USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > The history of Nodaway county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens > Part 12
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which has contributed so many men and women to other portions of our state, and the west ; also, we shall find many an industrious native of Germany or the British Isles, and a few of the industrious and econom- ical French-all of whom have contributed to modify types of men already existing here.
Those who have noted the career of the descendants of these brave, strong men, in subduing the wilds and overcoming the obstacles and withstanding the hardships of this country in early times, can but admit they are worthy sons of illustrious sires.
The first settlement made within the limits of what is now known as Nodaway County, was effected in the spring of 1839, by Isaac Hogan, a native of the state of Tennessee. He pitched his tent near what is now known as Brown's Spring, just south of the present village of Graham. Here he built a cabin, which was at the time the only evidence of the presence of civilized man north of the Nodaway River. For the follow- ing interesting particulars relating to this settlement we are indebted to Dr. J. W. Morgan, who is himself one of the earliest pioneers of the county :
In the spring of 1839, Isaac Hogan, in company with Daniel Hogan, Richard Taylor, a gentleman who had married a sister of the Hogans, and Robert M. Stewart, then a wandering youth, since governor of the state, concluded to seek a better country, and with a two-horse wagon and camp equipage, an axe, a shovel and grubbing hoe, started to explore the Nodaway Valley country, recently purchased from the Indians. In March, 1839, they crossed a stream that has since been called Elk- horn, and encamped at what is now known as Laughlin's brick yard, in what is now called Hughes Township, one-half mile south of Graham. On the following morning one of the horses was lame and unfit for travel, and they concluded to take a hunt, and after an examination of the resources of the country, they were not willing to proceed further. They had found a country that they would be glad to call home. They were tired and slept. Next morning a division of the new Canaan had to be entered into. Isaac Hogan, being senior of the company, had the first selection. His choice was the tract of land on which the thriving and enterprising city of Graham is now situated. Daniel, being a brother of the chief, selected the claim now owned by our esteemed Teutonic friend, Philip Maurer. Taylor selected what is known as the Hiram Groves or J. Q. Brink tract of land. R. M. Stewart chose as his claim the fine land now owned by Nicholas Kavanaugh and William Burris.
Isaac Hogan remained, broke a few acres near Graham, and planted corn, while the remainder of the party returned to Platte County. After the return of the latter, Isaac Hogan was perhaps the only living white man north of the Nodaway River in the Platte Purchase. He built a log
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cabin near what is known as Brown's Spring, which rises in the south side of Graham, and affords an abundance of water for the town. During the month of June following he joined his family in Platte County, where he remained until the following winter.
Daniel Hogan, Richard Taylor and R. M. Stewart arrived in Platte County in a reasonable length of time, considering all the obstacles with which they had to contend. There being no wagon roads north of New Market, in Buchanan County, they followed Indian trails as near as was possible ; yet it was extremely slow traveling, as they would often have to examine a small stream for several miles before they could find a point. at which they could effect a crossing. On reaching home, Hogan and Taylor planted corn and cultivated it during the summer. R. M. Stewart hired out by the month to Joel Hedgpeth-hoed corn for thirty- seven and a-half cents per day, during the crop season. Of rainy days and at idle times he read Blackstone and the Statutes of Missouri. He practiced law for a number of years afterward ; was captain of a com- pany during the Mexican War, and was finally elected Governor of the State. Since then his life has become a part of the history of the State and of the nation, and is familiar to all.
Isaac. Hogan, above referred to, and who was the first white man to settle in Nodaway County, met a most singular and painful death while on his way in 1850 with a company of emigrants to the Pacific Coast.
