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 41
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 41
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475
Number of white schools
5
Number of colored schools .
2
Average cost per day for tuition on enrollment $ .055
Average cost per day on average number belonging .022
Average cost per day on daily attendance .075
Value of school property in the district
12.000 00
Average rate per $100 levied for school purposes in the distriet . 40
Rate per cent levied for building purposes
30
Assessed value of property in the district
328,000 00
Amount on hand at beginning of school year ( deficit ) . 143 40 Amount received for tuition fees 104 59
Amount received from public funds ( state, county and township) and realized from taxation 4.235 48
Amount paid for teachers' wages in the district during the year . ,
2,173 75
Amount paid for fuel in the district during the year 107 75
Amount paid for repair's or rent of school houses during the year . 133 89
Amount paid for apparatus and incidental expenses in the distriet for the year . 321 25
-
Amount expended in defraying past indebtedness 905 90
Balance in hands of treasurer at elose of year 477 47
COUNTY SEAT QUESTION.
The question of moving the county seat from Keytesville to Bruns- wiek was more or less discussed by the people of the latter place from 1845 to the beginning of the late civil war. It was perhaps more generally agitated from 1848 to 1854, but the matter was never left to a test vote. The consequence was, as it always has been over such questions, an unpleasant feeling sprang up between the two towns, which exists to some little extent even now.
GERMAN SETTLEMENTS.
In the month of August, 1840, a colony of Germans came to Bruns- wiek, being the second influx of that nationality to the county. Their
446
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
names were John HI. Munson, Fred. Feaker, Charles Feaker, J. H. Mortemver, A. Bealer, and their families, and settled up the bottom, south of Brunswick.
In 1842-43, another smaller colony settled in Brunswick. Among these were John Lahmen, Samuel Yost, Charles Sasse, ----- Hen- neger, Rudolph Zollah, John Tilman, Tchipatt, and others.
The first German settlement has already been mentioned in the history of Chariton township.
WAB REMINISCENCE OF 1861.
Among the curious momentoes of the great civil war which have been preserved by accident or otherwise, by the people of Brunswick, is the following : ---
" We, the undersigned citizens of Brunswick, pledge our sacred honor to maintain and defend the stars and stripes, which now float on what is now known as the Douglas pole, and to maintain the same in its position, and that we will not suffer any traitorous hand to lower or disturb the same. If by accident, or otherwise, the same shall be destroyed, to erect another in its stead. We further pledge ourselves to protect and hold sacred the rights of both person and property of all Union men in our midst, and further guarantee that their social and political opinions shall be held inviolate. All the foregoing we solemuly pledge our honor to Lieutenant-Colonel Robert White shall be carried out in good faith.
JULY 7, 1861.
A. KENNEDY, Mayor, FREDERICK SASSE, JOHN D. PLUNKETT. Councilmen. P. R. DOLMAN, Clerk."
GROWTH AND TRADE.
Brunswick grew more rapidly and prospered in a more substantial and flattering manner between the years 1840 and 1856, or until the building and completion of the Hannibal and St. Joe railroad, which passed east and west through Linn county, and about nineteen miles north of Brunswick. The population of the town was perhaps as great in 1856 as it has been at any time since. Its trade was quite
447
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
extensive, and a large area of territory contributed to the wealth and importance of its merchants, who were active and energetic business men. Much business was drawn from the counties of Linn, Mercer, Sullivan, Grundy, Livingston, part of Carroll, and even as far north as the Iowa State line. The counties named generally did their ship- ping at Brunswiek, by way of the Missouri river, and received their goods, when purebased at St. Louis or Eastern eities, from the Bruns- wick warehouses, where they were transported by steamboats. A good ferry was operated on the Missouri river at that time south of Bruns- wiek, and quite a trade was enjoyed also from Saline county.
GRAND RIVER.
It was thought at one time, that Grand river would add something to the material prosperity of Brunswick, but the result proved to be anything else than satisfactory to the parties interested.
It was thought by many river men and steamboat men, that Grand river could be made a navigable stream and upon a representation of these facts to the Missouri State Legislature, that body in the winter of 1838, passed an act appropriating money to ascertain the fact of its navigability. A commission was appointed and reported that the river was navigable as far as the town of Bedford. Several small steamers were plucky enough to attempt the ascension of the stream and actually ran up as high as Utica and Bedford. Among these, was the gallant little eraft Bedford, which went up the river in the spring of 1840 to Utica. After a few experimental trips had been made, during high water, the continued navigation of the stream was abandoned.
