USA > Missouri > Chariton County > Historical, pictorial and biographical record, of Chariton County, Missouri > Part 4
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JAMES S. ROLLINS was born April 19, 1812, in Madison coun- ty Kentucky; graduated at the State University of Indiana, in
JOHN RICE JONES.
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1830; studied law, graduating three years later at the Transylvania Law School, in Kentucky, and soon afterwards settled in Boone coun- ty, Missouri, engaging in the practice of law with distinction; elected a member of the Legislature in 1838, and was again elected in 1840-46- 54-66-68, serving at least half the time as a member of the Senate. In his school history of Missouri, Hon. P. S. Rader, of Brunswick, speaks of Mr. Rollins as follows: "To him is largely due the educa- tional system of Missouri. He is properly called the Father of the
JAMES S. ROLLINS.
State University, and his efforts aided the public school system and secured the normal schools, the school of mines, and two of the luna- tie asylums. He did much towards building up the great railroad sys- tems of the state." His first bill presented to the Legislature was one providing for the establishment of the University and his first speech was made in support of that bill. In 1857 he was defeated as the Whig candidate for Governor by Austin A. King. In 1860 was elected
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a Representative from Missouri to the Thirty-seventh Congress, serving on the committee on com- merce and expenditures in the War Department; was re-elected to the Thirty-cighth Congress, serving on the committee on Na- val Affairs. He was an able and polished speaker, and a loyal, patriotic citizen. He died in 1889.
JAMES S. GREEN, a Virginian, born in Faquier county, February 28, 1817, with limited means and a common English education, lo- JAMES S. GREEN. cated in Lewis county, Missouri, in 1837; after many struggles with the world was admitted to the bar, in 1840, and soon acquired a lucrative practice; was a Presidential elector in 1844, and a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1845; was elected a member of Congress in 1846, serving two terms; in 1849 took the stump and made an aggressive and successful warfare against Hon. Thomas Benton; in 1853 President Pierce appointed him Charge d'Affairs, and subsequently Minister Resident, at Bogota, New Granada; was again elected a member of Congress, in 1856, but before taking his seat was elected to the United States Senate, where he remained until 1861, when he was expelled for secession utterances. He died at St. Louis, January 19, 1870.
JUDGE WILLIAM B. NAPTON, for twenty-five years a member of the Supreme Court, and perhaps the finest scholar and most learned juror ever actively connected with Missouri affairs, was a native of New Jersey, graduated at Prince- ton College, and came to Missouri at the age of twenty-four years, locating at Fayette, then the po-
WILLIAM B. NAPTON.
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litical center of the state, becoming editor of the Booneslick Democrat; was Attorney-General in 1836; in 1839 become a member of the Su- preme Court, serving until 1852, when he was ousted by the provis- ional convention. He immediately began the practice of law at St. Louis, where he gained great distinction. In 1873, Governor Wood- son, upon the death of Judge Ewing, and without the knowledge of Judge Napton, made out his appointment and sent him his commission as a member of the Court; an honor he accepted, and in 1874 was elect- ed to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Ewing, serving until 1881. The Supreme Court of the State would do honor to any nation in his- tory, and Judge Napton was among its greatest members. Died in 1882.
FRANCIS P. BLAIR, JR.
FRANCIS P. BLAIR, JR., a decendant of the Blairs and Prestons of Virginia, was born at Lexington, Kentucky, February 19, 1821;
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graduated at Princeton College, and studied law at Washington; was admitted to the bar in Kentucky and began practice in Missouri. For the benefit of his health, in 1845, he accompanied some trappers to the Rocky Mountains and soon afterwards enlisted and served as a private in the war with Mexico. In 1848, he became a Free-Soil democrat, was editor for some time of the Missouri Democrat, and from 1852 served four years as a member of the Missouri Legislature. In 1856 he identified himself with the republican party and was three times its Representative in Congress, and espoused the cause of Emancipation with great energy and courage, and to him more than any other man is due the fact that Missouri remained in the Union in 1861. At the beginning of the war against secession he entered the army as Colonel, became Brigadier-General in 1861, and Major-General in November of the following year. He commanded at Vicksburg, and in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and accompanied Sher- man in his famous "March to the Sea." In 1866, was appointed, by President Johnson, Collector of Customs for the Port of St. Louis, but was rejected by the Senate. In 1868 he was the democratic candi- date for Vice-President on the ticket with Horatio Seymour, but was defeated; was a Senator in Congress for the unexpired term of C. D. Drake, from 1871 to 1873. In 1848 he published the "Life and Pub- lic Service of Gen. William Butler." Mr. Blair was a man of un- daunted personal courage and great ability. He died July 9, 1875.
