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 33
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The following order appears on the record of the county court of Nodaway County, for the July term, 1853 :
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"Ordered that James Ray be, and he is hereby appointed superin- tendent of the building of the court house in Maryville, the seat of justice of Nodaway County, Missouri, and that thirty-five hundred dollars be appointed for building the same."
It was subsequently ordered that :
" The plan of a court house submitted by James Ray, to be built in Maryville, the seat of justice of Nodaway County, Missouri, is received as to size and materials, but a full set of specifications accompanying the plan shall be submitted for inspection of bidders and contractors on the day of letting out the same. And that the same be let out to the lowest and best bidder."
The following is also a matter of record :
"James Ray presents an account against the county for contingent expenses as superintendent, for $3.05, which is allowed, and a warrant issued therefor."
The old brick court house served the purposes of the county until the summer of 1881, and was used on all occasions up to that time, except during the trial of the Talbott boys, when it was deemed unsafe, and the circuit court adjourned to Union Hall. Immediately after that trial the question was agitated, and a proposition submitted to the people to erect a new court house adequate to the wants of the county. Said proposition was carried, and seventy-two thousand dollars worth of bonds sold at a premium of three per cent. Steps had already been inaugurated to take down the old court house, and during its process of removal the briefest session of the circuit court ever held in Nodaway County occurred. We give a humorous pen and ink sketch of this session, which only occupied thirty-six minutes :
" The briefest term of circuit court, perhaps, ever held in Nodaway County, was in session on the evening of the 11th inst. The 8 o'clock train on the Kansas City Road brought the Hon. H. S. Kelley, David Stotts, and Estella May Howard up from Savannah, Missouri. Miss Howard was charged with having, on the 14th day of July last, stolen about ninety dollars' worth of wearing apparel and jewelry from Mrs. C. Q. Smith, of this city. It being more than sixty days before the next regular term of circuit court, the prisoner desired a special term for the disposal of her case. When Judge Kelley reached our city, he learned that our county court had failed to provide a room for holding circuit court while the old court house is being removed and the new one erected. He decided to hold the special term on the upper floor of the old court house, which, at the time, had been unroofed by the workmen. The scene was picturesque, reminding one of "The Alhambra by Moonlight," or "The Coliseum at Rome." The twelve grand jurors. squatted in one corner of the old ruins, resembled more a council of warriors than a legal body. The forms of law were dispatched by this
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tribunal in a few minutes, and " A True Bill" was brought to the other c rner of the open square, where it was filed in due and ancient style with the circuit clerk, who was at the time sitting on the sill of what had once been a window of the old court house. The grand jury was dis- charged, and the members scattered to convenient nooks and corners of the old edifice and leaned against the walls to await the coming events. What a novel scene! The openings in the walls at irregular intervals allowed the rays of the moon to play upon the lime-littered floor. The plaintive strains of a dozen crickets from the old walls and adjacent trees breathed forth a requiem for the departing temple of justice. Ever and anon a star would shoot across the arched canopy above, while the dry summer wind rustled along the unprotected walls of the building, and small twirls of dirt and dust sought to creep into the very eyes of those who were engaged in upholding the majesty of the law. The light upon the improvised stand in front of the court went out, but the light of the moon, assisted by the irregular flashes of a Democratic campaign torch, rendered ocular efforts tolerably certain. Estella, tremblingly, ascended the rickety, decaying stairway, accompanied by bailiffs, who lingeringly followed behind. When the prisoner reached the open area in front of the court, like a startled hare, she cast quick glances at the half concealed forms in the several corners, then, quiver- ing with emotion too wild for expression, she sank into a chair at hand and buried her face in her handkerchief. What a stillness prevailed throughout that open forum ! The tremulous breathings of the prisoner were muffled by the moon-beams, while each pulsation caused the beads, which dangled from the margin of her gypsy hat, to tingle like distant bells and to glisten in the light like so many miniature chande- liers. All remained quiescent. Fortuitously, a huge bat might have been seen to flit from its hiding place and perch upon an open volume of the statutes which lay in front of the court. This intrusion broke the spell. The court, in low and measured tones, informed the prisoner of the charged preferred against her, and asked, "Are you guilty, or not guilty ?" The prisoner, shyly lifting her drooping head, half whispered, "I am guilty." The court pronounced her sentence to be two years in the State Penitentiary, remarking, "If you are a good girl, one-fourth of the time will be remitted you." She answered : I always was a good girl. My mother always said I was the best girl she ever had."
