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 63

Author: National Historical Company
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1198

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 63
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 63

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INTRODUCTION.

Sixty-five years have passed since Cooper, the eldest and fairest daughter of Howard county, came into existence, and wonderful have been the changes and mighty have been the events and revolutions, the discoveries and inventions, that have occurred within this time. Perhaps since God "formed the earth and the world," and tossed them from the hollow of his hand into space, so many great things have not been accomplished in any sixty-five years. Reflections on these can- not fail to arouse wonder and awaken thankfulness that God has ap- pointed us the place we occupy in the eternal chain of events. Ten- nyson and Browning, Bryant and Whittier, Lowell and Longfellow have sung ; the matchless Webster, the ornate Sumner, the eloquent Clay, the metaphysical Calhoun and Seward, have since reached the culmination of their powers and passed into the grave. Macanlay, Thiers, Gizot and Froude have written in noble strains the great his-

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tory of their lands ; and Bancroft, and Prescott, and Hildreth, and Motley have won high rank among the historians of the earth ; Spur- geon, and Punshon, and Beecher, and Moody, have enforced with most persuasive eloquence the duties of morality and religion. Car- lyle, and Emerson, and Stuart Mill, and Spencer have given the re- sults of their speculations in high philosophy to the world. Mexico has been conquered, Alaska has been purchased ; the centre of popu- lation has travelled more than two hundred and fifty miles along the thirty-ninth parallel, and a majority of the states have been added to the glorious constellation on the blue field of our flag. Great cities have been created, and populous counties developed ; and the stream of emigration is still tending westward. Gold has been discovered in the far west, and the great civil war-the bloodiest in all the annals of time-has been fought. The telegraph, the telephone and railroad have been added to the list of the most important inventions. In fact, during this time our country has increased in population from a few millions of people to fifty millions. From a weak, obscure nation it has become strong in all the elements of power and influence, and is to-day the most marvellous country for its age that ever existed.

IMPORTANCE OF EARLY BEGINNINGS.

Every nation does not possess an authentic account of its origin, neither do all communities have the correct data whereby it is possible to accurately predicate the condition of their first beginnings. Never- theless, to be intensely interested in such things is characteristic of the race, and it is particularly the province of the historian to deal with first causes. Should these facts be lost in the mythical tradition of the past, as is often the case, the chronicler invades the realm of the ideal, and compels his imagination to paint the missing picture. The patriotic Roman was not content until he had found the " first settlers," and then he was satisfied, although they were found in the very undesirable company of a wolf, and located on a drift, which the receding waters of the Tiber had permitted them to pre-empt.

One of the advantages pertaining to a residence in a new country, and one seldom appreciated, is the fact that we can go back to the first beginnings. We are thus enabled to not only trace results to their causes, but also to grasp the facts which have contributed to form and mould these causes. We observe that a state or county has attained a certain position, and we at once try to trace ont the reasons for this position in its settlement and surroundings, in the class of men by whom it was peopled, and in the many chances and changes

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which have wrought out results in all the recorded deeds of mankind. In the history of Cooper county we may trace its early settlers to their homes in the eastern states and in the countries of the old world. We may follow the course of the hardy backwoodsman from the " Buck- eye " or " Hoosier " state, and from Kentucky and Virginia, on his way west, " to grow up with the country," trusting only to his strong arm and willing heart to work out his ambition of a home for himself and wife, and a competence for his children.

Again, we will see that others have been animated with the im- pulse to move on, after making themselves a part of the community, and have sought the newer parts of the extreme west, where civiliza- tion had not penetrated, or returned to their native heath. We shall find something of that distinctive New England character which has contributed so many men and women to other portions of the west. We shall also find many an industrious native of Germany, as well as a number of the sons of the Emerald Isle, all of whom have con- tributed to modify types of men already existing here. Those who have noted the career of the descendants of these brave, strong men, in subduing the wilds and overcoming the obstacles and hardships of early times, can but admit they are worthy sons of illustrious sires. They, who in the early dawn of western civilization, first bearded the lion in his den, opened the path through the wilderness, drove out the wild beasts and tamed the savage, are entitled to one of the brightest pages in all the record of the past.

