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 61
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 61
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 61
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" Dr." Robert Graham was fond of hunting, and devoted much of his time to that occupation. A large wolf once was caught in one of
567
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
his steel traps, broke the chain, and dragged the trap away with him. The Doctor, Joseph Scholl, and Maj. Van Bibber tracked the wolf and came upon it where it had gone into Smith's branch, north of Dan- ville, and was struggling with the dogs in the water. Graham waded into the creek for the purpose of killing the wolf with his knife, when it caught one of his hands and bit it nearly off; but he succeeded in killing it by literally holding it under water till it drowned. On another occasion the Doctor and a party of hunters ran a large bear into his cave, and tried to smoke him out, but could not succeed, and finally shot him. After the bear was dead the Doctor was the only one of the party who had nerve enough to crawl into the cave and drag the carcass out. Wolves were plentiful then, and one day while out hunting he killed thirteen.
Deer were very plentiful. They could be found on every section. A settler could kill a deer almost anywhere and almost any time - before breakfast, if he wanted to -and the juicy venison steaks of the old time were long remembered. Wild turkeys, squirrels and other edible game were so numerous and so easily obtained as scarcely to be worthy of consideration.
Numerous hunting stories, narratives of adventures with wild beasts of the forests, and exploits in the chase might here be printed if there was room, and if they were deemed of sufficient historic interest and importance. These tales are best when told in the graphic style of the old hunters themselves, by a winter's fire, or under favorable cir- cumstances of some other character. They somehow lose much of their interest when given in print, unless they are colored and exag- gerated.
Fish stories, too, might be given, for fishermen were numerous and the smaller streams were crowded with crappie and bass and other fine fish, while the great Missouri contained enormous catfish, and the bottom ponds and sloughs were full of buffalo, " bull heads," pike and other varieties.
Up to 1825 not much farming had been done in the county, and indeed not a great deal attempted. Every settler had his "truck patch," wherein grew potatoes, a little corn, a few vegetables, etc. ; and he had also a corn-field corresponding in extent to the length of time he had been in the county, his means or his desires.
Corn was the principal crop, and if enough of this was raised to supply the family with pone, Johnny cake and honey, the settler was satisfied. There was no wheat raised of any consequence.
Cotton was raised quite successfully, although not extensively, in
31
568
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
the first years of the settlement of the county. As the county grew older more of it was planted. The cotton was all hand-ginned at first, and its conversion from raw material into fabrics was slow and tedious. Rose says that Francis Whiteside, who came in 1818, was the first to raise cotton successfully, but cotton was among the first crops raised on Loutre island. Robert Graham had a cotton field in 1818, a little north of his house, above Loutre Lick, and immediately in front of the cave, described elsewhere. The site of this field is now covered with timber, some of the trees being large enough for saw-logs. Nearly every settler had a cotton patch. Olly Williams built the first cotton gin, east of Danville, on the Boone's Lick road, in 1822.
Flax was among the first crops raised. The seed was rarely sold, and the crop was cultivated for the bark, of which linen and linsey were made. Nearly every family had a flax patch and a flock of sheep -the dependence for clothing supplies. To be a good flax- breaker was at one time considered a great accomplishment among the men, and the woman who was a good flax or wool spinner and weaver was the envy of many of her sisters.
The first settlers down on the Missouri bottoms used a great deal of " nettle linen." The bottoms were covered in many places with wild nettles, which, when treated like flax, yielded a tough, smooth fiber, that made a fair article of yarn, and when mixed with cotton or wool, a good article of cloth.
The dress of the pioneers comported well with their style of living. The male portion wore a hunting shirt of some sort of cloth or buck- skin, a pair of buckskin or jeans pantaloons, a coarse wool hat or a 'coonskin cap, and a pair of home-made shoes of home-tanned leather. When the women could procure enough calico to make for themselves caps for their heads they were happy, and the woman who could wear a dress made entirely of store goods was the envy of dozens of the less favored of her sex.
Old pioneers say that buckskin makes a very fair article of panta- loons, but when it is wet it shrinks or contracts. Quite often a pioneer came home after wading through streams and wet grass with the bottoms of his pantaloons nearly up to his knees.
