USA > Missouri > Randolph County > History of Randolph County, Missouri > Part 5
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These new settlers came as best they could. The greater number in covered wagons, a few horseback, and possibly some single men afoot. The better to do families came in two or more wagons, and sometimes several families in company. Those coming in wagons, frequently
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brought with them live stock, and more generally necessary tools and equipment such as axes, saws, hoes and other edged tools and probably spinning wheels and looms for weaving cloth or equipment for a loom. Every man or boy able to shoulder a gun brought with him a rifle or gun of some description.
The earlier settlers who had gone before had blazed the way and marked the trail. Those who followed gradually converted these trails into roads. There were no bridges, nor legally established highways in the Boonslick country and probably none west of St. Charles, and conse- quently these roads, in bad weather or when the streams were swollen, were not always passable. But the early settler was indomitable, and in the end reached his destination, even if he had to hew his way through with his axe. Thus the first highways of Missouri were established by river.
As we have seen, the first settlements were made along the Missis- sippi from St. Louis down the river to New Madrid, and above, at St. Charles on the Missouri, prior to the Louisiana purchase. Thereafter and prior to the War of 1812, settlements had been established up the Mississippi in the counties of Lincoln and Pike further north.
Likewise immigration had crept westward from St. Charles along both banks of the Missouri, and settlements had been effected on both sides of said stream as far west as Coopers Bottom in the Boonslick country.
This renewed tide of immigration which set in during the year 1815, and thereafter continued to grow steadily, came first to these earlier settlements there to acquire knowledge of the country and look around for themselves, and from thence this tide moved up the Missouri to the mouth of the Kaw River, where Kansas City now stands; and up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Des Moines River.
In consequence of these early settlements along these streams, the country bordering on the river was the first organized into counties in north Missouri. Prior to the admission of Missouri as a state, seventeen counties had been organized in North Missouri, all of them being river counties.
St. Charles County situated at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and bordering on both, was as we have seen organized as a county in 1812. Northward, along the west bank of the Mississippi, the counties of Lincoln, Pike and Clark were organized in 1818 and Ralls
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County in 1820; westward of St. Charles County and north of the Mis- souri; Howard County was organized in 1816; Montgomery in 1818 and Callaway, Boone, Chariton, and Ray in 1820. South of the Missouri, Cooper and Franklin counties were organized in 1818 and Gasconade, Cole, Saline and Lafayette in 1820.
These early settlements in the river counties, by reason of this in- flux of home seekers, grew by accretion and stretched out farther and farther into the country away from the rivers. Other initial settlements further west and north were established and likewise grew away from the rivers. The timbered counties were the first settled. Chariton County to the east, and Ray and Clay counties west, were peopled, before Carroll County which is largely a prairie county.
In these days the question is often asked why it was that these early settlers neglected the rich prairie lands, and reared their cabins in the forest, upon inferior lands in many instances, where they must fell the timber and burn the brush before they could plant, when the prairie stood ready for the plow. This question can be answered only by putting our feet in the shoes of these pioneers.
It must be borne in mind that the greater number who came to north Missouri prior to 1821 were from central Kentucky, Tennessee and states further east, and over roads much of the way that would today be regarded unfit to travel. They came in wagons and they could bring with them only such of their belongings as were indispensable. Agri- cultural implements were out of the question. They could not be brought, hence the settler must equip himself with such implement he could get or construct at his journey's end.
Good water and an abundance of fuel to warm up their open cabins in winter were essentials, and fence rails to inclose field and garden with a substantial fence, sufficiently high and strong enough to keep out 'he deer and elk and his neighbors stock were indispensable.
The timbered lands extending back from the river abounded in springs of cool pure water, and a cabin in the woods near a spring brought both of these essentials to its door.
found adjacent to the prairie, if not too remote from a settlement, was a lucky find and the land thereabout was quickly taken up by some home- seeker. Such locations were desirable, as the settlers stock whether much or little had ample room to graze on the prairie and the timber as a rule was nearby.
