USA > Missouri > Bates County > The old settlers' history of Bates County, Missouri : from its first settlement to the first day of January, 1900 > Part 4
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When the result of the election became known, it was gen- erally thought that the President elect, Lincoln, would not be recognized by the Southern states, and all were anxious- Jy watching to see what course our state would take.
About the first action bearing on the question which was taken in this county was the organization of "Cummings Battalion, " which was composed of several hundred South- ern sympathizers who were to guard the state border, and render whatever aid to the Southern cause it lay in their power to accomplish. to keep watch on and report the move- ments of the Union men, etc. This was a secret organiza- tion and it was never known just how many members it con- tained, or who those members were. It was one of the moves of the Southern men in their attempts to force the state to join the Seceders.
The Union sympathizers were overawed and kept quiet. If they showed too much activity they would receive a warn- ing, and if this was not heeded, a night call would follow.
General Price was in command of the Confederate forces in this section and in the spring of 1861 a portion of his army was stationed at Papinsville. At this time a number of com-
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OLD SETTLERS' HISTORY
panies were recruited in the county and joined his army.
The Southern clement was dominaat here until General Lane, with his Kansas troops, swept through the county in the fall of '01. Then all who had taken a conspicuous part in upholding the Confederacy were compelled to leave. Some joined the regular service, others "took tothe brush." From this time forward the conaty was repeatedly raided by the troops of the one side or the other. When the Confed- erate troops came in the Southern sympathizers would lead them to the homes of their neighbors who favored the North. Then when the Union forces came in the Southern sympa- thizers, in their turn, would suffer. Neither life uor proper- ty was safe. In fact, property suffered, whether the invad- ing forces were friend or foe. If a settler was a sympathizer of the raiding party they would "barrow" his property "for the good of the cause." If of the opposite persuasion, they would confiscate it. The result was the same in either case; the property was never returned or accounted for.
When Gen. Lane brought his Kansas troops over to join in the campaign against the Southern forces nuder Gen. Price, a portion of his army, on its return to Ft. Leaven- worth, passed through Bates County enroute. They euter- ed the county at Papinsville, and while at that place burued the old court house building. One troop, under command of Capt. Beil, approached Butler from the south-west: auother, under the lead of Maj. Montgomery. came from Papinsville. They had planned to join forces at the Ramey place, southi of Butler. Bell's troop arrived at the appointed place some time in advance of the others and, instead of waiting for their comrades, went out to the north-west of Butler. on Bones Fork, in search of some parties who had made themselves particularly obnoxious to the Union men, and who. on the approach of the soldiers, had fled from Butler and were in hiding. One of these was a man named Lock, who had, in '60, killed an Indian at West Point. He had been placed in jail at Butler, but had soon afterwards been released.
Montgomery afterwards came to the Ramey place, and not finding the other troops there, sent a party of five into But- ler to find out what had become of Capt. Bell and his force. This party was captured by the Southern men, now common- ly designated "bushwhackers" in distinction from the regu-
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lar Southern soldiers. Not hearing from this seouting party Montgomery followed with his entire troop, and took pos- session of the town, the Southern men fleeing as he advanc- ed. This was in the last days of December, 1861. The town does not appear to have suffered greatly, but all the county records were taken and carried away to Ft. Leavenworth.
Affairs were now in a chaotic condition, such civil officers as remained were entirely powerless to cope with the con- ditions and enforce any sort of order. Property rights were disregarded. and the general rule with many was to take what they could get. The raiding back and forth over the line between Kansas and Missouri was started afresh when the war broke out, and the territory on each side of the line was stripped of everything movable. In fact, stories of houses being bodily moved from one state into another, are often told. West Point fell an early victim to the Kansas raiders, and the town was almost wiped out of existence. Its stores were looted and houses burned. The office of the West Point Banner, which had incurred the enmity of the Kansas men, was looted and type and machinery scattered and destroyed. The other towns of the county suffered, but to a less extent.
