History of Boone County, Missouri., Part 15

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: St. Louis, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1220

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"At its next meeting on May 21st, its third judge, Peter Wright, ap- peared and began his duties. A good deal of business was transacted at this session, and amongst other things were the division of the county into judicial townships, and the appointment of Peter Wright, County Surveyor, and of Overton Harris, County Collector. Regu- lar sessions of the same Court met at Smithton on August 20th, and November 14th, after which the change was made to Columbia.

SMITHTON MOVED TO COLUMBIA.

" The failure to obtain water on the site of Smithton soon induced the proprietors to abandon the project of a town at that place, and it was determined to lay out a town on the same plan on the present site of Columbia, and to transfer the titles of land in Smithton to lots of similar size and value in Columbia ; should it be the option of holders of these titles to have the transfer made."

PUBLIC NOTICE OF THE CHANGE.

The following publication was made in the Intelligencer, at Franklin (May 21, 1821), notifying those persons of the change : -

COLUMBIA.

The trustees of this town inform those interested, that the permanent seat of justice of Boon County has been located upon the lands belonging to the company, lately called " Smithton Company," at which place a town, upon the same plan as the orig- inal one, has been laid out, and is called Columbia.

In justice to the purchasers of lots in Smithton, the trustees will reserve a lot corresponding in number, to be conveyed to them on application, if made on or before the first Monday in August next, and will renew their note or notes now held by the

161

HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

trustees : and this renewal will be on a credit of one year for one-half the amount yet owing the trustees - the other to be considered as due. These proposals are consid- ered very liberal, as the whole amount is now due, and for a lot in the old town, which is supposed will be abandoned. If the purchaser does not apply, and cancel the old contract by the time fixed, it will be presumed the purchaser intends retaining and paying for his lot in Smithton; and the trustees will, after that time, feel authorized to dispose of the number now reserved for those persons in Columbia.

Attention will be given immediately on the subject at Judge Todd's office, in Frank- lin, by Mr. Rees, who will be prepared to receive the old notes and execute title bonds. It is distinctly understood that this is considered a new purchase by each individual, and if in any other point of view, the purchaser will retain his lot in Smithton.

The town of Columbia is located upon a fine site, and in a neighborhood of the best lands in the State, which is improving with great rapidity by respectable and wealthy citizens, and offers every inducement to mechanics of every kind to settle immediately, as it is expected the county buildings will be contracted for in a few months.

The proprietors of this company are notified that a meeting, by themselves or their legally empowered attorney in fact, is requested on the first Monday in August next, at Columbia, on business of the utmost importance.

By order of the Trustees.

May 21, 1821.

" The abundance of water and its central location, and public senti- ment, fixed Columbia as the most feasible point for the seat of justice for the new county. Accordingly a donation of fifty acres of land, two public squares, $2,000 in money, and two wells of water, from the trustees of the town, was accepted by the Commissioners appointed by the Legislature to locate the county seat, who, on August 6, 1821, submitted the following report to the Circuit Court, then in session in Smithton, which was adopted : -

We, the undersigned, Lawrence Bass, John Gray, David Jackson, Absalom Hicks, and Jefferson Fulcher, Commissioners, appointed by an act of the Legislature of Missouri erecting the said County of Boone to fix upon and locate the permanent seat of justice in said county, did, on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth days of April, in the year eighteen hundred and twenty-one, proceed to the discharge of the duties required of us by the said act, and have fixed upon as the permanent seat of justice of said county, the southeast quarter of section twelve, in range thirteen and township forty- eight, which was owned by Thos. Duley, Gerard Robinson, Taylor Berry, Richard Gentry and David Todd, trustees and proprietors for certain individuals, whose names are particularly described in a deed of trust, of record in the office of Howard County, by Anderson Woods and others, and have accepted of a majority of the said trustees their propositions of a donation of fifty acres of land and two public squares of ground, whereon to erect suitable and necessary buildings for county and town pur- poses; also, a farther donation to the County Court of ten acres of land for the erection of bridges over the Moniteau, Roche Perce, Hinkson and Cedar Creeks, on the direct route from Franklin to St. Charles, through the county seat; also, ten acres conditional if the State University be established therein, and have also received their propositions for a donation of two thousand dollars in cash notes, and the procuring of two wells of never failing-water; and we shall proceed forthwith to cause town

162

HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

lots to be laid out, and the necessary conveyances for said land, and shall receive the- said donation of cash notes upon individuals, all of which we will in a further report. of our proceedings refer to and explain.

