USA > Missouri > Scotland County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 26
USA > Missouri > Lewis County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 26
USA > Missouri > Clark County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 26
USA > Missouri > Knox County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 26
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288
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
15, 1872. It is a substantial two-story brick building 45x72 feet in size. It has a basement story in which the county jail is locat- ed. The first story above the basement contains halls, stairway and the county offices, and the second contains the courtroom. In the county offices are fire proof vaults in which to keep the public records. It is located on the center of Block No. 5, in Johnson's addition to Kahoka, as before mentioned, and is sur- rounded with many beautiful shade trees. At the May term in 1872 of the county court, Peter S. Washburn, superintendent of public buildings, made settlement, showing that he had been fur- nished by the county $10,000 in bonds, $12,000 in cash, $815 in warrants, $22,815 in all, and that he had paid out for public buildings the sum of $22,815,86, leaving a balance of 86 cents due him. Out of this sum he had paid Messrs Orr and Conner $19,042. The balance he had paid out for constructing a jail in the basement, and for other purposes pertaining to pub- lic buildings. His report was accepted and approved.
NEW CIVIL TOWNSHIPS.
At the March term, 1868, of the county court, the county was re-districted into civil townships as follows: Vernon Township was made to contain all the land within the county, lying in Range 5, west of the fifth principal meridian, and Alexandria was designated as the place for holding elections. Clay Township was made to contain all of Township 64 north, and the north half of Township 63 north, Range 6 west, with the voting place at the Pleasant Hill schoolhouse. Des Moines Township was made to contain all of Township 65 north, Range 6 west, with the voting place at St. Francisville. Jackson Township was made to contain all of Township 64 north, and the north half of Township 63 north, Range 7 west, with the voting place at Winchester. Madi- son Township was made to contain all of Township 65 north, Range 7 west, with the voting place at Waterloo. Sweet Home Township was made to contain all of Township 66 north, Range 7 west, and all lands east thereof situate in Clark County, with the voting place at Peakeville. Union Township was made to con- tain all of Township 64 north, and the north half of Township 63, Range 8 west, with the voting place at the village of Union. Lincoln
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
Township was made to contain all of Township 65 north, Range 8 west, with the voting place at Ashton. Jefferson Township was made to contain all of Township 66 north, Range 8 west, with the voting place at the Jordan schoolhouse. Grant Township was made to contain all of Township 67 north, Ranges 7 and 8 west, with the voting place at Athens. Washington Township was composed of all of Township 64 north, and the north half of Township 63 north, Range 9 west, with the voting place at Fair- mount. Wyaconda Township was made to contain all of Town- ship 65 north, Range 9 west, with the voting place at Luray. Folker Township was composed of all of Townships 66 and 67 north, Range 9 west, with the voting place at Bethlehem Church.
All these civil townships remain the same, except that since the county seat was located at Kahoka, the west tier of sections in Madison Township has been cut off and attached to Lincoln. And the small territory lying in Township 66 north, Range 6 west, has been attached to Des Moines Township. The following changes have been made in the places for holding elections, to wit: from Waterloo to Clark City-Neeper has been added as a voting place in Union Township, and Kahoka in Lincoln Township; in Jefferson Township the voting place has been changed to Wickell's schoolhouse, and in Folker Township to Hogan's schoolhouse.
COUNTY OFFICERS.
The following is a list of county officers, from the organiza- tion of the county to the present time (1887), with date of term of service set opposite their respective names.
County Court Clerks .- Willis Curd, 1837-51; John P. Hamp- ton, 1851-57; John Langford, 1857-63; Aaron Sullivan, 1863- 64; Oscar F. Ensign, last half of 1864; G. M. Ochletree, 1864-71; Matthew Woodruff, 1871-75; S. F. Sackett, 1875-83; J. W. Townsend, 1883-87; George Rauscher, 1887, present incum- bent.
Circuit Court Clerks .- Willis Curd, 1837-56; John P. Hamp- ton, 1856-62; Samuel Spangler, 1862-65; H. M. Hiller, 1865- 70; Samuel Spangler, 1870-74; David N. Lapsley, 1874-86; Benjamin F. Waggener, 1886, present incumbent.
