Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 10

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856

USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 10

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).

Andrew County .- A county in the northwestern part of the State, bounded on the north by Nodaway County, on the east by Gentry and De Kalb, on the south by Buch- anan, and on the west by Holt County. It is nearly square and contains an area of 423.63 square miles, or 278,035 acres. The surface is rolling, broken along the streams by deep ravines and abrupt hills. A part of the south- ern line of the county is on the Missouri River. and at Amazonia, along this line, are bluffs sixty to two hundred feet high. The county

was originally about two-thirds forest and one- third prairie, the latter gently undulating, with a black loam soil, exceedingly fertile and easy of cultivation. Empire Prairie, in the north- west corner of the county, is nearly level and a most attractive farming spot. The county is well watered, the beautiful Nodaway form- ing the western boundary, the One Hundred and Two River-taking its name from the number of miles in its length-flowing paral- lel to the Nodaway on the east at a distance of ten to fifteen miles, and the Platte flowing parallel also to the other two in the east. Flowing into the Nodaway are Pedler, Arra- pahoe and Lincoln Creeks; and into the One Hundred and Two, Neely's Branch, Long Branch, Riggin Branch and Kelly's Branch. The other important streams are the Muddy, Third Fork, Caples, Hickory, Crooked and Niagara Creeks-all the streams with their affluents running into the Missouri River, after thoroughly watering the county, The Platte and the One Hundred and Two Rivers have good water power, and a number of mills have been erected along them to turn it to profit. Flowing springs of good water abound. The timber, which at one time was extensive and valuable, consisted of black walnut, oak, ash, maple, elmi, cottonwood and linden. Every water course ran through forest, and it greatly facilitated the first settlement in providing the settlers with cheap materials for their houses. Limestone is abundant and many quarries are worked ; and there are reasons for believing that the county is underlaid with coal. Sev- eral mineral springs yielding medicinal waters exist in the county. Andrew County is in the Platte Purchase, included between the original western boundary of the State, which ran due north and south through the mouth of the Kaw River and the Missouri River, and like the other counties of the "Purchase" is admirably adapted to agriculture, nearly the entire surface being tillable. During good seasons the corn yield averages seventy to ninety bushels to the acre. Wheat is the next best crop raised, and oats, rye, barley and grass thrive and yield well. The climate and soil are said to be adapted to tobacco, and it may vet be more extensively cultivated. Apples do well, and so also do the smaller fruits. The abundant grain yields and the rich pasture of the county mark it for stock-raising, and the shipment of cattle is an important business. The surplus products shipped from the

ANDREW COUNTY.

county in the year 1898 were: Cattle, 12,416 head; hogs, 53,262 head ; sheep, 8,488 head; horses and mules, 281 head; wheat, 4,831 bushels ; corn. 3.929 bushels ; hay, 10 tons; flour. 160,000 pounds ; lumber, 20,600 feet ; logs, 106,800 feet : wood, 5,554 cords; stone, 15 cars ; lime, 10,920 barrels ; ice, 5 cars ; wool, 2,330 pounds : poultry, 182.398 pounds ; brick, 10,250; eggs, 60,673 dozen; butter, 38,368 pounds ; cheese, 5.740 pounds ; tallow, 4,786 pounds ; hides and pelts, 43,401 ; apples, 10,- 044 barrels. Andrew County was named after Andrew Jackson Davis. of St. Louis, and was organized under an act of the Legislature passed January 29, 1841. The commissioners appointed to select the permanent seat of jus- tice were Elijah Armstrong, of Daviess County ; Elijah P. Howell, of Clinton County, and Harlow Hinkston, of Buchanan County. The first term of the county court was held at the residence of Gallant Rains, near the pres- ent site of Savannah, on the 9th of March, 1841, Upton Rohrer, Samuel Crowley and William Deakin being justices of the court, and Ezekiel W. Smith, sheriff. Edwin Toole was appointed clerk pro tem. ; and Honorable Upton Rohrer was chosen president pro tem. Four townships were established. Jefferson, Nodaway, Jasper and Jackson ; Henry Eppler was appointed assessor, and Jonathan Earls, county treasurer. At the second term of the court, held March 20, 1841, ferry licenses were granted to Daniel Toole at the rapids of No- daway River, and to Andrew Lackey on the Nodaway River. The report of the commis- sioners on the permanent seat of justice was received and Benjamin K. Dyer was appointed to lay off the site in lots, squares and streets. The Circuit Court of Andrew County was for- mally organized on the 8th of March, 1841. Honorable David R. Atchison, afterward United States Senator, being judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit to which it was at- tached, convened the court at the residence of Gallant Rains, where the county court also held its first session, and the following day Peter II. Burnett produced his commission as circuit attorney from the Governor, took the oath and entered upon his duties ; Andrew S. Ilughes was appointed clerk pro ten. ; Ezek- iel Smith produced his commission as sheriff from the Governor and was recognized. An- drew S. Hughes, John W. Kelley, Theodore D. Wheaton and Peter H. Burnett were en- rolled as attorneys. The pioneer settler in

