His presentation featured sunrises and sunsets over rustic barns and historic churches, wildlife in motion, and the many waterways that wind through the county. Stinson reflected on how much he enjoyed serving as sheriff, particularly the conversations he shared with Ralls County residents. Growing up as a pastor’s son, he found special meaning in photographing local churches.

The Ralls County Historical Society extends its thanks to Brad for sharing his photographs and reminding us all of the beauty that surrounds us here at home.

• Cemetery Update:  A discussion was held about several cemeteries, including Pleasant View, Barkley Cemetery, Underwood Cemetery, and several other small cemeteries throughout the county.  If you or someone you know is the contact person for a Ralls County cemetery, please contact RCHS so we can update our records.

• Fort Mason Project:  No update

• Center Depot: No update

• Missouri Mule Museum: Jeanie Gay shared that the Missouri Mule Museum (MMM) will remain open to the public for the rest of the summer, on Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The museum is located at 114 East Main Street in Perry (the former Western Auto building).  New signage has been installed.

• Volunteers Needed: Volunteers are needed to staff the museum in Perry and the depot in Center, keeping them open to the public.

• Perry Bank Restoration:  No update

• Ralls County Seal Design Contest:  Submissions were reviewed, and a winning design was chosen.  Delores will work with the artist to make a few changes to the design, and then the winner's name will be shared.

• Preserving County Documents and other artifacts:  No update.

• Donations: In an effort to document donations, they will now be included in the meeting agenda, starting this month.  There was a discussion about the need to establish an inventory system that will enable all volunteers to locate society documents when they are needed. An abstract was donated this month.  In the past, abstracts were maintained by property owners, but this is no longer the case.  RCHS will begin accepting abstracts, as they provide valuable historical records for individuals researching genealogy and historic events.  Delores will make several Facebook posts soon. We can contact abstract companies to see if they have any abstract information they are willing to donate.  That said, we must ensure that this section remains manageable and organized to be useful. Finally, it was noted that we have many yearbooks available at the museum and online.  If you visit the yearbook page on our website, you can click on the yearbooks that have been scanned to view them.  If an asterisk is placed behind the year, it indicates that a hard copy of the yearbook is available in our museum.  Thank you, Marie Lewandoswki, for scanning the donated yearbooks and those we already had at the museum.  If anyone has a yearbook to donate, please contact Delores Woodhurst or Carolyn Trower.  We would love to scan yearbooks from Rensselaer and Ilasco if anyone has copies they would be willing to loan to us to scan. 

• Current Research Requests: No update

• Ongoing Projects

  • Adult History Preservation:   No new interviews have been completed.   If anyone would like to conduct interviews with a senior citizen or be interviewed, please contact Delores Woodhurst or Carolyn Trower.

  • John Ralls Donation: Documents from the donation are being transcribed.  Transcribed documents can be found at RCHS’s website:  https://www.rallscohistoricalsociety.com/research-spotlight/john-ralls-documents.

  • Calendar:  Brad Stinson is going to share a thumb drive of his photography, and Delores will use these images to create the 2026 calendar.

  • Student Internship Program: Evie Bickel has agreed to return as a student intern, and counselors at Mark Twain will share the application with interested students.

• Payment of Bills with Receipts:  No bills or receipts were presented.

• Financial Information as of 8/31/2025:  Ending balance $49,233.16

• President’s Update: Ron shared that he will be donating many of his belongings to be incorporated into the museum or library.   

• Public Outreach Opportunities

  • RCHS’s 50th anniversary will be in January 2026.  RCHS will celebrate this event with a lasagna supper fundraiser in January.  The event is tentatively set for January 17, 2026, and RCHS hopes to finalize the date at its October meeting.  The event will be held at the Mark Twain Rural Development Corporation’s multipurpose building, located just north of Perry.  

  • September 18, 2025:  IAHPS Research Center & Archival Library Ribbon Cutting, 10998 Ilasco Drive, Hannibal, 4:30 p.m.

  • September 27, 2025;  Vandalia Historical Society Prairie Days

  • September 27, 2025:  Oak Hill School Gathering, 6:30 p.m.  A meal is served on a free-will donation basis, accompanied by music.  The public is welcome to attend. 

  • September 27-38, 2025:  Audrain County Historical Society Walk Back in Time

  • September 28, 2025:  ILASCO Holy Chapel Mass, 9:00 a.m.

