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 74
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The cemeteries of this township have considerable quaintness about them. Always about the sleeping places of the dead there are solemn associations. Here mirth turns to sadness, and the giddy minded person is transposed to a hypochondriac.
Thornton cemetery is an old family graveyard in the field of S. W. Taggart. This place is not used now.
Foster cemetery is on the old James Foster place in the woods near the old residence in section 4. A stone wall surrounds a lot of about one acre.
Oak Grove cemetery was commenced about 1855. John Roberts is among the first interred here. The graves are in the back ground from the church. It has a handsome and neat appearance, and speaks well for the community. . A few graves are on the road in the woods, near the residence of Joe Herndon.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
The business enterprise of the township consists chiefly in farming and stock-raising. The enterprising stock-dealers are G. G. Goodnight, Robt. Greer, and R. H. Wood. Alexander Greer, deceased, began the stock trade here forty years ago, and often would drive his beeves to St. Louis. No other enterprise surpasses farming and stock-raising here.
The agricultural interests of this township are worthy of note. The soil and climate is fully as good as in other states. Hugh Trusedale, who came here in 1866, from Ohio, says: “ When I came I paid twelve dollars per acre; now my land has doubled, the soil is more productive, and health fully as good as in Ohio." In a large part of the township tobacco could be profitably grown. Considerable soil is adapted to the raising of sorghum. James H. Parker, one of the most enterprising stock-raisers lives in the northern part of the township. He has a handsome farm, raises, in addition to his corn and wheat crop, fine timothy and clover hay. About his place blue grass is indigenous to the soil. Farms usually rent for about one-third of the crop. The black lime soil on Haw branch is very productive, and the corn crop is said to frequently run to eighty bushels per acre. This year (1881) was an uncommonly hard season on corn. It turned dry in July and did not rain a drop until the 29th of August. Drouth, with the chinch-bugs, cut the corn crop down to about one-third the annual yield. Most of the farms are small here. A few contain four hundred to six hundred acres, but generally the average size is about eighty to one hundred and sixty acres. Some farms are even less. Blue grass does well in every part of the township. The subject of horticulture is almost entirely neglected here, and for the want of a good horticulturist hundreds of acres of fine fruit-growing land lies dormant.
There are no elegant, commodious residences in the township. The best farm residences are those of J. H. Parker, R. H. Wood, S. H. Taggart and Robt. Greer. The buildings, however small and inexpensive, are ample for all purposes. There are but few good barns. Farmers would do well to imitate James Simpson, the worthy old bachelor for whom the township is named, who advised the pioneers to build barns and save their grain, stock, and themselves. His was the first commodious barn of the town- ship.
Many old settlers state that the rain-fall is not so great as formerly. In 1848 a violent storm passed through the township. The only damage done was a school house blown down.
In the first settlement of the county the deer were so plentiful that they. had to be chased out of the cornfields. There were many ways of decoying them and getting their venison. R. H. Wood relates that men would lie down in the grass, and put a hat on one foot and stick it up in
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
the air and shake it about, and the vain, curious creatures 'would come near the object to see what it was.
An old log school-house stood on the Cameron farm. Major James Bailey, J. M. Shepherd and Wm. A. Smith taught here. Geo. R. Ain- gell taught in the winter of 1838-9 a private school in the family of James Foster.
The first murder in the township was Joe Wade, killed by Houts.
In the pioneer days it is said that Major Edward Dunn, a large slave- owner, often paid visits to his friends and relatives in Kentucky on horse- back, and once walked there and back. He stated that these visits never cost him a cent; that the people on the way always lavished their hospi- tality on him.
Chas. P. Collins owned a dog that after he came to Missouri, became dissatisfied with the climate and went back to Kentucky to live with his old acquaintances.
W. H. Gibbons, a Mexican soldier of 1848, lives here.
James H. Narron states that the most remarkable thing he ever saw was the great number of squirrels in 1848-9. In the woods, fields and. all over the country they were moving by millions. They would come in the houses. Gus. Foster killed over a thousand that winter. They were slain by the scores. In the following spring the sun did not shine for forty days, and thousands were found dead, apparently in search of food.
The rat pest of 1874-5 was dreaded by the farmers. They went into the corn fields by hundreds and scaled the standing corn and that year destroyed many fields of fine grain.
