USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > The history of Buchanan County, Missouri > Part 28
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At twelve precisely, the sheriff entered his cell, in the presence of his spiritual adviser, with the remark, "Mr. Jennings I have another painful duty to perform," and began unfolding some papers. The pris- oner anticipated his business, and said : "My death warrant I suppose. Save yourself the pain ; you need not read it." But on being informed that the law made it obligatory on the sheriff, he consented, and remained silent till it was read. After reading it, the sheriff turned to one side and wept, and the prisoner said in a calm tone to his spiritual adviser, " All life is a shade. This is a dark spot in the shade of life." The car- riage now drove to the front door of the jail, the military paraded in proper order around it, and, preceded by Sheriff Smith, the prisoner, arm in arm with the Rev. Mr. Boyakin, left the jail door and entered the car- riage, immediately followed by the Revs. Messrs. Vandeventer and Hurst and Drs. Crane and Chambers-all took seats in the same open carriage. The immense concourse of people, already assembled round the prison yard, now slowly opened a passage way, through which the carriage, escorted by the military, passed in slow and solemn silence ; and then, in the same funeral-like procession, proceeded to the place of execution, some three-quarters of a mile southeast of town. The place of execu- tion was out in the open prairie, cast of Mr. Patee's farm, in the valley, surrounded by a splendid amphitheatre of hills-those picturesque hills of Blacksnake. The scaffold was formed in the centre of the valley, with a convenient platform seven or eight feet high, upon which six or eight persons might conveniently stand. A part of this scaffold was so adjusted, trap-door fashion, as to fall at the cutting of a rope. With this the prisoner fell about five feet, and then swung, suspended with his feet several feet above the ground.
From the time the prisoner left the jail yard to the place of execu- tion, a conversation was kept up between the prisoner and the gentle- men with him in the carriage. The conversation was mostly, but not entirely, about the dread realities soon to occur. The Mexican war,
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General Scott, his character, military talents, and bravery, were descanteď on freely by the prisoner.
The whole tenor of that part of his conversation upon religion on the way, called out but the one sentiment from the prisoner, and that was, that he was happy, thought he would die happy, hoped he would die easy, &c.
On approaching the place of execution, as the carriage reached the hill in view of the scaffold, an immense multitude, already assembled, spread over the surrounding hillsides, presented themselves to view. One- of the company asked the prisoner, " if this scene had ever been presented to his imagination, either asleep or awake ?" " A thousand times," was the reply. "How does the real compare with the imaginary ?" was fur- ther asked. "I was not prepared to see so many," was the calm reply.
On arriving at the scaffold, the carriage halted, and the prisoner. with the gentlemen with him, remained some ten minutes in the car- riage, while the military was forming in proper order. Captain Hughes then ascended the platform, and gave notice that "he had been sum- moned, with his company, to see that the laws were faithfully executed : that he expected order, and was able and determined to enforce it."
The gentlemen, surgeons, sheriff and prisoner then ascended the platform ; all kneeling, while the Rev. Mr. Vandeventer prayed. The prisoner then read in a firm, clear, distinct voice, a statement written just before he left his cell, immediately after which he took an affection- ate leave of those with him on the platform. During this, every one on the platform but the prisoner wept. He begged them not to weep ; said he was ready, firm ; should suffer but a few minutes ; would soon be happy, &c. The sheriff then adjusted the rope round his neck, and tied his arms back, and placed a cap over his head and face. His last remark was in answer to Rev. Mr. Boyakin, who asked him " if the rope seemed that it worked well, and if he now, on the threshold of eternity, was firm in his Christian faith ?" "The rope works casy," he remarked, moving round his head, so as to try it. "I think I shall die easy, and I am firm in my trust in Christ." The Rev. Mr. Boyakin then prayed. At the close of this prayer the trap-door fell, and the prisoner was sus- pended.
Contrary to his expectation and desire, the prisoner struggled long and died hard-awfully hard. Twenty-five minutes after the trap-door fell, the surgeons pronounced him dead, and in a few minutes more his body was taken down, coffined, and borne to the graveyard and decently buried by the side of his two infant children, mentioned in his confes- sion. When it was announced by the surgeons that the prisoner was dead, the concourse, which must have numbered some eight thousand persons, slowly retired, all oppressed at the awful exhibition just wit- nessed.
