USA > Missouri > Vernon County > History of Vernon County, Missouri : past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county Vol. I > Part 19
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In 1857 A. J. McBane was appointed the first county attorney of Vernon county, and the same year John C. Boone and W. H. Blanton served as county school commissioners, Mr. Boone filling the same position in 1858, while Mr. Blanton was, that year, elected to the general assembly. James Fergus was sheriff this year, and Messrs. O. L. Davis, C. G. Carr and R. H. Williams were chosen judges. The first dependent person to be helped by the
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county was John Rye, who was allowed $10 by the county court in December, 1856. In June, 1859, on the petition of his wife Permelia, Henry Walton was the first insane patient sent to the asylum. Coroner Matthew Armstrong, of Clear Creek, in March. 1859, held the first inquest after the county organization. on the body of George Milton. In March. also, the court granted to Daniel Mckenzie & Co. a license to operate a ferry across the Osage at Belvoir, and in April a similar privilege was given William Halley to run a boat across the Osage at Lady's Old Ferry.
R. H. Williams, H. B. Smith and O. L. Davis were county judges in 1861, and the last term of court before the Civil War adjourned June 6th of that year to meet the fourth Monday of July following. But that day found Judges Smith and Williams, near Cassville, in General Price's army, and the court did not again convene till October 17, 1865.
CIRCUIT COURT.
The first term of the Vernon county circuit court opened April 28, 1856. and was of three days' duration. The only civil suit was a minor one of William Waldo, a merchant of Osceola. against William Withers, a merchant of Montevallo, which was continued. The first criminal case was against Hiram Matheny. who pleaded guilty to a charge of petit larceny and was fined $5.00. Dewitt C. Ballou, of Bolivar, was judge, Dewitt C. Hun- ter was clerk, and R. H. Williams was sheriff. The attorneys present at this term were Thomas W. Freeman, circuit attorney. and William H. Otter, of Bolivar, Waldo P. Johnson, W. J. Mayo and W. A. McClain, of Osceola, Foster P. Wright and Burr H. Emerson, of Warsaw, and John Stevenson, of Greenfield. W. J. Wassum was foreman of the grand jury, the other members being John Gammons, Lewis C. Jones, John K. Hale, James Wil- son, James Fergus, John Brown, William J. Ellis, Jesse A. Lowe, William Collins, Angus Journey, William Grooms, J. I. Kelley, Benjamin Baugh, and Evan Lipe.
An election was held in August, 1856, at which James Fergus was chosen for sheriff, and D. C. Hunter clerk of the county and circuit courts ; James M. Dillard was elected assessor. Thomas W. German school commissioner, James McKill, C. G. Carr and
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J. H. Requa, county judges, and Mr. J. N. B. Dodson member of the Legislature.
The first presidential election in which Vernon county par- ticipated was held this year. Three tickets were in the field : The democratic, naming James C. Buchanan and John C. Breck- enridge for President and Vice-President, respectively ; the whig, naming Millard Fillmore and A. J. Donaldson ; and the republican, on which John C. Fremont and William L. Dayton were presi- dential and vice-presidential candidates. Four hundred and sev- enty-four votes were polled, of which the democratic candidates received 302, and the whig or "know nothing" ticket, 172, no votes being cast for the republican ticket, in the county. The democratic majority was 130.
DENTON-HARDWICK FEUD.
What was known as the Denton-Hardwick feud, which oc- curred not long after the organization of the county, and which led to the killing of half a dozen men before it ended, was so far-reaching in its influence and caused so much controversy, that the following account of it will be read with interest :
In the year 1856 a man named James Hardwick came from North Alabama and settled on the Little Osage river in Bourbon county, Kansas. He was a fairly well-to-do farmer and brought with him about $4,000 in money, which he invested in claims. He first improved a tract for himself, building thereon a good house and breaking some prairie, and the following winter bought or took possession (it is not clear which) of two aban- doned claims adjoining him on which small houses were standing.
Prior to the settlement of Hardwick in Kansas, his former neighbor. Isaac Denton, had come west with his family, and was living on Pryor's creek in the northwestern part of this county. In the winter of 1857 Isaac Denton and his son James moved into Kansas, and by. permission of Hardwick settled on one of the claims mentioned. As they had been old neighbors in Alabama. and as their political sentiments were the same, both being pro- slavery men, their relations were pleasant for a time, but finally a difficulty occurred between the families. This grew until about the first of March Hardwick notified the Dentons to leave the claim of his which they were occupying. This Mr. Denton re-
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fused to do, alleging Hardwick had no title or good right to the land.
