USA > Missouri > Linn County > The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information > Part 22
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The county clerk, Enoch Hemper, filed his report of receipts and expend- itures of Linn county for the year 1846 as follows:
Receipts and revenue from all sources $1,189.38
Expenditures for all purposes 1,075.17
Receipts over expenditures $114.20
The tax levy of May 31, for 1847, was somewhat in advance of previous years, being double the State tax and an addition of one half of one per cent for court-house purposes. This gave the county a revenue of $1,464.71 and to the credit of the court house fund $742.86. This last amount with the Linneus town lot fund was supposed would equal the demands for court- house purposes.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
The contractor to build the court-house was Joseph L. Nelson, a resident of Gallatin, Daviess county, and the builder of the court-house in that county. He was loaned by the County Court $800 to prosecute the work. Lot number one, block number twenty-four, in the town of Linneus, was reserved.by the county for building a jail on.
Joseph L. Nelson came before the County Court and complained of injus- tice done him by the commissioner, William Sanders, and the court set the case for the 8th day of December, 1847. It came up for hearing on the day named, and the judges decided that " the court can conceive of nothing from the evidence that the commissioner, William Sanders, has violated doing his duty as commissioner of said court-house." Record book B, folio 236.
During the building of the court-house the county and circuit clerks rented a room of George W. Smith, and as he wanted rent money the fol- lowing quaint order appeared of record:
"That George W. Smith be allowed the sum of fifty dollars for the rent of the present clerk's office * * * and it is further ordered that he, said Smith, have a credit of twenty-five dollars on any note the county of Linn holds vs. him, and on the first day of February, 1848, be allowed a credit of fifty dollars on same or any other note the said county of Linn holds vs. him, being in full for the rent of said office for the years 1847 and 1848."
Mr. William Sanders having resigned his office of superintendent of the court-house building, Augustus W. Flournoy was appointed his successor. This occurred on February 12th, 1848.
The first public administrator appointed for Linn county was Mr. Charles Boardman, which appointment was also made on the twelfth of February, 1848.
TOWN AND COUNTY.
Having disposed of all the lots in the town of Linneus in the original plat, and the court-honse requring funds, the commissioner for the county seat, Charles A. Fore, was ordered to lay off the residue of the town tract, and make a plat and have it attached to the original plat, and this was done. This was February 12, 1848. The foundation having been laid and the brick work under way, a committee of arbitration was appointed to exam- ine the material and the workmanship. Owen Rawlings, Samuel S. Swope, and G. Walker were appointed, and their report was received and confirmed by the County Court. This resulted in an order to to the treasurer, dated March 7, 1848, to pay Joseph L. Nelson, $1,130, to apply on his contract.
May 2, 1848, the superintendent reported to the County Court that two- thirds of the work on the court-house had been completed, and that the material was good, and the work well done. On June 5th the contractor re- ceived a warrant for $1,330 more. The commissioner, after platting the
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
addition to the original town of Linneus, was ordered to sell the same, and the six lots sold for $45.972.
FINISHED.
On October 16th, 1848, the commissioner for the superintending of the building of the new court-house, August W. Flournoy, made a report to the County Court, to the effect that the court-house was finished accord- ing to contract in a good and workmanlike manner, and of as good material as could conveniently be got, and recommended that the same be received. The court accepted the report, and ordered a warrant to be issued to Joseph L. Nelson for $1,330, balance due him under the contract. The total cost of the building was $3,894.85, including some slight alterations made in the contract. That court-house stands at this day, but is condemned as being in an unsafe condition for use, and the county offices are found in the second story of the brick block across from the southwest corner of the square. The two first to take possession of the new court-house were the county and cir- cuit clerks, as per order of the court, and the two rooms occupied were the two south rooms up stairs.
GOOD SHOWING.
