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 109

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 109
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 109

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).

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HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY.

spected residents of Green township, and he has many friends who will always rejoice with him at his prosperity. His place contains 160 acres of choice land, the improvements of which are of a good order. March 13, 1870, Miss Amelia Davis, daughter of John S. and Margaret (Deney) Davis, became his wife. Her parents were also numbered with the pioneers of this county, they having come here in 1839. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three children : Edward D., Howard B. and Lena. Mr. Smith and wife are members of the Baptist Church.

JOHN H. STYNE

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 5, Post-office, Camden Point).

Mr. Styne is a well known resident of Green township, having resided here since 1863, a period of over a score of years. During this time he has gained a warm and permanent place in the estimation of the people, and richly merits the opinion held by others of him. Mr. Styne, a Virginian by birth, was born in Bottetourt county March 28, 1826, consequently is now in his sixtieth year. His pa- rents were William and Sarah (Dolman) Styne, also natives of Vir- ginia ; the father of the former served in the War of 1812 with distinguished gallantry. William Styne died in the State of his birth during the late war. Young John was brought up in Bottetourt county, receiving a common school education, and when comparatively a young man came to Missouri in 1857, locating in Platte county, just east of Platte City. Here he was married in April, 1862, to Miss Ann Elizabeth Settle, daughter of John J. Settle, formerly from Vir- ginia (Culpeper county), but now deceased. In 1863 Mr. Styne located on his present farm, known as the old Roup place ( entered by Mr. Roup), and has placed all the improvements on the farm which it now contains. The estate embraces 240 acres, all in a body, de- voted to pasturage, timber, etc. His residence is a substantial one, and the other improvements are excellent. Mr. and Mrs. Styne have a family of five daughters : Jennie, wife of Thomas L. T. Jones, of Clay county ; Sallie A., a very attractive young lady ; Maggie A., Katie L. and Nannie J. Mr. Styne is a member of the Masonic Order at Camden Point.

R. B. THOMAS

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, New Market).

Mr. Thomas is a progressive, prosperous farmer, who settled in this county in 1881. He is from the State of Kentucky, and reveals in his methods of farming and in the appearance of his place many characteristics of the farmers of that State, of whom he is a worthy representative. He has a place of 160 acres, where he is occupied in mixed farming and raising grain and stock, and which is an excellently arranged, neat and convenient farm. Mr. Thomas was born in Ken- tucky July 11, 1817. His ancestors settled in Virginia in a very early day, but the father of the subject of this sketch subsequently went to

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HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY.

Kentucky. Young Thomas was educated in the schools of his native State. Reared on a farm, he naturally acquired that taste for agri- cultural life which finally decided him to make farming his permanent occupation. In 1845 he moved to Buchanan county, Mo., and made his home there for some 36 years, or until the time when he took up his residence within the limits of Platte county and upon the farm which he now makes his home. This has already been spoken of. Mr. Thomas is a married man, his wife having been of German and Welsh extraction, though herself a Kentuckian by birth. Her maiden name was Mary A. Ewalt and their marriage occurred in September, 1838. Mr. and Mrs. T. have reared a family of nine children, having lost three. Those living are : Robert H., Catherine S., wife of La- fayette Spencer ; Moses, Samuel, Noah, Mary A., Benjamin F., Eva A. and Edward L. The three deceased are Jane, Sarah E. and John W., who was killed during the late Civil War. Although having been in the county only a comparatively short time, Mr. Thomas has gained a name which is a synonym for honor and integrity wherever it is known.

THOMAS MERITT THOMPSON

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, New Market).

