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 70
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 70
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116
CHAPTER VIII. LEBANON TOWNSHIP.
Boundary - Physical Features - Settlement of Lebanon Township - New Lebanon - Early Settlers - Where They Were From - Where They Located.
BOUNDARY.
Lebanon township is bounded on the north by Clear Creek and Palestine townships, on the east by Kelly township, on the south by Morgan county, and on the west by Otterville township. This town- ship was organized about the year 1826, but afterwards - in fact, a few years ago -all that portion of the same lying west of the La- mine river was formed into a township and called Otterville.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
In the western part of the township the surface is rough and heavily timbered, but fine stretches of prairie and rolling land exist in the southern and eastern part. It is fairly watered.
SETTLEMENT OF LEBANON TOWNSHIP.
The following interesting history of the townships of Lebanon and Otterville was written by Mr. Thomas J. Starke, of Otterville, and was read by him on the 4th day of July, 1876, at a meeting of the citizens of that town. As it embraces the history of the two town- ships, we will here insert it in full.
"At the solicitation of a few leading citizens of Otterville, I have prepared the following brief history of this place and vicinity since its first settlement up to the present time ; embracing short biographical sketches of the lives and characters of some of the older citizens, to- gether with facts and incidents of interest which have transpired in this county during the first period of its existence.
" It is not pretended by the author that the production possesses any peculiar methods of its own as affording information other than of a strictly local character. Nor is it designed otherwise than for the entertainment and amusement of those who are more or less fa- miliar with the history of the people and incidents pertaining to this
(694)
695
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
immediate neighborhood, and who, with many others of our inhabi- tants of a later period, meet with us to-day on this joyful and happy occasion - the one hundredth anniversary of the independence of our common country.
" The writer does not lay claim to entire originality in the pro- duction of these brief sketches, although he has been an eye-witness to most of the occurrences presented, and personally acquainted with nearly all of the characters mentioned.
" He takes pleasure in acknowledging himself indebted to Messrs. Samuel Wear, George W. Smith, James H. Cline, John W. Parsons, Thomas C. Cranmer and other old settlers who are here among us to-day, for much of the subject matter embraced in these pages of local history, and he refers to them for its authenticity.
" While it is apparent to all who may read this manuscript that this is only an obscure and insignificant village, situated in a remote corner of old Cooper, whose very existence is scarcely known beyond our own immediate neighborhood, yet to many of us who meet here to-day, some of whom are descending the western slope of human life, Otterville does possess a name and a history, dear to us, though unknown and unnoticed by others.
" In presenting these sketches, it will perhaps be necessary to glance back at the first settlement of New Lebanon, six miles north of Otterville, as this neighborhood was peopled some time anterior to the settlements south and west of the Lamine.
"About the fall of 1819 and the spring of 1820, the following named persons moved to New Lebanon, and into that neighborhood embracing a portion of the territory now known as Lebanon town- ship, in Cooper county.
" Rev. Finis Ewing, Rev. James L. Wear, John Wear, James H. Wear, who was the father of William G. Wear, of Warsaw, and Samuel Wear, now of Otterville ; Alexander Sloan, Robert Kirk- patrick, Colin C. Stoneman, William Stone, Frederick Casteel, Reu- ben A. Ewing, Jas. Berry, Thomas Rubey, Elizabeth Steele, sister of Alexander Sloan's wife, a man named Smiley, Rev. Laird Burns and his father, John Burns, John Reed, Silas Thomas, Jas. Taylor, Hugh Wear, who was brother to James L. and John Wear, James Mc- Farland and Rev. William Kavanaugh. This county then extended south to the Osage river.
" The Rev. Finis Ewing was a distinguished minister of the gos- pel, and one of the original founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. He was from Kentucky ; was ordained a minister in the year
696
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
1803, and in conjunction with Samnel McAdam and Samuel King, founded that church in 1810.
" The cause which gave rise to the establishment of this branch of the Presbyterian church was, that the mother church required her ministers to possess a classical education before ordination, which was by the new church not regarded as absolutely indispensable, though its ministers were required to cultivate a knowledge of the elementary branches of the English language.
"At New Lebanon these early pioneers pitched their tents, and soon began the erection of a rude building as a sanctuary, which, when completed, they called ' New Lebanon,' in contradistinction to the house in which they had sung and worshipped in the state from which they had formerly emigrated.
