USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 54
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FORNFELT
The two towns of Fornfelt and Illmo, Scott county, owe their existence to the building of the Thebes bridge and the consequent con- struction of the St. Louis, Southwestern Rail- way to this bridge. The first persons who made their home in what is now Fornfelt, were G. S. Cannon and A. Baudendistel. The town dates its settlement from September, 1904, and was incorporated as a town in the following May, the first mayor being Charles Ilamm. At the present time there are four general stores together with some other busi- ness interests of minor character. There is one box factory which employs about a hun- dred and fifty men and turns out a large amount of box material. The Bank of Edna is one of the principal institutions of the town. It was organized in 1905 and has a capital of $15,000. Among the more impor- tant buildings are the two brick schoolhouses and the building occupied by the bank. The town is lighted by electricity and other im- provements in the way of sidewalks and streets have been made. The possession of the railroad yards of the St. Louis Southwestern and St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern is shared by Fornfelt and Illmo, as the yards are between the two towns. They consist of round houses and machine shops and employ several hundred men forming one of the rea- sons of the prosperity of the towns. Fornfelt
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has experienced a rapid growth, sixty resi- dences having been erected during 1911.
ILLMO
Just as is true of Fornfelt, Illmo owes its existence to the building of the Thebes bridge. It was settled in 1904 and incorporated in 1905, the first mayor being Phillip Ruebel. Among the first settlers were J. P. Lightner, Casper Roth and Charles Will. The mer- chants during the early period were B. Thomas, D. T. Titwell and Beggs Brothers. At the present time there are eight general stores and one factory. The Bank of Illmo is in a flourishing condition and takes care of the financial interests of the town. There is an electric light plant which supplies the resi- dences, business houses, and also lights the streets. The more important buildings are the Southern Hotel, Lightner's Opera House and Crews building. The town of Illmo is the division headquarters for the St. Louis South- western and St. Louis, Iron Mountain Rail- roads.
CROWDER
The first settlers in Crowder, Scott county, were James Marshall, James H. Marshall, J. II. Denbow, W. H. Page, Lee and W. C. Well- man, E. Virgin, W. J. Page, S. W. Wisdom, T. A. Cooksey, S. P. Marshall, T. A. Mc- Cutchen, William Utley, Dr. C. C. Harris and Major Mckinley. The first settlement in the town was made in 1897 and the town was in- corporated in 1902, the first mayor being Sterling P. Marshall. The first stores in the town were conducted by James Marshall & Brother, Huddleson Store Company, and J. A. Rifner. There are now three general stores in the town. Besides these the princi- pal business interests consist of a saw mill, hoop mill and stave factory. The town is sit-
uated in the midst of a farming community and draws its support from the farms about it. There is still more land to be opened up and no doubt the town will experience a growth with the cultivation of this land. The population is now 288.
KELSO
Kelso was settled in 1882 and incorpo- rated as a town in 1904, the first mayor being A. L. Drury. Among the early settlers were John Blattle and Charles Roberts. The first merchants in the town were George G. Wright and A. Baudendistel. There is now one gen- eral store and the principal manufacturing establishment is a flour mill. The Farmers & Merchants Bank was established in 1903 and has a capital stock of $10,000. The town is in Scott county and is situated on the main line of the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad, and is also the southern terminus of the Cape Girardean & Thebes Bridge Railroad.
BLODGETT
The settlement of Blodgett in Scott was made in 1869. It is situated on the Belmont branch of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway. The men who laid out the town and were among its first residents were: W. B. Congleton, B. F. Marshall and Charles L. Stubbs. Marshall and Stubbs and W. R. Sherer were the early merchants. The town was incorporated in 1900 and Z. T. Wright was made the first mayor. There are now two general stores besides some drug stores and other business establishments. Both the gen- eral stores are of unusual size considering the population of the town, carrying stocks of goods which would be a eredit to a city. The Blodgett Bank, which was organized in 1901, with a capital of $15,000, looks after the finan- cial interests of the town. The present pop-
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ulation is 422. Blodgett is situated in the midst of fine farming country and enjoys the distinction of shipping more watermelons than any other station in the world. During the season of 1911 there were shipped 600 cars of this fruit.
