USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > The history of Buchanan County, Missouri > Part 34
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In 1861, James Craig, of St. Joseph, was appointed a Brigadier Gen- eral by President Lincoln, and put in command of the Department of the Platte, on the plains among the Pawnee and Sioux Indians. He retained this position several months, when he resigned and returned home and was appointed a Brigadier General in the State Militia, by Governor Gamble, and was in command of this district in the winter of 1864 and 1865. In the spring of 1862, Benjamin F. Loan was appointed a Brigadier General by Governor Gamble, and placed in command of Northwestern Missouri, with headquarters at St. Joseph. In the fall of that year he was put into active service, in an effort to run the "bushwhack- ers" from the central part of the state, and finally took command of the
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Jefferson City district, where he remained until after his election to Con- gress, when he was relieved by General Brown.
General Loan was succeeded in the fall of 1862, by General W. P. Hall, in command of this military district, which he retained until the meeting of the Legislature, when he took his seat as Lieutenant-Governor. In February, 1864, General Hall succeeded Governor Gamble, deceased, as Governor of the State of Missouri. With a short interregnum, Gover- nor Hall was succeeded by Col. John F. Williams, of the Ninth Missouri State Guard. He was succeeded, in 1863, by Colonel Chester A. Hard- ing. About this time, the Eighty-first regiment of enrolled Missouri militia was organized, with Col. John Scott as commander, and although many surmises were indulged in as to the loyalty of its soldiers, Col. Scott kept good order, and showed a clear record in his command.
During the most of the years 1862, 1863 and 1864, General John M. Bassett was Provost Marshal of this district, and perhaps filled a wider field of usefulness than any officer in arms. The jail and the mili- tary prisons were filled with Federal and Confederate delinquents, con- signed there upon any conceivable charge, from actual treason and mur- der, to the most trivial charges of malevolence and fanaticism.
General Bassett, with a suavity and honesty to be envied, heard these cases daily and passed upon them with the stern eye of justice, always moistened with the tear of mercy.
In the spring of 1864, General C. B. Fisk was placed in command of the United States forces in this county, and remained until he was suc- ceeded by Colonel Harding, late in the fall. In the winter of 1865. Colonel John Pinger was in command, succeeding General Harding. Colonel Pinger was of the Forty-fifth Missouri Volunteers, and continued in command until May, 1865, when he. vacated this post and was placed in command of the Second District of Missouri.
Buchanan County, in 1861, furnished most of the Twenty-fifth Mis- sori (Colonel Peabody's regiment), then Major Berry's Battalion of Cav- alry, Penick's Fifth Regiment Missouri State Guard, Hall's Fourth Regi- ment of Missouri State Guard, and Eleventh Missouri Cavalry. In 1865, the Second, Third and Fourth Regiments of Missouri militia, as state organizations, organized with W. R. Penick, Cyrus Messemer and Joseph Thompson, respectively, as Colonels. These troops did no service and were only organized as provisional regiments, to keep quietude in a country which was thought would be disturbed by the return of a large number of soldiers from both armies. This was a violent presumption. as the most orderly citizens were those who saw hard service in the army. The true soldier has given no offence to the laws since his return, whether his fealty was given to the blue or gray during the contest.
In the fall of 1864, Colonel Chester Harding, afterward a Brigadier General, organized at St. Joseph the Forty-third Regiment of the United
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States Volunteers, from Buchanan and the surrounding counties. During 1862, Colonel John Severance, afterward State Senator, and Mayor of St. Joseph, commanded the Forty-fourth Regiment of Missouri militia, and policed the county in the fall of 1862.
In 1864, General R. C. Bradshaw, a native of Platte County, and an original Union man, organized, at St. Joseph, the Forty-fourth United States volunteers, many of whom were from this county. This regiment had a proud history. Wm. Drumhiller commanded company B, and F. G. Hopkins company C. This regiment left St. Joseph in September, 1864, for Rolla; thence to Paducah, Kentucky; thence to Nashville, Tennessee. They were in the battles of Springfield and Franklin. At the latter place Colonel Bradshaw received severe wounds and was left on the field for dead, but is now an honored citizen of St. Joseph. Brad- shaw's regiment then accompanied the Twenty-third corps, and engaged in the battles of Columbia, Clifton and Spanish Fort, in Alabama, and were finally mustered out of service at St. Louis, on the 15th of August, 1865, having traveled six thousand two hundred miles from St. Joseph, seven hundred and forty-seven on foot and the balance by rail and transport ; a greater number of miles perhaps, than any other regiment had traveled during the war, and showing a striking parallel to the First regiment of Missouri volunteers, during the Mexican war, under Col. Doniphan.
