USA > Missouri > Bates County > The old settlers' history of Bates County, Missouri : from its first settlement to the first day of January, 1900 > Part 5
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OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
taxes on large farms, the scramble for land began. the green sod was ruthlessly turned down. and the rumbling of machin- ery drowned the lowing of herds.
Soon the hunter, trapper and fisher found his occupation gone, and he must either join the busy throng in the harvest fields, or move ou again to the outposts of civilization. Boot- less task to sit and lament the passing of the good old days, they were gone, never to return to him or his posterity who remained in the industrial kingdom of Bates.
Then came the blow to the old order of farming and stock raising, and which was bitterly opposed by the old settlers.
The great prairies of the county which were looked upon as the mutual possessions and feeding grounds of the peo- ple in general, rapidly passed under private ownership, and the hated barbed wire established a barrier to the herds of the settler. This innovation was bitterly opposed. and the wire was repeatedly cut, but, unwelcome guest though it was, it had come to stay, and quite a number of the old residents were so disgusted by this turn of affairs that they took the first opportunity to sell out and remove to localities where the range still belonged exclusively to the people.
Even then prairies were used almost exclusively as pas- tures, it still being the general opinion that they were not adapted to grain raising. This notion, however, rapidly dis- appeared, and soon thousands of acres of rich farm lands added their products to swell the output of Bates County farms. At this time coal, although it was known to exist in many localities, in fact, often cropping out of the hillsides, was hardly thought of as an important article for fuel, and not at all as an article of commerce. As long as the settle- ments were confined to the borders of the timber, firewood was too abundant and easily obtained to admit of any rival in that field.
With the inflow of homeseekers and capital from the older states the conditions described above began to pass away. The change was gradual at first and the pioneer settler was the one who first noticed the change, the full meaning of which was not realized until later years. Bates County was to develop from a self supporting and self sustaining com- munity to a great and busy prodneing and exporting common- wealth. Its fertile soil and abundance of mineral deposits
50
OF BATES COUNTY.
could not always be reserved for the exclusive use of those who were fortunate enough to become her citizens. Her products were destined to go out to all parts of the country and build up a commercial interest of great magnitude and importance. But to accomplish this she must have the means of transporting these products to the markets of the world.
Although there had been one spasmodic and apparently short lived effort to secure a railroad through the county be- fore the war it amounted to nothing more than a survey and perhaps served to arouse some conjecture as to the probabil- ity of there sometime being a road built that would furnish an outlet for the products of Bates County, but the war came and for the time being destroyed all interest in such peaceful topies as possible railroads and for that matter destroyed ev- erything that might have been an inducement for the build- ing of a road. And after the passing away of these unfavor- able conditions and with the resultant return of peace came the desire for internal improvements and the promot- ers of numberless railroad projects began to air their schemes before the people.
The first of these and also the one which resulted finally in securing the first railroad ever operated in the county was a proposal from the Tebo & Neosho R. R., this resulted in the calling of a meeting in Butler September 10, 1866. which met, adjourned, and did nothing more: unless to this meeting we ascribe the cause of an effort made soon after to secure funds to induce this road to enter the south- east part of the county. This effort proving futile nothing more was done until 1867 when propositions to build roads. provided they received a stipulated amount of financial aid from the people, were received, but all rejected. This con- dition of things continued, until 1869 before anything defi- nite was accomplished. During this time, 1867 to 1869, some- where near ten or twelve different proposed roads had been discussed and efforts made to secure appropriations to aid in their building, but all had failed. In March 1869 Prairie City township submitted a proposition to appropriate $25. 0.0 to the Tebo & Neosho roads, bonds to be issued when cars were running through said township. This proposition carried almost unanimously, and the road was constructed
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OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
through the extreme south-east corner of the township, and the bonds demanded and being refused, suit was brought and judgement rendered against the township. They took an appeal, but immediately after the decision of the lower court the road's representative repaired to Butler and demanded the bonds of the court, and they were given him. There has considerable litigation grown out of this action of the court.
