General history of Macon County, Missouri, Part 6

Author: White, Edgar comp; Taylor, Henry, & company, pub
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago, H. Taylor & company
Number of Pages: 1106

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"An infant of five months belonging to a negro woman named McKenny was lifted by the wind, carried over 300 yards and dropped into Charlie Lawrence's field, where it was found next morning entirely uninjured, but thoroughly drenched.

"The remarkable fact was demonstrated by the cyclone of last Sunday, that wearing apparel, bed clothing and things of that char- acter, with which the storm came in contact, were completely rotted, appearing to be nothing but a mass of ashes, but retaining their shape until handled. Although the articles looked sound to the eye, and did not have any marks of fire about them, yet they were as thoroughly destroyed by the terrific wind as if they had been burned. Another remarkable feature of the cyclone is that through the forests where it passed the leaves on the trees turned completely black, as though a heavy frost had fallen upon them. These two features, taken in connec-

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

tion, strengthen and go a long ways toward proving the electric theory of Professor Tice in regard to these phenomena to be correct.

"John Blankenship, who was seriously injured by the cyclone, was looking directly at the storm as it approached. When the torrent was within 300 yards of his house, a large ball of fire shot down to the ground. and at almost the same instant the house was riddled. Where the ball of fire struck the ground the earth is packed very hard, as though it had been beaten down with a maul.

"Elijah Banta, whose buildings were swept away and whose wife was killed by the cyclone Sunday evening, says the shock sounded like the discharge of a single canon at a distance, and that for a moment after the shock he knew nothing except that a great torrent of mud and trash poured upon him. He could not see a particle, and when he attempted to rise it seemed he was submerged in steam from a boiling kettle."

The Times makes acknowledgment to "the noble sons of Bevier" and people from other towns who came to Macon to render their assist- ance to those who had suffered by the storm.

In summing up its story of the disaster, the Times says :

"The scene of the wreck is a distressing one. Men with resolute faces are working faithfully, silently, to gather about them all that is left for them to gather, women and children, some weeping, others more courageous, are helping their husbands and friends to erect a place of shelter from the rain of another night. The work is a terrible work, but it is done."

No footings were made of the aggregate losses by the storm, though the individual damage runs all the way from $100 to $3,000.

The summer of 1901 was the driest since 1875. Scarcely any rain fell during the summer and fall. The supply of water at East Fork gave out, and the town of Macon was supplied by the lakes at Blees Military Academy, where a small upright engine was installed and pumped water into the mains. An immense construction work was going on at the time on the Burlington railroad, which was reducing its grade through the city. A large force of men was employed with steam shovels, scrapers and other apparatus, building retaining walls and making embankments. For all this work water was supplied by the Academy lakes.

In July it began to dawn upon the people that the situation was becoming serious and a communication was sent from Macon by the Rev. Geo. W. Sharp to Governor A. M. Dockery, requesting that he fix an early day for "fasting, humiliation and prayer," requesting every-

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

body to meet at some place of worship "and join in prayer services for rain that the calamity of further drought may be averted."

The Rev. Sharp in his letter described the deplorable condition of crops, the scarcity of water and the great losses that would likely ensue if deliverance did not come soon. The ministers of Macon churches generally endorsed the letter of Mr. Sharp to Governor Dockery.

Mr. Sharp, in discussing the matter at the time, referred to the grasshopper plague of 1875, which has already been treated in this chapter. He said that the moving cause for Governor Hardin's proc- lamation for a day of fasting and prayer was a discourse delivered here by the Rev. Matthew Patton. A copy of this sermon was sent to Governor Hardin and also printed in the Missouri Republican of St. Louis. It is said that while the Reverend Patton was delivering this sermon the air was thick with flying grasshoppers, and great crowds of people thronged about the windows of the church, unable to get inside, enduring patiently the discomforts of the burning sun for over an hour, listening to the invocation of the earnest man of God that "the plague might be withdrawn from this fair land."

At the time when Mr. Sharp sent the petition for a public prayer to Governor Dockery the conditions in Missouri were very serious, All hope for a corn crop had been abandoned and stock-raisers were ship- ping their cattle to other states for food and water. Farmers kept their wells locked for fear that travelers stopping at night might stealthily help themselves to some of the precious fluid. At some of the normal schools in the state experiments were made in the hopes of bringing rain, but nothing of consequence followed. The thermometer averaged from 100 to 108, a height which it maintained almost continuously throughout the month.

