Thursday, August 18,
1983
To the Editor
The Jimplicute, Scott
City, MO 63754
There was a spot on the Mississippi River where “baptizing” was
done. A safe place had been found in
the river where the converts could be put under by the persons standing in the
water. This was beautiful spot as there
was a wooded area back up the bank from the river where the people could have a
basket dinner and talk with all their friends.
When there was a “baptizing”, it was a day of rejoicing for the whole
community. All denominations of
churches would join in the ceremony and anyone who wished to be baptized could
be included. On Baptism Sunday people
came from everywhere; you could hear the wagons rattling down the road from
every direction. Everyone had a big
basket dinner of good eats to share with others. This particular story was told to me by my mother about a
baptismal ceremony she attended. She
smiled every time she told it.
A man had just been baptized and he was so happy that he
shouted, “All my sins have been washed away.”
Someone was heard to say in the crowd, “I thought I saw something
bubbling down the river.” But this really was a day of rejoicing for the crowd
of people were serious about religion and the salvation of anyone brought to
Christ.
“Chalk Bluffs” as they were called are located between the old
Commerce Road and the Mississippi River.
As a child, I looked at the bluffs and wondered what they were made
of. I asked many questions, but no one
seemed to know much about them. I was
told that a long, long time ago there was an attempt by some persons to make
paint from the materials taken from the bluffs. My husband thought the bluffs could contain silica as he had had
experience working in silica mines and there was a resemblance to that which he
had seen. The chalk bluffs are still
there but no much has ever been learned about them.
