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 23
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 23
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- SEBREE.
The town of Sebree was laid out on a part of the southeast quarter and part of the northeast quarter of section 18, township 50. range 14. The town was located on the projected line of the Lou- isiana and Mississippi railroad. The road, however, never having been built, the town did not thrive.
BURTON TOWNSHIP. - BOUNDARY.
Burton town-hip was created in 1880. It was taken from Prairie, Richmond and Bonne Femme townships. Its boundary as fixed by the county court, is as follows : Beginning at the Randolph county line between ranges 15 and 16; thence south to the line between sections 19 and 30, township 51, range 15; thence east one mile ; thence south one mile to the line between townships 50 and 51 : thence east to the line dividing sections 35 and 36, township 51. range 15 ; thence north to the county line : thenee west with said line to the beginning. It adjoins Randolph county on the north, Bonne Femme township on the east, Richmond township on the south, and Prairie township on the west.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
A portion of this township is prairie. The general surface i- uneven, but as an agricultural region it is perhaps not surpassed by any other township in the county. The township is watered by the Bonne Femme and Salt Fork creeks. Both limstone and coal are found.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
For early settlers, see Prairie, Richmond and Bonne Femme townships.
BURTON.
This town is located on the line of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad, and contained a population in 1880, of 129: the ' population now ( 1883) is considerably more. The business includes several stores, general assortment, a blacksmith shop, etc. The Patrons of Husbandry have at this point ( the only one in the county) a co-operative store. There is a hotel and one church edifice. The railroad company have here a good and sufficient depot.
BONNE FEMME TOWNSHIP. - BOUNDARY.
Bonne Femme township remains as it was originally formed, in 1821, excepting sections 11, 14, 15, 22, 23, have since been taken off, and added to the new township of Burton. Bonne Femme is situ- ated in the northeastern portion of the county, and is bounded on the north by Randolph, on the east by Boone county, on the south by Moniteau township, and on the west by Burton and Prairie townships.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
This town-hip, like Howard county generally, is a timbered di :- triet, there being all the varieties known to this latitude. The surface is hilly and undulating, and in some portions of the township, the country is broken and the soil is thin. Limestone abounds. The Bonne Femme and Moniteau creeks, which empty into the Missouri river, are fed by numerous small tributaries, which have their source in this township.
EARLY SETTLERS.
The first settlers of Bonne Femme, like the early settlers of the other townships, have all passed away. Among these, were Mr. Winn, the father of Judge G. J. Winn ; there was also Henry Myer, whose father lived at Myer's post-office ( Bunker Hill), which was named after him. Bunker Hill contains a post office, a blacksmith shop, and store. Myer was prominent in politics, having been a member of the State senate. There were among the prominent old settlers Ellis Walker and Charles Literal. Among others, were James Dougherty, Sr., Franklin Dougherty, John T. Dougherty, Joel J. Greggsby, Benjamin T. Saunders, M. H. Baily. Thomas Ancill, John Ashbury, John R. Hitt, George W. Potter, Bird New-
.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
man, James G. Muir, George Kirby, J. H. Blakely, Enyard Moberly, Daniel Palmatory, Daniel Gilvion, Jacob C. Williams. Jackson Harris, William K. Woods, Peter Woods, Silas B. Naylor, Joseph B. Andrews, Wm. Jones, Wm. Arnett and John Fisher. The present population of the township has principally sprung from Kentucky and North Carolina. The people are a moral, industrious class of citizens, and are successful farmers, their principal products being wheat and tobacco, though grass is grown to advantage. The first church in this township, was organized by the Baptists, in 1819, at Myer's.
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CHAPTER XI.
BENCH AND BAR AND CRIMINAL RECORD.
Introductory Remarks - Bench and Bar of Old Franklin -Judge David Barton -- Judge George Tompkins - Judge Mathias MeGirk - Judge Abiel Leonard -- A Duei -- Judge Leonard and Major Taylor Berry the Participants -Correspondence between Them - Their Trip to Wolf Island - The Duel - Result - Judge David Todd - Charles French, Esq. - Governor Hamilton R. Gamble-Judge John F. Ryland - Bench and Bar of Fayette -Judge James H. Birch - Hon. Joe Davis - Judge James W. Mor- row -- Hon. Robert T. Prewitt - Governor Thomas Reynolds - General Robert Wil- son -- General Jobn B. Clark, Sr. - Judge Wm. B. Napton - Present Members of the Fayette Bar - Criminal Record- General Ignatius P. Owen - Washington Hill and David Gates - Price Killed Allen Burton - Lucky and Satfarans -- Hays Killed Brown - Oliver Perry McGee Killed Thomas P. White - John Chapman Killed -- Stephen Bynum Killed .Joel Fleming - Murder at a Picnic.
