Tuesday, 15 Jun 1948 St. Joe paper reads:

Fire resulting from an explosion of a coal oil stove yesterday afternoon destroyed a five-room house at Agency, MO., owned by Mrs. Mary Stanton, sister-in-law of former County Judge Ben Stanton.

St. Joseph firemen were called but arrived too late to save the structure. They credited a bucket brigade of neighbors with saving adjoining structures.

Neighbors of Mrs. Stanton also were able to remove most of the furniture from the front rooms of the house. Firemen reported that the fire started in the kitchen, a section which was of frame construction. The front three rooms were built of brick, they said.
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In reference to the above, I (Shirleen Smiley Gartin) was 16 years old and was working at the Egg Plant in South St. Joe near the Stockyards after school was out for about six weeks. I rode to St. Joe with Mae Thompson, Nolah and Margie Jones who also worked there. We were returning home the afternoon of the fire and several miles north of Agency, we saw this plume of black smoke. It led us to the fire. Aunt Mary's daughter, Jessie and husband Leo and son Stan lived there with Aunt Mary. Leo was a school teacher in Agency and was at the fire. Jessie hadn't got home from work in St. Joe yet when we got there. I remember the neighbors pouring water on the roof of the home next door. When Jessie got there, she started smoking again after having given up cigarettes. It was a sad day.
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Monday, 3 Jan 1949 St. Joe paper reads (in part):

WILL INSTALL AT AGENCY

Superior Rebekah Lodge No. (illegible) and I.O.O.F. Lodge No. 505, Agency MO will hold their joint installation of officers in the Odd Fellow hall in Agency, Saturday. Mrs. Bessie Heckel will be installed as nobel grand of the Rebekah Lodge. Others taking office will be: Vice-grand, Mrs. Mayme Thomas; recording secretary, Mrs. Mary Jane Arnold; treasurer, Mrs. Ester Morris; warden, Miss Bertie Moore; conductor, Mrs. Eva Barnett or Barrett (?); chaplain, Mrs. Bessie Grable; right supporter to the noble grand, Mrs. Ella Morris; left supporter to the vice-grand, Mrs. Mary Stanton; musician, Mrs. May Thompson; inside guardian, Mrs. Carrie McDowell; outside guardian, J. E. McDowell. The retiring noble grand is Mrs. Grable. . . . . . .
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Monday, 15 Sep 1952 St. Joe paper read:

Agency Club

The Agency Community Club will have a wiener roast at 7 this evening on the lawn of the home of Mrs. Mary Stanton. The hostesses will be Mrs. Leo Hughes, Mrs. John Cline and Mrs. A. T. Tyler.
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Tuesday, 15 Sep 1953 St. Joe paper read:

Reunion of Watkins Family Held Saturday

The 4th annual Watkins reunion was held Sunday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Tadlock, Agency. Fifty-one were present. A basket dinner was served. The following officers were elected: Albert Stanton, president; Leo Hughes vice-president; Mrs. Jessie Hughes, secretary; Mrs. Rose Stanton, treasurer, and Mrs. Joe Watkins, reporter.

Prizes were awarded to Mrs. Mary Stanton, the oldest person present; Deborah Singleton, youngest child present; Henry Watkins, Pendleton OR, the person who traveled the greatest distance; and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Stanton, the largest family present.

The reunion will be held next year the second Sunday in September at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Tadlock, Agency.

Tuesday, 10 Sep 1957 St. Joe paper read:

The eighth annual Watkins reunion was held Sunday at the home of Mrs. Jessie Tadlock, Agency. Fifty-one attended.

Officers for next year were chosen as follows: W. B. Stanton, president; Fred Corkins, vice-president; Mrs. Lucy Watkins, secretary; Dale Stanton, treasurer; Mrs. Wilma Forry, reporter.
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Several prizes were awarded. Mrs. Mary Stanton was the oldest present; Kim Salmons, the youngest, Mr. and Mrs. Geroge Watkins traveled the greatest distance; Mr. and Mrs. Joe Watkins were the oldest married couple; Mr. and Mrs. Rex Grisham, the youngest. The reunion next year will again be the second Sunday in September at the Tadlock home.
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Saturday, 7 Jun 1958 Agency News in Buchanan County Farmer read:

Our community has been hard hit with illnesses again. It is nothing unusual to see a doctor pass by or even an ambulance. Within a few days time, doctors from St. Joseph were called for Mrs. Harry Staggs, Mrs. Mary Stanton, Mrs. A. T. Tyler, Miss Martha E. Holland, Robert Clinton, Mrs. George Noland and Oscar Cooke. Ambulances were called to take Mrs. Tyler, Mrs. Stanton and Mrs. (?) Holland to St. Joseph hospitals. We certainly hope all of these sick people will have a speedy and complete recovery.
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Tuesday, 9 Sep 1958 St. Joe paper read:

Watkins Reunion Attended by 83

There were 83 at the ninth annual Watkins family reunion Sunday at the home of Mrs. Jessie Tadlock, Agency. Mary Stanton was the oldest present and Freddie Corkins, the youngest. Mr. and Mrs. George Watkins traveled the greatest distance to attend. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Watkins were married the longest and Mr. and Mrs. Rex Grisham were the most recently wed.

Next year's reunion will be held the second Sunday in September at the Tadlock home. The officers for the coming year are Fred Corkins, president; Gregory Watkins, vice- president; Jessie Hughes, secretary; Anna Lou Grisham, treasurer; Lucy Watkins, historian, and Carrie Cline, reporter.
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Aunt Mary's brother's obituary was in the Monday, 18 May 1959 St. Joe paper and read:

Grover W. Watkins, 74, 901 Seneca street, died yesterday evening at a local hospital. Mr. Watkins, a retired farmer was a lifelong resident of Buchanan County. He was a member of the Christian Church.

Survivors include three sisters, Mrs. Mary Stanton, Mrs. Jessie Tadlock and Mrs. Carrie Cline, all of Agency MO, and four brothers, Joseph Watkins, John Watkins and W. H. Watkins, all of St. Joseph, and George Watkins, Kansas City MO.

Funeral services for Grover W. Watkins will be at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Heaton-Bowman chapel. The Rev. Paul H. Brockhausen will officiate and burial will be in Cemetery No. 6, near Agency MO.
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Saturday, 12 Oct 1963 St. Joe paper read:

Mrs. Henry Stanton

Mrs. Mary Frances Stanton, 88, Agency MO, died Friday afternoon at a St. Joseph hospital.

A lifelong resident of Agency, she was a member of the Agency Christian Church. She was the widow of Henry Stanton.

Survivors include a daughter, Mrs. Leo Hughes of the home; two sons, Albert H. Stanton and Ben D. Stanton, Agency; a sister Mrs. John Cline, Agency; two brothers W. H. Watkins and Joseph D. Watkins, St. Joseph; five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

The body will be removed from the Heaton-Bowman mortuary at 9 Sunday morning and taken to the family home in Agency. Funeral services will be held at 2:30 Sunday afternoon at the Agency Christian Church, the Rev. Eugene Albright officiating. Burial will be in Agency Cemetery.

• Married: 30 AUG 1903 in Buchanan County, Missouri
• Divorced:

1. Albert Harrison Stanton b: 27 MAY 1912 in Agency, Buchanan County, Missouri