USA > Missouri > Livingston County > History of Caldwell and Livingston counties, Missouri, written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri; a reliable and detailed history of Caldwell and Livingston counties--their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens; general and local statistics of great value; incidents and reminiscences > Part 73
USA > Missouri > Caldwell County > History of Caldwell and Livingston counties, Missouri, written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri; a reliable and detailed history of Caldwell and Livingston counties--their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens; general and local statistics of great value; incidents and reminiscences > Part 73
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In Sampsel township, near Sampsel Station, a gravel pit has been opened by the railroad company, and all the indications point to an inexhaustible bed of gravel in the vicinity and along the Grand river bottoms generally.
-
677
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Building Stone .- Elsewhere is included a description of the best building rock of this county. Perhaps the best quarries are those of Chillicothe and about one mile north of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. The rock is a silicious oolitic limestone ; occurs generally in thick beds, but some are thin, and affords a strong and superior building-rock. There is about nine feet thickness of it. The sand- stone at Gillaspie's mill occurs in thick and thin strata, and is also an excellent material for building. The quarry in the southeast quarter section 22, township 56, range 22, is a very even-bedded blue lime- stone, occurring in two layers of nine and cleven inches, and admits of fine polish. The quarry in the west half of southwest quarter section 29, township 58, range 22, includes beds of 101/2, 16 and 18 inches limestone, in even layers. At Utica are thick, rough beds of blue and drab limestone, that answer very well for coarse masonry, and may also be hydraulic. The quarry three miles northwest of Chilli- cothe includes about six feet of rather rough-bedded limestone, but of good thickness ; this is much used.
Clays .- A deep red ochrey clay at Collier's mill ( southwest quar- ter section 29, township 58, range 22) would afford a good material for paint ; a similar but paler red has been observed on Collier's land, one mile from the mill. In Collier's shaft, near this place, are ten feet of alternations of yellow ochre bands, with blue shales ; beneath it is four inches good band of bright yellow ochre. At Leaton's coal- bank, in Grand River township, there is six inches of brown ochre, containing selenite crystals. There are good beds of fire-clay under most of the coal-beds, particularly those on lower Grand River. Bands and concretionary beds of carbonate of iron occur in shales on lower Grand river.
Soil .- The soil is generally very rich ; those portions of the county which have been mentioned as broken contain the only tracts of poor land, and the area is quite limited ; the soil of the latter is light mulatto, and often sandy for a few inches in depth. The soil through- out most of the county is dark and rich, and varies from one to two and a half feet in depth. Near the western part of the county it has much lime in its composition, resulting from the disintegration of limestone. The slopes generally are so very gentle that the county seems admirably adapted for grasses and meadows. The bottom lands are wide and flat, and have very dark and deep soil, but are often too wet for cultivation.
The following table shows approximately the number of acres of upland, the number of acres of bottom land, the number of acres of
678
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
timbered land, and the number of acres in cultivation ; giving the leading products of the townships in the order of predomination, according to an estimate carefully made in 1880 :-
Twop.
Range.
Acres Upland.
Acres Bottom.
Acres Corn.
Acres Hay.
Acres Wheat.
Acres Oats.
Acres Flax.
Acres Rye.
56
21
4,000
2,500
1,450
1,250
500
450
200
100
56
22
20,440
2,500
3,140
2,000
1,000
650
800
350
56
23
23,000
4,750
1,300
1,200
700
1,000
300
56
24
21,400
1,240
4,530
1,100
1,300
400
1,000
200
56
25
19,740
3,200
5,850
1,200
1,000
500
1,000
250
57
22
4,960
7,040
2,240
500
500
200
100
57
23
11,340
11,300
3,760
1,800
1,900
300
150
57
24
11,000
11,440
3,650
1,900
2,000
350
150
57
25
18,580
4,160
5,680
1,600
1,200
500
250
38
22
11,360
640
2,820
600
700
250
200
58
23
19,280
3,860
5,270
2,000
2,000
300
200
150
58
24
17,390
4,650
5,160
1,500
1,500
400
100
200
58
25
15,800
7,040
4,450
500
300
200
100
59
22
11,500
1,920
3,300
500
300
100
100
59
23
18,860
4,480
5,370
1,000
1,200
200
100
59
24
17,270
5,130
5,640
600
500
150
200
150
59
25
22,840
6,580
1,000
1,000
150
1,000
150
TOTAL.