Andrew County was Joseph Walker, from Kentucky, who had been living in Clay County. He entered the district now known as Lincoln Township and built a round log cabin. This was in 1836, before the Platte Purchase had been acquired. Mr. Walker kept something of a public house for the ac- commodation of travelers, and built a small mill and a distillery. He lived a long life and was highly esteemed. In 1837 Samuel Crowley, from Georgia, who had lived in Clay County, settled in Jefferson Township and be- came the pioneer there. He was one of the first judges of the county court. Jeptha and Zepheniah Todd, two brothers, coming from Clay County, settled in the southwest corner of Jefferson Township, in 1837. John Carr, who came from Ohio, settled in Jackson Town- ship in 1837, he being accompanied by Upton Rohrer and Hamilton Smith, the former be- coming one of the judges of the first county court, and the latter one of the first physicians in the county. James Officer, who came from Kentucky, settled in Lincoln Township during the same year. The first settler in Rochester Township was Levi Thatcher, who laid a claim on the present site of the village of Rochester in 1838. One of the first settlers in Empire Township was Marshal McQuinn, who located his claim at Flag Springs in 1839. He was from Kentucky and did not live many years in the county. John Riggin, from Virginia, settled on Hackberry Ridge, three miles north- west of Savannah, in 1839, and raised the first crop of wheat in the county. In 1837 Joseph Hurst built a house a few miles northeast of the present site of Savannah and became one of the first settlers in Nodaway Township. He joined the Baptist Church during an early re- vival, and was said to have been the first per- son baptized in One Hundred and Two River. The rich lands, the rivers offering good water power, and the abundance of choice game made the settlement of Andrew County easy, and in the year 1844 many families from Ken- tucky and Tennessee came in, nearly all of them locating on timber lands and near the mill sites. The county in some parts was crowded with game. A few bear were still to be found in the carly forties, and deer were to be encountered in herds of a hundred, while wild turkeys, grouse, cranes and ducks were almost without limit. The demand for flour and meal cansed the mill sites to be turned to account. Joseph Walker put up a horse mill

ANDREW COUNTY.

on Hackberry Ridge, a few miles from Savan- nah, at an early day, and shortly afterward Abram Dillon put up a log water mill on Dil- lon Creek, in Jefferson Township. In 184I John Lincoln put up a small mill on the creek which bears his name, in Jackson Township. The first lumber made in the county is said to have been sawed with a whipsaw by Spencer Gee, and another man whose name is forgot- ten. The first steam sawmill was built by a man named Eisaminger in 1848, about three miles north of where Amazonia now stands. The most atrocious crime that ever occurred in Andrew County was the murder of the Mc- Laughlin children, two little girls, aged, re- spectively, seven and nine years, which was perpetrated on a Sunday afternoon in Septent- ber, 1884, near Flag Springs. The children had gone to spend part of the day at Thomas Bateman's house, which was a mile and a quarter distant, and at half past 2 o'clock they started home. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon they passed the house of Eli Knappenberger, and as they passed were seen and spoken to. That was the last seen of them until 9 o'clock next day, their dead bodies being found, after a night's search by the entire community, in a cornfield. The two bodies were 175 yards apart, one shot through the head, with the body cut open, and the other with her throat cut and shockingly bruised. The sight of the murdered children threw the community into a fury of excitement and the search for the murderer began at once. It was found that half an hour after the children left the Bateman house to go home two boys, Newton Bateman, son of Captain T. Bateman, at whose house they had been visiting, and Harry Knappenberger, started along the same road. After going a short way together they separated, Newton Bateman saying he would go to his uncle, William Bateman, and young Knappenberger continuing on the road over which the girls had passed. The bullet taken from the head of the elder girl was found to fit one of the barrels of a double-barreled pis- tol dug up near a tree in the Bateman yard, and this directed suspicion to the Bateman family ; and when it was learned from a state- ment made by one of the Bateman daughters that her brother, Oliver, left the house about 2 o'clock on the fatal Sunday afternoon, and did not return until 5 o'clock, the suspicion be- came so strong that he was arrested and put in jail at Savannah. Additional evidence suffi- 4

