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 9
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 9
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When they returned from their journey in 1806, after having successfully accomplished all the objects for which they were sent out, they passed down the Missouri river, and camped, on the 18th of September, in Howard county, opposite to the mouth of the La Mine viver. And. as they journeyed down the river on that day. they mast have passed the present site of Boonville and Franklin early on the morning of the 19th of September, 1806.
The next evidence we have of any white persons being in the Boone's Lick country, is the following :--
In 1807, Nathan and Daniel M. Boone, sons of old Daniel Boone, who lived with their father in what is now St. Charles county. about twenty-five miles west of the city of St. Charles, on the Femme Osage creek, came up the Missouri river and manufactured salt at Boone's Lick, in Howard county. " After they had manufactured a considera- ble amount, they shipped it down the river to St. Louis, where they sold it. It is thought by many that this was the first instance of salt being manufactured in what was at that time a part of the territory of Louisiana, now the state of Missouri. Though soon after, salt was manufactured in large quantities -" salt lieks" being discovered in many parts of the state. Although these were the first white persons who remained for any length of time in the Boone's Lick country, they were not permanent settlers, as they only came to make salt, and left as soon as they had finished.
Previous to the year 1808, every white American who came to the Boone's Liek country, came with the intention of only remaining there a short time. Three parties had entered it while on exploring and surveying expeditions ; two parties had been to its fine salt licks
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
to make salt ; and, no doubt, many of the adventurous settlers living in the eastern part of this state, had often, ou their hunting expedi- tions, pierced the trackless forest to the Boone's Lick country ; but. of course, there is no record of these, hence, those expeditions of which there is a record, are placed as being the first to this part of the country, when, in reality, they may not be.
But in 1808, in the spring, one adventurous spirit determined to forsake what appeared to him to be the too thiekly settled portion of the state, and move farther west to the more pleasant solitudes of the uninhabited forest. In the spring of that year, Colonel Benjamin Cooper and his family, consisting of his wife and five sons, moved to the Boone's Liek country, and located in what is now Howard county, about two miles south west of Doone's Liek, in the Missouri river bottom. Ilere he built him a cabin, cleared a piece of ground, and commeneed arrangements to make a permanent settlement at that place. But he was not permitted to remain long at his new home. Governor Merriwether Lewis, at that time governor of the territory, issued an order directing hito to return below the mouth of the Gas- conade river, as he was so far advanced into the Indian country, and so far away from protection, that in case of an Indian war he would be unable to protect him. So he returned to Loutre island, about four miles south of the Gasconade river, where he remained until the year 1810.
The rich territory, however, was not destined to be left forever to the reign of wild beasts and savage Indians. Aside from the faet that the character of the men of the early days caused them contin- ually to revolt against living in thiekly settled communities, the Boone's Lick country presented advantages, which those seeking a home where they could tind the richest of lands and the most health- ful of climate, could not, and did not, fail to perceive. Its fertile soil promised, with little labor, the most abundant harvests. Its forests were filled with every variety of game, and its streams with all kinds of fish. Is it a wonder, then, that those seeking homes where these things could be found, should select and settle first the rich lands of Cooper and Howard counties, risking all the dangers from the Indians, who lived in great numbers close around them? Two years after the settlement of Benjamin Cooper, and his removal to Loutre island, the first lasting settlement was made in the Boone's Liek country, and this party was but the forerunner of many others, who soon followed, and in little more than one-half of a century, have
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
thickly settled one of the richest and most attractive parts of the state of Missouri.
The names of the parties who settled north of the river, in How- ard county, were :
From Madison County, Ky. :-
Lieut .- Col. Benjamin Cooper.
John Berry. Robert Erwin.
Francis Cooper.
Robert Brown.
William Cooper.
Joseph Wolfskill.
Daniel Cooper.
William Thorp.
Capt. Sar-hall Cooper.
John Thorp.
Braxton Cooper, Sr.
James Thorp.
Stephen Cooper.
Gilead Rupe ..
Braxton Cooper, Ir.
James Jones.
Robert Cooper.
Johu Peak.
James Hancock
William Wolfskill.
Albert Hancock.
Adam Woods.
William Berry.
From Estill County, Ky. :-
Amos Asheratt.
Otho Ashcraft.
Jesse A-heraft. James Alexander.
From Tennessee :-
John Ferrell. Henry Ferrell.
Robert Hancock.
From Virginia :- James Kile.
Froi South Carolina :- Gray Bynum.
