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 34
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 34
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).
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One of the advantages pertaining to a residence in a new country, and one seldom appreciated, is the fact that we can go back to the first beginning. We are thus enabled to not only trace results to their causes, but also to grasp the facts which have contributed to form and mould these canses. We observe that a State or county has attained a certain position, and we at once try to trace out the reasons for this position in its settlements and surroundings, in the . class of men by whom it was peopled, and in the many chanees and changes which have wrought out results in all the recorded deeds of
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mankind. In the history of Chariton county we may trace its early settlers to their homes in the Eastern States and in the countries of the Old World. We may follow the course of the hardy backwoods- man, from the " Buckeye " or " Hoosier" State, and from Ken- tueky and Virginia on his way West, "to grow up with the coun- try." trusting only to his strong arm and willing heart to work out his ambition for a home for himself and wife, and a competence for his children. Again, we will see that others have been animated with the impulse to move on, after making themselves a part of the com- munity and have sought the newer portions of the extreme West, where civilization had not penetrated or returned to their native heath.
We shall find something of that distinctive New England char- acter, which has contributed so many men and women to other por- tions of the West. We shall also find many an industrious native of Germany, as well as a number of the sons of the Emerald Isle, all of whom have contributed to modify types of men already existing here. Those who have noted the career of the descendants of these brave, strong men, in subduing the wilds and overcoming the obstacles and hardships of early times, can but admit they are worthy sons of illustrious sires. They who in the early dawn of Western civilization first " bearded the lion in his den," opened a path through the wilder- ness, drove out the wild beast and tamed the savage Indian, are entitled to one of the brightest pages in all the records of the past.
The old pioneers of Chariton county -the advance guard of Western civilization - have nearly all passed away ; those remaining may be counted on the fingers of one hand. A few more years of waiting and watching, and they, too, will have joined -
"The innumerable caravan, that moves To that mysterious realm, where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death."
Fresh hilloeks in the cemetery will soon be all the marks that will be left of a race of giants, who grappled nature in her fastnesses and made a triumphant conquest in the face of the greatest privations, disease and difficulty. The shadows that fall upon their tombs a- time recedes, are like the smoky haze that enveloped the prairies in the early days, saddening the memory and giving to dim distance only a faint and phantom outline, to which the future will often look back and wonder at the great hearts that lie hidden under the peaceful canopy.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
To preserve the memory of these brave men from oblivion, and to record their deeds of energy and noble daring, together with their early experiences as taken from their own lips, while preparing the wilderness to " bud and blossom as the rose," and to tell the story of the wonderful changes which have been wrought by the hand of pro- gress in " Old Chariton," will be the chief object of this book.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
The first white men to press the soil of Chariton county were supposed to be French fur traders who located at or near the month of the Chariton river. When they made this settlement is not known ; it is certain, however, that they were upon the ground prior to the year 1804, because during that year, Lewis and Clark while passing up the river by this point, say in their report : " The next morning, the 10th, we passed Deer Creek, and at the distance of five miles the two rivers called by the French the Charitons, a corruption of Thieraton, the first of which is thirty and the second seventy-five yards wide."
The oldest settlers now living in the county say they have always understood that the mouth of the Chariton river was settled by French fur traders. It may be that the fur traders were the first settlers in the county and that the Chariton river or rivers were named by the early French explorers. However this may be, the Chariton rivers had been seen and named ( so say Lewis and Clark ) as early as 1804 by the French ; whether they were fur traders or explorers we cannot now determine. The Chariton river, which now has but one outlet to the Missouri, had two in 1804.
The earliest permanent settler in the county, of which we have ¡ any account, was one George Jackson, who came before the war of 1812, and afterwards represented the county in the General Assem- bly. He located in the southern portion of the county, not far from the Missouri river. The next settlement was made about twenty miles from the present town of Brunswick, on Yellow Creek, by John Hutchinson and two or three others, with their families. These par- ties came from Howard county, in 1816; Hutchinson continued to reside there until his death, which took place in 1857. The first land sales took place in the fall of 1818, at Old Franklin, in Howard county. During that year the tide of immigration turned hitherward and the lands, in what is now known as Chariton township, were
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND. CHARITON COUNTIES.
rapidly settled, a few cabins being erected on the old town site of Chariton, even as early as the summer of 1817. In the former year ( 1818) the Missouri river bottom, west of the Grand Chariton river, was settled by James Earickson, afterward Senator and State Treas- urer : his son-in-law, Galton Turner, Archibald Hix, Samuel Wil- liams, Colonel John M. Bell, John Morse, Henry Lewis, Richard Woodson, John Doxey and others who occupied the country as far north as Bowling Green prairie.