" It was built of hewed logs, and the settlers of this little colony united in the project of building, each furnishing his proportionate quota of the logs requisite to complete the building.
" These logs were double ; that is, each log was twenty-four feet in length, being joined in the middle of the house by means of an up- right post, into which the ends were mortised, thus making the entire length of the church forty-eight feet, by thirty feet in width.
" This building served as a place of worship for many years, until about the time of the war, when the new and neat brick church of the present day, was erected on the site of the old one which was torn away.
" The members of this church constituted the prevailing religion of the neighborhood for many years, and most of the characters por- trayed herein were connected with this denomination.
" The Rev. James L. Wear was also for many years a Cumber- and Presbyterian preacher. He was a good man, and lived close to- New Lebanon, where Frank Asberry now lives. He died at the old mansion about 1868. He was a brother of John Wear, who first lived at New Lebanon at the place now owned by Mr. Majors, and after- wards at Otterville where Mr. Anson Hemenway now lives. The first school taught in Otterville, or in Otterville township, was taught by his son, known by the sobriquet of ' Long George.' They were originally from Kentucky, moved to Howard county in 1817, and af- terwards to New Lebanon at the date above indicated.
" Samuel Wear, Sr., and James H. Wear were brothers, and came from Tennessee, the latter being the father of William G. and Samuel Wear, Jr., as before stated, and lived at the place now occupied by William Walker. He was a successful farmer, and died in good cir- cumstances.
697
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
" Samuel Wear, Sr., lived where Wesley Cook now lives, and sold a large farm there to Samuel Burke, late of this county.
" Alexander Sloan was from Kentucky, and settled the place now owned by Peter Spillers. He was the father of William Sloan, who died at Otterville several years ago, and also of the Rev. Robert Sloan, who was an eminent minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and who married a daughter of the Rev. Finis Ewing.
" Robert Kirkpatrick was a Kentuckian, and lived near the new Lebanon graveyard. He died many years ago. He was a revolution- ary soldier, and had a son named David, who was an able minister of the Cumberland church. David met his death by accident ; he was thrown from a carriage, severely wounded, and afterwards died from the amputation of his leg.
" Colin C. Stoneman was from Kentucky, and lived at the old cabin still to be seen standing near Andrew Foster's place, He was a practitioner of medicine of the Thomsonian school, and died many years ago.
" William Stone was a Kentuckian, a plain old farmer, and lived on the farm now owned by the Rev. Minor Neale. He was a good man, and died at an advanced age.
" Rev. Frederick Casteel was a minister of the gospel of the Methodist church, and lived near the place now owned by Mrs. Abram Amick.
" Reuben A. Ewing and his brother, Irving Ewing, were Kentuck- ians, and lived east of Lebanon. The former was a successful farmer, a good man, and died at an advanced age, honored and respected.
" James Berry was also a Kentuckian, and one of the oldest set- tlers of this new colony. He lived where his son Finis E. Berry now lives. Thomas Rubey was from Kentucky, and lived at Pleasant Green. Henry Small lived at the Vincent Walker place.
" Mr. Smiley was also a Kentuckian, and settled where Mr. Thomas Alexander now lives. Rev. Laird Burns was a Cumberland Presbyterian preacher, and lived where Mr. John P. Downs now lives, in what is known as the Ellis neighborhood.
" John Burns was his brother, and lived close to New Lebanon. He was a soldier in the war with Great Britain, was present at the battle of New Orleans, and would often talk with pride about that great event, of the fearful roaring of the cannon, of the sharp whist- ling of the bullets and the thrilling echoes of martial music, which stirred the hearts of the soldiers to deeds of valor, and enabled the brave army of General Jackson to achieve the glorious victory which ended the war with ' Old England.'
698
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
"Rev. John Reid was also another minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, a Kentuckian ; he first lived on Honey creek, and afterwards at so many different places, that for want of space in this brief sketch I dare not undertake to enumerate them. Suffice it to say, that he settled more new places in the neighborhood than any half dozen pioneers of the infant colony. He was a very eccentric character in his younger days, would fight at the ' drop of a hat,' and was never known to meet his match in a hand to hand combat. The writer of this sketch was intimately acquainted with him for many years, during the latter period of his life, however, and can truly say he never knew a man of steadier habits, nor one more re- markable for strict rectitude of conduct, or exemplary piety. An anecdote is related of him and the Rev. Finis Ewing, which occurred in his younger days. It was told to me by Mr. Samuel Wear.
