The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information, Part 49

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

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One of the most important points on the road was Brookfield. Here were machine shops, a round-house, and division headquarters. Extra lo- comotives and cars were always to be found, and the amount of railroad property, always under control of the Federal military authorities, was very considerable. The secessionists in Chariton, Linn, and surrounding coun- ties, were threatening a raid upon the little place, and the destruction of the railroad property. Occasionally, assaults were made on the road at other points, and some damage done. The Platte River bridge was sawed by some miscreants in such a way that when a train loaded with ordinary pas- sengers, men, women, and children, passed over, it fell, and inany innocent lives were lost. These episodes coming to the knowledge of the Brookfield populace, a majority of whom were Union in sentiment, gave them no small concern." There were no soldiers to be obtained, and barring Crandall and McCollum's company of home-guards, no help that could be relied on in an emergency.

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

In the last days of June, 1861, there came to Brookfield the first Federal soldiers. They composed Captain Littlefield's company, of the Sixteenth Illinois Infantry, and numbered at least eighty men. They had been sent to protect the round-house and repair shops, and they went into camp on the railroad grounds, where the blacksmith shop now stands. Soon after its arrival; viz., on the fourth of July, Littlefield's company was presented with a fine large. United States flag by the ladies of Brookfield, the work of their own hands. Those engaged in the offering were Mrs. E. P. Dennis, Mrs. Hurd, Mrs. Worthley, Mrs. Barlow, Mrs. F. C. Loring, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Alice Slaughter, and Mrs. Ellen Gallagher. Mrs. Dennis made the presentation speech, and Captain Littlefield responded. The soldiers had prepared a pole, and to the top of this the flag was soon raised, and given to the winds. The day was a " big" one in the history of Brookfield, and the occasion one long remembered. A great crowd was present, many attend- ing from the country. The flag was taken away by Captain Littlefield when he left Brookfield.

Soon after Littlefield's company left, which was the last of July, 1861, an alarm was given that the secessionists, or "rebels," were about to attack Brookfield, and the commander at St. Joseph was telegraphed to for aid. He responded by sending down a company of Germans, belonging to Pea- body's regiment (Twenty-fifth Missouri Infantry), under command of a Captain Schmidt. This company was not in uniform, but the men were all armed with United States muskets. They quartered themselves in the round-house, having no tents, and piled up the cord wood around the build- ing for breastworks, in case they should be attacked. These troops remained some days, but the expected and dreaded rebels did not put in an appear- ance.

The next Federal troops to visit Brookfield was the Third fowa Infantry, Colonel Williams. This regiment came in August, 1861, and remained somne time. It was sent here for the purpose of assisting in the recruiting and organizing of Union volunteers from this section of Missouri, as well as for the protection of Brookfield. Fred C. Loring, the village butcher, had already received a commission as captain, and was recruiting a com- pany of cavalry at Brookfield, as was Captain Wesley R. Love, at Laclede; both of these companies were afterwards in the Seventh Missouri Cavalry Volunteers. The Third Iowa went into camp over on Rose Hill, and spent the principal portion of its time in drilling and making sconts up and down the railroad and into the country. Some of the members of the regiment were seized with pneumonia and died, and were all buried on Rose Hill, where their bodies still lie. In 1867 the town council adopted a resolution to have these bodies taken up and reinterred, at the town's expense, in the public cemetery, but for some reason this was never done.

The first Federal soldier buried in Brookfield was a man named David

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

Winkler. He had enlisted in the Federal army, and gone on a scout with some Kansas or Iowa troops down to Shelbina. Returning, he was stand- ing on top of a box-car filled with soldiers, when a musket was accidentally discharged by one of them, and the ball, passing upward through the roof of the car, struck Winkler and killed him. The body was taken off at Brookfield, and buried with the honors of war, in the ground now occupied by the residence of Hon. W. H. Brownlee.

