A History of Northeast Missouri, Volume I, Part 48

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864-1935, editor
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 731

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Lewis College is also located in the city of Glasgow. This is an educa- . tional school under the charge of the Methodist Church North and was made possible by the generous donations of B. W. Lewis.

OTHER TOWNS

Armstrong, a small town located in Prairie township on the Chicago & Alton Railroad ten miles from Fayette, was laid out in 1878. It was incorporated as a village in 1879 and remained under the village act until 1894 when it was incorporated as a city of the fourth class. Armstrong has four neat churches: Christian, Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian. The town of Roanoke was laid out in 1834 and named "Roanoke" in honor of the country home of John Randolph, the great Virginia statesman. Roanoke was for many years a town of considerable busi- ness importance and remained so until the building of the Chicago & Alton Railroad three miles south of the town and the location of the town of Armstrong, which has grown rapidly until it has virtually killed the trade of its sister town, Roanoke, until at present only one store and a few old houses remain to tell of the departed glory of the grand old town of ante-bellum days.

Sebree is a small town located in the southeastern part of the county in Moniteau township.

Burton in Burton township on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Rail- rail was made possible by the construction of the railroad through the county in the year 1880. It has a depot, postoffice and one store. At one time in its history it had a large trade in the shipment of railroad ties and leaf tobacco.

THE BAR

From 1815 to 1860 the bench and bar in Howard county was rep- resented by some of the most learned and able jurists not only in the state of Missouri but in the American Union. We find recorded the names of such legal lights at the Howard county bar as Judge David Todd, Judge David Barton, Judge George Tompkins, Judge Mathias McGirk, Judge Abiel Leonard, Gov. Hamilton Gamble, Judge John F. Ryland, Judge James H. Birch, Hon. J. B. Clark, Sr., Hon. Joe Davis, Hon. Robt. T. Prewitt, Gov. Thomas Reynolds, Gen. Robt. Wilson, Judge William B. Napton, Hon. A. J. Herndon, Judge J. W. Henry, Col. John F. Williams, Judge Thomas Shackleford, and many others.

THE PRESS

The first newspaper issued in Howard county was on April 25, 1819, by Nathaniel Patten and Benjamin Holliday at Old Franklin and was known as the Missouri Intelligencer. In 1826 the Intelligencer was moved to Fayette, the county seat, where it was issued until April 9, 1830, when it was purchased by Columbia citizens and moved to that city. It was the first newspaper published west of St. Louis.

The next newspaper published in Howard county was the Western Monitor at Fayette in August, 1827, by Western F. Birch, who was the editor until 1837, when it passed under the control of James H. Birch, a brother of the retiring editor, who changed its name to the Missourian. In a few years the Missourian passed into the hands of C. H. Green, who changed the name of the paper to the Boon's Lick Times. About the time of the publication of the Times by Green, Judge William B. Napton es- tablished the Boon's Lick Democrat. The Democrat was published until 1844, when it ceased publication and the Times was moved to Glasgow and

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was published until 1861. The next newspaper was the Howard County Banner, started in 1853 by R. C. Hancock. This paper was sold to Ran- dall and Jackson, who in a couple of years sold the paper to I. N. Houck, who changed its name to the Howard County Advertiser. The Advertiser under different management is still in existence at the present time. The Glasgow Journal, Glasgow Times, and News were short-lived publications of only a few years. Since the Civil war the Central Missourian at Glasgow, the Democrat-Leader at Fayette, the New Franklin New's and the Armstrong Herald are the representatives of the press in Howard county.

WAR HISTORY

In all the wars, including the Mexican war of 1846, the Mormon and Civil wars, Howard county has always furnished her full quota of sol- diers. In the war of 1846, Capt. J. W. Hughes, at the call of Governor Edwards of Missouri, raised a company of Howard county boys and joined Gen. A. W. Doniphan in his march to the land of the Montezumas. In the Black Hawk and Florida wars the sons of old Howard were among the first to respond to duty's call. To attempt to write a full and com- plete history of Howard county just preceding the great Civil war, which swept over our country like a besom of destruction, would fill a book of many volumes. With a very few exceptions, most citizens of Howard county at the beginning of the war between the states were born in Ken- tucky, Tennessee or Virginia and were strong believers in the doctrine of states' rights, as advocated by J. C. Calhoun and other southern states- men. They were also strong advocates of slavery. Most of the wealthy citizens were owners of large numbers of slaves. As a matter of fact they could not help espousing the cause of their brethren in the South when war was declared between the states.