Mr. Thompson, left an orphan in boyhood by the death of both parents, and without means or family influence to advance him in life, is now one of the foremost farmers and highly respected residents of Green township, and to his present enviable position, he has risen, as may be readily inferred from what has already been said, by the sheer strength of his own character- his indomitable energy, industry and perseverance, and his sterling integrity and strong convictions of right and fair dealing. When he was four years old his father died, and five years later, when he was nine years of age, his mother also de- parted this life. Now dependent upon his own resources, he at once determined to rise to success and to acquire an honorable reputa- tion. In boyhood he was denied all opportunities for obtaining an . education, but at the age of 20, after having accumulated sufficient means to bear his own expenses, he entered a school. On account of his unacquaintance with the English branches, and not being able to enter a class of ages somewhere near his own, he stopped school. Not discouraged, however, but determined to acquire something of a knowledge of books, he closely applied himself, and by studiousness and close attention to his studies has become possessed of sufficient knowledge for all the practical affairs of business life. In 1847 he enlisted in the Mexican War under Col. Gilpin, and was mustered out at Independence in 1848. Going to Texas, for about a year he dealt in horses, after which, for two years, he remained in the mountains. He now returned home, but the next year started for California, and on account of sickness contracted while en route he was left at Fort Laramie.

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HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY.

Upon his return to Buchanan county Mr. Thompson was engaged in farming for 10 years, and in 1863 went to Leavenworth county, Kan., where he continued the same occupation for three years. In 1867 he came to this county, and in 1882 removed to the farm which he now occupies, a place consisting of 315 acres of as choice land as is to be found in this community. The improvements are of a superior order, and besides a good orchard on the place is a fish pond which covers several acres, and which is supplied with an abundance of fish: Mr. T. was married July 15, 1857, to Miss Lucretia J. Adkison, a native of Virginia. She died January 27, 1872. . Mr. T.'s second wife was Rhoda Harris, originally from Manchester, England, to whom he was married April 21, 1875. Mr. Thompson has a family of five children : Algernon, Rebecca, Rose Hannah, Ira Mark, and Lola Pearl. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of the Christian Church. The former is a strong advocate of the public school system of the present day. Mr. Thompson is now in his fifty-fifth year, having been born in Knoxville, Tenn., March 15, 1831.

WILLIAM W. WILLIAMS (DECEASED )

(Vicinity of New Market).

The name that heads this sketch was born by a man who was identi- fied with the interests of Platte county for nearly 50 years. Honest and worthy in every particular, his life was one of great industry, spent in striving, as a good man, to bring up his family in a creditable way, and to leave a record of his career which would cause no blush of shame to mantle the face of those near and dear to him at the men- tion of his name. The Williams family are remembered as having been early settlers in Kentucky, and from there William W. Williams came to Platte county, Mo., in 1837, among the very first pioneers, entering land just north of New Market. This he at once set about to improve, which he did, and upon which he made his home until his death, which occurred April 19, 1884. His marriage took place De- cember 2, 1847, when Miss Louisa Asher became his wife. She was the daughter of Singleton Asher, a native of Kentucky, who emigrated to this county in the spring of 1838. She is a woman worthy to have held the place she occupied by the side of her husband during their happy married life. Their family consisted of seven children : Esther A., wife of W. B. Baughman, living at the homestead ; Martha J., wife of T. J. Bashford, of Dearborn ; Mary F., Edith M., Lydia, wife of J. L. Johnson, of Buchanan county ; John S., and Julia, wife of S. S. Cox.

W. B. Baughman, the son-in-law of Mrs. Williams, was born in Kentucky and came to this county in 1846. In 1850 he went to Cali- fornia, where for seven years he was engaged in mining, but upon returning in 1857 he embarked in merchandising at De Kalb, Mo. In 1863 he took a trip to Kentucky spending one year, also passing a like period in Montana, whither he went in 1864. He also was for some time in Idaho. Since 1865 he has been occupied in farming in

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HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY.

this county. His marriage to Miss Williams was celebrated in the spring of 1867.

John S. Williams, a young man now at home and who is conducting the farm, was brought up and received his education in this vicinity, and now owns a tract of 160 acres of as desirable land as one might wish for. Though still a young man, he bids fair to become one of the most substantial agriculturists of the county. He now raises grain, stock, etc.

JOHN M. WILLIAMS

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, New Market).

