USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 45
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This question of levees was agitated by the people of Pemsicot county for a good many years. A large part of the county was sub- ject to overflow from the Mississippi river. In fact, the name of the county is said to be
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an Indian word which signifies "liquid mud." An act of Congress was passed in 1850 which donated lands to the state for the purpose of reclaiming swamp lands within their limits. Large tracts of these lands were then given by the state to the counties for this purpose. The question of the reclamation of these swamp lands was early agitated in Pemsicot county. It was the desire of many of the people of the county to build a levee along the bank of the Mississippi river to protect it from the overflows. It was proposed by some that the levee should be built and paid for in lands at the price of $1.25 per acre. Stancil, who had been a judge of the county court, and who had resigned, opposed this plan of levee construction. He advocated the sale of the lands at a public auction, at a minimum price of $1.25, and that the money realized from this sale should be appropriated to the work of leveeing and draining the lands. He circulated a petition, which was afterward presented to the court, asking that this plan of disposing of the lands should be adopted. He was opposed by William S. Moseley, then a member of the legislature from New Madrid and Pemsicot counties, and the plan proposed was defeated. The court decided to build the levee, and to issue in payment for the work county scrip, which could be used in locating the land, at $1.25 per acre. After the plan was determined, there arose a contest over the location of the
placed on the west side of Cypress bayou and Big lake, but it was finally built along the bank of the river and extended, with two small breaks, along the entire length of the county. It was not long after its construc- tion until it became evident that it was lo- cated too near the river, and it soon was
washed away. This contest left some bitter feeling among the people of the county.
ST. FRANCOIS LEVEE DISTRICT
This state levee was completely destroyed by the caving of the banks of the river in 1893. The legislature created the St. Francis levee district of Missouri, embracing all that part of the state in the St. Francis valley lying in the counties of New Madrid, Pemis- cot and Dunklin. A board of directors was appointed to manage the affairs of the dis- trict and to build a levee, consisting W. G. Petty, Reuben Chapman and John Black, of Dunklin county ; Dr. J. J. Williams, J. T. Girvin and Alphonso DeLisle, of New Ma- drid county; and J. A. Cunningham, J. M. Brasher and G. W. Carleton, of Pemsicot county. The first meeting of the board was held in New Madrid March 29, 1893. Dr. J. J. Williams was made president, W. D. Schult, secretary; J. A. Cunningham, treas- urer, and Captain N. H. Pharr, chief engi- neer. G. W. Carleton, of Pemsicot county, died March 30, 1893, and Hina C. Schult was appointed as his successor. In August of that year the building of the levee was com- menced. It was raised to an average height of 7 feet in 1896 and 1897. Since that time there has been constant work done on the levee until it has been raised to an average of 11 feet. It extends from just south of the town of New Madrid to the state line and levee. Stancil believed that it should be . cost about $650,000. The United States gov- ernment paid $120,000 of this, the state of Missouri $20,000, and the district, by taxa- tion, $510,000.
COURTS OF THE COUNTY
The circuit court in Pemsicot county was organized October 25, 1852, by Judge Har-
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rison Hough. The court met at the house of Jonathan Scott. There was no court house erected for some years, the first being a small frame building which was put up in 1854. Sanford Jackson was the second clerk of the court, and he built, in the yard near his house, a clerk's office. It was a rail pen, sealed inside and out with cypress bark, and was covered with elm boards. It was used as an office until the court house was erected.
The first court house, erected in 1854, was a small frame building and was used until 1873. By that time it became inadequate for the purpose and was moved away and plans made for the erection of a new court building. This was destroyed by fire in 1882 and the legislature of the state appropriated the sum of $4,000 for the construction of another court house in Gayoso. This was used uutil the county seat was removed from Gayoso to Caruthersvile. The present building was then erected under the supervision of Charles B. Faris. Two jails were built in Gayoso and the present jail was constructed about the same time of the court house at Caruthersville.
From 1862 to 1865 there were no meetings of the county court, and in April of the for- mer year the records of the county were removed to Memphis by Major Carleton, who was clerk of the court, and held there for safe keeping; they were returned to the county in August, 1865.
