USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people > Part 20
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boot piled high with trunks, the driver sitting on the big high front seat armed in true frontier style with his trusty '45, and the stage itself crowded to its capacity with excited fortune hunters coming to the new land of lead and excitement.
AMUSEMENT HALLS
Early in 1872 two amusement halls were built in East Joplin, Hutch- inson and the Star Concert, the latter being given over to vaudeville at-
JOPLIN IN SPRING OF '72: STAGE COACH FROM BAXTER SPRINGS
tractions and run in connection with a saloon. Hutchinson Hall was used for lectures; literary meetings and concerts.
RACE TRACK
During the summer of 1872 a race track was built south of the city and nearly every day during the summer and early fall there were a num- of exciting races at which much money changed hands. The track was a straight one half a mile long, extending from the northeastern entrance to the cemetery in a northeasterly direction to about the site of the Byers school.
A UNIQUE MARRIAGE CEREMONY
One of the earliest marriages in the new town, if not the first, was that of Squire J. W. Clehouse and Miss Melvina Lane. Justice Clehouse, who was one of the justices of the peace, on the afternoon of August 10, 1872, placed in the hands of the constable a subpoena commanding a
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number of people, among them the several township officials, the mem- bers of the bar and others, to appear at the restaurant and ice cream parlor of Wagstaff & Teegles for the purpose of being witnesses in the case of Clehouse vs. Lane. The witnesses suspected that the case was not one to be tried by the grave and impartial justice, but by Dan Cupid, for whisper had it that "wheresoever moved the fair, he was like her shadow there." In obedience to the summons, therefore, a large party gathered at the restaurant and at the appointed hour Judge Davis an- nounced that they were there for the purpose of celebrating the marriage of Justice Clehouse to Miss Melvina Lane and, in the presence of the wit- nesses, pronounced the happy couple man and wife. After the wedding services the witnesses and court officials partook of a bountiful feast which was presided over by the happy couple and to which they did ample justice.
COST OF LIVING
The market reports published in the Mining News in November, 1872, show the cost of living to be as follows:
Flour
$5.00 per 100-1b. sack
Potatoes .75c per bushel
Apples .75c per bushel
Butter
.25c per pound
Eggs
.20c per dozen
Sugar (whole lump) $1.00 12-lbs.
Wood
.$2.50 per cord
15c to 25c per bushel, or $3.75 to $5.00 per ton Coal
VALUE OF ZINC DISCOVERED
The discovery of the value and properties of zinc blende, or "jack" as it is commonly called among the miners, was made by a German chem- ist in 1848. In 1858 Messrs. Mattis & Hagler of LaSalle, Illinois, erected a small experimental zinc furnace and successfully reduced a quantity of blends from the Mineral Point, Wisconsin, mines. The coming on of the war shortly after the perfection of that smelting process stopped for a time the further development of this important industry. After the war, however, the manufacture of zinc products was resumed.
In 1866 George H. Hesslemyer, late of Germany but then a resident of St. Louis, interested a number of his countrymen (among them F. W. Meister and A. W. Flohr) in a project to reduce and experiment with the blend in the dump piles of the Potosi lead mines, in Washington county, this state. A small three-retort furnace was built and success- ful experiments made. To Mr. Hesslemyer, therefore, belongs the credit of starting the mining and smelting of zinc in the great state of Missouri.
In November, 1866, Henry Weyman, then a young man recently graduated from a German university, came to America at thé solicitation of Mr. Meister and took a position with the Potosi Zinc Works as chemist and assistant superintendent. Mr. Weyman reported to his employers at St. Louis that the cost of hauling coal to Potosi ate up the profits of the manufactured article and, at his suggestion, the plant was closed at
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Potosi and rebuilt at Old Carondelet, in South St. Louis, where fuel was cheap. Zinc spelter was first used in making brass, alloy and zinc plate and, at the time of building the first plant, sold for twelve cents a pound.
Mr. Weyman continued for a time to reside at Potosi and shipped the zinc blend from that point to St. Louis. Rev. Geo. H. Williamson, of the Bethany Presbyterian church of Joplin, then a resident of Potosi, superintended the cleaning of the first car of ore shipped to the new furnace. The Coyle Brothers, later of Joplin, were Mr. Weyman's team- sters.
