USA > Missouri > Saline County > History of Saline County, Missouri > Part 48
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The new comers mere mostly from Ohio, who brought with them, not only considerable pecuniary means, but what is of much more value in a new country, intelligent minds and industrious habits.
CHURCHES.
M. E. CHURCH, (NORTHERN METHODISTS.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Malta Bend was organized the third Sabbath in October, 1865, at the house of John Lunbeck. The original members were John Lunbeck, Matilda Lunbeck, Robert S., Virgil R., Caroline, and Mary J. Lunbeck; George and Elizabeth Millice, Henry Millice and wife, Mary Miller and Maggie Miller. A frame church building, costing $1,500, was built in 1871, and dedicated in 1872, by Rev. T. J. Ferrill. The pastors have been S. Alexander, J. R. Sarceen, Mr. Stephens, H. R. Miller, S. P. Salloway, G. T. Smiley, F. Oechsli, C. J. W. Jones, James S. Porter, and the present pastor, Rev. John H. Gillespie. Present membership, 70. The present pastor says a Sabbath school was organ- ized soon after the formation of the original class, but discontinued every winter until 1868, when it was resolved to organize to discontinue only with the coming in of the millennium, which resolution has been kept so far.
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HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.
SOCIETIES.
ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN.
Saline Lodge, No. 108, A. O. U. W., was organized February 10th, 1879, by John A. Brooks. The charter members were E. C. Gill, J. R. Lunbeck, S. Dow, J. F. Coleman, G. W. Newton, S. T. Warren, J. S. Holloway, W. C. Slusher, J. R. Brown, A. C. Bickers, J. S. Vanstone, M. R. Lawson, Dr. Lupton, A. T. Palmer, W. J. McCarty, C. H. Vanstone, and Mr. Snoddy. The first officers were E. C. Gill, P. M. W .; J. R. Lunbeck, M. W .; Simon Dow, G. F .; J. S. Holloway, Overseer; J. F. Coleman, Guide; S. T. Warren, F .; W. C. Slusher, Receiver; G. W. Newton, Recorder; J. R. Brown, I. W .; Dr. Lupton, O. W. The present officers are A. F. Brown, P. M. W .; J. L. F. Lupton, M. W .; J. R. Lun- beck, G. F .; M. R. Lawson, Overseer; A. C. Bickers, Guide; A. F. Pal- mer, F .; J. F. Coleman, Receiver; E. C. Gill, Recorder ; S. Dow, I. W .; J. H. Gillespie, O. W. Present membership, 14. The lodge meets in a frame hall rented by themselves. None has ever been built.
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS.
Eureka Lodge, No. 538, I. O. G. T., was organized June 20th, 1873, by D. B. Bernard, state deputy. The charter members were W. H. Lun- beck, C. L. VanMeter, Bessie E. Miller, R. S. Lunbeck, S. T. Warren, John T. Maxson, Olive J. Hughes, Lyda Miller, Alice Cooper, Lydia Howard, Mary A. Maxson, Jacob Miller, Deborah Maxson, J. M. Rich- mond and others. The first officers were: W. C. T., C. L. VanMeter; W. V. T., Bessie E. Miller; Chaplain, R. S. Lunbeck ; P. W. C. T., W. P. Chapline; W. R. S., S. T. Warren. The present officers are: W. C. T., J. H. Gillespie; W. V. T., Mrs. A. E. Lunbeck; W. Treas., Miss A. M. Wilson, etc. The number of members at this time is 52. The hall used is a frame, built by John Blosser in 1869. It was first occupied by the Masons, then by the Odd Fellows, then by the Patrons of Husbandry, I. O. G. T., Cornet Band, and A. O. U. W. The hall is now owned by J. R. Lunbeck and occupied by the Good Templars and the A. O. U. W.
LAYNESVILLE.
The town of Laynesville is situated on section 32, township 52, and range 22, on the bank of the Missouri River. It was founded in the year 1870, by John W. Layne, a large stock dealer, shipper and commis- sion merchant, then living in the town of Malta Bend, on the Petite Saw Plains. G. T. Walden opened the first store, having a stock of general merchandise. A postoffice was located here very soon after it was first laid out. Until 1875 the town of Laynesville flourished and grew rap- idly, being one of the heaviest shipping points on the river. The rail- roads which then traversed the county, cut off a large part of its trade,
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and since it has been on the decline. In 1875, when at its zenith, it had one general store, one grocery, one drug store, one large flouring mill, three large warehouses, one saw mill, two physicians, one church, and one good school. It has now, in 1881, dwindled down to one general stock store and postoffice, two warehouses, two sawmills, one church and school. During the spring just past, the vast flood in the river inundated the town and submerged the whole bottom, with the exception of a long, narrow bench of land between Laynesville.
