USA > Missouri > Ray County > History of Ray county, Mo. > Part 29
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In February, 1829, by order of the the county court, the name Bluffton township was changed to Richmond township, in honor of the new county
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HISTORY OF RAY COUNTY
seat, and the following boundaries established: Beginning at the range line between ranges twenty-eight and twenty-nine; thence, with north bank of Missouri river, east to section line between sections thirty-four and thirty- five (now in the river) in range twenty-seven, so as to embrace the space of four miles east from range twenty-eight; thence, continuing due north to the northern boundary line of the county-which was then the line now separating Harrison county from the state of Iowa; thence west, to range twenty-nine; thence south, to the beginning-containing one hundred and seventy-five taxable inhabitants.
Crooked River township was changed in its boundary so as to include all the land, beginning at the last mentioned section line, on the Mis- souri river; thence east to section line between sections thirty-four and thirty-five, in range twenty-five, and extending thence due north to the northern boundary line of the county-now the boundary line between Mercer county and the state of Iowa-extending four sections east of the present county line, and including a strip of land four miles in width, now belonging to the counties of Carroll, Livingston, Grundy and Mercer. Missouriton was not changed, except that its western line was removed four miles farther eastward. It also extended to the Iowa line, including territory, all of which was in what at present-April, 1881-are Carroll, Livingston, Grundy and Mercer counties. Fishing River township remained unchanged. Crooked River and Missouriton townships con- tained forty-eight and forty-four taxable inhabitants respectively. More than that number now reside in any single congressional township. Anderson Martin was appointed constable of Richmond township; Wil- liam Millsap, of Fishing River; James Neil, of Crooked River; and Joseph Johnson, of Missouriton township; each to hold his office one year.
The county court, May 7, 1832, ordered that a new township be erected out of Richmond township, and named Marion township, with the following boundaries, viz:
Beginning at the corner of sections twenty-three and twenty-six and of twenty-seven and twenty-eight, in congressional township fifty-three, range twenty-seven; thence due north to line between townships fifty-six and fifty-seven; thence west with said line to range line between ranges twenty-eight and twenty-nine; thence south with said range line to corner of sections nineteen and thirty, and of twenty-four and twenty-five, in congressional township fifty-three; thence east to beginning.
It will be observed that Marion township included four congressional townships in what is now Caldwell county. It contained one hundred and five taxable inhabitants.
At the May term, 1832, of the county court, a new township was established and named Grand River. It was the same width, and lay
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HISTORY OF RAY COUNTY.
northeast of Marion township, just described, extending to the state line, and embraced an area no part of which is within the present Ray county.
Shoal Creek township was established in June, 1825, by the Ray county court. It lay due north of Marion township, and no part of it is in the Ray county of to-day.
As has been stated, the territory embraced by the original limits was reduced from time to time till, in the year 1836, by the formation of Cald- well county, it was left with its present area.
The description of townships thus far given, is of those established prior to the year 1836, and most of them were, at different times, either wholly or partially without the boundaries now forming the county.
We now proceed to a more extended account of the townships as they exist at present.
CROOKED RIVER TOWNSHIP.
Crooked River township, in the southeastern part of the county, embaces all of congressional township fifty-two north, range twenty-six west; seventeen integral, and six fractional sections in township fifty-one, same range; twelve sections in township fifty-two, range twenty-seven, and four sections in township fifty-one, same range. It borders on the Mis- souri river, on Carroll county, and on Grape Grove and Richmond town- ships; the former being on its north, the latter on its west side.
The first settlement in this township was also the first in the county. It was made in the year 1815; but as a full account of this settlement will be found in the chapter devoted to early settlements and settlers, it were superfluous to recite it here.
The southern portion of the township is bottom land; the north, cen- tral, and eastern portions gently undulating prairie, of deep ;and produc- tive soil. Timber abounds on Crooked river, and the larger portion of what is now Crooked River township was, when first settled, covered with dense forest. Hardin and Morton are the villages in this township, and will be mentioned in connection with the history of the towns in Ray county, to be found in this volume.
Population per census of 1880, 1,883.
FISHING RIVER TOWNSHIP.
Fishing River township was one of the three townships into which the county was originally divided. When established in 1821, it included the territory now occupied by the counties of Clay, Clinton, De Kalb, Gentry, and Worth. This territory, by act of the general assembly, became
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HISTORY OF RAY COUNTY.
Clay county, January 2, 1822, and, of course, Fishing River township was no longer a part of Ray county. A new township was established in Ray county in November, 1826, and named Fishing River township. It is the present Fishing River township, reduced to its present limits by the establishment of Polk and Camden townships.
