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 29

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 29
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 29

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 CLAY COUNTY.

FIRST INCORPORATION.

Liberty was first incorporated as a town by the county court May 4, 1829, on the petition of " more than two-thirds of the citizens," under the name and style of "The Inhabitants of the Town of Lib- erty." The following were declared to be the metes and bounds : -

Beginning at the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of sec- tion 7, in the line of the New Madrid claim ; thence due west along said Madrid line to the southwest corner of said quarter section ; thence due north along the line of said quarter section to the northwest cor- ner thereof; thence due east along said quarter section line to the northeast corner thereof ; thence due north along the line dividing sections 7 and 8, to the beginning corner at the mouth of the lane be- tweeen Andrew Hixon, Sr., and said town tract.

This incorporation really included 160 acres of land, being the northeast quarter of section 7, township 51, range 31. The first board of trustees was composed of Lewis Scott, John R. Peters, Eli Casey, Samuel Ringo and John Baxter.

Describing Liberty in 1829, the year of its first incorporation, a writer in the Tribune in 1846, says : -

The public square in Liberty then had two houses on the south side, one on the west, two on the north, and two or three on the east. Hixon's, Wilson's, Bird's and Curtis' addition to the town were then in old Mr. Hixon's corn field. There was one tavern (the same now [1846] occupied by Judge Hendley ) kept by Leonard Searcy. Par- ties and balls were frequent, and often times attended by ladies and gentlemen from Fort Leavenworth, Richmond, Lexington and Inde- pendence. Preaching was uncommon - at least I never heard much of it. There was no church in town, but I think the Baptists had two or three in the country ; perhaps at Big Shoal, Little Shoal and Rush Creek.

There was but little use for doctors at that time, as the chills and fever were unknown, except in the Missouri bottoms, where but few persons had then settled. I recollect that the first case of chills and fever that occurred in the uplands excited great alarm and astonish- ment. It occurred, Ithink, in Platte township. Liberty was always healthy. . Not a death took place for several years after I came to it, except one or two persons who came to it laboring under consump- tion. Once a physician, Dr: Conway, was sent for to see a sick man at the Council Bluffs. It was regarded as a most hazardous under- taking, being in the winter season, and the doctor received a fee of about $250. There was no other physician nearer at that time; now there are perhaps a hundred, and a trip to Council Bluffs is as little regarded as it formerly was to the falls of the Platte. These changes

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

would surprise an individual who had gone to sleep for the period of 17 years, but in those who had witnessed them they excited but little.

The first settlers of Liberty were as clever, as sociable, and as good people as ever walked the earth. Many of them have gone to " that bourne from whence no traveler ever returns," and many of them are now still living. * There was a kind of brotherhood existing among the people of Liberty and Clay county when I first came among them ; nothing like envy or jealously existed. They are perhaps more united yet than any other people in the State. This arose from the fact that the first settlers were almost entirely from Kentucky, and either knew each other, or else each other's friends before they came here.

Wetmore, in his Gazeteer of 1837, thus speaks of the place : -

Liberty, one of the well watered tracts of land with which Clay county abounds, was selected for the seat of justice, and is about four miles from the river. This location was made with a view to health, and the people are not disappointed. The springs at Liberty are a fair sample of the advantages enjoyed in this respect in various por- tions of the county, where the milk and butter part of good living are made perfect in well built spring-houses. There is but one objection that can be made to this town as a desirable place of abode, and that is contained in a single sentence once uttered by a matron who was emigrating thither -" It is so far off." But when emigrants shall begin to pass through Liberty, on their way to the Mandan villages, and to the forks of Missouri, that objection will vanish, and Liberty will be an interior, fashionable city, like that where the enthusiastic visions of a Kentuckian now rest - Lexington, the Athens of Ken- tucky.

There are 14 stores and groceries in Liberty. The court-house is a large, well finished brick building. The newspaper published at Liberty, with the very appropriate name of Far West, is a well con- ducted journal.

LIBERTY IN 1846.

A contribution to the Tribune, in December, 1846, in an article hitherto quoted from, describes Liberty as it was at that date : -

Liberty now contains 3 taverns, a printing office, 3 blacksmiths, 8 stores, 3 groceries, 2 drug stores, 1 hatter's shop, 1 tinner's shop, 4 tailors, 3 saddlers, 3 shoemakers, 1 carriagemaker, 2 wagonmakers, 1 tanyard, 1 bagging and rope factory, 5 physicians, 6 lawyers, 3 cabinetmakers, 2 milliners, 1 oil mill, 1 carding factory, a Methodist Church, a Reformer's Church, with neat brick buildings, and a Catho- lic Church under way ; also a Baptist Church of stone ; one school, kept by a Mr. Harrel, and a male and female school, under the su- perintendence of Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham. Our schools are equal

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

to those of any town in the State in the ability of the teachers. Good houses to teach in are all that are lacking. The Missionary Baptists are making efforts to erect a church, and I doubt not will be successful. Efforts are also making to erect a large college, and judg- ing from what has already been accomplished in the way of procuring subscriptions, it will go up on a scale commensurate with the wants of the surrounding country.

