USA > Missouri > Lincoln County > History of Lincoln County, Missouri, from the earliest time to the present > Part 36
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CASUALTIES.
During the continuance of the war a number of cruel actions were committed, which might have been avoided. Several indi- viduals were killed, undoubtedly without sufficient cause. Among those killed were the following: A German living a few miles north of Troy, and whose name was Chitty, was arrested by some Federal soldiers, and, while being brought to town, he attempted to escape from his guard, who shot and killed him. He was the first man killed in the county during the war period.
Dr. Benjamin Todd, living at his home on Highland Prai- rie, about ten miles east from Troy, who was a Southern sympa-
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thizer, though a quiet citizen, was killed at or near his home by a Federal scout.
Dr. Bourland, who lived near Hawk Point, was killed, it is supposed by some one or more persons belonging to the army, for his money.
Harrison Hubbard, who lived about four miles south of Troy, being accused of harboring rebel bushwhackers, was killed by a party of Federal scouts from Troy.
William M. Allen, while passing on the road south of Olney, in company with William Adams, was shot and killed by a bush- whacker. This was in the fall of 1864. No clue to the murderer was found.
Pleasant J. Davis and William Hazlett were killed near Louis- ville.
Tid Sharp and a Mr. Hill were killed by some Federal scouts near Big Creek.
Sanders Warren, who resided between Troy and Truxton, was killed by one of a squad of soldiers that went out from Troy. On this occasion he and the soldiers suddenly discovered each other, when he started off on a run, was commanded to halt, and, upon refusing to obey, was shot and killed. His running created a suspicion in the minds of the soldiers that something was wrong. Had he not started to run, or even obeyed the command to halt, he probably would not have been disturbed.
Sylvester Millsap, one of the three men in this county who voted for Lincoln in 1860, was killed in the fall of 1863 by a bushwhacker who was concealed in the bushes.
CHAPTER XIII.
CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
ALEXANDRIA,
Located on the Auburn road, five miles north of Troy, was sur- veyed and laid out in 1822, and was the second place where the county seat was established. The plat is not recorded. It was
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the best planned town ever laid out in the county. The streets were broad, crossing at right angles. There were spacious pub- lic squares, parks and reservations for public buildings. As the county seat remained there only a short time, it did not become a place of importance, and it now exists only on paper.
AUBURN,
A small village ten miles north of Troy, was laid out in April, 1838, on lands of Daniel Draper, Sr., and Philander Draper, on the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 2, Township 50 north, Range 1 west. The plat was acknowledged before James Wil- son, a justice of the peace. The latter is now residing at Auburn, at the advanced age of ninety-four years. The vicinity of Au- burn was noted, in the early history of the county, on account of the prominent men who settled there, and on account of Stout's Fort, which was erected at the spring, a short distance south of where Auburn stands. In the early days Thacker Vivion had a cotton-gin near Auburn, and it was a common sight, so says a noted old settler, Walter Perkins, now departed, " to see cotton-seed in heaps larger than the gin-house." For many years Auburn was a place of considerable business, but since the railroads were com- pleted through the county, it has declined, so that at the present writing it contains one general store and the postoffice, kept by J. M. Terrell; a blacksmith shop, by C. Teauge; a Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and a few residences. Dr. William Mc- Clure is believed to have been the first physician who practiced at Auburn. The present resident physician is Dr. Joseph A. Knox. James Wilson was a justice of the peace in the Auburn vicinity for a great many years. The first marriage ceremony he performed was in 1833. The contracting parties were Hiram McDonald and Eliza Ann Tilford. Auburn has about seventy- five inhabitants.
BRISCOE,
On the St. Louis & Hannibal (Short Line ) Railway, was laid out in 1883, on lands owned by Samuel Briscoe and others, in Sec- tions 21 and 22, Township 50 north, Range 1 west.
BREVATOR
Is a station on the St. Louis, Keokuk and Northwestern Railroad,
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
forty-five miles from the city of St. Louis. A town was surveyed and laid out here in 1880, but it contains nothing but a small railroad depot. It is situated in Township 48 north, Range 2 east.
CAP-AU-GRIS
Is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River, in Town- ship 49 north, Range 3 east, about sixteen miles east of Troy. It was laid out in November, 1845, on land of David Bailey, in Survey 1653. The plat was acknowledged before Charles Wheeler, a justice of the peace. At the August term of the county court, in 1875, it was incorporated under the name and style of "The Inhabitants of the Town of Wiota," the old name being discarded; however, the people never became accustomed to the new name, but continued to use the old name. The board of trustees appointed, when the place was incorporated, consisted of William Jewell, Antoine Guion, Patrick Wyland, Lem A. Spring- erstun and F. G. Hoyt. In an early day it was a shipping point for Troy and some other places, and before the railroads took away its trade it was a place of considerable business and impor- tance. In 1875 when it was incorporated, being some years before the railroads in this county were completed, it contained inhabitants enough to compose at least a board of trustees, but at present the town exists only in name.
