USA > Missouri > Bates County > The old settlers' history of Bates County, Missouri : from its first settlement to the first day of January, 1900 > Part 2
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The citizens of Papinsville were bitterly opposed to the new county and claimed that the act establishing it was un- constitutional. The old County Court proceeded to build a brick court house at Papinsville and a fine bridge across the river at that place, hoping by these measures to retain the county seat, which they would. br reason of their location, be sure to lose if the new arrangement became permanent. Edmund Bartlett, T. B. Arnett and Wm. Lakey were ap- pointed County Court judges of the new county and proceed- « d to organize townships, establish precincts. appoint town- ship officers and exercise all the duties of the County Court. It being in no judicial circuit there was no Circuit Court held in the county. The commissioners appointed to locate the county seat, fixed on the present site of Butler, but there was no building thereon and the County Court met at the house of Charles Adams. At the next election, Rogers, Clem and Feely were elected County Court judges; J. E. Morgan, clerk: Sanmel Scott, sheriff: John Cummins, treasurer: and M. D. Osborn, Public Administrator, and they proceeded to put the affairs of the new county, Vernon, into proper shape.
Meanwhile the enemies of the arrangement were planning to defeat it. A suit was brought, in the Circuit Court at Papinsville, against Sam Scott for attempting to perform
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OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
duties of sheriff within the county of Bates, not having been legally elected to that office. This was for the purpose of testing the constitutionality of the act establishing the new county. A change of venne was taken to Henry county. The act in question was claimed to be void for a variety of reasons, but the only one decided by the court to be valid was that it reduced the old county of Bates below the ratio of population required for a representative district. . A judge- ment was given setting aside the act as unconstitutional. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of the state, and the judgement of the lower court was affirmed. Sam Scott was fined one cent. :
The population inere ised so rapidly that the point made in the above suit could never again be sustained. In 1855, J. E. Morgan, now of Warsaw, Mo., was elected to the Legis- lature and succeeded in putting through a bill attaching that part of Cass south of Grand River and the line between town- ships # and 43 to Bates County. and then striking off the south part of Bates to form a new county to be called Ver- non. and removing the county seat of Bates County .o Butler. As that act established the county lines of Bites and Vernon, they still remain. :
J. E. Morgan built the first hous in Butler, while the land was still vacant. . Ho afterwards entered the land and donat- ed a part of it for the county seat. The County Court was composed of John D. Myers, Edmund Bartlett and J. O. Pearson. They made a new plat for the town and R. L. Duncan laid it out. in October. 1856. The records of the county were removed- to Butler, and the first session of the Circuit Court was held in an old school house. by Judge R. B. Hicks. The attorneys in attendance were Thomas H. Sterns of Bates. W. P. Johnson of St. Clair. R. G. Payton of Cass, and Thomas Freeman of Polk. William Jenings was one of the Grand Jurors. They held their sessions on a dry knoll in the high prairie grass. but as no complaints were laid before them they were soon discharged.
At this time two-thirds of the land in the county belonged to the Government, but in the next three years it was nearly all entered, and. in 1861 the county contained a population of 6,765, and Butler was a well built town of 1000 people. *
S .: C. STURTEVANT.
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OF BATES COUNTY.
BATES COUNTY.
PERIOD I-FROM 1×21 TO 1860.
SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.
In comparison with other sections of the state the settle- ment of the territory now included in Bates County was slow. We find much older settlements to the south, north and east of us, and even in the eastern part of Kansas many settle- ments. before this section was in any considerable measure brought under the dominion of the white man. The reason for this is found in the fact that this territory was set apart by the government as a reservation for the Indians, and the land was not open to homestead. So no title could be secur- ed to the land until after the Indians were removed (about . 1837) and it was then some time before the surveys could be completed and the land opened for the homeseeker. Pre- vious to this time people came and built cabins, cultivated small tracts of land along the streams, and hunted and trap- ped in the forests. Many of these people were of that roving class of adventurers who never remain in one place for any length of time, and when they heard of a more promising field, or grew tired of the spot where they were staying, all they had to do was to "pull up stakes" and travel. These conditions make it peculiarly difficult to attempt to give any definite record of "First Settlements." or "First Settlers." As there are no land eutries to be consulted, or records of any kind to examine, it is only a matter of recollection or tra- dition as to the very first settlements. The oldest settlers now living have recollections of older settlers, and many re- member abandoned settlements which had been the home, for a time at least, of some adventurous person, long since
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OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
removed, and no trace left but a ruined cabin, and fields which were, in some instances, covered with a heavy growth of timber.
