USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 44
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The first child born of white parents within the limits of Dunklin county was Thomas Neel, Jr., who was born in May, 1832. his father, Thomas Neel, having moved to the county in February preceding and settled in the south part of the county near the little town of Lulu. He grew up under the pioneer conditions of life and became acquainted withı the Indians and knew all the customs which distinguished them.
One of the earliest settlers was Michael Branum, who moved to Dunklin county from New Madrid, having been in New Madrid during the time of the great earthquake. His family, including Tecumseh, named for the great Indian chief, and daughters, Lizzie and Victorine, who became Mrs. Horner, lived in
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Dunklin county for many years. Mrs. Horner was for a number of years preceding her death the oldest citizen in the county.
Besides these whom we have mentioned, there came to the county in the early times Jacob Taylor and his family. He located close to the stream which is known is Taylor slough, named for Jacob Taylor. Branum, Taylor and Rice came in the same year and were assisted over the country and in the selection of places of settlement by the Indian chief, Chilletecaux. In 1831 Moses Norman settled on West Prairie and in 1832 Thomas Neel, Sr., and his father-in-law, Ray, came to the county and located near Hornersville. While moving to their destination, Mr. Ray was killed by being thrown from his cart and was buried at the old Hornersville burying ground near Hornersville and is said to have been the first white person buried in the county.
In 1833 James Baker and Riley Clarkson settled on Buffalo island and in the same year Russell and William H. Horner made a set- tlement at the place afterwards called Hor- nersville.
The home of Evan Evans was just in front of a row of cottonwood trees on the public road four miles south of Kennett. McCul- lough and Lafayette Sexton came to the county in early times, also. Adam Barnhart settled on the old Baker place. Among his neighbors were Hugh Shipley, the families of Suter, Shultz and Jackson. Frank Lee lived three miles north of Hornersville.
In the north end of the county Dr. Given Owen located a claim on Rush creek in 1841; in 1844 A. D. Bridges settled on a creek near Four Mile; Jordan Lacey, John Holtzhouser, James Faughn and William Greer were other early settlers in the north part of the county. Somewhat later, Dr. Allen and Thomas Hat- ley located near Malden. In the vicinity of
Clarkton, about the same time, were John Gunnells, Jesse Long, Mrs. Floyd Montgom- ery, John McMasters and Dick Skaggs.
Among the settlers on West Prairie were Ephraim Thornberry and James Harris. Some settlers also came to Holcomb Island about the same time, among them families named Barnes, Holloways, Lewis Holcomb, Millers, Dr. Bozark, John Lowery, H. D. Flowers, Hiram Langdon, John Scott and Price. Johnson's Island, south of Kennett, was named for William Johnson, who was one of the early settlers there. In the neigh- borhood of Caruth the families were those of A. Thompson, Mrs. Welch, C. B. Bancroft, H. Spencer, Whitney, Joseph Pelts and Rob- ert L. Glascock. Besides these, Riley Clark- son, James McGrew, Joseph Langdon and David Harkey had begun to open farms in the neighborhood of Cotton Plant.
Just west of Hornersville the settlers were James P. Neal, J. MeDaniel, Jolın B. Walker and James Williamson. All these that we have mentioned came to the county before 1850.
Within the next decade a large number of families, later prominent in the history of the county, moved within its bounds. It is not possible to give a complete list of these fam- ilies, but the names of some of them as its pioneer settlers will be of interest. On the hills west of Malden, Dr. Jacob Snider set- tled in 1850; with him were Charles Vincent, William Cross and Mrs. Skaggs.
About the same time in Clay township there were the families of A. T. Douglass, E. J. Langdon, Edward Spencer, Lewis Chan- dler, Isaiah Jones, John Marsh, James Brad- ley, John Dougherty, Richard Cook, James Herrman, Absolom Farris, A. B. Williams and David Finley. In the north end of the county there were such well known families
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as that of John P. Taylor, Judge Hodges, Henry James, J. M. Waltrip, A. B. Douglass, James Oxley, H. A. Applegate, William H. Shelton, R. W. Stokes, John Wright, I. A. Waltrip, G. M. White and E. C. White.
