The History of Pettis County, Missouri, including an authentic history of Sedalia, other towns and townships, together with biographical sketches, Part 38

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 38

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put it into shocks sixteen hills square. For this work a corn-cutter was paid from seven to ten cents a shock. This custom prevails now in some localities.

The soils of Pettis county are divided into three distinct classes, com- monly known as limestone soil, sandy soil, and mulatto clay. The prairie land differs from the wood land mostly in its productions. The greater portion of the prairie lands of the county have a rich, black alluvial, strong in sediment of lime, very friable, easily handled, and form a soil of eighteen to thirty inches in thickness. About five-sixths of the land of the county is prairie. The timber soils along the bluffs and hillsides are principally light and underlaid with fine deposits of limestone, varying in color, depth and consistency, while the soils of the bottoms and valleys are composed of dark alluvial deposits of a very productive nature. The bottoms of the timber land are very valuable when once in cultivation. They are practically inexhaustible, and, like the black alluvial of the upland prairies, yield large crops of corn, wheat, grasses, vegetables, and in fact produce anything that grows in this latitude. The more con sistent oak, hickory and sassafras upland soils are generally of a reddish or grayish hue, rich in lime, magnesia, humus, and other fine productive elements, and are among the best tobacco and fruit soils of the state. The lighter and thinner jack oak soils, which cover but a minimum of the woodlands, are of little value except pasturage, yielding annually a fine undergrowth of tall succulent wild grasses, well suited for sheep and goats. The sub-soils of the prairies, as well as the better white oak and hickory soils, are very largely made of silicious clays and marls, deep and very rich, and wherever thrown up to the influence of the sun and air, readily disintegrate to the softness of ashes, and produce a good growth of vegetation. These lands are absolutely imperishable. With such valuable constitutents as silica, lime, magnesia carbonate, lime phos- phate, alumina, and other organic matter, a basis of agricultural wealth is formed for the deep and more thorough cultivators of the soil in the future, in comparison with which the farmer's artificial fertilizers are hardly worthy of mention. These surface and sub-soils give together the widest known range of production in American agronomy.

The size of farms vary according to the wealth and ability to carry on the farm. It is the opinion of many of the best farmers of this age that about one-half of the agricultural lands are poorly cultivated, on account of many farmers having charge of more land than they are able to man- age. Pettis county has a few farms containing upwards of 600 acres, and very many 500 acres; however, the average farms are about 300 acres in area. Corn and grasses appear to be the most profitable growth of the farm. Major Wm. Gentry and Capt. Sam'l Shanks are among the large

HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

WITTENBERG & SORBER ST.LOUIS=

COTTAGE.

COLLEGE FARM HOUSE.

STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FARM, COLUMBIA, MISSOURI.

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

successful pioneer farmers who have always taken a deep interest in the agricultural interests of their county.

Modern farming is pleasant in contrast with the drudgery of the pioneer farming of half a century ago. Many are the new inventions of farming machinery since then. The marker was a step ahead of laying off one furrow at a time. The double shovel has superseded the single shovel. Instead of the wooden mold-board we have polished turning plows. From the wooden harrow came the iron harrow, and now we have the revolv- ng steel harrows. The first prairie plow was a heavy, clumsy imple- ment, requiring four to six yoke of oxen to draw it; now in its place the riding plow with three horses does the work. Corn is cultivated by riding plows. The wheat is harvested by a reaper run by steam, instead of the old sickle in hand. Wheat is threshed by steam. In addition to all this, steam and horse-power threshers, reapers, mowers, corn-crushers, stalk-cutters, self-binders, seed-drills, gang-plows, sulky-rakes, patent harrows and cultivators, rollers, corn-droppers, clover-hullers, and riding plows are used extensively in this county. Prior to the war of 1861, but few farmers kept hired hands; since then honest, skilled farm hands are in demand and get good wages, varying from ten to twenty dollars and board per month; without board, fifteen to thirty dollars per month. It s found that the better they are educated in economy and cultivated in mind the better it is for the farmer. A rude, ignorant, profane, and wasteful hand on the farm is worse that no hand. The intelligent farmer who expects to keep his family in the path of moral rectitude will shun the society of the profane hand and keep him from his premises.

