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 74
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The records show that the total income of Greene county from taxes that year were only $557.437/2, and there was a deficit between receipts and expenditures of $272.521/2. Therefore, we may be sure that the sum placed to the credit of the building fund from that first day's sale of lots seemed a perfect godsend to those first custodians of the county interests.
The County Court was now so certain of the means to pay for a court house that they appointed Sidney S. Ingram commissioner of public build- ings, and ordered him to prepare and submit to the court a plan for a court house for Greene county. This Mr. Ingram did, and on the 28th of No- vember laid before the court the plan of a two-story brick building, 34x40 feet, which was accepted by the court and ordered erected in the center of the public square of Springfield. The faith of the court in the future sales of town lots was shown by the fact that they appropriated the sum of $3,250 for the new court house, when, as a matter of fact, they had only a little over $500 in the treasury wherewith to meet the bill. But before the building needed it the money was on hand, and thus was the plan of John P. Campbell to erect public buildings without cost to Greene county crowned with success.
At the time that the future of Springfield was thus assured the fol- lowing men were carrying on business in the little hamlet, the forerunners of the princely establishments of our day: D. D. Berry, Henry Fulbright and Cannefax and Ingram, dealers in dry goods and groceries; James Carter and John W. Ball, blacksmiths, and S. S. Ingram, cabinet mak- er. There was no hotel, but the great hearted John P. Campbell kept open house for all who came, and we may be sure that none asked for a better hotel than that.
The first year of Springfield was not to pass without the stain of blood. In the autumn of 1836 one John Roberts had been fined for con-
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tenpt to court, by Judge Charles S. Yancy. Roberts paid the fine but went away threatening the judge for imposing it. Nearly a year after- wards, in the fall of 1837. he met Judge Yancey on the public square uid renewed his threats, even to thrusting his hand into his pocket for a knife, and was instantly shot dead by Yancey. The first of many men. who have died in that environment "with their boots on." Yancy was tried and acquitted on the grounds of self-defense, and lived in Spring- field many years. Served as circuit judge, as colonel of a regiment of militia and was in many ways a valuable and honored citizen.
During this first year the business concerns of the place had in- creased in number, the following being those who paid license to the county: C. A. Haden. Campbell & Hunt. Harper & Goanville, D. D. Berry. Danforth & Bros .. Fulbright & Butler. Cary & Perkins. Brown & George. B. H. and J. C. Boone, merchants. The following are listed as grocers : R. J. McElhaney. James Y. Warren, B. W. Cannefax & Co .. Alexander Hollingsworth. J. W. Ball and .A. H. Payne, as shown by the- merchant tax paid by them: these firms did a business in 1837 of $22,450. Old records seem to prove that these "grocers" dealt principally in groceries in a fluid form! In other words, they would nowadays be called simply saloon keepers.
SPRINGFIELD INCORPORATED.
The year 1838 was an important one for Springfield. The place now had something like two hundred and fifty inhabitants, and practi- cally every voter of them all joined in a petition to the Legislature for the incorporation of the town. The request was granted. The boun- daries of the incorporation being set by the County Court as follows :
"Beginning twenty-five rods west of the northwest corner of the northwest quarter of section 24. township 29, of range 22: thence east one hundred and fifty-five rods to a stake; thence south one hundred and thirty-five rods to a stake; thence west one hundred and fifty-five rods to a stake; thence north to the beginning." These dimensions cover a frac- tion less than one hundred and thirty-one acres, almost exactly one- sixteenth of the size of the city limits of Springfield. in this year, 1914.
The territory included in the measurements as set forth was quaint- ly described as "A body politic and corporate, by the name and style of the inhabitants of the town of Springfield." A board of trustees was appointed, consisting of Joel H. Haden, Daniel D. Berry, Sidney S. In- gram. Robert W. Crawford and Joseph Jones.
