USA > Missouri > Pettis County > History of Pettis County, Missouri > Part 12
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The Catholic Church at LaMonte was organized in 1903. Their building was formerly the Universalist Church. Church is called Im- maculate Conception Church and is a mission to Warrensburg. Since 1903 the priests in charge of the church have lived at Warrensburg. Those in charge since organization of church are: Revs. Father T. Prendegast, Peter J. Kilkeiney, D. J. O'Driscall, M. J. Lyons and the pres- ent priest is Rev. Frank S. McCardle. The cemetery in connection is an adjunct to the LaMonte Cemetery. Church membership is about fifty.
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
Methodist Episcopal Church, in LaMonte, was organized in 1866 at Craighead school house and moved later to LaMonte. Its early ministers were: . Revs. M. Duran, J. B. H. Woolridge, J. J. Hill, W. T. Eastwood, J. Y. Busbee, E. Y. Frazier, Preston Phillips, C. P. Brewer, W. J. Snow, R. F. Campbe, J. A. Jared, J. R. Strong, W. B. Cobb. More recent minis- ters have been J. F. Casky, E. Y. Ginn, G. S. Welborn, B. V. Alton, L. P. Norfleet, R. J. Kyle, W. C. Bewley. Present minister is Rev. J. Russell Brown. Present church building is an old frame built in 1871. The par- sonage, in connection, is a comfortable frame, seven-room house. Church membership is 201, with Sunday school enrollment of 215.
The LaMonte Baptist Church, is situated in the town of LaMonte. The church building is a neat structure and is in good condition. The building is splendidly furnished and equipped. Fixtures and building represent a money value of about $2,200. The church membership is ninety-seven, and the average Sunday School attendance is fifty-one.
The LaMonte Christian Church is located on South Main street, three blocks south of the Missouri Pacific Depot. The church is a frame building, four rooms, separate Sunday school rooms, is equipped with furnace and electric lights. Church is nicely furnished and the main auditorium will seat 300 people in comfort. Membership is 250 with Sunday school attendance of 150. Revs. C. V. Pierce, J. F. Quisenberry and Emmett Davison have ministered to the church. Rev. George Buck- ner, Jr., is the present minister.
There are also two negro churches in LaMonte. One is a Baptist and the other a Methodist.
This township, in the town of LaMonte, has the only first-class high school in the county, outside the city of Sedalia, and the inhabitants are proud of the accomplishments of the institution. It has an enrollment this winter of forty-eight. Mrs. Marian Moore is superintendent, with Stella May Chatham and Clara Brown, assistants. The public schools are six in number and are excellently taught and controlled. Crystal Springs school enrolled fourteen this winter, and Gertrude Burke is teaching. Pleasant Green school has an enrollment of twenty and Gussie Elliott is teaching. Allen school has seventeen pupils, and Dottie Owen is teach- ing. East Prairie Grove has six pupils, and Mrs. J. R. Downs is the teacher. West Prairie Grove has an enrollment of twelve this winter, and Minnie Ginder is the teacher. LaMonte school has a full enroll- ment this year, and Mrs. Marion Moore is teaching the school.
CHAPTER XXV.
LONGWOOD TOWNSHIP
INTRODUCTION-NAME-ORGANIZATION-THE FIRST VOTING PLACE-PIN HOOK MILLS-THE FIRST COURT IN THE COUNTY-PHYSICAL FEATURES- CHURCHES-SCHOOLS-INCIDENTS-MURDER OF MR. MAJORS-COL. FIELDS KILLED-MURDER OF MRS. RAINES-MURDERER BURNED BY A MOB-PRES- ENT DAY SCHOOLS.
Longwood Township .- The surface of this township presents, per- haps, as diversified an appearance as any township in the county. Prairie and forest add each its share to beautify the landscape, and the numerous small streams cut and carve the entire surface in a manner most charm- ing.
Longwood derives its name from the town situated on its eastern edge. In England one of those grand old estates which we delighted to read about is and has been called for centuries, Longwood, and in this far western county is repeated after the lapse of years, a name that is loved and honored in "that far-off-house across the sea." The town was first called Hermantown and the postoffice Oak Grove. This was about one mile north of the present town of Longwood, and when the petition for the change was made known to the town, it was granted on condition that it should be called Longwood, there being another Oak Grove in the State.