MORLEY
Morley is a town on the Belmont branch of the Iron Mountain in Scott, and was for a number of years the shipping point for the county seat, Benton. It was laid out as a town in 1869 and incorporated in 1872, the first mayor being James Bardwell. The first merchants were B. D. Gaither, W. A. Cade, Hughes and Watkins and J. T. Anderson & Brother. There are now three general stores and two cotton gins. The first mill was built by F. C. Martin & Brother. The town is sit- uated in the midst of fine farming country and ships a great deal of surplus produce every year, including many cars of melons. The soil in the immediate vicinity of the town seems to be especially suited for the produc- tion of canteloupes. The Scott County Bank was organized in 1891 and has a capital of $15,000. The population is 494.
CHAFFEE
The town of Chaffee, in Scott county, was laid off in August, 1905. The land on which the town is situated was purchased by officials of the Frisco Railroad and laid off into town lots. Shortly after its establishment the town was made the division point of the Frisco road and the repair shops removed to this point from Cape Girardeau. The first mayor of the town was R. J. Wright and its first mer- chants were Wright Mercantile Company and H. A. Osman. Besides the smaller establish- ments, such as restaurants, drug stores, etc.,
there are four general stores in the town, all of them carrying complete stocks of goods. There are also two factories, one a general lumber manufacturing company, the other is engaged in the manufacture of hoops. 'Chaffee State Bank was organized in 1906 with a cap- ital of $10,000. The town is lighted with electric lights. Among the important build- ings are the Astoria Hotel, bank buildings and the offices of the railroad company. The town now has a population of 2,082.
VANDUSER
Vandnser in Scott county is on the St. Louis & Gulf branch of the Frisco and is the terminus of the Bloomfield branch. It has a population of 338. The Bank of Vanduser was organized in 1907 and its capital stock is $10,000. The town is supported by the farm- ing country around it which is very fertile and productive.
DEXTER
Dexter is situated not far from the center of Stoddard county. It is on the east side of Crowley's ridge, the site of the town being about seventy-five or one hundred feet higher than the level plains to the east and south. It was laid out as a town in 1873. The advan- tages of the place for a town are very great and immediately after the site was surveyed a sale of lots took place and stores began to be opened. Among the early merchants were : R. P. Liles & Co., William Edwards, J. N. Miller, Sisel & Plaut, and Riggins & Co. At a later time the leading merchants were Mil- ler, Ladd & Co., Dowdy & Co., Edw. Webber, T. N. Doherty, R. A. Sisler & Co., J. J. Dowdy, T. S. Ulen, A. E. Bohlcke, E. E. Car- ter and J. R. Clark. Copper & Jorndt were millers. Miller, Ladd & Co. also operated a
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grist mill and cotton gin, and were dealers in cotton.
The great advantage which Dexter possessed at the early period and the cause of its rapid growth was the railroad. It was located on the Cairo branch of the Iron Mountain be- tween Bird's Point and Poplar Bluff. It thus had connection with the river and with the main line of the Iron Mountain to St. Louis. The transportation problem, the greatest which had to be solved for towns and com- munities in this part of the state when they were situated away from the river, was not troublesome in the early history of Dexter. Consequently it grew rapidly. It was in a position to seize a large part of the trade from Stoddard and Dunklin counties which had formerly gone to Cape Girardeau and New Madrid. To the south of Dexter was the great sand ridge over which travel was easy. It was separated from Dunklin county by Taylor and Gum sloughs, it is true, but these were easily crossed so that no real obstacle was interposed except distance. This was much less than the citizens of that country had previously travelled to market so that there soon poured into Dexter a constantly in- creasing stream of cotton and other produce especially from Dunklin county. Much of the country around the town was suitable for wheat growing and a mill was built which brought wheat from places many miles dis- tant. Much of this wheat had formerly been carried to Cape Girardeau or Bloomfield.
Not only was much produce brought to the town. Those who came to sell their products bought large quantities of goods. The greater part of the country to the south was supplied with practically all imported goods from Dex- ter. This trade brought wealth to the town. Its merchants were prosperous and added to their stocks
The first blow to the prosperity of the town came with the building of the Little River Valley & Arkansas Railroad from New Mad- rid to Malden. The latter town was nearer to the cotton regions and soon absorbed much of the trade which had formerly come to Dexter.
