USA > Missouri > Cooper County > History of Howard and Cooper counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages : together with a condensed history of Missouri, a reliable and detailed history of Howard and Cooper counties-- its pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens, general and local statistics of great value, incidents and reminiscences > Part 12
USA > Missouri > Howard County > History of Howard and Cooper counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages : together with a condensed history of Missouri, a reliable and detailed history of Howard and Cooper counties-- its pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens, general and local statistics of great value, incidents and reminiscences > Part 12
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The Franklin Intelligencer, May 28, 1819, in speaking of that event said : -
ARRIVAL OF THE STEAMBOAT.
With no ordinary sensations of pride and pleasure, we announce the arrival this morning, at this place, of the elegant steamboat Independence, Captain Nelson, in seven sailing days, (but thirteen from the time of her departure ) from St. Louis, with passengers and a cargo of flour, whiskey, sugar, iron, castings, etc., being the first steamboat that ever attempted ascending the Missouri. She was joyfully met by the inhabitants of Franklin, and saluted by the firing of eannon, which was returned by the Independence.
The grand desideratum, the important fact, is now ascertained that steamboats can safely navigate the Missouri river.
A respectable gentleman, a passenger in the Independence, who has for a number of years traveled the great western waters, informs us that it is his opinion, that with a little precaution in keeping clear ofsandbars, the Missouri may be navigated with as much facility as the Mississippi or Ohio.
Missourians may hail this era, from which to date the growing importance of this section of country; when they view with what facility (by the aid of steam ) boats may ascend the turbulent waters of the Missouri, to bring to this part of the country the articles requi-
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site to its supply, and return laden with the various products of this fertile region. At no distant period may we see the industrious cultivator making his way as high as the Yellowstone, and offering to the enterprising merchant and trader a surplus worthy of the fertile banks of the Missouri, yielding wealth to industry and enterprise.
[ From the Franklin Intelligencer, June 4, 1819.]
ARRIVAL OF THE INDEPENDENCE - PUBLIC DINNER, SPEECHES AND TOASTS.
On Friday last, the 28th ult., the citizens of Franklin, with the most lively emotions of pleasure, witnessed the arrival of this beanti- ful boat, owned and commanded by Capt. Nelson, of Louisville. Her approach to the landing was greeted by a Federal salute, accompanied with the acclamations of an admiring crowd, who had assembled on the bank of the river for the purpose of viewing this novel and interesting sight. We may truly regard this event as highly important, not only to the commercial but agricultural interests of the country. The practicability of steamboat navigation, being now clearly demonstrated by experiment, we shall be brought nearer to the Atlantic, West India and European markets, and the abundant resources of our fertile and extensive region will be quickly devel- oped. This interesting section of country, so highly favored by nature, will at no distant period, with the aid of science and en- terprise assume a dignified station amongst the great agricultural states of the west.
The enterprise of Capt. Nelson cannot be too highly appreci- ated by the citizens of Missouri. He is the first individual who has attempted the navigation of the Missouri by steam power, a river that has hitherto borne the character of being very difficult and eminently dangerous in its navigation, but we are happy to state that his progress thus far has not been impeded by any acci- dent. Among the passengers were Col. Elias Rector, Mr. Stephen Rector, Capt. Desha, J. C. Mitchell, Esq., Dr. Stewart, Mr. J. Wanton, Maj. J. D. Wilcox.
THE DINNER AND TOASTS.
The day after the arrival of the Independence, Capt. Nel- son and the passengers partook of a dinner, given by the citizens of Franklin, in honor of the occasion. After the cloth was re- moved, Capt. Asa Morgan was called to the chair, and Dr. N. Hutchinson acted as vice-president, when the following toasts were drank : -
1st. The Missouri River. - Its last wave will roll the abundant tribute of our region to the Mexican gulf in reference to the auspices of this day.
2d. The Memory of Robert Fulton. - One of the most distin-
.
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guished artists of his age. The Missouri river now bears upon her bosom the first effect of his genius for steam navigation.
3d. The Memory of Franklin, the Philosopher and States- man. - In anticipation of his country's greatness, he never imagined that a boat at this time would be propelled by steam so far westward, to a town bearing his name, on the Missouri.
4th. Capt. Nelson. - The proprietor of the steamboat Inde- pendence. The imaginary dangers of the Missouri vanished before his enterprising genius.