The growth of this township has been steady. The industrious citizens. who have kept out of debt have found that their farms have yielded them a handsome fortune. The great mistake that some of the bankrupt farmers made was borrowing money and mortgaging their farms at a time when the panic of 1873, could hold them to the grindstone of debt. But few of these men redeemed their farms and now a large portion of the township has passed in other hands within the last decade. Much of the cause of this financial trouble was the extravagant living of those families who failed. It is said that pride and dress mingled with idleness, will always keep a family poor.
. The township has entered upon an era of prosperity. Her schools are well supported, and most of people are out of debt, and general prosperity bears the sway within the limits of Simpson township.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
CHAPTER XII-HAZEL HILL TOWNSHIP.
Introduction-The Name-Location-Physical Features-Creeks-Population-Statistics -Early Settlers-Date of Organization of Township-Roads-Fayetteville-Churches -Schools-Sunday School-Cemeteries-Agriculture and Horticulture-The Hunts- man Favorite Apple-Vigilance Committee-Deer Fight-Rube Fields, the Prodigy.
"An ax rang sharply mid those forest shades Which from creation towards the skies had tower'd In unshorn beauty. Then with vigorous arm,
Wrought a bold emigrant, and by his side
His little son, with question and response, Beguiled the toil."
When we are about to tread upon unknown ground, it is prudent that we be careful where we set out feet. If the ground is known to be sacred, a hallowed spot of old, then how appropriate that we rest here awhile. When the pioneers came to the wild forests with an old flint-lock rifle for defense and an ax for a civilizer, they little thought of the results for which they had commenced to hew the way.
. The Bible, to them was a lamp that guided them through all the dark days of that time. In reference to God they could say: "My faith looks up to thee." In those days existed truth, sociability, and Godly fear. Men trusted God because of his unbounded love for them. They loved their fellows because they had a common interest with them. Those that are yet living, with tearful eyes, relate the story of their hardships, and contend to call that day a happy time-far more enjoyable than the many luxuries that have crowded about them in their last years.
In our brief discussion of this township, we will fail to do it justice. From the time the first settlers found an asylum in this beautiful township, they have continued to prosper, except from 1861 till 1865, when the civil war broke out and devastated considerable of the township. It may be yet said that the people are intelligent, hospitable, and are noted for their enterprise and thrift. The name of the township will be briefly discussed in its various relations, that the reader may know something of its origin. The location will be given appropriately, followed by a treatise on the physical features. The beautiful streams skirted with fine timber, will be noticed in connection with the physical features.
The population as was taken by the United States census of 1880, and state census of 1877 will be minutely given, and also the assessment for º 1881. We shall attempt to give the old settlers a prominent part, of this chapter, a place they deserve. It may be that we have failed to get all deserving, mention, if so, we regret it. Further along we expect, in the course of this chapter, to treat fully of the organization of the township, and the commencement of the village of Fayetteville, and closely follow-
1
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
ing it give such dates and events as properly relate to churches, schools, cemeteries and farming interests.
In this brief chapter the reader must not expect to find every thing that happened since the day the red man traveled away to the sunset, nor must the be too positive to hold to some of the facts here recorded, since many of them come from minds no better prepared than himself. It is well to remember: "Facts are stubborn things."
Name .- The name of every place or object that we may perceive or be conscious of, has associations peculiar to itself, but frequently dear or repulsive, as the case may be to those in whose memory thoughts of the object in the mind swell forth. However dear may have been other asso- ciations, the name of Moses had more weight with the Hebrews, than all mortals beside. Frequently it happens that affinity for souls sweetens the life of the intellectual, material being so that love of union is pleasure, and separation soul torture. This is the law of our being. Objects and places become noted for their singular incidents and peculiar attractions which imbed them in the hearts of men forever. Even , the name of trees and mountains become sacred. The "Oak of Mamre," under which Abra- ham sat in the heat of the day, gave rise to the popularity of the quercus family. Since this time, the oak appears in all ages to have been an object of veneration, down to the age of the Greeks, by whom it was held sacred, of the Roman's who dedicated it to Jupiter, and of the Druids, who worshiped beneath its shade. So the name Hazel Hill has been appropriately applied to this township. No man's name can be called up to rob or strip from this township the name that nature gives it to wear. The many patches of hazel brush, dense, and considerably skirted along the woods, ravines, and old fields make it noted in this respect. The hazel-nut (corylus) is a native straggling shrub consisting of a number of long flexible stems from the same root. The shrub bears catkins, so called from the resemblance of a cats' tail, and in the autumn the nut ripens in a bush or cup (cupule), frequently several cups containing nuts are in one bunch. The bark on the young hazel bushes is ash colored and hairy, that of the old stems mottled with bright brown and gray; and from the ends of the branches hang the long pendulous aments of barren flowers in spring. The botanical name is Corylaceae Americana. The nut it bears is well flavored, and sold in the shops, but considered inferior to the European filbert. The name Hazel Hill was first applied to a Sons of Temperance lodge organized here in 1854. The temperance people always fond of drawing from nature's own labratory, took the name of their lodge from the hazel hill near the school house where they met, after which the school house bore the same name, and in course of time the name was applied to the village, and the name is so widely known over the state, that even letters are addressed " Hazel Hill," instead of
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HISTORY OF . JOHNSON COUNTY.
