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 57
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 57
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 57
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 57
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SLAVERY DAYS.
As this volume will be read by many in future years who will have no personal knowledge of what the institution of slavery was, when it existed in the United States, a brief account of that institution as it existed in Northeast Missouri may not be inap- propriate nor void of interest.
Slavery in this section was transplanted from Maryland, Ken- tucky and other older slave States. Many of the families who helped to settle the country came from those States, and, owning slaves, of course brought them along to the new country. Nearly
629
STATE OF MISSOURI.
all that were ever here came with their masters or were natives. Few were ever brought and sold on speculation, as there was no profit in bringing them here for sale. Farther south was the great mart of the negro traders. The natural increase of the negroes was rapid, the condition and practice of the system of slavery being favorable to such a result. Many slave girls be- came mothers at fourteen.
The masters worked their slaves for profit. Slavery to them was not only social power and supremacy, but their greatest source of wealth. Their slaves were provided with comfortable cabins, coarse, strong clothing, a sufficiency of healthful food, and medical attendance when they were sick. The self-interest of the master prompted this, if his humanity did not. It was rarely that a master overworked or underfed his slaves, or treated them with extreme harshness and cruelty.
Slaves were property, and rated a part of a man's personal estate, as his horses were. To be sure they were regarded as something more than brood-mares and stallions, though their value, in a certain sense, was the same-proportionate to their increase. This could not be avoided; the owner of land had a right to its annual profits, the owner of orchards to their fruits, and under the law the owner of female slaves was entitled to their children.
Though no attention was given to their education, their re- ligious instruction was not neglected. They were encouraged to hold religious services, and to conduct revivals and prayer meet- ings. The Pauline precept, "Servants, obey your masters," was frequently cited to them as one of the important teachings and commands of the Bible.
The domestic relations of the slaves were regulated with more regard to convenience than to what is considered propriety in these days. Marriages between them were not made matters of record. Quite frequently no ceremony was said at all, the parties simply "took up." Sometimes the husband belonged to one master, and the wife to another; in such cases the hus- band was allowed to visit his wife at stated periods. But in most cases the family relation was observed, or at least imitated; the husband and wife occupied one cabin, where they brought
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630
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
up children, and lived after the fashion of to-day. They not only were not compelled to provide for themselves, but the master was also responsible for the care of their children.
The husband was usually satisfied with one wife at a time. There was not that laxity of morals in the connubial relations so prevalent in the far South. There were numbers of mulatto children, and quadroons and octoroons, as there are to-day, because there were degraded and libidinous men then as there are now. Usually the fathers of mulatto children were depraved and disreputable white men, who were not owners of slaves. The Northern Abolitionists exaggerated and magnified the exist- ence of evils of this sort.
It was quite common for slave owners to hire out their slaves to those who needed them and did not own them. It was made an indictable offense for a master to permit a slave to hire his own time, and it was also an offense for any one to deal with them, unless they had a permit. The masters required kind treatment at the hands of those who hired them, though, in some instances, they were much abused, and the more independent spirits among them would run off, and go back to their masters for protection. And few were the masters who would not rather keep them at home in comparative idleness than hire them out to those who would ill-use them. Women were hired out as well as men. The hire of a good man was about $250 a year, together with his food, and certain specified articles of clothing. In case of sickness his owner usually took care of him, and paid the doctor's bills.
While there was frequently a harsh master, instances of downright abuse of the slaves in this section were rare. There were cruel masters, as there were cruel husbands and fathers, and as there are cruel men to-day, but they were rather the exception than the rule. It was necessary that there should be discipline, but this was enforced as mildly as was consistent with safety. There were restive spirits among the slaves with ideas of freedom, whose movements required continual surveillance. After the Southampton insurrection and the fearful murders of Nat. Turner and his followers in 1831, "risings" and insurrections were feared wherever there were considerable communities of slaves.
631
STATE OF MISSOURI.
Eternal vigilance was the price of slavery. To prevent trouble as far as possible the office of patrol was established. In Lewis County, where the slaves were most numerous, the county court appointed patrols for every municipal township, whose duty it was to keep a close watch upon the movements of the negroes. They made their rounds at unexpected times and suddenly. No negro was allowed off the farm where he belonged after 9 o'clock at night, without a written permit from his master or employer.
