Matt Frye/
Shirley Kimsey has worked out of her storefront on the Platte City Square for more than 30 years. Her passion for genealogy has led her to turn the back portion of her retail business into genealogical office space.
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Platte County historian leads charge to save cemeteries
Shirley Kimsey compiles books, records for posterity
By: Gene Hanson
Shirley Kimsey sits in her makeshift office in the back of her store, once known to area shoppers as Shirley's Fashion Center.
But her office is not the center of her life. It's the Shirley Family History Center in the back of the store on Platte City's historic square.
If anyone wants a family history traced or information on the history of Platte County, Kimsey will show her talent as a tenacious and persevering researcher.
She is a self-taught genealogist and historian. She has compiled six books totaling 1,215 pages covering the history of 210 cemeteries In Platte County. It took her 14 years to complete it.
Strikingly vibrant, Kimsey, 77, can recite Platte County history interestingly and accurately without referring to the volumes of work she has written on the subject.
She said her interest in cemetery history was triggered some years back when a lady from Winston-Salem, N.C., came to her asking for information on a cemetery near Manhattan, Kan.
“After she left, it occurred to me that I had given her the wrong information,” she said. “I felt terrible about it, and there was no way I could reach her. The incident convinced me to begin working on the history of local cemeteries.”
Her interest has shifted to Kansas City International Airport and five cemeteries on airport property.
“The Kansas City Aviation Department has filed a court action to move those cemeteries to another location,” said attorney Bob Shaw of Platte City. “I have been named guardian of those who are buried there.”
“The point is the cemeteries must either be moved or left alone,” Kimsey said. “If it weren't for the law, they might be destroyed.”
Kimsey's work, particularly in genealogy, can be found in 53 libraries in the U.S., plus Germany, Ireland, Spain, Argentina, Belgium and Chile.
Why does she do it?
“Because it's the right thing to do,” she said. “It's the kind or work I think God intended me to do.”
When she started her cemetery work, she put a small notice in the local newspaper letting readers know what she was doing and offered to help them or receive information from them.
The response, she said, was more than she ever dreamed. Her research uncovered cemeteries in the county that had been long forgotten. Some were slave cemeteries. She had her political connections, and she worked with state legislators to pass laws that meted out heavy fines for anyone found guilty of destroying cemeteries.
Her research involved purchasing or borrowing microfilm of newspapers. She visited funeral homes and used their records, and walked every cemetery in the county.
At one point, she discovered veterans' graves without markers. She filled out the paperwork and procured a military gravestone for one man who lived until he was 104, who fought in the War of 1812, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War and a World War II veteran.
Her work has gained her accolades from around the country, and her name is listed on a laundry list of Web sites.
But Kimsey never uses the Internet for research.
“There is too much misinformation on the Internet,” she said. “I go to the original documents at the courthouse and elsewhere. I want to be sure I get the right information.”
On the day of this interview, Kimsey was scheduled to meet with a Canadian family with roots in Platte County.
“Genealogy is hard work,” she said. “And it is time-consuming.”
While she works tirelessly compiling more historical data and genealogy, she also is responsible for managing two farms and phasing out her fashion center.
But she writes in her autobiography that she has had a good life.
“I have made many friends and would not change anything,” she wrote. “What more could anyone want?”
Business Editor Gene Hanson can be reached at 389-6638 or at ghanson@npgco.com.
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But her office is not the center of her life. It's the Shirley Family History Center in the back of the store on Platte City's historic square.
If anyone wants a family history traced or information on the history of Platte County, Kimsey will show her talent as a tenacious and persevering researcher.
She is a self-taught genealogist and historian. She has compiled six books totaling 1,215 pages covering the history of 210 cemeteries In Platte County. It took her 14 years to complete it.
Strikingly vibrant, Kimsey, 77, can recite Platte County history interestingly and accurately without referring to the volumes of work she has written on the subject.
She said her interest in cemetery history was triggered some years back when a lady from Winston-Salem, N.C., came to her asking for information on a cemetery near Manhattan, Kan.
“After she left, it occurred to me that I had given her the wrong information,” she said. “I felt terrible about it, and there was no way I could reach her. The incident convinced me to begin working on the history of local cemeteries.”
Her interest has shifted to Kansas City International Airport and five cemeteries on airport property.
“The Kansas City Aviation Department has filed a court action to move those cemeteries to another location,” said attorney Bob Shaw of Platte City. “I have been named guardian of those who are buried there.”
“The point is the cemeteries must either be moved or left alone,” Kimsey said. “If it weren't for the law, they might be destroyed.”
Kimsey's work, particularly in genealogy, can be found in 53 libraries in the U.S., plus Germany, Ireland, Spain, Argentina, Belgium and Chile.
Why does she do it?
“Because it's the right thing to do,” she said. “It's the kind or work I think God intended me to do.”
When she started her cemetery work, she put a small notice in the local newspaper letting readers know what she was doing and offered to help them or receive information from them.
The response, she said, was more than she ever dreamed. Her research uncovered cemeteries in the county that had been long forgotten. Some were slave cemeteries. She had her political connections, and she worked with state legislators to pass laws that meted out heavy fines for anyone found guilty of destroying cemeteries.
Her research involved purchasing or borrowing microfilm of newspapers. She visited funeral homes and used their records, and walked every cemetery in the county.
At one point, she discovered veterans' graves without markers. She filled out the paperwork and procured a military gravestone for one man who lived until he was 104, who fought in the War of 1812, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War and a World War II veteran.
Her work has gained her accolades from around the country, and her name is listed on a laundry list of Web sites.
But Kimsey never uses the Internet for research.
“There is too much misinformation on the Internet,” she said. “I go to the original documents at the courthouse and elsewhere. I want to be sure I get the right information.”
On the day of this interview, Kimsey was scheduled to meet with a Canadian family with roots in Platte County.
“Genealogy is hard work,” she said. “And it is time-consuming.”
While she works tirelessly compiling more historical data and genealogy, she also is responsible for managing two farms and phasing out her fashion center.
But she writes in her autobiography that she has had a good life.
“I have made many friends and would not change anything,” she wrote. “What more could anyone want?”
Business Editor Gene Hanson can be reached at 389-6638 or at ghanson@npgco.com.