From the fall of 1861 until the close of the war Brookfield was garrisoned by various companies and organizations of Federal militia or home-guards -including the famous "Railroad Brigade," an organization composed of railroad employes armed by the general government, and a portion of the time under the command of Major Crandall,-with occasionally a detach- ment or company of regular volunteer troops. Among the very last organ- izations was the Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, of unsavory memory. The place was a great recruiting point. Here was begun the organization of the Eighteenth Missouri Infantry, at first under the authority of a self-styled "Colonel" Morgan, of Chariton county, who, for some reason, was never commissioned. The commander was afterwards Madison Miller, of St. Louis. The organization of the Eighteenth was begun in August, 1861, and the companies at Brookfield left some time in the fall. Many recruits came in from Chariton, Carroll, and other counties, and took service in the Eigh- teenth or some other regiment.

While Morgan was at Brookfield his men made several incursions into the surrounding country. One of these was made into Carroll county, in com- pany with two companies of the Seventh Missouri Cavalry under Capts. W. R. Love and Fred C. Loring. At the crossing of Hurricane Creek, in Carroll county, this force was ambushed by a force of about fifty Confed- erates under Captain Logan Ballew, and sixteen men of Captain Love's company were wounded, but none killed. This was about the tenth of Oc- tober, 1861.

From time to time alarms were given that the Confederates were coming to attack Brookfield. In September, 1861, a number of families of Union sentiments had been driven out of the Grand Pass country, in Sa- line county, by the secessionists, and were making their way to more friendly localities. Mr. Enoch Meedles's family was one of these. As the party neared Brookfield they were discovered, and when they went into camp, a few miles south of town, word was brought in that they were rebels, coming to capture the town and burn the round-house. The next morning, as the cavalcade appeared over the hill, a great many hearts quailed at the sight, and everybody felt great relief when the truth was learned.

After the fight near New Cambria, early in the war, the Federal wounded to the number of eight or nine, were brought to Brookfield for treatment, and from here sent to Laclede. The headquarters of the officers in com-

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

mand were usually in the Central House-or where that building is now- and the hospital where the New Cambria wounded were was the Catholic church. The government had a long low building running parallel with the railroad track, in which stores were kept, and often troops were quar- tered. Here Morgan's first companies of the Eighteenth Missouri were placed upon their arrival-there being no tents here at the time, nor for some time afterward.

In the month of August, 1862, the Confederate Col. J. A. Poindex- ter, raided through Randolph, Chariton, Carroll, Livingston, and this county. Some of his men, upon the dispersion of Poindexter's force by the militia under General Guitar, wandered off and out into the neighborhood of Brookfield, and were picked up by the Railroad Brigade. Several horses, which had been abandoned by their riders, were also captured as they wan- dered about on the prairie. One of the men captured was so worn out with fatigue of long and hard riding, and was suffering so much from the loss of sleep, that he was captured asleep, taken to Brookfield asleep, lay asleep while he stayed here, and it is declared that he was asleep when the train stopped at Laclede, where the prisoners were taken, and where one of them was shot by the troops there stationed, on a charge of having been concerned in the destruction of a railroad bridge.

A block-house was erected early in the war at Yellow Creek bridge for the protection of that structure, but in 1863 it was moved up to Brookfield, and maintained there until the close of the war. It was so constructed as to be available for a successful defense against any ordinary force, or one likely to be brought against it, and was a tower of strength and a castle of refuge to the citizens as well.

Brookfield was also a place of refuge for miles around. In the early days- of the war the white refugees from the southern counties flocked in, many to enlist in the Federal army, and many more to take the cars for Illinois and other points in the North. Afterwards, especially after President Lin- coln's emancipation proclamation went into effect, numbers of negroes. flocked into the place, "for protection" they claimed, but probably to es- cape work and to be fed at the expense of the government. Major Cran- dall, who had been master of transportation, and was commander of the- post and of the Railroad Brigade, tried to arm the abled-bodied male ne- groes, and make them assist in the defense of the place and themselves; but this they refused to do, whereupon the Major drove them summarily from the place, and forced them to seek a loafing place elsewhere.

