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. II > Part 2
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The present membership is 155. The Sabbath school in con- nection with the church has a membership of 200. D. M. Hoff- man served as superintendent from the building of the church till the fall of 1898, at which time he was succeeded by Lee Kibler, the present superintendent. The trustees are L. A. Swaney, E. M. Rhodes, W. McGary, W. F. McDavid and W. C. Simonson.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
CENTER TOWNSHIP.
Center township comprises congressional township 35, range 31. It occupies exactly a central position in the county from east to west, and its northern boundary is in the center from north to south.
A little more than the eastern two miles of the township is prairie ; the remainder was originally covered with timber. Lit- tle Drywood in the western part, Moore's branch and Birch branch, in the southern, which are the principal streams, are widely bordered with timber.
South of Nevada, and almost adjoining the town, most valu- able quarries of blue sandstone have been opened. The stone is well adapted for ornamental work of various kinds and much of it is in use in the asylum and in other buildings. It is but reasonable to conclude that this stone is to be found else- where, since the general variety to which it belongs (hydraulic sandstone) is frequently to be seen. There are numerous ex- posures of sandstone along the streams, notably on the western border of Nevada, on the Ft. Scott road.
Coal has been found in the northwest quarter of the town- ship. The belief that natural gas exists under the surface near Nevada is not sufficiently general and strong as yet to induce speculative capitalists to bore for it. The greater portion of the coal consumed in Nevada is brought from other parts of the county. Near Nevada a gravel bed exists as a depth of sixteen feet, and that in this bed logs and sticks have been found in digging wells. South of Nevada, on Birch branch, is a good mineral spring.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
The first actual settlers in Center township were John Hale and Jesse Anderson, who came directly from Pulaski county here in the fall of 1840. Hale located about three miles west and north of where is now the public square in Nevada, and Anderson built his cabin a little east of the southwest corner of the fair grounds. At the same time a man named Swearingen settled on the asylum grounds, his house standing a short dis- tance west of the site of the main building; he was from Inde- pendence, Jackson county. In a year or two Swearingen sold
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his elaim to Henry and John Herriford and removed over on Big Drywood.
August 10, 1841, Hale and Anderson were re-enforced by the arrival of Luke Hale and James Skaggs, the former the father and the latter a brother-in-law of John Hale. The Hale family came originally from Bledsoe county, Tennessee. Luke Hale died in the fall of 1853, and was buried in the old graveyard, northwest of Nevada. Anderson died at Luke Hale's probably in 1844; John Hale died in Kansas, and James Skaggs died in Moundsville township in February, 1871.
David Teel, a Pennsylvanian, and the father of Peter Teel, came from Knox county, Illinois, by way of Clay county, Missouri, to Vernon, and in July, 1842, settled at the head of Birch branch, near where the railroad depot now stands. Mr. Teel and his family occupied temporarily an empty eabin which had been built a year or two previously by John Son, Jr., whose father, Samuel Son, lived two and a half miles north of Nevada. John Son had built his cabin, lived in it for a time, and then moved back to the neighborhood where his father lived. In a week Mr. Teel removed to another vaeated cabin, which had been built and occupied by "Runaway Bill" Moore; in a short time there- after he bought out a elaim on which old Nieholas Ganther had settled, north of the Minden railroad (north part of section 21), a little more than a mile south of Birch braneh.
At that time there were living in the township, besides the Hales, James Skaggs, and Jesse Anderson, and perhaps one or two others; Rev. Benjamin Moore, who lived on the branch bearing his name on the west half of section 28; his son-in-law, Samuel Beavers, lived half a mile to the westward. Both Moore and Beavers were from Ohio, and were members of the United Brethren Church, Mr. Moore being a minister of that denomina- tion. Simeon and John Moore were also early settlers on Moore's branch.
Wm. Mann lived a mile south of James Staggs (southwest quarter seetion 9), north of the M., K. & T. railroad. Mr. Mann was a settler of some prominence and eonsequenee. He was a good blaeksmith, a fairly good doetor, a man of some means and a slave owner.