CHARLES D. DRAKE, President of the Constitutional Convention of 1865, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 11, 1811; received an academic education; studied law, and, in 1834, located at St. Louis, engaging in the practice of his profession. In 1861-62 took an active part against the secession movement, and in '63 was elected to the Missouri State Convention: was a member of the Constitution- al Convention of 1865, which adopted the most stringent code ever known in this country. Its most obnoxious provision was the
CHARLES D. DRAKE.
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test oath, which prevented at least one-third of the people from voting until 1872, and almost as many more would have been disfranchised had they sworn strictly to the truth when they came to take that oath. This test oath declared that no person should vote or hold any kind of oflice, who had "ever" engaged in hostilities, or given aid, comfort, countenance or support to persons engaged in hostilities against the government of the United States, or had given money, goods, letters or information to its enemies, or by act or word manifested his adher- ance to the cause of such enemies, or his sympathy with those engaged in carrying on rebellion; or had ever been in anywise connected with any society unfriendly to such government; or had ever knowingly harbored, aided or countenanced any person engaged in guerrilla war- fare; or who had ever done any act to prevent being enrolled into the militia service of the Union or the State. Any person who had done any of these things, or other things similar, could not vote, teach in any publie or private school, practice law, preach the gospel, "or be competent as a minister of any religious denomination, to preach, teach, or solemnize marriage, unless such person shall have first taken said oath." It not only required allegiance and loyalty to the Union from that time on, which would have been a just and wise provision, but it applied to all men who had ever borne arms against the United States, or had sympathized at any time with those who did take up arms, or had done them acts of common kindness, or had refused to bear arms for the national government. All disloyal citizens attempt- ing to teach or preach without taking this oath were to be fined not less than five hundred dollars, or committed to prison not less than six months, or both; and if they falsely took it, they were to be tried for perjury and punished with imprisonment in the penitentiary. In Jan- uary of 1867 Mr. Drake was elected to the United States senate, serving until 1871, when he resigned to become Judge of the Court of Claims at Washington. Some of the most stringent features of the constitution were overruled by the Supreme Court, and, with the assistance of the liberal republicans, the democrats repealed all the obnoxious laws.
BRIG .- GEN. NATHANIEL LYON was born at Ashford, Connecticut, and educated at West Point, and was an officer of the regular army; served with distinction at Contreas, Churubusco, and the City of Mexico during the Mexican War; served in Kansas during the politi- cal struggles and supported the cause of the Free-Soil party. In 1861
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BRIG. - GEN. NATHANIEL LYONS.
was placed in command of the United States arsenal at St. Louis, and soon afterwards succeeded General Harney in command of the depart- ment. He defeated the Confederates at Booneville, and at Dug Spring under McColloch. He was defeated at Wilson's Creek by a superior force, and during the battle was killed.
MISSOURI'S SENATORS.
FRANCIS MARION COCKRELL, a faithful and conscientious represen- tative of Missouri in the United States Senate since '75, was born near Warrensburg, Missouri, October 1, 1834, and with the exception of Lewis V. Bogy, was the first and only native-born Senator ever elected from Missouri; was reared on a farm, and received a common school
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education, which was finished at Chapel Hill College, in Lafayette county, Missouri, an institution belonging to the Cumberland Pres- byterian church; studied law and on being admitted to the bar devoted himself to the practice of his profession, not entering upon a political life until his fortieth year; was a soldier in the Confed- erate Army, commanding Cock- rell's Brigade, composed of Mis- sourians. After the war he resumed the practice of his pro- fession at Warrensburg. In 1874 FRANCIS M. COCKRELL. he was a democratic candidate for Governor, but was defeated by Charles H. Harden by a small majority. In January of 1875 he was elected a Senator in Congress from Mis- souri, a position he has since filled with credit and distinction.