Horace Greely once said that the only good use a lawyer could be put to was hanging, and a great many other people entertain the same opinion. There may be cause for condemning the course of certain practitioners of the law, but the same may be said within the ranks of all other professions. Such men should not be criticised as lawyers. doctors, or the like, but rather as individuals who seek through a pro- fession that is quite essential to the welfare of the body politic as the science of medicine is to that of the physical well being, or theology to the perfection of the moral nature, to carry out their nefarious and dishonest designs, which are usually for the rapid accumulation of money, although at times far more evil and sinister purposes, and which are the instincts of naturally depraved and vicious natures. None of the professions stand alone in being thus afflicted. All suffer alike. The most holy and sacred offices have been prostituted to base uses. And it would be quite as unreasonable to hold the entire medical fra- ternity in contempt for the malpractice and quackery of some of its unscrupulous members, or the church, with its thousands of sincere and noble teachers and followers, in derision for the hypocrisy and deceit of the few, who simply use it as a cloak to conceal the inten- tions of a rotten heart and a corrupt nature, as to saddle upon a pro- fession as great as either. the shortcomings of some of its individual members.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
By a wise ordination of Providence, law and order govern every- thing in the vast and complex system of the universe. Law is every- thing - lawyers nothing. Law would still exist, though every one of its professors and teachers should perish from the face of the earth. And should such a thing occur, and a new race spring up, the first in- structive desire of its best men would be to bring order out of chaos by the enactment and promulgation of wise and beneficial laws. Law in the abstract is as mueh a component part of our planet as are the elements, earth, air, fire and water. In a conerete sense, as applied to the government of races, nations, and people, it plays almost an equally important part. Indeed, so grand is the seienee and so noble are the objects sought to be accomplished through it, that it has in- spired some of the best and greatest men of ancient and modern times to an investigation and study of its principles, and in the long line of great names handed down to us from the dim and shadowy portals of the past, quite as many great men will be found enrolled as members of the legal profession as in any of the others, and owe their greatness to a sound knowledge of the principles of law, and a striet and impar- tial application of them. Draco, among the first and greatest of Athenian law-givers, was hailed as the deliverer of those people be- cause of his enacting laws and enforcing them for the prevention of vice and erime, and looking to the protection of the masses from op- pression and lawlessness. It is true that many of the penalties he at- tached to the violation of the law were severe, and even barbarous, but this severity proceeded from an honorable nature, with an earnest desire to improve the condition of his fellow-men. Triptolemus, his contemporary, proclaimed as laws : " Honor your parents, worship the Gods. hurt not animals." Solon, perhaps the wisest and greatest of them all, a man of remarkable purity of life and noble impulses, whose moral character was so great, and conviction as to the public good so strong, that he eould and did refuse supreme and despotie power when thrust upon him, and thus replied to the sneers of his friends :
Nor wisdom's plan, nor deep laid policy, Can Solon boast. For, when its noble blessings Heaven poured into his lap, he spurned them from him. Where were his sense and spirit, when enclosed He found the choicest pray, nor deigned to draw it? Who to command fair Athens but one day Would not himself, with all his race, have fallen Contented on the morrow?
What is true of one nation or raee in this particular is true of all,
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
viz. : that the wisest and greatest of all law-makers and lawyers have always been pure and good men, perhaps the most notable exceptions being Justinian and Tribonianus. Their great learning and wisdom enabled them to rear as their everlasting monument, the Pandects and Justinian Code, which, however, they sadly defaced by the innmoralities and excesses of their private lives. Among the revered and modern nations will be found, conspicuous for their great services to their fel- lows, innumerable lawyers. To the Frenchman the mention of the names of Tronchet, Le Brun, Portalis, Roederer, and Thibaudeau ex- cites a thrill pride for greatness and of gratitute for their goodness. What Englishman, or American either, but that takes just pride in the splendid reputation and character of the long line of England's loyal lawyer sons? The Bacons, father and son, who, with Lord Burleigh, were selected by England's greatest queen to administer the affairs of state, and Somers and Hardwicke, Cowper and Dunning, Elden, Blackstone, Coke, Stowell, and Curran, who, with all the boldness of a giant and eloquence of Demosthenes, struck such vigorous blows against kingly tyranny and oppression ; and Eskine and Mansfield and a score of others.
