USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people > Part 21
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An incident is told relative to this campaign which shows how the miners of the early day, and for that matter those of the present, always help the young men of the legal profession who are struggling to rise. When J. W. McAntire first came to Joplin he took desk-room with D. P. Ballard and attended to the little odds and ends of the law business which came to the office. When East Joplin was organized as a town in Janu- uary, 1873, many of the friends of J. W. McAntire, then just admitted to the bar and a promising young lawyer, suggested his name for attorney of the new town and Mr. Ballard, in whose office Mr. McAntire had his desk, volunteered to present Mr. McAntire's name to the town board. With that modesty which had always characterized Mr. McAntire, he kept in the background and as the politicians say "put himself in the hands of his friends." When the board met Mr. Ballard suggested Mr. McAntire's name, but when one of the board called attention to Mr. McAntire's youth and inexperience, in place of setting forth the energy and studiousness of his protege, he arose and said it was true that Mr. McAntire had no experience and was as yet an "untried neophyte" and
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that if the board thought, in their wisdom, that an older head was more to be desired, he would take the appointment.
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The next day when Mr. McAntire learned how his friend had taken from him the plum, he moved his office to another building and began the practice of law on his own hook and depended entirely on his own resources. When the story went round among the boys John McAntire's stock rose and likewise his law practice, and so at the election of 1873 the citizens, by an overwhelming vote, expressed their confidence in the young attorney.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodge, to which Mr. Mc- Antire belonged, also voted for him almost to a man.
OPENING OF EAST JOPLIN SCHOOLS
The new schoolhouse was completed the middle of January, 1873. and was formally opened and dedicated January 21st by appropriate exercises. G. D. Jackson acted as chairman of the meeting and after invocation by Rev. Gutton, agent of the Congregational Home Mission- ary Society, remarks were made by U. B. Webster (county superintend- ent,) J. A. C. Thompson, John H. Taylor, John C. Cox, D. P. Ballard and Professor Dickey, of the Carthage schools, who made the address of the evening. S. B. Ormsby, who had been selected by the board to be principal of the school, read an original poem depicting the life and activities of the mining town. A supper which was served by the ladies of East Joplin, for the purpose of purchasing desks for the school, netted $102.50.
CHURCHES ORGANIZED DURING 1873
On Sunday, February 2, 1873, Rev. Gutton, of the Congregational Church Extension Society, preached in Joplin and began laying the foundation for a Congregational church. Mr. Gutton labored in and around Joplin the greater part of the year, preaching at the homes of members of his congregation or in public halls when they could be se- cured. A church organization was not effected, however, until 1876, a mention of which will be made in the chapter on the Middle 'Seventies.
The First Presbyterian church of Joplin was organized in East Jop- lin in December, 1873. The officiating minister was the Rev. Benjamin F. Powelson. The organization was effected in a little hall located on Mineral street. There were eleven corporate members of whom we are able at this writing to name the following: John H. Taylor, Mr. J. W. and Mrs. Della Gordon, Mr. H. A. and Mrs. M. A. Clippenger, Mrs. A. V. Allen, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Adkins.
Mrs. A. V. Allen is the only charter member now alive, and has been a most faithful worker in the church. For twenty-five consecutive years. save one, she was the president of the Ladies Society and during the thirty-eight years of the church's existence has been a regular attendant at its services.
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John H. Taylor did much for the church in a financial way, and when the clouds hung dark over the little congregation always found a way to tide them over the rough seas of financial disaster.
The minister placed in charge of the new church was 'Squire Glas- cock. He was commissioned by the Board of Home Missions and oc- cupied the place for about three years.
About the time of the organization of the Presbyterian Society the people of the Methodist Church South built a house of worship in East Joplin at the corner of John and Hill streets. Not being able to pay for it, Mr. Taylor bought a half interest and presented it to the Presbyterian church.
The two denominations occupied the building jointly, holding ser- vices alternate Sundays until 1876.
The church building, which was used jointly by the South Methodists and Presbyterians, was a very pretty little church and stood on the north- ern slope of the East Joplin hill on John street. It was furnished with pews and appropriate church furniture. After the Cumberland Pres- byterian church disposed of its edifice to the West Joplin school district, most of the members of that denomination joined the first church and affiliated with them.