Fishing River township is in the western part of the county. It includes all of congressional township 52 north, 29 west; half of township 53 north, 29 west, and sections one, two, three, ten, eleven and twelve, of township 51, 29 west. It contains thirty-eight thousand four hundred acres.
Fishing River township was settled in 1818, by the Cleavengers, Blythes, McCoskries, Hutchings, Allens and others, from Tennessee, Ken- tucky and Indiana. A full account of this settlement having been given in another place, the writer omits it here. Vibbard, New Garden P. O., and Elkhorn are in this township. Its population, June 1, 1880, was 1,961.
RICHMOND TOWNSHIP.
Richmond township was originally much larger than now. It has been reduced to its present area by the formation of new counties and of Knox- ville, Grape Grove and Camden townships; it having embraced at one time the greater portion of several counties, since organized, all of Knox- ville, two tiers of sections on the west side of Grape Grove, and nearly all of Camden township, east of range twenty-nine.
This township comprises congressional township 52, 28; twelve sections of 53, 28; eight sections of 53, 27; twenty-four sections of 52, 27; eight sec- tions of 51, same range, and twelve sections of 31, 28, making one hundred sections, or 64,000 acres.
Richmond, the county seat, Rayville and Swanwick, are in Richmond township. Its population June 1, 1880, according to the tenth U. S. cen- sus, was 6,070.
The first settler in Richmond township was Captain Jacob Riffe. He located in the southwestern part of the township in 1818.
The first marriage in this township was that of Captain Jacob Riffe to Miss Rutha Martin, daughter of Isaac Martin, who will long be remem- bered, not only as a Ray county pioneer, but as a genial, generous, warm- hearted gentleman, devoted alike to his family, his neighbors and his county. The marriage ceremony was pronounced by a Baptist preacher, named Kimsey.
A son, William C., born of the union just mentioned, March 10th, 1820, was the first white male child born in Richmond township; and a daugh- ter, Mary A., born of the same union, April 17, 1821, was the first white female child born in said township.
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HISTORY OF RAY COUNTY.
The first death was that of Charles Woods, who died April 17, 1823. His remains, without the pomp of a funeral cortege, were borne to a last resting place on the farm of Capt. Jacob Riffe. No monument marks the spot; and thither no mourner goes to shed a tear, or "breathe a benison o'er his sleeping dust."
The early ministers and teachers have been mentioned.
The reader will understand that at the time of the happening of the above events, Richmond township was known as Bluffton township. The name was changed in 1829.
GRAPE GROVE TOWNSHIP.
Grape Grove township was established July 2, 1838, at the May adjourned term of the county court, with the following boundaries, to-wit:
Beginning at the section corner of sections twenty-two and twenty-threes and twenty-six and twenty-seven, township fifty-three, range twenty- seven; thence south to township line between townships fifty-two and fifty- three; thence east with township line to range line between ranges twen- ty-five and twenty-six; thence north to Caldwell county line; thence west to section corner of sections four and five, and thirty-two and thirty-three (the two latter in Caldwell county), in range twenty-seven; thence south to the section corner of sections twenty and twenty-one and twenty-eight and twenty-nine; thence east the space of two sections to the beginning corner.
The boundaries of this township have not been changed since its organ- ization, forty-three years ago. It is in the northeastern part of the county, and contains, per census of 1880, a population of 3,091.
Millville, Russellville, Georgeville, Wilmont and Tinney's Grove are in this township.
Grape Grove township was not settled permanently prior to about the year 1830.
In that year, probably, William Tinney, John Hendricks, and others, settled in the northern part of the township. Nathan Tinney, who settled on the site of the present town of Tinney's Grove in 1840, was among the early settlers of Grape Grove township; and so, also, were the following persons: Samuel Grove and James Miller, from Virginia; John Alexan- der and John Brown, from Ohio; Mathew Hafferty, John Endsley, John Elliot, Roland Ralph and Arthur B. Ralph, from North Carolina; James Homan, Edward Saunderson, Perry Maupin, B. McCuistion and James McCuistion, from Tennessee; Levi McBee, from Ohio; Willis Boyce, James Linney, Julius and Dr. Mattock, Pleasant and Layton Ewell, from Kentucky; and John Sidden and John Hendricks from, East Tennessee.
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HISTORY OF RAY COUNTY.
Among the early marriages, were John Sidden to Martha Maupin, in 1832; Austin Harlow to Susan Harlow, March 26, 1840, by James Tug- gle, justice of the peace; and John McBee to Sarah Matheney, in 1846.
