USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > The history of Buchanan County, Missouri > Part 18
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Feb. 14, 1839. United James Nichols and Francis Smith in bonds of matrimony. March 12, 1839. United David Grant and America Gilliam in bonds of matrimony.
March 19, 1839. United Solomon Shelton and Judith Nichols in the bonds of matrimony.
March 21. United Henry and Vienna Halman in the bonds of matrimony.
177
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
STATE OF MISSOURI, COUNTY OF BUCHANAN.
' s.
I do hereby certify that the bonds of matrimony between Noel Hen- derson and Caroline Arnold, both of the county and state aforesaid, were solemnized by me on the 17th of January, 1839.
A licensed minister of the Gospel.
VINCENT SNELLING.
COMMONWEALTH OF MISSOURI, BUCHANAN COUNTY,
SS.
I do hereby certify that on the 7th day of March, A. D. 1839, I united together in the rites of matrimony, as husband and wife, Mr. Abel Herrington and Miss Rebecca C. Gilmore.
Given under my hand this 15th day of April, A. D. 1839.
ABRAHAM MILICE,
Ordained Minister of the Gospel.
COMMONWEALTH OF MO., COUNTY OF BUCHANAN,
SS.
I do hereby certify that on the 20th day of March, A. D. 1839, I united together in the rites of matrimony, as husband and wife, Mr. Page Stanley and Miss Catharine Williams.
Given under my hand this 7th day of May, A. D. 1839.
JESSE F. WIXON, Ordained Minister of the Gospel.
I hereby certify that I solemnized the bonds of matrimony, on the 3Ist day of March, 1839, between Samuel Walkup and Louisa Round- tree, all of Buchanan County, State of Missouri.
Given under my hand, April 13, 1839.
SINGLETON ASHER, O. M.
STATE OF MISSOURI, BUCHANAN COUNTY,
I do hereby certify that on the 23d day of May, A. D. 1839, I joined together, by the rites of matrimony, Mr. Ransom H. Trusty and Miss Mary Ann Muzinzo.
Given under my hand this Ist day of June, 1839.
JESSE F. WIXON, O. M.
April 7, 1839.
This day solemnized a marriage between Jesse Blivens and Rosa Toner, both of the County of Buchanan, and State of Missouri. JOHN MARTIN, J. P.
BUCHANAN COUNTY, MO. :
I, Mathias Cline, do certify, that the bonds of matrimony between . Daniel Vestil and Mary Jane Snelling were solemnized by me, both then
178
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
of the County of Platte, thought to be, but since the survey, of the county of Buchanan, on the 7th of March, 1839.
MATHIAS CLINE, Justice of the Peace.
STATE OF MISSOURI, COUNTY OF BUCHANAN.
This is to certify, that on the 15th day of May, 1839, in the presence of Henry Noland and Joel Parker, I did join together in matrimony, William Kitcher and Angeline Yates, both of Buchanan County.
Given under my hand, this 22nd day of May, 1839.
THOMAS B. RUBLE, O. M. G.
STATE OF MISSOURI, I COUNTY OF BUCHANAN.
I, Zachariah Linville, a preacher of the Gospel, do certify, that on the 21st day of August, 1839, I united in marriage, John Allison to Dicy Trapp, both of lawful age.
Given under my hand, this 17th of November, 1839.
ZACHARIAH LINVILLE.
TO THE CLERK OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, MO. :
This is to certify, that on the 17th Nov., 1839, in the presence of John Riggin and others, I joined together in wedlock, Mr. John W. Woods and Miss Joanna Stokes, both of Buchanan County, Mo.
Given under my hand, this 27th Nov. 1839.
T. B. RUBLE, Ordained Minister of the Gospel in M. E. church.
The marriages above mentioned occurred forty-two years ago. The contracting parties, if still living, would be more than three-score years of age.
In those primitive days, among the early settlers, marriages, we are persuaded, were the result of love. There was not only a union of hands but a union of hearts. The pioneer maiden made the faithful wife, and the sturdy backwoodsman the fond and trusted husband.
During 1839, there were recorded forty-one marriages, and in 1880 there were four hundred and three.
CHAPTER IX.
FIRST COURT HOUSE.
,
FIRST COURT HOUSE-FURTHER EXTRACTS FROM COUNTY COURT RECORDS-EARLY PAPERS ON FILE-CIRCUIT COURT DOCKET-FIRST CASES -BILLS OF INDICTMENT CHANCERY COURT DOCKET.
