USA > Missouri > Randolph County > History of Randolph County, Missouri > Part 6
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The winter wear of the pioneer and his sons and servants was home- spun jeans, cotton warp and all wool woof woven three or four ply. The only difference between the coat of the colored servant and the master was in the shape and color. The master's coat was usually dyed with indigo and was called blue jeans, while the suit of the servant and oftimes the working clothes of the other members of the family was dyed with walnut bark or made of wool from the backs of black sheep and was therefore brown.
CHAPTER IX
PIONEER SETTLERS OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.
SILVER CREEK TOWNSHIP SETTLED FIRST-WILLIAM HOLMAN FIRST SETTLER- SETTLERS MOSTLY FROM THE SOUTH-DR. FORT FIRST PHYSICIAN-EARLY SETTLERS-ORIGINAL TOWNSHIPS-PIONEERS WERE OF HIGH TYPE-OTHER EARLY SETTLERS.
The Missouri River at Glasgow, flowing eastward to that point, turns abruptly to the south and flows south for approximately twenty miles; thence east to Rocheport. Howard County lies largely in this bend of the river, the northwest corner being about six miles north of Glasgow. In consequence, Randolph County, adjoining on the north, is nearer Glasgow than any other point on the river. As we have seen the first settlements were along the river and from thence grew inland. Silver Creek township in the southwest corner of Randolph County is from eight to fifteen miles from Glasgow, and it was in this part of the county the first settlement was made. It is conceded that William Holman was the first permanent settler in Randolph county. He located near a spring in Silver Creek township in 1818. Following close on the heels of William Holman, came James Holman, a brother of William, and James Dysart, the same or following year.
From this beginning the settlement of Randolph County grew rapidly east and north. From and after the close of the war of 1812 and the treaty of peace with the Indians, the tide of immigration from the older states east of the Mississippi grew stronger year by year. Kentucky contributed by far the greater number of settlers and Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland each contributed large numbers. Mis- souri was admitted as a slave state and while the free states farther
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north contributed, the number was relatively small compared with the numbers coming in from the states south of the Mason and Dixon line.
Within three years after the coming of William Holman the settle- ment thus begun had stretched east beyond Higbee and north beyond Huntsville, and probably an occasional settler had found his way to the neighborhood of Middle Grove and Milton and other parts of Randolph County.
In the year of 1820, Dr. William Fort, the first physician to locate in Randolph County, settled on land about three and a half miles west of the site of Huntsville and he and Tolman Gorham established and oper- ated salt works at the Salt Spring, now known as Randolph Springs. These works they continued to operate for many years thereafter, fur- nishing salt for a wide stretch of surrounding territory.
Among other early settlers of Silver Creek and Salt Springs town- ships were John Viley, Nicholas Dysart, Cornelius Vaughn, Iverson Sears, John Sears, Asa Kerby, Hardy Sears, David R. Denny, Younger Row- land, John Rowland, Archie Rowland, Samuel Humphreys, Wright Hill, Rev. James Barnes, Uriah Davis, Abraham Goss, Isiah Humphreys, Rev. S. C. Davis, James Davis, Jacob Medley, Thomas Mayo, Sr., Charles Mathis, Tillman Bell, James Beattie, Charles Finnell, Val. Mayo, Charles Baker, Sr., Jos. M. Baker, Charles M. Baker, Jr., Jer. Summers, John Whel- den, Wm. Elliott, Neal Murphy, Wm. Cross, Nat. Hunt, Blandermin Smith, George Burckhartt, John C. Reed, Capt. Robert Scones, James Goodring, Elijah Hammett, John J. Turner, Joseph Wilcox, James Cochran, Thomas Gorham, Sr., T. R. C. Gorham, Daniel Hunt, William Goggin, Rueben Samuel, Thomas J. Samuel, John Head, Robert Boucher, Joseph M. Ham- mett, Dr. W. B. McLean, Chas. McLean, F. K. Collins, Paul Christian, Sr., Jos. Cockrill and Robert W. Wells and Nathan Hunt.
It will be borne in mind that these early settlers arrived and located prior to the organization of Randolph County and when we refer to the townships in this connection by name we refer to the four original town- ships into which the county was subdivided after its organization. Pri- marily, Silver Creek and Salt Spring townships embraced the entire western half of the county and Prairie and Sugar Creek townships the eastern portion of the county. Many others came before the organiza- tion of Randolph county, but the time of their arrival cannot be definitely fixed at this late date. These later arrivals, many of them, will receive mention in the history of the several townships as now organized.