Mr. Hesslemyer now organized a new company, the Missouri Zinc Company, and as its agent visited Granby in 1872 for the purpose of se- curing zinc silicate. The miners, not knowing its value, threw it out on the dump piles as waste material, and the German ore buyer had no trouble in securing two carloads of the jack to be used in his experiments. On learning that the zinc had a value, Henry T. Blow of St. Louis, pres- ident and general manager of the Granby Company telegraphed to give no more of the black jack away. The first price paid for jack at Granby was two dollars a ton.
MINER'S LEARN "JACK'S" VALUE
In Joplin and at Orongo, "jack," the same as at Granby, was at first thrown out on the dump piles and no attention was paid to it; in fact, the miners thought less of it than they did of tiff, because it was not so pretty and could not even be used for ornamental purposes, but in 1872 two eminent mineralogists came to the Joplin field and told the miners and land owners that the supposed worthless "jack" was the highest grade of zinc blend. These two men were D. Bowman and Professor Swallow. Mr. Bowman came to Union City for the purpose of writing up the mining district for the Globe Democrat and Professor Swallow, who at that time was state geologist, was traveling through southwestern Missouri making notes relative to the geological formation and stratas of rock in Jasper and Newton counties and was compiling the data for his book, "The Rocks and Minerals of Missouri."
Mr. Bowman, by the way, made a most complimentary write-up of southwestern Missouri and was so well pleased with Joplin that he de- cided to cast his lot with the young town. On the completion of his newspaper report he took up his residence in Joplin and for ten years was prominently identified with the mining industry of Jasper county.
Messrs. Bowman and Swallow told the Joplin miners that the zinc industry would in time be of greater importance than the mining of lead and urged that more attention be given to its mining. At the suggestion of Mr. Bowman, Dorsey & Porter, Moffet & Sergeant and Murphy & Davis shipped to Mattis & Hagler at LaSalle, Illinois, two carloads of zinc blend and they, realizing its value, at once sent an agent into the field to purchase the "jack." The first batch of zinc shipped from Joplin brought five dollars a ton. A continuation of the zinc story will be made in our notes of 1873, at which time permanent buyers came into the field and the zinc industry became a permanency.
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CHAPTER XVIII
JOPLIN IN 1873
UNION MOVEMENT STARTED JOPLIN'S BIRTHDAY-THE SPIRIT OF JOPLIN -E. R. MOFFET-JOPLIN CITY SCRIPT-MAIN STREET GRAVELED- JOPLIN AND GALENA TOWNSHIPS MINING AND SMELTING-ZINC- EXHIBIT AT WORLD'S FAIR, VIENNA-THE FIRST CITY ELECTION -OPENING OF EAST JOPLIN SCHOOLS-CHURCHES ORGANIZED DURING 1873.
January, 1873, found the two towns without a local government, save the constable and justice of the peace, and both East and West Joplin immediately took steps towards establishing a municipality.
At a special meeting of the county court, held January 11, 1873, two towns were organized-Joplin, including the territory east of the creek, and Murphysburg, that portion which was west of the little stream that divided the two towns.
The board of trustees of Joplin (East Town) comprised the following members : John Allington, J. A. Thompson, J. W. Clehouse, Lee Taylor and P. A. Luster. John Allington was elected president of the board, and G. D. Jackson was appointed clerk, D. P. Ballard, attorney and F. L. Thompson, treasurer.
The trustees of Murphysburg were E. R. Moffet, D. M. Breazeale, J. C. Gaston, J. H. McCoy and John S. Workizer. G. D. Orner was ap- pointed attorney, J. W. Lupton, marshal, M. W. Stafford, treasurer and C. J. G. Workizer, clerk.
UNION MOVEMENT STARTED
During the meantime, however, a movement was launched to secure a special charter from the legislature and incorporate the two towns as one, many of the people feeling that as in "union there is strength," so, as the interests of the two towns were similar, better results could be obtained if all worked in harmony for the same ends. Accordingly a mass meeting was called to talk over the matter of incorporation and a united and better Joplin.
Pat Murphy, the father of Murphysburg, suggested that the united city should be called Joplin, thus yielding gracefully to the east side the sentiment of a name.
The following committee was appointed to draft a proposed charter :
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East Joplin-J. A. C. Thompson, John Allington, Lee Taylor, P. A. Luster, J. W. Clehouse and John H. Taylor.
Murphysburg-E. R. Moffet, J. H. McCoy, J. C. Gaston, J. S. Worki- zer, D. M. Breazeale and P. Murphy.
