•y^0> . -^^0^ » .V *bv" V"^^ .^^^vP. ; ^^' -^^ v-^^ »-' V • .JSE] o . » • .0 S^-o^. ^ *o«o' ^' 4 o ,v>. -.5^11^; ^'^^'^^ t,v/Mw: «:^''^^ '.^i^; ^^''^. >o^ ■ O^ * * . , ^ • * aO V 'J ~> C^ -t^ HISTOBY OF GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI, WRITTEN AND COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC OFFICIAL AND PRIVATE SOURCES, INCLUDING A HISTOKY OF ITS TOWiNSHIPS, TOWNS AND VILLAGES, TOGETHER WITH A CONDENSED HISTORY OF MISSOURI; THE CITY OF ST. 1.0UIS; A RELIABLE AND DETAILED HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY— ITS PIONEER RECORD, WAR HISTORY, RESOLTiCES, BIOGRAPHICAL SIvETCHES AND PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT CITIZENS; GENERAL AND LOCAL STATISTICS OF GREAT VALUE, AND A LARGE AMOUNT OF LEGAL AND MISCELLANEOUS MATTER; INCIDENTS AND REMINISCENCES, GRAVE, TRAGIC iVND HUMOROUS. ] LL US T RATED. ST. LOUIS: WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY. 1883. St. Louis, Mo. : Prf^s of Nixon- Jones Printing Co, St. Louis: Becktold if- Co., Hook- Binders. \'hXJ PEEFACE. In presenting to the citizens of Greene County this History, it is with the full knowledge that there must necessarily be some errors found within its pages ; otherwise, it would be different from any work yet compiled by human hands, absolute perfection never having been reached either in the historical or any other field of earthly labor. In attempting to compile a complete History of Greene County, a great variety of sources of information had to be consulted by the writers hereof : old files of newspapers, early official records, previously written historical works and reviews, old settlers still living, letters of correspondence and pri- vate documents have all been consulted in embodying what is set forth in this volume. Considering all these things, absolute freedom from error would be a miracle of wonders. Much care, however, has been taken to avoid ex parte statements, and the writers and publishers claim that this History, while not exact in everything, treats all with fairness and candor. To gather the inci- dents of the long ago has been a work of infinite care and attention to detail. Intelligent readers may judge, therefore, how this labor has been performed, and do us the justice to accredit us with an honest endeavor to make this History worthy, in all respects, the careful perusal of the reader. To name all persons to whom the publishers are indebted for the facts herein, would be an undertaking of too great a magnitude ; for there is scarcely a citizen of any prominence in the county who has not, in some way, contributed to the compilation of this work. The editing historian, Mr. R. I. Holcombe, has labored long and faithfully in gathering, compiling, and adapt- ing the matter of this work; necessitating on his part an extensive corre- spondence with parties in the distance, besides his exhaustive consultation of all sources of information within the county. Officers and privates who served on both sides during the Civil War, have cheerfully contributed their fund of information bearing on the war history. The editors and attaches of all the papers, the county officials, besides hosts of business men and private citizens, have done all in their power to advance the interests of this (ill) IV PREFACE. enterprise and contribute to the fulness and exactness of this History. As above stated, to name all these would be impossible, for their name is legion. To the entire citizenshij) of the county the publishers and authors return thanks for the universal courtesy (with a very few exceptions) with which they and their assistants have been treated. With these few preliminary remarks we submit this work to the tender criticism of a charitable public. And when, in days to come, its pages shall be conned by children yet unborn, it is hoped that they may be able to say that its perusal, besides entertaining and instructing them, has the better prepared them for the exercise of all the functions of intelligent citizenshi}) in a free and enlightened land. Very truly, (E.F.PERKINS. PERKINS & HORNE, 83 CHAPTER XXIV. Wilson Township St. Louis City and County separated In 1877. Population lor 1876 not given. HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 13 .8XrMMA.BY. Males Females Native Foreign White Colored ^ 1,126,424 1,041,380 1,957,564 211,240 2,023,568 145,236 CHAPTEK ni. GEOLOGY OF MISSOURI. Classification of Rocks —Quatenary Formation— Tertiary —Cretaceous — Carbonifer- ous — Devonian — Silurian — Azoic — Economic Geology — Coal — Iron — Lead — Copper — Zinc — Building Stone — Marble — Gypsum — Lime — Clays — Paints — Springs — Water Power. The stratified rocks of Missouri, as classified and treated of by Prof. G. C. Swallow, belong to the following divisions : I. Quatenary ; II. Tertiary; III. Cretaceous; IV. Carboniferous; V. Devonian; VI. Silurian ; VII. Azoic. " The Quatenary formations, are the most recent, and the most valuable to man: valuable, because they can be more readily utilized. The Quatenary formation in Missouri, embraces the Alluvium, 30 feet thick ; Bottom Prairie, 30 feet thick ; Bluff, 200 feet thick ; and Drift, 155 feet thick. The latest deposits are those which constitute the Alluvium, and includes the soils, pebbles and sand, clays, vegeta- ble mould, bog, iron ore, marls, etc. The Alluvium deposits, cover an area, within the limits of Mis- souri, of more than four millions acres of land, which are not sur- passed for fertility by any region of country on the globe. The Bluff Prairie formation is confined to the low lands, which are washed by the two great rivers which course our eastern and western boundaries, and while it is only about half as extensive as the Allu- vial, it is equally as rich and productive." *' The Bluff formation," says Prof. Swallow, ** rests upon the ridges and river bluffs, and descends along their slopes to the lowest valleys, the formation capping all the Bluffs of the Missouri from Fort Union to its mouth, and those of the Mississippi from Dubuque * Including 92 Chinese, 2 half Chinese, and 96 Indians and half-breeds. 14 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. to the mouth of the Ohio. It forms the upper stratum beneath the soil of all the high lands, both timber and prairies, of all the counties north of the Osage and Missouri, and also St. Louis, and the Missis- sippi counties on the south. Its greatest development is in the counties on the Missouri River from the Iowa line to Boonville. In some localities it is 200 feet thick. At St. Joseph it is 140 ; at Boonville 100 ; and at St. Louis, in St. George's quarry, and the Big Mound, it is about 50 feet ; while its greatest observed thickness in Marion county was only 30 feet.'* The Drift formation is that which lies beneath the Bluff formation, having, as Prof. Swallow informs us, three distinct deposits, to wit : *'Altered Drift, which are strata of sand and pebbles, seen in the banks of the Missouri, in the northwestern portion of the State. The Boulder formation is a heterogeneous stratum of sand, gravel and boulder, and water-worn fragments of the older rocks. Boulder Clay is a bed of bluish or brown sandy clay, through which pebbles are scattered in greater or less abundance. In some locali- ties in northern Missouri, this formation assumes a pure white, pipe- clay color." The Tertiary formation is made up of clays, shales, iron ores, sand- stone, and sands, scattered along the bluffs, and edges of the bottoms, reaching from Commerce, Scott County, to Stoddard, and south to the Chalk Bluffs in Arkansas. The Cretaceous formation lies beneath the Tertiary, and is com- posed of variegated sandstone, bluish-brown sandy slate, whitish- brown impure sandstone, fine white clay mingled with spotted flint, purple, red and blue clays, all being in the aggregate, 158 feet in thickness. There are no fossils in these rocks, and nothing by which their age may be told. The Carboniferous system includes the Upper Carboniferous or coal-measures, and the Lower Carboniferous or Mountain limestone. The coal-measures are made up of numerous strata of sandstones, limestones, shales, clays, marls, spathic iron ores, and coals. The Carboniferous formation, including coal-measures and the beds of iron, embrace an area in Missouri of 27,000 square miles. The varieties of coal found in the State are the common bituminous and cannel coals, and they exist in quantities inexhaustible. The fact that these coal-measures are full of fossils, which are always confined HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 15 to the coal measures, enables the geologist to point them out, and the coal beds contained in them. The rocks of the Lower Carboniferous formation are varied in color, and are quarried in many different parts of the State, being exten- sively utilized for building and other purposes. Among the Lower Carboniferous rocks is found the Upper Archi- medes Limestone, 200 feet ; Ferruginous Sandstone, 195 feet ; Mid- dle Archimedes, 50 feet; St. Louis Limestone, 250 feet; Oolitic Limestone, 25 feet; Lower Archimedes Limestone, 350 feet; and Encrinital Limestone, 500 feet. These limestones generally contain fossils. The Ferruginous limestone is soft when quarried, but becomes hard and durable after exposure. It contains large quantities of iron, and is found skirting: the eastern coal measures from the mouth of the Des Moines to McDonald county. The St. Louis limestone is of various hues and tints, and very hard. It is found in Clark, Lewis and St. Louis counties. The Lower Archimedes limestone includes partly the lead bearing rocks of Southwestern Missouri. The Encrinital limestone is the most extensive of the divisions of Carboniferous limestone, and is made up of brown, buff, gray and white. In these strata are found the remains of corals and mollusks. This formation extends from Marion county to Greene county. The Devonian system contains : Chemung Group, Hamilton Group, Onondaga limestone and Oriskany sandstone. The rocks of the Devonian system are found in Marion, Ralls, Pike, Callaway, Saline and Ste. Genevieve counties. The Chemung Group has three formations, Chouteau limestone, 85 feet ; Vermicular sandstone and shales, 75 feet ; Lithographic lime- stone, 125 feet. The Chouteau limestone is in two divisions, when fully developed, and when first quarried is soft. It is not only good for building pur- poses but makes an excellent cement. The Vermicular sandstone and shales are usually buff or yellowish brown, and perforated with pores. The Lithographic limestone is a pure, fine, compact, evenly-tex- tured limestone. Its color varies from light drab to buff and blue. It is called "pot metal," because under the hammer it gives a sharp, rinscino; sound. It has but few fossils. 16 HISTORY OK MISSOURI. The Hamilton Group is made up of some 40 feet of blue shales, and 170 feet of crystalline limestone. Onondaga limestone is usually a coarse, gray or buff crystalline, thick-bedded and cherty limestone. No formation in Missouri pre- sents, such variable and widely different lithological characters as the Onondaga. The Oriskany sandstone is a light, gray limestone. Of the Upper Silurian series there are the following formations : Lower Helderberg, 350 feet ; Niagara Group, 200 feet ; Cape Girar- deau limestone, 60 feet. The Lower Helderberg is made up of buff, gray, and reddish cherty and argillaceous limestone. Niagara Group. The Upper part of this group consists of red, yellow and ash-colored shales, with compact limestones, variegated with bands and nodules of chert. The Cape Girardeau limestone, on the Mississippi Eiver near Cape Girardeau, is a compact, bluish-gray, brittle limestone, with smooth fractures in layers from two to six inches in thickness, with argilla- ceous partings. These strata contain a great many fossils. The Lower Silurian has the following ten formations, to wit : Hud- son River Group, 220 feet ; Trenton limestone, 360 feet ; Black River and Bird's Eye limestone, 175 feet; first Magnesian limestone, 200 feet ; Saccharoidal sandstone, 125 feet ; second Magnesian limestone, 250 feet ; second sandstone, 115 feet ; third Magnesian limestone, 350 feet; third sandstone, 60 feet; fourth Magnesian limestone, 350 feet. Hudson River Group : — There are three formations which Prof. Swallow refers to in this group. These formations are found in the bluff above and below Louisiana ; on the Grassy a few miles north- west of Louisiana, and in Ralls, Pike, Cape Girardeau and Ste. Gene- vieve Counties. Trenton limestone : The upper part of this formation is made up of thick beds of hard, compact, bluish gray and drab limestone, varie- gated with irregular cavities, filled with greenish materials. The beds are exposed between Hannibal and New London, north of Salt River, near Glencoe, St. Louis County, and are seventy-five feet thick. Black River and Bird's Eye limestone the same color as the Trenton limestone. mSTOKV OF MISSOLRI. 17 The first Magnesian limestone cap the picturesque bhiffs of the Osage in Benton and neit^hhoring counties. The Saccharoidal sandstone has a wide range in the State. In a bluflf about two miles from Warsaw, is a very striking change of thick- ness of this formation. Second Magnesian limestone, in lithological character, is like the first. The second sandstone, usually of yellowish brown, sometimes becomes a pure white, fine-grained, soft sandstone as on Cedar Creek, in Washington and Franklin Counties. The third Magnesian limestone is exposed in the high and picturesque bluffs of the Niangua, in the neighborhood of Bryce's Spring. The third sandstone is white and has a formation in movinor water. The fourth Magnesian limestone is seen on the Niangua and Osage Rivers. The Azoic rocks lie below the Silurian and form a series of silicious and other slates which contain no remains of organic life. ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. Goal. — Missouri is particularly rich in minerals. Indeed, no State in the Union, surpasses her in this respect. In some unknown age of the past — long before the existence of man — Nature, by a wise process, made a bountiful provision for the time, when in the order of things, it should be necessary for civilized man to take possession of these broad, rich prairies. As an equivalent for lack of forests, she quietly stored away beneath the soil those wonderful carboniferous treasures for the use of man. Geological surveys have developed the fact that the coal deposits in the State are almost unnumbered, embracing all varieties of the best bituminous coal. A large portion of the State, has been ascer- tained to be one continuous coal field, stretching from the mouth of the Des Moines River through Clark, Lewis, Scotland, Adair, Macon, Shelby, MoiU(>e, Audrain, Callaway, Boone, Cooper, Pettis, Benton, Henry, St. Clair, Bates, Vernon, Cedar, Dade, Barton and Jasper, into the Indian Territory, and the counties on the northwest of this line contain more or less coal. Coal rocks exist in Ralls, Mont- gomery, Warren, St. Charles, Moniteau, Cole, Morgan, CraAvford and Lincoln, and during the past few years, all along the lines of all the railroads in North Missouri, and along the western end of the Missouri Pacific, and on the Missouri River, between Kansas City and Sioux 18 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. City, has systematic mining, opened up hundreds of mines in different localities. The area of our coal beds, on the line of the southwestern boundary of the State alone, embraces more than 26,000 square miles of regular coal measures. This will give of workable coal, if the average be one foot, 26,800,000,000 tons. The estimates from the developments already made, in the different portions of the State, will give 134,000,000,000 tons. The economical value of this coal to the State, its influence in domestic life, in navigation, commerce and manufactures, is beyond the imagination of man to conceive. Suffice it to say, that in the pos- session of her developed and undeveloped coal mines, Missouri has a motive power, which in its influences for good, in the civilization of man, is more potent than the gold of California. Iron. — Prominent among the minerals, which increase the power and prosperity of a nation, is iron. Of this ore, Missouri has an inex- haustible quantity, and like her coal fields, it has been developed in many portions of the State, and of the best and purest quality. It is found in great abundance in the counties of Cooper, St. Clair, Greene, Henry, Franklin, Benton, Dallas, Camden, Stone, Madison, Iron, Washington, Perry, St. Francois, Reynolds, Stoddard, Scott, Dent and others. The greatest deposit of iron is found in the Iron Moun- tain, which is two hundred feet high, and covers an area of five hun- dred acres, and produces a metal, which is shown by analysis, to con- tain from 65 to 69 per cent of metallic iron. The ore of Shepherd Mountain contains from 64 to 67 per cent of metallic iron. The ore of Pilot Knob contains from 53 to 60 per cent. Rich beds of iron are also found at the Big Bogy Mountain, and at Russell Mountain. This ore has, in its nude state, a variety of colors, from the red, dark red, black, brown, to a light bluish gray. The red ores are found in twenty-one or more counties of the State, and are of great commercial value. The brown hematite iron ores extend over a greater range of country than all the others combined, embrac- ing about one hundred counties, and have been ascertained to exist in these in large quantities. Lead. — Long before any permanent settlements were made in Mis- souri by the whites, lead was mined within the limits of the State at two or three points on the Mississippi. At this time more than five hundred mines are opened, and many of them are being successfully worked. These deposits of lead cover an area, so far as developed, of more than seven thousand square miles. Mines have been opened HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 19 in Jefferson, Washington, St. Francois, Madison, "Wayne, Carter, Rey- nolds, Crawford, Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Cole, Cape Girardeau, Cam- den, Morgan, and many other counties. Copper and Zinc. — Several varieties of copper ore are found in Missouri. The copper mines of Shannon, Madison and Franklin Counties have been known for years, and some of these have been successfully worked and are now yielding good results. Deposits of copper have been discovered in Dent, Crawford, Ben- ton, Maries, Green, Lawrence, Dade, Taney, Dallas, Phelps, Reynolds and Wright Counties. Zinc is abundant in nearly all the lead mines in the southwestern part of the State, and since the completion of the A. & P. R. R. a market has been furnished for this o^^e, which will be converted into valuable merchandise. Building Stone and Marble. — There is no scarcity of good building stone in Missouri. Limestone, sandstone and granite exist in all shades of buff, blue, red and brown, and are of great beauty as build- ing material. There are many marble beds in the State, some of which furnish very beautiful and excellent marble. It is found in Marion, Cooper, St. Louis, and other counties. One of the most desirable of the Missouri marbles is in the 3rd Magnesian limestone, on the Mangua. It is fine-grained, crystalline, silico-magnesian limestone, light-drab, slightly tinged with peach blos- som, and clouded by deep flesh-colored shades. In ornamental archi- tecture it is rarely surpassed. Gypsum and Lime. — Though no extensive beds of gypsum have been discovered in Missouri, there are vast beds of the pure white crystalline variety on the line of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, on Kan- sas River, and on Gypsum Creek. It exists also in several other localities accessible by both rail and boat. All of the limestone formations in the State, from the coal measures to fourth Magnesian, have more or less strata of very nearly pure car- bonate of pure lime. Clays and Paints. — Clays are found in nearly all parts of the State suitable for making bricks. Potters' clay and fire-clay are worked in many localities. There are several beds of purple shades in the coal measures whicli possess the properties requisite for paints used in outside work. Yel- low and red ochres are found in considerable quantities on the Missouri 20 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. River. Some of these paints have been thoroughly tested and found tire-proof and durable. SPRINGS AND WATER POWER. No State is, perhaps, better supplied with cold springs of pure water than Missouri. Out of the bottoms, there is scarcely a section of land but has one or more perennial springs of good water. Even Avhere there are no springs, good water can be obtained by digging from twenty to forty feet. Salt springs are abundant in the central part of the State, and discharge their brine in Cooper, Saline, Howard, and adjoining counties. Considerable salt was made in Cooper and Howard Counties at an early day. Sulphur springs are also numerous throughout the State. The Chouteau Springs in Cooper, the Monagaw Springs in St. Clair, the Elk Springs in Pike, and the Cheltenham Springs in St. Louis County have acquired considerable reputation as salubrious waters, and have become popular places of resort. Many other counties have good sulphur springs. Among the Chalybeate springs the Sweet Springs on the Black- water, and the Chalybeate spring in the University campus are, perhaps, the most popular of the kind in the State. There are, however, other springs impregnated with some of the salts of iron. Petroleum springs are found in Carroll, Ray, Rjindolph, Cass, Lafayette, Bates, Vernon, and other counties. The variety called lubricating oil is the more common. The water power of the State is excellent. Large springs are particularly abundant on the waters of the Meramec, Gasconade, Bourbeuse, Osage, Niangua, Spring, White, Sugar, and other streams. Besides these, there are hundreds of springs sufficiently large to drive mills and factories, and the day is not far distant when these crystal fountains will be utilized, and a thousand saws will buzz to their dashing music. HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 21 CHAPTER TV, TITLE AND EARLY SETTLEMENTS. Title to Missouri Lands' — Eight of Discovery — Title of France and Spain — Cession to the United States — Territorial Changes — Treaties with Indians — First Settle- ment— Ste. Genevieve and New Bourbon — St. Louis — When Incorporated — Potosi — St. Charles — Portage des Sioux — New Madrid — St. Francois County- Perry — Mississippi — Loutre Island — " Boone's Lick " — Cote Sans Dessein — Howard County — Some First Things — Counties — When Organized. The title to the soil of Missouri was, of course, primarily vested in the original occupants who inhabited the country prior to its discovery by the whites. But the Indians, being savages, possessed but few rights that civilized nations considered themselves bound to respect ; so, therefore, when they found this country in the possession of such a people they claimed it in the name of the King of France, by the right of discovery. It remained under the jurisdiction of France until 1763. Prior to the year 1763, the entire continent of North America was divided between France, England, Spain and Russia. France held all that portion that now constitutes our national domain west of the Mississippi River, except Texas, and the territory which we have obtained from Mexico and Russia. The vast region, while under the jurisdiction of France, was known as the " Province of Louisiana," and embraced the present State of Missouri. At the close of the *' Old French War," in 1763, France gave up her share of the con- tinent, and Spain came into the possession of the territory west of the Mississippi River, while Great Britain retained Canada and the regions northward, having obtained that territory by conquest, in the war with France. For thirty-seven years the territory now embraced within the limits of Missouri, remained as a part of the possession of Spain, and then went buck to France by the treaty of St. Ildefonso, October 1, 1800. On the 30th of April, 1803, France ceded it to the United States, in consideration of receiving $11,250,000, and the liquidation of certain claims, held by citizens of the United States against France, which amounted to the further sum of $3,750,000, making a total of $15,000,000. It will thus be seen that France has twice, and Spain once, held sovereignty over the territory embracing 22 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. Missouri, "but the financial needs of Napoleon afforded our Govern- ment an opportunity to add another empire to its domain. On the 31st of October, 1803, an act of Congress was approved, authorizing the President to take possession of the newly acquired territory, and provided for it a temporary government, and another act, approved March 26, 1804, authorized the division of the *' Louis- iana Purchase," as it was then called, into two separate territories. All that portion south of the 33d parallel of north latitude was called the " Territory of Orleans," and that north of the said parallel was known as the " District of Louisiana," and was placed under the jurisdiction of what was then known as " Indian Territory." By virtue of an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1805, the *' District of Louisiana" was organized as the "Territory of Louis- iana," with a territorial government of its own, which went into operation July 4th of the same year, and it so remained till 1812. In this year the *' Territory of Orleans " became the State of Louisiana, and the " Territory of Louisiana" was organized as the *' Territory of Missouri." This change took place under an act of Congress, approved June 4, 1812. In 1819, a portion of this territory was organized as " Arkan- sas Territory," and on August 10, 1821, the State of Missouri was admitted, being a part of the former " Territory of Missouri." In 1836, the " Platte Purchase," then being a part of the Indian Territory, and now composing the counties of Atchison, Andrew, Buchanan, Holt, Nodaway and Platte, was made by treaty with the Indians, and added to the State. It will be seen, then, that the soil of Missouri belonged : — 1. To France, with other territory. 2. In 1763, with other territory, it was ceded to Spain. 3. October 1, 1800, it was ceded, with other territory from Spain, back to France. 4. April 30, 1803, it was ceded, with other territory, by France to the United States. 5. October 31, 1803, a temporary government was authorized by Congress for the newly acquired territory. 6. October 1, 1804, it was included in the " District of Louisiana" and placed under the territorial government of Indiana. 7. July 4, 1805, it was included as a part of the " Territory of Louisiana," then organized with a separate territorial government. HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 23 8. June 4, 1812, it was embraced in what was then made the " Ter- ritory of Missouri." 9. August 10, 1821, it was admitted into the Union as a State. 10. In 1836, the "Platte Purchase" was made, adding more ter- ritory to the State. The cession by France, April 30, 1803, vested the title in the United States, subject to the claims of the Indians, which it was very justly the policy of the Government to recognize. Before the Government of the United States could vest clear title to the soil in the grantee it was necessary to extinguish the Indian title by purchase. This was done accordingly by treaties made with the Indians at different times. EARLY SETTLEMENTS. The name of the first white man who set foot on the territory now embraced in the State of Missouri, is not known, nor is it known at what precise period the first settlements were made. It is, however, generally agreed that they were made at Ste. Genevieve and New Bourbon, tradition fixing the date of the settlements in the autumn of 1735. These towns were settled by the French from Kaskaskia and St. Philip in Illinois. St. Louis was founded by Pierre Laclede Liguest, on the 15th of February, 1764. He was a native of France, and was one of the members of the company of Laclede Liguest, Antonio Maxant & Co., to whom a royal charter had been granted, confirming the privilege of an exclusive trade with the Indians of IVIissouri as far north as St. Peter's River. While in search of a trading post he ascended the Mississippi as far as the mouth of the Missouri, and finally returned to the present town site of St. Louis. After the village had been laid off he named it St. Louis in honor of Louis XV., of France. The colony thrived rapidly by accessions from Kaskaskia and other towns on the east side of the Mississippi, and its trade was largely in_ creased by many of the Indian tribes, who removed a portion of their peltry trade from the same towns to St. Louis. It was incorporated as a town on the ninth day of November, 1809, by the Court of Com- mon Pleas of the district of St. Louis ; the town trustees being Auguste Chouteau, Edward Hempstead, Jean F. Cabanne, Wm. C. Carr and William Christy, and incorporated as a city December 9, 1822. The selection of the town site on which St. Louis stands was highly judicious, the spot not only being healthful and having the ad- 24 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. vantages of water transportation unsurpassed, but surrounded by a beautiful region of country, rich in soil and mineral resources. St. Louis has grown to be the fifth city in population in the Union, and is to-day the great center of internal commerce of the Missouri, the Mississippi and their tributaries, and, with its railroad facilities, it is destined to be the greatest inland city of the American continent. The next settlement was made at Potosi, in Washington County, in 1765, by Francis Breton, who, while chasing a bear, discovered the mine near the present town of Potosi, where he afterward located. One of the most prominent pioneers who settled at Potosi was Moses Austin, of Virginia, who, in 1795, received by grant from the Spanish government a league of land, now known as the "Austin Sur- vey." The grant was made on condition that Mr. Austin would es- tablish a lead mine at Potosi and work it. He built a palatial residence, for that day, on the brow of the hill in the little vilhige, which was for many years known as " Durham Hall." At this point the first shot-tower and sheet-lead manufactory were erected. Five years after the founding of St. Louis the first settlement made in Northern Missouri was made near St. Charles, in St. Charles County, in 1769. The name given to it, and which it retained till 1784, was Les Petites Cotes, signifying. Little Hills. The town site was located by Blanchette, a Frenchman, surnamed LeChasseur, who built the first fort in the town and established there a military post. Soon after the establishment of the military post at St. Charles, the old French village of Portage des Sioux, was located on the Missis- sippi, iust below the mouth ot the Illinois River, and at about the same time a Kickapoo village was commenced at Clear Weather Lake. The present town site of New Madrid, in New Madrid county, was settled in 1781, by French Canadians, it then being occupied by Del- aware Indians. The place now known as Big River Mills, St. Fran- cois county, was settled in 1796, Andrew Baker, John Alley, Francis Starnater and John Andrews, each locating claims. The following year, a settlement was made in the same county, just below the pres- ent town of Farmington, by the Rev. William Murphy, a Baptist min- ister from East Tennessee. In 1796, settlements were made in Perry county by emigrants from Kentucky and Pennsylvania ; the latter lo- cating in the rich bottom lands of Bois Brule, the former generally settling in the " Barrens," and along the waters of Saline Creek. Bird's Point, in Mississippi county, opposite Cairo, Illinois, was settled August 6, 1800, by John Johnson, by virtue of a land-grant HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 25 from the commandant under the Spanish Government. Norfolk and Charleston, in the same county, were settled respectively in 1800 and 1801. Warren county was settled in 1801. Loutre Island, below the present town of Hermann, in the Missouri River, was settled by a few American families in 1807. This little company of pioneers suf- fered greatly from the floods, as well as from the incursions of thieving and blood-thirsty Indians, and many incidents of a thrilling character could be related of trials and struggles, had we the time and space. In 1807, Nathan and Daniel M. Boone, sons of the great hunter and pioneer, in company with three others, went from St. Louis to "Boone's Lick," in Howard county, where they manufactured salt and formed the nucleus of a small settlement. Cote Sans Dessein, now called Bakersville, on the Missouri River, in Callaway county, was settled by the French in 1801. This little town was considered at that time, as the " Far West" of the new world. During the war of 1812, at this place many hard-fought battles occurred between the whites and Indians, wherein woman's fortitude and courage greatly assisted in the defence of the settle- ment. In 1810, a colony of Kentuckians numbering one hundred and fifty families immigrated to Howard county, and settled on the Missouri River in Cooper's Bottom near the present town of Franklin, and opposite Arrow Rock. Such, in brief, is the history of some of the early settlements of Missouri, covering a period of more than half a century. These settlements were made on the water courses ; usually along the banks of the two great streams, whose navigation afi'orded them transportation for their marketable commodities, and communication with the civilized portion of the country. They not only encountered the gloomy forests, settling as they did by the river's brink, but the hostile incursion of savage Indians, by whom they were for many years surrounded. The expedients of these brave men who first broke ground in the territory, have been succeeded by the permanent and tasteful improve- ments of their descendants. Upon the spots where they toiled, dared and died, are seen the comfortable farm, the beautiful village, and thrifty city. Churches and school houses greet the eye on every hand ; railroads diverge in every direction, and, indeed, all the appli- ances of a higlier civilization are profusely strewn over the smiling surface of the State. 26 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. ♦ Culture's hand Has scattered verdure o'er the land; And smiles and fragrance rule serene, Where barren wild usurped the scene. SOME FIRST THINGS. The first marriage that took place in Missouri was April 20, 1766, in St. Louis. The first baptism was performed in May, 1766, in St. Louis. The first house of worship, (Catholic) was erected in 1775, at St. Louis. The first ferry established in 1805, on the Mississippi River, at St. Louis. The first newspaper established in St. Louis {MissouH Gazette) y in 1808. The first postoffice was established in 1804, in St. Louis — Rufus Easton, post-master. The first Protestant church erected at Ste. Genevieve, in 1806 — Baptist. The first bank established (Bank of St. Louis), in 1814. The first market house opened in 1811, in St. Louis. The first steamboat on the Upper Mississippi was the General Pike, Capt. Jacob Reid ; landed at St. Louis 1817. The first board of trustees for public schools appointed in 1817, St. Louis. The first college built (St. Louis College), in 1817. The first steamboat that came up the Missouri River as high as Franklin was the Independence, in May, 1819 ; Capt. Nelson, mas- ter. The first court house erected in 1823, in St. Louis. The first cholera appeared in St. Louis in 1832. The first railroad convention held in St. Louis, April 20, 1836. The first telegraph lines reached East St. Louis, December 20, 1847. The first great fire occurred in St. Louis, 1849. HlbTOKY OF MISSOURI. 27 CHAPTEK Y. TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION. Organization 1812 — Council— House of Representatives — William Clark first Terri- torial Governor— Edward Hempstead first Delegate — Spanish Grants — First General Assembly — Proceedings — Second Assembly — Proceedings — Population of Territory — Vote of Territory — Ruf us Easton — Absent Members — Third Assem- bly — Proceedings — Application for Admission. Congress organized Missouri as a Territory, July 4, 1812, with a Governor and General Assembly. The Governor, Legislative Coun- cil, and House of Representatives exercised the Legislative power of the Territory, the Governor's vetoing power being absolute. i he Legislative Council was composed of nine members, whose ten- ure of office lasted five years. Eighteen citizens were nominated by the House of Representatives to the President of the United States, from whom he selected, with the approval of the Senate, nine Coun- cillors, to compose the Legislative Council. The House of Representatives consisted of members chosen every two years by the people, the basis of representation being one mem- ber for every five hundred white males. The first House of Repre- sentatives consisted of thirteen members, and, by Act of Congress, the whole number of Representatives could not exceed twenty-five. The judicial power of the Territory, was vested in the Superior and Inferior Courts, and in the Justices of the Peace ; the Superior Court having three judges, whose term of office continued four years, hav- ing original and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. The Territory could send one delegate to Congress. Governor Clark issued a proclamation, October 1st, 1812, required by Congress, reorganizing the districts of St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau, and New Madrid, into five counties, and fixed the second Monday in November following, for the election of a delegate to Congress, and the members of the Territorial House of Represen- tatives. William Clark, of the expedition of Lewis and Clark, was the first Territorial Governor, appointed by the President, who began his duties 1813. Edward Hempstead, Rufus Easton, Samuel Hammond, and Matthew Lyon were candidates in November for delegates to Congress. 28 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. Edward Hempstead was elected, being the first Territorial Dele- gate to Congress from Missouri. He served one term, declining a second, and was instrumental in having Congress to pass the act of June 13, 1812, which he introduced, confirming the title to lands which were claimed by the people by virtue of Spanish grants. The same act confirmed to the people " for the support of schools," the title to villa St. Louis, January 8, 1862. ^ (General Order No. 10.) It is hereby ordered that from and after this date the publishers of newspapers in the State of Missouri (St. Louis City papers excepted ), furnish to this office, immediately upon publication, one copy of each issue, for inspection. A faihire to comply with this order will render the newspaper liable to suppression. 50 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. Local Provost Marshals will furnish the proprietors with copies of this order, and attend to its immediate enforcement. Bernard G. Farrar, Provost Marshal General. January 26, 1862. General Halleck issued order (No. 18) which forbade, among other things, the display of Secession flags in the hands of women or on carriages, in the vicinity of the military prison in McDowell's College, the carriages to be confiscated and the ofiend- ing women to be arrested. February 4, 1862. General Halleck issued another order similar to Order No. 18, to railroad companies and to the professors and direct- ors of the State University at Columbia, forbidding the funds of the institution to be used " to teach treason or to instruct traitors." February 20, 1862. Special Order No. 120 convened a military commission, which sat in Columbia, March following, and tried Ed- mund J. Ellis, of Columbia, editor and proprietor of " The Boone County Standard i^^ for the publication of information for the benefit of the enemy, and encouraging resistance to the United States Gov- ernment. Ellis was found guilty, was banished during the war from Missouri, and his printing materials confiscated and sold. April, 1862. General Halleck left for Corinth, Mississippi, leaving General Schofield in command. June, 1862, Battle at Cherry Grove between the forces under Colonel Joseph C. Porter and Colonel H. S. Lipscomb. June, 1862. Battle at Pierce's Mill between the forces under Major John Y. Clopper and Colonel Porter. July 22, 1862. Battle at Florida. July 28, 1862. Battle at Moore's Mill. August 6, 1862. Battle near Kirksville. August 11, 1862. Battle at Independence. August 16, 1862. Battle at Lone Jack. September 13, 1862. Battle at Newtonia. September 25, 1862. Ten Confederate prisoners were executed at Macon, by order of General Merrill. October 18, 1862. Ten Confederate prisoners executed at Palmyra, by order of General McNeill. January 8, 1868. Battle at Springfield between the forces of Gen- eral Marmadnko and General E. B. Brown. April 26, 1863. Battle at Cape Girardeau. HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 51 August — , 1863. General Jeff. Thompson captured at Pocahontas, Ai'kansas, with his staff. August 25, 1863. General Thomas Ewing issued his celebrated Order No. 11, at Kansas City, Missouri, which is as follows : — Headquarters District of the Border, Kansas City, Mo., August 25, 1863. (General Order No. 11.) First. — All persons living in Cass, Jackson and Bates Counties, Missouri, and in that part of Vernon included in this district, except those living within one mile of the limits of Independence, Hickman's Mills, Pleasant Hill and Harrisonville, and except those in that part of Kaw Township, Jackson County, north of Brush Creek and west of the Big Blue, embracing Kansas City and Westport, are hereby ordered to remove from their present places of residence within fifteen days from the date hereof. Those who, within that time, establish their loyalty to the satisfac- tion of the commanding officer of the military station nearest their present place of residence, will receive from him certificates stating the fact of their loyalty, and the names of the witnesses by whom it can be shown. All who receive such certificate will be permitted to remove to any military station in this district, or to any part of the State of Kansas, except the counties on the eastern borders of the State. All others shall remove out of this district. Officers com- manding companies and detachments serving in the counties named, will see that this paragraph is promptly obeyed. Second. — All grain and hay in the field, or under shelter, in the district from which the inhabitants are required to remove within reach of military stations, after the 9th day of September next, will be taken to such stations and turned over to the proper officer there, and report of the amount so turned over made to district headquarters, specifying the names of all loyal owners and the amount of such produce taken from them. All grain and hay found in such district after the 9th day of September next, not convenient to such stations, will be destroyed. Third. — The provisions of General Order No. 10, from these headquarters, will at once be vigorously executed by officers com- manding in the parts of the district, and at the stations not subject to the operations of paragraph First of this Order — and especially in the towns of Independence- Westport and Kansas City. 52 HISTORY OF MISSOUKI. Fourth. — Paragraph 3, General Order No. 10, is revoked as to all who have borne arms against the Government in the district since August 20, 1863. By order of Brigadier-General Ewiug : H. Hannahs, Adjutant. October 13. Battle of Marshall. January, 1864. General Rosecrans takes command of the Depart- ment. September, 1864. Battle at Pilot Knob, Harrison and Little Mo- reau River. October 5, 1864. farm. October 8, 1864. October 20, 1864. September 27, 1864. derson. October 27, 1864. Captain Bill Anderson killed. December — , 1864. General Rosecrans relieved Dodge appointed to succeed him. Nothing occnrred specially, of a military character, in the State after December, 1864. We have, in the main, given the facts as they occurred without comment or entering into details. Many of the minor incidents and skirmishes of the war have been omitted because of our limited space. It is utterly impossible, at this date, to give the names and dates of all the battles fought in Missouri during the Civil War. It will be found, however, that the list given below, which has been arranged for convenience, contains the prominent battles and skirmishes which took place within the State : — Battle at Prince's Ford and James Gordon's Battle at Glasgow. Battle at Little Blue Creek. Massacre at Centralia, by Captain Bill An- and General Potosi, May 14, 1861. Boonville, June 17, 1861. Carthage, July 5, 1861. Monroe Station, July 10, 1861. Overton's Run, July 17, 1861. Dug Spring, August 2, 1861. Wilson's Creek, August 10, 1861. Athens, August 5, 1861. Moreton, August 20, 1861. Bennett's Mills, September — , 1861. Drywood Creek, September 7, 1861. Norfolk, September 10, 1861. Loxiiiglon, September 12-20, 1861. Blue Mills Landing, September 17, 1861. Glasgow Mistake, September 20, 1861. Osceola, September 25, 1861. Shanghai, October 13, 1861. Lebanon, October 13, 1861. Linn Creek, October 16, 1861. Big River Bridge, October 15, 1861. Fredericktown, October 21, 1861. Springtield, October 25, 1861. Belmont, November 7, 1861. Piketon, November 8, 1861. Little Blue, November 10, 1861. Clark's Station, November 11, 1861. HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 53 Mt. Zion Church, December 28, 1861. Silver Creek, January 15, 1862. New Madrid, February 28, 1862. Pea Ridge, March 6, 1862. Neosho, April 22, 1862. Eose Hill, July 10, 1862. Chariton River, July 30, 1862. Cherry Grove, June — , 1862. Pierce's Mill, June — , 1862. Florida, July 22, 1862. Moore's Mill, July 28, 1862. Kirksville, August 6, 1862. Compton's Ferry, August 8, 1862. Yellov? Creek, August 13, 1862. Independence, August 11, 1862. Lone Jack, August 16, 1862. Newtonia, September 13, 1862. Springfield, January 8, 1863. Cape Girardeau, April 29, 1863. Marshall, October 13, 18G3. Pilot Knob, September—, 1864. Harrison, September — , 1864. Jloreau River, October 7, 1864. Prince's Ford, October 5, 1864. Glasgow, October 8, 1864. Little Blue Creek, October 20, 1864. Albany, October 27, 1864. Near Rocheport, September 23, 1864. Centralia, September 27, 1864. CHAPTER IX. EARLY MILITARY RECORD. Black Hawk War — Mormon Difficulties — Florida War — Mexican War. On the fourteenth day of May, 1832, a bloody engagement took place between the regular forces of the United States, and a part of the Sacs, Foxes, and Winnebago Indians, commanded by Black Hawk and Keokuk, near Dixon's Ferry in Illinois. The Governor (John Miller) of Missouri, fearing these savages would invade the soil of his State, ordered Major-General Kichard Gentry to raise one thousand volunteers for the defence of the fron- tier. Five companies were at once raised in Boone county, and in Callaway, Montgomery, St. Charles, Lincoln, Pike, Marion, Kails, Clay and Monroe other companies were raised. Two of these companies, commanded respectively by Captain John Jamison of Callaway, and Captain David M. Hickman of Boone county, were mustered into service in July for thirty days, and put under command of Major Thomas W. Conyers. This detachment, accompanied by General Gentry, arrived at Fort Pike on the 15th of July, 1832. Finding that the Indians had not crossed the Mississippi into Missouri, General Gentry returned to Columbia, leaving the fort in charge of Major Conyers. Thirty days having expired, the command under Major Conyers was relieved by two 54 HISTORY OF MISSOURI, other companies under Captains Sinclair Kirtley, of Boone, and Patrick Ewing, of Callaway. This detachment was marched to Fort Pike by Col. Austin A. King, who conducted the two companies under Major Conyers home. Major Conyers was left in charge of the fort, where he remained till September following, at which time the Indian troub- les, so far as Missouri was concerned, having all subsided, the frontier forces were mustered out of service. Black Hawk continued the war in Iowa and Illinois, and was finally defeated and captured in 1833. MORMON DIFFICULTIES. In 1832, Joseph Smith, the leader of the Mormons, and the chosen prophet and apostle, as he claimed, of the Most High, came with many followers to Jackson county, Missouri, where they located and entered several thousand acres of land. The object of his coming so far West — upon the very outskirts of civilization at that time — was to more securely establish his church, and the more effectively to instruct his followers in its peculiar tenets and practices. Upon the present town site of Independence the Mormons located their " Zion," and gave it the name of "The New Jerusalem." They published here the Evening Star, and made themselves gener- ally obnoxious to the Gentiles, who were then in a minority, by their denunciatory articles through their paper, their clannishness and their polygamous practices. Dreading the demoralizing influence of a paper which seemed to be inspired only with hatred and malice toward them, the Gentiles threw the press and type into the Missouri River, tarred and feathered one of their bishops, and otherwise gave the Mormons and their lead- ers to understand that they must conduct themselves in an entirely different manner if they wished to be let alone. After the destruction of their paper and press, they became fu- riously incensed, and sought many opportunities for retaliation. Mat- ters continued in an uncertain condition until the 31st of October, 1833, when a deadly conflict occurred near Westport, in which two Gentiles and one Mormon were killed. On the 2d of October following the Mormons were overpowered, and compelled to lay down their arms and agree to leave the county with their families by January 1st on the condition that the owner would be paid for his printing press. HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 55 Leaving Jackson county, they crossed the Missouri and located in Clay, Carroll, Caldwell and other counties, and selected in Caldwell county a town site, which they called " Far West," and where they entered more land for their future homes. Throuo-h the influence of their missionaries, who were exerting themselves in the East and in different portions of Europe, converts had constantly flocked to their standard, and " Far West," and other Mormon settlements, rapidly prospered. In 1837 they commenced the erection ot a magnificent temple, but never finished it. As their settlements increased in numbers, they became bolder in their practices and deeds of lawlessness. Durino- the summer of 1838 two of their leaders settled in the town of De Witt, on the Missouri River, having purchased the land from an Illinois merchant. De Witt was in Carroll county, and a good point from which to forward goods and immigrants to their town — Far West. Upon its being ascertained that these parties were Mormon leaders, the Gentiles called a public meeting, which was addressed by some of the prominent citizens of the county. Nothing, however, was done at this meeting, but at a subsequent meeting, which was held a few days afterward, a committee of citizens was appointed to notify Col. Hin- kle (one of the Mormon leaders at De Witt), what they intended to do. Col. Hinkle upon being notified by this committee became indig- nant, and threatened extermination to all who should attempt to molest him or the Saints. In anticipation of trouble, and believing that the Gentiles would attempt to force them from De Witt, Mormon recruits flocked to the town from every direction, and pitched their tents in and around the town in great numbers. The Gentiles, nothing daunted, planned an attack upon this en- campment, to take place on the 21st day of September, 1838, and, accordingly, one hundred and fifty men bivouacked near the town on that day. A conflict ensued, but nothing serious occurred. The Mormons evacuated their works and fled to some log houses, where they could the more successfully resist the Gentiles, who had in the meantime returned to their camp to await reinforcements. Troops from Saline, Ray and other counties came to their assist- ance, and increased their number to five hundred men. Cono-reve Jackson was chosen Brigadier- General ; Ebenezer Price, 56 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. Colonel ; Siiiofleton Vaughan, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Sarshel Woods, Major. After some days of discipline, this brigade prepared for an assault, but before the attack was commenced Judge James Earickson and William F. Dunnica, influential citizens of Howard county, asked permission of General Jackson to let them try and adjust the difficul- ties without any bloodshed. It was finally agreed that Judge Earickson should propose to the Mormons, that if they would pay for all the cattle they had killed be- longing to the citizens,- and load their wagons during the night and be ready to move by ten o'clock next morning, and make no further attempt to settle in Carroll county, the citizens would purchase at first cost their lots in De Witt and one or two adjoining tracts of land. Col. Hinkle, the leader of the Mormons, at first refused all atten^its to settle the difficulties in this way, but finally agreed to the proposi- tion. In accordance therewith, the Mormons without further delay, loaded up their wagons for the town of Far West, in Caldwell county. Whether the terms of the agreement were ever carried out, on the part of the citizens, is not known. The Mormons had doubtless suff'ered much and in many ways — the result of their own acts — but their trials and sufferings were not at an end. In 1838 the discord between the citizens and Mormons became so great that Governor Boggs issued a proclamation ordering Major- General David R. Atchison to call the militia of his division to enforce the laws. He called out a part of the first brigade of the Missouri State Militia, under command of Gen. A. W. Doniphan, who pro- ceeded to the seat of war. Gen. John B. Clark, of Howard county, was placed in command of the militia. The Mormon forces numbered about 1,000 men, and were led by G. W. Hinkle. The first engagement occurred at Crooked river, where one Mormon was killed. The principal fight took place at Haughn's Mills, where eighteen Mormons were killed and the balance captured, some of them being killed after they had surrendered. Only one militiaman was wounded. In the month of October, 1838, Joe Smith surrendered- the town of Far West to Gen. Doniphan, agreeing to his conditions, viz. : That they should deliver up their arms, surrender their prominent leaders for trial, and the remainder of the Mormons should, with their HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 57 families, leave the State. Indictments were found against a number of these leaders, including Joe Smith, who, while being taken to Boone county for trial, made his escape, and was afterward, in 1844, killed at Carthage, Illinois, with his brother Hiram. FLORIDA WAR. In September, 1837, the Secretary of War issued a requisition on Governor Boggs, of Missouri, for six hundred volunteers for service in Florida against the Seminole Indians, with whom the Creek nation had made common cause under Osceola. The first regiment was chiefly raised in Boone county by Colonel Eichard Gentry, of which he was elected Colonel ; John W. Price, of Howard county, Lieutenant-Colonel ; Harrison H. Hughes, also of Howard, Major. Four companies of the second regiment were raised and attached to the first. Two of these companies were composed of Delaware and Osage Indians. October 6, 1837, Col. Gentry's regiment left Columbia for the seat of war, stopping on the way at Jefi'erson barracks, where they were mustered into service. Arriving at Jackson barracks, New Orleans, they were from thence transported in brigs across the Gulf to Tampa Bay, Florida. Gen- eral Zachary Taylor, who then commanded in Florida, ordered Col. Gentry to march to Okee-cho-bee Lake, one hundred and thirty-five miles inland by the route traveled. Having reached the Kissemmee river, seventy miles distant, a bloody battle ensued, in which Col. Gentry was killed. The Missourians, though losing their gallant leader, continued the fight until the Indians were totally routed, leav- ing njany of their dead and wounded on the field. There being no further service required of the Missourians, they returned to their homes in 1838. MEXICAN WAR. Soon after Mexico declared war, against the United States, on the 8th and 9th of May, 1846, the battles of Palo Alto and Eesaca de la Palma were fought. Great excitement prevailed throughout the country. In none of her sister States, however, did the fires of patriotism burn more intensely than in Missouri. Not waiting for the call for volunteers, the " St. Louis Legion " hastened to the field of conflict. The " Legion " was commanded by Colonel A. R. Easton. During the month of May, 1846, Governor Edwards, of Missouri, 58 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. called for volunteers to join the "Army of the West," an expedition to Sante Fe — under command of General Stephen W. Kearney. Fort Leavenworth was the appointed rendezvous for the volunteers. By the 18th of June, the full complement of companies to compose the first regiment had arrived from Jackson, Lafayette, Clay, Sa- line, Franklin, Cole, Howard and Callaway counties. Of this regi- ment, A. W. Doniphan was made Colonel ; C. F. Ruff, Lieutenant- Colonel, and Wm. Gilpin, Major. The battalion of light artillery from St. Louis was commanded by Captains R. A. Weightman and A. W. Fischer, with Major M. L. Clark as field officer ; battalions of infantry from Platte and Cole counties commanded by Captains Murphy and W. Z. Augney respectively, and the " Laclede Rangers," from St. Louis, by Captain Thomas B. Hudson, aggregating all told, from Missouri, 1,658 men. In the summer of 1846 Hon. Sterling Price resigned his seat in Congress and raised one mounted regiment, one mounted extra battalion, and one extra battalion of Mormon in- fantry to reinforce the "Army of the West." Mr. Price was made Colonel, and D. D. Mitchell Lieutenant-Colonel. In August, 1847, Governor Edwards made another requisition for one thousand men, to consist of infantry. The regiment was raised at once. John Dougherty, of Clay county, was chosen Colonel, but before the regiment marched the President countermanded the order. A company of mounted volunteers was raised in Ralls county, com- manded by Captain Wm. T. Lafland. Conspicuous among the en- gagements in which the Missouri volunteers participated in Mexico were the battles of Bracito, Sacramento, Canada, El Embudo, Taos and Santa Cruz de Rosales. The forces from Missouri were mustered out in 1848, and will ever be remembered in the history of the Mexi- can war, for "A thousand glorious actions that might claim Triumphant laurels and immortal fame. HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 59 CHAPTER X. AGRICULTURE AND MATERIAL WEALTH. Missouri as an Agricultural State — The Different Crops — Live Stoclj — Horses — Mules — Milch Cows — Oxen and other Cattle— Sheep — Hogs — Comparisons — Missouri adapted to Live Stock — Cotton — Broom-Corn and other Products — Fruits — Berries — Grapes — Railroads — First Neigh of the "Iron Horse" in Mis- souri — Names of Railroads — Manufactures — Great Bridge at St. Louis. Agriculture is the greatest among all the arts of man, as it is the first in supplying his necessities. It favors and strengthens popula- tion ; it creates and maintains manufactures ; gives employment to navigation and furnishes materials to commerce. It animates every species of industry, and opens to nations the safest channels of wealth. It is the strongest bond of well regulated society, the surest basis of internal peace, and the natural associate of correct morals. Among all the occupations and professions of life, there is none more honorable, none more independent, and none more conducive to health and happiness. " In ancient times the sacred plow employed The kings, and awful fathers of mankind ; And some, with whom compared your insect tribes Axe but the beings of a summer's day. Have held the scale of empire, rulod the storm Of mighty war with unwearied hand, Disdaining little delicacies, seized The plow and greatly independent lived." As an agricultural region, Missouri is not suipassed by any State in the Union. It is indeed the farmer's kingdom, where he always reaps an abundant harvest. The soil, in many portions of the State, has an open, flexible structure, quickly absorbs the most excessive rains, and retains nioisture with great tenacity. This being the case, it is not so easily aifected by drouth. The prairies are covered with sweet, luxuriant grass, equally good for grazing and hay ; grass not sur- passed by the Kentucky blue grass — the best of clover and timothy in growing and fattening cattle. This grass is now as full of life-giv- ing nutriment as it was when cropped by the buffalo, the elk, the an- telope, and the deer, and costs the herdsman nothing. 60 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. No State or territory has a more complete and rapid system of nat- ural drainage, or a more abundant supply of pure, fresh water than Missouri. Both man and beast may slake their thirst from a thousand perennial fountains, which gush in limpid streams from the hill-sides, and wend their way through verdant valleys and along smiling prai- ries, varying in size, as they onward flow, from the diminutive brooklet to the giant river. Here, nature has generously bestowed her attractions of climate, soil and scenery to please and gratify man while earning his bread in the sweat of his brow. Being thus munificently endowed, Missouri oflers superior inducements to the farmer, and bids him enter her broad domain and avail himself of her varied resources. We present here a table showing the product of each principal crop in Missouri for 1878 : — Indian Com 93,062,000 bushels. Wheat 20,196,000 Eye 732,000 Oats 19,584,000 Buckwheat 46,400 Potatoes 5,415,000 Tobacco 23,028,000 pounds. Hay 1,620,000 tons. There were 3,552,000 acres in corn ; wheat, 1,836,000 ; rye, 48,800; oats, 640,000 ; buckwheat, 2,900; potatoes, 72,200; to- bacco, 29,900; hay, 850,000. Value of each crop: corn, $24,196,- 224; wheat, $13,531,320; rye, $300,120; oats, $3,325,120; buck- wheat, $24,128; potatoes, $2,057,700; tobacco, $1,151,150; hay, $10,416,600. Average cash value of crops per acre, $7.69 ; average yield of corn per acre, 26 bushels ; wheat, 11 bushels. Next in importance to the corn crop in value is live stock. The fol- lowing table shows the number of horses, mules, and milch cows in the different States for 1879 ; — HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 61 States. Horses. Moles. MUch Cows. 81,700 57,100 77,400 131,000 16,200 53,500 898,900 114,500 614,500 19,900 108,600 208,700 144,200 59,(500 119,200 22,400 112,800 97,200 79,300 618,000 180,500 323,700 122,200 386,900 772,700 333,800 688,800 1,100,000 384,400 247,300 770,700 627,300 275,000 157,200 273,000 109.700 250,000 11,800 14,400 24,900 4,000 11,300 30,600 74,000 61,500 97,200 11,900 111,700 100,000 80,700 180,200 89,300 99,700 2,400 117,800 26,700 4,800 61,200 138,000 8,700 7,000 43,400 191,900 50,000 13,600 25,700 3,500 25,700 196,100 New Hampshire 98,100 217,800 160,700 Rhode Island 22,000 Connecticut 116,500 New York 1,446,200 New Jersey 152,200 Pennsylvania 828,400 Delaware 23,200 Mar3'land 100,500 Virginia 236,200 North Carolina 232,300 South Carolina 131,300 Georgia 273,100 Florida 70,000 Alabama 215,200 Mississippi 188,000 110,900 Texas 544,500 187,700 245,700 W^est Virginia 130,500 Kf ntncky........ 