The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information, Part 17

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

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As to wolves, the country was infested with them. There seem to have been three varieties, the large black, the gray, and the coyote or prairie wolf. The first two varieties made many a foray upon the settlers' flocks and herds, and it was a difficult matter to raise sheep and pigs on account of the depredations of these marauders. The sheep had to be penned every night and the hogs carefully looked after. Many of the latter ran in the woods and fed upon the nuts and acorns which were so plentiful in that day and the pigs were in great danger. Many a little porker was snapped up by the wolves and carried away. In time, as the hogs continued to run in the woods and feed upon the " mast," they grew wild and vicious, and often when attacked by wolves would turn and fight and drive off their assailants.

Out on Paisou's Creek a litter of twelve wolves was found by one of the early settlers. An old pioneer says that the old she-wolf howls twice in twelve hours-loud and long-once at daybreak and again in the dusk of evening, between sundown and dark. After dark all the wolves, seemingly, would howl in the Locust Creek country-would howi and prowl too. The settlers' dogs would frequently be chased into the door-yards and into the houses sometimes. The howling and the yelping, the snapping and snarl- ing of the wolves could be heard about the settlers' cabins from dark until daylight.

As before stated, deer were very abundant. They could be found almost anywhere. A settler could kill a deer almost any time-before breakfast, if he wanted to-and the juicy venison steaks of the old time were long remembered by the old settlers. There are many yet living who remember when the Locust Creek country was a happy hunting-ground; when deer, and turkeys, and the like game could be had for the shooting, for the game was not all driven out or killed off for many years after the county was settled.

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

WENT TO MILL.

The trading of this section was done principally at Brunswick and Keytesville, and at the latter place was the nearest mill. This going to mill was a sort of institution in those days, and a good deal of solid fun was experienced by those who made the trip, and then again there was a good deal happened which was decidedly of a vexations order. Still, if high water left them on the wrong side of the stream, if two or three mnen were together, they could manage to worry through until the water fell. And then, perhaps, when they got across the stream with their grist, they would find parties who had started to mill and could not cross, and then they would commence to divide their grists, taking scarcely any home, knowing that they would have to again load up and make a return trip. Many a laughable inci- dent occurred, and these misfortunes and mishaps only served to cement the settlers into a brotherhood which allowed no one to suffer as long as there was anything to divide. But a house-raising could beat going to mill by at least one hundred per cent of solid enjoyment. A "raising" is what would start the settlers for ten miles around, and the rifle was their companion. When gathered together, it did not take long to get up that cabin. The new settler was received with open arms. He would cut his logs, and draw them to the spot, arrange the first four logs to their places, and then announce a " raising." The neighbors came in from far and near and soon the cabin was up. Right over in a small pile of brush was a jug. It held corn in a fluid state, and while not a man 'would get under the in- fluence, it was disposed of. There wasn't so much talk about temperance in those days as can be heard now, and there was far less drunkeness, but then those days had not the enlightenment of the present, in the shape of fanatics on all subjects.

Thus it is shown that the pioneers of our country were noted for gener- osity and hospitality, and socially lived like a band of brothers who were ever ready to lend a helping hand to one another, or assist the stranger who came within their gates. Of those early settlers who made their homes in Linn county between 1831 and 1835, but two are known to be living, Mr. John Yount, who lives on section twenty-two, township fifty-eight, range twenty, nearly five miles southeast of Linneus, who is an honored and respected citizen, and David Curtis, who removed to Livingston county and was alive and well about two years since.

Itis found that James F. Pendleton and William Howell raised the first two cabins in the township; that the Bowyers, Newtons, etc., followed closely; that John Holland first settled on the site of Linneus; that John Yount and David Curtis built his cabin, and that the old town of Linneus was the gift of "Jack" Holland and wife for a permanent county seat; that from the date of the closing of the " Black Hawk War" Linn county seemed to

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

have grown and prospered equally with the surrounding country, so much so that her people were ready in the winter of 1836-37 to be cut loose from the leading-strings of Chariton county, and embark on the world's sea as an independent municipality among the sisterhood of counties which composed the State. On January 6, 1837, the Governor approved the bill passed by the legislature, and Linn county from that day has received recognition.

CHAPTER II. WHEN THE WILDERNESS COMMENCED TO BLOSSOM LIKE THE ROSE.

1837-Influx of Settlers-Their Homes and Trials-The First Mill-School-Churches, Preachers, Teachers, and Physicians-Trading Point-Prices of Goods-Barter and Sale-Country Produce-Game, Honey, etc-Scale of Prices-Life and Incidents-Split- ting Rails-Work of Progress-Looking Back-The Past and the Present.