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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
Sheriffs .- Uriah S. Gregory, 1837-42; Samuel Musgrove, 1842-46; Charles O. Sanford, 1846-50; John Langford, 1850- 54; Isaac H. Calvert, 1854-56; Oscar F. Ensign, 1856-60; Mor- ton Higbee, 1860-63; John Schee, 1863-66; George McDaniel and William Buskirk, 1866-68; John Stafford, 1868-70; Samuel Sackett, 1870-74; Samuel Frazee, 1874-80; John Fitzsimmons, 1880-82; G. L. Drew, 1882-86; W. C. Fletcher, 1886, present incumbent.
- Recorders of Deeds .- From the organization of the county up to the year 1870, the offices of the recorder of deeds and of the clerk of the circuit court were combined, and the duties of both were performed by the circuit court clerk. But at the Sep- tember term, 1870, of the county court, it was found that the county had over 10,000 inhabitants, the number required to entitle it to the separate office of recorder of deeds, and accord- ingly the latter office was separated from that of the clerk of the circuit court. Since this separation, which took effect on the 1st day of January, 1871, the recorders of deeds have been as follows: William A. Spruance, 1870-74; Thomas E. Palmer, 1874-78; James R. Hume, 1878-86; Isaac C. Weaver, 1886, present incumbent.
Treasurers .- Joseph McCoy, 1837-42; Thomas D. Ford, 1842-50; Andrew Maxwell, 1850-54; S. H. Bechtol, 1854-55; Washington J. Pierce, 1855-56; Eric H. Greenleaf, 1856-62; John V. H. Bolter, 1862-64; Aaron Bechtol, 1864-67; Robert H. Starr, 1867-68; C. S. Callihan, 1868-69; John G. Fell, 1869-72; W. C. Moore, 1872-76; G. S. Stafford, 1876-78; R. V. Wayland, 1878-82; Thomas M. Daggs, 1882-86; James W. Reed, elected in 1886, served a few months and died, and John Langford, the present incumbent, was appointed to fill the vacancy.
Tax Collectors .- The separate office of tax collector was established in Clark County in 1876. Prior to that date, with the exception of the last four years, when the county treasurer was also the tax collector, the taxes had always been collected by the sheriff. Since the year 1876 the collectors have been as follows: G. S. Stafford, 1876-82; George Rauscher, 1882-84, and J. H. Million, the present incumbent, has served ever since 1884.
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
Surveyors-Thomas C. Rutherford, 1837-39; Collin C. Holmes, 1839-43; Peter A. Hill, 1843-51; Simeon Conway, 1851-56; Hiram Beeson, 1856-62; Joseph F. Murphy, 1862-68; S. F. Ingold, 1868-72; Woodford Beckett, 1872-76; Oscar F. Ensign, 1876-80; Thomas Singleton, 1880-82; Woodford Beck- ett, 1882-84; S. H. Algood, the present incumbent since 1884.
Representatives in the Legislature-Samuel D. South, Dem- ocrat, 1838-40; Dr. J. W. S. Mitchell, Whig, 1840-42; A. W. Daggett, Whig, 1842-46; John P. Lowry, Democrat, 1846-48; I. N. Lewis, Whig, 1848-50; Charles O. Sanford, Whig, 1850-52 N. F. Givens, Whig, 1852-54; I. N. Lewis, 1854-56; Frank Smith, American, 1856-58; James Cowgill, Democrat, 1858-60; John N. Boulware, Whig, 1860-62; I. N. Lewis, Republican, 1862-64; Erastus Sackett, Republican, 1864-66; O. B. Payne, Republican, 1866-68; Asa F. Healey, Republican, 1868-70; James M. Asher, Republican, 1870-72; George K. Biggs, Dem- ocrat, 1872-74; N. F. Givens, Democrat, 1874-78; John N. Boulware, Democrat, 1878-80; James M. Wood, Democrat, 1880-86; James Fore, Democrat, 1886, present incumbent.
By reference to the foregoing it will be seen that Willis Curd held the offices of clerk of both the county and circuit courts for many years after the organization of the county, and that by vir- tue of his office as circuit court clerk he was also the recorder of deeds during the same time. Robert H. Starr, during his term as treasurer of the county, lost a large sum of money by reason of the failure of the First National Bank at Keokuk, where he had deposited the funds. On the 6th day of May, 1868, he tendered his resignation to the county court for the following unique reasons: First, that he had lost money enough, and did not wish to risk any more; second, that he had become disgusted with city life, and desired to remove into the country, where he could hear the birds sing and see the grass grow; third, that he felt a delicacy about receiving $1,000 per year from the over-burdened tax payers of Clark County as the emol- uments of an office to which there was attached but little labor and no respectability; fourth, because the bridge over Fox River had been washed away and he was compelled to pay ferriage to and from the office, which consumed all the profits. For these
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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
reasons the court accepted his resignation, and appointed C. S. Callihan to fill the vacancy.