There are very good theories advanced to support the claim that some of these old settlements anti-date the establish -- ment of Harmony Mission. on the Osage, commonly accepted as the first settlement made by whites within the present lim- its of the county, as it most surely is the first of which any authentic account can be given. For these reasons Harmony Mission is taken as the starting point in the settlement of this section, although it was in no sense a settlement in its self, but the fact that there was a little band of whites estab- lished there led others, who were to be permanent settlers, to rear homes near this Mission, thus forming a nucleus, or foundation for more extensive developments, radiating from this common center, and merely as such we shall treat it.
HARMONY MISSION.
Up to the year 1837, the Osage Indians made their home in the southern part of Bates County and northern part of Vernon, and about 1820, having some business with the "Great Father," at Washington, they sent a delegation of Indians to that place to make known to him their desires, and, among other things, they preferred a request for mis- sionaries to be sent out to their tribe, for the purpose of teaching them Christianity and interesting them in the arts of civilization.
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions having headquarters at Boston, Mass., being informed of the request of the Indians, immediately set about complying with it. Volunteers were not at all scarce, and in the spring of 1821, a party was organized for this purpose. Rev. N. B. Dodge was chosen Superintendent, and some twelve or fif- teen persons, of various occupations, agreed to meet at Pitts- burg, ready with supplies, tools, etc., for their long and ard- uous journey into the wilds of the far West.
They embarked in two keel-boats, without sails, or other
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OF BATES COUNTY.
means of propulsion except than by oars, or "poling" as it was called. While their course led them down stream they float- ed with the current, and when up stream they were compel- led to resort to the oars, or poles. The poling was done by the men taking a long pole and, standing in the bow of the boat. they would stick one end of the pole in the mud, holding to the other and pushing, walk to the stern, then repeat the operation, thereby slowly and laboriously working their way against the current. In this way they worked on until finally, on the 9th day of August, 1821, they reached a spot about 3 miles below the present site of Papinsville- formerly spelled Papinville-and there found a few French traders, probably from St. Louis, who were camped there for the purpose of trading with the Indians and not as per- manent settlers.
Here the missionaries determined to establish their mission and pitched their camp near this place and named it Harmo- ny Mission. Until they could erect log cabins, they were compelled to live in tents, and endure all of the hardships in- vident to this mode of life. and all this they were doing, not for money or expectation of worldly gain, but that ther might carry the blessings of Christianity to the ignorant child of the prairie, for the organization which sent them out only paid their actual expenses and nothing more. They soon had rude cabins erected and moved into them, establish- ed a school for the Indian children and began their efforts for the betterment of these people. The Indians generally were not so anxious for advancement in civilization as their delegates had been, and they even demanded pay from the Mission for the privilege of using their children as pupils.
For some time after their arrival here they were compel- led to freight their goods from Jefferson City, but later ther got them at Independence.
Although the Mission served as a beginning for the settle- ment of what is now Bates County, considered from the standpoint of the Missionary Society it was a practical fail- ure, for after many of the younger Indians had embraced Christianity and received some degree of education, ther would, as soon as released from school, return to their tribes and instead of teaching them, they returned to their old trib- al customs and were as much savages as. ever.
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OLD SETTLERS' HISTORY
But notwithstanding this disappointment the Missionaries continued their labors until 1>37, when the Osages were re- moved farther west and, there being no longer occasion for maintaining it, the Mission was abandoned. The buildings were sold to the goverment for $8000 which went to the Society, and the Missionaries being left without support. scattered to various parts of the country and with one excep. tion were lost track of. This exception was Dr. Jones, who settled on Deepwater near Montrose in Henry county, and whose daughter-Mrs. Austin-who recently resided in Mont- rose, was born at the Mission, being the first white child born in the county of which we have any knowledge.
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The Requas, who lived for a time at the Mission, settled in Lone Oak township, and many of their descendants still reside there. There are, also, a number of people now living who settled in the county while the Mission was in existance' and who had some chance to observe its workings, and who are still able to give interesting accounts of its members.
And, while the work of this brave and unselfish little band produced but very little perceptable results in as far as the Indians were concerned, we give them all honor for their untiring efforts for the good of their fellow beings.
After the Mission was abandoned a number of settlers re- mained, and in 1841 a post-office was established here under the name of Batesville, the first post-office in the county. Before this time the nearest post-office had been at Independ - ence, Missouri, nearly one hundred miles distant, so we can surmise that the change was hailed with joy by the settlers who were separated from relatives and friends, whom they had left in older states and communities.
In the winter of 1849-41 an act was passed by the Legisla- ture for the purpose of organizing a number of counties in this state from territory until this time unorganized, and among others was one to be known as Bates County -so nam- ed in honor of Edward Bates, a native of Virginia and a very eminent lawyer and statesman, his last public service being rendered as Attorney General in President Lincoln's Cabinet.