COUNTRY CHURCHES.
ASBURY CHAPEL.
Asbury Chapel, under the control of the Northern Methodists, or Methodist Episcopal Church, was organized in 1874. The original members were Elias Ray, Rachael Ray, Nancy Settles, Elias Settles, Susan F. Jones, D. Boothe, G. Kilpatrick, Jack Hazell, Mrs. Hazell, H. Jones and Lewis Jones. A house of worship was built in 1880. It is a frame and cost $1000. It was dedicated March 27th of the same year by Rev. J. N. Pierce. The names of pastors are C. J. W. Jones, Jas. S. Porter, and John H. Gillespie. The present membership is twelve. There is a good Sabbath-school in connection with the church, with an excellent library, and the school lasts all the year round.
MIAMI TOWNSHIP.
This township, lying upon the Missouri river, and containing an abund- ance of timber, was one of the first settled in the county. For a sketch of its early settlement, the reader is referred to the histories of the settle- ment of the Miami and Edmonson's bottom.
Other settlements were made, however, of which there is no certain record. According to Judge Tyree Davis, in township 53, range 20, was the first settlement in that neighborhood, in 1817, by Daniel Tillman, who came from Tennessee and settled on section 34. Thomas Rogers came from Tennessee in 1817, and settled on section 1, township 52, range 20; Richard Cummings came in 1817, locating on section 2; Uriah Davis, from Kentucky, in 1820, on section 34; Abel Garrett, in 1817, on section 3, all in township 52, range 20.
The first death in the neighborhood was that of Miss Rhoda Brown, in 1819. The body was buried on the line between townships 52 and 53 and between sections 34 and 35.
The first marriage was that of Neal Fulton and Lucy Harris, in 1820 or 1821, on section 34, township 53.
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The first male child born was John Fulton, son of Neal and Lucy Ful- ton (the first couple married), in 1821. The first female child born was Sarah Davis, daughter of Uriah and Elizabeth Davis, in 1821.
The first church was organized by the Baptists, at High Hill, about the year 1829, near the graveyard still in the field of the widow Gilliam. The first religious services had been previously held in the house of Abel Gar- rett. See history of early religious organizations.
The first school house was built by the community in the year 1820. It was located on section 3, township 52, range 20. The first teacher was Laban Garrett, who had about twenty scholars. See early schools.
The first practicing physician was Dr. Penn, who came up from near Arrow Rock to visit his patients.
Among the early preachers were Rev. Wm. Ferril, a Methodist, an uncle of Jesse Ferril, of Miami; Hugh R. Smith and Abbott Hancock Cumberland Presbyterians. Rev. Smith died at Clinton, Henry county, and Rev. Hancock in California.
The first cloth manufactured in the township was by Mrs. Susan Wolf- skill and Mrs. Ellen Wheeler, from cotton raised, ginned, carded and spun, by themselves, and "nettle flax."
In the neighborhood of the town of Miami the settlements were begun in 1817, in which year there came by keel-boat John Cook, Samuel Perry, Martin Waddle, Wm. Adams, and Mat. Maze, all from Kentucky, except Perry, who was from Pennsylvania. This history is given upon the authority of Alfred Wheeler and his wife Ruth, and Mr. J. P. Scott, of Miami. Mrs. Wheeler was born in Cooper's Fort, Howard county, and Mr. W. was raised in the neighborhood, whose history in part he relates. According to their testimony, Perry settled on a part of section 27, town- ship 53, range 21, and the rest near by.
The first marriage was that of John Perry and Polly Harris, in the year 1819. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Harris, of the M. E. Church.
The first male child born was Samuel Perry, in March, 1818. His parents were Samuel S. and Betsy Perry. The first female born was Keziah Perry, the date of whose birth is June 7, 1819. She was a sister of Samuel Perry, Jr.
The first death was that of John Harris, in 1818. He was buried in what was known as the old bluff graveyard.
Dr. Penn and Dr. John Sappington were the first regular physicians in the neighborhood. Dr. Sappington came from near Arrow Rock, 25 miles away, for nearly ten years, to attend the sick of this community.
The first religious services were at the house of Thomas Clemmons, in the years 1819, 1820, and 1821. They were conducted by Rev. Harris, a Methodist minister.
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HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.