The committee employed Judge I. W. Davis to put in form their ideas relative to the government of the city and he drafted the law which gave to Joplin its corporate power.
JOPLIN'S BIRTHDAY
Hon. John H. Taylor and T. M. Dorsey presented the draft to the general assembly then in session and C. C. Allen of Carthage, state senator from the district, lent valuable aid in securing its passage. The bill became a law March 23, 1873, and from that date Joplin legally dates its birth.
At the date of its incorporation Joplin had approximately four thou- sand inhabitants. To give an idea of its continued growth, we mention that during January and February four more smelters had been built, making seventeen lead furnaces then running at full blast both day and night. Up to that time no streets had been graded, or sidewalks built, and the general contour of the town was as nature had made it. In fact, like ancient Rome, Joplin sat upon its seven hills; but here the similarity ends, for there was no great Appian way or massive palaces of marble and bronze-only the well-beaten roads which necessity had made and a thousand or more small box-houses and tents. Save the East Joplin school building, a brick store on Broadway and the unfinished Cumber- land Presbyterian church, all of the buildings were of wood.
It will be seen, therefore, that the officers who were to assume the reins of government had a mighty task. They must bring order out of chaos and give to the good citizens protection ; they must grade the streets, beautify the town and devise ways and means for the accomplishment of these great objects.
The first officers of the new Joplin were appointed by the governor and he very appropriately named E. R. Moffet, one of the men who sunk the first shaft, as mayor. J. A. C. Thompson, Lee Taylor, J. H. McCoy and J. C. Gaston were named as councilmen. The other officers were: J. W. Lupton, marshal; I. W. Davis, police judge; G. D. Orner, city at- torney; Philo Thompson, treasurer and T. A. McClelland, city assessor. These officers held until October 14th (the second Tuesday), when the first general election occurred.
The following article, published in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 14th, very correctly presents the condition in Joplin as they existed at the time of the incorporation :
THE SPIRIT OF JOPLIN.
The memorial which has been prepared for presentation to the Legislature, to secure the incorporation of the towns of Murphysburg and Joplin, illustrates better than any thing else the rapid development of the lead-mining district of which these towns are the center. Murphysburg and Joplin, as has heretofore
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been explained, are two thriving hamlets situated in the southwestern part of Jasper county. They are divided only by a narrow gulch, the valley of a mineral- washing stream, and for all practical purposes are one town. Jealousies over the name, and a struggle for priority of location, have, however, divided them, and to some extent injured their prosperity. By an overwhelming vote, these dif- ferences have now been buried, and as soon as the Legislature responds favorably to the petition for incorporation-which we hope will be at an early day- there will be one city with a single and harmonious government. Within the Joplin mining district, which is less than two miles square, there has, in short space of fifteen months, grown up a settlement of more than five thousand per- manent inhabitants, besides a large transient population. The reason of the rapid growth of the towns appears from the fact that, while the entire amount of pig lead received in St. Louis for the year 1872, from Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and all Missouri, except Joplin, was about $19,000,000, the yield of Joplin alone was $6,000,000, or nearly one-third of the entire receipts. In addition to this, new mines are being opened, old ones worked deeper, and richer and more ex- tensive deposits of the ore are being found. It is therefore reasonably expected that the products of these mines for the year 1873 will reach from $16,000,000, to $18,000,000, which will be a yield of at least one-half of the lead shipped to St. Louis, the great lead market of the United States, from four of the largest lead-producing States in the Union. Outside of this famous "Joplin district," and within a radius of five miles, taking the two towns as the center, there are not less than ten mines which lead is now being taken in paying quantities.
This exhibit is not only interesting as an indication of what has already been accomplished, but is of incalculable worth as an example to other localities where the natural advantages are equally as great, but which lack the pluck and the industry that have been the conspicuous characteristics of the Joplinites. The Jatter have worked under more than ordinary disadvantages. The tract is shut in from the railroads and from the productive gardens by a wide belt of gloomy, sterile land. The people have lacked capital all along, and they lack it now. They need it to open the yet untouched mineral land; they need money to bring in more steam engines for pumping purposes, to enable poor miners, who have rich prospects, to work their claims to an advantage below the water line; they should have and at once, a white-lead factory in the midst of the mines to con- sume the lead produced to save the enormous sum annually paid for transporta- tion ; they need ready funds to erect dwellings for labors, and to carry out a dozen other enterprises, for the lack of which the city suffers. But while they have lacked the capital they have possessed abundant nerve, and this has pulled them through. It is reasonable to expect that within a few years Joplin will be one of the wealthiest communities in Missouri.