ADDITIONS TO BRUNSWICK.
Since Brunswiek was laid out, there have been a number of addi- tions ; the name and date of each will be found below : -
Western Addition, laid out in March, 1847.
Northern Addition, laid out in January, 1847.
Woodson's Addition, laid out in January, 1847.
Brinker's Addition, laid out in January, 1858. Keyte's Addition, laid out in January, 1859.
Haigler's Addition, laid out in January, 1858. Price's Addition, laid out in January, 1867. Aill Addition, laid out in January, 1873.
448
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
BUSINESS HOUSES AND PROFESSIONAL MEN.
3 jewelers,
1 saw mill,
4 hotels,
4 general stores,
2 bakers and confectioners,
1 tinsmith,
1 lumber yard,
1 saloon and billiard room,
I photographer,
3 saloons,
2 boot and shoe stores,
1 tailor,
1 flour mill,
2 hardware stores,
2 newspapers,
9 lawyers,
5 physicians,
9 churches,
2 newspapers.
We take the following items from one of the first issues of the Brunswicker : -
PLUNKETT HOUSE.
" The hotel recently occupied by John R. Price, has been thoroughly renovated and filled with new beds, bedsteads, bedding, etc. The proprietor is fully prepared to entertain man and beast with the best the market can afford. Rates board : 25 cents per meal; 75 cents per day : $1.25 per day for man and horse : $2.50 per week : $3.50 per week board and lodging ; $7.00 per week man and horse.
W. HI. PLUNKETT, Proprietor.
December 1, 1847."
We take the following from the same paper : -
JIM PHILLIPS ! WHERE ARE YOU?
" Left the home of his lawful wife, for parts unknown, on the night of the 15th of December, 1847, at Brunswick, Missouri, one James
5 saloons,
4 restaurants,
5 meat markets,
ยท4 tobacco warehouses,
2 livery stables,
3 barbers,
1 bank,
2 gunsmiths,
2 druggists,
1 physician,
1 blacksmith,
1 insurance agent,
2 shoemakers,
2 furniture stores,
2 harness-makers,
1 sewing machine agent,
2 undertakers,
7 grocers,
419
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES. 1
Phillips, alias Jim Phillips, alias Black ,lim, a quandam doggery keeper, cideront horse-racer and ticky black-leg, taking with him the daughter of an honest old countryman, who was hired in the family, for pur- poses at which virtue shrinks back appalled ! He has left me and seven children, wholly dependent upon the charity of our friends for subsistence. He is a man about thirty-five years of age, inclined to corpuleney, about five feet ten inches high, very dark hair, eyes and skin, the latter so strikingly assimilating the shade Ethopian, as to justify the familiar soubriquet of Black Jim. It is too often the case with poor humanity. when affection's flowers become withered, hope's vestal flame dimmed and all our fairy visions of bliss fade from us, we shroud ourselves in gloom and melancholy, and brood darkly over disappointment, but I thank my God that I have sufficient fortitude to bear with misfortune, and sensibilities sufficiently refined to appre- ciate an accursed iniquity. I therefore pray the public press to give Jim such notoriety by its scorpion lash as to make his couch ot sin the very hot-bed of wo. BETSY PHILIPPS."
In 1848. Brunswick contained nine stores and three general g10- very stores.
EXPORTS OF BRUNSWICK FOR 1849.
Wheat, bushels
42,386
Lard, barrels
3.252
Pork, barrels
1,096
Bacon, casks
1,253
Tobacco, hogsheads
2,010
Hemp, tons
294
Tobacco, boxes
475
Flax seed, bush
1,546
Beeswax, pounds
50.426
Dry hides,
3,171
Deer skins, bales
264
Furs, bales
221
Beans, barrels
Wool, sacks
57
Mustard seed, sacks
15
Number of hogs killed
8.334
Number of beef cattle
362
450
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
The first steamboat that passed up the river in 1849, was the Julia, on the 5th of March. The last one down was the Amelia, on the 11th of December. The whole number of steamboat arrivals and departures for the year was 534. Of this number the packet Rowena, Captain Jewett, made forty-four ; the next best were the St. Joseph and Highland Mary, ench thirty-four. Fifty-five different boats were at the Brunswick landing.
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE.
This fire occurred on the morning of April 10th, 1850, before day. Those suffering from this fire, were H. G. Brent & Co., R. II. Dickey & Co., S. & H. Weil, B. N. Jones & Co., Hathaway & Anderson, A. L. Kerr & Co. and J. B. Hodge.
