Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 17

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 17

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AUDRAIN COUNTY.

was divided into five townships, named re- spectively, Saling, Wilson, Salt River, Prairie and Loutre, and it was ordered that elections in each township be held on the 28th of Feb- ruary, for the purpose of electing two justices of the peace and two constables. John A. Henderson was appointed the first treasurer of the county. At a subsequent meeting of the court the report of the commissioners to locate a permanent seat of justice was adopted, and the original town of New Mexico became officially known as Mexico. The amount of money found necessary to defray the county expenses in 1837, was $204.36. From the sale of town lots and from taxes collected at the close of the year 1838, the county had in its treasury, after paying all expenses, nearly $1,500, which was used for the purpose of building the second courthouse of the county. At the first general election held in the county in 1838. Jonah B. Hatten, James E. Fenton and George W. Caldwell were elected county justices : John B. Morris, county clerk ; John Willingham, sheriff ; William White, county treasurer ; and James Jackson was elected the first representative to the Legislature from the county. The first terin of the Circuit Court for Audrain County. as directed by the General Assembly, was hell on March 13, 1837, at the house of Edward Jennings, Honorable Priestly H. McBride, judge of the second judicial dis- trict, presiding, with John Heard, circuit at- torney: James M. Hicks, sheriff ; and Joel Haynes, clerk. The first case before the court was entitled, "The State of Missouri v. Richard Bryant, upon indictment of larceny." The members of the first grand jury, were Thomas Kilgore, foreman ; William Wood, Eli Smith, William C. West, Adam Cluck, Joseph Mc- Donald, John Peery. Delaney Willingham, John Wood. John HI. Kilgore, Roland Mc- Intyre, James Davis, John B. Kilgore, John WV. Barnett. Joseph Brown and Harrison Norvel. The first attorneys enrolled for prac- tice in the courts of Audrain County were John Heard, James R. Abernathy, Sinclair Kirtley, William H. Russell, Henry Cave, Phillip Williams, W. R. Vanarsdall and Thomas Miller. During the earliest sessions of the court the cases to call for attention, and which were most numerous, were the bet- ting on poker, betting on three up, gaming, playing poker and cards, selling liquor without license, etc. The first indictment for murder was returned at the July term of court, 1840,

when one Monroe or Milroy Powell was charged with the murder of George Eubanks by striking him over the head with a weeding hoe. In this case the instructions to the jury by the court were of considerable length. The trial resulted in a verdict of "manslaughter in the fourth degree," and, in the words of the ver- dict rendered. the jury "do find him in the sum of three hundred and twenty-five dollars." Powell was sentenced to six months' imprison- ment in the county jail by the court. How- ever, he was released before the expiration of lis teri. The second indictment for murder was in June, 1854, when one Ilart, a slave, was found guilty of administering poison to the slaves of John R. Croswhite, and in 1856 Emily, another slave, the property of Thomas Lakin, was tried for infanticide. One of the most sensational criminal trials to occupy the attention of the court was that of James N. Rodman for the murder of Captain John W. Ricketts, February 24, 1857, on the outskirts of the western part of the town of Mexico. Ricketts was found dead, an inquest showing he was killed by a shot gun. Rodman was ar- rested, tried for the crime, and strong circum- stantial evidence was adduced against him. After two or three trials the defendant was ac- quitted after which he left the country. On the 15th of June, 1878, Stephen J. Moore shot and killed his brother-in-law, Gentry, in a quarrel over Gentry's dog killing hogs belong- ing to Moore. Moore was tried and acquitted. On the night of September 30, 1879. Octave Inlow was shot and killed near Mexico. Joe Hicks, Jake Muldrow and Nathan Fancett, all colored, were accused of the murder, and Emma Prilly, a white girl, was charged with being an accessory. All accused were of the lowest stratum of society. The four accused were arrested and tried, and Faucett and Mul- drow found guilty, Hicks, who afterward con- fessed to firing the shot, was acquitted and the girl released and ordered to leave Mexico. Later she returned, confessed to her complicity in the crime and was sent for a term of ten years to the penitentiary. April 16, 1880, Faut- cett and Muldrow were executed in Mexico. On the 6th of the month prior ( March 6, 1880) Walker Kilgore was hanged on the same scaffold, and was the first criminal to be legally executed in Audrain County. Kilgore was found guilty of killing, by shooting, S. D. Willingham, a farmer, January 27, 1879. There have been numerous other murders, but

AUDRAIN COUNTY.

no other executions in the county since, but generally serious crimes have been confined to the lower element of society. Prior to 1878 Audrain Countywas unfortunate in hav- ing prosecuting attorneys whose duties were hampered by conditions arising out of the Civil War. During this period there were some murders, but cases against lawbreakers were not vigorously punished until John McD. Trimble was elected to the office of prosecut- ing attorney. He immediately set about to reform abuses and succeeded admirably. Of nine defendants prosecuted for homicide by him, seven were convicted. There has never been a lynching in Audrain County, and only three legal executions, as herein mentioned. The residents of the county from its earliest settlement have been of the most law-abiding class and crime has been kept at the minimum.