Longwood township, although one of the earliest settled in the county, is one of the latest in organization. It was originally part of Bowling Green, and then part of Heath's Creek and Mt. Sterling. It was organ- ized again in 1873 and in 1878 it gave up sixteen sections out of its south and western borders to help organize the township of Hughesville. It is bounded on the north by Saline county, on the west by Houstonia and Hughesville townships, on the east by Heath's Creek township and on the
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
south by Cedar township. It contains thirty-eight sections or 24,320 acres of land. It has no railroad.
In the southwestern part of the township is a little obscure place called in early years Pin Hook. Of this, little remains but the ruins, yet to the student of the history of Pettis County those ruins are full of interest in connection with the early days of Pettis County. Here first the voters of the county, then in its infancy, laid the foundation which has built the now famous county of Pettis. Before Georgetown was laid out, and years before the city of Sedalia had been conceived in the mind of even the wildest dreamer of the future greatness of not only the county, but the State, this little obscure place was the head of busi- ness in this county. The early settlers came here to do their trading, have their milling done and discuss the political situation of the day ; but it has now decayed until but little is left to tell the story of its former importance outside of the minds of the oldest citizens. The first court ever held in the county was at this point and the docket of that term was meagre in the extreme, but one or two cases being on trial.
The first postmaster of the town was Thomas Wasson, and the first merchants of the place were Marmaduke & Sappington. When George- town was laid out they moved to the new town. The first lawyers in Pin Hook were George Heard, Washington Adams and Heydon.
After the county adopted township organization in 1873 the follow- ing officers were elected: James Roberts and George F. S. Sprinkle, trustees ; Wm. Hoffman, township clerk; W. C. Cheatau, assessor; Lewis Lower, collector.
The township, being until 1873 a part of others, its early settlers are so interwoven with those of other townships that it is almost impossible to give them separately. James Scott came to Missouri and settled in Cooper County, in 1819. In 1830 he moved to this county and settled in the present township bounds. Hiram Scott came in 1828 or 1829, also from Cooper County. William Head settled near Longwood in 1827, coming from Howard County. John Ellis came in 1828 from Cooper County. W. H. Chaney came in 1838 from Clarke County, Ky. P. T. Parsons came in 1840, from Green County, Kentucky. William Johnson came in 1834. John, Peter and Anthony Fisher came in 1830 from Illinois. Bethel Allen came in 1831 from Callaway County. Thomas and Jesse Joplin came to the county in 1829, and settled in the borders of the township. They were from Tennessee. Thomas Kemp came in
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
1831 from Callaway County. He was formerly from Virginia. Riley Kemp came near the same year, and was elected second sheriff of the county.
Among the early churches organized in the county were those in Bowling Green township, or as it is now called, Heath's Creek and Long- wood. Of these as complete a history as could be obtained is given in Heath's Creek township, and in this township we shall treat only of the churches of 1882.
The Longwood Methodist Episcopal Church of Longwood was or- ganized some years before the war. The Congregation worship in a frame building erected conjointly by them and the Presbyterian denomi- nation at a cost of $1,200. The early pastors were: W. B. McFarland, J. L. D. Blevins, A. M. Rader, Josiah Godby, M. Duran, G. P. Smith, L. M. Phillips, and E. G. Frazier. The original members of the church were Reuben Creel and wife, J. C. Hemphill and wife, James I. Belwood and family, Wilson Jones and family, William Ricks, Col. Buford and family, Mrs. Horton, James Estes, and one or two families of the Kemps.
Prairie Grove Baptist Church was organized in February, 1880, by Rev. S. W. Whipple. They were situated in the northeastern part of the township.
In the township of Longwood there were six early-day schools. Per- haps the most important was Green Lawn Seminary, built for a private school and located about five miles south of Longwood. It was organized by Rev. Gordon Turner, as a Cumberland Presbyterian school, but after the year 1878 it was conducted as a public school.
The Longwood school enrolled seventy pupils. The school house that had been used up to the year 1882 was a brick, but it became too dilapi- dated for use and a neat frame was erected in 1883, at a cost of $800. It was under the supervision of Mr. A. W. Ryan.
During the war there were one or two bloody deeds committed in the township. William Majors was murdered in the year 1862, by a drunken rowdy on his farm near Longwood. Col. W. H. Fields came from Louisville, Kentucky, and settled southwest of Longwood. He erected the finest brick house that up to its time had been built in the county. During the dark days of the war, Mr. Fields met his death at the hands of one of the gangs of marauders that then infested these parts. Per- haps the most foul deed ever perpetrated in the township was the murder of Mrs. Henry Raines, in 1852, by a negro man belonging to a Mr. France.
