USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > St Joseph > The Daily news' history of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo. From the time of the Platte purchase to the end of the year 1898. Preceded by a short history of Missouri. Supplemented by biographical sketches of noted citizens, living and dead > Part 8
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Robidoux was alive to the importance of this matter and began preparations to form a town. The population was about two hundred at that time, and the business was along the river bank, near the mouth of the Blacksnake. The larger portion of the proposed town- site was then used as a hemp field. As soon as the crop was har- vested Robidoux had surveys and plats made by two rival surveyors, Frederick W. Smith and Simeon Kemper. Smith named his plat St. Joseph and Kemper named his Robidoux. Smith's plat was selected, taken to St. Louis and recorded on July 26, 1843. The history of St. Joseph therefore begins with July 26, 1843.
The town as then platted included all of the territory between Robidoux street on the north, Messanie on the south, Sixth street on the east and the river on the west-fifty-two whole and twelve fractional blocks, the dimensions of each whole block being 240 by 300 feet, bisected by a twelve-foot alley. Robidoux named the streets running back from the river Water, Levee, First (Main), Sec- ond, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth. Those running at right angles he named after members of his family, beginning with Robidoux, then Faraon, Jules, Francis, Felix, Edmond, Charles, Sylvanie, Angelique and Messanie.
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The town lots were immediately put upon the market, though Robidoux's title was not perfected until 1847. At that time the land office was located at Plattsburg. The first conveyance of lots was made on July 25, 1843, the day before the plat was recorded, and was a deed of trust to secure to the Chouteaus the payment of a loan of $6,372.57, with interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum. The education of Mrs. Robidoux seems to have been neglected, for the deed of trust was signed :
JH. ROBIDOUX. (Seal.) her ANGELIQUE X ROBIDOUX. (Seal.) mark.
As sales were made, the money received was applied to the payment of the Chouteau mortgage.
The population now increased rapidly, and at the end of the year 1843 there were five hundred people here, as compared with two hundred in the June previous. In the fall there occurred a public sale of town lots, which had been extensively advertised and had attracted a large number of men from the surrounding country. The property was put up at auction. One hundred and fifty lots were sold, and more would have been purchased, but Robidoux wisely closed the sale. The corner lots brought $150 and inside lots $100 each at this sale.
It was not until 1845, however, that the town of St. Joseph had a municipal government, as will be shown by the following, which is a copy of the first entry made in the original minute book of the board of trustees :
"St. Joseph, Mo., May 8, 1845.
"At a meeting of the trustees of the town of St. Joseph, who were elected on Monday, May the 5th, 1845, there were present Joseph Robidoux, Isidore Barada, John F. Carter, Johnson Copeland, Wiley M. English, Sinclair Miller and Benjamin C. Powell. The meeting was organized by calling Joseph Robidoux to the chair and appointing Benjamin F. Loan clerk pro tem. The certificate of election of each of said trustees was submitted to the inspection and action of said meeting. After a careful examination of each of said certificates by said meeting, they were severally received and each of said trustees declared duly elected. Whereupon the said trustees were each sworn to the oath of office and their respective certificates filed with the clerk. The meeting then went into an election of a chairman of the Board, and upon the first ballot Josep !! Robidoux receiving six votes, he was duly declared elected chairman of said Board. Said Board then went into an election of officers,
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which resulted in the election of Benjamin F. Loan for clerk and attorney ; Howell Thomas for constable and collector ; Benjamin C. Powell, treasurer ; Charles White, inspector and assessor, and Fred- erick W. Smith, surveyor. On motion of John F. Carter, esq., the chair appointed Messrs. Carter, Barada and Powell a committee to draft and report at the next meeting of the Board of Trustees for adoption, such by-laws and regulations as they shall think proper. Ordered that the Board of Trustees adjourn to meet Thursday, the 15th of May, at 2 o'clock p. m."
Joseph Robidoux had a monopoly of the trade until 1843, when Charles and Elias Perry leased from him the small log house which stood on the west side of Blacksnake, and opened a stock of general merchandise. In the fall of that year they built a two-story brick house on Main street, fronting east, where the Sommer-Richardson cracker factory now stands. The brothers Perry became prominent factors in the early commerce of this point. Both are dead.
In 1844 Hull & Carter and E. Livermore & Co. also built business houses on Main street, between Jule and Francis. Benjamin C. Powell and Jonathan Levy each built a business house on Levee street, and Archie McDonald erected a small brick house on Edmond near Water street, in a portion of the original town which has long been in the river. Robidoux also was a builder, and provided several brick tenements.