5th. Louisville, Franklin and Chariton. - They became neigh- bors by steam navigation.
6th. The Republican Government of the United States. - By facilitating the intercourse between distant points, its benign influ- ence may be diffused over the continent of North America.
7th. The Policy .- Resulting in the expedition to the Yellowstone.
8th. South America. - May an early day witness the navigation of the Amazon and LaPlata by steam power, under the auspices of an independent government.
9th. International Improvement. - The New York canal, an im- perishable monument of the patriotism and genius of its projector.
10th. The Missouri Territory. - Desirous to be numbered with states on constitutional principles, but determined never to submit to Congressional usurpation.
11th. James Monroe. - President of the United States.
12th. The Purchase of the Floridas. - A hard bargain.
13th. The American Fair.
VOLUNTEERS.
By Col. Elias Rector. - The memory of my departed friend, Gen. Benjamin Howard ; he was a man of worth.
By Gen. Duff Green. - The Union - It is dear to us, but liberty is dearer.
By Capt. Nelson - I will ever bear m grateful remembrance the liberality and hospitality of the citizens of Franklin.
By Dr. James H. Benson - The territory of Missouri - May she emerge from her present degraded condition.
By J. C. Mitchell, Esq. - Gen. T. A. Smith, the Cincinnatus of Missouri.
By Major Thompson Douglas. - The citizens of Franklin. Characterized by hospitality and generosity.
By Stephen Rector, Esq. - May the Missourians defend their rights, if necessary, even at the expense of blood, against the unprec- edented restriction which was attempted to be imposed on them by the congress of the United States.
By L. W. Boggs, Esq. - Major-Gen. Andrew Jackson.
By John W. Scudder, Esq. - Our Guests - The passengers who ascended the Missouri in the Independence ; they have the honor to
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be the first to witness the successful experiment of steam navigation on our noble river.
By Benjamin Holliday - The 28th of May, 1819. Franklin will long remember it, and the Independence and her commander will be immortalized in history.
By Dr. Dawson - The next Congress- May they be men con- sistent in their construction of the Constitution ; and when they admit new states into the union, be actuated less by a spirit of compromise, than the just rights of the people.
By Augustus Storrs, Esq. - The memory of Captain Lawrence, late of the navy - by the conduct of such men, may our national character be formed.
By N. Patton, Jr. - The Missouri territory - Its future pros- perity and greatness cannot be checked by the caprice of a few men in congress, while it possesses a soil of inexhaustible fertility, abun- dant resources, and a body of intelligent, enterprising, independent freemen.
By Maj. J. D. Wilcox - The citizens of Missouri - May they never become a member of the union, under the restriction relative to slavery.
By Mr. L. W. Jordan - The towns on the Missouri river - May they flourish in commerce, and, like those on the Ohio and Missis- sippi, witness the daily arrival or departure of some steamboat, aseending or deseending this majestic stream.
By Mr. J. B. Howard - Robert Fulton - May his name and the effects of his genius, be transmitted to the latest posterity.
By Dr. J. J. Lowry - ( After the president had retired )- The president of the day.
By Maj. R. Gentry - ( After the vice-president had retired) The vice-president of the day.
The Independence continued her voyage to Charitou.
THE SECOND STEAMBOAT.
The government of the United States projected the celebrated Yellowstone expedition in 1818, the objects of which were to aseer- tain whether the Missouri river was navigable by steamboats, and to establish a line of forts from its month to the Yellowstone. This expedition started from Plattsburg, New York, in 1818, under com- mand of Colonel Henry Atkinson. General Nathan Ranney, a well known eitizen of St. Louis, was an attache of this expedition, also Captain Wm. D. Hubbell now a citizen of Columbia. It arrived at Pittsburg in the spring of 1819, where Colonel Stephen H. Long, of the topographical engineers of the United States army, had con- structed the Western Engineer, a small steamboat to be used by him and his scientific corps in pioneering the expedition to the mouth
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of the Yellowstone. The vessel reached St. Louis, June 9, 1819, and proceeding on the voyage, arrived at Franklin, July 13, same year. The following gentlemen were on board : Major S. H. Long, com- mander ; Major Thomas Biddle (who was killed August 27, 1831, in a duel with Spencer Pettis, on Bloody Island, and after whom, Biddle street, St. Louis, was named ) ; Lieutenants Graham and Swift, Major Benj. O'Fallon, Indian agent ; Mr. Daugherty, assistant agent and interpreter; Dr. Wm. Baldwin, botanist ; * Thomas Say, zoolo- gist ; Mr. Jessup, geologist ; Mr. Seymore, landscape painter ; and Mr. Peale, assistant naturalist.
