The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information, Part 13

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Kansas City, Mo., Birdsall & Dean
Number of Pages: 906

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Having no safe, Mr. Robidoux placed the boxes containing the money on one of the lowest shelves of his store, behind the counter, near a window. This window was secured at night by wooden shutters and fastened on the inside by a bolt.

On the east side of One Hundred and Two River lived at that time three families, bearing respectively the names of Spence, Scott and Davis. They were supposed to be counterfeiters, yet no one knew positively that they had ever passed any spurious money. The Spence boys, whose given names were John, George Monroe, Andy and James, were in the habit, in com- pany with Scott and Davis, of visiting Blacksnake Hills almost daily, and while there would spend their time lounging about the solitary saloon, which stood upon the bottom, west of Blacksnake Creek, and at Mr. Robidoux's store.

For some days previous to the occurrence which followed, it was noticed that one of the Spence boys would often place himself in a recumbent po- sition on the counter, with his face turned toward the shelf containing the boxes of money.

Two or three nights afterward an entrance was effected through the window above spoken of, and the boxes with their contents were re-

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moved. As soon as it was ascertained by Mr. Robidoux that his store had been burglarized and his money taken, immediate search was instituted by his clerk, Mr. Poulin, and others who volunteered their assistance. Suspect- ing that the Spence boys knew all about the burglary, as well as the where- abouts of the missing treasure, they went in the direction of their house.

While en route, and on crossing Blacksnake Creek, the party discovered a man's shoe which had evidently been worn but once, as it was entirely new. The day before three of the Spence boys had purchased shoes of Mr. Poulin at Robidoux's store. He remembered that the shoes were of different numbers, the smallest pair being sixes, and of cutting an unusual long buck- skin shoe-string. The shoe found was a number six, and the buckskin string was " confirmation strong as holy writ" that the Spence boys were of the party of thieves, or were in some manner connected with the bur- glary. That they had worn the new shoes on the previous night, and that in their flight through the soft clay had lost one, was clear enough.

Being thus encouraged, the party pursued their way to the cabin where the Spences lived, surrounded it, and captured the Spence boys as well as Davis and Scott. Davis and Scott, however, were released. The others were brought before Justice Mills, and upon a preliminary examination were discharged, there not being sufficient proof to hold them for trial.

Sixteen or eighteen citizens, some of whom are still living, confident that the Spence boys and Davis and Scott had committed the crime, met the next day and proceeded in a body on horseback to Davis's and Scott's resi- dence, determined, if they could, to bring the offenders to justice and restore the stolen money. In the meantime, Mr. Robidoux had offered a reward of five hundred dollars for the capture and conviction of the thief or thieves and the recovery of the funds. Scott and Davis were taken prisoners and compelled to accompany the party of citizens, who, when about half way back to town, separated, the larger portion taking Davis on a hill and leav- ing Scott in the valley of the One Hundred and Two in charge of Elisha Gladden. They took Davis out of sight of Scott and just far enough away that Scott could hear the firing of a pistol. They then halted and told Davis that he must tell them where Robidoux's money was, or, if he refused, they would hang him. He strenuously denied all knowledge of the affair and told them to " hang and be d-d." They put a rope around his neck and swung him up, only intending to frighten and make him confess to the whereabouts of the money. After he had remained suspended for some minutes they let him down, and asked him to confess the crime. Davis being as bold and defiant as ever, they hung him again, this time almost taking his life. They again asked him to tell where the money was, when lie again refused in a fiendish, insolent manner, branding them with a pro- fusion of the lowest epithets. Seeing that Davis would tell nothing, some one of the party shot off a pistol (as previously arranged, if Davis did not

. NERY |ALBRECHT & HUBER.

A. N.SCHUSTER

CLOTHING-A

SALOON

CICARS

SIG SALOON

SS.W.HAINES, S'JOES

FELIX STREET, ST. JOSEPH, IN 1873.

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH

confess), so that Scott could hear it, and at the same time two or three of them rushed down the hill where Scott was guarded, shouting that they had " killed Davis " and were now "going to kill Scott."

