USA > Missouri > Mercer County > History of Harrison and Mercer Counties, Missouri : from the earliest times to the present : together with sundry personal, business, and professional sketches and family records : besides a condensed history of the State of Missouri, etc > Part 19
USA > Missouri > Harrison County > History of Harrison and Mercer Counties, Missouri : from the earliest times to the present : together with sundry personal, business, and professional sketches and family records : besides a condensed history of the State of Missouri, etc > Part 19
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Prior to the first settlement of the county it was traversed occa- sionally by the hunter, the trapper and the bee hunter. They had given names to many of the creeks and groves. It is reported that some bee hunters camped for a few days on the creek a few miles southeast of Bethany, and from the number of skunks they found there they called the creek Polecat, by which significant name it is known even unto this day. Big Creek was named by early settlers near where it empties into Grand River. Shain Creek was named after Thomas Shain, one of the first settlers upon its banks.
The time or place of the first settlement of the county is not defi- nitely known. Joseph Arnold, who is accredited with being one of the first settlers of the county, still lives a few miles south of Bethany.
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He says his father and Levi Hunt settled in this county in the spring of 1838. They stopped on the west bank of Big Creek, about five miles south of Bethany. When they came they found John Fields living on the east bank of Big Creek a little lower down; he had a lit- tle log hut and a small field enclosed and in cultivation, and had ap- parently settled there the year before. William Mitchell, Jacob Mitchell and others settled on Sugar Creek in the southeast part of the county, in the year 1838. During the years 1838 and 1839 several families settled in the county at different points, and the neighborhoods were generally known by the names of some of the more prominent of the first settlers. They had the names of Dunkerson's Grove, Tay . lor's Grove, Harris' Hill, Foster's Farm, Allen's Big Spring and other similar designations, by which different points were as well known then as they are now by the different towns and villages.
Efforts were made to obtain the names of the principal actual set- tlers prior to 1850, and to arrange them by neighborhoods, but it was found to be almost impossible, and accordingly they are here given alphabetically. These names have been taken from the public records, and interviews with some of the remaining pioneers.
John S. Allen, Stephen C. Allen, William R. Allen, Able W. Allen, Josiah Allen, Thomas Allen, William Allen, Samuel Alley, Sampson Alley, Benjamin Ashby, John J. Arnold, Joseph Arnold, Thomas Arnold, Benjamin Archer, William C. Atkinson, C. B. Adkins, Calaway Allen, David Buck, Henderson Buck, Bethuel Buck, John W. Brown, James Brown, John A. Brown, Asoph Butler, John Bedford, Jacob A. Brown, Thomas Brown, William S. Brown, Will- iam E. Burris, Aaron Bales, John Brooks, James Blakely, Jonathan Booth, Robert Bullington, Howell Blaketer, Benjamin S. Burns, Noah Bender, Jonathan Bender, William H. Bender, Daniel Bartlett, Joseph Bartlett, Wilburn Blankenship, Simpson W. Burgin, Dennis Burgin, Boon Ballard, S. Burson, Christopher Blessing, James Brady, Isaac Brady, Alexander C. Brady, E. J. Bondurant, Isaac Brown, B. A. Brown, Aaron Bridges, Allen Bridges, James Bridges, Adam Brown, E. T. Baldwin, Ed Baldwin, William Ballew, Elisha W. Banton, E. H. Brady, James G. Broughton, James B. Bell, Will- iam Barbee, Austin Bryant, Stephen Bryant, John Conduit, William Chambers, L. W. H. Cox, A. M. Cox, Fleming Cox, John W. Casebolt, Harrison Casebolt, Dennis Clancey, Lewis Charlton, Arthur Charlton, John Charlton, John Y. Creswell, William Clopton, William Cumming, Luther T. Collier, Lott Cain, William Crawford, W. W. Collins, John Cutshall, Eli Clevinger, D. C. Courter, Sam Courter, James
