History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 26

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844

USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 26

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The Byrd family of the Cape Girardeau district was one of the influential families during the early history of Missouri. The leading members of the family were Stephen and Abraham. They were brothers. being the sons of Amos Byrd. They came to Upper Louisiana from Tennessee about 1800. The home of the family was fixed at Byrd's creek, not far from Jackson. Stephen Byrd was fre- quently in office. He was a judge of the court of common pleas for the Cape Girardeau dis- trict, was one of the men who drew up the remonstrance concerning the organization of the Louisiana district and its connection with the Indian Territory, and was a number of times a member of the territorial assembly. He also took part in the convention that framed the constitution of the state and was afterward a representative of Cape Girardeau county in the general assembly of the state. Abraham Byrd was also a member of the state legislature at different times, and was a presidential elector in 1836. His family was a large one, and their descendants, many of them, still live in Cape Girardeau county.

In 1817 there came to Cape Girardeau a young man named Thomas B. English. He

was a native of Louisiana and was educated at St. Mary's college. He studied law with General Johnsou Ranney, and was afterward admitted to the bar. He was a man of great energy, and was modest and unassuming in manner, but soon was able to take a very high rank in his profession. Mr. English was a Democrat, and had considerable political experience. He was for a time circuit attor- ney, and in 1860 was a member of the state senate. In 1865 he was appointed judge of the tenth circuit, but died in 1866.

John D. Cook came to Cape Girardeau dur- ing the time when Missouri was a territory and in 1820 was chosen a delegate to the first convention which formed the constitution of the state. In 1822 he was appointed judge of the supreme court but held the position for only about a year, resigning to accept the po- sition of circuit judge of the southern judi- cial circuit. At the meeting of the first state legislature Cook was placed in nomination for one of the senatorships but was not chosen. He was a man of great ability and recognized to be of the highest integrity and his friends said of him that if he had been as enterpris- ing as he was able he would have risen to the very highest places. He possessed, however, but little ambition and was inclined to be indolent. His homeliness was proverbial among his friends. Younger members of the bar found in him a friend and he was always ready to give them advice and assistance.

Under the territorial government as it was first organized the chief judicial authority was vested in a court of quarter sessions of the peace. This court was to be composed of all the justices of the peace in the county, who were to be appointed by the governor, not less than three were to constitute a quor- um. This court had general jurisdiction, ex-

159

HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

cept in capital cases, and it had also civil jur- isdiction ; besides its criminal and civil author- ity the court was charged with general ad- ministrative functions in the county; it was the authority for the letting of contracts, for levying taxes and supervising the expenditures of the county, thus having the powers and duties which are now vested in a county court.

Besides the court in general quarter ses- sions, there was also organized a court of common pleas composed of two or more jus- tices of the peace and having civil jurisdiction in cases involving less than $100. There was also a probate court and justice courts pre- sided over by single justices of the peace.

In 1813 all the courts, except the single jus- tice courts, were combined to form a court of common pleas which thus had authority over both criminal and civil matters, over probate matters and was also vested with administra- tive authority in the county.

In 1816 circuit courts were organized in the territory which was divided into two circuits, the northern and southern ; all judicial mat- ters were put under the supervision of the circuit courts as well as a large part of the administrative business in each county. This organization marks the greatest concentration of judicial and administrative authority to be found in the history of the state. The circuit court with its powers to try both civil and criminal cases was also vested with all powers now held by probate and county courts; this great concentration of power lasted until the adoption of the state constitution in 1820.

Besides the courts which we have men- tioned the principal county officers were the sheriff, who was also collector and treasurer, coroner, assessor, recorder and the constables of the townships. The duties of these officers were not very different from the duties which they discharge today, the sheriff is no longer

collector and treasurer, though up until with- in very recent years he was in many counties the collector as well as sheriff.