After the firing on Fort Sumter, when there was no doubt that civil war with all its terrible ravages was close at hand, the citizens of Howard county began to take sides and as most of her citizens were of Southern birth or extraction the general sentiment and feeling was with the South- ern cause. A mass meeting was held at the court house in Fayette and many speeches made by those who were in favor of secession and others advising against a severance from the Union. As the Southern sentiment was the strongest and led by such men as Gen. John B. Clark, Gov. C. F. Jackson and many others, a company of men was raised and J. B. Clark, Jr., made captain of the state troops to repel invasion of the state from Federal troops. After every effort had failed to reconcile and com- promise the difference of opinion as to what course the people of Howard county should take in the war, those of her citizens who were believers in the justness of the Southern cause from time to time as the war progressed went south and joined the armies of Gen. Sterling Price. It is estimated that Howard county furnished no less than two thousand soldiers to the South and about fifteen hundred to the Union cause during the war.

During the Civil war Howard county suffered considerable from the ravages resulting from the contending forces occupying her territory. No large battles were fought in Howard county, but there were a great number of engagements between small bodies of soldiers representing federal troops and what was known as guerrilla squads under Todd, Jack- son, Anderson and Quantrell.

The only battle of any moment was the battle of Glasgow between the Confederate forces under Gen. Sterling Price and a body of Federals stationed at Glasgow under the command of Col. Chester Harding. of the Union army, in October, 1864. The battle was begun by the Confed- erates under Generals Joe Shelby and John B. Clark and after a few

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hours' engagement the Federals surrendered with a loss of sixty killed and a great many wounded. The Confederate loss was nearly as large. After the close of the Civil war and the smoke of battle had cleared the horizon from the effects of the most stupendous internecine strife of modern times, the citizens of Howard county returned to the peaceful walks of life. Many had lost all their earthly possession in the war, and hence were compelled to begin life anew.

1 THE COUNTY TODAY

The area of Howard county is about 463 square miles, with a frontage on the Missouri river on the west and south of thirty-four miles. The face of its territory was originally covered with a growth of heavy timber, except small upland and southern prairies and a much larger acreage in the northern part of the county which is included within Prairie township. The bluffs near the city of Glasgow in Chariton township rise to a height in some places of 275 feet above the aver- age water mark of the Missouri river and this is probably about the general elevation of the highlands throughout the county. The river bluffs on the western border are very steep and in some places are perpendicular, but on the southern border are more gentle in decline. The streams often pursue their course 150 feet below the tops of the ridges and the valleys are connected with the ridges by long and easy slopes. The southern portion of the county is not as hilly as the. northwestern. The undergrowth of timber consists of many valuable varieties such as white, red and black oak, chestnut, oak, black wal- nut, elm, hickory, ash, linden, and sycamore. Aside from the frontage on the Missouri river the rest of the county is watered by such streams as the Moniteau, Bonne Femme, Salt creek, Sulphur creek, Bear, and Gregg's. There are many salt springs to be found in Boon's Lick and Richmond townships which were utilized by the early settlers to furnish domestic salt. Good coal and profitable deposits of coal are to be found in nearly every township in the county in sufficient quantities to supply all home consumption. In fact, in Burton town- ship a coal shaft is in active operation on the line of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad.

SCHOOLS

The crowning glory of American institutions in the establishment of the public school system. Nowhere is it found of a higher order of efficiency and conducted by more energetic teachers than in Howard county. The public school system was organized in 1867 under the state laws of 1866. Since that date the public schools have gradually increased both in number and efficiency.

CHURCHES

The religious and moral development of her citizens has not been neglected and the march to a higher plane along the lines of moral rectitude is looked after by the various Protestant churches; Southern Methodist, Baptist, Christian, Presbyterian and Episcopal. There are also denominations of Seventh Day Adventists, Holiness, and Catholic.