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Case, William Canady, John Q. Chambers, Luther Collins, Thomas M. Carnes, Thomas Dunkerson, James A. Dale, A. E. Dale, W. E. Dodd, Willis Dickinson, Philip Davis, John Duley, Pleasant Daniel, John Daniel, Thomas Daniel, Alfred Daniel, John Dorney, George Davis, Willis Daniel, John P. Devers, Willis Dickinson, Samuel Edmiston, John P. Edmiston, James M. Edmiston, Edward L. Ellis, Samuel Ellis, Aaron England, John D. Enloe, Anthony Enloe, Abram Endsley, Hugh Endsley, John H. Elliott, L. H. Elliott, Samuel P. Fleenor, Simon Fleenor, Thomas Flint, John Flint, John Fields, Dilwood Fields, Robert Ford, R. Y. Ford, John J. Ford, Samuel Ford, Herry Fuller, James Fuller, S. L. Fox, Elijah Fleming, Thomas Foster, John Foster, Levi Fields, Jesse Fowler, Matthew Franklin, Joel J. Fair, Asa Fleming, Richard Ford, Charles Fitch, Sam Fitch, William T. Foster, George Foster, George Fallis, John Faning, William B. Gillespie, Joseph Gillespie, John Gillespie, Jacob Gutshall, David Garton, Ananias Garton, Russell Guy, Benja- min Grubb, Thomas M. Geer, Noah Grant, Elkanah Glover, John Gibson, O. P. Green, Philip Harris, Joel Harris, David Harris, Isaac Hammers, William Hamblin, Thomas Hutchens, A. B. Harden, Edward Hunt, Joseph Hunt, Elijah Hubbard, E. L. Hubbard, E. S. Hughes, John J. Hatton, Marshall K. Howell, William W. Harper, Thomas Hart, Henry C. Hamilton, J. D. Hardin, Henry Herrington, Charles Hauck, Lewis Hunt, John Hudson, John W. Hobbs, E. H. Hobbs, John Hyde, Edward Higgins, William Hunter, Henry Hunter, Porter Hardin, John M. Haynes, Thomas J. Higgins, Nelson Hock- ridge, William Hamaker, Robert Hall, William Hall, William Hen- dricks, John Honan, W. B. Harper, J. J. Hogan, J. B. Hyde, Alex. Hinkley, Benjamin Harris, Granville Hogan, Joseph W. Harper, Enoch Holland, Shepard Hulse, Alfred Hickman, Charles L. Jen- nings, E. M. Jennings, Martin Jennings, Samuel O. Jennings, Miles Jennings, Ichabod Jincks, Lee P. Jones, John Jones, Joseph Jones, Joseph C. Johnson, Charles Killyan, John P. King, William King, Simon P. King, Jesse Kelley, William Long, Iven Low, Joshua Low, Alvin P. Low, Isaac N. Ladd, Thomas Ladd, William Lauderback, William G. Lewis, Joshua Looman, John Long, C. A. Long, John Ligget, Leonard Ladd, Jacob B. Ladd, William Liles, William Mitchell, Jacob Mitchell, John Mitchell, Daniel Mitchell, James M. Mitchell, Reuben Macey, Eli Mc- Daniel, F. H. Mckinney, Patrick McGill, Elisha Meeker, James Mallett, F. B. Miller, Cornelius Murphy, Daniel Morgan, William Munns, John McGinley, Charles Miller, S. C. Miller, Thomas
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
Monson, Hugh T. Monson, Adam Miller, Abram Myers, John Mc- Graw, Dr. J. G. Miller, William Martin, John Merifield, Rolla Merifield, Nathaniel Martin, Arch Montgomery, Kader Madden, Allen S. Meek, Jacob H. McLey, James Moss, John R. Maize, David Macey, G. M. Mendenhall, John G. Music, George W. Noah, Harrison Noble, S. M. Nelson, James Nash, William Nally, Samuel F. Neal, Henry O. Nevill, James M. Nevill, Hardin Oatman, Clem Oatman, John Oatman, John Oram, William Oxford, Jonathan Oxford, Jacob B. Oxford, Drury Obion, Samuel Prewitt, John Prewitt, Robert Peery, Peery, Logan H. Peery, John Poynter, Thomas Poynter, William Pilcher, James Powell, Anthony Plymel, Peter Price, Joseph Price, James Price, William L. Price, Veazey