USA > Missouri > Bates County > The old settlers' history of Bates County, Missouri : from its first settlement to the first day of January, 1900 > Part 13
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On October 11th, 1885, the subject of this sketch was united in mar- riage with Miss Mollie M. Purkey; to this union have been born three children, viz: George B., Lucy V. and John Emery, Jr., all of whom are living. Mr. Dowell is a member of the Cresent Hill Lodge No. 368. A. F. & A. M .; of Adrian Lodge No. 13, I. O. O. F. ; he is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
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OF BATES COUNTY.
fields occupy the grounds which once nourished the giants of the forests. Deer, wolves and wild turkeys in almost count- less numbers gave sport to the huntsman, and no one could handle a rifle more effectively than he. He was foremost in the chase as well as with the ax. He yet lives on the farm which his strong arm wrested from the wilderness. but how great is the change the years have wrought. His ax lies idle. and the riffe. his constant companion in those days, is now only cherished as a relic of the past.
JUDGE EDMUND BARTLETT.
Edmund Bartlett cast his lot with the people of Bates County in the spring of 1-45. He was born in Cumberland county. Kentucky. Mar 9. 1-17. and was the son of Edmund and Sally Bartlett. both Virginians by birth. They died when Edinund was quite small. On this account his oppor- tunities for obtaining an education were greatly limited. But by his great determination in late years he has obtained a good education. Mr. Bartlett was married to Miss Mariah Cook in Kentucky. August 11. 1-36. To this union were given seven children. four are still living. one son and three daughters.
The Judge said: "In 1-37 I procured a blind horse and an old buggy, which I loaded with my camping outfit and what provisions it would carry, and we started out to find our fortune. My wife drove while I tramped along-side with my gun on my shoulder. We first settled in Morgan county. Missouri, where I bought eighty acres of land, on time, on which I made some improvements. After living there for five years I disposed of it for $90, and in the last of March 1-43. I came to Bates County. At first I rented a farm on Deepwater Crock. but the spring following I moved to Walnut township and bought a claim. the land not vet be- ing in market. When I came to Walnut township there were only nine families besides my own. two families of Woodfins. two of MeHenrys, one each of Sells. Andres. Gilliands, Pier- ces and a bachelor named Cooper.
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"Our nearest neighbors on the west were the Potawatomies, a tribe of indians that lived in Kansas and with whom we were on friendly terms. We would frequently exchange our products, such as corn meal or a piece of meat for calico, do- mestie or such goods as they had to dispose of. They very seldom showed any signs of hostility.
"We got our mail at Little Osage until 1846, when a posto .- fice was established at Marvel, which was the first postoffice established in Walnut township: J. D. Dickey being the first postmaster. The mail route was laid out from Harrisonville to Papinsville by way of West Point and Marvel: Mark Wert was the mail contractor. We also had our grinding done at a little horse mill on the Little Osage, operated by a man named Ray. The customers frequently hitched their own horses or oxen on and ground out their own grists, and frequently had to wait quite a while for their turn.
"Religious services were held at private houses and what few school houses there were scattered over the county. The first school district in south-western part of the county was organized at my instigation, and consisted of congressional township 39. range 33. People would go fifteen or twenty miles to meetings, house-raisings and social gatherings."
Judge Bartlett has borne such hardships and privations as only a pioneer meets, but by hard work and great endurance has overcome all obstacles and won a good home for himself and family. and a character beyond reproach. He was a farmer by occupation, but has served the public in various capacities: as school teacher, justice of the peace, postmas- ter, township collector, was elected and re-elected coun- ty judge until he had served in that capacity for ten years, being succeeded by Judge Feley in 1850. He ably discharg- ed his official duties. with much credit to himself. He resid- ed in Walnut township from 1844 until the county was de- populated by "Order No. 11." when he went to Kausas, re- turning to his home in 1866, where he resided until a few years ago when he moved to Butler, where he owas a nice home.
Although Judge Bartlett is past eighty years of age his mind is as clear as most men's at forty. He was a member of the Grand Jury that found a bill against Dr. S. Notting- ham for killing his wife, the only man legally executed in
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the county. He remembers a great deal of the evidence pro- duced at the trial.