GEORGE GRAHAM VEST, one of the most brilliant debaters in the Senate, and a gentleman of unquestioned strength and ability, who has made a most admirable Senator, was born at Frankfort, Kentucky, December 6, 1830; graduated at Centre College, Kentucky, in 1848 and at the Law Department of the Transylvania University, in 1853; removed to Missouri the same year, locating at Georgetown, and afterwards moved to Booneville, engaging in the practice of law; was a Representative from Cooper county in the Legislature in 1860- 61; a Representative in the Con- federate Congress two years, and a member of the Confederate Sen- ate one year. In 1867 he returned to Missouri and resumed the prac- tice of law, living in Sedalia. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1879, which office he still holds. As an orator, Sen- ator Vest has long been regarded GEORGE G. VEST.
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as among the ablest the State has ever had, and is a leader of the de.n- ocratic side of the Senate. His present home is at Kansas City where he is always welcomed by his many friends who have an opportunity of meeting him when he returns from his long and tiresome labors at Washington every year.
From the Beginning.
DE SOTO DISCOVERS THE MISSISSIPPI.
The first white man to press foot to Missouri soil accompanied Fernando de Soto upon his wonderful expedition of 1541-42 in search of the boundless wealth of gold and silver reputed to lie hidden in the mines north of the Gulf of Mexico. Undaunted by the result of pre- vious explorations, he equipped a band of twenty officers, twenty-four priests and about six hundred men, at his own expense, and sailed from San Lucar in April 1538, with a fleet of nine vessels, which in addition to his men, carried two or three hundred horses, a herd of swine, and a number of bloodhounds, landing at the present Tampa Bay, on the west coast of Florida, May 25, 1839. In July he sent all his ships to Havana, and then for nearly four years, in spite of hostile Indians, he pursued his way to the northwest, through a country already made hostile by the violence of the Spanish invader, Narvaez, through tan- gled forests and over deep swamps, in a vain search for the New Eldorado, which was believed to be richer in precious metals than any country then known. Though finding neither gold or precious stones, on April 25, 1541, he reached the "Father of Waters," at a point a few miles below Memphis, and thus immortalized his name as the dis- coverer of the Mississippi. Constructing boats and crossing the river, De Soto continued his journey to the north, into the present county of New Madrid, when the first white person set foot on Missouri soil. From there the expedition traveled successively in a southwest and northwest direction until they reached the highlands of White River, then south to Little Rock and Hot Springs, spending the third winter in Arkansas. Early in the spring of 1542, he marched to the Missis- sippi, where, overcome by disease, privation and discouragement, he died. His followers, having secretly sunk his body in the Mississippi, lest the Indians discovered his death, floated down the river to the Gulf of Mexico, and returned to their homes leaving behind no trace of civilization.
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MARQUETTE DISCOVERS THE MOUTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER.
More than one hundred years had elapsed from the time of the discovery of the Mississippi River by De Soto, when another noted explorer entered upon the scene, in the person of Jacques Marquette, one of the most noted pioneers, of France, in the New World. He emigrated to Canada in 1666, and a few years later, in 1673, in com- pany with Sieur Joliet, this young Frenchman from the picturesque old cathedral city of Laon; in the beautiful fertile regions lying just north of Paris, made a long journey in canoes down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers to the mouth of the grand old Missouri river which still flows with its onward course to the seas the same as it did over two hundred years ago. We have no record of any white man ever treading upon the soil embracing our own great state during that lapse of over one hundred years from De Soto's time down to the time of Marquette and Joliet.
ROBERT DE LA SALLE.