Owing to the fact that it was not possible to hold meetings of the county court in Pem- sicot county during the war, a bill was passed by the legislature, through the efforts of T. J. 0. Morrison, extending the jurisdiction of the courts of New Madrid county over Pemsicot county. This arrangement was continued un- til the close of the war.
The circuit courts were discontinued for an
even longer period, no meetings of the court being held from 1860 to 1868. An attempt was made to hold circuit court in 1866 by Judge Albert Jackson, but Judge Jackson was not at all in sympathy with the people in Pemsicot county and very evidently hunted for some excuse to adjourn the court. He found that the seal used by the county had been broken and a new one put in its place. He declared that all instruments executed and attested by the use of the new seal were void and then adjourned court.
The present townships are Little Prairie, Pemsicot, Cooter, Virginia, Hayti, Bragga- docio, Little River, Gayoso, Godair, Holland, Pascola and Butler.
PROMINENT CITIZENS
One of the earlier settlers and most promi- nent men in Pemiscot county was John Harde- man Walker. He came to the county about 1810 and made his home on Little Prairie. He was one of the few men who did not leave the section after the New Madrid earthquake. Colonel Walker remained and carried on his farming enterprises during all this period until the time of his death. He was sheriff of New Madrid county in 1821 and 1822 and was afterward a judge of the county court. One of his sisters married Dr. Robert D. Daw- son of New Madrid, and another, John Martin of Point Pleasant.
One of the conspicuous settlers of Pemiscot county was Major George W. Carleton. He was born in Saratoga county, New York, April 19, 1830. He was educated in the public schools and high school and fitted himself for the position of civil engineer. He came to New Madrid October 10, 1852, and was at the time almost penniless. In the following spring he taught school for a time in New Madrid and was shortly afterward married to
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Miss Summerville Tomlin and moved to Gayoso, Pemiscot county, in January, 1855. Here he rented a farm and began to cultivate it. However, in the same year he was ap- pointed clerk of the county court of Pemiscot county and later in the same year was elected county surveyor. Again in 1860 he was made clerk of the county court and served for six years. He was a Union man at the breaking out of the war but was not in favor of aboli- tion and when Captain Lyon seized Camp Jackson, Mr. Carleton decided to cast in his lot with the south. When the Federal forces took possession of New Madrid and Pemiscot counties Mr. Carleton put the records of the county in a dug-out and carried them across the Mississippi river and turned them over to the commander of the Confederate gun- boats. The records were afterwards carried to Memphis, Tennessee, where they remained until the close of the war in 1865. He was appointed to a position in the Confed- erate States navy and entered upon active service. During the war he was at Yazoo, Mississippi and Charleston, South Carolina; in 1864 he was transferred to the engineering department with the rank and pay of major. When Macon, Georgia, was surrendered to the Federal forces he was made a prisoner and paroled April 26th. He returned home July 1, 1865, and at once took part in the reorgani- zation of the government in Pemiscot county. During this time le acquired a knowledge of law but could not be admitted to the bar owing to his inability to take the test oath. In spite of this fact he was allowed to prac- tice law before the courts of Pemiscot county and when the test oath was striken from the constitution of the state he was admitted to the bar and regularly enrolled as a practi- tioner.
In 1875 he was a member of the constitu-
tional convention from the 23rd senatorial district in connection with General N. W. Watkins. He was a representative from Pem- iscot county in four of the general assemblies of the state and was the author of several important bills, especially one creating drain- age districts in the state. He was also in charge of the Hunter bill to indemnify the counties of Southeast Missouri for dam- ages caused by the overflow of the Mississippi river.
In 1870 Major Carleton began the making of abstract of land titles in Pemiscot county. This abstract, which was brought up to date, proved to be of very great value owing to the destruction of the court house. The general assembly passed an act in 1885 making the Carleton abstracts legal evidence in all courts of record. In addition to his other activities Major Carleton at times controlled the publi- cation of the Gayoso Democrat, and during all his life was interested in farming.