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CHAPTER XIX
JOPLIN IN THE MIDDLE 'SEVENTIES
SALOONS IN 1875-SCHIFFERDICKER'S GARDEN IN 1876-THE LUPTON RIOT-BLOWING UP OF HANNIBAL LEAD AND ZINC COMPANY'S PLANT -CITY ELECTION OF OCTOBER, 1874-PATRICK MURPHY-TOWNSHIP ELECTIONS IN 1874-DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN NOVEMBER, 1874-THE JOPLIN HOTEL-COURT OF COMMON PLEAS-LAND OWNERS' Asso- CIATION-JOPLIN'S FIRST CIRCUS-FIRST THEATRE-FOURTH OF JULY, 1875-HUGH DYER & COMPANY, BOILER WORKS-HACK LINES TO CARTHAGE AND NEOSHO-BOARD OF TRADE-FIRE DEPARTMENT- CITY ELECTION, 1875-EAST JOPLIN PUBLIC LIBRARY-BRUCE YOUNGER-JOPLIN AT THE CENTENNIAL-CITY ELECTION, CENTENNIAL -F. E. WILLIAMS-PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, IN 1876-SOCIETY MASK-BALL DECEMBER 28, 1876-THE RISELING BUILDING THE EAST JOPLIN SCHOOL-THE WEST JOPLIN SCHOOLS-LONE ELM SCHOOL- THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH-CATHOLIC CHURCH-THE BAPTISTS-BUILD- ING OF THE TABERNACLE-FIRST CHURCH WEDDING-THE FRATERNI- TIES JOPLIN TURNVEREIN GERMANIA.
The years from 1874 to 1876, inclusive, form a distinct period, for during that time there was a steady and continuous growth, and these three years may properly be styled the "palmy days" of Joplin's pio- neer period.
Although the organization of the city government had brought the Reign of Terror to a close, Joplin was still about the liveliest place be- tween the Mississippi river and the Rocky mountains and, while the city was comparatively free from murders and robberies, about everything else was permitted.
SALOONS IN 1875
We note in an issue of the Joplin Mining News, published during the summer of 1875, that the city had seventy-five saloons open both day and night and in most of them a full orchestra giving free concerts every evening, with matinees Wednesday and Sunday afternoons. The fol- lowing are the names of some of the popular bars: Healthwood bar, Board of Trade, and the Steam Boat saloons, the Golden Gate, Miners' Drift, Bullock & Boucher's, the Bon Ton, the Palace, and the Brick Hotel bar.
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One of the popular places was Blackwells bar, and there something
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new and exciting was always being pulled off. In November, 1876, Mr. Blackwell arranged for the entertainment of his patrons, a fight be- tween a Cinnamon bear which was brought up from the hills of Arkansas and six blooded bull-dogs. One thousand two hundred people witnessed the fight which was won by the bear.
SCHIFFERDICKER's GARDEN
On March 7, 1876, Schifferdicker's Garden, a popular picnic ground and pleasure resort was opened with a large attendance. The garden was located on Turkey creek about a quarter of a mile east of Castle Rock and was a most attractive natural wild. Joplin celebrated the Fourth there in 1876.
The population of Joplin, based on the census of the three school districts taken in June, 1876, was 10,375, and it is probable that during
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the summer of that year the place was at the height of its early-day prosperity.
Excepting in East Joplin and West Joplin from First to Sixth streets, where the houses were built with some regularity, the majority of the houses were built in the Creek valley and around the mining activities at Lone Elm, Swindle hill and what is now North Heights, and all during the period mentioned houses were going up at the rate of fifty a week.
The author remembers walking over Lone Elm one Sunday in the early part of August, 1876, and noting the activities of the day. Re- turning to that portion of the town, the following Sunday, he counted with his father one hundred new houses that had been built during the week. It must be kept in mind that the small box-house of that day did not require as much time to erect as the cottage and bungalow of today.
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The Joplin Daily News of August 1, 1876, says that "there are now one thousand mines in the Joplin District being operated, and houses are being built at the rate of fifty a day. The weekly pay-roll for miners, smelters, teamsters, mechanics, etc., aggregates forty thousand dollars per week."
THE LUPTON RIOT
During the month of May, 1874, Police Judge Jacob Hogle filed a charge with the city council, accusing the city marshal, J. W. Lupton, with malfeasance in office, setting up in his complaint that the marshal had arrested certain people who had not been brought before the judge for trial, and had collected from them money in the way of costs which had not been accounted for. The people referred to were gamblers and women of ill-repute. Mr. Lupton denied the charge. The council, sit- ting as a court, removed him from office and appointed W. B. McCracken as marshal in his stead. Mr. Lupton denied the right of the council to try the case and refused to vacate the office.
