USA > Missouri > A History of Northeast Missouri, Volume I > Part 70
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These features of the early life in the county were not unlike those of life elsewhere in Northeast Missouri. The pioneers were much the same in manners and customs.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY
When Missouri was admitted to the Union in 1821, Putnam county was a part of the territory comprised in Chariton county. Between 1841 and 1845 it was in Howard county, then a part of Sullivan county. Part of Sullivan county was known as Dodge county, St. John was the county seat. Putnam was organized from Sullivan county in 1845. Putnamville was chosen as the county seat of old Putnam county by the board of commissioners, which consisted of Robert Bronaugh, of Ralls; Harrison Monday, of Lewis; and John H. Rumjue, of Scotland county, The county was divided into five townships-Grogan, Cochran, Elm, Richland and Locust. Justices of the peace were appointed for each township. The townships have been changed on numerous occasions. There are now ten-York, Medicine, Sherman, Jackson, Union, Wilson, Lincoln, Richland, Liberty, Grant and Elm.
COUNTY OFFICERS
The first county officers of Putnam county, with the years they held office, are as follows: Burnet M. Henderson, sheriff. 1845-1848; John McMillan, clerk of the county court, 1845; Wesley Halliburton, circuit and prosecuting attorney, 1845 -; David Eckles, treasurer, 1849; Christopher Miller, assessor, 1847; J. Lavenburg, coroner, 1866; William J. Cook, school commissioner, 1853 -; John MeMillan, clerk of the circuit court, 1845; L. P. Smith, county surveyor, 1845-1868.
The present county officers are : E. F. Haigler, presiding judge of the county court ; J. L. Casady, judge of the county court from the eastern
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district; William L. Pollock, judge of the county court from the western district; Lorenzo Jones, judge of the probate court; Sang Triplett, clerk of the circuit court; John T. Morgan, clerk of the county court; Peter D. Greggers, recorder of deeds; Edgar A. Jarman, prosecuting attorney ; Noah Crooks, sheriff; C. W. Mulinax, treasurer ; J. H. Holman, coroner; A. F. Kenne, public administrator; Cloe Tingley, surveyor; W. K. Armstrong, superintendent of public schools.
COUNTY COURT
The first session of the county court was held on April 28, 1845, at the home of James Cochran. The first county officers were appointed and it was provided that the county and circuit courts should be held at the home of James Cochran until a permanent seat of justice was estab- lished. Jacob Willis was given permission to conduct a ferry across the Chariton river, and the rates of ferriage were fixed. The rate for a single person or horse was six and one-fourth cents and for a wagon twenty-five to fifty cents.
Among the records of the court is found one very interesting order. On August 18, 1845, it was ordered that the county buy four gallons of whiskey to be used on the day of a lot sale in Putnamville. The order reads as follows :
Ordered that the town commissioner be authorized to purchase four gallons of whisky for the sale of lots, and that he be paid out of the lot fund. Signed by
WALTER CROCKETT, ISAAC GILSTRAP, SR., THOMAS HARGRAVES.
The whiskey was evidently expected to make bidding on the part of the purchasers of lots more spirited. The court was anxious to make the lots sell for as high prices as possible, because numerous debts had to be paid for out of the fund derived from the sale of the lots. The first county seat was Bryants Station, then Hartford and afterward Putnamville.
In 1848 a petition was presented to the court by 212 taxable inhab- itants of the county, out of a total of 269, asking that the county seat be removed from Putnamville to the center of the county. The request was granted and five commissioners were appointed to locate the county seat. They were : James Wells and William Oglesby, of Schuyler county ; Marcus Stephenson, of Adair county ; and Thomas Z. Whitson and John R. Davis, of Mercer county. The voters of the county, at an election held on December 15 and 16, 1848, ratified the action of the county court. Lilburn P. Smith, the county surveyor, located the geographical center. of the county and a court house was begun. This was finished in 1858. costing in all, $11,175.
CIRCUIT COURT
The first term of the circuit court began at Putnamville on Septem- ber 16, 1845. James A. Clark was the judge. The grand jury was com- posed of John Corneilison, Richard West, Abraham Morris, Jacob Young. John Dillon, Benjamin Musgrove, Wesley J. Crabtree, Morris B. Atkins. John L. Upton, Lewis Scobee, Asa Fisk and Richard Humphreys. The first case to. come before the court was that of the State of Missouri vs. James Trewhitt, for murder. This was continued until the next term of court, when Trewhitt was acquitted. The first suit for divorce was brought on October 19, 1848, and was styled Amanda Green vs. Abraham Green.