The first deed recorded in the county was a transfer of the northeast quarter of the south- west quarter of Section 36, Township 51, Range 9, containing forty acres, to John B. Morris by William Wood and his wife, Isabella, the consideration being $102.50. The first mar- riage in the county took place February 2, 1837, the contracting parties being Samuel Riggs and Nancy Dollins, who were married by Robert A. Younger (father of the notorious Younger brothers), a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first school of which there is any reliable record was started in 1832, in what is now the southern part of the county, in a log building, which was built on the north- east corner of Section 35, Township 50, Range 9, about six miles south of the present site of Mexico. Archibald Gregg was the first teacher employed, and some of the children who at- tended came from Callaway County. The first sermon preached by a minister was in 1832, in the settlement where the school was located. by Rev. Mr. Hoxie, of the Presbyte- rian Church, who was at that time pastor of a church at Auxvasse in Callaway County. About the same time Rev. Robert A. Younger and a Rev. Mr. Taze, both of the Methodist Episcopal Church commenced holling meet- ings at the house of Madison Dysart, which was later known as Calhoun Place, located about eight miles southwest of Mexico. The first church undoubtedly to be established within the limits of Audrain County was the Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, organ- ized August 6, 1836, with a membership of fourteen including William M. Jesse and wife,

and William Black and wife. On May 16, 1840, the Davis Fork Regular Baptist Church at Mexico was organized with a membership of nine. The same year the Littleby Metho- dist Episcopal Church, South, was organized. In 1850 the Mexico Presbyterian Church was established. Ten years prior, in 1840, the Mexico Christian Church was organized. Be- fore the building of churches in Mexico all ministers of different denominations held serv- ices in the courthouse, which was a recognized place for religious worship, regardless of de- nomination. In the courthouse nearly all the church organizations of Mexico first held services, and before the Catholics had a church visiting priests from other parishes read mass in the court room to the members of their flock. The first newspaper published in Audrain County was the "Weekly Ledger," which was established at Mexico in the summer of 1855. by John B. Williams. Mr. Williams, who was well known as a newspaper man in central Missouri, conducted the paper until 1856, when he sold it to William D. H. Hunter who con- tinued its publication until January, 1862, when fire destroyed the office. In January, 1863, a paper called the "Audrain County Beacon" was established by Captain Amos Ladd and O. A. A. Gardener. In 1866 it was purchased by John T. Brooks who changed its name to the "Mexico Ledger." In March, 1872, Col- onel J. E. Hutton purchased the paper and re- christened it the "Intelligencer." In 1879 Colonel Hutton began publishing a daily edi- tion of the paper. In 1885 the paper was pur- chased by Samuel B. Cook, who, in 1898, accepted C. M. Baskett as partner, and in 1900 Cook sold his interest to Baskett, who is now its publisher. In October. 1865. W. W. Davenport established the "Messenger" and soon afterward sold it to M. F. Simmons, who conducted it until September, 1874, when it was purchased by J. Linn Ladd, who changed its politics from Republican to Democratic, re- christened it the "Ledger." and in 1876 sokt it to its present publisher, R. M. White. Mr. White began publishing the "Daily Ledger" in 1886. In 1859 the "Audrain County Ban- ner" was started by William H. Martin, but existed only a few months. A paper called the "Signal" was established in 1858 by William A. Thompson, who ran it for about two years and then sold it to Joseph A. Armstead, who. after publishing it for about a year, discontin- ued it. In October, 1868. the "Agriculturist"

AUDRAIN COUNTY.

was started by W. G. Church, and lived one vear. John Beal began publishing the "Mexico Message" November, 1899. The "State Leader," a Prohibition paper, is pub- lished at Mexico by Charles E. Stokes, the candidate of that party for Governor in 1900. In October, 1868, the "Audrain Expositor" was started by Ira Hall, J. D. Macfarlane and Mil- ton F. Simmons, and existed about a year. The "Mexico Union" was established in 1878 by Harry Day, and in 1879 was acquired by C. A. Keeton, who changed its name to the "Audrain County Press," which, after an exis- tence of a few years, ceased publication. At different times journalistic ventures were put forth, flourished for a while, and died nat- ural deaths. Prior to the outbreak of the Civil