These are the men who form the criterion by which the profes- sion should be judged. And in our own country, have we not names among the dead as saered and among the living as dear? In the bright pages of the history of a country, founded for the sole benefit of the people, and all kinds of people, who, more than our lawyers, are re- corded as assisting in its formation, preservation, and working for its perpetuity ?
The American will ever turn with special pride to the great Webster, Rufus Choate, William Wirt, Taney, Marshall, and a hun- dred others, who reflected the greatest honor upon the profession in our own country. And among the truest and best sons of Missouri are her lawyers, and even in the good county of old Howard, some of her most highly esteemed and most responsible citizens are members of this noble profession.
BENCH AND BAR OF (OLD) FRANKLIN.
Franklin was especially noted for its corps of able and profound lawyers, many of whom afterwards attained state and national repu- tations. Below, will be found brief, biographical sketches of the earliest and most prominent members of the Franklin bar beginning with --
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
JUDGE DAVID BARTON.
He was a native of Greene county, Tennessee ; of poor, but re- speetable parents. Settled in St. Lonis, before Missouri was admitted into the Union. He was the first United States senator elected from Missouri. Col. Thomas H. Benton was his colleague. He was the presiding officer of the constitutional convention of the state in 1820. Served in the state senate from 1834 to 1835. Ile was the first circuit judge, that presided over a Howard county court-in 1816 -- residing at Franklin. Although deficient in his early education, he possessed a good command of language and was an eloquent, sarcastic and witty speaker. He died near Boonville, Cooper county, in September, 1837, and left no family.
JUDGE GEORGE TOMPKINS.
Was born in Carolina county, Virginia, in March, 1780. Came to St. Louis, about the year 1803, and taught school and read law at the same time. He located in Old Franklin about the year 1817. He was a member of the legislature ( territorial) when that body sat at St. Charles. In 1824, he was appointed judge of the supreme court of Missouri. He died at Jefferson City in 1846. That he was a fine jurist and a man of spotless integrity, admits of no doubt. Like Judge Barton, he left no family.
JUDGE MATHIAS M'GIRK.
This popular and able jurist, was one of the first three judges appointed to the supreme beneh of Missouri, in 1820. He was a native of Tennessee. Was born in 1790. Came to St. Louis when quite young ; moved to Montgomery county, and afterwards settled in Franklin. He remained on the bench until 1841. His opinions will be found in the first six volumes of Missouri reports. He was a member of the territorial legislature and was the author of the bill to introduce the common law into Missouri.
JUDGE ABIEL LEONARD.
This eminent lawyer, was born in Windsor, Vermont, May 16, 1797. In 1819, at the age of 21 years, he came to St. Louis, descend- ing the Ohio river in a skiff from Pittsburgh. Remained in St. Louis but a few days and then started on foot for Franklin, which he reached after recovering from a spell of sickness, which he had at St. Charles. He, however, after teaching a six months' school in the vicinity of Franklin, located first at Boonville, where he remained two years and then returned to Franklin. In 1834, he was elected to the legislature ;
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
revised the laws of the state in 1834-5, and was appointed a judge of the supreme court upon the resignation of Gov. Gamble. As a jurist, he had no superior in the state. Judge Leonard moved to Fayette iu 1824.
A DUEL.
Having given above a brief biographical sketch of Judge Leonard, we deem it proper, in this connection, to mention the duel he had with Major Taylor Berry, and reproduce the correspondence that passed between the two gentlemen, prior to their meeting, which terminated so fatally to one of the participants. Major Berry, at the time of the difficulty, was residing in the town of Old Franklin. He was a Kentuckian by birth, high strung and quick to resent an insult, whether offered to himself or to his friend.