The prisoner was reconducted to jail. The term of court stood adjourned. Time, thirty-six minutes.
THE NEW COURT HOUSE.
As the people of Nodaway County have a deep interest in the new court house, we have in this volume presented an elevated view of the building, and here give a description of the same.
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The building will be III feet and six inches in length and seventy- six feet in width. The height from the grade line to the cornice will be forty-six feet, and from the grade to the highest part of the tower, 140 feet. There will be a basement excavated for the fuel room and heat- ing apparatus, in the south end, thirty feet in length and nine feet in depth. The floor in the basement will be cement.
The first story is fifteen feet eight inches in the clear. This contains a recorder's office sixteen by twenty-nine feet ; a county clerk's office of the same dimensions, and each of these offices has a fire-proof vault ten by twenty feet. There is also a probate judge's office and a county judge's office, each twenty-nine by sixteen feet. The probate judge's office has a fire-proof vault nine by ten feet, and the county judge has a private office ten by twelve feet. The county recorder and the county treasurer each have an office sixteen by eighteen feet, and each has a fire-proof vault six by nine feet.
At the opposite part of the building, and corresponding, is a second grand jury's room sixteen by eighteen feet, and another room of the same size not assigned to any specific use. There is a large room for a. wash room and janitor's room twenty-eight by eleven feet.
On the second floor there are rooms for the clerk of the circuit court and county attorney, and two jury rooms, each of which are sixteen by eighteen feet. Attached to the county attorney's office there is a con- sultation room, eight by eleven feet. The office of the clerk of the circuit court has a fire proof vault, six by nine feet. The court room, situated on this floor, is forty-five feet six inches in width and seventy feet in length. The height of this story is twenty-four feet. But the rooms in this story excepting the court room, are sixteen feet in height.
On entering the house from the east and west, one comes into a cor- ridor ten feet in width, and extending the whole length of the building. There is a cross corridor at the west end, where the general stairways are located, eleven feet wide by fifty feet long. This corridor is floored with marble tiling. The two main stairways to the second floor are constructed of iron. They are five feet wide, and have a landing at about two-thirds their height. At the east end of the building there is another stairway for the judge, similar to the other stairway, only it is con- structed of wood. On the second floor, on each side of the court roon, are corridors eleven feet wide, extending the whole length of the build- ing. Large double doors enter from these corridors into the court room. The court room is arranged in the usual manner, with the judge's desk, clerk's desk and jury box. In addition to the rooms already given, are witness' rooms, sheriff's room, and judge's retiring room, each twelve feet square, and also a wash room, eleven feet square.
On the second floor, on the inside of the tower, is a winding stair. One can ascend in this one hundred feet from the ground, which will
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afford a grand view of Maryville, and the surrounding country, for miles in every direction.
The exterior of the building is to be faced with St. Joseph pressed brick, with trimmings of sandstone from Parkville, Missouri. The style of architecture of the building may be termed the modern Penaissance. All the windows have a transom with stained glass, as well as the out- side doors. This is an innovation in the construction of court houses, but is very appropriate. The porticos of the principal entrances are of solid stone, with heavy columns, and finely carved capitals. The foun- dation walls will be four feet six inches in thickness, and the whole building will be of the most substantial character. The court house will be heated in every part by steam, the cheapest and most effectual method now known of heating buildings. The building will be well lighted and ventilated. It is to be plumbed for water from top to bottom, and a cistern is to be built in the basement with a force pump placed in it of sufficient power to force water into a tank in the attic. All the vaults will be fire and burglar proof, as much so as the vaults of banks. These will be shelved and fully furnished for the holding of all books and rec- ords of the different offices, and the books and records will be kept in these vaults, thus securing absolute protection from fire. The cornice of the house and the tower trimmings are to be of galvanized iron. The steep parts of the roof will be of slate and the deck of tin. All the ridges will be furnished with a cresting of cast iron. The cost of the building will be about $55,000, and, when completed, Nodaway County will have one of the best court houses, in all respects, to be found in the State of Missouri.