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One of the most interesting and important suits ever brought in the circuit court of Putnam county was that of the county against the Chicago, Burlington & Kansas City Railway Company, in 1885, for taxes due the county for the years 1881, 1882, 1883 and 1884. The railway maintained that it was exempt from taxation. The case was decided in favor of the county. It was appealed by the company to the supreme court of Missouri and later to the supreme court of the United States, both of which courts sustained the decision of the lower court. The company finally paid into the county treasury the sum of $5,383.08.
Putnam county is now in the third judicial circuit of Missouri. George W. Wanamaker, of Bethany, is the judge. Court meets in April, August and November, on the fourth Monday in the month. Grundy, Harrison and Mercer counties are in the same circuit. A probate court was established by act of the legislature in 1848.
IN THE CIVIL WAR
In the Civil war Putnam county sided strongly with the North. When J. H. Halley, a former representative in the Missouri legisla- ture sent word that he would make speeches in the county in support of the Southern cause, word was sent back to him that if he came and at- tempted to carry out his program, a scaffold would be erected on which he would be hanged. He was told that there were to be no speeches by Southern sympathizers in Putnam county. Needless to say, Halley did not come. The few residents of the county who joined the Southern forces had to slip quietly away.
A contingent of Southern sympathizers in Schuyler county, about four hundred in all, sent word to N. P. Applegate, sheriff of Putnam county, that if he did not enroll troops for the Southern army, the four hundred Schuyler county soldiers would come over to "aid" him. When the time came which had been fixed by the Schuyler county men to come over to "aid" Sheriff Applegate, about five hundred men assembled at Unionville, armed with all kinds of weapons and organ- ized themselves. They wanted to go over to the Chariton river to invite the Schuyler county "army" over into Putnam county, so that the enroll- ment question might be settled then and there. The troops started off, and reached the Chariton river, after having been delayed once, soon after they started, because they thought they saw the Schuyler county troops approaching. However, the Southerners did not come, but went off to join Price's army, so Schuyler county was left with few Southern sym- pathizers, at least among the men, and no attempt was made to organize Southern troops in Putnam county. The Putnam county troops remained on the banks of the Chariton river about a week, then, learning of the departure of the Schuyler county troops, returned to their homes, after organizing themselves into six companies of "Home Guards."
Each of these companies consisted of seventy-five men, armed with their own guns. Among the captains of the companies were William H. Bolander, of Liberty township; M. T. Steen, of Elm; Peter Thompson, of Wilson; Sylvester S. Collins; and G. W. R. Ledford. Captain Wil- liam H. Bogle commanded another company composed of fifty-nine men. It was organized in August, 1861, and performed duty under orders from General Hurlbut, by reinforcing Colonel Scott, of the Third Iowa Infantry, at Kirksville. It was also stationed for a time at Sepley's Ford and was in the service in Putnam, Schuyler and Sulli- van counties until it disbanded in October. Another Putnam county organization was the Shawneetown Home Guards, of which James Ewing was captain.
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The first speech made in Putnam county in favor of the war was that by Lieut .- Col. I. V. Pratt, at the court house in Unionville, during the early summer of 1861. In 1862 Alexander Woolfolk, recruiting at the time for the First Missouri State Militia, spoke requesting recruits for the regiment of which he was later made lieutenant-colonel.
Most of the Putnam county citizens who enrolled in the Union army were in either the Eighteenth or Forty-Second regiments of the Mis- souri infantry, or the Seventh Missouri cavalry. Some enrolled in cavalry regiments in Iowa. Guerrillas and bushwhackers did not trouble anyone in Putnam county during the war, except during 1864, when a band passed through the eastern part of the county. An attempt was made to capture J. M. Brasfield, but it failed. No one was killed by the guerrillas in Putnam, but a man was shot in Sullivan county by the same party.
Several men were killed during the war by Union sympathizers. Among these were James M. Overton, Samuel Bland, William Cain, Braston Carter and John Henry. The Rev. John L. Woods, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Unionville and a Southern sympathizer, was killed by Union soldiers at home on a furlough, while they were under the influence of liquor.