A score of other counties in this State need be Joplinized. There is lead elsewhere, there is coal ready to be mined, there are acres upon acres of iron wait- ing to be coaxed from its half-hiding places, and the inexhaustless deposits of rarer ores which would richly repay development.
E. R. Moffet, the first mayor of Joplin, at the date of his induction into the executive chair was in the prime of life. He was a man of vigor- ous action and thought and naturally acted quickly. Having seen the city grow from its infancy, he was greatly attached to its people and its industries. He strove to execute the law in such a manner that the town would be morally uplifted, and, at the same time appreciating the con- ditions which surround the mining industry, tempered justice with mercy. During his administration the foundation was laid for a number of public improvements, among them the organization of a fire depart- ment, the establishment of a system of street improvements and the de-
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vising of a plan for raising public funds, which was perhaps at this time
After passing ordinances relative to disturbances of the peace and general welfare of the city, the first great task was to provide for its finances.
JOPLIN CITY SCRIPT
When the new city government was instituted, it had, of course, no treasury. There could not, until almost a year, be a collection of any of the taxes which would be assessed during the succeeding summer, and there was nothing immediately in sight in the way of revenue excepting licenses which could be collected from the merchants and the fines which would be assessed, from time to time, against the offenders of the law.
For the two-fold purpose of raising money to meet the immediate ex- pense necessary to carry out the functions of local government and also to serve as a medium of exchange to replace the United States currency
SAMPLE SCRIPT ISSUED BY JOPLIN IN 1873
which was rapidly going into hiding on account of the panic which was paralyzing the business interest of the county, the city council issued ten thousand dollars in city script and used this in paying its obligations. This substitute for money passed readily among the miners and business men of Joplin and was accepted at the Joplin financial institutions and big mining concerns at par, although the banks of Carthage, Baxter and other nearby towns refused to take it.
The council had not full authority of law to issue this script, but the necessities of the hour gave it a semi-legal force and a full moral sanction and after the panic the city redeemed every dollar of its outstanding. make-shift money.
MAIN STREET IN WEST JOPLIN GRAVELED
The first street in Joplin to be worked was Main street in West Jop- lin. During the summer of 1873 the property owners petitioned the city council to grade and gravel Main street. The work was paid for by pop-
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ular subscriptions, Messrs. P. Murphy and E. D. Porter each giving one hundred dollars toward the enterprise.
JOPLIN AND GALENA TOWNSHIPS
In May, 1873, the county court redistricted the county into municipal townships and the city of Joplin was divided, East Joplin being in Du- buque, later Joplin township, and West Joplin in Galena township. The dividing line between the two townships was the alley east of Main street in West Joplin. This arrangement caused great excitement in West Joplin, for the reason that at least one-third of the population of that place was in the east side township. To settle the controversy the county court visited Joplin and, after viewing the situation and seeing the con- ditions, changed the boundary line to Joplin creek.
MINING AND SMELTING
During 1873 seventeen lead smelters were operated, three of them being neutral smelters purchasing the lead in the open market. The fol- lowing were the principal smelters: Moffet & Sergeant, Joplin Creek valley.
Davis & Murphy, A and Joplin; then a well defined valley and on either side a branch, which after a good rain swelled to the dignity of a creek.
J. M. & S. Co.'s smelters, Kansas City Bottom; just east of the big hill where now is the residence of Chris Guergerich.
Corn & Thompson, neutral smelter; furnace and railway at East Joplin.
Hannibal L. & Z. Co., at the head of Pitcher ditch.
Dorsey & Porter, at foot of Swindle hill.
Granby smelter, Lone Elm.
The Pitcher Furnace between Swindle hill and Parr hill.
The Lone Elm Mining Co., smelter; now the White Lead Works.
West Joplin L. & Z. Co .; afterward the zinc works.
In the fall of 1873 there was a slight decline in the ore market, due to the panic and general business depression, and lead took a slump from five to seven cents per pound. This was a great blow to the miners and, with the high cost of living, royalty and pump rent, many miners threat- ened to quit.