Free negroes were objects of suspicion, and could have a resi- dence here only by special license. The following order of the county court of Knox County, issued May 6, 1847, shows the restrictions under which free persons of color, desiring to live in the State, were placed: -
Now, at this day, comes Clarissa, a woman of color, and makes application to the court for a license to reside within this State, and having satisfied the court that she was emancipated in the State of Kentucky, Mercer County, by last will and testament of John Meax, deceased, that she was married to a slave belonging to Robert Davis, late of Kentucky, and now a resident of Knox County, Mo .; that she is about five feet, two inches high, twenty-eight years of age in August last; a scar in her forhead, a scar on back of the right hand and across the knuckles, and having filed her bond herein for $500 signed by her- self as principal and Robert Davis as security which bond is conditioned accord- ing to law and approved by the court, therefore it is ordered by the court that said Clarissa be granted a license to reside within this State so long as she is of good behavior and no longer.
As a result of such strict requirements, free negroes were not numerous; the slaves were happier and really enjoyed more lib- erty than those of their own race who were nominally free. In May, 1850, the slaves of William B. Rule sued for their freedom in the circuit court of Knox County; there was one negro woman named Harriet, and her children, Irwin, Rhoda and Sam. At the same term of court a negro man named Richard sued John Stephens for his freedom. Both cases were dismissed, and there is no account of the plaintiffs again attempting to secure freedom.
The only account of the manumission of a slave in Knox County, is that of Abraham Smith, a negro man, whose freedom was given him by his masters, John H. and Stephen D. Fresh, in May, 1856.
632
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
The negroes had their happy times, and on the whole, it is but the truth that their average physical condition was as good as it is to-day. They were sure of a certain amount of food and clothing, whether they worked or not, while at the present day, having but partially emerged from the extreme ignorance per- taining to their former servile condition, and owing to their nat- ural inertness and indisposition to exertion, many of them barely support themselves above actual want. They had their huskings, their dances, their frolics, and their assemblages of various sorts. In their simple ignorance they were made happy as easy as chil- dren, and their attachment to members of their master's family was sometimes equal to their love for their own offspring. There was much merriment at the corn huskings. It became a custom to take up the master and bear him on the shoulders of the huskers, at the head of a procession which marched around the premises singing songs improvised at the time, and so called " corn songs."
Attempts to liberate the slaves by abolitionists were frequent, and numerous cases had been noted in other places. In 1852 William D. Chaney was brought to the bar of the circuit court in Knox County on a charge of attempting, the previous year, to release a slave named John, belonging to Elizabeth Nelson. of Lewis County, from the jail at Monticello, where "the said slave had been confined for safe keeping." The indictment was found in Lewis County, and alleged that Chaney had attempted to "decoy and set at liberty " the said slave, and to convey him to a free State. The case was brought from Lewis on a change of venue, but was dismissed without trial.
In 1860 the population of the four so-called "corner" counties forming a portion of the section of county familiarly known as Northeast Missouri was as follows:
Clark County-Whites, 11,216; slaves, 455; free colored, 13; total, 11,684. Knox-Whites, 8,436; slaves, 284; free colored, 7; total, 8,727. Lewis-Whites, 5,887; slaves, 1,279; free colored, 24; total, 7,190. Scotland-Whites, 8,742; slaves, 131; total, 8,873.
Slavery received its death blow when the war began. Even before they were declared free, many slaves ran away from their masters.
633
STATE OF MISSOURI.
In 1865, whereby the convention ordinance and the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment slavery was destroyed in Missouri, * the majority of those that had remained with their masters dur- ing the war commenced life on their own account. Most of them assembled in the towns, preferring village to rural life. Others left the State, many going to Illinois, where were plenty of anti-slavery people, from whom they expected much substantial sympathy and assistance, which but few of them received, however. Numbers believed that not only were they to receive . their freedom, but that in some way the Goverment was to com- pensate them for their term of servitude.