He seems to have had a great antipathy to the Indians, and rashly declared that he would shoot the first Indian that he saw. As the party of emigrants advanced, they arrived at length among the Sioux, who had always been friendly to the whites. It was their boast then that they had never shed the blood of a white man. A squaw coming into the camp one evening, he shot her without provocation, and without the knowledge or consent of his companions. The Indians missing her, found that she had been murdered, and held a council. The next morn- ing they demanded the murderer. The party of emigrants were power- less to resist an attack from the Indians, and did not seem to have any disposition to shield the perpetrator of such a crime from justice, aud so gave him up, not knowing what a terrible fate awaited him. The Indians took him a short distance from camp, and stripped and tied him to a tree. They then cut his skin in strips, and making cross sections, tore off the pices of skin with bullet molds. They continued this process until he was fairly flayed alive, or died under sufferings which passed the point of human endurance. The Sioux did not molest the remainder of the party, but having wreaked their vengeance on the perpetrator of the dastardly deed, they peaceably went their way.
Early in the spring of 1840, Hiram Hall settled on a tract of land some eight miles south of Maryville, since known as the Prather place. Hall was a man of considerable will power, that is, whenever he under-
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took anything his intention was that his purpose should be accomplished. He thought he had chosen one of the most desirable locations that the human eye had ever beheld. He determined to make it his home while he was an inhabitant of this terrestrial sphere ; in this he was mistaken, poverty compelled him to abandon his home, but not until he had built a house and made considerable improvements. Hill being pecuniarily embarrassed, concluded that it was best for him, and those whom God had given him, to seek a different locality. Accordingly he sold his claim to Colonel Prather, (of. whom we will speak hereafter), and settled across the One Hundred and Two River, about one mile from Bridge- water. He was still enabled to keep his head above the wave, and he bravely commenced developing the resources of the country, and was looked upon as one of the moneyed men, able to go forward and succeed in business. He built a comfortable residence, yea, a magnificent one for that day. It was a building 16x32 feet, fronting the south, the main body of the building was of hewn logs placed together, the corners notched down in a dovetailed manner ; in the center was a hall six feet in width, the partitions being made out of the same kind of material as the walls, the roof was of clapboards, and rested on streamers, called ribs, the boards were secured by weight poles-poles cut and fastened down on each layer or four foot boards-the openings between the logs were closed by chinking and plastering or daubed with a material composed of clay, ashes and common soil, applied with a trowel made of wood. The door to the front entrance was made by using two uprights hewn out of two pieces of wood, weatherboarded with common clapboards, smoothed down with a drawing knife ; the hinges consisted in an excavation in the floor and hoop at the upper end and fastened in the walls : the latch was of wood, with the string ever hanging out ; the floor was made of pun- cheons, and the loft was of clapboards. The chimneys, which stood at each end of the building, were made in the following manner : In the ends there was a space of six feet sawed out of the walls and timber split, the outer ends were secured by notches, the inner ends resting in the cracks of the building. They were lined with stone on the back, the jambs being lined with a huge stone set on end. The upper portion of the chimney was constructed of sticks and clay. The windows consisted of holes cut in the sides of the dwelling and cased up with timbers hewn out without the aid of a saw, and the openings were inclosed with mus- lin, oiled or greased with tallow or hog's lard. He broke and fenced sixty acres of land and put it in a high state of cultivation. Providence smiled on him for a number of years, and he accumulated considerable wealth. Soon after the Bridgewater Mill was built he purchased a still, built a small stillhouse, and commenced making whisky of an inferior quality, so much so that it was known in commerce throughout Noda- way County as "Hall's Tonic." It was used freely on election, muster
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and horse-racing days by many of the sturdy pioneers. In 1850, his health began to fail, and he soon after slept the sleep that knows no waking.
A man by the name of Woodcock occupied a piece of land on the east side of White Cloud, just west of Hall's claim ; he built a cabin and put in cultivation a small amount of land. During the fall of 1840 (October 29th), a small company of white men from Kentucky pitched their tents on the east bank of the Nodaway River (now Lincoln Town- ship), expecting to cross the same on the following morning with their wagons, but the river being without a ford, known to them, they passed over on foot, leaving their wagons on the opposite side. Two of this company immediately began to explore the country in various direc- tions, feeling satisfied that they had at last found a favored region, wherein they could build their future homes. The names of the two pioneers were Joseph Hutson and Thomas Heady. Like all the early settlers in the west, they had a preference for timbered districts, and while selecting land they discovered the same grove of timber from opposite directions, not knowing that they had chosen the same land, until after their return to camp.
