USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 101
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After the war the men who had been prom- inent in planning for the future of Kansas City became interested in other affairs. They had projected railroads which were being built, and these changed the character of the trade. The few men who remained devoted themselves to repairing their own fortunes, or were actively engaged in the great enter- prises which they had set on foot. New interests arose and new men soon saw the need of organized efforts in behalf of the new lines of business. The Chamber of Com- merce dissolved, and the Board of Trade was organized in 1869 to provide a directing force to meet the new conditions. An effort was. made in 1879 to revive the Chamber of Com- merce as a body, but the new demands of trade and other interests overshadowed it, and the attempt was abandoned.
T. R. VICKROY.
Chambers, Dynes, merchant and pio- neer steamboatman, was born July 6, 1816, at Baltimore, Maryland, and died January II, 1899, at Kirkwood, Missouri. His parents were John and Nancy (Copeland) Chambers. When he was twelve years of age his father dicd, and he entered upon the duties of life with only such preparation as was afforded by a short attendance at private schools in Maysville, Kentucky. While but a youth, he entered the office of Poyntz Brothers' pork- packing establishment in that city, where he learned bookkeeping, and gained a consid- erable insight into business methods. When about twenty years of age, he opened a dry goods store in the same place, and managed it successfully until about 1840. He then
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removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he en- gaged in flour-milling. About 1845 he went to St. Louis, and leased the Julius Walsh mills, which he conducted for a year. In 1846 he followed the river, becoming a part owner of the steamers "Pride of the West," "Tuscumbia," and "James Hewitt," act- ing as business manager, and at times as clerk on one or another of these vessels. In 1848 he retired from the river and engaged in the commission business in St. Louis, as a mem- ber of the firm of Chambers & Riley. In 1849 he became connected with the house of Goodrich, Willard & Co., in the same line of business, and retained this connection until the firm removed to Chicago, fifteen years later. He resumed steamboating in 1867, but only for a short time, the venture proving disastrous and sweeping away the large part of the accumulations of a lifetime of arduous toil. He then again engaged in the commis- sion business as a member of the firm of Chambers & Todd, and then Chambers & Hawley, the larger part of their operations for the first three years being the purchase of supplies for the army. In 1869 he entered the office of the Schuler & Co. Horse and Mule Market, afterward Riley & Wolfort, as bookkeeper and cashier, and retained this posi- tion until 1896, when he retired from active concerns to his elegant home at Oakland- purchased in 1875-which he prized highly. and to beautify and adorn which he had expended considerable means. In politics he was a Democrat of the old Jacksonian school. He made no profession of religion, but lived a practical Christian life, was devoted to his family and home, and was esteemed highly by all who knew him for his sterling qualities of heart and mind. He was married March 10, 1844, at Paducah, Kentucky, to Miss Nancy A., daughter of Isaac and Mary (Homan) Cable, natives of New York, who removed to Kentucky, and afterward to Indiana. Her father was a teacher by profession. To Cap- tain and Mrs. Chambers were born five children, three of whom died in youth. Two sons lived to manhood, and then passed away before the father. George W. was an artist of acknowledged genius, residing in St. Louis, whose reputation was nation wide. Chauncey was engaged in stock-dealing, making his home at Kirkwood. After the death of Captain Chambers, which occurred at his home January 11, 1899, his will was
admitted to probate in court at Clayton, and was found to be of peculiar interest, in its provisions as well as mechanical execution. It was written by his artist son, George Wil- bur, with India ink, upon genuine parchment, in old English characters. To the signature of the testator was affixed a large waxen seal, with an inlaid bow of rich old gold silk ribbon. It provided for the payment of all just debts, the residue of his estate being devised to his widow, Nancy Ann Chambers, absolutely and without restriction. The pro- vision for debt was little more than a legal formality, by reason of his strict integrity and careful business management, and the $100,000 estate was practically unimpaired. To his son George Wilbur (Chauncey being previously deceased) he bequeathed an hon- orable name, which, as the document recites, "is a sufficient legacy for a loving son," and constitutes him executor without bond. The will was executed September 10, 1890. The son George having died, a codicil was exe- cuted June 22, 1897, constituting the Union Trust Company, of St. Louis, executor of the will. Mrs. Chambers continues to reside upon the home place, which in all its surroundings and appointments is reminiscent of one who was an affectionate and devoted companion, and a man whose memory is held in the high- est honor by all with whom he held inter- course during an active and useful life. Among the adornments of her home are also many gems from the brush and pencil of her talented son, George, whose untimely death was not only a severe family affliction, but a loss to the world of art.
