USA > Missouri > A History of Northeast Missouri, Volume I > Part 46
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After the issuance of the bonds in aid of these railroads the Alex- andria and Nebraska City and the Alexandria and Bloomfield roads were consolidated and the one road constructed under the name of the Mis-
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souri, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad Company, now under the Burlington ownership, known as the Keokuk & Western.
For years the county was engaged in litigation as affecting the re- fusal to pay some $40,000 of the detached coupons of the old M. & M. bonds. This suit was compromised by the court for the sum of $4,000. The court at this date was composed of D. N. Lapsley, John Martin, and C. C. Calvert. The former two are now living. This same court prosecuted and won, on a compromise, a suit instituted against the M. I. & N. R. R., for back taxes, alleged to be due, getting in pay- ment for the claim of the county a check for $26,000. This suit was instituted and won by T. L. Montgomery, then prosecuting attorney. This was in the early '90s and some $14,000 of this compromise money was used to reduce the railroad bonded debt of the county.
In the year 1906, Judges J. H. Hardy, J. D. Rebo and S. J. Dare procured an order under which they authorized a levy of fifty cents on the $100.00 valuation for the purpose of creating a sinking fund to discharge this railroad bonded debt, then amounting to the sum of $218,500. The tax of 1912 will liquidate the last of this great mort- gage upon the property of the county, for a large proportion of which the people got nothing in return.
VERNON TOWNSHIP'S DEBT
While the spirit of aid to railroad construction was running ram- pant in the state, the little township of Vernon, at the extreme east of the county, issued in aid of the Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad its bonds, in the name of Clark county, to the sum of $25,000. In 1886 these bonds were refunded and compromised for $14,900, and some years since the entire debt was discharged.
WEALTH AND TAXATION
The earliest records now available are those of the year 1858. Then the real estate of the county was valued for the purpose of taxation at $2,917,740. The personal property at $549,980, slaves, $187,800. Total assessed value of taxable property, $2,775,520; total taxes $17,709.
The earliest assessment against the properties of the railroads and telegraph lines of the county appears to have been in the year 1879. In this year the property of the Western Union Telegraph Company- the only one-was valued at $2,217, the taxes charged thereon amount- ing to $39.94.
This year, 1912, the real estate of the county is valued at $3,586,370; tax $77,704.71. The personal property is valued at $1,327,245; tax $28,571.96. The Western Union Telegraph Company is valued at $16- 306.01, tax $347.01; the American Telegraph and Telephone Company, and the Missouri and Kansas Telephone Company together are valued at 32,001.75; taxes, $492.86. Traversing this county are three railroads: The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; The St. Louis, Keokuk & North- western, and the Keokuk & Western. For 1912 these are valued at $1,177,042; taxes $25.126.33.
The total for 1912 taxes is $106,276.67, as against the sum of less than $18,000 for 1858, while values have mounted up to $6,113,658.75. The taxes for 1912 include a levy of fifty per cent for sinking fund and fifteen cents for interest, on account of the railroad bonded indebtedness.
Additional to this there is a local tax upon the lands within the limits of the Des Moines and Mississippi Levee District No. 1. Merchants' and local telephone companes are not included in the foregoing valua- tions and taxes.
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ELECTIONS
In August of the year 1838 was held the first general election in Clark county ; but the figures are not available. In 1840, William Henry Harrison, Whig, received 240 votes; Martin Van Buren, Democrat, 206. In 1844, Henry Clay, Whig, received 225 votes; James J. Polk, Democrat, 220. In 1848, Zachary Taylor, Whig, received 243 votes; Lewis Cass, Democrat, 242. In 1852 Winfield Scott, Whig, received 325 votes; Franklin Pierce, Democrat, 28. In 1856, Millard Fillmore, American, received 721 votes; James Buchanan Democrat, 587. In 1860, John Bell, American, received 752 votes; Stephen A. Douglas, Democrat, 542; John C. Breckenridge, Democrat, 497; Abraham Lincoln, Republican, 277. In 1864, Lincoln, Republican, received 969 votes; George B. Mc .- Clellan, Democrat, 128. (In this last election period southern sympa- thizers were not allowed to vote.) In 1868, Horatio Seymour, Demo- crat, received 1,136 votes, Ulysses Grant, Republican, 302. In 1872, Grant, Republican, received 1,288 votes; Horace Greeley, Democrat, 1,276; O'Connor, Democrat, 5. In 1876, Samuel J. Tilden, Democrat, received 1,581; Rutherford B. Hayes, Republican, 1,494; Peter Cooper, Nationalist, 3. In 1880, Winfield S. Hancock, Democrat, received 1,570 votes; James A. Garfield, Republican, 1,503; James B. Weaver, National- ist, 120. In 1884, Grover Cleveland, Democrat, received 1,652 votes; James G. Blaine, Republican, 1,599. In 1888, Grover Cleveland, Dem- ocrat, received 1,791 votes; Benjamin Harrison, Republican, 1,726. In 1892, Cleveland received 1,807 votes; Harrison, 1,684. In 1896, William J. Bryan, Democrat, received 2,090 votes; William Mckinley, Republican, 1,955. In 1900, William J. Bryan received 2,020 votes; William Mc- Kinley, Republican, 1,900. In 1904, Alton B. Parker, Democrat, re- ceived 1,721 votes; Theodore Roosevelt, Republican, 1,836. In 1908, William J. Bryan, Democrat, received 1,736 votes; William Howard Taft, Republican, 1,740; the Prohibitionist, 36; and the Socialist, 5. In 1912, Woodrow Wilson, Democrat, received 1,590 votes; William H. Taft, Republican, 1,212; Theodore Roosevelt, Progressive, 483. In the last election the Prohibition party polled 26 votes; the Socialist 12 and the Socialist Labor 1.
