USA > Missouri > Pettis County > History of Pettis County, Missouri > Part 13
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The first marriage in the township was that of Mr. Robert Ross to Miss Mercy Potter in 1832.
The pioneer ministers were Revs. Wolf and E. Morey, both Old School Baptists. They looked after the spiritual welfare of the early settlers in 1831. In 1837 Dr. Thomas Evans located in the township. The first school was taught in a log cabin in 1832, by William Miller. Mr. Miller was after- wards elected County Judge. The school house occupied a piece of ground in section 23, township 46, range 20. The first meeting was held at the residence of Joseph Scott.
At an early day the churches of different denominations held meet- ings in private houses. The first church building that was erected in what is Smithton township, was erected in 1844 by the Methodist Epis- copal denomination. It was built of logs with rough benches for seats. Rev. Sebastian Bard was the officiating minister. Mr. Bard was the cir- cuit rider for this district in those early days, and his circuit extended from Jefferson City to St Joe. Preaching was held at each appointment once each month, and the ministers frequently had to ride forty miles in one day to meet his appointments. He preached every day in the week. The next church erected in the township was built at Farmers City. This church was moved to Smithton shortly after that town was started.
The Methodist Episcopal Church, of Smithton, was organized Novem- ber 26, 1866, by Rev. J. B. Stout. In the summer of 1868 a commodious frame house of worship was built, at a cost of $3,600, by Rev. Nathan Jewett. It was dedicated on November 28, 1868, by Revs. T. H. Hagerty and W. R. Marshall. The pastors to 1881 were Revs. J. B. Stout, G. Mc- Rea, N. Jewett, S. Alexander, W. A. Boucher, E. P. F. Wells, A. H. Heinlein, A. P. Sallaway, J. B. Daniel and W. G. Cowan. The original members of the class were T. Ellison, E. Ellison, N. Ellison, J. Silken, Mrs. Silken, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Norton, Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Norton, Mr. and Mrs. E. N. Norton, Mrs. Galbrath, C. Bohon, Susan Bohon, S. Mar- tin, W. H. Mers, E. Mers, Lydia Heismeyer, P. Martin and Lucy Wilkin- son.
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The German Methodist Episcopal Church of Smithton was organ- ized by Rev. Charles Stneckmann, in the year 1866, and they erected a frame house of worship in 1868, at a cost of $1,700. The building was dedicated by Rev. F. Stoffregen in May, 1868. The following were early ministers in charge: Revs. C. Sha, J. A. Reitz, J. P. Miller, C. F. Fleiner, Charles Stneckmann and J. H. Aslin. The original members were: M. Monsees, Sr., G. Monsees, M. Monsees, Jr., H. Monsees, H. Alkin, H. De- mand, J. H. Kruse, M. W. Wittlinger and F. Tangler.
The Church of Christ was organized in Smithton by Elder Allen Wright in 1860, and in the fall of the same year the congregation had a commodious frame house of worship erected at a cost of $2,400. The original members were: Joseph Fowler and wife, John Fowler, Hannah Fowler, F. B. Taylor and wife, Job Harned and wife, James Major, wife and daughter, and B. P. Smith and wife.
The Flat Creek Baptist Church was located southwest of Smithton five miles, and was organized at Johnston's school house, September 23, 1846, by Elder J. G. Berkley and Elias George. The original members were Benijah Gentry and Mary, his wife; James Harvey and Nancy, his wife; J. G. Berkley and Cornelia, his wife; Mary A. Berkley, Nancy Berkley, Lucy Johnston, Sarah Carpenter and Nancy Carpenter. First officers, J. G. Berkley, pastor and moderator; J. E. Crawford, deacon, and James Harvey, clerk. Elder Berkley served as pastor and Moderator until 1851.
The early schools in the township, outside of Smithton Academy, were five in number and they were primitive affairs, the buildings and seats being made of hewn logs, and the teachers of the stern type. The build- ings were mostly frame. The present school building in Smithton was built in 1870. The contractor who erected the building was James L. Moore of Illinois. It cost $5,000. The first teachers in the building were Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Brundige. The colored school was under the super- vision of W. J. Baucher.
There are many churches in this township. The Flat Creek Baptist is five miles southwest of Smithton. The building is white, built on ground sloping from three sides, with public road on the south side. The membership is ninety-eight, with Sunday school attendance of forty. Rev. L. R. Kenney is the present minister. Church has cemetery in connection, Flat Creek Cemetery, just north of the church building.