Among the early settlers were also Daniel Harkey, Brannon Marshall, Enoch Shelton, Humphrey Donaldson, A. C. Austin, W. M. Satterfield, Moses Farrar, C. N. Lasley, David Rice and James A. Smyth.
All these men who came to the county in its early years have passed through the usual ex- periences of the pioneer days. The country was very different then from what it now is. Many of the pioneers made their living largely from hunting. Two of these men were Nathan- iel Baker and Joseph Pelts. Baker was the son of James Baker, who settled on Buffalo Island in 1833 and later removed to Cotton Plant. Pelts came to the county about 1,840 and there made his home the rest of his life. Both of these men were typical pioneers ; they farmed but were also fond of hunting.
Riley Clarkson, who came with his father to the county in 1834, lived on Horse Island. He was a famous hunter and helped to kill some of the last buffalo in the county. Buf- falo Island was named from the fact that it was the home of a great many buffalo. Mr. Clarkson was also a great bear hunter, hav- ing killed as many as fifty bear in a single season. He and his family passed through all the experiences of pioneer life, at the time of their coming there being not a single physi- cian, church or school or postoffice in the en- tire county.
One of the prominent and influential men in the early history of the county was Judge Donaldson, who came to the county in 1855. He was a man of education and became a well known and highly respected citizen of the county. He was a Tennesseean by birth,
but thoroughly identified himself with all the interests of his adopted home and was elected to public office, being for a time a member of the county court of Dunklin county. His family are still prominent in county offices, his son was a well known citizen and one of his grandsons is now a practicing lawyer at Kennett.
In 1854 David Finley came with his family to Dunklin county, opening a farm not far from the present site of Cotton Plant. He was a typical pioneer, having interests in farming and in hunting and in all the affairs of the county.
One of the large and influential families in the south part of Dunklin county was the Harkey family, who were descendants of Dan- iel D. Harkey a native of North Carolina, who came to Dunklin county in 1853, settling on the land near Nesbit, where the family continues to reside. Among the members of this family were Judge J. H. Harkey, Wilbur D. Harkey and W. M. Harkey. They were sons of the founder of the family and their descendants are both numerous and influen- tial at this time.
Perhaps the man who made the greatest impression on the life of his day in the county was Edwin J. Langdon, who was born August 7, 1819, at Middlebury, Vermont. The family was of Scotch descent and this son seems to have inherited the great qualities which dis- tinguish the Scotch. Before coming to Dunk- lin county, E. J. Langdon received a good common school education and for a time taught school. In 1839 he made his home in Dunklin county near Cotton Plant; he soon formed a partnership with Isaiah Jones and together they conducted a carriage and black- smith shop. In 1847 he was married to Sarah A. Glasscock, the daughter of Robert L. Glass- cock, also one of the pioneers of the county.
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From his business as a carriage builder young Langdon turned his attention to con- tracting and together with his father they built the first court house in the county, in 1846. One year later he secured the contract for building the levee across Buffalo creek on the main road south of Kennett. With the proceeds of this contract he opened a store at Cotton Plant and from this time until his death he conducted this business. While he was always interested in mercantile pursuits, Judge Langdon did not confine his attention to this form of business. He tried to develop water transportation and built one of the first flat boats on Little river at Hornersville. It was his intention also to encourage the raising of cotton and to do this he erected one of the first cotton gins in the county. He also be- came convinced of the value of land about Cotton Plant and invested largely in these lands. The town in which he lived was built
entirely on his property. He refused to dis -- . his home near Clarkton. He had formerly pose of any of it largely because he wished to be able to prevent the sale of whiskey in the town. For many years he was the postmaster at Cotton Plant and at one time was presid- ing judge of the county court for a period of six years. Judge Langdon was interested in all matters looking to the improvement of the community and the county, building roads, establishing the cause of churches and other public matters received encouragement from him. At the time of his death he was the owner of large tracts of valuable land. The children of this family were William H. Lang- don, who lives in Texas, C. V. Langdon of Cotton Plant, and A. J. Langdon of Horners- ville, and one daughter, Hettie D.
