USA > Missouri > Johnson County > The history of Johnson County, Missouri : including a reliable history of the townships, cities, and towns, together with a map of the county; a condensed history of Missouri; the state constitution; an abstract of the most important laws etc > Part 5
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF· MISSOURI.
To the Senate and Representatives of the United States, in Congress assem- bled. The petition of Daniel Boone, at present an inhabitant of the ter- ritory of Louisiana, respectfully showeth:
That your petitioner has spent a long life in exploring the wilds of North America; and, has by his own personal exertions, been greatly instrumental in opening the road to civilization in the immense territories now attached to the United States, and, in some instances, matured into independent states. An ardent thirst for discovery, united with a desire to benefit a rising family, has impelled him to encounter the numerous hardships, privations, difficulties and dangers to which he has unavoidably been exposed. How far his desire for dis- covery has been extended, and what consequences have resulted from his labors, are, at this time, unnecessary to be stated. But, while your petitioner has thus opened the way to thousands, to countries possessed of every natural advantage, and although he may have gratified his thirst for discovery, he has to lament that he has not derived those personal advantages which his exertions would seem to have merited. He has secured but a scanty portion of that immeasurable terri- tory over which his discoveries have extended, and his family have reason to regret that their interest had not been more the great object of his discoveries. Your petitioner has nothing to demand from the justice of his country, but he respectfully suggests, that it might be deemed an act of grateful remembrance, if his country, amidst their bounties, would so far gratify his last wish, as to grant him some reasonable portion of land within the territory of Louisiana. He is the more induced to this request, as the favorite pittance of soil to which he considered he had acquired a title under the Spanish government, has been wrested from him by a construction of the existing laws not in his contempla- tion, and beyond his foresight. Your petitioner is not disposed to murmer or complain; but conscious of the value and extent of his services, he solicits some evidence of their liberality. He approaches the august assemblage of his fellow citizens with a confidence inspired by that spirit which has led him so often to the deep recesses of the wilds of America; and he flatters himself that he, with his family, will be induced to acknowledge that the United States knows how to appreciate and encourage the efforts of her citizens, in enterprises of magnitude from which proportionate public good may be derived.
DANIEL BOONE.
Daniel Boone and his son established a town called Missouriton near the Missouri river, which at one time promised to become the capital of the territory. When this failed, it went down. The changing currents of the muddy river have long since obliterated every trace of this village. After serving gallantly in the war of 1811-12, against the Indians, then resting calmly during a peaceful interval of years, Daniel Boone died September 26, 1820.
He is to be remembered as the pioneer of the west, the most noted of the early American settlers in the "District" of Louisiana, and the owner of the first stone house erected in Missouri.
As the years passed on from 1804, the murders became more frequent along the frontier in Missouri. At last the Indians, growing bold, com- mitted such outrages as to call for forces, armed and equipped, to protect the settlers. In the summer of 1811 Gov. Clark repaired in person to the scenes of devastation. A company of rangers, composed of the most hardy woodmen, was organized and the country scoured. This for a time
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
produced quiet. In the month of May, 1812, a meeting of the chiefs was had in St. Louis for the purpose of accompanying Gov. Clark to Wash- ington that an adjustment of rights might be had. Hostilities during their absence almost ceased. But the baleful spirit of the great Tecumseh still influenced large numbers, and when the chiefs returned the horrible sur- prises again began. An armed force was now despatched. Mistaking . the overtures of the Indians to be friendly, the party was surprised and suffered a severe defeat. The best protection was the companies of ran- gers, who, like the minute men of the revolution, stood ready upon the slightest alarm. While these aggressive measures were being taken, those at home were quietly building forts to shield the defenceless women and children. About fifteen of these were built. They were always situ- ated upon eminences commanding such open views as to virtually thwart the marauders. Eventually this means caused a subsidence of the troubles.
" These forts were all built after the same general plan, viz .: In the form of a parallelogram, with the block-houses at the four corners, and the intervening spaces filled with log-cabins and palisades. They would not have withstood the fire of artillery, but afforded ample protection against rifles and muskets. None of them, however, were ever attacked by the Indians, for their number and convenient locations, with the constant watchfulness of the rangers, afforded the savages no opportunity of doing any very serious damage."
