This Week in the News: Echoes from the Ozarks
The Tragic Death of Emil R. Farmer, 1918 In March and April of 1918, newspapers across southwest Missouri followed a heartbreaking story from Linn Creek—one that rippled through Camden County and left a young widow and a widowed mother in deep grief. This week’s look back brings us the short, bright life and tragic death of Emil R. Farmer , age 22, whose name appeared repeatedly in the headlines during the spring of World War I. A Dispute at the Ford On Sunday afternoon, March 17, 1918, Emil Farmer was driving his buggy across the ford of the Niangua River near Linn Creek on his way to church. According to multiple reports, he encountered Earnest (Ernest) Kendrick , also 22, a neighbor and fellow draftee. Tension had been brewing between the two young men over their draft classifications—Farmer had been placed in Class IV as the sole support of his widowed mother, while Kendrick was in Class I and expected to be called up sooner. Witnesses later told authorities that Kendrick h...