Local author tells story of popular 1928 book

Medora Mehitable Green was 8 years old when she rode behind her father on his horse all the way from St. Louis to Arrow Rock. Nathaniel Green arranged with the Sivier family, operators of the Arrow Rock Tavern, to care for Medora while he went west to Santa Fe, N.M., to become a trader.

Medora's mother had died from "the fever," malaria, in St. Louis. Medora was a spirited, mischievous child whose adventures in the book "Skip-Come-A-Lou," give a picture of Santa Fe Trail times in Arrow Rock during the early 1800s.

Medora and her experiences are fiction, but Ada Claire Darby, the author, used accurate historical details when she wrote the book in 1928. As a child at Jester R-9, a country school three miles from Marshall on 240-41 highway, I read and loved "Skip-Come-a-Lou." When Jester eventually closed, the book went to the Eastwood School library. My children checked it out, and we read it together.

Copies became more and more scarce. Cheryl Kennon, former elementary librarian for Marshall Public Schools, said that the fourth grade teachers passed the copy around to read the book aloud during the Missouri history unit. Eventually, "Skip-Come-A-Lou" became too tattered and worn to be used in the classroom.

Irene Sims, retired third grade Marshall Public Schools teacher, recalled the book with fondness. "The kids really identified with Medora, and when we went to Arrow Rock on field trips, they remembered details from the book." Medora is a strong female character; Mrs. Sivier described her as "a piece of thistledown" … difficult to keep out of trouble.

Medora tells about a hole in one of the Tavern doors for cats to come and go. For decades, that cat entry really did exist in one of the doors, and children always looked for it. Restoration of the Tavern eventually did away with the cat door, but visitors can still imagine Medora and Jinny, the little slave girl, going about their days in the tavern setting.

Several years ago, I began to pursue ways that the book might be re-published. Kathy Borgman and Pam Parsons, of Friends of Arrow Rock, expressed an interest if we could find a publisher. I mailed out dozens of letters to publishing companies, none of whom had interest in an old book. Then one day, Pam found an ad from Applewood Books saying that they would re-publish historical books if an organization would agree to sell them in their gift shop.

I had researched the copyright and had evidence that we could legally reproduce the book. The publishing process went on for almost three years, and I felt despair that anything would come of our efforts. However, in early October, the promotional book arrived at the Friends of Arrow Rock office. We had located a color-plate from an early edition of Medora sitting on the lap of Washington Irving with her playmate, Jinny, nearby. Applewood Books incorporated the illustration into the cover of the new book.

"Skip-Come-A-Lou" gives today's children an interesting and entertaining glimpse into the past. As Darby writes, "Nowadays we never hear of gritting meal (from corn). When everything comes put up in paper sacks or neat little boxes, we are not apt to think of its original form. But in those early days in Missouri, people had to do many things for themselves that are done for us today. They spun their own linen, wove their own woolens, cured their own meat, and all the other things that are done in great factories nowadays."

Darby was born in Fayette, Missouri, and lived in St. Joseph as an adult. She was described in the 1914 "Women's Who's Who in America" as "interested in church work, club work, and the YWCA. Favors women's suffrage. Episcopalian, Republican, plays bridge." Obviously this description was written before Darby wrote several popular children's books with historical themes.

"Skip-Come-A-Lou" is available in Arrow Rock at the Friends of Arrow Rock office, and at Square Corner in Marshall. The cost is $18. All profits go to Friends of Arrow Rock.