257,200 Ohio 714,100 Michigan 416,900 Indiana 439,200 Illinois 702,400 Wisconsin 477,300 Minnesota . .. 278,900 Iowa 676,200 Missouri 516,200 Kansas 321,900 Nebraska . . 127,600 495,600 Oregon > 112,400 Nevada, Colorado, and Territories 423,600 It will be seen from the above table, that Missouri is the fifth State in the number of horses ; fifth in number of milch cows, and the leading State in number of mules, having 11,700 more than Texas, which produces the next largest number. Of oxen and other cattle, Missouri produced in 1879, 1,632,000, which was more than any other State produced excepting Texas, which had 4,800,00. In 1879 Mis- souri raised 2,817,600 hogs, which was more than any other State produced, excepting Iowa. The number of sheep was 1,296,400. The number of hogs packed in 1879, by the different States, is as follows : — states. Ohio.... Indiana Illinois Iowa.... No. 932,878 622,321 3,214,896 669,763 states. Missouri.. Wisconsin Kentuckj-. No. 965,839 472,108 212,412 62 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. AVBRAQK "WTKIGHT PER HEAD FOR EACH STATB. States. Ponnds. States. Pounds. Ohio 210.47 193.80 225.71 211.98 211 32 Indiana 220 81 Illinois 210 11 Iowa From the above it will be seen that Missouri annually packs more hogs than any other State excepting Illinois, and that she ranks third in the averao^e weisfht. We see no reason why Missouri should not be the foremost stock- raising State of the Union. In addition to the enormous yield of corn and oats upon which the stock is largely dependent, the climate is well adapted to their growth and health. Water is not only inex- haustible, but everywhere convenient. The ranges of stock are boundless, affording for nine months of the year, excellent pasturage of nutritious wild grasses, which grow in great luxuriance upon the thousand prairies. Cotton is grown successfully in many counties of the southeastern portions of the State, especially in Stoddard, Scott, Pemiscot, Butler, New Madrid, Lawrence and Mississippi. Sweet potatoes are produced in abundance and are not only sure but profitable. Broom corn, sorghum, castor beans, white beans, peas, hops, thrive well, and all kinds of garden vegetables, are produced in great abun- dance and are found in the markets during all seasons of the year. Fruits of every variety, including the apple, pear, peach, cherries, apricots and nectarines, are cultivated with great success, as are also, the strawberry, gooseberry, currant, raspberry and blackberry. The grape has not been produced with that success that was at first anticipated, yet the yield of wine for the year 1879, was nearly half a million gallons. Grapes do well in Kansas, and we see no reason why they should not be as surely and profitably grown in a similar climate and soil in Missouri, and particularly in many of the counties north and east of the Missouri River. RAILROADS. Twenty-nine years ago, the neigh of the »< iron horse ** was heard for the first time, within the broad domain of Missouri. His coming presaged the dawn of a ])rightcr and grander era in the history of the HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 63 State. Her fertile prairies, and more prolific valleys would soon be of easy access to the oncoming tide of immigration, and the ores and minerals of her hills and mountains would be developed, and utilized in her manufacturing and industrial enterprises. Additional facilities would be opened to the marts of trade and commerce ; transportation from the interior of the State would be se- cured ; a fresh impetus would be given to the growth of her towns and cities, and new hopes and inspirations would be imparted to all her people. Since 1852, the initial period of railroad building in Missouri, be- tween four and five thousand miles of track have been laid ; addi- tional roads are now being constructed, and many others in contem- plation. The State is already well supplied with railroads which thread her surface in all directions, bringing her remotest districts into close connection with St. Louis, that great center of western railroads and inland commerce. These roads have a capital stock ag- gregating more than one hundred millions of dollars, and a funded debt of about the same amount. The lines of roads which are operated in the State are the follow- ing:— Missouri Pacific — chartered May 10th, 1850; The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, which is a consolidation of the Arkan- sas Branch ; The Cairo, Arkansas & Texas Railroad ; The Cairo & Fulton Railroad ; The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway ; St. Louis & San Francisco Railway ; The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad ; The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad ; The Missouri, Kan- sas & Texas Railroad ; The Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Blufis Railroad ; The Keokuk & Kansas City Railway Company ; The St. Louis, Salem & Little Rock Railroad Company ; The Missouri & Western ; The St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad ; The St. Louis, Hannibal & Keokuk Railroad ; The Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska Railway ; The Qiiincy, Missouri & Pacific Railroad ; The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway; The Burlington & Southwestern Railroad. MANUFACTURES. The natural resources of Missouri especially fit her for a great man- ufacturing State. She is rich in soil ; rich in all the elements which supply the furnace, the machine shop and the planing mill ; rich in the multitude and variety of her gigantic forests ; rich in her marble, stone and granite quarries; rich in her mines of iron, coal, lead and 64 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. zinc ; rich in strong arms and willing hands to apply the force ; rich in water power and river navigation ; and rich in her numerous and well-built railroads, whose numberless engines thunder along their multiplied track- ways. Missouri contains over fourteen thousand manufacturing establish- ments, 1,965 of which are using steam and give employment to 80,000 hands. The capital employed is about $100,000,000, the material annually used and worked up, amounts to over $150,000,- 000, and the value of the products put upon the markets $250,000,000, while the wages paid are more than $40,000,000. The leadino- manufacturing counties of the State, are St. Louis, Jackson, Buchanan, St. Charles, Marion, Franklin, Greene, Lafay- ette, Platte, Cape Girardeau, and Boone. Three-fourths, however, of the manufacturing is done in St. Louis, which is now about the second manufacturing city in the Union. Flouring mills produce annually about $38,194,000 ; carpentering $18,763,000 ; meat-packing $16,- 769,000 ; tobacco $12,496,000 ; iron and castings $12,000,000 ; liquors $11,245,000; clothing $10,022,000; lumber $8,652,000; bagging and bao^s $6,914,000, and many other smaller industries in propor- tion. GREAT BRIDGE AT ST. LOUIS. Of the many public improvements which do honor to the State and reflect great credit upon the genius of their projectors, we have space only, to mention the great bridge at St. Louis. This trul}' wonderful construction is built of tubular steel, total length of Avhich, with its approaches, is 6,277 feet, at a cost of nearly $8,000,000. The bridge spans the Mississippi from the Illinois to the Missouri shore, and has separate railroad tracks, roadways, and foot paths. In durability, architectural beauty and practical utility, there is, perhaps, no similar piece of workmanshij) that approximates it. The structure of Darius upon the Bosphorus ; of Xerxes upon the Hellespont ; of Csesar upon the Rhine ; and Trajan upon the Danube, famous in ancient history, were built for military purposes, that over them might pass invading armies with their nninitions of war, to de- stroy commerce, to lay in waste the provinces, and to slaughter the people. But the erection of this was for a higher and nobler purpose. Over it are coming the trade and merchandise of the opulent East, and thence are passing the untold riches of the West. Over it are crowd- HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 65 ing legions of men, armed not with the weapons of war, but with the implements of peace and industry ; men who are skilled in all the arts of ajrriculture, of manufacture and of mining; men who will hasten the day when St. Louis shall rank in population and importance, sec- ond to no city on the continent, and when Missouri shall proudly fill the measure of greatness, to which she is naturally so justly entitled. CHAPTER XL EDUCATION. Public School System — Public School System of Missouri — Lincoln Institute — Offi- cers of Public School System — Certificates of Teachers — University of Missouri — Schools — Colleges — Institutions of Learning — Location — Libraries — Newspa- pers and Periodicals — No. of School Children — Amount expended — Value of Grounds and Buildings — " The Press." The first constitution of Missouri provided that "one school or more shall be established in each township, as soon as practicable and neces- sary, where the poor shall be taught gratis." It will be seen that even at that early day (1820) the framers of the constitution made provision for at least a primary education for the poorest and the humblest, taking it for granted that those who were able would avail themselves of educational advantages which were not gratuitous. The establishment of the public-school system, in its essential fea- tures, was not perfected until 1839, during the administration of Gov- ernor Boggs, and since that period the system has slowly grown into favor, not only in Missouri, but throughout the United States. The idea of a free or public school for all classes was not at first a popular one, especially among those who had the means to patronize private institutions of learning. In upholding and maintaining public schools the opponents of the system felt that they were not only compromis- ing their own standing among their more wealthy neighbors, bub that they were, to some extent, bringing opprobrium upon their children. Entertaining such prejudices, they naturall}' thought that the training received at public schools could not be otherwise than defective ; hence many years of probation passed before the popular mind was prepared 66 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. to appreciate the benefits and blessings which spring from these insti- tutions. Every year only adds to their popularity, and commends them the more earnestly to the fostering care of our State and National Legis- latures, and to the esteem and favor of all classes of our people. We can hardly conceive of two grander or more potent promoters of civilization than the i'ree school and free press. They would indeed seem to constitute all that was necessary to the attainment of the hap- piness and intellectual growth of the Republic, and all that was neces- sary to broaden, to liberalize and instruct. *♦ Tis education forms the common mind ; ****** For noble youth there is nothing so meet As learning is, to know the good from ill ; To know the tongues, and perfectly indite, And of the laws to have a perfect skill, Things to reform as right and justice will; Eor honor is ordained for no cause But to see right maintained by the laws." All the States of the Union have in practical operation the public- school system, governed in the main by similar laws, and not differing materially in the manner and methods by which they are taught ; but none have a wiser, a more liberal and comprehensive machinery of instruction than Missouri. Her school laws, since 1839, have under- gone many changes, and always for the better, keeping pace with the most enlightened and advanced theories of the most experienced edu- cators in the land. But not until 1875, when the new constitution was adopted, did her present admirable system of public instruction go into effect. Provisions were made not only for white, but for children of African descent, and are a part of the organic law, not subject to the caprices of unfriendly legislatures, or the whims of political parties. The Lin- coln Institute, located at Jefferson Cit}^ for the education of col- ored teachers, receives an annual appropriation from the General Assembly. For the support of the public schools, in addition to the annual income derived from the public school fund, which is set apart by law, not less than twenty-five per cent, of the State revenue, exclusive of the interest and sinking fund, is amiually applied to this purpose. The officers having in charge the public school interests are the State " Board of Education," the State Superintendent, County Commission- a c o > H > l?g Q »— I ;> o a 68 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. ers, County Clerk and Treiisui-er, Board of Directors, City and Town School Board, and Teacher. The State Board of Education is composed of the State Superintendent, the Governor, Secretary of State, and the Attorney-General, the executive officer of this Board being the State Su- perintendent, who is chosen by the people every four years. His duties are numerous. He renders decisions concerning the local application of school law ; keeps a record of the school funds and annually distributes the same to the counties ; supervises the work of county school officers ; delivers lectures ; visits schools ; distributes educational information ; o-rants certificates of higher qualifications, and makes an annual report to the General Assembly of the condition of the schools. The County Commissioners are also elected by the people for two years. Their work is to examine teachers, to distribute blanks, and make reports. County clerks receive estimates from the local direct- ors and extend them upon the tax-books. In addition to this, they keep the general records of the county and township school funds, and return an annual report of the financial condition of the schools of their county to the State Superintendent. School taxes are gathered with other taxes by the county collector. The custodian of the school funds belonging to the schools of the counties is the county treasurer, except in counties adopting the township organization, in which case the township trustee discharges these duties. Districts organized under the special law for cities and towns are governed b}"^ a board of six directors, two of whom are selected annu- ally, on the second Saturday in September, and hold their office for three years. One director is elected to serve for three years in each school dis- trict, at the annual meeting. These directors may levy a tax not exceeding forty cents on the one hundred dollars' valuation, pro- vided such annual rates for school purposes may be increased in dis- tricts formed of cities and towns, to an amount not exceeding one dollar on the hundred dollars' valuation, and in other districts to an amount not to exceed sixty-five cents on the one hundred dollars' val- uation, on the condition that a majority of the voters who are tax-pay- ers, voting at an election held to decide the question, vote for said increase. For the purpose of erecting public buildings in school dis- tricts, the rates of taxation thus limited may be increased when the rate of such increase and the purpose for which it is intended shall have been submitted to a vote of the people, and two-thirds of the HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 69 qualified voters of such school district voting at such election shall vote therefor. Local directors may direct the management of the school in respect to the choice of teachers and other details, but in the discharire of all important business, such as the erection of a school house or the extension of a term of school beyond the constitutional period, they ip imply execute the will of the people. The clerk of this board may be a director. He keeps a record of the names of all the children and youth in the district between the ages of five and twenty-one ; records all business proceedings of the district, and reports to the annual meeting, to the County Clerk and County Commissioners. Teachers must hold a certificate from the State Superintendent or County Commissioner of the county where they teach. State certifi- cates are granted upon personal written examination in the common branches, together with the natural sciences and higher mathematics. The holder of such certificate may teach in any public school of the State without further examination. Certificates granted by County Commissioners are of two classes, with two grades in each class. Those issued for a longer term than one year, belong to the first class and are sus^ceptible of two grades, ditfering both as to length of time and attain- ments. Those issued for one year may represent two grades, marked by qualification alone. The township school fund arises from a grant of land by the General Government, consisting of section sixteen in each congressional township. The annual income of the township fund is ap- propriated to the various townships, according to their respective proprietary claims. The support from the permanent funds is supple- mented by direct taxation laid upon the taxable property of each dis- trict. Tlie greatest limit of taxation for the current expenses is one per cent ; the tax permitted for school house building cannot exceed the same amount. Among the institutions of learning and ranking, perhaps, the first in importance, is the State University located at Columbia, Boone Countv. When the State was admitted into the Union, Cono-ress granted to it one entire township of land (46,080 acres) for the sup- port of "A Seminary of Learning." The lands secured for this pur- l>ose are among the best and most valuable in the State. These lands were put into the market in 1832 and brought $75,000, which amount was invested in the stock of the old bank of the State of Mis- souri, where it remained and increased by accumulation to the sum of $100,000. In 1839, by an act of the General Assembly, five commis- 70 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. sioners were appointed to select a site for the State University, the site to contain at least fifty acres of land in a compact form, within two miles of the county seat of Cole, Cooper, Howard, Boone, Calhi- way or Saline. Bids were let among the counties named, and the county of Boone having subscribed the sum of $117,921, some $18,000 more than any other county, the State University was located in that county, and on the 4th of July, 1840, the corner-stone was laid with imposing ceremonies. The present annual income of the University is nearly $65,000. The donations to the institutions connected therewith amount to nearly $400,000. This University with its different departments, is open to both male and female, and both sexes enjoy alike its rights and privileges. Among the professional schools, which form a part of the University, are the Normal, or College of Instruction in Teaching; Agricultural and Mechanical College; the School of Mines and Metallurgy ; the College of Law ; the Medical College ; and the Department of Analytical and Applied Chemistry. Other departments are contemplated and will be added as necessity requires. The following will show the names and locations of the schools and institutions of the State, as reported by the Commissioner of Education in 1875: — tTNTTERSITIES AND COLLEGES. Christian Universitj' Canton. St. Vincent's College Cape Girardeau University of Missouri Columbia. Central College Fayette. Westminster College Fulton. Lewis College Glasgow, Pritchett School Institute Glasgow. Lincoln College Greenwood. Hannibal College Hannibal. Woodland College Independence. Thayer College Kidder. La Grange College La Grange. William Jewell College Liberty. Baptist College Louisiana. St. Joseph College St Joseph. College of Christian Brothers St. Louis. St. Louis University St. Louis. Washington University St. Louis. Drury College Springfield. Central Wesleyan College Warrenton. FOR SUPERIOR INSTRUCTION OF "WOMEN. St Joseph Female Seminary St Joseph. Christian Collegf Columbia. HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 71 Stephens' College Columbia. Howard College Fayette. Independence Female College Independence. Central Female College Lexington. Clay Seminary Liberty. Ingleside Female College Falmyra- Lindenwood College for Young Ladies St. Charles. Mary Institute (Washington University) St. Louis. St Louis Seminary St. Louis. Ursuline Academy ^t- ^^o^^^^- FOR SECONDART IKSTRITCTION'. Arcadia College - Arcadia. St. Vincent's Academy Cape Girardeau. Chillicothe Academy Chillicothe. Grand River College Edinburgh. Marionville Collegiate Institute, Marionville. Palmyra Seminary Palmyra. St. Paul's College Palmyra- Van Rensselaer Academy Rensselaer. Shelby High School Shelbyville. Stewartsville Male and Female Seminary Stewartsville. SCHOOLS OF SCIENCE. Missouri Agricultural and Mechanical College (University of Missouri) Columbia. Schools of Mines and Metallurgy (University of Missouri) ....Rolla. Polytechnic lustitute (Washington University) St. Louis. SCHOOLS OF THEOLOQX. St. Vincent's College (Theological Department) Cape Girardeau. Westminster College (Theological School) Fulton. Vardeman School of Theology (William Jewell College) Liberty. Concordia College St. Louis. SCHOOLS OF LAW. Law School of tbe University of Missouri Columbia. Law School of the Washington University St. Louis. SCHOOLS OF MEDICrNB. Medical College, University of Missouri Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons St. Joseph. Kansas City College of Physicians and Surgeons Ka-nsas City. Hospital Medical College St. Joseph. Missouri Medical College .St. Louis. Northwestern Medical College ^t. Joseph. St. Louis Medical College S*. Louis. Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri St. Louis. Missouri School of Midwifery and Diseases of Women and Children St. Louis. Missouri Central College St. Louis. St. Louis College of Pharmacy ^^ ^o"^^' 72 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. LARGEST PUBLIC LIBRARIKS. Name. St, Vincent's College Southeast Missouri State Normal School University of Missouri Athenian Society Union Literary SocitLv Law College '. Westminster College Lewis College Mercantile Libiurv Library Association Fruitland Normal Listitute State Library Fetterman's Circulating Library Law Library "Whittemore's Circulating Library North Missouri State Normal School "William Jewell College St. Paul's College Missouri School ot Mines and Metallurgy St. Charles Catholic Library Carl Frielling's Library Law Library Public School Library Walworth & Colt's Circulating Library Academy of Science Academy of Visitation College of the Christian Brothers Deutsche Institute German Evangelical Lutheran, Concordia College. Law Library Association Missouri Medical College Mrs. Cuthbert's Seminary (Young Ladies) Odd Fellow's Library Public School Library St. Louis Medical College St. Louis Mercantile Library St. Louis Seminar}' St. Louis Turn Verein St. Louis University St. Louis University Society Libraries Ursuline Academy Washington Univeraily St. Louis Law School.. Young Men's Sodality . Library Association Public School Library Drury College Location. Cape Girardeau. Cape Girardeau. Columbia Columbia Columbia Columbia Fulton Glasgow Hannibal Independence.... Jackson Jefferson City... Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kirksville Liberty Palmyi.i , RoUa St. Chanes St. Joseph St. Joseph St. Joseph St. Joseph..: St. Louis Loui^ Louis Loui< Louis Loui- St. Louis St. Loui- St. Loui- St. Louis , St. Louis , St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis , St. Louis , St. Louis St. Louis St. Loui> St. Louis St. Louis , Sedalia Sedalia , Springlield Volumes. 5,500 1,226 10,000 1,200 1,200 1,000 5,000 8,000 2,219 1,100 1,000 13,000 1,800 3,000 1,000 1,050 4,000 2,000 1,478 1,716 6,000 2,000 2,500 1,500 2,744 4,000 22,000 1,000 4,800 8,000 1,000 1,500 4,000 40,097 1,100 45,000 2,000 2,000 17,000 8,000 2,000 4,500 8,000 1,327 1,500 1,015 2,000 IN 1880. Newspapers and Periodicals 481 CHARITIES. State Asylum for Deaf and Dumb , St. Bridget's Institution for Deaf and Dumb Institution for the Education of the Blind State Asylum for Insane State Asylum for the Insane ....Fulton. •St. Louis. .St. Louis. ....Fulton. .St. Louis. HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 73 NORMAL SCHOOLS. Normal Institute Bolivar. Southeast Missouri State JSormai Scliool ' Cape Girardeau. Normal School (University of Missouri) Columbia. Fruitland Normal Institute Jackson. Lincoln Institute (for colored) Jefferson City. City Normal School , St. Louis. Missouri State Normal School Warrensburg. IN 1880. Number of school children IN 1878. Estimated value of school property $8,321,399 Total receipts for public schools 4,207,617 Total expenditures 2,406,139 NUMBER OF TEACHERS. Male teachers 6,239; average monthly pay $36.36 Female teachers 5,060; average monthly pay 28.09 The fact that Missouri supports and maintains four hundred and seventy-one newspapers and periodicals, shows that her inhabitants are not only a reading and reflecting people, but that they appreciate " The Press," and its wonderful influence as an educator. The poet has well said : — But mightiest of the mighty means, On which the arm of progress leans, Man's noblest mission to advance, His woes assuage, his weal enhance. His rights enforce, his wrongs redress — Mightiest of mighty is the Press. CHAPTER XII. RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Baptist Church — Its History — Congregational — When Founded — Its History — Christian Church — Its History — Cumberland Presbyterian Church — Its History — Methodist Episcopal Church — Its History — Presbyterian Church — Its History — Protestant Episcopal Church — Its History — United Presbyterian Church — Its History — Unitarian Church — Its History — Roman Catholic Church — Its History. The first representatives of religious thought and training, who penetrated the Missouri and Mississippi Valleys, were Pere Marquette, La Salle, and others of Catholic persuasion, who performed missionary 74 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. labor among the Indians. A century afterward came the Protestants. At that early period " A church in every grove that spread Its living roof above their heads," constituted for a time their only house of worship, and yet to them ♦* No Temple built with hands could vie In glory veith its majesty." In the course of time, the seeds of Protestantism were scattered along the shores of the two great rivers which form the eastern and western boundaries of the State, and still a little later they were sown upon her hill-sides and broad prairies, where they have since bloomed and blossomed as the rose. BAPTIST CHURCH. The earliest anti-Catholic religious denomination, of which there is any record, was organized in Cape Girardeau county in 1806, through the efforts of Rev. David Green, a Baptist, and a native of Virginia. In 1816, the first association of Missouri Baptists was formed, which was composed of seven churches, all of which were located in the southeastern part of the State. In 1817 a second association of churches was formed, called the Missouri Association, the name being afterwards changed to St. Louis Association. In 1834 a general con- vention of all the churches of this denomination, was held in Howard county, for the purpose of effecting a central organization, at which time was commenced what is now known as the " General Association of Missouri Baptists." To this body is committed the State mission work, denominational education, foreign missions and the circulation of religious literature. The Baptist Church has under its control a number of schools and colleges, the most important of which is William Jewell College, located at Liberty, Clay county. As shown by the annual report for 1875, there were in Missouri, at that date, sixty-one associations, one thousand four hundred churches, eight hundred and twenfy-four min- isters and eighty-nine thousand six hundred and fifty church members. CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. The Congregationalists inaugurated their missionary labors in the State in 1814. Rev. Samuel J. Mills, of Torringford, Connecticut, and Rev. Daniel Smith, of Bennington, Vermont, were sent west by the Massachusetts Congregational Home Missionary Society during HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 75 that year, and in November, 1814, they preached the first regular Protestant sermons in St. Louis. Rev. Samuel Giddings, sent out under the auspices of the Connecticut Congregational Missionary Societ}', organized the first Protestant church in the city, consistino- of ten members, constituted Presbyterian. The churches orsranized by Mr. Giddings were all Presbyterian in their order. No exclusively Congregational Church was founded until 1852, when the " First Trinitarian Congregational Church of St. Louis " was organized. The next church of this denomination was organized at Hannibal in 1859, Then followed a Welsh cliurch in New Cambria in 1864, and after the close of the war, fifteen churches of the same order were formed in different parts of the State. In 1866, Pilgrim Church, St. Louis, was organized. The General Conference of Churches of Missouri was formed in 1865, which was changed in 1868, to General Association. In 1866, Hannibal, Kidder, and St. Louis District Associations were formed, and following these were the Kan- sas City and Springfield District Associations. This denomination in 1875, had 70 churches, 41 ministers, 3,363 church members, and had also several schools and colleges and one monthly newspaper. CHRISTIAN CHURCH. The earliest churches of this denomination were organized in Cal- laway, Boone and Howard Counties, some time previously to 1829. The first church was formed in St. Louis in 1836 by Elder R. B. Fife. The first State Sunday School Convention of the Christian- Church, was held in Mexico in 1876. Besides a number of private institutions, this denomination has three State Institutions, all of which have an able corps of professors and have a good attendance of pupils. It has one religious paper published in St. Louis, " The Ghris- tiauy' which is a weekly publication and well patronized. The mem- bership of this church now numbers nearly one hundred thousand in the State and is increasing rapidly. It has more than five hundred organized churches, the greater portion of which are north of the Missouri River. CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. In the spring of 1820, the first Presbytery of this denomination west of the Mississippi, was organized in Pike County. This Pres- bytery included all the territory of Missouri, western Illinois and Arkansas and numbered only four ministers, two of whom resided at 76 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. that time in Missouri. There are now in the State, twelve Presby- teries, three Synods, nearly three hundred ministers and over twenty thousand members. The Board of Missions is located at St. Louis. They have a number of High Schools and two monthly papers pub- lished at St. Louis. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. In 1806, Rev. John Travis, a young Methodist minister, was sent out to the " Western Conference," which then embraced the Missis- sippi Valley, from Green County, Tennessee. During that year Mr. Travis organized a number of small churches. At the close of his conference year, he reported the result of his labors to the Western Conference, which was held at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1870, and showed an asrsfreojate of one hundred and six members and two circuits, one called Missouri and the other Meramec. In 1808, two circuits had been formed, and at each succeeding year the number of circuits and members constantly increased, until 1812, when what was called the Western Conference was divided into the Ohio and Tennessee Confer- ences, Missouri falling into the Tennessee Conference. In 1816, there was another division when the Missouri Annual Conference was formed. In 1810, there were four traveling preachers and in 1820, lif- teen travelling preachers, with over 2,000 members. In 1836, the terri- tory of the Missouri Conference was again divided when the Missouri Conference included only the State. In 1840 there were 72 traveling preachers, 177 local ministers and 13,992 church members. Between 1840 and 1850, the church was divided by the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1850, the membership of the M. E. Church was over 25,000, and during the succeeding ten years the church prospered rapidly. In 1875, the M. E. Church reported 274 church edifices and 34,156 members; the M. E. Church South, reported 443 church edifices and 49,588 members. This denomina- tion has under its control several schools and colleges and two weekly newspapers. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The Presbyterian Church dates the beginning of its missionary efit)rts in the State as far back as 1814, but the first Presbyterian Church was not organized until 1816 at Bellevue settlement, eight miles from St. Louis. The next churches were formed in 1816 and 1817 at Bonhomme, Pike County. The First Presbyterian Church was organized in St. Louis in 1817, by Rev. Salmon Gidding. The HISTORY OF MISSOURI. "7 first Presbytery was organized in 1817 by the Synod of Tennessee with four ministers and four churches. The first Presbyterian house of worship (which was the first Protestant) was commenced in 1819 and completed in 1826. In 1820 a mission was formed among the Osage Indians. In 1831, the Presbytery was divided into three: Missouri, St. Louis, and St. Charles. These were erected with a Synod comprising eighteen ministers and twenty-three churches. The church was divided in 1838, throughout the United States. In 1860 the rolls of the Old and New School Synod together showed 109 ministers and 146 churches. In 1866 the Old School Synod was di- vided on political questions springing out of the war — a part form- ing the Old School, or Independent Synod of Missouri, who are con- nected with the General Assembly South. In 1870, the Old and New School Presbyterians united, since which time this Synod has steadily increased until it now numbers more than 12,000 members with more than 220 churches and 150 ministers. This Synod is composed of six Presbyteries and has under its con- trol one or two institutions of learning and one or two newspapers. That part of the original Synod which withdrew from the General Assembly remained an independent body until 1874 when it united with the Southern Presbyterian Church. The Synod in 1875 num- bered 80 ministers, 140 churches and 9,000 members. It has under its control several male and female institutions of a high order. The St. Louis Presbyterian, a weekly paper, is the recognized organ of the Synod. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The missionary enterprises of this church began in the State in 1819, when a parish was organized in the City of St. Louis. In 1828, an agent of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, visited the city, who reported the condition of things so favorably that Rev. Thomas Horrell was sent out as a missionary and in 1825, he began his labors in St. Louis. A church edifice was completed in 1830. In 1836, there were five clergymen of this denomination in Missouri, who had organized congregations in Boonville, Fayette, St. Charles, Hannibal, and other places. In 1840, the clergy and laity met in convention, a diocese was formed, a constitution, and canons adopted, and in 1844 a Bishop was chosen, he being the Rev. Cicero S. Huwks. Through the efforts of Bishop Kemper, Kemper College was founded near St. Louis, but was afterward given up on account of 78 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. pecuniary troubles. In 1847, the Clark Mission began and in 1849 the Orphans' Home, a charitable institution, was founded. In 1865, St. Luke's Hospital was established. In 1875, there were in the city of St. Louis, twelve parishes and missions and twelve clergymen. This denomnatiou has several schools and colleges, and one newsj[japer. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. This denomination is made up of the members of the Associate and Associate Reformed churches of the Northern States, which two bodies united in 1858, taking the name of the United Presbyterian Church of North America. Its members were generally bitterly opposed to the institution of slavery. The first congregation was organized at Warrensburg, Johnson County, in 1867. It rapidly increased in numbers, and had, in 1875, ten ministers and five hundred members. UNITARIAN CHURCH. This church was formed in 1834, by the Rev. W. G. Eliot, in St. Louis. The churches are few in number throughout the State, the membership being probably less than 300, all told. It has a mission house and free school, for poor children, supported by donations. ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. The earliest written record of the Catholic Church in Missouri shows that Father Watrin performed ministerial services in Ste. Genevieve, in 1760, and in St. Louis in 1766. In 1770, Father Menrin erected a small log church in St. Louis. In 1818, there were in the State four chapels, and for Upper Louisiana seven priests. A college and semi- nary were opened in Perry County about this period, for the education of the young, being the first college west of the Mississippi River. In 1824, a college was opened in St. Louis, which is now known as the St. Louis University. In 1826, Father Rosatti was appointed Bishop of St. Louis, and through his instrumentality the Sisters of Charity, Sisters of St. Joseph and of the Visitation were founded, besides other benevolent and charitable institutions. In 1834 he completed the present Cathedral Church. Churches were built in diflerent portions of the State. In 1847 St. Louis was created an arch-diocese, with Bishop Kenrick, Archbishop. In Kansas City there were five parish churches, a hospital, a con- vent and several parish schools. In 1868 the northwestern portion of the State was erected into a separate diocese, with its seat at St.Joseph, HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 79 and Riofht-Reverend John J. Hogan appointed Bishop. There were, in 1875, in the city of St. Louis, 34 churches, 27 schools, 5 hospitals, 3 colleges, 7 orphan asylums and 3 female protectorates. There were also 105 priests, 7 male and 13 female orders, and 20 conferences of St. Vincent de Paul, numbering 1,100 members. In the diocese, out- side of St. Louis, there is a college, a male protectorate, 9 convents, about 120 priests, 150 churches and 30 stations. In the diocese of St. Joseph there were, in 1875, 21 priests, 29 churches, 24 stations, 1 college, 1 monastery, 5 convents and 14 parish schools : Number of Sunday Schools in 1878 , , 2,067 Number of Teachers in 1878 ... , . . 18,010 Number of Pupils in 1878 . 189,578 THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. Instruction preparatory to ministerial work is given in connection with collegiate study, or in special theological courses, at : Central College (M. E. South) . . Fayette. Central Wesleyan College (M. E. Church) . Warrenton. Christian University (Christian) Canton. Concordia College Seminary CEvangelical Lutheran) ... .St. Louis. Lewis College (M. E. Church) Glasgow. St. Vincent College (Roman Catholic) Cape Girardeau. Vardeman School of Theology (Baptist) . ..... Liberty. The last is connected with William Jewell College. CHAPTER Xin. ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR CRITTENDEN. Nomination and election of Thomas T. Crittenden — Personal Mention — Marmaduke's candidacy — Stirring events — Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad — Death of Jesse James — The Fords — Pardon of the Gamblers. It is the purpose in this chapter to outline the more important events of Governor Crittenden's unfinished administration, stating briefly the facts in the case, leaving comment and criticism entirely to the reader, the historian having no judgment to express or prejudice to vent. Thomas T. Crittenden, of Johnson county, received the Demo- cratic nomination for Governor of Missouri at the convention at Jeffer- 80 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. son City, July 22cl, 1880. Democratic nomination for a State office in Missouri is always equivalent to election, and the entire State ticket was duly elected in November. Crittenden's competitors before the convention were Gen. John S. Marmaduke, of St. Lonis, and John A. Hockaday, of Callaway county. Before the assembling of the convention many persons who favored Marmaduke, both personally and politically, thought the nomination of an ex-Confederate might prejudice the prospects of the National Democracy, and therefore, as a matter of polic}^ supported Crittenden. His name, and the fame of his family in Kentucky — Thomas T. being a scion of the Crittendens of that State, caused the Democracy of Missouri to expect great things from their new Governor. This, together with the im[)ortant events which followed his inauguration, caused some people to overrate him, while it prejudiced others against him. The measures advocated by the Governor in his inaugural address were such as, perhaps, the entire Democracy could endorse, especially that of refunding, at a low interest, all that part of the State debt that can be so refunded ; the adoption of measures to relieve the Supreme Court docket ; a compromise of the indebtedness of some of the counties, and his views concerning repudiation, which he con- temned. HANNIBAL & ST. JOE RAILROAD CONTROVERSY. By a series of legislative acts, beginning with the act approved Fel)ruary 22, 1851, and ending with that of March 26, 1881, the State of Missouri aided with great liberality in the construction of a sj'stem of railroads in this State. Among the enterprises thus largely assisted was the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, for the construction of which the bonds of the State, to the amount of $3,000,000, bearing interest at 6 per cent per annum, payable semi-annually, were issued. One half of this amount was issued under the act of 1851, and the remainder under the act of 1855. The bonds issued under the former act were to run twenty years, and those under the latter act were to run thirty years. Some of the bonds have since been funded and renewed. Coupons for the interest of the entire $3,000,000 were executed and made payable in New York. These acts contain numerous provisions intended to secure the State against loss and to require the railroad company to pay the interest and principal at maturity. It was made the duty of the railroad company to save and keep the State from all loss on account of said bonds and coupons. The Treasurer of the State was HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 81 to be e^fonerated from any advance of money to meet either principal or interest. .The State contracted with the railroad company for com- plete indemnity. She was required to assign her statutory mortirao-e lien only upon payment into the treasury of a sum of money equal to all indebtedness due or owing by said company to the State by reason of having issued her bonds and loaned them to the company. In June, 1881, the raih-oad, through its attorney, Geo. W. Easley, Esq., paid to Phil. E. Chappell, State Treasurer, the sum of $3,000,- 000, and asked for a receipt in full of all dues of the road to the State. The Treasurer refused to give such a receipt, but instead gave a receipt for the sum " on account." The debt was not yet due, but the authorities of the road sought to discharge their obligation pre- maturely, in order to save interest and other expenses. The railroad company then demanded its bonds of the State, which demand the State refused. The company then demanded that the $3,000,000 be paid back, and this demand was also refused. The railroad company then brought suit in the United States Court for an equitable adjustment of the matters in controversy. The $3, 000,000 had been deposited by the State in one of the banks, and was drawing interest only at the rate of one-fourth of one per cent. It was demanded that this sum should be so invested that a laro-er rate of interest might be obtained, which sum of interest should be allowed to the company as a credit in case any sum should be found due from it to the State. Justice Miller, of the United States Supreme Court, who heard the case upon preliminary injunction in the sprino- of 1882, decided that the unpaid and unmatured coupons constituted a liability of the State and a debt owing, though not due, and until these Were provided for the State was not bound to assign her lien uj)on the road. Another question which was mooted, but not decided, was this : That, if any, what account is the State to render for the use of the $3,000,000 paid into the treasury by the complainants on the 20th of June? Can she hold that large sum of money, refusing to make any account of it, and still insist upon full payment by the railroad compan}^ of all outstanding coupons? Upon this subject Mr. Justice Miller, in the course of his opinion, said : " I am of the opinion that the State, having accepted or got this money into her possession, is under a moral obligation (and I do not pretend to commit anybody as to how far its legal obligation goes) to so use that money as, so far as possible, to protect the parties who have paid it against the loss of the interest which it might accumulate, 82 HISTORY OF 311S.SOUR1. and which would go to exthiguish the interest on the State's obliga- tions." March 26, 1881, the Legislature, in response to a special message of Gov. Crittenden, dated February 25, 1881, in Avhich he informed the Legislature of the purpose of the Hannibal and St. Joseph com- pany to discharge the full amount of what it claims is its present indebtedness as to the State, and advised that provision be made for the " profitable disposal" of the sum when paid, passed an act, the second section of which provided. '* Sec. 2. Whenever there is sufficient money in the sinkiug fund to redeem or purchase one or more of the bonds of the State of Missouri, such sum is hereby appropriated for such purpose, and the Fund Commissioners shall immediately call in for payment a like amount of the option bonds of the State, known as the "5-20 bonds," provided, that if there are no option bonds which can be called in for payment, they may invest such money in the purchase of any of the- bonds of the State, or bonds of the United States, the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad bonds excepted." On the 1st of January, 1882, the regular semi-annual payment of interest on the railroad bonds became due, but the road refused to pay, claiming that it had already discharged the principal, and of course was not liable for the interest. Thereupon, according to the provisions of the aiding act of 1855, Gov. Crittenden advertised the road for sale in default of the payment of interest. The company then brought suit before U. S. Circuit Judge McCrary at Keokuk, Iowa, to enjoin the State from selling the road, and for such other and further relief as the court might see fit and proper to grant. Auo-ust 8, 1882, Judge McCrary delivered his opinion and judgment, as follows : ^^ First. That the payment by complainants into the treasury of the State of the sum of $3,000,000 on the 26th of June, 1881, did not satisfy the claim of the State in full, nor entitle complainants to an assignment of the State's statutory mortgage. ^^jSecond. That the State was bound to invest the principal sum of $3,000,000 so paid by the complainants without unnecessary delay in the securities named in the act of March 26, 1881, or some of them, and so as to save to the State as large a sum as possible, which sum so saved would have constituted as between the State and complainants a credit pro tanto upon the unmatured coupons now in controversy. HISTORY OF MISSOURI. S3 ** Third. That the rights and equity of the parties are to be deter- mined upon the foregoing principles, and the State must stand charged with what would have been realized if the act of March, 1881, had been complied with. It only remains to consider what the rights of the parties are upon the principles here stated. " In order to save the State from loss on account of the default of the railroad company, a further sum must be paid. In order to deter- mine what that further sum is an accounting must be had. The ques- tion to be settled by the accounting is, how much would the State have lost if the provisions of the act of March, 1881, had been complied with ?****! think a perfectly fair basis of settle- ment would be to hold the State liable for whatever could have been saved by the prompt execution of said act by taking up such 5-20 option bonds of the State as were subject to call when the money was paid to the State, and investing the remainder of the fund in the bonds of the United States at the market rates. " Upon this basis a calculation can be made and the exact sum still to be paid by the complainant in order to fully indemnify and protect the State can be ascertained. For the purpose of stating an account upon this basis and of determining the sum to be paid by the com- plainants to the State, the cause will be referred to John K. Cravens, one of the masters of this court. In determining the time when the investment should have been made under the act of March, 1881, the master will allow a reasonable period for the time of the receipt of the said sum of $3,000,000 by the Treasurer of the State — that is to say, such time as would have been required for that purpose had the offi- cers charged with the duty of making said investment used reason- able diligence in its discharge. •' The Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad is advertised for sale for the amount of the instalment of interest due January 1, 1882, which instalment amounts to less than the sum which the company must pay in order to discbarge its liabilities to the State upon the theory of this opinion. The order will, therefore, be that an injunction be granted to enjoin the sale of the road upon the payment of the said instal- ment of interest due January 1, 1882, and if such payment is made the master will take it into account in making the computation above mentioned." KILLIXG OF JESSE JAMES. The occurrence during the present Governor's administration which did most to plage his name in everybody's mouth, and even to herald 84 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. it abroad, causing the European press to teem with leaders announcing the ftict to the continental world, was the " removal" of the famous Missouri brigand, Jesse W. James. The career of the James boys, and the banditti of whom they were the acknowledged leaders, is too well-known and too fully set forth in works of a more sensational character, to deserve further detail in these pages ; and the " removal " of Jesse will be dealt with only in its relation to the Governor. It had been long conceded that neither of the Jameses would ever be taken alive. That experiment had been frequently and vainly tried, to the sorrow of good citizens of this and other States. It seems to have been one of the purposes of Gov. Crittenden to break up this band at any cost, by cutting off its leaders. Soon after the Winston train robbery, on July 15, 1881, the railroads combined in empower- ing the Governor, by placing the money at his disposal, to offer heavy rewards for the capture of the two James brothers. This was ac- cordingly done by proclamation, and, naturally, many persons were on the^liokout to secure the large rewards. Gov. Crittenden worked quietly, but determinedly, after offering the rewards, and by some means learned of the availability of the two Ford boys, young men from Kay county, who had been tutored as juvenile robbers by the skillful Jesse. An understanding was had, when the Fords declared they could find Jesse — that they were to "turn him in." ^ Eobert Ford and brother seem to have been thoroughly in the confidence of James, who then (startling as it was to the entire State) resided m the citv of St. Joseph, with his wife and two children ! The Fords went there, and when the robber's back was turned, Eobert shot Jam dead i7i the hack of the head! The Fords told their story to the authorities of the city, who at once arrested them on a charge of mur- der, and they, when arraigned, ^plead guilty to the charge. Promptly, however, came a full, free and unconditional pardon from Gov. Crit- tenden, and the Fords were released. In regard to the Governor's course in ridding the State of this notorious outlaw, people were divided in sentiment, some placing him in the category with the Ford boys and bitterly condemning his action, while others — the majority of law-abiding people, indeed, —though deprecating the harsh meas- ures which James' course had rendered necessary, still upheld the Governor for the part he played. As it was, the "Terror of Mis- souri " was effectually and finally " removed," and people were glad that he was dead. Eobert Ford, the pupil of the dead Jesse, had HISTORY or MISSOURI. 85 been selected, and of all was the most fit tool to use in the extermina- tion of his preceptor in crime. The killing of James would never have made Crittenden many ene- mies among the better class of citizens of this State ; but, when it came to his PARDON OF THE GAMBLERS. The case was different. Under the new law making gaminghouse- keeping a felony, several St. Louis gamblers, with Robert C. Pate at their head, were convicted and sentenced to prison. The Governor, much to the surprise of the more rigid moral element of the State, soon granted the gamblers a pardon. This was followed by other pardons to similar offenders, which began to render the Governor quite unpopular which one element of citizens, and to call forth from some of them the most bitter denunciations. The worst feature of the case, perhaps, is the lack of explanation, or the setting forth of sufficient reasons, as is customary in issuing pardons. This, at least, is the bur- den of complaint with the faction that opposes him. However, it must be borne in mind that his terra of office, at this writing, is but half expired, and that a full record can not, therefore, be given. Like all mere men. Gov. Crittenden has his good and his bad, is liked by some and disliked by others. The purpose of history is to set forth the facts and leave others to sit in judgment ; this the historian has tried faithfully to do, leaving all comments to those who may see fit to make them. HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. ST. LOUIS. Her First Settlement — Arrival of the First Steamboat — Eemoval of the Capital to Jefferson City — When Incorporated — Population by Decades — First Lighted by Gas — Death of one of her Founders, Pierre Chouteau — Cemeteries — Financial Crash — Bondholders and Coupon-clippers — Value of Eeal and Personal Property- Manufactures — Criticism. It was nearly a century and a quarter ago that St. Louis's first arrival proclaimed the site of the future metropolis of the Mississippi "Valley. In 1762 M. Pierre Laclede Liguest and his two companions, Auguste and Pierre Chouteau, landed upon the site which was des- tined to become a great city. They were the avant-couriers and principal members of a company which had certain privileges secured to them by the Governor of the Territory of Louisiana, which then included the whole of Missouri, that of trading with the Indians, and which was known as the Louisiana Fur Company, with the privilege further granted of establishing such posts as their business might demand west of the Mississippi and on the Missouri rivers. They had been on a prospecting tour and knew something of the country, and on February 15, 1774, Laclede with the above named companions, took possession of the ground which is now the city of St. Louis. They established a trading post, took formal possession of the coun- try, and called their post St. Louis. In 1768 Captain Eios took possession of the post as a part of Spanish territory ceded to it by France by the treaty of Paris, and it remained under the control of suc- cessive Spanish Governors until March 10, 1804. The Spanish govern- ment, by the treat}'^ of San Ildefonso in 1800, retroceded the territory to France, and, by purchase, France ceded the whole country to the C86) HISTOKY OF ST. LOUIS. 87 ,kl M |ll|!i! :?-■' 02 B o I— I fin h- 1 m so I— I CE CC 1—1 ' W p- cc P^ Q l-H P2 W EH .iiS^ ^^ 88 HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. United States, April 80, 1803. In October of the same year Congress passed an act approving the purchase, and authorizing the President to take posses- sion of the country or Territory of Louisiana. This was done February 15, ,.!'■' I '^^.1-^li lilt \^ 1804, when Captain Amos Stoddard, of the United States army, and the agent of the United States, received from Don Cark)S Dehault Delassns, a surrender of the post of St. Louis and the Territory of Upper Louisiana. On the 10th ot HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS, 89 March the keys to the government house and the archives and public property were turned over or delivered to the representative of the United States, the Spanish flag was lowered, the stars and stripes thrown to the breeze, accompanied with the roar of artillery and music, and thetransfer was complete. In 1805 St. Louis had its first post-office established, and the place was incorporated as a town m 1809. It did not ^row very fast, but was the recognized headquarters for the territory of^the west and northwest, The French, from Indiana and other points had settled there, and the town was decidedly French m its character and population. The Missouri Fur Company, which had its headquarters there, was organized in 1808, of which Pierre Chou- teau was the head. His associates were Manuel Lisa, Wm. Clark, Sylvester Labadie, and others, and such familiar names as the Astors, Bent, Sublette, Cabanne, General Ashly and Robert Campbell were prominently identified with the town and its progress. The first paper was issued July 2, 1808. In 1812 the Territory of Louisiana, or that part north, was changed and named the Territory of Missouri, and was given Territorial rights, with a representation on the floor of Congress. St. Louis was the seat of the Territorial government until 1820, and the first legislature met in that town, and part of its proceedings was the removal of the seat of the o-overnment to St. Charles, where it remained until located at Jefi-erson City in 1826. In 1822 St. Louis began to take on more style, and was incorporated as a city December 9th ot that year. There had been a bank established in 1817, and quite a large number of business houses were built and occupied, and a number ot loan offices chartered. When St. Louis became an American city her population was 925; this was in 1804. When the Territory was named Missouri, and she was the seat of government in 1812, her population had reached 2,000. William Deckers laid the first pavement in 1818. A ferry boat had been started in 1804. The first steamboat arrived in 1817. It was a low-pressure steamboat, built at Pittsburgh, and named the General Pilce. It arrived August 2d and was greeted by the entire population, who gazed upon her with wonder and astonishment. The Indians were a badly scared crowd and could not be induced to come near it. The first steamboat stemmed the tide of the Missouri in May, 1819, and the same year the first steamboat from New Orleans put in an appearance at St. Louis. It was twenty-seven days en route. 90 HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. BOUNDARIES AND INCORrORATION. In 1820 the population had reached 4,928, and when incorporatea in wns believed to number about 5,000, not much immigration having conic in. The boundary lines of the city when she received her charter were defined as follows : The line commencing at the middle of Mill Creek, HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. 91 just below the gas works, thence west to Seventh Street, and up Seventh Street to a point due west of "Koy's Tower," thence to the river. The city plat embraced 385 acres of ground. The first church was built in 1824, and was of the Presbyterian denomination. The second was an Episcopal Church, erected in 1825. A new court-house was built in 1827, and also a market-house. These old-time landmarks have long since disappeared, and no mark is left to tell the tale of their being. The spot or location is recorded, but what that availeth is not of comprehension to the generation of to-day. ADVANCEMENT. The first brick house is said to have been erected in 1814, The first mayor of the city was Wm. C. Lane. The St. Louis University was founded in 1829 ; the Catholic Cathedral was completed in 1832 and consecrated by Bishop Eosetti. In 1833 the population of St. Louis was about six thousand, and the taxable property, real and personal, aggregated $2,745,000. St. Louis, like all other cities, felt the blighting effects of the financial 5rash of 1837, still her progress was not wholly checked. Her vitality was great, and her resources spread over the territory, in many cases, out of the reach of the troubles of the times. Her fur trade was immense, and the crash had little to do with that, so that while she fclt the depression in her financial circles, her commercial prosperity was in no wise checked. There is very little more in the history of St. L mis to record than the noting of her general prosperity and steady onward progress for the next decade. Hei population in 1840 had risen to 16,469, and in 1844, 34,140. The population had more than doubled in four years. Fine buildings had arisen in place of the old fur warehouses of the early French settlers. Stately residences appeared in the suburbs ; and in all that gave promise of a great and influential city, she had advanced and was advancing rapidly. The Mercantile Library was founded in 1848, and gas had been introduced the year previous, the city being first lio-hted on the night of November 4, 1847. In the great cholera year, 1849, the disease assumed an epidemic form, and of that dread scourge the people had a fearful experience. The progress of St. Louis had been handsomely commemorated on the eighty-third anniversary of its founding, the date being February 15, 1847. Among the living, and the only survivor of the memorable trio who first landed and • located the city, was the venerable Pierre Chouteau, who, with his 92 HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. brother, had accompanied Laclede Liguest, to locate a trading-post for the fur company of which they were members. He was a promi- nent figure in the celebration, and though at an advanced age, he was in the enjoyment of his full faculties, and was keenly alive to the won- derful progress of the city in the 3ighty-three years of its life. In 1849, the epidemic year, all that was mortal of Pierre Chouteau was consigned to its last resting-place, and with him all living memory ceased of the first settlement and of the rise and progress of the city. From that date history could record but written facts, the oral record had ceased to exist. His elder brother, Auguste Chouteau, had pre- NEW CUSTOM HOUSE, ST. LOUIS. ceded him to the mystic beyond, having departed this life in February, 1829. EXTENSION OF CITY LIMITS. The city limits had been greatly extended in 1841, embracing an area of two thousand six hundred and thirty acres, inste'ad of the three hundred and eighty-five acres in December, 1822. This showed the wonderful growth of the city, which, even then, was contracted, and its suburbs were fast filling up. The Institution for the Blind was incorporated in 1851, and the pop- ulation had increased to 94,000 in 1852. HISTORY OF ST, LOUIS. 