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But the breaking of the tough prairie sod and subjecting this land to cultivation was a task to be accomplished at a later date than we now have in view.
The wooden plow or the plow with an iron shear and wooden mold- board, the only kind to be had at these times, were wholly inadequate to break and turn the tough prairie sod. As late as the middle of the last century, the prairie plow with its heavy iron shear, moldboard, coulter and massive beam and rods to strengthen and small wooden wheels of unequal sizes, set under and at right angle with the beam, one wheel to track in the furrow last made, and the other on the sod to steady the plow and prevent it from .tipping, was a clumsy and cumbersome imple- ment. Such plow when in operation was usually drawn slowly along by three yoke of oxen, but it served to do the work as it had been doing before for a quarter of a century, or more.
After the sod was thus turned it had to lie and rot for a season before it could be again plowed. The man with a hoe could plant corn on this newly turned sod and grow sod corn if the spring and summer rainfall was ample. If a dry year the corn "burned" and yielded no grain.
The prairie was therefore impossible to these early settlers. In the timber the settler could with axe, mall and iron wedge and wooden glut fall the timber, split his rails, and erect his fences and complete his in- closure. The laps of the trees thus felled would furnish him his next winter's wood. Then with axe he could belt, or deaden the remaining timber, scratch the virgin soil, by ploughing around the stumps, with his wooden or combination plow, and by the industrious use of hoe, and plow grow corn for his stock.
His hogs, if any, great and small could provide for themselves in the woods when spring came and unless they strayed away and went wild, the settler was assured of hog and hominy when fall came.
The hog of that period, known as "raisorback" was a rustler and could take care of himself in the forest without human aid, and is given further notice in these pages. Another reason why these new comers settled in the timbered country was the fear of the Indians. The first of these settlers came within a year after the end of the Indian War in the Boonslick country, and the last of them within less than six years thereafter, while Missouri was yet a territory.
During all of this period the Indian was regarded as a menace. The settler, however courageous and fearless he might be, for the peace and
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safety of his family and live stock, preferred to settle within or near the outskirts of an established settlement, where aid could be had in case of danger. Indeed, it was not until the Sac and Fox Indians had been finally defeated, the Black Hawk War ended, in 1833, and these Indians were removed entirely out of this state, and that part of Illinois to the east, that all fear of danger from that source was finally removed from the minds of our people. During the first years that we are now dealing with the Indians outnumbered the whites in the Boonslick Country, and westward. They had no love for any white person that spoke English, and the settler disliked and distrusted the Indian as much or more. There was no further warfare in the Boonslick Country, no more scalping, but an armed truce instead, in time of peace that might not last.
No surveys of the public lands of the Territory of Missouri was begun until December, 1816. The only lands legally surveyed prior to that time were the French and Spanish claims. This survey began the last of the year 1816, progressed slowly and it was not until August 3, 1818, that the first land sale by the United States government was held in St. Louis and on November 2, 1818, the first in the Boonslick Country at Franklin, Howard County. These first sales were made at public vendue to the highest bidder. The settlers had an understanding that they would not bid, the one against the other. A large number of people attended the land upon which he had "squatted," and to a decree mproved, we competition and spirited bidding for choice tracts among these visitors. Whether or not any settler was by this sale deprived of his cabin, and the land upon which he had "squatted,', and to a decree improved, we are not advised.
The settlers in the Franklin land district at this time had given notice to the officers of the land office, claiming the land upon which each resided by right of preemption or that they had given notice to the land office that they claimed and intended to purchase some certain tract.
In March, 1818, Congress passed an act whereby the right to pre- empt land was granted the settler and made legal.
CHAPTER VII
EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN THE BOONSLICK COUNTRY.
DANIEL BOONE'S FIRST EXPEDITION HERE-HE DISCOVERS A SALT SPRING- BENJAMIN COOPER AND FAMILY SETTLE HERE-AN ATTRACTIVE COUNTRY -FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT-A COLONY OF KENTUCKIANS COME- ROADS-FIRST SETTLERS IN BOONSLICK COUNTRY.