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In a recent history of Missouri written by a college professor these pioneer settlers are referred to by the learned author as rude, uncouth, roistering men and not over law abiding. Evidently the author of this work belongs to a younger generation and was not fortunate enough to have become personally acquainted with any great number of these pioneers. The writer of this article grew up from a boy ten years of age among the pioneer settlers of Clay County and in the early seventies made the acquaintance of many of these old settlers of Randolph County who were then advanced in years, some of them feeble with age, others yet sturdy oaks in their seventies, perhaps older. The early settlers of Clay County, like those of Randolph, were from the same states and like to the early settlers of Randolph County in every respect. As a rule they were not college bred, yet some of them had college diplomas. And on the other hand some were illiterate, but not all. Prior to 1840 Missouri was yet a young state and much of it was yet a wilderness, and the class of people who came were as a rule men of strong convic- tions and strong characters.
The very early settlers, those who took up their abode in Ran- dolph County prior to its organization, were supermen. Before 1820 no steamboats plied the Missouri River and previous to that time and long afterward the emigrant from east of the Mississippi came with his family, if he had one, in a covered wagon or wagons. It was only the courageous, industrious, fearless man that come to the wilderness in those days. He may have been deficient in book learning, but he had learned much in the most thorough school of all-the school of experience. The man who sought an easy, restful life, free from cares and dangers, remained in the state of his birth. No drones crossed the Mississippi River into the wilderness in the early days.
It was my fortune to make the acquaintance of probably a dozen of the very early settlers who came to this county before the state was admitted into the Union and of many more before Randolph County was organized. They were not great scholars, many of them, but as a rule they were men, courageous, honest, energetic, home loving and hospitable, and many of them were consistent church men. So far as natural ability, industry, morality and right living was concerned they more than averaged with the men of Randolph County today. As a rule their word was as good as their bond. In the early days when they lived side by side, i. e., within a few miles of each other, facing.
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a common peril, and being largely dependent the one upon the other, it was no uncommon thing for a neighbor to loan a neighbor not only small sums of money, but sums amounting to several hundred dollars and decline to take a note because his neighbor's promise was good and his lender knew his word would be kept.
Nor were those early settlers rude or uncouth, especially in the company of ladies. They were possessed of native dignity, they placed women upon a pedestal and were gentlemen in their presence and true men at all other times. As a matter of course there were some, as there always are in every neighborhood who didn't measure up to this standard, but there were as few of their class then as now. Men and women of today are better educated, it is true, but God makes men and women and endows them. The college may polish and to a degree enlighten and improve, but it can't make nor unmake God's handiwork.
It is not the purpose of the writer to unduly extol these early settlers, but to pay them a just tribute only. It was the writer's privi- lege in the early seventies to become personally acquainted with a num- ber of these old settlers. Several of them had already passed their four score mile post. Others were a score or half a score of years younger and many of these younger ones became my personal friends. A number of the early settlers had moved west and south and of course many others had ended life's journey and were sleeping the last sleep in the church yards that dotted Randolph County.
The memory of men. however, such men as were George Burck- hartt. Major Horner, William Holman and the older Taylors, Samuels, Burtons, McLeans and many other former leading citizens, does not die with them. There were hundreds yet living who bore testimony to the high character and worth of these early settlers. What I have written concerning them, the ones that I knew, I know to be just and true, and what I have written concerning those who had passed away is equally true because based upon the testimony of many credible men. The sons and daughters and later descendents of these pioneers may therefore take pride in the names and achievements of their pioneer forefathers, with few exceptions.
