>Here you go!
>
>Lincoln, Nebraska, for button-making -after learning the shells were
>valuable for this purpose. Up until this time the shells were thrown
>away
>after being opened searching for pearls. "Men from the Northern
>States,,
>began pouring in, teaching the people to save the shells and how to boil
>31
>them (to open them). Some were only. shell buyers while hundreds were
>~~y£
>what they called 'shellers'. It was these men that brought more
>sophisticated equipment for digging shells and then the work could be
>carried on the year round.
>Dr. Myers reported, ''as determined by the home banks and express
>$1,271,000 was paid out for pearling in seven years. "The run down was
>as follows: paid out for pearls in 1897, $11,000; 1898, $55,000' 1899,
>$110,000; 1900, $200,000; 1901, $310,000; 1902, $370,000; 1903,
>$215,000 for pearls and shells.
>One of the most intriguing of the pearl stories took place in the spring
>of 1902. It was then that news reached the streets of Black Rock that a
>super-pearl had been found on the Julia Dean Bar, located midway
>between Black Rock and Pocahontas. This bar reached entirely across
>the river where shellers could wade. The pearl was taken from a large
>rough shell mussel, known to river people as a mucket,
>by a man. named McCaleb, hence, following the order
>of the river, it was known as the McCaleb pearl. Pearls at this time
>were
>bringing a good price and men knowledgeable and those not so
>knowledgeable became pearl buyers. W. 0. Bird, a former druggist and
>jeweler in Black Rock, was such a buyer. He had an office on Main
>Street and was one of the more knowledgeable buyers. A dealer by the
>name of Conner told Mr. Bird about the McCaleb pearl. He being one of
>the first dealers to see the pearl as he was near the bar when it was
>found.
>He told Mr. Bird of its size and perfect ball shape. Since Mr. Bird
>wanted
>the pearl, he and Conner reasoned together and it was decided that
>Conner would try to make the buy for $1,000 in cash, that is, if he
>could
>beat a Memphis buyer to the bar. Mr. Conner had in his dealings with the
>river people made a study of their nature and reactions, particularly in
>business matters, and believed that with the cash approach, ten one .
>hundred dollar bills spread out fan shape before McCaleb, he could get
>i:h1~, t e pear. ! Conner stood in line with waiting buyers. There were
>five ahead of him 0;)including the one in the shack but no sign of the
>Memphis buyer. From .
>the other buyers, he learned the price was up to $820. The buyer emerged
>,p,"'
>from the shack, he had made a few dollars raise and been refused. The j:
>next two buyers in line stepped aside, saying they could do no better. i
>There were only two ahead of Conner now with Holt, a buyer from ,
>Newport, waiting after him. The two in front of Conner were worried
>and ill-at-ease. One at a time they entered and returned to leave
>without a
>word. As Conner entered the shack a motor boat landed and a stranger
>came toward the camp. Conner marked him as the buyer from Memphis.
>
>Fall 1978
>Inside the shanty, McCaleb, a bronzed knight of the river, sat by a
>rough
>board table. On the table rested a cigar box filled with dirty cotton,
>in the
>center lay a handful of clean, white cotton and on this rested the
>pearl.
>The box cover was closed as Conner had examined the pearl -this being
>his third trip to the camp. A revolver lay on the table while two
>shotguns
>were leaning against the wall. An old man, a relative of McCaleb, stood
>by the table. Conner entered, spoke to McCaleb and his male companion
>then advanced to the table. In a low tone of voice he talked to the
>pearler
>a few minutes then from his pocket he took ten crisp one hundred dollar
>bills and laid them fan-shape on the table. McCaleb called the older man
>-even the woman came to the rim of light and waited. They talked a
>few minutes -a hushed uncertain silence followed -McCaleb nodded,
>they raised the box lid, Conner removed the pearl, placing it in a
>chamois
>skin bag and put it in the pocket where the thousand dollars had been.
>He made one request that McCaleb close the box and not let it be known
>the pearl had been sold until he was "well on his return trip down the
>river .
>  Mr. Bird took the pearl to St. Louis for appraisal then on to New York
>where he was advised to join a group of dealers in precious stones on a
>trip to Paris, France, where the pearl was sold and the people at home
>were told that it became apart of the royal collection.
>What the McCaleb pearl sold for was never known by the people of
>Black Rock. Mr. Bird returned home, sold all his property and holdings
>and moved back to his former home in Iowa. He made several trips back
>Ito Black Rock to greet old friends and stand in reverie on the bank of
>the
>river that mothered the beautiful pearl.
>Other valuable pearls have been found in Black River but none of the
>stories so interesting and spell-binding as that just retold. It is a
>known
>fact that a few of the finer pearls from Black River became apart of the
>crown jewels of royalty in Asia and Europe.
>
>Button Cutting Becomes A Black Rock Industry
>This has all been an introduction to the all so important industry to
>those in and around Black Rock for so many years, button-cutting.
>As a result of the interest in pearling and learning the value of shells
>and for what they were used a button company was formed in February
>1900 by Dr. Myers, Dr. N. R. Townsend, and H. W. Townsend. A small
>plant was built at Black Rock. The little factory began turning out
>blanks
>(rough buttons) cut from shells the following May. This was the first
>button factory in the south according to Dr. Myers. However, after
>operating only for a short time, the cutters went on strike and the
>factory
>closed. The factory was bought and enlarged by a Davenport, Ohio,
>pearl button company.
>A New York based button company, Chalmers, carried on the button-
>cutting operation on the river bank at Black Rock for many years in two
>different locations. First close to the river which flooded the factory
>sometimes, and later, somewhat farther from the river's edge and on
>
>
>
>
>--
>  "but  I remain your affectinate cousin untill death."
>  Thank you again Greatgramdpa Davis for those words.
>  Never dreamed I'd get to use em!