USA > Missouri > Boone County > History of Boone County, Missouri. > Part 19
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SHEEP.
[Theodorick Jenkins, A. W. Rollins and Stephen Bedford, judges. ] William Stone- one ewe, Merino, and one ram, Merino. D. M. Hickman -one ram, Merino, premium. William Johnston - one ram, Merino, certificate.
JACKS AND JENNETS.
[Lowden Snell, Mason Moss and Philip Barnes, judges. ] A. W. Rollins - one sucking jack, premium. A. W. Rollins - one jennet, (" Jimmy Crow,") premium. Jesse Turner - one yearling jack, certificate. D. M. Hickman-one yearling jack, premium. D. M.
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Hickman - one two year-old jack, premium. D. M. Hickman - one aged jack (Washington), premium. A. W. Turner - one jack (Tecumseh), certificate. William Johnston - one jack.
CATTLE.
[David Gordon, William Johnston and Lowden Snell, judges. ] Edward Young- one white, sucking calf, and one pided calf ; Patten stock, certificate. Thomas Jenkins -one black and white calf, by his bull Tom Jones. A. W. Rollins -one red calf (Teeswater), by his bull Durock ; dam Lady San Martin, premium. Eli E. Bass - one pided calf. Thomas Jenkins - one milch cow ; Patten stock. Edward Young -one milch cow ; Patten stock, certificate. A. W. Rollins - one cow, Lady San Martin ; Durham, Teeswater and Miller stock, premium. William Stone - one year old bull ; Durham and Patten stock, premium. Thomas Jenkins -one year old heifer, by Oscar, dam by San Martin, certificate. A. W. Rollins - two year old heifer, by Durock; dam common stock of Missouri. D. M. Hick- man - one two year old bull ; scrub stock, certificate. E. E. Bass - one two year old cow ; Short Horn stock, premium. Thomas Jen- · kins - bull, Tom Jones, by a short-horned bull ; dam by San Martin, premium. A. W. Rollins - bull, Durock ; a full-blooded, short- horned and Teeswater bull; dam Sportsman, certificate. D. M. Hickman - bullock, certificate. Christopher Morrow - one bullock,. premium.
MULES.
[William Maupin, A. W. Rollins and William Stone, judges. ] Philip Barnes one sucking mule, four feet seven and a half inches high, premium. D. M. Hickman - one sucking mule, by Washing- ton, premium. D. M. Hickman - one two year old mule, premium. D. M. Hickman - mule, certificate. E. E. Bass - mule, premium.
HORSES.
[J. J. Cotton, Sinclair Kirtley and T. C. Maupin, judges. ] John Lampton -one sucking horse colt by Potomac ; dam by Prince Richard, premium. Benj. Barns - one sorrel horse colt, by Black Whip; dam by Diomede. James Sims -one black mare colt, by Black Whip ;. dam by Lamplighter, certificate. Thomas W. Conyers -one bay mare colt, by Sir Charles ; dam by Sumpter. Edward Young - one. brood mare, by Comet ; dam by Buzzard. John Lampton - brood.
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mare, by Prince Richard, premium. Benj. Barns - brood mare, by Diomede. James Sims - brood mare, by Lamplighter, certificate. Peter Wright -brood mare Caroline Sanders, by Timoleon. D. M. Hickman - brood mare, by imported Spread Eagle. Thomas W. Con- yers - brood mare, by Sumpter.
YEARLING COLTS.
Orris Miller - sorrel stud, by Clinton ; dam by Buzzard. James Sims -sorrel mare, by Black Whip. Theodorick Jenkins - black stud, by Trumpeter, certificate. John B. Gordon - bay mare, by Georgian, premium. D. M. Hickman - horse. Elisha Hill - bay filly. David Gordon - sorrel filly, by Bolivar ; dam by Emperor. W. S. Burch - grey stud, by Georgian.
TWO YEAR OLD HORSES.
Fletcher Wright - sorrel filly, by Roanoke ; dam by Hazzard, pre- mium. Orris Miller - sorrel filly, by Instructor, certificate. D. M. Hickman - black filly, by Black Whip.
SADDLE HORSES.
Jesse Turner-bay horse. John Garnett-bay horse. E. E. Bass - black horse, premium. Peter Wright-grey mare. David Gordon - bay mare, certificate.
STALLIONS.
Philip Barns - Black Whip, premium. David M. Hickman -Jack Downing, by Georgian. Barns & Jenkins - Mazeppa, by Saxe Wei- mar ; dam by Buzzard, certificate.