LAWRENCE BASS, [Seal.]

.DAVID JACKSON, [Seal.]

JOHN GRAY, [Seal.]

ABSALOM HICKS, [Seal.]

JEFFERSON FULCHER. [Seal. ]

SMITHTON, BOONE COUNTY, MO., April 7, 1821.

" Smithton never contained over twenty inhabitants, and its houses,. with the exception of the double hewed one before referred to as be- longing to Gen. Gentry, were log cabins of the rudest structure and of only the poorest conveniences. They were all hauled to Columbia. when the seat of justice was removed. Not a vestige of them remains. Columbia was laid out early in the spring of 1821. The surveyor was. Peter Wright, a man who deserves not only the honor but the grat- itude of our people for the systematic and elaborate manner in which he did his work, and especially for the judgment and taste he displayed in the construction of Broadway, even now admitted to be the most beautiful street in Missouri. He was assisted by Charles Burns, Peter Kearny and - Buttersworth.

" The first sale of lots in Columbia occurred on Monday, May 28,. 1821. The publication of the County Commissioners, giving notice of the sale, appeared in the Intelligencer of April 14, 1821, as. follows : -

COLUMBIA.

The commissioners of Boon County have located the permanent seat of justice in said county, near the centre, upon the lands adjoining Smithton, and have laid off the above town. This town site is located in a neighborhood of first rate lands, and inter- sected by the most public roads in the State leading to St. Louis, and from the Upper Missouri to the expected seat of Government, and in every respect is calculated to meet the expectation of the public and its friends.

The commissioners propose to sell lots therein on the third Monday in May, being County Court day; and on the first Monday in August, being Circuit Court day, at the town of Smithton, and will adjourn to the town site, on which days they expect the. sales will be entirely closed.

L. BASS, JOHN GRAY, DAVID JACKSON, ABSALOM HICKS, JEFFERSON FULCHER ..

April 14, 1821.

FIRST HOUSES, ETC., IN COLUMBIA.

" The first house in Columbia was a log cabin, built by Thomas Duly,

163

HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

in 1820. It stood on the southeast corner of Broadway and Fifth Street. It was afterwards weather-boarded and enlarged.

" The first store-house was built by A. J. Williams, on the southwest corner of Broadway and Fifth Street, afterwards the residence of Dr. William Provines, and now the residence of Alfred Brown, a colored man.

" The first hotel was kept by Gen. Gentry, on Broadway, in 1821.

" The first brick house was built by Charles Hardin, in 1821. The first business establishment was a grocery, kept by Peter Kearny, on the northeast corner of Fifth Street and Broadway. The first court in Columbia was held in a log cabin, about fifty yards east of the present jail, where it met for a year, when it was removed to a work- shop belonging to Judge John Vanhorn, situated on the ground where now stands the residence of Rev. Isaac Jones. (The large two-story brick stores of Conley, Searcy & Co. now occupy the lot. ) There it remained until the completion of the old court-house, in 1824. The first jail stood a few yards northwest of the present court-house, and. the keeper was John M. Kelly.

" In 1821 Columbia did not attain a greater growth than fifteen or twenty houses, all of which were mud-daubed log buildings of the smaller size, and but one-story high. They were situated in a " clearing" in the midst of stumps and brush, while all around stretched a dense and trackless wilderness.

