Reger, Missouri

SiteMAP

Where is Reger, Missouri?
Population: tiny!
Location: 40.14389 N, -93.1925 W
Zip Code: 63556
in Sullivan county
Version 9 (2 / 26 / 09) by Don DeWitt (contact)

DeWitt Genealogy	Harmon-DeWitt Genealogy	Harvey Genealogy	Knifong-DeWitt Genealogy
.
Knifong-Burnham Genealogy	Pipes-DeWitt Genealogy	Richardson-DeWitt Genealogy	Swanger-DeWitt Genealogy


Linn County Website	Missouri GenWeb Website	Sullivan County Website

Linn County Cemeteries	Missouri County Cemeteries	Sullivan County Cemeteries Knifong Cemetery Browning Oakwood Cemetery Milan Henry Cemetery Reger (see below)
Reger Community Profile	Reger, Missouri, received its name from the Reger family who lived there for many years. Specifically, it was named after O. M. Reger and was established in 1881. (ref) Before that time the name was Elmore.	Move down to view maps of the area around Reger.

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WHERE IS REGER?

Reger, Missouri is located in north-central Missouri.

Reger, Missouri is located north of the county line between Linn and Sullivan counties in northern Missouri.

Moving a little closer.... Reger is just northwest of Browning (red star) and southwest of Milan.... right about where the circle with the 6 is located. (See below.)

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Moving a little closer....

Can you find the big metropolis of Reger northwest of Browning and southwest of Milan?
To the west (left) is the town of Humphreys.

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Why is Reger of interest?
This is the area of Missouri where
Dr. Joel DeWitt (1816-1890) and Rachel Mairs DeWitt (1823-1912)
raised their family.


Joel DeWitt	Rachel Mairs

In the nearby region around Milan, in Sullivan Co., MO,
such families as DeWitt, Harvey, Knifong, Mairs, McCullough, Reger, Shatto,
Swanger, and Thomas raised their children.
Dr. Joel and Rachel DeWitt are buried in Henry Cemetery
southwest of Reger (See map below house drawing).

Below you will find a closeup of a drawing made in about 1888 of
Dr. DeWitt's home near Reger, MO. He and his family
lived there in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

I believe the original was published in the
History of Adair, Sullivan, Putnam and Schuyler Counties of Missouri,
1888. page 794 From the History of Sullivan County, Missouri Vol. II.
In this document, it states...
"Joel owned about 1,200 acres land near Milan.
He is comfortably situated in a commodius two-story brick dwelling,
and is reaping the rewards of a well-spent life."

For the complete drawing from 1888
and a painting of his house: RegerHome (below)

For a photo of his house, scroll down below the maps. (or PHOTOS)

Below you will find a closeup map of the metropolis of Reger and
where Dr. Joel and his family lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

To get closer with the maps... scroll down.

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Henry Cemetery

Photo taken by Kevin Casey and posted at FindAGrave.com. (ref)

This map was obtained and then modified from Topozone and is relatively current.

In the map above, the Henry cemetery is located just above the word Henry near the bottom of the map.

The Henry cemetery is the location of

First Generation

The first generation of DeWitts including:

1. Joel DeWitt and wife Rachel Mairs DeWitt's graves,

Photo by Kevin Casey	Photo by Cheryl Gallagher
Photo by Kevin Casey	Photo by Kevin Casey
Photos from FindAGrave.com: Joel and Rachel	Rachel's father: Joseph Mairs

2. and Joel's brother, Henry Sherman DeWitt and wife Minerva Jane Milhoan DeWitt graves.
(Henry: Grave at FindAGrave.com)
(Minerva: Grave at FindAGrave.com)

Second Generation

In the next generation, Joel and Rachel's son

1. son William Henry Webster DeWitt and wife Lura Reger DeWitt are buried there.
(William: Grave at FindAGrave.com)
(Lura: Grave at FindAGrave.com)
Lura's Reger family

2. daughter El Nora DeWitt and husband John Spotts Hart
(El Nora : Grave at FindAGrave.com)
(John: Grave at FindAGrave.com)

Third Generation

In the third generation, William and Lura's:

1. son Clarence J DeWitt and wife Dora Alta Miller DeWitt are buried there.
(Clarence: Grave at FindAGrave.com)
(Dora: Grave at FindAGrave.com)

2. daughter Verne Irene DeWitt Van Fossen and her husband Will Van Fossen are buried there.
(Actually, I am not sure about Will.)

Their son: William

3. son John Webster DeWitt is buried there.

I have not visited the Henry Cemetery in 25 years in a systematic investigation,
so other DeWitts may be buried there.

In 2009, Cheryl Gallagher has recently added many photos to the FindAGrave website for Henry Cemetery.
(I think she has included all of the DeWitts.)

Several Reger family members are there as well.
If anyone has any more information, please contact me at: CONTACT

You can visit FindAGrave.com's website for the Henry Cemetery at: (HENRY)

Henry cemetery was listed as a Historic Preservation site on 12/28/2005 (ref).
MISSOURI, SULLIVAN COUNTY,
Henry Cemetery,
E side of MO Z, approx 1 mi. S of Reger,
Reger vicinity, 05001472,
LISTED, 12/28/05

You can read the application for this designation at:
http://www.dnr.mo.gov/shpo/Sullivan.htm
There is some interesting historical information about the area in this document.
They even used my website as a reference, so I am quite pleased to have helped.

