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 15
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 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54
In the spring of 1846, I set out with my entire family for Califor- nia, and was captain of the train, composed of several families, and numbering twenty-eight wagons. Nothing unusual occurred to us till we struck the Humboldt. One day after we reached the river I was riding ahead of the train. when I met a man who halloed "Hurrah for California ! " He was so excited that it was with ditheulty Icould stop him. At last I succeeded and asked him what the news was. He said the American flag was flying over California. This was the first we knew of the Mexican war. When we reached the train one wild hurrah was heard from one end to the other, in which men, women and children all joined.
We struck the Sacramento valley on the 5th of October, 1846. That winter I stopped at Yount's ranche in Napa valley-a man who, in my opinion, did more for the early emigrants of California than all the Sutters ever did.
On the night of the 22d of February, 1847, I presided over the first political mecting ever beld by Americans in California, in a little village then called Yerba Buena, now known as San Francisco. The object was to co-operate with Fremont in forming a council to frame laws for our future government. He selected seven men - two Eng- lishmen:, two Mexicans, or Californians, and three Americans - old residents of the country ; but General Kearney superseding Fremont about this time, the council soon ceased to exist.
On the 4th of July, 1847, George Yount and myself gave the first public 4th of July dinner ever given in California. We had a large turn out, and everything passed off pleasantly : I still have the flag improvised for the occasion. It has the stripes of our un- tional flag, with a lone star, and the inscription, " California is ours as long as the stars remain. "
In the fall of 1847 I removed to Benicia, where I was appointed alcalde by Governor Mason, and was afterwards elected alcalde and judge of the first instance, for the country north of the bay of San Francisco and west of the Sacramento river. In the fall of 1854 I
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES,
removed to Colusa, where I have since resided. I was soon afterward elected justice of the peace, and re-elected several terms, holding that office for twelve successive years.
I voted three times for Jackson, and also cast iny vote for Van Buren, Polk, Pierce, Breckinridge, MeClellan, Seymour, Tilden and Hancock.
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CHAPTER VII. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.
Boundary - Physical Features -Early Settlers -Mary Jones' Recollection of Early Days -Kit Carson - Hardeman's Garden - Franklin - Its early History and Business Men - Its Talented and Distinguished Citizens - Santa Fe Trade - Lawyers, News- papers and Churches - Travel- County Seat changed to Fayette - A Letter - I'ost- masters of Old Franklin - New Franklin - Early Business Men - Lottery - Town Incorporated --- Population and Present Business-Secret Orders -- Estill -- Incidents of the ITighwater of 1844.
BOUNDARY.
Franklin township stands as it did when erected by the county court, in 1821. In area, it is about 50 miles square. It is bounded on the north by Richmond and Boone's Liek townships; on the east by Monitean township ; on the south by Cooper county, from which it is separated by the Missouri river ; and on the west by Boone's Lick township.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
Portions of this township are quite hilly ; much of the high land, however, is undulating. The soil is generally good, and is highly productive. The bottom land on the Missouri river, is of a superior quality and produces bountiful erops, especially of corn. The hill- lands grow excellent wheat, which is quite extensively raised in the township. This township is fairly drained, the chief water courses being Bonne Femme and Sulphur ereeks. The Bonne Femme and its afinents flow nearly south through the township and empty into the Missouri river. Sulphur Creek passes also south, a little west of the centre of the township, thence east through sections 32, 33, and unites with the Bonne Femme.
EARLY SETTLERS.
