Stringfield Store1 was located in Shamrock Township about two miles northwest of the village of Shamrock. It's site was in Section 17, Township 49N Range 7W. It was a little over two miles south of the village of Venice which was located in section 5 on the south side of the Callaway and Audrain County line; and slightly over one mile southwest of Liberty Christian Church and Cemetery. Hazel Dell School was three quarters of a mile to the north then slightly east of the store.

[Note²: Callaway 1876 Atlas shows two buildings on the north side of a southwest-northeast running road coming from Liberty Christian Church. The Callaway 1876 Atlas does not show Venice but the 1897 atlas shows Venice in section 5 on the county line on the north side of 308 acres of J J Brigal.]

Perry Stringfield purchased land in section 17 and built a story and a half log residence in 1845. He sold merchandise from the upstairs west room and later erected a 25'x35' building for his store 300 yards east of the house. The Stringfield Post Office was opened January 29, 1856 in the store but was closed January 2, 1861, at the start of the Civil War with the postal service moved to the Shamrock Post Office. The store was later sold to Peter and brother Robert M. Kemp and Mr. Kemp operated the store. The store went out of business in about 1870 and grandparents Boswell purchased the land.

As a sidelight on Civil War times in Callaway, it can be told that William Kemp, a son of Peter H. Kemp, was arrested in the neighborhood of the store by Fulton Militiamen in 1864, and then was shot and killed as he was being taken to Fulton to be jailed. The Kemp family always called the killing murder. The Militiamen probably justified the killing by saying Kemp tried to escape. I recall the story told to me by my mother was that these same Militiamen first came to my Grandmother Dillard's home and picked up her oldest son Will Dillard and went on to the Kemp home. Not finding William Kemp there, they went to the old Stringfield Store where they found Kemp. They let Uncle Will come on home and took Kemp instead.

The store structure was a one-story frame building which faced the south. It's foundation was of hewn logs placed on rock pillar. It had a wide door and two windows on the south end and one door and one window on the north end. The south door was about three feet from the ground. A long porch was constructed across the front. I recall that some of the old timers said there was a rock lined well on the northeast corner of the building. A barrel of whiskey with a cup hanging near was kept. The customers could refresh themselves with the beverage. About three hundred yards to the west of this store building was a weatherboard log residence which was built in 1845. Merchandise was sold from the west upstairs room. I can recall how warm the old stoves were. Holes were bored in the logs and pegs were placed in them and boards layed across them for shelves. This house stood on a knoll a short distance to the west of the tiny fork of Bachelor Creek. A road ran in a general direction of northeast to southwest past these buildings. I recall my mother saying she as a child had seen the oxen team going past with covered wagons.

¹Grace Dillard, "Collected Notes about Shamrock, Missouri"
²"Combined Illustrated Historical Atlas of Callaway County, Missouri, 1876, 1897, 1919"