USA > Missouri > Saline County > History of Saline County, Missouri > Part 46
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DR. JOHN SAPPINGTON.
The subject of this sketch was one of the original pioneers, not only of Saline county, but of the great west-the compatriot of Daniel Boone, the Coopers and others, who first settled Missouri. A man of grand character, of original genius in medicine, he deserves a place in the history of Saline county, second to none, dead or living. Our history would be incomplete without a fuller sketch of Dr. Sappington than has yet been published. He is entitled not only to the local fame he has received, but to a national, nay, world-wide reputation, by the side of physicians like Rush and Hart- ley. It is unquestionably true, that during his whole lifetime, he completely revolutionized the practice of medicine-a practice which, but for him, might not have been changed for centuries, as respects that most frequent
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and fatal of all forms of disease: typhoid, typhus and malarial fevers, pre- vailing so extensively in the low lands of the west.
There is a niche in the temple of fame awaiting the bust of some one, who wrought the great revolution which has transpired during the pres- ent century in this branch of the practice of medicine, (calomel and gallop being the remedial agents formerly relied on, while cold water and fresh air were regarded injurious,) and, if it does not belong to Dr. Sappington, we challenge criticism to inquire to whom it does belong. The theory and practice Dr. Sappington substituted in the treatment of the disease above mentioned being now adopted by the medical profession throughout chris- tendom.
There are many other distinctive features in his treatment of fevers with which the writer is unacquainted, but to the efficacy of which many asso- ciate physicians, with whom he was brought in consultation, during a long practice in the Mississippi valley, will bear testimony. In this department of practice, Dr. Sappington was undoubtedly half a century in advance of the profession at large, and that, too, notwithstanding he gave to his asso- ciate physicians, in consultation and otherwise; the benefit of all the infor- mation he possessed. It has taken this length of time for physicians to educate themselves up to his standpoint, and to generally accept his views.
We are aware that he is not generally known in the light of a great benefactor, as well as luminary in his profession; but there are many rea- sons to account for this, chief among them his own modesty. Having had inferior educational advantages-aside from the instruction of his father, who was likewise a physician-not being a graduate of any liter- ary college, or other institution of learning, (for few of them existed at the close of our revolutionary war, which his boyhood spanned) he was, though self-taught to a high degree, so sensitive on this point that when, in later years, he felt it his duty to give to the world the results of his experience and secrets of success in treating fevers, he employed another physician to write out, from manuscript notes, his theory of their treatment. This work-entitled " Sappington on Fevers "-while it was executed with the best of intentions on the part of its editor, Dr. F. Stith, of Nashville, Tenn., and is full of practical suggestions,-yet was so unlike the doctor in style and substantial merit, that it encountered a good deal of criticism from the profession-even his most intimate friends scarcely recognizing beneath the tinsel of the scribe that broad philosophy which, in conversa- tion, characterized its real author. In other words, Dr. Sappington was not trained to write books, nor to read books very extensively, but with a pro- found perception of human nature, and an acute power to diagnose disease in its many forms -- a ready wit and will to apply remedies in the materia medica or out of it, he followed the promptings of an intuitive genius, like
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Hypocrates the father of medicine, and wrought out a new system in one of its branches, which has enabled others to write volumes, though he himself wrote none.
As illustrative of the originality of Dr. Sappington, we record the fol- lowing incident: A negro boy, one of the doctor's servants, was brought from his quarters and laid upon the porch, in a state of stupor. The doc- tor, seizing a rod, remarked, "d-n you, I'll bring you to," and proceeded to castigate the boy on the feet. This summary processs had the desired effect. The boy was affected with -, and it is well known that he medical profession now resort to Dr. S.'s remedy in all similar cases.
The patient, his symptoms and sufferings, and their remedies at the bed- side, were his school-the only one easily accessible at the early day when he began practice-and therein he was great; but he was not a mocker of learning, nor did he ever affect contempt for scholarly acquirements. As evidence of this fact, as also that he was a pioneer in the cause of popular education, for which his day had not yet provided by law, he placed in the hands of trustees twenty thousand dollars. for the education of the orphan and indigent children of Saline county, his last home, a benefac- tion so judiciously founded and so skillfully managed by the trustees, that, besides educating many hundreds of his neighbor's children, it has appreci- ated to the sum of more than $40,000.
