Continuation of Fort Scott stories

We continue with stories about Fort Scott and school days. We have two stories this week. The first is written by Jackie (Day) Tinsley class of '49 the second is written by Dwight King Class of '49.

Hi Marilyn,

My life prior to moving to Fort Scott was very different from the life that most of my classmates had while growing up in Fort Scott. My family lived in Kansas City Mo., (although my dad had grown up in Fort Scott) until the end of WWII. We lived close to the downtown area. There was little opportunity to play outside beyond the boundaries of our own yard. We always kept our doors locked. I walked three blocks to grade school, but there was a policeman on the corner that could see us for two of those blocks. It wasn't the "safe" environment in which Fort Scott kids grew up. The year the war ended, I finished grade school and was to start high school from the seventh grade. We then moved to a small town in Missouri, where I was a stranger and remained a stranger to most of my classmates, and seldom included in their activities. Needless to say, I was not very happy much of the time we were there. My dad was offered a job in Fort Scott and he was anxious to return to his home city, so we moved when I finished my sophomore year.

I entered high school there in the fall of '47 as a junior, with much trepidation. But, joyfully, was treated as though I had been with them from kindergarten. I was most impressed by the friendliness of classmates and felt privileged to spend the last two years of high school as part of the Class of '49. Never once did I feel like an "outsider." To this day, I still look forward to the reunions where all of us are still "forty-niners" at heart. The Class of '48 also made me feel welcome. They, too, remain friends that I look forward to visiting with at reunions. Any teasing was good-natured and friendly, not hurtful. It seemed to me that I was one of them forever and, believe it or not, I still feel that way. Although each of us will have our own memories, I feel certain that there will always be a special bond between us all.

Thanks for asking me to write this.

-- Jackie (Day) Tinsley

Marilyn, thank you for your e-mails, we look forward to getting them. I was born in Fort Scott Aug. 21, 1931 at Mercy Hospital. I have the receipt for the $30 bill my parents paid to the hospital. I lived at 754 Clark Street and I ran off at the age of three. Following is the article that was in the Fort Scott Tribune.

"Maybe it was the excitement of the High School Hobo Parade, or maybe he just wanted to go visiting. Anyway, Dwight King, small son of Mr. And Mrs. Ivan King, 754 Clark St. walked off from home this morning to go to his grandmother's Mrs. N.J. Rose, 1201 S. National Avenue. He went south on Clark Street to Eighth Street, crossed the Frisco tracks, and Buck Run Creek, went up past the High School where a score of automobiles and hundreds of students were preparing for the parade. Crossed Main Street and walked calmly up to his grandmother's house. "Oh, she doesn't care," he told his grandmother in reply to a question whether his mother knew where he was. Mrs. Rose took him back home. Mrs. King had not missed him. The boy is about three years and eight months old."

My aunt, Miss Elta Rose taught school for 30 years in Fort Scott. She taught first grade most years. I walked to school and attended Eugene Ware and junior high school. I knew a lot of friends when in high school because of the years in school with them. One of my extra interests was taking piano lessons. My mother encouraged me in doing that.

I enjoy our high school reunions, they bring back the great memories of growing up in Fort Scott. We were like a family to each other.

-- Dwight King class of '49, now living in Peoria, Ill..