USA > Missouri > Lincoln County > History of Lincoln County, Missouri, from the earliest time to the present > Part 26
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TOWN 49 NORTH, RANGE 3 EAST.
Paul LaCroix, Survey 1756, 1,361.11 acres; Joseph Roy, Sur- vey 1653, 680.55 acres; Louis Roy, Survey 1651, 680.55 acres ; Baptiste Roy, Survey 1652, 680.55 acres; Francis Roy, Survey 1650, 680.55 acres.
TOWN 50 NORTH, RANGE 1 EAST.
James Rankin and Peter Primo, Survey 1681, 680.55 acres ; Charles Bissonette, Survey 1682, 680.55 acres ; Joseph Bissonette, Survey 1683, 680.55 acres; Paul Primo, Survey 1680, 680.55 acres; Gabriel Zenon Soulard and James Gaston Soulard, Sur- vey 1674, 1,361.11 acres.
TOWN 50 NORTH, RANGE 2 EAST.
Louis Labeaume and children, Survey 1824, 3,572.91 acres; Claibourne Rhodes, Survey 1642, 510.41 acres; George Spencer, Survey 1718, 510.41 acres; Antoine Smith, Survey 1732, 1,020.83 acres; William Ewing, Survey 425, 640.56 acres; James Burns, Survey 823, 510.41 acres; John Bassy and legal representatives, Survey 3269, 1,361.11 acres. In this township are parts of other surveys lying mostly in township 50, Range 3 east.
TOWN 50 NORTH, RANGE 3 EAST.
Louis Brazeau, Survey 1679, 680.56 acres; Joseph Brazeau, Survey 1678, 680.56 acres; Pierre Dumond, Survey 1693, 1,361.11 acres; Auguste Chouteau, Survey 1748, 680.56 acres ; Daniel Clark, Survey 1716, 680.56 acres; Louis Guitard, Survey 1718, 1,361.11 acres. All in this township and range lie on the Mississippi.
TOWN 51 NORTH, RANGE 1 EAST.
Mary Philip Le Duc, Survey 1683, 6,002.50 acres; Auguste Chouteau, Survey 1819, 3,402.78 acres; Aristides Auguste
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Chouteau. Survey 1743, 6,002.50 acres; Louis Lelille, Survey 3227. 2.126.73 acres. All these except the latter extend into other townships.
TOWN 51 NORTH, RANGE 2 EAST.
William Ramsey, Survey 3100, 636.42 acres; Joseph Brazeau, Survey 1737, 6002.50 acres; William McHugh, Sr., Survey 3010, 640 acres; Peter Chouteau, Survey 1706, 6,002.50 acres; Will- iam Palmer, Survey 1760, 850 acres; Didier Marehand, Survey 1820, 680.55 acres; M. P. Le Duc, Survey 1676, 680.55 acres.
TOWN 48 NORTH, RANGE 1 WEST.
In Township 48 north, Range 1 west, there are only three small grants, and in Range 2 west, none. In Township 49 north, Range 1 west, there are several small grants, and in Range 2 west, only one-No. 1751, containing 680.55 acres, confirmed to James Green, Jr. ; and in Range 3 west, none.
TOWN 50 NORTH, RANGE 1 WEST.
Pierre Chouteau, Survey 1745, 1,701.40 acres ; Paul Chouteau, Survey 1744, 1,701.40. In Ranges 2 and 3 west in this town- ship, none.
TOWN 51 NORTH, RANGE 1 WEST.
This congressional township is nearly all taken up with Spanish grants, which were confirmed to Mary P. Le Duc and other non-residents.
TOWN 51 NORTH, RANGE 2 WEST.
In this township, and extending into Pike and Montgomery Counties, lies Survey 3016, containing 8,506.94 acres. By decision of the supreme court, January term, 1836, it was con- firmed to Julie Soulard, widow of James G. Soulard, and other heirs of Antoine Soulard. Survey 1812 containing 1,361.11 acres was confirmed to Vienve Rigoche.
Many of the foregoing surveys extend into one or more town- ships, but the greater portion lie in the townships where men- tioned. Many of the early settlers purchased portions of these lands and settled thereon. All those who settled on the public
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
lands of the United States could not obtain titles until after the Government surveys were made, and a land office established for the sale of the lands. Meanwhile, the pioneer settlers exercised the right of pre-emption; that is, they selected their lands, set- tled thereon, improved the same, and waited to enjoy the prefer- ence which the law gave them to purchase when the lands came into market.