If there is a healthy spot in Missouri, it is in Liberty. It is finely watered, society is good, and in point of morals it is equal to any other place, and rapidly improving in that respect. There is stone enough in the streets to pave the whole town, and then enough left to macadamize the road to the Landing. These things will be done in due time. We have a " Union " Sunday-school, numbering 80 schol- ars, and quite a respectable library attached to it. The day will come, if good colleges are erected speedily, when Liberty will be to West- ern Missouri what Lexington is to Kentucky - the focus of intelli- gence and literature. When once improved as it should and will be, no place will be more handsome.

Two or three good coopers and a chair-maker would do well to settle in Liberty. The want of such mechanics is seriously felt by merchants' families and farmers.

March 28, 1861, the Legislature re-incorporated the town as " the City of Liberty," describing its site as " all that district of country contained within one mile square, of which the court-house in Clay county is the center, the sides of said square being respectively paral- lel to the corresponding sides of said court-house." The city is still governed under this charter and certain amendments.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Liberty was a flourishing town, with numerous well filled stores, a good woolen mill, rope-walks, hemp factories, etc., and was well known throughout the country. Its schools gave it something of favorable notoriety, as well as its commercial advantages. A branch of the Farmers' Bank of Lexington had been located here.

The Liberty Insurance Company, with E. M. Samuel, Michael Arthur and Gen. Doniphan as its leading spirits, existed for some years after 1850.

The Civil War left the town much the worse for its experience, but during the four years of strife and demoralization business was kept up and the ordinary municipal affairs received proper attention. The building of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was an epoch of im- portance, giving an outlet by rail to the marts of the world and swift communication by mail and express with important commercial centers. Yet it is maintained by many that in another sense the building of

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

the railroad injured Liberty more than it benefited it, as it gave facili- ties for going away from the town to trade, and caused sundry small towns to be built, thus diverting business away from the county seat, and affecting its material prosperity considerably.

CHURCHES.

Christian Church. - The origin of the Christian Church of Liberty was two small organizations formed in 1837. One of these organiza- tions was called the " Church of God," and was composed of the following persons: Thos. T. Swetnam, Caroline Swetnam, Mason and Maria Summers, Howard, James, Anderson and Polly Everett, Johnny and Sally W. Reid, Martitia Young, James and Nancy Hedges, Walter Huffaker, Wm. F. Grisby, Thos. M. Chevis, Frank McCarty, John Thompson, Sally Thompson, A. H. F. and Mary Payne, Nancy Turner, and others, 35 in all. The first officers of this organization were chosen on December 24, 1837, and were as follows: Bishops, T. T. Swetnam and Mason Summers ; Deacons, John Thompson, Thos. M. Chevis and James Hedges. The names of the members of the other organization have not been obtained. In May, 1839, these two organizations united and formed the Christian Church of Liberty. August 13, 1837, according to the minutes of the " Church of God," the " Church selected Liberty for the purpose of building a meeting-house, and chose the following persons to act as trustees : Thos. M. Chevis, Jonathan Reed, Joseph Reed and James Hedges." This building, the first church, is a brick and still stands at the foot of College hill, in the northeastern part of the town, having been remodeled, and used as a dwelling. It was completed about 1839. The present church building, also a fine brick, was completed in the fall of 1851, at a cost of about $4,000. In 1884 it was improved, the changes costing nearly $5,000, or more than the original cost. The pastors of this church have been Revs. A. H. F. Payne, who served from the organization up to 1850; Moses E. Lard, W. J. Pettigrew, A. B. Jones, Josiah Waller, R. C. Morton, Wm. H. Blanks, F. R. Palmer, A. B. Jones and J. A. Dearborn. Alexander Campbell visited the church at Lib- erty and preached in the years 1845, 1852 and 1859. The present membership is about 200.

Liberty M. E. Church South - Was organized about the year 1840. Some of the first members were P. B. Grant, J. B. Talbott, W. W. Dougherty and James Smithey. About 1842 a brick church building was erected, and in 1857 a frame building was constructed, which cost about $1,800. It was dedicated in 1859 by Rev. R. A.

