Carroll County, Missouri - The whole text, 1881 (part 6 of 19)

For the use and rent thereof, the said. ...hereby promise, .to pay said ... .or to. . . .order . . . . dollars, per , . . .for the whole time above stated, sub-let or allow any other tenant to come in with or under. .. .without the written consent of said. . . . ; that .... will repair all injuries or damages done to the premises by him or them during. . . .occupancy, or pay for the same; that all of. . . .property, whether subject to legal exemption or not, shall be bound, and subject to the payment of rents and damages thereof; that .... will take good care of the buildings and premises and keep them free from filth, from danger of fire or any nuisance and from all uses forbidden in any fire insurance policy issued thereon, .... and protect, defend and indemnify the said. . . .from all damages. . . .and charges for such, that the houses and premises shall be kept clean, fairly treated and left so; that in default of the payment of any. . . .installment of rent for. . . .day. .after the same becomes due,. . , .will, at the request, of the this cause, the obligation to pay shall not cease, and, finally at the end of - . term .... will surrender to said .... heirs or assigns, the peaceable possession of the said house and premises, with all the keys, bolts, latches and repairs, if any, in as good condition as ... . received the same, the usual wear and use and providential destruction or destruction by fire excepted.

Every mechanic or other person who shall do or perform any work or labor upon, or furnish any materials, fixtures, engine, boiler or machinery for any building, erection or improvements upon land, or for repairing the same under or by virtue of any contract with the owner or proprietor, or his agent, trustee, contractor or sub-contractor, shall be entitled to a lien upon such building, erection, or improvement, and upon the land belonging to such owner or proprietor on which the same are situated. The original contractor must within six months, and every journeyman and day laborer within thirty days, and of every other person seeking to obtain the benefit of the provisions of this chapter, within four months after the indebtedness shall have accrued, file with the clerk of the circuit court of the proper county, a just and true account of the demand due him or them, after all just credits have been given, which is to be a lien upon such building or improvement, and a true description of the property or so near as to identify the same upon which the lien is intended to apply, with the name of the owner or contractor, or both, if known to be the person filing the lien which shall in all cases be verified by the oath of himself or some credible person for him.

Every person except the original contractor, who may wish to avail himself of the benefits of the provisions of this chapter, shall give ten days notice before filing of the lien as herein required, to the owner, owners, or agent, or either of them, that he or they hold a claim against such building or improvements, setting forth the amount and from whom the same is due.

All mechanics* lien holders shall stand on equal footing, without reference to date of filing, and upon sale of property they shall take pro rata on the respective liens.

We only attempt to give an outline of the law of mechanics' liens to aid the general business man. Should any complicated questions arise, it is best to consult an attorney in regard to the same.

Now, at this day, come .... and with a view to avail .... of the benefit of the statute relating to mechanics' liens, file . . the account below set forth for work and labor done, and materials furnished by .... under contract with .... upon, to and for the buildings and improvements described as follows, to-wit:

(Give description of the property upon which the building is erected.) said premise, buildings, and improvements, belonging to and being owned by .... which said account, the same being hereby filed, in order that it may constitute a lien upon the buildings, improvements, and premises above described, is as follows: and for the buildings and improvements hereinbefore described, after all just credits have been given ; that said work and labor were done, and said materials furnished upon, to and for said buildings and improvements the foregoing description is a true description of the property upon, to and for which said materials were furnished, and said work and labor done, and to which this lien is intended to apply, or so near as to identify the same ; that said demand accrued within .... months prior to the filing of prior to the filing of this lien .... gave notice to .... of his claim against the amount thereof, from whom due, and of ... . intention to file a lien of the' above described premises, and the buildings and improvements thereon, which said premises, buildings, and improvements are intended to be charged with this lien.

Bill Of Sale Of Goods

Know all men by these presents, that .... of .... for and in consideration of the sum of .... dollars to . . in hand paid by .... of ... . the receipt whereof . . do hereby acknowledge, by these presents do bargain and sell imto the said .... all the goods, household stuff, implements and furniture, and all other goods and chattels whatsoever mentioned in the schedule hereunto annexed: To have and to hold aU and singular the said goods, household stuff, and furniture, and other premises above bargained and sold or intended so to be, to the said .... and . . assigns forever. And .... the said .... for .... and . . heirs, all and singular, the goods and chattels of whatever description, unto the said .... and . . assigns against .... the said .... and against all and every other person and persons whomsoever, shall and will warrant and forever defend by these presents. Of all and smgular which said goods, chattels, and property, .... the said .... have put the said .... in full possession by delivery to . ., the said .... one .... at the sealing and delivery of these presents, in the name of the whole premises hereby bargained and sold, or mentioned, or intended so to be imto . . , the said .... as aforesaid.

