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 45
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caught the man in Texas, captured him and hung him with his own hands.
During the interval between the arrival of large forces of Federal troops in Sedalia, and the first brief days of prosperity, many stocks of goods were removed back towards St. Louis, and many persons left the town. These were truly trying times for the infant city.
This is about the only incident that occurred sufficiently near Sedalia, during the year 1861, to warrant its mention in the city's history.
During the winter of 1861, the town contained a large force of Federal troops. During the year Major Wm. Gentry, Captains John M. Sneed, Wm. K. Ramey, George Lower, John D. Crawford, John G. Rissler, Wm. I. Pace and W. W. Cross, all still residing in this city or vicinity, were in the field, either as "Home Guards" or militia. The late Dr. J. P. Thatcher was also in the home service, in the city and county.
The first regular regiment of Missouri State troops, called the Missouri State Militia, was organized in the early fall of 1861 in this city and vicinity, by Col. John F. Philips. It must be remembered that the home guards and militia companies which did the first service in and around Sedalia, were only home companies, and enlisted for only three months. They did good service and many of the men and officers afterwards went into the regular state or volunteer service. Capt. Thatcher's "Pettis County Home Guards" did service until August, 1862. During the fall and winter of 1861-2, Col. Philips completed the organization of his regi- ment of 978 men, the first and best regiment. This was May 1, 1862, when the regimental organization was completed. Col. T. T. Crittenden, now Governor of Missouri, was lieutenant colonel. Emory S. Foster, who after the war fought a duel with Maj. John N. Edwards, now editor of the Sedalia Daily Democrat, was a major in the regiment. A part of this regiment fought Quantrell, at Lone Jack, Johnson County. Colonel Crittenden was stationed at Boonville in July and August, 1862. The headquarters of the regiment were at Syracuse, Mo., until August 16, 1862. The regiment was also at the battle of Lexington and with Gen. Totten's division went to the relief of Springfield, in August, 1862. . In fact, the regiment did service throughout all Central and Southwest Missouri for over two years. A. C. Marvin, in later years a most promi- nent and influential citizen of this city, was quartermaster of the regi- ment. Major Henry Suess, for many years subsequent to the war an influential citizen, and mayor of Sedalia in 1867, was another officer in the same regiment, the best raised in the district. Dr. Thomas J. Mont- gomery, in 1871 mayor of Sedalia, and one of the most respected, learned and successful physicians of Sedalia, father of John Montgomery, Jr., a prominent attorney, and James Montgomery, was the surgeon of the regiment.
yours Truly B. H. Ingram,
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The Fortieth Regiment of Enrolled Missouri Militia also contained a number of men who were then, or have since the war become identified with Sedalia and Pettis County. William Gentry was major, H. R. Dobyns, quartermaster; Jno. D. Crawford, a captain, afterwards colonel ; Jno. M. Sneed, a captain; Wm. I. Satterwhite, a lieutenant; Ben. B. Lyon, a lieutenant; Wm. Beck, a captain. All these men are still resi- dents of this city or vicinity. Captain Theodore Bloess resides in St. Louis; Capt. John P. Thatcher is dead; Capt. Wm. K. Ramey resides seven miles north of town, and recently celebrated his golden wedding. These are the officers who commanded the home soldiers, and defended the city at various times during the war. In the year 1862 Capt. A. C. Marvin was provost marshal of Sedalia. He was subsequently one of her most useful citizens.
In 1862 Col. Catherwood's Regiment of state troops was located in the city. General Totten was in command of the post. There was also an Indiana regiment camped on what is now the City Hall Square. An enormous cattle yard or corral covered the ground from the alley in the rear of the present Smith's Opera House, between Osage and Ohio streets, extending south almost to Pearl River.
