12-Site Civil War Tour
This site north of Bridge on 8th Street, tells the story of Abel Secrest, who, in the midst of Confederate attack on October 14, 1861, ran east on Bridge Street with his brace of mules. At about 8th Street he was ordered by a Confederate Private to halt; instead, he ran in a northerly direction, trying to save his mules. He was shot in the shoulder and found dying in the tall grass and timber three days later by Union Col. Orlin Thurston.
Click on the image above for larger view.
Additional facts about Humboldt's entrepreneur Orlin Thurston:
A 24-year-old attorney, Thurston arrived in Humboldt in the summer of 1857.
After building a saw mill and a house on the Neosho River, he created Thurston's
Ford north of the present Neosho Bridge.
A non-Catholic, Thurston wanted to
encourage Catholic settlers, passing through, to stay in Humboldt, so he
invited Father Ponziglione of Osage
Mission (now
St. Paul) to his home to serve the first mass in Humboldt. Masses continued
there until a gift of land from Thurston and collected money in 1866 made a
stone church, St. Joseph Catholic Church, possible.
Mass
was offered in 1867, and the church was completed in 1868. That church
was replaced in 1910 by the present St. Joseph, built just south of the
original
church. You are invited to view the interior (renovated 2001): elaborate
moldings, exquisite stenciling, stained glass windows, and European High Altar
detail. St. Joseph is open
daily from 9 am to 5 pm at the northeast corner of 5th and Central, north
of Bridge Street.
Click on the image above for larger view.