"Although the County Commissioners reported the removal of the seat of justice to Columbia in the spring of 1821, the actual transfer could not be made without the ratification of the Legislature, which did not assemble until the fall of that year. Courts were therefore held at Smithton until November 15th, when the Legislature made the transfer.

FIRST CIRCUIT COURT AT COLUMBIA.

"Accordingly the first court was held at Columbia, on December 7th, 1821. The following is the grand jury that was on that day empan- nelled :

" Mason Moss, Foreman ; Jesse Perkins, James Barns, Alfred Head, Richard Fulkerson, John Harrison, J. C. Mckay, William T. Hatton, Andrew Hendricks, George Crump, Charles Hughes, William Barns, John Yates, John McKenzie, Joseph W. Hickam, Jesse B. Dale, Michael Woods, Thomas Williams, Caleb Fenton, John G. Philips, Zachariah Jackson.

164

HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

"Also the following petit jury : John Witt, Pattison Y. Russell, William Russell, Kemp M. Goodloe, John T. Evans, Nathan Glas- gow, John Ogan, John Graves, James Turley, Jesse Lewis, John Ken- non, and James Denny. This court held two days.

FIRST COUNTY COURT AT COLUMBIA.

" The first County Court met in Columbia on February 18th, 1822. Four regular sessions of this court were held in Smithton during 1821, during which the county was laid off into judicial townships, and Con- stables were appointed for each, as follows :

" Columbia Township - Nicholas S. Kavanaugh ; Cedar Town- ship - Thomas S. Tuttle ; Missouri Township - Ichabod C. Hensley ; Rockyfork Township - Amos Marney ; Perche Township - Samuel Beattie.

" The first Justices of the Peace were appointed in 1821 by Gov- ernor McNair, as follows :

" Columbia Township - Richard Cave ; Cedar Township - James Cunningham ; Missouri Township - John Gray ; Rockyfork Town- ship - James R. Abernathy ; 1 Perche Township - John Henderson.2 " Bourbon Township had not then been made.

" The law requiring the appointments of District Assessors was then in force, and the following were the first appointed (1822) :

" Columbia Township - Minor Neal ; Cedar- Lawrence .Bass ; Missouri -Jesse B. Dale ; Rockyfork -William L. Wayne ; Perche- Michael Woods ; Assessor for county - Ichabod C. Hensley.

" Overton Harris was the first Sheriff of Boone County, having been appointed by the Governor. He held the position until the first election for State and county officers, on August 5th, 1822, when James Barnes was elected Sheriff, and Mr. Harris received the appointment of Assessor. The late Hiram Philips was appointed first Coroner of Boone in 1821.

[His son, Judge Richard Philips, of Audrain County, has furnished® us his original commission issued July 20th, 1821, by Governor Alex- ander McNair, and it strongly contrasts with the beautifully printed and highly embellished commissions of the present day. It is all in the bold elegant penmanship of Wm. G. Pettus, then Secretary of State,

1 Mr. Abernathy was afterwards a lawyer, prosecuting attorney, and editor of the Mercury in Paris, Mo., where he now lives at an advanced age.

Old settlers state that Mr. Henderson lived in Missouri Township at the time.

165

HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

and the State then having no seal one is made with a wafer over which is a star-shaped piece of white paper cut with a pair of scissors. The commission is as follows : - W. F. SWITZLER. ]

ALEXANDER MCNAIR, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI,

TO ALL WHO SHALL SEE THESE PRESENTS. Greeting:

Know ye that reposing special trust and confidence in the integrity and abilities of Hiram Philips of the County of Boone I do him appoint Coroner of the said County of Boone in the State of Missouri and do authorize and empower him to discharge the duties of said Office according to law. To Have and to Hold the said Office with all the rights, powers, privileges and emoluments unto the same appertaining unto him the said Hiram Philips until the next general election and until his successor be duly qualified unless sooner removed according to law.

In Testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my private seal (there being no seal of State yet provided). Given under my hand at St. Charles this 20th day of

[L.s.] July A. D. One thousand eight hundred and twenty one and of the Inde- pendence of the United States the forty-sixt.).

