USA > Missouri > DeKalb County > History of Andrew and De Kalb counties, Missouri : from earliest time to the present; together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and family records. besides a condensed history of the state of Missouri, etc > Part 18
USA > Missouri > Andrew County > History of Andrew and De Kalb counties, Missouri : from earliest time to the present; together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and family records. besides a condensed history of the state of Missouri, etc > Part 18
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POPULATION OF MISSOURI BY COUNTIES.
The annexed table shows the population of the State by the counties in ex- istence at the several periods mentioned. The population of the Territory in 1810 was 20,845.
COUNTIES.
1821.
1830.
1840.
1850.
1860.
1870.
1880.
Adair
2,342
8,531
11,449
15,190
Andrew
9,433
11,850
15,137
16,318
Atchison.
1,648
4,649
8,440
14,556
Audrain
1,949
3,506
8,075
12,307
19,732
Barry
4,795
3,467
7,995
10,373
14,405
Barton
1,817
5,087
10,332
Bates.
3,669
7,215
15,960
25,381
Benton
4,205
5,015
9,072
11,322
12,396
Boone. .
3,692
8,859
13,561
14,979
19,486
20,765
25,422
Buchanan
6,237
12,975
23,861
35,109
49,792
Butler .
1,616
2,891
4,298
6,011
Caldwell.
1,458
2,316
5,034
11,390
13,646
Callaway
1,797
6,102
11,765
13,827
17,049
19,202
23,670
Camden
7,852
7,430
9,359
13,912
15,547
17,558
20,998
Carroll.
2,433
5,441
9,763
17,445
23,274
Carter
4,693
6,090
9,794
19,296
22,431
Chariton.
1,426
1,776
4,746
7,514
12,562
19,135
25,224
Clark.
2,846
5,527
11,684
13,667
15,031
Clay
5,342
8,282
10,332
13,023
15,564
15,572
Clinton
2,724
3,786
7,748
14,063
16,073
Cole.
1,028
3,006
9,286
6,696
9,697
10,292
15,515
Coope
3,483
6,910
10,484
12,950
17,356
20,692
21,596
Crawford
1,709
3,561
6,397
5,823
7,982
10,756
Dade
4,246
7,072
8,683
12,557
Dallas.
3,648
5,892
8,383
9,263
Daviess
2,736
5,298
9,606
14,410
19,145
De Kalb
2,075
5,224
9,858
13,334
Dent.
5,654
6,357
10,646
Douglas
2,414
3,915
7,753
Dunklin
1,220
5,026
5,982
9,604
Franklin
1.928
3,431
7,515
11,021
18,035
23,098
26,534
Gasconade.
1,174
1,548
5,330
4,996
8,727
11,093
11,153
Gentry
4,248
11,980
11,607
17,176
Greene
5,372
12,785
13,186
21,549
28,801
Grundy.
3,006
7,887
10,567
15,185
Harrison.
2,447
10,626
14,635
20,304
Henry .
4,726
4,052
9,866
17,401
23,906
Hickory:
2,329
4,705
6,452
7,387
Holt.
3,957
6,550
11,652
15,509
Howard
7,321
10,314
13,108
13,969
15,946
17,233
18,428
Howell.
3,169
4,218
8,814
Iron.
2,822
7,612
14,000
22,896
55,041
82,325
Jasper.
4,223
6,883
14,928
32,019
Jefferson
1,838
2,586
4,296
6,928
10,344
15,380
18,736
Johnson
4,471
7,467
14,644
24,648
28,172
Cedar.
3,361
6,637
9,474
10,741
Christian
5,491
6,707
9,628
2,338
4,975
6,108
7,266
Cape Girardeau ..
1,235
1,455
2,168
Cass
7,371
8,162
11.130
Bollinger.
5,842
6,278
8,183
Jackson
196
HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
POPULATION OF MISSOURI BY COUNTIES .- Continued.
COUNTIES.
1821.
1830.
1840.
1850.
1860.
1870.
1880.
Knox
2,894
8,727
10,974
13,047
Laclede.
2,498
5,182
9,380
11,524
La Fayette.
1,340
2,921
6,815
13,690
20,098
22,628
25,710
Lawrence.
