Cozean Family Display

In honor of the Cozean family, the library created a display that highlights some of the rich history of the Cozean family. In order to reach a broader audience, the library digitized the documents in the display case to showcase them on the Internet.

The Cozean descendants can be traced back to the 1700's with Milburn Cozean being the earliest known male Cozean in the USA with male descendants. The display contains many pictures of the Cozean family. Rolla Smith Cozean (1881-1961), the son of E. M. Cozean, was a director at the funeral home and was the postmaster in Farmington. Grover M. "Dick" Cozean (1889-1985) was the son of E. M. Cozean and the brother of Rolla. Grover was a school adminstrator and was a member of several organizations. On display is a picture of Grover with Cosmonauts that he met at Fort Vancouver (formerly British Hudson Bay Trading Post) when he was there visiting his daughter, Virginia, in 1976. Frank A. Cozean (1890-1966), cousin to Rolla and Grover, was the son of James H. Cozean. Frank was a school administrator in St. Francios County and was a faculty member of the Flat River Junior College. Charles Hugo Cozean, for whom the Mineral Area College Library is named, was born in 1911. In 1943, Hugo, as he was known in the community, became the owner of the Cozean Funeral Home. In the display, there is a poor copy of a picture of Hugo at a Farmington I.O.O.F. meeting in the 1960's. Hugo is the second person from the right with dark hair.

Cozean Funeral Home's history can be traced back to the late 1800's. Cozean Funeral Home moved to its current location on West Columbia Street in Farmington in 1940. The display contains an original Cozean Funeral Home fan.

The Cozeans' love of books started early. The display contains several books such as Select Plays by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Ben Hur, Calvaire de Pontchateau and some Nelson and Sons Ltd. school books.

The Zelda Martin Lecture Series was established by Zelda's children as a memorial tribute. The series' mission is to provide a platform for social, political, and economic debate. The first guest lecturer of the lecture series was former U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Sr. which coincided with the dedication of the C. H. Cozean Learning Resources. Past guest lecturers have included the former U. S. Senator Kit Bond, former U. S. Senator John Ashcroft, former Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Duane Benton, former Crowder College President Kent Farnsworth, former U. S. Senator Jim Talent, former University of Missouri basketball coach Norm Stewart, and former NORAD Director Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart with an introduction by the former Missouri National Guard Adjutant Gen. King E. Sidwell.

The Cozean family are proud supporters of Mineral Area College. The display contains several pictures of members of the Cozean family attending various college functions. Dr. Charles and Carol Cozean as well as Jon Cozean (far left) with former University of Missouri basketball coach Norm Stewart. Dr. Charles Cozean with Coach Norm Stewart. Dr. Jon Cozean, Mrs. Shirley Wilson, Dr. Charles and Carol Cozean with former Missouri Governor Matt Blunt. Dr. Cozean with local authors who participated in the library's 2007 Celebrate Local Authors! program.