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 38
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 38
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CHARLES HARRYMAN. Minister of the Gospel.
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CHAPTER V.
CHARITON TOWNSHIP.
Boundary - Physical Features - Old Settlers -Chariton - Its Early History - Old Residents - Rev. Jno. M. Peck - His Visit and What lle Saw -- Schools -Woman Preacher - Incidents -Tobacco -Decline of Chariton - Monticello - Its History- Thorntonsburg - Lonisville-on-Missouri - Mail Facilities - Comparison - Judge John M. Davis - Forest Green - First German Settlement.
The county was originally organized with Grand River, Buffalo Lick, Prairie and Chariton townships. In 1840, the county was again divided into Missouri, Bowling Green, Brunswiek, Triplett, Cunning- ham, Yellow Creek, Salt Creek, Mendon, and Muscle Fork town- ships. These townships were composed of what was then called Buffalo Liek township, with one voting precinct located at Brunswick.
There are now (1883) sixteen townships, to-wit : Bee Branch, Cockrell, Cunningham, Yellow Creek, Clark, Mendon, Salt Creek, Muscle Fork, Triplett, Brunswick, Keytesville, Bowling Green, Way- land, Chariton, Salisbury, and Missouri townships.
In giving the history of the townships, we shall have more regard to their importance and early settlement in the order of time, than to their alphabetical arrangement. We shall begin with Chariton, it being the first settled in the county and including within its area the homes of those early pioneers who suffered and braved and en- dured so much, that their descendants might enjoy the fruits of their labors, their patience and their privations. Within this township was located the first seat of justice ; here were gathered the pioneer lawyers, the judges, the doctors, the officials, and that heterogeneous class of adventurers, who follow in the wake, but never in the fore- front of civilization. Here too were witnessed the first efforts at farming and the building of the embryo mill and manufactories, which were but an earnest of what may be seen in the county now. Here too occurred the first marriages, the first births, and here, too, re- pose the ashes of the earliest dead. In fact, Chariton township was
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
to Chariton county, what Jamestown was to Virginia, what St. Augus- tine was to Florida, in point of settlement and importance.
BOUNDARY.
Chariton township takes its name from Grand Chariton river, which skirts a portion of its western boundary. It is bounded on the north by Keytesville and Salisbury townships ; on the east by Howard county ; on the south by Saline county, from which it is separated by the Missouri river, and on the west by Missouri township.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
The eastern part of the township is rolling; the northern part is high land, deseending into bottom land. The soil is rich and highly productive. But little rock is found in the township. Timber is abundant and occupies a larger area of the township than prairie land. This township is traversed by Grand Chariton river, Little Chariton river, East fork of Chariton river and Doxie fork.
OLD SETTLERS.
Among the early settlers of Chariton township were Hiram Craig, Col. John M. Bell, Samuel Forest, John Tooley, Joseph Vance, William Crawford, John Fowler, James Fowler, Thomas Watson, Abram Lock and his sons, Thomas, John D., N. P., Il. P. and Wm. M. Loek.
For the names of other old settlers in Chariton township, the reader is referred to the succeeding pages of this chapter and also to the ad- dress of Charles J. Cabell, which will be found in our chapter entitled "Old Settlers' Reunions."
CHARITON.
The early settlers of the county, in speaking of the above named town, always ealled it " Old Chariton," not because there was another and a newer town bearing the same name, but because it was the oldest and first settled town in the county. It was located in Chariton township, on the Chariton river, about one mile from the junction of that stream with the Missouri, and on sections 5 and 6, township 51, range 17. Duff Green and Sabret Johnson were the original pro- prietors of the town site. It was laid out in the spring of 1817,
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about two years later than Old Franklin, in Howard county. It being the most western town on the Missouri river when founded, it grew rapidly and gave promise of rivalling even St. Louis, as a place of commercial importance. So ambitious was the little town. and so bright seemed its future, that William Cabeen, a shoemaker, as already stated in the history of Howard county, sold his property in St. Lonis, a block near the court-house, for $3,000, and invested the money in Chariton. The St. Louis property is now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. while Chariton, the once ambitions and thriv- ing little city, is but a thing of the past, living only in the memory of the few old settlers, who knew it in the days of its prosperity. The town contained about 1,200 people at one time, which was the greatest number that it ever contained. At this time it had seven dry goods and general stores, two saw and grist mills and three hotels. Upon the authority of Robertson Moore, who now resides at Glas- gow, the old town of Chariton, when first located, was within four hundred yards of the Missouri river. The river, however, has re- ceded until the town site is now fully one mile from its banks. Mr. Moore settled in Chariton in 1817. He says that it was generally understood by the early settlers, at the time of Lewis and Clark's expedition in 1804, that the Missouri river ran where Chariton was afterwards located. He further states that the river was fordable in 1817, in the month of August, above Glasgow, at what has since been known as the Baylor Banks place.
