You may or may not know that my maiden name is Novinger (pronounced Nah-vin-gher). And I’m fairly sure that you don’t know there’s a small town in Missouri named Novinger that was founded by my forefathers.
Issac Novinger was the first Novinger to land in Missouri after moving from Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. In a small pamphlet written about Issac, E.L. Novinger, wrote this: Issac saw that he would never be able to secure a home for himself and his family in the lands of his fathers, and so he looked toward the setting sun and discovered in North Missouri a land like the garden of the Lord.
In April of 1847 Issac loaded a wagon and moved his wife and seven children to Missouri. It took him a month to get there. When the railroad was extended west in 1878 John C. Novinger wasn’t happy about giving up farm land and agreed to do so if the depot was named Novinger. In January of 1879 Novinger was named a United States post office and officially became a town.
The picture above is of me in the late 80’s outside Issac’s cabin which was moved from his farm into the town of Novinger. It’s now been restored as a museum. The picture below is from 2012. I love that the sign says by appointment or chance.
My father grew up on a farm outside of Novinger and we visited it often from our home in Davenport, Iowa. When I was young I was fairly certain we owned the small town and that I was probably some kind of royalty. (I’m still waiting for the tiara.)
This is a photo of me standing in my grandfather’s field. I don’t have a farming bone in my body and can barely keep a houseplant alive.
My grandparents were savers and here is some of the memorabilia from their home. This is a photo of the town baseball team. The area was a big coal mining town at the time.
On the hundredth anniversary of the town of Novinger, they produced a two volume history of the town. Each book is almost an inch thick.
While these guys look like an early version of ZZ Top what I like best about the photo is the chair on the right!
The back of this photo says store and hotel. Fancy!
My two favorites:
I love the tin sign above and the tablet below. Look at the small print on the tablet — it says Novinger, Mo.
Readers: Do you have a town or area that your ancestors are from? What do you have that is special to you?
