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 9
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The American people are much given to reading, but the character of the matter read is such, that, with regard to a large proportion of them,
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
it may truthfully be said that "truth is stranger than fiction." Espe- cially is this the case in respect to those facts of local history belonging to their own immediate county and neighborhood. This is, perhaps, not so much the fault of the people as a neglect on the part of the book pub- lishers. Books, as a rule, are made to sell, and in order that a book may have a large sale its matter must be of such a general character as to be applicable to general rather than special conditions-to the nation and state rather than to county and township. Thus it is that no histories heretofore published pertain to matters relating to county and neighbor- hood affairs, for such books, in order to have a sale over a large section of country, must necessarily be very voluminous and contain much matter of no interest to the reader. After having given a synopsis of the history of the state, which is as brief as could well be, we shall then enter upon the history of the county. The physical features of the county and its geology, will first engage our attention ; then the act under which the county was organized and the location of the first county seat. We shall then speak of the first settlements. Pioneer times will then be described, and incidents related showing the trials and triumphs of the pioneer settler. Then the settlement of the townships. Then county organiza- tion, courts and first records, the early bench and bar, Mexican war, California emigrants, old settlers' reunions, the civil war, and subsequent events, etc. Then we shall speak of agriculture, the growth and pros- perity of the county, manufactures, newspapers, schools, churches, rail- roads, public buildings, enterprises, citizens, etc. We shall give a bio- graphical directory, the value of which will increase with years, and conclude with a chapter of facts and miscellaneous matter.
The compiler of a history of a county has a task which may seem to be comparatively easy, and the facts which come within the legitimate scope of the work may appear commonplace when compared with national events ; the narration of the peaceful events attending the con- quests of industry as
" Westward the course of empire takes its way,"
may seem tame when compared with accounts of battles and sieges. Nevertheless, the faithful gathering, and the truthful narration of facts bearing upon the early settlement of this county, and the dangers, hard- ships and privations encountered by the early pioneers, engaged in advancing the standards of civilization, is a work of no small magnitude, and the facts thus narrated are such as may challenge the admiration and arouse the sympathy of the reader, though they have nothing to do with the feats of arms.
THE NAME.
It has been intimated by one, that there is nothing in a name, but a name sometimes means a great deal. In many instances it indicates, in
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
a measure, the character of the people who settle the county, and have given to it its distinctive characteristics. Names are sometimes given to towns and countries by accident; sometimes they originate in the childish caprice of some one individual, whose dictate, by reason of some real or imaginary superiority, is law. However, in this instance, the county did not receive its name by accident ; neither did it originate in the vagaries of one man, but the christening took place after mature deliberation and by general consent. At the period of the organization of the county, the man after whom it was named had then been dead four years. He had not only distinguished himself as Governor of the great state of New York, but his ability and influence had been felt and acknowledged in the council chambers of the nation. To him belonged the credit of successfully inaugurating and carrying through the con- struction of the Erie Canal, which was decidedly the greatest public improvement of that age. Just after the completion of this canal, and when its commercial advantages were beginning to be appreciated, and when the name of DeWitt Clinton had become known and honored throughout the land, the small area of territory, now known as Clinton County, was christened.
