Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 49

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 49

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).

Big Island .- An island in the Missouri River, near the southern shore, opposite Cote Sans Desseins, in Callaway County, now called Dodd's Island. About the first settle- ment in what is now Osage County was made on this island (the first of the nineteenth cen- tury). by Jean Baptiste Paraw.

Big River .- A tributary of the Mera- mec. It rises in Washington County, flows north a hundred miles, through Washington and Jefferson Counties, and empties into the Meramec, in Jefferson County. It is not navigable, but is a beautiful stream, with many mills on it.

Billings .- Sce "Monett."

Billings .- A city of the fourth class, in Christian County, on the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway, twenty miles northwest of Ozark, the county seat. It has a public school and a private school, seven churches, two newspapers, the "Times," Democratic, and the "Bee." Republican; a bank, a flour- mill, fruit cannery, foundry, planing mill, and brick and tile works. In 1900 the estimated population was 1,200.

Bill of Rights .- A formal enumeration of elementary political truths, and of those inherent rights of a people and of individuals which are independent of and above all legis- lation of whatever kind, and which may not be impaired or abridged, such as: "All po- litical power is vested in, and derived from, the people"; "Missouri isa free and independ- ent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States": "All constitutional gov- ernment is intended to promote the general welfare of the people"; "The courts of jus- tice shall be open to every person, and certain remedy afforded to every injury to person, property or character." Sometimes there is included in the enumeration of rights the as- sertion of certain duties and obligations, as : "No person elected or appointed to any office or employment of trust under the laws of the State, or any ordinance of any municipality in the State, shall hold such office without personally devoting his time to the perform- ance of the duties to the same belonging." A "Bill of Rights" is found in all the State Constitutions, and is usually regarded as the most august part of the instrument. In the State Constitution of Missouri, it follows af- ter the preamble and boundaries, and is made Article II, consisting of thirty-two sections.

Billon, Frederick L., historian, was born in Philadelphia, April 28, 1801, and died in St. Louis, October 20, 1895. He came to St. Louis in the autumn of 1818, and soon became prominently identified with local affairs. He was a member of the Board of Aldermen in 1828, and thereafter was twice appointed city comptroller. In 1853 he was appointed first auditor of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company, and held that position until 1858, when he became secretary and treasurer of the company. He resigned the last named position in 1863, and from that time until his death devoted himself to col- lecting historical matter pertaining to the early settlement of St. Louis and the Missis- sippi Valley. He was long regarded as an authority on matters of this character, and published the valuable historical work which is entitled "Annals of St. Louis in Its Terri- torial Days." He married Miss E. L. Gen- erelly, who was a native of Philadelphia.

Binder, Frederick Henry, president of the Waterworks Company, and of the

Ince Ist. Kinder

273

BINDER.

Bridge and Transit Company, of Jefferson City, was born October 14, 1845, near Hildes- heim, Hanover, Germany. His parents were Johann Carl Heinrich and Johanna (Meyer) Binder, both of whom died in their native land. The son, Frederick Henry, was edu- cated in the common schools and in a high school at his birtliplace. He then engaged in work with his father, a capable architect and builder, who, upon the completion of his apprenticeship, when he was twenty years of age, bade the son pass his wanderjalire in the United States, occupying five years if neces- sary, in order to gain that knowledge of inen and affairs which is only to be acquired in travel. Young Binder made a visit to an uncle in Franklin County, Missouri, and cir- cumstances arose which led him to abandon all thought of returning to Germany. In 1867 he went to Jefferson City and engaged as a carpenter. He exhibited such ability and conscientiousness as a workman that his employer, the late Gotleib Martin, a highly regarded architect and builder of that town, made him his superintendent of construction, in which capacity he supervised the work upon the executive mansion, the public. school and other buildings. In 1873 he took up architecture and construction upon his own account, and soon established a State- wide reputation for skill and scrupulous hon- esty in all transactions, mechanical and finan- cial, and his services were called for in many important building enterprises. Among the edifices which he constructed were the Mis- souri Reform School, at Boonville; the school, chapel and additions to the Missouri Deaf and Dumb Institution, and Insane Asy- lum No. 1. and the Adams Block, at Fulton ; the German Evangelical Central Church, of which he was also the architect ; St. Peter's Church, the Lincoln Institute Training School, the Merchants' Bank, the Exchange Bank, and the Monroe House, Jefferson City ; various buildings of the University of Mis- souri, comprising those of manual training, engineering and physics, the power house, . and main building, Academic Hall, the latter costing $250,000, and the Reform School for Girls, at Chillicothe. In 1890 he abandoned architecture and gave his attention solely to the erection of buildings, preferably those of a publie character. In 1896 he relinquished contracting, and thereafter supervised build- ing only. Under the administration of Presi-

