Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 91

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

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a while was a guest at Dr. Me Anally's home. While there he fell in love with a handsome young lady, the daughter of a wealthy Ten- nessecan. Captain Johnston was poor and his attentions to the young lady were ith received by her father. This occasioned the writing of several letters to his cousin, Mrs. MeAnally, concerning his affection for the young lady, and the opposition to his suit by her father. These letters, which are now in the possession of the family of Judge Francis M. Carter at Farmington, Missouri, are couched in faultless English and are manly in tone. The same vein of manly resolution and philosophic reasoning runs through these letters as through the famous letter he wrote President Davis immediately before the battle of Shiloh. Mrs. Carter died in July. 1868, leaving five children, named, respectively. Amy Marion, Russell Me. Anally, William Preston, Francis Floyd and Heken Wilson Carter.

Carter, Frank, was born July 25, 1838. in St. Louis, and died in that city April 28, 1896. The father of Frank Carter went from Fredericksburg, Virginia, to Kentucky, in 1817. and he was a resident of Kentucky until 1830, when he came to St. Louis. He was engaged in business for many years there- after in that city, being identified with both the steamboating and merchandising inter- ests. The son obtained his early education in the private schools of St. Louis, later attended St. Paul's College. of Palmyra, Mis- souri, and was a student at the University of Virginia when the Civil War began. He left college before he had completed his academic course to enlist in a regiment of Virginia State troops mustered into the Confederate States Army. Some time after his enlistment he was assigned to duty on the staff of Gen- cral John S. Bowen, and followed the fortunes of that brilliant and distinguished officer until his death, which occurred at Raymond. Mis- sissippi. in 1863. He was among the Con- federate troops who surrendered to General Grant at Vicksburg, but was soon afterward returned to the Confederate service through an exchange of prisoners. He was then ordered to Virginia, where he served under General Robert E. Lee until the close of the war. When the cause for which he had fought with conspicuous gallantry was lost. and peace had been restored. he returned to

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St. Louis, and, in 1865, entered the employ of the firm of Carter & Conn, merchants and steamboat agents, of which his father was senior member. Not finding this business entirely suited to his tastes, he severed his connection with it after a few years, and, forming a copartnership with C. M. Sea- man, under the firm name of Carter & Seaman, he established a real estate agency, which was conducted with flattering success for some years thereafter. After the death of Colonel John O'Fallon, Mr. Carter took charge of and managed his large estate until 1884, when he was elected president of the Hope Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of St. Louis. To this enterprise Mr. Carter devoted his attention up to the time of his death, and the growth and progress of the company's business is the highest testimonial to his executive ability, the integrity of his manage- ment of its affairs, and his sagacity as a bus- iness man.

Carter, William, lawyer and jurist, was born in Wayne County (now Carter), Missouri, December 11, 1830, son of Zimri A. and Clementine (Chilton) Carter. 1fis ancestors were English, and long before the Revolution settled in the Virginias, where his grandfather was born. Zimri A. Carter was a native of AAbbeville District, in South Carolina, and was born in 1794. In 1808, with his parents, he immigrated to Missouri and located in what is now Warren County. Soon after his arrival there he joined a trading party and started out on a flatboat, making a trip on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, and was from home for about seven years. In the meantime his father traded a horse and cow for a large tract of land about eight miles southeast of Van Buren in Wayne (now Carter) County. Upon his return his parents were living upon this land, and he joined his father in farming. In 1822 hie married Clementine Chilton, born in 1804. in Jefferson County, Tennessee, and a daughter of a prominent early settler of Wayne County, who had descended from an old Eng- lish family who came to America with Lord Baltimore. Zimri Carter became one of the most respected and influential citizens of southeastern Missouri and was for years identified with public affairs, and served as county judge of Carter County, which was named in his honor when it was organized, in

