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 27
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Dear Sir :- I am much obliged to you for kindly informing me of the case of the goose. It seems to be a remarkable case of inheritance of effects of injury, and as such cases are very rare, it would be quite worth while to have the facts carefully examined. If you could obtain a wing, and would send it to me, I should be much obliged. The wing might be cut off at the joint with the body, and dried with feathers on, before a hot fire. To make the case of more value, it would be very advisable to ascertain whether the goose had any offspring before the injury, and if so, whether they were normal, and not malformed in any way.
Dear sir, yours faithfully, CHARLES DARWIN.
Mr. Blair then sent a wing of one of the geese, and received the follow- ing answer:
Dear Sir :- You will think that I have been very neglectful in not hav- ing sooner thanked you for the wing of the goose, the photograph, and your last interesting letter; but I thought it best to wait until receiving Prof. Flower's report, and you will see by the enclosed the cause of his delay. If you are willing to take the trouble to get your interesting case thoroughly investigated, it will be necessary to procure from the owner the wings of half a dozen birds, some of them quite young; and, if possi- ble, the old one which had his wing broken. They ought to be sent in spirits, and they had better be addressed to Prof. Flower, Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, and I had better be informed when they are dispatched. Should you be inclined to take so much trou- ble, I hope you will allow me to say that I should be very glad to pay for the geese, and for the several other contingent expenses. Your first letter and Prof. Flower's had better be returned to me hereafter. There is one other point which ought, if possible, to be ascertained, viz: when the old gander had his wing broken, was it wounded so that blood was dis- charged? If wounded, did the wound suppurate? Did the wing heal quickly or slowly? These are important points in relation to the inherit-
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.
ance of mutilations. Pray accept my best thanks for your kindness, and I remain, Dear Sir, Yours faithfully,
CHARLES DARWIN.
A number of wings were then sent to Dr. Flower, who made a report to Mr. Darwin, in which he says:
" The bones, muscles, and ligaments seem quite normal, except for this twisting on their axis, which exactly corresponds, as I mentioned before, to talipes or club foot in man. The wings of the very little goslings being dried and very small could not be examined with any good result, but the most curious and unsatisfactory part of the whole thing is that the wing of the old gander, the supposed fors et origo of all the the mischief, is per- fectly normal, and presents no trace of ever having been injured in any way discoverable after the closest examination. It has certainly never been broken or dislocated, though, of course, we cannot be sure whether it may not have had a partial twist from which it has now recovered."
With this letter and with the full and detailed report of Dr. Flower's assistant, Mr. Darwin wrote as follows:
Dear Sir :- Professor Flower has suffered from a long illness, and this has caused much delay in the examination of the wings of the geese. But I received yesterday his report and letter which I inclose, as you may like to see them. I fear that there is no connection between the deformity and the injury. The owner when he saw several goslings thus deformed, a not uncommon form of quasi inheritance, remembered the accident, and naturally attributed the deformity to this cause. It has been proba- bly a case of "post hoc" and not "propter hoc". I grieve that you should have expended so much time, trouble and great kindness in vain. As for myself I am well accustomed in my experimental work to get definite results but once in three or four times, and thus alone can science prosper. With my renewed thanks, I remain Dear Sir, yours faithfully,
CHARLES DARWIN.
While the thorough investigation this case received, showed it was not what at first supposed, it is still an interesting one, especially in view of Mr. Darwin's connection with it. On the other hand it does not seem to carry out the theory of Darwin that "only those variations which are in some way profitable will be preserved or naturally selected," as this pecul- iarity is one which is a positive disadvantage, and while those thus affected are not the "fittest, " they still "survive."
ENTOMOLOGY.
The late Mr. - Hayhurst made extensive collections in Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, but after his death his collection was taken from the county and is probably now scattered. The writer has a few hundred species of colleoptera taken around Sedalia, and this is now the only approach to a collection in the county.
