Between July 1971 and April 1972, a Missouri newspaper wrote four articles about a new organic farming venture that had moved into the
area. The farm was operated by what
locals referred to as hippies and they wanted the press to find out more about
the new residents. This was the very
early 70s and hippies in the farm belt were not a welcome sight.
The three people operating the farm were William Rex Cole aka Bill Vance, Claudia Leigh Smith aka Linda Baldwin and Madaline Joan Cottage aka Little Patti.
Stanberry and McFall are located in Gentry County in the
northwest corner of Missouri. McFall is
about 82 miles north of Kansas City.
According to the 1970 census there were 203 residents in McFall. There are currently 93 residents in the town.
The reporter/editor, Neal Sheehan, who I suspect wore many
other hats related to the paper, has a quirky and quaint way of writing a story
which lends itself to the contents of the articles. You might find yourself chuckling and
snorting as you read!
The Stanberry Headlight
Stanberry, Missouri
July 22 1971
They Work Too Hard to Be Hippies
A rumor that a group of “hippies” was living it up on a farm
just south of McFall was more or less nullified when a representative of this
newspaper visited the scene last Friday afternoon, approximately 11 months
after the Rev. William R. Cole, formerly of Kansas City, and members of his
Youth-for-Life organization leased two farms and began raising organic foods
for sale in Kansas City. Pictured above
checking for insects in some of their 4,000 tomato plants are Linda, 22, at the
left, who is a native of Pennsylvania, and has travelled much and calls the
United States home, and John Weaver, 19, of Simi Valley, Calif. Who is working
at the Nubian farms this summer and will return in September to his second
semester at Morepark Junior College in Ventura, Calif. The story is below.
(the pictures accompanying the articles are too dark to
post)
Youth-for-Life Flock Raises Food Organically Near McFall
A rumor that a group of “hippies” was living in their
traditional style on a farm just south of McFall sent the editor of this
newspaper scurrying to the scene last Friday afternoon- just 11 months late.
The rumor wasn’t without a certain amount of foundation, but
it certainly didn’t lead us to what we expected to find. It wasn’t anything like we’ve read about the
Haight-Ashbury area in San Francisco or other hippy-lands.
The first thing we found was a large “No Trespassing”
sign. That we ignored. Then we found a run-down, ramshackle farm
house, an old school bus, one goat, two pigs, one sheep, three rabbits, 100
“crazy” chickens, numerous dogs, two women and a young man.
That was our introduction to Nubian farms, which is
supervised by the Rev. William R. Cole, pastor of the Youth-for-Life
organization, which was chartered in January 1970, in Kansas City, Mo. by the
Calgary Grace Christian Church of Faith at Fort Lauderdale, Calif. And the Rev.
Mr. Keck. The latter church is
approximately 20 years old.
(note: Fort
Lauderdale is in Florida, there is no Fort Lauderdale in California)
Arrived Last August
The Rev. Mr. Cole, who was not present last Friday
afternoon, and a group of his followers arrived in the McFall area in August
1970, with the express aim of making a living by putting organic farming on a
paying basis. They leased two separate
farms, approximately 200 acres, and two farm houses then had a pretty rough
time getting through a hard winter. They
sold wood in Kansas City to make ends meet, so we understand.
Now apparently things are looking up for the Youth-for-Life
members, the changing population of which usually runs around 10 adults and two
or three youngsters. They can’t be hippies because they’ve put in too much
labor in their non-profit enterprise of raising food organically. They were working when we arrived which we’ll
admit surprised us. A hippy and work
just aren’t compatible. They don’t go
together.
Furnish Information
With the Rev. Mr. Cole away, we had to gather our
information from Linda, 22, who neglected to furnish us a last name, who has
been on the project since it started last August, and the young man, John
Weaver, 19, of Simi Valley Calif., who is working at Nubian farms this summer
before returning for his second semester at Morepark Junior College in Ventura,
Calif. The other young woman didn’t care
much for the “press” and made no secret of the fact. She did, however, relent long enough to
borrow one of our tailor-made cigarettes.
The organic farmers are obviously rolling their own
cigarettes until their crops begin producing some revenue. We share their hope this won’t be long now.