Two things, however, contributed to the growth of the town perhaps more than was lost. One of these was the building of St. Louis Southwestern Railway north from Mal- den, first to Delta, later to Gray's Point and eventually to Thebes. This provided railroad competition and direct connection by through trains to St. Louis. The other fact important in the development of the town was the drain- age movement which resulted in the opening of vast quantities of the richest and most pro- ductive lands. These lands were naturally tributary to Dexter and the increased trade which they brought added to the town's wealth. Large wood-working plants were erected and are still in operation.
For years there was bitter rivalry between Dexter and Bloomfield. The latter town was without railroad facilities for years after Dex- ter had acquired them, but it was the county seat, was older and seemed more firmly estab- lished. The people of Dexter made efforts to move the county seat to their town. Failing in this they secured the passage of a law re- quiring two sessions of the circuit court to be held in Dexter and two in Bloomfield each year. To provide a place for the meetings of the court they erected a fine brick building. The arrangement was not found satisfactory and the law was repealed. The building which was thus left vacant was sold to the Christian church for use as a college building. After some efforts to establish a college the church sold it to the public school and it is now in use as a high school building.
The schools of Dexter have always been
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among the best. The first organization for a public school was made in 1874 and from that time much interest and attention has been given to the schools. At the present time there are two good brick buildings, a well organ- ized system of grade schools, and a good four years high school.
Besides the two railroads Dexter has some good public roads. From Dexter to Bloom- field a distance of seven miles there is a fine rock road, and there are other good roads also. At present there are about seventy business establishments of various kinds. They in- clude large general stores, drug stores, furni- ture and hardware stores, saw mills, heading and stave factories, handle factories, other minor establishments and two banks. The Bank of Dexter was organized in 1892 and has a capital stock of $50,000. The Citizens Bank, organized in 1903, has a capital of $30,000. There are the usual church organ- izations with good buildings. The town has good streets, sidewalks, water-works, electric lights, and all the conveniences of modern cities of its size. Its present population is 2,322.
ADVANCE
Advance in the extreme northern part of Stoddard county is on the Hoxie branch of the Frisco. It has a population of 621 and is a thriving and prosperous town. The farm- ing country around it is very productive and its people are enterprising. The Bank of Advance was chartered in 1902. Its capital is $20,000. The Advance Exchange Bank with a capital of $15,000, was chartered in 1909. Advance has good public schools, about twenty business establishments, the usual church organizations.
BELL CITY
Bell City in Stoddard county, is a town on the St. Louis Southwestern, laid out soon after the building of that line. Its present population is 316. It has one bank with a capital of $10,000. There are churches, a public school, hotel, four stores, and other smaller business establishments.
Brownwood, situated at the crossing of the Zalma and Bloomfield branch and the Hoxie branch, is a saw mill town.
Ardeola, Idalia, Dudley, Headquarters and Avert are other Stoddard county villages.
BERNIE
The town of Bernie in Stoddard county, is situated on the main line of the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad between Dexter and Malden. The first settlement was made there in the year 1878. It was incorporated as a village in 1890 and as a city in 1908, the first mayor being L. J. Turner. Among the early settlers were A. H. Slayton, W. L. Smith, Morgan Wood, T. J. Bailey, T. L. Whitehead, W. S. Russell, J. A. Walker, W. L. Schutt, M. C. Dooin and J. M. Barnett. The early merchants were W. L. Smith, W. L. Schutt, M. C. Dooin, McFadden, Louis Klein and T. L. Whitehead. There are now eighteen gen- eral stores in the town and also a cotton gin and grist mill. The financial interests of the town are cared for by the Bank of Bernie which was chartered in 1901, and has a capi- tal stock of $20,000. The town has just com- pleted the erection of a $10,000 public school building and is conducting a good school in- cluding a high school. Besides the general interests which we have mentioned there are other minor business establishments includ-
ยท
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ing a drug store and undertaking establish- ment. There are Baptist, Christian, Metho- dist and General Baptist churches. The pop- ulation of the town is 742.
