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 66
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 66
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 66
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 66
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The road is now (November, 1887) well nigh completed through the county. The construction of the entire division has been pushed with almost unparalleled rapidity. Through this county it has been builtover stupendous grades, vast " cuts " and difficult streams, between the period when the frost went out of the ground until it came in again. A station called Baring has been laid out, six miles northwest of Edina, and a construction train reached this point November 18. When these lines are read in print, the track of the new road will have been laid through the entire county, and in one year from the date when the first dirt was thrown in this county trains will run over the Atchison through from the city on the Missouri in the West, to the great metropolis on the Lake in the Northwest.
BANKS.
Knox County Savings Bank, Edina, was organized October 22, 1872, but did not begin business till January following. Its original capital stock was $100,000, 10 per cent of which was paid in. During the panic of 1873, which involved so many business houses throughout the country in destruction, the Knox County Savings Bank never closed its doors. Willis Anderson, H. R. Parsons, Ed. J. Brown, Lewis Wright, C. M. Camp- bell, Samuel Murphy, William J. Slaughter, Arnold Davidson and Ed. M. Randolph were the first board of directors. The present officers are Willis Anderson, president; Ed. J. Brown, vice-president; H. R. Parsons, cashier ; and L. H. Parsons, assist- ant cashier.
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
Bank of Edina .- This bank was established August 1, 1876, with a capital stock of $50,000; the amount paid in was $10,000, 20 per cent of the original stock. The first officers were P. B. Linville, president: E. V. Wilson, vice-president; J. Q. Adams, cashier, and Benjamin Bowen, secretary. Additional members of the board of directors were F. M. Gifford and R. M. Biggerstaff. The present officers are Philip B. Linville, presi- dent; R. M. Biggerstaff, vice-president; James E. Adams, cash- ier, and Fred J. Wilson, secretary.
INDUSTRIES.
Edina Roller Mills .- The Roller Mill Company of Edina was organized in 1883, and incorporated the following year. The mill was erected in 1884, and put in operation in the fall of the same year, but the venture was not successful, and, in 1886, a change was made, the number of members in the com- pany diminished, and a new charter obtained. The incorpora- tors under the new charter were Ed. J. Brown, T. P. Cook, R. M. Ringer, F. M. Gifford, Shumate & Burk and T. C. Baker, with Ed. J. Brown as president. The present officers are T. P. Cook, president; T. C. Baker, secretary, and William Bowen, superin- tendent. The mill is a three-story brick, with a basement. It has nine pairs of rolls and a capacity of seventy-five barrels of flour per day. Since the re-incorporation it has been in con- tinuous operation, and employs from six to eight men. The best grades of flour are made, and it is the only flouring mill of importance in the county.
The Edina Creamery Company was organized and duly in- corporated in September, 1883. A firm from Osceola, Iowa, un- der the name and style of Holt & Hall, were the founders. Mr. George C. Holt traveled extensively through Missouri that year, engaged in establishing creameries, and came to Edina in the latter part of August. The incorporators were John E. Walker, Randolph & Cottey, T. C. Baker, Henry Werner, F. M. Gifford and Holt & Hall. The capital stock was $6,500. The creamery building was completed in the fall of 1883. The present owners are J. E. Walker and William Haselwood; the former was the first manager. Mr. J. H. Hill has been the chief butter maker
1
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
from the first. The present secretary and bookkeeper is Miss
Dora Wright. Since its establishment the Edina Creamery has produced about 200,000 pounds of first-class butter, all of which . has found a ready market.
The Novelty Creamery, at Novelty, was established in 1884, by an association of forty farmers. The present managers and conductors are Hunter Bros. The institution does a fairly good business, but with its facilities its productions are not ex- tensive.
TOWNS.
'Newark .- The oldest town in Knox County is Newark, which was laid off in the month of June, 1836. The deed donating the streets and alleys to the public was signed by the original proprietors, who were Sidney P. Haines (and his wife, Diade- ma), William Blakey (and his wife, Mary L.), and Thomas L. Anderson (and his wife, Russella), June 8, 1836, and acknowl- edged before Stanton Buckner, clerk of the Marion circuit court. The proprietors were all residents of Palmyra. Haines was a capitalist and speculator; Blakey was a Democratic politician and receiver of the land office, and Anderson was the well- known lawyer and statesman. The founding of the town was simply a business venture or speculation.