In January, 1863, small-pox broke out in Brookfield. A lady from St. Joseph brought it into the family of Mrs. Cornelius Slaughter, whom she was visiting. Mr. Slaughter was absent in the Federal army. Mrs. Slaughter was immediately put in quarantine as it were. She was com- pelled to wait upon her family, who were soon seized with the loathsome-

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

disease, without assistance-without even medical attendance. Dr. Harris, of Laclede, was sent for, but he refused to visit the afflicted family, saying that lie was afraid he would carry the small-pox home with him. Esquire Carter and others provided as well as they could for the plague-stricken family. They hauled up wood within a convenient distance of the house, supplied provisions, etc. On the eleventh of February Mrs. Slaughter's little nine-year old daughter died of the terrible disease, and another daughter recovered from the disease itself, but was left an imbecile for life. John McCormick took charge of the body of the dead child, and buried it at Thayer.

In May following, Mr. John Ricker, a prominent and well respected cit- izen, living in the country, contracted small-pox, and died therefrom, June eleventh. Isaac Lambert, a neighbor, caught the disease from Ricker, and also died.

TRAGEDIES IN BROOKFIELD DURING THE CIVIL WAR.

While Captain William Thomas's Company F, of the Sixty-second Regi- ment Enrolled Militia, was stationed at Brookfield, in November, 1864, an affray occurred between two members, in which one was killed and the other badly wounded. One of the men was named Jack Brown, who lived in Macon county, and Mr. Alexander, of Linneus, was the other party. A few days prior to the row Brown offered a horse for sale in Linneus bearing the United States brand. He was prevented by Alexander, and meeting him in Brookfield quarreled with him on a frivolous pretext, and shot him through the body. Alexander fell, and was carried into the quarters, but rallying in a few moments, he stepped to the door and shot Brown twice, wounding him so badly that he died in a few days. Alexander lay for some weeks at the residence of James Tooey, but finally recovered, and is at present a citizen of Linneus. He was never arrested, it being considered that he was justifiable in what he did.

In the summer of 1862 a doctor, whose name is not remembered, but who lived near Hannibal, was arrested by the militia, on a charge of being a "rebel," and of being concerned in the destruction of the Platte River bridge. The arrest was effected near Macon, and the prisoner was ordered sent to St. Joseph. At Brookfield the train bearing the prisoner stopped, and some of the militia got on board. Learning the fact that there was such a character on board, they interviewed the doctor and his guards, and it is said entered into a conspiracy with the latter to murder the prisoner. They pretended to be his friends, and got him away from his guards. After the train had started, and while in was ascending the heavy grade west of town, they told him to "Jump, and run for your life!" The confiding pris- oner jumped and started to run, but was shot and instantly killed by his pretended liberators, wlio, it is averred by parties yet living in Brookfield,

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

came back to town and laughed heartily over the "joke" they had played off on the confiding rebel. The body was buried where it fell, and just as it fell, without a coffin. Some time afterward the sisters of the unfortunate man came in search of their brother's remains, but could not find them; the militia who knew where they were would not give any information, and the few. citizens that knew were afraid to. Afterwards, however, other friends of the dead man came, procured the remains, and took them away.

Some time in the fall of 1862, three men, two of whom were named Nicholson, from Platte county, boarded the east bound train of the Hanni- bal & St. Joseph Road at Mooresville, having purchased tickets for Quincy, Illinois. All three inen had served in the Confederate army, but had left the service, returned home, and had taken the oath of allegiance to the Fed- eral and State governments. The militia and "Penick's men," as the old organization of the Fifth Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, was called, gave them a great deal of trouble and uneasiness, however, and, believing their lives in danger, they resolved to leave the country and go to Illinois, where they intended remaining until the war was over. They made their way to Mooresville and boarded the train in safety; but they were pursued, and a telegram sent from Mooresville to Brookfield, ahead of the train, ordering their arrest when they should arrive. When the train arrived the militia went aboard, found the men, and took them from the cars. That night they were examined and questioned very particularly. They admitted that they had been in the Confederate service, and had fought against and probably killed Union soldiers " but they, of course, tried to kill us," they added. Soon after their examination they were taken out of prison, their hands manacled, and they were led out east of town, or rather in the direction of the fair grounds. As they walked along one of the Nicholson boys sus- pected that they were being taken out to be killed, and he contrived some way to free his hands. Presently, when they were well away from town, the command was given, " Halt!" The young man whose hands were free, instead of halting, sprang forward, and, bounding away like a frightened deer, was soon lost in the darkness and escaped. His brother and the other prisoner were shot down dead. Their bodies were given rude, if not barbarous, sepulture, but a few spade fulls of dirt being thrown over them where they lay. In a day or two thereafter Mr. Enoch Needles, while hunting his cows, come upon the bodies thus half covered and presenting a revolting sight. The militia returned to their quarters after the shooting, and did not make public what they had done; but young Nicholson, who is still alive, related the circumstances as he vowed they transpired. After the war the father of the murdered Nicholson boy came to Brookfield, and spent some days in searching for the remains of his son, which he intended removing to Platte county, but he could find no trace of them.