. War the Whigs and the Democrats in the county were about equally divided. In 1860 Lincoln received only one vote in the county. When the realities of war were no longer chi- merical, apparently the sympathies of the peo- ple were about evenly divided. There was a large conservative element. In the election of 1862 there were two county tickets in the field, the Anti-Emancipation and the Uncon- ditional Union. So evenly divided was the sentiment that some on each ticket were elected. The feeling of the people is better explained by the number of soldiers furnished each side. The records of the Confederacy fail to throw much light on the exact number from the county who took up arms against the Union. Some historical writers estimate the number at from three to four hundred. A careful examination of the poll lists and the other available data of the war period shows that the estimate is greatly in excess of the real figure, and, as near as can be ascertained, the total number from the county who entered the regular Confederate Army was 104. while the number enrolled in the militia and regular service in support of the Union was in excess of 350. During the war there was one small skirmish within the county, that at McClin- tock's barn, in the northern part of the county. The Confederates were under the command of Captain William O. Johnson, and, being mostly undisciplined farmers of the neighborhood, quickly gave way at the first fire from a com- pany of disciplined Federal troops. No one was killed on either side, and only a few were slightly wounded. There was some bush- whacking, and a few good citizens killed. Federal soldiers doing guard duty at Mexico

shot two men, William Lockridge and Gar- land Surber. Lockridge was trying to leave the town on horseback when shot, and Surber, a farmer, had brought a load of potatoes to town, and his horses, becoming frightened at the shooting, ran away, and while he was try- ing to check them he was killed by an igno- rant guardsman. June, 1861, a portion of the Second and Eighth Missouri Regiments, in all about 600 men, under command of Colonel Morgan Smith, took possession of Mexico, and remained about a week. Colonel Smith was relieved by Colonel U. S. Grant, in charge of the Twenty-first Illinois, who remained for about three weeks, when he was ordered to Bird's Point. Colonel Grant, by the orderly conduct of himself and soldiers, gained the respect of the citizens of Mexico. He had his headquarters in West Mexico. It is stated in some histories published that, while at Mexico, Grant was made a brigadier gen- eral, but this is a mistake. He received his commission as brigadier general at Ironton, in Iron County, a few weeks after leaving Mex- ico, and the spot which is now known as Emerson Park, where he stood when his com- mission was received, is marked by a fine statue of him. In his memoirs Grant speaks of his sojourn at Mexico. In 1866 the county court of Audrain County voted $300,000 in bonds in favor of the Louisiana & Missouri River Rail- road, known at present as the Chicago & Alton. In October, 1871, the company com- pleted its line through the county from east to west, and the Fulton branch was finished in March, 1872. As in other counties where railroad bonds were voted, some of the people failed to heartily support the scheme, and tried to create dissatisfaction among the tax- payers. However, the conservative and pro- gressive element in the county prevailed, with the result that in 1880 the last cent of indebted- ness on account of the railroad bonds was paid, with the utmost satisfaction to the tax- payers of the county and all concerned as well. Had the elements antagonistic to the bonds predominated, as in some other counties of Missouri, Audrain would have been precipi- tated into costly and lengthy litigation that no doubt would have caused the original debt to be increased into the millions. Audrain County is divided into seven townships named respectively, Cuiver, Loutre, Linn, Prairie. Saling, Salt River and Wilson. The assessed valuation of real estate and town lots in the

AUGLAIS RIVER-AURORA.

county in 1899 was $5,513,250 ; estimated full value, $1 1.026.500, assessed value of personal property, including stocks, bonds, etc., $2,727,- 495 ; estimated full value, $5.454,990 : assessed value of merchants and manufacturers, $228,- 835 ; estimated full value, $457.670; assessed value of railroads. $1.435,359.69. There are 78 1-4 miles of railroad in the county, the Chi- cago & Alton passing from the northeast cor- ner to the western line, with a branch from Mexico south to the southern boundary line, and the Wabash, entering near the southeast corner. and passing in a northwesterly direc- tion to the center of the western boundary line.

The number of public schools in the county in 1900 was 99 : amount of permanent school funds. both county and township, $62.946.68. The population of the county in 1900 was 21 .- 160. (See also "Live Stock Interests of Au- (lrain County.")

GEORGE ROBERTSON.

Anglais River .- This is a small stream thirty miles in length, which rises in Laclede County and flows north, through Camden and Miller Counties, into the Osage, fifteen miles below Linn Creek.