The county clerk's statement of receipts and expenditures of the county for the year 1848 showed an excess, including balance on hand reported 1847, of $592.61. The county had borrowed, February 8, 1842, $282.34, of congressional township school fund belonging to township fifty-seven, range twenty-one; and the interest on the same to June 6, 1849, amounting to $286.14, being a trifle more than the principal. The whole sum-$568.48- was ordered paid, which closed up that much of the indebtedness of the county. The county yet owes the road and canal fund $900, borrowed to make payment on the new court-house.
The court made an order at the August term, 1849, that no larger sum than $100 should be loaned to any one person out of the road and canal fund. Two and three hundred dollar loans had been made, and there wasn't money enough left to go round.
The first official movement in railway matters in Linn county appears to have been the following order of the court, which was of date October 10, 1849. It reads :
" It is ordered by the court here that there be $200 appropriated out of the internal improvement fund of this county, for the purpose of surveying the tract for the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, subject to the order of the president of the board of commissioners of said road."
With the order came the opening of the railroad question, and the peo- ple gradually waked up to the importance of rapid transportation and cheap freighting facilities. The question continued to be agitated for a number of
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
years, for it was nearly ten years after that order was placed upon record that the iron horse made its daily passage through the territory of Linn county, but when it did come its advent was hailed with rejoicing.
In the report of all the lots sold in Linneus, and to whom, it was shown that Meredith Brown became the first purchaser, having bought lot one, in block one. The price was not given.
THE FIRST PRIMARY.
On the third day of December, 1849, Thompson K. Neal resigned the office of assessor of Linn county. It was necessary to have the office filled early the coming year, but judging from the action of the County Court, which met December 17, 1849, there were more candidates than offices, and to get over the difficulty the first primary election to decide the question was ordered to be held on the fourth Saturday in January, 1850. This was probably the first primary election held in the State, and it is probably the only one ever held by authority outside of the political parties of the times. This primary was carried out upon the following order of the County Court, neither the Whigs nor Democrats of the county having any- thing to do with it. In fact it was the first people's party of record. The order reads as follows:
" It is ordered by the court that the legal voters in and for Linn county may meet on the fourth Saturday in January next, 1850, at the several election precincts in said county, for the purpose of electing an assessor to assess Linn county for 1850, and that the court will appoint the person hav- ing the highest number of votes."
This free for all race resulted in the appointment of William Clarkson, February 4, 1850.
At the 'April term of the County Court the following order drawing upon the financial resources of the county is found recorded:
" It is ordered by the court here that the sum of thirty cents be allowed Daniel Shattock for house rent, and that the clerk of this court draw his warrant on the treasurer for the same, to be paid out of the county fund."
It is barely possible that the house was not large or the time long that caused this munificent sum to be paid.
The court-house fence cost $124.99, and two extra gates $18, and the same was completed and paid for July 6, 1850.
The county clerk in his annual report of receipts and expenditures for 1849, reported an excess of receipts of $73.19, and a total in the county treasury of $665.80.
The first jail was ordered built in March, 1851, and the sum of eleven hundred dollars was appropriated for the purpose. It was to be a double wall of brick and logs sheeted with iron, located on lot six in block twenty- two. Hiram E. Hurlbut was appointed as a building committee of one to
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
look after its construction, and to see that it would be proof against the "most accomplished unfortunate" to regain his liberty on being confined therein without some help.
The first settlement between Sullivan and Linn counties for revenues col- lected while the former was attached to Linn county was made, and the amount decided upon by the commissioners was $156.552, and the same was ordered paid to Sullivan county by the County Court.
Beverly Neece was appointed swamp land commissioner for selecting the land for Linn county, the eighth of July, 1851. The lands to be sold after selection at public outcry to the highest bidder.
After nearly eleven years of service as treasurer of Linn county, David Prewitt was removed under the following order of the County Court, dated July 8, 1851; to-wit,
" It is ordered by the court here that the treasurer's office of Linn county now filled by David Prewitt be vacated for neglect of duty as treas- urer, and that said Prewitt make a settlement and deliver all the books, papers; and money belonging to said office at the next term of said court, and that the sheriff notify him of the same."