Hugh Ferguson lived nearly a mile south of Mr. Mann (south- west quarter section 16) between the two railroads. Near him
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lived his brother-in-law, a man named Hammons, who died in the fall of 1842, and was buried in the Moore graveyard-the first death and burial of an adult in the township. Louis Wilder mar- ried Hammons' widow and resided in the neighborhood. Horace Wentworth was another early settler in the neighborhood of Ferguson, living on the same section.
In 1843 Hugh Ferguson put up a band mill. He, Louis Wilder, and David Teel went down on Horse creek and got the stones and put them in proper shape for use. This mill was the first in the township, and served the purpose of the settlers very well.
In about 1844 or 1845 Ferguson, Wilder, and Wentworth moved back to Knox county, Illinois, from whence they had come directly. All three, however, were Kentuckians originally.
In 1845 John J. Baxter located at Son's Point, a locality a mile and a half east of the present court house, not far from the cabin mentioned as the work of John Son, Jr.
In 1846, Thomas H. Austin settled on a tract of land, a por- tion of which is now included within the city of Nevada. His house was located about one-fourth of a mile south of the present court house. Colonel Austin purchased the claim from a man named Allen, who went elsewhere. Austin himself entered the land in 1854.
The first settlers built their houses in the edge of the timber and farmed the prairie principally, although nearly every family had a "truck patch" in the timber. There was but little farm- ing done, however ; no attempt was made to engage extensively in general agriculture. If a sufficiency of "bread" corn and a few vegetables for home consumption were raised, the people were satisfied. There were serious drawbacks, too, to an extensive scale or system of farming. The green-head flies were so bad on the prairies in summer that but little plowing could be done with horses during that season, and every fall the prairies were swept over by disastrous fires, which frequently invaded exposed fields and destroyed the crops. There was little inducement, moreover, for engaging largely in grain or crop-growing. There was no home market worth quoting for wheat, corn, and produce, and it would not pay to haul it to Independence and Boonville for the prices then in vogue.
Trading was done by the first settlers at Chouteau's post, on the Marmaton, two miles above Deerfield ; upon its abandonment
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they resorted to Balltown and Montevallo, until Nevada was started. From the first settlement until 1855 there were two or three drouthy years, when crops were either a total or a partial failure. At these times the people were driven to go either down into the Spring river country or east on Sac, in order to procure provisions from their more fortunate neighbors.
The country was as healthy as to-day. The principal dis- eases were chills and fever, and rheumatism. The first physician that practiced in the "Haletown" settlement was Dr. White, who settled at an early date seven miles north of Nevada, but who in 1852 removed to John Hale's place. After the war, Dr. White married the widow of A. G. Hale, of Ft. Scott, and died on the Marmaton.
Religious services were held by the Methodists at a very early date. In October, 1841, Rev. Reuben Aldridge, serving as a missionary of the M. E. Church, held a two days' meeting on Jesse Anderson's place, and organized a class. People attended from far and near. Afterward the Missouri Conference sent cir- cuit riders into the country, who preached at "Haletown"-as the settlement near Nevada was called-every four weeks. The first of these circuit riders was Lorenzo Waugh, an earnest, zealous preacher, prominently identified with the history of the Methodist Church in southwest Missouri. He was succeeded by Rev. Leeper.
With the location of the county seat at Nevada City, the country in Center township began to improve and grow in value ; but, like other portions of the country, it had just begun to settle fairly when the Civil War came with its swords and torches, and from 1861 to 1866 there was no progress, and indeed the town- ship did not hold its own.
After the war, or in 1866, this township started up again and in a few years, so rapid had been its advancement, it was dif- ficult to believe that there had ever been a war, or that the prosperity of the country had ever been checked by any cause whatever. This course of prosperity has been uninterrupted to the present time.
CLEAR CREEK TOWNSHIP.
Clear Creek township is composed of congressional township 36, range. 29. It is bounded on the east by Cedar and St. Clair
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
counties, on the north by Bacon township, on the west by Walker, on the south by Virgil. About two-thirds of the township- chiefly the northern portion-is prairie. The timbered tracts lie in the southern or southeastern portion, along Clear creek, with a small tract in the northeast corner, on a branch of Kitten creek.
The general surface of the township slopes from north to south into the Clear creek valley. In the northern part there are beautiful undulating farming lands; the central portion dips more rapidly, while in the southern portion runs Clear creek from southwest to northeast.
