History of Clay and Platte 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 Clay and Platte Counties --their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens., Part 10

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1156

USA > Missouri > Platte County > History of Clay and Platte 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 Clay and Platte Counties --their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens. > Part 10
USA > Missouri > Clay County > History of Clay and Platte 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 Clay and Platte Counties --their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens. > Part 10

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But in the fall of 1725 Fort Orleans was attacked and totally de- stroyed, and all of its inmates massacred. The town of the Missouris,

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

opposite the fort, was attacked the same time, and 200 or more men and women killed, and the remainder, only a score or less, driven to the other side of the river, and down upon the Little Osage. Though it has never been proved to a certainty who did this bloody work, it is reasonably certain that its authors were those "fierce Huns of the north, the Sacs and Foxes, who swept down from the Des Moines river upon the unsuspecting Missouris and their allies, the French, and annihilated them.

Doubtless M. de Bourgmont and his party, while on their way to invite the Indians to the place of council, in the spring of 1724, were the first whites to visit the soil of what is now Clay county. They made no settlements here, it is true, but they may be said to have dis- covered the country. Crossing and recrossing the river, they landed upon its southern borders, and when returning passed through it.

After the massacre of the French at Fort Orleans, until the found- ing of St. Louis, in 1764, there were no Caucasians in this quarter of Missouri. The red Indians held undisputed sway so far as the whites were concerned. But in this year the great province of Louisiana passed from the control and assumed ownership of the French into the hands of the 'Spaniards. What is now Missouri was then Upper Louisiana, whose capital was St. Louis, and whose first Governor was Don Pedro Piernas. The Spanish Governors (Piernas, from 1764 to 1775 ; Francisco Cruzat, from 1775 to 1778 ; Ferdinando Leyba, from 1778 to 1780 ; Cruzat again from 1780 to 1788; Manuel Perez, from 1788 to 1793, and Zenon Trudeau, from 1793 to 1800) made no es- pecial efforts to extend the settlements until Governor Trudeau came. He encouraged immigration, gave to the fur trade a new impetus and rewarded all projectors of new enterprises according to their own efforts and the merits of their schemes. The fur traders pushed far out into hitherto unexplored regions, and adventurers were frequently setting forth to accomplish enterprises of value and moment. Doubt- less some of these traders and trappers visited Clay county in the prosecution of their business.

The days of the Spanish possession were the golden ones in the history of the Upper Mississippi. There was little else but peace and plenty -

" And health and quiet and loving words."

The rulers (except Leyba, who did not last long) were easy, good natured and well disposed ; their subjects loyal, obedient, industrious and well behaved. French, English, American and Spanish, though

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

they were by birth, they were each all Spanish in their devotion to Spain and the banner of Castile. Not a man among them but who would have been glad to give his goods and his life Por el Rey. The dreamy, sensuous life in the wilderness, amid the glorious forests, by the sweet, clear springs and brooks, and on the flowery prairies, was peculiarly suited to the dreamy, sensuous Dons. The little work done by the colonists in their fields was so easily accomplished and so abundant in its results that it was but pastime to do it.

FIRST EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS BY AMERICANS.

In 1803 Missouri Territory underwent an important change. The Indian summer of Spanish possession and occupancy had been suc- ceeded by the stormy winter of French domination, and now there followed the balmy and bustling spring and summer of American rule. From about 1805 to 1812 French voyageurs and American trappers traveled up and down the Missouri Valley, sometimes paddling their way on the river in canoes, sometimes tramping overland. Many of these passed through our county, of course, but none of us can tell how or when. A few actual settlers came up some distance from St. Louis during this period.

The next representatives of the Caucasian race to visit the borders of Clay county, of whom we have definite knowledge, were the mem- bers of Lewis and Clark's expedition, sent out by President Jefferson in 1804. Very soon after the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory Mr. Jefferson projected an expedition to explore the newly acquired district from the mouth of the Missouri to its source, and thence across to the Pacific ocean. The President's private secretary, Capt. Merriwether Lewis, then but thirty-one years of age, was given com- mand of the expedition, with Capt. William Clark, of the regular army, as second in command. The company consisted of nine young Kentuckians, fourteen soldiers, two Canadian voyageurs, a hunter, and Capt. Clark's negro servant. In May, 1804, this expedition passed up the Missouri, along the borders of Clay, but from their published journal it does not appear that any particular examination of the country was made. Two years afterward, or in September, 1806, Lewis and Clark passed down the river again, reaching St. Louis and terminating the expedition on the 23d of the mouth.