Mr. Williams is a son of John W. and Julia (Burgess ) Williams, who took up their location in Platte county, Mo., in 1837, where John M. was born April 29, 1848. Mr. John W. Williams was a citizen of much value to the community in which he lived in an early day. His home was frequently a stopping place for those who subsequently moved to the county, for, one of the most hospitable of men, and ap- preciating the disadvantages under which new comers labored until they could establish themselves at least a temporary home, his door was always thrown open to them and he gladly favored them in every way he could. John M. Williams, the youngest son in his parents' family of three boys, was brought up to learn the minor details of farming, an occupation to which he has ever devoted his best energies. His education was a common school one, sufficient, however, for all practical purposes. Mr. Williams owns a farm of 160 acres, land well adapted to the use for which it is cultivated. His character as a farmer is readily seen in the appearance of his place, which bears the mark of an energetic and thorough proprietor. His house is beauti- fully surrounded by well kept and tastily arranged evergreens. Mr. Williams has been twice married ; first, June 27, 1869, to Miss Linie Finney, of this State, who subsequently died. His second marriage was on the 3d of July, 1879, when Miss Alice B. Campbell became his bride. By this union there is one son, Floyd S.

CHAPTER XXVII.

WESTON TOWNSHIP.

Boundary - Peculiarities of the Soil - Location of the Most Highly Improved Lands -Early Settlers -City of Weston - Situation - When Platted - First Female in the Place -Early Business Men - Her Foreign Trade - Hemp Growing - Present Outlook -Commercial and Industrial Interests - Apple Shipments - Weston's Great Men -Pony Express and Overland Mail - Lodges - Miscel- laneous.

Weston township lies along the Missouri river. It is bounded on the north by Marshall, on the east by Green and Fair townships, on the south by Fair township and the Missouri river, and on the west by the river just mentioned.

A portion of this township, along its northwestern border, consists of what is known as " fancy bottom," the soil of which is of unknown depth and unexampled richness. Level almost as a floor, its fertility is amazing, and to the agricultural eye there is no finer sight than that of these fancy bottoms teeming with golden grain ready for the sickle, or with verdant rows of plumy corn, giving promise of the abundance that is to crown the harvest.

Further back from the river and running parallel with the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway, diagonally across the township, is a line of picturesque bluffs that give to the landscape a romantic beauty equal to most of the much vaunted scenery along the Genesee valley. Back of these bluff's we come to the main body of the land in the town- ship, and they are not only rich in soil and timber and admirably adapted for agricultural purposes, but their gentle undulation makes the scene one of ideal rural beauty, greatly similar to the farming dis- tricts of England. The rise and fall of the slopes and vales are not sufficient to make the surface broken and hilly, marred by ravines and cliffs, but they are of incalculable benefit in giving a perfect drainage, thus insuring the healthfulness of the inhabitants by prevent- ing the formation of swamps and bogs and the accumulation of malaria.

Probably the most highly improved lands and the noblest home- steads are to be found in the northern and eastern parts of the town- ship, but everywhere the land is fertile, intelligently cultivated and bears evidence of the wisdom of those who have acquired homes here.

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HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY.

The farmers are, with but rare exceptions, men of education and ability, blessed with an abundance of this world's goods, and, fully posted upon the topics and issues of the day, they have secured to their descendants educational facilities second to none in the State, or for that matter in the United States, and their public schools are a credit to the communities in which they are located. While they are practical men, yet theory is not altogether neglected, and books and newspapers are abundant about their homes. No means of informa- tion are neglected, and take them as a body, they form an ideal yeo- manry.

EARLY SETTLERS.

Amongst the early settlers of the township we find the names of such men as John B. Wells, still alive, hale and hearty, at the ripe old age of 85 years ; Daniel Durbin, Theodore F. Warner, Henry Brill, Judge Ham, Nicholas Benner, John Light, A. D. Blythe, Ben Holladay, John B. Evans, W. G. Noble, A. Nower, John S. Woods ; and many others figure in this list of the pioneers of Weston town- ship. All were men of enterprise and of that courageous metal of which the first settlers of a country are composed. Most of them have long since passed away, but a few remain, " time honored fathers of a former age," the connecting links between our day and the pioneer age that is fast vanishing.

THE CITY OF WESTON.

The town, or rather the city of Weston -for Weston once had her metropolitan era when her streets were thronged with every known species of vehicle devoted to commerce, and when at her wharves lay steamers, barges, keel and flatboats to convey to the East and to Europe her accumulated products -is beautifully sit- uated on the east bank of the Missouri river, which laves her very feet.