Notb. - If the bill of sale is to be recorded in the county recorder's office, it must be acknowledged before some officer authorized to take acknowledgment of deeds - otherwise not.

Be it remembered, that on this .... day of . . . ., A. D. 18. ., before the undersigned, a within and for the county of .... and state of Missouri, personally t:ame .... who .. personally known to me to be the same person. . whose name. . subscribed to the foregoing instrument of writing, as part. . thereto, and acknowledged the same to be .. voluntary act and deed for the purposes therein mentioned.

Definition Of Commercial Terms

@ stands for at or /o; fc for founds, and bbl. for barrels^ ^ for -per or by the. Thus, butter sells at 20 30c ft>, and flour at $8@12 ^ bbl.

May 1. Wheat sells at $1.20@$1.2.5, "seller June." Seller Jime means that the person who sells the wheat has the privilege of delivering - it at any time during the month of June.

Selling shorty is contracting to deliver a certain amount of grain or stock, at a fixed price, within a certain length of time, when the seller has not the stock on hand. It is for the interest of the person selling " short" to depress the market as much as possible, in order that he may buy and fill his contract at a profit. Hence the " shorts" are called " bears."

Buying long, is to contract to purchase a certain amount of grain or shares of stock at a fixed price, deliverable within a stipulated time, expecting to make a profit by the rise in prices. The " longs" are termed " bulls," as it is for their interest to " operate " so as to " toss " the prices upward as much as possible.

Articles Of Agreement

An agreement is where one party promises to another to do a certain thing in a certain time for a stipulated sum. Good business men always reduce an agreement to writing, which nearly always saves misunderstandings and trouble. No particular form is necessary, but the facts must be clearly and explicitly stated, and there must, to make it valid, be a reasonable consideration.

General Form Of Agreement

This agreement, made the second day of June, 1878, between John 'Jones, of Marshall, county of Saline, state of Missouri, of the first part, ^nd Thomas Whitesides, of the same place, of the second part -

WiTNESSETH, That the said John Jones, in consideration of the agreement of the party of the second part, hereinafter contained, contracts and agrees to and with the said Thomas Whiteside, that he will deliver in good and marketable condition, at the village of Slater, Missouri, during the month of November, of this year, one hundred tons of prairie hay, in the following lots, and at the following specified times, namely: Twenty-five tons bv the seventh of November, twenty-five tons additional by the fourteenth of the month, twenty-five tons more by the twenty-first, and the entire one hundred tons to be all delivered by the thirtieth of November.

And the said Thomas Whitsides, in consideration of the prompt fulfillment of this contract, on the part of the party of the first part, contracts to and agrees with the said John Jones, to pay for said hay five dollars per ton, for each ton as soon as delivered.

In case of failure of agreement by either of the parties hereto, it is hereby stipulated and agreed that the party so failing shall pay to the other, one hundred dollars, as fixed and settled damages.

Agreement With Clerk For Services

This agreement, made the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, between Reuben Stone, of Marshall, county of Saline, State of Missouri, party of the first part, and George Barclay, of Sedalia, county of Pettis, state of Missouri, party of the second part -

WiTNESSETH, That said George Barclay agrees faithfully and diligently to work as clerk and salesman for the said Reuben Stone, for and during the space of one year from the date hereof, should both live such length of time, without absenting himself from his occupation ; during which time he, the said Barclay, in the store of said Stone, of Marshall, will. carefully and honestly attend, doing and performing all duties as clerk and salesman* aforesaid, in accordance and in all respects as directed and desired by the said Stone.

In consideration of which services, so to be rendered by the said Barclay, the said Stone agrees to pay to said Barclay the annual sum of one thousand dollars, payable in twelve equal monthly payments, each upon the last day of each month: provided that all dues for days of absence from business by said Barclay, shall be deducted from the sum otherwise by the agreement due and payable by the said Stone to the said Barclay.

