USA > Missouri > St Charles County > History of St. Charles, Montgomery, and Warren counties, Missouri, written and comp. from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri > Part 32
USA > Missouri > Montgomery County > History of St. Charles, Montgomery, and Warren counties, Missouri, written and comp. from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri > Part 32
USA > Missouri > Warren County > History of St. Charles, Montgomery, and Warren counties, Missouri, written and comp. from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri > Part 32
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Hiram Baber married a daughter of Jesse Boone. He was sheriff of St. Charles county one term, and was a reckless, fun-loving sort of a man. He built a brick residence in St. Charles, and carved over
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the door, in large letters, " Root Hog, or Die." He moved from St. Charles to Jefferson City, and became one of the leading men of the State. He made a great deal of money, and spent it as freely as he made it. He would often, in braggadocio, light his pipe with bank bills, to show how easily he could make money and how little he cared for it.
The ancestors of the Coalter family, of St. Charles, were members of the Presbyterian colony that settled in Augusta county, Va., at an early date. From among them we have obtained the following names : David, John, Polly; Jane and Ann. John was married four times. His third wife was a Miss Tucker, sister of Judge Beverly Tucker, and half sister of John Randolph, of Roanoke. They had two children : St. George and Elizabeth. The latter married John Randolph Bryant, of Fluvanna county, Va. David married Ann. Carmicle, of South Carolina, and the names of their children were John D., Beverly T., Maria, Catharine, Fanny, Caroline and Julia. Polly married Judge Beverly Tucker, who became eminent as a jurist. Jane married John Naylor, of Pennsylvania. They settled in Ken- tucky, but removed to Missouri in 1818. They had seven children, James, John, William, Thomas, Caroline, Sophronia and Ann. The boys all died about the time they were grown. Ann married a Mr. Ward, of Kentucky. (Children of David Coalter. ) John D. mar- ried Mary Meanes, of South Carolina, and settled in St. Charles county, where he lived until two years prior to his death, when he removed to St. Louis. He had but one child. Mr. Coalter was a talented and influential attorney, and also a leading member of the Legislature of his State. Beverly T. was a physician. He married Elizabeth McQueen, of Pike county, where he resided. They had three children, one son and two daughters. Dr. Tucker was a gen- tleman of fine business qualifications. Maria married Hon. William C. Preston, of South Carolina, and died, leaving one daughter, who died when she was about grown. Catharine married Judge William Harper, of South Carolina, who removed to Missouri and became judge of the Court of Chancery. They had several children, but only one survives. Fannie married Dr. David H. Meanes, of South Carolina. The Doctor removed to Missouri and remained a short time, and then returned to South Carolina, where his wife died. They had several children. Caroline married Hamilton R. Gamble, of St. Louis. They had two sons and one daughter. Julia married Hon. Edward Bates, and is now a widow, living in St. Louis. (Chil- dren of Jane Naylor nee Coalter. ) Caroline Naylor married Dr.
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William B. Natt. They removed to Livingston, S. C., where Dr. N. died, leaving a widow and five children. Sophronia married James W. Booth, of Pike county, Mo., who subsequently removed to St. Louis, and became a commission merchant.
The father of John and George Collier lived in the State of New Jersey, not far from the city of Philadelphia. He died when they were quite young, and their mother being an energetic, industrious woman, determined to do the best she could for herself and family. She purchased two milk cows with the little money that her husband had left her, and opened a small dairy. It was not long until she owned and milked one hundred cows, and in a few years had accumu- lated a handsome fortune. Desiring to come West, she sold her dairy and other property, and, in 1815, came to St. Charles with her two sons and $40,000 in cash. The two boys, being no less energetic than their mother, supplied themselves with a small stock of goods, and for several years followed the tiresome and dangerous calling of country peddlers, carrying their goods on their backs. They made money, and in a few years opened a store in St. Charles. Here they rapidly augmented their means, and, desiring to extend their business, they established a branch store at Troy, in Lincoln county, and shortly after another in St. Louis. Mrs. Collier bought a residence in St. Charles, and kept several negro women busy making coarse shirts and various other kinds of garments, which her sons sold in their stores. She was a devoted Methodist, and as earnest and zeal- ous in her religion as in everything else. She always entertained the Methodist ministers when. they came to St. Charles, and kept a room in her house exclusively for their benefit, no one else being allowed to use it. In 1830 she had erected upon her own grounds the first Methodist house of worship in St. Charles, which was occupied by her congregation for religious services, free of rent. She also author- ized the occupancy of the house as a common school-room, reserving, by way of rent, the privilege of sending four pupils of her own selec- tion, at the then customary tuition price of $1 per month each. The school progressed so satisfactorily that Mrs. Collier determined to appropriate $5,000 to the building of a school house for Protest- ant children in the village ; and after giving the subject mature delib- eration, she broached it to her son George. He not only heartily commended her plan, but desired to build the house himself - a larger and better one than $5,000 would procure -and that his mother's donation should constitute an endowment fund for the institution. This was agreed upon, and in 1834 the building, which has since been
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HISTORY OF ST. CHARLES COUNTY.