1859. He died in 1870, and two years later his widow was called to eternal repose. They were the parents of fifteen children, and Wil- liam Carter was their fifth child. He was born on the homestead, where his youthful days were passed. He attended the common subscription schools of his native county, where he acquired the rudiments of educa- tion, and later entered Arcadia College (now the Ursuline Academy) in Iron County, where he took a four years' course, graduating with the degree of bachelor of arts. In 1853 he entered the Louisville Law School, of Louis- ville, Kentucky, from which he was graduated in 1855, and immediately commenced practice of his profession at Potosi, Missouri, where he remained until June, 1862, when he settled upon a farm in St. Francois County, and about two years later located in Farmington, where he soon acquired a large legal client- age and gained recognition as one of the leading members of the southeast Missouri bar. In April, 1864, he was elected judge of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit of Missouri, composed of Washington. Iron, St. Francois, Madison, Perry and Ste. Genevieve Counties. In 1868 he was re-elected and served until 1874, when he was elected to the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Gen- eral Assembly, where he served one term. He was chairman of the committee on judi- ciary, and in that capacity was the leader in some important measures which were passed at that session. He was also a member of the ways and means committee. He has al- ways been a Democrat, and cast his first vote in 1852 for Franklin Pierce for president. Since 1880 he has devoted nearly his whole attention to his large legal practice. In 1886 he was the chief promoter and organizer of the Bank of Farmington, and had as his asso- ciates in the enterprise Dr. A. Parkhurst and K. W. Webber. In all propositions that tended toward the development of the latent resources of St. Francois County and the advancement of Farmington he has been

foremost. He is a Mason, having joined the order when he was twenty-one years old. March 27. 1862, he married Miss Marie Mc- Ilvaine, her father being a prominent citizen of Washington County. Judge and Mrs. Carter have living five sons and two daugh- ters. They are Jesse McIlvaine, first lien- tenant in the Fifth Cavalry. United States Army ; William F., a prominent attorney of

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St. Louis ; Clementine C., wife of Dr. M. A. Bliss, of St. Louis; Thomas B., a successful electrical engineer and a graduate of Wash- ington University ; Charles H., a well known attorney at Farmington ; Edwin F., a student at Washington University, St. Louis, and Grace A., who resides at home.

Carter County .- A county in the southeastern part of the State, bounded on the north by Shannon, Reynolds and Wayne ; east by Wayne and Butler ; south by Ripley and Oregon, and west by Oregon and Shan- non Counties ; area 321,000 acres. The sur- face of the county is broken, hilly along the streams, and in places precipitous, with here and there cliffs of white limestone. There is considerable bottom land, which is a black, sandy loam, and forms the best agricultural lands of the county. The hills are stony and with soil of poor quality, though bearing heavy growths of timber. The Current River flows in a southerly direction through the central part of the county. Its chief feeders are Davis and Rogers Creeks, which empty into it from the west. The northeastern part is drained by Brushy Creek and its numerous small branches, and in the south- eastern part Little Black River and Cane Creek have their sources. The Current River is a clear, sparkling stream, and is the paradise of the piscatorial enthusiast, abound- ing in the gamest of fish, trout, perch, bass, buffalo, cat and other kinds of fish. It affords splendid water power, which is utilized in different parts in running mills. Plenty of game is found in the forests along the streams. The chief timber is pine and the different species of oak; there is also abund- ance of hickory, ash, walnut, locust, maple, cottonwood, papaw, dogwood. etc. The lum- ber industry is the most important of any in the county and gives employment to nearly half of the population. At Grandin. on Black River, are located the largest sawmills in the State, giving employment to several hundred hands. Of agricultural products, corn and wheat are chiefly grown. Oats, rye. some cotton, tobacco and all the kinds of vege- tables adapted to the climate are grown. The hills and uplands are excellent for fruit- growing, and the industry is receiving in- creased attention. The cultivation of grapes promises to become one of the profitable pur- suits of many residents of the county. Only