Some ten or twelve more meetings, each held for the pur- pose of promoting some prospective railroad, were held dur- ing this year, but nothing of permanent benefit in this direc- tion was accomplished until the following year. 1870, of which we will speak further in another place.
At this time the county had recovered from the effects of the war. The old farms were redeemed from their wild state and new ones settled all over the county. Homes re- built, school houses and churches being erected, flourishing towns springing up in various places, and all kinds of pub- lic enterprises for the development of the county receiving the support of the people; an ideal condition for the opening of that era of unexampled development in all the lines of human progress which has, in a marked degree, blessed Bates County since that time to the present and gives prom- ise of un-numbered fields yet to be won.
DAVID A. DeARMOND,
who is fairly represented by the above cut, was born in Blair county, Pa., March 18, 1844. He was educated in the common and high schools of his county, and at Dickinson Seminary at Williamsport. He worked on a farm and taught school during the winters until 1869. Ile was admitted to the bar in Davenport, lowa, in 1867. Located in Greenfield, Dade county, Mo., in 1869, and began the practice of his profession. In 1878 he was elected to the State Senate by a fusion of Democrats and Greenbackers, and served four years, He removed to Rich Hill, Bates county, in 1883, and about a year afterward came to Butler, where he has since resided. He was a Democratic elector in 1884 and voted for Grover Cleveland for President. In 1885 he was appointed a member of Missouri Supreme Court Commis- sion, and served about a year. He was elected Circuit Judge of the 22nd Judicial Circuit, composed of Bates, Henry and St. Clair counties in 1886, and served about four years, when he resigned to take his seat in the 52nd congress to which he had been elected at the general election of 1890. 1Ie has since been re-elected to the 53d, 54th, 55th and 56th Congresses of the United States.
Recently he was a prominent candidate for leader of the minority in the lower house of congress but after a spirited contest was defeated.
Congressman DeArmond has a commodious home in this city, and leads a quiet, home life when at home. Ile hasa wife and four children. three sons and one daughter, who is the wife of Gen. H. C. Clark, present Prosecuting Attorney of Bates county.
The people of Bates and the 6th congressional district take reasonable pride in the success which has characterized Judge DeArmond's career on the bench and in congress, and he possesses the confidence of all our peo- ple to a marked degree. Quiet, unobtrusive-even distant and reserved - in his relations with the people ; yet he is a genial companion and a cordial friend to those who know him best. He is a careful, hard student, and in all his speeches and writings the evidence of scholarship and classical ac- quirements are everywhere shown. In private conversation and in public speech he is one of the most accurate talkers in the country.
OF BATES COUNTY.
PERIOD IN-FROM ISTO TO 19000.
DEVELOPMENT.
By 1×70, the beginning of the period of development, the county had regained the ground lost during the period of vivil strife and now begins her onward march in the light and under reign of entirely new conditions, which march has in every way exceeded the greatest hopes of her friends and she now stands the peer of any county in all the wide prai- ries of the West.
In fact 1870 was in some particulars a red letter year in the county's history. for the people having reorganized all of their affairs and begun to enjoy the fruits of peace and pros- perity, their attention was directed to the fine coal fields of Bates County, and the consequent undeveloped wealth which lay hidden beneath her fertile prairie and timber lands, and also that in order that this untold wealth might be made available it was necessary to have means of transportation for carrying it to the markets of the world. Hence, in April 1:50 a petition was circulated asking the county court to appropriate $400.000 in bonds to the Memphis road. half to lx. paid when the road reached the northern limits of the county and the other half when the cars were running to Butler: also asking the court to order special elections to be held in Mt. Pleasant and Grand River townships, the former to appropriate $90.000, and the latter to,ona, to the Lexing- ton. Chillicothe & Gulf road. The Memphis petition was sent in with 1.240 names attached and accompanied by a re- monstrance bearing the signatures of 502 men. Both orders were made by the court. however, and the election in each township ordered the township bonds issued by large major- ites. In May 1870 a petition was presented to the court ask- ing that body to rescind its order appropriating the $400.000 to the Memphis but the court took no action in the matter. But in June 1870 at a meeting of the county court it did re- scind this order on representations made to it that the Mem-
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OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
pais road was not legally incorporated. but these repres a- tations were afterwards shown to be incorrect, and in 1871 the Kansas City, and Memphis Company made formal appli- cation for the bonds. claiming that they were still valid, and the court compromised by subscribing $125.00. This road was never completed, and the bonds were not issued.
