USA > Missouri > Linn County > The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information > Part 16
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3,262,822|1866.
2,193,987
1879.
5,073,531
144
STATISTICS.
The crop for 1880 is given by States, as follows:
STATES.
BALES.
STATES.
BALES.
Mississippi.
955,808||North Carolina.
389,516
Georgia.
813,965
Tennessee
380,624
Texas.
801,090
Florida.
54,997
Alabama.
699,576| |Missouri.
19,783
Arkansas.
606,980| Indian Territory
17,000
South Carolina.
522,548
Virginia
11,000
Louisiana. .
506,764|Kentucky
1,367
NOTE .- Total, 5,781,018. The average net weight per bale is 440 pounds.
AREA OF THE COAL FIELDS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND ANNUAL PRODUCTION.
STATES AND TERRITORIES.
Arca, square miles.
Tons produced in
1869 (U. S. census
Tens produced 1879, (Saward's esti-
mate).
1 Pennsylvania
§ Bituminous
12,302
7,798,518 14,500,000
2 Ohio ..
10,000
2,527,285
5,000,000
3 Illinois.
36,800
2,624,163
3,500,000
4 Maryland, Bituminous.
550
1,819,824
1,730,709
5 West Virginia.
16,000
608,878
1,250.000
6 Iowa.
18,000
263,487|
1.600,000
7 Indiana.
6,450
437,870
1,000,000
8|Missouri.
26,887
621,930
900,000
9 Kentucky .
12.871
150,582
1,000,000
10 Tennessee
5,100
133,418
450,000
11 California.
600,000
12 Colorado.
4,500
400,000
13 Kansas.
22,256
32,938
400,000
14 Oregon
5,330
11,000
250,000
16 Washington
17,844
170,000
17 |Wyoming.
50,000
175,000
18 Virginia.
185
61,803
90,000
19 Michigan
6,700
28,150
35,000
20 Nebraska
3,000
1,425
75,000
21 Utah. .
500
14,000
15,900
23 Arkansas
12,000
24 Texas
20,000
25 Georgia ..
100,000
Total
32,863,690
59,808,398
1870).
¿ Anthracite.
472|15,664,275|26,142,689
200,000
15 Alabama
5,800
225,000
22 Rhode Island
STATISTICS.
145
PRESIDENTIAL VOTE FROM 1789 TO 1880.
ELECTORAL VOTE 1880.+
CANDIDATE.
PARTY.
POPULAR VOTE.
ELECT'L VOTE.
STATES.
NO.
1789
George Washington
All.| Alabama
10
1796
Thomas Jefferson.
Democrat.
60 California
6
*Thomas Jefferson.
Democrat.
73 Colorado
3
1800
Aaron Burr.
Democrat.
73 Connecticut.
6
John Adams
Federal.
65 Delaware.
3
1804
C. C. Pinckney
Federal.
28 Georgia
11
( James Madison ..
Democrat.
122 Illinois
21
1808
C. C. Pinckney
Federal.
47 Indiana.
15
1812
DeWitt Clinton
Federal.
89 Kansas
5
1816
/ Rufus King
Federal.
34 Louisiana
8
1820
{ James Monroe
Democrat.
1 El'1 vote
Maine.
7
*John Quincy Adams.
Federal.
105,321
84 Massachusetts
13
Andrew Jackson
Democrat.
155,872
99 Michigan
11
W. H. Crawford
Democrat.
44,282
41| Minnesota
5
Henry Clay
Whig.
46,587
37 |Mississippi.
8
J Andrew Jackson
Democrat.
646,231
178
Missouri
15
182S
John Q. Adams.
Federal.
509,092
83 | Nebraska
3
Henry Clay.
Whig.
49 New Hampshire
5
1832
John Floyd.
Whig.
11 New Jersey.
9
William Wirt
Whig.
7 New York.
35
1:36
Wm. H. Harrison et al.
Whig.
736,656
131 Ohio.
22
1840
Martin Van Buren
Democrat.
