USA > Missouri > Greene County > Past and present of Greene County Missouri, early and recent history and genealogical records of many of the representative citizens, Volume I > Part 12
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*The writer is greatly indebted to Mr. George Mutscheler, who was superintendent for the Daisy and Bray Mining Companies for twelve years, for information in regard to this property.
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sand eight hundred feet, and several thousand tons of ore were produced. A mill was erected at the shaft on this vein, about six hundred and fifty feet north of the railroad track. Messrs. Lines & Company sold their mining lease to an eastern company, which was incorporated in 1901, and thereafter known as the Daisy Mining and Milling Company. This new company took possession of the Lines lease in 1902, but did 10 work until February, 1903, when drilling was begun on the Lines vein, some nine hundred feet north of the present mill. Ore was struck, proving the continuation of this vein to the north line of the Daisy property, and for over one hundred feet into the adjoining property. In May, 1903, a shaft was sunk to a depth of one hun- dred and ten feet, and was connected to the mill by cable car and tramway. Production on this vein began in April, 1904, and ended in December, 1904, a total of two hundred and fifty feet having produced zinc and lead to the value of twenty-one thousand dollars, prices then being from thirty-two to thirty-seven dollars per ton for zinc. It is estimated that the total value produced from this vein was fully one hundred thousand dollars. For some months before vein No. 2 was exhausted, drilling had been begun to the east, and in 1904, what is known as vein No. 3 was struck some three hundred feet east of the mill. A shaft was sunk seventy-two feet deep to the bottom of the ore in 1905, and operations began during the winter of 1905-06, with an output valued at twenty-five thousand dollars. In July, 1906, the Daisy Company, having bought the fee to the sixty-five acres, and owning also the mill, leased their land to the Rathbun Mining Company, which produced from this shaft, from August, 1906, to August, 1907, a total output of zinc and lead valued at fifty-nine thousand six hundred and eighty-seven dollars. W. Martin Jones subsequently leased this property from the Daisy Company from August, 1907, to October 23, 1909, when fire destroyed the shaft build- ings and the mine became flooded. The production during this last period was valued at sixty-three thousand two hundred and forty-four dollars. After a shut-down of seven months the property was reopened by the Bray Mining Company. Extensive drilling on vein No. 3 to the north and south proved the continuous ore-channel, and two shafts were sunk, and two tramways, eight hundred and ninety and nine hundred and seventy feet long, respective- ly, were built to the mill. The output from November 1, 1910, to May, 1913, was approximately one hundred and sixty thousand dollars. Between veins 1 and 2 a new vein was struck during the summer of 1913 and some four hundred and fifty feet of it worked up to October, 1914, producing ap- proximately, forty thousand dollars. This vein runs in a northwesterly di- rection into the adjoining property, where two mills are kept in operation.
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OTHER LOCAL MINES.
At present the Bray Mining Company continue prospecting on the Daisy Company land, with the hope of developing new ore-veins.
The Waverly Mine .- About 1898 a Kansas company sunk a shaft about one hundred and forty feet deep on land just north, and forming an exten- sion of the Bowyer property. This was worked profitably for about two years.
The Badger Mine .- Later, in about 1907, Mr. George Mutscheler leased prospected and developed the Badger property, situated northwest of the Waverly, and a continuation of the ore-body of the latter. The shaft was two hundred and sixty-five feet deep to the deposit of ore just underneath the Hannibal shales. 'Still later the property was worked by a Mr. Daniel, of Michigan, and it is stated that in two years he took out nearly one hun- dred thousand dollars' worth of ore.
In 1912 Mr. A. Clas, of Springfield, purchased the property, incorpo- rated under the name of "The Choteaur Mining and Land Company," and worked from 1912 to 1913, taking out some twenty carloads of zinc ore. In November, 1913, the Choteaur Company moved its plant to the Morgan land, just north of the Daisy property, on a continuation of the ore-body of the latter, where they sunk a shaft one hundred and twenty-five feet deep, reach- ing the greatest width of ore-body yet found in Greene county, it being nearly one hundred feet wide in one place, a fact due, probably, to the merging of two or more runs of mineral. From this shaft, about fifty carloads of min- eral have been taken out.