Meanwhile, the bonds issued by Mt. Pleasant and Grand River townships to the L. C. & G. road were the subject of much contention and their ultimate disposition will be notic- ed in treating the financial affairs of the county.
All this agitation of railway matters in the five years, 1865 to 770, resulted in the actual completion of but one road, the M. K. & T. and only tapped the extreme south-east corner of the county. While there was a road bed graded from the north line of the county through Butler and extending some distance south of that place, and in 1870 bonds were secured on the strength of this work. this line was never finished and the grade never used. In 1879 and so the Missouri Pacific Company constructed a line south from Harrisonville. the Lexington & Southern Branch, which traversed the county from north to south, passing through the county seat and the great coal fields of Osage township. The Memphis road also built a branch which entered the extreme southern part of the county from the west, and traversed the southern coal fields.
A few years later a company headed by Gov. Chas. Foster of Ohio, which made large purchases of coal lands in Walnut township, and laid plans for a railway from St. Louis, Mo. to Emporia, Kan. Work commenced on this projected line. named The St. Louis & Emporia, in Bates County and was pushed westward about one-hundred miles. But the project was too large for the capital of its promotors, and the road tris absorbed by the Gould interests, which made it a branch of the Missouri Pacific system, extending from Butler, which place it reaches by use of the L. & S. tracks, to Madison. Kan. This line first commenced operation in 1884
In 1886-7 a road was surveyed from Kansas City south. running through Bates County, north and south parallel to and a short distance from the state line. This was the line now known as the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf, and is in operation from Kansas City, Mo. to Port Arthur, La.
GEO. P. HUCKEBY
was born in the town of Rome, in Perry county, Indiana, May 7th, 1841. His early life, like that of most boys brought up on a farm, was uneventful. Hle worked on the farm during the summer and went to school in the winter after the crops were " laid by." His school days were so well improved that at the age of seventeen he was admitted to the Freshman Class at Hanover College, Ind., and graduated at the age of 21. In July, 1861, he en- listed in Co. D., Ist Indiana Vol. Cav., and served until the following January when he was discharged because of disability, the result of typhoid fever. Ilis army service was mostly in Southeastern Missouri. He began the reading of law in the fall of 1863 and was admitted to the bar in New Albany, Ind., and began the practice of his profession in 1865. He con- tinued the practice until the fall of IS79, when he removed to Butler, Bates county, Mo. Ilis first business in this county being that of a school teacher. When the town of Rich Hill was founded in ISSo, Mr. Huckeby removed to the new town and established the first newspaper. In May, ISSI, he was appointed Postmaster and held the office until October, ISS5. At the close of his term he went into the law and real estate business, and spent one year (1887) in the booming city of Wichita, Kansas. His success was not remarkable in Wichita, as the collapse caught him as it caught many more. After returning to Rich Hill he again took up the newspaper business and was quite active in the presidential campaign of ISSS. In the fall of 1890 he was again appointed Postmaster and held the office until October, 1894, and retired with the approval of all his fellow citizens as a faithful and obliging official. Since retiring from his second term as Post- master he has been engaged in the practice of his profession and conduct- ing a very safe and successful office business. Always interested in every- thing that tends to benefit mankind, Mr. Huckeby has taken great inter- est in all political, moral and social questions. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity ever since his majority. Ile is an active member of the Methodist church and has been ever since a mere youth. He is a good lawyer, a quiet, courteous gentleman, and has the confidence and respect of all who know him.
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OF . BATES COUNTY
BATES COUNTY'S MINERAL PRODUCTS.
COAL.