Mr. McCracken, who had been appointed by the council to act as marshal, with a view of taking possession of the city jail, went to the holdover and began trying to pick the lock. Mr. Lupton, who happened along about that time, asked him what he doing and Mr. McCracken re- plied that he had been appointed marshal and was there trying to open the jail door. Mr. Lupton said that he need not go to that trouble, that he would open the door for him; thereupon he took from his pocket a large brass key which opened the outside door to the calaboose. Open- ing the door, he shoved Mr. McCracken inside and locked the door again, with the newly appointed marshal as a prisoner. After being in jail for a few hours, Mr. McCracken told Mr. Lupton if he would let him out that he would resign; and after being let out of the jail tendered his resignation to the mayor, who accepted it. The city council in special session appointed W. S. Norton as marshal.
Mr. Norton was a determined man and equally as muscular and athletic as Lupton and immediately proceeded to take possession of the jail. Taking two deputies with him to the jail, he proceeded to remove the hinges from the door and, leaving the two officers there to guard the building, he took the door to a blacksmith shop in East Joplin and had new hinges and hasps made. While he was away Mr. Lupton, with two friends, swooped down on the officers left in charge and overpowered them. Upon returning from the blacksmith shop and perceiving what had been done, Mr. Norton drew his revolver, a '45 Navy, and started toward Lupton. Mr. Lupton quickly drew his pistol and started to meet Norton. At this juncture, Judge Davis, of the common pleas court, rushed between the combatants and "commanded peace in the name of the state" and bloodshed was averted.
Then the council through the city attorney, instituted ouster pro- ceedings against Mr. Lupton in the Jasper county court of common pleas at Carthage, and R. A. Cameron, acting as special judge, decided
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in favor of the city and issued a writ of ouster against Mr. Lupton, who at once appealed the case to the circuit court.
That night a large body of Mr. Lupton's friends gathered in front of the city jail and were about to take possession. The crowd was in an ugly mood and it looked for a time as if there was going to be a battle between the ex-marshal's numerous friends and the law-and-order posse which was assembled at the city hall.
Among those who were in the law-and-order party were P. Murphy, E. D. Porter, C. J. Workizer and others, armed for the fray and there to stand by the mayor and preservation of the city hall.
At the suggestion of City Attorney McAntire, the riot act was read to the angered mob and after a speech from the city attorney, in which he informed the people of the finding of the court, they disbursed, but not until D. P. Ballard, the attorney for Lupton, had corroborated the statement of Mr. McAntire.
The crisis came the next day, June 4th. In the meantime Mr. Lupton returned from Carthage, where he had filed his appeal bond, and an- nounced to his friends that the case was not disposed of and a mass meeting of his friends was called for 5 o'clock in the afternoon to pass resolutions condemning the city council and also to retake the city jail. The people stood around on the streets and discussed the matter and it looked as if trouble could not be averted.
Mr. McAntire, the city attorney, told the people that the appeal of Mr. Lupton did not alter the matter; that the finding of the court would stand until reversed by the higher court and urged them to go to their homes and abide by the law. Mr. Lupton's friends insisted that the court had not issued the writ of ouster, but that it was held in abey- ance pending the trial in the higher court. Mr. McAntire then asked the leaders if they would desist, if he brought them the records of the decree from Carthage, and they said, "Yes." It was then past one o'clock and a trip to Carthage and return must be made in less than four hours. .
Daniel Collins, the liveryman, said he had a team that could make the trip, and Wm. Byers, H. Gildmacher, P. Murphy and others volunteered to pay for the team should the hard drive on that day (the thermometer stood at 90°) kill the horses.
Mr. McAntire made the trip to Carthage in one hour and ten minutes and, after securing a certified copy of the decree, started for Joplin, making the return-trip in one hour and twenty minutes, but in time to save the day, for the meeting had just organized. Driving up to the city hall and throwing the lines to a friend in the crowd, which was gathered in front of the city building, he rushed up-stairs to the meet- ing. When he entered the door someone called "Have you got the papers?" Pulling the legal document from his pocket, he walked up to the speaker's stand and said "Here they are," and, realizing that they had lost, one of the Lupton men moved an adjournment and the deposed marshal agreed to await the result of the appeal. Thus ended Vol. 1-12
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the riot and Mr. McAntire's ride went down in the early history of the town as the event which averted a crisis."
