Ripley County, named for Gen. Eleazar W. Ripley of the War of 1812, was organized in 1833. The county seat is Doniphan. The collections listed below deal in some manner with Ripley County. This list is not comprehensive, so be sure to browse collection descriptions by subject.
*Collections marked with DIGITIZED MATERIALS have additional digitized items available.
Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service Aerial Photographs, (P0335)
107.5 linear feet
Missouri county aerial photographs produced by the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service.
Bryan, James E., Letter, 1908, (R0898)
This is a letter dated 25 May 1908 from James E. Bryan at Doniphan in Ripley County, Missouri, to M. Waddle at the Home Building and Loan Company in Marion, Ohio. In the letter Bryan promises to repay a loan.
Cane Creek Baptist Association, Minutes, 1904-1992, (R0235)
These are booklets containing the proceedings of the 42nd (1904), 91st (1953) and 130th (1992) annual meetings of the Cane Creek Baptist Association. Included are the articles of faith and constitution, minutes, committee reports, and directories of churches and staff. The booklet for 1953 is a photocopy of the original. Organized in 1857, the Association includes congregations in a wide area of southeastern Missouri.
Cave Spring Baptist Association, annual session, 1929, (R0232)
1 folder, photocopies
These are minutes of the forty-second annual session of the Association, held on 22-24 August 1929 near Alton, Missouri. Included are minutes of meetings, the articles of faith, covenant, and membership data for the constituent churches. The Association was composed of thirteen churches, primarily in Oregon County, Missouri.
Civil War Scrapbook, Missouri, 1823-1868, (C1379)
The papers contain a collection of newspaper clippings on Missouri, 1823-1868, from New York and Boston newspapers, primarily the New York Daily Tribune. Most of the items pertain to the Civil War in Missouri, 1861-1862, and include maps and diagrams of the war in the west.
Eleven Points River Baptist Association, Minutes, 1890-1901, (R0356)
2 folders, photocopies
These are printed minutes of the second and thirteenth annual meetings of the Eleven Points River Baptist Association, 1890 and 1901. Founded as the Elevenpoint River Association of Missionary Baptists, the association included churches in Carter, Howell, Oregon, and Ripley counties in Missouri.
Guitar, Sarah (1892-1963), Collection, n.d., (C3391)
1.5 cubic feet, 5 card boxes
Card file compiled by Sarah Guitar, reference librarian of the State Historical Society of Missouri, as a guide to county boundaries of Missouri, 1812-1929; Missouri congressional district boundaries, 1845-1933; Missouri senatorial districts, 1820-1931; and Missouri judicial circuits, 1815-1915.
How, Russell A. (1906-1996) and Bernadine M. (1910-2001), Collection, 1927-1989, (C4023)
5 linear feet, 4 card files
The Russell and Bernadine How collection contains photographs, maps, printed materials, and notes on grist mills in the Ozarks region of Missouri and Arkansas. The collection also includes materials related to Missouri tourism.
Hume, John Robert, Papers, 1898-1919, (R0357)
2 folders, photocopies
These are typescript copies of a World War One diary and poetry of John R. Hume, a native of Doniphan in Ripley County, Missouri, and captain of a U.S. Army medical detachment in France, 1917-1918.
James, David A. (1937- ) Papers, 1790-2008, (C4126)
5 cubic feet
The research material of a hotel management instructor whose work resulted in the publication Historic Hotels of Missouri: Hotels, Inns, and Taverns of 19th Century Missouri.
Koehler Family, Papers, 1886-1980, (R0230)
This is correspondence, biographical material, and miscellaneous papers of Emma Koehler Jorn and Charles G. Jorn of Naylor, Ripley County, Missouri. The correspondence, mostly in German, was received from relatives and friends in southern Illinois coal mining towns, 1890-1920, and from relatives in Bad Tennstedt, formerly East Germany, 1890-1960.
Laramore, Edmond, collector, Baptist Associations Minutes, 1912-1980, (R0394)
This collection consists largely of printed minutes of annual meetings of United or Missionary Baptist associations in southern Missouri. The minutes include the records of annual sessions, committee reports, and statistical information on the associations and their constituent churches. Also included are a few miscellaneous Baptist publications.
Lee, Richard L., Courthouse Photographs, (P0003)
The collection includes photographs of county courthouses for the state of Missouri, taken in the mid-twentieth century by Richard L. Lee.
Mark Twain National Forest, Historical Photographs, ca. 1900-1985, (R0485)
These are photographs copied from holdings of the Mark Twain National Forest in Rolla, Missouri. Topics include National Forest facilities and projects; forest and wood industries; water mills; lakes, rivers, and springs; mines; dams; and the Civilian Conservation Corps and Youth Conservation Corps.
McManus, Thelma S., "Dateline—Doniphan, Missouri (The Story of the Prospect-News," 1964, (C2116)
The papers contain a history of the Prospect-News, the Doniphan, Missouri, weekly newspaper, 1874-1964.
Missouri Lumber and Mining Company Records, 1853-1945, (C2557)
82.3 linear feet, 110 oversize volumes and documents, 1 reel of microfilm
The records of the Missouri Lumber and Mining Company contain Correspondence, minutes of board of directors' meetings, and financial and operating records of a Grandin, MO, land and lumber company, which operated in Butler, Carter, Reynolds, Ripley and Wayne Counties.