Agricultural societies are organizations often chartered by the state for the dissemination of knowledge among the agricultural classes and the promotion and encouragement of better methods and appliances. A brief historical sketch of agricultural societies would hardly be out of place here,and doubtless will be read with pleasure and profit by many.

It is generally believed that Elkana Watson, the author of a work en- titled, " The History of Agricultural Societies," is the originator and founder of these institutions in America, dating the commencement as far back as 1816, about a year after the ratification by the United States of the treaty of Ghent, which ended the war of 1812. The first agricultural society was the " Albany County Society," of New York, which dates back over a period of about sixty-seven years. The history of all fairs are about the same as far as object and general exhibition, but as the times change the manner of presentations change. One thing is noticeable in this age, and that is, the elements that contributed to successful fairs in former times fail to produce like results to-day. Good fairs are unmis- takable evidences of prosperity; however, some fine agricultural sections have done quite well without any organization. When the farmers of any

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county are thoroughly organized in their business, it is a standing adver- tisement of thrift and enterprise. The man must be a poor and spiritless person that can pass through the fair grounds, past the stalls filled with stock, which has taken generations of scientific selection to produce, with- out being animated with a desire to profit from what he sees. If a man cannot be an exhibitor, he can be a spectator and get ideas. One good idea will pay all expenses of coming to the fair, and but few ideas until you are largely in debt to the fair society for knowledge. The sociality and the mutual feeling of farmers and stock-raisers is of some worth to the citizens of the county .

In 1857 an agricultural and mechanical association was organized. The fair association was an immense success, participated in by many of the county and surrounding counties. Col. Thos. F. Houston was president, and Hon. Jno. F. Phillips, secretary, and Maj. Wm. Gentry, marshal. John Born was fiddler, who it is said never missed a fair for seventy years. The old fair grounds were in Maj. Wm. Gentry's pasture. The following year (1858,) Col. Jno. F. Phillips, then a young attorney, made the agri- cultural speech. Among those who took a deep interest in county fairs, we mention the narnes of John Sneed, Col. Joe. Higgins, Sam'l Brown, Sam'l and Hawk Scott, George Anderson, C. E. Bouldin, and many others of the county.

The first annual exposition of the Sedalia Industrial and Art Exposition Association, was opened September 7, 1880, and continued five days. This association was permanently organized and incorporated under the laws of the state with a large paid up capital, and now has no debts. The object of this association is to make the exposition an exponent of the in- dustrial and agricultural interests of Missouri, and to promote the de- velopment of the fine and useful arts in Pettis and surrounding counties. The fair and exposition grounds consist of fifty acres of beautiful land, lying within the city limits of Sedalia. During the year 1880 the grounds were converted into a beautiful park, and leased to Sicher Brothers. The grounds have a one and one-half miles race in full view of the spectators' stand, where upwards of 5000 people can be seated. The grounds con- tain a floral and textile hall, machinery hall, stables, pens, well supplied with every needed convenience. A beautiful artificial lake supplies the grounds with water by pumps and wind-mills. Telephone wires extend from the fair grounds to all parts of the city, and six to ten miles in the rural districts to some of the leading stock raisers. Although the methods of conducting fairs have somewhat changed since the ante-bellum days, nevertheless, good order and success have crowned the expositions of late years.

Albert Parker was president and J. H. Bothwell secretary of the first

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

Sedalia Exposition for 1880 and also for 1881. The second exposition (1881) was opened September 20, and continued five days with a large attendance and good success.

At the second annual fair held in the county about 1858, the following persons competed for premiums on corn :

Andrew Haggard exhibited 102 bushels raised on one acre; Maj. Wm. Gentry 116 bushels raised on one acre, and Geo. S. Priest 135 bushels and one peck raised on one acre. These figures of the magnificent production of corn by the early settlers are vouched for by some of the best men of the county who were present at the fair, one of whom took a part in the competition.

FIRST FAIR .- The following is an order of court as presented by Col. Thomas F. Houston, one of the leading farmers of the county, and pres- ent representative in the state legislature, March 2, 1857:

Thomas F. Houston presented of himself and fifty others, free holders of Pettis county, expressive of their desire to be incorporated for the pur- pose of promoting improvements in agriculture, manufactures, and the raising of stock. And the court being satisfied that the said petitioners are freeholders of the state. It is therefore ordered and declared that the said petitioners be incorporated as a body politic and corporate by the name and style of the "Pettis County Agricultural and Mechanical Asso- ciation," which is ordered to be certified.