1837.

The first mill erected in the county was a horse-mill by William and Jesse Bowyer, on the east side of Locust Creek, west of the fair-grounds, about the year 1834, and that was way ahead of any other enterprise of the day. Keytesville lost a good deal of toll by the building of that mill. Bott's mill was soon after erected over on Paison's Creek, township fifty-nine, range twenty-two, and Maddox & Rook's mill on Yellow Creek, township fifty-eight, range eighteen was at work in 1840. This same year Seth Botts and William Bowyer commenced building the water mill on Locust Creek, which still stands some three and a half miles from Linneus. Before completion, Bowyer sold his interest to Thomas Botts, brother of Seth, and the two brothers finished the mill the year above mentioned. With these, the county was doing some of the grinding for her people. Settlements were steadily progressing all over the county, and extending into the present limits of Sullivan.

James A. Clark settled on section nineteen, township fifty-nine, range twenty, Augustus W. Flournoy on section thirty-one, Jeremiah Phillips on thirty-six. E. T. Dennison got his claim over the line into Sullivan county; John J. Flood settled on section nineteen, James Howell was in Clay township, Robert Warren in Jackson, John W. Minnis, like Dennison, found himself in Sullivan; David Mullin was in Locust Creek, Meredith Brown in Parson Creek, Abraham Venable in Benton, Irvin and John M. Ogan in Clay, the Ashbrooks in Grantsville, Mordecai Lane in Yellow Creek, with Epperley, John Cherry, John Kem-

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

per, Charles A. Fore, Robert C. Combs and others, and this list might be continued until the names and location of over two hundred of these first settlers could be recorded, who date their arrivals before the organization of the county. Enough, however, is here given to show that all parts of the county had received its share of the immigrants who came to the land of the setting sun, the golden west, to make it their homes. The names of most of these early settlers will be found in these pages. Not all that had come to make their homes here, but such as could be found of record.

The first school was taught in 1837, on section twenty-four, township fifty-eight, range twenty-one, not far from the range line between twenty- one and twenty, a Mr. Rover being the teacher. He came from Howard county. His pupils numbered from eighteen to twenty, and the names of some of those who attended the school may be of interest, and are familiar to many now living, are among the living themselves, and are here given. There were James and Elizabeth Beckett, James and Robert Tisdale, James, Kenneth and Martha Newton, James M. Prailee, Rebecca Pendleton, and the children of David Mullins among his scholars. There was another school northwest of here, which was kept one winter by R. W. Foster, afterwards county surveyor and county agent for the town of Linneus. Allen Gillispie is credited with having taught the first school at the county seat.

The Rev. Wilhite, belonging to the Baptist denomination, held meetings in the open air, and also at the houses of many of the settlers. He was very much thought of, and being an eloquent preacher, his coming was the signal for a full turnout. His meetings were always large, and his sermons interesting. Another of the early preachers was the Rev. John Baker, who also belonged to the Baptist persuasion, known as the Hardshells. The first wedding recorded was in 1838, was that of Henry Cherry, son of John Cherry, to Miss Susan Kemper, daughter of Enoch Kemper, who so long held the position of county clerk, and whose death was recorded while still holding the office.

The first death in the county was that of James Copeland, who died in 1834; he lived on the west bank of Locust Creek, west of Linneus. The next death of record was that of Jubal Hurt; the administration of his estate in 1838 is among the first of record. A Mr. Webber died in 1839, and was buried at the Linneus graveyard. In December, 1839, John D. Grant, who surveyed the town of Linneus and made the first sale of lots, died, and was succeed by Robert W: Foster. These are the early deaths noted.

The first physician who came to the county was from Keytesville, to see a brother of John Yount, who was sick with the fever. This was in 1834. Among the early physicians of the county was Dr. H. J. Dryden, and not long after his arrival came Dr. Isaac Relph. These two were the only resi-

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

dent physicians in the county for a number of years, and of course they had a large practice. Some other physicians would come, but did not stay long, and the two spoken of above would have calls nearly to the Iowa State line. Still the health of the country was such that a physician in those days found it necessary to mingle other pursuits with that of medicine to accumulate wealth. Rev. Jesse Going was among the first preachers who came to Linn county and settled. He was an earnest man, belonging to the Baptist denomination, and not only preached at the cabins of the early set- tlers of Linn county, but also of Livingston, Grundy, and Sullivan. Then there was another Baptist, the Rev. A. F. Martin, who had large congrega- tions wherever he preached, and who was not wanting in his duty. Both of these gentlemen are still living and reside in the county. The Metho- dist denomination was also represented in the well known and ever welcome circuit rider, whose duties covered a vast extent of country, and who acted as the advance-guard of religion and civilization, as the star of empire con- tinued its westward way. The pioneer preachers of those days had work to perform, not a cushioned pew and a few thousand a year, but were fully. exposed to the hardships, dangers, and privations of those early times, but then they loved their work and shrank not from its trials and its dangers. :

SETTLING.