One of these men held up his hand which he had accidently bruised coming down the hill, and which had some spots of blood on it, telling Scott, when Davis was shot, some of his blood had spurted on his hand. Gladden, who was guarding Scott, said, when the concussion of the pistol was heard, "that Scott's face became as pallid as death," he supposing that his accomplice had been killed.

They gave him to understand that they had disposed of Davis, and that if he did not tell them all about the money and the parties implicated in taking it, they would also dispose of him in a very summary manner, but promised that if he would give them this information, they would not only spare his life, but would supply him with money enough to take him out of the country.

Believing what he had heard and seen to be true, and that the condition of things was such as had been represented, Scott asked some one present to give him a pencil and piece of paper. This being done, he wrote the names of all the parties concerned in the burglary (the Spence brothers, Davis and himself), and led the way to where one of the boxes had been buried, near the banks of the One Hundred and Two. So ingenious had been their plan, and so careful had they been to conceal all the traces of their villainy, that while digging a hole, in which to deposit the money, they placed every particle of dirt in a box and emptied it into the stream, excepting enough to refill the hole after the money was put in. Having four thousand dollars, they dug four holes. They then divided a blanket into four pieces, took the money out of the boxes, wrapped each thousand dollars separately, buried it by itself, and then refilled the hole, covering it over with the same sod that they had taken up, and then burned the boxes.

Scott could only show them where the first thousand dollars was. He did not see them when they buried the other three thousand. They, how- ever, found the first thousand. How or where to obtain the balance of the money they did not know. Scott could not tell, and Davis, they supposed, would not. They had tried threats and hanging with him, but without avail.

In the meantime Davis was still in custody. They went to him, told him that Scott had confessed, and it would be better for him to confess, also. That Scott had not only given them the names of the persons who stole the money, but had shown them where the first thousand dollars was buried. He still refused to believe or say anything. To convince him of the truth of what they said, they took him to the spot from which they had taken the money, and showed him the piece of blanket in which it was wrapped. No

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longer doubting what he had seen and heard, he called for a drink of whisky, which was given him, and after drinking it told them he would show them where the balance of the money .was buried.

To further show that Davis and his pals were accomplished villains, and possessed a cunning ingenuity which would have been creditable to the pi- rates and freebooters of a past century, and which in some respects is not unlike the narrative of "Arthur Gordon Pym," by the gifted Poe, it is only necessary to mention how he proceeded to show when and how to find the balance of the money stolen.

He stood at the edge of the hole from which the first thousand dollars had been taken, and stepping fifteen paces to the south, pointed to his feet and said: "Here you will find a thousand dollars." He then led the way to a small log, with a single knot on it, and said, "Under that knot, in the ground, you will find another thousand dollars." Going to the bank of the .One Hundred and Two, in the sand, 'neath a willow tree, under a broken branch that bent downward, said, " You will find the last thousand dollars here."

It was as he said, and the money was all recovered, excepting twenty- seven dollars, and returned to Mr. Robidoux.

Scott and Davis were held in custody, but during the night Davis es- caped, and Scott was finally discharged on the ground of his having made confession, and giving the names of the persons who had committed the burglary. The Spence boys left the country.

ST. JOSEPH LAID OUT.

In June, 1843, Mr. Robidoux laid out the original town, the site of which was covered with a luxuriant growth of hemp. Simeon Kemper acted as surveyor in this important undertaking, and Elisha Gladden as chain- bearer. Two maps of the town were made-one by F. W. Smith, and the other by Simeon Kemper, bearing respectively the names of "Robidoux " and " St. Joseph," in honor of its founder. The map drawn by Mr. Smith was selected by Mr. Robidoux, and the more civilized and felicitious appel- lative of St. Joseph was substituted for that of Blacksnake Hills.

This map was taken to St. Louis, where Mr. Robidoux acknowledged it in the office of the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas (Nathaniel Paschall, who has since been one of the editors of the St. Louis Republican, being the clerk at the time), and after having it lithographed, returned to St. Jo- seph.

His declaration and acknowledgment are as follows:

" DECLARATION OF PROPRIETOR.