93 CEMETERIES. St. Louis took pride in her "cities of the dead," for she has sev- eral cemeteries, with wooded dales and sylvan retreats, well suited as the last resting-place of those whose remains are deposited in the " Silent City." We will speak here of only two, because of the care taken of them, their size, and their rich and diversified surroundings, which give them a lonely, yet pleasant, look to all who visit them. The Bellefontaine was purchased by an association of gentlemen who secured an act of incorporation in 1849, and at once commenced the improvement of the ground. In 1850 the first sale of lots took place. The cemetery comprises two hundred and twenty acres of land. The Calvarv Cemetery has 320 acres, of which 100 are laid out and im- proved^. This, resting-place of the dead was purchased in 1852, by the Archbishop of the Diocese ot St. Louis, and like the first above mentioned, is a lovely and secluded spot, well suited for the purpose intended. BRIDGE DISASTER. In 185^ tHe terrible accident, known as the Gasconade Bridge dis- aster, occurred, when many prominent citizens of St. Louis lost their lives. FINANCIAL CRASH. In 1857 the financial crash had a greater effect upon St. Louis than the one of 1837. Her merchants had been prosperous and extended their line of credits, and the rapidly growing city had brought many new and venturesome people, who, believing in its future, had em- barked in business enterprises which required a few more years of steady rise and progress to place them on a stable foundation. These, of course, went down in the general crash, but the stream was only temporarily dammed, and the debris was soon cleared away. The flood-tide had set toward the west, and the greater the crash the greater swelled the tide of immigration toward the setting sun. "^ The era of a healthy, and it would seem, permanent prosperity, asain dawned upon the metropolis of the Mississippi Valley in 1861, and this time not even the civil war, which then began to cast its bale- ful shadow over the Union, checked its onward career, and at the opening of this terrible drama St. Louis claimed a population of 187,- 000 souls. The war added to its financial and commercial prosperity, for it became the entrepot of supplies for the army of the southwest, and the headquarters of army operations. The valuation of real es- 94 HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. tate and personal property, which had only been a little rising two and a half millions of dollars in 1833, Avasnow, in 18G0, $73,765,670. What the war added was more in the line of its financial and commercial development than in the spreading of its area or the building up of its waste places, but when war's fierce alarm had ceased the tide began to flow west- ward, and with it came the building mania, for homes and houses had to be provided for the rush of new-comers. Chicago, which had nearly monopolized the railroads as an objective point, seemed now to have secured all that would pay, and St. Louis became the focus of all eyes. Kansas, Colorado and the Southwest began to loom up in its agricultural and mineral resources ; the vast quantities of land which had been voted by venal congressmen to great railroad corporations were now thrown upon the market, and Kansas became a leading State for the attrac- ST. LOUIS UNION DEPOT, tion of the emigrant. In this more railroads were necessary, and the great crossing of the Mississippi was at St. Louis. Then the bridging of that great river commenced, Capt. Eads having made known his plans for this imj)ortantwork soon after the close of the war. The jubilee was not enjoyed, however, until 1874, when, on July 4th, the bridge was completed and opened to the railway companies. This was another era which marked a rapid prog- ress in the future city of the valley. Sixteen separate and distinct lines of railway centered at St. Louis with completion of the bridge, and from those lines and the river traffic, St. Louis was evidently sure of her future. BONDHOLDERS AND COUPON-CLIPPERS. It was only when a concentration of wealth took a new departure that the HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. 95 glorious future which appeared so near became so far. The energy and enterprise of the people had, in a large measure, previous to the war, been used toward building up the city, and embarking in manufactures, etc., but soon after the war that wealth was turned into government bonds and the energy and enterprise were concentrated by these rich holders in cutting coupons off of these same bonds every three months, and with few exceptions they are still at the exhaustive work. Whatever of advanced progress has been given to St. Louis the past ten years, outside of her Aliens, Stannards, and perhaps a score of others, has been by the new arrivals. It was, in '69 or '70, that her local papers were prospecting on the enervating influence that a hundred first-class funerals would have on the material prosperity of the *' Future Great." The light and airy business of coupon-clip- ping had become epidemic, and millions of dollars which ought to have been invested in manufacturing and other enterprises, were sunk in the maelstrom of government bonds, and, so far as the material advancement of the city was concerned, might as well have been bur- ied in the ocean. Still St. Louis improved, for new arrivals of the progressive order, seeing an opening, would drop in, and those who could not clip coupons for a business worked on as their limited capi- tal would permit. And so it was found that in 1870 real estate had reached $119,080,800, while personal property was $147,969,660. In 1875 the value of real estate had advanced $12,000,000, reaching the gross sum of $131,141,000, and personal property $166,999,660, a gain of nearly $20,000,000 in five years. The valuation January 1, 1879, was, of real estate, $140,976,540, and personal property, $172,- 829,980, or a total valuation of real and personal property of $313,- 806,520, with a population of about 340,000. Great advancement had taken place in blocks of magnificent buildings, in the increase of her wholesale trade, in the area of her city limits, in the enlargement of her working population, so that the coupon-clippers who had stood at the front in 1870 now held a rear position, and were rather looked down upon as drones of society, wrapped in self and the vanity of self- importance, and of little use to the progress or to the detriment of the great city. Railroads run to every point of the compass. Her tunnel and the union depot had become a fixed fact, macadamized roads led to all parts of the country, miles upon miles of streets were paved and sidewalks laid with substantial brick or stone, street cars to every part of the city, and the river-front flashing with traffic, which, in point of development, has exccQded the most sanguine expectation 96 HI8TOEY OF S'l\ LOUIS. VIEW IN SHAW'S BOTANICAL GARDENS, ST. LOUIS. HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. 97 of those who had believed in its future, while the expressions of those who hud built their faith on the railroads depriving a free water-course of the wealth of her offering has been simply one of astonishment. ST. LOUIS PARKS. In one respect St. Louis has exhibited commendable sense in having secured a number of parks, breathing-places for her industrial popu- lation and pleasant drives for her wealthy citizens. There are no less than seventeen of these beautiful places, many of them small, but so scattered about the city as to be convenient to all her citizens. Her great park, which is called " Forest Park," has 1,372 acres, and the city has expended in purchases, laying out and beautifying the grounds, nearly one million of dollars. Carondelet Park has an area of 183.17 acres; O'Fallon Park has an area of 158.32 acres, and Tower Grove Park 270 acres. These are the largest ; the others represent but a small number of acres each. Of the smaller ones, Lafayette Park leads with twentj^-six acres, while the smallest, eTackson Place, has less than two acres. BUILDINGS AND BANKS. There were 1,318 brick and 369 frame buildings put up in 1878, at a cost of $3,000,000. A very fine custom-house is approaching com- pletion. They had, January 1, 1879, twentj'-nine banks in St. Louis, five of which were national banks. The combined capital of all was $12,406,019. This shows a health}'^ progress, but one of not more than ordinary in the line of building improvements. It should have reached ten millions to show that advanced progress becoming a city which claims it is destined to become the central sun of the great Mississippi Valley. In 1878 there were 2,291 arrivals of steamboats, and 2,348 depart- ures. The commerce of the river was some half a million of dollars. The new barge lines and the wheat movement down the Mississippi for the year 1881, including her other river traffic, will undoubtedly double the business of 1878. The figures are not in, but the first half year has made a wonderful mcrease. Her commerce is steadily improving. There is not an article of domestic produce but has rapidly advanced in the amount received the past few years. The cereals and stock, cattle, sheep, and hogs, also the roots and vegetables, have rapidly grown in quantity. St. Louis is the greatest mule market in the world. In its public buildings, the United States custom-house stands first — 98 HISTOKY OF ST. LOUIS. a massive building of white granite, occupying a whole scjuare, and when finished will have cost $6,000,000. The business in the custom department will exceed two million dollars the first year of its opening. The Chamber of Commerce is another magnificent structure just com- pleted at a cost of $1,800,000. The county court-house, which also takes a square of ground, and is built in the shape of a Greek cross, with a fine dome, cost $2,000,000. The county building known as the " Four Courts," and the city prison, is a beautiful three-story-and-a- half basement structure, which cost $1,250,000. The Polytechnic Institute cost $800,000, and the magnificen't Southern Hotel, finished, HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, ST. LOUIS, and occupied May, 1881, cost $1 250,000 for building and furni- ture. There arc public buildings of lesser note, many private structures of magnificent proportions, with a wealth of beautiful surroundings ; the- aters, hotels, etc., all that go to make up a great city ; school-houses of ample proportions ; churches beautiful in architectural design of Grecian, Doric, and Gothic, many of them being very costly in their build. One hundred and seventy-one churches are found within her limits, and the denominations cover all that claim the Protestant or HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. 99 Catholic faith. The Cathedral on Walnut Street is the oldest church edifice, but not the most costly, in the city. The public school library was founded in 1872, and numbers 36,000 volumes. The Mercantile Library has 42,090 volumes, and contains not only many valuable literary works, but many choice works of art. MANUFACTURES. In this line St. Louis is fast reaching a commanding situation. So long as railroads commanded the freighting facilities of the city, and the great highway to the sea which Providence had placed at her door was ignored for man's more expensive route by rail, St. Louis remained but an infant in manufacturing enterprises — and these had succumbed in many instances to the power of monopolies, or to the tarifi* of freight which took off all the profits, and her more eastern competitors were the gainers. But in the last two years Nature's great highway to the sea has begun to be utilized, and St. Louis has all at once opened her eyes to the fact that she has a free railway of water to the sea, the equal of twenty railroads by land, and it only needs the cars (the barges) to revolutionize the carrying trade of the Mississippi and Mis- souri valleys. The track is free to all. He who can build the cars can have the track ready at all times for use. The Father of Waters lies at her door ; a mountain of iron is but a few miles awa}^ ; coal, also, lies nearly at her gates ; and while she has slept the sleep of years, these vast opportunities might have made her, ere this, the equal of any manufacturing city on the globe. She will become such, for no other city can show such vast resources or such rapid and cheap facil- ities for distribution. Even the coupon-clippers are waking up, and believe there are higher and nobler aims for man than the lavish expen- diture of wealth in indolence and selfish pleasure. The surplus wealth of St. Louis, if invested in manufacturing enterprises, would make her the wonder of the continent. She may realize this some day ; when she does, she will wonder at the stupidity and lolly that has controlled her for so many years. Foundries, machine-shops, rolling-mills, cot- ton and woolen factories, car-shops, these and a thousand other indus- tries are but waiting for the magic touch of an enterprising people to give them life. The year 1882 opens auspiciously for a new life. St. Louis now begins to consider the question of progress from a more enlightened standpoint, and with a look of intelligent action. It may take a little time yet to drive sleep from her eyelids and sloth from her limbs, but HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. 101 it looks now more than ever as though she would accomplish this and wake up to the full fruition of her great opportunities — in fact, to her manifest destiny. Missouri ought to be proud of St. Louis, but that cannot be while sloth lies at the portals of her gates and the dry- rot of old fogyism guides her present course. The brewery business of St. Louis is one of her leading depart- ments of trade. She has the largest establishment in the world for bottling beer, a building two hundred feet long and thirty feet broad. The manufacture of wine is another important business which has assumed immense proportions. Distilling, rectifying and wholesale dealing in liquors is another branch that adds a large revenue to the taxable wealth of the city. There is nothing in the manufacturers' line but what could sustain a healthy growth in St. Louis, if even plain business sense is at command. Her future may be said to be all before her, for her manufacturing interests are yet in their infancy. She can become the manufacturing centre of the continent. The centre or receiving point for the greatest amount of cereals any cit}'' can han- dle, and the stock centre also of the country, St. Louis may, with the opportunities within her grasp, well be called the " Future Great." CHAPTER OF CRITICISM. But the name ^'■Future Great " is used at this time by her rivals in tones of derision. That she should have ignored so many years the great and bountiful resources nature has so lavishly bestowed upon her, aye ! it would seem, even spurned them through an ignorance as dense as it is wonderful, is very strange, and has brought a stigma of disgrace upon the character of her people. This action on her part has not escaped the notice of men of wealth, of towering ambition, of nerve force and of unlimited energy, and to-day one of the railway kings of the country, Jay Gould, of New York, has grasped the sceptre of her commercial life and rules with a grasp of steel, and through his iron roadways run the commercial life-blood which flows through the arteries of her business life. That this neglect of her great opportunities should have placed it in the power of one man to become the arbiter of her fate is as humiliating as it has proved costly. Millions have poured into the coffers of Jay Gould, who, seeing this vast wealth of resources lying idle or uncared for, had the nerve to seize and the far-seeing judgment and enterprise to add them to his own personal gains. The world can admire the bold energy of the man, and the genius that can grasp and guide the commercial desti- 102 HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. nies of an Empire, but it is none the less a blot upon the fair name, capital and enterprise of a great city, and should mantle the cheek of every St. Louisian with shame. The writer feels all that he has here written, but his pride as a Missourian cannot blind him to the faults of her people St. Louis is an old city and there has been much written of her extraordinary progress, and yet whatever that progress is, has beea caused far more by her people being compelled to take advantage of WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, ST. LOUIS. the opportunities within their reach than making such by their own energy and enterprise. If she has grown in population and in wealth, it is because she could not help herself. After forty years of life, as late as 1812, the currency of St. Louis was still confined to peltries, trinkets, maple sugar, honey, beeswax, venison, hams, etc., in fact, all barter and trade, and yet those who have compiled her local history HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. 103 talk wildly of her destiny and prophesy wonders for her in the near future. It is best to look at St. Louis as she is to-day. It is to be hoped that her future growth may not take pattern after her past, and that the new men who have taken her commercial future into their keeping will still exhibit that towering genius for the development of St. Louis that has characterized them in their eastern home. The future of St. Louis would seem to be one of a rapidly growing city, not only in population, but in commercial and financial strength, as though founded upon a rock. This is the present outlook. While the genius of Gould and his associates has secured millions of dollars by their business ventures, there are other millions still left to build up and add to her prosperity and greatness if rightly managed. The tremendous energy of Gould has astonished the sleepy St. Louisians as much as if they had been treading upon live coals, and in waking up they have discovered that their sleep and indolence have cost them several millions. Gould, Keene, Dillon, Sage and their associates do not work for nothing, and the people who claim the "Future Great" as their abiding place should lose no time in taking a firm hold of the present and guiding her toward the great destiny which awaits her, with the winning cards in their own hands. The New Yorkers have shown them a will and a way, and now let them practice the lesson it has cost them so much to learn. It has been over a century since St. Louis took a start into life, and it is quite that since the ring of the pioneer's axe and the sharp crack of his rifle reverberated through her streets. The slow progress of pioneer life has departed and modern civilization, with the light of genius for its guide, is rapidly progressing and recording history for future generations. When in 1817 the first steamboat landed at St. Louis, the possibilities of what the future might be began to dawn upon the minds of her people, and that year may be well proclaimed as the dividing line between the old and the new era of St. Louis's destiny. From that day she looked forward, not backward, and while up to that time she seemed to have lived in the past, it was the future before her that then riveted her attention. She kept up a lively step to the music of progress for several years, and the Father of Waters and the mighty Missouri with their fleets of water-craft attested her enterprise, and she grew apace. But in a few years she again fell asleep, and slept until the snort of the iron horse awoke her rudely from slumber. . She had grown even while she slept, because the great water-way which passed her door had become the pathway of a mighty "ms$i HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. l05 business. But this grand highway to the sea which had nourished her while she slept was at once forgotten or relegated to the rear, and her awakened energies were given to the prancing steed whose breath was fire, that made the earth tremble at his strength, and whose speed was like the wings of the wind. The railroad fever had taken posses- sion of the Queen City of the Valley. She grew apace and for years she has reveled in the new love, and the grand old Father of Waters which had nurtured her into life was forgotten. But she has again awakened from her quiet dreams, and the iron horse which had lulled her to repose was found while bringing millions to her door to have taken millions more away. And in this year of 1882 she opens her eyes to her true destiny, and the grand Old Father of Waters, which she had striven to drive from her, was once more recognized as the very foundation or bed-rock of her commercial life, the power that was to keep in check the absorption of her wealth, from the monopo- lizing influence and insatiable maw of the railway kings. She now proudly points to the grand old river, and the fleets of barges borne upon its bosom filled with the wealth of an empire, and calls on her sister, Chicago, to look at this glorious sight. The " Garden City" has already snuffed the battle from afar, and is ready to struggle for a commercial supremacy in which there are literally millions, for nature has done the work, and St. Louis will win. The "City by the Lake" is deserving, and had she the opportunities which have lain so long dormant in possession of her rival, would have been to- day the wonder of the world. But it is the rugged path that brings out man's energy and endurance, not the smooth road. So it is with cities. And so the majestic Mississippi flows on, bearing upon its waters the riches of the valley, and pouring into the lap of the Queen City upon its banks millions upon millions of wealth. If the spirit of 1882 shall continue, then St. Louis will soon become the pride of the State. In reality she will be the " Future Great" of the Ameri- can Continent. She that stands on the bank of this great inland sea, the commerce of an empire flowing at her feet, her sails in every clime and country, she is indeed to become a great city, the arbiter of the commercial world and the Queen City whose wealth, commanding influence, culture and refinement will attest the greatness of her peo- ple and command the homage of the world. Such is to be the "Future Great" city,- St. Louis. 106 HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS. STATISTICS . Debt of St. Louis, January 1, 1881, $22,507,000 ; rate of taxation on the $100, $1.75. The receipts of all kinds of grain, 51,958,177 bushels. Twenty-four flouring-mills manufactured 2,077,625 barrels of flour in 1880. The receipts of cotton for 1880 were 496,570 bales. There were 12,846,169 pounds of tobacco manufactured into plug, fine-cut and smoking tobacco. There were 330,935,973 feet of lumber received in 1880. St. Louis received for the year 1880, 41,892,356 bushels of coal. Seven elevators have a total capacity of 5,650,000 bushels, and three more are being erected and one other enlarged. The aggregate of bank clearing for 1880 amounted to $1,422,- 918,978. The post-office distributed in 1880, 43,731,844 pieces, weighing 4,250,000 pounds. Post-office orders issued numbered 53,337, and represented $879,- 943.90. The value of school property is $2,851,133. The steel bridge cost $13,000,000, and tunnel $1,500,000. LAWS OF MISSOURI. HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION LAW. The homestead exemption law of the State of Missouri has been one of the most enlightened laws passed for the benefit of the people. In the last session of the general assembly of the State, the spring of 1880-81, there was a material change in the law, and it is given here in full. Thus every head of a family can be secure in a home of moderate value, if he will not waive his right to it. There are printed notes now drawn up in which there is a clause printed waiving the right of holding such property under that law. When a man signs such a note, his home stands in the same light as his other property. These notes should never be signed unless by or with the consent of the wife as well as the husband. The law reads, as amended, as fol- lows, and is in full force at this time : Section 1. Section twenty-six hundred and eighty-nine (2689) of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, is hereby amended by striking out, *' or incorporated towns and villages having a less population," and inserting in lieu thereof, ♦' having a population of ten thousand or less," in twelfth line, and by inserting immediately after " dollars," fifteenth line, the words " and in cities and incorporated towns and villages having a population less than ten thousand, such homesteads shall not include more than five acres of ground or exceed the total value of $1,500," so that said section as amended shall read as fol- lows : Sec. 2689. The homestead of every housekeeper or head of a family, consisting of a dwelling-house and appurtenances, and the land in connection therewith, not exceeding the amount and value herein limited, which is or shall be used by such housekeeper, or head of a family as such homestead shall, together with the rents, issues (107) 108 LAAVS OF MISteOUKI. and products thereof, be exempt from attachment and execution, except as herein provided ; such homestead in the country shall not include more than one hundred and sixty acres of land, or exceed the total value of fifteen hundred dollars ; and in cities having a popula- tion of forty thousand or more, such homestead shall not include more than eighteen square rods of ground, or exceed the total value of three thousand dollars ; and in cities having a population of ten thousand and less than forty thousand, such homestead shall not in- clude more than thirty square rods of ground, or exceed the total value of fifteen hundred dollars ; and in cities and incorporated towns and villages having a population less than ten thousand, such homestead shall not include more than five acres of ground, or exceed the total value of fifteen hundred dollars ; and any married woman may file her claim to the tract or lot of land occupied by her and her husband, or by her, if abandoned by her husband, as a homestead ; said claim shall set forth the tract or lot claimed, that she is the wife of the person in whose name the said tract or lot appears of record, and said claim shall be acknowledged by her before some officer authorized to take proof or acknowledgments of instruments of writing, affecting real estate, and be filed in the recorder's office, and it shall be the duty of the recorder to receive and record the same. After the filing of such claims, duly acknowledged, the husband shall be debarred from, and incapable of selling, mortgaging or alienating the homestead in any manner whatever, and every such sale, mortgage or alienation is hereby declared null and void ; and the filing of any such claims, as aforesaid, with the recorder, shall impart notice to all persons of the contents thereof, and all subsequent purchasers and mortgagers shall be deemed, in law and equity, to purchase with notice ; Provided^ how- ever^ that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent the husband and wife from jointly conveying, mortgaging, alienating or in any other manner disposing of such homestead, or any part thereof. Approved, March 26, 1881. HUSBAND NOT LIABLE. An Act to exempt the husband from the payment of the debts of he wife, contracted before marriage. Section 1. The property owned by a man before his marriage, and that which he may acquire after his marriage by purchase, descent, gift, grant, devise, or any other manner whatsoever, and the profits LAWS OF MISSOURI. ' 109 thereof, except such as may be acquired from the wife, shall be exempt from all debts and liabilities contracted or incurred by his wife before their marriage. Sec. 2. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. Approved, March 25, 1881. RIGHTS OF MARRIED WOMEN. The law passed by the General Assembly on the rights and privi- leges of married women is full and complete, is composed of fourteen sections, and too long to be embodied in this work. The law can be found in the " Revised Statutes of Missouri, volume 1, 1876." It is chapter 51, and found on pages 557 to 561. HEDGES TRIMMED. It may not be known to all that a law was passed by the General Assembly (1880-1881), that "every person having a hedge fence, over five years old, upon the line of any public r6ad or highway in this State, is hereby required to cut down the same, to the height of not more than five feet nor less than four feet, every two years : Pro- vided, that hedge fences inclosing orchards, house-yards and stock- yards, shall be exempt from the provisions of this act." The overseer of roads is to serve the notice and the owner has thirty days to commence, and if he fail to do it the overseer shall have it done, and the owner must pay all expenses of the same. It can be collected of him by law, same as revenue for road purposes. The law passed and took efi'ect March 16, 1881. CHANGING SCHOOL-HOUSE SITES. Section 1. The voters of any school-district in this State may change the location of a school-house site when the same, for any cause, may be deemed necessary and notice of such contemplated change shall have been given by the directors at least twenty days prior thereto by posting at least three written notices in three of the most public places in the district where such school-house site shall be located ; Provided, that in every case a majority of the voters of said district shall only be necessary to remove a site nearer the center of a school district, but in all cases to remove a site further from the center of a school district it shall require two-thirds of the legal voters of such school district. 110 LAWS OF MISSOURI. Sec. 2. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. Approved March 24, 1881. MARRIAGE LICENSE. The legislature of 1880-81 passed a marriage license act which makes it necessary for persons before marriage to secure a license. No person authorized to perform the marriage ceremony can legally do so without first seeing the license, and a marriage performed with- out a license is not legal and a penalty is attached. The intent of the law is to have an official record which shall stand in the courts and settle any dispute either of marriage or property which may hereafter arise. The law reads: Section 1. Previous to any marriage in this State h license for that purpose shall be obtained. The recorder of the county issues the license and the parties must be, the male 21 years and the female 18 years of age. If younger, the parents or guardian must give consent. purchasing books by SUBSCRIPTION. The business of publishing books by subscription, having so often been brou^-ht into disrepute by agents making representations and declarations not authorized by the publisher^ in order to prevent that as much as possible, and that there may be moi-e general knowledge of the relation such agents bear to their principal, and the law gov- ernino- such cases, the following statement is made : A subscription is in the nature of a contract of mutual promises, by which the subscriber agrees to pay a certain sum for the work described ; the consideration is that the publisher shall publish the hook named, and deliver the same, for which the subscriber is to pay the price named. The nature and character of the work are described by the prospectus and sample shown. These should be carefidly examined before subscribing, as they are the basis and consideration of the promise to pay, and not the too often exaggerated statements of the agent, who is merely employed to solicit subscriptions, for which he is usually paid a commission for each subscriber, and has no authority to change or alter the conditions upon which the subscrip- tions are authorized to be made by the publisher. Should the agent assume to ao-ree to make the subscription conditional, or modify or change the agreement of the publisher, as set out by the prospectus LAWS OF MISSOURI. Ill and sample, in order to hind the principal y the subscriber should see that such condition or changes are stated over or in connection with his signature, so that the publisher may have notice of the same. All persons making contracts in reference to matters of this kind, or any other business, should remember that the law as written is, that they can not be altered, varied, or rescinded verbally, but if done at all, must be done in writing. It is therefore important that all persons contemplating subscribing should distinctly understand that all talk before or after the subscription is made is not admissible as evidence, and is no part of the contract. Persons employed to solicit subscriptions are known tc the trade as canvassers. They are agents appointed to do a particular business in a prescribed mode and have no authority to do it any other way to the prejudice of their principal, nor can they bind their principal in any other manner. They can not collect money, or agree that payment be made in anything else but money. They can not extend the time of payment beyond the time of delivery nor bind their prin- cipal for the payment of expenses incurred in their business. It would save a great deal of trouble, and often serious loss, if persons, before signing their names to any subscription book, or any written instrument, would examine carefully what it is; and if they cannot read themselves call on some one disinterested who can. FORMS OF DEEDS, LEASES, MORTGAGES, Etc. GENERAL FORM OF WILL FOR REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. I, James Johnson, of the town of Muncie, county of Delaware, and State of Indiana, being aware of the uncertainty of life, and in failing health, but of sound mind and memory, do make and declare this to be my last will and testament, in manner as follows, to-wit : ^irsi — I give, devise and bequeath to my son, James Horace John- son, $1,000 in bank stock, of the First National Bank of Boston, and the farm owned by myself, in the township of Washington, Shelby county, Missouri, and consisting of eighty acres of land with all the houses, tenements and improvements thereunto belonging, to have and to hold unto my said son, his heirs and assigns forever. Second — I give, devise and bequeath to each of my two daughters. 112 LAWS OF MISSOURI. Ida Louisa Johnson and Annie May Johnson, each $1,000 in cash, and each one a quarter section of hind owned by myself in the township of Jasper, Henry county, Illinois, and recorded in my name in the record of said county, where said land is located ; the north 160 acres to go to Ida Louisa, my eldest daughter. Third — I give, devise and bequeath to my son, Thomas Alfred Johnson, ten shares of railroad stock in the Mississippi & Ohio Rail- road, and my lot, with the residence thereon, in Dayton, Ohio, with all the improvements and appurtenances thereunto belonging, which said real estate is recorded in my name in the county where situated. Fourth — I give to my wife Samuella Richardson Johnson, all my household furniture, goods, chattels and personal property about my home not hitherto disposed of, including $5,000 of bank stock, in the Merchants' National Bank of Toledo, Ohio, fifteen shares in the Mis- sissippi & Ohio Railroad, and the free and unrestricted use, possession and benefit of the home farm so long as she may live, in lieu of dower to which she is entitled by law, said farm being my present place of residence. Pifth — It is also my will and desire that at the death of my wife, Samuella Richardson Johnson, or at any time when she may arrange to relinquish her life interest in the above mentioned homestead, the same may revert to my above named children, or to the lawful heirs of each. And Lastly — I nominate and appoint as executors of this, my last will and testament, my wife, Samuella Richardson Johnson, and my eldest son, James Horace Johnson. I further direct that my debts and necessary funeral expenses shall be paid from moneys now on deposit in the Savings Bank of Dayton, Ohio, the residue of such money to revert to my wife, Samuella Rich- ardson Johnson, for her use forever. In witness whereof, I, James Johnson, to this, my last will and testament, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this fourth day of December, 1876. James Johnson. Sio'ued and declared by James Johnson as and for his last will and testament, in the presence of us, who, at his request and in his pres- ence and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names hereunto as witnesses thereof. Thomas Dug an, Dayton, Ohio. Rochester McQuade, Cincinnati, Ohio. 1 LAWS OF MISSOURI. 113 CODICIL. Whereas, I, James Johnson, did, on the fourth day of December, 1876, make my last will and testament, I do now, by this writing, add this codicil to my said will, to be taken as a part thereof. Whereas, By the dispensation of Providence, my daughter Ida Louisa has deceased, October 10th, 1877 ; and Whereas, A son has been born to me, which son is now christened John Wesley Johnson, I give and bequeath to him my gold watch, and all right, interest and title in lands, bank stock and chattels bequeathed to my deceased daughter, Ida Louisa, in the body of this will. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 10th day of January, 1878. James Johnson. Signed, sealed, published and declared to us by the testator, James Johnson, as and for a codicil to be annexed to his last will and testa- ment, and we, at his request and in his presence, and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as wituessess thereto, at the date hereof. Thos. Dugan, Dayton, Ohio. Charles Jackson, Cincinnati, Ohio. FORM OF lease. This article of agreement, made and entered into on this day of A. D. 188-, by and between , of the county of , and State of Missouri, of the first part, and , of the county of , and State of Missouri, of the second part, wit- nesseth that the said party of the first part has this day leased unto the party of the second part the following described premises, to-wit : \_Here insert description. '\ for the term of from and after the day of A. D. 188-, at the rent of dollars, to be paid as follows, to-wit : [JETere insert terms. 1 And it is further agreed that if any rent shall be due or unpaid, or if default be made in any of the covenants herein contained, it shall then be lawful for the said party of the first part to re-enter the said premises, or to distrain for such rent ; or he may recover possession s 114 LAWS OF MISSOUHI. thereof by action of forcible entry and detainer, or he may use all or any of the remedies to effect such possession. And the party of the second part agrees to pay to the party of the first part the rent as above stated, except when said premises are unten- antable by reason of fire, or from any other cause than the careless- ness of the party of the second part, or persons family, or in employ, or by superior force or inevitable necessity. And the said party of the second part covenants and agrees that will use the said premises as a , and for no other purpose whatsoever ; and ^jj.^t especially will not use said premises, or permit the same to be used, for any unlawful business or purposes whatsoever ; that will not sell, assign, underlet, or relinquish said premises without the written consent of the lessor, under a penalty of a forfeiture of all rit^hts under this lease, at the election of the party of the first part ; and that use all due care and diligence in guarding said property, with the buildings, gates, fences, trees, vines, shrubbery, etc., from damages by fire and the depredation by animals ; that will keep buildings, gates, fences, etc., in as good repair as they now are, or may at any time be placed by the lessor, damages by superior force, inev- itable necessity, or fire from any other cause than from the careless- ness of the lessor, or persons of ftimily, or in employ, excepted ; and that upon the expiration of this lease, or upon a breach by said lessee of any of the said covenants herein contained, will, without further notice of any kind, quit and surrender the occupancy and possession of said premises in as good condition as reas:)nable use, natural wear and decay thereof will permit, damages by fire as aforesaid, superior force, or inevitable necessity, alone excepted. In witness whereof, the said parties have subscribed their names on the date first-above written. Signed in presence of . REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE. Know all men by these presents : That , of county, and State of , in consideration of dollars, in hand paid l^y ^ of • county, and State of , do hereby sell and convey unto the said the following described premises, situated in the county of , and State of , to-wit : \^Here iusert desert ption.'\ LAWS OF MISSOURI. 115 and do hereby covenant with the said that lawfully seized of said premises, that they are free from incumbrance, that have good, right and lawful authority to sell and convey the same ; and do hereby covenant to warrant and defend the same against the law- ful claims of all persons whomsoever. To be void upon the condition that the said shall pay the full amount of principal and interest at the time therein specified, of certain promissory notes, for the sum of dollars. One note for $ — , due , 18 — , with interest annually at — per cent. One note for $ — , due , 18 — , with interest annually at — per cent. One note for $ — , due , 18 — , with interest annually at — per cent. And the said mortgagor agrees to pay all taxes that may be levied upon the above described premises. It is also agreed by the mort- gagor that if it becomes necessary to foreclose this mortgage, a rea- sonable amount shall be allowed as an attorney's fee for foreclosing. And the . hereby relinquishes all her right of dower and home- stead in and to the above described premises. Signed the day of , A, D. 18 — . • CHATTEL MORTGAGE. Know ALL men by these presents : Tliat , of county, and State of , in consideration of dollars, in hand paid by , of county, and State of , do hereby sell and con- vey unto the said the following described personal property, now in the possession of , in the county of , State of , to- wit : \_Here insert description.'] and do hereby warrant the title of said property, and that it is free from any incumbrance or lien. The only right or interest retained by grantor in said property being the right of redemption herein provided. This conveyance to be void upon condition that the "^aid grantor shall pay to said grantee, or his assigns, the full amount of principal and interest at the time therein specified, of certain promissory notes of even date herewith, for the sum of dollars. One note for $ — , due , 18 — , with interest annually at — per cent. One note for % — , due , 18 — , with interest annually at — per cent. One note for $ — , due , 18 — , with interest annually at — per cent. The grantor to pay all taxes on said property, and if at any time any part or portion of said notes should be due and unpaid, said 116 LAWS OF MISSOUUI. grantor may proceed by sale or foreclosure to collect and pay himself the unpaid balance of said notes, whether due or not, the grantor to pay all necessary expenses of such foreclosure, including $ attor- ney's fees, and whatever remains, after paying off said notes and ex- penses, to be paid over to said grantor. Signed the day of , 18 — . QUITCLAIM DEED. E[now all men by these presents : That , of county, State of , in consideration of dollars, to in hand paid by , of county, and State of , the receipt whereof do hereby acknowledge, have bargained, sold and quit- claimed, and by these presents do bargain, sell and quitclaim unto the said , and to heirs and assigns forever, all right, title and interest, estate, claim and demand, both in law and in equity, and as well in possession as in expectancy, of, in and to the following described premises, to-wit : [jfiTerc insert description.'] With all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances thereto belonging. Signed this day of , A. D. 18 — . Signed in presence of warranty deed. Know all men by these presents : That , of county, and State of , in consideration of the sum of dollars in hand paid by , of county, and State of , do hereby sell and convey unto the said , and to heirs and assigns, the following described premises, situated in the county of , State of Missouri, to-wit : [ZTere insert description. "] And do hereby covenant with the said that a lawfully seized in fee simple of said premises, that they are free from incumbrance ; that ha — good right and lawful authority to sell the same, and do hereby covenant to warrant and defend said LAWS OF MISSOURI. 117 premises, and appurtenances thereto belonging, against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever ; and the said hereby relin- quishes all her right of dower and of homestead in and to the above described premises. Signed the day of , A. D. 18 — . Signed in presence of ACKNOWLEDGMENT . All forms of deeds, mortgages, or bond for deed, shall have the following form of acknowledgment : State of Missouri, ) County op 5 ^^* Be it remembered, that on this day of , 18 — , before me the undersigned, a in and for said county, personally ap- peared 5 to me personally known to be the identical person who executed the above (deed, mortgage, etc.), as , and acknowledged signature thereto to be voluntary act and deed. Witness my hand and seal, the day and year last above written. notes. Form of note is legal, worded in the simplest way, so that the amount and time of payment are mentioned : $100. New York, Sept. 1, 1881. Sixty days after date I promise to pay to John Doe, or order, one hundred dollars, for value received, with interest. KiCHARD Roe.. A note to be payable in anything else but money, needs only the article substituted in the above form. " With interest," means at the legal rate, and any other rate must be mentioned, or if no interest is to be paid until after the maturity of the note it should be so stated. ORDERS. Orders should be simply worded : Mr. D. H. Waters. St. Louis, Mo., January 2, 1881. Please pay J. Walker twenty-five dollars and charge to account of J. Turner. 118 LAWS OF MISSOURI. If it is to be paid iu trade it should be so expressed after the word dollars. RECEIPTS. Receipts should state when received and for what ; thus : $100. St. Louis, January 1, 1878. Received of J. W. Hardin one hundred dollars, for services iu the harvest field, to date, in full. Or, Received of J. W. Hardin fifty dollars, for one week's work of self and team, in hauling stone, in full. R. W. Fields. If only part is paid it should read, "on account," instead of "in full." BILL OF PURCHASE. It should state each article and price, as follows : — St. Louis, Mo., January 1, 1878. J. W, Shattuck, Bought of J. D. Adams. To 5 Yards Jeans, at ... .50 $2 50 «* 20 " Brown Domestic . . .08 1 60 Received payment, $i 10 J. D. Adams. VALUABLE RULES. How to find the gross and net weight of a hog, is by the rule that a hog's net weight is one-fifth less than his gross weight. For instance, a hog weighing 400 pounds gross, would, when dressed, weigh 320. A good rule to find the capacity of a granary or a wagon-bed is multiply by (short method) the number of cubic feet by 6308, and point ofi" one decimal place — the result will be the correct answer in bushels and tenths of bushels. To find the contents of a corn-crib multiply the number of cubic feet by 54 (short method) or by 4|- ordinary method, and point olf one decimal — the result will be the answer in bushels. This rule applies when it is first cribbed and before the corn shrinks. For the contents of a cistern or tank, multiply the square of the mean diameter by the depth (all in feet) and this product by 5681 (short method) and point ofi" one decimal place — the result will be the contents in barrels of 31|- gallons each. To measure boards multiply the length (in feet) by the width (in LAWS OF MISSOURI. 119 in inches), divide the product by 12 — the result will be the contents square feet. Note. — This is the correct measurement for every inch of thickness. The same in substance is the rule for scantling, joists, planks, sills, etc. Multiply the width, thickness and length together (the width and thickness in inches and the length in feet) and divide the product by 12 — the result will be square feet. To find the number of brick required in a building, multiply the number of cubic feet by 221. The number of cubic feet is found by multiplying the length, height and thickness (in feet) together. A congressional township is thirty-six sections, each a square mile. A section of land is 640 acres. A quarter section, 160 acres, is a half a mile square. Eighty acres is half a mile long and one-quarter of a mile wide. Forty acres is a quarter of a mile square. The sections of a congressional township are all numbered from one to thirty-six, commencing at the northeast corner of the township. One hundred and ninety-six pounds is one barrel of flour. Two hundred pounds is one barrel of pork. Fifty-six pounds is called a firkin of butter. A cord of wood is four feet wide, four feet high, and eight feet long. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. The lawful weight of the following articles is the following number of pounds per bushel, and so understood when no special contract is made : Apples, peaches and quinces . . 48 Cherries, grapes, currants or gooseber- ries 40 Strawberries, raspberries or blackber- ries 32 Osage-orange seed . . . .32 Millet seed 45 Clover seed 60 Flax seed 56 Sorghum seed 30 Timothy seed 45 Hemp seed 44 Broom-corn seed , . . .30 Blue-grass seed . . . .14 Hungarian grass seed . . . .45 Sweet potatoes 46 Castor beans 46 Dried apples 24 Dried peaches 33 Rye 56 Salt 50 Sand 130 Lime so Beans ....... 60 Bran 20 Oats 33 Wheat 60 Barley 43 Buckwheat 52 Corn-meal 4g Stone coal 39 Corn, in the ear 70 Potatoes 60 Onions 57 Shelled com §g There is a fine and penalty attached for giving false weights. 120 LAWS OF MISSOURI. MISSOURI GAME LAW. There have been so many violations of the game law thr^t its publica- tion is one of interest. Many persons viohite this law through ignor- ance, and others wilfully. The penalty is here given for all such acts. Every good citizen and lover of hunting is interested in preventing the law from being trampled upon, and those wilfully breaking it should be forced to pay the penalty. A synopsis of the law is as follows : It is unlawful to kill, catch or have in possession any deer between January 15th and September 1st. Wild turkey between March 1st and September 15th. Prairie chickens between February 1st and August 15th. Quail or pheasant between February 1st and October 15th. Woodcock between January 10th and July 1st. Turtle doves, meadow larks and plover between February 1st and August 1st. Wild song birds or insectiverous birds cannot be killed at any time. It is unlawful to net or trap any quail, prairie chicken, or any of the birds named above. It is unlawful to have in possession or purchase or sell any of the game or animals named above when the killing is prohibited. It is unlawful to have in possession or to sell any of the game birds named that do not show shot marks, it being prima facie evidence that they have been trapped or netted contrary to law. It is unlawful for any railroad, express company, or other carrier, to receive for transportation any of the birds or game mentioned, when the killing of the same is prohibited. Every person who shall violate any of the above named laws shall be guilty of misdemeanor and punished by a fine not exceeding $20 for each bird or animal killed, netted, trapped or found in his possession. Any violators of these laws can be prosecuted before any police justice, recorder, or justice of the peace, or other court having juris- diction to try cases of misdemeanor. One-half of any fines collected will be paid to the informer and the balance to the school fund of the county. It is the duty of all con- stables, marshals, market-masters and police officers, to arrest all persons violating any of the game laws, and take them before the courts having jurisdiction to hear and try complaints. California quail cannot be killed before October, 1883. Messina quail cannot be killed before January 1st, 1880. Hawks, owls, eagles and crows can be killed at any time, and the destruction of these birds and their nests is recommended. STATISTICS. 121 POPULATION OP THE UNITED STATES BY KACES— 1880. STATES AND TERRITORIES. Alabama .... Arizona .... Arkansas .... California .... Colorado .... Connecticut ... Dakota Delaware District of Columbia , Florida .... Georgia . . . Idaho . . . . Illinois . . . . Indiana . . . Iowa . . . . Kansas . . . . Kentucky . . . Louisiana . . . Maine . . . . Maryland . . . Massachusetts . Michigan . . . Minnesota . . Mississippi . . Missouri . . . Montana . . . Nebraska . . . Nevada . . . New Hampshire New Jersey . . New Mexico . . New York . . North Carolina . Ohio . . . . Oregon . . . . Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina . Tennessee . . . Texas .... Utah . . . . Vermont . . . Virginia . . . Washington . West Virginia . Wisconsin . . Wyoming . . Total United States 5<= Coo ooo p.'-l 1,262,794 40,441 802,564 864.686 194,649 622,688 135,180 146,654 177,638 267,351 1,539,048 32,611 3,078,769 1,978,362 1,624,620 995,966 1,648,708 940,108 648,945 934,632 1,783,012 1,636,331 780,806 1,131,592 2,168,804 39,157 452,483 62,265 346,984 1,130,988 118,430 5,083,810 1,400,047 3,198,289 174,764 4,282,786 276,528 995,622 1,542,4(53 1,592,574 148,906 322,286 1,512,806 75,120 618,443 1,315,480 20,788 . 50,152,866 48,402,408 601,986 35,178 591,611 767,266 191,452 610,884 183,177 120,198 118,236 141,249 814,218 29,011 3,032,174 1,939,093 1,614,510 952,056 1,377,077 455,068 646,903 724,718 1,764,082 1,614,078 776,940 479,871 2,023,568 35,468 449,805 58,574 346,264 1,091,856 107,188 5,017,142 867,467 3,118,344 163,087 4,197,106 269,984 391,258 1,139,120 1,197,493 142,381 381,248 880,739 67,349 592,433 1,309,622 19,486 O 600,141 138 210,622 6,168 2,459 11,422 381 26,456 59,878 125,262 724,654 58 46,248 38,988 9,442 43,096 271,462 483,898 1,427 209,897 18,644 14,986 1,558 650,887 145,046 202 2,376 465 646 38,796 907 64,943 531,316 79,655 493 85,342 6,503 604,825 402,992 394,007 204 1,032 631,996 357 25,729 2,724 299 6,577,497 105,679 4 1,632 134 75,122 610 130 238 .So > 00 IS 18 17 3,378 214 37 47 22 10 483 8 6 256 29 54 62 94 1,737 18 5,428 14 182 55 942 1 117 9,508 170 27 9 26 142 518 6 3,227 14 16 914 213 3,493 197 16,130 128 241 1,384 t> 87 94 164 133 233 464 792 50 819 607 11 341 7,288 2,254 1,832 96 1,750 283 2,808 60 58 10,280 783 1,216 113 1,679 168 67 114 326 982 804 11 65 4,187 17 3,118 189 65,880 PER CENT OF INCREASE FROM 1870 TO 1880. Total population 80.06 percent. White population 28.82 " Colored population ..84.78 " Chinese population 67.07 percent. Indian population (civilized or taxed) 156.02 " 122 STATISTICS. The inhabitants of Alaska and the Indian Territory (both unorgan- ized as yet) are not included in the above total. The census of Alaska in 1880 showed: White, 392 ; Creoles (issue of intermarriage between the whites and natives), 1,683; Aleuts, 1,960; Inuuits, 17,488; Indians, 8,655; total, 30,178. The Indian Territory is estimated to contain 60,000 to 75,000 in- habitants. The Indians included in the census in each State and Territory are those reckoned as civilized, or outside of tribal organizations. Indians not taxed are by law excluded from the census. Estimates of their numbers vary widely — from 200,000 to 350,000 (the latter as esti- mated in the census of 1870). In the Chinese column (for want of space elsewhere) have been reckoned a very few Japanese, East Indians and Sandwich Islanders, not exceeding 250 in all. MILKS OF RAILROAD IN THE UNITED STATES. 1850 9,201 1855 18,374 I860 30,635 1865 35,085 There were in the whole world, January 1, 1881, 192,952 miles of railway. TELEGRAPH LINES AND WIRES. In 1866, there were 37,380 miles of telegraph line in the United States, and 75,685 miles of wire ; in 1870, 54,109 miles of line and 112,191 miles of wire; in 1875, 72,833 miles of line and 179,496 miles of wire ; in 1880, 85,645 miles of line and 233,534 miles of wire. There were 29,216,509 telegraph messages sent in the year 1880. 1870 52,914 1875 74,374 1880 84,715 COTTON CROP OB" THE UNITED STATES, TEARS ENDING SEPTEMBER 1. Year. Bales. Year. Bales. Year. Bales. 1841 1,634,945 1,683,574 2,3158,375 2,030,409 2,394,503 2,100,537 1,778,651 2,347,634 2,728,596 2,096,706 2,355,257 3,015,029 3,262,8li2 1854 1855 2,930,027 2,847,339 3,527,845 2,939,519 3,113,962 3,851,481 4,669,770 3,656,006 No rec'd. t( <( 2,193,987 1867 1868 2,019,774 2,593,993 2,439,039 3,154,946 4,352.317 2,974,351 8,930,508 4,170,388* 3,832,991 4,669,288 4,485,423 4,811,265 5,073,531 1842 1843 1856 1857 1869 1870.. 1844 1845 1858 1871 1846 1859 1872 1847 1860 1861 1873 1848 1874 1849 1862 1863 1875 1876 1850 1851 1864 1877 .. 1852 1865 1878 1879 1853 1866 STATISTICS. The crop for 1880 is given by States, as follows : — States. Mississippi Georgia Texas Alabama Arkansas South Carolina, Xiouisiana Bales. 955,808 813,965 801,090 699,576 606,980 522,548 506,764 States. 123 North Carolina.., Tennessee Florida Missouri Indian Territory Virginia Kentucky Bales. 889,516 380,624 54,997 19,783 17,000 11,000 1,367 AREA OF THE COAL FIELDS QV THE UNITED STATES, AND ANNTTAL PRODUCTION. STATES AND TEBBIT0BIE3. f Anthracite... \ Bituminous . Pennsylvania Ohio Illinois Maryland, Bituminous West Virginia , Iowa Indiana Missouri Kentucky Tennessee California Colorado Kansas Oregon Alabama Washington Wyoming Virginia Michigan Nebraska Utah Rhode Island Arkansas Texas Georgia Total. 472 12,302 10,000 36,800 550 16,000 18,000 6,450 26,887 12,871 5,100 22,256 "sVsso 185 6,700 3,000 509 12,000 20,000 15,664,275 7,798,518 2,527,285 2,624,163 1,819,824 608,873 263,487 436,870 621,930 150,582 133,418 4,500 32,938 11,000 17,844 50,000 61,803 28,150 1,425 5,800 14,000 05 f~- ■ 00 -^ '"' CO M * SS 32,863,690 26,142,689 14,500,000 5,000,000 3,500,000 1,730,709 1,250,000 1,600,000 1,000,000 900,000 1,000,000 450,000 600,000 400,000 400,000 200,000 250,000 170,000 175,000 90,000 35,000 75,000 225,000 15,900 100,000 59,808,398 124 STATISTICS . PRESEDBNTIAL VOTE FROM 1789 TO 1880. w >< 1789' 17% 1800 1804 1808; 1812 isiej 1820 1824 I 1828J 1832: 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1866 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 Gandidates. Party. Popular Vote. Electoral Vote, Electoral Vote ISSe.f States. No. ■( George "Washington. . . Jehu Adams Federal. ( Thomas Jeifereon Democrat. ( *Thomas Jelferson pemocrat, J Aaron Burr pemocrat (John Adams. I Thomas Jefferson. ( C C. Pinckney { James Madison. . . . I C. C. Pinckney James ISIadison. Federal. Democrat. Federal. Democrat. Federal. Democrat. DeWitt Clinton Federal. , James Monroe. ' Rufus King James Monroe. {*John Quincy Adams..... Andrew Jackson W. H. Crawford , Henry Olay I Andrew Jackson } John Q. Adams {Andrew Jackson Henry Clay John Floyd William Wirt J Martin Vau Buren j Wm. H. Harrison et al... i Wm. H. Harrison j Martin Van Buren ( James K. Polk I Henry Clay r Zacharv Taylor } Lewis Cass ( Martin Van Buren ( Franklin Pierce j Winfleld Scott et al i James Buchanan John C. Fremont . . Abraham Lincoln J. C. Breckenridge et al. { Abraham Lincoln ( George B. McClellan J Ulysses S. Grant I Horatio Seymour \ Ulysses S. Grant I Horace Greeley (R.B. Hayes } Samuel J"^. Tilden ( Peter Cooper et al ( James A. Gaifleld Jw. S. Hancock ( James B. Weaver Democrat. Federal. Democrat. Federal. Democrat. Democrat. Whig. Democrat. Federal. Democrat. Whig. Whig. Anti- Mason. Democrat. Whig. Whig. Democrat. Democrat. Whig. Whig. Democrat. Democrat. Democrat. Whig. Democrat. Republican. Republican. Democrat. Republican. Democrat. Republican. Democrat. Republican. Democrat. Republican. Democrat. Greenback. Republican. Democrat. Greenback. Sua o OJ3 uo 1 Elect'l vote in opposi'n 105,321 155,872 44,282 46,587 646,231 509,092 687,502 530,189 761,549 736,656 1,275,011 1,135,761 1,337,243 1,301,382 1,360,099 1,220,554 291,263 1,601,474 1,542,403 1,838,160 1,215,768 1,866,352 2,810,501 2,216,067 1,808,725 3,015,071 2,709,613 3,597,070 2,834,079 4,033,950 4,284,865 93,898 4,442,950 4,442,035 306,867 All. 71 60 73 73 65 148 28 122 47 128 89 180 34 Alabama"'* Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts.... Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire. New Jersey New York . . North Carolina... 13110hio 234iOregon 60|Pennsylvania 170 Rhode Island.... 105 South Carolina. . 163'Tennessee. 127 84 99 41 37 178 83 239 49 11 7 179 £54 42 174 122 130 123 213 21 214 80 300 66 185 184 Texas Vermont Virginia West Virginia. Wisconsin 214 155 Total. 10 6 6 3 6 3 4 11 21 16 11 5 12 8 7 8 13 11 5 8 15 3 3 5 9 35 10 22 3 29 4 7 12 8 5 11 5 10 369 'Elected by House of Representatives. t Election November 2, 1880. Washington, February 22, 1732. J. Adams, October 30, 1735. Jefferson, April 2, 1743. Madison, March 16, 1751. Monroe, April 28, 1758. J. Q. Adams, June 11, 1767. Jackson, March 15, 1767. PRESIDENTS BORN. Van Buren, December 5, 1782. Harrison, February 9, 1773. Tyler, March 29, 1790. Polk, November 2, 1795. Taylor, November 24, 1784. Fillmore, January 7, 1800. Pierce, November 23, 1804. Buchanan, April 23, 1791. Lincoln, February 12, 1809. Johnson, December 29, 1808. Grant, April 29, 1822. Hayes, October 4, 1822. Garlit'ld, November 19, 183L Chester A. Arthur, Oct. 5, 1830. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI. CHAPTER I. PIONEER HISTORY. The Red Men — The French Voyageurs — The Kickapoos — The First Whites, John P. Pettijohn, Joseph Price, Augustus Friend and Others — Mr. Pettijohn's Fearful Trip up White River — The Pattersons — The Delaware Indians — James Wilson, and Other " Squaw Men " — Old Boh Patterson — Advent of the Campbells, the Fulbrights, A. J. Burnett, Joseph Miller, and Others — First Settlement of Springfield — " Kickapoo, My Beautiful" — The Rountrees — Uncle Joe's Journey — Other Early Settlers and Settle- ments — Some Odd Characters — Pioneer Life — Character of the Old Settlers — List of Pioneers of Campbell Township, in 1833. The pioneer history of Greene county is that of Southwest Mis- souri, for the first settlements in this portion of the State were made within what have been, until recently, the boundaries of this county, and upon the first organization into municipal government of that vast parallelogram, 75x100 miles in area, lying in the southwest corner of Missouri, it was all called Greene county. Prior to the war of 1812 all this portion of Missouri was known as *'the Osage country," or country of the Osage Indians, who occu- pied it from time to time as they hunted in its forests, fished in its streams, and camped in its pleasant places. The first white men to visit the country were some of the early French voyageurs ^ who came out occasionally from Ste. Genevieve after "the year of the great waters," 1785, and made certain explorations in search of gold and silver. Returning, they reported plenty of lead indications, but none of the precious metals. These Frenchmen belonged to the col- ony at Ste. Genevieve, and seem to have gone as far west from time to time as into Barry, or perhaps McDonald county, from the de] (125) 126 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. scription of the country they gave. *' It is a land very rough, moun- tainous, and hard to travel through," said they, ♦< and there are plenty of springs, caves, and fresh water. ^ There is a shadowy tradition that De Soto's men came as far west and north as into Jasper county, but there appears no good reason to believe that this tradition rests upon anything more substantial than the assertion of some fanciful individual anxious to establish some sort of distinction for the early history of that county. Some time during or immediately after the war of 1812, a band of the Kickapoo tribe of Indians built a town on the present site of Springfield, which they occupied for several years. The population of this town at one time was about 500 — at least it numbered 100 wigwams.