Augusta .- A town in St. Charles County, on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway, thirty-two miles southwest of St. Charles. It was formerly a river town of considerable im- portance, but a change in the river channel made the landing useless. It was platted by Leonard Harold, a Pennsylvanian. in 1836, and was called Mount Pleasant. The villag- ers were German immigrants of 1834-6. In 1837 Julius Mallinckrodt laid out the town of Dortmund, one mile west, but the river left the site, and the project was abandoned. His brother, Charles, taught the first public school in the county, at Augusta. In 1856, during the existence of the stringent anti-liquor laws. the Augusta Harmonie-Verein, a social organ- ization, was formed in a tent on the ice in mid- stream. For twelve years afterward it met on a flatboat in the river. In 1867 it was incor- porated and built a ball. There are a number of churches and a good school. Population. 201.

Aurora .- A city in Lawrence County. on the St. Louis & San Francisco, and the Kan- sas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railways, twelve miles southeast of Mount Vernon, the

county seat, and 269 miles southwest of St. Louis, situated upon the Ozark Plateau, at an altitude of 1.378 feet. Waterworks, erected at a cost of $37.500, distribute an ample supply of the purest water, derived from the great spring, covering an acre in area, at the head of Spring River ; the pressure affords efficient aid in case of fire. A volunteer fire department includes two hose companies and one hook- and-ladder company; there are two depart- mental buildings, with reels and hose, a club room and a gymnasium. Excellent electric light and telephone service, the latter connect- ing all principal points in the mining field, are provided. The City Hall is a handsome two- story brick edifice, containing the city offices and a spacious auditorium, erected at a cost of $6,000. The police force consists of a marshal and four men, costing $2,100 per annum. Near the center of the city is a park, compris- ing a block of land, the gift of S. G. Elliott. Maple Park Cemetery, comprising forty acres, situated one and one-fourth miles south of the city, was bought by the municipality in Jan- mary, 1900, at a cash outlay of $3.125. The city indebtedness is $14,500, $12,500 of which is on waterworks account. There are three substantial brick public school buildings, two stories high, costing. for erection, $20,000; $8.000 per annum is expended for mainte- nance of the schools. The bonded indebted- ness is $0,000. Seventeen teachers are em- ployed, and the enrollment of pupils in attend- ance is 1,100. The high school, beginning in 1800, has graduated fifty-six pupils, admissible to the University of Missouri. There are com- modious churches of handsome design, of the Baptist. Christian, Congregational, Methodist Episcopal and Cumberland Presbyterian de- nominations. The fraternal societies include a lodge, chapter, commandery, and Eastern Star Chapter of the Masonic order, a lodge and encampment of Odd Fellows. the Modern Woodmen, the Woodmen of the World, the United Workmen, the Knights of Pythias, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Home Fo- rum, the Home Paladium, and the Select Knights and Ladies of America. The Aurora Fishing and Hunting Club, with a member- ship of forty-two, own a clubhouse and prop- erty valued at $2,000, on the James River. twenty-two miles south of the city. The news- papers are the "News." daily and weekly. Democratic : the "Herald." daily and weekly. Republican ; the "AArgus," weekly. Repub -

AURORA SPRINGS-AUSTIN.

lican ; the "Advertiser," weekly, Democratic ; and the "Signal Light," monthly, Populist. The Miners' and Merchants' Bank, founded in 1884, and the Bank of Aurora, founded in 1887, have aggregate capital of $60,000, and aggregate deposits of nearly a half-million dol- lars. The industries include two extensive fourmills : a foundry and machine shop. largely engaged in manufacturing mining ma- chinery : a cornmill. a novelty factory, an ice factory, and business establishments covering every line of trade. In 1900 the population was 6,191. The town was platted May 9, 1870, by Stephen G. Elliott. North Aurora was platted in June, 1886, by Carr McNatt. Various additions were made, and in October following the town was incorporated as a city of the fourth class, with Carr McNatt, mayor : A. R. Wheat, J. D. Conrad, Warren Vertrees and Henry Weed, aldermen, and Charles Wal- lich, marshal. Aurora derives its principal importance from its extensive and highly valu- able mineral interests, and ranks second only to Joplin in production. In 1873 George Ha- ley and George Connell discovered and worked surface lead in the vicinity. No systematic mining was attempted until January, 1887. when the Aurora Syndicate Mining Company was organized, and began work on an exten- sive scale on the Boyd farm adjoining the town. In October following the richest min - eral deposits in the district were found on the Brinckerhoff and McCoy lands. The princi- pal mines now in operation extend east and northeasterly to a distance of nearly three miles from the business center of the city, but some mining is carried farther, and in other directions. A large part of the mining grounds is known as "Orchard Camp," from the fact that the earlier discoveries were made in apple orchards. All the mining lands, by reason of their contour, have natural drainage, and are covered with concentrating plants, derricks. drill plants, crushers, mills, and the debris from excavation and crushing. The value of concentrating plants runs from $4.000 to $10,- 000. The operatives employed number about 1,000 men. Saturday payments are made, and the banks are open under electric light until Io o'clock at night for the accommodation of the long line of men who receive their wages in the form of pay checks. In 1899 many cash sales of mining property were made at high prices, in one instance reaching the sum of a half-million dollars. The same property was

