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 32
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FIDELITY LODGE, NO. 172, I. O. G. T.
Fidelity Lodge of Good Templars received its organization in Feb- ruary, 1879, with the following named charter members : Dr. J. M. Moorhead, John Roberts, Harry Moorhead, Mrs. Susan Gleaves, John Stewart, Miss Amanda Stewart, William Gleaves, Maggie Craig, Ida Ham, Ellen Ham, John Craig, and Mrs. Barlow.
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
The officers of the lodge at the present time are, F. A. Brittain, W. C. T .; Eliza Weatherman, W. V. T .; Hugh Craig, Secretary ; John Felker, Marshal ; Jennie Gleaves, Treasurer ; Eugene Redman, Finan- cial Secretary ; John Weatherman, O. G .; Emma McDaniel, I. G .; Thomas Redman, Lodge Deputy ; Rachael Roberts, Chaplain.
The membership of the lodge numbers at the present time twenty- five. It meets every Saturday night, and is prosperous.
.21
CHAPTER XXIII,
WHITE CLOUD TOWNSHIP.
ITS BOUNDARY-PHYSICAL FEATURES- EARLY SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS-BRIDGE- WATER-ARKOE-BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
WHITE CLOUD TOWNSHIP.
This township is now bounded on the north by Polk Township, on the east by Grant Township, on the south by a portion of Andrew County, and on the west by Hughes Township. As White Cloud Township has been modified, in regard to its boundaries, since its first organization, we give the orders of court establishing it.
At the April special term, 1845, we find the following order of court establishing White Cloud Township :
" All the territory within the following limits shall be called and known by the name of White Cloud Township, to wit :
"Beginning at the southeast corner of Hughes Township, on the line dividing Nodaway and Andrew Counties; thence east with said line to the river One Hundred and Two ; thence up said river to town- ship 63 ; thence east with said towship line to the north part of Gent's Grove ; thence north to the north line of said township ; thence west on the line dividing townships 63 and 64, to the east boundaries of Hughes Township ; thence south with said township line to the place of begin- ning."
June 14, 1866, the county court defined the bounds of White Cloud Township as follows :
"Commencing at the northeast corner of section 14, township 63, range 35 ; thence west on section line between 11 and 14, 10 and 15, 9 and 16, 8 and 17, 7 and 18, township 63, range 35, and sections 12 and 13, 1I and 14, to the northwest corner of section 14, township 63, range 36 ; thence south on section line between sections 14 and 15, 22 and 23, 26 and 27, 34 and 35, in township 63, range 36, and sections 2 and 3, 10 and 11, 14 and 15, 22 and 23, 26 and 27, 34 and 35, to the southeast cor- ner of section 35, in towship 62, range 36, to said county line ; thence east on the county line and township line between townships 61 and 62, to the southeast corner of section 35; thence north on section line between sections 35 and 36, 25 and 26, 23 and 24, 14 and 15, 11 and 12,
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
I and 2, township 62, range 35, and sections 35 and 36, 25 and 26, 23 and 24, 13 and 14, to the northeast corner of section 14, township 63, range 35, to the place of beginning."
Subsequently, Grant Township was formed out of territory which originally belonged to White Cloud and Washington Townships.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
White Cloud Township is touched on the northeast by the One Hundred and Two River. White Cloud Creek runs through the town- ship from north to south, being deflected a little in its course toward the east. The land of the township is rolling, especially along the streams. White Cloud Creek is fed by quite a number of small branches, particularly on the east side, which afford abundance of water for stock purposes. The soil is a deep black loam, averaging, on the uplands, about two feet in depth. There is very little bottom land along the White Cloud, the rolling timber land approaching near the stream. There is an abundance of lime and sandstone for all necessary purposes. The belts of timber along the streams increase in width as we go south- ward, and it is estimated that one fifth of the area of the township is timbered land. The soil is well adapted to the growth of corn, wheat, oats, and other cereals, and for the various varieties of fruit Cultivated grasses have been introduced, and the raising of stock is one of the leading industries of the people.
EARLY SETTLERS.
