USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 67
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In 1870 the Synod of Missouri, New School, and that part of the Synod of Missouri, Old School, which remained in connection with the Northern General Assembly united, they then created a Presbytery of Potosi which they declared to be the legal successor of the original presbytery of that name, thus deny- ing to the adherents of the Southern Church the right to use the name of Potosi Presby- tery. The territory of this body was defined to include twenty-two counties of Southeast Missouri, and its first meeting was held Sep- tember 20, 1870, at Whitewater church in Bollinger county ; in 1872 the presbytery had six ministers and thirteen churches and 494 members.
The oldest church of this presbytery is Whitewater in Bollinger county, which was organized June 24, 1832, under a tree on the banks of Whitewater river. Its organization was the result of the visit of Rev. Joseph M. Sadd who had been sent to Missouri in 1830
by the American Missionary Society. While traveling over the country he visited the German colony in Bollinger county, most of the residents in this vicinity were members of the German Reformed church and their pas- tor for many years had been the Rev. Samuel Whybark who, however, had died shortly be- fore the visit of Rev. Mr. Sadd and the con- gregation was left without a pastor. As there are no great doctrinal differences be- tween the German Reform church and the Presbyterian church many of the members of the Reform went into the new organiza- tion; the names of the members of White- water church were Mathias Bollinger, Peter Statler, David Conrad, Moses Bollinger, Mary Statler, Sally Yount, Polly Bollinger, Rebecca Conrad, Sally Statler, Elizabeth Bollinger, Peter Ground, Peggy Ground, So- phia Whybark, Sophia Yount, Sally Conrad and Peggy Bollinger. Mathias Bollinger and Peter Statler were ordained as elders of the church. At first the congregation met in the house of Moses Bollinger and later they fitted up an old still house for services; after a time a log building was erected and dedicated as a church. The pastor, Mr. Sadd, remained until 1835 and he was succeeded by Thomas Donnell, James M. Covington, Robert G. Barret, Amos H. Rodgers, John J. Cowan, A. Munson, J. H. Moore, L. P. Rowland, D. E. Curtis and A. A. Mathias. These pastors bring the record of the church up to 1861. There seems to have been no regular services held between 1861 and 1867. In the latter year Rev. John Branch became pastor and served until 1872. Since that time other pas- tors have been Rev. Rowland, McCoy, E. P. Keach. From this congregation went off other churches-one at Bristol, one at Marble Hill and a third at Smithville.
The church at Marble Hill was organized
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in 1868. The original members were Levi E. Whybark and wife, Samuel W. Whybark and wife, J. J. Conrad and wife, Mrs. Mur- dock, Kaziah E. Sutherlin and Urriah D. Titus. A meeting honse was erected by them in 1868.
In 1880 a church was organized at Fred- ericktown, and on March 21, 1880, one at Poplar Bluff by J. W. Allen of St. Louis. The Poplar Bluff congregation erected a house of worship in 1884 at a cost of $2,000.
The churches of this branch of the Pres- byterian church are affiliated with the Northern Presbyterian General Assembly. Their work has prospered but has hardly kept pace with the work of the Southern Church.
Recently an effort has been made to unite the Cumberland church-a venerable organ- ization with the General Assembly of the Northern Church. The great bulk of the Cumberland churches were merged with the church of the North. Some refused to enter the larger organization and out of this at- tempted merger came much bitter feeling and a number of suits to determine the own- ership of church property. Some of the Cumberland churches in Southeast Missouri followed the majority of churches of that connection into the Northern church but others have maintained their separate exist- ence.
An account is here given of some of the Cumberland churches in this part of the state.
CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIANS
There are a number of Cumberland Pres- byterian churches in Southeast Missouri. The oldest one of these was organized at Clarkton in Dunklin county, in 1855 by Rev. G. W. Jordan. The members were: Jacob
Trout and wife, William Pickard and fam- ily, Thomas P. Hord and wife, John Agnew and family and John Timberman and wife. In 1856 the congregation erected a meeting house of hewn logs and in 1866 they built a substantial frame structure which was dedi- cated in 1887 by Rev. B. G. Mitchell. Among the pastors of this church have been G. W. Jordan, J. N. Roberts, E. J. Stockton, James McKnight, Rev. Mr. Cobb and W. W. Spence. This church was for a time known as West Prairie church.