John M. Peck, D.D., visited Chariton in January, 1819, and while there was a guest of General Duff Green. In speaking of his visit in his memoirs, he has this to say of the town, of its location and people : --
"Chariton, containing about thirty families, has been laid off on a stream of the same name. In the winter of 1816-17 it was the wintering ground of a tribe of Indians. The following summer three or four log cabins were erected. Within a year the increase has been rapid, and, in view of trade and business, it is thought to be superior to any situation on the Missouri river. The Chariton consists of three principal streams or branches that take their rise in the great prairies far in the north, each of which when not unusually low is navigable for keel-boats. These branches unite their waters in one noble channel as they approach the town, forming a stream navigable for steamboats, and a safe harbor at all seasons.
" This stream forms a beautiful semi-circle, in the bend of which
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lies the town site, the lower end of the cirele touching on the Mis- souri. On the east side of the town-plat lies a range of hills or blutt's. giving a romantic and variegated appearance. Some like pyramids rise abruptly into the air, and from their summits show one of the most delightful prospects in nature. Ascending one of these bluff's, which rose majestically from the town site, I had an extensive view of the surrounding country. To the west and northwest the prospect is almost boundless.
" On the Sabbath (January 3d), though in constant pain from a swollen and inflamed face, I preached at 12 o'clock, and again at night.
"There are several very respectable and intelligent families in this town, and several unquestionably pious. At night I called the atten- tion of the ladies to the formation of a ' Female Mite Society,' to aid the . United Society for the Spread of the Gospel,' in sustaining some of our preachers in travelling and preaching in destitute settle- ments. This ' mite society' was organized the following week, with twenty-two members, who subscribed $36. The officiating persons chosen were Mrs. Lucretia M. Green, president ; Mrs. Ilenrietta C. D. Finley. secretary : Mrs. Polly Allen, treasurer; and Mrs. Mary Ann Campbell and Miss Ann Green, assistant directors. In the fol- lowing spring the first Sabbath school west of St. Louis was commeneed in Chariton. It became auxiliary to the . Philadelphia Sunday and Adult School Union,' which was the progenitor of the American Sunday School Union. About this period the Baptist missionaries held some correspondence and had some thoughts of making Chariton a station for the ' Western Mission.'"
From the above extract, we learn several interesting facts concern- ing Chariton - facts that are altogether reliable - because they were written contemporaneously with the existence of the things therein mentioned.
The doctor says that the town contained a population of about thirty families in January, 1819, which would probably make the number of inhabitants reach 175 persons, all told, at that time. He also says that a tribe of Indians wintered upon the town site in 1816-17, and that during the following summer, which was the summer of 1817, three or four log-eabins were erected. It is known that the Sac and Iowa Indians were here then, and that these tribes remained in the county (going out in the summer and returning in the fall and winter ) until 1828. The Iowas had camped in the neighborhood of
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where old Chariton was afterwards built, for many years, and had doubtless wintered in that locality in 1816-17. Their most noted chief was White Cloud, who possessed many good traits of character. and was a fine looking Indian.
Wahoochee was the chief of the Sacs. The doctor speaks of organ- izing a " Female Mite Society," giving the names of the officers, and says in the spring of 1820 the first Sabbath school west of St. Louis was commenced in Chariton.