known as St. Charles College, was erected, at a cost, including the grounds, of $10,000. Beriah Cleland, well known to the older citi- zens of St. Charles, was the builder. The college was opened in 1835, under the presidency of Rev. John F. Fielding ; and for many years the president's salary was paid out of Mr. Collier's private purse. The college prospered beyond expectation under the liberal patronage of its generous benefactor, who gave in all fully $50,000 to the institution. George Collier did more for the cause of educa- tion in his adopted State than any other man, and has received but little credit for it. The alumni of the college spread through Mis- sissippi, Louisiana, and the western part of this State, and opening schools and other institutions of learning, diffused, the benefits of science and knowledge throughout an immense extent of country. Many of the leading men and educators of this State studied the sciences under the roof of this parent institution. Mrs. Collier died in 1835, but made provision in her will for the carrying out of her part of the philanthropic enterprise. By some mistake the sum donated by her was lost, but it was promptly replaced by her son, and at his death, in 1852, he left an endowment of $10,000 for the college, on condition that the county court of St. Charles county donate a similar amount for the same purpose. The court complied with the requirements of the will, and the college was promptly endowed with $20,000. George Collier married Frize Morrison, daughter of James Morrison, of St. Charles. She was a Catholic, and according to the rules of her church, could not be married by a Protestant minister ; but Mr. Collier, refusing to be married by a priest, the ceremony was performed by Judge Benjamin Emmons. Mrs. Morrison wanted her daughter to be re-married by a priest of her church, but Mr. Collier objected, saying that he was married well enough to suit him, and then added, good-humoredly, that if she wanted her daughter back again, she could take her. But the old lady concluded to let the matter drop, and said nothing more about the second ceremony.
Daniel Colgin was a tailor by trade, and settled in St. Charles county (where the poor-house now stands ) in 1806. He made a deep cellar under his log cabin, and placed a trap-door in the floor, just in- side of the door, and every night when he went to bed his trap-door was unfastened, so that if the Indians attacked the house and broke the door open they would fall into the cellar. He also kept an ax and a sledge hammer near his bed, to use in tapping Indians on the head ; but his house was never attacked, and his ingenious con-
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HISTORY OF ST. CHARLES COUNTY.
trivances were never brought into use. In 1812 he removed to St. , Charles and opened a tailor's shop in that town. Here he dressed deer skins and manufactured them into pants and hunting shirts, from which he derived a comfortable income. In 1814 he was elected justice of the peace, and made a rather eccentric officer. (Some of his official acts are noticed under the head of " Anecdotes and Adventures.") His dwelling-house and shop were one and the same, and there was but one window in the house, which contained only two panes of glass. The old gentleman kept a pet bear chained in his yard, and the boys of the town used to torment the poor beast until it would become furious. One day while they were teasing the bear it broke the chain and ran the boys all off the place. After that they let the bear alone. Colgin's wife was a native of Kentucky, and his daughters were said to be the prettiest girls in St. Charles.
Rev. James Craig married a daughter of Col. Nathan Boone. He was a Hard-Shell Baptist preacher, and preached and taught school in St. Charles for several years. He baptized, by immersion, in the Missouri river the first person that ever received Protestant baptism in St. Charles. The candidate was a colored woman named Susan Morrison. Daniel Colgin assisted Mr. Craig to perform the ceremony by wading out into the river and measuring the depth of the water with his cane, singing as he went -
" We are going down the river Jordan, As our Savior went before."
Revs. John M. Peck and Timothy Flint were present, and joined in the singing.