These deeds of Union soldiers must not be taken, however, to repre- sent the spirit of all the Union men. Putnam county furnished many loyal soldiers to the Northern army, some of which died on the field of battle. It is estimated that 1,345 Putnam county citizens enlisted during the war-more than the number of qualified voters. This number is fairly accurate as it is based on actual returns from all the townships except Union, where the number had to be given approximately.
Although few people at Putnam county actually enlisted in the Southern army, there were a larger number who sympathized with the Southern cause. One of these men, William Adkins, was disqualified from voting because of his "hurrahing for Jefferson Davis." This disability was removed when, later during the war, he served in the Union army. One of the interesting proceedings of the Putnam county circuit court is the record of the removal of his disability. The order was made that "it is considered and decreed by the court that the disqualification resting upon the petitioner, William Adkins, in consequence of . . hurrahing for Jefferson Davis, is re- moved."
At the close of the war it was proposed to erect a monument. to cost about $2,000, out of respect to the memory of the defenders of the Union from Putnam county, who died while in the service. Interest was per- mitted to wane, though, and the monument has never been built.
COUNTY POLITICS
Putnam county has been strongly Republican in politics since the beginning of the Civil war. In 1864 the vote for president was : Lincoln. Republican, 1,292; MeClellan, Democrat, 47. In 1880 the vote was: Garfield, Republican, 1,513; Hancock, Democrat, 725. In 1910 the vote for judge of the Missouri supreme court was: Brown, Republican, 1,697; Gantt, Democrat, 777. These figures are given to show that the county has remained continuously and strongly Republican. All the present county officers, except the presiding judge of the county court. are Republicans.
The liquor question began to be agitated in Putnam county about 1876. In 1887 an election was held in which the sale of intoxicating
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liquors was prohibited in the county. The vote was 900 to 627. The county has since been continuously dry.
RAILROADS AND SCHOOLS
The people of the county have shown their progressiveness by the support they have given to railroads proposing to run through the county and to other expenditures of money which would prove beneficial. In 1870 the people voted to subscribe $150,000 to the capital stock of the Burlington & Southwestern Railroad Company, to be paid when the road was built through the county. The money was never paid, however, as the road was never built. In 1871 the county court sub- scribed $150,000 to the capital stock of the St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad Company, all of which was to be used in building the road within the county. Of this amount only $100,000 was ever paid, as the railroad refused to deliver to the county their certificates of stock. In 1875 a' proposition to subscribe $110,000 to the capital stock of the Missouri. Iowa & Nebraska Railroad Company was defeated, 464 to 784.
Putnam county has encouraged education since its organization. The schools of the county are equal, or superior, to those elsewhere in Missouri. The teachers of the county have formed, for their own benefit. teachers' associations and teachers' institutes. The first meetings of each of these organizations were held in 1866.
CHURCHES
The strongest religious denominations of the county are the Method- ists, Christians and Baptists. The Methodists and Baptists were early in the field. Preachers of these denominations came soon after the first settlers. The Rev. A. J. Wall, a Methodist preacher, came as early as 1852. Other denominations having churches in the county are the Presbyterians, Church of Christ, Adventists, Catholics and Universalists.
There have always been few negroes in Putnam county. In 1860 there were only thirty-one negro slaves and at the present time the negro. population is less than twenty-five. Nearly all the people are not only native born Americans, but children of native born Americans and by far the largest part of the population own the homes in which they live.
Putnam county is pre-eminently agricultural in its interests. The incorporated towns are to wit: Unionville, the county seat, a city of the fourth class, and Lucerne, Powersville and Worthington.
TOWNS
Unionville has a population of slightly more than two thousand. It has two newspapers, the Journal and the Republican; four banks; two flouring mills; and a brick and tile factory. Grain, lumber, live stock and coal are produced around Unionville and make it a business center of importance. It has good schools, including a high school approved by the University of Missouri. It was founded in 1853, when Putnam and Dodge counties were united and was first called Harmony, as all factions were conciliated in its selection. At the sale of lots when Harmony was laid out the prices for single lots varied from $8 to $100. The total amount received from the lot sale was $1,703.
