USA > Missouri > Dunklin County > History of Dunklin County, Mo., 1845-1895 Embracing an historical account of the towns and post-villages of Clarkton, Cotton Plant, Cardwell, Caruth [etc.] Including a department devoted to the description of the early appearance, settlement, development, resources With an album of its people and homes, profusely illustrated > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY MISSOURI 1845-1895
Hx
1800
Glass
FAIZ
Book
DID2
HISTORY
OF
Dunklin County, Mo.
1845-1895.
Embracing an Historical Account of the Towns and Post-Villages of Clarkton, Cotton Plant, Cardwell, Caruth, Campbell, Gibson, Halcomb, Hornersville, Kennett, Lulu, Malden, Nesbit, Senath, Valley Ridge, Vincent, White Oak and Wrightville.
Including a Department Devoted to the Description of the Early Appearance, Settlement, Development, Resources, and Present Appearance of the County.
With an Album of Its People and Homes Profusely Illustrated.
BY
MARY F. SMYTH-DAVIS.
CRA
ST. LOUIS: NIXON-JONES PRINTING CO. 1896.
)
A
12485 '02
.
S
COURT HOUSE, KENNETT.
ARSUI JHT
1/2
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE.
Territory of Missouri. 7
State Organization. 8
Why we were Included in Missouri 11
Boundaries 13
Earthquakes of 1811-12 15
CHAPTER II.
The Mound Builders - The Indians
19-21
CHAPTER III.
Scenery, Animals, etc. 22
Physical Features. 26
Present Appearances - Floods 28-29
CHAPTER IV.
The Civil War
31
CHAPTER V.
Early Settlements 38
Pioneer Physicians - General Growth of
County 43
(3)
4
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
Churches - PAGE.
Baptist - Methodist. 59-64
General Baptist - Cumberland Presby-
terian 68-70
Presbyterian - Christian - Catholic .. .
72-76
CHAPTER VII.
Resources - Health Rate. 77-83
CHAPTER IX.
Court Officials and Courts
86-99
CHAPTER X.
Towns and Villages -
Caruth - Cardwell 99-100
Cotton Plant - Clarkton. 102-105
Campbell - Gibson - Halcomb 107-112
Hornersville - Kennett. 114-119
Lulu - Malden. 131-132
Nesbit - Senath - Valley Ridge 141-144
Vincet - White Oak - Wrightsville ... 145-146
CHAPTER XI.
Politics, Exports, etc. 146-150
Biographical Sketches Illustrated. 151
A Group of Dunklin County Women 284-287
TO MY FRIENDS.
This little volume has been prepared to preserve the past history of Dunklin County, Mo., perpetuate the names of its pioneers, keep the time and manner of settlement, record the names of its officials, and preserve much other matter that would otherwise, in a few years, be entirely lost.
Also realizing the many untrue and detrimental things which have been spoken of her native county, the author desires to bring it before its sister counties and the world as it now exists, and to this end has personally visited every locality of the county, and more than fifty of the oldest and best informed citizens, in search of information, and in every instance using that which proved to be the most reliable.
(5)
INTRODUCTORY.
As every book must be, in some part, more or less the opinion of its author, the writer has endeavored to be moderate in language of praise, and to avoid all exaggeration.
The Album of our PEOPLE AND HOMES has received much care and attention, with the best possible results from the material furnished.
While knowing the book is not perfect, it is hoped that it will meet with the approval of all.
My friends will please remember that I was born, reared and educated (with the exception of two years in the Piedmont, Wayne County, public schools, when a child)- in Dunklin County; and I acknowledge with pride, not only my nationality, but my native State and county.
I tender my grateful thanks for courtesies received from many friends, and respectfully dedicate this his- tory to the people of Dunklin County.
THE AUTHOR.
(6)
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
TERRITORY OF MISSOURI.
Congress organized the Territory of Missouri, June 4, 1812. The first Council consisted of nine members, and the House of thirteen. "Territory of Louisiana " comprised its real boundary, yet it practically con- sisted of only the settled parts of Missouri, as follows : Cape Girardeau, embracing the territory between Tywappity Bottom and Apple Creek, Ste. Genevieve, extending from Apple Creek to the Meramec River, St. Louis, including that part of the State between the Meramec and Missouri rivers, St. Charles, com- prising the settled country between the Missouri and Mississippi.
