A History of Northeast Missouri, Volume I, Part 77

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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tice of duty was taught with Quaker simplicity and insistence. After the death of Hatcher, the home could not be maintained for Mrs. Bates. The children were scattered and so bound with engagements under the new order of things that no one could attend her in the old home. She is now living with her daughter Frances (Fanny) in Chicago, in her eighty-fourth year, still active and cheerful, in a circle of relatives and friends, whom she loves and who love her in return, compelled to do so by her own lovely character.

"Nancy Coalter Bates, the eldest daughter and third child of Edward and Julia Bates, was born December 11, 1827, and died October 17, 1872. She was never married. She was well known on Dardenne Prairie, being a frequent visitor to her brother's house, and her memory is held reverently and affectionately by those who did know her.

"Julian, the sixth child and third son, of Edward and Julia Bates, was born January 7, 1833, and died in St. Louis, July 20, 1902. He was a physician, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and practiced medicine, first in Florissant, St. Louis County, and afterwards in St. Louis. He married Sarah Friend Woodson, daughter of Charles F. Woodson, of St. Louis County. They had a large family of children, of whom there are now living four sons,-George W., Fleming, Frank, and Hodgen; and one daughter, Wenona, the wife of Rev. Wm. McCluer, who is the son of the late Samuel McCluer, of Dardenne Prairie. His widow lives in St. Louis with her son Frank. Dr. Bates was a scholar and a man of refinement and gentleness, a true example of the Christian gentleman.

"Fleming, the seventh child and fourth son of Edward and Julia Bates, was born April 2, 1834, and died December 8, 1871. He married Miss Nannie Wilson, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Wilson, of St. Charles County. They had three children, Allen Cumberland, Benjamin and Nannie Fay. Mrs. Fleming Bates and the two sons are dead, and Miss Nannie Fay Bates, the only surviving member of the family lives in St. Louis.

"Richard, eighth child and fifth son of Edward and Julia Bates, was born December 12, 1835, and died September 25, 1879. He married Ellen Wilson Woodson, daughter of Charles F. Woodson, of St. Charles County. They had two children, Charles Woodson Bates, who is a prominent lawyer of St. Louis, and Mrs. Annie Bates Hersman, a widow, who, with her mother, is living in Chicago.

"Charles Woodson, thirteenth child and seventh son of Edward and Julia Bates, was born November 4, 1844. He married Alice, daughter of Seth Frink, of St. Louis. They had three daughters, Ellen Coalter, Bertha and Caro, who lives with her mother in St. Louis. Charles Wood- son died in St. Louis some years ago. Woody Bates, as he was familiarly called, was known on Dardenne Prairie almost as well as if he were a resident and his name is synonymous with that which is gentle and lovable.

"The children of Edward and Julia Bates not named above, Holmes Conrad, Fanny Means, Maria Fleming, Edwa, Kora Wharton, Ben Edward, Catherine Harper, Julia and David Coalter, all died in their childhood.

"Following in the lead of Frederick Bates were relatives and friends who settled in St. Charles and St. Louis counties. There were amongst them men of education and means, full of enterprise and willing to en- dure the hardships of frontier life. Men whose patriotism had been stirred by the wars with the mother country and who were committed to the destiny of our Republic. Too much honor can never be given to this class of men, who converted this Spanish-French Territory of Louisiana

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, into the Sovereign States which now exist. Some of these pioneers who settled St. Charles county deserve mention here. David Coalter, son of Michael Coalter and Elizabeth Moore, was born in Virginia, September 24, 1764. He was married to Ann Carmichael, daughter of James Car- michael and Catherine Sheiders, who was born near Orangeburg, South Carolina, on June 1, 1772, the date of their marriage being December 29, 1791. In addition to the five daughters mentioned in Mr. Darby's memoir of Mrs. Edward Bates, there were four sons, to-wit :- (1) James, who died unmarried, (2) John David, who married Mary Means and had one child that died in infancy, and who was an honored and respected citizen of St. Louis, (3) Beverly Tucker, who married and had three chil- dren, Julia Bates, Caroline Gamble and John David,-his family resi- dence being in Pike County where he practiced the profession of medi- cine, and (4) James 2nd., who died in infancy. David Coalter lived for a time on Dardenne creek, and the writer remembers that when a boy, he was shown the foundation timbers which were all that remained of a mill built by David on the creek near the place afterward owned by Mr. Samuel McCluer.