This was the beginning of agricultural societies. In 187 2 the "Grange" was organized, and by 1875 the order was quite strong in the county.

CHAPTER XII .- HORTICULTURE.

Introduction-Adaptability of Different Kinds of Fruits to Pettis County-Maj. Gentry's Orchard-Names of Horticulturalists-The Nursery of Phil. Pfeiffer and J. C. Thompson-The Advancement of Gardening.

" The blossoms and leaves in plenty From the apple tree fall each day ; The merry breezes approach them, And with them merrily play."

Horticultura is a Latin word which means garden culture. Hortus, a garden, and cultura, culture. The subject virtually includes the cultiva- tion of everything that is hortensial. The early settlers paid but little attention to this subject of agronomy. The few old apple orchards in the county tell the tale. Many of the trees of the old orchards are seedlings; nevertheless, some produce rich, juicy apples, equally as palatable as grafted fruit. The deer and other wild animals destroyed many of the young orchards of the pioneers.

The State Horticultural Society was organized in January, 1859, and has kept up its annual meetings in spite of all difficulties. Each con-

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

gressional district of the state is classed as a separate horticultural dis- trict, and is represented in the society by a vice-president, who is expected to keep himself posted on the interests of this industry in his district, and make a report at the annual meeting.

Pettis county is one of the best fruit growing counties of Central Missouri. Every variety of fruit does well here that grows in this latitude. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes and berries do well in all parts of the county. Fruit growing took an impetus in 1865, and since that date hun- dreds of orchards and vineyards have been planted over the county. The conditions of the soil, altitude and climate make this one of the best fields for the culture of fruits in Missouri. At present there are too many half cultivated orchards in the county. Some years in the past thousands of half cultivated fruit trees have been seen in autumns bent to the ground or broken with the burden of as fine fruit as ever grew between the Atlantic and Snowy Range. Many hundreds of bushels of luscious peaches have been fed to swine for want of a market. Pear, cherry, and plum trees yield generously of as delicious fruitage as that of any country. Here along the streams are acres of the loess hills, whose soil is almost identical with the slopes of the Rhine and other European streams, the texture, flavor and color of whose fruits are world famous.

Almost every little farm of the county has a few orchard trees; many of these orchards bear sufficient fruit for home use of the families. From an orchard of eight acres Maj. Wm. Gentry sold one year $1,030 worth of apples to one man, besides using considerable for other purposes and furnishing his neighbors all they wanted. Mr. J. W. Dickerson, John S. Woods, Dr. G. W. Rothwell are cultivating good orchards. W. K. Tay- lor, florist, is cultivating a green house at Georgetown.

Fine, thrifty, fruitful apple, peach, pear, cherry and plum orchards, and equally fruitful vineyards, greet the visitor in all parts of the county. The smaller fruits of the garden respond to ordinary culture with the most generous crops, and the local markets are well stocked with the choicest fruits of every class, in their season, at reasonable prices. The vineyard of Phil. Pfeiffer, of Sedalia, planted by Prof. Geo. Hussman, recently of the State University, but now of the state of California, is, for the variety and superior quality of its fruits, one of the most complete and valuable in the State. No region in the West produces finer grapes than this; the texture, flavor and size of this fruit rivaling the finest grown in the islands of Lake Erie.

In April, 1870, the enterprising citizens of Sedalia and Pettis county signed a call for a meeting, at Smith's Hall, to consider the feasibility and propriety of organizing an agricultural and mechanical association. The meeting was well attended by many of the farmers and stock raisers, as well as many of the citizens of Sedalia, and after several speeches by