Note. - It is generally assumed that the gross weight of hogs diminished by 1-5 or 20 per cent, of itself gives the net weight, and the net weight increased by or 25 per cent of Itself equals the gross weight.

Rule. - Multiply (by short method) the number of cubic feet by 6308, and point off one decimal place - the result will be the correct answer in bushels and tenths of a bushel.

Rule. - Multiply the humber of cubic feet by 54, short method, or by 4^ ordinary method, and point off one decimal place - the result will be the answer in bushels.

Note - In estimating corn in the ear, quality and the timt it hat been cribbed must be taken into consideration, since corn will shrink considerably during the winter and spring. This rule generally holds good for corn measured at the time it is cribbed, provided it is Bound and clean.

Practical Rules For Every Day Use

Ria-E. - Multiply the square of the mean diameter by the depth (all in feet) and this product by 5681 (short method), and point off one decimal place - the result will be the contents in barrels of 31^ gallons.

Rule. - Under the square of the mean diameter, write the length (all in inches) in reversed order, so that its units will fall under the tens; multiply by short method, and this product again by 430; point oft one decimal place, and the result will be the answer in wine gallons.

Rule. - Multiply the length (in feet) by the width (in inches) and divide the product by 12 - the result will be the contents in square feet.

Rule. - ^Multiply the width, the thickness, and the length together, (the width and thickness in inches, and the length in feet), and divide the product by 12 - the result will be square feet.

Rule. - Multiply the length by the width (in rods) and divide the product by 160 (carrying the division to 2 decimal places if there is a remainder); the result will be the answer in acres and hundredths.

Bricks are usually made 8 inches long, 4 inches wide, and two inches thick; hence, it requires 27 bricks to make a cubic foot without mortar, but it is generally assumed that the mortar fills 1-6 of the space*

To find the length of the rafters, at one-fourth pitch, multiply the width of the building by .56 (hundredths); at one-third pitch by .6 (tenths); at two-fifths pitch, by .64 (hundredths); at one-half pitch, by .71 (hundredths). This gives the length of the rafters from the apex to the end of the wall, and whatever they are to project must be taken into consideration.

Rule. - Level the grain; ascertain the space it occupies in cubic feet; multiply the number of cubic feet by 8, and point off one place to the left.

If the corn in the box is in the ear, divide the answer by 2 to find the number of bushels of shelled corn, because it requires 2 bushels of ear com to make 1 of shelled corn.

In measuring land, the first thing to ascertain is the contents of any given plot in square yards ; then, given the number of yards, find out the number of rods and acres.

The most ancient and simplest measure of distance is a step. Now, an ordinary-sized man can train himself to cover one yard at a stride, on the average, with sufficient accuracy for ordinary purposes.

To make use of this means of measuring distances, it is essential to walk in a straight line; to do this, fix the eye on two objects in a line stright ahead, one comparatively near, the other remote; and, in walking, keep these objects constantly in line.

Rarmers and others by adopting the following simple and ingenious contrivance^ may always carry with them the scale to construct a correct yard measure.

Take a foot rule, and commencing at the base of the little finger of the left hand, mark the quarters of the foot on the outer borders of the left arm, pricking in the marks with indelible ink.

Practical Rules For Every Day Usb

Rule. - Multiply the square of one-fifth of the circumference in inches by twice the length in feet, and divide by 144. Deduct 1.10 to I.IS according to the thickness of the bark.

Rule. - The reciprocal of the rate is the time for which the interest on any sum of money will be shown by simply removing the decimal point two places to the left; for ten times that time, remove the pomt one place to the left; for 1-10 of the same time, remove the point three places to the left.

U. S. Government Land Measure

The sections are divided into quarters, which are named by the cardinal points. The quarters are divided in the same way. The description of a forty-acre lot would read; The south half of the west half of the south-west quarter of section 1, in township 24, north of range 7 west, or as the case might be; and sometimes will fall short, and sometimes overrun the number of acres it is supposed to contain.

A league is three miles, but its length is variable, for it is strictly speaking a nautical term, and should be three eeojrraphical miles, equal to 3.45 statute miles, bui vvi.i.ii t..iec stutuie iniiesare said to be a league.