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
At the same time he also attempted, and nearly succeeded, in killing her two children, severely wounding both. He was burned to ashes for his crime by a mob.
The Longwood Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1857 at the old Hansboro school house in Saline County, one mile north of the line between Saline and Pettis. C. C. Woods, Milton Adkisson; G. W. Horn served the charge in the early days of their ministry. The new church has been pronounced by many the most capacious and beautiful country church in central Missouri. Sunday, June 10, the new build- ing of the Longwood Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was dedicated. The present minister is Rev. H. C. Green. The church has a neat five- room parsonage on the church grounds. Membership is 170, with a Sun- day school attendance of ninety.
The Longwood Presbyterian Church was organized in 1867. The present building was erected in the early seventies and is of the old style type of country church building. The furniture is all new, in- cluding a piano which was purchased recently. A five-room cottage serves as a manse for the minister. Membership is 150, with a Sunday school attendance of eight-five. Rev. Lenox Crocket is the present minis- ter. Officers of the church are: Elders, William Baker, R. N. Lower, John Hughes, E. D. Orear and J. O. Latimer ; deacons, Lon Swope, William Lee Lower and Albert Smiley.
Longwood is not surpassed by the other townships of the county in her public schools. Their school houses are frame buildings in good condition. Fristoe school has an enrollment of fifty, and Beaulah Puckett is teaching the school this year. Green Lawn, or Sunnymede, school has an enrollment of twenty pupils, and Annabelle Lacey is the teacher. Longwood school has an enrollment of forty-one pupils, and Ruth Glaze- brook is the teacher. Oak Grove school enrolled twenty this winter, and Mildred Cummins is teacher. Prairie Ridge has an enrollment of twenty-two, and Emma Settles is the teacher.
CHAPTER XXVI.
PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP
NAME-PHYSICAL FEATURES-FARMS-ORGANIZATION-RESOURCES-EARLY SET- TLERS-EARLY AND PRESENT DAY CHURCHES-EDUCATIONAL-FIRST TEMPERANCE ORGANIZATION.
Prairie township gets its name from its most pronounced physical feature, a broad expanse of prairie land. It occupies the prairie divide between Muddy and Flat Creeks, and almost all of the township is prairie land, dotted with the most beautiful homes in the county. The farmers are prosperous and their farms well kept. The land is fertile and second to none in the county in productiveness. The township has one town, Camp Branch.
The township was originally a part of Elk Fork, but as the county was settled up and needs of a municipal government became greater, the townships were subdivided, and from the original Elk Fork township was made what is now Elk Fork, Washington, Green Ridge and Prairie. Its northern boundary touches Dresden township; its eastern, Sedalia and Flat Creek; its southern, Washington, and its western, Elk Fork. It contains 23,040 acres. The land is principally rolling prairie, and is nearly all susceptible of cultivation. The streams that cross the town- ship are Camp Branch and Coon Creek.
The early settlers of the township located in the northwestern part, and among them were Daniel N. Botts, A. G. Pemberton, J. C. Donna- hue, J. H. Lewis, A. Shobe, Jackson Quisenberry, W. P. Hawley, Athel Wolf. These were early. parties who opened the county to settlenient, and later came Robert Fowler, D. C. Whitsett, M. F. P. Woodson, A. G. McClung, T. J. Lester, G. W. Rayburn, D. H. Bagby, Joseph and James W. Cole came at a somewhat later day.
BOTHWELL LODGE, NEAR SEDALIA.
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
In an early day the members of the Christian Church, by the aid of some of the other denominations, built a church house near the north line of this township, but the members were few and they soon were scattered, and the house fell into decay and was torn down. An old cemetery still marks the place. Messrs. J. C. Donnahue, John Gray, A. Shobe, Brice McVoy, Jackson Quisenberry and Ephraim H. Carrington were the principal supporters of that church. The house was built for church and school purposes. Ephraim H. Carrington was the first per- son buried in the cemetery. Charles Lewis donated the land for the church and cemetery.
Camp Branch Baptist Church was organized in February, 1877, by W. H. Rodgers, assisted by Rev. E. H. Burchfield, of Brownsville, D. H. Thompson, J. Letts and S. Keel. The original members were Zalman Haight, Mrs. Haight, Samuel Arnett, Mrs. L. Arnett, Sarah Malcom, and Mrs. N. Rayburn. Members of other Baptist churches assisted in the organization. Their services had been held at school houses and pri- vate dwellings.
