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 37
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 37
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thread, one the "chain," and the other the " filling." The more experienced only spun the chain, the younger the filling. Two kinds of looms were in use. The primitive in construction was called the side loom. The frame of it consisted of two pieces of seantling run- ing obliquely from the floor to the wall. Later the frame loom, which was a great improvement over the other. came in use. The men and boys wore jeans and linsey-woolsey hunting shirts. The jeans was colored either light blue or butternut. Many times, when the men gathered to a log-rolling, or a barn-raising, the women would assem- ble, bringing their spinning wheels with them. In this way, some- times as many as ten or twelve would gather in one room, and the pleasant voices of the fair spinners, would mingle with the low hum of the spinning wheels. Oh ! golden early days !
Such articles as could not be manufactured, were brought to them from the nearest store by the mail carrier. These were few, however. The men and boys, in many instances, wore pantaloons made of the dressed skin of the deer, which then roamed the prairies in large herds. The young man who desired to look captivating in the eyes of the maiden whom he loved, had his "bucks " fringed, which lent them a not unpleasing effect. Meal sacks were also made of buck- skin. Caps were made of the skins of the fox, of the wolf, wildeat and muskrat, tanned with for on. The tail of the fox or wolf often hung from the top of the cap, lending the wearer a jaunty air. Both sexes wore moccasins, which in dry weather, were an excellent substi- tute for shoes. There were no shoemakers, and each family made its own shoes.
The settlers were separated from their neighbors often by miles. There were no church houses, or regular services of any kind to call them together; henee, no doubt, the cheerfulness with which they accepted invitations to a house-raising, or a log-rolling, or a corn husking, or a bee of any kind. To attend these gatherings, they would sometimes go ten or more miles. Generally with the invita- tion to the men, went one to the women, to come to a quilting. The good woman of the house, where the festivities were to take place, would be busily engaged for a day or more in preparation for the coming guests. Great quantities of provisions were to be prepared, for dyspepsia was unknown to the pioneer, and good appetites were the rule and not the exception. The bread used at these trolies was baked generally on johnny or journey-eake boards, and is the best corn bread ever made. A board is made smooth, about two feet long
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
and eight inches wide, the ends are generally rounded. The dough is spread out on this board and placed leaning before the fire. One side is baked and the dough is changed on the board, so the other side is presented in its turn to the fire. This is johnny cake, and is good, if the proper materials are put in the dough and it is properly baked. At all the log-rollings and house-raisings, it was customary to provide liquor. Excesses were not indulged in, however. The fiddle was never forgotten. After the day's work had been accom- plished, outdoors and in, by men and women, the floor was cleared and the merry dance began. The handsome, stalwart young men, whose fine forms were the result of their manly out-door life, clad in fringed bnekskin trowsers, and gaudily colored hunting shirts, led forth the bright-eyed, buxom damsels, attired in neatly fitting, linsey- woolsey garments, to the dance, their cheeks glowing with health and eyes speaking of enjoyment, and perhaps of tenderer emotion. In pure pioneer times, the crops were never husked on the stalks, as is done at this day, but were hanled home in the busk and thrown in a heap, generally by the side of the erib, so that the ears when husked could be thrown direct into the crib, The whole neighborhood, male and female, were invited to the " shucking," as it was called. The girls and many of the married ladies, generally engaged in this amusing work.
In the first place, two leading expert huskers were chosen as captains, and the heap of corn divided as nearly equal as possible. Rails were laid across the piles, so as to designate the division ; and then each captain chose alternately his corps of huskers, male and female. The whole number of working hands present were selected on one side or the other and then each party commenced a contest to beat the other, which was in many cases truly exciting. One other rule was, whenever a male husked a red ear of corn, he was entitled to a kiss from the girls. This frequently excited much fuss and scuffling, which was intended by both parties to end in a kiss. It was a universal practice that taffe, or Monongahela whisky was used at these husking frolics, which they drank out of a bottle ; each one, male and female, taking the bottle and drinking out of it, and then handing it to his or her neighbor, without using any glass or cup. This custom was common and not considered rude. Almost always, these eorn-shuckings ended in a dance. To prepare for this amuse- ment, fiddles and fiddlers were in great demand, and it often required
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
much fast riding to obtain them. One violin and a performer were all that was contemplated at these innocent rural games.