1,135,761
60 Pennsylvania.
29
James K. Polk.
Democrat.
1,337,243
170 Rhode Island
4
1844
Henry Clay
Whig.
1,301,382
105 South Carolina
7
Zachary Taylor
Whig.
1,360,099
163 Tennessee.
12
1848
Lewis Cass.
Democrat.
291,263
Vermont
6
1852
Winfield Scott et al.
1,542,403
42
West Virginia.
5
1856
John C. Fremont
Republican.
1,215,768
122
Republican
1,866,352
130
Total
369
1860
J. C. Breckenridge et al.
Democrat.
2,810,501
123
Abraham Lincoln
Republican.
2,216,067
213
1864
Geo. B. Mcclellan
Democrat.
1,808,725
21
Ulysses S. Grant.
Republican.
3,015,071
214
1868
Horatio Seymour
Democrat.
2,709,613
80
Ulysses S. Grant ..
Republican.
3,597,070
300
1872
Horace Greeley
Democrat.
2,834,079
66
1876
Samuel J. Tilden.
Democrat.
4,284,855
184
( Peter Cooper et al.
Greenback.
93,898
James A. Garfield
Republican.
4,442,950
214
1880
W. S. Hancock
Democrat.
4,442,035
155
James B. Weaver
Greenback.
306,867
*Elected by House of Representatives.
tElection November 2, 1880.
PRESIDENTS BORN.
Washington, February 22, 1732.
Van Buren, December 5, 1782.
Buchanan, April 23, 1791.
Harrison, February 9, 1773.
Lincoln, February 12, 1809.
J. Adams, October 30, 1735. Jefferson, April 2, 1743.
Tyler, March 29, 1790.
Johnson, December 29, 1808.
Madison, March 16, 1751. Monroe, April 28, 1758.
Taylor, November 24, 1784.
Grant, April 29, 1822. Hayes, October 4, 1822.
J. Q. Adams, June 11, 1767.
Fillmore, January 7, 1800.
Garfield, November 19, 1831.
Jackson, March 15, 1767.
Pierce, November 23, 1804.
Chester A. Arthur, October 5. 1830.
10
Wm. H. Harrison
Whig.
1,275,011
234 Oregon
3
Martin Van Buren
Democrat.
Franklin Pierce.
Democrat.
1,601,474
254
Virginia
11
James Buchanan
Democrat.
1,838,160
174
Wisconsin
10
Abraham Lincoln .
Democrat.
6S7,502
239 Nevada.
3
Martin Van Buren
Democrat.
761,549
179 North Carolina.
11
J James Monroe.
Democrat.
180 Kentucky
12
in opp'n.
Maryland
8
1824
John Adams ..
Federal.
From 1789 to 1824 electors
chosen by State legis-
71 Arkansas
G
Thos. Jefferson
Democrat.
ture.
148 Florida
4
James Madison.
Democrat.
128 Iowa
( Andrew Jackson
530,189
1,220,554
127 Texas.
8
Whig.
Republican.
4,033,950
185
R. B. Hayes ..
Polk, November 2, 1795.
10
Year.
BIRTHS.
:-
e
.
MARRIAGES.
.DEATHS.
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
WHEN THE WHITE MAN CAME THE RED MAN LEFT.
Retrospect-The Home of the Oppressed-Linn County-Bright Jewel-The Indians' Depar- ture-Game-The Dawn of Civilization-Early Settlers-1820 to 1830-Indian Mischief -Indian Town-Black Hawk War-The Pendletons-Death of William-Wm. Bowyer as a Hunter-Locust Creek Country, the Happy Hunting-grounds of the Indians-Went to Mill, etc.