Price, Christopher Platz, Peter Pettit, J. A. Piburn, J. M. Piburn, William Robinson, James K. Rees, James Ramey, Benjamin S. Ramey, William Rice, Shedrick Robertson, Solomon Richardson, Hugh Ross, Samuel Ross, Jacob Ross, John E. Roberts, Henry Rice, James Rhodes, Perry Reed, John Ramey, Ephraim Stewart, Wright Stephens, William M. Selby, Vincent Smith, John W. Stevenson, John R. Scott, George Smith, Jonathan H. Smith, A. J. Smith, Ed. Smith, James Stone, Amos Spurgin, Eli Salmon, Thomas Shain, Noah Snell, Jacob Stumbaugh, Rod Stark, Charles M. Scott, Benjamin Salmon, R. H. Salmon, John Sanders, Daniel Shumate, G. W. Selby, Samuel Spires, William Smith, Sylvester Smith, Allen Scott, William Simpson, James N. Stafford, L. Dow Thompson, Thomas Tucker, Daniel Tucker, Beverly Travis, David Travis, William A. Travis, Hiram Tinney, John Taylor, Thomas Taylor, Chris Taylor, James Taylor, Thomas Thompson, Thomas Terry, Daniel M. Thomas, Elkanah Timmons, Reuben D. Tilley, Sanford M. Tilley, John Tull, Ben Tull, Jeptha Tull, Birdine Taylor, J. F. Thompson, Allen Turner, Silas Turner, John W. Virdin, Jesse Vail, Daniel Vanderpool, Isaac Vanhoozier, H. Vanhoozier, Valentine Vanhoozier, William M. Virdin, George Williams, Alfred Williams, John Williams, Andrew Williams, David Williams, John B. Williams, Richard Watson, Noah Whitt, Sharp Winningham, Elijah Wilcot, John Wilcot, Hiram K. Weddle, Calvin Williams, Adam H. Wilson, B. T. Wbedbee, Solomon Wilkinson, W. B. Weldon, Zachariah Weldon, Jonathan Weldon, Mark P. Wills, Daniel Walker, Richard Walker, Joel H. Worthington, Jeremiah Young, Harvey Young, R. R. Young, F. B. Young, William Young.
Of course it is not claimed that the foregoing is a full or com- plete list of all the early settlers, but it is believed to be a larger and more complete list than has ever before been published. In writing
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a history of the county for the "Atlas" prepared by Edwards Bros., in 1876, Col. Heaston made a list of early settlers embracing about one- half the names above given, to which we have added quite a large number. We are informed that hardly one-fourth of those whose names are above given are now residents of the county. A few of them have moved farther west to find cheaper land and scenes more congenial to their nature, but a large majority of them have gone to their last resting place.
The settlement of this portion of Missouri was made along the Missouri River, and extended thence northward. In 1820 Ray County was organized, and embraced all that part of the State west of Grand River and north of the Missouri River. The west line of the State was then on what is now the west line of Gentry County. From this magnificent expanse of territory, twelve counties have since bèen organized, so that Ray County may well be called the "Mother of Counties." On the 29th of December, 1836, Ray County and Cald- well County were organized with their present boundaries, and Daviess County was erected to occupy the territory north to the State line. Harrison County was not organized until 1845, having up to that time been included in Daviess County.
In 1840 Asoph M. Butler settled near where he now resides west of Big Creek, and near the south line of the county. He came from Vermont. About the same time John R. Maize settled near him. In the same year Thomas Taylor settled near the head of Polecat Creek, near where his son, Birdine Taylor, now resides. In early times it was a current remark that "Uncle Tommy Taylor" was the smartest man on Polecat, having shown his wisdom by settling so far up toward the head of the "critter." He evidently showed wisdom in the site of his location, for no better or more beautiful land is anywhere to be found.