268,760
71,160
73,640
20,350
18,100
6,000
5,500
3,000
. .
About one-third of the county is timbered land. Two-thirds of the uplands, 268,760 acres, are in cultivation, embracing upland pastures and orchards, and 10 per cent of the bottom land, 71,600 acres, approximately, 180,000 acres of cultivated lands.
Of the soil of Livingston county and its capacity for producing bountiful crops, no better description need be given than the follow- ing, which was written by a well posted resident of the county a few years since. As to the surface soil of the county, he says it is no mean or common thing. The same rich, black mold - mostly decomposed vegetable matter - that obtains in the richest valleys of the old prairie States, covers the surface of the county from 12 to 13 inches in depth. Of course it is very strong in productive elements as the rank vegeta- tion everywhere indicates, and there are numerous instances where the old farmers have taken from 25 to 40 successive corn erops from the same field with no sign of diminution in yield.
The sub-soil of the county is a seemingly impervious clay, but it is wholly unlike the heavy, dead, unmanageable red and blue clays of the Ohio, New York and Canada sub-soils, being largely composed of silicious matter, lime and magnesia carbonite, lime phosphate and organic matter, and is nearly identical with the Lacustrine deposits of the Missouri river slopes of Northwestern Missouri, Southeastern
679
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Kansas, Western Iowa, Eastern Nebraska, and the world famous Loess deposits of the Rhine, Nile and minor Swiss valleys. It slacks to the loose, flexible consistency of alluvium on exposure to the frost and air, is absolutely imperishable as an element of fertility, and forms the finest and most enduring basis for grasses, fruits and grains known to the world of agriculture. This deposit underlies the entire surface of the country to a depth of 10 to 30 feet, and will prove a permanent agricultural and horticultural resource of incomparable value.
The conjunction of these two soils gives the broadest range of pro- duction enjoyed by any part of the continent. There is not a single article of artificial production grown in the soil from the northern limit of the orange groves to the Northern Red river that does not flourish here in high degree.
The great staple grain is corn, which gives a yield of 30 to 90 bushels per acre, and of which this county annually grows from 2,500,- 000 to 3,000,000 bushels. Close to 200,000 bushels of winter wheat is annually grown, the yield running from 14 to 35 bushels per acre, according to season and culture. Tobacco is a splendid crop. Oats are grown to the extent of 250,000 bushels yearly and are a fine erop. Barley and rye do equally well, though they are but little cultivated. Flax is a sure and profitable crop. Sorghum, broom corn, millet, Hungarian, all the field and garden vegetables, all the fruits of orchard, vineyard and garden, all the grasses, flowers and plants of the middle latitudes grow in rich profusion in Livingston county.
Of course it is the paradise of mixed husbandry, no country leading it in that respect. The Livingston county farmers cover " the field " admirably. They grow a little wheat, much corn, some oats, a little flax, a good variety of vegetables and fruits ; raise and feed cattle, sheep and swine in measure ; raise mules and horses largely for the markets ; sell wool, poultry and dairy products, and know nothing of the failures that attend " special farming." If one, two or three of these resources fail them, what of that ! Have they not the whole " field " against the one possible winning crop of the all-wheat or all- wool man, to whom a single failure is almost certain ruin ?
