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 2
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
appreciate their worth and read with absorbing interest of their sore trials and great achievements, and we only render them their due by rescuing their deeds and memory from oblivion. The general plan and classification of the work is simple and natural. First - Brief historical sketch of the State of Missouri. Second-A general history of the county. Third-Townships in detail. Fourth-Cities and Towns, and: Fifth-Biographical sketches of quite a number of the residents of the county, includ- ing some who are dead and others who are now non-residents but could not well be omitted from any history of Vernon county ; and it may be said that aside from the gratification of family and personal pride of the subject these biographical sketches will be of interest and value to the general reader, for over all is the glamour of the past, the alluring, impressive past, which bewitches us with its fascinating charm, and they will stir memory and the imagination to the mysterious work of dealing with bygone days and events, identifying, connecting and associating them with the living present, inspiring us with impulses toward a true and noble life and at the same time encouraging us to carry them out. There is no special feature in the work, as each and every subject is treated with that care and completeness it deserves and calls for, and the various topics so related and interwoven as to make a harmonious whole, yet scattered through the work, will often appear incidents and characters seemingly irrelevant and out of place, but they are of some merit and interest, but have no special or appropriate place, and yet to leave them out would deprive quite a number of people of a happy and cherished memory. Vernon county's present condition, teeming with wealth and population, is not the result of mere chance, although much is to be attributed to her many natural advantages, for there is hardly a county in the state that surpasses her in this respect - her broad and sweeping prairies carpeted with a luxuriant growth of rich, indigenous grasses, her beautiful and fertile valleys whose pro- ductive soil rivals that of the famous Nile, her numerous and well watered streams bordered with an abundance of fine and valuable timber - oak, hickory, walnut, aslı, pecan and other marketable varieties-and her immense coal deposits with her salubrious and equable climate-all combine to make her not only equal to any county in the state, but superior to the most of them-but still with all these riches of nature at hand it took the active brain
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INTRODUCTORY
and busy hands of the energetic, enterprising and progressive home builders to develop and utilize them, and this was done by the old-timers in a way that reflected credit upon those doing the work, and attracted and permanently fixed the general attention upon this county, and the pace these early workers set has been kept up by those who followed in the good work, so that to-day Vernon county stands in the front rank of the counties of the state for progressiveness and all that goes to make a prosperous and happy community.
This is not the place to go into detail as to her various enter- prises and work done to prove this assertion, as all through this work will be found accounts of her agricultural interests, her educational and financial institutions, her factories, commercial affairs, business houses and various other industries which will convince even the casual reader that all that is said above is true. While the people of this county can with good grace boast of the achievements of the past, of the wonderful work accomplished and the proud position of the county at this time, yet this has not all been done without friction and trouble - it would be more than human if it had - there have been political wrangles and fights that bred bitterness and severed ties of friendship of long years' standing, and the same results can be said to have attended splits and dissensions in some of the churches - social conten- tions and personal quarrels - but the people generally were broad-minded and tolerant and as time, that great healer and obliterator, passed these ugly feelings died out and the differences were forgotten and the old friendly feelings and associations were renewed, everything being pleasant and everybody agreeable, ready, however, to take their stand and fight for what they thought to be right, showing they were true American citizens. Some of these hot contests have been given place in this work, not to rake up old differences and hard feelings, but they are included as a part of the history of the times and being free from malice we can all look back and smile at these things now. But it is proper to say in this connection that while the people were busily engaged in their work and fighting their political, religious and other battles there were many things happening to break the monotony and relieve the situation - we had our gala days and something unusual and stirring was occurring nearly every day and practical jokes were being played that produced hilarious.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