THE PUBLIC SURVEYS.
The Government survey of the public lands in Lincoln County was taken about the year 1819, being mostly made by Col. Daniel M. Boone, a son of the famous hunter and adventurer, Daniel Boone, formerly of Kentucky. A land office was established at St. Louis, and afterward it was moved to Palmyra. As soon as the land office was established, the settlers who had pre-empted their lands hastened thereto and formally entered them, paid the Government price, $1.25 per acre, arid received patent deeds for the same. The Spanish grants, as may be seen by reference to the county map, were never surveyed with any regard to east and west or north and south lines. They were governed by the irreg- ular shape in which the best lands were found, and also by the course of the streams. The rectangular system formulated and adopted by the United States for surveying the public lands was not then in use, especially not by the Spaniards, under whose government the grants were made. When the surveys were made by the United States surveyors, the Spanish grants or sur- veys had to be regarded, and could not be interfered with. Con- sequently, when the line of a Government survey struck the line of one of these former surveys or grants, it had to close thereon, and be extended from the opposite side of the survey.
PRINCIPAL MERIDIANS.
The first principal meridian governing the surveys of public lands according to the rectangular system, whereby the lands are surveyed into townships, ranges and sections, is the State line between the States of Ohio and Indiana. The second principal meridian runs through the central part of Indiana, a few miles west of the city of Indianapolis. The third principal meridian runs through the central part of Illinois, about eight
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miles west of the city of Bloomington. The fourth principal meridian lies in the western part of Illinois, and extends from the Illinois River, near Beardstown, north to the Mississippi, on which it closes. The fifth principal meridian lies in the eastern parts of the States of Arkansas and Missouri, and passes through the center of Lincoln County, Mo., a little over a mile east of Troy, and closes on the Mississippi a few miles above Clarksville, in Pike County. Hence the lands in this county were in ranges both east and west. Other principal meridians governing the public surveys lie west of this State and number consecutively.
BASE LINES.
The base lines are run across the meridian at right angles in the southern part of the territory to be surveyed from them; thus the base line which governs the surveys in connection with the fifth principal meridian lies in the State of Arkansas, 126 miles south of the southern boundary of Missouri, and 282 miles south of the extreme southern boundary of Lincoln County. The last mentioned base and meridian lines govern the public surveys in both Arkansas and Missouri.
PUBLIC LANDS.
The public lands have been classified under the heads of Con- gress lands, school lands, swamp and overflowed lands, etc.
The first covers the great bulk of lands sold and conveyed by the general Government, through its land offices, to individual purchasers. The second consists of the sixteenth section (or its equivalent) in each congressional township throughout the State, all of which was donated by Congress to the State for educational purposes. (Further mention of the school lands is made in connection with the public schools. ) An act of Congress passed September 28, 1850, to enable all the States of the Union to construct the necessary drains and levees to reclaim the swamp and overflowed lands therein, made unfit thereby for cultivation, and which remained unsold at the passage of the act, granted all lands belonging to that class to the respective States in which they were situated. The act also provided that these lands should be selected and conveyed to the several States by the Secretary
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of the Interior, and that the proceeds from the sale of the lands should be applied exclusively, as far as necessary, to reclaim them by means of levees and drains. In making the selection of the swamp and overflowed lands in Missouri, it seems that the people or the authorities. of Lincoln County, whose business it was to look after her interest, thought the county contained no lands coming under that head. It was supposed that the act only applied to swamp lands, and not to other land subject to occa- sional overflow. In consequence of this strict construction of the law, and neglect of the proper officers to attend to the busi- ness, no swamp or overflowed lands were ever selected in Lincoln County. It is true that the Spanish grants covered a large per- centage of this class of lands, but it is also true that there are thousands of acres of land in the county, such as the lands sub- ject to overflow along the Cuivre and other streams, that were not covered with the Spanish grants, all of which might have been selected under the Swamp Land Act. These lands, after being selected and conveyed to the State, were transferred by the State to the counties, with instructions to the county court to appoint a swamp land commissioner to carry out the congres- sional act in regard to reclaiming the lands, with the additional proviso that whatever surplus of funds remained after the neces- sary levees and drains were constructed, should be appropriated at the option of the county court for other purposes, or made to constitute a permanent school fund. But as stated, Lincoln County acquired none of its swamps or overflowed lands, and con- sequently obtained no funds from that source.