BLOWING UP OF THE HANNIBAL L. & Z. COMPANY'S PLANT
As mentioned before in our zinc story in the early mining operations, no attention was paid to jack. When it began to have a value, a diffi- culty arose as to just how the zinc ore should be sold; also to whom the zine in the dump piles belonged.
The early contracts made between the land owners and miners made no mention of zinc. The method of ascertaining the value of lead was as follows: When lead spelter on the St. Louis market sold for seven cents the raw material in Joplin was worth twenty-five dollars a thou- sand. In this way the price to be paid for lead at any time was fixed and it was a very easy matter to figure the royalty and the price ac- cording to this fixed rule; but with the zinc included it had a different base. The several buyers paid for each lot what it seemed to be worth, taking into consideration the market and grade of mineral and so there was no fixed rule to determine its value. The price paid at different mines also varied.
The miners contended that the zinc should be neutral and sold by the miner in the open market and to the best advantage, the miner being the judge of the time and place to sell. The land owners held that selling indiscriminately jeopardized the royalty for the reason that a correct record of the sales could not be kept unless the sales were handled from the general office. This difference between the miners and the land own- ers resulted in a riot which lasted for three days, during which time the men crowded the streets and held numerous little meetings to dis- cuss the proposition and ended in the destruction of the Furnace of the Hannibal Lead and Zinc Company in the Picher field on July 20, 1874.
About two o'clock in the morning of that day a party of forty or fifty masked men made their appearance at the furnace and ordered the men to gether up their personal effects. After escorting the working force to a place of safety, a mile or so away, a large quantity of powder was placed in the building and an attached fuse lighted, when the mask- ers fled. About half past two the charge exploded, blowing the building and machinery to atoms and setting the debris on fire. The explosion awakened the people and the hook and ladder truck hurried to the scene, but no good could be accomplished, as the furnace was a mass of ruins. Some twenty odd citizens were arrested for complicity in the act, but no convictions were ever made, the evidence against the accused parties being insufficient.
CITY ELECTIONS OF OCTOBER, 1874
The city election following the Lupton trouble was an exciting one, great interest centering in the marshal contest. The officers elected to
.Mr. Lupton won in the higher court and received from the city the fees which the marshal's office had earned during the time he was deprived of the office, and at the city election in October following he was again elected to the position by a large majority.
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serve Joplin for the next year were: Mayor, Patrick Murphy; council- men, F. E. Williams, Monroe Clark, P. L. Swartz, John Lewis, T. W. Cunningham, and J. A. Taylor; marshal, J. W. Lupton; city attorney, John C. Trigg; treasurer, A. E. Blackwell.
The following were the appointed officers" : City clerk, J. A. Reed; assessor and collector, T. A. McClelland; fire warden, J. W. McClehour; street commissioner, J. C. Gaston.
PATRICK MURPHY
Patrick Murphy, the fourth mayor of Joplin, was a native of Ireland and at the time of his election was thirty-five years of age, having been born January 6, 1839.
Mr. Murphy came to America at the age of ten and was brought up on a farm in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. In 1859 he crossed the plains and in August, 1860, struck a fine gold prospect in Colorado. After the war he engaged in the freight business and operated a large overland traffic. During his experience as a freighter he crossed the plains thirty-one times. Quitting the frontier in 1866, he came to Jasper county, settling at Carthage where he engaged in merchandising in partnership with W. P. Davis. Mr. Murphy was married at Carthage, November 19, 1868, to Miss Belle Workizer. His coming to Joplin and his early connections with the history of Joplin have already been men- tioned.
Mr. Murphy was an exceptional man and perhaps did more for West Joplin than any other one man, and his liberal policy of disposing of town lots, his public spirit and large confidence in Joplin made him a fitting executive, so that his administration was marked by innumerable acts of civic progression. The late Judge Gaston, shortly before his death, in speaking of him to the author, thus describes Patrick Murphy : "He was a prince of good fellows and generous to a fault."
It would hardly be justice to the part Mr. Murphy played in Joplin's history to pass his name with a mere formal notice, and in order to show the character of the man and his great influence in the community, we will relate here the following stories which show him as he was in private life.
