon Maid (audio); The Princess of Mars (audio), (book); Son of Tarzan (audio);  Tarzan (book); Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (audio); Tarzan the Terrible (audio); The Land that Time Forgot (audio); 
5. Chesterton, G. K.  - The Wisdom of Father Brown (audio)
6. Cooper, James Fenimore - The Last of the Mohicans (book)
7. Defoe, Daniel  - Robinson Crusoe (audio)
8. Dickens, Charles - A Christmas Carol (video); Oliver Twist [note: video may be disturbing for young children] (video), 
9. Dixon, Franklin W. - the Hardy Boys (mystery series). (video)
10. Douglas, Lloyd C.  - The Robe (book), (video clip)
11. Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan - The Lost World (book); Sherlock Holmes
12. Dumas, Alexandre - The Count of Monte Cristo (audio), (book) ;  The Three Musketeers (audio)
13. ENGLISH FAIRY TALES - Jack & the Beanstalk (video); 
14. Fleming, Ian - Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang 
15. Field, Eugene = The Poems of Eugene Field (book)
16. George, Jean Craighead - My Side of the Mountain
17. Gipson, Fred  - Old Yeller
18. Grahame, Kenneth - The Wind in the Willows (audio), (book) 
19. God - The Holy Bible (book), (audio)
20. Guest, Edgar Albert - Just Folks (book)
21. Haggard, H. Rider  - King Solomon's Mine (book), (audio), (video)
22. Hamner, Jr., Earl  - Spencer's Mountain,  The (Walton's) Homecoming: A Christmas Story (video)
23. Herriot, James (pen name for James Alfred Wight) - All Creatures Great and Small (series); Dog Stories; 
24. Hope, Laura Lee - The Bobbsey Twins (book); The Bobbsey Twins in the Country (audio); The Bobbsey Twins on the Deep Blue Sea (audio); The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore (audio); Merry Days Indoors and Out (audio); 
25. Lawhead, Stephen R. - the Pendragon Cycle (series)
26. Lewis, C.S.  - The Chronicles of Narnia (series). 
27. London, Jack - The Call of the Wild (audio), (book) (video); Sea Wolf (audio); White Fang (audio); 
28. Kipling, Rudyard  - The Jungle Book (audio)
29. Malory, Sir Thomas  - Le Morte Darthur: King Arthur & His Round Table (book)
30. Marzollo, Jean  - I Spy: A Book of Picture Riddles
31. McSpadden, J. Walker - Robin Hood (audio)
32. Munsch, Robert - Love You Forever.
33. Lofting, Hugh - The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle (audio).
34. Nesbit, E.  - The Railway Children (audio)
35. O'Dell, Scott - Island of the Blue Dolphins
36. Pyle, Howard  - Robin Hood (book)
37. Rawls, Wilson  - Where the Red Fern Grows
38. Sayers, Dorothy - Lord Peter Wimsey (adult mystery series) (book)
39. Scott, Sir Walter - Ivanhoe (audio), (book) 
40. Sheldon, Charles M. - In His Steps (book), (video-1) (video-2) (video-3)
41. Stevenson, Robert Louis (some of his writings are on the dark side, but these are okay) - A Child's Garden of Verses (book);  The Black Arrow (audio);  Treasure Island (audio);  
42. Swift, Jonathan - Gulliver's Travels (book)
43. Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel  - The Hobbit; The Lord of the Rings (the movie is too intense for little ones)
44. Travers, Pamela Lyndon  - Mary Poppins
45. Twain, Mark (Clemens, Samuel) - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (audio); Huckleberry Finn (audio), (video), The Prince and the Pauper, Tom Sawyer (audio), 
46. Verne, Jules - 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas (audio); Journey to the Center of the Earth (book) 
47. Wallace, Lewis - Ben Hur (book)
48. Warner, Gertrude Chandler  - The Boxcar Children (audio)
49. White, E. B. - Charlotte's Web; Stuart Little.
50. Wright, Harold Bell - The Shepherd of the Hills (book); 
51. Wyss, Johann David - Swiss Family Robinson  (audio), (book)

for girls

Beautiful Girlhood by Mabel Hale. 