And now the little town began to grow faster. The work on the new court house progressed in due course: new houses were built for those who came almost daily in their wagons along the trails from the
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older states: new business concerns opened their doors; Commissioner Miller turned in a steady flow of monies, either on first payments for town lots or for deferred payments on those previously sold, and the business concerns in the town had increased until they numbered nine- teen in all, as follows : Merchants-Flournoy & Hickman, D. D. Berry, B. W. Cannefax, Campbell & Hunt, Danforth & Bros., John Pullian & Co., John P. Campbell, C. A. Haden & Co., Cannefax & Co., Wm. and L. H. Davis, Casebolt & Stallings; Isaac Sanders and Jacob Bodenhamer ; Grocers-John P. Campbell, Casebolt & Stallings, B. H. and J. C. Boone, John Edwards, Joshua Jones and C. A. Haden. The list shows that some of the merchants dealt in wet as well as dry goods. These sev- eral firms are on record as doing a business, in 1838. of $62,600, or an increase over 1837 of almost one hundred and eighty per cent, which shows something of the growth in population of the town and surrounding country. According to the United States Gazetteer, the population of Springfield this year was "about three hundred."
It would be impossible, as it would be tedious, to try and make de- tailed record of each year of the happenings in the little town. But a touch here and there can be made to indicate the progress of the city and the region surrounding it. Those were days when whiskey was in almost universal use. No gathering was considered complete without it, whether the pioneers met to raise the frame of a neighbor's barn or gathered at an election or a dance, liquor was a prime requisite. But the temperance movement that, at about that period, swept a large part of the United States reached even to this little frontier village, and we find a steadily increasing sentiment against the liquor traffic. From time to time we find records of petitions presented to the County Court against the granting of dramshop licenses in the town. And when in some instances the prayer of the petitioners was granted, forthwith there were petitions from the other side demanding that the licenses be issued ; and the County Court almost as often reversed their action and let the saloons open again. But the temperance people never ceased in their opposition.
We read that in 1849 there was a genuine temperance revival. division of the Sons of Temperance was organized and soon numbered seventy-five members. In April there was a grand all-day celebration, with marchings, sermons and general demonstrations against the liquor foe. Later on the temperance people were strong enough to erect a two-story brick building, on the northeast corner of the public square and St. Louis street. This was quite an addition to the town. It stood ali through the days of war, and was finally destroyed by fire in 1875.
Springfield has always had a very strong temperance sentiment. In 1873 a petition was presented to the city council asking for an election
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to be held to decide the future policy of the city to liquor licenses. The election was held in December of that year, the temperance ticket being printed in black with the words "No License" in white letters, and this "black flag" ticket, as it was called, won by a decisive majority. In the spring of 1874 a "No License" ticket was put forth by the temperance people. This was strictly a bi-partisan ticket, being headed by John W. Lizenby ( Republican) for mayor and J. M. Wilhoit (Democrat) for city marshal, and so alternating to the end of the ticket. It was elected with a good margin to spare.
In 1887 Springfield again "went dry," under the then new local option law. The majority was two hundred and fifty. This election was contested by the liquor interests and was decided illegal on a tech- nicality by the St. Louis Court of Appeals. In the vote of state-wide prohibition, in 1910. the vote of the City of Springfield was in favor of the saloons by a majority of less than twenty, but the majority of the "drys" outside of the city was such as to carry Greene county by nearly twelve hundred majority. Thus it is acknowledged by even the most strenuous advocates of the liquor traffic that if the county unit law is ever endorsed by the people of the state the days of the saloon in Springfield are certainly num- bered.
STAGE COACHES TO FAR WEST.
In 1858 the Butterfield Stage Company started its line of stages for California, from St. Louis through Springfield. The passing of the first stage through the little town was a proud day for Springfield, and was celebrated by bonfires, fireworks and much gratulatory oratory. On Christmas day of that year the population of the place was estimated as "about twelve hundred." There were nearly twenty mercantile es- tablishments doing a business of three hundred thousand dollars per annum. There was but one saloon, and that was located just outside of the city limits, so as to be beyond municipal control. And now began to be heard the first rumblings of the great storm of the Civil war that was approaching. A "Union" meeting was held in the court house in Springfield on April 7th, which denounced alike the extremists, North as well as South, whose fanaticism threatened the perpetuity of the Union. A strong committee was appointed, and ringing resolutions were passed.
