USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 94
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CASS COUNTY.
pounds ; cattle. 34,047 head : hogs, 108,054 head ; sleep, 10.727 head ; horses and mules, 1,674 head. In 1900 the population of the county was 23.636.
The early settlers located in the timber on the streams, principally on Grand River and its branches, Big Creek, north of the present Pleasant Hill, receiving the first. All author- ities agree that David G. Butterfield came to that region in 1827, but most locate him across the line, in Jackson County (although he was elected assessor in 1836), and recog- nize as the first resident David Creek, an Indianian, in 1828. John Walker, a squatter, is also claimed by some as the first. In 1828 came Joel Walker, Charles Myers. William Johnson, the Farmer, Hlooper, Lynch and Ilanshaw families, and others. This settle- ment grew so rapidly that in 1830 a log schoolhouse was built, and William Crawford, a well educated man, shortly before that dis- charged from the United States Army, was engaged as teacher. The next year two Baptist ministers, James Savage and Joab Powell, held services at the house of Thomas Hamlin, and in 1832 Pleasant Garden Church was formed, with the first named as pastor. The same year, William Savage set up a horse mill on Big Creek, two miles west of Pleasant Hill, and William Burney built a sawmill about the same time. In 1830-1 a considerable settlement was made in the ex- treme northeast; among the settlers were William Worden and two sons, William But- ler and three sons, and Thomas Riddle and two sons. About the same time John Par- sons located in the extreme southwest. The following year Walker MeLellan and John Jackson made homes a few miles northwest of Harrisonville. Beginning in 1834, settle- ments were made on the various branches of Grand River, in the central part of the county. Among those who came were Mas- tin Burris, Fleming Harris, John Cook, Hugh Horton and the Davis brothers. James Blythe was living on the present site of Harrisonville, and it is said that his infant son, James, was the first white child born southeast of Harrisonville, but the date is not stated. The first marriage given is that of John Busley and Sallie Dunnevan. Between 1834 and 1836 a large immigration set in, principally from Kentucky and Tennessee : the most prominent of the settlers are named in connection with the various towns or as
officials connected with the work of organiza- tion. One of the most interesting of these comers was Martin Rice, who came in 1836. and removed to Jackson County in 1856. He was the first surveyor, was skilled in tree cul- ture, and many of the best orchards in Cass and adjoining counties were grafted by him. He was a ready writer, and his contributions to the early press, in prose and verse, were marked by cheerful good humor, homely philosophy and quaint conceits. The educa- tional history began with the school on Big Creek, before mentioned. In 1833 there was a school three miles west of Pleasant Hill, taught by James Williams, who was after- ward elected to the Legislature, and aided in drafting the first free school law in Mis- souri; and one in the extreme northeast, taught by a Mormon preacher, named Peter- son, who was succeeded by Martin Rice, teacher of the first public school in the county. In 1839 a school at Harrisonville was taught by Frank Love. In 1843 Miss Mollie Sears taught five miles northwest of Harrisonville, and in 1844-5, Archibald Campbell taught on Camp Branch, and Allen Matthews on Sugar Creek. In 1849 a small academy at Harrisonville was taught by Richard Massey. In 1853 B. C. Hawkins became county school commissioner, and considerable effort was made to establish schools. The war practically closed all in existence, and the work of restoration began in 1866, when William J. Terrell was elected county school commissioner. In 1867-8 a spacious building was erected at Pleasant Hill. In 1869 a board of education was elected in Harrisonville, and shortly after- ward $20,000 was appropriated for building purposes. In 1898 there were in the county one hundred and thirty-three schools; two hundred and twelve teachers; 7,827 pupils. and the permanent school fund was $SI,- 230.63.
The first religious effort is noted in con- nection with the first settlers. In 1830 John Jackson, a Baptist. and William Johnson, a Methodist, preached in the MeLellan neigh- borhood. A Missionary Baptist Church was organized between 1834 and 1840, nearly two miles southwest of Harrisonville; from this has grown the church in that town. Elder John Jackson was its earliest pastor. At the old time camp meetings, several hundred Shawnee and Delaware Indians attended with
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CASS COUNTY.
the whites. Between 1834 and 1836 two Methodist itinerants. William Ferrel and one Mckinney, preached throughout the county. and the same year. N. E. Harrelson, also a Methodist. preached at Mount Pleasant. Be- tween 1837 and 1838 the Union Missionary Baptist Church, near the Kansas line, was organized ; among its ministers were Jere- miah Farmer, who came in 1838, and his father, John Farmer, who came the following year. Joshua Page, a Christian preacher. held services in 1840 on Knob Creek, in the southeast part of the county.
