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 49

Author: Goodspeed, firm, publishers, Chicago (1886-1891, Goodspeed Publishing Co.)
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: St. Louis, Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1308

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 49
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 49
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 49
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 49

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).

After the passage of the Swamp Land Act, in 1850, the gov- ernor of the State appointed Hon. James Ellison to select the swamp lands in certain counties, including Scotland, and he and his subordinate officers selected about 31,000 acres of this class of land in this county. At that time these lands were considered almost worthless, but as the selections were made in forty-acre tracts it so happened that each tract, with a few exceptions, con- tained some good land. The swamp lands were all sold at prices varying from $1.25 to $8 per acre. But very little of it, however, sold for the latter price, the most of it having been sold for the former price. The law provided that the proceeds derived from the sale of the swamp lands should be applied first to the payment of the expenses of selecting thein, secondly to their reclaimation, and then the residue to be used for other pur- poses. In Scotland County it seems that no part of it was squandered in reclaiming the lands (squandered, for in counties where it was used for that purpose it was generally squandered), but, after paying the expenses of the selection, the balance, amounting to the large sum of $25,280.84, found its way into the permanent school fund of the county, where it has done the most good. The nine school townships before mentioned are divided into school districts, and the whole number of the latter in the county is seventy-two.

According to the last published report of the State school superintendent, it being for the year ending July 1, 1886, the permanent school funds of Scotland County were as follows:

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

County funds, $37,054.87; township funds, $10,227.83; total of all funds, $47,282.70. The first of these funds was derived from the sale of the swamp lands, as aforesaid, and from fines and for- feitures that have been assessed and collected from time to time since the organization of the county. The latter fund is what was derived from the sale of the school lands, of which amount a portion has been lost, as may be seen by a comparison of the figures. The permanent school fund is loaned in various sums to divers individuals, and the interest thereon is collected annually, and distributed to the school districts, for the purpose of paying teacher's salaries. The principal is a permanent fund which never decreases except by mismanagement of those who control it, but from the sources already named it constantly increases. The school revenues received in Scotland County for the year mentioned in the foregoing report, was as follows: From direct taxation, $19,188.88; from all other sources, $7,426.02; total, $26,614.90. Of this amount the sum of $22,685.04 was paid out for the sup- port of the public schools, and the balance, $3,929.86, held in the treasury to be added to the receipts of the next year. The scholastic population of the county for the same school year was as follows: White, male, 2,145; female, 2,027; total, 4,172. Colored, male, 17; female, 22; total, 39; grand total, 4,211. The number of pupils enrolled in the public schools for the same year was as follows: White, male, 2,050; female, 1,757; total, 3,807. Colored, male, 14; female, 16; total, 30; grand total, 3,837.

According to this showing ninety-one and one-fourth per cent of the white scholastic population attended the public schools, while only seventy-seven per cent of the colored school children attended the public school. This is a very good showing, as the per cent of attendance in the public schools is seldom larger in any of the counties. According to the same report the value of the public school property in the county was $45,000; the number of white schools taught is 72; colored, 1; the latter being located in Memphis. There were 106 teachers employed, and their average salary per month was $31.75. The average tax levy for the support of the schools was 53 cents on each $100 of taxable property, and the average cost of each pupil per day was 6 cents. There are two graded schools in the county-one at

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HISTORY OF SCOTLAND COUNTY.

Memphis and the other at Granger-and for the year referred to the scholastic population in the Memphis School District was. as follows: White, 516; colored, 26; total, 542. The enrollment in the schools was as follows: White, 476; colored, 30; total, 506. This shows a very large per cent of the white school children of the Memphis District in attendance at the public school. There were, however, a number of foreign pupils in attendance, which slightly reduced the per cent of local attendance, and in the col- ored school there were enough foreign pupils to make the num- ber in attendance exceed the whole number enumerated in the district. The number of days taught in the Memphis schools. during the year was 126. There were ten teachers employed, and the salary of the principal was $800 for the year, and the average salary per month of the other teachers was $41.50. The tax levy for the support of the schools was 80 cents on $100.

For the same year the enumeration in the Granger School District was 103, all white, and the number in attendance was 94, and the number of days taught was 143. There were two teachers employed, and the salary of the principal was $350. The tax levy was 65 cents on $100. To the lovers of education, especially to those who favor the public free-school system, the foregoing figures will be interesting. In an early day there was some prejudice against free schools supported by public taxation, but the large percentage of the children of school age now in attendance at these schools, shows conclusively that such prejudice has been removed.

