USA > Missouri > Cooper County > A history of Cooper County, Missouri, from the first visit by white men in February, 1804, to the fifth day of July, 1876 > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16
Joseph Still was killed on the Chariton river, in October,
31
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
1813, but the cirumstances attending his killing are un- known.
Wm. McLane was killed by the Indians in what is now Howard county, near the present site of Fayette, in Octo- ber, 1813, under the following circumstances : He, Ewing McLane and four other men, went from McLane's Fort to pick out a piece of land on which some one of them ex- pected to settle. When they arrived at a short distance southwest of the present site of Fayette, they were attacked by a band of about one hundred and fifty Indians. As soon as McLane and his companions saw them, they re- treated towards the fort, and just as they were ascending a slant from a long, deep ravine leading to the Moniteau Creek, the Indians fired a volley at them. One shot struck William McLane in the back of the head, and he dropped dead from his horse. After satisfying themselves that he was dead, his remaining companions left his body and con- tinued their retreat to the fort, which they reached in safety. The Indians scalped McLane, cut out his heart and literally hacked him to pieces. As soon as possible, a large party of settlers started out to recover his body, and if possible, to avenge his death ; but they found that the Indians had retreated, and left no trace of the direction which they had taken. From the cleared place around the body and the beaten appearance of the earth near, it was supposed that the Indians had, in accordance with their custom, danced their "war dance" there to celebrate their victory. After getting the body they returned sorrowfully to the fort.
Of the many murders committed during the war, none excited so much feeling or caused such a cry of vengeance in the hearts of the frontiersman as the tragic death of Captain Sarshell Cooper, who was the acknowledged leader of the settlers north of the Missouri river. On a dark and
32
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
stormy night on the 14th day of April, 1814, as Captain Cooper was sitting by his fireside with his family, his youngest child upon his lap, the others playing at different games around the room, and his wife sitting by his side sewing, an Indian warrior crept up to the side of his cabin and picked a hole between the logs just sufficient to admit the muzzle of his gun, the noise of his work being drowned by the storm without. He shot Capt. Cooper, who fell from his chair to the floor, among his horror stricken family, a lifeless corpse. His powers and skill were well known to the Indians whom he had often foiled by these means. He was kind and generous to his neighbors, whom he was always ready to assist in any of their undertakings. There- fore his loss was deeply felt by the settlers whose homes he had defended by his powers, and whose prosperity was owing largely to his advice and counsel.
On the 14th day of December, 1814, a man named Samuel McMahan, living in what is now Lamine township of Cooper county, was killed near Boonville, not far from the present residence of Scott Benedict, under the following circumstances : He had been down to the settlement at Boonville to bring his cattle, as he intended to move down the river, and as he was returning home he came upon a band of Indians who were lying in ambush for some men who were cutting down a bee tree not far away. The savages fired upon him, wounding him and killing his horse. He jumped up after his horse fell, and although severely wounded, ran down a ravine leading to the river. The Indians started in pursuit of him, and as he was weak from the loss of blood, they soon overtook him and killed him, sticking three spears into his back. They afterwards cut off his head and scattered his entrails over the ground. The In- dians knowing that the vengeance of the settlers would be sudden and terrible, then scattered, and made their way out of the country the best way they could.
33
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
The next day, for the settlers, not knowing the number of the Indians, waited for reinforcements from the opposite side of the river, a party of men went out to get the body of McMahan. James Cole, the brother of Samuel Cole, carried the body before him on his horse, and David Mc- Gee brought the head wrapped in a sheep skin. The set- tlers buried McMahan under the Linn tree, which formerly stood in the centre ring at the old fair grounds. A child of David Buness, which was burned to death, was also buried under this tree.
A negro man named Joe, belonging to Samuel Brown, of Howard county, was killed by the Indians near Mr. Burkhart's farm, about three quarters of a mile east of Es- till Station, on the M. K. and T. Railroad.