The court of quarter sessions of the peace for Ste. Genevieve district was organized De- cember 11, 1804. The judges of this court were: Moses Austin, Jacques Guibord, Ben- jamin Strother, John Hawkins and Francois Valle. William C. Carr was appointed as the acting prosecutor ; Israel Dodge was the sheriff of the district and he brought in a jury which acted as a grand jury. The grand jury made no indictments at this first term of the court. The principal business transacted was the ap- pointment of constables for the different sec- tions of the district. They were: Andrew Morris for New Bourbon, Peter Laurel for Ste. Genevieve, Joseph Tucker for the terri- tory on the Saline, Thomas Donohue between the Saline and Apple Creek, John Paul for Bellevue and Bernard Foster for Mine a Breton. The sheriff, Israel Dodge, was di- rected to receive bids for the building of a jail. It was to stand on the public square in Ste. Genevieve, was to be 25x15 feet and to have double walls of timber one foot in thick- ness with rock filling. This jail was reported finished in September, 1805. In the same year, the court made a levy for taxes for the district. Assessors were appointed for the different settlements, who were instructed to make lists of the property held by each citi- zen. The amount of the tax levy for all of Ste. Genevieve district was $1,171.94.

In 1807 the district was divided into six townships: Breton. Bellevue. St. Michaels, Big River, Ste. Genevieve and Cinque Homme. In 1814. Saline township was formed from parts of Ste. Genevieve and Cinque Ilomme and included the south part of the present county of Ste. Genevieve and the west part of

160

HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

Perry county ; in the same year Plattin town- ship was laid out, it was east of Big River. There was no court house building in the district. During the period until 1820, the courts were usually held in the various dwell- ings. In 1808 we find the court to have met in the house of James Maxwell ; John Price's tavern was frequently used, as was also the house of Henry Dodge.

This court of quarter sessions, as may be seen from the record of its work, had some- what the same jurisdiction as the present county courts. It had also criminal juris- diction. Felony cases were tried by courts of over and terminer. The first murder trial in the district was held in 1810. Peter John- son was tried at this time for the murder of John Spear; Edward Hempstead was the at- torney general and prosecuted the case, while Henry M. Breckenridge and James A. Graham appeared for the defendant. The trial re- sulted in the conviction of Johnson, and in execution of the sentence he was hanged on the third day of August. According to the barbarous custom of the time the hanging was public. It took place on the hill near the academy building and was witnessed by ahnost the entire population of the town. Only one other execution took place in Ste. Genevieve county during this period. There were other cases of homicide but only two persons were executed. One of the famous killings was that of Captain De Mun, who was the com- mander of the body of militia known as the Dragoons, who lived in New Bourbon, and was a very prominent citizen. He and William McArthur, who was a brother-in-law of Louis F. Linn, were candidates for the territorial house of representatives in 1816. A difficulty arose between them concerning some state- ments charging MeArthur with connection

with a band of counterfeiters. De Mun had repeated these charges and was challenged by MeArthur to a duel. This was refused by De Mun on the ground that the challenger was. not a gentleman. Threats were then made on both sides and at the occasion of their first meeting, which occurred on the stairway in the house used by the court, they both fired. MeArthur was not hurt, but De Mun was killed. No charge was preferred against MeArthur, as he was very generally held to be justified in the killing. We have given an account in another place of the celebrated duel between Thomas T. Crittenden and Doctor Walter Fenwick. Doctor Fenwick was buried in the Catholic cemetery and his grave is still to be seen.

The first county court under the state gov- ernment met in Ste. Genevieve, May 21, 1821. It was composed of James Pratte, James Aus- tin and James W. Smith. The court ap- pointed Thomas Oliver as clerk, and he con- tinued to hold the office until his death in 1826. At this first meeting of the court the county was divided into two townships, Ste. Genevieve and Saline; the former was di-

vided in 1827 and the north part was erected into the township called Jackson. In 1832 Beauvais township was formed from parts of Saline and Ste. Genevieve and named in honor of St. Gem Beauvais; Union township was created in 1834 from the western part of Jackson.

A jail was erected in 1875 at a cost of $8,000 and at the same time a building for the use of the county clerk was erected. In 1883 the present court house was built; it is a two-story brick building and cost $10,000. Ste. Genevieve county has a poor farm which it bought in 1880 from Jules F. Janis.

161

HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

The court of quarter sessions for Cape Gir- ardeau district was organized on March 19, 1805. The following judges were present and took part in the organization of the conrt: Christopher Hays, Louis Lorimier, James Ballew, Robert Greene, John Byrd and Fred- eric Limbaugh ; Joseph MeFerron was clerk of the court and Jolm Hays was sheriff. A grand jury was summoned which returned indictments for assault against William Har- per, and for burglary against Baptiste Manie. Both of these men were tried and convicted at the next term of the court. The court ap- pointed John Randall, Jeremiah Still, Will- iam Hand, William Ross, William Lorimier, and Michael Limbaugh as constables.