EARLY BUSINESS MEN. -
Among the early business men of Chariton were the firm of John Ross & Co., composed of John Ross, William Glasgow and John Aull ; General Duff Green, and Stephen Donahoe, all of whom had general stores. Captain White opened the first saloon. Joseph Brewer was a manufacturer of hats. Lewis Green, a slave, who was at one time the property of Duff Green, but at the time of which we speak, the property of John Moore, was the blacksmith. Frederick Beanbriek was the tailor, and the only German settler, at that date, in the county. Isaac Campbell and Robertson Moore were the hotel-keep- ers. James Sample,* a brother-in-law of Duff' Green, and Duff Green himself, were the lawyers. Henry Bins was the earpenter, cabinet- maker, and Santa Fe trader. James Keytes, who afterwards founded Keytesville, was among the early residents of the town, and adminis- tered to the spiritual wants of the people as a Methodist preacher. The Baptists began the erection of a church edifice, but never finished it. This was the only building of the kind ever undertaken in the place. Among the pioneer, if not the first, physicians, were Doctors John Holman, John Bull, f and Doctor Willis Green, a brother of Duff Green. As early as 1820, there was what was called a " Loan Office Bank" established in Chariton, with Colonel Henry T. Williams as manager and cashier. This institution collapsed in 1822, and was the occasion of some little excitement among those who were pecuniarily interested in it.
SCHOOLS.
There were two early school teachers in the town, who taught dif- ferent schools at the same time. The first to come was Ebenezer
* Sample was afterwards a United States Senator from Illinois.
t Dr. John Bull was afterwards a member of Congress from Missouri.
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Rogers, who was also a Baptist minister. He was an Englishman by birth and education, and was regarded as an oracle in that community.
"The village all declared how much he knew ; 'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too ; Lands he could measure, terms and tilles presage; And even the story ran that he could gauge."
He was a man of rigid discipline, and, in some respects, quite ee- centrie. The other teacher rejoiced in the peculiar and unique cogno- men of John Brownjohn. One day the larger boys of Brownjohn's school concluded they would go over and " clean out," as they said, the boys of Rogers' school. They went over en masse, when the schools were dismissed at noon, and two of the largest and bravest representatives of each school did the fighting for all their comrades. William F. Davis, brother of Judge John M. Davis, was the pugilist of Rogers' school, and Brownjohn's forces were represented by an- other boy equally as large and courageous. The battle was fought, and Davis came out victorious. Of course Rogers heard of the fight, and as soon as school convened in the afternoon, he called Davis to him, as he had a number of times for similar offences, and was in the aet of inflicting corporal punishment upon him, when Davis, thinking that his teacher might not whip him if he told him all about the fight, told him that the boys of Brownjohn's school had said that his teacher-meaning Rogers-" was nothing but an old Tory," and he (Davis ) took it up and whipped him for it. Rogers, who then had the in- strument of torture in his hand -a long, black ruler - ready to use it, stopped and told Davis that underthe circumstances he would not punish him. Rogers, although some forty years had passed since our revo- Intionary war, felt very keenly the force of the epithet " Old Tory," and was more sensitive, doubtless, upon the subject because he was by birth an Englishman. The incident serves to illustrate the oft- repeated saying, " It is owing altogether to whose ox is gored." A man by the name of Pierce was also an early teacher.
A WOMAN PREACHER.
In 1824, a strange woman came to Chariton and wanted to preach for the people. The proposition was so new and startling in its char- acter, that the citizens of the town concluded she was not in her right mind, and advised her to leave as soon as she could. The idea of a
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woman's preaching had not, at that day, been heard of, especially in this Western county, and the sovereigns of the soil thought the bare proposition upon her part showed incontestible proof of her lunacy. They thought that women should --
" From wars and from affairs of state abstain."
INCIDENTS.