Lane's troops burnt the greater part of Papinsville in the fall of '61, and the Osage River bridge was destroyed by the state troops in order to prevent Price from entering the county with his army.
In the spring of 1862 a troop of the 1st Iowa Calvary, com- manded by Col. Warren, was stationed at Butler and remain- ed through the summer. They preserved order in the town, but their presence had little effect on the bushwhacking ele- ment which continued its operations throughout the county. The troops would occasionally raid a camp. but the men would scatter, only to return as soon as the soldiers left.
At one time, while a detachment of Warren's troops was foraging, on the Miami, it was way-laid and fired on by bushwhackers, and several were killed.
When General Price made his raid through Henry and ad- joining counties. Col. Warren was ordered to join in pursuit of the Southern army. About this time a state militia- Home Guards, they were called-was organized. Captain J. B. Newberry was in command of one of those companies
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OLD SETTLERS' HISTORY
which first had its headquarters at Clinton, then Germau- town. This company was ordered to Butler in the fall of 1862, and remained until the county was depopulated.
In December 1862, a man by name of Slater, was executed . at Butler, by command of Major White. Slater was not a Bates county man, but had been brought here by White's troops and sentenced by court-martial.
While this section was nominally under the control of the Union forces. it was entirely beyond the power of the few troops to preserve order outside of such places as garrisons could be maintained.
The border counties, in both Missouri and Kansas, had ac- quired a reputation for lawlessness that was far from en- couraging to the military authorities, and Heroic measures were decided upon.
Brig. Gen. Ewing, commanding this military division, with headquarters at Kansas City, issued the following order:
EWING ORDER.
KANSAS CITY, MO., AUG. 25, 1863.
GENERAL ORDER, NO. 11.
First: All persons being in Cass, Jackson and Bates coun- ties, Missouri, and in that part of Vernon included in this district, except those living within one mile of the limits of Independence, Hickman's Mill, Pleasant Hill, and Harrison- ville, and except those in that part of Kaw township, Jack- son county, north of Brush Creek and west of Big Blue, embracing Kansas City and Westport, are hereby ordered to remove from their present places of residence within 15 days from the date thereof.
Those who. within that time. establish their loyalty to the satisfaction of the commanding officer of the military station nearest their present places of residence, will receive from him certificates stating the fact of their loyalty, and the names of the witnesses by whom it can be shown. All who receive such certificates will be permitted to remove to any
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OF BATES COUNTY.
. military station in this district, or to any part of the state of Kausas, except the counties on the eastern borders of the state, all others shall remove out of this district .. Officers commanding companies and detachments serving in the counties named, will see that this paragraph is promptly obeyed.
Second: All grain and hay in the field, or under shelter, in the district from which the inhabitants are required to remove, within reach of military stations. after the 9th day of September next, will be taken to such stations and turned over to the proper officer there, and report of the amount so turned over made to district headquarters, specifing the names of all loyal owners. and the amount of such produce taken from them. All grain and hay found in such districts after the 9th day of September next, not convenient to such stations will be destroyed.
By order of Brig. Gen. Ewing.
H. HANNAHS. Adjutant.
As will be noticed from its wording, this order included Bates County entire, not even a military station being reserv- ed. Bates was the only county which was entirely depopu- lated. Those who had braved the many dangers in their at- tempts to preserve their homes from total ruin, were now compelled to leave all and seek homes among strangers. The order appeared harsh and unjust to many, but it was enacted as a military necessity, and undoubtedly saved many lives, as robbery and murder would have continued uncheck- ed until the close of the war.
Therefore. there was no disputing the order as the Military was the supreme authority and there was no appeal from its decree. The people hastily gathered up what few personal effects they had been able to save from the raiders, pressed into service every conceivable sort of conveyance, many of them hardly knowing which way to turn. Some went into nearby counties where they made some sort of temporary homes. Some went to Kansas, and not all of them were
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OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
able to get as far as the order decreed that they should go. Some sought and found new homes, and never returned to Bates County.