The grandest resource of the Livingston county farmer is found in the native and domestic grasses. This is essentially a grass country. The wild prairie grasses were always rich and rank of growth, but civ- ilization has proved too much for them, and they have mostly yielded to the more tenacious and hardy blue grass and white clover, both of which are indigenous to the country, and only awaited the coming of the domestic herds to give them the all-conquering impulse. Blue
38
680
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
grass is king of grasses here, as in the realm of Kentucky and Illinois cattle princes. It is assuring to see how grandly it is sweeping over prairie, woodland, field and lawn, driving everything before it. There is not a more natural blue grass country in the world.
The Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio stock men, who have settled here, are charmed with the situation. They say there are no such blue grass pastures as these of Northwestern Missouri. White clover is abundant in seasons of plenteous moisture. The timothy meadows, too, are worth the journey of a thousand miles to see. They are resplendent, with the richest, rankest, most nutritious growth of this grass to be found anywhere in the wide kingdom of grasses. Every- body grows timothy, and these royal meadows yield one and a half, two and three tons per acre of hay, which must get its remarkable feeding value from the peculiar character of this soil. Timothy seed is an important staple. Red clover does well and is popular with the farmers.
STATISTICS - POPULATION.
The population of the county in 1840, when the first census was taken after its organization, was 4,325; in 1850 (owing to the striking off of Grundy county and the large California emigration ) it was but 4,247 ; in 1860 it was 7,417, of which 6,812 were whites and 605 were slaves - no free colored ; in 1870 the population was 16,730 ; of which 15,744 were whites and 956 colored, 1,354 were foreign born, 6,567 were natives of Missouri, 8,793 were males, and 7,937 were females ; in 1876 it was 18,074, and in 1880 it was 20,196.
The population by townships in 1880 and in 1870 was as fol- lows : -
Townships.
1880.
1870.
Blue Mound
1,268
1,048
Chillicothe, including city of Chillicothe
5,860
6,096
Cream Ridge
1,208
956
Fairview
1,526
1,006
Grand River
1,486
1,160
Greene
1,009
903
Jackson
1,963
2,602
Medicine
655
901
Monroe
961
716
Mooresville, including town of Mooresville
1,112
1,092
Rich Hill
1,027
. . .
Sampsel
1,264
. . .
Wheeling .
857
249
Total
20,196
16,730
The population of Chillicothe in 1880 was 4,078 ; in 1870 it was 3,978. Rich Hill and Sampsel townships were not organized in 1870.
681
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
VOTING POPULATION.
The total number of males in the county 21 years of age and over in the year 1880, according to the national census, was 4,945 ; but the same year the greatest number of votes polled by all parties (the vote for Governor being highest ) was 4,294, showing that 651 voters in the county did not go to the polls. In 1884 the total vote was 4,290, or four votes less than that cast in 1880, four years previously.
ASSESSED VALUATIONS.
The number of horses in the county in 1880 was 8,307; of mules, 1,334 ; of asses, 82 ; of milk cows and other cattle, 24,216; shecp, 22,112 ; swine, 43,496. The same year the number of acres of taxa- ble lands was 333,325. The total assessed value of all property was $40,034,490.
The total assessed valuation of the county in 1885, not including $200,000 of merchandise, was $4,932,417.54, as follows : --
Assessed value of real estate
$2,217,808 00
Assessed value of town lots
605,450 00
Assessed value of personal property
1,605,088 00
Assessed value of railway and telegraph lines
504,071 54
$4,932,417 54
The average assessment of land per acre was $6.25. The number of miles of railway was 48. The annual revenue derived from railway and telegraph lines was $5,859.08; the revenue from railroads was about $120 per mile.
The live stock of the county was assessed as follows : -
Kind.
Number.
Assessed Value.
Cattle
25,307
$364,009 00
Swine
32,495
71,170 00
Sheep
19,416
20,000 00
Horses
8,594
316,430 00
Mules
1,136
53,185 00
$824,794 00
SCHOOLS.
·
.
In 1885 the school population of the county was as follows : White males, 3,579 ; females, 3,404; total whites, 6,983. Colored males, 164; females, 181; total colored, 345. Total white and colored, 7,328.