Christopher Demuth, for many years a resident of this city, a gentle- man who was thoroughly familiar with all the country, had the contract for furnishing cattle to the troops in this city and vicinity at that time. It was a very risky matter to be driving stock through the country at that time, and it was often a very difficult matter to get cattle to Sedalia. At one time, when there was a very large force here, and an extra force came in, they got out of meat. The contractor had a large drove of cattle down at Syracuse, but the Lamine river was very high, and the entire bottom east of Otterville flooded with water, from one to fifteen feet deep. An order came to Mr. Demuth to bring his drove to Sedalia at all hazards, as the troops must have meat without delay. The drove was started, and when it reached the Lamine bottom the water had sub- sided somewhat, but the trip of half a mile across the bottom was still a perilous one. About one hundred yards from the last bluff was a small branch, not over thirty feet wide, but about fifteen feet deep. It looked unsuspicious, and on the west side of it was a broad expanse of dry land. The one hundred and fifty cattle were forced into it by shouts and whips and pistol shots, and after a fierce struggle all got out but one or two, which were drowned. Each driver chose a favorable spot and swam his horse across. On arriving at the main stream it was found to be about one hundred yards wide, running pretty swiftly, but clear of drift wood. The drove was forced into this and some of the cattle were carried a quarter of a mile before they could land. Three smaller branches had to
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be crossed in the same manner. Every driver in the gang was soaked to the neck, and the soldiers were gathered upon the bluffs, at the fort, near the railroad bridge, encouraging the drovers by shouts and the waving of flags, while struggling through the dangerous bottom with its pools and streams and ditches. About half-past two o'clock in the afternoon, after a struggle of nearly four hours, the drove was gotten into a bunch on a large dry spot, in front of a bridge that crossed a stream, which was about one hundred yards from the Otterville bluff. This was the last stream to cross. The troops had erected a huge log bridge over it. The floor of the bridge was about thirty-five feet from the bottom of the stream. The back-water was over the bridge, and there was deep water all around for from fifty to one hundred yards. A son of the contractor rode an Indian pony that could swim like a duck. By means of a hoop-pole he felt his way on to the bridge, which had no guards, so as to act as guide and leader to the cattle. About a dozen cattle followed. The horseman and cattle were crowded pretty close together. One of the steers struck the horse in the flank with his horns. The horse gave a spring forward, and being within two feet of the edge of the bridge, horse and rider plunged into the water thirty feet deep, and about seventy-five yards from the near- est land. Of course horse and rider went down beneath the surface, but in a moment arose again, and while the soldiers on the hill set up a yell that awakened the echoes for a mile around, the gallant pony struck for the shore. The cattle jumped off the bridge or plunged directly into the stream just like a flock of sheep, and soon the temporary lake was dotted all over with them. Others followed the road that led off the bridge and got through with a little swimming. The drivers watched the cattle and got across the intervening water with little trouble or danger. An hour after, when all the straggling steers were gathered in the lane east of Otterville, and the dripping drivers covered with mud, assembled to hold a council of war, and determine the missing, the drove and the drivers were as woeful a looking crowd as one would care to gaze upon. When the drove arrived on Ohio street, in Sedalia, about ten o'clock the next day, the news of the adventurous crossing of the Lamine bottom had reached the sol- diers, and as the cattle and drivers filed into the big corral, back of the site of Smith's Hall, they were greeted with such shouts of welcome as only the boys in blue know how to give when they are very hungry.
In the early part of 1862 there was another scene in the city which will long be remembered, by at least one prominent citizen of the city. It is one among the many thousand incidents that show what a terrible thing war is, and what the exact condition of the section then was. On the ground where the City Hall Square now is, was camped an Indiana regiment, in the early summer of 1862. Bushwhackers were prowling in the woods and prairies all around Sedalia. A squad from this regiment
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was sent south to reconnoiter and forage in the vicinity of Warsaw. Dur- ing this reconnoissance a young soldier of the party, who was a little bolder and more careless than the rest, straggled off from his party, and the first he knew a half dozen bushwhackers caught him near Warsaw. They took him to their camp in the woods and the fellow was very much afraid they would hang him as a spy. During the first night he managed to escape, and lay concealed until he was nearly starved.