uproarious fun. To give these in detail with their proper setting would require a volume in itself, but we cannot pass the subject by without giving a running sketch as it were as these numerous events present themselves to our mind. I am quite sensible that to many they will appear light and insignificant, but to others they will produce a retrospective mood of mind and awaken a train of thought and stir dormant memories which will give them special delight from the very fact that they are light and unimportant. It is this lightening up of the pathway of life with fun and frivolity that makes human life bearable at times. Joting these things down in a rambling way as misty and improptu memory presents them to view, there is Col. "Jim" Nichols with his pranc- ing black team, they noted for their style, and he for his elegant manners and general "bonhomie"; his famous drive to Lamar, nearly killing one of his horses, which he afterwards sold to "Bill" McCrudden ; his unique settlement of an enormous bar bill presented by "Tom" Morris for one night's round-up at the Morris saloon ; the stentorian voice of "Bill" McGinnis floats out on the air as he opens court every morning at the south window of the old court house with his "O Yes! O Yes! The honorable circuit court of Vernon county is now in session," and then call- ing out, "Deeeee C. Hunter, S. A. Wight, Waldo P. Johnson, Foster P. Wright, W. J. Stone, C. G. Burton, John T. Birdseye, S. P. Doss, Meigs Jackson, E. I. Fishpool, C. R. Scott, C. T. Davis, J. B. Johnson and about all the other members of the bar"; the scattering of dodgers one night ridiculing Judge Vanswearingen, who had lately come among us, prim in dress, pompous in dignity, and with white hair and mustache, posing as a gallant, and then the bogus indignation meeting that followed, gotten up by Tom Moore Johnson, a son of Judge W. P. Johnson, at which meeting some very fine speeches were made eulogistic of the "Nestor" of the Vernon county bar, denouncing the outrage. etc .; the farcical trial before Squire Doss when "Wild" Bill Davis expected to take judgment by default in a suit for common labor, and Meigs Jack- son, having posted the Squire, appeared for the defendant and announced ready for trial. Davis, having expected to take judg- ment by default, had imbibed somewhat and when the hour for trial, 1 p. m., arrived, his ideas were rather confused and when Jackson moved to dismiss the case and read some cases from the Virginia reports discussing and determining the rights of
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INTRODUCTORY
owners of oyster beds, he was stunned and confounded. When Jackson got through Davis replied by saying, "What in h-1 do these cases have to do with an account for splitting rails?" The court broke up in disorder. Our two masters of public ceremonies, Col. A. A. Pitcher and Maj. A. R. Patterson, between whom there was a friendly rivalry, both played the snare drum, especially Colonel Pitcher. Patterson once had charge of the fireworks on - a platform in the south part of the court house yard-the whole lot by some means caught fire. With bulged eyes and open mouth he leaped over the railing like a bullfrog into a pond, all sprawled out. The sham trial of Sol Rosenthal on the charge of bastardy instigated by Dr. Rockwood was rich. The doctor tried another joke on another Jew or German by the name of Sherman, full par- ticulars of which will be found in Volume 26, Missouri Appeal Reports, page 403, and by the Court's decision the doctor had to pay two prices for an old plug horse -- the joke was turned. "Bill" (Senator) Stone's attempt to scare Wesley Wilcox with a toy fan pistol and "Andy" King trying the same thing on "Clay" Arnold and Alec Patterson - the said "Bill" Stone and "Clay" Arnold coming in a circus once with plug hats and canes, something rather unknown at that time, being somewhat in a weaving way. Major Prewitt's experience with a white owl; "Boyd" Bowland's scene with the phrenological lecturer who returned to the court house to get a paper he had left after the crowd had dispersed and found "Boyd" lying on the table at full length, stark naked, peacefully sleeping. The lecturer thought it was a corpse, but it stirred and then there was something doing. Dr. Lupton's guffaw laugh and the merry, jolly laugh of "Tom" Moore and "Bob" Ellis that made the town famous in the early days. "Bill" Howard's attempt to hop around the square on a $5 bet that he could duplicate the feat of a one-legged fakir, performed the day before. The tournaments at our fairs and the crowning of the Queens of Love and Beauty ; the visit to our city of the famous "Tom" Collins and his big purchase of village lots from "Father" Alec Wight if Father Wight could have found him ; Barlow's mad hunt for Collins to whip him for saying that he (Barlow) ran away from north Missouri under the charge of hog stealing; Dr. Wade's purchase of all the remaining boxes of soap of a street vender to get the $10 bill supposed to be put in one of them, his disappointment, the arrest of the fakir and his