Clear creek-from which stream the township is named- enters from the south about midway from east to west on the township line (southwest corner section 34), and leaves the town- ship in the east at a point about midway between the northern and southern boundary lines. It receives in this township, soon after entering, the waters of the West Fork, which flows along the southern line for three miles or more; also Fly creek and Stone Coal branch, which come in from the south, in the south- eastern portion of the township, and empty into the main stream, the first a mile and a half and the second half a mile from the point where it leaves the county; and the Melton branch which comes in on the north side, half a mile above the mouth of Fly creek. The West Fork receives Robinson's creek, which flows along the west side of the township for four or five miles.
The Clear creek sandstone is the chief formation along Clear creek and throughout the greater part of this township. It is generally of fine quality and a good article of gritstone. Grindstones equal, if not superior, to the famed Berean stones of Ohio, have been obtained from the exposures along this stream.
In the southeastern portion along Clear creek there is found ' a good quality of limestone, of the variety known to geologists as the Keokuk limestone -- because the same kind of stone was first found and described at Keokuk, Iowa-and this stone is reasonably abundant. Prof. Broadhead says there are occasional outcrops of this stone as far north as in section 13, where Clear creek leaves the county, and thence up the stream to the old White Oak mills, in the northwest southwest section 26. He gives us a section of the earth at the White Oak mills, going down about ninety feet, which he says is as follows :
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"First, a few feet slope from the top; then twenty-five feet Clear creek sandstone, tolerably fine grained, with some micaceous beds (containing mica), and containing fossil remains of plants -- the stone occurring generally in even flags which make good grindstones ; then twenty-one feet of slope, with a thin coal seam in the lower part; then outcrops of shale and fragments of coal ; then thirty-three feet of slope to the water in Clear creek, the lower twelve feet being carboniferous limestone."
Three-quarters of a mile south the Professor observed twelve inches of coal in place, about fifteen feet below the Clear creek sandstone; the coal was capped by light blue shale. A mile east of the mills Prof. Broadhead gives us another section of the rocks, etc., as follows :
"First, five feet of sandstone; twelve feet of drab, sandy shales ; five feet of thin layers of sandstone; two inches of rotten coal; thirty-two and one-half feet of deep blue shale, with bi- tuminous layers, and a seam of bituminous coal ten feet from the top; one and one-half feet of shales mingled with concre- tions or lumps of pyritiferous limestone, from six to eighteen inches in diameter; two and one-half feet of black shales; six inches of rough, sandy pyritiferous limestone, containing a fossil gastropod (or snail) ; four and one-half inches of coal ; two inches of black slate; two feet of fire clay."
The four and one-half-inch vein of coal is probably the same as that at the mill, and the seam in the large shale formation is doubtless the same as that half a mile south of the mill, which also appears in the creek banks a mile above.
The learned Professor states that the sandstone here is of firm texture and generally very durable. It is sometimes ripple marked and full of wavy lines, such as would be formed by gently flowing mud, for there is absolutely no clay in its com- position. He suggests that it may be fucoidal-that is, made by sea weed.
Of the sandstone in this township he says :
"Even, firm, and durable beds were observed at White Oak mills. Formerly very good grindstones were made here, as well as at several other places in the neighborhood, and were quite an article of export. The rock forms an excellent grit, suitable for grindstones and coarse whetstones and may in the future be
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
a valuable source of revenue to the inhabitants. (Geolog. Surv. Rep., 1873-74, p. 137.)
In the northeast part of the township (northwest southeast section 7), near Kitten branch, there are two fine sulphur springs. One discharges three quarts and the other three gallons a minute. The water is very pleasant.
FIRST SETTLERS.
The first settler in Clear Creek township was James Fergus. In the fall of 1837 he came over from St. Clair county and built a cabin on the southeast quarter of section 24, within a quarter of a mile of the Cedar county line, and a mile south of where Clear creek leaves the county. His daughter, Virginia, who was born May 13, 1839, was the first white child born in the township. Mr. Fergus was the first elected sheriff of Vernon county, and died in office, October 13, 1859.