FINANCES, RAILROAD BONDS, ETC.
In the year 1864 the county court, upon application of the Alexandria & Bloomfield Railroad Company, subscribed $200,000 to the capital stock of said company. And on the 10th day of June, 1865, the said court, being then composed of Justices Harvey Seymour, B. P. Hanan and Edward Anderson, made the following record, to wit: "Whereas, heretofore, on the - day of -, 1864, the county court of Clark County entered into a certain obligation to and with the Alexandria & Bloomfield Rail- road Company, by signing the books of said company and sub- scribing $200,000 to said company stock, by which obligation the county became liable to a prosecution for the said sum of $200,000. Therefore, it is ordered by the court, that the county of Clark issue the sum of $50,000 in 7 per cent bonds, payable twenty years from date (interest payable annually), which is to be received by said Alexandria & Bloomfield Railroad Company in full satisfaction for the adjustment of said former liability." The said bonds were accordingly issued and delivered to and accepted by said company. Afterward the county repudi- ated the bonds on the ground that the court had issued them without submitting the question to the people at a public election for their decision. Issues were joined, and the matter was liti- gated, and finally decided by the supreme court in favor of the bondholders. Accordingly the county paid the interest on the bonds, as it accrued, annually, and on the 5th day of August, 1884, the county court ordered elections to be held at the several voting places in the county on the 4th day of November following, for the purpose of voting for or against the proposition to refund the $50,000 indebtedness to said railroad company. The elec- tions were accordingly held, and 2,194 votes were cast in favor of said proposition, and 296 against it; and thereupon the county court at its November term, 1884, ordered that bonds of the denomination of $500 each to the amount of $50,000 be issued, to bear date of January 1, 1885, to run thirty years, but redeem- able at the option of the county at the end of twenty years, with
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
interest at 6 per cent, payable annually. The bonds were issued accordingly, and are now outstanding.
At the July term, 1868, the county court ordered elections to. be held at the several voting places in the county, on the first day of August following, for the purpose of voting for or against the proposition of subscribing $75,000 to the capital stock of the- Alexandria & Nebraska City Railroad Company; the same to be payable in the bonds of the county, running twenty years. from date, with interest, payable annually, at 7 per cent per annum, and the bonds to be payable to said company only on condition that said railroad company be built and the cars actu- ally running across the county from the Mississippi to the western line of the county, and upon the further condition that all coupons, or' interest notes, that should become due prior to such completion, should be cut off from the bonds and surren- dered to the county without payment. And at the same elections the people were to vote for or against the proposition to sub- scribe $75,000 to the capital stock of the Missouri & Mississippi Railroad Company, upon the same conditions. Afterward, on the 22d day of the same month, the court changed the conditions. or rather made them more specific, by requiring Luray to be made a point on the Alexandria & Nebraska City Railroad, and that the Missouri & Mississippi Railroad should make three points in Clark County-one at Fairmount, one at the junction with the Alexandria & Nebraska City Railroad as far east as the center of the county, east and west, and one at St. Francisville, etc.
On the 7th day of August the court found that a majority of the votes cast at the election were in favor of the proposed subscrip- tion of $75,000 to the capital stock of each of said railroad com- panies, and thereupon ordered "that the said sums be subscribed. to the capital stock of each of the said companies upon the con- ditions stated." The court at this time consisted of justices S. W. Morehouse, P. S. Washburn and Thomas H. Roseberry, the latter of whom recorded his protest against said order. Then came the Alexandria & Nebraska City Railroad Company by its. attorney, George C. Dixon, and accepted said subscription of $75,- 000, upon the terms and conditions mentioned, and upon the further condition that it should be in full of all offers of subscrip-
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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
tion previously made by the county to said company. The court then appointed James Fitz Henry as agent of the county to carry said order into effect-that is to issue the bonds upon the con- ditions already stated. Accordingly the bonds of the county, to the amount of $75,000, bearing date of August 10, 1868, were issued to said Alexandria and Nebraska City Railroad Company. The county has paid the interest annually thereon, and the nec- essary steps for refunding the principal thereof, when it becomes due in 1888, have already been taken. No acceptance, on the part of the Missouri & Mississippi Railroad Company, of the $75,000 subscribed by the county by the order of the court made August 7, 1868, as before mentioned, appears of record, and no bonds were then issued to that company.