The town site was pre-empted by a soldier in a cavalry company at Fort Leavenworth, named Joseph Moore, in 1837. He sold out to a company who entered the land. A man named Ferguson was the surveyor. A plat of the town was made by Thomas Jordan and he and Mr. J. B. Wells gave the first streets their names. Mrs. J. B. Wells was the first white woman to place foot on the streets of Weston. Thornburg and Lucas built the first store house in the place.

Among those who were prominent at an early day among its busi- ness men were T. F. Warner, E. Cady, Perrys & Young, A. Baker,

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HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY.

McDonald Brothers and others. The merchants of Weston were men of large views, and, with the nerve, liberality and means to carry out their designs, extended the trade of the town in all directions, but principally toward the West, tapping all the vast stretch of country lying between them and the Rocky mountains, and even bursting through those granite barriers and invading the empire of the Latter Day Saints.

HER FOREIGN TRADE.

Over the arid plains that lay between Weston and the old Spanish city of Santa Fe, the former sent her caravans to dare the ire of the banded savages roaming along the Arkansas river, in order that they might share in the golden profits of the New Mexican trade. In the lodges of the Kickapoos, Shawnees, Delawares and Pawnees, as well as in those of their more remote brothers, the' Sioux, Mandan, Arick- arees and Blackfeet, might be found bales of goods bearing the brands of these Weston merchants.

But Salt Lake was, to use a Westernism, Weston's " best holt." First of all the Western cities to freight large quantities of goods to the Mormon capital, the profits realized were something fabulous, and those whose daring and enterprise so richly deserved it reaped a golden harvest from their saintly customers. The army officers and the privates stationed at Fort Leavenworth contributed their mites, and for a time, to paraphrase a Catholic maxim, " all ways seemed to lead to Weston."

HEMP GROWING.

Coming from hemp growing States to this city, that, like Tadmor of old, lay in a wilderness, a large number of her farmers continued to grow that product, the consumption of which, at that time, was enor- mous, and this added to her prosperity. Hemp was a commodity that commanded at all times a high price, and was to the West what cotton was to the South later on - king. All dealers must handle it, all other freights must wait for it, and in the market it took prece- dence of all else, its sale being ready, its payments cash.

. But, alas for the little city ! The Latin poet sang of the fallen walls and crumbling towers of the once proud Troy : " Troja fuit, " and at last the day of doom came to Weston in the building of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, which diverted her trade and gave its quietus to a place that else might to-day be a grander city than Kansas City or St. Joseph. One by one her customers deserted her, charmed by the railroad sirens with the song of cheap freights, and

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HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY.

the glory departed from Ichabod. The overland trade migrated farther up the river to Kansas City, St. Joe, Omaha and Nebraska City, and left to Weston only the county trade.

THE PRESENT OUTLOOK.

Her present merchants, however, do not discredit her commercial traditions, and in their tact, enterprise and business capacity they have shown themselves worthy successors of the men who opened up the overland trade and pioneered the way for the Pacific Railroads to and beyond the continental backbone, as Westerners call the Rocky mountains. Their stocks are large and well selected, evincing taste and judgment, and no town in Missouri of its size can boast of such stocks of goods, in every line, as can this little city.

COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS.

Her commercial emporiums consist of three dry goods stores, five devoted to staple and fancy groceries, two drug stores, two hardware and agricultural implement establishments, three boot and shoe stores, one jewelry bazar, one tobacconist's shop, two confectioneries, two book and stationery stores, one bank, one lumber yard, two saddlery and harness stores, three blacksmith shops, one wagonmaking shop, one cabinetmaker and undertaker, one cooper shop and two flouring mills.

The Western Milling Company has lately rebuilt a magnificent mill, fitted throughout with the latest improved machinery, and which has a capacity of 100 barrels daily. There is one large cooper shop, employing a considerable number of hands, and running to its full capacity. The distillery of David Holladay, a brother of Ben Holla- day, of Overland fame -a man who made an imprint upon his time second to that of no man of his day - is situated within a mile of the city, and it is justly celebrated for its product, a genuine, hand-made sour mash Bourbon whisky, which is absolutely free from all adulter- ation. Mr. Holladay claims for his distillation an absolute equality with that of the finest Kentucky goods, his grain being of equal or superior quality, and his spring water precisely similar in its constit- uents to that used by the Kentucky distillers.

