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 15
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" The first legal enactment concerning this system provided that, whereas, 'particular townships have many things which concern only themselves, and the ordering of their own affairs, and disposing of business in their own town,' therefore, 'the freemen of every township, or a majority part of them, shall only have power to dispose of their own lands and woods, with all the appurtenances of said town, to grant lots, and to make such orders as may concern the well-ordering of their own towns, not repugnant to the laws and orders established by the general court.'
" They might, also, (says Mr. Haines) impose fines of not more than twenty shillings, and 'choose their own particular officers, as constables, surveyors for the highways and the like.'
" Evidently this enactment relieved the general court of a mass of municipal details, without any danger to the power of that body in con- trolling general measures of public policy.
" Probably, also, a demand from the freemen of the towns was felt for the control of their own home concerns.
" The New England colonies were first governed by a general court or legislature, composed of a governor and a small council, which court consisted of the most influential inhabitants and possessed and exer- cised both legislative and judicial powers, which were limited only by the wisdom of the holders.
"They made laws, ordered their execution by officers, tried and decided civil and criminal causes, enacted all manner of municipal reg- ulations, and, in fact, did all the public business of the colony."
Similar provisions for the incorporation of towns were made in the first constitution of Connecticut, adopted in 1639, and the plan of town- ship organization, as experience proved its remarkable economy, effi-
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
ciency and adaptation to the requirements of a free and intelligent people, became universal throughout New England, and went westward with the immigrants from New England into New York, Ohio and other Western States.
Thus we find that the valuable system of county, township and town organizations had been thoroughly tried and proven long before there was need of adopting it in Missouri or any of the broad region west of the Mississippi River. But as the new country began to be opened, and as eastern people began to move westward across the mighty river, and form thick settlements along its western bank, the territory, and state, and county and township organizations soon followed in quick succes- sion, and those different systems became more or less improved, accord- ing as deemed necessary by the experience, and judgment and demands of the people, until they have arrived at the present stage and advance- ment and efficiency. In the settlement of the Territory of Missouri, the Legislature began by organizing counties on the Mississippi River. As each new county was formed it was made to include under legal jurisdic- tion all the country bordering west of it, and required to grant to the actual settlers electoral privileges and an equal share of the county gov- ernment with those who properly lived in the geographical limits of the county.
The counties first organized along the eastern borders of the state were given for a short time jurisdiction over the lands and settlements adjoining each on the west, until these localities became sufficiently set- tled to support organizations of their own.
GOVERNMENT SURVEYS.
No person can intelligently understand the history of a country without at the same time knowing its geography, and in order that a clear and correct idea of the geography of Nodaway County may be obtained from the language already used in defining different localities and pieces of land, we insert herewith the plan of Government surveys as given in Mr. E. A. Hickman's Property Map of Jackson County, Missouri :
Previous to the formation of our present Government, the eastern portion of North America consisted of a number of British colonies, the territory of which was granted in large tracts to British noblemen. By treaty of 1783, these grants were acknowledged as valid by the colonies. After the Revolutionary war, when these colonies were acknowledged "Independent States," all public domain within their boundaries was acknowledged to be the property of the colony within the bounds of which said domain was situated.
Virginia claimed all the northwest territory, including what is now known as Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. After a meeting of the representatives of the various states to form a
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
Union, Virginia ceded the northwest territory to the United States Gov- ernment. This took place in 1784; then all this northwest territory became Government land. It comprised all south of the lakes and east of the Mississippi River and north and west of the states having definite boundary lines. This territory had been known as New France, and had been ceded by France to England in 1768. In the year 1803, Napo- leon Bonaparte sold to the United States all territory west of the Mis- sissippi River and north of Mexico, extending to the Rocky Mountains.
