County Histories of Missouri - Reference Books and Records for Butler and Stoddard Counties

Bloomfield Missouri
Highland in the Swamps
Focused mainly on Bloomfield and Castor Township, Bloomfield Missouri: Highland in the Swamps pays considerable attention yo county, regional, state, and even national history as it relates to conditions and events in Bloomfield; particularly from pre-columbian time to the Civil War and the construction of railroads.

The Complete History of Butler County
Sesquicentennial Edition
A comprehensive source book of information for students, genealogists, historians, and anyone else who has an interest in the historical anatomy of life in the rural Midwest.

History of Stoddard County
The only legitimate published history of Stoddard County, Missouri, covering the county's development from pre-Columbian Indians and early exploration and settlement to county formation and modern times.

Marriage Records of Stoddard County
1864-1881
A soft-bound edition alphabetized by names of grooms, with month, day and year of marriage.

Robert Forister's interest in local history goes back to his childhood years when he accompanied his father on hunting trips in ancestral Wayne County and listened to tales of bygone days around the campfire.He attended one-room elementary country schools in Wayne and Butler Counties, Missouri. On his walk to school in Butler, County, he passed by his father's birthplace as well as the homestead of his Civil War veteran great grandfather. Records, which are reflected in his new book, The Complete History of Butler County, Missouri, show that this same great grandfather attended an 1847 subscription school near there.

Robert's subsequent education culminated in a masters degree from the University of Missouri. Now a retired elementary school principal, he lives in Stoddard County with his wife, Joan.

Robert has always had a wide range of hobbies and interests which include historical research and creative writing. From 1971 through the early 1980's his feature column, Smoke Rings, was published in over a hundred weekly newspapers in a dozen central states.