History of Dade County and her people : from the date of the earliest settlements to the present time, Part 6

Author:
Publication date: [1917]
Publisher: Greenfield, Mo. : Pioneer Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1128

USA > Missouri > Dade County > History of Dade County and her people : from the date of the earliest settlements to the present time > Part 6

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HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

remained on that camp ground until about 1861, when it was torn down and moved to the Jonathan Weir farm, where it was used for school and church gatherings. While the old building stood on the camp ground it was used for a schoolhouse, and here is where Helm Wetzel, Ples Mont- gomery, Arch M. Long and his brother, the Allisons, the Hoyles and the Weirs attended school. Tom Rankin was one of the early teachers in that school. He was after- ward made County Superintendent of Schools, the first one Dade County ever had. Rev. Rankin and Rev. Samuel Mitchell, and Luther Mitchell, all prominent in the early church work in the ministry, went to this school in their young days. In the year 1840 there was standing a log cabin, where the business house of Ed Shaw now stands, and this cabin was used for school purposes, a subscrip- tion school. Uncle Sam went to that school along with the McDowells, the Allisons, the Lacks, Aunt Matilda, the Latham girls, all attended this school. Aunt Matilda caused the entire class to hustle in order to keep up with her in the spelling class, as well as in the other branches of study. She is still living and is dearly loved by a host of people.

There were eight children born to the Father Weir home. They were all born in Cooper County. The family was brought to Dade County in ox wagons, with one little horse cart drawn by a horse, in which the mother rode the entire journey. They were nearly a week on the way. They grazed their cattle along the way. He had a good lot of cattle that he brought with him, some sheep and horses. When they arrived at the place where Greenfield now stands there was not a house there. The Allison house was standing in the northern portion of what is now the town. Father Weir, Nelson McDowell, a Mr. Anderson and John M. Rankin, the man who laid out the city of Greenfield, composed a committee to look for the county seat site. After much investigation, they determined that the site where Greenfield stands was the most feasible and, therefore, recommended that the county seat be located there. The old town spring was then a gusher and it at- tracted the attention of all the people, and was one great

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

cause of the committee selecting this as a county seat site. Rankin was also the county surveyor.

There were but few homes in the country then, the Lacks, the MeMillans, the Wetzels, the Longs, the Landers, the Allisons lived in the country. They were all newcomers and the country was new to each of them. The McMillans came in 1838 and the Scotts over on the Pennsylvania Prai- rie came in 1837. The Wetzels came about the year 1837. The nearest mill was then at Hulston. It was then called Campbell's Mill. During a dry season they were compelled to go to Bower's mill over on Spring River. The mail in those days came from Bolivar, and the nearest store was at Springfield and Bolivar. Jones and Wilson erected the first store building where the Dade County Bank now stands, about 1842. This was the first store in Greenfield. William K. Latham, who became postmaster, the first one, was at last given charge of this store. The first mail after Green- field had a postoffice was brought from Bolivar once a week. The first courthouse was on the ground where the Grether store now stands. It was a frame structure. After- wards a brick was built, which was destroyed during the war. The father and mother are buried in the Weir Cem- etery. The father died in 1848; the mother died in 1884. Transfer of land was made from father to son only once.

Judge Yancy was the first judge ; he was a Springfield citizen, and among the first attorneys, Little Berry Hen- dricks, John C. Price, Robert Crawford, a man by the name of Payne Otter, and one by the name of Finch. The early doctors were Tuttle and Chinneyworth.

He was present at the hanging of Pete Douglas. On the day of execution Pete was attired in white garments and driven to the place of execution. Uncle Samuel was there and witnessed it. He says it was the most revolting scene in his whole life. Rev. Mr. Gould made the prayer just before the execution.

The old wooden wheel clock furnished the time for the most favored, while those not so well favored depended upon the sun. They carded, spun and wove the cloth that made their garments. Hemp still comes in the Weir or-

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

chard, where the seed was sown nearly seventy-five years ago. The hemp was used to make ropes. The old saddle bags Father Weir used are still in possession of Uncle Sam. In 1853 William Wilson moved with his family from Tennessee to the Limestone country, and remained there one year and then sold out and went to Greene County. At this home is where Sam first met his wife, Mattie Wilson. After their going to Greene County Uncle Sam went too, every once in a while, until he returned with Miss Wilson as Mrs. Weir. This marriage occurred nearly sixty years ago, in 1858.

