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 88
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 88
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Rambo did come up at the time stated by Brunk ; but some acci- dental circumstance prevented the carrying out of his plan that night; so the matter was postponed.
Brunk again posted Maj. McWilliams in regard to the time of the postponement and the change of plan for that occasion; and every- thing happened as he indicated, except that something again caused Rambo to postpone the time.
Maj. McWilliams, after full consultation with a few trusty friends, planned his mode of meeting the emergency. He had learned from Brunk that Rambo and three confederates, namely, Jim Manso, Geo. Monroe and Brunk himself were to go out to the Major's house a short time before midnight ; that one of them was to rap at the door, inquire for Maj. McWilliams, ask an interview on business, and when he came to the door, seize him, menace him with weapons, disarm him if armed, and take him and his father-in-law, Mr. J. H. Ware, prisoners ; that Rambo was then to take MeWilliams and Ware, securely bound, down to a secluded part of the town, while Mrs. Ware, and her daughter, Mrs. McWilliams, should proceed to the bank with the other three men and bring the money from the vaults ; the inducement for them to do so being that in case they did not come with the money or in case they made an alarm in town, MeWilliams and Ware would be shot by Rambo.
Seven men were stationed at McWilliams' house, well armed, namely : Joseph Cooper, cashier of the People's Bank ; Wm. B. Leach, assistant cashier; W. H. Gaunt, Ben. Grant, J. H. Ware, Maj. McWilliams and a colored man who was in the Major's employ at the time. Other citizens were stationed in the vicinity.
The plan was, that when the robbers came McWilliams was to ap-
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
pear at an upper window and hold parley with them. Meanwhile the "linds of a window on the first lower floor were to be opened from within, and Brunk was to enter by mounting a box outside for that purpose. Then circumstances were to govern the further procedure.
A few minutes past eleven o'clock the four men came, and Brunk acted as spokesman. Rambo was thoroughly disguised ; he had on a gum coat ; an old piece of coarse tow cloth was tied about his neck ; he wore a dark colored slouch hat, instead of the light straw hat which he had worn during the day; his face was blackened with common blacking ; and besides all this he had a dark veil drawn over his face. His accomplices said that he tried every way to avoid going with them to the house; but they insisted that he should do so, and finally he reluctantly consented. When he did go, he skulked under the portico, so as to be out of sight of McWilliams, although the night was dark and he could not have been detected through his disguise.
When McWilliams appeared at the window in answer to the sum- mons of Brunk, the other three men outside moved off a short dis- tance, but Brunk came up to the lower window which he had previously selected as the one he was to enter ; the window blinds were thrown open and he hastily entered. Immediately upon his entering firing began. The first shots were from the inside. The robbers, however, returned the fire, and Manso and Monroe fled, but Rambo was shot down dead, three balls at least having entered his person, one in the upper part of his breast in front, one in his side near the arm, and another in the upper and back part of his head.
When the firing began, the other parties who were stationed at convenient points with horses, rode hastily up toward the scene of action, and by some mistake were fired upon by those who had been defending the house. Fortunately, the mistake was discovered before anybody was seriously hurt, although one man, Hon. W. A. Jacobs, got a slight bullet wound in his foot.
Before morning a large number of the citizens of Chillicothe were apprised of the event that had occurred, and another posse of compe- tent men went in search of the two robbers that had escaped. Monroe was found at home in bed, his home being about four or five miles south of Chillicothe - and he was arrested and brought to town, and was of course lodged in jail. He confessed of having been engaged in the attempted robbery, and gave an account of it, which substantially confirmed the statements of Brunk.
Rambo was in town a considerable part of the day previous to the robbery; but in the evening started out in his wagon. It was ascer-
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
tained the next day, that he unhitched his horses in the woods about a mile and a half or two miles south of town, where the wagon and one of the horses were found. The other horse he rode on his rob- bing expedition.
Rambo was a farmer and lived in the south part of the county, abont eight or ten miles southeast of Chillicothe, where he owned about 400 acres of land. He had, however, been in pecuniary diffi- culty for three or four years, and the general opinion was, that when his affairs came to be settled he would be a bankrupt. It was sup- posed that this condition of affairs induced him to engage in the des- perate undertaking in which he lost his life. He was a large, portly man, with a well formed head and intelligent, though sinister-looking face. He was 54 or 55 years old.
