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 56
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 56
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In the year 1851 a man by the name of Frost was killed in the eastern part of the county during a drunken row. The name of the person who committed the deed is not known.
About the year 1852 the body of an unknown man was found in a patch of brush some four miles west of Maysville. When discovered the body was partly wrapped up in an old quilt, and
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the supposition was that the murder had been committed at an- other place, and the body brought to the brush for concealment. Upon examination it was discovered that a ball had penetrated the left shoulder of the unfortunate man, and flattened itself against the ribs. The body was shockingly mutilated, having been torn beyond recognition by hogs and buzzards, which had been feeding upon it for several days. It was discovered at a place known in the neigborhood as " Grubb Point " near which lived a man of unsavory reputation by the name of Hiram Clark, who was at once suspected of having committed the murder. He was arrested and charged with the crime, but as nothing could be proven against him the court ordered his release.
Several years ago a young man by the name of Titcomb had a difficulty with his father about the division of some land. Being of a hasty temper he shot and killed his father for which un- natural crime he was arrested, tried and sentenced to the State's prison for the term of eighteen years.
In August, 1865, Joseph E. Branscom, ex-sheriff, was shot and killed in front of Pritchard & Truex's store in Maysville, by one Stoffle, who had been stopping about the city for some months. He sustained the reputation of a worthless and desperate character, and certainly had no motive for the killing as no trouble had previously existed between him and his victim. After committing the bloody deed he seized a horse and succeeded in evading his pursuers, and making good his escape. He was subsequently captured in Howard County, Kas., tried and acquitted upon some legal technicality.
The killing of George Walters, about the year 1875 or 1876, by a young man by the name of Groomer, in the northern part of the county, was an event greatly deplored by all who knew the parties. It appears that the Groomers had been charged with the commission of some crime for which the arrest of one of them was ordered-George Walters and John Thompson having been deputized to make the arrest. Walters met young Groomer at the latter's house and made known his errand, but was told to wait a few minutes until certain arrangements could be made. In the meantime Walters had drawn his revolver, which, according to the statement of some, was accidentally discharged in the
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house, the ball passing through the clothing of a sister of Groomer, and raking the flesh on the hand of a smaller brother. No sooner was the revolver fired than the boy and girl both cried that they were shot, whereupon another brother rushed into the house, and shot Walters, killing him instantly. Both brothers made their escape. Other members of the family were arrested for complicity in the killing, but nothing could be proved against them.
An Englishman by the name of John Godwin was murdered in the southeastern part of the county in 1884. The circum- stances surrounding this bloody deed are very mysterious, and as yet no clue to the murder has been discovered. Mr. Godwin was found lying in his cellar with his skull fractured, having evidently been struck from behind with some heavy instrument, and then pitched head-first down the stairway. The cellar door was closed, but near by was lying a fence stake, upon which blood and hair were found.
The killing of Malcolm McDonald in Stewartsville by Federal soldiers early in the war is noted elsewhere.
CITIES AND TOWNS.
Cities are generally founded with regard to some great com- mercial advantage, either as seaports possessing deep harbors adapted to trade with foreign countries ; as manufacturing depots convenient to labor, fuel, or water power; or as agricultural cen- ters where the products of the soil may be exchanged for other commodities.
But to none of these conditions is the thriving little city of Maysville indebted for its origin, although the last named may have had its influence in determining the location, for certainly few finer agricultural districts are to be found than that by which the town is surrounded.
Maysville was originally selected as a town site in 1845 by the commissioners appointed by law to select and locate the per- manent seat of justice of De Kalb County. Within a short time after the location had been decided upon, G. W. McPherson was appointed commissioner to have the same surveyed and the lots sold. The site is admirably situated, being very near the
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geographical center of the county, and the selection reflects great credit upon the commissioners. The court approved the report of the commissioners on the 18th of August, 1845, and three years later the land (the northeast quarter of Section 34, Town- ship 59, Range 31) was entered for the county by Thompson Smith at the land office at Plattsburg, the patent for the same bearing date of January 1, 1848.