^ The Kickapoos ranged north and northeast of this town, princi- pally, and the large prairie south of Springfield was called for them ; and the " Kickapoo prairie " was more widely known in 1824 than it is now. This portion of Southwest Missouri was afterwards often called the " Kickapoo country." Corroborative of the historical sketch of Mr. Escott, in his History of Springfield (1878), a most interesting and instructive little work, it may here be stated that the first permanent white settlements in Southwest Missouri were made in 1818 by John P. Pettijohn, his sons, their families and Joseph Price and Augustine (or Augustus) Friend, on the James river, from eight to fifteen miles south and southwest of the present location of Springfield. About the same time William Friend built a cabin on Finley creek, south a few miles of what is now Washington township, in this county, and near the town of Linden, or Kenton post-oflice, in Christian county. Jeremiah Pearson came to what isnow^the southern part of Jackson township, Greene county, a year or two later, and settled on the stream that afterwards bore his name, and not long afterward built a mill, which disputes for the distinction of being the first in this section of the State. Nathan Burrill, a son-in-law of Mr. Pettijohn, came with him and lo- cated near Wm. Friend, as did Isaac Prosser and probably George Wells. From John McPettijohn, a grandson of old John P. Pettijohn, and for many years, including the period of the civil war, clerk of 1 St. Gem's Annals of Ste. Genevieve. 2 " South of the Pomme de Terre, some twenty miles, is an old Kickapoo village, which numbered at one time 100 wick-a-ups or wigwams."— [Beck's Gazetteer (1824), p. 78. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 127 the courts of Christian county, much interesting information concern- ing the settlement of this country has been obtained by different writers who have written historical sketches. Mr. McPettijohn has put it upon record that his grandfother, John P. Pettijohn, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, was born in Henrico county, Vir- ginia, where he married and lived until 1797, when he moved to Gal- lia county, Ohio. There he settled a new farm, upon which he re- mained until 1818, at which time he and his family, together with those just mentioned and other relatives of the famil3^ to the number of twenty-four persons, set out to seek a home in the interior of the new Territory of Missouri. Whether Mr. Wells was one of this com- pany is not certainly known. Procuring a keel-boat, which a was sort of large row-boat, they commenced their voyage in the latter part of the summer, down the Muskingum, thence down the Ohio and Mississippi to the mouth of White river. So tar, it had been comparatively easy sailing ; they had made good time, and were in fine spirits. The men had fre- quently gone on shore and killed game to add to their stock of pro- visions, of which they had laid in a good supply before leaving their homes in Ohio. It is not probable that it took many large Saratoga trunks to contain their surplus wardrobe, but they brought with them such things as they expected would be necessary to make them comfortable and happy in their new homes beyond the pale of fash- ionable society and its requirements. Among other things, they had provided themselves with a variety of field and garden seeds, and as they had spent much of their time in hunting and trapping in the forests of Ohio, they had a number of bearskins which were used as a substitute for mattresses. Soon after commencing the ascent of White river, they encountered floods which greatly impeded their progress, the river being so full that it overflowed its banks, spreading out in some places for miles along the cane-brakes which lined it on either side, and flowing so rapidly that it was impossible to make any headway against its seeth- ing tide. About this time sickness assailed the little band and nearly all were prostrated with malai-ious fevers. With these hindrances, and the in- ability to go on shore to hunt, their supply of provisions was soon exhausted, and the famishing crew were compelled to use for food all of the seeds which they had brought with them, and then even to singe the hair from the bear-skins and roast them to keep from starv- 128 H18TOKY OF GREENE COUNTY. ing. After this, for nearly eight days, they were without a mouthful of food of any kind, but on the eighth day a small deer came swim- ming up to the boat, as if for assistance, having probably been borne down on the current while attempting to cross the river. It is need- less to say that they gave it such protection as the vulture gave the lamb. On its flesh, without bread or salt, they subsisted two days, after which was another fast of eight days, and on the ninth day Nathan Burrill, a son-in-law of Mr. Pettijohn, took a skifi" and set out among the cane-brakes, declaring that he would go till he found food or die in the attempt. He had not gone far before he heard the tink- ling of a small bell, and, on rowing in the direction from which it proceeded, he soon discovered a mare and a young tilly which were on a small knoll entirely surrounded by water, where they had been srrazinir, when the waters had risen around them and cut them ofl'from the main land. Mr. Burrill considered it a " military necessity," under the circumstances, to appropriate the filly to the use of himself and his suflering companions, without waiting for the owner's consent, inasmuch as he did not know where to find the owner, and there was not much time to be lost if anything was to be done to save the fam- ishing company. Shooting it down, he next cut its throat and drank of its blood as it flowed warm from the animal's heart. With difliculty he skinned the carcass and conveyed it piecemeal to the boat, where it was gladly received by his comrades. This furnished food again for a few days, and the waters getting lower, and the party gaining some strength, they were making their way slowly but surely toward the " promised land," where a few other families had preceded them and formed set- tlements but a short time before. These settlements were on White river, near the mouth of the Big North Fork, and consequently in the present limits of Arkansas, which at that time formed a part of the Missouri Territory. The first human habitation they found was that of a Frenchman who lived all alone, far down the river below the other settlements, where he was engaged in raising stock. From hini they purchased some corn, but he could not be induced for money or any other con- sideration to kill any beef or pork for them. However, with the corn, which they boiled, they soon gained suflicient strength to go out occasionally and shoot game to go with it, and it was not long till they found themselves among more hospitable pioneers, who, true to the custom of old Tennessee, from which most of them had emigrated. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 129 would have shared their last loaf and killed their last fatted calf, in order to provide for the wants of the " new-comers." And well was this kindness appreciated, for, during this long and perilous voyage, two of the number — the wife of the veteran hero and the wife of his son William — had been taken away by the hand of death, and the rest had been sadly reduced by sickness and pri- vation. They were, however, soon able to erect cabins and begin to provide for their own wants, as there were plenty of deer and turkeys in the country, and bee-trees well filled with honey. The bear and the buf- falo were not very difficult to find, and the elk still roamed through the forests in large herds. But their settlement on the White river was not a permanent one. Their huntins: excursions often extended several miles back amonerthe hills and valleys, and as early as 1820 and 1821, frequent expeditions were made by various members of the party as far north as the James river, where some of them erected a small cabin and thus established a, claim to a place about eight miles south of the present site of Springfield. On his return from one of these ex[)editions, William Pettijohn told his neighbors on White river that he had discovered the country which flowed with milk and honey, bear's oil and buff'alo mar- row. These two latter articles were considered great luxuries among the old hunters and trappers of the West. In the spring and summer of 1822 these families began to remove to the places already mentioned — on the *'Jeems" — and within the present limits of Greene and Christian counties. Thomas Patterson and family, who had also lived about three years on White river, which they had reached after successive removals from North Carolina to Tennessee, and from Tennessee to the Missouri Territory, came up the James in 1821, and bought the claim and improvement formerly made by some of the Pettijohn family on the place afterward owned by his son, Albert G. Patterson, said to be the oldest farm in the county, although not actually settled till August, 1822. Alexander Patterson, a brother of Thomas, came about the same time and made a settlement on the place which was afterward known as the David Wallace place ; also another Thomas Patterson, a cousin of Albert G., settled higher up the James. A man named Ingle settled near where the bridge now stands, at the crossing of the James, on the Ozark road, and there erected what some claim was the first mill in Southwest Missouri. 9 130 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Up to this time these early settlers had encountered but very few Indians — only occasional parties of Osages who were in the habit of coming here in the fall to hunt, their home being farther north and west, probably within the present limits of the State of Kansas. But, in the autumn of 1822, the Delawares came, about live hundred strong, and laid claim to all of the southwest part of the State, as a reservation given them by the Government. These Delawares, one branch of the great Algonquins, are one of the most peaceable and friendly tribes in America, being the very same nation with whom William Penn formed his first treaty, which was ever kept inviolate by them, even when other nations bad perse- cuted them for their friendship to the whites. In an early day they were eminent for their valor and wisdom, and exercised an important influence over the other tribes, which was felt from the Chesapeake to the Hudson, as an evidence of which they received the title of " The Grand Father." In the sixteenth century their home was in the valley of the Delaware and on the banks of the Schuylkill. In 1751 they were on the Susquehanna, and in 1795 they were parties with the Wyandottes, Shawnees and Miamis to the treaty of peace at Green- ville. Owing to the hostilities of other tribes, they emigrated after this to White river, in Indiana, where they remained until their re- moval to this portion of the country, whither it is probable they had been directed by designing white men who had told them that this was the reservation which had been set apart for them. The few white settlers here, not being satisfied on the subject, as to the Indians' right of ownership in the country, sent one of their num- ber, Thomas Patterson, Sr., to St. Louis to make inquiry concerning it, and he was there informed, although it is not known to whom he referred the matter, that the Indians were right, and that the white settlers must give up their claims. On his returning and reporting, the settlers nearly all abandoned their claims, some going to the Mer- ramec, some to Osage Fork of the Gasconade, some back to Illinois, and some pressing onward still farther south and west. Besides the early settlers already mentioned there is an account of a man named Davis, who settled on the James, on section 13-29-20, now Taylor township, on land now owned by Col. Jno. H. Price, some time between 1822 and 1825, and was killed by the Indians, but it has not been learned what tribe was charged with it or what the cir- cumstances were. His wife and children probably removed from the country at the time of the general abandonment of claims on the HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 131 arrival of the Delawares and never returned to reclaim it. Davis creek takes its name from this early settler. A man named Spencer O'Neil was also an early settler on the James. The Delawares, who were now in undisputed possession of the country, rented land to a few families who came with them, and also to Mr. William Friend, who remained on his farm throughout the whole time that they had possession, and therefore, during his life- time, was the oldest permanent settler in this portion of the State. His father was a captain in the Revolutionary war, and he himself had been a soldier in the war of 1812, and was at the battle of Tippe- canoe, when Tecumseh was killed, so he had no fears in remaining among the red men, especially among this friendly tribe. Mr. Friend had successively removed from Maryland to Ohio, from Ohio to what is now Arkansas, and finally to the wilds of Southwest Missouri. He came with the Pettijohn family, the Pearsons, his brother Augustus, and the other pioneers who came by way of the rivers from Ohio. With the Delawares, came a man named James Wilson, who was married to three squaws while here, and after living with each for a short time, would drive her off, and seek another " affinit}'." About the time the Delawares left, he sent away the third one and re- turned to St. Louis, where he married a white woman, whom he brought back with him, and they settled on a farm near the mouth of the creek which was named for him, and afterwards became noted as the scene of one of the fiercest battles of the civil war. After the death of Mr. Wilson his widow, a French lady, was married to Dr. C. D. Terrell, whose name afterward appears in the official record of Greene county as the second clerk of the county court. It is said of Wilson that he gained the confidence of the Indians, and got the handling of what money they had. He is reported to have buried this money with the intent to keep it from the Indians, but Judge Lynch' s code seems to have been known to the Delawares, and they caught Wilson and hung him up by the neck until he re- vealed where the cash was hid. He remained here after the Indians removed, and died soon after. A man by the name of Marshall also came with them, being mar- ried to a squaw, with whom he lived until his death, which occurred about the time the Indians were leaving here, and his widow and orphans went to the Territorj' with their dusky companions. Mr. Marshall had taken the old mill which had formerly been abandoned 132 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. by Mr. Ingle, and removed it down the river to a point near the mouth of Finley creek, where he had commenced a phmtation. Two other men seem to have come with the Indians as traders. They were Joseph Phillabert (pronounced Fillabare) and William Gilliss. Of the latter, all the information learned after the Indians left, was developed by a suit brought by persons claiming to be his heirs, in consequence of his marriage to the daughter of a chief of a small tribe who were connected with the Delawares, or under their protection, while here. It is claimed that, like Wilson, he was not content to live long at a time with one dusky bride ; but that he, too, lived successively with three different ones, each, for the time, being considered his legal wife. It seems that while keeping a post at the Delaware town on the James fork of White river he was twice married to women of the Delaware tribe ; but, about the year 1830, he proposed to La- harsh, a chief of the Piankeshaws, to marry his daughter, Kahketo- qua, and that he employed one Baptiste Peoria to negotiate the mar- riage. Baptiste visited Laharsh and reported favorably to Gilliss ; after which he and Gilliss went down to the settlement on Cowskin creek, where the Indian maiden lived, and carried her father and mother presents, which were acceptable, and she returned with them to become his wife. In regard to the custom among the Indians in relation to marriage, the contract was usually made thus with the parents, and if the bridegroom made presents which were satisfac- tory, the parent usually assented and that constituted the marriage. These contracts were dissoluble at the option of the parties, and in this case Gilliss sent Kahketoqua back after living with her for a few months, promising to recall her when he should return from the East. But it does not appear that he ever returned or acknowledged her as his wife after this, although he frequently sent presents to her child, which was named Nancy, and in after years the heirs of Nancy, not being mentioned in his will, sued for their share of his property, which was finally granted them by decision of the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, from reports of which we obtain our informa- tion. It seems that Mr. Gilliss' mother-in-law, the wife of Laharsh, ac- companied him and his wife on the wedding tour, remaining several weeks, probably to give the wife some instructions in housekeeping, HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 133 and that at the end of her visit, Gilliss took or sent her back to the Cowskin settlement. This watchfuhiess of the mother-in-law over bride and groom doubtless had the same effect as it is often supposed to have in the case of white mothers-in-law, and may have been the cause of the early separation. Concerning Mr. Phillabert, we have the following from Col. S. H. Boyd, of Springfield, in an address delivered by him at a meeting of the pioneers of Greene county, July 4, 187(5 : — " With the Indians lived a Frenchman whose name was Joseph Phillabert. He and some associates in St. Louis carried on a trade at this Indian town for many years, by which he accumulated con- siderable riches, and he now possesses large paying estates in St. Louis. From early life he had been a pioneer, and much of his ca- reer had been passed in close association with the Indians. When the Indians emigrated to the Indian Territory, Phillabert remained in this country, and still lives^ in Stone county. He takes great inter- est in the affairs of government, reads the weekly newspapers, and discusses with earnestness the political questions of the day. Many years have passed by since he was any distance from his comfortable Lome on the banks of the White river and the James. His agent in St. Louis makes him monthly statements of his property, and this is the only care he gives to his large St. Louis estates. He is the old- est settler of Southwest Missouri now living." ^ The Indian town and trading post referred to was in the northwest part of Christian connty, near the Wilson's Creek battle ground, but on the James, and extending from the lane where the county road crosses the river, about three-fourths of a mile down its banks. This was their princii)al town, and for several years the home of the greater part of the nation. There were, however, some suburban towns scat- tered along up and down the James and on the banks of Wilson's creek. Here the Delawares remained monarchs of the forest and the prairie until about the year 1830, when it was determined that their reserva- tion was further west. To their new hunting grounds they removed, and there they have ever since remained, true to their former pledges, at peace with the whites, and willing to suffer wrongs rather than en- gage in war. As soon as they left, most of the white settlers, who had been absent during their occupancy of the country, came back and reclaimed their ol'd homesteads, where the descendants of some of them still live. 1 In 1876. 134 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Mr. Pettijohn, who had been back to Ohio, came with his son John, who had remained in Illinois. On returning to their old home, which had afterward been the site of the Dehiware town, they found a man named Joseph Porter in possession and claiming to have purchased it from the Indians ; so they went further down the river and settled near the mouth of the James, where they both remained until their death. John Mack Pettijohn, a grandson of the old pioneer, was long a prominent citizen of Ozark, in Christian county, where he reared a family of ten children. In the spring of 1878 Mr. P. and his wife, with their six unmarried children, set out overland, with horse and ox teams, for the interior of Oregon, but it is understood that they pur- chased land and settled in Southern Kansas. The descendants seem to inherit the pioneer spirit of their forefathers, and likewise a good degree of the patriotic spirit of their veneral^le ancestor of Revolution- ary times. John Pettijohn, Jr., and his brother William, were both soldiers in the war of 1812 ; a grandson, William C, was in the Mex- ican war, and two other grandsons, George and Levi, as well as a great-grandson, John W., were in the Union army in the late war, while another grandson, George, who was the son of Jacob, was in the" Southern army. Joseph Porter, before mentioned, was distinguished as a first-rate farmer, as well as an excellent trapper and fisherman. He is said to have killed the last beaver taken in Greene county. Mr. P. is described as being of a very genial nature, full of fun and frolic, and possessing a large fund of anecdotes, which conspired to make him a general favorite with old and young. Thomas Patterson and family returned from Osage fork in 1834, to the old plantation on the James, and in a small cemetery near the old homestead his remains and those of his wife rest undisturbed beneath the shade of a fine grove of native cedars, a fit emblem for the graves of pioneers from the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, which abound with this beautiful evergreen. John B. and Edward Mooney settled on Davis creek, in Taylor township, perhaps in 1827, renting land from the Delawares. Rev. Mooney was a pioneer preacher, and one of the early townships was named for him. Its successor is now Mooney township, Polk county. Samuel Martin, of North Carolina, came to that section in 1829, and remained here for a number of years. He was the first presiding jus- tice of the Greene county court, upon the organization of the county, in 1833. He afterward removed to Ozark countv, where he held the HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 135 office of circuit clerk. Cowden Martin, a brother of Judge Martin, came here with him, and remained until his death, in 1835. In 1821 Bob Patterson and his father, who were from East Tennes- see, settled on the James, about two miles north of Dallas, in Webster county, and a few miles east of the line now dividing that county from Greene. Bob Patterson was an exception among the early pioneers. He was inhospitable and ungenerous even to the point of hoggishness. In personal appearance he was not at all prepossessing. He was tall and ungainly and his front teeth protruded and were large and long. It is said that for many years Patterson was the only settler in that part of the country for miles, and that he planted the first apple and peach orchard in Southwestern Missouri from seeds brought from Tennessee. On one occasion an emigrant coming westward stopped at Bob Pat- terson's to procure some corn for his jaded horses and to make bread for his family, a rather large one. Though he had plenty, Patterson would not let the mover have even a single bushel, though he knew there was no other source from which it could be had within half a day's journey, unless he could receive $2 a bushel for every ear sold. The emigrant's wife, who had listened to the conversation between Patterson and her husband, now concluded it was time for her to in- terfere ; whereupon she thrust out her head from under the wagon cover and cried out: "You go to the dickens with your corn, you stingy old hound ; we don't want to buy anything from a feller whose tushes is so long that he can bite the guts out of a punkin through a crack in the fence, and not wet his lips ! Go to the dickens with your corn ! Comeon, old man !" Andthe "old man" accordingly went on. Patterson acted the rogue with the Delaware Indians, and was ex- pelled from the country. He went eastward and settled near Steelville, Crawford county. What eventually became of him none of the old settlers seem ever to have known — or cared. A number of explorers and home seekers visited this portion of the country from time to time, and among them was old William Ful- bright, who came here in 1819. In 1830, in response to numerous petitions, the Government ordered the Indians to give up this portion of Missouri and " move on," which the great majority of them proceeded to do. This seemed to be the sig- nal for a large influx of pioneers. Although Missouri had been admitted into the Union ten years before, and the eastern and northern portions had been rapidly filling up with immigrants, there were very few white 136 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. people southwest of the center of the State, and all of this vast amount of territory, now comprising forty or fifty counties, was still attached to Wayne county. On the organization of Crawford county in 1829, this territory was transferred to its jurisdiction, under which it remained until the organ- ization of Greene. There were no regular roads, and the usual way of reaching this part of the country was either by way of the rivers, as has already been described, or by following the Indian trails across from Green's ferry, on the Mississippi. Some few years since, Mr. John H. Miller, of Ritche}^ Newton county, published a series of historical sketches in the Springfield Leadei\ for which the people of Greene county must ever be thankful, since they contain much valuable information that might never have been known to this and future generations. Mr. Miller, a son of Joseph Miller, one of the very first settlers of the county, is blessed not only with a retentive memory, but with a capacity and a disposi- tion to put his recollections on paper. Let it be impressed on our people, that to his kindness in writing these sketches, and to the Leader's enterprise in publishing them, we are indebted for much of the knowledge of the early settlement of this county that we all possess. Speaking of some of the first settlements and pioneer set- tlers of Greene county, Mr. Miller says : — In the fall of 1829, Madison and J. P. Campbell left Maury county, Tennessee, on horseback, traveling toward the setting sun in search of homes for themselves and their families. Crossing the Mississippi river, thence west through the then Territory of Arkansas, on to the present site of Fayetteville, then almost an entire wilderness ; thence making a circle back in a northeasterly direction into Southwest Mis- souri, striking the old Delaware town, the first and only place of note on the James fork, ten miles southwest of where Springfield now stands. From there they went on to Kickapoo prairie and then north into the timber, discovering the FullTright spring and the natural well. Near the latter they cut their names on some trees to mark their claims to the land in that vicinity. At that time the first settlers already mentioned were living on the James, and Gilliss and old Joseph Phillabert had a little log store or trading post on a knoll near the Delaware town, where they kept a few pieces of calico and trinkets for, sale to the Indians. After mention- ing the return of the Campbell brothers to Tennessee, Mr. Miller goes on to say : — In February, 1830, J. P. Campbell and his brother-in-law, Joseph HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 137 Miller, fixed up with their small families, and set out for Kickapoo prairie. Mr. C.'s family consisted of himself, wife and one child, Tulitha, then not a year old, Avho was afterward the mother of Lula, wife of Frank Sheppard. Mr. Miller's family consisted of himself and wife and two children. Rufus was one year old, and John was twelve. They also had six darkies, one five-horse team and one Der- bin wagon, which was driven by ^Tohn. (Madison U. did not move until l'832.) They journeyed via Nashville and Hopkinsville, crossing the Ohio at Golconda, thence over the south end of Illinois to Green's old ferry on the Mississippi. It being in February, they encountered great difficulties in crossing on account of the quantities of floating ice, but after making several trips across the river in an old, rickety piece of a flat, the wind being high and cold, they succeeded in landing safe on the Missouri side ; thence they were obliged to almost cut their own road, but onward they went toward the West, by old Jackson in Cape Girardeau county, stopping one day to rest at old Col. Abram Byro's, five miles west of Jackson. Thence they proceeded on to Farming- ton, in St. Francois county, and by Caledonia, in Washington county, which was the last town, and it only contained one little store and two or three dozen inhabitants. Then on west, with scarcely any road, to the present site of Steelville, in Crawford county, and on twelve miles further to Massey's iron works, which had been in operation but a ver}' short time, and so on to where RoUa now stands. Twelve miles farther on, they came to old Jimmy Harrison's, at the mouth of Little Piney, on the Gasconade, about four hundred yards south of the present Gasconade bridge. Mr. Harrison kept a little store for the accommodation of the few settlers up and down the Piney and the Gasconade ; that was also the court-house for the whole of Southwest Missouri, and so it was the only post-office until 1832. Thence west twenty miles brought them across the Big Piney on to Roubideaux, now Waynesville, in Pulaski county. Continuing their journey, they went up the Gasconade river to the mouth of the Osage fork, where they found a few white settlers — some of the Starks, Ballous, Ty- garts, O'Neals, and one old " Jim Campbell," who was sheritt'of all of Southwest Missouri. This was in the neighborhood of the present Oldland post-office. From there they came on to Cave Spring, where they crossed the Osage fork, leaving it at the old Barnett place, from which they came to Pleasant prairie, now Marshfield, and striking James fork twenty miles east, thence down to Jerry Pierson's, where he had built a little water mill at a spring just below the Danforth place ; then on west they struck the Kickapoo prairie one mile east of the present Joe Merritt place ; thence five miles more brought them to the natural well (a short distance north of the present public square of Springfield). Here they first camped on the night of the 4th of March, ^830. In the meantime, Uncle Billy Fulbright had got about three weeks ahead of them, and stopped at the Fulbright spring. His brother, 138 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY, John Fiilhi'ight had settled at another spring near by, and had a cabin up ; and his l)rother-in-hiw, A. J. Burnett, had succeeded in putting up a small oak-pole cabin 12x15, just on the spot of the old 'Squire Burden residence on Booneville street. Mr. Campbell having had rather the oldest claim, ))y his name being cut on an ash tree at the well, Mr. Burnett gave way and went and commenced an improvement five miles east, at the Merritt place. Both Miller's and Campbell's fam- ilies then moved into the pole cabin, the negroes having a good cloth tent to live in. This cabin had a splendid dirt floor. Then all pitched into cutting and clearing, and soon suc- ceeded in opening a few acres on the north side of the branch (Jordan) and just north of the natural well. They also cleared a field on the top of the hill, where the city now stands, the north string of the fence being about in the middle of the public square run- ning west and including the ground where the Metropolitan hotel now stands. The remains of the old Kickapoo Indian village still stood in the southwest portion of the present limit of Springfield. It was built of bark and small hickory poles bent over. Plenty of dead corn stalks were to be seen in the little patches that had been cultivated by the squaws. The Kickapoos had moved northwest in 1828. They came here from Illinois. The following communication from the pen of Mrs. Rush C. Owen, daughter of John P. Campbell, taken from the columns of the Spring- field Leader, of August 3, 1876, gives some interesting incidents in connection with the early settling of the town of Springfield : — In 1827 my father, John P. Campbell, and my uncle, E. M. Campbell, took refuge from an autumnal storm in old Delaware town on the James, not far from the Wilson Creek battle-ground. The braves had just brought in a remnant of Kickapoos which they had rescued from the Osages. Among the Kickapoos was a young brave boy ill with a kind of bilious fever recently taken. Just before leaving home my father had been reading a botanic treatise, and became a convei't. In his saddle-bags he carried lobelia, composition and No. 6. He gave them to understand that he was a medicine man, and against Uncle Mat's earnest protest, who feared the consequences if the Indian died, he undertook the case. Not understanding the condition of his patient, or, perhaps, the proper quantity of the emetic to administer, he threw the Kickapoo into an alarm, or in other words a frightful cold sweat and deathly sickness. Then there was woi-k for dear life. Uncle Mat, the older and more cautions of the two, pulled otf his coat and plunged in to help my father get up a reaction, which they did, leaving the poor patient prostrate, and "weak as a rag." My father always laughed and said : " But feel so good, good — all gone," laying his hand weakly on his stomach. They remained some time with the Indians, hunting and HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 139 looking at the country. They finally made up their minds to return to Maury county, Tennessee, and bring their families. Piloted by the Kickapoo they went some distance up the James, and made arrange- ments with an old trapper to get out their house logs ready to be put up immediately upon their return, They had selected lands where Spring- field now stands. They found four springs whose branches uniting formed Wilson creek. About the center of the area between these springs was a natural well of wonderful depth, now known to be a sub- terranean lake, hard by which my father "squatted," after a toilsome journey through the wilderness,. the Mississippi river frozen over so hard that they crossed on the ice in February, 1830. Several families accompanied him, among whom was glorious old Uncle Jo Miller. Who ever saw him angry? Who ever caught him looking on the dark side? The moment he was seated every child clambered and buzzed over him like bees over a honey-comb, and we had implicit faith in his "honey pond and fritter tree," and have to this day. The Kickapoo came over immediately and became an almost indispensable adjunct to the family. Seeing that my father was very tender with my mother, he looked upon her as a superior being, something to be guarded and watched that no harm come near. He was out on a hunt when my sister was bom, the first white child in Kickapoo prairie. When he came in my father, who had thrown himself on the bed by my mother, said : " Oh, ho I look here !" He approached, looked at the little creature with quaint seriousness, and said, " What call?" My mother, to please him, said "Kickapoo ;" and my father, who was cheerful and bright, had just taken bal)y's tiny hand and exclaimed, "My Beautiful," so that the child was ever to the Indian "Kickapoo, My Beautiful," and exceedingly beau- tiful she proved to be. The old people discourse upon her loveliness to this day, and refuse to believe that there ever was another to com- pare with her. The Kickapoo's greatest pleasure was guarding the rustic cradle, and drawing the delicately tapered hand through his own. Springfield soon became a habitation with a name. Cabins of round poles were hastily put up, and filled with emigrants. My fa- ther vacated and built thirteen times in one year to accommodate new comers. Log huts filled with merchandise, groceries, and above all that curse of America — whisky — soon did a thriving trade with the Indians and immigrants. A cool autumn afternoon my mother, who was remarkably tall, with black hair and fine eyes, went to one of the primitive stores to buy a shawl, and could find nothing but a bright red with gay embroidered corners. She threw it over her shoulders, and crossed over to see a sick neighbor. Returning at dusk she was forced to pass round a crowd of Indians who had been trading and drinking. A powerful, bare-armed Osage, attracted no doul)t by the gay shawl, threw up his arms, bounded toward her shouting, " My squaw." She flew towards home. Just as she reached the door her foot twisted and she fainted. A strong arm with a heavy stick came down on the bare head of the dusky savage. 140 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. and he measured his length on the ground. The Kickapoo, for it was he that came so opportunely to my mother's rescue, car- ried her in, closing the door, for by this time everybody had rushed to see what was the matter, the Osages calling for the Kickapoo who had dealt the blow upon their companion. He passed on to the kitchen, making a sign to Rachel to go in ; took "Kickapoo, My Beau- tiful," from Elizabeth, pressed her tenderly to his heart, looked at her Avistfully, returned her to the nurse and was gone. The blow dealt really killed the Osage. Nothing but Rachel opening the door wringing her hands, with tears running down hers and Elizabeth's cheeks, with " Kickapoo, My Beautiful," screaming, the finding of my mother in a death-like swoon, and no trace of the Kickapoo saved the village from serious trouble. Days, weeks, months and years passed, and all my father's efforts to find out the fate of his red friend Avere futile, and he concluded he had been assassinated by the Osages, though assured by them, " They no find him." John P. Campbell was for many years a leading citizen and fore- most resident of the town. " He was an organizer of men, a stranger to reverses. The touch of his hand was success to any enterprise. Kind, prompt, generous and benevolent, his word was as sovereign as a State statute. He amassed large pro[)erty, and extended his field of operations over an empire. He built up schools, raised churches, and gave freely to the poor; died, leaving a name honored and respected by everybody." His brothers, Samuel, Ezekiel M., Junius T. and William Campbell, were also early settlers of the county. Junius T. Campbell arrived at Springfield in the month of October, 1831. He was the first justice of the peace elected by the people, and vvas chosen to that office in 1832. He was also the first post- master at Springfield. Before the establishment of the office the nearest post-office was at Little Piney, now in Crawford county, one hundred and ten miles distant from Springfield. In those days the rates of postage differed from those now in vogue. Prior to the act of 1845 the postage upon a letter composed of a single sheet was as • follows: If conveyed 30 miles or less, 6 cents ; between 30 and 80 miles, 10 cents ; between 80 and 150 miles, I2V2 cents ; between 150 and 400 miles, 18^^/4 cents ; over 400 miles, 25 cents. By the act of 1845 the postage on a letter conveyed for any distance under 300 miles was fixed at 5 cents, and for any greater distance at 10 cents. By the act of 1851, it was provided that a single letter if pre- paid should be carried any distance not exceeding 3,000 miles for 3 cents, and any greater distance for 6 cents. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 141 . Junius T. Campbell opened up the first store in Springfield, and was the only merchant in the county until the arrival of Major D. D. Berry, who reached the town with two wagon-loads of goods which he brought from Bolivar, Tennessee, a distance of five hundred miles. About the time that Messrs. Miller and Campbell settled in Sprino-- field, there were settlements being made in various parts of what was soon to become Greene county, the county seat of which should finally become a flourishing city. As before mentioned the Full)right family had settled in the west partt)f what now constitutes the city, or perhaps just outside of the present city limits; the spring which bears their name, and furnishes an abundant supply of "Adam's ale," being but a short distance from the fountain of that more re- cently invented beverage, lager beer. Wm. Fulbright had passed through what is now Greene county in 1819, but went back East, and settled in what afterwards became Crawford county. In 1829, just after the return of Mr. Campbell from his first trip, as before stated, Mr. Fulbright, with his brothers Levi and John, and his brother-in-law, A. J. Burnett, removed to this place and pitched their tents in the wilderness. They brought with them their families, and a number of negroes, among whom was Aunt Hannah, so well known to all citizens of Springfield, claiming to be over a hundred years old, and to have assisted in the construction of that first little pole cabin. In 1832 a mill was erected by Wm. Fulbright on a site near the head of Little Sac. Many of the descendants of this familv are still living in the vicinity of Springfield. Mr. Miller, in a com- munication to the Leader, pays the following honorable tribute to some of the departed members : — In making further drafts upon the tablet of memory, fond recol- lections are awakened of more, and not to be forgotten, men and women who once lived in and about Springfield, but are long since gone. I call to mind the Fulbright family and others; Wm. Ful- bright and his amiable wife (Aunt Ruthy) and their interesting young family of sons (they had but one daughter). When I first knew them in 1830, they lived at the spring, opened a large farm on the high ground south of the spring, and were the first to break the soil in the way of plowing, in the neighborhood. Uncle Billy's late and last residence was at the sight of the old fort, or earth-work, where he died in 1843, after spending a very energetic and useful life. He was very punctual, honest and strict in all his dealings. He taught all of his nine sons true habits of industry ; to get money, but to get it honestly, or not at all. Their third son, Henry, held several re- sponsible offices in the county, and was for one terra receiver of the 142 HISTORY OF GUEENE COUNTY. U. S. Land Office. It was my good fortune to be personally ac- quainted with old Grandmother Fulbright, mother of Uncle Billy. She was of Dutch or German origin, from North Carolina, and had in her possession a very old Dutch Bible, the first I ever saw. She died, I think, in 1832, at a very advanced age. Aunt Ruthy, who died a few years ago, is well remembered, no doubt, by many for her kind, generous and amial)le disposition. Though passed away, may they long be remembered. Andrew Bass left Tennessee iif the fall of 1829 for Missouri, arriv- ing in Greene county toward the close of the year. His first location was half a mile west of where Strafford now stands, but on the de- parture of the Indians, the following year, he removed to Jackson township. Alpheus Huflf came from Franklin county, Missouri, in 1830, and settled within a mile of Mr. Bass, and Alexander Chadwick came from Tennessee in the fall of 1831, after which there were no other arrivals in that part of the county for several years. On the south side of the James, Edward Thompson, from Tennes- see, settled in 1830. Mrs. Page and her family, who were of French descent, came also about the same tinie, and remained for several years on what is known as the Galbreath place, in the same neighbor- hood. In the same year, Thos. Finney and wife and Samuel Weaver came, and lived for about a year, just below the present Boonville street bridge, where G. N. Shelton afterwsird had a tan-yard. Mr. Weaver was a son-in-law of Wm. FuU^right, but his wife had recently died, leaving an infant son named Marion, who was afterwards a mer- chant in Lawrence county. Joseph Miller settled at the spring, a short distance southwest of the city, after which he sold out to Maj. Joseph Weaver, and removed to Sac river, thirty miles north\vest of the city. Mr. Weaver came in March, 1830, from Marshall county, Tennessee, and first settled at the Delaware town, where he purchased and improved a farm upon which he lived until his removal to the above named point. On this farm he remained three or four years before removing to the place known as the Weaver grove, two-and-a-half miles west of town. After one or two other removals, he died in September, 1852, on the farm three miles northwest of the city. In 1831, Daniel B. Miller, a brother of Joseph, settled at what is still known as the Miller spring, in the northAvestpart of the city, and which furnishes power in the form of steam for the Springfield woolen mills. Here he made a field which was afterward used as the Federal HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 143 buiTing ground. Mr. Miller remained in Springfield until his death, which occurred in January, 1839. Samuel Lasley, who came with Mr. Miller, settled on Little Sac, where the Bolivar road now crosses ; and Spencer O'Neil, before men- tioned, who had been absent from the country during the general abandonment of homes before the Delawares left the country, re- turned about this time, and settled in the southwestern part of the county. Next came Joseph Rountree and family, from Maury count3% Ten- nessee, reaching here in January, 1831. They had started in Novem- ber, 1830, and their journey was a hard one. One of the very deepest snows that ever fell in this part of the State was encountered on their journey. This snow reached the extraordinary depth of 18 inches on a level, and remained on the ground some weeks. As a sample of what went to make up an emigrant's trip to Greene county in early days, extracts from the diary of Mr. Rountree are here given, taken literally from his old memorandum book, with its quaint chirography, now brown with age, but fairh'^ legible, its rude grammar, but plain, expressive phraseology. This old book is now a treasured heirloom in the possession of Mr. Wm. Rountree, a grandson of the original owner, and who has kindly furnished it for the use of this history. The route from Springfield to the Mississippi river in 1830 was not as easily ttaveled as that now in use in these days of palace cars and lightning express trains. The following are the extracts re- ferred to, beginning where Mr. R. records his arrival on the east bank of the Mississippi, at Green's Ferry : — Thursday, December 23d, 1830. — A cloudy day. The ice was very thick in the river ; we went to Kaskaskia ; the ice nearly quit in the river in the evening ; at night it rained and froze over. Our expense was 37I/2C. Friday, 24th. — A wet morning. We prepared for crossing the river after breakfast ; we had removed our family to Peter Robert Derousse's, at the lower ferry, on Sunday last, — a very respectable gentleman with a peaceable family ; we found the ice so thick and wide on the other side that we could not land, and had to go down the river more than a mile, where we got a landing, and it took until about an hour in the night before I got my wagon and family over ; we had to make five trips ; we went about three miles and camped, and had a merry night. Expense, $5. Saturday, 25th. — Wq started early ; proceeded to Ste. Genevieve town ; Mr. Beard had to get a skein mended ; my family stjived with a very friendly French family, Bovie by name ; in the evening we went on eight miles and camped at Mr. Bell's. Expense, $1,62V2. 144 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Sunday, 26th. — A cloudy cold day. We traveled on and about 2 o'clock Mr. Beard's hind axletree broke at Mr. Moreare's ; we pro- ceeded about four miles further ; we traveled 14 miles and camped at Mr. Barrington's. Expense, 62V2C. Monday, 27th. — I went to Mr. Donaldson's, found them well, and our wagon waited for Mr. Beard's, and then went on ; camped at Mr. Baker's ; traveled nine miles to-day. Expense, $2.56V4. Tuesday, 28th. — This day was clear and cold. We traveled on very welT; found that the fore bolster of Mr. Beard's wagon was broken ; we came through Mine a Burton and got a new bolster ; en- camped at Mr. Tucker's ; it began to snow before day. Expense, 62V2C. Wednesday , 29th. — This day was snowy, rainy and freezing ; we started and broke the tongue out of Mr. Beard's wagon ; made a new tongue, traveled seven miles, and encamped at Mr. Compton's. Expense, $1. Thursday, 30th. — Started on and it was snowing and freezing; last night it snowed ; we had got only one mile this day until Mr. Beard's w^agon turned over in a branch and got the most of my goods wet ; we had to take up cam[) and dr}^ our things ; it continued snowing. Ex- pense, ()2l/2C. Friday, 31st. — This day we packed up our wagon and started about 12; traveled 7 miles. Expense, $1.06V4. Saturday, January 1, 1831. — A clear cold morning ; it moderated a little ; we proceeded and crossed the Cotway,^ Huzza, and Dry creeks ; traveled about 13 miles and encamped on the ridge between Dry creek and the Merrimac. Expense, $2.75. Sunday, 2d. — Cloudy ; we started early ; it rained very hard this day and thundered ; we crossed the Merrimac ; traveled 16 miles ; en- camped at Massey's Iron works. ^ Expense, 5()i/4C. Monday, 3d. — Last night it rained, sleeted and froze all night; this morning it began to snow ; we continued in a cabin that we had took up in ; it snowed all night. Expense, 62V2C. Tuesday, 4th. — A cold day ; snow very deep; continued at the cabin all day. Expense, $1.19. Wednesday, 5 tJi. — A clear, cold day; Mr. Beard took his load about four miles to Mr. St. Clair's, and we deposited it there and re- turned to the cabin. Expense, 66"-/3C. Thursday, 6th. — Clear and cold ; Mr. Beard took his departure for home ; we continued in the cabin ; in the evening Sidney [Ingram] and me went to look us out a place for to make a camp near St. Clair's ; we concluded on a place, returned in the evening, and brought home Junius and Lucius, who had went to another cabin on the Dry fork of the Merrimac the day before. Expense, $5. Friday, 7ih. — We began to prepare tor making our camps, but in the evening Joseph Phillabare (Philabert) came on and we concluded 1 Mr. R. means the Fourche a Courtois. * Established in 1829 by Samuel Massey; now Meramec Iron Works, in the eastern part of Phelps county. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 145 to ""o on with him ; so we left the cabin, came on to St. Chiir's, and sta3^ed all night. Expense, 62V2C. Saturday, 8th. — We started about 10 o'clock and proceeded up the bad hill with some difficulty ; the day was cloudy and cold, the snow was deep and it snowed some more, but we traveled 18 miles. Expense, I8V4C. Sunday, 9th. — Quite cold ; traveled 17 miles. Expense, |1.43. Monday, 10th. — Cloudy and cold; we proceeded and crossed Rubidoo (Robidoux) ; traveled 15 miles. Expense, 37V2C. Tuefiday, 11th. — This morninir it was very snowy ; we discovered that Mr. Phillabare had one of the skeins of his wagon to get mended, so we stayed in camp till nearly 12, and then traveled about 12 miles and encamped at Stark's. Expense, 8IV4C. Wednesday, 12th. — Cloudy and cold ; we traveled on slowly on ac- count of the snow ; crossed the Osage fork of the Gasconade, and traveled 14 miles. Expense, I8V4C. Thursday, 13th. — A cold day, but we traveled on pretty well; passed Eastwood and traveled 18 miles. Expense, 37V2C. Friday, 14th. — Last night it snoAved very hard; we encamped at the Indian Grave branch ; the snow increased in depth four or five inches ; we traveled with a good deal of difficulty ; we passed Tygart's ; traveled 20 miles. Expense, 50 cents. Saturday, 15th. — It continues to snow; the day is most intolera- bly cold ; we {proceeded on our way, and after traveling six or eight miles we met Joseph H. Miller and Lemuel Blanton coming to meet us. Great joy! We went on to Robert Patterson's, twelve miles, and got lodging for the night in his house, — the first night's lodging in a house since we left the cabin at Massey's Iron Works. Expense, $1.25 Sunday, 16th. — To-day was extremely cold ; snowed a little; we proceeded and got to Joseph H. Miller's between sunset and dark; found the people about the Prairie all well and glad to see us all ar- rive safe ; traveled 23 miles. Father Joseph Rountree was born in North Carolina in 1782. He emigrated to Tennessee in 1819, and to Greene county in 1831. He died December 25, 1874. Not long after coming here, he was elected justice of the peace, which position he filled for several years, and in 185G was chosen one of the judges of the county court. This office he filled acceptably until the war threw everything into con- fusion. In 1865, the venerable old man was assaulted most wantonly bv a brutal soldier, and after a struggle he was shot through the shoulder with a revolver bullet, after which the soldier made two or three unsuccessful attempts to shoot him through the head, but the weapon missed fire, and assistance coming at that moment, the brute 10 146 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. was prevented from completing his murderous intentions. The soldier Aviis promptly arrested, tried, and convicted by a court martial, and sentenced to ten years' continement in the penitentiary. Mr. Roun- tree suffered acutely for a long time from this wound, but finally recovered and lived several years. When he came to this State he brought with him a family of seven sons and two daughters, who have filled honorable places in society. In company with Mr. Rountree on his journey from Tennessee was Sidney S. Ingram, who settled in Springfield, on East Walnut street, just north of which he erected a cabinet and wagon shop. Mr. Ingram remained in the cit}'^ a number of years, and afterward removed to a farm about one-and-a-half miles southwest of town, after which he removed to the place on the James, where, in company with F. C. Howard, he erected a saw and grist mill. There he remained until his death, which occurred about the year 1847. Mr. Ingram will hereafter be mentioned in an official capacity. Somewhere about tbe year 1832 Randolph Britt came from near Bowling Green, Kentucky, and settled five miles southeast of Spring- field, and Edmund Vaughn is said to have settled ten miles east before the Delawares left the country. A Mr. BuflTord, who settled in Jack- son township, came in at an early day. Kindred Rose located on the farm he owned so long, a mile or so southwest of Springfield, in the year 1831. Andrew Taylor, from West Tennessee, settled in 1831, one-and-a- half miles southeast, on the prairie just east of the Phelps place, and D. D. Berry, his brother-in-law, just south of him, where he put up a little log store, bringing his goods from Tennessee. Mr. Taylor soon moved back to Tennessee, and after a village began to be shaped at Springfield, Mr. Berrj' removed his store to town. In the fall of 1831, Peter Epperson and family came from Tennessee and settled on a place adjoining Mr. Rountree's, having sent an over- seer with about twenty slaves, in the spring, to erect a house, open up a farm, and make necessary preparations to receive them. Radford Cannefax and his family, including two grown sons, Ben- jamin and Cheslcy, and a daughter, who afterwards became the wife of S. S. Ingram, arrived in 1831, and settled four miles southwest of Springfield, on the farm afterward owned by Chesley. They were orio-inally from Campbell county, Virginia, where, in 1809, the elder C;innefax was compelled, in self-defense, to kill a man bj^the name of HISTORY OF GRKENE COUNTY. 147 Pitts. Cannefax surrendered himself to the authorities, was tried and acquitted. He soon afterward removed to Kentucky, where he re mained until his removal to this place, as before stated. In the satne year. Finis Shannon, brother-in-law of Joseph Miller, settled just below the Uncle Joe Rountree place, on Wilson creek, where he soon died and was buried. He was the first white person ever buried in the neighborhood, the plank for his coffin being sawed from a green walnut log by Joseph Miller and a negro man, with a whip-saw, and the coffin was made by Junius Rountree and Sidney Ingram. In the latter part of 1831, Samuel Painter came in from Montgom- ery county, Illinois, where he had lived about five years. He was formerly from Lincoln county, Tennessee, to which place he removed in 1813, when his son Jacob, who still lives in Springfield, was but two years old. Mr. Painter and his family, consisting of his wife and three sons — John, Jacob and Elisha — remained a few months in Springfield, after which they removed to the beautiful prairie in the north part of the county, where they remained about one year, near Ebenezer. Mr. Painter sold out to Thomas Wilson, and then removed to what was called the " Mill Bottom," on the James, the place first settled by Mr. Ingle, and afterward by a man named Seigler. Jacob, at the same time, removed to the place known as the " Brashear's Cave" farm, four miles southeast of Springfield. About the time of the laying out of the town they both returned to Springfield, where the old gentleman remained until his death, which occurred in 1836. Jacob still lives in the Third ward, and is, without doubt, the oldest white settler in the city. In 1845, he purchased, for ten dollars, the ground on Olive street where his present house and shop stand, and where he has ever since j'esided. Col. S. H. Boyd thus refers to him, in his historical essay, delivered at the meeting of pioneers, July 4th, 1876: — He was a professional gunsmith, and has turned out thousands of fire-arms, and he gained quite a celebrity for his pistol pattern, knoAvn as "Jake's best." Californians, in 1849, '50,* and '51, bouo-ht them in preference to any other. Jake married the dauo-hter of William Freeman, a soldier of the Revolution, who died in 1836, and was buried on the Gardner farm, two miles east from Spring- field. Jake remembers well the house of John P. Campbell, the only one, where now is our city, in 1831. William Fulbright, Benjamin Cannefax, Joseph Rountree, and Joseph Miller were the nearest residents to where now is Springfield, Jake, in those far- 148 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. gone days, was accustomed to cliurch-goinuilding, corn had to be beaten in wooden mortars with a pestle, and these were used to some extent for a long time in preference to the little " one-horse " mills of the new country. The hand-pestle was a small wooden one, similar in shape to the pestle 154 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. used by a druggist in compounding and pulverizing medicines ; but the swce[)-pestle was fastened to a spring-pole, after the manner of a well-sweep. The mortars were made by boring or bnrning holes, conical in shape, in the top of a stump, or section of a large tree, and were made about a foot wide at the top and eighteen inches deep. Bread made from this meal was called '' j^ound cake," and Mrs. Campbell used to tell her friends that for a number of years after coming to Springfield she had scarcely anything to eat but '■'■ pound cake." THE EARLY SETTLERS OF GREENE COUNTY. We speak in high terms of the gallantry and bravery of the soldiers, who, in the Revolution of 1776, fought for liberty and independence, and their names are proudly borne on the pages of history. 'J'hey merited, as they have received, the plaudits of succeeding genera- tions ; but shall not that army of heroes known as the " old pioneers " have their names, as well, emblazoned upon the pages of their coun- try's history? Shall not they, who, through privations, sufferings, and sometimes death, made the wilderness blossom like the rose, have their meed of praise? They have followed the path of peace with a diligence that craved no rest until the broad light of the noonday sun shines upon aland secure as the abode of a people cultured, refined, and progressive. This has been the work of the old pioneer ; and those of that gallant army of peace who are yet among the living should be honored among the greatest of the land, for their strong hearts, willing hands, and their labor, privations and sufferings, have given a grand and rich heritage to the generation of to-day. It is from these " old settlers " that very much of the early history of Greene county has been gathered. Months have been given to collecting the facts and the reminiscences which are found in the pages of this work, but to secure them has been a work of incessant toil. One great trouble has been that the memory of the old pioneers has not always been of the best, and a confusion of dates, and facts to verify incidents of the past, has been one of great trouble. History is valuable only as it deals in facts, and these should be more or less substantiated by dates. These are all important and are required, if this shall i)r()ve, what it is intended to be, a book of reference from which people and historians of future generations will date their work. This is why, in the compilation of this history, months have I)een given to the task. Many of the old settlers have already crossed HISTORY OR GREENE COUNTY. 155 the river of time and now belong to the mysterious beyond ; (»thers have removed to far distant lands, so that the source of information is small, and time, trouble, and greater research is necessary to make it complete. The " old pioneers," however, of Greene county, have contributed much to make this book a success, and they have done it willingly and cheerfully, and it has been a pleasure to the compilers of this history to listen to the stories of those early years, graphic- ally told . To be sure,|much information has been obtained from other sources, as, for instance, from Mr. George S. Escott's historical sketch in his valuable little volume, published in 1878, the " History of Spring- field," being a history, description and directory of the city for that year. To be sure, Mr. E. obtained much of his information from previously published sketches, but he gave us much that was new, and in the foregoing pages his matter has been freely used, and some- times without credit. Perhaps the following list of the early settlers of the section of country now comprising the greater portion of Greene county — then called Campbell township — will be found of interest to a sufficient number of the readers of this volume to justify its publication : — Partial list of early settlers in what was then Campbell township, Greene county, in August, 1833 : John Roberts, Peter Apperson, John D. Shannon, James Carter, Joseph Porter, Chas. P. Bullock, Chesley Cannefax, Wm. H. Duncan, E. Brantley, G. Gay, Randolph Britt, J. P. Campbell, Samuel Martin, John Patten Campbell, James Fielding, Daniel Gray, Thomas Caulfield, E. R. Fulbright, G. N. Shelton, Joseph Price, Sr., Radford Cannefax, David Roper, Moses Matthews, Zenas M. Rountree, A. Morris, J. R. Robberson, G. Ma- berry, A. Stillion, John Buden, James Wilson, Joseph Smith, John Fulbright, Stephen Fisher, Wm. Stacey, Wash. Williams, A. Shad- dock, Spencer O'Niel, F. Leeper, Wm. Price, Thos. Horn, Wm. Stout, A. S. Borne, Kindred Rose, Edward Thompson, James R. Smith, Cornelius D. Terrell, Newell Hayden, Larkin Dewitt, J. McKinney, David Johngon, Martin B. Borne, Joseph Weaver, B. W. Cannefax, C. Hottler, J. L. Martin, Wm. Fulbright, Wm. McFarland, J. Woods, Richard C. Martin, John Sturtevant, L. Fulbright, Watson Forbes, John Roberts, Jr., John R. Brock, John Ross, H. C. Morrison, John Slagles, George Shoemaker, Abram Slagles, Jerry Pierson, James McCarroll, John McKay, Elisha Painter, Joseph Rountree, Alexander 156 . HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Younger, D. B. Miller, David Wilson, Junius Rouiitree, Thomas F. Wright, Samuel Lasley, Gilbert McKay, Littleberry Hondrick, James Cooper, John Roper, Drury Upshaw, James Dollison, James McMahan, James Renfro, John Pennington, William Birdsong, Thomas Stokes, John W. Triplett, A. J. Burnett, R. Har[)er, S. G. Martin, John Wil- liams, James Price, Jr., Simeon Postion, Thomas Patterson, Robert Patterson, Wm. Ross, R. Ross, Samuel Painter. CHAPTER II. FROM THE 0R(>ANIZATI0N OF THE COUNTY TO 1840. Organization — The Organizing Act — Sketch of Gen. Nathaniel Greene — First Sub-Di- vision of the County — First Session of the County Court — Organization of the Town- ships — Miscellaneous Matters — August Election, 1833 — First Circuit Court — First Criminal Cases — Murder of Sigler by Ferguson — The Free Negro Cases — The "Star Shower" of 1833 — Miscellaneous Preceedings of the County Court. 