Believing that the following correspondence between Colonel Thomas H. Benton and a number of the old citizens of Brunswick will be read with interest, we here reproduce it.
.
" BRUNSWICK, MO., May 3, 1853.
Honorable Thomas H. Benton -
DEAR SIR: We, a portion of your fellow citizens of this vicinity. without politieal distinction, learning that you are on your way to Kansas City to open the question of the Central Pacific Railway, would most respectfully ask you to designate a day when we may have the pleasure of hearing you speak in Brunswick. Very truly, ete.,
Charles Derrickson,
J. M. Venable,
W. H. Beddow,
John H. Blue,
Joseph Cotes,
A. Hathaway,
John Brodie Barrett,
Thomas S. Anderson,
A. D. Day,
W. C. Moberly,
B. N. Jones,
John Allega,
Charles West,
John G. Fetzer,
Dr. A. C. Johnson,
A. Sportsman,
J. W. Gilliam,
T. E. Gilliam,
Levi Benjamin,
B. D. Spencer,
John Ballantine,
R. G. Beazley,
A. Winter,
James L. Pearson,
W. Woolfolk,
C. E. Woolfolk,
A. L. Kerr,
E. G. St. Clair.
.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
REPLY.
Gentlemen-Your very acceptable invitation has been received, and will be complied with, but not at this time. A long absence from home leaves me no time to turn to the right or left, or stop a day in this voyage to the West, undertaken solely to see a small pioneer party set out to explore the route to the Pacific, which is recommended by Fremont and Leroux, and which the map shows to be the shortest and most direct and most central between the United States and the Pacific Ocean. Your invitation comes, as such a one should do, from the citizens generally ( from the body of the community ), without regard to political distinction. Happily we have a subject to occupy us which is independent of party, and in which all citizens may unite heart and hand and work together cordially and zealously to produce a grand consummation which is to redound to the benefit of every part of the community, and to every section of our country, and to the whole Union, and even Europe and Asia, and to the latest posterity. It is now thirty-five years since I have been at work upon this subject, that of commercial communication between the Mississippi-the mode of communication varied only to suit the progress of events. but the object always the same. I began with water communications on the line of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, when we owned noth- ing but Oregon beyond the Rocky Mountains, and the steam-car un- known. Now, when California is acquired, the steam-cars already rim over more miles in the United States (all made by States or indi- viduals ) than would make six different roads to the Pacific Ocean from our frontier. I change the mode and the line, and go for the car and San Francisco, and that upon the route closest to the parallel of thirty-nine degrees, which the nature of the ground will admit of. I caught the idea from Mr. Jefferson, who, in his message to Congress proposing the expedition of Lewis and Clark, presented the commer- cial communication as the leading object, and the one that gave Con- gress constitutional jurisdiction of the case, and the extension of geographical science as the incident to the pursuit of that main ob- ject. That was before we acquired Oregon or set up any claim to territory on the Pacific Ocean ; now we have both Oregon and Cali- fornia, and besides the commercial object have another in the duty of communicating with the citizens in these distant possessions, and stretching a ligament of union from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
452
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES,
" When I first wrote upon this project it was a subject of ridicule with a great many ; but that had no effect upon me. It is my pre- rogative to disregard unworthy opposition, and to vanquish it. I have continued steadily at my work for about thirty years, and now see success in view. But I had something more than ridicule to encounter, and that was the unwise action of the Federal Govern- ment. In 1818 it made a treaty of joint occupation of the Colum- bia with the British for ten years. I was not then in the Senate, but denounced that treaty as unjust and injurious, as it would postpone our settlement for ten years and give the British a foothold which might require a ' vigorous effort of policy or of arms to remove.' In 1828 that treaty of joint occupation was indefinitely renewed. I opposed it to the uttermost in the Senate, but in vain. The admin- istration and the enemies to the growth of the West were too strong for me. In 1846, under the administration of Mr. Polk, this unfor- tuuate treaty was abrogated after it had nearly produced war between Great Britain and the United States; and I had the satisfaction to give it the last lick in that year, as I had given it the first in 1818 - twenty-eight years before.