As a result of the Ewing Order Bates County once again became a tenantless wilderness. Fires raged, unchecked, through prairie, wood and overgrown fieid. Fences, build- ing's, improvements of all kinds were swept away. Where, only three years previous, had been a flourishing common- wealth, composed of six thousand people, now roamed the savage wolf and half starved dog, and perchance, the hunted. outlaw. who sought refuge in the forbidden territory.
But the history of the county, from this time until the close of the war, is a blank. A few of her officials and citizens attempted to keep up a show of county government, and Germantown, just over the Henry county line, was made a sort of temporary headquarters. In the fall of 1864, a few Bates County citizens, under protection of troops stationed at Germantown, came over into Bates, met at Johnstown, and went through the form of electing county officials. The County Court endeavored to preserve its organization, but as a matter of fact, could transact no business. There was no court sessions, no real estate transfers, no records, and no taxes could be assessed or collected. As far as records or legal proceedings are concerned, there was no such or- ganization of Bates County from September, 1863 to the close of the war.
J. C. CLARK.
J. C. Clark was born in Christian county, Kentucky, February 28th, 1843. He comes of that hardy pioneer stock whose rugged honesty, men- tal stamina and strength of character has made firm the foundation of the matchless citizenship of the West. His father, Dr. J. H. Clark, a physi- cian of the old school and one of the most respected and influential citizens of his state, early moved with his family to the West, and became one of the first settlers of Southern Illinois, building his log house in Christian county, then an uninhabited wilderness. There and in Texas the subject of this sketch spent his boyhood upon the farm, enduring the hardships and encountering the difficulties common to his time and situation. He came to Missouri in his early twenties, and in 1868 was married to Miss Mallissa Myers of Otterville, in Cooper county, where he was then living. Early in the winter of 1869 he came to Bates county and settled at Butler, then a mere hamlet. With no capital save serupulous honesty, industry, sincerity and integrity which have characterized his whole life, he cast his lot here, and soon won that esteem and popularity which he has retained to this day. In 1876 he was elected Sheriff of the county by a sweeping majority. His administration was a popular one, and at the end of his first term he was re-elected for a second term by an increased majority. While serving his second term he was appointed collector. At the close of his term in that office he was tendered the cashiership of the Bates County National. (now the Bates County) Bank, which position he is still filling. This will be his twentieth year in this important position of trust and responsibility, and the steady growth and increasing strength and patronage of that insti- tution with which he has been so long identified, is a monument to his integrity, character and financial ability. He has two sons, Harvey C., pres- ent Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and Claud L., assistant Attorney General of the state, who lives in Jefferson City. In politics, like his father and grandfather before him, he is a democrat, and has always been prominent in party affairs. His universal popularity among the masses of the people has always been great. Perhaps no man who has ever lived in the county has known so many of its people by name, and withal has had the friendship and esteem of all of them as has the subject of this sketch.
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PERIOD III-FROM 1865 TO 1870.
RECUPERATION.
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At the close of the war in 1865, Bates County presented to the chance traveler who was forced by circumstances to pass through the barren and deserted country, once populous and flourishing, now all but utterly ruined and tenantless, a pic- ture of the most utter desolation. Perhaps no other part of the United States was so entirely and completely stripped of all improvements and material necessary for the subsistence of man or beast as Bates County, not even excepting the Shen- andoah valley in Virginia, for the crow had long since de- parted from Bates borders in disgust at not being able to find sufficient provisions to carry with him in his journey across the country. Nothing to disturb the vast solitudes except an occasional body of troops who might for some rea- son be compelled to pass through here, or an outlaw seek- ing to hide himself where there were no officers and no civil Jaws to fear.