"Henry Hatcher, a son of John and Nancy Gentry Hatcher, was born in Virginia, December 30, 1801, and died at his residence, Oakland, in St. Charles County, January 7, 1879. He was married November 3, 1825, to Susan Matilda Ann Spears, and had twelve children as follows :- "(1) Ann Maria, born September 14, 1826; died January 19, 1879; married Strother Johnson, November 13, 1850, and had children.

"(2) Caroline Matilda, born February 20, 1829; married Barton Bates, March 29, 1849.

"(3) Charlotte Virginia, born February 26, 1831; died in Virginia; married Daniel H. Brown, February 2, 1866, and had children. Daniel Brown was previously married and had children by his first wife.

"(4) Frederick Alfred, born 1833; died ; married first Julia Chenoweth, and second, Susan Nicholson. No children.

"(5) Martha Powell, born January 17, 1836; died December 1, 1836.

"(6) Mary Elizabeth, born September 24, 1837; died 1908; married Col. George W. Jackson, October 31, 1867, and had children.

"(7) Sarah Margaret, born December 1, 1839; married Peyton A. Brown, September 21, 1858, and had children.

"(8) Pamily Susan, born May 4, 1824; died March 29, 1878; married Capt. Wm. E. Chenoweth, October 31, 1867, and had children.

"(9) Wortly Gay, born December 22, 1844; died December 2, 1867. Unmarried.

"(10) John Henry, born April 3, 1847; married Caroline Harris, and had children.

"(11) Henrietta Frayser, born February 4, 1850; died November 5, 1877; unmarried.

(12) Samuel Josiah, born March 21, 1853; died -; mar- ried - Irvine, and had no children.

"Margaret Maria Spears, the mother of Mrs. Henry Hatcher, was the eighth child and third daughter of Thomas Fleming Bates of Bel- mont, Goochland county, Virgina, and so was a sister of Edward Bates of Missouri. She married first Mr. Spears, and second, Dr. Wharton. She died in Mr. Hatcher's home at an advanced age, the great-grand- mother of numerous children.

"Henry Hatcher, with his family and all his personal property, moved from Virginia to. St. Charles county about 1836. He was accom- panied by Judge Robert Fraser, the husband of Maria Spears, who was a sister of Mrs. Hatcher. Henry first lived at the Heald place near O'Fallon and moved from there to Oakland on Peruque creek, where

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he remained to the end of his life. It is related that in the first year of his residence in St. Charles county he killed more than sixty deer to provide meat for his household. Deer and wild turkeys were so plentiful in those days that a hunter had only to walk a short distance from his house to procure all the fresh meat that was needed. Mr. Darius Heald, himself a famous hunter, once told the writer that Mr. Hatcher was the best turkey shot he ever saw, but that he (Mr. Heald) could beat him kill- ing deer. Mr. Hatcher was a man of great integrity, unless it could be said that he neglected himself in his generosity toward others. His mode of life was modest, but his home was never excelled in hospitality by any other, and with his large family and the almost constant presence of guests, it was always full of life and pleasure. His only living chil- dren are Mrs. Barton Bates of Chicago, Mrs. Peyton A. Brown of Saline county, and Mr John Hatcher, who, after living in the county for more than sixty years, recently moved to Callaway county to be near his son and daughter, who, with their families, live near Williamsburg.

"Judge Fraser lived and died on his farm adjoining that of Mr. Hatcher. Two of his children are living ;- Eliza, (Mrs. Thompson) lives in St Charles county, and Edward Bates Fraser who is a promi- nent citizen of Fort Smith, Arkansas.