From the first, various disturbances im- peded the material progress of the people. In 1833 Governor Boggs called for volunteers for the so-called "Mormon War." and a com- pany was organized at the house of Hezekiah Wardine, three miles east of the present Pleasant Hill. Fifty men were enrolled, with James Savage as captain, William English as lieutenant and Andrew Wilson as ensign. Savage was a minister : he had been a soldier in the War of 1812, and served in the Indian troubles under Colonel Cooper. The com- pany marched to Independence, but there was no necessity for their services, and they re- turned. In 1838 Captain William Farmer organized a mounted company, which took part in the new campaign against the Mor- mons, and conveyed to jail at Independence. Rigdon, Smith, and other leaders of that people. Later the same year. the company. under orders from the Governor, assisted in the removal of the Osage Indians from Bates County. About the same time the settlers were annoyed by the depredations of an organized band of horse thieves, whose place of concealment for their stolen animals was on a branch of Grand River, which took the name of Pony Creek for this reason. Among the thieves were settlers, and the members of the band were so numerous and well disci- plined that. in 1840, they lacked only fourteen votes of electing one of their number as sheriff. John M. Clark, who was elected, entered upon such a determined effort against them that the band was broken up. During the Civil War a majority of the men capable of bearing arms entered the Con- federate service, and under the operations of General Ewing's order of expulsion, the county was practically depopulated. Upon the restoration of peace, many of the former residents failed to return, and the county
was occupied by almost a new people. In the effort to restore fortune, encouragement was given to railroad building, and this afforded opportunity for the accomplishment of a gigantic swindle costing the people about $200,000, and leading to death, at the hands of a mob, of three of the conspirators, among them one of the county judges, and to the suicide of another, The misappropriated rail- road building aid paper was known as the "Bloody Bonds." After this indebtedness was put in the course of settlement, economy and retrenchment were practiced, the county was placed upon a substantial financial basis. and its magnificent natural resources were brought to high development.
Cass County was originally Van Buren County, created May 3. 1835, by detachment from Jackson County. It was named for President Van Buren, who afterward gained the ill will of the Democrats of Missouri by his alliance with the Free-Soil Party, and the General Assembly, February 19. 1840. changed the name of the county to Cass, in honor of General Lewis Cass, of Michigan. Democratic candidate for President in the previous year. Its territory under the or- ganic act was that of the present county of Cass and the three northern tiers of town- ships in the present county of Bates. The townships described were detached from Cass County, and became a part of Bates County, February 2. 1855. The first county judges were James W. Melellan and William Say - age. William Lyon was first county and circuit clerk. John Jackson was appointed sheriff, but being a minister, declined to serve, and the duties of the office were per- formed by the coroner. William Butler. The first meeting of the county court was held at the house of Judge Melellan, four miles northwest of Harrisonville. September 14. 1835. At the election in 1836, one hundred and fifty votes were cast in the county. James W. Melellan, Jamison D. Dickey and Henry Burris were elected county judges ; John McCarty, sheriff ; David G, Butterfield, assessor, and Martin Rice, surveyor. Thomas B. Arnett was elected county and circuit clerk at a special election. In April. 1837, Francis Prine. Welcome Scott and Enoch Rice, commissioners, located the permanent seat of justice on the present site of Har- risonville. The first circuit court was held December 7. 1835, at the house of James W.
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CASS COUNTY BOND TRAGEDY.