This is the first exhibition of the kind that has ever taken place in- the State, and was attended by a great number of persons, who mani- fested unusual interest. The stock exhibited would bear a comparison with any of our older sister States, and from the spirit of improve- ment evinced by our stock raisers, Missouri will, in a few years, be a conspicuous rival.
The size, form, blood and condition of the stock shown, far sur- passed the expectations of the community. To see a sucking colt, broke to all the domestic uses of man, dressed off with the gay attire of a stallion, and plated and trained as the courser, is a novelty in our.
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country. The ball of improvement is rolling through our country, and it is the duty of every farmer to add his force to give it impetus. The society is open for any citizen in the State at five dollars per annum.
ABRAHAM J. WILLIAMS, President. A. W. TURNER, Secretary.
OCTOBER 21, 1835.
TRIAL AND CONVICTION OF CONWAY, A NEGRO MAN, FOR THE MURDER 1
OF ISRAEL B. GRANT. .
After dark on the night of December 29, 1835, when returning to his home in Callaway county from Fulton, on horseback, Israel B. Grant, a leading and much esteemed citizen of that county, was by a blow from behind a tree in the road knocked from his horse, stabbed with a pocket knife and killed, and his body dragged into the woods and a log rolled on it. The murder excited the greatest commotion and no effort was left unemployed to bring the guilty parties to justice.
Suspicion soon fastened upon several slaves in the neighborhood, among them Conway, a negro man belonging to Francis K. Cowherd, and Jake belonging to Mr. Grant, upon whose clothes blood was found and in his pocket $25. Conway and Jake were indicted for murder at the February, 1836, term of the Callaway Circuit Court and arraigned for trial. Jake turned State's evidence. Officers of the court : David Todd, Judge ; John Coats, Sheriff; James Baskett, Clerk. Sinclair Kirtley, of Columbia, appeared as counsel for Con- way, and the State was represented by R. W. Wells, Attorney- General. Owing to the excitement in Callaway, Conway took a change of venue to Boone county, and Judge Todd convened a special term of the court for his trial at Columbia, February 29, 1836. Mr. Wells, the Attorney-General, being absent, Austin A. King and Wm. H. Russell were assigned by the court to prosecute. The following jury tried the case : James Hopper, foreman ; Jesse Whitesides, Henry L. Douglass, Greenbury Jacobs, Daniel Lyons, Edward Jar- man, Adam C. Reyburn, Levi Bennett, John Caruthers, Wm. Y. Hitt, Merritt Stephenson, Samuel Morrow. James S. Rollins was the principal counsel for the defence, and, although a young man, de- livered an argument of great eloquence and ability and one which is yet remembered for its remarkable power and beauty. The trial
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lasted for several days and the jury finding a verdict of guilty., Con- way was sentenced to be hung at Fulton, on April 8, 1836, and on that day he was hung - protesting his innocence to the last - by Mr. Coats, the sheriff. Jake was afterwards tried, convicted and hung. Many people now believe Conway was innocent. Col
THE FLORIDA WAR.
" Switzler's History of Missouri " says : " The Florida or Seminole war grew out of the opposition of the Seminole Indians to their removal from Florida west of the Mississippi River. This attempt was first made in 1835, but the Seminoles were unwilling to relinquish their lands, and rallying under the leadership of their great chief, Osceola, organized a determined resistance to the efforts of the Gen- eral Government. In May, 1836, the Creeks joined the Seminoles and the war spread into Georgia. The Creeks were soon conquered and sent beyond the Mississippi. The Seminoles continued the war, and as often as defeated in the open field would take refuge in the swamps and everglades, where it was difficult for the United States soldiers to follow them. In October, 1837, Osceola was captured by General Jessup, and sent a prisoner to Fort Moultrie, South Carolina, where he died of a fever. Nevertheless, the war continued for several years, and Missourians took part in it.
Sometime in the fall of 1837, and during the administration of Governor Boggs, the President of the United States, Mr. Van Buren, asked Colonel Benton, one of our Senators in Congress, whether Missourians could be induced to travel so far as the swamps of Florida and assist in chastising the Seminole Indians. Colonel Benton an- swered : " The Missourians will go wherever their services are needed," and went immediately to Joel R. Poinsett, then Secretary of War, and urged him to issue an order for raising volunteers in Missouri for that purpose. The Secretary being assured of a favora- ble response, issued a requisition on Governor Boggs, for two regi- ments of mounted volunteers. The following is a copy ( made from the original) of the letter of the Secretary of War to Colonel Richard Gentry, of Columbia : -
WAR DEPARTMENT, September 8th, 1837.
