“Putting the pieces together” - Former community of Scruggs became first stop on Bagnell Branch of the railroad

Albert Crooks Scruggs spent five years in California during the Gold Rush but returned to the community of Scruggs in 1856. For many years, he operated the general store at Scruggs, which was sold by his son, Alex, following his death in 1902. Gone are the railroad station and stores at Scruggs but the name lives on through Scruggs Station Road and Scruggs Lumber Company. Courtesy of Karene Drinkard

Cole County has a long history that can be traced to the Scruggs name and is associated with the community along a long-abandoned railroad line and a lumberyard in Jefferson City. One of the early branches of this family can be traced to Virginia, specifically James and Mary (Herndon) Scruggs. They, along with James’s brother, Ivan, traveled west through several states before settling in Cole County in 1828.
 
These families brought with them some children while others were born following their arrival in the county. Purchasing tracts of property located several miles west of Jefferson City, they engaged in farming, milling, stock breeding and, eventually, mercantile interests.
 
John William Scruggs, a son of James, was born in Kentucky and was about eleven years old when his parents arrived in Cole County. His grandfather, Henry Chandler, served during the War of 1812 and John followed in his footsteps by serving with the Union Army during the Civil War. John also followed the agricultural example of his father by becoming a farmer while also recognizing a business opportunity connected to the construction of a railroad spur.
 
“John W. Scruggs, about 7 miles out on the new road, will make application to have a station established at his place,” reported The State Times on July 1, 1881. “In the event the application is granted he will build a commodious warehouse and keep a commodious country store.”
 
The railroad had been established in Jefferson City, but a spur was being constructed intended to connect to Lebanon but only reached the community of Bagnell. This spur was initially known as the Jefferson City, Lebanon and Southwestern Railroad and later became known as the Bagnell Branch.
 
“The first station on the new railroad out from Jefferson City is at Scruggs’,” The State Times printed on August 26, 1881. “The second station is about a half mile between the Moreau bridge, a short distance from Stringtown. It is now known as Lower Stringtown. The site of the depot is on the farm of Andy Blochberger and is not far from the Lutheran church.”
 
The “Lower Stringtown” mentioned in the newspaper shortly thereafter became known as Lohman.
 
The store was established in the community that received the designation “Scruggs” while the railroad stop was called “Scruggs Station,” so named for John W. Scruggs. Newspaper records note that in early spring of 1882, his daughter, Margery, was sworn in as postmistress for the post office located in the store owned by her father.
 
Napoleon Bonaparte Scruggs, a younger brother of John W., was born on a farm near Scruggs Station. In later years, he moved to Jefferson City and because of his appearance, was known as Uncle Sam, often playing the part at patriotic events.
 
Ivan Scruggs, paternal uncle to John W., was only 42 years old when he died on October 15, 1846.
 
According to “Godspeed’s Cole County History” printed in 1889, Ivan Scruggs, after arriving in Missouri in 1828, “purchased 720 acres of land, on which he built a house and began at once to make improvements, and here died in 1846. Previous to his death, he had cleared about 200 acres and become owner of 1,310 acres.”
 
Ivan Scruggs was buried in a small plot off Chaddsford Drive that sets on a parcel surrounded by residential structures and is known as the Emil Seidel Farm Cemetery. Nine years prior his death, in 1835, he and his wife, Mariah Mahan, became parents to one son, Albert Crooks (A.C.) Scruggs.  
 
“Mr. (A.C) Scruggs was reared on the farm and at his majority he spent five years in the California gold fields,” noted the Jefferson City Tribune on June 18, 1902. “In 1856 he returned to Missouri and the next year was married to Miss Amanda Gordon.”
 
A.C. Scruggs and his wife raised to adulthood a son, Alex, and a daughter, Lourevia, while three of their other children died quite young. In addition to farming and raising livestock, A.C. became the successor to the store ran by his first cousin, John W. Scruggs, the latter of whom passed away in 1900 and was buried in the Woodland-Old City Cemetery in Jefferson City.
 
The Jefferson City Tribune shared on May 24, 1902, “Mr. Alex Scruggs of Hulen, Oklahoma, arrived Friday and went out to his old home at Scruggs to visit his father, Mr. A.C. Scruggs. Mr. Alex Scruggs recently moved his family to Oklahoma and likes the new country well.”
 
Alex Scruggs would return briefly to Scruggs Station in 1902 following the death of his father. He sold the family’s property to Adam Erhardt. The Erhardt family went on to operate the general store and post office.
 
Long gone are the railroad tracks and the train station while the store has been demolished and replaced by a parking area for a state government building. However, the Scruggs name remains prevalent in the community through the name of Scruggs Station Road and the Scruggs Lumber Company.
         
Karene Drinkard, whose mother’s side of the family was Scruggs, has over the years sought to capture stories of her ancestors and the history of the community that no longer exists.
 
“My mother was a cousin to A.C. Scruggs, and she died when I was seven years old,” said Karene Drinkard. “For us, learning more about our mother, Gertrude Scruggs Coleman, and her Scruggs family has amounted to putting the pieces together of a community that is no longer there.”
 
She added, “We lived in Holts Summit and after mother passed, our life consisted of daddy working, time with our immediate family, school and church. He couldn’t really load up eight kids in a car and take them anywhere. We didn’t know what we were missing but it’s nice to learn a little about our family and the community named for them.”
 
Jeremy P. Ämick authored the historical compilation “Moments on the Moreau.” 

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The store at Scruggs is pictured before it was demolished several decades ago. It was located near the intersection of Fairgrounds Road and Scruggs Station Road, on property now housing a state warehouse. Courtesy of Karene Drinkard