A Pioneer Teacher's First Impressions of Poplar Bluff

This account was written by Clara Thomason Kennedy, an early educator in Poplar Bluff and the wife of photographer Walter H. Kennedy, whose images documented many of the city’s earliest streets and buildings. In her own writing, Mrs. Kennedy described herself with pride as being “classed among the pioneers of Butler County,” and offered her story as part of an early county history. She was born in Illinois in 1860 and began teaching at a young age. After early hardship—including being widowed as a teenager with a young son—she returned to school and continued her education and teaching work. In 1883, she and her husband decided to build a new life in Poplar Bluff. She vividly remembered the journey and her first arrival in town: “On November 5th, 1883, [we] crossed ‘The Father of Waters’ for my first time… We threaded our way through a wild, water-covered swampy country from Cairo to Poplar Bluff… We finally reached Poplar Bluff and were ushered into a gloomy, dimly lighted little depot…” Looking around the unfamiliar depot and the people gathered there, she recalled that her first thought was: “hands on your pocket book!” Holding the hand of her six-year-old son, George Thomason, she followed their guide through muddy, dimly lit streets to the Morris House (later known as the Ducker Hotel), where the family would begin their new life. Despite the difficult first impressions, Mrs. Kennedy quickly felt a deep sense of purpose in the growing town. She wrote: “The thought came to me — here is a town to be built and we must help to build it.” Teaching was her only profession, and she soon became actively involved in music and reading instruction. At that time, Poplar Bluff’s public school system consisted of a single frame building with only three teachers. Over time, the original school was replaced by a new brick building known as the Third Ward School, later called Benton School. After an absence from the classroom, Mrs. Kennedy returned to teaching in 1897. She served as a music supervisor for two years and later taught fourth grade until her resignation in 1923—just before the opening of the new Williamson-Kennedy school building, which replaced the older Benton school. Reflecting on her career and life in Poplar Bluff, she wrote: “In my reminiscence I realize those 25 years were the best spent years of my life.” In the closing portion of her account, she shared a deeply personal moment from a later illness, when several young boys—former students—quietly brought her a flowering plant. One child told her simply that another boy, who had never been in her class, still loved her. She concluded with the words: “What could be sweeter or more worth while than the love of a child, for Love is the Golden Key that unlocks the world.” This summary and excerpt are drawn from Mrs. Clara Thomason Kennedy’s original written account. Please visit the source link below to read her full story in her own words.