A church was organized at Dexter, March 21, 1870, under the name of Mount Union church, the elders of the organization were Abner Warren, John Sitton and D. W. Mays. The name of the church was changed to Dexter church in 1875 and it was reorgan- ized in 1879 with M. P. Riggin and L. O. Glascock as elders
A church was organized at Malden in Dunklin county, July 10, 1884, by Rev. W. W. Spence, who became the pastor of the church. There were about 20 members in the original organization.
In 1887 a church was organized at Ken- nett.
On November 12, 1858, four ministers, James Kincaid, S. Brown, J. W. Jordan and W. B. Province and several elders met at West Prairie church in Clarkton and organ- ized West Prairie Presbytery. The new presbytery was under the jurisdiction of MeAdoo Synod, which included 9 congrega- tions and 360 members. Its territory ex- tended into Arkansas until in 1877, when 4 of the churches were dismissed to the White River Presbytery and the southrn boundary of the West Prairie Presbytery was made to coincide with the southern boundary of the state. In 1888 there were within the pres- bytery a total of 21 churches with 641 mem-
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bers. The churches with their membership at that time were as follows: Bloomfield, 17; Canaan in Dunklin county, 59; DeLassus, 6; Dexter, 54; New Providence, 21; Doniphan, 97; Irondale, 26; Malden, 45; Mount Car- mel, 18; Patterson, 41; Pleasant Grove, 13; New Hope, 33; Piedmont, 16; Pilgrims Rest, 24; Union, +4; West Prairie, 67; Blackwell, 12; Kennett, 9; Kennett Branch, 8; Good Hope, 10 and Mount Horeb, 21.
The ministers belonging to the Presbytery in the same year were: C. M. Eaton, W. H. Cook, W. W. Spence, E. H. White, J. M. Birdwell, Henry Hillman and P. Langford.
The Cumberland Presbyterian church at Clarkton in Dunklin county was organized about 1850 and they begun the erection of their church house in 1853 and finished it in 1855. It was built of hewn logs and was two stories in height, the second story being used for a Masonic hall. The house was built before there was a saw mill in the county and all the lumber for the doors, the floors and the finishing of the house was sawed by hand, the seats in the church were long benches. In 1883 the congregation erected a new frame building at a cost of about $1,600. One of the early pastors of the church was Rev. T. S. Love, who preached for them during the Civil war. He was suc- ceeded by J. H. MeKnight, during his pas- torate the church grew rapidly and in 1868 had a membership of 175.
It was this congregation which had a pe- culiar experience during the war. On a Sun- day while they were engaged in worship the house was surrounded by a band of gnerillas whose leader announced to them that they did not wish to disturb the congregation but that they did want to exchange clothes with the men. Resistance was out of the question so the men left the building and exchanged
clothing with the guerillas. One young man, who was more thoughtful than the rest, saved his boots by putting them in the stove in which there was no fire, before he left the room. The rest of the men had their choice of going home barefoot or wearing the worn- out shoes discarded by the guerillas.
Another of the early organizations of this church was Canaan organized at Gibson in 1862. Its first pastor was E. J. Stockton. Among its elders and prominent men have been M. J. Benson, W. R. and S. T. Weathers and John C. Agnew. In 1895 this church had 110 members and was an active flourish- ing body. There is also a Cumberland Pres- byterian church at Kennett and one at Mal- den.
CHRISTIANS
The first church of Disciples, or Christians, which, as we have seen, was organized in 1822 by William McMurtry near the village of Lib- ertyville, grew slowly during the years and in 1844 erected its first building. This was a frame building which was replaced in 1860 by a brick structure. The pastors of this church were: William McMurtry, John C. Farmer, Sterling Price, A. G. Lucas, B. F. Wilson, T. E. Sheppard and J. G. Dillard.
About 1825 a church was organized in Madison county, three miles east of Freder- icktown, called Antioch. Among the early members of this church were: George and Ja- cob Nifong, Ephraim Potter, Joseph Bennett, James Marshall and their families.
About 1844 a church was organized in the New Tennessee settlement in Ste. Genevieve county. Among its members were : Richard Griffith, J. M. Powell, Valentine Underwood and Peter Bloom.
In 1854 a church was organized at Farm- ington through the efforts of Elder S. S.
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Church. This congregation erected a large brick building, but it finally passed out of their hands, and became the property of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Rev. Thomas Douthitt reorganized the con- gregation in 1875 and it purchased the house of worship formerly used by the Methodist Episcopal church, South. The church pros- pered and now has a handsome and commo- dious brick building.