FIRST SETTLEMENTS.

The permanent settlement of Howard and Cooper counties was made about the same time. It is true that Asa Morgan, Ira P. Nash, Stephen Hancock, Stephen Jackson, Nathan and Daniel M. Boone, and a man by the name of Prewitt, came to Howard county before any settlement was made in Cooper county. These parties, however, were there temporarily, whatever may have been their original inten- tion as to remaining when coming. William Christy and John J. Heath came from St. Louis in 1808 and manufactured salt in what is now Blackwater township, Cooper county, the place being known to- day as "Heath's Salt-Lick." And, in the spring of that year, Colonel Benjamin Cooper located in Howard county, but soon after returned to Loutre island. On the 20th of February, 1810, Colonel Benjamin Cooper came again to Howard county ; with him came a number of others, all of whom remained in what is now known as Howard county, excepting Hannah Cole and Stephen Cole, who settled in Cooper

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county. Hannah Cole was a widow and had nine children, whose names were Jennie, Mattie, Dikie, Nellie, James, Holburt, Stephen, William and Samuel. Stephen Cole's family consisted of himself, his wife, Phoebe, and their children, James, Rhoda, Mark, Nellie and Polly, making in all, in the two families, seventeen persons who made the first permanent settlement in what is now known as Cooper county. Hannah Cole located in what is now East Boonville, on the big bluff overlooking the river, at a point of rocks where a lime-kiln now stands, the land being the southwest quarter of section 25, township 49, range 17. Stephen Cole settled about one and a half miles east of Boon- ville, in what is called the old "fort field," on the northwest quarter of section 31, township 49, range 16. At the date of these two set- tlements there was no white American living in Missouri west of Franklin county and south of the Missouri river. These families were distant from their nearest neighbors from two to three miles, from whom they were also separated by a wide and dangerous river.

Here, in the midst of an untrodden wilderness, surrounded by treacherous Indians, these two families pitched their tents, determined to try not only the stern realities of the western wilds, but to build for themselves and their children homes, whose broad acres should include the best of timber, the richest of soil and the purest of water.

Among other commendable traits of character possessed by these pioneers, they surely had, in a large measure, the stuff of which the hero and the heroine are made. The very fact of their separating from their friends on the other side of the Missouri river and coming hither - this little band of emigrants, composed of but two families, and the head of one of these being a widow - shows a courage and a will that would brave the hardships, not only of the wilderness, but a courage that would stubbornly resist the attacks of the savage, as their life in the forts so nobly attested.

We who are to-day surrounded with the blessings of civilization, the comforts of long established homes and the companionship of ge- nial friends and neighbors, can hardly appreciate that exalted heroism which nerved and sustained that handful of original pioneers.

As we think of Hannah Cole and Stephen Cole and their fami- lies, we naturally recall to mind, the history of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, and compare these first settlers of Cooper county, to them, in their solitude and isolation. These families came in wagons on the north side of the Missouri, and when they arrived at the river, where old Franklin was afterwards laid out, they brought their goods and chattels on this side, in a canoe, swimming their

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horses after them. There were then no roads - not even a travelled path within the present area of Cooper county - and when reaching this shore, they were compelled to take any opening that they could find in the woods or thickets, that would admit of the passage of their wagons and animals. They, however, after reaching high ground, soon halted for a rest, and finally settled, as already stated, near the present site of Boonville. Nearly two years had passed, since the date of their coming, when they were joined by other ad- venturous spirits, who also settled near the present town of Boon- ville. This was during the winter of 1811 and spring of 1812, and as the names of these early frontiersmen should be preserved, for all time to come, we herewith record them : Joseph Jolly, Joseph Yar- nell, Gilliard Rupe, Muke Box, Delany Bolin, William Savage, John Savage, James Savage, Walter Burress, and David Burress. These ten families, and Captain Stephen Cole and Hannah Cole, and their families, included all white persons who had settled in the present limits of Cooper county prior to the summer of 1812.

THE WAR OF 1812.