Notwithstanding the fact, that a large number, probably a majority of the people in every county, have very little practical experience in the courts, and although they have the legal capacity to sue and be sued, never improve their opportunities, and never appear in court, unless it be on compulsion as witnesses or jurors ; yet, as the one great conservator of peace, and as the final abiter in case of individual or neighborhood disputes, the court is distinguished above and apart from all and every other institution of the land, and not only the proceedings of the court, but the place of holding court, is a matter of interest to the average reader.
Not only so, but in many counties the court house was the first, and usually the only public building in the county.
The first court houses were not very elaborate buildings, to be sure, but they are enshrined in memories that the present never can know.
Their uses were general, rather than special, and so constantly were they in use, day and night when the court was in session, and when it was not in session, for judicial, educational, religious and social pur- poses, that the doors of the old court houses like the gates of gospel grace, stood open night and day, and the small amount invested in those old hewn-logs, and rough benches, returned a much better rate of inter- est on the investment, than do those stately piles of brick or granite which have taken their places.
The memorable court house of early times was a house adapted to a variety of purposes, and had a career of great usefulness.
School was taught, the gospel preached and justice dispensed within its substantial walls. Then it served frequently as a resting place for weary travelers, and indeed its doors always swung on easy hinges.
On the fourth day of January, 1841, the County Court of Buchanan County (Stephen Jones being at the time President of said court) made an order relative to the building of a court house at Sparta.
The court had held its sessions at Richard Hill's, near Rock House Prairie, and at the house of Joseph Robidoux, since April, 1839. The
180
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
accommodations of these places were meagre, and the expense to the county had been considerable. The following is the order of the court in reference thereto :
"Ordered by the court, that a building be erected on the lot No. 1, in block No. 17, in the town of Sparta, to be used as a court house and clerk's office, until other and more suitable public buildings can be pro- vided, of the following description, to wit : to consist of two rooms, one eighteen feet by twenty ; the other eighteen feet by sixteen, with a par- tition wall between ; the wall to be fifteen feet high, nine feet between the first and second floors. The walls to be of logs, hewn to the thick- ness of six inches, and to face twelve inches ; two good substantial floors, the joints and sleepers not to exceed two feet apart ; the floors to be of inch and a quarter oak or ash. Plank well seasoned and laid square joints. A good and substantial roof of eighteen-inch shingles, and sheet- ing to be of good quality. Two twelve-light windows in each room below, glass ten by twelve, and a six-light window in each gable, and glass the same size ; a batten door in each of the lower rooms and a partition door of the same kind, all to be made of durable timber. The cracks to be pointed with lime mortar ; the building to be underpinned with rock, eight inches above the level of the ground. The large room to be com- pleted by the third Monday in March next, and the other by the third Monday in July next. The whole to be done in a good and workman- like manner. And it is further ordered that John Sampson be appointed to superintend the erection of said building."
The contractor of this rude structure was Guilford Moultray, who obligated himself, in accordance with the order of the court, to finish the building in July following. The plan of the building was furnished by George W. Nixon and William Fowler, who received therefor the sum of ten dollars. It was a large house, the largest perhaps in the county, when it was built. In it were located the several county offices, and there met that august assemblage known as the Circuit Court, where the vocal, and not unfrequently muscular, pioneer attorneys had full scope for the employment of their varied powers, both physical and intellectual. The old Sparta bar was one of which the attorneys of Buchanan County may well be proud. They were, indeed, without a single exception, able men ; men who not only stood at the head of their profession in after years, but many of them attained honorable positions in the State and National Legislatures.
If the old settlers are to be believed, the old log court house at Sparta often rang on the pioneer Sabbath with a more stirring eloquence than enlivens the pulpits of the present time. Many of the earliest ministers have officiated within its walls, and if those old walls could speak, they would doubtless tell many a strange tale of pioneer religion that is now lost forever.
181
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
To that old court house, ministers came of different faiths, but all eager to expound the simple truths of a sublime and beautiful religion, and point out for comparison the thorny path of duty and the primrose way of dalliance. Often have those old walls given back the echoes of those who sang the songs of Zion, and many an erring wanderer has had his heart moved to repentance thereby more strongly than ever by the strains of homely eloquence.
With Monday morning the old building changed in character, and men went thither seeking not the mercy of God, but the justice of man. The scales were held with an even hand. Those who presided knew every man in the county, and they dealt out substantial justice, and the broad principles of natural equity prevailed.
Children came here to school, and sat at the foot of teachers who knew little more than themselves ; but, however humble the teacher's acquirements he was hailed as a wise man and a benefactor, and his les- sons were heeded with attention. The old people of the settlement went there to discuss their own affairs, and learn from visiting attorneys the news from the great world, so far away to the southward and east- ward.
