USA > Missouri > Howard County > History of Howard and Chariton Counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most official authentic and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri > Part 11
USA > Missouri > Chariton County > History of Howard and Chariton Counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most official authentic and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri > Part 11
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In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals, this 22d day of June, 1816.
RISDON H. PRICE, [SEAL. 7
MARY G. PRICE, SEAL. ]
ELIAS RECTOR. SEAL. 7
Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of derh. Connor, M. P. Ledue."
The above deed was acknowledged before Mary Philip Leduc,
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clerk of the circuit court within and for the county of St. Louis. It is quite an ancient deed and quite a lengthy one, and the old Spanish phraseology is ned - the word arpents in the description of the land.
FIRST MARRIAGES.
Below will be found verbatim copies of some of the earliest cer- tificates of marriages that occurred in Howard county, In the names of the parties assuming the marital relations, some one or more of our readers, may recognize their maternal or paternal ancestors : -
TERRITORY OF MISSOURI, COUNTY OF HOWARD.
{to-wit.
Be it remembered to all whom it may concern, that on the 10th day of May, 1816, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by law, a preacher of the gospel, etc., I joined in the holy state of matrimony Judish Osmon and Rosella Busby, of the said territory and county, as man and wife. Witness my hand, this 3d day of July 1816.
WILLIAM THORP.
I hereby certify, that on the second day of June last passed, I celebrated the rights of matrimony between John Cooley and Eliza- beth White, both of the county of Howard and territory of Missouri. Given under my hand, this tenth day of June, 1816.
JAMES ALCORN. J. P.
I do hereby certify, than on the 27th day of March last. I cele- brated the rights of matrimony between Elijah Creason and Elizabeth Lowell, both of the county of Howard and territory of Missouri.
Given under my hand, this 12th day of April, 1816.
JAMES ALCORN, J. P.
TERRITORY OF MISSOURI, HOWARD COUNTY. to-wit.
Be it known, to whom it may concern, that on the 26th of April, 1816, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by law, a preacher of the Gospel, I joined in the holy state of matrimony Abra- ham Barnes, and Gracy Jones of the said territory and county, as man and wife, satisfactory proof having been given of the legal notice as requested by law and parents' consent obtained.
Witness my hand, the 22d of April 1816.
DAVID MCCLAIN.
The marriages above mentioned occurred sixty-seven years ago. In those primitive days, among the early settlers, marriages were the result of love. There was not only a union of hands, but a union
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of hearts. The pioneer maiden made the faithful wife, and the sturdy backwoodsman the fond and trusted husband.
From that day forth, in peace and joyous bliss, They lived together long without debate ; Nor private jars, nor spite of enemies, Could shake the safe assurance of their state.
Eleven marriage certificates were recorded in the year 1816. One hundered and sixty-two marriages were recorded in 1882.
OLD FRANKLIN - LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT.
The town of Old Franklin was laid off opposite the present site of Boonville, in " Cooper's bottom," in the fall of 1816. It was lo- cated on a tract containing 100 acres. Benjamin Estill, David Jones, David Kincaid, William Head, aud Stephen Cole were appointed com- missioners to locate the county seat, which was first located at Hannah Cole's fort, as stated above. On June 16, 1817, the commissioners settled upon Old Franklin as the most suitable place for the location of the county scat, and to that place the records, documents, etc., were removed on the second Monday in November, 1817, the court being opened by the sheriff on that day at 2 o'clock p. m.
The land office for the district of Missouri was located at Old Franklin in 1818. Gen. Thomas A. Smith was appointed receiver and Charles Carroll register. The land sales occurred in the same year, November 18, 1818. The crowd in attendance upon these sales was said to have numbered thousands of well-dressed and intelligent men from all parts of the east and south.
MEMOIRS OF DR. PECK.
Wishing to give our readers the benefit of all the facts we have collated, in reference to that early period ( 1818 and 1819) in the his- tory of Howard county, we here insert some extracts from the memoirs of James M. Peek, D. D., a pioneer Baptist minister who visited this portion of the Missouri territory at the period mentioned. What he says was written from his personal observation, and is therefore not only reliable but deeply interesting : ---
* On Monday, December 22, 1818. I rode through the coun- try to Franklin, found a Baptist family by the name of Wiseman, where I had been directed to call. A ha-ty appointment was circu- lated, and I preached to a roomful of people.