Naturally enough, however, after detailing to each other the results of their day's rambles, it was ascertained that each had seen and not only admired the same grove, but had concluded in his own mind to select the land on which it stood. There being no courts in those days, wherein the rights of property and titles to land could be tested, they finally agreed to shoot at a spot at the distance of sixty yards, the one striking nearest the center to take the land. The distance was accord- ing stepped off and the parties proceeded to try their skill for the pos- session of their chosen home. In the contest, Joseph Hutson, with the unerring accuracy of many of his day, drove the center. He still lives upon the spot where this novel incident transpired, more than forty years ago, on section thirty-two, township sixty-six, range thirty-seven, enjoying the fruits of his early struggles.
Late in the fall of 1840, Col. I. N. Prather, a wealthy Kentuckian from Mercer County, located eight miles south of the present town of Maryville, on section twenty, township sixty-three, range thirty-five, on the White Cloud, in what is now known as White Cloud Township. He explored the Platte Purchase in search of a home but found no place to suit him until his eye caught sight of that beautiful tract of land (eighteen hundred acres) which was for many years his happy home-a portion of this tract having been settled at the time by Hiram Hall, who had arrived in the spring previous.
Col. Prather, soon after his settlement here, was made. a colonel of militia-troops having been ordered out in anticipation of Indian trou- bles. It was at his log cabin that the first county court of Nodaway
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IHISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
County met and organized. He died in 1859. His wife still survives him at the advanced age of seventy-four years. We might state in this connection that, at the time of Colonel Prather's arrival, a man named James Bryant was temporarily living in a small cabin on the place engaged in trading with the Indians, his stock consisting principally of whisky.
From the spring of 1839, to the fall of 1840, there were perhaps, not to exceed six permanent settlers in the territory now known as Nod- away County. During this time, a number of white men had penetrated the country, some on hunting expeditions, and others with the view of locating, but its remoteness from the then centers of trade, and the country being still inhabited by roving bands of Indians, but few remained with their families. We may safely say then, that Isaac Hogan, Hiram Hall, Joseph Hutson, Thomas Heady, I. N. Prather, Harvey White and possibly one other person, were the first settlers in Nodaway County. These settlements were made in Hughes, Lincoln and White Cloud Townships, and although scattered, they formed the nucleus of a population which has increased in numbers until to-day, (1881) thirty thousand people inhabit the territory which they then settled.
Only one of these pioneers is now living. He has witnessed the coming of the mighty tide of emigration which has so rapidly settled the plains and the valleys of Nodaway County, taking the place of the red men, and watched with proud satisfaction, each new development of materal wealth, which has marked the advancement of an enterpris- ing and thrifty people. To him, forty years have wrought wonderful changes, more wonderful perhaps, than he ever dreamed of, in the days of his pioneer life, yet how much more marvelous would be the change, could he be permitted, to witness forty years hence, the grand trans- formations which are destined to characterize the history of Nodaway County.
CHAPTER VI.
PIONEER LIFE.
THE PIONEERS' PECULIARITIES-CONVENIENCES AND INCONVENIENCES-THE HISTOR- ICAL LOG CABIN - AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS - HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE- PIONEER CORN-BREAD-HAND MILLS AND HOMINY BLOCKS-GOING TO MILL -- TRADING POINTS-BEE-TREES-SHOOTING MATCHES AND QUILTINGS.
In the heart of the grand old forest, A thousand miles to the West, Where a stream gushed out from the hillside, They halted at last for rest. And the silence of ages listened To the ax-stroke loud and clear, Divining a kingly presence In the tread of the pioneer.
He formed of the prostrate branches, A home that was strong and good ; The roof was of reeds from the streamlet, The chimney he built of wood, And there by the winter fireside, While the flame up the chimney roared,
He spoke of the good time coming, When plenty should crown his board-
When the forest should fade like a vision, And over the hillside and plain The orchard would spring in its beauty, And the fields of golden grain. And to-night he sits by the fireside In a mansion quaint and old, With his children's children round him, Having reaped a thousand fold.