Quite a settlement sprung up on Parsons' Creek, in what is now Jackson township, in 1838, some settlers dating earlier. . The Kirbys, Singletons, and others came from Kentucky. Lay, Gooch, and Morris got there about 1840. Benton, Grantsville, and Baker townships were settled about the same time. In fact, settlements were springing up in almost every section of the county. Yellow Creek township boasts of early arrivals, but not quite so many or early as those of Locust Creek township. Mordecai Lane settled in the north part of Yellow Creek as early as 1836, and others soon followed. Josiah Watson came in 1836, both Watson and Lane being orig- inally from Kentucky. It may be mentioned bere that Linn county was principally settled by Kentuckians; many had come to the State years be- fore and settled in the counties of Howard, Chariton, and Boone, and gave their late residences as from those counties, but they were mostly, origin- ally, from the " dark and bloody ground." Yellow Creek was soon gaining in population, but it did not take the early settlers long to find out that there was a country lying west of Locust Creek that was unsurpassed, and so the Parson Creek country took a start. When you traverse the country now composed of the townships of Parsons Creek, Clay, and Jackson, you will indeed be hard to please if it does not come up to your idea of the bear. ideal of a cereal growing or a stock raising country. Up to 1840 the county could boast of a very general settlement, and a population of 2,245 souls.

Respond fully yours

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

TRADING POINTS.

The principal trading point for this whole upper country was Bruns- wick. No railroads in the country, the Missouri River was the great high- way of travel. Many, however, would go down to Boonville, which was the largest town on' the river, and even Glasgow Landing had its friends. Keytesville started up a mill, and that was the stopping place for those who had grist to grind, until Bowyer, Maddox, and others got theirs in oper- ation. Brunswick led as a trading point for most of this upper country, and prices for all kinds of goods were considered low, but in the way of domestic goods, if the people of to-day were compelled to pay twelve to fifteen cents for calico, and common brown cotton, it would raise a revolt. Cattle, horses and hogs were cheap enough, and grain was not much better.

Up to this time the country still felt the terrible crash of 1837, and the ruin brought on by the wild-cat banks of that day. Still the settler here in the far west was, in a measure, benefited by that which brought ruin upon the East. It cheapened every article of merchandise, while trade came al- most to a standstill. The commercial marts and money centers gave forth a wail of agony and despair. Houses, wealthy one day, tottered the next, and on the third were carried down the rapids and engulfed in the mael- strom of insolvency.

The wants of the people of the West were few and could now be supplied at nominal prices. While the hardy pioneer endured the privations with which they were encompassed with heroic fortitude and a patience which exalted them, these old-time heroes and heroines could get the necessaries of life at a good deal less cost than their favored children and gradchildren of this day. They did not purchase any silks or satins, in fact a calico or ging- ham was considered fine enough for church wear, or visiting, and even these would give way to the enduring durable homespun, when an extra quality of yarn or coloring had been secured for weaving. But it is not of this alone we would speak. There was any quantity of good land lying around loose at government price, $1.25 per acre, anxious to be tickled with a hoe that it might laugh with a harvest. The financial crash of 1837 had completely demoralized values. Property shrank to such amazing smallness that many people were in doubt as to whether they possessed anything except their lives and their families. The necessaries of life were cheap, and they who suffered most were of the class called wealthy. The farmer and mechanic had little to complain of. Their wants were few and the supplies cheap; if corn was at a low figure, tea, coffee, sugar, and whisky were also cheap. Of course it was not all one way. The farmers found prices for the prod- ucts of their farm remarkably low in price, "way down" as they expressed it. A good cow brought from $7 to $10; horses from $25 to $40; hogs would rush around and eat mast, get fat, and marketed at from $1.25 to