CHAIN OF ROCKS
Is situated on the north side of the Cuivre River, about four miles above Old Monroe. In 1885 the Free Press published the fol- lowing sketch of this village: "It is one of the places that might have been, for two railroad surveys were run through the place- one for. the long and one for the short line .* When these surveys were made much business was transacted at Chain of Rocks. There were three general stores, a mill, a box factory, a black- smith shop, two boot and shoe shops, three doctors and a saloon. During most of the year a line of steamboats made reg- ular trips and bore away the produce, and when boating was impracticable, the produce was hauled to St. Louis direct, or to O'Fallon, on the North Missouri (now the Wabash). After the
*The St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad is commonly called the " long line " and the railroad via Troy, the "short line."
-
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completion of the two railroads the business of the town gradually decreased down to one store, a blacksmith shop and one physi- cian. It afterward revived, and now ( 1885) there are three gen- eral stores, a blacksmith shop and wagon shop, a shoe shop, two doctors, and a telegraph line to Old Monroe. Reller & Pollard conduct the largest business in the town, consisting of dry-goods, groceries, clothing and tinware. J. T. Schacher, gen- eral merchandise; J. T. Haislip, groceries; Conrad F. Schacher, blacksmith; Geo. J. Pohlmeyer, wagon-maker; George Schacher, boot and shoe maker; J. J. & L. C. McElwee (father and son) physicians; Stephen Reller, postmaster. The telegraph line to Old Monroe was completed in March, 1885, the money being raised by subscription from the business men of the Chain and Monroe, and the farmers of the Chain vicinage. It was erected by C. K. Sitton and Dr. L. C. McElwee. A handsome wagon bridge across Cuivre to St. Charles County, 192 feet span, fourteen feet wide, with a tested capacity of three threshing engines, was erected by the two counties, and by subscription of the residents of the contiguous neighborhoods in each. The bridge is partly iron and partly wood, and cost originally over $6,000. Dr. W. E. Brown was commissioner for Lincoln and A. P. Gill for St. Charles."
Since the above was published the town has again slightly retrograded, the business at present (1888) consisting of two general stores, kept respectively by Reller & Pollard and J. F. Schacher, and a blacksmith shop by C. F. Schacher. The tele- graph line remains, and a daily mail is had from Monroe. The town was laid out on a Spanish grant about the year 1835. The name was given it by Gen. Amos Burdyne, on account of a section of archimides limestone exposed in the bank of the Cuivre River in front of the town.
CHANTILLA
Was laid out July 2, 1852, on land of Robert McIntosh, on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 19, Town- ship 49 north, Range 2 east. The plat was acknowledged before Francis Parker, clerk of the circuit court. It is a small post village.
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
ELSBERRY
Is situated on the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad, fifty-eight miles north of the city of St. Louis. It is located at the western margin of the Mississippi bottom, and on the north side of Lost Creek, which cuts through the bluffs and flows to the Mississippi River. It was surveyed and platted in August, 1879, by Z. E. Freer, civil engineer, for Robert T. Elsberry, John C. Roberts, William McIntosh and Henry S. Carroll, the original proprietors, and named in honor of the former. The plat was acknowledged by these parties May 21, 1881. As shown by this plat the town originally contained twelve blocks of ten lots each, the lots being 50x115 feet in size. In June, 1885, the same proprietors laid out an addition to the town, and in the same month Robert T. Elsberry laid out a second addition. The first house built in Elsberry was a railroad warehouse, which is still standing. The first merchants were Smither, Carroll & Co., who came from Clarksville with a stock of groceries and hard- ware, and occupied the warehouse first built, one end of it being cut off for a store room. Soon after this Messrs. Elsberry & Wilkinson put up a two-story frame building, in which they opened a general store. This house was located on the hill some 300 yards from the depot, the town being now divided into two parts, " on the hill " and " under the hill." This firm did not remain long, but sold out, and after several changes the house came under the control of the Cannon Bros., who still continue the business. After this house was built the "boom " had a slight cessation, but early in 1880 a number of business houses were erected, among which was the Etter building, on Main Street, " under the hill." Three other buildings, on the north side of the Etter building, all under the same roof, were con- structed at the same time, one being occupied by R. T. Wiggins- ton & Co., another by Smither, Carroll & Co., and the other by J. M. Gibson, druggist. Later in the spring of 1880 Sour & Reuter erected a business building near the depot, and com- menced merchandising, but soon went into bankruptcy.
