Buchanan County, Missouri - Chapter 3: From 1840 to 1843, 1881

Chapter 3: From 1840 to 1843

ARRIVAL OF SETTLERS - SMALL BEGINNING-FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR BURGLARYAUDUBON - LAVING OFF THE TOWN - DECLARATION OF PROPRIETOR - CERTIFICATE - ACKNOWLEDGEM ENT - RESERVATION OF LOTS - STREETS - ADDITIONS-FIRST CONVEYANCE.

Between 1840 and 1843 there were many arrivals of citizens from Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Eastern Missouri, and a few men representing some of the nationalities of the Old World - all had come to cast in their lots with the brave men who had just preceded them, and to help build up the town, the nucleus of which was here forming by the river's brink.

Still, a little later, the first tavern in the place was erected by Josiah Beattie, located between Main and Second streets. In this tavern the Rev. T. S. Reeves preached the first sermon that was delivered at "Blacksnake Hills."

Having regard to facts and dates as they occur chronologically, we have now reached a period (1842) in this history, when there happened an incident which not only attracted the attention of the settlers at "Blacksnake Hills" and surrounding country, but furnished a theme for Conversation around their firesides for months afterward, and as the circumstances connected therewith are of an interesting character, we shall narrate them : In the summer of 1842, Mr. Robidoux received from the Sac and Fox Indians, the sum of four thousand dollars in silver^ in four different boxes, each box containing one thousand dollars. Mr. Robidoux had sold goods to these tribes to this amount, and when they were paid their annuity by the government, its agent turned over to him the sum above mentioned. Having no safe, Mr. Robidoux placed the boxes containing the money on one of the lower shelves of his store, behind the counter, near a window. This window was secured at night by wooden shutters and fastened on the inside by a bolt.

On the east side of One Hundred and Two River, lived at that time three families, bearing respectively the names of Spence, Scott and Davis. They were supposed to be counterfeiters, yet no one knew positively that they had ever passed any spurious money. The Spence boys, whose given names were John, George, Monroe, Andy and James, were in the habit, in company with Scott and Davis, of visiting the Blacksnake Hills almost daily, and while there would spend their time lounging about the solitary saloon, which stood upon the bottom, west of the Blacksnake Creek and at Mr. Robidoux' store.

For some days previously to the occurrence which followed, it was noticed that one of the Spence boys would often place himself in a recumbent position on the counter, with his face turned towards thg shelf containing the boxes of money.

Two or three nights afterward an entrance was effected through the window of which I have spoken, and the boxes with their contents were renloved. As soon as it was ascertained by Mr. Robidoux that his store had been burglarized and his money taken, immediate search was instituted by his clerk, Mr. Poulin, and others who volunteered their assistance. Suspecting that the Spence boys knew all about the burglary, as well as the whereabouts of the missing treasure, they went in the direction of their house.

While en route and while crossing Blacksnake Creek, the party discovered a man's shoe, which had evidently been worn but once, as it was entirely new. The day before, three of the Spence boys had purchased shoes from Mr. Poulin, at Robidoux' store. He remembered that the shoes were of different numbers ; the smallest pair being number sixes. He knew also the style of shoe he had sold them, and recollected at their special request he had cut for them unusually long buckskin shoe strings. Upon examination he saw that the shoe, which was a number six, corresponded in style with those he had sold, and what was "confirmation strong as proof of holy writ," there were the long buckskin strings which he had cut and fastened in the shoes. Mr. Poulin also distinctly recollected that the Spence boys, when they left the store the day before, carried their new shoes in their hands. He readily came to the conclusion from the silent yet significant testimony before him, that the Spence boys were in some manner connected with the burglary; that they had worn their new shoes upon the night which had just passed, and, having secured their booty, one of them had in his flight through the soft clay of the creek bottom,. lost one.

Being thus encouraged, the party hastily pursued their way ,to the cabin where the Spences lived, surrounded it, and captured the Spence boys, as well as Davis and Scott. Davis and Scott were however released. The others were brought before Justice Mills, and upon a preliminary examination being held, they were discharged, there not being sufficient proof to bind them over for trial.

Sixteen or eighteen citizens, some of whom are still living, feeling confident that the Spence boys, Davis and Scott, had committed the crime, met the next day, and proceeded in a body on horseback to Davis and Scott's residence, determined if they could, to bring the offenders to justice and restore the stolen money.

