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 55
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Compton M. E. Church .- Was organized in 1861, with George Por. . ter, Robert Breeze, L. Comer and wife, and Lemuel Jones as original members. The congregation are about finishing a neat frame church at a cost of $1,100, the land having been donated to the church by Leven Comer, Esq. The house has not yet been dedicated. The pastors who have had charge of the flock are Revs. Hale, Hayes, Stone, Bovee, Miles, Devlin and the present pastor, Robbins. Present membership, twenty- seven.
Compton, since the organization of the county, has had the following named persons as magistrates: 1842, James W. Lampkin; 1846, A. Cal- loway; 1850, A. Calloway; 1854, T. H. Ballew; 1856, W. W. Compton; 1870, T. G. Blakely; 1872, Wm. Connor; 1873, H. Anwater and Wm. C'onnor; 1874, Jeff. Gallagher; 1876, Jeff. Gallagher and S. V. Daniel; 1877, Jeff. Gallagher; 1881, Jeff. Gallagher and H. Anwater.
HILL TOWNSHIP:
Hill township embraces thirty full and six fractional sections. It derives its name from the earliest settlers, of that name, and from the rough and hilly character of the country. It is the most broken and rugged in its physical features of any other part of the county, and was in
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
the earlier days of the settlement of the county regarded as the poorest and most unproductive of any part of Carroll. Time, however, has veri- fied the fact that the soil is as fertile and productive as the townships con- tiguous, and in proportion to the acreage sown, yields as great in quan- tity and quality as the· best.
Richard, George W. and Nathan Hill were among the first, if not the first, settlers in the township, about 1836, having just arrived from Ten- nessee. Abraham and Nathan W. Frizelle, in 1844, Bedford county, Tennessee, Isaac Wooden, Thos. Suggs and Dorsey Miles soon followed, and made locations in various portions of the township. John M. Braden, Benj. Adams and - Sparks also located in an early day. Thomas B. States came in 1857, from Pennsylvania.
Settlements were made slowly, but by a rugged and industrious class of farmers, who soon made improvements that were convenient and com- fortable. John M. Braden, Kentucky, came in the fall of 1836, and located on section 36; Allen and Robert Caskey, Kentucky, in 1836, located on section 26, northwest of Braden; John A. Daugherty, Ken- tucky, about the same time, located with Braden and Caskey on section 36; Jeremiah and Aaron Braden, Kentucky, followed and made homes close to their friends on 36, and formed quite a settlement.
Few were added to the population from about 1859 to about 1866, when an influx came that soon dotted the township with farm houses, and to-day Hill is not by any means the rear township of the county.
Rev. S. Woods, of the Cumberland Pesbyterian pursuasion, on section thirty-six in 1839, married Walter Coats and Miss Malinda Northcott, at the house of Aaron Braden. This is reputed to have been the first mar- riage in the township. In the month of January, 1837, to John and Dorinda Daugherty, was born a daughter, named Sarah Ann, and on the 5th of March following, a son, named George, was born to Jeremiah and Louisa Braden. These are said to have been the first births in the town- ship.
In the month of October, 1841, an infant child of Walter and Malinda Coats was interred on section thirty-six.
Dr. George W. Folger, the pioneer physician of the county, was the first practicioner of his profession, in this as well as several other townships.
The first religious services were held at the residence of John A. Daugherty, on section thirty-six, by Revs. Hancock and Woods, Cumber- land Presbyterian.
John Cole is represented to have taught the first school in the township. He had fifteen pupils, and received but a nominal salary. This school was held at. the residence of A. Braden.
All the good wives and daughters of those days did weaving and other
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
domestic labor, the first, however, to whom the honor is due of manufac- turing cloth, was, probably, Mrs. Harriet Standley, still living.
The postoffice is called Lima, and is located on section eighteen. As yet no town has been laid off in Hill. Supplies were brought from Car- rollton, Lexington, and Brunswick, over the prairies, without road or com- pass, taking the sun as a guide.
As early as 1839, the Cumberland Presbyterians held a camp-meeting, on section thirty-six, the ministers being Sarshel Woods, D. Patton, H. R. Smith, and Wiley Clark.
Geo. W. Hill says, when he first came to the township all work was done by exchanging with each other. There was little work to do, but when it was done, hunting was in order.