" I, Joseph Robidoux, of the county of Buchanan, and the State of Mis- souri, do hereby declare that I am the proprietor and owner of a certain

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.

town named St. Joseph, located upon the southwest fractional quarter of sec- tion eight, township fifty-seven north, range thirty-five west of the fifth principal meridian, and that I' have laid off' the same into lots and blocks, bounded by streets and alleys, and a levee, or landing on the front, which streets and alleys are of the width set forth upon this plat, and the lots and blocks are of the dimensions and numbers as are indicated upon said plat; and the course of said streets and the extent of said lots, blocks and town are correctly set forth upon this plat of the same, which was made by my au- thority and under my direction. And I do hereby give, grant, allot and con- vey, for public uses, all the streets and alleys, by the names and of the ex- tent that are set forth upon said plat. And I do hereby declare this dedication to be made by me, this, the 26th day of July, eighteen hundred and forty-three, to be binding upon me, my heirs and assigns forever.

"JE. ROBIDOUX [SEAL]."

"CERTIFICATE OF PROPRIETOR'S ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

" STATE OF MISSOURI, SS.

" COUNTY OF ST. LOUIS.

" BE IT REMEMBERED, that on this 26th day of July, eighteen hundred and forty-three, before me, the undersigned, clerk of the St. Louis Court of Com- mon Pleas, within and for said county, came Joseph Robidoux, who is per- sonally known to me to be the same person whose name is subscribed to the above plat, as having executed the said plat, and who acknowledged to me that he executed said plat for the purposes therein named.

" In testimony whereof, I have set my hand and affixed the seal of said court at office in the city of St. Louis, and State aforesaid, 26th day of July, eighteen hundred and forty-three.

" NATHANIEL PASCHALL, " Clerk. " By STEPHEN D. BARLOW, " Deputy."

BLOCKS AND LOTS DONATED.

The west half of block thirty-one was reserved on the map as a market square; the west half of block fifty was donated for a public church; the northwest quarter of block thirty-eight for a public school, and the south quarter of the same block for a Catholic church.

These lots were immediately put upon the market, even before the title to them was complete. This was perfected in 1844, at which time a United States land-office was located at Plattsburg, Missouri.

The uniform price of corner lots was one hundred and fifty dollars, and inside lots one hundred dollars. As rapidly as sale could be made the money was applied in payment of a mortgage, held by Pierre Chouteau, Jr., of St.

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Louis, upon the land embracing the town site, amounting to six thousand three hundred and seventy-two dollars and fifty-seven cents.

The town, as then laid off, included all the territory lying between Robi- doux Street on the north and Messanie Street on the south, and between Sixth Street on the east and the Missouri River on the west, and contained sixty-four blocks, twelve of which are fractional. Each whole block is 240 by 300 feet, bisected by an alley and containing twelve lots.

The streets are governed by the cardinal points of the compass; those running back from the river in the "Original Town," extending north and south, are Water, Levee, Main (or First), Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth; and those running at right angles, commencing on the parallel of the north line, are Isadore, Robidoux, Faraon, Jules, Francis, Felix, Ed- mond, Charles, Sylvanie, Angelique, Messanie. These names are derived from members of Mr. Robidoux's family.

Since the laying out of the original town, covering a period of thirty- eight years, there have been added about seventy-two additions.

CHURCHES.

In 1844-5 the first church edifice in the town, a log building, 20x30 feet, was erected, under the direction of Rev. T. S. Reeve, a Presbyterian clergy- man. It was located on the lot where the business house of John S. Brit- tain & Co. now stands.

Soon after this church building was completed and occupied an incident occurred in it which is worth relating:

In the fall of 1845, on a sabbath-day evening, while religious services were being held, a loud, rough knock was heard upon the door. Without waiting for a response, the door was thrust wide open, when in stalked a large, burly-looking individual from Grand River.

With hat on and hand raised, he advanced toward the pulpit and mo- tioned to the minister to stop. The man of God (Rev. T. S. Reeve) being thus rudely and inopportunely accosted, left off preaching, when the stranger said :

" Is Bob Donnell in this house? I've got a bar'l of honey for him."