They put in 4,000 tomato plants which was less than they
hoped to raise this season; five acres of sweet corn, sweet potatoes, soybeans
and field corn. The plan is to market
their crops in Kansas City, but local purchasers will be welcome. Just ignore the “No Trespassing” sign if
you’re a customer.
Chemicals Excluded
Organic farming, as mystery to this writer, doesn’t sound
too easy. The Rev. Mr. Cole and members
of his small and ever changing flock use only manure for fertilizer and only
organic pesticides, which excludes DDT and most of the accepted chemical
products of that nature.
The Nubian farm group is working on a pesticide of their
own, which apparently uses tobacco that might someday be marketed on a
commercial basis.
The energetic group is not overly supplied with farm
equipment. They have a horse-drawn plow,
an old Allis-Chalmers tractor, a manure spreader and a few other minor pieces
of equipment, such as a chainsaw. The
group would be interested in receiving any old farm equipment, especially
horse-drawn, that anyone in the area is planning to “junk”. They realize, of course, that antique dealers
are latching on to most such items.
Two Other Such Farms
There are two other such organic farms operated in much the
same manner, minus the religious affiliation, according to Linda. One is near Gallatin; the other in Oklahoma.
This writer did not delve too deeply into the religious
aspect of the Youth-for-Life movement.
It’s easy for us to get in over our head in that phase of our
culture. Linda was kind enough to sum it
up for us, “Total acceptance of all churches and beliefs with no prejudice at
all.”
Look to 1972
It was easy to see that the young woman was more interested
in discussing organic farming- and the good year they hope to have in 1972 with
the crops they plan to grow on a much larger scale. The land was far from productive when they
leased it but they’re enriching it with plenty of lime, we learned. So, the group is planning ahead.
The only “grass” we saw, incidentally, was being used to
mulch the tomato plants, which may or may not prove something. We commented upon leaving that we had not
exactly found what we expected in conjunction with the rumors we had heard.
“What did you expect to find, wild parties and nearly nude
women,” Linda asked with a twinkle in her eye.
“Nope, not exactly,” we lied like a trooper. We just didn’t expect to learn so much about
organic farming and horse-drawn plows and that sort of thing.”
Different Outlooks
There is no doubt in this writer’s mind that the Nubian farm
folks live differently than we and most of our readers. Their outlook is different. Their philosophy on life is different. They dress a little differently, but not much. And they seem to work much harder than most
of us. Television is on their “taboo”
list, by the way.
The McFall businessman who directed us to the unusual
organic farm commented that the Rev. Mr. Cole and the members of his constantly
changing flock mind their own business and don’t bother anyone and work like
the very dickens to scratch out a living from the soil. He was all for them, we gathered.
So is this writer.
Rumors or no rumors we have to remove them in our mind as the “hippy”
class. They’ve worked too hard with too
little to fit that classification.
Indications are what little trouble this small “commune” has
experienced is when friends, usually from the Kansas City area, drop by for a
weekend visit- like 35 persons did one Sunday.
“That was just too much,” Linda declared with a
grimace. “Just too many people.”
The Youth-for-Life group address is McFall, Mo. If you’re
interested.
This next article is an outtake from an editorial column
about taking photos and conducting interviews with people who don’t really want
to cooperate.
The Stanberry Headlight
August 19 1971
It Happens Every Thursday
By Neal Sheehan
Seems like we’ve been running into all sorts of trouble and
hazards in our camera capers lately.
Getting photos and facts is becoming rougher than some of our city
streets, many of which are mildly bumpy at best.
Trouble, of course, is the one thing you can borrow without
references and the supply always seems to exceed the demand.
Take the time several weeks ago, for example, when we dashed
off to the McFall area to get a hot story on the alleged “hippies” who had
taken over the community to the consternation of several residents.
That’s when we found out that public opinion lots of times
is what people think other people think- or gossip which has reached the
proportion of an epidemic.
We didn’t find any hippies, semi nude females, wild parties
or anything like that. We found a small
commune of church-affiliated amateur farmers who had for 11 months been
attempting to scratch out a living raising organic foods for sale in Kansas
City and locally if possible.