We have already ( elsewhere in this book ), given the name of one of the earliest settlers in Franklin township. This was an Indian trader, by the name of Prewitt, who was here prior to 1804. The next pioneers, who were possibly the first permanent settlers, of
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
whom we have any knowledge, who came to the township, were Win. Mouroe and wife, who settled in the township in the spring or summer of 1808; it is, however, not known precisely, where he first pitched his tent. They went to Kentucky the same year in company with others, and returned and settled in the same township in 1811. Andrew Smith and Amos Barnes were early set- tlers. coming in 1809, the former arriving on the 3d of July. James Alcorn, Price and John Arnold, Joseph and David Boggs. Robert and William Samuel, Townsend Brown. Christopher and Nicholas T. Burekhartt, Lindsay Carson and sons, " Kit," Andrew and Moses ; Charles and William Canole, Isaac Clark, Joseph, James and Perrin Cooley, James Cockrell. James, John, Peter and William Gleason, James Douglas, Daniel Darben, John Elliott, father of Col. N. G. Elliott ; Hiram, Reuben, Sarshall and Simeon Fugate, Reuben Gentry, Abner, John and Wm. Grooms, Alfred and Moses Head, Robert Hinkson, who moved to Boone county, Noah Katon, Joseph, William and Ewing MeLain, Joseph Moody, Mrs. Susan Mullins, Thompson Mullins, Wm. Pipes, Christopher, James, Jesse and Silas Richardson, John Rupe, Thomas Smith, John and James Sneathan, Joseph Still, John Stinson, Solomon, David and John Tetlers, Isaac and John Thornton, Jonathan Davis, Elisha and Levi Todd, James Phillips, Jesse Turner, Thomas Vanghan, Robert Wilds, Wi. Watkins. James Whitley. Rev. David, Joseph, William and Ewing MeLain were also some of the first settlers in the town-hip, and were connected with Fort Kincaid during the war of 1812.
Connected with Fort Hempstead, which was also located in Franklin township, were Amos, Jesse and Otto Allbright, Aquilla, Abraham, James, John and Shadrach Barnes, Robert Barclay, Camp- bell and Delaney Bolan. David and Henry Burris, Prior Duncan. Stephen and John Field, John Hines, Usebines Hubbard. Asaph and Daniel Hubbard, Joseph Jolly, since of JJolly's bottom, Cooper county ; John, David and Matthew Kincaid, Adam McCord, Daniel and John Monroe, John Mathews, Wm. Nash, Gilead Rupe, Enoch, Isaac and Wm. Taylor, Enoch Turner, Giles and Britton Williams, Frank Wood, and Henry Weeden. The above settlers all came prior to 1812.
MRS. MARY JONES' RECOLLECTION OF EARLY DAYS.
The only person now living in Franklin Township, who was old enough while living in Fort Hempstead to take cognizance of what was then passing, is Mary Jones, or, as she is familiarly called, " Aunt
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Polly Jones," formerly " Polly Snoddy." She is the daughter of Andrew Smith and Sarah Scribner, and was born in Pulaski county, Kentucky, in 1801. Her father emigrated to Missouri, St. Charles county, in 1807, and stopped for several weeks with his family at the hospitable cabin of Daniel Boone, the distinguished hunter and pio- meer, who had come from Kentucky to St. Charles county, in 1795. After remaining in that county until 1809, Smith came up the Missouri river, accompanied by his family and bringing all his worldly goods. These he transported on one of Daniel Boone's boats - a kind of keel boat which had been used by the latter when sending salt, peltries, ete., to St. Louis. The propelling power of this water-craft consisted of a very simple piece of machinery, to-wit : - a long pole, made gen- erally of some light wood, with an iron hook fixed in one end of it. One end of the pole was thrust down into the water, until it rested on the ground, and the other was adjusted to the arm. Against this the party or parties in the boat would push -- walking the entire length of the boat and then repeat.
The family reached Howard county, Franklin township, on the morning of July 30, 1809, and landed near a cabin which had been erected by Amos Barnes. After their arrival and settlement, they found that they were truly in a wild country, and that their neighbors were very few. Among these Mrs. Jones remembers. John Berry, David MeLain, and William Brown.
The family built a cabin and cleared a piece of ground, where they raised three small crops. In February, 1813, they went into Fort Hempstead, rather than return to St. Charles county, or Loutre island. The Indian war had commenced the spring before, and all the settlers were compelled to enter one of the forts, or seek another location, which would be out of danger. Sixteen persons left the fort for St. Charles county, but Andrew Smith determined to remain, and was made first corporal in Captain Sarshall Cooper's company. The two first settlers killed by the Indians (Todd and Smith ), were kin>- men of Mrs. Jones, the former a cousin and the latter her unele.
One among the first rumors of Indian outrages that occurred, Mrs. Jones says, happened in Cooper county ( then a part of Howard ). A pioneer by the name of Wm. Ramsey, after having erected a cabin, had occasion to leave home, going only two or three miles, leaving his wife and three children. While he was gone, a few of the Miami Indians went to the cabin where they found Mrs. Ramsey in bed, sick. Har- ing had the erysipelas in her head, her hair was cut short like a man's, and the Indians, believing her to be a man, killed her in bed. After-
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
wards, discovering that she was a woman ( hearing her children ery- ing and calling her mother), they took her body and roasted it on a fire which they made near the cabin, and burned her children after killing them with theirtomahawks. Among the early preachers in the fort, was Wm. Thorp, who was a Baptist. She spoke of another Baptist minister, Elder David MeLain, who was the first man to pro- claim the " Gospel of Peace" to the settlers of the Boone's Lick country.