In 1838 Judge Given Owen, then twenty years of age, came to Bloomfield from Hick- man, Kentucky, and began the practice of medicine. A few years later he made his
home on a farm in what was then the south part of Stoddard county. He was elected a member of the county court in Stoddard county, but in a short time that part of Stod- dard county in which he lived was transferred to Dunklin county. After becoming a citizen of Dunklin county he was elected to various offices, being judge of the common pleas court at Clarkton and of the county probate court and also of the county court. During all his life in the county he continued the practice of medicine and was regarded as an able physi- cian and a most highly respected and intel- ligent citizen of the county. He was the son of Ruben Owen, a native of Georgia. His second wife was Louisiana Bozark, who sur- vived her husband a number of years and was perhaps as well acquainted with the early his- tory of the county as any person living in it.
In 1859 David Young Pankey, a native of Virginia, came to Dunklin county and made
lived for a short time in Tennessee, just across from New Madrid. He engaged in farming in Dunklin county and was successful and was popular with his friends and neighbors. On the breaking out of the war he became first lieutenant in a company organized by Captain Pickard; this company was made part of a regiment of which Mr. Pankey was made lieu- tenant colonel, seeing service with a regiment which was a part of the Missouri state guards. On the expiration of the term of the state guards, Colonel Pankey enlisted in the con- federate service and took part in the engage- ment at Fort Pillow and was with General Price in several skirmishes and battles, win- ning credit and distinction for himself in all of them. At one time Colonel Pankey was collector of Dunklin county and during all his life was a respected and influential citizen. His son David Ballard Pankey is cashier of
.
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the Bank of Kennett and one of the most prominent citizens of the county.
No account of the pioneers of Dunklin county would be complete without a mention of Hon. David Rice, who was a native of Tennessee, and came to the county in 1853. At first he lived northwest of Campbell, where he married, but within a short time he re- moved to a farm east of Senath, where lie lived until his death. He devoted himself principally to farming but was also interested and active in all affairs of public concern. Just before the war he was assessor of the county and from 1872 to 1876 was public ad- ministrator and later served a term in the general assembly.
Major W. C. Rayburn, a native of Ala- bama, came to Dunklin county in 1865, locat- ing near Clarkton. He was immediately rec- ognized as a man of ability and character and soon came to occupy a prominent place in the affairs of the county. He was always in- terested in schools and churches and served as a county surveyor for a number of years. His son, Moore M. Rayburn, served throughout the war in a regiment of Arkansas infantry and at its close came home to devote himself to farming and stock raising. He was for four years sheriff and constable of the county and carried on the activities which had for many years interested his father. One of his sons, M. B. Rayburn, is cashier of the Bank of Malden and a highly respected citizen of that town.
Dunklin county was created February 14, 1845. Stoddard county was divided by a line running on the parallel of 36 degrees and 30 minutes. All that part of Stoddard county south of this line of division was called Dunk- lin county. In 1853 the north line of the new county was moved to the north nine miles.
The territory included within the limits of the county, with the exception of this nine mile strip, was a part of the territory which was originally left in Arkansas, but was added to Missouri through the efforts of John Harde- man Walker and others.
The town of Kennett was selected as the county seat of the new county. The town was named for Hon. Luther M. Kennett, though when it was laid out in 1846 it was called Chillitecaux. It was later known for a year or two as Butler and then received its present name, Kennett. The county was named for Hon. Daniel Dunklin, who was at one time governor of the state.
The circuit court was probably organized in 1845 by John D. Cook, who was the judge of the circuit which included this county.
The first county court in Dunklin county is said to have been composed of Moses Farrar, Edward Spencer and Alexander Campbell; Joseph S. Houston was the first clerk and Lewis Holcomb the first sheriff; Houston was soon succeeded by John H. Marsh, who held office until 1861. The first court house in the county was a log building erected in 1847 in the middle of the public square where the present court house stands. This building was destroyed during the war ; it was not until 1870 that another was erected, which was a large frame building, and was burned in 1872. For a number of years this county had no court house and the courts were held in an old frame store building on the corner of the square now occupied by the Tatum building. In 1895 the present two-story brick court house building was erected. About the time of the building of the first court house a log jail was erected; it was destroyed by fire and another of the same character was built. In 1882 a frame building was erected on the cor-
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ner now occupied by the Shelton office build- ing. It was used as a jail until 1910, when the present structure was erected.