A number of newspapers earnestly endorsed the suggestion to pray for rain and the Governor proclaimed Sunday, July 21, as a day for fasting and prayer. The proclamation was as follows:

"Whereas, the prevailing drought is widespread and disaster threatens our commonwealth, and,

"Whereas, many earnest Christian people have petitioned that a day of fasting and prayer be appointed;

"Wherefore, be it known, that Sunday, July 21, be, and the same is herchy set apart as, a day of fasting and prayer that the threatened disasters may be averted, and to this end the people are requested to assemble at their usual places of worship to invoke the blessings of Almighty God.

"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused to

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

be affixed the great seal of the state of Missouri. Done at the city of Jefferson this 15th day of July, in the year of our Lord One Thousand. Nine Hundred and One. By the governor.

"Sam B. Cook, "Secretary of State."

"A. M. Dockery.

It was an intensely hot day in Macon, but an immense crowd turned out to the Presbyterian church, where the general prayer services were hield, under the auspices of the Ministers' Alliance. Rev. R. T. Caldwell, J. D. Murphy, W. S. Lockhart, F. Marvin, H. E. Truex and S. D. Ken- dall spoke upon the subject of God's answer to prayer. Within a few days following the governor's proclamation there was a heavy down- pour of rain in Macon county, and also rains were reported from other sections. The good people looked upon it as a direct answer to their prayers, but as the summer wore on and no further rains came it excited a suspicion in the minds of some that there was a screw loose some- where in the governor's proclamation. Harry Turner, a Mexico news- paper man, explained it by stating that the governor had appointed the wrong day for fasting and prayer. Mr. Turner insisted that the Almighty did not answer prayers of that character unless accompanied by sacrifice. The people must be willing to lose a day's work in order to show proper humility of expression and faith. If the governor had selected any other day but Sunday, Mr. Turner said that he was con -. fident the Missouri people's prayers for rain would have been answered.

The following statistics of the "dry year" were compiled by the local weather observer at Macon, John Cook:

Beginning June 11, 1901, to the present (July 26), the temperature has been above 90 degrees with one exception, June 19, when it was 84 degrees. Twenty-four days of this time it has gone above one hundred degrees. July 12 and 24 it reached 111 degrees. Since June 11th 1.09 inches of rain has fallen. During the same period last year 7.38 fell and 953/4 degrees was the highest temperature reached; 102 degrees was the hottest day in 1900-August 12.

RAINFALL.

1900.

1901.

April

3.30

1.45

May

3.92

.45

June

6.43

1.66

July

3.18

.08

16.83

3.64

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

In July, 1909, the Chariton Valley was visited by a tremendous flood from the north, which did immense damage up and down its entire length. There are divergent opinions as to whether the flood of 1875 or the flood of 1909 rose to the greatest height, but there is no difference as to which flood did the greatest damage. In 1909 the valley was used extensively for farming. Thousands of aeres were under cultivation and large herds of cattle roamed the bottoms. While a great deal had been done in the way of drainage ditches, yet the system had not been far enough advanced to carry off the great body of water that came rushing down between the foothills. In the flood of 1909 the Burlington tracks were not washed away, but that was because the roadbed had been built much higher and stronger than in 1875. In the latter flood the water reached clear up to the tracks, and thousands of visitors from the towns abont viewed the wide "sea" from the railroad embankment.

The town of Kern, formerly called Chariton, was entirely sub- merged, and people had to go about from place to place in small boats. When farmers drove up to purchase supplies the merchant at Kern would send a skiff out to bring them to the store. Many Macon county farmers lost from $1,000 to $5,000 on wheat, which was swept down in the flood. It was estimated at the time that the farmers of Adair county had lost a total of $150,000 on their grain, and as farming opera- tions were carried on much more extensively in the Macon county bot- toms of the Chariton river the figures here, as to total losses, were placed at $200,000.