It has been a question of dispute for many years as to which denomi- nation was the first to raise the standard of Christ in Howard county. After a close investigation into the records of the past, it is generally conceded that the Baptists were the forerunners in carrying the ban- ner of the cross into the virgin territory of what is known as the

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Boon's Lick country. The Methodists were but a few years later in establishing the emblem of the cross in Howard county. Mount Pleas- ant Baptist church near New Franklin is evidently from the records the oldest church organization in the county, having its origin April 12, 1812. The Christian church in Howard county, one of the largest in membership as well as in wealth, was organized between 1816 and 1820. The Presbyterian and Episcopal churches were organized some years later. The Southern Methodist church is probably the largest in wealth and membership of any in the county. The Catholics have churches at Fayette, Glasgow and New Franklin.

POLITICS

The political complexion of the voting citizenship in Howard county has always been largely Democratic.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion it may be said that there are few counties in the state with an acreage of only 463 square miles that have had a more interesting history filled with more thrilling events and heroic deeds, and none that have been more potent as a factor in shaping and direct- ing the political history of the state.

From the year 1810 to the present time Howard county has been the center of political thought in the state and has furnished many prominent and eminent men in the state and nation.

In the councils of the nation she had a representative in the United States senate in the person of David Barton. In the house of repre- sentatives are to be found the illustrious names of John G. Miller, Gen. J. B. Clark, Sr., and J. B. Clark, Jr. In state councils and on the supreme bench : William Scott, George Tompkins, and Abiel Leon- ard; in the treasury department: A. W. Morrison and R. P. Williams; as state auditor, John Walker; and as governor: John G. Miller, Thomas C. Reynolds, Lilburn W. Boggs and C. F. Jackson.

Abiel Leonard, Jr., and Ethelbert Talbot, bishops of the Episcopal church, Eugene R. Hendrix, bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church South, James P. Major, Major General United States Army, Uriel S. Sebree, Rear Admiral United States Navy, are natives of Howard county.

CHAPTER XVI KNOX COUNTY By Mrs. A. X. Brown, Edina ORGANIZATION

This fertile and beautiful part of the commonwealth of Missouri made its advent into her sisterhood of counties by an act of the general assembly, which was approved January 6, 1843. This act provided that, "All that part of Scotland county south of the dividing line separating townships 63 and 64 is hereby constituted and established a distinct county, to be called and known as Knox county."

Knox county was named for a soldier of the American Revolution, General Washington's chief of artillery, Gen. Henry Knox, of Scotch and Irish Presbyterian stock, afterward secretary of war.

For two years Knox county remained a part of Scotland county. During this period it was provided by legislative action that all moneys and dividends of money accruing to Scotland county should be equally divided between the two counties, and further, that the people of Knox county should not be taxed for the erection of any public buildings in Scotland county.

In 1845 the county was fully organized with metes and bounds as at present. The act for this provision was approved February 14, 1845. By the terms of this act the first county court judges of Knox county were Edward Milligan, Melker Baker and Virgil Pratt, who met at Edina on the first Monday in April, 1845. The place of meeting was in the log building on the east side of the (now) square where the first postoffice was located. Melker Baker was made presiding judge; John H. Fresh of Newark was made acting sheriff; Jesse John, county clerk ; Warner Pratt, assessor; and l'eter Early, county treasurer. The bonds- men of the county clerk were Henry Callaway, E. H. John and Horace A. Woodbridge. It is a significant fact that the first business transacted was the appointment of three commissioners to view a road. The com- missioners appointed were Thomas Ferguson, John Black and Lewis Fox. The road petitioned for was to extend from somewhere on the South Fabius to the road between Quincy and Kirksville. At this term of court other road viewers were appointed and township 61, range 12 was organized for school purposes. The county was divided into four municipal townships: Benton, Center, Fabius and Salt River. Of the first county officers Judge Milligan is recorded as having made the first entry of land in the county (west half of the northwest section 32, township 63), dated November, 1830. This man was an Irishman, mar- ried in Boston, and lived in St. Louis the greater part of his life. His wife lived upon their entry until five years after the organization of the county, but in 1850 she returned to St. Louis. Judge Pratt was from the Empire State. He founded a family in Knox county, and

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while his descendants are widely scattered, the name is a familiar one in Knox county to this day. He operated a mill in Bee Ridge township, known as Pratt's Mill. He died in California. Judge Melker Baker was from Maryland. He was a man of powerful frame, of strong will, kind heart and strictest integrity. John Fresh was the son of James Fresh, the early pioneer. He lived at Newark.