Whether or not the policy of naming counties after illustrious states- men and famous generals be a good one, it has, nevertheless, been fol- lowed, to a greater or less extent, in the various states throughout the Union, and none more so than in Missouri, as is illustrated by the fol- lowing named counties: Atchison, Barton, Bates, Benton, Buchanan, Clay, Clark, Dallas, Lewis, Pike, Polk, Taney, Randolph, Washington, Web- ster, Jackson, and many others. A brief sketch of the man whose name the county bears will be in place here :
DeWitt Clinton, an American statesman born at Little Britain, in the State of New York, in 1769, was the son of a gentleman of English extraction who served as brigadier-general in the war of independence, and of a lady belonging to the famous Dutch family of DeWitts. He was educated at Columbia College, and, in 1778, he was admitted to the bar. He at once joined the Republican party, among the leaders of which was his uncle, George Clinton, Governor of New York, whose secretary he became. At the same time he held the office of Secretary to the Board of Regents of the University and to the Commisioners of Fortifications. In 1797, he was elected member of the Assembly ; in 1798, member of the Senate of the State of New York ; and, in 1801, member of the Senate of the United States. For twelve years, with three short breaks, which amounted to only three years, he occupied the position of Mayor of New York. He was also again member of the Sen- ate of New York, from 1803 to 1811, and Lieutenant-Governer of the State from 1811 to 1813. In 1812, he became a candidate for the Presi- dency, but was defeated by Madison and lost even his Lieutenant-Gov-
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
ernorship. Throughout his whole career, Clinton had been distinguished by his intelligent support of all schemes of improvement, and he now devoted himself to carrying out the proposal for the construction of canals from Lakes Erie and Champlain to the river Hudson. The Fed- eral Government refused to undertake the work ; but some time after, in 1815, the year in which he finally lost the mayoralty, he presented a memorial on the subject to the Legislature of New York, and the Legis- lature appointed a commission, of which he was made a member, to make surveys and draw up estimates. Having thus recovered his popularity, in 1816, Clinton was once more chosen Governor of the state ; in 1819, he was re-elected, and again in 1824 and 1826. In 1825, the Erie Canal was completed ; and he afterwards saw the work, which owed so much to him, carried on by the construction of important branch canals.
Thus much have we deemed proper to be said with regard to the person for whom the county was named. So much every boy or girl, whose home is within the bounds of the county should know, and less than this would certainly be unsatisfactory to one whose mind has ever been lead to the investigation of the county's history.
CHAPTER II.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
LOCATION-BOUNDARY-CIVIL AND CONGRESSIONAL TOWNSHIPS-SURFACE-STREAMS- TIMBER-ITS IMPORTANCE TO EARLY SETTLERS-CLIMATE-RAINFALL-HEALTH- PRAIRIE-WASTE LAND.
Clinton County, is in the center of the great bend of the Missouri River, which commences at St. Joseph and ends at Lexington, lying about the same distance from the river on the west as on the south- twenty-eight miles. It is nearly the same parallel as Philadelphia, Col- umbus, Indianapolis, Denver, and San Francisco, and about the same meridian as Lake Itasca and Galveston.
It is bounded on the north by DeKalb County, on the east by Cald- well and Ray, on the south by Clay, and on the west by Buchanan and Platte, and contains 269,000 acres, or about four hundred and twenty square miles. Missouri is divided into one hundred and fourteen coun- ties, Clinton being the smallest in area excepting Clay, Cole, DeKalb, Dunklin, Grundy, Hickory, Mississippi, Moniteau, New Madrid, Schuy- ler, Scott, Warren, and Worth. Texas is the largest county, containing 700,000 acres, and Dunklin is the smallest, having an area of 110,799 acres.
Clinton County has an altitude of about 1,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is four hundred feet above Chicago, and about six hun- dred feet above St. Louis. It is divided into nine civil townships, six full congressional townships and ten fractional. The civil townships are Jackson, Atchison, Hardin, Platte, Shoal, Lathrop, Concord, Lafayette, and Clinton.
SURFACE.
The land in the county, away from the streams, is undulating prairie, and has altogether a diversity of country seldom found in so small a space. Rising to the higher points of ground, the eye commands views of exquisite loveliness, embracing the silvery course of the stream, the waving foliage of trees, the changing outlines of gentle ele- vations, and the undulating surface of flower-decked prairie, with culti- vated farms, farm houses, including the log-hut of the first settler to the brick or painted houses and barns of the more advanced cultivator of the soil and the palatial mansions of the wealthy stock raiser and capitalist.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
The county has less land unfitted for cultivation, by reason of sloughs and marshes, than perhaps any of the neighboring counties. There is not a section of country of equal extent, in the state, that pos- sesses a better distributed drainage system than Clinton County. There is, proportionately, such a small area of waste and swamp lands, and the facilities for drainage are so admirable, that waste lands, arising from this cause, are too insignificant to be worthy of particular mention.
