History of Cooper County, Missouri, Part 5

Author: Johnson, William Foreman, b. 1861
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Topeka : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1464

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This section of the Boonslick country was not destined to be left long to the reign of the wild beasts and the savage Indians. It was attractive and presented advantages which those seeking homes where they could find the richest of lands and the most healthful of climates, could not and did not fail to perceive. Its fertile soil promised, with little labor, the most abundant of harvests. Its forests were filled with every variety of game, and its streams with all kinds of fish. It is no wonder that those seeking homes looked upon this section as a "promised land", where pro- visions could be found, and that they should select and settle the rich lands here, accomodating themselves to the scanty fare of the wilderness. and risking all the dangers from the wild beasts and the Indians who lived in great numbers nearby.

Two years after the first settlement of Benjamin Cooper and after his removal to Loutre Island, the first permanent and abiding settlement

HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

was made in this section this was but a forerunner of the stream of emi- gration which soon followed.

Coopers and Coles Settle Permanently .- On Feb. 20, 1810, Benjamin Cooper with several others returned to what is now Howard County. They came up on the north side of the Missouri from Loutre Island, and all of ' them, except Hannah Cole, the widow of William Temple Cole, and her family and Stephen Cole and his family, settled in Howard County, north of the Missouri River.

Hannah Cole and Stephen Cole, together with their families, settled in what is now Cooper County ; Stephen Cole settled about one and one- half miles east of Boonville, at what is now called the old "Fort Field" once owned by J. L. Stephens; and Hannah Cole, in what is now East Boonville, on the big bluffs overlooking the river at a point of rocks where the old lime kiln was located.

Benjamin Cooper settled in Howard County, at the same place and in the cabin which he had built two years before. This cabin had not been disturbed by the Indians, although they had occupied all the adjacent country, and doubtless had passed it many times.

When the families of Hannah Cole and Stephen Cole, settled in what is now Cooper County, there was no white American living in Missouri west of Franklin and south of the Missouri. Those who came with them and settled north of the Missouri were their nearest white neighbors, but most of these were two or three miles distant from them.

Names of First Permanent Settlers South of River .- The families that were the first settlers south of the river were composed of the follow- ing members: Hannah Cole, the widow of William Temple Cole. and her children Jennie, Mattie, Dickey, Nellie, James, Holburt, Stephen, William and Samuel ; Stephen Cole, and Phoebe, his wife. and their children, Jantes, Rhoda, Mark, Nellie and Polly, making seventeen members in the two families who made the first settlement in what is now Cooper County, but what was then a wilderness. untrodden save by savages. Here they were surrounded on all sides by the Indians, who pretended to be friendly, and who stoically camouflaged their malice, but sought every opportunity to commit petit larceny and other depredations upon the settlers. All of these have gone beyond the Great Divide. They have passed their brief hour upon a stage, filled with thrilling adventures. Each lived in his own limited sphere, has passed on and is seen no more. Their memories are perpetrated; their noble deeds and self-sacrifices are cherished. Their

HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

descendants are many and are scattered throughout the different counties of this state, and the west from the Mississippi river to the Pacific coast.

Conditions Met .- When the Coopers and the Coles came to this sec- tion, there was neither road nor path for them to pass through the wilder- ness, save here and there the trail of the savage or the path of the wild beast. They had to take care as the course in which to travel any open- ing which they could find in the thickets or through the forest, that would permit the passage of their wagons and animals, and frequently were com- pelled to chop their way through with the axe, an essential accouterment of the early pioneer.

When they arrived where old Franklin now stands, Hannah and Stephen Cole looked with longing eyes to the beckoning forests on the south side of the river, and desiring to cross the river with their families, were compelled to use a large canoe or perogue, as it was then called, compelling their horses to swim behind them. At this time throughout Cooper County up and down the south side of the Missouri, the land was covered by a vast forest, extending several miles inland. The Saukee, or Sacs, and Renards, or Foxes, were their only neighbors. The Saukee under their leader, Quashquami, lived on the Moniteau Creek in the south part of Cooper County. They were in a measure nomadic, and moved from place to place seeking the easier and better hunting ground.

