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 36
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 36
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 36
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 36
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* It was organized by Rev. Vardeman, of Kentucky, who came to St. Francisville for that pur- pose.
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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
in each place. And in order to accommodate all the different localities where religious services were required, the minister had to preach on several days of each week. The circuit rider would, on going around his circuit, preach at the residence of some pious settler in many localities where no church had yet been organized, and in this way he put in his whole time doing good. He, Pat- terson, was followed by the following "circuit riders," in the order named: Revs. John Hatcher, George B. Bowman, Martin Eads, Tyson Dynes, William Holmes, Walter Toole, Abraham Still, James Calloway and Sears.
The Methodist Episcopal Church prospered in its religious work until 1845, when the question of slavery entered into. its councils and brought about a division of the same. A majority of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church being in favor of the institution of slavery, or perhaps, more properly speaking, being opposed to any interference with it by the church, withdrew . and joined the newly organized church known as the Methodist Church South. This so weakened the Methodist Episcopal Church that its prosperity ceased, and it was with difficulty that it con- tinued to exist until after the question of slavery was forever set- tled by the late war. The Kahoka Circuit of the Methodist Epis- copal Church now includes Kahoka, Clark City, St. Francisville, Ashton and Wayland. Alexandria belongs to the Canton Cir- cuit, which is mostly in Lewis County. Chambersburg, Athens and other points in the northern part of the county belong to the Athens Circuit. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Clark City was organized in 1868 with about sixteen members, consist- ing of James Gregory and wife, William Jackson and wife, James H. Crane and family, Mrs. Elizabeth Rex, Mrs. McKenzie and others. Its membership has not materially increased. The Ka- hoka Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1862, and among the original members were Mrs. Philip Williams, Mrs. John Fell and Eli Carson. Nearly all of the original members of this church have moved away, died, or joined other churches. Its present membership is about fifty. This society has no church edifice, but holds services in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The following is the membership of the other churches of the Kahoka Circuit, viz .: St. Francisville, 32; Ashton, 23; Wayland,
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16. The pastors of the Kahoka Circuit, since 1862, have been Revs. Gardner, Moody, Stewart, Hildebrand, Stubbles, Collins, Hamilton, J. H. Scott, T. J. Wheat, W. T. Freeland, O. Deshler, E. B. Cater, W. S. Cline, Smith, A. R. Walker, and the present one, R. W. Thornburg.
The Southern Methodist Church in Kahoka, was organized about the year 1870, by Judge John Langford and others. Its present membership is about forty. Rev. James Penn, of Can- ton, is its pastor. It has no church edifice, but holds services in the Presbyterian Church building. The other organizations of the Methodist Church South in Clark County, are located at St. Francisville, Winchester, and two miles east of Peakeville. At St. Francisville they use the Baptist Church building, and at the other two points have edifices of their own. The membership of both the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Church South, in Clark County, is very small, and in several places they are dependent upon other societies for a house in which to worship.
Rev. Caleb Bush, a Baptist minister, who now resides in Kahoka, came with his family from Ohio, and settled at the vil- lage of Winchester, in Clark County, in 1845. He was "poor in purse but proud in spirit," and fervent in his devotions to God. He landed on Saturday, and was so discouraged that, after secur- ing a house, he told his wife not to unpack any more goods than they should need over Sunday, and then they would start on their return trip to Ohio. But it so happened that the funeral of a child was to take place at Winchester, on the next day, and Rev. John J. Martin had been engaged to conduct the services. Rev. Bush attended the funeral, and after the congregation had waited about an hour for the arrival of Rev. Martin, he (Bush) was invited to preach. He accepted the invitation, and when about concluding his sermon Rev. Martin arrived and took his seat in the audience. At the close of the sermon the two ministers were introduced, and they have been stanch friends and co-workers in the "Lord's Vineyard " ever since. They were not the first ministers who preached in the county, but Rev. Martin was the first Methodist, and Rev. Bush the first Baptist minister who became permanent citizens of the county. They are both now in their " eighties," and though they have not always been regularly
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engaged in the ministry, they have done a vast amount of mis- sionary work, and have greatly assisted the ministers of other denominations in their labors.