On Monday, July 19, the vessel proceeded on its voyage up the Missouri and reached Council Bluffs on the 17th of September, where it remained for the winter.
Owing to the peculiar construction of the Western Engineer, as well as to the fact that a water craft of any kind, and especially one propelled by steam, was a novel spectacle, its progress up the river excited the greatest wonder among the Indians, many of whom flocked to the river banks to see it, while others fled in fear to the forests or prairies, thinking it an evil spirit, a very devil with serpent's head, and breath of fire and steam. The St. Louis Enquirer, of June 16, 1819, contains this description of it : -
THE STEAMER WESTERN ENGINEER.
The bow of the vessel exhibits the form of a huge serpent, black and scaly, rising out of the water from under the boat, his head as high as the deck, darted forward, his mouth open, vomiting smoke, and apparently carrying the boat on his back. From under the boat, at its stern issues a stream of foaming water, dashing violently along. All the machinery is hid. Three small brass field pieces, mounted on wheel carriages, stand on the deck; the boat is ascending the rapid stream at the rate of three miles an hour. Neither wind, nor human hands are seen to help her; and to the eye of ignorance the illusion is complete, that a monster of the deep carries her on his back smoking with fatigue, and lashing the waves with violent exertion.
ADDITIONAL MAIL FACILITIES.
During the first ten years of the settlement of the Boone's Lick country, there were scarcely any mail facilities and in fact, there was not a post-office within the present limits of Howard county, until in 1821. The news was carried by the traveller or
* Owing to Illness Dr. Baldwin abandoned the expedition at Franklin, and died there, September 1, 1819.
10
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special courier, from one settlement to another, but sometimes weeks and months would intervene before the pioneers could hear from their former homes or from their more immediate neighbors. It was with great pleasure, that the Intelligencer, of April 23, 1819, announced the following bit of news : -
It is contemplated, we understand, shortly to commence running a stage from St. Louis to Franklin. Such an undertaking, would, 110 doubt, liberally renumerate the enterprising and meritorious indi- viduals engaged, and be of immense benefit to the public, who would, doubtless, prefer this to any other mode of travelling. A stage has been running from St. Louis to St. Charles three times a week for several months past. Another from the town of Illinois ( now East St. Louis), to Edwardsville ; a line from Edwardsville to Vincennes, we understand is in contemplation. It will then only remain to have it continued from Vincennes to Louisville. When these lines shall have gone into operation, a direct communication by stage will then be opened from the Atlantic States to Boone's Lick, on the Missouri.
IMMIGRATION.
In 1819, immigrants began to come in large numbers. They came in wagons, in carriages, in pirogues, and finally on every puffing steamer that ascended the turbid waters of the Missouri. Embryo settlements had been made along the banks of the mighty river from St. Charles to Glasgow. This portion of Missouri, had already been seen by the immigrant. Favorable reports had been made of its great beauty, its fertile hills and valleys, its bountiful supply of timber, its perennial springs and numerous water courses. It was not only a new country, but its forests abounded with game, and its streams teemed with choicest fishes. Here were found :
The bright eyed perch, with fins of various dye ; The silver eel, in shining volumes roll'd; The yellow carp, in scales bedropt with gold; Swift trouts, diversified with crimson stains, And pikes, the tyrants of the watery plains.
The Franklin Intelligencer of November 19, 1819, in speaking of the subject of immigration said : -
The immigration to this territory, and particularly to this county, during the present season, almost exceeds belief. Those who have arrived in this quarter are principally from Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. Immense numbers of wagons, carriages, carts, etc., with families, have for some time past, been daily arriving. During the month of October, it is stated, that no less than 271 wagons and four-wheeled
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carriages, and fifty-five two-wheeled carriages and carts passed near St. Charles, bound principally for Boone's Lick. It is calculated that the number of persons accompanying these wagons, etc., conld not be less than 3,000. It is stated in the St. Louis Enquirer, of the 10th inst., that about twenty wagons, etc., per week, had passed through St. Charles for the last nine or ten weeks, with wealthy and respectable immigrants from various states, whose united numbers are supposed to amount to 12,000. The county of Howard, already respectable in number, will soon possess a vast population, and no section of our country presents a fairer prospect to the immigrant.