John Foster settled near Antioch Church, four miles southeast of Bethany, in 1840. He is still living there, is very old, but yet able to work some. He was a very stout man, and it is said was always ready to fight for amusement, for trial of strength, or to defend the right.
Thomas Flint settled near him the same year. He was a minis- ter in the Christian Church, and continued to preach many years. He was an intelligent man, and did much good in properly directing the morals of the early settlers. He was appointed circuit clerk upon the first organization of the county, and died in office the next year. David and William A. Travis also came here in 1840. They settled a
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few miles northeast of Bethany. It is reported that David Travis was one of the best hunters of the early settlers, and in addition to other game occasionally killed an elk. In 1841 John W. Brown, Thomas Tucker, C. L. Jennings, E. M. Jennings, William R. Allen, and others, settled near where Bethany is. At that time there were no white settlers north of them, except a few at Fort Des Moines, where there was an Indian town and a fort. John W. Brown was one of the best known as well as one of the best citizens that ever lived in the county. . Before the organization of the county he was elected justice of the peace, or "squire," as he was familiarly called, and decided the cases for what little lawing there was, and the man who was not satisfied with his decision was set down as a contentious citizen. After the organization of the county he was both circuit and county clerk for twenty years.
The first settlements were made along the streams and in the edge of the timber. There were several reasons for this: Thereby the settlers were nearer wood and water; it saved them digging wells; they were . nearer the bee trees, for hunting bee trees for honey and beeswax was a principal industry, and the prairie sod was too tough to break with- out a team of four or five yoke of cattle, and it was so much easier there to erect their cabins. When a settler selected his location he cut down a number of trees, cut off logs the proper length, and then invited his neighbors to come and help raise his house. The neighbors were all those who lived within a radius of ten or twelve miles. When an invitation was given to a house raising, all other business was dropped, and all hands turned out to assist in the work. Not to do so was an act of incivility unknown in the first settlement of the new country. Four men were selected to "carry up" the four corners of the house. These were considered the honored men of the occasion, and he was the best man that could "carry up" the nicest corner. The top of each log was scored off to receive the next one, and the next log had a notch cut in it called the "rider" or "saddle" to fit upon the one beneath it, and the ends were then cut off smooth. The owner, or his hired help, would cut out places for doors, windows and fireplace. Trees were cut down and split into puncheons, out of which the floors and doors were made, and short boards, called " clapboards," were split for the roof. Logs were laid at proper distance to receive these boards, and other logs were laid upon them to hold them to their places. The fireplace and chimney were made of suitable timbers, but plastered with mud to prevent their burning. Thus the entire house would be erected and made ready for occupancy
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without any iron about it. The windows were usually left open for air holes in the summer, and were covered with cloths or greased paper in cold weather. It is said Judge A. M. Butler was the first settler in the county to use window glass in his house, and for this he was re- garded by his neighbors as putting on entirely too much style for these new settlements.
As soon as the cabin was completed the settler moved in, and then all hands went to work to open out a little farm, the women helping in this necessary work as well as in their household duties. The women were worth something in those days upon the frontier. Mothers then taught their daughters to play upon the spinning wheel and loom instead of the organ and piano. The music was more profitable if not so melodious. The men wore flax shirts and home- made woolen pants, and the women wore linsey-woolsey dresses; all the work upon manufacturing the material and making of which was done with their own hands. Occasionally some of the more wealthy ladies would have a calico dress, and then she was "fixed up."