Abont dark, when the supper was half over, the bustle and confu- sion commenced. The confusion of the tongues at Babel would have been ashamed at the corn-shucking. The young ones hurrying off the table, and the old ones contending for time and order. It was the ease in nine times out of ten, but one dwelling-house was on the premises, and that used for eating as well as dancing. But when the fiddler commeneed tuning his instrument, the music always gained the victory for the younger side. Then the dishes, victuals, table and all, disappeared in a few minutes and the room was cleared, the dogs driven out, and the floor swept off', ready for action. The floors of these houses were sometimes the natural earth, beat solid ; sometimes much excitement was displayed to get on the floor first. Generally the fiddler, on these occasions, assumed an important bearing, and ordered in true professional style, so and so to be done, as that was the way in North Carolina where he was raised. The decision ended the contest for the floor. In those days they danced jigs and four- handed reels, as they were called. Sometimes, three-handed reels were daneed. In these danees there was no standing still ; all were moving at a rapid pace from beginning to end. In the jigs the bi- standers cut one another out, so that this dance would last for hours. The bottle went around at these parties, as it did at the shnekings, and male and female took a dram out of it, as it was passed around. No sitting was indulged in, and the folks either stood or daneed all night. The dress of these hardy pioneers was generally homespun. The hunting shirt was much worn at that time, which is a convenient working or dancing dress. In the morning, all go home on horseback or on foot. No carriages, wagons, or other vehicles were used on these occasions, for the best reasons- because they had none.
Dancing was a favorite amusement, and was participated in by all.
" Alike all ages; dames of ancient days Have led their children through the mirthful maze, And the gray grandsire, skilled in jestic lore, Has frisked beneath the burden of three score."
The amusements of that day were more athletic and rude than those of to-day. Among the settlers of a new country, from the nature of the ease, a higher value is set upon physical than mental endowments. Skill in wooderaft, superiority of muscular development, accuracy in
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shooting with the rifle, activity and swiftness of foot, were qualifica- tions that brought their possessors fame. Foot-racing was practised, and often the boys and young men engaged in friendly contests with the Indians. Every man had a rifle and always kept it in good order ; his flints, bullets, bullet-moulds, screw-driver, awl, butcher-knife and tomahawk were fastened to the shot-pouch strap, or to the belt around the waist. Target-shooting was much practised, and shots were made by the hunters and settlers, with flint-lock rifles, that cannot be ex- celled by their descendants, with the improved breech-loaders of the present day.
At all gatherings, jumping and wrestling were indulged ; and those who excelled were henceforth men of notoriety. At their shooting matches, which were usually for the prize of a turkey, or a gallon of whiskey, good feeling generally prevailed. If disputes arose, they were often settled by a square stand-up fight, and no one thought of using other weapons than fists. They held no grudges after their fights, for this was considered ummaaly. It was the rule, if a tight occurred between two persons, the victor should pour water for the defeated, as he washed away the traces of the fray, after which the latter was to perform the same service for the former.
PIONEER MILLS.
Among the first were the " band mills," a description of which will not prove uninteresting. The plan was cheap. The horse-power con- sisted of a large upright shaft, some ten or twelve feet high, with some eight or ten long arms let into the main shaft and extending out from it fifteen feet. Auger holes were bored in the arms on the upper side at the end, into which wooden pins were driven. This was called the "big wheel," and was about twenty feet in diameter. The raw-hide belt or tug was made of skins taken off of beef cattle, which were cut into strips three inches wide ; these were twisted into a round cord or tug, which was long enough to encircle the circumference of the big wheel. There it was held in place by the wooden pins, then to cross and pass under a shed to run round a drum, or what is called a " trun- nel head," which was attached to the grinding apparatus. The horses or oxen were hitched to the arms by means of raw-hide tugs ; then walking in a circle, the machinery would be set in motion. To grind twelve bushels of corn was considered a good day's work on a band mill.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
The most rude and primitive method of manufacturing meal was by the use of the grater, whereby the meal was forced through the holes and fell down in a vessel prepared to receive it. An improvement on this was the hand mill. The stones were smaller than those of the hand mill, and were propelled by man or woman power. A hole is made in the upper stone, and a staff of wood is put in it, and the other end of the staff is put through a hole in a plank above, so that the whole is free to act. One or two persons take hold of this staff and turn the upper stone as rapidly as possible. An eye is made in the upper stone, through which the corn is put into the mill with the hand, in small quantities, to suit the mill instead of a hopper. A mortar wherein corn was beaten into meal is made out of a large round log, three or four feet long. One end is cut, or burnt, out so as to hold a peck of corn, more or less, according to circumstances. This mor- tar is set one end on the ground, and the upper end to hold the corn. A sweep is prepared over the mortar, so that the spring of the pole raises the piston, and the hands at it force it so hard down on the corn that after much beating the meal is manufactured.