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

$1.50, and that price meant the whole hog, not the hundred weight; wheat thirty-five to forty cents per bushel; corn fifty cents per bushel and a nice veal calf seventy-five cents, while honey right out of a bee tree was worth twenty five cents a gallon in store goods. The wild deer came forward and gave us their hams at twenty-five cents each, and the settlers generally clinched the bargain by taking the skin also, which, when not cut up into string or used for patches, brought another quarter, cash or trade, as demanded. It was also a habit in those days for farmers to help each other, and of their sons to work in the harvest field or help to do the logging to prepare for a new seeding. This was a source of wealth to the early settler and to his rising family. They raked in from twenty- five to fifty cents a day and board. That was wealth. It was the founda- tion of their future prosperity. It was the first egg laid to hatch them a farm, and it was guarded with scrupulous care. Economy was often whit- tled down to a very fine point before they could be induced to take or touch that nest egg, the incipient acre of the first farm. And then again, a week's work meant something besides getting on the shady side of a tree and three hours for nooning. It meant labor in all its length, breadth, and thickness, from holding the breaking-plow behind two yoke of oxen, to mauling rails. Right here I will mention that rails were made at twenty-five cents a hundred. Just think of splitting rails at twenty-five cents a hundred! It is enough to take the breath away from every effeminate counter-jumper in the State.

Thus has been sketched, in general terms, the life of the old pioneer, and incidents of those early days. Not all is here given, for it would take many more pages than is generally contained in one book to record them, but while there may be numerous omissions, enough is here written to show the present generation how the old settlers, in the early history of the county, worked to improve their lands' and secure a competency for old age. And so the country grew and prospered under the strength of the brawny arms of her noble old pioneers. Civilization advanced, and material pros- perity could be seen on every hand. Such has been in a measure the history of the early pioneers of this beautiful country, and those who are living can look back with interest to the days which tried the nerves, the muscle, and the indomitable will of the fathers and mothers who had the future of Linn county in their keeping.

In closing this part of our history, covering but a short period, less than a. decade, there has been much given founded more upon tradition than fact. The early pioneers made history, but took no care to preserve it. This is a sad loss to the county. Those years, and the lives and actions of the heroes and patriots then living, were of the greatest importance. Then it was that the foundation was laid and a noble and enduring superstructure was to be. reared, upon which the moral, physical, and political future of the country

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

was to rest. There were no stirring events or remarkable happenings, but it was a time of self-reliance, of persevering toil, of privation, of suffering that was endured with heroic fortitude, believing in a future reward of suc- cessful labor, of the good time coming, when the woods and the open prai- rie should resolve themselves into well cultivated farms, and their humble cabins into residences befitting their improved financial condition. They had come into the boundless wilderness poor in purse, but rich in faith and powerful in endurance, and their future was before them.

CHAPTER III.

FROM PEACE TO WAR'S ALARMS.

1840 to 1850-Names of Pioneers-Schools-Death of Lewis F. Linn-Mexican War- The Call for Troops-Linn County in the War-Company H., List of Names-The Close of the War-What the Wild Sea Waves Divulged on California's Golden Shore- The Grand Rush-Gold and Silver Lying Around Loose-The Hopes of the Living, Despair of the Dying, and the Bones of the Dead-Linn County Contributes her Quota.

NAMES OF THE EARLY PIONEERS.

The history of one decade has been here given, which, at the close, establishes Linn county on an enduring basis, and from the year 1840 the solid progress of the county may be dated. In closing this portion of the county's history, its first settlement, trials, and advance progress, it is be- lieved that those earnest men, the old pioneers, who brought it out of the wilderness into light and life, would be of interest to the present and future generations. Not all who figured in the early history are here recorded; many familiar names may be missing-all could not be secured. The list numbers over two hundred and fifty, all of whom, with few if any excep- tions, were residents of Linn county in the year above mentioned.

The voters of Linn county numbered, in 1838, one hundred and sixty- nine votes, the highest vote polled being for assessor. It will thus be seen that nearly all the voting population are given, with the exceptions noted above. There are names found elsewhere in this history not recorded in this list. The record is as follows:

OLD SETTLERS.

Ashbrook, Bowling H. Ashbrook, K. Auberry, Joseph. Austin, Robert. Adams, Hiram.

Barber, Thomas. Barton, Wharton R. Brown, Meredith.

Bowyer, William.

Boyles, James.

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

Beckett, John.

Curtis John.

Botts, Thomas II.

Cornett, J. M. Calhoun, M.

Bagwell, Kinith. Baker, Bolin.

Cason, George. Clem, Jacob.

Bowyer, Henry. Bowyer, Jasper. Ball, John H.

Chapman, William.

Dennison, E. T.

Brigman, Owen.

Daly, William.