The above embraces the name of all of the men of whom we have any record, who were killed in the "Boone's Lick Country" during the Indian war, from 1812 to 1815. The peculiar atrocities attending the killing of most of them, makes the stoutest shudder. But they were so common those days, that the settlers did not fear to remain here, al- though they knew these things might happen to them at any time. Yet they were not daunted by these continued murders, but lived on their lands, making the best defense they could against the Indians.
The next day after the killing of McMahan, all the set- tlers living near the present site of Boonville, rushed into the house of Hannah Cole, which stood on the Bluff, in what is now "East Boonville," as this place was the most suitable of any near, to defend against an attack of the Indians. All of these men came with their teams, cut down trees, dragged logs to build a fort at that place. They completed the building of the fort in about one week, al- though all of the men could not work at one time, as it was necessary to station a guard on every side to watch for the approach of the enemy, whom they expected every hour.
34
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
The fort was built on the edge of the bluff, and as the bluff was very steep at that point, it was well defended on that side from the Indians. Another reason for building it in that place was because the inmates of the fort could ob- tain a constant supply of good water from the river. They had a long log running out over the edge of the bluff, and a windlass and rope attached to it, so that it was an easy matter to draw up water, even during an attack of the Indians.
As soon as the fort at Hannah Cole's was completed, the old fort at Stephen Cole's, situated on the bluff near the river, one mile below the new fort, was abandoned, and all the families gathered into the new fort, so as to be a pro- tection to each other.
But this precaution proved to be unnecessary, as the killing of McMahan was virtually the end of the war, in this part of the country, and the settlers had no more open fights with the Indians, although small bands of savages occasionally roamed through the country running off stock, and committing other depredations. The Indians had found out that the men who had pierced the wilderness, and brought their families with them, were ready to lay down their lives in defense of them and their homes, and the savages deserted their hunting grounds, and moved farther west.
Major Stephen Cole, the acknowledged leader of the settlers living south of the Missouri river, survived the war, and after making every effort for their defense, his love of wild adventure led him to become a pioneer in the trade with Santa Fe in 1822. He was killed by the Indians, during the same year, about sixty miles southwest of San- ta Fe, on the Rio Grande river. There was also killed at the same time, Stephen Cole, the brother of Samuel Cole.
The first school in the Boone's Lick Country within the
35
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
present limits of the county of Cooper, was taught by John Savage, in the year 1813, about one mile east of Boonville, on Lilly's Branch, about one-half of a mile from its mouth. The scholars numbered fifteen children of the settlers living in the neighborhood of Hannah Cole's fort. The names of the scholars who attend the school, were as follows : Ben- jamin, Delany and William Bolin, Hiram and William Savage, Hess and William Warden, John and William Yarnall, John and William Jolly, Joseph and William Scott, and John and William Rupe. The scholars sat upon one log in the open air, they then having no school house, and the teacher upon another log facing his pupils. The price of tuition was one dollar per month, payable in anything which the settlers had that was worth one dollar. The school progressed very finely under the able management of the teacher who appears to have had some experience in teaching. But it continued only for one month, as it was caused to cease through fears of an attack by the Indians, who about this time commenced a series of depredations upon the settlers, which continued until the year 1815, the close of the war. At this school, where all the surroundings were of the most primitive character, and there was nothing except what was furnished by the kind hand of nature, were planted the first seeds of knowledge in the minds of the young settlers. Here they learned the lessons of honesty and integrity, which even at the present day is a distinguish- ing characteristic of the generation which grew up at that day.
1164499
The next school, of which we have any record, was taught by Abiel Leonard, in the Franklin bottom, near the Bonne Femme Creek, Howard county. Teaching was not con- genial to his nature, and it is recorded that he said, the happiest day of his life was when his school closed.
Although many of the settlers were religious persons and
36
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
members of the church, there was no regular preaching in the county until the year 1815, yet occasionally service was held by some wandering missionary in the house of some one of the settlers. But in the year 1815, Luke Williams, who afterwards preached at Concord church, held service at Hannah Cole's Fort. Soon after this, a minister named James Savage preached at the fort. The denomination which he represented-the Baptist-was at that time the prevailing one, although every denomination aided in sup- porting the ministers who preached at the fort, as no one unaided was able to do so. In those days they worked not so much for the success of the denomination as for the suc- cess of the cause.
