The History of Pettis County, Missouri, including an authentic history of Sedalia, other towns and townships, together with biographical sketches, Part 25

Author: Demuth, I. MacDonald
Publication date: 1882]
Publisher: [n.p.
Number of Pages: 1154

USA > Missouri > Pettis County > The History of Pettis County, Missouri, including an authentic history of Sedalia, other towns and townships, together with biographical sketches > Part 25

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Sometimes in cases of rare necessity when the snow was too deep to travel or swollen streams intervened between the settler's home and the mill, a grist mill was extemporized from a coffee mill, whereby sufficient corn was ground to furnish meal for the family. At other times a grater was made by pricking holes in an old piece of tin, and after the corn was softened somewhat by boiling in the ear, meal was grated. Numerous instances of this kind might be given to show how families and even whole neighborhoods subsisted in this way for days and even weeks. A long period of this kind occurred during the great snow of 1829.

But few streams of the county had suitable mill sites. In a very early day a grist mill, water power, was erected on Muddy by James Wasson and called Pin Hook. A few horse mills were run in the older settle- ments.

The early settlements were confined to the wooded skirts of the little streams. Flat Creek and Muddy are the principal streams on which they first settled. In those days these streams furnished plenty of water to turn the mills in order to supply the demand for corn cake. Considera- ble fish were found in these streams then.

It is supposed by the old settlers that since civilization came westward and utilized the soils and drained the bottom lands, that there is not so much rain as formerly. It is said by reliable old settlers, that for days and weeks, many of the creeks could not be forded. At that time there were no roads, bridges, ferry boats, and but few canoes, making travel very difficult in bad weather. Then even the smallest streams were often dangerous, making it no small undertaking to travel where so many

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY."

treacherous streams had to be crossed. Then scarcely a week passed with- out some rain, and the streams were often swollen beyond the capacity of their banks, and would swim a horse where now we see luxuriant and fertile corn fields.

Many of the first settlers went to Boonville for their milling, which was the only place where merchandise was carried on for several years. At that time all the present State of Missouri west and north of the Osage river, and the old settled counties north of the Missouri river, was for many years, known as the " Boone's Lick country." The old settlers knew it by no other name. It received its name from a place called Boone's Lick, in what is now Howard county, situated about eight miles northwest of New Franklin, near the Missouri river. This place was visited by Daniel Boone at a very early date, finding several large salt springs where deer and other game resorted; he made this a favorite hunting ground. Here in 1807, Nathan and Daniel M. Boone, sons of the frontiersman, Daniel Boone, manufactured salt at Boone's Lick, and shipped it down the river to St. Louis. Several adventurers came to this section as hunters, but no one attempted to settle here until 1808, when Col. Benj. Cooper determined to make his home in this favored spot, but the territorial governor, Merriwether Lewis issued an order directing all frontier settlers to return since he could not afford them protection in case of an Indian war. In spite of all obstacles this section was not destined to be left forever under the reign of wild beasts and savage Indians. In those days all the territory including Saline, Cooper, and Pettis counties presented advantages for those seeking homes in rich land and healthful climate. Here the soil promised, with little labor, the most abundant harvests. The forests were filled with every variety of game, and streams with all kinds of fish.

During the war of 1812, the Indians took sides with the British against the United States, committing many depredations. After this war the Sac Indians were driven off, but often made hunting visits and were friendly towards the settlers.

When the first settlers came to this county wild game of all kinds was abundant, and so tame as not to be frightened by the approach of the white man. This game furnished the sturdy pioneers all their meat, and in fact, with all the provisions that they used, except their bread. At the advent of the white man, large numbers of deer, turkey, bear, elk, and other wild animals were very plentiful, and to use the expression of an old settler, " they were as plentiful as domestic stock in our pastures, and could be killed just as easy." The settlers spent most of their time in hunting and fishing, as it was of little use to plant crops to be destroyed by the wild animals.