In addition to the orderly assemblies which formally gathered there, other meetings no less notable occurred. It was a sort of a forum whither all classes of people went for the purpose of loafing and gossiping, and telling and hearing some new thing.
As a general thing, the first court house, after having served the purpose of its erection, and having served that purpose well, was torn down and conveyed to the rear of some remote lot, and thereafter was made to serve the purpose of an obscure cow stable on some dark alley. The old court house at Sparta, however, after having accomplished its mission, was used for a much higher and nobler purpose, having been converted into a granary-a receptacle for that which ultimately sustains the physical wants of both man and beast.
There is little of the poetic and romantic in the make-up of Western society, and the old court house, after the removal of the county-seat, ceased to be regarded with reverence and awe. It was then looked upon as only the aggregation of so many oak or hickory logs, and the practi- cal eye of the modern citizen could see nothing in it but the aforesaid logs, and in his estimate of its value nothing but calculation relative to the number of bushels of wheat or corn which these reconstructed logs would contain, were the only conditions bearing on those estimates.
In a new country, where every energy of the people is necessarily employed in the practical work of earning a living, and the always urgent and ever present question of bread and butter is up for solution, people cannot be expected to devote much time to the poetic and ideal. It therefore follows that nothing was retained as a useless relic which could
-
182
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
be turned to some utility ; but it is a shame that the people of modern times have such little reverence for the relics of former days. After these: houses ceased to be available for business purposes they should have been preserved, to have at least witnessed the semi-centennial of the country's history. It is sad that in their hurry to grow rich, so few have care even for the work of their own hands. How many of the early settlers have preserved their first habitations? The sight of that humble cabin would be a source of much consolation in old age, as it reminded the owner of the trials and triumphs of other times, and its presence would go far toward reconciling the coming generation with their lot when comparing its lowly appearance with the modern residence, whose extensive apartments are beginning to be too unpretentious for the enter- prising sport of the irrepressible "Young Americans."
Further extracts from the "Order Book" of the County Court :
WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 3d, 1839.
Court met pursuant to adjournment. Present as on yesterday.
Samuel M. Gilmore, Collector, makes the following settlement with the court :
Dr. to tax collected on merchants' license for state purposes . $ 10.00
Ad valorem 2.50
To tax on grocers' license for state purposes 27.50
Ad valorem 2.77₺
To tax on auction license for state purposes 10.00
To tax on ferry, do
4.00
$56.773-
To tax on merchants for county purposes
$10.00
To tax on grocers,
25.00
To tax on auctioneers,
5.00
To tax on ferry, 66
4.00
$44.00
"The court orders that for the purpose of defraying the expenses of Buchanan County for the year 1839, the sum of one fourth of one per cent., upon the assessed value of all property made taxable by law for state purposes, shall be levied, and a tax on all licenses made taxable by law for state purposes, equal to the state tax on the same.
From the proceedings of the February term of 1840, we make the following extract :
"Matthew M. Hughes, who was appointed by the Governor Sur- veyor, to ascertain, survey and establish the boundaries of the counties of Platte and Buchanan, agreeably to the provisions of an act entitled "An act to organize the counties of Platte and Buchanan, and to define the boundaries of the same, approved December 31st, 1838," comes now
183
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
into court and makes his report, together with a plot or map of the county of Buchanan, which report is as follows, to wit :
"To the Hon. County Court of Buchanan County, State of Missouri : I received from his Excellency, Lilburn W. Boggs, Governor of the State of Missouri, a commission, authorizing me to define and establish the boundaries of Platte and Buchanan Counties, agreeable to an act of the Legislature of said state, approved December 31, 1838, by which said acts I am required to report to your honorable body the boundaries of your county as established by me. I commenced on the northwest corner of Platte County, in the centre of the main channel of the Missouri River, and ran up the same, with its various meanders, forty-two miles and fifty-two chains, which constitutes the western boundary of your county ; thence I run a due east course, marking each fore and aft tree with a blaze and two chops, and trees on each side in the way pointing to the line of fourteen miles and twenty-seven chains to a stake in the old State line, or the line of Clinton County, which constitutes your northern boundary ; then south twenty miles and fifty-two chains along said line to the northeast corner of Platte County, which constitutes your eastern boundary ; thence west along the line of Platte County twenty-seven miles and forty chains to the beginning, which constitutes your southern boundary, containg four hundred square miles. I have also furnished you with a plot or map, representing Buchanan County. All of which is submitted and reported to your honorable body. Jan. 8, 1840.
MATTHEW M. HUGHES."