Fayetteville. The name stamped by this temperance society has taken deep root in the affections of the people. Would to God their temper- ance gospel could have had like influence to check the course of the bibative propensities of those who have fallen by the deceptive power of strong drink. .
Hazel Hill township is bounded on the north by Lafayette county, on the east by Simpson township, on the south by Warrensburg and Center- view, and on the west by Columbus. This formed a part of Washington township when the latter was organized in 1835, but became a separate township in 1856, and assumed its present shape and boundaries about the year 1873. At present it embraces all of town 47, range 26, and the southern third of town 48, range 26. In distance the township is about twelve miles at the furthest point from Warrensburg.
Physical Features .- The surface is rolling throughout, with low undu- lating places near the streams. The land produces good, early crops, and of wet seasons two crops of Irish potatoes can be raised. In general, the - land is quite productive, and produces good wheat and corn and is well adapted to sorghum culture. Considerable attention has been given of late years to opening up land heretofore considered useless for agricultural purposes, and now yields fine crops of wheat and corn. This township contains a solid ridge of pure sand. The Warrensburg and Fayetteville (Hazel Hill) road runs on this ridge. Many curious things are connected with this ridge, which we leave for the geologist to expose in the future history to be read from the rocks. This is known as " Black Jack Ridge." Whether this ridge is of more recent formation than the alluvial land, is in doubt, but the sand would make the stranger believe that he was stand- ing not far from some lake or river. It may be that whoever observes closely will learn that this ridge came up last from the great sea that once covered all this country. Invariably, wherever a well has been sunk, plenty of water is found near the surface, and no doubt there is a great subter- ranean stream or reservoir not far below the surface. Builders have for several years past hauled sand from the banks of little streams for plas- tering.
A very fine sulphur spring boils up from the interior of the earth east of the Walker school house and west of Colbern Branch in section thirty six, township forty-seven, and range twenty-six. This is about two feet deep and a pine box is put in the cavity. It is reported that during the dryest seasons, (1860 and 1881), this spring furnished plenty of water and supplied more than ten barrels every day. The water is clear, and although the taste is not very sweet, yet it is said by the old settlers to be medicinal, and that at an early day the Indians annually visited this spot and camped, bringing in game for the squaw's to dress and cook near this spring. No doubt, the unrecounted tales that have been told about
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
this spring would fill a volume. The story of the red man who once built his wigwam around this spring is hid forever in the sands of time. The old settlers say that they can remember the time when fire swept every year over this wood and brush land, where now there is considerable for- est. However, a great deal of the lands bordering on Black Jack ridge are large patches of chinquapin shrubbery growing from six inches to that number of feet in height, and bearing an abundance of nuts every year. The crab-apple shrub is abundant along the borders of the wood skirts and is a real beauty in the spring when in full bloom. Blue ash, hawthorn, and hazel bushes are found here. The soil here is especially adapted to the growing of vineyards and small fruits of all kinds. Col- bern Branch is a small stream which takes its name from the Colbern place and flows southeast into Blackwater. Along on the eastern border of the township are the head-waters of Cottonwood and Flagstaff, which flow through Simpson. On these streams the land is a deep black lime- stone loam. On the farm of Bedford Brown the land is not only very fertile, but has several good springs which furnish, sufficient water