The wild animais killed for food were not the only ones which filled

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.HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

the forests. Such terrible and blood-thirsty wild beast as the bear and the panther could be seen very often lying in wait for an unwary traveler who ventured near their lairs. Capt. W. K. Ramey, when a mere strip- ling, out with his gun and dog, discovered three bears snugly covered with grass and weeds, early in the month of March, ere bruin had arose from his hibernation to take in the spring days. At first the Captain could not perceive what the pile of old grass meant, but by thrusting in his hand he found the bears which allowed him to put his hands on them to see if they were alive. After finding life in them he fired at the largest one, which fell to the ground after a few brief struggles. This brought the others, a yearling and a cub, out in the contest, the dog kept them at bay till a second shot brought the yearling to the ground, and then the cub tried to make his escape by taking to the wood, but he was pursued and treed, and a third shot from the Captain's gun brought him down. This was the Captain's initiation in bear fighting. Billy O'Brien killed an elk near the present village of Dresden, said to have been the largest ever killed in the county. When the head was severed from the body and stood upon the points of the horns, Mr. O'Brien rode under with his gun on his shoulder without stooping. This head and set of horns remained on the prairie for several years and more than one horseman has rode under the prongs. This is vouched for by Capt. W. K. Ramey, who was present when this enormous elk was slain, and killed four elk that day himself. Mr. O'Brien died in this county, and in 1850 his family moved to California.

In 1818 Nimrod Jenkins and a few others settled near the Lamine river, in the northeastern part of the county, which then formed a part of Cooper county. Solomon Reed came from Crab Orchard, Ky., and set- tled in 1821 in what is now known as Pettis county. He was a genuine pioneer, all of his life having been spent on the outskirts of civilization. He was liberal in his dealings with the Indians, and always on familiar and friendly terms with them, and among them he bore the soubriquet of "Pumpkin," owing to the fact that they could always get from him a supply of that vegetable, of which they seemed to be very fond. One year later Jesse Swope, Silas Jenkins, and Sylvester Hall located on Black- water. Mr. Hall is now living a few miles north of Knobnoster, John- son county, Mo. Soon after this settlement came Reuben E. Gentry, Thomas Osborne, Wm. O'Bannon, James Wasson, James Ramey and others, and settled on Muddy creek. A German settlement was made on Lake creek in 1831.

A settlement was made on a spot near old Georgetown. Settlements were made on Muddy, and Flat creek. George Heard, Esq., built the first house in Georgetown, during the fall of 1835. He was the first teacher of the county.

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

Some of the first settlers were Thomas Wasson, John Dickerson, Judge Jas. Ramey, Capt. W. K. Ramey, Nathan A. Newbill, Jesse Swope, Hiram Swope, Abijah Hughes, Leonard Bouldin, Edward Speddin, Wm. C. Harrison, Henry C. Hall, Richard O'Bannon, Absalom McVey, Reuben E. Gentry, M. Emery, C. and W. Woods, Reece Hughes, J. M. Wooldridge, Andrew Forbes, Samuel Forbes, Maj. Wm. Gentry, Aaron Jenkins, Amos Fristo, Gen. Geo. R. Smith, John Montgomery, Mentor and Milton Thomson, Norah S. Rigg, Jesse Douglass, Aldea A. Glass- cock, Albion Robinson and many others some of which will appear elsewhere.

History is but the unrolled scroll of prophecy, setting forth and recount- ing not only what is, but giving us gleams of that which is soon to follow.

The early settlers who bore the brunt through all the dark and trying times of the development of this county shall never lose claims to. valor and noble deeds of charity. Whenever we read of the heroic and daring conduct of the hardy pioneer in procuring bread for loved ones, we can but reflect that his heart was more valiant than the soldiers who followed either a Napoleon or a Hannibal.

An interesting comparison might be drawn between the conveniences which now tend to make the life of the farmer comparatively an easy one, compared with the farming of those days. A brief description of the accommodations possessed by the first tillers of the soil will not be amiss. The children of such illustrious sires should draw their own comparisons, which should forever silence the voice of complaint, often heard among grumbling farmers.

The farming utensils of the early settlers were the bull-tongue colter, single shovel, and wooden mold-board plows. Then if a man owned a wooden board plow he was quite an aristocrat. With these simple imple- ments the plowman opened up his patches. These rude plows did good service and are awarded the honor of first stirring the soil of Pettis county.

A few old settlers have lived to see the rough and crooked paths of pioneer life change to that of ease and comfort, with grand-children around, enjoying a thousand fold of the luxuries which have resulted from former arduous toils. The iron-nerved pioneers stood bravely by their condition, through storm and calm, ever thinking of the good time com- ing,-

" When the forest should like a vision, And over the hillside and plain The orchard would spring in beauty, And the fields of golden grain."