dent Arthur he was placed in charge of the construction of the Government Building at Jefferson City, which is occupied by the United States Court, and postoffice. and was continued under the adminis- tration of President Cleveland, the work oc- cupving three and one-half years' time, and involving an expenditure of nearly $170,000. In all these large works every detail of con- struction was conscientiously perfect, and they stand to-day as monuments of honest labor. During these years Mr. Binder laid the foundations of the competency which he now enjoys, the beginning of which was ab- solutely without capital, and unaided by for- tuitous circumstance, his success being only ascribable to persistent industry and tin- flinching integrity. In enterprises of a semi- public character, conducing to the material advantage of the community, he has been a potent factor. He was among the incorpo- rators of the first Jefferson City building and loan association, and has served as its presi- dent from the organization to the present time. In 1888 he aided in the organization of the Jefferson City Waterworks Company, and became its president and manager of con- struction ; the former position he has occu- pied continuously from the inception of the enterprise. The works are a model of effi- ciency. In 1894 he assisted in the formation of the Jefferson City Bridge and Transit Company, of which he has been president from the outset. This bridge, for highway travel, spanning the Missouri River, was erected at a cost of $225,000. As a result of its building, the Chicago & Alton, and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railways made terminals at North Jefferson, and effected traffic arrangements by which passengers and goods are delivered in Jefferson City on the opposite side of the river, on the same terms as by the roads entering the city di- rectly. The aggregate saving to the public under this system, as well as by the railway competition resulting therefrom, is not to be computed. In politics Mr. Binder is a Re- publican. Fraternally he is a Knight Tem- plar Mason, and also a member of Moolah Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of St. Louis. While he has been concerned too deeply in large business affairs to take the part of a leader, were he so disposed, he has been repeatedly called upon to occupy public positions, out of the conviction that his abil-

274

BINGHAM.

ity and integrity peculiarly fitted him for use- fulness to the community. He has served as a member of the Board of Education and of the City Council, and in 1884 was chosen mayor without an opposing candidate to con- test his election. He holds connection with the German Evangelical Central Church, and is active in furthering the interests of that body; for more than twenty years he has been president of its board of trustees. He was married, May 19, 1868, to Miss Kather- ine Blockberger, a native of Jefferson City. One child, Frederick C. Binder, was born of this marriage. This son attended the public schools of his native city, afterward studying for one year in the German-English Educa- tional Institute, and for two years in Washı- ington University, in St. Louis. He then spent a year in Europe, traveling, and as a student in the Polytechnic School in Bruns- wick, Germany, giving special attention to architecture. On returning home he was as- sociated with his father in supervisory work on the University of Missouri buildings. He was afterward engaged as bookkeeper for the Merchants' Bank, and relinquished this posi- tion in 1897 to become assistant superintend- ent and treasurer of the Jefferson City Water- works Company. He, like his father, is a Knight Templar Mason, and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. In June, 1898, he was mar- ried to Miss Alma, daughter of W. W. Wag- ner, a prominent business man of Jefferson City. The Binders, father and son, are pos- sessed of all those qualities which constitute the desirable citizen. Their business ability is of the highest order; their every transac- tion is grounded in the most scrupulous in- tegrity, and their judgment is based upon the highest intelligence and most liberal breadth of view.

Bingham, George C., artist, State Treasurer and Adjutant General of Missouri, was born near Weir's Cave, Augusta County, Virginia, March 20, 1811, and died at Kansas City, Missouri, July 7, 1879. When he was eighteen years of age his family came to Mis- souri and settled at Franklin, in Howard County, the family embracing, besides the parents, seven children, three daughters and four sons, George C. Bingham being the sec- ond son. In 1823 the father, Henry V. Bing- ham, died, and the mother, Mary Bingham, moved with her family to a small farm near the