There are no academies or other schools in Scotland County aside from the public schools. The public school at Memphis has a high school department and an able corps of teachers. The following is the faculty :

Prof. W. F. Jamison, superintendent; Miss M. E. Ammer- man, principal of high school; Miss Demma Best, second gram- mar ; Miss Sarah Green, first grammar; Miss Adele Coster, third primary ; Miss Lizzie W. Bartlett, second primary; Mrs. S. O. Hicks, first primary; Mr. A. L. Steward (colored), principal of the colored school.

The public school building for the white children is a large two and three story brick, containing ten schoolrooms, and the

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

colored school is taught in a small frame building in another part of the town. Both are under the same management.

EARLY CHURCHES.

Jesse Stice, who settled near Bible Grove in March, 1834, wrote and published the following before his death: "In the fall of 1834 there were eleven church members in the county. We consulted together, and agreed to meet at my house to wor- ship God, each member agreeing to bear his part until we could obtain a preacher. We got along as best we could until June, 1836, when we got Elder J. White from Howard County, Mo., to come and hold a meeting for us. The people came from all parts of the county. Elder White preached for us seven days, had several conversions, organized a church, set it in working order, and then returned home. We enjoyed and appreciated Christianity more and better in those days than we ever have since." The meetings held at the house of Mr. Stice were undoubtedly the first public religious meetings held in the county.

The first sermon now remembered by some of the surviving settlers of 1836 was preached by Rev. James Lillard, at Edin- burg, on the 12th of May, 1836, in a cabin that stood a few rods north of the present Baptist Church edifice at that place. But Willis Hicks, who settled two years prior thereto, says that the first ministerial work in the county was performed by a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, by the name of Jimmerson, and that he was followed closely by Rev. Lillard, and that they both labored together. However, the first church organized in the county was of the Baptist denomination, and it was organized at a point three miles east of Sand Hill. The original members were James Hicks and wife, Willis Hicks, Isaac Newland and wife, Mother Tate, Mrs. Stephen Cooper, Stephen Bryant and wife, William Short, Mr. Cornelius, Aquilla Barnes and their wives. The first minister of this church was a Rev. Barnes, and the next Rev. Jeptha Smith. This church has since moved across the line into Knox County, and is now known as the Har- mony Grove Church, and has a membership of about 140; Rev. John Suiter is pastor at the present writing.

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HISTORY OF SCOTLAND COUNTY.

The next church was by the Christian denomination, and was the one organized by Elder White, at the house of Jesse Stice, near Bible Grove, in June, 1836. The original members of this church were Jesse and Moses Stice and their wives, and Rudolph, Jonathan and Tyre March and their wives. A log church was erected soon after the organization was completed, and it stood in the lot where the present church now stands, at Bible Grove. The present edifice was built about the year 1855. It is a frame building 35x50 feet in size, and cost about $1,000. There are about 200 members belonging to this church at the present writing. The third church in the county was organized by the Baptists at Edinburg in 1841, under the instrumentality of Rev.' James M. Lillard, of Lewis County, who did a vast amount of missionary work. The original and early members of this church were John C. Collins, Michael, Thomas S., William and Sanford Myers, John Monroe, Charles Cole, William Moore and their wives. The ministers of this church have been Sanford Myers, B. A. Anderson, J. W. Rowe, J. W. Walden, W. A. Hat- ten and W. H. Pulliam. The membership at present numbers eighty-nine. This society put up a frame church building in 1850, but never fully completed it. Their present edifice was erected in 1875, at a cost of $1,000. When this church was first organized it was an arm of the Lynn Grove Church, in what is now Schuyler County, remained as such for about two years, and was then organized as an individual church. The Richland Baptist Church, near Hitt postoffice, was organized in 1849, by Rev. J. M. Lillard, with Robert Billups and wife, William Billups, John Bourn and wife, and William Bourn and wife as original members. The first and present church building of this society is a frame house, which was erected in 1858, at a cost of $1,100. The pastors have been William Yalton, J. W. Kittle, R. V. L. Wayland, M. M. Modisett and W. A. Hatten. The present membership is eighty.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH.