How To Keep Accounts

Every farmer and mechanic, whether he does much or little business, should keep a record of his transactions in a clear and systematic manner. For the benefit of those who have not had the opportunity of acquiring a primary knowledge of the principles of book-keeping, we here present a simple form of keeping accounts which is easily comprehended, and well adapted to record the business transactions of farmers, mechanics and

Interest Table

Ealtlply tbe prineJpo/(Bmonnt of money «t interest) by tbe timt reduced to days', then divide thii product by the 9i/ofi«n< obtained by dlvidlni; oOOithe number of days In tbe interest year) by tbe per uni of interest, and tbe quotient thus obtained will be tbe required Interest.

Names Of The States Of The Union, And Their

Virginia. - ^The oldest of the states, was so called in honor of Queen Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen," in whose reign Sir Walter Raleigh made his first attempt to colonize that region.

Florida. - Ponce de Leon landed on the coast of Florida on Easter Sunday, and called the country in commemoraticn of the day, which was the Pasqua Florida of the Spaniards, or " Feast of Flowers."

Texas is the American word for the Mexican name by which all that section of the country was called before it was ceded to the United States.

Suggestions To Those Purchasing Books By Subscription

The business of 'publishing books by subscription, having so often been brought into disrepute by agents making representations and declarations not authorized by the publwier, in order to prevent that as much as possible, and that there may be more general knowledge of the relation such agents bear to their p^cipal, ana the law governing such cases, the following statement is made:

A subscription is in the nature of a contract of mutual promises, by which the subscriber agrees to pay a certain sum for the work described ; the consideration is concurrent that the publisher shall publish the book named, and deliver the same, for which the subscriber is to pay the price named. The nature and character of the work is described by the prosfectus and sample shown. These should be carefully examined before sub-- scribing, as they are the basis and consideration of the promise to pay, and not the too often exaggerated statements of the agent, who is merely employed to solicit subscriptions, for which he usually paid a commission for each subscriber, and has no authority to change or alter the conditions upon which the subscriptions are authorized to be made by the publisher. Should the agent assume to agree to make the subscription conditional, or modify or change the agreement of the publisher, 2i'& set out by the prospectus and sample, in order to bind the principle, the subscriber should see that such condition or changes are stated over or in connection with his signature, so that the publisher may have notice of the same.

All persons making contracts in reference to matters of this kind, or any other business, should remember that the law as written is, that they can not be altered, varied or rescinded verbally, hut if done at all, must be done in writing. It is therefore importai.i that all persons contemplating subscribing ^uld distinctly understand^ihat all talk before or after the subscription is made is not admissible as evidence, and is no part of the contract.

Persons employed to solicit subscriptions are known to the trade as canvassers They are agents appointed to do a particular business in a prescribed mode, and have no authority to do it in any other way to the prejudice of their principal, nor can they bind their principal in any other matter. They cannot collect money, or agree that payment may be made in anything else but money. They cannot extend the time of payment beyond the time of delivery, nor bind their principal for the payment of expenses incurred in their business.

It would save a great deal of trouble, and often serious loss, if persons, before signing their names to any subscription book, or any written instrumem, would examine carefully what it is; if they cannot read themselves, call on some one disinterested who can.

Geographical Location And Extent

Carroll county is located in the western part of the State, and is seventy miles from the eastern line of the state of Kansas and about seventy two miles from the south line of the statg of Iowa, and between the 93d and 94th meredian. It is sub-divided into twenty-three full and fractional townships, and contains 441,536 acres. From the Missouri river on the south to the extreme north line of the county, is twenty-eight miles, and from Grand river, its eastern boundary, to the extreme western line of the county, is twenty-six miles. Livingston county bounds it on the north, Caldwell and Ray counties on the west, and on the south and east its boundary lines are the Missouri and Grand Rivers.

To native Missourians - to the thousands who have and are daily locating in this section of the country, Missouri is the garden of the world and Carroll county is the garden of Missouri. The depth and richness of the soil on the Missouri river bottoms is a wonder to those who are locating it, and it seems that extended droughts like the one that spread over a great portion of the United States, during the summer of 1881, had no effect in cutting short the crops of this wonderfully fertile region. These bottom lands extend from the eastern to the western lines of the county, and are from one to ten miles in width between the rivers and the bluffs that divide the bottom from the table or prairie uplands of the county.