Notwithstanding all these precautions, the most shocking and brutal murders were committed from time to time. In the annals of the pioneers of Missouri are treasured some of the most hideous deeds that occur in the history of the American savage. The unconscious victim is often murdered in sleep. Whether at the hearthstone or at the plow the danger was ever present. No large bands of Indians infested the district. The solitary demon, prowling stealthily in the wilderness, was the dreaded foe. All work was accomplished under the cover of armed sentinels pacing to and fro.
But the war of extermination in the west, as in the east, had com- menced, and at this hour the end of the struggle is not yet. The happy hunting grounds are filled with civilized life, and upon the continent where once he roamed at will, the red man of the north has now no resting place.
While these events were transpiring in the northern part of Missouri, in the southeastern part were occurring others that filled the inhabitants with dread and consternation. They were wrought by no human hand, but the direful forces at work were full of disaster. We refer to the earthquakes of New Madrid.
During the years 1811 and 1812 the whole of southeast Missouri was convulsed by the most terrible shocks. The people had been accustomed to slight undulations of the surface, but the vast upheavals of this period were never effaced from their memories.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
It would be impossible to describe the scene. Large tracts of land were suddenly washed into the river, lakes, miles in circumference, were the creation of an hour, swamps and great basins of water became dry land, and everywhere the earth yawned with ghastly fissures. The face of the whole country became changed. People sought safety from falling debris by living in tents. Trees were felled upon which they rested, while the earth opened beneath.
Strangest phenomena filled the heavens. One evening the southern hori- zon was lit up with flashes of vivid fire. The night was luminious. The terrific grandeur was only destroyed by the horrible danger. At last when quiet came over the face of the earth, wildest confusion alone marked the hour. Villages had been lost, estates could not be recog- nized.
So great and far reaching was this calamity that congress passed an act of relief for the sufferers, by which tracts of land equal to their former possessions were granted them in any uninhabited portion of the territory.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Settlement of Howard, Cooper and Boone Counties-Missouri Intelligencer-The " Independence"-" Hardeman's Garden"-"The Power of the Great Spirit."
Naturally, the next settlements in the State would be in the central por- tion, along the Missouri river; it is also true that in chronological order Howard, Cooper and Boone counties are next inhabited.
Howard county, as has been mentioned in a previous chapter, was first explored by Messrs. Lewis and Clarke when upon their celebrated expe- dition to the Rocky Mountains. One of the oldest settlers, was Joseph Cooper, who having made himself acquainted with the country from New Orleans to St. Paul, realized a handsome fortune by acting as guide for various exploring parties. The county was organized in the early part of 1816 and comprised "a territory since divided into thirty-one counties, nineteen north and twelve south of the river, besides parts of nine others." The territorial laws appointed officers of one court who discharged the duties of both county and circuit courts. The county seat originally selected, was Cole's Fort; it was afterward changed to Franklin.
Franklin was built two miles back from the Missouri river and opposite the present site of Boonville, on a donation, by different individuals, of fifty acres of land. It soon became the most thrifty commercial center west of St. Louis, and for many years enjoyed merited celebrity. It commanded all the trade of Boone's Lick salt works, was at once the starting point of the great Santa Fe route and its terminus, and thus the store house of all the wealth of this enterprise, and contained the first land office established
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
west of St. Louis, where in 1818 immense tracts were sold in all parts of the district.
Two important events connected with the progress of Missouri are forever united with the history of Franklin.
On May 28, 1819, a steamboat, the " Independence," twelve days out from St. Louis, landed at her rudely constructed wharf. Hitherto the waters of the capricious river had never been touched at this point, save by the dug-out of the trader or the canoe of the Indian. In April of the same year, Nathaniel Patton established the Missouri Intelligencer, the first printed sheet issued west of St. Louis. This newspaper ultimately grew into the Missouri Statesman, of Columbia, Missouri, edited since 1843 by Wm. F. Switzler.