The first settler in White Cloud Township was Hiram Hall, who came in 1840, and settled one and one-fourth miles southeast of the pres- ent site of Arkoe. He entered a claim, and cultivated his farm for sev- eral years, but sold out about the year 1860, and moved to Kansas. Thomas Groves came from Tennessee about the year 1842, and settled on section 6, township 63, range 35. He has lived there ever since his first settlement near the White Cloud, and has an excellent farm. He has recently met with a serious misfortune in the loss of his home by fire, but such a loss will be small in comparison to the privations incident to pioneer life. Hiram Groves, a brother of Thomas Groves, emigrated from Tennessee in 1842, and pre-empted the southwest quarter of section 18, township 63, range 35. He lived on his place about five years when he sold out to Alfred Jones who came from Rush County, Indiana, arriv- ing April 13th, 1847. Mr. Jones has lived on the same place ever since. He says, since he came he has has had only one failure of crops, which was in the year 1860. Some of Mr. Jones' experiences are worthy of record, as showing the condition of things more than thirty years ago. He says
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
the elk and buffalo had disappeared before he came. One buffalo was chased across the ice on the Missouri River near where the White Cloud ferry was located. The winter was very cold and the river froze over, the ice being thick enough to bear the weight of heavy teams. Hunters pursued a buffalo into Nodaway County and it was killed about four miles west of Mr. Jones' farm.
Elk and deer horns were so thick in those early days that they looked like dry limbs scattered over the prairie. No mowing machine could have mowed the prairie grass at that time on account of these horns. Mr. Jones says the turkeys were so thick in those days that he has often killed with his shotgun three at a time. Once he saw some turkeys walking along a furrow or ridge of ground, one nearly behind another, and at one shot killed seven, and wounded two or three more, crippling them so much that they were not able to fly. but ran off and thus escaped. He says he has sometimes killed five deer in one day. He hunted deer at times in the night. His child would carry the lantern, and he going carefully beside the child would see the eyes of the deer glisten and shoot them. Once he saw fifty deer in a herd, and at another time thirty-two. Tame turkeys would fight the wild ones, and sometimes go off with them. He has lost four flocks in this way. When a deer was shot, the hunters would hang it up on a small tree, to keep it from the wolves, which were very trouble- some. When a deer was killed and brought in, the wolves would follow in and howl fearfully around the house most of the night. Fur ani- mals were very thick on the One Hundred and Two River. He says that Dr. Talbott caught enough otters to make himself a fine overcoat.
In pioneer times bees flourished on account of the wild flowers with which the prairie abounded. Mr. Jones says he has taken sixty and eighty pounds, a washtubful, of honey, out of a single bee gum. Bee hunters would fall a bee tree at night, close the orifice from which the bees escaped, saw off the log on both sides of the bees, and taking it home, set up the part of the tree in which the bees were located, calling it a bee gum. Hollow trees were often cut off in sections, four or five feet in length, cleaned out with an ax or chisel, and boards nailed on the ends. Mr. Jones says he has had thirty-three such bee gums at one time. He prefers them to patent hives, and says the bee moths are less destruct- ive with the old-fashioned bee gums.
The pioneer had one advantage over the farmer of the present time which Mr. Jones thought worthy of especial mention. The range in those days was unlimited, and the grasses were very luxuriant. Under- neath the tall rank grass, even during much of the winter, the grass would still be green and fresh, and cattle would thrive upon it a long time in the season after the farmer of the present day begins to feed them. Cattle would become exceedingly fat on the open range, to such
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
a degree that the meat was almost too fat for the table. Deer would become so fat that when dressed and hung up they would look as white as a dressed sheep. Cattle were marked and turned out on the range, and the pioneer gave them no further thought until the "round up," when each pioneer would claim his own stock. Corn, however, left out in the shock would be half eaten up by deer and turkeys.