In the meantime the commissioners of the county seat secured the services of James Venable, surveyer, who, assisted by An- drew H. Skidmore, Daniel Coil and James Skidmore, laid out the original plan of the town, the plat of which was formally acknowl- edged on the 4th of May, 1848, before James M. Arrington, clerk of the court. As first surveyed the town consisted of nineteen blocks subdivided into 132 lots, with a public square in the cen- ter of the plat. Running east and west are the following streets: Atchison, Jackson Main and King, and crossing them at right angles are Sloan, Dallas, Polk, Washington, Camden and Water Streets. With the survey of the foregoing plat begins the his- tory of the town proper.
To go back to the beginning of Maysville, and give a true de- tail of its earliest settlement, and an account of its every branch of business and industry, when it commenced, and by whom, is a task beyond the power of the writer to accomplish. There are few persons now living in the county who were here when the town was located, and those few were too young then or too old now to remember much about it; accordingly the chronicler is forced to depend in a large measure upon "hearsay evidence" for facts pertaining to the first few years of its history.
It is believed by those who have a good opportunity of know- ing, that the first house on the town site was a log dwelling, erected as early as the year 1845, by John Buckingham. The following year Walter A. Doak built a log courthouse on the east side of the square, in which the circuit court was first held in the spring of 1847. An early mechanic by the name of George Ward erected a double hewed log house on Main Street, near where Ed. Clark's livery stable now stands, and was one of the first carpenters in the town. He assisted in building a num- ber of early residences in the town and surrounding country, but
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subsequently disposed of his property and emigrated to Oregon. H. L. W. McPherson, about the year 1846, erected a log dwell- ing on the north side of Main Street, on the lot now owned by R. A. Hewitt, Sr. Mr. McPherson was a farmer and trader, and ap- pears to have taken an active part in the early development of the town. George McPherson, commissioner of the county seat, was also an early resident. He built his dwelling on the south side of the public square, and was for a number of years promi- nently identified with the material interests of the town and county. The lot where the Lytle Hotel now stand's was first oc- cupied as a building site by a hewed log residence, erected about the year 1846 by Elijah Hudson, who, a little later, opened bis house for the accommodation of such travelers as saw fit to ac- cept and pay for his hospitalities. He subsequently erected a frame building on the corner, and started the first hotel in the town, which early became a favorite stopping place for the travel- ing public. This building stood until 1886, at which time it was torn down, and replaced by the elegant brick hotel, erected that year by Mr. Lytle. Among those who became residents of the town soon after it was laid out was one Andrew Evans, a trader, who erected a log dwelling on the east side of Water Street, the site of his building being owned at this time by Thomas Hull. Mr. Evans subsequently laid out an addition to the town, the survey of which was made on the 30th day of May, 1856. Conspicuous among the early settlers was James M. Arrington, who moved to the town shortly after it was located in order to take charge of the clerk's office, to which he was elected shortly after the organization of the county. He also had the honor of teaching the first school in Maysville, and is remem- bered as one of the town's most intelligent and worthy citizens. His dwelling, a simple log structure, stood on Main Street, where Mrs. Gilbert now lives. George Linkenfelter came in an early day, and erected a log dwelling upon the lot occupied at this time by a part of the Orr block, on the south side of Main Street. Another early comer was James Grant, who made some improve- ments east of the public square on Washington Street, where Taylor & Hewitt's business house stands. He was the first postmaster of Maysville, and also served as treasurer of De Kalb
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County in an early day. Lots Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4, in Block 11, were purchased in an' early day by Daniel Shambaugh, who erected a residence, and kept the first saloon in town. His broth- er, Hon. I. N. Shambaugh, the first resident attorney in the county, improved the lot now occupied by the residence of Mrs. Rose, and was for a number of years a prominent citizen of the place. Additional to the foregoing were the following, all of whom be- came residents of the town during the first few years of its his-' tory: George Leaman, Andrew Bunton, Joseph Evans, Elijah Cottrell, Samuel Holpain, Eli Hewitt, G. B. Edwards, James B. Shambaugh, Andrew H. Skidmore, William Lucky, George Leasure, James Y. Johnson, Thomas Brooks, Greenbury Ed- wards, E. W. Chappell, John W. Bishop, Thomas Wilkinson, John McCrea, George Ward, James Spurgeon, Jacob Kearney, Thomas Iden, Robert Forbes, T. J. Wilkinson, William H. Ritchie, Andrew Hamer, N. B. Norville, Robert Ray, Stephen Bowles, Elijah McCall, Elias Parrott, and others, the majority of whom purchased unimproved lots prior to 1850. The following non-residents purchased real estate in the town in an early day: James Sloan, William Hunter, S. J. Brown, Jacob Myers, John Fletcher, Lemuel Harvey, Powell H. Sharp, George Ward, John B. Sharp, William Matthews, Samuel S. G. Bunton, Andrew Harvey, Andrew Sherard, Greenfield Mathis, John H. W. Boker, H. R. Hodge, James Tracy, William Hudson, John Doherty, Nicholas Sharp, Sinclair Kirtley, R. L. Lemon, and others.