A enrions feature of the flood of 1909 was the large number of snakes, insects and small animals of every description that were found along the Burlington embankment. The trees were alive with snakes coiling abont and looking like branches in motion. Boys with target rifles went along the railroad shooting them. Workmen who were sent ont to guard the tracks and to strengthen the embankment were greatly annoyed by the immense black spiders and other insects crawling up their legs.

There was no loss of life, because as soon as the water became threatening rescue parties were sent out in all directions to warn and to assist the families on the bottoms. Some thirty families were picked up by small boats and rafts and transported to the railroad embank- ment at Kern, from which place they were furnished transportation to the towns until the water subsided.

It was stated by parties living at Kern that the gauge there showed the water in 1909 was an inch or two higher than it was in 1875.

A great amount of damage was done to the Iowa and St. Louis

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

Railroad, which runs along the Chariton valley from Iowa down to Elmer in Macon county. Nearly all of its bridges were washed ont and for a week or ten days the line was entirely out of commission.

When the floods went down the farmers began pushing their drain- age ditches with renewed vigor. These ditches are intended to be of such capacity as to carry off the water before it will have time to destroy growing crops. This enterprise has caused Chariton bottom land to rise in value from almost nothing to $100 and $125 per acre. The floods which come down the valley deposit a sediment which acts as a fertilizer and makes this the most productive land in the county.

CHAPTER VI.

EARLY STATE ROADS IN MISSOURI -- ERA OF THE STAGE COACH-PONY RIDER IN MACON COUNTY-WHEN BLOOMINGTON WAS A STAGE DIVISION-A RAILROAD CONVENTION-QUEER OPPOSITION TO RAILROADS-"BOB" STEWART-GEORGE H. DAVIS-I. N. WILBER-W. C. BROWN-P. H. HOULAHAN-A FAST MAIL RUN-THE PONY EXPRESS-RAILROADING IN WAR TIME-FIRST GREAT DISASTER ON THE "JOE"-BLOCK HOUSES - ENGINEER JIM MCINTOSH-THE NORTH MISSOURI ROAD-THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA . AND SANTA FE-A BIG SUIT OVER HARDPAN- GREAT IDEA OF TWO YOUNG RAILROAD MEN.

In the spring of 1849 an ox train left Hannibal for California, mak- ing the journey in ten months and four days. A recent newspaper sketch tells of railway service from New York to the Pacific coast, the schedule being twenty-five minutes less than four days.

'These comparisons illustrate the remarkable development of trans- portation in the west within the life of men who made the trip to the far west in '49. First, the ox team, then the stage coach, next the Pony Express, and, finally, the modern passenger train, luxuriously fitted, averaging a speed of forty miles an hour.

Maeon county has been the highway for all these different methods of transportation service. In the days of remote settlements the routes of travel were along the ridges, which were high and dry, and generally smooth. County courts of later years have advocated the laying out of new roads along ridges for the same reasons given by the pioneers, and Macon county yet has many of such roads in commission, smooth and hard as a pike.

Before the days of bridges across the streams the method was to grade the roads down to the bank, seeking a shallow place to eross. Frequently, fords were constructed of rock. At the Chariton there were rope ferries, where a tariff of 5 cents per man was charged, or 25 cents for team, wagon and driver. Stock was 5 cents a head. Sometimes the cattle man would risk his stock making the swim rather than pay the tariff. A drover was removing 800 head of cattle from Livingston to Macon county, and on reaching William Sear's ferry, west of Blooming- ton on the Chariton river, stopped to dicker with the ferryman. Before

51,

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

they came to terms the impatient cattle dashed into the stream, and the whole herd reached the opposite bank safely, saving the owner expense of ferryage.

One of these primitive ferry boats was in operation in Macon county, at Peggy's Ford, near Mereyville, as late as 1886-7, and was frequently used by the engineers and surveyors of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, then under construction through Macon county.

A pony rider transported the mail from Hannibal, through Bloom- ington to Milan. IIe ran on no schedule, just getting over the road the best he could. The only way of sending money then was to enclose the bill. No receipt was given the sender. A Virginia man, knowing there was no guarantee that the mail man was honest, made a $50 remittance to a western correspondent by slicing the bill in half. One part of the bill went ont on one mail and the other was held several days. It hap- pened this particular pony rider was dishonest. The first half of the bill went through safely, but the mail carrier detected the second half, and held it to await the coming of the balance of the bill. The man who received the first half of the bill, knowing the other section was due soon, waited a while and then started an investigation that resulted in the conviction of the dishonest carrier. Such occurrences, however, were extremely rare in the service.