At the same period Joseph Vance, Colonel Hiram Craig, Abra- ham Lock, Nathaniel Butler, Thomas Watson, Peterson Parks, Robert Hays, Samuel Burch, Samuel Dinsmore, James Heryford, James Ryan and Abner Finnell settled in the forks of the Chariton rivers. In Chariton township John Tooley, Samuel Forrest, Joseph Maddox and Thomas Anderson settled. During the same year Major Daniel Ashby, Abram Sportsman, Alexander Trent, John Harris, John Sportsman and Edward B. Cabell made a settlement on the bluff's. A small settlement was made on Salt creek and Clark's branch a little later, by William and John Beatty and Henry Clark and others. Clark's branch and Clark township were named after the above mentioned Henry Clark, and still perpetuate his name.
The original pioneer who located near the banks of the Grand river was Thomas Stanley. He was a great hunter, and spent much of his time in the woods or on the streams, where he indulged his propensities for sylvan sports and diversions to his heart's content. During the winter he lived in the hollow part of a huge sycamore log, keeping his fire outside. This habitation proved highly convenient, as it was large enough for him to move around out of the smoke when the wind was in the wrong direction. With such books as the settlement afforded he spent his long winter evenings ; a sycamore splinter dipped in raccoon oil supplied him with light ; wild game furnished his table, and here he lived as happy, if not as comfortable, as a prince.
General Duff Green, who was one of the pioneers, was upon one occasion a candidate for major of the militia, the opposing candidate being the celebrated Indian fighter, Colonel Cooper. Some misun- derstanding existed between them. Green was to address the voters on election day, and Cooper declared if he dared to do so he would take him down and chastise him. Green knew this, but commenced his speech at the appointed time. He saw Cooper making his way through the crowd, evidently intent on putting his threat into execu-
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tion. He continued his speech until Cooper was quite near, when, turning his eagle eyes upon him and laying his hand upon his sword, he mildly said : " Old gentleman, I respect your gray hairs." No further interruption occurred. Cooper, known to be a brave man, on being asked why he stopped, answered: "I saw something in Green's eyes to warn me to keep hands off." Green was elected. About this time, Green was appointed by Governor Clarke to distri- bute a quantity of goods to the Indians in these regions. One of the few steamboats then navigating the Missouri, was slowly making its way to the shore with the Indian goods on board. The copper pipe by which the steam escaped was made in the form of a snake, head ercet and jaws wide apart, and was placed in the water in front of the boat, and the steam gushed out at intervals with a loud snort. The Indians erowding the bank, watched the boat ( the first they had ever seen ), with intense interest ; as it came near enough for them to see the terrible snake in the water drawing it along, as they thought, the officer on board fired a small cannon. This was too much for the red man and away they went, flying in consternation through the woods in all directions, and it was not until the next day that they could be prevailed upon to return.
Nearly all the pioneers were men of intelligence, substance and energy, and well qualified to build up a new country. They rapidly opened farms and began early to ereet mills and manufacturing establishments for their own convenience. The first mill erected by them was located in what is now called Missouri township, and was known as Hooser's mill.
Major Daniel Ashby in speaking of this mill says : --
Not long after this we sent a delegate from the bluffs to a meeting down on the Missouri river, at the house of one Hooser, where a meet- ing from all the surrounding settlements was called to consider the proposition to build a mill, which shouldbe portable and be pulled around by horses. There was a man named Ben Cross, who was a good work- man in wood, that submitted a plan for such a mill as follows : A main shaft with a hole in the lower part when set upright. A beam passing through the shaft with it arranged so the horses could be hitched to each end of the beam, thus giving bearing power on the main shaft. Near the upper end of the main shaft, poles called arms were inserted, into which pins about a foot in length were placed. Around these was put a band some forty feet long. At one side there was an arrangement we ealled a trundle head, around which the
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band passed, twisted on the upper part of the trundle head. The iron ealled a driver was fastened and bedded into the upper stone or runner. The band was made of rawhide, soaked soft, ent and then twisted, and would last for a year.
