USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > St Joseph > History of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo. : from the time of the Platte purchase to the end of the year 1915 biographical sketches of noted citizens, living and dead > Part 22
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M. Hawley, J. H. R. Candiff, J. B. Hinman, John L. Bittinger, James A. Matney, O. M. Smith, I. G. Kappner, John Pinger, J. D. McNeely, W. Z. Ransom, Mordecai Oliver and Isaac C. Parker. A bridge across the river had long been a necessity, and the people were willing to give all possible aid. Hence, on January 25, 1871, they ratified an ordinance, at a special election, authorizing a sub- scription for five thousand shares of the capital stock of the com- pany above mentioned, to be paid for in the city's bonds, twenty years after date, and bearing 10 per cent interest per annum. This practically meant a donation of $500,000. But nineteen negative votes were cast.
The company at once secured the services of Col. L. D. Mason, an engineer of national reputation, who, after having fixed the loca- tion of the bridge, was empowered to advertise for bids for its con- struction. The highest bid received was from the Baltimore Bridge Company, $1,175,000 ; the lowest from the Detroit Bridge and Iron Works, $716,000. The latter company was awarded the contract. On July 25, 1871, the first material arrived, and on September 26, the first stone was laid, on the Kansas side, in the presence of a large assemblage of people. In 1872, while the work was in prog- ress, a proposition to transfer the bridge to the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railway Company, according to the proposition of Mr. B. F. Carver, was presented at a meeting of the Manufacturers' Aid Association, held March 20, 1872. The proposition, as may be sup- posed, caused a great deal of excitement among the people.
Mr. Carver's proposition was to furnish the money to complete the bridge under the present direction, as fast as Chief Engineer Mason would estimate for the required funds ; that he would extend the St. Joseph & Topeka Railroad to Atchison, Kan., and connect it with the various roads at that town; that he would remove the machine shops, car works and general offices of the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad, located at Hannibal, to St. Joseph; that he would fix the tariff on highway travel on the bridge at rates one-half lower than those of any similar structure on the Missouri or Mississippi rivers; and that he would make the tariffs to railroads equal as between his and all others, and that rates guarded and liberal be assured to all. In consideration of his doing these things, he asked that the city transfer to him its entire stock of $500,000, and that the machine and car shops should be exempt from taxation, as they were in Hannibal, for twenty years.
There was much debate and a great variety of opinions deliv- ered. Some wanted the bridge made absolutely free for highway travel, while others thought it was better to allow the owners of it to collect a low rate of tariff and return to the city a portion of the bonds voted to the work. All appeared to favor the proposition in one form or other, and adopted a resolution, unanimously, that it was the sense of the meeting that the city's stock ought to be sold whenever judicious terms could be made. The council submitted the transfer to the vote of the people, but before the election day had arrived the ordinance was withdrawn.
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There are six piers. Wooden caissons were sunk to bed rock. The work in the interior of these caissons was carried on under pneumatic pressure and the masonry of the piers progressed up- ward as the caisson was sunk. Nearly one and one-half million feet of lumber and 16,000 cubic feet of concrete were required for the caissons, and 172,000 cubic feet of masonry for the piers. The superstructure consists of three fixed spans of the quadrangular Pratt truss, each 300 feet long, one fixed span at the east approach of 80 feet, and a draw span of 365 feet, making the entire length of the bridge 1,345 feet.
On the 20th of May, 1873, the first locomotive crossed the bridge. This was engine No. 6, of the St. Joseph & Denver City railroad, in charge of Edgar Sleppy, master mechanic of the shops of that road and the man who ran the first passenger train out of St. Joseph on the opening of the Hannibal & St. Joseph road more than fourteen years before. Charles Stine, now a passenger engi- neer on the St. J. & G. I. road, performed the duties of fireman on this engine.
On Saturday, May 31, 1873, occurred the grand celebration of the completion of the bridge. This was, beyond doubt, the most magnificent pageant ever displayed in the city. Not only was every civic association and benevolent society represented in the vast pro- cession, but the German citizens of the Northwest had selected St. Joseph as the place for holding their annual saengerfest, and May 31 was selected as the time. The procession which traversed the streets of St. Joseph on that day had never been equaled west of the Mississippi. Every trade was represented.