The following boundaries wore fixed by this act for Bates County:
Beginning on the western boundary line of this state, at the south-west corner of Van Buren county: thence east to
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OF BATES COUNTY.
the south-east corner of said county: thence south on the range line dividing ranges 28 and 29, to the township line di- viding townships 33 and 34; thence west on said township line to the western line of the state; thence north on said line to the place of beginning, is hereby created a separate and distinct county, to be called and known by the name of the county of Bates.
The boundaries of Bates County so remained until 1851 when the Legislature passed an act creating Vernon county, and including therein very nearly the same territory as this county now contains, but this act was declared unconstitu- tional and nothing more was done until 1855, when a strip of territory 25 miles wide and about 30 long was detached from the south side of Bates, and organized as the county of Ver- non. At the same time a part of Cass was added to Bates, giving this county the boundaries which have so remained since.
The Legislature of 1840-41, which created the original County of Bates, also decreed that the Circuit and County Courts should be held at Harmony Mission until such time as a permanent county seat be selected, or the County Court order otherwise. The courts held their sessions in the school house as long as the county seat remained here.
PAPINSVILLE.
Owing, possibly, to the removal of the Mission, and the fact that the new site offered better facilities for conducting the limited commerce of those days by being better suited for a boat-landing, a new town was laid out in 1847, about three miles from Harmony Mission, on the Marais des Cygnes River. and named in honor of a Mr. Papin, a French Indian trader. The town grew rapidly and, showing evidence of attaining to some importance, the county seat was located høre in 1848, and Harmony Mission rapidly became merely a memory of by-gone days.
It will be remembered that at this time the county extend- od some twenty-five miles south of the Osage River and that
L. R. PURKEY
was born in McDonough County, Ill., October 27, 1862, came with his parents to this county when seven years old, locating near Burdett, and has ever since resided in the county. His early life was spent on the farm and he attended the public schools.
In 1886 he was married to Miss Belle Timmons, who died one year after their marriage. In 1889 he was again married to Miss Nannie Heavilin, she also died soon after their marriage. On April 1, IS92, he bought a half interest in the Adrian Journal, since which time he has been engaged in the business. On October 11. 1892, he was united in marriage with Miss Laura Holloway. Mr. Purkey is an active member in the United Brethren Church, and is at present superintendent of the Sunday School of that denomination in Adrian.
ELI J. CLINE.
The subject of this sketch disclaims any pretense as an old settler. He was born in the north part of Vernon County, March 23, 18So, and moved with his parents to Rich Hill in 1886, where they resided till 1897. Here he got his education and learned the printers art. In 1897 his father, H. Cline, pur- chased the Foster Beacon plant, and it was published under the name of H. Cline & Son for two years; then the plant was removed to Amoret and the paper is continued as the Amoret Beacon with Eli as editor. He is the youngest editor in the county and probably in the state. H. Cline is the publisher of the Beacon but has little to do with conducting the paper. He came to Bates County in 1876, moved to Vernon and returned to Bates in 1886. He was born in Scotland County, Mo., in 1850 and was married to Judy E. Drake in 1869. Five children are now living-three at home and two married daughters in Terre Haute. Ind.
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OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
the north line was some distance south of where it now is and, there being no other town of any size in the county, it was believed that the seat of county government would re- main at Papinsville. This appeared all the more sure when it was considered that the river afforded almost the only, and by far the most feasible, route for the shipment in and out, of such commodities as constituted the articles of com- merce of those days; an inland town was not expected to at- tain any great importance, as a town situated distant from a railroad is uot expected to do any great volume of business at the present time. But conditions change as time passes, es- pecially during the period of settlement in new countries. Almost every session of State Legislature changed county lines, and carved new counties out of the remains of old ones. In a few years efforts were made to divide the county. This division was bitterly fought by the friends of the old town, and was once defeated in the courts, but the attempt aroused the people of that part of the county into activity. Up to this time court had been held in a log building, but the County Court now proceeded to build a substantial brick court house. They also put a bridge across the river at that place, seeking thereby to avoid the complaint that the county seat was inconvenient of access to the citizens who resided south of the Osage. But these measures did not long delay the inevitable change.
In 1855 the Legislature again divided the county, this time on the present lines, naming that part south of the river, Vernon county, and leaving Papinsville in Bates, but locat- ing the county seat in the center of the county. This left an almost new court house on the hands of the County Court, which they sold to Philip Zeal, and removed the county seat from Papinsville in 1856-7.