Dr. James M. Peck, in his memoirs, speaks of Elder David MeLain as follows : ---
The only one that remains to be noticed is Elder David MeLain. He was the first Baptist minister that came from Central Kentucky to the Boone's Liek country with the first colony in 1810. Early in March, 1813, he started on horseback to Kentucky in company with a man named Young. They travelled withont molestation till they reached Hill's ferry, on the Kaskaskia river, the old trace from St. Louis to Vincennes, via Carlyle, the seat of justice of Clinton county, Illinois. Three families that resided here, being alarmed by Indian signs, had left the ferry for one of the settlements in St. Clair county. The ferry-boat being fastened tothe west bank, the twotravellers crossed with their horses, and had not proceeded more than half a mile before they were fired on by Indians. Mr. Young was shot, and fell from his horse. Mr. MeLain's horse was shot through the body, and fell, but the rider extricated himself, threw his saddle-bags into the bush, and ran for his life, with several Indians in chase. Soon after, all the Indians fell back but one stout, athletic fellow, that seemed deter- mined not to lose his prey. Elder MeLain was encumbered with a thick overcoat, with wrappers on his legs, and boots and spurs on his feet. The Indian fired and missed him, which gave him the chance to throw off his overcoat. in hopes the prize would attract the atten- tion of his pursuer. The other Indian- having fallen back, Mr. MeLain made signs of surrender as this one approached him, having loaded his gun. In this way he deceived his foe till he got within a few feet, when he assumed an attitude of detiance, watched his mo- tions, and, at the instant he fired. dodged the ball, and then, with all the energy he could command, ran for his life. The contest con- tinned more than one hour, during which his foe fired at him seven times. In one instance, as he threw his breast forward, unfortunately, he threw his elbow baek and received the ball in his arm. During the chase he contrived to throw off his boots and spurs. They had ron three or four miles in the timber bottom down the river, and at a bend came near the bank. Elder Melain found himself nearly ex- hansted, and it seemed to him his last chance of escape was to swim the river. He plunged in, making the utmost effort of his remaining strength, and vet he had to keep an eye constantly fixed on his wily for. who had loaded his gun for the eighth time, and from the bank brought
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
it to a poise, and fired a second time after MeLain dove in deep water. By swimming diagonally down the stream he had gained on his pur- suer, who, with the savage voll peculiar on such occasions, gave up the chase and returned to his band. Doubtless his report to the braves was that he had followed a " Great Medicine," who was so eharmed that his musket balls could not hurt him.
On reaching the shore, Mr. Melain was so exhausted that it was with the utmost difficulty he could crawl up the bank, for he was in a profuse perspiration when he plunged into the cold water. Ile was wet, chilled through, badly wounded, and could not stand until he had rolled himself on the ground, and rubbed his limbs to bring the blood into circulation. It was thirty-five miles to the Badgley settle- ment, where Elder Daniel Badgley and several Baptist families lived, which Mr. MeLain, after incredible effort and suffering, reached the next morning. There, with his wounded arm and a burning fever, he lay several weeks. till some of his friends came from the Boone's Liek settlements and took him to his family. A party of volunteers went over the Ka-kaskia river, buried Mr. Young, found MeLain's saddle-bags, with the contents safe, but saw no Indians.
Mrs Jones says, while in the fort, if any man went to sleep on his watch, while acting as sentinel, the penalty imposed for his contre- temps, was the grinding of as many pecks of corn with a hand-mill, as there were widows in the fort ( Hempstead). There were seven widows in the fort and each became the recipient of a peck of meal, whenever the sentinel slept on duty. James Barnes taught school in Fort Kincaid. Among the first blacksmiths in and out of the forts. were Win. Canole, Charles Canole and a man named Whitley.
The first school teacher outside of the forts, in the township, was Grey Bynum. who was also the first circuit court clerk. Mr. Bynum was a South Carolinian by birth, and came to Howard county among the first emigrants. His school was taught in a eabin which stood near the present Hiekman grave yard, and about one mile south of the present residence of Christopher Burekhartt.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SCHOOL HOUSE.