The recuperative powers of Bates County's people togeth- er with the unlimited variety of her natural resor- ses could not have been more graudly or conclusively demonstrated than by the rapidity with which the county recovered from this terrible and almost fatal blow to her development. At the close of hostilities the county could boast only about three school houses in its territory and they were in a badly dilapidated condition. Along the eastern border there were some houses left standing and a few families living in them, but the only signs of past habitation in a large portion of the county was an occasional lonely chimney found standing to mark the spot where once had been a happy home, but now deserted and desolate.
In Butler, which before the war was a beautiful little vil- lage, there was now left three or four cabins, the remainder having been destroyed by fire. One of these belonged to William Smith, father to Joe Sinith. There were no busi-
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OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
ness houses, no court house and no money to build with, as there had been no taxes collected for four years.
In 1866 people began to return to the county and re-estab- lish their homes amid the ruins of former ones, and at the same time the civil authorities, for so long a time helpless. began again to assume control and bent all their energies to bring order out of chaos, but just on the outset found them- selves confronted by a condition, not a theory, said condition being a county with no court house nor office buildings, and no building whatever that could be used for these purposes, and worst of all, no money with which to erect suitable ones. In this dilemma they were forced to make temporary arrange- ments by erecting in the north-east corner of the public square a frame building about 24×40 feet. to be used as a court house, and in the south-east corner one 16x18 for the use of the county clerk as his ofice. These buildings were erected by Jno. Divinay.
Benj. White was the first man to engage in the mercantile business in Butler after the war. But others came in rapid- ly and the town soon began to grow in reality, but for a year or so the outlook for the county was not very bright, for many of those who were land owners had cast their lot with the lost cause, and thereby last everything. They returned to find their homes ruined and the money in which they had been paid being worth nothing they were absolutely without means to make the necessary improvements, and the result was that much of the land was never reclaimed by the orig- inal owners and returned to the government, or was sold for taxes. There were as yet, 1866. no railroads ia the county, but numerous enterprises for the securing of roads through all parts of the county, and the flattering promises made by the promoters acted as a stimulus to immigration and the ac- tual building of some to within a short distance of the county kept this interest alive.
Of the towns that flourished before the war, Butler, the county seat. was the only one which regained its prestige. Old Papinsville was partially rebuilt, but the river trade was gone, and soon the M. K. & T. R. R. passed through the south-east corner of the county, and new towns sprang up on the line of the railway. Papinsville remained only a local trading point, and not a business center as it was in its early
OF BATES COUNTY.
days. Johnstown being near the border of the depopulated territory, was one of the first towns in the county to recover a part of its old-time activity, and for the first few years fol- lowing the war, was quite an important town. But the rail- roads also brought its rivals which prevented it from attain- ing its place in the category of leading towns of the county. The border troubles and the war completely wiped West Point off the wap and left not a sign of civilization or im- provements in the west part of the county, but at - the close of the war it was reetilt and, like Johnstown, did a very con- siderable business until the building of railways brought it rivals which left it merely a relie of br-gone days.
But soon new towns began to appear in different parts of the county. In the cast. Hudson was located in '67, on the strength of railway surveys, and quite a colony of immi- grants from New York state located here. But the railway "passed by on the other side, " and Hudson never attained more than local prominence.
In the southern part of the county Okd Rich Hill was estab- lished south of the river. also in 1867 and for a number of years remained the local trading point. In the same ycar, Mulberry. in the west part of the county was started, and being on the mail route from Butler and LaCygne, Kansas, and the center of a good agricultural district, grew to be a lively little town. New Home, also south of the river was located in 1-69. and assumed its place as a local trading point. Besides these were a number of points where post- offices had been established, some of them before the war, and wliere there was usually to be found a store or two and probably a blacksmith shop. Among these we might men- tion Prairie City. Lone Oak and Pleasant Gap, in the south- east: Maysborg. Cuion Town and Burdette, in the north.