William Christy, Sr., and William Christy, Jr., were cousins, and . natives of Pittsburg, Pa. In 1800 the elder settled in St. Louis, where he opened a hotel and made a fortune. The younger was quartermaster for the troops at Bellefontaine during the War of 1812, and after the return of peace he settled in St. Charles and went into the mercantile business, which he followed for two years. He then went into politics, and was at different times clerk of the county and circuit courts. He was also receiver and county treasurer and clerk of the Supreme Court. He married Constance St. Cyr, of St. Charles, and they had nine children : William M., Ellen, Leville, Martha T., Israel R., Mary A., Eliza, Louise and Clarissa. Mrs. Christy was well educated, and did a great deal of writing for her husband. They also kept boarders while the Legislature sat in St. Charles, and had so
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much patronage that they were compelled to hire beds from their country friends for the accommodation of their guests. They paid 25 cents a week for the beds. Mr. Christy had an apple tree in his yard that bore 40 bushels of apples one summer, and his son, William M., who was a little fellow at the time, sold them on the street and to the members of the Legislature at 25 cents per dozen, thus reaping a handsome income from the one apple tree. William M. Christy is still living in St. Charles. He served as sheriff and deputy sheriff of the county for 16 years, and organized the first express company in St. Charles. He acted as express agent for 10 years.
Walter Charlesworth, of England, being captivated by the glowing tales of life in the New World, ran away from his parents at the age of 18 years and came to America. He remained a while at Wheeling, Va., and then went to St. Charlesville, in Ohio, where he engaged in shipping pork to New Orleans and the West India Islands. He mar- ried Mary A. Young, and in 1827 he came to St. Charles, Mo. They had two children : Walter J. and Eliza. The latter died, but the former is still living in St. Charles. Mrs. Charlesworth died sometime after the removal to St. Charles, and her husband subsequently mar- ried Mary St. Louis, of Canada, who died, leaving no children. Charles Charlesworth, a brother of Walter, came from England with his wife in 1840 and settled in St. Charles. Here his wife went blind and subsequently died, when he started on his way to England and died at New Orleans. They had six children: George, Martha, Ann, Charles, Mary and Hannah.
Peter Conoier was a Frenchman, and settled on Marais Croche lake at an early date. He was very fond of hunting wild hogs, which he lassoed, being so expert in that art that he could throw the lariat over any foot of the hog that he chose, while it was running at full speed. He was married three times, and had several children. One. of his sons, named Joseph, while going to school, was chastised by the teacher for some misdemeanor, and the old gentleman was greatly incensed thereat. He determined to whip the teacher in turn, and went to the school-house next morning for that purpose. Arriving at the school-house, he drew his knife out and began to whet it on his foot, whereupon the teacher drew his knife, and invited him to " come on," if that were his game. But conclud- ing that discretion was the better part of valor, he put up his knife, bade the teacher a polite good morning, and went home.
Andrew Davidson, of Kentucky, came to Missouri in 1811, but returned in 1813, and married Sarah Johnson. In 1830 he came
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HISTORY OF ST. CHARLES COUNTY.
back to Missouri and settled in St. Charles county. His children were Susan, Greenberry, William, Angeline, Eliza J., Salome and John. The old gentleman was a great friend of the Indians, and in order to manifest his good feelings he kept a lot of tobacco with which he would fill their pouches, when they stopped at his house. One of his sons, a mischievous lad, poured a pound of gunpowder into the tobacco, and several of the Indians got their faces and noses burnt in attempting to smoke it. This, of course, was taken as a mortal offense, and it was with the greatest difficulty that Mr. Davidson kept the Indians from killing himself and family.
Rev. Timothy Flint, a Presbyterian minister, of Connecticut, set- tled in St. Charles in 1816. He was an educated man and devoted much of his time to literature. Several interesting works were writ- ten by him ; but in many instances he allowed his vivid imagination to lead him aside from the facts of history, and his writings are not to be relied upon in regard to accuracy. A number of his imaginary sketches of Daniel Boone have been accepted as true, and copied into leading histories of the country. One of these, representing a desperate hand-to-hand contest between Boone and two savages, in which the former slays both his antagonists, has been represented in marble and adorns the Capitol at Washington City. But the incident originated wholly in Mr. Flint's imagination. He was also a poet. He organized a church in St. Charles, and performed a great deal of laborious missionary work in different parts of Missouri and Illinois, supporting his family by teaching and preaching. In teaching he was supported by his wife, who was a highly educated and accom- . plished lady. He opened a farm on Marais Croche lake, where he raised cotton and made wine from wild grapes. After residing in St. Charles county a number of years, he went South and died there.