The total amount actually expended for school purposes in the county for the year ending April 1, 1885, was $45,573.37. The aver-
682
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
age expense for each child of school age in the county was $6.22; but, as not all of the school children in the county attended school, the average amount expended on each scholar of those who actually did attend was a large sum.
The number of school districts in the county, Chillicothe not included, is 97. The number of school houses, 105, Chillicothe included.
The total amount of the school fund collected during the year end- ing April 1, 1885, was as follows : -
Amount received from interest on the permanent fund
$11,521 96
Amount received from the State
5,357 35
Amount received from district tax
22,814 16
Amount received from all other sources
2,488.31
Add amount on hand at beginning of school year
12,911 14
Aggregate fund available during the year
$54,592 92
Amount expended during the year
45,573 87
Balance on hand, April 1, 1885
$9,019 55
The amount of the permanent school fund belonging to the county is $126,067.52, as follows : -
Swamp land fuud
$101,435 32
Township fund
23,694 27
Other permanent funds
937 93
Total
$126,067 52
MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS.
In December, 1885, the following statistics concerning the manu- factories of the county were compiled by the county clerk, T. B. Brookshier, Esq. : -
Number and Kind.
Capital.
Persons Em- ployed.
Value of Products.
6 Flouring mills
$71,000
26
$212,750
11 Saw mills
5,500
55
45,000
1 Planing mill
3,500
5
3,00€
1 Foundry .
500
4
3,750
1 Carriage factory
3,000
5
4,695
2 Wagon factories
3,500
8
6,886
1 Ax-handle factory
3,000
20
8,000
1 Broom factory
1,000
2
3,000
1
Tobacco factory
10,000
40
50,000
I Cigar factory .
2,500
6
7,800
1 Brewery .
8,000
2
12,520
1 Soda-pop factory
1,000
3
3,200
3 Creameries
11,000
16
67,295
Total
8 126,500
192
$ 427,896
$41,681 78
683
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
BANKS.
There were two banking houses in the county, at Chillicothe, with an aggregate capital of $78,000. Following were the statements of their condition December 31, 1885 : -
Official statement of the financial condition of the People's Savings Bank, at Chilli- cothe, State of Missouri, at the close of business on the 31st day of December, 1885: -
Resources -
Loans undoubtedly good on personal or collateral security
$138,897 86
Loans and discounts undoubtedly good on real estate security
8,418 65
Overdrafts by solvent customers
587 00
United States bonds on hand .
...
Other bonds and stock at their present cash market price
5,107 84
Due from other banks good on sight draft
35,971 39
Real estate at present cash market value .
4,000 00
Furniture and fixtures
25,000 00
Checks and other cash items
427 31
Bills of National banks and legal tender United States notes
15,564 00
Gold coin
4,122 90
Silver coin
1,652 82
Exchange maturing and matured
.
Total
$217,249 77
Liabilities -
Capital stock paid in
$50,000 00
Surplus funds on hand
12,471 82
Undivided declared dividends
Deposits subject to draft on sight
156,765 31
Deposits subject to draft at given dates
Bills payable
.. ...
Due to other bank and bankers
Expenses now due
......
Total
. $219,237 13
SIDNEY MCWILLIAMS, President.
Official statement of the financial condition of the Chillicothe Savings Association, at Chillicothe, State of Missouri, at the close of business on the 31st day of Decem- ber, 1885: -
Resources -
Loans undoubtedly good on personal or collateral security
$48,667 04 .
Loans and discounts undoubtedly good on real estate security
13,616 67
Overdrafts by solvent customers 6,845 57
United States bonds on hand .
......
Other bonds and stocks at their present cash market price
Due from other banks, good on sight draft
15,852 38
Real estate at present cash market value
9,957 93
Furniture and fixtures
1,816 00
Checks and other cash items
711 54
Bills of National banks and legal tender United States notes
8,364 00
Gold coin
2,415 00
Silver coin
2,489 88
Exchange maturing and matured
...