for his stock which run in fine blue grass pastures. The land is good to the Lafayette county line, a distance of two miles. Indeed this may be called the garden spot of the township. In the northeast corner of this township is the fine stock farm of J. H. Parker. This land cannot be over estimated and will compare favorably with the corn producing lands of Illinois and Iowa. Coming back to Black Jack ridge which extends the entire length of the township, north and south, we will notice a few more natural fea- tures. The only stream of the center is Walnut Creek, which has its source in section five and flows southeast through sections 8, 16, 22, 27 and 34, where it enters Warrensburg township. The banks on this stream are deep in many places and before it enters Blackwater, sloughs, mud and fords are at times quite dangerous. Although some attention has been given to draining, yet the mosquito will find the intruder out before he advances far into the bottoms, at all seasons when it is not too cold. Prai- rie Branch has its source near Liberty school house and flows southwest through sections 23 and 26, and unites with Walnut Creek in section 34. This is the stream that carries off the water from the ridge. Near the source of this creek was the first well for many years on the Warrens- burg and Lexington road, dug by Joel Walker. Hard-by, in section 23, Judge W. B. Ames opened out a spring, or rather well, about eight feet in depth which is an everlasting fountain of the clearest water ever beheld. In the digging the water gushed up from the bottom in such a quantity that the spring could not be walled without standing in the water. The water stands in two or three feet of the surface and one can see the little stones in the bottom. The water is soft while the surrounding wells are hard. Although there is a great deal of water taken from this reser-
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
voir, yet it is full. In the dryest seasons it is said that the water sometimes dampens the sand on the road side. Crooked Creek has its source in sec- tion 3, and flows through sections 10 and 15, and unites with Walnut near the north third of the line between sections 21 and 22. This is an ugly stream, with considerable timber. Honey Creek enters the township from Columbus, crossing the line of sections 24, and 19, it turns due south one mile, thence in a southeasterly direction through sections 30 and 32, cut- ting off one-third of section 5, in Centerview township it enters Blackwa- ter and makes its way to the La Mine. This stream has a good bridge. On its banks grow excellent timber. In the northern part of the township is Black Jack Creek, which has its source in the Black Jack hills. This stream flows through sections 24 and 27 and enters Tabo in Lafayette county. Pole Branch heads in section 32 and flows east into Black Jack. These streams contair along their banks beautiful timber that has grown up within the last twenty years, since the time fire ran through the brush every year. The soil in the western part is of a gray to a black loam and very productive. In the north the land produces fine wheat. In brief the surface is quite rolling and the land dries readily after rains.
The Statistics and population of this township have kept pace with other parts of the county. The population of 1880, as taken by J. K. Byers, U. S. enumerator, including the village of Fayetteville, 1,263. The following is from the state census for 1877: voters, 267; population, white, 1,133, colored, 32; horses, 632; mules, 271; cattle, 1,470; sheep, 561; swine, 3,424; bushels of wheat, 50,202; corn, 240,101; oats, 10,297; rye, 739; pounds of tobacco, 28,160; wool, 1,019; tons of hay, 503; gal- lons sorghum molasses, 2,927. The following is the assessed valuation of personal property for the year 1881: horses, 590, $18,885; mules, 259, $13,095; cattle, 1,661, $18,562; sheep, 439, $878; hogs, 3,803, $6,168; notes, $22,620; other personal property, $45,638; total, $125,407. The land is assessed at about $8.50 per acre, which is a little more than one- third the real value. In the same ratio we may consider the value of the personal property.