During his mining career Mr. Murphy took a lease on the Gordon land and was developing those diggings. One day Mr. Murphy came to the shaft where two men were working and calling to them said: "Well, boys, how is the ground looking?" "All right, Mr. Murphy, we think we shall strike good dirt soon, but if it is all the same to you we want to lay off for a couple of weeks and make a little grub stake. our money has given out."
Taking two ten dollar bills from his pocket, he dropped them down in the mine and said: "If that will help out, I'd like to have you work on a little longer." They did, and the next week struck it big, making
*Under the old city charter the police judge held for two years and Judge Hogle held over. Before his term of office was ended he died, and D. J. M. Loop was appointed to fill out the unexpired term.
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for themselves a little fortune and for the big-hearted son of Erin a nice sum in royalty.
In the Leadville Hollow items, published in the Daily News in Au- gust, 1874, there was the following little comment about Mr. Murphy : "Pat Murphy favored the Shakerage Mine with a visit today and all of the miners feel encouraged by his words of comfort and cheer.
"We appreciate advice from him because it comes from a man who had made his way up in the world. But the best thing about Pat Murphy is he acts the same as his words.
"A few kind words followed by a little assistance has put many a miner on his feet, and if Joplin had more Pat Murphys this place would not only have the best miners in the state, but the happiest and most contented set of people in the whole land."
The above compliment was well deserved and shows how very popular he was with the miners of Joplin.
TOWNSHIP ELECTIONS IN 1874
The township elections held in Joplin and Galana townships in April, 1874, to elect township officers under the new township organization act resulted as follows.
Joplin township : Justice of the Peace-L. R. Thomas.
Constables-O. B. Hamlin and W. A. Lamkin.
Trustee-J. C. Orner.
Collector-W. H. Kilgore.
Assessor .- J. M. Pickett.
The vote of the First Ward School District was as follows: Commis- sioner-McPherson, 57; Webster, 52; Ormsby, 4. For director, Thomas and Ballard were elected.
Galena township : Trustee-J. B. Sargeant.
Clerk-J. W. McAntire.
Assessor-D. K. Wenrich.
Collector-J. G. Mathews.
Justices of the Peace-Geo. Orear, and Jerry Clark.
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN NOVEMBER, 1874
On the morning of November 4, 1874, at about 2 o'clock, a most destructive fire broke out in East Joplin in a small shed in the rear of a bakery on East Main street. The alarm was given and the citizens of both towns rushed to the scene of the conflagration and the fire com- pany, with the new Babcock engine and the hook and ladder truck, hur- ried to the scene, but with all its heroic work it was unable to check the fire, as it had gained too great a headway and in less than two hours the entire block between John and Galena avenues was swept away, the loss being estimated at $75,000 and no insurance. The block was at once rebuilt .*
*In justice to the fire department, it must be mentioned that all of the fire fighting apparatus was drawn by members of the volunteer companies and citizens who came to their assistance, and it will readily be seen that by the time a company could be assembled the fre was well under headway; and pulling the big chemical engine and hook and ladder truck up the east town hill was no small task.
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THE JOPLIN HOTEL
During the fall of 1874 J. H. McCoy interested a number of the lead- ing citizens in a project to build an up-to-date hotel, and the Joplin Hotel Company was organized. Work on the foundation was begun in November, 1874, and the building, a three-story brick was ready for occupancy the middle of April, 1875.
J. M. Maderie, Sr., was the first manager of the hostelry and it was formally opened to the public with a grand reception and ball. On Sunday, April 24th, the first Sabbath after the opening there were one hundred and thirty-five guests for dinner.
The old Joplin Hotel was a historic building and until 1906, when it was torn down to make way for the Connor, it was the rallying place of all the old-timers.
THE JOPLIN HOTEL
The building of this hotel made Fourth and Main streets the center of the business activities of the early day. The old-time Joplinites al- ways spoke of the Joplin House as the "Brick Hotel." In the city elec- tions of the 'seventies and 'eighties the "Brick Hotel Ring" was a polit- ical bugaboo:
The other popular hotels of the middle 'seventies were the Occi- dental, Broadway and Galena; the Southwestern, the Bateman, the Mc- Fall (later the St. James), the American House, both First and Main ; and the Pacific House, Second and Virginia. The Pacific was a forty- room house and was the second hotel in size.
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