Meanwhile a great change was taking place throughout the rural portions of the county. At the beginning of this period the great prairies stretched in almost unbroken ex- panse for miles iu every direction. A settler living in the outskirts of the county. when making a visit to the county seat would cut across the nearest way, and was seldom de- flected from his course by fence or furrow. The country ·was still wild enough to give the Easterner a touch of fron- tier life. Deer were yet comparatively plentiful. Wild tur-
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keys were still found in the timbers, and in the spring and fall of the year the streams were covered over with wild ducks and geese. They also abounded in fish, and a half- hour with hook and line would supply the table. The water in the streams was much clearer and the supply seemed to be much more constant, than it has been since the county has been settled and most of the timber cut off. Prairie chickens in almost countless numbers gathered in their feed- ing grounds in the winter time, and were easily approached by the sportsman. Squirrels were so plentiful and tame that they were hardly noticed by the hunter, but the farmers, provoked by their raids on the corn fields, carried on a war- fare of extermination against the mischevious little pests. The fields also suffered from the ravages of the raccoon, and a trained "'con dog" was accorded a place of honor in every old settler's home. The excitement of the 'coon hunt was a fascinating attraction for the new comer, and the older inhab- itants took pride in exploiting the feats of their favorite 'coon dogs. Opossums, rabbits, etc., were too numerous to excite comment. During the war, when the fields were overgrown with weeds, bushes and briers. reptiles of all kinds became very numerous. Snakes. especially the dreaded rattler, · were too plentiful for the comfort of the field worker. But one treatment was recognized for snake bite. That was to fill the victim with the very worst grade of whisky obtainable and, if the whisky did not kill him, the milder poisoa from the rattler gave up the job in disgust. A favorite place for these reptiles was under the swathes of grain in the harvest field, and not infrequently the binder gathered them up and bound them with the grain. Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt, but few ever became callous enough uot to exper- ienee "that tired feeling" when brought into sudden contact with a healthy rattler. It is a great wonder, considering the number of these reptiles, that there were so few serious cas- ualties from snake bites.
The close of the war also left a number of desperadoes who had become so accustomed to plunder and rapiue that they sought to continue to ply their vocation after the close of hostilities. The new comers were considered as legitimate prey by these outlaws, and if one had a particularly fine horse, or was suspected of keeping money handy, he rarely
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OF BATES COUNTY.
missed an early call from these most unwelcome neighbors. The chiefs of these robbers were the four Younger brothers. Cole, Jim. John and Bob, who made their headquarters in St. Clair county, and were always surrounded by a band of followers. They operated from Texas to Minnesota where they made their last raid. It is probable that most of the petty crimes laid at their doors were committed by mere im- itators of those noted outlaw chiefs, but they frequently rode through the country as late as the early Seventies. and nover hesitated to appropriate anything they stood in need of or took a fancy to, but it was seldom that they committed any serious depredations near their home, as they endeavor- ed to keep as many friends as possible. It was seldom that anyone interfered with them, or attempted to follow or re- gain their property. One time some eight or ten men follow- ed the trail of stolen horses into the hills of St. Clair county. They found the band and demanded their surrender. This was met by a counter challenge and the posse wilted. It was always very difficult to get any reliable knowledge of what passed, as those interested would never freely express themselves. At all events the friends of the members of the posse became alarmed at their absence, and a large party was raised to go to their rescue. Before they had proceed- ed far into the enemy's country they met the party headed homeward. They had been disarmed and detained over night. but hospitably treated.
John Younger was killed in a tight with detectives, in . which several men lost their lives. Cole, Jim and Bob were captured in Minnesota. The latter died in prison, the oth- er's remain under iife sentence. Their feeble imitators were . soon either captured or scattered, and Bates County became once again a quiet. law abiding community.
In the days before the war, and also for a short time after- wards, the settlers paid little attention to the raising of grain.
Their cattle gained their living from the range almost the year round, and the fall of the nuts in the timber was de- pended on to fatten the hogs. There were no railroads to haul off the grain, and the home demand was limited. This allowed more time for sports, hunting, fishing, etc. Soon, however, the railroad and improved machinery changed all . this. Where before no one had cared to own, fence and pay
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