The first one buried in the Weir cemetery was John Davidson, an old bachelor, who was buried there before the year 1840. Father Weir planted an orchard when he first came here, and some of the old trees are still standing. They made their horse collars out of corn husks, and the hames were made of wood. The shoes were home-made and all the garments they wore were home-made.

Father Weir had five slaves and when he died he left them to his widow. He was a Jackson Democrat. He was a self-made man and never quailed at any responsibility that met him. He possessed a good library in those early days, one of the best in the history of Dade County.

The flies were so bad in this country at that time that the horses had to be kept covered during the summer and fall months. The old log house, now weather-boarded, the one Father Weir built in 1840, is still standing, and here is where Uncle Sam still lives. The family lives surround- ing the old homestead, except Don and Frank; Frank in Wichita and Don in Lamar, Colorado.

HISTORY OF THE WHEELER FAMILY IN DADE COUNTY.

In the year 1838 James Wheeler, the Grandfather of "Jim" Wheeler, was the first Wheeler to come to Dade County. Samuel Wheeler, Sr., father of Samuel Wheeler of Polk Township, went to Illinois from Tennessee in 1836, and came to Dade County in 1841. He put up a cabin in

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE .

Polk Township, east of the river, and entered a large tract of land between where the city of Everton now stands and Dadeville. Samuel Wheeler and his brother, Francis Marion Wheeler of Everton, are the only living repre- sentatives of this pioneer. Samuel was only 17 years old when his father came to Missouri. He was born in 1824 and now resides on the place where he has lived since 1866. Hle recalls the fact of the Kirby family being here when they came, and the Tarrant family coming a year or so afterward. John Tarrant was particularly an interesting pioneer, being one of the early assessors and tax collectors of the county. It was the practice in those early days to make the assessment and the collection at the same time, and then to carry the revenue in gold or currency, horseback, to Jefferson City. In 1841 the nearest postoffice was Spring- field, where his father, Samuel Wheeler, and his uncle, James Wheeler, did most of their trading. The first schools in the county were subscription schools and located at Pensylvania Prairie. In 1842 Samuel Wheeler, Sr., started a subscription school on the old Wheeler homestead, and taught the same two years. Afterward he taught school at several different places. The first church was a Baptist church, located northeast of Dadeville, and was destroyed during the war. It was called Mt. Pisgah. One of the early churches of the county was the Sinking Creek church. Four different buildings have been erected on this site. Rev. Thomas Kelley was one of the early preachers and married most of the early settlers. He died many years ago. In the early forties there was a traveling preacher in these parts, but his name and denomination has escaped the memory of the oldest settler.

In those early days gourds were used universally as drinking cups, salt and soap vessels and other purposes where metal is now employed. The school houses were built of logs, having but one door, and a "chink" removed for a window. The desks were planks put on pegs driven in the walls and held in place by notches in the ends of the pegs. The seats were split saplings, and the floors made of puncheons. No particular course of study was followed,

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

eachı scholar choosing his own studies and bringing the books he fancied most.

In clearing out the land the old "bull-tongue" plow was used and oxen the only teams. Horses were used only to ride. Mr. Wheeler recalls going to church in a large ox wagon. Each young fellow would get his best girl and pile into the Wheeler wagon with chairs. This wagon was drawn by two yoke of oxen, and since the traveling was slow it furnished a splendid opportunity to "spark," both going and coming.

Corn was ground largely by hand until the advent of mills. The usual method was grating the soft corn on a tin punched full of holes. The first mill on the Hulston site was known as the Pemberton mill. This was erected in 1840. Henry Pemberton was the miller, and ground wheat and corn. The bolting was done by hand. The threshing was done by tramping with horses. A hard piece of ground would be cleared off, the wheat piled on and the horses ridden in a circle. In the harvest, hand sickles were used, and a good hand could cut and bind one acre per day. One dollar per day was counted big wages for a harvest hand, many working for less. Rails were cut and split of a uniform length of ten feet, all the timber being small. Very little saw timber was to be found any place. The present growth of black oak were mere saplings in those days. Guy Clopton was among the very early set- tlers, coming in 1832. Also John Crisp's father and Ingalls came at about the same time. Guy Clopton set out the first orchard in Dade County, and tradition says that at one time the largest peach tree in the United States grew on the ground where Joseph Rubenstein's house now stands in Greenfield.

The largest apple tree in the state of Missouri was located on the old James Wheeler farm. It was 9 feet 10 inches in circumference, 7 feet from the ground.