In the meantime, after the preliminary trial, Mr. Robidoux had offered a reward of five hundred dollars for the capture and conviction of the parties who had taken his silver. Scott and Davis were taken and compelled to accompany the party of citizens, who, when about halfwayback to town, separated, the larger portion taking Davis on a hill and leaving Scott in the valley of the One Hundred and Two, in charge of Elisha Gladden,

They took Davis out of Scott's sight, and just far enough away so that Scott could hear the firing of a pistol by the party on the hill. After halting they dismounted, and told Davis that he must tell them where Robidoux' money was, giving him to understand that if he refused they .would hang him. He strenuously denied all knowledge of the affair, and told them to "hang and be d - d." They placed a rope round his neck, threw one end of it over the limb of a tree, and swung him up, only intending, to frighten and make him confess to the whereabouts of the

"money. After he had remained suspended for some minutes they let him down, and asked him to confess the crime. Davis being as bold and defiant as ever, they hung him again, this time almost taking his life. They again asked him to tell where the money was, when he again fefused in a fiendish, insolent manner, branding them with a profusion of the lowest epithets. Seeing that Davis would tell nothing, some one of the party shot off a pistol, (as previously arranged, if Davis did not confess), so that Scott could hear it, and at the same time two or three of them rushed down the hill where Scott was guarded, shouting that they had "killed Davis" and were now "going to kill Scott,"

One of these men held up his hand, which he had accidentally bruised coming down the hill, and which had some spots of blood on it, telling Scott, when Davis was shot, some of his blood had spurted on on his hand. Gladden, who was guarding Scott, said, when the concussion of the pistol was heard, " that Scott's face became as pallid as death," he supposing that his accomplice had been killed.

They gave him to understand that they had disposed of Davis, and that if he did not tell them all about the money and the parties implicated in taking it, they would also dispose of him in a very summary manner, but promised that if he would give them this information, they would not only spare his life, but would supply him with money enough to take him out of the country.

Believing what he had heard and seen to be true, and that the condition of things was such as had been represented, Scott asked some one present to give him a pencil and piece of paper. This being done, he wrote the names of all the parties concerned in the burglary, (the Spence' brothers, Davis and himself,) and led the way to where one of the boxes had been buried, near the banks of the One Hundred and Two. So ingenious had been their plan, and so careful had they been to conceal all the traces of their villainy, that while digging a hole, in which to deposit the money, they placed every particle of dirt in a box and emptied it into the stream, excepting enough to refill the hole after the money was put in. Having four thousand dollars, they dug four holes. They then divided a blanket into four pieces, took the money out of the boxes, wrapped each thousand dollars separately, buried it by itself, and then refilled the hole, covering it over with the same sod that they had taken up, and then burned the boxes.

Scott could only show them where the first thousand dollars was. He did not see them when they buried the other three thousand. They, however, found the first thousand. How or where to obtain the balance of the money they did not know. Scott could not tell, and Davis, they supposed, would not. They had tried threats and hanging with him, but without avail.

In the meantime Davis was still in custody. They went to him and told him that Scott had confessed, and told him it would be better for him to make confession also. Scott told them that he knew nothing to reveal, and said that they were " lying " to him, when they said that Davis had confessed to anything. They answered that he had not only given them the names of the parties implicated (showing him the piece of paper in Scott's handwriting,) but that he had shown them where the first thousand dollars was buried. He still refused to say or believe anything. In order to convince him of the truth of what they said, they took him to the very spot from which they had taken the money, and the piece of blanket in which it had been wrapped.

No longer doubting what he had seen and heard, he called for a drink of whisky, which was supplied by one of the men guarding him^ and after taking it, showed them where the balance of the money had been buried.

To further prove that Davis and his pals were accomplished villains, and that they possessed a cunning ingenuity which would have been creditable to the pirates and freebooters of the last century, and which, in some respects, is not unlike the narrative of " Arthur Gordon Pym,". by the gifted Poe, it is only necessary to mention how he proceeded to show where and how to find the balance of the money.

He stood at the edge of the hole whence the first thousand dollars was taken, and stepped ten paces south, and pointing his index finger toward his feet said, "here you will find a thousand dollars." He then led the way to a small log upon the ground, with a single knot on it, and pointing again, said, "immediately under this knot you will find another thousand." Going to the bank of the One Hundred and Two, in the sand^ near a willow tree, where a limb extended, the end of which had been broken off, but still hanging by the bark and pointing downward, he said, " here, under the point of this hanging limb you will find the last thousand dollars."