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The manly deportment of the prisoner, while going to and at the scaffold, and high moral demeanor the whole week preceding, his chaste and honorable sentiments, freely expressed to all who visited him,. created a deep sympathy in his behalf, and satisfied the community that he possessed noble traits of character. Dying, as he did, a criminal, yet he merited a better fate.
PLATTE RIVER BRIDGE DISASTER.
At the bridge, where the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad crosses Platte River, ten miles east of the city of St. Joseph, occurred one of the most appalling calamities ever known in the annals of railroad dis- asters.
In the fall of 1861, the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad had been: so often torn up at different points, along the route between the former and latter cities, that for several days the trains had not been passing over the entire length of the road.
Upon a certain day, however, it was known that a passenger train from Hannibal would arrive at St. Joseph during the next night, at the hour of II o'clock.
Late in the evening, before the arrival of the cars, the bridge was saturated with turpentine, then set on fire, and completely destroyed. Near the hour of midnight, the peculiar rumbling sound, which tells of an approaching train, was heard. The night was intensely dark, and the conductor, not dreaming of danger, quickened the speed of the train as he neared the city. Onward rushed the cars with their precious bur- den of human life. Mothers with slumbering infants in their arms, never dreaming of the yawning abyss into which they would so soon plunge ; fathers watching the happy faces of their children ; the beauty of youth, the strength of manhood, and the decrepitude of age, all were there, numbering about one hundred and fifty souls.
As the train came swiftly, thundering along its iron trackway towards the chasm of death, a lady remarked to her husband : "Don't you think we are all out of danger?" "Yes," he replied, "our journey is nearly over." The next moment he lay mangled and dead, and she had barely escaped with life. Ominous words ! His journey of life was indeed over. The cars had made the fatal leap. From the abutments of the burned bridge down to the bed of the river, a distance of more than twenty feet, one car, dashed down upon another, crushing, mang- ling, and killing a large number of passengers.
Of all that numerous company, but few escaped without receiving such severe injuries, as made it impossible for them to assist their fellow- sufferers. The night was chilly and cold, and from near eleven to three o'clock in the morning, the wounded screamed for aid, and struggled for
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relief. Some attempted to free themselves from their dead companions, and from the debris of the crushed cars. Others with broken legs or arms, were endeaving to creep from the deep mud and stagnant waters of the stream. Here occurred an incident that illustrates with what self- possession, fearless men can cooly await approaching death.
Stephen Cutler, the conductor, was a favorite with all. Without being severely injured, he was so firmly caught between the timbers that no assistance then available could release him. The locomotive was leaning partially over his body, and the supports upon which the machinery rested were gradually giving away. It was evident, that in a few moments the locomotive would fall completely over and crush him. The unfortunate man quickly saw his sad destiny. Taking out his watch, he passed it to a friend, to be given to his wife ; then, in hur- ried words, he instructed that friend what to say to her. Whilst so engaged, the terrific weight fell, and one more brave and intrepid man was added to the list of the dead. On the day after the sad event, those who were badly wounded were brought to St. Joseph and kindly nursed. Nearly all the dead were too much mangled and disfigured to be identi- fied. These were placed in coffins and buried by the city.
MURDER OF DOCTOR JONES.
On Monday night, June 18th, 1848, between the hours of ten and and eleven o'clock, a man by the name of Gibson went to the residence of Dr. Jones, at the Rockhouse Prairie, in Buchanan County. While there he made use of very offensive and abusive language to the Doctor and his lady, whereupon he was ordered to leave the premises. Gibson, after reaching the porch, refused to go any further. As the Doctor (without any weapons) approached him, Gibson caught him by the col- lar of his coat, and inflicted a mortal wound, which terminated in death the next evening.
Dr. McDonald, who now resides in St. Joseph, was immediately sent for to administer to the necessities of the suffering and dying man. All efforts, however, were unavailing ; the Doctor died the next after- noon, and was buried in a neighboring cemetery, his corpse being fol- lowed to its last resting place by many friends, who sincerely mourned the loss of a kind neighbor, a leading citizen and a thoroughbred phys- ician.
The Doctor was a graduate of one of the prominent medical schools of Philadelphia ; was a native of North Carolina, and highly respected, not only by the people of the county, but by his professional brethren. His family now live in Clay County, Missouri. His murderer, Gibson, although hotly pursued for days by scores of indignant citizens, finally made his escape and has never been heard of.