Chambers, George W., artist, was born June 29, 1857, in St. Louis, Missouri, son of Captain Dynes and Nancy A. (Cable) Chambers. From his earliest youth, he was quick to learn, observant, and ever actively engaged in painting or drawing, these child- ish efforts, crude though they were, giving evidence of his natural talent and artistic genius. He was educated in the public schools of St. Louis, and in 1875 his artistic training was regularly begun in the St. Louis School of Fine Arts. In December, 1879, he married Miss Alice N. Grubb, of Kirkwood, Missouri, and early in the following January sailed with his bride for Europe. Arrived in Paris he entered there the "Ecole des Beaux Arts," where he continued his studies
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CHAMOIS.
under the guidance of the eminent Gerome. He remained in Paris for two years and then made a visit of some months to his friends in America. Returning to Europe, he placed himself under Julien Dupre and Harry Thompson, both of whom took much interest in the development of his genius. At a later date he became art director of the Nashville School of Fine Arts, which had its beginning October 4, 1886, and remained in charge of that institution until June of 1891. At the death of his brother, Chauncey Chambers, in September, 1890, his aged parents were left alone and he decided to return to his old home. This he did in July of 1891, and in August following he formed a partnership with W. W. Davis, of St. Louis, in the stained glass and decorating business. Soon after- ward failing health compelled him to spend much of his time at home, but he was never idle, and the home now contains many speci- mens of his artistic skill and mechanical genius. Among these are a number of min- iature yachts which are marvels of beauty and finish. In the winter of 1897 he painted "The Poor Man's Flock," which was his last picture. The following is his own explan- ation of what it was intended to portray : "His daughter, his gentle ewe, now the mother of two, and his faithful dog. These constitute some of his treasures, material and spiritual, and give the keynote to whatever sentiment pervades the canvas. Primarily I have sought to make the picture one of rest ; yet having through it all, the evidences of humble toil. For this reason I have chosen the time of the rising of the full moon, while the light of the sun dies slowly out in the west behind the spectator. Of all times it is the very hour of rest. The larger lines of the picture I have sought to make easy and flowing. The smoke from the evening cot- tage fires show a still air. The cumulus clouds rest lazily upon the purple hills.
"The cottages, scattered through the val- leys, nestle restfully among the sheltered trees. These things-materialistic trifles they may be-are what must express to the specta- tor the sentiment of repose, if he feel that sentiment at all. While, as for the evidences of work, the ungarnered field of ripened wheat close at hand, no less than the shorn fields beyond, bespeak the sturdy toil of the hand of man. Ruskin has said: That it was probably a happier frame of mind to live in
a cottage and have Warwick Castle to won- der at, than nothing to wonder at. However that may be, the externals of the cottager's life, as here expressed, are not without their charm and their beauty. If their possessions are few and of homely grace, they are part and parcel of themselves, and the cares that possessions bring are not theirs. The patient girl, careful alike of the tender lamb and its anxious mother, knows little of those fineries so dear to the universal feminine heart; yet she will have her ribbons when the packman comes along-common enough it may be, yet sufficient to give that touch of softer femininity which all true women un- consciously long for. For the rest, the merit of its color, if it has any, the drawing, the textures and all that is technical, I leave to the critic."
On the 14th of June, 1897, the career of this talented artist and charming gentleman was cut short by death, and he was mourned not only in artistic circles, but by a host of friends and admirers both in this country and abroad.
Chamois .- A city of the fourth class in Benton Township, Osage County, on the Missouri Pacific Railway. The land which comprises its site was located upon about 1818 by members of the Shobe family. The town was founded in 1855, upon the build- ing of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. A post- office was established in 1856, and the same year the town was surveyed and laid out in lots, and in later years its size was increased by a number of additions to it. The first house erected was a double two-story log building, by Morgan Harbor, who occupied it as a hotel and saloon. This was burned down in 1859. The second building was put up by Andrew Fitzpatrick in 1855, and during the following two years a number of houses were built, and stores and shops started. The growth of the town was slow until 1873, when the railroad company erected there a round- house and repair shop. April 3, 1868, the town was incorporated and it is one of the two incorporated towns in the county. In 1871 the "Osage Leader" was established by W. J. Knott, the first paper of the town. Later the "Battle Flag." the "Liberalist" and the "Osage County Enterprise" were started. The last named is still published by J. W. Huffman. The town has German Evangel-
Fr. 11! Cha haubert
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CHAPEL HILL-CHAPMAN.
ical, Methodist Episcopal, both North and South; Baptist (colored) and Catholic Churches. There are several lodges of the different fraternal orders-two lodges of An- cient Free and Accepted Masons (white and colored), Knights of Pythias, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and Modern Woodmen, all of which have good memberships. A building and loan association, established in 1882, has been instrumental in building a number of fine homes in the town. There is a graded public school, and a school for colored children. The business interests of the place are represented by a bank, a flour- ing mill, grain elevator, three hotels and about a dozen stores in different branches of trade, blacksmith, wagon, tailor and other shops. Population, 1899 (estimated), 1,200.