At other meetings of the court licenses were issued to Louis Lorimier and Thomas W. Waters to run ferries across the Mississippi river. Rogers was also given a license to con- duct a tavern at Hubble's Mill. The settlers at Tywappaty Bottom presented a petition, which was granted, for the opening of a road from that settlement to Cape Girardeau. An- other petition asked for a road from Hubble's Mill by way of Andrew Ramsay's to Cape Gir- ardeau; this petition was signed by a number of settlers and was granted. Another petition prayed for the extension of the road from Ste. Genevieve to pass the upper Delaware towns to John Byrd's thence to William Daugh- erty's, tlience to Jeremiah Simpson's, thence to the edge of the Big Swamp, to meet the New Madrid road. The conrt appointed viewers who were ordered to make a report at the next term of the court.

The court also fixed rates of taxation. Each house was taxed 25 cents, each head of cattle 61/2 cents. each slave 50 cents, and each one hundred dollars' worth of property 25 cents. Besides these a poll tax of 50 cents was levied on each able bodied single man Vol. I-11

who shall not have taxable property to the amount of four hundred dollars. This is probably one of the first instances in the state of a tax on bachelors.

The courts convened in Cape Girardeau. This was in obedience to a proclamation made by Governor Harrison on January 1, 1805. In that proclamation Governor Harrison says that he was not in possession of sufficient in- formation to determine the proper site for a permanent seat of justice but found it neces- sary to determine a temporary site. Accord- ingly, he directed that the courts of common pleas and general quarter sessions of the peace and the orphans' court be held at Cape Girar- deau upon the lands of Louis Lorimier. The proclamation further appointed the justices of the court of quarter sessions as commis- sioners to receive proposals and to make recommendation concerning the selection of a permanent site.

The commissioners thus appointed for this selection of the seat of justice received pro- posals from Louis Lorimier, William Dangh- erty and Jesse Cain. Daugherty wanted the site to be placed on the Russell farm, which he then owned, near the site of Jackson ; Cain wanted it established on the farm afterward owned by Angust Henecke; Lorimier pro- posed to give to the district four acres of land to be selected on any part of his grant north of his dwelling house, to furnish all neces -. sary timber for the public buildings, and finally to give two hundred dollars and thirty days' labor of a man toward the erection of the buildings. As a further inducement he declared his purpose to reserve for the use of the inhabitants of the town, which he meant to lay off at Cape Girardeau, all the timber on a certain part of his land. The rather peculiar method of land description is seen in the manner in which Lorimier de-

162

HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

scribes his land. In the proposition to fur- nish the timber for the public buildings, he says that it is to be taken off his land any- where "between Thorne's creek and the Shawnee Path." The land on which timber was to be reserved for the people of Cape Girardeau is described as bounded on one side by a line from the mouth of Thorne's creek and the intersection of his boundary line to the Shawnee Path, and on the other side by the town and the river. This proposition of Lorimier was accepted by the commissioners and the governor issued a proclamation fixing the permanent seat of justice at Cape Girar- dean. In January, 1806, the court of quarter sessions appointed the following commission- ers to lay off the town and locate the site of the public buildings : Anthony Haden, Ed- mund Hogan, Christopher Hays, Robert Hall and Benjamin Tennille. Other commission- ers were appointed to let the contract for the erection of a jail and court house. At the next session of court Commissioner IIaden presented a plan of the town as laid off; three acres of the public square was divided into lots and sold. Ezekiel Abel bought lot No. 1 for $62.00, John Scott bought lots 2 and 4 for $77.00 and $89.00, Joseph Meterron lot No. 5 for $62.00, and Jolin Risher lot No. 6 for $69.00. The public square thus left con- sisted of one acre which was cleared by order ·of the court. The jail was completed in De- cember, 1806. It was built of oak timber and was 12x25 feet. It was never satisfactory as a jail, having been very poorly built. The grand jury reported in 1812 that prisoners did not stay in jail, but simply passed through it.