The pictures here drawn of the pioneers, their modes of living, their customs and amusements, while lacking entire completeness, we feel are accurate and truthful. The reader, after perusing our chapter iu the history of Howard county, in reference to the same subjects, in connection with this chapter, will get a fair idea of pioneer times.
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CHAPTER IV.
Chariton County Organized and its Boundaries Defined -The Clerk's Offices Burned -The Court-House Burned - First Circuit Court - David Todd tirst Judge -Edward Cabell first Circuit Court Clerk - Ephraim Moore, first Sheriff - Hamilton R. Gamble, the first Circuit Attorney - First Grand Jury - Early Attorneys - Commissioners to Locate County Seat - First Suit - Pro- ceedings of the First Courts- Report of Commissioners on Location of County Seat -October Term - Early Marriages.
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CHARITON COUNTY ORGANIZED AND ITS BOUNDARIES DEFINED.
At a session of the Legislature which met at St. Charles in the winter of 1820, the act organizing Chariton. Boone and Ray coun- fies was passed. All that section of country lying north of Chariton connty and extending to the Iowa line, was annexed to Chariton county, for all civil, military and judicial purposes, thus giving the county jurisdiction over an extensive territory, embracing the country west from the Howard county line, to the eastern boun- dary of Ray county, the counties of Linn, Sullivan, Putnam and a part of Adair and Schuyler counties. The present limits of Chariton county, as defined by the Legislature, are as follows : -
" Beginning at a point in the middle of the Missouri river, where the line between sections 17 and 20, township 51, range 17 west, intersects the same; thence with the western line of Howard county, thence with the north line of Howard county to the sectional line which divides range 16 into equal parts ; thence north to the line between townships 56 and 57; thence west with said line to a point where Locust creek crosses the same : thence down the middle of said creck to the middle of the main channel of Grand river; thence down said river, in the middle of the main channel thereof to the Missouri river : thence down said Missouri river in middle of the main channel thereof to the beginning."
The county was called " Chariton " after the Chariton rivers which flow through it from north to south, and after uniting about (404)
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one mile from the Missouri river, empty into that stream two miles above Glasgow, in Howard county.
The records to which the historian would naturally turn for infor- mation concerning the early history of the county (the records of the county court ) have unfortunately been destroyed in Chariton county, from the date of its organization to November 11, 1861. Being deprived of this source of information, which is not only defi- nite but authentic, we are compelled in our investigations after the truth, to rely, to some extent, upon traditions and contemporaneous facts, which bear upon the same periods of time.
The records of deeds were also destroyed. from 1821 to 1826; deeds of trust, from January, 1859, to November 11, 1861, and the marriage record, from 1852 to 1861.
THE CLERKS' OFFICES BURNED.
The county and circuit clerks' offices were detached from the old court-house and were located in the southwest corner of the court- house yard. On the night of November 11. 1881, a little after mid- night, Senator Andrew Mackay discovered from the hotel a tire in the direction of the court-house. He, with J. C. Crawley, at once went to the court-house and saw that the clerks' office was on fire. How it occurred and why the building was set on fire, has never been ascertained. When these gentleman arrived on the ground, the roof of the county clerk's office was falling in and the roof of the circuit clerk's office was just becoming ignited. Without a moment's hesi- tation the door of the building was broken open, when Mr. Crawley entered and threw out the books belonging to that office.
THE COURT-HOUSE BURNED.