present site of Arrow Rock, in Saline County. A venture in the tobacco business made by the father had proved unfortunate, and the little farm in Saline County, industriously worked by the sons, was the sole support of the family, while a small library, embracing standard books of the time, with the instruction of the mother, an educated woman, was the means of education to the children. At the age of six- teen, George C. Bingham was put as an ap- prentice to a cabinetmaker in Boonville. There was the stirring of ambition in the breast of the boy, and he proposed when a little older to study law with the possibility of public life in the future. But about this time an apparently chance event occurred which changed his purpose and deprived Missouri of a great lawyer, but as a compensation, and more than a compensation for the loss, gave her a great painter. A portrait painter came to the little town of Boonville, and young Bingham, who had already exhibited some skill in drawing, had awakened in him an irre- sistible impulse to become an artist. His first efforts were encouraging, and in 1837 he went to Philadelphia and studied in the Pennsyl- vania Academy of Fine Arts. Three years later he went to Washington City and opened a studio; and during the five years he lived there he painted the portraits of a number of distinguished men, among them ex-President John Quincy Adams, at that time a member of Congress. His name and fame were now es- tablished, and he came to be known as the "Missouri Artist." But Washington City had few attractions for him as a place of residence, and in 1845 he returned to his old home in Saline County, Missouri, where he was warmly received by the many friends who were proud of his reputation. He was accustomed to take an active interest in politics, and in 1846 was persuaded to stand as Whig candidate for the Legislature. After a close contest he was de- clared elected by a majority of three votes ; but his opponent contested his seat and secured it. The next year the contest was had over again and Bingham beat his former antagonist by a decisive majority. It was while he was in the Legislature, in 1849, that the secession "Jack- son Resolutions" came up, and after passing the Senate were referred in the House to the committee on Federal relations, of which Bing- ham was a member. This committee reported against them, Bingham being conspicuous in the opposition to them. At the end of his term

275

BIRCH-BIRCH TREE.

of service in the Legislature he returned with new ardor to his profession, and departing from portraiture, entered a field which gave his genius full play, and in which he has never had an equal. His first work in this new field was "The Jolly Flatboatmen," which was pur- chased by the Art Union of New York and made the subject of its annual engraving, and in this way secured a wide circulation. It was followed by "Stump Speaking," "The County Election," "Result of the Election," and other works of similar character, all Western scenes, with Missourians as the type of Western char- acter, and all admirable illustrations of free, rude, robust life in the West, as it was in Bing- ham's day. In 1856 he visited Europe with his family and devoted three years to the assid- uous cultivation of his art in Duesseldorf. On his return the country was in the tumult and excitement that preceded the Civil War, and Bingham, with the prompt decision and reso- lution that were distinguishing marks of his character, avowed himself a Union man and raised a company for service. This company was attached to Colonel Mulligan's command at Lexington, and was included in the capture of the garrison at that place by General Ster- ling Price, in September, 1861. Shortly after he was appointed by Governor Gamble as State Treasurer under the provisional government and held the office for four years, discharging its duties with exemplary fidelity and ability. In 1875 he was appointed by Governor Hardin as adjutant general, and acquitted himself in that position with similar success. When General Ewing, commanding the Federal , forces in the district of Kansas City, issued the Order No. 1I, of August 25, 1863, for the sum- mary depopulation of Cass, Bates and Jackson Counties and part of Vernon, Bingham ve- hemently denounced the measure as op- pressive, cruel, unwarranted and unnecessary, and three years later immortalized the scenes which attended the execution of it, in the painting of "Order No. 11." Subsequently he painted the full-length portraits of Washing- ton, Jefferson and Clay, and the equestrian figures of General Jackson and General Lyon in the State capitol at Jefferson City, the full- length portraits of Baron Von Humboldt and General Frank P. Blair in the Mercantile Li- brary of St. Louis, and the full-length figure of James S. Rollins in the State University at Columbia. All his works, portraits and scenes, reveal the greatness of the man and the artist.

His imagination was powerful, his hand was the quick and docile servant of his mind and heart ; he worked at his tasks with passionate enthusiasın and marvelous zest, and whatever he did was so well done that no one else could have done it better. In the official positions he was called to he exhibited the capacity for public affairs that might be looked for in a trained statesman, but would hardly be ex- pected in an enthusiastic and gifted artist. He was the soul of honor, upright, liberal, gentle and true in all liis relations, a companion whose society his personal friends never wearied of, and whom they loved with a con- stantly increasing affection. He was a mem- ber of the Baptist Church and an exemplary Christian.

DANIEL M. GRISSOM.

Birch, James H., lawyer, editor, legis- lator and judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri, was born in Virginia in March, 1804, and died at Plattsburg, Missouri, January 10, 1878. While a

youth he removed to Kentucky, where he studied law under Judge Trimble, one of the judges of the Kentucky Supreme Court. In 1826 he came to Missouri and became a writer on the St. Louis "Enquirer," the leading Den- ocratic paper at that time. Afterward he re- moved to Fayette, Howard County, and pub- lished the "Western Monitor." In 1828 he was made clerk of the House in the Missouri Legislature, and was soon after elected to the State Senate. He was appointed for two terms register of the United States land office at Plattsburg, Clinton County, and made that place his home. In 1849 he was appointed judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and held that position until 1852. At the begin- ning of the troubles that immediately preceded the Civil War, he took a firm stand for the Union, and was elected a member of the State Convention of 1861. Judge Birch was tall, of commanding person, an effective speaker, an accomplished writer and a public man of un- blemished probity.