Franklin is a village of seventy families. It is situated on the
1
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left bank of the Missouri, and on the border of an extensive tract of rich, alluvial bottom land, covered with a heavy forest, except where the axe and fires had destroyed the undergrowth, " deadened" the timber, and prepared the fields for the largest erops of corn.
If any one wishes to find the site of this flourishing town, as it then appeared to promise, he must examine the bed of the river di- reetly opposite Boonville. Repeated floods, many years since, drove the inhabitants to the bluff, with such of their houses as could be re- moved, where New Franklin now stands. At the period of our visit no town west of St. Louis gave better promise for rapid growth than Franklin. There was no church formed in the village, but I found fourteen Baptists there.
The country on the north side of the Missouri, above the Cedar, a small stream on the western border of the present county of Callaway, was known as Boone's Liek from an early period. Also under the same cognomen was the county designated on the south side and west of the Osage river. The particular salt- lick to which this appellation was first given was ten or twelve miles above Old Franklin, and about two miles back from the river. Tradition told that this spot. in a secluded place among the bluff's, was occupied by the old pioneer, the veritable Daniel Boone. for hi- hunting camp. But the name came from the late Maj. Nathan Boone, who in company with the Messrs. Morrisons, of St. Charles, maunfactured salt at the spring in 1806-7. About the same time a settlement was made on the Loutre and on Loutre Island. This settlement. except Cate Sans Dessein, was the veritable " far west " until 1810.
During the spring of 1810 several families from Lontre settle- nient, and a large number then recently from Kentucky, moved westward and planted themselves in the Boone's Lick country, then reported as the El Dorado of all new counties. Off from the river bottoms the land was undulating, the prairies small, the soil rich, and the timber in variety and of a fine quality. Deer, bears, elk, and other game were in abundance, and furnished pro- visions, and, in many instances, clothing, until the people could raise crops.
There were in all about one hundred and fifty families that came into the Boone's Liek country in 1810-11, when the Indian war stopped further immigration until 1815 or 1816. Twelve families settled on the south side of the river, not far from the present site of Boonville, and several more formed a settlement south of the Missouri, some ten or fifteen miles above Old Franklin.
Amongst the emigrants, both from Loutre and Kentucky, were not a few Baptist families and two or three preachers. A church had been organized in the Loutre settlement, a majority of which, with their church records, were amongst the emigrants, and became re- organized, and I think took the name of Mount Zion.
Soon the hostile Indians broke into these remote frontier settle- ments. It was in July, 1810, that a hostile band of Pottawatomies
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
came stealthily into the settlement on the Loutre, nearly opposite the mouth of the Gasconade river, and stole a number of horses. A volunteer company was raised, consisting of Stephen Cole, Wm. T. Cole, Messrs. Brown, Gooch, Patton and one other person, to follow them. They followed the trail across Grand prairie to Boone Lick. a branch of Salt river, where they discovered eight Indians who threw off their packs of plunder and scattered in the woods. Night coming on, the party disregarded the advice of their leader, Stephen Cole, an experienced man with Indians. He advised setting a guard, but the majority exclaimed against it, and cried " cowardice." About midnight the Indian vell and the death- dealing bullet aroused them from sleep. Stephen Cole had taken his station at the foot of a tree, and if he slept it was with one eye open. He killed four Indians and wounded the fifth, though severely wounded himself. Wm. T. Cole, his brother, was killed at the com- meneement of the fight, with two other persons. Next morning the , survivors reached the settlement and told the dreadful tidings, and a party returned to the spot, buried the dead, but found the Indians gone.
This was the first of a series of depredations, murders and robber- ies in these remote settlements that continued five years. The dis- triet of St. Charles had the Cedar for its western boundary. The Boone's Liek country was not recognized as within the organized ter- ritory of Missouri. The people were "a law unto themselves." and had to do their own fighting. Every male inhabitant of the settle- ment, who was capable of bearing arms, enrolled and equipped hin- self for defence. Each one pledged himself to fight, to labor on the forts, to go on scouting expeditions, or to raise corn for the commu- nity, as danger or necessity required. By the common consent of all these volunteer parties, Col. Benjamin Cooper, a Baptist from . Madison county, Ky., was chosen commander-in-chief.