From accounts received by Mr. D. C. Allen from early settlers and others, that gentleman felt warranted in stating in Campbell's Gazet- teer that, without much doubt, the first white settlement within the borders of Clay county was made by a few French families at Ran-

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

dolph Bluff, on the Missouri, three miles northeast of Kansas City, about the year 1800. The heads of these families were trappers, acting probably under the direction of Pierre Chouteau, Sr., of St. Louis. They left scarcely a trace of their occupancy, however, and the compiler has been unable to learn anything definite or explicit about them.

The county was visited in 1808 by Maj. Dougherty, long afterward a resident of the county, where he died December 28, 1860. At the time of his first visit Maj. Dougherty was but 17 years of age, and was on his way to the Rocky Mountains in the employ of the Ameri- can Fur Company. Other representatives of the fur company passed through here at intervals on their way to and from the waters of the Upper Missouri, but their stay was only temporary.

Some time prior to the War of 1812, one Delaney Bowlin, who had settled a locality in Montgomery county known as the Big Spring, and had given his name to a considerable elevation of land in the neighborhood which is known to this day as Bowlin's Knob, left Loutre Island, with four or five companions, two of whom were John Davis and Lewis Jones, for the mouth of the Kans or Kaw river (now the Kansas ). Davis and Jones returned, and old settlers of Mont- gomery county says that Bowlin and one or two of the others built at least one cabin in what is now Clay county, where they resided some years, engaged in trapping and hunting. What finally become of Bowlin is not known. During the War of 1812 he was in Fort Kincaid, How- ard county. Jones and Davis died in the southern part of Montgomery · county, where many of their descendants yet reside. The daughter of the man (Jacob Groom) to whom Bowlin sold his claim, yet lives at the Big Spring with her husband, a Mr. Snethen.

In the year 1808 Fort Osage, on the south side of the Missouri, was built by a force of dragoons or mounted rangers, under Capt. James Clemson: The fort was established as a government post or factory, and around it there was laid off a tract of land six miles square, on which a limited number of white settlers were permitted to locate in order to raise supplies for the garrison. The site of Fort Osage is now called Sibley, in honor of Gen. Geo. C. Sibley, who was the government factor and agent at the fort from 1818 until its abandonment in 1825. The locality is about five miles in a straight line southeast of Missouri City, and nearly two miles southeast of the extreme southeast boundary of Clay county.

If there were any American settlers on what is now Clay county soil prior to the breaking out of the War of 1812, it can not at this date

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

be stated who they were and where they located. The war coming on drove all the American settlers who were on the frontiers to the block- houses and forts in Howard county or still further down the Missouri river, and sent the American trappers back to their headquarters and trading posts. The country here belonged to the Indians at that time, and was not open to settlement anyhow, and it can not be proved that there were any bona fide settlers in this quarter.

March 9, 1815, a treaty was concluded with the Indians, by which the territory within the following limits were resigned to the whites : " Beginning at the mouth of the Kaw [Kansas ] river, thence running north 140 miles, thence east to the waters of the Auhaha [Salt river], which empties into the Mississippi, thence to a point opposite the mouth of the Gasconade, thence up the Missouri river, with its meanders, to the place of beginning."

In the years 1818 and 1819 the territory now included in the coun- ties of Ray and Clay - and much other territory besides- was sur- veyed and opened to entry, and thereupon settlers came in rather rapidly. In what is now Ray county, settlements were made on Crooked river as early as 1817 by the Vanderpools, Abraham Lin- ville, John Proffitt, Isaac Martin, Isaac Wilson, John Turner, Lewis Richards, and one or two others, who were from Kentucky and Virginia.

THE FIRST AMERICAN SETTLERS IN CLAY.

No authentic information can be given of any permanent settle- ments made in what is now Clay county prior to the year 1819. In that year1 there came John Owens, Samuel McGee, Benjamin Hensley, William Campbell, Thomas Campbell, John Wilson, Zachariah Averett and John Braley ; and also, according to Smith's Atlas sketch, Charles McGee, George Taylor, Travis Finley, Cornelius Gilliam and Edward Pyburne. These located in the southern and southeastern portions of the county, some of them in the vicinity of where Liberty now stands.

