Photo Gallery

---

We grew up spending time (not enough) with our Granny, Helen Duckworth Bruffett, near Otter Creek in Ozark County. She was born, raised, and died within a 3 mile distance.  She raised her own children, other children, and grandchildren in the same home that is still owned by the family today.  She died when we were teenagers and we wish we could turn back time to spend a few more hours gathering family history and knowledge. Luckily, some of her knowledge lives on through the Ozark County History Book and other stories passed down through her sons.

A few years ago, we started spending more time together at our family home place. While it mostly looks the same, we know that time is slowly erasing our history.  Spurred by some of the stories published in the Ozark County Times, we realized our knowledge of this great area was minimal. We set out to see and document as much as we could (3 weekends a year) and try to gather as much information as we can.   Every person we have contacted has been helpful in their own way, and without their information we wouldn't be able to do much.

Our first adventure started with the search for an abandoned cemetery near our Great-Great-Grandparents homestead. We located this cemetery, cleaned it up, and have tried to honor the memory of this cemetery through the telling of the story.  Since that time, we have set out to explore as much of this area as possible, and we have unintentionally learned more about our family with each adventure.  We have documented several abandoned and "lost" cemeteries and we are continually researching and seeking out new information.  We do have a wish list of relatives we would love to find, and we remain hopeful they aren't in unmarked graves.