The following is a statement of the business of Elsberry in 1883, when the town was only three years old: Dry-goods, Can- non & Sons, Etter's O. P. C. H. (one price cash house) ; grocer-
26
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ies, Gibson & Shipp and Brother & Singleton; drugs, J. W. Bibb, Nicklin & Hawkins and Lee & Howard; hardware, "Yank" Elliott; farm implements, Watts & Elsberry and Gibson & Shipp; jewelry, J. W. Steadman; millinery, the Misses Knox; boots and shoes, H. H. Reuter; lumber and undertaker's goods, Robert E. Black; grain dealers, Watts & Elsberry, also the Elsberry Milling Company; cooper shop, James Cooper; boot and shoe shops, Tim. Mulcar and T. J. Potts; livery, Gentry & Cannon; hotel, "Richards' Hotel," by Samuel Richards; res- taurants, W. N. Gibson and Mrs. H. Hitt; blacksmith shops, H. W. Leo, Gordon T. Felty and J. K. Gililland; wagon shops, John Carter and John Dawkins; butcher shops, Elsberry & Gatewood and C. L. Gennie; ice dealers, Robert T. Elsberry and C. L. Gennie; merchant tailor, James Saulsberry; saloons, Watts & Elsberry and R. T. Booth & Co .; physicians, R. T. Hawkins, S. H. Kerr, B. J. Lee and W. A. Hemphill. The Els- berry Flouring Mills, erected by the Elsberry Joint Stock Mill- ing Company, was doing an extensive business in 1883, manufac- turing flour and meal and shipping the same to other points. The foregoing shows a large number of business houses and busi- ness enterprises for a town only three years old. In fact, the business was overdone, several parties having commenced busi- ness with a small capital, expecting the place to grow so rapidly and the demand of " home consumption" to become so great that their success was assured. This, however, was not to be; a rail- road in a country lying close to large towns and cities could not cause a city to come into existence, as if by magic, at the site of Elsberry. But being located as it is in an excellent agricultural country, there was, and is, a good prospect for a substantial and prosperous town at Elsberry, notwithstanding the fact that at first too many individuals embarked in business enterprises.
The following is a directory of the business of the town in 1885: General stores, Gibson & Eastin, and Cannon Bros .; groceries, A. D. Shipp and B. S. Cannon & Bro .; drugs, Nick- lin & Hawkins and C. M. Howard; boots and shoes, H. H. Reu- ter; millinery, the Misses Knox and Mrs. T. R. Goodman; lumber, undertaking goods, plaster, lime, etc., R. E. Black; builder and contractor, A. A. Brother ; hardware, G. C. Elliott;
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
blacksmiths, G. T. Felty and J. M. McDonald; wheelwright, J. C. Carter; livery, J. S. Cannon; hotel, C. B. Lindsey; restau- rant, Mrs. Hitt; saloon, W. W. Watts; butcher shop, J. A. Sour; barber, L. D. Gatewood; apiary, Hemphill & Goodman; physicians, S. H. Kerr, Lee & Bailey, and W. A. Hemphill. Up to this time one church, the Methodist Episcopal South, had been erected, and was then used by several denominations. The large high-school building was erected prior to 1883. It is one of the largest and best school buildings in the county, and is constructed of brick. In 1883 Prof. Seaman, principal, and Miss Callie Towles and Miss Nonie Elgin taught the schools. In 1885 the schools were taught by Prof. Nichols and his assist- ant, Miss Sophia Seaton, of Troy.
The business of Elsberry at this time, July, 1888, is as fol- lows: Dry goods, Rose & Eastin, Cannon & Alloway; groceries and farm implements, A. D. Shipp, B. S. Cannon & Bro .; drugs, D. F. Foley; furniture and harness, Bailey & Morris ; millinery, Mrs. T. R. Goodman; millinery and dressmaking, the Misses Knox; farm implements, W. W. Watts; restaurants, Mrs. Pfordt and Mrs. Hitt; blacksmiths, James McDonald and W. P. Morton; livery, Cannon & Bro .; boot and shoe shop, John Stahl; hardware and lumber, Black & Luckett; barber, L. D. Gatewood; "Hotel Palmer," William Palmer, Jr. ; bank, Blank, Block & Harvey. The large flouring mill is now idle. It is claimed that all the mills on the line of the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad in Lincoln County cannot compete with other mills until they are provided with the roller apparatus and machinery, there being no demand for flour manufactured by the old buhr method. Attached to the mill of the Elsberry Milling Com- pany is a large warehouse, and there is another warehouse near the railroad depot owned by Elsberry & Watt. The physicians of Els- berry are Samuel M. Bailey and B. J. Lee. The town now con- tains four frame churches, one owned by the Southern Methodists,. one by the Baptists and Presbyterians combined, one by the col- ored Baptists, and one by the colored Methodists.
