USA > Missouri > Lafayette County > History of Lafayette county, Mo. , carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, cities, towns, and villages > Part 1
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1800
TI
C
HISTORY
OF
Lafayette County, Mo.,
CAREFULLY WRITTEN AND COMPILED
FROM THE
MOST AUTHENTIC OFFICIAL AND PRIVATE SOURCES,
INCLUDING A HISTORY OF ITS
Townships, Cities, Towns and Villages,
TOGETHER WITH
A CONDENSED HISTORY OF MISSOURI; THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, AND STATE OF MISSOURI; A MILITARY RECORD OF ITS VOLUNTEERS IN EITHER ARMY OF THE GREAT CIVIL WAR; GENERAL AND LOCAL STATISTICS; MISCELLANY; REMINISCENCES, GRAVE, TRAGIC AND HUMOROUS; BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT MEN AND CITIZENS IDENTIFIED WITH THE INTERESTS OF THE COUNTY.
ILLUSTRATED.
ST. LOUIS: MISSOURI HISTORICAL COMPANY. 1881.
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PRESIDENT'S DWELLING. UNIVERSITY HALL.
OBSERVATORY. SCIENCE HALL. STATE UNIVERSITY, AT COLUMBIA, BOONE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
EN 112144
-
-
PREFACE.
In our diligent search for four months seeking the information embod- ied in this history, a few men have been indifferent about it, but almost universally we were met with welcome, and those who could furnish information were glad to do so. And a few have taken such pains to ren- der us valuable assistance that we wish to make our special acknowledg- ments to them for it. Ethan Allen, Esq., furnished us the oldest files of Lafayette county newspapers now in existence. Captain Andrews, the deputy county clerk, has our thanks for the uniform kindness and good will with which he aided us in our frequent occasions to examine the musty and mouldy old records in the county vaults. We are indebted to Cap- tain A. A. Lesueur, editor of the Lexington Intelligencer, for personal favors that were helpful; also to G. Clayton, John Burden, and E. Win- sor, for loan of scrap-books containing many valuable records, narratives, military orders, official reports, and other documents of the war time not found in any of the printed histories. To Dr. J. B. Alexander for many favors; to Henry Turner, postmaster, for bound files of the Lexington Register; to H. C. Chiles, Esq., for his Centennial Fourth of July history of the county ; to Dr. Gordon for special assistance in regard to old and long-forgotten pioneer school matters; to Captain J. O. Wilson, of Lex- ington, and Col. W. F. Switzler, of Columbia, Mo., for loan of valuable books; to the Lexington Intelligencer company for free access to all their files, etc., etc. It was a vast work. This county has had a long and intensely history-making career. We found material plenty to make three books instead of one; and the burden of difficulty was to select those things which would be of most permanent interest and value to our patrons, and then condense them to the necessary limits of the promised volume. The work has been done with conscientious care, with painstaking and arduous labor, with unpartisan candor, with good faith and good will towards all; and
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PREFACE.
now it is respectfully submitted to the judgment, acceptance, and use of those who have kindly given their pledges in support of the undertaking- confident that it is in full measure of every promise on our part, and trust- ing that it will be entirely satisfactory to our patrons.
Yours truly,
THE PUBLISHERS.
1
CONTENTS.
.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Historical and Political.
9
Prehistoric Missouri .. 10
The White Race in Missouri ..
15
Missouri as a State. ..
25
Summary of Events and Dates
25
Counties and population
26
Census Report, 1880.
27
State Finances. 29
Presidential Vote, 1820 to 1880. 30
Governors From 1820 to 1880. 31
United States Senators.
31
Members of Congress
32
Public School System.
34
Protectional Laws.
40
Homestead Exemption. 40
Exemption of Personal Property 42
Rights of Married Women. 43
Taxation
43
Public Debt Limitation. 44
Comparative Tax Rate. 45
Federal Officers in the State.
46
Missouri's Distinguished Men-
Daniel Boone. . 47
Thomas H. Benton. 47
James B. Eads.
48
Carl Schurz.
49
Prof. Charles V. Riley
49
Missouri in Civil War
50
Geology and Minerals
66
Geological Chart ..
67
Mineral Resources.
72
Earth, Clays, Ochres, etc.
77
Geography of Missouri.
78
Rivers and Water Courses
81
Notable Springs.