The site was entered by Sidney P. Haines, April 7, 1836 (east half of the southeast quarter of Section 14), and by John Watts (east half of the northeast quarter of Section 23), No- vember 26, 1835, and the original plat comprised a part of the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 14, Town 60, Range 10, and twenty acres off of the north end of the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 23, Town 60, Range 10, "in the county of Lewis," to which the territory then belonged. The proprietors claimed for their town that it possessed several points of attraction. "Newark," said they, "is situated in Lewis County, Missouri, in Township 60, Range 10, in an unusually beautiful and most fertile country, near a constant stream, afford- ing superior water power for machinery of all kinds." The country in that quarter had been fairly well settled, and there was no trading point worthy of note nearer than Palmyra. It was believed that quite a little trade center could be built up
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
here, and, unreasonable as the suggestion may now seem, there was some hope that it would eventually become a county seat.
But the founders were not able to realize all of their antici- pations. The village grew to be a respectable trading point, but the " constant stream " proved to be inconstant after all. The South Fabius failed to furnish sufficient water power to drive the machinery of Fresh's mill, near by, and no manufacturing estab- lishments of importance could be operated profitably, and so none were built.
R. H. Cochran & Co., had a store in Newark as early as in August, 1837, for at that date an election was held there, and Mr. Cochran was one of the voters. The same year D. B. Hughes conducted a "tavern stand," and his house was the voting place for Allen Township in November, and also in the spring of 1838.
In August, 1845, B. F. Snyder kept a grocery in Newark, and the village had perhaps 200 inhabitants. In April, 1851, James C. Agnew and others secured a lease from the county court for a lot on the public square on which to build a church. A year or two prior to the war the Newark Fair Association was organized, and successful exhibitions were held. The marshal of the grounds was Joe C. Porter, afterward the renowned Confederate raider and partisan chieftain. It is said that Porter made a most excellent marshal; he maintained good order on the grounds, and his powerful voice, as he made certain announcements, could be heard distinctly for half a mile. The Newark fairs have been very popular, and generally successful until within the past few years. In 1872 the county court gave the association $100, and the same amount the following year, under the law for the encouragement of agricultural societies.
The war left Newark much the worse for it. The village had been raided and robbed, a battle had been fought in its streets, and many of its citizens had been swallowed up in the conflict. Yet the people took courage, and in a short time, comparatively, the place wore its old-time aspect, and was even improved. In 1870 the citizens were led to expect that it would become a point on the Q., M. & P. Railroad, but those having that enterprise in charge kept the word of promise to the ear, but broke it to the
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
hopes, and the road went elsewhere, leaving Newark isolated and in the cold. Its present population is about 300.
Newark was incorporated by the county court August 6, 1872 .* The first board of trustees was composed of George G. Morris, B. F. Snyder, Zee Lear, A. A. Towson and David Ringer. In former times the name of the town was often written "New Ark," but both in the original plat and in the order of incorporation it is spelled Newark.
Edina .- The town of Edina was laid out by William J. Small- wood in November, 1839. The declaration of intent was made before J. H. Blair, clerk of the Lewis County court, on the 18th of the month. The land (west half of the southwest quarter of Section 18, Town 62, Range 11, ) had been entered by Mr.Smallwood the previous September. The survey was made by Hon. Stephen W. B. Carnegy, then of Palmyra, and now a resident of Canton, full of years and honors. Mr. Carnegy named the town. He is of Scotch ancestry, with a full measure of admiration for the land of his forefathers. He had surveyed a town in Scotland County, which he had called Edinburg, and was allowed to name Mr. Smallwood's town, which he called Edina, the classic title of Edinburg, and thus, practically, he named both towns Edinburg. " Jack " Smallwood was a man of good judgment and pene- tration. He realized that in due time a new county would be laid off in this quarter, and he knew, too, the boundaries thereof would be substantially as they were afterward fixed. If, therefore, a town were to be laid off at or very near the center of the pro- jected new county, it would in all probability become the county seat. This was the moving consideration inducing him to have the place surveyed and platted, and the result showed that his judgment was correct. The new county was laid off, and Edina became the county seat.