By the Governor.

A. McNAIR.

WILLIAM G. PETTUS, Secretary of State.

HIRIAM PHILIPS, Commission Coroner.

Filed August 7th, 1821.

R. N. TODD, Clk.

STATE OF MISSOURI, 9 COUNTY OF BOONE. SS. Circuit Court August Term 1821.

This day personally appeared in open Court the within named Hiram Philips, Esquire, and took the oath to support the Constitution of the United States and of this State and faithfully, diligently and impartially to discharge the duties of Coroner for the County of Boone to the best of his skill and abilities. Given under my hand this 7th day of August 1821 with my private seal, there being no seal of State yet provided.

[L.s.] ROGER N. TODD, Clk.

State of Missouri. Boone Circuit to wit :

This commission of Hiram Philips Coroner was produced before me clerk of said Court and having been qualified in open Court the same with certificate of qualifica- tions is admitted to record in my office and is duly recorded in Book A page 39 this 7th day of August 1821. Given under my hand with my private seal there being no seal of office yet provided.

[L.s.] ROGER N. TODD, Clerk.

" One among the first acts of the Court of July, 1821, was to fix the county tax, at five per cent of the State Tax.

" This was the rule in Boone county until 1830.

" The first license to keep tavern was granted to Wilford Stephens, of Columbia, on August 20, 1821. The first license to retail mer- chandise was granted to Peter Bass on June 1, 1821, and the next to Oliver Parker, on June 9, 1821.

166

HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

" In 1821, the first year of its existence, the size and wealth of Col- umbia were very diminutive. The town consisted of a few cabins on " Flat Branch," while none but Gentry's Hotel stood as far east as Court House Street. In 1822 a spirited rivalry sprang up between General Gentry and Dr. Wm. Jewell, as to whether the central part of the town should be where it now is or at the intersection of Broad- way and Fifth Street. Gentry, however, triumphed and during the next year, 1822, several houses were built on what is now Eighth or Court House Street. The primary design of the founders of Colum- bia was that the ground on which now stands the court-house, Baptist Church, and jail should be a public square, and the survey was so made.

" In 1822, dry goods stores were kept in Columbia by Peter Bass, Abraham J. Williams, and Robert Snell ; groceries by Thomas Duly and John Graham, and taverns by Richard Gentry, Wilford Stephens, and Sam'l Wall. Other inhabitants were David Jackson, William Davis, Kemp M. Goodloe, Roger N. Todd, Abel Foley, Charles Har- din, and Dr. Daniel P. Wilcox.

" The post-office was established in Columbia in 1821, with Charles Hardin, father of the present (1876) governor of Missouri, Charles H. Hardin, as postmaster.

[Charles Hardin was a tanner, and lived and kept the post-office, on Flat Branch, in the southwestern part of town, and on the same lot on which his old brick residence, the first brick house erected in Col- umbia, yet stands. His tan-yard was in the valley of the branch, near his residence. Mr. Hardin married a sister of the late Dr. Wm. Jewell, and died in Columbia, on August 20, 1830 .- W. F. S.]

" The first jail was built by George Sexton; in 1822, and was kept by John M. Kelly, who died in Columbia, January 24, 1874. Three of his daughters, who are estimable Christian ladies, Misses Mary Jane, Roxanna and Catherine Kelly, survive him, and are still resi- dents of the town, living in a frame house opposite the Christian Church.

FIRST SHERIFF OF BOONE COUNTY.

" Overton Harris, father of Hon. John W. Harris, Judge James and Mr. William A. Harris, was the first sheriff of Boone County. He was appointed by the County Court, in May, 1821, and commissioned by the Governor the July following. He gave a bond of $5,000 to the court, with Tyre Harris, Nicholas S. Kavanaugh and Samuel Beattie, as securities, and in July gave one of $1,000 to the Governor, with Michael and Anderson Woods, securities. He held the position till

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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

the first election for State and county officers, on August 5th, 1822, when James Barnes,1 still a resident of the county, was elected sheriff, and Mr. Harris received the appointment of assessor."