Other early settlers were: James Head, Robert Wilson, James Wells, Archibald Shoemaker, John Peeler, Elisha McDaniel, Thomas Bradley, John Dysart, Abraham Goodding, Nathaniel Floyd, David Floyd, William Drinkard, John McCully, Benjamin Hardester, Samuel McCully,
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Terry Bradley, Thomas J. Gorham, George Shirley, Robert Gee, Phoebe Wheldon, Gabriel Johnson, Abraham Summers, George W. Green, Jacob Maggard, Samuel Eason, James Davis, John Harvey, Elijah Hammett, Joseph Goodding, Fielding Cockerill, Edwin T. Hickman, Nicholas S. Dy- sart, Benjamin F. Wood, Hancock Jackson, S. Brockman, Elias Fort, Aaron Fray, John Wheldon, John M. Patton, William Harris, William Patton, Isaac Harris, James Wells, Henry Lassiter, Mark Noble, William B. Tompkins, John Garshwiler, Sandy Harrison, Thomas Adams, May Burton, James Burton, Josiah Davis, David Proffit, Joseph Higbee, Am- brose Medley, Henry T. Martin, John Loe, Thoret Rose, Charles Baker, William Baker, John Clarkson, William Holeman, John Bagley, John Tay- lor, George Q. Thomson, Thomas Griffin, Thomas Prather, John Kirley, John Littrell, James Pipes, James Vivion, Wiley Ferguson, Robert Ash, Hiram Summers, Nicholas W. Tuttle, Noah Baker, Richard Wells, Phillip Dale, Isaac Waldon, Felix G. Cockerill Frederick Rowland, James Howard, Rachel Crawford, William H. Davis, Isam Rials, Anthony Head, Jesse Jones, Robert Cornelius, John Biswell, Luke Mathis, William Robertson, William H. Brooks, Adam Wilson, Benjamin Hardin, William Blue, Wyatt McFadden, W. M. Dameron, William Lockridge, Gideon Wright, John Ball, Thomas H. Benton, John D. Reed, Moses Kimbrough, Aaron Kinbrough, James Emerson, Edward Stephenson, Evan Wright, Stephen Scoby, James Vestals. John J. Rice, Waddy T. Currin, Derling Wright, William Upton, William Meyers, Lewis Collier, William B. Tompkins, William Oliver, Samuel Gash, Abijah Goodding, Martin Fletcher, Edmund Chapman, John Thompson, David Peeler, John Tooley, Toland Magoffin, James S. Ingram, Adam Everly, Uriel Sebree, Robert Payne, John Nanson, Jona- than Dale, Michael Daly, Benjamin Skinner, William Cooley, Henry Wil- kinson, Mark H. Kirkpatrick, John Bull, George Watts, Justin Rose, Noah Baker, Simpson Foster, Richard Goodding, Andrew Goodding, Willianı Sears, George Dawkins, Jonathan Ratliff, Henry Schitchfield, Benjamin Hardin, Liberty Noble, Richard Rout, E. D. Vest, Henry Austin, William B. Means, Jubal Hart, John Dunn, William Lindsey, Branton Carton, Wil- liam Ramsey, Zepheniah Walden, Lewis S. Jacobs, William Cristal, John Collins, Stanton Carter, Charles Hatfield, Reynold Green, James Mitchell, John Rowton, Garland Crenshaw, William Smoot, Thomas Phipps, Joshua Phipps, Owen Singleton, Samuel T. Crews, Richard Routt, John A. Pitts, Tilman W. Belt, Joseph Sharon, Dabney Finley, Aaron W. Lane, Rueben Small, William Banks, John Parker, Henry Hines, Abner Brasfield, Lucinda
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HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY
Dalton, Thomas Partin, Russell Shoemaker, Jesse Harrison, John B. Samp- kins, William C. Dickerson, John D. Bowen, Andrew King, Samuel Hodge, James Hodge, Byrd Pyle, Bright Gillstrap, David James, Tucker W. Lewis, William Wear, C. F. Burckhartt, Squire S. Winn, Samuel Rich- mond, John Kane, Gabriel Maupin, Phillip B. Hodgkin, Michael Wate, Peter Culp, Sydney J. Swetnam, William Fray, James H. Bean, Ebenezer Enyart, Edmund Bartlett, Nathan Minter, James Hinson, Major Wallis, Robert Steele, Richard Banter, James T. Haly, Isham P. Embree, P. Samuel, William H. Mansfield, Lewis Bumbardner, Waller Head, Edward R. Brad- ley, Yancy Gray, Abner Vickry, Waitman Summers, William Eagan, Barnaby Eagan, Charles W. Cooper, G. W. Richey, Joseph D. Rutherford, Loverance Evans, Clark Banning, Levi Fawks, James Fray, John Wilks, Samuel Belshe, Hugh C. Dobbins, Fisher Rice, Nathan Decker, Leonard Dodson, Silah Phipps, Thomas Tudor, Thomas K. White, William W. Walker, Isaac L. Yealock, Walker Austin, Daniel Lay, John McDavitt, Henry Smith.
CHAPTER X
ORGANIZATION OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.
ORGANIZED IN 1829-NAMED IN HONOR OF JOHN RANDOLPH OF ROANOKE-FIRST COUNTY COURT-COUNTY DIVIDED INTO FOUR TOWNSHIPS-OFFICERS AP- POINTED-SECOND SPECIAL TERM-COUNTY FINANCES-FIRST BRIDGES- COUNTY RECORDS-FIRST CIRCUIT COURT-FIRST GRAND JURY-ATTOR- NEYS-SECOND GRAND JURY.