8,846
13,067
17,583
Lewis
6,040
6,578
12,286
15,114
15,925
Lincoln.
1,674
4,060
7,449
9,421
14,210
15,960
17,426
Linn.
2,245
4,058
9,112
15,900
20,016
Livingston.
4,325
4,247
7,417
16,730
20,196
McDonald
2,236
4,038
5,226
7,816
Macon
6,034
6,565
14,346
23,230
26,222
Madison
2,371
3,395
6,003
5,664
5,849
8,876
Maries
1,907
4,839
9,623
12,230
18,838
23,780
24,837
Mercer
2,282
3,834
6,812
6,616
9,805
Mississippi
3,123
4,859
4,982
9,270
Moniteau.
6,004
10,124
11,375
14,346 ·
Monroe ..
9,505
10,541
14,785
17,149
19,071
Montgomery
2,032
3,900
4,371
5,486
9,718
10,405
16,249
Morgan
4,407
4,650
8,202
8,434
10,132
New Madrid.
2,445
2,351
4,554
5,541
5,654
6,357
7,694
Newton. .
3,790
4,268
9,319
12,821
18,947
Nodaway.
2,118
5,252
14,751
29,544
Oregon
6,704
7,879
10,793
11,824
Ozark .
2,294
2,447
3,363
5,618
Pemiscot
2,962
2,059
4,299
Perry.
1,599
3,371
5,760
7,215
9,128
9,877
11,895
Pettis.
2,930
5,150
9,392
18,706
27,271
Phelps
2,677
6,122
10,646
13,609
18,417
23,077
26,715
Platte
8,913
16,845
18,350
17,352
17,366
Polk.
8,449
6,186
9,995
12,445
15,734
Pulaski.
6,529
3,998
3,835
4,714
7,250
Ralls
1,684
4,346
5,670
6,151
8,592
10,510
11,838
Ray
1,789
2,658
6,053
10,353
14,092
18,700
20,190
Ripley.
2,856
2,830
3,747
3,175
5,377
St. Charles.
4,058
4,822
7,911
11,454
16,523
21,304
23,065
St. Francois.
2,386
3,211
4,964
4,249
9,742
13,822
St. Louis
8,190
14,909
35,975
104,978
190,524
351,189
382,406
Saline
1,176
2,182
5,258
8,843
14,699
21,67%
29,911
Scotland
3,782
8,873
10,670
12,508
Scott.
2,136
5,974
3,182
5,247
7,317
8,587
Shannon.
1,199
2,284
2,339
3,441
Shelby
3,056
4,253
7,301
10,119
14,024
Stoddard
3,153
4,277
7,877
8,535
13,431
Stone ..
2,400
3,253
4,404
Sullivan.
2,983
9,198
11,907
16,569
Taney
3,264
4,373
3,576
4,407
5,599
Texas.
2,313
6,067
9,618
12,206
..
2,000
3,148
5,313
8,029
8,384
10,390
Schuyler.
3,287
6,097
8,820
10,470
Putnam
1,657
9,207
11,217
13,555
Randolph.
2,942
7,198
9,439
11,407
15,908
22,751
Reynolds
1,849
3,173
3,756
5,722
St. Clair.
3,556
6,812
6,747
14,125
Ste. Genevieve.
3,181
1,432
3,009
3,287
5,721
Marion
2,691
9,300
11,557
14,673
Miller
4,901
5,916
7,304
Osage
5,714
10,506
12,568
Pike. .
4,859
197
HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
POPULATION OF MISSOURI BY COUNTIES .- Concluded.
COUNTIES.
1821.
1830.
1840.
1850.
1860.
1870.
1880.
Vernon.
4,850
11,247
19,369
Warren ..
4,253
5,860
8,339
9,637
10,806
Washington
3,741
6,779
7,213
8,811
9,723
11,719
12,896
Wayne
1,614
3,254
3,403
5,518
5,629
6,068
9,096
Webster
7,099
10,434
12,175
· Worth
5,004
8,203
Wright
3,387
4,508
5,684
9,712
Total
70,647
140,304
383,702
682,043 1,182,012 1,721,295 2,168,380
CITIES AND TOWNS.
The following table shows the population of cities and towns in the State with a population of 4,000 and upward in 1880, compared with the census of 1870:
TOWNS.
