USA > Missouri > Clinton County > The History of Clinton County, Missouri : containing a history of the County, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Clinton County in the late war, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men etc > Part 38
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In order to commemorate the joyous event of peace, as officially proclaimed by the President of the United States, it was determined upon by the State Central Committee of the Conservative Union party to hold a grand peace jubilee in Plattsburg on the 21st day of April, 1866.
In accordance with this arrangement, the peace jubilee was held at the court house. At 11 o'clock the signal from the band in the portico of the court house began to electrify the masses in the streets, and soon every seat in the capacious hall of the building was occupied, and the entrance crowded by others, who had to stand throughout the ceremony, for never before had there been such an assemblage of people in Clinton County, where almost every man retained his seat or place from first to last.
Judge Robert Johnson presided over the meeting, and William J. Biggerstaff acted as secretary, both of whom had been superseded in their office by the "ousting ordinance."
A committee on resolutions, consisting of Judge Birch, William W. Bland, George W. Johnson, John M. Ward, Eldridge Potter and Francis M. Bevins was appointed by the chair, after which the meeting adjourned until I o'clock P. M.
U'pon reassembling, John W. Mooreland, Esq., addressed the meet- ing in an able and effective speech, at the close of which the committee appeared with their resolutions, which were as follows :
WHEREAS, It has been officially promulgated by the President of the United States, that rebellion against its authority has wholly ceased; and is " henceforth to be so regarded," the conservative people of Clin- ton County resolve as follows :
I. In grateful recognition of the Divinity which inaugurated the Christian Era, with the proclamation of "Peace upon earth and good will to man," and realizing in the administrative policy of his " servant, the President of the United States," an cmanation of the same Divine economy, it is in the spirit of lawful and loyal co-operation, that we thus pledge to his support, if necessary, "our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor "
2. In thus solemnly commemorating the restoration of our national brotherhood, we represent as we doubt not) not merely the immense assembly of our countrymen here congregated, but the better fecling and calmer judgment of all who are not interested in the perpetuation of
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
such discords as may be continued to give prominence to the minority, instead of the majority of the people.
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4. That as the issues which otherwise divide the people of this state involve the existence of their civil and religious liberties, we appeal to the legal and law-abiding of all past parties to co-operate in its redemption from the perils which environ us ; and that as no friend of the President or the Union can longer continue to support a "test oath" which is kept up for no other purpose than to prevent a majority of the people from selecting their own rulers, we repeat and accept the resolu- tions recently put forth by the Conservatives of Macon County.
5. Whilst but properly ignoring upon an occasion so joyous as the restoration of peace, all disagreements of the past which respect either the cause or the conduct of the recent sanguinary war, yet concurring that the true soldier is entitled to appropriate public consideration, with- out regard to party, it is ordered, that in recognition of the "honorable discharge " which has just been awarded to the members of the company who were longest in the service from this county, a committee of one from each township be appointed by the president of this meeting, whose duty it shall be to make suitable arrangements for an appropriate general reception of all the officers and soldiers who entered the service from "Old Clinton" and were alike honorably discharged therefrom.
6. That we approve the policy of the new convention, which it is proposed to hold at St. Louis on the sixth day of June next, and that Judge James H. Birch be appointed as the delegate from this county.
The names of the committee appointed to make the necessary arrangements for the reception of the soldiers, mentioned in the fifth resolution, were : Hardin Township, Lorenzo J. Froman ; La Fayette Township, Asa Beck; Platte Township, Thomas E. Turney ; Shoal Township, William P. Harlan ; Jackson Township, Richard T. Kelley; Concord Township, Nathaniel L. Ford.
This committee was requested to meet at Plattsburg on the first Saturday in May, following. At the same meeting a letter was read from General Shields, expressing his regrets at not being present, and advising immediate organization of clubs, who would pledge fealty to the constitution and the Union.
OVATION TO THE SOLDIERS.
