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 35
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 35
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In speaking of the topography of Chariton county, it should be
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observed that in the vicinity of all the streams are strips of woodland more or less extensive, and that along the Missouri river the timber land extends from three to ten miles in width from the river, and in many places the timber is large and of excellent quality, and in others the growth is smaller, forming dense thickets in many places, showing elearly that the timber has encroached on the prairie, and it is inter- esting to note the gradual change which takes place from almost im- penetrable thiekets to open woods. As the trees grow and overshadow the undergrowth, such as hazel, sumach, etc., this dies out and the more thrifty and larger trees continue to grow, while the more feeble and delieate die out one after another and give place to their more stately neighbors ; and thus in a few years thickets become open woodlands, and as this process goes on the sun has freer access to the earth and it is consequently drier and more healthful. Many thickets in this county during the period of thirty years have undergone these changes, and are now beautiful open woodlands of trees of consider- able size and height. Another very interesting fact going to show that the country is becoming more healthful, is that the wet lands in the bottoms are being filled up by the alluvial deposits brought down to them from the roads and cultivated fields, and being covered by a thick sward of blue grass as fast as they become dry enough, and at the same time the channels of the branches which run through them are deepened and compressed into narrow space. There are quite a number of bottoms along the Chariton river which thirty years ago were quite wet and swampy, which have become dry, tillable Tind, and which will, in all probability, continue in the future to improve more rapidly than in the past. This holds good with the broader ravines and valleys in the upland prairies, many of which are quite wet and in many places marshy. Now as these slopes of the hill are cultivated, these marshy spots are filled up and the land rendered more compact by the trampling of stock, the blue grass takes hold readily and a firm sward covers them so that they are less likely to generate " miasm," and consequently the country around will become healthier. Those settling in the prairies should be advised to observe the same rules in building homes as in the timber, that is, to avoid heads of ravines, as mentioned heretofore, and even more carefully on account of the want of protection by trees. It may seem strange, but I believe the statement is fully attested by experience, that in very rainy and consequently sickly seasons, persons living on the prairies suffer more than those in the timber. The cause of this may,
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I think, be found to be the protection afforded by the timber in ab- sorbing and warding off " miasm." Such persons, as soon as possi- ble, should make for themselves a protection by planting groves of timber and orchards near their dwellings, which will be a source of safety from disease, and at the same time of pecuniary profit, to say nothing of the agreeable shades in the summer and the protection from cold in the winter - both important objects for the preservation of health, and particularly in a climate as variable as this.
In considering the causes tending to influence the health of any lo- cality, we should take into account the effect of temperature and the particular season in which we have the greatest amount of rain and highest temperature. As a rule, our rainy season commences about the 20th of May and extends to the 10th of July ; when we say sea- son, we do not mean that it is only in that season that we have rains, but that mains are more abundant then than at other times. Yet, there occur seasons that are exceptions to the rule, as we shall see hereafter. The months of June and July, and the early part of Au- gust, are marked by the highest range of temperature.
We will now endeavor to give a brief account of many of the sea- sons since 1844. The year A. D. 1844 is known in Missouri as the year of the great flood. In the month of May there was considerably more rain than in any other year.
About the 15th of June the rains abated, and the rivers receded from the bottoms, but in a short time recommenced exceedingly co- pious rains of almost daily occurrence, continuing to about the 10th of July, and the Missouri river and its tributaries overflowed their banks to the depth of twenty feet, and in many places to the depth of thirty feet - the temperature at this time being high. The latter part of July and the month of August were very dry and hot, and sickness was general throughout the State, the diseases being mostly of a mild character, and yielding readily to the influence of medicines. The winter of 1844 and 1845 was very mild, little snow or rain fell during the winter or spring, so that the rivers were quite low to the latter part of May, when the rains commenced aud continued to the begin- ning of July. Some of the heaviest rains ever known in the State were witnessed this season, but west and north in the valleys of the Kaw and Platte rivers there was but little rain, and the Missouri over- flowed its banks but little at the mouths of the Osage and North Grand rivers. This season was also very warm, and about the first of Au- gust sickness commenced and was more general, and of a more malig-
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nant type, than in the preceding year, but still quite manageable. The succeeding winter was cold, with considerable snow, and the spring pleasant.
