The older we get, the more Robert and I realize just how small this world actually is. A couple of weeks ago, Robert and I spent the weekend in Warrensburg, MO. The reason for the trip was a gig Robert was playing and since it was a Friday and Saturday night show, we had time to tootle around the town.
You know us, we love to see things we haven’t before and make sure to take some photos. We went to Old Downtown to see the old courthouse. We knew it wasn’t going to be open on Saturday, but we wanted to at least get some photos of the outside.
After being there a while, walking around the building and taking pictures from every angle, a gentleman came out of the neighboring library. He asked if we would like to go inside. We felt pretty special to get our own private tour.
Mike Shaw was the man’s name and it turns out he volunteers for the Johnson County Historical Society every Saturday. During our private tour, Mike asked us where we were from. When we said “Cedar County,” he mentioned he had descendants from the Caplinger Mills area. We told him that is the very spot we are living and we were so surprised to hear him say Caplinger Mills since most people have no clue where it is being such a small speck on the map.
Robert and Mike are very knowledgeable about genealogy and I enjoyed hearing them talk about places and people from the past. There is a Concert Series of acoustic music held every Saturday at the old courthouse for most of the summer. Mike said the sound in that old building was remarkable.
We made our way to the neighboring library to sign the Historical Society’s registry and were on our way to take photos of the town square and the Court House.
Around town, we would see statues of a dog. We learned the dog “Old Drum” in 1869 was willfully shot by the owner’s neighbor and during the closing statements of the court case, Senator George Graham Vest made a memorable speech which included this quote:
“The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous… is his dog.”
We were sure glad Mike came out to greet us while at the old courthouse. He really made our day even more enjoyable. We were even more delighted that he came out to see Robert play that night. It’s great to encounter unexpected connections and hope our paths will cross again.
There is something relaxing about exploring small towns and making new connections with people. Luckily, Robert will have another gig scheduled there soon and we’ll do some more exploring.