Edward Hoyle was appointed treasurer and his bond approved, and he took possession of the office October 6, 1851, and on December 2d, David Prewitt and his securities were discharged from all liabilities and his bond given up.
April 14, 1851, five hundred dollars was appropriated toward locating the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad through Linn county, and also an election was ordered to take place the third Saturday in May to say how much sub- scription to stock of said road the county wonld subscribe for. The election probably carried, for on the meeting of the County Conrt in September, 1851, the agent of the railroad company was on hand asking the court to make a subscription to the stock of said road. This application received the following indorsement; to-wit,
" On motion of Colonel Robert M. Stewart, (there were colonels in those days,) agent for the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company, it is or- dered by the court here that the county of Linn take two hundred and fifty shares in the stock of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, at the sum of $100 per share ($25,000), and that the court reserves to themselves the power to pay over the installments as they may be called for by said com- pany on said stock, either by payment in cash, or by issuing her bonds as the sum may be required; and also, if the bonds which may hereafter be issued by the county for the purposes aforesaid shall be disposed of by said company at a discount, the said county is to bear no loss on account thereof. Said bonds to bear interest at the rate of six per cent per annum, payable annually."
William Sanders took the contract to build the jail and completed the same
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
August 1, 1854. It took something like two years and a half in building, and was reported by the commissioners August 9, 1852, as being two- thirds completed at that date. J. W. Hardy was the first jailer.
The county assessor for the year 1852 was ordered in February to assess the county by municipal townships so that the road law could be enforced, and the county was made into road districts of municipal townships, com- mencing at Parson Creek as road district No. 1.
There was very little of anything going on the next few years excepting the usual changes in office, the rule being generally observed of giving but one term to sheriffs, assessors, and commissioners, while clerks held on, apparently, while life lasted. The treasurer's office, after the "old reliable" David Prewitt, who held it for eleven years, had given it up, also was sub- ject to changes, yet in all these years Linn county had prospered. The peo- ple had not only exhibited remarkable good judgment in the selection of their public servants, but had insisted on economy in the management of county affairs. This course made taxation light, and it kept the county comparatively free from debt. If there were no very rapid progress, neither were there any serious drawbacks.
The session of the General Assembly in the winter of 1852-53 passed an act making the office of county treasurer an elective one, and all such offi- ces in the counties mentioned in the act were to be declared vacant on the first Monday in August, 1853, and the voters on that day were to elect a treasurer. David Prewitt had retired, and Edward Hoyle lad been ap- pointed in his place, and he received the nomination and election that year. The act also ordered an election on the first Monday in August, 1854, and after that year to be held every two years after. The election of 1854 made John G. Flournoy treasurer for the succeeding two years.
The legislature at the session above spoken of passed other acts of inter- est, and for the benefit of Linn county. One was the incorporation of the Brunswick, Linneus, and Milan Plank Road Company. The capital stock was not to exceed $300,000, and on the subscription of $20,000 or more, the company should organize, etc. 'In this company Linn county had such rep- resentative men as Jacob Smith, Jeremiah Phillips, Daniel Price, Edward Hoyle, John G. Flournoy, Henry Wilkinson, Robert W. Menifee, Jacob E. Quick, Beverly Neece, and William B. Woodruff. The road was never completed.
The act establishing a Probate Court for Linn county was also the work of this legislature. While Mr. John R. Baker was granted the privilege of charging toll at his mill to the amount of one-sixth, instead of one-eighth, which the law allowed, John W. Gentry was allowed to keep one store within the county without paying license, if the said Gentry did not invest over three hundred dollars capital. The act which gave to Linn and Char- iton counties the right to invest the proceeds of the sale of swamp land
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
donated to them by the State, and subscribing to the stock of any plank road or railroad, was approved February 24, 1853. The road leading from Linneus to Trenton, in Grundy county, by the way of Dye's mill and the store-house of B. F. White & Co., was declared to be a State road, and with an appropriation of $500 to build a monument over the grave of Lewis F. Linn, whose name the county bears, closed the acts of that session so far as the local interests of the county were concerned.