When the settlers first came to Cooper county, the women all wore calico dresses, and the men homespun suits of clothes. But the clothes which they brought with them soon wore out, and not having any place at which to buy new ones, they were forced to resort to some expedient to supply the place of the clothes which they were compelled to cast off. For the next few years all the clothes which the settlers had, were made out of knettles.
The low flats along the river, creeks and branches were covered with a thick growth of knettles about three feet high, sometimes standing in patches of twenty acres or more. These were permitted to remain standing until they became decayed in the winter, when they were gathered. They were then broken up, spun into long strings and woven into cloth, from which the garments were made. This would be a very tedious job at the present day, when a ladies dress requires from twenty to thirty yards of cloth, but in those old times five or six yards was as much as was ever put into a dress. Little children usually wore a long leathern shirt over their tow shirt. For several years dur- ing the early settlement of this country, the men and women wore garments made out of the same kind of material.
37
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
The Territorial laws were not extended over this part of the country until the year 1816. Until which time they had no government or laws except such they themselves made for their own protection, and which, of course, had no effect outside of the boundaries of their narrow Territory. With them, the single distinction was between right and wrong, and they had no medium ground. As the result shows, they really needed no laws or executive officers, for it is a well known fact, that during the early period of this settle- ment there were no serious crimes committed within its limits. As the men each depended upon the other, and knew that in time of attack by the Indians, their only safety lay in union, each endeavored to preserve the good will of his neighbor, and as the best way to obtain the good wishes and assistance of a man, is to act honestly and friendly with him, each did this, and in this way they needed no law, except their own judgments. During the early period of the colony they never had any occasion to punish any one under their law, which was an unwritten one. Although 'tis true, some few crimes were committed, as the nature of man has not entirely changed since then, yet they were uniformly of such a trivial character, as hardly to be worthy to be class- ed as crimes.
Another reason of the almost entire freedom from crime, was the certainty of punishment. Then there was no "le- gal technicalities" by which a prisoner could escape. No sooner was the criminal caught and his guilt established- no matter what his crime-than the law-makers took the matter into their own hands, and hung him to the nearest tree.
The following anecdote is related of Mark Cole, son of Stephen Cole, who is still living in St. Clair county, Mis- souri. One evening, some young ladies visited his father's family at their fort, and remained until pretty late, when
38
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
they returned home. The road which led to their homes, passed the place where a man had been lately buried ; a pen was built around the grave, and covered with logs like a roof, raised about a foot or two from the ground. As most of the persons in those days were superstitious, Mark determined to frighten the young ladies as they passed the grave. So he got a large sheet, and slipping out of the house, went to the grave, no doubt laughing, as there ap- peared before him a picture of the terror, that his sudden appearance in his strange costume would cause the young ladies, and took his station upon the top of it to await their arrival. But he had not been there long, when suddenly several deep groans issued, seemingly from the bowels of the earth, and the poles on the top of the grave, began to move about, as though the departed spirit was trying to get out, and wreak vengeance upon the profaner of its solitude. Hearing and seeing these things, Mark "did not stand upon the order of his going," but dropping the sheet, he took to his heels, and never stopped until he reached his home, when he fell unconscious upon the door step. He was so badly frightened that he did not fully recover for a month, and even to the present day he will never travel at night alone. The explanation of the noise was very simple, yet the settlers did not let Mark into the secret. One of the men at the fort, who had heard Mark whisper to his brother where he was going, had slipped out of the fort and hastened to the place, just in time to crawl under the poles, and lie down upon the earth, when Mark made his appearance and took his seat.
ORGANIZATION OF HOWARD COUNTY.
CHAPTER IV.