Following the occasion of the aforesaid funeral, Rev. Bush did not return to Ohio, but was immediately engaged to teach a subscription school at Winchester, by a self constituted committee of old settlers, who paid him $25 per month for teaching all the children within a certain prescribed territory, and in addition gave him the tuition charged to pupils who attended from with- out the boundary of the prescribed district. He taught six months and then, winter coming on, he went, as he says, to Chambers- burg, where a Baptist Church had previously been organized, but was then losing its spiritual interest, to either revive it or preach its funeral. Arriving there he at once commenced a pro- tracted meeting, which with the assistance of Rev. Martin and others he continued three weeks with great success in reviving the religious interests of his church and of the people generally. The meeting was then changed to a point on the Fox River, about four miles distant, and there continued three weeks longer with increased success. He then went to St. Francisville, where he took the lead in a religious revival, which continued several weeks, during which time many were converted to Christianity. After completing his work at St. Francisville he went to the Fox River Church, where he held a revival meeting until near " corn planting time." At the meetings at the first two places named, Rev. Bush baptized between sixty and seventy converts. Among the converts at St. Francisville was Robert Wayland, who soon thereafter entered the ministry in which he labored for many years with eminent success. Though these revival meetings were held under the auspices of the Baptist Church, other denominations participated, and Rev. Bush requested all con- verts to unite with the church of their choice, which they did. A large number was added to the Baptist Church at each of these places where these revival meetings were held. For all his services in these great revival meetings, Rev. Bush received about $25.
After the first Baptist Church was organized at St. Fran- cisville, and the second one at Chambersburg, the third was organized at Bear Creek, in the southwest part of the county.
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Hal Suter, Judge Frank Smith and the Cox families were among the organizers of the latter church. The next Baptist Church organized in the county was the one known as Liberty Church, which is about three miles east of Fairmont. It was organized about the year 1851, and among its early members were Rice Smith, Forsee, Kerfoot, Brent, Micajah Webber, John Ball and their wives. The Baptist Church at Kahoka was organ- ized on the 18th of March, 1873, and the original members were Woodford Beckett, D. Beckett, W. W. Loveless, L. D. Loveless, Mary Martin, Mary S. Montgomery, Sarah F. Hiller, Elizabeth Fowler, C. Dewitt, R. Dewitt, M. A. Homer and Elder Caleb Bush. The membership has increased to 110 at the present writing. The present church edifice was erected in 1886, at a cost of $3,000, and was dedicated on the 1st of December of that year by Elder W. Pope Yeaman. Elder W. D. Cave is the present pastor. The name of this church was changed in 1886 to the First Baptist Church at Kahoka, Mo. The fol- lowing is a list of names of other Baptist Churches in the county, and the number of members belonging to each annexed : Alexandria, 72; Antioch, 56; Fox River, 70; Union, 110; New Woodville, 75; Bethlehem, 100. Numerically the Baptist is the strongest religious denomination in the county.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The first church of this denomination, now existing in Clark County, was the Des Moines Presbyterian Church, which was organized at St. Francisville in September, 1854, by Rev. James C. Sharon, who was appointed by the Palmyra Presbytery to per- form the service. The original membership consisted of John A. and Mary W. Lapsley, Robert, Samuel and Laura J. McKee, . Mary Sharon, Harriet Givens, Washington Pierce and others, amounting to about forty. Rev. James C. Sharon was the first, and for many years the pastor of this church. It was afterward moved to its present location on the prairie, near the residence of Dr. R. S. McKee. At one time this church had a membership of nearly 200, but at the present writing its membership is about the same numerically as when first organized. The Presby- terian Church at Kahoka was organized July 3, 1883, by a com- mittee appointed by the Palmyra Presbytery. Its first members
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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
were Mrs. C. W. Meryhew, Mrs. R. J. Clark, Mrs. Ruth Emer- son, Mrs. Laura Bell, Mrs. Cora Matlock, Mrs. Mary Berk- heimer, Mrs. Maggie Lapsley, Mrs. E. P. Hueston, Miss Ida Hueston, Miss Maria Grier, A. A. Hays, William Owen and wife and Mrs. Ella Kearns. The membership at present numbers about eighty-five. Rev. W. S. Trimble was the first pastor, and was succeeded in July, 1885, by the present pastor, Rev. J. E. Latham. The church edifice was completed in 1886 at a cost of about $3,000. The Presbyterian Church at Athens was organ- ized about 1884, and this, with the others mentioned, constitute the only churches of that denomination in the county.
THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Of this denomination, "Harmony Church," which stands near the Sante Fe Crossing, was the first one established in the county. It was organized in the fall of 1854, with James C. Harkness, John Snyder, Fred Hasler, B. F. Strickler and Frank Smith, and their wives, and others, amounting in all to about twenty in number. The first three named members were the elders of the church. The membership soon increased to over sixty, but has since decreased to about thirty-five. The first pastor was Rev. Jolley, and the following are his successors in the order here named: John Sansom, John D. Rush, John Neff, David Walker, J. M. Gaiser and John F. Lackey, the latter being the present pastor. A church edifice, which is still standing, was erected soon after the society was organized.
The Ebenezer Cumberland Presbyterian Church, at Peake- ville, was organized at the close of the civil war, by Rev. J. Neff, its first pastor, and who served it as such for twelve or fourteen years. He was succeeded by Rev. Redmond Whitehead, and he by Rev. Gaiser, and he by Rev. Lackey, the present pastor, who found the church with a membership of sixty-four, which has been increased under his labors to eighty-nine. The services of this church are held in the church building owned by the denom- ination known as the "Church of God."
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church at Kahoka was organ- ized on the second Sunday in May, 1880, by Rev. David Walker. The original members were I. N. Lewis, J. C. Harkness and wife, A. Dorsey and wife, William P. Owens and wife, and Mrs. Reed.
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Lewis and Harkness were elected to serve as elders. The church edifice, costing about $1,200 was built in 1881 by the members of this denomination in the county and the assistance of friends in Kahoka. The same year Rev. A. M. Buchanan, an evangelist, held a series of meetings which resulted in a large addition to the membership of the church. In the spring of 1882 Rev. J. L. Dickens served as pastor for three months, and was followed by Rev. J. M. Gaiser who served two years. He was followed. by Rev. J. Neff who served six months, since which time Rev. John F. Lackey has officiated as pastor. The present member- ship of the church is about ninety, seventy of whom have been received into it since October, 1886. The foregoing are all the Cumberland Presbyterian Churches in the county.
THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH.
The German Evangelical Church at Kahoka was organized. in 1865. It was composed of the families of Christian Kuntz, Fred Hess, Simon Hess, Henry Rauscher, Charles Seyb, Leon- ard Zimmerman, George Zimmerman, George Muhrer, Sr., George Muhrer, Jr., Jacob Kuntz and a few others. It is now composed of about forty-four families. The first minister was Rev. Henry Ehlers; and his successors have been Revs. Fred Rasche, Rahmeirer, A. Dobler and C. A. Hauck. The latter, who is the present pastor, has served ever since November, 1883. The present large and commodious frame building of this church was built in 1886, at a cost of about $3,300. There is only one other German Evangelical Church in the county, and that is located two miles northwest of Winchester, and is composed of about ten families. It was organized soon after the one at Kahoka. Rev. Hauck is also its pastor. These are the only German Evangelical Churches in Northeastern Mis- souri.
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
The Congregational Church at Kahoka was organized in 1865 by a committee consisting of E. B. Turner, agent of the Amer- ican Home Missionary Society, and others. The original mem- bers were Moses Allen and his son, Dr. Allen, and his son-in-law, Mr. Scoville, Rev. C. S. Callahan and wife, A. A. Hays and wife, Miss Grier, Miller Duer and wife, Mrs. Cohagan, Prof. John Allen and wife, Mrs. Clawson, Mrs. Kauffman and others, to the
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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
number of about twenty. Rev. C. S. Callahan was the first pas- tor, and served as such until 1872. His successors have been Revs. W. B. Atkinson, A. A. Whitmore, A. Matson, Fred Crang, John Bennett, Elihu Loomis and H. B. Knight. For the last three years this church has been without a regular min- ister. A fine brick church edifice was built in Kahoka by this organization, in 1870, at a cost of about $2,400. Another Con- gregational Church, with a small membership, was organized at Athens, in 1874, by Rev. Fred Crang, and the next year this society erected a church building. Rev. Wiggins is the present pastor. The Anson Congregational Church, four miles west of Athens, was organized soon after the one at Kahoka was estab- lished. Its present membership is about fifty, and Rev. Wiggins is pastor thereof. Honey Creek Congregational Church was organized about four years ago, and a large church edifice, since erected, was dedicated, in 1887, by Rev. Johnson, its present pastor. Rev. Doe, the State missionary, was present at the dedi- cation service. This society consists of about sixty members. The church is located about six miles southeast of Kahoka. The foregoing are all the Congregational Churches in the county.