Chapel Hill .- A hamlet in the south- west corner of Lafayette County, founded by Archibald William Ridings, who settled on the site in 1839. He founded a school there, which was first known as
Chapel Hill Academy, and was con- ducted as a private enterprise until 1847. In that year he turned it over to the Missouri Synod, and it was chartered as Chapel Hill College. Prior to the war it was one of the well known educational institu- tions of the State, and many men who became prominent in public life were edu- cated there. During the Civil War the college buildings were burned, and since then the history of the town has been uneventful.
Chaplin, Winfield Scott, educator, was born August 22, 1847, in the town of Glenburn, Maine. His parents were Daniel and Susan (Gibbs) Chaplin, and his father was a man of prominence in Maine, and was colonel of the First Maine Heavy Artillery and brevet major general of United States Volunteers during the Civil War. Colonel Chaplin was killed at the battle of Cold Har- bor, Virginia, August 20, 1864. Professor Chaplin, the son, after graduating from the Bangor High School, in the class of 1865, entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1866, and was graduated from that institution, standing sec- ond in his class, in 1870. Immediately after his graduation from the military academy he was appointed second lieutenant in the Fifth United States Artillery Regiment, and until
September of 1870 was instructor in tactics at West Point. Thereafter until April of 1872 he was stationed at Fort Adams, located at Newport, Rhode Island. In the year last named he resigned his commission in the army and became assistant engineer of the Marquette, Iloughton & Ontonagon Rail- road. For some time after 1873 he was con- nected with various engineering enterprises and then became professor of mechanics in the Maine State College, of Orono, Maine. In January of 1877 he was tendered, and accepted, the position of professor of civil engineering in the Imperial University of Japan, and held that position until 1882. Re- turning then to the United States he served as engineer on the New York & New Eng- land Railroad until June of 1883, when he was made professor of mathematics in Union College, of Schenectady, New York. In Sep- tember of 1885 he was appointed professor of civil engineering in Harvard University, and dean of the Lawrence Scientific School. These positions he held with great credit to himself and to the advantage of the institu- tion until 1891, when he was called to St. Louis to take the chancellorship of Wash- ington University. Since he became a mem- ber of the faculty of the university he has contributed his full share to its upbuilding, and has taken a prominent position among Western educators. Professor Chaplin has had an interesting experience as an instruc- tor, and his several years of residence in Japan, where he familiarized himself with the language and customs of that country, served to broaden his accomplishments and add to his attainments. Ile is widely known as a scholarly man and a recognized authority on matters pertaining to civil engineering and mathematics.
Chapman, Joseph Gilbert, was born at Norwich, New York, April 27, 1839, and died in St. Louis, October 9, 1897. He pur- sued his preparatory studies for college at Oxford Academy, and in 1856 entered Brown University, taking a full course and graduat- ing in the class of 1860. The same year he came to St. Louis and entered into business in connection with the established firm of Chapman & Thorp, extensive lumber manu- facturers and dealers in St. Louis and Wis- consin, of which his father was the senior member, and whose business was afterward
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CHAPTER OF TEMPERANCE AND WISDOM-CHARITON COUNTY.
consolidated as the Ean Claire Lumber Com- pany. Mr. Chapman thoroughly mastered the extensive operations of the company, and, on his father's death, in 1873, became vice president and representative of the busi- ness in St. Louis, which was the principal point of distribution of the product of their large mills and manufactories in Wisconsin. He was for fifteen years a trustee of Wash- ington University, and in 1883 became second president of the board of control of the St. Lonis Museum and School of Fine Arts, whose usefulness was largely increased by his generous gift of over fifty thousand dol- lars to its various collections and to the buildings and endowments. He married, October 21, 1868, Emma, second daughter of Honorable Hudson E. Bridge. They had one child, Isabel, now the wife of J. Lawrence Manran, of St. Louis.
