 He and his wife, Jennie, are buried in a cemetery in Hornersville.
(meta data) TITLE: Buster Brown's Grave, Hornersville, Missouri RoadsideAmerica.comYour Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions ###### Navigation Mex. # Buster Brown's Grave Hornersville, Missouri On our way towards two treats of Missouri's Mississippi, Throwed Rolls at Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston and To Be Throwed Fireworks at Boomland in Charleston, we detour south into the little hernia of land prolapsed out of the state's lower right corner. In this flat fertile expanse we come to Hornersville, population 629, seeking the grave of Buster Brown, the midget. A dusty database mention from twelve years back notes that a 70-year- old woman was then trying to erect a plaque at the grave of William "Major" Ray, who she described from her childhood meetings as "a small man with a squeaky voice." So far, just an ordinary midget. But Major Ray was more than that. Only 44 inches tall (and with 37-inch wife, Jennie, billed as "The World's Smallest Couple"), Ray spent many years in the late 1800's traveling with the Sells Brothers Circus before moving to Hornersville and opening a general store which sold, among other items, Buster Brown shoes. For some reason, the then 40-year-old Ray was able to convince Buster Brown's top brass that he would a better person to portray the company's child icon than a real child. His bulldog became Tige, Buster Brown's dog who lived in a shoe with him. Ray became a celebrity at the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904 (the same fair that introduced hot dogs, which by odd coincidence, also became linked to a midget hawker), then finally retired back to the Hornersville area, and died in 1936. We do not know whether or not the 70-year-old woman succeeded in her quest, and we pull up to the town's current general store to find out. "We heard that Buster Brown is buried in Hornersville." "Who?" "Buster Brown, the famous midget." "I don't know. Ask him." "Buster Who?" "Buster Brown." "Bowne?" "No. Buster Brown." "No. There is a quiet pause. The cashier and her three customers look at each other. After a few more moments, the cashier asks the others, "Well, what's the name of the midget we do have buried here? "Major Ray?" asks a customer. "Yes, yes, Major Ray," say we. Everyone now pipes in. "Oh, yeah! Major Ray! "Sure, I can help you." "Me, too, its just a mile southwest of town." Ray is buried next to his wife, Jennie. Her grave is topped with what appears to be a life-sized statue of her with angel wings, holding a bible. Ray's gravestone is more modern looking, probably the result of the effort a decade past, and etched into the granite is Ray, a forty year old man dressed in Buster Brown kid clothes, with Tige sitting next to him. Tige is wearing glasses. Also see: Another Buster Brown ## Buster Brown's Grave ### Hornersville Cemetery Address:S. School St., Hornersville, MODirections:Southwest of town. From Hwy 164 turn left (south) at the gas station just west of town onto CR 657/S. School St. Hornersville Cemetery is a mile south, on the left. The grave is about halfway back. RA Rates:Worth a Detour Save to My Sights More on Buster Brown's Grave #### Nearby Offbeat Places Spook Light, Hornersville, MO - 4 mi. Scrap Metal Dinosaur, Blytheville, AR - 13 mi. Art Deco Greyhound Bus Station, Blytheville, AR - 14 mi. In the region: Indian Chief Statue, Poplar Bluff, MO - 51 mi. ### More Quirky Attractions in Missouri Stories, reports and tips on tourist attractions and odd sights in Missouri. ### Explore Thousands of Unique Roadside Landmarks! Strange and amusing destinations in the US and Canada are our specialty. Start here. Use RoadsideAmerica.com's Attraction Maps to plan your next road trip. August 18, 2019 #### My Sights Save Cool Vacation Destinations! 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Missouri Bootheel
Culture and economy.
 A limited amount of livestock is raised. In contrast to much of the rest of Missouri, there are few fences. 
 No large cities are located in the Bootheel. Sizable towns include Kennett, the birthplace of singers Sheryl Crow, David Nail, and Trent Tomlinson; and Sikeston, the birthplace of professional athletes James Wilder, Brandon Barnes, and Blake DeWitt. Sikeston's city limits fall within both Scott County and New Madrid County. Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff are often considered to be part of the Bootheel due to the influence the two cities have had on the development of the region, but neither is located within its geographic boundaries. 
 Hornersville, a small town in southern Dunklin County, was home to William H. "Major" Ray, a one-time 19th-century circus "midget".   He later became known as the representative of the Buster Brown shoe brand.