In June, 1824, a law suit occurred in the town of Fayette, in which Judge Leonard and Major Berry were interested as attorneys. Leonard had eross-examined a witness in court - a witness who had testified in the interest of Major Berry - and had done it in such a manner as to greatly offend both the witness and Berry. After court had adjourned for noon, the witness threatened to make a personal assault on Leonard in the street, should he meet him. Berry hearing of what the witness had said in reference to assaulting Leonard, told him to never mind, let him attend to Leonard. It was noticed that Berry held in his hand, a black, horse whip, and after Leonard had repaired to his boarding-house, and eaten his dinner, he was met by Berry, in front of the hotel, who struck him several times with the whip. Berry being a much stronger man physically than Leonard, the latter being unarmed too, could make but slight resistance. The insult thus offered, and the manner in which it was done, so outraged the feelings of Judge Leonard, as a man and citizen, that he at once determined to send Berry a challenge which he accordingly did.
The following is the correspondenee which took place between the parties : -
[ Leonard to Berry. ]
FRANKLIN, June 26, 1824.
SIR : I demand a personal interview with you. My friend, Mr. Boggs, will make the necessary arrangements on my part.
Yours, ete., . A. LEONARD.
MAJOR BERRY.
To which Major Berry replied as follows : -
FRANKLIN, Mo., June 28, 1824. SIR: Your note of the 26th has been received. Without
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
urging the objections which I might have to the note itself, or to the demaud it contains, I shall answer it, to redeem a promise which 1 made at Fayette (in passion ) that I would give you the demanded interview. My business, which embraces many duties to others. will require my personal attention until after the first of September next, after which time, any further delay will be asked from you only.
To make any arrangements, Maj. A. L. Langham will attend on my part. Yours, etc.,
TAYLOR BERRY.
Shortly before the meeting took place between Judge Leonard and Major Berry, Leonard was arrested by direction of Judge Todd. and required to give bond in the sum of $5,000 to keep the peace. lle said to the judge, " Name the amount of the bond, for I am de- termined to keep my appointment with Major Berry." Near the close of August, the parties, with their seconds and surgeons, proceeded down the river, having previously entered into - through their sec- onds - the following stipulation, to meet at some point near New Madrid on the Mississippi river, in the southern part of the state : --
We, Thomas J. Boggs and Angus L. Langham, appointed by Abiel Leonard and Taylor Berry to act in the capacity of their friends iu a personal interview they are to have, and to agree upon the terms by which the said parties shall be governed in the combat, do agree. the said Thomas J. Boggs for and on behalf of Abiel Leonard. and the said Angus L. Langham for and on behalf of Taylor Berry, to the terms and regulations following, to-wit : The place of meeting shall be at some point, either in Kentucky, Tennessee or Arkansas, which shall be most convenient to the town of New Madrid -the particulars to be determined by the seconds, who, for that purpose, as well as for the making of any other necessary arrangement, shall meet in the town of New Madrid on the third day previous to the time specified in this instrument for the personal meeting of the parties, at ten o'clock, A. M. The time for the personal meeting of the par- ties is fixed on the first day of September next, at ten o'clock in the morning. The arms to be used by the parties shall be pistols, each party choosing his own, without any restriction as to the kind, except that rifle pistols are prohibited. The distance shall be ten paces of three feet each. The position of the parties shall be side to side, so a> to fire without wheeling. When the parties have taken their po- sitions, the question " Are you ready? " shall be asked, to which the answer shall be " Yes. " If either party answer negatively, or in other terms, the question shall be repeated. When both parties an- swer " Yes, " the word " Fire " is to be given ; upon which the par- ties shall fire within the time of counting eight, which shall be slowly and audibly done. As soon as the person counting finishes, he shall order " Stop, " which shall be the word of cessation for that fire.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
The choice of positions shall be determined by lot, as well as the giv- ing the word. . The counting shall be done by the second who loses the word. If the pistol of either party shall snap or flash, it shall be considered a fire. If a shade cannot be obtained, the parties shall stand on a line across the sun.
A. L. LANGHAM, T. J. BOGGS.
Franklin, July 1, 1824.
The time for the meeting of the parties is changed to four o'clock, p. M. The dress, an ordinary three-quartered coat.
T. J. BOGGS, A. L. LANGHAM .
Point Pleasant, Aug. 31, 1824.