McLellan, by Judge John F. Ryland, after- ward one of the Supreme Court judges. No business was transacted beyond admitting Richard R. Rees and Russell Hicks to prac- tice. At the next term a grand jury was impaneled, but no indictments were returned. The first conviction for felony was that of Rebecca Hawkins, indicted for poisoning her husband. The case came to Cass County on change of venue from Jackson County. The accused was found guilty, and her punish- ment was five years' imprisonment in the penitentiary. In 1839 Thomas B. Arnett, county clerk, was presented for neglect of duty and incompetency, but resigned before trial. He was the first man elected to office, foreman of the first grand jury, the first man to be indicted, and the first to be tried by a jury ; he was acquitted. He was known to administer the oath thus: "You do solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, according to the best of your skill and ability." Record made by him, March 17, 1840, contains entry of a petition for a writ of "ad god damum." Several important criminal trials appear upon the court records. In 1848 Judge Ryland called a special term of court for the trial of a negro man, "Bill," charged with the murder of Dr. John Hubble, but there was not evi- dence to justify an indictment. In 1851 Joel Elliott and James E. Gillespie were indicted for the murder of William Smith; the case was tried in Lafayette County on change of venue, when both were convicted ; Elliott was executed at Lexington, and Gillespie was sent to the penitentiary. In 1875 James E. Sprague was brought to trial on change of venue from Johnson County, charged with the murder of James Dwyre. He was con- victed, and Judge Foster P. Wright passed the sentence of death, but the criminal escaped from jail the night previous to the day appointed for his execution. He was the first person sentenced to death in the county. The first person executed was Richard T. Isaacs, convicted of the murder of IIenderson B. Clark, August 26, 1878. When brought to trial, he appeared without counsel, and insisted upon pleading guilty. Judge N. M. Givan refused to entertain the plea, and appointed H. C. Daniel as counsel for the prisoner. He was executed on the gallows, at Harrisonville, October 25th, fol- lowing, in the presence of about five thousand
people. The most prominent lawyers in the early days were Charles Sims and R. L. Y. Peyton. Sims was accomplished in his pro- fession; he served in both branches of the General Assembly, and in 1856 was nom- inated on the anti-Benton Democratic ticket for Lieutenant Governor, but declined. He afterward engaged in Wall Street speculation and amassed a large fortune. He eventually died by his own hand. Peyton was a Vir- ginian, and highly educated; he became distinguished in his profession throughout western Missouri. He served one term in the State Senate, became colonel of a regiment of State Guards in 1861, and died in Alabama in 1863. Andrew Wilson was the first Rep- resentative, elected in 1836, and was elected afterward at intervals to the same position.
Cass County Bond Tragedy .- In August, 1860, Cass County subscribed $100,- 000 to the capital stock of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company to aid in construct- ing the road into the county. The bonds were to be issued as work progressed, and but $1,500 had been so issued when work was suspended on account of the war. The un- issued bonds were taken from the county agent having them in possession, by a Fed- eral officer, were sent to Washington, and turned over to the Missouri Pacific Railway officials. In 1869 the Cass County Court made an order validating the bonds held by that company, providing they should be ex- pended in the construction of the St. Louis & Santa Fe Railway, such validation to be effected by taking up the $98,500 Missouri Pacific bonds outstanding and issuing in their stead bonds to the amount of $229,000, this including the accumulated interest. Sub- sequently the St. Louis & Santa Fe Railway Company assigned all its construction bonds to the Land Grant Railway & Trust Con- pany, of New York, which agreed to build such roads as were so aided, and did so. In September, 1870, the Missouri Pacific Rail- way Company proposed to surrender the bonds to the county, provided it was released from issuing stock; the proposal was ac- cepted, and the bonds were returned to an agent for the county, and were by him turned over to the Land Grant & Trust Company. The county court refused to fund the bonds, and in July, 1871, the Land Grant & Trust Company procured a writ of mandamus. A
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CASSVILLE.