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

Young. Some of the pastors have been L. M. Lewis, Z. Roberts, W. G. Caples, W. A. Tarwater, H. G. McEwen, J. P. Nolan, G. W. Rich, Jno. Begole, E. M. Marvin, J. W. Johnsey, W. E. Dockery and J. S. Frazier. The present membership numbers about 50.

Second Baptist Church. - Nothing more has been learned of the history of this church than that it was organized by the eminent divine, Rev. A. P. Williams, D. D., May 19, 1843, with thirteen members, who had been dismissed from Rush Creek and Mt. Pleasant Churches - Old School -because of their views in regard to missions, etc. The Old School already had an organization at Liberty called the First Baptist Church of Liberty, and for this reason Rev. Williams called his church the Second. Elder Williams was first pastor, and in eight years increased the membership from 13 to 194. Eder B. G. Tutt, a most popular and efficient minister, is the present pastor. The church building, a fine structure, the best house of worship in the city, was completed in 1884.

St. James Roman Catholic Church. - In the year 1847 this church was organized, the following being some of the original members : G. L. Hughes, Cyrus Curtis, Philip Clark, Patrick Hughes, Maj. Leonard Mahoney, Thomas Morrison, Philip Fraher, James Fraher, Michael Fraher, Hugh McGowan, Owen Shearin, Patrick Barry, Joseph Mor- ton and James Burns. The church building is a brick, and was erected in 1847 at a cost of $2,500. It was consecrated by Archbishop Ken- rick, of St. Louis, in 1848. The pastors who had served this church have been Revs. Bernard Donnelly, P. A. Ward, Jas. Murphy, Mat- thew Dillon, John J. Caffrey, Daniel Healy, Dennis Kennedy, Z. Led- with, W. Lambert, James Foley, Wm. F. Drohan, Fintan Mindwiller, Peter McMahan, Thomas Hanley, Michael Milay, Dennis J. Kiley, Joseph Beil and Peter J. Cullen, the present pastor. The present membership, including the small missions through the county, is about 214. Attached to the church are a pastoral residence and school- house, both being two story brick buildings. The school building is at present rented to a company who use it for a non-denominational select school, known as Hawthorne Institute.

MASONIC.

Liberty Lodge, No. 31, A. F. & A. M .- At Liberty, has been in existence for 45 years. The dispensation was issued June 26, 1840, on petition of A. Lightburne, E. M. Spence, Josiah C. Parker, Lewis Scott, John M. McLain, Thos. M. Bacon, Henry Coleman and Henry C. Melone. The first master, under the dispensation, was Josiah C.

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

Parker, who was installed July 18, 1840, by three past masters, Thos. C. Case, Henry C. Melone and E. M. Spence, and resigned August 29th following because of certain " unmasonic conduct." A. Light- burne was made senior warden August 15, 1840. The charter was not issued until October 9, 1840, the first principal officers being Josiah C. Parker, master, and A. Lightburne and H. C. Melone, wardens. The officers under the dispensation were Josiah C. Parker, master ; A. Lightburne and H. C. Melone, wardens ; Thos. M. Bacon, secretary ; Henry Coleman, treasurer ; Andrew McLain and Edward M. Spence, deacons ; and John Gordon, tyler. The lodge meets in a hall built in 1875, at a cost of about $2,000. The present membership is 67.

Liberty Chapter, No. 3, R. A. M. - Was first organized under a dispensation, issued April 18, 1842 ; the charter was not issued until September 13, 1844. Some of the first members were : Alvin Light- burne, Frederick Gorlich and J. M. Hughes. The chapter meets in the Masonic Hall. There are at present 26 members.

Knights Templar. - Liberty Commandery, No. 6, K. T., was in- stituted by Geo. W. Belt, R. E. P. Gr. Com. of Mo., under a dis- pensation issued October 16, 1865, to Samuel Hardwicke, Rev. Ed. G. Owen, John S. Brasfield, Dan Carpenter, W. G. Noble, S. H. Mas- terson, L. W. Ringo, G. L. Moad and Thomas Beaumont. Of the first officers Samuel Hardwicke was commander, Ed. G. Owen, gen- eralissimo, and John S. Brasfield, captain-general. (These were ap- pointed by the State grand commander.) Under the charter, which bears date May 21, 1866, the first officers were: Samuel Hardwicke, commander; E. G. Owen, generalissimo ; J. E. Brasfield, captain- general ; A. Lightburne and W. W. Dougherty, wardens ; Dan Car- penter, prelate ; Peter B. Grant, recorder ; W. A. Hall, standard bearer ; D. C. Allen, sword bearer ; W. W. Dougherty, warder. The present number of members is 15.

