Chariton Courier - Keytesville, Missouri

Robert Joseph Halley

Son of Robert Pressley Halley and Sarah Heryford, was born June 4, 1872, Chariton County, Missouri and died June 12, 1956 at 4:30 AM, from a stroke. His hands had been paralyzed for some time and it was necessary for someone to feed him. Furthermore, he was unable to walk around as he was unable to keep his balance. Mr. Halley had been in business and he was well rated on Brad Street. He was buried in the family plot in Keytesville, Missouri Cemetery on Thursday, June 14, 1956. The funeral was held at the Baptist Church in Keytesville, Missouri at 2:30 PM. He was 84 years and 8 days at the time of his death.

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Halley operated a grocery store in Keytesville for many years. His shop was opposite the post office. Ads for his business began appearing in the Chariton Courier in 1907.

In the spring of 1918, a midnight fire destroyed a row of six businesses on the south side of the main street, including Halley's warehouse and shop, in what the Courier called "the second greatest fire in the history of the city." The fire caused $40,000 in damages. The newspaper recounted Halley arriving on the scene as the fire raged and "making a deseprate dive for his account books which he recovered in part, the only thing rescued from his store and that at great risk." The Masonic lodge, which had its premises above Halley's store, also lost everything.

After the devestating fire, Halley took on his sister, Anna Bunton, as a business partner, but the Halley-Bunton Grocery Company went bankrupt in 1921. Nonetheless, Halley opened a new grocery store in Keytesville the next year, promising in a Courier ad: "You will get the very best at the least cost and a square deal if you will buy from me."

Halley, who never married, resided with his divorced sister, Anna Bunton, at 206 South Grand Avenue in Keytesville and then in Dalton.