Some years after Mr. Fergus settled in this township, the Packard brothers came to the country. There were three of them, Alanson, Phineas and Horatio; all were from Ohio, and they must have emigrated to Missouri about the year 1840. Alanson Packard lived in 1844 in Cedar, near the point where that county corners with St. Clair and Vernon. His brothers lived in the southwest part of this township, south of Clear creek- Phineas on the northwest quarter of section 36 and Horatio on the southwest quarter of section 25.
Dr. Badger relates, as portraying the character and mode of living of some of the first settlers of this quarter of the state, that in the fall of 1844 he went to the house of Phineas Packard, in what is now Clear Creek township, to borrow a cross-cut saw, belonging to Alanson Packard, of St. Clair. Accepting an invi- tation to dinner, the Doctor seated himself on a three-legged stool at a clap-board table. Surrounding the family board were the Doctor, Mr. and Mrs. Packard, and their eight children, grown up boys and girls, some standing and some sitting on stools. The table furniture consisted of two-thirds of an iron kettle and three battered tin cups. The kettle contained a boiled chicken and a quantity of thick soup, while on one corner of the table were piled three pones of corn bread, constituting the bill of fare.
The host drew from his belt, which upheld his leather
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breeches, a hunting knife, and severing a leg of the chicken and filling a cup with soup, he placed them before the Doctor; the corn pone was next handed round. There were not cups enough to go around. The boys and girls understood this, and each formed from the soft part of the bread a miniature fort or bas- tion on the board, and into this enclosure a ration of soup was poured, and "sopped" out with another piece of bread at will. Occasionally a little crevasse, or break in the levee, occurred and a small stream of gravy would trickle forth, but it was soon suppressed by the swift motion of a finger, and the rift in the embankment closed. The host and Dr. Badger ate with their pocket knives; the rest used their fingers.
Phineas Packard, though a poor, rough man, was a worthy one, and reared a respectable family. He was a sincere Christian, and Dr. Badger testifies that the Packard family was one of the happiest he ever knew, even if they were without knives and forks or plates and spoons.
It is difficult to determine at this late day the names of all of the very first settlers in this township, and the location of the settlements in their proper and regular order. It is certainly known, however, and may with confidence be stated, that among the first were J. A. Neafus, William Collins, James Craig, Rev. R. A. Blakey, Conrad G. Carr, and Lawrence Drenning. All these were here before March, 1857, when Judge H. P. Mobley settled here and the majority lived in the lower part of the township.
Judge "Coonrod" Carr, as his Christian name was some- times pronounced, was from Illinois, and finally died in that State while on a visit; he was one of the first justices of the Vernon county court. Mr. Neafus was from Callaway county, Kentucky, originally, but came directly from Henry county. J. T. Sullivan came with Blakey to the country. Judge Mobley was from Hickman county, Kentucky.
Maj. H. W. Corker was an early settler in this township, and made persistent efforts to establish a grist mill on Clear creek. He tried first to run a water mill. then he employed steam to drive his machinery, but both schemes failed, and in 1855 he gave up the attempt and removed over into Walker township.
The township was sparsely settled until after the Civil War. The first church was built before the war, chiefly through the
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efforts of Rev. R. A. Blakey. It was a log building and stood on section 34, near the residence of Mr. Blakey. There were no public schools until after the war, but there were private schools at private houses before that time. William French, of St. Clair county, was one of the first teachers.
One of the first townships in old Bates county comprised the eastern portion of what is now Vernon and was called Clear Creek. The voting place was at Judge James Overstreet's, down in Virgil, and some of the early justices of the peace were Isaac Smith, Judge Overstreet and Samuel Dunnagan, who lived at Dunnagan's Grove, near the Barton line.
During the war it was six of the jayhawkers to half a dozen of the bushwhackers, and between the two the people of the township had a rough time of it. Some of them were driven out, after having their horses taken, their stock driven away, and their houses plundered.
Marchbanks' and Taylor's bushwhackers found occasionally a snug refuge in the Cedar creek timber in this township, but there were never any encounters between them and the Federal forces. The Cedar county militia "made it hot" for the Con- federate sympathizers here-the unarmed portion, at least-but they did more foraging than fighting ..
The old Blakey graveyard on section 34 is the oldest cemetery in the township. In August, 1886, the name was changed and the Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association organized, with J. M. Carr, president; John Kelly, vice-president; George H. Mobley, secretary and treasurer; John Kelly, George H. Mobley and William A. Brim, trustees.