Hitherto, the life of the settler had been passed in comparative ease and quiet. Supplied by nature with all that he wished to eat or drink, he had nothing to induce him to labor, except to provide a shelter for his family. This completed, he could spend his time in hunting and fishing, and by these pleasant pastimes, he could provide all the necessaries for those dependent upon him. He had no care about his stock, for in winter, as well as in summer, they were boun- tifully fed by the grass and other vegetation which grew Inxuriantly on every side. Except an occasional encounter with some wild animal, such as a bear or panther, the life of the pioneer was one devoid of incident or excitement. This life of ease and rest was suddenly disturbed by the inauguration of a bloodyfand harrassing war, a war in which the Indian was to take the most prominent part, as the unrelenting and merciless foe of the pioneer, who had settled along the banks of the river. Great Britain, our quondam, cruel mother, had declared war (1812), against the United States. The settlers, who were then residing on each side of the river, soon be- came convinced that the savages were preparing to take sides with Great Britian, and being thus forewarned, they began the immediate erection of forts.

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COLE'S FORT.

The first fort in the present limits of Cooper county was built by Stephen Cole, his neighbors assisting, in the year 1812, and was called " Cole's " fort. It was situated in the north part of what is now known as the " old fort field," about one and one-half miles east of the city of Boonville, north of the road from Boonville to Roche- port. As soon as it was completed, all the families living around gathered at the fort for protection from the savages. As their meat consisted entirely of the wild game which they killed, they had to send out parties from day to day to kill it. And it happened that a couple of parties were out hunting when the Indians attacked the fort.

A few months after the fort was built, a band of about four hundred Indians suddenly made their appearance in the neighborhood. When they appeared before the fort, there were two parties out hunt- ing, in one of which were two men by the name of Smith and Savage, who, on their return to the fort, were pursned by the Indians. The savages shot at them several times; in the first fire, Smith was severely wounded, but staggered on to within fifty yards of the fort, where the Indians shot him again, two balls taking effect and hurling him to the ground. As soon as Savage saw him fall, he turned to assist him ; but Smith handed him his gun, and told him to save him- self, as he knew he was mortally wounded. As the Indians were in close pursuit of them, Savage was forced to leave his unfortunate companion and attempt to make his escape. He reached the fort un- hurt, although he had been shot at some twenty-five times. The Indians after having scalped Smith, and barbarously multilated his body, withdrew to the adjacent woods, and laid siege to the fort.

As the Indians who were in pursuit of Savage came in full view of the fort, several of them could have been killed. Indeed, Samuel Cole, who was in the fort at the time, begged his mother to let him fire upon them, but she refused, telling him that as the Indians bad as yet shown no disposition to attack the fort, the inmates did not wish to arouse their anger by killing any of them ; hoping that before they did attack, those settlers, who were out hunting, would arrive, and they perhaps get a chance to escape. During the following night the remaining settlers, who were outside the fort, returned.

The next day the settlers captured a French boat which came up the river loaded with powder and balls, to trade with the Indians at Council Bluff's. They crossed their families and all their stock, fur-

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niture, etc., over the river in this boat, to Kincaid fort, or Fort Hemp- stead, which was located in what is now Howard county, about one mile from the north end of the great iron bridge over the Missouri river at Boonville. It will be seen from this, that these settlers were not only brave men, but fit to lead an army in time of danger, as when they made this retreat the fort was surrounded by the Indians on all sides, except that protected by the river. And yet in the face of all this they saved everything from the fort.

After they had crossed their families and chattels in the captured boat, and taken possession of the twenty-five kegs of powder and five hundred pounds of balls which the boat contained, the settlers let the Frenchmen return down the river with their boat, with the admoni- tion, that if they ever came up the river again with supplies for the Indians, they would hang them, as they could not permit their ene- mies to thus obtain supplies. Previous to the capture of this boat and the amunition with which it was loaded, Joseph Jolly had supplied the settlers with powder, manufacturing it himself, from saltpetre, which was found in a cave near Rocheport.

The settlers who had crossed to the north side of the river, re- turned to their homes in the spring of 1813, but the Indian troubles continued for two years thereafter.