The first Baptist Church at Memphis was organized at a very early day by Rev. J. M. Lillard, with Elbridge Richardson and wife, Walter Ellis, O. T. Ellis, Nimrod Barnes, and their wives, and

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

Joseph Forman, as original members. Afterward a building in which to worship was purchased for $1,000, and in 1870 the church was reorganized by Rev. John Green and Rev. Sawyer, with John Crook, W. W. Purmort, John. Bourd, Allen Crook, R. Han- son, Thomas Smith, and their wives, W. Purmort, Mary Purmort, Mrs. Anna Walker, Mr. Stovall and wife, Mrs. Forman, Wesley Mount and others. This church has now a beautiful frame edifice standing on Lot 6, in Block 3, in Cecil's second addition to Mem- phis, which was erected in 1884, at a cost of $3,000. The pastors of the church since its reorganization have been Revs. Caleb Bush, J. A. Minter, W. A. Hatten, Willard, C. H. Rhoads and W. H. Pulliam. There are forty-eight members at present writing. Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, in the southeastern part of the county, was organized in 1850, by Rev. Lillard, with Theopolis Williams, Richard Shacklett, Granville Triplett, Mr. Johnson, and their wives, as members. Their present frame church was erected in 1871, at a cost of $800. The pastors have been J. M. Golden, J. W. Rowe, R. V. L. Wayland, W. H. Pulliam and O. Collins, and the present membership of the church is ninety-four. Zion Baptist Church, in the eastern part of the . county, was organized in 1850, by Rev. Lillard, and in 1875 the present frame church was erected, at a cost of $1,000. This so- ciety has a membership of twenty-seven persons, and their pas- tors have been Revs. R. V. L. Wayland, J. W. Kittle, - John- son and W. H. Pulliam.

Dover Baptist Church, in the west part of the county, was organized in 1857 by Rev. Shumate, and Thomas Green, Hosea Collins, Samuel Smith and George S. Collins, and their wives, and Thomas Smith were among the original members. Their present church, which is a frame building, was erected in 1881, and cost $1,600. The pastors have been Revs. Shumate, B. A. Anderson, Caleb Bush, W. C. Hatten, C. H. Rhoads and W. H. Pulliam. The membership consists of eighty-two persons. Little Zion Baptist Church was organized in 1860 by Rev. Berry; Reuben Vaught and wife and Reuben Lancastee were among the first members. The pastors have been Revs. Berry, Starbuck, W. A. Hatten, B. A. Anderson and W. Trent. This society con- sists of twenty-seven members, who worship in the schoolhouse,

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HISTORY OF SCOTLAND COUNTY.

having no church of their own. Providence Baptist Church, in the northeast part of the county, was organized in 1865 by Rev. J. W. Kittle, with Henry Cardee and wife, J. W. Kittle and wife and two sons, John Billups, William Smith, James Smith and Mr. Sparks and their wives as members. Their present church (frame) was erected in 1878, at a cost of $1,200. The pastors have been Revs. J. W. Kittle, W. H. Pulliam and Beard. There are fifty-six members in this church at the present writing.

Mount Zion Baptist Church was organized in 1878 by Rev. Skirvin, and he and Revs. W. A. Hatten, J. W. Kittle and Beard have since officiated as pastors. Since the church was organized a frame building in which to worship has been erected, at a cost of $1,000. The membership consists now of forty-six persons. There are many members of the Baptist Church residing in this county who hold their membership in churches located in Clark and Knox Counties.

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Rev. John Thatcher was the first " circuit rider" of this de- nomination in Scotland County. He came in the winter of 1837-38, and held services at the dwellings of the few pioneer settlers of that date. He and other pioneer ministers, among whom was Rev. Dr. Still, labored diligently to build up the church in the then new field. But a period of only ten years elapsed from the beginning of the settlement of the county until the op- position of the Methodist Episcopal Church to negro slavery caused a division, by the withdrawal of the communicants in the slave holding States, and the establishment of the Methodist Church South, which culminated in 1845. Then the prejudice and bitter feeling against the Methodist Episcopal Church became so strong that it had a desperate struggle to maintain even an existence in the county, and for a number of years its organizations were disbanded, and its labors suspended. About the year 1852 a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Pruner, went to the house of Michael E. Spillman, near Sand Hill, and advertised that he would preach in the log schoolhouse near by, but the prejudice against him was so strong that although he preached he could not get scarcely any persons

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

to hear him. The first permanent Methodist Episcopal Church in Scotland County was probably the one organized in a very early day (in the forties ) at the house of David Brewer, in the northeast part. of the county, by Rev. James Alderman. Father Brewer, David and Asa Brewer among the original members. Rev. Alderman also preached at the houses of James Billups and of the widow Sawyer. This was the origin of what has long been known as the Prairie- View Methodist Episcopal Church. The old frame church which this society uses at that place was erected about the year 1856.