For several years following the close of the war there was bitterness in the minds of some of those who had been deprived of their slave property; but in time this feeling passed away, the situation was accepted, and now there is but the merest handful of persons who would re-establish slavery if they had the power ..
ELECTIONS SINCE 1850.
At the presidential election, 1852, the Democrats carried the county for Pierce and King, over Scott and Graham, the Whig candidates, by a small majority. The vote resulted: Pierce and King. 255; Scott and Graham, 210. This was the last year that the Whig party put forth a presidential ticket.
AUGUST ELECTION, 1854.
For Congress, James J. Lindley, the Whig candidate, received 410 votes; A. W. Forney, Democrat, received 241. Medley Shelton was elected representative; Michael Hickman, sheriff; James C. Agnew, Harvey H. Beach and Henry Callaway, county justices; Samuel Hudson, assessor; P. B. Linville, treasurer ; and Robert R. Vanlandingham, surveyor.
THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1856.
A most intensely exciting political contest was that of this year, especially in Missouri. It was not only a presidential year, but a gubernatorial year, and besides there were congressmen and
* Slavery in Missouri was abolished by an ordinance passed by the State Constitutional Con- vention which met in St. Louis January 6, 1865. The ordinance was adopted January 11, by a vote of sixty to four-two members of the Convention being absent. The ratification of the. Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was made.
40
634
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
county officers to elect. Only two presidential tickets were voted here-the Democratic, headed by James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge, and the Native American, or "Know-nothing," headed by Millard Fillmore, of New York, and Andrew Jackson Donelson, of Tennessee. For governor there were three candi- dates. Trusten Polk was the regular Democratic nominee, with Hancock Jackson for lieutenant-governor; Thomas H. Benton was an independent Democratic candidate, with J. W. Kelley, of Holt County, for lieutenant-governor; the American candidate was Robert C. Ewing, of La Fayette, with William Newland, of Ralls, for lieutenant-governor. Col. Benton was making his last fight for political existence, and bravely he fought. He made a canvass of the State, visiting many of the principal cities and towns.
Benton had hosts of strong friends in this State, some of whom even yet cherish his memory with great fondness. Men name their boys for him, hang his portrait in their parlors, and delight to do honor to his memory. When he died, in April, 1858, there was general sorrow among them, although had he lived longer he doubtless would have become a Republican, as many a one of his henchmen became, and this would have diverted a large proportion of his friends who admired him to the last.
For Congress there were but two candidates in this district: Hon. James J. Lindley, Whig, Know-nothing, etc., and Hon. James S. Green, regular Democrat, of Lewis County. This Con- gressional district, then the Third, was composed of the counties of Adair, Carroll, Chariton, Howard, Clark, Grundy, Knox, Lewis, Linn, Livingston, Mercer, Macon, Putnam, Randolph, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby and Sullivan. The following is the result in this county of the August election, 1856:
Governor-Trusten Polk (Democrat), 347; Robert C. Ewing (American),395; Thomas H. Benton (Independent Democrat), 68.
Lieutenant-Governor-Hancock Jackson (Democrat), 350; William Newland (American), 371; John W. Kelley, (Independent Democrat), 35.
Congressman-James S. Green (Democrat), 399; James J. Lindley (Whig), 417.
State Senator-John W. Miner (Democrat), 375; John B. Dodson ( Whig), 399.
635
STATE OF MISSOURI.
Representative-Chauncy Durkee (Democrat), 341; E. V. Wilson (Whig), 460.
Sheriff-Michael Hickman (Democrat), 518; Isaac C. With- ers (Independent), 39.
Treasurer-Peter Earley (Democrat), 283; John Fox ( Whig), 463.
Assessor-Ira J. Bozarth, 387; Larkin Miller, 357.
The vote in the entire district for Green was 10,525; for Lind- ley, 8,589.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 1856-THE " KNOW-NOTHINGS."
One of the most exciting presidential campaigns ever known to Knox County was that of 1856. The contest was between Buchanan and Breckinridge, the Democratic candidates, and Fillmore and Donelson, the nominees of the Native American or "Know-nothing " party. Several meetings were held, and a full vote was polled.