FIRST COUNTY COURT.
Although the county was organized in 1816, there was no inde- pendent tribunal known as the county court held in the county till February 26, 1821. This court met and organized at Old Franklin. The judges were Henry V. Bingham, David R. Drake and Thomas Conway. Hampton L. Boone was appointed county clerk pro tem.
Among the proceedings of the court the first day was the appoint- ment of Robert Cooper guardian of the minor son of Sidney Carson, de- ceased. The minor son's name was Robert Sidney Carson, who was the father of Kit Carson, the brave scout. Elias Bancroft was appointed county surveyor, Nicholas S. Burckhartt, county assessor and Joseph Patterson, collector.
The circuit court, sitting as a county court in 1816, had divided the county into four townships, to-wit : Moniteau, Bonne Femme, Chariton and La Mine. The county court at its first term, five years later (the term of which I am now speaking) again divided the county into seven townships, named as follows : Franklin, Boone's Lick, Chariton, Richmond, Prairie, Bonne Femme, and Moni- teau. Since then a new township called Burton, was created out of territory taken from Bonne Femme, Prairie and Richmond townships. With this exception the townships remain about as they were when first erected.
CHAPTER IV.
PIONEER LIFE.
The Pioneers' Peculiarities - Conveniences and Inconveniences - The Historical Log Cabin - Agricultural Implements - Household Furniture - Pioneer Corn-bread - Hand Mills and Hominy Blocks - Going to Mill - Trading Points - Bee Trees - Shooting Matches and Quiltings.
The people in the early history of Howard county took no care to preserve history -they were too busily engaged in making it. Historically speaking, those were the most important years of the county, for it was then the foundation and corner - stones of all the county's history and prosperity were laid. Yet, this history was not remarkable for stirring events. It was, however, a time of self-re- liance and brave, persevering toil ; of privations cheerfully endured through faith in a good time coming. The experience of one settler was just about the same as that of others. Nearly all of the settlers were poor ; they faced the same hardships and stood generally on an equal footing.
All the experience of the carly pioneers of this county goes far to confirm the theory that, after all, happiness is pretty evenly balanced in this world. They had their privations and hardships, but they had also their own peculiar joys. If they were poor, they were free from the burden of pride and vanity ; free also from the anxiety and care that always attends the possession of wealth. Other peo- ple's eyes cost them nothing. If they had few neighbors, they were on the best of terms with those they had. Envy, jealousy and strife had not crept in. A common interest and a common sympathy bound them together with the strongest ties. They were a little world to themselves, and the good feeling that prevailed was all the stronger because they were so far removed from the great world of the east.
Among these pioneers there was realized such a community of interest that there existed a community of feeling. There were no castes, except an aristocracy of benevolence, and no nobility, except a nobility of generosity. They were bound together with such a
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strong bond of sympathy, inspired by the consciousuess of common hardship, that they were practically communists.
Neighbors did not even wait for an invitation or request to help one another. Was a settler's cabin burned or blown down? No sooner was the fact known throughout the neighborhood thau the set- tlers assembled to assist the unfortunate one to rebuild his home. They came with as little hesitation, and with as much alacrity as though they were all members of the same family and bound to- gether by ties of blood. One man's interest was every other man's interest. Now, this general state of feeling among the pioneers was by no means peculiar to these counties, although it was strongly illus- trated here. It prevailed generally throughout the west during the time of the carly settlement. The very nature of things taught the settlers the necessity of dwelling together in this spirit. It was their only protection. They had come far away from the well established reign of law, and entered a new country, where civil authority was still feeble, and totally unable to afford protection and redress grievances. Here the settlers lived some little time before there was an officer of the law in the county. Each man's protection was in the good will and friendship of those about him, and the thing any man might well dread was the ill will of the community. It was more terrible than the law. It was no uncommon thing in the early times for hardened men, who had no fears of jails or penitentiaries, to stand in great fear of the indignation of a pioneer community. Such were some of the characteristics of Howard county.
HOUSE AND HOME COMFORTS.