When a new settler came some one would give him room, till the neigh- bors would build him a house. After getting into his house, one would give him a middling of meat, another a turn of meal, and so on, supplying all his wants until he could do for himself. Love and harmony existed, in fact, all were brothers. Mr. Hill says, also, that now he is called an old fogy, and defines the word to mean, "a man who attends to his own busi- ness, and does not meddle with others."
Prairie wolves were numerous, and timber wolves as plenty as black- berries. Mr. Hill has lost as many as nine sheep before breakfast, by these cowardly pests.
In Hill, the following persons have served as magistrates of the county since its organization: 1842, B. J. Godsey; 1846, E. W. Smith and J. Applebury; 1854, N. M. Frizzell; 185S, N. M. Frizzell; 1862, J. H. Myers; 1872, W. R. Glandon and. J. L. Humphries; 1873, W. R. Glan- don and J. L. Humphries; 1875, J. L. Humphries and F. Grozinger; 1878, J. C. Rockhold; 1881, J. C. Rockhold and A. J. Sutleff.
PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.
Prairie township is one of the extreme western townships of the county and embraces thirty full and six fractional sections, the latter bordering Ray county. It is nearly exclusively rolling prairie and as rich and fertile as any portion of the county. Turkey creek meanders through the east- ern portion of the township and a small tributary of the Wakanda runs through the southwest corner.
. It is claimed for prairie that it is the finest corn ground in the county, and from evidence in our possession we are inclined to the opinion that the claim is well founded.
This portion of the county was not settled at a very early day, and from all the information that can be relied on, Jacob Goff was one of the first
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
permanent settlers locating in the southeast corner of the township about the spring of 1846.
When Jacob Falke came in 1848 and located on section two, Johnson Nelson, Strange Johnson, Enoch Hilderbrand and Irvin Haynes were already here. They located sometime between the years 1845 and 1848, but the exact date is unknown.
The township has been almost exclusively settled since 1865, a large number of whom are thrifty Germans, who are excellent farmers, and if not rich have built up good substantial and comfortable homes.
One drawback in early times to the settlement of prairie was the want of timber for fencing, and the distance to market for lumber for building purposes. When this objection was removed by the railroad passing through the county, Prairie filled up rapidly and kept pace with other portions of the county.'
Dr. Chas. Heedel was the first practicing physician in the town- ship.
Rev. William Feigenbaum, a German Methodist, held the first religious service.
Several very fine orchards are found in this township. Obadiah Stevens, in section thirty-four, has five acres, and advises the Ben Davis as the most prolific for this climate.
C. N. Carr has also a fine orchard in section four, consisting of all the fruits adapted to this. locality.
Peter Meyer made nine barrels of wine from a half acre of grapes on section twenty-five. He cultivates the Concord species.
John Stamm has about two acres of Concord vines from which about 1000 gallons of wine are made.
The oldest man in the township is Simon Schies, a German, being in his seventy-fifth year; and the oldest woman is Mary E. Kaiser, a native of Switzerland, being in her eighty-third year.
On the farm of J. Williams, in section twenty-two, is a mineral spring impregnated strongly with iron, sulphur and coal oil. If left undisturbed for a few hours, the whole surface of the water is covered with crude oil.
Prairie township has several large stock feeders, among whom is A. R. Beaty. On a farm of 445 acres he manages to feed on an average of 350 head of cattle, and about 500 head of hogs annually. He keeps a few pure bloods, and there is no discount on their being thoroughbreed short horn Durhams, and are among the finest cattle in the county.
L. E. Dorsey is also a heavy stock man, feeding on an average of 400 head of cattle, and a 1,000 head of hogs.
Seth Carr another stock man, generally winters about 50 head of cattle.
s
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
The following named persons have served as magistrates for Prairie township since the organization of the county: 1860, J. P. Minnis; 1870, A. R. Derry; 1872, Wm. Renselman; 1873, V. Sanford; 1875, J. Roberts, 1875, M. V. Wright; 1877, Wm. Renselman; 1881, W. H. Adams; 1881; A. J. Graves.
Mt. Olivet Church, South,-was organized in 1879, with the following original members: Eliza Simmerman, Eva J. Hill, W. H. Hill, Jere, Lavina, Maggie, Jennie and Alice Holdman, W. W., Sarah E., Maggie, Mary and Martha Jenkins, Henry F. Williams and Peter P. Elsas.