The money was all recovered excepting twenty-seven dollars, and returned to Mr, Robidoux. Scott and Davis were both arrested. During the night Davis made his escape, and Scott was finally discharged on the ground of his having made confession and giving the names of the parties who had participated in the burglary. The Spence boys left the country after being informed that their further presence here was obnoxious and could not be endured.

The great naturalist, Audubon, who not only appreciated the physical attractions of the animal kingdom, but loved as well the beautiful and sublime in nature, while on his way to the Yellowstone, in May^

1843, refers to the " Blacksnake Hills " as follows : "After grounding on sandbars, and contending against hard winds and currents, we reached the Blacksnake Hills settlement, which is a delightful site for a populous city. The hills are two hundred feet above the level of the river, and slope gently down on the opposite side, to the beautiful prairies that extend over thousands of acres of the richest land imaginable."

St. Joseph Laid Out

In June, 1843, Mr. Robidoux laid out the original town, the site of which was covered with a luxuriant growth of hemp. Simeon Kemper acted as surveyor in this important undertaking, and Elisha Gladden as chain bearer. Two maps of the town were made, one by F. W. Smith, and the other by Simeon Kemper, bearing respectively the names of "Robidoux" and "St. Joseph," in honor of its founder. The map drawn by Mr. Smith was selected by Mr. Robidoux, and the more civilized and felicitous appellative of St. Joseph was substituted for that of Blacksnake Hills.

This map was taken to St. Louis, where Mr. Robidoux acknowledged it, in the office of the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas (Nathaniel Paschall, who has since been one of the editors of the St. Louis Republican, being the clerk at the time), and, after having it beautifully lithographed, returned to St. Joseph.

I, Joseph Robidoux, of the County of Buchanan and the State of Missouri, do hereby declare that I am the proprietor and owner of a certain town named St. Joseph, located upon the southwest fractional quarter of section 8, township 57 north, range 35 west, of the fifth principal meridian, and that I have laid off the same into lots and blocks, bounded by streets and alleys, and a levee or landing on the front, which streets and alleys are of the width set forth upon this plat, and the lots and blocks are of the dimensions and numbers "as are indicated upon said plat ; and the course of said streets and the extent of said lots, blocks and town are correctly set forth upon this plat of the same, which waS' made by my authority and under my direction. And I do hereby give, grant, allot and convey, for public uses, all the streets and alleys, by the names and of the width and extent that are set forth upon said plat. And I hereby declare this dedication to be made by me, this, the 26th day of July, eighteen hundred and forty-three, to be binding upon me, my heirs and assigns forever."

Certificate Of Proprietor'S Acknowledgement

-of Common Pleas, within and for said county, came Joseph Robidoux, who is personally known to me to be the same person whose name is to the above plat, as having executed the said plat, and who acknowledged to me that he executed said plat for the purposes therein named.

In testimony whereof, I have set my hand and affixed the seal of said court at office in the City of St. Louis and State aforesaid, 26th day of July, eighteen hundred and forty-three.

Nathaniel Paschall

The west half of block thirty-one was reserved on the map as a market square ; the west half of block fifty was donated for a public ; the northwest quarter of block thirty-eight for a public school, .and the south quarter of the same block for a Catholic church.

These lots were immediately put upon the market, even before the title to them was complete. This was perfected in 1844, at which time a United States Land Office was located at Plattsburg, Missouri.

The uniform price of corner lots was one hundred and fifty dollars, and inside lots one hundred dollars. As rapidly as sale could be made the money was applied in payment of a mortgage, held by Pierre Chouteau, Jr., of St. Louis, upon the land embracing the town site, amounting to six thousand, three hundred and seventy-two dollars and fifty-seven

The town, as then laid off, included all the territory lying between Robidoux Street on the north and Messanie Street on the south, and between Sixth Street on the east and the Missouri River on the west, and sixty-four blocks, twelve of which are fractional. Each whole block is 240 by 300 feet, bisected by an alley and containing twelve lots.

The streets are governed by the cardinal points of the compass ; those running back from the river in the " Original Town," extending aorth and south, are Water, Levee, Main (or First,) Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth ; those running at right angles, commencing on the parallel of the north line, are Isadore, Robidoux, Faraon, Jules, Francis. Felix, Edmond, Charles, Sylvanie, Angelique, Messanie. These names are derived from members of Mr. Robidoux' family.