There was at that time in southeastern Kansas a tribunal called the "Squatters' Court," made up of prominent citizens of both parties, the Free State men predominating, however, and having for one of its objects the settlement of controversies over claims and lands. To be sure this "Squatters' Court" had no legal existence, but there was usually a ready acquiescence in its decisions. Some of the members were Captain Bain, Col. Wm. Phillips, Preston B. Plumb, Gen. J. H. Lane and Major Abbott, all Free State men. To the "Squatters' Court" the controversy between Hardwick and Denton was referred, and decided in favor of Denton, who introduced evidence to show that the claim in question really belonged to a Free State man, who had been driven away from it and forced to leave the country; that under the Squatters' law Hardwick had no title to it, for the rule was that a man must actually occupy a claim in order to hold it, and that Denton, by reason of his occupancy of the land had the better right to it.
Hardwick did not accept the decision with good grace, for besides taking away from him what he considered to be his land, it obliged him to pay certain costs and damages, amounting, it is said, to a good horse and $50 in cash. Threats were made by both sides. Denton put himself under the protection of the Free State men and the "Squatters' Court." Hardwick got his friends together and quite a feud raged in the neighborhood. Hardwick accused the Dentons of insulting the women of his household; the Dentons asserted that Hardwick had tried to "bushwhack" the old man Denton. Each party warned the other to leave the Territory and it was war to the knife. In the winter of 1858 Hardwick's house was fired into, and on the night of the 30th of March following a band of men called Denton to his door and shot him dead upon the threshold.
As was to be expected, the murder of Denton was attributed to Hardwick, although the latter claimed that he was in Kansas City at the time. His story was not believed, however, and he fled from the Territory, taking refuge in Dade county, Missouri. A friend of his, an old man named Travis, was arrested, charged with complicity in the murder. He was tried by the "Squatters' Court" and acquitted, but on his way home from the trial, on
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the night of April 1, he stopped at the house of a man named Wasson, where he was overtaken by somebody and shot and killed-some say by James Denton. and others say by three of Montgomery's men. About the same night that Denton was killed, a Free State man named Hedrick was murdered in the neighborhood, and another man named Davis had his house fired into and was wounded in the hand. It was not insisted upon, however, that politics had much to do with the killing of Denton. Soon after a general rising occurred, and the Marais des Cygnes massacre and other tragic incidents resulted.
At the time of the murder of Isaac Denton his son John was absent on the plains, in the employ of Russell & Majors. the great freighting firm. He returned home as soon as possible, removed his mother and the family back to Missouri, and then took the war path for James Hardwick and others, whom he believed to be the murderers of his father. It was not until the summer of 1859, however, that he came up with Hardwick. The latter had business at Nevada City, during a session of court, and came to the town. Here he was met by John Denton, who took him pris- oner at the muzzle of a revolver, disarmed him, and taking him to a blacksmith shop had him handcuffed with a pair or rude shackles made by the smith. He announced his intention of taking Hardwick back to Kansas for trial for the murder of Isaac Denton.
Although Denton's arrest of Hardwick was wholly illegal, being without warrant, requisition, or any other authority, yet the citizens and the officers at Nevada City did not see proper to interfere. They had heard of the murder of Denton, and knew that Hardwick stood accused thereof, and the conduct of the son who had effected the capture of the suspected assassin of his father was applauded. The majority said they did not wish to interfere between Kansas men anyhow-let them settle their own affairs; and others said the end would justify the means.
John Denton started off with his prisoner alone, both on horseback. Hardwick's hands were manacled about one foot apart, so that he could guide his horse. The two went northi- west from Nevada, apparently heading for Balltown. They crossed the Marmaton at Moore's Mill (near where the iron bridge now is), came north by John Strain's. and crossed the Fort Scott and Balltown road and passed into the high prairie. About
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200 yards from this road Denton halted his prisoner and told him he must die. According to Denton's statements to intimate friends afterward, Hardwick answered, "I knew it all the time. and I am ready." Hardwick then, according to Denton's state- ment, said he was present when the old man Denton was killed, but did not fire the fatal shot, and yet he knew who did, although he would die before betraying him. Denton then fired with d heavy revolver, the ball striking Hardwick in the forehead, just over the eye. He fell to the ground apparently lifeless, but Den- ton added another shot, which took effect just under the eye. Both balls penetrated the brain and either would have been fatal.