1870.
1880.
TOWNS.
1870.
1880.
Carthage
4,167
Moberly
1,514
6,070
Chillicothe
3,978
4,078
St. Charles.
5,570
5,014
Hannibal
10,125
11,074
St. Joseph.
19,565
32,431
Jefferson City
4,420
5,271
St. Louis
310,864
350,518
Joplin ..
7,038
Sedalia ..
4,560
9,561
Kansas City.
32,260
55,785
Springfield.
5,555
6,522
Louisiana
3,630
4,325
Warrensburg
2,945
4,040
..
CONCLUSION.
Such, in brief, is the History of Missouri, one of the foremost of the States of the Union in everything that goes to make up our Commonwealth. While there may be spots and flaws in the early records of its pioneer settlers, yet with them all this early and later history is one that must stir the blood and quicken the pulse of him who reads. Its institutions of civil and religious freedom, guaranteeing the rights of citizenship, education and worship, extending the blessings of beneficent law silently and extensively as the atmosphere about us, demand our love. Then, too, it is a' State of innumerable and as yet undeveloped resources. Its soil yields almost an infinite variety of production. Within its bosom lie hid many minerals, and its forests are rich in ex-
198
HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
haustless stores of timber, while its prairies are made to "bud and blossom like the rose." It is a State of the free school, the free press and the free pulpit, a trio the power of which it is im- possible to compute. The free schools, open to rich and poor, bind together the people in educational bonds and in the common memories of the recitation-room and the play grounds. The free press may not always be altogether as dignified or elevated as the more highly cultivated may desire, but it is ever open to the com- plaints of the people; is ever watchful of popular rights and jeal- ous of class encroachments. The free pulpit, sustained not by legally exacted tithes wrung from an unwilling people, but by the free-will offerings of loving supporters, gathers about it the thousands, inculcates the highest morality, points to brighter worlds, and when occasion demands will not be silent before po- litical wrongs. Its power simply as an educating agency can scarcely be estimated. These three grand agencies are not rival but supplementary, each doing an essential work in public cult- ure.
Above all this is a State of homes. Here there is no system of vast land-ownerships, with lettings and sub-lettings, but, on the contrary, the abundance and cheapness of land gives a large proportion of the population proprietary interests. To all this, add the freedom of elective franchise which invests the humblest citizen with the functions of sovereignty, and is there not reason for loving such a State ?
The Missouri of to-day is not the Missouri of a decade ago. A dark period followed the close of that bitter internecine strife, so fatal to this locality, but notwithstanding all this, prosperity and progress beyond former precedents are now her portion. The area of land under cultivation is greater than ever before, and the census of 1890 will exhibit an astounding increase in every department of material industry and advancement; in a great in- crease of agricultural and mechanical wealth; in new and im- proved modes for production of every kind, in the universal activity of business in all its branches; in the rapid growth of cities and villages; in bountiful harvests, and in unexampled material prosperity prevailing on every hand. Colleges and schools of every class and grade are in the most flourishing con-
HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 199
dition; benevolent institutions, State and private, are well main- tained, and, as one has aptly said, "In a word our prosperity is as complete and ample as though no tread of armies or beat of drum had been heard in our borders." Surely these are not the ordinary indices of exhaustion! As to resources for the future struggle, the resources of the State will meet each legitimate call. Guiding all these is the intelligent purpose of a people whose ambition, laudable indeed, is to make Missouri in reputation what she is in reality-one of the very richest States of the Union.
PART II.
HISTORY OF ANDREW COUNTY.
HISTORY OF ANDREW COUNTY
TOPOGRAPHY.
A NDREW COUNTY is situated in the northwestern part of Missouri, in nearly the same latitude as the cities of Philadel- phia and Sacramento, and about the same meridian as the Lake of the Woods and Galveston. It is nearly square, being about twenty miles from one boundary line to its parallel, and embraces a superficial area of 4,423.63 square miles or 273,035 acres bounded as follows: Nodaway County on the north, Gentry and De Kalb on the east, Buchanan on the south and Holt County on the west. The county may be said to be composed of two-thirds timber land, and the remainder prairie. The prairies lie east, northeast and north, but even they are handy to an abundance of timber that grows along the various water courses.