Dr. Robert Gunn, who served as secretary of the company from the beginning of the second year of its organization, was superin- tendent of the bridge for many years.
June 16, 1879, the control of the bridge was transferred to Jay Gould and associates. It is now the property of the St. Joseph & Grand Island Railroad Company.
THE UNION STATION - In .October, 1868, the county judges voted an appropriation of $10,000 to aid the citizens of Buchanan County to procure grounds for a Union Depot, the same to be erected between the foot of Jule street and the foot of Edmond street, for the use of the Hannibal & St. Joseph, the St. Joseph & Council Bluffs, and all other railroads thereafter centering in St. Joseph. Machine shops were also to be maintained. This scheme, though urgently advocated by a number of St. Joseph's most promi- nent citizens, never materialized.
In April, 1880, the St. Joseph Union Depot Company was formed, the following railroad companies being incorporators and bondholders: Hannibal & St. Joseph, Missouri Pacific, St. Joseph & Western, Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs, Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, and St. Joseph & Des Moines. A building was erected across Mitchell avenue, with a frontage of 405 feet on Sixth
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street, which was completed on April 30, 1882. Major Joseph Han- sen was placed in charge as superintendent. The upper story was arranged for a hotel. The first train to leave the Union Depot was over the Missouri Pacific route, and was called at an early hour on May 1, 1882, by Isaac Veitch, who for many years served as chief depot master.
On the night of February 9, 1895, the depot was destroyed by fire. The hotel was at that time kept by Major John B. Laughlin.
During the same year a new building was erected upon the site of the old one, with many improvements. This new Union Station was opened for business early in January of 1896.
TELEGRAPH LINES-The first telegraph line built to St. Joseph was completed on March 3, 1853. The first message received was the inaugural address of President Franklin Pierce. Peter Lovell was the operator and his office was at the southwest corner of Sec- ond and Jule streets. There were two newspapers in St. Joseph at that time-The Gazette and The Adventurer-and the forces were combined in putting the message into type. Captain F. M. Pose- gate was among the compositors of The Adventure, and Charles M. Thompson was of The Gazette force. The Stebbens line, from St. Louis to St. Soseph, via Atchison, was built in 1860. In 1880 three telegraph companies had offices in St. Joseph-the Western Union, the American Union, and the Atlantic and Pacific. In 1884 there were three companies-the Union Pacific, the Mutual Union and the Pacific Mutual. The latter line was built from St. Louis to Sioux City by Joseph A. Corby of this city, and was absorbed by the Postal Telegraph and Cable Company. This and the Western Union are the only companies now having offices in St. Joseph.
CHAPTER XXII.
CRIMINAL INCIDENTS-ROBIDOUX ROBBED-THE KILL- ING OF WHITTLE AT SPARTA-MURDER OF DR. JONES-TOM FARRIS-KILLING OF CHARLES ROBI- DOUX-BURNING OF THE FRIEND FAMILY-RESCUE OF DR. DOY-THREE WAR-TIME TRAGEDIES-KILL- ING OF JESSE JAMES-THE BOND ROBBERY-MUR- DER OF COLONEL STRONG-HOLD-UP AT M-DON- ALD'S FACTORY-SEVERAL TRAIN ROBBERIES.
The criminal history of Buchanan County dates back to the summer of 1842. Joseph Robidoux had received $4,000 in silver, in payment for merchandise sold to the Sac and Fox Indians. This money was placed in four strong wooden boxes and stored by Robi- doux under a counter in his place of business. Some nights after- ward an entrance was effected and the money carried away. Cir- cumstances fastened suspicion upon a party of people who had recently come into the county, and who had located on the east side of One-Hundred-and-Two River. There were three families, named Spence, Scott and Davis. A search was instituted. One of the Spence boys had purchased a pair of new shoes of Robidoux shortly before the robbery. The fact that one of these shoes was found in the mud at the crossing of Blacksnake Creek, confirmed the suspi- cion. A posse was organized, and efforts were stimulated by a reward of $500 which Robidoux offered for the recovery of the silver. The suspects were surrounded, but stoutly and defiantly denied guilt. The man Davis was taken by a portion of the posse to a secluded spot, and threatened, but he stubbornly refused to confess. As had been prearranged, a pistol was fired, and several of the posse rushed to where the man Scott was in custody, declar- ing that Davis had been killed, and that they now proposed to treat Scott likewise. Scott begged for mercy, and agreed to tell where the money was. He was promised immunity, and at once led his captors to a spot where $1,000, wrapped in a blanket, had been buried. But Scott's knowledge did not extend beyond the first cache. The vigilantes now resorted to strategy. Davis, who was still in custody, was informed that Scott had confessed, and was told that he would be given his liberty if he did likewise. After much profanity and defiance, he yielded, upon being shown an ominous rope. The remainder of the silver had been buried as the first, and in close proximity. The money was all recovered except $27. Scott and Davis were brought to Blacksnake Hills as prison- ers. Davis escaped and Scott was given his liberty. The Spence boys disappeared at once.