In October of the same year, these four districts were reorganized into five counties, by proclamation of Gov. Howard. The fifth was called New Madrid, and included Arkansas, therefore the present site of Dunklin County.
In 1814 the population of the entire Territory was 25,000. The country was rapidly settled up and new counties organized.
During the session of the Legislature, in 1816-17,
(7)
8
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
the old " Bank of Missouri " was chartered; and in the fall of 1817 the two banks, "St. Louis " and " Missouri," were issuing bills, the former having gone into operation in 1814.
The first newspaper west of the Mississippi was published at St. Louis, July 12th, 1808. It was first called the MISSOURI GAZETTE, and measured 12x16 inches. It proved to be the forerunner of the MISSOURI REPUBLICAN, thence THE REPUBLIC, and now so widely read by the staunch Democrats of Dunklin County.
The first paper west of St. Louis was the MISSOURI INTELLIGENCER, established by Nathaniel Patton, in 1819, at Old Franklin, and later removed to Fayette.
In 1818 the first Protestant Church ( Baptist ) was built in St. Louis, and in the same year a cathedral was commenced on the site of the old log church which had been built by the early French settlers.
STATE ORGANIZATION.
In 1818, the inhabitants of Missouri petitioned for admission into the Union, through John Scott, dele- gate to Congress. Two years was consumed in the discussion of the slavery question, by the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House insisted on the gradual restriction of involuntary servitude, and the Senate refused to indorse any anti-slavery proviso whatever.
In 1820, while the matter was still under discussion, that amendment, famous as the " Missouri Compro- mise," was presented by Jesse B. Thomas, of Illi- nois, and adopted March 6th of the same year. This
9
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
settled, for the time, all differences between the two Houses, and allowed Missouri to enter the Union with slavery. The pro-slavery senators consented to this measure because they saw by the determination of the House that they would be unable otherwise to secure the admission of Missouri.
The people of the Territory of Missouri then organized into fifteen counties, were authorized by Congress to hold an election in May, 1820, to choose representatives to the State Convention, whose object should be the framing of a Constitution. Accord- ingly, forty-one representatives convened at St.
Louis, June 12. The Constitution which the Con- vention framed took effect from the authority of the body itself, not being submitted to the vote of the people. It withstood the mutations of parties and all efforts at material amendment from the time of its adoption till the Convention of 1865.
November 16, 1820, Mr. Scott laid before the House of Representatives, at Washington, a copy of the Constitution of the new State, when a fresh debate arose, first, because the Constitution sanctioned slavery, and, second, because one of its articles especially enjoined that such laws should be passed as might be necessary to prevent free mulattoes and negroes from coming to or settling in the new State under any pretext whatsoever.
The perils of the political situation becoming immi- nent, Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, moved that twenty-three Representatives, one from each State, be appointed to act jointly with the Senate committee, in an attempt
10
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
to adjust the difficulty. Such a committee was chosen with Mr. Clay as its chairman. The Senate also appointed seven of its members on the joint committee which, on February 26, 1821, reported to each House the following :
" Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States of America, in Congress Assembled,
That Missouri shall be admitted into this Union on an equal footing with the original States, in all re- spects whatever, upon the fundamental conditions that the fourth clause of the twenty-sixth section of the article of the Constitution, submitted on the part of said State to Congress, shall never be construed to authorize the passage of any law, and that no law shall be passed in conformity thereto, by which any citizen of either of the States in the Union shall be excluded from the enjoyment of any of the privileges and immunities to which such citizen is entitled under the Constitution of the United States.
" Provided. That the Legislature of said State, by a solemn public act, shall declare the assent of the State to the said fundamental conditions, and shall transmit to the President of the United States, on or before the fourth Monday in November next, an authentic copy of the said act, upon the receipt whereof the President, by proclamation, shall announce the fact ; whereupon, and without any further pro- ceeding on the part of Congress, the admission of the State into the Union shall be considered as complete."
11
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
This resolution, known as " The Clay Compromise" was soon adopted by both Houses.
The 26th of the following June, the Legislature of Missouri adopted an act declaring the assent of the State to the conditions of admission, and transmitted to the President a copy of the same.