NOTE .- A short time after Judge Bartlett accorded our representative the foregoing interview he "Passed Over to the Silent Majority." The list of pioneers is yearly growing shorter .- Publishers.
IN NORTHERN BATES.
Among the old settlers of Deer Creek township are Sam- nel Jackson and wife, aged respectively sixty-five and sixty- four. Mrs. Jackson is a native Missourimm. having been born in Ciay conty. They came to Bates County in November 1×55. passed through Papinsville three days before the ex- ecution of Dr. Nottingham. and Mrs. Jackson wanted to re- main to witness the hanging but her husband would not stop. The old couple appear to have been all over the western part of the state. They made forty two moves in the first twenty years of their married life. Mrs. Jackson gives some vivid accounts of "The old times" as they appeared to one who went through them. She went to school three months and two weeks, so her education. as we look at it in these diys, was rather limited. In the ways and works of frontier life, however, she was thoroughly educated. She follows many of the practices of the early days and has a profound contempt for much of the"fuss and foolery" of modern times and expressed her sentiments as follows: "I am getting a piece of carpet ready for the loom now. and I will have me some homo-spun dresses to wear by the middle of May. and I will go to church and wear them, you bet! I was raised to work and I like it: I like to spin and hear the old wheel hum; I like to make pretty striped cloth and like to wear it too. Some people are too proud to do anything only play on the organ, or crochet, or something like that. In war times I could not get clothing. so I raised my own cotton, picked the seed out with my fingers, carded and spun it and made cloth-
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ing for myself and family. I wove many a yard of cloth aft- er night. For four years I cut and hauled all of my wood and went forty miles to mill. driving the oxen myself. I rode a government mule to Kansas City and carried my ba- by in my lap. I could walk all over the town then in half an hour. I have put out two washings in half a day and then could hardly make a living for myself and four little children. Mr. Jackson was gone in the war three years and fourteen days, and I did not once see him during that time. I had to leave my children when I went to buy corn or go to mill. At first I was very timid and feared to tell my busi- ness, but I soon found out how to do, and could get through with my business as quickly as any man. In 1861 we got out. of flour, we had some wheat in the shock, and had got tired of eating corn bread so I put the wagon sheet down on the ground and got sticks and beat the grain out, took it to a corn mill and got it ground, but we had to eat the bran, as the sieve would not take it out.
"Talk about the good old times! I tell you they were good times for work. My husband has made rails enough to fence in Bates County, and I have wore enough cloth to carpet a good portion of it. I used to know everybody: now I know but few.
"The first house we lived in was log with a sod chimney and puncheon floor. We had one chair, and a box for a table. we sat on the floor to eat. I had a pot with one leg out: I wrapped a rag round a corn cob and stopped the hole: I could cook in it twice before the cob would burn out. My cup- board was six augur holes bored in the logs and a clapboard laid on pins. I had a scaffold bedstead and was happy as a lark in spring-time.
"In 1862 father and Benton McPherson were killed. I went after them; got there at night. They lay on the snow which was eighteen inches deep. I know it would not do to let them lay until morning as they would freeze fast, so I took them up that night, watched over them until morning. put them in a wagon and took them to where both families were staying. I saw sights during war times that would well-nigh drive one crazy."
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O. D. AUSTIN.
O. D. Austin was born in Shelby, Richland County, Ohio, October 7, 1841. His father was of French extraction and was born in Massachusetts July 16, 1804. He was an eminent physician and began his professional career in Shelby, Ohio. His wife, whose maiden name was Flavia A. Conger, was a sister of Hon. O. D. Conger, United States Senator from Michigan. The subject of this sketch was the oldest of six children and was educated in the public schools of Plymouth, Ohio. At the age of 17 he entered the office of the Herald at Marshfield, Ohio. In 1862, through the influence of Hon. John Sherman, he obtained a clerkship in the treasury department at Washington. He was present at Ford's theatre on April 14, 1865, and saw President Lincoln shot. In 1866 he came to Kansas City, Mo., and was foreman in the office of the Kansas City Advertiser for about six months. This was the first daily paper published there. In November of the same year he went to Butler and became general manager of the Bates County Record. In the spring of 1867 he returned to Kansas City and was local editor of the Advertiser until October, at which time returned to Butler and purchased the Record plant, and has continued to own and publish the Record ever since.