While the public domain was the property of the colonies, it was disposed of as follows; Each individual caused the tract he desired to purchase to be surveyed and platted. A copy of the survey was then filed with the register of lands, when, by paying into the state or colonial treasury an agreed price, the purchaser received a patent for the land. This method of disposing of public lands made lawsuits numerous, owing to different surveys often including the same ground. To avoid these difficulties, and effect a general measurement of the territories, the United States adopted the present mode or system of land surveys, a description of which we give as follows :
In an unsurveyed region a point of marked and changeless topo- graphical features is selected as an initial point. The exact latitude and longitude of this point is ascertained by astronomical observation, and a suitable monument of iron or stone to perpetuate the position. Through this point a true north and south line is run, which is called a Principal Meridian. This principal meridian may be extended north and south any desired distance. Along this line are placed, at distances of one- half mile from each other, posts of wood or stone, or mounds of earth. These posts are said to establish the line, and are called section and quarter-section posts. Principal meridians are numbered in the order in which they are established. Through the same initial point from which the principal meridian was surveyed, another line is now run and established by mile and half-mile posts, as before, in a true east and west direction. This line is called the Base Line, and like the principal meri- dian, may be extended indefinitely in either direction. These lines form the basis of the survey of the country into townships and ranges. Town- ship lines extend east and west, parallel with the base line, at distances of six miles from the base line and from each other, dividing the country into strips six miles wide, which strips are called townships. Range lines run north and south, parallel to the principal meridian, dividing the country into strips six miles wide, which strips are called ranges. Town- ship strips are numbered from the base line and range strips are num- bered from the principal meridian. Townships lying north of the base line are "townships north," those on the south are "townships south." The strip lying next the base line is township one, the next one to that township two, and so on. The range strips are numbered in the same man-
1)
146
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
ner, counting from the principal meridian east or west, as the case may be.
The township and range lines thus divide the county into six-mile squares. Each of these squares is called a Congressional township. All north and south lines north of the equator approach each other as they extend north, finally meeting at the north pole ; therefore north and south lines are not literally parallel. The east and west boundary lines of any range being six miles apart in the latitude of Missouri or Kansas, would, in thirty miles, approach each other 2.9 chains, or 190 feet. If, therefore, the width of the range when started from the base line is made exactly six miles, it would be 2.9 chains too narrow at the distance of thirty miles, or five townships north. To correct the width of ranges and keep them to the proper width, the range lines are not surveyed in a continuous straight line, like the principal meridian, entirely across the state, but only across a limited number of townships, usually five, where the width of the range is corrected by beginning a new line on the side of the range most distant from the principal meridian, at such a point as will make the range its correct width. All range lines are cor- rected in the same manner. The last and west township line on which these corrections are made are called correction lines, or standard paral- lels. The surveys of the State of Missouri were made from the fifth principal meridian, which runs through the state, and its ranges are numbered from it. The State of Kansas is surveyed and numbered from the sixth. Congressional townships are divided into thirty-six square miles, called sections, and are known by numbers, according to their position. The following diagram shows the order of numbers and the sections in a Congressional township :
6
5
4
3
1
-
1
1
8 -
-
-
10
-
11
1
1
18
-17-
-16
-15
14
-13
1
-
-19
-20-
-21
-22
2.1
1
1
1
1
-30
29-
28.
26
1
1
31
-32-
- 33-
35
-36
147
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
Sections are divided into quarters, eighths and sixteenths, and are described by their position in the section. The full section contains 640 acres, the quarter 160, the eighth 80, and the sixteenth 40. In the fol- lowing diagram of a section the position designated by a is known as the northwest quarter ; i is the northeast quarter of the northeast quar- ter ; d would be the south half of the southeast quarter, and would con- tain 80 acres.
14 Sec. post.
Sec. post.
Sec. post
a
2
Ibo acres
1
30
14 Sec. post
14 Sec post.
e
Sec. post.
Sec. post.
1/4 Sec post.
Congressional townships, as we have seen, are six mile squares of land, made by the township and range lines, while civil or municipal townships are civil divisions, made for purposes of government, the one having no reference to the other, though similar in name. On the county map we see both kinds of townships-the congressional usually designated by numbers and in squares ; the municipal or civil township by name and in various forms.