The Pitchers were the first to relieve the situation and, with the far- sighted and liberal business policy which has characterized them in their dealing with the miners from the first, they reduced the royalty on their land and pumped the water from the mines free. The other companies quickly following suit and in an incredibly short time mining conditions were normal and the work of developing the district went merrily on.
ZINC
Early in the spring of 1873 C. F. Mugge, zinc buyer of LaSalle, Illi- nois, visited Joplin and urged the miners to pay more attention to the
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mining of "jack" and to save that which was being thrown out on the dump piles. He bought a small quantity of zinc at $5.00 per ton, but the price paid was a small inducement to the miners and little attention was paid to it until the fall of the year when Chris Guenerich, representing Matthiessen & Hegeler, and John Immel, agent for the Illinois Zinc Company, appeared in the field and a sharp competition for the blende was begun. Mr. Guenerich raised the price of zinc for first-class ore to nine dollars per ton and immediately the jack in the dump piles, which before had "looked like thirty cents," figuratively speaking, now was much sought for and it may properly be said with the coming of Messrs. Guenerich & Immel the zinc industry of Jasper county came into prominence.
THE BANK OF JOPLIN
In May, 1873, Messrs. Moffet & Sergeant and W. F. Botkins, a banker at Baxter Springs, organized the Bank of Joplin, E. R. Moffet was chosen as president and W. F. Botkins, cashier. Ralph Muir, the ice- man, was the first depositor. This bank continued in business until the early 'eighties, when the Miners' Bank absorbed the holdings of this institution.
The establishment of the Bank of Joplin gave to the west side better facilities for the transaction of business and at this particular time played a most important part, for it saved Joplin from the financial disaster which swept the country generally in the panic of 1873. The Bank of Joplin accepted at par the script which the city had issued and also established a sort of a credit due bill which served as a medium of exchange. To illustrate: When the money went out of sight the com- panies were forced to give due bills in part payment for the ore; these due bills were accepted as cash at the bank, and on these credits, drafts were sold, checks honored and the business of the community carried on.
Another simple medium of facilitating trade was as follows: The miners had the lead and at this time the ore had a fixed value, five cents per pound. Every merchant had a lead box in his store and accepted small quantities of lead ore in payment for groceries, clothing and other necessaries. To illustrate: Mr. Jones, a miner, wanted to buy half a dollar's worth of sugar; he brought ten pounds of mineral to the store and thus paid for it. The grocer dumped this, with other mineral, into his ore box, and when he had 1,000 pounds or more sold it to one of the smelters and received in payment a check on the bank which he deposited . and took credit for; and thus it happened that while all over the state and country fortunes were swept away, Joplin grew and prospered.
EXHIBIT AT WORLD'S FAIR, VIENNA
In March, 1873, Joplin was honored by the imperial government of Austria with an invitation to make an exhibit of its mineral products at the World's Fair to be held at its capital, Vienna.
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Hon. John H. Taylor was selected by the United States government to represent it in the capacity of one of the commissioners representing the mining industry, and gathered from the district a fine display of mineral specimens which were sent to the fair, but owing to the illness of his mother Mr. Taylor did not attend in person.
THE FIRST CITY ELECTION
On Tuesday, October 14, 1873, the first election for officers under the new charter took place, and, although non-political, was hotly contested, some thirty candidates being in the field for the several offices to be filled. In the early days of the city, and until 1889, the political parties did not make nominations. There was an open field and the people voted for their personal friends, or for the man who, in their judgment, was best fitted for the place.
The contest for mayor was very close and resulted in the election of Lee Taylor. Mr. Taylor was a mining superintendent and exceedingly popular with the people of East Joplin. Mr. Moffet was also much be- loved by the people of the west side. East Joplin voted almost solidly for Taylor and West Joplin almost solidly for Moffet. Lone Elm de- cided the fate of the day by casting a few more votes for Taylor than Moffet, and thus according to him the honor of being the first elected mayor of Joplin. Mr. Taylor made a vigorous executive and gave much of his time to the city. During the troublesome times of the Lupton riot, he stood firm, and, emulating the general he followed during the Civil war, stood like a stone-wall and held back the angry mob. Business conditions arose during the latter part of his administration which de- manded his full time and he resigned before the close of the term. Coun- cilman J. H. McCoy, of the Second ward, filled out the unexpired term. J. W. McAntire, the city attorney, was elected by the largest majority of any of the candidates, defeating four aspirants for the place.
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