Their building is a good frame, located on section six, and was dedi- cated the 18th of May, 1880, by Rev. R. A. Austin. The building is nicely located and cost about $1,250. Rev's R. A. Austin, H. T. Leeper, A. T. Lewis and G. Gregory have been pastors of the congregation. Present membership 90.
A burying ground of two acres; donated by George S. Colby, is con- nected with the church. The first deposit was the body of Stella Dorsey, daughter of L. E. and. Henrietta Dorsey, on the 26th of December, 1878.
SMITH TOWNSHIP.
Smith township was named in honor of one of its own settlers, John Smith, who resided'there at the adoption of the township organization by the people, but who has since been called to his fathers. It embraces but a few full and fractional sections, and is located at the confluence of the Missouri and Grand rivers. It is low bottom lands, mostly covered with large cottonwood timber, and but little of the land but is subject to over- flow. Owing to a change by high water of the channel of Grand River a few years ago, a large body of made land has been added to the town- ship. This is mostly sand land susceptible of growing nothing but cotton wood and stunted willows, and at any rise of the river may again become lost to the township,
Among the first who located in Smith, were: Benj. Hensley, Benj. Rogers and Moses Smith. The Wabash St. Louis and Pacific railroad enters Smith township on section four, where it crosses Grand river, and runs southwesterly through sections 8 and 18, entering De Witt township at the extreme southwest corner of Smith.
The following named persons have served as magistrates for Smith township since the orgination of the county: 1872, Lyle Goodbar; 1874, Lyle Goodbar; 1875, Lyle Goodbar; 1876, A. D. Egleston; 1881, Lyle Goodbar.
Biographical Sketches.
GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS.
General James Shields, who, from the close of the war until his death on Sunday night, June 1st, 1879, was a citizen of this county, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in the year 1810. His mother was left a widow with three boys on her hands, and with sufficient means to educate and rear them in a respectable manner. The subject of this shetch being the eldest, gave early evidence of great energy and activity. By the time he was sixteen years of age, he had made himself a good Eng- lish scholar, a good mathematician, and had acquired a fair knowledge of the classics and the French language. At that age, in 1826, he came to America, and in 1832 he emigrated to the State of Illinois, and began the study of the law in Randolph county, where he was soon admitted to pratice, meeting with the success he anticipated. In 1835 or '36, he was elected to the Legislature from his adopted county. Although successful in law it did not fill the ambition of his heart and he chose politics, the political field seeming to possess greater charms for him, and he soon became prominent in that role. In "Old Vandalia," then the capital of the State, he made the acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Doug- las, J. Hardin, Edward Baker, and others who have since figured promi- nently in the history of the country. In 1840 he was elected State Auditor and discharged the duties of that important position with such efficiency and success that he was unanimously re-elected by both parties-Whigs and Democrats. A warm friendship sprung up between him and Doug- las, who, about the same time was made secretary of State. In 1846, he was appointed Judge.of the Supreme Court of the State, and, in 1845, under the administration of President Polk, he was appointed Commis- sioner of the general Land Office. The Mexican war breaking out soon after, he offered his services to the government, and was assigned to the command of the Illinois troops as Brigadier-general, his appointment dat- ing from the 1st day. of July, 1846. He served under Gen. Taylor on the Rio Grande, under Gen: Wood in the campaign against Chihuahua, and next under Gen. Scott, when he entered on his campaign in the capture of the city of Mexico. At the seige of Vera Cruz he distinguished himself for activity, ability and undaunted courage. After the fall of Vera Cruz,
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
the army under Scott was obliged to encounter the whole Mexican force at Cerro Gordo, the strongest natural position on the continent. Shields was assigned to attack the reserve under the command of Santa Anna in person. This attack he carried out with such intrepidity and skill, that he fairly surprised the Mexican army, and swept them before him, carrying a battery of six pieces at the point of the bayonet. Unfortunately, before this battery, he received a wound, deemed at the time mortal; a grape shot punctured his right lung, tore through his body, and passed out near the spine. In the official dispatches to the war office, he was reported dead. To the surprise of everybody, and to the astonishment of the medical staff of the army, in ten weeks he was again in the saddle and at the head of his command. He entered the valley of Mexico