MARYVILLE JAIL.
At the December term of 1856, the following order appears in the records of the Nodaway County Court :
"Ordered that the sheriff advertise according to law, and let to the lowest bidder on the first Monday in February next, the building of a jail in Maryville, on the plan heretofore used, except that the inside shall be lined with boiler iron, well spiked on."
At the October term of 1857, the following order appears of record :
"Ordered that the sum of three thousand dollars be and the same is hereby appropriated to build a jail in Maryville, Nodaway County, Mis- souri, and that Wm. O. Howard be and he is hereby appointed superin- tendent to have the same done."
At the February term of 1858, occurs the following order :
"Ordered that James Ray be and he is hereby appointed superin- tendent of a jail to be built in Maryville, Nodaway County, Missouri, and that he advertise according to law and let the same to the lowest bidder at the May term 1858 of this court."
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At the May term of 1858, it was "Ordered that the jail be erected on the public square, thirty feet north of the clerk's office, and the west side or end thereof to be on a line with the east side of said clerk's office to front south, and windows to be on the south side."
November 10, 1868, it was "Ordered, That the county jail of Noda- way County be granted to the trustees of the inhabitants of the incor- porated town of Maryville, for such uses and purposes as they may think necessary under the incorporation law."
This old jail served the purposes of the county very well, but was condemned by the grand jury about two years ago. It has, however, been used for all classes of criminals, but when persons charged with grave crimes were confined therein, previous to conviction, the sheriff would set a guard to watch them. This old jail will soon be replaced by the new jail, of which we give the following description :
THE NEW JAIL.
The new jail, in its outward appearance, will be rather of a plain brick building. It will be constructed of St. Joseph pressed brick, with Rockville sandstone trimmings. It is to be eighty feet long and forty- two feet wide, two stories high in the front part, where the jailer's resi- dence is situated, and one story in the rear, or the jail proper. The jailer's residence contains a sitting room, a dining room, a kitchen and pantry. There is a good roomy front and side hall on the first floor.
On the second floor are three large sleeping rooms and a bath room with suitable closets. The entrance to the jail is through a guard room twelve by sixteen feet. At the end of this guard room are two cells constructed of stone and iron, designed for the confinement of juveniles and females. Each cell has two bunks, and is provided with a water closet. The door from the guard room to the department for males is of iron and is double. The inner door of the jail is bow-shaped, so that a person standing in it can see all parts of the jail without going inside. The floor of the jail in the corridor outside of the cells is of stone, eight inches in thickness. The corridor is divided with grated partitions into a dining room and bath room, and an exercise corridor for prisoners. The plan of the jail is a novelty, and is believed to be the most secure jail ever constructed. There is an outer grating extending from the floor to the ceiling constructed of chrome steel, which is hardened to such a degree as to be saw and file proof. This grating has no opening except the door opposite the main entrance door. Inside this grating are the eight cells, which are set on a revolving turn-table which is oper- ated from the outside entrance door.
When a prisoner is placed in a cell, there is no possible way of get- ting him out but by revolving the jail until the cell door is opposite the
COURT HOUSE, NODAWAY COUNTY, MO.
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jail door. And this apparatus can only be operated from the guard room, where the jailor can stand and bring his prisoners out one by one, without coming in contact with them. W. H. Brown, Esq., of Indianap- olis, is the patentee of this jail, which is considered the safest one ever devised. All the arrangements of the building for heating, lighting, ventilating and bathing are complete.
In the half story over the jail there is a hospital with two cages for prisoners, with sleeping rooms for the guards, and closets for clothing and for other uses. The cost of the jail will be $19,400. The building will be completed during the year 1882. Messrs. Eckel & Mann, of St. Joseph, are the architects. When the building is completed, Nodaway County will have one of the safest and most substantial jails in the State.
COUNTY POOR FARM.