82
Soils and Their Products
83
Wild Game.
85
Climate
87
Healthfulness of the State. 89
Agriculture.
90
Staple Crops
91
Horticulture.
93
The Grasshoppers.
96
Navigation and Commerce. 99
The Lewis and Clark Expedition 100
First Steamboats in Missouri.
101
The Barge System
103
Railroads in Missouri ..
104
Manufacturing in Missouri.
107
Principal Cities in Missouri.
108
Constitution of the United States.
113
Constitution of Missouri
124
Abstracts of State Laws and Forms.
.160
Practical Rules for Every Day Use. ... 190
Names of the States of the Union and
Their Significance.
196
HISTORY OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Pioneer Events. 206
Price's Raid ..
.367
First Court ... 208
Confederate Soldiers' Record. .376
Geology of County 226
Federal Soldiers' Record.
386
Schools and Colleges. :242
County Organizations.
264
Newspapers. .
272
Events and Incidents by Years. 282
296
Freedom Township
.422
County Finances. 305
Lexington Township. 431
Railroads .. 310
Middleton Township .463
War History.
399
Sniabar Township ..
.467
The Battle of Lexington .339
Townshin Histories- Clay Township. .396
Davis Township .405
Dover Township. .413
Elections. .
Washington Township
476
8
CONTENTS.
BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY.
PAGE.
PAGE
Clay Township
.482
-
Lexington Township
.633
Davis Township.
509
Middleton Township.
654
Dover Township. .
537
Sniabar Township ..
673
Freedom Township
.569
Washington Township. 683
City of Lexington. .
.612
Additional Biog. Davis Township .701
History of the State of Missouri.
PART I .- HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL.
INTRODUCTORY.
When a book is written, it is presumed that the writer had some object in view and some end to achieve by his labor in collecting the material and writing the book; and it is right that he should put himself on good terms with his readers at the outset by making a brief, but frank and honest statement of his object, plan and purpose in the book which he offers to public patronage. The writer of this History of Missouri has aimed to embody in a brief space the greatest amount of solid and reliable information about things which directly hinge and center upon or within the territory of this State-this international commonwealth, which holds by right divine the royal prerogative of a destiny imperial and grand, if she can acquire or develop human brain and muscle adequate to utilize wisely, honorably and energetically her magnificent natural resources, both of commercial position and of agricultural and mineral wealth. The writer's desire and effort has been to present nothing which would not be read with deep interest by every intelligent citizen of Missouri at the present time; and also stand as a permanent body of information, at once useful and reliable for future reference. Discussion of theories, problems or doubtful matters has been avoided; solid facts have been diligently sought after; and the narrative has been made to embody as many facts and events as possible without falling into the dry-bones method of mere statistical tables. In fact, the limit of space allotted him has compelled the writer to condense, epitomize, shorten up-and therefore continually to repress his desire to embellish the narrative with the graces of rhetoric and the glow of an exuberant and fervid enthusiasm. This, however, secures to the reader more facts within the same space.
In preparing this work more than a hundred volumes have been con- sulted, to collate incidents and authenticate dates and facts, besides much matter gathered from original sources and not before embraced in anv
1
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
book. It is not presumed that there are no mistakes or errors of state- ment herein made; but it is believed that there are fewer of such lapses than commonly occur with the same amount of data in similar works. The classification of topics is an attempt to give them a consecutive and consistent relative place and order in the book, for convenience of inci- dental reference or of selective reading.
PRE-HISTORIC MISSOURI.
THE MOUND-BUILDERS, ETC.
Every State has a pre-historic history-that is, remains and relics are found which show that the land was inhabited by a race or races of men long before its discovery and occupation by a race sufficiently advanced in the arts of civilization to preserve a written record of their own observations and doings. It is now well established that every portion of the United States was inhabited by a race of men grouped under the general name of "Mound-builders," who preceded the modern hunter tribes called "Indians." It further appears, from all the evidence accumu- lated, that the Mound-builders were a race that made permanent settle- ments, and built earthworks of considerable extent for defense against enemies, both man and beast; also for sepulture, for religious rites, and for memorial art; it is also evident that they cultivated the soil to some extent, made rude textile fabrics and clay pottery, and wrought imple- ments of domestic use, ornaments, charms, toys, pipes, etc., and weapons of war and of the chase, from flint, porphyry, jasper, hornstone,. granite, slate, and other varieties of rocks; also from horn, bone, shells, and other animal products; and from native copper. But they had no knowledge of iron, nor any art of smelting copper; they merely took small pieces of the native ore and hammered it cold with their stone tools until it took some rude shape of utility, and then they scoured and polished it to its utmost brilliancy; and it is altogether probable that these articles were only possessed by the chieftains or ruling families. Plates of mica are also found among their remains, with holes for suspension on cords around the neck or body; and lumps of galena or lead ore sometimes occur, but these must have been valued merely as trinkets or charms, because of their lustre. Remains of this people are found frequently both on the bluffs and bottom lands of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and, in many States, far inland, also.