In October, ISSI, he was appointed postmaster at Butler by President Arthur. He was again appointed postmaster in 1889 by President Harrison and served the people acceptably. Ile is a member of the Masonic order and a Knight Templar, and is prominent in the order, having been Deputy District Grand Master for the last four years. Ile was married May 3. IS71, to Miss Florence M. Stobie of Butler, formerly of Pittsfield. Ill. They have two children, Edwin S. and Nellie B.
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IN WEST POINT TOWNSHIP.
Related by .Mrs. E. M. Clark.
"My father. W. Lemar, moved to this county in the spring of 1853. when I was thirteen years old, and bought the place where he now lives, two and one-half miles south of Amster- dam. When we moved here there were but few houses in the country: there was Mr. Jackson's, who lived where L. F. Parrish now lives: Logan Mitchell lived where he now resides. four and one-half miles south of Amsterdam: Mr. Adair was located one mile south of Mulberry: Mr. Arnott. where Robert Braden now lives: and John Green on what is now the Walles farm. Mr. Green's house burned down soon after we came and two children perished in the flames.
"I was married in the spring of 1:55. to J. J. Clark. We moved to the place where I now live. one and a half miles north-west of Amsterdam. Mr. Clark was a democrat, ner- or-the-less a Union man and believed in each man voting his own sentiments.
"The fall that Lincoln was elected. two gentlemen by the name of Pope, and very intimate friends of Mr. Clark, were visiting us. Mr. Clark persuaded them to go to the polls and vote. They voted for Lincoln, which was against Mr. Clark's sentiments, but it made no difference to him while others thought it to bea great fanh. Mrs. Mattox, living just across the state line, frequently told the Federal troops that my husband was a rebel and harbored bushwhackers. This cansed us a great deal of trouble with the Union troops, a company of which were stationed at Trading Post, Kan- sas. One winter soldiers from this company called upon us very often but we never found out what they wanted until in the spring. when six men came one Sunday morning. They had always wanted a meal. but on this occasion they simply chatted and smoked their pipes. One of the. men in- quired if we cared to know their business: we told them we did. They then told us that Mrs. Mattox had told them we wore rebels and kept oushwhackers under our roof. They
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had been watching us and had found the stateawent to be un- true. We were annoyed so much by bushwhackers that we were compelled to move across the state line into Kansas where we remained two years.
"In the spring of 1855, a band of bushwackers crossed into Kansas and killed a Mr. Dedo and another man whose name I do not know. Mrs. Mattox told the jayhawkers that the ' raid was caused by my husband. while he at the time was sick in bed. The next day two men rode up to our house. came to the door and snapped their pistols at him, but the guns failed to go off. They then started to take him out, but strengthened by fright. I compelled them to leave. At anoth- er time bushwhackers carried my husband away, bat he was released and came home the next day.
"In 1858 Hamilton and his followers murdered some men near the Trading Post: Metlark and Driffy from this county. were implicated in the affair. Driffy was caught and hanged at Mound City, Kansas. Metlark escaped into Platt county. Kansas, but was caught by Hargrove and a small band of men. They brought him home and hanged him.
"In May. 1858, a band of jayhawkers came across the line and sent a man to West Point to get permission to hand for Hamilton. While waiting for a reply part of the band came to our home and robbed us of our money and stock. In those days goods were transfered in wagons pulled by ox teams. They were carried from Kansas City to West Point. The nearest mill we could get to was thirty miles distant.
"When Lincoln was elected, everybody expected a war. and each, the North and South, boasted of the 'short work" they would make of the opposite side. Before the war com- meneed every one was peaceful, had plenty and enjoyed themselves, no one lacking the necessities of life. Wild gras: grew to such a height that a man riding a horse could scarce- ly see cattle as they were running free on the prairies. There were very few settlers and they were close to the timber where they could secure material for building por- poses and fire wood. West Point was a great trading plav. and was frequented by bands of indians who did almost all their trading there. They were always peaceful and com- mitted no depredations.