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DROWNING OF THE WEST BROTHERS.
On the 2nd day of January, 1874, two brothers, Richard and Elijah West, while skating on the Missouri River, opposite to St. Joseph, broke through the ice and were drowned.
It is said that Richard might have escaped had he been alone, but in a heroic effort to save his brother, whom he greatly loved, they both went down together. Their bodies were recovered the next day and taken to the residence of their deeply afflicted parents. What a warning to those who carelessly indulge in the amusement of skating!
ACCIDENT ON LAKE CONTRARY.
On the 23d of July, 1876, several German families, residents of St. Joseph, went to Lake Contrary on a pleasure excursion. On the way thither, and for hours after arriving at their place of destination, joy and gladness seemed to fill each heart. But how true is the saying, that "in the midst of life we are in death."
Ere the close of that summer day, the merry voices of five beautiful young ladies belonging to that happy company were suddenly and unex- pectedly silenced in death. The story of the sad calamity is easily told.
They went upon the lake for a ride, and shortly after leaving the shore the frail boat, in which they had embarked for pleasure, went down, and they were drowned. Their bodies were recovered and interred in " Mount Mora" in the presence of a large concourse of sorrowing rel- latives and friends. Thus ended the young and innocent lives of Rosa Munch, Tillie Grobs. Clara Kratle. Sopha Leitz and Tillie Zinnor.
" How fleeting all beneath the skies; How transient every earthly bliss; How slender all the fondest ties That bind us to a world like this. But though Earth's fairest blossoms die, And all beneath the skies is vain, There is a brighter world on high, Beyond the reach of care and pain."
BURNING OF THE FRIEND FAMILY.
On the night of May 28, 1856, occurred one of the most terrible calamities ever known in the history of Buchanan County.
Jacob Friend and family, one daughter excepted, were burned to ashes in their dwelling, three-and-a-half miles south of St. Joseph. The family consisted of the father, mother and four children. One of the children, (the daughter above mentioned), was away fram home at the time, and knew nothing of the sad fate of her friends until she was informed of the facts the day following.
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Hundreds of people from St. Joseph, and the surrounding country .. visited the place of the accident, and so great was the excitment, that Amos Davis, George Lincoln, John Patton, Henry Ingers and Monroe Hoof, five men, residing in the vicinity of the fire, were arrested and incarcerated on the charge of arson and murder.
Some difficulty was said to have existed between the family of Friend. and the parties arrested. This, with other circumstances, caused their apprehension and imprisonment. The parties accused were indicted, tried and acquitted, but there was nothing proved against them showing that they were guilty of the atrocious act. The burning of Friend and. his family has ever since remained a mystery, many persons believing that the fire was caused by accident.
TRIAL OF JOHN DOY.
In the month of January, 1859, Wm. A. Newman, of Platte County,. had a favorite servant to run away from his home, in Weston, to Law- rence, Kansas. Dick being an active, intelligent and skillful carpenter, Newman offered a large reward, and in the month of February, 1859, at a point fourteen miles above Lawrence, near the Kansas River, two cov- ered wagons were captured by a party of eight Missourians, as they were passing northward from Lawrence to Nebraska. One of these wagons was driven by Dr. John Doy, and the other by his son Charles, a young man of nineteen, and contained besides the Newman slave, Dick, thirteen women and children, who were slaves escaping from Jackson County, Missouri, towards freedom. The wagons and their con- tents were driven rapidly towards Leavenworth City, which they passed at nine P. M. and reached the ferry, at Rialto, at eleven at night. Capt. Z. T. Washburn, the ferryman, crossed the party over, and they arrived. at Weston at one A. M. and were kept under guard. In the morning the slaves were re-delivered to their owners and a warrant was issued by a justice for the holding of Dr. Doy and his son as criminals, for stea !- ing the negro man Dick from his owner, in Platte County, and after an examination before two justices, they were held for trial and imprisoned in the Platte County jail, at Platte City, and at the March term follow- ing, within about three weeks afterwards, they were indicted by the grand jury of Platte County and plead not guilty.