Israel Landis came in 1844 and opened a saddle and harness shop, west of Blacksnake Creek, but soon moved over to Main street, where business was rapidly centering. William Carter and Aquilla Jones are recorded as early smiths and plowmakers. Philip Werthwine was the village barber ; Allendorff & Rhodes kept a meat market, and Horatio Glasgow was the shoemaker. All of these were in the same neighborhood, except Glasgow, who isolated himself and kept a shop on the west side of Blacksnake, at the terminus of a bridge. There was also a ten-pin alley, kept by John Kennedy, and liquor could be bought at several places. The first permanent organization of the Methodist church was perfected in 1844 by Rev. Edward Rob- inson.
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In 1845 the first three-story building, the Edgar House, was erected at the corner of Main and Francis streets. It is still in a good state of preservation. At about the same time Rev. T. S. Reeves, a Presbyterian clergyman, who was the pioneer Protestant minister, erected the first church edifice on a lot now occupied by the John S. Brittain wholesale house at Fourth and Jule streets. John Corby opened an office as money lender and general speculator at about the
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same time. Hull & Welding opened a wagon shop and Isadore Barada a bakery.
Jonathan Copeland built the first warehouse, near the river bank, between Jule and Water streets. Steamboats, other than those owned and run by the American Fur Company, generally passed about twice a month. The staple product in those days was hemp, and much of it was shipped to St. Louis.
How the foundations of some fortunes were laid in the early days may be seen from three transactions. In 1844 John Corby pur- chased the tract of land now known as Corby's Grove, consisting of eighty acres, for the sum of $200. In the same year Albe M. Saxton purchased a section of land one and one-half miles east of the Patec House for 14 cents per acre. John Patee purchased the tract, 320 acres, which became Patee's addition, for $3,200.
In April, 1845, the following were in business here: E. Liver- more & Co., general merchandise; Jules C. Robidoux, who had suc- ceeded his father in business, general merchant; Ross & Harper, general merchants ; Hull & Carter, drug's and sundries; Middleton, Perry & Co., general merchants ; Israel Landis, saddler; John Patee, drugs and medicines; E. Kemp, gunsmith; Henry McKee, wines and liquors. There were five physicians-Drs. D. G. Keedy, B. V. Teel, J. Lawrence Page, J. H. Crane and D. Benton. There were four lawyers-Theodore D. Wheaton, George Brubaker, Benjamin Hays and H. L. Routt.
It is interesting to note the prices for necessaries that prevailed in those primitive days, when everything not produced at home was shipped from St. Louis by boat. Coffee was 9 cents per pound, flour $4.50 per barrel, corn meal, 50 cents per bushel; glass, 8 by 10, the common size of window panes in those days, $3.75 per box ; gun- powder, $6.50 to $7.50 per keg ; molasses, 40 cents per gallon ; bacon and hams, 7 cents per pound ; lard, 6} cents per pound ; butter, 7 to 8 cents per pound ; cheese, 6 to 12 cents per pound; eggs, 6 cents per dozen ; salt, $2.25 per sack; whisky, 23 to 25 cents per gallon ; Louisiana sugar, 7 to 8 cents per pound; leaf tobacco, $1.75 per hundred pounds ; manufactured tobacco, 10 to 16 cents per pound ; tea, 60 cents to $I per pound.
The year 1845 saw the first newspaper issued in St. Joseph. William Ridenbaugh commenced the publication of the Weekly Gazette, the first number of which appeared on April 25. The paper was first edited by Lawrence Archer, a lawyer of ability, and the terms of subscription were $2 per annum if paid in advance, or $3 if paid at the end of the year.
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The Fourth of July was celebrated by the St. Joseph Sunday school in 1845. There was a procession to a grove near the city, where there was music, oratory and feasting.
During that year the county seat question was uppermost, the people of St. Joseph making every effort to secure the prize. After several elections, the last of which was held on February 28, 1846, St. Joseph finaly triumphed, and the future of the city was assured.
Amusements in those days were "home made." The "St. Joseph Thespian Society," composed of local amateurs, presented theatricals, and there were occasional lectures and magic lantern shows. How. ever, in May of 1846, the circus of Hawes & Mabie visited the village and was well patronized. St. Joseph is to this day partial to the circus.