During the decade which comprehends the first ten years of its his- tory, the settlement of Nodaway County was in its earliest stage of pioneer life. All that can be known of this period must be drawn, chiefly, from tradition.
In those days the people took no care to preserve history-they were too busily engaged in making it. Historically speaking, those were the most important years of the county, for it was then the founda- tion and corner stones of all the county's history and prosperity were laid. Yet, this history was not remarkable for stirring events. It was, however, a time, of self reliance and brave, persevering toil ; of privations
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cheerfully endured through faith in a good time coming. The experi- ence of one settler was just about the same as that of others. They were almost invariably poor, they faced the same hardships and stood generally on an equal footing.
All the experience of the early pioneers of this county goes far to confirm the theory that, after all, happiness is pretty evenly balanced in this world. They had their privations and hardships, but they had also their own peculiar joys. If they were poor, they were free from the burden of pride and vanity ; free, also, from the anxiety and care that always attends the possession of wealth. Other people's eyes cost them nothing. If they had few neighbors, they were on the best of terms with those they had. Envy, jealousy and strife had not crept in. A common interest and a common sympathy bound them together with the strong- est ties. They were a little world to themselves, and the good feeling that prevailed was all the stronger because they were so far removed from the great world of the east.
Among these pioneers there was realized such a community of interest that there existed a community of feeling. There were no castes, except an aristocracy of benevolence, and no nobility, except a nobility of generosity. They were bound together with such a strong bond of sympathy, inspired by the consiousness of common hardship, that they were practically communists.
Neighbors did not even wait for an invitation or request to help one another. Was a settler's cabin burned or blown down ? No sooner was the fact known throughout the neighborhood than the settlers assembled to assist the unfortunate one to rebuild his home. They came with as little hesitation, and with as much alacrity as though they were all mem- bers of the same family, and bound together by ties of blood. One man's interest was every other man's interest. Now this general state of feeling among the pioneers was by no means peculiar to this county, although it was strongly illustrated here. It prevailed generally throughout the west during the time of the early settlement. The very nature of things taught the settlers the necessity of dwelling together in this spirit. It was their only protection. They had come far away from the well established reign of law, and entered a new country, where the civil authority was still feeble and totally unable to afford protection and redress grievances. Here the settlers lived some little time before there was an officer of the law in the county. Each man's protection was in the good will and friendship of those about him, and the thing any man might well dread was the ill will of the community. It was more terri- ble than the law. It was no uncommon thing in the early times for hardened men, who had no fears of jails or penitentiaries, to stand in great fear of the indignation of a pioneer community. Such were some of the characteristics of Nodaway County.
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HOUSE AND HOME COMFORTS.
The first buildings in the county were not just like the log cabins that immediately succeeded them. The latter required some help and a good deal of labor to build. The very first buildings constructed were a cross between "hoop cabins " and Indian bark huts. As soon as enough men could be got together for a "cabin raising," then log cabins were in style. Many a pioneer can remember the happiest time of his life as that when he lived in one of these homely but comfortable old cabins.
A window with sash and glass was a rarity, and was an evidence of wealth and aristocracy which but few could support. They were often made with greased paper put over the window, which admitted a little light, but more often there was nothing whatever over it, or the cracks between the logs, without either chinking or daubing, were the depend- ence for light and air. The doors were fastened with old-fashioned wooden latches, and for a friend, or neighbor, or traveler, the string always hung out, for the pioneers of the west were hospitable, and enter- tained visitors to the best of their ability. It is noticeable with what affection the pioneers speak of their old log cabins. It may be doubted whether palaces ever sheltered happier hearts than those homely cabins. The following is a good description of these old landmarks, but few of which now remain :
"These were of round logs, notched together at the corners, ribbed with poles, and covered with boards split from a tree. A puncheon floor was then laid down, a hole cut in the end and a stick chimney run up. A clapboard door is made, a window is opened by cutting out a hole in the side or end two feet square, and finished without glass or transparency. The house is then 'chinked' and ' daubed' with mud. The cabin is now ready to go into. The household and kitchen furniture is adjusted, and life on the frontier is begun in earnest.