As the building in which this original school of the country was taught would be regarded in this day and age as something of an architectural wonder, we will describe it : -
It was erected by the people of the neighborhood ; was built of round logs, the space between them chinked and then daubed with mud. About five feet from the west wall, on the inside, and about five feet high, another log was placed, running clear across the build- ing. Puncheons were fixed on this log and in the west wall on which
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THISTROY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
the chimney was built. Fuel could then be used of any length not greater than the width of the building, and when it was burned through in the middle, the end; were crowded together ; in this man- ner was avoided the necessity of so much wood chopping. There was no danger of binning the floor, as it was made of dirt. The seats were made of stools or benches, constructed by splitting a log, and hewing off the splinters from the flat side and then putting four pegs into it from the round side, for legs. The door was made of clapboards; no windows. Wooden pins were driven into a log run- ning lengthwise, upon which was laid a board, and this constituted the writing desk.
Although not a professional teacher, Mr. Bynum esteemed it a --
Delightful task, to rear the tender thought, To teach the young idea how to shoot,
and achieved for himself such a reputation in the community that his patrons said -
He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one.
Attending this pioneer school, were the children of the neighbor- hood, within a radius of five miles. Among these, was Mrs. Jones, Matthew Kincaid, Porcas Kincaid, the Alcorn children, the Hubbards and others. Mes. Jones has in her possession two of the school books that she then studied. These are very old and faded in appearance. They are " Kentucky Preceptor" and " Lessons in Elocution," and were published about the year 1800. The date of publication of each was torn ont, but we ascertained about the time they were issued by reading some of their contents, treating of events which took place about the period mentioned. These books, were purchased by Daniel Boone, in St. Louis, between 1810 and 1812, whither he had gone with a load of skins aud furs. A few of the neighbors in Franklin township, from whom he purchased peltries, requested him to bring them some text-books, and these were two of the selections made by him.
Judge Abiel Leonard, also taught a school soon after his arrival in 1819, in the same township, near Old Franklin. Being an obscure and humble pedagogne, he afterwards reached the most honorable and exalted judicial position in his adopted State, - being appointed judge of the Supreme court, - which position he filled with marked ability, until he was compelled to re-ign on account of ill health.
The first marriage that occurred in Franklin township, and prob-
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
ably the first in Howard county, was that of Robert Cooper and Elizabeth Carson, in the spring of 1810. The ceremony took place at the residence (log cabin ) of the bride's father, Lindsay Carson, who was the father of " Kit" Carson, the great scout. The invited guests were numerous, embracing the entire neighborhood. Mr. Carson sought to make the occasion one of business as well as pleasure, for after the marriage had been solemnized, the male por- tion of the guests, assisted him in raising a house, the groom being one of the most active workmen present.
Mrs. Jones says the first birth in the county (and in Franklin township, occurred in the family of Elder David MeLain.
The first persons to die from disease were Daniel Monroe's wife and infant child.
Thomas Smith was the first shoemaker in all the Boone's Liek country, and his wife, Sarah, was an adept in the art of making moc- casins. Dr. Tighe was the pioneer physician of the township, and made his home for a short time at Andrew Smith's.
While Mrs. Jones was stopping at the house of Daniel Boone, in St. Charles county, she saw the old hunter eating raw-meat quite often. He seemed to be especially fond of raw venison and preferred it to the most delicately cooked and highly seasoned viands. His early life was such -living almost constantly in the woods -- that he was at times compelled to eat raw meat, and becoming habituated to the use of it, he learned to like it.
Mrs. Jones, is now in the eighty-second year of her age, and is in the enjoyment of good health and an excellent, vivid memory. She resides with her son, James Snoddy, who was a child by a former marriage. She is active and industrious, and voluntarily does her part of the household work - preferring a life of industry, even at her advanced age, to a life of indolence and ease.
When asked whether she would like to live over again the years of her pioneer life, she answered with much earnestness : " If I knew where there was such a country as this was seventy years ago, I would go to it, as old as I am." We hope that the brittle thread of life may be lengthened out to this octogenarian many spans, and that by and by it may be said of her : -
Of no distemper, of no blast she died,
But fell like autumn fruit that mellow'd long;
Even wondered at, because she dropt no sooner.