Quite a number of Mormons had located in St. Joseph and vicinity in 1845, and that their presence was not desirable is evident from a notice, signed by Samuel C. Hall, which was served upon them, and in which they were advised to "seek some other home, as there is considerable excitement existing against them."
In the Gazette of July 17, 1846, are published several ordinances which are of interest. By Ordinance No. 37 the Board of Trustees ordains : "(I) That there shall be levied, in addition to the taxes im- posed by the provisions of the second section of Ordinance No. 35, a tax of one-third of I per cent on the assessed value of all live- stock, including horses, cattle, hogs and kine of every description, without distinction of age, which may be found within the corporate limits at the time of assessment and belonging to persons living in the corporate limits of the town of St. Joseph. (2) All manner of mules, horses and stock kept in the town of St. Joseph, though with- out the limits of the town at the time of assessment, for temporary purposes, are hereby declared subject to the above tax. (3) Every slave which is hired in the town of St. Joseph shall be liable to a tax of one-third of I per cent on his or her assessed value, to be collected of the owner."
By Ordinance No. 37 the Board of Trustees ordains : "(1) That all the space of ground lying on the east bank of the Missouri River in the town of St. Joseph, commencing at the north side of Jule street, where it strikes said river, and extending one hundred and fifty feet south, and back east to a line parallel with the front of Johnson Copeland's, is hereby declared a steamboat landing. (2) That hereafter no flat or wood boat, raft or water craft of any de- scription (except steamboats) shall lie or be stationed within the
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limits above specified, nor shall any load or loads of freight of any kind be landed from any such craft upon the shore within said limits. A penalty of not less than $5 is provided."
The Gazette supports Willard P. Hall of Buchanan County as the regular nominee for Congress in 1846. James H. Birch of Platts- burg was an independent candidate, and of the two men the Gazette warns the Democrats to stand by the regular nominee. "To the Democrats of this district we have this to say," quoth the editor, "that the nominee must be sustained; the organization of the party must be maintained; union and harmony must prevail, or we must inevitably at every election realize trouble and at very many suffer defeat. Shall it be so?" Though this sentiment appeared in the Gazette over half a century ago, it still does good service during campaigns.
In the same isue of the Gazette a number of candidates are announced. The election was held in August then. Dr. Daniel G. Keedy, James H. Ashbaugh, Captain Henry McKee and A. D. McDonald are candidates for the legislature. Captain Henry H. Moss, Captain Augustus Wylie and J. F. Hamilton are candidates for sheriff. William A. McDonald and Milton H. Wash are can- didates for the office of clerk of the circuit court, and Captain F. B. Kercheval is a candidate for the county clerkship. Benjamin F. Loan, Levi T. Carr, Joseph J. Wyatt, James B. Hull and V. Tullar are candidates for the office of justice of the peace of Washington Township. Allen Mansfield, P. N. Smith and Samuel Martin offer themselves for constable, and William Ridenbaugh, the editor, closes the list with the modest statement that he has yielded to the solicita- tions of his friends and become a candidate for the office of coroner.
The advertisements of the following firms appear in the same issue of the Gazette: Israel Landis, saddles and harness; Todd & Richardson, drugs; Holladay & Somerville, drugs, E. Livermore & Co., general; M. M. & G. T. Moss, general; David S. Skaggo, saddles and harness ; Thomas H. Larkin, forwarding and commission merchant ; C. F. Emery, painter and paper hanger; Wylie M. Eng- lish, saddler ; L. Halloran, general; I. Barada, fancy groceries and liquors ; William P. Flint, physician; Hull & Carter, drugs. J. W. Glasgow advertises for sale his tannery, which was located on Black- snake. Joseph Robidoux warns his debtors that if they do not pay up promptly their accounts will be put into the hands of an officer for collection. Two weddings are announced in that issue. John Angel, who died recently, was married to Miss Eugenia Robidoux
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by Rev. J. T. Higginbotham, and Mansfield Carter was married to Miss McClelland by Justice Hall. Among the news items it is stated that the "Clermont No. 2" passed up the river for the mouth of the Yellowstone, and that seven Mackinaw boats passed down, loaded with furs, etc., for the American Fur Company.
In December of 1846 a census of St. Joseph was taken, which showed a population of 936. Of these 142 were males under ten year of age, 81 males between ten and twenty-one years, 257 males over forty-five males, 124 females under ten years, 85 females between ten and twenty-one years, 175 females over twenty years, 27 male slaves, 43 female slaves, and two free negroes.