"No family in St. Charles county was better known or enjoyed greater respect than that of Charles Friend Woodson. The Woodson and Bates families were intermarried for generations and in addition to the tie of relationship, Charles F. Woodson and Edward Bates were intimate friends. Charles F. Woodson was descended from John Wood- son, a native of Dorsetshire, England. He came to Virginia in 1624, as surveyor to a company of soldiers, with Sir John Harney. Charles F. Woodson was born in Virginia, November 20, 1794, and was married to Ann Thomas, daughter of Dr. Goodridge Wilson and Elizabeth Woodson Venable, who was born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, December 7. 1806; the date of their marriage being April 15, 1830. To this pair were born : (1) George Thomas; (2) Richard Goodridge; (3) A son who died in infancy; (4) Sarah Friend, who married Julian Bates; (5) Annie Virginia; (6) Elizabeth Venable; (7) Ellen Wilson, who married Richard Bates; (8) Julia Bates, who married Mr. Stotemyer; (9) Lilly, who died in infancy. (10) Mary Randolph, who is the wife of Mr. William Harris of St. Charles county. The surviving members of the Woodson family of Dardenne Prairie are, Mrs. Julian Bates, living in St. Louis; and the Misses Virginia and Elizabeth, who, with Mrs. Richard Bates, reside in Chicago.

"And now, Dr. Edwards, I am sure I have done my share in supply- ing you with biographical notes of people living in or related to St. Charles county. If other descendants of the old families have done as well, you will have a mass of data to be assorted, abridged, simplified and expurgated, until it in proper form occupies the space in the history of Missouri which is allotted to St. Charles county. Family histories cannot be impartially written by members of the family, and it is said that no true history can be written except by future generations. Never- theless, no history can be written without the testimony of those who took part in it, and a practiced writer should be able to revise and elimi- nate such notes as I have furnished and make a record of interest to posterity.

"I have hardly treated you fairly in sending you all these dates of births, deaths and marriages, for I became personally interested in these people of the same blood, and resolving to keep a copy of this letter for my own records, fear that I have served myself at your expense. Still. I am sure that an old Patriarch, such as you are, who has been so intimately

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connected with the lives of some of these families, will be glad to have these family notes, even if they do not suit your present purpose, and so I send them.

"Your friend, "ONWARD BATES."

BEGINNING OF AMERICAN COLONIZATION

About the year 1795, straggling Americans began to come into the county from the east. Three brothers, Christopher, Jacob and Andrew Zumwalt, settled in the county They were of Dutch extraction and came from Virginia, settling on or near Peruque creek in 1796. They were sturdy, courageous Christian men, and brought their families, stock and household "penates" with them,-among other things, some sheep. They selected land on which were found springs of living water, and at once erected comfortable log dwellings, the timber being hewn on two sides; the first houses of that style built west of the Missouri. The house built by Jacob one mile south of O'Fallon, is still standing and is in a good state of preservation. It was built in 1798. In it was born the late Darius Heald, only son of Maj. Nathan Heald, an officer of the United States army, and who commanded Fort Dearborn in 1813 when it was captured by an overwhelming force of English and Indians, when many of the prisoners were massacred. Port-holes were made in the sides of the building to be used in case of an Indian raid. Major Heald bought the property of Zumwalt about 1815. He and his wife, Rebecca, lived and died there, and are buried near the house. The old house of three rooms on the ground floor is still habitable and picturesque in the extreme. They are the oldest buildings in the county, and are now beautifully fitted up, and it is the Chapter House of the Rebecca Heald Chapter of the D. A. R's. and the "Daughters of 1812," of whom there are a goodly number in the community. When the Zumwalt brothers came they brought their religion as well as other necessities of life with them into the wilderness. They were Wesleyan Methodists and like the first Frenchman, Blanchette, who settled in the county, they very soon erected of logs, the first Protestant church, as a temple dedicated to the worship of God west of the river. This little church stood on the ridge just west of where O'Fallon now is. In this humble temple was cele- brated the first sacramental service ever administered west of the river. The services were conducted by the Rev. Jesse Walker, in 1807. The wine used on this occasion was prepared by Sister Zumwalt and Mrs. Col. David Bailey, from the juice of the poke berry and sweetened with maple sugar. The bread prepared by the same faithful hands was the crust from a corn pone baked in an oven.

Adam Zumwalt, who came with Jacob, settled near where Flint Hill stands. He brought sheep, horses and a few cattle. He thought, like his earlier French neighbors, that it was not good to live without a stim- ulant; so he built a still-house and made brandy from Indian corn. One of his neighbors was the famous Indian chief, Black Hawk, of the Dakotas, who partook of Mr. Zumwalt's beverage that cheers, and con- sequently soon became his fast friend and ever remained such. He was fond of dancing with. the young daughters of Mr. Zumwalt. He got drunk sometimes, but never boisterous, and was always a gentleman in his demeanor. Black Hawk was ever a friend to the Zumwalts, even during the bloody Black Hawk wars. On one occasion, when the hostile Indians were raiding the country and scalping the inhabitants, he was warned by Samuel Keithly, a lieutenant of the militia, to take his family to Pond Fort for safety and promptly report at headquarters, armed

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with his musket and all the powder and balls he had-to fight the sav- ages. He explained in great dismay : "What, do you fight mit guns? I thought you fight mit sticks." The old man's simplicity of heart greatly amused Mr. Keithly.