When these brave settlers first came here, the Indians professed to be friendly to them, and gave apparent evidence of desiring to live in peace and amity, but as is generally true with all savages, they were petty thieves, stole horses and committed various other depredations. During the war of 1812, these Indians took sides with the British against the Americans. After the conclusion of the war the Saukee Indians were ordered off to the Grand River, and from thence to Rock River. Other chiefs with whom the early settlers came in contact during this time, were Keokuk and Blundo, the latter one, half French, the other a full blooded Indiana.

The whites of that day, although they well knew the treachery of the Indians, were accustomed to hunt and fish with them and at times to visit them at their villages. When in the presence of the whites, the Indians were kind and accomodating, yet the settlers always endeavored to guard against the wary savage and his treachery.

In the Indian war of 1832, known as the Black Hawk War, Blundo was really and according to the Indian law and tradition chief of the tribe,

HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

but Black Hawk, a wily and restless agitator, seemed to sway his fellow savages and became in this war the leader of the Saukees and Renards, sometimes called the Sacs and Foxes.

When the first settlers came to what is now Cooper County, wild game of all kinds was very abundant, and was so tame as not to be easily fright- ened at the approach of the white man. This game furnished the settlers with all their meat, and, in fact, with all the provisions that they used for most of the time they had little else than meat.

There were large numbers of deer, wild turkeys, elk, and large ani- mals, and to use the expression of an old settler, "They could be killed as easily as sheep are now killed in our pastures." The settlers spent most of their time hunting and fishing, as it was a needless waste to plant crops to be destroyed by the wild game. Small game, such as squirrels, rabbits and the like swarmed so abundantly around the homes of the settlers and in such numbers that when the men attempted to raise a crop of any kind they were forced to kill the small game in large numbers in order to save a part of it. But these inoffensive animals, dangerous only to their crops, were not the only ones which filled the forests. Such terrible and blood thirsty wild beasts as the bear and the panther could be seen very often lying in wait for any unwary traveler who ventured near their lairs.

Where the present residences of E. A. Windsor and M. E. Schmidt now stand in the city of Boonville, a panther which measured eleven feet from the end of its nose to the tip of its tail, was one day killed by Samuel Cole. This panther was thought to be one of the largest ever killed in the state of Missouri.

Thus were the early settlers and their families abundantly provided with meat and food by nature. Their menu was brief, but it was enough to supply with vitality the red corpuscles that coursed through their veins and gave them rugged health, vigor and strength of body. The domestic animals also were furnished with everything necessary to their well-being. The grasses were so good during the whole year that the stock lived with- out being fed by their owners. Even when the ground was covered with snow, the animals, taught by instinct, would in a few minutes claw from under the snow enough grass to last them for the day. The only use for corn, of which the settlers planted very little, was to make bread. Bread made from corn was the only kind they had.

These first settlers of what is now Cooper County, remained here nearly two years without any neighbors nearer than those on the opposite

1474 X

REGULAR TUESDAY

PACKET FOR

-GLASGOW & CAMBRIDGE

STEAMBOATING ON THE MISSOURI IN 1860

HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

side of the Missouri. For nearly two years they encountered alone the dangers of the forest, and lived in peace and quietness, although at times they feared an attack from the Indians who lived south and west of them. The treacherous nature of the Indian as well as because Cooper was in fact trespassing upon the lands of the Indians, was the reason that Merri- weather Lewis, then governor of the territory, issued the order directing Benjamin Cooper to return below the mouth of the Gasconade River, from his first settlement in what is now known as Howard County.

The Indians with which our early settlers had to contend were idle, shiftless, vicious and treacherous. In the presence of the white settlers they were apparently frank, accomodating and kind, yet they nursed the tradition that the white man was their natural enemy, and would event- ually dispossess them of their "happy hunting grounds."