The county presented to the first settler an easy task in subduing the wild land. Its natural prairies were fields almost ready for the planting of the crop, and its rich, black soil seemed to be awaiting the opportunity of paying rewards as a tribute to the labor of the husband- man. The farms of Clinton County are generally large, level or undu- lating, unbroken by impassable sloughs, without stumps or other obstruc- tions, and furnish the best of conditions favorable to the use of reaping machines, mowers, corn planters, and other kinds of labor-saving machinery.
STREAMS.
Clinton County is so well supplied with living streams of water, and they are so well distributed that the people of the county could not possibly make an improvement upon the arrangement, if they were allowed the privilege and endowed with the power to make a readjust- ment of the system of streams and water courses. Some of these streams have fine mill sites, and, by reason of the water power, thus made so accessible, the early settler was spared many of the hardships and inconveniences experienced by the pioneers of other sections.
The largest stream in the county is Smith's Fork of the Platte. It enters the county at the northeast corner, and flows in a southwesterly direction, emptying into Platte River. Shoal Creek is in the eastern part of the county, and empties into Crooked River. Cas- tile Creek runs through the western part of the county, and empties into the Platte. Besides these, there are Horse Fork, Clear Creek, Robert's Branch, Deer Creek, and other smaller streams. These streams are clear and never failing. Springs are abundant and good, and pure water can be obtained in any part of the county by digging from twenty to forty feet.
TIMBER.
" Majestic woods of ev'ry vigorous green, Stage above stage high waving o'er the hills, Or to the far horizon wide diffused, A boundless deep immensity of shade."
The circumstance which more than any other favored the early and rapid settlement of Clinton County was the abundance of timber. of
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
which there are fully sixty thousand acres. The presence of timber aided materially in bringing about an early settlement and it aided in two ways : first, the county had to depend on immigration from the older set- tled states of the Union for its population- Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Vir- ginia and Tennesse. These states were originally almost entirely covered with dense forests, and farms were made by clearing off certain portions of the timber. Almost every farm there, after it became thoroughly improved, still retained a certain tract of timber, commonly known as "the woods." The woods is generally regarded as the most important part of the farm, and the average farmer regarded it as indispensable when he immigrated west.
The great objection to the country was the scarcity of timber as compared to the eastern states, and he did not suppose that it would be possible to open up a farm on the bleak prairie. To live in a region devoid of the familiar sight of timber seemed unendurable, and the aver- age Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky emigrant could not endure the idea of founding a home far away from the familiar sight of forest trees. Then again the idea entertained by the early emigrants that timber was a necessity, was not simply theoretical and ethical. The early settler had to have a house to live in, fuel for cooking and heating purposes, and fences to enclose his claim. At that time there were no railroads whereby lumber could be transported from the pineries ; no coal mines had yet been opened or discovered. Timber was an absolute necessity, without which personal existence, as well as material improvement, was an impossibility. No wonder that a gentleman from the east, who in early times came to the prairie region of Missouri on a prospecting tour with a view of permanent location, returned home in disgust and embodied his views of the country in the following rhyme :
. Oh, lonesome, windy, grassy place, Where buffalo and snakes prevail ; The first with dreadful looking face, The last with dreadful sounding tail! I'd rather live on camel hump, And be a Yankee Doodle beggar, Than where I never see a stump, And shake to death with fever 'n 'ager."
As before remarked, there are two reasons why the first settlers refused to locate at a distance from the timber, and why the timbered regions bordering upon the rivers became densely populated while the more fertile and more easily cultivated prairies remained for many years unclaimed. The pioneers were in the main the descendants of those hardy backwoodsmen who conquered the dense forests of the south and cast. When farms were opened up in those countries a large belt of timber was invariably reserved from which the farmer could draw his
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
supply of logs for lumber for fence rails, and fuel for heating and cook- ing purposes. Even at the present day a farm without its patch of timber is exceedingly rare in those countries. Having from their youth up been accustomed to timber, the emigrant from these timbered regions of the east would have ever felt lonesome and solitary deprived of the familiar sight of the tall forest trees and shut off from the familiar sound of the wind passing through the branches of the venerable oaks. Then again, timber was an actual necessity to the early settler. In this day of railroads, herd laws, cheap lumber and cheap fuel, it is easy enough to open a farm and build up a comfortable home away out on the prairie, far from the sight of timber. But not so under the circumstances sur- rounding the first settlers. There was no way of shipping lumber from the markets of the East, coal mines were unknown, and before a parcel of land could be cultivated it was necessary to fence it. In order to settle the prairie countries it was necessary to have railroads, and in order to have railroads it was necessary that at least a portion of the country should be settled. Hence the most important resource in the development of this western country was the belts of timber which skirted the streams; and the settlers who first hewed out homes in the timber, while at present not the most enterprising and progressive, were nevertheless an essential factor in the solution of the problem.