Mr. John L. Hall and a friend were coming from Polk County in a two horse wagon. Early one morning they were very much surprised to see a Federal soldier peeping at them from the brush, as they passed along the road, south of Warsaw. They stopped and were as much surprised to see the soldier in that section as he was to be there. After a parley he came out into the road and told his story. He begged Mr. Hall to take him with him to Sedalia, as he was without arms, horse, money or knowl- edge of the country. As it was known to Hall and friend, that the band of rebel bushwhackers were still in the immediate vicinity of Warsaw, it was as much as his own life and that of his friend was worth to be found riding along the big road with a soldier in the Union uniform sitting by his side. He determined to take the risk. As they approached Warsaw, Mr. Hall learned from a farmer that Capt. Thurston, a man six feet seven inches tall, called " Long Thurston," and his gang were in Warsaw. Here was a dilemma. They must pass through Warsaw. Mr. H. knew " Long Thurston," and he knew him so well that it only increased his fears for the young trooper. He had about a dozen dry hides on his wagon. The young soldier was made to crawl into the bottom of the wagon body, between two boxes; the hides were then carefully spread out over him, and he was not only effectually concealed, but the load was so arranged as not to excite suspicion. On arriving in town Mr. Hall met Thurston in front of the store where they stopped to get a lunch. Mr. Hall's friend, who sat.on the seat, facing the bushwhacker, was a desperate man, fleeing from his home, because he had killed some of the friends of this very man, who did not know him by sight. He had a revolver concealed in his sleeve and would have killed Thurston had he made a wrong move. Mr. H. and Thurston had a little chat and he appeared as unconcerned as possible, but was filled with fear and trembling while Thurston stood so near the wagon that he could almost hear the man breathing. Fortunately they got away without any mishap. When in a secluded spot, far from the town, the young trooper was relieved from his imprisonment. When the three men reached Sedalia, they went to the camp of the young soldier's regiment. He was welcomed back as one from the dead. He told the story of his capture and escapes, and how Mr. Hall and friend had aided him. When he had finished, the shouts and huzzas of the regiment rent the air, and the grateful troopers nearly shook the life out of Mr. Hall to
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show their appreciation of his kindness in a time of peril. Mr. H. was wild to get to Jefferson City, and it was next to impossible to get a pass. The young trooper went with Mr. H. to the Commander, told him his story, and the pass was at once furnished. Years after the war Mr. H. received a letter from the soldier, who escaped death after a long service, saying that he should never forget that he had saved his life.
It was about this time, on June 5, 1862, that Col. Thos. Field, father of Henry Y. Field, present county clerk, and of Dr. Thomas Field, the well-known physician, was taken from his farm residence, sixteen miles due north of this city, and shot to death by order of Lieutenant Nash, an officer of one of the militia regiments.
It was during the summer of 1862, that Central Missouri and Sedalia were in the most desperate and dangerous condition. There was a fort on the hill, down at the Lamine bridge, near Otterville. Three men, old man Ellis, his son, and his son-in-law, went to the fort one day to enroll as southern sympathizers, but non-combatants. As they were leaving the fort and got into the brush they received a volley from concealed foes. Ellis was killed; his son dangerously, and his son-in-law badly, wounded. This was done by private enemies who had followed them. This is merely mentioned as a sample of a hundred such deeds done by both sides. A Union officer who now resides in this town took a well known rebel farmer and threatened to tie him to a wagon wheel and have him bayoneted if he did not stop his remonstrances when the troops were foraging on his farm. Life was not worth much then. The trouble was, in this city and county, that people were hotter than in other sections, because so equally divided as to numbers.
This was the period when the State authorities and Gen. Schofield called on every able bodied man in Central Missouri, to take his own gun and horse, or if he had none, enroll himself at some post and then go out and get a gun and horse from some man known to be a secessionist. On the other hand the irregular rebel force had been carrying out this same policy for months before in the vicinity of Sedalia and in this and adjoin- ing counties.
There is one incident indirectly connected with the history of Sedalia, and the momentous year of 1861, that deserves mention. George G. Vest, now United States Senator from Missouri, is recognized not only as one of the most brilliant and powerful orators in the Senate to-day, but one whose wonderful gifts and great fund of acquired information make him the peer to-day of some of the greatest public speakers who have graced the Sen- ate of the United States in the past. For many years he has been a resi- dent of Sedalia and was identified with her history since 1866. In 1861, he made a speech at Goodwin's store, in Cooper County. The writer heard it, but was too young to judge of its merits. It must have been a
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magnificent effort, for it set the people crazy; it made the slumbering flames burst forth and enwrapped that portion of the country in a perfect conflagration of enthusiasm. Only those who heard it can understand its power.