The first school in the Miami botton was taught by Wm. Ferril. He had ten or twelve scholars at one dollar a scholar per month. Mr. Ferril subsequently removed to Jackson county and died in the year 1861. The first school house was built on the southwest corner of section 22, town- ship 53, range 21, in the year 1820, by the citizens. No public aid was ever received. The building was of logs, with clapboard roof, the boards fastened down with poles reaching across and pinned to the logs; the floor was of puncheons; the cracks between the logs were "chinked " and then daubed with mud mortar.
Mrs. Betsy Perry and Mrs. Jenny Cook wove the first cloth in the neighborhood. They raised their own cotton, carded, spun, and colored it; then wove it and prepared it for the needle. For many years they raised and prepared their own indigo and madder, which were the dye- stuffs they used. Afterwards they raised flax, which they hatcheled, or "hackled," and spun and mixed with cotton, or wove webs together of linen. Carpet weaving was not done by the early settlers, for they needed no carpets.
It was forty miles from this settlement to the nearest store-at Old Franklin-or to the nearest flouring mill. The settlers ground their corn (they had no wheat) by hand in, a mortar with a pestle, or in rude simple mills. Their vehicles were one-horse carts or sleds drawn by oxen. The plows used were the old bar share, with wooden moldboards.
The first shipments or exports of produce from the colony were made in 1822, by Samuel Perry, who bought a flatboat load of pork at from $1 to $1.50 per hundred weight, which he marketed at a fair profit at Old Franklin and Booneville. The first potatoes and other produce were shipped the next year, by Joseph Clemmons. The shippers made their own boats out of timber hewn in the woods and of plank sawed by hand with the old whip-saw.
Among the pioneers of the Miami bottom whose memory the old set- tlers delight to honor was Robert Patrick, the government contractor, some of whose good qualities are narrated in the general history of this volume. It was he who could travel through the Indian territories with his property when no other white man could. He lived at Patrick's Bend, on the Missouri, a tract of land comprising about 1,000 acres, where he col- lected his cattle preparatory to driving them to the U. S. forts.
While Mr. Patrick was engaged in driving his cattle to fill his contracts, he supplied himself with food in the following manner: Before leaving home he would parch a quantity of corn, grind it in a hand-mill, and put it in a leathern sack for safe keeping; this answered for bread. His meat was obtained as he traveled from the herds of deer along the line of his road, and from other kinds of game. In this way he made enough money to buy a considerable tract of land from the government. His wife
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raised cotton and flax, which she prepared for the spinning-wheel and loom.
The women of the settlement had to prepare all the cloth used for clothing from the raw material. Often they hunted for nettles, which they stripped of their lint and used as flax. Four yards of the cloth made in those days was sufficient for a dress. However, no basques and polonaises, and overskirts and lengthy trains were deemed essential to a dress then. The men tanned their own leather, made their own shoes and leather pants, and did much of the work themselves that is now done for their descendants by tailors and bootmakers.
In the southern part of the township, according to T. R. E. Harvey, Esq., the first settlers in township 51, range 21, were Wm. Brown, from Cumberland county, Va., who settled on section 9; Maj. Thos. H. Har- vey, of Northumberland county, Va., who came in 1836, locating on sec- tion 17; Lewis Carthrae came before the year 1836, to section 21; P. Y. Irvine, came in 1833, to section 10; J. H. Irvine came in 1837 to the southwest quarter of section 16; Hugh Irvine, the same year, to the northwest quarter of section 22; Col. J. B. Brown in 1837 to the north- east quarter of section 4; O. Miller in 1840 to section 3; Josiah Gauldin in 1838 to section 3; J. A. Saufley in 1840 to section 5. All of these were from the state of Virginia.
The first marriage remembered is that of Daniel T. Guthrey and Har- riet Brown, at Col. John B. Brown's, about the year 1842. The cere- mony was performed by a Methodist minister.
The first regular physician in the neighborhood was Dr. E. M. Tal- bott, of Kentucky, who is still engaged in the profession in this township.
The first minister was Rev. Millice, a Methodist, who held services in the old school house on the farm of Major Harvey.
The first school was taught on the farm of Major Harvey, in the year 1838, by T. D. Wheaton, of Newport, R. I., who afterward became Pre- siding Chief-Justice of the territory of New Mexico. The first school house was built about the year 1840, by the settlers, on the southwest quarter of section 15. It was a simple log house, no money being paid out for its construction except for nails and shingles.
Among the many interesting incidents of the early history of this portion of the township, is one relating to a marriage ceremony per- formed at an early day. A negro man belonging to Maj. Harvey, and a negro woman, the property of Col. Jno. Brown, were married " at the residence of the bride." They expected a minister or magistrate to per- form the ceremony, but as neither of these personages came, a daughter of Col. Brown stepped out into the yard and performed the ceremony herself. "No cards."