Dedrick. The village of Dedrick, located on the Eldorado branch of the M., K. & T. R. R., is a local trading and shipping point of some importance, containing general stores and other conveniences.
CHURCHES.
Mount Vernon M. E. Church South is located on section 20, Clear Creek township. The organization of this church was ef- fected about the year 1861. The following were the original members: B. N. Buford, A. J. Edmiston, - Carroll, Benjamin Snodgrass, Eli Pentecost, Mose Everman, J. C. Newland, John
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Buford, S. Hill, A. M. Sullard and their wives; Mrs. Easley, Mrs. Julia Lancaster and Mrs. S. Morgan. In 1884 a frame church building was erected which cost $1,000.
Oak Grove, Baptist. December 20, 1885, this church was or- ganized with the following members: S. P. MeCrary and wife, Jasper Mccrary and wife, Stephen Easley, Samuel Nance and wife, Josephus Collins and wife, James Roberts and wife, Frank Beauchamp and wife, William Hurt and wife, Mrs. Sadie Corbin, John Stephens, Charles Gardner, Nancy Holland and Jane Hardin.
Veve Branch, Reorganized Latter-Day Saints. The branch of the above named church was organized in Clear Creek township January 17, 1892, with the following officers: Joseph Sterling, president; R. T. Walters, priest ; G. M. Shearer, teacher, and W. H. Lowe, deacon. The same year a church building was erected twenty-six by forty feet, costing $620 and located on section 15, range 29 in Clear Creek township. The present officers are W. H. Lowe, president; Joseph Sterling, elder; L. B. Glick, teacher ; Reuben Glick, deacon. The membership now numbers ninety- six and the enrollment in Sunday school is fifty.
COAL TOWNSHIP.
Coal township comprises all of congressional township No. 35, range 33, and its western boundary line is a portion of that of the state and county.
The Marmaton cuts the northwestern and northeastern cor- ners of the township; Moore's Branch flows from west to east along the southern tier of sections and empties into Big Drywood, which runs from south to north through the eastern portion, leaving it a little more than two miles from the northern line. Sprague's branch and numerous other small streams furnish an abundant running water supply.
By far the greater portion of the township is prairie. The only timbered tracts are those which fringe the larger streams. Away from the bottoms the soil is generally loamy and very fertile. There are a few elevated ridges or truncated mounds in the western parts, where there is some stone. On the northwest quarter of section 14 is an excellent quality of potter's clay, largely used by the Deerfield pottery.
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COAL.
The township takes its name from the great abundance of this mineral within its boundaries. It underlies every section and can be obtained almost everywhere by light stripping. So far as it has been developed most extensively it exists north and south of Clayton; on section 17, on section 20, where the vein is from eighteen to twenty inches; on sections 18 and 19, along the Kansas line, where it is from twelve to sixteen inches; and in the vicinity of those localities. At every point the coal is found at but a trifling depth from the surface.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
The first American settlements in Coal township were made in the southern part along Moore's branch. Smith Profitt was the first settler. In the spring of 1838 he came to the country with Kinchin Gammons and built a cabin on the south side of Moore's branch, on the southeast quarter of section 34. A year or two later his brother, Judge William Profitt, and William Horner, a son-in-law of the judge, came to Moore's branch, to the westward a mile or so. Judge Profitt located on the north side of the branch, on the south side of section 28 and the north side of section 33. Horner was on the west side of 34. The Profitts and Horner were all from Tennessee.
Judge William Profitt was a prominent citizen in early days. He owned slaves, farmed extensively and was elected one of the first county judges of Bates county in 1841; Col. George Douglass and George Manship were the two others. He died on his farm about 1850. William Horner sold out to J. B. Logan, in 1856, and went to California.
A man named Reed settled on section 32, a mile or more west of Judge Profitt's, in and about 1844. In a year or two he sold to John Linn. John Linn was a native of North Carolina, but came from Barren county, Kentucky, to Vernon county, locating at first on Chouteau's place, near Deerfield.
Jacob White located on section 13, half a mile west of Hogan's crossing on Drywood, about 1853.
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