In referring to the events of 1862, it is necessary here to correct a very serious misstatement which has been repeatedly and continually pub- lished in various notices of Sedalia, regarding the date of the removal of the county seat from Georgetown to Sedalia. It has been stated, and it seems to be generally understood among persons that Sedalia was made the county seat in 1862. The records of the circuit court show that the first term of that court was not held in Sedalia until June 12, 1865. The act of the Legislature authorizing the removal of the county seat from Georgetown to Sedalia was not even passed until the 15th day of February, 1864. The reports of the Supreme Court decisions of the State of Missouri show that Georgetown was still the county seat, May 4, 1864. The act authorizing the removal especially stated that there must be a suitable place provided for the holding of courts before Sedalia could be considered the county seat. By the records of the circuit court it is learned that on Aug. 15, 1864, it was ordered that the books, records, papers, etc., of the circuit court, should be moved temporarily to St. Louis. The records were never taken to St. Louis, but in August 1864, the county court, on the advice of O. A. Crandall and Geo. Heard, the only lawyers in Sedalia, ordered all the records of the county court removed to Sedalia, and thereafter held court at that place. Price's raid prevented the county court being held that fall and the next term in June, 1865, was held there. June 12, 1865, is the next entry on the book, when a term of court was held in Sedalia, and it was then in reality the county seat. The court house was a frame building, located on the corner of the alley and Ohio street, west side, between Second and Main. The judge was Hon. John A. S. Tutt, of Lexington; the clerk was John W. Christian; the sheriff was Wm. H. Porter.
Jno. E. Ryland, now judge of the criminal court, was prosecuting attor- ney. Sam. A. Lowe filed a suit against the clerk for possession of the office. The cases docketed show the conditions of society then. Over sixty persons were indicted for selling liquor without licenses; for gam- bling, and for gambling on Sunday. The names of several prominent citizens of the present day appear as pleading guilty to the last two charges. There was one case where a man was charged "with assisting in enticing away slaves." This was an old case. At the next term, in Oct., 1865, John R. Staley, for many years a prominent citizen, stands indicted for treason.
This subject is mentioned in connection with the history of the year 1862, and in the beginning, in order that the wrong impression prevalent
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concerning the date of the removal of the county seat may be corrected, and that the correction of the mistakes made hitherto may be made the more emphatic. It seems that in 1862 the records were removed here for safety, and a term of court held, but it was not legal.
Now that an outline picture of the material part of the city, as it was in 1861 and the early part of 1862, has been given, and the meagre events, outside of the war history-which of itself would make a volume -have been described, it is in order to give a pen picture of the man who founded the town and was directly instrumental in producing the results which exist to-day.
" Ideas rule the world;" "the mind is the fountain of all human action." A city may be compared to a tree or plant. The wind or the waves may carry a seed to a distant island and it may lodge in the soil and grow to a tree; or a band of shipwrecked mariners may be cast, by the same means, upon an unknown shore and there lay the foundations of a city.
But the city of Sedalia is no work of chance; it is the result of an idea; it is the outgrowth of a man's thought, the offspring of his mind. Gen. George R. Smith conceived the idea of building the town of Sedalia in nearly its present location. Like a careful husbandman he selected a good piece of soil in a favorable location, where there was sunshine and wind and water; he planted the germ; it grew, and he nourished and pro- tected it as he thought of the time when he would sit beneath its grateful shade and eat of its fruit. Any one who is a judge and an observer of men knows that oftentimes the mind and character of a man seem to be in exactly the right kind of a body. If an intelligent stranger had been allowed to walk around the city five years ago and observe our citizens he would, in a few days, have pointed his finger at Gen. Smith and said: "He looks like a man who would found and build a city." He had a large body, a large heart and a large brain. He had a splendid physique, was well built, had a manly, dignified and commanding carriage and a manner that indicated the leader. His large, well-shaped Roman nose was an index of character. In early manhood and middle age he was a man of restless and untiring energy, inured to all the hardships of life in a new country ; a man whose mind held him constantly above circumstances, and one whose strength of mind and body was constantly developed and augmented by his mental and physical labors. He was the best type of the founder of frontier towns. The native ruggedness of his mind was smoothed and toned down by education; and the brusqueness and freedom of manner, fostered by frontier life, was made more gentle, conventional and refined by his constant contact with the leading men of the State. " The originality, vigor and decision of his character made it impossible for him to occupy the position of a follower " in politics, in business or in social life. He was too aggressive, blunt and self-respectful to be popu-
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lar, as modern politicians are, all smiles, concessions and purity until they have gotten what they want; then proud, grasping and arrogant. Gen. Smith was a man who would do what he asked others to do; he was not a politician; if he believed a theory he believed it with all his soul and did not hold opinions for the sake of what he could make out of them.