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Memphis was organized prior to 1860, and on the 17th of January, 1860, Henry D. Clapper and Ann E., his wife, of Putnam County, Mo., for the con- sideration of $150, conveyed Lot 7 in Block 2 in Cecil's first addition to Memphis to the trustees of said church for a building lot. The names of the trustees who were among the original members of the church were Casper Lingle, Andrew R. Cushman, Joseph S. Oliver, Joel Curtice, William E. Gates, John Stine, Joshua Dunkin, James A. Hendricks and Samuel Kenoyer. The present brick church edifice was erected in 1860, and for a portion of the time during the civil war, it was used by the army for a stable and barracks. The building cost about $2,000. At the close of the war it was cleaned out and repaired, and has since been used for the purpose for which it was constructed. Origi- nally this church belonged to the Memphis Circuit, but in the year 1868 it was cut off from the circuit, and made a separate charge. The pastors of this church since the war have been Revs. Collins, Oliver Williams, John Wayman, T. B. Bratton, Thompson, W. H. Turner, J. R. Sasseen, O. Deshler and W. T. Freeland. Rev. John Wayman is the present pastor. The mem- bers and probationers number 120. The Memphis Circuit con- sists of four classes, viz .: Prairie View Church, ten miles north- east of Memphis; Trinity, ten miles northwest; Unionton Church, and a class about five and a half miles north of Memphis. This circuit has 120 members, and owns church property valued at $2,800. Rev. A. M. Moulsworth is the present pastor of the Memphis Circuit. Sand Hill Circuit has two classes in Scotland County, one known as the Bethel Church, which was organized during the late war, and located near the center of Sand Hill

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HISTORY OF SCOTLAND COUNTY.

Township, and the other at the villlage of Sand Hill. The latter was organized at the close of the war. These classes erected their present church buildings soon after they were organized. Revs. A. R. Walker is pastor of the Sand Hill Circuit. The Granger Circuit has two churches with 170 members, and church property valued at $1,800.

The Price Chapel, Methodist Episcopal Church, was organ- ized soon after the close of the civil war, with John Price, Jesse Israel, John Israel and their wives, and Mrs. James Smith, Mrs. Robert Smith, Mrs. David Baker, and others as original members. The society worshiped in the schoolhouse until the year 1882. Mrs. Elizabeth Price, widow of John Price above mentioned, bequeathed all of her property to this class for the purpose of building a church for it, and after her death the Price Chapel was erected in 1882, and paid for out of the estate she willed for that purpose, and named in her honor. It is located six miles west of Memphis, and cost $1,300. This church society, consisting of about thirty-five members, belongs to the Downing Circuit in Schuyler County.

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

The first society of this denomination in Scotland County was the one organized in 1836 at the place now known as Bible Grove, and of which full mention has already been made. The Christian Church in Memphis was organized about the year 1850, and the present brick church belonging to this society was built about the year 1853. Among the early members were Judge Jacob Clapper, - Pierce and J. H. Barker. The church building is 40x60 feet in size, and cost nearly $3,000 when it was con- structed. The pastors since 1858 have been Elders Hartley, E. C. Browning, Joseph Lucas, Benjamin Smith, D. P. Hender- son, Hosea H. Northcut, George K. Berry, E. R. Redd and the present pastor, H. D. Niles. At the present writing this church has a membership of about eighty. There are four other churches of the Christian denomination in Scotland County, one at Prairie View; the Salem Church, seven miles southeast of Memphis; another five miles south of Memphis, and one at Edin- burg.

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

THE METHODIST CHURCH SOUTH.

The first society of this denomination in Scotland County was organized at Sand Hill, and, while the writer can not give the exact date, it must have been immediately after the Methodist Church South was first established in '1845. The original members of this society were Robert T. Smith, Hugh Henry, Solomon Atchison, Joseph Price and their wives, and some of- their children. There were perhaps others whose names the writer has not been able to find. Among the early ministers of this Church in Scotland County were Revs. Eads and Toole. The Sand Hill Class met and worshiped in a log building at that place until after the close of the late war, and then, in consequence of death and removal of its members, it was dissolved and dis- continued. The oldest organization of this denomination now extant in Scotland County is the Hickory Grove Church, about one mile west of Arbela. It was established about the year 1850, and had among its original members Morgan Tucker, wife and family, James Powers and wife, and his parents, Michael Tucker and James Dickerson and their wives. Their first and present church edifice was a frame building erected about the year 1858 at a probable cost of $1,200. The present membership of this society is about forty. The Southern Methodist Church at Memphis was organized prior to the late war, and among its original members were Sister Thomas S. Richardson, Sister Andrew Lovell, Sister Harvey Clemons, Judge Jacob Gray and wife and family, Sister John Sanders, Sister Levi J. Wagner, Sandy and Don Wilson, and among the later early members were John S. Hammond and wife, Rachel and Minerva Ham- mond, Sister Peter Doyle, Elsbury Small, James Lyons and wife, Nathan Hull and wife, John Sanders, Levi J. Wagner and family, and William Padgett and wife. Their first and present frame church building was commenced in 1860, but not finished until after the civil war. It cost about $2,000; the land however on which it stands was donated to the society by Judge Richard- son. The building was dedicated to the worship of God by Bishop Marvin about the year 1866. The class has a membership now of about sixty, and with their new ministers are zealous in their labors for good.