cient to fasten the crime upon the prisoner was brought to light, and he then inade a complete confession. He had left home shortly after the girls left his father's house, with mna- licious intent, and by taking a short cut through the woods intercepted them on the road and enticed them into a cornfield. He shot the elder girl twice, and when the younger one ran off he followed her, cauglit her and cut her throat and then returned and abused the dead body of the elder one. There was an evident disposition to lynch the pris- oner, but no outbreak occurred, and on the 6th of October the trial took place. It was short. The prisoner pleaded guilty, refused to have counsel and asked the court to sen- tence him and hang him as quickly as possible. Judge Kelly accordingly pronounced the sen- tence, which was that he should be hanged on the 21st of November, 1884, and the prisoner was executed on that day, mounting thie scaf- fold with a firm step and meeting death with- out a sign of fear. The first religious services in Andrew County were probably held by Methodist preachers, who began to preach in private houses soon after the settlement be- gan. In Savannah they conducted services in the courthouse. In 1845 Rev. Benjamin Baxter visited the town and was followed by Rev. Jesse Bird, Rev. Mr. Devlin and Rev. W. G. Miller. In 1845 a brick church was erected, Rev. Mr. Baxter preaching the first sermon in it. In 1848 a Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Savannah, which held worship in the courthouse and other places until 1870, when, after much delay, a commodious church edifice was erected at a cost of $7,000, under the pastoral supervision of Rev. Samuel Huffman and Rev. W. J. Mar- tindale. One of the first, probably the very first, church organized in Andrew County was the (New School) Presbyterian organization, at a schoolhouse three miles west of Savannah, on the 7th of August, 1841, by Rev. E. A. Car- son, with twenty-four members. In 1842 they opened services in Savannah in the court- house and worshiped there until 1848, when a brick church was built. The early settlers showed an interest in the subject of education, and schools were provided in the chief settle- ments as soon as the number of families made it necessary. In 1840 a teacher named Wil- son opened a school in Lincoln Township, in a small cabin a short distance northwest of Savannah. Another early school was opened

ANDRUSS.

not long after, six miles west of Savannah, by John D. Boland, who maintained it for several years and enjoyed the reputation of a success- ful and popular teacher. In 1841 Rev. E. A. Carson taught in the courthouse in Savannah. In 1853 a movement was made to establish a seminary in Savannah, at the head of which was Prince L. Hudgens, an influential and pub- lic-spirited citizen, who afterward was elected a member of the State Convention of 1861. After the building had been commenced the enterprise was abandoned through disagree- ments, and the unfinished edifice afterward became a public district school. In 1872 it was remodeled and enlarged and made a capacious and beautiful building of nine rooms. The re- port of the county school commissioners for 1899 showed for Andrew County a total of 4.382 pupils ; number of teachers employed, 110; number of schools, 87; estimated value of school property, $74,255; total receipts for school purposes were $45,843; permanent school fund of the county, $74,231. The Civil War and the disputes which preceded it in Andrew county were marked by unusual ran- cor and animosity. In 1856 a Methodist clergyman named Sellers incurred the enmity of the pro-slavery people in Rochester, and he was seized and tarred and feathered, an old citizen named Holland, who attempted to pro- tect him, being shot and killed by the mob. The same year an encounter occurred at Rochester, in which a pro-slavery man named Samuel Simmons was killed by William Hard- esty. In the spring of 1861 both sides held meetings on the same day in Savannah, the I'nion meeting being addressed by Willard P. Ilall and ex-Governor R. M. Stewart, of St. Joseph ; and the Southern sympathizers by Prince 1 .. Ifudgens and others, of Savannah. The stars and stripes were raised on a pole in the public square, and a Palmetto flag from the courthouse cupola. During the day an affray occurred on the public square, in which a young man named Thompson, a Southern sympathizer. was shot in the eye but not killed. In the evening Mr. Hall and Governor Stewart had to flee from the town to escape the mob. Later on the "Northwest Demo- crat," a Southern paper, at Savannah, was taken by a detachment of Union troops from St. Joseph and the material and press carried off. Several days afterward a company of Southern sympathizers from Camp Highly took possession of the office of the "Plain-

dealer," a Union paper, and carried off the type. Camp Highly was established as a ren- dezvous for Southern sympathizers to muster into the State Guards, and a camp was estab- lished in Gentry County as a rallying point for Unionists by Colonel Craynor. The Union camp, re-enforced by accessions from lowa, at last marched against the Confederates, who were under command of Colonel J. P. Saun- ders and Colonel Jefferson Batton, and the lat- ter were forced to leave the county, marching to Lexington, where they joined the army of General Sterling Price. This left the county in possession of the Unionists, and Southern sympathizers were at the mercy of the irregu- lar and irresponsible bands of outlaws calling themselves soldiers, who terrorized the coun- ty, warning men to leave. Deeds of blood, with the constant menace which they implied, nearly broke up society for the time being, and made it so unsafe for men of Southern sympa- thies to live in peace in the county that many families broke up and left, finding temporary or permanent homes in St. Joseph, St. Louis and other places.