The county seat of Howard county was again removed. From Frank- lin it went to Fayette. About three years after its removal, the insiduous currents of the river began to make serious encroachments upon the portion of Franklin directly along side the stream. As time went on house after house was swept into the river, until the danger caused a re-location of the town on a bluff two miles distant, and the very site of the place was eventually obliterated.
Cooper county, south of the river, was settled by emigrants from How- ard as early as 1810. It was organized in December, 1818, and was named in honor of Sarshell Cooper. Boonville became the principal town and county seat. The first court-house was erected in 1823. Boon- ville was incorporated in 1839. The population of Cooper county in 1821, is estimated to have been 3,483.
The tragic death of the Sarshell Cooper, above referred to, which occurred in 1814, illustrates the mode of Indian warfare carried on in these primitive times. Mr. Switzler thus relates the incident: "Sarshell Cooper was killed at his own fireside in Cooper's Fort, April 14, 1814. It was on a dark and stormy night, when the winds howled through the adjacent forest, that a single warrior crept to the wall of Captain Cooper's cabin, which formed one side of the fort, and made an opening between the logs, barely sufficient to admit the muzzle of his gun, which he dis- charged with fatal effect. Captain Cooper was sitting by the fire holding his youngest child in his arms, which escaped unhurt; his other children lounging on the cabin floor, and his wife engaged in domestic duties."
Boone county was named in honor of the renowned pioneer of that name. It was first settled in 1812-13. In 1815, the Indians, by treaty, relinquished all claim to the territory north of the Missouri river included in the pur- chase from France. Immediately afterward came a great influx of emi- gration to central Missouri. This region had become famous and was known as the Boone's Lick country, (the name having grown to include almost all the territory of the three counties). In 1820, the county was
R. Baldwin
ED. STANDARD WARRENSBURG
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
organized from Howard. Smithton became the county seat. In 1821, it was removed to Columbia, where it has since remained. Rocheport was founded in 1825. In 1821 the population of the county was estimated to be 3,692.
The history of central Missouri and Howard county, though brief, as it must of necessity be in this sketch, would not be complete without some mention of the famous retreat known as Hardeman's Garden. Wealthy, having won distinction in the practice of the profession of law, loving with the ardent passion of a cultivated nature, agriculture and horticulture, John Hardeman, in 1819, bought a tract of land in Howard county lying alongside the river, and resolved to devote the remainder of his life to his favorite pursuits. Ten acres in the rich bottom lands next the river were laid off for a botanic garden.
Take away Blennerhassett's beautiful island in the Ohio, and there was no other spot like it on the continent. Birds sang, flowers of every hue and form bloomed in profusion. Rich and rare exotics filled the air with fragrance. Geometric order everywhere met the eye. Sinuous walks led the admirer past a thousand beauties. "The tints of the earth and the hues of the sky " blended together to make this spot the elysian field of the west. Art brought symmetry and form into the wilderness and adorned it. It was such a garden as Shelley describes as the home of the Sensitive plant:
" And on the stream whose inconstant bosom Was pranked under boughs of embowering blossom, With golden and green light slanting through Their heaven of many a tangled hue, Broad water-lilies lay tremulously, And starry river-buds glimmered by; And the sinuous paths of lawn and moss Which led through the garden along and across,
Some open at once to the sun and the breeze, Some lost among bowers of blossoming trees, Were all paved with daisies and delicate bells As fair as the fabulous asphodels.".
For fifteen summers it was the delight of the western world. The wit, gayety and brilliance of Missouri flocked to this " undefiled paradise " of sweet flowers and embowering shade.
But alas, the " inconstant bosom" of the stream desolated this Eden! No trace of the lovely spot remains. The mad Missouri swept across its matchless borders and the wild currents wrought chaos of its bloom and beauty.
It was mentioned previously in this chapter that a steamboat, the "Inde- pendence," landed at Franklin, in Howard county, May, 1819. Due sig- nificance as a part of this history was not given to the event. The arrival was hailed with joy and the great demonstration of a public gathering. 3
-
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
Numerous speeches were made and the event was in every way charac- terized as the birth of a new era of prosperity. It was the first real sub- stantial triumph of the new civilization.