The general surface of the country may be described as roll- ing or gently undulating, although there are exceptions to the rule in several townships, where, in certain localities along the water courses, are to be seen abrupt hills and deep ravines. That part of the county bordering upon the Missouri River is consider- ably broken, the bluffs at Amazonia being from sixty to over two hundred feet high, and of romantic boldness. From the summits of these majestic hills, far above the water, a general view of the noble river and beautiful scenery for several miles along its banks can be obtained.
That part of Nodaway Township contiguous to the One-Hun- dred-and-Two River is also much broken in places, and, in the vicinity of Savannah, is quite a number of hills and undulations, none of which, however, is too abrupt for cultivation. Monroe Township, in the southeast corner of the county, and Rochester
4
HISTORY OF ANDREW COUNTY.
Township, in the eastern part, are characterized by a gently roll- ing surface, and near Fillmore, in the township of Jackson, is a diversified surface, hills and valleys alternating. The prairies are beautifully rolling, and characterized by a black loam soil of great depth and fertility, the remains of decayed vegetation that have been accumulating for centuries. This has for a subsoil a calcareo-siliceous clay, known as marl, which, when thrown to the surface from the bottoms of wells, and allowed to stand the freezing of one winter, has produced, without the aid of fertiliz- ers, almost as well as the black mold itself.
Empire Prairie, in the northwest corner of the county, is quite level, and presents as fine an area of farm land as can be found anywhere in the State of Missouri.
Similarly situated are the prarie lands of Benton and Clay Townships, which, in point of fertility and general productive- ness, are unexcelled by any like area in the West. In fact the soil throughout the county may be described as rich and inex- haustible, and it has never yet failed, with proper cultivation, to produce good crops, even under the most unfavorable climatic conditions to which it has been subjected.
STREAMS.
Andrew County is exceedingly well supplied with living streams of water, which are so admirably distributed that the people could not possibly make an improvement upon the arrange- ment, even if they were allowed the privilege of and endowed with the power to make a readjustment of the system of water- courses. Nodaway River forms the western boundary of the county, and affords ample drainage for a large and fertile area of country. It flows a southerly direction, receives in its course a number of tributaries, among which are Peddlar, Arapahoe and Lincoln Creeks, and empties into the Missouri a short distance west of Amazonia Village.
The One-Hundred-and-Two, so named from its being one hundred and two miles in length, runs parallel with the Nodaway through the central part of the county, and with its tributaries. Neelys branch, Upper Neely branch, Long branch, Riggin branch and Kelley's branch water and drain a fine region of country.
5
STATE OF MISSOURI.
The Platte River runs from north to south through the western part of the county, passing in its course through Platte, Empire, Rochester and Monroe Townships. This is a stream of consider- able size and importance, and it was along its banks that many of the first settlements in the above named townships were made. The other streams of the county worthy of mention are Muddy, Third Fork, Caples, Hickory, Crooked and Niagara Creeks, all of which play an important part in the drainage of the country through which they flow. The outlet of all these water courses is the great Missouri River, which forms the southwest bound- ary line of the county. Some of these streams have excellent mill sites, especially the Platte and One-Hundred-and-Two Rivers, and within the past forty years these privileges have been extensively utilized for manufacturing purposes.
" In addition to the water courses, perennial springs of the purest water are everywhere abundant, and it may be said with proper regard for truth, that there is scarcely a section of land in the county that has a spring or running stream within its bound- ary affording water sufficient to supply the demands of a stock farm."
TIMBER.
A circumstance, which more perhaps than any other favored, the settlement of Andrew County, was the abundance and variety of its timber. A large portion of the county was originally covered with a dense forest growth, much of which has been utilized for manufacturing purposes, and much ruthlessly de- stroyed by the early settlers in clearing and developing their farms. At the head of the varieties composing this forest growth may be classed the black walnut, a tree highly prized in all countries for the value of its timber for manufacturing purposes.