Much of this primeval forest has been removed; part of it was economically manufactured into lumber, which entered into the con- struction of the early dwelling houses, many of which still remain ; much of it was ruthlessly and recklessly destroyed. From the fact that attention was early given to the culture of artificial groves, Clinton County now has probably about as much timber as formerly, and the state much more.
Among the most abundant of all trees originally found was the black walnut, so highly prized in all countries for manufacturing purposes. Timber of this kind was very plentiful and of good quality originally, but the high prices paid for this kind of timber presented itself as a tempta- tion to destroy it, which the people, frequently in straightened circum- stances, could not resist. Red, white and black oak are still very plentiful, although they have for many years been extensively used as fuel. Crab apple, elm, maple, ash, cottonwood and wild cherry are also found. Some of the best timber in the state is to be found in this county.
A line of timber follows the course of all the streams. Detached groves, both natural and artificial, are found at many places throughout the county, which are not only ornamental, in that they vary the monot- ony of the prairie, but likewise very useful, in that they have a very important bearing on the climate. It is a fact fully demonstrated by the best of authority that climate varies with the surface of a country.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
CLIMATE.
The climate is what is generally termed a healthful one, subject, how- ever, to the sudden change from heat to cold. The winters, however, are as a general thing uniform, although there seems to have been some modifications in the climate during the past few years, resulting, doubt- less, from the changes which have taken place in the physiognomy of the country.
The average yearly rainfall and melted snow, for twenty-five years, has been 36.62 inches. The average rainfall and melted snow, for each month respectively, for this period, has been as follows: January, 1.68 inches ; February, 1.67 ; March, 2.10: April, 3.49 ; May, 4.39; June, 4.75 ; July, 4.69; August, 4.66; September, 3.30; October, 2.33; November, 1.69 ; December, 1.89 inches. The rain and melted snow for winter, 5.25 inches ; spring, 9.25 ; summer, 14.10 ; autumn, 7.32 inches.
The following article, from the pen of William 1. Heddens, M. D. Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in the College of Phy- sicians and Surgeons, in St. Joseph, Missouri, was published in a recent issue of the St. Joseph Gazette, and is applicable to the whole of North- west Missouri :
"Almost the whole of the Platte Purchase, and the country con- tiguous thereto, is healthful and singularly free from consumption, asthma, bronchitis, laryngitis, and the diseases most dreaded by the inhabitants of the Eastern States. It is seldom that typhoid or other fever prevails, and it is unusual that epidemics of any kind exist. The climate is dry and pure. The few localities that are by nature unhealthful, can almost all of them be made healthful by a little foresight. The malarial fevers, so common in the Western and Southern States, are almost certain to be confined to the river bottoms, and are of a much milder character than those originating further south and west. There is scarcely any rheumatism in this climate, and what few cases there are, are mild in comparison with low and moist localities. In fact, as to climate, and to all climatic, teluric and other influences ; in regard to pure and cold water, free from mineral and other poisons ; drainage, wholesome vege- table and animal products, cereals and fruits, no country can boast of superiority in all that pertains to a man's health, strength and longevity. over the famous ' Platte Purchase.'