On the 14th day of December, 1814, a man named Samuel McMa- han, living in what is now Lamine township of Cooper county, was killed near Boonville, not far from the present residence of Scott Benedict, under the following circumstances : He had been down to the settlement at Boonville to bring his cattle, as he intended to move down the river, and as he was returning home he came upon a band of Indians who were lying in ambush for some men who were cutting down a bee tree not far away. The savages fired upon him, wounding him and killing his horse. He jumped up after his horse fell, and al- though severely wounded, ran down the ravine leading to the river. The Indians started in pursuit of him, and as he was weak from the loss of blood, they soon overtook him and killed him, sticking three spears into his back. They afterwards cut off his head and scattered his entrails over the ground. The Indians, knowing that the ven- geance of the settlers would be sudden and terrible, then scattered, and made their way out of the country the best way they could.

The next day, for the settlers, not knowing the number of the Indians, waited for reinforcements from the opposite side of the river, a party of men went out to get the body of McMahan. James Cole, the brother of Samuel Cole, carried the body before him on his horse,

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and David McGee brought the head wrapped in a sheep skin. The settlers buried McMahan under the linn tree, which formerly stood in the centre ring at the old fair grounds. A child of David Burress, which was burned to death, was also buried under this tree.

The next day after the killing of McMahan, all the settlers living near the present site of Boonville, speedily repaired to the house of Hannah Cole, which stood on the bluff, in what is now " East Boon- ville," as this place was the most suitable of any near to defend against an attack of the Indians. All of these men came with their teams, cut down trees, dragged logs to build a fort at that place. They completed the building of the fort in about one week, although all of the men could not work at one time, as it was necessary to station a gnard on every side to watch for the approach of the enemy, whom they expected every hour.

The fort was built on the edge of the bluff, and as the bluff was very steep at that point, it was well defended on that side from the Indians. Another reason for building it in that place, was, because the inmates of the fort could obtain a constant supply of good water from the river. They had a long log running out over the edge of the bluff, and a windlass and rope attached to it, so that it was an easy matter to draw up water, even during an attack of the Indians.

As soon as the fort at Hannah Cole's was completed, the old fort at Stephen Cole's, situated on the bluff near the river, one mile below the new fort, was abandoned, and all the families gathered into the new fort, so as to be a protection to each other.

But this precaution proved to be unnecessary, as the killing of McMahan was virtually the end of the war in this part of the country, and the settlers had no more open fights with the Indians, although small bands of savages occasionally roamed through the country, run- ning off stock, and committing other depredations, The Indians had found out that the men who had pierced the wilderness and brought their families with them, were ready to lay down their lives in defence of them and their homes, and the savages deserted their hunting grounds and moved farther west.

Major Stephen Cole, the acknowledged leader of the settlers, liv- ing south of the Missouri river, survived the war, and after making every effort for their defence, his love of wild adventure led him to be- come a pioneer in the trade with Santa Fe in 1822. He was killed by the Indians during the same year, about sixty miles southwest of Santa Fe, on the Rio Grande river.

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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.

FIRST CONSTABLE SOUTH OF MISSOURI RIVER.

Sometime during the year 1817, William Gibson, now living a short distance east of the city of Boonville, was appointed by the territorial court constable of that part of Howard county lying south of the Missouri river. His jurisdiction extended from the Missouri river, on the north, to the Osage river, on the south. Soon after his appointment, there being some trouble down on the Osage, he was sent there with a warrant for the arrest of the man who had caused the trouble. The distance was between sixty and seventy miles. After arresting the man, he returned to Boonville with his prisoner. As he was on his journey back, having an execution against a man who lived on the road, he stopped at his house and proceeded to levy on the feather beds, as nothing in those days was exempt from levy under execution. But, as soon as he made his purpose known, four women, who were the only persons at home, threatened to give him a thrashing, so he was forced to retire as fast as he could, and return the execution unsatisfied. To add to this, the court only allowed him, for his journey of 140 miles, which occupied four days, the magnificent sum of twenty-five cents. Mr. Gibson thinking the office not quite lucrative enough to justify him in devoting his whole time to its duties, and not wishing to risk his life at the hands of angry women, quietly sent in his resignation, thus furnishing the example of one officer who resigns, although few have the same inducements.