IRON COUNTY
The organization of Iron county dates from an act of the legislature approved February 17, 1857. It was created from parts of the counties of St. Francois, Madison, Washing- ton, Dent, Reynolds and Wayne. It owes its peculiar shape to the fact that it was made up of parts of so many counties. This was necessary in order to avoid reducing any county below its constitutional limits. The first county court was composed of J. V. Logan, John W. Miller and Moses Edmonds. John F. T. Edwards was the clerk, and John Cole was sheriff. The first meeting of the court was on August 4, 1857. At that time the county was divided into seven townships : Dent, Kaolin, Iron, Pilot Knob, Arcadia, Lib- erty and Union. At this meeting of the court Theodore F. Tong was made school commis-
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sioner, A. C. Farnham county treasurer, and A. W. Ilolliman was county surveyor.
Arcadia was made the first county seat, but in August, 1857, the people voted to ehange the county seat to Ironton.
The first meeting of the circuit court was held May 17, 1858, and was presided over by Judge John H. Stone. A grand jury was summoned which returned indictments against two persons for grand larceny.
Iron county received its name from the fact that iron was being mined within its limits and was believed to exist in very large quan- tities.
The first county seat, Arcadia, was named by a lady who came from New England, and being struek by the beauty and simplicity of the surrounding country, and the delightful people, suggested that it be called Arcadia. The derivation of Ironton, the name of the present county seat, is apparent. It is sit- uated quite near to what were then believed to be immense deposits of iron ore.
The county was made liable at its organiza- tion for a part of the stock subseribed for the building of the Fredericktown & Pilot Knob Gravel Road Company. This obligation was met by the issuance of bonds to the amount of $6.666. In January, 1858, an order of the county court was made for the erection of a court house. The contraet was let to George S. Evans and William F. Mitchell in the sum of $14,000; John V. Logan was appointed as superintendent. The building was completed in 1860; six years later the present jail was built at a cost of $10,000.
The present townships are Iron, Kaolin, Liberty, Union, Dent, and Arcadia.
CARTER COUNTY
The first settlement made in Carter county was made in 1812 by Zimri A. Carter, who
settled a few miles south of the present town of Vau Buren. The county at this time was still a part of Wayne county and the country was wild and muel of it rough. Zimri Carter was a man of ability and power and when he began to open up the country other settlers were attracted, among them the Chilton, Ken- nard, Snider and Kelley families. These all settled in the neighborhood of Carter and opened up considerable land. The population of the county grew slowly for a number of years, and it was not organized until March 10, 1859. The territory used in creating the county was cut off from the west part of Rip- ley and the eastern part of Shannon county and the legislature named the county in honor of its first settler.
On the ereetion of the county Adam Lane of Ripley, John Buford of Reynolds, and D. C. Reed of Shannon county, were appointed as commissioners to locate the seat of justice. They met in April, 1859, at the house of James Brown near Van Buren, and located the county seat at Van Buren. This had formerly been the county seat of Ripley county and the old log court house, which had been erected in 1853, was the meeting place for the courts until 1867. At that time a frame court house was built which is still in use.
At first the county was attached to Ripley county for the purpose of representation in the general assembly and the first member sent to the legislature from Carter county was William Lawson, who was elected in 1864 and served until 1870. He was succeeded at the latter date by F. M. Coleman.
Carter county has an area of about 321,000 acres, much of which is hilly and broken land and much of it is a low grade of fertility. It is drained by Current river, which flows through the central part of the county in a
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generally southern direction. On the west of Current river two creeks, Davis and Rogers, drain that part of the county. The northeast part of the county is drained by Brushy creek, which is a tributary of Current, and the south- eastern part is drained by Little Black river and Cane creek. These streams or most of them are very bcantiful. This is true, espe- cially of Current river, which is famous for its clear sparkling waters. The streams afford great water power which is yet largely unde- veloped, though some of it is used for run- ning mills.
The chief resource of the county is timber, of which there are a number of varieties, the most abundant being pine and oak.
The county is divided into five townships : Carter, Jackson, Johnson, Kelly, and Pike.