Col. Cooper was one of Kentucky's noblest pioneers. He had also been a prominent man in the war with Indians in that district, pos- sessed real courage, cool and deliberate, with great skill and sagacity in judgment. He had also been an efficient man in the affairs of civil and political life, and a man of firmness and correctness as a fueraber of the church.
Among the principal officers who occupied subaltern positions as the commanders of forts and partisan leaders for detached field ser- vice, were Capt. Sarshall Cooper (a brother of the colonel), William Head and Stephen Cole.
To guard against surprise, the people, under the direction of their leader, erected five stockade forts :
1. Cooper's fort was at the residence of the colonel, on a bot- tom prairie. i'
2. McLain's fort ( called Ft. Hempstead afterward ) was on the bluff, about one mile from New Franklin.
3. Kincaid's fort was near the river, and about one and a half miles above the site of Old Franklin.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
4. Head's fort was on the Moniteau, near the old Boone's Lick trace from St. Charles.
5. Cole's fort was on the south side of the Missouri, about a mile below Boonville. Here the widow of W. T. Cole, who was slain by the Indians on Boone's Lick, with her children, settled soon after the murder of her husband.
These forts were a refuge to the families when danger threatened, but the defenders of the country did not reside in them only as threatened danger required. Scouting parties were almost constantly engaged in scouting the woods, in the rear of. the settlements, watch- ing for Indian signs, and protecting their stock from depredations.
With all their vigilance during the war, about three hundred horses were stolen, many cattle and nearly all their hogs were killed. Bear meat and raccoon bacon became a substitute, and even were en- gaged in contracts for trade. They cultivated the fields nearest to the stockade forts, which could be cultivated in corn with comparative se- curity, but not enough to supply the amount necessary for consump- tion.
Parties were detailed to cultivate fields more distant. These were divided into plowmen and sentinels. The one party followed the plows, and the other, with rifles loaded and ready, scouted around the field on every side, stealthily watching lest the wily foc should form an ambuscade. Often the plowman walked over the field, guiding his horses and pulverizing the earth, with his loaded rifle slung at his back.
With all these precautions, few men but would tread stealthily along the farrows. As he approached the end of the corn-rows, where the adjacent woodland might conceal an enemy, his anxiety was at its height. When these detachments were in the cornfield, if the enemy threatened the fort, the sound of the horn gave the alarm. and all rushed to the rescue.
It was in the autumnal season of corn-gathering that a party of these farming soldiers were hard pressed by a party of savages. negro servant drove the team with a load of corn. He knew nothing of chariot races among the ancients, but he put the lash on the horses. and drove through the large double gateway without touching either post as had been too often his unlucky habit. The Indians were on the opposite side of the clearing, saw their prey had escaped, raised their accustomed yell, and disappeared in the woods. "Oh, Sam !" said the captain, whose servant he was, " you've saved your scalp this time by accurate and energetic driving."
" Yes, massa, I tink so, " at the same time scratching his wool as if he would make sure that the useful appendage was not missing. " De way I done miss dose gate-posts was no red man's business. I never drove trew afore without I hit one side, and sometimes hose of dem."
These pioneer Boone's Liek settlers deserve to be known and held in remembrance by the present generation in that populous and
r
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rich distriet of the State. I regret exceedingly, now it is too late, that I did not gather many more facts, and record the names of the principal families. They suffered as many privations as any frontier settlement in western history. The men were all heroes and. the women heroines, and successfully and skillfully defended their families and the country about three years without the least aid from the na- tional or territorial government. Throughout the war but ten per- sons were killed by Indians in all the settlements about Boone's Lick. Several other persons, besides those already mentioned, were killed in the Loutre settlements and below.
Those killed in the Boone's Lick country were Sarshall Cooper, Jonathan Todd, Wm. Campbell, Thomas Smith, Samuel MeMahan, Win. Gregg, John Smith, James Busby, Joseph W. Still, and a negro man. Capt. Sarshall Cooper came to his tragie end at Cooper's fort, where his family resided. It was a dark night ; the wind howled through the forest, and the rain fell in fittul gusts, and the watchful sentinel could not discern an object six feet from the stockade. Capt. Cooper's residence formed one of the angles of the fort. He had previously run up a long account with the red-skins. They dreaded both his strategy and his prowess in Indian warfare. A single brave erept stealthily in the darkness and storm to the logs of the cabin, and made an opening in the clay between the logs barely sufficient to admit the muzzle of his gun, which he discharged with fatal effect. The assas- sin escaped and left the family and every settler in mourning. Among a large eirele of relatives and friends, the impressions of their loss were vivid at the period of our first visit.