SIR: - You are hereby informed that a regiment of six hundred volunteers from the State of Missouri will be accepted by this Department, for service in Florida, during the next campaign against the Seminoles, provided they can be raised by you in season to reach Tampa Bay by the middle of October, or the 1st of November, at latest.
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General Atkinson has been instructed to dispatch an officer of the army to muster these troops into the service, and to render such other aid as may be necessary to ex- pedite their movements towards Florida.
Very respectfully, your most obedient servant,
J. R. POINSETT.
COLONEL GENTRY, Columbia, Boone County, Missouri.
The first regiment was raised chiefly in Boone and neighboring counties by Colonel Gentry, of which he was elected Colonel, John W. Price, of Howard, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Harrison H. Hughes, also of Howard, Major ; - Parks, of Ray, Quartermaster, and William McDaniel, of Marion, Commissary. The regiment was composed of the following companies : -
From Boone County : Captains John Ellis and Thomas D. Grant ; Callaway, Captain William H. Russell ; Howard, Captain Congreve Jackson ; Chariton, Captain James Flore ; Ray, Captain John Sconce ; Jackson, Captain Jas. Chiles ; Marion, Captain John Curd.
Four companies of the second regiment were also raised and attached to the first. Two of these companies were composed of Deleware and Osage Indians.
CAPTAIN ELLIS' COMPANY.
The following is a partial list of the officers and privates of Capt. Ellis' company. We have made every effort, but without success, to get the names of all of them : -
John Ellis, Captain ; Clifton R. Harris, First Lieutenant ; William Gordon, Second Lieutenant ; Richard Snell, First Sergeant ; John M. Harris, Second Sergeant ; Samuel Davis, Third Sergeant : Alfred Keene, Fourth Sergeant ; James Jones, First Corporal ; John Hopper, Second Corporal ; Lewis Jones, Third Corporal ; Archibald Johnston, Fourth Corporal. Privates : William Little, Calvin Little, John Green, John R. Basnett, John H. Hopper, James E. Hopper, James C. Hopper, Newton Wilcox, Charles Stephens, John Holland, Mont. Trimble, John McGinnis, Jeptha Haydon, Joseph Hickam, John Nealy, Robert Carter, D. W. Holt, Thos. Nichols, O. P. Jones, John Roberts, William Smith, David Grindstaff, Thomas Jefferson, Fred- erick Bittle, Joseph Anthony, William Martin, - Guinn, William H. Belcher, John Senoir, James K. McDaniel, Alexander Hickam, John Tilford, - Hunt.
On October 6, 1837, Col. Gentry's regiment left Columbia for the field of danger and duty, but before taking their departure were pre- sented by the ladies of Columbia with a beautiful regimental flag, the
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presentation address being made by Miss Lucy Ann Wales, a very cultivated and accomplished lady, at that time preceptress of Columbia Female Academy. The flag was borne by the regiment throughout the campaign in Florida, and floated at its head in battle, and after its re- turn to Missouri was delivered to the widow of Colonel Gentry, Octo- ber 26, 1842, by Captain William Henry Russell, and it is now in.the possession of Thomas B. Gentry, of Columbia.
After the regiment left Columbia, they marched by land to Jeffer- son Barracks, below St. Louis, where they were detained for several days and were addressed by Hon. Thomas H. Benton. They were there mustered into service by General Henry Atkinson, the.comman- der of this department. They were taken by boats from there to Jackson Barracks, New Orleans, from which point they were trans- ported in brigs across the gulf to Tampa Bay, Florida.
Mr. Elihu H. Shepard, in his " Early History of St. Louis and Mis- souri," says that on the voyage they were overtaken by a violent storm and several of the vessels stranded. Many horses were lost, but no lives, and they disembarked on the 15th of November at the place of destination. On the 1st of December they received orders from Gen- eral Zachary Taylor, then commanding in Florida, to march to Okee- cho-bee Lake, one hundred and thirty-five miles inland by the route travelled, in the vicinity of which the whole force of the Seminoles was said to have collected, under their four most redoubtable leaders, Sam Jones, Tiger Tail, Alligator and Mycanopee, prepared for battle.
Having reached the Kissemmee River, seventy miles distant, the cavalry scouts captured several Indians who were guarding grazing stock, by which the Colonel learned the Indians were near at hand ; and immediately crossing the river, he formed the Missouri volunteers in front and advanced, supporting them at a proper distance by the regular army on either flank.
The Indians appeared to have noticed all the surroundings of the place, and commenced the attack at the point affording them the best position for prolonging a battle, and continued it with a pertinacity they seldom exhibit.