In 1820 immigration began in earnest, and settlements were made on Fishing river, Big Shoal, along the Missouri, and throughout the southern portion of the county generally by Samuel Tilford, John Thornton, Andrew Robertson, Sr., Andrew Robertson, Jr., Col. Shuball Allen, Robert Murray, John Bartleson, Andrew Bartleson, John Dean, Henry Estes, Thomas Estes, Peter Estes, James Hyatt, Samuel Hyatt, Richard Hill, William Munkers, James

1 According to Hon. D. C. Allen's sketch in Campbell's Gazetteer, 1875.

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

Gilmore, Robert Gilmore, Ennis Vaughan, Andrew Russell, Eppa Tillery, Martin Palmer, Henry Mailes, Squire Hutchinson, Solomon Fry, Edmond Munday, William Lenhart, William L. Smith, Hum- phrey Best, David McElwee, Eldridge Patter, Thomas Hixon, Joseph Grooms, Hugh Brown, Joseph Brown, Thomas Officer, Robert Officer, Patrick Laney, and doubless others.

At this time the territory now embraced in Clay county formed a part of or at least was attached to Howard county. The county seat was at Old Franklin, where was also the United States Land Office at which the land was entered. November 16, 1820, Ray county was or- ganized (named for Hon. John Ray, of Howard ) and what is now Clay became a part thereof, being denominated at first Fishing River town- ship. Afterward, in 1821, the western half was called Gallatin town- ship.

The first county seat of Ray county was called Bluffton, which stood on the Missouri river, near where Camden now stands. It remained the seat of justice until 1827. The first county court was held in April, 1821, and of its members two of the justices, John Thornton and Elisha Cameron ; the clerk, William L. Smith, and the sheriff, John Harris, were either then or soon afterward became citizens of Clay and held the same positions in our first county court.

AN INDIAN FIGHT.

Although there were numerous bands of Indians in close proximity to the settlements in Clay, and though many of these were semi-hos- tile, no outbreaks or collisions occurred between them and the pioneers .

until in the summer of 1821.

Up in what is now the northwestern part of the county lived the Vesser family, whose adult male members were not above suspicion in many regards. Especially were they accused of frequently acquir- ing property by questionable means. Their fondness for horses was a particular weakness. On one occasion, in the summer of 1821, they visited a camp of Iowa Indians up in the Platte country and carried away some horses belonging to the savages.

It was some time in the month of August, 1821, probably, when nine Iowa Indians came down into the Clay county settlements to take reprisal for the horses stolen from them by the Vessers. To the southeastern part of the county, three miles northeast of where Mis- souri City now stands (northwest quarter section 34, township 52, range 30), David McElwee had come from Tennessee the previous year, and built a house and opened a farm. At the time of the visit

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

of the Indians, however, he was back in Tennessee on a visit, having taken with him his wife and daughter, the latter now Mrs. Margaret Howdeshell. He left behind to care for the house and farm his sons, James and William, and his daughter Sarah, all unmarried young people.

The nine Indians came to Mr. McElwee's one evening and took three horses belonging to the settler, from the stable, and seized an- other which they were prevented from carrying off only by the stub- born and plucky interposition of young James McElwee. The Indians seemed greatly elated at the ease with which they had " got even " with the whites in the matter of horse stealing, and at once sent off the three captured animals, in charge of two of their number, to the tribe. The other seven Indians went into camp for the night within fifty yards of Mr. McElwee's house.

The young McElwees were in great terror to be sure. But when their father left he had charged them that if they were ever in danger from the Indians they had only to let their nearest neighbor know it and they would soon be relieved. On this occasion they contrived to let Mr. Thomas Officer know of their situation and soon the entire settlement was informed that seven Indians had already taken three horses from the McElwee young folks and were threatening them by their presence with further damage and injury.

The next morning early came old Martin Parmer, and with him Patrick Laney, Thomas Officer, James Officer, David Liles, William Liles, James Woolard, Alex. Woolard and - Brummett. With them were Mrs. Jane Laney, wife of Patrick Laney, and Miss Mary Crawford, who had come for companionship for Miss McElwee.

