USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 60
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These conditions are not introduced as an excuse or an apology for any wrong or violence, but the situation on the Kansas- Missouri border, the excited and intense feeling and its expression in 1855-60, can not be understood without a recognition of these facts. Had a like controversy arisen between the people of, say Pennsylvania and Maryland, "border troubles" like those between Missouri and Kansas would not have been possible or at least but nominal in manifestation.
To sum up, the "border troubles" so far as Missouri was concerned were the result as a whole, aside from the slave property feel- ing, very largely of Missouri politics. The Benton and anti-Benton contest had for years aroused intense bitterness. Although it was but an episode in the beginning of that "irrepressible conflict" that found its evolu- tion and solution in the Civil War of 1861-65, the destruction of slavery and the present renaissance of the republic. yet to the Missouri masses it was more of a local and personal political battle, on policies of which the abrogation of the Missouri Compromise was the key.
This was the reason why the active par- ticipators in the Kansas question were as a rule confined to the opponents of Benton, or the "fire-eaters" mostly of the faction of the Democratic party headed by Claiborne F. Jackson, the Governor of the State when the War of the Rebellion broke out-and popu- larly known as the "Claib Jackson" party. The alignment of the people of Missouri in the War of the Rebellion, into which the border troubles merged in 1861, amply con- firms this statement. Although the Whigs in 1849-50 united with the anti-Benton Democrats in the Legislature to defeat Benton for the United States Senate, yet it was a tactical political move more than a thing of sympathy or sentiment. The fact that Missouri remained in the Union, de- posed Governor Jackson and his State government, organized a provisional gov- ernment loyal to the Union, and successfully defended and established it, is all that is needed to warrant the statement herein miade : That the "border troubles" follow- ing the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the movements for a Territorial organiza- tion in Kansas, were not from the inspiration of Missouri or her people, but of a political
faction, joined to the organized immigration from other states-mainly from what was called the "Cotton States." Their leaders no doubt looked farther, but they kept the purpose in the background, and used the excited political feeling and the "abolition" cry to incite their sympathies to action.
This view of the then conditions has been vindicated by time, events and the subse- quent action of these same leaders, as well as of the people of the State in the great crisis of 1861. It is all that is needed to put the people of Missouri in their true position in the "border troubles" of 1854-60.
R. T. VAN HORN.
Bosworth .- A city of the fourth class, in Carroll County, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, twelve miles northeast of Carrollton. It was laid out and first settled in 1888. It has a public school, Baptist and Methodist Episcopal Churches, a bank. flour- ing mill, sawmill and handle factory, a news- paper, the "Sentinel," and about thirty other business enterprises, large and small. Popu- lation, 1899 (estimated), 600.
Bothwell, John Homer, lawyer and president of the Sedalia National Bank, was born in Maysville, Clay County, Illinois, No- vember 20, 1848, and is a son of James K. and Marian (Brissenden) Bothwell. His father, who was born in Athens County, Ohio, April 20, 1818, removed to Clay County, Illi- nois, when a young man, and spent the last sixty years of his life there as a farmer and merchant. He was in early life a Whig, but helped organize the Republican party in 1856. and voted for John C. Fremont for President. Ilis death occurred May 26, 1899, in Clay County. His father, James Bothwell, was born in the north of Ireland. of Scotch ances- try. Immigrating with his parents to Amer- ica at the close of the eighteenth century, he settled in Virginia, but soon afterward re- moved to Pennsylvania. He married Char- lotte Potter, a member of an old New Jersey family, of which Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, Bishop of New York, is a representative. Her father served as a captain in the Conti- mental Army under Washington. Many members of the family have attained posi- tions of distinction in the United States. After his marriage. James Bothwell, grand- father of the subject. moved to Geneva,