We figured we obtained a pretty good, honest story on the
activities of the Youth-for-Life flock, but we’ll have to admit that we didn’t
get the “expose” type of story we figured on when we took off on a mad rush for
McFall shortly after we heard rumors emitting from that area. Little did we know the unusual farming
operation began last August. There was
no hurry.
As we reported several weeks ago, we found only three
members of the “flock” present when we timidly crashed the “No Trespassing”
sign and invaded the privacy of the Youth-for-Life flock.
There was Linda, a 22-year-old young woman who had been on
the project since the beginning; John Weaver, 19, who was farming between
semesters at a California college and another young woman, a brunette, who
obviously detested the “press.”
After a little fast-talking Linda and John overcame their
initial disapproval of our surprise visit and gave us some facts on farming
organically with horse-drawn plow, etc.
The other young woman, however, never relaxed and became
neighborly. She did relent long enough
to mooch one of our cigarettes, but she did that somewhat grudgingly and
reluctantly.
We could see she didn’t take kindly to Linda and John
furnishing us information and a picture for our story. “If the S.O.B. gets too nosey,” she declared
flouncing off into the house, “throw him out!”
“What do you mean, me or him?” we inquired innocently,
nodding in John’s direction.
“You know who I mean, Buster,” she snapped as she continued
to split the scene and entered the house.
Naturally we knew who she meant, but we didn’t sob about it. We just kept interviewing Linda and John- and
eventually hocus-focused them into a picture among their 4,000 tomato
plants. The picture appeared in this
newspaper.
Seeing how we had invaded the privacy of the Youth-for-Life
flock we mailed their leader the Rev. William R. Cole, formerly of Kansas City,
a proof of the story we wrote for his approval before publication.
We immediately received a nice reply from the Rev. Mr. Cole
in which he included an invitation ??????? if you’re ever in McFall, please
drop by and see us.”
This is somewhat beside the point but we checked with
Sheriff Benny Rainey and Deputy Sheriff Dallas Wright shortly after our visit
concerning the Youth-for-Life organization.
We gathered from them that if all the county residents were
as cooperative and as little trouble as the flock, we wouldn’t need Benny and
Dallas.
We were glad to hear this because it substantiated our
opinion of the situation, which was reached after we visited the farm. How do these rumors get started?
The third article was written just after it was
discovered that the Rev. Mr. Cole and his flock were Manson Family
members! LASO deputy sheriffs Gleason
and Whitley paid a visit to Gentry County Missouri a scant two days after the
flock decamped the farm in a big hurry.
Think they were tipped off to the LASO visit ?
The Stanberry Headlight
March 9 1972
The Stanberry Headlight published three photos at the top of the article. The photos were the mug shots of Claudia Smith, William Cole aka Bill Vance and Madaline Cottage. I have substituted mug shots from cielodrive.com for the newspaper pictures which were barely identifiable.
Manson ‘Family’ Members Leave County
(by Neal Sheehan)
The three persons shown above were instrumental in
connecting Gentry county and the McFall community with one of the most bizarre,
bloody and grotesque multi-murder cases in the annals of this country.
It’s a fantastic story, really, spanning from Aug. 9, 1969,
when the Sharon Tate murder cases occurred in Los Angeles, Calif., area until
late Friday, Feb, 25, 1972, when two of the persons above evaporated from their
Youth-for-Life religious organization’s organic farming project at the south
edge of McFall.
The hasty departure of the nervous, apprehensive pair came
just two days ahead of the arrival of two Los Angeles county deputy sheriffs,
William Gleason and Paul Whitley, who were anxious to question two or three of
the former members of the notorious Charles Manson “family” in California.
Pictured, left to right, by the names they traveled under
in Gentry county when they arrived in McFall in August 1970, are Linda Baldwin,
21; the Rev. William R. Cole, 37; and Patricia Baldwin, 25, who actually left
the Youth-for-Life farming headquarters in McFall for Memphis, Tenn., late last
August, but has not been seen or heard from since.