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

the leading men a subscription of $10,000 to $15,000 stock was taken on the spot, and the next month the following officers were elected, viz: W. P. Paff, of Sedalia; C. W. C. Walker, of Mt. Sterling; H. J. McCormack, of Flat Creek; Col. Frank W. Hickox, of Elk Fork; John C. Shy, of Washington; Col. Thos. F. Houston, of Blackwater; Maj. Wm. Gentry, of Mt. Sterling No. 2; George Anderson and J. B. McClure of the county at large. The association was organized by electing Col. Thos. F. Hous- ton, president; Col. F. W. Hickox, vice-president; Col. T. A. Switzler, secretary, and Cyrus Newkirk, Esq., treasurer. Fifty acres of choice land was purchased by the association in the western part of Sedalia and an amphitheater erected the first year capable of seating 10,000 people, one-eighth of a mile in circumference; also, a splendid floral and fine art hall 50x160 feet, besides many other improvements. The association paid upwards of $7,000 the first year, $8,000 the second, and $12,000 the third year. Maj. Wm. Gentry was elected president of the association in 1872.

Prof. George Hussman started the "Sedalia Nursery" in 1872, and stocked it with very choice varieties of all the fruits and shrubbery that were suited to this climate. In 1878, Philip Pfeiffer took charge of this excellent nursery, and in connection with J. C. Thompson, proprietor, has made it one of the best nurseries in central Missouri, shipping stock to all parts of the United States and territories. In the spring of 1882, Mr. Pfeiffer sold 267 orders by the first of April.

The office and packing rooms of this nursery are on 12th and Moniteau streets, and the nursey grounds are about four miles east of Sedalia.

This nursery contains the following stocks:

APPLES .- Red Astracan, Red June, Early Harvest, Early Straw- berry, Summer Queen, Sweet June, Totosky, Maiden Blush, Duchess of Oldenburg, Rambo, Haas or Fall Queen, Fameuse or Snow Apple,

. American Golden Russet, Barley Sweet, Baldwin, Ben Davis (New York Pippin), Fallowater, (Pulpehoken), Fulton, Grime's Golden, Jona- than, Huntsman's Favorite, Newton Pippin, Northern Spy, Penankee, Janeton, Red Bietgheimer, Rome Beauty, Willow Twig, Winesap, Yel- low Belleflower, Limbertwig, Lansingburg, Lawyer, Wallbridge, and Wealthy.

. CRAB APPLES .- Hawes' Virginia, Hyslop, large Red Siberian Crab, Transcendent, Yellow Siberian, and other choice varieties.

PEARS, dwarfs and standards kept in this nursery. The cultivation of this fine fruit is rapidly extending, as its value is more appreciated. The range of varieties is such that, like apples, they can be had in good edible condition from August until spring. The melting, juicy texture, the re- fined flavor and the delicate aroma of the pear, give it rank above all other fruits except the grape. But the pear, like most things highly de-

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

sirable and valuable, cannot be had without attention, labor and skill. The relative prices of the apple and pear being about as one to ten, show at the same time the superiority of the latter, and the greater skill to required to bring it to perfection. This excellent fruit does well in many portion of Pettis county, both summer and winter pears.

The nursery also contains a full assortment of all varieties suited to this climate, of cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, quinces, currants, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and Russian mulberries. The Russian mulberry is a new fruit in this country, very ornamental and re- markable for its hardihood. It stands the cold thirty degrees below zero, and produces fruit like the blackberry. It is very early and grows fast, making a fine shade and timber tree. The leaves can be fed to the silk worm, and it stands shearing to form a beautiful hedge.

The ornamental department of this nursery contains every variety of decidious trees that flourish in Pettis county and Central Missouri. The many beautiful groves of the handsome farms of the county contain maple, ash and linden in abundance.

" If thou lookest on the lime-leaf, Thou a hearts' form will discover ; Therefore are the lindens ever Chosen seats of each fond lover. "

Heine.

The bulbs and bulbous plants kept here are a very rare collection. The green house is kept stocked with very choice plants and flowers.

He who has a soul for flowers has one of the higest integral parts of the Deity.

Rev. H. W. Beecher, in his discussion on flowers, has said:

"Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men and ani- mals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and hollyhock."

Those who cultivate flowers beautify home, and therehy elevate and refine their social position for a higher, nobler and purer life. Bishop Cox has well said:

"Flowers are words

Which even a babe may understand."

Phil. Pfeiffer has on hand a fine collection of verbenas, geraniums, dahlias, heliotropes, lantanas, gladiolus, tuberoses, and every sort of plant found in a green house.