about 20 per cent of the land is under cultivation. There are indications of iron, lead and copper in different sections of the county, but no attempt at developing mines has been made. Immense ledges of lime and building stone are along the streams and numerous quarries have been opened. There are also extensive beds of chalk and deposits of manganese. The first settlement in what now comprises Carter County was made about 1812, while it was in the "State of Wayne." In 1812 Zimri A. Carter settled a few miles south of where Van Buren is now located, and soon after was joined by the Chilton, Kennard, Snyder and Kelly families, all of whom settled near the site of Van Buren. Carter County was created by legis- lative act, approved March 10. 1850, out of the northern part of Ripley and the eastern portion of Shannon County, and named in honor of Zimri A. Carter. Adam Lane, of Ripley; John Buford, of Reynolds, and D. C. Reed, of Shannon, were appointed com- missioners to locate a permanent seat of jus- tice. They met at the house of James Brown, near Van Buren, on the first Mon- day in April, 1859, and located the seat of justice at Van Buren, the old county seat of Ripley County, and the old log courthouse, erected in 1833, was utilized as a meeting place for the courts until 1867. when a new one was built. The county was attached to the county of Ripley for the purpose of rep- resentation in the General Assembly. The first member sent to the General Assembly from the county was William Lawson. in 1864, and he served until 1870, when he was succeeded by F. M. Coleman. The frame courthouse built in the sixties is still in use, though the citizens of the county at the present time ( 1899) are strongly in favor of building a more pretentious building. Dur- ing the war times, as in other sections of southern Missouri. there were turbulent times there, but the county did not suffer severely in destruction of property. Up to about 1874 there were only private schools. and only a few of them, in the county. In 1874 the school population was only 487. and, as no school districts had been organized, educational interests were sadly neglected. In his

report that year, the county superintendent said : "Among other difficulties may be mentioned an indifference to the subject of popular e.lu-

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cation on the part of many citizens, and a reluctance to be taxed for school purposes. Our schoolhouses are of a very inferior class, supplied with the rudest benches for seats, and destitute of blackboards or appar- atus of any kind. Many of the houses in which schools are taught are unoccupied cabins, which have been erected and used for temporary dwellings, until the owner couk furnish more comfortable apartments for his family." In 1897 the school population of the county was 1,691, with twenty-eight schools and thirty-two teachers. The county is divided into five townships, named, respec- tively, Carter, Jackson, Johnson, Kelly and Pike. The chief towns are Van Buren, Grandin and Ellsinore. There are forty-nine miles of railroad in the county. The South- ern Missouri & Arkansas runs from the east to Hunter village in the center, and the Cur- rent River branch of the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis runs through the central part from the west to Hunter, and the south terminating at Grandin. The Missouri Southern crosses the northern border and terminates at Carter Station. The assessed value of all taxable property in the county in 1897 was $1, 186,816; estimated full value, $3,080,000. The population in 1900 was 6.706.

Carterville .- A city of the fourth class, in Jasper County, on the Missouri Pacific, and the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railways, nine miles southwest of Carthage. The Southwest Missouri Electric Railway connects it with Joplin and Carthage, and Galena. Kansas. It immediately adjoins Webb City. It was platted in 1875 by W. A. Daugherty, William McMillan and James G. L. Carter, for the latter of whom it was named. The South Carterville Mining and Smelting Company subsequently laid out various additions. It was incorporated in 1877. but late that year the organization appears to have been abandoned, until 1882. when it was reincorporated as a city of the fourth class. It has a public high school and two grammar schools; churches of the Baptist, Christian, Methodist Episcopal, and Methodist Episcopal South, denominations, and a union church building. The fraternal societies are a Masonic Lodge and a Chapter of the Eastern Star. a lodge of Odd Fellows and a lodge of the Daughters of Rebekah,

lodges of United Workmen, Woodmen of the World, Modern Knights, Red Men, and a post of the Grand Army of the Republic. Local publications are the "Journal," daily and weekly, Democratic, and the "Missouri and Kansas Miner," monthly. The city is supplied with water by the Webb City and Carterville waterworks. The First National Bank has a capital of $50,000, surplus $8.241.53, circulation $11,250, deposits $355,- 218.58, and loans $160,004.80. A foundry and machine shops, engaged in the manufac- ture of mining machinery, employ fifty men, and there is a large boiler factory. The city has an opera house, hotels, and numerous business houses. In 1900 the population was 4,445. The mines in the vicinity are second in importance in the mining district. In 1899 the output was 57,289,600 pounds of zinc, and 10.385,880 pounds of lead, amounting to $1,414,165 in valne. (See also "Zinc and Lead Mining in Southwest Missouri.")