General Duff Green was one of the most prominent and enterpris- ing men of the town. He had a personal difficulty with a man named John Campbell, and shot him through the body. Campbell was riding through the principal street of the town, when Green, who was stand- ing in the door of his own business house, with a rifle in his hands. raised it and shot him. Campbell, however, did not fall from his horse, but rode on to the office of Doctor Holman, where he was lifted from his saddle and taken into the office. Campbell afterwards re- covered and lived to accomplish a daring and remarkable feat, as the following facts te-tity : Campbell paid his addresses to a young lady in the vicinity -- a Miss Amanda Pepper - whose father was opposed to her marriage with Campbell. Campbell and the young lady became greatly attached. It was the custom in those days for the pioneer to keep his gun in a rack, on the inside of his house, over the door. Pepper always kept his gun in the rack when not using it. One after- noon, Campbell, prepared with a gun, mounted his horse in Chariton and went to the house of his intended. When he halted at the door, he saw the old gentleman in the house, who instantly rose from his seat and attempted to get his gun. Campbell seeing him, presented his gun, and told him that if he moved he would kill him. At the same time, Campbell called to Miss Amanda, and told her if she in- tended to go with him, to come and get up behind him. She mounted behind him " in hot haste," and Campbell rapidly disappeared down the road in company with his lady love, whom he married. The irate father was indiguant enough to shoot Campbell, but fearing that he would kill his daughter, whose person alone shielded the object of his hatred, did not fire.
TOBACCO,
Judge John M. Feazle, who now ( 1883) resides in Glasgow, How- ard county, Missouri, came to Old Chariton, in 1833, from Virginia. and put up written notices through the town and county, informing
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the people that he would purchase all the tobacco they would raise for three years, and pay them two dollars and a half a hundred for it. From this period the farmers began to raise tobacco : but little was raised before. Since then. Chariton county has been one of the bau- ner tobacco counties of all the counties in the United States. (See chapter on Agriculture. )
In 1825, the fortunes of the little town, which had been so success- fully planted in the wilderness, began to wane. The Chariton river had overflowed its banks, and close upon the receding waters came sickness and death to many of the inhabitants of the town, and to many of those who lived near it's banks. That dreaded disease, mala- ria, which has in all ages of the world proven to be more destructive to armies than the sword or bullet, and more fatal in its ravages upon human life than anything else, decimated the ranks of these pioneers after each flood from the river. They, however, continued to dwell in Old Chariton, believing that the felling of the forest trees in the immediate vicinity of the town, the opening up of the county for set- tlement, and the drainage of a few of the swamps and lagoons along the banks of the river. would give a more healthful climate. The same condition of affairs existed year after year, until about 1840, when the town was abandoned, men leaving without even effecting a sale of their property, and, in a few instances, leaving their half finished houses to rot and fall to the ground. Many of the inhabitants went to Glasgow, two miles below, which is one of the highest and most healthful locations on the river. The first attempt to locate another town in the vicinity of Chariton occurred in 1831. During that year, 1831, Doctor John Graves founded the town of Monticello, one mile east of Chariton. The doctor ereeted a building for a store, which was the only business house in the town, and, while building his dwelling house, he lost his life. He and a hired band had crossed the Chariton river to get a load of sand, and while returning in a canoe the doctor was drowned. Joshua Belden took charge of the doctor's business, and afterwards married his widow.
The town was beautifully located, and was regarded as a healthful situation. A number of gentlemen of wealth and social standing re- sided there. Among these were Walker Lewis, Judge John MI. Feazle, Stephen W. Lewis, Wm. A. McClure, Judge John A. Clark, John P. Morris, Joshua Belden, and John A. Halderman. The town oc- cupied section 4, township 51, range 17. The next effort to build another town was made by R. B. Thornton, in 1835, at what was
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called the " Point," at the mouth of the Chariton, where the ferry was located, on the Missouri river. This was on seetion 8, township 51, range 17.
The first business house at this place was put up by John Mulligan. The ferry was run by Andrew Thrash and R. B. Thornton, The new town was christened Thorntonsburg, and named after Mr. Thornton, who was one of the proprietors of the ferry. The first business house was put up by Mulligan. Other business houses were erected by Carson & Hays, and others. Captain Thomas Joyce, in the course of a few years, came from Louisville, Kentucky, to Thornton-burg. He owned or had some interest in the land upon which the town was lo- eated, and became involved in litigation with Thrash and Thornton. The matter was finally settled, and Joyce christened the town anew, naming it Louisville-on-Missouri. The proprietors of the new town were Thomas Joyce, Tilly Emerson, and R. B. Thornton. Joyce did this in 1810, after Glasgow was laid ont and settled two miles below, and made every effort to advance the interest of the town, thinking that Louisville-on-Missouri would outerop Glasgow, and be the future great city of the Missouri valley. Like Old Chariton and Monticello, the town soon became a thing of the past, while Glasgow, its most dreaded rival, still survived.