FIRST DEED, MORTGAGE, ETC.

The first deed of record in the county was dated Dec. 12, 1820, from Taylor Berry and wife to JJohn Walkup, for 160 acres of land, for $950, and is as follows :

FIRST DEED.

To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:

Know ye, that I, Taylor Berry and Fanny W. Berry, my wife, of the county of Howard and State of Missouri, for and in consideration of the sum of $950, to me in hand paid by John Walkup, of the county aforesaid, the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, sold, transferred and assigned, and do by these presents grant, bargain, sell, transfer and assign to the said John Walkup, his heirs or assigns forever, a certain tract or parcel of land, containing one hundred and sixty acres, be the same more or less, lying and being in the said county of Howard, or more properly now Boon County, it being the southwest quarter of section No. ten, town- ship forty-nine, north, and range No. fourteen, west of the 5th principal meridian line, it being the same quarter which was improved by Michael Woods, which said quarter section is a part of a location made by me by virtue of a New Madrid claim, in the name of Francis Hudson, Senr., - To have and to hold to him the said John Walkup, his heirs or assigns forever, free from the claim or claims of all persons whatsoever. .

In testimony whereof, etc.

Dec. 12, 1820.

TAYLOR BERRY. FANNY BERRY.

Witnesses: WM. GRUBBS, WM. CARSON.

Acknowledged before Gray Bynum, Clerk C. C., Howard Co.

" The first mortgage was given on February 18th, 1821, by Benjamin F. White, to Robert Dale, and secured a debt of $67.261/4. The property mortgaged was " a tract of land, known as the southeast quarter of the second section, in township forty-eight, range four- teen, with all the appurtenances thereto belonging and appertaining, and one sorrel horse, one bay mare, one red yearling heifer, and two sows and pigs."

" The first letters of administration were granted on May 21st, 1821, to James Turley, on the estate of Daniel Turley, deceased, Nathaniel Fagan and John McKinzie being securities in a bond of $2,500. The deed from the trustees of the "Smithton Company " donating ground to the county commissioners as the seat of justice, was recorded on April 28th, 1821."

1 Mr. Barnes died at his residence, in Randolph County, Mo.,

-, 187 -.

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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

EARLY MARRIAGES.

1. This is to certify that Isaac Black and Sarah Maupin was married by the under- signed on the 14th day of July 1820 given under my hand and seal this tenth day of August, 1820.

TYRE MARTIN, J. P.

Recorded June 20, 1821.

2. December 21, 1820. Married by me Robert Dale, a baptist minister of the gospel, in Boone county, State of Missouri, Robt. D. Walkup and Anna W. Cochran.

ROBERT DALE.

Recorded May 22, 1821.

3. Daniel Lewis and Mary Pain [ Payne] Feb. 18, 1821. By Tyre Martin, J. P.

4. Thomas Kennan and Mary Cave, March 10, 1821. Tyre Martin, J. P.

5. James Renn and Rebecca Whitley, March 18, 1821. John Henderson, J. P.

6. John Gray and Nancy Ross, March 22, 1821. John Henderson, J. P.

7. Joseph Glenn and Sally Graham, Apr. 5, 1821. John Henderson, J. P.

8. John Anderson and Lovee Fenton, ("both of the county of Boone ") Apr. 28, 1821. Absalom Hicks, J. P.

BOONE COUNTY FINANCES IN 1821.

It will be seen by the following tabular statements, made and pub- lished Nov. 13, 1821, by Overton Harris, collector, that the finances of Boone county the year after its organization were exceedingly small; the reading of which, in contrast with the present financial condition of the county, will be very interesting : -

MONEYS

Which have been received, and which ought to have been received for Licenses in Boone County, since the 15th day of May, 1821.