The band would turn the trundle head and it would turn the stone which would grind the corn or wheat. This when completed was regarded with more curiosity than a locomotive in years after.
In a short time there was a combination formed to run the mill exclusively for the benefit of a few. Nowadays we would call it a ring or corner. A man named Hooser, and some of his brothers-in- law named Clark, living close to the mill, would grind a large quan- tity of meal for themselves, and when done would take out the ", balance iron and hide it, so no one else could use the mill. Those . living in the blutl' settlements had to go about twelve miles to get to this mill to have their grinding done, so if they could not grind when there, they would be sorely disappointed and make great com- plaint. The " ring" would tell them that the iron was broken and at the blacksmith's shop for repair. This company to whom the mill belonged had a constitution, signed by all interested, that provided among other things, that equal justice should be done in the use and repair of the mill ; when new bands were to be made that all should contribute their equal portion of the funds necessary to purchase the hides, all of which was to be determined by the number of each fam- ily capable of eating bread. This elique or "ring " would always provide a good supply of meal for themselves about the time the old band was pretty well worn, then hide the iron in a hollow log, which they ealled Clark's shop, as there was a blacksmith of that name living in Old Chariton.
However, we learned of the deception that had been practised ou us and were naturally considerably wrathy. At one of these times when they were practising their frauds, Ihad been down in Howard county, and was passing by the mill. I found them all collected at the mill and saw they had just placed the balance iron in its place to grind up a supply of meal for themselves. As soon as I saw this, it made me angry and I rode up to where they were collected and said, " I see you have got the iron from Clark's shop." I was answered by Reuben Clark, who was the leader of the gang and bully amongst them, who replied in a make game manner, " Yes, we have got it from Clark's shop." His reply and his manner made me mad enough to tight. " Well," said I, " there have been more infernal lies told
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about this mill than it is worth, and if I had a knife I would eut that old band to pieces." Reuben Clark said, "Here is a knife, sir," handing me a large clasp knife, with which he was whittling. I took the knife, jumped over the fence, went to the band and ent it in two. I then walked around the mill and about the middle of the band I cut it again. I took one half of the band and wound it up in the shape of a collar and put it around my horse's neck. Handing the knife back to Clark, I again mounted and was in the act of riding off, when Hooser spoke to me and said, " If there was any law for it. I would make you pay for cutting that band." I replied, "No doubt of it, for I never doubted your meanness, and I will further say I consider the whole set of you a pack of unprincipled scoundrels who dare not resent any insult a gentleman may think proper to pass upon you." After this I rode off with a single comrade by the name of Morse, who was travelling with me. I returned home and constructed a similar mill on a smaller scale out of the material I had from my old mill. After this we had no trouble on the bluffs abont milling.
The first steam mill was erected near the town of Old Chariton in 1820, by a man name Findly. This was destroyed by fire in the winter of 1823-24, and was a great misfortune to the people who lived in this region of country.
CHAPTER H.
Physical Features -Climate - Health - First Settlements made in the Timber - The Seasons since 1844 - Mineral Resources - Coal - Sandstone - Cavern - Cement -- Fauna and Flora of Howard and Chariton Counties.
STREAMS.
Chariton county is watered by the following streams : Grand Char- iton river, Little Chariton, East, Middle and Muscle Forks of same, Salt, Lake, Palmer, Yellow and Cottonwood creeks, and Bee Branch and its tributaries. These streams flow generally south and are well distributed in almost every part of the county.
The surface of the county is an undulating plane, there being, how- ever, several marked elevations and depressions in the vicinity of the Missouri river and the ereeks. The surface in most places is far from being flat, and there is a perfect system of natural drainage. From some of the highest points the eye commands views of exquisite loveliness, embracing the silvery course of river and creek, the way- ing foliage of trees, the undulating surface of the prairie, with eul- tivated farms, farm houses - from the log hut of the first settler, to the brick or painted houses and barns of the more advanced cultivators of the soil, and the palatial mansions of the wealthy capitalist.