Mitchell, Ewing Young, Jr. (1873-1954), Papers, 1840-1949 (C1041)
0.4 linear feet
Papers of a Springfield, Missouri, lawyer active in Democratic Party politics, who served as assistant secretary of commerce in Franklin Roosevelt's first administration. Material concerns family affairs, law practice with emphasis on county indebtedness, Ozark land speculation, and Democratic politics on the state and national levels.
Mitchener, Myrtle, Political Flyer, 1914, (R1136)
This is a flyer dated 3 October 1914 by Myrtle Mitchener of Fairdealing, Missouri, who was the Republican candidate for Recorder of Ripley County. The flyer includes a photographic portrait of Mitchener and her two young children.
Morrow, Lynn, Collection, 1982-ca. 2010, (R1000)
296 folders, 7 cubic feet
These are the correspondence and research files of a Missouri historian. Topics include history, personages, architecture, culture, and folklore, particularly of the Ozarks region of Missouri, but also areas in the central and northern parts of the state. The papers include wide-ranging correspondence concerning research into and publication of the 19th century historical writings of Theodore P. Russell of Iron County and Silas C. Turnbo of southwest Missouri. The collection also includes a large selection of promotional publications and ephemera associated with late 20th century tourism in Missouri and Arkansas.
Munger Securities Company, Advertising Pamphlet, 1916, (R0308)
This is an illustrated pamphlet published by the Munger Securities Company, promoting real estate offerings in southern Missouri. The tracts were primarily in Carter County, but extended into portions of Butler, Reynolds, and Ripley counties. The local offices were in Hunter, Missouri.
New Hope United Baptist Church of Christ, Ripley County, Missouri, Records, 1842-1852, (C1316)
The records contain the constitution of 1843, names of members, and letters of admission and dismissal.
Ponder, Jerry Wayne, Papers, 1865-2004, (R1260)
584 folders, photographs
These are the correspondence, papers, and research materials of a genealogist and local historian from Ripley County, Missouri. The collection covers the descendants of Abner Ponder and allied families, the history of Ripley County, and the Civil War in southeastern Missouri. Much of the information was incorporated in publications by Ponder Books, 1987-1999.
Presbytery of Missouri, Minutes, 1920-1943, (C1353)
0.2 linear feet
The records contain official copies of minutes of the Presbytery of Missouri. Minutes for 1920-1939 are bound; others are in pamphlet form.
Presbytery of Missouri Records, 1817-1920, (C1354)
1.4 linear feet, 6 oversize volumes
The records of the Presbytery of Missouri contain minutes, reports, and other records of an organization composed of ministers and representative elders of Presbyterian churches in Missouri. Volumes 1-6 have been microfilmed. Volume 7 is available onsite. See also collection C1353.
Ramsay Place Names File 1928-1945, (C2366)
12 cubic feet
Card file of origins of Missouri place names, compiled by students of Robert L. Ramsay, University of Missouri professor of English.
Ripley County Centennial, Inc., Collection, 1959, (R1008)
This collection includes a certificate of "Souvenir Stock" in Ripley County Centennial, Inc., a centennial booklet, a promotional brochure, and two souvenir pinback buttons for the Ripley County Centennial celebration at Doniphan, Missouri, on 17-22 August 1959.
Rocky Point Baptist Church, Ripley County, Missouri, Records, 1885-1933, (R0569)
1 roll of microfilm
These are the record books and miscellaneous papers of Rocky Point Baptist Church in western Ripley County, Missouri. The record books include lists of members and minutes of business meetings from the organization of the church in 1885 through 1923. The papers include correspondence and minutes of meetings from 1909 through 1933.
Snider, Lewis and John W., Papers, 1858-1890, Miscellaneous Papers, (C3337)
Miscellaneous papers, including post office receipts, estate administration deed, bills, numerical computations, a song, and recipe for ink.
State of Missouri Photograph Collection, (P0018)
Over 400 original photos created for the 1904 publication on Missouri at the time of the World's Fair by Walter Williams; shows all aspects and counties in Missouri.
U.S. Selective Service System, Missouri, Records, 1917-1918, (C2681)
445 folders negative Photostats, 8.7 cubic feet
Lists of persons by county and district selective service boards whose cards were held by those boards. Arranged alphabetically by county.
U.S. Work Projects Administration, "Church Bibliography, Baptist Bodies of Missouri, Associational Minutes," 1941, (C1312)
The collection contains a list of the various Baptist associations in Missouri and the dates for which their records are in existence.
U.S. Work Projects Administration, Historical Records Survey, Missouri, 1935-1942, (C3551)
302 linear feet; also available on 817 rolls of microfilm
Correspondence, records, and working files. Originally designed to survey and inventory all county government records, the survey finally included inventories of church records, manuscript collections, vital statistics, American imprints, and federal archives. Incorporates records of the Federal Writers Project for Missouri.
Wobus, Paul A., Papers, 1918-1989, (R0008)
52 folders, 89 notebooks
The Rev. Paul A. Wobus was born in St. Charles, Missouri, on 14 February 1893. His father, Reinhard Wobus, was pastor of the Evangelical Church there. Paul Wobus died on 11 December 1982 in Concordia, Missouri.