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In his "Recollections of an Old Pioneer," the late Peter H. Burnett, the first circuit attorney who prosecuted in Buchanan County, and who was afterward governor of California, relates the following incident:
"A celebrated counterfeiter of the name of Whittle went from the county in which he resided to an adjoining county and passed upon a plain farmer some counterfeit gold coin in payment for a horse. Having been indicted in the proper county, he applied for a change of venue; and the case, upon a proper showing, went to Buchanan County.
"When the case was called the prisoner was ready for trial, and I asked the court to order the sheriff to call the trial jurors. The moment I heard their names called I was satisfied that it was mainly a packed jury. I knew that some of them belonged to the band of criminals in that county, or they were unfortunate in repu- tation and association. I promptly rose and said: 'If the court please, it is now very near dinner time, and I think it very likely I will dispose of this case without troubling the court.' Judge Atchi- son seemed to understand what I was driving at, and readily ad- journed court.
"When the court met again there was a large crowd present, as it must have been anticipated that some decisive step in the case would be taken. When the case was called I said: 'With the leave of the court, I will enter a polle prosequi and let the prisoner go. I do not mean to make a farce of justice by trying this prisoner be- fore such a jury.' The prisoner was wholly taken by surprise, and looked exceedingly mortified. He evidently expected to be tried and acquitted. I intended to have the witnesses again subpoenaed before the grand jury of the proper county, and they would no doubt have found another indictment; and, upon another change of venue, I should have opposed successfully any effort of the defendant to have the case sent to Buchanan County. But the prisoner was killed in a private quarrel before the next term of court.
"He was a man of Herculean frame and of desperate character. His death happened in this wise: He forced a quarrel upon a peaceable, awkward, innocent young man, about the age of twenty- one, for the purpose, most likely, of showing off his prowess before his friends. At all events, when the young man had hitched his horse to the rack, Whittle went out and cut off the horse's tail, and came into the room where the young man was sitting, and thrust it rudely into his face. Upon the young man's remonstrating, Whit- tle chased him into the street; and several times afterward during the day he followed him into other places and forced him hastily to leave. The poor young man became desperate at last, and armed himself with a pistol. Whittle again drove him from the house, and was pursuing him into the street, when the young man turned upon him and shot him through the heart. Though fatally wounded, Whittle picked up a large stone and threw it at the young man with such force that had it struck him it would have killed him instantly. After throwing the stone, Whittle fell upon his face dead."
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The History of Buchanan County, published in 1881, refers to this incident, and states that it occurred at Sparta. The name of Whittle's slayer is given as Gillett and the event is said to have occurred in 1842. Whittle's body was the first to be buried in the Sparta graveyard, and his taking off is said to have caused general satisfaction. Gillett left the county soon afterward, though it is doubtful if he would ever have been punished for slaying Whittle.
The murder of Dr. Jones, which occurred on the morning of June 18, 1848, was one of the notable criminal episodes in the county. Dr. Jones lived on Rock House Prairie. He was sitting with his family upon the porch of his residence. A man named Gibson came and quarreled with Dr. Jones. In an altercation which ensued Gibson fatally stabbed Dr. Jones with a knife. The mur- derer escaped and was never captured.