Chariton county is well watered, as before stated, by many streams, the principal being the Missouri river. All the streams are timbered. The surface of the earth in some portions is quite broken and un- even, but as these portions are generally covered with timber, they are none the less valuable. In other parts of the county, the land near the streams is rather level in some places, but the very superior system of drainage renders it unsurpassed for agricultural purposes. The high table lands away from the streams are unsurpassed for fertility. The " divides," as they are called, embrace three belts of land, and extend nearly the whole length of the county north and south. The soil is chiefly a rich loamt of vegetable deposit with a porous subsoil. The depth of the vegetable deposit, which has been
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
aceunmilating for ages, varies from two to six feet, and is inexhaustible in fertility. The case with which the soil is ecultivated is an important. item to the farmer. One man with a team ean tend from forty to sixty acres of corn. There is comparatively little waste land in the county. Such portions as are not well adapted to the cultivation and growth of wheat, corn and other cereals are the best for grazing lands. The county presented to the first settlers an easy task in subduing the wild land. Its broad prairies in the south were fields almost ready for the planting of the crop, and its rich, black soil seemed to be awaiting impatiently the opportunity of paying rewards in the shape of abundant erops, as a tribute to the labors of the husband- man. The farms of Chariton county are generally large, unbroken by sloughs, but have some obstructions such as stumps and boulders, but they are excellently well cultivated. Corn planters, reaping machines, mowers and all kinds of labor-saving machinery can be used, however, with great ease. The prairie of the county is gently rolling throughout its whole extent. The timber is of a good quality, but the original growth has, to a considerable extent, disappeared in some parts.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS MADE IN THE TIMBER.
The first settlements of the county were invariably made in the timber or contiguous thereto. The early settlers so chose both as a matter of necessity and convenience. The presence of timber aided materially in bringing about an early settlement, and it aided in two ways : first, the county had to depend on emigration from the older settled States of the East for its population, and especially Kentucky and Tennessee. These States originally were almost covered with dense forests, and farms were made by clearing off' certain portions of the timber. Almost every farm there, after it became thoroughly improved, still retained a certain traet of timber commonly known as " the woods." The woods was generally regarded as the most important part of the farm, and the average farmer regarded it as indispensable. When he emigrated West, one objection was the searcity of timber, and he did not suppose that it would be possible to open up a farm on the bleak prairie. To live in a region devoid of the familiar sight of timber seemed unendurable, and the average Kentnekian could not entertain the idea of founding a home away from the familiar forest trees. Then again the idea entertained by the
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early immigrants to Missouri, that timber was a necessity, was not simply theoretical. The early settler must have a house to live in, fuel for cooking and heating purposes, and fences to inclose his claim. At that time there were no railroads by which lumber could be trans- ported from the pineries. No coal mine had yet been opened, and few if any had been discovered. Timber was an absolute necessity, without which material improvement was an impossibility.
No wonder that a gentleman from the East, who in early times came to the prairie region of Missouri on a prospecting tour with a view of permanent location. returned home in disgust and embodied his views of the country in the following rhyme : -
"Oh! lonesome, windy, grassy place, Where buffalo and snakes prevail; The first with dreadful looking face, The last with dreadful sounding tai !! I'd rather live on camel hump, And be a Yankee Doodle beggar, Thau where I never see a stump, And shake to death with fever'n ager."
The most important resource in the development of this Western country, was the belts of timber which skirted the streams; and the settlers who first hewed out homes in the timber, while at present, not the most enterprising and progressive, were, nevertheless, an essential factor in the solution of the problem.
Along either side of the various streams which flow across the country, were originally belts of timber ; at certain places, generally near the mouths of the smaller tributaries, the belt of timber widened out, thus forming a grove, or what was frequently called a point, and at these points or groves were the first settlements made ; here were the first beginnings of civilization ; here " began to operate those forces which have made the wilderness a fruitful place and caused the desert to bud and blossom as the rose."
Much of the primeval forest has been removed for the building of houses and the construction of fences ; other portions and probably the largest part, have been ruthlessly and improvidently destroyed. This destruction of timber has been somewhat compensated by the planting of artificial groves. Among the most abundant of the trees originally found is the walnut, so highly prized in all countries for manufacturing purposes. Oaks, of several varieties, are still very plentiful, although for many years this wood has been used for fuel.