The Native American or "Know-nothing " party deserves particular mention, as it once was a political organization very formidable in its character, and largely in the majority in this district, though not in this county. It was formed some time in the decade of 1830, but did not become strong or very prominent until the dissolution of the Whig party, in 1853. In 1856 lodges were numerous. The party was a strange one, as it was a secret political order whose members were oath-bound, and which had its lodges, its signs, grips and pass-words, and worked secretly to accomplish its openly professed objects. It was composed chiefly of old Whigs, although there were some ex-Democrats in its ranks. The corner-stone of its platform was the principle that " Americans must rule America;" in other words that none but native born citizens of the United States, and non-Catholics, ought to hold office, and it also favored a radical change in the naturalization laws. It is said that the hailing salutation of the order was, "Have you seen Sam?" If answered by the inquiry, "Sam who ?" or " What Sam ?" the rejoiner was, " Uncle Sam." So popular did the party become that its " boom " carried many counties and districts in the Union.
In 1856 the following was the platform of the Missouri Know- nothings relating to National issues:
636
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
1. That we regard the maintenance of the Union of the United States as the paramount political good.
2. A full recognition of the rights of the several States, as expressed and reserved in the Constitution, and a careful avoidance by the General Govern -. ment of all interference with their rights by Legislative or Executive action.
3. Obedience to the Constitution of these United States, as the supreme. law of the land, sacredly obligatory in all its parts and members; a strict con- struction thereof, and steadfast resistance to the spirit of innovation of its prin- ciples; avowing that in all doubtful or disputed points it may only be legally ascertained and expounded by the judicial powers of the United States.
4. That no person should be selected for political station, whether native or foreign born, who recognizes any allegiance or obligation to any foreign prince, potentate or power, or who refuses to recognize the Federal or State Constitu- tions (each within its sphere) as paramount to all other laws or rules of politi- cal action.
5. Americans must rule America; and to this end native born citizens should be selected for all State and Federal offices, in preference to naturalized citizens.
6. A change in the laws of naturalization, making a continued residence of twenty-one years an indispensible requisite for citizenship, and excluding all paupers and persons convicted of crime from landing on our shores, but no interference with the vested rights of foreigners.
7 Persons that are born of American parents, residing temporarily abroad, are entitled to all the rights of native born citizens.
8. An enforcement of the principle that no State or Territory can admit others than native born citizens to the rights of suffrage, or of holding political office, unless such persons have been naturalized according to the laws of the- United States.
9. That Congress possesses no power under the Constitution to legislate. upon the subject of slavery in the States where it does or may exist, or to exclude any State from admission into the Union because its constitution does or does. not recognize the institution of slavery as a part of its social system, and (ex- pressly pretermitting any expression of opinion upon the power of Congress to establish or prohibit slavery in any Territory) it is the sense of this meeting that Congress ought not to legislate upon the subject of slavery within the territories of the United States; and that any interference by Congress with slavery as it exists in the District of Columbia, would be a violation of the spirit and intention of the compact by which the State of Maryland ceded the District to the United States, and a breach of the national faith.
10. That we will abide by and maintain the existing laws on the subject of slavery as a final and conclusive settlement of the subject in spirit and in sub- stance, believing this course to be the best guarantee of future peace and frater- nal amity.
That the "Know-nothings" in Knox County had attained considerable strength and importance is 1856 will be shown by- the following vote:
€
637
STATE OF MISSOURI.
DEMOCRAT. KNOW-NOTHING. Buchanan. Fillmore.
TOWNSHIPS.
Center, No. 1.
89
59
Center, No.2.
185
71
Fabius.
42
154
Salt River.
97
62
Benton, No. 1.
13
30
Benton, No. 2.
45
15
Total.
471
391
In 1857, at a special election for governor in the room of Trusten Polk, who had been chosen United States senator, the vote in this county was, for Robert M. Stewart, Democrat, 408; James S. Rollins, Whig, 303. For Congress, John B. Clark, Democrat, 418; Joseph M. Collins. 268.
AUGUST ELECTION, 1858.
Congress-John B. Clark (Democrat), 761; David Wagner, 10.
State Senator-William S. Fox (Democrat), 758.
Representative-James W. Baker (Democrat), 607; Michael Hickman, 513.
