USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 21
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"The county judges who came into office in 1872 thought that they would arrest the issuing of the bonds on that subscription, and to that end they employed Parks and Gantt, local lawyers, and George Vest and myself to resist their issuance. We brought an action of injunc- tion before Judge Avery, then of the Court of Common Pleas, as most accessible, and we were right about it. But we were not up to the practices and habits of the syndicates of those days for before we had got out our injunction they had issued their bonds and put them into the hands of a gentleman of this county who, armed by an opinion of its validity by a distinguished old lawyer of this city, went on to New York and sold them to a man by the name of Nicolai for about ninety cents on the dollar-so our injunction was on the wrong fellow. Instead of branding the horse we branded the stable, and so the result was that Nicolai brought suit in Jefferson City on some matured coupons, and we defended it. I have seen, my fellow citizens, an assembly of great lawyers in this State, but I never saw such an array of able-minded and forceful lawyers as gathered around that court to engage in the discus- sion of questions involving this and other counties in the State. They were such men as Waldo P. Johnson, General John B. Henderson, James O. Broadhead and James B. Reynolds, General John B. Stevens and others, to say nothing of Vest and my humble self. That discussion covered three
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days. It was a battle royal. If there was anything left unsaid that could have been said, pro and con, I have never been able to discover it, and I want to say here and now one thing, I don't want you to forget that it has been most unjust to attribute the loss of that fight and the fastening on this people of that debt, to the federal judiciary. That court at Jefferson City was presided over by one of the ablest jurists of this land : learned, incorruptible and fearless Judge Dillon. The very moment we began that discussion we were confronted with the fact that the Supreme Court of this State in what was known as the Macon County case had held that the inhibitive provision of the Constitution in 1865 was only prospective in its operation and did not control or limit the operation of a charter granted to a railroad prior to the adoption of the Constitution, and that is, I guess, sound law. Our contention was that that so-called Branch Road Act of 1868 was in effect an independent enter- prise; that it could not legally nor honestly be taken on to the ante- cedent of the Tebo & Neosho railroad. But before that discussion had gotten cold the Supreme Court of this State in an opinion delivered by Judge Wagoner in what is known as the Greene County case held that under that branch railroad act a subscription could be made to any fund on an antecedent charter from which such branch started.
"It has ever been the settled rule of the federal jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States that whenever a certain construc- tion is given to the Constitution of a State or to one of its legislative enactments by one of the highest courts of the State, the Federal Courts are bound by it. In preparing my brief in that case I found an old act of the Legislature of 1860-61 which declared that 'it shall be unlawful for any county to subscribe to any railroad without first obtaining the vote of the people of the county.' As that act was prohibitive in its character and penal in its expression, and as it had been passed before any bonds were issued under the Tebo & Neosho railroad charter, my argument was that it cut up by the roots the subscription made by this county in . 1869-70, and Judge Dillon was so much impressed with that proposition that he took the case under advisement until the next term of court. And then what happened? I am not going to tell any tales out of school, but I just want to whisper in your ear the fact that between the adjourn- ment of that term of court and its convening the next fall, the Supreme Court of this State in what is known as the Clark County case wrote an opinion, and by one of the very men who had participated in the discus-
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sion of this question before Judge Dillon, holding that the act of 1860-61 did not have the effect to eliminate the power granted under former statutes of the State. Well, I am free to confess to you here today, fel- low citizens, I have never been able to comprehend that decision. It defies the laws of common sense and the force of human language and the only principle upon which I could ever explain it was that which I heard once in the court room of my old predecessor. Rider Hall was discussing be- fore him the construction of a statute and the old judge said: 'Mr. Hall, stop right where ye is, that statute means whatever this court sees fit to make it mean.'