The courts of common pleas and general quarter sessions of the peace were super- seded in 1813 by a court of common pleas

with a jurisdiction equal to both the former courts. At the same time Cape Girardeau county was formed in the place of the Dis- triet of Cape Girardeau, and it was deter- mined to establish a new seat of justice. For a short period of time, in 1814, the courts were held in Bethel Baptist church on Hubble creek, about one and one-half miles south of Jackson. It was on the plantation of Thomas Bull. In 1815 the circuit courts were organ- ized and the court of common pleas abolished. The circuit court, as then constituted, had jurisdiction over both civil and criminal mat- ters, over all probate business, and was also vested with the oversight of county affairs. Its jurisdiction was thus about as extensive as that of the present circuit courts, the probate courts and the county courts combined. This court held its first session in the house which is now the residence of Mrs. Schmuke. This was in May, 1815, and Hon. Richard S. Thomas, judge of the southern circuit, was on the bench.

The general assembly had appointed as commissioners, to establish the new seat of justice, John Davis, John Sheppard, S. G. Dunn, Abraham Byrd and Benjamin Shell. These commissioners selected as a site, a piece of ground then belonging to William H. Ash- ley on Hubble creek. They purchased fifty acres of this land, and the house then stand- ing on it was used as a court house. In 1818 another building was erected for the purposes of the court. It was a frame building, large and rough, and cost $2,250, and was built by John Davis. The jail cost $1,400, and was destroyed by fire in 1819; it was immediately replaced by another which was erected by William L. Byrd. The town of Jackson itself was located in 1815. This was just after the battle at New Orleans, and the town was

163

HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

named in honor of Andrew Jackson. There and Byrd townships included the present county of Cape Girardeau.

was a sale of lots in the town, the sum of $900 being derived from this source.

The divisions of Cape Girardeau county were first made in 1806. At that time two dis- triets, the northern and the southern, were formed and two assessors appointed for each. Charles G. Ellis and Abraham Byrd were assessors in the northern district and John Abernathy and Frederick Bollinger on the southern. In 1807 the entire district was divided into five townships: Tywappity, German, Byrd, Cape Girardeau and St. Fran- cois. Tywappity was bounded on the north and west by the middle of the Big Swamp, on the south by the district line separating Cape Girardeau from New Madrid and on the east by the river. Cape Girardeau township was bounded on the east by the Mississippi river and on the south by the middle of the Big Swamp, and on the north and west by a line beginning at Joseph Waller's ferry on the Mississippi and running west and south to Hubble creek and down Hubble creek to the middle of the Big Swamp. Byrd township was bounded on the east by Cape Girardeau township on the north of the district line, on the south by the Big Swamp, on the west by Whitewater. German township extended from the district line on the north to the Big Swamp on the south and from Whitewater to Turkey creek. St. Francois township was west of Turkey creek, and included all the territory between the district line to the north and the middle of the Big Swamp on the south, extending as far west as there were any settlements. Tywappity township was thus practically the same as Scott county. German township included Bollinger and a part of Madison counties. St. Francois township in- cluded Wayne county, while Cape Girardeau

Two of these townships. Tywappity and St. Francois, were later cut off to form Scott and Wayne counties. In 1872 a new township called Randol was formed from portions of Byrd and Cape Girardeau; Apple Creek was erected from a part of Byrd township two years later and at the same time Lorance was formed from the southern part of German township. No other changes were made in the township line until 1840, when Union was created from portions of Apple Creek and German; four years later a part of Lorance was taken to form a new township called Liberty. The whole system of townships was revised in 1848. At this time eleven town- ships were marked out; they were Lorance, Clubb, Union, German, Liberty, Hubbell, Cape Girardeau, Randol, Shawnee, Byrd and Apple Creek. Bollinger county was organized three years later and Lorance, Clubb, Union, Ger- man and part of Liberty townships becom- ing a part of Bollinger county. In 1852 Whitewater township was organized, in 1856 Welsh, and in 1872 Kinder.

The court house had become unfit for its purposes by 1837 and the court in that year appointed Edward Criddle, Nathan Vanhorn, Ralph Guild and Ebenezer Flynn as the commissioners to superintend the erection of a new building; it was built of briek and stone and was two stories in height. In 1870 this building was destroyed by fire, and in November of that year the court set aside $25,000 for the erection of a new building. It was a brick structure, standing on the pub- lic square in Jackson and was erected by Jos- eph Lansmann of Cape Girardeau. In 1905 it was determined to erect a larger building more suited to the use of the court ; this build- ing was completed in 1908 and is still in use.