The failure seems to have been the result of neglect, as evi- denced by an order made by the county court, September 2, 1871, of which the following is a copy: " The Court appoints Eugene N. Bonfils agent for Lincoln County, Mo., to make an investiga- tion into any interest which said county may have in any swamp or overflowed lands within said county, and take such steps as may be necessary to protect the interest of the county, and to ascertain and report to the Court what swamp or overflowed lands are within said county, or any proceeds thereof, to which the county might be entitled by reason of either State or National legislation."
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The record does not show that Mr. Bonfils made any report of his investigation. It is presumed, however, that he made an oral report that the "day of grace had been sinned away," in accordance with the facts previously stated. It is proper to state here that Col. Thomas G. Hutt is entitled to the credit of calling the attention of the county court to this matter, he then representing the county in the State Legislature. Many counties in Missouri derived over $10,000 permanent school fund from the sale of swamp and overflowed lands.
RAILROADS.
The St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad was com- pleted through Lincoln County in 1879. It enters the county from the south at Old Monroe, on the Cuivre River, and runs thence in a northerly direction, along and at the foot of the bluffs on the west side of the Mississippi bottoms, and at an average distance from the river of about three miles, and leaves the county at a point about one and a half miles east of the north- west corner of Township 51 north, Range 2 east. Its length within the county is 20.88 miles. It is valued for taxation at $148,483.
The St. Louis & Hannibal Railroad was finished through Lincoln County in May, 1882, and the first great excursion from Troy was to Sells Brothers' show at Hannibal, May 2-round trip $2. It enters the county from the south, near the mouth of Big Creek, and runs up the valley of the Cuivre in a northwesterly direction to the town of Silex, and there it leaves the valley, and bears northeastwardly, and leaves the county near the center of the north line of Township 51 north, Range 1 west. It has many curves occasioned by the hilly surface of the country through which it passes, and its length within the county is 33.04 miles. It is assessed for taxation at $136,883. The combined length of these two railroads is 53.92 miles, and their combined assessed value is $285,366. According to the present tax levies these two railroads will pay in the County of Lincoln for the year 1888 about $5,400 in taxes, and thus help the people, in a measure, to liquidate their bonded indebtedness. Of course the tax will be for all purposes. Along these railroads and elsewhere in the
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
county, the Western Union Telegraph Company has eighty-five miles of its line, which is assessed for taxation at $7,500.
RAILROAD BONDS.
On the 21st day of December, 1866, the county court (then being composed of Justices Milton L. Lovell, Samuel T. Ingram and James Willson ), upon petition of numerous citizens of the county, made an order appropriating $100,000 for the purpose of taking stock in the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad, provided that it be located within one-half mile of the courthouse in Troy. At the same time Maj. Alex. H. Martin was appointed agent for the county, to confer with the directors of the railroad company in securing the location of their road, and to order the bonds of the county, bearing interest not to exceed 6 per cent., to be issued at such times and in such sums as he might think proper, and to sell the same to the best advantage of the county, and, in general, to do and perform all necessary things for the interest of the county in the premises. This order, upon the petition of a large number of citizens, filed January 7, 1867, was afterward rescinded.
On the 13th day of August, 1868, the county court, then being composed of Justices M. L. Lovell, S. R. Moxley and S. T. Ingram, ordered that Lincoln County subscribe $300,000 to the capital stock of the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad Company, and that county bonds for that amount should be issued. The bonds were to run ten years from the date of issue, at the rate of 10 per cent per annum, the interest to be paid semi-annually. This subscription was made on the condition that the railroad should commence on the North Missouri Railroad, at or near Dardenne, thence to cross the Cuivre at or near Chain of Rocks, and thence to re-cross the Cuivre at or near Moscow, and pass up the west side of the river within one-half of a mile from the courthouse in Troy, and thence northwardly, passing near Au- burn, or between Auburn and New Hope, on the most eligible ground to the Pike County line. And for the purpose of carrying this order into effect, the Court again appointed Maj. A. H. Mar- tin as agent for the county, with like powers as were given him on his former appointment. By order of the court, this appro-
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priation of $300,000 was made in lieu of the appropriation of the $100,000 made December 21, 1866. At the February term, of 1869, the county court set out in a preamble the alleged fail- ure of Josiah Fogg, president of the St. Louis & Keokuk Rail- road Company, to act in good faith with the county in carrying out and complying with the provisions set forth in the foregoing order, upon which the $300,000 in stock was subscribed, and thereupon asked him to resign his office "and thereby remove the only obstacle apparent to the court to the speedy completion of the road."