Among the early deaths: Mrs. William Tinney, who died in 1832; Ellen Boyd, who died in 1839, and was buried at Tinney's Grove, and John Motherhead, who died in 1840.
The physicians who practiced in Grape Grove township at an early day, were Dr. George Kelly, who, after some years practice in Grape Grove, went to California; Dr. Roland Ralph, now-1881-a citizen of Albany, in this county; Dr. McFadden, from Kentucky, now in Kentucky; Dr. Nathaniel Davis, from Knox county, Tennessee, a graduate of Jeffer- son medical college, Philadelphia, and who is now-1881-an honored citizen of Richmond, Ray county, Missouri; and Dr. Roberts, from Ken- tucky, who was killed at Millville in 1879 by one James Keyes.
Among the early ministers, who conducted religious worship in Grape Grove township, were Rev. Daniel Patton, of the Cumberland Presby- terian church. Services were held in a meeting house, constructed of logs, situated in township fifty-three of range twenty-seven. The house was torn down years ago; Andrew Jordan, also a Cumberland Presby- terian, preached in the same house; Rev. - Hatton, and Rev. Samuel Grove, of the M. E. Church, held services at Tinney's Grove, alternating between the residences of John Brown and Levi McBee, as places of divine worship.
A man named Barton, taught, perhaps, the first school at Tinney's Grove. He had but five or six pupils, and as he proved inefficient as a teacher, received nothing for his services, they being rendered, doubtless, to the detriment, rather than to the advancement of the children entrusted to his training.
Captain W. D. Fortune, now living in the vicinity of Tinney's Grove, was among the early teachers of Grape Grove township. He was a com- petent teacher, and is a worthy citizen.
The following is a description of a building in which school was taught at Tinney's Grove, at an early day: The house was quite small, built of logs, and had been used by its owner as a place in which to garner his corn. The corn was, of course, removed previous to the commencement of school; but why the flooring was also taken out, the writer was not in- formed, and can not imagine. The stick chimney had been torn down, and the aperture left open, to answer the purpose of a door. A multitude of cracks obviated the necessity of windows. Seats were prepared by placing narrow planks across the sleepers-and
" There in his noisy mansion, skilled to rule,
The village master taught his little school. "
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HISTORY OF RAY COUNTY.
Mrs. Winnegham and Mrs. Tinney were among the weavers of cloth and carpets; the settlers did their own domestic and industrial labor, and drew supplies, in the matter of groceries, principally from Lexington and Richmond.
Such is the early history of Grape Grove township. It has ever been the abode of a refined and moral community, and is now, 1881, in point of population, the third township in the county.
CAMDEN TOWNSHIP.
Camden township was established July 5, 1841. Its boundaries are as follows: Beginning at a point in the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river, on range line, between ranges twenty-six and twenty-seven; thence north with said line to northeast corner of section thirteen, town- ship fifty-one, range twenty seven; thence with a tier of sections west to Clay county line; thence south, with said line to middle of main channel of Missouri river; thence with said river in middle of the main channel thereof, to the beginning.
The first election was held in Camden township, August 2, 1841. At its May term, May 2, 1842, the county court, on petition of a large num- ber of the inhabitants of Fishing River township, praying for a change in said township, made the following order:
Ordered, That a part of Fishing River township be stricken off and attached to Camden township, and that the line between said townships, hereafter be as follows: Beginning on the range line between sections twenty-nine and thirty, at the township line between townships fifty-one and fifty-two; thence east to the northeast corner of section four, on said township line; thence south to southeast corner of section nine; thence west to range line aforesaid.
In 1847 sections fifteen and twenty-two, in range twenty-seven, of Cam- den township, were attached to Richmond township.
Camden, Albany, Orrick and Henry postoffices are in this township. It contained, June 1, 1880, 3,353 inhabitants.
That part of Camden township, east of range twenty-nine, was origin- ally in Bluffton township, and subsequently in Richmond township; that west of range twenty-eight was formerly a part of Fishing River town- ship, hence, as already stated, the territory embraced in this township was settled at a very early date-as early as 1818.
Among the first settlers we mention the following, nearly all of whom were from Tennessee: Jeremiah, Samuel and John Crowley, Thomas English, Richard and Aaron Linville, Branick Wilkinson, William and Henry Morgan, John C. Cates, Sen., Joseph E. Brockman, John Elliott,
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HISTORY OF RAY COUNTY.
Frank Jackson, Ballard Hudgins and others. In the days of the first set- tlers a physician's practice was co-extensive with the county. The same is true of a minister's preaching; hence, many of the physicians, men- tioned at different places in this work, practiced medicine in Camden town- ship, and the same is true of the ministers with respect to their preaching.