There is a lodge each of the I. O. O. F. and A. O. U. W., and both use the same building. There is also a lodge of colored Odd Fellows.
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The Elsberry Advance, a weekly newspaper, was established by H. F. Childers, who published the first number October 8, 1880, and continued to publish the paper alone until March, 1881, when J. P. Powell, bought a half-interest. Childers & Powell then continued its publication until December, 1861, when Powell bought his partner's interest. Mr. Powell then continued the paper alone until February, 1884, when he sold it to W. T. Reeds, who published it until May, 1885, and then sold it to J. W. Powell and R. T. Robinson. These gentlemen pub- lished it together until July, 1887, when Robinson sold his interest to R. H. Womack. Messrs. Powell & Womack, the present publishers, have since continued its publication.
Elsberry has two local attorneys, J. W. Powell and W. A. Dudley.
In 1883, H. W. Lee, J. C. Carter and fifty-two other citizens of Elsberry, petitioned the county court, praying for the incorpora- tion of the town. In November of that year the court granted the prayer of the petition, and duly incorporated the town accor- ding to Article 6, Chapter 89, Revised Statutes of Missouri. The boundary line of the district incorporated was described as follows: "Beginning at a stone on the north bank of Lost Creek, where a continuation of the Bluff Road south would intersect said creek; thence north with said Bluff road to the northern line of Lincoln Street, as shown by the recorded plat of said town; thence east on Lincoln Street to Sixth Street; thence north on Sixth Street to the north line of Hill Street; thence east on the north line of Hill Street to the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad; thence southwest with said railway to Lost Creek; thence west along the north bank of Lost Creek to the place of beginning." The town was incor- porated under the name and style of "The inhabitants of the Vil- lage of Elsberry." The board of trustees appointed by the court were James W. Powell, J. M. Gibson, Charles A. Mayes, J. R. Cannon and George C. Elliott.
Elsberry is very pleasantly located at the western margin of the valley, that portion of the town known as "under the hill " being on an even plateau gently sloping eastward toward the Mississippi, and that part known as "on the hill " being located
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
on an elevated plateau, that might with propriety be called a bench of the bluffs. From this bench, where a part of the busi- ness houses and most of the residences are located, a delightful view of the Mississippi Valley and of the hills beyond the river on the Illinois side is obtained, and by looking southward and southwestward, a pleasant view of the hills of the western bluffs is obtained. On the whole Elsberry has a picturesque location.
FALMOUTH.
Falmouth (Westport) is a landing on a side channel of the Mississippi, about two and a half miles east of Elsberry. It was surveyed and laid out as a town October 12, 1836, on lands of James Finley, Charles Cox and John Galloway, on the frac- tional Section 24, Township 51 north, Range 2 east; acknowl- edged before E. H. Powers, justice of the peace. Formerly this was a place of considerable business, being the place where Uncle Hiram Wommack, well known throughout Lincoln County, made his start in life. At that time all stock and grain of the northeastern part of the county were shipped by river from Fal- mouth, while all the necessary merchandise for the people of that vicinity was shipped by the river to this point. The building of the railroad and the establishment of Elsberry was the death knell to Falmouth. Elsberry has absorbed the business, and left Falmouth only its name and the place of its former greatness.
FOLEY.
Foley is situated on the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad, fifty-one miles from St. Louis, and on part of Section 1, Township 49 north, Range 2 east, and on parts of Surveys 425 and 741. A short time before the railroad was completed to this point B. F. Robertson bought six acres of land and gave the company $500 in consideration of their locating the depot on his land, where it now stands. About this time Mr. Robert- son bought 144 acres more adjoining the town, and associated himself in partnership with John C. Downing, with whom he laid out the town in October, 1879. Then William McQuire, adminis- trator of the Foley estate, laid out an addition to the town, and gave other lots to the railroad company on condition that they
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would locate the depot where it is, and name the town Foley, in honor of Miss Addie Foley (since Mrs. Dr. D. H. Young, of Fulton, Mo. ). The donations were accepted and the town named accordingly. D. N. Trescott erected the first storehouse in Foley, the same year that the depot was built. Afterward B. F. Robertson put up his fine two-story house, and then came the building boom. The large flouring mill in the south end of the town was the original Burr Oak Valley Mills, brought to Foley in 1880, by Messrs. Mildenstein & Anderson, who operated it until 1884, when the former sold his interest to Broyles and the latter to Trescott. It is now owned by Columbus Broyles, who uses it as a grain elevator, but not for grinding.