Wild game, deer and turkey, were very plentiful in 1842. There were no bear here then, no Indians, and fish- ing was good. Uncle Samuel Wheeler freighted from Kan-

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

sas City to New Mexico, using six yoke of oxen, and greased his wagon with tar from old Tennessee.

Doctors being scarce in those days, medicine was largely of home manufacture. A favorite pill was made from white walnut bark, which when peeled upward, acted as an emetic, and if peeled downward was used as a physic. Among the early doctors to practice in Dade County, Dr. Perkins and Dr. Bender were about the first. Midwifery, which today is almost a lost art, was practiced extensively then. Naney JJulian and Grandma Wheeler traveled many miles on horseback and stayed for weeks at a time with patients on these errands. Large families and few deaths were the rule.

Samuel Wheeler says that in 1842 money was very scarce, there being no gold and only a little silver. Cows sold for $5.00 each; hogs were very cheap, and $40 would buy a fine horse. Corn sold at 10 cents per bushel, and whiskey, either corn or rye, could be had for 25 cents per gallon, and there was very little drunkenness.

Samuel Wheeler was born November 20th, 1824, son of Sammel and Margaret (Cowan) Wheeler. He had three brothers and six sisters, all of whom are dead exeept his brother, Francis M., living at Everton. He was married in 1859 to Mary Driskell, a native of Michigan, who was born August 16th, 1840. They have three children, two boys and one girl :

(1) David, born September 21st, 1860; lives in Colo- rado.

(2) Margaret, born in 1864, now the wife of William Landers of Dadeville.

(3) Lewis, born in 1873, married Anie Hurst, daugh- ter of Joe and Belle Hurst. Her father is dead, mother a widow and lives in Everton. They have four children :

(1) Emil D., married Eva Drummond, a native of Dade County.

(2) Rolen Joe.

(3) Evert.

(4) Mary Belle.

MISS BESSIE FEIESZE.

GREENFIELD HIGH AND GRADE SCHOOLS.

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

Lewis is farming in Polk Township. Farm consists of 120 acres. He lives in a frame house built by his father in 1871.

Samuel Wheeler is a Republican, a member of the Baptist church, served in the Home Guards during the war. In 1851 he was engaged in freigliting from Kansas City westward, and in 1852 he and his brother Marion went to the gold fields of California. They arrived in 1853 and left in 1857. He returned to Dade County via the Isthmus of Panama, bringing $1,500 in glittering gold with him, with which he purchased a home in Dade County.

Samuel Wheeler is still hale and hearty for a man of his years, and delights to talk of the old days in the county when their voting precinct was located on Sinking Creek, a distance of 12 miles, and when the voting was done vive roce, from president down, each man yelling the name of lis candidate, which a clerk recorded. All buildings were put up out of logs, and without nails. In making a roof they used a log for what they called an eave-pole, and upon this was put a log called a butting pole. Against this pole the roof boards were ended and the process followed till the roof was complete. All cooking was done on the fire- places, and pot-hooks were in common use. The crane was considered a wonderful invention. Horses, mules, hogs and cattle were driven to St. Louis and other distant places to market. Salt was brought from Sedalia. For many years Springfield was their nearest postoffice, and later, Green- field.

Chapter 4 MILITARY AFFAIRS.

Public Sentiment .- The great majority of the people of Dade County have always been loyal to the Government of the United States, notwithstanding the fact that many of them were reared under the influences of the institution of slavery. During the Mexican War the county furnished a company of soldiers under command of Capt. J. J. Clark- son that did excellent service.

When the late Civil War began, in 1861, the people of the northern half of the county were generally loyal to the Union, while many in the southern half were in full sym- pathy with secession and in favor of the Southern Con- federacy; but, upon the whole, a great majority of the citizens of the county were loyal to the United States. Some of the recent immigrants from the Eastern states-especial- ly Illinois-moved back, and there enlisted in the Union Army. Soon after the war began, John T. Coffee and other Southern sympathizers enlisted a number of men in Dade County, but, owing to the vigilance of the loyal citizens, who were forming organizations for the Union army, they were mostly taken beyond the limits of the county to be organized, and later a large number of men followed Price's army southward, and became Confederate soldiers, but there is no way of ascertaining their numbers.