" In the year 1824 I began another work in Congress which was deemed chimerical - that of a road to Santa Fe. Solitary and alone I began to work upon that road, and accomplished it, having obtained an appropriation of $30,000 for marking it ont, treating with the Indians for safe passage through their country, and coneiliating the good will of the New Mexiean authorities in Santa Fe. Persever- ance and a good cause crowned my efforts with success, and I have never doubted of eventual success ; and the period seems now to be approaching for the grand consummation. The public mind seems to be effectually roused up to it, and that all over our Union and in Europe also. The British Minister ( Lord John Russell ) told our late minister, Mr. Abbott Lawrence (as Mr. Lawrence told me ), that this enterprise, if accomplished, would have a greater influence upon human affairs than any event since the discovery of the New World by Columbus - in which opinion Mr. Lawrence coneurred, and told me it would be one of his cherished objeets for the remainder of his life.
" Having lately spoken fully on this subject at Kansas City, West- port and Independence, a report of which you will see in the news- papers, I say no more until we meet.
" Yours truly,
" THOMAS H. BENTON."
453
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
We have given you the above letter in full because it was written by one of the ablest and most distinguished men, not only of Mis- souri, but of the United States in his day ; and because it was written to citizens of Brunswick, the names of whom are all well remem- bered by the old settlers of the town. The letter shows that its anthor was a man of great wisdom and foresight, and that he had early conceived the idea of not only establishing commercial inter- course between the Mississippi river and the Pacific coast, but that he had, with unabated zeal, advocated the measure for thirty years.
31
CHAPTER VIII.
SALISBURY TOWNSHIP.
Boundary - Physical Features -Early Settlers- Winter of 1830-31 - Incidents - Kindness of Old Settlers -- First School -Tornado of 1830- Recollections of a Pioneer Woman-Salisbury - Its History - Business Houses - Fires of 1877 and 1882 - Tornado of 1872 - Secret Orders - Town Incorporated - First and present City Officers - Public School - Crimes and Casualties.
BOUNDARY.
Salisbury is the largest municipal division of the county, and con- tains about ninety-two square miles.
It is bounded on the north by Keytesville and Wayland townships ; on the east by Randolph county ; on the south by Howard county and Chariton township ; and on the west by Keytesville township.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
Among the water courses of this township, are Silver creek. Bee branch, Shannon branch, Puzzle creek, East and Middle forks of Chariton river. The township comprises about two-thirds prairie and one-third timber, the timber being in greater abundance than it was fifty years ago. 'The soil is admirably adapted to agricultural pur- poses, the township being accounted one of the best and most pro- ductive in the county.
OLD SETTLERS.
Among the early settlers of Salisbury township, was Captain James Heryford, who was a native of Virginia, but came from Tennessee to Chariton county in 1817. Mr. Heryford erected the first horse mill, the first cotton gin, and the first distillery, that were built in the county. These were located in section 18, on the bank of Puzzle creek. The horse mill was put up in 1822; in 1854, this mill was (454)
455
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
converted into a cotton gin, and in 1830, it was again changed into what was then called, a double-geared, cog-wheel mill. The distillery was located about forty steps below the mill and was erected in 1824.
A great many farmers raised their " patch " of cotton and grew it successfully until the winter of 1830, since which time, but little cot- ton has been raised in the county.
WINTER OF 1830-31.
That year - the winter of 1830-31 -will be remembered by the old settlers, as the year when there fell the deepest snow that the people living here had ever seen -and in fact, nothing has been seen like it since. It began to snow on the 25th day of December, 1830, and continued to fall until it averaged three and a half feet in depth on level ground. This snow remained on the ground until the 15th day of March following. It was especially severe on wild animals, quails and wild turkeys. Hundreds of deer were killed, and many of them died for want of food. Turkeys and quails met a similar fate.
Captain Wm. Heryford, son of Captain James Heryford, relates the followingincidents which occurred while the snow was on the ground : -
About three hundred yards from his father's house, among some sumae bushes, a sow had made a bed, where she remained during the storm, with her pigs. The snow being so deep, the old gentleman could not very well reach the spot until he had dragged a large log through the snow, with his ox team, to the place and back. This made a path about the width of the log. A few days after the snow had fallen, Captain Wm. Heryford, who was then a small boy of twelve years, went to feed the sow and pigs as usual, when he saw a deer upon the very spot attempting to eat the sumac berries which were hanging from the bushes over the bed. The deer got into the path, and followed it on to the house in its efforts to get away, and was driven into the barn where it was caught and kept for some weeks.
Captain Heryford says, during the snow, a flock of quails was ted by him regularly, every day under his father's mill-shed. This flock became quite tame and he supposes that it was the only one that did not perish, or was not killed in the county, during the snow, as he heard of no other after the snow had thawed away.