The Indians were a little startled by the appearance of the settlers but stoutly maintained that what they had done was justifiable and altogether proper. Old Martin Parmer was not in a mood to discuss the principles of the lex talionis and its applicability to this case. He never let an opportunity pass to have a fight with the Indians. Two years before, in a fight of his own bringing on, down on the Wakenda, in Carroll county, he and his party killed three Indians and wounded a number more. His voice was always for war- or, at least for a fight - when there was the smallest provocation.

The discussion in McElwee's door-yard grew warm, and at last Parmer said something to one of the Indians which so incensed him that he presented his gun at Parmer and cocked it, but before he could fire Parmer shot him dead.

A fierce and stubborn little fight then came off in the door-yard. Both

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

whites and Indians ran to cover. Two of the Indians ran into the house where the ladies were, but seing them coming Miss McElwee ran out of doors and Mrs. Laney and Miss Crawford took refuge under a bed. The Indians outside were defeated and scattered, one of them being wounded. Those in the house closed the door tightly and bravely held the fort. But at last the whites climbed to the top of the house and began tearing away the roof, when the savages sud- denly opened the door and sprang forth, hoping to escape by swift running. Some of the settlers were waiting for them and one was shot dead before he had gotten twenty feet from the door ; the other escaped.

The fight was now over. Two Indians had been killed, and one at least was wounded. Three of the unharmed survivors made their way in safety back to the tribe, but the remaining one was never heard of. It was believed that he, too, was wounded, and crawled off into the woods and died. The one known to have been wounded made his way to Ft. Osage, where he was cared for until he recovered, and was then sent back to his tribe.

When the two Indians were running into the cabin Wm. McElwee and his sister Sarah both attempted to run out. Miss McElwee got safely away, but one of the Indians struck at William with a toma- hawk. Young McElwee threw up his arm to protect his head from the blow, but the weapon descending cut off one of his fingers. This was all the injuries the whites received, though some of them heard bullets whiz uncomfortably close to their ears.

It is believed that this is the first time the details of this incident have been published, and that this account is the only correct one ever given to the public. It has been derived from the statements of Mrs. Margaret Howdeshell, a daughter of David McElwee, and a sister of Sarah, William and James McElwee. She is now living in Fishing River township, and through her son Samuel the facts above set forth have been learned.

Smith's sketch in the Clay County Atlas refers to this incident as having occurred in 1820, and calls it " a skirmish which occurred that year in the eastern part of the county, and in which seven [ !] Indians were killed." Mr. D. C. Allen, author of the valuable and well writ- ten article on Clay county in Campbell's Gazetteer (1875), thus de- scribes it : " In a skirmish in the southeastern part of the county, in 1820, seven Indians were killed; another about the same time had his hand cut off in attempting to burst open the door of David Mc- Elwee's house." The reader will see that both Mr. Smith and Mr.

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

Allen were misinformed in regard to the facts in the case. Mr. Allen's informants caused him to believe that not only were " seven " Indians killed in the " skirmish," but that another row occurred in the same locality in which an Indian had his hand cut off, etc. The old settlers got the story mixed. It was William McElwee's finger which was cut off by an Indian, and this occurred in the only " skir- mish " ever had with the savages in this county ; and moreover only two or possibly three Indians were slain, not " seven." There were only seven Indians in the party.1

ORGANIZATION OF CLAY.

During the year 1821 settlers had poured into the western part of Ray county in considerable numbers. The pioneers evinced a disposi- tion to go out upon the frontiers to the " jumping off place," or to the extreme western boundary of the State, as far as they could go. So it was that Clay was well settled before Carroll, the eastern part of Ray, and a large portion of Chariton were.

Fishing River and Gallatin townships of Ray county were so well populated that it was determined to create out of them a new county to be called Clay, in honor of the then brilliant orator and coming statesman of Kentucky, Henry Clay. January 2, 1822, the Legisla- ture passed the following act forming the new county : -

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:

1. A new county shall be established as follows : Beginning in the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river, south of the range line passing between range twenty-nine and thirty west of the fifth principal meridian, thence north and with said range line, pursuing the course thereof, when continued to the northern boundary line of this State ; thence west with the northern boundary line to the north- west range of this State ; thence south with said boundary line due south to the Missouri river, and to the middle of the main channel thoreof ; thence down the middle of the main channel thereof to the place of beginning, which shall be called the county of Clay.