Soon after this, congress sent an expedition to explore the Yellowstone. The steamboats, crude as they were, struck terror into the Indian mind. A boat and its effect is thus described:
" On its stern running from the keel, was the image of a huge serpent, painted black, with mouth red and its tongue the color of a live coal. The steam exhausted from the mouth of the serpent; which led the Indians to look upon it with astonishment and wonder. They saw in it the power of the great spirit, and thought the boat was carried upon the back of the great serpent. Many were afraid to go near it, and looked upon the machinery of the craft with espe- cial awe."
CHAPTER IX.
Missouri Territory -- The Legislative Power-The Judicial-First Delegate to Congress- Edward Hempstead-His Life and Character-First and Second Territorial Legisla- tures.
We shall now proceed to the political history of Missouri territory. The territory was an organization of congress and was called into being in the year 1812. The organization consisted of a governor, a legislative coun- cil, and a house of representatives. In these three branches was vested the entire legislative power.
The house of representatives then, as to-day, consisted of members elected every two years. The apportionment was one to every five hun- dred white males. It was stipulated, however, that the house should never consist of more than twenty-five members. The first house con- tained only thirteen. The house nominated from the commonwealth at large eighteen citizens, nine of whom with the approval of the senate of the United States, and the president thereof, constituted the legislative coun- cil. The governor held the power of an absolute veto.
The judicial power of the territory was vested in one superior court of three judges, holding office for four years, inferior courts and justices of the peace.
One territorial delegate was allowed in the national congress.
The first governor of the territory was William Clark, already famous from the Lewis and Clark expedition. Pursuant to an act of congress he re-organized the districts, making five, as follows: St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape. Girardeau and New Madrid. At the same time he ordered a general election to be held, pursuant to law, on the second Mon- day of November, 1812.
The delegate chosen at this election, and consequently the first national
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
representative of Missouri, was Edward Hempstead. Edward Hemp- stead was not only a noted pioneer, but was also a remarkable man indi- vidually, and worthy to be remembered, alike for his many noble qualities of head and heart, and his eminent and patriotic services. His memory has lately been revived in Missouri. His portrait was presented to the State through the last general assembly (the 31st) by Elihu B. Wash- burne, of Illinois, when a eulogy upon his life, character, and services was pronounced. The position which he occupied demands of us an extended notice, and in order to present him to the reader in the best light, we quote largely from Mr. Washburne's address.
1198556
" At this election Edward Hempstead was elected delegate to congress. This election took place just one week (Nov. 2, 1812), from the opening of the second session of the twelfth congress, to which he had been elected. On the 4th of January, 1813, he took his seat, as shown by the following entry in the journal: 'Monday, January 4th, 1813, Edward Hempstead, returned to serve as the delegate in this house from the territory of Mis- souri, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.' A question arose, whether the delegate thus elected could remain a dele- gate after the expiration of the twelfth congress, on the 4th of March, 1813.
"The first official act of Mr. Hempstead was a motion to raise a commit- tee of the house, to inquire into the matter. Of that committee, Mr. Hemp- stead was chairman. The practice of the house of representatives of that date was different from that of the present time. Under the present rules and practices of the house of representatives, the territorial delegates can- not sit on the committees of the house. On the 15th day of January, Mr. Hempstead introduced into the house certain resolutions, instructing the committee on public lands to inquire into the expediency of legislation in regard to the adjudication of land claims, etc., in the territory of Louisiana (then Missouri), and, also, instructing the same committee to inquire into the expediency of granting the right of pre-emption to actual settlers on public lands in the territory of Missouri.
"On the 29th of January, 1813, Mr. McKee, from the committee appointed on the motion of Mr. Hempstead, to inquire into the question of further legislation in regard to election of delegate from the territory of Missouri, reported that no legislation was necessary, for the reason that the delegate having been elected for two years under the provision of the law organizing the territory, he could hold his seat for that term; that is to say, from the second Monday in November, 1812, till the second Mon- day in November, 1814; that the delegate elected in pursuance of law, and for the term of two years, could not be deprived of his seat by any subsequent law.