Another old settler relates the following : -
" During the winter of 1830-31 there was a snow fall about three feet deep. I was in Jefferson City until the last of February, and
456
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
when I returned to Chariton county, where I then resided, I found that the snow had destroyed nearly all the hogs in the country. In many places the snow had drifted to the depth of forty feet. During the fall of the snow a heavy wind blew from the northwest, and all the snow drifted from the open prairies, leaving the ground almost bare. The snow lodged in the hollows on the southeast of all those high open plains, and some hollows that I knew to be from thirty to forty feet deep had the appearance of level plains. In some steep, abrupt hollows, I saw snow as late as the first of June, not yet melted ; and from all appearances the snow had not been less than forty feet deep.
" During the melting of the snow, which was very gradual through the month of March and a portion of April, I went out with William Martin, who was my partner in raising hogs, on Yellow creek, in Chariton county, and, to our astonishment, we found the timbered bottoms strewn with the skeletons of dead stoek and fowls. I dis- tinetly remember one lot of twenty-eight two-year-old hogs, which we had, that were very fat in the fall. After a diligent search we found three living skeletons -all that was left alive of them. So poor were they that a couple of Indians described them as having no width at all and as crooked as a bow -- showing with their fingers bent that they meant humpbacked.
" The skeletons of turkey's ( that is, their leg and wing bones ) lay all over the bottom so plentiful that I supposed the last turkey was dead ; but while we were hunting our hogs we saw three live turkeys, while I have no doubt we came across the bones of five hundred dead ones. We also found many dead deer, and, from the signs, I coneluded that they had been killed by the wolves, which were very plentiful and were the only animals in the woods that were fat after the melting of that snow.
" I remember running my horse after a wolf that winter, and, when just about to overtake him, not noticing, I ran right into a snow-drift in the head of a hollow, thirty feet deep, to all appearances. I bad my rifle on my shoulder, and my horse plunged into the drift thirty or forty yards before I could stop. I got off the horse and beat the snow down as well as I could in my back track, being entirely under the snow for many minutes. When I got my head out, so that I could see, I saw the wolf swimming through the drift which was about two hundred yards wide. I brushed the snow from the barrel of my gun and fired at the wolf's head, as that was the only part of
457
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
him that was visible, but missed him. The snow being light, the wolf had sunk in it so far that only his head and neck could be seen above the surface. This put a stop to the race.
" During the time the snow was on the ground I travelled from Jef- ferson City to my home in Chariton county. I came as far as Boonville in company with Lilburn W. Boggs, Smallwood V. Nolen and others. I rode a common sized mule and went behind in all places where the snow was drifted. I shall never forget how the snow would part on each side of the mules jaws ; it could just keep its nose out of the snow by raising its head as high as it could. I had to stand up in my stirrups at all the drifts to keep the snow out my face. Now, this is so, and if I had my witnesses I could prove it by gentlemen . sembly setters,' as the old negro called them in Jefferson City, and by Governor L. W. Boggs, who was in the party.
" After passing Boonville I swapped my mule for a horse, and then made my way home very well, as the road lay through a timbered country, where the snow, although deep, was not drifted."
Moses Kitchen was born in Caswell county, North Carolina, and came to Chariton county in 1829, and located in what was then known as Butfalo Liek township, near the Randolph county line. The first apple orchard planted in the township was set out by Moses Kitchen. The trees, twenty in number, were purchased in Howard county, and were known as the " Arnett " apple trees. Mr. Kitchen brought with him from North Carolina, his tobacco seeds, called " Beat the Beater," and the following summer he set out 8,000 hills, from which he raised 3,302 pounds of tobacco. This was considered a large crop, and commanded a price of four dollars per hundred pounds. During the winter of 1829, Mr. Kitchen spent Christmas week in hunting bee-trees and killing deer. He killed eleven deer and found seven bee-trees. That Christmas week was so warm that the farmers did their work without their coats. During the winter of 1830-31, while the deep snow was on the ground, the present Thomas S. Kitchen, son of Moses, shot and killed a wild turkey in his horse-lot. It was a very large gobbler, and had a beard that measured nine inches in length. He noticed that the turkey's bill or mouth was fastened by a large ice-ball, which had probably been accumulating there for two or three weeks. Although the turkey could not eat, it was pecking away at the corn-eobs in the lot, when he shot it. He was greatly disappointed to find that the turkey was so poor that it could not be eaten, and had to be thrown away. Thomas S. Kitchen
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