2. John Hutchins, Henry Estes, Enos Vaughn, Wyatt Atkins and John Poor, be, and are hereby appointed commissioners, with power to fix upon the most suitable place in said county whereon to erect a court-house and jail ; and the place whereon they, or a majority of them shall agree, shall be the permanent seat of justice for the said county of Clay.

1 Since the above was written the statements are corroborated by one or two old settlers.

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

3. The power and duties of the said commissioners within the county of Clay shall be the same as the powers and duties assigned by an act entitled " An act defining the limits of Howard county, and laying off new counties within the limits of said county as hereto- fore defined," to the commissioners appointed to point out and fix upon the most suitable place in the county of Ray whereon to erect a court-house and jail for the said county of Ray.

4. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, be and are hereby empowered to receive as a donation, or to purchase the land by them selected, and to lay off the same into lots or squares, and to expose them to public sale under the same restrictions as were imposed by the before recited act, on the commissioners of Ray county, and the powers and duties of the judge of the circuit court shall be the same in the said county of Clay, as in the said county of Ray.

5. The courts to be holden in the county of Clay, shall be holden at the house of John Owens, until said commissioners shall choose and fix on a temporary seat of justice for said county ; and after the said commissioners have selected a temporary seat of justice in said county, the courts to be holden for said county shall be holden at the tempo- rary seat of justice until a house for holding courts and a jail is pro- vided at the permanent seat of justice for said county of Clay.

6. All executions to be issued after the taking effect of this act, from the circuit court of the county of Ray, shall be directed to the proper officers of the county of Clay, if the person against whom they may issue reside within the said county of Clay ; and such exe- cutions shall be executed and returned by him in the same manner as if issued by the clerk of the county of Clay ; and all accounts of executors, administrators and guardians now pending in the county of Ray, if such executors, administrators or guardians reside in the county of Clay, shall at the request of such executors, administra- tors or guardians, be certified by the clerk of the said county of Ray, with the proceedings had thereon, to the clerk's office in the county of Clay, and shall stand ready for trial or settlement as if they had commenced therein ; and all justices of the peace and constables now residing in the said limits of said county of Clay shall continue to execute all the duties of their offices, as justices and constables, in the county of Clay ; and it shall be the duty of the county court for said county of Clay, at the first term of said court, to appoint a collector for said county, who shall immediately enter upon the duties of his office ; and the taxes for the said county of Clay shall be collected and accounted for by the collector of said county in the same manner as is now required of the collector of Ray county.

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the pas- sage thereof.

Approved, January 2, 1822.

CHAPTER II.

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1822 TO 1830.

General Historical Sketch from 1822 to 1830-First County Courts -First Circuit Courts -Three Indian Horse Thieves-First Murder Case -Execution of the Murderess -The County in 1822 as Described by Dr. Beck -Martin Palmer, the "Ring-Tailed Painter " - Miscellaneous Items -Liberty Township - Roads and Ferries - Important County Court Proceedings in 1826 -Miscellaneous - Valua- tion of Property in 1829 - The Indian Alarm of 1828 -The Expedition into the Platte Country.

Upon the organization of Clay county, in January, 1822, the popu- lation was about 1,200. The area of the county at that time was very much larger than at present, but the population was almost entirely confined to the territory embraced within the present limits. The number of voters was 240.

Liberty was laid out and made the county seat in the summer of 1822, and the same year a dozen houses - nearly all log cabins - were built. Six small stores were in the county this year, two of which were Essex & Hough's and Robert Hood's. These were at Liberty. A few Indian traders were at the mouth of the Kansas and across the river at Fort Osage.

Other merchants in Clay county from 1822 to 1830 were William Samuels & Co., Ely & Curtis, Hickman & Lamme (afterward Hick- man, Lamme & Ringo), Joshua Pallen, F. P. Chouteau, James Aull, James M. Hughes & Co., and Moore, Samuels & Croysdale. Some of the grocers 1 were James Aull, Hiram Rich, Gershom Compton and Laban Garrett. Noah Richards had a licensed dram-shop in 1828. All these were in Liberty.

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Author: Publication date: 1885 Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1156

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1156