Stick
H. P. Chiles
Category
Wooden objects
Date
Unknown
Materials
Walnut
Place of origin
Independence
Collection
Chartwell, Kent
NT 1101794
Summary
Plain stick of Missouri black walnut, tapering pattern with incised bands and knob top, taken from a building on President Truman's farm - the wood formerly part of the framework of Hickman's Pioneer Water Power Grist Mill and made by H.P. Chiles of Independence, Missouri. Affixed to umbrella stand F/145. 1969 Schedule P.171
Full description
Source: The Kansas City Times, December 23rd 1953, page 4 "Henry P. Chiles, 901 West White Oak avenue, Independence, has sent a cane made of wood from the Truman family farm near Grandview to Winston Churchill, British prime minister. The cane is identical to one presented earlier to Mr. Truman and is made from black walnut taken from an old building on the farm." From: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1079084/kctimes-about-town-truman-farm-cane-to/ [Accessed 6th April 2021] Plain stick of Missouri black walnut, tapering pattern with incised bands and knob top, taken from a building on President Truman's farm - the wood formerly part of the framework of Hickman's Pioneer Water Power Grist Mill and made by H.P. Childs of Independence, Missouri. Affixed to umbrella stand Source: The Kansas City Times, December 23rd 1953, page 4 Makers and roles P. Childs, Manufacturer of stick Harry S. Truman’s maternal grandfather, Solomon Young, arrived in the area near the present-day town of Hickman Mills in 1841. His paternal grandfather, Anderson Shipp Truman, settled just north of the future site of Hickman Mills in 1846. In 1854, Edwin A. Hickman (1819-1887), erected a steam-powered gristmill and sawmill. Around 1867, what remained of the mill was torn down. The lumber from the old mill was used by Truman's grandfather, Solomon Young, to build the barn at the Solomon Young farmstead (now known as the Harry S. Truman Farm) off Blue Ridge Blvd. Truman’s brother, Vivian Truman, continued to farm the land. Truman co-owned the land with his brother (though he didn't really farm it after he entered local politics). The barn was [later] destroyed by fire in the 1960s. The Childs family was a very well-known family from Independence, Missouri, which is about fourteen miles from Hickman’s Mill. In the 1960s, the South Kansas City Chamber of Commerce used a gavel also carved from wood from Hickman’s Mill.
Makers and roles
H. P. Chiles, manufacturer