" Reid was driving a team for some man who was moving to this county with Mr. Ewing, who had ear bells on his six horse team. The young man liked the jingle of these bells so much that he begged Mr. Ewing to allow his teamster to divide with him, in order that he might share the music ; but Mr. Ewing ' could not see it' and refused to make the division as requested. Whereupon Reid bought a num- ber of old cow bells and hung one on each horse in his team, which soon had the effect of bringing the preacher to terms. He was so much annoyed with the discord produced by these coarse bells, that he soon proposed a compromise by giving Reid his sleigh bells, pro- vided he would stop the cow bell part of the concert.
" Silas Thomas was another Kentnekian, and lived on Honey creek, near where Lampton's saw mill stood a few years ago.
" James Taylor, better known as ' Old Corn Taylor,' lived in an old log cabin which may be still seen standing a short distance west of the Anthony Walker place. He was another remarkably eccentric character. He had a host of mules and negroes ; always rode with a rope bridle, and raised more corn, and kept it longer than any half dozen men in Cooper county. This he hoarded away in pens and cribs, with as much care as though every ear had been a silverd ollar, in anticipation of a famine, which, for many years he had predicted, but which, happily, never came, though the neighborhood was several times visited with great scarcity of that valuable commodity. Al- though he was miserly in this respect, yet during these times of scarcity, he would generally unlock his granaries, and, like Joseph of old, deal it out to his starving brethern, whether they were able to pay for it or not ; that is, if he thought a man was industrious, he
699
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
would furnish him with what corn he considered necessary ; but tradi- tion informs us that he invairiably refused the required boon to a man who was found, on examination, to wear ' patched breeches,' es- pecially if the patch happened to be in a particular locality, which indicated laziness.
" Hugh Wear was from Kentucky, and lived in the Ellis neigh- borhood. He was the father of the Rev. Wm. Bennett Wear, another Cumberland Presbyterian of considerable distinction. When his father, who was a Revolutionary soldier, enlisted, Hugh, although too young to enter the army, was permitted to accompany his father, and served, during the war, as a soldier, notwithstanding he was under the age prescribed for military duty. This was done to prevent his falling into the hands of the tories.
" Rev. William Kavanaugh was a Kentuckian, and another Cum- berland Presbyterian minister of considerable note. It was said of him, that he could preach louder and longer than any of these old worthies.
" William Bryant was a Kentuckian, and was with General Jack- son at the battle of New Orleans. He first settled at New Lebanon, on the place which he afterwards sold to Finis Ewing ; the old brick house where Mr. Kemp now lives. He then moved to the farm now occupied by William B. Harlan.
" Samuel Miller was from Kentucky, and settled on the place now owned by Green Walker. He was a farmer, and afterwards moved to Cold Neck.
" There yet remains but one other man to notice who belonged to New Lebanon. He was a member of the numerous family of Smith, whose Christian name I cannot now recall. He settled at a very early period on what is known as the Cedar Bluff, at a nice, cool, clear spring, not far from the place where Mrs. John Wilkerson now lives. Here he erected what was then called a ' band mill,' a species of old fashioned horse mill, so common in those days. It was connected with a small distillery at which he manufactured a kind of 'aqua mira- bilis,' with which the old folks in those days cheered the drooping spirits in times of great scarcity. But Mr. Smith never ' ran crooked.' He paid no license, and sold or gave away his delicious beverage with- out molestation from revenue agents, just as he deemed fit and con- venient. Revenue stamps and revenue agents were unknown then, and good whiskey ( there was none bad then ) was not only considered harmless, but drinking hot toddies, eggnog and mint julips was re- garded as a respectable, as well as a pleasant and innocent kind of amusement, and quite conducive to good health."
CHAPTER IX.
OTTERVILLE TOWNSHIP.
Boundary - Physical Features - Settlement of Otterville Township -Clifton - Its History and Incidents - Indian Scare -Otterville - Its History - Lodges - Schools - Churches.