By the measurement thus made by the Government the courses and distances are defined between any two points. St. Louis is in township 44 north, range 8 east, and Independence is in township 49 north, range 32 west ; how far, then, are Kansas City and St. Louis apart on a direct line ? St. Louis is forty townships east-240 miles-and five townships south-thirty miles ; the base and perpendicular of a right-angled tri- angle, the hypothenuse being the required distance.
ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIPS.
The " townships," as the term is used in common phraseology, in many instances, is widely distinguished from that of "town," though many persons persist in confounding the two. "In the United States, many of the states are divided into townships of five, six, seven, or per- haps ten miles square, and the inhabitants of such townships are vested with certain powers for regulating their own affairs, such as repairing roads and providing for the poor. The township is subordinate to the county." A "town" is simply a collection of houses, either large or small, and opposed to "country."
148
HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
The most important features connected with this system of town- ship surveys should be thoroughly understood by every intelligent farmer and business man ; still there are some points connected with the understanding of it, which need close and careful attention. The law which established this system required that the north and south lines should correspond exactly with the meridian passing through that point ; also that each township should be six miles square. To do this would be an utter impossibility, since the figure of the earth causes the meridians to converge toward the pole, making the north line of each township shorter than the south line of the same township. To obviate the errors which are, on this account, constantly occurring, correction lines are established. They are parallels bounding a line of townships on the north, when lying north of the principal base ; on the south line of townships when lying south of the principal base, from which the surveys, as they are continued, are laid out anew ; the range lines again starting at correct distances from the principal meridian. In Michigan these correction lines are repeated at the end of every tenth township, but in Oregon they have been repeated with every fifth township. The instructions to the surveyors have been that each range of townships should be made as much over six miles in width on each base and cor- rection line as it will fall short of the same width where it closes on to the next correction line north ; and it is further provided that in all cases, where the exterior lines of the townships shall exceed, or shall not extend six miles, the excess of deficiency shall be specially noted, and added to or deducted from the western or northern sections or half sections in such township, according as the error may be in running the lines from east to west, or from south to north. In order to throw the excess of deficiencies on the north and on the west sides of the town- ship, it is necessary to survey the section lines from south to north, on a true meridian, leaving the result in the north line of the township to be governed by the convexity of the earth, and the convergency of the meridians.
Navigable rivers, lakes and islands are " meandered " or surveyed by the compass and chain along the banks. "The instruments employed on these surveys, besides the solar compass, are a surveying chain thirty- three feet long, of fifty links, and another of smaller wire, as a standard to be used for correcting the former as often at least as every other day, also eleven tally pins, made of steel, telescope, targets, tape measure and tools for marking the lines upon trees or stones. In surveying through woods, trees intercepted by the line are marked with two chips or notches, one on each side ; these are called sight or line trees. Some- times other trees in the vicinity are blazed on two sides quartering toward the line ; but if some distance from the line the two blazes should be near together on the side facing the line. These are found to be per-
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HISTORY OF NOPAWAY COUNTY.
manent marks, not only recognizable for many years, but carrying with them their own age by the rings of growth around the blaze, which may at any subsequent time be cut out and counted as years ; and the same are recognized in courts of law as evidence of the date of the survey. They cannot be obliterated by cutting down the trees or otherwise, with- out leaving evidence of the act. Corners are marked upon trees if found at the right spots, or else upon posts set in the ground, and sometimes a monument of stones is used for a township corner, and a single stone for section corner ; mounds of earth are made where there are no stones nor timber. At the corners the four adjacent sections are designated by distinct marks cut into a tree, one in each section. These trees, facing the corner, are plainly marked with the letters B. T. (bearing tree) cut into the wood. Notches cut upon the corner posts or trees indicate the number of miles to the outlines of the township, or if on the boundaries of the township, to the township corners."
CHAPTER IX.