Early Settlers .- To the brave pioneers we owe much of the history of to-day. Around their cosy firesides, " when the taper was lit," and the wife and children sitting on stools before the stone hearth, was often heard the pleasant stories that come from a happy conjugal union of hearts. God blessed these pioneers by giving them a good land. It is said of the brave Washington, the father of his country, by Headley: " That pat- riotism which made him endure with such patience, toil with such perse- verance, refuse all emoluments, and scorn the gift of a crown, has become the admiration of mankind, and the argument of the world over, with which the lovers of human liberty silence the sneers of despots, and revive the hopes of the desponding. As an example, it is the richest leg-
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acy he could have left his countrymen." So the simple habits and honest living of these brave men, who first cast their lot among the hazel hills of the township, should live on in sacred memory and be handed down from generation to generation as one of the noblest gifts bestowed by the pio- neer fathers. The simplicity of their living is only in tradition. The father and sturdy husbandman, with his toiling brown hands; boys in hon- esty of feeling and purpose, here held the plow and reaped the golden grain. They have gone to mingle in the harvest of souls, and another class of genus homo now tread the path of life above them. The same blood may course their veins, but how different their habits! The home. spun jeans or butternut suits are hid away. Now hands encased with buckskin gloves or more delicate kids attempt to hold the plow. Over- coats and overshoes and air-tight rooms, things unknown to many of the pioneers, will hardly keep the shivering victims of this luxurious age comfortable. The ox-cart has been superceded by the light horse wagon. The dear pioneer mothers and housewives sleep from their labors. The hum of the spinning wheel and the battering of the hand loom, once so common here, has been thrown aside. The hand that threw the shuttle or held the distaff should be honored with the consort that fought the Indians, hunted the game, defended the little log cottage, and provided for the mutual wants of the family. The homespun frocks of our moth- ers are patterns for the extravagant daughters of to-day. Then women loved sunshine, industry and home, while now it is quite the reverse. Then, when one was sought in marriage, it was for the high and noble and God given purpose of companionship, a "help-meet," who stood firm in the marital relation. Being well mated they were necessarily well matched, which was the primary cause of so many rising from poverty to affluence. Now, instead, when one is sought in wedlock, she must be coaxed and captivated! by her foppish beaux, who can dance, smoke and click a billiard ball, talk nonsense and have a cage for the calico bird that glitters in her imagination, as Nero's palace did of old. This " bird " soon becomes sickly, the farm is mortgaged, her watch and silk dresses are for sale, and her dissipated husband, whom she knew at first loved the bachanalian cup, has the "heart disease," talks of hard times, and the unfaithfulness of old friends and associates that now enjoy the pittance left him by an honest frugal father. The sons and daughters of this age should learn a lesson from this. It is no light matter but a historical fact, that many have shifted from poverty to riches by diligence, sobriety and economy, while more have been carried down the current of bankruptcy by idleness, frivolity, costly dress, dissipation and extravagance. History deals with facts and we go back to the admired pioneers. Joshus Adams was born in North Carolina, of Welsh extraction, December 2, 1796, and came to Black Jack, in this township (then Lafayette county), in the year
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY.
1833, and died at his home July 6, 1854. He entered land at twelve and a half cents per acre, and improved a small farm. The old log cabin is still standing. He hewed and notched the logs himself. He was a Bap- tist in faith and worshiped at the old log church building called "Liberty church." In politics he was a whig. His wife, Miss Cynthia Adams, is still living. Her maiden name was Saunders. She was born of Irish ancestry in South Carolina, August 5, 1807. James M. Smith, an old bachelor, came here with the old settlers and is still living in his bachelor- hood, an unlettered, eccentric fellow.
One of the best and most worthy of the pioneers was William Stockton, who came here from Kentucky in 1834 and settled and improved a hand- some farm of 300 acres in section twenty-eight. When he came here he was penniless and had a large family not old enough to assist in opening a farm in a wild country. By industry and economy he managed to liber- ally educate his family and leave at his death an estate of upwards of $1,- 000. He was born in Alabama, August 21, 1794, of German-Irish ances- try, and died at his home August 5, 1881, in his 87th year. He was a man of great daring and patient industry, having moved in the rudest vehicle from Alabama to Tennessee, and thence to Kentucky and Mis- souri. On his way it is stated that he took shelter under a rock and ate elm bark for food. He was tried in the crucible of pioneer hardships and was used to every vicissitude that the early settlers encountered. He replied when asked what meat he preferred: "Bear meat is best." In fine he was a man of very even temperment, and had but one 'sick day in his life but what he could get out of the bed and walk. He did not patronize doctors and practically believed in the theory of "Throw physic to the dogs." He married at the age of twenty-two years to Miss Sarah Mark- ham when she was sweet sixteen. The result of this conjugal union was fourteen children; eight girls and six boys, and they were all present at their mother's funeral. Mrs. Stockton, his wife, was born in the year 1800, and died May 25, 1868. They were both devoted Christians and mem- bers of the C. P. Church at Mount Moriah. Mr. Stockton was not a member of any secret society. In politics he was always a steadfast dem- ocrat and would not vote for his uncle, who was a whig. He was a great and good man for his time and wed to his principles. He was a good and true man in all the relations of life, a good husband, father, neighbor, churchman, and the noblest work of God-an honest man.
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