From the bluffs that skirt the meanderings of the Waconda, a panorama of beauty unfolds to the eye and reminds the enraptured looker-on of the far famed valley of Rasselas. Laving the base of this whole line of bluffs extending southeasterly, the turbid waters of the Wy-a-con-da(Wakanda), flow sluggishly and pour into the Missouri. Campbell's Gazeteer of Missouri, revised edition, says: "The Wakanda abounded with fine ' fish, and on its banks and in the adjacent timber were found deer, elk, buffalo, turkeys and other game in abundance. The Indians, thinking that a stream where the Great Spirit had placed such quantities of game and fish, must be sacred, dared not destroy or kill anything in the neighborhood, except on festival days, and their festivities were always held on the banks of this river, bearing its name " Wakanda," meaning God's river.

The general surface of the county on the uplands is undulating, twothirds of which is prairie, the balance being timber, while the bottom lands are as level as a floor, a small portion being timber, exclusively skirting the Missouri and Wakanda rivers.

A river called Wy-a-con-da (Wakanda), is also found in Lewis county, this state. Its spelling, Wy-a-con-da, and its pronunciation, Wa-kan-da, being precisely similar to the stream in this county, the general assembly at its next or some succeeding session should change the name of the stream in Lewis county.

There is scarcely a variety of surface, valley, timber, blufl or prairie, but can be found in this county, and taking the position, climate and general facilities, it can be made one of the finest stock raising counties in the west, besides the climatic influences and adaptability of the soil for all kinds of grains, vegetables, fruits, and grasses, are unsurpassed, and the statistics of late years establish the fact that Carroll, in proportion to its general area and population, is second to no county in the United States in the production of corn, oats, wheat, hemp, tobacco, fruits, cattle, horses, and hogs.

Outside the ordinary topography already noted, we have Bogart's mound, Stokes' mound, and Tater Hill mound, in the northern part of the county, besides some of lesser note in the eastern part of the county, erected, either as burial places, works of defense, or, more probably, watch-towers of the aborigines who formed them.

The Wakanda river is the largest stream flowing through the county; Moss creek, a beautiful stream of clear water, fed by innumerable springs bubbling up, from its source to its mouth, is next in size. Turkey, Big Creek, Big Hurricane, and Little Wakanda, in their order, and many of smaller note, none of which are navigable.

In minerals, we can boast of coal, of an excellent quality, and in inexhaustible quantities, underlying the entire surface of the county, frequently cropping out in the banks and beds of streams. Iron and lead are known to exist, but no effort has yet been made to discover paying deposits. Stone, of superior building quality, is found in various parts of the county, but, with the exception of the famous White Rock quarries none has been opened for market.

Timber. - Besides the magnificent groves of black walnut that skirt the river bottoms, and which is now in such demand, we have black, white, red, pin, and water oak, maple, sugar maple, linn, elm, hickory, hackberry cottonwood, and various others, in abundance.

In many parts of the uplands are found inexhaustible springs of fine, pure water, hard and soft, and in the northwestern portions of the county, the surface of the springs indicate deposits of coal oil or tar, a notice in detail of which will be found in the township history of Hill, Washington Leslie, and Fairfield.

The educational interests of the county are in a condition that is a pride to every lover of the common school system. Having one hundred and seventeen sub-districts, in the most prosperous condition, financially and otherwise, speaks volumes for the cause, and the way it is managed. There are one hundred and thirty school-houses, mostly new, and about fifty churches. The school-houses' are nearly all new, and are commodious and substantial, the Carrollton building costing $42,000, and an annual expenditure of about $8,000 for superintendent and teachers.

From figures furnished the Carroll Record^ the county, in 1880, raised 8,000,000 bushels of corn, and 650,000 of wheat. There were shipped, the same year, by the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific railroad, which traverses the county from east to west, 4,245 car-loads of freight.

At the organization of the county the intention was to call it " Wakanda," after the river of that name already referred to, and the bill forming the new county had passed its first and second reading by that name, but when it. came up for its third reading and final action, the news of the death of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, had just been received in Jefferson City, and when a proposition was made to insert in the bill the name of " Carroll " inlieu of Wakanda, it passed without a dissenting vote, and was signed the 3d day of January, 1833, the county having been laid off in townships in 1816, and sectionized in 1817.