The Methodist Protestant Church has an organization in Luray, and one in the country about three miles west of Win- chester. At each of these points they have a comfortable church edifice.
The Christian Church has an organization and building at Winchester.
Mention has now been made of all of the leading religious denominations in the county, though not of all the individual organizations and separate places where religious services are held. Some individual churches, omitted in this department, have been mentioned in connection with the towns where they are located. In an early day a few camp-meetings were held and conducted by the Methodists at different points along Fox River. None, however, have been held since some time before the civil war. A religious denomination, calling themselves "The Holi- ness Band," now hold camp-meetings on certain occasions along the Des Moines River, and in the western part of the county. The foregoing Christian societies have always con- nected the Sunday-school with their religious work.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND COUNTY.
BOUNDARY AND TOPOGRAPHY.
T HE county of Scotland is the second from the east on the northern tier of counties in the State of Missouri, and is bounded north, by the State of Iowa; east, by Clark County; south, by Knox, and west, by Adair and Schuyler Counties. It has an area of 433 square miles, or 277,120 acres, and is drained by Little Fox, the north and south branches of Wyaconda, Bear, North Fabius, Tobin, the north and south branches of Middle Fabius and their tributaries. Of these streams, the first three named have their sources in Iowa, and the balance, excepting Bear and Tobin, flow into the county from Schuyler on the west, and all flow in a southeasterly direction toward the Mississippi into which they finally empty, thus showing that the general trend of the surface of the county is toward the southeast. Before the settlement of the county, and for a number of years thereafter, the water in all of these streams flowed constantly throughout the year, and, in several places, grist and saw mills were erected by the early settlers on sites where the water power was suffi- cient to run them. But since the face of the country has been changed by cultivation, the constant supply of water has ceased, and during the summer season all of the streams become dry, with the exception of standing pools of water here and there, while in wet seasons of the year they rise to a great height, and frequently overflow the bottom lands. In many places on the high prairies before the land was cultivated, and while it was covered with its native grasses, there were beautiful pools or ponds of clear water which never went dry, and which were well stocked with fish. But after the original prairie sods were broken, and the tall native grasses became extinct, these pools became dry, and their beds are now under cultivation.
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HISTORY OF SCOTLAND COUNTY.
The streams all flow through deep valleys, the margins of which rise gradually to the level of the uplands, which are com- posed of rolling prairies interpersed with shallow ravines or " draws." These prairies, lying as they do between the valleys, are from one to several miles in width, and, like the streams, all extend from the northwest to the southeast. About two-thirds of the surface of the county is prairie, and one-third timber and bottom prairie land. The timber is found in the valleys, and on the hilly lands along their margins, and in the ravines or " draws " of the uplands. The valleys, excepting the bottom prairies, were originally covered with black walnut, cottonwood, elm, hickory, sycamore, the oak in its several varieties, soft maple, etc. The other timbered lands were covered mostly with a scrubby growth of oak aud hickory and some wild cherry. The black walnut, which was found only in a limited quantity, has all been exhausted, and likewise the valuable saw timber of all kinds. A limited supply of rail timber, and an abundant supply, of wood still remains. When the county was first settled there was no " under- brush " or small timber, such as now exists. The timbered lands were open, the trees standing so far apart that the hunters could see the deer at distances from one to 500 yards. The entire sur- face of the country was then covered with a rank growth of vege- tation, consisting of the native grasses and wild flowers, which gave to the landscape, especially in the timbered lands, a much more beautiful appearance than it now has. Annually after this rank growth of vegetation became frosted, dead and dry the In- dians set fire to it, and burned it from the entire surface of the country. This they did to destroy the places of concealment for the wild game, the better to enable them to secure their prey. This burning of the decaying vegetation also destroyed the germs or sprouts, and thus prevented the growth of young timber. This practice was continued a few years after the first settlers located, and those who witnessed the scene say that it was often with the greatest difficulty that they saved their buildings and fences from being consumed. When the grasses were set on fire the long line of blaze, the flames of which encircled the treetops, swept over the country with great rapidity, and presented an awe-inspiring scene, and produced a sound like the roaring of distant thunder. When
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this annual burning ceased, the germs of underbrush and young timber began to grow, and the surface of the timbered lands, where they have not been cleared, are now covered with a dense growth of young timber and bushes. The supply of this young or " sec- ond growth " timber is so abundant, that it is thought as a whole there is as much wood in the county as when it was first settled, though the acreage of timbered land is much less. The young timber is not yet large enough for lumber, but much of it will do for rails. There is much more timber in the southern than in the northern portion of the county, and the land in the north- ern has a more even surface than in the southern.