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
defense by "Charley" Burton and his acquittal on a shrewd ques- tion put to Dr. Wade by Judge Burton ; the slick gent, J. B. Kime, who struck our town in 1872 and bought Dr. Wade's drug store with a bogus draft; the croquet craze when we played on the vacant lot where Kaylor's store and other buildings now stand and the players were dubbed by "Jim" Gillet, a rural politician, the court house ring and paper collar brigade; when chess took the town and everybody thought they could play chess, in Wight's office, the writer's office and Warth's drug store you could always find a game going on, the chief players being Colonel McNeil, Dr. Dodson, C. G. Burton, S. A. Wight, "Dick" Cummins, D. W. Graves, - - Renwick, "Tom" Stokes, "Sam" Warth, "Bert" Kimball, and "Bill' Stone,; and then draw poker swept the town, but about this the least said the better, and as to who were the chief players silence is "golden," but if Dodson's old hall could speak it could give you the names of many prominent citizens who played 1 cent ante, 25 cent limit on many a quiet Sunday therein; the brokerage firm of Clark & Atkinson, with "Cliff" Brooks and old "El Paso," his pistol; Major Clinton and "Jim" Atkinson, side hustlers; the wild night ride of George Clark with "Bob" Murray in a coffin and a case of beer on the carriage; the removal of some of the planks out of the outside stairway leading up to the Berry home over the store which stood where the First National Bank now stands, and what happened to the young man who called on Miss Belle Berry that night when he took his leave and started down that stairway; when amateur theatricals were all the go and "The Lady of Lyons," "London Assurance" and "Marble Heart" were put on the stage with some of our present staid matrons and solemn elders in the cast, and one Gates was the manager; the good times we would have when Jake Simon with his troop came to town for a week's engagement, first at the old court house, afterward at Dodson's hall, and Emma Golden with her troupe, Dodson's old hall would be crowded; and today we look back with surprise at the excel- lence of the plays we then had ; Jake Simon's "Rip Van Winkle," "Bill" Leake's "Hamlet" and "Richard the Third," and Louis Pomeroy's "Rosalind" compared well with the best. But in 1882 the old hall was dismantled and Moore's Opera House came to the front, and while we have had higher priced attractions it is to be very much doubted whether we had any better. The jolly good
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INTRODUCTORY
fellows who composed our crowd of fishermen and hunters in those grand days for sport, and the many famous trips we took when bread was the least thought of article in our commissary, and all the fish bait was not taken in tin cans; the weeping speeches of Colonels E. I. Fishpool and W. F. Davis made against the issuance of saloon licenses and how effective they were with the county court, and the town became "dry" -- and how soon thereafter they both fell by the wayside - that coterie of enterprising, wide- awake fellows who always had the best interest of the town at heart and did so much to push it to the front and contributed so much in work and money to its upbuilding; among them were Hon. S. A. Wight, H. C. Moore, F. P. Anderson, Major Prewitt, Dr. Dodson, C. O. Graves, Paul Thornton, J. E. Harding, little "Bob" McNeil, W. J. (Senator) Stone, John T. Birdseye, "Dick" Cummins, and Dr. Rockwood ; the famous "impromptu" speech of "Bill' Stone at a Sunday school picnic south of town, when dur- ing its delivery his memory failed him and he had to go down in his pocket for his manuscript; the famous 4th of July picnic at Charley Haynes' grove where several things happened, Colonel McNeil's slick cap and shawl worn Indian fashion, Dr. Dodson's plug hat and wig, "Tim" Stearns' flowing locks. Birdseye in his shirt sleeves in winter, the thrilling fight between "Fine" Ewing and Bryant Thornhill when "Fine" used a 22 Smith & Wesson and the Lord saved Thornhill's life; the time "Billy" Brown tacked together the deck of cards for John Trusket to raise, and cold deck the party ; the delegates "Billy " Brown, "Bill" Dalton and C. T. Davis, elected to a convention at a meeting held in a certain back room; the trophies the Knights of Pythias and our fire boys won at contests at various places in the state; the duel between Mart Modrel and Mann Loring when the guns were loaded with poke berries - but we are becoming tedious. Many of these things border at least upon the disgraceful, but they are the follies and pranks incident to a new and growing country and as to their relation affecting any of the participants now it can be said that they are effectually barred by the statute of limitation, being the dry bones of the dead past. .