1. Alcott, Louisa May  - Eight Cousins (audio); Jack and Jill (audio); Little Men (book); Little Women (audio), (book), (video);  Rose in Bloom (audio), (audio 2); Spinning Wheel Stories (audio)
2. Barnes, Emilie - Sharing a Cup of Kindness with Treasured Friends, The Spirit of Loveliness: Bringing Beauty, Creativity, and Order to Your Life; If Teacups Could Talk: 
3. Brink, Carol Ryrie  - Caddie Woodlawn; The Pink Motel
4. Brown, Ruth Alberta  - At the Little Brown House (book); The Lilac Lady
5. Buck, Pearl S. - The Good Earth.
6. Burnett, Frances Hodgson  - A Little Princess (audio), (book), (video);  Little Lord Fauntleroy (audio),  (book); The Secret Garden (audio), (book); The Shuttle (audio)
7. Childs, Laura =  Cackleberry Club; Scrapbook; Tea (adult cozy mystery series)
8. Finley, Martha - Elsie Dinsmore (book series); Elsie's Children (audio); 
9. Field, Rachel -- Hitty, Her First Hundred Years.
10. Frank, Anne - The Diary of a Young Girl (video)
11. Gates, Doris - The Blue Willow
12. God - The Holy Bible (book)
13. Hale, Mabel - Beautiful Girlhood (audio) 
14. Hill, Grace Livingston - (abt. 100 novels); The Enchanted Barn (audio); The Girl from Montana (audio)
15. Keene, Carolyn  - Dana (mystery series); Nancy Drew (mystery series)
16. Keller, Helen - The Story of My Life (book)
17. Landon, Margaret  - Anna and the King of Siam (video clip; The King and I); Never Dies the Dream
18. Lindgren, Astrid - Pippi Longstocking.
19. MacLachlan, Patricia  - Sarah, Plain and Tall (video)
20. Marshall, Catherine - Christy; Julie
21. Montgomery, Lucy Maud  - Anne of Avonlea (audio); Anne of Green Gables  (audio), (book); Anne's House of Dreams (audio);  Anne of the Island (audio); Emily of the New Moon; Further Chronicles of Avonlea (audio);  Jane of Lantern Hill; Rainbow Valley (audio); 
22. Norton, Mary  - The Borrowers (series)
23. Oke, Janette  - Love Comes Softly (series);
24. Page, Patti  - Once Upon a Dream; This is My Song: A Memoir. 
25. Perrault, Charles - Cinderella (book)
26. Porter, Eleanor H. - Pollyanna (audio), (video clip); Pollyanna Grows Up (audio), (book)
27. Porter, Gene Stratton - Freckles (book); Keeper of the Bees; Laddie (book), (video); The Girl of the Limberlost
28. Potter, Beatrix -  Great Big Treasury (audio);  The Tale of Peter Rabbit (book); Miss Potter (video)
29. Sewell, Anna - Black Beauty (audio), (book) 
30. Shaw, Bernard -Pygmalion (video) (My Fair Lady; Audrey Hepburn version is my favorite)
31. Sidney, Margaret  - Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (book) (video) 
32. Smith, Hannah Whitall -  The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life (audio)
33. Spyri, Johanna - Heidi  (audio), (book), (video)
34. ten Boom, Corrie - The Hiding Place; Tramp for the Lord. 
35. Tudor, Tasha - A Tale for Easter.
36. von Trapp, Maria - The Story of the Trapp Family Singers  (video); (movie: Sound of Music) (video clip)
37. Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith - Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. (book); Rose O' The River (audio)
38. Wilder, Laura Ingalls - Little House on the Prairie (series). 
39. Williams, Margary - The Velveteen Rabbit (audio)

MORE:

YouTube Audio Book Playlist. 

Heirlooms: Little Mementos of Our Ancestors

I've been reading a book for my personal summer reading program called "Gratitude: Affirming One Another Through Stories." By Len Froyen. 2013. I was inspired to compile a list of heirlooms we have by a couple of sentences in a chapter: "Gratitude inspires one generations contributions to the next." and "Gratitude preserves the indispensable heritage of each generation."