One who was familiar with the life of Gen. Smith says: "He was born in Powhattan County, Virginia, in 1804. His father, Rev. George Smith, was a Baptist minister of a powerful and cultivated intellect and the most practical virtues, qualities which he transmitted to his descend- ants, and which have exercised a remarkable influence upon a remark- able career. On the stern simplicity of his nature was imprinted those twin elements indispensable in the formation of great characters, heroism and truth.
" While the subject of this sketch was still an infant, his father removed to Franklin County, Kentucky, where he died in 1820. He left his son a priceless heritage, the example of a useful, upright life and a stainless name. At that time educational advantages were quite limited even in Kentucky; but young Smith enjoyed the very best mental and moral' advantages that were at hand. While yet a youth, he became a pupil of Elder Barton W. Stone, of Georgetown, Ky., at that time one of the most eminent educators of the State, and under his able guidance made remark- able progress in his studies. Upon arriving at manhood he was compelled to enter at once upon the more active and practical duties of life, and shortly after reaching the age of twenty-one years he moved to Scott County, Ky., and was appointed deputy sheriff of his county. It was a responsible position for one so young, but he performed his duties faith- fully and with intelligence and vigor. It was the beginning of his busi- ness career and he rose steadily. Close attention to whatever he had in hand, the strictest integrity and the most indomitable perseverance marked him as a man to whom belonged a future. In 1827 he married Mileta Ann Thomson, the accomplished daughter of General David Thomson, and sister of Col. Malius Thomson of Mexican war fame. This gentle lady died a long time before her husband, in 1861, 'but the memory of her virtues survive in many a treasured recollection.' Shortly after the marriage, in the latter part of 1833, Gen. Thomson moved to Pettis County, Missouri, and young Smith and his wife came to Missouri with him. While in Kentucky Smith had studied law and cultivated his mind in other ways, and he began the practice of his profession in this district. Then the county was sparsely settled; there was little litigation in conse- quence, and he was compelled to abandon the business simply because there was no work to do. He had too much energy and enthusiasm, too much active ambition, even then, to be satisfied with the duties of a small practice and a slender income. He gave it up and began the active pur-
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suits of a trader, and from 1848 to 1852 he engaged extensively in govern- ment freighting and the transportation of goods overland, from Fort Leavenworth, now a city of 20,000 inhabitants, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, which was then in the outermost bounds of western civilization. The vast region which is now traversed by a net work of railroads, and dotted thickly with towns, was then an almost trackless wilderness. Indians and buffaloes were more numerous then than farmers are now, and the life he led was more like that of scout or soldier, than like that of a modern business man. There are numerous thrilling incidents and adventures connected with this period of his life, but the recollection of them is buried in the grave.
Previous to this, however, he had gained such prominence in Central Missouri, that in 1843, nearly forty years ago, he was appointed receiver of the Government Land Office, at Springfield, Mo., at the time when John Tyler was President. He was, from the time he came to Missouri, an Old Line Whig. But the true-blue Democracy then had the ascendency, and he had no possible chance to show his talents and his executive and legislative abilities by getting into high official position where he could have displayed them. So far as political preferment and prominence is concerned, fate was against him at that time, or he might have gone to the United States Senate, where his abilities, his unflinching courage and integrity would have placed him in the same rank with such men as Conkling and Sumner, of a later period. From 1843 to 1852 he was engaged in private business. But a greater honor than even the founding and building of Sedalia belongs to Gen. Smith. It is owing to his foresight, energy and stubborn perseverance, more than to that of any other man, that the Missouri Pacific Railroad left the line of the Missouri River and struck off through Central Missouri. He was the man who was most directly influential in bringing the light of modern civiliza- tion into the very heart of Central Missouri, at least twenty years sooner than it would have come otherwise. He is among those who lent a help- ing hand to the Goddess of Civilization, after she had stepped across the dividing line of the continent, the Father of Waters-the Mississippi River.
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