With these observations, going to vindicate the full propriety of inscrib- ing his name among the great men, of any age gone by, in medicine, in philanthrophy, or far-reaching wisdom-we now proceed to give a brief outline of his personal history, appearance, character, etc .:
John Sappington was born in Maryland, May 15, 1776. In person, he was tall, well formed, and commanding, being about six feet in heighi, with blue eyes, of benevolent expression, ruddy complexion, and auburn hair. His nose was aquiline, forehead high and expansive, mouth firm, and the general caste of his features calm and majestic.
His father, Dr. Mark Sappington, who was of English descent, moved to Tennessee at an early day, and settled where Nashville now stands- His mother was a Miss Boyce, a native of Maryland. His parents had six children: Roger, Frank, John, Thomas, Rebecca, and Eleanor. By a subsequent marriage Dr. Mark had two children, Fanny, and Mary. Roger, John, and Thomas, were physicians.
Nashville, at the time his father settled there, was a rude village, sur- rounded by a vast canebrake. There the elder Sappington practiced medicine, and reared his family until John, at least, grew from boyhood to be a man.
John (as well as Roger and Thomas), studied medicine with his father, but all of them had to work on the farm, and get their outside education as best they could, "between crops."
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After John had grown up, however, he practiced medicine several years with his father at Nashville, where the latter died, at a very advanced age.
In 1804, Dr. Sappington married Jane, daughter of William and Eliza- beth Breathitt, of Russellville, Kentucky. He was twenty-eight and she twenty-one years of age. They then settled in Franklin, Tennessee, where Dr. S. practiced medicine till 1807, when he moved to Todd county, Kentucky, and settled near Elkton. Here he combined farming with his practice a year or two, but, becoming dissatisfied, he moved back to Franklin, and devoted himself exclusively to the practice of medi- cine. Becoming more and more interested in his profession, he soon afterward determined to attend a regular course of lectures at Philadel- phia, and-there being no other mode of conveyance-set out on horse- back for that city, about the fall of 1814. He received the degree of doctor of medicine from the Philadelphia Medical College, and returned to Franklin, where he continued the practice of medicine, but in 1817 he emigrated to Missouri, and settled near the present site of Glasgow, in Howard county.
In 1819, he crossed the river and settled, for the remainder of his days, in Saline county, about five miles west of Arrow Rock. Here, while residing on a farm, he practiced medicine with great success, his practice extending from Jefferson City, on the east, to Lexington, on the west, and through all the adjoining counties.
His system of treatment was so entirely different from the old methods that the uniform success which attended it necessarily placed him in very high repute. Before coming to Missouri, however, he had matured his theories, as the following incident will demonstrate: While in the city hospital, in Philadelphia, on one occasion, examining, with a class of fel- low-students, a case of congestive fever, one of the professors, who had exhausted his skill, asked Dr. Sappington what he would do for that patient. "Sir," replied Dr. S., "if I had him in Tennessee I would give him Peruvian bark in whisky."
He made no secret to brother physicians of the remedies he employed, but about the year 1832, being over-taxed with calls and worn out with riding, he took Dr. George Penn as a partner, retiring from the practice himself, and put out for sale in the middle, western and southern states what were known as "Dr. John Sappington's Anti-Fever Pills," which immediately obtained great popularity, as nothing up to that time had been generally used by physicians, capable of breaking remittent fevers.
He first concluded to try the virtues of Peruvian bark in consequence of reading, in his early practice, an account of some travelers in South America who had been cured of what he recognized to be our Mississippi
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valley fevers, by drinking from a lake impregnated with the properties of the trees that grew upon its margin.
In 1844, he published the treatise, already referred to, as embracing his theory and treatment of fevers, making public the formula by which his medicine was prepared. The work appeared just when the memorable overflow of the Mississippi and its tributaries occurred, causing a great deal of sickness; and when, therefore, his medicine was at the height of popularity, and had placed him in a condition to make as many millions of dollars as he had accumulated thousands from its sale. When expos- tulated with, at this time, by relations, he remarked that both he and they had enough to support them comfortably, and that mankind had claims on him as well as his family. This decision he announced with an oath as emphatic as any uttered by Abraham, Isaac or Jacob, though not so rev- erent.
Dr. Sappington was not an orthodox Christian. He was a firm believer in an impartial, just and overruling Providence, but being of a benevolent, charitable turn of mind, he could never see the necessity of a hell to accommodate those of a more malignant and covetous disposition than he possessed. In 1849, corn was quite scarce, and sold at $5 per barrel along the road from Booneville to Independence, which was thronged by emigrants to California, and which led by the doctor's house. Dr. Sap- pington happened to have a bountiful harvest, but never asked over two dollars for his corn, and often charged nothing to those apparently needy.