There are ten townships in Andrew County, named, respectively, Benton, Clay, Jackson, Jefferson, Lincoln, Monroe, Nodaway, Platte and Rochester. The first railroad enterprise in Andrew County was the Platte County Railroad, to which the county, by a vote of its people, subscribed for $100,000 stock and is- sued its bonds in that amount to pay for it. This road, after being built to Savannah, came into the possession of the Missouri Valley Railroad, which afterward became a part of . the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad, which, with its branch, runs through the county in two directions. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy also runs across the southeastern corner of the county. The pop- ulation of the county in 1900 was 17.332.

Andruss, Edward, physician and sur- geon, is regarded as one of the most successful homeopathic practitioners in the western part of the State, and the uniformity of his success in the treatment of disease has been instru- mental, as an educational force, in enlighten- ing the people on the principles and practice of the school founded by Hahnemann. He was born in Warrensburg, Missouri, October 1, 1863, son of Orville Rice and Wealthy Jane (Cox) Andruss. Ilis father moved to Mis- souri in 1849 and went to work on a farm in

ANGELS OF THE CRIB-ANTI-BENTONISM.

Centerview Township, Johnson County. In that township he finally purchased a tract of land, upon which he engaged in farming and stock-raising until his death, September 28, 1897. He served during most of the Civil War in the Union Army (Missouri State Mili- tia), and among the engagements in which he participated were the battles of Little Blue, Georgetown and Mine Creek. He was ever at his post and attended to all duties, in the face of the enemy, in soldierly fashion and like a true patriot. He was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church and a highly re- spected and influential member of society. His wife, whose death occurred at the home of Dr. Andruss, in Holden, July 6, 1900, re- moved with her parents to Missouri in 1847. Dr. Andruss was reared on the farm and in boyhood obtained a rudimentary education in the country schools. Subsequently he pur- sued a course in the State Normal School, at Warrensburg, and finally entered the Gem City Business College, at Quincy, Illinois, from which he was graduated in February, 1892. He was then elected assistant teacher in the advanced bookkeeping department. This position he filled until he resigned to re- turn home April Ist. After a careful prepara- tory course of study in his chosen profession he entered the Kansas City Homeopathic Medical College, which conferred upon him the degree of doctor of medicine, March 25, 1897. During his course in college the young doctor's merits were readily recognized and he was elected assistant house surgeon, which position he held for six months, afterward be- ing promoted to house surgeon, remaining one year in this station. Two days later he opened an office in Holden, where he has con- tinued to practice with abundant success, being the only representative of the homeo- pathic school in that town. Brief as his ca- reer has been, it has demonstrated the fact that he is a credit to his profession, and the confi- dence accorded him is attested by a constantly increasing and remunerative practice. Pro- fessionally he is identified with the Missouri Institute of Homeopathy, upon whose meet- ings he is a regular attendant. His fraternal associations are with the Masons, Odd Fel- lows, Modern Woodmen of America and order of the Eastern Star. He is also an ac- tive member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. A staunch Republican in politics, he was the candidate of that party for coroner

of Jolinson County in 1900, and, though de- feated, he headed the ticket by a large vote. He was married, January 30, 1895, to Florence May Allison, daughter of Oscar L. Allison, of Knobnoster, Missouri, a native of Virginia and a Union veteran. Mrs. Andruss was born near Knobnoster, educated at the State Nor- mal School at Warrensburg, and for ten years was engaged in teaching in Johnson County and Ilarlem, Clay County, Missouri. Dr. and Mrs. Andruss have three children, Edward Allison and Oakley Bluhm (twins), and Annie Onota Andruss. They have a pleasant home in Holden and are surrounded by a large circle of friends. Dr. Andruss also has a farm in Centerview Township, Johnson County.

Angels of the Crib .- A name given to a society formed in May, 1897, by the friends and Sisters of St. Ann's Catholic Foundling Asylum of St. Louis, to provide for the main- tenance of that institution.

