Memories from the Homestead: The evening I spent with Doug Mahnkey

     Today is my part three and final segment looking back at the family of Alonzo Prather. Check out what I wrote on August 7 and 14, 2026, in case you missed it. Alonzo's grandson Doug Mahnkey is who I'd like to talk about today. Like his parents and grandparents, he would also have a huge impact locally and was later remembered for his storytelling and collection of Ozarks/Taney County artifacts. 

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 I still vividly recall a Thursday evening in June 1991; we still lived in the Flag neighborhood along Highway 165 just up the hill east of Fall Creek. My grandparents Wallace and Evelyn Fullerton were invited to a private event at a residence in Hollister, an event where long-time Taney County Attorney and area historian Doug Mahnkey would be doing a photo presentation on life in the Long Creek Valley prior to the building of Table Rock Dam.  

    At my young age (I was about to turn 13), I had really taken an interest in our community history because my seventh grade reading class has just finished a four- week project where we studied the Branson area origins and read Harold Bell Wright's "The Shepherd of the Hills" together in class. The event hosted by Mahnkey I thought would be fun to attend. I was excited. 

     It took us forever to get to this residence in Hollister for Doug's event. First, we had to go pick up my Uncle Lester Vining at his place. I still remember the wild car ride, once we picked up Uncle Lester. He talked a mile a minute; my granny couldn't get in a word at any point in the conversation. It was a great treat to hear someone else do all the talking for a change! Spending time with Uncle Lester was definitely rare. Having him along made it a special evening, as he was another one of our area's finest. I'll have to tell y'all more about him later and his connection to my mom's family.

    After a 40-minute car ride, we arrived at a residence off of Highway BB east of Hollister. We entered a living room full of a dozen or so other folks. I didn't know anybody, but there were several rangers with Table Rock State Park that my grandfather had previously worked with. Immediately Doug Mahnkey was introduced—at this time he was about to turn 89 years old. For nearly three hours, Doug told us his life story and showed us an amazing collection of personal photos as a slide presentation. 

    Charles Douglas Mahnkey was born near Forsyth on June 18, 1902. He told us a little bit about rural school life and how he became a school teacher for the South Bee Creek School in 1920. "I was the first school bus driver in Taney County," Doug told us, as he showed a photo of himself with five small children on a mule, Doug leading the mule on foot with a lead rope in hand. He did that in all the four years he taught at South Bee Creek School. It was too much for the youngest students to walk four miles-plus, so he personally saw that they had transportation to and from school.

     As the evening went on Doug showed us a number of images from the Oasis and Cedar Valley neighborhood and a few photos of Preacher John Groves. My grandparents both shared their memories of Groves and the brush arbor revival events he led, as Mahnkey couldn't remember Groves' first name.

    Mahnkey told us more about his personal life, marrying school teacher Merle Walker on June 13, 1928, and their hunting and fishing trips together. Then came photos of Old Forsyth, prior to the arrival of Bull Shoals Dam. It was an incredible journey through dozens of photos I had never seen!  

      I was hooked and hungry for more! It was definitely an evening I've never forgotten, and Mahnkey was extremely encouraged to encounter someone my age who had such enthusiasm for our area history. We talked about several things, as I was allowed to explain the research I had done on the Branson fire of 1912. Manhkey could tell I was serious and he reminded me of the importance of remembering dates. It was indeed a special moment. 

      Mahnkey got into politics and studied law after school teaching. He was elected as Taney County Clerk in 1926 and then elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1934. He served a term as County Prosecuting Attorney from 1937-39 and then served three more terms in the Missouri House beginning in 1945. He would then continue his Forsyth based law practice until May 1997, at the age of 94.  

    Mahnkey was one of the leading sources in recalling our county history because he had simply lived through so much of it. He was largely responsible for getting Forsyth moved to higher ground, and that story alone will be one for another day as well.  

     Mahnkey wrote two books that are well worth grabbing, "Bright Glowed My Hills," and "Hill and Holler Stories." He wrote frequently for various regional publications and provided hours of taped interviews that are greatly treasured today. His books are still easy to find online. The White River Valley Historical Society in Forsyth also has much to share, with access to many of the articles he wrote over the years, plus more.

     His wife Merle passed away on March 3, 1985. They had been married for 56 years. They had three children—two sons and a daughter. Doug passed away on November 2, 2004, at the age of 102. He and his wife are laid to rest at the Snapp Cemetery in Forsyth. The Mahnkey family legacy still carries on today and I'm honored to call them friends. 

In the photos above:

Doug and his wife Merle celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in June 1978; Doug Mahnkey in the early 1930s at his Forsyth law practice

(Photos courtesy of the White River Valley Historical Society/Mahnkey Collection)