After nearly three years of hard fighting and severe suffering, congress made provision for raising several companies of " rangers "_ men who furnished their own horses, equipments, forage and provi- sious, and received one dollar per day for guarding the frontier set- tlements -- when a detachment was sent to the relief of the people of Boone's Lick, under command of Gen. Henry S. Dodge, then major of the battalion. The mounted rangers included the companies of Capt. John Thompson, of St. Louis, Capt. Daugherty, of Cape Gir- ardeau, and Capt. Cooper, of the Boone's Liek. An expedition under command of Capt. Edward Hempstead, was sent in boats up the Missouri. In the companies were fifty Delawares and Shawnees, and two hundred and fifty Americans. On the south bank of the Missouri, at a place now known as Miami, was an Indian town of four hundred, including women and children, who had migrated from the Wabash country a few years previous. They were friendly and peaceable ; but bad Indians would report bad tales of them, and Maj. Dodge under instructions, guarded them back to the Wabash country.
THE FIRST NEWSPAPER.
Scarcely had the pioneers emerged from their forts, wherein they had been immured for three years, before they began in earnest to establish schools and to set up in their midst the printing press.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
On the 23d of April, 1819, Nathaniel Patten and Benjamin Holli- day, two enterprising citizens, issued the first number of the Missouri Intelligencer in Franklin. This was the first newspaper published west of St. Louis. A full account of this paper is given in the chapter entitled " The Press."
ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST STEAMBOAT.
Perhaps one of the greatest events that occurred in the year 1819, in the then brief history of Howard county, was the arrival of the steamer Independence, Capt. John Nelson - the first steamboat that had ever attempted the navigation of the Missouri river. The Independence had been chartered by Col. Elias Rector and others of St. Louis, to ascend the Missouri as high as Chariton, two miles above Glasgow. She left St. Louis, May 15, 1819, and reached Franklin, in Howard county, on May 28. Among the passengers were Col. Elias Rector, Stephen Rector, Capt. Desha, J. C. Mitchell, Dr. Stewart, J. Wanton and Major J. D. Wilcox.
Upon the arrival of the Independence, a public dinner was giveu the passengers and officers. A public meeting was held, of which Asa Morgan, was chosen president and Dr. N. Hutchinson, vice-pre-i- dent.
The Franklin Intelligencer, May 28, 1819, in speaking of that event said : -
ARRIVAL OF THE STEAMBOAT.
With no ordinary sensations of pride and pleasure, we announce the arrival this morning, at this place, of the elegant steamboat Independence, Captain Nelson, in seven sailing days, (but thirteen from the time of her departure) from St. Louis, with passengers and a cargo of flour, whiskey, sugar, iron, castings, etc., being the first steamboat that ever attempted ascending the Missouri. She was joyfully met by the inhabitants of Franklin, and saluted by the firing of cannon, which was returned by the Independence.
The grand desideratum, the important fact, is now ascertained that steamboats can safely navigate the Missouri river.
A respectable gentleman, a passenger in the Independence, who has for a number of years traveled the great western waters, inform- us that it is his opinion, that with a little precaution in keeping cle:" ofsandbars, the Missouri may be navigated with as much facility as the Mississippi or Ohio.
Missourians may hail this era, from which to date the growing importance of this section of country; when they view with what facility ( by the aid of steam ) boats may ascend the turbulent waters of the Missouri, to bring to this part of the country the articles requi-
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site to its supply, and return laden with the various products of this fertile region. At no distant period may we see the industrious cultivator making his way as high as the Yellowstone, and offering to the enterprising merchant and trader a surplus worthy of the fertile banks of the Missouri, yielding wealth to industry and enterprise.
[ From the Franklin Intelligencer, June 4, 1819.]
. ARRIVAL OF THE INDEPENDENCE - PUBLIC DINNER, SPEECHES AND TOASTS.