In the year 1720 M. de Renault, the son of a celebrated iron founder, of France, came to America, under authority of the French government, to search for the precious metals. He left France with 200 artificers, and «« voyage to the mouth of the Mississippi, stopped at the Island of San Domingo, where he purchased 500 slaves. With a force of about 800 nien, Renault landed on the left bank of the Mississippi, about ten or fifteen miles above the present town site of St. Genevieve, and here built a fort called Fort Chartres. From this fort exploring and prospecting par- ties were organized and sent out into the interior on the east side of the river, with tools and appliances for determining the existence of silver and gold.

These parties made some important discoveries of iron and lead in the southeastern part of this state, but none of silver and gold. Mine La Motte, on the St. Francois, was developed by M. La Motte, one of Renault's lieutenants. Other mines of lead were discovered, but none worked with profit. The prospectors would not be satisfied with such base metal. Explorations were pushed' and continued far into the state. Diggings were certainly made on the Blackwater river, in the southern part of Saline county, as remains of old smelting works were found when the county was first settled, as were inscriptions upon the rock, and one or two tools. .

As small parties explored the country in every direction from the encampment of the main party, it is quite probable that one of these parties crossed the river and penetrated the territory now included within the present boundaries of Carroll county. Color is given to this presumption by the fact that traces and remains of early diggings were plainly visible in the northern part of this county, in early days, in what is now Hill township, not far from the " Potato Hills," and near Potato Hill creek. Doubtless some lead was found there, as it had been in many other places where prospecting has been done, but lead was not what was wanted. It was gold - that metal, to possess which in great abundance Cortez invaded Mexico and Pizarro conquered the Incas, and the search for which led to the discovery and a knowledge^ of the terre beau* of Missouri.

In the neighborhood of the old diggings, in the northeast part of Leslie township, same bee-hunters from below - from near old Chariton or Big Bottom, in Saline county - buried a cask of honey at an early day. Having visited this county, which then flowed with honey, if not milk, in search of the delicious nectar, they found more than they could convey away. A "gum" was found, which was soon made into a cask, filled with honey, headed up and buried, to keep it from bears or roving bands of Indians, who were wont to break through and steal. A dry ravine was selected in which to bury the barrel until the party could return, and while digging a receptacle a chunk of almost pure lead as large as both of a man's fists, was unearthed. Plenty of lead ore was also found in the vicinity. The party returned to the lower settlements, and some time after another party came back after the honey and to examine the lead indications, but could not find the locality, and the exact spot has never been discovered to this day.

The Lewis And Clark Expedition

Soon after the "Territory of Louisiana" had been purchased from France by President Jefferson, in 1803, he projected an exploring? expedition from the Mississippi to the Pacific ocean, and recommended to congress as the commander thereof one Merriwether Lewis, his private secretary. In company with Capt. Wm. Clark, of the regular army, Lewis set out in the summer of 1803, and encamped for the winter on the Illinois bank of the Mississippi, opposite the mouth of the Missouri. Here a company was organized for the expedition, composed of nine young Kentuckians, fourteen soldiers, two Canadian boatmen, a hunter, an interpreter and a negro servant of Capt. Clark. They had a keel boat 55 feet long, accompanied by two open boats, called -piroques.

May 16, 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition started up the Missouri river op the way to the Pacific ocean. Some twenty miles up the river they came to the little French village of St. Charles, where they remained a day or two. Passing the mouths of the Gasconade, the Osage, the Chariton and the Grand, a few miles west of the last named stream the party came to "some rocky bluffs," where, upon landing for some purpose or other, one of the party was badly snake-bitten. Whisky was prescribed and freely administered, and the stricken man soon recovered. But other members of the company seemed to think they had been bitten by the same deadly serpent, and that they were in as imminent peril as their comrade. At any rate, by some means, they obtained enough whisky to render them all quite jolly, if not actually tipsy, and their stay in Carroll county was certainly a pleasant one, for the time, at least, if not actually a profitable one, and one that doubtless was long remembered.

Just west of the mouth of Grand River (probably where the snake bite occurred) the expedition met a trading party from the Sioux Nation, from whom they secured the services of a Mr. Durion, who had lived with the Sioux for more than twenty years, and who acted as interpreter for Lewis and Clark during the expedition, and was of great service to them while passing through the country of the Mandans.