BIOGRAPHIES
In a former chapter we have given the his- tory of the settlement and organization of the eight counties organized before the ad- mission of Missouri to the Union. It is de- sired to recall the names of some of the citi- zens of these counties who were especially active in building up this part of the state and whose names are connected with much of the progress which has been made. It is not possible to recite the lives of all of them; some are mentioned in connection with other matters, but some whose lives are of especial interest are referred to here.
Charles Welling was for many years one of the leading citizens of Cape Girardeau county. He was born in 1812 in New Jersey, was edu- cated in the common schools and came to St. Louis county in 1830. One year later he re- moved to Jackson and became a clerk in the general store of Ralph Guild, and afterwards became a partner in this concern. He dis- solved this partnership in 1848 and became
associated with Joseph Russell and still later with J. V. Priest. Mr. Welling continued in the mercantile business until 1888, when he was appointed postmaster by President Cleve- land. For a number of years he was cashier of the Cape Girardeau Savings Bank and was for twelve years treasurer of Cape Girardeau county. He was one of the best known citi- zens in the county and a man universally held in highest respect and esteem. He was of a most upright character and was known for his strict devotion to whatever duty he under- took. He was one of the first members and organizers of the First Presbyterian church at Jackson in 1856. He served the church as a. leader and as superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Welling married Elizabeth Bol- linger Frissell, a granddaughter of Colonel George Frederick Bollinger. Their descend- ants are prominent in Cape Girardeau county. He died at Jackson, June 20, 1900.
Few men have exercised a greater or better influence over affairs in Southeast Missouri than Robert Sturdivant. He was born March 31, 1817, in Lunnenberg county, Virginia, and died at Tallapoosa, Georgia, Oc- tober 12, 1905. He came to Cape Girardeau in 1835. He received in his native state a good education for the time, having attended an academy, as the organized schools of the south were known.
On coming to Cape Girardeau he entered into a business partnership with Edmund White, who was his brother-in-law. Within a few years, however, he was forced into bank- ruptcy during a great panic which caused the financial wreck of hundreds of men. He was left penniless and made his way to Missis- sippi, where for a time he taught school and then worked with a construction gang on a railroad.
Through the kindness of Andrew Giboney,
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who was his close friend, his affairs were ar- ranged in Cape Girardeau and he returned. He taught school and for a time was associated in the publication of a newspaper. It is said that among his students were James M. White- law and Samuel M. Green. From 1843 to 1846 he was engaged in the mercantile busi- ness with Andrew Giboney, under the firm name of Robert Sturdivant & Company. In the latter year he dissolved this partnership and began in connection with Ben M. Hor- rell, the operation of a mill. This was the White mill, as it was called, located on the river in the north part of town and was the first steam mill in Southeast Missouri. Later, Mr. Sturdivant established a commission and wholesale grocery house at the corner of Water and Themis streets. This business was exceedingly prosperous. In connection with it Mr. Sturdivant visited all the counties of Southeast Missouri, becoming acquainted with the leading men of every community and gain- ing a thorough knowledge of business condi- tions in this part of the state. It is an evi- dence of the sturdy honesty, which always characterized him, that during this period of his life he settled in full all the obligations of the firm of White & Sturdivant, though he was not legally bound to do so.
In 1857 he was elected cashier of the branch bank of the state of Missouri, which was at that time removed from Jackson to Cape Gir- ardeau. He continued with the bank until it was closed up in 1867. Then he bought the assets of the branch bank and continued its operation as a private bank until 1882. In that year he organized a corporation known as the Sturdivant Bank. He was made its president and continued in office until some five years before his death. -
During the sixty-five years of active busi- ness life, Mr. Sturdivant acquired a comfort-
able fortune, but while devoted to his business he never allowed it to interfere with the culti- vation of friendship and that kindly spirit of helpfulness which distinguished him. He was always interested in the public welfare and no man did more to promote the enterprises of his town and community than he. For many years he served as the treasurer of the Southeast State Normal School and on many occasions advanced out of his own private fortune, as a loan, the funds with which to pay the teachers and expenses of that institu- tion. He was very closely associated with Hon. Louis Houck in his railroad enterprises and it is quite probable that but for his assist- ance the railroads of Southeast Missouri could not have been built at that time.