From Georgia :-- Stephen Jackson.
From Ste. Genevieve :- Peter Popineau.
Previous Residence Unknown :-
John Bu-by. James Anderson.
Middletown Anderson. William Anderson.
The women belonging to these families did not arrive until the following July or August. We do not pretend to say these men were all of the early settlers who came in 1810. There were, per- haps, a few others, but the names we have given embrace nearly the
**
John Cooper.
Josiah Thorp.
Joseph Cooper.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
entire number who emigrated in the colony with Colonel Benjamin Cooper, in the spring of that year. After their arrival in this land of promise," they immediately began the erection of their houses, all of which were single or double log cabins, and to prepare for farming by clearing aud fencing small ยป patches" of ground. As a general thing. they settled in and near the Missouri river bottom. They knew that the country was full of Indians, and that these were liable at any time to begin their murderous assaults upon the whites, hence, they located in neighborhoods, where, in case of danger, they could render each other timely aid. That portion of Howard county, which is now embraced in Franklin and Boone's Lick townships, was the first settled.
When the settlers first came to this county, wild game of all kinds was very abundant, and so tame as not to be easily frightened at the approach of white men. This game furnished the settlers with all their meat, and, in fact, with all the provisions they used, for most of the time, they bad but little else than meat. There were large numbers of deer, turkeys, elk, and other large animals, and, to use the expression of an old settler, " they could be killed as easily as sheep are now killed in our pastures." The settlers spent most of their time in hunting and fishing, as it was no use to plant crops to be destroyed by wild game. Small game, such as squirrels, rabbits, partridges, etc., swarmed around the homes of the frontiersmen in such numbers that when they did attempt to raise a crop of any kind, in order to save a part of it, they were forced to kill them in' large numbers.
Not only were the settlers and their families thus well provided with food by nature, but also their animals were furnished with everything necessary to their well being. The range was so good during the whole year, that their stock lived without being fed by their owners. Even when the ground was covered with snow, the animals, taught by instinct, would in a few minutes paw from under the snow enough grass to last them all day. Their only use of corn, of which they planted very little, was to make bread, and bread made of corn was the only kind they ever had.
During the two succeeding years ( 1811 and 1812 ), quite a number of emigrants had taken up their line of march for the Boone's Liek country. Many of these ineluded families of wealth, culture, and re- finement, who left their well furnished homes and life-long friends in the east, to take up their abode among the savages and wild beasts of the western wilderness. Scarcely, however, had they reached their
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
destination, when they heard the dim mutterings which foreshadowed a long and bloody conflict with the Indians, who had been induced by the emissaries of the British government to unite with Great Britain in her attempt to defeat the United States of America.
OLD SETTLERS ERECT FORTS.
Being fully convinced that the Indians were making preparations to attack the settlements along the Missouri river, they determined to be ready to receive them properly when they did appear, and to this end, began the erection of three forts in Howard county, bearing the names respectively, of Fort Cooper, Fort Hempstead, and Fort Kin- caid. Fort Cooper was located about two miles southwest of Boone's Lick. Fort Kincaid was east southeast, about nine miles distant, and about one mile north of the present Boonville railroad bridge. Fort Hempstead was about one and a half miles north of Fort Kin- caid. Each fort was a series of log houses, built together around an enclosure. In each house lived a family, and the stock was corraled, and the property of the settlers seenred at night in the enclosure. There were other smaller forts, but the above were the most important. Immediately after the erection of these forts, the pioneers organized themselves into a military company, with Sarshall Cooper as captain : tirst lieutenant, William McMahon : second lieutenant, John Monroe ; ensign, Benjamin Cooper, Jr.
SERGEANTS.
1st. John McMurray. 4th. Davis Todd.
2d. Samuel McMahan.
5th. John Mathis.
3d. Adam Wood ..
CORPORALS.
Ist. Andrew Smith. 4th. John Busby.
20. Thomas Vanghan. 5th. James Barnes.
3d. James McMahan. 6th. Jesse Ashcraft.
The above were the officers chosen by their comrades and neigh- bors, to command the company, which consisted of 112 men. who were able to bear arms. The following list comprises all the men and boys who were in the different forts :--
FORT COOPER.
James Alexander. James Anderson. Middleton Anderson.
Frederick Hyatt. Robert Irvine. David Jones.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
William Anderson.
John Jones. Jesse Jones.
Gray Bynum. John Busby.
George Jackson.
Robert Brown.
Stephen JJackson. James Jackson. Samuel McMahan.