large portion of the people of Cass County were opposed to the bond issue, and enter- tained a suspicion that the county court was not sincere in its refusal to fund, and only awaited a favorable opportunity to make the issue. All known court processes were brought into use by the Land Grant Rail- way & Trust Company, and by the people of Cass County opposed to the bond issue. In August the county court ordered J. D. Hines. county attorney, to make return to the writ of mandamus, and to contest the case. In October return was made, and the case was to be disposed of at the April term, 1872. In February, 1872, N. E. Harrelson, et al., pro- cured from Judge Townsley a writ of injune- tion restraining the issue of bonds. Hines was aware of this writ, and before it could be served, as county attorney he procured another writ restraining the court from obey- ing the mandamus. Hines procured the clerk's certificate showing that his own in- junction had been filed first in the office of the clerk, and upon this obtained from Judge Townsley an order dismissing the Harrelson injunction. Late in the evening of March I, J. R. Cline, law partner of Hines, filed in the cirenit clerk's office Judge Townsley's order of dismissal, and about the same time 1. D. LaDue, claiming to be attorney for the Land Grant & Trust Company, filed an order dismissing the mandamus case. A deputy in the clerk's office issued certificates showing dismissal in both cases. LaDue was not the attorney of record in the case, the lawyer in charge being absent. Cline took the orders of dismissal, presented them to the county court, which ordered the bond issue, the order being in Cline's handwriting. The members of the court present were Judges Stephenson and Forsythe. Another mem- ber of the court, Judge Givan, and Mr. Dore, the clerk, were absent. As soon as the deed was consummated court adjourned, when Cline, Stephenson and R. B. Higgins left the city by train, and Forsythe went to his farm. Next day it became known that the bonds had been signed, and March 2d an indigna- tion meeting was held, at which a committee of seventy was organized to bring the offend- ers to justice. A day or two later, at a further meeting. O. P. Yelton, the deputy clerk, appeared before the committee, and divulged the fact that the bonds had been issued prior to the order made by the court,
and that he had signed them as deputy clerk, in the absence of his chief, and had affixed the county seal thereto. He claimed that he acted under duress; that Higgins threat- ened to kill him if he exposed the matter. and that the entire bond-signing transaction took place in the back office of Hines & Cline. with door locked. Meantime Cline was jailed at Parsons, was released under habeas corpus proceedings, was rearrested, gave bail and disappeared. Judge Stephen- son. J. R. Cline and T. E. Dutroe were on an castbound train on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway, when a body of fifty armed men stopped the train at Gunn City. Seeing the crowd, Cline drew a revolver and fired, wounding two men, then jumped from the car, and attempted to escape, but fell pierced by three bullets, one entering his skull. Stephenson took refuge in the baggage car, where he met his death, a shot severing the jugular vein, and a blow from some sharp instrument penetrating his skull. Dutroe was shot in the back of the head, and died four hours afterward. It is not believed that Dutroe was one of the conspirators, but was killed because of his intimate association with them, after the crime was divulged. Later. Higgins came to death by his own hand. Forty-four men, including some of the most prominent, were indicted for the killing : twenty-nine were brought to trial; a nolle prosequi was entered in several cases. and all others were acquitted. Several of the indicted men were sned for damages by the families of those killed, but the suits were finally dismissed. At a later day suits were brought by the county, the bonds were recovered, and most of them were destroyed by order of court. One is in existence, at Gunn City, where it is framed, with an ex- planatory note, under the caption, "The Bloody Bonds." In the suits brought in St. Louis for the recovery of the bonds, the con- spiracy was made plain, although it did not appear how the booty was to be divided. It was shown, however, that R. S. Stevens received $35,000 in bonds, J. R. Cline $50,000 or $55,000 in bonds. Judge Stephenson or his son $12,000, and that Higgins' share was about $3,000.
Cassville .- A city of the fourth class, the county seat of Barry County, three hundred and four miles southwest of St. Louis, and
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CASTLEMAN-CASTOR RIVER.
the terminal point of the Cassville & West- ern Railway, which connects it with the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway, four miles westward. It has two banks, a roller flour- mill and numerous business houses. The public school system was adopted in 1869, when a building was erected. In 1880 a high school was instituted. In 1886 a modern edifice was built, at a cost of $5,625. The school building was used for religious pur- poses until 1877, when a house of worship was erected, and was used by Methodist and Baptist congregations. There are lodges of Masons and Odd Fellows, and a Grand Army Post. Two newspapers are published, the "Democrat" and "Republican," the names of which indicate their political status. Colonel Littleberry Mason, who was a member of the Legislature when Barry County was created, was one of the earliest settlers, living in a cabin near the present site of Cassville, with C. J. Corder and John Lock farther up Flat Creek. Samuel Vanghn, one of the first county judges, lived in the vicinity. In June, 1845, under a vote of the people, the county court ordered the removal of the seat of jus- tice from the old town of MeDonald to the house of William Kerr, and the platting there of a town to be called Cassville, in honor of Lewis Cass, then Secretary of the Navy. (See Barry County.) June 30, 1845, the town was finally platted, and was incorporated March 3. 1847; in 1854 a two-story court- house building was erected, at a cost of $5,500. The Confederate members of the Missouri General Assembly, who had fled from Jeffer- son City at the approach of the Union troops, held a session here, with eleven Senators and forty-four Representatives, from October 31 to November 7, 1861. The principal business was signing the acts of secession from the United States and of annexation to the Con- federate States, which the same body had passed at Neosho shortly before. The city was held by each of the hostile armies at various times, and was almost entirely de- stroyed after the battle of Pea Ridge. The courthouse was used as a fort, and in 1866 the United States paid $1,882.69 for repairs on the building, made necessary by damage during military occupation. The building was afterward enlarged and improved. Civil government was restored in 1866, but for some years there were frequent feuds grow-
ing out of the war, which are now happily terminated, and a cultured and enterprising people are intent only upon advancing busi- ness and other interests. Population, 1899 (estimated), 1,000.