One company of the First Kansas was organized in St. Joseph, and commanded by Captain Chenowith, of the Free Democrat, of St. Joseph. One company of the First Nebraska was organized in St. Joseph, commanded by Captain Bonner.
Prior to the call of 1864, this county had credited as United States volunteers, 1089 men, and those credited afterward must have been as many more. Colonel Tracy, of the Kansas service, took a part of his command from this county, and many left singly and joined different companies and regiments, which swelled the total number in the United States volunteer service to more than 2,000.
Beside the militia organizations mustered into service from this. county, there were equally as many more who went into the army, mak- ing fully four thousand soldiers who did duty for the old flag from Buchanan County.
In July, 1864, the Eighty-seventh Missouri, enrolled militia regi- ment, was organized, with Harbine, Colonel. This regiment was put on duty under command of J. W. Strong, and rendered local service in this county during the years 1864 and 1865.
In the spring of 1861, there were two companies of Missouri State Guards organized under the order of Governor C. F. Jackson, and went into camp in South St. Joseph. Colonel John C. C. Thornton, now of Montana, commanded one, and M. Jeff. Thompson the other. The appear- ance of United States troops here in May scattered these organizations,
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
as heretofore stated, and the Mississippi rifles and ammunition which had been procured by Thornton's company in the raid on the Liberty arsenal, in April, 1861, and which were secreted in cellars between Third and Fourth Streets, in St. Joseph, were removed by Captain John F. Landis, in July, 1861, in wagons driven through the Federal camp next day by a trusty contraband, (now a citizen of St. Joseph,) and carried to the outskirts of the city, where Captain Landis' company met and guarded them to Price's army, encamped upon the battle field of Wil- son's Creek.
Landis afterwards participated in the hard-fought battles of Corinth, Champion Hills and Vicksburg, where he surrendered. Being exchanged, Captain Landis commanded a battery until the end of the war, and sur- rendered with the Army of the Gulf, thus earning a record of which his posterity may be proud. He is now an active and honored business man of St. Joseph.
Prior to the war, A. W. Slayback was a lawyer in St. Joseph, and after the battle of Lexington was elected colonel of a Missouri cavalry regiment, and being transferred to a department of the Confederate army, served until the surrender of Kirby Smith, and then, we think, accompanied Shelby to Mexico. He is now an honored citizen of St. Louis.
In the summer of 1861, Elijah Gates, (since State Treasurer), organ- ized a company of Confederates at Rock House, in this county, and joined Governor Jackson. This company did memorable service in the battles of Lexington and Elkhorn, and were finally transferred east of the Mississippi, and were the heroes of the fight at Corinth, where our gal- lant Assessor, John S. Tutt, lost a leg.
Gates was promoted to the position of Brigadier General, and served during the war, losing an arm, retiring after the last gun was fired, with the reputation of Ney, "the bravest of the brave."
John R. Boyd, an attorney of St. Joseph, was at Blue Mills and Lex- ington, and was killed at Independence in the summer of 1863, leading a forlorn hope in an attack upon Colonel Buell's camp.
At the same time Colonel John T. Hughes was killed, Colonel Gideon Thompson, of Platte, was badly wounded.
A regiment, to join Price at Lexington, was organized from the Counties of Buchanan, Nodaway, Atchison and Andrew in August, 1861, of which Saunders was Colonel, J. H. R. Cundiff Lieutenant-Colonel, and John C. C. Thornton Major. These troops were placed under the com- mand of Colonel Green at Lexington, and were the special heroes of that fight. Colonel Green, in his report of the battle, attributed the success' of the assault upon the Union breastworks to the devices of Major Thorn- ton's men of this regiment, in moving a bale of hemp in front of each man, as he cautiously ascended the hill to attack the entrenchments.
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The bullets did not penetrate the hemp bales and the cannon balls only bounced them from the ground, the bales falling back in the same position.
Sidney Cunningham, another St. Joseph boy, joined John Morgan and accompanied him through his entire career, and escaped capture by swimming the Ohio River, and now edits a newspaper in Tennessee.
George Baxter another attorney of St. Joseph, went to Virginia and joined Stonewall Jackson ; was at Bull's Run, in the Blackhorse Cavalry, and was finally killed in one of the fights in the valley.