It is worthy of remark that in the elections in all the years since 1840 the two parties dominant in the county have maintained a vote nearly equal.
THE STORY OF POPULATION ยท
In 1840, Clark county boasted a population of 2,864; in 1850, 5,527; in 1860, 11,684, of which number 405 were colored. In 1870 there were 13,667, of whom 295 were colored; in 1880 there were 15,031, of whom 308 were colored. In 1890, there was a total of 15,126; in 1900, 15,383; in 1910, 12,811.
NEGRO BONDAGE
The early settlers of this county brought with them their slaves. In 1860 there were 129 slave owners residing in Clark county. The number of slaves is given at 405; their value for purposes of taxation, $171,300.
CIRCUIT COURT
It was on the 6th day of April, 1836, at the house of John Hill, in the territory of what is now Des Moines township, that Hon. Priestly H. McBride appeared with a commission from the governor to hold the first term of the Clark county circuit court. The names of the first grand
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jurors were: David Hay, Thomas Sawyers, Franklin Levering, Jeremiah Wayland, Robert Wainscott, Joseph McCoy, Jeremiah Lewis, O. F. D. Hampton Joseph G. Scott, Jesse McDaniel, Richard Lewellyn, Amery Wheeler, George K. Biggs, Burrel Gregory, Joseph Higbee, John Riney, Rice Overstreet and Frederick Johnson, and one other, eighteen in all. These pioneers and first county inquisitors were duly charged and or- dered to retire for their deliberation. Their "jury room" was the com- fortable shade of a friendly tree. No bills were reported. This was the Fourth Judicial Circuit and John Head, Esq., appeared as the circuit attorney.
The second term of this court was held at the home of Joseph McCoy, in what is now Clay township, beginning on the 3d of August, of the same year. It was at this term when the first cause of action was made and the style of this case was: William L. McPherson versus William Mercer, for debt. The third term of this court was held in December, when was presented the first criminal cause. John Taylor and Simeon Conway, justices of the peace, presented a prisoner, charged with breaking into the store of Daniel MeMullen, of Sweet Home township. A change of venue to Marion county was granted and ultimately the prisoner was freed, Uriah Wright defending.
The first petit jury case coming to trial was that of the State vs. T. I. White, who was found guilty and fined fifteen dollars.
CLARK COUNTIANS IN POLITICS
The only state office ever held by a resident of this county was attor- ney-general, held by John M. Wood, who was elected in 1898 and served with honor for four years. He did not seek re-nomination. On Janu- ary 1, 1913, John M. Dawson will have filled a four years' period as assistant to Attorney-General Elliott W. Major, lately elected governor. The county has furnished two state senators, George K. Biggs and C. F. Carter, the present incumbent of the office. In 1904, J. W. McDermott, of this county, was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, held in St. Louis. Joseph S. Tall was chief of the engrossing force of the 40th and chief clerk of the 41st and 42nd general assemblies.