Birch Tree .- A village on the Current River Railroad, in Birch Tree Township, Shannon County, eighteen miles southwest of Eminence. A postoffice was located there, and upon the building of the Current River Railroad a town grew up rapidly. It has three churches, three hotels, a flouring mill, and about half a dozen stores. Population, 1899 (estimated), 750.

276

BIRCH VS. BENTON-BIRD.

Birel vs. Benton .- In the Circuit Court of Buchanan County, in August, 1849, James H. Birch, of Plattsburg, entered suit against Senator Thomas H. Benton, asking damages for slander, alleging that defendant had in a public speech charged plaintiff with wife- whipping, with undue intimacy with a negro wench belonging to plaintiff, and with de- nouncing plaintiff as a "sheep-killing cur dog." The damages were laid at one thousand dol- lars, but the sum was increased afterward. On application of defendant, change of venue was awarded to Clay County, and subsequently, on application of the plaintiff, to Jackson County. Judge Young having been of counsel in the case, a further change of venue was awarded to Henry County, where trial was had before Judge DeWitt C. Ballou, in May, 1855. The jury gave plaintiff a verdict for $5,000. The case was taken on writ of error to the Supreme Court, where the judgment was reversed, Judge Richardson delivering the opinion, at the January term, 1858. April Ioth of the same year Senator Benton died, and the case ended. From the beginning until this conclu- sion the defendant was represented by eight- een attorneys. Among the lawyers on one side or the other were General Alexander Doniphan; Henry M. Voris, who was after- ward a Supreme Court judge; James B. Gar- denhire, who became Attorney General of Missouri ; Benjamin F. Loan, a member of Congress; John Wilson, an accomplished member of the bar ; William T. Wood, Henry L. Routt, James K. Sheely ; Samuel H. Wood- son, a member of Congress; Prince L. Hud- gens, a member of the General Assembly, and of the State Convention of 1861; Russell Hicks, Judges Waldo P. Johnson and John F. Ryland, and Messrs. Basset, Archer and Lee. Among the witnesses who testified orally or by deposition were Colonel Doniphan, Austin A. King. Sterling Price, William H. Buffing- ton and Nathaniel B. Holden. . William Mc- Kee, editor of the Missouri "Democrat," was a witness by deposition, and refusing to an- swer questions, was committed to jail by the notary public, Samuel A. Bennett. The case is reported in 26 Mo. 153, and was after- ward made the subject of an entertaining mon- ograph by the late General Banton G. Boone, of Clinton, Missouri. James H. Birch, the plaintiff in the case, was a native of Virginia. In personal bearing, education and attain- ments he much resembled his distinguished

antagonist. He was an accomplished editor and lawyer, an impressive orator and a man of prominence. He had served as State Sen- ator, and at the beginning of his controversy with Senator Benton was a member of the Su- preme Court.

Bird, Lorenzo Frederick, lawyer, was born February 22, 1856, in Weston, Mis- souri. His father, Lorenzo D. Bird, a native of the State of New York, came to Missouri at a very early day and located at Weston. He was a noted lawyer of the pioneer period, and was a conspicuous figure in the affairs which stand out as features of western Missouri his- tory. He served four years as judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Weston, which was then one of the most important towns in the West, located as it was upon a number of trails which were the paths followed by im- mense caravans of trade, as well as upon the banks of a stream that was then an important artery of commerce. Judge Bird resided in Weston until 1860, when he removed to Atchi- son, Kansas. There he continued in the prac- tice of law, and added to his Missouri reputa- tion as a man of varied resources and abilities, capable of participating in business as well as professional affairs. He was one of the orig- inal directors of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, and of the line which afterward materialized as the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs. In the prime of life, and at a- most useful period of his career, Judge Bird was taken away in 1862. His wife was Anna S. Bird, born in St. Charles, Missouri. Her father, Gustavus Adolphus Bird, was one of the earliest lawyers of eastern Missouri, a man well and most favorably known. She died in 1892 and was buried at Atchison, which had been her home during the thirty years which separated her death from the demise of her husband. Lorenzo F. Bird was four years of age when his father removed to Atchison. The boy attended the public schools of Atchison and later entered the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1877, after taking the literary course. Returning to Atchison he entered the law office of Everest & Waggener, and took the required readings under bril- liantly able preceptors. He was admitted to the bar at Atchison in 1879, and immediately entered upon the practice there. In October, 1889, he removed to Kansas City, Missouri, and has since been a resident of that place. In

277

BIRDSEYE.