Smithton Methodist Episcopal was organized there in 1866. Rev. .
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William Leatherman is the present minister. Ministers since 1882: W. V. Hamel, I. J. K. Lunbeck, William Stephens, W. G. Pyles, M. G. Rambo, W. F. Jones, George A. Glens, Homer A. Babbitt, Clark Baker, F. S. Beggs, Zed Wright, R. N. Jones. The church building is located on the south- east corner of Locust and Third streets. It is situated on two beautiful lots near the center of the town and just across the street east of the parsonage and handsome grounds, consisting of a quarter of a block. The church, as it now stands, was completed in 1902.
Smithton Christian Church was first organized at Farmers City. Bros. Orrison, Sterling, Trader, Couch, Cunningham, Ferrell, Bar- row, Baker and Dunkleberg, have been ministers to the church since 1882. The building is a substantial frame building. There are sixty members and the Sunday school attendance is forty.
Smithton Baptist Church is located in the town of Smithton. The church property is substantial and well cared for, representing a money value of approximately $1,600. The church has a membership of thirty- five, with an average Sunday school attendance of thirty-two.
Smithton has another Methodist Church, the German Methodist, situated in the southern part of the town. The church building is a frame in good condition. The church has a membership of about 100. Rev. Winker is the minister in charge.
This township is proud of her schools. The Smithton High School is one of the best in Pettis County. E. L. Zion is superintendent; Ora L. Stephens, principal, and Anna Swafford is assistant. The grade teachers are Mariam Homan, Iva Smith and Cora Lamm. There are five public schools. Brushie enrolled twenty this year, and Mrs. G. F. Rudy is teach- ing. Pin Oak school has an enrollment of fifteen, and Leo Shepherd is the teacher. E. L. Zion is teaching Smithton school and they have 140 pupils. White has an enrollment of eighteen, and Ruth Dow is teaching. Maplewood school enrolled twenty this year, and Lena Montgomery is teaching.
CHAPTER XXIX.
SEDALIA IN THE EARLY DAYS
GENERAL SMITH-FOUNDING OF TOWN-NAME-FIRST THINGS AND EVENTS-PA- CIFIC RAILROAD-COUNTY SEAT-CIVIL WAR-IMPROVEMENTS AND INDUS- TRIES-EARLY BUSINESS HOUSES-CHURCHES-SCHOOLS-PUBLIC UTILITIES -BUILDINGS-PROFESSIONAL MEN-OFFICERS-STATISTICS-RAILROAD HIS- TORY.
General George R. Smith, the founder of Sedalia, was born in Pow- hattan County, Virginia, in 1804. His father, Rev. George Smith, was a Baptist minister. While he was still an infant, his father removed to Franklin County, Kentucky, where he died in 1820. At that time edu- cational advantages were limited even in Kentucky, but young Smith enjoyed the best mental and moral advantages that were at hand. While yet a youth, he became a pupil of Elder Barton W. Stone, of George- town, Kentucky, one of the most eminent educators of the State, and under his able guidance made remarkable progress in his studies. Upon reach- ing the age of twenty-one years he moved to Scott County, Kentucky, and was appointed deputy sheriff of his county. In 1827 he married Mileta Ann Thomson, daughter of General David Thomson, and sister of Col. Malius Thomson of Mexican War fame. She died in 1861. In the latter part of 1833, General Thomson moved to Pettis County, Missouri, and young Smith and his wife came to Missouri with him. While in Kentucky Smith had studied law and he began the practice of his pro- fession in this district. Then the county was sparsely settled; there was the little litigation in consequence, and he was compelled to abandon the business. From 1848 to 1852 he engaged in government freighting and the transportation of goods overland, from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Previous to this, however, he had gained such prominence in central
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Missouri, that in 1843, he was appointed receiver of the Government Land Office, at Springfield, Mo., at the time when John Tyler was presi- dent. He was, from the time he came to Missouri, an Old Line Whig. So far as political preferment and prominence is concerned, fate was against him at that time. From 1843 to 1852 he was engaged in private business. But a greater honor than even the founding and building of Sedalia belongs to General Smith. It is owing to his foresight, energy and stubborn perseverance, more than to that of any other man, that the Missouri Pacific railroad left the line of the Missouri River and struck off through Central Missouri.
In 1849 the Legislature of Missouri granted the charter to the Pa- cific railroad. This was the first railroad west of the Mississippi River.