THE MISSOURI-IOWA WAR
Comparatively little can here be related of this unique, interesting and bloodless "war." The dispute out of which came this near-war without a fight, originated in an act of congress, authorizing the territory of Missouri to form a state government, provided the boundaries of the proposed new state should be within certain limitations, described in the law passed March 6, 1820. An act of April 12, 1838, authorized the establishment of the territory of Iowa, prescribing "that the southern boundary line should be the northern boundary of the state of Missouri." The Missouri legislature in 1836 directed the governor to appoint a com- mission to ascertain and establish the northern boundary line of the state. Iowa was then in Wisconsin territory. This territory was requested to appoint commissioners and the United States government a civil engineer all to meet with the Missouri commission. This was not done; hence in 1837 the survey was made by the Missourians, alone, and their report rendered to the legislature of 1838-9. In the interval between the Mis- souri survey and the report of same to the legislature of the state, the congress directed a survey of the boundary line, in connection with "commissions from the state of Missouri and the territory of Iowa." Neither the state nor the territory acted and the government's agent
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was alone to make the survey and report,-January 19, 1839. The re- port of the government's agent, Major Lea, determined nothing, except- ing a failure to confirm either the Missouri or Iowa contention. The history of this remarkable and interesting warfare cannot be traced in its fullness, replete as it is in incidents bordering perilously near to open hostilities upon the part of the officers and the mlitia of the con- tending states.
The line, as finally determined, was, at the Des Moines river, on the east, eight miles, sixty-three chains and twenty-three links south; and at the west end exactly eleven miles south of that point claimed by the state of Missouri. The Missourians contended the line was exactly oppo- site where Bentonsport, Iowa, now stands. The disputed strip along the entire northern line dividing the two states was about nine miles in width. Many Clark countians are to-day of the opinion that the dis- puted strip extended eastward to and terminated at the "Des Moines Rapids" of the Mississippi river, below which the power dam at Keokuk is now being constructed; but this belief is not developed as a fact by the available history of the case.
In 1839 the sheriff, Uriah Gregory, of Clark county, went into the dis- puted territory to collect taxes from the few residents and was repulsed and ordered back to his own state. On November 20th of the same year, he again went into the hostile camp, under instruction from Governor Boggs, and this time was arrested by the sheriff of Van Buren county, Iowa, upon the charge of "usurpation of authority," taken to Farming- ton : thence to Burlington, the capital; thence to Muscatine, where for a time he was confined to jail, but afterwards released on his own recognizance. This incident caused great excitement on both sides of the line. The county court of Clark county convened at the tavern of John S. Lapsley, in Waterloo. The court ordered that the militia be mustered to sustain the civil authorities. Public indignation meetings were held in the counties of Clark, Lewis and Marion. Maj .- Gen. David Willcock called 2,200 men from his division. The men of the territory of Iowa also had mustered and had upon the line a force of men, declaring they, too, were ready for war. On the 4th of December of the same year, the Clark county court moved to prevent actual hostilities and appointed a peace commission to confer with the Iowa territorial solons. The court also sent a peace message to the Iowa legislature. A spirit of concilia- tion dominated the Iowa law-makers and the end of the "war" was in sight. On the 12th of December "peace" was declared, a commission from Iowa having met with the county court of Clark county, and others, including Thomas L. Anderson, of Marion. The commission from Iowa presented a preamble and resolution, which were spread upon the records of the court. The resolutions requested the governors of the two states to suspend hostilities, pending an amicable adjustment of the difficulties. This order was communicated to the governors of the contending states. In 1840 congress settled the contention by legislation, making the "In- dian Boundary Line" run by Colonel Sullivan, the true northern bound- ary of Clark county, and the state. A few years later this line was again run by commissioners from both states and some corrections made. Judge D. N. Lapsley of Kahoka, Mrs. B. F. Martin, of Keokuk, and Judge O. S. Callihan, of Kahoka, have distinct recollections of the unpleasantness mentioned.
THE BATTLE OF ATHENS
This was the one battle fought in Clark county, during the war be- tween the states, known to history as the Civil war. Col. Martin E. Green commanded the Southern forces; Col. David Moore those of the
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North. The clash of arms occurred on the morning of August 5, 1861, in and about the town of Athens and along the Des Moines river. The issues of the day were favorable to the Northern forces. Neither of the warring generals commanded to exceed five hundred men. Five Con- federates were killed and about twenty wounded. John Thompson was the only Clark county Confederate killed. The Union loss was William (. Sullivan and Harrison killed and several wounded. A brick house in Athens now shows the effect of the cannon shot.
SCHOOL HISTORY
There are ninety-two school districts in Clark county and 112 teachers are employed-all are white. The 1911 report gives the expenditures for teachers' wages at $33,952.55; the total expenditures, $41,798.76; per- manent county fund, $32,359.92 permanent township fund $20,096.73; average levy, fifty-nine cents; enumeration 3,371; amount received from state, $6,258.28; amount of interest on county funds $1,504.19. Miss Helen M. McKee is county superintendent.