On the 14th day of May, 1866, the ovation to the honorably dis- charged soldiers came off at the fair grounds in the forenoon and con- tinued in the afternoon at the court house. Among the speakers pres- ent on that occasion were General Cooly, of Lexington, Missouri, and Thomas J. Porter, Esq., of Plattsburg. The following, the neat and appropriate address of Mr. Porter, we take from the Clinton County Register :
Ladies and Gentlemen: I was not a little surprised at the very unexpected request which I have received to open the proceedings of
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
to-day, by an address of welcome to the soldiers who have returned from the wars, and it is with a considerable degree of embarrassment, that I respond to the call. And indeed I am somewhat at a loss to know why I have been called upon in preference to the many others among you, whose greater experience and superiority would enable them to interest more deeply and to greater length, than I would in any event be able to do. Having been taken almost entirely by surprise, I have had but little time to think upon what would be proper to say upon an occasion like this, and my remarks must necessarily be brief. Though I am almost an entire stranger among you, more especially to those in honor and out of respect for whom we have met together, and to whom I will more particularly address my remarks ; still I feel that I am not a stranger when I remember that they have battled side by side with some loved companion of my boyhood, who, like them, marched forth beneath the starry banner, swore by the god of battles that it should return tri- umphant, or should fall as his winding sheet, while his death-bed should be some gory field, and his funeral dirge the cannon's mighty roar. When I think there may be some one here to-day who has ministered to nis wants and allayed his sufferings, while lying on some battlefield- some one who may have listened to his last words-sent his last mes- sage home, and cheered his last moments by whispering in his ear " the battle is won," and pointed him by the finger of faith to the half open doors of future blessedness, where rebellion was once, but where rebel- lion will come not again-when I think of these things, the barriers which etiquette would seem to raise between us disappear, and I feel like taking by the hand those who may have cared for that comrade, whose hand in friendship I grasped when we parted to meet no more.
Still nearer do I feel to you, when I remember, that your flag, for which you have battled, is my flag ; that your country, which you have defended, is my country ; that your nationality the honor of which you have vindicated, is my nationality. I feel that we are of a common broth- erhood, owing allegiance to a common country ; knowing no prince but the Prince of Peace ; bowing to no god, but the God of all ; and, bend- ing the suppliant knee to no monarch, but the Monarch who rules upon the throne of the eternal.
It would require one of greater genius and more matured experience than myself to pay you a proper tribute upon this occasion. I will, therefore, leave it for those who well address you hereafter. It would be with difficulty, and, indeed, I could but very inadequately express my own gratitude to you, for the services which you have rendered. Much less, can I tell the feelings of the aged father who totters forth in his infirmity of years and extends his palsied hand to welcome his boy's return. I cannot utter the language uttered by the silent tear of joy, which trickles, like a glittering gem, down the cheek of the loved, and loving sister, as she sees her brother return. Nay, I cannot express emotions, which only a mother can know ; of the mother who, perchance, like those of old, bade her son go and return with victory, or return not at all, as she witnesses the coming of her boy with victory perched upon his banner, and not victory alone, but victory in the fond embrace of peace.
Oh! what greater evidence of bravery ; what other memento of the past-what greater trophies of war could a soldier ask-what greater could he win ?
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
It might be regarded as presumptuous in me to attempt to point out to you the course you will pursue upon your return to peace, for well I know, that those who know how to be brave in war, know how to be meritorious in peace. It may not, however, be improper to suggest that there are those among you, who have battled in the rebel army, who may have met you in the fierce conflict, hand to hand, and between you social intercourse must, to some extent, exist, and a spirit of peace and harmony should be taught to dwell. You will teach them, by the power of your example, how to be good citizens in peace, as in war you taught them, by the power of your arm, the wrongs into which they had fallen, and the evils they were pursuing ; encouraging merit wherever it may be found ; approving every laudable attempt on their part to become good citizens again ; frowning upon all acts of lawlessness, insisting upon a rigid enforcement of the law, for the purpose of estab- lishing its authority and vindicating its majesty ; yielding a willing obedience to its provisions yourselves. In this way, now that you have stricken death to the rebellion, and dealt the fatal blow to the monster, treason, which raised it hideous head, from its abodes of darkness, to breathe its foul corruption through the land, you will place your feet on its inanimate carcase and confine its spirit to its native hell, and erect to its memory an everlasting monument of infamy.
By this course the victory you won will be permanent, and the peace you have achieved will be lasting and effective; your honors will be undying, and the laurels with which you are crowned will be unfading. Their lustre will be undimmed as you carry them to your graves-to the graves where future mothers will lead their little children, and teach them in the lisping accents of infancy, to swear allegiance to the country which you have defended ; to pledge fidelity to the cause in which you have battled, and to emulate the example of the fallen brave, by loving as you have loved, a country more free than all others ; more great than all, because more free ; more magnanimous than all, because most great; more prosperous than all, because most magnanimous ; more powerful than all, because most prosperous, and greater than all, because most powerful, most prosperous, most magnanimous, most just and most free.