But few insects have either regular or occasional migratory habits, but in different countries there have been frequent occurrances of swarms of
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.
butterflies. So far as they have been traced in this country they have proven to be of the genus Daaiis archippus or the Archippus butterfly. In the latter part of September, 1878, a swarm of many thousands of them settled down in the yard of Col. A. D. Jaynes in Sedalia, and remained for some days almost covering the trees upon which they rested.
For some years our State had the office of Entomologist, and Prof. C. V. Riley published nine annual reports, which have much of interest to farmers and to entomologists. The state honored itself in producing a series of reports more extensive than any other, and the general govern- ment has supplemented its work by issuing a full index of the set.
BOTANY.
More of our residents have made a study of this branch than of any other, as the subject has been taught in our public schools. Complete lists have not, however, been made out, and I will give only that of the trees and shrubs:
Prunus serotina, wild black cherry.
Pirus coronoria, crabapple.
Virburnum prunifolium, black haw.
Crategus cocciuca, hawthorn.
Asimina triloba, papaw.
Diospyros virginiana, persimmon.
Prunus americana, red plum.
Rubus canadensis, blackberry,
Ribes -, currant.
Sambucus canadensis, elderberry.
Morus rubra, mulberry.
Rubus occidentalis, raspberry.
Amelanchier canadensis, service berry.
Vitis æstivalis, summer grape.
Vitis cordifolia, frost grape. Coryhes americana, hazel. Carya alba, common hickory.
Carya sulcata, thick shell hickory.
Carya porcina, pignut hickory. Juglans nigra, blackwalnut. Juglans cinerea, butternut.
Quercus alba, white oak. Quercus prinus, chestnut oak.
Quercus rubria, red oak.
Quercus stellata, post oak.
Quercus tinctoria, black oak.
Quercus palustris, pin oak.
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.
Quercus heterophylla, Bartram's oak. Aesulus glabra, buckeye.
Gymnocladus canadensis, coffee tree. Celtis occidentolis, hackberry.
Sassafras officinale, sassafras.
Rhus typhina, sumac. Zanthoxylum clava-herculia, prickly ash. Cornus florida, dog wood.
Acer saccharinum, sugar tree.
Acer dasycarpum, white maple.
Fraxinus americana, white ash.
Populus monilifera. cottonwood.
Negundo aceroides, box elder.
Elmus americana, elm. Elmus fulva, slippery elm.
· Carpinus caroliniana, ironwood.
Tilia americana, bass wood. Gleditschia triacanthos, honey locust. Platanus occidentalis, sycamore. Salix nigra, willow. Rosa setigera, prairie rose. Cercis canadensis, red bud.
Symphoricarpus vulgaris, coral berry.
Not having sufficient data on other subjects I will not attempt to notice them, but hope that it will not be long till our growing and enterprising city will have many who will devote themselves to local investigations, and I am glad to know that the number of such persons is constantly increasing.
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.
CHAPTER IV .- ORGANIZATION.
Date of Organization-Treastise on County and Other Corporations-The Act Making Pettis County -- Its Boundaries -- Named for Hon. Spencer Pettis -- The Second Act -- Name of Commissioners to Locate County Seat -- The Law making St. Helena the County Seat-The First Land Entry -- First Deed Recorded-First Mortgage -- Statutes of 1835 Defining County Boundaries-Area of County-Present Boundaries-The County Half a Century Old-Organization of Town of Georgetown-Organization of Schools-County Buildings-Township Organization-Description and Names of Townships.
Pettis county was organized on the 26th day of January, 1833, by sev- erances effected from the counties of Saline and Cooper.
Before proceeding to give the details of this organization, and formally presenting to the reader the actors who carried into effect the will of the people, it will be well to consider the county system and its operations in general. No person, till he has investigated the subject, is aware of the unity which pervades the plan or the principles of law and government in- volved. Pettis county is no exception to the rule, and what applies to county organization throughout the world, is pertinent more or less to one whose history we trace on these pages. Just as a student of law can bet- ter understand the statutes and codes of the youthful states of the Ameri- can Union, by a careful study of the ancient common law of England and civil law of Rome, so he can with greater pleasure and profit, follow the practical workings of county affairs, having first obtained a clear idea of what such an organization has been and is still considered to be.