The early settlers of this county raised almost everything they ate except meat, and manufactured nearly everything they wore. Their smoke-houses were always well supplied with meats of various kinds, and honey of the finest flavor. After the first year or two there was plenty of meal in the chest and butter and milk in the cellar. Very little coffee and sugar were used, and tea was almost unknown. The
569
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
family that had coffee two or three times a week were considered " high livers." Often it was only used once a week - Sunday morn- ing for breakfast.
Many families used sassafras tea, spice tea, and sycamore tea ; the latter was made of sycamore chips, and was in considerable favor with the Loutre islanders. It is said that sycamore tea, when sweetened with maple sugar, resembles chocolate very much.
PIONEER WEDDINGS.
A pioneer wedding in this county would not compare, in point of elegance and finish, with one in these days. For there were lacking the paraphernalia of display and the pomp and circumstance attendant in this age upon affairs of that character. In those days few people wore " store goods." Their apparel was for the most part of home- spun. A " Sunday suit " resembled an " every-day " suit, so far as general appearance went.
A bridal toilet, therefore, was not expensive ; neither was it elabor- ate, fanciful or very showy; neither was it extensive. But it was sensible, for it was sufficient, and it was appropriate to the times, the manners, and the circumstances. Yet the bride was as well dressed as the groom. But for all this, and for all of many other discomforts and disadvantages, the marriages were as fortunate and felicitous and the weddings themselves as joyous as any of those of modern times. The wedding was seldom or never a private one. The entire settlement was invited and uniformly accepted the invitation. To neglect to send an invitation was to give offense ; to refuse was to give an insult. There were all sorts of merry-making and diversion during the day. At night a dance was had, in which there was general participation. Many of the dancers were barefoot, it is true, and the ball-room floor was composed of split puncheons, from which the splinters had not all been removed, but the soles of the feet were covered with a coating impenetrable almost as a coat of armor, and bade defiance to any fair- sized splinter. Indeed, one old pioneer says that a real merry dance always resulted in smoothing a puncheon floor, as if it had been gone over with four and twenty jack-planes !
The wedding feast was always worthy of the name. The cake was corn-pone; the champagne and claret consisted of good old Kentucky and Missouri whisky, clear and pure as mountain dew, unadulterated by mercenary " rectifiers " and untouched and untaxed by gauger and government. The latter article was usually imported for the occasion, sometimes from St. Louis or St. Charles, and sometimes from old
570
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
Kentucky. Then there were venison steaks and roasts, turkey, grouse, nectar-like maple syrup, and other edibles toothsome and elegant.
On page 78, Pioneer Families of Missouri, is given an interesting but peculiar account of a wedding in an early day, the ceremony being performed by Jabe Ham. Space forbids its insertion here. But some of the early weddings in this county were not such rude affairs, for the parents were fairly well-to-do, and were able to pro- vide the contracting parties with suitable outfits, and have everything done decently and in order.
PIONEER PREACHERS.
Following close upon the footsteps of the first settlers came the ministers. Sometimes they were the first settlers themselves. They labored without money and without price. They did not make mer- chandise of their mission. Freely had they received and freely they gave. They gained their subsistence as did their neighbors, by the rifle, and by their daily toil in the clearings and corn fields. Nearly every pioneer preacher was as expert in the use of the rifle as any of the laity.
Services were usually held in a neighbor's cabin. Notices of the " meeting " were promptly and generally circulated, and the people ยท. generally attended, uniformly bringing their rifles, to procure game going and coming. The assertion of Scripture that he who will not provide for his own, " and specially for those of his own household, is worse than an infidel," found credence with the pioneers. The practice of carrying fire-arms was not abandoned even on the Sabbath.
An old pioneer states that on one occasion religious services were held in this county when the preacher proclaimed the gospel of peace with his hands and his clothing covered with blood from a deer he had killed and butchered on his way to the meeting that morning. The circumstance did not tie his tongue nor cause his hearers to abate one jot or tittle of their attention. The man was not a graduate of any theological school, but he was devout, and the simplicity and power with which he expounded his text and proclaimed the truths of the gospel had an effect upon his congregation which clearly showed that the spirit of the Master was with him.