Mr. Sturdivant, in spite of the esteem in which he was universally held and the influ- ence which came in part from his real char- acter and in part from his wealth, was a man who avoided all ostentation and display and was of a retiring and modest disposition. He lived simply and plainly and took a great in- terest in the simple pleasures of the time. His name is perpetuated in the great banking in- stitution which he founded.
Samuel Stanhope Harris was born in Jack- son December 26, 1836, and died in St. Louis December 6, 1891. His parents, Dr. E. W. and Mary Harris, were natives of North Caro- lina. He came to Missouri in 1821, first lo- cating at Farmington and afterwards at Jack- son. Samuel S. Harris was educated in the private academy at Pleasant Hill and later in Lexington college and then studied medicine at Bellevue Medical college in New York, being graduated at the age of twenty-one. He began the practice of medicine at Jackson in 1860 and was successful from the first. When the war broke out, Dr. Harris took the side of the south, organizing a company of cavalry fa-
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mous as the Swamp Rangers, and afterward recruited a company of artillery with whom he took part in the battle of Fredericktown ; later the company was sent to the south and par- ticipated in the engagements at Fort Pillow. Dr. Harris then became one of the crew of the iron clad ram Arkansas and served on board this vessel throughout the war. He distin- guished himself for gallantry and ability as an officer. On the conclusion of the war he made his home for a short time at Waterval- ley, Mississippi, where he practiced medicine but later came to Cape Girardeau. Dr. Harris was not only a physician of great skill and energy, but was interested in all public matters. He contributed to medical jour- nals and other publications and was an active member of the Democratic party. He was for a time postmaster at Cape Girardeau, but was never a candidate for any elective office. His first wife was Amanda Brown, daughter of Lieutenant Governor Brown; his second wife was Julia E. Russell of Jackson, a member of the old pioneer family of Cape Girardeau county ; she was a great grand- daughter of George Frederick Bollinger.
Alexander Gray, a native of Kentucky, served as a captain during the war of 1812 and came to Missouri at its close, making his home for a time at Cape Girardeau. From Cape Girardeau he went to St. Louis and was appointed by Governor Bates as judge of the St. Louis circuit court, holding two terms of the court under the territorial government and after the organization of the state gov- ernment was appointed judge of the circuit court in Northern Missouri. Judge Gray was a highly educated man and a fine lawyer, es- pecially able in criminal law.
General Firmin A. Rozier was born in Ste. Genevieve July 31, 1820. He was the son of Ferdinand Rozier, whose life we have given in
another place. General Rozier was educated at St. Mary's College at Perryville and Bards- town, Kentucky. In 1846 he began to study law at the Transylvania Law School at Lex- ington, Kentucky. He gave up his studies, however, when the Mexican war broke out and raised a company of soldiers. He was elected captain of the company and stationed at Leavenworth, Kansas. After a time he was appointed major general of militia in South- east Missouri. At the close of the war he returned to the law school and was graduated. In 1847 he began the practice of the law at Ste. Genevieve. General Rozier had some ex- periences in politics. - In 1850 he was a can- didate for Congress, but was defeated by a small majority. In 1856 he was a member of the state legislature and served two sessions. He was a delegate to the national Democratic convention at Chicago in 1860 and became a member of the state senate of Missouri in 1872, where he served four years, and was chairman of the committee on mines and min- ing. Besides this he held other minor offices, having been mayor of Ste. Genevieve and having held other positions of trust and honor. General Rozier was devoted to the public wel- fare of his town and community. He had a great interest in all matters pertaining to the public good. While very young he was a delegate to a convention which met at Mem- phis, Tennessee, in 1845, for the formation of plans regarding improvement of the Missis- sippi river. At this convention he read a re- port on the submerged lands of the Missis- sippi valley. Perhaps one of the things of which he was most justly proud was his in- terest in the establishment of the Ste. Gene- vieve Academy. He gave much of his time and money to this institution which prospered until the breaking out of the Civil war. Gen- eral Rozier married Miss Mary M. Valle of
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