The rolling hills of southern Jackson County still shelter the white and
green farmhouse Harry S. Truman occupied in the days before his journey
to the Presidency. After the death of his father, the duties of the six
hundred acre farm fell to twenty-two year-old Harry, who shouldered them
from 1906 to 1917. It was here, in Grandview, that his nine year
courtship with Bess Wallace took place and his ties with organizations
like the Free Masons were forged. Drawing on photographs, letters and
even farm receipts, historian Jon Taylor pieces together a picture of
the farmer from Missouri whose humble beginnings prepared him to lead
the country.