Troops .- Several companies were organized within the county for the Union Army, of which mention is made as follows: Companies A and D, of the Sixth Regiment Cav- alry Missouri Vohinteers, were raised almost wholly with- in the county of Dade-their organizations being completed July 4, 1561. Abont the same time Company E, of the same regiment, was organized, having been recruited equally from Dade and Cedar Counties. Clark Wright, the princi- pal mover in the organization of Company A, became its

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

first captain, but was made colonel of the regiment upon its organization, and Thomas A. Switzler was mustered as cap- tain of the company. John H. Paynter and Thomas Stock- still were mustered in as first and second lieutenants there- of. The first officers of Company D were: Captain, Wil- liam H. Crockett, and lieutenants, Jesse C. Kirby and John C. Porter. The first officers of Company E were: Captain, AAustin Hubbard, and lientenants, Thomas Astley and Jas- per Burris. Company L, also of the same regiment, was raised, in July, 1862, from Dade, Polk and Greene Counties -more than one-half of the company being from Dade. The first officers of this company were: Captain, Jesse C. Kir- by, promoted from first lieutenant in Company D, and liou- tenants, J. W. Cormack and Luther D. Porter.

The companies comprising this regiment were first formed into three battalions, commanded by Major Wright, Major Wood and Captain Hawkins. Wright's battalion fought in the skirmishes of Copridge's Mills and Wet Glaize; Hawkins' in the battle of Fredericktown, and Wood's in the battles of Salem and West Plains. These three battalions were organized as a regiment, February 14, 1862, Major Clark Wright being appointed colonel : Ma- jor S. N. Wood, lieutenant-colonel, and Captain Hawkins, first major. The field of war occupied by this regiment was Southern Missouri, Arkansas and portions of Louisiana and Mississippi. It was often separated, the companies be- ing detached and sent to many different points, and were often engaged with the enemy. The regiment fought in the battles of Champion's Hill, Black River and Bridgeport, in Mississippi ; fook part in the seige and capture of Vicks- burg, also in the movement upon and capture of Jackson, and in many other movements. During the years 1864 and 1865, up to the time of muster out, it was stationed in the Department of the Gulf, where it participated in several engagements. Companies B, C, F, G, H, I and K were mustered out at expiration of term, in the months of De- cember, 1864, and January, 1865. The remaining compan- ies, A, D, E and I, composed of the veterans and recruits of the regiment, were mustered out September 12, 1865.

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

Late in the spring or early summer of 1862, a State militia company (Union) was organized in Greenfield, and on the day that the officers were elected and the organization completed, and all were sworn into the service by Enrolling Officer John B. Clark, of Dadeville, it was reported by a volunteer courier from the country, who came in "under whip and spurs," that a rebel force under Joe Shelby and John T. Coffee were advancing upon the town. At this instant the faithful enrolling officer, Clark, knowing that he was the one most desired and likely to receive the harsh- est treatment by the enemy, went to the home of W. K. Latham and asked the good lady of the house to hide him. This she did by putting him into a hole under the building -where vegetables were kept-through a trap door in the floor, over which she hastily spread a carpet. The enemy rushed into town and captured all of the new company, except a few who had retired to their homes in the vicinity, and searched eagerly for John B. Clark, but did not find him. All of the militiamen captured were sworn not to take up arms against the so-called Southern Confederacy. Afterward, upon being exchanged, nearly all of them vol- unteered in the United States service.

Company M of the Eighth Regiment Cavalry Missouri Volunteers was mustered into the service in August, 1862, about one-half of it having been recruited in Dade, and the other half in Polk County. The first captain of the com- pany was N. S. McCluer, who died at Forsythe, Mo., Jan- uary 24, 1863. His successor was Capt. Alfred Kennedy, who resigned February 24, 1865. He was succeeded by Capt. N. B. MeDowell, who was mustered out with the regi ment. The first lieutenant was Samuel G. Appleby, and the second, David L. Burnes. The regiment to which this com- pany belonged operated mostly in Southern Missouri and Arkansas and down the Mississippi, and participated in many different engagements. It was mustered out at ex- piration of service at Little Rock, Ark., on the 20th day of July, 1865, moving thence to Benton Barracks, Mo., where, on the 2nd day of August following, it received final pay, and the men dispersed to their respective homes.