  • October 11, 2025:  ILASCO Cake Piknik, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., ILASCO

  • October 15, 2025:  RCHS Meeting, 10:00 a.m., Perry City Hall

  • October 25, 2025:  Oak Hill School Gathering, 6:30 p.m.  A meal is served on a free-will donation basis, accompanied by music.  The public is welcome to attend. 

  • October 26, 2025:  ILASCO Holy Chapel Mass, 9:00 a.m.

  • November 19, 2025:  RCHS Meeting, 10:00 a.m., Perry City Hall

  • November 22, 2025:  Oak Hill School Gathering, 6:30 p.m.  A meal is served on a free-will donation basis, accompanied by music.  The public is welcome to attend. 

  • December 5, 2025:  Christmas in ILASCO, 5:00-8:00 p.m., ILASCO

  • December 5, 2025:  A Visit from LaBefana of Italian Folklore, 6:00-7:00 p.m., ILASCO

  • December 17, 2025:  RCHS Meeting, 10:00 a.m., Perry City Hall

  • December 27, 2025:  Oak Hill School Gathering, 6:30 p.m.  A meal is served on a free-will donation basis, accompanied by music.  The public is welcome to attend. 

  • January 16, 2026:  Area Historical Society Meeting at Missouri Mule Museum, 10:00 a.m.

  • January 21, 2026:  RCHS Meeting, 10:00 a.m., Perry City Hall

Executive Committee (14 members): The blank spots below indicate vacancies on our executive committee that need to be filled.  If you are interested in serving as a representative on the executive committee, please contact Delores Woodhurst at 573-248-7445 or via email at dvwoodhurst@gmail.com.

Officers (4)

• President: Ron Leake

• Vice-President:  Delores Woodhurst

• Secretary:  Carolyn Trower

• Treasurer:  Jeanie Gay

Directors (10)

• Center Township: Jan Golian

• Spencer Township: Gina Jameson

• Salt River Township:  Cindy Lynn

• Jasper Township: Lola McDonald

• Saline Township: NEEDED

• Clay Township: NEEDED

• Saverton Township: Bill Dexheimer 

• Perry:  Sandie Storm

• Center: Mary Jackson

• New London: Brad Stinson

Next Meeting: RCHS's next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at Perry City Hall.  The meeting adjourned at 11:03 a.m. 

Recent Donations

Item Donated by John and Kay Bogue

• Abstract from Saverton property

Items Donated by Jeanie Gay

• 1980 Perry Elementary Yearbook

• 1953 Perry High School Yearbook

• 1954 Perry High School Yearbook

• 1951 Perry High School Yearbook 

• 1957 Center High School Yearbook 

• 1963 Ralls County R-II Elementary Schools Yearbook 

• 1968 Ralls County R-II Elementary Schools Yearbook 

• 1967 Ralls County R-II Elementary Schools Yearbook

• 1970 Ralls County R-II Elementary Schools Yearbook

• List School photos and articles 

Items Donated by Averil Beshears

• Boyd Family Genealogy Page, Map showing location of the Garden Grove Post Office, news article about the post office 

• Perry Enterprise, October 11, 1923

• Ralls County Record, January 24, 1896, and May 26, 1899

• The Centre Courier, April 8, 1897, June 24, 1897, February 13, 1896

• The Center Herald, March 14, 1935, Part 1 and 2

• The Center Intelligencer Special Candidates Edition, April 11, 1902

Items Donated by Wanda Sharp

• 1950 Center High School Yearbook 

• 1941 Center High School Yearbook 

• 1952 Center High School Yearbook 

• 1953 Center High School Yearbook 

• 1954 Center High School Yearbook 

• 1955 Center High School Yearbook

• 1956 Center High School Yearbook 

• 1957 Center High School Yearbook 

• Bag of Perry Centennial Coins (1966)

Item Donated by Jenny Alden (of Bonner Springs, KS)

• Memories of the Farber Area book 

• Supplement to the 1972 Farber Centennial Book

Thank you to anyone who has donated items to RCHS!  We appreciate your support!

Click here to see all photos and videos from the 2023 lasagna supper!

Physical Address:

Ralls County Historical Museum 

105 East Main Street

Perry, MO 63462

Ralls County Historical Library

124 East Main Street

Perry, MO 63462

Missouri Mule Museum

114 East Main Street

Perry, MO 63462

Mailing Address:

Ralls County, Missouri Historical Society

PO Box 463

Perry, MO 63462