Reminds me of my favorite Bible verse found in Proverbs 24:3,4 

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." 

Both of us have a wealth of cards, letters, newspaper clippings, photos and recipes that have been shared with us and they are scattered throughout this blog. Be sure to come back to see this list as it is sure to grow longer, for when we sat down to compile a list of our treasures, things that we had forgotten about kept coming to mind. Why just today, my husband dug down in a cabinet to retrieve something of his dad's! smile! 

Here are some of HIS heirlooms:

Ishmael Rush's Bolo Tie clasp he purchased while  on vacation to South Dakota. 

Ishmael Rush's Cuff Links. 

Marie Rush's Red Willow Plate. It hung in her farmhouse kitchen for years and she gave it to me when she learned I loved the novel "Blue Willow" by Doris Gates.  Both Marie and I shared a love of reading. 📚

Norman Rush's toy car. 

Norman Rush's candlestick that he made in high school shop class. It is dated 1950. 

Bertha Carrender's cookie jar. 

And here are some of HER heirlooms:

Tacy Ullom's graniteware cup. Tacy cooked in her husband's inn before and after marriage in Coffeyville, Kansas and in Streator, Illinois before moving out to Postle in the panhandle of Oklahoma to settle.

Gladys O'Neal's print of the Good Shepherd given to her by her Sunday School class. It is from a painting by Warner E. Sallman.

Gladys O'Neal also had a framed copy of this print which was hanging in one of her bedrooms. She gave it to our son. It is called "The Pilot." Also by Warner E. Sallman. 

Gladys Esther (White) O'Neal worked on her genealogy for 28 years, finally publishing it in 1983. Each one of her children and grandchildren received a copy. There are no more copies and Vera Lane holds the copyright. 

Gladys O'Neal had a little ceramic shop out in her garage. Many of the ceramic pieces was used in the wedding cakes she made for the young couples in the area and as VBS crafts. She took some china painting classes and this is one of the plates she painted. I always thought this plate was lovely, so it came to me upon her death as she had a little note taped to the back of the plate that I was to have it.  

Beautiful Girlhood by Mabel Hale.

Gladys O'Neal received this book for Christmas from her parents, Papa and Mama White when she was a girl. 

Russell Griffith's book "The Little Brown Suitcase" is at the bottom of this post. 

Maurine Ullom's Household Searchlight cookbook that she traded a chicken for.

Maurine Ullom's lamp. It was moved from Maurine and John's 2 story old farmhouse to their new ranch house that John had built in the 1960s on their Postle, Oklahoma farm.

Maurine Ullom's Dutch couple. 

Maurine Ullom's small crockery pitcher. She had a love for dolls and miniatures and she used it for toothpicks. 

We visited Hallie Maple at her 2-story home up in Stanberry, MO several times where she gave me all of her genealogy notes for the Bailey and Morris families and gave me this old doll. She made the dress herself as it was to grace her made bed as a bed doll.  According to the internet, classic boudoir dolls were meant for decoration rather than play and was popular during the 1920s to 1940s. 

Robert O'Neal's 2 year old summer suit he wore for a photo along with long hose that went up over his knees and high top, tie-on oxford shoes. Imagine wrestling a squirmy kid in and out of this outfit. 😁

Little Robert, when about two or three years old, played with these little dolls. As worn as the paint is on the female doll, I'd say his three siblings played with them too! 😄

Lavon Robertson purchased a pair of these lamps as a gift for her mother. They sat on the vanity in the guest bedroom for many years.

Melba Robertson gave Lavon this perfume bottle which sat on her dresser until Lavon's passing. 

Mom's repainted porch glider.

Article written and updated by : Dolores J. Rush. 

Charity Scrivner Holder, New Santa Fe, Missouri

We recently attended the New Santa Fe, Missouri Christian Church Historical Marker Dedication on the Old Santa Fe Trail (f. 1821) and met new-to-us cousins. My guy is the bearded fellow. 