BUSINESS MEN.
From the most reliable information accessible it appears that one George Leaman was the first person to open a stock of mer- chandise in the town of Maysville. He came as early as 1846, and erected a small frame building on Lots 6 and 7, Block 17, north of the public square, in which were stored a small general stock of groceries and dry goods and a generous supply of " corn juice," without which no mercantile establishment was then con- sidered complete. In those days goods were brought principally from Plattsburg, Liberty and St. Joseph by wagon, and a little later, freighting as a business became an important industry. A merchant usually bought about two stocks of goods a year, spring
1
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and fall, and had no means of replenishing his stock every thirty days, as now, through the medium of traveling salesmen. Of the success of Mr. Leaman's mercantile venture but little is now known, save that he continued the business about one year, and then sold out to Eli Hewitt of St. Joseph. Upon taking posses- sion of the store, Mr. Hewitt greatly increased the stock, and soon afterward erected a new frame building adjoining the business. house, besides making an addition to the latter. He was identi- fied with the mercantile interests of the town from 1847 until 1866, and in the meantime succeeded in building up a large and lucra- tive business. His death occurred in the latter year. The next store of any importance was started about the year 1852, by George Funkhouser, who brought a stock of goods from Platts- burg, which he sold for some time in partnership with a man by the name of McMichael. Their store building was a log structure on Main Street, west of the public square, which had been previously erected by George Ward. Mr. Funkhouser, in 1853, purchased from the county the old log courthouse on the east side of the square, which he fitted up for store purposes, and in which he carried on a successful business for a number of years. In the meantime other tradesmen were attracted to the place, among whom was William H. Ritchie, who opened a grocery store in an early day, where M. N. Jones' business house now stands, corner of Main and Polk Streets. Like the merchant first named, Mr. Ritchie kept in his cellar a good stock of whisky, which caused his place to become the favorite rendezvous of all the idle and worthless characters of the town and surrounding country. It is related that at an early session of the county court two men from the country became involved in a quarrel, which finally ended in a personal encounter, to quell which the sheriff was obliged to arrest both combatants. He took them before the court, when they were given a trial, the result of which was the clearing of one on the ground of self defense, and the assessing of a fine and costs against the other. The poor wretch having no money with which to settle his fine was ordered by the court imprisoned, whereupon the sheriff was put to his wits ends to find a place of incarceration, there being, at the time, no jail in the county, and but one cellar in the town, to wit, the one
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under Ritchie's store. Seeking the merchant the sheriff re- quested the privilege of putting the prisoner into his cellar over night, which was granted. Accordingly the unfortunate country - man was introduced into the subterranean apartment. Now it so happened that there were a goodly number of whisky casks in the cellar, and the prisoner having a peculiar taste for the inspir- ing beverage, soon found a way to refresh himself, so lying down upon his back with his mouth beneath the faucet, and turning on a copious draft of the oh-be-joyful, he was within an incredibly short space of time oblivious to his surroundings, and by far the happiest prisoner ever incarcerated in any jail. In the meantime his friends came to seek him, and learning of his whereabouts, and the manner of his imprisonment, laid the matter before an attorney, who, for a liberal fee, promised to secure his release. Going before the court on the following morning, the attorney very gravely informed that august body that it had no jurisdic- tion over matters of a criminal nature, and at the same time demanded the immediate release of the prisoner. The members of the court fearing that they had transcended their powers, and a little apprehensive of the result of so doing, at once ordered the sheriff to set the imprisoned pugilist at liberty. Proceeding to Mr. Ritchie's cellar, the officer of the law, after considerable search, found the prisoner in a state of blissful unconsciousness, with his head under a barrel and his body nearly half submerged in a pool of whisky, which had escaped from the cask during the night, the faucet having been left open. It required the united efforts of five men to liberate the stupid prisoner, who declared, as soon as he opened his eyes, that he would not object to lying in jail a week if he could have the company of the barrels in Ritchie's cellar.
