USA > Missouri > A History of Northeast Missouri, Volume I > Part 87
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The first jail was erected in 1849 and 1850 at a cost of $700. It stood until 1859, when it was burned down by a runaway slave, who was being kept in it until his master should come to claim him. The new jail stands on the northeast corner of the square.
From a population of about two hundred in 1840, Sullivan county
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has grown until it has at the present time a population of about 18,600. The population, according to the census, has been: 1850, 2,983; 1860, 9,108; 1870, 11,907; 1880, 16,569; 1890, 19,000; 1900, 20,282; 1910, 18,598.
The increase in population has been accompanied by an even more rapid increase in wealth. The taxable property of the county in 1912 was assessed at $7,680,114.48.
The negro and foreign-born population of the county has always been small. At no time have there been more than 125 negroes in the county. The foreign element is larger, but there have been few undesirable immi- grants.
The county is very close politically. The Democrats hold all the offices except probate judge and presiding judge of the county court.
In 1844 the county, voting together with Linn, which then included Sullivan, gave Henry Clay 269 votes for president and James K. Polk 494. The first presidential contest after the organization of the county separately from Linn, resulted in a vote of 250 for Lewis Cass and 154 for Zachary Taylor. In 1908 Taft carried the county over Bryan by a vote of 2,389 to 2,269. A majority of the present county officers are Republicans.
IN THE CIVIL WAR
The first event in Sullivan county connected with the Civil war was the mass meeting at Milan on February 4, 1861. The secessionists called the meeting, but the Union men made plans to turn it from a secession into a Union meeting. The leaders of the Union men were II. T. Mc- Clanahan, O. P. Phillips, Thomas Lane, S. H. B. Cochrane, James Beatty, James T. Dunlap, Ichabod Comstock, John McCullough, Joel De Witt, Gabriel Jones and P. W. Martin.
On the following Monday a meeting was held in the courthouse to discuss the questions of the day. Oliver H. Bennett, then the county's representative in the legislature, who had come home to arouse enthu- siası among the people in favor of secession, was elected chairman of the meeting. After speeches had been made by R. S. Strahan, Dr. E. F. Perkins and John C. Hutchinson, all advocating secession, H. T. Mc- Clanahan obtained recognition from the chairman and said that a majority of the people of Sullivan county were in favor of sustaining the Union. He called for a division of the house, saying "All those in favor of standing by the Union come to my side of the room; those in favor of secession rally round Strahan." About two-thirds of those present sided with McClanahan. The secessionists, having found them- selves in the minority, retired from the courtroom. The Unionists or- ganized and selected Col. Gabriel Jones, Benjamin Smith, O. P. Phillips and Philip W. Martin delegates to the senatorial district convention to. be held at Chillicothe, which selected delegates to the state convention.
After the Union meeting had adjourned the Southerners reassembled and nominated their delegates to the state convention. At the election which took place soon afterward, the Union men carried the county by a large majority.
A mass meeting was held at Milan on June 29, 1861, to express the sentiment of the county concerning the condition of affairs in the state at that time. About 1,500 persons were present. Col. Gabriel Jones was made chairman of the meeting and B. F. Smith secretary. Reso- lutions were passed fixing the blame for the "evil times and the unprec- edented distress of the American people" upon the secessionists.
Sullivan county furnished its share of troops to the Union army. The Sixty-sixth Regiment of Enrolled Missouri Volunteers; Company C
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and a part of Company K of the First Regiment and Company G of the Second Regiment of Missouri State Militia; a large part of the Twenty- third Infantry, especially Companies A and G; and Company E and a part of Company F of the Eighteenth Regiment and Company E of the Forty-second Regiment of Missouri Volunteers-all these were raised in Sullivan county.
There were no important engagements in Sullivan county during the Civil war and most of the fighting was confined to pursuits of bush- whackers. About fifty men were on duty at Milan to guard property there. These men were chosen from the Sixty-sixth Regiment, each company furnishing a few. The post was in charge, at different times, of Capt. J. W. Jewett, Capt. Dennis Adams, Capt. E. L. Webb and Lieut. James Sterling. While the post was in charge of Captain Webb, a party of bushwhackers made a raid through the southern part of the county and a portion of the guard at Milan gave pursuit. Failing to come up with the intruders, they returned, arresting two men, Joseph and Thomas Stephens, on their way home. They intended to take them to Milan, but the guard over the prisoners shot them in a reported attempt to escape.