In conclusion, I cannot but extend to you in behalf of those who called upon me, a hearty welcome home. Thrice welcome in peace to the homes which in war were forsaken.
The names and the rank of the veterans who entered the Union army from Clinton County, and to whom the ovation was given are as follows :
UNION SOLDIERS.
Captain :- D. C. McMichael.
Sergeants :- E. A. Leake, Lewis V. Porter, Benton Thomas, Jesse Hymer, Anthony Harsel, Joseph Fowler.
Corporals :- W. R. Carter, W. C. Greer.
Trumpeter :- William Munsil.
Privates :- Henry C. Bailey, Madison Coffman, John Belk, Nathan Debo, Daniel H. Crosby, W. C. Debo, Samuel Davis, H. J. Grove, Irvine Estes, V. H. Grove, H. G. Gilmore, Bela M. Greer, Thomas J. Gray, B.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
A. Head, Bird Hixon, Gustave Lohman, J. S. Metzger, Nathan Mid- daugh, J. C. Mercer, John McCord, M. C. McElwee, Benjamin Pierce, William M. Porter, J. W. Parrott, Madison Roy, John T. Styles, James A. Stewart, W. S. Townsend, C. J. Ulrich, T. J. Henderson, George Labor, Michael Breheny.
In this connection we will give the names and rank of the soldiers who entered the Confederate service from Clinton County, or at least as many of them as we could possibly get. The list probably does not embrace all, but is correct, we think, as far as it goes :
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS.
Cromlow, D. G., captain,
Carroll, John, Ist lieutenant,
Culver, John H., 2d lieutenant,
Lincoln, Charles H., 3d lieutenant,
Rangler, Philip A., lieutenant,
Cockrill, Thomas J., lieutenant,
Young, Waller, captain,
Spence, John, captain,
McWilliams, Dudley, captain, Riley Charles, captain,
Aldridge, Thomas C., captain, Atchison, D. R., private,
Ainsworth, Frank M., private,
Bourne, John, private,
Cockrill, H. C., private,
Culver, John W., private,
Forsee, G. T., private,
Holman, W. T., private,
Hughes, G. W., private,
Montgomery, A. S., private,
Moore, William, private,
Palmer, C. C., private,
Winn, W. D., private,
Scott, Walter, private,
Snowden, J. W., private,
Searce, Robert, private,
Spangler, John, private,
Sparks, W. S., private,
Young, John, private,
Young, William, private,
Wallis, James D., captain,
Scruggs, James B., Ist lieutenant,
Lindsay, Richard P., 2d lieutenant, Mathershead, Jos. R., 3d lieutenant,
Simpson, Albert W., lieutenant,
Taylor, Robert, lieutenant,
Marshall, A. W., private,
Barnett, John, lieutenant,
Brooking, Samuel A., corporal,
Fuller, William B., corporal,
Calvert, John A., corporal,
Whitsit, James M., corporal,
Atkinson, Robert, private,
Barnett, R. E, private,
Brooking, John H., private, Byrum, Gill S., private, Davis, William, private,
Chapin, Richard B., private,
Denny, Rufus C., private,
Elliott, William, private,
Easterday, Francis, private, Fuller, Milus, private, Franklin, J. A., private,
Fox, William H., private, Gill, Philip H., private,
Hargraves, Henry C., private,
Hargrave, M. F., private,
Harris, Robert, private,
Hamilton, Morris, private, Henry, George, private,
Henry, John, private, Heiser, John, private, Lamb, Shubal C., private, Martin, Nathan, private, Miller, James, private,
Hyde, William, private,
Lindsay, John F., private, Massy, Newton, private,
Moberly, Benj. F., private,
Moberly, Henry B., private,
Morrow, J. M., private,
North, Shelby B., private.