To the aiding of the Pacific railroad he lent all the wealth of his wis- dom, his influence, his time, and his determination. He became the leading spirit in the effort to locate the line on what was known as the Inland Route. He was elected one of the board of directors of the company. Day and night he labored to bring about the location of the line, almost as it is today.
In January, 1852, General Smith called a meeting of the citizens of Pettis County to consider the matter of subscribing to the stock of the railroad. A proposition to vote $10,000 in the county was defeated. Gen- eral Smith was called on to make a speech. The best description that can be given of his speech, is to say that after he had delivered it, the same assembly carried a resolution to subscribe $100,000 to the stock of the road. He canvassed the county, and in August, 1852, the question was submitted to the people and carried. The other counties along the Inland Route raised $300,000. In December, 1852, the Legislature passed an act selecting the Inland Route, provided the counties along the line would subscribe $400,000 more. It must be subscribed before December, 1853. In March, 1853, General Smith met thirty delegates from the counties along the line at Georgetown. A committee of two from each county was chosen, and these formed a grand committee, which arranged the assessment of the counties, towns and individuals in them, to the amount of $400,000. This proposition was submitted to the people of each county at the fall election. It was defeated in every county except Pettis, which voted to subscribe $70,000. The people in the other coun- ties who were opposed to the railroad scheme turned all their wrath on General Smith.
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That fall the question was again submitted to the people and the county courts. In November, General Smith called the railroad conven- tion to meet again at Georgetown and the committee appointed to ex- amine the amount subscribed, reported that $412,000 was the sum.
In 1855 the slavery and anti-slavery question in Kansas was agitating the people. He was a slave owner, but an abolitionist. When General Smith got back to Pettis County in 1855, at the close of the session of the Legislature, he found the influential men banded together working with might and main to form a band of men to go over the Kansas border, "colonize" the State (temporarily) and aid the pro-slavery men to make Kansas a slave State by voting at the election. The leading men of the county called on the General and told what the public sentiment was. They tried their strongest arguments to induce him to fall in with the prevailing public sentiment. It was plausibly represented to him that if he opposed this scheme it would kill his chances for Congress. He said to his advisers: "I am a representative of the people; they have a right to know my purposes and my opinions on all subjects that effect them. They shall hear them."
In 1856, he bought 1,145 acres of land south of Georgetown, the very land upon which Sedalia now stands. He paid thirteen dollars an acre for it. That was an enormous price at that time. He died on the afternoon of July 11, 1879, and was at the time of his death in his seventy-fifth year. He lies buried at the eastern side of Crown Hill Cemetery, Sedalia, near the main entrance. General Smith left two daughters, Mrs. M. E. Smith and Mrs. S. E. Cotton, and to them an estate valued at half a million dollars. Mrs. S. E. Cotton still lives in Sedalia.
November 30, 1857, General George R. Smith filed for record the plat for Sedville. The town was so named in honor of one of his daugh- ters, Sarah E. Smith, whose pet name was "Sed." The plat of Sedville contained about 160 acres of land lying north of the Missouri Pacific tracks. The filing of the plat mentioned was about the only thing that happened to Sedville. At this time, Georgetown was the county seat and had a population of 1,500. There was a large pond on the square now occupied by the city hall, and it extended across the line of the present Second street, between Osage and Kentucky.
On October 16, 1860, General George R. Smith and Col. David W. Bouldin filed the plat of a town which they called Sedalia. This town plat included all of the original town plat of Sedville, and in addition, a large
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section of land extending from the present line of the Missouri Pacific railroad as far south as Third street. The name Sedalia was probably chosen because the original "Sed" could be united to the more euphonious termination "alia." Lots were sold in the original Sedville in 1858, the first to Edward Powell, and the deed recorded September 4, 1858. On March 2, 1859, next year, Dr. W. L. Felix sold to Col. D. W. Bouldin an undi- vided one-fourth interest in a large tract of land north of the present line of the Missouri Pacific railroad, which included the original plat of Sedville. It was in October, 1860, that there was the first public sale of lots in Sedalia, and this was really the beginning of the town. A large number of lots were sold, most of them, except those on Main street, north of the railroad line. It was soon after this sale of lots began, that the first buildings were erected and the town became such in reality. The town plat of Sedalia was surveyed by Mentor Thomson, assisted by Rich- ard Hulland.