When O. P. Phillips was sheriff and ex-officio collector of the county revenues, he was robbed of about $800 by bushwhackers in the neigh- borhood of Lindley. They made him get down on his knees and hurrah for Jefferson Davis. Jerome Payne was arrested soon afterward, charged with complicity in the robbery. Nothing was proved against him, but he was taken to a place about a mile north of Milan and hanged to a tree.
During the war, a farmer, William Calhoun, was killed by Union men, whom he was guiding through his farm to a road on the other side. No one was ever found guilty of the crime, although James Head was indicted for it. Before the day set for Head's trial, he accidentally broke his leg and died soon afterward. It is believed that he was not guilty of the murder.
During the war another atrocious murder was committed. This was the killing of Daniel Mummy by a Mr. White. John Ellers, one of whose daughters White is said to have been courting, is accused of having instigated the crime. Both Ellers and White left the country after the crime, but Ellers was captured in Iowa by Judge William Beatty, Solomon Poole and James McClaskey. They were to bring him back to Sullivan county, but on reaching a point south of Unionville, in Putnam county, their prisoner was taken away from them by a posse of citizens and hanged.
Although the number was small in comparison with the number of Union men, Sullivan county furnished some troops to the Southern army. A company of men encamped at Field's mill, in the southern part of the county, in September, 1861, with the ultimate object of joining the Con- federate troops to the southward. There were between fifty and seventy- five men, under Capt. Thomas H. Flood. With a company under Capt. George W. Sandusky, of Linn county, they went southward, crossing the Missouri river at Brunswick and joining General Price's forces at Lexington. They were mustered into service there and were attached to the Third Regiment of the Third Division of the Missouri State Guards. Col. E. W. Price was in charge of the regiment and Gen. John B. Clark of the division. They participated in the battle of Lexington and went south with General Price on his retreat. Cap- tain Flood, on account of sickness, resigned his position in the company, and the command devolved on Lieut. Samuel Baker. When their term of enlistment. expired in the spring of 1862, quite a number of the
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men enlisted in the Confederate service, under Capt. P. C. Flourney, and surrendered with him at Fort Blakely.
The Twenty-third Regiment of Union troops, which was raised in Sullivan county, went south in 1862 and took part in the battle of Pitts- burg Landing, or, as it was called by the Union troops, the battle of Shiloh. This engagement was a severe one for the Twenty-third Regi- ment. Captain Dunlap, Captain Brown, Captain Robinson, Adjutant Martin, Lieutenant Munn and Lieutenant Simms were wounded, 30 private soldiers were killed, about 170 wounded and 375 taken prison- ers. The regiment later participated in the battle of Murphreesboro, most of the engagements in the Atlanta campaign, Sherman's march to the sea and the march through the Carolinas. Part of the troops were mustered out of service in January, 1865, and the rest July 18, 1865.
The Forty-fourth Regiment saw service at Franklin, Tenn., in Louisiana, around New Orleans, and at Montgomery, Ala.
Other Sullivan county troops saw service elsewhere, partly in Mis- souri and partly in the South.
A reunion of old soldiers, both Union and Confederate, was held at Milan July 3, 4 and 5, 1884. People from all over the county, as well as the veterans themselves, attended the reunion. A sham battle took place between the Union and Confederate forces.
RAILROAD HISTORY.
There are three railroads in Sullivan county, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City. The first named has 18.40 miles of roadbed in the county, the second 26.30 miles and the last mentioned 33.74 miles. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul passes through the extreme western part of the county, running north and south. The Burlington runs north and south through the central part of the county, passing through Milan. The Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City runs through the county from east to west.
The first movement to assist a railroad company to build a road through the county was made in June, 1869. The county court ordered that the county subscribe $125,000 to the capital stock of the North Missouri .Central Railroad Company, for which bonds were to be issued by the company and given to the railroad as needed to build the road through Sullivan county. When submitted to the voters, the proposi- tion was not sustained. At an election held soon afterward, a similar proposition ordering a subscription of $100,000 was defeated also.