In August, 1884, the preliminary steps were taken for the establish- ment of a college in Kahoka. T. L. Montgomery, Colonel Hiller, Judge O. S. Callihan, Jacob Trump, Adam Lang, Dr. R. S. McKee, George W. Bostic. G. S. and John Stafford and others were the prime movers in this successful compaign. Prof. J. D. Blanton was the head of the school. In the succeeding years several different men were called to the head of the institution, which flourished measurably for a time and then was dis- continued. Then for two years a commercial school was conducted in Kahoka, in the building now the property of the school district, accom- modating the high school of which Prof. S. L. Mapes is superintendent.
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At St. Patrick, in Jackson township, is conducted a splendid paro- chial school. The building is modern, constructed of cement and cost about $11,000. It is located by the Catholic church and the home of the priest. The Rev. Father E. A. Bolger was actively in charge of the church and the work, during the construction of the college building.
In the early history of the county colleges of broad note were con- ducted the Alexandria and St. Francisville.
RELIGION
The Baptist and the Methodist were the pioneer churches. The Rev. Jeremiah Taylor, Baptist, of Marion county, preached the first sermon in Clark county, at the home of Dr. Trabue, in what is now Clay township. The Methodists established the first church at St. Francisville. The Rev. Mr. Allen preached there and at the homes of George Haywood and George K. Biggs. The second church was organized in 1834, at the home of Jeremiah Wayland, in St. Francisville; but soon after removed to Fox river, south of Wayland, with the Rev. Mr. Broaddus in charge. The Rev. J. J. Martin arrived in the county in 1837 and became a noted circuit rider of his day-one who, if necessary, descended from the pulpit to enforce order.
The religious denominations now represented are: Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South, Methodist Protestant, German Evangelical, Presbyterian, Christian, and the African Methodist Epis- copal; and at Kahoka, Wayland and St. Patrick there are Catholic churches.
THE PRESS
Four newspapers are published in the county : The Free Press, semi- weekly, Republican, established in 1910, J. H. Talbot, editor; the Clark
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County Courier, weekly, Republican, established in 1890, F. E. Greenlee, editor; the Gazette-Herald, weekly, Democratic, established in 1880, S. S. Ball, editor; the Clark County News, weekly, independent, established in 1888, R. B. Rodgers & Son, editors. The News is published at Wya- conda, the others at Kahoka, the county seat.
ANTI-HORSE-THIEF ASSOCIATION
Clark county is the home of this useful organization, primarily made for the prevention of crime and secondarily for the apprehension of criminals. The date of its birth, 1863; place, Luray. This was effected in the upper story of what in late years is known as the J. W. Fonds store building. Those who met there to organize were: David Shuler, David Mauck, John Wilson, H. A. Stewart, James Day, H. L. McKee, Maj. David Mckee, of Clark county ; Wm. Everhart, Jonathan Longfel- low, S. Grant, William Beach, and W. Matlock, of Scotland county ; and James McGowan, of Upton, Iowa. The second meeting was at Millport, Knox county. The organization sprung from a public necessity, peculiar to those times. At this day it is still in a flourishing condition and has spread to many states with a membership of nearly 35,000. There are seven lodges in Clark county.
FRATERNAL SOCIETIES
. Of these there are: The A. F. & A. M .; the I. O. F .; A. O. U. W .; G. A. R .; K. of P .; M. W. A .; F. O. E .; and Mystic Workers; A. H. T. A. and several sister organizations.
BANKS
The banks of Kahoka are: The Clark County Savings Bank; the Kahoka Savings Bank; and the Exchange Bank. At Luray there is the Central Bank of Luray; at Wyaconda, the Farmers' and Traders' Bank; at Revere, the Bank of Revere; at Wayland, the Bank of Way- land; and at Alexandria, the Sage Banking Company, owned by D. H. Sage.
The Clark County Savings Bank was organized in 1874, with an authorized capital stock of $50,000, one-fifth of which has then paid up. The officers of the bank were : J. R. Wood, president, and William McDer- mott, cashier; John P. Bourn, assistant. The officers of 1912 are: J. W. McDermott, president; John P. Bourn, cashier; Charles Hauptman, J. H. Puder and McD. Turner, directors.
The Kahoka Savings Bank was organized in 1883, with a capital stock paid up of $10,000. The officers were: George W. Bostic, presi- dent; James R. Hume, cashier; and L. C. Bostic, assistant cashier. The officers of 1912 are: J. R. Bridges, president; Adam Lang, cashier ; C. G. Lang, assistant cashier.
The Exchange Bank was organized in 1894 with a capital stock of $20,000. Judge E. L. Christy was president; Charles Hiller, vice presi- dent and H. M. Hiller, cashier. The officers of 1912 are: Walter White, president ; Charles Hiller, vice president; Sam S. Hiller, cashier.