Bowyer, Lewis F.

Dankeson, David.

Bowyer, Thomas B. Botts, Seth.

Dail, V. E.

Burt, Benjamin F.

Davis, James.

Bell, Samuel H.

Dover, Abraham C.

Bucks, Willard.

Epperly, George.

Bucks, Ann L.

Epperly, Solomon.

Baker, Robert.

Flournoy, Augustus W.

Bryson, Eliza Jane.

Brown, Thomas.

Fore, Silas A.

Brown, H.

Flournoy, H. B.

Brownlee, D. C.

Flory, Edgar.

Brownlee, W. C.

Foster, R. W.

Burnett, B. W.

Flournoy, John G.

Brown, Henry T.

Fore, P. M.

Bunch, Stokely.

Fore, Charles A.

Bainbrick, Fred. W.

Grace, James.

Bagwell, Carney.

Glasgow, Jr., Wm.

Black, Thomas.

Guire, John.

Bell, Samuel.

Guire, William.

Clark, James A.

Guyer, H. D.

Clarkson, William.

Gibson, William.

Cherry, John.

Grant, John D.

Cornett, William J.

Grant, Daniel.

Cornett, Littrel .B.

Gregory, N. H.

Combs, Robert C.

Gillispie, Allen.

Cresson, Ward H.

Gibbs, Charles F.

Coulston, Jacob.

Golden, James.

Crews, Dawson T. Coulson, Isaac.

Gier, Thomas.

Cooper, James. Carroll, Alex.

Cornett, Nancy.

Claypool, David.

Clutter, Mary Ann.

Goings, Jesse. Gardner, John A.

Grooms, Amos. Howell, William.

Howell, James C. Head, William.

Doyle, Daniel.

Flood, John J.

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

Head, Uriah. Hooker, Jeremiah. Hancock, Jefferson. Holland, Jacob. Hurt, Jubal. Hill, Armstreet. Holland, Robert. Hill, C. C. P. Harris, Monroe. Huffaker, Jesse. Huffaker, J. W. Hines, William. Hoover, Christopher. Hurlbut, Hiram E.

Hurlbut, George I. Hughes, Fleming. Haynes, William.

Hendon, John. Hatch, John.

Henry, George. Harris, John. Haney, I. C.

Hoskins, S. W.

Hoskins, D. Jones, Clayborne.

Johnson, Sampson. Jenkins, David. Kemper, John.

Kemper, Enoch.

Kirby, A. Lane, Mordecai.

Landis, John B.

Lockridge, William.

Lockridge, Matthias. Littlepage, I. B. Landreth, Cyrus. Langfield, Jacob. Minnis, John W. Mullin, David. Maxwell, William M. Mullin, Preston. Masses, Samuel S. Merritt, James.

Morris, Thomas. Mullins, Hiramn. Morton, William M. Murrain, E. J. .

McCollum, D. C.

McCollum, Stephen.

McCowen, Johnson. McAllister, William. McCaffety, Harvey.

Morgan, Jackson. Maddox, John W. Newton, Joseph.

Neal, John M.

Neal, Thompson K.

Neece, Beverly. Nichols, James.

Owens, W. F. Ogan, Irvin. Ogan, Alex. Ogan, John M.

O'Neil, Preston.

Pendleton, James F.

Phillips, Jeremiah.

Phillips, John C. Pierce, John.

Potts, Alfred. Prather, John.

Prather, Thomas.

Pearson, Thomas H.

Pipes, George W.

Pratt, H. Parks, Willis. Powell, Schuyler. Pearce, James. Patrick, Luke.

Phipps, Elias.

Phillips, Oliver.

Pratt, John M. Phillips, Dennet.

Phillips, James. Purdin, John.

Russel, Thomas. Reed, John S.

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

Rooker, William G.

Turner, Absalom.

Ray, Zachariah.

Thurlow, John.

Ross, John.

Tisdale, Remison J.

Russel, Thomas.

Tisdale, James.

Reynold, Lorin.

Taylor, Robert.

Read, Robert.

Todhunter, Ira.

Read, James.

Tatman, John.

Sandusky, S. D.

Tyer, Jarvis.

Southerland, W. D.

Tyer, Medium.

Singleton, John.

Venable, Abraham.

Sturman, Samuel S.

Vrooman, Daniel W.

Stone, Jonathan.

Warren, Robert.

Slack, James C.

Warren, James M. Warren, Hugh C.

Sights, B. F. .

Sights, John.

Watson, Sr., Thomas.

Smith, Edward.

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The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information, Part 17

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