Names of First Settlers in Boonslick Country and Whence They Came .- Those who settled in the Central Boonslick country in 1810 are as follows: From Madison County, Ky., Lieut .- Col. Benjamin Cooper. Francis Cooper, William Cooper, Daniel Cooper, John Cooper, Capt. Sar- shall Cooper, Braxton Cooper, Sr., Joseph Cooper, Stephen Cooper, Brax- ton Cooper, Jr., Robert Cooper, James Hancock, Albert Hancock, William Berry, John Berry, Robert Irvin, Robert Brown, Joseph Wolfscale, William Thorpe, John Thorpe, Josiah Thorpe, James Thorpe, Gilead Rupe, James Jones, John Peak, William Wolfscale, Adam Woods. From Estill County, Ky., Amos Ashcraft, Otho Ashcraft, Jesse Ashcraft, James Alexander. From Tennessee, John Ferrell, Henry Ferrell, Robert Hancock. From Virginia, James Kile. From South Carolina, Gray Bynum. From Georgia, Stephen Jackson. From Ste. Genevieve, Peter Popineau. Previous resi- dence unknown, John Busby, James Anderson, Middleton Anderson, Will- iam Anderson. From Wayne County, Ky., Hannah, Jennie, Mattie, Dickie, Nellie, James, Holbert, Stephen, William, Samuel, Stephen, Phoebe (Stephen's wife), James, Rhoda, Mark, Nellie, and Polly Cole.

Those from Wayne County, Kentucky, settled south of the river. The women belonging to some of these families on the north side of the river did not arrive until the following July or August. There may have been others, but the above list is all that we are able to trace.

There can be no doubt that a daring Frenchman had even prior to the year 1800 explored this section lying contiguous to the Missouri River, several years before its settlement proper and before there existed within

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HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

the present limits of this county a trading post. The names of the streams, such as Bonne Femme, Moniteau, etc., attest the fact that they were of French origin, and had been seen and named by the French traders and explorers.

Levens and Drake, in their condensed but carefully prepared history of Cooper County say : "While Nash and his companions were in Howard County (1840), they visited Barclay's and Boon's Lick, also a trading post, situated about two miles northwest of Old Franklin. This trading post was kept by a white man by the name of Prewitt. The existence of the trading post, and the fact that Barclay's and Boone's licks had already received their names from the white men who visited them, show con- clusively that this portion of the country had been explored by Americans even before this. But no history mentions this trading post, nor does any give the name of Prewitt, hence, we are unable to determine when he came to the Boonslick country, how long he remained, or where he went; he evidently left before the year 1808, as Benjamin Cooper, who moved to Howard county in that year, said there was then no settlement in this part of the state.

Other Settlers Move South of River .- In the latter part of the year 1811 some more adventurous spirits moved to the south side of the river. and began to settle around and near the present site of Boonville. They were Joseph Jolly, Joseph Yarnell, Gilliard Rupe, Mike Box, Delaney Bolin, William Savage, John Savage, Walter and David Burriss and families. They settled near one another, so that in time of danger they could readily gather at one place. This timely arrival revived the spirits of the set- tlers, for already could be heard the dim mutterings in the distance, which foreshadowed a long and bloody conflict with the Indians who had been induced by the emissaries of the British government to take sides with that country against the United States of America.

English Stir Up Indians .- Several years before the War of 1812, the British along the lakes and in the Northwest industriously fomented dis- satisfaction among the Indians; consequently they were restless even before the declaration of war; dissatisfied and openly hostile. Frequently these Indians, between 1809 and 1812, visited the British agents on the lakes, and by them were generously supplied with rifles and fusils, powder and lead, and liberally with almost everything else that they needed.

As early as 1808 the subagent on the Missouri wrote General Clark, Superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis, that the Indians had fired

HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

upon one John Rufty about six miles above Fort Osage and killed him. Nicholas Jarret, in 1809, made an affidavit that the British agents were stirring up the Indians at that place and on the frontiers of Canada, but this statement was denied by these British agents. The Osages and the Iowas also were on the warpath in 1810 and in that year some of the Osages were killed not far from the present city of Liberty.

The first blacksmiths in the Boonslick country were: William Canole, Charles Canole and Whitley.

The first marriage was that of Robert Cooper and Elizabeth Carson, in 1810, at the home of Lindsay Carson, the father of "Kit" Carson, the great Indian scout.

Thomas Smith was the first shoemaker, his wife being an adept at making moccasins.

Dr. Tighe was the first physician.

These people lived on the north side of the river from what is now Boonville, and the settlers on the south side were for some time served by them.