In the preparation of this work, as might have been expected. many difficulties and annoyances have been met with - expected sources of information proved disappointing, records were lost. misplaced or destroyed and in many cases not kept at all. and
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
memories found deficient or entirely blank. But on the other hand we have been greatly encouraged by the liberal support of, and in many ways assisted by, the people in general, to whom we make grateful acknowledgements without attempting to specify any in particular by name, but at the same time we feel that we should make special acknowledgements to Brown's His- tory of this county of which we have made so free use, finding it full and reliable up to the time of its publication some 24 years ago.
In the effort to emphasize the local coloring and gratify local interest and expectation, it was necessary to be careful to avoid that which was too light or trashy, or too boasting and advertis- ing, and on the other hand to steer clear of the fault of being stilted or prosy and dull. How well this has been accomplished the reader must decide. As time passes the value and interest of this history will increase and many things recorded herein will attract and delight that hardly seem worth while now. While we have tried to keep the work free from mistakes and to include everything that should properly be taken note of, yet we feel that errors have crept in and many deserving things have been left out, but with all its imperfections such as they may be, we submit the work to the lenient judgment of the subscribers and the people generally, hoping that their expectations will be rea- sonably met.
CENTENARY M. E. CHURCH SOUTH.
CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
LOUISIANA PURCHASE,
The purchase in 1803 of the vast territory west of the Missis- sippi river, by the United States, extending through Oregon to the Pacific coast and south to the Dominions of Mexico, constitutes the most important event that ever occurred in the history of the nation.
It gave to our republic additional room for that expansion and stupendous growth, to which it has since attained, in all that makes it strong and enduring, and forms the seat of an empire, from which radiate an influence for good unequaled in the annals of time. In 1763, the immense region of country, known at that time as Louisiana, was ceded to Spain by France. By a secret article, in the treaty of St. Ildefonso, concluded in 1800, Spain ceded it back to France. Napoleon, at that, time, coveted the island of St. Domingo, not only because of the value of its products, but more especially because its location in the Gulf of Mexico would, in a military point of view, afford him a fine field whence he could the more effectively guard his newly acquired possessions. Hence, he desired this cession by Spain should be kept a profound secret until he succeeded in reducing St. Domingo to submission. In this undertaking, however, his hopes were blasted, and so great was his disappointment that he apparently became indifferent to the advantages to be secured to France from his purchase of Louisiana.
In 1803 he sent out Laussat as prefect of the colony, who gave the people of Louisiana the first intimation they had that they had once more become the subjects of France. This was the occasion of great rejoicing among the inhabitants, who were Frenchmen in their origin, habits, manners, and customs.
Mr. Jefferson, then president of the United States, on being informed of the retrocession, immediately dispatched instructions
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
to Robert Livingston, the American minister at Paris, to make known to Napoleon that the occupancy of New Orleans, by his government, would not only endanger the friendly relations exist- ing between the two nations, but, perhaps, oblige the United States to make common cause with England, his bitterest and most dreaded enemy; as the possession of the city by France would give her command of the Mississippi, which was the only outlet for the produce of the Western States, and give her also control of the Gulf of Mexico, so necessary to the protection of American commerce. Mr. Jefferson was so fully impressed with the idea that the occupancy of New Orleans, by France, would bring about a conflict of interests between the two nations, which would finally culminate in an open rupture, that he urged Mr. Livingston to not only insist upon the free navigation of the Mississippi, but to negotiate for the purchase of the city and the surrounding country.