ATCHISON TOWNSHIP.
ITS BOUNDARY-PHYSICAL FEATURES-EARLY SETTLERS-CLEARMONT - BUSINESS DIRECTORY-CHURCHES-SECRET ORDERS.
At the April special term for 1845, we find the following order of court defining the bounds of Atchison Township :
"Ordered that all the territory within the following bounds, be called and known by the name of Atchison Township, to wit :
"Beginning at the southeast corner of Buchanan Township in Nod- away County, Missouri, on the divide between Nodaway and One Hun- dred and Two Rivers. Thence westwardly with the line of said town- ship to Atchison County. Thence south with the line dividing Nod- away and Atchison Counties to a point opposite the line dividing sections 18 and 19 in township 64. Thence east to the divide between' Nodaway and White Cloud. Thence north with said divide to the big road leading to the three forks of Nodaway. Thence with said road so as to include said road to the place of beginning."
At the May term 1845, occurs the following record changing the bounds of Atchison Township:
"Ordered that the record giving the bounds of Atchison Township be so changed as to include the road on the main divide between Nod- away and One Hundred and Two Rivers, so far as said township is bounded on said road."
Atchison Township was reorganized June 14, 1866, with the follow- ing boundaries :
"Commencing at the northeast corner of section 31, on the state line, township 67, range 35 ; thence west on the state line to the Noda- way River near the northwest corner section 32, township 67, range 36 ; thence meandering with said river to the section line between township 65, range 37, sections 17 and 20, where the same crosses said river ; thence east on the section line between sections 16 and 21, 15 and 22, 14 and 23, 13 and 24, township 65, range 37, and sections 18 and 19, 17 and 20, 16 and 21, 15 and 22, 14 and 23, 13 and 24, township 65, range 36, to the southeast corner of section 13, township 65, range 36, being the southeast corner of Atchison Township; thence north on the range line between ranges 35 and 36 to the township line between townships
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
65 and 66 ; thence west to the southwest corner of section 32, township 66, range 35 ; thence north on section line between sections 31 and 32, 29 and 30, 19 and 20, 17 and 18, 7 and 8, 5 and 6, township 66, range 35, and 31 and 32, township 67, range 35, to the place of beginning."
Subsequently Nodaway Township was formed out of territory originally belonging to Atchison and Green Townships. See present boundaries of Nodaway Township.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
The land of Atchison Township rises gently from the Nodaway River toward the northeast, and is well watered by Clear Creek and its numerous affluents. Clear Creek, formed by the uniting of the northern and southern branches of the same, flows nearly in a western direction, bending a little toward the southwest in its lower portion before it emp- ties into the Nodaway River. The land along Clear Creek is consid- erably broken, and numerous springs are found gushing out of the hills. Sinking Creek rises in the western part of the township and flows on a mile or so in a southwesterly direction, where it disappears beneath the ground for about a mile, when it appears again and flows on into a shal- low lake about a mile and a half in length and half a mile wide, which finds in turn an outlet into the Nodaway River. Atchison is mainly a a prairie towship, although there are fringes of timber along the Noda- way River and its affluents. The land in the township is generally good, and in many portions exceedingly fertile.
EARLY SETTLERS.
Ephraim W. Johnson was the first settler in Atchison Township. He came from Lawrence County, Indiana, and arrived November 6, 1841, at a point three miles north of where he now lives, where he spent the first winter. In the spring of the next year (1842) he settled on the place where he now resides, about eight miles northeast of Clearmont, on sec- tion 35, township 66, range 36. There were no sections then, and he simply took a claim after the manner of the first settlers. He now lives three-fourths of a mile south of the Iowa State line. This territory was then annexed to Andrew County, Missouri, which extended north within two miles of where Clarinda, the present county seat of Page County, Iowa, is now located. After Nodaway County was organized, Iowa and Missouri had a dispute about the boundary line between the States, and even went so far as to call out the militia to settle the matter. Iowa claimed the line as the boundary, dividing townships 66 and 67, and Missouri claimed a boundary line twelve miles further north. Each state appointed a commissioner and compromised the matter, and the present boundary line was established in 1849.