The Charles Meyer and Company Mines .- In July, 1914, this company leased land to the north of the Choteaur, on an extension of the same run of mineral. The ore-body worked by this company varies from thirty to sixty and seventy-five feet in width, and up to date about forty carloads of mineral have been taken from this shaft. Later, Mr. A. Clas and Company developed the land just north of the Meyer mine, and have taken out some fourteen cars of zinc ore to date.
The Cook Mine .- On the south side of the James river, just south of the original Phelps mines, C. R. Cook, in 1914, opened and developed a continua- tion of the Phelps run, taking out some ore and demonstrating the extension of the run for several hundred feet toward the south bluff of the river.
The mines of the Pierson Creek district are unique, being the only ones in the United States that have been developed from the Hannibal formation. The ore, as has been described, is mixed with a tenacious white clay, locally called "gumbo," which, in the early days, was found exceedingly difficult to (8)
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separate. The ore is of high grade, and is exceptionally pure, always com- manding a high price in the market.
ASH GROVE MINES.
The first discovery of lead in the region of Ash Grove was made soon after the settlement of the county, and was in township 30 north, range 24 west, section 31. Only a small amount of "float" mineral was found. In 1859, in a well sunk on the Corum farm, one mile south of Ash Grove, near the center of section 28, a small amount of galena was thrown out; but it was not until 1867 that any serious prospecting was done.
The mines in this locality are mainly confined to the sections lying south of Ash Grove and east of the Sac river. From the first prospecting, in 1867, by Judge Ralph Walker, up to the building of the railroad to Springfield, the mining industry of this region did not flourish, although many shafts were sunk, and a smelter built. It was the discovery of a rich prospect on the Hutchins land, where considerable mineral was taken out, that gave the real impulse to the development of this district. There were, however, great obstacles to successful mining at this time. The pig lead had to be hauled eighteen miles, over a rough road, to Brookline, the nearest railway station. The price of lead declined from thirty to nine dollars a thousand, the leases required the enormous royalty of thirty-three and one-third per cent., and for these reasons mining was practically stopped until about 1888, when a rich strike was made on the Duncan land, two miles south of the town.
The mines of this region are all located in the middle beds of the Upper Burlington, and most of the ore is taken out from just above a bed of yellow rock thirty feet thick, which is frequently mistaken for the Chouteau lime- stone. This yellow rock is the same as that which forms the floor of the lime kiln quarry at Ash Grove. The following camps in the vicinity of Ash Grove will be briefly described :
The Corum Diggings .- These are in township 30, range 24, section 28, south one-half center. More prospecting was probably done on this land than on any other portion of this region, but only small amounts of ore were obtained.
The Hutchins land, now known as the Murray tract .- The mines on this land are situated a mile and half south of Ash Grove, in township 30, range 24. section 32, southeast quarter of northeast quarter. They were discovered in 1867, and a considerable amount of ore was obtained from them, but owing to the discouragements already referred to, work was soon abandoned, and they were not reopened until 1888, when the rich deposit on the Duncan land, a quarter of a mile to the south, was found. The first zinc from the Ash Grove mines was shipped from this tract. Of the various companies
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organized to develop this land may be mentioned the "Golden Eagle" mining company, with a capital stock of thirty thousand dollars, which took out about four hundred thousand pounds of lead; the "Gulf" company, which found good silicate at a depth of sixty-five feet ; and the "Clinton" company, which also found a fine deposit of silicate at sixty-five feet.
Taylor shaft, of the McCord land .- This is located in township 29 north, range 24 west, northeast quarter of section 6, about one-half mile south of the Murray land. Messrs. Taylor and Edgington discovered a rich deposit of mineral on this land in 1889. The shaft was sunk to a depth of seventy-five feet, after passing through a surface layer of about fifteen feet of ferruginous sandstone. The output of this shaft from February to May, 1890, sold for twenty-three thousand dollars.