The first buildings in the county were not just like the log cabins that immediately succeeded them. The latter required some help and a great deal of labor to build. The very first buildings constructed were a cross between " hoop cabins " and Indian bark huts. As soon as enough men could be got together for a " cabin raising," then log cabins were in style. Many a pioneer can remember the happiest time of his life as that when he lived in one of these homely but comfortable old cabins.
A window with sash and glass was a rarity, and was an evidence of wealth and aristocracy which but few could support. They were often made with greased paper put over the window, which admitted a little light, but more often there was nothing whatever over it, or the cracks between the logs, without either chiuking or daubing, were
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the dependence for light and air. The doors were fastened with old- fashioned wooden latehes, and for a friend, or neighbor, or traveller, the string always hung out, for the pioneers of the west were hospita- ble and entertained visitors to the best of their ability. It is notice- able with what affection the pioneers speak of their old log cabins. It may be doubted whether palaces ever sheltered happier hearts than those homely cabins. The following is a good description of those old landmarks, but few of which now remain : -
" These were of round logs, notched together at the corners, rib- bed with poles and covered with boards split from a tree. A puncheon floor was then laid down, a hole cut in the end and a stick chimney run up. A clapboard door is made, a window is opened by cutting out a hole in the side or end two feet square, and finished without glass or transparency. The house is then ' chinked ' and ' daubed ' with mud. The cabin is now ready to go into. The household and kitchen furniture is adjusted, and life on the frontier is begun in earnest.
" The one-legged bedstead, now a piece of furniture of the past, was made by cutting a stick the proper length, boring holes at one end one and a half inches in diameter, at right angles, and the same sized holes corresponding with those in the logs of the cabin the length and breadth desired for the bed, in which are inserted poles.
" Upon these poles the elapboards are laid, or linn bark is inter- woven consecutively from pole to pole. Upon this primitive structure the bed is laid. The convenience of a eook stove was not thought of, but instead, the cooking was done by the faithful housewife in pots, kettles, and skillets, on and about the big fire-place, and very frequent- ly over and around, too, the distended pedal extremities of the legal sovereign of the household, while the latter was indulging in the luxuries of a cob-pipe and discussing the probable results of a con- templated deer hunt on the Missouri river or some one of its small tributaries."
These log cabins were really not so bad after all.
The people of to-day, familiarized with " Charter Oak " cooking stoves and ranges, would be ill at home were they compelled to pre- pare a meal with no other conveniences than those provided in a pioneer cabin. Rude fire-places were built in chimneys composed of mud and sticks, or, at best, undressed stone. These fire-places served for heating and cooking purposes ; also for ventilation. Around the cheerful blaze of this fire the meal was prepared, and these meals were not so bad, either. As elsewhere remarked, they were not such
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as would tempt an epicure, but such as afforded the most healthful nourishment for a race of people who were driven to the exposure and hardships which were their lot. We hear of few dyspeptics in those days. Another advantage of these cooking arrangements was that the stove-pipe never fell down, and the pioneer was spared being subjected to the most trying of ordeals, and one probably more pro- ductive of profanity than any other.
Before the country became supplied with mills which were of easy access, and even in some instances afterward, hominy-blocks were used. They exist now only in the memory of the oldest settlers, but as relies of the " long ago" a description of them will not be uninteresting :-
A tree of suitable size, say from eighteen inches to two feet in diameter, was selected in the forest and felled to the ground. If a cross-cut saw happened to be convenient, the tree was " butted," that is, the kerf end was sawed off so that it would stand steady when ready for use. If there were no cross-ent saw in the neighborhood, strong arms and sharp axes were ready to do the work. Then the proper length, from four to five feet, was measured off and sawed or cut square. When this was done the block was raised on end and the work of cutting out a hollow in one of the ends was commenced. This was generally done with a common chopping ax. Sometimes a smaller one was used. When the cavity was judged to be large enough, a fire was built in it and carefully watched till the ragged edges were burned away. When completed the hominy-block some- what resembled a druggist's mortar. Then a pestle, or something to crush the corn, was necessary. This was usually made from a suitably sized piece of timber, with an iron wedge attached, the large end down. This completed the machinery, and the block was ready for use. Sometimes one hominy-block accommodated an entire neighborhood and was the means of staying the hunger of many mouths.
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