USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 19
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Previous to the Civil war George Jones bought an interest in the old mill and added thereto a grist mill and dis- tillery. These were under the super- vision of the Jones brothers and their father, John Jones, until during the war. During the life of the distillery, it is said the Grove was quite "brawlish." The mill has frequently changed hands.
In 1873 an excellent church building was erected by the Christian denomina- tion, which still stands and has a strong membership.
Lentner is situated in the northeast corner of section 29-57-11, immediate- ly on the line between Clay and Salt river township, on the Hannibal & St. Joe railroad. The road at Lentner di- vides the townships, the westward being in Clay and to the east of Salt river. The depot is in Clay. This town was pre-
viously called Crooked Creek, but later was named Lentner by John L. Lathrop, of Chicago, a large land holder in this township.
Taylor Township.
Taylor township was so named in honor of President Taylor. It com- prises the northwest portion of the town- ship and all of township 59, range 12, and the west half of township 59, range 11.
The land here for the most part is good soil and the central part is of ex- cellent prairie. In the eastern portion we find timbered land. In the western portion Salt river runs almost due northi and south and along this stream the land is somewhat broken.
About the year 1837 Lewis, Alexander and Robert Gillaspy settled in Taylor, locating on Black Creek, in the south- east portion. About the same time, Mr. Steed located on seetion 29-59-11, nearly two miles east of Leonard, and Mr. Buckalew located in the western portion, a mile or more east of Salt river, on section 28-59-11, in 1839. Am- brose Perry also was a pioneer in this quarter.
Thomas G. Poage moved from Paris, Monroe county, to section 18-59-12. in October, 1839. He was located in the northwestern portion, near the Macon line, and in a short time moved over into Macon. In those early days there lived in that quarter Samuel Vandiver, on Salt river, section S. Griffeth D. Shel- ton lived on the bluff, in section 29, at the edge of Salt river bottom. Phil Up- ton, the murderer of Daniel Thomas, in section 28, a mile to the east of Shelton; Robert Nickell, a Virginian, to the west
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
of Salt river, on section 18, near Nickell ford, year 1840. Robert Nickell did not sojourn long. One of his children choked to death on a piece of saucer, and the Niekell's longed for their old Virginian home and friends in the hour of their bereavement and soon sold out and re- turned to their native soil.
Griffeth Shelton was a cooper and worked his trade for the benefit of his neighbors. He made buckets, tubs, churns from the cedar brought up from Ralls county, found in the Salt river hills. He was also a great hunter and killed scores of deer in the early days.
In the spring of 1842 Benjamin F. Fore- man came up from Ralls county and bought Mr. Buckalew's farm, on the southwest quarter of section 21-59-12. Then there was Edwin Brensley, an En- glishman, on the northeast quarter of section 20, and he had as a neighbor Cyrus Saunders. Daniel Michaels lived to the center of section 28. William Mills lived in the northwest corner of the county. He it was that killed a man named Watson at Mills's own home by knocking him over the head with a dou- ble-barreled shotgun. He was acquitted on the ground of self-defense. Mills was a member of Glover's Third Missouri Cavalry and died in the Federal army.
In the early setttlement days of Tay- lor the pioneers often had to go to Flor- ida, Monroe county, to mill, as this coun- ty had not at that day a good established mill. In the year 1846 Benjamin Fore- man bought a horse mill-a sweep mill- from a man by the name of Hargis, in the south part of the county and, moving it up on his farm, he run it a number of years. The settlers flocked here for miles abont, each furnishing his own team to
do his work. A small yoke of steers at- tached furnished motive power for about three bushels an hour, but with his two good teams hitched thereto it would turn out about five bushels per hour.
It ground both corn and wheat; the flour, however, had to be bolted by hand, but though the system was a slow one, it made as good bread as the up-to-now machinery. Each customer was served in his turn, and some days the mill was so thronged the customers were delayed to the wee hours of morning. The toll rate was one-eighth of the grist.
There was an abundance of game in this township in her early days, it abounding along the river banks-bear, wolves and deer in great number. Bear creek was so named by hunters who killed a large bear of the black variety at the mouth of Bear river while hunt- ing.
Judge Samuel Huston taught a school just over the line in Macon county in 1841, and most of the children in that northwest corner were placed under his tutorage. Jack Griffin taught another school close by.
In 1840 religious services were held at the home of Thomas Poage. At that day the Old School Baptists were in the ma- jority. Two of the old veterans of this denomination were James Ratliffe and Ben Davis. Near the same time old Dr. Shultz of the Christian church was an active man in the cause he espoused.