The county of Buchanan paid Mr. Hughes for his services in sur- veying the county the sum of ninety-four dollars.
The first license authorizing the sale of intoxicating drinks to a dram-shop keeper was issued by the County Court at its May term in 1841, the order for the same being as follows :
"Ordered by the Court, that Barr & Custer be licensed to keep a dram-shop in the town of Sparta, for six months, ending the seventh day of December, 1841, and that they pay a tax therefor of fifteen dollars for state purposes, and the same amount for county purposes."
EARLY PAPERS ON FILE.
Among the early papers on file in the County Clerk's office, we find the following :
The Hon. The County Court of Buchanan County at their October Ses- sion, 1840.
Your petitioner, the undersigned, would present to your Honors, that he is by the act of an overruling Providence, rendered unable to make a living by his own exertions; the rheumatism by long continu- ance, having distorted his limbs, and deprived him of their ordinary use.
184
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
He therefore prays your Honorable body, to take his case under consid- eration, and make such provision for him, in his afflictions as the circum- stances of his case require .*
his HENRY × FULKS. mark.
Witness :
GEORGE WEAVER.
"The Honorable the County Court of Buchanan County we the undersigned citizens of Atchis township beg leave to represent to your Honorable body the emprapriety of attaching said township to the town- ship of washington as we ar neber able to hold an elections thereforre will eber pray.
G. W. Taylor,
Prior Singleton,
William Bell,
thomas Walker,
William Chestnut, Christian Emnick,
Benjamin Essmon, James D. Nonss,
George Shanks, Thomas Deroviss,
William Rector,
Thomas madox,
Enoch Devorss,
John M. Dyer,
Joseph H. Thomas,
Solomon Dills,
Arnot Groomes,
Henson Devoss."
Simon Davis,
I hereby certify that the within account was allowed at the July term of the Buchanan Court, and ordered to be certified to Buchanan County Court for payment, which is certified August 7th, 1840. EDWIN TOOLE,
Clerk.
The County of Buchanan, Dr., To Joseph Robidoux.
To the use of a room for the accommodation of the County Court of said. County for two days, at and during their May session, 1839, at two dollars per day . $4.00
Do. do. during the July session of said Court, for three days at two dollars per day . 6.00
Do. do. during the August session of said Court, for two days, at two dollars per day 4.00
Do. do. during the October session, for two days. 4.00
Do. do. at and during the November session, one day. 2.00 For furnishing said Court with a room and fuel for two days, at three dollars per day 6.00
Total $30.00
Dec. 11, 1839.
One among the most ancient orders of the County Court, and one that will be read with some degree of curiosity by the present inhabi- tants, is the following :
* Mr. Fulks was allowed $15 for three months
185
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
Ex-parte :
On this day, Stephen Groves, a free negro man, about thirty-one years of age ; about five feet seven inches high ; of a light black color ; a common laborer, applies to this court for a license to reside within this State, and having produced a certificate of citizenship from the State of Indiana, and having also produced satisfactory evidence of his good character and behavior, and entered into bond with security to the acceptance of the Court, as required by the statute in such cases made and provided, it is is ordered by the court here, that the said Stephen Groves be and he is hereby licensed to reside within the State, as long as he shall be of good behavior, and no longer.
CIRCUIT COURT DOCKET.
CIRCUIT COURT, JULY TERM, 1839.
STATE OF MISSOURI, COUNTY OF BUCHANAN S.S.
Be it remembered, at a Circuit Court, begun and held at the house of Joseph Robidoux, at the Blacksnake Hills, in the county of Buchanan, and within the Fifth Judicial Circuit, in the State of Missouri, it being the place designated for holding court in said county, on Monday, the 15th day of July, 1839, it being the third Monday in said month, before the Hon. Austin A. King, Judge of said Circuit, commissioned and assigned to hold the said court in said county. Samuel M. Gilmore, high sheriff in and for said county, returned into open court, a State writ of venire facias, issued from the court, and to him directed, for a grand jury, executed on Reuben R. Reynolds, John Henry, William Bledsoe, Elijah Martin, Abil Evans, George S. Nelson, Ezekiel W. Smith, Job McNamara, Daniel Ferrell, Hugh Copeland, Hiram Rodgers, Jesse R. Barnett, Ezra Rose, Lloyd Beall, Hugh Glenn, John Martin, and James Curl-all of whom appeared being good and lawful men of said county.
Reuben R. Reynolds was then appointed foreman, who, together with his fellow jurors, was duly sworn, as a grand inquest for the State of Missouri, and for the body of the county of Buchanan, and after receiving their charge from the court, retired to consider of their pre- sentations.