18.34 — Miscellan- eous — August Election, 1834 — Springfield Matters — Doake's Case — Transactions of the County Court. 1835 — The Cholera Season — Survey of Springfield — August Election — Opening of the U. S. Land Office. 1836 — Miscellaneous Historical Items — The August Election — County Seat Proceedings — First Presidential Election — Killing of John Roberts by .Judge Yancey — The Osage War. 1837 — Miscellaneous History — " Blessed Are the Peacemakers" — More Indian Disturbances — The "Sarcoxie War" — "Gen. Smith, from Springfield" — Miscellany. 1838. — Items — Incorporation of Springfield — Benton and Ozark Townships — Springfield in 1838 — Killing oi J. Renno by Randolph Britt. 1839 — Miscellaneous Events and Incidents. • ORGANIZATION. Upon the admission of Missouri into the Union, the territory now comprising Greene county, — at least by far the greater portion, the possible exception being a strip along the northern part, — was in what was known as Wayne county, one of the original counties of Missouri Territory, organized in 1818. January 23, 1829, Crawford county was formed out of Wayne, and the present limits of Greene were embraced therein. Four years later, or January 2, 1833, Greene county was created by a special act of the legislature. Its limits ex- tended to the western and southern l)oundries of the State, to the Gasconade river on the cast, and to the Osage fork on the north. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 157 The following is the act of the legislature organizing the county and prescribing its metes and bounds : — Be it enactedby the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, [as folloius'] : 1. All that part of the territory lying south of the township line between townships thirty-four and thirty-five, extending in a direct line due west from the point where the said township line crosses the main Niangua river, to the western boundary of the State, and south and west of the county of Crawford, which is not included in the limits of any other county, and which was attached to the said county of Crawford, by joint resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, approved on the eighteenth da}^ of January, eighteen hundred and thirty-one, be and the same is hereby organized into a separate and distinct county, to be called and known by the name of Greene county, in honor of Nathaniel Greene, of the Eevolution. 2. The qualified voters residing within the limit of the said county shall meet at the place at present appointed by law for holding elec- tions, on the first Monday of February next, for the purpose of choos- ing three fit and proper persons to compose the county court of said county, and one fit and proper person to act as sheriff; and the per- sons so elected shall be commissioned by the Governor, and shall hold their offices until the next general election for those officers, and until their successors are duly appointed and qualified. 3. The county court, when organized as aforesaid, shall have power to designate the place of holding the county and circuit courts within and for said county of Greene, until otherwise provided by law. 4. The county court of the county of Greene shall be holden on the second Mondays of March, June, September and December. 5. The election proposed to be holden under the provisions of the second section of this act, shall be governed and conducted in all re- spects by the laws relating to general elections, except that returns thereof, instead of being made to the clerk of the county court, shall be made directly to the Governor, who shall issue commissions ac- cordingly. • January 2, 1833. (See "Territorial Laws of Mo.," otherwise Laws passed between 1824 and 1836. Vol. 2, 1842, p. 30fi ; chap. 235.) The territory originally embraced within the county of Greene, b}'^ the foregoing act, comprised what is now all of the counties of Mc- Donald, Newton, Jasper, Barton, Dade, Lawrence, Barry, Stone, Christian, Greene«and Webster; the greater portions of the counties of Taney, Dallas, Polk and Cedar, and parts of Vernon, Laclede, Wright and Douglass, while a large portion of territory to the north and 158 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. northwest was "attached" for some time, " for civil and military purposes." Concerning the distinguished patriot, Gen. Nathaniel Greene, in honor of whom the county was named. Col. S. H. Boyd, in his " His- torical Essay," says : " The spot where he is buried is unknown. No imposing shaft stands out in bold relief to catch the patriot's eye, and invite him to prayer, or to drop a tear over a nation's hero. No tab- let, rich in design and elaborate in finish, spreads itself out to com- memorate the heroism and fame of departed greatness. Not even a rude headboard marks the spot where Gen. Nathaniel Greene rests. But Missouri remembered him, and raised to him a monument and immortalized him by giving his name to the fairest, freest garden ol her dominions. Southwest Missouri." In the acts of the legislature, and in the early records, the name Greene is written and appears without the final e, — evidently an error in orthography, as the auto- grai)h of the old hero and all histories of the Revolution attest. The first subdivision of the county after its organization seems to have been when Rives (now Henry) county was organized, Decem- ber 13, 1834, and the next was upon the creation of Barry, January 5, 1835. It now became necessary to readjust the boundaries of Greene county, and this was done by an act of the legislature, ap- proved March 20, 1835, wherein they were declared to be established as follows : — Greene. — Beginning where the line dividing townships 26 and 27 crosses the line dividing ranges 17 and 18 ; thence west with said township line to its intersection with the eastern boundary of Barry county; thence along said line to the southeast corner thereof ; thence south to the beginning. FIRST SESSION OF THE COUNTY COURT. Perhaps the most important event in the history of the county dur- ing the first year of its existence as a county, was the first session of the county court, held March 11-14, 1833, at the house of John 'P. Campbell, which stood on the present site of the town of Springfield. Previously, on the 14th of February, Jeremiah N. Sloan, James Dolli- son, and Samuel Martin, having been elected at an election held on the first Monday in February, pursuant to a provision of the organiza- tion act, had been commissioned justices of the county court by His Excellency Governor Daniel Dunklin (John C. Edwards, Secretary of State ) . February 23, John P. Campbell was appointed county clerk. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 159 The county judges took the oath of office before Esq. A. J. Burnett, an acting justice of the peace in and for the county. John D. Shan- non had been elected and commissioned sheriff". The proceedings of the first county court may thus be summar- ized : Samuel Martin was appointed presiding justice for six months. Letters of administration were granted Joseph Weaver and John A. Langles on the estate of John Marshall, the wealthy old Indian trader, well known throughout Southwest Missouri in early days, and who had died some time previously. Spring River, Jackson, and Osage townships were organized, and justices of the peace appointed. The road then leading from Springfield, via Delaware Town (a large en- campment of the Delaware Indians) to Fayetteville, Arkansas Terri- tory, was declared to be a public road. Commissioners were appointed to " view, lay out, and mark a public road from Springfield west- wardly until it strikes the main fork of the Six Bulls, at or near Sam- uel Bogart's, thence in the direction of Fayetteville, Arkansas." Commissioners were also appointed to lay out a road from Bledsoe's ferry, on the Pomme de Terre river, to an indefinite point on the Twenty-five Mile prairie. Absalom Bledsoe was granted a license (for $2) to keep a ferry across the Osage river and charge for every foot passenger I2V2 cents; for every two-horse team $1.25, etc. These proceedings were had the first day. On the second day (March 12) a public road was ordered viewed and marked out from Springfield to the Twenty-five Mile prairie, in the direction of Boonville. Another road was ordered reviewed from Springfield to Swan creek. James Caulfield was appointed adminis- trator of the estate of John Fitch, deceased. A settler named Brantlet had died a short time previously, leaving his family in desti- tute circumstances, and his three children, John, Finny, and Judy, were " bound out " to Kindred Rose, Larkin Payne, and Joseph Price ; the two boys to serve until they were twenty-one years of age, and the girl, Judy, until she was eighteen. Richard C. Martin was ap- pointed county assessor ; A. C. Burnett was made collector, but declined, and later Larkin Payne was appointed ; Junius T. Campbell, treasurer ; Samuel Scroggins, surveyor. Of these officials Mr. Burnett died in Jacksonville, Oregon, in April, 1877, aged 89 years. The third day justices of the peace and judges of election were ap- pointed for the several townships, and elections were ordered for con- stables. Oliver township was organized on this day. A. J, Burnett 160 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. WHS appointed to lay out road districts and apportion hands to work on the roads in Campbell township. The roads at that day were not such splendid thoroughfares as are now to be seen. For the most part they were openings or ♦' traces," along which a carriage, or even a wagon, could proceed only with difficulty. Happily, however, there were not many carriages or wagons then, and no very great inconven- ience was experienced on that account. The " main " roads were in tolerable condition, and, save that there were no l)ridges, and quite frequently no ferries, across the streams, Avere fairly traversable. The road to Fayetteville and that to Boonville were all that ought to have been expected. After a four days' session the court adjourned until June 10, the judijes each receiving $1.75 per day and the sheriff $1.50 for their ser- vices. ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST TOWNSHIPS. Upon the first day of the session, the county court, as before stated, proceeded to lay ofi'the county into municipal townships, and establish the metes and bounds thereof. This was a work of no small magnitude. The county comprised such a vast extent of territory, with which the judges could not be expected to be thoroughly familiar, that it was extremely difficult to divide it into equitable portions suit- able for all civil purposes. Besides, the court could not with certainty fix the boundaries of each township, perhaps because no map of the county had been furnished, and in one or two instances the town- ship boundaries Avere extended beyond the limits of the county. The townships were laid ofi' very irregularly as to area and conformation. The boundary lines did not follow those of the government surveys, but ran along " dividing ridges," and were sometimes very indefinite, un- certain, and even speculative. It was not strange, therefore, that the township boundaries were changed soon after their establishment and from time to time. With these various changes it would be difiicult to keep up, and besides the result would be uninteresting and un- profitable. The following were the first boundaries of the first town- ships of Greene county, as established by the county court, March 11 and 12, 1833: — Spring River Toivnship. — All that portion of territory lying and being in Green [e] county, and included in the following boundaries: beginning on the west boundary line of the State of Missouri, west of Vivion's creek ; thence east on the dividing ridge between the waters of Vivion's creek and Oliver's creek, so as to include the settlements HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 161 on Vivion's creek ; thence north on the dividing ridge between the waters of the Osage and Grand river ; thence west on the same dividing ridge, to the bonndary line of the State of Missouri ; thence south to tlie beginning. Elections were to be held at Samuel Bogart's, wherever that was. Jackson Township. — Beginning at the north boundary line of Greene county, as now established, running with the dividing ridge between the north fork of Sac^ river and the Pomme de Terre river, without limit, or so far as to include the convenient settlers ; the south boundary running so as to include all the settlements on both sides of Sac River. Elections to be held at Ezekiel M. Carap- bell's. Osage Township. — Beginning at the mouth of the Little Niangua river, running so as to include the place where Wm. Montgomery now lives ; thence to the mouth of the Littl-e Pomme de Terre ; thence west to Sac river, and down Sac river to the Osage river ; thence down the Osage to the beginning. Elections to be held at Wm. Brinegar's ferry, on the Pomme de Terre. ^ Mooney Township. — Beginning at the Pomme de Terre river, where the Niangua trace crosses ; thence taking the waters of the Pomme de Terre to the mouth of the Little Pomme de Terre ; thence up the Little Pomme de Terre to the dividing ridge between it and Sac river ; thence along the Jackson township line to Sac river ; thence taking the waters of Sac river up to include John Ross ; thence up the Dry fork of Sac river to the beginning. Elections to be held at John Mooney's. Judges of election, James Smithson, Aaron Rugle, and John West. Campbell Township. — Beginning at the mouth of Finley, running thence, to include the settlers on Finley, to the eastern boundary of Greene county ; thence with said line to the Niangua river ; thence with said river to the Niangua trace ; thence with said trace to the Mooney township line ; thence with said line to John Ross', on Sac river ; thence to the Widow Leeper's ; thence to the Parr Springs ; thence to the point where the road leading [to] Washington Clay's crosses said creek ; thence in a direct line to the mouth of Finley to the beginning. White River Township. — Beginning at the mouth of Finley, on James' fork of White River; thence down said James' fork, so as to include all the settlers on both sides thereof, to the mouth of said James' fork ; thence due south to the State line ; thence east with said line to the county line ; thence with said line to Campbell Town- ship ; thence with said line to the beginning. Elections to be held at * Spelled Sock, in nearly every instaace, in the first records, as it was pronounced in early days. ^ Pomme de Terre — literally earth apple, or potato, — is spelled in the first records Pomada Tarr. Sometimes *' Puraley Tarr." 11 162 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Felch's old place, on the north side of White river. Edward Mooney, John H. Glover, Newsom, judges. Oliver Toionship. — All that [jortion of territory lying and heing south of Spring river and west of White River township, and not included in any other township. At the June term, 1838, the township of Sugar Creek was created, with the following as its metes and bounds : — Beginning on the south boundary of Missouri, where Brown's lane crosses the Missouri line ; thence north with Brown's lane to the dividing ridge between the waters of Friend's river and Col. Oliver's fork; thence east to the Elkhorn spring; still east to the "Ped- dler's cabin," on Flat creek; thence southeast to White river; thence up White river to Roaring river, and to the Missouri line. At the first term of the county court, justices of the peace were appointed for the different townships of the county, as follows : Jackson, Wm. H. Duncan; Osage, Christopher Elmore and John Riparton ; Campbell, Andrew Taylor, Richard C. Martin, and Larkin Payne ; White River, Samuel Garner ; Oliver, Thos. B. Arnett. No appointments were made for Spring River and Mooney. Upon the creation of Sugar Creek township, Samuel Vaugh was appointed justice of the peace therefor. In the following December, Elk Creek township was organized. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. The county was now fully and duly organized, and took its station amono- the other counties of the State, then, and destined always to be, the peer of any of them in general worth and importance. True, matters became at times a little disarranged and complications occurred that sometimes were difficult of adjustment. In June, many complaints having been made and other circumstances rendering it necessary, the boundaries of Jackson, Mooney and Campbell town- ships were extended so as to take in certain settlers who had been set ofi' to other townships and inconvenienced thereby. Treasurer Camp- bell and Collector Payne resigned their offices June 10. John Ful- bright succeeded Campbell, and Sheriff Shannon was appointed collector. Mr. Shannon frequently rode fifty miles to summon a witness and received for his trouble the munificent sum of fifty cents. Perhaps, however, he considered the glory of his office worth the remainder of an equitable sum ! It now became apparent that it was costing something to run the HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 163 complicated machinery of a county government. June 29, the first warrant on the treasury was issued to Martin B. Brame, for $5. This was to pay for a good stout table on which to write the county records, and a strong box in which to keep them. A few days previously a tax of $15 had been levied on E. W. Wallis (or Wallace), " for the privilege of exercising the business and trade of a grocery in Greene county." B}^ an act of the legislature, a fund arising from the sale of certain lands had been created, and was known as the " three-per- cent, fund." It was ordered apportioned among the different counties, and to be used in aid of internal improvements. Greene county's share was ordered drawn out of the State treasury, " and loaned out at 10 per cent until some suitable object of internal improvement presents itself." Samuel Scroggins was ordered to receive the money and pay it out upon the yrder of the county court, when sittino- as a board of internal improvements. Many of the first settlers of the county had brought their slaves with them to the new country, and the number was now considerable; and so, in accordance with law, the county court appointed patrols to look after the bondmen and keep them within proper bounds. Chesley Cannefax, John Sturdivant, John Fulbright, Barton Warren and Andrew Taylor, were appointed the first captains of patrol. The days of patrols have passed long since, never more to return, and the chorus of a once popular melody is now ill-timed and inappropiiate : " Run, nigger, run ! De patrol 'ill ketch ye." THE AUGUST ELECTION, 1833. The first election in the county after its organization, occurred Au- gust 5, 1833. It has been found impossible to obtain completer records of this election than the poll books of Campbell township, containino- the vote for Congressman. The township cast 103 votes, of which George Shannon received 96 ; James H. Birch, 3 ; John Bull, 3 ; Georo-e F. Strother, 1. The election resulted in the choice of John Bull, of Howard county, who only served one term. Wm. H. Ashlev was his colleague, at that day the State only having two representatives in the lower house of Congress. Of Mr. Bull's competitors, J. H. Birch was a prominent lawyer ; Gen. Geo. F. Strother was an old pioneer who had been with Lewis and Clark, in 1804, and badly wounded in an encwmter with the Indians ; Mr. Shannon was a prominent citizen, and, it would seem, Greene county's favorite. The judges of election for Campbell township in August, 1833, were 164 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Joseph Rountree, Alex. Younger, and D. B. Miller ; clerks, Thos. F. Wright and J. M. Rountree. The election lasted three days, or from the 5th to the 8th of the month, under a provision of the law in force at that time, designed to allow all the voters " from the back settlements " to attend the polls. FIRST CIRCUIT COURT. Monday, August 12, 1833, the first term of the circuit court for Greene county, convened at Springfield " at the Court House." Hon. Charles H. Allen ("Horse" Allen) was judge; Thomas J. Gevins was circuit attorney ; Charles P. Bullock, a son-in-law of Judge Allen, was clerk ; John D. Shannon was sheriff*. A grand jury was empanelled, consisting of the following gentlemen : — Alex. Younger, foreman; Peter Epperson, Dan'l B. Miller, Joseph Rountree, Bennett Robinson, George Yoacum, John Pettijohn, Reu- ben Harper, John Fulbright, Daniel Johnson, John G. Lock, John Mooney, Ezekiel Campbell, Ephraim Jameson, Wm. Lunsford, Sam'l M. Scroggins, Samuel Vaughn, Humphrey C. Warren, Robert Pat- terson, Samuel Garner. But little business was transacted at this term except by the grand jury. Thos. J. Gevins and Littleberry Hendrick were admitted to practice as attorneys and " councellors," and there do not seem to have been any other lawyers present. The only case disposed of, and the first heard, was an appeal case from the northern part of the county, which was entitled " Manual Carter vs. Nathan Newsom." Carter, who was a free negro, was the appellant, and on his motion the case was dismissed. It is a matter of much regret that it must be recorded that the first grand jury of Greene county had its hands full of business, so to speak. At that time, however, it must be borne in mind that the area of the county was very large and that a few turbulent, law- breaking spirits were to be found among many reputable and peace- able citizens. It may also be supposed, moreover, that the practice of the early pioneers was to *' let no guilty man escape," and hence all ofl*enders against the majesty of the law were duly arraigned — a proceeding unfortunately not in vogue at the present day. The grand jury returned indictments against Joseph Ferguson for murder ; against John Patterson, James Patterson and James Cornelius for murder ; against the following parties for " adultery and fornication ;" Mutthews, or Mathes, " a free man of colour," and Jane Murray, a HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 165 white woman; Manuel Carter, "a free man of colour," and Miss Ramey, or Rainey, a white woman; Elijah Carter, "a free man of colour," and Miss Ramey ; Edmond J. Carter, "a free man of col- our," and Susan Evans, a white woman. "True bills" were also found against the following parties "for gaming:" Samuel Teas and Wm. Fulbright, E. R. Fulbright and Samuel Teas, Wni. Ful- bright and L. C. Fulbright, Martin Fulbright and Sam'l Teas, Wm. M. Payne and Robert Paulding, Wm. M. Payne and Jacob Yoacum, E. W. Wallace and Lester T. Gillett, Samuel Teas and Thos. Horn. George Winton was also indicted, but for what offense is not learned. Of the particulars of these cases it may be stated that Joseph Fer- guson lived on Bear Creek, in what is now Polk county. He had a difficulty with a neighbor named Sigler, and meeting him afterwards at a gathering of some sort, drew his rifle and shot him dead. Fer- guson escaped to Texas and some say was never apprehended. But Mr. John H. Miller says that he heard Littleberry Hendrick, in 1833, at a place Six miles west of Boliver, now Polk county, then Greene, make his first speech in Southwest Missouri "in defense of Joe. Ferguson for killing Jacob Sigler. " Col. Gilmore thus mentions this case in his sketches in the Patriot. He is mistaken, probably, in the statement that Ferguson was wounded in the affray mentioned : — In 1833 two men named Sill (or Sigler) and Ferguson, had a shooting affair in this county. Sill was killed, and the other was badly wounded. Jno. D. Shannon was then sheriff. He went with a large posse to capture the survivor, and could not find him. But they found two men named Brown and Sanderlin, who frankly ac- knowledged they knew where the object of their search was concealed, but refused to tell where. The posse, to compel them to disclose all they knew, tied up both Sanderlin and Brown to a black-jack tree, and whipped them very severely, indeed. But this summary " aid of execution" did not avail the officer and his assistants. Brown and Sanderlin kept their secret, in spite of all the torture inflicted ; and afterwards brought suit against those who had so abused them. These suits, however, after pending for a year or two, were compro- mised and the matter was dropped. 'The scan mag. cases were from north of Warsaw, now in Benton county. The three Carters were brothers, and, as stated, were nil negroes. The women were degraded white females, of whom but little is known. Manuel Carter was long afterward tried, convicted, and fined $50 and sentenced to six months' imprisonment ; Elijah amis convicted, fined $100 and given six months in jail ; Edmund Carier and Matthews and the women were never tried. 166 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Of these cases Col. Gilmore gives the foHowing information which he received from old Chesley Caiinefax himself: — Chesley Cannefax, the sheriff of Greene count}', when the county eml)raced all the State south of the Osage river and west of Phelps, came here with his father in 1831. He was elected [appointed] sheriff in 1834. One of his first official acts was the arrest of two free negroes, who lived on the Osage river, al)out fifty miles from Springfield. They had been indicted for "adultery," by the grand jury, some time before, and the sheriffs of Cole and Cooper counties had tried in vain to capture them. The negroes were desperate fel- lows, and had shot and wounded several of those sent to arrest them. Cannefax took but one man, Jas. Martin, and the two succeeded, after a long and difficult chase, in catching their men, but the women who were indicted with them, eluded the officers successfully at the time, by hiding while they were pursuing the men. The prisoners were tried, convicted and sentenced to one year's imprisonment and a fine of $500 ( ?)each. As there was no jail in the county then, they were turned over to the custody of Joseph Weaver and John W. Hendricks, to guard, until the sheriff of Cooper county could take them to Boonville, where the nearest jail was located. Weaver and Hendricks hand-cuffed the prisoners, and attached a heavy trace chain to the cuffs, and so manacled started with them to Weaver's house, which was about two miles west of Springfield. The guard was mounted and the prisoners on foot. Yet, un- der all these disadvantages, the negroes managed to escape into the brush, and were never recaptured. A good deal of feeling was excited by this escape, aud Cannefax was cited before the court — " Horse" Allen being circuit judge — to answer for it. Cannefax was sick in bed at the time of the escape, so he was cleared of all blame. The negroes afterwards sent him an insulting message, saying where they could be found and daring another trial of capture. In a majority of cases those who were indicted for gaming pleaded guilty and were fined $5 and costs. Court was in session but three days, when it adjourned "till court in course," the next term being held in December. Judge Allen was succeeded at the April term, 1837, by Hon. Foster P. Wright, who was commissioned by Gov. Lilburn W. Boggs. At the same time Benj. F. Robinson became circuit attorney. At the March term, 1841, Gen. Chas. S. Yancey was appointed judge of the 13th circuit, of which Greene county was then a part, succeeding Judge Wright. Judge Yancey was at the time a resident of this county. THE " STAR SHOWER " OF 1833. Between 3 and 4 o'clock, on the morning of November 13, 1833, there occurred in this county and throughout a great portion of the HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 167 United States the great shower of meteors known as the " star show- er," or the " falling of the stars." The splendor of this remarkable meteoric rain will never pass from the memory of those who witnessed it. Old settlers of Greene say that in the firmament above, and all aronnd the horizon, thicker than the stars themselves, — which were on that morning uncommonly bright and beautiful, — were beheld in- numerable balls of fire of a whitish, pallid color, rushing down and across the sky, drawing after them long, luminous traces which clothed the whole heavens in awful majesty, and gave to the air and earth a pale death-like appearance. An inconceivable number of me- teors or falling stars shot across and downward from the heavens, as though the whole framework of the blue and cloudless arch above had been shaken. These small and luminous bodies had the appearance of flying or floating with great rapidity in every direction, occasioning the greatest wonder among the beholders, mingled with fear and con- sternation. Some described them as the slow and sparse descent of large flakes of snow, and that each flake — some smaller, some larger in size, from accidental aggregation or otherwise — take fire in their passage, and, fusing like a l)ombshell before bursting, leave a long train of lurid light, and that thousands of these, or as many as were within the range of vision, continued to descend and scatter and be- come extinct before they reached the earth. In some parts of the country the shower continued until near sunrise, when it is supposed they " paled their ineff"ectual fires " before the greater brilliancy of the sun. In Greene county the celestial phenomenon was fully as brilliant as elsewhere. Hundreds of people witnessed it, and it was an occasion of much excitement. Very many of the poorly informed people con- cluded that the Judgment had come. It is said that the incident upon which is founded an oft-told story happened in this county. A man and his wife were sleeping the sleep of the just, the lady by a window. Awakening she saw the wonderful celestial pyrotechnical display, and arousing her husband in great terror, she exclaimed. " Get up, old man, quick ! The day of judgment has come? " Her liege lord hesi- tated but a moment, and turning over grumblingly replied : " O, lie down and go to sleep, you old fool ; do you suppose the judgment rfay is going to come in the night? " MISCELLANEOUS. As a reminder that the poor we have always with us, it may be m- stanced that in December of the vear 1833 the county granted 168 HISTORY OF GEEENE COUKTY. relief to its first pauper, Mrs. Sarah Craig, who, being in a destitute condition, and seeing a hard winter before her, applied to the authori- ties for help, and received an allowance of $30 per year, which, how- ever, was not made payable until the end of the year. December 12, Elk River township was organized, and a voting pre- cinct established at Solomon Forrester's. The boundaries of Osage township were extended to include territory on the north side of the Osage river " for civil and military purposes." About this time Maj. D. D. Berry, was appointed to two civil offices — that of justice of the peace of Campbell township, vice Larkin Payne resigned, and county treasurer in the room of John Fulbright, whose resignation had just been tendered and excepted. Maj. Berry's bond was fixed at $2,000. The county court, acting as a board of internal improvements, ap- pointed Treasurer Berry agent to receive and loan out the three-per- cent fund, at ten per cent interest for only six months at a time. The total running expenses of the county for the year ending Decem- ber 31st, amounted to $363.32, while the receipts for taxes and licenses were only $299.31, leaving a deficiency of $64.01. 1 834 MISCELLANEOUS . " At the first session of the county court, March 11, John Williams was appointed county assessor, and D. D. Berry, county treasurer for one year. The county clerk was ordered to procure, for the use of the county, standard weights and measures. He was also instructed to procure a county seal, which should be of brass and contain besides the words, '■^8eal of Greene County , Missouri^'' an Q^^y of an elk. In June the county treasurer and the collector made their settlements, and the treasurer was allowed the munificent sum of $5 for his ser- vices, until the 1st of the next March, nine months. Judge J. N. Sloan was appointed collector for the year. In July, J. W. Hancock, B. T. Nowlin, and other citizens of the county wer« relieved from the payment of taxes. Times were hard with them, as with the majority of the settlers, and in addition certain misfortunes had befallen them, rendering them proper objects of the county's favor and assistance. A county tax double the State tax was levied this year for county purposes, the court being determined that no deficiency should be found in the treasury at the close of the year. John Sturdivant, John Walker, Chesley Cannefax and John McElhaney, were appointed pa- trols, and E. R. Fulbright made captain thereof. John Williams, HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 169 county assessor, finished the work of assessing the county, for which he received $126. Some idea of the magnitude of the job may be ob- tained from a knowledge of the fact that it required 84 days, when there were not more than 500 families to be visited. Mr. Williams rode from the Arkansas line to the northern portion of Benton county, and from the Gasconade river to the western line of the State, swim- ming streams, climbing mountains, and often camping out at night. For this work he received $1.50 per day. THE AUGUST ELECTION, 1834. The general election of this year was held August 4. A total of 503 votes was cast, of which Campbell township threw 185. The election lasted two days, and the following is an abstract of the returns : — Senator.— J oseiA\ Weaver, 373; James Campbell, Q6 ; John Dun- can, 64. Representative.— John D. Shannon, 399 ; Thatcher Vivion, 93. Sheriff.— Bqw}. U. Goodrich, 198; Frank Leeper, 178; Wm. Townsend, 67 ; P. L. Smith, 43. County Justices. — James DoUison, 339; Alex. Younger, 330; Benj. Chapman, 168 ; Samuel Martin, 145; Littleberry Hendrick, 125 ; Larkin Payne, 115. Coroner. — John Robards, 29. Following is the vote of the county by townships : — OFFICIAL CANVASS OF THE AUGUST ELECTION, 1834 stale Senator. Kepre- sen'tive Sheriflf. County Justices. Cor TOWNSHIPS. u > "3 !3 cS Q £3 O a c oj Si w a o J3 o o o O a. -a a V a o a 15 2 14 7 5 ~4S a o o a 159 34 22 56 6 2 25 16 19 339 <0 bo a o >^ 138 37 34 59 8 6 25 18 5 330 i s i- .=3 O 85 14 32 34 3 168 57 6 2 3 8 9 25 17 18 145 M O Sh •a a a 45 20 5 8 32 15 6 « "51 26 5 6 4 16 IS V s o CsLuipbcll 175 15 34 55 9 12 24 29 20 373 3 13 6 14 24 2 4 5 26 15 4 3 11 179 20 26 70 29 11 25 19 20 399 5 30 25 2 5 6 20 ~93 62 24 15 52 24 5 3 4 8 198 42 21 24 18 4 23 34 12 17^ 50 5 2 7 1 2 ~67 29 Qsasje White River l25 15 115 Total 66 ~64 29 Benjamin Goodrich, the sheriff elect, died on the evening of the election, from the effect of the bursting of a blood vessel, and in re- sponse to the prayer of a numerously signed petition, borne to him by 170 HISTORY OF GKEENE COUNTY. "Buck" Rouiitrec, then a young man of 22, Gov. Daniel Dunklin ap- pointed Chesley Cannefax sheriff for two years. At the September term of the county court Cannefax had not yet received his i;ommis- sion, and John W. Hancock was api)ointed sheriff pro tern. Dr. C. D. Terrill was appointed county clerk. In the fall of this year the first post-office was established at Spring- field. J. T. Campbell was appointed postmaster. The mail came in twice a week from Boonville, Mo., and Fayetteville, Ark. All mails were light. There was not a great deal of correspondence at that day. Postage on a letter from outside of the State was 25 cents, pay- able on delivery. Letters were commonly sent without envelopes. One page of the sheet was not written on and the letter was so folded as to leave this page on the outside, whereon the superscription was placed, the documents being sealed or fastened by wafers. The business men of Springfield at this time were D, D. Berry, Henry Fulbright, and Cannefax & Ingram (R. W. Cannefax and S. S. Ingram), who were dealers in dry goods and groceries ; James Car- ter and John W. Ball, who were the village l)Uicksmiths, and S. S. Ingram, who, as a cabinet-maker and wheelwright, made coffins, bed- steads, chairs, cotton spinning wheels, etc. In December, on the recommendation of the county court, Joseph Rountree was appointed justice of the peace of Campbell township. Thomas Horn was appointed deputy sheriff under Cannefax. James DoUison was again made presiding justice of the county court. At the close of the year it was found that 31 county warrants had been issued in 1834, calling for $465.65V2. The receipts for taxes and li- censes amounted to $688.55, enough to pay this year's expenses, last year's deficit, and leave a balance in the treasury of $i60.52V2 — and this notwithstanding the fact that Collector Sloan was $186. G6 behind on collections. doake'scase. Another of the " celel)rated cases " of the Southwest occurred in 1834. A robbery or larceny had been perpetrated near Cane Hill. A man named Doake suspected a stranger traveling through the country, and followed him to Farmington, where he arrested him and charged him with the crime. The stranger employed three persons, named Berry, Holburt, and Culton to defend him, and agreed to give them two horses and a rifle he owned for doing so. These three were not lawyers, but defended the stranger successfully, and he was discharged. He gave them the gun and horses as he had promised. Doake con- HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 171 eluded if the stranger was not guilty, Berry, Holburt and Culton ought not to have the horses, and that he would make the effort to get them for himself. He therefore hurried to Springfield, told his story, raised an excitement, got out a writ, and had John P. Campbell and a dozen armed men waiting the arrival of the three persons who were quietly on their way to town. At this juncture, Cannefax, in virtue of being sheriff, took the writ from Campl)ell, discharged the crowd, and when the men came in, took their horses and arrested them. When told the charge against them they quietly submitted until Culton saw Doake, when it was with difficulty Doake's life could be saved. The sheriff summoned a jury, and upon a trial of the rights of prop- erty a vei'dict was immediately given in favor of the three defendants, who took their horses and went on to the Delaware village at the mouth of Wilson creek. In the meantime Doake, determined to have the horses, persuaded a young man named Sturdevant, to believe his side of the story, and the two went down to the village and stole the horses . At the next term Doake was indicted for horse stealing, but no bill was found against Sturdevant, who bore a first-rate character, it being thought that he had been deceived into the scrape by Doake. As the trial of Doake drew near, he ordered every man between Springfield and the west State line to be subpoenaed as his witnesses. Cannefax rode diligently for weeks, and got all but one man named Reed. Doake finding that the sheriff had not got Reed, made affidavit that he could not get a fair trial, if Cannefax filled the jury panel. *' Horse" Allen ordered an officer ^>'0 tem.^ to fill up the jury, and it was done by selecting Doake's friends from off the Usage, and he was acquitted, of course. After Doake's acquittal Culton made another effort to kill him, but Cannefax and John G. Lock, managed to prevent it, and Doake lost no time in getting out of Greene county, to which he never returned. 1835 A HARD WINTER. The winter of 1834-5, was intensely cold. "The cold Friday and Saturday" were long remembered. Cattle had their horns frozen, many old settlers assert, and in some instances, had their legs frozen oflf up to the knees. Pigs and fowls perished in great numbers, and there was much damage done to peach and other fruit trees. 172 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. The snow was unusually deep and drifted to extraordinary depths, laying on from December to March. The people were thereby sub- jected to many inconveniences, not to say privations. It was impossi- ble, in many cases, to go to mill or to a store, owing to the distance and the impassable condition of the roads, and so the hominy block was called into requisition to supply breadstuff, and the '< store goods " were dispensed with. TRANSACTIONS OF THE COUNTY COURT. In February the county court went into an election for assessor for this year. J. W. Hancock, Joseph Burden, and Daniel Gray were candidates for the office. Each received a vote, and there was a tie. The court ordered the clerk to give the casting vote, which he did, voting in favor of Mr. Gray. Chesley Cannefax was appointed col- lector, and D. D. Berry made treasurer. Samuel Scroggins, the county surveyor, was ordered to survey and mark off the northern boundary of the county. The survey was ordered to begin at the northeast corner of section 1, tp. 31, range 18, — or twelve miles east of the present western line of Webster county, and two miles north of the village of Niangua, — and run thence due west, on the line between townships 31 and 32, a distance of 42 miles, to the northwest corner of section 6, tp. 31, range 25. The greater portion of this line is the present northern boundary line of the county. The change in the boundary was made necessary by the creation of Barry county, January 5, and Polk, March 13, 1835. At the May term Swan, North Fork, and James townships were organized, and at the June term Porter and Finley were formed. THE CHOLERA SEASON OF 1835. In the month of June of this year, Asiatic cholera visited Greene county and occasioned great alarm and excitement. Its ravages were confined to Springfield and the immediate vicinity, however, and, though there were some deaths, the mortality was not extraor- dinarily large. The dread contagion was supposed to have been im- ported from St. Louis in goods brought in by Henry Fulbright. The first case was that of James Carter, a blacksmith, who was taken at 9 in the morning and died at 2 in the afternoon of the same day. Theday of Carter's death, Co wden Martin, a brother of Judge Samuel Martin, came to town, was attacked, and died that night. Two ne- gro men belonging to J. P. Campbell died in one night. Moses HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 173 Foren and one or two others whose names are not now remembered also fell victims to the fearful scourge. Many persons, among whom were Solomon Cotner, John Ingram, and Mrs. Martin Ingram, were attacked, but were saved by the " steam doctors." Still others re- covered by the help of the regular physicians, while some got well without using any medicine at all, merely being very careful in their diet and exercise. Fortunately the cholera only lasted some ten days in this county. It prevailed in St. Louis this year and the next sum- mer was very fatal in that city. SURVEY OF SPRINGFIELD. July 18th, 1835, a special session of the county court was held for the purpose of receiving and adopting a plan for laying out the county seat, the town of Springfield. Apian submitted by J. P. Campbell was approved, and D. B. Miller was appointed a commissioner to lay off the town and sell lots. The location of the county seat had pre- viously been made by the commissioners appointed for the purpose;^ but there were many who doubted that this location would be perma- nent, as strong efforts were being made to relocate the county capital, and there was great nncertainty as to what would ultimately become the final county boundaries, and its geographical center, usually selected as the county seat. Consequently lots were not sold with great rapidity at first. THE AUGUST ELECTION, 1835. The county court ordered that in this year a two days' election be held in the town of Springfield, commencing on the first Monday in August, and that general elections thereafter be held for two days until otherwise ordered. The election was held August 4, and the official vote of Campbell township, as recorded, was as follows : — Circuit Clerk.— C. D. Terrill, 105 ; D. D. Berry, 79. County Clerk. — J. P. Campbell, 141 ; Joseph Rountree, 41. Assessor.— So\\n H. Clark, 84; Wm. A. Allen, 94. Surveyor. — Samuel Scroggins, 182. Justices of the Peace. — C. S. Yancey and David Appleby, 142 each. ' Section 12 of " an act to organize the counties of Polk and Barry, and to establish a permanent seat of justice for Greene county," approved January 5, 1835, provided: "That Jeremiah N. Slone (Sloan), George M. Gibson, of Barry county, and Markham Fristoe are appointed commissioners for the purpose of selecting a permanent seat of jus- tice for the county of Greene." (Chap. 349, page 433, vol. 2, " Territorial Laws.") 174 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Upon the assembling of the county court James Dollison was again elected presiding justice. About the first of August the public square of Springfield was enlarged from one and a half to two acres. OPENING OF THE U. S. LAND OFFICE. About the 1st of September the United States Land Office was opened at Springfield. The seventh cash entry was made Sept. 8th. Joel H. Haden, of Howard coimty, was the first register, and Robert T. Brown, of St. Genevieve, the first receiver. Mr. Haden removed his family to Springfield, and became a permanent resident, but Mr. Brown never removed his family, and in about three years returned to St. Genevieve. Mr. Haden died in Howard county, February 7, 1862. The establishment of the land office at Springfield was quite an event in the history of the place. It brought hundreds of persons to the town who desired to enter land in the Springfield district, and was of great convenience and accommodation to the settlers of South- west Missouri. Miscellaneous. — About December 1, County Judge Younger resigned and was succeeded by Hon. Chas. S. Yancey, who was appointed by the Governor. The aggregate expenses of the county this year were $668.50 ; the receipts only $414.28, which, with the balance in the treasury from the year 1834, left a deficit of $87.50. The follow- ing were the merchants and grocers of the county doing business under license this year : Fulbright & Sons, David O. George, J. T. Campbell, D. D. Berry, B. W. Cannefax, and D. Prigmore. 1836 MISCELLANEOUS. At the session of the county court, C. D. Terrill was re-appointed deputy county clerk. D. D. Berry was appointed county treasurer for the ensuing year and allowed $35 for his services in 1835. Thos. Horn, as captain, and Jas. A. McCarroll, and Joseph Burden, J. W. Ball, and L. H. Freeman, were appointed patrols for Campbell town- ship, and directed to patrol at least twelve hours in each month during the year. A judgment was obtained in the circuit court against ex- Collector Sloan and his securities for the full amount of his defalca- tion as such collector, and an execution was ordered out against them ; but before it was served a compromise was effected, by the terms of which the county recalled the execution, and in March Sloan made a HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 175 full and satisfactory settlement of all his delinquencies, in an honora- ble manner, and did not depart for Europe or Canada as is the prac- tice of many defaulting officials in these degenerate days. In March, Wm. A. Allen, having failed to qualify as county asses- sor, Daniel Gray was re-appointed to that office for one year. David Appleby and Joseph Burden were appointed justices of the peace for Campl)ell township. In June Josiah T. Danforth was appointed as another justice of the peace for Campbell township. — Jackson township was re-organized. — A "main" road was laid out and opened, running from Versailles, Morgan county, and passing through this county, to the Arkansas line. This thoroughfare was afterwards much traveled in going to and from Boonville. The expense of the road was borne by the counties through which it passed. Greene county's share of the surveying ex- penses was $53.14, which was paid to the surveyor, Wm. Monroe, out of the "three per cent, fund" for internal improvements. — Thos. Horn was elected county collector. — The first case of insanity in the county was brought into public notice in this month. The sheriff brought James Renfro, said to be insane, before the county court, and the question of his sanity was tried by a jury composed of Thomas Shannon, J. W. Ball, N. K. Smith, Benj. Cannefax, James Warren, Andrew Hodge, Chas. Hatler, G. N. Shelton, Henry Fulbright, S. S. Ingram, John Ingram, and Littleberry Hendrick. The jury decided that Mr. Renfro was insane, and incapable of managing his own busi- ness. Therefore Joseph Porter and Benj. Chapman were appointed his guardians and trustees. THE AUGUST ELECTION, 1836. At the August election of this year the following were the candi- dates : Legislature, J. W. Hancock and J. D. Shannon ; sheriff, Ches- ley Cannefax and Frank Leeper ; assessor, Samuel Martin and Spen- cer O'Neil ; surveyor, Joseph Burden, Joseph Rountree, and Stephen Fisher. The first named candidate for each office was elected. At the session of the county court in this month Judge Yancey was chosen presiding justice. COUNTY SEAT PROCEEDINGS. In August, D. B. Miller was ordered to employ a competent sur veyor to lay off the town tract of Springfield, donated to the county by J. P. Campbell, and to file plats and field-notes of the same. He was further ordered to order two lots for sale, as soon as surveyed, by 176 HISTORY OP GREENE COUNTY. advertising for two months, by three insertions, in the Missouri Ar- gus, published at St. Louis, and the Boon's Lick Democrat, published at Old Franklin, Howard county, and also by " setting; up handbills atthe county seats of Greene, Pulaski, Barry and Polk counties." The court ordered two lots reserved, one for building a clerk's office, and one for a jail. October 31, plats and field-notes of Springfield were filed and ap- proved and lot 18 of block 5, " where the present court-house is situ- ated, is hereby reserved from sale at present." The proceeds of the sales of lota were ordered set aside for the erection of public buildings, etc. Lot 11 was substituted for lot 10 for a clerk's office. Nine days thereafter Commissioner Miller made a settlement for town lots sold Nov. 1, showing that sales had been made to the amount of $649.88. The sales were well attended, and bidding was thought to have been very spirited, at that day, very many caring to take their chances that Springfield would become the ^^ permanent county seat " of Greene county, as the act apjDointing commissioners had stated, and therefore they bought lots and prepared to reap any resultant advantag-es that mio;ht accrue. The commissioner was al- lowed $131.51 for the total expenses of the sale, and was ordered to pay the balance into the treasury. As has been stated, a public jail, the first in the county, had been built by contributions of the citizens, who had come to the help of the young county at a time when its treasury was empty — if indeed it had a treasury — and at a time, too, when such an institution was impera- tively needed, and generously "chipped in," to a sufficient amount to complete a good strong, commodious log building in which off'enders were to be confined. This building stood somewhere near the corner of Main and Boonville streets. In process of time the county became better off, and in November of this year the county court ordered the treasurer to refund out of the money received for town lots, to each person the amount by him donated to build the county's bastile. The county court having decided to erect new public buildings, appointed Sidney S. Ingram superintendent thereof, and ordered him to prepare and submit a plan for a court-house. November 28 Mr. Ingram's plans were submitted, examined, and approved, and a court- house for the county was ordered erected in the center of the public square of Springfield, to be a two-story brick, covering an area 34 by 40 feet, with divers and sundry specifications. The sum of $3,250 was appropriated for its erection. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 177 The first prisoner ever incarcerated in the present State penitentiary at Jefferson was sent up from Greene county this year (1836). His name was Wilson Edison, a native of Tennessee, and at the February term of the circuit court had been convicted of grand larceny (horse stealing) and sentenced to two years and six months' imprisonment, less the time he had already spent in jail. He was admitted to the penitentiary March 8th, 1836, and was the sole occupant until the 28th of May following. FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. In November of this year occurred the first Presidential election since the organization of the county. The candidates for President and Vice-President were Martin Van Buren and Richard M. Johnson, of the Democratic party ; Wm. Henry Harrison and Francis Granger, of the National Whig party ; and Hugh L. White, of Tennessee, of the independent Democrats and Whigs. The vote of Greene county was as follows: Van Buren, 140; White, 11. Only two townships, Campbell and Jackson, voted regularly at this election. Campbell gave Van Buren 113 votes and White 11 ; Jackson gave Van Buren 17 ; White, none. North Fork township gave Abram Bird, one of the Van Buren electors, ten votes, and these seem to have been counted for all of the electors on that ticket. The vote of the State stood : Van Buren, 10,995 ; Harrison, 7,337; White, 3,256. Miscellaneous. — The number of cash entries of land at the land office in Springfield for the first year was only 90. — October 3, John H. Miller was appointed deputy county clerk instead of C. D. Terrill. — The collector, in November, returned the State and county land de- linquent list for this year as amounting to only $90.27. — December 31, the treasurer's books showed that the total expenses of the county for the year had been $829.96 ; the receipts into the treasury $557,431/2, showing a deficit of $272.52V2. Adding to this the $87.50 deficiency of the last year, made the total county deficit Janu- ary 1, 1837, to amount to $360.03. KILLING OF JOHN ROBERTS BY JUDGE YANCEY. In the fall of 1836 John Roberts, a well-known citizen of the county, was arrested by Sheriff Chesley Cannefax and brought before the county [court, charged with a misdemeanor. Between Roberts and Mr. Campbell there existed a feud of some standing and consider- 12 178 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. al)le bitterness. When Koberts was brought into court Campbell was pi'esent and Roberts began to quarrel with him. Judge Yancey, as |)residing justice of the court, commanded silence. Campbell obeyed, but Roberts persisted in abusing his enemy, and when Judge Yancey again commanded him to keep quiet, Roberts rejoined : "I will say what I d n please, in this court or the high court of Heaven, or hell." For this and other intemperate language, and for violent con- duct generally. Judge Yancey fined Roberts $20. Roberts paid his fine, but with many threats against the judge who had imposed it, and whenever under the influence of liquor, which was frequently the case, he sought every opportunity to insult Judge Yancey by all sorts of villification and abuse. The latter for a long time endeavored to avoid a collision by paying no attention to Roberts' remarks, and avoiding him whenever possible. Thus mat- ters went on for about a year, or until some time in the tall of 1837, when one day Roberts met Yancey on the public square in Spring- field, in company with Littleberry Hendrick, who had persuaded Yancey to go home in order to avoid an encounter with Roberts, who was known to be in town and to have made threats against Yancey, and, after some insulting language, Roberts put his hand in his bosom as if for a knife, a weapon which he was known to have used before in personal difllculties. Instantly Judge Yancey drew a pistol and fired. He then drew another pistol and was in the act of firing again, when Mr. Hendrick knocked the weapon upward and the ball passed into the air. Roberts pressed his hands to his breast and ex- claimed : "Don't shoot again; I am a dead man now," ^ then he reeled and fell to the ground, shot through the body. He died the following day. At the time of his death Roberts was under indictment for assault with intent to kill. At the December term, 1837, Hon. John S. Phelps, prosecuting attorney p-o tem.^ dismissed the case on account of the death of the defendant. One year thereafter, or at the Decem- ber terra, 1838, Yancey was indicted for manslaughter, for killing John Roberts, and was bound over for trial'at the ensuing April terra, in the sum of $2,000, Joel H. Haden, John P. Campbell, N. R. Smith, James McBride and Z. M. Rountree becoming his bondsmen. At the April term, 1839, Judge Yancey was tried by a jury composed of Thos. Lawrence, Asa J. Simpson, Joseph Moss, Joseph B. Carey, John W. Col. Gilmore. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 179 Thompson, Wm. Parrish, James Nugent, John H, Tatum, Lewis Tatum, John Murray, Geo. Cook and Griffin P. Saunders. Foster P. Wright was the judge, and Littleberry Heiidrick, who was present when the tragedy occurred, was the prosecuting attorney. The trial occupied the greater part of two days. The jury was absent from the court-room but a few minutes, when it returned a verdict of " not guilty," and Judge Yancey was discharged. Judge Chas. S. Yancey was a native of Kentucky and came, to this county in 1833. Not long after coming here he was admitted to the bar, and in course of time, as elsewhere stated, became circuit judge. Judge Yancey was not a profound lawyer, according to an estimate placed upon him by an admirer and friend, but was fairly successful and had many friends. He was very sensitive, kind-hearted and po- lite, and, remarks Col. Gilmore, it was very remarkable and one of the curious commentaries of human life that he, who was among the most unwilling of men to do a personal injury to any one, should be compelled to take the life of a fellow-man. John Roberts was a determined and dangerous man, especially when intoxicated. He had been frequently arrested for participation in affrays and quarrels, and was regarded as a desperate character generally. When sober he was a man of many goodjqualities , and much respected by his neighbors. THE *' OSAGE WAR." In the winter of 1836-37, numerous bands of the Osage Indians were located in certain portions of Greene county, and their presence was distasteful to the settlers. Col. Chas. S. Yancey, then in com- mand of a regiment of Greene county militia, was ordered by Gov. Boggs to compel the Indians to retire across the State line and ever after to remain on their own territory. This was done, says Col. Gil- more, in order to protect the settlers and prevent a collision among them and the Indians. Lt. Col. Chesley Cannefaxand Capt. Henry Fulbright accompanied Col. Yancey on his mission to notify the Indians to leave the country. The colonel had wisely concluded to postpone calling out the troops until it should be determined that they were necessary, and had de- cided to go in person among the Osages and inform them that their room was preferable to their company. The three officers set out for the Indian camps to the south and southwest, one clear cold morning, accompanied by a negro boy named Charley, who had been raised 180 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. among the Delawares, and was well versed in the Indian dialects, and who was taken along on this occasion to act as interpreter. The party stopped the first night ont with Wm. Brooks, near where Linden now stands. Brooks went with them next day, and they camped the second day out on Bryant's fork of the North fork of White river. That night snow fell to the depth of ai)out eighteen inches. In the morning Brooks abandoned the party, much to their discontent, as he was a great hunter, and familiar with the country through which Yancey was going in search of Indians. Indeed, the rest hesitated about going on or returning, but concluded to push on. Near the mouth of Flat Creek, in what is now Stone county, Col. Yancey came upon the first party of Indians, of whom there was a con- siderable number, all mounted on ponies and engaged in a bear hunt. Col. Yancey was dressed in full regimentals, with cocked hat, sword, sash, epaulets and plumes, and presented quite an imposing appear- ance, which he had calculated would quite favorably impress, if in- deed it did not overcome the display-loving savages. The Indians halted, huddled together, gazed at the party a few moments in utter silence, then, raising a shrill and peculiar yell, galloped rapidly away past the officers, without speaking or giving any heed to Charley, who called after them in their own language. The Indian yell was answered, and caught up and repeated, from all quarters of the compass but the north, a circumstance that occasioned Col. Yancey's party no little uneasiness. * The party rode on after the Indians, although they hardly knew how to interpret their strange conduct. Speaking of the affair after- wards, Col. Cannefax said : " I did not like the signs, and, as I rode up alongside Col. Yancey, I looked to see if there was any change in his face, and I thought there was ; but, if we were both scared, neither of us spoke our thoughts." At length, after certain surprises and much perturbation of feeling, the officers reached the camp of the Indians, where by this time the whole of them had collected, and had made a startling savage toilet of beads, feathers, deer-hoofs and other Indian finery, presumably to be able to meet Col. Yancey in an appropriate manner with all of his pomp and circumstance. From his dress the Indians had concluded that the Colonel must be a person of great consequence, perhaps the " Great Chief" himself from Washington. The visitors were cordially received and conducted immediately to HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY, 181 the tent of the chief, who was named Naw-paw-i-ter, to whom, throuirh Charley, the interpreter, they delivered their message. Naw-paw-i-ter expressed regret on acconnt of the condition of some of his people, that he mnst move at once in such inclement weather, but added that he was willing to do so if the whites desired him. There were in the camp about 100 Indian men, and as many squaws and papooses. In consideration of the women and children, the whites were asked to allow a few days' dehiy until the weather moderated. Col. Yancey very readily and very generously consented to this, giving a written permission to the Indians to remain where they were for a few days or until the extreme cold sna[) had passed. After being hospitably, if not bountifully entertained at the Indian camp of Naw-paw-i-ter, Col. Yancey and his party started the next morning to complete their mission. Some days were spent in search of other bands, when, coming around to the saw-mill about 35 miles southwest of Springfield, in Barry county, they were startled to find all of the scattering hunting parties of Indians in the southwest part of the State collected together and seemingly engaged in preparation for some important enterprise. One Indian rode about brandishing his tomahawk and bow and arrows, and now and then making indecent gestures toward the whites. As the assemblage had the appearance of a war council. Col. Yancey and his aids held a council to determine what they should do. The Colonel and Maj. Fulbright wished to be gentle with the Indians, to visit them as they had visited Naw-paw-i-ter, and induce them by fair speeches to return to their reservation. Col. Cannefax, however, thought the occasion demanded the use of something more than mere words. He wished to return home and rouse the militia and then visit the Indians, prepared io enforce any demands that might be made upon them. His counsel was at last adopted and the party rode rapidly back to Springfield. Arriving at home, the entire neigh1)orhood about the county seat was thoroughly aroused. Rifles were speedily put in order, bullets were run, provisions prepared, and everything done to put'the county in fighting trim. Everybody lent a helping hand, and in thirty-six hours more than a hundred men, well mounted and armed, were at Ozark, on the Finley, in Christian county, confronting the Indians. The latter were much more numerous than the whites, but were armed, for the most part, with but bows and arrows. As Col. Yancey's force moved forward the Indians began to retreat 182 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. toward their reservation. The Colonel pushed rapidly after them, proceeding cautiously, however, and on the second evening overtook them on the west side of the James river, not far from the mouth of Finley creek. The milit,ia were at once drawn up in line close to the Indians, and a demand was made of the chief, that his men should deliver up their arms, as security against hostilities. This he refused, for some time, to submit to, but, finding that he must consent or fight, he finally yielded, and set the example by coming forward and laying his bow^ and arrows on the ground. His example was followed by most of the warriors, but some of the younger ones refused, and were compelled, with difficulty, to give up their arms. Some of the white men behaved very rudely toward some of the squaws. To Yancey's honor, be it said that he showed such severity towards the offenders that this did not occur the second time. The Indians at last reluctantly agreed that their guns might be rendered temporarily unserviceable, and after this had been done by the removal of the flints from the locks, and ramming a naked bullet tight into the barrel of each, they were returned to their owners, and the Indians were then compelled to resume their march towards the setting sun, as they had, no doubt, often been required to do before. The next day or two were bitter cold, and the women and children suffered much, especially while crossing Oliver's prairie. In two or three days more the State line was reached, and after admonishing the redskins not to return again, the militia started homeward. The same day they were overtaken by an Osage chief, accompanied by a white man named Matthews, who begged them to return to attend a council of their chiefs, which had been called, they said, to consult with the white men. This Colonel Yancey refused to do, saying that he had no power to treat with them. When the militia returned to Springfield they found that there was most intense excitement in the little town and throughout the county, caused by rumors that a general Indian war had commenced, and that the community was liable to an attack at any moment. The women and children of Springfield — and a few men, too, — were greatly terri- fied, and Maj. Berry, who was then the most prominent merchant in this place, came very near packing off" his whole stock of goods to some other place for safe keeping. No hostilities followed, however, and Southwest Missouri had no trouble with Indians ev.er after of any serious consequence and results. Thus ended the " Osage War " in Greene county. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 183 1837 MISCELLANEOUS. At the February meeting of the county court the 16th sections of tp. 28, range 22, and tp. 27 range 21, were ordered to be sold. The 16th section of every congressional township had been reserved for school purposes, and placed under the control of the county court. D. D. Berry was unanimously re-elected county treasurer, and allowed $35 for his services the previous year. And now the county began the expenditure of its road and bridge fund. Sitting as a board of internal improvements, the county court appropriated $100 for building bridges across Nowlin's and Click's branches, on the State road leading from Springfield in the direction of Arkansas, " and for other necessary improvements on said road, " and C. D. Terrell was appointed commissioner to superintend the bridge building. What kind of bridges, two in number, could be built for $100, besides allowing a sum for " other improvements," may be conjectured, but cannot here be described. The further sum of $100, *' out of the road and canal fund," was appropriated for building a bridge across " the town branch, north of the public square, at Springfield," and D. B. Miller was appointed commissioner to super- intend the building of the same. These were the first bridges which the county ever built or assisted in building. March 13, Boone township was organized, and a voting place estab- lished *' at the Polk place." In May Judge Yancey resigned as presiding justice of the county court and was succeeded by Judge Dollison. — At the same session Thos. Flannery and Isaac Cook appeared in the court-room, "and treating said court with great contempt, were fined one dollar each and costs." It is said that Cook and Flannery were drunk, and en- gaged in a quarrel in the presence of their worships, the county jus- tices, and when ordered to become quiet, offered to " pitch into" the court itself. — D. B. Miller, the town commissioner, paid into the trerasury in this month the sum of $847.73, the proceeds of the sale of town lots. At that time the public square was covered with timber, which the court was petitioned by sundry inhabitants of the county to have " cleared off." The petition was refused, the judges deeming it fit and proper that the few trees which had not been cut off should be spared to give shade and add to the general attractiveness of the square. — It required 43 days to complete the assessment of the county in this year, for which work Samuel Martin was paid $2 per day. — In 184 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. July Joseph Weaver was appointed county justice in the room of Judge Yancey, who had resigned in May to accept the appointment of Major General of the Militia of Southwest Missouri, "BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS." In the winter of 1837 Chesley Cannefax, John P. Campbell, Judge Yancey, Ev. Hollingsworth, and Henry, Ephraim, and Dan Fulbright went to Texas with the intention of emigrating to that republic — for it was then a republic. In the course of that trip there came very near being a shooting scrape between Campbell and Henry Fulbright, but this was averted and the quarrel settled by that noted peace- maker., Judge Yancey. MORE INDIAN DISTURBANCES. "THE SARCOXIE WAR." About this time — that is to say in the summer of 1837 — occurred certain other Indian disturbances in this portion of Missouri, which created great excitement among the settlers of Greene county. The outrages perpetrated in Indian warfare were so well known and un- derstood by the early settlers, that the barest probability of a war with the red men at once excited the gravest apprehensions and sometimes the wildest alarm. This portion of the frontier was open and altogether exposed to a raid from the Territory, and not once or twice, but often, had reports, devised by sundry wicked persons, come that the savages were on thewar path. The whites in this country determined to take no chances with the knights of the toma- hawk ; upon the first manifestations of crooked conduct the}'^ were to be checked summarily and completely. The Delawares out at the Town had uniformly been peaceable, quiet, and very friendly, and nobody was afraid of them. There were In- dians, however, from the Territory and elsewhere, who came in from time to time in roving bands, whom it was well to watch. Sometime in June a strolling band of Senecas, from the Indian Territory, stole some horses and appropriated some other property from certain citi- zens of the country now embraced in Jasper and Newton counties, then in Barry county, and from certain citizens of where is now Dade county, then in Polk county, and when asked to make restitution, re- fused, and made certain threatening demonstrations. A settler named Thatcher, living on Cedar creek, was visited one day by an Indian who wanted to trade " squaws" with him. Thatcher knocked the Indian down, and then drove him from his premises. The next HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 185 day, as he was at work in his field, a shot was fired and a rifle ball whizzed by Thatcher's ear. The alarm was given and the county court of Polk county ordered Maj. L. A. Williams^ to take command of a company of militia, hastily raised for the purpose, and proceed against the Indians and march them out of the State. Captain Williams, as he was then called, accomplished the object as far as Polk county was concerned, without any difficulty, and, after an absence of about twenty days, re- turned home and disbanded his company. At this time, under the militia laws of the State, every able-bodied man over 18 years of age and under 45 was required to enroll in the State militia and to drill regularly three or four times a year. The officers of the companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, and divi- sions were elected by the men and commissioned by the Governor. Southwest Missouri then formed the 7th division and the militia of Greene county composed the first brigade, while the second brigade was composed of Polk and some of the other counties adjacent. The first organization of these counties under this arrangement was in 1837, and the following were the first general ofiicers elected : Major General of the Division, Joseph Powell ; Brigadier General of the 1st Brigade, N. R. Smith ; Brigadier General of the 2d Brigade, Abner NalK Just about the time that Capt. Williams expelled the Senecas, trouble broke out with the Osage Indians, a large body of which tribe had gathered in large numbers near Sarcoxie, and were acting suspicious- \y. General Powell at once called out the whole military force of his division and marched against the savages, and came upon them unex- pectedly and to their great surprise. After but little negotiating and parleying the Indians were marched out of the State and into their own territory, and made to give solemn assurances that they would not return without permission. They stoutly persisted in their inno- cence of any evil intent in coming into the State, saying they had only come to hunt and fish ; declared they knew nothing of any stolen horses, or other property, and averred that they had always been and would always be the faithful friends of the whites. After an absence of about fifteen days Gen. Powell marched his division home and the Greene county troops were disbanded and permitted to return to work in their fields. ' Commonly known as Dr. Williams and afterwards a prominent citizen of Springfield. 186 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. This was known as the " Sarcoxie War," and was a very nice sort of a war, being one in which no human blood was shed or any serious casualities suffered. The reports of the outbreak were greatly exag- gerated from the start. The Indians had done nothing, and doubtless intended [doing nothing to harm the settlers, and all of the alarm and uneasiness, the mustering, the arming, and the marching, were for nothing. General Powell marched out to Sarcoxie and then, like the famous "King of France," straightway "marched back again." The Greene county troops in the "Sarcoxie War" did not like Gen. Powell, who was very inexperienced in military matters, and committed many breaches of military law and discipline. Upon charges preferred by Gen. Smith, of the Greene county brigade. Gen. Powell was afterward tried by a military commission and dismissed from the State service, being succeeded by Gen. Nelson and then by Col. Chas. S. Yance}', of this county. Of Gen. N. R. Smith it is related that he was not a thorough mili- tary man himself. On one occasion after dark a militiaman, who had seen service in the regular army, was standing guard around the camp of the 1st brigade. Gen. Smith approached and attempted to pass the lines. " Halt! " cried out the fiiithful sentinel. " Who comes there? " "A friend, " was the reply. " Advance and give the conn tersign, " demanded the guard. "I haven't the countersign," re- turned the General, " but I am General Smith, from Springfield, and it's all right." " Halt !" again the sentinel shouted, adding, "I don't care if you are General Smith, from hell, you can't pass here without the countersign ! " The latter remark, albeit somewhat pro- fane, became a by-word in the camp, and indeed was remembered long after the " Sarcoxie War " was over. MISCELLANEOUS. No returns of the August election for this year are to be found save the vote of Campbell township for assessor, which was as follows : Gray Wills, 102 ; Samuel Martin, 49. Wills was elected. An addi- tional $100 was appropriated in August to complete the bridge over Click's branch. August 10th, Robberson township was created, and an election precinct established at the house of Elizabeth Robberson. About the 1st of December government land in Greene county first came into market, it having previously been withheld, and many entries were made in Campbell township. Up to this time but little business HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 187 had been transacted at the Springfield land office, only 240 cash en- tries having been made. At the close of the year it was found that the receipts of the county treasury during the year had been $582.13V4 ; the expenditures, $496.11, being $82.02V4 in favor of the receipts; but deducting this balance from the last year's deficiency still left the county in debt to the amount of $274. During the year 1837 the following were the merchants and grocers doing business in Greene county, the merchants being understood to be dealers in general merchandise, and the grocers to sell no dry- goods : Merchants. — C. A. Hayden, Campbell & Hunt, Harper & Glanville, D. D. Berry, Danforth &Bros., Fulbright & Butler, Carey & Perkins, Brown & George, and B. H. & J. C. Boone. Grocers. — R. J. McElhany, Jas. Y. Warren, B. W. Cannefax& Co., Alex. HoU- ingsworth, J. W. Ball, and A. H. Payne. 1838 MISCELLANEOUS. In February Gray Wills became county assessor, Chesley Canne- fax, collector, and Daniel D. Berry, treasurer. Upon petition of the inhabitants, the 16th sections in ranges 21 and 23, in township 30, were ofi'ered for sale by the county court. January 23, Town Com- missioner D. B. Miller sold $125.25 worth of town lots in Spring- field. INCORPORATION OF SPRINGFIELD. February 19th, of this year, occurred the first incorporation of the town of Springfield. The population of the place was about 250 at the time, and the incorporation was made in response to a petition signed by nearly every voter residing therein. The metes and bounds, as established by the county court, were as follows : — Beginning 25 rods west of the northwest corner of the northwest quarter of section 24, township 29, range 22 ; thence east 155 rods to a stake ; thence south 135 rods to a stake ; thence west 155 rods to a stake ; thence north to the beginning. The territory included within these boundaries was declared to be **a body politick and corporate by the name and style of the inhab- itants of the town of Springfield." The first board of trustees was composed of Joel H. Haden, Daniel D. Berry, Sidney S. Ingram, Robert W. Crawford and Joseph Jones. 188 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. BENTON AND OZARK TOWNSHIPS. May 9, the county court created two new townships, Benton and Ozark, whose boundaries were established as follows : Benton. — Beginning on the line between ranges 20 and 21 on the south boundary of Greene county ; thence running east to the south- east corner of said county ; thence north with said connty line to the divide between James' fork and Finley ; thence down said ridge to the line between ranges 20 and 21 ; thence south with said range line to the beorinnino;. Ozark. — Commencing at the northeast corner ot Benton township ; thence north with the county line to the northeast corner of the coun- ty ; thence west with the boundary line to the center of range 20 ; thence south to the northwest boundary of Benton township. Benton township was composed of territory now included in the townships of that name in the counties of Christian and Webster ; Ozark comprised the eastern portion of the county, now in Webster. Elections were held at Campbell Steward's, in Benton, with Steward, Wm. Friend and Henry Mallock, judges ; and in Ozark, at Thos. B. Patterson's, with Thos. Neaves, Robert Patterson and John Bell for judges. Meantime, the work of building the court-house at Springfield had been progressing very fairly. In December, E. F. Roberts, who had the contract for the wood work, was paid $925 for work done to date. S. S. Ingram, the superintendent, resigned and was paid $75 for his ser- vices the past year. SPRINGFIELD IN 1838. During the year 1838 Springfield, the county seat of Greene, pros- pered very fairly. People had grown to be confident that it was to be the permanent capital of the county, and were not loth to invest in residences and business houses. The incorporation of the town did much to give it character and standing, and in addition a great deal of business was transacted in its stores and other business houses. The following were the business firms, the nature of their business, and the amount of tax paid by each in the year 1838 : — Name of firm and business. Am't. of tax. Flournoy & Hickman, merchants $45.00 D. D. Berry, merchant 66.98 B. W. Cannefax, " 55.00 Campbell & Hunt, " 21.50 Danforth & Bros., " 93.10 John PuUian & Co., merchants 21 .30 John P. Campbell, merchant 73.50 C. A. Haden & Co., merchants 34.38 Cannefax & Co., " 13.81 Wm. & L. H. Davis, merchants 22.13 Name of firm, and business. Am.'t of tax. Ca8ebolt& Stallinga, merchants $21.33 Isaac Sanders, merchant 35.62 Jacob Bodenhamer " 30.00 John V. Campbell, airocer 33.05 Casebolt&Stallings,'^ " 10.00 B. H. & J. C. Boone, " 15.00 John Edwards, " 15.25 Joshua Jones, " 20.00 C. A. Haden, " 30.00 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 189 As Mr. Escott says, in his historical sketch, the term " merchant " included dealers in dry goods, boots and shoes, hats, caps, gents' fur- nishing goods, clothing, groceries and provisions, hardware, tinware, and everything usually kept in a country store, from a paper of pins to a stick of candy. The "groceries " kept a few articles in the way of family groceries and provisions, but their chief staple was whisky, which was dispensed by the dram, pint, quart or gallon. Brandy and wine were common, but lager beer was unknown at that day. KILLING OF J. RENNO BY RANDOLPH BRITT. In the summer of 1838 another homicide occurred here which cre- ated a good deal of feeling in the community. This was the killing of Mr. J. Renno by Randolph Britt. The latter, with a number of the then citizens of Springfield, was in the grocery store of which Maj. R. J. McElhany was proprietor, eating and drinking. Lucius Rountree, observing the crowd assembled and wanting to have some sport of the rough sort, then very common, told Renno to go into McElhany's and "clean it out." Renno, always ready for such work, accordingly went in, and, happening to seize Britt first, a scufile ensued between them, in the course of which Renno suddenly cried out, " He is stickiug me with a knife ! " and fell. It turned out to be too true ; he had been fatally stabbed by Britt, and died in a few minutes afterward. Britt for some time afterwards did not seem con- scious of the nature of his act, and when he did realize it wept bit- terly, after exclaiming that he had rather Renno had killed him. The truth probably was that the homicide was, at the time of giving the fatal blow, so much intoxicated that he hardly knew what he was doing. Britt had to be protected by a strong guard after this afi'air, or his life would have been taken to satisfy the vengeance of Renno' s friends and relatives. Much feelins; was excited about the matter. His counsel got a change of venue to Benton county, and he was tried at Warsaw, convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to the peni- tentiary for a term of years ; but was soon pardoned by the Gov- ernor of the State. He afterwards lived and died in Greene countv. 1839 MISCELLANEOUS. Hoover's mill having been put up on Finley, this year, furnished facilities for grinding hitherto unenjoyed by the settlers, and was vis- ited for a long distance. The voting place for Finley township was 190 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. also established there in May, being removed from Frizzell's. — Several roads were established through the county and into other counties this year, thus opening communication with the outer world. Among others a new road was established " to Jefferson and Boonville, by way of the Pumly tar" {Pomme de Terre), another "to St. Louis from the south part of the county," and another " a change in the road to Fayetteville and on south." — In November E. F. Roberts re- ceived $750 on wood-work done in the court-house, by which it ap- pears that that building was not completed at that time. THE SO-CALLED " NULLIFICATION ACT " OF THE COUNTY COURT. At the November term of this year the county court of Greene county made the following order : — Ordered hy the Court — That the act concerning groceries, passed at the last session of the Legislature, and approved February 13, 1839, be and the same is hereby repealed and of no effect in the county of Greene. This order of the court has uniformly been laughed at whenever dis- covered and read by those unacquainted with all of the circum- stances. It seems very preposterous that a county court should " re- peal " an act of the Legislature and declare it of " no effect " in the county wherein the court sat. But a little explanation and informa- tion will set things aright. " The act concerning groceries," referred to by the Greene county court, regulated the sale of ardent spirits in this State. It may be found in the " Laws of Missouri, of the 1st session of the 10th General Assembly," section 48 of which is as follows ; — Sec 48. The county courts maj'^, at any term of their court, ex- empt their county from the operation of this act by an order direct- ing that the same shall not extend to or be in force in their county ; and upon such order being made and recorded, this act shall not ex- tend to or be in force in said county. It will be seen that the court had ample warrant and authority for setting aside the act of the Legislature, although the language of the order might have been made a little clearer and somewhat more intel- ligible to the general reader. " Those laugh best who laugh last." Elections. — At a special election in June, Thomas Horn was elected sheriff over Joseph Burden, and in August John L. McCraw was elected surveyor over B. T. Nowlin, E. F. Roberts, and John C. Farmer, and Daniel Cotner was elected assessor over Samuel Martin and Elisha Headlee. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 191 CHAPTER III. HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1840 TO 1850. 1840 — Sundry Public Business — Elections — The August Election — The Presidential Elec- tion, "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too" — Some Early Politicians. 1841 — Items — Polk Township — The Pioneer Merchants — Killing of Davis by John T. Shanks — Escape of Shanks. 1842 — Miscellaneous — The August Election. 1843 — Items. 1844 — News- paper Established — The August Election — Two Congressmen Elected at the Same Election from Greene County — Beginning of Hon. John S. Phelps' Term of Service in Congress, Lasting 18 years — The "Hards " and the " Softs " — Mr. Sims' Speech on the Oregon Question — The Presidential Campaign of 1844 — Polk and Dallas — Clay and Frelinghuysen — The Gubernatorial Canvass — Old "Horse" Allen — Items. 1845 — Miscellaneous. 1846 — County Court Proceedings — The August Election — Sundry Items — Greene County in the Mexican War — Services of Boak's Company. 1847 — Miscellaneous. 1848 — Items — August Election — The Big Sleet — The Presidential Election. 1849 — A Temperance Wave — Improvements — Miscellaneous — The Jack- son Resolutions — Col. Benton in Springfield — Prgress of the County from 1840 to 1850. 1840. MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC BUSINESS. In February the county court reappointed D. D. Berry county treasurer, but he refused to qualify as he was required to give a bond of $30,000, while the compensation was only $50 a year, and in June C. A. Haden was appointed. At the time of Berry's appointment Haden was selected as county seat commissioner, and Joshua Davis chosen county clerk. When Haden became treasurer, N. R. Smith became commissioner. — In June, owing to the formation of Wright and Ozark counties, which caused a loss of some territory to this county, John L. McCraw, the county surveyor, was ordered to re-survey the eastern boundary of the county, to conform to the changes. — The boundaries of Benton and Jackson townships were en- larged in June. — In Auo;ust C. A. Haden resigned as county treas- urer, and James R. Danforth was appointed to that office, a position which he held for fourteen years thereafter either by appointment or election. — County Clerk C. D. Terrell died in January. Wm. Chap- man, another prominent citizen, died in October. It may be related, in connection with the death of Mr. C, that when the administrator of the estate, S. W. McCorkle, presented his bond with John S. Phelps as surety, the court rejected it on account of " insufficient se- curity ! " — The total expenses of the county this year were $1,533.50 ; receipts, $1,555.26; balance in the treasury, $21.76; outstanding debt, $837.04. — The United States census this year showed the pop- 192 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Illation of the county to be 5,372. — Some of the new merchants in Springfield were John De Bruin, Samuel F. January, E. Fisher, and Snyder. ELECTIONS AUGUST 5. The August election of the year 1840 resulted in the choice of the following officers : — Representative — John S. Phelps, over John C. Johnson and Joseph Powell. Sheriff — Thomas Horn over Joseph Burden and Silas Baker. County Clerk — Joshua Davis ; no opposition. Assessor — J. W. Wadlow, over Samuel Martin and Wm. Cloud. Coroner — Wm. Cawlfield ; no opposition. The Democratic candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Thos. Eeynolds and M. M. Marmaduke, carried the county by more than 200 majority, over John B. Clark, Sr., and Joseph Bogy, the Whiff nominees. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. The presidential campaign of 1840 was the principal event of that year in the State, and, in fact, in the United States. The Whig party, then for the first time formidable in the country, renominated Gen. Harrison as its candidate for President, with John Tyler, of Virginia, for Vice-President. The Democrats renominated Van Buren and Johnson. The canvass excited more interest than any other that had ever taken place in the history of the Union. There had been a great stringency in the money market and other financial distresses occasioning hard times throughout the country. Many workingmen were either out of employment or at work for very low wages ; prices of produce had fallen to insiguificant figures and there was general discontent with the situation. Many people attributed the condition of affiiirs to the administration of Mr. Van Buren and the Democratic party. The Whigs took advantage ot the situation and conducted their campaign with unexampled ardor and enthusiasm — and, as the result showed, with effect. Mass conventions of immense numbers of people were held, becoming political camp-meetings in many in- stances, and remaining in session three or four days. The object of both parties seemed to be to carry the election by music, banners, pro- cessions, and stump oratory. Gen. Harrison, at the time of his candidacy, was clerk of the courts of Hamilton county, Ohio, and lived in a house having one apart- ment, built of logs. A Democratic editor had observed that in addition HISTORY OF GREENE COUiNTY. 193 to the humble style of the general's dwelling, there was nailed upon the outer walls of the log kitchen a raccoon skin, in process of curing, and he commented very facetiously upon these things, sneering at a party whose candidate for the exalted office of President lived in a log cabin ornamented with 'coon skins and knew no better beverage than hard cider. Immediately the Whigs took up the statements of the editOi- and reasserted them as facts of which they were greatly, and as they claimed, justly proud. The contest was thereafter known as the " log cabin, 'coon skin and hard cider campaign." Monster Whig meetmgs were held all over the country, at which log cabms of all sizes, live 'coons, and veritable hard cider were displayed ; processions were formed miles in length, containing every unique feature that could be conceived; cannons were fired, bells rung, and there were all sorts and kinds of fuss and fustian indulged in by the partisans of *' Tippe- canoe and Tyler, too." To counteract the influence of these meetings, and the party para- phernalia employed to captivate the masses, the Democrats held their meetings also, many of which equaled, if they did not surpass, the efforts of the Whigs. Invoking the name and the prestige of Gen. Jackson (" Old Hickory "), who ardently supported Mr. Van Buren, they adopted hickory boughs and the chicken-cock as their party emblems, and defiantly waved the former, and caused the latter to exultingly crow in the faces of their opponents. In Greene county the canvass was not so exciting as in other parts of the country. The Democrats had a large majority over the Whigs, and neither party counted it worth while to make extraordinary efforts to increase its members for the time. Still the contest attracted gen- eral and especial attention throughout the county, and it is said that a full vote was polled. At the November election the vote in this county stood : For the Van Buren electors, 432 ; for the Harrison electors, 171. Of this vote Campbell township gave Van Buren 321, and Harrison 142. Finley gave Van Buren 35, and Harrison 3. The leading Democrats of the county at that time were John S. Phelps, Alex. Younger, Wm. Garoutte, N. R. Smith, R. J. McEl- haney. Judge Yancey, C. A. Haden, J. W. Hancock, Elijah Gray, Chesley Cannefax, John P. Campbell and S. S. Ingram. Some of the most prominent Whigs were Dr. Thos. J. Bailey, Gray Wills, Wm. McAdams, Samuel Martin, B. T. Nowlin, W. B. Farmer, D. D. Berry, John S. Waddill and Littleberry Hendrick. Among the inci- dents of the campaign it is remembered that the Democrats had a 13 194 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. barbecue in the grove in the southeast part of Springfield, at which Judge Yancey and others spoke ; and that on the St. Louis road, half a mile from town, there hung for some time a " paddy, " consisting of a woman's coarse dress and bonnet, stuffed with straw and labeled " Granny Hari'ison. " 1841 MISCELLANEOUS. In February the county court appointed R. A. Huffard to take a vote of the citizens of the county on the propriety of forming an ao-ricultural society, pursuant to an act of the Legislature. The people refused to order the court to form such a society. — S. D. Hailey was appointed superintendent of public buildings. — In May a township comprising the southwestern portion of the county was organized and called Polk township, in honor of James K. Polk, of Tennessee, ex- speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and member of Congress. The township was named by some old Tennesseeans, friends of Mr. Polk, 1 on o- before that gentleman was thought of for President. A votino- place for Polk township was established at the house of Lindsey Robberson. — From and after May 1 the county judges began to receive $2 per day for their services instead of $1.50, their former compensa- tion. July 7 the county court fined Joseph Weaver, one of its own members, $5, " for contempt to this court, by absenting himself as one of said court, without leave thereof, on the fifth day of the term." In this year the first permits were given to free negroes to reside in this country "during good behavior, and no longer." One of the parties so privileged was John Rider, " a free man of color;" the other was Margaret Williams, described as "a free woman, of bright mulatto color, 29 years of age, five feet two inches high." The expenses of the county this year amounted to $2,319.71, and the receipts into the treasury $1,376.07, causing a deficiency of $943.64, and increasing the county debt to $1,780.63, which was thought to be an enormous sum at that day. Some of the merchants of the county this year were John De Bruin, A. N. Farmer, A. Huff, Joshua Jones, Berry & Snyder, Jas. M. Ken- drick and John Morris. The leading grocers were James Washburn, Thos. Shannon & Son, R. J. McElhaney, and Peter Apperson. The Auo-ust election resulted in the choice of Joshua Davis for circuit and county clerk over Richard Price, and of J. W. Wadlow for asses- sor over Thos. Tiller. Davis was an expert penman, and some of his HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 195 penmanship, still extant, on the early records, is equal to copper-plate. An important addition was built to the jail this year, consisting of two rooms sixteen feet square, with walls of oak timbers, each one foot square, and proportionately strong in other particulars. The im- provements had not been made at the time of the escape of Shanks, in June. KILLING OF DAVIS BY JOHN T. SHANKS. In May, 1841, John T. Shanks shot and killed another man named Davis, in Springfield. Both men were intoxicated at the time, and the killing was the result of an affray. Shanks was a mechanic, and had a wheelwright's shop in the town. Davis was a hard drinker and a rough character generally. Shanks was arrested and had a preliminary examination, which resulted in his being committed to jail to abide the decision of the next term of the circuit court, which was to meet in July. Before court convened Shanks contrived to break jail and flee from the county. It was always said that he made his way to Texas, where he lived until his death, and was never arrested and tried for his crime. At the July term, after his escape, Shanks' property was levied on to pay the costs of the preliminary examination. The fees of the sheriff, Thos. Horn, alone amounted to $58.29. Some outside friend of Shanks' furnished him with an auger, with which he bored his way to liberty, and once free it is alleged that he was fur- nished with a good horse, a rifle, and a saddle bag full of provisions. 1842 MISCELLANEOUS. At the February term of the county court, Ash Grove township was organized, and the same session a school township was organized therein. — S. D. Hailey resigned his position as superintendent of pub- lic buildings, and Henry Matlock was appointed in his stead. — In May it was shown that the county had expended on roads and bridges, out of the internal improvement (or road and canal) fund, the sum of $1,542.87, leaving a balance of the fund to the amount of $1,124.79. — The county tax levy for this year was 100 per cent over the State levy. — The expenses of the county this year were $1,387.52 ; receipts, $1,775.18. The August Election. — At this election the following were the suc- cessful candidates : John W. Hancock, State Senator ; Leonard H. Sims, representative; Thos. B. Neaves, sherift"; B. A. James, Jas. 196 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. W. Blakey and Bennett Robberson, county justices ; Daniel Cotner, assessor. At the first session of the county court B. A. James Avas chosen presiding justice. Daniel Cotner, the assessor elect, died ])u- fore being qualified. 1843 ITEMS. In February, Sheriff Neaves was made collector, and Thos. Tiller was appointed assessor, vice Daniel Cotner, deceased. — Leonard H. Sims, was appointed the county's agent to draw the road and canal fund from the State treasury. — The county court ordered a meeting of the inhabitants of the county at the court-house, on the first Mon- day in May, to organize a county agricultural society. It is not re- membered what was done at this meetinoj. At the August election John L. McCraw was re-elected county sur- veyor, his opponent being Marcus Boyd. — During this year Geo. R. Smith succeeded John P. Campbell, as receiver of the land office at Springfield, and Robert Smith took the place of "Uncle" Joel H. Haden, as register. The Smiths only held their positions about one year, however. — The total expenses of the county during 1843 were $1,883.12. — The following prominent citizens of the county died dur- ing the year: Thos. Horn, Wm. Fulbright, J. H. Massey, Archibald Young, and Radford Cannefax. — A county tax of 200 per cent over the State tax was levied this year. 1844 NEWSPAPER ESTABLISHED. In May of this year the first number of the Springfield Advertiser was printed at the county seat, the paper having been established by Warren H. Graves, Esq. The paper was a folio (four pages), with six columns to the page, and was Democratic in politics. It had a circulation of about 400. Of the office of this paper Mr, Graves says : " The original Advertiser office was the same in which the Standard and the Eagle had been printed. It had been idle for some time — I think for two or three years — and was under the control and in the possession of John S. Phelps ; but there was a suit between him and John P. Campbell, in relation to the ownership, which was afterward compromised, and the office went to Campbell. This was in the spring of 1846, and then I purchased a new office. The material of HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 197 % the old office was used in 1846, in the interest of John P. Campbell for Congress. The paper was published by E. D. McKinuey." The Advertise?' was published continuously up to the summer of 1861. THE AUGUST ELECTION, 1844. The August election of this year was of unusual interest to the people of Greene county. It was a " Presidential year," and, in ad- dition to that circumstance, two of the citizens of the county were candidates for Congress, both Democrats, and both were elected. Doubtless such an instance is without a parallel in the history of the country, save in counties having large cities within them. The circumstance occurred in this way : At that date Missouri was entitled to five Congressmen, all of whom, by the law then in force, were elected by the voters of the State at large, there being no choice by Congressional districts, as is now the CEse, The Demo- cratic party of Missouri was divided into two factions, the " hards " and the " softs." ^ A dozen candidates were in the field for Cons^ress- men, among whom were John S. Phelps and Leonard H. Sims, one a *' hard " the other a " soft." The five candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the State were to be the Congressmen. D. C. M. Parsons, from Pike count}^ was one of the "hard" candidates. A few days before the election Parsons died, and the "hard" central committee substituted John G. Jameson in his stead. News traveled slowly at that day, for the lack of telegraphs and fast mails, and the tidings of Mr. Parsons' death did not reach all parts of the State until after the election. The result was that some of the " hards " voted for Parsons and others for Jameson, and that Leonard Sims, who obtain- ed the votes of " softs " and Whigs, received a plurality over Parsons and Jameson, and thus it so chanced that both Phelps and Sims were elected. Their colleagues were James B. Bowlin, James H. Relfe, and Sterling Price. The latter resigned in 1846, to engage in the Mexican war, and was succeeded by Wm. McDaniels. This was the beginning of the Congressional career of Gov. Phelps, which lasted for eighteen consecutive years. Hon. L. H. Sims is believed to be still living at Jacksonport, Arkansas. While Mr. Sims was in Congress he made a famous speech on the 1 The "hards " were in favor of hard mone}', or of State bank currency on a metallic basis, convertible into coin on demand, no State bank bills to be of less denomination than $10. The "softs" favored the issue of bank bills of fl, $2, fo, and $5, and leaned toward the Whig idea of free bankintj. 198 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. question of the Oregon boundary difficulty (" 54-40 or fight " ), between Great Britain and the United States, then under discussion in Con- gress. In this speech Mr, Sims scouted the idea of being at all doubt- ful of the result of a contest between this country and England, should it be necessary to decide the controversy by a fight. *' Why, Mr. Speaker," said he, "the ox-drivers of Missouri, armed only with their cattle-whips, can thrash all of the British troops in that quarter, and make the British lion scamper off with his tail between his legs, and take refuge in the far off forests of the north, and mingle his dole- ful whine with ' the wolf's long howl from Onalaska's shore ! ' " The county officers chosen at this election were B. A. James (who had resigned as county judge to make the race), representative ; Thos. B. Neaves, sheriff; B. F. Butler, assessor, and John W. Dagan, coro- ner. On the resignation of Judge James, Wm. C. Price became county justice, in May, and was elected presiding judge of the county court. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 1844. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, were the Whig candidates for President and Vice-President this year, and James Knox Polk, of Tennessee, and George M. Dal- las, of Pennsylvania, the Democratic nominees. There was greater in- terest taken in Greene county in this election than in any other since the organization. The county had doubled in population since 1840, and many of the new arrivals were Whigs, from Tennessee and Ken- tucky, warm admirers of" Harry of the West." James K. Polk, too, had his friends among the Tennesseeaus of this county, many of whom had known him in his own State, and, however unacquainted other portions of the country might have been with him, Mr. Polk was by no means a stranger to the county of Greene. Numerous meetings and one or two barbecues were held at Spring- field this year by the partisans of Polk and Clay. The Whigs were in great spirits, and some of them expected to carry the county for their candidate. The result of the election in November showed, however, that they were outvoted more than two to one, the vote standing: For Polk and Dallas, 817 ; for Clay and Frelinghuysen, 351. The vote of the State stood Polk, 41,369 ; Clay, 31,251. The Gubernatorial canvass attracted considerable attention from the fact that Charles H. Allen, the independent candidate for Governor, against John C. Edwards, Democrat, had formerly been a citizen of Greene county and circuit judge for this circuit. Allen and Edwards HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 199 held a joint discussion in the court-house at Springfield, which was well attended. " Horse " Allen, as he was nicknamed, became some- what excited and jerked a book from Edwards' hand in such a violent manner that the volume was badly torn. Judge Allen received a very respectable vote in this county and only ran 5,621 votes behind Ed- wards in the State. Chas. H. Allen, at the time he was a candidate' for Governor, lived in some one of the ujiper counties. He was a man of fine presence, of commanding stature, a good lawyer, and, though impulsive, and often too hasty in action, was a gentleman of excellent character in the main. It is said he received his cognomen of " Horse " Allen from the following circumstance : On one occasion he was holding court and a disorderly attorney interrupted the proceedings by talking in a loud voice, being engaged in a sort of altercation with another lawyer. The judge commanded silence. To this command the attorney paid no attention. The sheriff chanced to be absent from the room at the time. Thereupon His Honor rose and, in a voice of thunder, cried : ^^ Sit down ^ sir, and keep your mouth shut!'''' The lawyer wilted, sank into a seat and murmured, " Well, as you are judge of this court, I guess I will obey you this time." To this Judge Allen replied: " By G — , sir, I'll let you know that I am not only judge of this court, hut Tm, a hoss besides, and if you don't obey me, I'll make you !" Miscellaneous. — A bridge across the town branch, near Owen's wool-carding factory, was built in the fall of this year, the job being superintended by John Bedford. The bridge was built by Cephas Hill and cost $125. The tax for county purposes this year was 18^/4 cents on the $100.00. The expenses of the county this year were $1,287.94; receipts, $1,303.77. 1845 — MISCELLANEOUS. # In May the Springfield branch of the State Bank of Missouri was established, with J. H. McBride as president; J. R. Danforth, cash- ier; C. A. Haden, clerk. The opening of this institution was quite an event in the history of Springfield. In this year R. J. McElhany succeeded Wm. B. Farmer as post- master of Springfield. Farmer was a Whig, McElhany a Democrat, and James K. Polk, a Democratic president. At the August election, in addition to the regular county officials, 200 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. there were elected two delegates from this district (the 21st) to a State constitutional convention, which convened at Jefferson City November 17, and after being in session for two months, presented a new constitution to the people of the State for adoption at the August election, 184(5. This constitution was rejected by a majority of 9,000. The delegates to the convention from this district were Thos. B, Neaves and Burton A. James, both of this county. This year the county's receipts were largelj'^ in excess of its expen- ditures, the former being $2,458.07, and the expenses $1,115.54, balance in the treasury, $1,342.53. Wm. T. Crenshaw, a prominent citizen of the county, died in October. 1846 COUNTY COURT PROCEEDNIGS. In January A. L. Yarbrough was appointed sheriff, vice Thos. B. Neaves, who had been elected a member of the constitutional conven- tion. Yarbrough afterward had Wra. C. Price appointed his deputy. In May the town of Springfield was re-incorporated, but with bounda- ries so indefinitely described as to be incomprehensible at this day. (See history of Springfield). In July a county tax of 20 cents on the $100 was levied. In May Cass township was organized, on the petition of Jacob Fer- ryman and others. The original boundaries of this township were as follows : Beginning at a point on the northern boundary line of Greene county, six miles east of the eastern boundary of Dade county ; thence to the south boundary of Eobberson township ; thence east seven and one-fourth miles ; thence north to Sac river ; thence down Sac river to the range line between ranges 22 and 23 ; thence north with said range line to the northern boundary of the county ; thence west with the line dividing the counties of Greene and Polk to the place of beginning. THE AUGUST ELECTION, 1846. This year, for the first time, Missoui-i elected Congressmen by dis- tricts. Greene county again had two candidates for Congress, Hon. John S.Phelps (for re-election) and John P. Campbell. Both were Democrats, Phelps a "hard " and Campl)ell a "soft." Each candi- date had a newspaper to advocate his claims. The Advertiser^ by Warren H. Graves, was Phelps' organ, while Campbell's paper was HISTORY OF GKEENE COUNTY. ' 201 the Texas Democrat, a journal established this year by himself and edited by his son-in-law, E. D. McKinney. The canvass was very spirited, but resulted in Campbell's carrying the county, and in Phelps' election by a large majority. The county officers elected this year were the following : — State Senator. — John W. Hancock, over Burton A. James. Representative. — Bennett Robberson, over L. A. Patillo and R. W. Eaton ("Dan Tucker"). Sherif. — Wm. McFarland, over Thomas Potter, A. L. Yarbrough, A. N. Farmer, Wm. Caultield, B. Cowan, G. W. Kelley, Chesley Cannefax, Thos. Tiller, B. F. Butler and Edmund Turner. County Justices.—J. M. Blakey, Elisha Headley and R. W. Sims, over Joseph Miller, Joseph Weaver, J. N. Bailey, J. O. Sheppard and James Dollison. Assessor. — James Redfern, over S. Clark, H. Bruten, R. Wood- ward and J. Langham. Coroner. — A. W. Maupin. Upon the reorganization of the county court in September, the new justices took their seats, and Elisha Headley was made presiding judge. Wm. McFarland, the new sheriff, attended court. McFar- land was a Whig and was elected sheriff of a Democratic county by reason of a multiplicity of Democratic candidates. He was a son-in- law of John Roberts, and operated the latter's distillery, at the big spring east of town. His chief distiller was one John Holcomb. The expenses of running the county this year were $1,498.03 ; re- ceipts, $1,413.38, The assessor's books showed that the total num- ber of property owners in the county in 1846 was 1,747. - GREENE COUNTY IN THE MEXICAN WAR. In 1846 the war between the United States and Mexico broke out, the annexation of Texas beino; the alleo;ed cause of the declaration of war by Mexico against the United States in April, and the attack on American soldiers by Mexicans the ground of the retaliatory declara- tion by the United States, May 13. In June Col. Alex. Doniphan's regiment, the 1st Missouri Mounted Volunteers, was organized at Ft. Leavenworth and soon after departed for New Mexico. In August Col. Sterling Price's regiment, the 2d Missouri, was organized and also left for " the front." There were more volunteers than could be accepted. In September another regi- ment was organized at Leavenworth with Thos. Ruffin as colonel, but at that time it could not be received. 202 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. In Euffin's regiment was one company from Greene county, com- manded by Capt. A. M. Julian. Samuel A. Boak was 1st lieutenant. The company marched from Springfield to Leavenworth and engaged in the organization of the regiment, were disbanded, and returned home after an absence of one month. The company numbered about 75 men. In the following spring Samuel Boak organized another company, of which he was captain and 1st lieutenant. This company left Springfield in good shape, followed by tjie best wishes of quite a multitude that had assembled to see the soldiers start for the field where glory awaited them. A barbecue was given in a grove on St. Louis street, about 250 yards east of the public square, and there were speeches, a flag presentation, etc. The response was by Capt. Boak, who was a lawyer of fair ability, and had an ofiice with John S. Phelps, though he did not have much practice. He had not long been, nor did he long remain, a citizen of Springfield, and it is not known what became of him finally. Capt. Boak's company was mustered into the service in May, 1847. It comprised a portion of the 3d Missouri Mounted Infantry Volun- teers, Col. John Ralls, of Ralls count}^ commanding. This regiment operated as far into the Mexican States as El Paso, Chihuahua and Santa Cruz de Rosales, at which latter place, March 16th, 1848, under Col. Ralls, seven companies of the regiment, two companies of United States dragoons, under Maj. Beal, and the Santa Fe Battalion, under Maj. Walker, constituting a force of 600 or 700 men, fought a battle with the Mexicans under Gen. Freas, who were in the town and sheltered by l)reast\vorks. The fight lasted from 9 o'clock in the morning until about sun-down, when the place was charged, and the Mexicans defeated with a loss of 330 killed, many wounded, a large quantity of arms, ammunition, wagons, teams, etc. The Americans then occupied the town, the Mexicans having surrendered a large number of prisoners, who Avere released the next day on parole. In a few days after this battle, all the American forces returned to Chihuahua, where they remained until the close of the war, except seven companies of the 3d Missouri, that were stationed at Santa Cruz de Rosales, and occupied that post until the end of the war. In July, 1848, these companies were ordered to Independence, Missouri, and mustered out the following October. The other three companies were stationed at Taos, New Mexico, during their term and never HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 203 joined their regiment until they were mustered out with it, at Inde- pendence. These three companies had been under the command of Maj. Reynolds, who died on his return, in October, 1848, at Fort Mann, below the crossing of the Arkansas river. When Boak's company returned to Springfield, it was given a hearty welcome and an imposing reception. Another grand barbecue was held at F nl bright' s spring, where there was much speech-making and a general good time. 1847 MISCELLANEOUS. Two townships were organized this year, — Dallas, July 8, and Por- ter, October 4. Dallas was organized in response to a petition pre- sented by D. A. W. Morehouse and others, and comprised what had for- merly been the south half of Ozark township, which township was now di- vided by a line " beginning on the east boundary line of Greene county, thence running west to the Widow Conley's, thence westwardly to Wil- liam Harwood's, thence west to the line dividing Ozark and Jackson townships." All territory north of this line was established as Ozark township. Porter township was reorganized (having first been erected in 1834), and its bounds declared to be " a line beginning at the corner of sec- tions 12 and 13, on the line between ranges 21 and 22, thence run- ning west to the State road leading from Si>ringfield to Fayetteville, thence south with said road to the county line." Elections in Porter township were held at Ingram's mills. Wm. Sanders and Matthew McCroskey were appointed justices of the peace. In this year the county was thoroughly organized for school pur- poses. Under the act of the Legislature of March 27, 1845, every congressional township was to be erected into a school township, the inhabitants thereof to meet at an appointed place, choose school di- rectors, determine as to the length of school, etc. About the last of November the people of the following school townships met and or- ganized, pursuant to an order of the county court, made in accordance with a petition of the majority of the voters thereof: Smith school tow^nship. No. 24 (being Cong. tp. 30, range 20), at John Smith's; Chaffin school township, No. 25 (tp. 29-18), at Robert Chaffin's ; Pryor school township. No. 26 (tp. 27-19), at Wm. Stout's. It is stated that schools were established in nearly every school township in the county during 1847 and 1848. 204 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. At the August election Wm. C. Price was elected probate judge over Henry Fulbright, and John L. McCraw county surveyor over Marcus Boyd. In October Elisha Headlee was again made presiding justice of the county court. Prominent among the citizens of the county who died this year were General Joseph Powell, March 7, aged 39 ; Bennett Robberson and Sterling B. Allen, in J\i\y ; Sidney S. Ingram, August 9, and James C. Turner in December. In April the municipal government of the town of Springfield was established by the election of A. Maurice, Jr., mayor. The town needed a calaboose, and, having none, the county court graciously granted it the use of the county jail in which to incarcerate of- fenders. The total expenses of the county this j^ear were $1,360.63. 1848 MISCELLANEOUS. Judge Jeremiah Sloan, one of the first justices of the county court of Greene county, died January 22, at his residence in Looney town- ship, Polk county. In April Wm. P. Davis was appointed deputy county clerk. Taxes were higher in 1848 than in any previous year, a levy for county purposes alone being made in July of 30 cents on the hundred dollars. AUGUST ELECTION. The August election of the year 1848, called out a full vote in Greene county. Two of its citizens were again candidates for im- portant and responsible positions. Hon. John S. Phelps was the Democratic candidate for Congress for re-election) from this, then the 5th district, against James Winston, and Hon. Littleberry Hendrick was the Whig candidate for Lieutenant Governor with Hon. J. S. Rollins, of Boone county, for Governor, Austin A. King and Thos. L. Price were the Democratic candidates for Governor and Lieuten- ant Governor respectively. The Greene county candidates were : For representative, Thos. B. Neaves, Democrat, and Marcus Boyd, Whig; for sheriff, G. W. Kelly, Dem., and AVm. McFarland, Whig ; assessor, James Kedfern, Dem., and S. Clark, Whig. The full vote HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 205 of the county, by townships, this year may be found of interest, and is herewith given : — VOTE OF GREEN COUNTY AT AUGUST ELECTION, 1848. Governor. Lt. Governor. Congress. Represen- tative. Sheriff. Assessor. TOWNSHIPS. 03 1 1 a. g S3 s 1 1 1^ Camphell 285 66 47 87 212 76 60 37 71 37 62 219 10 27 50 42 41 33 19 19 21 30 282 66 47 87 212 76 60 37 70 36 62 220 11 28 49 42 42 32 19 18 21 30 275 66 46 84 196 72 57 36 68 39 60 999 214 6 26 53 37 39 33 17 20 16 24 234 58 45 76 189 52 50 32 57 37 54 254 10 27 58 60 68 38 17 24 26 30 210 57 40 86 167 56 51 30 58 31 51 291 17 33 55 86 75 42 24 26 33 40 162 46 40 56 115 37 37 22 59 19 51 320 Dallas Polk 19 33 Cass 80 Finley 112 Robberson Boone 85 53 Porter 32 Jackson 24 Ozark 43 Benton 37 Total 1040 511 1035 512 485 884 612 837 722 646 838 The Presidential election this year did not draw out a full vote of either party. The Democrats knew they were certain to carry the county and the State, and the Whigs were willing to concede the fact, and both parties had spent their strength at the August election. The Presidential vote stood : For the Cass and Butler electors, 825 ; for the Taylor and Fillmore electors, 401. Democratic majority, 424. September 10, of this year, the first number of a Whig paper called the Springfield Whig was issued at Springfield, by Fisher & Swartz. The paper was the successor of Mr. McKinney's Texas Democrat, and was edited by Hon. Littleberry Hendrick. The Whigs were proud of their new organ and gave it very fair support for a time. Mr. Hendrick and Dr. T. J. Bailey were its chief backers. The Whig suspended publication at Springfield, the following year, and the office was removed to Osceola. " THE BIG SLEET. In November of this year came the " big sleet, " as it was afterward known. The sleet began falling and then came rain and hail and freezing weather alternately, until the ice covered the ground to a depth of three or four inches. Timber was badly broken down, and in man}'^ places the roads were impassable, being blocked by the trees which on either side were weighted down with ice and fallen or bent 206 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. down across the roadway so as to completely obstruct it. Ice shoes for horses were unknown here then, and many a horse slipped on the ice, fell and either himself or rider was severely injured. The people in many parts of the county were compelled to bring to light their old mortars and pestles and " beat" meal for bread, as it was impos- sible to get to mill for some days. Two men were reported to have fallen and fatally injured themselves. One of the men lived near Fair Grove. The "big sleet" was general throughout the Southwest. 1849 A TEMPERANCE WAVE. In February of this year there was a great temperance revival in Springfield. A series of temperance meetings were held and a lodge of the Sons of Temperance formed. By the 1st of April this lodo^e contained about seventy-five members. On the 7th of April there was a grand temperance celebration in Springfield. The Sons of Tem- perance marched in full regalia from their lodge room to the Christian church, where addresses were delivered by Rev. B. McCord Roberts, Rev. Thomas Johnson, and others. A temperance dinner was one of the features of the day. It may be remarked, gently and with a certain sort of regret, that, to temperance reformers, Springfield at that day was a "field white for the harvest, " and could have furnished very many specimens of frightful examj)les of quaffing immoderately the flowing bowl, or " drinking between drinks. " Happily, the last state of that town is better than the first. IMPROVEMENTS . During the year many important and substantial public improve- ments were completed in the county. Two good bridges were built, one, costing $1,800, was thrown across the James river, at or near Cason's mill, and one, costing $900, was thrown over Finley creek, near Massey's mill. Additions and repairs, at an aggregatecost of $1,877, were made to the court-house, of which sum $250 was for a cupola. Of the latter improvement a story is told that a prominent citizen, once a general officer in the militia and a candidate for the Legislature, denounced the authorities for erecting such a structure. " If they can't find no other way of spending the people's money," said he, "they spend it putting up tupelowSy which is no account anyhow. " HISTORY or GREENE COUNTY. 207 MISCELLANEOUS . State school money to the amount of $1,076.79 was received by the county this year, and distributed among the different school town- ships. Springfield school township received $114,27. The expenses of the county in 1849 were $3,042.52; receipts, $3,440.22; balance, $397.70. The delinquent tax list amounted to only $35.90. In April Peter Apperson was appointed postmaster at Springfield, vice R. J. McElhany, who resigned ; but later in the year that staunch old Whig, Wm. B. Farmer, was appointed by the Whig Postmaster Gen- eral to the office. Ex-Senator Josiah F. Danforth, died at San An- gelos, New Mexico, August 20, while on his way to California. THE JACKSON RESOLUTIONS. Early in the year 1849 there began a series of discussions in the Missouri Legislature concerning the slavery question, or rather the power of Congress over slavery in the territories. On the 15th of January Hon. C. F. Jackson, senator from Howard, afterward Governor of the State, introduced into t^he Legislature a series of resolutions as follows : — Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri : That the Federal constitution was the result of a compromise between the conflicting interests of the States which formed it, and in no part of that instrument is to be found any delegation of power to Congress to legislate on the subject of slavery, excepting some special provisions, having in view the prospective abolition of the African slave trade, made for securing the recovery of fugitive slaves ; any attempt there- fore on the part of Congress to legislate on the subject, so as to aflect the institution of slavery in the States, in the District of Columbia, or in the territories, is, to say the least, a violation of the principles upon which that instrument was founded. 