KNOXVILLE TOWNSHIP.
Knoxville township was established in 1841. It comprises all of con- gressional township fifty-four, range twenty-eight; twelve sections in township fifty-four, range twenty-seven; eight sections in township fifty- three, same range, and twenty-four sections in township fifty-three, range twenty-eight.
The sections, eight in all, are, of course, contiguous, and form an area of 51,200 acres.
The number of inhabitants of the township, as shown by tenth census, including Knoxville and Taitsville, with a population of eighty-eight and one hundred and eight respectively, is 2,301.
Knoxville township was settled about 1833. In that year a man named Barnes (who became a useful and respected citizen), from Tennessee, set- tled on section seven, congressional township fifty-four, range twenty- eight; and Vincent Silkwood, the same year, settled in the township, as also did a family of Thompsons, from Kentucky.
A settlement was made on the present sight of Knoxville, originally called " Buncombe," in the spring of 1834; the Hatfields, Stolins and oth- ers from Tennessee and Kentucky forming the settlement.
Among the early practicing physicians of Knoxville township, were the following:
Drs. Kelly and Davis, mentioned in connection with the history of Grape Grove township, and Dr. John C. Tiffin, from Ohio. Dr. Tiffin, a graduate of the Ohio medical college, of Cincinnati, is now retired from active practice, and is living at Knoxville. He has had a large and suc- cessful practice, and is an honored member of the community in which he lives.
In addition to those already mentioned, John A. Stone, a Baptist, and Moses Rainwater, Methodist, preached in this township at an early day.
POLK TOWNSHIP.
By order of the county court, Polk township was formed out of the northern part of Fishing River township, July 29th, 1845.
It coincides with congressional township fifty-four, range twenty-nine,
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HISTORY OF. RAY COUNTY.
and includes, besides, eighteen contiguous sections in the congressional townships immediately south.
The township contains 34,560 acres, and a population, (including the town of Lawson, 223) of 1,534.
Polk, though the smallest in both area and population, is one of the finest agricultural townships in the county.
This township was settled as early as 1825-probably somewhat earlier. The statements as to who were the first settlers and when, and exactly where the settlement was made, are conflicting.
It is certain, however, that in 1825 John Fields, from Kentucky, settled on section eleven, township fifty-four, of range twenty-nine. He was followed in 1830 by Samuel K. McGee, from Tennessee, and in 1834 by John Taylor, from Virginia. Taylor settled on section three of the last mentioned township.
The following persons were among the very early settlers of the town- ship, viz:
J. Allen, Archibald Moss, W. H. Moss and Randolph McDonald, from Kentucky; Milton Piercey, Robert G. Murray, John Halstead, Josiah Pat- ton, Henry S. Patton, Solomon Wilson, (a wine-maker and great hunter), James Rippey, Joshua Albright, (gun-smith), John A. Cooper, Henry Wilson and Whidby Wilson, from North Carolina; William Cox, John Cox, Jesse Mann, John Connard and A. B. Arnote, from Tennessee; J. Whitsett, Benjamin McClain, (Guilford county, North Carolina); D. G. Stockwell, Stephen Goddard, William Stockard, William Sharpe and A. W. Boon.
Drs. John C. Tiffin, Randolph McDonald and John Watson, the latter from Kentucky, practiced their profession in Polk township many years ago.
The first school was taught in section two, township fifty-four, range twenty-nine, by one Henry Davis. The school was composed of fifteen pupils, and the teacher's salary was fifteen dollars per month. Mr. Davis is not now among the living; he died at Kingston, Missouri.
The first school house was the one in which Davis taught the first school, and was built by Randolph McDonald, John Taylor and Archi- bald Moss, at no greater cost than their labor.
Another school was taught about the same time on section eighteen, township fifty-four, range twenty-nine, by a widow, named Beckworth, now living in Clinton county.
" Aunt" Hulda Allen did the first weaving. She was wont to weave coverlets, carpets, and wearing apparel.
The first settlers in Polk township entered their land with money obtained from the sale of beeswax, made of wild honey. Salt was obtained at Goose creek salt works, about one hundred miles south; and
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HISTORY OF RAY COUNTY.
other necessary supplies, which could not be manufactered at home, were drawn from distant markets.
COUNTY OFFICERS.
A list of the county officers of Ray county, from the meeting of the first circuit court, February 19, 1821, to the present-April 1, 1881:
JUSTICES OF THE COUNTY COURT.
Isaac Martin, Jno. Thornton, Elisha Cameron, from April, 1821, to March, 1822.