APPLE SHIPMENTS.

In addition to other products, the township is noted for its magnif- icent orchards, from which are shipped yearly the finest apples grown in the West. The magnitude of this industry is immense, the ship-

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HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY.

pers having gained a continental reputation for the quality of their fruit. This reputation has been honestly gained, every barrel of fruit being carefully packed, and none but the choicest apples, picked by hand, being used. North, South, East and West they go in car-load lots, bringing in every market the highest prices, and known every- where as " extra select." Amongst the shippers of apples W. R. Keller and C. Thorp are the largest, though there are others who handle in the season many hundreds of barrels.

WESTON'S GREAT MEN.

When the Platte Purchase was thrown open to settlement, such reports of its richness and advantages had gone abroad that in a very few months there was not a vacant quarter section of land to be had in the county. Like the Israelites upon the borders of the longed for Canaan, there were numbers of adventurous men waiting for the opportunity to locate, and Weston township was filled to overflowing. Amongst those who, at one time or another, have been residents here, were Gen. Andrew Hughes and his son, Gen. Bela M. Hughes, Gen. Frank P. Blair, Gen. B. F. Stringfellow, Judge J. N. Burnes, Col. John Doniphan, C. A. Perry, Judge S. P. McCurdy, L. M. Lawson - now a banker in the city of New York - Ben Holladay, and others.

Here was a collection of notables, the like of which could be met with in no other town of its size in America or Europe. Here were soldiers, jurists, financiers and adventurers whose fame is world wide, their names household words wherever the English language is spoken. Here originated the idea of overland freight- ing, and from this point was outfitted the first grand train that pushed the commerce of Missouri into and through the dreary wastes that lay between the river and the mountains, and invaded the solitude of the location chosen by Brigham Young for his de- luded followers.

PONY EXPRESS AND OVERLAND MAIL.

Here, too, Ben. Holladay conceived his daring schemes, and here he found the capital to put them in operation. It was his enter- prise in this direction that suggested and laid the foundation for the "Pony Express," a scheme that has found historians in prose and rhyme, an enterprise that joined the Pacific slope in close re- lations with its sister States and Territories, and that made prac- ticable the building of the Pacific Railways. In this little city was conceived the idea of putting in operation the great overland mail

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HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY.

line of coaches that, leaving the Missouri river, dashed on, day and night, through- sunshine and storm, summer and winter, until they reached the golden shores of California. Its relays of teams were sufficient to furnish the cavalry of an imperial army with horses.

And such horses as these were ! Groomed and cared for by an army of hostlers, and handled by the most reckless but also the most skillful drivers the world ever saw, through the sandy desert and across the granite-ribbed mountains they kept up their tireless pace, and from station to station made their schedule time of ten miles an hour. It was a heroic enterprise, originated by a heroic mind and carried out by men whose bravery and devotion to duty made them, despite their humble positions, true heroes. The gallant Argonauts that followed the fortunes of Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece were not more hardy nor more daring than the men that manned the stations and the coaches of Ben. Holladay's overland mail line.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The churches of almost every denomination are mentioned else- where, and will not be referred to in this connection.

We have inserted the notice of the I. O. O. F. Order at Weston in this place, as the matter could not be obtained in time to insert in connection with the other secret orders of the county. (See Chapter XVI).

In examining the charter of Phoenix Lodge No. 30, I. O. O. F., we found it impossible to obtain the names of the charter members, as the present charter does not contain them. Where the names should be inserted in the charter is noted that " this charter is issued in lieu of a charter issued March 2, 1848; hence names of charter mem- bers can not be inserted, the original having been destroyed by fire." The present charter (duplicate ) was issued August 1, 1855.

The present membership is 30. The property of the Lodge is valued at about $1,500.

The charter of Frontier Encampment No. 2, I. O. O. F., is found to be the same as that of the Lodge, except it does not give date of the original charter. The date of the present charter (duplicate ) was issued June 1, 1857. The charter members can not be given. The present membership in good standing is 12. Funds on hand amount to about $1,000, while the personal property is valued at about $150.

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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