The Poplar Bluff church was organized in 1877 through the efforts of Elder E. Chil- dress. There were about twenty members in the organization but it gradually lost num- bers and finally became extinct. Rev. G. A. Hoffman reorganized it in 1887, at which time there were twenty-two members. It has grown very greatly and is now a large and powerful organization.
The Dexter church was founded by Elder Thomas Sheppard in 1879. The membership was small at first and no house was erected until 1883. The congregation is active and growing now.
In 1886 a church was organized at Malden. A good frame building was erected which was
afterward destroyed by fire caused by light- ning. It was replaced with the present com- fortable building. About the same year the church at Kennett was organized. It has a frame building and is actively engaged in church work.
The great growth and expansion of the church has been the work of the last thirty years. Up to that time the denomination was of comparatively small numbers in this part of the state, but it has grown to be one of the large and influential church organizations. It has been found impossible to secure de- tailed information concerning the foundation of the various congregations or their present membership.
There are many other churches in South- east Missouri besides those we have men- tioned. There are congregations at Charles- ton, East Prairie, Festus, Fredericktown, Caruthersville, Greenville, Hematite, Marble Hill, Morley, Naylor, Marquand, Mine La Motte, Higdon's chapel, Bismarck, Knob Lick, Bonne Terre, Mill Springs and DeSoto. The DeSoto church was founded in 1868.
CHAPTER XXXVI
RAILROADS
BEGINNING OF RAILROAD AGITATION-COMPANIES FORMED-THE FIRST RAILROAD-ST. LOUIS, IRON MOUNTAIN & SOUTHERN-CAIRO & FULTON-PRESENT CONDITION OF THE IRON MOUN- TAIN-THE CAPE GIRARDEAU, PILOT KNOB & BELMONT-THE HOUCK LINES-THE 'FRISCO SYSTEM-THE ST. LOUIS SOUTHWESTERN-THE ILLINOIS & MISSOURI BRIDGE COMPANY-MIS- SISSIPPI RIVER & BONNE TERRE RAILROAD COMPANY-THE WILLIAMSVILLE, GREENVILLE & ST. LOUIS RAILROAD COMPANY-ST. LOUIS, KENNETT & SOUTHEASTERN-THE ST. LOUIS & MISSOURI SOUTHERN-THE PARAGOULD SOUTHEASTERN - THE ILLINOIS SOUTHERN-THE MISSOURI SOUTHERN-THE PARAGOULD & MEMPHIS-THE BUTLER COUNTY RAILROAD-THE ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY INTERURBAN.
During this period of Missouri history the organization of railroad companies was be- gun. Up to this time there had been no par- ticular interest in railroad building, but the decade extending from 1850 to 1860 was filled with railroad projects of almost every conceivable kind. Railroads were projected from place to place throughout the state. Many companies were organized, most of which were without any tangible capital and were, therefore, unable to construct rail- roads. Southeast Missouri was no exception to the situation in the state as a whole. There were a great number of railroads pro- jected, and but few of them ever built.
One of these was a company called Mine La Motte & Mississippi Railroad, with a cap- ital of $300,000.00, for the purpose of build- ing a road from Mine La Motte to some point on the Mississippi river not lower than Pratte's Landing. Another railroad was pro- jected from St. Louis to Caledonia, in Wash-
ington county, by way of Potosi. This com- pany had a capital of $2,000,000. Another one was to run from Caledonia to Cape Girardeau by way of Iron Mountain, Mine La Motte and Jackson. It was called the Southern Railroad and was capitalized at $1,000,000.00. The Southeastern Railroad, with a capital of $200,000.00 was projected from New Madrid to Commerce, in Scott county, and the Washington & Ste. Gene- vieve Railroad was planned to be built be- tween Washington and Ste. Genevieve. All of these mentioned were organized in 1836 and 1837, but none of the companies pos- sessed either money or credit enough to con- struct the railroads proposed.
The first railroad company which actually built a railroad in Southeast Missouri was the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railway Com- pany. The first work done looking to the building of this road in this part of the state
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was the survey from St. Louis to Iron Moun- tain made in 1852 by J. HI. Morley. The object of the promoters of this seheme was to make available the great quantities of iron ore then supposed to be contained in Iron Mountain. Iron had been mined in consider- able quantities in the vicinity of Iron Moun- tain for a number of years. In fact the first record we have of the working of iron mines in Iron county is prior to 1820, but during all of these years the work of digging out the ore and developing these mines was very greatly handicapped by the lack of proper transportation facilities. It was necessary to transport the ore overland from the mines to the river. The ore was carried on horse- back or in earts and wagons and the transpor- tation cost was very great. It was to provide better means for shipping the product of these mines that this first railroad in South- east Missouri was projected. This first sur- vey, in 1852, resulted in very little being done. In January, 1853, there was chosen for the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Company a board of directors. This board imme- diately ordered the making of a new survey for the road. After many delays the road was finally built as far as Pilot Knob, in Iron eounty.