Randolph County was organized in 1829 and bears the name of an early American orator and statesman, John Randolph of Roanoke, who was born in Chesterfield County, Virginia, June 2, 1773, and died in Phila- delphia, June 24, 1833. He was educated at Princeton and Columbia colleges. He was elected a representative in congress from Virginia in 1799, and soon became conspicuous. He was described by Hildreth as "a singular mixture of the aristocrat and the Jacobin." He was re-elected in 1801, and was made chairman of a committee of ways and means. In 1803, as chairman of a committee, he reported against a memorial from Indiana, for permission to introduce slaves into the territory in spite of the prohibition of the ordinance of 1787, which he pronounced to be "wisely calculated to promote the happiness and prosperity of the northwestern country."
In 1804 he was chief manager in the trial of Judge Samuel Chase, impeached before the senate. In 1806 he assailed President Jefferson and his supporters with great virulence. He attached Madison's admin- istration, and opposed the declaration of war against Great Britain in 1812. His opposition caused his defeat at the next election. He was re-elected in 1814 and again in 1818, having declined to be a candidate in 1816. In the congress of 1819-20 he opposed the Missouri Com-
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promise, stigmatizing the northern members, by whose co-operation it was carried, as "doughfaces," an epithet adopted into the political vo- cabulary of the United States. In 1822 and again in 1824 he visited England. From 1825 to 1827 he was a senator of the United States, and during that time fought a duel with Henry Clay. He supported General Jackson for president in 1828. In 1829 he was a member of the convention to revise the constitution of Virginia, and in 1830 was appointed a minister to Russia, but soon after his reception by the Emperor Nicholas, he departed abruptly for England, where he remained for nearly a year, and returned home without revisiting Russia. He was again elected to congress, but was too ill to take his seat.
Exhausted, with consumption, he died in a hotel at Philadelphia. whither he had gone on his way to take passage again across the ocean. During his life, his speeches were more fully reported and more gen- erally read than those of any other member of Congress. He was tall and slender, with long, skinney fingers which he was in the habit of pointing and shaking at those against whom he spoke. His voice was shrill and piping, but under perfect command, and musical in its lower tones. His invectives, sarcasm and sharp and wreckless wit, made him a terror to his opponents in the house. At the time of his death he owned 318 slaves, whom by his will he manumitted, bequeathing funds for their settlement and maintenance in a free state. His "Letters to a Young Relative" appeared in 1834.
The first county court that convened in Randolph County, was held on the 2d day of February, 1829. The following is the record and proceedings of the first term of the said court:
At a county court begun and held, for and within the county afore- said, at the house of Blandermin Smith, the place appointed by law for holding the courts of said county, James Head, William Fort, and Joseph M. Baker, Esquires, produced from the governor of the state commissions as justices of said court, who qualified on the 2d day of February, in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine. Whereupon court was opened by proclamation.
The court appoint James Head president of the court.
The court appoint Robert Wilson clerk pro tem of this court.
Ordered, That all applicants for office file with the clerk pro tem. their applications in writing.
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The court appoints Robert Wilson clerk of said court; whereupon he entered into bonds with satisfactory security, which is received by the court, and ordered to be certified to the governor.
Ordered, That court adjourn until tomorrow morning at ten o'clock.
WM. FORT, JOSEPH M. BAKER.
Tuesday Morning, February 3d, 1829.
The court met pursuant to adjournment. Present, Justices Head, Fort, and Baker.
R. WILSON, Clerk, P. T.
The court recommend to his excellency, the governor of this state, the following named persons to be appointed justices of the peace, viz .: Blanderman Smith, James Wells, and Archibald Shoemaker, for Salt Spring township; John Peeler and Elisha McDaniel, for Sugar Creek township: Thomas Bradley, John Viley, and John Dysart, for Silver Creek township, and Charles McLean for Prairie township.
The court then proceeded to divide the county into townships, as follows. viz .: The township of Silver Creek shall be bounded as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of Howard county: thence running north with Randolph county line, to the township line, between town -. ships 53 and 54; thence east with said township line, to the range line, to the Howard county line; thence west with said line to the beginning.
The township of Prairie shall be bounded as follows, viz .: Begin- ning at the Howard county line, where the range line between ranges 14 and 15 intersects the same; thence north with said range line, to the line dividing townships 53 and 54; thence east with said townships to the line dividing Randolph and Ralls counties; thence south with said county line, to the Boone county line; thence west with the line, divid- ing Randolph and Boone, and Randolph and Howard, to the beginning.
The township of Salt Spring shall be bounded as follows, viz. : Beginning where the township line, dividing townships 53 and 54 on the west; thence north with said county line to the northwest corner of the county; thence east with the county line, to the range line be- tween ranges 14 and 15; thence south to the corner of Silver Creek township; thence west with said line to the beginning.
