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 26
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 26
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Arriving at his destination, the pioneer's attention was first called to the necessity of providing a shelter for his family, which was frequently supplied by a tent or bark hut until a more comfortable log structure could be erected. The cabin seems to have been from sixteen to twenty feet square, daubed with mud, covered with clapboards, a log cut out for a window, and a huge stone fireplace surmounted by a "cat and clay" chimney. The interior of the structure was in harmony with the rude simplicity of its outward construction. Housekeeping conveniences were not yet contrived, and the "inside finish " consisted almost solely of some pegs driven into the wall for the accommodation of the few articles of spare clothing, and two larger ones or a pair of buck horns over the fireplace, for the rifle. Often the cabin had nothing better than a dirt floor, and the furniture was such as the settler could manufacture with an ax and auger. A split slab supported by four legs did duty as a table, three-legged stools or long benches of the same material supplied the place of chairs, a rough log trough cradled the
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baby, while the bed, if raised from the floor, rested upon a one- legged fixture in the corner of the cabin. Upon this hastily im- provised bedstead prairie hay or leaves were placed which, though scarcely as soft as "downy pillows," sufficed the early pioneer families until more comfortable and elaborate accommodations could be provided.
A similar ingenuity provided kitchen and table utensils, which consisted principally of articles turned or coopered out of wood. These included noggins, trays, trenchers, bowls, spoons and ladles, and oftentimes the larger vessels, such as buckets, tubs, churns, etc. A kettle, frying pan, or dutch oven and a few pieces of table cutlery were often the only metal articles used in the cabin.
Another article which was an important factor in the domestic economy of the cabin was the grater, a piece of tin eight or nine inches long, with surface closely set with jagged results of rude perforations, was bent in semicircular form, and fastened to a piece of wood. On this the unripe corn, too soft to grind or pound, was reduced to a coarse article of meal, which, when con- verted into mush or baked into bread, furnished food fit for the gods. It was sometimes called the " blood mill " from frequent lacerations which befell the fingers of the operators.
When the grain became harder, the hominy block, to be found about nearly every cabin, was brought into requisition. This was a rude wooden mortar, the concavity of which was made by burning and scraping. The pestle was an iron wedge let into a wooden handle, which was often attached to a spring pole to aid the operation.
In this day of diversified industry, when one labor-saving invention crowds another off the stage in endless and rapid suc- cession, it is difficult to comprehend the patient, persevering effort required of the pioneer housekeeper, even for the success- ful discharge of the ordinary duties of the cabin. The lack of expensive furniture, unwholesome carpets, fragile bric-a-brac and costly hangings did not lessen the good housewife's care. She was both mistress and servant, matron and maid, house- keeper and cook.
Neatness was not the less demanded of her than of the
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modern housewife, and her split broom and scrub brush found ample service in keeping floor and furniture clean and white.
Food was abundant and wholesome, but, like everything else that the pioneer possessed, it was to be derived only from the crude natural product. The richest milk, choicest butter, the finest meats, with wild fruits, nuts and honey, were to be had for the trouble of taking them from nature's bountiful hand. Bread was most difficult to obtain, and its scarcity was often a great privation. The labor involved in establishing a new home was not unequally divided between the sexes. The men hunted, plowed, planted, gathered the corn, ground it into meal or pounded it into hominy in the mortar.
Custom and necessity united to lay upon the woman the duty of providing for every household need that the rude agriculture of the period did not supply, and in all the multifarious activities which engaged her skill and energy she labored unaided by labor-saving machinery.
And so she milked the cows in all weathers, while the sturdy men and boys watched an operation too effeminate to enlist their service; churned the butter, carried the tubs to the spring, or caught rain-water, for the weekly washing, from the eaves, in troughs and barrels; washed, pickled, carded and dyed the wool; pulled, broke, hatcheled and bleached the flax; spun the thread and wove the cloth; contrived and made the family garments; reared her children, nursed the sick, sympathized with the dis- tressed, and encouraged the ofttimes disheartened laborer at her side. In all this, and above it all, woman was the tutelary saint of the pioneer's household.