He left a family of the highest respectability, for whom the deepest and sincerest sympathy was felt. The deed of the father worked no attainder; his ill fate has not been remembered against his posterity, nor his shame made a part of their inheritance.
Manso and Monroe were indicted, pleaded guilty, and were sentenced to the penitentiary. Each served his time, returned to the county, and has ever since conducted himself in an upright, honorable and exemplary manner, winning the respect and esteem of the community.
MISCELLANEOUS TRAGEDIES AND FATAL CASUALTIES.
As long ago as February 14, 1861, an Irishman named Patrick Monroe, a railroad laborer by occupation, was found dead in an unoc- cupied house at Utica. The coroner's inquest decided that the man died from drunkenness and exposure.
In a general drunken row at Utica, in April, 1861, another Irishman named Pat Kelly received injuries at the hands of Mike Holland and others, from which he died.
A man supposed to be Elijah Gregory, of Mercer county, was killed by the cars on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, west of Chilli- cothe on the night of September 10, 1862, during the war. He was seen in town the previous day and evening, and was last observed walking westward on the railroad drunk and hallooing.
A young man named James Minor, was killed on the farm of Wash Ryan, a mile and a half south of Chillicothe, August 3, 1876. The boy went to water a horse. He tied one end of a stout rope about his own waist and the other end about the animal's neck. The horse ran away and dragged the boy to death. When the body was found it was nearly naked, and was terribly broken and mangled. The
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
rope was drawn so tightly about the waist that it was with great diffi- culty cut loose.
February 16, 1879, a young man named Reuben Ulman (or Ool- man ) aged 17 years, was out hunting in Rich Hill township with two younger boys, William and Oliver Wilson, aged 12 and 10 respect- ively. While the boys were on John Brown's farm, young Ulman prevailed on Willie Wilson to allow him to shoot at the latter's hat. At the discharge of the gun, the barrel jumped from the stock, and flying backwards was driven entirely through Ulman's head, killing him instantly. Little Oliver Wilson withdrew the barrel.
Hugh Jones fell off the bridge across Shoal creek at Dawn, on Christmas Eve, 1879, and either killed himself outright, or died from his injuries and exposure together. He had been drinking in the village an hour or so previously, and it was believed that he was intox- icated when he met his death.
Charles Holcomb was killed by lightning, near the widow Black- well's, July 31, 1880.
About the first of December, 1880, the remains of the body of a lady, aged about 50 years, were found two and a half miles southeast of Chillicothe. From all the evidences, the hogs had dragged the body from where it was first deposited, which was under some brush and shrubbery, and had devoured the greater portion of it. The flesh was nearly all stripped from the bones; but there were some scattered gray hairs clinging to the skull, and from these and some pieces of clothing, an old shawl, etc., the remains were fairly identified as those of an old or middle-aged lady who had been begging in the neighbor- hood a few weeks previously. Some persons believed she had been murdered ; but others concluded that she had crawled into the brush to sleep and had frozen to death. Her name and identity were never discovered.
SUICIDES SINCE 1876.
Following are some cases of suicide in Livingstone county within and including the past ten years. It is believed that this is a com- plete list up to January 1, 1886.
Joel Jackson. - A stranger, named Joel Jackson, hung himself in Myer's wood pasture, a mile north of Chillicothe, September 24, 1876. He had no money, no friends, and no prospects of either.
An Unknown Man, who was seen a short time prior to his death, walking on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad track, deliberately laid his head across one of the rails and allowed a freight train to run
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
over it. This suicide happened six miles east of Chillicothe, or half a mile west of Medicine tank, on the 23d of April, 1880.
Alonzo Hood. - January 8, 1880, a young man, 17 or 18 years of age, named Alonzo Hood, shot himself on the sidewalk along Cal- houn street, Chillicothe, and died almost immediately thereafter:
Lorenzo Lieber. - About February 1, 1880, Lorenzo Lieber com- mitted suicide by cutting his throat with a razor in the manger of his stable, at Utica. The body was not discovered for several days after- ward, and in the meantime the family of the suicide were making every effort to find him.
Cris Bertelson was another suicide who deliberately laid his head on a rail of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad track, and was decapitated by a passing train. The date of this incident was Octo- ber 10, 1881.