A man could have all the land he wanted, that is he could claim all that he desired, and the settlers usually regarded each other's rights, and would not settle when or where there were any objections by the prior settlers. The immigrants generally brought some stock with them, such as horses, cattle, sheep, and a few hogs. They also brought some bread stuff and a scant amount of household goods, especially in the furniture line. The first settlers had to go down to Grand River, near Trenton or Gallatin, to get their corn ground into meal, or else they had to grit it at home. A gritter was made by taking part of an old coffee pot or piece of tin and punching it full of holes, bowing it up in the middle, and nailing the edges to a board with the rough side up. The corn in the ear was put into a kettle and boiled, then taken out, and when cold enough to handle was rubbed on the gritter to make it fine. It was then sifted through a com- mon sieve. Meal thus prepared made excellent mush or healthy johnnycakes. It was much better than nothing. In order to live in the new country the principal concern was to provide bread. There was plenty of wild game for meat, and the hollow trees were often filled with honey. The early pioneers say they were healthy, and felt happy as kings whenever they had plenty of corn dodger, honey and venison.
In 1840 Philip Harris settled west of Big Creek, a couple of miles southwest of Bethany, and, seeing the necessity of a gristmill, soon set to work erecting a mill on Big Creek. The next year he got his
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
mill in operation, and that stopped the gritting process in that vicinity. It is stated that the winter of 1842-43 was the coldest, most severe, and protracted ever known by the whites in this county.
.That fall Harris' mill froze up early, and remained in that condi- tion until the last of March. The snow was very deep, and, as might be expected with the few settlers, the roads were not good and not broken through the snow, and the gritters again were heard in the land. Some called the gritter Armstrong's mill, others termed the process "planing meal." But call it what you may, the hungry peo- ple, in the emergency, knew it was business. When winter finally broke Philip Harris started up again, and as he was never accused of taking too much toll, he was largely patronized. His extreme honesty is supposed to have kept him poorer than millers usually are. About 1844 Isaac Hammers settled at Taylor Grove. He erected a horse gristmill, so when the water got too low or froze up Harris' mill, the "hoss" mill could do the grinding, and this effectually put a stop to the gritting process. Each man going to this mill was expected to furnish the team to run the mill while his grist was being ground. Parson Allen says: "Did you ever, in cold weather, go twenty miles to a horse mill, and swing around the circle until you ground out a two-horse load of corn? If so, you have some idea of the circular work. To spin around that circle for four long, weary hours, of a cold, dark, dreary night, punching up the team, is no laughing matter. One might despair in this cheerless work were it not for the hope of hearing the cheering words, 'Your grist is out,' which the miller finally calls out through a chink in the logs. These words would bring renewed courage, and send a thrill of joy to the weary twister."
About the year 1840. John Gibson settled in the southeast part of the county, on Sugar Creek. Experiencing the trouble in gritting his meal, and going a long way to mill, he rigged up an ingenious handmill for grinding corn, and made very good meal. The neigh- bors patronized it so well that he attached horse power to it, and it was run in that manner for several years.
Edward Hunt and Joseph Hunt built a dam across Big Creek, near the south line of the county, about the year 1843, and put up a small corn mill, which did a good business for a number of years, and was a great convenience in that part of the county. Joseph Hunt was a blacksmith, and put up his shop at the same place about 1841. He did the horseshoeing, mending plows, wagons and other farm imple- ments for many years, and was a very useful citizen.
James Watson came from Indiana about the year 1841, and erected
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a mill on Big Creek, in Daviess County, a few miles south of Harrison County. This mill was largely patronized, and did a good business for many years.
At an early day Noah Snell built a mill on Big Creek, where the town of Brooklyn now stands. This was perhaps the best mill ever built on the stream, and for nearly thirty years did a good business grinding wheat and corn.
Dr. E. B. Bush built a mill on Big Creek, a few miles above Snell's mill, which ground corn and sawed lumber. It was kept up by the Doctor for about twenty-five years. Big Creek was a rapid stream, and not well suited for mill purposes. The water frequently got too low for mill purposes, and in times of great rains or overflows, from the extent of territory it drained, would become very high and swift, so it was difficult to erect dams that could stand the floods, and the proprietors found it too great expense and trouble to keep the dams in repair, and all the mills erected upon the creek have finally been abandoned. The Hunt and Watson mills were washed out and aban- doned long before the war, and the others were finally all given up about 1880.