Kansas, Mr. Bird's practice was devoted for the greater part to real estate and corporation law. In Missouri his clientage has been largely of a kind that has enabled him to make real estate litigation and personal injuries sub- jects for his professional attention. Along these lines, as well as in a general civil practice, he has been signally successful, and is ranked among the ablest members of a bar noted for its intelligence and marked ability. Mr. Bird's first association in Kansas City was with A. F. Smith, under the firm name of Bird & Smith. This partnership continned about three years, when the head of the firm became a member of the firm of Buckner, Bird & Lake, his associates being Thomas B. Buck- ner and Rush C. Lake. This continued two years, and at the end of that time Mr. Bird es- tablished himself in the practice alone, remain- ing without partnership associates since that time. He represents the Foster Lumber Com- pany, the Rhodes-Haverty Furniture Com- pany and other large corporations. He is a member of the Kansas City Bar Association. Mr. Bird affiliates with the Democratic party, but takes little active part in political affairs. He is a member of the Episcopal Church. Although faithfully devoted to his profession, he enjoys a degree of social diversion. In professional and business circles he holds the esteem of his associates and maintains with dignity the place which faithfulness and merit have won for him.

Birdseye, John Tifft, lawyer, was born July 5, 1836, at Norwalk, Ohio, and is a repre- sentative of one of the oldest families in Amer- ica, which is descended from a noble English family of early origin. The founder of the family in the new world was John Birdseye, who came from Reading, Berkshire County, England, in 1636, and settled in Wethersfield, Connecticut. In the "Register of the Book of Heraldry" of the English nobility the follow- ing account of the origin of the name is given : "Utopha, a maid of honor to the queen during the reign of one of the Edwards, was hunting with her hawk. The bird was disappointed in getting his prey, and in a rage it directed its maddening flight toward its mistress for the purpose of injuring her. ' On the spur of the moment one of the attendant cavaliers, Eldred. fired an arrow from his bow, striking the bird in its head and piercing its eye, thus saving his mistress from harm. For this service and his

great skill in archery, he was then and there knighted by the queen, and given the name of 'Sir Birdseye.' The coat-of-arms he assumed was a hawk, with an arrow piercing its head through the eyes. The motto on his shield was 'Vine Ave Avie Vede,' that is, 'By force I held the bird by sight."" The writer of an article published in "Lippincott's Magazine," in July, 1879, says the Birdseye pedigree is the central stem of all the Stratford, Connecticut, genealogies. The original John Birdseye mar- ried Philippa, daughter of Rev. Henry Smith, at Wethersfield. Subsequently he removed to Milford, Connecticut. He probably settled in Stratford in 1649, where he married his second wife, Alice, widow of Henry Tomlinson. She died in 1698. John Birdseye died April 4, 1690. Representatives of every generation of the family have resided in Fairfield County, Connecticut, since 1649. A son of the founder of the family in America was John Birdseye, who was born March 28, 1641, and died Jan- uary 9, 1697. He was married, December II, 1669, to Phebe Willikson. His son, Joseph, was born February 22, 1681, and died June 25, 1757. Joseph married Saralı Thompson, June 10, 1708. She died leaving no children. Oc- tober 11, 1726, he married Tabitha Walker. Nathan, son of Joseph Birdseye, was born August 12, 1714, and died January 28, 1818. He married Dorothy Hawley, April 17, 1739. He took his degree in Yale College in 1736, was settled as minister in the Presbyterian Church at New Haven in 1743, remained in that parish sixteen years, then removed to his patrimonial estate at Orenoque, in the town of Stratford, where he resided until the close of his long and useful life. When one hundred years of age he ascended the pulpit, and, blind and tottering as he was, preached an accept- able sermon at the ordination of Rev. Matthew R. Dutton. Joseph, son of Rev. Nathan Birds- eye, was born February 4, 1740, married Di- nah Blakeman, and died May 20, 1817. He was a captain in the Continental Army dur- ing the Revolutionary War, and in 1775 as- sisted in the defense of Fort Ticonderoga. His brothers, Thaddeus and Ezra, also par- ticipated in that conflict. His son, Nathan Gould Birdseye, was born January 23, 1774, and died May 24, 1846. He married Polly Platt, who was born October 29, 1801. Gould Platt, son of Natlian Gould Birdseye, was born July 25, 1802, and died September 25, 1881. He married Mary Augusta Lane, Feb-

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 49

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