Afterward, at the following May term of the county court, Alex. H. Martin reported that at the meeting of the directors of the rail- road company, held in St. Louis on the third day of that month, for the purpose of selecting judges of the election for directors of said road for the ensuing year, a majority of the judges select- ed were inimical to the best interests of Lincoln County, and that it appeared that large quantities of bogus stock had been subscribed to the road, with the view of controlling the bona fide stock taken therein by this and Pike Counties; and that with the determination of protecting the interests of the county, he refused to subscribe the stock ordered by the Court to be taken, and with- drew from the meeting, and refused longer to co-operate with the board of directors. Meanwhile a communication was re- ceived from President Fogg, which seems to have satisfied the Court that they had misapprehended his motives, and that he was acting in good faith with the county. On the 17th day of February, 1870, the Court ordered that all the powers and author- ity previously conferred upon Maj. A. H. Martin as agent of the county " concerning stock in the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad Company " be revoked and withdrawn. Five days later the fol- lowing entry, showing the subsequent action of the court, was made upon the record of its proceedings:
" In the matter of the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad Com- pany. WHEREAS, It is the opinion of the county court that the inhabitants of this county have not been sufficiently guarded in the appropriation of $300,000 heretofore made to the capital stock of the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad Company, and, WHEREAS, The county court is advised that said company are
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willing that all proper and just safeguards should be thrown around the subscription aforesaid, it is therefore ordered, ad- judged and decreed that in lieu of all subscriptions of every nature, kind and character whatever, made by the county court of this county to said railroad company, the sum of $300,000 in bonds of said county of Lincoln, State of Missouri, be, and the same is hereby subscribed to the capital stock of the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad Company, subject to the following express con- ditions, reservations and stipulations, viz. :
"First. That the subscription be received by said company in lieu of all subscriptions of every kind whatsoever heretofore made by said county of Lincoln to said company.
" Second. That said railroad shall be permanently located, built and operated on the following line, viz .: Beginning at the North Missouri Railroad, thence to within one-half of a mile of the courthouse in Troy, in said county, thence to the northern line of Lincoln County, State of Missouri.
" Third. That a good and sufficient depot for passengers and freight shall be built and permanently maintained within one half of a mile of the courthouse in Troy, in said county.
" Fourth. That said subscription herein made may be paid to said company, or the duly accredited agent thereof, in the bonds of the county of Lincoln, State of Missouri; said bonds payable ten years after the dates thereof; to be dated on the day of delivery to said company or its agent; to bear interest from date at the rate of 10 per cent per annum; interest payable semi- annually, with coupons attached for said interest; principal and interest may be paid at the National Bank of the State of Mis- souri in current funds, and that said bonds shall be received by said railroad company at par.
"Fifth. That the work on said railroad shall be com- menced and prosecuted continuously from a point on the North- ern Missouri Railroad to the northern line of Lincoln County, Mo., on the established line of said St. Louis & Keokuk Rail- road; and the said bonds shall not be issued, nor the said sub- scription paid in any manner whatsoever, except in proportion as the work on said line is actually done; and all of said subscrip- tion of $300,000 shall be expended within the limits of said
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county of Lincoln. Provided, That a sufficient sum may be used out of said $300,000 by said company to make necessary surveys of said railroad through said county of Lincoln.
"Sixth. That said bonds shall be delivered to said com- pany only upon estimates of work actually done in said county, which work shall, have been received by said company; said estimates shall be sworn to by the chief engineer of said railroad, and filed with the agent of said county. Should said estimates appear to be too high, said agent shall call to his aid a com- petent engineer, and said engineers 'shall make another estimate of the work done, and in case they disagree, a third engineer shall be called in by them, and the report of two of them shall be conclusive upon all parties.