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Reger Railroad
As you can see in the map above, there is an abandoned railroad running through Reger.
My father tells me that as a child in the 1920s, he used to watch them load cattle onto trains that stopped in Reger.
He still remembers vividly the day a stray cow was hit by the steam engine just arriving in town,
which then derailed and rolled into a ditch.

The railroad was called the Kansas City, St. Joseph Branch of the Quincy, Omaha and Kansas City railroad (aka Q,O&KC).
It ran northeast to Milan and then eastward across Missouri over to Quincy, IL
West of Reger it ran to Trenton, MO, and then southwestward to Kansas City, MO.
The QO&KC eventually became a part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q) railroad.
1895 MO Map 1912 MO Map

Below is an 1897 map with added railroad lines,
and showing the QO&KC as a faint horizontal blue dotted line.

A 1912 map showing the railroad: 1912
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A Closer View

In the map below is a closer view of the DeWitt family road with three important homesites.
It is now called Cheyenne Drive thanks to MapQuest.
but was simply known as Dewitt road in the good old days!

closer

This map was obtained and then modified from Topozone

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In 1888 an artist was hired to draw the Dr. Joel DeWitt homestead.

1888

This is a scan of a drawing taken from a framed copy handed down to me from my grandparents, Joel and Doris DeWitt, Jr.
The original was published in An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Sullivan county, Missouri 1877.
From the History of Sullivan County, Missouri Vol. II. Later the house had a porch placed on the front, but recently it was removed.

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And of course... here is what it looks like from a satellite!

GoogleEarth view

View from GoogleEarth program. This is so very cool!
You can get a lot closer! And you can rotate it at an angle!

farm

Cheyenne Drive near Reger Mo.
from 3245 feet up view.

and rotating for an airplane view...

angle

Cheyenne Drive near Reger Mo.
from 2470 feet up view.

If you try to get any closer... it just gets too blurry!

I wish we could just stop in for lunch and say hi!

And even cooler, would be to do this but do it via time machine satellite that would allow us to dial in the date!
"Hey Grandpa Joel!.. What's for lunch?"

Ok ... enough. ha ha

and now for some photos from a long time ago....

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DeWitt Homes near Reger
(Along what is now Cheyenne Drive.)

Home of Dr. Joel DeWitt and Rachel Mairs

Dr. Joel DeWitt's farm near Reger Mo.
In the maps and satellite views above,
this house is located on the left side of the road.
Photo from the Seitz Genealogy

When Joel DeWitt's grandson, Joel Swanger DeWitt (son of Mark Pinkney DeWitt) lived there,
his son, Joel Swanger DeWitt, Jr,
used to climb up the big tree, edge out along the branch,
drop down on to the front porch roof,
and slip into his bedroom window.... and of course.. vice versa!

Joel Jr. is a skilled artist and below is his beautiful painting that accurately reflect the reality in the photo above.

house

Phyllis, Joel S. DeWitt, Jr.'s wife tells me that the front porch has since been removed
and an ugly chimney run up the front of the house.

In 1908, Dr. Joel had passed away,
but his wife Rachel still lived at this house and of course had many visitors.

Rachel is seated at right.
For more information about this house and the other women: PORCH

Rachel died in 1912, but a little bit before that, she had a big party,
and a wonderful photo of the ladies of the family was taken:

1911

For a larger view and more information about this photo: YARDPHOTO

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Home of Mark Pinkney DeWitt (son of Dr. Joel DeWitt) and Bertha Swanger

Also on this road further south on the east side of the road,
was the home of Joel's son Mark Pinkney 'Pink' DeWitt who was married to Bertha Swanger.

Home of
Mark Pinkney DeWitt and wife Bertha Swanger
with daughter Eula and son Joel Swanger DeWitt, Sr.
I do not know the name of the dog.
This house is the house located across the road from the brick house and shown as the
black box at the end of the road.
This house was built by Mark Pinkney (known as "Pink" DeWitt).

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Home of William Henry Webster DeWitt (son of Dr. Joel DeWitt)

And up the road at the intersection of Cheyenne Drive and Redwood Drive (today's names),
at the black box location above the word '92' below, was the home of Dr. Joel DeWitt's son
William Henry Webster DeWitt and his wife Lura Victoria Reger.

The photo below Web DeWitt's house taken in 1972 by Joel DeWit, Jr. near Reger. MO.
Directly behind this view is the road to the Joel DeWitt brick farmhouse and the Mark Pinkney white farm house.
(See Reger website.)
house in 1972

Below is the front porch at a better time.

Photo obtained from the 1956 edition of the Reger Methodist Church
from the collection of Joel S. DeWitt, Jr.

Inscription:

Mr. and Mrs. W.H.W. DeWITT
One of our first Trustees and this is a picture of he and his wife in their early years in the home he built one mile north of Reger, now stands as a landmark, and owned by Robert Stephenson.

For more information about them:

William Henry Webster DeWitt and wife Lura Victoria Reger
sitting at their home north of Reger, MO.

I am not sure if this house is still standing.
I visited there back in 1977 and it was abandoned and looking bad. Once they left the house, the house was abandoned, and eventually ended up as a building used by the farmers to raise hogs. If you look at the satellite view above (the angled one), you can see a house at the intersection, but I do not know if it is a new one or not.

Webmaster:
Don DeWitt: contact

Maps were obtained from MapQuest.com

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