" The first session of the thirteenth congress met on the 24th of May,
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
1813, but Mr. Hempstead did not take his seat till the 10th of June; this session of congress adjourned on the 2d of August, and Mr. Hempstead's name is not connected with any measure introduced in the house during that session. Mr. Clay was the speaker of this house.
" The second session of this thirteenth congress convened on the 6th of December, 1813, and Mr. Hempstead was present as delegate from the territory of Missouri. He had given his attention to a subject of vast importance to the territory that he represented. It was the question of the final adjustment of land titles upon the bill which had been presented in the house in accordance with resolutions theretofore introduced by him. It was on this bill that he made what appears to be his only speech during his term of service. As reported in the " History of Congress," it is an able one. He treats of the questions presented with great clearness, evincing a thorough knowledge of his subject and of the questions of inter- national law which were involved. He contended that the title to lands in the Louisiana territory, before Spain ceded it to France in 1803, should be recognized and confirmed by the United States; that the acts of the Spanish government in granting titles to lands in Louisiana territory from the time of the cession to France in 1800 and up to the time France ceded it to the United States in 1803, should be recognized and confirmed by the United States. France had never taken possession of the country ceded by Spain in 1800, but had left the latter country in the full exercise of its sovereignty up to the time of the cession to the United States in 1803. Former acts of congress had cut off all these grants made by the Spanish government, violating, as he contended, not only the treaty with France, but the well-known principles of international law. Mr. Hempstead characterized this law as " the violation of every principle either of law or equity; it declared that which had been legally commenced by another government to be null and void; it made void the proceedings of a power in the just exercise of its sovereignty. Instances have often occurred, where what had been lawfully begun, but not completed, has been sanc- tioned and acknowledged, especially when it depended on the perform- ances of conditions which subsequent events had made it impossible to perform, but never could a lawful act be made unlawful. A right once vested could not, without any fault of the claimant, be either at law or in equity divested; such a principle changed the nature of things, and was, therefore, odious. " Would," asked Mr. Hempstead, " the Spanish gov- ernment have sanctioned the grants made by its officers? If so, they ought now to be sanctioned; without the solemn stipulations of the treaty to support it, policy alone would dictate such a course."
" He appealed in behalf of his constituents: 'Liberality will secure the affections of those you have made a part of your family; it will root old attachments, while a more rigid plan will occasion distrust and dissatis-
.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
faction, and the change will be regarded as injurious. No national bene- fit can result from this rigor; a few acres of land to the United States are nothing, but taken away from individuals may cause distress and ruin. Many of them are strangers to your language and unacquainted with your laws; their affections ought not to be estranged when extending justice to them will secure their confidence.' Mr. Hempstead than showed the injustice of other laws that had been passed on this subject. They had been so amended and altered by so many different statutes, that difficulties had been increased instead of diminished. It could not be denied that the people of his territory were in a worse siuation in that respect than others. 'It now remains for me, Mr. Speaker, to consider very briefly whether the present bill will do full and complete justice to the claimants. During the ten years of scrutiny and investigation, few have made improvements. Many families, despairing of obtaining their equitable claims, and tired of the uncertainties attending their titles, have abandoned a country which cannot prosper without the fostering aid of the government, and, if the delay of justice has not, in all cases, been equal in its consequence to an absolute denial of it, still it has caused much distress and injury. The present bill will quiet the apprehensions of most of the claimants, and although it will neither satisfy nor do jus- tice to all, yet it will restore that confidence which has been much impaired, and will do what the national faith is pledged to do.' The act of congress which Mr. Hemstead had introduced and so ably and stren- uously advocated, became a law on the 12th day of April, 1814. It was a law of transcendant importance to the people of the territory of Mis- souri, for it confirmed the 'incomplete Spanish grants or conceptions, or any warrant or order of survey for lands lying within the territory of Mis- souri prior to March 10, 1804,' which was the date when the sovereignty of France over Upper Louisiana passed to the sovereignty of the United States. The act also provided for giving to the settlers of Missouri ter- ritory the right of preemption to public lands, a beneficent act which extended the principle which had been applied to other territories. * * * * * * * *
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