" The dress of the women consisted of linen and linsey-wolsey -linen and wool combined. An overshadowing sun-bonnet of linen, neatly washed and ironed, and a check apron, made of the heavier material, with homemade stockings and a pair of heavy cow-hide shoes, constituted the ladies' outfit for the most impor- tant occasion. Deer skins were frequently used in men's wear, as were also linen and coarse woolen cloth manufactured by the deft fingers of the good-wife upon the home loom."
The Farm .- As before intimated, the early settlers all sought the timber and cleared up farms. Here the land, thickly shaded,
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had not produced the heavy, tough sod found on the prairie, and was comparatively easy of cultivation. The question of cultivat- ing the prairie was often discussed, but the conclusion generally arrived at was that this broad expanse of natural meadow was designed for a great pasture field, and must forever remain such.
Corn was invariably the first crop, and for a number of years the principal means of sustenance of the early families of the county. A small space was usually devoted to garden vegetables; a small patch of turnips was sown, the product of which, in win- ter evenings, afforded those who had enjoyed apples elsewhere a not unpleasant substitute; and occasionally a secluded spot in the center of the field was devoted to water and musk melons. It was several years before wheat could be grown successfully on the new lands, its rank growth preventing it from maturing properly. Emigrants from Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas, brought with them a relish for corn, which is still a marked feature of the culinary predilections of the people of those and other Southern States, and wheat, save in the case of emigrants from the East or for " company purposes," was for a number of years only raised for exportation. Other obstacles to its cultivation was the lack of the superior machinery which was required to prepare it for use in the rather more exacting nature of its culture, and the restricted uses to which it could be applied.
For farming implements the pioneer was obliged to rely in a great measure upon his own skill and ingenuity. Some of the early settlers brought farming ustensils with them, while others, not so fortunate, manufactured their own implements, or made long journeys to the nearest market places in order to secure them.
The plows of the time everywhere were rude, ungainly tools which, with the shovel plow, wooden-toothed harrow and hoe, made up the sum of the farmer's implements, until harvest when the old reaphook, the cradle, the scythe and the flail came into use.
The ground was generally prepared with the shovel plow, and when sown was covered with the harrow or the bushy limb of a tree. It was cut with the sickle, threshed with the flail, and there was little to relieve the tedium of these duties.
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Nothing could equal the Indian corn, however, for the neces- sities of the settlers in a new and isolated country. It furnished food for man and beast, and, manufactured into whisky, furnished a favorite beverage found in the home of nearly every pioneer. Its earliest foes, the squirrels and crows, afforded the boys a pleasurable occupation in defending the fields, which often gave them the first opportunity of using the rifle and shot gun. After the ear was formed and the grain half grown the conflict was renewed, for the squirrel seemed to recognize the era of wasting ears as quickly as the farmer. As the ears ripened, the blades were pulled off and tied in bundles; the tops above the ear were cut off and shocked, and finally the ear was pulled and stored to furnish the crowning occasion of the fall-the husking bee.
Another crop to which the early settler gave considerable attention was flax, and a little later hemp was raised as the chief article of export. The cultivation of the latter was carried on very extensively for a number of years, and in an early day was the chief source of revenue of the pioneers of Andrew County.
An important source of wealth, or rather comfort, which was the form in which frontier affluence expressed itself, was the stock which the immigrants took care to bring with them in unusual variety. Among these the cow obtained a prominence which the plainess of backwoods fare exalted to the distinction of a public benefactor. Next to the cow and scarcely second in the estimation of the early Missourians was the horse. From the first these animals were used by the majority of the settlers to the almost entire exclusion of oxen in all the labors of the frontier. This doubtless arose from the predilections of the people who came largely from Virginia and Kentucky, where the passion for the horse had been fostered from an early date.
Swine were bought in the older settlements, and early became a matter of necessity to the pioneer. They had long occupied an important place in the domestic economy of the sections which peopled this county, and later years have so far confirmed this early taste that the favorite meat and cereal, "hog and hom- iny," have almost become of sectional significance. Sheep were early introduced, and for many years had to be folded at night to guard them against the attack of the wolves. All these animals
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were supported with little cost. The wide range of wild grass afforded excellent pasture and hay.