Broaddus Thompson's oldest son was with Price, and afterwards a captain in the Mississippi Department, serving until the end of the war, and is now an Episcopalian minister in Virginia.
John Kemper, son of our esteemed fellow citizen, Simeon Kemper, was a captain in the Confederate service, and was killed by wounds received in battle.
Reuben Kay, son of James Kay, was in the Confederate service, in command of a company, during almost the entire war, and his narrow escapes would form a chapter of singular interest.
Since the war ended, the soldiers of the two armies affiliate with true respect and regard, as brave men always respect valor in others.
From sixteen hundred to two thousand men went into the Confed- erate army from Buchanan County.
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CHAPTER XX.
COURT HOUSE.
SECOND COURT HOUSE-NEW COURT HOUSE-CEREMONIES AT LAYING CORNER-STONE- ADDRESS OF COLONEL JOHN DONIPHAN.
In the spring of 1846, the contract for building a brick Court House was let for $6,000. The job was undertaken and completed by L. S. Stigers and W. J. Taylor, architects and builders.
This, a two-story building, was in extent, including portico, fifty by seventy-four feet, and contained nine rooms. Insignificant as such a structure now would appear in the city, in which it formerly stood, in that early day, it was, from its elevated position, a prominent land-mark in the landscape, as well as an architectural feature, of which the young city was in no small degree proud. The site of this building was that of the present Court House, though the prominent elevation which it occu- pied was, on its destruction in the spring of 1873, reduced some thirty- five feet, to nearly. the level of Jule street, on which it fronted, as does the present spacious and elegant structure to which it has given place. The old Court House on the hill served the purposes for which it was designed till October, 1871, a period of a quarter of a century from its completion, when the building being deemed unsafe, the courts and appendant offices moved out, to occupy till the erection of a new and suitable building, rooms on Fifth Street, near Felix, formerly used as a parsonage, and ante-rooms, of what had been the Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph. They all continued to occupy these premises till the summer of 1873, when the Circuit Court, Circuit Clerk's and Sheriff's offices were moved to Brady's Hall, on Felix Street, near the corner of Fourth.
It may not be improper to add that the site of that dilapidated, abandoned, old church and parsonage is now covered by some of the most substantial and elegant business blocks in the city.
On the removal of the old building, the work of cutting down the hill upon which it had stood for twenty-five years, rapidly progressed, and on the 25th of August, 1873, the corner-stone of the present stately edifice was laid with appropriate ceremonies. This, the largest court house, as well as one of the finest appearing public buildings, in the state, was not completed till August, 1876. It was, however, in part occupied by the courts as early as the month of January of the same year, while the unfinished work continued to be pushed to completion.
The entire cost of the structure was one hundred and seventy-three thousand dollars.
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P. F. Meagher was the architect, and John DeClue, of St. Joseph, the builder.
The style of the building is less ornate than massive. The Corin- thian porticoes of the three fronts, however, are admirably proportioned, and the graceful stone columns crowned with elaborate capitals, contrast finely with the otherwise plain and massive character of the building. These columns, of which there are four to each portico, cost one thousand two hundred dollars each.
The plan of the building is a Greek or equi-brachial cross. It has a frontage of 235 feet on Jule Street, with a depth of 205 feet ; it also fronts 235 feet on Fourth, and 235 feet on Fifth Streets. The roof is of slate and tin, and the guttering of copper. The basement story, which is twelve feet high in the clear, and extends under the entire building, is of rubble masonry faced with ashlar ; the superstructure is of brick trimmed with cut stone. The first story, in which most of the public offices are located, is eighteen feet high in the clear ; and the second story, in which is the Circuit Court room, twenty-five feet. In point of convenience, as regards light, ventilation, and arrangement of rooms, it is unexcelled in any building. From the first floor to the lantern of the dome the height is one hundred and forty-five feet. The only apparent defect in the internal design of the building is in the arrangement of the double stairway, which is so constructed as to conceal, from the first floor, the view of the dome.
The stair-ways in the building are broad, and the means of egress in case of sudden emergency, ample, each of the cardinal points pre- senting large double doors. Water closets on the two principal floors, and all the appliances of modern convenience proper to first-class pub- lic buildings, are found here. There are forty-six spacious rooms on the two principal floors besides a corresponding number in the unfinished basement story.
The dome, which surmounts the centre of the structure, is in classic harmony with the general appearance of the building, and renders the elevation a prominent land mark in the plain of the surrounding country.