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Pennsylvania. About 1812 he removed with his family to southeastern Ohio and located in that part of Athens County now included in Vinton County. Our subject's mother was a daughter of Jolin and Elizabeth Brissenden, both natives of England. About 1819 John Brissenden settled in Edwards County, Illi- nois, being among the earliest English pio- neers of that State, where he married. The education of the subject of this sketch was begun in the common schools of Clay County, Illinois. In 1869 he was graduated from the Indiana State University at Bloom- ington. After a course of study in the law offices of A. B. Matthews, at Albion, and Stewart, Edwards & Brown, at Springfield. he entered the Albany Law School, at that time the most famous institution of its kind in the country, from which he was graduated in the class of 1871. In Albany he was ad- mitted to practice in both the State and Fed- eral courts. Removing to Sedalia in the same year he was at once admitted to the bar of Missouri. Since that time he has remained continuously in practice in that city. From September, 1872, to May. 1885, he practiced in partnership with Frank Houston, under the firm name of Houston & Bothwell, and from the latter date until the death of his brother-in-law. W. V. Jaynes, in July, 1891. practiced with the latter under the style of Bothwell & Jaynes. Since then he has main- tained an office alone. From 1873 to 1876. inclusive, he assisted the prosecuting attor- ney, Mr. Houston, in the conduct of hun- dreds of criminal cases. The last ten years of his life have been devoted principally to corporation practice. In the councils of the Republican party Mr. Bothwell has been very influential for years. He represented his dis- trict in the Thirty-fifth General Assembly, from 1889 to 1891, serving on the commis- sion which compiled, annotated and pub- lished the Revised Statutes of 1889. In the Thirty-eighth General Assembly (1895 to 1897) he was appointed to the important post of chairman of the House committee on judi- ciary. He introduced the concurrent res- olution proposing the "capital removal amendment" to the State Constitution. This resolution passed, and though bitterly fought by the ablest lawyers of Jefferson City, and other eminent attorneys of the State, it was unanimously sustained by the Supreme Court of Missouri. In February, 1892, Mr. Both-
well was elected first vice president of the Missouri League of Republican Clubs, and in April, 1802, was made chairman of the Re- publican State central committee and chair- man of its executive committee. In March, 1890, and again in April, 1891, he served as a delegate to the National Conventions of the League of Republican Chubs. In June, 1896, as a delegate-at-large from Missouri, he at- tended the Republican National Convention which nominated William Mckinley for President, and the following month presided over the Republican State Convention in the exciting three days' session at Springfield, which nominated Robert E. Lewis, of Clin- ton, for Governor. Ile has served as presi- dent of the Sedalia Board of Trade. From January, 1893, to January, 1896. he was vice president of the Sedalia National Bank, and since that date has held the office of presi- dent. He was married, October 22, 1884, to Miss Hattie E. Jaynes, daughter of Colonel A. D. Jaynes, of Sedalia. She died in June, 1887. leaving no children. The contempo- raries of Mr. Bothwell accord him a place in the foremost rank of the legal fraternity of Missouri. Though prominent in State poli- tics, as has been shown, in the conduct of the national party, and as the head of one of the best known financial institutions in central Missouri, he is best known throughout the State as a lawyer of high attainments. His professional labors have been attended by a measure of success more generous than that which falls to the lot of most practitioners. which fact in itself is sufficient evidence of his ability and accomplishments.