Mr. Ritchie, after selling groceries for a short time, opened a general store which he carried on about three years, but in which he did not meet with financial success. He subsequently erected a frame hotel on the same corner, and for a period of about two years ministered to the wants of the traveling public. One of the first brick buildings in the town was erected on the east side of the square, by Jesse Weatherlee, who kept a general store in the same for a short time. The building is still standing,
28A
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owned and occupied at the present time by Henry E. Glazier. Robert Ray engaged in the sale of general merchandise, about the year 1853, and sold goods in a frame building which stood on the lot now occupied by G. W. Lipscomb's business house, Main Street, south of the public square. He was a fairly successful trades- man, and carried on his store until the breaking out of the war.
Additional to the foregoing, the following men were identified with the mercantile interests of the town from time to time: Ira Brown, James Ewart, William Meek, James Clark, who kept the first drug store, John Pritchard, Manford Lancaster, Andrew Hamer and others, whose names were not given the writer.
MECHANICS.
Among the earliest mechanics to locate in Maysville was George Ward, a carpenter, who came within a short time after the town was located. The first blacksmith was William Lucky, who built a small shop on Lot 1, Block 6, where the Ohio House now stands, as early, perhaps, as 1845. He carried on a fairly successful business until 1849, when he sold his shop to George W. Leasure, and emigrated to Oregon. Thomas T. Iden was an early blacksmith also, and among the early carpenters and work- ers in wood are remembered James Y. Johnson and Thomas Brooks, both of whom acquired the reputation of skillful builders. Greenbury Edwards, in an early day, started a cabinet shop where John Winter lives on Main Street, but his factory appears to have been conducted upon a very limited scale, and was abandoned after a short time. The first tailor was John Gilmore, who opened a shop on Lot 4, Block 4, east side of the public square, where for several years he carried on a remunerative business.
Among the earliest industries of the town was an old fash- ioned "tread mill" built by John W. Bishop, about the year 1847. It stood where Mr. Lipscomb's dwelling now stands, Lot 7, Block 3, and was perhaps the first contrivance for the manu- facture of flour and meal ever constructed in De Kalb County. The machinery of the mill was of the most indifferent kind, operated by a large incline wheel, upon which horses, oxen and sometimes cows were used for motive power. It ground very slowly, and made a coarse article of flour, but being the only
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mill within a radius of many miles was patronized quite exten- sively for several years.
In 1852 the first saw mill was brought to the place by George Wilson. It stood in the south part of the town, and for a mill of its capacity did a very fair business.
Ed. Davis engaged in the manufacture of furniture about the year 1883, and continued the business with encouraging success until 1886. Maysville has never achieved any prominence as a manufacturing center, having always been essentially a commer- cial town. It is surrounded by a fine farming country, and, being considerably removed from the natural advantages of water and fuel, its citizens have never given much attention to manufact- uring enterprises. The industries of this kind have been con- fined to a few furniture factories, saw mills and brick kilns, none of which ever proved very successful financially.
During the first eight or ten years of the town's history its growth was by no means rapid, a variety of causes combining to produce this result. A number of miles distant from mills, and from any point where provisions or supplies could be obtained, her residents were obliged to dispense with many of those ar- ticles considered in older communities as among the necessaries of life.