"When Judge Dillon's attention was called to that decision in the Clark County case he said he felt constrained to follow it, and he said to me after court adjourned that but for that decision of the Supreme Court he was inclined to accept my contention and decide the bonds invalid. Well, we didn't resort to the usual alternative of going down to the corner grocery, getting a drink and cussing the court, but we did appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, but I had not more than gotten into the argument until Justice Bradley, with a voice that sounded like the crack of a whip and which I have never forgotten, leaned over and said to me, 'Mr. Philips, how can you expect this court, no matter what our individual opinion may be, to do in the face of the fact that your own Supreme Court has decided that the provision of the act of 1865 did not invalidate these bonds, that the act of 1868 authorized the sub- scription, and that the act of 1860-61 does not apply ? Whatever may be our opinion we are concluded by the decision of the court of last resort in your State.' The only answer I could make was that as these de- cisions of the Supreme Court of the State had not been made when these bonds were issued, that the Supreme Court of the United States ought to feel at liberty to exercise an independent judgment of its own. But it said that in view of the fact that the opinions were rendered be- fore the case had reached a conclusion in the Federal Court they were bound to follow it, so I was in the condition of the fellow who was blow- ing about his wonderful experiences in the mountains, he said he was out hunting one day and he was beset by a band of fierce Indians so he took refuge in a cave, and when he got in there he saw a huge bear with eyes blazing coming right at him, and at the entrance to the cave stood the Indian with painted face and a gleaming tomahawk in hand, coming right at him, and someone said to him 'Well, what could you
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do with the bear on one side and the Indian on the other, what could you do?' and he said, 'Well, I just died.' So between the Indians of our Supreme Court and the bears of the Supreme Court of the United States, I was literally scalped and done for.
"Well, what was to be done? What, my fellow citizens, could you have expected your lawyer to do under such circumstances? I felt about as bad as you did for I had lost my contingent fees. Mr. Vest and I came home and made our report to the judges of the Cass County Court, which we represented, and the judges of the Henry County Court and St. Clair County Court-that we had fought our battle and lost and that all that was left to be done was to endure what could not be cured, and our advice to the county was 'Get together and make the best adjust- ment and compromise you can. You can't avert the law of the land as declared by the Supreme Court of the land.' Henry County never hesi- tated one moment to accept our report. These were a brave and courageous people who loved honor more than they did money, and you made a compromise of seventy-five cents on the dollar for the greater part of it, and some you paid ninety cents, and some you had to take up at face value.
"Fellow citizens, I need not have told you when I began that I was an old man, for you see I talk a long time, but through the courtesy of the chairman of this committee, and the assistance of your county clerk upon my application I received reliable information about the his- tory of these bonds which I have reduced to writing in brief form and I want to read it to you:
"I have reduced to a condensed form the essential facts relative to railroad indebtedness of this county, for the sake of convenience and easy comprehension: (1) First subscription to the old Tebo & Neosho rail- road January 1, 1867, $150,000; second subscription January 1, 1870, $250,000; total, $400,000. These bonds bore seven per cent interest.
"In 1879 the County Court, through its commissioner, James B. Gantt, sold its stock in the road for $183,000, which was applied to the reduction of the bonded debt.
Clinton Branch.
"(2) January 1, 1871, the County Court subscribed to the capital stock of the Tebo & Neosho Railroad Company, for the benefit of the so- called Clinton branch, $200,000, making the total subscriptions $600,000.
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Compromised Debt.
"The county compromised the greater bulk of this indebtedness at seventy-five cents on the dollar, a small amount at ninety cents on the dollar, and a few remaining bonds, in order to get rid of the annoyance of further attempts at adjustment, were taken up at face value. So that it may be said with approximate accuracy, the indebtedness of the county was scaled down to about $475,000.
Taxes Collected From Railroads.
"Covering the period between the making of the subscriptions and 1914, the county, according to the best data we have, has collected from the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad, the successor of the old Tebo & Neosho Company, $318,645; from the Frisco branch, $102,700; from the Clinton branch, $97,584.75; total, $518,928.75.
"The city of Clinton, an integral part of the county, has collected taxes, in the aggregate, amounting to $10,392; from other cities and towns, through which the road runs, probably $4,000, making the aggre- gate $532,929; adding to this the $183,000 realized on sale of the railroad stock, makes $715,929.
"Because of the long period of time which the county took to pay off interest and principal, it is estimated that the aggregate paid by the county amounted to $1,223,319, which leaves the excess paid by the county $507,390.
Offset.