" Pioneer Families," p. 237, says : -
The dates of the organizations of the various churches in Mont- gomery county are difficult to obtain. On the 16th of April, 1824, a Baptist church called Freedom was organized at the house of John Snethen, on Dry fork of Loutre, by Revs. William Coats and Felix
571
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
Brown. The following members were enrolled at the time : John Snethen and wife, Nancy Skelton, Sarah Elston, William Hall, Mary Allen and Jonathan Elston. Mr. Snethen was chosen deacon, and Jonathan Elston, clerk. A small log church was erected the follow- ing July, and their meetings were held in it for a number of years. In this church, on January 4, 1825, Alexander Snethen and Jabez Ham were ordained ministers, by Revs. William Coats and Absalom Brainbridge. During the first four years of the existence of this church the collections for all purposes amounted to $1.75.
About 1838 another church building was erected on South Bear creek, also called Freedom, but owing to its location near some stagnant water it subsequently received the facetious appellation of " Frog Pond." The association was afterward removed to Jones- burg, and retained the name of Freedom.
CONCLUSION.
Thus has been sketched, in general terms, the life of the old pio- neer, and incidents of those early days. Not all is here given, for it would take many more pages than is generally contained in one book to record them, but. while there may be numerous omissions, enough is here written to show the present generation how the old settlers, in the early history of the county, worked to improve their lands and secure a competency for old age. And so the country grew and pros- pered under the strength of the brawny arms of her noble old pioneers. - Civilization advanced, and material prosperity could be seen on every hand. Such has been in a measure the history of the early pioneers of this beautiful country, and those who are living can look back with interest to the days which tried the nerves, the muscle, and the in- domitable will of the fathers and mothers who had the future of the county in their keeping.
The early pioneers made history, but took no care to preserve it. This is a sad loss to the county. Those years, and the lives and actions of the heroes and patriots then living, were of the greatest importance. Then it was that the foundation was laid and a noble and enduring superstructure was to be reared, upon which the moral, physical and political future of the country was to rest. While there were no stir- ring events or remarkable happenings, it was a time of self-reliance, of persevering toil, of privation, that was endured with heroic forti- tude, believing in a future reward of successful labor, of the good time coming, when the woods and the open prairie should resolve themselves into well cultivated farms, and their humble cabins into residences befitting their improved financial condition. They had come into the boundless wilderness poor in purse, but rich in faith and powerful in endurance, and their future was before them.
CHAPTER V.
LEADING INCIDENTS FROM 1820 TO 1830.
Montgomery County after the Admission of Missouri into the Union - Establishment of the Boone's Lick Road and Stage Line - First Fourth of July Celebration - Dr. Beck on Some of the Features of the County in 1822 - Poor Markets - Removal of the County Seat to Danville - First Murder in the County and First Legal Execu- tion - John Tanner Killed by His Negro Man " Moses" - Hanging of "Moses" - Miscellaneous.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY UNDER MISSOURI AS A STATE.
For the particulars of the admission of Missouri into the Federal Union as a State, the reader is referred to pp. 31-36 of this volume. It will be seen that Montgomery county had two delegates in the con- vention which framed the first constitution of the State -Jonathan Ramsey and James Talbott. Mr. Ramsey lived in what is now Warren county. Dr. James Talbott lived in the southern part of this county ; he afterwards represented the county in the Legis- lature.
The first election in Montgomery county after the State was ad- mitted into the Union came off in August, 1822. At this election a member of Congress (John Scott) and representatives to the Legis- lature and a State Senator were chosen. Elections were held in what is now Montgomery county at the Big Spring and Loutre Lick.
The population of Montgomery county in 1821 was 2,032, but this included what is now Warren county, and considerable other territory not now belonging to Montgomery.
One of the first three judges of the Supreme Court of the State appointed by Gov. McNair was Matthias McGirk, of Montgomery county. Judge McGirk married Elizabeth Talbott, a daughter of Col. Hail Talbott, and came to this county in 1819. He lived on the Missouri bottom, above the island, and built the brick house at the foot of the bluff, where Dr. G. Y. Bast lived afterwards. The supreme judges were appointed to serve until they were 65 years of age, and Judge McGirk resigned in 1841. He died in the brick house before mentioned. The Judge was a native of Tennessee, born in 1790.
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573
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BOONE'S LICK ROAD.