INCIDENTS.

While Samuel Cole was living at his mother's fort in East Boon- ville, in the year 1817, there was a dance at William Bartlett's board- ing house, on the flat near the ferry landing, at the mouth of Ruppe's branch. Although Samnel wished very much to attend, his mother refused to permit him, as his wardrobe at that time was entirely too limited to permit him to associate with the "elite." He had no pants, his sole garment consisting of a long tow shirt, which reached entirely to his heels. But Samuel, although always, from his own statement, an obedient son, was not to be deprived of so great a pleasure, by this, to him, very trivial excuse. So he determined to attend that dance, and then make the best arrangement he could to meet the " wrath to come." Not having any horse, he bridled a tame bull, which was at the fort, and thus mounted, rode up to the door of the house in which they were dancing. After looking in for some time, and by his strange looking steed and attire, attracting a

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large crowd around him, he drove his bull down to the river, and riding in, he slid back over its haunches, and caught hold of its tail. In this way he swam down the river to Hannah Cole's Fort, when he and his strange companion came out of the water and sought their homes. This story has often been published, but never correctly, as all former accounts represented him as swimming the river to attend a wedding, but our version is correct, as it was obtained directly from Samuel Cole himself.

About the 15th day of November, 1817, Joseph Stephens with his large family and several friends, crossed the river where Boonville now stands, and camped near the foot of Main street. The next day after they crossed, Samuel Cole, who was then a boy of sixteen years of age, appeared at their camp and asked Mrs. Stephens if she would like to have some venison. Upon her replying that she would, as she was nearly out of meat, Samuel shouldered his gun and marched off into the woods, telling her to wait a few minutes and he would kill her some. Samuel Cole, at that time, although there was a slight snow on the ground, was bare-footed and bare-headed, his breeches reached only to his knees, the collar of his shirt was open, and he carried an old flint lock rifle. About fifteen minutes after he left the camp, Stephens and his family heard two shots in the direction in which he had gone. Pretty soon Samuel appeared, and told them that he had killed two fine deer, that they must go out and bring them to the camp. So they started out and found the two deer lying on the side of the hill just north of the present residence of William H. Trigg. After they skinned them and cut them up, the party brought them to the camp and presented them to Mrs. Stephens. This shows what little exertion was necessary at that day to obtain meat.

A few days afterwards Joseph Stephens moved with his family to the farm which he had bought, about one-quarter of a mile north of the present site of Bunceton. About Christmas, in the same year, Samuel Cole rode up to Joseph Stephens' camp, and Mrs. Stephens asked him to alight and take dinner. He asked her whether she had any honey, and she told him she had not. He said he could not eat without honey. And although she insisted that he should remain, he still refused. In the meantime, Larry and Joseph, two of her sons, and a negro man named Basil, came up to the camp carrying their axes, as they had been cutting wood. . Samuel turned to them, and told them to go with him and get some honey for dinner. They at first, supposing him to be joking, refused to go. But as he still in- sisted, they consented. After going some 200 yards east of the

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camp, Samuel suddenly stopped, and pointing to a tree, told them to cut it down. The others, not seeing anything about the tree that would induce any one to think that it contained honey, yet willing to accommodate company, cut it down, and it was found filled with nice honey. While they were cutting down this tree, Samuel found another a short distance away, and having cut down this one also, they returned home with six buckets of fine honey, having taken nothing but the clear part. Before he left, Samuel taught them the way in which he found the trees. He told them that if they would examine the ground around the tree, they would find small pieces of bee bread, and occasionally a dead bee. This was an infallible sign of a bee tree. They afterwards, following his directions, searched and found, in a small space, thirteen trees which were filled with honey ; and as they had no sugar this was a great help to them. They sometimes had as much as 400 pounds of honey on hand at one time.

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Author: National Historical Company Publication date: 1883 Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1198

Author: National Historical Company
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1198