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HISTORY OF SCOTLAND COUNTY.

The Southern Methodist Church, known as the Concord Church, a few miles south of Memphis, was organized at the close of the civil war, and among its first members were William Mills, Patton McDaniel, Asbury McDaniel, Daniel Jackson, William Moffit and their wives. Their church edifice, a frame building, costing about $1,200, was completed conjointly with a society of Cumberland Presbyterians, about the year 1874. It was dedicated by Rev. Foster. This society has about fifty members at present writing. The Oak Chapel, Southern Meth- odist Episcopal Church, located about ten miles southwest of Memphis, was organized about 1867, with George and William Forrester and their wives, Thomas Donaldson and wife, Brothers McNeece and Kennison and their wives and Jud. Collins and his wife as original members. Their church edifice, consisting of a frame building costing about $1,000, was erected about the year 1867. This class has about forty members. Union Methodist Episcopal Church South, located seven miles southeast of Memphis, was organized with Eli Wise and wife, Basil and Will- iam Shriver and their wives and Asa Shanes and wife among its original members. Their present frame church, costing $1,000, was erected in 1883. The membership of this class is about thirty. This society, however, owns only a one-third interest in the Union Church, the balance being owned by other denominations.

There is also a class of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, consisting of about thirty members, at Conyer's school- house, four miles northeast of Memphis. It was organized about the year 1870, and among its first members were Caleb Hill and John Walker and their wives, Brothers Mason and Conyer and their wives and others. These constitute all the classes of the Methodist Episcopal Church South in Scotland County, and all belong to the Memphis Circuit. The ministers that have labored on this circuit, so far as their names could be obtained are Revs. Mason, Thomas Clanton, John Shores, W. McMurray, Sexton, Balden, William Jordan, Thomas Penn, William Caples, Collett, Carlysle, James Smith, William Jackson, Faulkner, Jacob Snarr, Owen, H. H. Craig, Jacob McEwen, William Beagle, M. G. Gregory and the present new pastor, C. M. Broadhurst. The first five served before the civil war and the balance since.

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

The Presbyterian Church at Memphis was organized in 1844 by Rev. Anderson, father of Judge John C. Anderson, of Canton. Dr. Charles Martin, Abraham Patterson, A. H. Walker and Charles S. Martin were the first elders. These and Mrs. Jane C. Patterson, Mrs. Charles S. Martin, Mrs. Dr. Charles Martin, Mrs. Cornelia Richardson and one other person (name not ob- tained) constituted the original members. The first Presbyte- rian Church edifice in Memphis, being a frame building, was erected in 1853-54. The present handsome and commodious brick edifice was erected in 1871, at a cost of $5,000. It was dedicated in 1872 by Dr. J. H. Brooks, of St. Louis. The pastors of this church have been H. P. S. Willis, Van Eurmon, William Hersman, M. G. Gorin and Dr. O. W. Gauss. The present pastor is Rev. C. L. Hogue, and the present membership is 174. A Presbyterian Church was organized at Etna, in Scot- land County, in January, 1856, by Rev. H. P. S. Willis, and among the first members were Dr. S. Linn and R. P. Orr and their wives. A church edifice was then built, and it was dedi- cated in 1858 by the said Rev. Willis, who continued to be its pastor until some time during the civil war. He was followed by Rev. William H. Hicks, who served until some time after the war closed. In 1880 the membership of this church, with some exceptions, was moved to Granger, where a union church was erected, and dedicated to service, on the part of the Presbyte- rian denomination, on the 18th of July of that year, by Rev. M. G. Gorin. The membership of this church at present consists of sixty persons. This and the church at Memphis are the only Presbyterian Churches in Scotland County.

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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 49

Author: Goodspeed, firm, publishers, Chicago (1886-1891, Goodspeed Publishing Co.) Publication date: 1887 Publisher: St. Louis, Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co. Number of Pages: 1308

Author: Goodspeed, firm, publishers, Chicago (1886-1891, Goodspeed Publishing Co.)
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: St. Louis, Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1308