Ransomville

For members of the Franklin County Rural History Club, warm weather means one thing: field trips. Our first adventure of 2018 took us a few miles southwest of Ottawa, where a quiet farm near Interstate 35 shared some--but not all--of its secrets.

Appanoose Brethren Church

In northwestern Franklin County, down a private lane and obscured from the main road by trees and brush, a once-neglected house of worship is being resurrected.

The Appanoose Brethren Church, built in 1886, served the local community for close to 100 years. Local records show that it was in use through at least the 1960s. In recent years, though, the church, abandoned and vandalized, began to deteriorate.

Appanoose Museum

The Rural History Club recently took a spin through the northwestern corner of Franklin County, and we simply didn't have time to see everything. We drove right by a couple of old schools and cemeteries, we bypassed the site of an alleged Border War massacre, and we passed within barely a mile of the field where Chief Appanoose is supposedly buried.

But we got a pretty good overview of the local area anyway, thanks to an all-too-brief stop at the Appanoose Museum. There, we saw photos of Chief Appanoose and displays dedicated to several local communities, as well as a covered wagon, a tribute to local military veterans, collections of old typewriters and musical instruments, a roomful of vintage toys, and a replica kitchen, living room, and schoolhouse, all furnished with period decor.