While the territory of Missouri may be in name something over a cen- tury old, the immediate pages of this history have most to do with Linn county, which shows just a half century since the first white man became a permanent resident of her soil. The lands of this great State were known full two centuries ago, yet for over one hundred years she was still a wilder- ness, the wild flowers of the prairies blooming in all their native loveliness, filling the air with a delightful perfume. The red man was still lord of the soil, and upon her face destiny had not marked out her magnificent future. But out of the womb of a century has sprung forth a mighty State, and with the triumphant marks of advanced civilization upon her breast she wel- comes with open arms the oppressed of all nations to rest, and a home with- in her portals. The mild and salubrious climate of our noble State, her magnificent proportions, and the unlimited wealth of her agricultural and mineral resources holds out to all who shall make it their home peace, prosperity and plenty.
LINN COUNTY
Stands among the brightest jewels that form the municipal divisions of this great State, and while prospecting parties in 1831 decided to make it their homes, the first settler is not recorded until 1832. At that time Linn county was a part of Chariton county, which is among the oldest counties in the State, having been organized in 1820. It was still, in some respects, the home of the red men, who for years after occupied it as a hunting ground. Game was abundant, the bear, the elk, and even the buffalo roamed its hills
150
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
and valleys, and the deer, wild turkeys, squirrels, etc., were found plenti- fully in the woodland. The red man possessed a magnificent country, but destiny had decided that it should become the home of the pale-faces.
Nature had indeed been lavish of her gifts. The tribes of Sacs, Foxes, Pottawattamies, and Mnsquakies who inhabited this magnificent country, were loth to leave it, and it is no wonder that many, very many, of these warriors were more willing to join their departed braves in the happy hunt- ing-grounds of the "Great Spirit," than to give to the pale-faces the lands of their fathers. But manifest destiny knew no obstacle. The Saxon and Gallic races had decreed that this should be their home and that of their posterity. They came as the leaves of the forest in number; they pressed forward, and the gallant, heroic, and vengeful struggle of the Indian for his home is written in letters of blood, in burning cabins and wide-spread deso- lation, but all gave way before the irresistible march of civilization. The cabins of the hardy pioneer took the place of the wigwams of the savage; the war-whoop and the war-dance gave way to the sound of the woodman's axe; the stealthy tread of the Indian hunter, to the sturdy walk of the pio- neer; and civilization and Christianity walked arm in arm to the glorious fu- ture of to-day. Let us drop a silent tear to the memory of the red man. He had a beautiful home and was despoiled of it; he had the hunting-ground of his father, it became his burial place. We can rejoice in the glory of our country, but the fate of the original possessors of the soil is a dark and bloody chapter in the record which gives the history of the onward march of civil- ization.
It had been some years before the settlement of Linn county that the bat- tle for supremacy had been fought between the red man and the pale-faces, and won by the latter, and at this date it was occupied only by roving bands of Indian hunters who were on friendly terms with the whites. And so the wide expanse of rolling prairie, the wooded hills and bluffs and the rich bot- tom lands became the property and the homes of the pale-faces, and the wild rugged grandeur of this desert waste soon began to look for a place among the municipal divisions of the State.
THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION.
This conntry at that time assumed the character of the great unknown West. Restless spirits had indeed been over its trackless prairies and ver- dant woodlands, and it was these men, who, on returning to their eastern homes, told wonderful stories of a marvelously beautiful country which lay near the "setting sun." Where to-day is the center of a great nation, fifty years ago was described as the "far west." The restless spirits who traveled were soon followed by the hardy and vigorous pioneer, the men who lead the way, and mark the ground that civilization, Christianity, and progress shall tread.
151
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
EARLY SETTLERS.
We speak in high terms of the gallantry and bravery of the soldiers, who, in the Revolution of 1776, fought for liberty and independence, and their names are proudly borne on the pages of history. They merited, as they have received, the plaudits of succeeding generations, but shall not that army of heroes known as the "old pioneers" have their names, as well, emblazoned upon the pages of their country's history; shall not they, who, through privations, sufferings, and sometimes death, made the wilder- ness blossom like the rose, have their meed of praise? They have followed the path of peace with a diligence that craved no rest until the broad light of the noonday sun shines upon a land secure as the abode of a people cul- tured, refined, and progressive. This has been the work of the old pioneer; and those of that gallant army of peace who are yet among the living should be honored among the greatest of the land, for their strong hearts, willing hands, and their labor, privations and sufferings, have given a grand and rich heritage to the generation of to-day.