The first physicians who practiced in this township were Dr. Long, of Shelby- ville: Dr. Mills, of Bacon Chapel, and Dr. Edmunds. For years Shelbyville was their nearest postoffice, and for years Thomas G. Poage was the dissemi- nator of news and intelligence, he taking
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
the only newspapers thereabouts up to abont 1845. Mr. Poage took the St. Louis Republican and Boone's Lick Democrat, and although these sheets would be about two weeks old before they would reach their destination, yet his house was considered headquarters for intelli- gence and news from the outside world, and Poage himself was a king bee.
The first bridge over Salt river in this quarter was built by Benjamin Foreman in the spring of 1849 at the Ray ford. The flooring Inmber was whip-sawed. The same year, John Swinney crippled himself by letting a chisel fall on his
knee while building the Rollins bridge over Salt river.
The hamlet of Leonard was formerly named Millersburg, by Adolphus Mil- Jer, who built a mill there after the war. Its site is located on the northwest quar- ter of section 30-59-11, on Black creek. There are some ten or twelve stores, a bank and a postoffice.
Cherry Box is also located in Taylor, a postoffice in the northwest portion of the township. The place boasts of a gen- eral store, blacksmith shop, church and a good school and town hall.
CHAPTER XII.
NEWSPAPERS OF SHELBY COUNTY-THE SHELBYVILLE SPECTATOR-THE SHIELBY COUNTY WEEKLY-THE SHELBY COUNTY HERALD-THE SHELBY COUNTY TIMES -THE SHELBYVILLE GUARD-THE SHELBINA GAZETTE-THE SHELBINA INDEX AND TORCHLIGHT-THE SHELBINA DEMOCRAT-FIRST PAPER IN CLARENCE-THE CLARENCE COURIER-THE CLARENCE REPUBLICAN-THE HUNNEWELL ENTER- PRISE-THE HUNNEWELL ECHO-THE ENTERPRISE RESUMES PUBLICATION-THE HUNNEWELL BEE-THE BETHEL SUN-THE MISSOURI SUN.
THE SHELBYVILLE SPECTATOR,
The first man to make a newspaper venture in Shelby county was F. M. Daulton. He was editor, proprietor, publisher and "devil" all at one and the same time. The paper bore the name of The Shelbyville Spectator, and was published at the county seat. The ina- terial for the equipment of the plant was moved to Shelbyville from Old Bloom- ington, Macon county. The Spectator saluted the public in Shelby county in the early spring of 1853. It was Whig in polities, and in size and make-up was a six-column folio, or a fonr-page paper, of six columns to the page. Mr. Daulton had about 400 subscribers to his weekly periodical, and some of his advertisers were Thomas Applebury, MeAfee & Dickerson, Cotton Bros. and James Mar- maduke. The office was located on the northwest corner of the square in a small frame building. In 1854 the pub- lisher formed a partnership with James Wolff, who bought the material of the Hannibal Journal and added it to the Spectator equipment. The new pro- prietors had just got started in good
shape when the entire office except a few cases of type were destroyed by fire. Enterprising and charitable citizens then made up money for the relief of the pub- lishers and Mr. Daulton went to St. Louis and purchased the material for reinstating the plant. The new plant was located in a small brick building on the northeast corner of the square be- longing to Mr. B. F. Dunn.
Daulton soon after sold his interest to a school teacher by the name of James Carty, who soon died. Mr. Wolff ran the paper only a short time thereafter until he died.
The publication then fell into the hands of a man by the name of N. C. Sperry, who changed the name of the paper to "The Star of the Prairie." The "Star, " however, soon flickered out. The publisher was a worthless, shiftless sort of a fellow and finally left town without notifying his creditors of the time of his departure or his destination. He left many unpaid bills and but a few friends. The material was then moved to Mexico. Mo.
Mr. Daulton, the founder, moved to
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
Gainesville, Ark., and for years pub- lished a Democratie paper there.
THE SHELBY COUNTY WEEKLY.
In a short time after the "Star of the Prairie" had faded from the newspaper skies, two men formed a partnership and started the publication of the "Shelby County Weekly." These men were Grif- fin Frost, a practical printer from Mex- ico, Mo., and Hon. G. Watts Hillias, a young lawyer of Shelbyville. The former was publisher, the latter editor of the new publication.
The first paper published by this firm was issued on March 7, 1861. The office was located over Gooch's grocery store in Shelbyville.