The investigating officers disclosed their fear that
Patricia Baldwin may have met with “foul play” because “she knew too
much.” Life apparently was and is dirt
cheap to the Manson “family” and the motorcycle clubs with which they hobnobbed
in California. Two of the cycle gangs
closest to the “family” included the Satan Slaves and the Straight Satans.
It seems, according to written reports, that Manson provided
the cyclists with the feminine members of his family- and they furnished him a
mobile “infantry” force for his fiendish plans.
The pictures shown above, incidentally, were obtained from
the official California files on the Manson “family,” compiled by Sheriff Benny
Rainey and Deputy Sheriff Dallas Wright of Stanberry in co-operation with the
visiting Los Angeles county deputies. The
sweater worn by Cole in the picture taken in California is now in Sheriff
Rainey’s possession. It was overlooked
in Cole’s hurried get-away from McFall.
The three temporary Gentry countians were not directly
implicated in the blood-curdling Sharon Tate case in which the lives of the
attractive and pregnant movie actress and four others were abbreviated by a
revolver and several knives handled by four of Manson’s “family” at his orders.
Involved in the actual murders at the Tate home were one
man, Tex Watson, and three young women, Linda Kasabian, Patricia Krenwinkel and
Susan Atkins.
Millions of words have been printed on the Tate case and the
other murders in which the hippy “family” was implicated. So, this newspaper will sidestep of the
gruesome story that has shocked millions of readers for many months.
Formed New Church
Our interest, naturally, is in the three members of the
infamous “family” who landed in Gentry county after forming a new “church” in
Kansas City and who attempted to eke out a frugal living for almost 18 months
via organic farming at the south edge of McFall.
There is no doubt that Linda, Patricia and Cole were members
of Manson’s “family” and resided at least part-time at the Manson headquarters
on the Spahn “movie” ranch at Chatsworth, Calif.
Official police records show that Patricia Baldwin, who also
used other names including Claudia Leigh Smith, gave her address as the Spahn
ranch at Chatsworth when she was arrested on a narcotics charge Sept, 20, 1969,
in Los Angeles county. At that time, she
was listed as 5-foot-3, weighing 120 pounds, had brown hair and green
eyes. She told officers that she was
born Aug. 11, 1950, in Culver City, Calif., and that her occupation was
“baby-sitting in Topanga Canyon, Calif.”
She was released on bond on that charge, the records show and the
outcome on the “narco” charge is not listed in the file on Linda.
Present at Murder
The records show that Patricia Joan Baldwin, also known as
Little Patti and Madaline Joan Cottage, received several citations for traffic
violations in the summer of 1968. Her
file also shows that she was present when another member of the “family,” John
P, (Zero) Haught, was killed at No. 28 Clubhouse in Venice, Calif., on Nov. 5,
1969. Little Patti also is known to have
been driving a Volkswagen owned by another member of the “family,” Gary Hinman,
on Aug. 1, 1969, which was just a few days before the Tate murders.
Patricia is listed in the files as 5-foot-2, weighing 110
pounds, and having brown hair and green eyes.
She was born May 7, 1946, in Ohio Valley, PA., according to the records.
William Rex Cole, who also used the names of William Van
Sickle and David Lee Hamick in his travels, and had several nicknames, Duane,
Bill, Vance and Buck, his file shows. He
is charged with forging a check while residing at Spahn ranch on Feb. 26, 1970,
which was quite a time after Manson and many of his “family” had been
apprehended. It is possible that the
money derived from the forged check was used for “traveling funds” to get him
to Missouri.
Cole is shown in his file to be 6-foot-2, weighs 175 pounds,
has brown hair and eyes and was born at one of two places, Memphis, Tenn., or
Kingston, Mo., on Apr. 17, 1935.
Visited the Farm
It was last July that this writer visited the Youth-for-Life
Nubian farms in the McFall area and finally, after much coaxing, extracted a
story on the organic farming project from Linda- after initially receiving very
cold shoulders from both Linda and Little Patti.
Little Patti, as we vividly recall, mooched a cigarette from
us, then entered the ramshackle farm home with pertinent advice to Linda: “If
he gets too nosey, throw the S.O.B. out!”
