Information Sheet

 

 

R         Esser, Gilbert F., 1896-

527                  Reminiscences, 1970-1972.

                                    Two folders, photocopies.

 

 

 

These are booklets by Gilbert F. Esser, containing descriptions of the people, businesses, and buildings of Cole Camp in Benton County, Missouri.  Included are descriptions of “old” (pre-1880s) and “new” Cole Camp, with photographs of individuals and buildings.

 

A native of Cole Camp born in 1896, Gilbert Esser grew up in Benton County before leav­ing in 1911 to begin studies for the Catholic priesthood.   He taught Greek and Latin at St. Jo­seph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana, for nearly thirty years, and was a hospital chaplain in Detroit.  Af­ter his retirement, Esser authored two booklets on Cole Camp.  They concern, respectively, the “old” village as it was before construction of the railroad through Cole Camp in the 1880s, and the “new” town which realigned itself along the tracks.  The works consist of the Rev. Esser’s remi­nis­cences organized as an “imagined walk,” block by block, through Cole Camp.  Principal buildings are noted, with genealogical and historical notes on the individuals, businesses, and ac­tivities asso­ciated with them.            

 

 

 

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