The season of 1846 had no excess of rains, and had not a great many cases of fever, but some of those were more violent and difficult to manage. During the early part of the summer there was an epi- demic of scarlet fever, and in the fall a great many cases of janndice.
The winter following was mild, and the spring and summer not remarkable for rain and but little sickness. The following year, 1847, partook very much of the same character, and was also a tolerably healthful year.
The winter of 1847 and 1848 was very mild, so much so that very little ice formed sufficiently thick to keep. The spring and summer of 1848 was dry and healthful.
The winter of 1848 and 1849 was remarkably cold, with a great. deal of snow, which melted partially in the month of January and froze suddenly, leaving the ground covered with a firm coat of ice from three to five inches in thickness, which remained the greater part of February, and then melted off, accompanied by rain, and broke up the ice in the rivers, which had formed to a thickness of fifteen to eighteen inches. The spring of 1849 was wet and cold till sometime in April, when commenced a succession of hot weather with frequent rains, alternated with sudden changes of cold, which continued through May, June and most of July. Such was the peculiar condition of the atmosphere that a feeling of debility and exhaustion was very gener- ally experienced, and those who have been exposed to its influence will thereafter recognize it as a cholera atmosphere ; the wind during the greater part of this time, and especially during the damp days, was from the east and southeast. In the month of April there oe- curred a number of cases of diarrhea, and other diseases of the di- gestive organs were of frequent occurrence.
The year of 1850 was not remarkable for heavy rains or any great vicissitudes of temperature, and was comparatively healthful ; but the following year, 1851, this region was again visited by hot and rainy weather and eastern winds, and cholera made its appearance and was excessively malignant, continuing from the latter part of May to al- most the first of August, which was again followed by fever; during this year a greater number of citizens fell victims to cholera than in 1849. The year 1852 was again a very equable season ; there was not a great amount of sickness until late in the fall and beginning of win-
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ter, when the vicissitudes of temperature were great and sudden, and there occurred a large number of cases of pneumonia of a typhoid character and a general prevalence of typhoid diseases. About the middle of December epidemic erysipelas -- also assuming a typhoid character -- made its appearance, and continued to prevail in some neighborhoods until the following April.
The year 1853 was a mild and pleasant season, unmarked by great rains or changes of temperature, and although there were occasional cases of cholera, it was, in the main, a healthful season. The spring of 1854 was pleasant, and vegetation came forward very early. About the last of May it began to rain very frequently and heavily, and con- tinued till the 19th of June, from which time scarcely any rain fell until the 18th of November. The crops of small grain were heavy, but in consequence of the long continued drouth after heavy rains the crop of corn was very small, not being more than one-third the usual yield. We had considerable fever in August and September ; carly in October it became quite healthful, and continued so during the fall and winter.
The spring and beginning of the year 1855 were pleasant until the latter part of July, when there set in a succession of heavy rains which lasted until about the 20th of August, Crops of all kinds were good. wheat and oats were far better than usual, both as to quality and quantity ; but the farmers having adopted the use of threshers, and being busy with the corn and hay erops, failed to house or stack them in season, and at least three-fourths of the crop of small grains wa- spoiled, and rotted in the fields. This year was quite healthful, ex- cept a short time in September and October. The year 1855 was not remarkable as to health, there being no unusual sickness until late in the fall, when typhoid fever prevailed to a considerable extent for some three months. The winter of 1856 and 1857 was unusually cold, with but little snow, and we had an unusual number of cases of rheumatism, and in the spring considerable pneumonia and other inflammatory affections. The season during most of the year 1857 was not unusual. The following winter was not marked by any unusual extremes, and the spring of 1858 was rather dry and pleasant, until the month of June, when we had again excessive and long continued rains, extending to the carly part of July : during this month and August the weather was hot and dry. Early in August fever com- menced, and we had more sickness than in any year since 1845.