ODD FELLOWS.

The charter members of Liberty Lodge No. 49, I. O. O. F., were Madison Miller, who was also one of the first members of Baltimore Lodge, No. 1, the first lodge in the United States, Larkin Bradford, T. K. Bradley, Geo. W. Morris, T. Leonard, O. C. Stewart, Wm. Lamborn and J. W. Wetzel. The charter bears date March 5, 1851. The first officers were : Madison Miller, noble grand ; Geo. W. Morris, vice-grand ; T. K. Bradley, secretary ; John Neal, permanent secre- tary ; Larkin Bradford, treasurer. The present officers are L. W. Newman, noble grand ; Canby Wilmot, vice-grand ; Charles Patrick,

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

secretary ; W. H. Corbin, treasurer ; B. B. Corbin, permanent secre- tary. L. W. Burris, of this lodge, is district deputy grand master. The membership is about 30. The lodge is in good financial condition, having some thousands of dollars loaned at interest. It is in the best condition, for the number of members, of any lodge in the State. The lodge hall is a brick, and was bought in 1878-79. Its furniture and all appointments are first class.

Clay Encampment, No. 12 - Was instituted in 1853, but is not now in working order.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

DARWIN J. ADKINS

(President of the Commercial Savings Bank, Liberty).

In any worthy history of Clay county the name that heads this sketch will always be given an enviable place among the leading citi- zens of the county and its self-made, wealthy business men. Mr. Adkins started out for himself when a youth only about 15 years of age and without a dollar, but before he had attained his majority he had succeeded in accumulating over $2,000 solely by his own work and good management. A history of his career in later years has been but a continuation of that of his youth and has been proportion- ally even more successful. He is now one of the two principal owners of the Commercial Savings Bank, one of the soundest and most relia- ble banking institutions in the western part of the State, and is also a large real estate owner and leading stock raiser of the county, own- ing a number of fine farms, from which he annually sells thousands of dollars' worth of stock. He also has a large amount of other valuable property and, in a word, is one of the prominent tax payers of the county. ' Such is the successful career of a man who cast himself out into the world on his own resources when but a mere boy and with- out a penny, a career that would reflect credit upon any one man. Mr. Adkins was born in Scott county, Ky., October 9, 1821, and was a son of Judge Robert Adkins and wife, nee Miss Mary Snell, the Judge formerly of Virginia, but Mrs. Adkins a Kentuckian by nativity. The Judge's mother was a Miss Mille, and her parents were co-pioneers with Daniel Boone in Kentucky, having come out from Virginia in company with him on his first trip to the then wilds of the former State. In 1825, Judge Adkins came to Missouri with his family and located in Howard county, but returned to Kentucky soon afterwards. Ten years from their first trip, however, they came back to this State

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

and settled in Clay county. Here the Judge bought several hundred acres of fine land, three miles north of Liberty, where he improved a large farm and lived until his death. He died of cholera in July, 1851. He became one of the well known and influential citizens of the county, and such was his high standing and popularity that al- though an uncompromising Democrat in a strong Whig county, as Clay county then was, he was repeatedly elected to the office of county judge, defeating each time the most popular Whig they could put up against him. He reared a large family of children, five sons and six daughters living to reach years of maturity and to become the heads of families themselves. Nine are still living, four brothers in Kansas City, three in this county and two sisters who are in Kansas City - Mrs. C. J. White and Mrs. Eliza Hall. Darwin J. Adkins was the eldest of the brothers and remained at home on the farm until he was 15 years of age, when, having secured something of an ordinary edu- cation, and having a taste for business life, he left the farm and came to Liberty, where he obtained a clerkship in a store. He clerked for about three years and not only obtained a good knowledge of the busi- ness, but also saved up a little means from his salary. He then went on a farm and also engaged in trading in stock. These interests he has ever since carried on. For some years he was engaged in the Southern trade in horses and mules, driving his stock to Shreveport, La., Alexandria, Miss., and other points. This was while he was yet quite a young man and he made some two or three thousand dollars before he was 21 years of age. In 1842, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Pence, a daughter of Edward A. Pence, formerly of Ken- tucky. He then gave up the Southern trade, and settled down on a farm, but continued in the local stock trading business. Later along he removed to Platte county, but after four years returned to this county, and bought the old Adkins family homestead, where he fol- lowed farming and handling stock until 1863. Subsequently he bought other places and resided at Liberty and on different farms until the time he settled permanently where he now resides. In 1856 he was largely instrumental in establishing the Farmers' Bank at Liberty, becoming one of its directors. This was finally succeeded by the Commercial Savings Bank in 1867. Since 1870 he has been president of this bank and he and Mr. Robertson own more than four- fifths of its capital stock. It has a stock of $50,000, all paid up, and the bank is in a most prosperous condition, paying annually a good dividend on the stock represented. Last year Mr. Adkins sold over $9,000 worth of stock off of his several farms. Mr. Adkins' first wife having died in April, 1852, he was married to Mrs. Mary A. Fut- sle, a daughter of Andrew Robertson, formerly of Tennessee. Her mother was a native of North Carolina. Mrs. Adkins' parents removed to Clay county way back in 1818, and she was born here in September, 1822. Mr. Adkins and his present wife have four children, namely : Magdaline, wife of Robert G. Robinson ; Edward V., Robert I., and Emma, deceased wife of Michael A. Groom. By his former wife Mr. Adkins has two children : Ruth, wife of L. W. Pence, and Darwin J.