In 1860, John Hodges had a small store and country postoffice north of the old Garrison House site. The first house built after this was erected in the fall of 1860, by Jacob Skinner, at a point one block west of Ohio street, and about one block north of the Missouri Pacific rail- road. The third house was erected by Richard Hulland, not far from it. B. H. Offutt kept the first hotel, which was located just north of the old Garrison House, and owned by General Smith. The first passenger train pulled into Sedalia on the 17th day of January, 1861, and with the railway facilities opened up and the road in actual operation, the large stores and establishments at Otterville and Syracuse were moved to Sedalia, not only the stocks, but in many cases the buildings or por- tions of them. Houses and portions of them were moved from George- town, then the county seat.
In 1861, except three or four houses already mentioned, Sedalia was confined to the two blocks between Ohio and Kentucky avenues and all of the store buildings and business houses were on Main street. On March 9, 1861, the store of C. F. Lohman & Company opened its doors on the northwest corner of Main and Kentucky streets. Jacob Nussberger and Henry Vitt were in charge. Ben B. Lyon, Sr., and his son, Ben B. Lyon, Jr., were clerks in the house. John L. Hall was for three months a member of the firm and in the house a short time. When the house was opened the prairie grass around the store was high enough to reach a man's feet when on horseback. The sum of $999 was paid for that lot
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then. Five doors west of them was a small frame storeroom occupied by John A. Reed. Just east of C. F. Lohman's building was a small store- room run by William Gundlefinger. Still further east of these two build- ings, on the corner of Osage and Main, was the large store and com- mission house of Cloney, Crawford & Company. This house and store- room covered three lots. Just north of the last mentioned house stood the Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot.
The next house east was on the northeast corner of Osage and Main, a small store run by David Phillips. About three doors east was a small store room, a grocery owned by William Nichols and Mr. J. R. Barrett. Charles Lesher also had a small frame shanty on the square, in which he had a photograph or art gallery. Next to him was the drug store of William E. Bard. On the northwest corner of Ohio and Main streets was a large grocery house run by Dr. Logan Clark. Just across the street from it, on the northeast corner of Ohio and Main, was the general com- mission house of W. G. Wear & Son. On the south side of Main between Ohio and Kentucky were the following business houses:
Southeast corner of Osage and Main, David Hancock's store; west corner of Osage and Main, Roderick Gallie and Samuel Ford's butcher shop; three or four doors west of the corner, James G. Tesch, groceries and liquors ; five or six doors west of Tesch, was the store of William and Theodore Bloess ; next, Bixby & Houx's store, tinware and hardware; one door west, on the present site of Rod Gallie's grocery store, was the large dry goods and grocery store of William Beck. These were the principal houses on Main street, and constituted the business portion of the town. During the year Richard Hulland and a number of other parties put up small box houses on the rising ground near the corner of Lamine and St. Louis streets. One was an old log house occupied by negroes. There was not a business house south of Main street, east of the corner of Ohio or west of the one on the corner of Kentucky. But the war advanced with such rapidity that after the first three months all improvements stopped.
When the railroad first came business was very active here; the trade from the southwest, which had hitherto been held by Boonville, had begun to come to Sedalia, and for a brief period of three months or three months and a half, the streets presented a scene of unusual activity.
Among the very first residents of the city, and the first business
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men, were William E. Bard, Major William Beck, William and Theodore Bloess, Jacob Nussberger, Henry Vitt, Ben B. Lyon, Sr., Ben B. Lyon, Jr., Roderick Gallie, Dr. Logan Clark, John L. Hall, Thomas W. Cloney, Enos Cordell, John R. Barrett, Gabriel Vogler, William B. Riley, James G. Tesch, Robert G. Barnhart, Thomas Millett, Tim Finnerty, Uncle Rafe Quinlean, and R. T. Miller.
In 1862, Abraham Meyer came here. Adam Ittel came in 1863. Elias Laupheimer came before 1863. Louis Kumm was in business in 1863. O. A. Crandall was here in '63, one of the earliest lawyers.
Dr. R. T. Miller had an interest in the drug store of W. E. Bard, from 1861 to date.
At the close of the year 1861 the town did not contain, all told, three hundred residents, and not over twenty-five families, all of which resided north of the Missouri Pacific railroad, with the exception of two or three. There were, in all, only about twenty or twenty-five business houses. There were no churches or schools within the city limits.
It was during the latter part of the summer of 1861, after the ar- rival of troops, that a huge cattle corral, or yard, was built on the ground just south of the alley in the rear of the Globe Clothing Store. It covered about five acres.