The County Court, at its February term, 1871, took the initiatory step towards the purchase of a poor farm by making the following order :
"Ordered that Joseph E. Alexander, Thomas L. Robinson and Solomon Shell, be and they are hereby appointed by this court, com- missioners in behalf of Nodaway County, to make a selection of a poor farm for the use of Nodaway County, in behalf of the dependent poor of said county, and that they report their proceedings, together with their recommendations concerning the same to the County Court, at its adjourned term to be held on the third Monday of March, 1871, and that said commissioners take under their consideration the law regulat- ing the County Court in such matters as laid down in Wagner's Statutes, page 403, chapter 40, relative to the poor, and that the clerk of this court notify said commissioners of their appointment."
At the February adjourned term, March 21, 1871, the commissioners made their report, which is as follows :
"To the Honorable County Court of Nodaway County:
Your commissioners appointed at the last term of the court to select and report in regard to the Poor Farm, beg leave to make report as follows: Having examined a number of farms, we have found it very difficult to get a place with sufficient timber and adjoining the tillable land, and we have concluded to recommend the purchase of the southwest quarter of section sixteen, township sixty-four, range thirty-six, less one-half acre, that has been sold, and does not belong to the tract. The owner, Mr. Andrew W. Hinchman, proposes, if he sells, to give possession only of the dwelling house on the premises, he having made arrangements to raise a crop on the place and wishes to retain possession of same until the crop is gathered. The east half
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of the quarter is fenced with a very good worm fence, and three sides with a cattle fence, between the improvement and adjoining farm on the east. There are about sixty acres of very good firewood timber on the west half with a stream of water running through it, which, we are informed, affords water nearly the entire year. There is a very good one and one-half story frame house, with a good well, and a good bear- ing orchard of apple and pear trees of about sixty trees. The place would not have to be paid for before the first day of January, 1872. The price is $30 per acre, amounting to $4,785. In view of the locality being not more than five miles due west, (and on a county road with good bridges and streams) from Maryville, we would recommend the purchase."
In accordance with the recommendation of the commissioners, the county court made the purchase of the premises above described, through Solomon Shell, who was appointed special commissioner to make the necessary arrangements, the order in reference thereto limiting the land to be purchased to 160 acres, the same to be paid for in county warrants.
In May following, 1872, Solomon Shell filed with the county court a title bond for a deed for the southwest quarter of section 16, township 64, range 36, signed by Andrew Hinchman, the consideration being for the sum of $5,137, payable on the Ist day of January, 1872.
There have been three superintendents of the poor farm. George Basom was the first, and was succeeded by Judge S. T. Kennedy, who was succeeded by Henry Cady, who now has charge. William Young cultivated the farm the first three years, paying a rental of $300 per year therefor, and the county paid him a stipulated sum per week for feeding and taking care of the paupers. Henry Cady succeeded Young, the county paying him $500 annually for operating the farm and taking care of the paupers, the county getting the proceeds of the farm. The pau- pers during the first three years, averaged about five in number ; they now average about ten each year. The house on the farm contains some twelve or fourteen rooms. There is a good well on the place,, eighty-six feet deep-the deepest in the county.
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CHAPTER XXV.
CALIFORNIA GOLD EXCITEMENT.
FLATTERING ACCOUNTS-NAMES OF MEN WHO WENT FROM NODAWAY COUNTY-CALI- FORNIA ENTERPRISE COMPANY-ADDRESS OF COLONEL BLACK-LETTERS-CALI. FORNIA EMIGRANT SONG-CHOLERA-NUMBER OF EMIGRANTS.
" The plague of gold strikes far and near- And deep and strong it enters ; Our thoughts grew blank, our words grow strange, We cheer the pale gold diggers ; Each soul is worth so much on change, And marked like sheep, with figures.
No doubt the desire for gold has been the mainspring of all progress and enterprise in the county from the beginning till the present time, and will so continue till remote ages. Generally, however, this desire has been manifested in the usual avenues of thrift, industry and enter- prise. On one occasion it passed the bounds of reason and assumed the character of a mania.
The gold mania first broke out in the fall of 1848, when stories began to be first spread abroad of the wonderful richness of the placer mines of California. The excitement grew daily, feeding on the marvelous reports that came from the Pacific Slope, and nothing was talked of but the achievements of gold diggers. The papers were replete with the most extravagant stories, and yet the excitement was so great that the gravest and most incredulous men were smitten with the contagion, and hurriedly left their homes and all that was dear to them on earth, to try the dangers, difficulties, and uncertainties of hunting gold.