Morrow. Joseph E., private, McCartney, Asher, private, Parsons, James T., private,
Ballard, William, private,
Derer, James M., private,
Franklin, Reuben, private,
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
Pawley, James, private,
Peterman, Austin B., private,
Peterman, David H., private,
Porter, James H., private, Riley, John T., private,
Reynolds, David M., private, King, J. H., private,
Summers, Mason, private, Scruggs, Edward H., private, Shanks, Allison M., private,
Summers, John T., private, Scruggs, Thomas M., private,
White, Francis M., private,
Vaughan, Augustus, private, Bainbridge, Dennis, captain,
Hughes, John T., captain,
Hughes, Samuel S., 1st lieutenant,
McWilliams, Sam. H., 2d lieutenant,
Mathingly, T. J., 3d lieutenant,
Wilkerson, Jeff., Ist sergeant,
Kelly, Rufus D., 2d sergeant,
Biggerstaff, A. L., 3d sergeant,
Baker, J. B., captain,
Baber, Martin, captain, Con, William S., private,
Biggerstaff, Marion, private, Davis, William, private,
Fry, William, private,
Gay, George, private,
Hall, William, private,
Keefer, W. D. L., private,
Kelly, John, private,
McCann, James, private,
Netherston, Abe, private,
O'Brien, Owen, private,
Parvin, Silas, private,
Stintamin, Josiah, private,
Ingles, Charles, 2d lieutenant,
Owens, Nicholas, 2d lieutenant, Fry, L. S., private.
On the 16th day of June, 1866, General James Shields, then a United States Senator from Missouri, addressed the people of Clinton County, at Plattsburg, on the political issues of the day. The editor of the Reg- ister, in the June issue of that paper, in speaking of that event, said :
A GREAT SPEECH.
" True to his appointment. the general appeared before a fine audi- ence at the court house, at one o'clock, to whom he was appropriately introduced by Judge Birch, and by whom he was appropriately wel- comed. After a few preliminary remarks, in which he suggested the points to which he would mainly confine himself, to wit: A defense of the Executive Administration of the Federal Government, an exposure of the antagonizing policy of Congress, and an exposition of the enormities of the Missouri "Test Oath," he proceeded, in a speech of more than two hours, to confirm the high opinion of his wisdom and ability, under which so many solid men of the county had quit their fields and come to town to listen to him.
Never-we will venture to repeat it, never has a public speaker more fully succeeded in a public speech, or left a county in which he was almost a stranger, with a warmer or more appreciative friendship as was indeed manifested at the close of his speech, by a most cordial vote of thanks after the meeting, and the unanimous tender of the hospitalities of every Whig and Democratic household in the county, to the old Democratic statesman and soldier, to whom they had listened with absorbing interest, mingled with repeated indications of the most earn- est applause.
ED.G. SHELDON
DRY GOODS GROCERIES CLOTHING 9 DOTS & SHOES
PHOTO BY MERIAM & HOLMES
STORE BUILDING OF ED. G. SHELDON, STEWARTSVILLE, MO.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
There were a few Radicals present, of whom it gives us pleasure to state, that they deported themselves as gentlemen, and our only regret is, that there were not more of them to at least listen to the plea for " Peace and Union," for we as much believe, as we do anything which depends upon the understanding alone, that all that is necessary to the success of our cause is, that it be presented to the understanding, instead of the mere prejudices and passions of the people.
After the conclusion of the speech of General Shields, Colonel John Doniphan addressed the assembly in a speech which embodied the prin- cipal points of the legislative history of Radicalism. As the colonel had been a senator among them, no speaker in the state could be more com- petent to expose as well the machinery, as the ultimate purposes of that party, and he demonstrated it to be, to bring about and carry out a dis- franchisement amongst their political adversaries of the white race, and such an enfranchisement of the negro race, as to perpetuate power in their own hands.
We regret the circumstances which have restricted us to so brief a record of so great a day in Plattsburg, but we send greeting to all who read our paper, that" all is well and sure in Clinton.'"
At the election which occurred in the fall of 1866, the following persons were put in nomination by the two political parties :
DEMOCRATIC TICKET :
For Congress-James H. Birch.
For State Senator-Daniel D. Burnes.
For Representative-John W. Mooreland.
For Sheriff-George Funkhouser.
For Circuit Clerk-Daniel F. Birch.
For County Clerk-Moses Shoemaker.
For Treasurer-O. P. Riley.
For School Commissioner-A. K. Porter.
For Public Administrator-Wm. H. Lott.
For Supervisor of Registration-Oliver P. Newberry.
For Assessor-Julian P. Martin.
For County Justices-Jas. E. Young, Rob't Johnson, Ewen C. Hale. For Coroner-John M. Walker.