Castleman, George A., lawyer and jurist, was born October 4, 1847, in Lexing- ton, Kentucky, and died at Leon Ranch, near San Antonio, Texas, October 12, 1896. He was of honorable lineage, and closely related to families whose representatives have been famous at the bar, in the field and in legisla- tive councils, in Virginia and Kentucky. Judge Castleman was reared and educated in Kentucky and fitted for the law. At the be- ginning of the Civil War he espoused the cause of the South, and, enlisting in the army of the Confederate States, he served valiantly until the close of that momentous struggle. In 1866 he became a member of the bar of St. Louis. Ile soon gained an established position at the bar, his attainments com- manding the respect and admiration of both his professional associates and the public. He was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1885, and served in that body until 1887, exhibiting unusual capacity for dealing with public questions and live issues. In 1887 he was elected to the State Senate for a term of four years, but resigned the Senatorship in 1889. In the fall of 1888 he was the Democratic candidate for Con- gress in the Ninth Missouri District, but failed of election. In 1891 Governor David R. Francis appointed him judge of the crim- inal court of St. Louis to fill out the unex- pired term of Judge Normile, who had died in office. He filled this position until 1893, and came to be recognized as an able jurist, with a thorough appreciation of the duties and responsibilities attaching to his office, and firm convictions as to right and wrong. He married, in 1878, Miss Lucy Cable, daughter of P. L. Cable, Esq., of Rock Island, Illinois. Mrs. Castleman survives her hus- band, and is still a resident of St. Louis.
Castor River .- A branch of Little River, rises in St. Francois County and flows south through Madison, Wayne, Bollinger, Stoddard and New Madrid Counties, a dis- tance of one hundred miles, to Little River, in New Madrid County.
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CASTOR RIVER BOTTOMS CATHCART.
Castor River Bottoms .- Fertile bot- tom lands along the Castor River in Stoddard County. Timber in this section grows to enormous size. Sassafras, ordinarily a mere shrub, in the Castor bottoms reaches a re- markable size, some trees being found that measure three feet in diameter. Tulip trees also grow to great size, one of which, meas- ured by Honorable D. S. Crumb, was twenty-five feet in circumference, six feet above the ground.
Catheart, Charles Philadelphus, physician and surgeon, Kansas City, was born October 8. 1849. in Dallas County. Texas. Ilis parents were Henry Nassau and Nancy Linsey ( Eaton) Cathcart. The Cath- cart family takes its name from the Barony of Cathcart, County of Renfrow, Scotland, where is now the town of Cathcart. Colonel Gabriel Cathcart went over to Ireland, and married a daughter of the Bishop of Cashel : he and six of his sons were slain in the battle of Anghrim, in 1691. Another son, Malcolm, lived to the age of one hundred and sixteen years. James, son of the latter, was a captain in the British Army, and was killed in battle under the Duke of Cumberland. in 1745. Malcolm Hamilton, son of James, was father of James Leander. The last named was born in Ireland, and came to America at an early age ; he followed the sea for some years with his uncle, Captain John Cathcart, who procured him appointment as midship- man on the United States frigate "Confeder- acy." Captain Seth Harding. This vessel was captured by the British during the Revo- lutionary War and her crew taken to New York. James Leander made his escape, and entered the merchant service on the "Maria," of Boston. This was the first vessel cap- tured by Algerian pirates, in 1785, off Cape St. Vincent. Young Cathcart became clerk to the Dey of Algiers, and was of great service to Christians when that despot was unapproachable by even ambassadors. After being a captive eleven years. he was per- mitted to visit the United States at his own expense, with dispatches, and to select arti- cles to secure peace. Later he was United States consul at Algiers, where he had been held prisoner, and at Tunis. Tripoli. Leghorn. Madeira and Cadiz. About 1820 he returned to America, and was for some time United States agent in Louisiana, and from 1823 to
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