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The best timber in the State is to be found in this county. Detached groves, both natural and artificial, are found at many places through- out the county, which are not only ornamental, in that they vary the monotony, but are very useful in that they have a very important bearing on the climate. It is a fact fully demonstrated by the best authority that elimate varies with the physiognomy of a country.
It is quite important for settlers and immigrants to know what sec- tions of the county are most healthful. Some have asked if this is a healthy county. The answer without any hesitation will be given in the atlirmative, that it is as much so as any county in the State. In all the counties there are some things, however, that are calculated to produce disease - some localities are more healthful than others, and to enable strangers coming into the county to select the one and avoid the other is our object. Chariton county, in its general aspect, is an elevated, undulating plain, intersected by numerous small streams, run- ning generally from the north to the south, and emptying into the Missouri river, which forms the southern boundary of the county. The principal of these streams is the Grand Chariton, with its tribu- taries. Adjacent to all these streams are bottom lands, more or less extensive, nearly along their whole course on one side, and blut's or hills on the other. These bottoms are to some extent subject to over- flow for the reason that their beds are crooked.
The bottoms above mentioned extend up the several branches to near the summit of the dividing ridge, and many springs rise within fifty yards of the summit. In the larger bottoms are a number of small ponds or lakes, and spots of marshy ground which are filled with water the greater part of the year, and in rainy seasons become quite extensive, which evaporate and dry up in the hot, dry seasons usually following in the months of July, August and September, and thus generate the poisonons exhalation about which so little is known, and called by physicians " miasm " or " malaria," which produces fever of various types and grades. This exhalation follows along the different ravines, even to the summit of the highlands, and is carried a greater or less distance in proportion to the current of air or wind.
But they do not seem to extend very far up the sides of the ravines unless carried by a strong breeze ; care should, therefore, be taken to avoid locating residences near the heads of ravines, and more partic- ularly where they terminate on the ridges, which is a frequent error. A man finding a good spring near the summit of a hill, builds his house so as to be near the water, on the hill or ridge, and immediately
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in the course of the ravine, and as a consequence receives the concen- trated " miasm" arising from it. Now at a distance of fifty or at least a hundred yards a point may generally be selected very nearly if not entirely free from it. The existence of this malarious air in the ravines is very clearly proven to any man of observation ; in walking or riding across them in the night, in descending a hill, as he ap- proaches the base, he will be sensible of eold, damp atmosphere which will disappear at the same elevation in ascending the opposite slope. This fact is often observed in Missouri and Illinois. It is generally believed that the bottoms are much more sickly than the hills, or uplands, which is to some extent true. The eases of fever are perhaps more frequent in the bottom lands, but less malignant, and all experience goes to show that persons living on the bare slopes or summits of hills near the bottoms suffer most, and those living near the banks of rivers, or creeks of running water in the bottoms, are more healthful. The reason is that the exhalations rise and are carried by the winds over the dwellings in the lowlands and are wafted to the tops of the highest hills. Several precautions are necessary in selecting sites for dwellings on hills near bottoms. First, build, if possible, on the opposite side of the hill from the bottom, so that the " miasm," after reaching the summit, may pass above yon ; see- ond, avoid the heads of ravines ; third, have a grove of timber between you and the bottom - this will have the effect of protecting you from the " miasm," and moreover, the trees absorb a large portion of it. Again, hills having bottoms to windward of them will be more sickly than those that the wind blows from them to the bottom. The pre- vailing winds here in the months of June, July and August are from the south and southwest, but in the latter part of August they begin to blow from the north and continue mostly during September and October in that direction. Thus it will be seen that persons living north and south of the bottoms will, in a sickly season, suffer first. say in July and August, but the fevers would be milder than later in the season, when the " miasm " has become more concentrated and virulent ; when the winds are from the north, that is during the latter part of August and the whole of September and October, then those living south of the bottoms will suffer most, and, for the reasons given above, the fevers will be of more malignant type. Hills east and west of the bottoms are most healthful, because the winds in the hot months seldom blow in these directions.
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