Counties are quasi corporations. The Latin word quasi signifies as if, or almost. A county then is almost a corporation, or has certain features of a corporation. A corporation in the full acceptation of the term, is a body formed and authorized by law to act as a single person, and endowed with perpetual succession, as an expressly chartered city government, a bank or railroad company. Counties, townships, parishes, school districts, and some other political divisions of a county, areranked as quasi corpora- tions.
In Great Britain and most of her colonies, a county is a subdivision of territory corresponding to a province of Prussia, or a department of France. In the American Union, except Louisiana, which is divided into parishes, counties are divisions next in size and importance to states. This division, in England, is synonymous with the shire, but not so in Ireland; this di- vision is said to have originated in England, under the reign of the ancient Saxon kings, though popularly attributed to Alfred the Great. England and Wales contain fifty-two counties, Scotland thirty-three, and Ireland thirty-two. The principal officers of a county in England are a lord lieu- tenant, a keeper of the rolls, a sheriff, a coroner, a receiver of general
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.
taxes, justices of the peace, an under sheriff, and a clerk of the peace. The lord lieutenant has command of the militia of the county, the keeper of the rolls, or custos retulorum, is custodian of the archives. The other officers perform such duties as are naturally indicated in their titles. The United States for local government and other porposes are divided into counties, townships, school-districts, and municipal corporations. In all the counties in the several states and territories, including the parishes of Louisiana, there are officers who superintend the financial affairs, a court of inferior jurisdiction, and, at stated times, the circuit court, or supreme court. As the state is subordinate to, and a part of the federal government, so the county is a part of the state, but possessing only such rights as are dele- gated to it by the statutory enactments.
The people in each local division have entire control over the subjects in which they only are interested; and the whole works together like an extensive system of machinery, wheel fitted to wheel. There is very little opportunity for the exercise of arbitrary power, from the lowest to the highest. Executive power may be changed by election or impeachment, if the officers are recreant to duty, or do not give satisfaction, and there are constitutional provisions for making improvements if the people think they should be made. Thus our country is secured against serious and protracted discontents for which there is no remedial law as in some coun- tries, where the internal disturbances interrupt progress, and destroy the resources of the nation. The value of any office, from that of a school director to county judge, governor, or president, is determined by the re- lation it bears to the public welfare; and when, in the opinion of the peo- ple, it ceases to be useful, there are means of laying it aside according to law. This is true democracy.
The powers and rights of counties go no further than defined by statute, though it is provided that each is a body corporate with capacity to sue and be sued, to purchase and hold land within its own limits, and for the use of its inhabitants, subject to the power of the general assembly over the same, to make such contracts, and purchase and hold real estate and personal property, and to make such orders and regulations for the dis- position of such property as may be deemed conducive to the best interests of the people.
When the general assembly deemed it necessary, or to the interest of the people to organize a new county, the first was to pass an act defining the boundaries and assigning a name to the new political division.
The citizens living in the portions of Saline and Cooper counties, from which Pettis county was formed, were set off by the following act:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows :
All that portion of territory, lying and being south of Saline county proper, in the State of Misseuri, and which has heretofore been attached
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.
to Saline county for all civil and military purposes, and also a part of the territory now composing the counties of Cooper and Saline, included within the following boundaries, to-wit: Beginning on the range line dividing ranges twenty-three and twenty-four, (the line now dividing Saline and Lafayette counties), at the northwest corner of section nine- teen, in township forty-eight; thence running due east with said section line, to the range line between ranges nineteen and twenty; thence due south with said range line, to the middle of the main channel of the river Osage; thence up said river Osage, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the southeast corner of Lafayette county; thence due north, with the range line dividing Saline and Lafayette counties to the begin- ning, be, and the same is hereby declared a separate and distinct county, to be known and called by the name of Pettis county.