HOWARD COUNTY ORGANIZED .- First Court held in New County, and pro- ceedings of same .- Judge Barton and Stephen Cole Fine one Another for Contempt of Court .- Town of Old Franklin laid off, and Land Office Established There .- Wm. Gibson appointed Constable, and Re- signs .- Samuel Cole's Bull Ride .- Joseph Stephens and Family arrive at Boonville .- Visit of Samuel Cole to their Camp .- Discovery of the body of a British Officer Buried in a Mound.
ON the 23rd day of January, 1816, that portion of the State of Missouri, lying north and west of the Osage river, and west of Cedar creek, and the dividing ridge between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and which formerly had been known as the "Boone's Lick Country," was or- ganized under the territorial laws, and was called "Howard county." Previous to this time, the settlers of this part of the country had made their own laws, and executed them rigorously when occasion demanded, which, it is true, was very seldom. Although the eastern portion of the State, had been, previous to this time, organized into counties ; and the territorial laws, by means of the territorial courts, had been extended over them, still the "Boone's Lick Country" had not been sufficiently thickly settled to justify its organization, and the expense of holding terms of court within its limits.
But even during the war with the Indians, the country adjacent to the forts was settled very rapidly, although few ventured to locate, except near enough to reach the fort at the first approach of danger. So that, at the time of the
40
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
organization of Howard county, it.contained a considerable number of settlers, although they lived in what was then called "neighborhoods," so as to be of protection to one another in times of danger from their savage foes.
The act under which the county was organized, located the "seat of justice" at Hannah Cole's fort.
The first. court within the territorial limits of Howard county, was held at Hannah Cole's fort, which was situated in what is now "East Boonville ;" on the 8th day of July 1816, and discharged, under the territorial laws, all the du- ties of the circuit, county and probate courts.
The officers of this court were David Barton, Judge ; Gray Braynum, Clerk ; John G. Heath, Circuit Attorney ; and Nicholas S. Burkhart, Sheriff. The attorneys who attended this court, were Edward Bates, Charles Lucus, Joshua Barton, and Lucius Easton.
The following were the proceedings of this first term of the court :
John Muroe was appointed coroner of Howard county, and Benjamin Estill, David Jones, David Kincaid, William Head, and Stephen Cole were appointed commissioners to locate the county seat, which was first located by the terri- torial legislature at Hannah Cole's fort.
On the 16th day of June, 1816, the above mentioned commissioners settled upon Old Franklin as the most suit- able place for the location of the county seat, and to that place the records, documents, &c., were removed, in the year 1817. The county seat remained at Old Franklin until the year 1823, when it was removed to Fayette.
During this term of the court, Maj. Stephen Cole was fined, by Judge Barton, one dollar, for contempt, for mis- conduct in the presence of the court. Cole objected to pay- ing the fine, but supposing he would be able to retaliate sometime, at last paid it. And his time for retaliation came
41
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
sooner than he expected. That afternoon, Cole, who was a justice of the peace, organized his court on a log in front of the fort. As Judge Barton was returning from dinner, he stopped in front of Cole and leaned against a tree, watching the proceedings of the justice and smoking his pipe. Cole looked up, and assuming the stern look of in- sulted dignity, said, "Judge Barton, I fine you one dollar for contempt of my court, for smoking in its presence." Judge Barton smilingly paid his fine, and went to open his own court, acknowledging that he had been beaten at his own game.
The town of Old Franklin was laid off opposite the present site of Boonville, during the year 1816. It was located on fifty acres of land, donated by different individ- uals for that purpose. It grew very rapidly, soon became very populous, and commanded a large trade. It was for a time the largest and most flourishing town in the State, west of St. Louis, and the starting point for all the Santa Fe traders.
But in the year 1826, the waters of the turbulent Mis- souri river commenced encroaching upon this beautiful and populous city, and despite the utmost endeavors of its citi- zens, house after house was swept away, until, in a few years afterwards, the current of the river rolled through her streets, and the whole of the city was engulfed in its hungry waters. Within the last few years, a small village still called "Old Franklin," has sprung up just back of the site of the old town, but not a single house or any other mark remains to suggest to the traveler that he stands near the site of a once large city.