" Timber of this kind was very plentiful, and of excellent quality, but the high prices paid for it presented itself as a temptation to destroy it, which the people frequently, in straitened circumstances, could not resist." But little walnut is now to be found in the county, though quite a number of farmers have of late years been giving some attention to its cultivation, there being at this time several large and valuable groves in different
6
HISTORY OF ANDREW COUNTY.
parts of the country. The different species of oak were formerly very plentiful, and there still remains a sufficient amount of this timber for all practical purposes for years to come. Ash, hickory, elm, maple, sycamore, cotton-wood, cherry tree, crab apple, linden and other varieties are also found in abundance, and, taken all in all, Andrew may be said to be one of the best timbered counties in Northern Missouri. A line of timber follows the course of all the streams, while isolated groves, both natural and artificial, are to be seen in many localities throughout the country, which serve not only to vary the monotony of the prairie, but are useful in that they appear to exert an important effect upon the climate.
STONE AND COAL.
The rock strata of Andrew County embrace a vertical thick- ness of about 220 feet of the upper members of the coal measures, and are included betweeen Nos. 224 and 174 of the general sec- tion of the upper coal measures. Although some parts of the county are well supplied with rock, in many others no outcrop appears. On the Nodaway River and its tributaries it is occasion- ally found, also along the Platte River, in the eastern part of the county. Limestone in vast quantities is found in various parts of the county, and at this time there are several quarries in suc- cessful operation. About one and a half miles northeast of Savannah is quite an extensive quarry, from which the finest quality of building stone has been taken and shipped to St. Joe and other large cities. There are also quarries in Benton Town- ship, and on the One-Hundred-and-Two River, all of which have been extensively worked, much of the stone being utilized for foundations, chimneys and general building purposes.
That Andrew County is underlaid with vast beds of fine coal will hardly admit of a doubt, as outcroppings are to be found in several localities. Near the village of Amazonia has recently been discovered a three-foot vein, and the indications are that the country in the vicinity of Rochester is especially rich in this important mineral, large quantities of which have been found a short distance beneath the surface. Energy and capital are all that are necessary to develop the rich coal fields of Andrew
7
STATE OF MISSOURI.
County, and the prediction is made that before the lapse of many years the county will teem with many successful mines.
MINERAL SPRINGS AND WELLS.
There are several mineral springs in Andrew County, the waters of which have been tested as to their medicinal qualities, and found to possess rare curative properties. A more complete and perfect combination of the most essential minerals, with less waste matter, would be difficult to find. The water is clear as crystal, and of singular purity. The two most important of these springs are found short distances northeast and southwest of Savannah, respectively.
Bethesda Mineral Well .- This well is located in the city of Savannah, and was formerly owned by Dr. J. G. B. Ferguson, who was the first to advertise its superior curative virtues to the world. The peculiarity of this water is its pureness, and yet it is said to contain all the essential minerals. From an analysis made by Messrs. Wright and Merrill, analytical chemists, of St. Louis, it was determined that one gallon of 231 cubic inches contains the following ingredients :
Specific gravity.
REACTIVE ACIDS.
1011.5 Grains per Gal.
Calcic-Carbonate
1.852
Magnesic-Carbonate
.813
Ferric-Carbonate
2.516
Sodic-Chlorididi
3.196
Calcic-Chlorididi.
144.845
Magnesic-Chlorididi
45.584
Alumnia.
4.014
Silica
.740
Calcic-Sulphate
2.022
Organic and Volatile matter
1.320
206.902
The waters of this well, say Profs. Wright and Merrill, greatly resemble the St. Catherine's Well, of Ontario, Canada, and the Kreutznach Spring, of Germany. It has been fully tried, and found an effectual remedy for dyspepsia, scrofula, gout, rheuma- tism ; also a specific in neuralgia, an alterative and purgative.
8
HISTORY OF ANDREW COUNTY.
AGRICULTURE.
The agricultural productions of Andrew County are as varied as the most exacting could ask of this latitude, and for general farming purposes it ranks among the very best counties of the State. The following from the pen of Benjamin R. Vineyard, Esq., relating to the agricultural interests of the Platte purchase can be relied upon as presenting the facts so far as the county is concerned:
Almost the entire physical contour of this portion of the State is well adapted to the highest degree of cultivation. Along the water-courses are broad valleys, reaching generally far out to the wide, rolling prairies, covered in their unculti- vated state with an exuberant growth of vegetation which springs annually from the fertile soil. We are blessed with a temperate and a healthful climate, where the rain falls and the sun shines in such seasonable proportions as to make it a country where the agriculturist may gather the fullest returns for his labor.