The courts to be holden in said county, shall be held at the house of James Ramey, until the tribunal transacting county business for said county shall fix a temporary seat of justice for said county; and the county courts to be holden in said county, shall be held on the third Mon- days in February, May, August and November.
It shall be the duty of the governor, so soon as it shall be convenient after the passage of this act, to appoint judges of the county court for the said county, who shall hold their offices until the next general election in eighteen hundred and thirty-four, and until their successors be duly elected and qualified.
All taxes now due the counties of Saline and Cooper, by citizens resid- ing in the county of Pettis, shall be collected and paid to said counties of Saline and Cooper, in all respects, as if this act had not passed.
This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. January 26, 1833.
At this time the name of Hon. Spencer Pettis, who served the people as a member of congress when Missouri was but one congressional dis- trict, was fresh in the memory of the friends of this new county, hence its name.
After the county was organized, the seat of justice was temporarily kept at St. Helena, which commonly bore the name of Pin Hook, till 1837.
The following is an act in regard to the southern boundary of Pettis county, and selecting commissioners to locate the seat of justice:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as fol- lows:
The following shall be, and is hereby established as the permanent southern boundary of Pettis county: Beginning on the range line dividing ranges twenty-three and twenty-four, the line now dividing Lafayette and Pettis counties, at the southwest corner of township forty-four; thence due east with said township line to the eastern boundary of Pettis county.
Joseph S. Anderson, of Cooper county, John Stapp, of Lafayette county, and John S. Rucker, of Howard county, be and they are hereby appointed, commissioners to select and locate a site for the permanent seat of justice within and for the county of Pettis: provided, however, the said commis-
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.
sioners shall select and locate said site within three and a half miles of the geographical center of the said county of Pettis.
The said commissioners shall meet at St. Helena, in the said county of Pettis, on the first Monday of March next, for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the second section of this act; and before entering upon the duties hereby required, shall severally take an oath, as is required by the third section of an act, entitled an act to provide for organizing counties hereafter established, approved January 14th, 1825; and the said commissioners, circuit and county courts, shall perform all the duties, and be governed in all cases by the provisions of the above recited act; and in case vacancies should occur, by death, resignation or otherwise, of said commissioners, the vacancy shall be filled agreeably to the provisions of the said act.
The temporary seat of justice for Pettis county shall remain at St. Helena, until the permanent seat of justice is located, and a house provided suitable to hold court. December 3, 1834.
Owing to the fact that the county records containing the buisness trans- actions of the county courts for the first few years of the county's history having been destroyed or carried away, the historian must seek the most reliable source outside of the missing books.
Daniel Klein made the first government entry in the county, July 16, 1823. The first deed was put on record June 14th, 1833, from Middleton Anderson to Andrew Anderson. The first mortgage is dated July 9, 1834, and was made by E. B. Rathburn to George Gill. Qualified office seekers were hard to find here in the organization of the county.
In the statutes of Missouri, approved February 20, 1835, defining county boundaries, the following appears:
Pettis: beginning at the southwest corner of Saline county; thence east to the range line between nineteen and twenty; thence south to the line between townships forty-three and forty-four; thence north to the begin- ning.
Since then the boundary lines have been changed. Its greatest width is twenty-four miles, and its greatest length twenty-nine miles, containing 672 square miles, or an area of 430,080 acre. Since the boundaries were · originally fixed, there has been an addition of twenty-four sections from townships 4 and 3, in ranges 22 and 23. This is on the southern end of the county. Now the county begins in the northwest corner of section 19, township 48, range 23, and extends east on township line to the northeast corner of section 24, township 48, range 20, thence south on the range line to the southeast corner of section 36, township 44, range 20, thence west on the township line to the southwest corner of section 31, township 44, range 21, thence south on range line to the southeast corner of section 12, township 43, range 22, thence west on township line to the southwest corner of section 7, township 43, range 23, thence north to the place of beginning.
As will be noted elsewhere elaborately, this county has passed through
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.
many changes. However, it has been fortunate enough to retain its good reputation and hold itself faithful for every emergency during the half a century through which it passed. The turmoils of internecine war did not blast this corporation, neither was it reluctant to duty, for during that struggle, those who could, assisted in holding together the common ties and interests of a county that citizens mutually hold sacred in self-defence and the protection of home and property. The fruits of this they now enjoy.