with the army, his brigade consisting of the New York volunteers, the Palmettos of South Carolina, and a battalion of U. S. Marines. The first battle fought in the valley was that of Contreras, where the enemy was strongly posted within their in- trenchments. Gen. Persifer Smith was sent against them in the afternoon, and Shields was sent to join him at night, and being senior in rank, was entitled to take command, but finding that Smith had made his dispositions to make an attack upon the enemy at day-break, and approving of his arrangements, he declined to deprive Smith of the honor of the achieve- ment. He served under him the next morning, and aided him materially in the attack, which was wholly successful. The following day was fought the battle of Cherubusco, one of the bloodiest engagements of the war. In this fight, Shields was assigned the command of a division, and appointed again to attack the Mexican reserve under his old antagonist Santa Anna. This he accomplished with rapidity and fearless audacity, and although the enemy were five to one, he carried their position, cap- tured their artillery, and drove them broken and shattered into the city of Mexico; but this daring exploit cost him the lives of some of his bravest officers and about one third of his entire command. The gallant and noble Palmetto regiment lost half its number in killed and wounded on that bloody field. Next succeeded the storming of Chapultepec. In this engagement he was again seriously wounded. His arm was struck by a musket ball, which tearing through, passed out near the elbow. Regard- less of the wound he pursued the enemy to the very gates of the Mexican capital, having his horse shot under him. The capture of the city fol- lowed, and peace being soon after concluded, he returned home to Illinois. In 1849, Illinois made him senator of the United States, he. and Douglas being colleagues. He served six years with Webster, Calhoun, Clay, Benton and Cass. After his term in the Senate expired he emigrated to Minnesota, then a territory, which on being admitted to the Union, Shields was chosen one of its senators. The climate of Minnesota proving too severe, on his term of Senator expiring, he made a trip to California
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
where he married. While on the Pacific coast the war of the rebellion broke out, and he again offered his services to his adopted country. He was again appointed Brigadier General and telegraphed for by the War Department, and was assigned to the command of the army of Western Virginia. His desperate struggles in the Shenandoah Valley are part of the history of the country and is unnecessary to recount here. He is the only officer that ever coped successfully with Stonewall Jackson, and shortly after his encounter with that celebrated general he was relieved from duty at his own request, and sent to California, where he remained until the close of the war.
In 1866 he returned to the east and selected Missouri as his home. He purchased a farm in Carroll county, near Carrollton and resided upon it in peaceful retirement until 1874, when he was chosen to represent the county in the state legislature. At the close of his term he again went into retire- ment on his farm until the summer of 1877, when he removed to the city. His remarkable lecturing tour of the fall of that year and the winter and spring of 1878 is scarcely to be mentioned, although it was more after the nature of a triumphal tour of a conquering hero than the filling of lecture engagements. On the 21st of January, 1879, he was chosen by the legislature of Missouri to fill the unexpired term of L. V. Bogy, in the United States senate, which term expired on the 4th of March, 1879. Thus is briefly given some of the important dates of the events in the history of this remarkable man- a hero in war, a patriot in peace; a model of true man- hood; in life he was loved for his virtues, and in death he is mourned by a nation, and by none more deeply than those who knew him best. The fol- lowing lines written by George W. Dunn, of Richmond, on Gov. Preston's presentation speech to Gen. Shields, will here form a fitting contribution:
The fadeless wreath that glory twines Around the war-scarred hero's brow, May well inspire the poet's lines ;- We need a nobler emblem now To deck the brow of him who stood By our own sons on fields of blood.
We bring one boundless wealth of love And tears for those who fighting fell, And prayers for blessings from above More precious than our words can tell; Love, tears, and prayers, all these we bring, We have no richer offering.
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
Take these, our gifts, for vain are words, And silence best befits our frame, In after years the lyre's sweet chords Will echo to our hero's name; And bards will call him good and great- A noble pillar of the state.
And if there be a wreath for me, As bright as yon tall seraph wears, I know its sparkling gem will be Made up of love and tears and prayers; No brighter wealth can e'er be given To hero here or saint in heaven.
REV. ABBOT HANCOCK.