Mr. Donnell being present, and taking in the situation at a glance, im- mediately left his seat and went out of the house with the enterprising and redoubtable honey vender. Whether he purchased the " bar']" we cannot say. The man, however, who, nothing daunted, had so persistently hunted him up, braving the parson and the astonished gaze of the congregation, certainly deserved some consideration at the hands of Mr. Donnell. We hope, therefore, a bargain was made, and that his Grand River friend re- turned home a happier, if not a wiser man.

The log church was first permanently occupied in the winter of 1844-5. In the fall of the year 1844 the first Union sabbath-school was organized,

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and a committee of ladies sent out for the purpose of making collections for the school. Joseph Robidoux, the founder of the city, made the first dona- tion of ten dollars in money for the school. This was the first time a sub- scription paper had ever been carried around, and it elicited some practical jokes from its novelty among those who subscribed, and who are now among the oldest citizens.

The log church was also occupied once a month by the Methodist denom- ination for some time, and twice a month, until their own church was built, in 1846. In August, of that year, trustees were appointed by the First Presbyterian Church, under the care of the Lexington Presbytery, in con- nection with the "Constitutional General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church." During the same year a building committee was appointed to make the necessary arrangements for the erection of a new house of wor- ship. Money was raised by subscription, and in 1847 was erected the brick building on the northeast corner of Fourth and Francis streets, in dimen- sions fifty feet front by sixty feet. The first services were held in the church in the winter of 1849-50.

This building was used without interruption till the closing of the church and dispersion of the congregation in 1861, at the breaking out of the civil war. It then passed through various hands, till it finally became, by pur- chase, the property of the German congregation now occupying it.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

The citizens of St. Joseph are justly proud of their excellent system of public schools, which not only afford a practical and liberal education for their children at home, but have given the city character and reputation abroad. They have been one of the most important factors in attracting immigration, and have done more than any other institution to add to the population, wealth and general prosperity of the city. They are the schools in which the great masses of the children are educated-the children of the wealthy, of the men of moderate means and of the poor alike-all classes, and frequently many nationalities, being represented in the same school.

Until the year 1860, no attempt at any system of public schools had been made in St. Joseph. Occasionally a free school would be taught for a month or two, or for a sufficient length of time to absorb what was not wasted or lost of the city's share of the public school-fund. But there was no public school-system, and St. Joseph had merely the organization of a country school-district. In that year a few of the most enterprising of her citizens determined to make an effort to establish a system of public schools. They sought and obtained from the legislature of the State a good and lib- eral charter.

This charter has been twice amended by the legislature, at the request of the board of public schools; once in 1866 and once in 1872. Edward

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.

Everett said: "To read the English language well, to write a neat, legible hand, and to be master of the four rules of arithmetic, I call this a good education." Any pupil completing a course in the St. Joseph schools should have an education far above that standard, and be well prepared to enter upon any of the ordinary business avocations of life. But that the system of public instruction may be as complete and thorough in St. Joseph as in any Eastern city, a high school, with a liberal course of study, was organized in 1866, which has graduated 208 young ladies and gentlemen who are filling useful and honorable positions in society. Of the above number, forty-four are either teaching now or have been teachers in the public schools of St. Joseph.

THE GAZETTE.

The first newspaper, the Gazette, a weekly, was established in St. Joseph in 1845, its first issue appearing on Friday, the 25th day of April, of that year. The proprietor was William Ridenbaugh. When commencing the publication of his paper he had extensively circulated throughout Buchanan and the adjoining counties, the following:

" Again, the spirit of internal improvement is abroad, our people are determined not only to improve the transporting facilities now had, but to add others, which will place us on terms more nearly equal with other parts of the world. Then al! the advantages we have in soil and climate will become available; then a new impetus will have been given to the indus- trious farmer; then the call upon the merchant for the necessaries and com- forts of life will have been vastly increased; then health and prosperity will everywhere greet the eye. of the beholder; then ours shall be a town and county in which the wealthy, industrious and educated of the other "and older States will love to settle, and the situation of our town and sur- rounding scenery, which are now surpassingly lovely, will be enhanced by the touch of art, and the citizen or visitor of cultivated or refined taste will love to contemplate their beauty."