Carthage .- The county seat of Jasper County. in the southwestern part of the State, on the Missouri Pacific, and the St. Louis & San Francisco Railways, 313 miles southwest of St. Louis and 150 miles south of Kansas City. The South West Missouri Railway connects it with all the principal mining points, including Orinogo, Webb City, Carterville, Joplin and Galena, the lat- ter named point, in Kansas, being the ter- minal of the system. It occupies the high ground overlooking Spring River, at an alti- tude of 1,200 feet above sea level, and is built upon solid limestone, in near proximity to rich lead, zine and coal fields, and is the gate- way of a region prolific in grains and fruits. It derives an abundant supply of pure water from Spring River, the stream and its afflu- ents being fed by innumerable springs. Distribution is made through excellent water- works on the Holly system, completed in 1882 by a local company. Protection against fire is afforded by a paid fire department, Carthage having been one of the first after the two great metropolitan cities of the State to dispense with volunteer companies. The water pressure makes engines unnecessary. The hose equipment is of the most approved pattern ; five men are employed, and the cost of maintenance is $3,200 per annum, of which amount one-fourth is derived from street sprinkling, paid by business firms. An elec-

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tric light system was established by the city in 1899. 5-per-cent bonds, issued for its construction, being sold at a premium of $1.900. The present service comprises 200 public lights, and 1,200 lights in business houses and residences. A commer- cial light plant, a gas plant, and a complete local and long distance telephone system are also in operation. A police force, consisting of a chief, three policemen and a night watch- man, is maintained, at an annual expense of $2,200. The city is handsomely and substan- tially built, in both business and residence sections. The principal architectural orna- ment, not to be surpassed in the country for quiet dignity, imposing proportions, and beauty of material, is the county courthouse, completed in 1895. and costing under $100,- 000. It is constructed of Carthage lime- stone, and its only ornamentation is found in the columns of the same material, sym- metrical shafts, with artistically carved cap- itals, entirely worked out upon the ground. Its modest cost is a praiseworthy affirmation of the integrity of the builders, and it has been pronounced by capable architects the best building in the United States for its cost. It contains the court rooms, offices for county officials, and provides ample ac- commodations for the municipal depart- ments, the city of Carthage having defrayed $50,000 of the cost of the building by ar- rangement with the county. In the west wall of the building is a polished slab of Carthage limestone bearing an inscription setting forth that it was taken from the foundation of the former courthouse, built in 1854 and de- stroved in 1863. (See "Jasper County.") Of the funding bonds issued by the city, $32,000, bearing 4 per cent interest, were outstand- ing June 30, 1900. The city is also obligated for a bonded indebtedness of $14,000, due in 1901.

"The people of Carthage," says Professor S. M. Dickey, long connected with the pub- lic schools of that city, "have always sought to educate their children. In 1846, four years after the town was laid out, the first building exclusively for school purposes was erected. As the town grew in population. rooms were rented in different localities to accommodate the pupils. The schools were supported en- tirely by subscription, or by prorating the expense among the patrons. Of these schools we know but little, except that then, as now,

schools were popular with the people. So great was the success of a girls school, es tablished in 1851. that four years later the Carthage Female Seminary was incorporated by act of the Legislature. A brick build- ing was erected on the ground now occu- pied by the Central School. Reports say that during its short life this school was very successful. The building was entirely de- stroyed during the war. Only one rehe yet remains. The same old bell that summoned the few girls of over forty years ago to school from the same locality still calls the school. It now speaks to an army of over 2.500-boys as well as girls some of them the grandchildren of the older girls of 1855-60. In 1870 the Carthage board of ed- ucation bought the seminary grounds, where the High School and the Central now stand. One of the first schools in Carthage after the war was taught in oneof the few buildings not destroyed by the contending armies. The school soon outgrew the accommodations, and in 1870 what is now the Central School building was erected. Early in 1871 the two lower stories were finished and five of the eight rooms furnished. On opening day it was discovered that more room was needed. and arrangements were made to furnish the remaining three rooms. These were quickly filled with pupils. At the beginning of the second term it was found necessary to use rooms in the third story, which had been intended for other than school purposes. A satisfactory arrangement of classes in the lower grades was quickly made, and work wem nicely on. With the higher grades it was different. The citizens were all newcomers. A residence of three years made one an old settler : a residence of five years made him a venerable citizen. Their children had been taught in schools of every degree of excel- lence. The graded schools of the cities in the East and the North were represented : so also were the ungraded country schools of the same sections. Some came for the purpose of getting the greatest possible ben- efit from a few months in school. Others came hoping to fit themselves for a higher education than this school proposed to give. So great was this diversity of object and of attainment that an attempt to follow a reg- ular high-school course would have resulted in much superficial work with some of the class, great waste of time to others, and loss