It is important that the names of good men, though dead, should live in the memory of those who know of their virtues, and to give them to the rising generations, when they have gone to their reward. Such was Rev. Abbot Hancock, whose name heads this notice, who. gave many years of his life and fortune in planting the doctrines of morals and christianity in the bounds of Carroll county. He was born in the state of Kentucky, and came to Missouri in 1807, with his parents, and in 1810 to Cooper's Bottom, in Howard county. He was a nephew of Cols. Benj. and Sar- shel Cooper, a boy soldier in many a skirmish with the Indians, and a volunteer under Col. Henry Dodge, who, with his regiment, swam the Missouri river at Arrow Rock, and supprised a camp of Miami Indians, just below the town of Miami. About the year 1820 he married Miss Lucinthia Kavanagh, by whom he raised a large family. Mr. Hancock was of a restless nature, and moved and removed until the year 1836, he came to Carroll county. He had been ordained a minister by the Rev. Ferris Ewing and Samuel King, in 1828. He was associated with Eli Guthrie, Hugh R. Smith, Daniel Patton, Robert and Henry Renick, Wiley Clark, and other ministers of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. Here he labored faithfully without fee or support from the church, until 1851, when he went to California to improve his financial condition. The overland trip was too severe for one of his age, his fine constitution?gave way, and he died soon after reaching the golden state. His widow sur- vived him some 25 years. Three daughters survive their parents; two in Carroll county, and one in Montana. The memory of such a man is held dear to those who knew him. As the population of the county has greatly increased, the few remaining friends of a good man should embalm his name in the annals of the county, in which he spent the last days of his life. The date of his birth is not known by the writer of this notice, but his impression is, it was about the year of 1795 or '96 ..
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
COL. WILLIAM HILL,
was born in the county of Adams, Ohio, on the 4th of February, 1812. He was married in his twentieth year, to Miss Sarah B. Watson, of the same county, and emigrated to Missouri in 1837. He settled on the Missouri river in township 51, range 23; purchased a tract of timbered land from Noah Caton and established a wood yard. In 1838 Mr. Caton sold his remaining land to a Mr. Reed, who laid off the same into town lots, and had a sale of lots. Not a lot sold was ever recorded in the county, and the town of Reedsburg became extinct. The same year Colonel Hill: had a few dry goods and groceries, and in 1839 built a dwelling house. His family lived in the lower room and kept his goods up stairs, using a bed for a counter. This was the beginning of a business that soon devel- oped into the most extensive in the county. In 1839 he built a store house across the road from his dwelling, and Mr. Lewis B. Ely became his clerk. A sandbar forming in front of the warehouse made it very incon- venient to do business. Col. Hill with several gentlemen bought the Pitt's land in 1843, and laid out a town called Moscow, in 1844. The river gave evidences of an overflow and Col. Hill moved his family and goods to Carrollton. In 1845 he built a fine dwelling and store house, a pork house and one for receiving, baling and shipping hemp. In the fall his family moved down to Moscow; here a heavy business in pork packing and baling and shipping hemp was done for several years, and Moscow had the appearance of rivaling Carrollon. In 1851 Wm. H. Trotter mar- ried the eldest daughter, Miss Mary Jane Hill, and became a partner in the store at this place. Col. Hill's brother, Jonathan, also became a. partner. In the year of 1853 or '54, the river again becoming uncertain they were compelled to move their business about two miles below. Sold his dwelling and farm to Capt. Charles K. Baker, and the fate of Moscow is like that of Reedsburg, known only to a few. After his removal for the third time, things had the appearance of permanency, and the hemp baling, pork packing, shipping of live stock, receiving and forwarding goods, gave everything an impetus, and all again became sanguine of suc- cess and another town was laid out, and called Carroll City, but like its predecessors, is not known to have existed. Mr. Ely had charge of the house of Hill & Ely, and of the firm of Hill, Ely & Minnis, which houses grew to such importance that they bought nearly all the hemp, beef, cat- tle and hogs, and drove and shipped the same to St. Louis, Hill attending to the out door business. Hill was a man that kept his own secrets; but few knew his views in regard to the approaching troubles in 1861, when the tocsin of war was sounded, and Gen. W. Y. Slack of Livingston was making his way across the country to Lexington, Col. Hill, without noise, and letting but few know of his determination to report to Gen. Slack, at
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
Teney's Point, in Ray county, returned home, and made confidential arrangements with his partner (Mr. L. B. Ely, in whom he had every rea- son to believe the understanding would be faithfully carried out in the event of hisdeath), and reported again to Gen: Slack and Price. Gen. Price knew his man and appointed him quartermaster general, with the rank of colonel. He fed and clothed the army at Cowskin, Wilson's Creek, Dry Wood and Lexington, showing ability. In trying times, as soon . as the surrender at Lexington, and the smoke of battle had cleared way, he came down to see his family, remained a day or two and like a true,
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