Mr. Smallwood advertised his town abroad, and made consid- erable effort to attract lot buyers, and citizens. In the old Pal- myra Whig, of the spring of 1840, he said:
Edina is located on a high and commanding situation-very healthy and salubrious. The Fabius river is near by, and good water can be had by digging.
*The numbers of the land constituting the incorporation were declared to be the east half and the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 14, and the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 23, and ten acres off of the northeast corner of the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 23. The corporate limits were further declared to extend "one-eighth of a mile east of the land described."
734
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
It is destined to be the County Seat of a new county, which will be organized soon, perhaps by the next General Assembly. It is in a fine country, which is fast settling up, and in a few years the land will all be taken and occupied. There will also be a steam Railroad from La Grange to Edina before many years. Lots can now be purchased very cheap by calling on or addressing the undersigned, or S. W. B. Carnegy, at Palmyra. N. B .- Persons wishing to buy on time will be accommodated by paying a part down and giving note. good Blacksmith and Plow maker can do well here.
The first store of any kind in the place was established by James A. Reid in 1840. It was a small log building on the northeast corner of the public square (Lot 1, Block 13, ), and was occupied by Mr. Reid as a dwelling, and afterward, when addi- tions had been made to it, was converted into a hotel. In time it was moved back, and the site covered with the present valuable two-story brick. Mr. Reid's stock in trade was small, consisting of a wagon load of merchandise of all kinds: some coffee, sugar, and salt, a few spices, and other grocery articles, half a dozen bolts of calico, "domestic," and a small assortment of notions, some powder and lead, a little hardware and cutlery, and a barrel of whisky.
In the year 1842 a postoffice was established at Edina, with James A. Reid as postmaster. The mail came once a week from Palmyra, by way of Newark, and James Adams was the carrier. The compensation of the postmaster the first year was $1 a month, and it is hardly probable that the receipts of the office paid the salary. There were few citizens living in the place, and the patrons, although from a wide radius of country, were not numerous.
The first store worthy of the name was not put in operation until in 1844, when Patrick Cooney sent P. B. Linville in charge of a considerable stock of goods all the way from Perry County, Ohio, to Edina. Mr. Linville first opened the goods in a build- ing which stood on the southwest corner of the northwest corner of the public square, on the site of the present large mercantile establishment of T. J. Lycan & Sons. Here he sold goods for about two years. In 1846 John H. Talbot, the well known merchant and business man of La Grange, Lewis County, sent a large stock of goods here, which was also placed in charge of Mr. Linville, whose acquaintance with and experience in the country made him a most valuable agent. He at first opened near the
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
Lycan block, but in a short time he built, from lumber obtained on the Chariton, a frame house on the west side of Main Street, . opposite the schoolhouse, in the original town. In a year or two Mr. Linville was given a partnership, and the firm became Talbot & Linville.
In 1845 Edina was made the county seat of the new county of Knox, and the town experienced something of a boom. Lots were sold in the county addition, as well as in the original plat, and a number of families came in, and a score or more houses went up. Up to 1851, however, the town was little more than a small, straggling village of not more than 300 inhabitants.
The reputation of the place for sobriety was not the best. It was never without a dramshop, and generally there were two or three. Horace Woodbridge had one in 1845; John Moss another in 1846; John Kiggins, William C. Kiggins, W. G. Bryant and Washington Minter were dramshop keepers in 1847-48. But in December, 1851, there was a remonstrance presented to the county court against granting any more licenses for the sale of intoxicants in Edina. This remonstrance was signed by seventy-eight tax payers, and so far as has been learned this was the first "temperance movement " in Knox County.
At the outbreak of the war Edina had a population of 800. The large brick on the southeast corner of the southwest corner of the square was up, as were some other brick buildings, on the west side. There was a newspaper, a church or two, a school- house, some good stores, the inevitable saloons and " groceries," shops, etc. The war did not hurt the town very seriously, or do it any good. Each side had its turn of occupancy, but no houses were burned, and but little property destroyed.
After the war, there was no substantial improvement until the building of the Q., M. & P. Railroad in 1871. Then the town began to grow, and in a few years had assumed substantially its present proportions. Its progress has not been rapid, but rather substantial. Its business interests are prospering, it is quiet and orderly, and the residence of an intelligent and moral com- munity.