The ensuing year of 1859 was very similar in regard to tempera-
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ture and rains, and we again had a considerable amount of sickness through the fall and winter months. The winter and spring of 1860 were unusually dry and windy, there being no rain sufficient to wet the ground until the 25th of May, at which time and also some time in June, there was a good shower in the northeast part of the county. This drouth continued through the summer, and consequently the crops were exceedingly short ; and west of us, in the State of Kansas, almost an entire failure. About the 10th of July we had for two or three days a south wind, as hot as if coming from a furnace, which was very oppressive to man and beast, and wilted the vegetation con- siderably. In this year, as well as 1854, we had incontestible evidence of the superiority of the bottom lands along the Missouri river, which are bedded on sand as subsoil, in dry seasons, for reason that the water from the river percolates this sand, and a sufficient quantity of moisture arises to sustain the growth of grain. This is also true to some extent in nplands, in which there is a considerable amount of sand mixed with the sub-soil. The year 1861, which will be long remem- bered for the inauguration of the civil war, which cursed our country and desolated the finest portions of our land, among which Chariton county is one of the most beautiful and fertile, was a season of un- usual health and productiveness - full crops and fruits of all kinds, rewarded the labors of the husbandman ; and had we been blessed with peace, would have been one of abundance and comfort. There was but little sickness during this and the two following years.
The winter of 1863 and 1864 was exceedingly cold, with consider- able snow, the spring was pleasant but too cold to bring forward vegeta- tion. This dry weather extending through the greater part of summer there was great drouth, and vegetation became scarce. The crops of all kinds were light. During the latter part of summer and beginning of fall there was a severe form of dysentery, followed later in the season by typhoid fever. The year 1865 may be properly called a rainy season, for frequent and exceedingly heavy rains set in early in June and continued till the latter part of August. Dysentery again made its appearance in July and prevailed during that month and August. In September, October and the fore part of November there were many cases of fever which were very violent, being mostly of a congestive type, and complicated with diseases of the bowels. Later in the season we had some cases of typhoid fever, also attended with disease of the bowels and in some cases of the lungs. During the year 1866-67 all the diseases were of a mild character and easily man-
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aged. There were no cases of epidemic diseases. In the year 1868 there were more cases of siekness, and some were typhoid fever, but not of a very malignant type. Since the war, even to the present time, there have been no severe cases of cholera. In 1869 the cases of sickness were less frequent than in 1868, all diseases easily man- aged. There have been no cases of small-pox since the year 1865, and it might be remarked that as the country grows older it becomes more healthful. The summers, which are wet and excessively warm, are followed in the fall months by more or less fevers. In 1870 there were several cases of " Rothlene," a form of scarlet fever, in the spring, some cases of intermittent fevers in the fall, and taken altogether it was more sickly than 1869. During the year 1871 and 1872 there was some pneumonia in the spring, with mild cases of fever in the fall of 1871. There were very few deaths. The year 1873 was healthy and all the cases requiring the attention of a physician were easily managed. The summer of 1874 was very dry and hot, several persons requiring treatment for sunstroke, the mercury ranging for considerable time from 95 to 100' in the shade. There were some cases of diphtherietie eroup, several of which were fatal. There was also epidemic whooping cough. The spring of 1875 was very wet, and there were cases of capillary bronchitis among children and sore throat and catarrh among adults. There were some fatal cases of consumption. The summer of 1876 was healthful and also the year 1877. In 1877 there were some cases of scarlet fever, but of mild type and easily managed. The year 1878 was quite healthful. The year 1879 chronieled some scarlet fever in the spring.
Considerable sickness of a typho-malarial character existed during the spring of 1880, but the remainder of the year it was exceedingly healthful. There were sufficient rains to produce the growth of abundant crops, and probably never in the history of the country had there been a better average yield to the labors of the husbandman. Great quantities of fruit and cereals matured and were gathered for the market. General prosperity and abundance crowned the year. Men who were in debt paid up the mortgages on their farms and houses and now, in this year (1883), are becoming independent.
We have now given a condensed history of the seasons for the past thirty-seven years, and by it a tolerably correct idea may be formed of the healthfulness of this county.