EARLY COURT PROCEEDINGS

The first representative in congress from the new territory was from St. Charles, Edward Hempstead. He was one of the distinguished law- yers of the territory, and a man whose career forms an honorable page in the history of the state. Colonel Rufus Easton was another dis- tinguished citizen of St. Charles, and a noted lawyer. He was a candi- date against Mr. Hempstead, and afterward twice elected to congress.

At this time there were but five counties in the territory, and in point of importance, St. Charles took precedence. They were thus enum- erated : St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau and New Madrid. These, however, covered almost unlimited territory. This was in 1812.

At the second session of the assembly the county of Arkansas was formed. At each succeeding session of the assembly new counties were formed. During this time St. Charles continued to hold a commanding position in public affairs, both in the number and ability of her repre- sentatives. When the state was admitted into the Union in 1821, St. Charles became the capital. The first state legislature convened there and it became the home of the state officers. While the country was still under the territorial government, a grand jury made the following deliverance. The people of the country were in favor of negro slavery, as it was a recognized institution of the country under Spanish rule, and most of the immigrants from the southern states had brought their slaves with them. So this grand jury felt called upon to draw up this bill of indictment against the government and congress :

We, the undersigned grand jurors from the body politic of the county of St. Charles, Missouri territory, and summoned to attend the sitting of the circuit court for the county aforesaid, beg leave to present to the honorable court that we deem it our high privilege and bounden duty to take notice of all and singular grievances of a public nature: that amongst the various duties assigned us we do present that the congress of the United States, at the last session in attempting to restrict the people of Missouri in the exercise and enjoyment of their natural rights as American free- men in the formation of their state constitution, assumed an unconstitutional power, having the direct tendency to usurp the privileges of our state sovereignty, guaranteed to us by the declaration of American rights, the constitution of the United States, the treaty of cession with France, and the blood of our fathers who achieved our independence. This is a restriction heretofore without precedent or parallel, as it regards the admission of territory into the Union of States, and if persisted in by those members of congress who at the last session proved themselves opposed to the growth and prosperity of our happy land and luxuriant country, will be, in our opinion, a direct attack and infringement upon the sacred rights of state sovereignty and independence, and the tocsin of alarm to all friends of union under our republican form of government. Although we much deplore any existing political differences of opinion with the majority in the house of representatives of the last congress, who introduced and supported the restriction, yet we consider it our bounden duty as free- men, and as republican members of the great American family, to take a dignified stand against any assumption of our rights from whatever quarter it may come, and to support the constitution of the United States as the anchor of our political hopes. Signed: Thos. Dozier, Wm. S. Burch, Wm. Keithly, Randal Briggs, James Bald- ridge, Francis Howell, James Smith, Antoine Renal, Warren Cottle, James Clay. Samuel Wells, Foreman, N. Howell, T. D. Stephenson, David Lemaster, Edward Woods, Joseph Sumner, Antoine Derrocher, Armstrong Kennedy, Chas. Farmer, D. Beauchamp. .

This was the St. Charles declaration of independence. This pre- sentment to congress was made July 6, 1819. Exactly what effect it had

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on that august body is hard to tell, but that winter congress passed an enabling act, and the constitutional convention authorized by that act met in the summer of 1820, in St. Louis, with forty-one delegates pres- ent and a constitution was framed, which was afterwards ratified by the people, and the state was admitted into the Union in 1821. There were fourteen counties in the state.

GREAT MEN IN PIONEER DAYS

St. Charles had three delegates, the largest number of any county. They were Major Benjamin Emmons, Colonel Nathan Boone, and Hiram H. Barber. Colonel Boone was a son of the pioneer. He was an edu- cated man, and an able representative in the convention. Mr. Barber was an early settler in the county and one of its leading citizens. He was sheriff of the county for some years and a man of great influence and popularity.