Near the northeast corner of the Court House, and fronting on Fifth Street, is the substantial and not inelegant structure of the County Jail. completed in 1860. It is coveniently arranged, located on a high and healthful spot of ground, and well adapted to the purposes for which it was erected.
LAYING THE CORNER STONE OF THE COURT HOUSE.
The ceremony of laying the corner stone of this magnificent struc- ture, was one of the most imposing ever witnessed in the West. The occasion was one of such peculiar interest to the people of St. Joseph.
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that we cannot well refrain from giving some of the details of that event in this connection.
As before stated, the ceremony took place in the afternoon of August 20, 1873. The St. Joseph Gazette, speaking of that event, says ;
"At 2 o'clock, the procession was formed on Fourth Street, with the right resting on Edmond, under the management of Capt. John A. Dol- man, Chief Marshal. It was headed by Rosenblatt's brass band, whose excellent music pleased the ear of the thousands who were then thronging the sidewalks.
After this came the Knights of Pythias, including both Lomia and St. Joseph lodges, their brilliant uniforms glittering in the sunlight. The turn out of this order was unusually large, and Capt. B. F. Buzard acted as marshal, assisted by J. B. Hinman. After the Knights of Pythias, came the St. Joseph Fire Department, the "Young America's," leading the van. The Rescue Hook and Ladder Company came next ; then the Blue Bird, then the Blacksnake, and finally the new company.
All were in their best regalia, and in charge of Augustus Saltzman, Chief Engineer.
Humboldt Lodge, I. O. O. F., came next, and was followed by car- riages containing the officers of the Supreme, Circuit and County Courts, the county officers, the City Council and members of the press. After this came the officers of the Grand Lodge, A. F. and A. M. of the State of Missouri, Joseph S. Browne, Esq., acting as Worshipful Grand Master.
The streets were lined with thousands as the procession passed, and every one seemed to feel the deepest interest in the occasion. Even the bluffs adjoining the ground were lined with men, women and children, anxious to observe the commemoration of an event so important in the history of St. Joseph.
On reaching the grounds, the procession had swelled to an immense concourse of eager, expectant people. In the dense crowd, however, there was not the slightest disturbance, and everything passed off quietly and pleasantly. The ceremonies were begun by W. G. M., Joseph S. Browne, who, in a few well timed remarks, alluded to the pres- ence of members of various orders, and bid them welcome to witness the inauguration of an enterprise in which every citizen of St. Joseph was interested. At the conclusion of his remarks, a brief and impressive prayer was offered by Rev. John G. Fackler, acting Grand Chaplain, and then the work of depositing the various articles contributed com- menced. The following is a list of the most important articles :
Constitution and by-laws of the following grand bodies of the State of Missouri : Grand Commandry of Knights Templar, Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters, Grand Royal Arch Chapter, Grand Lodge 1. O. O. F., Grand Lodge Knights of Pythias.
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IIISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
Also by-laws and regulations of the following secret societies : St. Joseph No. 22 and Lomia Lodge, Knights of Pythias ; Humboldt Lodge No. 130, and Eclipse No. 133, I. O. O. F .; Zeredatha No. 189, and St. Joseph No. 78, A. F. and A. M. ; St. Joseph Royal Arch Chapter No. 14 ; Hugh de Payen's Commandery No. 4, K. T.
Late copies of the Daily and Weekly Gazette, Daily and Weekly Herald, Daily and Weekly Volksblatt, Daily and Weekly Commercial, Weekly Standard, a copy of the Missouri Gazette, Vol. I, No. 3, July 6, 1808, published at St. Louis ; architect's design of the court house, the names of the officers of the Circuit Court, premium list of the St. Joseph Industrial Exposition, a copy of St. Joseph's trade and manufacturers list, a copy of the lithograph showing St. Joseph, the bridge, and railroal connections.
COINS.
Among the curiosities we may mention the following :
A German coin, 1738.
Ring, by A. S. Battles.
A.silver quarter, 1857, presented by Joseph S Browne.
A silver dollar. Cards of different business houses.
Currency of the times.
Numerous silver dollars, photographs, and a great many other nov- elties, which we cannot enumerate.
After this had been concluded, the principal architect presented the working tools to the Grand Master, who distributed them as follows : The square to the Deputy Grand Master; the level to the Sr. Grand Warden, and the plumb to the Jr. Grand Warden. The usual questions in reference to the practical application of these instruments to archi- tecture were properly answered, when the Grand Master said :
This corner-stone has been tested by the proper instruments of Masonry. I find that the craftsmen have skillfully and faithfully per- formed their duty, and I do declare the stone to be well formed, true and trusty, and correctly laid according to the rules of our ancient craft. Let the elements of consecration now be presented.