Merriwether Lewis was the governor of the territory of Louisiana, which then included Missouri from 1807 to 1809, when he committed suicide in the State of Tennessee while on his way to Washington City. Wm. Clark was the first and only governor of the territory of Missouri, being appointed by the president in July, 1813, and serving until the admission of the state into the union in 1821. He died in St. Louis, September 1, 1838.

One hundred j'ears previous to the Lewis and Clark expedition (to be exact, in the year 1705,) the French had ascended the Missouri river as high as the mouth of the Kansas river, where Kansas City now stands. Here they established a trading post, and all the Indians cheerfully engaged in trade with them.* Here it may be observed that the early French traders were always more fortunate in establishing and maintaining friendly intercourse with the Indians than the traders of any other nationality. Whether the members of the French expedition of 1705 stopped in Carroll county, cannot now certainly be known; presumably they did, as they passed up and down the river, but where and when they landed, and what they did thereafter cannot now be stated.

About the year 1800 and until about 1812, and doubtless long thereafter, the creeks of Carroll county were visited by trappers and hunters in quest of beaver and otter, with which all of the streams then abounded. One of these hunters was Wm. McReynolds, a Kentuckian, who, with his two sons, trapped not only on the Wakanda, Turkey Creek, and Big Creek in this county, but in the Miama Bottom and in the Grand Pass on the Petite Osage plains, in Saline county.

McReynolds was very successful as a trapper; so much so that an old settler describing him, said to the writer: "When the otters and beavers saw old McReynolds, they never waited for him to set a trap, but would just lay down on their backs and put up their paws and whine, as much as to say, 'here we are, Mr. McReynolds, don't hurt us any more than you can help.' And he could skin an otter or a beaver or a muskrat in less time than any man I ever saw."

Other hunters and trappers were old Jesse McMahan, the Ferrils, Thos. Cox, Wm. Edmunson, Patrick Garrity, an Irishman, and a Frenchman named Beaubien, who had an Indian wife. The most of these had their homes either in the Boone's Lick country, Howard county, or in the Big Bottom, opposite Glasgow, in Saline county.

Abbott's life of Daniel Boone states that that noted old pioneer hunter and Indian fighter spent the greater portion of one winter on the Carroll county side of the Grand river "about twenty miles from its mouth.'' Here he followed trapping, having first built him a comfortable and substantial camp. One day while Boone was making some explorations farther up the river he came across some unmistakable Indian signs. He hastily retreated to his camp where he remained shut up for about twenty days, afraid to venture out to his traps, as there was a snow on the ground and his tracks would surely betray not only his presence, but at the same time his hiding place. He also feared to build a fire in the daytime, lest the smoke should indicate his whereabouts, and he kept himself warm by wrapping up well and lying down among his peltries and furs. At about midnight he would light a fire of dead or dry wood, and cook enough venison and corn bread to last him twenty-four hours. His canoe, in which he Had come up the river, and in which he expected to carry away the trophies of his skill, was removed by him, with great labor some distance from the shore and hidden until the danger had passed.

At the time of the incident narrated above, the Indians on this side of the river were hostile to the whites, and this was probably from 1800 to 1815, after the close of the war of 1812. Boone, at that time resided in the St. Charles country. The place where he had his camp was doubtless in what is now Compton township. How he passed the Indian village near the mouth of Grand River, or upon what terms he lived with the inhabitants thereof, can not be stated for want of knowledge on the subject.

The uprising of the Indians on this side of the river during the war of 1812 drove all the scattering whites into the Howard county forts or farther down the river, except now and then an adventurous or reckless character w'ho "took his chances" rather than abandon the little home he had made, or give up his search for the fur-bearing animals. Sometimes these men paid dearly for their temerity. At different times and places the following Settlers were killed by the Indians: Sarshell Cooper, Braxton Cooper, Jr., Jonathan Todd, Wm. Campbell, Thos. Smith, Samuel McMahon, Wm. McLane, Wm. Gregg, John Smith, James Busby, Joseph W. Stiel, and a colored man named Joseph Brown. The two Coopers and Busby belonged to Cooper's Fort, Howard county; Todd, Thos. Smith, Stiel, and McLane to Fort Hempstead; McMahon belonged to Fort Cooper, but was killed in Cooper county; Gregg was a Saline county man.