When the news of the arrest of Doy was received at Topeka, the Legislature of Kansas, then in session, appropriated one thousand dol- lars to pay the Attorney General of the state, A. C. Davis (afterwards Colonel of the 12th Kansas volunteers, and who died in July, 1881, in New York, where he then resided) and Wilson Shannon, the old Gover- nor of Ohio and Minister to Mexico, to defend the Doys, at the court in Platte City. General Bassett, the circuit attorney for the 12th Judicial
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District, being sick, Judge Norton appointed Col. John Doniphan, now of St. Joseph, to prosecute the indictment. A change of venue to Buchanan County was granted the defendants, and on the 25th day of March, 1859, they were put on trial at St. Joseph, before the following jury : S. S. Allen, Edward Pace, Judge Thomas W. Keys, Thomas P. Booth, Sinclair R. Miller, Caswell Goodman, Israel Landis, James Highly, Samuel Lockwood, Abner Copeland, Lewis F. Weimer and Lawson Rodgers.
This jury, after being out two days, were discharged, as being unable to agree-the principal ground of defense relied upon being that the Doys were not seen in Missouri, and no evidense except, of a circum- stantial character, to show the court had any jurisdiction.
At the request of the defendant's attorneys, the court adjourned until the 21st day of June, 1859, to again try the defendant, Dr. Doy, the State having dismissed as to Charles.
At the appointed time, Governor Shannon and General Davis appeared with a number of witnesses and many depositions from Kan- sas, and the trial was commenced, and for three days was heard, amid an immense crowd, which packed the old court house to repletion.
The jury were Samuel B. Tolin, George Boyer, Jacob Boyer, H. D. Louthen, Merrill Willis, Henson Devoss, George Clark, Henry P. Smith, John Modrill, Ortin M. Loomis, William W. Mitchell and James Hill.
At the close of the evidence, Judge Norton, (now of the Supreme Court of Missouri), who had presided with great dignity and fairness, instructed the jury as to the law of the case.
The case was then opened by General Bassett for the state, in a speech of masterly power and searching analysis of the evidence. He was followed by General Davis in a speech of two hours, and then Gov- ernor Shannon, in a speech of three hours. Both of these speeches were brilliant, pathetic and logical, and vindicated the judgment of the Kansas Legislature in their selection, as both of them were Democrats.
After supper the Court House was packed to hear the closing of the case by Col. Doniphan, which was done in a speech of one hour and a half, of singular power of argument and analysis, and when he closed there was scarcely a doubt of the guilt of the prisoner, and the effect of it was announced in a verdict of guilty within a short time after the retirement of the jury.
The defendant, Dr. Doy, appealed to the Supreme Court, and, pend- ing the appeal, he was released from jail by a party of Kansans, headed by John Brown who, afterwards, vindicated his faith as a martyr at Har- per's Ferry. They crossed from Elwood, on a dark night in skiffs, and approached the old jail during a heavy storm, and induced the jailor to open the door by presenting one of their number as a supposed horse- thief, recently caught in Andrew County, and, once within the jail, they
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captured the jailor, released Dr. Doy, leaving the jail locked and threw the key away and returned to Kansas without any pursuit or molesta- tion. The statute, under which the indictment was found, is section 27. page 576, vol. I, of the statutes of Missouri of 1855, and is as follows :
SEC. 27. If any person shall entice, decoy, or carry away out of this state, any slave belonging to another, with intent to deprive the owner thereof of the services of such slave, or with intent to procure or effect the freedom of such slave, he shall be adjudged guilty of grand larceny and punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than five years.
Dr. Doy, soon after his escape, left Lawrence for Rochester, New York, where he published a book giving an account of his trial and con- viction. His book spoke kindly of the witnesses and attorneys who prosecuted him, but bitterly of the officers and jury which convicted him. It is reported he died in New York some years since. His son Charles was hanged in southern Kansas, in the fall of 1860, for horse stealing. by a vigilance committee, at the command of Judge Lynch.
EARLY REMINISCENCES.
One of the earliest and most respected pioneers of Buchanan County relates the following incidents :
"In 1838 I came to the . Platte Purchase, and for a short time after my arrival resided with my brother, who had located some seven or eight miles north of Blacksnake Hills. At that time the country was new and wild. The land was unsurveyed, and the squatter erected his cabin wherever he pleased, provided he did not put it within a quarter of a mile of his nearest neighbor.
