USA > Missouri > Carroll County > History of Carroll County, Missouri : carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, cities, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri ; the Constitution of the United States, and State of Missouri ; a military record of its volunteers in either army of the Great Civil War ; general and local statistics ; miscellany ; reminiscences, grave, tragic and humorous ; biographical sketches of prominent men and citizens identified with the interests of the country > Part 24
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75
It would save a great deal of trouble, and often serious loss, if persons, before signing their names to any subscription book, or any written instru- mem, would examine carefully what it is; if they cannot read themselves, call on some one disinterested who can.
-
-
UNITED STATES CUSTOM-HOUSE AND POST-OFFICE, AT KANSAS CITY .- 1881.
٠
-
-
SULLYON
ERECTED 1828.
STATE CAPITOL, JEFFERSON CITY.
"The most beautiful site occupied by any State Capitol in the Union."-BAYARD TAYLOR.
-
-
BELONGS TO THE STATE
GOVERNOR'S MANSION, JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI .- 1881.
History of Carroll County.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AND EXTENT.
Carroll county is located in the western part of the State, and is seventy miles from the eastern line of the state of Kansas and about seventy two miles from the south line of the state of Iowa, and between the 93d and 94th meredian. It is sub-divided into twenty-three full and fractional townships, and contains 441,535 acres. From the Missouri river on the south to the extreme north line of the county, is twenty-eight miles, and from Grand river, its eastern boundary, to the extreme western line of the county, is twenty-six miles. Livingston county bounds it on the north, Caldwell and Ray counties on the west, and on the south and east its boundary lines are the Missouri and Grand Rivers.
To native Missourians-to the thousands who have and are daily loca- ting in this section of the country, Missouri is the garden of the world and Carroll county is the garden of Missouri. The depth and richness of the soil on the Missouri river bottoms is a wonder to those who are locating it, and it seems that extended droughts like the one that spread over a great portion of the United States, during the summer of 1881, had no effect in cutting short the crops of this wonderfully fertile region. These bottom lands extend from the eastern to the western lines of the county, and are from one to ten miles in width between the rivers and the bluffs that divide the bottom from the table or prairie uplands of the county.
From the bluffs that skirt the meanderings of the Waconda, a panorama of beauty unfolds to the eye and reminds the enraptured looker-on of the far famed valley of Rasselas. Laving the base of this whole line of bluffs extending southeasterly, the turbid waters of the Wy-a-con-da (Wakanda), flow sluggishly and pour into the Missouri. Campbell's Gazeteer of Missouri, revised edition, says: "The Wakanda abounded with fine fish, and on its banks and in the adjacent timber were found deer, elk, buffalo, turkeys and other game in abundance. The Indians, thinking that a stream where the Great Spirit had placed such quantities of game and fish, must be sacred, dared not destroy or kill anything in the neigh- borhood, except on festival days, and their festivities were always held on the banks of this river, bearing its name " Wakanda," meaning God's river.
A
206
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
The general surface of the county on the uplands is undulating, two- thirds of which is prairie, the balance being timber, while the bottom lands are as level as a floor, a small portion being timber, exclusively skirting the Missouri and Wakanda rivers.
A river called Wy-a-con-da (Wakanda), is also found in Lewis county, this state. Its spelling, Wy-a-con-da, and its pronunciation, Wa-kan-da, being precisely similar to the stream in this county, the general assembly at its next or some succeeding session should change the name of the stream in Lewis county.
There is scarcely a variety of surface, valley, timber, bluff or prairie, but can be found in this county, and taking the position, climate and general facilities, it can be made one of the finest stock raising counties in the west, besides the climatic influences and adaptability of the soil for all kinds of grains, vegetables, fruits, and grasses, are unsurpassed, and the statistics of late years establish the fact that Carroll, in proportion to its general area and population, is second to no county in the United States in the produc- tion of corn, oats, wheat, hemp, tobacco, fruits, cattle, horses, and hogs.
Outside the ordinary topography already noted, we have Bogart's mound, Stokes' mound, and Tater Hill mound, in the northern part of the county, besides some of lesser note in the eastern part of the county, erected, either as burial places, works of defense, or, more probably, watch-towers of the aborigines who formed them.