The first mention of such remains in Missouri is made by a U. S.
11
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
exploring expedition under Major S. H. Long, in 1819. This expedition went in the first steamboat that ever puffed and paddled its way against the swift, muddy current of the Missouri river; * the boat was named " Western Engineer," but it had a double stern-wheel, or two wheels, one of them named in large letters, "James Monroe," and the other "John C. Calhoun," in honor of the then President and Secretary of War. This steamer had to stop at St. Louis for some repairs; and two members of the expedition, Messrs. Thomas Say and T. R. Peale, improved the time by surveying a group of twenty-seven ancient mounds which occu- pied ground that is now all covered over by the modern city of St. Louis. This occurred in Tune, 1819; Mr. Say prepared a map of the mounds and a brief account of them, and this appears to be the first authentic record of such ancient works within the territory now constituting the State of Missouri; his notes on these mounds were published in 1823, in the report of Major Long's expedition, but his map of them was never published until 1862, when it appeared on page 387 of the " Smithsonian Report " for the year 1861. In his account Mr. Say says:
" Tumuli and other remains of the labors of nations of Indians (?) that inhabited this region many ages since are remarkably numerous about St. Louis. Those tumuli immediately northward of the town and within a short distance of it, are twenty-seven in number, of various forms and magnitudes, arranged nearly in a line from north to south. The common form is an oblong square, and they all stand on the second bank of the river. * It seems probable these piles of earth were raised as cemeteries, or they may have supported altars for religious cer- emonies."
It was from these mounds that St. Louis derived her pseudonym of the " Mound City"; but this name is now almost entirely obsolete, since the city has risen up to claim the prouder title of " Inter-Metropolis of North ¿ America". When the largest one of the mounds was leveled some skeletons were found, and some thick discs with holes through them; they had probably served as beads, and were wrought from shells of a spe- cies of fresh water clam or mussel. Numerous specimens of wrought flints were found between St. Louis and Carondelet, in 1860; and in 1861 an ancient flint shovel was dug up while building military earthworks.
In Mississippi county, in the southeastern corner of the State, there is a group of mounds covering ten acres, in section 6, t. 24, r. 17, varying from ten to thirty feet in height. About 1855 these mounds were explored by two gentlemen from Chicago, and they found some pottery, with men represented upon its sides; one figure appeared to be a priest or some official personage, as shown by his head-dress, and the other
* Campbell's History of Howard County says: "May 28th, 1819, the first steamboat- the ' Independence,' Capt. Nelson, time from St. Louis, including all stops, twelve days- landed at Franklin on her way up the [ Missouri] river." Thus it seems that Major Long's boat was really the second one to go up, although in most histories it is mentioned as the first-and it was the first that went up any great distance.
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
represented a captive bound with thongs. Both figures showed the peculiar contour of head and features which marks the mound-builder race.
In December, 1868, some laborers engaged in grading Sixth street, in East St. Louis, dug up a nest of unused flint hoes or shovels, and another deposit of shells with string-holes worked in them, and another deposit of boulders of flint and greenstone, ready to make more tools or weapons from. These deposits were on high ground, and about half-way between two ancient mounds.