COUNTY OFFICERS
The representatives in the general assembly from Clark county have been : Samuel D. South, Dr. J. W. S. Mitchell, Maj. A. W. Dagget, John P. Lowry, I. N. Lewis, Charles O. Sanford, N. F. Givens. Isaac
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N. Lewis, Frank Smith, James Cowgill, John N. Boulware, Erastus Sacket, Dr. O. B. Payne, Asa F. Healy, James M. Asher,. George K. Biggs, John M. Wood, James Fore, Col. N. T. Cherry, J. J. Stafford, James M. Sourgeon, F. A. S. Rebo, James Mackey, S. S. Ball, E. P. Spangler, Charles F. Carter, McD. Turner, and Dr. A. W. Teel.
Limited space will not permit the publication here of the names of the other county officers, except the present incumbents, as follows: Circuit clerk, N. T. Cherry ; county clerk, James P. Scott; probate judge, M. L. Clay ; collector, P. I. Wilsey ; judges of county court, David S. Rider, Jacob Reese, John Grimes; prosecuting attorney, J. H. Talbott; sheriff, L. J. Howell; treasurer, Thomas J. Doggs; court reporter, Thomas Raleigh.
COURTS AND LAWYERS
The judicial circuit of which this county forms a portion has been presided over by the following named: Priestly H. McBride, 1837-45; Addison Reese, 1845-60; Thomas S. Richardson, 1860-62; James Elli- son, 1862-64; David Wagner, 1864-66; E. V. Wilson, 1866-74; John C. Anderson, 1874-1878; Benjamin E. Turner (elected in 1880, died in October, 1896), 1880-1896; Edwin R. McKee, 1896-1904; Charles D. Stewart, the present judge, was elected in 1904 and re-elected in 1910, for a period of six years. At the date of his election Judge Turner was the youngest circuit judge on the bench in the state. He was the only resident judge. Judge E. R. McKee at one time resided in this county.
The local bar has the reputation of being one of the strongest in Northeast Missouri. At this day the older members engaged in the practice hark back in memory to their early experiences, when N. F. Givens was at once the "father" and, in the language of Judge Turner in accepting his portrait, the "Nestor of the Bar of Northeast Missouri." Judge McKee, son-in-law of Mr. Givens, had caused to be painted a life-size bust portrait of the latter, and on the 1st day of October, 1883, this was placed in the court room. When the old gen- tleman, to whom all affections bent, came leisurely and unsuspiciously into the room, C. B. Matlock, in a fervent and notable speech, presented the portrait to the court. Judge Turner accepted the offering for the court and ordered the portrait placed upon the walls of the court room, where it now hangs. To this have been added portraits of Judge Anderson and Judge Turner, both deceased. Additional to those named and most prominent in the practice of that day were: Col. H. M. Hil- ler and W. L. Berkheimer. Then Messrs. Montgomery, Whiteside and J. W. Howard-the latter deceased-were in their infancy, legally speaking. Ex-Congressman James G. Blair died while a member of this bar. the firm name being Blair, Marchand & Tall.
The following named are members of the Clark county bar: W. L. Berkheimer, C. W. Yant, O. S. Callihan, G. M. Callihan, Fred P. Lang, James Talbott, C. T. Llewellyn, J. S. Tall, Charles Hiller, J. A. Whiteside, T. J. Easton, W. H. Robinson, L. J. Montgomery, M. L. Clay, J. M. Dawson, T. L. Montgomery, E. Hitt Stewart, B. L. Grid- ley, W. T. Rutherford. Thomas Raleigh, official stenographer.
CHAPTER XV HOWARD COUNTY By R. S. Walton, Armstrong BEFORE MISSOURI WAS A STATE
The history of Howard county, from the date of its organization on January 16, 1816, to 1860, is in a great measure a history of the state The history of the county antedates the history of the state nearly ten years.
These ten primitive years of the county were filled with stirring scenes and thrilling events of the pioneers of the Boon's Lick country. It was these hardy settlers, who by their heroic deeds blazed a way in the wilderness and thus opened up a new and wonderful country to those who were to follow after them. All honor to those men and women who first cast their lots for weal or woe in this New Eldorado. They were a noble and grand body of men and women, they were imbued with a laudable ambition to succeed in establishing for this ancestry happy homes in this far off country. How well these early pioneers laid the ground work for their descendants to reap in the years to follow is to be seen in the splendid homes, here and there on hilltop and in valley. Other fruits of their labors can be seen in the school houses and stately churches. These pioneers were not without their reward, for through the many privations they suffered those to come after them have obtained happy homes.
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