The simple fare of the inhabitants was alike conducive to health and economy. When boarding houses were first established, ten cents was the bill for a meal. If the table was supplied with corn bread the boarders

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

were satisfied. Flour was very scarce, and an unknown commodity to many families. But few of the young people of to-day know any thing about making the delicious and digestible corn cake, the pride of our grandmother's days.

One of the peculiarities of pioneer life was a strange loneliness, which at first was a solitude of oppression to the young wife who had her happy home in the States. Months would pass often without seeing a face, out- side of the family circle. The isolation of those days has wrought such reticence upon some families, that generations cannot efface. The children of some families grew up quite rude. The girls of a few families were bashful and timid and in their homes perfect prudes. The hoiden was unknown. However, the better classes brought up their chidren with great vigilance, training them in home etiquette, domestic economy, and ·love for religion.

When the rights of the pioneers were threatened or invaded their timidity, or bashful nature vanished like a mist in a summer's sun, and their " muscles of iron and hearts of flint" were ready for any emergency. The hospitality of this people was unbounded. During the campmeeting seasons neighbors, for miles around, would gladly entertain those from a distance.

Rough and rude though the surroundings may have been, these people were none the less honest, sincere, hospitable and kind in their relations. It is true, as a rule, and of universal application, that there is a greater degree of real humanity among the pioneers of any country than when the country becomes older and richer. Here exists a high regard for the sexes, and moral courage was one of the noble qualities of the women, whose chastity was never questioned. If there was an absence of refine- ment, that absence was more than compensated by generous hearts and truthful lives. In fine the early settlers were themselves,-men and women,-bold, courageous, industrious, enterprising and energetic, abound- ing with an eternal hate for cowards and shame of every kind, and above all, falsehood and deception, cultivating a straightfoward line of policy and integrity, which seldom permits them to be imposed upon, or lead a life of treachery themselves.

yours Truly mobilson

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

CHAPTER III .- NATURAL HISTORY.

BY F. A. SAMPSON.

The Natural History of the County, including its Geological Formations; its Paleontol- ogy ; its Conchology ; its Botany, etc., etc., with Partial Lists of Distribution of Species.

The general natural history of the county will necessarily be very incompletely written at this time. There are not yet within its limits spe- cialists in all departments, and very little has been done here with this sub- ject by non-residents. Only partial lists can be made of the distribution of species, and to make a list of those which probably occur would be worse than useless. The facts that I shall state are to some extent from publications already made, but principally from personal observation and investigation. The question of establishing a Society of Natural His- tory for Central Missouri has been canvassed to some extent, and a gen- tleman of our city has expressed an intention of making a donation equiv- alent to some $3,000, if others would join with him in such amounts as would assure the permanency of the movement. Should this be done, more of our young folks would take an interest in and devote themselves, for a time at least, to some specialty, and one fact after another would be recorded, till at last the natural history of our county might be written with reasonable fullness. Central Missouri has so much that is not yet known, that a society which would encourage its members to patiently work, would be the means of creating interest and spreading knowledge of many things which are around us, but unnoticed or not understood. The amount of knowledge possessed by the people is too nearly like that of a man I met in an adjoining county, and of whom I asked if fossils, which I knew were abundant in the neighborhood, were near by. He answered that he thought they were, and then noticing a butterfly net I had in my had, he inquired if I caught them with the net. Meeting me a few hours after, his wife had the curiosity to stop me to learn what a fos- sil really was.

In order to make a proper report of the geology of the county, personal visits to its different parts would be necessary, and these cannot at present be made. Of several of the formations I cannot speak with confidence; this is especially so of those which do not outcrop close to Sedalia.

The fossils of the Chouteau limestone are not so well known as of other formations, and many new species from it will yet be described. There is opportunity for much work and study with these. The same is true of other subjects embraced in this paper, as will be seen from the incomplete- ness of the subjects as now presented.

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY.

Within the limits of the county are found formations, extending from the Lower Silurian to the most recent.

Quaternary .- Of the Quaternary period, as described by Prof. Swallow in his Geology of Missouri, there is in the county no Bottom Prairie; and while the Bluff is most abundant along the rivers, capping all the bluffs of the Missouri from Ft. Union to its mouth, and those of the Mississippi from Dubuque to the mouth of the Ohio, it also forms the upper stratum beneath the soil of all the high lands, both timber and prairie, of all the counties north of the Osage and Missouri.