Denton reported that Hardwick had escaped. The majority believed that he had been killed by Denton, but were indifferent about the matter. Some parties on the Little Osage, however, were not entirely satisfied and decided to investigate. Mr. Ezekiel Rhea, an old pioneer in that quarter, went to Mr. Harvey G. Hicklin's, on the Lawrence place (the scene of John Brown's raid), on Duncan creek, and proposed that, as each of them had a hunting pack of hounds, they should unite and search tze prairie between Marmaton and the Osage very carefully, and see if they could not find Hardwick's body. Both Hicklin and Rhea be- lieved Hardwick had been murdered, and that John Denton was the murderer, and Hicklin readily assented to Rhea's proposition.
Accordingly, the next morning Mr. Hicklin. with his dogs, set out early to join Rhea at an agreed rendezvous, which was a certain big "lick" on a line between the Strain farm and Den- ton's residence, on the Osage. Hicklin crossed the Osage at the Fish-Trap ford and came southeast, so as to intersect Rhea, who was coming southwest. Each saw the other across the prairie when two or three miles apart, and each rode straight for the lick, and united after sunrise. As they came together they ou- served a buzzard to the southward, flying low, as if it were about to alight. At the same time the dogs "winded" something in that direction and started off, followed by Rhea and Hicklin. and nearly a mile further, at a point about five miles southwest of Balltown and four miles north of John Strain's. they came upon Hardwick's body.
Four or five days of warm weather had elapsed from the time of the murder, and the corpse was in a terrible condition. Hick- lin and Rhea galloped to Balltown and gave the alarm. The news
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spread over the country and there was great excitement. A party sent out by Orrick & McNeil, of Balltown, buried the body as decently as possible. Just before the burial one man declared the body should not be buried with the hand-cuffs on, and so he cut away the flesh from the wrists, removed the shackles and car- ried them back to Balltown.
There was great indignation against Denton, and he was threatened with lynching if caught. Ezekiel Rhea and Abram Job hastened to Simon Charles, a justice of the peace, living south of the Osage and west of Balltown, and swore out a war- rant for the arrest of Denton, which was to be given to the con- stable, H. G. Hicklin, one of the two that found the body. Hicklin hastened home to ascertain the whereabouts of Denton, who, it was reported, was ready to start for the plains again. In an hour after he reached home Esquire N. R. Marchbanks brought Hicklin the warrant, and he at once set out to serve it.
Constable Hicklin repaired to Fail's store, on the Kansas line, near where Denton lived. The crowd at the store had not yet heard the news, and when Hicklin informed them they were astonished; and when he summoned them to assist in arresting Denton all present refused, alleging that Denton was a dangerous man and that they would not imperil their lives by approaching him on such an errand. At this juncture it seemed as if Denton would not be arrested, as he had friends in the crowd who would inform him of his danger in time for him to escape before a posse could be summoned that would attempt the arrest. Mr. William . Marchbanks now came riding up, and with his assistance the constable made the arrest; not, however, without a spirited re- sistance on the part of Denton, who, seeing Hicklin and March- banks approach his house, seized a large double-barreled shot- gun and ran into a garden, where, in a thicket of tall weeds, he dictated terms to his captors before he would surrender. He was guaranteed, so far as the constable and Marchbanks could do so. protection against mob violence and a fair trial in the courts.
Hicklin hastened away with the prisoner, and fearing a rescue on the part of his friends in Kansas, Wm. C. Gates, Nicholas Hagan and some others raised a force of thirty men and repaired to Hicklin's house, where Denton was guarded that night. It was reported that about twenty-five of Montgomery's men col-
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lected in the vicinity of Barnesville with a view of liberating the prisoner, but, learning that the constable had sent away his family and was prepared to fight, they gave up the scheme as likely to prove a bad job.