The present townships are Independence, Cotton Hill, Union, Freeborn, Holcomb, Sa- lem, Buffalo, and Clay.
The legislature created Mississippi county on February 14, 1845; the territory being cut off from the south part of Scott county. The commissioner selected Charleston as the county seat, and the county court was organized there April 21, 1845. The judges of the court were : William Sayres, Absolom McElmurry and James M. Overton; George L. Cravens was the clerk of the court. The meetings of this court were, for a number of years, held in the store house of Henry G. Cummings. A court house was not erected until 1852. At the time the present building was erected by James T. Russell.
At the time of the organization, the county was divided into five townships. These were: Tywappity, Mississippi, St. James, St. James Bayou, and Wolf Island. In 1847 Mississippi township was divided and a new township created which was named Ohio. In 1858 Long Prairie township was formed from parts of Tywappity and St. James.
The circuit court was organized September 29, 1845, by John D. Cook. The meetings of the court were usually held in the Methodist church, until the erection of the court house.
REYNOLDS COUNTY
Until 1830 the territory now embraced in Reynolds county was a part of Ripley county. At that time it was attached to Washington county and later to Shannon. The legislative act organizing Reynolds county was approved February 25, 1845, and the county was named in honor of Governor Thomas Reynolds of
Missouri. It then included a part of what is now Iron county which was afterwards cut off when that county was formed. The com- missioners appointed to select the county seat were Ayers Hudspeth of Washington county, John Miller of Madison county, and Moses Carty of St. Francois county. It was pro- vided also that until a county seat was lo- cated the court should be held in the house of Joseph McNails at Lesterville. The first term of the county court was held in this house in November, 1845, with H. Allen as the presiding judge; Marion Munger was sheriff and C. C. Campbell clerk. The com- missioners selected Lesterville as the county seat and a small court house was erected. This building was burned during the war and the county seat was changed to Centerville, where another small building for court pur- poses was erected. This, too, was burned in 1872, and another building, now standing, was erected at a cost of $8,000. There are six townships in the county, Black River, Carroll, Jackson, Lesterville, Logan and Webb.
BUTLER COUNTY
Butler county was created by an act passed February 27, 1849. It had previously been a part of Wayne county, and at the time of the organization the larger part of the land in the county belonged to the government. The first session of the county court was held at the house of Thomas Scott, June 18, 1849. The judges were: John Stevenson, Solomon Kittrell, and Jonathan R. Sandlin; the clerk of the court was Jacob C. Blount. The com- missioners selected the site of Poplar Bluff for the county seat and the court met there in November, 1850. Until 1852 the sessions of the court were held in various private houses and in that year a small frame court house was erected on the southeast corner of
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the public square. This building served the purposes of the courts until 1859, when D. B. Miller and Solomon G. Kitchen entered into a contract with the county for the erection of a new building.
As at first organized, there were only two townships, Black River and Otter Creek. In 1850 the county court created four townships, Beaverdam, Epps, Butler and Mud Creek. Later, the name of Mud Creek was changed to Black River, and a new township, called Polk, was formed in the southeast corner of the county. In 1856 the township of Ash Hills was established, and in 1860, Thomas township.
In 1866 the townships were relocated and established as follows: St. Francois, Black River, Cane Creek, Epps, Beaverdam, Thomas, Gillis Bluff, Ash Hills and Poplar Bluff. Thomas township was divided in 1871 and Neeley township formed from part of it; in 1886 Beaverdam township was divided, a part of it being erected into Harviell township.
In 1850 the records show that the collector had reported the entire amount of county revenue as $156.02. In the same year he had collected a total state tax of $122.28.
The first circuit court in Butler county was held September 15, 1849, at the house of Thomas Scott. Judge Harrison Hough pre- sided over the court. The sheriff was New- ton Wallace. A grand jury was impaneled at the next meeting of the court, which re- turned indictments against a number of per- sons for selling liquor without license.
Butler county was named in honor of W. A. Butler of Kentucky, and the county seat, Poplar Bluff, received its name from the fact that it was situated on the bluffs above Black River, which at that time were covered with a dense growth of the famous tulip tree, com- monly called the poplar.