This meeting resolved that a new political organization should be formed, having for its only platform the preservation of the Union under the Constitution. It was resolved to call a convention for this purpose for the 17th of May. A "vigilance committee" was appointed for each township in the county, and the members of the movement were evi- dently in dead earnest.
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The convention met on May 7th, as called, and nominated a full county ticket. That this movement was a popular one is shown by the fact that at the election following the new organization elected the entire County Court, two members of the Legislature and the sheriff. But time was to show that matters had gone too far between the ad- vocates and opponents of slavery in the United States for a cure to be effected by any political means. Passion was rapidly gaining the as- cendency over reason, and nothing but blood would satisfy the oppos- ing forces.
And now Springfield was to find herself swiftly swept into the very vortex of civil war. The energies of her citizens, which had hitherto been so successfully devoted to her upbuilding, were now to be turned to purposes of destruction. Men who had been friends and neighbors found themselves aligned against one another, and soon with guns in their hands were eagerly seeking each others' lives! When the lines were finally and definitely drawn it was to be seen that the town and county were by a good majority for the Union. Nevertheless, many of the strongest and best loved men of the community felt impelled to cast their lots with the Southern Confederacy.
In the election of 1860 the result of which nationally was the final cause proclaimed by the South for seceding, Greene county had elect- ed what was called the "Union" ticket, by a majority of an average of nearly two to one. Altogether the new party in national affairs, the Republican, cast about fifty votes in the county. The county as a whole, however, went strongly for the Union ticket headed by John Bell, of Tennessee, for president and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, for vice-president.
Then, as all know, followed swiftly that series of fateful events, the secession of states, the attack upon Sumter and the call of President Lin- coln for seventy-five thousand troops to save the Union. An army which sub- sequent events were to show was but a drop in the bucket, against the mighty bodies of citizen soldiery that were to face one another during the next four years.
That Springfield was regarded by the generals on both sides as the strategic center for all southwest Missouri is shown by the following para- graphs taken from records of those stormy times :
In a work entitled "Lyon and Missouri in 1861" is the following : "In conversation with the committee of safety, about the 1st of May. 1861, Lyon divulged the plan of making Springfield the outpost of St. Louis, in case of imminent danger from rebels in the State." Peckham's "Lyon in Missouri in 1861," page 117.
The value set upon the place by the Confederates is evidenced by the following:
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"The town of Springfield ought to be occupied by a strong force at once. and made the base of operations in that quarter." Ben McCulloch to the Con- federate Government, May 28, 1861. See "Rebellion Record," Vol. 3, page 228.
At a special election held in Greene county to elect delegates to the State convention that had been called by act of the Legislature, passed the preceding January, to ascertain the will of the people as to the pro- posed secession of Missouri, the average vote of the three "Uncondi- tional Union" candidates was one thousand four hundred and forty- six. That of the three "Conditional Union" candidates was two hun- dred and ninety-three. And with this line-up Springfield and Greene county faced the great contest.
In May Benjamin Kite, one of the citizens who had voted for Lin- coln. received a commission as postmaster of Springfield. The incum- bent at that time was Nathan Robinson, an ardent secessionist, and it is told that he was so ardent in his cause that he had a secession flag flying over the post office.
Benjamin Kite was a man of courage and determination, destined to serve Greene county for long years after the war, and to leave a record of faithful service in her behalf. It is said that Mr. Kite went to the post office with his commission in one pocket and a loaded revol- ver in the other, and presenting both evidences of his authority de- manded and received possession of the office, and ordered the immediate lowering of the secession flag, which order was naturally and promptly complied with by the retiring official.
The Union men of Springfield represented all of the old political parties. The leading man of the Douglas Democrats had been Hon. John S. Phelps, member of Congress from the district for several terms. Mr. Phelps came out uncompromisingly for the Union. The Bell and Everett men were for the Union, unanimously, and there were not lack- ing men who had voted for the extreme Southern wing of the demo- cracy. Breckenridge and Lane, who were now found as strongly for the Union as any. On the other hand there were not lacking cases where some of the men who had joined in the first Union movement in the county, in April, 1858, now followed their friends and associates into the ranks of the Confederacy. Time has cured the bitterness of those days, and today it would be hard to find a representative of either side, or one of their descendants, who is not willing to acknowledge the patriotism and good intent of all alike, and to quote with approval the couplet :
"That all who took part in the terrible fight.