One of the principal crops to which this locality is specially adapted is corn. This, the noblest looking of all the cereals, does well on the arable soils which cover our hills and prairies, but grows in the richest profusion and highest perfection in the deep, rich alluvium of our river bottoms. No other crop is more easily gathered, or less liable to damage after reaching maturity. It never fails to bring to the farmer the realization of the hopes he indulges as to the certainty of his harvest. From the stately stalks, with their millions of glittering tassels and pendant blades waving and shining in the summer sun, he knows that a bountiful harvest will come in the later season. Whole fields often yield seventy or eighty, and sometimes as high as ninety, or even a hundred bushels of corn to the acre. The semi-tropical temperature of our growing seasons, and the wonderful success which has followed the cul- tivation of this staple cereal in this locality, point to the great Missouri Valley as the heart and center of the corn-growing region. It is true that our lands need a deeper plowing and a more perfect cultivation than they have yet received, but
9
STATE OF MISSOURI.
their productiveness is not an experiment, and their fullest development will come with the true hearts, clear heads and sturdy arms of the immigrants, who must ere long troop in here to take possession of these untilled acres. The yield of this grain is usually so bounteous that the price which it has heretofore commanded at home has been comparatively much cheaper than in the Eastern markets, and the farmer has found that he can generally realize more by feeding it to cattle and hogs and shipping the fatted stock than by transporting the grain directly to some distant place of consumption.
Next to corn, wheat is probably the most important and most profitable crop that is raised by our agriculturists. There is probably no soil in the United States better adapted to wheat culture than portions of Northwest Missouri. Timber farms, where the land is not so rich as to make the grain grow rank and become liable to be blown down by the wind, are better adapted, as a general rule, to the successful growth of this cereal, than the arenaceous soils of many of our prairies. Yet, when unaffected by a dry, snowless winter, which sometimes comes, wheat culture on prairie farms has been productive of the most gratifying re- sults, both in the quantity and quality of the yield. Owing to its liability to be injured by rust, and the occasional premature ripening of the grain, produced by the hot, dry weather, which sometimes comes in the month of July, spring wheat is now but little grown in this portion of the State. Fall sowing not only brings a more suitable distribution of labor to the farmer, but can be relied upon with more certainty as to the extent and character of the crop. In fact winter wheat seldom, if ever, fails in this sec- tion, the product in the most favored localities and from the best quality of seed being generally about twenty and sometimes as high as thirty-five or forty bushels to the acre. The quality of the flour produced from the wheat grown in this region is not excelled anywhere, but is shipped to all parts of the Union, and even to foreign countries, to supply the demand for this important article of human food. The use of the drill in the planting of this cereal has been found productive of the most gratifying results, in depositing the grain more uniformly, and in such way as to protect it from the evil consequences that sometimes flow in dry
10
HISTORY OF ANDREW COUNTY.
winters from alternate freezing and thawing. The success and importance of wheat culture in Northwest Missouri can not be overestimated.
Barley is also grown here most profitably. Though regarded by most agriculturists as a tender grain, which may be easily in- jured in any stage of its growth, it seems to have escaped here from most of the ailments which have rendered it a precarious crop elsewhere. The extent of the yield is generally satisfactory, and the berry is plump and bright in color, commanding a good price, and is much sought after by brewers. As the years come and go, the raising of barley in this locality must necessarily greatly in- crease in the acreage that will be sown, and in the attention to its culture; which its importance and profit will demand.
Oats do well in this and in fact in nearly every portion of Missouri. No crop is more easily raised, or produces a more bounteous return. About the only caution which need be given is to be careful not to sow it upon ground which is too rich, where it may be liable to grow too rank and fall before it ripens. If put in early in the spring, whether sown broadcast or planted by a drill, a large yield is almost sure to follow, and the grain is nearly always plump and rich. As a food for horses, and indeed for all kinds of stock, its importance can not be overestimated; and & country where this valuable cereal can be so surely, so easily and so profitably grown as it can here, should command the re- gard of the farmer who is in search of a locality where he can most successfully pursue his vocation, so greatly honored and hallowed by time and toil.
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