I discovered a couple of years ago that a John and Charity (Scrivner) Holder were buried in the New Santa Fe Christian Church cemetery on Find-a-grave.com and contacted a member of the New Santa Fe Historical Society's Trail Center. I wanted to know if there were any relatives still in the area and sure enough, she introduced me, via email, to one. He's in his 80s and we have communicated via email ever since. He's been undergoing chemo, so we haven't been able to meet until now and what a good time we had getting acquainted in person, along with his wife.

He told us a little about himself and about Doris Collier's Scrivner genealogy which David has since purchased. We figured that Charity and John were my husband's 4th great-aunt and uncle. David is a direct descendant of the Scrivner family of Cole County, MO. through his paternal line [Norman Rush, Nanny Marie (Rush) Rush, Cora Lee (Sullens) Rush,  Nannie Cynthia (Scrivner) Sullens,  William J. Scrivner and so on, back through time]. 

I grew up southeast of New Santa Fe, MO. and attended VBS at the Christian Church there one summer. My mother attended a rummage sale there  also, and bought a big shiny slide for us kids. Dad set it next to our red swing set in the back yard. We had it for many years until mom decided we were too old for it and sold it. 

New Santa Fe on the Santa Fe Trail was usually the first camping stop after leaving Independence, MO. that morning.  Pioneers pulled their wagons up to the 4 o'clock house, got out, made camp, and walked or rode a horse into "town" to purchase the last necessities they needed before crossing the border (present-day State Line Road) into the Kansas territory the next morning. After  1858, the next stop was ten miles across a flat prairie to the Mahaffie Farm (the Stage Coach line didn't officially open until 1863).  

Growing up there, I never knew the area was part of our ancestral family history, more than I ever imagined. For instance, I learned that the 1838 forced removal of the Pottawatomi from Indiana (Trail of Death) crossed just north of the home of my 3rd great-grandparents in Christian County, Illinois when they were living there at the end of a hot and dusty September and that these same trail-weary and cold Indians and their government agents (approximately 1000 people altogether) plus horses, cattle and wagons camped on the western side of the Big Blue River after crossing it at the beginning of November. Today that camping spot is in present-day Minor Park and is south of Red Bridge Road and east of Holmes in Kansas City, MO.  There is a marker on the bluff above the river that marks the spot near their crossing on the Santa Fe Trail and a DAR marker further up the hill, west of the railroad tracks, marking the swales of the Trail. The Trail angled southwest across present-day Minor Park Golf Course, across present-day Holmes Road to the 4-0'clock house situated between present-day St. Thomas More Catholic Church and Avila University.  

I never knew that my 3rd great-grandfather probably camped there one night with a group of militia men on their way to  Miami County, Kansas one hot August night in 1856. Or that the Congregational missionary, Rev. Samuel Adair, was a first cousin to Lucinda (Henderson) Mahaffie and brother-in-law to a man who despised my 3rd great-grandfather because he was a Justice of the Peace in that part of the territory and he couldn't be bought to join his cause nor look the other way. Nor did I ever dream that my future husband's relatives lived in the parsonage across the road from the New Santa Fe Christian church. 

Here's the new marker for the New Santa Fe Christian Church. If you wish to read more about the history of the church, please click here to read Diane's story and here for the video she compiled to play in the narthex of the hosting congregation which had purchased the "new" New Santa Fe Christian Church building to worship in. 

"Santa Fe Christian Church
In 1869, families living in the southwestern part of the county (Jackson County, MO) organized the Santa Fe Christian Church in the town of New Santa Fe. Some pivotal charter members included: William A. McKinney, William Rippeto, Joel Lipscomb, Marcus Gill, John M. Wells, and Isaac Weeks.
The congregation originally met at the schoolhouse in New Santa Fe. A white-framed church was dedicated on the land in 1892.
By the 1960s, the church was one of the last buildings standing in the town of New Santa Fe. In November 1969, a fire damaged part of the church. The newer members held a meeting without including everyone and voted to raze the church. An injunction to stop the demolition was filed in February 1971 and was approved; however, the church was bulldozed before the order could be enforced.
Most of the original church is under the current parking lot on the southeastern edge of the cemetery. A small part of the chimney and the outline of the baptismal font are still visible today inside the cemetery's gates. Santa Fe Christian Church 
Marker placed by the Historical Society of New Santa Fe." 