2. That the territories, acquired by the blood and treasure of the whole nation, ought to be governed for the common benefit of the people of all the States, and any organization of the territorial gov- ernments excluding the citizens of any part of the Union from removing to such territories with their property, would be an exercise of power by Congress inconsistent with the spirit upon which our federal compact was based, insulting to the sovereignty and dignitv of the States thus affected, calculated to alienate one portion of the Union from another, and tending ulimately to disunion. 3. That this General Assembly regard the conduct of the Northern States on the subject of slavery as releasing the slave-holding States from all further adherence to the basis of compromise, fixed on by the 208 HISTORY OF GRKENE COUNTY, act of Congress of March 6, 1820, even if such act ever did im- pose any obligation upon the shivc-holding States and authorizes them to insist upon their rights under the constitution ; but for the sake of harmony and for the preservation of our Federal Union they will still sanction the application of the principles of the Missouri Compromise to the recent territorial acquisitions, if by such con- cession future aggressions upon the equal rights of the States may be arrested and the spirit of anti-slavery fanaticism be extinguished. 4. The right to prohibit slavery in any territory belongs exclusively to the people thereof, and can only be exercised by them in forming their constitution for a State government, or in their sovereign ca- pacity as an independent State. 5. That in the event of the passage of any act of Congress conflict- ing with the principles herein expressed, Missouri will be found in hearty co-operation with the slave-holding States, in such measures as may be deemed necessary for our mutual protection against the encroachments of Northern fanaticism. 6. That our Senators in Congress be instructed and our Represen- tatives be requested to act in conformity to the foregoing resolutions. The foregoing resolutions were known as the " Jackson Resolutions, " from the name of their mover, but their real author was Hon. W. B. Napton, of Saline county, latterly a judge of the Supreme Court, who admitted the fact to the writer. Space is given to an account of the Jackson resolutions in this volume from the fact that, at the time, they engaged a large share of the attention of the leading politicians, and prominent men of the county. The representative of the county voted for them, but the sentiment of his constituents was not unani- mous in their favor. There were many who thought their passage untimel}^ unwise, and that they foreboded eventually a dissolution of the Union. Col. Thomas H. Benton, Missouri's distinguished Senator, was es- pecially opposed to the resolutions. He thought (and correctly, too, ) that they were aimed at him, and designed to deprive him of his seat in the United States Senate, which he had held for nearly thirty consec- utive years. The last section commanded him to act in accordance with the resolutions, the spirit of which he had often vigorously op- posed. Col. Benton appealed from the action of the Legislature to the peo- ple of Missouri and canvassed the State against the Jackson resolu- tions. In the summer of 1849 he spoke in Springfield. The meet- ing was held in Fairer's grove, in the southern part of town. While in Springfield Col. Benton was the guest of Joseph Moss, Esq. The meeting was largely attended. It had been reported that Hon. Thos. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 209 B. Neaves, the county's representative, and John W. Hancock, the State Senator, both of whom had voted for the Jackson resolutions, had declared, with some others, that " Old Bullion" should not speak in Springfield, and trouble was imminent, the Benton men being on hand, in strong force, to protect their leader. No disturbance occur- red, save that, during the delivery of the speech, Mr. Hancock rose with his hat on, and asked the speaker if he might propound to him a series of questions. "Who are you, sir?" sternly demanded Mr. Benton ; ^ " take off your hat, sir, when you address a gentleman. " *'Iam John W. Hancock, sir, " returned Mr. H., "and I am State Senator from this district. " Mr. Hancock then put his questions in a respectful manner, but Mr. Benton paid no attention to them. Col. Benton's speech in Springfield was long remembered by those who heard it. He maintained that the spirit of nullification and trea- son lurked in the Jackson resolutions, especially in the fifth ; that they were a mere copy of the Calhoun resolutions, oflered in the'United States Senate, February 19, 1847, and denounced by him (Benton) at the time as fire-brands, and intended for disunion and electioneering purposes. He said he could see no difference between them, except as to the time contemplated for dissolving the Union, as he claimed that Mr. Calhoun's tended directly and the Jackson resolutions ulti- mately to that point. Col, Benton further argued that the Jackson resolutions were in conflict with the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and with the resolutions passed by the Missouri Legislature, February 15, 1847, wherein it was declared that "the peace, permanency and welfare of our national union depend upon a strict adherence to the letter and spirit" of that compromise, and which instructed the Mis- souri Senators and Representatives to vote in accordance with its pro- visions. In conclusion. Col. Benton warned his hearers that the Jackson resolutions were intended to mislead them into aiding the scheme of ultimately disrupting the national union, and entreated them to remain aloof from them. PROGRESS OF THE COUNTY FROM 1840 TO 1850. During the decade from 1840 to 1850 the progress of Greene county was at no time impeded. The county increased year by year in popu- lation, wealth and influence until at the close of the year 1849 it oc- cupied a proud position among its sister counties of the State, standing 1 "I knew well enough who he was, " Col. Benton afterwards said, " but I wanted to make him bow to me and take off his hat like a d— d nigger I " 14 210 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. twelfth in order of population, and tenth in vahie of real and })ersonal property. It must be born in mind that this state of aftairs was brought about when there were no railroads to assist in the develop- ment of the country, and no steamboats to aid its commerce and traf- ric. The citizens depended on themselves — on their own exertions for what they had. Everything was accomplished by hard work. Farm- ing was performed with the aid of tools almost primitive in their char- acter. Plows with wooden mold-boards were common; "nigger hoes " were in general use — implements Aveighing five pounds, made by a country blacksmith ; grain was cut with cradles, and occasionally it was reaped with sickles ; threshing was done with flails or the grain was trodden out by horses, and frequently winnowed by hand in the open air. Yet great quantities of produce were raised, and it found a ready, if not a good, market. Wheat was often 30 cents a bushel ; corn 5(7 cents or 60 cents a barrel ; pork from $1.25 to $1.50 per hun- dred. Other articles of farm produce brought proportionate prices. No inconsiderable amounts were realized from the sales of improved farms and lands. New comers preferred to buy land that had been tested and found to be productive. Even if the improvements were reallv insignificant in character and value, land containing them, if it had been successfully cultivated, was counted worth vastly more than unimproved land lying alongside. A man could "breakout" and partially improve a piece of raw land costing $200, or $1.25 per acre, that in two years would sell to a home seeker from Tennessee or Ken- tuck}^ for $2,000 or $3,000. In this way many men accumulated con- siderable sums of ready money — by improving lands and selling them again. Commerce with the outside world was difficult, but it was made fairly profitable. A valuable trade was kept up with the Indians. Farmers and traders were accustomed to send out from the county every year wagon loads of provisions — bacon, flour, potatoes, etc., — to the trading posts in the Indian Territory, to Ft. Gibson, Ft. Smith, Ft.. Scott, and other points, where they found ready sale, affair prices. A great deal of money was brought into the county by those who were in the Indian trade. The breeding and selling of mules was a business largely remunerative and considerabh^ engaged in. The long-eared animals were bought by dealers and driven to Southern markets, in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, Avhere they were sold to cotton and sugar planters at handsome profits. Some Greene HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 211 county citizens realized consideriible fortunes in tlie horse and mule trade. Merchandise of all kinds was brought into the country in wagons. Everything was bought in St. Louis and commonly shipped up the Missouri river on steamboats to Boonville, from whence it was brought here in wagons. Occasionally, especially from 1840 to 1844, when the Missouri river was very low, and steamboat freights very high, goods were hauled from St. Louis direct. It required about one month to make the trip to and from St. Louis with a load of goods, provided the Gasconade, the Meramec, and other streams were not high and the teams were not "water bound," for at that day there were no bridges across any but the smallest streams. The road to St. Louis was what came to be known long afterwards as the " wire road,'" and is that which is followed generally by the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad. The long distance from the wholesale mar- ket often made salt cost the consumer $5 a barrel. At different periods plans were set on foot for the improvement of White river, so as to make it navigable for light draught steamboats as far up as the mouth of the James, then in the southern part of this county, now in Stone. Congressional aid was sought, but the Demo- crats, then in power, were opposed to committing the government to the policy of aiding internal improvements, believing such a policy unconstitutional, and nothing could be obtained. The State was then appealed to and bills were introduced in the Legislature by the mera- V)ers from Greene to appropriate a sufficient sum (estimated at from $8,000 to $12,000) to render the stream navigable into this county, but all such bills were always loaded down with amendments for the improvement of other streams of the State to such an extent that the bills were uniformh^ killed. As late as 1850 Hon. Burton A. James, of Greene, State Senator from this district, introduced a bill, on which lie made an excellent speech, to improve White river, ])utthe measure failed. Had the stream been made navigable, merchandise could have been brouglit into the county all the way by water from St. Louis, down the Mississippi and up the White river, cheaper than it could be wagoned across the country from Boonville. The people of the county, even at that early day, were alive to the importance of securing railway communication with the outer world, and whenever an expression was obtained it was almost always unanimously in favor of a railroad. Various railroads to run from St. Louis or some other point on the Mississippi into Greene county 212 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. were thought of from time to time, but not until March, 1849, was the Pacific raih-oad chartered, and soon after the " Southwest Branch " followed — the latter now the St. Louis and San Francisco — with its 1,040,000 acres of land from the general government and bonds to the amount of $4,500,000 guaranteed by the State. From 1845 to 1850 railroad meetings were held not only in Greene county, but in Lawrence, Barry, Ja!^pel• and McDonald. Mail routes had come to be pretty freely established throughout the county by 1850. Stage lines from Boonville, Jefferson, Lebanon, Fayetteville, ran through Springfield, and carried not only the mails but passengers. Other mails were carried on horseback. In 1850 postage on letters was only five cents, and Hon. John S. Phelps had introduced a bill in Congress to still further decrease the rate of letter postage to three cents. Upon the first settlement of the country, and for many years there- after, the cultivation of cotton was attempted in the county, but the results were never altogether completely satisfactory. It is stated that in the '40s nearly every farmer in the county had his cotton patch, but it was only for home consumption, and was ginned, spun, and woven mostly b}^ hand, by the female members of the family. The county had improved in many respects very materially. The old log cabins of the pioneers gradually gave way to frame and brick buildings and comfortable barns arose on almost every hand. Saw- mills were put up in all parts of the county and lumber (native) became reasonably abundant and cheap. Churches sprung up and schools were established in every township. It was in the year 1842 that the State made its first apportionment of school moneys — a very insignificant amount — only $1,999.69 to the entire State. In 1849 the apportionment had reached the respectable sum of $59,456.01. Altogether, in the seven years from 1842 and including 1849, the amount of the school fund apportioned among the counties amounted to but $225,323.49, not as much as was distributed ten years later in a single year, and but a very trifiing sum compared with what is now annually expended. Greene county added to her share of the State school fund and very many o-ood country schools were opened in dift'erent parts of the county. " Select schools " were to be found in Springfield, at Eben- ezer, and elsewhere. In 1849 the Southwestern Missouri High School ; the Springfield Academy, by Bills &, McConnell ; Mrs. jNIerritt's and Mrs. Anderson's school for young ladies, and Miss McDonald's "Fe- male Institute " were the leading schools in Greene county. HISTORY OF GREEjNE COUNTY. 213 CHAPTER IV. HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1850 TO 1856. 1850 — Miscellaneous — Another Indian Scare — The First Wire Fence in Greene County — Statistics — Fatal Casualties — Official Proceedings — The Political Canvass of 1850 — Four Candidates for Congress — The Benton and Anti-Benton Democrats — The "Wily Whigs," — Newspaperdom in 1850 — The August Election — The California Gold Fever — List of Those Who Caught it. 1S51 — Miscellaneous — Schools — Examinations — Re- • suscitatingaCity Charter — August Election — Springfield Markets — Deaths of Prominent Citizens — Prohibition — Democratic Reunion — Improvement of Wliite River. 1852 — Prohibition Again — Miscellany — The August Election — The Presidential Election — Deaths of Prominent Citizens. 185S — Miscellaneous. 1854 — County Officials — Railroad Matters — August Election — Hanging of Willis Washam — The First Legal Execution in the County — History of the Crime — Miscellaneous Matters. 1855 — A Hard Winter — The Poor House — Betting on Elections — New Paper and a New Party — The Know Nothings — Railroad Tax — Soldiers on the March — August Election — Court of Common Pleas — Business Firms and Business Done in Springfield in 1855 — Trial of John A. J. Lee for Murder. 1850 — MISCELLANEOUS. January 14, the county was visited by one of the deepest snows known for many years. The snow was from 10 to 14 inches deep on a level. About the 20th of January Col. Marcus Boyd was appointed re- ceiver in the land office, in the room of Robert Smith, who had re- signed. Judge Dade was register of the office at the time. It was during this winter that another "Indian scare" occurred. A small party of Delawares, under a chief named " Long Horn," came into Jasper county and encamped on the north fork of Spring river, near a Mr. Petty's. They were in search of stolen horses, as written certificates in their possession showed. While the most of them were at Mr. Petty's procuring provisions, a man named Roope and six or seven of his sons and sons-in-law came upon the Indian camp and secured all the guns and other property and were about making off when (an alarm having been given b}^ an Indian boy) the Indians returned. Long Horn tried to take his gun away from Roope and was fired at by one of the white men. Other shots were fired at the Indians, but the latter stood their ground, and Roope and his party went away and soon afterward spread a report that another " Indian outrage" had been perjjetrated on "unoffending white citi- zens." The trnth was established very soon by Mr. Petty and other reputable citizens of Jasper county. It may here be set down that in the early spring of this year some farmer of Greene county, in a communication to the Southwestern 214 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Flag^ announced that he had made a wire fence about certain portion^ of his premises, which was "a complete success." This was years before such a fence was patented, and seems to have been the farmer's own invention. "It turns cattle and horses perfectly," the writer said, " but I think it would work better if it had some sharp prongs attached to the wires to prevent the stock from scratching themselves against it so much." Who this farmer was that tirst used a smooth wire fence in Greene county (if not in Missouri) and suggested one of barbed wire, cannot now be learned as he only signed the name «' Farmer " to his letter to the newspaper. The population of the county this year was : Whites, 11,653 ; slaves, 1,146; total 12,799. Of Campbell township : Free white 2,142 ; slaves, 561. Number of school children, 4,548. Number of farms yielding annually $100 worth of produce and upwards, 296. Manufacturing establishments producing $500 worth of manufactured articles, 21. Mrs. Martha Blakey, wife of Judge James Blakey, died August 1, after a protracted illness. She was a native of Logan county, Ky., and at the time of her death was 31 years of age. Mrs. Olivia M. Bert-y, wife of Maj. D. D. Berry, died July 18, aged 39. Mrs. Berry was a daughter of Wm. Polk, of Arkansas, formerly of Tennessee. The Southwest Missouri High School opened in April with a large number of students, and in a flourishing condition generally. FATAL CASUALTIES DURING 1850. About the first of February a Mrs. Sanders, an aged and respected lady of the county, was drowned in James fork of White river by accidentally falling into the stream. The water was shallow, but very cold, and the lady, enfeebled by age, was unable to extricate herself and drowned before assistance reached her. — A little boy, a son of Col. F. S. Coleman, in attem[)ting to run from under a falling tree, which his brothers were cutting, fell and was caught by the tree, and crushed to death. — May 28, Rev. Jesse Mason, an aged and respected minister of the gospel, and a citizen of this county, started from home for Greenfield, Dade count}^ to fill an appointment. About three miles from his home his horse became frightened and threw him. He lay until evening before being discovered. After being taken up he never spoke thereafter. Four days later he died. OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS. In this year the sum of $206.40 was paid by the county to the pa- trolers for their services in "keeping straight" the slave population. — HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 215 At the meeting of the county court in October, Henry Fulbright, one of the justices elect, was made presiding justice. — Some time dur- ing 1850, Wm. C. Price resigned the office of probate judge and was succeeded by Hon. James Arnold. — The official reports showed the total expenses of the county for the year 1850 to be $3,263.44 ; re- ceipts, $2,472.97 ; deficit, $780.47. Deducting from this deficit the balance in the treasury at the close of the last fiscal year, $397.70, still left the country in debt to the amount of $382.76, on January 1, 1851. THE POLITICAL CANVASS OF 1850. Never since the admission of Missouri into the Union has there been a more exciting political canvass than that of 1850. It was an excit- ing period in the history of the United States, that year. The ques- tion of the admission of California into the Union with a constitution prohibiting slavery ; the compromise or " omnibus bill " under discus- sion in the U. S. Senate ; the passage of a fugitive slave bill by Congress and of " personal liberty " bills by certain Northern States calculated to interfere with the operations of the fugitive slave law, — these and other exciting questions caused great agitation throughout the country. In the early part of the year 1849, South Carolina, — always a State "touchy " in the extreme, proposing nothing and never satisfied with anything, — 'wanted to secede from the Union, and invited the other Southern States to go wnth her. A convention of the Southern States was called|to meet at Nashville, Tennessee, in June, 1850, to consider the situation and to take action " to preserve the rights and protect the interests of the South " — whatever that may have meant. The pas- sage of the "Jackson resolutions" by the Missouri Legislature, in 1849, in some sense committed the State to sympathy and co-operation with the Nashville convention, but no delegates were authoritatively sent. The Democratic party of the State was divided into two factions — the Benton Democrats, or the " hards," who indorsed Col. Benton's course and views, and favored his re-election to the U. S. Senate for the sixth term of six years, and the anti-Bcnton Democrats or " softs" Avho opposed him, and were bent on defeating him in his contest for re-election. The Whigs — "the wilv Whios " — consti- O J CD tuted the third party, and, taking advantage of the bitter and uncom- prising warfare between the Democratic factions, made shrewd and careful preparation to capture the senatorial, certain legislative, and other prizes for themselves — and in the end they were successful. In Greene county the campaign was hotly contested. The Benton Democrats held a county convention, April 8, which was presided over 21G HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. bj Win. Coyne, and which nominated a full county ticket, headed by Elisha Headlee and L. J. Morrow, as candidates for representatives. Resolutions were adopted, indorsing Col. Benton, condemning the '* Jackson resolutions," and saying of the Nashville convention: "That although Missouri is bound, by the resolutions of the Legisla- ture, to take part in that convention, we repudiate the resolutions so binding her, and will cast the same odium on every Missourian who favors the holding of that convention, or who may attend it, that now attaches to every representative and delegate that attended the noto- rious ' Hartford convention ' of 1812." Another resolution declared, " that we are a law-abiding and Union-loving people; therefore, we repudiate all measures and men who might, by any possibility, endan- ger the perpetuity of the American Union." G. W. Dodson was chairman of the committee on resolutions and one of its members was F. T. Frazier, who, eleven years later, was an enthusiastic secession- ist, a member of the Senate of the " Claib. Jackson Legislature," and one of those who voted for the Neosho ordinance of secession. The anti-Benton Democrats, on " softs," put out a ticket some weeks later, substituting W. C. Price, for Headlee, for representative, and associating with him at tirst. Col. Staley, who was afterwards withdrawn. John W. Hancock was the candidate for State Senator, from this district, then composed of Greene, Taney and Ozark coun- ties. Burton A. James was the Benton nominee. The " wily Whigs " met in convention at Springfield, May 31. Hon. John S. Waddill, father of the present Adjutant General of Missouri, presided ; W. G. Roberts, was secretary. The convention made no nomination for county officers, deciding, wisely enough, to do nothing towards uniting the wrangling Democrats, but to make a " still hunt " and bring out quietly two or three prominent men of their own party as independent candidates, and try to elect them. Resolutions were reported by a committee composed of Littleberrj' Hendrick, Hugh Stewart, S. S. Vinton, W. Blakey, Wm. B. Farmer, and Dr. John W. Chenoweth, indorsing President Taylor's administration, and declar- ing : " That we most cordially approve of the course pursued l)y the Hon. Henry Chiy, of Kentucky, and Hon. Daniel Webster, of Massa- chusetts, in their endeavors to harmonize tiie conflicting interests and feelings of the American people, growing out of the questions in regard to slavery, and their course on that subject entitles them to the confi- dence and respect of the nation." The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and after appointing fifteen delegates, headed by Dr. H. M. Parrish, to a Congressional Convention to be held at Osceola in June, HISTORY OF GREKNE COUNTY. 217 the convention adjourned — expressing no opinion in regard to the merits of the question of Benton vs. anti-Benton. In the 5th district there were four candidates for Congress. Hon. John S. Phelps was the regular Benton candidate ; Wm. Shields, of Lafayette,^ anti-Benton ; Samuel Woodson, of Jackson, Whig; and Wm. Gilpin, of Jackson, independent Benton Democrat. In Greene county the canvass fairly opened in Springfield July 6, when at a large meeting speeches were made by three of the candidates for Congress — Woodson, Shields and Gilpin. Col. Phelps was at the time in his seat in Congress. From this time onward the tiofht waxed hotter and hotter until the close. The two factions of the Democrats had each a newspaper. The Southwestern Flag, edited by John M. Richardson, was the organ of the Benton men ; the Advertiser, by Warren H. Graves, supported the anti-Bentonites. Each side, too, had good speakers. It is a mistake to suppose that political canvasses were conducted thirty years ago with more of courtesy, more of gentleness, more of mild words, than they are to-day. The crimination and recrimination were as common with party papers as they have ever been or are likely to be. The Benton men charged the anti-Bentons with being " disun- ionists, " " nuUifiers, " " aiders and abettors of treason and traitorous schemes, " and bestowed upon them a choice lot of epithets calculated to bring them into the contempt of all classes of patriotic people. They extolled their leader, Mr. Benton, " to the skies, " and denounced all his opposers, from his colleague in the Senate, David E. Atchison, to the humblest voter in the ranks. The anti-Benton men were as severe on their opponents. They denounced Col. Benton as a " boss " — at least that would have been the term employed in these days — of whose imperious, domineering conduct and bullying spirit they had become thoroughly tired, and with whose vacillating record on the subject of slavery they had become thoroughly disgusted. The Benton men were called " lick- spittles, " "Benton's slaves," " free-soil ers, " and even *' aboli- tionists, " and to call a man an abolitionist at that day in Missouri was to bestow upon him the sum of opprobrious epithets. The anti- Benton men, for the most part, denied that they were disunionists under all the existing circumstances, and professed unreserved loyalty to " the government established by Washington and Jefferson." The Whigs — ah! the "wily Whigs," — kept aloof from the Democratic quarrel, occasionally patting each side on the back when 1 In 1861 a prominent secessionist and one of Gov. Jackson's financial commissioners. 218 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. they could do 8o without being observed by the other side, and all the time remaining in an attitude as if they stood with their arms folded and saying very meekly of their own party: "Behold how great an institution is Whiggery ! See those unfortunate Democrats ; how angry they are ! We Whigs never quarrel, for Whigism means peace on earth and good will to men." In this county there was the most intense interest taken in the can- vass. Discussions between the contending factions sometimes resulted in personal difficulties, altercations and brawls. Each side accused the other of fraud and corruption of all sorts. The Advertiser and the i*^^a^ bristled with black lines and such headings as ^^ Another Lie Nailed!'' '■'Keep it Before the People!''' '■'■Look Out for Fraud!" '■'Read This," etc., etc. Meetings were held in every township in the county, and the " organizers " were abroad in every precinct in the land. Finally came the August election, and with it the conflict for a time ceased. Following is the official vote of Greene county at the AUGUST ELECTION, 1850. For Congress. Senate Representa- tives. Justices County Court. Sher- iff. TOWNSHIPS. 1 o 1 i 1 .si 1 1 s e 1 S e 1 63 8 B s §• S S o •a 3 is 1 5(> 43 191 88 56 142 56 ao 27 46 90 35 30 14 259 45 15 63 28 37 18 33 35 32 19 11 44 8 21 67 17 11 4 16 13 7 2 1 3 58 41 150 86 54 129 53 30 23 48 84 36 39 24 295 32 36 132 46 47 23 49 48 31 57 44 180 85 58 167 56 32 26 45 89 36 55 34 162 76 50 123 54 28 24 45 85 29 40 24 267 20 35 107 40 43 20 49 38 31 45 29 296 58 36 107 42 47 23 47 52 37 56 49 226 86 39 114 59 26 28 45 88 30 55 43 215 82 62 119 75 57 28 46 94 40 61 39 169 75 49 135 58 25 23 46 84 31 36 22 286 34 33 130 38 22 21 49 47 31 29 22 217 17 60 113 34 54 17 42 36 34 28 26 222 19 32 147 30 16 20 43 49 38 67 50 198 105 66 132 64 42 26 46 99 40 35 Benton 18 ■^57 HI Dallas Finley 17 1?8 Jackson Ozark 36 36 ?1 Polk 43 Robberson Taylor 41 33 Total 860 589 236 6 792 792 875 765 714 819 846 906 795 749 674 670 965 696 The contest for State Senator in this district resulted as follows : Greene county — James, 792 ; Hancock, 792, a tie ; Taney county — James, 570; Hancock, 147. Ozark — elames, 183; Hancock, 164. Total — James, 1545; Hancock, 1103; James's majorit}^ 442. The result in the county was the election of one representative, Morrow, a Benton man, and one "wily Whig," Wm. McFarland. At the election of U. S. Senator in the Legislature on the final ballot, (the 59th) Senator B. A. James and Representative Morrow voted for Ben- ton, and Mr. McFarland for Henry S. Geyer, who w^as elected. The elec- tion in Greene, except in the case of Mr. McFarland, was a complete HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 219 triumph for the Benton Democrats. That 3^ear all Southwest Missouri went for Benton. THE CALIFORNIA GOLD FEVER. The discovery of gold in California in 1849 greatly excited the peo- ple of the West, and Greene county caught the infection. That yellow slave which doth knit and break religions ; Bless the accursed ; make the hoar leprosy adored ; Place thieves and give them title, knee and approbation, , With senators on the bench — Tempted many to perilous journeys and sore hardship that they might become its master. In the summer and fall of 1849 a few left the county for the new Eldorado, of whose riches such marvelous tales were told — where it was said even the wave of the river and the spray of the fountain were bright with the glitter of drops of virgin gold. In the year 1850 many men left the county and joined the srreat caravan of gold-seekers. Some of these made great sacrifices in order to obtain the means to procure an " outfit," and afterward had good cause to regret that they did so, having failed to strike " pay dirt," and the trip generally not " panning out." In the spring of 1850 Judge James Brown secured a number of young men to cross the plains with him in the capacity of teamsters, they receiving as pay for their services their board on the way, free freightage for 100 pounds of baggage, and twenty days' rations after they should reach California. The majority of the emigrants from Greene county to the Eldorado went by the northern route, via Forts Kearney and Laramie, and through the " great desert. " A few parties took the southern route, through Kansas, New Mexico and Arizolia. Mr. J.F. Danforth took this route, and died on the way. The largest company set out May 2. It is believed that the following list comprises a majority of the names of the Greene county Argonauts who left the county for Cali- fornia during the years 1849-50 : — Wm. L. Thomas and W. B. Anderson, G. B. and Samuel Andrews, Robert Adams. A. S. H.Boyd, W. H. Burden, W. H. Bedford, John B. Bedford, E. H. Boyd, Frank Beal, Willis Beal, T. G. Beazley, Dr. R. D. Barker, Dr. T. W. Booth, Joel Beal, W. C. Beal, Wm. Byrum, Biisto, and Taylor Beal. Chesley, W. R., and Joseph Cannefax, Crawford Crenshaw and son, L. A. D. Crenshaw, B. M. and John B. Cox, R. B. Coleman, Wm. Caldwell, J. P. and H. J. Cain, Wm. Cunningham, AVm. Campbell. 220 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. C. Duke, Jonathan Durham, J. W. Dagan, N. Dryden, Thomas Davis, Geo. Dewitt, Rev. John DiHard and family, Josiah F. Danforth. John R. Edwards, Sidney East. John Farrier, Wm. and Marion Fulbright, Robert Foster, A. Fine, Joseph Fairer. Benj. Gainer, Jesse Grigsby and family. John H. Harton, S. W., C. N. and S. H. Headlee, Royal and Thomas Hazelton, John Hoover. W. C. Jones, James and Thomas Jeffries, Samuel Jopes, Michael Johnson, John In man. James Lee, G. Leeper, Robert Long. J. H. McBride, T. F. Miller, A. Morris, jr., Moses Moore, Alex, and W. McLane, Wm. Murray, N. McCorkle, James Myers (died). Thos. Norton, P. B. Owen. Dr. C. Perkins, Jacob and Moses Proctor, Willis Ferryman, E. Potter, Dr. Perham. Elbert, Reuben, and G. Rose, J. Rowan, John S. Robberson, A. Rountree. Patrick R., DeWitt C, and Wm. Smith, Henry Small, Jos. Sharp, R. Shipp, W. D. Sproul, G. W. Swift, Garland Shackelford, Wm. D. and Wm. Sims, Henry Somroe, Augustine and Thos. Simmons, John Perry, Wm. and W. Summers, J. Small, John H. Smith (died). James and A. C. Thompson, Elijah Teague, J. R. Townsend, Tunnehill, Dr. Tate (died). Seth Vaughn, Robert Wills, Marion and R. B. Weaver, Wm. Walls, Wm. and James Wilson, John H. Wisener, Daniel Webb, Walker. After divers hardships and privations, perils among Indians, suffer- ings from hunger and thirst and from heat and cold, and the ravages of disease, the exhaustion of long and arduous travel, many of the Greene county gold-seekers died in a strange land and never saw their homes again. Only comparatively a few bettered their condition . 1851 MISCELLANEOUS. February 10, Stone count}' was formed by cutting Taney county in two by a line running north and south and a portion of Greene. In February (the 8th ) the following were elected oflScers of the Springfield bank: Warren H. Graves, president; Elijah Gray, Charles A. Haden, Hugh Stewart, and N. R. Smith, of Greene, .Tames Atkinson, of Benton, and J. N. B. Dodson, of Camden, directors. In June J. R. Danforth was elected cashier, and S. S. Vinton, W. C. Price, /and HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 221 P. H. Edwards were elected directors. — In June Mr. J. M. Richard- son, the well-known editor of the i^^a^, the Benton organ, retired after having performed valuable service for his paper and his party. Schools. — In addition to the schools already in operation in the county, Mrs. Fisk opened in Springfield, on the second Monday in March, a select school " for misses and young ladies." The school year was to consist of two sessions of five months each ; terms $5 per session. — The examination at the close of the summer term of the Ebenezer High School, September 9th, 10th, and 11th, attracted a large audience. Compositions were read by eighteen young ladies. Three of these compositions were thought worthy of publication : One by Miss C. Mitchell, subject, " Home ;" one by Miss R. Mitchell, sub- ject, " Childhood ; " and the valedictory, by Miss C. Hoover. The principal of Ebenezer school at the time was S. S. Headlee, Esq. — March 31, Mrs. Mary A. Elgin opened a select school for young la- dies, in Springfield. Attempt at Resuscitation. — March 3, an election was held in Springfield to choose municipal officers. Of this election the news- papers said that it was " an attempt to resuscitate the almost defunct act of incoriDoration, making Springfield a city.'" The election re- sulted in 45 votes being cast for Wilson Hackney, and 5 votes for Peter Apperson for mayor. Mr. Hackney received a majority of 40 votes, but it seemed that he had not resided in the " city " for two years, and was therefore ineligible, and Mr. Apperson was declared elected. W. B. Logan, Wm. McAdams, S. S. Vinton, A. A. Mitch- ell, and Presley Beal were elected aldermen ; E. P. Gott, constable ; Richard Gott, assessor. The August Election. — At this election the county voted on the proposition to take $100,000 stock in the " Southwest Branch " of the Pacific railroad. The people were enthusiastically in favor of it, and the proposition carried by a large majority. Also this year Greene county elected its first probate judge. The official vote of the county was: For circuit judge, C. S. Yance3s 377 ; Littleberry Hen- drick, 577 ; C. W. McCulloch, 14. For probate judge, James Arnold, 401 ; J. L. McCraw, 348. In favor of the county's taking $100,000 stock in the Pacific railroad, 703 ; against, 184 ; majority in favor, 519. Springfield Markets in 1851. — As reported by Sheppard, Kim- brough & Moss, the prices of certain articles, during the summer and fall of 1851, ruled as follows : Sugar, 10 cents per pound ; cof- fee, I2V2 ; salt, $3 per sack; nails, 15 pounds for $1; rolled steel, 40 cents per pound ; castings, 5 cents per pound; wagon boxes, 5 222 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. cents per pound ; domestic (muslin) 7 and 10 cents per yard ; spun cotton, $1 and $1.10 per bunch; bacon, 8 cents per pound ; flour, $1.25 and $1.50 per hundred ; meal, 40 cents per bushel; feathers, 25 cents per pound ; beeswax, 20 cents per pound. Deaths. — Among the citizens of the county who died this year were Mrs. Permelia E. Beale, wife of C. W. Beale, who died May 17, aged 22 ; at P^benezer camp ground, May 20, Mrs.^lizabeth Norfleet, aged 45 — she was the wife of David Noi^eet ; Thos. Daniel, of near Springfield,* died in June ; the wife of Judge R. W. Sims died July 17 after a long illness ; John Edwards, an old citizen, died at Spring- field, July 7, aged 85 years. Prohibition. — In October the county court ordered that no dram shop license be granted in the town of Springfield for the ensuing twelve months. This was done in response to the petition of E. P. Gott and others, praying to that effect, and was the first prohibition legislation ever adopted in the county. For some time there had been a great deal of drunkenness and disorderly conduct in the place, at- tributable, for the most part, to the dram shops and those who fre- quented them, and the people, aided especially by the Sons of Temper- ance, set about abating those institutions in order that peace and quietude might prevail and a potent evil removed from their midst. The next year the county court rescinded and re-rescinded its action on the prohibition question two or three times. Democratic Reunion. — October 4, the Benton and anti-Benton Democrats met in mass convention at the court-house for the purpose of uniting the party and putting it in condition to meet the common enemy, the Whigs, the next year in the presidential canvass. John M. Richardson (Benton) called the convention to order. Wm. Coyne (Benton) was chosen president, and T. B. Neaves (anti-Benton) vice-president. A committee on resolutions, composed about equally of Bentons and anti-Bentons, reported the Baltimore resolutions of the national Democratic convention of 1844, and these, with a few additions, formed a common platform on which both factions hence- forth agreed to stand. Speeches were made b}' Hon, John S. Phelps, Joel H. Haden, and others, and after a general fraternization the meeting adjourned. Subsequent developments demonstrated, however, that the so-called " peace " proclaimed this day between the quarreling factions of the Democratic party, was in effect but a " hollow truce" which was to terminate on sudden notice within two years thereafter. Improvement of White River. — A bill was passed by the Legisla- ture and approved March 3, 1851, appropriating $8,000 out of the HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 223 State treasiiiy for the improvement of White river within the State of Missouri, " so as to make it navigable for steamboats and other water craft." The bill furthei- appropriated, for the same purpose, all the moneys then or thereafter to become due to the counties of Barry, Greene and Taney arising from the 500,000 acre grant do- nated b}'^ Congress to the State in 1841 ; and the internal improvement fund of the three counties named was also added to the appropriation. By the terms of the act Buckner S. Durham, of Barry ; A. L. Yar- brough, of Greene, and Isaac S. Baker, of Taney, were appointed river improvement commissioners. In July the appointment of Yar- brouffh as Greene county's commissioner was confirmed by the county court, and in October the treasurer was ordered to collect such por- tion of the internal improvement fund as had been loaned out and pay it over to the commissioner. Mr. Yarbrough died in 1853, and upon settling up his estate it was found that he had received $2,666.57 of Greene county to be used as aforesaid. John Young was appointed commissioner in the room of Mr. Yarbrough. Some of the promi- nent wealthy citizens of the county invested in the White river im- provement scheme, but the scheme eventually proved a total failure and in 1858 was practically abandoned. 1852 PROHIBITION AGAIN. The temperance question was again to the fore in the county this year. The anti-prohibitionists were greatly incensed at the closing of-the dram shops by the county court, in the fall of the previous year, and January 5, the court, in response to a petition to that effect, rescinded the anti-dramshop order made the previous October. Five days later, however, Allen Fielding applied for dramshop license, and there being a strong petition, very largelj'^ signed, by citizens and tax- payers, remonstrating against the license being granted, the court re- fused it, and thus rescinded its order for granting license. There was a great hubbub among the anti-prohibitionists consequent upon the action of the court, and an agitation against prohibition was begun and carried on until the April term, when the county court again re- scinded its order and agreed to grant dramshop licenses thereafter at $75 a year — $30 of which went to the State. Then the temperance people were disgusted ; but, taking heart of grace, they set to work after awhile to again change the minds of the members of the court to their (the temperance people's) way of thinking. 224 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. MISCELLANEOUS. On the second of February a special election was held and Judge James DoUison was elected probate judge to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Arnold, who died the previous month. In April Elisha Headlee again took his seat as county justice in the room of Henry Fulbright, who had been appointed receiver in the land office.^ Upon his accession to a seat in the county court, Judge Head- lee was made presiding justice. At the August election Henry King was elected in the place of Headlee, and upon the reorganization of the court, in October, Benjamin Chapman became presiding justice. The assessor's books showed that in this year there were in the county 2,425 persons owning property subject to taxation. Linden township was organized Jul}^ 5th. August Election, 1852. — At this election John S. Phelps was re- elected to Congress over John C. Price. L. J. Morrow and P. H. Edwards were elected as representatives to the Legislature from this county; Thomas Potter was elected sheriff; Henry King, county jus- tice {vice Headlee); John McPettijohn, assessor; Abner McGinty, coroner ; John L. McCraw, surveyor. All of the successful candi- dates were Democrats, except John L. McCraw, who was then a Whig, but a gentleman of large personal popularity. The official vote of the county at this election cannot now be found. It is known that the Democrats carried it, however, by their usual majority. This was the year in which Sterling Price, afterwards the distinguished Confed- erate oreneral, was elected Governor of the State on the Democratic ticket over James Winston, Whig, by a majority of 13,461, the vote standing Price, 46,245 ; Winston, 32,784. The vote for Governor this year was larger than that cast for President by about 12,000. Wilson Brown was elected Lieutenant Governor. Price had been a strong Benton man, but in 1853 turned against " Old Bullion." At this election, also, Hon. John M. Richardson, of this county, an ardent Benton man, was elected Secretary of State and served four years. Presidential Election. — The Democrats were united in Missouri this year and sank their ideas on Bentonism for the time for the pur- pose of assisting in the election of a Democratic President. The Presidential canvass excited considerable attention. " Liberty poles " were raised at various places in the county by both Whigs and Dem- ocrats, and many spirited meetings were held. Gen. Franklin Pierce 1 Richard M. Jones was appointed register. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 225 of New Hampshire, and Wm. E. King, of Alabama, were the Demo- cratic candidates for President and Vice-President, and Gen. Winfield Scott, of New York (or New Jersey), and Wm. H. Graham, of North Carolina, the Whig nominees. A free-soil ticket composed of John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, and George W. Jnlian, of Indiana, was voted for in the Northern States, but received no support in Missouri. The result in this county was as follows : For the Pierce and Kino- electors, 920 ; for the Scott and Graham electors, 484 ; majority for Pierce and King, 436. The vote in the State stood : Pierce, 38,353; Scott, 29,984; Pierce's majority, 8,369. Deaths. — Prominent citizens of the county who died this year were Judge James Arnold, the first probate judge of the county, in Janu- ary; ex-Judge James M. Blakey, in March; John P. Campbell, the founder of Springfield, so frequently mentioned in these pages, at Oil Springs, Cherokee Nation, May 28 ; and Joseph Weaver, the first State Senator from the county after its organization, August 14. 1853 MISCELLANEOUS. The previous year C. B. Holland had been appointed postmaster at Springfield, but July 4, of this year he was removed, and Arch. F. Ingram, then a Democrat, appointed in his stead. In July, the county court, granting the prayer of some hundreds of petitioners, made an order " that no more dramshop licenses issue for the ensuing twelve months within the incorporate limits of Spring- field." Victory for the temperance people. In October, however, the July order was rescinded, and B. G. Andrews granted a dramshop license for six months. Victory for the whisky people. Verily an accommodating sort of a court, that. Sometime this summer the SoutJnoestern Flag, newspaper, sus- pended and was succeeded by the Lancet, a paper as sharp and cutting as the instrument for which it was named. February'24, 1853, the Legislature of Missouri passed an act creating the oflice of commissioner of common schools for the several counties of the State. The commissioner was to hold his oflSce two years. In December, A. H. Matthis was appointed the first commissioner for Greene county. At the August election A. G. McCracken was elected circuit and 15 226 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. county clerk over Joshua Davis, John D. Brown, and A. M. Julian. No complete returns of this election are now to be found. In the summer of this year the Benton and anti-Benton Democrats dug up the hatchet, which had been buried about two years, and re- newed hostilities, which did not cease entirely until Col. Benton ceased to breathe. Each faction charged the other with renewing the quarrel. In the summer and fall of 1853 occurred a severe drought. Corn was scorched so badly in the fields that it did not make half a crop ; hay was ruined ; root crops failed almost entirely. Even stock in some parts of the county, suffered intensely for water. In the fall hogs could be bought for $1.00 per hundred, owing to the scarcity of corn to feed them. There was considerable sickness in the county during and after the drought, and many children died of flux. 1854 COUNTY OFFICIALS. There was a number of changes among the county officials this year. In January A. G. McCracken became county clerk, and upon taking the office appointed Warren H. Graves, the well known editor of the Advertiser, his deputy. , About the first of February Sheriff Thomas Potter died, and for a short period Abner McGinty, the coroner, acted as sherift\ February 24, Junius T. Campbell was appointed to the shrievality, and served as sheriff until after the August election. J. K. Gibson was Campbell's deputy. In April Col. Marcus Boyd was appointed county commissioner of common schools until Nov. 1, 1855, vice A. H. Matthis. Three months later, however, Boyd resigned and John D. Brown was appointed to the office. In July J. R. Dan- forth, county treasurer, resigned, and was succeeded by Wilson Hackney. RAILROAD MATTERS. Renewed interest was awakened in the subject of the completion of the Pacific railroad into Southwest Missouri. This county had al- ready shown that it was heartily in favor of the project, and willing to give it considerable substantial aid and encouragement. In 1851 the people, by a large majority, voted to instruct the county court to take $100,000 stock in the railroad, and this year, so interested were the people in the success of the enterprise, and so many were the reports that it was likely to fail for want of sufficient financial aid, that in May the count}'^ court ordered an expression of the voters of the county to be taken at the August election as to the propriety of taking another $100,000 in stock of the proposed road. ] HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 227 Nearly two mouths previous to the ordering of this electiou, Hon. Wra. C. Price had been appointed agent of the county to take $50,000 of stock, $10,000 of which was to be paid on the first Monday in April, 1855, and $10,000 annually thereafter until the whole should be paid. It had been ascertained that the amount which Judge Price was authorized to subscribe was a far less sum than that demanded or ex- pected by the railroad company, and the county court was unwillino- to direct him to subscribe a larger amount without first ascertaining the will of the people in that regard, and receiving their approval. Not long thereafter, in July, representations were made to the court that whatever subscription the county should make must be made at once, and could not await the decision of the August election. Ac- cordingly the order made in May for a submission of the question of the $100,000 subscription to a vote was rescinded, and Judge Price was authorized to subscribe an additional sum of $50,000, on like conditions as to payment as the former subscription, with an additional condition that a depot should be located within one-half mile of the court-house in Springfield. In the latter part of August, however, it being repre- sented that to insist on these conditions would be to hazard a chance of losing the road, the court instructed Judge Price to withdraw them if necessary. / THE AUGUST ELECTION, 1854. Hon. Waldo P. Johnson and Hon. John S. Phelps were the candi- dates for Congress this year in this, the 6th district. Phelps was re- elected. In this county there was a multiplicity of candidates for the most important county offices. Wm. C. Price and W. B. Garoutte, both of this county, were the candidates for State Senator in this dis- trict, and Judge Price was successful. The result of the election in this county was as follows : — For Congress. — Phelps, 1,118; Johnson, 948. State Senator. — Price, 1,159 ; Garoutte, 842. Representatives. — Marcus Boyd, 895; Wm. McFarland, 765; J. W. Hancock, 649 ; N. A. Davis, 411 ; F. T. Frazier, 754 ; L. J. Mor- row, 783 ; R. E. Blakey, 70. Sheriff.— U. B. Colman, 514; A. H. Payne, 449; Samuel Ful- bright, 579 ; P. C. King, 569. County Justices. —J. W. Gray, 998 ; B. W. Henslee, 401 ; A. H. Leslie, 869 ; E. W. Jameson, 1,056 ; Henry King, 749 ; J. M. Bailey, 620;N. D. McCall, 457. Assessor.— 3 Q\\n McPettijohn, 851 ; P. C. Roberts, 619. Coroner. — Abner McGinty, 108 ; Presley Shockley, 55. School Com7nissioner. — E. C. Davis, 157. Bank. — Yov, 1,323 ; against, 186. 228 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Of the successful candidates, it may be said Senator Price was an anti-Benton Democrat ; Representative Boyd was a Whig ; Representa- tive Morrow, a Benton Democrat ; tlie others, Democrats. The " wily Whigs " came near electing both representatives, Hon. Wm. McFar- land failing of election by only 18 votes. This year Mr. Phelps ran as an anti-Benton candidate ; previously he had been a supporter of Col. B., and his " change of heart " was widely and diversely commented upon. Benton himself denounced him roundly. At that time " Old Bullion " was himself a member of Congress, having been elected in 1852. He did his best to accomplish Phelps' defeat by sending letters into the State from Washington, charging him with voting against Missouri's interests on difterent oc- casions, with "dodging" the vote on the appropriation for the St. Louis custom-house, etc. The Jefierson Inquirer was the journal se- lected as Benton's chief organ and hundreds of copies of that journal Avere scattered throughout the district. In Greene county the Lancet was the Benton paper, while the Advertiser was still anti-Benton. HANGING OF WILLIS WASHAM THE FIRST LEGAL EXECUTION IN GREENE COUNTY. August 25, 1854, the first legal hanging came off in Greene county. The subject was one Willis Washam, of Taney county. The crime which it was alleged Washam committed, and for which he was hung, was thus described at the trial : — Washam lived on a little farm down on White river, near Forsyth, in Taney county. He was a poor man, somewhat well advanced in years, and lived a retired, obscure life. He had married a woman, who had a son,^ some fourteen years of age at the time of his death. The Washam family was not a model one. The old man and his wife had frequent quarrels, and both of them treated the son with great cruelty, frequently beating him with uncommon severity. It is said that the boy often showed fight, and was known to strike his mother with a single-tree and with a hoe. One morning Washam and the boy went down on Bee creek to fish. According to the old man, when they reached the fishing place they separated. The boy never returned home alive. Some days after- ward his body was found in Bee creek, with a heavy stone tied about the neck and marks of violence on the body. Mrs. Washam at once accused her husband of having killed her son, and, giving an alarm, he was at once arrested and imprisoned at Forsyth. 1 One version of the story is that the child was born after Washam and his wife were married, but that Washam always denied that he was its father. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 229 Becoming alarmed, Washam struck out for Arkansas, taking with him liis own little boy, aged probably eight years, and riding a famous horse which he called " Tom Benton." He worked on a cotton plan- tation down on the Arkansas river for some months, or until, as he said, he had a buckskin purse a foot in length full of silver dollars. His little boy never murmured for a long time, but at last one morn- ing, while the two were lying in bed, he threw his arms about his father and said, " Daddy, when are you going to take me home to see my mammy?" Washam immediately arose, -and in two hours was on his way back to Taney county, and behind him on old " Tom Ben- ton," was his little boy, who was overjoyed at the prospect of soon seeing his "mammy." • Arriving at home, Washam was cordially received by his wife, who told him that he was now considered innocent of the crime of which he was accused ; that no proceedings had been commenced against him, and that indeed the matter had almost died out in the minds of the community. Washam lay down to sleep in fancied security, but before morning he missed his wife, and searching for her found that she had left the premises. Suspicioning that she had gone to Forsyth to betray him (which was true) Washam again mounted "Tom Ben- ton " and started to escape. He had not gone far before he was over- taken by the sheriff of Taney county, and arrested and taken to Forsyth. On his way to Forsyth the sheriff said Washam offered him "Tom Benton" if he would let him escape; but Washam said that the sheriff himself offered " to look the other way" if Washam would give him his horse. Washam had been indicted and on being arraigned at Forsyth took a change of venue to this county. There were many threats made to lynch him by the people of Taney county. At the July term, 1854, of the circuit court of this county Washam was brought to trial. Judge Chas. S. Yancey presided. E, B. Boone was circuit attorney, A. G. McCracken clerk nnd Junius T. Campbell sheriff (by appointment). Hon. Littleberry Hendrick was the coun- sel for the prisoner. The jury before whom Washam was tried was composed of Ezekiel C. Cook, foreman; Wm. Gray, Quails Banfield, Wm. White, James S. McQuirter, Sam'l McClelland, Mark Bray, John Freeman, Thos. Green, Joseph Moss, John R. Earnest, and Jabez R. Townsend. The trial lasted two days. The testimony was mainly of a circumstantial character, and that most damaging to the prisoner was the evidence of his wife. On the 21st of July the jury re- urneda verdictof "guilty of murder in the first degree." The next day 230 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Judge Yancey sentenced Washam to be hung at Springfield on the 2.')th of August following, — speedy punishment and short shrift certainly. Mr. Hendrick made a hard fight for his client, but it was without avail. He made a strong speech to the jur}'^, and urged the members to be careful not to hang a fellow-man on circumstantial evidence. After Washam was sentenced Mr. Hendrick moved for a new trial and for arrest of judgment; both motions were overruled. He then moved for a suspension of the sentence until the case could be heard in the Supreme Court ; this motion was also overruled. He then prepared to appeal the case to the Supreme Court, but as there was to be an adjourned term of the circuit court held in August, he decided to attempt to set aside the sentence of the court then. At this ad- journed term, two days before the hanging of his client, he moved to vacate, set aside, and annul the judgment of the court and set aside the verdict of the jury, but Judge Yancey refused to take any action in the matter. It is doubtful if Mr. Hendrick could have secured a new trial for his client in the Supreme Court, since all the proceedings had been regular, and there remained but the matter of guilt and innocence, questions of fact, which the jury had passed upon ; yet it is strange that he did not take the case to the Supreme Court, at nuy rate, even if but for the purpose of delay, and it is said that he after- ward expressed regret that he did not do so, as he was fully convinced of Washam 's innocence. On the 25th of August, the day set for the execution, without com- mutation, postponement, or mitigation of the sentence, Willis Wash- am was hung. The execution took place in the northeastern part of Springfield, on the north side of "Jordan, " and west of the present site of the cotton factory. The gallows stood not far from the tree on which the negro ravisher was hung. An immense crowd from all parts of Southwest Missouri was present, coming from Buffalo, from Bolivar, from Warsaw, and other points miles away. Washam made a short speech on the gallows, saying he was innocent of the crime for which he was to be made to suffer, " and," said he, " if I had plenty of money to hire big lawyers with and pay expenses, I could get clear. My old woman has sworn my lite away, but I am ready to die. I never done it, though, boys ; I never done it." Sheriff' Samuel Fulbright had been elected sheriff a few days previ- ously, and he was the executioner. It is said that he always regretted the part he had to perform on this occasion, even to his dying da}^ and there are those silly enough to allege, without any good reason, HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 231 that this was the moving cause that impelled him to take his own life, which he did, by poison, only a few years since. Washam died game, and after being pronounced dead his body was cut down and given to Dr. , of Springfield, who used it for sci- entific purposes. A few years since a story was put in circulation and obtained some credence, that Mrs. Washam, wife of him who was hung and mother of the murdered boy, had died at her home in Taney or Wright county, and on her deathbed, it is said, she made confession that her husband was innocent of the crime for which he died at Springfield, and that she, herself, had perpetrated the dreadful deed and murdered her own son with her own hands, tying the stone to his neck and sinking the body in Bee creek, and, then by all manner of devices, had contrived to fasten the burden of guilt upon her husband, and caused him to suff*er what should have been her punishment. After careful investigation the writer has been unable to obtain a corrobo- ration of this story, and does not hesitate to declare it a fabrication. At any rate, from the evidence and all of the facts adduced, there seems no reasonable dqubtbutthat Washam was guilty of a deliberate and atrocious murder and suffered a just* punishment. It is said that the story of Mrs. Washam' s confession was first told by an ingenious but unscrupulous attorney, who was trying to acquit a client of mur- der in the circuit court of this county. MISCELLANEOUS. January 27, 1854, Judge Samuel Martin, a prominent citizen of the county, died at the age of 78. Judge Martin was a native of North Carolina, born November 19, 1776. He came to this county in 1830. In February Fanny Mitchell was sent to the State Insane Asylum. She had been insane since 1843. —When Wilson Hackney took the treasurer's office, in July, there was on hand and he was charged with $16,553.31, the principal of the township school fund; $1,261.50, of the 500,000 acre fund, to be used in internal improve- ments ; and $43.90 of the three per cent fund. The sum of $156 was paid to John Lair, Benjamin Kite, and John Gott for their services as pa- trols during the year, they having patroled at least four times a month. About the 1st of September Wm. Jones was appointed postmaster at Springfield, in the room of A. F. Ingram, who had been removed. The delinquent tax of the county for this year, as returned by Sheriff Fulbright, amounted to only $25.28 county tax and the same amount of State tax. 232 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 1855 A HARD WINTER. The winter of 1855 was an exceptionally hard one in Greene county, and was long remembered by the people, and indeed is not yet for- gotten. On the 4th and 5th of Februar}^ the thermometer stood at 20 degrees below zero and the snow lay upon the ground to the unpre- cedented depth 6f 18 and 20 inches. Travel was greatly impeded for some days, and the Bolivar stage came in two days behind on one occasion. On the 19th of August following there was sharp frost. MISCELLANEOUS. The Poor- House. — In April Judge W. B. Farmer, who had be- come one of the county judges in place of Judge Jameson, was au- thorized to select a location for a poor-house, ascertain cost, etc. In July he reported that he had selected 200 acres belonging to James Douglass. The court approved the selection and authorized Judge Farmer to pay Mr. Douglass $1,000 as part payment for the property and a tax of 121/2 cents on the $100 was levied for building a poor- house and making all suitable improvements on the farm. " Betting on Elections.''' — The practice of betting on the results of elections was in 1855, as it is to-day, a very common one, notwith- standing a stringent law in force against it. It had become so fre- quent in this county and was deemed so reprehensible that stringent efforts were made to suppress it. At the March term of the circuit court, 1855, James Woods, J. P. Gray, David Payne, P. Nowlin, and H. S. Blankenship, were indicted for betting on an election — the pre- vious one — and all were convicted and fined. In the course of the trial one of the lawyers, a Democrat, proposed to acquit his client, a Whig, on the ground of insanit}'', alleging that the defendant had bet that the Whigs would carry the State, " which is certainly sufficient evidence that the prisoner is not of sound mind {non compos mentis) and not responsible," jocosely stated the facetious counselor. New Paper and a JSTew Party. — May 3, 1855, the first number of the Springfield Mirror was issued, by J. W. Boren, Esq., editor and proprietor. The new paper was the organ of the new '* American " or Know Nothing party, the successor to the Whig party, which vir- tually died after its defeat in 1852. The " Native American " party had for its corner-stone the principle that " Americans must rule America;" in other words that none but native Americans and non- Catholics ought to hold office in the United States, and it also favored a repeal of the naturalization laws requiring twenty years' residence in HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 233 this country on the part of a foreigner before he could become natu- ralized. The party was a strange one, as it was a secret political or- der, whose members were oath-bound, and which had its lodges, its signs, its grips, its pass-words, and worked secretly to accomplish its openly professed motives. The party was composed chiefly of old Whigs, although there were many Democrats in its ranks. It is said that the order was started from patriotic motives, intending to divert the public mind from the discussion of the slavery question, then threatening to dissolve the Union. In Greene county the Know Noth- ing party was very popular at one time, as it was in many other local- ities, and carried the elections for two or more years, but received its quietus in the Presidential contest of 1856. Railroad Tax. — In September a tax of one and one-twentieth per cent was levied for the payment of $20,000, the amount of the first installment due on the county's subscription to the stock of the South- western Branch of the Pacific railroad, then heading for Springfield. Sherifi" Fulbright was ordered to give an additional bond of $80,000 for the faithful collection and disbursement of this tax. Soldiers on the March. — About the middle of November the greater portion of the 2d United States regular cavalry passed through Spring- field and Greene county on their way from Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, to Ft. Belknap and Utah Territory, to maintain the authority of the government against the Mormons. The regiment was com- manded at the time by Col. Albert Sidney Johnston, then in the reg- ular army, afterward the distinguished Confederate general who was killed in the first day's fight at the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862. When they marched through this county the soldiers attracted great attention and presented a fine appearance. The people were glad to see them, showed them many attentions and seemed to regret that they had to depart so soon. But wHen the next soldiers came into the country, some six years later, the people were sorry when they came, and only too glad when they left ! August Election. — James Dollison was elected probate judo-e at this election by a vote of 509, to 341 for Geo. W. Mitchell. John L. McCraw was re-elected county surveyor, receiving 563 votes to 80 for W. P. Dabbs. In January there was a special election throughout the State to choose a judge of the Supreme Court in the room of Hamil- ton R. Gamble, who had resigned. W. B. Napton, Democrat, of Saline, and Abiel Leonard, "American " Whig, of Howard, were the candidates. It is remembered that Leonard carried Greene county. 