The land office for this district of Missouri was located 1 at Old Franklin, in the year 1818, Gen. Thomas A. Smith was appointed receiver, and Charles Carroll, register. The first land sales west of St. Louis took place here during
42
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
the year 1818. Great crowds attended this sale from all parts of the State, and lands in every part of the district was sold at that time.
Sometime during the year 1817, William Gibson, now living a short distance east of the City of Boonville, was appointed by the Territorial court constable of that part of Howard county lying south of the Missouri river. His jurisdiction extended from the Missouri river, on the north, to the Osage river on the south. Soon after his appoint- ment, there being some trouble down on the Osage, he was sent there with a warrant for the arrest of the man who had caused the trouble. The distance was between sixty and seventy miles. After arresting the man, he returned to Boonville with his prisoner. As he was on his journey back, having an execution against a man who lived on the road, he stopped at his house and proceeded to levy on the feather beds, as nothing in those days was exempt from levy under execution. But, as soon as he made his pur- pose known, four women, who were the only persons at home, threatened to give him a thrashing, so he was forced to retire as fast as he could, and return the execution unsat- isfied. To add to this, the court only allowed him, for his journey of one hundred and forty miles, which occupied four days, the magnificent sum of twenty-five cents. Mr. Gibson thinking the office not quite lucrative enough to justify him in devoting his whole time to its duties, and not wishing to risk his life at the hands of angry women, quietly sent in his resignation, thus furnishing the example of one officer who resigns, although few have the same induce- ments.
While Samuel Cole was living at his mother's fort in East Boonville, in the year 1817, there was a dance at William Bartlett's boarding house, on the flat near the ferry landing, at the mouth of Ruppe's Branch. Although Samuel wished
43
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
very much to attend, his mother refused to permit him, as his wardrobe at that time was entirely too limited to permit him to associate with the "elite." He had no pants, his sole garment consisting of a long tow shirt, which reached entirely to his heels. But Samuel, although always, from his own statement, an obedient son, was not to be deprived of so great a pleasure, by this, to him, very trivial excuse. So he determined to attend that dance, and then make the best arrangement he could to meet the "wrath to come." Not having any horse, he bridled a tame bull, which was at the fort, and thus mounted, rode up to the door of the house in which they were dancing. After looking in for some time, and by his strange looking steed and attire, at- tracting a large crowd around him, he drove his bull down to the river, and riding in, he slid back over its haunches, and caught hold of its tail. In this way they swam down the river to Hannah Cole's Fort, when he and his strange companion came out of the water and sought their homes. This story has often been published, but never correctly, as all former accounts represented him as swimming the river to attend a wedding, but our version is correct, as it was obtained directly from Samuel Cole himself.
About the 15th day of November, 1817, Joseph Stephens with his large family and several friends, crossed the river where Boonville now stands, and camped near the foot of Main street. The next day after they crossed, Samuel Cole, who was then a boy of sixteen years of age, appeared at their camp and asked Mrs. Stephens if she would like to have some venison. Upon her replying that she would, as she was nearly out of meat, Samuel shouldered his gun and marched off into the woods, telling her to wait a few minutes and he would kill her some. Samuel Cole, at that time, although there was a slight snow on the ground, was bare-footed and bare-headed, his breeches reached only to
.
44
HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY.
his knees, the collar of his shirt was open, and he carried an old flint lock rifle. About fifteen minutes after he left the camp, Stephens and his family heard two shots in the direction in which he had gone. Pretty soon Samuel ap- peared, and told them that he had killed two fine deer, that they must go out and bring them to the camp, as he could not by himself bring in even one of them. So they. started out and found the two deer lying on the side of the hill just north of the present residence of William H. Trigg. After they skinned them and cut them up, the party brought them to the camp and presented them to Mrs. Stevens. This shows what little exertion was necessary at that day to obtain meat.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.