A Last Minute Gift of Family History

"Tempers grew short on both sides as approximately 140 met in Walnut to discuss the Neosho County wildlife refuge with Bill Fowler, 4th district Kansas Fish and Game Commissioner from Weir.  Fowler's vote as the newly appointed commissioner from this district is necessary to break the commission dead lock and insure completion of the project.  Fowler replaced A. H. Alcock of Chanute, a backer of the refuge."

Journal, October 8, 1959 — from page 419 of The Swan Song

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Are you still looking for a last-minute gift for history buffs, or an older relative who would enjoy browsing through stories and clips from earlier days of St.  Paul.  David O'Bryan's "Annals of St. Paul:  The Swan Song for the St.  Paul Journal" might be a perfect selection.  The book includes selected articles from the St.  Paul Journal during the time frame of July 2, 1936 through the Journal's last issue of November 16, 1961.[1]   The entries are complete newspaper articles or excerpts from Journal articles.  All are listed by issue dates that are traceable back to paper or microfilmed issues of the Journal.

In addition to being a great gift, profits from the sales of the book will fund scholarships for St. Paul students!

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About the Book.
Swan Song is a 8.7" x 11.2", 516 page hard-bound book.  One of the book's valuable research features is a very detailed 55 page index.  ​If friends or family members lived in or near St. Paul there is a pretty good chance they are listed.  The index also includes businesses, natural disasters, fires, deaths and other events that shaped our town from the 30's to mid 20th century.  There are also articles about other local towns including Walnut, Galesburg, Thayer and others.

Two galleries below give you a glimpse into the index and some of the content of this intriguing historical resource.

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Index:
Here is a sample of 17 pages from the 55 page index that illustrates the attention to detail that went into categorizing and listing the contents.  The pages will scroll or can paused with the controls at the top.  These are low resolution scan images that do not represent the sharp, slick quality of the actual book. 

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Content:
Shown below are some actual pages from the book that can be enlarged with a mouse click.  Again, these are scanned at low resolution to control file sizes.

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How Do I Get One?
The book was published by David O'Bryan of St. Paul in 2009.  Profits generated from sale of the book will be used to fund scholarships, for St. Paul Students.

Books may be purchased for $40, plus $5 for out-of-town purchases.  You can order a book, or get more information at: obryan.jane@gmail.com. 

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1.  Follow This Link for more information about the book and the Journal.   You can also follow This Link for more information about the Journal's long-time editor, historian and publisher W.W. Graves.