Chapter of Temperance and Wis- dom .- A temperance society formed in Buf- falo, New York, in 1855, by H. D. Moone and others, who instituted there Mount Sinai Chapter. Mr. Moone came to St. Louis later and on September 5, 1859, organized Mount Vernon Chapter of Temperance and Wisdom. This institution became one of the most fa- mous of Western temperance societies and continued in existence until 1891. It had an attractive ritual and some of its public instal- lations of officers were notable events.
"('harcoals."-A name given to one of two factions into which the Republican party of Missouri was divided by the removal of General John C. Fremont from the Western Department by President Lincoln in 1861. The "Charcoals" were the radical followers of General Fremont, who favored extreme measures to crush the rebellion, and ad- vocated the immediate emancipation of all slaves by a proclamation of the President. Republicans had previously been christened, in derision, "Black Republicans," because of their sympathy with the negroes and their opposition to slavery. The "Charcoals" were so called because they were regarded as the blackest of the black Republicans. The conservatives of the party were known at the same time as "Claybanks."
Charette .- A cart used by the early French settlers of Missouri. Its wheels were
made of well seasoned oak, without tires, and the hubs of gum wood. Horses were at- tached to it by twisted raw hide traces. Charettes were used for the carrying of ore and other products, and on Sundays and holidays were utilized as conveyances for members of families, chairs being placed in them for seats and tied to the railings. The charette was similar to the ox-cart, used at the present time in some parts of Mexico.
Charette .- A village founded by French settlers, on the Missouri River, at the month of Charette Creek, not long after the estab- lishment of Laclede's trading post at St. Louis. This was the first settlement of white men within the limits of what is now Warren County. The village existed for a number of years and a fort was constructed there for protection against the Indians. The en- croachments of the Missouri River long since destroyed the site of this carly town.
Chariton .- The first seat of justice of Chariton County, laid out in 1818 near the mouth of the Chariton River, in view of the Missouri. In 1821 when it was at its height of prosperity it contained about thirty-five families, a courthouse, school, a steam mill and a store. It promised to become an im- portant town, and valuable property in St. Louis was exchanged for Chariton town lots. In 1824 an overflow of the Missouri River did much damage about Chariton and the place became so unhealthful that people began secking homes elsewhere. In 1832 the town was abandoned, and at the present time (1900) the old town site of Chariton is part of a farm and no evidence remains to speak of its one-time greatness. There is a station on the Glasgow branch of the Wabash Railroad located on a part of the former town site.
Chariton City. - Sce "Auxvasse."
Chariton County .- A county situated in the north-central part of the State, bounded on the north by Linn and Macon Counties ; east by Macon and Randolph Counties ; south by Howard County and the Missouri River, which separates it from Saline County ; and on the west by Grand River, which separates it from Carroll and Livingston Counties ; area 490,000 acres.
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CHARITON COUNTY.
The county presents a comparatively level surface, consisting of upland, prairie and timber land, undulating in places and suffi- ciently inclined to afford excellent drainage for surplus waters. Numerous streams water and drain the county. The Chariton River enters near the northeast corner and flows in a southwestwardly direction, until it reaches within about four miles of Keytes- ville, where it takes a southeastwardly course to the Missouri River. Its principal feeders in the county are Chariton Creek, East and Middle Fork of Chariton, both of which are in the southeastern part. The Grand River winds along the entire western border and has as its tributaries and subtributaries, Elk, Turkey, Yellow and Little Yellow Creeks. Along the Missouri, Grand and Chariton Rivers, are tracts of rich alluvial bottom land, rich as any in Missouri, and highly pro- ductive, bearing great crops annually. The general character of the soil is a rich sandy loam. In sections of the county are what were called swamp lands. These tracts, with little labor, have been converted into the richest of farming land. Sufficient timber remains in the county to serve for many years the requirement of the inhabitants. The chief woods are black walnut, ash, oak, elm, hickory, boxwood and other less valu- able woods. About eighty-five per cent of the total area of the county is under cultiva- tion and in pasture. The minerals of the county are bituminous coal, which is mined for home use, and seems to exist in almost inexhaustible veins, fire clay, and limestone of excellent quality for the manufacture of lime and for building purposes. Agriculture and stock-raising are the chief and most profit- able occupation of the residents of the county. The average production of the leading cereals are corn, 35 bushels to the acre ; wheat, 15 bushels; oats, 30 bushels ; potatoes yield from 150 to 300 bushels to the acre. According to the report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the surplus prod- ucts shipped from the county in 1898 were : cattle, 11,619 head ; hogs, 36,490 head ; sheep,; 2,971 head: horses and mules, 764 head ; wheat, 79,125 bushels; oats, 938 bushels ; corn, 145,420 bushels ; hay, 98.500 pounds ; flour. 2,973,400 pounds; shipstuff. 168,000 pounds ; timothy seed. 18,348 pounds; lum- ber, 82,400 feet; logs, 36,000 feet; walnut logs, 48,000 feet ; piling and posts, 24.000