Dunlop Shaft .- On the lot adjoining the Taylor and Edgington shaft, Messrs. Dunlop and McKellop struck a rich vein of silicate at eighty feet. The Gilliam Mining Company sunk several shafts on this tract and did some drifting, the deepest point reached being one hundred and thirty-five feet, all in bowlder formations. The deepest run of mineral, however, was found at a level of eighty-five feet, just above the yellow rock. The ore-channel has a course N. 14 degrees W. The ore-body varies from fifteen to sixty feet in width, and is from six to thirteen feet in depth. Drifting along this ore-body has been carried on for six hundred feet. The ore consists mainly of galena in the upper part, followed by zinc silicate, and with zinc blende in the lowest run. Little or no carbonate, or "dry bone" is found.
The Pennsylvania Company Land .- This is situated just east of the rail- road and south of the town of Ash Grove, in section 28. This company sunk a shaft, in 1895, to a depth of two hundred and fifty feet. reaching the Joachim limestone. On this land, as in the other camps of this region, most of the ore is obtained just above the yellow limestone, though at times it extends to greater depth, and is geologically lower.
The Getty Diggings .- These are in the northwest quarter of section 33, township 30 north, range 24 west. A number of shafts were sunk here to a depth of from twenty to thirty feet, penetrating the yellow limestone from six to eight feet. Both galena and calamine were taken out.
PICKEREL CREEK MINES. -
These mines are located at the head of a spring branch, which is one of the tributaries of Pickerel creek, and on a dividing ridge running southeast from the spring. They are in township 29 north, range 24 west, northeast quarter of section 33 and northwest quarter of section 34. They were dis- covered in 1887, by John McDaniel, who found some small crystals of lead when cleaning out the spring, and they were opened and worked somewhat
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extensively for several years by Thomas O'Banon, being finally abandoned because of lack of transportation facilities. Ash Grove, the most accessible point for shipment, is about fourteen miles distant. The conditions in which the ore exists in these mines are almost identical with those at Ash Grove. The large bulk of the ore was taken from the decomposed beds immediately above the yellow rock, or Choutean-like layer of the Upper Burlington lime- stone. Some two hundred shafts were sunk at these diggings, only two or three of which extend below the yellow rock referred to. These shafts are mainly located along three more or less parallel runs that have an average course of twenty-five degrees north. They extend for about one-third of a mile, and are only a short distance apart. The west run is almost wholly located in the northeast corner of section 30, while the other two are mainly in the northwest corner of section 34. A shaft sunk to the depth of forty feet near the middle of the west run struck the yellow rock at a depth of twenty- five feet. A crevice six feet wide in this limestone was exposed. having a course north, twenty degrees west, and was filled with chert and galena. Above this limestone several drifts were made in the clay, and a large amount of "float" lead (galena) was taken out. Below the yellow rock, a pinkish, highly crystalline aragonite, commonly called cave onyx was found. The deepest shaft sunk was near the spring in the northwest corner of the dig- gings. It was sixty-two feet deep and passed through two feet of soil, six feet of the yellow rock, and fifty-four feet of blue, crystalline Upper Burlington limestone. Some zinc was obtained in this shaft, while "float" lead was found up the slope in all three runs in clay just above the yellow layer, and "dry bone," lead carbonate, was found near the surface at the highest points on all these runs. Some silicate was taken out of the middle run high up the hill. Crystals of galena, dolomite and zinc blende were mixed together with the chert bowlders in some of the shafts. Phosphate of lead was associated with "tiff" and galena at a few points. In a shaft forty-six feet deep, at the top of the hill, a flat opening above the yellow rock yielded sixty thousand pounds of "float" lead. A peculiar sandy, porous rock is associated with the mineral at a number of points. The porous cavities are, evidently, the casts of zinc blende crystals that have been eroded away. Black oxide of manganese moss markings are frequent in the flint, which is white, seamed and slightly fossil- iferous. The ore-body, in places, seems to have a width of nearly one hun- dred feet. It is estimated that over two hundred carloads of mineral have been taken out of both the central and western runs. Mr. S. M. Smith, of Springfield, later reopened these mines and worked them for a short time.
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GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
THE BROOKLINE MINES.
Mining in the vicinity of Brookline has not been carried on for a num- ber of years. In the early days it was conducted by means of shallow dig- gings in ground that had been gone over in a similar manner two or three times and directly over an ore-body the width of which is at least fifty feet, with a workable depth, in the Upper Burlington limestone, of over two hun- dred and five feet, as shown by drill-hole sections.