Lucerne has a population of about three hundred. It is in the west- ern part of the county and is the center of a rich farming region. Coal deposits are found near by. It is on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. It has one bank and one newspaper, the Standard. Vol. 1-34
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Powersville, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, north of Lucerne and three miles south of the Iowa line, is the center of agricultural interests. It has one newspaper, the Record; two banks; saw and grist mills; and a cheese factory. It is incorporated, and has a population of about four hundred.
Lemonville, Blackbird, Howland and Mendota are stations on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. Much coal is mined at Men- dota. On the Iowa & St. Louis -Railroad are Worthington, Mapleton and Livonia.
There are small communities elsewhere in the county, but none of importance. Lowground is the only postoffice off the railroad. Post- offices are located at all the above mentioned places. The primary inter- ests of all of them are agricultural. Other.industries are either dependent or subordinate.
CHAPTER XXVI RALLS COUNTY By Joe Burnett, New London FIRST AMERICAN SETTLERS
The first white men to put foot on Ralls county soil were Dr. An- toine Saugrain and Louis Bouvet, two Frenchmen who left Paris, France, in 1795. They landed in New Orleans, bought a boat and supplies, hired a crew and came up the Mississippi river to the mouth of Salt river. Going up Salt river to where New London is now located, they divided forces. Doctor Saugrain went to Saverton and built a fort. Bouvet went further up the river to Spalding, where he also built a fort and proceeded to make salt.
In 1807, Samuel Gilbert, a Kentuckian, came to Saverton, bringing his family with him, to seek a home in the new territory. He at once began to make salt from the spring there, shipping it to St. Louis. The place was then known as "Little Prairie." Upon his arrival there Mr. Gilbert found a French settlement. It consisted of a fort, three cabins and as many families. Victor La Gotra, one of the settlers, had some sort of claim to the spring and adjacent lands, and was the head or leader of the settlement. Gilbert bought his claim. Gilbert's family was composed of several daughters and a son. He also brought with him a number of slaves. Shared G. Swain, a son-in-law, soon arrived, followed by others. About this time the Indians had destroyed the fort at Spalding and Bouvet and his men had fled to St. Louis.
Then came the McDowells, the Tompkins, the McCormicks, the Ryans, the Foremans and other families. The white men pushed out along Salt river and began to build an empire upon the ashes of the wigwam.
The Indians were numerous but friendly and continued on good terms with the whites until the War of 1812.
About this time Mr. Foreman built a mill near New London and turned out corn meal for the settlement. A Mr. Shepherd bought the mill, afterward selling it to Col. Dick Matson, who improved it, and for many years it was known as Matson's Mill. This was the first mill in Northeast Missouri.
INDIAN TROUBLES
From the time of the first settlement to the War of 1812, the pioneers were as happy and prosperous as could be wished. Bears, panther, wolves and other wild animals abounded, and made night hideous with their howlings and squalling, but the pioneers were not timid. Wild game and fish were plentiful and the table never lacked for supplies.
. But when the war note sounded along the banks of Salt river, the change wrought was a sad one for them. Their Indian neighbors, ever
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treacherous by nature and instinctively cruel, were influenced by British emissaries and soon became their deadly enemies. Fiendish and blood- thirsty, they delighted to apply the torch to the rude dwellings of those whom they regarded as intruders, and shoot down and scalp without distinction of age and sex.
It soon became necessary for the settlers to abandon their houses and seek shelter in forts and block-houses. Gilbert and his neighbors and the settlers along Salt river united for self-preservation and built a block-house on the high ground a short distance northwest of the mill above mentioned and gathered their families into it. The war grew warm and they were compelled to seek protection at stronger posts. They went to Fort Buffalo, near Louisiana ; then to Fort Howard : then to St. Charles, where Governor Clark called them to St. Louis.
The Ralls county pioneers, under Captain Musick, returned to their homes and went on the warpath. They encountered a gang of Winne- bagoes near Saverton and fought a bloody battle in which they were defeated, leaving a number of dead on the field. They then built a fort
NORTHEAST MISSOURI CATTLE
near Saverton and called it Fort Mason. This fort afforded protection for a while, but was finally destroyed by fire.