SUICIDE OF REV. ROBT. H. WILLIAMSON.
On the 19th of May, 1884, Rev. Robt. H. William son, pastor of the Baptist Church at Chillicothe, committed suicide in a pasture lot near town, by taking a deadly dose of prussie acid.
Mr. Williamson was a gentleman of fine talents and a superior order of intellect. He was a graduate of one of the best Eastern univer- sities, of a theological school, and of two medical colleges. It is said that he had entered the ministry first as an Episcopal clergyman, but afterward gave up his orders and was received into the Baptist Church. He had lived in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa before coming to Missouri, and his last charge before com- ing to Chillicothe was at Moberly. He took charge of the church at Chillicothe in August, 1883.
Not long after his arrival in this county Mr. Williamson was married to a lady named Sarah Jamison, of McGregor, Ia., who came to Chil- licothe to have the ceremony performed, and who had previously vis- ited her betrothed here. Soon after her marriage, which was in November, Mrs. Williamson left for her brother's residence in Mich- igan, where she passed the winter, returning to Chillicothe in the early spring, when the pair went to housekeeping in the Baptist parsonage.
About the first of the month of May word came to Chillicothe that Mr. Williamson was a bigamist; that he had a lawful wife and daughter then living in Massachusetts, and that he was a fraud and an imposter. He had previously asserted that he had been married before coming to Missouri, but declared that his first wife and his
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
child were dead, and that he was a widower. The news, therefore, that the first wife was living was received with great astonishment and much regret. The deacons of the church at once met, called Mr. Williamson before them, and informed him of the serious charge that had been made against him. He seemed to be greatly surprised and deeply mortified, but solemnly declared that when he contracted his second marriage he honestly believed that his wife was dead, as she had deserted him in Wisconsin, and he had never heard from her until then. As proof of his honesty he referred to the fact that he had not changed his name or sought in any way to conceal his identity. He declared that he was willing to make any reparation in his power, and would resign his pastoral charge at once if it was desired. The deacons did not take final action then but informed the pastor that they would confer with him again.
Mr. Williamson at once went to the parsonage, but without saying a word to any one repaired to his laboratory, and selecting a small vial of hydrocyanic acid, he walked to the western part of town and in a little green pasture in the suburbs, he took the fatal dose. His body was discovered by a lad named Broaddus. There was no mis- taking the cause of the death. By the faint odor as of peach blos- soms, the nature of the poison was determined, and in the dead man's pocket, in his own handwriting, was found the following note, ad- dressed to his wife : -
My Dear Wife: I have just heard to-day news that will be dis- tressing to you, as it was terrible to me. It is that my wife, who left me several years ago, and whom I supposed and regarded as dead, is still living. Darling, forgive me if I have done you any wrong in not telling you all before our marriage. I married you in good faith, and you are my only true and lawful wife in all sincerity. I can not bear up against the disgrace to you, to the church, and to myself. I have been most fearfully wronged. I do not care to live. I leave all to you, to do with as you please. I had hoped to spend many happy days with you before I died, but that is not to be. God bless and keep you. O, what a sad ending to our blissful expectations ! Ever your true husband,
RORERT.
P. S. - I had not the heart to tell you face to face; you looked and felt so poorly.
The coroner's jury found a proper verdict ; the body was decently buried, and the last wife of the dead man left for Omaha soon after- ward. Since, she has returned and visited the grave of him she loved so well. The first wife never put in an appearance.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
ROBERT KIDWELL.
A man named Robert Kidwell, living in Chillicothe, took an over- dose of morphine and died on the night of December 29, 1884. He bought the poison at a drug store the previous day ; after retiring and near midnight, he rose and took the drug; he then lay down by his wife, who in a short time discovered that something was wrong, but the man died in spite of all medical aid and assistance ; he was 31 years of age, and left a wife and child. It was supposed that his pov- erty, which was very chill indeed, and his miserable condition in life generally, caused him to take his own life.
KILLED BY THE RAILROADS.
Since the completion of the railroads through the county the fol- lowing persons, among others, have been run over and killed by the cars. In most instances the parties themselves have been to blame : -
James Stapleton was killed by the cars on the track of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, a mile east of Wheeling, near the Linn county line, on the night of May 7, 1870. No blame attached to the railroad in this case.