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On the 20th of September, 1864, the bushwaekers under Todd, Threldkill and other desperate and dangerous characters, came into Keytesville and burnt the court-house, under the plea that it was used as a place of rendezvous for the . Union soldiers and militia. Had it not been for the timely interference of Judge Lucien Salisbury, who was at the time in the town, these vandals and iconolasts would have burnt the records with the building. The judge prevailed upon them to permit him to take out the records. The leader of the band told him he would give him five minutes in which to get the records out of the building, but before the time was up the house had been.
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HISTORY OF HOWAARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
1
set on tire, by the explosion of a keg of powder, which had been placed in the large room below on the first story. Notwithstanding this fact, Judge L. Salisbury and the parties who were assisting him, sue- ceeded in saving all the books of record except those that have already been mentioned.
FIRST CIRCUIT COURT.
The first Circuit Court that convened in the county of Chariton met on the 26th day of February, 1821, in the town of Chariton.
Judge David Todd, the presiding and sole judge of said court, First Judicial Cireuit, being present, produced the following commissions :
Alexander MeNair, Governor of the State of Missouri: To all who shall see these presents greeting :
" Know you, That reposing special trust and confidence in the integ- rity, learning and ability of David Todd, esquire, I have nominated and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint him circuit judge of the first Judicial Circuit in the State of Missouri, and do authorize and empower him to discharge the duties of said office according to law. To have and to hold the said office with all the rights, privileges and emoluments therewith appertaining, unto him, the said David Todd, during good behavior, unless sooner removed according to law. In testimony whereof, I have affixed my private seal. (There being no seal of State yet provided. ) Given under my hand at St. Louis, the 5th day of December, A. D. 1821, and of the Independence of the United States the forty-fifth.
By the Governor :
A. McNAIR.
JOSHUA BARTON, Secretary of State."
It will be noticed from the above commission, that the capital of the State was then at St. Louis, and that the State of Missouri had not been fully admitted into the Union, that event being confirmed August 10th, 1821, by the Legislature which met at St. Charles.
Edward B. Cabell was appointed the first elerk of the Circuit Court. Ephriam Moon was appointed the first sheriff.
Hamilton R. Gamble the first cireuit attorney.
The first grand jury impanelled in Chariton county was composed of the following persons : -
Henry Lewis, foreman ; James Heryford, Samuel Dinmore, Able Lee, Absalom MeDaniel, Samuel Forest, William Crawford, Isham Douglass, James McKown, Lewis White, John Gaither, Joseph
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
Brewer, Leonard Brassfield, Abram Lock, Samuel Watson, William Jones, Nathaniel Butler, Archibald Hix, Benjamin Cross, Abner Chapel, Banks Thornton, Robertson Daniel and Charles Harrington.
All of these are dead, the last survivor being Nathaniel Butler, who died in 1868, at the age of about 74 years. Mr. Butler represented Chariton county in the Lower House of the Legislature in 1857 or 1858.
The attorneys present upon the first day of the court were Cyrns Edwards, John C. Mitchell, William J. Redd, Joseph I. Monroe, John Payne, Andrew S. MeGirk and Ilamilton R. Gamble.
The commissioners, Richard Woodson, Lawson Dunnington, Hiram Craig, William Pearce and Baylor Banks, appointed by the Legisla- ture in 1820 to locate the county seat, appeared, gave bond and took the required oath.
The first suit was was entitled " James McGunegle, plaintiff, against Jonathan S. Findlay, defendant," and was based upon a petition to foreclose a mortgage. The third suit, civil action, was brought by Duff' Green, plaintiff, against Edward B. Cabell, defendant, on an ae count. The first jury trial was had on a case entitled, "John Gaither et al, against Uriah T. Hentl'man," a civil action, which had been ap- pealed from a justice of the peace to the Circuit Court.
John Wigginton, John R. White, Sylvanus Warren, Jonathan S. Findlay, Peter Lyon, Richardson Terrel, Joseph Butterfield, Thomas Watson, JJames Reddick, Stephen Donohoe, David Love and James Morin, were the jurors, who not being able to agree upon a verdict, were discharged.
The above constituted the business of the entire term of the court, except the recording of a few commissions.
SECOND TERM.