In the neighborhood of Fairville, upon the authority of Josiah Gauldin,
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HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.
a resident of the township since 1831, it may be stated that the first set- tlers were Mrs. Green McCafferty, wife of the surveyor of the county, who came before the year 1831 to section 31, township 52, range 21; Daniel Snoddy, from Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1832, to section 10, township 51, range 21; James Lewis, from West Virginia, in 1836, to sec- tion 10, township 51, range 21.
The first marriage was that of Daniel Snoddy to Miss Jane Brown, which occurred in 1833, at the residence of Mr. James Brown. The cere- mony was performed by a Methodist minister.
The first regular physician was Dr. George Penn, from Arrow Rock. He afterward became a noted Democratic politician, and removed to St. Louis.
The first schools were taught in the grove where Mr. A. T. Irvine now lives, in section 15. The teachers were Mr. Kirby, John Duggins, Col. John W. Reid and Capt. Ruxton. About twenty scholars attended. The tuition was $1 per scholar per month. Here the first school-house was built. It was a frame, 18 feet square, and cost about $100. It was built by the neighborhood.
The first weaving of cloth was done by Mrs. Sarah A. Gauldin, wife of Josiah Gauldin. She wove on a loom made by a Mr. Smith, and did all kinds of weaving.
The Glasgow and Lexington road was the only thoroughfare through this settlement in an early day. The settlers went to Jonesboro and Arrow Rock for what supplies in the way of "store goods" they were compelled to have. The store in Arrow Rock was kept by C. F. Jack- son (afterward governor) and Samuel Miller; the merchants at Jonesboro were Hook & Bros. and Gov. Marmaduke and Darwin Sappington.
The capture of the fort of the Miami Indians is detailed in another chapter. From information received since that portion of this history was written, it is learned, upon the authority of Mr. Jesse Ferril, whose father, Henry Ferril, was a member of Captain Cooper's company of volunteers, that the Miamis were expecting an attack from the whites, and had evac- uated their fort to avoid it. Some of the Indians had the mainsprings of their guns broken, and supplied their places with others made of seasoned hickory, which answered all purposes very well.
In 1859, Mr. Jesse Ferril met an interpreter for the remnant of the Miami Indians, then living in Kansas. This interpreter gave the version of the capture of the fort as related to him by the old Miamis, and it comports in all substantial particulars with that given in this history.
Miami township abounds in many features of interest to the archaeolo- gist and antiquarian. In this township are the "Pinnacles," the old French fort, and the probable site of the massacre of the Spaniards by the Indians in the eighteenth century. Many remains of the mound
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HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.
builders' age, the stone age, and other pre-historic ages, are to be found in many parts of the township. Upon this subject and others connected with the history of the township, Mr. Jesse Ferril says:
There are many evidences and traces of occupants prior to the settle- ment by the whites in Miami township, among which are the remains of the old fort, which is about four miles south of the town of Miami, in what is called the Pinnacle hills. East of said fort, on the farms now owned by R. M. Williams and E. S. Casebolt, there have frequently been dug up portions of human skeletons. About thirty years ago I saw a young man named Thomas Wheeler, who had his pockets full of hunian teeth that he had drawn from the skulls and jaws of skeletons dug up when setting fence-posts on the above named farms, and I understand that human bones are frequently found at this day on said farms, from which fact I suppose there was once a great battle fought at that place. The Indians that were then in possession of this country when the whites first settled it knew nothing about the people who had built the fort and mounds in this portion of the country. There was also in an early day a great quantity of broken crockery-ware found in this vicinity and in the Pinnacle hills, all that I ever saw of which was unglazed. There were also pipes made of red stone and arrow-heads made from flints, and red stone used for paints. These were, I have no doubt, made and used by the Indians, for I have myself seen them have pipes of the same kind of stone and of a similar make. Stone axes were sometimes found. I dug one up which was about eighteen inches under ground when found, where the Christian Church now stands, in the town of Miami. I have dug into several mounds, in some of which I found charcoal and animal bones, and in others limestone rocks, which seemed to have been placed there by man, but did not show any marks of the mason's hammer. There was nothing peculiar about the bones that is noteworthy.