Update! More to Read: 
1. "Santa Fe Christian Church's Final Homecoming Celebration" By Mary Wilson. Jackson County Advocate Newspaper Blog. Grandview, MO., Friday, October 13, 2017

Here's my contribution to the event -- a coloring sheet of the old church that had been torn down:

Update: Bill Crotty passed away 13 February 2019. His Findagrave memorial 

and Obituary. 

Article written by Dolores J. Rush, Updated: 9/20/2022.

News!

4 Feb 2024 = Jeanette (Jeffries) Rush Pestock passed away. 

8 July 2023 = First time since Covid Lockdown, we had a Rush Reunion! Theme: Western. 

29 November 2022 = The compiler of the genealogy, The Rush Report (see below) passed away today. Our sympathy goes to Gaynelle Jenkins Stoddard Moore's (age 90) family. Legacy #38289024 and Findagrave #255427023

18 May 2022 = George Allen Robertson passed away. He was 84 years old. 

15 Feb 2022 = Vera Loree (O'Neal) Lane passed away. She was 82 years old. 

18 Dec 2021 = Robert "Bob or Robo" Lawrence Lane passed away. He was 80 years old. 

8 Apr 2021 = Dorthy Mack, genealogist for the Boone Society passed away. She stopped here after a Boone Reunion in 2016 and we took her out to eat. Here's a photo of the two of us together. 

27 Apr 2020 = Miss Lily Dog, abt. 10 yrs, passed away during our coronavirus lockdown. 

Oct to Dec 2019: CONTRIBUTED TO: Generations, a Journal of  M.A.G.I.C. (Midwest Afro-American Genealogical Interest Coalition).

26 Oct 2019: NORMAN W. RUSH, 87, passed away.

2 Oct 2019: BARBARA CHASE PURTELL, 88, passed away. 

30 Sep 2019: PINKIE ANN (BIAS) CARRENDER, 78, passed away.

13 Jul 2019: RUSH REUNION. 

14 Jul 2018: RUSH REUNION. 

4 Apr 2018: ROSCOE W. RUSH, 92, Mary's Home. Died.

 7 Oct 2017: HISTORICAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH MARKER DEDICATION. New Santa Fe, Mo. (present day Kansas City, MO). This was my contribution to the event - a coloring sheet of the historic New Santa Fe, MO. Christian Church. 

8 Jul 2017: RUSH REUNION. 


Jan-Mar 2017. CONTRIBUTED TO: Generations, a Journal of  M.A.G.I.C. (Midwest Afro-American Genealogical Interest Coalition).

9 Jul 2016: RUSH REUNION. 

8 Nov 2015: SOLD OUT! Gaynelle Jenkins Moore compiled and published several books of her family history and its allied lines. The 2003 "Rush Report," is one such book and it is of the descendants of William and Henson Rush, along with the allied families of Bittle, Farley, Johnston, Loveall, Mertell, McAlister, Spalding, Williams and Winters. It covers 3433 descendants and 15 generations on 530 (8 ½" x 11") pages. It has over 200 photos with an index and comb binding.

Previous books were "The Spalding Report," "The Jenkins Family @1998," and "Eugene, Missouri: The Town that Lived (and Died) with the Railroad." Her newest book is "The Loveall Report" published in 2010. Each of her books were published in limited editions. For a hard  copy, check out the Miller County, MO. Historical Museum's archives in Tuscumbia, MO. or the Mid-West Genealogy Center, Independence, MO. 

19 Sep 2015: CONCERT. Border Ballads by Hank Roberts and Tom Raffiner. 


11 Jul 2015: RUSH REUNION. FREE Fan Template


29 Jun 2015: BIRTHDAY.

19 May 2015: PRESENTED PROGRAM. My husband and I traveled to Lincoln, IL to give a presentation about my 3rd great-grandparents, Eld. Martin and Kiturah (Fletcher) White. Martin was Logan County, IL's very first elected representative in the Illinois State Legislature. This was the write-up in the paper advertising my very first program. 