But afterward, on the 9th day of June, 1870, the Missouri & Mississippi. Railroad Company, by its attorney, Volney B. Irish, asked the court to subscribe the additional sum of $125,- 000 to the capital stock of said company. The court refused to do this, but ordered elections to be held at the several voting places in the county on the 30th day of July, 1870, to ascertain the sense of the people on the proposition of taking $75,000 stock in the Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad Company, on con- ditions that the road be completed and the cars run over it from Alexandria to the west line of said county, and also on the prop- osition to subscribe the additional sum of $125,000 to the Mis- souri & Mississippi Railroad, as suggested by said railroad com- pany, the propositions to be voted upon separately. The elections were held accordingly, and both propositions were rejected by an overwhelming majority of the people.
On the 3d day of May, 1871, the Missouri & Mississippi Railroad Company, by its attorney, James M. Asher, moved the court to subscribe $200,000 to the capital stock of said company, upon certain conditions set out in full on pages 460, 461 and 462, county court record "G." One of these conditions was " that the said railroad company should locate and maintain their said railroad within one-third of a mile of the town of Fairmont, and extend the same in a northeasterly direction to the town of St. Francisville, and locate depots both at Fairmont and St. Francis- ville." This motion was sustained by a majority of the court,
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
then consisting of justices S. W. Moorehouse, Peter S. Wash- burn and Thomas H. Roseberry. S. W. Moorehouse dissented from the majority of the court in sustaining the motion, and thereupon the court, upon its own responsibility, and without submitting the question to the people for their decision, sub- scribed the $200,000 to the capital stock of said railroad com- pany, and appointed A. S. Tinsman as the financial agent of the county to carry out their orders in regard to the matter. It should be remembered that $75,000 had previously been subscribed to the capital stock of said railroad company by the order of the county court of August 7, 1868; and that the $200,000 now sub- scribed included the $75,000 previously subscribed and the $125,- 000 afterward prayed for by said company. A petition, signed by several hundred citizens of the county, asking the court to set aside its order subscribing the $200,000 to the capital stock of said railroad company, was then filed, but the court refused to grant the prayer thereof. A committee consisting of George Rensley, N. F. Givens, A. C. Walsworth and David Mckee, was appointed to confer with the board of directors of the Missouri & Mississippi Railroad Company, at Macon City, Mo., for the pur- pose of securing and protecting the best interests of Clark County in the matter of the subscription of the $200,000 to the capital stock of said company. N. F. Givens declined to act, and Ed R. McKee was appointed to act in his place. Afterward the bonds for the $200,000 were issued in denominations of $500 each, all bearing date of June 1, 1871, payable at the National Bank of Commerce, in New York, twenty years after date, with interest thereon at 8 per cent per annum, payable semi-annually at said bank.
Afterward, at the May term, 1872, the county court found that the contract made with the Missouri & Mississippi Railroad Company, in the matter of the subscription of stock previously made by the said court, had been violated and rendered void by said company, and thereupon ordered the financial agent of the county, A. S. Tinsman, to turn into the treasury of the county the bonds which he had in his possession or under his control. Justice Roseberry dissented from this order. It proved, however, that Mr. Tinsman had no bonds in his possession or under his
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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
control, at least none were thus turned into the treasury. Soon after this, in the year 1872, the county court was succeeded by a board of supervisors under township organization. And at the March term, 1873, of said board, John N. Boulware was author- ized to employ Hon. Nathaniel F. Givens to institute and prose- cute a suit against the Missouri & Mississippi Railroad Company to recover the bonds for the $200,000 issued to said company. A contract was entered into with Mr. Givens, the suit was brought and the litigation for the recovery of said bonds was commenced. Afterward, on the 30th day of September, 1880, the county court ordered that a proposition to compromise "its out- standing indebtedness known as the Missouri & Mississippi Rail- road bonds of $200,000, at the rate of 30 cents on the dollar, principal and interest, by issuing the amount required in in new bonds payable twenty years from date with interest at 6 per cent. per annum." be submitted to the voters of Clark County at the general election in November, 1880. The propo- sition was accordingly submitted, voted upon and defeated at said election.