The Game .- Andrew County, as well as other portions of the Platte Purchase when first settled, was in reality a hunter's par- adise. The timber, prairie and water-courses were crowded with game of all kinds, and the new-comer, though deprived of any near source of supplies, found no difficulty in providing an abundance of the choicest meats for his family. Bears were found by the earliest settlers, but these animals had nearly all disappeared before the tide of immigration forming the permanent settle- ments of the county set in. A few were killed early in the forties, and still later several were seen in the woods contiguous to the Missouri in the southern part of the county. Wolves were very numerous, and frequently proved destructive to small stock, such as hogs and sheep, and sometimes in winter, when rendered desperate by hunger, they have been known to enter stable yards and attack cattle and horses. Instances are related of travelers and others having been pursued and attacked by these animals, but it was only when they were half starved and desperate. Bounties offered for the scalps had the effect of largely ridding the country of these nocturnal pests, but they continued to do serious damage to pig sties and sheep folds long after the county was quite well populated. Systematic hunts were planned and put into effect by the early settlers in order to rid the county of these animals, and such was the suc- cess of the hunts, that in a few years the wolves were gradually exterminated or driven to other parts.
Deer were found in unlimited numbers, and the first settlers found no trouble in killing more than the needs of the family required, without going any great distance from the precincts of his home. Droves reaching into the hundreds were often seen, and the pioneer was in the habit of carrying his gun on almost every occasion, and seldom returned from any expedition with- out an evidence of the abundance of these animals in the shape of a haunch or ham of venison.
Wild turkeys, grouse, geese, cranes, ducks and other species of the feathered tribes were everywhere found in large numbers, and furnished a touch of delicacy to the pioneer's bill of fare.
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Squirrels, rabbits and other small game were considered hardly worth the time and trouble of shooting, while animals of a fiercer nature, such as wild cats and panthers, were frequently encoun- tered by the hunter who courted the danger of pursuing and bringing them down. The streams of Andrew County were early resorted to by the Indians on account of the profusion of fine edible fish that swarmed their waters, and such varieties of the finny tribe, as bass, cat-pike, salmon, mullet, suckers and others, formed no inconsiderable part of the table delicacies on many a settler's table.
With the abundance of what are now considered luxuries it would seem at a casual glance that the pioneer life was one of ease rather than hardship; but when we consider that these were the sum of their early luxuries, that what we deem the common necessities, and find so cheap as to pass almost unnoticed in our estimate of family supplies and expenses, were to the early set- tlers almost inaccessable, a great change is wrought in our estimate.
Salt was quite expensive and difficult to procure. Flour for a time could not be procured at any price, and even meal, such as is known to-day, was unknown to the early settlers of the county.
Early Mills .- As already stated the grater and mortar were the first results of the pioneers in providing breadstuffs for their fami- lies. The first step toward the reduction of food prices was taken when the water mill was introduced. The hominy block and grater, had in many cases been suspersed by the hand mill, a small buhr propelled by hand, but this, while it improved the quality of the product, did not appreciably lessen the labor. The water mill did both, but, dependent on the inconstant streams, it proved only a par- tial substitute for the more laborious methods. Horse mills were early introduced, the first of which as already intimated was con- structed by Joseph Walker on his place on Hackberry Ridge, a few miles from Savannah. This was a very primitive structure, operated by oxen and horses, and made a coarse article of meal and flour which had to be sifted by hand, through a common wire sieve. The manufacture of meal and flour by this indifferent mill was a slow process, but the early families living in the vicinity prized it highly, and patronized it until improved mills
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HISTORY OF ANDREW COUNTY.
were erected in the county. Mr. Walker remodeled his mill about 1842, and operated it in all something like eight or ten years.
The Dillon mill, on Dillon Creek, Jefferson Township, was built, late in the thirties or early in the forties, by Abram Dillon. The original building, a round log structure, supplied with rude machinery operated by water power, was subsequently torn down, and a frame building erected a short distance down the stream .. The latter was a combination saw and grist mill, and for a num- ber of years manufactured the meal and lumber used by the early settlers in a large area of territory. It ceased operations about the year 1849 or 1850.