MAIL FACILITIES.
There were no mail facilities west of old Chariton until 1833, and no mails on the north side of the Missouri river through this section of country until that time, James Wilson was the original contractor for carrying the mail westward from Chariton. His son was the first mail-boy put on the route between the towns of Chariton and Liberty in Clay county, Missouri. The distance was one hundred and thirty miles by the route travelled. After two or three months Charles Manns succeeded Wilson's son, and he in turn was succeeded by John M. Davis, the present Judge Davis, who was then a lad of fifteen years. Davis carried the mail three months, commencing October 9, 1833, and never missed a trip, and never failed to be at a post-office when the mail was due. It required six days to make the round trip. The mail left Chariton on Wednesday, was taken to Keytesville, and then to Grand River, where the boy in charge remained all night ; thence next morning to Cary's post-office, in Carroll county, and then to Henry Brewers' ferry on Crooked river, where he again stayed over.
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night ; next morning he took breakfast at Richmond, Ray county. reaching Liberty the same evening ; leaving Liberty Saturday morning he returned by the same route, arriving at Chariton on the afternoon of the following Monday. The compensation to the mail carrier was $9 per month, his board and expenses paid, the carrier pro- viding his own horse. The westward bound mail-bag would usually contain about three peeks of mail matter ; the mail for the east, com- ing from Liberty and way places, would generally measure about as much as would fill an ordinary silk hat, consisting exclusively of let- ters, for there were then no printing presses west of Old Franklin. Howard county. There is, perhaps, no one fact that impresses itself more forcibly upon our minds of the marvellous growth of the West- ern country than that which is presented by the institution just here, of a brief comparison. John M. Davis and his pony were then the only means of transporting the United States mail a distance of 130 miles. Davis was a mere boy, physically weak and unable to do a man's work, but possessing a man's pluck and a man's energy, he alone, the boy that he was, was the all-sufficient guardian and protector of the United States mail, carrying it on horseback and delivering it in person to the most distant and remote settlement of the great West. The mail which he carried, and which was the accumulation of a week, was not more than enough to con- veniently till the old-fashioned ordinary mail or saddle-bags.
Look at the facilities and appointments which are now afforded by the goverment for the transportation and distribution of the mail along the same route. The noisy, iron horse has superseded the quiet, modest pony, travelling almost with the rapidity of the winds. The robust and healthy-looking route agent, who receives his $90 per month, dresses tastefully in his suit of blue and rides in a comforta- ble car, has long since superseded John Davis, who wore his suit of homespun butternut, receiving for his services $9 per month. We observe, however, the more marked and greater change in these evi- dences of the growth and development of the country. in the amount of mail matter then and now. Three pecks in bulk of mail matter was sent westward then once per week ; now, along the same route is distributed, perhaps, no less than one ton per day, saying nothing of the many tons which daily go westward through Omaha and Kansas City. Block the railroads at either one of the places named, for a week, and the amount of mail matter that would accumulate could ยท never be moved and distributed were it not for the great number of
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these roads which diverge from these great centres. The trusty post- boy, however fleet of foot may be his steed, and the old-fashioned stage coach, however expeditious, would be powerless to grapple with this mountainous and constantly increasing pile of matter.
FOREST GREEN
was laid out by JJohn G. Forest, northeast quarter of section 17, township 52, range 17, in 1873, on the K. and K. Railroad, which now connects Glasgow and Salisbury. The first house was created in May, 1873, by M. Guerin, for a general store. Covey Heryford was the first postmaster, Frederick Weisenham was the first blacksmith, D. Gochey was the first carpenter. The town at present ( 1883) contains two business houses, one blacksmith, one physician, a tobacco fac- tory, a hotel, post-office, and public school. L. P. Nichols was the first principal of the school. Silas Moore is the present principal.
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