feet : cordwood, 3.128 cords; brick, 123.000 feet ; tile and sewer pipe, 3 cars; wool, 34,- 400 pounds ; tobacco. 224.585 pounds ; potatoes, 4,460 bushels; poultry, 771,012 pounds ; eggs, 704,160 dozen ; butter, 26.379 pounds ; game and fish, 34,199 pounds ; tallow, 14,518 pounds ; hides and pelts, 58,- 590 pounds ; fresh fruit, 12,800 pounds ; dried fruit, 8,165 pounds ; vegetables, 1,588 pounds ; onions, 970 bushels ; honey, 5,198 pounds ; molasses, 15,329 gallons; cider, 3,255 gal- lons ; nuts, 12, 690 pounds ; and others in less quantities, including canned goods, nursery stock, furs, feathers, dressed meats and sorghum seed. The first white men to visit the section now Chariton County were ven- turesome French fur traders. The exact date of their entry into the county is not known, but some of them had made trips as far as the Chariton River before the begin- ning of the nineteenth century. One of these traders was named Chariton or Charaton, and with his companions he located his trad- ing camp about a mile from the Missouri River, near the mouth of the stream which, after him, was called Chariton River. In the journal of Lewis and Clark it is stated that on June 10, 1804, while ascending the Missouri River on their famous expedition, they passed the mouth of Big and Little Chariton Rivers, both of which at that time had separate outlets into the Missouri. Since then the erosion by the high waters has caused both streams to unite about a mile from the Missouri River. The Indians who resided in the county when the white men first settled in it had a tradition that at the forks of the Chariton Rivers was a large lake which was one of the favorite fishing places of their ancestors. Evidence of this lake, even at this period. is plainly visible. The fur traders were the only settlers in the county until about 1806 or 1808, when a few Americans who had lived in other parts of Missouri went into the country. Notable among those pioneers was one George Jack- son, a native of Georgia, who for a while resided in Howard County territory, and be- came a member of the State Legislature. Martie Palmer was one of the very earliest, and there is a creek (Palmer's) named in his honor. The few settlers that first attempted to make homes for themselves in what was to become Chariton County, on account of the hostility of the Indians, went into
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Howard County territory and other parts of the State where they remained until the Indian War was over. In the autumn of 1815 John Hutchinson and a few others from the vicinity of Fort Cooper, in Howard County, settled on Yellow Creek, about twenty miles from Brunswick, and the next year a few other families settled in other parts of the Chariton River country. In 1818 the first land sales were made and im- mediately following there were many settle- ments made. Near the mouth of Chariton River, a town was laid out called Chariton. It was situated a little above the mouth of the stream and "within near view of the Mis- souri River." For a few years the town was prosperous and one of the most important west of St. Louis. Its location was found to be unhealthful, and about 1830 it was aban- doned as a residence place. Among the settlers who made homes for themselves in Chariton County country in 1817-18 were James Earickson, later a State Senator and State Treasurer, Talton Turner, Archibald Hix, Colonel John M. Bell, John Morse, Samuel Williams, Henry Lewis, John Doxey, Richard Woodson and others, all of whom took up land west of the present site of Keytesville. John Tooley, Samuel Forest, Joseph Maddox and Thomas Anderson, settled in what is now Chariton Township. Between the Chariton Rivers, the first to take land were Joseph Vance, Abraham Lock, Colonel Hiram Craig, Nathaniel Butler, Thomas Watson, Peterson Parks, Robert Hays, Samuel Burch, Samuel Dinsmore, James Ryan and Abner Finnell. On Salt Creek, William and John Beatty and a few others were the first settlers, and Thomas Stanley on Grand River. Stanley was a hunter and trapper, and the first winter he was in the country he lived in a mammoth hollow sycamore log. It was sufficiently large to afford him good sleeping accommo- dations, but he did his cooking outside his abode. Nearly all the pioneers were men of intelligence, brave and thrifty. The Indians made occasional visits into the section and committed numerous petty depredations. There were few conveniences in early days, and the luxuries of to-day were an unknown thing in the county. All the clothing of the settlers was homemade. During 1818 and 1830 there was considerable immigration into the country. Then soldier land grants and
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