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXI.

AFTER THE GREAT CIVIL WAR.

The White Winged Angel Spreads Her Mantle of Peace-New Life and a General Up- ward and Onward Tendency-Incorporation-First Board of Trustees-The First Newspaper-Prairie Fires-Brass Band and a Base Ball Club, Which Shows an Advance State of Civilization Combining With Culture and Refinement-Some More Accidents, and How the Vote Stood for Grant and the "Smiler"-Education-The Measles; Coal, and a New Addition-Items of Interest, Including the Park, Railroad Subscription, Engine-house and City Hall, and the Great Fire of 1872-Numerous In- cidents, Accidents, and a Closing of the City History-Biographies.

Upon the close of the civil war not more than a dozen or fifteen houses stood in Brookfield, and not more than that number of families dwelt in the place. But immediately upon the restoration of peace a new tide of prosperity set in toward the place and continued to flow until it carried it on to fortune. Immigrants came in by troops. Property of all kinds ad- vanced largely in value, and real estate, building lots, for both business and resident purposes, rapidly appreciated.

+ On the tenth of October, 1865, the town was incorporated by the County 'Court as "the town or village of Brookfield." Mr. T. Snow, E. J. Cran- dall, John T. Everson, James Tooey, and Henry Shook, were appointed the first board of trustees. The proceedings of the first board of trustees can- not be found, but it is known that those officials did good service for the town in shaping its destiny and starting it fairly and properly in the race for prosperity, success, and good fortune. The establishment of streets, al- leys, and parks; the enactment of a code of well-considered ordinances for the establishment, preservation, and maintenance of peace and order; the enlargement of the boundaries of the town; the taking in of additions, were some of the duties performed by the board of trustees up to 1873.

HISTORY FROM 1867 to 1882.

April 23, 1867, the first number of the first newspaper in Brookfield, the Brookfield Gazette, was issued. It was a neat, well-printed paper of four pages, containing seven columns to the page, and all printed at home .. Moore & Buffington were its editors and publishers. The paper was well patronized by the merchants and other business men of the place, and con- tained a liberal supply of advertisements. It was Republican, but gave up but little of its space to the discussion of politics. The construction through Brookfield of the "Chicago, Sedalia & Fort Scott Railroad," an enterprise much considered at that time, was strongly advocated.

In the spring of this year, (1867,) the danger to which the place was ex-

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

posed from fire, by reason of the sparks and cinders from the railroad shops, abundance of dry prairie grass that ran up to, and in many cases around the houses of the town, as well as the ordinary perils to which towns are subject, induced a meeting to be held at Strawbridge Hall, a capacious room still standing on Main Street, to consider the subject of organizing a fire department. . It was considered important that something should be done, and the matter was referred to the town trustees.

By the first of June the aesthetic nature of the town had become so well developed that a brass band was deemed an imperative necessity. Accord- ingly, on that date, the Brookfield brass band was organized. A company was gotten up, of which J. L. Paldi was president, who afterwards became the leader. The citizens helped the organization very materially and looked upon it with much favor.