August 10, 1821, after a struggle of nearly two years and a half, the admission of Missouri into the Union was announced by the proclamation of Presi- dent Monroe, and the State from that day took rank as the twenty-fourth of the American Republic. The seat of government was fixed at St. Charles, but was moved, in 1826, to Jefferson City.
According to the first census taken in September, 1821, the population of the State was 70,647, of whom 11,254 were slaves.
WHY WE WERE INCLUDED IN MISSOURI.
In 1804 Congress divided Louisiana into two terri- tories by a line running with the thirty-third parallel of north latitude. In 1812 the Territory of Missouri was organized from a portion of Upper Louisiana, and in 1819 Arkansas Territory was established. When it was proposed to organize the State of Missouri, the bill as first introduced provided that the parallel of 36° and 30" should be the Southern boundary of Mis- souri throughout its entire extent, from the Mississippi river West.
There were at this time many hardy pioneers on the Mississippi below that line, whose interests were linked with the settlements of the North by ties commer-
12
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
cial as well as social, and they felt that as their position was so far in advance of other portions of Arkansas Territory, they were entitled to all the privileges and immunities which is offered by a State government.
Prominent among these pioneers was Col. John Hardiman Walker, who owned large tracts of land in Pemiscot and Dunklin Counties, and who was anxious to have his lands annexed to Missouri. Many others of the pioneers were desirous of being Missourians, and until a late date became indignant if spoken of as being properly " Arkansawyers."
Col. Walker, Godfrey Lesieur, and several other leading citizens of this portion of the State, by exert- ing their influence with friends in Washington, suc- ceeded in having the original bill amended and the line from the Mississippi to the St. Francois rivers lowered to the parallel of 36°. Hence we are for all time Missourians.
Dunklin County was organized February 14, 1845, from that portion of Stoddard County south of the parallel of 36° 30". In 1853 a strip nine miles wide was added to this territory on the north. The county was named in honor of Daniel Dunklin, Governor of Missouri from 1832 to 1836, then Surveyor-General of the United States, etc. It lies between St. Francois river and New Madrid and Pemiscot Counties, in a portion of the State which apparently belongs to Arkansas.
13
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
BOUNDARY - R. S. 1879, SEC. 3615.
DUNKLIN. Beginning at the northwest corner of New Madrid County in the middle of township 23, north, in range 10, east of the fifth principal meridian, thence due west with the section lines to the middle of the main channel of the St. Francois River, thence down the middle of the main channel of said river, with the meanderings thereof, to where said river crosses the line between the States of Missouri and Arkansas; thence east with said State line on the parallel of latitude 36 degrees and 30 minutes, to the middle of the main channel of said St. Francois River where it crosses the State line at the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of section 36, in township 22, north, in range 8, east of the fifth principal meridian ; thence down the middle of the main channel of said St. Francois River with the meanderings thereof to the extreme south boundary of the State of Mis- souri ; thence due east to the southwest corner of Pemiscot County ; thence with the western boundary line of Pemiscot County to the southwest corner of New Madrid County to the place of beginning.
Area .- It is nearly fifty miles in length, and em- braces an area of 500 square miles.
The county is only about five miles near the center, and reaches its greatest width on its southern extremity, being there twenty-two miles wide. On the north line it is eleven miles in width.
Soil .- The most productive is a black sand and muck mixture which is especially adapted to cotton,
14
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
corn, other grain and garden vegetables. Excepting a portion of Grand Prairie the lower end of the county is almost entirely composed of this soil and is exceed- ingly productive and fertile.
There is also another variety of sand lighter in character. This is the soil of the prairies, which is peculiarly adapted to the production of grain, potatoes, watermelons, and vegetables whose value depends upon early ripening. With intelligent attention both of the above mentioned soils grow the very finest small fruits, and that too with the very least labor.
Another variety of soil is found near the foot-hills in the northwest part of the county, and is a rich, yellowish loam. It is heavier than the sandy varieties and is not easily exhausted. It produces large crops of corn, and is adapted to grass, wheat and fruit. .
Still farther up on both sides of the hill-ridge the soil is of a still heavier and black variety. The strip of hills known as " Crowley's Ridge " are principally of a variety of clay. Here the peach and other fruits are grown of good size and the best quality ; and here, also, the principal wheat crop of the county is grown.