"But the county has received further benefits. The population of the county in 1872 was 17,401. In 1915 it is 31,595; gain in population, 14,193. Assessed valuation of property in 1872, $5,464,560. In 1915 it is 11,117,- 935. Gain in assessed valuation, $5,633,372.
Comment.
"The increase in population may not, at first view, seem large, but it is to be kept in mind that this is essentially an agricultural commun- ity, and there are no large cities in it. The lands being so desirable for farming, the owners are content and do not part with their homes readily. The valuation placed on them by the assessors is so low as to invite the owners to stay. I doubt not that the actual value of property in the county today is not less than $20,000,000. There are more heads of fami-
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lies in Henry County, in proportion to population, who are free-holders, than elsewhere in Central Missouri.
Continuing Benefits.
"The process of collecting taxes from the railroads will not cease with the burning of the bonds today. It will go on in an ever increasing ratio, for all time. This will invite immigration and capital to con- tribute to the burdens of taxation, and enable the county to add to all those things that make for the public welfare.
"Now, fellow citizens, in conclusion, speech is but dumbness for me to undertake to express to you what is in my heart as I stand here to- day delivering, doubtless, my valedictory address to this people. It will be another bright oasis in the long journey of my life and it will help to make the gulf stream of youth flow farther and farther into the arctic regions of old age."
CHAPTER XXVI.
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STATISTICS
SIZE OF COUNTY-NUMBER AND SIZE OF FARMS-FARM FIGURES VALUATION- NUMBER AND WORTH OF FARM ANIMALS-DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH- FIGURES ON ILLITERACY-POULTRY INDUSTRY-ACREAGE OF VARIOUS CROPS.
Statistical information as to Henry County is most illuminating. The years show steady progress in every way. The present limits of the county embrace 476,160 acres, of which 436,833 acres or 91.7 per cent of the total is in farms by the census of 1910. In 1900 there were 437,720 acres in farms. Under the census of 1900 370,976 acres in the county were improved, but this increased in 1910 to 376,261 acres, when 86.1 per cent of the total land in the county was in the improved class.
The average size of a farm under the census of 1910, the last avail- able, was 126.7 acres. Of this 126.7 acres on the average 109.1 was im- proved. The total number of farms in the county in 1910 was 3,448; in 1900 it was 3,447. Thus though there were many changes of owner- ship and sales of farms in the decade between 1900 and 1910, in this latter year there was only one more farm in the county than had been there ten years before. Under the last census there were two farms, so- called, of less than three acres; forty-five between three and nine acres, and one hundred and seventeen of from ten to nineteen acres. Thus one hundred and sixty-five of the farms listed by the federal officers were of nineteen acres or less.
Five hundred sixty-three farms were between twenty and forty- nine acres in size. Farms between fifty and ninety-nine acres numbered one thousand sixty-three, and those between one hundred and one hun- dred and seventy-four acres numbered nine hundred and sixty-five. As
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the farms get larger than one hundred and seventy-five acres the numbers fall off sharply. There were three hundred ninety-one between one hun- dred seventy-five and two hundred fifty-nine acres in extent-but two hundred forty-six between two hundred sixty and four hundred ninety- nine acres, and only forty-seven farmers owned farms of an average between five hundred and nine hundred ninety-nine acres. Finally there were, by this census, nine farms in Henry County of one thousand acres or more.
Of the farmers in the county under the last census there were three thousand two hundred and fifty-six who were native born white, one hun- dred and fifty-four foreign born white, and thirty-eight negroes. Of the 3,256 native born white men 2,037 owned the farms they operated; of the 154 foreign born white farmers 138 owned the land they tilled and of the thirty-eight negroes twenty-four were owners of their farms. About sixty- three per cent of the native white and negro farmers thus are listed as owners, while nearly ninety per cent of the foreign born whites had title to their lands.
One thousand two hundred and sixteen of the farms in the county operated by owners were free of all mortgage incumbrance, while nine hundred sixty-six had a total indebtedness against them of $1,194,453 with a total valuation of the incumbered farms of $4,283,347.
In 1910 there were 63.8 per cent of the total of all farms operated by owners, a slight decrease from 1900 when 64.4 per cent were operated by the men who held title to them. The value of the land and buildings in the farms operated by their owners totaled $15,458,476. The value of the land and buildings on the tenant farms amounted to $6,455,350.