The material for the equipment of the plant was purchased in St. Louis in the fall of 1860, and was transported to Han- nibal by boat. The river froze up before the steamer arrived at Hannibal and the publication was delayed until the next spring.
Mr. Frost's brother, John, who later published the Quiney Daily News, and then the Clarence Courier, was the chief compositor on the paper. A boy by the name of Henry De Jarnett was what was then termed the office "devil."
The paper was a red-hot secession sheet and enjoyed a liberal advertising patronage and had abont 500 subscrib- ers. The motto was : "Free as the Wind, Pure and Firm as the Voice of Nature, the Press Should Be."
The paper, however, did not survive long. It came into existence at a perilous time, about the outbreak of the Civil war. The firing of the first shot at Sum- ter was told in this publication, and the editors were such strong secessionists
that in June of 1862 a few representa- tives of the Union Home Guards visited Mr. Frost and told him if he did not sus- pend the publication of his "treasonable sheet" they would stop it for him. He thereupon closed up the office and went to Marion county, and soon after entered in the Southern army under Martin E. Green. Mr. Frost was captain of the Marion county company. He saw four years' service, two of which were spent in a Federal prison. After the war he published a volume entitled "Prison Life and Recollections." He then went to Edina and established the Edina Dem- oerat, and died only a few years ago. The "Weekly" office was locked up for a time. During the war Union soldiers threw most of the material into the street and the remainder was shipped to Mary- ville, Missouri.
THE SHELBY COUNTY HERALD.
In 1871 W. L. Willard & Bro. pur- chased a part of the Shafer-York plant at Shelbina and moved the outfit to Shel- byville. Colonel York took the remain- der to Independence, Kansas, where he conducted a paper for several years. The Willards changed the polities again, making the paper Greenback. The pa- per was first Democratic, then Republi- can, later Greenback, again Republican, then back to its mother politics, or Dem- ocratic. June 15, 1881, the plant was sold to F. M. Springsteen and H. B. Da- vis, Mr. Willard going to Edina and founded a Greenback publication. The new partnership guided the doctrines of The Herald jointly until March, 1883, when Springsteen retired. Mr. Davis continued the publication until January of 1888, at which time Prof. W. R. Holli-
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
day purchased the plant and turned it politically from a Greenback to a Repub- lican organ. The paper preached the doctrine of Republicanism for about one year and a half, until June, 1889, when it went into the hands of Joseph Doyle, who, although nominally making the pa- per Democratic, ran the paper as a strictly local newspaper and paid very little attention to polities. As a local pa- per. the Herald has from its founda- tion been what might be called the official county paper. It gives the County court proceedings regularly. as well as the Probate court dockets and devotes much space to Circuit court matters. Mr. Doyle guided the destinies of the Her- ald until August, 1905. He then sold to C. L. Ennis, who stayed in control un- til the fall of 1905, when Mr. Doyle again became editor. The paper continned un- der Mr. Doyle's control this time until October. 1907. Mr. Doyle then sold to Ennis brothers, Carl and Joshua. two sons of the former editor, who conducted the paper until February. 1910. Mr. Doyle then came into control for the third time and remained the owner and editor until November, 1910. The paper then went into the hands of C. E. Wailes, the present efficient owner.
THE SHELBY COUNTY TIMES.
J. R. Horn, the founder of the Hun- newell Echo, concluded he wanted a larger field and that instead of being simply an echo he wanted to be the "big noise." He therefore moved his plant from Hunnewell to the county seat and on February 1, 1884, he sent ont the first issue of the Shelby County Times, an eight-column Democratic paper.
THE SHELBYVILLE GUARD.
E. D. Tingle founded this publication at the county seat in May, 1892, but soon sold to J. T. Welsh, who in September, 1893, sold a half interest to B. F. Glahn. In April, 1893. E. P. Dunn purchased the plant and continued as editor and owner until May, 1898, at which time he failed and made an assignment. Perry Clag- gett, who held the mortgage, was made the assignee, and in the same month sold the plant to E. J. Spencer, who remained in charge for only a short time, and in June sold the property to W. A. Dim- mitt. Mr. Dimmitt held the property until January. 1902, when he sold to Starrett & Hayward. These men con- tinned the publication until November. 1902, when they sold back to W. A. Dim- mitt. The latter continued publication until fire destroyed the building and the plant. The plant was a total loss. as the owner had no insurance, and besides the loss of material lost all his book and sub- seription accounts.
SHELBINA GAZETTE.