We realize now, of course, why we had to talk so fast to get
the story- and we’ll always wonder how we ever managed to get Linda to pose for
a picture for us in the nearby tomato field.
It was not easy, believe us. That
story and picture, by the way, appeared in the July 22, 1971, issue of this
newspaper under the heading, “They Work Too Hard to Be Hippies.”
The Rev. Mr. Cole was not present that day, but we later
received a nice letter from him and Linda, describing how much they liked the
article-and would we please send them 20 copies and bill the cost to the farm.
Put in Hard Work
They also invited us to drop by and see them if we were in
the McFall area, something we always planned to do until now that it’s too
late. We have always wondered how they
did on their 4,000 tomato plants.
Obviously, they were hiding out in Gentry county, but they certainly put
in a lot of hard work while “lying low.”
It probably was because Linda refused or neglected to tell
us her last name during our interview that we missed mention of her and Little
Patti in an article, “Charlie and the Devil,” written by Ed Sanders, which
appeared in the November, 1971, issue of Esquire magazine.
It was on Oct. 9, 1969, that officers arrested a number of
the Manson “family.” According to
Sanders: “They arrested Linda Baldwin, also known as Little Patti, and Squeaky,
using the name Elizabeth Elaine Williamson. Some of the girls were nude.”
This indicates that Little Patti was using the name Linda at
that particular time, which was about “par for the course.” They were reported at various times as being
half-sisters. Anyway, Linda was using
another name at the time.
‘Escaped Arrest’
“Quite a few of the family members escaped arrest in the
Oct. 10 raid,” Sanders reported in his article.
“Among them were Dianna Lake and Claudia Smith, also known as Sherry
Andrews. Both of these girls hid under a
canvass not far from the front gate of the Barker ranch when the raid occurred.”
Claudia Smith, as mentioned before, was one of the nom de
plumes used by Linda- and it could well be her real name, according to
investigating officers.
Charles Manson, himself, was one of eight “dirty hippies”
arrested the evening of Oct. 10 by officers, according to Sanders’ account,
which apparently put a halt to his fanatical plans for more fiendish murders of
certain persons he did not happen to like.
California authorities are not only interested in
apprehending Cole, Linda and Little Patti, if she is still among the living, they
are vitally interested in obtaining a king-sized tape recording believed to be
in Cole’s possession- the only such tape in existence.
Tape is Valuable
On good authority, the tape is believed to have been
recorded by Manson and members of his “family” between the date of the Tate
murders and his capture on Oct. 10, 1969.
It could shed new light on other activities of Manson and his faithful
flock. One officer estimated the value
of the unique tape at $50,000. Another
officer’s conjecture the tape has kept and is keeping the Rev. Mr. Cole alive.
Thanks to Sheriff Rainey and Deputy Sheriff Wright, this
newspaper has copies of two letters pertaining to Cole and members of his “flock.” One letter apparently was received by Cole
and Company from California. It was
written Aug. 27, 1971. The letter is
hand printed and the scrawled signature is impossible to decipher, although it
apparently was written by a male.
The letter mentions the “family,” a “chick on acid,” and the
following comments concerning Little Patti: “I got your letter yesterday. That’s really something Patti leaving. I sure as hell hope she keeps her mouth shut…
Don’t take any chance with Patty. I don’t
know the whole story but from what you wrote in the letter it doesn’t sound too
safe… You take it easy. Be careful. I don’t know what Patty’s trip is. Don’t take the chance. She could (blank) you up.”
Wrote the Clevengers
The second letter was written by Linda Baldwin and William
R. Cole to Mr. and Mrs. Clare Clevenger of McFall, owners of the farm where the
group lived for 18 months. The Clevenger
letter, received Feb. 28, three days after the pair left McFall, said:
“We suspected this for quite some time. I’m sorry that we cannot make personal
amends. Clare, you have all rights
distributing the property for debts owed by us.
As soon as we are able, we will make things straight with you.
Thank Popplewell, George Gist, Floyd Parks, Jim Bob Woodard
and Clifford Pierce. We appreciate and
love you all for everything you’ve done for us.”