The Drift is immediately under the Bluff, and is of but small thickness in the county. A few granite boulders belonging to this formation occur in the north part of the county, which is on the extreme southern line of the drift formation, and about 400 miles from the nearest point from which the granite boulders could have been obtained. The alluvium is found all over the county, and in it have been found

MASTODON REMAINS.

During the fall of 1879, Mr. R. A. Blair, of Sedalia, obtained from the Mosby farm, seven miles southeast from Sedalia, the remains of several mastodons. This animal is by the geologist considered modern, but the time when it became extinct is uncertain, though the probability is that it was before the present or historical period. Dr. Koch claimed to have found evidence that man was contemporary with it, but Prof. Dana shows that this evidence is altogether untrustworthy. The Sedalia remains were found in a spring marsh, within five feet of the surface. No shells were thrown out in the excavation; acorns and hickory nuts were close to the bones, but may have been there only a few years. The same is true of two or three Indian stone implements, one of which Mr. Blair thinks was lying under a part of the mastodon bones. This cannot, however, be used as an argument that they were deposited there before the mastodons came to that place to drink, and were mired down and unable to get out again. Until forty years ago the place around this spring was a marsh, and any small, heavy substance dropped there would soon sink to the bot- tom. In this case many wagon loads of rock were piled around a gum tree to make solid ground about the spring, and the pressure of these rocks would tend to force other stones under them still lower. While I would not say that these remains were not of animals contemporary with man, there certainly was no evidence found that they were so.

Conant, in his " Foot-Prints of Vanished Races," gives a fanciful picture of man in the age of the mammoth and great bear, but if he had sufficient data of man in Europe from which to make it, he at least did not have similar proofs of man and the mastodon in America.

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

Mastodon remains have been found in all parts of the world except Africa. In 1801, a skeleton almost complete was dug up in Orange county, New York; that in the Cambridge museum was obtained in New Jersey; that in the Boston museum, known as the Warren mastodon, at Newberg, New York, in a situation similar to the one at Sedalia; that in the New York State Museum at Cohoes, New York, and that in the Peabody Museum of Yale College in Orange county, New York.

In Indiana thirty specimens have been found, always in marshes or other miry places, and more or less decayed. About 1840 Dr. Kock procured a large collection of bones from the banks of the Missouri river, and from these Prof. Owen constructed a nearly complete skeleton, which is now set up in the British museum. Specimens have been found at three places in this county, though at two of these only a single tooth at each. At the Mosby place there were some half dozen individuals, and Mr. Blair's collection of bones and especially of teeth is large and fine, including all sizes. They probably belonged to Mostodon giganteus, Cuvier, the most common of all the species.

Carboniferous-Coal Measures .- The southern and eastern boundary of the Lower Coal Measures as given by Prof. Broadhead, enters the State in Barton county, runs thence through Vernon and St. Clair counties to eight miles south of Clinton in Henry county, thence northeast to the Henry county line, thence northwardly through Pettis county on a line which has not been exactly laid down, but it probably includes the western fourth of the county. Half way between Dresden and Lamonte are the Newport and Westlake coal banks, the two shafts being close together and leading to the same bed. The coal is about fifteen feet below the foot of the hill on which the Newport shaft is sunk, and is nearly two and one-half feet in thickness. The following is the result of analyses made by direction of the State Geologist:

Water

Newport's. 3.95

Westlake's

4.47

Volatile

33.10

39.19

Fixed Carbon

46.26

51.73

Ash

16.69

4.61

Color of ash

Red

Gray

Specific gravity

1.347

1.319

Sulphur

.4.406

2.67

In the northwest part of the county, two shafts have been sunk to coal, which varies from eighteen inches to three feet in thickness. It is but little above the Sub-carboniferous and fifty feet below the surface. It is stated that Chætetes milleporaccus, Chonetes mesoloba, Productus splen- dens, and Spirifer lineatus, have been found associated in no stratum except a hydraulic limestone belonging to the Lower Coal Series, so that

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

these may be a sure guide in exploring this part of the coal measures. The first of these fossils has always been considered characteristic of and confined to the Coal Measures, but specimens that have been identified as belonging to it have been found at Sedalia associated with Chouteau fossils, and whether it belongs in that formation, or whether the Coal Measures were eroded from that part of the country where it is found, I am not satisfied. Were it not that the specimens here are always small and apparently somewhat worn I would incline strongly to the former.