John Austin was run over by some cars of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad, near the Bedford depot, September 1, 1881, and instantly killed. The coroner's jury severely censured some of the railroad employes and charged them with causing Mr. Austin's death.
Charles A. Merrill fell between the cars at Chillicothe and was run over and killed, July 24, 1883. No blame attached to the railroad.
Nathan McGuire, a young man, with many friends and admirers, and just entering upon promising manhood, jumped from a train on the Wabash Railroad, April 13, 1885, and was killed. The coroner's jury so found, and threw no blame or censure on the railroad. Young MeGuire met his dreadful fate by his own heedlessness, but of course his death is to be deplored.
CHAPTER XI.
THIE RAILROADS OF THE COUNTY.
Historical Sketch of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad - The Charter - The First Great Railroad Convention at Chillicothe in June, 1847 - What the County did in Aid of the Road-Complete Sketch of the Road until the Present -General His- tory of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad - Other Projected Roads which were never built -The " Chillicothe and Des Moines " Railroad -The "Chicago and Southwestern " Railroad -The " Ottumwa, Chillicothe and Lexington " Rail- road, the " Utica and Lexington " Railroad, the " Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Extension " - The Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE HANNIBAL AND ST. JOSEPH RAILROAD.
The first steps taken to build the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail- road was in a meeting held in the spring of 1846, in the office of John M. Clemens, Esq. (father of Mark Twain ), on the northwest corner of Bird and Hill streets, in Hannibal. Hon. Z. G. Draper was presi- dent, and R. F. Lakenan was secretary.
The enterprise had a small beginning, it is true, but it succeeded, because its inauguration was timely, and its existence was demanded. It was at first contemplated to run the road through Palmyra, Shelby- ville, Bloomington, Linnens, Chillicothe, Gallatin - all county seats - and on to St. Joseph. But local jealousies and controversies sprang up, and prevented its location anywhere for some time.
The newspapers of the towns through which it was thought the road would be built favored it; those located off the line were opposed to it, and the people divided with the newspapers. The St. Joseph Gazette, of November 6, 1846, in an article favoring the build- ing of the road, said : " We suggest the propriety of a railroad from St. Joseph to some point on the Mississippi, either St. Louis, Hanni- bal, or Quincy." The people of Hannibal were interested in having their town made the initial point; St. Joseph only cared to be the terminus. It was important, therefore, that Hannibal should watch carefully, and not allow any other Mississippi river town to step in and take the prize. An effective ally in favor of Hannibal was secured in the person of Hon. Robert M. Stewart, of St. Joseph. In the year 1846 he was elected to the State Senate, and promised to work for the procurement of a charter making Hannibal the initial and St. Joseph the terminal point.
The State Senator from the Marion district was Hon. Carty Wells; the Representative, Hon. John Taylor, of Palmyra. To secure their
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
support, it was necessary to make Palmyra a point on the line. Mr. Lakenan drew up the following charter, which was approved by other parties, and passed by the Legislature in February, 1847:
AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE HANNIBAL AND ST. JOSEPH RAILROAD COMPANY.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows : -
SECTION 1. That Joseph Robidoux, John Corby, and Robert J. Boyd, of St. Joseph, in Buchanan county ; Samuel J. Harrison, Zachariah G. Draper and Erasmus M. Moffitt, of the city of Hannibal ; Alexander McMurtry, of Shelby county ; George A. Shortridge and Thomas Sharp, of Macon county ; Wesley Haliburton, of Linn county ; John Graves, of Livingston county ; Robert Wilson, of Da- viess county ; and Geo. W. Smith, of Caldwell county ; and all such persons as may hereafter become stockholders in the said company, shall be, and they are hereby created a body corporate and politie in fact, and in name and style of the " Hannibal and St. Joseph's Rail- road Company," and in the same title, the stockholders shall be in perpetual succession, and be able to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded in all the courts of record and elsewhere, and to purchase, receive, have, hold and enjoy to them and their successors, lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods, chattels, and all estates, real, per- sonal and mixed, of what kind or quality soever, and the same from time to time to sell, mortgage, grant, alien and convey, and to make dividends of such portions of the profits as they may deem proper, and also to make and have a common seal and the same to alter or renew at pleasure, and also to ordain, establish and put in execution such by-laws, ordinances and regulations as shall appear necessary and convenient for the government of said corporation, not being contrary or repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United States or of the State of Missouri, and generally to do all and sin- gular the matters and things which to them it shall lawfully apper- tain to do for the well being of the said corporation, and the due management and ordering of the affairs of the same ; provided always, that it shall not be lawful for the said corporation to deal or use or employ any part of the stock, funds or money in buying or sell- ing any ware or merchandise in the way of traffic, or in banking, or brokering operations.