PUXICO
The first settlement at Puxico in Stoddard county was made September 29, 1883, and the town was incorporated June 2, 1884. The first mayor was E. L. Hawks. Among the early settlers were J. A. Hickman, E. L. Hawks, W. C. Clark, George Eaton, Henry Jeffords, Prior Daniels, John W. Reed, Wil- liam Gray and H. B. Purcell. The business interests of the town were, for the first period, in the hands of J. A. Hickman, John Reed, H. B. Purcell and T. J. Moss. There are now four general stores, handle factory, flour mill, electric light plant, canning factory, saw mill, and planing mill. Among the important buildings are the opera house, three churches, brick school building and a lodge hall. The town is situated on the Hoxie branch of the Frisco Railroad and has a population of 814. The Bank of Puxico was organized in 1898 and has a capital stock of $25,000. One news- paper, the Purico Index, is published in the town.
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IRONDALE
Irondale, in Washington county, was laid out in 1857 by Hon. John G. Scott, who erected a large iron furnace there. It is on the Iron Mountain Railway, ten miles south- east of Potosi, the county seat.
There are three churches, Catholic, Cum- berland Presbyterian, and Methodist, a pub- lie school, hotel, five stores, and a mill. The Bank of Irondale was organized in 1901 with a capital stock of $10,000. The population is now 338.
MINERAL POINT
Mineral Point is a village in Washington county, four miles east of Potosi and is the terminus of the Potosi branch of the Iron Mountain Railway. It was laid out in 1857 by the Hon. John Evans. It has a school, a Methodist Episcopal church, a hotel, four stores, and its population is 290.
. RICHWOODS
Richwoods is a village in Washington county near the Jefferson county line. It has recently taken on new life and is becoming more important. A bank called the Bank of Richwoods, was organized in 1910 with a cap- ital stock of $10,000. There are ten business establishments, a church, and a mill. The population is about 300. Other villages and towns are Baryties, Tiff, Hopewell, Shirley, Summit, and Undine.
CHAONIA
Chaonia, in Wayne county on the Hoxie branch of the Frisco, is a town which sprung up around a saw-mill about 1899. After the timber was cleared away the farming inter- ests began to support the town and it is now growing. The population is 363. There are stores, a church, mills, and the Bank of Cha- onia with a capital stock of $10,000. It was chartered in 1907.
LEEPER
Leeper in Wayne county, is the junction point of the Missouri Southern with the Iron Mountain. It was named in honor of Col. W. T. Leeper, a northern soldier in the Civil war. At one time it was the seat of extensive saw mills, but these have disappeared. It is now supported by farming and railroad in- terests. There are four stores, a hotel,
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churches, and other establishments. The pop- ulation is 360.
MILL SPRING
Mill Spring, a few miles south of Leeper on the Iron Mountain, was once an important lumber manufacturing town. The mills have closed down and the town is supported only by the farming country. It is near a large and beautiful spring from which it takes its name. The spring was once used to furnish power for the mill. The population is now given as 360.
WILLIAMSVILLE
Williamsville, an important town in Wayne county, is situated at the junction of the Iron
Mountain main line with the Williamsville, Greenville and St. Louis Railroad, and also on the Hoxie branch of the Frisco. Its trans- portation facilities are such as to make it a good town in time, as the country develops in a farming way. For years it was sup- ported by mills which used up the large for- est of pine timber. Later the iron industry became important and large reduction works were built for handling the iron ore. These have not yet proved permanent and the town depends largely upon its railroad and farm- ing interest. There are five stores, a mill, two hotels, churches and the Williamsville State Bank with a capital of $10,000, which was chartered in 1905.
SECTION VII
Educational Institutions
CHAPTER XXXI
EARLY SCHOOLS
WORK OF THE SUBSCRIPTION SCHOOLS - ACADEMIES AT STE. GENEVIEVE, JACKSON, POTOSI, NEW MADRID, PERRYVILLE, POINT PLEASANT, CAPE GIRARDEAU, BLOOMFIELD, POPLAR BLUFF AND CHARLESTON.