Times were quite lively in St. Joseph in 1847. New mercantile houses had been established and all old firms had enlarged ; the spirit of internal improvement came over the people, and they were looking forward to considerable industrial progress. The first Catholic church was built in 1847 at Fifth and Felix streets.
The years 1848 and 1849 saw many hopes fulfilled, and it is recorded that from March to September of the latter year one hun- dred and forty-three buildings were erected. Among them was the first brewery, built by Joseph Kuechle. The Adventure, a Whig newspaper, was started in 1848 by E. Livermore.
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VIEW OF ST. JOSEPH IN 1850.
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CHAPTER VII.
THE DAYS OF '49 AND THE OVERLAND PERIOD .- CALI- FORNIA EMIGRATION .- ST. JOSEPH AS THE START- ING POINT AND SUPPLY DEPOT. - WAITING FOR GRASS .- LINING UP FOR DINNER. - A LANDLORD WHO KNEW HIS BUSINESS .- FREIGHTING BY WAG- ON .- THE OVERLAND STAGE AND THE PONY EX- PRESS.
St. Joseph was now on the eve of the next important period in its history. Early in the spring of 1849 began the rush to Cali- fornia. As a starting point St. Joseph offered advantages which no other place possessed. There was at that time a population of 1,900 and there were nineteen well-equipped stores in operation, with an aggregate stock of $400,000. Among the merchants of that period was the late Milton Tootle. In addition there were two flouring mills, two steam saw mills, nine blacksmith shops, four wagon shops, two tinners, two extensive saddle and harness manufactories, etc. There were also two ferries.
Scarcely a day in February and March passed that did not bring a large number of emigrants, and the Gazette of March 30, 1849, states that at that time there were upwards of five hundred people camped about the city, awaiting the appearance of grass. The next month saw this number doubled. Grass came early that year, and the emigrants got away promptly.
On May 7, 1849, the St. Joseph Mining Company, the first reg- ularly organized company of men, left for California. Samuel John- son, A. D. McDonald, Joel Ryan, John Lewis, James Andrews, John and James Somerfield, B. D. Ellett, Edward Banall, J. W. Jones, Thomas Faucett, Michael Cameron, Samuel Wilson, Francis Brubaker, John F. McDowell, T. F. Warner, D. H. and M. F. Moss and James Kirkwood were among the number, and all did well.
From April Ist to June 15th, 1849, 1,508 wagons crossed on the ferries from St. Joseph. Estimating four men to the wagon, this would make 6,032 emigrants. At Duncan's ferry, four miles above St. Joseph, 685 wagons crossed. At other ferries as far north as
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Council Bluffs, 2,000 crossed, and 10,000 crossed at Independence. It is estimated that 27,000 men and 38,000 mules and oxen left these points during that time.
In 1850 the overland emigration exceeded 100,000, and it is esti- mated that over one-half of the emigrants left from St. Joseph. As the spring was later by a month than was expected, forty to fifty thousand people were encamped in and for miles around the town, in tents and wagons.
In the fall of 1849 the Occidental Hotel was built by William Fowler and rented to Major James Vaughn. In his reminiscences Colonel John Doniphan describes Major Vaughn as a jolly, rubicund landlord, who extended a Virginia welcome to all his guests; who, apparently, never slept, and who never permitted a stranger to drink alone. He had an inexhaustible stock of stories and was a marvelous raconteur. The line from the dining room often extended across Jule street and curved up Second, and dinner often con- tinued from 12 to 4 o'clock. Meals were one dollar each, as this was the best hotel in town, and a man stood at the dining room door to collect in advance.
In 1849 the emigrants by steamboat brought cholera here, but, although a few isolated cases occurred, there were no deaths. The disease was, however, communicated to the Indians across the river, and claimed many victims among the Sacs and Foxes and other tribes. In 1851 cholera was epidemic at many of the towns on the Missouri, and there were several cases in St. Joseph in May of that year.
By 1851 the California fever had considerably abated. The in- crease of steamers on the Missouri River caused a competition in prices to such an extent that emigrants and freight were carried to Council Bluffs and Florence, a Mormon settlement six miles above Council Bluffs, on the west side of the river, at the same figures which had obtained to St. Joseph during the two previous years. Those going by Florence saved over two hundred miles of land travel and avoided crossing both the Missouri and Big Platte Rivers. The route was generally via Kearney, Laramie, Echo Canyon and Webber River, through Salt Lake. After 1850, oxen were largely used to draw the heavy trains, as experience had taught that they were less liable to loss from stampede and alkali water, stood travel better, and were more valuable at the end of the trip. The number of emigrants leaving St. Joseph in 1851 and 1852 was comparatively small. The Indians, too, had proved more annoying, and great care and vigilance were required.