At the December term of the county court in 1869, a special election was ordered to be held in the county February 22, 1870, to ascertain whether two-thirds of the qualified voters of the county would consent to a $200,000 subscription to the capital stock of the Quincy, Missouri & Pacific Railway Company, on condition that the company build a railroad across the county from east to west, as nearly as practicable through the center of the county. The company was also to maintain stations at Milan, Greencastle and Wintersville. At the election 1,049 votes were cast in favor of the subscription and 257 against it. The company started work on the road soon afterward. It was forced to suspend work during the panic of 1873, but graded twelve miles of road and built bridges and laid ties along it by the end of June, 1879. The company then offered the county $80,000 of its capital stock and asked in return for $80,000 in bonds. The county court refused to comply with their request and the railway company brought suit to compel the
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issuance of the bonds. The road was later completed through the county.
In 1871 the county court subscribed $200,000 to the capital stock of the St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad Company for use in building the North Missouri branch of the road. The company agreed to build the road through the county within twenty-one months. Although they man- aged to get $160,000 out of the $200,000 worth of bonds from the county, they did not build more than one-fourth of the road they had promised to build. The Burlington & Southwestern Railway Company had bought the property of the St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad Company and they maintained that they were entitled to all the bonds except $40,000 worth. The county compromised a suit they brought against the rail- road to recover the bonds by agreeing to take over the capital stock of the railroad. This was worth very little and was later sold by the county court for $100.
Milan now has the Burlington and the Q. O. & K. C. railroads run- ning through it, four mail and passenger trains stopping there each day. The Q. O. & K. C. shops are located at Milan, where about 200 men are employed with an average payroll of $600 per day.
The history of the Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City Railroad is given in the historical sketches of Knox and other counties and need not be duplicated.
HISTORY OF THE SCHOOLS
The first definite steps toward organizing Sullivan county for perma- nent educational purposes were made in 1847. The qualified voters of township 62 of range 20 petitioned the county court about this time to organize a school district of this territory and name it School Township No. 1. Their request was granted and R. D. Morrison was appointed commissioner and Samuel Maggart and Esom Hannan, directors. Town- ship 64 of range 21 was organized into a school township at the same time and numbered township No. 2. John Wood was appointed com- missioner for the school township and Thomas Wood and Robert Allen, directors.
The early schools had few conveniences. The blackboard and crayon, even, were absent. The schoolhouses were built to be as convenient and as comfortable as possible, but were poor compared with many of the country schoolhouses today. It was considered extravagant in the earlier days of Sullivan county to buy fuel for the schools. The patrons of each school took turns in furnishing fuel. To hire it cut, it was thought, would make the larger boys lazy and the task of cutting the wood for the fireplace or stove was imposed on them.
The number of children of school age in the county in 1860 was 3,242 and the amount of money appropriated by the state for school purposes in the county was $1,426.48. During the Civil war the schools were neglected and it was not until 1877 that education was again put on a systematic basis. In this year there were in the county the following number of school children: White males, 2,697; negro males, 8; white females, 2,584; negro females, 9; total whites, 5,281; total negroes, 17; grand total, 5,298.
There were 95 schoolhouses in the county. There were 103 teachers, of which number 70 were men and 33 women. The average salary paid to the teachers was $32.01 a month for the men and $21.76 for the women. The marked difference in the salaries of the men and women teachers seems to indicate that men were held in much higher esteem as teachers. The total valuation of school property in 1877 was $28,366.
The total enumeration of children of school age in Sullivan county in
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1912 was 5,678. There were 2,914 white males, 2,763 white females, 11 negro males and 10 negro females. The total number of whites was 5,657 and negroes 21. There were 115 schoolhouses in the county, with 139 teachers. Of these, 56 are men and 83 women. The school property of the county is valued at $121,850.
The first county institute in the county was held in 1884. It was called by D. M. Wilson, county school commissioner, to meet at the public school building in Milan. It was conducted by W. P. Nason of the faculty of the Kirksville State Normal School. Institutes have been held every year since that time, after 1890 under the new Institute law. The institutes have usually been held at Milan, although one meeting has been held at Humphreys, another at Green City and a third at Harris. Humphrey's College at Humphrey and Green City College at Green City, private institutions, went out of existence several years ago.