Heath's Creek.
Blackwater.
Mt. Sterling No. 1.
Elk Fork.
Bowling Green.
Mt. Sterling No. 2.
Washington No. 1.
Flat Creek No. 1. Flat Creek No. 2.
Washington No. 2.
THIS MAP INDICATES THE VOTING PRECINCTS IN 1860.
The town of Georgetown was incorporated by an act of the General Assembly of Missouri, January 4th, 1860. The first board of councilmen was organized with the following appointed members: John H. Griffin, Wilkins Watson, Thomas E. Staples, John Hancock, Elias Bixby, B. F. Hughes, and James H. Brown, who were to hold their office till their suc- cessors were elected and qualified.
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.
This town continued to grow from the time it was laid off as the county seat in 1837, up to the breaking out of the war in 1861. Three chartered seminaries existed here with good success at different times. The county seat was changed to Sedalia in 1865, and since that time Sedalia has con- tinued to be the seat of justice of Pettis county. St. Helena remained the county seat until 1837, when Georgetown succeeded to the honor, and continued so till Sedalia took it away. Clifton Wood was the first mer- chant of Georgetown, and has been identified with Pettis county much of his time since.
The first school district was organized November 6th, 1838, by the following order of court:
There shall be established in congressional township No. forty-six of range twenty-one in Pettis county, a board of trustees, whose duty it shall be to superintend all schools which are or may be established in said con- gressional township, according to law. For the present there shall be established in said township one school district, which shall be known by the name and style of Washington School District No. one. William I. Westerfield, Oswald Kidd and Willis P. Ellis, are appointed by this court a board of trustees of said Washington School District No. one, and such other districts as may hereafter be established by law, to continue in office until the legal termination of their appointments.
At this date public schools were initiated, and the seeds of popular education planted.
The following is an order of court under date May 6th, 1839, organiz- ing a township for school purposes:
Congressional township forty-five of range twenty-three is incorporated by the name and style of Christian School District. Thomas Brooks, Jesse Pemberton, and George W. Glass, having each contributed one dollar for school purposes in said school district, are appointed trustees of said district.
This county has always given marked attention to her educational interests. Prior to the organization of school districts, schools were taught in families as private institutions. From the organization of the first school of the county, others have followed until the present condition of the cause of education in Pettis county is indeed very good. This speaks well for the people and their county officers. Much depends on selecting men qualified to organize and successfully care for schools.
As will be seen from the following quotations from the Circuit Court records, there was but little business at first:
Pettis Circuit Court, Fuly Term, 1833, State of Missouri, to wit :
At a circuit court begun and held at Pettis court house within and for the county of Pettis, on the second Wednesday of July, it being the Sth day of said month, in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred thirty-three:
Were present-the Hon. John F. Ryland, Judge of said court; Aaron Jenkins, Sheriff, and Amos Fisher, Clerk.
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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.
The sheriff returned the venire issued to the present term, with a panel of jurors summoned, to wit:
Anthony Fisher, Isaac Hedrick, John O'Baunon, Middleton Anderson, Henry Anderson, Athel Wolf, Samuel Read, Oliver L. Q. Brown, Manan Duran, Levi Oolneal, Hugh M. Doneghe, Daniel Lynn, George Kelly, John Brown, Jolly S. Parish, Carvin Carpenter, Clinton Young, Alfred Brock, Henry Small. James Scott, Thomas Martin.
The grand jury having received their charge from the court retired, and soon returned, having nothing to present, were discharged. James H. Birch and Henderson Young, two licensed attorneys, were enrolled as such by the clerk.
The following appears on the record of this day's business:
WILLIAM H. HEAD, vs. Appeal from justice court. -
JAME WILLIAMS.
Dismissed at the request of the parties.
The following is the verbatim at literatim of the record of this session of circuit court in the year 1833:
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