The first white settlement was made in the Miami bottom in the years 1817 and 1818, and the names of the settlers, as I now recollect, were William McMahan, Thomas Clemens, John Cook, Samuel Perry and Henry Ferril, most of whom were from Kentucky. ( This was before I was born, and I only state what I have heard from my parents). These were farmers, but furnished their families with meat mostly by hunting. Henry Ferril and John Ferril, his father, frequently went on trapping expeditions for beaver, some years previous to that date, from Howard county, and also on hunting expeditions after buffalo and elk, and would go as high up the Missouri river as Kansas river, and up it some distance, and other parties sometimes went with them. They had no trouble with the Indians after 1818. The Shawnees and some other tribes frequently came through this part of the country, up to 1836, but were friendly. I have frequently seen the Shawnees and my father, Henry Ferril, go on a
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bear chase together. I have also seen the Shawnees and whites practice rifle-shooting at a mark together. The old hunters among the whites could generally beat them at the target, but the Indians could generally beat the ordinary farmer and hunter.
INCIDENTS OF EARLY HISTORY.
The following incidents of the early history of the township, have been furnished by Hon. J. B. Ish, one of the first settlers in the county.
THE BIG SNOW OF 1827-8.
The winter of 1827-8, was a remarkably hard one. It snowed without intermission from Christmas to New Year, and the snow was three feet deep on a level. Fortunately it did not blow while the snow was falling, or after, until the snow settled, and did not drift. It crusted so hard that men could walk on top, but no brute could move. There was an abun- dance of wild game in the country then, and deer could be caught by a man, but were too lean when caught to be of any use. In the early times hogs were allowed to run in the woods, and could generally live the year round on mast. They only ate corn occasionally out of compliment to the settlers. They became wild, and were killed by the hunters (and every settler was a hunter) the same as deer and other wild game. Thousands of them perished during this hard winter. Wild turkeys froze to death, and dropped off the roost.
Honey was so abundant in the wilds, that every other tree was a bee- hive, and the other hollow trees had 'coons in them, was an old saying of the settlers. The suffering among the stock was fearful indeed. The men did not suffer so much, as they could walk upon the snow.
NEW MADRID LAND TITLES.
The great earthquake of 1811, which destroyed a good portion of southeast Missouri, left the people in great poverty. Congress came to their relief, and passed an act granting to each settler there a transferable land warrant for 160 acres of land that might be selected and located any- where that unappropriated lands were to be found, and government sur- veys were not permitted to disturb these lines. Jacob Ish bought two of these warrants, and located the first warrant in 1816 in the Big Bottom, and probably owned the first title to land in Saline county.
The government surveyed this country, and located a land office at Old Frankfort, opposite Booneville, and put the land on sale at $2.12} per acre, in 1818, advertising on what day a congressional township would be sold. The terms of sale were, one-quarter down, and the remainder in three equal yearly payments, which proved very disadvantageous for both government and purchasers. Each man that had money enough to pur- chase a quarter-section cash, would purchase, instead, a whole section of
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HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.
640 acres, and make the first payment. In most cases the purchaser failed to make the other payments. Again congress came to their aid, with an act granting them the right to locate on the section they had bought, the number of acres their payments would actually pay for, the remainder of the sections reverting to the government.
OVERFLOWS OF MISSOURI RIVER.
The first general overflow, known to the whites, was in May, 1826, arising from an early thaw in the mountains. The first day of May the river began to rise, and by the 6th it was at its highest. It was five miles wide in the Big bottom, opposite Glasgow, and the water was deepest (20 feet) next the bluffs, proving that the land is higher at the banks than at the bluff. Settlers had to use their cabins for rafts. The grain was rotted, the fences washed away, and three-fourths of the stock drowned. In ten days the water subsided, except in low places, and the settlers returned, got their rails out of the drifts, refenced their land, and planted their crops; and had an abundant crop that year. Notwithstanding the amount of water in the sloughs, and the general prediction, the season was as healthy as any. The next general overflow was in 1844, when the water was even higher than in 1826. There was not so much damage to stock and grain, however, as there were more people and more boats. All the bottoms were overflowed. From the Devil's Backbone, in Saline, to the other side, there was an expanse of water eleven miles wide. Having transferred their stock to the highlands, the settlers made their escape in boats and dugouts made for the purpose. There was great sickness in the fall of 1844, and many died, not only in Saline, but all along the river- The overflow begun early in June, and continued to the end of July.
This township was one of the three original townships in the county. Its boundaries then were much larger than they are at present, and have been changed quite often, and are probably not yet made permanent. Its complete history would itself fill a volume. Before the war it was one of the wealthiest townships in Missouri, its large crops of hemp, corn, wheat and other cereals, and its herds of stock being the means of enrich- ing the farmers, their producers.
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