SEC. 2. That the capital stock of said corporation shall be two millions of dollars, divided into' twenty thousand shares of one hun- dred dollars each, and it shall be lawful for said corporation, when and so soon as in the opinion of the individuals named in the fore- going section a sufficient amount of stock shall have been taken for that purpose, to commence and carry on their said proper business and railroad operations, under the privileges and conditions herein granted.
SEC. 3. That the said company are hereby authorized and empow- ered to cause books for the subscription stock to be opened at such
.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
times and places as they may deem most conducive to the attainment of the stock required.
SEC. 4. The' said company [shall] have power to view, lay out and construct a railroad from St. Joseph's, in Buchanan county, to Palmyra, in Marion county, and thence to Hannibal, in said county of Marion, and shall in all things be subjected to the same restrictions and entitled to all the privileges, rights and immunities which were granted to the Louisiana and Columbia Railroad Company, by an act entitled, " An act to incorporate the Louisiana and Columbia Railroad Company," passed at the session of the General Assembly in 1836 and' 37, and approved January 27, 1837, so far as the same are applic- able to the company hereby created, as fully and completely as if the same were herein re-enacted.
SEC. 5. Nothing in this act, nor in that to which it refers, shall be construed so as to allow said company to hold or purchase any more real estate than may be necessary and proper for the use of the road and the business transacted theron.
This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
Approved February 16, 1847.
The act was passed by the Legislature with some opposition. The leading workers in its favor were Col. R. M. Stewart, James Craig and J. B. Gardenhire, of Buchanan county, and Carty Wells and John Taylor, of Marion.
A vigorous canvass was immediately opened along the line to secure subscriptions from the several counties. Meetings were held in every county seat and town. A large meeting, or convention, was held at Chillicothe, June 2, 1847, according to previous and general notice. The proceedings of this meeting will bear detailed mention in this volume.
The convention organized in the court-house, which then stood in the public square, at 11 o'clock, by calling Hon. Austin A. King, of Ray county (then judge of the Fifth judicial circuit and afterward Governor of the State, member of Congress, etc. ), to the chair, and electing Dr. Cravens, of Daviess county, and Alexander McMur- try, of Shelby, vice-presidents, and Henry D. LaCossitt, of Marion county, and Chas. J. Hughes, of Caldwell (now of Richmond, Ray county ), the secretaries.
It was moved that the delegates in attendance report themselves to the secretaries, whereupon the following gentlemen gave in their names and took their seats : -
B. F. Loan and Lawrence Archer, from Buchanan county ; Ab- salom Karnes, from DeKalb; Robert Wilson, John B. Conner, Vol- ney E. Bragg, William Peniston, James Turley, Thomas T. Frame,
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Jacob S. Rogers, M. F. Greene, John Mann, Woody Manson and John Cravens, from Daviess county; George Smith, Patrick Smith, Jesse Baxter, A. B. Davis and C. J. Hughes, from Caldwell county ; A. A. King, from Ray county ; John Cravens, Thomas B. Bryan, Elisha Hereford, John Harper, F. Preston, F. L. Willard, John L. Johnson, S. Mansur, John Bryan, B. F. Tarr, Thomas Jennings, Wm. Hudgins, William Hicklin, Win. L. Black, Jas. H. Darlington, Robert Mitchell, John Austin, James Austin, from Livingston county ; Dr. Livingston, from Grundy county ; W. B. Woodruff, James C. Moore, James Lintell, John J. Flora, Jeremiah Phillips and Wes- ley Halliburton, from Linn county; Geo. Shortridge, A. L. Gil- strap and Benjamin Sharp, from Macon county; Alexander McMurtry, from Shelby county ; Z. G. Draper, James Waugh, Henry Collins, H. D. La Cossitt and Wm. P. Samuel, from Marion county.
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