The first issue of the Shelbina Ga- zette was sent out on Jannary 10. 1866. This was the first paper published in Shelbina. The full name of this pub- lication was "The Weekly Gazette." The founder and publisher was an Illinoisan by the name of J. D. Moudy, a conserva- tive Democrat.
The Gazette was a seven-column folio. The office was on Center street in the Goodman block. In April, 1866, just four months after the founding of the publication. Mr. Mondy sold out to his foreman, E. D. Hoselton. Mr. Hoselton
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
conducted the paper single handed until in the fall, when he sold a half interest to J. S. Bates, who soon sold to Frank M. Daulton, the original newspaper man of Shelby county.
Later Daulton became sole owner, but soon after sold the entire plant to Colonel Shafer and A. M. York, who turned the paper into a Republican pub- lieation. At this time the name of the paper was also changed to "The Shelby County Herald."
THE SHELBINA INDEX AND TORCHLIGHT.
William N. Bumbarger and H. P. Me- Roberts were the founders of this publi- cation and the first edition of volume number one came from the press July 13, 1881. In January, 1882, Simpson bought ont McRoberts, and a year later N. H. Downing became the sole proprie- tor and editor. Dr. J. M. MeCully be- came half owner on March 1, 1884, and July 1st following the firm became Mc- Cully & Christie, C. W. Christie buying Downing's interest. In 1885, Dr. Mc- Cully sold his interest to his partner. The latter failed in a few months and the property again went into the hands of Dr. MeCully. In the fall of 1885 Me- Cully sold the property to William Ma- son, who changed the name of the paper to "The Shelbina Torchlight." Mr. Ma- son died in about a year and the publi- cation was resumed by his sons, Harry and George, until January, 1889, at which time the ownership passed into the hands of A. L. Roe and Prof. E. L. Cooley. In April, 1891, Roe purchased his partner's interest and became sole proprietor. In August 1893, the Torell- light again changed hands, this time go- ing into the possession of Naeter & Has-
kins. The new owners were young and ambitious and printed a good paper full of local news. They remained in charge until November, 1897, when they trans- ferred the ownership to Rev. W. W. Me- Murry. In December, 1900, Mr. Me- Murry sold to Cleek & Williams. This firm lasted until September, 1902. Mr. Williams then bought his partner's in- terest and became the sole proprietor. Mr. Williams sold a half interest to J. E. Thrasher, and in May, 1904, the publica- tion was sold to P. B. Dunn, Jr. Mr. Dunn condneted the paper until March, 1907, at which time he sold out to C. J. Colburn. Mr. Colburn remained as edi- tor until May, 1908, when he sold a half interest to N. E. Williams, and in De- cember following Mr. Williams became the sole owner again and is the present owner and editor. Mr. Williams is a man of good judgment and an able writer. He is a pronounced prohibition- ist and always stands for the clean and honest administration of public affairs.
THE SHELBINA DEMOCRAT.
On April 1, 1869, E. D. Hoselton, former owner and editor of the Shelbina Gazette, established The Shelbina Demo- crat. This publication was an all home print, seven-column folio, or four page paper.
In 1870 Col. S. A. Rawlings became a partner in the publication of the paper. The latter was a Virginian and came to Shelby county in 1848. He died Septem- ber 28, 1875. During the Civil war Colonel Rawlings served on the Confed- erate side and organized and com- manded the Third Battalion of Infantry. Harris Division, Missouri State Guards. After the death of Colonel Rawlings
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
Judge James C. Hale assumed editorial charge of the paper and remained at the helm until in May, 1881, when the pres- ent owner, Col. W. O .L. Jewett became a partner with Mr. Hoselton. Mr. Jew- ett at this time was a young lawyer of more than ordinary ability and had dis- tinguished himself as a public speaker and campaigner. He was a determined, aggressive editor, just the kind the times demanded, and he soon established a reputation as a writer. The firm of Ho- selton & Jewett remained in control of the paper until November 4, 1891, when the senior partner, Mr. Hoselton. sold his interest to J. W. Cox, a brother-in- law of Mr. Jewett's. This firm contin- ned to publish the Democrat until Jnly 31, 1901, at which time Mr. Jewett pur- chased the interest of his partner, Mr. Cox. Colonel Jewett has been the sole owner and editor since the above date. Hon. W. O. L. Jewett is today the father of the newspaper fraternity of Shelby county. Although advancing in years, he is recognized as one of the most force- ful writers in the State. He is a fearless defender of what he believes to be right and is generally on the right side of all questions. He takes great pride in pro- moting the city in which he lives and is also patriotic to his county and state. The Democrat, under Colonel Jewett, takes the lead on all public spirited ques- tions. The agitation for a new court house was started by the Democrat. as was also the electric light proposition at Shelbina, as well as many other smaller and less important enterprises. The "Democrat" is now taking the lead on the water works proposition and it is only a question of a few months until the venerable editor will behold the
fruits of his labors in that direction. The Democrat is democratic in politics, is- sued Wednesday of each week and to- day is a home-print, six column quarto. The paper is printed on a cylinder press, run by a gasoline engine. The type is set by a Junior Mergenthaler. The pa- per is up-to-date in every respect, and Mr. Jewett has proven to the community that the pen is mightier than the sword from the fact that he has made the Democrat so strong a factor in the development of Shelby county and northeast Missouri. In December, 1910, Mr. Jewett leased the paper to his two sons, H. H. and E. W. Jewett, who took charge January 1, 1911. This ended the newspaper career of one of the pioneer newspaper men of the state.