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

Companies E. and I of the Fifteenth Regiment Cav- alry, Missouri Volunteers, were raised in Dade County early in 1863. The officers of the former were Capt. Edmond J. Morris and Lieutenants George F. Alder and Joel T. Hem- bree. The officers of the latter were Capt. John H. Howard and Lieutenants Robert Cowan and William K. Pyle. All of these officers served until the regiment was mustered out of service. Fight companies composing this regiment were, on the 1st day of April, 1863, organized at Mt. Ver- non, Mo., into what was known as the Second Provisional Regiment. On the 10th day of May following it was changed from the Second to the Seventh Provisional Regiment, and, in September and October following, another battalion was added to it. Afterward, under orders of the War Depart- ment dated June 10, 1864, the Seventh Provisional Regi- ment was mustered into the United States service as the Fifteenth Cavalry, Missouri Volunteers, for the term of twenty months dating back from November 1, 1863, from which time the men had been doing actual service as State troops, without pay. This regiment did excellent service in Southwestern Missouri and Northwestern Arkansas, in fighting and extinguishing guerrillas and bushwhackers. It was mustered out at expiration of service July, 1, 1865.

Effects of the Strife .- Dade County suffered terribly from the ravages of the war. On one occasion, during the early part, while the Union State Militia were occupying Greenfield, a party of guerrillas, in the interest of the Southern cause, and for the purpose of plunder, made a raid upon the town. So sudden was the charge that the militia- men had not time to assemble for defense, but each one, from the several houses where they happened to be, fired upon the enemy, killing one and compelling them to fall back. They fled southward and burned the houses of many Union men on their way. This and other depredations so enraged the militia that squads of them, sent into the coun- try, soon surpassed their orders and resorted to desperate measures in retaliation, such as burning the houses which harbored bushwhackers, whereupon both sides became in- furiated and more or less indiscriminately applied the torch

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

and killed defenseless men. A number of citizens were killed in their fields, or at their homes, or on the public roads, by unknown bushwhackers, and many dwellings and much other property throughout the county was laid in ashes. The capture of Greenfield and burning of the court- house has been mentioned elsewhere. Greenfield was occu- pied a portion of the time during the war by the militia, and at other times by detachments from the cavalry regi- ments previously noted. The many cruel depredations, the killing of individuals, and other atrocities committed in Dade County during the war period would furnish mate- rial sufficient in itself to fill a volume. Time, however, has served to mitigate these evil effects, and those who once fought as enemies, divided by bitter prejudices, have long since ceased to harbor ill feeling, and now work side by side, united in sentiment, with the one sincere ambition of promoting public good.

CIVIL WAR RECORDS AND PERSONAL LIFE OF RALEIGH J. SHIPLEY.

Greenfield, Mo., October 17, 1916.

I will try and give an outline of the names of the field officers and the names of the men that were in Company MI of the Eighth Missouri Volunteer Cavalry. I was the first man that volunteered in the company.

Field Officers :

Washington F. Gerger, Colonel, Steelville, Mo.

Elias B. Baldwin, Lieutenant Colonel, Naperville, Mo. John W. Lisenby, 1st Major, Springfield, Mo.

Joseph G. Rich, 2nd Major, Lebanon, Mo.

William J. Toed. 3rd Major, Neosho, Mo. Staff Officers :

Josiah Lane, Adjutant, Bolivar, Mo.

A. M. Sevier, Quartermaster, Neosho, Mo.

Luther J. Mathew, Com. Sy., Chicago, Ill.

E. A. Clark, Surgeon, Chicago, Ill.

F. H. Van Eatan, Assistant Surgeon, Jacksonville, Ill.

HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

Commissioned Officers of Company M :

First Captain Nathan S. McClure, Greenfield, Mo. Second Captain, Alfred Kenedy, Greenfield, Mo. First Lieutenant, Samuel G. Appleby, Greenfield, Mo. Second Lieutenant, David P. Burns, Bolivar, Mo. Non-Commissioned Officers :

1st. Nelson B. McDowell, Greenfield, Mo. 2nd. Benjamin W. McBryar, Greenfield, Mo. 3rd. Alexander Foster, Greenfield, Mo. 4th. James K. P. Jump, Bolivar, Mo. 5th. John D. Pitts, Bolivar, Mo. 6th. John M. Tarbett, Greenfield, Mo. 7th. Edward Bristow, Stockton, Mo. 8th. William H. Hook, Bolivar, Mo.

9th. James R. Stark, Greenfield, Mo. Corporals :

1. James S. Appleby, Greenfield, Mo.

2. Joseph H. Jump, Bolivar, Mo.

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History of Dade County and her people : from the date of the earliest settlements to the present time, Part 6

Author: Publication date: [1917] Publisher: Greenfield, Mo. : Pioneer Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1128

Author:
Publication date: [1917]
Publisher: Greenfield, Mo. : Pioneer Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1128