The above article was written in the spring of 1847, and is doubtless a faithful and correct representation of St. Joseph and her business prospects at that time. Four years had elapsed from the laying out of the town, and the inferences drawn from the editorial are that notwithstanding many difficulties had heretofore intervened, such as the jealousies of rival towns, imperfect navigation facilities, and other hindrances, the town had continued to prosper.

RAILROADS.

The people of St. Josephi early awoke to a sense of the importance and necessity of railroad communication with the East. About the first refer- ence to this matter we find in the Gazette, of Friday, November 6, 1846: "Our country is destined to suffer much and is now suffering from the

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THIRD STREET, ST. JOSEPH, LOOKING SOUTH.

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difficulty of navigation and the extremely high rates the boats now charge. Our farmers may calculate that they will get much less for produce and will be compelled to pay much more for their goods than heretofore, and this will certainly always be the case when the Missouri River shall be as low as it now is. The chances are fearfully against having any considerable work be- stowed in improving the river, and until it is improved by artificial means the navigation of it to this point must always be dangerous and very uncertain.

"The prospects for this fall and winter are well calculated to make -the people look about to see if there is no way to remedy this inconvenience, if there can be any plan suggested whereby our people can be placed more nearly upon terms of equality with the good citizens of other parts of our land.

" We suggest the propriety of a railroad from St. Joseph to some point on the Mississippi, either St. Louis, Hannibal or Quincy. For ourselves we like the idea of a railroad to one of the latter places suggested, for this course would place us nearer the Eastern cities, and make our road thither a direct one; we like this road, too, because it would so much relieve the intermediate country which is now suffering and must always suffer so much for transporting facilities in the absence of such an enterprise.

" If this be the favorite route we must expect opposition from the southern portion of the State, as well as all the river counties below this. For the present we mean merely to throw out the suggestion, with the view of awakening public opinion, and eliciting a discussion of the subject. In some future number we propose presenting more advantages of such a road, and will likewise propose and enforce by argument the ways and means of ac- complishing the object."

The charter for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was secured mainly by the exertions of Robert M. Stewart, afterward governor of the State, and, at the time of its issuance, a member of the State senate, and of General James Craig, and Judge J. B. Gardenhire.

About the spring of 1857 work was begun on the west end, and by March of that year the track extended out from St. Joseph a distance of seven miles. The first fire under the first engine that started out of St. Joseph on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was kindled by M. Jeff. Thompson. This was several years before the arrival of the first through train in Febru- ary, 1859. (Sometime in the early part of 1857.)

The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was completed February 13, 1859. On Monday, February 14, 1859, the first through passenger train ran out of St. Joseph. Of this train E. Sleppy, now (1881) master mechanic of the St. Joseph and Western Machine Shops, in Elwood, was engineer, and Ben- jamin H. Colt, conductor.

The first to run a train into St. Joseph was George Thompson, who ran first a construction train and then a freight train.

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The first master mechanic of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad shops in St. Joseph was C. F. Shivel. These shops were established in 1857. In the following year Mr. Shivel put up the first car ever built in the city.

On the 22d of February, 1859, occurred in St. Joseph the celebration of the completion of the Hannibal and St. Joseph road. This was, beyond doubt, the grandest display ever witnessed in the city, up to that period.

Mr. Jeff. Thompson, at that time mayor of the city, presided over the ceremonies and festivities of this brilliant occasion. The city was wild with enthusiasm, and the most profuse and unbounded hospitality prevailed.

A grand banquet was held in the spacious apartments of the Odd Fel- lows' Hall, which then stood on the corner of Fifth and Felix streets. Not less than six hundred invited guests were feasted here; and it was estimated that several thousand ate during the day at this hospitable board.

Broaddus Thompson, Esq., a brother of General M. Jeff. Thompson, made the grand speech of the occasion, and performed the ceremony of mingling the waters of the two mighty streams thus linked by a double band of iron.

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The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information, Part 13

Author: Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Kansas City, Mo., Birdsall & Dean Number of Pages: 906

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Kansas City, Mo., Birdsall & Dean
Number of Pages: 906