FIRST PAPER IN CLARENCE.
A man by the name of Steel was the first adventurer in the newspaper busi- ness in Clarence. This daring act was committed in 1877, and his product of the press was called "The Clarence Tribune." The paper was at first printed in Macon City, but later moved to Clarence and located over the post- office. The policy of the paper was neu- tral in politics. Mr. Steel conducted the paper about two years and then aban- doned the field.
THE CLARENCE COURIER.
The second adventurer in the news- paper field in Clarence was W. M. Brad- ley, who founded "The Clarence Cou- rier" in February, 1881. The founder conducted the paper for the space of a little over a year, and in May, 1882, sold to W. D. Powell, who remained as the editor and owner until August, 1884,
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
at which date he sold the plant to John L. Frost, who had been in the newspaper business in Quincy, and N. H. Downing, formerly of the "Shelbina Index," who soon after sold to Frost and moved to California. Mr. Frost was a good newspaper man, but died No- vember 22, 1888, and the establish- ment was sold to S. R. Lloyd and J. R. Asbury in January, 1889. The latter did not remain in the partnership long. Mr. Lloyd continued with the pub- lication, however, until July of 1894. The present owner, H. J. Simmons, and G. L. Frost then bought the plant. This partnership lasted less than a year, and Mr. Simmons then became the sole owner and editor. In 1898 W. M. Pritchard purchased a half interest in the paper and a cylinder press was installed. This firm continued the business until June, 1900, at which time Simmons again be- came the sole owner and leased a half interest to his brother-in-law, Edward B. Grant. The paper was issued under the firm name of Simmons & Grant. The ownership has not changed since Sim- mons bought out Pritchard, but at Mr. Grant's death in July, 1910, a half inter- est was leased to Enoch W. Ragland, and the paper is now being published by the firm of Simmons & Ragland. The paper is issued Wednesdays of each week and is an all home print, six-col- umn quarto. It is Democratic in polities and has at all times labored for the im- provement and advancement of the city, county and state.
THE CLARENCE REPUBLICAN.
At the present time this is the only Republican paper published in the county. Its existence dates back to 1889,
October 2nd. O. P. Devin was the founder, but soon turned the office over to V. V. Peters, who conducted the paper until August, 1891, when George B. Klingenbeil became the publisher. The latter held the editorial chair only a few months and relinquished the manage- ment to A. L. Jordan, who remained at the desk until November, 1893, when he turned the plant over to E. T. JJones, a young lawyer who lived in the city. Jones held control until May, 1894. James S. Watkins then became the edi- tor and continued the publication until 1895, when R. N. Shanks, the present owner, took charge. Newland Shanks condueted the paper a few months in 1904, but soon turned the paper back to his father. In 1895 Mr. Shanks changed the name of the publication to the "Farmer's Favorite" and in 1896 sus- pended publication. He, however, re- sumed publication again in 1897 and the paper is now being published by Shanks & Son, the junior member of the firm being R. Elma Shanks. In 1910 the pol- icy of the paper was changed to an inde- pendent Republican. The paper is a six- column quarto, patent inside, and is pro- gressive and a good local paper.
THE HUNNEWELL ENTERPRISE.
The newspaper fever struck Hunne- well in 1882. That year Thos. Irons es- tablished the "Hunnewell Enterprise." The fever soon subsided and on January 10, 1883, the "Enterprise" suspended publication.
THE HUNNEWELL ECHO.
J. R. Ilorn established the second pa- per in Hunnewell. He called it the "Hunnewell Echo," which was Demo-
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cratie in politics. Mr. Horn published the paper in Hunnewell until January, 1884, when he moved it to Shelbyville.
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