It is from these "old settlers" that very much of the early history of Linn county has been gathered. Months have been given to collecting the facts and reminiscences which are found in the pages of this work, but to secure them has been a work of incessant toil. One great trouble has been that the memory of the old pioneers has not always been of the best, and a con- fusion of dates, and facts to verify incidents of the past, has been one of great trouble. History is valuable only as it deals in facts, and these should be more or less substantiated by dates. These are all important and are required if this shall prove, what it is intended to be, a book of reference from which people and historians of future generations will date their work. This is why, in the compilation of this history, months have been given to the task. Many of the old settlers have already crossed the river of time and now belong to the mysterious beyond; others have removed to far distant lands, so that the source of information is small, and time, trouble, and greater research is necessary to make it complete. The "old pioneers," however, of Linn county, have contributed much to make this book a success, and they have done it willingly and cheerfully, and it has been a pleasure to the compilers of this history to listen to the stories of those early years, graphically told. In these records of the past, when the light of civilization first dawned upon this section of our country, the writer has found much that brought to mind bright incidents of early years, and how the dim and distant future was ever before him in rainbow hues
X BETWEEN 1820 AND 1830.
This portion of Chariton county was principally given up to the hunter and trapper between the above named years. Hunting parties of Indians
152
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
from the Iowa tribes, and whites, hunted through all this territory and trapped along Locust Creek and Chariton River. Game was plenty enough to satisfy the most persevering hunter, and fish were found sporting in all the streams. Wild honey was abundant, and many venturesome spirits tread the forests wild ere the red man had ceased to be jealous of the pale- faces. Through the whole decade between the above named years Linn county was a hunting ground. Now and then the beauty of the country and the richness of the soil attracted the white hunter's attention, and it was not long before the stories he told began to bear their fruits. Parties gathered together to go on a prospecting tour and see if it was all truth that the eloquent hunter had spoken of the country. They came, they saw, and they were convinced, and this was the first starting that settled the country from Chariton River on the east to the valley of the west fork of the Grand River, and had the celebrated "Platte Purchase" not been added to Missouri bounds until several years later, this country would have had double its population at this time. But the year 1831 is at hand, and the vanguard of civilization rested upon the soil of Linn county.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
From the year 1820 to the year 1830 this portion of the State of Missouri was known to the people of Missouri-those of Howard and Chariton counties especially-as the "Locust Creek Country." The timbered region along Locust Creek, Yellow Creek, and Parsons' Creek was full of game and the hunters living in the river counties esteemed this country a paradise.
Among the Howard county hunters who visited the "Locust Creek Country" were James Pendleton and Joseph Newton, who lived near Fay- ette, and who came here at first with their brother hunters solely to hunt. But they were greatly pleased with the country, and at last determined to. locate. Accordingly, in the fall of 1831, they came to section fourteen, township fifty-eight, range twenty-one, where now is the southwest corner of Locust Creek township, and located a claim. Together they built a cabin and fenced five or six acres of ground that fall. Then they went back to Howard county and returned the next spring with their families. Pendleton and Newton were not only the first white settlers in Locust Creek township, but the first in Linn County.