Colonel Gentry fought on foot, as did all his command, and had re- pulsed the Indians after several hours of severe fighting. He was gradually pushing them across a swamp, and had nearly reached the dry soil, when a bullet pierced his abdomen, inflicting a fatal wound. He knew its extent, yet he stood erect an hour afterwards, and
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cheered his men to victory ; until at last being compelled to yield, he was borne from the fight and expired the same night.
The fall of their leader did not relax the exertions of the Missou- rians. They made good all their Senator had said of them, and continued to fight several hours longer, until the Indians were en- tirely vanquished. The loss in killed and wounded was one hundred . and thirty-eight, most of whom were Missourians.
There being no further service required of the Missourians, they were returned to their homes early in 1838, and the name and fame of Colonel Gentry placed where it will never perish. His remains, as well as those of Captain VanSwearingen and Lieutenants Brooke and Center, 6th Regular United States Infantry, were afterwards brought to Jefferson Barracks and buried. The County of Gentry, organized February 12th, 1841, was named in honor of his memory.1
The official report to the War Department by General Zachary Tay- lor, U. S. A., in regard to the battle of Okeechobee, occasioned much excitement and adverse criticism in Missouri, because it was claimed that he not only did great injustice to the Missouri Volunteers under Colonel Gentry, but that on one occasion he treated Colonel Gentry himself with a degree of insulting hardship and violence wholly un- merited by that gallant officer. Therefore, during the session of the
1 The following is a copy of a letter written from Brigadier-General Henry Atkinson, U. S. Army, to Mrs. Ann Gentry, widow of Colonel Gentry, in regard to the receipt and interment of his remains :
ST. LOUIS, 7th May, 1839.
MY DEAR MADAM : - I have the satisfaction to inform you that I have received the remains of the late Major-General Gentry, your lamented husband, from Florida, min- · gled in the same box with the remains of Captain VanSwearingen and Lieutenants Brooke and Center, 6th Regiment U. S. Infantry. The whole will be this day taken from the box and placed in a suitable coffin and carried to the Episcopal Church, where, at half-past two o'clock, the funeral service will be peformed by the reverend clergy ; after which all appropriate military honors will take place by the military and civil authorities of the city. The remains will then be taken to Jefferson Barracks, where they will be deposited for final interment as soon as the 6th Regiment returns to that post. It is intended to inter all the remains in the same grave, over which a monu- ment, with suitable inscriptions, will be erected.
I hope this disposition of the remains of Major-General Gentry will be agreeable to you and your family. It would now be difficult, if not impossible, to designate the remains of either individual; therefore, should you wish to liave the General's bones, it would be impossible, I think, to select thiem.
With the kindest regards, madam, I am, most respectfully,
Your most obedient servant,
H. ATKINSON, Brigadier-General U. S. Army. MRS. GENTRY, relict of the late Major-General Gentry, Columbia, Mo.
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
Legislature of 1838-9, a special committee was appointed, David R. Atchison, chairman, to investigate the facts and make report of them to the General Assembly. This committee caused about twenty of the officers of the Missouri Volunteers, who had served in the Florida campaign, to be examined before them, among whom were individuals who were engaged during the battle in every part of the line, and oth- ers who were posted at the baggage on the opposite side of the swamp.
After the examination of these witnesses, Mr. Atchison made a report, in which it was maintained that General Taylor's report did the Missouri troops great injustice ; among other reasons because it charged that the Missouri Volunteers mostly broke and fell back to the baggage, and that the repeated efforts of his Aids could not rally them.
Mr. Atchison's report states, in substance, that the battle commenced between nine and ten o'clock A. M., December 25th, 1837; that the Missouri Volunteers first attacked the enemy, led the charge, and bore the brunt of the battle along the whole line ; that they had to march through a deep, miry swamp for about half a mile in order to approach the Indians, who were concealed in the edge of the hummock ready to receive them, on ground which they had chosen and prepared for that purpose ; that the Indians were protected by the heavy timber and thick underbrush, while the Volunteers, mostly unsupported by the Regulars, were exposed in open line, uncovered, in the swamp, stand- ing up to their knees in mud and water, when they received the first deadly fire of the enemy. Nevertheless, they fought bravely till the heat of the battle was over, and it was principally by their fire that the Indians were first dispersed. Although a large number of the Volunteers were killed or wounded by a concealed enemy, they hero- ically stood their ground or pressed forward to the attack, until the hummock was taken and the victory gained. None of the witnesses examined knew of any attempt on the part of General Taylor's staff to rally the Volunteers, or of any necessity for such attempt ; and the fact is established that after the heat of the battle was over, a consid- erable portion of the Volunteers, instead of being dispatched in pur- suit of the retreating enemy, were, by order of the Regular officers, detailed to make a causeway across the swamp, upon which to carry out the dead and wounded. To the committee, it was manifest that General Taylor entertained strong prejudice against the Volunteers, and a most contemptuous opinion of that description of troops, and.