Doubtless the most famous thoroughfare in Missouri is what is now and always has been known as the " Boone's Lick " road. This road was surveyed and laid out in the year 1820, and originally ran from St. Charles to Old Franklin, in Howard county, nearly opposite Boonville. Prior to this a sort of trace or poor road had been used, but now this was to be made a public road, under the patronage of the soon-to-be State of Missouri. The road then in use was largely traveled, but it needed repairing and straightening in many places.
As to the amount of travel over the road in 1819, read the following from the Old Franklin (Howard county ) Intelligencer of April 23, 1819 : -
The immigration to this Territory, and particularly to this county, during the present season almost exceeds belief. Those who have arrived in this quarter are principally from Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. Immense numbers of wagons, carriages, carts, etc., with families, have for some time past been daily arriving. During the month of October it is stated that no less than 271 wagons and four-wheeled carriages and 55 two-wheeled carriages and carts passed near St. Charles, bound principally for Boone's Lick. It is calculated that the number of persons accompanying these wagons, etc., could not be less than three thousand (3,000). It is stated in the St. Louis Enquirer of the 10th inst., that about twenty wagons, etc., per week had passed through St. Charles for the last nine or ten weeks, with wealthy and respectable emigrants from various States whose united numbers are supposed to amount to 12,000. The county of Howard, already re- spectable in numbers, will soon possess a vast population; and no section of our country presents a fairer prospect to the emigrant.
When the road was made in 1820, Col. Nathan Boone surveyed it through what is now Montgomery county. It is believed that Alex- ander McKinney was the principal surveyor, however. In the neigh- borhood of Loutre Lick, especially on the west side, those who worked on the new road were Robert Graham, Maj. Isaac Van Bibber, " Fauncy " Boone, Thomas and Jerry Smith, Thomas Hickerson, James Beatty, David Craig, Tarlton Gore ( cousin of Capt. Callaway) and a few others. Alex. Graham, who carried his father's dinner to him when he was at work on the road, remembers the time very well, and remembers also that Tarlton Gore and David Craig had a fight while they were at work on the hill west of Loutre creek.
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574
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
THE BOONE'S LICK STAGE LINE.
When the road was opened travel over it increased, and, as it has been many a time since, one could stand on the road at times and not be out of sight of an emigrant wagon. As soon as the road was opened fairly a stage line was established from St. Charles to Old Franklin. This was contemplated the year before, as witness the fol- lowing from the Old Franklin Intelligencer of April 23, 1819 : -
It is contemplated, we understand, shortly to commence running a stage from St. Louis to Franklin. Such an undertaking would, no doubt, liberally remunerate the enterprising and meritorious individ- uals engaged, and be of immense benefit to the public, who would, doubtless, prefer this to any other mode of traveling. A stage has been running from St. Louis to St. Charles, three times a week, for several months past. Another from the town of Illinois (now East St. Louis, opposite St. Louis ) to Edwardsville - a line from Edwards- ville to Vincennes, we understand, is in contemplation. It will then only remain to have it continued from Vincennes to Louisville. When these lines shall have gone into operation, a direct communication by stage will then be opened from the Atlantic States to Boone's Lick, on the Missouri.
The stage made at first weekly trips ; then it ran twice, then three times a week, and at the last it ran daily, and sometimes so heavy was the travel that four or five coaches left St. Charles daily for the far West. At first the line ran only as far as Franklin ( or Old Franklin, as it is best known ), on the Missouri river, in Howard county, nearly opposite Boonville. But the site of Old Franklin has long since been washed into the river and what was once the metropolis of the Boone's Lick country, and a flourishing town generally, has faded away for ever. In 1821 the line was extended to Fort Osage, in Jackson county, 275 miles from St. Louis, and 100 miles above Franklin. The following is a copy of the table of distances between stations from St. Louis to Fort Osage by the stage line in 1822, as shown in Beck's Gazetteer of 1823 : -
Stations.
Miles.
Stations.
Miles.
St. Charles
20
Estell's
4
Coonts
9
Grayum's
10
Pond Fort
12
Thrall's
10
Journey's
15
Arnold's
5
Camp Branch
12
Franklin
15
Williamson's
15
Chariton
22
Loutre Lick .