The very best brick and potter's clay are found on the ridge and along the St. Francois River in this county. There is also a pure white variety that resembles putty in appearance, and a red of similar or ochraceous character, with a considerable show of iron in many places. Our farm lands have proved to be not easily exhausted, producing good crops annually, many of them for over forty years, and without any especial care.
15
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
EARTHQUAKES OF 1811-12.
These are known as New Madrid earthquakes. They have been felt not only in the county of New Madrid, but also the adjacent country on both sides of the Mississippi River. The center of the disturbance seems to have been in Pemiscot County, in the vicin- ity of Little Prairie.
Michael Braunm ( father of Tecumsey Braunm, Miss Lizzie Braunm and Mrs. Victorine ( Braunm ) Horner, all yet living in Dunklin County ) - was a married man living at the above mentioned place during the time of the earthquakes. In describing the catastro- phe he stated that in one particular place on the Mississippi the earth rose like a great loaf of bread to the height of many feet, the uprising being accom- panied by a terrible rumbling noise. The swell finally burst with one of the most severe shocks of the period, and great quantities of sand, water and a black sulphurous vapor, was thrown out to nearly the height of an ordinary tree, com- pletely darkening the atmosphere for some distance. When it was again light it was noticed that many acres of land had disappeared in the Mississippi, the current of which was retrograded for a short time. The rising motion and rumbling noise warned the inhabitants, and they fled in dismay, so that no lives were lost. Mr. Braunm's residence was about a half mile from the seeming center of this particular shock, and when it had subsided he placed his wife on a horse, walking in front himself, to search out a way
16
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
over and between the deep fissures that had been made in the earth, and thus sought a quieter locality, as did the other inhabitants.
The description of the first shock as given by God- frey Lesieur, who was an eye-witness to the scene, is quoted from the " HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI," as follows :-
" The first shock was about 2 o'clock A. M., on the night of December 16, 1811, and was very hard, shak- ing down log houses, chimneys, etc. It was followed at intervals from half an hour to an hour apart by comparatively slight shocks, until about 7 o'clock in the morning, when a rumbling noise was heard in the west, not unlike distant thunder, and in an instant the earth began to totter and shake so that no persons were able to stand or walk. This lasted a minute, then the earth was observed to be rolling in waves of a few feet in height, with a visible depression between. These swells burst, throwing up large volumes of water, sand and a species of charcoal, some of which was partly covered with a substance which by its peculiar odor was thought to be sulphur. Where these swells burst, large, wide and long fissures were left running north and south parallel with each other for miles. I have seen some four or five miles in length, four and one-half feet deep on an average, and about ten feet wide."
After this, slight shocks were felt at intervals until January 7, 1812, when the region was again visited
17
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
by an earthquake equal to the first in violence, and characterized by the same frightful results. Mr. Lessieur says further, that upon this second visitation the inhabitants, excepting two families, fled in dis- may, leaving behind their stock and even many of their household goods, all of which were appropriated by adventurers and carried away in flatboats.
During this series of the most terrible earthquakes that have ever visited the American Continent, which occurred along the Mississippi Valley, streams were turned from their channels or dried up ; hills, forests and plains disappeared, and lakes, one of which, Red- foot Lake, sixty or seventy miles in length, and from three to twenty in breadth, were formed. Vast heapsof sand were scattered in various places, and whole tracts of land sank below the level of the surrounding country.
Dunklin County's swamps and sloughs were undoubtedly made then, also its prairies and " sand- blows." Many of the fissures made in the earth are yet plainly visible in this county, especially on Horse Island, and near the foot of the hills west of Malden.
All these fissures and the prairies, " sandblows," sloughs or swamps, run in a northeasterly and south- westerly direction in Dunklin County.
Judging by the description of this county before these earthquakes, as given by Mr. Michael Braunm, it seems to have sunk or settled down at least fifteen or twenty feet, and in some places even more, all over the south end and east side along the swamps of Little River.
2
18
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
The small fissures in Dunklin County, made by the earthquakes, run parallel with Seneca Creek, Kinamore Slough, Honey Cypress, Buffalo Creek, Raglin and Taylor sloughs, - and it is supposed that these are only larger fissures made by the same catastrophe. The Indians stated this to be a fact, also, that there was no sand, sloughs or swamps prior to that time, but a beautiful high-rolling country.