In the St. Joseph Gazette of October 27, 1848, published at that period, we find the following :
"An immense bed of gold, one hundred miles in extent, has been discovered in California, on American Fork and Feather Rivers, tribu- taries of the Sacramento and Monterey. Mr. Colton, the Alcalde of Monterey, states that the gold is found in the sands in grains resembling squirrel shot flattened out. Some grains weigh one ounce each. It is got by washing out the sand in any vessel, from a tea saucer to a warm- ing-pan. A single person can gather an ounce or two a day ; some even a hundred dollars worth. Two thousand whites and as many
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Indians are on the grounds. All the American settlements are deserted, and farming nearly suspended. The women only remain in the settle- ments. Sailors and captains desert the ships, to go to the gold region, and laborers refuse ten dollars a day to work on the farms. Mr. Colton says : 'One man, who resides next door to me, gathered five hundred dollars worth in six days. He has one lump which weighs over one ounce. A trough, such as you feed pigs in, will bring in the gold region fifty dollars. Put a piece of sheet iron, punched with holes on it, and it will bring a hundred. My friend, J. R., paid sixteen dollars for a little basket, and his companion gave twenty dollars for a teapot, all to wash out gold in.' More than twenty-eight thousand dollars worth had been collected. Governor Mason and his aid had gone to the district, which is five days journey from Monterey.
"The sailors had gone for gold from the ships, and the soldiers from their camps, for the same purpose. The last vessel that left the coast was obliged to ship an entire new crew, and pay each fifty dollars per month. No one can be hired to dig gold short of sixteen to twenty dollars per day. Every man prefers to work on his own hook ; he may make less than the wages offered, but he has a chance of making much more. There flour is worth thirty-two dollars per barrel ; fifteen pounds of Boston crackers in tin boxes, ten dollars a box ; a cotton shirt, ten dollars ; boards, five hundred dollars per one hundred feet. A carpenter can get one hundred dollars a day. Mr. L. paid for a common cradle trough, twelve feet by three wide, to wash gold earth in, one hundred and fifty dollars ; less than a day's work to make it."
Day after day, and month after month, were the papers filled with just such glowing accounts of California.
Instead of dying out, the fever mounted higher and higher. It was too late to cross the plains, but thousands of people throughout the state began their preparations for starting the following spring, and among ' the number were many in Nodaway County. The one great subject of discussion about the firesides and in the log cabins that winter, was the gold of California. It is said that at one time the majority of the able- bodied men of the county were unsettled in mind and were considering the project of starting to California. Even the most thoughtful and sober-minded found it difficult to resist the infection.
Wonderful sights were seen when this great emigration passed through-sights that may never be again seen in the county, perhaps. Some of the wagons were drawn by cows ; other gold hunters went on foot and hauled their worldly goods in hand-carts. The gold hunters generally had left the moralities of life behind them, and were infested with a spirit of disorder 'and demoralization. The settlers breathed easier when they had passed.
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Early in the spring of 1849 the rush began. It must have been a scene to beggar all description. There was one continuous line of wagons from east to west as far as the eye could reach, moving steadily westward, and, like a cyclone, drawing into its course on the right and left many of those along its pathway. The gold-hunters from Nodaway County crowded eagerly into the gaps in the wagon-trains, bidding fare- well to their nearest and dearest friends, and many of them never to be seen again on earth. Sadder farewells were never spoken. Many of the gold-hunters left their quiet, peaceful homes, only to find in the " Far West" utter disappointment and death. Very, very few of them ever gained anything, and the great majority lost everything, including even their lives," their fortunes, and their sacred honor." The persons who really gained by the gold excitement were those who remained at home and sold their produce to the gold crazy emigrants. The rush continued until about the first of June, 1850, when the great surging tide began to abate, although belated gold seekers continued to pass through the country for some time. But the excitement began to die away, and those citizens who had judgment enough to resist the contagion, now settled down in quiet, to pursue the even tenor of their way.
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