"The first troubles at the breaking ont of the war wen
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caused by marauding bands on the border. These bands would cross the line and carry off everything they thought worth taking. In June. 1861, Mr. Egnue. living north-east of West Point, was taken from his house by a band of bush- whackers and hanged to a tree. In August, 1862, Mr. Fus- sell was killed by bushwhackers, while he was on his way home from a marauding tour. In December the same year George Walley accidentally killed himself.
"The nearest regular battle was fought at Muddy Creek, where the Southern army under Price encountered the Un -. ion forces under General Lane. The conflict was short and but few men were killed. On November 9th, 1863. as Price's men passed through they came upon Mr. Ward as he was burning the grass around his farm. A squad rode up and demanded his horse: he refused to give it up and they shot him. They next came to where Mr. Vernon was also burn- ing the grass around his field in order to save his home from the prairie fires which were devastating the country. His wife and two children were in the wagon nearby. The men rode up and demanded the horses. Vernon told them he would give up his life before he would let them take his team. His revolver was in the wagon. but before he could get it, one of the mon shot him in the breast. The men left with- out taking the horses or molesting the wife and children. Mrs. Vernon managed to get the dead body of her husband into the wagon and had almost reached home when another band came up and took the team from the wagon, leaving the poor woman and crying children without aid to bury their dead. Vernon had been almost killed before by a band of bushwhackers who were ransacking his home. He protest- ed. and they struck him over the head with his own rifle, knocking him senseless and throwing his body into the yard. "After the war there was nothing left but a few houses scat-
tered over the country. the fires having swept over both for- est. prairie and field alike: no horses, cattle, hogs, or other live stock left. No full crop had been raised during the war and food was scarce. consequently prices were very high. A common team would cost three hundred dollars. In a short time men began to come home and improve their farms, stock was brought in and people began to be prosperous again. "Several mon were decoved from their homes and killed by
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unknown enemies. One man I remember in particular: he lived not far from Butier. He had built now fences and made a number of improvements. One evening as he was ready to sit down to supper he heard a cow bell a short distance from the house. Supposing some stray cattle were trying to get through the fence to his crops, he went out to investi- gate. While waiting at the house for his return the family became alarmed, and then started out in search of husband and father. When they came to the fence they found his lifeless body. He had been deceived and shot by some one in am- bush. This is only one of a great many such incidents, a result of the bitterness caused by the long struggle be- tweeu the North and the South. These outrages tended to prevent the re-settlement of the county, and for several years the progress was slow.
"The town of West Point remained the principle tradi g point until after the railroad reached La Cygne, then gocds were hauled from that place: and West Point never recovered its importance. In the seventies, when the war was in a measure forgotten, the country settled up rapidly, but there were no towns of importance in the western part of the county until after the railroad was built through in 1833. The towns of West Point and Mulberry were then practically deserted and new towns sprang up on the railroad. Old towns. old times and old people are almost forgotten in the new and busy world.
"But few of the first settlers remain. Some were killed during war times; others were driven from their homes and did not return; many have moved away, but more have pass- ed away. The cemetery at old West Point is a mute witness to the changes from the old to the new times."
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S. T. BROADDUS.
Born in Madison county, Kentucky, Nov. 14, 1843. Re- moved to Lincoln county, Kentucky, when three years old. Was educated in common schools and a private school of a Presbyterian minister. Removed to Monroe county, Mo., in 1866. Married at Macon City to Miss Kate Burton in 1868. Six children have blessed this union. Removed to Rich Hill, Bates county, Mo., in March, 1882. Clerked in hardware store of J. L. Minor 9 years. Member and Secretary of School Board 9 years; City Collector 6 years; Township Collector 3 years; Secretary Rich Hill Fair Association several years, and was elected County Clerk in 1898, as a Democrat. He is deservedly popular with the people and his party. As evidence of this he lead his ticket by a good strong vote. Mr. Broaddus is a quiet, unassuming gentleman, and is making an efficient County Clerk.
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IN DEER CREEK TOWNSHIP.
Contributed by Allen Blount.
My father came to Bates County in 1853. I was then eigh- teen years old. In 1854 I went to Harrisonville and worked at Winchester Paine's saw mill. In 1856 I went to work at the mill known as Bill's Mill. on Grand River. four miles south-west of Harrisonville. I worked at this mill until 1-57. I then came back to.this county and helped set up and run a saw mill which was brought here from Jackson county br David Moore and located on Mormon Fork, about seven miles north-west of where Adrian now stands. In 1-55 I began farming in Deer Creek township, but in 1-60 I went back and worked at Paine's mill until 1861.