Lindsay Carson apprenticed his son "Kit" to David Workman, a saddler, to learn that trade, but this vocation did not suit "Kit's" roving and adventurous nature, and 1826, he literally shook the dust from his feet and sought the Rockies, gaining national renown as an Indian scout. He died in 1869.

First Deed Recorded .- The first deed executed and recorded in the Boonslick country was as follows: "Know all men by these presents that I. Joseph Marie, of the county and town of St. Charles, and territory of Missouri, have this day given, granted, bargained, sold and possession delivered unto Asa Morgan, of the county of Howard, and territory afore- said, all the right, title, claim, and interest, and property that I, the said Joseph Marie have or may possess or am in any legally and equitably entitled to in a certain settlement right on the north side of the Missouri River, in the aforesaid county of Howard, near a certain place known and called by the name of Eagle's Nest, and lying about one mile, a little west of south from Kincaid's Fort, in the said county of Howard, which said settlement was made by me sometime in the year 1800, for and in con- sideration of value by me received, the receipt whereof, is hereby acknowl- edged, and him the said Asa Morgan forever discharged and acquitted. And I do by these presents, sell, transfer, convoy and quit-claim to the aforesaid Asa Morgan all the claims and interest which I might be entitled

HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

to either in law or equity from the aforesaid improvement of settlement right, together with all and singular, all the appurtenances to the same belonging, or in any wise appertaining to have and to hold free from me, or any person claiming by or through me.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the 13th day of April, 1816.

(Seal, JOSEPH MARIE.

Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Urh. I. Devore, A. Wilson.

Second Deed Recorded .- The second deed we also give because of its peculiar phraseology and terms. It will be noted that the word "arpent" is used instead of "acre." An arpent is practically five-sixths of an acre.

"To all to whom these presence shall come greeting ;- Know ye that we, Risdon H. Price, and Mary, his wife, both of the town and county of St. Louis, and territory of Missouri, for and in consideration of the sum of four thousand eight hundred dollars, lawful money of the United States to us in hand before the delivery of the presents well and fully paid by Elias Rector of the same place, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged and thereto, we do hereby acquit and discharge the said Elias Rector, his heirs and assigns forever. Have given bargained, granted, and sold, and do hereby give, grant, bargain and sell unto the said Elias Rector, his heirs and assigns forever, subject to the conditions hereinafter ex- pressed, one certain tract and parcel of land, containing one thousand six hundred arpens, situate in the county of Howard, in the territory of Missouri, granted originally by the late Lieutenant-Governor Charles De- hault Delassus, to one Ira Nash, on the 18th day of January, 1800, sur- veyed on the 26th day of January, 1804, and certified on the 15th day of February, of the same year, the reference being had to the record of said claim in the office of the recorder of land titles for the territory of Mis- souri, for the concession and the boundaries thereof as set forth in or upon the said certificate or plat of survey thereof will more fully, cer- tainly, and at large appear, and which said survey is hereto annexed and makes part and parcel of this deed, and being the same tract of land which the said Risdon H. Price claims as assigned of the sheriff of the county of St. Charles, who sold the same as property of said Ira Nash, as by deed thereof dated the 15th day of October, 1815, reference thereto being had will more fully and at large appear.

To have the said granted and bargained premises with the appur- tenances and privileges thereon, and thereunto belonging unto him, the

HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

said Elias Rector, his heirs and assigns forever. And it is hereby declared to be the agreement, understanding and intention of the parties afore- said, that should the said tract of land be finally rejected by the United States within three years from this date, or should the same not be sanc- tioned and confirmed by the government of the United States at or before the period last mentioned, or in case the said Elias R. Rector, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, shall by due process and judgment at law, be evicted, dispossessed, and finally deprived of said tract of land, then and in that case, the said Risdon H. Price, his heirs, executors, or administrator, shall only pay or cause to be paid to the said Elias Rector, his heirs, executors, administrators or assigns, the said sum of four thou- sand eight hundred dollars, lawful money of the United States, with the lawful interest thereon, at the rate of six percentum per annum, from the date of this deed, until the time of such rejection, not being sanc- tioned as aforesaid, or until such eviction as aforesaid, with the legal cost upon such suit or suits at law, and which shall be in full of all dam- ages under any covenants in this deal, and if such claim be rejected as aforesaid or not confirmed as aforesaid, or in case the said Elias Rector, his heirs, executors or assigns, shall be evicted therefrom as aforesaid, that then, and either of these cases, the said Elias Rector, his heirs, executors, or assigns, shall by proper deed of release and quit-claim, transfer to said Risdon H. Price, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, the claim of said Elias Rector, his heirs, executors, and assigns, said premises at the time of receiving the said consideration money, interest, and costs Aforesaid.