The twenty-fourth day of July, 1867, is a red letter day in the calendar of Brookfield. For some time previously a base ball club had been organ- ized in the place and had been in training. This club was called the " Ac- tives." On the day mentioned there was a grand base ball tournament at St. Joseph for the championship of north. Missouri and a silver mounted bat. The " Actives" were present and won the prize over all competitors, defeating the self-styled "champion " clubs of St. Joseph and Chillicothe very easily. News of the victory were telegraphed to Brookfield, and on their arrival at home the boys found a large crowd of citizens waiting to receive them. Speeches of welcome and congratulation were made, and a handsome silk flag presented to the club. The St. Joseph club was not sat- isfied with the result, and on the twentieth of August following came all the way to Brookfield to play the game over. The " Actives " again won.

BROOKFIELD IN 1868.

On the twenty-fourth of March an eleven-year-old daughter of Thomas Filan was drowned in Elk Creek, a short distance above the mill. The child was crossing the stream on a log, in company with a younger companion, who lost her footing and fell into the stream, then of considerable depth. Mr. Filan's daughter sprang in the water and succeeded in getting her coul- panion to shore in safety, but being exhausted by her efforts, was herself unable to get out, and was borne down by the stream and drowned. The other little girl could not, from fright and exhaustion, give the alarm for some time, or the unfortunate little heroine might have been saved. The stream being small, the body was recovered with but little difficulty.

On the fifth of August Gens. U. S. Grant and W. T. Sherman visited Brookfield, took dinner at the Railroad Hotel, and shook hands with a large number of the citizens. They were passing through to the west over the Hannibal & St. Joseph, on a tour of observation to the military posts in Kansas and elsewhere.

Jacob

Smith

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

About the fifteenth of August, George W. Crane, a young man whose home was in New York, but who had been in the employ of W. T. Snow, Esq., was drowned in Yellow Creek, about half a mile' above the railroad bridge, despite the efforts of his comrades to rescue him.

On the twenty-third of September, the first exposition of the North Mis- souri Agricultural and Mechanical Association, an organization which had been effected the previous spring, was held at Brookfield, and considered a success. Hon. John B. Henderson, then United States Senator from this State, delivered the address on the occasion.

At the November election, 1868, the vote for President and Vice-Presi- dent of the United States, at the Brookfield precinct, resulted as follows:

Grant and Colfax, Republicans

300

Seymour and Blair, Democrats

134

Republican majority . 166

It will be seen that the Republicans were largely in the majority in this precinct at that time; but it must be borne in mind that at that day a great many voters were disfranchised by Article 3 of the Drake Constitution, which went into operation in Missouri in 1865, and which prevented from voting any one that had had any sympathy for the Confederate cause dur- ing the civil war.

On the thirty-first of August, the first term of the public school after its reorganization was begun. It continued three months, closing about the first of December. The school opened under charge of Prof. E. W. Fish, who had three assistants, Misses Deane, Pettijohn, and Staats. Upon the opening of school the teachers made a report, showing the number of pupils under their charge; viz.,

Teachers.

Males. Females.

Under 7 Years.

Miss Deane

Miss Pettijohn

Miss Staats

. .

Professor Fish

. .

Total

129

127

The whole number of scholars in attendance, including those under seven years of age, was 303.

1869.

In the first of the year a court of common pleas was established at Brook- field, and about the first of February Hon. W. H. Brownlee, who had been appointed judge thereof, held the first term of the court.

March sixth the railroad blacksmith shops were burned. T. E. Lewis lost 31

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

his coat, containing $300, the garment being consumed in the fire. On the twentieth, Frank Godfrey, a brakeman of Brookfield, was killed while on his train, at Eureka bridge.

About the first of April, a train was wrecked two miles east of town, the engineer having his leg badly crushed. On the twenty-ninth, the school board resolved to issue $20,000 in bonds, for the erection of a new school- house.

June fifth, the famous Park injunction case was brought, restraining the. authorities from exposing the grounds for sale. During a thunder-storm on the twelfth, lightning struck two residences in the south part of town, those of Dr. Wood and William Matthews. The wife of the latter was se- verely injured.

About the fourth of July, work was begun on the Presbyterian church, and not long after the Methodist Episcopal church was commenced. In the latter part of August, the railroad company built the present coal-shed, and made other additions to the shops.

September eighteenth, the fair of 1869 was held. It was a success. Among the attractions was a balloon ascension. Hon. N. J. Coleman, of St. Louis, delivered an address.

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The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information, Part 49

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