Did You Know?

Did you know ...

Webelo Scouts from Pack 118, based at St. Peter's School, conducted a flag and rededication ceremony in May at the grave site of Private Harry Hoggatt, USMC. He was killed in action in 1918 in France during WW I. Private Hoggatt represents one of a handful of US Marines from Kansas City killed in this conflict.

[img_assist|nid=472|title=Webelo Scouts from Pack 118|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=319|height=268]He was initially interred in France at Argonne- American Cemetery but was returned in the summer of 1921 for burial at Forest Hills, 6901 Troost Ave. Newspaper accounts at the time reported that more than 2,500 people attended his burial at Forest Hills. The grave marker for Private Hoggatt originally included a flag pole mounted on its top. The pole had fallen into disrepair and was no longer usable. With the cooperation of Forest Hills Cemetery, the Webelo Scouts removed and repaired the flag pole and a new flag was raised by the scouts in honor of Private Hoggatt as well as to all soldiers, sailors and Marines who had given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this country. Also attending the ceremony were representatives of the 24th Marines from Richards-Gebaur and representatives of the Simpson-Hoggatt Detachment of the Marine Corps League whose charter is named in honor of Private Hoggatt along with Private James Simpson, another WWI Marine from Kansas City who was killed in action and is buried in France.

Submitted by: Bruce Johnson
Block Real Estate Services

Did you know ...

The year was 1841. Dr. David Waldo of Gasconade County, MO, was convinced by friends in Independence to purchase some Jackson County land. He took their advice and brought a 1,000-acre tract of land that to this day bears his name. This tract ran from what is now 75th Street to 59th Street, Wornall Road to Troost Ave. He maintained a farm on part of this land and improved it by planting a large walnut grove at 63rd and Walnut. The grove stood as a historic landmark until the 1920's. By the time of his death in 1878, at the age of 78, Dr. Waldo had increased his holdings in the Waldo area to 2,400 acres and was depicted in Kansas City newspapers as one of the oldest, wealthiest and most respected men of Jackson County.

Submitted by: Betty Tillotson
Waldo Area Business Association Historian