164

HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

The first jail, built in 1819, was used for thirty years, when a stone building two stories in height was erected on the public square west of the court house; it was in use only ten years and was superseded by the present brick jail.

At one time in Missouri the legislature cre- ated several courts called courts of common pleas; these were given limited jurisdiction coordinate in part with the circuit courts in civil matters. One of these courts was organ- ized at Clarkton in Dunklin county and an- other in Cape Girardeau, and others at differ- ent places in this section of the state. Of all of them, however, created throughout the en- tire state, only two of them continue to exist, one of them being the court of common pleas at Cape Girardeau. Its sittings are held in the common pleas court house situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi river, one of the most beautiful situations in the entire state. This building has recently been the cause of a rather unusual controversy. It is built on land once owned by Louis Lorimier and given by him to Cape Girardeau for court purposes. Whether it is the property of the municipality of Cape Girardeau or the county is the question which has not yet been de- termined; neither county nor city desire to be vested with the ownership, for that carries with it the financial burden of repairs and maintenance. For a number of years the ex- pense was divided but recently there is an agitation to determine who is the owner of the property.

Not only was Lorimier farsighted enough and patriotic enough to devote land in his new town for the purpose of building a court house, the terms of his will set aside certain tracts of land, also, to be used for school and also for recreation purposes, and the city of Cape Girardeau is fortunate in holding some

very desirable park and school sites within its bounds, owing to the generosity of its founder.

The courts of common pleas and general quarter sessions of the peace in New Madrid district were organized in March, 1805; the judges were Richard Jones Waters, Elisha Windsor, Henry Master, John Baptiste Olive, and Michael Amoreaux; Joshua Humphreys was the clerk and George Wilson was sheriff. The records of this court have been destroyed and there is practically no information avail- able concerning the work of this court. In 1813 New Madrid district was changed into New Madrid county. It then had the follow- ing boundaries : On the north it was bounded by the south line of Cape Girardeau county ; this line was described as "commencing on the Mississippi river at the head of Tywappaty bottom at the upper end of the tract of land where James Brady now lives (near Com- merce), thence west to the south side of the Big Swamp, thence on a direct line to the Shawnee village on Castor river, thence due west to the western boundary line of the Osage purchase." On the east it was bounded by the main channel of the Mississippi river; on the south by a line commencing in the river at Island No. 19, running thence in a direct line to White river at the mouth of Little Red river; thence up Red river to the western boundary of the Osage purchase.

In the organization of the county, Samuel Cooper, Thomas Windsor, Daniel Sparks, John Guerthing and John Tucker were named as a commission to locate a permanent seat of justice.

Prior to this time the courts had met at New Madrid and also at the house of Samuel Phillips in Big Prairie. The court of com- mon pleas as reorganized by the act changing the district into a county, was composed of

165

IIISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

Thomas Neal, John La Valle, William Win- chester, and William Gray. This eourt di- vided New Madrid county into townships. The territory about New Madrid and Little Prairie was named New Madrid township; Big Prairie township was established to in- clude the settlements about Sikeston ; Tywap- pity township ineluded the territory lying cast of St. John's Bayou and extending as far north as the Lueas place; Moreland town- ship embraced the territory between the north part of the Big Prairie and Cape Girardeau county. All the western part of the county of New Madrid was organized into a township called White River. The court also appointed judges of election in each of the townships. For New Madrid township John E. Hart, George Tennille and Robert McCoy were made judges and the house of Samuel Cooper was appointed as the polling place. For Big Prairie township the judges selected were Enoch Liggett. Samuel Phillips and Thomas Bartlett. The election was to be held at the house of Samuel Phillips. John Tucker, Drakeford Gray and John Brooks were the judges of the election of Tywappaty township; the polling place was the house of Edward N. Matthews. For Moreland township the polling place was at the house of Charles Friend and the judges of election were John Ramsay, Hugh Johnson and Timothy Harris. The house of Captain Harris on Spring river was the polling place in White River town- ship and the judges were George Ruddell, Amos Musiek and Captain Hines.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 26

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844