REPUBLICAN TICKET :
For Congress-R. T. Van Horn.
For Representative-Jacob Estep. For Sheriff-F. D. Phillips.
For Circuit Clerk-W. L. Birney.
For County Clerk-George Essig.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
For County Justices-David Cooper, Ambrose Stone, Jackson Estes For Assessor-L. Eve.
For School Commissioner -- B. F. Poe.
For County Treasurer-J. F. Harrington.
For Supervisor of Registration-J. G. Rand.
For Coroner-J. W. Miller.
For Public Administrator-John R. Seation.
The party offering to vote was required, under the constitution of the state, to take and subscribe the following, which was called
THE OATH OF LOYALTY :
I, , do solemnly swear that I am well acquainted with the terms of the third section of the second article of the Constitution of the State of Missouri, adopted in the year eighteen hundred and sixty- five, and have carefully considered the same ; that I have never, directly or indirectly, done any of the acts in the said section specified ; that I have always been truly and loyally on the side of the United States against all enemies thereof, foreign and domestic ; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States, and will support the constitution and laws thereof as the supreme law of the land, any law or ordinance of any state to the contrary notwithstanding ; that I will, to the best of my ability, protect and defend the Union of the United States, and not allow the same to be broken up and dissolved, or the government thereof to be destroyed or overthrown, under any circumstances, if in my power to prevent it ; that I will support the Constitution of the State of Mis- souri, and that I make this oath without any mental reservation or evasion, and hold it to be binding on me-so help me God.
The third section of the second article of the Constitution of the State of Missouri, referred to in the oath, reads as follows :
SECTION 3. At any election held by the people under this consti- tution, or in pursuance of any law of this state, or under any ordinance or by-law of any municipal corporation, no person shall be deemed a qualified voter who has ever been in armed hostility to the United States, or to the lawful authorities thereof, or to the government of this state, or has ever given aid, countenance, or support to persons engaged in such hostility ; or has ever in any manner adhered to the enemies, for- eign or domestic, of the United States, either by contributing to them, or by unlawfully sending within their lines money, goods, letters or information ; or has ever disloyally held communication with such ene- mies ; or has ever advised or aided any person to enter the service of such enemies, or has ever, by act or word, manifested his adherence to the cause of such enemies, or his desire for their triumph over the arms of the United States, or his sympathy with those engaged in exciting or carrying on rebellion against the United States, or has ever, except under overpowering compulsion, submitted to the authority, or been in the ser- vice of the so-called "Confederate States of America," or has ever left this state and gone within the lines of the armies of the so-called "Confed- erate States of America," with the purpose of adhering to said states, or
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
armies, or has ever been a member of, or connected with, any order, society or organization, inimical to the government of the United States, or to the government of this state ; or has ever been engaged in guer- rilla warfare against loyal inhabitants of the United States, or in that description of marauding commonly known as "bushwhacking," or has ever knowingly and willingly harbored, aided or countenanced any per- son so engaged, or has ever come into or left this state for the purpose of avoiding enrollment in the militia of this state, or to escape the per- formance of duty therein, or for any other purpose enrolled himself, or authorized himself to be enrolled, by or before an officer, as disloyal, or as a Southern sympathizer, or in any terms indicating his disaffection to the government of the United States, in its contest with rebellion, or his sympathy with those engaged in such rebellion, or having ever voted at any election by the people in this state, or in any other of the United States, or in any of their territories, or held office in this state, or in other of the United States, or in any of their territories, or under the United States, shall thereafter have sought or received, under claim of alienage, the protection of any foreign government, through any con- sul or other officer thereof, in order to secure exemption from military duty in the militia of this state, or in the army of the United States ; nor shall any such person be capable of holding, in this state, any office of honor, trust or profit under its authority, or of being an officer, coun- cilman, director, trustee or other manager of any corporation, public or private, now existing or hereafter established, by its authority, or of acting as a professor or teacher in any educational institution, or in any common or other school, or of holding any real estate or other property, in trust for the use of any church, religious society or congregation.
The law in reference to registration clothed the register with the power to refuse to register any applicant whom he was satisfied, after making an examination, was disqualified from voting, in the light of the above clause of the constitution. The law, however, required the regis- ter to enter the name of the voter thus refused, on a separate list, contain- ing the names of persons who were rejected voters, and in connection therewith he was required to state the grounds of the rejection, &c.
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