The next white family to come to the township was that of Mr. Bowyer. Mr. B. and his brother Jesse were also among the Howard county hunters who had visited the Locust Creek hunting-grounds and become enamored of the locality. William and Jesse Bowyer came to Linn county about the first of January, 1832. They made their first camp on section two, about a mile and a half west of Linneus, where they found a good spring. They at first intended making this encampment but a temporary one, meaning
153
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
to make a thorough exploration of the country before locating permanently, but the existence of the spring and other circumstances influenced them to choose their first camping place as the spot where they would build a cabin and establish a home. Accordingly they set to work and erected a very substantial and comfortable camp, into which was placed the family of Wm. Bowyer, consisting of his wife, Martha, her two little children, a young slave girl, named Ann, and a brother of Mrs. B., named Louis Tyre. The family of Jesse Bowyer had been left in Howard county, and he had come with his brother to assist him generally, and especially in taking care of liis stock. The two brothers then started for Howard county to bring on the family of Jesse Bowyer. Soon after their departure a heavy fall of snow which was on the ground began to melt, and soon Locust Creek, and all other streams of any considerable size, were much swollen, and as there were no bridges nor ferries in these parts at that day, they became impass- able, and the men were not able to return to their camp on the little branch in section two for about four weeks. Meanwhile Mrs. Martha Bowyer was hold- ing the fort with her two little children, her sixteen year old brother, Louis Tyre, and the faithful black girl, against storm and tempest and the wild beasts of the forest. The Indians frequently came about Mrs. Bowyer's camp, but offered her no harm.
On one occasion a party of Iowa Indians came to Mrs. Bowyer's camp and were attracted by the presence of the girl, Ann, who was a sprightly young negress, black as ebony. The Indians made a great ado over her, and wanted to carry her away with them. The poor girl was greatly terri- fied by their friendly, but noisy, demonstrations, and would fain have run away and hidden if she could have done so. The Indians, seeing the per- turbed state of mind she was in, teased and tormented Ann until her mistress, whom she had implored to protect her from the savages, interfered and made the Indians go away and let her alone.
There was an old Indian town on the forty-acre mound, a few miles southwest of Linneus, and from here the Indians came, every day or two, to Bowyer's camp, and other settlers whose habitations were near by.
Upon the return of William and Jesse Bowyer with the family of the latter, they at once set about constructing cabins for themselves. Two of these, built of round logs, were finished and occupied about the 1st of March, 1832, and the brothers immediately began the work of clearing away the timber and opening up farms. The first year their main efforts were di- rected toward preparing the land for farming, and securing permanent homes for themselves and their posterity.
Sometime in 1832 Silas and Peter Fore came to section twenty-nine, township fifty-nine, range twenty, about two miles northeast of Linneus. The act of the legislature organizing Linn county directed that the courts should be held at the house of Silas Fore. North of Linneus, two miles,
154
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
Judge James A. Clark settled, and north of him was Thomas Russell. Near Russell was his son-in-law, John J. Flood, and Dr. Nathaniel Dryden. David Curtis came in 1832, and was a single man. John Yount came from Cole county, Missouri, and settled on section eleven, township fifty- eight, range twenty-one, February 24, 1833, and up to that time the above were about the only settlers in the county.
One of the incidents of the early time was in the family of Mr. James Pendleton. William D. Pendleton was then a sturdy little fellow, and the Indians took a great fancy to him. One day they brought to his cabin a girl papoose and wanted to swap it with Mrs. Pendleton for William. This was declined, and then a bundle of deer-skins was offered to boot, and when this very generous proposition was also rejected they offered any amount of honey and wild turkeys for a trade, and would make the young Pendleton a great warrior and chief, but a mother's love overcame this last seductive offer of wealth to herself and a grand future for her son, when the Indians gave it up and William was left to grow up simply a " pale-face " instead of a great Indian warrior and chieftain. Still, no one has heard William murmur at his fate.
BLACK HAWK WAR.
Trouble had been for some time brewing among the Indians in Iowa and Illinois, and that vengeful brave and indomitable chief, Black Hawk, had been trying to arouse his braves to make one more effort to drive the pale- faces from their country. He at last succeeded and his pathway and that of his warriors was soon marked with the blood of their victims. The scalping-knife had commenced its bloody work, and in the glare of burning cabins and the shrieks of innocent women and children, a tale of horror was told too fearful to be described. The alarm spread and all exposed set- tlements were at once abandoned. Women and children were sent to a place of safety, and the men soon after followed, after making what efforts they could to save their little property. The settlers of Linn county mostly left, temporarily, for a place of safety. This country, however, was not troubled, and the defeat of Black Hawk and his capture ended the last struggle of the Indians, in this quarter, to drive the pale-faces from the land. After the war had ceased, the peaceful Indians, who, during the war, had became impudent, if not aggressive, once more became tractable, and bands of Iowas and Pottawattamies, on hunting excursions, roamed the country at will.