Total
$110,735 41
..
A
W. B. LEACH, Cashier.
684
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Liabilities -
Capital stock paid in
$28,000 00
Surplus funds on hand
7,251 84
Undivided declared dividends
Deposits subject to draft on sight
63,980 31
Deposits subject to draft at given dates
1,503 26
Bills payable
10,000 00
Due other banks and bankers
Expenses now due
...
Total
J. R. MIDDLETON, Cashier.
.
$110,735 41
W. H. MANSUR, President.
1
CHAPTER II. EARLY HISTORY AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
The First Caucasians - The Early French Occupation - The French Hunters, or " Chasseurs du Bois "- Daniel Boone -The French Traders, Blondeau and Chouteau - Robidoux's Post - Early Indian Alarms - The "Big Neck " and Black Hawk Wars - Martin Palmer, the First American Settler in the Grand River Valley - Other Early Settlements-First Settlement of Livingston - The Indians -Organization of the County.
THE FIRST CAUCASIANS.
It is quite probable that the first Caucasians that trod the soil of Livingston county were the early French trappers and voyageurs, who came up Grand river to the forks long before the year 1800. The Grand river ( " La Riviere de Grande " ) was explored and written of as early as 1724 by a French party that ascended the Missouri river in that year, under M. de Bourgmont, who held a treaty with the Indians in Jackson county. There was a French fort on an island in the Missouri, about six miles below the mouth of Grand river, called Ft. Orleans, which was built in 1721, and was com- manded by Sergeant Dubois, who had married a woman of the Missouri tribe of Indians. There was a considerable camp of Missouris on the north bank of the river, opposite the fort.
While the French held Ft. Orleans their trappers and hunters visited the country miles away, and of course came up " La Riviere Grande," as they called it, after beaver and otter, which were plenti- ful then. But no printed mention is to be found of the stream in any work accessible to the writer hereof until after the return of de Bourg- mont's expedition to the mouth of the Kansas, in 1724. But in 1725 those fierce Indian Huns, the Northern tribes, swooped down from Iowa on the village of the Missouris and Ft. Orleans, and utterly destroyed both. None but a few Indians were left to tell the tale, and they told it so imperfectly that the story in its details has been lost. It is quite probable that if at this time there were any wandering French trappers in the Grand river country they also perished, for none of them were ever heard of.
Thereafter it was not until subsequent to the Spanish succession, or in about 1770, that French hunters again pushed out into this
(685)
686
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
country. It must be borne in mind that while from 1763 to 1800 the country west of the Mississippi belonged to Spain, nearly all of the white citizens were French. Beyond a small garrison at St. Louis, and in the vicinity, there were but few Spaniards in Missouri, and the trading and trapping were done by the French.
DANIEL BOONE.
A few years prior to 1800 Daniel Boone, the noted old pioneer, who had recently come to the country, spent a portion of one winter on the west side of the Grand river, about twenty-five miles from its mouth. The old hunter had come up from St. Charles on an explor- ing expedition, and after spending some time on the Osage crossed over and paddled his canoe up the Missouri to the mouth of Grand river, and then up Grand river to the point mentioned, where he built a comfortable but small hut, or " camp," as the histories call it, and began trapping for beaver, which he found in abundance.
One day, while Boone was making some explorations up Grand river, some miles from his camp, he came upon unmistakable Indian signs. He hastily returned to his camp, where he remained shut up for about twenty days, afraid to venture out even to his traps, as a deep snow had fallen and his tracks would surely betray, not only his presence, but his hiding place. He also feared to build a fire in the daytime, lest the smoke should indicate his whereabouts, and he kept himself warm by wrapping up well and lying down among his peltries and furs. At about midnight he would light a fire of dead or dry wood, which gave out but little smoke, and then cook enough venison and corn bread to last him the ensuing 24 hours. The river was frozen over, and his canoe, in which he expected to escape and to carry away his furs, was removed by him with great labor some dis- tance from shore and hidden until the danger had passed. At last there came a warm spell and a thaw. The river broke up, and one night Boone launched and loaded his canoe, paddled silently down the stream, and eventually made his way to St. Charles in safety.