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of interest and dissatisfaction to all. To avoid this an elective course was adopted for the older students, and classes formed based upon one or two studies that for the time seemed best. Many of these students took some of the studies in the high grades. They were thus enabled to review their arithmetic, grammar, reading, etc., without too much waste of time with some classes. Many of these students came from outside of the district and could remain but a few months at a time. some spending the winter months in school, working on the farm in summer, others teaching in summer and at- tending school in the fall and winter. The work continued on this line for over three years. At the close of the school year 1874 a class of about thirty had finished work in the grades and were prepared for the high school. The list of graduates in 1878 shows that but three of the class graduated at that time-most of them having left school en- tirely, while others dropped out for a time, returning and graduating in later years. The class of 1878 numbered only seven, that of 1879 only five. This was the smallest class ever graduated in the school. The class of 1899 numbered fifty-six, showing a very healthy growth. There have been 446 grad- mates in the last twenty years. In 1892 there was no graduating class (due to change of course from three to four years). The citi- zens of Carthage can justly claim for their schools a high degree of excellence. The course of study conforms to the best and most progressive standards. In addition to its literary excellence, it provides for special teachers in vocal music, drawing and man- ual training, in joinery and in needle work. At the close of the third year the instructor in music says that most of the pupils can sing passably well a number of good melodies, and can read music at sight. He visits all the schools, and the value of his services is very great. Since the department of draw- ing was established four years ago, it has had a very satisfactory growth. Samples of the work done have been exhibited at the Omaha Exposition, at the Missouri State Teachers' Association, and at the Western Drawing Teachers' Association. At the home exhibit, held the first week in May, work was shown from all the grades in designing, in nature study and in object work. At all these exhibitions the work received high praise.

The teacher says that although the primary object sought is to cultivate the eye and to train the hand to express the thought of the mind, and not to make artists of the pupils, it shows who have a talent in this direction. She, as we think justly, claims that the study of drawing is an aid, not a hindrance, in the pursuit of other studies. It improves the language, and the teachers in manual train- ing and in the sciences find that pupils who have had instruction in drawing do much better work than those who have not had this advantage. The child with proper in- struction in this art begins to see the things that come into his everyday life, and to ap- preciate and enjoy all that is beautiful in na- ture and art. A good beginning has been made in manual training. So far the train- ing for boys has been limited to joinery and knife work. The last named consists in cut- ting conventional designs and mathematical figures, and wood-carving of designs by the pupils. A large room in the Central School is equipped with benches and joiners' tools, after the style of those used in the State University. Sixty-five boys are now receiv- ing instruction at the work bench, and nearly the same number at the knife work. Although recently established, this department is a suc- cess in the boys' division. The girls' division seems to be quite as popular as that of the boys. Over 135 girls are taking the course in sewing, with even a greater interest than the boys take in joinery. The course requires ninety minutes' work on alternate days for one year. It includes sixteen divisions-sev- eral more than most men know anything about, but which all men should be glad to know that the girls are learning. This sug- gests a more intimate relation between the school and the home, not through the me- dium of plants and lawn decorations alone, but in cooking and general housekeeping. The school buildings consist of the High School, the Central School, five ward schools, and a colored school. The enrollment in 1899 was: Males, 982, and females, 1,164; total, 2,146. It is now (January, 1900) nearly 2.300, of whom 91 are colored. The num- ber of school rooms occupied is 45. In the High School there are 12 teachers, includ- ing the special teachers; in the Central, 7; in the ward schools, 25, and in the colored school, 2; total, 46. Salaries of teachers for the year ending July 1, 1899: Male, $5,020;

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 91

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