The following is a directory of the business of Foley in 1885: Flouring mill, Broyles & Trescott; general stores, Robert- son & Marks, and Lee Frank; Foley House, Matthew Crouch ; grocery and boarding house, Mrs. Lucinda J. Pfordt; boot and shoe shop, Bernard Wagner; blacksmith shop, John Bricker; drugs, J. M. Tipton.
The following is a directory of the business of Foley at the present writing, July, 1888: General merchandise, Robertson & Marks, Lee Frank and Wagner Bros .; drugs, Thirstin & Tipton; grain dealer, Columbus Broyles; Foley House, Mrs. Dodge; blacksmith shop, John Bricker; wagonmaker, O. McNutt; shoe- maker and harness-maker, B. Wagner, Sr.
Foley is a great depot for the shipment of railroad ties. In March, 1888, there were 26,000 ties in the yard at this place. The school building and Odd Fellows' Hall is a large, two-story frame structure, and was erected and is owned in partnership by the Odd Fellows and the school district. The school occupies the first story.
Burr Oak Lodge No. 378, I. O. O. F., was chartered and located at Burr Oak in 1877. It was moved to Foley in the fall of 1882. Its present membership is about thirty-five. It owns the hall in which it meets, is out of debt, and has money in its treasury. There is no church building in Foley, but the Baptists, Methodists and Christians hold services occasionally at the school house. The people of Foley and vicinity erected the iron bridge, fifty feet in length, over Sandy Creek, just west of the town.
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
HURRICANE.
Hurricane is a station on the St. Louis, Keokuk & North- western Railroad, between Elsberry and Foley. It contains one general store.
JONESVILLE.
Jonesville was laid out in 1883 by Martin T. Jones and wife, on the east half of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 26, Township 49 north, range 1 west, being about a mile from Troy. It remains only a paper town. It may have been intended as a suburb for Troy.
LOUISVILLE.
Louisville is situated in the northwest corner of the county on Section 7, Township 51 north, Range 2 west; being about twenty-two miles northwest from Troy. It was laid out and platted in 1832 by Hannibal Marshall, Enoch Emerson and Dayton Crider, the original proprietors. It was surveyed into
nine blocks each containing eight lots. Col. Meredith Cox was, perhaps, the most prominent early settler in that vicinity, and there he established and maintained a whisky distillery for a number of years in pioneer times. Following the use of the horse-power mills a Mr. Brown erected a steam mill at or near Louisville. In 1829 a man by the name of Scroggins kept a store at the site of Louisville. This village is situated in a good agricultural country, and has been a place, especially before the railroads came near it, of considerable importance. Latterly its business has been drawn away to some extent to the railroad towns. The town contains, at present writing, one general store, kept by H. H. & T. J. Higginbotham. These gentlemen keep one of the most complete stores in the country, having all classes of goods, including dry goods, clothing, groceries drugs, hard- ware, agricultural implements, saddles, harness, queensware, coffins, etc., in short, every thing the community needs. A good hotel is kept by Mrs. Erlinda Bartlett. There are two blacksmith shops, run, respectively, by S. Y. Dixon and S. E. Estes, and a carpenter shop by Samuel Myers. The physicians are Drs. R. C. Prewitt, and G. N. Tinsley ; postmaster, T. J. Higginbotham. In addition to the above there is a public school-
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house, a select schoolhouse and Masonic hall combined, and the Christian Church. The latter is a brick structure which was erected in 1874.
Louisville Lodge No. 428, A. F. & A. M., was granted a dispensation July 5, 1870. The original members were J. R. Tinsley, J. S. R. Gregory, C. T. Nash, H. F. Reeds, E. J. Fisher, Levi Thomas, James Merritt, H. Hopke, John Stone, H. H. Higginbotham and P. H. Tucker. The lodge received its charter October 16, 1872, with J. R. Tinsley, W. M., J. S. R. Gregory, S. W. and C. T. Nash, J. W.
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