Then came the old emblems of corn, wine and oil. The Deputy Grand Master advanced with his vessel of corn, scattering it on the stone and saying :
I scatter this corn as an emblem of plenty. May the blessings of bounteous heaven be showered upon us, and upon all like patriotic and benevolent undertakings, and inspire the hearts of the people with virtue, wisdom and gratitude.
Then came the Sr. Grand Warden with his vessel of wine, pouring it upon the stone and saying .:
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY.
I pour this wine as an emblem of joy and gladness. May the great Ruler of the universe bless and prosper our National, State and City Governments ; preserve the Union of the States, and may it be a bond of friendship and brotherly love that shall endure through all time.
Then came the Jr. Grand Warden with his vessel of oil, pouring it on the stone and saying :
I pour this oil as an emblem of peace. May its blessings abide upon us continually, and may the Grand Master of heaven and earth, shelter and protect the widow and orphans ; shield and protect them from the trials and vicissitudes of the world, and so bestow His mercy upon the be- reaved, the afflicted and the sorrowing, that they may know sorrowing and trouble no more.
And then came the final invocation of the Grand Master :
May the all-bounteous Author of Nature bless the people of this place with an abundance of the necessaries of life ; assist in the erection and completion of this building ; protect the workmen against every ac- cident ; long preserve the structure from decay, and grant to us all a supply of the corn of nourishment, the wine of refreshment and the oil of joy. Amen.
After delivering to the architect the working implements, the cere- monies were concluded by the Grand Master, as follows :
Men and brethren here assembled, be it known unto you that we be lawful Masons, true and faithful to the laws of our country, and engaged by solemn obligations to erect magnificent buildings, to be serviceable to the brethren, and to fear God, the great architect of the universe.
We have among us, concealed from the eyes of all men, secrets which cannot be divulged, and which have never been found out ; but these secrets are lawful and honorable, and not repugnant to the laws of God or man.
They were entrusted in peace and honor to the Free Masons of ancient times, and having been faithfully transmitted to us, it is our duty to convey them, unimpaired, to the latest posterity. Unless our craft were good, and our calling honorable, we should not have lasted for so many centuries, nor should we have been honored with the patronage of so many illustrious men of all ages, who have ever shown themselves ready to promote our interests and defend us from all adversaries.
We are assembled here to-day in the face of you all to build a house, which we pray God may deserve to prosper, by becoming a place of con- course for good men, and promoting harmony and brotherly love throughout the world, till time shall be no more.
The following were the officers of the Grand Lodge participating in the ceremonies on that occasion : John A. Dolman, Grand Marshal ; Henry C. Fox, Grand Tyler ; N. W. Sherman and Robert Hutton, Grand Stewards ; P. M. H. N. Montague, carrying the great lights, supported by W. G. Elliott and J. W. O'Neill, as Grand Stewards ; A. B. Frazer, Grand Secretary ; Hugh Trevor, Grand Treasurer ; Daniel O'Toole. Grand Junior Warden ; J. A. Raynor, Grand Senior Warden ; Rt. Wor-
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shipful D. G. M., Samuel Russell; George Buell, Past Master, carrying book of constitutions; Solomon Broyles, Grand Pursuivant ; Rev. John G. Fackler, Grand Chaplain ; Most Worshipful Grand Master, Joseph S. Browne, supported by N. H. Wilmott and C. A. Cunningham, as Grand Deacons; Grand Sword Bearer, C. M. Kingsbury.
One of the most interesting features of the occasion was the address of Colonel John Doniphan, which we here give because of the references therein made to the early history and settlement of Louisiana, Missouri, the Platte Purchase and Buchanan County :
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : We welcome you, on this day, so auspic- ious for the future of our county and city. The majestic proportions and symmetrical design of the temple of justice we are met to inaugurate, demonstrate that our honorable County Court, as well as the public sen- timent of our people, are in earnest accord with the progress of the age and the advance of our enlightened civilization. Standing in a city of thirty thousand inhabitants, just thirty years since the first sale of lots in St. Joseph, centrally located between the great lakes and the Gulf of Mexico; in the midst of the great Mississippi Valley ; midway between the Alleghenies and the Rockies, and upon the fortieth degree of north latitude, along which the great problems of civilization have been solved, we may properly indulge in retrospect and prophecy.
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