John Lincoln, a pioneer of Jackson Township, erected a small mill on the creek which bears his name, as early perhaps as. 1840 or 1841. The mill house was a hewed log building, and the machinery, like that of the Dillon mill, was constructed and put in operation by Jeremiah Clark, one of the first millwrights of Andrew County. Mr. Lincoln carrried on a blacksmith shop in connection with his mill, which was in operation but a few years.
The Stanberry mill, about two and a half miles east of Savan- nah on the One-Hundred-and-Two River, was built in an early day by a Mr Stanberry, who for a number of years did a very successful business.
About the year 1842 Mr. Hughes erected a flouring mill on the One-Hundred-and-Two River in Jefferson Township, a part of which is still standing, the original structure having been several times remodeled and otherwise improved. In an early day there was a log mill built on the One-Hundred-and-Two, several miles. northeast of Savannah, and about the same time, or perhaps a little later, one Benjamin Kitchen built a small water mill in the south- west part of Lincoln Township which was in operation for a period of four or five years.
The Kibby flouring mill at Rochester, was one of the early enterprises of the county, and for a number of years was exten- sively patronized by the early residents of Andrew, De Kalb, Nodaway and other counties. Mills were erected on the Platte and Nodaway Rivers, many years ago, and a little later steam mills were built in different parts of the county.
The Rosendale and Whitesville flouring mills were built a
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number of years ago, as were also mills in the northwest corner of the county, and in the village of Fillmore.
The first lumber manufactured in Andrew County is said to have been sawed by Spencer Gee and another man, name forgot- ten, who used in the operation what was then known as a whip saw. The frame work of this primitive saw mill consisted of a rough platform, one end of which rested upon an embankment, while the other end was supported by two strong forks driven into the ground. Upon this platform was laid the log, while the sawyer, one above and one beneath, operated the saw up and down, a slow and very laborious process. This mill was moved from place to place, and in some of the old residences of the northern part of the county is still shown lumber which cost Mr. Gee and his companion many backaches.
John Owsly, as early as 1839 or 1840, built a small saw mill in Jackson Township on Lincoln Creek, the waters of which furnished the motive power. The mill manufactured much of the lumber used in the construction of early buildings in Savannah and Fillmore, and for a number of years was well patronized. The Dillon mill, to which reference has been made, was supplied with machinery for the manufacture of lumber, and the first logs sawed in the same were hauled several miles by John D. Bowland. The first steam saw mill in the county was built by Mr. Eisaminger about the year 1848, and stood three miles north of Amazonia in the eastern part of what is now Lincoln Township. It was subsequently moved to Amazonia, and operated until about the year 1861.
Andrew County at this time is well supplied with mills, the excellent water power of the Nodaway, Platte and One-Hun- dred-and-Two Rivers having long since been extensively utilized for manufacturing purposes. Steam mills are in operation in Savannah, Amazonia, Celena and Bolckow, all of which do an extensive and lucrative business.
INDIANS.
Upon the first introduction of Europeans among the prim- itive inhabitants of this country, it was the prevailing opin-
7A
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ion among white people that the vast domain, since designated as the " American Continent," was peopled by one common fam- ily of like habits, and speaking the same language. The error, however, was soon dispelled by observation which, at the time, established the fact of the great diversity of their characteristics, language and physical development, the diversity arising some- times from one cause and sometimes from another. Especially within the last century the subject of ethnological investigation has acquired new interest, the unfoldings of the period add- ing largely to the stock of knowledge appertaining thereto. These investigations in many instances have elicited facts of great moment by the consideration in the light of the present age of observed conditions as consequent upon causes heretofore unknown to science. As a result, therefore, it has been ascer- tained that there are certain radical divisions in the Indian race at large, into which by common consent the race has been sepa- rated. The principal of these divisions as known at this period is the Algonquin, embracing a number of powerful tribes, chief among which are the Miamis, early known as the Twa-Twas, Omes and Omanes. Next in rank to the Miamis are the Dela- wares or Lenne Lenapes and Shawanoes. Then came the Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas and Piankeshaws, who collectively were known as the Ilinese or Illinois Indians-then the Ottawas. The Chip- pewas and Mississaguas were interchangeably known as Nipper- sinians, Nippisings, Ojibwas, Santaux and Chibwas. After these were the Kickapoos or Miscoutins, the Pottawattomies or Pouks, the Sacs or Saukes, and Foxes or Reynards.