234 HlhTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Court of Common Pleas. — December 13, an act was passed by the Legislature establishing a probate and common pleas court in Greene county, to be held at Springfield. Gov. Price appointed Hon. P. H. Edwards the iirst judge of this court, and S. H. Boyd, its first clerk. The establishment of this court was of great advantage to the county. Judge Patrick H. Edwards was born in Rutherford county, Tenn,, Nov. 9, 1821, and died at Neosho, Nov. 24, 1882, He came to Greene county in 184- and married in Springfield in 1845. For a time he was connected with W. H. Graves, in the publication of the Adver- tiser. The number of school children in the county this year was 5,980. Certain County Officers. — In April, Wm. B. Farmer became county judge, vice Judge Jameson ; C. B. Owen and J. K. Gibson were appointed deputies under Sherilf Fulbright ; in July, John S. Waddill was appointed county attorney and counselor ; in the same month the county judges began to receive $3 per day for their ser- vices, their former compensation being but $2; in December, Benj. Atkinson was appointed county assessor in place of John McPettijohn, resigned; D. L. Fulbright was appointed deputy sheriff at the same time. Business Firms. — During the year 1855 the following were the lead- ing business firms in the county, and opposite the name of each firm is set the amount of ad valorem tax paid on merchandise sold during the year : — Name affirm,. Tax Paid. Sheppard & Kimbrough . $15.86 Burden & Stephens . . 4.88 J. A. Casey 1.75 C. B. Holland . . . . 17.27 Van Bib])er & Staley . .3.53 Wm. Mc Adams . . . 7.50 G. L. Mitchell . . . . l.GO R. A. Plumb 40 G. P. Shackelford & Co. . 15.51 T. J. M. Hawkins . . . 3.94 B. G. Andrews 60 A. E. Goss 50 McElhaney & Jaggard . 38.47 Name of firm. Tax Paid Morrow & McDerrell . $ 5.00 H. G. Ramey & Co. . . 7.00 C. Sheppard & J. B. Kim- brouo;h .... 13.00 R. W. bonnell . . . . 1.35 L. J. Morrow . 4.00 J. L. Holland . . . . 12.49 Biofbee & Clark . . . 11.69 G.^W. Hancock & Co. . 3.00 McGinty & Haden . . . 15.13 Stephen Bedford & Co. . 12.00 W. B. Logan & Co. . . 39.77 TRIAL OF JOHN A. J. LEE, FOR MURDER. Some time in the year 1854, John A. J. Lee, the town marshal of Buffalo, Dallas county, shot and killed a young rough from the coun- HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 235 try, whom, with some of his companions, he was trying to arrest for drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Lee was indicted in Dallas county, but the case was sent to this county on change of venue. After various continuances by reason of the absence of witnesses, etc., the case came to trial at Springfield, at the September term, 1855, Judge Yancey on the bench. On the 15th, Lee was tried, and the jury, after a brief consultation, returned a verdict of not guilty, basing the verdict on the ground of self-defense. The jury before whom Lee was tried consisted of John S. Gott, P. C. King, R. W. Donnell, Joseph Winfield, W. D. Proctor, Alexander Evans, J. M. Bailey, Geo. D. Blakey, Wm. Smith, Alfred Horseman, Joseph D. Haden, and Chesley Cannefax, the latter the foreman. CHAPTER V. HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1856 TO 1860. 1856 — Miscellaneous Official Business — Items — Statistics — Prohibition — Fatal Acci- dent—The Political Campaign — Col. Benton in Springfield Again — He Replies to TomNeaves— Dr. Larimore's Candidacy — The County Canvass— Official Vote at the August Election — The Know Nothings Sweep the County — The Presidential Election — Greene County and "Bleeding Kansas" — The "K. G. C." — Going to Kansas to Vote — The First Agricultural Fair in Greene County— Crop Failure — Some Advertise- ments. 1557- Miscellaneous — Appointments — Bank Items — The Land Office — Ef- fects of the Crop Failure— A Famine in the Land — Necrology — Assessed Values — The "Peculiar Institution " — Runaway Slaves — The Auction Block — Fatal Casual- ties—The Fair of 1857 — Springfield in"l857 — A "Boom" — The Political Canvass — A Forged Letter — The Liquor Question — White River Improvement— A Steamboat at the Mouth of the James — Miscellaneous. i555 — Miscellaneous — The First Grange Meeting — Items — Springfield in 1858 — Arrival of the First Coach on the Butterfield Overland Stage Line — Statistics — The Political Canvass — The "Union" Meeting — August Election— The Fair of 1858— Building the New Court House — Deaths — Re- view of 1858 — Statistics. i555— Miscellaneous — The Court House — Formation of Christian County — Items — Organization of Pond Creek, Wilson, and Clay Townships — "Pike's Peak or Bust! " —The August Election — Springfield Matters — Hanging of "Martin Van Buren" Danforth, a Negro Ravisher. 185(J MISCELLANEOUS OFFICIAL BUSINESS. At the April session of the connty court a new township was laid off west of Springfield, and called at first Farmer township, in honor 236 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. of Judge W. B. Farmer, at that time a membe(r of the court, but absent when the new township was named. Afterward, upon motion of Judge Farmer himself, the name was changed to Center township. N. K. Smith, J, L. McCraw, and S. C. Nevill, were appointed com- missioners to select the swamp and overflowed lands of this county, and were afterward allowed $380 each for their services. Greene county's share of the State school fund this year was $5,236. The capital of the general county school fund amounted to $1,294 93, which amount was apportioned among the several school townships of the county. Taxes were uncommonly high this year. In July a tax of I6V3 cents on the hundred dollars was levied for county purposes, and 80 cents on the hundred dollars for railroad purposes. The sheriff was ordered not to collect the last named tax until further orders from the county court, which he afterward received, and in November Judge Farmer, who had been appointed agent for the purpose, was ordered to pay the balance due on the first installment of $20,000 on the county's subscription to the stock of the Pacific railroad. October 6, Sylvester Black well was made overseer and superinten- dent of the county poor farm. John Lair, E. P. Gott, and Benj. Kite, were each paid $55 for twelve months' services as patrols in Campbell township. In this month a tax of $200, half State and half county, was levied on dram shops by the county court, licenses to run for only six months, making the annual tax $400 for each dram shop. Such a vigorous remonstrance was made, however, that a few days later the court reduced the license from $200 to $60 for each six months. Previously, in December, 1855, the Legislature had passed the fol- lowing act: " Be it enacted, etc., That hereafter no application for license as grocer, dramshop, or tavern-keeper, in the city of Spring- field, shall be entertained by the county court, unless the court shall be satisfied that at least one-half of the taxable inhabitants thereof have signed the same. This act to be in force after its passage. Ap- proved December 4, 1855." MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. On the 23d of January snow fell in this county to the depth of fourteen inches. — In April John D. Brown was appointed county school commissioner until the next regular election. — The number of persons in the county this year owning property liable to taxation was HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 237 2,430. — The population of Springfield was 721. — October 23, Joshua Davis, a prominent citizen of the county, died of flux, aged 63 years. — In December Larkin Payne was president of the Springfield bank. — The total value of the taxable property of Greene county in 1856 was $2,012,928, as folloAvs : Number of slaves, 1,420, —value, $704,975, or $496 apiece. Land 217,131 acres — value, $1,449,895. Town lots, $105,907. Money, notes etc., $239,926; other personal property, $512,725. The amount of the county tax levied was $5,259.96 ; State, $6,733.11 ; total tax, $11,993.07. —About the 1st of June an old lady named Goss living in the eastern part of the county, com- mitted suicide by hanging herself. — In the fall of the year a daily mail line was established from Jefferson City to Springfield. — In the latter part of December Mr. Thos. Edmondson, an old and respected citizen, was at work engaged in covering a shed, when the scaffold- ing gave way and he fell to the ground, shivering his leg at the ankle joint. Amputation was resorted to, but after a few days of intense suf- fering Mr. Edmondson died. THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1856 THE AUGUST ELECTION., A most intensely exciting political contest was that of this year, es- pecially in Missouri and Greene county. It was not only a Presiden- tial year, but a Gubernatorial year, and besides there were a Con- gressman and county officers to elect. Only two Presidential tickets were voted in the county — the Democratic, headed by James Bu- chanan, of Pennsylvania, and John C. Breckenridge, of Kentuck}'^, and the Native American or Know Nothing, headed by Millard Fillmore, of New York, and Andrew Jackson Donelson, of Tennessee. This year the Republican party ran its first Presidential ticket, with Fremont and Dayton as candidates, but it received no votes in this county, and but few outside of the Northern States. For Governor there were three candidates. Trusten Polk, was the regular Democratic nominee for Governor, with Hancock Jackson for Lieutenant Governor; Thos. H. Benton was an Independent Demo- cratic candidate for Governor, with J. W. Kelly, of Holt county, for Lieutenant Governor; the " American " candidates were Robert C. Ewing, of Lafayette, and Wm. Newland, of Ralls county. Col. Ben- ton was making his last fight for political existence, and bravely he fought and well. He made a canvass of the State, visiting the prin- cipal cities and towns, and came to Springfield, July 8. He spoke in 238 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. a grove then standing where the city lots and city buildings now are. His speech, while it was a good one, did not equal his former effort. It was somewhat vindictive and malevolent. Mr. T. B. Neaves had said that if Benton abused him as he had abused other anti-Benton Democrats in a speech at Bolivar, he would " bounce a rock off his head. " To this Benton alluded in his speech. "As if I were afraid to speak my mind about such a fellow as Neaves, " he said, contemp- tuously, and then rising to his full height and s^ieaking with all of his wonderful volume of voice, — '* tvhen 1 have faced and fought And7'ew Jackson/ " O. B. Smith introduced Col. Benton to the audience. A barbecue was had on the grounds. The American candidate, Robert C. Ewing, also spoke in Spring- field, May 25, and the Democratic candidate, Hon. Trusten Polk, de- livered a speech here June 29. Thomas H. Benton had hosts of strong friends in this State and in this county, some of whom even yet cherish his memory with great fondness. Men name their boys for him, hang his portrait in their parlors, and never tire of talking about him. Perhaps it was well that Benton died when he did, for had he lived longer, doubtless he would have become a Republican, as man}'^ a one of his henchmen did, and this would have disgusted many of those who admired him to the last. The candidate for Secretary of State with Benton was John M. Richardson, a lawyer of Springfield and the former editor of the Hag. He ran largely ahead of his ticket in this county. The straight-out Democrats and the "Americans" also held mass meetings in the county, and by reason of the split in the Democratic ranks, the latter succeeded in obtaining for R. C. Ewing a plurality of the votes cast for Governor. Polk ran a few votes ahead of Benton . For Congress there were but two candidates regularly in the field — John S. Phelps, straight Democrat, and B. H. Emerson, of Hick- ory county, Benton Democrat. The latter carried Greene county by nearly 500 majority, being supported by the Americans and the Ben- ton men. The vote in the district resulted: Phelps, 9,818; Emer- son, 6,911 ; Lurimore, independent, 110. The irrepressible Dr. Lar- imore frequently possessed the hallucination that he was a candi- date for office, but the delusion was never held by any considerable number of the voters. He always called himself an "independent candidate of the people." His favorite method of canvassing was the HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 239 distribution of circulars. He closed his electioneering document of this year with the following paragraph : — Gents, please be so kind as to give my respects to your wives and all the ladies, and tell them that I love children, and that my oppo- nents are all lawyers, who have but little sympathy for the ladies, in any way ; and that I am the doctor, who has the respect of all the ladies within my acquaintance ; and that I am the ladies' friend, in health and in sickness. Yours truly, P. B. Larimore. The county canvass was lively. Three tickets were in the field — Dem- ocratic, Benton and American. On the 10th of May the latter party met in convention in the female college at Springfield, and nominated a full county ticket as follows: For representatives, Wm. McFarland and George W. Kelly ; sheriff, P. C. King ; assessor, Allen Mitchell ; treasurer, Wilson Hackney. Afterward the straight Democrats nom- inated W. H. Graves and John W. Hancock for representatives ; Sam- uel Fulbright for sheriff; David Kenney for assessor. The Benton candidates were : For representatives, F. T. Frazier and Larkin Payne ; for sheriff, C. S. Bodenhamer ; for assessor. Berry Moore. The following was the vote of the county by townships : — AUGUST ELECTION, 1856. GOVERNOK. Cong. Representatives. Sheriff. Assessor. Townships. 1 S 5s "8 1 i o •fa 1 «. S l! ^ s s 1 6q o a s § 1 1 6 1 1 ^ ^ 1 1 1 1 .& S S 1 1 eq ^ 1 a ft 1 Boone 22 47 43 31 59 56 43 39 46 1'?, '>0 31 32 45 41 38 2. 51 48 69 71 16 24 14 54 77 74 47 17 Linden, 1st District 81 24 7 72 30 24 18 4 10 75 76 75 19 14 6 16 72 2d " 35 42 3 35 44 40 39 6 27 30 33 37 1 37 27 Polk 23 40 13 ^0 41 42 37 10 19 22 52 37 36 9 10 35 m Porter 23 38 48 64 94 26 46 99 57 69 45 5"^ 56 93 76 100 20 35 20 34 57 25 40 67 42 103 59 9'> 34 43 17 ?7 Robberson Taylor 45 5 42 47 38 10 40 45 43 47 41 14 41 43 3 42 Total 639 612 722 649 1132 659 531 661 771 584 622 666 581 690 697 509 567 There were 51 scattering votes for Congressman, and 36 votes for George Irvin for county asseesor. It will be seen that the Americans, or " Know Nothings," made a clean sweep of this county at this election, being successful in electing every candidate on their county ticket. It showed conclusively that 240 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. the men in the county who " knew Sam," luiew something else be- sides — how to keep their opponents divided and thus slip between them and bear off the prizes. The result of the Gubernatorial elec- tion in the State was as follows: Polk, 46,993; Ewing, 40,589; Benton, 27,(318. It was charged by both Americans and Benton Democrats, that Wm. Newland was fairly elected Lieutenant Gov- ernor, but " counted out " by the anti-Bentons. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 1856. As previously stated but two Presidential candidates were voted for in Greene county at this election — James Buchanan and Millard Fillmore. Fremont, "Benton's son-in-law," as certain Democrats were fond of denominating him, received no votes. The result of the election showed that very many men Avho had voted as Democrats in August voted for Fillmore, the Know Nothing candidate. The elec- tion called out a full vote, more ballots being cast than at the August election. It was charged by the Mirror, the American organ, that " the Democrats set a barrel of whisky in the streets of Spring- field for electioneering purposes." Be this as it may, the Democrats carried the county, but by the small m:ijority of 26. The following is, by townships, the OFFICIAL CANVASS OF THE VOTE FOR PRESIDENT IN 1856. Townships. Boone Campbell, 1st District 2d 3d Cass Center Finley Jackson Linden, 1st District . " 2d Polk Porter Robberson Tavlor Buchanan. Fillmore 61 51 115 148 71 107 97 218 50 44 53 46 127 65 48 71 100 38 106 20 49 17 42 78 68 68 42 32 Total 1029 1003 The vote in the state resulted: Buchanan, 58,164; Fillmore, 48,524. Buchanan's majority, 9,640. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 241 GREENE COUNTY AND '* BLEEDING KANSAS." From the first to the last of the troubles in the territory of Kansas, the result of attempting to decide whether or not there should be slavery in the State upon its admission into the Union, the people of Greene took a more or less conspicuous part therein upon the pro-slavery side. For some time many of those interested in the in- stitution of slavery, believing- their interests to be in danger, and that the end would justify the means, had been members of a secret jjolit- tcal order looking to the preservation, extension and pei-petuation of he " peculiar institution." This organization had many members in this count}^ and three or four lodges or " camps," These were in communication with other camps in other States, and performed an important part of one division of the work for which the order was created. The order had its hailing signs, its grips, its pass-wortls, and was near akin and auxiliary to the famous Knights of the Golden Circle. It did what it could to make Kansas a slave State. Some of its members, as well as some other citizens of the county who w^ere not members, went from time to time to Kansas and voted every time a territorial Legislature was to ])e chosen or a constitution adopted, and as regularl}'^ returned to their Missouri homes after the election ! But the Free-Soilers of the North were pursuing the same tactics, and there was that sort of excuse for the Missourians — if it be proper to. call it an excuse. Sharp's rifles and brass cannon and powder and shot were bought with the proceeds of Northern church collections, and sent in charge of men who would use them " to consecrate the soil of Kansas to freedom," as the abolition sentimentalists expressed it, and there was a great deal of fraud and other wrong perpetrated by both the Free-Soil and pro-slavery factions. As stated, from the start the pro-slavery men of Greene county had taken great interest in the aflairs of Kansas. The proximity of that territory to this county, its likeness of soil and climate, had made it a desirable objective point of emigration for people here, when they should become tired of their homes and desire a change, and those who had slaves wished, of course, to take them along. Then there was a strong desire to have Kansas made a slave State for the reason that the politicians of the South had made this the measure of the de- votion of Southern men to " Southern rights." It was not until September 1, 1856, that any open demonstration of consequence was 16 242 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. iiuide by the pro-slavery men of this county in favor of lending a help- ing hand to the brethren in Kansas. On that day a large and enthu- siastic meeting was held at the court-house in Springfield. Resolu- tions of the strongest character were adopted, denouncing free-soilism and abolitionism in the severest terms, and pledging aid of a substan- tial character to the pro-slavery people of Kansas. A financial com- mittee was raised to secure funds to be used in aid of the cause, and a considerable sum of money was raised on the spot. Stirring speeches were made by Hon. Wm. C. Price, of Springfield ; R. W. Crawford, of Mt. Vernon, and W. H. Atter, of Bolivar. A number of men en- rolled themselves to go to Kansas at a minute's warning, and " fight the abolitionists." A day or two before a large meeting was held at Greenfield, Dade county, which was presided over by John P. Shields and addressed by Col. John T. Coffee ; Dr. S. M. Sproul was appointed captain of a military company. In the latter part of the month of August, " Judge " R. G. Rob- erts, formerly of Cedar county, then of Ft. Scott, Kansas, delivered a speech at Springfield in the interest of the pro-slavery party of Kansas, which speech excited great interest, and really was the first of the kind that stirred up the people here to active exertion in be- half of their brethren across the border. Judge Roberts canvassed Southwestern Missouri in the interests of the pro-slavery party in Kansas. Some time in July a company of armed Missourians started from Dade and Polk counties for Kansas, intending to go into the Fort Scott region and assist in defending that country against the " Free- State men. There joined this company a dozen or more citizens of Greene county, who were armed and mounted, chiefly at their own expense, and who, for the most part, left their homes at night. The Greene county men were led by a distinguished citizen of the county, now dead, and went out in defense of what they believed to be right. They started to fight, but, happily, when they reached the bor- der, they found there was no occasion for their services, hostilities having ceased in that quarter, and very soon the most of them had returned to their Greene county homes. THE FAIR OF 1856. The Southwest Missouri fair of 1856, the first in Greene county, was held at Springfield about the first of October. It lasted three days and drew a large crowd of people. Seven counties participated — Greene, HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 243 Taney, Dade, Lawrence, Polk, Webster, and Barry. Premiums for the best horses were awarded to " Scipio," owned by P. B. Owen ; •* St. Charles," owned by I. B. Rickets; "Zephyr," by T. c! Rainey; "Kate Donelson," by Dr. T. J. Bailey. The sweepstakes premium for best bull was received by C. A. Haden & Go's " Lexing- ton," and John Wells's bull. The best cows were those of C. A. Haden and R. P. Faulkner. The best buggy horse was the one owned by Wm. McAdams. The best span of mules were those of T. G. Newbill. Li choosing new officers for the fair association. Col. Marcus Boyd was elected president ; T. G. Newbill was the vice president for this county, and the Greene county directors were N. R. Smith, J. W. Hancock, S. C. Nevill, John H. Miller, and R. B. Weaver. The fair was held on the grounds of the association, (called the Southwest Missouri District Fair Association) about a mile and a half west of Springfield. Many of the visitors from other counties camped out during the fair, having brought everything with them, tents, provis- ions, negro servants, etc., in order to have a good time. CROP FAILURE. This year, owing to the wet weather in the spring and drouth in the fall, there was a failure of crops. Corn especially was light, and everything was " short." The effects of this crop failure were more plainly visible the following spring. ADVERTISING IN 1856. The magnificent advertisements to be seen in the Springfield pa- pers of to-day are in strange contrast with those which appeared in the Mirror, the Lancet, and the Advertiser along in the 50's. The business men of that day contented themselves with inserting a stand- ing advertisement of a few lines, or of but one-fourth of a column at the most, which was usually set as solid matter, without display lines. Some of the advertisements were models of plainness and simplicity. The following are extracts from the advertising columns of the Springfield Mirror in 1856. BY THE EDITOR. Those of our friends who have promised to pay their subscriptions mmeal&ndi -fiour, will confer a favor by bringing it along. Wood will also be taken for all debts due "the office. WHISKY BY THE BARREL. Having bought the mill and distillery 5 miles east of Springfield, of K. P. Haden, I am now prepared to fill all orders with the best quality of whisky by the barrel at 40 cents a 244 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. gallon. I will keep constantlj' on hand whisk}' by the barrel at the store of McGinty & Haden in Springfield, J. D. Haden. WESTERN HOTEL. The undersigned begs leave to inform his old friends and the public generally that he is now prepared to receive and entertain travelers and all others who may favor liim with a call. He will be able to keep a man and his horse all night for 75 cents. He will also board at from $1.75 to $2 per week. Stage passengers and transient sojourners will be charged 25 cents per meal. His table will at all times be supplied with the BEST the mar- ket affords, and his stable well filled with good provender. Travelers maj' rely on them- selves and horses faring well. Hotel on St. Louis street, opposite Lair's blacksmith shop. John S. Bigbee. 1857 MISCELLANEOUS. Wilson Hiickuey, the newly elected county treasurer, was required to give a bond to the amount of $40,000. Apjwintments . — At the August election, 1856, Allen Mitchell had been elected county assessor, but failing to file his bond in time, could not take the office on January 1 of this year, and the county court was forced to appoint him, which it did, January 27. — At the same time J. W. D. L. F. Mack was appointed deputy county clerk. — March, 12 Hon. W. C. Price resigned as State Senator, and was appointed by Governor Polk to the judgeship of this circuit made vacant by the death of Judge Yance3^ — In August John M. Richard- son was appointed the agent of the county to look after its swamp and overflowed lands. He was instructed to visit Washington, to obtain patents for all the lands to which the county was entitled (about 18,000 acres) and was to receive $200 for his services, which sum w^as to be paid out of the proceeds of the sale of the swamp lands. — November 2, B. H. Bills was appointed county school commissioner, for two years from date. — December 5, Elisha Headlee Avas appointed, under the law, the first public administrator of the county. Bank Items. — In January the following were chosen officers of the Springfield bank : President, John W. Hancock ; cashier, J. R. Danforth ; clerk, D. C. Smith; directors, R. J. McElhaney, N. R. Smith, and Charles Sheppard ; attorneys, S. H. Boyd and J. H. Mc- Bride. — By June 18 stock to the amount of $50,000 had been sub- scribed to the branch bank — securing its permanent location at Springfield. Tlie Land Office. — On the 20th of March the office was closed for want of a register, that functionary's time having expired and his successor not having been appointed. Thos. J. Bishop had been the HISTORY OF GREENE COUxN'TY. 245 last register. A few days later W. H. Graves, the editor of the Advertiser, was appointed. From the 1st of May until the oOth of November there were 666,280 acres of land entered at this office, and 175,072 acres sold for cash, amounting in all to 841,352 acres. This was the largest amount of land ever before disposed of at the office in one year. It was not all sold to hona fide settlers, however, much of it having been bought by speculators on a venture. At the close of the year over 2,000,000 acres remained unsold in this land district, much of which was worthless. Effects of the Crop Failure. — Early in the spring of this year the effects of the crop failure of last year began to be most keenly felt by the people of the county. Seed of all kinds was very high. Seed sweet potatoes brought $7 per bushel ; Irish potatoes, $2 ; seed corn, $1.50; common spongy, unsound corn and "nubbins," $1. Other articles of grain and provender were corresponding!}^ scarce and dear. Many of the farmers were unable to buy corn and hay, and numbers of their cattle and hogs starved to death. Horses became very poor and thin. Those attached totheMt. Vernon stao-e could not be urared into a trot, and even provoked the ridicule of the newspa^Dcrs. The sprmg was very backward, and fruit was greatly damaged thereby. The latter portion of the season was so favorable, however, that a most bountiful crop of wheat was raised. Notwithstanding the hard times, many families left the county for California in the spring. Corn was poor and sjDoiled by frost, and on Christmas sold at from $1 25 to $1.50 per bushel. The season of the spring of 1857 will long be remembered in South- west Missouri, on account of the famine that prevailed. The situation in other counties was far worse than in Greene. There was real suf- fering in the counties of Barry, Lawrence, Webster, Polk, Dallas, Laclede, Ozark and Taney. In Ozark county, of which Rockbridge was then the county seat, the May term of the circuit court was adjourned, l)ecause of the scarcity of provisions in the town and coun- try — the people not being prepared to feed themselves well, to say nothing of feeding a crowd of hungry lawyers, witnesses, jury- men, etc. Deaths. — February 7, Judge Charles S. Yancey died, after an illness of two months. Only a few months previously his wife and sister had died, and afterward his own health was very poor, until the fatal illness came upon him. — July 6, Rev. Jonathan Carthal died. — Larkin Payne, a prominent politician, died in October. — Dr. T. W. 246 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNIY. Booth, well known to the people of Greene, died in Newton connty on the last day of the year. — Mrs. Sarah Hornbeak died August 11, and Mrs. Eliza J. Alexander died a week later. Assessed Values. — The assessor's books for this year showed 2,824 names assessed. The total assessed value of property in the county was $3,468,103. The number of polls was 2,076 ; num- ber of slaves, 1,436. The county tax levied was $4,594.63. The total delinquent tax was only $43.01 — a remarkable showing, consid- ering the hard times, failure of crops, etc. In December, in order to facilitate assessments, the county was divided into five districts. THE ' ' PECULIAR INSTITUTION. ' ' Slaves were worth a good price in Greene county this year. About the first of January there was an auction sale of this species of prop- erty in Springfield. One "likely" negro man, 35 years of age, brought $1,000. Two women were put upon the block and sold fair- ly ; one, 26 years of age, brought $830 ; the other, aged 30, brought $715. March 30, a negro woman, 40 years old, with a child of two years, sold for $900 ; another, about 30, with a two-year-old child, brought $860. Occasionally slaves escaped from their masters about these days, and struck out toward the north star, or for the abolitionists in Kan- sas, or for the Indians in the western part of the Indian Territory. One or two were said to have been spirited away by interested parties and taken to California. In May, 1856, the following advertisement appeared in the Springfield papers and those of Southwest Missouri generally : — Three Hundred Dollars Eeward ! — Uah away from the subscriber, on the 21st of April last, two negro men— LOGAN, 45 years of age, bald-headed, one or more fingers on the right hand crooked, or else so stiff he cannot bend them. DAN, 21 years, six feet high; his toes were frost-bitten last winter, so that it is perceivable by exam- ining the naked foot; there is also a scar on his body. Both negroes are black. I will pay .$ 100 for the apprehension and delivery of Logan, or to have him confined so that I can get him. I will pay $200 for the apprehension of Dan, or to have hira con- fined so that I can get him. John S. Doak. Mr. Doak was a negro trader, living a few miles from Springfield, who bought and sold slaves for the Southern market. It would seem that he was not an easy master, and that it was not strange his slaves should run away, when he described them by their " crooked and stifle fingers," their *' frost-bitten toes," and the " scars " on their bodies. The negroes were afterwards caught in southern Kansas, below Ft. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 247 Scott, while on their way to California, and were returned to their master. Accompanying thein was another Greene county runaway slave, belonging to the Danforth estate. About the first of September, three more negroes, belonging to Henry McKinley, ran away. In an advertisement offering $300 for their return or lodgment in jail, Mr. McKinley thus described them ; " Campbell, a black boy about 33 years old, five feet ten inches high, with a blemish in his right eye caused by being snagged, stutters in talking; Jim, a mulatto, about 26 years old, five feet seven inches high; King, a black boy, about 22 years ©Id, stoop- shouldered, with some beard on his face. Said negroes left my house on the 1st inst., to go to meeting at Mr. Allen Edmondson's, in this county. " In July there was a sale of eleven negroes belonging to the estate of Nathan Boone, deceased, a son of Daniel Boone. The sale took place on the Boone farm, about four miles from Ash Grove, in Boone town- ship. The negroes were said to have been " well sold." In Decem- ber,- a negro girl ten years of age, was sold in Springfield for $552. FATAL CASUALTIES. John Ellison, who lived four miles east of Springfield, was struck by lightning, June 20, and instantly killed. In the first week of No- vember, a Mr. Foster, of Springfield, was drowned in the James. He was subject to fits or partial derangement, and it was supposed that while in one of these he attempted to cross the stream, and fell in and was drowned. When found the body had evidently been in the water some days. THE FAIR OF 1857. The second fair of the Southwest Missouri Agricultural and Me- chanical Association was held on the grounds near Springfield, Oct. 3-6, 1857. Notwithstanding the fact that the weather was very gloomy and unfavorable generally, there was a large attendance, a great number of entries, and many important premiums awarded. The following were the officers of the association chosen for another year : President, Marcus Boyd ; secretary, Charles Sheppard ; treas- urer, J. W. D. L. F. Mack; directors, John W. Hancock, C. A. Ha- den, T. G. Newbill, W. M. Horton, of Greene ; E. M. Campbell, of Polk; James S. Rains, of Jasper ; Peter Hogle, of Dade ; P. A. Dud- ley, of Lawrence; J. G. Hollis, of Webster; A. Hooker, of Laclede. SPRINGFIELD MATTERS IN 1857. At the city election in Springfield, April 6, the following officers 248 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. were chosen : Mayor, John S. Kimbrouo'li ; council men, W. B. Lo- gan, W. G. Evans, and N. K. Smith ; recorder, eTohn S. Bigbee ; mar- shal, Josiah Leed}'. In the latter part of June, occurred the examinations in the Spring- field schools, of which there were two at the time, the Springfield Fe- male College, Rev. Charles Carleton, superintendent, and the Spring- field Female High School, Miss Sarah Bailey, principal. The exer- cises were witnessed by good audiences, and the examinations were said to have reflected credit on both teachers and pupils.^ In the same month the female college property was sold by Mr. Carleton to a joint stock company, that made arrangements with Mr. C. to continue the school. August 21, the examination in the Springfield Male Acade- my came off successfully. Two circuses exhibited in Springfield this year — Lent's on August 22, and okl John Robinson's, Sept. 14. Both shows attracted large crowds, from miles away. ^ November 18, the first number of the Weekly Missouri Tribune, was issued by John M. Richardson. It was devoted to " Union De- mocrac3^" Motto: " The people of Missouri love the Union, and will maintain it at all hazards."" — In the first week in May there was no flour on sale in Springfield, " Qr to be had for love or money." Corn meal was $1.50 per bushel. The same condition of afiairs ex- isted in the first part of the month of August. In the fall of this year there was a " boom " for Springfield. In September considerable building was done. The Presb3^terian Church was well under way, work on the Methodist Church was begun, and many dw^clling houses went up. In November there had i)een so many accessions to the population that no empty dwelling houses — " not even a shed," the papers said — could be rented. THE CANVASS OF 1857. January 12, 1857, Gov. Trusten Polk was elected U. S. Senator to succeed Senator Geyer, his term to begin March 4, following. A new Governor was to be chosen. The anti-Bentons, or regular Democrats, nominated Hon. Robert M. Stewart, of Buchanan county. The " Americans" nominated Hon. James S. Rollins, of Boone coun- ty, who was indorsed by the majority of the Benton Democrats.^ The 1 Miss M. C. Nevill received the highest honors at the Female College. 2 Col. Bentou had writon a letter from Washiugtoii to his friends iu Missouri, urging them to vote for liollius. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 249 candidates made a joint canvass of the State and spoke at Springfield June 29 ; a large crowd, nnmbering- 2,000, was present, and each crowd, Know Nothings and " Sag Nichts," as the Democrats were called, claimed the victory for its leader. In February the Democrats of Greene held a connty convention, which was presided over by F. T. Frazier, hitherto a Benton man, and which sent the following delegates to the Democratic State con- vention : W. C. Price, Dr. N. A. Davis, John Kinney, F. T. Frazier, and Matthew Chapman. The delegates were instructed to vote for the nomination for Governor as follows : First choice, John W. Han- cock, of this county ; second choice, Waldo P. Johnson ; third choice, Claib. Jackson ; fourth choice, George W. Hough. Upon Judge Yancey's death, as before stated, Wm. C. Price was appointed circuit judge. Price was State Senator at the time, and, resigning, a vacancy was created, which was to be filled at the August election. John S. Waddill, of Springfield, was the American candi- date and W. H. Riley the Democratic nominee. For circuit judge there were four candidates, Wm. C. Price, the then incumbent ; Littleberry Hendrick and J. H. McBride, of Spring- field, and J. R. Chenault, of Jasper county. A strong fight was made for and against Judge Price in this county. Forjudge of the probate court and of the court of common pleas of Greene county there were three candidates. Sample Orr, J. D. Brown and H. R. Jarrett. The election in this county resulted as follows : — For Governor. — Rollins, 1,135; Stewart, 748. For State Senator. —Waddill, 1,065 ; Riley, 587. For Circuit Judge. — Hendrick, 658 ; Price, 630 ; McBride, 415 ; Chenault, 47. For Probate Judge. — Ovv, 726; Brown, 593; Jarrett, 273. Waddill was elected Senator by 889 majority, carrying four coun- ties, Greene, Webster, Dallas and Ozark, out of the five composing the district. The fifth county, Wright, gave Riley a majority. Chenault was elected circuit judge over Hendrick, the next highest, by about 600 majority, but it is possible Hendrick' s defeat was ac- complished by a forged letter sent out from Springfield to certain counties, stating that Hendrick had withdrawn in favor of McBride. One of these forged letters is still in existence, and a copy is herewith appended : — Springfield, Mo., July 30, 1857. Messrs. Means, Wyrick and others: After having written to every 250 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. county in this judicial circuit, in regard to the rehitive strength of Mc- Bride and Hendrick, and having relial)lc assurance from each, we, the following Americans and Benton men, together with the mass of each of the above parties in this county, have concluded to center upon McBride in order to defeat Price. In union of action there is har- mony, and, in accordance with the above, we shall act. Old Greene will be sound to the core for the defeat of Price and his Phelps coad- jutors. (Signed) Joseph Moss, Stephen Bedford, John Dade, Elijah Gray, Larkin Payne, Hose a Mullings, T. J. Bailey. The vote in the State this year, as canvassed, stood : Stewart, 47,- 975 ; Rollins, 47,641 ; Stewart's majority, 334. The Rollins men, however, declared that their candidate was fairly elected, but was cheated in the count by " doctoring" the returns from certain coun- ties in this quarter of the State. The truth of this declaration was never fully established. the liquor question. In January Representative McFarland, in compliance with a prom- ise made in the canvass of 1856, introduced a bill in the Legislature to repeal the Springfield liquor law, noted on a previous page. The la- dies of Springfield sent up a remonstrance, and the gallant legislators, by a large majority, refused to repeal the law. During the discussion in the House many eloquent speeches were made by Wilson, of Platte, Switzler, of Boone, and others. In February a petition was circu- lated in Robberson township praying the Legislature to pass a law prohibiting the sale of liquor in that township. A remonstrance was also circulated. Both petition and remonstrance came before the Leg- islature in a few days, the former signed by 114 ladies and 109 gentle- men, and the result was the passage of an act prohibiting the sale of liquors in "the 30th congressional township." white river improvement. In April John Young, commissioner for the improvement of White river, was paid $198, or $3 per day for 66 days' service as such com- missioner, having expended in that time only $371 of the county's appropriation. Some time this spring a small light-draft steamboat came up the river as far as the mouth of the James, discharged some freight, took on a few bales of cotton, and returned to Memphis. The first night out on her return trip she tied up at a point in Stone coun- ty, five miles from the mouth of the James, and in the night there was a stabbing affray between the mate and a deckhand. HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 251 FIRST EFFORT TO FORM CHRISTIAN COUNTY. In January the first real effort of the Legishitiire to organize Chris- tian county was made. The people of Greene were hostile to the organization of the new county, as it was to take off a strip of terri- tory seven miles in width and running east and west across the south- ern part of the county, and in this territory was some valuable taxable propert3^ The county had a railroad debt of $80,000 which it was very desirable this property should be taxed to pay. The owners of the property had helped to create the debt and care was to be taken that they should help to pay it. The Greene county legislators were able to stave off the creation of Christian county two years from this year. MISCELLANEOUS. About New Year's day Mr. E. C. Davis, superintendent of com- mon schools, well known in Greene county, was arrested in Jef- ferson City and committed to jail on a charge of forgery. Afterward he was sent to the penitentiary for two years. — In July the county court ordered notice to be given that no interest on county warrants would be paid after that date, as there was sufficient money in the treasury to pay all demands against the county. A tax of only I2V2 cents on the $100, and a poll of only I2V2 cents a head were levied this year. — About the last of May Prof. G. C. Swallow and the corps of the State Geological Survey were in Springfield and Greene county ensrao-ed in their work. — In the month of Jnne, notwithstanding the famine, lands in the vicinity of Springfield sold at from $75 to $100 per acre. R. P. Faulkner sold his farm of 250 acres for $40 per acre. The county school fund this year amounted to $7,235.52, of which $4,664.40 was from the State, $2,229.94 from the county, and $341.18 from the townships. — On the 19th of June a severe hailstorm passed over a portion of the Grand and Kickapoo prairies, doing considerable damage to fruit and the growing crops. — During the year there was considerable discussion among the people regarding the building of a railroad from Cape Girardeau to Springfield. Meetings were held in this part of the State in favor of the project, and plenty of substan- tial aid was promised. November 28 a bill chartering the " Spring- field and Cape Girardeau Railroad" passed both Houses of the Legis- lature. — November 28 Greene county was attached to the 14th judi- cial circuit, Hon. P. H. Edwards, judge. Hitherto it had belonged to the 13th district. The times of holdiuix court were fixed as the 252 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. first Mondays in March and Octol)er. — In August four prisoners, named Lee, Smith, LeDuc, and McAlpin, escaped from the county jail. Sheriff King offered $200 reward for their capture. — The great financial crash of 1857 affected Greene county no little. The mer- chants were put to great sti'aits to pay their wholesale creditors in St. Louis, and the people of the county had but little money with which debts could l)e discharged, owing to the numerous bank failures throughout the country. 1858 MISCELLANEOUS In January the county court appointed H. R. Jarrett, John Murray, L. A. Rountree, A. H. Payne, and John Elani, district assessors, under the new law, and John M. Richardson county attorney. At the same session a dramshop license was refused J. F. Fagg & Co., of Springfield, because a majority of the citizens of Campbell town- ship, including about three hundred ladies, had remonstrated against granting any more licenses in the township. There was not a licensed dramshop in Springfield at that time. On the last of January one Arthur Blankenship, of Barry county, who had poisoned his wife, a sister of Enoch Jessup, of this county, and who had shortly thereafter married another woman and then fled the country, was arrested in Searcy county, Ark., and returned to the jail at Cassville. Mr. Jessup had been especially active in pro- curing the arrest of Blankenship, oftering $500 reward for his cap- ture. In March thereafter Blankenship, with some other prisoners, escaped from the Cassville jail, but Blankenship returned and sur- rendered himself to the sheriff. His trial coming on in April, he took a change of venue to Lawrence county, and in September following he broke jail at Mt. Vernon and again escaped. Owing to the numerous failures of banks of issue about this time there was great financial depression throughout the country. The peo- ple of Greene had to contend not only against this adverse circum- stance, but against a great scarcity of produce, owing to the failure for two seasons of the corn crop. Many farmers became discouraged, and in the spring of this year sold their lands for low prices and re- moved to Kansas and elsewhere. On the 18th of May a small steamboat landed at the mouth of the James, in Stone county, and landed some freight for the merchants HISTORY OF GRJ3ENE COUNTY. 253 of Ozark, then in this county. In tliis year the improvement of White river by public aid practically ceased. Occasionally thereafter, even up to the present time, a steamer wends its way as far up as Forsyth. July 3, a meeting of farmers and others was held at Ozark, Linden township, to consider the situation of afiairs generally. The chair- man was John Collins, of Taney county. Resolutions were adopted that, in view of the stringency of money matters and the extortions of " middlemen, " it was the duty of those composing the nleeting to start a " co-operative store." The resolutions were similar to some of those adopted by the Patrons of Husbandry fifteen years afterward, and this was doubtless the first" grange " meeting ever held in Greene county. In August it was first made public that the sulphur springs, near Ash Grove, possessed " remarkable medical properties." March 20, a child of Mr. Hargiss, living in the northern part of the county, was burned to death b}'- its clothes taking fire. In August a little son of R. B. Coleman, of Springfield, fell from a horse and frac- tured his skull, making a dangerous wound. October 20, a man named Gillmore was caught in the machinery of Nowlin's mill and literally crushed to pieces. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. In February Mr. Stephen Bedford killed a gray eagle in this county which measured six feet between the tips of its wings. — In March, at a negro sale in Springfield, one negro girl, aged 18 or 20, brought $875 ; another, aged 30, brought $552 ; a " boy," of 22, sold for $1,- 615; a small boy, $1,000; another, $1,100; one woman and three children, $2,125. — A "grand" 4th of July celebration was held in Mr. Haun's yard, in Springfield ; orations were delivered by Revs. Woods and Morrison. — This year the county court imposed a license tax on " menageries" of $50 a day; on "smaller affairs," $25 per day. — ^ August 21, J. D. Hade completed his new steam mill at Spring- field. — In October Thos. J. Whitlock's steam mill, six miles from Springfield, was put in operation. — On the fourth of September there was a considerable frost in portions of this county and the weather Avas cold enough for fire. — A Mr. Coleman picked an apple from his orchard in the autumn of this year, measuring nearly five inches in diameter and weighing two pounds. — November 20, Mr. Richardson's Tribune newspaper, at Springfield, died, aged one year. — The corn crop was 254 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. ' short this year again, and in December sold for $1 a bushel : corn meal was worth $1.25. — A tax of 30 cents on the $100 for county purposes was levied this year. SPRINGFIELD IN 1858. In the winter of 1857-8 a h)cal dramatic organization, called " The Thespian Society," gave a series of entertainments at Temperance Hall, which were well attended. The proceeds of one evening were donated to the Springfield Female College. Upon the removal of the post-office to the house occupied by Drs. Wooten & Goodall, in January of this year, the Mirror remarked that, if one or two more removals had occurred, every house in town would have been the post-office at one time. In September it was again removed to a new building on South street. Two lodges of Good Templars were in good condition in the town this spring. "Eureka" lodge had for officers: N. F. Jones, W. C. T. ; Mrs. J. M. Morgan, worthy vice; E. P. Faulkner, secretary; J. R. Danforth, treasurer; Chas. Fox, inside guard; J. B. Perkins, outside guard. " Pride of the West " lodge was officered as follows : R. J. Beal, worthy chief; Jane Gott, worthy vice ; John Ricks, sec- retary; Jasper McDonald, treasurer; Benj. Gott and J. P. Bailey, guards. The Odd Fellows celebrated their anniversary this year by a pro- cession and a supper in the evening at Temperance Hall. Hon. Sam- ple Orr delivered an address. The Masons made a similar observance of St. John's Day, June 24. June 17 Mr. Ingram's foundry was fairly opened at Springfield. This was the first institution of the kind in Southwest Missouri, and its inauguration was a matter of much interest to the people. Mr. Wm. Massey had the first piece of casting made. The Presbyterian church was dedicated July 4th, and at the same time the M. E. South church building was well under way. The sum of $5,000 was subscribed for a male academy in the place, (such an institution being imperatively demanded at that time), in July, and by the 1st of September there were two such academies in the town, besides five female schools and two music schools, all of which were well attended. In September, there having been great complaint made of certain nocturnal disturbances and disorderly conduct, the city council passed an ordinance directing the marshal to arrest all persons found on the HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 255 streets or "loitering or wandering about" at unusual hours. White persons so offending were to be imprisoned until 8 o'clock the next morning; negroes were to be soundly whipped. "So shall ye put away evil from among you," etc. Notwithstanding the hard times following the crash of 1857, and the partial iiiilure of crops in this county for three years, property in Springfield advanced to fair prices this fall. In September some lots in the south part of town sold for $200 per acre. A house and lot on South street sold at sheriff's sale for $2,000 ; another on St. Louis street brought $2,052. A lot adjoining Temperance Hall brought $1,000. The corner lot on the west side, known as the Haden proper- ty, but bought of Sheppard & Kimbrough, was purchased by the county for the present court-house site for $3,000. A large lot of land near town and in other parts of the county was sold, even at sheriff's sale, for fair prices. In the fall of this year the Butterfield stage company decided to run a line of stages from St. Louis to California via the southern route, through Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, in order to avoid the snows and the fierce Indians to be encountered on the northern route. Septem- ber 17th the first outward bound overland mail stage for California passed through Springfield, which had been made a station on the line, three hours ahead of time. It was a great event to be sure ! When the driver came bounding in on the square on the top of the huge old Concord stage, loaded down Avith mail bags and baggage and crowded with passengers, and cracked his whip like a rifle shot, then drove up in front of Gen. Smith's hotel, and brought up all six of his gaily harnessed and spirited steeds with a pull of the lines that set them back on their haunches, and yelled " Who-o-o-a there, blame your hearts: all you tl link about is ruimiii' ! ^ '' — when all this hap- pened, as it did, Springfield took off its hat and cheered heartily and lustily. There was great rejoicing. That night the event was cele- brated by letting off sky-rockets, throwing fire-balls, reducing dry goods boxes to ashes, hurrahing, and violating the prime obligations of the Good Templars ! October 22, the first overland mail stage from California — 23 days out from San Francisco — passed through town having on board five passengers, the mail, some treasure, etc. One of the passengers is said to have been Gen. J. W. Denver, from Pike's Peak. Denver City was named for Gen. D. On Christmas day, 1858, the population of Springfield was about 1,200. There were sixteen mercantile houses doing a business an- 256 HISTORY OF GKEENK COUNTY. nually that aggregated $300,000 ; two drug stores, one cabinet shop, one furniture store, seven blacksmith shops, two tin shops, two sad- dle and harness shops, three hotels, three wagon shops, three jewelry establishments, two printing offices (Ihe 31 h'i'or and the Advertiser) three churches, five schools, ten lawyers, five doctors, four clergy- men, four secret orders (Masons, Odd Fellows, Sons of Temperance, and Good Templars), three tailor shops, two milliners, a daguerrean gallery, Capt. Julian's carding machine, a gunsmith shop, three butcher shCps, a hatter's sho}), three confectionery stores, one livery stable, three boot and shoe shops, one dentist, a land office, a bank, land agents, twenty carpenters, house and sign painters, two brick masons, and one saloon, the latter institution being located beyond the "Dead Sea. " During the year 1858 300,000 feet of lumber had been sold in the place. Smith & Graves were engaged in putting up a planing mill, which was completed the following spring, Mr. Ingram was engaged in repairing and adding to his foundry. Hitherto the foundry had not been able to do good work ])ecause of the presence of so much sul- phur in the coal used. Four hundred bushels of dried fruit were shipped to St. Louis in 1858. J. H. Caynor & Co. had a tobacco manufactory which emploj^ed thirty hands, and invested $15,000. It had consumed 175,000 pounds of toI)acco, and turned out 800 boxes of the manufactured article. A Mr. Fao-tj; was also eno;ao;ed in tobacco manufacturing. The city authorities began, at about the close of the year, to take the first steps for the permanent improvement of the streets, alleys, sidewalks, crossings, etc, which hitherto had been in a deplorable condition. The majority of the business houses around •the square were temporary structures, and all, or nearly 'all, were frame buildings, a sample or two of which could recently be seen. ABSTRACT OF THE ASSESSORS' BOOKS FOR 1858. The following is an abstract of the assessors' books of the county for the year 1858, together with an abstract of the tax books : Assessed Values. \ Taxes, No. of slaves, 1,589, value $ 749,5oo'countv tax, from polls $ 1,277.50 No. acres of land, 365,713; value... l,938,460|State tax from i>oll> 766.50 No. townlots, 166; value. 92,560 Money and Notes 413,914 Other personal properly 687,531 County tax from propert}' n.3 votes, W. W. Turner, 285, and Julian Frazier, 279. Great was the astonishment of everybody when it was learned that in Greene county 42 votes had been gived to "Abe" Lincoln. It was known before the election that there were a few Republicans in the county, perhaps a dozen, and it had been contemplated by certain over-zealous "Southern rights" men to wait upon them, if they should vote for Lincoln, inform them that their room in this county was vastly preferable to their presence, and invite them to leave for a more congenial clime ; but upon learning there were so many of them, and that there were many more who would have voted the Republican ticket had they voted at all, and that they all would be protected in the right to vote as they pleased by hundreds of the Bell and Douglas envidge. Douglas. Lincoln 183 182 21 29 18 • •• 8 12 • •• 18 8 • •• 11 24 2 11 • •- 13 21 10 24 16 ... 60 ... 66 6 11 HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. 273 men, the contemplated waiting upon was dispensed with, and the invitation to leave was postponed. Among the Republicans of Greene county in 1860 were Hon. John M. Richardson, Benj. Kite, H. F. Fellows, A. J. Ragsdale, " all of the Ragsdales," Charles Starks, Archie Clark, J. D. Holcomb, Barnum, John Reynolds (murdered afterwards for his politics), Jo- seph Goodwin, Alexander Goodwin, George Cooper (killed by guer- rillas), Joseph Cooper, Wesley Matherly, Alexander Hammontree, John Hammontree, Joe Mullinax, J. R. Mullinax. AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. The news of the election of Lincoln and Hamlin was received by the people of Greene county generally with considerable dissatisfac- tion ; but, aside from the utterances of some ultra pro-slavery men, there were general expressions of a willingness to accept and abide by the result — at least to watch and wait. A larsce number of citizens declared themselves unconditional Union men from the first — as they had avowed themselves every year since 1850, when they had been Benton men, opponents of the " Jackson resolutions," of nul- lification, of fanaticism of every sort, and from every quarter, and when they had met in convention at Springfield from time to time> and so avowed themselves and these now were the men who had voted for Bell, and men who had voted for Douglas, and even men who had voted for Breckenridge. Upon the secession of South Carolina and other Southern States, however, many changed their view. Indeed, there was nothing certain about the sentiments of men in those days, but one thing — they were liable to change ! Secessionists one week became Union men the next, and vice vei'sa. There was withal a uni- versal hope that civil war might be averted. A majorit}^ of the people of the county, it is safe to say, believed that the interests of Missouri were identical with those of the other slave-holding States, but they were in favor of waiting for the develop- ment of the policy of the new administration before taking any steps leading to the withdrawal of the State from the Federal Union. " Let us wait and see what Lincoln will do," was the sentiment and expres- sion of a large number. And they waited. While many of the people of the county were slaveholders, the ma- jority of the class was merciful toward this species of their chattels and treated them with much consideration. A hard and cruel master was almost unknown. There was a strino;ent law ao'ainst mistroatin