The increase in land value and in the value of farm property in the years between 1900 and 1910 was remarkable. By the census of 1900 the total value of all farm property in the county was placed at $13,516,- 508, but in ten years it had increased to $27,248,189; a gain of 101.6 per cent. The value of the land also showed a gain of over one hundred per cent-advancing from $9,309,020 in 1900 to $18,811,754 in 1910. The buildings on the farms showed about the same increase-in 1900 being valued at $1,854,500 and in 1910 being $3,488,812. Land in Henry County in 1900 was valued at $21.27 per acre, but in 1910 it had advanced to an average of $43.06.
Three thousand three hundred and ninety-six of the 3,448 farms in the county reported having domestic animals on the premises and the
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value of the same reached the great total of $3,987,080. A total of 35,- 474 cattle were reported, 10,092 being dairy cows, 3,885 other cows, 3,562 yearling heifers, 3,946 calves, 4,609 yearling calves and bulls, 9,380 other steers and bulls. The value of the cattle amounted to $1,076,202.
There were 15,462 horses reported, 13,390 being mature horses, 1,551 yearling colts and 521 spring colts with a total value of $1,653,234. The farmers at the time of the census owned 4,935 mules, of which number 3,744 were mature animals, 895 yearling colts and 296 spring colts. A value of $635,540 was placed on these animals at that time. Properly included in these statistics are 122 asses and burros with a valuation of $26,485.
The total number of swine reported was 70,609, of which number 44,- 756 were mature animals and 25,853 were spring pigs. The Government estimated these to be worth $550,109. The county reported only 9,685 sheep, of which 5,992 were rams, ewes and wethers and 3,993 spring lambs. The sheep were valued at $44,663. Two hundred and ninety-three goats with a nominal value of $847 completes the list of domestic ani- mals as reported by the 1910 census.
The county reported 304,132 different individuals of the various sorts of poultry, having a value of $204,485, and had 3,566 colonies of bees, worth $9,008.
In 1900 the Government figures showed that the value of farm imple- ments and machinery owned in the county totaled $344,350, while in 1910 the value of this property had doubled, amounting to $745,750. Domestic animals, poultry and bees, which in 1900 were valued at $2,008,658, had more than doubled by 1910, when they totaled $4,201,873.
The distribution of the rural wealth in the county by the 1910 census is shown by computing percentages. On a basis of one hundred per cent, sixty-nine was in the farms themselves, 12.8 per cent in the buildings on the farms, 2.7 per cent was invested in machinery and implements and 15.4 in domestic animals, poultry and bees. Averaging the reports as shown by the census the average of all property for farms was $7,903, of which an average of $6,468 per farm was in land and buildings and $1,435 in machinery, implements, domestic animals, poultry and bees.
In common with the most of the rural communities of Missouri, Henry County showed a slight decrease in population in 1910 over the pre- ceding census of 1900 and even of the census of 1890. The decrease was practically uniform through the whole county and in some of the
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towns. However, Urich, Calhoun, Montrose and Deepwater showed slight increases, and Windsor a sharp growth, with Davis, Fairview, Tebo, Whiteoak, Windsor townships being a little larger; though the fact that Fairview and Windsor did not show a loss was due entirely to the faet that Deepwater was included in the limits of Fairview and the growing clay industries and the population attracted thereby in that thriving little city prevented the township from falling off in its population, while the Rock Island railroad and the growth of Windsor accounted for Windsor township growth.
By the last census the total population of Henry County was, as set forth in the above tables, 27,242, of whom 13,728 were males and 13,514 females. Of the males 13,306 were white and 422 were negroes; of the females 13,094 were white and 420 negroes. Seven thousand six hundred forty-nine males were of voting age, an increase of 123 over the census of 1900, when the voters of the county numbered 7,523. Six thousand two hundred ninety of the voters were white males of native parentage as compared with 6,073 white males of native parents ten years before. Seven hundred ninety-six white males were of foreign or mixed parentage as against 764 in the last preceding census. Four hundred fifty-five of the whites not of native parentage had both parents foreign born while 341 were of mixed parentage and 330 white males of voting age in the county were foreign born. In 1900 there were 431 foreign born white males in the county ; so in ten years the number of this class of inhabitants had decreased over 100, or more than twenty-five per cent. The negro males of voting age in 1910 numbered 233, which was twenty-two less than the enrollment in 1900. By percentages 82.2 per cent of the males of voting age were of native white parentage; 10.4 per cent were of for- eign or mixed parentage; 4.3 per cent. were of white foreign parentage and three per cent. negroes. Of the foreign born white 233 were natural- ized; two had first papers; eleven were aliens and eighty-four made no report and their status as to citizenship was unknown.