Daniel Boone in some one of his hunting and trapping expeditions discovered a salt spring about eight miles northwest of the old town of Franklin in Howard County. Afterward, in 1807, Boone's sons Nathan and Daniel M. made salt at this spring, and it is probable that the elder Boone had made salt there prior to this time. This salt spring was given the name of Boonslick, and all the country thereabouts without limit was known as the Boonslick Country.
In the spring of 1808, Benjamin Cooper and family, consisting of his wife and five sons, moved into the Boonslick Country, built a cabin and cleared some ground about two miles southwest of Boonslick. He had thus far progressed toward making a permanent home, when Gov- ernor Lews issued an order, directing him to return below the mouth of the Gasconade River. This order was given because trouble with the Indians, which soon occurred, was anticipated, and the location he had chosen was so far away, that the government could extend him no pro- tection ; another reason was that Cooper was trespassing upon lands that belonged to the Indians. In obedience to this order he returned to Loutre Island, and remained there until 1810.
This section of the Boonslick Country was not destined to be left long to the reign of the wild beasts and the savage Indian. It was at- tractive and presented advantages which those seeking homes where they
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could find the richest of lands and the most healthful of climates, could not, and did not fail to receive attention. Its fertile soil promised, with little labor, the most abundant of harvests. Its forests were filled with every variety of game, and its streams with all kinds of fish. It is no wonder that those seeking homes looked upon this section as a "promised land," where provisions could be found, and that they should select and settle the rich lands here, accommodating themselves to the scanty fare of the wilderness, and risking all the dangers from the wild beasts and the Indians who lived in great numbers nearby.
Two years after the first settlement of Benjamin Cooper and after his removal to Loutre Island, the first permanent and abiding settlement was made in this section; this was but a forerunner of the stream of emigration which soon followed.
On Feb. 20, 1810, Benjamin Cooper with several others returned to what is now Howard County. They came upon the north side of the Mis- souri from Loutre Island, and all of them, except Hannah Cole, the widow of William Temple Cole, and her family and Stephen Cole and his family, settled in Howard County, north of the Missouri River. Hannah Cole and Stephen Cole, together with their families, settled in what is now Cooper County.
Benjamin Cooper settled in Howard County, at the same place and in the cabin which he had built two years before. This cabin had not been disturbed by the Indians, although they had occupied all the adjacent country and doubtless had passed it many times.
In the year 1810 a colony of Kentuckians, consisting of from fifty to a hundred, families came to and settled in that part of the Boonslick Country, now Howard and Cooper counties. These settlers located on both sides of the Missouri River, the greater number on the north side, between Rocheport and the west end of Coopers Bottom. Many of them became the neighbors of Benjamin Cooper, the first settler.
When the Coopers and the Coles came to this section, there was neither road nor path for them to pass through the wilderness, save here and there the trail of the savage or the path of the wild beast. They had to take care as to the course in which to travel; any opening which they could find in the thickets, or through the forest, that would permit the passage of their wagons and animals, and frequently were compelled to chop their way through with the axe, an essential accouterment of the early pioneer.
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Names of first settlers in Boonslick Country and whence they came: Those who settled in the central Boonslick Country in 1810 are as follow: From Madison County, Ky., Lieut. Col. Benjamin Cooper, Francis Cooper, William Cooper, Daniel Cooper, John Cooper, Capt. Sarshall Cooper, Braxton Cooper, Sr., Joseph Cooper, Stephen Cooper, Braxton Cooper, Jr., Robert Cooper, James Hancock, Albert Hancock, William Berry, John Berry, Robert Irvin, Robert Brown, Joseph Wolfscale, William Thorpe, John Thorpe, Josiah Thorpe, James Thorpe, Gilead Rupe, James Jones, John Peak, William Wolfscale, Adam Woods. From Estill County, Ky., Amos Ashcraft, Otho Ashcraft, Jesse Ashcraft, James Alexander. From Tennessee, John Ferrell, Henry Ferrell, Robert Hancock. From Virginia, James Kile. From South Carolina, Peter Popineau. Previous residence unknown, John Busby, James Anderson, Middleton Anderson, William Anderson. From Wayne County, Ky., Hannah Jennie, Mattie, Dickie, Nellie, James, Holbert, Stephen, William, Samuel, Stephen, Phoebe (Stephen's wife), James, Rhoda, Mark, Nellie, and Polly Cole.