Pearl River was then a prairie stream. There was a thick hedge fence running along Massachusetts street, and another along the present Third street. A man could have stood at the Old Garrison House, the site occupied by the Missouri Pacific Depot, and throw a rock to most every house in Sedalia.
During the months of April, May and June, 1861, the first mili- tary companies, then properly denominated as "home guards," were or- ganized. The first company was raised in Georgetown by Capt. Samuel Montgomery and the first one in Sedalia by Capt. F. L. Parker. Dr. J. M. Fox organized the first Confederate company.
After the two first Union Home Guard companies were organized, Captain Montgomery, the father of Gen. Bacon Montgomery, and Captain Parker went to Boonville and got their arms. Capt. D. M. Williams and Maj. J. C. Wood raised companies for the Confederates.
There was no such thing as civil government, no corporate body in Sedalia from the breaking out of the war, early in 1861, until the granting of the charter in 1864, and the installation of the first officers in the same year. From the early part of 1861 to the latter part of 1864, the State
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of Missouri was under martial law; Pettis County was a part of a militia district, and during the war, until 1864, Sedalia was a military post, and the head official was the commander of the post.
As soon as Sedalia was really founded it became evident at once that it must become the county seat, instead of Georgetown. The question of the removal of the county seat was agitated and talked about, but the war came on and all such questions were swallowed up in that excite- ment and turmoil. No definite action was taken in the matter until 1864, when by an act of the Legislature, passed February 15th, the county seat was removed to Sedalia. The actual removal did not take place until a year later. The act says :
"Section 1. The seat of justice of the county of Pettis is hereby removed from Georgetown, the present county seat, to the town of Se- dalia, on the Pacific railroad.
"Sec. 2. The commissioners hereafter appointed shall, immediately after the taking effect of this act, proceed to select a site for the location of the county buildings, and shall obtain by purchase, gift or donation, the conveyance to the county of Pettis in fee simple, such tracts of land and town lots as they may deem best for the interest of the county, and such purchase, grant, gift or donation, when approved by the County Court, shall be binding upon all parties concerned, and said commis- sioners shall regulate their own time of meeting.
"Sec. 3. The public records and moveable property shall be removed to the new county seat as soon as practicable, after the passage of this act, and all courts hereafter to be held for said county shall be held at the new county seat; provided, however, that the County Court shall not be required to hold their sessions at the new county seat until suitable buildings are perfected for their reception."
After various other provisions to provide for the payment of money expended for lots, and the appointment of three commissioners to select a site for county buildings, comes the ninth section, which says :
"Sec. 9. Joseph C. Higgins, J. J. Monahan and John M. Sneed are hereby appointed commissioners to locate the site of the county buildings under the provisions of this act; provided, however, that the citizens of Sedalia and vicinity shall furnish the means for the erection of a court house, and the tax payers of Pettis County shall not be taxed for the purpose of paying for the building of said court house, nor shall the commissioners herein appointed enter upon the discharge of the duties
KANSAS CITY COMMERCIAL CLUB, INSPECTING LIMESTONE VALLEY FARM.
FIRST PRIZE WINNERS FROM LIMESTONE VALLEY FARM.
ئـ
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imposed until a sufficient amount of money has been raised for the com- pletion of said court house."
Some time in the fall of 1864 or the spring of 1865 the commissioners before mentioned had erected a large frame court house, which was near Ohio street and the alley between Second and Main streets. Here the first terms of the circuit court were held in the spring and summer of 1865.
In the early part of December, 1863, the party of citizens, who are mentioned hereafter as the first officers and aldermen, met in the par- lor of the old Sedalia House, north of the railroad, and discussed the matter of drafting a charter. Theodore Moses, brother of R. H. Moses, was chosen to act as secretary. The members present discussed each point, and then one of them dictated to Moses and he wrote the matter down section by section. When the work was completed it was pre- sented to the Legislature, which met in January, 1864. Upon this draft was prepared the present charter of the city of Sedalia. The bill grant- ing it was passed February 15, 1864. By the provisions of the charter the citizens who had prepared the original draft were appointed the first officers and aldermen. Their names, and the positions they held are as follows: George R. Smith, mayor; James G. Tesch, marshal; C. P. Townsley, assessor; aldermen, Frank L. Parker, William Beck, Ira C. Pierce, R. Waltenspeil, Richard Hulland, Eli Laupheimer, Francis Mc- Cabe. These constituted the officers, a mayor, marshal, assessor, and seven aldermen.
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