The site of the present beautiful park at Edina was set apart on Sep- tember 4, 1845, and reserved by the county forever as a public square. It comprised all of block 3. During the same fall a clerk's office and an office for public records were erected on block 2. They were of brick, the former 20 feet square and the latter 16x24 feet.

In November, 1845, a seal of the following description was ordered to be made: "A raised circle at the outer edge one-sixteenth of an inch in width, inside of which shall be engraved the words, Seal of Knox County Court, Mo., and inside of this shall be engraved a buck sheep without horns, all of which shall be in raised work so as to present the words and devices on the front side of the paper upon which the im- pression is to be made."

In May of the following year (1846) Walter Ellis was allowed six dollars for erecting six finger boards in the county. In June a hundred citizens petitioned the county court to dig a well in the public square in Edina until living water should be reached. The court appointed Peter Early, Martin Baker, Jr., and Jesse John to superintend the work. Water was reached at a depth of one hundred and sixty-six feet, and that splendid well today, with a little engine, pumps water sufficient to water the teams, the year round, of thirsty horses that are driven to town.

The assessors' books indicate that in 1846 there were 384 taxpayers, in 1847, 679; in 1848, 686; in 1849, 701; in 1850, 766; in 1851, 1,044; in 1855, 1,255.

On May 7, 1845, the court appointed John C. Rutherford of Clark county, Walter Crockett of Putnam county and Walker Austin of Macon county as commissioners to locate the permanent seat of justice for the county of Knox in conformity to an act approved December 9, 1836. These commissioners made their report, locating the county seat at Edina on the second day of October, 1845.

John Thompson was appointed commissioner on July first preceding and was ordered to survey the county addition to the permanent seat of justice, and to lay it off in lots for sale: During the summer he was or- dered to cut the brush and burn it and clear the streets of obstructions. John Thompson resigned the following February and Martin Baker was appointed to fill his place. By 1847 the lots were nearly all sold.

FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS

James Fresh was probably the first permanent settler in Knox county. Mr. Fresh was a Marylander and brought his family, consisting of himself, his wife and children, also three slaves, brothers, Abe, Dan and Dave, and settled first in Marion county, but in the fall of 1833 came up into what in January, 1833, had been incorporated in Lewis county, and settled on or near the site of the historic town of Newark. He selected a site for a home and without the preliminary of entering the land began with his slaves the erection of a cabin.

In the spring of 1834 Fresh built a water mill a mile west of where old Newark now stands. This was a saw and grist mill and was largely responsible for the influx of people into that part of the county soon afterward. Fresh built an addition to his dwelling and sawed boards with which to weatherboard it. He entered a large tract of land and

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neighbors soon thronged into the region. Records show that John Watts and Robert Davis entered land near Newark in 1833, but it is not known that they made permanent settlement. The building of Fresh's Mill indicates the presence of settlers. Somewhere in the fall of 1833 Stephen Cooper came either to the southeast part of Scotland, or the northeast part of Knox county. There he founded what was known as the Cooper settlement, which included lands in both counties. In about the year 1839 Cooper and a man named Roberts erected a mill on the site of the present little hamlet of Millport. Cooper lived near Millport for ten years or more, when he moved to California. Roberts brought to the county four thousand dollars in gold, most of which he lost in the mill business. He finally died by his own hand.

In 1834 Joseph and Josiah McReynolds settled in Colony township. Samuel Manning settled near Fresh's about this time, also Osburn McCracken. The year 1835 found Reuben Cornelius, Abner Johnson, Thomas McMurray, Thomas Price, Hugh Henry, Richard Von Carnip in the vicinity of Colony. Richard Von Carnip was the first of a hundred frugal and industrious people, of whom we now have so many, the Ger-