In 1876 or 1877 some ancient mounds were discovered on the banks of the Missouri river near Kansas City. They were in groups of three and five together, at different points for five miles up and down the river. Some were built entirely of earth, and some had a rude stone chamber or vault inside, but covered with earth so that all looked alike outside. They were of an irregular oval shape, from four to six feet high, and had heavy growths of timber on top. Mr. W. H. R. Lykins, of Kansas City, noticed a burr-oak tree five feet in diameter, growing on top of one of them, and the decayed stump of a black walnut of about the same size, on another. In describing the exploration of some of these mounds Mr. Lykins gives some points that will be of interest to every one. He says:
" We did not notice any very marked peculiarity as to these bones except their great size and thickness, and the great prominence of the supraciliary ridges. The teeth were worn down to a smooth and even surface. The next one we opened was a stone mound. On clearing off the top of this we came upon a stone wall inclosing an area about eight feet square, with a narrow opening for a doorway or entrance on the south side. The wall of this inclosure was about two feet thick; the inside was as smooth and compactly built and the corners as correctly squared as if constructed by a practical workman. No mortar had been used. At a depth of about two feet from the top of the wall we found a laver of five skeletons lying with their feet toward the south." *
4
None of the other walls examined were so skilfully laid as this one. The bones were crumbly, and only a few fragments were preserved by. coating them well with varnish as quickly as possible after they were exposed to the air. One stone enclosure was found full of ashes, char- coal and burnt human bones, and the stones and earth of which the mound was composed all showed the effects of fire. Hence it is pre- sumed that this was either a cremation furnace or else an altar for human sacrifices- most probably the latter. Some fragments of pottery were found in the vicinity.
L. C. Beck in 1823+ reported some remains in the territory now con- stituting Crawford county, Missouri, which he thought showed that there
* Smithsonian Report, 1877, p. 252.
+ Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri, published by L. C. Beck, in 1822-23.
13
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
was in old time a town there, with streets, squares, and houses built with stone foundations and mud walls. He also mentions the ruins of an ancient stone building described to him by Gen. Ashley, as situated on a high cliff on the west side of the Gasconade river. And another one said to be in Pike county, is thus described: " It presents the dilapidated remains of a building constructed of rough, unhewn stones, fifty-six feet long and twenty-two broad, embracing several divisions and chambers. The walls are from two to five feet high. Eighty rods eastward of this structure is found a smaller one of similar construction. The narrow apartments are said to be arched with stone, one course overlapping the other, after the manner of the edifices of Central America."
I. Dille, Esq., of Newark, Ohio, reported that he had examined some of these pre-historic town ruins, in the vicinity of Mine-la-Motte and Fredericktown, in Madison county, Missouri. He speaks of them as groups of small tumuli, and says: "I have concluded they are the remains of mud houses. They are always arranged in straight lines, with broad streets intervening between them, crossing each other at right angles. The distance apart varies in different groups, but it is always uniform in the same group. I have counted upwards of two hundred of these mounds in a single group. Arrow heads of jasper and agate, and axes of sienite and porphyry have been found in their vicinity." *
Mounds or other pre-historic structures have been found on Spencer's creek in Ralls county; on Cedar creek in Boone county; on Crow's Fork and other places in Callaway county; near Berger Station in Franklin county; near Miami in Saline county; on Blackwater river in John- son county; on Salt river in Pike county; on Prairie Fork in Mont- gomery county; near New Madrid; and in many other parts of the State.
The class of ancient ruins, partly built of stone, said to exist in Clay, Crawford, Pike and Gasconade counties, Missouri, are not found further north, but are frequent enough further south, and are supposed to indicate a transitional period in the development of architectural knowledge and skill, from the grotesque earth-mounds of Wisconsin to the well-finished adobe structures of New Mexico, and the grander stone ruins of Yucatan. But, no matter what theory we adopt with regard to these pre-historic relics, the present citizens of Missouri can rest assured that a different race of human beings lived and flourished all over this region of country, hundreds-yes, thousands of years ago, and that they were markedly different in their modes of life from our modern Indians.
* Many large and costly works have been published by scientists, devoted to the general subject of Pre-Historic Man; but of cheap and popular works for the general reader, the best are Foster's "Pre-Historic Races of the United States"; and Baldwin's "Ancient America".