The Potter Shaft .- Of the Brookline mines, which are in three groups, the oldest and most worked was that on the Potter tract. township 28 north, range 23 west, southeast one-fourth of section 2. Mineral was discovered here in about the year 1873, and this claim has been extensively mined to depths of from twenty-five to fifty feet. Mr. Bay Wilson worked the tract for lead from 1875 to 1876, taking out, it is estimated, over three hundred thousand pounds of ore, entirely supplying his own smelter which was built near by. One shaft was sunk to a depth of ninety-five feet. In others, drifting was extensively resorted to, but as both the shafts and the mines were so dangerous from constant caving in that it was impossible to work them properly, they were finally abandoned.
In the deepest shaft, a run of blende three feet in thickness was struck. The ore-bodies are evidently wide, but it is impossible to estimate their extent from the surface. From observations on the shafts and caved-in drifts, the crevice courses appear to run north to twenty to thirty degrees east. The galena was found associated with an abundance of calcite, dolomite and clay. The chert in the vein-stuff is but little brecciated and the limestone of the wall-rock is soft, porous and highly fossiliferous.
In 1887, some Brookline people clubbed together and sunk what was called the citizens' shaft to a depth of eighty-five feet on this tract. Digging was stopped in open ground, in decomposed limestone, with tallow clay and calcite .* About sixty feet to the north and west of this is located the "Line" shaft, so- called from its position on the line between two companies who used it in common to work their drifts. The Stogsdale company drifted north forty- four feet and took ont the largest amount of lead on the tract. A little west of due north from the "Line" shaft, the old smelter was located one hundred and eighty feet due north of this same shaft. Bay Wilson sunk a shaft ninety- three feet deep, passing through bowlders and clay to a depth of seventy feet and struck the first zinc at a depth of eighty-six feet.
The Armstrong Diggings .- Immediately south of the Potter place is a
*This shaft was subsequently reopened and excavated to a depth of 125 feet. A powerful stream of water from the northeast stopped the work. The bed of clay and water-worn gravel in the bottom of the shaft was probed five feet farther, but no change in condition found.
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second group of mines. In the north part of the "eighty" are some large sinks, with cave openings in the bottom, in one of which a considerable de- posit of ore was found. Just to the west of these sinks Mr. Armstrong, in 1875. discovered crystals of lead in the soil at the surface. A number of shafts were sunk and over five thousand pounds of zinc silicate were taken out. These old shafts are now filled up.
The Old Silicate Diggings .- About one-quarter of a mile to the south of the last described diggings, but still on the Brown "eighty," is a group of excavations which were worked in 1875. Subsequently, all the diggings in this neighborhood were abandoned.
COPPER, SILVER AND GOLD.
Before closing this chapter on the economic products of Greene county it seems wise to speak briefly of copper, silver and gold. The first, copper, has never been found in the county in commercial quantities, and only the stains of copper carbonate and copper pyrites are rarely met with in minute traces in calcite and limestone. Swallow, in his geological report on the southwestern branch of the Pacific railroad, 1859. quotes from Broadhead the following localities in Greene county where copper has been found : "On section 19, northwest one-fourth of southwest one-fourth, township 30, range 24, very sınall traces of copper were found associated with calc spar, and traversing the lower silicious beds ('Turnback rocks') of the encrinital limestone in about an east and west direction. At William Haralson's, on the west one-half of section 10, township 29, range 24 west, a pit has been sunk fourteen feet deep through the lower beds of the encrinital limestone. The ore found here is the sulphuret and green carbonate, in a gangue of coarse, opaque, buff-colored calc spar, adhering to large crystals of white, sub-transparent calc spar, the copper ore more often occupying the line between the two varieties of spar. Some mining has been done here, but no profitable results have, as yet, been derived. This shaft was sunk in the edge of a valley leading into the valley of the Sac river and about three-fourths of a mile from that stream. Frag- ments of copper ore have been found at several places along the valley."
The "Turnback rocks" and "encrinital" limestone referred to above are the Upper Burlington limestone. There is very little probability that any workable bed of copper ore will be discovered within the limits of this county.