Early the next morning Denton was taken to Balltown, where he underwent a preliminary examination of two days before Esq. R. A. Boughan, and was committed to jail without bail. There being no secure jail in this county, he was taken to Clinton and confined in the Henry county jail. It so chanced that at Balltown he was shackled with the same handcuffs that had been cut from the dead body of Hardwick, and which he had procured to be made in Nevada City. The second morning of the trial old Holly Herriford came up from Papinville with twenty-five armed and mounted men, who rode into Balltown calling out, "Lynch the d-d scoundrel!" Preparations were being made to hang Denton, when Hicklin and Marchbanks informed the crowd of the arrangement that had been made with him when he sur- rendered, and declared they would protect him with their lives. Thereupon the lynchers, in that wavering mood characteristic of such parties exclaimed : "That's all right; he shan't be hurt; we will protect him ourselves !"
After remaining in jail for a year or more, Denton escaped and returned to Kansas, applying to Montgomery for protection. But Montgomery plainly informed him that he had but little use for him unless he was willing to identify himself with the repub- lican or Free State cause. Denton replied that he was no "nigger- lover" and no "d-d Abolitionist either," and that he presumed he could protect himself, and that Montgomery and his "Osages" might "go to h-11 !"
On the 25th of October, 1860, John Denton was in Fail's store. Bill Marchbanks, one of his former captors, came in. Instantly Denton drew his revolver and attempted to shoot Marchbanks. It is said that parties interfered and effected a reconciliation be- tween the two, and that at last they drank together and parted apparently friendly. On the other hand it is asserted that no reconciliation was had, but that Marchbanks was forced to slip away from the building to save his life, and that he mounted a horse and galloped to Constable Hicklin's residence, informed him that Denton had threatened to kill them both and proposed that they return and rearrest him.
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In the meantime an indictment had been found against Den- ton. Of this Hicklin was aware and when Marchbanks informed him of Denton's presence-and at all events he did so inform him -he at once agreed to try and effect his apprehension. What followed is thus related by Mr. Hicklin himself :
"I jumped on my horse and off we went. The grocery had only one door. which was in the east, and no windows. We went around out of sight and came up behind the house or from the west. When within 200 yards of the building we galloped up within fifty vards and then dismounted, intending to run upon him in the grocery before he knew we were coming. But there were several men in and about the grocery, and one of them . . saw us as we dismounted and gave the alarm.
"Marchbanks ran around the south side and I on the north side. Denton had his horse hitched to the door-latch on the north side of the door. and so when we came around the house the horse was between me and Denton. All of the men had run out of the house, and just as we came around Denton stepped out with his revolver in his hand. I demanded his surrender. but he ยท paid no attention to me. but threw his revolver down (that is, brought it to bear) on Marchbanks. I struck at him across the neck of his horse, but the animal threw up its head and I missed him. But instantly Marchbanks. who was armed with a U. S. musket, fired and Denton fell. with a bullet in his heart and died almost instantly. He fell almost at my feet, and I reached down and took his revolver out of his hand."
Denton's friends made threats of vengeance against both Marchbanks and Hicklin and they had to keep out of the country for some time. The next year the Civil War broke out. William Marchbanks, as is detailed on subsequent pages, became a captain of Confederate forces and operated extensively in this county. Jeff. Denton, a brother of John, entered the Federal service. and became a lieutenant in the Sixth Kansas cavalry. He. too. oper- ated largely in this and adjoining counties. chiefly as a scout and spy. It is said that one motive for entering the Federal service was that he had hoped chance might one day throw Bill Marchbanks in his presence, when he intended to fight him to the death in revenge for the killing of his brother John. It is further alleged that each hunted and watched for the other on many an occasion, but it chanced that they never met. Jeff. Den-
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ton died of disease at Fort Scott in 1863. Marchbanks survived the war and afterward lived near Paris, Texas. H. G. Hicklin afterward lived at Hume, Bates county.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE BORDER TROUBLES.
The question as to whether or not slavery should be extended into Kansas Territory was for many years a fruitful source of bitter controversy between the friends and enemies of that sensi- tive and jealous institution. And the conduct of the pro-slavery people of Missouri, in regard to Kansas affairs, has been de- nounced and harshly criticised by those who could not or would not admit any justification for it. With a white population in the Missouri counties adjacent to Kansas, in the year 1854, of some 80,000, owning 12,000 slaves, what more natural than that they should be deeply interested in the political character of that Territory, and desire that such conditions should be established as would be a guaranty for the security of their property rights and interests ?