Samuel Brown.
Benjamin Cooper.
Thomas McMahan.
Sarshall Cooper.
James MeMahan.
Frank Cooper.
William McMahan.
William Cooper.
John O'Bannon.
David Cooper.
Thomas O'Bannon.
John Cooper.
Judiah Osmond.
Braxton Cooper.
Samnel Perry.
Joseph Cooper.
William Read.
Stephen Cooper.
Benoni Sappington.
Robert Cooper.
John Sappington.
Henly Cooper.
James Sappington.
Patrick Cooper.
Daniel Tillman.
Jesse Cox. Solomon Cox.
John Thorp.
John Ferrill.
Samuel Turley.
Edward Good.
Stephen Turley.
Harmon Gregg.
Thomas Wasson.
William Gregg.
Joseph Wasson.
Robert Heath.
William Wolfskill.
Robert Hancock.
Abbott Hancock.
Josiah Higgins.
FORT HEMPSTEAD.
William Grooms.
Alfred Head.
Moses Ilead.
Robert Hinkson.
John James. James Jones. Abner Johnson.
Noah Katew.
Robert Austin.
William Baxter. Big Berry.
Joseph MeLane. William MeLane.
George Alcorn. James Alcorn. William Allen. John Arnold. Price Arnold. Joseph Austin. Jolm Austin.
Adam Woods.
Joseph Wolfskill.
William Wolfskill, Jr.
David Gregg.
William Thorp.
Henry Ferrill.
Ezekiel Williams.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
John Berry. William Berry. David Boggs. Joseph Boggs. Muke Box.
Joseph Boyers.
Robert Brown.
Samuel Brown. William Brown.
Townsend Brown.
Michael Poage.
Robert Poage.
Joseph Poage.
Christopher Richardson.
Jesse Richardson. James Richardson.
Silas Richardson.
John Rupe.
Henry Simmons.
Reuben Smith.
Andrew Smith.
Joseph Cooley.
James Cooley.
Ferrin Cooley.
James Snethan.
Braxton Cooper, Jr.
Joseph Still.
James Cockrell.
John Stinson.
Thomas Chandler.
Nathan Teague.
James Creason.
Solomon Teters.
John Creason. Peter Creason.
Jolin Teters.
William Creason.
Isaac Thornton.
John Thornton.
Davis Todd.
James Douglas.
Elisha Todd.
Jonathan Todd.
Levi Todd. James Turner.
Philip Turner. Jesse Turner.
Thomas Vanghan.
Robert Wilds.
William Wadkins.
Ewing McLane. David MeQuitly. William Monroe ( called Long Gun ). Joseph Moody. Susan Mullens. Thompson Mullens. John Peak.
William Pipes.
Christopher Brown.
Christopher Burekhartt.
Nicholas S. Burekhartt.
Andrew Carson.
Lindsay Carson ( father of Kit Carson ). Moses Carson.
Charles Canole.
William Canole.
Isaac Clark.
Thomas Smith.
John Snethan.
David Teters.
Daniel Crump. Harper Davis.
Daniel Durbin. John Elliott. Braxton Fugate. Hiram Fugate. Reuben Fugate.
Sarshall Fugate. Simeon Fugate. Reuben Gentry.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
Samuel Gibbs. Abner Grooms. John Grooms.
James Whitley. Benjamin Young. John Yarnell.
FORT KINCAID.
Amos Ashcraft.
Eusebius Hubbard.
Jesse Ashcraft.
Joseph Jolly.
Otho Ashcraft.
David Kinraid ..
Amos Barnes.
Matthew Kincaid.
Aquilla Barnes.
John Kincaid.
Abraham Barnes.
John McMurray.
James Barnes.
Adam McCord.
John Barnes.
Daniel Monroe.
Shadrach Barnes.
John Monroe.
Robert Barclay.
John Mathis.
Francis Berry.
William Nash.
Campbell Bolen.
John Pursley.
Delany Bolen.
William Ridgeway.
William Brazil.
William Robertson.
David Burris.
Edward Robertson.
Henry Burris.
Gilead Rupe.
Reuben Cornelius.
Enoch Taylor.
Pryor Duncan.
Isaac Taylor.
Stephen Fields.
William Taylor.
John Fields.
Enoch Turner.
Cornelius Gooch.
Giles Williams.
Thomas Gray.
Britton Williams.
John Hines.
Francis Wood. .
Daniel Hubbard.
Henry Weeden.
Asaph Hubbard.
