A piece of the old Ray County Courthouse was delivered to the Ray County Museum grounds last Saturday. I purchased and donated the stone, part of one of the building’s four original columns. The Ray County Historical Society manages the museum. Former museum curator Linda Emley began the search for surviving pieces of the old Ray County Courthouse and successfully located three which were later brought to the museum. Aware of the ongoing effort, I made a discovery during a recent visit to Hair Fashions in Higginsville. There, I learned my childhood babysitter, Leona Marth, owned a home on Cypress Street, where a piece of Ray County history sat in the front yard. Marth had purchased the home from Loren and Judy Turnage, who had lived at 410 Chestnut in Richmond when they obtained the piece of the old courthouse. When they later moved to Higginsville, it came with them. Nearly 170 years ago, in 1856, Ray County had a log courthouse located in the center of the Richmond square – the…