FRENCHI TRADING POSTS.
About 1817, after the close of the last war with Great Britain, two Frenchmen, named Blondeau and Chouteau, had a trading post on Grand river, at a point since known as Townsend's ferry, in Carroll county. Later Joseph Robidoux, the founder of St. Joseph, estab- lished a trading post six or seven miles north of Blondeau's, but on the Chariton county side. Robidoux's agents passed frequently
.
687
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
through the Grand river country on their way to and from the "' Blacksnake Hills" (St. Joseph), where Robidoux's principal post was.
Boyd's Atlas sketch says that in 1828 a French trading post was established at the mouth of Locust creek, in the extreme southeast- ern part of this county, but that the occupants were " so annoyed by roving bands of the Iowa, Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo Indians that the post was abandoned until 1833, when the Indian title to the lands was extinguished." This can not be the true reason for the abandon- ment of the post, if we are to understand that the expression " an- noyed " means that the Indians depredated upon or menaced the traders. The Indians and French traders always got along amicably, especially in this country, as late as 1828. Joseph Robidoux had charge of a post at Council Bluffs (Iowa ) as early as 1809, and at the Blacksnake Hills for years, and was never molested. It is possible that the post referred to by Mr. Boyd was Robidoux's and that it stood down the river, below the mouth of Locust creek, as before stated.
EARLY INDIAN WARS AND ALARMS.
The fear of Indians, and the isolation of the country on the upper Chariton and Grand rivers, kept white settlers out of this region for many years after much poorer sections on the Missouri had been occupied.
In the summer of 1829 occurred what was known as " the Big Neck War," in the upper Chariton country, which destroyed a white settle- ment in that region and retarded the development of this country for some years. A settlement of half a dozen or more families had been made the previous year upon or near the present site of Kirksville, Adair county. In July, 1829, about 60 or 70 Indians, of the Iowa tribe, led by a chief called Big Neck, came down from the north upon this settlement, grossly insulted the women, abused and threatened the men, and committed sundry depredations. Big Neck announced that the upper Chariton country was his; that the treaty whereby it had been surrendered to the whites was a fraud and he should not re- gard it; that he meant to maintain his claim by force, and that the whites must either leave at once or purchase from him the privilege of remaining.
The pioneers became much alarmed and while they parleyed with the Indians sent a messenger to Randolph, Chariton and Howard counties for assistance. Two or three companies were at once raised in Randolph, and one, commanded by Capt. Trammell, reached the
688
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
locality by a swift two days' march and released the settlers from their predicament. The Indians fell back a few miles and went into camp. The white settlement was known as " the Cabins of the White Folks," or "the Cabins."
Not satisfied with what they had already accomplished, the Ran- dolph volunteers concluded to have a fight with the Indians before re- turning home, and accordingly marched out some ten miles and attacked them. The whites were defeated with a loss of their captain and three men killed, and they retreated, first to the Cabins, where they secured the women and children and escorted them to the settle- ments in Howard. Subsequently a large force of militia under Gen. John B. Clark was sent against Big Neck and his band and drove them from the State. The militia of Chariton was called out, and one com- pany of 76 men under Capt. Daniel Ashby, Lieut. James Hereford, and Ensign Abner Finnell (and containing some men who were after- ward citizens of Livingston), made a rapid march, first to the lower Iowa village, on Grand river, and then to the " big Rock Heap," on the " Grand " Chariton, where it united with the regiment to which it belonged, which was commanded by Col. P. Owens, of Howard. Capt. Ashby found the Indians on the lower Grand river perfectly peaceable, as they always were, and none of Owen's forces encountered any hostiles.
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