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

N. Mrs. A. is a member of the M. E. Church South, and Mr. Adkins a prominent member of the Masonic Order.

LEONIDAS ADKINS

(Proprietor of the Liberty Livery, Feed and Sales Stables, Liberty).

Mr. Adkins is a representative of the old and respected family whose name he bears, mention of which has already been made in the sketch of his brother, D. J. Adkins, on a previous page. Leonidas Adkins was born on the old family homestead, near Liberty,. April 6, 1838. He was reared on the farm and received a good practical edu- cation as he grew up, studying the higher branches at William Jewell College. Afterwards he engaged as a clerk at Liberty, and continued at that about five years. For the 24 years following, up to 1883, Mr. Adkins followed farming and stock raising in this county, and was satisfactorily successful. Early in 1884 he bought the stables and stock where he is now engaged in business. The building he has con- siderably enlarged, and has much improved the business, so that he now has one of the best establishments of the kind in the county. In 1858 Mr. Atkinson was married to Miss Martha J., a daughter of Hon. John R. Keller, of this county, whose sketch is elsewhere given. Mrs. A. is a graduate of the Liberty Female Seminary. They have five children : Robert, who is a partner with his father in business ; Lila, James P., William, John C. and Churchill. Mrs. A. is a mem- ber of the Christian Church.

EDWARD V. (YCLEPT " CALHOUN ") ADKINS (Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty).

Mr. Adkins is well recognized as one of the neatest and most enter- prising young farmers of the county. He is a man of thorough collegiate and university education, and is qualified for almost any business where intelligence, culture and energy are required, but has adopted farming and handling stock as his calling entirely from choice, preferring a free and open and independent life of a farmer to that of all others. In his farming operations he has brought his education and good taste to bear the same as he would have done in any other pursuit. He has a good place, large enough for his present purposes, and keeps it in the best of condition. His home and household and all its surroundings are in keeping with the general appearance of his farm, the credit for which is principally due to his refined and excellent wife, who is even more particular than her husband to have everything in presentable order. Mr. Adkins was born in this county May 19, 1845, and was a son of Downing O. Adkins, a well known and highly respected citizen of the county, who came here from Kentucky as early as 1832. Mr. Adkins, Jr., was reared on his father's farm ( his father being a successful stock dealer as well as a prominent farmer), and given the best of educational advantages as he grew up. From the com- mon schools he went to William Jewell College and then to Mount Gilead

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

College, thence to Sidney College, Iowa, and from there to the State University of Missouri, where he completed his general education. Afterwards he took a commercial course at a business college in Lafayette, Ind., where he was honorably graduated. Returning from Indiana he at once engaged in farming in this county, which he has ever since followed. His farm contains 228 acres. November 8, 1882, he was married to Miss Susie H. Williams, a daughter of John Williams, of Shawnee Mission, Kas., but formerly from Marshall, Mich. She was an invalid at the time of her marriage, and survived her wedding day only a week more than a month. Her remains were buried in the cemetery near where Mr. Adkins now resides. She was a lady of singular sweetness and gentleness of disposition, and of a presence and bearing that won all hearts. But Death loves the shining mark, and in the morning of her life his cold and pulseless finger pointed her out for the grave - she was no more. While loved ones here have sustained a sad bereavement by her loss, heaven has been made brighter by her sweet, gentle spirit. Mr. Adkins was married to his present wife September 15, 1883. She was a Miss Emma E. Pence, a daughter of Capt. W. H. Pence, and a lady worthy in every way to occupy the place she does in the affection of her devoted hus- band. Mr. Adkins has not neglected the information to be had from travel, but has visited in different parts of the country no less than 17 States. After all the country he has seen he is satisfied there is no place like Clay county for a home. "There is no place like home."

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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