"As ' wild' grasses are subdued, and 'tame' ones take their places- as the prairies are changed into wheat fields and corn fields, and swamps are drained, shade trees planted in some places and forests thinned in others-when roads are opened and dwellings modernized as is rapidly being done, it will then be the most healthfully improved country, as it is now the most healthful by nature, of all the Western States. A climate that is never too cold in winter nor too hot in summer for health ; where
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
neither drought nor wet seasons exist, but enough variety of temperature of seasons, combined with its altitude and latitude and healthy atmos- phere to produce the highest and best types of the lower animals, as well as man, my prediction is that the human beings who will in the near future dwell here, will be both physically and mentally superior to those born and reared in either a colder or warmer climate. They will be freer from all zymotic and other diseases which render feeble both mind and body in other climates. The child born here should grow to healthy, vigorous maturity, with great nerve force, energy and perse- verance, without any sickness except of an accidental nature, and ought to be ashamed to die before the age of seventy-five years."
PRAIRIE.
"Lo! they stretch
In airy undulations, far away,
As if an ocean in its gentlest swell Stood still, with all its rounded billows fixed
And motionless forever. Motionless ? No, they are all unchained again. The clouds Sweep over with their shadows, and beneath,
The surface rolls and fluctuates to the eye ;
Dark shadows seem to glide along and chase
The sunny ridges. Breezes of the South !
Who toss the golden and flame-like flowers,
And pass the prairie hawk, that, poised on high,
Flaps his broad wings, yet moves not-ye have played
Among the palms of Mexico and vines Of Texas, and have crisped the limpid brooks That from the fountains of Sonora glide Into the calm Pacific-have ye fanned A nobler or lovelier scene than this ? Man hath no part in all this glorious work ? The hand that built the firmament bath heaved
And smoothed these verdant swells, and sown their hopes
With herbage, planted them with island groves, And hedged them round with forests Fitting floor
For this magnificent temple of the sky- With flowers whose glory and whose multitude
Rival the constellations? The great heavens Seem to stoop down upon the scene in love- A nearer vault, and a tenderer hue Than that which bends above the eastern hills "
A little more than one-fourth of the county is prairie, and of a very excellent quality. In fact there is no better soil in the state, than that found in the prairies of Clinton County. On nearly all of the divides between the running streams, are found large tracts of beautiful, rolling prairie lands, well drained, easily cultivated, highly productive and con- veniently located to water, timber, mills and markets. The character of
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
the soil in these prairies is such that good crops are raised even during the very wet and very dry seasons. The soil is light and porous, so that ten hours of bright sunshine will dry the roads after a heavy rain and fit the plowed fields to be cultivated. The same peculiarity of soil which enables crops to withstand much moisture and thrive during a very wet season, also enables them to endure prolonged drouths-the soil, being very porous, is capable of absorbing a large amount of water during the rainy season, and when the drouth sets in, the forces of nature bring back to the surface the surplus moisture from the subterraneous storehouses with as much ease as the water in the first place was absorbed. This is not the case with that quality of soil commonly known as hard-pan ; the subsoil not being porous, only a small quantity of water is absorbed, after which it gathers on the surface in pools, and is then carried away by the process of evaporation ; drouth sets in, and as soon as the moist- ure is exhausted from the surface soil, plants wither and die.
There is comparatively but little waste land from marshes in the county, and many years will not pass till these sloughs, by a proper sys- tem of drainage, will be converted into corn fields.
GEOLOGY.
Coal .- There have been no geological surveys made of Clinton County, hence the coal and mineral deposits, their depth under the sur- face of the earth, and their locality have never been ascertained. That there is coal cannot be doubted, but whether it lies near enough to the surface to ever be made available for practical purposes is a question which remains to be solved. In 1873, the Plattsburg Coal Company, composed of Charles Birch, Moses Shoemaker, James M. Clay, Thomas McMichael, Joel Funkhouser, and others, commenced the work of boring for coal under the trestle-work of the railroad bridge in the east- tern limits of Plattsburg. Coal had been found at Richmond, Ray County, and it was believed that the altitude here, was only about three hundred feet above that, and that coal would be reached when that depth was obtained. The company, however, prosecuted their labor until they had gone between two and three hundred feet, passing through quicks, soapstone, sandstone, etc., and finally abandoned the work before reach- ing the coal.
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