$ cts

Peter Bass, (Merchandise)

· 15 00

Oliver Parker,

. 15 00

Robert Snell,

15 00

Richard Gentry, (Wines and Spirituous Liquors)

20 00

Thos. Donley, do do

6 00

John Grayum, do do

6 00

Total

$77 00

OVERTON HARRIS,

Collector Boone County. :

Nov. 13th, 1821.

DELINQUENT TAXES OF 1821.

The following advertisement made by Overton Harris, collector, same day and date as above, exhibits the names of certain tax payers " who have absconded, or, become insolvent subsequently to the date of their assessment and prior to the date when the tax ought to have been collected and the amount of taxes due by them respectively." .

None of the amounts reach the sum of $10, a large majority of

169

HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

them are under $1, and one of them, the taxes of Louis (Lewis). Teters, both State and county, only twelve cents. It will be seen that. the taxes are stated with scrupulous exactness, even to a cent and fractions of a cent, and that it is, for this and other reasons, a very rare and racy official paper : -

A LIST

Of all such persons from whom taxes are due for State and county purposes in Boone county, for the year 1821, and who have absconded, or become insolvent, subsequent. to the date of their assessment and prior to the date when the tax ought, according to. the provisions of the statute in this case made, to have been collected, and the amount. of taxes due by them respectively, to-wit :

Delinquents' Names.

Amount of Taxes

State.

County.

Benjamin Burdyne

$1 00

$ 50

Elam Boles .

1 00

James Beatty, (dead)

1 573

78}

Obadiah Babbett .

2 081

1 04

Adam S. Barnett .

1 021

51+

Betty Burdine

1 12

561

Hiram Bryant

John Christian

Daniel Crump

111

Abner Davis .

1 15

Anthony J. Davis

1 00

Thomas Ellison

1 00

John Finney

1 00

Bartley Gentry, (dead)

9 65

4. 47

Thomas Gray

Jonathan Gray

George Hornts

1 00

Henry James

351.

Francis Lipscomb

1 20

John McCarty

1 00

Walter Mckay

1 15

William Nolin

Samuel Nutting

1 06

William Piper

3 024

1 51

John Thompson

1 60

Lewis Teters

William D. Young

1 27

Charles Vanauster

1 00

John Blackburn, (dead)

John Dillin .

Willis A. Ethel

William Orear

1 13

William Timberlake

1 05

Nov. 13, 1821.

OVERTON HARRIS, Collector Boone County.

John Peden .

1 00

Jesse Samuels

1 00

Archibald McNeal

1 00

170

HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

The entire amount of the delinquent taxes thus blazoned in the Franklin Intelligencer amounts only to $64.261/4, and the merchants' license for six months to $45.00, and the saloon license for the same period to $32.00.

THE GRASSHOPPER PEST.

No doubt the younger readers of this History, although they may recall the myriads of grasshoppers which, a few years ago, desolated the farms and forests and the prairies and fields of Kansas and Nebraska, as well as portions of our own State, do not know that the pioneers of the commonwealth, and during the very year of its admit- tance into the Federal Union, made the acquaintance of this destruc- tive scourge. But the following extract of a letter from Fort Osage, June 15, 1821, to the St. Louis Register, will show that grasshoppers in countless numbers visited Missouri then, as they have several times since, " literally eating up the whole country."

[Extract from the Letter. ]

" Immense swarms of grasshoppers are overrunning this whole country, and lit- terally eating it up. Our gardens are nearly all destroyed, and we have no reason to hope that anything will be saved of them without some Providential interference. I can see no escape from all the distressing consequences of a general and utter failure of our grain crops. This plague seems to be evidently progressing south-eastwardly, so that you may count upon a similar visitation next fall. Those who can secure two years' supply of grain from the present crops, ought to do so by all means. You had better prepare for the coming evil - practice economy in feeding away corn, &c. Save plenty of forage in order to save grain."

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History of Boone County, Missouri., Part 15

Author: Publication date: 1882 Publisher: St. Louis, Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 1220

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: St. Louis, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1220