About the time of Marquette's return, Robert de La Salle, a native of Normandy, entered upon an exploration with the hope of finding a northwest passage to China and Japan, the scientific men of that day believing that such a passage existed in the direction of the Great Lakes. La Salle was accompanied from France by an Italian named Tonti, and was joined by Louis Hennepin, a bold and ambitious Franciscan friar. After overcoming various obstacles they arrived at the present site of Peoria, on the Illinois river. There they separated, Hennepin turning northward to discover the source of the Mississippi; La Salle descending that river in search of its mouth, leaving Tonti in command of men and supplies. La Salle reached the junction of the Illinois and Mississippi, in February, 1682, and on the 5th of April following, successfully reached the Gulf of Mexico. On the Sth of April, with imposing ceremonies, La Salle took formal possess- ion of the country in the name of Louis XIV, the reigning king of France, in whose honor he named it Louisiana. The country thus ac- quired by the French embraced territory on both sides of the Missis- sippi, including the present states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennes- see, Arkansas and Missouri.
This vast region, while under the jurisdiction of France, was known as the "Province of Louisiana." At the close of the "Old French War" in 1763, France gave up her share in the continent and Spain became possessor of the territory west of the Mississippi, who
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retained posession for thirty seven years, of the territory now embraced within the limits of Missouri.
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.
In 1801 Napoleon Bonaparte made a treaty with Spain, the condi- tions of which were that Spain should surrender to France all the territory, known as Louisiana, west of the Mississippi, in consideration of certain assistance which she expected to receive from the great war_ rior in her European affairs. It was two years after this treaty was made that Mr. Laussat, a French officer, was placed in authority at New Orleans. While Napoleon justly appreciated the value of his new acquisition, its posession was a source of much perplexity. The American government was by no means pleased at this attempt of the French to re-establish themselves in Louisiana; and the English, who dominated on the seas, made it extremely hazardous for the convey- ance of men and equipments into the country, and rather than have it wrested from him by this powerful foe, he determined to tantalize the mother country by adding it to the posessions of the young nation, which had succeeded in maintaining its independence in the face of her authority. Accordingly, he accepted an offer made by the United States, through the instrumentality of President Jefferson, of $15,- 000,000, including various claims, the payment of which was assnmed by the American government. On March 9, 1804, Capt. Stoddard, the representative of France, received posession of the territory, at the hands of the Spanish Governor, Delassus, at St. Louis, and on the following day transferred his authority to the United States.
THE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA.
March 26, 1804, two weeks after the transfer of authority to the United States, over the territory embraced by the Louisiana Pur- chase, Congress passed an act dividing Louisiana into two parts-the "Territory of Orleans" (since 1812 the State of Louisiana) and the "District of Louisiana," better known as upper Louisiana. The latter included all the province north of "Hope Encampment," a place near Chickasaw Bluffs, embracing within its boundaries the present states of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and a large part of Minnesota, and all the vast region extending west to the Pacific Ocean, south of the forty- ninth degree of north latitude, not claimed by Spain. By the act of Congress of March 26, 1804, the executive power of the government in the Territory of Indiana was extended over the district of Louis- iana, or "Upper Louisiana" as popularly called. Under the provis-
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ions of this act, General William Henry Harrison, Governor of Indiana, assisted by Judges Griffin, Vanderburg and Davis, instituted the authority of the United States in the Territory. The first courts of justice, called Courts of Common Pleas, were held during the ensuing winter in the old fort near Fifth and Walnut streets, St. Louis.
THE TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA
By another act of Congress, passed March 3, 1805, the District was regularly organized into the Territory of Louisiana and General James Wilkinson was immediately appointed Governor by President Jefferson and Fredrick Bates, Secretary. Governor Wilkinson, togeth- er with Judges R. J. Meigs and John B. C. Lucas, of the Superior Court, constituted the Legislature of this almost boundless territory. In 1807 Capt. Merriwether Lewis, of the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition, was appointed Governor, but he committing suicide in Tennessee in September, 1809, Gen. Benjamin Howard, of Lex- ington, Kentucky, was designated by President Madison, as Governor in his stead. Governor Howard only served a short time, resigning October 31, of the same year to accept a Brigadier-Generalship of Rangers in the War of 1812. Upon the resignation of Governor Howard, Capt. William Clark, of the well-known Lewis and Clark Expedition, was appointed his successor, who served until the admis- sion of the state into the Union in 1821.