The state of Missouri had provided that any railroad company in the state might re- ceive state aid. This aid was given in the form of lands, or in the form of the credit of the state itself. The credit of the state was loaned to these railroad enterprises through the device of guaranteeing the bonds of the railroad. A bill which became law, provided that the state should grant two dollars in bonds for every dollar expended by any railroad company, not to exceed $400,- 000.00. The Iron Mountain Railway Com- Vol. I-32
pany received both grants of lands and guar- antee of the large amount of its bonds. This, however, did not meet the expectation of its promoters and they soon fell into financial difficulties. The road became unable to pay the interest on its bonds, and on September 22d, 1866, the railroad was sold at publie auction, and was purchased for the state itself. It was operated by three commissioners ap- pointed by the governor until January 12th, 1867, when it was again sold, and was pur- chased this time by MeKay, Simmons & Vogel. They later transferred it to the man who more than any other was instrumental in providing for the people of this section of the state their first railroad, Thomas Allen. Under his management the road was extended and was put upon a paying basis. The first extension south was that which came to be known as the Belmont branch. This particular line of railroad was built from both ends toward the middle and it was completed August 14th, 1869, the last rail being laid in the middle of the tunnel in Bollinger county.
On February 9th, 1853, the President of the United States approved an act of Con- gress which granted to the states of Missouri and Arkansas the right of way and lands to aid in the construction of the railroad from a point on the Mississippi river opposite the mouth of the Ohio by way of Little Roek to the Texas boundary near Fulton, Arkansas. Not only was the right of way granted through all government lands, but every alternate seetion of land designated by even numbers contained in a strip six miles in width on each side of the track was also con- veyed. The act carried with it a proviso that it should expire by limitation within ten years.
The people of Southeast Missouri were,
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very naturally, anxious to take advantage of this liberal offer of assistance, and accord- ingly a meeting was called of the citizens of Charleston and such others as might be in- terested, to begin work looking to the con- struction of the road. This meeting was held June 9th, 1853, in the court house at Charles- ton, and was presided over by Judge Noah Handy, as chairman. John C. Thomas was secretary. It was determined first of all to discover the cost of constructing the rail- road across the swamp along the line of the projected road from Cairo to Fulton. George Whitcomb, Harrison Hough, H. M. Molder, H. M. Ward, A. M. Bedford, John Byrd and Felix Badger were appointed as a committee to investigate this cost of construction. It was then determined to call together a large number of citizens from the southeast and also from Kentucky and Tennessee, to fur- ther consider the possibility of building the road. This meeting was held at Benton, Missouri, November 14th and 15th, 1853. Not much was done at the meeting, further than to adopt resolutions advocating the building of the Cairo & Fulton road by way of Bloomfield, and asking that the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railway Company extend their road to a crossing with the Cairo & Fulton.
On September 12th, of the same year, the Cairo & Fulton Railroad Company had been organized in Stoddard county, with John M. Johnson as president. The capital stock of the new corporation was fixed at $1,500,000.00, divided into 60,000 shares of the par value of $25.00 each. The incorporators of this railroad did not have the means to build it, and it had been provided before the act of incorporation to secure from some of the
interested counties subscriptions to the cap- ital stock of the railroad. These subscrip- tions were to be paid in land at a value of $1.00 per acre. Subscriptions were received from the counties, as follows:
Stoddard County $150,000
Butler County 100,000
Dunklin County 100,000
Scott County 50,000
Ripley County 19,500
Total $419,500
In accordance with the terms of the agree- ment made, the county courts of the counties mentioned conveyed to the Cairo & Fulton Railroad Company, lands at the value of $1.00 an acre to the amounts mentioned. This transfer of large bodies of land at a minimum price, resulted in very great loss, to the counties, and in long continued litiga- tion.