Arthur Charlton erected a mill on Big Creek, a few miles north of Bethany, at an early day. At this mill they ground corn and sawed lumber. It was continued as a saw mill by Mr. Gates and Barnes un- til a few years ago.
Peter Cain was an early settler in Mercer County, a few miles east of Cainsville, which is named after him; at an early day he built a mill on Grand River, which he kept up and made a good grist and saw mill. It proved to be an excellent investment and a good location for a mill. It has always done a good business, and is one of the few water-mills that has been continued until the present.
C. L. & E. M. Jennings started the first steam mill at Bethany about 1851. They used it to grind corn and saw lumber. They con- tinued to run their steam mill at odd times, adding new parts and patching old ones for about fifteen years, when they sold out to Henry S. Laney, who added wheat buhrs and carding and spinning machinery until the present magnificent roller-mill and spinning factory is the outcome and legal successor of that humble beginning.
Incidents of Early Days .- At the time of the first settling of the county game was plentiful, such as deer, turkeys, prairie chickens and a few elk. There were also a great many wolves, coons, squir- rels and a few panthers. Wild plums, grapes, cherries, blackberries, strawberries and gooseberries were found in the timber in great abund-
14
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
ance. Hickory nuts, walnuts and acorns were plentiful, and there was no end to the hazelnuts. Hazelnut patches skirted and dotted nearly every prairie, so there was plenty of mast nearly every fall to fatten all the hogs the settlers wanted. The first settlers found a species of wild hogs running in the woods, though their meat was not very good, and the hides upon old male hogs about the neck and shoulders was sometimes an inch thick, and very tough.
Bees were found in nearly every hollow tree, with large amounts of honey, and the amount of beeswax that could be made was about measured by the wants and industry of the settlers. As stock was low, and the settlers at first had none to spare, and their tillable land limited, the principal source of income was from the honey, beeswax, furs and venison taken to market. For a few years after the first settling of the county the principal market place was at Liberty, in Clay County. The settlers operated together upon true grange prin- ciples. They usually met at some convenient place, each bringing his surplus honey, beeswax, pelts and other "productions," when they would load a wagon and " splice " team, and send one of their num- ber to Liberty, about eighty miles, to trade or sell their "produce," and get coffee, tea, salt, calico, domestic, ammunition and such other absolute necessaries as they could not raise or make themselves. Upon the return of the teamster they would meet again, and make proper partition of their goods and the remaining money, if any was left.
It is said that if any young lady was so fortunate as to get a new calico dress she was as happy as a queen just receiving her crown. Beeswax cakes were generally called "the yellow boys," and were used as currency among the settlers, generally passing at about 25 cents per pound. While the early settlers were generally industrious and honest, there were even then some among their num- ber that in their greed for gain would take an undue advantage, and even their yellow cakes were sometimes counterfeited with improper alloy. At one time when the teamster arrived at the trading post a cake of beeswax was found with a corner broken off exposing an inside filling of tallow. The counterfeit was returned to the dishonest owner, and so indignant were the honest settlers at his conduct and its tendency to bring their settlement into disrepute, that no teamster would afterward convey his produce to market, and the small stream upon which he lived was called "the tallow fork of beeswax," which name it retains even unto this day. Coon skins also passed current at 50 cents each, and mink skins at 25 cents. The State then allowed 50 cents for wolf scalps and the small taxes were mostly paid with that currency.
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As soon as a settlement became strong enough a log schoolhouse would be erected, and the children sent to school, for the settlers be- lieved in education, and generally expressed themselves as knowing how inconvenient it was to do without it. They also expected that some day this would be a desirable country and well settled up, and those who were here first, having the choice of the land, would then be the best fixed and leading citizens, and their children ought to be educat- ed so as to maintain their position and dignity; besides they had all "come from somewhere" although they now lived in a new and wild country. No burdensome school tax was levied upon the people, and each paid his own school bill direct to the teacher, and no portion of it was lost in useless circumlocution or stolen by dishonest officers.
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