In various parts of the State there are remarkable deposits of coal whose true position is not well understood. Sometimes the cannel and bituminous are found in the same bed. The coal is often of great thick- ness, and is found inravines and cavities of denudation in rocks of different ages older than the coal measures. In the northeast part of the county a bed of coal nearly thirty feet in thickness occurs and is probably in a ravine in the Burlington limestone, or perhaps the same as one west of Sedalia, which is in the Chouteau.

Chester Group .- What was formerly known in our geology as Fer- ruginous Sandstone is now determined to be a part of the Chester group. It occurs immediately under the coal measures and outcrops along its eastern limit. It is destitute of fossils, and in this county is a coarse, whit- ish sandstone. It is the upper formation of the Sub-carboniferous.

Burlington Group .- With the exception of the above, the only epoch of the Sub-carboniferous that we have in the county, is the Burlington or Encrinital.

Prof. Swallow in his report states that the Archimedes limestone, or as it is now generally known, the Keokuk, occurs in the county, though I have never found it. The Burlington outcrops in various places in the north half of the county, but it is nowhere of great thickness. Some beds are made up almost entirely of plates and joints of crinoideans, and while the bodies of crinoids are not as plenty as at Burlington, Iowa, fine specimens are sometimes found, including a number of new species. The most of the beds are so solid that specimens can be obtained from them only when they happen to be but partly imbedded on the surface; yet several years collecting by the writer and Mr. R. A. Blair have given to each collection many fine and valuable crinoids, that of the writer having fifty species from the limestone, and forty species from the chert beds. In the two quarries next to the city on the north, limestone of this formation is found of irregular thickness, and not covering the entire surface. In each of these quarries it rests immediately upon the Chouteau, and no where exceeds four feet in thickness.

At Georgetown the same bed crops out; also at the railroad cuts beyond Georgetown and beyond the bridge across the Muddy, at which latter place this formation is not more than fifteen feet thick.

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

Prof. Broadhead made the following section on the Little Muddy north of Dresden:

No. 1 .- 10 feet cherty slope.

No. 2 .- 29 feet mostly coarse gray, shelly crinoidal limestone.

No. 3 .- 9 feet thick, beds of gray limestone, inclining to buff.

No. 4 .- 8 feet Chouteau limestone.

And the following in the railroad cut close to Georgetown:

No. 1 .- Soil.

No. 2 .- Chert, mostly irregularly arranged, and much of it tumbled in with red clay.

No. 3 .- 8 feet yellowish shaly sandstone, with chert concretions.

No. 4 .- 4 feet gray limestone, with many crinoid stems, and interstratified with red clay.

No. 5 .- 3 feet rough concretionary chert bed with buff shaly partings; is interstratified with brown limestone, which contains chert concretions. No. 6 .- Coarse crystalline bluish-gray limestone with Zaphrentis centralis, Orthis swallovi, O. mitchellini, O. mitchellini var burlingtonensis, Spirifer grimesi, etc.

In the cut north of the railroad bridge on the Muddy, the strata are much broken, there being on the same level beds of heavy spar or sulphate of barytes, gray limestone, green clay, red clay with chert, tumbled limestone and heavy bedded limestone with chert. Crinoids are abundant. Hadrophyllum glans, and other corals also occur. A few rods north of this the Chouteau limestone appears in the bed of the rail- road track.

Over the Burlington limestone are chert beds which have not been observed in place. The large variety of crinoids and of other fossils agreeing with those found in the limestone, prove to what formation they belong. The fossils in the chert are hard to get out in perfect specimens. They are generally casts, and sometimes show internal structure, as for instance the spires of the spirifer and the structural parts of crinoids. There is a larger variety of fossils in the chert than in the limestone beds.

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The History of Pettis County, Missouri, including an authentic history of Sedalia, other towns and townships, together with biographical sketches, Part 25

Author: Demuth, I. MacDonald Publication date: 1882] Publisher: [n.p. Number of Pages: 1154

Author: Demuth, I. MacDonald
Publication date: 1882]
Publisher: [n.p.
Number of Pages: 1154