GEOLOGY.
The geological formations found in Scotland County include the quaternary and carboniferous. In the year 1885 a well was bored on the farm of James M. Gordon, within the corporate limits of the town of Memphis, for the purpose of finding coal. At the depth of 200 feet a vein of coal, from thirty to thirty-six inches in thickness, was found. The well was sunk about forty feet below this vein, and no more coal being found, it was then abandoned. In 1887 another well was bored, about one-fourth of a mile from the former, on the farm of William D. Sigler. At the depth of 200 feet the same vein of coal was found to exist only in a thin sheet. This well was continued to the depth of 300 feet. The bluff and drift formation was found to have a thickness of 150 feet, that of the coal measures 100 feet, and the balance of the depth of the well consisted first of ferruginous sandstone, and lastly of a stratum of limestone supposed to belong to the famous Burlington group. In this the prospectors ceased their work, and abandoned the well. The coal measures, according to indications, are thought to underlie the greater por- tion of the county. Along the Fabius, in the southwestern part of the county, subcarboniferous limestone crops out, and the quaternary deposits effectually conceal any rocks there may be elsewhere in the county. This latter rock has been burned into lime, and thus utilized to a limited extent. It has never been quarried for building purposes. All the building stone used thus far in Scotland County has been shipped from abroad.
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HISTORY OF SCOTLAND COUNTY.
There is an abundance of clay everywhere throughout the county, from which an excellent quality of brick has been, and still con- tinues to be, manufactured. Specimens of pure copper, weighing from three ounces to nine pounds, have been found along the streams in Scotland County, and along Fox River in Clark County. As no beds or veins of this ore have been found, it is believed that these specimens have been washed from the copper regions of the North to the locations where they were found. The bones of that huge animal, known as the mammoth or mastodon, were found in the deep cut of the railroad, directly east of and adjacent to Memphis. Specimens of these bones, in a crumbling con- dition, can be seen in the geological and historical collection of Squire S. C. Knott, of Memphis.
SOIL.
The soil of Scotland County is deep and dark, and rich in producing qualities. It is composed of a mixture of humus, clay and sand in such proportions as to make it very productive.
In the valleys it is principally alluvial, and is much deeper, and consequently more productive than on the uplands. Almost the entire surface of the county is underlaid with a tenacious clay sub-soil, commonly called "gumbo," which is impervious to water, consequently in very wet seasons the grain crops suffer on account of the excessive moisture. In ordinary seasons the soil produces abundantly, and with proper cultivation it also produces well in very dry seasons. The grasses always do well except when their growth is checked by excessive drouth.
The water supply is obtained from the creeks, artificial ponds, wells and cisterns. There are but few springs, and they are mostly located along the streams. At Sand Hill there is a small tract of land (a section more or less ) composed almost wholly of sand which extends to a great depth, and in this there are a num- ber of springs or places where an abundance of water is obtained just below the surface in the sides of ravines where the bottom is far below the point where the water is found. When the county was first settled the water lay much farther from the sur- face of the earth than it does at the present writing. To obtain it then the wells had to be sunk to a depth of thirty to eighty feet
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