John Johnson, of Tennessee, settled on " the point" below the town of St. Charles, in 1805. His father was killed by the Indians when he was a small boy, and he grew up with a natural antipathy to the race. He became a noted Indian fighter, and never let an oppor- tunity pass to slay a red man. On one occasion, while the people were collected in the forts, during the War of 1814, he saw an Indian hiding behind a log not far from the fort, disguised as a buffalo, with the hide, to which the horns were attached, thrown over his body. The disguise was so transparent that Johnson had no difficulty in pen- etrating it, and he at once decided to give the Indian a dose of lead for the benefit of his health. So he cautiously left the fort, and mak- ing a wide circuit, came in behind the savage, who was intently watch-
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ing for an opportunity to pick off some one of the inmates who might come within range of his gun. But a ball from Johnson's rifle put an end to his adventures here, and sent him speeding on his way to the happy hunting grounds of the spirit land. For more than five years after his removal to Missouri Johnson dressed in the Indian garb, and never slept in a house, preferring to repose in the open air with nothing but the heavens for a shelter. He was 37 years of age when he came to Missouri, and when the Indian War commenced he joined the company of rangers commanded by Capt. Massey, and was stationed for some time at Cap-au-Gris, on the Mississippi river. Before he left Tennessee he was married to Nancy Hughlin, of Nash- ville, and they had six children: Daniel, Elizabeth, Levi, Dorcas, Evans and Susan. Daniel married Susan Smelzer. Elizabeth mar- ried Asa Griffith. Levi married Esther Bert. Dorcas married Thomas Fallice. Evans was married four times : first, to Susan Miller ; second, to Susan Sullivan ; third, to Angeline Lefaivre ; and fourth, to Sarah M. McCoy. Susan married William Roberts.
Jacob Kibler, Sr., a native of Virginia, settled in St. Charles in 1820. He married Victoire Cornoyer, who was born in St. Charles, and belonged to one of the old French families. Their children were George, William, Jacob, Jr., Catharine and Louis. George. died at the age of 12 years. Jacob, Jr,, married Mary L. Drury, who died in 1873. Mr. Kibler has been identified with the press of St. Charles during the greater portion of his life. He was one of the founders of the Chronotype, also of the Demokrat, one of the oldest German papers in the State, now owned and published by Mr. J. K. Bode. Arnold Krekel, now judge of the U. S. District Court, was editor of the Demokrat during Mr. Kibler's connection with the paper. Catharine Kibler died young. Louis resides in Virginia. In the early days of St. Charles, Jacob Kibler, Sr., was a hatter and dealer in furs. He died in September, 1875, at the advanced age of 85, his wife having preceded him to the grave by several years.
Joseph Louis, a Frenchman, settled in St. Charles county during the Spanish administration. He married Nancy Biggs, daughter of John Biggs, of Virginia, who also settled in Missouri during Spanish rule. They had one son, James, who was born in 1806. He married Elizabeth Gross, of Kentucky, and they had 15 children. After the death of Joseph Louis his widow married Edward Smith, and they had four children : Randall, Francis, Mildred and Lucinda.
Thomas Lindsay and his family lived in Scotland. The names of his children were Thomas, Jr., James, John, Martha, Mary, Ann
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and Jane. James was married in Scotland to Charlotte Kettray, and came to America and settled in St. Charles county, in 1817. His children were William, Ann, Thomas, James, Jr., John, Agnes and Isabella. Ann married John H. Stewart, and settled in Carroll county. Agnes married Addison McKnight, of Tennessee, who set- tled in St. Charles county in 1817. His mother settled in Missouri in 1800. She was a very brave and resolute woman, and killed several Indians during her life. On one occasion she had a horse stolen, which she followed forty miles, alone, found it and brought it back home. Mr. McKnight was the owner of McKnight's Island on the Mississippi river. Isabella Lindsay married Nathaniel Reid, of Virginia, who settled in St. Charles county in 1839. Mr. Reid was a carpenter and contractor, and built the Insane and Blind asylums, and Westminster College at Fulton. William Lindsay died a bach- elor in St. Charles county. Thomas married Margaret Garvin, and was drowned in 1841, leaving a widow and five children. James was married first to Jane Black, of Virginia, and after her death he mar- ried the widow of Dr. Benjamin F. Hawkins, whose maiden name was Sarah Fleet. Mr. Lindsay is an intelligent gentleman, and we are indebted to him for many interesting items of family history. John Lindsay married Mary Stewart, of Monroe county, Mo. Thomas Lindsay, Jr., settled in America in 1800, and in St. Charles county in 1816. He married Margaret Beckett, of South Carolina. John, son of Thomas Lindsay, Sr., settled in South Carolina, where he died. Ann, his sister, married Peter Glendy, of South Carolina, and settled in St. Charles county in 1817. The names of their chil- dren were James, Ellen, Thomas, Ann and Andrew.