McKee Chapel was organized by Rev. George McKee, in 1866, the society using a school house until 1876, when sufficient funds were se- cured to erect a church building. There was a cemetery connected with the church property. The following have been pastors of this church: George McKee, W. W. Powell, M. Warren, Revs. Kellogg, Smith, Loutz, Oechsli, Gillispie, Hanson and A. P. Sallaway, up to the year 1882.
School District No. 1 was organized March 18, 1867. G. W. Rayburn, D. A. Bagby, A. P. Britt and William Kirkpatrick met and elected officers, and had a school taught, and as soon as the necessary means could be procured, built a school house. School District No. 2 was organized in 1870, a joint district, with a part in Dresden township. The school house was built in Dresden township. The first directors were Samuel B. Hoss, John G. McClung and David C. Whitsel. The first teacher was John D. Brown. School District No. 3 was organized September 14, 1871. At the first meeting of which any record can be found, R. H. Delamater, J. W. Cole and W. C. Quisenberry were elected directors. The first teacher was Alexander Dow, now living at Georgetown. Professor Westlake taught a select school in this vicinity some time before this. School District No. 4: In this district Messrs. J. Ryan, N. W. Parberry, J. Parberry and Benjamin Helvin during the year 1859 organized a school district and
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
had a school taught. Mr. J. Ryan was clerk of this district for many years. School District No. 5 was organized in 1868. A school house was built in the spring following, and in September the first school was taught by Charles Franklin. Mr. William H. Vannatta was the first school director. School District No. 6 was organized about 1870, but the date of the first school is thought to be April, 1872. The first officers then elected were Samuel J. Knott, J. Glover and John Howard, with T. J. Close as the first teacher.
The friends of temperance in School District No. 1 called a meeting of the citizens of that and adjoining school districts, and organized a lodge of Good Templars, April 6, 1876, with fifteen charter members. The officers were George W. Rayburn, W. C. T .; James Lord, W. S., and Mrs. Nancy Rayburn, W. T. This was the first purely temperance organiza- tion in Pettis County.
Camp Branch Baptist Church is located eight miles southwest of Sedalia. The church building is a frame structure worth about $3,000. There is a cemetery in connection, called Camp Branch Cemetery, at the church yard. Present membership is about forty-two, with Sunday school attendance of thirty. Rev. James D. Briggs is the minister in charge of the church at this time.
McKee Chapel, located seven miles southwest of Sedalia, is a Methodist Episcopal church, and as written in full elsewhere, will be seen to be one of the early churches of the county. The church building is frame and will seat 250 people. Present membership is thirty, with a Sunday school attendance of thirty-eight. The Cemetery adjoins the church on the south and is one of the best-kept cemeteries in the county.
Prairie township has reason to be proud of her schools. From the earliest days they had excellent schools out there, and a number of them. They have kept pace with their early pride and reputation in school work. Camp Branch school has enrolled thirty-three pupils this winter and Mrs. Pearl C. Goodwin is teaching the school. Fairview has an en- rollment of twenty-seven, and Flora Woven is the teacher. Glover school enrolled twenty-two this winter, and Fay Cole is the teacher. Quisen- berry school has an enrollment of twenty-two, and Minnie Franker is teach- ing the school. VanNatta school has enrolled twenty-five pupils this winter, and Inez DeJannette is their teacher.
CHAPTER XXVII.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
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NAME-ORGANIZATION -- BOUNDARIES - ACREAGE -DRAINAGE - PHYSICAL FEA TURES-EARLY AND PRESENT DAY CHURCHES-INDUSTRIES-SCHOOLS.
Washington Township .- We are told that this township took its name in honor of a distinguished citizen of this nation who was "First in peace, first in war, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." It has been further said of him that "Providence left him childless that the country might call him its father." His tomb at Mt. Vernon, Virginia, is the nation's shrine.
This is among the townships organized at the second arrangement of townships in 1844. Up to that year it was a part of Elk Fork and Flat Creek townships. In 1844, by a petition of the settlers then in the southwestern part of the county, these two townships were divided, and the township of Washington created, embracing what is now Green Ridge and Washington townships. In this arrangement it stood until 1873, when the county adopted township organization, and Washington town- ship was made the western half. As it now stands it is bordered on the north by Prairie township, on the east by Flat Creek township and Benton County, and on the west by Green Ridge township and on the south by Benton County. It contains 30,720 acres. The surface of the town- ship is considerably broken. Flat creek runs almost diagonally across it. The other small streams are South Fork and Basin Fork. The surface of the land is beautiful, rolling prairies on the uplands and timber along the bottoms.