On their way to New Madrid, Judge Leonard and his second stopped over night at St. Louis, and while at the hotel, some of the police, who had, in some unknown way, heard of what was going on, went to the hotel to arrest Judge Leonard, but was frustrated by the ingenuity of Mr. Boggs. As they entered the room they asked for the judge, when Mr. Boggs rose and said, " That is my name. " They at once arrested him, which gave Leonard a chance to escape. Finding they had the wrong man, Mr. Boggs was released and proceeded on his way to New Madrid, where he arrived in good time. The place selected was Wolf Island, which is located in the lower Mississippi river, abont thirty miles below Cairo, Illinois. The writer hereof, visited the island in 1860, and can testify to the fact that no more fitting spot for such a meeting could have been found in all the coun- try. Here on this island, isolated from the main shore, with only their seconds and surgeons present, and beneath the shadows of an almost impenetrable forest, they fought a bloody duel --- one of the actors therein trying to vindicate his insulted honor, and the other fighting to redeem a promise " made in passion. " Berry fell at the first fire, shot through the breast, and would have finally recovered from the wound, which was not considered mortal, had it not been for taking cold. He had nearly recovered and was preparing to return home, when he contracted a cold and died at New Madrid. Dr. J. J. Lowery was Major Berry's surgeon, and Dr. Dawson, of New Madrid, was Judge Leonard's.
JUDGE DAVID TODD.
Few of the early judges of Missouri were better known than David Todd. He was a native of Kentucky, where he was born about. the year 1790, in Fayette county. He came to Missouri at an early
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
day, and located in Old Franklin. He was appointed judge of the Howard circuit. He was an impartial, conscientious and upright judge. He died in Columbia, Boone county, in 1859.
CHARLES FRENCH, ESQ.
Like Judge Leonard, the subject of our sketch was born in New England, - Hillsboro' county, New Hampshire,- about the year 1797. Soon after he attained his majority, he emigrated west and settled in Old Franklin, where he remained in the practice of law until 1839. when he settled in Lexington, Missouri. As a lawyer, his style wa> clear and strong. He was offered the judgeship of his circuit, but declined. In a fit of mental derangement, while visiting a friend near Lexington, Missouri, he cut his throat and terminated his life.
GOV. HAMILTON R. GAMBLE.
The subject of this sketch was a native of Winchester county, Virginia, where he was born November 29, 1798; came to St. Louis in 1818, and soon after removed to Old Franklin. He was appointed prosecuting attorney just after his arrival at Franklin. In 1824, he was appointed secretary of state by Gov. Bates. He then removed to St. Louis. In 1846, he represented Franklin county in the legisla- ture. In 1851, he became a judge of the supreme court - presiding justice. In February, 1861, he was made governor of Missouri. He filled every position to which he was called with marked ability, and died in 1864.
JUDGE JOHN F. RYLAND.
King and Queen county, Virginia, was the birthplace of Judge Ryland, that event occurring in November, 1797. He settled in Old Franklin in 1819 and practised law until 1830, when he was appointed judge of the sixth judicial circuit. In 1848, he was appointed judge of the supreme court. He died in 1873. He was one of God's noblemen, and bore the judicial robe with a dignity suited to the high and responsible position - neither strained nor assumed, but easy, natural and commanding.
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BENCH AND BAR OF FAYETTE.
Having given short sketches of the bench and bar of Old Franklin, we will now refer briefly to the early bench and bar of
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
Fayette, which became the county seat of Howard county in 1824 :
JUDGE JAMES H. BIRCH
came to Fayette, Howard county, Missouri, in 1827, and established the Western Monitor. He was formerly from Montgomery county, Virginia, where he was born in 1804. Hle was clerk of the lower house of the General Assembly in 1828-9; afterwards secretary of the senate and a member of the state senate. In 1843, he was ap- pointed register of the land office ; in 1849, he was appointed judge of the supreme court of the state. He was a member of the consti- tutional convention in 1861. He died in Clinton county, near Plattsburg, in 1878.
HON. JOE DAVIS.
He was born in Christian county, Kentucky, in January, 1804, and came with his parents to Missouri in 1818 and settled near Fayette. He was a clerk in the land office at Franklin, pursued the study of his profession part of the time with Gen. John Wil- son and the remainder with Edward Bates, of St. Louis. He first opened an office in Old Franklin, but afterwards removed to Fayette. Ile was one of the commissioners to lay out a road from Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was made colonel of a regiment in the Indian war, and commanded a brigade in the Mormon ditli- culties. He served in the legislature from 1844 to 1864. He died in October, 1871.
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