19 Oct 2014: CEMETERY PHOTO DAY.


 29 Sep 2014: MELBA K. RUSH, 78, Bonner Springs. Passed. 


14 Sep 2014: GENE E. RUSH, 80, Kansas City, Kansas, died. 


12 Jul 2014: RUSH REUNION. 

22 Mar 2014 = ORDER NO. 11 MARKER DEDICATION. I represented the third of the families who returned to Bates County, MO after the Civil War.

Spring 2014: TRANSCRIPTION CONTRIBUTION. I extracted information from cookbooks, old magazines, and vintage valentines for the Missouri State Genealogy Association Journal (MOSGA). One was a series of articles called "Missouri Contributors to National Women's Magazines."

5 Dec 2013: LORETTA A. SCHOLTZ, 90, Kansas City, Kansas, passed away

8 Oct 2013: PHYLLIS A. RUSH = July 6, 1948-October 8, 2013.


13 Jul 2013: RUSH REUNION. Another Poem

25 Jun 2013: PEGGY SMITH HAKE, 77, of Independence, formerly of Miller County, MO, passed away. Kinship -- Mrs. Hake was David's fourth cousin through the LOVEALLS.

14 Dec 2012: WILLIAM E. RUSH (1919-2012) passed away. 


 2 Aug 2012: ARCHIE TRUEMAN RUSH, Jr. passed away. 


14 Jul 2012: RUSH REUNION Poem and Recap Article


26 Jan 2012: GOLDIE (WINTERS) HOOPER HARRISON passed away. 

11 Nov 2011:  WEDDING: Eldon Church of the Nazarene, Miller County, MO. Pastor Jerry FRYE officiated at not only the bride and groom's wedding, but also the bride's mother and father’s wedding and it was like a reunion of the RUSH and CARRENDER families with three hundred guests, at least! 

11 Nov 2011: VETERAN TOMBSTONES: Two new tombstones have been ordered and delivered from the government for family Civil War veterans - Rev. Alexander SULLENS, Spring Garden cemetery and Isham GORDON, Eugene cemetery. Both will be set later this week. 

16 Jul 2011: STATE FAIR. One of the highlights of country life is exhibiting or working in county or state fairs. While listening in to several conversations going on around me at the reunion, I heard rumors that there might be exhibitors at one of the upcoming county fairs? Great show and tell for all the kid’s hard work this past year in 4-H, Future Farmers of America or in scouting.
I know that several family members have worked at or exhibited at our state fair in Sedalia, Missouri in the past. If you have won a ribbon, congratulations! Please make a note of it in the comments below and tell what you won the ribbon for so all of us can congratulate you also!

9 Jul 2011: RUSH REUNION. Great success! It looked as though we had some newly built picnic tables with stained wood at the shelter, so that was a welcome sight! Sunday morning we attended church at Eldon Church of the Nazarene. I saw quite a few of the Rush family there! Very good sermon on family! Isn’t it amazing how timely God is?

30 Jul 2010: LARRY "KELAN" SPALDING, Age 74, passed away Friday, 30 Jul 2010, in Springfield, MO.

10 Jul 2010: RUSH REUNION. The day dawned beautifully; not too warm with a nice breeze under the picnic shelter at the Eldon Air Park. I heard that Friday's pool party had a good turn-out, but we missed several at the potluck on Saturday. You know one can't beat a picnic to the park with good company and making memories with the kids and grandparents. 

19 Jun 2010: NEW TOMBSTONES. Last year, just before the annual Rush Reunion, two new tombstones were placed on the graves of brothers, James M. "Kain Tuck" Rush and John William Rush, who fought in the Civil War together in the Rush Chapel Cemetery. The Rush family collected enough money last year to replace ten gravestones that were badly deteriorated. They were replaced with new ones by the Kidwell Monument Company, Versailles, MO. in May.

6 Jun 2010: VIANNA LOUISE (FARLEY) STEEN, 72, of Independence, Missouri, passed away. 

Spring/Summer 2008: TRANSCRIPTION. "The Pioneer Wagon" Journal of the Jackson County, MO. Genealogical Society.

Compiled by Dolores J. Rush, Updated: 5/25/2022