Coal has been known to exist in Bates County from the earliest days of her pioneer period, but the development of this great and important natural product belongs entirely to this period of her history. As heretofore stated, in the ear- ly days there was but little call for coal as an article of fuel from the settlers, as the wood they cleared from their fields furnished an over ready and ever sufficient supply for the open fireplaces then in vogue. But the blacksmith needed a more constant and intense heat than could be obtained from the combustion of wood, so he went out to the hillside to where the vein cropped out of the ground. and easily secur- ed as much coal as he needed for his forge. Later on, as the settlers began to go out on the prairies to make their homes, it required an immense amount of labor to supply the fireplace with wood hauled from the timber. and they natur- ally turned to the coal that in many localities could be se- cured in such quantities as needed, by simply scraping off a light covering of soil and slate. Then the coal-grate was set in the fireplace, and the open coal fire took the place of the blazing back log of the old-time fireplace. But, as a general rule. the housewife did not take kindly to the change. The coal smoke and gas would not all find its way up the spacious chimney. and when it got contrary and went the wrong way. it was much more disagreeable than were the fumes from the burning wood which. the old-timers solemnly avered, was "good for the health." of the victim who was compelled to innale it. Still later the coal stove began to make its appearance, and the use of coal as fuel became more and more general.
With the disappearance of the old-time fireplace coal be- came an important article of fuel, and it was soon found to exist in greater or less abundance in nearly all parts of the county. When this became known. and the value of the
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OLD SETTLERS' HISTORY
product as an article of commerce began to be realized. the necessity of railway connection with the outside world ho- came apparent. But before the advent of the railway a con- siderable industry had sprung up in the mining and hauling of coal to meet the local demand. Many men and teamis found employment in stripping the soil off the shallow coal beds, and hauling the product to the consumers. In the fall of the year, or in fact all through the winter season, during the seventies, the road from the coal fields south of the river to Butler would be lined with teams hauling the heavily loaded wagons.
But the real development of the coal industry dates back to 1880-twenty years-and its advent brought a new era. Cities sprang up as if by magie, the population of the county increased rapidly, and all branches of industry wore enliven- ed. With the advent of an army of laborers. the demand for farm products was greatly increased. and the farmer soon felt the benefit of the increased consumption.
The mercantile business was also greatly stimulated and the coal industry has done much toward making our county the great and busy commonwealth it today is.
Coal is mined in over half of the twenty-four townships in the county, and exists in small quantities in the others. In the eastern tier of townships it is mined for local traffic, in Rockville, Hudson and Deepwater townships. In the cen- tral part of the county, Mt. Pleasant, Summit and Charlotte townships furnish coal in limited quantities, but with fuller development will probably greatly increase their output. The southern coal field reaches into the entire tier of town- ships, the most productive part lying in Osage. Walnut aud New Home townships are underlaid with from one to three coal veins, and the possibilities of this field are not yet realiz- ed, while on the west line and farther north, Homer and West Point townships present coal veins of varying depth and thickness which have as yet only been partially develop- ed.
Future prospecting may add greatly to the area of our coal field and to the annual yield of our mines. This is par- ticularly probable in the case of Walnut, New Home, Homer and Mt. Pleasant townships, where coal measures have been found far below the veins which are now being worked.
OF BATES COUNTY.
The only field in the county that has been extensively worked is that south of the Marais des Cygnes River. Fol- lowing the advent of the railway in le-o a number of com- panies located at Rich Hill and opened up and worked their mines on an extensive scale. The greater part of the out- put was shipped out of the county, but smelters were locat- od there and they, with various other enterprises. consumed no small amount of coal at home. The supply for the local demand was in a great measure left to the small operators, who usually worked the strip pits, and sold their output to the teamsters, who in turn sold to the consumers. For twenty years these mines have sent train-load after train-load of coal out of the county, and the supply seems almost inex- hanstable. But a comparatively small area has yet been worked, and each year new mines are being opened and op- Prated. For a number of years past the state mine inspect- or has tabulated the output of the larger mines, but it must be remembered that a great amount of coal is every year taken ont which never finds its way into any report. But Bates Conuty is now the second county in the state in the annual coal yield. and she has in the past stood at the head of the list for several years. According to the mine inspect- or's report the highest yearly output was in 189, when it reached 730.000 tons. While in 1844 it dropped to less than 300.000 tons. During the last three years the output has again rapidly increased until this year it is estimated at about 630,000 tons.