A small nursery is conducted at Lamonte, by Mr. George Shepherd. This nursery has kept a general stock of fruit trees and has had a fair patronage. For many years a small nursery was cultivated at Smithton.

Richard Rowe purchased the fruit trees cultivated by E. R. Young, south of Sedalia.

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

Edward Brown, east of the city of Sedalia, cultivates an excellent fruit garden. He is a practical horticulturist, furnishing the city with consid- erable of its finest marketable fruits.

Many other gardeners have engaged in horticulture on a limited scale, and their business will be noticed under the special head of their township.

Of late years special attention has been given to the cultivation of ele- gant vineyards, in many parts of the county, which have proved to be a source of considerable worth to the horticulturist, paying him back many times the worth of his outlay. In the early settlement of the county, but few of the pioneers thought about cultivating vineyards, shrubbery and small fruit. The tomato, strawberry, and other small fruits, had not received any attention worthy of notice, prior to 1860. The old settlers cultivated a vegetable garden, consisting of turnips, cabbages, potatoes, onions, melons and pumpkins. Beans and peas received some attention, but few cultivated them for the market.

As schools sprung up over the county, and the people became better qualified to appreciate a higher state of horticulture, men began to pay attention to ornamental trees, fruits of all kinds, and house plants, so that at the present day there are but few homes in city, village or country, but what have paid some attention to beautifying and rendering home pleas- ant and attractive by sweetening the surroundings with the brightest and rarest plants and flowers that can be commanded. Children, in their purest and holiest lives, adore plants and flowers. What gathering flow- ers in a wood is to children, men and women should never fail to culti- vate the taste so imparted by nature.

"I never cast a flower away, The gift of one who cared for me, A little flower-a faded flower, But it was done reluctantly."

-Mrs. Southby.

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

CHAPTER XIII .- PETTIS COUNTY-LIVE STOCK.

Early History of Stock Raising in Pettis County-Pioneer Emigrants and Aboriginal

Inhabitants-The Peculiar Habits, Methods, and Personal Characteristics of the Span- ish and French Half-breed Herders of "Ye Olden Time" -- The Origin and History of the Missouri " Scrub "-Some of the Men Engaged in Stock-raising and Elaborate Descriptions of Their Farm and Stock -- The Natural Advantages Afforded by Pettis County for the Propagation, Development and Growth of Animal Life.

Emigrants to Central and Western Missouri, as early as 1818, found the country inhabited chiefly by Indians and half-breed Spanish and French. The latter had cattle of Spanish breed, tall, lithe, sinewy, with horns of immense size and length. They were as swift of foot as the native deer and antelope, but their flesh had the flavor of wild game-was tough, of a dark color, and as an article of food, by no means desirable; their value consisting chiefly in their hides, horns and tallow.

These half-breeds and Indians had also many horses,-queer looking, unshapen animals, vicious, ill-natured, clothed with long, wooly hair, low in stature, strong of limb, and capable of great endurance. The Indians were in part permanent inhabitants of the country, and had plantations and villages, but the half-breeds had no fixed habitations, and moved from place to place, selecting camping grounds where the conditions were the most favorable for the care of their stock and easy subsistance. From May to October they roamed the country watered by the Osage and Missouri rivers, but with the first frost they began moving slowly south- ward, arriving at the beginning of winter in that delightful region now known as the Indian Territory and southeastern Kansas. There grass and water were abundant, and thither deer, buffalo, and other game flocked from the bleak barren plains of the northwest, rendering that region a veritable paradise, and capable of sustaining a dense population in ease and comfort. There they remained during the winter, enjoying, as only barbarians can, the simple luxuries of that semi-tropical clime, but with the advent of spring they followed the birds, buffalo, and deer north and eastward, reaching their summer camping grounds while the grass was young and tender and the air was laden with the perfume of flowers.

This peculiar people instinctively retained the customs of civilization, and the refinement of the land of their fathers, and in a magnified form, the treachery and ferocity of their Indian kinsman. Speaking numerous Indian dialects, and the languages of Spain and France, possessing the intelligence, courage and audacity of their European ancestors, they became valued counselors and leaders of their. Indian allies, fiercely opposed the advancing tide of civilization, and in many desperate and bloody encounters with the brave and hardy pioneers, they became com-

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY.

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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 38

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