The earliest state road was authorized in Missouri in 1808. It was from St. Louis to St. Genevieve and New Madrid. Later, a state road was established from Glasgow to Huntsville, and when Bloomington came on the map was extended to that place. There was also a state road from Hannibal to St. Joe, by way of Shelbyville; Shelby county ; Bloomington, Macon county, and Linneus, Linn county.

Before the railroads came the stage coach handled the passengers and mail, superseding the pony rider for the latter service. The coaches were run daily where the traffic was heavy, and semi- or tri-weekly in less thickly settled communities. From two to four horses were used. The lines operated on a schedule would run day and night, with frequent relays of horses. Ben Holliday, famous as the operator of the overland stage coach system from the Missouri river to California, was a native of Missouri.

A well-appointed stage line had stations at regular intervals, in charge of agents. Fresh horses were always at the station in readiness for the arriving coach.

In speaking of the stage coach days in Missouri, the late William D. Love, of Macon county, said :

"The coaches would arrive at Bloomington from St. Joseph, Han-

55.

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

nibal, Kirksville, Paris and Glasgow in the afternoon. People within a radins of twenty miles would gather at the county seat to get their mail, which was delivered on payment of the postage. Bad roads would often delay the arrival of the coaches until long after nightfall, but those expecting letters would patiently wait.

"When all the coaches on the various lines were in, the old town was quite lively with the travelers, drivers and bustling hostlers. You see, the coaches didn't arrive every day then. They only eame in twiee a week from Hannibal and St. Joseph, and from the other places once or three times a week. John Lear operated the line across the state, and drove one of the coaches himself. The fare from Bloomington to Hannibal, about 75 miles, was, as I recollect, $5.

"The coaches would all be assembled on the square Wednesday morning, each headed towards its respective destination, the lordly driver walking abont, gloved and grand, eritically inspecting his team, and occasionally favoring some townsman with an observation, which would make him happy all day long. Abont the entire town would turn ont as the hour of departure drew near. There were hurried talks and hundreds of messages entrusted to those happy mortals who were going to travel, joking backward and forward among the coach crews and the hostlers and a general air of animation and good-nature.

"Old Bloomington saw its rise and fall with the stage coach. When it was a division point for the various lines, the county seat and most advanced town in the county, it looked like nothing could stop it from becoming an important city. In the stage coach days congressmen, senators, governors, and everybody knew Bloomington. But a few years after the railroads shied off from it the star of the old town fell, and it had nothing left but a splendid history."

In its issue of November 6, 1846, the St. Joseph Gazette sonnded the note that announeed the dawn of the railroad era in Northern Missouri :

"Our country is destined to suffer much and is now suffering, from the difficulty of navigation and the extremely high rates the boats now charge. Our farmers may calculate that they will get much less for produce and will be compelled to pay much more for their goods than heretofore, and this will certainly always be the case when the Missouri river shall be as low as it now is. The chances are fearfully against having any considerable work bestowed in improving the river, and until it is improved by artificial means, the navigation of it to this point must always be dangerous and very uncertain.

"We suggest the propriety of a railroad from St. Joseph to some point on the Mississippi-either St. Louis, Hannibal or Quincy. For

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

ourselves, we like the idea of a railroad to one of the latter places sug- gested, for this course would place ns nearer to the eastern cities, and make our road thither a direct one; we like this road, too, because it would so much relieve the intermediate country which is now suffering and must always suffer so much for transportation facilities in the absence of such an enterprise."

The writer of the above was a prophet. The agitation thus begun bore early fruit. Prominent men were interested all the way across the state and "An Aet to Incorporate the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company" was approved by the General Assembly February 16, 1847. The stockholders named were Joseph Robidoux, John Corby and Robert J. Boyd, of St. Joseph; Samuel J. Harrison, Zachariah G. Draper and Erasmus M. Moffett, of Hannibal; Alexander MeMurty, Shelby county ; George A. Shortridge and Thomas Sharp, Macon county ; Wesley Halliburton, Linn county; John Graves, Livingston county ; Robert Wilson, Daviess county, and George W. Smith, Caldwell county.