In politics Dr. Sappington was a Jeffersonian democrat, and intimately associated by personal acquaintance, or correspondence, with many of the most prominent politicians of his time. Among them, Andrew Jackson and Thomas H. Benton. These gentlemen having lived with him at Nashville, were his warm personal, as well as political friends.
He died in the eighty-first year of his age, at his residence, in Saline county, September the 7th, 1856, of a cancer on the forehead, near the right temple-honored and respected by all who knew him and in the full possession of all his faculties.
For years previous to his death he had prepared and ready for the reception of his remains a leaden coffin, which he kept under his bed. At his direction, also, a large rock was hewn out and placed above ground in the cemetery. On this rock was to be placed his coffin after his death. Upon his vault, at his own request, was inscribed the following solitary epitaph :
" AN HONEST MAN IS THE NOBLEST WORK OF GOD."
Dr. Sappington and wife had eight children in the following order, to-wit: Eliza, third wife of Gov. C. F. Jackson, of Missouri; Lavinia, wife of Gov. M. M. Marmaduke, of Missouri; Erasmus D., William B. Jane, first wife of Gov. C. F. Jackson; Louisa, second wife of Gov. C. F.
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HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.
Jackson, Susan Catherine, wife of Capt. L. S. Eddins, of Howard county; Mary E., wife of Dr. Wm. Price, of Saline county, and Sarah Margaret, who died at the age of thirteen.
Jane, the first wife of Gov. Jackson, died a few months after their mar- riage. Louisa, the second wife, died after giving birth to Wm. S. and Jno. B. Jackson, who were left in charge of Eliza, the widow of Alonzo Pearson, and she afterward became the third wife of Gov. Jackson.
A few years before his death, Dr. Sappington, in order to prevent any trouble or dissatisfaction in the division of his estate, auctioned off his real property among his children and the heirs of those who had died before him, reserving for himself only a frugal support for the time that might be left him.
His wife, to whom was due all of the happiness and much of the suc- cess that marked her husband's career, had died December the 14th, 1852. In recording that event we find the following words, written by the doc- tor's own hand:
"Though loth to part, no doubt she had a fair prospect of a better world."
Jane, the wife of the subject of this sketch, was the eldest of eight chil- dren, born to William and Elizabeth Breathitt, of Kentucky. John, the second child, became a lawyer, and died in 1834, while governor of Ken- tucky. Edward was a physician, and studied medicine under Dr. Sap- pington. James was a lawyer; Cordwell was a farmer and merchant at Russelville, Kentucky, and George, the youngest of Mrs. Sappington's brothers, was private secretary to President Jackson, and died in that service May 23d, 1833.
Township Histories.
GRAND PASS TOWNSHIP.
A portion of the history of the early settlement of this township is given under the head of Early Settlements, in the division allotted to the Petite Osage Bottom. The history of its settlement by neighborhoods is here given.
EARLY SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS.
Mr. John P. De Moss, of township 52, range 21, states that the first settlers were Capt. Daniel Kaiser, of Virginia; Geo. Davis, who came between the years 1818 and 1820, from Ross county, Ohio, and located upon section 8; the Lewises-Wm. H., Maj .- Gen. Geo. W., and Col. Jno. M.,-came in 1830, settling on section 21, 22 and 27; Col. John S. Yancey came from Virginia in 1834, to section 18; Alex. McClintick in 1834, from Virginia, to section 29; Capt. John A. White in 1836, from Virginia, to section 22; Mr. Renick from Ohio, in 1839, to section 23.
The first marriage was that of John Kenton and Juliet Davis, at the residence of Geo. Davis, about the year 1836. Squire J. H. McMillan, in 1836, married Nelson McReynolds to Anna Craig, in Lafayette county, his own jurisdiction being in this township. Several years afterward, after quite a family of children had been raised, the parties thought the ceremony had been illegal, and went to a clergyman in their own county and were remarried.
. The first male child born was Edwin H. Lewis, in 1832; parents, Geo. W. and Harriet Lewis.
The first death was that of Hannah De Moss, October 26, 1839. She was buried in the graveyard, one and a half miles west of Waverly, in Lafayette county.
The first practicing physician was Dr. Culp, who came from Alabama, and returned to that state.
The first minister was Rev. Abram Millice, a Methodist, and the first religious services were held at the house of Capt. Jno. De Moss.