The Wakanda river is the largest stream flowing through the county; Moss creek, a beautiful stream of clear water, fed by innumerable springs bubbling up, from its source to its mouth, is next in size. Turkey, Big Creek, Big Hurricane, and Little Wakanda, in their order, and many of smaller note, none of which are navigable.
In minerals, we can boast of coal, of an excellent quality, and in inex- haustible quantities, underlying the entire surface of the county, frequently cropping out in the banks and beds of streams. Iron and lead are known to exist, but no effort has yet been made to discover paying deposits. Stone, of superior building quality, is found in various parts of the county, but, with the exception of the famous White Rock quarries none has been opened for market.
Timber .- Besides the magnificent groves of black walnut that skirt the river bottoms, and which is now in such demand, we have black, white, red, pin, and water oak, maple, sugar maple, linn, elm, hickory, hackberry cottonwood, and various others, in abundance.
In many parts of the uplands are found inexhaustible springs of fine, pure water, hard and soft, and in the northwestern portions of the county, the surface of the springs indicate deposits of coal oil or tar, a notice in detail of which will be found in the township history of Hill, Washington Leslie, and Fairfield. 1
207
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
The educational interests of the county are in a condition that is a pride to every lover of the common school system. Having one hundred and seventeen sub-districts, in the most prosperous condition, financially and otherwise, speaks volumes for the cause, and the way it is man- aged. There are one hundred and thirty school-houses, mostly new, and about fifty churches. The school-houses are nearly all new, and are com- modious and substantial, the Carrollton building costing $42,000, and an annual expenditure of about $8,000 for superintendent and teachers.
From figures furnished the Carroll Record, the county, in 1880, raised 8,000,000 bushels of corn, and 650,000 of wheat. There were shipped, the same year, by the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific railroad, which traverses the county from east to west, 4,245 car-loads of freight.
For 1880 the real estate valuation reached $3,876,393; personal, $2,174,- 012; total, $6,050,405. Number of horses in the same year, 10,577; valu- ation, $394,343; mules, 3,778, value, $191,716; asses, 44, value, $2,120; cattle, 30,188, value, $354,449; sheep, 16,040, value, $23,095; hogs, 65,264, value, $138,218; other property, $489,245; money, notes, bonds, etc., $584,458. This, with a population of about 23,500, and not a cent of indebtedness against the county, is an evidence of thrift and management that cannot be excelled and but seldom equalled.
At the organization of the county the intention was to call it " Wakanda," after the river of that name already referred to, and the bill forming the new county had passed its first and second reading by that' name, but when it.came up for its third reading and final action, the news of the death of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, had just been received in Jefferson City, and when a proposition was made to insert in the bill the name of "Carroll " inlieu of Wakanda, it passed without a dissenting vote, and was signed the 3d day of January, 1833, the county having been laid off in townships in 1816, and sectionized in 1817.
THE FIRST WHITES IN CARROLL COUNTY. RENAULT'S ARGONAUTS.
In the year 1720 M. de Renault, the son of a celebrated iron founder, of France, came to America, under authority of the French government, to search for the precious metals. He left France with 200 artificers, and en voyage to the mouth of the Mississippi, stopped at the Island of San Domingo, where he purchased 500 slaves. With a force of about 800 men, Renault landed on the left bank of the Mississippi, about ten or fif- teen miles above the present town site of St. Genevieve, and here built a fort called Fort Chartres. From this fort exploring and prospecting par-
208
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
ties were organized and sent out into the interior on the east side of the river, with tools and appliances for determining the existence of silver and gold.
These parties made some important discoveries of iron and lead in the southeastern part of this state, but none of silver and gold. Mine La Motte, on the St. Francois, was developed by M. La Motte, one of Ren- ault's lieutenants. Other mines of lead were discovered, but none worked with profit. The prospectors would not be satisfied with such base metal. Explorations were pushed and continued far into the state. Dig- gings were certainly made on the Blackwater river, in the southern part of Saline county, as remains of old smelting works were found when the county was first settled, as were inscriptions upon the rock, and one or two tools.