Tom Farris was one of the pestiferous petty criminals of St. Joseph during the overland period. His career extended from 1849 to 1851. His specialty was stealing wheels and chains from the wagons of the emigrants, and then selling the stolen articles back to their owners, in disguised form, at a good price. Many stores were robbed from time to time by Farris and his gang, but notwith- standing the leaders were well known, they always managed to evade the law, and it was impossible to fasten any evidence upon them. One fine May day the good people of St. Joseph became so tired of these things that Old Tom and his first lieutenant, a hand- some and finely-dressed man, were conducted to the top of Prospect Hill, given one hundred lashes each and ordered to leave. This broke up the thieving gang.
The excitement and public indignation caused by the tragic death of Charles Robidoux is well remembered by the survivors of those days. Charles was the youngest son of Joseph Robidoux. He was a handsome, light-hearted young man, in his twentieth year, who was generally beloved. The circumstances connected with his death are as follows :
On the night of September 8, 1850, at about 11 o'clock, young Robidoux, in company with other young men of the town, were on the street, engaged in some harmless sport. They were rapping at the doors of the business houses, to awaken clerks and others sleep- ing there. They rapped on the door of D. & T. D. S. MacDonald, which was located on Main street, where the Sommer-Richardson cracker factory now stand; and, after leaving it, they went to a post set in the ground at the edge of the pavement opposite the building, and pulled it up. Young Robidoux placed the post on his shoulder and started toward the opposite side of the street. When he had gone about one-third of the distance, a gun was fired from
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the window of the second story of MacDonald's store. The load, which consisted of shot of large size, took effect in the back of Robi- doux's head and he expired in a few minutes.
Duncan MacDonald confessed that he had fired the gun, but with no intention of injuring any person. The deed created an intense feeling, and there was strong talk of violence on the part of young Robidoux's friends. This was stimulated by the grew- some act of one of these. He procured a quantity of blood from a slaughter-house, with which, during the night, he covered the entire sign in front of the MacDonald store, and then dotted the hideous red ground with black paint, in imitation of bullet marks. Wiser counsel prevailed, however, and the meditated violence was pre- vented. MacDonald was tried and acquitted, it having been shown that there was no intention to commit murder.
On May 28, 1856, the family of Jacob Friend, consisting of father, mother and four children, residing about four miles south of St. Joseph, were burned to death in their dwelling. The general supposition was, borne out by circumstances, that the family was first murdered and then the residence burned to destroy evidence of crime. Five men, residing in the neighborhood, were arrested on suspicion. They were indicted and tried, but the evidence was not of sufficient weight to convict, the main point being that it was known that an enmity existed between the parties. Only one mem- ber of the family, a daughter, who was away on a visit, escaped, and was not aware of the calamity until the next day.
In 1859, at the time the slave question was agitated and seces- sion was threatened in several of the Southern states, Kansas was recognized as the haven of slaves; that is, when a slave in Missouri was missing, the supposition was that he had been stolen and trans- ported to Kansas. In January of that year a party of Missourians from Platte County, in pursuit of a negro named "Dick," belonging to a man named Niedman in Platte County, caught up with two wagons near Lawrence, Kan. In those wagons, driven by Dr. John Doy and his son, they found their negro, besides several more who had been taken from Jackson County, Missouri. The Doys were returned to Platte City, where an indictment was found against them, tried for the offense, found guilty and placed in jail. J. M. Bassett, the circuit attorney, being sick, Judge Elijah H. Norton, before whom the cases were tried, appointed Col. John Doniphan, later a prominent citizen of St. Joseph, to prosecute. A change of venue was taken from Platte to Buchanan County, and on May 25 they were put on trial. A hung jury was the result, circumstantial evidence being the main hindrance. In June the cases were again considered, the indictment against young Doy having been dis- missed in the meantime. The news of Doy's arrest and the earnest desire of the people of Kansas to see justice done impelled the legis-
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lature of Kansas to employ the best legal talent in the country to defend him, and for that purpose Wilson Shannon of Ohio and A. C. Davis, attorney-general of the state of Kansas, were secured. The trial continued for three days amidst the most intense excite- ment. The jury, composed of Samuel B. Tolin, George Boyer, Jacob Boyer, H. D. Louthen, Merill Willis, Henson Devorss, George Clark, Henry P. Smith, John Madrill, O. M. Loomis, William W. Mitchell and James Hill, after a few moments' deliberation, returned a ver- dict of guilty.