Life in the forts was not one of idleness and case. It was one of vigilance and activity for two or three years. The settlers werc de- prived of many of the comforts and pleasures which are enjoyed by the people of to-day. They had but little labor-saving machinery. and what they had was imperfect and inefficient. School was taught. and religious services were held in the forts. The forts were also supplied with mills and looms. The first cog-wheel horse-mill erected in the county was at Fort Kincaid in 1815 ; the next one was put up at Fort Hempstead. After the Indian troubles were over. people came twenty miles to these mills. The first cloth made in
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
the county ( in the forts) was manufactured from a poisonous plant, which was indigenous to the country, and known as the nettle, which was covered with sharp, brittle hairs. This cloth was used for pants and shirts for summer wear. In the winter, buckskin hunting-shirts and pants were worn.
The low flats along the river, creeks and branches were covered with a thick growth of nettles about three feet high, sometimes stand- ing in patches of twenty aeres or more. These were permitted to remain standing until they became decayed in the winter, when they were gathered. They were then broken up, spun into long strings, and woven into cloth, from which the garments were made. This would be a very tedious job at the present day, when a lady's dress requires from twenty to thirty yards of cloth ; but in those old times five or six yards was as much as was ever put into a dress. Little children usually wore a long leathern shirt over their tow shirt. For several years during the early settlement of this country, the men and women wore garments made out of the same kind of material. The first dry goods were sold by Robert Morris, at the forts, in 1815. The number of men, as we have already stated, able to bear arms, was 112. which represented a population of between 500 and 600, who were then living within the present limits of Howard county. A few, perhaps, had returned to their former homes, or had moved further down the river in the direction of Loutre island and St. Louis, upon the eve of the anticipated Indian hostilities, but the great majority of the pioneers, had come to stay, and not a few of these attested their devotion to their new found homes by the sacrifice of their property and their lives to the cupidity and ferocity of savage foes.
CHAPTER II.
What Treated of in Preceding Chapter - This Chapter - The War Clouds - Indians - First Victims-James Cole and James Davis Sent on Sconting Expedition -- Summer of 1812- Campbell Killed by Indians- Colonel Benjamin Cooper and General Dodge -- Spring of 1813- Killing of Braxton Cooper - Joseph Still - William McLane - Captain Sarshall Cooper - Joe - Peace.
In the preceding chapter, we attempted to trace the early history of that portion of the Boone's Liek country, now known as Howard county. We began with the date of the coming of the earliest adven- turer of whom any history makes mention ; we spoke of the first settlements, giving the names of the earliest pioneers, and their former residences : of their attempt to prepare for living in the west- ern wilds, during the two years that followed their arrival ; of their building forts, and of their taking possession of these with their fam- ilies, their goods, and their chattels.
It is now our province, as a historian, to relate in chronological order as nearly as we can, the events that followed, which, if I mis- take not, will constitute one of the saddest, yet brightest chapters in the history of Howard county. It will be the saddest, because it will tell of arson, of plunder, of butchery, and of that merciless mode of warfare to which the cunning savage was so well adapted, and in which he was so well skilled. It will be the brightest, because it will tell of deeds of noble daring, of fidelity to duty, and the final triumph of those who were immured for three long years within the narrow limits of their beleaguered forts.
In the spring of 1812, the war clouds which had hitherto given every indication of the coming storm, had at length unfurled their black banners in every part of the political sky. Great Britain had again " loosed her dogs of war," and with gigantic strides, was at- tempting to trample upon the most sacred rights of a free people. Calling to her aid, in the war against the American colonies, the hire- ling Hessian, she now inspired the blood-thirsty savage to espou se her cause against the unprotected whites, who were then dwelling upon the extreme frontier of the great west. These hostile Indians began their work of death in the spring of 1812, and were mostly Sacs and Foxes, Kiekapoos and Pottawatomies.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
Their first victims in the Boone's Lick country, were Jonathan Todd and Thomas Smith, who were living at the time in Fort Hemp- stead, but had gone down the river to hunt a stray horse, which had escaped from the fort. While upon their errand the Indians attacked them, not far from the present line between Howard and Boone counties, near Thrall's prairie, and after a long struggle, in which several Indians were killed, Todd and Smith were slain. The savages, after killing them, cut off their heads and cut out their hearts, and placed them by the side of the road on poles.