ยท COURT-HOUSE REPAIRS.
It was on the fourth day of May, 1857, that the County Court took under consideration a plan for repairing and adding to the court-house, said plan being the joint production of Jeremiah Phillips, T. T. Easley, and Jacob Smith; and the court called upon H. E. Hurlbut to give his judgment, both as to the cost and the necessity of these improvements. It resulted in an appropriation, June first, of eight hundred dollars, as an entering wedge, that seemed to meet the views of those who had proposed the work of en- largement and improvement. Mr. T. T. Easley was called upon to act as commissioner to superintend the work, and to have it done by October 1, 1857. This was not quite effected, but it was reported complete and accord- ing to contract November 2, 1857, and the sum of $805.50 was paid, an ex- tra door being put in at a cost of $7.50, and the contract let two dollars less than the appropriation. Mr. Easley took in $44 as pay for his services in looking after the work. On February 8th, 1859, a bar was made in the court-room, which cost $70.50. In April following, repairs were made at the expense of $79.50, and in December, 1860, $34.15 more. The court then made an order, in April, 1859, that the court-house should not there- after be rented for any purpose.
A NEW TOWNSHIP.
From 1845 until 1858 the people of Linn county had been content to have their county remain divided into seven municipal townships. The patriotic fever which asserts itself by a desire to serve the people in an offi- cial way, with a good salary attached, had not existed in Linn county in a virulent form, and there had been no great desire for municipal changes. On May 3d, 1858, however, a petition was presented to the County Court to cut Baker township into two, calling the new township North Salein. Ba- ker township at that time was something over three congressional townships in size, containing all of townships fifty-nine, range eighteen, sixty, range eighteen, and two-thirds of range nineteen, in both of the same congress- ional townships. It was twelve miles north and south, except on its west- ern borders, and ten miles east and west, and was the northeast township of the county. The court granted the petition, as follows:
" It is ordered by the court here, that the petition of J. J. Putman and
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
others, praying for a new municipal township to be cut off of Baker town- ship, be received and filed, that the prayer of said petition be granted, that said new township be called North Salem, and that it be bounded as fol- lows; to-wit, commencing at the northeast corner of Linn county, thence west on the county line to the northwest corner of section three,* in township sixty, of range nineteen; thence south along the section line to the south- west corner of section thirty-four, in said township and range; thence east along the township line between townships fifty-nine and sixty, to the county line between Linn and Macon counties; thence north along said county line to the place of beginning. And it is further ordered that pre- cinct elections be held at North Salem, in said township." The first elec- tion was held in the following August, and the judges were T. G. Childress, William Putman, and John B. Baker.
The report of the sale of swamp lands by the sheriff, was filed May 6, 1856. How much was sold and how many acres were left is undoubtedly stated in the report, and the amount of the sale, but it is not otherwise of record. The sheriff was ordered to dispose of the remainder at private sale at not less than $1.25 per acre.
There had been a belief that it would be cheaper and result in greater accuracy, and that the property of the county could be better brought out if more assessors were given the work. This matter culminated in an act of the legislature requiring the County Courts to divide the counties into four assessors' districts, and the trial was made in the years 1858 and 1859. The cost of assessing the county in 1857, the year previous, was $272.90. The year 1858, under the four assessors' act, the cost was $327.51, and in 1859, $330.57. This, taking the natural gain in wealth, and probably a much closer assessment, shows no greater expense than by single assessors, while it is evident that a greater aggregate of wealth came under the new order of things for taxation.