afterward capitalized at an enormous sum, the deed requiring internal revenue stamps to the value of $3,150. In 1899 the aggregate out- put of the Aurora mines was 54,661,610 pounds of zinc, and 283.060 pounds of lead. The aggregate value was $954,178. In 1900 the attention of large proprietors was centered upon deep mining. Until recently it was be- lieved that ore existed only at comparatively shallow depths. On the Wheat & Loy and the Sand Ridge Mining Company lands shafts have been sunk to a depth of 200 feet, and drilling has been carried on to a total depth of 340 feet, demonstrating the presence of a zinc ore deposit sixty feet in thickness, and yielding a higher grade than taken from any of the shallow mines.

Aurora Springs .- An incorporated vil- lage in the western part of Miller County, on the Jefferson City & Lebanon branch of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It was founded in 1880 and enjoys considerable popularity as a health resort. a mineral spring of marked medicinal properties being located there. About 1885 it reached its height of popularity. There is a school, a private academy, church and four general stores located there. Popu - lation in 1899 (estimated). 421.

Austin, Moses .- A native of Durham. Connecticut, who, after a residence of some years in Virginia, settled in Upper Louisiana about 1780. About 1797 he was granted a league of land in what is now Washington County, Missouri, and which is known as the "Austin Survey." Forty acres of this land he laid out in town lots, and it now comprises a part of the site of Potosi. Ile built an exten- sive lead smelter at Potosi, or, as it was then called, Mine a Breton, the first improved smelting plant in the territory now Missouri, and west of the Mississippi River. Ile also started a shot-tower and a sheet-lead factory. His reports upon the mines of Missouri Terri- tory, made to Captain Amos Stoddard in 1804. are the most authoritative statements of the condition of mining in the Territory at that period, and are highly valuable for the histori- cal data they contain. In 1820 he was granted permission by the Mexican government to lo- cate a colony of 300 Americans in the territory now the State of Texas. The hardships of his long ride on horseback to Mexico resulted in an illness that caused his death. He died on

AUSTIN-AUTENRIETH.

the Terre Bleu, now in St. Francois County, Missouri, June 10, 1821. His remains are buried in the Presbyterian cemetery at Potosi. For many years his grave was neglected. Some years ago a report had been circulated that his remains had been petrified. An at- tempt was made by vandals to steal them. Digging down to the coffin they found only the skeleton. In 1895 a cherry tree eighteen inches in diameter, which had grown over the grave, was cut down, and, with money sub- scribed by some of his distant relatives, a plain stone tomb was built, which now marks the place where his remains repose.

Austin, Stephen F., Missouri states- man and Texas patriot, was born in Wythe County, Virginia, November 8, 1793, and died in Texas, December 27, 1836. He was the son of Moses Austin, the pioneer in improved methods of lead-smelting in America, a Mis- souri pioneer, and the founder of the town of Potosi, in Washington County, Missouri. Stephen F. Austin accompanied his parents to Missouri in 1799. Ile was educated in Con- necticut, his father's native State, and at the Transylvania University, at Lexington, Ken- tucky. In 1818 he was elected a member of the Missouri territorial Legislature, and in 1821 was appointed United States circuit judge for Arkansas. His father, in 1820, was granted concessions in Mexico upon condi- tion that he locate a colony of three hundred families there. Dying in 1821, he requested his son to finish the work of colonization that he had undertaken. By the Mexican govern- ment the privileges granted Moses Austin were confirmed to his son, and the latter faith- fully carried out the scheme of colonization, locating his colony on the Brazos. It is a fact well authenticated that not a single member of Austin's colony was ever charged with theft or misdemeanor, nor did any of them ever oc- eupy a felon's cell. After reaching the Brazos with his colonists, Austin found that during his absence of a year the government of Mex- ico had changed, necessitating a journey on horseback to the City of Mexico. There his rights were secured on April 4, 1823, and, after several months at the capital, he returned to Texas. Later he served in the Coahuila and Texas Legislatures. In 1833 he was sent as a commissioner, with a draft of a proposed Con- stitution, asking that Texas be made a sepa- rate State. Ilis request was never answered.

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 17

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