From the earliest settling of the country to the present time, rumors and traditions of old Spanish mines and smelters for silver have been treasured up throughout the whole Southwest and these stories have been so frequently met with as to justify some statements in regard to the subject. No silver has ever been found in paying quantities in Greene county, nor is it likely that it ever will be found. All galena carries a greater or less amount of this
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metal, but, so far, none has been found here which carried enough to justify working for silver. The stories in regard to ancient mines and smelters all point, undoubtedly, not to the work of Spanish miners, but to that of the early settlers of this region who "gophered" for lead ore. The late Senator Headlee stated, as far back as 1840 or 1845, that the sons of Mr. Bedell, one of his neighbors, used, periodically, to visit the farm owned by James Cash, in township 31, range 21, southeast one-fourth of section 32, where they dug enough lead to run out the bullets used for hunting. Of late years, the peculiar rocks of the Devonian beds have constantly led the "old miner" into a belief that they carried some of the ores of the precious metals. This had, apparently, been confirmed in many cases from the fact that the Sac limestone carries finely disseminated pyrites, which, when smelted in a blacksmith's forge, as has frequently been done, gives a metal called by some "white metal," and by others "silver," the real substance being essentially iron. At several points quite extensive mining has been done in these beds for the supposed silver. Messrs. Johnson and Cook sunk several shafts near the middle of township 30, range 22, section 29, one of which reached the depth of eighty- four feet. They claimed to have obtained considerable silver from this locality, although a sample of what they believed to be nearly pure silver, upon assay was found to be nearly pure lead, with hardly a trace of silver. The record kept in these shafts has been of value in determining the thickness of the horizons of that region.
No gold has ever been found in Greene county and the geological condi- tions are such that there is little or no probability that it will ever be dis- covered here.
PETROLEUM.
It is frequently asked if petroleum and natural gas may not be found in this region and numerous attempts have been made to raise funds to carry on the work of sinking wells in search of them; but in the light that geology offers. it can be asserted that all such attempts are useless, certainly within the limits covered by this county. The reasons for these assertions are as fol- lows : an impervious or "cap" rock is essential for the preservation of both gas and petroleum and there is no such impervious stratum, as will be seen by the description of the rocks of this area. Again, the geological horizons of this territory are frequently very much flexed, folded, shattered and deeply fissured, furnishing favorable conditions for the deposit from below of the lead and zinc, while the same conditions would be favorable for the escape of any gas or oil that might have accumulated. Thus the very agent that helped to bring up the rich deposits of mineral, is also responsible for the escape of the gas or oil that might have existed. No instance is known throughout our country where lead and zinc are found in the immediate vicinity of gas and oil.
CHAPTER IV.
ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY.
By A. M. Haswell.
OFFICIAL ACTS CONNECTED WITH ITS FORMATION-BEGINNING OF THE VARIOUS TOWNSHIPS.
The Territory of Missouri was organized by act of Congress in the year 1818. In the usual course of such matters the territorial form of government would have continued for several years at least, but the first great clash between the political forces of the North and South, over the question of slavery, came to a head within a year or two after the organization of the territory. There were not lacking hot heads on both sides of the controversy who would not have hesitated to appeal to force in behalf of their own views and conserva- tive and peace loving men, both North and South, sought industriously for some plan by which the difficulties could be adjusted without danger of civil strife.
The slaveholders of the South urged their constitutional right to take slave property into any state of the Union; the anti-slavery men just as strenuously maintained that not only should no slaves be held in the free states, but that all the territories remaining should be declared free soil forever. Out of all this controversy was evolved a measure known as. "The Missouri Compromise." This plan admitted the territory of Missouri as a slave state, but prohibited slavery elsewhere in the Union, north of parallel 36° 39', the southern line of Missouri. The bill passed both houses of Congress, and was signed by the President. Such statesmen as Henry Clay declared, in their joy, that the question of slavery was "settled" forever!" How badly even great statesmen can err in judgment was proved years after Henry Clay was in his grave, when a bloody war was fought to its final conclu- sion, which did, at last. "forever" settle the slavery question.
Thus, in less than two years from its organization as a territory, Missouri was brought into the Union before her time, a pawn in the great game that was yet to be played out to its logical end. It was in 1820 that the new state took her place as a full-fledged commonwealth in the sisterhood of states, and at once changes and adjustments of the internal arrangements of the state began.
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