During the time the county seat was located at Papinsville the town grew rapidly and was, for some years, the metrop- olis of the county. Next to Harmony Mission, the history of the early days in Bates County centers a round this place, which, in fact, was the offspring of the old Mission, and is so regarded in the fond recollections of our old settlers. Here many of the interesting and exciting events of the early times took place. Here the politicians and influential men of the community naturally congregated, and the public
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OF BATES COUNTY.
questions which came up for consideration in those days were just as momentous, and probably excited greater interest among the people of the sparcely settled country, than like matters now do. Here occurred the first murder trial ever held in the county, and the first and only execution by civil authorities. It was the landing place of'a large majority of the first settlers of the county, and the distributing point for the supplies brought in for a great many of the early inhab- itants. Even after the removal of the county seat it contin- ued to prosper until the Civil War brought ruin to so many of Bates County's people, but from this blow Papinsville never recovered her one-time prestige and improtance.
NORTH-EASTERN BATES.
While this section was still reserved by the Government, the white men cast many a longing eye on its beautiful prai- ries. rich bottom lands and fine forests and. as we have be- fore related. a number of the more mercenary had "squatted" on the forbidden territory. When the Indians were removed still farther west, and it was known that the land would soon be open for settlement, the tide of immigration set in, and from that time forward the settlement of the county pro- gressed rapidly, and soon the cabin of the settler, surround- ed by his "clearing" could be seen in all parts of the county, for such it soon became although the limits at first did not coincide with the present county boundaries. The largest settlement was along the Osage, in the vicinity of the old Mission, which place was the temporary seat of county government.
And not till the early A's were there any other consider- a'ble settlements made in Bates County. About this time, however, settlers began erecting homes along Deepwater Creak. selecting the timber lands, believing them better a lapted to the requirements of the farmer than the prairies and in a short time there was a considerable number of peo- ple in this part of the country, large numbers of them coming
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OLD SETTLERS' HISTORY
from the nearby' counties where they had become crowded by neighbors settling within ten or fifteen miles of them. Al- though as far back as 1830 we find a few settlers occupying homes on Deepwater, and in what is now Mingo township there were some settlers as early as 1832, but no town was founded until 1845.
JOHNSTOWN.
The first store was opened in Johnstown by Dan and Jim Johnson. They were not able to secure a post-office until about 1849, until which time they had to go to Deepwater City, in Henry county, for their mail, but after the establish- ment of a post-office Johnstown made rapid strides toward becoming a town of no mean importance for those days. Being surrounded by a fertile and productive country, it af- forded a place for the Indian trader to exchange his furs for more trinkets to barter to the Indians, and, being a consid- erable distance from any other settlement of importance, it soon was doing more business than any other place in the county, at one time having two wholesale houses, handling general merchandise, four or five general stores, two saloons, three blacksmith shops, cabinet shop, mill and harness shop.
This condition of prosperity continued until the breaking out of the border troubles between Missouri and Kansas, and during this time and the Civil War Johstown was almost ruined, and then just after the war the building of the Mis- souri, Kansas & Texas Railway so near to it, rendered it impossible that it should ever again attain its old time prom- inence.
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OF BATES COUNTY.
OTHER SETTLEMENTS.
From 1830 to 1840 settlements were being rapidly made in various other parts of the county, a post-office being es- tablished at Pleasant Gap perhaps as early as 1842, and set- tlements made in Lone Oak, Hudson, Deer Creek, New Home, Walnut and Charlotte townships about this time also.
It appears that no settlements were made in other parts of the county prior to 1840, but during the forties numerous settlements sprang up with great rapidity in all parts of the county, there being a great influx of homeseekers from the eastern states and this caused the founding of a number of towus in various parts of the county, only a few of which, however, reached any importance before the war. Two of these have been briefly mentioned, and we will now try to record something of the history of the others.
WEST POINT.
West Point-founded in 1850. Situated in the north-west part of Bates County, is in West Point township, about one mile from the state line. The first store was opened by Ar- nett & Adams, and as they had located on the old cattle trail from Texas and the Southwest, over which thousands of head of cattle were driven annually to the market at Kansas City, it soon became an important trading point, and a place for "outfitting" by parties going into the Southwest-which rapidly pushed it forward to the position of metropolis of Bates County. And another thing which was of material benefit in its development, aside from the local business, was that the Pottowatomie Indians here received their periodical allowance of rations, etc., from the government agents, and made this, as a matter of course, their trading point.
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OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
In those days the great, clumsy, creaking freighting wag- on, drawn by 8 to 10 yoke of oxen, crept slowly over the winding prairie trail, bearing its heavy load of freight from the river landing at Kansas City. The "Noble Red Man." dressed in his wolf-skin vest, traded his government rations for "fire-water" or "baccy." The picturesque squaw, in her abreviated gown of many colors, peddled her hand-woven baskets and head-work trinkets, while the pappoose, dressed in "most any old thing"-and not much of that-turned his big, inquiring eyes on the many wonderful works of the "pale face" but was as dumb as was the ox which pulled the groaning wagon. The trapper and hunter brought in their furs and traded them for provisions, powder, etc. And the homesteaders from many miles around bought their supplies here.
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