James C. Lackland, a native of Montgomery county, Md., came to Missouri in the fall of 1833, and brought his family, consisting of his wife and nine boys. He settled first near Florissant, in St. Louis county, but in 1835 he removed to St. Charles, where he engaged in the saw-mill business until within a few years previous to his death, which occurred in July, 1862, at the age of 71 years. Mr. Lackland was a model man and citizen, and made friends of all who became acquainted with him. The names of his boys were Richard, James, Jeremiah, Augustus T., Benjamin F., Eli R., Norman J., Henry C., and Charles M. Jeremiah died the first year after the arrival of the family in Missouri, sometime between his sixteenth and twenty-first year. Benjamin F. was killed in St. Charles, at the age of 21, by P. W. Culver, who was intoxicated at the time. Culver was tried and sen- tenced to the penitentiary, but was pardoned without serving his
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term. Norman J. and Charles M. live at Mexico, Mo., the former engaged in the mercantile business, and the latter in the cattle trade. Eli is chief clerk of the Scotia Iron Mines, near Leasburg, Crawford county, Mo. Henry C. is a prominent attorney at St. Charles. He was Professor of Mathematics in St. Charles College from 1856 to 1859, and also taught classes in Greek and Latin. He held the posi- tion of School Commissioner from 1859 until the office was abolished. In 1875 he was elected a member of the State Constitutional Conven- tion for the district composed of the counties of St. Charles, Warren and Lincoln, receiving almost the unanimous vote of the district. Only eight votes were cast against him in his own county. He was one of the leaders of that able body of men, and made an enviable record for himself as a legislator and parliamentarian.
CITY OF ST. CHARLES.
In April, 1769, Louis Blanchette, by virtue of authority given him by the Governor of Upper Louisiana, established a post at this place under the Spanish government, and became, and continued for many years to be, its first civil and military Governor. The village was called Petite Cotes (Little Hills), and was so called for a long time. Blanchette died about 1793, and was succeeded by Charles Tayon, whose descendants still dwell among us. He remained in command till 1802, when he was succeeded by James Mackay, who was com- mandant of the post of St. Charles when it was delivered over to the United States under the purchase made by President Jefferson from the First Napoleon.
Of course, in those early days and in the circumstances then sur- rounding all this Western country, the progress of the village was slow. In 1781 there were but half a dozen houses here, and the suc- ceeding 10 years only doubled their number, and those who inhabited them did so by the sufferance of the wild Indian. But gradually the march of that incroachment which had steadily pushed back the son of the forest from Plymouth Rock reached this wild region, and the red man was compelled to recede before his white brother -if such he can be called. Those who first came engaged in a mode of life scarce less wild and roving than that of the savage whose country they had invaded, employing themselves in hunting, fishing, trapping and other congenial frontier pursuits.
It was customary for the government to grant a lot in the village for residence, and a tract of land near by for cultivation, to each head of a family, with a larger tract in common to all the villagers for pasturage and wood.
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The original petition of the villagers of St. Charles for a grant of commons was made January 11, 1797, and was answered favorably by Don Zenon Trudeau, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Louisiana, January 23, 1797. A curious fact crops out in the Governor's answer, which may be of interest. He says :
Having been informed that the land asked for to get some timber is by no means fit for cultivation, being subject to be overflowed every year, and that the timber that is on this land is good for nothing else but for fuel, and might be renewed in a short time, and not being subject to a total destruction like those that are on the rising hills, which ex- perience has taught us will never rise up again, and the above lands lying in close proximity to the village of St. Charles and the different prairie land dependent on the same, they would be under the necessity of going to a great distance to procure firewood ; therefore, the tract is granted.
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