Isaac Newton Prather, of whom we have spoken elsewhere in this work, came from Kentucky in 1841, and located two miles west of the present site of Arkoe. He owned 1,800 acres of land. His son, James B. Prather, is a druggist in Maryville. Isaac Cox came in 1843 from Kentucky, and located four miles, a little northwest, of the present site of Arkoe. About this time Mr. Hanna emigrated from Kentucky, and settled seven miles southwest of the present site of Arkoe. R. J. Boat- wright left Kentucky in 1845, and came to Nodaway County and located on the northeast quarter of section 18, township 63, range 35. John and George McLain, brothers-in-law of Hiram Groves, came from Kentucky about this time, and settled four miles northwest of the present location of Arkoe. James Bryant, a half-breed, took a claim three miles west of where Arkoe is now located. Mrs. Martha Vandervert emigrated from Kentucky in the year 1843, and located one mile and a half west of the present site of Arkoe. In the year 1846, James Saunders came from Virginia and settled on the northwest quarter of section 18, township 63, range 35. Aaron and Isaac Groves came from Tennessee and located five miles west of the present town of Arkoe. About the same time, Wm. A. Ammons emigrated from Virginia and settled on the White Cloud some four miles west of the present site of Arkoe. Mija- min Byers came from Illinois soon after, and located two miles and a half southwest of the farm of Alfred Jones. Soon afterward, Simon Holland emigrated from Tennessee and located six miles west of the present town of Arkoe, and one mile south. William Edster, about that time, came from Kentucky, and settled four miles west of where Arkoe is now located. Soon afterward, Nicholas Kavanaugh emigrated from Kentucky, and commenced farming seven miles northwest of the pres- ent site of Arkoe.
On May 6, 1850, the pioneers state that there was a snowfall four inches deep. It cleared off warm the next day, the snow went off, and there was no more cold weather that spring. They state that August 26, 1863, there was a terrible cold spell of weather. The roasting ears of corn froze so hard, they say, the hogs could not eat them. The corn in the river valleys was ruined. On June 3, 1875, it snowed, but very little of the snow reached the surface of the earth. On September 16, 1881, it snowed hard. The polar current seemed to break through suddenly, pushing the equatorial current above it, and the reduced temperature precipitated the moisture with which the air was heavily laden, in the
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
form of snow. Although the snow melted very fast, it fell to the depth of about four inches, and had it not melted, the depth would probably have reached eight inches. Further south the moisture was precipitated in rain, and at St. Joseph, Kansas City and lower points, there were reports of heavy rain. The trees were all in their glorious foliage, and the scene presented at Maryville and other places in Noda- way County, of the trees all bending under their heavy loads of snow, the branches trailing like weeping willows, in many places to the very ground, was never to be forgotten. The snow went off immediately, and the next day but one, was as lovely as ever shone down on Eden's bowers. Nature seemed to forget her strange freak, and as compensa- tion, a lovlier day never smiled on the earth. The two days photo- graphed on the opposite pages of a book, would form a contrast sel- dom seen in any clime. One of the pioneers dryly remarked, " That was the greatest snow I ever saw."
OLD SETTLERS.
Hiram Hall came in 1840. Stephen Barnes, in 1841.
John Wesley, in 1841. Benjamin Windom, in 1841. John McClain, in 1841.
George McClain, Jr., in 1841.
Harvey White, in 1840.
Thomas Groves, in 1841. Hubbell, in 1841. William H. Davis, in 1841.
Hiram Groves, in 1841. Elijah Bunten, in 1840.
Wade H. Davis, in 1841. Smithan Davis, in 1841.
James W. Davis, in 1841.
Mijamin Byers, in 1842.
Isaac Newton Prather, in 1842.
James B. Prather, in 1842.
Joseph E. Alexander, in 1842. John Wiggs, in 182. [Long] John McClain, in 1842. Edward S. Stephenson, in 1843. Dr. David M. Irwin, in 1843. Daniel Swearingen, in 1843. Nicholas Swearingen. John B. Morgan, in 1841.
John McDonald Morgan, in 1841. Adonijah Morgan, in 1841. William W. Morgan, in 1841.
Nathaniel Barnes came in 1841. Thomas Barnes, in 1841. Jesse Windom, in 1841. George McClain, in 1841. James McClain, in 1841.
Greenville Thompson, in 1841.
Hiram Davis, in 1841.
James Bryant, in 1839.
Paul Connor, in 1842.
I. N. Prather, Jr., in 1842. John Randall, in 1842.
[Little] John McClain, in 142.
Jesse Stephenson, in 1843.
Isaac Cox, in 1843. Henry Swearingen, in 1843.
Henry Swearingen, Jr.
Andrew Jackson Swearingen. Dr. J. W. Morgan, in 1841. Amaziah Morgan, in 1841. Lewis Morgan, in 1841.
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
BRIDGEWATER.