It will be found that seasons in which there has been an excess of rains, and of floods in the streams, have produced a large amount of
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
sickness, and this is also true with other portions of the country. It will also be remarked, that in our seasons rains are later and more immediately followed by dry and hot weather than in the Eastern States, and as a necessary result we would expect in those seasons a considerable amount of fever, but the comparative frequency of such seasons are not greater than in other localities. As to the prevalence of scarlet fever, measles, erysipelas and other diseases of similar character, it may be asserted that our county has not suffered more than in many other parts of the Western, and perhaps less than many of the Eastern States. Of typhoid fever it may be said that the disease is milder and less frequent than in many of the Northern or Eastern States. In the course of thirty-seven years there have been five, or less than one-seventh, in which there were heavy and long continued rains in early summer and general prevalence of fevers, the remainder being comparatively healthful. There has been no year when there has been an entire loss of erops, and nearly every year great abundance has been produced.
The greater portion of the county - leaving out the bottom of the Missouri river and larger streams - is posed upon a bed of lime-tone at various depths ; yet sneh is the formation of the country that the stone very little, if at all, interferes with the cultivation of the soil, for the reason that it does not erop out, except in the immediate vicinity of streams, on the slope of hills, or at their base. Those sections in which the limestone is wanted are based on sand of very considerable depth. There is also in the greater part of the county a large admixture of sand both with the soil and the subsoil, and consequently, as may be inferred, the land is light and easily culti- vated, much more so than in many fertile regions elsewhere, as, for instance, the rich blue grass lands of Kentucky. No amount of tramping can make it so hard that, if broken up in large clods, it will not shake and fall to pieces, like lime, in the first considerable shower; and moreover, it has the additional advantage of becoming sufficiently dry in a short time after rains for plowing, and does not break and become hard so easily if worked a little wet. This enables the farmer to cultivate his erops in wet seasons to better advantage than if the sand was wanting. In addition to this, as mentioned in the last article, drouth does not so greatly affect the crops, because a considerable amount of moisture arises from below, which goes to support vegetation. Indeed, our farmers say that erops will grow here with less rain than in almost any other county. We have in this
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county but little poor land ; yet the quality of the soil and the growth of the timber indicating those qualities vary a great deal, and the changes are frequently abrupt. We have, for example, strips of land covered by walnut, hickory, elm. box elder, honey locust, coffee bean, lima, etc., of some miles in extent, and changing in many instances abruptly, to oak land, of inferior quality. Again, we have strips on which the growth is white hickory, different species of oak, wild cherry, slippery elm, ete., and the undergrowths are in oak lands, hazel, sumach, and a species of dogwood. The pawpaw abounds in the walnut and hackberry lands, and on the river bottoms and hills contiguous to them. There are also some spots of rather spouty lands, with stiff elay subsoil, the growth on which is almost exclusively a species of pine-oak, of a dwarfish character, with the limbs extending almost to the ground. There is some diversity of opinion in regard to the fertility of the different characters of soil, but the statement is fully borne out by experience that the walnut and hackberry lands are strongest, and in favorable seasons will produce the largest crops of hemp.and corn, and are better adapted to the domestic grasses. espe- cially the blue grass, while the brush lands, in which the white hickory abounds, with the undergrowth of hazel and sumach, will on an aver- age of all seasons, and all kinds of crops, surpass them, and are greatly superior for wheat and other small grains. This county is well adapted to the production of various kinds of fruits, as the ap- ple, pear, apricot and peach. all of which grow rapidly and yield abundantly, fruits of excellent quality. The common morello cherry also yields well, but the finer qualities of cherries and damson plums do not seem to do as well. The gooseberry, black raspberry, dew- berry, blackberry and strawberry are indigenous to the soil, growing in large quantities in the woodland and prairies. Grasses have not yet been extensively cultivated, but so far as their cultivation has been tried the results has been very satisfactory.