After the War of 1812 the whites and Indians fought another battle on Spencer creek, south of New London, which resulted disastrously to the whites. The last battle took place near where Cincinnati now is. in the southwest part of the county. The trees there are scarred with bullet marks and many bullets have been cut out of them. There are Indian pictures on the bluffs there, indicating an exodus. Thus the Redman left Ralls county and moved on west.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY
Ralls county was born on the 16th day of November, 1820. It was named for Daniel Ralls, a member of the legislature. Ralls was theu a county of magnificent proportions. having an area larger than some of the states, stretching north to the Iowa line and west to the lin- between ranges 13 and 14. and comprising the territory now forming Audrain, Monroe, Shelby, Lewis, Clark, Marion, Knox and Scotland as well as the Ralls county of today. Marion was taken from the northern part of Ralls in 1826. In 1829 Randolph was organized. Monroe in
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1831, Audrain in 1836, when Ralls assumed its present shape and limits.
The act of the legislature of November, 1820, forming the county of Ralls, designated Dabney Jones, James Garnett, Richard Jones, Stephen Glascock and Francis Grant as commissioners to locate the county seat. Soon afterward they fixed upon New London and proceeded to build a court house and jail.
The first court house was built in 1822. It was a log structure, twenty feet long and eighteen feet wide, two stories high. The upper story was the court room and the lower story the county jail. One of the lower stories was called the dungeon, where rogues, felons and malefactors were imprisoned. In those days men were often imprisoned for debt. The next courthouse was of brick, two stories high, fifty feet square. It was built in 1835. It became unsafe and was torn down in 1858 and the present courthouse, built of cut stone, erected at a cost of $48,000. It is held today as one of the handsomest old courthouses in the state and will be standing for years to come, it is thought.
DANIEL RALLS
Daniel Ralls, the man for whom the county was named, was the son of Nathaniel W. Ralls. He was a native of Virginia, but emigrated to the wilds of Kentucky in his youth. He became familiar with the fron- tier life, was schooled in the art of woodcraft and grew to stalwart young manhood. He learned to read and write and took every opportunity to improve his mind. He moved westward to Missouri in 1818 and settled on a tract of land four miles west of New London. He was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and force of character. In two years after his arrival here he was elected to the legislature from the then existing county of Pike. He was at that time about thirty-five years old. On August 4, 1820, the legislature met in St. Louis and soon after- ward Ralls was taken very ill. Col. Thomas H. Benton was a candidate before the legislature for United States senator. The contest was close. One vote would decide it.
Mr. Ralls was a strong Benton adherent and although he was unable to go himself to the hall, he was carried there on his bed and cast the vote that elected Benton. This was his last act in public life. He was taken home weak and fainting and in a few days he died. He left a widow and five small children. One of his sons, John Ralls, was a lawyer in Ralls county and was active in political and military affairs.
Although the name of Daniel Ralls is remembered in history because Ralls county is named for him, it is unfortunate that his grave was not marked and that no one now knows where he was buried. It is supposed that he was buried in a small graveyard near his farm, but the grave stones have been scattered and time has wrecked the place.
FIRST COUNTY AND CIRCUIT COURTS
The first circuit court of Ralls county was held at the home of William Jameson on the 18th day of March, 1821, and the first county court on the 2d day of March of that year at the same place. Col. Peter Journey, Peter Grant and William Ritchie were the first judges. They appointed Stephen Glascock clerk. Green DeWitt was appointed sheriff. They were all commissioned by Alexander McNair, governor of the state of Missouri. The first act of the court was to appoint John B. White and Joseph D. Gash administrators of the estate of William Mitchell, de-
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ceased. Then they appoined Lydia Young administratrix of the estate of James Young, her deceased husband, and Mary Ralls and Thomas Lewis to administer the estate of Daniel Ralls. Green DeWitt was appointed collector, fixing the penalty of his bond at $2,000. The present collector, Marshall Hulse, gives a bond of $110,000 and he collects annually in taxes, $100,584.17. He collects ninety-six per cent of the taxes levied.
The first attorney at law enrolled in the county was Ezra Hunt. He was the first prosecuting attorney and was later circuit judge for many years. Then came other attorneys, including A. B. Chambers, David Barton, William K. Vanarsdall, A. A. King, Thomas L. Ander- son, Gilchrist Porter, John D. S. Dryden, Aylett H. Buckner, Carty Wells, James O. Broadhead, Samuel T. Glover, Richard F. Richmond, James S. Green, A. W. Lamb, R. F. Lakenan, T. J. C. Fagg and others. Some of the oldest lawyers in Missouri have practiced in Ralls county.
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