Before proceeding with the remainder of Mr. Starke's article, which is a history of Otterville township, we will first give the bound- ary and physical features of the same.
BOUNDARY.
This township is in the southwestern part of the county, and is bounded on the north by Clear Creek township, on the east by Leb- anon township, on the south by Morgan county and on the west by Pettis county. Otterville formerly comprised a portion of Lebanon township, but has since been formed into a voting precinct and em- braces all that part of Lebanon township west of the Lamine river.
PHYSICAL, FEATURES.
The township is generally rough and covered with an abundance of timber. The Lamine river, with its affluents, furnishes a reasonable supply of water.
SETTLEMENT OF OTTERVILLE TOWNSHIP.
Mr. Starke's history continued :
" I have thus briefly glanced at the early settlement in the vicinity of New Lebanon, and come now to treat of the colony which was planted south and west of the Lamine, and which was peopled at a subsequent period, known as Otterville township, and which will per- haps embrace a portion of the adjoining territory included within the limits of Morgan and Pettis counties.
" Thomas Parsons was born in the state of Virginia in the year 1793, moved to Franklin, the county seat of Simpson county, Ken- tucky, about the year 1819, emigrated to this county in the fall of
(700)
701
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
1826, and settled at the place now owned by James H. Cline, north- west of Otterville. About the last of October of that year Parsons sold his pre-emption right to Absalom Cline, the father of James H. Cline. In 1826, at the time Mr. Parsons came to this neighborhood, there were only three families living west of the Lamine in this vicinity. These were James G. Wilkerson, William Reed and Wil- liam Sloan.
" Mr. Parsons established the first hatter's shop south of Boon- ville, and was an excellent workman in that line. He was an honest, upright citizen, lived to a ripe old age, and was gathered to his fathers honored and respected by all who knew him. At the time of his death, on the 7th day of September, 1768, he was the oldest Free Mason in Cooper county, having belonged to that institution nearly three score years.
" William Reed, mentioned above, was, perhaps, the first white man who settled in this neighborhood. He was a Tennesseean, and lived near the old camp ground, a little west of what was then known as the Camp Ground spring, in the old field now owned by George W. Smith, a short distance southwest of the old graveyard. He was the grandfather of A. M. Reed, now of Otterville. He was remark- able for his strict integrity and exemplary piety.
" James G. Wilkerson was from Kentucky, and settled the farm now owned by George W. Smith, one mile west of Otterville. The old mansion stands, though almost in a complete state of dilapidation, to remind the passer by of the perishable character of all human labor. He sleeps, with several other members of his once numerous family, on a gentle eminence a few yards south of the decayed and tottering tenement in which he spent many years of honest toil.
" William Sloan, the son of Alexander Sloan ( mentioned in the notes pertaining to New Lebanon), was the last of the three men- tioned above. He first settled the place where Charles E. Rice now lives, in 1826, but afterwards lived, until his death, at the place now owned by Joseph Minter. He was always noted for his scrupolous honesty and piety.
"Elijah Hook was from Tennessee, and settled near where Henry Bender now lives in 1827. He was a hunter and trapper, and ob- tained a subsistence for his family after the manner of Nimrod, his ancient predecessor, mentioned in the Bible as ' the mighty hunter.'
" James Brown was a Kentuckian, a farmer, a hard working man, and settled where T. C. Cranmer lives in 1827. He also was a ' Nimrod,' and hunted with Daniel Boone.
46
702
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
" James Davis was a Tennesseean, and settled the place now known as the McCulloch farm, in 1827. He was an industrious farmer and a great rail splitter.
" James Birney was a Kentuckian, and married the daughter of Alexander Sloau, of New Lebanon. He was a farmer, and a man of some note. He settled, in 1827, the farm where John Harlan now lives. He had a grandson, Alexander Birney, who was formerly a lawyer at Otterville.
" Frederick Shurley, the mightiest hnuter in all the land round about Otterville, in 1827, settled the place now owned by his son, Robert Shurley, southeast of Otterville. He was with General Jackson in the Creek war, and was present at the memorable battle of Horse Shoe Bend, where the Indians, by the direction of their prophets, had made their last stand. He used to recount, with deep interest, the thrilling incidents connected with this muzzle to muzzle contest, in which over half a thousand redskins were sent, by Jack- son and Coffee, to their happy hunting grounds.