The land on which Bridgewater was located was originally owned by O. A. Howard, who cultivated it as a farm. At a very early day Mr. J. B. Cox built a mill on the One Hundred and Two River where Bridge- water was afterwards situated. In 1870, Page, Warren & Phelps, con- tractors of the Branch Railroad, bought the Howard tract of land and laid off the town of Bridgewater. The One Hundred and Two River near Bridgewater makes an elbow toward the west. At this bend in the river there are two railroad bridges within about one thousand feet of each other with a county bridge located between them, bridging the water of the One Hundred and Two three times. The bridges being placed in close proximity to each other, naturally suggested the name of the town. William Elrod & Son built the first house in the town, and opened a general stock of merchandise. John W. Walker was the first postmaster in Bridgewater. Nelson Wilson, in 1871, moved a building which was a little west of the site, into the town, and opened a stock of mixed merchandise. Mr. Miller built a saloon in 1871, but failing to receive a majority of the votes of White Cloud Township, he did not obtain a license, and so the saloon was not opened.
Meanwhile, Dr. P. H. Talbott had granted the right of way through his land on certain conditions, which resulted in the location of another town called
ARKOE,
about one mile north of the old town of Bridgewater, which was conse- quently abandoned. Dr. P. H. Talbott and S. K. Snively laid off the town of Arkoe, September 15, 1874. Judge John Brady surveyed and platted the town. Dr. Talbott found the name in reading the work entitled " Twenty Thousand Miles Under the Sea," and selected it as the name of the new town. There was no public sale of lots. Lot I, 'block 3, was presented by S. K. Snively to W. G. Turner. Dr. P. H. Talbott then sold two lots, lots 4 and 5, block 8, to Nelson Wilson for fifty dollars. Nelson Wilson moved a building from the former site of Bridgewater to Arkoe, and opened a store of general merchandise. This was the first building in the new town. Mr. W. G. Turner erected the second building in 1875, and put in a stock of mixed merchandise. C. A. Dewey built a dwelling in 1876, the third building in Arkoe. Dr. W. M. Sammis put up a building in 1877, and still uses it as an office. Mr. S. K. Snively presented a lot to James Buckridge, who built a black- smith shop in 1878. Mr. Buckridge was the first blacksmith in Arkoe. Nelson .Wilson was the first postmaster. The first death in Arkoe occurred July 18, 1880, a son of William Early. The first child was born January 28, 1881, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Bragg.
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
Mr. S. K. Snively erected a wind engine in the village, near his store, which forces the water from a living spring, or stream, that flows a few feet below the surface in the rocks, into tanks for the use of the public. The water is of excellent quality, and very abundant. There is also a tank engine for raising river water for railroad purposes.
Arkoe is located one-fourth of a mile west of the One Hundred and Two River, and has a population of about fifty. The valley is fer- tile, and the situation is healthful and pleasant. The town will evidently increase in size and importance, and become the center of a consid- erable trade.
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
Bond, H. C., depot agent.
Sammis, W. M., physician. McFarland, William, blacksmith. Snively, S. K., general merchandise. Snively, S. K., postmaster.
Turner, W. G., general merchandise ..
CHAPTER XXIV.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
THE OLD LOG COURT HOUSE-SECOND AND PRESENT COURT HOUSES-JAILS-COUNTY POOR FARM.
Notwithstanding the fact that a large number, probably a majority of the people in every county, have very little practical experience in the courts, and although they have the legal capacity to sue and be sued, never improve their opportunities, and never appear in court, unless it be on compulsion as witnesses and jurors ; yet, as the one great con- servator of peace, and as the final arbiter, in case of individual or neigh- borhood disputes, the court is distinguished above and apart from all and every other institution of the land, and not only the proceedings of the court, but the place of holding court, is a matter of interest to the average reader.
Not only so, but in many counties the court house was the first, and usually the only public building in the county.
The first court houses were not very elaborate buildings, to be sure, but they are enshrined in memories that the present never can know.
Their uses were general, rather than special, and so constantly were they in use, day and night when the court was in session, and when it was not in session, for judicial, educational, religious and social purposes, that the doors of the old court houses, like the gates of gospel grace, stood open, night and day, and the small amount invested in those old hewn logs, and rough benches, returned a much better rate of interest on the investment, than do those stately piles of brick or granite which have taken their places.
The memorable court house of early times was a house adapted to a variety of purposes, and had a career of great usefulness.
School was taught, the gospel preached, and justice dispensed, within its substantial walls. Then it served, frequently, as a resting place for weary travelers, and, indeed, its doors always swung on easy hinges.