"The one-legged bedstead, now a piece of furniture of the past, was made by cutting a stick the proper length, boring holes at one end one and a half inches in diameter, at right angles, and the same sized holes corresponding with those in the logs of the cabin the length and breadth desired for the bed, in which are inserted poles.
" Upon these poles clapboards are laid, or linn bark is interwoven consecutively from pole to pole. Upon this primitive structure the bed is laid. The convenience of a cook-stove was not thought of, but instead the cooking was done by the faithful housewife in pots, kettles, and skil- lets, on and about the big fire-place, and very frequently over and around, too, the distended pedal extremities of the legal sovereign of the house- hold, while the latter was indulging in the luxuries of a cob pipe, and discussing the probable results of a contemplated elk hunt up about the One Hundred and Two and Nodaway Rivers."
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These log cabins were really not so bad after all.
The people of to-day, familiarized with "Charter Oak" cooking stoves and ranges, would be ill at home were they compelled to prepare a meal with no other conveniences than those provided in a pioneer cabin. Rude fire-places were built in chimneys composed of mud and sticks, or at best, undressed stone. These fire-places served for heating and cooking purposes ; also for ventilation. Around the cheerful blaze of this fire the meal was prepared, and these meals were not so bad after all. As elsewhere remarked, they were not such as would tempt the epicure, but such as afforded the most healthful nourishment for a race of people who were driven to the exposure and hardships which were their lot. We hear of few dyspeptics in those days. Another advantage of these cooking arrangements was that the stovepipe never fell down, and the pioneer was spared being subjected to the most trying of ordeals, and one probably more productive of profanity than any other.
Before the country became supplied with mills which were of easy access, and even in some instances afterward, hominy-blocks were used. These exist now only in the memory of the oldest settlers, but as relics of the "long ago," a description of them will not be uninteresting :
A tree of suitable size, say from eighteen inches to two feet in diameter, was selected in the forest and felled to the ground. If a cross- cut saw happened to be convenient, the tree was "butted"-that is, the kerf end was sawed off so that it would stand steady when ready for use. If there were no cross-cut saw in the neighborhood, strong arms and sharp axes were ready to do the work. Then the proper length, from four to five feet, was measured off, and sawed or cut square. When this was done the block was raised on end and the work of cut- ting out a hollow in one of the ends was commenced. This was gener- ally done with a common chopping axe. Sometimes a smaller one was used. When the cavity was judged to be large enough, a fire was built in it and carefully watched till the ragged edges were burned away. When completed, the hominy-block somewhat resembled a druggist's mortar. Then a pestle, or something to crush the corn was necessary. This was usually made from a suitably sized piece of timber, with an iron wedge attached, the large end down. This completed the machin- ery, and the block was ready for use. Sometimes one hominy-block accommodated an entire neighborhood, and was the means of staying the hunger of many mouths.
In giving the bill of fare above we should have added meat, for of this they had plenty. Deer would be seen daily trooping over the prairie in droves of from twelve to twenty, and sometimes as many as fifty would be seen grazing together. Elk were also found, and wild turkeys and prairie chickens without number. Bears were not unknown.
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Music of the natural order was not wanting, and every night the pio- neers were lulled to rest by the screeching of panthers and the howling of wolves. When the dogs ventured too far out from the cabins at night, they would be driven back by the wolves chasing them up to the very cabin doors. Trapping wolves became quite a profitable business after the state began to pay a bounty for wolf scalps.
All the streams of water also abounded in fish, and a good supply of these could be procured by the expense of a little time and labor. Those who years ago improved the fishing advantages of the country never tire telling of the dainty meals which the streams afforded. Sometimes large parties would get together, and, having been provided with cook- ing utensils and facilities for camping out, would go off some distance and spend weeks together. No danger then of being ordered off a man's premises or arrested for trespass. One of the peculiar circumstances that surrounded the early life of the pioneers was a strange loneliness. The solitude seemed almost to oppress them. Months would pass during which they would scarcely see a human face outside their own families.
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