The true history of the war showed that there was not the least cause for alarm then. The western Iowa Indians were peaceable, and so were the Indians who roamed the woodlands or prairies of the Grand River and Chariton River valleys in search of game.
It was on the 14th day of May, 1832, that the bloody engagement was
155
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
fought that seemingly opened the struggle with the Indians. The forces were led by Black Hawk and Keokuk, and the battle was fought in Illinois, near Dixon's Ferry. Governor John Miller, fearing the State of Missouri might be raided by hostile bands, ordered Major-General Richard Gentry to raise a regiment of volunteers of one thousand men for the defense of Missouri soil. Five companies were raised, principally from the eastern part of the State. Two of these companies, commanded respectively by Captain John Jamison, of Callaway county, and Captain David N. Hick- man, of Boone county, were mustered into service in July, 1832, for thirty days, and placed under the command of Major Thomas W. Conyers.
This detachment, accompanied by General Gentry, arrived at Fort Pike, on the Mississippi River, on the 15th of July. Finding that the Indians had not crossed the river into Missouri, General Gentry returned to his home, leaving Major Conyers in charge of the fort. They remained thirty days, the time of their enlistment, and were relieved by two other compa- nies under the command, respectively, of Captain Sinclair Kirtley, of Boone county, and Captain Patrick Ewing, of Callaway county. Colonel Austin A. King conducted these two companies to Fort Pike, and, leaving Major Conyers still in charge, reconducted the two first companies of volunteers back to Columbia, Missouri, where they were discharged, retiring to their homes. As the soil of Missouri was not likely to be trodden by the hostile Indians, Major Conyers and his command were mustered out of service in September. The Indians continued the contest in Illinois and Iowa until the spring of 1833, when Black Hawk was finally defeated and captured and this ended the war.
In the spring of 1834 the settlements began to grow apace. The Indian war having closed, the old settlers began returning to their claims. At this time came John Holland, the founder of Linneus, familiarly called " Jack." His cabin was built on the present site of Linneus, and was built by John Yount and David Curtis. Holland moved into it that spring. William Howell and others had returned, and quite a number of new im- migrants began to settle in different parts of the county. In the spring of 1835 James F. Pendleton returned and a number of new settlers came with him. George Cason, John Kemper and son Enoch Kemper, Luke Patrick, and Mr. Pendleton's brother, William Pendleton. This latter never reached his intended home, and his loss was severely felt by all his com- rades-no less, it seemed, than the sorrow of his surviving brother. In crossing Yellow Creek, near the fork, and where the bridge now stands, one of the teams was stalled and William Pendleton, spoken of as a large, stout man, took hold to help lift the wagon out of the mire, and almost instantly fell back dead on the bank of the stream. His deathi was believed to have been apoplexy or heart disease. His was the first death recorded in Linn county. Such was the condition of the country in those early days. The
4
156
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
country was full of game and hunting was the principal recreation of the settlers. Mr. John Yount found time to lay in his winter's meat, and, as Mrs. Yount was also a good shot she often supplied the table with squirrels or wild turkeys which came too near the cabin for their health.
Upon the first settlement of Locust Creek, as indeed upon the first set- tlement of every other portion of the county, the woods were full of game of all kinds. Before the settlement of the townships, and while on one of his many hunting excursions from Howard county, William Bowyer killed two fine, large black bears on Locust Creek in the upper portion of the township. The skins of these animals, when tanned with the hair left on, answered for pallets, on which rolled, and played, and sported the Boyer children, now men and matrons with children, and even grandchildren of their own. Occasionally a bear was killed after the township was settled. Panthers were scarce and not troublesome.
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