The climate of Missouri is very changeable, the changes of temper- ature being frequent and sudden, varying often fifty or sixty degrees in a few hours. Great precaution is, therefore, necessary to adapt the apparel so as to be little affected as possible by these sudden vicissi- tudes, and we would advise those whose business requires them to be at such a distance from the dwellings as to be unable to change their clothes readily, to suffer the inconvenience of being uncomfortably warm for a time rather than run the risks of exposure to these sudden
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changes when thinly elad. Woolen clothing, therefore, is preferable to lighter fabries even in summer.
Dwelling houses should be so constructed as to have free ventila- tion in every part from cellar to garret, and especial care should be taken that houses without cellars should be somewhat elevated from the ground with opening sufficient to admit the free circulation of air under them and these should be open in summer. In damp, rainy weather fires should be made occasionally to dispel the dampness and dry the rooms. They also serve to purify the air by producing a draught or current of air which carries off the impure atmosphere which is generated, especially in sleeping rooms, and for these rea- sons small fires night and morning will be found beneficial. It is im- proper to close sleeping apartments at night so as entirely to exclude the air, especially when the atmosphere is dry. Yet we should avoid sleeping with a current of air blowing over us. It is better to open the upper sash of windows which will generally admit sufficient exter- nal air and carry off that which has become heated and impure. Exposure to cold and damp air, especially in the latter part of the night and early morning should be avoided, and if this kind of expo- sure is necessary it is better to fortify the body by taking a quantity of food, say a cup of coffee and a little bread before going out, and this is more especially necessary during the prevalence of epidemic. . Indeed it is better, especially with farmers and others engaged in out- door labor to have breakfast before commencing the labors of the day. In the latter part of summer there are very heavy dews and care should be taken to avoid having the feet and legs wet with them, as is frequently the case, and as a rule it is better not to go ont before sunrise in the morning. Long continued exposure to midday sun and heat should be avoided. Meals should be regular and all unripe fruits and substances difficult of digestion should be avoided. Cleanliness is also an important item, both in person and in habitation. The ac- cumulation of water in cellars and low places, as well as all kinds of garbage, decaying animals and vegetable substances should be care- fully guarded against. A free use of lime, both by whitewashing houses and cellars and spreading in damp places, will also tend to purity the air and promote health. Cesspools and drains can be puri- fied and deodorized by lime and a strong solution of sulphate of iron thrown into them. Shades about dwellings are very pleasant and promotive of health, but the trees should not be so close together that
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the sun cannot have access to the ground at some time during the day.
MINERAL RESOURCES.
The yet scarcely developed mineral resources of Chariton are des- tined at no remote day to constitute an important element of the wealth of this section of the State. The entire country, with the ex- ception of the low alluvial distriets, is underlaid with veins of bitumi- nous coal.
This mineral as yet has been but imperfectly prospected, and the conclusion of its vast abundance is due in a great measure to the pre -- enee of numerous outeropping strata of surface veins. Experimental investigations in certain locations, however, have revealed the presence of sub-strata, said to be of sufficient thickness to be profitably worked. Outeroppings of this coal have been observed on the sides of hill slopes at a perpendieniar distance or depth of from 100 to 200 feet below the upland surface level. Some of these deposits are being worked at points east of Salisbury by Joel Koliskons, P. D. Vandeventer, and others. Another is worked near Keytesville; another by Daniel Hays on the Chariton river, east of Salisbury, and oue west of Bruns- wiek, and seem to promise paying results. At the latter place a vein of considerable thickness was found underlaying a stratum of fire clay about a foot in thickness, and pronounced by competent judges, of excellent quality for the manufacture of pottery. In view of this dis- covery, the development of an enterprise of this character is, of course, only a matter of time. It is believed from the cursory investigations of experienced parties that there is in the vicinity of Salisbury a vein or pocket of cannel coal, but as yet the positive existence of this valu- able deposit has not been definitely confirmed. At a point known as Williams Mill, about three miles southeast of Keytesville, is a remark- able formation, consisting of a solid mass of sandstone, extending a considerable distance along the edge of the Chariton, and rising 100 feet above low-water mark, suggesting the idea of a vast wall without crack or seam, and smooth and even as though eut by the hand of art. This is pronouneed of admirable quality for building pur- poses.
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