Isaac Martin, James Snowden, from May, 1822, to August, 1822.
Isaac Martin, Wm. B. Martin, James Snowden, from August, 1822, to February, 1823.
James Snowden, Jno. McGaugh, Sam'l Cleavenger, from February, 1823, to February, 1825.
Wm. P. Thompson, Henry Brown, Sam'l Cleavenger, from February, 1825, to September, 1825.
Isaac Martin, William Black, Malachi Lile, James Stanley, from Feb- ruary, 1825, to Febuary, 1826.
Wm. B. Martin, John McGaugh, Sebourn J. Miller, from September, 1825, to February, 1826.
Wm. Black, Wm. B. Martin, Henry Brown, Sebourn J. Miller, Joseph Porter, from February, 1826, to Febuary, 1827.
James Taylor, Sr., Jno. Cleavenger, from February, 1827, to April, 1827. Sebourn J. Miller, Isaac Allen, Wm. P. Thompson, from February, 1827, to February, 1828.
Wm. P. Thompson, S. J. Miller, Isaac Allen, from February, 1828, to February, 1829.
Wm. P. Thompson, Sebourn J. Miller, Isaac Allen, from February, 1829, to August, 1830.
Isaac Allen, Henry Jacobs, Sebourn J. Miller, from August, 1830, to August, 1831.
Henry Jacobs, Wm. Thornton, Daniel Parker, from August, 1831, to August, 1834.
James Dickie, Thomas Hamilton, Wm. B. Martin, from August, 1834, to August, 1836.
Wm. B. Martin, Jabez Shotwell, Daniel Branstetter, from August, 1836, to August, 1838.
Wm. B. Martin, Jabez Shotwell, Daniel Branstetter, from August, 1838, to August, 1842.
Levi Starkey, James Tuggle, from August, 1842, to August, 1844.
Sam'l T. Burgess, from August 1842, to June, 1844.
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HISTORY OF RAY COUNTY.
Levi Starkey, James Tuggle, from August, 1844, to August, 1846.
Daniel Branstetter, from June, 1844, to August, 1846.
Daniel Branstetter, Wm. B. Martin, Jabez Shotwell, from August, 1846, to August, 1852.
Wm. B. Martin, Jabez Shotwell, Abraham Hayter, from August, 1852, to August, 1856.
Daniel Branstetter, Daniel Parker, from August, 1856, to August, 1858.
Eli Carter, from August, 1856, to June, 1858.
M. N. Brown, from June, 1858, to August, 1858.
Wm. A. Carroll, Amos A. Brice, Calvin W. Naramore, from August, 1858, to August, 1860.
Wm. A. Carroll, from August, 1860, to November, 1861.
Calvin W. Naramore, Lorenzo H. Magill, from August, 1860, to Jan- uary, 1862.
Willis Wariner, from March, 1862, to January, 1863.
C. W. Naramore, L. H. Magill, Willis Wariner, from January, 1862, to January, 1863.
C. W. Naramore, L. H. Magill, Samuel Colley, from January, 1862, to January, 1865.
L. H. Magill, Saml. Colley, Daniel Parker from January, 1865, to May, 1865.
C. W. Naramore, Samuel Colley, William McKissack, from May, 1865, to January, 1867.
C. W. Naramore, Wm. McKissack, Wm. Crowley, from January, 1867, to January, 1869.
C. W. Naramore, Wm. McKissack, Daniel Cramer, from January, 1869, to January, 1873.
Wm. McKissack, Daniel Cramer, Chas. R. Shrewsberry, from January 1873, to January, 1875.
Chas. J. Hughes, from January 1875 to January 1879.
Chas. J. Hughes, George W. Montgomery, Niles Esrey, from January, 1879, to January, 1881.
Charles J. Hughes, Robert Ralph, Thomas B. Hewlett, from January, 1881, to
By act of the general assembly, passed January 7, 1825, the office of the county court in the various counties was vacated, and the powers of said office vested in the several justices of the peace. The justices were required to meet at the county seat and organize the court on the first Monday in March after the passage of the act. In the event they failed to do so, however, the clerk of the county court was authorized to name the justices who should act as a county court for a term of one year.
The justices of the peace for Ray having failed to meet and organize,
16
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HISTORY OF RAY COUNTY.
as the law directed, on the first Monday in March, 1825, Jonathan T. Burch, the clerk, in April of that year, appointed, as a county court, the persons whose names are represented in the list from William P. Thomp- son to James Stanley, inclusive. William B. Martin, John McGaugh and Sebourn J. Miller, were appointed in September to fill vacancies caused by resignation of the first three as given in the list, commencing with Thompson.
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