That letter, written two days after Linda and Cole left the
McFall scene could very well be Gentry county’s last connection with the Manson
“family.”
It should be pointed out that while Cole and his “flock” were
Gentry countians, as far as is known, they operated more or less as model
citizens, according to most of their neighbors and the sheriff’s office.
Despite the venomous glances Little Patti aimed in our
direction last July, we hope nothing drastic has befallen her. We also hope that Linda, who impressed us
with her sincerity concerning her religion, comes out alright “in the end.”
The rundown on each person from Deemer's list:
This fourth and final article appeared in an editorial by Sheehan about
six weeks after the visit by Los Angeles County sheriffs Whitley and
Gunther. It answers a couple of
questions about things in the previous articles.
The Stanberry Headlight
April 20, 1972
By Neal Sheehan
It Happens Every Thursday
It Happens Every Thursday
Early last month this newspaper featured a story in depth on
three former members of the “family” of the murderous Charles Manson in the Los
Angeles, Calif., area.
The story became a story when it was revealed that three
members of the Youth-for-Life religious organization, which had been operating
an organic farming enterprise at the south edge of McFall since August 1970,
were former members of the infamous Manson family.
Involved under the names they used here in the county were
the Rev. William R. Cole, 37; Linda Baldwin, 21; and Patricia Baldwin, 25.
Patricia, or Little Patti, as she was known, left the McFall
commune last August. Linda and the Rev.
Mr. Cole were still on the scene early in March when they were “spooked” and
departed hastily for parts unknown just before two Los Angeles county deputy
sheriffs and an attorney for the defense of Manson members in California
arrived in Gentry county.
Apparently, Cole and Linda were wanted as witnesses in cases
still pending against members of the Manson family. The visiting defense attorney, who arrived a
day before the officers, wanted to prevent them from testifying.
The two deputies feared that Little Patti may have met with
foul play because she knew too much- and they were vitally interested in a large
master tape recording known to be in Cole’s possession.
This writer, who visited the Youth-for-Life farming
headquarters last summer and met Linda and a reluctant Little Patti, knocked
out a story on organic farming for this newspaper at that time.
Our next story on the group appeared in the Mar. 9, 1972,
issue explaining their records, their connection with Manson, their quick
evaporation from this scene- and the conclusion that this was the last Gentry
county would hear from the Youth-for-Life group.
The Kansas City Star also featured a lengthy story on the
former Manson family members, which began on page 1.
Well, we were wrong in our conclusion in our story. Last Tuesday morning’s mail included a letter
from California signed “Linda and Bill” and addressed to “Dear Mr. Sheehan and
citizens of Gentry county”:
“Bill and I have read the articles in the Stanberry
Headlight and for the most part found them very nice. We realize the news media sees anyone ever
connected with Charles Manson as a murderer.
That was not our trip. Our trip
is our religion.
“Our religion is one of all religions. Our goal is to bring people together in
harmony and love. Everybody can join together
under the three necessities of life- food, shelter and clothing. Regardless of anyone’s opinions for his wants
and needs, we can identify with these three necessities.
We knew we would be discovered and we also knew of the
emphasis and value that would be placed on the music (tape) in our
possession. We now feel the time has
come when the music should be published.
This music should not be regarded as entertainment. We extend an invitation to all media of publication
interested in the music to write to: C. Smith, PO Box 3077, Simi, Calif. 93065
“Bill and I would like to express our deepest thanks to
Clair and Kathy Clevenger, Tank Popplewell and family, George Gist, Clifford
Pierce, Floyd and George Parks, Floyd Reed and mother, Gene Lupier, the
Stanberry Headlight and everyone who liked us.
Thanks for just being our friends.
Respectfully,
“Linda and Bill”
This newspaper was extremely happy to hear from Linda and
Bill. It’s obvious they are in no danger
from the “law” at this writing. We didn’t
meet Bill, but we were deeply impressed at Linda’s faith in her religion and
the fact that the Youth-for-Life folks caused no trouble to anyone, according
to Sheriff Benny Rainey of Albany.
Their industrious attitude also impressed us. It was like our headline pointed out last
July; “They Work Too Hard to Be Hippies.”