Making allowance for the numerous small mines whose yield does not show in these estimates it is probable that for the past twenty years the average output of coal in the on: fire county has been near 500.000 tons, making a grand total of ten millions of tons, which at the average mine price of $1.00 per ton would represent a value of $10,000,000. This estimate is merely intended to convey to the mind of the reader some idea of the industry which has grown up in our connty in the past twenty years.
At present our coal mines give employment to about one thousand men. some of whom only devote a portion of their time to this work. About $300,000 per year is paid out for labor. The coal industry has, in the last twenty years, built up a large and prosperons city of over six thousand inhabit-
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OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
ant :. Rich Hill, and contributed largely to the development of the towns of Hume, Foster, Amoret and Amsterdam, all which ship out ceal to the markets. The Lexington & South- ern and the Memphis railways haul the output of the great mines of Osage. Prairie and Howard townships. The St. Louis & Emporia carries the product of the Walnut township mines, while the Kansas City. Pittsburg & Gulf passes through the coal land of Howard. Walnut. Homer and West Point townships.
During the past year of 1899 there has imen great activity manifested in the coal fields, aud new mines are constantly being opened and add their portion to swell the total yield. The coming years bid fair to ont-do the record of the past in the coal industry of Bates County.
OTHER MINERALS.
Bates County furnishes an abundance of building sione of good quality, also fire-clay from which good brick have been made. Petroleum has been found in several different parts of the county, but only one well. in West Boone township. has been put down. It has for many years yielded from one to three barrels of oil per day. This oil, oa account of its lubricating qualities, finds ready market at a profitable price. It establishes the fact that petroleum exists in paying quan- tity in the county, and leaves another important industry to be developed.
Natural gas has been found in considerable quantities in many different localities. A number of strong flows have been accidentally discovered in the south part of the county. While in West Boone township. in the north-west. it is now being used in a few instances for lighting and heating dwell- ings. There is also, great possibilities for the future in this field.
Very promising traces of lead and zinc ore have been found in various parts of the county, notably in Walnut, Mt. Pleas- aut, Deepwater and West Boone townships, and it remains for the future to unfold the extent and value of these various
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OF BATES COUNTY
deposits. It is possible. in fact, very probable, that the next few years will find other mineral interests disputing the sway of King Coal in Bates County's mining industries, and adding to her prominence as a rich and prosperous common - wealth
COLT NOUSE.
CITIES AND TOWNS.
BUTLER
We have in proceeding pages followed the somewhat checkered career of the county seat from its foundation, through its early and prosperous career. through its recou- struction and rebuikling. and in the beginning of the present period find it once again a busy. prosperous little town, "The Queen of the Prairies" of Bates County. She was beginning to consider herself a city, having secured a large two-story brick school building. thoroughly equipped with modern ap- pliances, and a commodious and substantial brick court house, which compared favoraby with the public buildings of older and more populous counties. She had many good business houses, and some creditable residences. She had
OLD SETTLERS HISTORY
banks, stores, shops, mills, newspapers and all the various industries, but no railroad. Such parts of the material for her buildings as could not be supplied from her surround- ings had to be hauled long distances from some more favored town. The merchandise for her stores and goods for her shops had to be freighted from points on the railway. She was compelled to depend on the siow estar rontes" for her mails, and on the cumbersome stage coach for transporta- tion facilities. She could not put on cosmopolitan airs and be a really big town until she could boast of railway connec- tions with the outside world. Her goods were freighted from Appleton City. in St. Clair county, twenty miles to the south-east. Harrisonville, the county seat of Casseumy. thirty miles north, and La Cygne. Kansas, the same distance to the north-west: the greater part, however, from the first named place.
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