The question of illiteracy is always important. In 1900 5.3 per cent. of the population of the county of voting age was illiterate, but in 1910 this had been reduced to 4.7 per cent. or 362 individuals. Three and eight- tenths per cent. of the total native whites or 270 individuals were illiterates. Eleven or 3.3 per cent. of the foreign born white were illiterate and eighty- one or 34.8 per cent. of the negroes.
Taking the population of the county as a whole there were under the 1910 census 21,204 persons in the county ten years old and over. Of this
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number 715 or 3.4 per cent. were illiterate. There were 19,941 native white persons in this total of whom 2.4 per cent. or 488 individuals were illiterate. Of the 588 foreign born white persons in the county in 1910 thirty-seven, or 6.3 per cent., were unable to read or write and of the 67.5 negroes 28.1 per cent. or 190 individuals were in this uneducated class. The illiteracy however was largely confined to the older people, the splen- did school system being responsible for the gradual improvement of their deplorable condition. Evidence of this fact is found in the fact that while the total number of illiterates in the gross population of 21,204 aged ten years and over was 715 or 3.4 per cent. yet in the 6,088 persons between the ages of ten and twenty years there were only fifty illiterates or eight tenths of one per cent.
By the enumeration of 1910 there were 8,472 children in the county between the ages of six and twenty years of whom 6,220 or 73.4 per cent. were attending school. Statistics as to the ages of those in school are interesting and instructive. Of the total enumeration of children of school age 2,385 were between the ages of six and nine years and of their num- ber 2,114 or eighty-four per cent. were in attendance at the various schools. Between the ages of ten and fourteen years there were 2,839 children and of this number 2,729 or ninety-seven per cent. were in actual attendance. Between fifteen and seventeen years there were 1,674 children and sixty- two per cent. or 1,135 were in school, while of 1,575 between the ages of eighteen and twenty years only 342 individuals or less than twenty-three per cent. were in the schools. The total school enumeration between the ages of six and fourteen years was 5,224 and of this number 4,743 or 90.8 per cent. were in actual attendance. Between the ages of six and fourteen years there were 4,784 children of native white parentage with 4,380 or 91.6 per cent. in attendance; of the 284 native white of foreign or mixed parentage 91.2 per cent. or 259 children were in attendance. Only one foreign born child was in the county in 1910 and it was in attendance at school while of the 155 negro children within the ages last above specified only 66.5 per cent. were actually enrolled.
It is of interest to know that there were 6,463 dwelling houses in the county in 1910 and 6,557 families with a total population of 27,242. The statistics show that there was an average of 4.2 persons to a family and with a total school enrollment of 8,473 that the average of children of school age to the family was 1.3.
The population of the county decreased in the decade from 1900 to 1910 by 2.9 per cent., or 812 individuals. In the decade between 1890 and
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1900 the population decreased six-tenths of one per cent. or 181 people. With the land area of 744 square miles the population per square mile in 1910 was 36.6 and excluding Clinton (the only city of sufficient size to be excluded by the census) the rural population was 29.9 per square mile. However, excluding the incorporated cities and towns of Blairstown, Clin- ton, Montrose, Deepwater, Brownington, Calhoun, Urich and Windsor, whose population aggregated 11,102, the actual rural population was 21.7 per square mile with a total of 16,140 individuals. While the white popu- lation of the county decreased from 27,076 in 1890 to 26,962 in 1900 and then to 26,400 in 1910, the negro population decreased much more in pro- portion; for while there were 1,158 negroes in the county in 1890 they had decreased to 1,092 in 1900 and to only 842 in 1910.
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