Sheriff-Collen M. Campbell (Democrat), 599; John W. Thomas, 492.
County Judges-William M. Beal, 648; Henry T. Howerton, 619; John Ross, 624; H. H. Beach, 569; William L. Gray, 449; George W. Fulton, 438.
Treasurer-A. G. Robertson, 619; W. G. Bryant, 484.
1859.
In 1859 the Democrats became involved in a political family quarrel over the election of county and circuit clerk. There was an open revolt against the regularly nominated candidates, headed by Warner Pratt for circuit and county clerk. Two tick- ets were nominated, and there was a heated canvass. Each of the two factions had a newspaper. The anti-Pratt party started the Edina Eagle, while the Democrat was the organ of the Regu- lars. The Whigs were not slow to take advantage of the situa- tion, and by uniting in the support of Dr. Samuel M. Wirt for circuit clerk, and of James C. Agnew for clerk of the county court, triumphantly elected them. The vote resulted:
638
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
Circuit Clerk-S. M. Wirt, 622; Warner Pratt, 564; Joseph H. Cell, 217.
County Clerk-James C. Agnew, 575; Warner Pratt, 504; William Fox, 342.
In December, at a special election held to choose a repre- sentative in place of Hon. James W. Baker, who had died in office, John Stephens was chosen.
THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860.
In very many respects the presidential campaign of 1860 was. the most remarkable, not only in the history of Knox County, but of the United States. Its character was affected not only by preceding, but by succeeding, events. Among the former were the excited and exciting debates in Congress over the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the Kansas-Nebraska controversy; the passage by the Legislatures of various Northern States of the "personal liberty bills," which rendered inoperative in those States, the fugitive slave law, the John Brown raid on Harper's Ferry, Va., in the fall of 1859, and various inflammatory speeches of prominent leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties in the North and in the South.
There was the greatest excitement throughout the country, and when it was in full tide the presidential canvass opened. The slavery question was the all-absorbing one among the peo- ple. The Republican party, while it had not received a single vote in Knox County, had carried a large majority of the North- ern States in the canvass of 1856, and every year since had re -- ceived large accessions to its ranks, and under the circumstances, there being great dissensions in the Democratic party prognos- ticating a split, bade fair to elect its candidates. The Democratic Convention at Charleston, S. C., April 23, after a stormy and in- harmonious session of some days, divided, and the result was the nomination of two sets of candidates -- Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson for President and Vice-President by the Regulars, and John C. Breckinridge and Joseph Lane, by the Southern or States' rights wing of the party.
The "Constitutional Union" party, made up of old Whigs, Know-nothings, and some conservative men of old parties, nom-
·
639
STATE OF MISSOURI.
inated John Bell, of Tennessee, and Edward Everett, of Massa- chusetts, on a platform composed of a single line-"The Union, the Constitution and the enforcement of the laws."
The Republican party was the last to bring out its candi- dates. It presented Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin, on a platform, declaring among other things, that each State had the absolute right to control and manage its own domestic insti- tutions, denying that the constitution of its own force carried slavery into the territories, whose normal condition was said to be that of freedom. Epitomized, the platform meant hostility toward the extension of slavery, non-interference where it really existed.
It was to be expected that Missouri should be deeply con- cerned in the settlement of the slavery question. Her people or their ancestors were very largely from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and other slave holding States, and many of them owned slaves or were otherwise interested in the preservation of slavery, to which institution the success of the Republican party, it was believed, would be destructive. There were some of this class in Knox County. There was not only a selfish motive for the friend- liness toward the "peculiar institution," but a sentimental one. It was thought that it would be unmanly to yield to Northern sentiment of a threatening shape or coercive character. If slav- ery was wrong (which was denied), it must not be assailed at the dictations of Northern abolitionists.
The canvass in the State was very spirited. The division in the Democratic party extended into Missouri. The Democratic State Convention nominated Claiborne F. Jackson, of Saline County, for governor. The Bell and Everett party nominated at first Robert Wilson, of Andrew, and on his withdrawal, Hon. Sample Orr, of Greene County. Judge Orr was selected in the room of Mr. Wilson, by the central committee. Very soon the
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