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14
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
And there are at least two discoveries known which show that these people were here before the extinction of the mastodon, or great American elephant. In the "Transactions of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences," 1857, Dr. Kock reports that in the year 1839 he dug up in Gasconade county [as that county then was] the bones of a mastodon, near the Bourbeuse river. The skeleton of this gigantic creature was buried in such a position as to show that it had got its hind legs down in a bog so deeply that it could not climb out, although its fore feet were on dry ground. The natives had attacked it with their flint arrows and spears, most of which were found in a broken condition; but they had finally managed to build a big fire so close to its head as to burn it to death, the head-bones and tusks being found all burnt to coals. The account of this discovery was first printed in the Philadelphia Presbyterian, Jan. 12, 1839, and copied into the " American Journal of Science " the same year. The authenticity of the incident has been disputed, on the assumed ground that man did not exist as long ago as when the mastodon roamed over these pre-historic plains; but science now has indisputable evidence that man existed even in the Tertiary age of the geological scale, (see note to chart in chapter on Geology ) long before the glacial epoch; hence that objection has no force at present.
Dr. Koch further reports that about a year after unearthing the Gas- conade county monster, he again found in the bottom land of the Pom- me-de-Terre river, in Benton county, a nearly complete skeleton of the great extinct beast called Missourium, with arrow-heads under it in such a way as to show beyond question that they were made and used while the animal was alive. This skeleton is now in the British Museum. *
Human footprints have been found in the rocks at De Soto in Jefferson county, also in Gasconade county, and at St. Louis. H. R. Schoolcraft, in his book of travels in the Mississippi river country in 1821, said of these footprints: "The impressions in the stone are, to all appearance, those of a man standing in an erect posture, with the left foot a little advanced, and the heels drawn in. The distance between the heels, by accurate measurement, is 64 inches and between the extremities of the toes 13} inches. The length of these tracks is 10} inches; across the toes 42 inches as spread out, and but 22 at the heel."
Our eminent U. S. Senator, Thomas H. Benton, wrote a letter April 29th, 1822, in which he says: "The prints of the human feet which you mention, I have seen hundreds of times. They were on the uncovered limestone rock in front of the town of St. Louis. The prints were seen when the country was first settled, and had the same appearance then as now. No tradition can tell anything about them. They look as old as the rock. They have the same fine polish which the attrition of the
* See Foster's "Pre-Historic Races of the United States," pp. 62-3-4-5-6.
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
sand and water has made upon the rest of the rock which is exposed to their action. I have examined them often with great attention. They are not handsome, but exquisitely natural, both in the form and position. * A block 6 or 8 feet long and 3 or 4 feet wide, containing the prints, was cut out by Mr. John Jones, in St. Louis, and sold to Mr. Rappe, of New Harmony, Indiana."*
Prof. G. C. Broadhead, and some other writers, think these were not natural impression of human feet, but sculptures made by hand. This theory requires a belief that the pre-historic men of Missouri had tools with which they could cut the most delicate lines in hard rocks; and that they studied the human form in its finest details of muscular action and attitude, and had the art of sculpturing these things so as to look "exqui- sitely natural," as Col. Benton expresses it-thus rivalling, if not excelling the most famous sculptors of ancient Greece; all of which is wholly incon- sistent with the known facts. And besides this, there is no better geolog- ical reason for doubting their genuineness as natural footprints, than there is in the case of the famous bird and reptile tracks in the sandstones of Connecticut, or those found by Prof. Mudge in Kansas, in 1873. There is no valid reason, either of an æsthetic, historical, or scientific nature, for pronouncing them anything but just what they show themselves to be - fossil footprints of a man who stood in the mud barefooted; and in course of time that mud became solid stone, preserving his footprints just as he left their exact impression in the plastic material.
THE WHITE RACE IN MISSOURI.
SPANISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERERS.
In 1512 the Spanish adventurer Ponce de Leon discovered Florida; and at this time and for some years after the old countries of Europe were filled with the wildest and most extravagant stories about the inexhaustible mines of gold, silver and precious stones that existed in the country north of the Gulf of Mexico; also of great and populous cities containing fabulous wealth, beyond what Pizarro and Cortes had found in Peru and Mexico. And besides all this, the "fountain of perpetual youth," which all Europe had gone crazy after, about this time, was supposed to be in that region. Indeed, it can hardly be doubted that the Spaniards in Mexico had gathered from the natives some inkling of the wonderful healing waters now known as
* See Smithsonian Report, 1879, pp. 357-58. Also " American Antiquities," by Josiah Priest, 1833, pp. 1850-51-52.
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
Hot Springs, Arkansas, and the brilliant quartz crystals found in that region, as well as the glittering ores of Missiouri.
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