Those from Wayne County, Kentucky, settled south of the river. The women belonging to some of these families on the north side of the river did not arrive until the following July or August. There may have been others but the above list is all that we are able to trace.
CHAPTER VIII
CHARACTERISTICS AND CUSTOMS OF PIONEERS.
SELF-RELIANT AND BRAVE-FREE FROM PRIDE AND VANITY-GOOD WILL BE- TWEEN NEIGHBORS - MANY WELL-TO-DO-SLAVE OWNERS- PRODUCTS - FIRST HOMES-COOKING-GAME IN ABUNDANCE-THE PIONEER FAMILY- SUPPLIED THEIR OWN WANTS.
During the years preceding the organization of the county, for the settlers it was a time of self reliance and brave, persevering toil; of privations cheerfully endured in hope of a better time to come. The experience of one settler was just about the same as that of others. Most of the settlers were poor; they faced the same hardships and stood generally on an equal footing. They kept no record of events nor of the privations they were called upon to endure, nor of incidents in their lives nor happenings in the community that would be of interest at this time. They were too busily engaged in making history to preserve historical events. This is a matter of regret now, for it was then the corner stones of all the county's history and future prosperity were laid.
If these early settlers were poor they were free from pride and vanity, and the anxiety that attends the position of wealth. There were no fashion plates in those days and they were not concerned in dress nor display of that kind. Other people's eyes cost them nothing. They had few near neighbors but they were on the best of terms with those they had. There was no room for jealousy or strife to creep in. A com- mon interest and a common sympathy bound them together. They were a little world to themselves, far removed from the east of the Mississippi, bound together by the consciousness of common hardships, attended with some peril and they must necessarily depend the one upon the other and
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make common cause in case of need. If disaster came to any one settler, if his cabin burned or was blown down, the neighbors assembled at once to assist the unfortunate to rebuild his home, as if they were members of the same family bound together by ties of blood.
What is said here with reference to Randolph County would hold good throughout the other settlements of that period within the state. The very nature of their surroundings made it necessary for them to dwell together in this spirit. They were thus living before there was an officer of the law in the county. The only protection each had was in the good will and friendship of his neighbors. The ill will of his neighbors justly merited would ostracize him and in the end drive him out of the com- munity. The indignation of a pioneer community was more potent even than the law.
What we have said above is specially applicable to the first comers who settled in Randolph County prior to the admission of the state and shortly thereafter.
Every settler who came in the early days, however, was not penni- less. In 1820 a census was taken in the state of Missouri and the popu- lation all told was 70,000. Of this total population, 12,000 in round num- bers were negro slaves. The influx of population after the admission of the state brought many comparatively well-to-do men together with their families and oft times as many slaves as there were members in his family, into these river and contigious counties from Boone County to the then state line. This class, as a rule, bought farms improved or partially improved and oft times the pioneer seller would go farther back into the country and begin his pioneer life anew. The growing of hemp and tobacco with slave labor soon became a lucrative business and within a decade after Randolph County was organized and prior thereto in these river counties, comfortable houses were erected here and there, and wealth began to accumulate, not great fortunes such as we have today but competent ones that enabled the sons and daughters of the wealthier class to attend seminaries and colleges.
The first cabins erected in the county were temporary and less stable than the log houses that shortly took their places. To erect a log house required help, hence the preliminary cabin that must be raised by the unaided efforts of the settler was necessarily a make shift and of course endured for a few seasons only, until a more stable structure could be erected. No accurate description can be given at this late date of these temporary structures.