The first school was taught at the Notley Thomas place, by Miss Louisa Lewis, who now lives in Waverly; she had about a dozen pupils at a salary of about $12 a month. Those who could afford it in those days usually employed private instructors. Hon. J. W. Bryant, after- ward, and now a prominent attorney of the county, was tutor for some
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years in the family of Col. Yancey. The first school house was built on Col. Yancey's farm, in 1838, by Col. Yancey, Wm. De Moss, Jas. Brown, Alex. McClintock and Geo. Davis, at a cost of about $50.
For many years after the country was settled there was but one road, the State; there were no bridges, no defined roads to the timber or from one house to another. Milling was done at Dover or Jonesboro, twenty- two miles away. Other supplies were obtained at Dover or Arrow Rock, and sometimes from Lexington, from whence all lumber was brought. Goods were brought from Jonesboro and Dover, in wagons; from Lexing- ton by river, in steamboats when they ran. The first boats went no higher up the river than Lexington.
MRS. NANNIE E. KAISER.
This lady, an old settler herself, states that the first settlers she remembers were those mentioned by Mr. De Moss, with the addition of Mr. Huffman, who came in 1828, from Virginia, to section 2, and Wm. Miller, who came in 1826.
The first marriage she remembers was that of Mr. Armentrout to Miss Margaret Huffman. The ceremony was performed by Esq. Davis at the residence of Capt. Kaiser.
The first birth of a male child in her neighborhood was that of Wil- liam Harvey Miller, son of Samuel and Priscilla Miller, in 1830. The first female child born was Frances Lewis, in 1830, whose parents were Wm. M. and Eliza G. Lewis.
The first death was that of Wm. Thompson, in 1829; he was buried on the old Lewis farm, west of Marshall. Frances and Mrs. Eliza G. Lewis were buried in the same graveyard.
The first physician was Dr. John Sappington.
The first ministers she remembers were J. K. Lacy, Jesse Green, Patterson, Abram Millice and - Jones, all Methodists. Services were held at the house of Col. Lewis, west of Marshall.
The first school was taught near Salt Fork, at a place called Pilot Knob, by Col. Wm. Lewis, in 1829. He had about twenty-five scholars. Col. L. died in Lafayette county, in 1845. His school house was the first built in that community. It was of logs and cost probably $25.
The first orchard planted in the settlement was that of Geo. Davis.
REESE McNEIL.
The first male child born in this gentleman's neighborhood, was Edward Parsons, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sarah Parsons. The date of birth is 1842. The first death was that of Archibald McClintock, in 1845. He was buried on Capt. Kaiser's farm.
About 1849, Mr. Wm. Wallace was deliberately murdered at Miami by
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HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.
an entire stranger. A year or two previously a Mr. Deckard was drowned in the river above Miami.
DAVID MCREYNOLDS.
Mr. Joseph McReynolds settled on section 17, in 1824; Samuel McRey- nolds settled on section 18 in 1821; both were from Tennessee. Notley Thomas settled on section 18 in 1819; he was from Kentucky.
The first physician was Dr. G. W. Hereford, still a resident of the county.
The first school was taught in section 18, near the county line, by Hugh French, in the year 1827 or 1828. He had ten pupils, and his salary was $1 per scholar per month. The first school house was built in the same place in 1827. It was of logs, with a puncheon floor.
The trading points at that time were Fayette, Booneville, Old Frank- lin, Arrow Rock. Dover was the nearest milling point. The first post- office was in Lafayette county, about a mile from the Saline county line, and near Waverly, on the Webb place. John Dustin was the postmaster The first steamboat carrying freight and passengers, that ascended the Missouri as high as Lexington, is remembered to be the Globe, comman- ded and owned by Capt. Glasgow, after whom the city of Glasgow, How- ard county, was named. She made her first trip in 1835; on her third trip down the river, being heavily loaded with corn, she sank. Prior to this time, navigation on the river was conducted by keel-boats, propelled by poles or pulled up by ropes.
In the first days of this settlement, horse-flies were a great plague. It was impossible to travel in the daytime with horses on account of the immense swarms of these bloodthirsty insects. Farmers were compelled to do much of their work at night. The season of these pests was in August and September, lasting about forty days. They were hatched in the long prairie grass, then everywhere abounding.
HUGH GILHAM.
The first settlers in the vicinity of this gentleman's residence, township 51, range 23-Gilham's Landing-was Richard Malone, of Tennessee; Nicholas James, of Virginia, who came in 1830, to section 32, township 52; Harper Meadows, also from Virginia, who came in 1835 or 1836, to section 7, township 51, and Milton and Alex. Galbraith, who came in 1835, from Tennessee, to section 31, township 52. Mr. Gilham himself came in 1837.