As soon as the news of the killing of Todd and Smith was brought to the fort, a party of men started out to get their bodies. After they had gone several miles, they captured an Indian warrior, who seemed to be watching their movements, and started to take him to the fort alive, in order to get information from him. As they returned after finding the bodies of the settlers, and when they arrived within two miles of the fort, the Indian prisoner suddenly broke away from them and attempted to escape. The settlers pur- sued him about one-half of a mile, when, finding they could not over- take him and capture him alive, they shot him, killing him instantly.
Immediately after the killing of Todd and Smith, the settlers living on both sides of the Missouri river, being desirous of finding out the true state of affairs, sent out James Cole and James Davis on a scouting expedition, to see whether or not the Indians were really upon the war path. After looking around for some time, and not being able to hear anything of the plans of the savages, they were prepar- ing to return to the fort, when they discovered a large band of lu- dians in pursuit of them, and directly between them and the fort, in which were their families and their friends, unconscious of their danger.
As retreat to the fort was cut off, and they could not withstand the attack of the large body of Indians in the open woods, they started for what was then called Johnson's factory, a trading post kept by a man named Johnson ; it was situated on the Monitean creek, in what is now Monitean county, about two hundred yards from the Missouri river. They reached the factory that afternoon, and the Indians immediately surrounded the place. As Cole and Davis knew their friends at the different forts would fall an easy prey to the savages, if not warned of their danger in time to prepare for the attack, which they seemed certain to make upon the fort, the hardy rangers determined, at all hazards, to eseape and bear the tidings to them. But here the main difficulty presented itself. A>
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
long as they remained at the trading post, they were safe from the shots of the enemy; but as soon as they left that protection, they believed they would be slain.
But knowing the imminent danger of their families and friends, they resolved to make a desperate effort to reach them. So at 12 o'clock that night, they took up a plauk from the floor of the "fac- tory," reached the creek, and finding a canoe, floated down to the river. Just as they reached the river, an unlucky stroke of the paddle against the side of the canoe, discovered them to the Indians, who started in pursuit of them in canoes. They pursned the settlers to Big Liek, now in Cooper county, where, being closely pressed, Cole and Davis turned, and each killed an Indian. The Indians then left off' pursuit, and the two men reached Cole's fort in safety, to annonce to the settlers that they were indeed on the verge of a long and bloody war. From there the melancholy tidings were conveyed to the other forts, and filled the hearts of the settlers with dismay, as they considered how few of them there were, to withstand the attacks of the whole of the Indian nations living around them.
In July, 1812, some Quapa Indians, disguised as Sauks and Foxes, killed a man named Campbell -commonly called " Potter," from his trade-about five miles northwest of Boonville, in Howard county, under the following circumstances : He and a man named Alam McCord, went from Kincaid's fort to Campbell's home, at the above mentioned place, to tie some flax, which they had been forced to leave longer than they wished, through fear of an attack by the Indians. While they were at work they discovered moccasin tracks around the farm, as though a party of Indians were watching them and seeking a favorable opportunity to slay them. So they started around to see if they had injured anything. While they were searching for them, the savages, who were concealed in some underbrush, fired upon the party, and shot Campbell through the body, killing him almost instantly, but he ran about one hundred yards, climbed a fence, and fell into the top of a tree which had blown down, and the Indians, though they hunted for his body, never succeeded in finding it. Adam McCord escaped without injury, and going to the fort, reported the death of Campbell, and the cireuni- stances under which he was killed.
Immediately upon his arrival, Colonel Benjamin Cooper and General Dodge, with a company of about five hundred men, composed of frontiersmen and regular soldiers, started in pursuit of the Indians. who numbered one hundred and eighty. The Indians, not being able
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND CHARITON COUNTIES.
to re-eross the river, threw up breastworks in order to repel the attack of the soldiers. When Cooper and Dodge appeared before the intrenchments, the Indians, after some parley, surrendered themselves as prisoners of war.
After the Indians had surrendered, Colonel Cooper and General Dodge had their memorable quarrel in regard to the disposal of the prisoners. Colonel Cooper insisted. that although they had surren- dered as prisoners of war, they, as the murderers of Campbell, were not entitled to protection, and, in accordance with a long established custom of the western country, they should all be hung. But Gen- eral Dodge insisted that as they had surrendered to him, he, being the superior officer, they were entitled to his protection. So fiercely did they quarrel, that at one time the two forces ( Cooper commanded the frontiersmen and Dodge the regulars ) came very near having a fight in order to settle the controversy. Finally a peaceful disposi- tion of the matter was made, by General Dodge being permitted to take the prisoners to St. Louis.
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