Each believed in his heart that he fought for the right."
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In May, 1861, the air was full of rumors of threatened invasion, attacks by the secessionists upon Springfield and a thousand disquiet- ing reports which rendered life in Springfield sufficiently strenuous. About the last of the month the Union men determined to organize a patrol for the town to guard against the enemies of their cause enter- ing and carrying away powder and other munitions of war. Accord- ingly every road leading into the place was carefully watched for days, and at nights the streets and alleys of the little town were kept by watch- ful guardians through the hours of darkness.
A picture of Springfield during the Civil war will be found in the mili- tary chapter in this volume.
SPRINGFIELD AFTER THE WAR.
In April, 1865, the end came; Lee surrendered, followed by the various other Confederate commanders of armies, and the war was over. Springfield had recovered to some extent from her worst estate, for she had had no touch with an enemy since the battle of January 8, 1863, but her condition even at that was sad enough. She was a shattered and war smitten little city. But her people were then, as they had ever been, of the kind who do not sit down to bewail any misfortune but set to work with heart and hand to render conditions better.
Many men who had fled with their families to the North now re- turned and set to work to repair the waste places. New men, many of them Union soldiers who had been here at some time during the war, flocked in by hundreds. Quickly new business houses and new homes began to rise on every hand. Many of the ex-Confederates also re- turned, and it is to the everlasting credit of both sides in the war that these men almost at once settled into their former places in the com- munity. Many of them practically penniless, yet with a sterling man- hood and a determination to make the best of things, which in many cases quickly enabled them to establish themselves in business and in the community at large. Springfield has scores of honored names, the bearers of which wore the gray for four years.
From that time Springfield had rapidly advanced in all that goes to the making of a thriving and growing city. In 1870 the railroad from the East hoped for, and worked for, and paid for, long before the war, at last penetrated to Springfield, or to speak accurately. to near Springfield. For when the survey was finally located it was found to be the great surprise and indignation of Springfield proper that it had followed the height of land to the north and that the depot would be more than a mile and "a quarter from the business center of the town. Then there followed
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deputations to the railroad authorities in St. Louis; conferences with those authorities in Springfield, protests, appeals to Congress and con- fusion and contest generally. But the railroad company had become half owners of the town plat to the north and beneficiaries by the gift of land for their shops, and by rights of way granted without cost and the original survey held. The railroad was built through North Spring- field, and a seed of mutual jealousy was sown that bore its crop for years to the injury both of the original town and of its ambitious lit- tle neighbor to the north. But in 1887 the Legislature passed a law allowing the two towns to vote on consolidation, and the proposition carried by an overwhelming majority. The old time jealousy was not yet dead and was destined to work harm to the united city in the future, but as the years have gone by these quarrels have grown less and less. The clubs of business men at either end of the town have learned to pull together for the mutual benefit; and as a consequence Springfield has grown and thriven during the past decade as never before. A glance at the population of the place as shown by the Federal censuses of the past will tell in brief the story of Springfield's growth.
In 1861 Springfield was said to have had "about 2,000 people." I11 1870 first census after the war it was 5,555
The most conservative estimate, based upon the school census, the assessor's lists, etc., in 1914, is that Springfield has 40,000 people within her limits. And it must further be taken into consideration that several large and populous additions are just outside of the city limits which add not far from 5,000 people to the residents of Springfield.
Springfield has almost without exception been greatly favored throughout her corporate existence in the class of citizens chosen to head her city government. Even before the war she chose for her mayors such men as Sempronius H. Boyd, afterwards a Colonel in the Union army, a Congressman for several terms and to the day of his deatlı a leader among men and honored by all.