After the approval by President Pierce on May 30, 1854, of the act creating the Territory of Kansas, and by which the Mis- souri Compromise was repealed, the feelings became more bitter, and trouble began anew between the pro-slavery element, who sought the extension of slavery into the new territory, and the anti-slave people, who were fixed in their determination to pre- vent it. And in the fierce and violent conflict that ensued, in- volving the destruction of much property and the sacrifice of many lives, the residents of Vernon county were to a greater or less extent concerned and interested. To the slave holder, wish- ing to move westward, the free state proposition was undesir- able; and to all pro-slavery people the plan to establish on their borders a free state, where a fugitive slave could find security, was not to be, for a moment, considered. That unscrupulous men on both sides committed acts which no right thinking person would attempt to justify, cannot be denied. But it has been stated with somewhat of pride, that no citizen of Vernon county was ever the aggressor in any of the many crimes and acts of lawlessness charged against Missourians ; and that the most culpa-
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ble things done by them were occasional scouts into Kansas and some irregular voting .. During the campaign preceding the first election held in Kansas, November 29, 1854, for delegate to Cori- gress, numerous public men, notably Senator Atchison, Judge Woodson, Claiborne F. Jackson, and others, in public addresses, abetted the plans of Missouri citizens to carry the election as they desired. On the question of what constituted actual residence, which was a prerequisite, under the territorial law, to the right to vote, opinion was divided, some holding that five minutes in the Territory was sufficient, and others claiming that only those owning a piece of land, or permanently settled in the Territory, had that right. At Fort Scott, where the election was held, the pro-slavery element was largely in the majority, and there were in the district some twenty-five legal voters, eliminating the sol- diers who were not allowed to vote. The polling place was in the store of Colonel Hiero T. Wilson; Colonel Wilson, William Godfrey and Thomas B. Arnett were judges of election, and the results showed 105 votes for the pro-slavery candidate, General Whitfield, and none for any one else. It was charged that, eighty-five Missourian ballots were cast in the Fort Scott pre- cinct, twenty-five being by residents of that part of Bates which later became Vernon county, and sixty from other sections, and that more than 1,700 fraudulent votes were cast in the Territory.
A census, taken by order of Governor Reeder, showed that at the time of the territorial legislative election, March 3, 1855, the Fort Scott district had 100 legal voters; the returns showed that S. A. Williams and J. C. Anderson, the pro-slavery candi- dates, received 315, and John Hamilton and William Margraves, of the opposition ticket, thirty-five, of the 350 votes cast. Mr. Anderson, one of the candidates, declared elected, was at that time a citizen of Lexington, Missouri. Other citizens of Missouri. chosen to the Kansas Legislature, were A. M. Coffee, David Lykins and Henry W. Tomiger (father of the notorious Tomiger brothers), none of whom ever lived in Kansas. Among the many Missourians who participated in this election were numerous Vernon county citizens, who could make the trip to Fort Scott and return home the same day. There followed an investigation and the report of the Congressional Committee having the matter in charge disclosed that there existed an organized movement extending throughout many of the western countries of Missouri,
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the object of which was to send men into Kansas to vote, with the purpose of making it a slave state. And that in furtherance of this purpose, organized parties, for the most part armed, and many of them with provisions and tents for camping, marched into every council district in the Territory and into every repre- sentative district save one.
General Whitfield, who was declared elected to Congress in 1854, was unseated, and an election held October 6, 1856, to fill the place. for which he was a candidate for re-election, resulted in his receiving the entire poll of Bourbon county, only 188 votes being cast, the free state men taking no part in the election. Again. at the election to choose delegates to the Lecompton con- stitutional convention, which convened January 12. 1857, al- though the eighteenth district, comprising the counties as they then were, of Bourbon, Allen, McGee and Dorn, polled only 204 votes, with a voting population of 645, at the election of October 5, 1857, for members of the Legislature, McGee county, the num- ber of whose legal voters did not exceed fifty all told, polled 1,202 votes for the pro-slavery candidate. Similar conditions existed at the several elections for ratifying or rejecting the Lecompton constitution. The first, December 21, 1857, when the free state element refrained from taking part; the second, on the question of adoption, January 4. 1858, at which but few pro-slavery men voted. and the last, August 2, 1858. when again, the pro-slavery men, for the most part, did not vote. While it is true that the results of these so-called elections were due to illegal voting by residents of Missouri, many of whom lived in Vernon county, it is but just, and due to the law-abiding citizens of the county to say that very many of the pro-slavery men not only discountenanced and denounced these high-handed acts of lawlessness, refusing to have any part in them themselves, but also, insofar as they could, sought to dissuade others.
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