Fate seemed to wind her up for four-score years ; Yet freshly ran she on ten winter- more;
Till like a clock worn out with eating time, The wheels of weary life at last stood still.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTHIS.
Matthew Mullins and sister, who now reside in Franklin township, were also in one of the forts (Hempstead), in 1815, but being small children, respectively two and four years of age, they now have no recollection of any of the early events that transpired during that memorable era in the history of the county.
Mrs. Polly Jones, Matthew Mullins and sister are the only persons now living in Howard county, who lived in the forts. Ephraim MeLain, of Saline county, and Samuel Cole and Thos. MeMahan, and his brother Jackson, of Cooper county, also resided in the forts during the war of 1812, where they remained for several years. These are all the survivors of that early day that the author could hear of, now living in Howard and adjacent counties. There are doubtless a few others in California and elswhere throughont the country, but they are few in number, and are "Waiting by the river."
KIT CARSON.
Among the men who once lived in Franklin township, who afterwards achieved a notoriety in western annals, was the great scout, Kit Carson. He was born in Madison county, Kentucky, on the 24th day of December, 1809, and his father, Lindsay Carson, emigrated to Howard county in 1810, bringing his family with him. After their arrival, they built a cabin and raised two small crops and then with other old settlers in that portion of the county, went into Fort Kincaid. After the war, his father appren- ticed him to David Workman, who then resided at Franklin, to learn the saddler's trade. He remained with Workman two years; his labors becoming irksome, he left, and in 1826, he joined a party destined for the Rocky mountains. Crossing the plains at that day was a dangerous undertaking. There were then no guides and charts. and nothing indicating springs and camp-grounds. These oases of the American Sahara, had not at that time been pressed by the feet of the white man. They had been trodden only by the buffalo, the wild horse and the savage Indian. The man, therefore, who crossed the plains to Santa Fe, was in 'every sense of the word, a hero. Kit went into Santa Fe, New Mexico, which country thereafter became the field of his remarkable and daring exploits. He remained in that country, until his death, which occurred in 1869. Quite a number of his relations now reside in Howard county. Among these, are Ham- ilton Carson, his brother, and George H., James T., Frank, George W., and Dudley Carson, his nephews.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
HARDEMAN'S GARDEN.
In the history of Franklin township, we should not forget to mention " llardeman's garden," which was located about five miles above Old Franklin, nearly opposite to the mouth of the La Mine creek. It was a vine-clad, rose-covered bower, the prototype of the renowned " Tulip grove " of that public benefactor, Henry Shaw, of St. Louis. The founder of this celebrated garden, Mr. John Harde- man, was of German extraction, a gentleman of fortune, and pos- sessed remarkably fine taste in horticulture. Ile was ambitious to ex- eel in this inviting field, and to gratify his inclinations, laid off ten aeres in an exact square for a botanic garden, sparing neither expense nor labor in adorning it with fruits, flowers and shrubs, indigenous and exotic. Serpentine walks, paved with shells, conducted the ad- miring visitor through this charming court of Flora, where, amid zephyrs of the richest perfume, flowers of the most beautiful hue greeted the eye, and fruits of the most delicious flavor tempted the palate. It was a place-
Where opening roses breathing sweets diffuse, And soft carnations shower their balmy dews : Where lilies smile in virgin robes of white, The thin undress of superficial light; And varied tulips show so dazzling gay, Blushing in bright diversities of day.
This beautiful garden was finally engulfed in the Missouri river, the first encroachment of that treacherous stream occurring in 1826, when a large portion of it was swallowed up. Mr. Hardeman, how- ever, continued the cultivation of such portions of the garden as were left, until about the time of his death, which took place in 1829. A sweet honeysuckle still grows in the yard where Mary S. Hanna now lives, in Fayette, that was taken from the Hardeman garden in 1829. At the date mentioned, Mrs. Louise Boone, wife of Hampton L. Boone, and Miss Malinda Owen, daughter of General Ignatius P. Owen, of Fayette, made a visit to the garden and, when leaving, Mr. Harde- man gave them the honeysuckle, then a small vine. This is the only relic of that once far-famed and lovely garden that exists in this part of the country.
FRANKLIN.
This town ( named after Benjamin Franklin, the philosopher), afterwards called " Old Franklin, " in contradistinction to New Frank-
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