Additions To The Original Town

Since the laying out of the original town, covering a period of thirty- -eight years, there have been added about seventy-two additions, the jiames of which, and the date of their dedication are as follows :

This deed, made and entered into this twenty-fifth day of July, «ighteen hundred and forty-three, by and between Joseph Robidoux and Angelique, his wife, of the County of Buchanan, and State of Missouri, of the first part, Kenneth Mackensie and Benjamin Clapp, of the County of Saint Louis, of the second part, and Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Company, of the City of Saint Louis, and state aforesaid, of the third part, witnesseth : that the said parties of the first part, in consideration of the debt and trust hereinafter mentioned and created, and of the sum of one dollar to them paid by the said parties of the second part, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, do by these presents, grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfeoff, convey and confirm unto the said parties of the second part, all those certain town lots, blocks and parcels of ground in a certain town, called Saint Joseph, in the County of Buchanan, and State of Missouri, which town is located on the southwest fractional quarter of section eight, township fifty-seven, north of the base line, range thirty-five, west of the fifth principal meridian, and is laid out according to a plat made by Joseph Robidoux, the proprietor thereof, now recorded in the Recorder's office of said county, which lots and blocks hereby conveyed are numbered according to said plat as follows, viz.: All of blocks numbers one, two, three and four, and fractional block number five, each block containing twelve lots, except block number five, which contains eight lots and two fractional lots, which blocks are bounded west by Water Street and east by Levee Street, and also all of blocks numbers six, seven, eight, nine and ten, according to said plat, lying between First Street on the east and Levee Street on the west, each block containing twelve lots, except block No. (6) six, which contains only eight lots, and also all of blocks numbers twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four and twenty-five, lying between Second . Street on the east and First Street on the west, each block containing twelve lots, except block No. (25) twenty-five, which contains only eight lots, all of which lots contain forty feet front upon a street, by one hundred and forty feet in depth, to an alley twenty feet wide, except the fractional lots in the fractional block, as will more fully appear by reference to said plat, together with all the buildings and improvements thereon, and all the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging - to have and to hold the same, with the appurtenances, to the said parties of the second part, and to the survivor of them and to the heirs and assigns of such survivor forever, in trust, however, for the following purpose ;

Whereas, The said Joseph Robidoux has executed to the parties of the third part, his certain negotiable note, bearing even date herewith, for the sum of six thousand three hundred and' seventy-two dollars and fifty-seven cents, payable twelve months after date, to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Co., or order, without defalcation or discount, with interest at maturity, at the rate of ten per centum per annum. Now, if the said note shall be well and truly paid, according to the tenor and effect thereof, then this deed shall be void, and the property hereinbefore conveyed sha:ll be released at the cost of the said parties of the first part ; but if the note, or any part thereof, shall, after the same becomes due, be in arrear and unpaid, then this deed shall remain in force, and the said parties of the second part, or the survivor of them, or the heirs and assigns of such survivor, may proceed to sell the property hereinbefore described, or any part thereof, at public vendue, to the highest bidder, at the court house door, in the City of Saint Louis, and State of Missouri, for cash, first giving thirty days public notice of the time, terms and place of said sale, and of the property to be sold, by advertisement in some newspaper printed in the said City of Saint Louis, and upon such sale shall execute and deliver a deed in fee simple of the property sold, to the purchaser or purchasers thereof, and receive the proceeds of said sale, out of wnich they shall pay, first, the cost and expenses of this trust, and next whatever may be due and unpaid of principal and interest on said note to the said Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Co., or to whomsoever may be the legal owner thereof, and the balance, if any, shall be paid to the said Joseph Robidoux or his legal representatives.

Be it remembered that on this twenty-sixth day of July, eighteen hundred and forty-three, before me, the undersigned. Clerk of the St. Louis Court of Common Pleas, within and for said county, came Joseph Robidoux, and Angelique Robidoux, his wife, who are personally known to me to be the same persons whose names are subscribed to the foregoing instrument of writing, as parties thereto, and severally acknowledged the same to be their act and deed for the purposes therein mentioned. She, the said Angelique, having been first made acquainted with the contents of said deed, acknowledged on an examination, separate and apart from her husband, that she executed said deed, and relinquishes her dower in the real estate therein mentioned, freely, voluntarily, and without any fear or compulsion, or undue influence of her said husband.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand and affix the seal of said court, at office in the city of St. Louis, this twenty-sixth day pf July, in the year eighteen hundred and forty-three.