Stalcup Bookstore, Shelbina, MO

I found this searching the Shelby County, MO, historical society website. I knew of the existence of the bookstore from Dr. Jim Foster in Shelbina, as well as from the Mary Threlkeld Pilcher book. Evidently it was run by Ethel Stalcup, a daughter of Sampson Key Stalcup. Her sister ran a hat shop close by, but no pictures yet. I'll add more details later.

More St. Louis Browns Information

I've run across some old photos of the St. Louis Browns from the 1885-1896 era. These come courtesy of Mr. Jeff Kittel, who has an amazing blog dedicated to 19th century baseball in the St. Louis area. Perhaps someone with good eyes and photo-matching skills can attempt to see if one of these players could possibly be Robert Lee Stalcup.

Robert Lee & Minnie Stalcup

I have absolutely NO idea how I got so lucky on this find, but through the kindness of Dr. Jim Foster, a veterinarian from Shelbina, MO, (who is a cousin related through Robert Lee's mother, Mary Harris Stalcup and his brother Isaac Taylor Stalcup) - I now have pictures of Robert Lee and Minnie, as well as their son (my grandfather) Chester, and Mary (my gr-gr-grandmother)!!!!! AMAZING! I never thought I'd ever see a picture of my great-grandparents! Wow! You can see that the picture of Robert Lee and Minnie was taken in Blair, NE - and I would guess right around when Chester was born (1900). The picture of Mary was taken in 1874! I am SO psyched! When I learn more from Dr. Foster, I'll add it to the blog.

More Nebraska Stalcups

Through the kindness of Pat Hunsche and Dixie Lambert in Washington County, Nebraska, pictures of my great-grandparents gravestones were taken and sent to me. They are buried in Kennard, NE, which is pretty close to Blair, NE.

Nebraska Stalcups

Through the hard work of Mrs. Pat Hunsche of the Washington County Genealogical Society in Blair, Nebraska, I was able to get some information on Robert Lee and Minnie Virginia Stalcup (my g-grandparents), as well as their children Chester (my grandfather) and Letha. In particular, she sent a copy of the obituaries for Robert Lee and Minnie, as well as a copy of their marriage certificate. It is in Minnie's obituary that we have a mention of Robert Lee playing baseball for the St. Louis Browns. My dad also told me that he remembers visiting his grandaprents Robert and Minnie and that his grandpa gave him a mechanical pencil that had 'St. Louis Browns' on it. It is interesting to see the mention of Robert Lee being a Mason. I was hoping that lodge still existed in Kennard or Blair, but no luck so far. As I move forward I will try to see if any existing lodges have any information from that old lodge, and hopefully pictures. Another cool picture to add to the blog is a picture of Letha that Mrs. Hunsche found!

The Great St. Louis Browns Mystery

From the obituary of my g-grandfathers wife Minnie, it stated that Robert Lee had played professional baseball for the St. Louis Browns from 1881-1885. I have had absolutely zero luck verifying this through at least two on-line baseball reference sites (site 1 and site 2). At least for any player with the name of 'Stalcup.' I suppose that he could've played under another name - or perhaps played on a minor league team affiliated with the Browns. History for minor league players in that era are very sketchy and hard to find, especially since there really wasn't a well organized minor league back then. Anyway, I did find this picture of the St. Louis Browns from what I believe is 1883. Perhaps between the previous links to baseball sites and this picture, someone will magically figure out who Robert Lee Stalcup may be! One can always hope, right?! I did post a question to an old-time baseball site, and you can view the replies here.

More Missouri Stalcups - Sampson K. Stalcup

Sampson K. Stalcup (1843-1909) was a younger brother of my g-g-g-grandfather Isaac. He lived in Missouri in the Monroe/Shelby County area where the Stalcup's had populated after moving from Virginia. Thanks to Larry Smiser again for his tip on finding this photo. It comes from a book titled "Growing Up On A Farm in Missouri" by Mary Threlkeld Pilcher. Sampson was her maternal grandfather, and her book title aptly describes the contents of the book. It is pretty cool reading about Stalcup relatives from that time era (late 1800's - early 1900's)! There are a few other Stalcup pictures, but this is the only one that is close to Isaac. I am not sure when the picture was taken, but it is always neat to imagine that Isaac must've looked fairly similar. I'm getting closer and closer to pictures of John, Isaac, Robert Lee, and Chester!



Here is a picture of Sampson and his wife Mary Elizabeth Foster Stalcup's home in Shelbina. I feel really lucky to have run into this book and the information provided by Mr. Smiser!