" Disputes about claims were of frequent occurrence, and sometimes resulted in violence and bloodshed. But upon the whole, the people. though poor, were quite friendly and were ever ready to throw open their cabin doors to the passing stranger. One of the early acquaint- ances formed by me after I came, was Solomon L. Leonard, who was afterwards Judge of this judicial district. This early acquaintance ripened into lasting friendship, and Judge Leonard, though differing with his friends in politics, could always rely upon them for support in his struggles for official position. He was a stern man, but a true friend to the upright in life. In the fall of 1862, he was accidentally drowned in the Indian Territory.
The mania for town sites which spread all over the western states did not afflict the early settlers of the Platte country, for there were no towns or villages worthy of being called such north of Weston. in the Platte Country.
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I was frequently on the present town site of St. Joseph, five years before the town was located. In the fall of 1839 I was here attending the second court ever held in Buchanan County. The officers of the court were Judge King : Burnett, Prosecuting Attorney ; Edwin Toole, Circuit Clerk, and Samuel M. Gilmore, Sheriff. The attorneys in attend- ance were Andrew S. Hughes, Alexander W. Doniphan, David R. Atchi- son, William Wood, Amos Rees, Prince L. Hudgers, Theodore D. Wheaton and Solomon L. Leonard. The court house was a log struc- ture, owned by Joseph Robidoux and located on the ground now occu- pied by the Occidental Hotel. There was no difficulty in obtaining meals, but many persons were compelled to sleep on the bare floor, without quilt or blanket, in the log court house above mentioned. An incident occurred at this term of court which came very near resulting in a serious riot. Under an act of Congress, the sixteenth section of the public land was donated for school purposes, and the county courts were authorized to sell the land and control the money. The sheriff had advertised some of this land for sale, and there was a general feeling in the community that the persons who had settled upon it before the sur- vey should be allowed to purchase their homes at one dollar and a quar- ter per acre, the amount charged by the government for other lands.
"The sheriff now announced his purpose to commence the sale. He was immediately surrounded by a ring of strong men, and there rang out upon the assembled crowd, the cry 'that no one should bid against the claimant of the land.' The excited squatter bid one dollar and a quarter for his home, now under the sheriff's hammer. The bid was announced again and again. For a moment breathless silence reigned on every hand, but, to the amazement of all present, some daring fellow stepped forward with a weapon of death clutched in his hand, said : "I will give one dollar and fifty cents per acre." In an instant the coats flew from more than a dozen stalwart shoulders and the indications were unmis- takable that some one would be hurt. . The opposing bidder now walked quietly away, remarking that he ' did not want the land : that he only desired to show these gentlemen that he was not afraid to bid.'
In the summer of 1838, while passing through a sparsely settled por- tion of Buchanan County, I suddenly came upon fifteen or twenty Indi- ans: They were either passing though the country, or had returned to their old hunting grounds for the purpose of taking game. Without doubt, they were friendly Indians, but the unexpected discovery of such a company, far away from any human habitation, created in my mind a desire for some other locality just about that time.
Suspecting my trepidation, one of the redskins dashed after me like an arrow, but from some inexplicable cause to me, suddenly stopped and retraced his steps. The latter movement met with my decided approval,
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and the Indian now returned to his comrades, with an apparent sardonic grin upon his dusky countenance, and pursued the even tenor of his way.
The first political meeting I attended in Buchanan County was held a few miles north of the Blacksnake Hills. Two candidates for the Leg- islature were present, and at once proceeded to present their claims to the assembled voters. They were both Democrats, but one of them had conceived the idea of charging his opponent with being a Whig, well- knowing that even a suspicion of this kind would defeat his election. He supported his charge by the following arguments : First, his oppo- nent was from a Whig State ; second, he handed a notice for public speaking to a Whig, with the request that he would post it up at the place of meeting, and third, the Whigs to a man were giving him their support. The speaker here distinctly proclaimed that he did not desire Whig support ; that if any Whig voted for him it would be without his consent. The other candidate now took the stand, and unequivocally denied the charge of being a Whig, but admitted the specifications. He said it was true, he was from a Whig State ; that he did hand a notice to a Whig, with the request that he would post it up at their place of meeting, and, moreover, he thought it altogether probable that the Whigs intended to give him their support at the approaching election, and he was quite willing they should do so. Here the speaker reminded his opponent that there might be satisfactory reasons why one gentle- man should be preferred to another for an official position, independent of all political considerations. The man who was willing to receive Whig support, and not sufficiently cautious to conceal it, was defeated, and the demagogue was triumphant."
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