One of the earliest settlements in Butler county was made at the head waters of Cane creek, where there is fine farming land, by John Eudaly, who came to the neighborhood about 1841 from Tennessee. The land, at the time he came, was government land and he took up a homestead. He was accompanied by a number of his neighbors and friends and others came later. Among them were John and Nathan Wisecarver, Nathan Davis, Mr. Walton, Mr. Franklin and James Eudaly.
At the time these settlements were made the territory was a part of Wayne county, the present Stoddard county not having been created. The immediate vicinity near which the settlements were made was one of the few sections of Southeast Missouri which were not timbered, making the cultivation of the soil easy. The people lived the life of pioneers. There were no railroads in the vicinity. All their goods were hauled from Cape Girardeau. The houses that were constructed were of logs, as there was no saw mill within fifty miles. The produce of the county was used almost entirely by the settlers themselves, as there was no opportunity for shipping them away.
After the organization of Stoddard county John Eudaly was made assessor and made the first assessment in 1850. At that time the fees for making the assessment amounted to $34. There was not a village or community in the entire county. When Poplar Bluff was located and the land selected for a site of the county court, a commissioner was ap- pointed to make a public sale of the lots and John Eudaly was the man that was ap- pointed. A number of lots were sold within the present town of Poplar Bluff. The high- est price obtained for a lot was for one at the corner of Vine and Second streets, which sold for $30. The two lots on the corner of Vine and Main streets were sold at $5 each
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and were afterwards resold for $2.50 each, while some lots located in what is the best business part of the town could not be sold at all.
Mr. Eudaly lived until his death in the neighborhood in which he settled, and was for many years postmaster, having been ap- pointed on the establishment of the office in 1872.
BOLLINGER COUNTY
Bollinger county was organized in March, 1851, and was formed from parts of Wayne, Cape Girardeau and Stoddard counties. The commissioners appointed to select the seat of justice decided on Marble Hill, and a county court for the county was organized in the store of John C. Whybark, March 24, 1851. The members of the court were Reuben Smith, John Stevens, Drury Massey; Oliver E. Sni- der was clerk and William C. Grimsly the sheriff.
Shortly after the organization of the county a brick court house two stories in height was erected. It was used only a very short time and was burned. Another building similar to it in size and appearance was erected in the same year, the money having been raised by private subscription in part and in part an appropriation from the county. It, too, was destroyed by fire in March, 1884, though at the time it was practically abandoned, having been condemned as unsafe. For sev- eral months the county was without any court house. building ; an effort was made to re- move the county seat from Marble Hill to the neighboring town, Lutesville. To prevent this, the citizens of Marble Hill raised a sub- scription amounting to $1,620, and the town itself contributed $1,000 for the rebuilding of the court house in that town. The propo- sition for removal was defeated and the
county court appropriated $7,000 in addition to that raised, for the construction of the present building. It was erected under the supervision of J. J. Conrad. At present there are eight townships in the county, as follows : Crooked Creek, Fillmore, German, Liberty, Lorance, Union, Wayne and Whitewater.
The county was named in honor of Col. Geo. Frederick Bollinger, one of the early settlers in Cape Girardeau district and a most prominent and influential citizen. The county seat, which was long called Dallas, was named Marble Hill from the belief that the hill on which the town was built was composed of marble.
PEMSICOT COUNTY
On February 19th, 1851, the governor ap- proved an act of the legislature for the estab- lishment of Pemsicot county. It was erected from territory cut off from the south part of New Madrid county. The line between it and New Madrid county was to begin in the Mississippi river opposite Majors mill race, then through Cushion Lake bayou to Cushion lake to the head of Portage bay and through the bay to Little river and due west to the eastern boundary of Dunklin county. A county court was organized at the house of James Eastwood, who was its presiding jus- tice, with Martin L. Stancil and John Scott as associate justices. Robert Stewart was the first sheriff and Theodore Case was the clerk of the court. When the question of the county levees came up, Judges Scott and Stancil resigned in 1855 and were succeeded by Ebenezer Oldham and Thomas Bartlett.
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