MISSOURI A TERRITORY.
On the 4th day of June, 1812, the Territory of Missouri was or- ganized by Congress, with a Governor and General Assembly-the latter to meet annually in the town of St. Louis. The real boundaries of the territory were the same as those of the Territory of Louisiana, but practically it consisted of only the settled parts of Missouri, com- prising four districts, as follows: Cape Girardeau, St. Genevieve, St. Louis and St. Charles. The legislative power of the Territory was vested in a Governor, Legislative Council and House of Representa- tives. The Legislative Council consisted of nine members, and held their office five years. The first House of Representatives were thir- teen in number, held their office two years and were elected by the people; under the act of Congress, the number could never exceed twenty-five, the basis of representation being one member for every five hundred white males. The judical power of the Territory was vested in the Superior and Inferior Courts and in Justices of the Peace. The Superior Courts had three Judges, having original and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. Their term of office
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was for four years. William Clark, of the Lewis and Clark Expedi- tion, was appointed by the President the first Governor of the Terri- tory and began his duties in 1813. Under the act, the Territory could send one delegate to Congress. Edward Hempstead, Rufus Easton, Samuel Hammond and Matthew Lyon announced themselves in Novem- ber as candidates for the position. Edward Hempstead was the successful one, being the first Territorial delegate to Congress from Missouri.
STATE ORGANIZATION.
Perhaps the most interesting and instructive period in the history of Missouri is that which succeeded the application of the Territorial Legislature of 1818-19 to admission to the sisterhood of states. This request was the cause of a fierce, and one of the most exciting contests in Congress, that ever engaged the attention of that body, lasting for two conscentive sessions and exciting the people to an alarming degree.
In 1818, John Scott, the Missouri Representative in Congress, filed the petition for statehood. The House of Representatives passed a bill to admit the state, without slavery, but as the Senate refused to concur in the anti-slavery clause, the bill failed. Subsequently the measure was amended so as to provide for the gradual restriction of involuntary servitude, but the Senate refusing to endorse any anti- slavery proviso whatever, and the House insisting on that provision, the hill again failed. In 1820, while the matter was still under dis- cussion, an amendment was presented, which settled for the time all differences between the two Houses, and allowed Missiouri to enter the Union with slavery. That amendment, famous in history as the "Missouri Compromise," is as follows:
An act to authorize the people of the Missouri Territory to form a constitu- tion and state Government, and for the admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, and to prohibit slavery in certain terri- tories. Adopted March 6, 1820.
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Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That in all that Territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of Thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the state contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be and is hereby forever prohibited. Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is law- fully claimed, in any State or territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.
Such was the "Missouri Compromise," one of the most important
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acts of American Legislation. The pro-slavery senators consented to this measure because they saw by the determination of the House, that they would be unable otherwise to secure the admission of Missouri.
STATE CONVENTION.
Under the act of Congress, the people of the Territory of Mis- souri, then organized into fifteen counties, were authorized to hold an election in May of 1820, for the purpose of choosing representatives to a State convention whose object should be the framing of a constitu- tion. Accordingly, forty-one representatives thus chosen, met at St. Louis, JJune 12, and framed a constitution which took effect from authority of the body itself, no provision having been made to submit it to a vote of the people. The Constitution then adopted withstood the test of parties and all efforts at material amendment from the time of its adoption till the Convention of 1865.
THE CLAY COMPROMISE.
On November 16, Mr. Scott presented the House of Representa- tives at Washington with a copy of the Constitution of the new state, which created a fresh debate, over the fact that the new Constitution sanctioned slavery, and because one of its articles especially enjoined that such laws should be passed as might be necessary to prevent free mulattoes and negroes from coming to or settling in the new state, under any pretex whatsoever.
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