" Seventh. That said company shall never charge for transportation of freight or passengers on said railroad to or from any point in said county, more than 10 per cent above reg- ular rates from the termini of said railroad-distance to be in all cases the ratio of charges.
" Eighth. That said company shall accept this order within sixty days from this date, by a resolution of their board of direct- ors, entering the same upon their records, and by delivering to the clerk of this court a duly authenticated copy of said resolu- tions of acceptance.
"Ninth. That upon the acceptance of this order by said company in the manner herein required, it is ordered that the agent of said county of Lincoln make subscription to the capital stock of said St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad Company, in the name of the county of Lincoln, in the sum of $300,000, condi- tioned as herein specified.
" It is further ordered by the Court, That David T. Waddy be, and he is hereby appointed agent for the county of Lincoln, to represent the interests of said county, and contract with said company for the due performance of the conditions herein, and in general to do and perform all acts, duties, offices and services, to protect the rights of said county in the premises, subject, how- ever, to the approval of the county court of said county, and sub- ject to removal at the will of said court. Ordered further, That the clerk of this court furnish a certified copy of the foregoing
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to the president of the board of directors of said company.
" MILTON S. LOVELL, Justices of
[Signed. ] " A. K. WILLSON, Lincoln County
" S. T. INGRAM. Court, Mo."
On the 30th day of May following, R. T. Gladney presented to the Court petitions signed by 278 citizens of the county, praying the Court to rescind the order subscribing stock to this railroad. These petitions were ordered to be placed on file. The next day Walter Perkins and six other directors of the rail- road company appeared and notified the Court that the company did not accept the conditions of the order made by the Court at the last February term, as required by Section 8, thereof. At a special term of the county court, held June 21, 1870, the fol- lowing entry was made upon the record of it's proceedings:
" In the matter of the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad: It is hereby ordered that the order of this court, made on the 13th day of August, 1868, be amended as follows, viz .:
"First. That David T. Waddy, of Troy, be and he is hereby appointed agent for Lincoln County.
" Second. That the bonds of the county for the subscription of $300,000 to the capital stock of the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad Company, made August 13, 1868, be issued and duly signed by the presiding justice of the county court, and bearing date 21st day of June, 1870, and attested by the clerk thereof, with the seal of the court, and be placed in the hands of the said agent.
" Third. That the said bonds be paid by the agent of the county to the said company, in sums of not less than $10,000, upon estimates for work done, or materials supplied for the build- ing of the road through Lincoln County; said estimates to be approved by any first-class engineer, if so required by the agent of said county. And for the purpose of defraying cost of in- strumental surveys through Lincoln County, the agent of the county is hereby authorized and directed to pay to said company the sum of $3,000 in bonds of this county-part of the said sub- scription of $300,000-immediately on the completion of the said instrumental surveys through Lincoln County. Provided,
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That the said surveys through Lincoln County be commenced within twenty days after notice in writing is given to the presi- dent of the company, by the clerk of the county court, that the aforesaid bonds are placed in the hands of the said agent, duly signed and attested as aforesaid.
" Fourth. That all past due coupons for interest on said bonds be cut off before delivery of the bonds to said company ; and that the said past due coupons be returned to the county court for can- cellation; and upon each and every delivery of bonds to said company, the said company shall deliver to the agent of said county, fully paid certificates of stock in amount equal to the bonds.
" Fifth. That a good and sufficient freight and passenger depot shall be built and maintained by said company, within one- half of a mile of the courthouse in Troy, at a cost of not less than $2,000.
"Sixth. That when the St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad is graded, tied and bridged through Lincoln County, as aforesaid, any surplus that may remain of said subscription of $300,000 may be expended in grading, or in superstructure of said road between Lincoln County and the North Missouri Railroad.
"Seventh. The said St. Louis & Keokuk Railroad Company are hereby authorized to commence their road at or near Wentz- ville, or at or near Gilmore Springs, on said North Missouri Rail- road, thence to within one-half of a mile of the courthouse in Troy in this county, thence to the northern line of Lincoln County, State of Missouri.
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