The schools at Milan are especially good. The grammar school is well equipped and the high school is accredited by the University of Missouri, 18 units work being taught. The new laws in regard to teach- ers' certificates will make this four-years high school a valuable asset to the county.
CHURCH HISTORY
The churches represented in Sullivan county include the Northern Methodist, Southern Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Christian, Free United Brethren, Catholic and Adventist. There are probably individ- uals here and there who prefer some other church, but these are the only ones that have exercised much religious influence.
The first preacher to come into the county was the Rev. John Curl, a Baptist. He lived in the northern part of the county, either in or not far from the Dennison settlement. He preached the first sermon at the home of John Hatcher, in the southern part of the county.
The first camp meeting was held by the Methodists in 1842 about three miles west of Milan. The division of the Methodist church over the slavery question had not then occurred and all the Methodists who could reach the place attended the meeting. Three preachers were present-the Rev. George Land, the Rev. James McClaskey and the Rev. George Conway. The meeting lasted about thirteen days and about 300 persons attended.
The Rev. Jesse Goins was another of the early ministers. After the division in the Methodist church, the Rev. John Martin was probably the first minister belonging to the Methodist Episcopal church South to preach in the county. The entire body of Methodists in Sullivan county united with the southern wing of the church. The Methodist Episcopal church was re-established in Sullivan county in 1859 under the name of the Wintersville Mission. The pastor was the Rev. P. W. Duree. Both the northern and southern branches of the church are now well represented in the county. There are at present sixteen Northern and six Southern Methodist churches.
The Presbyterian church was organized in Sullivan county in 1865 by the Rev. William Reed. The first church was in the country and a Presbyterian church was not organized at Milan until 1881. There are now five Presbyterian churches in the county.
The Presbyterians were preceded ten years by the Cumberland Presbyterians, who organized their first church in 1855 at the home of Christopher Cooper, in Bowman township. The next year a Cumber- land camp meeting was held. Meetings were also held on the same ground-Christopher Cooper's farm-for the two following years. The Pleasant Hill congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian church was
1
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organized in 1868 by the Rev. James M. Ragan. There are now five churches of this denomination in Sullivan county.
The Christian church was organized in the county in 1883. The first church was at Humphreys, where there were thirty-three original mem- bers. There are now eleven Christian churches.
The Baptists were early in the field in Sullivan county. Besides the Rev. John Curl and the Rev. Jesse Goins, pioneer Baptists, were the Rev. A. J. Williford, the Rev. John McAlester, the Reverend Mr. Green, the Rev. A. W. Cole, the Rev. Alton F. Martin and the Rev. J. W. Wadleigh. In 1856 a Missionary Baptist church was organized at Yellow Creek. The first services were held at the home of Matthew Kidd. The Rev. Henry Gibson became the first pastor.
A congregation was organized in Milan in 1871 by the Rev. Peter Setters. There were at first only seven members, but the number rapidly increased.
The Free United Brethren have had numerous congregations, or classes, in Sullivan county. The denomination was organized by mem- bers of the old United Brethren church, who withdrew from that church. The first congregation in the county was organized at the Dudley school- house.
The first priest to administer to the spiritual wants of the Catholics of Milan and Sullivan county was the Rev. John J. Hogan, of Chilli- cothe, who visited them the first time in the summer of 1867. Father Hogan was consecrated bishop of the newly erected diocese of St. Joseph the following year, and was succeeded by Father J. J. Ken- nedy, who established his residence at Unionville. At that time the congregation was small, Dennis Ryan, who came to Milan in 1854, being the pioneer member. But Father Kennedy thoroughly organized the few and scattered members and started the young parish on a career of progress, which continued under the succeeding pastors, until today it is a well-established, prosperous organization. St. Mary's church, Milan, is the only sacred edifice that the Catholics of Sullivan county have. When services are held elsewhere in the county they are con- ducted in private residences or when convenient in places for public gatherings. The present pastor of the Catholic church of Milan is the Rev. J. J. Jermain, who received his appointment in November, 1902. The Right Rev. J. J. Hogan, the first pastor, who during the course of his episcopate was transferred to Kansas City, is still living and is the oldest bishop in the American hierarchy.