As small parties explored the country in every direction from the encampment of the main party, it is quite probable that one of these par- ties crossed the river and penetrated the territory now included within the present boundaries of Carroll county. Color is given to this presumption by the fact that traces and remains of early diggings were plainly visible in the northern part of this county, in early days, in what is now Hill township, not far from the "Potato Hills," and near Potato Hill creek. Doubtless some lead was found there, as it had been in many other places where prospecting has been done, but lead was not what was wanted. It was gold-
" That yellow slave which doth knit and break religions, Bless the accursed, make the hoar leprosy adored, Place thieves and give them title, knee and approbation With senators on the bench-"
that metal, to possess which in great abundance Cortez invaded Mexico and Pizarro conquered the Incas, and the search for which led to the dis- covery and a knowledge of the terre beau* of Missouri.
In the neighborhood of the old diggings, in the northeast part of Leslie township, same bee-hunters from below-from near old Chariton or Big Bottom, in Saline county-buried a cask of honey at an early day. Hav- ing visited this county, which then flowed with honey, if not milk, in search of the delicious nectar, they found more than they could convey away. A "gum" was found, which was soon made into a cask, filled with honey, headed up and buried, to keep it from bears or roving bands of Indians, who were wont to break through and steal. A dry ravine was selected in which to bury the barrel until the party could return, and while digging a receptacle a chunk of almost pure lead as large as both of a man's fists, was unearthed. Plenty of lead ore was also found in the vicinity. The party returned to the lower settlements, and some time
* French, meaning .“ beautiful earth."
209
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
after another party came back after the honey and to examine the lead indications, but could not find the locality, and the exact spot has never been discovered to this day.
THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION.
Soon after the "Territory of Louisiana " had been purchased from France by President Jefferson, in 1803, he projected an exploring expedi- tion from the Mississippi to the Pacific ocean, and recommended to con- gress as the commander thereof one Merriwether Lewis, his private sec- retary. In company with Capt. Wm. Clark, of the regular army, Lewis set out in the summer of 1803, and encamped for the winter on the Illi- nois bank of the Mississippi, opposite the mouth of the Missouri. Here a company was organized for the expedition, composed of nine young Kentuckians, fourteen soldiers, two Canadian boatmen, a hunter, an inter- preter and a negro servant of Capt. . Clark. They had a keel boat 55 feet long, accompanied by two open boats, called piroques. ·
May 16, 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition started up the Missouri river on the way to the Pacific ocean. Some twenty miles up the river they came to the little French village of St. Charles, where they remained a day or two. Passing the mouths of the Gasconade, the Osage, the Chariton and the Grand, a few miles west of the last named stream the party came to "some rocky bluffs," where, upon landing for some purpose or other, one of the party was badly snake-bitten. Whisky was prescribed and freely administered, and the stricken man soon recovered. But other members of the company seemed to think they had been bitten by the same deadly serpent, and that they were in as imminent peril as their comrade. At any rate, by some means, they obtained enough whisky to render them all quite jolly, if not actually tipsy, and their stay in Carroll county was certainly a pleasant one, for the time, at least, if not actually a profitable one, and one that doubtless was long remembered.
Just west of the mouth of Grand River (probably where the snake bite occurred) the expedition met a trading party from the Sioux Nation, from whom they secured the services of a Mr. Durion, who had lived with the Sioux for more than twenty years, and who acted as interpreter for Lewis and Clark during the expedition, and was of great service to them while . passing through the country of the Mandans.
Merriwether Lewis was the governor of the territory of Louisiana, which then included Missouri from 1807 to 1809, when he committed sui- cide in the State of Tennessee while on his way to Washington City. Wm. Clark was the first and only governor of the territory of Missouri, being appointed by the president in July, 1813, and serving until the admission of the state into the union in 1821. He died in St. Louis, Sep- tember 1, 1838.
210
HISTORY OF CARROLL-COUNTI.
OTHER VISITS BY WHITE PEOPLE.
One hundred years previous to the Lewis and Clark expedition (to be exact, in the year 1705,) the French had ascended the Missouri river as high as the mouth of the Kansas river, where Kansas City now stands. Here they established a trading post, and all the Indians cheerfully engaged in trade with them .* Here it may be observed that the early French traders were always more fortunate in establishing and maintain- ing friendly intercourse with the Indians than the traders of any other nationality. Whether the members of the French expedition of 1705 stopped in Carroll county, cannot now certainly be known; presumably they did, as they passed up and down the river, but where and when they landed, and what they did thereafter cannot now be stated.