At the February term, 1881, of the county court, a special election was ordered, in compliance with a petition of citizens, to be held at the several voting places in the county, on the 24th day of March, 1881, to re-submit to the voters of the county the aforesaid proposition. The elections were held, and on the 31st day of said month, the court found that 964 votes had been cast in favor of, and 665 votes against, said proposition, and thereupon ordered that a sufficient number of bonds of the denomination of $500 each, payable twenty years from date, but redeemable at the option of the county after five years from date, with interest at 6 per cent per annum, payable annually, should be issued to compromise and refund said indebtedness at the rate of 30 cents on the dollar. Afterward, at the special November term, 1881, the court found that the necessary amount of bonds to be issued to redeem the bonds for the $200,000 previously issued, and the accrued interest thereon, at the rate of 30 cents on the dollar was $112,000, and thereupon W. M. Boulware, the presiding justice of the court, signed 224 bonds of $500 each, with interest coupons attached, all bearing date of April 1, 1881,
ROBERT A. Mc KEE. ( DECEASED ) CLARK COUNTY MO.
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
and all made payable to L. A. Coguard or bearer, at the National Bank of Commerce in the city of New York, on the 1st day of April, 1901, or at the expiration of five years from date at the option of the county. These bonds were issued in lieu of the $200,000 in bonds previously issued to the Missouri & Missis- sippi Railroad Company, and all of the latter were then canceled and surrendered to the county. At the time of issuing the bonds for the $112,000, the county had a sinking fund in its treasury sufficient to redeem $5,000 of said bonds at once, so there is now only $107,000 of the bonds outstanding.
RECAPITULATION OF THE COUNTY INDEBTEDNESS. 1
The following is a recapitulation of the bonded indebtedness of the county at the present writing, to wit: $50,000 issued to the Alexandria & Bloomfield Railroad Company, and $75,000 to the Alexandria & Nebraska City Railroad Company, and $107,000 to the Missouri & Mississippi Railroad Company, mak- ing a grand total of $232,000. After the $50,000 in bonds were first issued to the Alexandria & Bloomfield Railroad Company, that company and the Alexandria & Nebraska City Railroad Company consolidated, so that the appropriations made by the county to both of these companies, were expended on the one rail- road, which was constructed, and is now known as the Keokuk & Western, and passes through the county from Alexandria via Kahoka and Luray. The people do not complain about these two appropriations, as they have the accommodations of a good railroad in consideration therefor. The Missouri & Missis- sippi Railroad has never been built, and the project for building it has been abandoned, consequently the people never have and never will receive any value for the vast sums of money they have already paid out, and will yet have to pay before the bonds issued to that company will be redeemed. About this they complain with much bitterness, and especially of certain ex-officials. About the time that the bonds were issued for the $200,000 to the Mis- souri & Mississippi Railroad Company, great excitement pre- vailed. The people were indignant, and felt that they were out- raged by their public servants. A mass meeting was called and assembled at Waterloo, the then county seat, where expressions of
19
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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
indignation were made, and also threats of personal injury to cer- tain members of the court, whom they charged with corruption. The details of this matter, however, are too extensive and unim- portant for the scope of this work, and therefore the writer will leave the subject, believing that he has given a full, fair and impartial statement of the substantial facts pertaining thereto.
VERNON TOWNSHIP BONDS.
At the August term, 1870, of the county court, a petition was presented by citizens of Vernon Township, asking the court to order an election to be held to ascertain the sense of the people of that township on a proposition to subscribe the sum of $25,000 to the capital stock of the Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad Company. Whereupon the court ordered that a special election be held in said township on the 3d of September, 1870, for that purpose. Afterward on the 8th of September, following said elec- tion, the court found that a majority of the voters of Vernon Township were in favor of subscribing $25,000 in stock as afore- said, and thereupon ordered that a subscription of $25,000 to the capital stock of the Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad Com- pany be made by said Vernon Township, and that payment of the same should be made by said township, in bonds at par, in the name of the county of Clark, to the use of Vernon Township, in denominations of $500 each, payable twenty years from date of issue, with interest at 8 per cent per annum, payable annually. The bonds were issued accordingly, and on the 8th of May, 1886, an election was held in said township to ascertain the sense of the people on the proposition to refund said indebtedness by issu- ing new bonds. The necessary majority of the votes cast were in favor of refunding the debt, and consequently new bonds to the amount of $14,900 were issued May 1, 1886, and accepted by the bond holders, and the original bonds for $25,000 were sur- rendered to the county.
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