This grand jury cost the county of Buchanan fifty-six dollars and seventy cents, as is shown by the following :
Reuben R. Reynolds, foreman, 2 days distance from ct h, 18 miles . $3.80
John Henry .
do
20 do 4.00
William Bledsoe
do
I2
do 3.20
Elijah Martin. do
18
do 3.80
Abil Evans. do
18
do 3.80
George T. Nelson
do
IO
do 3.00
Ezekiel W. Smith
do
I2 do 3.20
Job McNamara
do
3 do 2.30
Hugh Copeland
do
I2
do 3.20
Daniel Ferrel
do
I2
do 3.20
Hiram Rogers
do
15 do
3.50
186
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
Jesse B. Barnett
2 days
12 miles
$3.20
Ezra Rose
do
20
do
4.00
Lloyd Beall
do
IO
do 3.00
Hugh Glenn
do
IO
do 3.00
James Curl.
do
15
do 3.50
John Martin
do
IO
do
3.00
$56.70
FIRST CASES.
The first case on the docket was :
Andrew S. Hughes
VS. Petition in Debt.
Ishmael Davis.
And now at this day comes the said plaintiff, and moves the court for leave to dismiss this cause. It is therefore ordered that the same be and is hereby dismissed, and also that the said defendant recover his cost by him in this behalf expended, and that he have execution therefor.
George Smith VS. Appeal.
W. W. Gitt.
The defendant files his motion to dismiss this case, and the motion is overruled. Therefore it is ordered that this cause be continued until next term of court.
Henry Fisher VS. Assault and Battery.
Larkin Thompson and
Moses Thompson.
And now at this day comes the plaintiff, and moves the court for leave to dismiss his cause. It is therefore ordered that the same be and is hereby dismissed, and also that the said defendants recover their costs by them, in this behalf expended, and that they have execution therefor.
BILLS OF INDICTMENT.
Grand jury returned into court the following bills of indictment all endorsed "true bills" and signed by Reuben R. Reynolds their foreman, to wit : The State of Missouri vs. Theophilus Magruder, for betting at a game of chance by means of a pack of cards ; same vs. James Herring for same offense ; same vs. Peter P. Fulkerson ; same vs. Washington W. Gitt; same vs. Samuel Moss ; same vs. William Yates ; same vs. Elijah Bunton ; same vs. Thomas Simpson ; same vs. James Duncan ; same vs. Emsley Rose ; same vs. Elijah Smith, Jr. ; same vs. James Wood ; same vs. James Peebly ; same vs. Elisha Gladden ; same vs. Sampson L. Stans- berry ; same vs. Sabert Sollars ; same vs. Samuel Hall ; same vs. Wil- liam Harvey ; same vs. John H. Whitehead ; same vs. Jesse Roberts ; same vs. Elijah Gladden ; same vs. Andrew Smith ; same vs. Reuben Gage ; all for betting. Same vs. George Tracy and Henry Spates, for
187
HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
selling as grocers without license ; same vs. George Tracy and Henry Spates, for keeping gaming house ; same vs. John Snyder, for keeping gambling device ; same vs. Francis Robidoux, for selling goods without a license ; same vs. Sampson L. Stanberry, for keeping gaming house ; and there being no other business for the grand jury they are discharged. And it is ordered that said grand jurors be allowed the sum of one dol- lar per diem allowance, for attendance, and also five cents per mile for necessary travel to and from court, and that their said accounts be cer- tified to the County Court of Buchanan County.
Extracts from the first docket of the Chancery Court, July term 1841:
The State of Missouri, Buchanan County to wit : At a Circuit Court begun and held, at this court house, in and for the county aforesaid, on the first Monday in July 1841, before the honorable David R. Atchison, Judge of the 12th Judicial Circuit, in the State of Missouri. Among others, were the following proceedings to wit :
Delila Vaughn
VS. Petition For Divorce.
James Vaughn.
This day appeared, the said complainant by her solicitor, and the said defendant, though solemnly called, came not, but makes default, and it appearing to the court, that said complainant, is a person of good con- duct, and that she is the innocent and injured person, as a party to this suit ; and it further appearing to the court, that said defendant has offered such indignities to the person of said complainant, as renders her condition as his wife intolerable, and that she has suffered from him such cruel treatment as to endanger her life, it is therefore ordered, adjudged, and decreed by the court now here, that said Delila Vaughn be divorced from the bonds of matrimony heretofore contracted, with her said hus- band, James Vaughn, unless the said defendant shall appear at the next term of this court, and show cause, why this decree should not be made final.
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