Among the earliest settlers of the township was I. Elliott, who came from Woodford County, Kentucky, in 1836. When he settled in the township there was but one family between him and the headwaters of
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
Flat Creek, that of William Miller. W. Anderson, of Flat Creek township, came at the same time as Mr. Elliott. William Brown came in 1834. There were also living in the surrounding country William Davis, who resided on Bason Fork; Pittman on Camp Branch, and one or two others. John Elliott came with his father in 1836.
The first voting place in the township was at the house of Ira Dur- rell. He died in 1852, and is buried in Flat Creek township.
There was but one church in the township, that of the Flat Creek Protestant Methodist denomination, situated in the southwest part of the township, on section 4, township forty-three, range twenty-two. It was a frame structure, erected by the members of the congregation in 1882, at a cost of $850. It was dedicated in the fall of 1882, by Rev. J. T. Shepherd. Early pastors were T. J. Shepherd, J. W. Baldwin, assisted by Mrs. Baldwin, D. T. Forduy, A. T. Johnson, M. W. Wells and John D. Cruse. The original members of the congregation were James M. Pur- cell, Lucinda J. Purcell, A. McNett, Lewis Tompkins, and wife, Cyrus Furguson, John Martin and wife, and others.
The first school in Washington township was a subscription one, in 1852 or '53. The district school system was organized in 1854, and the first one was taught by B. T. Matthews. The first school building used was the same that John Elliott first went to housekeeping in.
Spring Fork was the first postoffice in the township.
Antioch Baptist Church, situated in the southern part of Washington township, was organized in 1868. The church building is frame and is valued at about $1,200. Membership is about thirty-five, with a Sunday . school attendance of 294.
Prairie Chapel, a Southern Methodist Church, has a membership of eighty-three, with Sunday school attendance of ninety-five. The church building is a good frame, thirty-six by fifty feet. Rev. L. Hickman is the present minister and has the organization in splendid condition and is building it up.
The principal industries in this township are farming and stock raising. The staple crops of wheat, corn and oats thrive in this soil and clover is grown successfully together with some flax and some broom corn. Cattle, hogs and mules are raised successfully and with profit to their owners. The township has many beautiful homes.
Washington township has six public schools which compare favor- ably with any other schools in Pettis County. Old Iona school enrolled
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
fifteen pupils this fall and Luella Eubank is teaching them. Pleasant View School enrolled eighteen, and Fay Van Valkenburg is the teacher. Bennett school has an enrollment of twenty-three pupils and J. T. Pitt- man is their teacher. Manilla school has an enrollment of forty and John Palmer is the teacher. Cottage school enrolled thirty-five this winter, and Ida Peithman is the teacher. Mountain View has an enrollment of thirty-nine pupils, and Alva Deardorf is teaching them.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
SMITHTON TOWNSHIP.
LOCATION-RAILWAY FACILITIES-INDUSTRIES-BOUNDARIES-FIRST MARRIAGE -EARLY SCHOOLS-CHURCHES-PRESENT DAY CHURCHES-PRESENT DAY SCHOOLS.
Smithton township is situated in the eastern part of the county, a little south of the center. The main line of the Missouri Pacific railroad runs through the northern part of the township.
The principal industry is farming and stock raising. Fruit thrives better in this township than perhaps any other in Pettis county. Dairy- ing is carried on to a limited extent. Smithton township, in taking its name, honors the founder of Sedalia, General George R. Smith, whose history will be found interwoven around Sedalia, in its early days.
This township was originally a part of Bowling Green and was or- ganized in 1864. It was separated from that township in 1864. The County Court records show that while separate voting places were estab- lished in that year, still the township was not organized until May 13, 1873. The township is square. It is bounded on the north by Bowling Green township, on the east by Morgan County, on the south by Lake Creek township, and on the west by Flat Creek and Sedalia townships. It has 23,040 acres.
The early settlers, while the township was yet a part of Bowling Green, were Joseph Scott, who came from Kentucky in 1815. James Roberts came to the township in 1820. N. Steel came from Kentucky in 1820 to this township. John Porter, from Kentucky, came in 1825. George Smiley, came to the township in 1825. Robert Ross came to the county and settled in the township in 1827. Daniel Wright came to the State from Alabama in 1831, and settled in Bowling Green township. William
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
Smiley came to the township from North Carolina in 1832. George Small came in 1825 from Kentucky, and lived a number of years in the town- ship. Andrew M. Wright came to the township from Alabama in 1831. Clinton Young came to the township in 1830, from Tennessee, and his brother, Clayburn Young, from the same State in 1839.
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