Oct. 1999
By BEV DARR
Courier-Post Staff Writer

The true story of two Ilasco sisters who fought for 17 years to keep the property one of them had inherited is told in a new book by Gregg Andrews.

The sisters were Mary Alice (Mollie) Sykes Heinbach and Euphemia (Feemy) Koller. Their court battles ­ including four Missouri Supreme Court decisions in their favor ­ ended with one sister being declared incompetent and the other being declared insane.

The 26 acres in question, which comprised a major portion of Ilasco, were eventually purchased by the cement plant.

"Insane Sisters: Or, the Price Paid for Challenging a Company Town," is Andrews' second historical book on Ilasco, the small town where he was raised many years after the events chronicled in his books occurred.

Andrews' first Ilasco book, "City of Dust, A Cement Company Town in the Land of Tom Sawyer," published in 1996, told the history of Ilasco, which was occupied by employees of the nearby cement plant, now Continental Cement.

His latest book, also the result of months of historical research, is available for sale today.

It was published by the University of Missouri Press and is available from the publisher at 2910 LaMone Blvd., Columbia, Mo. 65201; Fax (573) 884-4498 or telephone (573) 882-0180.

While doing his research Andrews discovered that Mollie and Feemy had very different personalities. "One difference was Mollie knew when to get out," he said. She did not fight after the property was sold. But Feemy did not give up that easily, Andrews said, describing Feemy as "a real fighter. She didn't know when to let go."

Feemy was an unconventional woman, he added. She was a hypnotist, a spiritualist, and chose to be divorced. She was very smart and had gained a lot of knowledge of the law.

"She was very protective of her sister and was very combative," Andrews said. "She enjoyed the challenge of a good fight. Once she got entangled in this, the case generated a lot of feelings on both sides, and there were resentments of her. She acted as her own lawyer some of the time. It was a power conflict, and she held them off. Feemy got the best of them for 17 years and really frustrated some of the local powers."

The case had several surprising turns, such as once when the sisters opposed each other, and one of them went into hiding. Later they patched up their relationship, Andrews said, but they were fighting a losing battle.

When he returns to Hannibal for the Ilasco marker dedication and his book signing, Andrews is looking forward to seeing the Ilasco people whom he met when he was in Hannibal after publication of the "City of Dust."

This earlier book generated a lot of interest in the small town, and he has been rewarded with many new friends. "I have had an amazing number of telephone calls and letters from people all over the country, the kinds of letters that made me feel very good that I wrote the book," he said.

"I had requests to help with some family genealogy. Some said they had relatives who had lived in Ilasco. One told me he had once gone through Ilasco and could never figure out what happened to it. The book answers questions."

Now Andrews is pleased to be able to answer still more questions with his latest book, the story of two sisters who made a valiant attempt to fight the court system before losing their property and their right to have control of their lives.