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
When Mr. Johnson first came, in the fall of 1841, he had seven chil- dren and only fifty cents in silver. He had no provisions for the ensu- ing winter, and none could be obtained this side of Buchanan County ; so he left his family and went to Buchanan County to obtain supplies. He made rails for a man by the name of Martin, and got a load of pro- visions and started for home. He was in company with two brothers, Thomas and Eli B. Johnson (who emigrated to California in 1861,) and a man by the name of James Campbell. On the 26th of November, 1841, on their way home, they encamped at night on the White Cloud, close to the place where the Prather farm is now located. That evening it commenced snowing from the north-a terrible snow storm. The next morning they thought they would try to reach the family, fearing they might perish in the great storm. The snow had ceased to fall and it was calm, but the snow was so deep they could not take their wagons with them ; so each man got on his horse, taking about a bushel of meal and a little piece of meat and started at daylight for a thirty-mile ride, just with the harness on their horses. The snow was drifted from hill to- hill. As soon as the horses got saddle-skirt deep, they would lie down ; so they took their turn about to throw out a road through the deep. drifts with their hands. About the middle of the afternoon his brother Tom and Campbell gave out. Then he and his brother Eli had all the work to do. They worked on for dear life until nearly sundown, when they were about three miles from home. Campbell, who was a very profane man, then said to Ephraim Johnson :
"Do you think we will get in, Johnson ?"
He replied, "I don't know Jim ; I doubt it."
Campbell said, after a moment's reflection, " I believe I will quit swearing."
They were so near home now, however, that the thought of home and the family seemed to nerve them to the utmost limit of endurance .. As the evening shades fell upon them, and the night was fast approach- ing, when the snow might be their only winding sheet, they strained every nerve and urged their horses to their utmost strength to break through the deep drifts. At last they saw a light glimmer through the darkness, and just as their strength failed them, and horses and men utterly prostrated, were about to fall and perish amidst the terrible drifts, they reach their cabin door. We drop a veil over that joyful meeting, which no artist could picture and no pen describe. Suffice it to say Mr. Johnson and his family clasped each other in their arms and' thanked God that they had escaped alive from the terrible storm.
Mrs. Johnson and her two sons had seen the awful storm was upon them and had resolved to make a heroic struggle for life. Levi, the older, only ten years of age, and Joseph, only eight years of age, had cut and packed enough wood on their shoulders, although the snow lay
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
three feet deep in the timber, to keep the fire burning. They would warm themselves and then go out together in the awful storm for more wood, working on amidst the drifting snow until they were rescued from their great peril.
The snow melted gradually and went off entirely in about three weeks, when Mr. Johnson and his companions returned to the White Cloud and brought home their wagons.
Mr. Johnson reared nine children, all of whom were married. Seven live in this county ; one daughter lives in Oakland, California, and one daughter died in Washington County, Oregon -- two died in infancy. His son, Eli B., was the first child born in Atchison Township. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have fifty grand children and eleven great grand children.
Joseph A. Johnson, who came with his father, Ephraim, in 1841, lived at home until he was twenty-two years of age, but pre-empted a piece of land in 1854 in section 35, and opened a farm, on which he is living at the present time. In 1844, when about twelve years of age, his father and mother went away on a visit into Page County, Iowa, leaving himself and six other children at home, only one brother being older than himself. One day four hundred Indians came suddenly to the house on ponies. There was only a little clearing around the house, just a garden spot. Some Indians hitched their ponies and others let theirs run loose, but all the Indians filed through the house as if they had never seen one before. They were friendly, and did not molest anything. One Indian, however, made as if he would shoot the dog, when Joseph snatched down the rifle and was going to shoot the Indian. At this the chief patted him, said he was brave, and wanted him to go along with them.
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