Information Sheet

 

 

R         Barron, W. Harry, 1875-  

630                  Letter, 1946.

                                    One folder, photocopies.

 

 

 

This is a typescript copy of a letter by Dr. W. Harry Barron to Ruth Berry, 27 October 1946, concerning the history of Mine La Motte in Madison County, Missouri.  A physician who prac­ticed medicine in Madison County for most of his life, Barron was also the unofficial historian of Mine La Motte.

 

Harry Barron was a native of Madison County and the son of a miner at Mine La Motte.  Barron himself worked in the mines and then taught school before turning to medicine.  He prac­ticed in Mine La Motte over twenty years before opening an office in Fredericktown.  Barron was interested in the history of Mine La Motte, and became the historian of the area.  He wrote arti­cles concerning the area, and collected artifacts from the earliest days of the mining community.  His office was said to resemble a museum.  With the exception of his college years at Cape Girardeau, Barron lived in Madison County his entire life.  He drowned at the age of seventy-five.

 

In 1946, Barron wrote to Ruth Berry, a student at Cape Girardeau, in response to a query about the history of Mine La Motte.  After a brief autobiographical paragraph, Barron sketched the history of the village and its various mining enterprises, noted buildings and some of the physical features, and wrote briefly of the social life of the community.  The typescript copy of Barron’s letter was prepared to ensure legibility.

 

 

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