About this time the lines between the two political parties was drawn. St. Charles, as a rule went Democratic, when strict party lines were ad- hered to, but it sometimes elected a Whig ticket. The early German set- tlers, almost to a man, were Democrats, up to the time of the Civil war, when most of them became Republicans.

Felix Scott was one of the early politicians of the county and some- what of a character. Though a man of culture, he fell in with the man- ners and customs of the country and the spirit of the times, and was not averse to a fist fight. Being challenged to fight a duel, such was his courage and contempt for his antagonist that he quietly stood with his gun in his hand presented without offering to fire, and after his oppo- nent had fired at him, coolly laid his gun aside and gave the fellow a most unmerciful beating with his fists. He served a number of terms in the lower house and also in the senate, and was made president pro tem of that body in the absence of a lieutenant-governor. He came from Monon- gahela county, West Virginia. He moved to Oregon in the early 40's.

John D. Coalter was a man of fine mental culture and a lawyer of ability. He was a logical and effective speaker. His speeches were models of diction and literary elegance and were eloquently delivered. While they read better than those of Wm. A. Campbell, they did not equal Campbell's fine and eloquent delivery.

Campbell, while somewhat eccentric, was a finished orator. He was indifferent to his personal appearance, and an anecdote to this effect is told on him. He staid much of his time with his sister, Mrs. Dr. Mc- Cluer. When starting to the legislature of which he was a member, Mrs. McCluer packed his trunk, and placed in it a dozen laundried shirts, and strictly charged him that he should put on two clean shirts a week, which he promised to do. Six weeks afterwards on his return to Dar- denne, his sister examined his trunk for the soiled linen, but to her great consternation, found none. She at once said to him, "Brother Billy, where are your soiled shirts? I find none in your trunk." He replied, "Did I not promise to put on one twice a week?" and he had strictly followed orders, but had forgotten to take off the soiled ones. Both men were of temperate habits and strictly honorable and upright in their lives. Neither was ever defeated in an election when before the people. Camp- bell distinguished himself as a leader in the senate and Coalter was the acknowledged leader of the house.

Major Overall, who came to the county in 1795, was a wealthy farmer of the Point Prairie. He represented the county as one of its law makers. He was a man of high character and intelligence. He took no part in political stump speaking, but was an earnest Whig and well posted in politics and current events.

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The first session of the legislature of the new state was held in the town of St. Charles in a house on Main street, which had been built for a hotel. The building has long since been removed and replaced by another. St. Charles has been remiss in preserving historical land- marks. A new people has come in who seem to have cared nothing for the old heroes. There is but one relic of the past in the county. That is the old log house on the Major Heald place, built in 1797, and now occupied as a chapter-house by the Rebecca Heald Chapter, D. A. R.

William Allen, a son of an early settler of the county, who came from Virginia, was a man of such ability and represented the county in the lower house in the early '40's. He was also a member of the state senate. He was a Whig and contributed to the election of Henry S. Geyer to the United States senate. The Whigs were in the minority in the state, but the Democrats were divided into two factions-the Hards and the Softs, or Benton and Anti-Benton. Through Mr. Allen's persuasion and the hatred existing between these two the Anti-Bentons were won over to Geyer and the first and only Whig was elected to the United States senate. During this memorable contest there were two county men can- didates for the senate: Joseph Wells, Anti-Benton, and Phineas H. Shelton, Benton Democrat. Benton had been accused of being an aboli- tionist, and all Benton men were held to be of that persuasion. Shelton, a slave owner and a strong southern man, had been called an abolitionist. Being a Virginian, his accent was the broadest Virginia dialect. In a debate at Naylor's store between himself and Wells, Shelton, who had heard of the heinous charge, exclaimed, "Whar is the man that dares say that I am an abolitionist ?" There was no one in the audience bold enough to reply. Wells beat Shelton for senator. This was the begin- ning of Benton's decline in political power, and he never regained the ascendency. Mr. Shelton had never before been defeated, and he was so disgusted that in a few years he moved with his family to Texas. Long years afterward when the late "unpleasantness" between the states took place, he, though an old man, commanded a regiment of "rebels" and fought for Dixie, helping Dick Taylor rout General Banks on the upper Red river. His father, Colonel Shelton, died at Norfolk, Virginia, in 1814, while in command of that post.

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A History of Northeast Missouri, Volume I, Part 77

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