Edina was first incorporated by the county court December 18, 1851. The first board of trustees was composed of David
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
Debord, Aaron Vannarman, Samuel M. Wirt, Charles G. Shoot and Washington Minter.
The several additions to the town were made in their order as follows:
The county addition, sometimes called the county donation, was really made in 1845, but was not recorded until in February, 1848. The tract, west half of the west half of the northwest quar- ter of Section 19, was entered by William R. Pye, in January, 1843. The land was donated to the county by Mr. Smallwood, in consideration of the location of the county seat.
Moss & Baker's addition was surveyed by James March, county surveyor, April 16, 1858.
Linville, Wilson & Fulton's addition was made by P. B. Lin- ville, E. V. Wilson and George W. Fulton, October 28, 1869.
John Winterbottom's addition was made August 23, 1875; D. C. Smallwood, county surveyor.
Peter R. Kenrick's addition, sometimes called the Catholic addition, was made by Rev. Father John Fitzgerald, about the 1st of August, 1876.
James Campbell's addition was made June 14, 1881.
Ed. M. Randolph's addition was made in February, 1882.
Greensburg .- The site of the village of Greensburg, Section 2, Township 63, Range 12, was entered by Peter J. Sowers, a Marion County speculator, and others, in 1852. The village was laid out by Joseph Fetters, William Coy, John P. Finch and A. J. Reneker, in April, 1859. The survey was made by James March, county surveyor, April 18 and 19. Morrey & Forrester had a workshop here in 1858, and soon after a store was estab- lished and a postoffice. It has never risen much above its con- dition prior to the war.
Millport .- The village of Millport was originally called Mil- ford. The site, southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 14, Township 63, Range 11, was entered by George Wag- ner, in May, 1840, but previous to this date Stephen Cooper's mill had caused the locality to be known as Milford. Stephen Cooper and Redding Roberts were the first residents here. In 1846 Harvey H. Beach kept a licensed tavern at Milford, and there was a store, a blacksmith shop and the mill. The latter
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
institution was not in continuous operation, however, owing to the protracted seasons of low water in the Fabius. The village was laid out in July, 1858, and called Millport; James March, surveyor. The village now contains a population of 150.
Knox City .-- Traveling west on the Quincy, Missouri & Pa- cific Railroad, the first station within the limits of Knox County is the beautiful little village of Knox City. The elevation of its situation affords a magnificent view in every direction. Sur- rounding it are wide, level fields, dotted with farm-houses, and lined with hedges. Away in the north the woods that border Bridge Creek are visible, and near at hand the clean white town gives a pleasing effect to the landscape. The most prominent objects within the town are the public school building, the church and the residence of Mrs. Cottey. The houses are neat, with well kept surroundings, and the general appearance is thrifty and prosperous.
The origin of Knox City is of comparatively recent date. In September, 1872, the north half of the southeast quarter of Section 28, Township 62, Range 10, was surveyed and laid out as the town of "Knox," by Charles S. Wade and his wife, Melissa, and C. M. Pomroy. December 1, 1881, Nimrod Barnes made an ad- dition on the south half of the southeast quarter of the same sec- tion, thereby increasing the plat to one-quarter of a section, or 160 acres. A later addition was made January 10, 1882, by Frederick Layman.
Knox City was at first called "Myrtle," then "Knox," and finally it received its present name. At one time it had a news- paper, the present Knox County Independent, of Edina. Itis in- corporated and has a population of perhaps 500.
Locust Hill was laid out by Cornelius M. Coe, on his land (Section 6, Township 60, Range 12), in August, 1870, on the line of the contemplated Missouri & Mississippi Railroad. Charles Dubois, civil engineer, surveyed the town, which was confidently expected at the time to become an important railroad station on the completion of the railroad. In a year or two it had two dry goods and grocery stores, a drug store and a blacksmith shop.
Hurdland .- The site of the bright little village of Hurdland was entered in the names of Mary A. Ling, J. F. Biggerstaff and
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
George W. Beehymer, in 1854-55. It was generally classed as swamp land, and not considered of much value. The town was laid out in June, 1872, by John Hurd and Caleb M. Pomroy. The survey was made by Peter Smith, the engineer of the rail- road company.