THE TOWNS OF THE COUNTY
The county seat of Sullivan county, Milan, is nearly in the geographical center of the county. The original town was laid off upon the farm of Armstead C. Hill and contained fifty acres. Several additions have since been made. Milan was incorporated February 9, 1859. R. D. Morrison was the first mayor and John Sorrell, William H. Watson and C. M. Freeman the first aldermen.
It is on two railroads, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City. The Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City shops, employing 200 men, are located here. It is an important shipping point for cattle, hogs and grain. There are two newspapers, the Re- publican, edited by .B. F. Guthrie, and the Standard, edited by Thomas A. Dodge. The former, as its name indicates, is Republican in politics, while the latter is Democratic.
The 1910 census gave Milan a population of 2,191. At the present time it is about 2,300.
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Green City, twelve miles northeast of Milan on the Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City Railroad, has a population of about 950. It has one newspaper, the Press, edited by R. H. Mcclanahan.
Newtown, in the extreme northwest corner of the county on the Chi- cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, has a population of about 300. It has one bank and one newspaper, the Newtown Chronicle, edited by F. P. Reed. It is the center of a farming and stock-raising section.
Humphreys is sixteen miles west of Milan on the Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City Railroad. It has a population of 300.
Cora, Boynton and Pollock are small towns on the Chicago, Burling- ton & Quincy Railroad; Reger, Sorrell and Greencastle are on the Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City; and Osgood and Harris are on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. Judson, Wintersville, Bairdstown, Cookman, Parson, Pawpaw, Pennville, Bute, Owasco, Sticklerville, Mystic and Brown are small communities or postoffices off the railroad. There are two banks at Pollock, one at Reger, two at Greencastle, one at Harris, and one at Osgood.
THE COUNTY AS A WHOLE
Sullivan county contains 656 square miles of land area. Cattle rais- ing and feeding and borse breeding are the main sources of revenue. The live stock industry is more important than the grain farming. The. corn crop is worth almost $1,000,000 a year, but little wheat and oats are grown. Within the county are twelve pure-bred cattle herds, some of which are among the best Hereford, Shorthorn, Polled-Angus and Red Polled herds in Missouri. There are also several stables of high grade horses.
About four-fifths of the land in the county is in improved farms. Topographically, the county is rolling, even broken along the streams. This makes the soil widely diversified. While one may find rich bottom lands, next to such a farm may be one comprising hills and low-lying bluffs and adjacent to this a farm of undulating prairie land.
Abundant stock water is furnished by Medicine, Yellow, Mussel, Spring, Mussel Fork, East Locust, Main Locust and West Locust creeks, running north and south, almost parallel to each other. The county is well adapted to its principal industry-stock raising. All of the lands grow grasses with native adaptability. .
Coal is thought to underlie half the county, although little mining has been done. Limestone in great quantities is found on the streams, but is used for local foundation purposes only.
Coal is now being mined at Milan and is owned and operated by Hiram Grear. About twenty miners are employed and the coal is mined by machinery. From 30 to 50 tons a day are mined. The coal is splendid quality, extra hard, and is used mostly by the citizens of Milan.
CLOSE POLITICAL CONTEST
Sullivan county has had some of the bitterest political fights in the history of the state. In 1902 J. M. Dormer, Republican, received 2,252 votes and Ed L. Montgomery, Democrat, 2,251 votes for the office of circuit clerk. J. W. Yardley, Republican, received 2,250 votes and Estra E. Frazier, 2,245. Democrat, for the office of presiding judge of the county court. The election of these two Republicans was contested on the grounds of alleged fraudulent voting. The case was tried at the May term of the circuit court in Milan before E. M. Harber, special judge. Montgomery was given twenty-one and Frazier seventeen votes that the Vol. 1-42
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Republican judges had thrown out and would not count. The case was appealed to the supreme court of Missouri and was affirmed by that court. To show how close the political lines are drawn in this county, we reproduced an item taken from the Milan Standard under date of Nov. 13, 1902 :
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