Originally, Linn county included all the territory south of the township line between fifty-six and fifty-seven of ranges twenty-one and twenty-two, to Grand River, in the forks made by Locust Creek, the channel of Grand River from the mouth of Locust Creek being the Linn and Livingston county line to the middle of range line twenty-two dividing range twenty- two equally, and where the same line crosses Grand River. This was changed by an act of the legislature approved January 10, 1855, which made the south line of Linn to follow the township line dividing fifty-six and fifty-seven instead of following Locust Creek to its mouth and then northwest, keeping in the channel of Grand River. This act, however, re- served to Linn county the swamp land within this territory, (the strip being
*Owing to a bend in the congressional township line between townships sixty and sixty-one, there is no section three, the line bearing south at that point, one and a half miles, and the northwest corner of the township is on section one, township sixty, range nineteen.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
added to Livingston county,) with the right to sell the same and retain the money. This change gives five miles of Linn county's southern line bounded by Livingston county.
The alleys of the old town of Linneus were petitioned to be vaca- ted, and the county so ordered, giving the property owners adjoining the alleys the first right to a purchase at the assessed valuation. Mr. Charles A. Fore was ordered to value these alleys, and he returned a report that they were worth $420. A sale was made, $290 worth was disposed of, and afterward a few more at private sale, but the return of the entire sale was not found of record.
The first publication in a newspaper of the receipts and expenditures of the county was made June 6, 1859. The order read that they be pub- lished in the Linneus Democratic Bulletin.
The poor-farm seemed to be a failure in its management, or perhaps it should be said, the cost of its management, and the county ordered it to be sold for $2,000. This was February 8, 1860. The county went back to the old plan for a few years, letting out the keeping of the paupers to the lowest and best bidders; yet all this time Linn county grew and prospered.
ENTERPRISE TOWNSHIP.
It was something over two years since the last township was organized, and a petition was presented to the County Court, August 13, 1860, for a new township to be called "Enterprise"; and the same was approved and the metes and bounds of Enterprise township were defined as follows and placed upon the record. It reads:
"It is ordered by the court here, that the petition of A. D. Christy and others, praying for a new township to be taken off of Benton township, be received and filed and the prayer of the petitioners be granted, and that there be a new township, called Enterprise, cut off of Benton township and bounded as follows: Beginning at the northwest corner of section four (4) in township sixty, of range nineteen; thence running west along the county line to the middle of section ten, township sixty, of range twenty; thence south to the center of the north line of section fifteen, in township fifty- nine, of range twenty; thence east to the northwest corner of section six- teen, in township fifty-nine, of range nineteen; thence north to the place of beginning. And that the clerk of this court transmit a certified copy of this order to the Secretary of State."
The first election in this township was held in November, 1860, the gen- eral election of that year, and the first justices of the peace were elected at that time.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAOS BEGAN AND LIGHT DAWNED.
The Opening of the Fratricidal Strife- Action of the County Court-Taxation and Collec- tion-Delinquent Lists-Several Important Items-A Cupola for the Court-house and Fire Dollars a Day for the County Court Judges-Clay Township-Bucklin District and Township-A Variety of Information-The Location, Plans, and Building the New Jail-Cost, $8,680 26-Agricultural Association-The Clarkson Defalcution- Items-Financial-Township Bond Indebtedness-Offer of Compromise-Address to the People by the Committee-How it Stands January 1, 1882-The Tax Lery and Cost and Collection for a Series of Years-Linn County Bonded Debt.
WHEN CHAOS BEGAN.
The dark and ominous cloud which had risen in the distant horizon began to spread and from its baleful surface lurid flashes gleamed out, a portent of the coming storm. It was in the year 1861 the signal-gun had been fired at Sumter. The people North were being rapidly educated in the gospel of hate, and the South urged on the resistance. The clash of arms came, and shook the world, and the destiny of a free country was placed in the hands of the God of Battles. However, not all were crazed, but out from the cry of armed men and the sound of strife, words now and then fitfully flashed athwart the troubled horizon which showed reason was not entirely dethroned. Missouri stood firm between the contending hosts, but the ex- tremists on both sides at last made it a battle ground. In the month of August, 1861, an order had come for the County Court to levy a war tax to raise money for the shedding of human blood. The County Court, to their honor, be it said, made the following order of record :
"It is ordered by the court here, that the military tax for the year 1861 be not levied, for the reason that this court is of the opinion that the law authorizing said tax to be levied is unconstitutional."
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