About the year 1800 and until about 1812, and doubtless long there- after, the creeks of Carroll county were visited by trappers and hunters in quest of beaver and otter, with which all of the streams then abounded. One of these hunters was Wm. McReynolds, a Kentuckian, who, with his two sons, trapped not only on the Wakanda, Turkey Creek, and Big Creek in this county, but in the Miama Bottom and in the Grand Pass on the Petite Osage plains, in Saline county.
McReynolds was very successful as a trapper; so much so that an old settler describing him, said to the writer: " When the otters and beavers saw old McReynolds, they never waited for him to set a trap, but would just lay down on their backs and put up their paws and whine, as much as to say, 'here we are, Mr. McReynolds, don't hurt us any more than you can help.' And he could skin an otter or a beaver or a muskrat in less time than any man I ever saw."
Other hunters and trappers were old Jesse McMahan, the Ferrils, Thos. Cox, Wm. Edmunson, Patrick Garrity, an Irishman, and a French- man named Beaubien, who had an Indian wife. The most of these had their homes either in the Boone's Lick country, Howard county, or in the Big Bottom, opposite Glasgow, in Saline county.
Abbott's life of Daniel Boone states that that noted old pioneer hunter and Indian fighter spent the greater portion of one winter on the Carroll county side of the Grand river "about twenty miles from its mouth." Here he followed trapping, having first built him a comfortable and sub- stantial camp. One day while Boone was making some explorations far- ther up the river he came across some unmistakable Indian signs. He hastily retreated to his camp where he remained shut up for about twenty days, afraid to venture out to his traps, as there was a snow on the ground and his tracks would surely betray not only. his presence, but at the same time his hiding place. He also feared to build a fire in the
*Wetmore's Gazetteer.
211
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
daytime, lest the smoke should indicate his whereabouts, and he kept him- self 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, and cook enough venison and corn bread to last him twenty-four hours. His canoe, in which he had come up the river, and in which he expected to carry away the trophies of his skill, was removed by him, with great labor some distance from the shore and hidden until the danger had passed.
At the time of the incident narrated above, the Indians on this side of the river were hostile to the whites, and this was probably from 1809 to 1815, after the close of the war of 1812. Boone, at that time resided in the St. Charles country. The place where he had his camp was doubt- less in what is now Compton township. How he passed the Indian vil- lage near the mouth of Grand River, or upon what terms he lived with the inhabitants thereof, can not be stated for want of knowledge on the subject.
The uprising of the Indians on this side of the river during the war of 1812 drove all the scattering whites into the Howard county forts or farther down the river, except now and then an adventurous or reckless character who "took his chances" rather than abandon the little home he had made, or give up his search for the fur-bearing animals. Some- times these men paid dearly for their temerity. At different times and places the following settlers were killed by the Indians: Sarshell Cooper, Braxton Cooper, Jr., Jonathan Todd, Wm. Campbell, Thos. Smith, Sam- uel McMahon, Wm. McLane, Wm. Gregg, John Smith, James Busby, Joseph W. Stiel, and a colored man named Joseph Brown. The two Coopers and Busby belonged to Cooper's Fort, Howard county; Todd, Thos. Smith, Stiel, and McLane to Fort Hempstead; McMahon belonged to Fort Cooper, but was killed in Cooper county; Gregg was a Saline county man.
EARLY HISTORY, SETTLEMENTS, ETC.
The following account of the early settlement of the county is taken from a historical sketch published by Brink, McDonough & Co., in 1876. Nearly all the materials were furnished the writers by O. J. Kerby, Esq., the present county clerk, and well known as an old pioneer and prominent settler. By permission, and in order that all the facts connected with the history of the county may be known this sketch is here given:
EARLY HISTORY.
But little is known of the territory now embraced in Carroll county, previons to the year 1816. The country west of the Grand river was occu-
212
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
pied by the Sac and Fox Indians. The Indians had a village in the edge of the timber in the bend of the Grand river, on the old Brunswick road. The site is now included in section one of township 53-21. The village was occupied till after 1817. Farther down the river a trading-post was established by two Frenchmen, Blandeau and Choteau, and a thriving trade was carried on for some time with the Indians. Some six miles up Grand river, and on the Chariton county side, an Indian trading-post was established by Joseph Robidoux, who, afterwards, when the Indians began to drift farther west, took possesion of and established a post at Black Snake Hills, and thus became the founder of the present city of St. Joseph. At the trading post of Blandeau and Choteau a ferry was estab- lished across Grand River. Canoes were at first the only ferry boats. A raft was subsequently made of large canoes. This ferry became the prin- ciple one over Grand River. For many years it was kept by Benjamin Cross. It is now known as the Townsend ferry.