Botsford, James S., lawyer, was born June 10, 1844, in Waukesha County, Wiscon- sin. His parents were Sherman and Rhoda (Look) Botsford. The father was a native of New York, and removed to Wisconsin dur- ing the latter part of the thirties. He died during the boyhood of James S. His wife was also a native of New York. Their son, being obliged to make his own way in the world, went to Lisbon, Illinois, at an early age, and alternately attended school and worked for a livelihood. Thrown upon his own resources and energies in the very be- ginning of his career, he was not slow to appreciate the value of an education or the necessity for improving every hour in profit- able employment or study. He attended the
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common and high schools at Lisbon and Morris, Illinois. At the age of sixteen he enlisted for service in the Union Army. Grieved as he was on account of having to sacrifice an indefinite number of valuable years at a time when the acquiring of an edu- cation was so important a duty with him, patriotism was stronger than all else, and as a mere boy he went forth in the uniform of a soldier. He enlisted as a private in the Fifth Wisconsin Infantry, and served as such until he suffereda serious wound during the bloody first day's engagement in the battle of the Wilderness. The wound incapacitated hini for further military service, and after being bedfast for three months on account of the injury, he was discharged in 1864, having served three years. Being but nineteen years of age at this time, he resumed his studies with eagerness, and spent two years in school at Morris, Illinois, reading law at the same time. Diligence and determination were re- warded, and in 1867 he was admitted to the bar at Ottawa, Illinois, before the Supreme Court of that State, after passing a most creditable examination conducted by a com- mittee of able lawyers in open court. He re- moved to Sedalia, Missouri, the same year and entered upon the practice of his profes- sion. He resided there five years, during the last of which he served as city counselor. He was appointed by President Grant to the po- sition of United States district attorney for the Western District of Missouri, and re- moved to Jefferson City, Missouri, where he resided seven years. He lield the office re- ferred to an equal number of years. When his term expired, in 1879, he removed to Kansas City, Missouri, where he has since resided. While living in Jefferson City he had formed a law partnership with M. T. C. Williams. This association lasted from Jan- mary 1, 1876, until 1895, the two members of the firm removing from Jefferson City to Kansas City at the same time and continuing together in a large practice. In 1895 the existing firm of Botsford, Deatherage & Young was formed, and is considered one of the ablest legal combinations in Kansas City. Mr. Botsford devotes his energies entirely to the civil practice. Politically he is a Repub- lican, but takes no more active part in polit- ical affairs than his deep interest in the success of his principles requires. Mr. Bots- ford was married, in 1871, to Miss Sallie
Warner, daughter of Colonel William A. Warner, of Lexington, Kentucky, and a granddaughter of General Leslie Combs. One child has come to this union, Georgie, wife of B. F. Deatherage, of the firm of Bots- ford, Deatherage & Young. Mr. Botsford is a man of intense earnestness and sincerity, but of modest pretensions. His conspicuous public service and his abilities as a lawyer have gained for him a wide acquaintance over the State, but of these he takes no advantage save in the enjoyment of friendship's ties. He has a dignified standing at the bar and is ranked among the foremost lawyers of Mis- souri.
Boulware, Theodrick C., physician, a native Missourian and the leader of the medical profession in Bates County, was born in Callaway County, son of Stephen G. and Mary (Ratekin) Boulware. The former was a native of Kentucky, and a son of Theodrick Boulware, who was born in Essex County, Virginia, in 1780. Early in the life of the lat- ter, and in the year 1784, his parents re- moved from Virginia to Kentucky. At that time he was a mere boy, and, with the rest of the family, walked the entire distance, pack horses being employed to carry the necessary household goods. The records of that State show that they were numbered among the founders of the Commonwealthi. They were constantly surrounded by the dan- gers incident to life in the wilderness at that period, and it is related of them that when they went to church the head of the family always carried his musket on his shoulder to save his family in the event of attack by In- dians, who were then numerous and warlike in that region. The Boulware family is of Scotch ancestry, though the date of the com- ing of the original ancestor to America is not known. Several representatives of the family have risen to positions of prominence, an uncle of the subject of this sketch, for many years a resident of Albany, New York, having been known as one of the most emi- nent physicians and surgeons of the Empire State. Stephen G .. the father of Dr. Boul- ware, accompanied his parents from Ken- tucky to Missouri in 1826, in the pioneer days of the State. His father finally settled in Callaway County, near Fulton, where he developed a fine farm, and also preached in Fulton and the vicinity for many years. He
j. C. Boulware m. Q.