" Nathan Neal was a Kentuckian, and settled the old place near the Lamine, two miles north of Otterville, in 1827. He was an orderly, upright and industrious citizen.
" George Cranmer was born in the state of Delaware in 1801, moved to near Paris, Kentucky, while young, and to Boonville, Missouri, in the year 1828. He was a millwright and a very ingen- ious and skilful mechanic. He settled at Clifton in about 1832, and shortly afterwards he and James H. Glasgow, now living on the Petite Saline creek, built what was known as Cranmer's, afterwards Corum's mill, precisely where the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad now crosses the Lamine. Cranmer named the place Clifton. The prin- cipal mechanics who helped to build this mill were Benjamin Gilbert, James Kirkpatrick, Nathan Garten, son-in-law of William Steele, Esquire, a blacksmith named John Toole, Noah Graham and the renowned ' Bill' Ruhey, known to almost all the old settlers south of the Missouri river. Cranmer lived first at the mill, and afterwards at what was long known as the John Catou place, where Thomas C. Cranmer was born in 1836. The old log cabin is still standing, as one of the few old land marks yet visible, to remind us of the distant past. Cranmer died at Michigan Bluffs, California, in 1853.
"Another man will perhaps be remembered by some of our old citizens. He was crazy, and though harmless, used to wander about to the great terror of the children of those days. His name was John Hatwood.
703
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
"Clifton was once a place of memorable notoriety. In those early days it was not unfrequently call the 'Devil's Half Acre.' There was a grocery kept there, after the people began to manufac- ture poisoned whiskey, which had the effect very often of producing little skirmishes among those who congregated there. It was not In- common for those fracases to end in a bloody nose, a black eye, or a broken head. Happily, however, these broils were generally confined to a few notorious outlaws, whom the order-loving people would have rejoiced to know had met the fate of the cats of Kilkenny.
" There are many amusing incidents connected with the history of the place, but space forbids allusion to only one or two. A man by the name of Cox, who was a celebrated hunter and trapper in this neighborhood, was known as a dealer in tales, connected with his avocation, of a fabulous and Munchausen character. There is a very high bluff just below the old mill ; perhaps it is nearly five hundred feet high. During one of his numerous hunting excursions, Matthew met with a large bear, which, being slightly wounded, became terribly enraged, and attacked the hunter with his ngly grip before he had time to reload his rifle. This formidable contest between bruin and Matthew occurred just on the verge of the fearful precipice above de- scribed, and every struggle brought them nearer and nearer, until they both took the awful leap, striking and bounding against the pro- jecting crags every few feet, until they reached the bottom of the terri- ble abyss. You will now naturally say, 'Farewell Matthew !' but strange to relate, he escaped with a few slight scratches. The bear had, fortunately for Matthew, been on the under side every time they struck, till they reached the bottom, when he loosed his hold of the hunter and closed his eyes in death.
" Matthew. Cox's tales were generally much like this, almost always terminating favorably to himself, and fatally to his adver- saries. This anecdote gave the name of ' Matthew's Bluff,' well- known to everybody in this neighborhood.
" Some time during the year 1832, the people of this neighbor- hood became terribly alarmed by the report that the Osage Indians were about to attack and massacre all the settlers in this vicinity. This report started first, by some means at old Luke William's on Cold Camp creek. The people became almost wild with excitement. They left their plows in the fields, and fled precipitately in the direc- tion of the other settlements towards Boonville. Some of them took refuge in a fort at Vincent Walker's, some at Sam Forbes', and others at Collin Stoneman's and Finis Ewing's. Hats and caps, shoes
704
HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
and stockings, pillows, baskets and bonnets might have been seen along the old military road to Boonville, lying scattered about in beautiful confusion all that day and the next, until the excitement had ceased. Fortunately the scare did not last long, as it was soon ascer- tained that the alarm was false, and that the Osage Indians had not only not contemplated a raid on the white settlements, but that they had actually become frightened themselves, and fled south of the Osage river. But the panic was complete and exceedingly frightful while it lasted. A fellow by the name of Mike Chism lived near the Bidstrup place. Mike had a wife and two children. They were already preparing for flight. Mike's wife was on horseback and had one child in her lap and one behind her, and Mike was on foot.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.