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St. Joseph and Savannah sent out large ventures. Among those interested were James McCord, Richard E. Turner and the late Dudley M. Steele, all of whom figured prominently in the later commercial history of St. Joseph. Many cattle were driven from this state and sold for beef in the mining camps and at San Francisco. A few months' grazing in the Sacramento bottoms generally put them in fine condition for slaughter. In 1852 Charles A. and Elias H. Perry crossed over 1,000 head at Amazonia, and the latter accom- panied them to California, realizing large profits.
Many wagon trains were loaded at St. Joseph with provisions and wares of various kinds and taken to Salt Lake and other Western points. The freighting business soon grew to immense proportions, St. Joseph being the supply depot for the outlying civ- ilization. From this grew the wholesale business of St. Joseph, which is today among the greatest in the West.
The necessities of the case brought forth the overland stage. People who travel to California in cushioned cars in these days can have but little conception of this gigantic enterprise and its offspring, the pony express. The first contract to transfer the mails to Salt Lake from the Missouri River was let to Samuel Woodson of In- dependence, in 1850. The intervening country was a wilderness more than a thousand miles in breadth, occupied by Indians and buffalo, and it required a high quality of nerve to invest money in such an undertaking.
The next contract was let to John M. Hockaday, also of Mis- souri, who ran stages out of St. Joseph, striking the government road at Kennekuk, Kansas, near the site of Horton. Hockaday received $190,000 annually for carrying a weekly mail. He sold out to Rus- sell, Majors & Waddell. The "Pony Express" was inaugurated and operated by this firm. The following facts concerning this celebrated venture are taken from a sketch by W. T. Bailey, which appeared in the Century Magazine of November, 1898, and from an article prepared by Colonel John Doniphan for McClure's Magazine
In the fall of 1854, United States Senator W. M. Gwin of Cal- ifornia made the trip from San Francisco east en route to Washing- ton, D. C., on horseback, by the way of Salt Lake and South Pass, then known as the Central Route. For a part of the way he had for company Mr. B. F. Ficklin, general superintendent of the freight- ing firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell.
Out of this traveling companionship grew the pony express! Mr. Ficklin's enthusiasm for closer communication with the East
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was contagious, and Senator Gwin became an untiring advocate of an express service via this route and on the lines suggested by Mr. Ficklin.
While at this time there were three transcontinental mail routes to California, the great bulk of the mail was sent by way of Panama on a twenty-two day schedule from New York to San Francisco. The Butterfield Route carried some through mail, while the Central Route and Chorpenning lines caried only local mail.
California by this time held a large and enterprising popula- tion. While the Union men were in the majority, the Southern sym- pathizers were numerous and aggressive, and were making every effort to carry the state out of the Union. To the Union men the existing arrangements were far from satisfactory ; for it was evident that both the Southern Stage Route and the Panama Route would be liable to interruption upon the opening of hostilities, and, besides, it was of the utmost importance that quicker communication be had with the Washington authorities.
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Called to Washington in connection with their government contracts, Mr. Russell, the head of the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, met Senator Gwin, and was approached by him on the sub- ject of increased mail facilities via the Central Route.
Mr. Russell hurriedly returned West. Meeting his partners, Mr. Majors and Mr. Waddell, at Fort Leavenworth, he laid the project before them. These gentlemen, while appreciating the force of the arguments advanced, could not see even expenses in the undertaking, and consequently objected to it. But Mr. Russell still insisted that the project would eventually lead up to a paying proposition, and, further, said that he was committed to Senator Gwin and his friends.
This latter settled the matter, for the word of this firm, once given, was to them as binding as their written obligation, and they unitedly threw their whole energy and resources into the carrying out of the pledge made by one of their members. Committed to the enterprise, the firm proceeded to organize the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company, obtaining a charter under the State laws of Kansas. The stage line from Atchison to Salt Lake City was turned over by the firm to the new company, who purchased Chorpenning's mail contract and stage outfit, then oper- ating a monthly line between Salt Lake City and Sacramento, and the franchise and equipment of the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express, organized in 1859, then operating a daily stage line between
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