An appeal was taken to the supreme court, and while pending an episode occurred which not only startled this community, but was noted extensively all over the country. On a dark night a party of Kansans crossed the river. Under pretext of having a prisoner whom they desired to commit, they entered the jail, secured the jailer, released the prisoner, locked the door, threw the key away and escaped with him to Kansas.
On May 19, 1863, Captain Charles Mast, a prominent German citizen of St. Joseph, and captain of a militia company, who kept a saloon on Second street, was killed in his place of business by Gideon Hudson, a private in a company of Colorado volunteers. Hudson was drunk and threatened several persons with his pistol. Captain Mast remonstrated, and while endeavoring to disarm Hudson, was fatally shot. An arrest followed. The commander of the Colorado troops took the ground that Hudson was acting on the lines of duty. There was much local indignation at this finding, and the papers in the case were then sent to department headquarters, but no one seems to know what finally became of them or Hudson.
On Sunday evening, September 21, 1862, a desperado named John Young, without cause or provocation, shot and killed D. W. Fritzlein, proprietor of the Avenue brewery in this city. The mur- der occurred in the bottoms between Elwood and Wathena. About 6 o'clock that evening a wagon was seen coming from the Elwood ferry boat. It was at once driven up Frederick avenue to the brew- ery. One of the men in the wagon was covered with blood, and around his neck was a rope, held by one of the other occupants. This attracted general attention, and thousands of people followed. Fritzlein's friends were going to lynch Young. He was taken to the cottonwoods on the hills east of the city, where the mob seized the rope, pulled the murderer from the wagon and dragged him to a tree. After beating and pounding him severely he was tied to the trunk of a tree and preparations were made to burn him. Coroner Maxwell used his best endeavors, being seconded in his efforts by the military, to let the law take its course. They were successful, and the man was turned over to the civil authorities. While in the hands of the crow'd he begged piteously to be shot rather than hanged. The following Monday night the prisoner requested to be
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removed to the post hospital for the purpose of having his wounds dressed. This was granted, and the surgeon, after an examination, ordered the prisoner returned to jail, being convinced that he was feigning, evidently with the hope that he could thereby effect his escape. As the guards, consisting of a sergeant and two men, were returning the man to jail, he was fired upon by parties concealed in the lumber yard, unknown to the guard, the ball inflicting only a flesh wound in his arm. So great was the indignation of the citi- zens against the murderer that a special guard of militia had to be stationed at the jail to protect him. The murderer was, upon a requisition from the governor of Kansas, turned over to the Doni- phan County, Kansas, authorities and placed in jail at Troy. Some months afterward his body was found in the river. Bullet holes indicated that he had been shot before being consigne'd to the water.
On the night of August 13, 1878, when the passenger train going south on the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs rail- road, Conductor George Brown, arrived at Winthrop Junction, four men boarded it. They seemed unconcerned, cool and deliberate, and it did not take them long to make their purpose known. They entered the express and baggage car, in charge of Frank Baxter. The men were not masked and were strangers to all the railroad men. With drawn revolvers they compelled Baxter to open the express safe, from which they secured about $5,000. They then commanded the conductor to stop the train, whereupon they delib- erately took their leave, going into the brush. Subsequently Mike Roarke, Dan Dement, Hillman and Frank Brooks were arrested and punished for other work of the same nature, and circumstances pointed strongly to their connection with this affair.
Jesse James, outlaw, upon whose head the state had put a price and to whose captors or slayers immunity had been promised, was killed in St. Joseph April 3, 1882, at about 10 o'clock in the morn- ing. James had been living in St. Joseph since November 9, 1881, under the alias of "James Howard." His wife, two children and Charley Ford, a fellow-bandit, whose alias was Charles Johnson, composed the household. For a short time they lived at Twenty- first and Lafayette streets, but the tragedy took place at No. 1318 Lafayette street. The house is still in a good state of preservation, though it has been lowered.
The identity of James was known to but a few persons in St. Joseph, who, for reasons best known to themselves, kept it con- cealed. He mingled very little with the outside world, seldom going to the business portion of the city, making few acquaintances and keeping his own counsel.
Tempted by a $10,000 reward and the promised immunity, Charley Ford entered into a plan to trap and slay his friend and protector. Feeling the need of an accomplice, he persuaded James
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