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A piece of Lilbourn history is torn down
(Lilbourn) - Although this local gin company has a big name, it had a big job to go with it. It may not be an active entity as in its hay day, the Nesselrodt-Campbell Gin Company stood as an iconic town marker until the office building was destroyed by fire in 2016.
Today, due to rust and weather-beaten over the years, it became necessary to tear the rest of the old grain bin and cotton gin down.
Bill Whitlock, owner/ manager of the Lilbourn based business, started his tenure with the Nesselrodt-Campbell Gin Company in 1980. For several of those years, he worked for the company at both of their two Texas locations. They were in Raymondville, TX and Harlington. TX.
Whitlock later sold these facilities shortly after Mr. Nesselrodt died.
Below is a little bit of the history as told by Whitlock, about the Lilbourn gin company.
"In the early 1930's, H.B. Campbell was a cotton buyer for Mr. E.P Coleman. Just down the street was F.J. "Pid" Nesselrodt. He operated a service station the main street in Lilbourn."
"Campbell came to see "Pid" at the service station and ask him if he would like to start a cotton gin.
Nesselrodt stated he did not have enough money to put hinges on a cotton gin door. Campbell laughed in agreement, but said that they could borrow the money."
They borrowed moony from the Bank of New Madrid and started in the gin business as a partnership.
Campbell bought and sold the cotton and Pld operated the cotton gin. They did custom ginning and did not own any land of their own.
One day, Mr. Coleman came by and asked to talk with the two of them alone. Coleman said, "I know you only want to gin cotton, but if you do not start buying land, you could end up one day with a gin and no cotton to gin."
At that time, most of the land in the area was owned by insurances companies, and were eager to sell land. The land sold between $2.00 to $10 per acre, and most of the land was in timber and marshy.
"The two men bought land and would have sharecroppers on 40 to 80 acres.
They built the family a house and sharecroppers would clear the land and plant cotton. They would
farm the land rent free."
"The insurance companies would work with Nesselrodt and Campbell on paying the land loans. The insurance companies did not want the land back. The two men continued buying land and Increasing their ginning volume."
Later they opened a cotton gin in Catron. They continued buying land and increasing ginning volume. Somewhere between the late 30's and early 40's, theory hired Tom Mashmeyer to manage the gin operation.
In the early 1940's, Mashmeyer joined the Navy and was absent for several years. The gins and land operation continued under the direction of Campbell and Nesselrodt until Mashmeyer's return from military services.
In 1954, Campbell and Nesselrodt decided they needed to be incorporated. The two men petitioned the State of Missouri to be incorporated at the Nesselrodt-Campbell Gin Company, a Missouri corporation headquartered in Lilbourn, MO.
In the 1970's. Campbell and Nesselrodt decided it was time to divide their holdings. The divided their land holdings and the Bell City Gin became Mr. Campbell's, and the Nesselrodt-Campbell Gin Company in Lilbourn became Nesselrodt's.
Mr. Campbell died in 1975. Mr. Nesselrodt died in 1981 and Mr. Mashmeyer died in 1978.
Whitlock resides in his home in Sikeston, MO.