In witness whereof, we have hereto set our hands and seals, this 22nd day of June, 1816

Risdon H. Price (SEAL)

Mary G. Price (SEAL)

Elias Rector (SEAL)

Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Jerh. Connor, M. P. Laduc."

CHAPTER IV.

PIONEER LIFE

FIRST DWELLINGS THE HOMINY-BLOCK-SPIRIT OF HELPFULNESS-EARLY FARMING IMPLEMENTS-PIONEER WOMEN-EARLY PIONEER DESCRIBED, HIS HABITS, HOME, BEE-HUNTING.

In the preceding chapter, the history of the Central Boonslick coun- try has been traced from the year 1804 to 1812, with special reference to its initial beginning between the years 1810 and 1812. The settlers mentioned by name in that chapter, who blazed the way through the wilderness for us an'd advancing civilization, have builded wiser than they knew. They were experienced pioneers with hearts of gold. With ruddy health and hardy sinews, they coped with and conquered the wilds. They despised the coddling ease of luxury and the wintiy winds, sleets and snows, had no terrors for them. They determined the time by the shadows, and guided their paths at night by the stars. They knew the approaching storm. The sky was to them an open look. Schooled in woud-craft and learned in Indian lore, they tracked their game and fol- lowed the trail of the savage. They read the story of the broken twig and fallen leaves. Their vision was piercing, and their hearing acute. Accountered with rifle, hunting knife and axe, they contested with the forest, and wrested from it food, shelter, and raiment.

Their first care was to protect themselves from the blasts of Feb- ruary, the month in which they arrived. The first shelter they erected was a cross between a hoop cabin and an Indian bark hut. Soon after, however, the men assembled for the real cabin raising. The forest fur- nished the timber, and from it the strong arm of the pioneer with his axe, fashioned logs. The earth supplied the clay. None of these first cabins is now in existence, but the following is a fair description :

First Dwellings .- "These cabins were of round logs, notched together

HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

at the corners, ribbed with poles, and covered with boards split from a tree. A puncheon floor was then laid down, a hole cut in the end and a stick chimney run up. A clapboard door was made, a window was opened by cutting out a hole in the side or end two feet square, and finished without glass or transparency. The house was then "chinked" or " "daubed" with mud, and the cabin was ready to go into. The household and kitchen furniture was adjusted, and life on the frontier was begun in earnest.

"The one-legged bedstead, now a piece of furniture of the past, was made by cutting a stick the proper length, boring holes at one end one and a half inches in diameter, at right angles, and the same sized holes corresponding with those in the logs of the cabin the length and breadth for the bed, in which were inserted poles.

"Upon these poles the boards were laid, or linn-bark was interwoven consecutively from pole to pole. Upon this primitive structure the bed was laid. The convenience of a cook-stove was not thought of, but in- stead, the cooking was done by the faithful housewife in pots, kettles and skillets, on and about the big fire-place, and very frequently over and around, too, the distended pedal extremities of the legal sovereign of the household, while the latter was indulging in the luxuries of a cob- pipe, and discussing the probable results of a deer hunt on the Missouri River or some of its small tributaries."

"The acquisition of glass windows was impossible for these first settlers. When white paper could be secured, it was greased and used for window panes, through which the light could come. The doors were fastened with old-fashioned wooden latches, and the latch-string always hung out for friends and neighbors. These humble domociles sheltered happy hearts, while palaces, with all their splendor and riches many times have been but the resting place of misery.

"True it is, that Home is not four square walls, Though with pictures hung and gilded, Home is where affection calls, Around the hearth that love hath builded."

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History of Cooper County, Missouri, Part 5

Author: Johnson, William Foreman, b. 1861 Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Topeka : Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1464

Author: Johnson, William Foreman, b. 1861
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Topeka : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1464