The first marriage was that of Joseph Minter and Sarah Allison in 1841, and took place in section 8, where the M. E. Church South now stands. The ceremony was by Joel Meadows, Esq. The first male child born was John James, in 1840. His parents were Nicholas and Mary James; the latter is still living. Nancy Gilham, daughter of Isaac and
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HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.
Mary Gilham, was the first female child born. She was born February 21, 1839. The first death was that of Isaac Gilham, August 8, 1840. He was buried in the Slusher graveyard, Lafayette county.
The first regular physician was Dr. James Warren, who now lives in Waverly. The first minister was Rev. Jamison, Methodist, and the first religious services were at the house of Mrs. Mary Gilham:
The first school was taught near where the M. E. church now stands, by Edward Marsh. He had about fifteen scholars at about one dollar per month. The first school house was built on section 9, about 1846. Its cost was perhaps fifty dollars.
Mrs. Nancy James was renowned in early times as a weaver of cloth. She also attained great fame and notoriety as a weaver of figured cover- lets, and other ornamental work.
The nearest grist mill was James Brown's, on Salt Fork, south of Malta bend. The nearest supply points, in the order of distance, were Webb's landing, Marshall, and Dover.
MRS. LOUISA S. MAJOR.
First birth of male child was Col. John H. Lewis, April 1, 1831. His parents were Col. John and Mary J. Lewis. The first female born was Rachel Lewis, daughter of Wm. H. and Elizabeth Lewis. The first death was James Lewis, son of Gen. G. W. Lewis, in 1830. He was buried in the field south of the blacksmith shop, between Grand Pass church and Malta Bend. First religious services were held at Col. John Miller's, in 1831. Mrs. Louisa S. Major was the first school teacher. She had eleven scholars, and taught for twenty-two dollars per month.
OTHER ITEMS OF EARLY HISTORY.
Concerning other details of the early history of this township, it may be stated that among the first marriages were those of John McReynolds and Miss Lucinda Meadows, in 1841; Wm. Brown to his cousin, about 1830; Chas. L. Carthrae and Julia H. R. Brown; Mr. P. Webb and Miss Jane Harvey, about 1838; George C. Fletcher and Miss Mary A. Hall.
Births were James Meadows, in 1840; Tyree Carthrae, in 1840; Hubert and Granville Harvey, twins, in 1837; Wm. H. Deckard, in 1830, and Mary Meadows, in 1840, and Kate Virginia Carthrae, in 1842.
Deaths were Mary McReynolds, accidentally burned to death, about 1835; Preston Vivian, in 1840, and Mrs. Eliza Lewis, wife of Col. Wm. Lewis, in 1830.
Drs. Hamilton, McGill, Rucker, and Toles were early physicians. Revs. Williams, Benj. Johnson, Weedin, and Jamison were the first ministers. Pioneer school teachers were Miss Louisa Lewis, Mr. Minor, and Clifton Wood. The first postoffice in that part of the county was on the farm
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where John Black now lives. It was called Cow Creek. Green McCaf- ferty was postmaster. The postage on a letter at that day was 25 cents.
THE VERY EARLIEST SETTLERS.
The following were the names of some of the first settlers in the west- ern part of the county: Anthony Thomas, from . Kentucky, came to Saline in 1818; John D. Thomas, from same, in 1818; Notley Thomas, same, in 1818; Elisha Evans, from Kentucky, in 1819; Andrew Rus- sell, same, 1819; John Lincoln, a brother of President Lincoln, from Kentucky, in 1819; John Baxter, in 1819 Wm. White, from Tennessee, in 1819; L. B. Estes, Kentucky, 1819, and many others whose records have been lost. John Lincoln was a blacksmith in the county, and con- tinued that kind of work until 1829. He then went to Clay county, where he married a Miss Duncan. An uneducated man, tall, angular, rough and uncouth. The first marriage among these settlers was James Heal to Miss Sallie Estes, in 1820, near where Sandy White now lives. The first child born was Rebecca Thomas (now Palmer) to Notley and Lucy C. Thomas. That of Anthony Thomas was the first death, occurring in 1825, who was buried at the Thomas graveyard, just north of where Baltimore Thomas' house now stands. The first regular physician was. Dr. P. G. Buck, who settled on or very near the line between Saline and Lafayette counties. The first school house built in the western part of the county was built in 1820, in the neighborhood of Grand Pass, was made with logs, daubed with mud, with an earthen floor.
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