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they reported it probable that, owing to this prejudice, he could not do justice to the Volunteers from Missouri. Also, that " Colonel Gentry fell at the head of his troops, in a manner worthy of the com- mander of Volunteers, and the conduct of the Volunteer officers and soldiers generally was such as ought to have elicited praise and com- mendation, instead of censure and reproach."
The committee concluded their report by recommending the adop- tion of the following joint resolutions :
1st. Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives, that the conduct of the Missouri Volunteers and spies, in the Florida campaign, was such as only could be expected from good soldiers and brave men.
2d. Resolved, that so much of Colonel Z. Taylor's report of the battle of Okeechobee, which charges that the Missouri Volunteers and spies mostly broke and fell back to the baggage, and that the repeated efforts of his staff could not rally them, is proved to be unfounded, not to say intentionally false, and, that so much of said report which states that the Regular troops were joined by Captain Gilliam and Lieutenant Blakey with a few men, but not until they had suffered severely, is incorrect in this, - that Gilliam and Blakey were in advance of the Regular troops during the most of the fight and never in the rear.
3d. Resolved, that so much of said report which states that the Missouri Volunteers and spies behaved themselves as well or better than troops of that description usually do, is not so much a compliment to them as a slander upon citizen soldiers generally.
4th. Resolved, that Colonel Taylor in his report of the battle of Okeechobee, has done manifest injustice to the Missouri Volunteers and spies, and that said report was not founded upon facts as they occurred.
5th. Resolved, that a commanding officer who has wantonly misrepresented the con- duct of men who gallantly sustained him in battle, is unworthy a commission in the Army of the United States.
6th. Resolved, that the Governor of the State be required to lay before the President of the United States, the evidence reported to this House, in relation to the conduct of the Missouri Volunteers and spies in the Florida campaign, and Colonel Z. Taylor's report of the battle of the Okeechobee, and that he solicit on the part of this State a court of inquiry into the conduct of the Missouri Volunteers and spies, and the truth of said report.
7th. Resolved, that the Governor of the State be required to lay before the President of the United States, a statement of facts relative to the treatment of the spies under Colonel Morgan and Captain Sconce : 1st. As it regards the fact of the organization of said command into a spy battalion, under the order of Colonel Taylor. 2d. His subse- quent acknowledgment and recognition of said corps. 3d. The performance of arduous duty by the officers of said battalion under the requisition of Colonel Taylor. 4th. Their subsequent discharge as privates and the pay that they received as such. 5th. The necessity of adopting some course to obtain redress.
The resolutions passed both houses of the Legislature unanimously, and there the matter rested, no court of inquiry having been called by the President of the United States to investigate the truth of Colonel Taylor's report.
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
THE MORMON WAR.
The smoke of the Florida war had scarcely receded from view before an insurrection within the borders of our own State incited the martial spirit of our people, and they flew to arms to punish and drive from the State the Mormons, under their Prophet, Joe Smith.
After their expulsion, in 1834, from Jackson County, they flocked in large numbers into counties north of the Missouri River, but chiefly into the new county of Caldwell, where John Whitmer and a few others had selected a site for a new town and lands for a new home for the Saints. The town was called " Far West," and Joe Smith and his chief officers located there, and assured their followers that it would soon become one of the mighty cities of the world.
The old town site is now in the midst of a corn-field, which consti- tutes part of a tract of land belonging to Col. Calvin F. Burns, of St. Joseph, and is situated about eight miles southwest of Hamilton and about the same distance southeast of Cameron. About half a mile west of the town is the burying-ground of the Mormons. It is now included within the limits of a farm owned by Mr. Peter L. Boul- ton, a brother of Judge Jesse A. Boulton, of Boone County. Here are some two or three hundred graves, all more or less obliterated, with scarcely an occasional rude headstone to mark the presence of a once sacredly-guarded, but long-forsaken and forgotten village of the dead.
But perhaps the most interesting relic of the times of which we write is the former residence of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, and founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is a rude, old-fashioned, one-story frame building, with two rooms, situated about a quarter of a mile southwest of the temple site, which was in the middle of the town. An unusually large and clumsy stone chimney at the north end of the building is its distinguishing charac- teristic. Otherwise the structure is an exceedingly ordinary and com- mon-place building, suggestive of anything rather than the residence of the founder of a mighty sect whose wonderful rise and progress constitute an era in the history of Missouri.
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