JAMES FRESH'S MILL

mans. In this year, the Youngs and the Hawkinses settled in Jeddo township and Robert McReynolds in Myrtle. In 1836, Fabius, Jeddo, Myrtle and Colony townships received quite an influx of settlers. In 1837 · they thronged in and in 1838 the tide of emigration to the west having set in more strongly than ever the rich prairies of north Missouri were now attracting hundreds of home seekers. It was in this year that the Baker brothers, James W. and Joshua W., and their father, Martin Baker, settled near the site of Edina, the present county seat. They entered the land that now comprises the Eyman farm and the Bowles farm. Farther up on Rock creek Nathan Roseberry and James Williams were improving claims. John Black and George Taylor also settled in this vicinity. It may here be stated that the land in this vicinity was not open to government entry until 1840, but the settlers had a method of their own for obtaining land. They formed an association with consti- tution and by-laws, and the metes and bounds of each claim were recorded in a book kept by John Black. The "Squatters" pledged mutual protection one with another until such time as their lands should come into market. These claims were sometimes called "tomahawk claims" from the fact that the boundaries were often blazed upon trees. There is no record of "claim jumping" in those days.

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The tide of emigration increased until in 1840 the population of what is now Knox county comprised some fifteen hundred people. The log cabins of the early settlers were found in the near vicinity of all the streams although the wide prairies were still unbroken. Newark and Edina had been laid out, two mills were running, one at Millport and one at Newark.

MARRIAGES

Up to the year 1845 the marriages occurring in Knox county were recorded in Lewis and Scotland counties, hence it is difficult to obtain a record of the earliest marriages. In 1836 it is stated that Absalom R. Downing and Mrs. Susan Kelly (nee Fresh) were married at the resi- dence of the bride's father, James Fresh, near Newark. After the organ- ization of the county the first marriage on record was that of William P. Marshall and Sallie Harrington. The ceremony was performed by William Saling, justice of the peace, on May 5, 1845.

PREACHERS

With early settlers came preachers of the gospel. The first of whom we find any record was in 1836, the Rev. Geo. C. Light, a Methodist, who preached at the house of Hugh Henry of Colony township. A class was organized at the same time. The Reverend Mr. Still, a Methodist circuit rider, preached in Edina in 1840. The Reverend Mr. Shoats and Elder John Shanks, of the Christian church, preached in Knox county previous to its organization. The meetings were held in the settlers' cabins. An- nouncements of the meetings were widely circulated and the isolated and lonely settlers came for miles. Some came on horseback and many in the ox wagons, then in almost universal use.

THE GOLD FEVER

In 1849 the gold fever broke out in Knox county. It will be remem- bered that the excitement produced at that time by the discovery of gold in California swept the whole country. The sturdy settlers were fired with the desire for gold, and hastily gathering together sufficient means to buy the necessary "outfit" when they should reach St. Joseph. A great many Knox county settlers, with iron courage, left their new farms, and often young families, for the terrible journey of three months' duration across the great American desert. Oxen were invariably chosen with which to make the journey, and the month of May the time to start. Then the buffalo grass was sufficiently started to support the cattle, which were herded at night in turns by members of the party. Some of those courageous men returned successful. A few are living in Knox county today, one, Custer C. Sharp, in 'Edina. But, alas! many succumbed to heat and thirst and disease; many were victims of the Indian's arrow, and some of the murderous assassin.

DURING THE CIVIL WAR

Knox county was very much divided, yet the preponderance of people were for the Union. Early in 1861 Crockett Davis organized a company of secessionists at Edina. In the early summer, Union Home Guards began to form. The Edina legion was formed with E. V. Wilson captain, the Millport company under Captain Murrow, the Antioch company under Captain Northcutt and the Paulville company under Captain Sever.

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In the latter part of July the Home Guards gathered in Edina in con- siderable force. The armed secessionists were collected under Martin E. Green. He took up the march to Edina July 30. 1861. On the evening of July 30 his force camped at Troublesome, about four miles west of Edina. The more heedless of the home guards were eager for a fight, but wiser councils prevailed. Colonel Wilson was in command by sort of common consent and he ordered the evacuation of the town. He marched at the head of a portion of the men to Macon City, while many others dispersed to await further developments. Green's men came up rapidly and were soon in occupation of the town. It was found that the actual force of the enemy was far less than reported and when too late, it was found that the town might have been held against them, but with results not justifying the inevitable shedding of blood.

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A History of Northeast Missouri, Volume I, Part 48

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864-1935, editor Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 731

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864-1935, editor
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 731