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As the tide of emigration was strong after 1818, the community was speedily formed and log houses of one or more rooms were then erected. These were oft times rude enough. Some of the cabins were constructed of rough logs, notched and laid up one on top of the other, while others were constructed of hewn logs likewise notched and laid up and were gen- erally a story and a half high, and all cabins alike were covered with clap- boards, rived usually out of oak trees somewhat thicker than more than double the length of an ordinary shingle. Many of the chimneys were made of sticks covered with clay, the fireplace being lined with stones. Cracks between the logs were chincked and daubed with mud so as to keep out both wind and rain. The doors of these cabins were usually hung on wooden hinges and secured when closed by a wooden inside latch lifted by a string through a hole in the door so that the door could be opened from the outside, and all that was required to lock the door was to pull in the string.
There were no mills in Randolph County when the first settlers came, neither sawmills nor gristmills, and when planks were needed or when they were indispensable, they were sawed by hand, two men performing the work.
Cooking was done in vessels over the fire in the fire place and in sum- mer frequently under the shade of a nearby tree.
The cabin erected and the shelter thus secured for the family, the next work for the pioneer was to start his clearing so that bread could be had the following season. The trees were felled, or many of them, and the bodies converted into rails and the laps into fire wood for winter use. Enclosures were erected wherein to confine what livestock the set- tler possessed. Trees unfit for rails were deadened by cutting through the bark of the tree all the way around thereby girdling it, and all the brush on the clearing was burned. Of course the tree put out no leaves the following year and cutting down and converting the same into fire wood was the work of a later day. After the land to be cultivated was cleared and fenced, the amount of work to be done and the time required depended upon the size of the clearing. The settler was then ready to plow and plant. It goes without saying that the farmer and his sons had worked incessantly until the planting season came.
The family of the pioneer was seldom in want of food. The woods and prairies abounded in game. Elk, deer, bear, rabbits and squirrels innumerable could be obtained by the hunter. The pioneer was an ex-
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pert rifle shot as a rule, and fresh meat could be obtained in an hour's hunt. Game birds also abounded. Wild geese, ducks, wild turkey and prairie chickens could easily be found. Fur bearing animals, the beaver, otter, mink, raccoon and others were abundant and many a pioneer set traps in winter and secured furs which were readily sold for cash.
The pioneer family like the neighborhood was necessarily based on the community plan. The pioneer must furnish the food and the ma- terial for clothing and shoes, while the pioneer's wife equally the head of the family in her department carded, spun, wove and made the clothing with the help of her daughters and servants, and also prepared and served the meals. There were times, no doubt, when the wives of the very early pioneers were compelled to card the wool as well as to spin and weave. Such carding was done by hand and just how this now seemingly im- possible achievement was accomplished this writer will not attempt to describe. Mills to grind corn and saw timber were indispensable and were early established. These mills were operated by water or horse power. The carding mill was equally indispensable and these were estab- lished here and there as promptly as were the sawmills. Thereafter the wool was taken to the carding machine, converted into rolls and the wives, daughters and women servants spun, wove, fashioned and made all the winter wear and likewise much if not all of the summer wear of flax or hemp. The summer wear of the family, especially the working clothes, was home spun, made of flax or hemp milled and was called "tow linen". A suit of homemade flax, skilfully milled, spun and woven and properly bleached, such as the farmers and their negro slaves wore in the antibellum days, would bring more on the market today fashion- ably cut, and would be much superior to the present palm beach suits both in durability and comfort. The wearing of homespun clothing did not end with the pioneer days, but continued until the Civil War and ended only when the slaves were freed.
There may have been differences of opinion and some bickering be- tween man and wife in those days, but these old pioneers were usually prudent and sensible men, and having much to do themselves did what they were told to do, when in and about the house, by the other head of the family. In any event, the early chronicles of Randolph County make no mention of a pioneer wife such as we have described deserting her pioneer husband and her family. The wife had too much responsibility to indulge in such pranks, besides, like Miss Betsy Trotwood's niece, she had no place to go.
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