The court met again June 25, 1821. The grand jury impanelled at this term of the court was composed of Daniel Ashley, foreman, Josiah Brown, S. Johnson, William Cabeen, Peterson Parks, John Vance, Samuel Campbell, Thomas Watson, Thomas Botts, John M. Fowler, Frederick W. Bamhick, Wright Hill, Pleasant Browder, William Harrington, George Burekhartt, Thomas Bradley, James Temple, John Tooly, and Daniel Beggs. The first State case was " The State of Missouri against Seth Boths and John Moore." Two other indictments were found and the grand jury discharged.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
John F. Ryland. Dabney Carr and George Tompkins were admitted as practising attorneys. A number of cases were tried and disposed of. The commissioners, to locate the county seat, made the following report : -
" That the permanent seat of justice for the said county of Chariton, be fixed in the town of Chariton, and that courts in the future are to held in the brick-house in the public square. That the deed made to the commissioners for the benefit of Chari- ton county is herewith submitted for your approval; however, it is to be observed, that subsequent to the signing of the power of attorney by Sabret Johnson to Dat" Green, to grant any concession of public lots, which may be found necessary to secure a county seat in said town. That Sabret Johnson has conveyed to Thomas Joice, but is, notwithstanding, willing to all and everything Green may lawfully do concerning the premises, and has authorized Baylor Banks or Sabret Johnson to confirm the same on his part. Should you in your opinion think it necessary to have Bank's or Johnson's confirma- tion ( which is in my humble opinion just ), it can be had as Mr. Banks and Johnson are at hand, and I believe will have no objections.
We are, with due respect, etc ..
June 25, 1821.
HIRAM CRAIG, WM. PEARCE, BAYLOR BANKS."
THIRD TERM, OCTOBER, 1821.
Henry T. Williams, Peyton R. Hayden, and Abiel Leonard were admitted as practising attorneys. This term of the court continued two days, and was occupied with the trial of one or two criminal and several ordinary civil suits.
John R. Guy was recognized as the first administrator, he having been appointed by the Circuit Court of Howard county as such to ad- minister upon the estate of Lewis Gray, deceased.
EARLY MARRIAGES.
The following are some of the earliest marriages that took place in the county. Among the names of the contracting parties, the pre- sent generation will doubtless recognize the names of many of their ancestors.
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES. 409
I, John M. Fowler, a justice of the peace, do hereby certify that I solemnized the rights of matrimony between John Montgomery and Elenor Moore, on the thirteenth day of January, 1820, in the town- ship of Chariton. Given under my hand this 26th day of January, 1821.
J. M. FOWLER, J. P.
I, John M. Fowler, a justice of the peace, do hereby certify that I solemnized the rites of matrimony between Absalom MeDaniel and Polly Wolfseale, on the 12th of October, 1820, in the town- ship of Chariton. Given under my hand this 26th day of January, 1821.
JOHN M. FOWLER, J. P.
STATE OF MISSOURI, COUNTY OF CHARITON.
Be it remembered, that the undersigned, a justice in and for the county aforesaid, did join together in matrimony, the 22d day of July last, Samuel Gibbs and Mary Barnes. Given under my band, this 23d day of July, 1821.
WILL. W. MONROR.
Edward B. Cabell, Clerk of Chariton county.
SIR: I transmit to you, the marriage of James Slaytor to Mary MeDaniel, on the 2d day of August, 1821, by me. MARTIN MORGAN, J. P.
AUGUST 16, 1821.
I do certify, that I did celebrate the rites of matrimony between William Fleetwood and Patsey Ashby, on the 13th day of October, 1821.
JAMES EARICKSON.
One of the Justices of the county of Chariton, Mo.
To the clerk of Chariton Circuit Court.
SIR : - This is to certify, that on the 11th day of October last, I celebrated the rights of matrimony between Josiah Shockley and Nancy Clark, both of Chariton county. Given under my hand, this 26th day of November, 1821.
HENRY LEWIS, J. P.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
STATE OF MISSOURI, 2 COUNTY OF CHARITON.
I, George Burckhartt, a justice of the peace, within and for the county aforesaid, do hereby certify, that on the third day of March, 1822, I solemnized the rights of matrimony between John Cooley and Polly Kitchens. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this first day of April, A. D. 1822.
GEORGE BURCKHARTT, J. P.
STATE OF MISSOURI, CHARITON COUNTY.
DECEMBER 16, 1821.
This day joined together in the bonds of matrimony Martin Leary and Matilda Kirby, by me.
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