The question of this negotiation was of so grave a character to the United States that the president appointed Mr. Monroe, with full power to act in conjunction with Mr. Livingston. Ever equal to all emergencies, and prompt in the cabinet, as well as in the field, Napoleon came to the conclusion that, as he could not well defend his occupancy of New Orleans, he would dispose of it, on the best terms possible. Before, however, taking final action in the matter, he summoned two of his ministers, and addressed them as follows :
"I am fully sensible of the value of Louisiana, and it was my wish to repair the error of the French diplomatists who abandoned it in 1763. I have scarcely recovered it before I run the risk of losing it ; but if I am obliged to give it up, it shall hereafter cost more to those who force me to part with it, than to those to whom I shall yield it. The English have despoiled France of all her north- ern possessions in America, and now they covet those of the South. I am determined that they shall not have the Mississippi. Al- though Louisiana is but a trifle as compared with their vast posses- sions in other parts of the globe, yet, judging from the vexation they have manifested on seeing it return to the power of France, I am certain that their first object will be to gain possession of it. They will probably commence the war in that quarter. They have twenty vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, and our affairs in St. Domingo are daily getting worse since the death of LeClerc. The
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI
conquest of Louisiana might be easily made, and I have not a moment to lose in getting out of their reach. I am not sure but that they have already begun an attack upon it. Such a measure would be in accordance with their habits; and in their place I should not wait. I am inclined, in order to deprive them of all prospect of ever possessing it, to cede it to the United States. Indeed, I can hardly say that I cede it, for I do not yet possess it ; and if I wait but a short time my enemies may leave me nothing but an empty title to grant to the republic I wish to conciliate. I consider the whole colony as lost, and I believe that in the hands of this rising power it will be more useful to the political and even commercial interests of France than if I should attempt to retain it. Let me have both your opinions on the subject."
One of his ministers approved of the contemplated cession, but the other opposed it. The matter was long and earnestly dis- cussed by them, before the conference was ended. The next day. Napoleon sent for the minister who had agreed with him, and said to him :
"The season for deliberation is over. I have determined to renounce Louisiana. I shall give up not only New Orleans, but the whole colony, without reservation. That I do not undervalue Louisiana, I have sufficiently proved, as the object of my first treaty with Spain was to recover it. But though I regret parting with it, I am convinced it would be folly to persist in trying to keep it. I commission you, therefore, to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United States. Do not wait the arrival of Mr. Monroe, but go this very day and confer with Mr. Livingston. Remember. however, that I need ample funds for carrying on the war, and I do not wish to commence it by levying new taxes. For the last century France and Spain have incurred great expense in the improvement of Louisiana, for which her trade has never indemnified them. Large sums have been advanced to different companies, which have never been returned to the treasury. It is fair that I should require repayment for these. Were I to regu- late my demands by the importance of this territory to the United States, they would be unbounded; but, being obliged to part with it. I shall be moderate in my terms. . Still, remember. I must have fifty millions of francs, and I will not consent to take less. I would rather make some desperate effort to preserve this fine country."
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That day the negotiations commenced. Mr. Monroe reached Paris on the 12th of April, 1803, and the two representatives of the United States, after holding a private interview, announced that they were ready to treat for the entire territory. On the 30th of April, the treaty was signed, and on the 21st of October, of the same year, congress ratified the treaty. The United States were to pay $11,250,000, and her citizens were to be compensated for some illegal captures, to the amount of $3,750,000, making in the aggregate the sum of $15,000,000, while it was agreed that the vessels and merchandise of France and Spain should be admitted into all the ports of Louisiana free of duty for twelve years. Bonaparte stipulated in favor of Louisiana, that it should be, as soon as possible, incorporated into the Union, and that its inhabitants should enjoy the same rights, privileges and im- munities as other citizens of the United States, and the clause giving to them these benefits was drawn up by Bonaparte, who presented it to the plenipotentiaries with these words :
"Make it known to the people of Louisiana, that we regret to part with them; that we have stipulated for all the advantages they could desire ; and that France, in giving them up, has insured to them the greatest of all. They could never have prospered under any European government as they will when they become independent. But while they enjoy the privileges of liberty let them remember that they are French, and preserve for their mother country that affection which a common origin inspires."
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