The capital stock was $2,000,000, divided into 20,000 shares of $100 each.

A railroad convention was held at Chillicothe on June 2, 1847, attended by delegates from all the counties through which the Hannibal and St. Joseph road was to pass. The delegates from Macon county were George A. Shortridge, A. L. Gilstrap and Benjamin Sharp.

The main subject for discussion was the proeurement of means to build the road. A committee consisting of one member from each county was appointed to draft a plan. A. L. Gilstrap was the committeeman from Macon county.

The committee reported the following method for finding the wherewithal :

"1. A liberal subscription by the citizens of the state to the capital stock of said company.

"2. That Congress be petitioned for a grant of alternate sections of all vacant lands ten miles on each side of said road, when located.

"3. That the company proeure a subseription to the stoek by east- ern capitalists, and, should the foregoing means prove inadequate, we then recommend that the Legislature pass an aet authorizing the com- pany to issue bonds, to be indorsed by the governor or secretary of state for the residue; the company to give a mortgage on the whole work to the state for the liquidation of the bonds."

When the convention reassembled the next day Judge King, of Ray county, offered the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted :

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

"That whereas this convention has adopted a resolution authoriz- ing a memorial to Congress for donation of alternate sections of land to aid in the construction of the contemplated railroad, also authorizing a memorial to the Legislature for such aid in the undertaking as can be afforded consistently with the rights of other portions of the state; therefore, we, the delegates, pledge ourselves to support no man for Congress who will not pledge himself to the support of the proposition aforesaid, nor will we support any man for governor, lieutenant-gover- nor or member of the Legislature who will not pledge himself to give such aid in the construction of the said railroad as may be consistent with the rights of other portions of the state as contemplated by the resolution aforesaid."

It appears the convention was not very sanguine of an early opera- tion of the railroad, as the following resolution relative to a stage route, offered by Mr. Sharp, of Macon, was adopted:

"Whereas, It is not only extremely important to the agricultural and commercial interests of the immediate country that a good wagon road be opened from St. Joseph to Hannibal, but the United States mail stages cannot be put in motion on said route until said road shall be opened ; and

"Whereas, It is of the utmost importance, as well to the whole intermediate country as to the two extremes, that mail facilities be speedily obtained in stages through said country; therefore

"Resolved by this convention, That it be recommended to each county through which said road may pass, immediately to open, bridge, and put in good repair the said road, in order that mail stages may be immediately started, according to the act of Congress establishing said route."

An amendment to the section relative to the grant from Congress, offered by Mr. Tarr, was adopted, as follows:

"Also to petition Congress that, should any of the alternate see- tions on the road or within six miles on either side thereof be sold at any time subsequent to the 16th day of February, 1847, and before the action of Congress in relation to these lands, other lands be granted as nearly contignous as possible in lieu thereof."

Committees were appointed to address the people of northern Missouri in the interest of the projeet.

There was an energetic campaign in all the counties, and, looking at it from this era, it seems strange that opposition was encountered on the ground that a railroad through this country would be unwise and impractical. It is stated that in Linn connty a member of the Legis-

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

lature took the stump against the railroad because it would be an induce- ment for negro slaves to desert. Others asserted that it would be impos- sible to make a roadbed that would stand in rainy weather; that ox and mule teams were the surer power, and there was no danger of them blowing up and killing a lot of people. Many of the residents in the sections campaigned had never seen a railroad train, and could not understand the utility of such a method. What the country needed, they said, was good highways for stages and freight wagons to the river, where the boats would take care of the traffic.

Robert M. Stewart, who afterwards became governor of the state, was the leading promoter of the enterprise. The road's charter was obtained mainly through his efforts, and he never ceased his labors until the road was completed from river to river, and in successful operation.

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General history of Macon County, Missouri, Part 6

Author: White, Edgar comp; Taylor, Henry, & company, pub Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago, H. Taylor & company Number of Pages: 1106

Author: White, Edgar comp; Taylor, Henry, & company, pub
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago, H. Taylor & company
Number of Pages: 1106