Up to 1804 when Louisiana became a part of the territory of the United States there had been but few attempts made to provide schools. We have seen that occasional schools were con- dneted in Ste. Genevieve and in the Ramsay settlement in Cape Girardeau district and perhaps in a few other places. These schools, however, were very inefficient. They were conducted for only a very short period of time, usually only two or three months, and were taught by whatever persons seemed able to spare the time. The course of study in- eluded only the merest rudiments of educa- tion and each school was conducted entirely separate and distinct from all the others. There seems to have been no effort made to preserve a record of the work done by students and when school was begun in any year no attention was given to what had been aceom- plished before.
With the transfer to the United States and consequent inflow of settlers from the states east of the river more attention came to be paid to the matter of education. It was nat- ural that this should be the case. These set- tlers had lived where schools were held in high esteem and where efforts were being made to provide systems of education. They
accordingly made every effort to establish schools as far as that was possible.
The history of the development of educa- tion from this time is concerned with two movements: The first of these was a con- tinnation of the method formerly in use, that is, to provide schools independent of the state. Alongside of this there was a movement to form a system of publie education which seems to have come into the state from Vir- ginia and perhaps owes its existence more to Thomas Jefferson than to any other one man. The movement for state education found ex- pression in the act of purchase itself and all through the history of the state we find that people are giving their attention to the mat- ter of building up the public schools. In spite of many attempts, however, and much work accomplished, it is hardly possible to speak of an organized system of public schools before the period of the Civil war. In faet, it was Not until 1874 that really adequate provision came to be made for public education. Be- fore that time the public schools existed side by side with private schools and were in most places of far less importanee in the eduea- tional history of the country than the latter.
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WORK OF THE SUBSCRIPTION SCHOOLS
It is intended here to give an account of the attempts to provide schools independent of the state and later to discuss the growth of the public schools system itself. As has been said, a few schools had been conducted in scattering settlements before the transfer to the United States. These schools were taught by teachers who were paid by subscrip- tion, or else by some priest or nun of the church.
Private schools in Southeast Missouri of an elementary character were usually either sub- scription schools or else the elementary de- partment of an academy. There were two kinds of academies, those chartered by the state and those which existed without a char- ter.
What we have termed subscription schools were probably the most common form of the early elementary schools. They were taught usually by men who claimed certain attain- ments in learning and for a longer or shorter period devoted themselves to instruction. These teachers were professional teachers in that they supported themselves in part by teaching but most of them turned their atten- tion during the greater part of the year to other pursuits. These schools were usually conducted in the winter time when it was im- possible to do much of anything else while in other seasons of the year both teacher and pupils were otherwise engaged. There were two principal methods of organizing and con- ducting such schools. Either a teacher pro- vided room in some dwelling house and se- cured, by personal canvass, a sufficient uum- ber of subscribers to make it worth while to conduct the school (the patrons having no or- ganization of their own), or else, and more commonly, those families in the community
which desired to send children to school banded themselves together, appointed one of their number as trustee and provided a place for conducting the school. This trustee was empowered by the voluntary association which he represented, to employ a teacher and to exercise a degree of supervision over his actions. This was the most common plan and it is perhaps not too much to say that in many parts of Southeast Missouri the schools thus organized and conducted were the most important factors in educational work during all the period preceding the war. Even after the war this plan was still used in many places. The writer well remembers that his first school days were spent in such a school. The house had been built by volun- tary association of neighbors who appointed one of their number as a trustee. He hired the teacher and when necessary discharged him. The house itself was well built and for the time, excellently seated and furnished. This was at a period long after the war.
The state exercised no control over these schools and of course contributed nothing to their support. No license to teach was re- quired of those who conducted them, and ac- cordingly the only requirements to be met by the would-be teacher were such as were es- tablished in the community itself. These re- quirements varied in the different communi- ties, and from time to time. Quite naturally, however, they were not usually high. In many cases, especially in the early days, those who taught were almost wholly incompetent. They possessed but the merest smattering of knowledge and in some cases the moral stand- ards set for them were very low. In another chapter we have quoted from Peck as to the character of some who conducted schools. Such conditions were inevitable, however. It was entirely beyond the limited means of the
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