Annapolis .- A town on Big Creek, in Union Township, Iron County, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway, twenty miles south of Ironton. It contains two hotels, two sawmills, a flouring mill and about a half dozen other business houses. Population, 1899 (estimated), 600.

Anniston. - A village in St. James Town- ship, Mississippi County, on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, eight miles south of Charleston. It has Methodist and Christian Churches, flouring mill, lumber and stave fac- tory, medicine manufactory and three general stores. Population, 1899 (estimated), 200.

Anti-Bentonism .- The reopening of the slavery agitation that followed the Mexi- can War, growing out of the question of ad- mitting slavery into the new territory acquired from Mexico, was attended in Missouri by a rupture in the Democratic party, which had maintained unbroken ascendency in the State from the time of its admission into the Union. The fifth senatorial term of Thomas H. Ben- ton, who had been the unchallenged leader of his party in the State, as well as United States Senator for nearly thirty years, was drawing to its close ; and as Colonel Benton's speeches in the Senate and his controversy with John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, clearly placed him against allowing slavery to be introduced

ANTI-HORSE THIEF ASSOCIATION OF MISSOURI.

into any part of the new territory, a powerful organized movement was made to overthrow his leadership. The contest in Missouri was part of the contest in the whole country. The slavery question was at the bottom of it, and as all the States in the Union were success- ively defining their position, the Missouri Leg- islature felt called upon to do so too. Accord- ingly, on the 15th of January, 1849, the famous "Jackson resolutions" were reported to the Senate at Jefferson City by Senator Claiborne F. Jackson, of Howard County, afterward Governor of the State. These resolutions de- nied the authority of Congress to pass laws that would "affect the institution of slavery in the States, in the District of Columbia, or in the Territories"; asserted that "the right to prohibit slavery in any territory belongs ex- clusively to the people thereof, and can only be exercised by them in forming their Con- stitution for a State government," and de- clared that "in the event of the passage of any act of Congress conflicting with the principles herein expressed, Missouri will be found in hearty co-operation with the slave-holding States in such measures as may be deemed necessary for our mutual protection against the encroachments of Northern fanaticism." Missouri's Senators in Congress were in- structed, and her representatives requested to act in conformity with these resolutions. The passage of the resolutions imparted increased fury to the contest. Colonel Benton de- nounced them and appealed to the people, and on the 26th of May, at Jefferson City, made a speech in which he asserted that the resolu- tions contained the germ of nullification and disunion ; that they were firebands, and that they not only contemplated a rupture of the Union, but pledged Missouri to cast its for- tunes with the slave States in the division. He traveled over a large portion of the State mak- ing speeches, and his unsparing personal de- nunciation of the leaders in the movement against him made the quarrel bitter and re- lentless. The opposition against him was for- midable, embracing nearly all the prominent Democrats in the State outside of St. Louis, and many in St. Louis. Colonel Benton's col- league in the Senate, David R. Atchison, was conspicuous in it, and so were Robert M. Stewart, Trusten Polk and Claiborne F. Jack- son, each of whom afterward became Goy- ernor of the State : James S. Green and Lewis V. Bogy, each of whom afterward became

United States Senator, and James H. Birch, John B. Clark, Sr., Carty Wells and William C. Jones, all prominent in the councils of the Democratic party and skilled in debate. The Democratic party was rent in twain, the two factions being known as Benton and anti- Benton, the latter recognized as advocates of the Calhoun theory on the subject of admit- ting slavery into the territories, and making common cause with the other slave-holding States in measures of defense against anti- slavery legislation. Indeed, so conspicuous was the person of Colonel Benton in contro- versy that the Whigs, the minority party in the State, came to be recognized as Benton Whigs and anti-Benton Whigs, according as their sympathies were with one or the other faction of their opponents. Anti-Bentonism was predominant outside St. Louis, while in the city Frank P. Blair, Jr., and John D. Stev- enson, successfully maintained the fortunes of their veteran chief. When the election for Senator came on in January, 1851, the contest was protracted over ten days and through forty ballots, resulting at last in the choice of Henry S. Geyer, an anti-Benton Whig, through the support of a number of anti-Ben- ton Democrats. This was the end of Colonel Benton's ascendency in Missouri, which he had maintained since 1820. The following year he was chosen to represent the St. Louis district in Congress, and in 1856 he stood as independent candidate for Governor, but was defeated by Trusten Polk, and this ter- minated his public career.

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.

Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 10

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n Publication date: 1901 Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors Number of Pages: 856

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856