The survey of Carroll county was begun in 1816, and completed the following year. There were no white settlements at that time within the limits of the county. While the surveyors were at work in the neighborhood of White Rock prairie, a barrel of whisky, or fire-water, it is said, was obtained by some means, over which the knights of the chain and compass made merry around the camp fire. Whether too much was imbibed fortheir own good or not, will, perhaps, never be known, but it is an undeniable fact that subsequent surveyors have had great difficulty in tracing out the old lines of survey in that locality, and in fact some disturbing cause seems to have operated to the disadvantage of the surveys throughout the whole of range twenty-one. Previous to 1817, white trappers had visited the county, and carried on a lucrative employment. Good prices and a ready market for furs and peltries were found at Old Chariton. In the fall of 1817 Martin Palmer, a noted pioneer, who combined the characters of trapper, Indian skirmisher, and politician, ventured some eight miles beyond Grand river, and there established himself for the winter as a trapper. The cabin which he erected stood near Lick branch, in section thirty of De Witt township. It is believed to have been the first ever built within the present limits of Carroll county. On the coming of spring the Indians made some hostile demonstrations, and Palmer abandoned his pioneer location, and retired to the older settlements about Chariton. Palmer (known as the Ring-tail Painter)was a singular man, eccentric in his habits, and fond of secluding himself in the wilderness beyond the haunts of civilization. He was rough in his manners, but brave, hospitable, and daring. He was pos- sessed of excellent native talent, and was the first representative in the legislature from Chariton county. His brother, Charles, settled on the creek in Wakandasection seven, of Eugene township.
The Wakanda is the principal stream flowing through Carroll county.
213
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
The name has been variously spelled, " Wyaconda," " Wakenda," and Wakanda." Wetmore in his Missouri Gazetteer, of 1837, says: "There was a tradition among the Sioux which established the belief in the natives that their deity, Wyaconda, had taken up his abode near the mouth of this stream. The sudden death of two warriors, without any apparent cause produced this impression." According to other authority, the name Wakanda means " God's River." Great quantities of fine fish were found in its waters, and on its banks and in the adjacent timber, deer, elk, buffalo and turkeys abounded in large numbers. The Indians thinking that a stream where the great spirit had placed such quantities of game and fish must be sacred, dared not destroy or kill anything in the neighborhood, except on festival days. Their festivities were always held on the banks of the river, hence its name of Wakanda, "God's River." This belief of the Indians may account for the numerous hillocks or mounds thrown up near its mouth. They exist in the neighborhood of De Witt, and, in fact, dot the stream from its source to its mouth.
The vicinity of the Wakanda became the scene of the earliest set- tlements of this county. John Standley and William Turner became per- manent settlers in 1819. Both came from North Carolina, and left numer- ous descendants, who became among the best citizens of the county. Standley settled just east of the present town of Carrollton, on what is known as Timmon's addition; and Turner, north of the town. Prior settlements had been made on the Wakanda, in Eugene township, in the neighborhood of Hardwick's mill. Nathaniel Cary was among the new additions to this settlement. He is said to have brought the first wagon ever seen within the limits of Carroll county and west of Grand river, a stream which he crossed at Rockford, four or five miles above Big creek. Among other early settlers were Jesse Tevault, H. Bert, John McGraw, W. Beatty, John Mayberry, John Riffe, John Woollard, Ned Munson, Malicah Lyle, and men by the name of Splawn, Buckaridge and Weldon. It may be imagined that among these pioneers were found many peculiar characters. Splawn was an old trapper, in regard to whom it is said that he never lived in a house but camped out as circumstances required. Anticipating trouble from the Indians, these families in the vicinity of Hardwick's erected a small fort or block house, in which 'they proposed taking refuge in case any hostile indications manifested them- selves among the surrounding tribes.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.