Mr. Hurd (with his good wife Annie) was the owner of the land (northwest quarter of Section 25, Township 62, Range 13), and agreed with Pomroy, as agent of the railroad company, that he would donate one-half of the town site, 160 acres, to him, on condition that it should become a station; a depot and side tracks built, etc., and that no other railroad station should be es- tablished within eight miles. So, when Brashear was laid out, it was a violation of this agreement, and the railroad company deeded back to Mr. Hurd one-half of its interest, as a sort of compensation for its breach of contract. Soon afterward Mr. Samuel Surry bought eighty-seven lots of the railroad company, thus leaving it the owner of merely the right of way. The town was named for Mr. Hurd.
The first merchants were Isaac and John Fox, Samuel Clemi- son, and J. F. Biggerstaff in Samuel Surry's building. Mr. Surry was the first lumber merchant. By the efforts of Mr. Surry, Lewis Buhl, Ambrose Black, Abe Haner, Dr. Crawford and others, a union church building was erected for the use of all denomina- tions of Christians; and the Hurdland Academy was built and established in 1882. The latter institution was built under the supervision of Prof P. D. Holloway, and by him conducted as a private school until the destruction of the building by fire, in the latter part of the month of December, 1885.
Hurdland has passed through two pretty severe fires. The first, on April 16, burned four business houses, and the next, in the latter part of the summer of 1884, destroyed two. It has re- gained whatever was lost by these disasters, and is now a thriv- ing little village, with a good patronage from a large radius of country. The recent completion of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, within half a mile of the western limits of the town, will, doubtless, not affect its interests seriously, and may prove of considerable advantage to them in time, despite the efforts of certain parties to the contrary.
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
The enumeration of the school district for 1887 is 120. The public school has for its principal Mr. Frank G. Gibbons, an en- ergetic, efficient instructor, with two assistants: Miss Kate Hol- loway, and Miss Ella Cockrum.
Novelty .- The founder of the village of Novelty was Nars W. Hunter, who, in June, 1857, laid out the little town on Section 11, Township 60, Range 12. The land was entered by Cleng Pierson, in October, 1838. In April, 1860, he made an addition on Sec- tions 11 and 14. Mrs. Mary Hunter's addition was made in June, 1877. The place was long a well-known trading point, and during the war was raided as described elsewhere. At present it is a con- siderable village, with a good trade, an enterprising and intelli- gent class of citizens, an excellent school, churches, lodges, etc.
Forest Springs .- It is believed that the discoverer of the noted medicinal waters in the northeastern part of Knox County, now bearing the name of Forest Springs, was Dr. Polonzo Conditt, of Lewis County. In 1835 he visited the locality, tasted the water, and carved his name on a stone near the fountain. The land was entered by W. T. Norris in 1838. For many years the place was known simply as the Sulphur Springs, but in April, 1882, it was regularly laid out by Wm. Johnson, and an attempt made to give it the character of a health resort. No well regulated county in the West is without its "medical springs," with more or less of reputation for curative properties, and Knox County is not an exception. Its waters, too, are as good as the best, though its chief spring has failed to become the site of a large town.
Hedge City .- This little hamlet, in the southern part of the county, in the northwestern part of Bourbon Township, was regularly laid out by John Henry Kephart, in October, 1882, but the locality had borne the name for some time previous.
Colony .- The origin of the village of Colony is somewhat uncertain, but it was laid out many years ago, although perhaps never regularly platted. Some of the first settlers of the county lived in the neighborhood, and it is probable that the village had no definite origin.
Jeddo, an extinct village, which formerly stood on the coun- ty line, southeast quarter of Section 12, Town 61, Range 10, four miles southeast of Knox City, was regularly laid out prior to the Civil War. The site is now a field.
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
Goodland, eighteen miles southwest of Edina, Section 25, Town 60, Range 13, in Salt River Township, was formerly a place of some trade, but now has merely a local habitation and a name.
MUNICIPAL TOWNSHIPS OF KNOX COUNTY.
In February, 1840, while the present territory of Knox formed a part of Lewis County, the population here was sufficient to warrant the creation of a distinct municipal township, and, up- on the petition of a number of the inhabitants, one was formed. This township was called Central, and its boundary line began at the northeast corner of Township 62, Range 11, and ran thence west to Range 14; then south on the range line to Township 61; then east to Range 10, and then north to the beginning. The territory south belonged to Allen, and that north to Benton.
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