If the old settlers are to be believed, all the old court houses, when first erected in this western country, often rang on the pioneer Sabbath with a more stirring eloquence than that which enlivens the pulpits of the present time. Many of the earliest ministers officiated in their walls, aud if they could but speak, they would doubtless tell many a strange tale of pioneer religion that is now lost forever.
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
To those old court houses ministers came of different faiths, but all eager to expound the simple truths of a sublime and beautiful religion, and point out for comparison the thorny path of duty and the primrose way of dalliance. Often have those old walls given back the echoes of those who sang the songs of Zion, and many an erring wanderer has had his heart moved to repentance thereby more strongly than ever by the strains of homely eloquence.
With Monday morning the old building changed in character, and men went thither seeking not the mercy of God, but the justice of man. The scales were held with an even hand. Those who presided knew every man in the county, and they dealt out substantial justice, and the broad principles of natural equity prevailed.
Children went there to school and sat at the feet of teachers who knew little more than themselves; but, however humble the teacher's acquirements, he was hailed as a wise man and a benefactor, and his les- sons were heeded with attention. The old people of the settlement went there to discuss their own affairs, and learn from visiting attorneys the news from the great world, so far away to the southward and eastward.
In addition to the orderly assemblies which formally gathered there, other meetings no less notable occurred. It was a sort of a forum, whither all classes of people went for the purpose of loafing and gossiping, and telling and hearing some new thing.
As a general thing, the first court house, after having served the purpose of its erection, and having served that purpose well, is torn down and conveyed to the rear of some remote corner lot, and thereafter is made to serve the purpose of an obscure cow stable on some dark alley. The old court house at Maryville, however, after having accomplished its mission, was used for a much higher and nobler purpose, being con- verted into a school house, and thereafter devoted to the education and instruction of the youth.
There is little of the poetic and romantic in the make-up of Western society, and the old court house, after the building of the new one, ceased to be regarded with reverence and awe.
In a new country, where every energy of the people is necessarily employed in the practical work of earning a living, and the always urgent . and ever present question of bread and butter is up for solution, people cannot be expected to devote much time to the poetic and ideal. It therefore follows that nothing was retained as a useless relic which could be turned to some utility ; but it is a shame that the people of modern times have such little reverence for the relics of former days. After these houses ceased to be available for business purposes they should have been preserved, to have at least witnessed the semi-centennial of the county's history. It is sad that, in their hurry to grow rich, so few have care even for the work of their own hands. How many of the early
.
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
settlers have preserved their first habitations? The sight of that humble cabin would be a source of much consolation in old age, as it reminded the owner of the trials and triumphs of other times, and its presence would go far toward reconciling the coming generation with their lot when comparing its lowly appearance with the modern residence, whose extensive apartments are beginning to be too unpretentious for the enterprising and irrepressible "Young Americans."
OLD LOG COURT HOUSE.
In the records of the County Court of Nodaway County for the Feb- ruary term, 1846, are found the following orders for the erection of a court house in Maryville :
"Ordered that an appropriation of two hundred and fifty dollars be made for the purpose of building a court house in Maryville, the seat of justice of Nodaway County, Missouri.
"Ordered that the building of a court house be let out to the lowest bidder on the first Monday in March, 1846, of the following dimensions, to wit :
Thirty-two feet long and twenty feet wide, with a partition wall, so as to make one room twenty feet long and the other twelve feet long, and each twenty feet wide-all to be of good logs and durable timber. Rooms each to be nine feet between floors, and all covered with good shingles ; lower floor to be of good oak plank, well seasoned and pointed ; to be sealed or plastered overhead nine feet from the lower floor ; one door and window in the small room, and one door and three windows in the large room ; windows to be of twelve lights, glass 10x8, and good sash. Doors to be good, strong plain doors. There shall be six good stone pillars under the sills, one foot above the surface of the ground. The whole building to be well chinked, and pointed with good lime mortar. A good stack chimney in the middle of the partition, so as to make a fireplace in each room ; to be of good bricks, all to be finished in workmanlike style by the first day of September, 1846."
The ground where this old court house stood is now occupied by Ditmer's agricultural establishment. The old court house was not com- pleted until the next spring, and was not plastered when the spring term of court was held. It served the purposes of the county for nine ·or ten years, when it gave place to the brick court house recently taken down.
BRICK COURT HOUSE.
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