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died, in 1868, at his daughter's plantation near Georgetown, Kentucky. As indicating his character and the principles which gov- erned him, we transcribe the following rules, which he adopted soon after his marriage, when quite young, and which he adhered to throughout his life : First, read the Scripture and worship God in the family ; second, use regular industry and prudent economy ; third, never deal on credit or go in debt, except through unavoidable necessity ; fourth, make expenses less than our regular profits ; and, fiftlı, keep a regular book of both profits and expenses. Rev. Mr. Boulware was not a voluminous writer, but he published an auto- biography, two or three volumes on doctrinal subjects, and a considerable number of ser- mons. The hardships to which the early set- tlers of the border States were subjected, and the necessity for their relying upon their own resources to develop their strong. self- reliant natures, made them often men and women of marked mental characteristics. Stephen G. Boulware grew to manhood on his father's farm, married and raised a large family. His son, Dr. Theodrick C. Boulware, was reared at the old homestead and began his education in the common schools in the neighborhood. After his preparatory course he entered Westminster College, a Presby- terian institution at Fulton, where he pursued the scientific course. Upon leaving this school he became a student in the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, from which he was graduated with the degree of doctor of medicine in 1868. In the same year he lo- cated for practice in Walnut Township, Bates County, but one year later removed to But- ler, becoming one of the pioneers of that city, where he has remained ever since. At the time Dr. Boulware first opened an office at that point there were but eight or ten small houses in the town. Deer and other game were abundant in the neighborhood, and he could ride a distance of ten miles on the prairie without passing a single house, for, by the famous "Order No. 11," of Gen- eral Ewing, all houses in the surrounding country had been burned during the war for the purpose of depriving the Confederate forces of places of refuge. The courthouse in Butler was a small frame building, and the town had no railroad facilities. At that time Butler was the principal station on the stage route between Pleasant Hill and Fort Scott.
No roads had been laid out and no bridges spanned any of the numerous streams in that vicinity. Horses were not thought capable of breaking the sod of the raw prairie, and oxen were employed in the work. The doc- tor relates that he has seen as many as a thousand prairie chickens at one time, while herds of a dozen or fifteen deer were not 1In- common. In the fall of 1874 he witnessed the memorable plague of grasshoppers. In the middle of the day they began to descend like snowflakes, literally covering the ground. Everything growing was destroyed in a few hours, and even the bark of trees was enten. The insects deposited billions of eggs in the ground, and, with the amount of warm weather in 1875, the new generation created even greater havoc than the original pests. So general and complete was the devastation resulting from their ravages that the inhabi- tants of western Missouri were compelled to apply to the outside world for food to keep them from starvation. Even the common weeds were completely destroyed. But the marvelous part of the story is that the de- structive visit of these pests was followed by the greatest yield of farm products that this section of the country has ever known. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Dr. Boulware, then a lad of sixteen years and a student in Westminster College, was seized with the martial fervor so common with boys at that time, and enlisted in the Confed- erate service. Though his expectations were that the demand for his services would cease at the end of two or three weeks, his services covered a period of four years, or until the close of the war. He at once became a mem- ber of the personal escort of General Sterling Price, remaining with that noted commander until the close of the conflict, and witnessing all the campaigns in which he participated. He was never seriously injured, though he had more than one narrow escape from in- jury or capture. Dr. Boulware has always exhibited a deep interest in matters pertain- ing to the advancement of his profession. For many years he has been a member of the American Medical Association, the Missouri State Medical Society, of which he has been vice president, the International Association of Railway Surgeons, and the Hodgen Medi- cal Society, of which he has served as presi- dent. During the second administration of President Cleveland he was chairman of the
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local board of pension examiners, and for a long period he has been the local surgeon for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company. Though a lifelong Democrat, he has never sought or consented to fill public office. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was one of the incorporators and is still a director in the Missouri State Bank, and is identified with other interests calculated to promote the wel- fare of the city of which he has for over thirty years been a prominent and influential citi- zen. Dr. Boulware's first marriage occurred June 21, 1877, to Nettie Humphrey, a native of Iowa, and a daughter of A. H. Humphrey. for many years a resident of Bates County. Missouri. They had one child, who died in infancy. She died in 1882. October 25. 1887. Dr. Boulware married for his second wife Miss Dixie Ostrom, of St. Louis, formerly a resident of Butler. She died April 26, 1896. leaving one son. John B. Boulware, now a resident of Butler. Though connected with no religious denomination, Dr. Boulware is a man of the highest moral character, and his professional career has been without spot or blemish. Of great liberality of heart, deeply interested in all matters pertaining to the wellbeing of the community in which he has resided so long, he has assisted in the pro- motion of numerous measures calculated to advance the material welfare of Butler. His record is that of a liberal, broad-minded, np- right and useful member of society.