A meeting was held in Charleston in 1853 to determine whether it was possible to pro- ceed to survey the line of the new railroad. The meeting asked the county court of Mis- sissippi county to provide funds not to ex- ceed $500.00, for the purpose of a survey. This the county did, but the survey was not made. The Cairo & Fulton Railroad Com- pany had, in the meantime, been incorporated by the state of Arkansas, and the chief engi- neer, J. S. Williams, had made a survey of the road through Arkansas and extended his survey through Missouri and reported to the legislature of Missouri in February, 1855 Immediately following this report, the legis- lature proceeded to incorporate the Cairo & Fulton Railroad Company in Missouri, and to pass an act to issue bonds of the state to the new company, equal to the amount that it had expended, but not to exceed $250,
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000.00. This bill was vetoed by the gover- nor, but was later passed over his veto and became a law.
In 1856 the company elected Orson Bart- lett as president, and a new survey of the line was made, beginning, this time, at Bird's Point. In 1857 new officers were chosen and the contracts were let for the grading of the road from Bird's Point to Charleston. The first actual work was done on October 1st, 1857. H. J. Deal, who was the contractor, threw the first shovel of dirt on that date. The work of construction proceeded slowly, and it was not until April 1st, 1859, that the first train reached Charleston. The engine on this train had been named Sol. G. Kitchen, in honor of Sol. G. Kitchen, of Stoddard county, who was one of the men most inter- ested and active in securing the road. On the 4th of July, 1859, there was held a great celebration in honor of the formal opening of the road.
By the beginning of the war, in 1861, there were about twenty miles constructed, and at that time it fell into the hands of the govern- ment and was used for military purposes, which resulted in the loss of the greater part of the rolling stock. This prevented the road from earning even enough to pay the interest on the state bonds, which fell into arrears. The holders of the bonds caused a sale of the road in 1866, which was bought by commis- sioners for the state, who later sold the road to MeKay, Simmons & Vogel, the same per- sons who bought the St. Louis & Iron Moun- tain. They paid the state the sum of $350,- 000.00, and then transferred the road to Thomas Allen, the president of the Iron Mountain System. It was later extended to Poplar Bluff, and was known as the Cairo, Arkansas & Texas road. It is still popularly
called the "Cat Road," the word being formed from the initial letters of Cairo, Ar- kansas and Texas. It remained a separate organization until 1874, when it was con- solidated with the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, and was afterward designated as the Cairo branch.
For many years the Iron Mountain System was the only great system in Southeast Mis- souri. In fact, for years it was the only sys- tem. After the war, when the road came into the possession of Mr. Thomas Allen it entered upon a period of prosperity and ex- pansion. When the war closed the road ex- tended only as far south as Pilot Knob in Iron county. Shortly after Mr. Allen's pur- chase of the road in January 1867, it was transferred to a corporation known as the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad Com- pany. This company was formed by Mr. Allen and his associates and was incorporated July 26, 1867. Mr. Allen was made its presi- dent, a position he held for many years.
This company proceeded to construct a line from Pilot Knob to Belmont, a distance of 120 miles. This line opened up the coun- ties of St. Francois, Madison, Bollinger, Scott and Mississippi. The principal towns along it were Farmington, two and one-half miles distant, Fredericktown, Oran, Morley and Charleston.
Between 1870 and 1874, the company con- structed a branch called the Arkansas branch from Bismark to the Arkansas line at Moak, a distance of 184 miles. This road passed through Iron, Wayne and Butler counties, the principal towns springing up along it, being Ironton, Piedmont, Williams- ville and Poplar Bluff.
In 1872, Thomas Allen conveyed to the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad Com- pany the property of the Cairo, Arkansas &
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Texas Railroad Company, which consisted of a line from Cairo to Sikeston. The company then proceeded to rebuild this line and ex- tend it to Poplar Bluff, a distance of 70 miles.
Acting under the charter granted to the Cairo & Fulton Railroad Company and ac- quired by the Iron Mountain, the latter com- pany constructed a line from Moak through Arkansas to the Texas line at Fulton, Ark. These two companies were consolidated under the name of the St. Louis, Iron Moun- tain & Southern Railroad Company in June, 1874. This line from St. Louis to Fulton, Arkansas, a distance of 681 miles, became the main line of the company and the line from Bismarck to Belmont became known as the Belmont branch.
In 1883 a company was organized, known as the Jackson Branch Railroad Company, to build a line from Allenville, on the Bel- mont branch, to the Mississippi river, at Grand Tower, by way of Jackson, the county seat of Cape Girardeau county. This line was constructed by the Iron Mountain as far as Jackson and was later consolidated with the Iron Mountain System. Later a branch was constructed from Mineral Point to Po- tosi, in Washington county, to provide trans- portation for the mineral products of that region.
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