During this period deer were very plentiful on the prairies. as mary as thirty frequently being seen in one drove.
When the war broke out in '61 I was a Union man. hence . I was compelled to "hide out, " seeking shelter in corn fields and brush patches, and depending on my friends to bring my food after night. In August. 1>61. the bushwhackers caught me at my father-in-law's house. After a few words Bud Childers drew his gun and swore lie would shoot me. I said. "Shoot and be d -: You can kill. but you can't scare me." Then Dave Majors. Childers' accomplice. interfered and told him to lower his gun or he would shoot him: that I had al- ways befriended their people and had done nothing against them. Childers drew his gun again and said. "If I wore sure you was an abolitionist I would shoot your d- head off." They finally went away and left me unharmed. From that time until October I kept "hid out." Then my father-in-law and myself decided to try to get our families out of Missouri, if possible. The state line was only sixteen miles distant. but every road and cow-path leading to Kansas was guarded by the bushwhackers. and every man that was caught trying to get to Kansas was supposed to be a Chion man, and he was robbed or killed. sometimes both. About this time the Battle of Lexington occurred and a large army of Union
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soldiers passed through the east part of Cass county, which caused the bushwhackers to lie low. This, we thought, would give us a chance to go east, and possibly get out of the country. Knowing we were in constant danger where we were, we started east. We intended to go north when we got to Rose Hill, but it being very dark when we got there, and being anxious to get as far away. as possible, we pushed on and lost our way. The next morning we came back to Rose Hill to get on the right road and were told that sixteen heavily armed men had passed through during the night and gone the road we had intended to go, but we missed it in the darkness. These men some hours afterwards had re- turned by the same way they went, and there was much spec- ulation as to what they were after. We thought we knew what it meant and, in all probability, if we had not taken the wrong road they would have caught us near the Blackwater bridge, where we had intended to camp that night. We con- tinued our journey to Illinois, where we remained until the spring of 1856. I then returned to my farm in Bates County and found that my fence and other improvements had been burned. The first year I had to go to Kansas and work out, in order to get money to buy provisions. We went to Trad- ing Post, Kansas, for our flour and meal. In the winter of 1866 I went to Pleasant Hill and paid eighteen dollars for a barrel of pork.
As soon as possible I built a house and re-fenced my farm, and enjoyed the blessings of peace and a reasonable degree of prosperity.
R. E. PRITCHARD,
one of the editors of the Rich Hill Tribune, was born in Cal- houn county, Iowa, May 31, 1877, and with his parents re- moved to Missouri in 1879, and in the spring of ISSI came to Rich Hill where they still reside. He was educated in the public schools of that place and after finishing the high school served his apprenticeship as a printer, but on account of ill health was forced to leave the case. In 1897 he attended the Rich Hill Business College and graduated with honors in the class of '98. He then returned to the case but decided to teach school during the winter and taught a very successful term.
In March, 1899, he purchased an half interest in the Rich Hill Tribune and continues as its junior editor. He is an in- telligent, upright and industrious young man, a staunch Re- · publican and true to his party's principles.
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN BATES COUNTY.
Written by John Buurman, of Adrian.
My father, B. H. Bowman, came to Bates County about the year 1846. I was born in Mound township in 1854, on the farm now known as the Dillon place, near Rocky Ford on Bones Fork. When I can first remember, there were less than one half dozen houses in the settlement. It was several miles to the next settlement on the Miami; there were no other houses nearer than a small settlement at Crescent Hill. The next nearest settlement was near where Altona now is.
The first I remember. our milling was done at Cook's mill, on Grand River, in Henry county near Clinton. As far back as 1860 a man by the name of Medley was running a saw and grist mill on Bones Fork. about four miles north-west of Butler. The mill was burnt during the war, by some of Lane's men. At the same time the same party shot and kill- ed old Johnnie Barnett. Some time in the fall of 1862, Cap- tain Bell and his Company came to our house and said to my father; "Why didn't you run?" Father replied; "Because if
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