Boundaries .- The original boundary of the State of Missouri, as defined in the first Constitution, of 1820, and submitted to Con- gress, and repeated in the act of Congress admitting Missouri into the Union, was as follows : Beginning in the middle of the Mis- sissippi River, on the parallel of thirty-six de- grees north latitude ; thence west along the said parallel to the St. Francis River ; thence up and following the course of that river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the parallel of latitude thirty-six degrees thirty minutes ; thence west along the same to a point where the said parallel is inter- sected by a meridian passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas River. where it empties into the Missouri River : thence from the point aforesaid north along the said meridian line to the intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through
the rapids of the River Des Moines, making said line correspond with the Indian boun- dary line ; thence east from the point of inter- section last aforesaid along the said parallel of latitude to the middle of the main channel of the main fork of said River Des Moines : thence down along the middle of the main channel of the said River Des Moines to the month of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi River ; thence due east to the mid- dle of the main channel of the Mississippi River : thence down and following the course of the Mississippi River, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of begin- ning. In 1836 Congress passed an act ex- tending the northern boundary west to the Missouri River, making that river the west- ern boundary to the mouth of the Kansas River. The additional territory thus acquired was known as the "Platte Purchase," and was subsequently divided into the six counties of Platte, Buchanan, Andrew. Holt, Nodaway and Atchison.
Boundary Controversies .- Missouri has had three boundary disputes with sister States-one with Iowa concerning the entire northern boundary, one with Kentucky over the line at Wolf Island, in the Mississippi. and one with a citizen of Illinois for the pos- session of Arsenal Island, and has lost its case in each instance. A more recent dis- pute, with the State of Nebraska, arose in 1900, and is yet pending.
In 1849 the State of Missouri filed a bill in the Supreme Court of the United States, with the consent of the State of Iowa, a cross-bill being at the same time filed by Iowa, for the purpose of determining the true boundary line between the two States, and thereby avoiding collisions which were beginning to threaten trouble. Before the organization of lowa into a Territory, in 1837, the inhabi- tants of the disputed strip had voted at Mis- souri elections, but afterward, in 1838, a Missouri sheriff had been arrested and con- victed before an Iowa Territorial court for exercising authority on lowa soil. The boundary dispute with lowa turned on the meaning of the words "Des Moines Rapids," employed in the act of Congress of 1820, ad- mitting Missouri into the Union. Iowa was not admitted as a State until 1846. twenty-six years after Missouri had been admitted, but there was a Territory north of the Missouri
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border, and between that Territory and the State of Missouri the dispute began. The act of admission of Missouri defined the western boundary to be the meridian running through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas River, and the north line was to begin at the point where this western boundary intersects the parallel passing through the rapids of Des Moines River, and run east along said paral- lel to the middle of the channel of the main fork of said river. But in 1816, four years before this northern boundary was defined. the United States had established an Indian boundary line with the Osage tribes, which, in its northern course, did not terminate at its intersection with the parallel that passes through the Des Moines Rapids, and in its east course did not coincide with that parallel, or any parallel; as laid out by a United States surveyor named John C. Sullivan, it bore a trifle north, and was irregular and broken in its course besides. Missouri claimed that the Indian boundary on the west should be protracted till it intersected the parallel passing through certain rapids at the great bend of the Des Moines River, and from there run east along that parallel to those rapids. Iowa claimed that this Indian boundary was extended too far north al- ready; that the rapids mentioned in the act of Congress giving the Missouri boundary were certain rapids, not in the Des Moines, but in the Mississippi River, always known by the name of Des Moines Rapids ; and that the parallel that passes through these was the true boundary between the two States. The difference between the two lines thus claimed. respectively, by the two States, was a strip of territory about ten miles in width by two hundred in length, larger than the State of Rhode Island. In 1837 the Missouri Legis- lature passed an act providing for a survey of the northern boundary ; the work was done by John C. Brown, and the line marked was known as "Brown's line." running from rapids in the Des Moines River west to the Missouri River. It was ten miles north of the old Indian line traced by Sullivan in 1816. In connection with the true meaning of the words Des Moines Rapids, this original In- dian line was considered of great importance, and. in the end, governed the decision. The line had been established as far back as 1808. in a treaty with the Great and Little Osage nations, and officially recognized by the
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