On Friday last, the 28th ult., the citizens of Franklin, with the most lively emotions of pleasure, witnessed the arrival of this beanti- ful boat, owned and commanded by Capt. Nelson, of Louisville. Iler approach to the landing was greeted by a Federal salute, accompanied with the acclamations of an admiring crowd, who had assembled on the bank of the river for the purpose of viewing this novel and interesting sight. We may truly regard this event as highly important, not only to the commercial but agricultural interests of the country. The practicability of steamboat navigation, being now clearly demonstrated by experiment. we shall be brought nearer to the Atlantic, West India and European markets, and the abundant resources of our fertile and extensive region will be quickly devel- oped. This interesting section of country, so highly favored by nature, will at no distant period, with the aid of science and en- terprise assume a dignified station amongst the great agricultural states of the west.
The enterprise of Capt. Nelson cannot be too highly appreci- ated by the citizens of Missouri. He is the first individual who has attempted the navigation of the Missouri by steam power. a river that has hitherto borne the character of being very difficult and eminently dangerous in its navigation, but we are happy to state that his progress thus far has not been impeded by any acci- dent. Among the passengers were Col. Elias Rector, Mr. Stephen Rector, Capt. Desha, J. C. Mitchell, Esq., Dr. Stewart, Mr. J. Wanton, Maj. J. D. Wilcox.
THE DINNER AND TOASTS.
The day after the arrival of the Independence, Capt. Nel- son and the passengers partook of a dinner, given by the citizens of Franklin, in honor of the occasion. After the cloth was re- moved, Capt. Asa Morgan was called to the chair, and Dr. N. Hutchinson acted as vice-president, when the following toasts were drank : --
1st. The Missouri River. - Its last wave will roll the abundant tribute of our region to the Mexican gulf in reference to the auspices of this day.
2d. The Memory of Robert Fulton. - One of the most distin-
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quished artists of his age. The Missouri river now bears upon her bosom the first effect of his genius for steam navigation.
3d. The Memory of Franklin, the Philosopher and States- man. - In anticipation of his country's greatness, he never imagined that a boat at this time would be propelled by steam so far westward, to a town bearing his name, on the Missouri.
4th. Capt. Nelson. - The proprietor of the steamboat Inde- pendence. The imaginary dangers of the Missouri vanished before his enterprising genius.
5th. Louisville, Franklin and Chariton. - They became neigh- bors by steam navigation.
6th. The Republican Government of the United States. - By facilitating the intercourse between distant points, its benign influ- ence may be diffused over the continent of North America.
7th. The Policy .- Resulting in the expedition to the Yellowstone.
8th. South America. - May an carly day witness the navigation of the Amazon and LaPlata by steam power, under the auspices of an independent government.
9th. International Improvement. - The New York canal, an im- perishable monument of the patriotism and genius of its projector.
10th. The Missouri Territory. - Desirous to be numbered with states on constitutional principles, but determined never to submit to Congressional usurpation.
11th. James Monroe. - President of the United States.
12th. The Purchase of the Floridas. - A hard bargain.
13th. The American Fair.
VOLUNTEERS.
By C'ol. Elias Rector. - The memory of my departed friend, Gen. Benjamin Howard ; he was a man of worth.
By Gen. Duff Green. - The Union - It is dear to us, but liberty is dearer.
By Capt. Nelson - I will ever bear in grateful remembrance the liberality and hospitality of the citizens of Franklin.
By Dr. James H. Benson - The territory of Missouri - May she emerge from her present degraded condition.
By J. C. Mitchell, Esq. - Gen. T. A. Smith, the Cincinnatus of Missouri.
By Major Thompson Douglas. - The citizens of Franklin. Characterized by hospitality and generosity.
By Stephen Rector, Esq. - May the Missourians defend their rights, if necessary, even at the expense of blood, against the unprec- edented restriction which was attempted to be imposed on them by the congress of the United States.
By L. W. Boggs, Esq. - Major-Gen. Andrew Jackson.
By John W. Scudder, Esq. - Our Guests - The passenger- who ascended the Missouri in the Independence ; they have the honor to
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be the first to witness the successful experiment of steam navigation on our noble river.
By Benjamin Holliday - The 28th of May, 1819. Franklin will long remember it, and the Independence and her commander will be immortalized in history.
By Dr. Dawson --- The next Congress - May they be men con- sistent in their construction of the Constitution ; and when they admit new states into the union, be actuated less by a spirit of compromise, than the just rights of the people.
By Augustus Storrs, Esq. - The memory of Captain Lawrence. late of the navy - by the conduct of such men, may our national character be formed.
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