Since 1812 slight shocks have been felt in the same region as the earthquakes of that date along the Mississippi Valley. Two or three shakes are some- times felt in one year. The last, and hardest one since 1812, occurred about 5 o'clock Thursday morn- ing of October 31, 1895. THE REPUBLIC of November 2, 1895, says: " Near Henson Lake, six miles south of Charlestown, Mo., about four acres of ground were sunk and filled with water, forming another lake. Near Bertrand hundreds of mounds of sand are piled up, ranging in size from twelve inches to ten feet in circumference, and the ditches in this neighborhood are filled with water, coming from the holes made, there having been no rain to fill them any other way for nearly two months. Near Big Lake, four miles north of Charleston, are two small holes in the earth, from which the water is spouting to the height of three feet. Every bricklayer in the city ( Charleston ) was busy all day replacing flues and chimneys that were skaken down.
" The trembling of the earth is said to have been felt in at least seventeen States. The vibration seems to have been most violent in the section ex-
19
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
tending directly south of the State of Ohio. Only a few slight personal injuries have been reported. Considerable damage has been done to property in many places, brick flues were felled, chimneys shaken down,- plate-glass fronts and glass window panes fell from houses, plastering shook from walls, clocks were stopped and lights put out, and in some places people were nauseated and rolled out from their beds by the rocking of the earth."
These late shocks were much lighter in Dunklin County than in many other places, the severity being indicated by a message sent from Malden to THE REP- UBLIC on October 31, 1895: " The heaviest earthquake since 1812 occurred here at 5:07 this morning, lasting three minutes, from northeast to southwest. There was a general scare but no damage is known."
CHAPTER II.
INDIANS AND OTHER RACES.
THE MOUND BUILDERS.
This is a race who have acquired their name from the numerous large mounds of earth left by them. This race possessed a much less degree of culture than the races that built the ancient cities of Cen- tral America, and reaches back into an antiquity so remote as to have left behind no vestige of tradition.
They seem to have been a half-civilized people, and once occupied Missouri and various other parts of the
20
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
United States. Remains of what were apparently villages, altars, temples, idols, burial-places, monu- ments, camps, fortifications and pleasure-grounds have been found, but nothing showing that any material save earth was used in the construction of their habi- tations. At first these works were supposed to be of Indian origin, but careful examination has revealed the fact that despite several adverse theories they must have been reared by a people as distinct from the North American Indian as were those later people of Central America.
The mounds and other ancient earthworks con- structed by this people are abundant in Southeast Missouri. Some are quite large, but the greater part of them are small and inconspicuous.
"Along nearly all of the water-courses that are large enough to be navigated by a canoe, the mounds are almost invariably found, so that when one places him- self in such a position as to command the grandest river scenery he is almost sure to discover that he is standing upon one of these ancient tunnels, or in close proximity thereto. The human skeletons, with skulls differing from those of the Indians, that are found in these mounds are usually accompanied by pottery and various ornaments and utensils showing considerable mechanical skill. From the compara- tively rude state of the arts among them, however, it has been inferred that the time of their migration to this country, if indeed they did migrate, was very remote."*
* History of Southeast Missouri.
21
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
Their axes were of stone; their raiment, judging from fragments which have been discovered, consisted of the bark of trees interwoven with feathers, and their military works were such as a people would erect who had just passed to the pastoral state of society from that dependent alone upon hunting and fishing. They were, no doubt, idolaters, and it has been con- jectured that the sun was the object of their adoration. The mounds were generally built in a situation afford- ing a view of the rising sun; when inclosed in walls their gateways were toward the east; their caves in which their dead were occasionally buried always opened in the same direction ; when bodies were buried in graves, as was frequently the case, they were laid in a direction east and west ; and, finally, medals have been found, representing the sun and his rays of light. Dunklin County is an especially rich field for the archeologist. Situated on the farm of C. V. Langdon, one mile south of Cotton Plant, is one of the largest mounds in the county, adjoining are smaller ones. North of Cardwell, two miles on Major Willie Ray's place, there is quite a number.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.