Ordered, That all territory lying north be attached to and form a part of said township.
The township of Sugar Creek shall be bounded as follows, viz .: Beginning at the range line, between ranges 14 and 15, on the north-
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ern county line; thence east to the northeast corner of the county; thence south with the line dividing townships 53 and 54: thence west with said line to the corner of Silver Creek and Prairie townships.
Ordered, That all the territory lying north of said township, be attached to and form a part thereof.
The court appoint Thomas J. Gorham surveyor of the county of Randolph, whereupon he entered into bond conditioned as the law directs, with satisfactory surety.
The court appoint Terry Bradley assessor for the county of Ran- dolph, for the year 1829, and until his successor is duly elected and quali- fied. Whereupon, he entered into bond conditioned as the law directs, in the penal sum of five hundred dollars, with Thomas Bradley and Ben- jamin Cockerill his securities, which was received by the court.
The court appoint Jacob Medley collector for the county of Ran- dolph, for the year 1829. Whereupon, he entered into duplicate bonds, conditioned as the law directs, in the penal sum of two thousand dol- lars, with James Head and Terry Bradley as his securities, for the faith- ful performance of his duties in relation to state tax, which was received by the court, one of which was ordered to be forwarded to the auditor of public accounts; he also took the oath prescribed by law.
The court appoint Nathan Hunt constable of Salt Spring township. Whereupon, he entered into bond in the penal sum of eight hundred dollars, with Daniel Hunt and Abraham Goodding as his securities, which was received by the court.
The court appoint Nathan Floyd constable of Prairie township. Whereupon, he entered into bond in the penalty of eight hundred dollars, with David Floyd and William Drinkard as his securities, which were received by the court; he then took the oath prescribed by law.
The court appoint John McCully constable of Silver Creek township. Whereupon, he entered into bond in the penalty of eight hundred dollars, conditioned as the law directs, with Benjamin Hardester and Samuel McCully as his securities, and took the oath prescribed by law.
The court appoint Abraham Goodding constable of Sugar Creek township. Whereupon, he entered into bond in the penalty of eight hun- dred dollars, conditioned as the law directs, with Terry Bradley and Rob- ert Sconce as his securities, and took the oath prescribed by law.
Ordered, By the court, that application be made to the clerk of Chariton county court, for copies of such records pertaining to the county
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of Randolph, as may be thought necessary. The court appoint Robert Sconce, guardian of Luzetta Wheldon, minor of John Wheldon, deceased. Whereupon, he entered into bond conditioned as the law directs, in the penalty of one thousand dollars, with John J. Turner, and Thomas J. Gorham as his securities, which were received by the court as sufficient.
Ordered, that court adjourn until court in course.
WILLIAM FORT, JOSEPH M. BAKER.
At a county court begun and held for and within the county afore- said, by special appointment on the first day of March, 1829; present William Fort and Joseph M. Baker, justices of said court. Robert Wil- son, clerk, and Hancock Jackson, sheriff.
Ordered, By the court, that the temporary seat of justice for said county, be fixed at the house of William Goggin in said county; and it is further ordered that all courts of record, hereafter to be holden in said county, be held at the house of the said William Goggin, and that a copy of this order be furnished the judge of the circuit court.
Ordered, That court adjourn until court in course.
WILLIAM FORT, JOSEPH M. BAKER.
The above constitutes the proceedings of the first and special terms of the county court. The second regular term of the court was held on the 4th day of May following, and we note the following proceedings :
Gabriel Johnson was recommended for justice of the peace for Sil- ver Creek township, and George Burckhartt and Benjamin Hardin, for Prairie.
The following gentlemen were appointed road overseers: Archibald Shoemaker, Blandermin Smith, Thomas Bradley, John Dysart, James Wells, Henry Lassiter, Mark Noble, William B. Thompkins, John Garsh- weiler, John M. Patton and Josiah Davis.
The first county levy was made at the June term, and was ordered to be 50 per cent of the state levy, and in order to give some idea of the kind of salaries our old-time officers received, it should be stated that the county assessor, Terry Bradley, "was allowed his account of sixty-one dollars and fifty-six and one-fourth cents, for thirty-five days' service, postage, stationery," etc. Query-If such salaries as this were paid nowadays, would not electioneering grow small by degrees and beau- tifully less ?
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The collector made settlement of his accounts for the county revenue November 3, 1829; it was as follows :
Resident list amounts to
$253.60
Delinquent returned and allowed
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