7
Ferril's Ferry
12
Ward's
14
Fort Osage
69
Watson's .
6
Cedar Creek
20
Total
276
575
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
1
FIRST FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION.
The first Fourth of July celebration in Montgomery county was held at Loutre Lick, July 4, 1821, when Missouri was practically and rightfully of the American Union. Great preparations had been made for the event. Maj. Van Bibber labored hard to make everything a success. He procured an abundant supply of provisions, including several gallons of whisky.
There was a large crowd present. Many came from Pinckney and Loutre Island, and all of the upper country turned out. The stage from St. Louis brought up the speakers, who were Edward Bates, David Barton, Elias Rector and other notables. Numbers were present from St. Charles county. Speeches were made by some of the most noted men in the history of Missouri amid great en- thusiasm.
Toasts were responded to by Edward Bates, David Barton and others. At night there was a big dance in Maj. Van Bibber's new house, which, though unfinished at the time, had plenty of room and a big floor, so that nearly a dozen couples could dance at once.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN 1822.
Beck's Gazetteer makes the following mention of important streams in Montgomery county as it was in 1822 :-
Charrette creek, a beautiful stream of Montgomery county, runs a southerly course, and empties into the Missouri on the left side, in township 45 north, in range 1 west, of the fifth principal meridian, two or three miles below the town of Newport. . The lands on this stream are generally fertile.
Charrette village, at the mouth of Charrette creek, contains 40 or 50 families, which are principally French. It lies in a bent of the Missouri ; and opposite to it is a large island, which is very fertile. The distance from the place to St. Charles is about 40 miles.
Lost creek, a small stream of the county, runs a south course, and empties into the Missouri in township 45 north, in range 3, west of the fifth principal meridian. Pinckney, the seat of justice of Mont- gomery county, is situated near the mouth of the stream.
Loutre river, a stream of Montgomery county, runs a southeast course, and empties into the Missouri in township 46 north, in range 5 west, of the sixth principal meridian, 10 miles below the confluence of the Gasconade. It affords a number of excellent mill-seats ; and on its borders are some fine districts of farming land. Loutre island is in the Missouri, opposite the mouth of the stream, and is 12 miles in length. The soil is very fertile, and it has a compact settlement.
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576
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
On the head waters of the stream are said to be ancient works, simi- lar to those on the Mississippi.
POOR MARKETS.
Up to 1830 prices for all sorts of produce were very low in Mont- gomery county. The average price of wheat was 371/2 cents per bushel at Loutre Lick and elsewhere in the county, and only 50 cents at St. Louis. There was scarcely any market for tobacco at home. Commonly it was hauled to St. Louis, where the lugs brought $2 per hundred, and the best leaf $4. As the trip occupied a week on an average, and as the expense of crossing the river at St. Charles was considerable, there was not much money in tobacco.
There was not much money in anything the settlers raised. There was no market for hogs and cattle at home. In 1825 a dealer from Ohio came to Maj. Van Bibber's, at Loutre Lick, and let it be known that he wanted to buy a few hundred head of cattle. The people flocked in with their stock, and he soon had as many as he wanted at his own price. For fine cattle, weighing 1,200 pounds, he paid $5 and $6, and other grades brought proportionate prices. Yet even at these figures settlers came and sold their cattle from off Lower Loutre, and from far and wide throughout the country.
Wages at this time for laborers, when any were hired, were from 25 cents to 50 cents a day. Ofttimes slaves were hired for $100 a year and their board and two suits of coarse clothing.
REMOVAL OF THE COUNTY SEAT FROM PINCKNEY TO LEWISTON.
In 1826 or 1827 the county seat of Montgomery county was re- moved from Pinckney to a new site, near the center of the county. Pinckney was down on the river, and very inconvenient for the people who lived in the upper portion of the county.
The new capital of the county was laid out on the Boone's Lick road, a short distance south of where New Florence now stands and west of High Hill. Every vestige of the town has long since disap- peared. It was named in honor of Col. Merriweather Lewis, of Lewis and Clark's expedition, and also the second Governor of the Terri- tory of Louisiana. He committed suicide in Tennessee, in 1809. The land on which the town was situated was entered in 1818, by Amos Kibbe, who donated to the county a sufficient quantity of land on which to erect the' public buildings.
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