The first mayor elected after the actual close of hostilities was Benjamin Kite, who for many years was presiding justice of the County Court, and who stood for the rights of the people in the great railroad bond controversy. He was elected in September, 1865. In April, 1868, J. B. Dexter was chosen by only three majority over Colonel William E. Gilmore. In 1870, however, Colonel Gilmore was elected without opposition. He was an able man, an old Union Colonel, and made a progressive officer. In 1871 the successful man was L. H. Murray, then and for thirty years after one of the strongest and most enterpris- ing men that ever filled the office. The next year Mr. Murray was
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retired by Jonathan Fairbanks, now for more than thirty years the able superintendent of the Springfield schools. In 1873 the vote at first was a tie between John McGregor, Democrat, and Jared E. Smith, Re- publican. At a second trial Mr. McGregor was elected by a majority of eighty-five. He was the founder of the great hardware house of the McGregor-Noe Hardware Company, and a leading man in the up- building of the town. In 1874 there was a temperance agitation in the town which resulted in the putting up of a bi-partisan temperance ticket, headed by John W. Lisenby for mayor. The entire ticket was elected. No better mayor, no better citizen, ever lived than Mr. Lisen- by. In 1875 the mayor was Doctor Joseph McAdoo, a leading mer- chant and an upright and progressive citizen. Doctor McAdoo was followed in 1876 by William A. Hall, the founder of the Hall Drug Com- pany, and a man worthy to follow such men as those who had preceded him in office. In 1877 and again in 1878 the mayor was Homer F. Fellows, who more than any other man founded the institution which has grown into the Springfield Wagon Factory. To him, too, Spring- field owes its first successful street railroad and various other success- ful enterprises. 1880 brought M. J. Rountree to the mayor's chair; a member of an old and honored pioneer family and an able man. In 1881 James Abbott was the choice, a man who from the day he became a citizen of the place was probably responsible for starting as many enterprises that grew into successful concerns as any other one man. Following him was Judge Ralph Walker who had the record of being elected as mayor of Springfield four times, although not in successive terms. 1888 brought John S. Atkinson to the office, and in 1890 and 1892 E. D. Parce, at the time a leading business man of the north end of town, was the mayor. In 1896 the choice fell upon V. S. Bartlett, who was followed in 1908 by B. E. Meyer. Since that date we have had Judge Walker, for a final term, Louis Ernst. George W. Culler and our present mayor. T. K. Bowman, each and all richly worthy of the honor.
MUNICIPAL BOND ISSUE.
Springfield has always been rather conservative in the issue of municipal bonds. In 1869, when the final survey of the railroad and the incorporation of north Springfield excited anxiety in the then Spring- field, it was proposed to issue $75,000 in bonds as a bonus to the rail- road, to change the location of its depot to within half a mile of the public square. But matters had gone too far for the company to alter its plans, and the bonds were not issued at that time. Later in the same year the proposition came up again, and on an election held July
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oth the bonds carried by a vote of 150 to 91. These bonds were said to be for the improvement of the city, as it seemed to be thought that unless something decisive was done to offset the boom of the new town the result would be disastrous to the old town. The argument was also used in this campaign that $50,000 should be given to the Fort Scott & Springfield Railroad, which was then much talked of. This being declared illegal, that part of the project was never carried out. In May, 1872, the city by a vote of nearly five to one carried an issue of $22,000 in bonds to be donated in aid of such manufacturing enterprises in the city, as needed help until they became established and able to walk alone. Probably the hottest fight in the history of Spring- field for any bonds was that for the purpose of issuing $250,000 bonds for the construction of a sewer system. This was in the years 1890 to 1892. The population at that time was only a little above 21,000 people. The town had not yet attained the pre-eminent position that she now holds, and rival towns were many and active. Many of the best citizens actively opposed going so heavily into debt. Those op- posed had a great advantage in the State law requiring a two-thirds majority before any community could issue bonds. Twice was the issue joined. and each time the majority, while always large, lacked the neces- sary two-thirds. But at the third trial the proposition carried with a good margin to spare. Those bonds have been paid off and burned long ago, and few now residing in Springfield remember the strenuous battles by which they were carried.
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