The Sacs .- At an early period in the history of the Algon- quin family, while it inhabited the region of the northern lakes, and before the general dispersion of the tribes, the Sacs were recognized, not so much by a district name in the sense of a sep- arate division, as by peculiarities of manner and habit, or other- wise from location. Then, in common with other tribes, their chief occupation appears to have been fur gathering, for they were hunters and trappers, and had acquired considerable notori- ety in that particular calling. They were also brave and warlike, and were frequently at war with the Iroquois and other tribes. The first historical account of this tribe places their home and
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hunting grounds on the Detroit River and Saginaw Bay, but sub- sequently, being overpowered by the Iroquois, they were driven beyond Lake Michigan. They settled near Green Bay, where they were subsequently joined by the Outagamies or Foxes, with whom they have ever since affiliated.
" They were roving and restless and were constantly at war with the Sioux and Iroquois, and aided the French against the latter. A part of the tribe at first joined the Foxes against the French, but soon abandoned the cause. They took sides with Pontiac, and during the Revolution were under English influ- ence." In the war of 1812, the Rock River Sacs took part with the English.
" The Sacs were divided into a great many clans: The Great and Little Bear, Great and Little Fox, Wolf, Owl, Eagle, Tor- toise and others." Treaties were made especially with the tribe in 1804, 1815 and 1816.
The treaty of 1804 made by Gov. William Henry Har- rison at St. Louis was for a portion of Northeast Missouri (and other territory ), and at the same time stipulated that the Indians were to live at amity with the Americans.
As already stated the tribe appears to have been unfaithful to the treaty, for in the war of 1812 the greater portion of them went over to the English. A comparatively small branch, how- ever, under Pashepahi (The Gigger or Spear Fisher), remained faithful to the Americans, separated from the main tribe, and came to dwell near the Missouri River in the country between the Missouri and the Des Moines. The Sacs and Foxes confed- erated some time prior to the year 1800.
The latter tribe early lived on the Detroit River, and as far north as the St. Lawrence. They are described as turbulent and warlike, and were subsequently driven by the Iroquois to the region of Green Bay. They were afterward driven farther west by their enemies, and finally settled on the Fox River in Wiscon- sin. They took no part in the Pontiac war, but a portion of the tribe assisted the English in the war of the Revolution. They seemed to have nearly always been the friends and neighbors of the Sacs, and the history of the two tribes after their confederation is practically identical. The two branches of these tribes were
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called the Sacs and Foxes of the Rock River, and the Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri. It was with the latter branch that the treaty for the Platte Purchase was made in 1836. The Black Hawk war (in 1832) was fought exclusively by the northern branch of the tribe under Black Hawk (or Black Sparrow Hawk, as the Indian name, Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah is literally trans- lated). This was for the purpose of recovering ceded lands on the Rock River.
September 13, 1815, a treaty was made at St. Louis be- tween Gov. William Clark, Ninian Edwards and Auguste Chou- tiau (commissioners of the United States) and certain In- dian chiefs and warriors of a certain portion of the Sac nation of Indians residing on the Missouri River, viz .: Quashquame, Shamago, Kataka, Neshota-Wesaka-Catchemackeseo and Cheka- qua; this was simply a reaffirmation of the treaty of November 3, 1804. The next day a similar treaty by the same commissioners was made with the Foxes. August 4, 1824, a final treaty for all territory then in Missouri (the Platte Purchase not included) was made with the tribes, after which the Missouri branch retired to the Platte country (to Southwestern Iowa, and perhaps to Southeastern Kansas), where they remained until the treaty of September 17, 1836. Subsequently they were removed to differ- ent portions of Kansas, and finally, having been joined by the main tribe, the Rock River branch, the whole were removed to the Indian Territory, where the remnant still lives.
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