Goods were freighted with considerable difficulty from St. Joseph and Liberty, and the absence of railroads, navigable streams and other traveling facilities had a tendency to keep back immigration and retard the development of the town. As the population of the county increased, and the importance of the town as the only available trading point for a large area became established, merchants, mechanics and professional men saw here favorable openings for their particular trades and professions of which they were not slow in taking advantage. Commodious brick business houses replaced the temporary structures occupied by the early merchants, and mercantile establishments second to none found in country towns marked the steady and substantial growth of the place. The erection of the public buildings, and the necessary business connected with the county seat added greatly to the material improvement of the town, and gave it a decided advantage over its rival in the southern part of the
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county. After the destruction of the courthouse in 1878, a movement was inaugurated to change the seat of justice to Stew- artsville, the effect of which for a time proved very disas- trous to the future prospects of Maysville. The people, how- ever, decided by ballot to retain the county seat at its original location, after which the town became infused with new life, and its business prospects began to brighten. The most important era in the town's history, however, was the completion in 1886 of what is now the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, the im- mediate result of which was a vast increase, both in population and wealth.
Fully 300 new buildings have been erected since that time while a number of others are in process of construction, and from a town of only 418 in 1880, the population at this time is nearly if not quite 1,500. With the completion of the road, came as a matter of course a large influx of laborers, mechanics and busi- ness men to swell the population and increase the local demand. Many were attracted by the beauty and healthfulness of the loca- tion, the comparatively small expense of living, the superior edu- cational advantages offered, and the guarantee of liberal remun- eration for labor in their respective fields.
ADDITIONS.
As already stated the first addition to the original survey of Maysville was made by Andrew Evans, May, 1856, and recorded on the 5th of the following July. It was simply a subdivis- ion of lots in the old plat into twenty-six smaller lots. Gilbert's addition of fourteen blocks, forty-five lots, was surveyed October 11, 1869, by County Engineer J. Pritchard, and on the 2d day of June, 1885, John H. Keats surveyed and platted an addition of sixty-five lots for Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor's second addition was made May 25, 1886, and on the following day an addition of ten lots was laid out by Albert G. Crew, known as Crew's addition. The above are the principal additions to the town.
INCORPORATION
Originally the municipal government of Maysville was under a board of trustees provided for by an act of the county court.
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The early records of the board having been lost or misplaced, but little is now known of the early town Legislature. By an act of the Legislature approved April 2, 1885, the town was granted a charter as a city of the fourth class. By the provisions of said charter the city is entitled to the following officers: Mayor, board of alderman, city clerk, city attorney, marshal, street com- missioner, treasurer, health officer, fire warden and assessors.
The first officers were L. H. Weatherby, mayor; S. W. Holmes and Conrad Kochan, alderman; Robert E. Iden, mar- shal; F. Dinsmore, city clerk and attorney; William H. Adding- ton, street commissioner and S. W. Holmes, treasurer. March 9, 1886, a special election was ordered for the purpose of extend- ing the corporate limits of the city, and on the 6th of the succeeding month an election for city officers was held resulting in the choice of the following gentlemen: Dr. P. A. Dent, mayor; R. E. Iden, marshal; R. A. Hewitt, Jr., Peter Bleistein, R. M. Taylor and Samuel W. Holmes, aldermen. The following offi- cials were appointed: R. A. Hewitt, Jr., city attorney ; F. A. Dins- more, clerk; R. E. Iden, street commissioner, and S. W. Holmes, treasurer.
The government of the town, under the city charter, which is a very liberal one, has been all that the people could reasonably desire, and in no place of its size in the State are the municipal affairs more economically and systematically managed. Ordi- nances have been adopted relating to the following: regulating the meetings of the board of aldermen, concerning appoint- ment of officers and designating the duties of the same, *provid- ing for a corporate seal, concerning contagious diseases, nuisances bawdy houses, fire limits, fires, resistance to officers, vending of in- toxicating liquors, fire crackers and torpedoes, misdemeanors, fees of officers, omnibuses, contracts, notices and summons, streets and alleys, licenses, elections, fire apparatus, dogs, assessment and collection of revenues, sidewalks, storage of combustibles, en- forcement of penalties and others. The following are among the things especially provided against: " Any wholesale or retail dealer in vinous or spirituous liquors, who shall sell or give away or per-
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