Early History, Settlements, Etc

The following account of the early settlement of the county is taken from a historical sketch published by Brink, McDonough & Co., in 1876. Nearly all the materials were furnished the writers by O. J. Kerby, Esq., the present county clerk, and well known as an old pioneer and prominent settler. By permission, and in order that all the facts connected with the history of the county may be known this sketch is here given:

Early History

But little is known of the territory now embraced in Carroll county, previons to the year 1816. The country west of the Grarld river was occu- pied by the Sac and Fox Indians. The Indians had a village in the edge of the timber in the bend of the Grand river, on the old Brunswick road. The site is now included in section one of township 53-21. The ^village was occupied till after 1817. Farther down the river a trading-post was established by two Frenchmen, Blandeau and Choteau, and a thriving trade was carried on for some time with the Indians. Some six miles up Grand river, and on the Chariton county side, an Indian trading-post was established by Joseph Robidoux, who, afterwards, when the Indians began to drift farther west, took possesion of and established a post at Black Snake Hills, and thus became the founder of the present city of St. Joseph. At the trading post of Blandeau and Choteau a ferry was established across Grand River. Canoes were at first the only ferry boats. A raft was subsequently made of large canoes. This ferry became the principle one over Grand River. For many years it was kept by Benjamin Cross. It is now known as the Townsend ferry.

The survey of Carroll county was begun in 1816, and completed the following year. There were no white settlements at that time within the limits of the county. While the surveyors were at work in the neighborhood of White Rock prairie, a barrel of whisky, or fire-water, it is said, was obtained by some means, over which the knights of the chain and compass made merry around the camp fire. Whether too much was imbibed fortheir own good or not, will, perhaps, never be known, but it is an undeniable fact that subsequent surveyors have had great difficulty in tracing out the old lines of survey in that locality, and in fact some disturbing cause seems to have operated to the disadvantage of the surveys throughout the whole of range twenty-one. Previous to 1817, white trappers had visited the county, and carried on a lucrative employment. Good prices and a ready market for furs and peltries were found at Old Chariton. In the fall of 1817 Martin Palmer, a noted pioneer, who combined the characters of trapper, Indian skirmisher, and politician, ventured some eight miles beyond Grand river, and there established himself for the winter as a trapper. The cabin which he erected stood near Lick branch, in section thirty of De Witt township. It is believed to have been the first ever built within the present limits of Carroll county. On the coming of spring the Indians made some hostile demonstrations, and Palmer abandoned his pioneer location, and retired to the older settlements about Chariton. Palmer (known as the Ring-taDPainter)was a singular man, eccentric in his habits, and fond of secluding himself in the wilderness beyond the haunts of civilization. He was rough in his manners, but brave, hospitable, and daring. He was possessed of excellent native talent, and was the first representative in the legislature from Chariton county. His brother, Charles, settled on the creek in Wakandasection seven, of Eugene township.

The name has been variously spelled, "Wyaconda," " Wakenda," and Wakanda." Wetmore in his Missouri Gazetteer, of 1837, says: "There was a tradition among the Sioux which established the belief in the natives that their deity, Wyaconda, had taken up his abode near the mouth of this stream. The sudden death of two warriors, without any apparent cause produced this impression." According to other authority, the name Wakanda means " God's River." Great quantities of fine fish were found in its waters, and on its banks and in the adjacent timber, deer, elk, buffalo and turkeys abounded in large numbers. The Indians thinking that a stream where the great spirit had placed such quantities of game and fish must be sacred, dared not destroy or kill anything in the neighborhood, except on festival days. Their festivities were always held on the banks of the river, hence its name of Wakanda, "God's River." This belief of the Indians may account for the numerous hillocks or mounds thrown up near its mouth. They exist in the neighborhood of De Witt, and, in fact, dot the stream from its source to its mouth.

The vicinity of the Wakanda became the scene of the earliest settlements of this county. John Standley and William Turner became permanent settlers in 1819. Both came from North Carolina, and leftnumerous * descendants, who became among the best citizens of the county. Standley settled just east of the present town of Carrollton, on what is known as Timmon's addition; and Turner, north of the town. Prior settlements had been made on the Wakanda, in Eugene township, in the neighborhood of Hardwick's mill. Nathaniel Cary was among the new additions to this settlement. He is said to have brought the first wagon ever seen within the limits of Carroll county and west of Grand river, a stream which he crossed at Rockford, four or five miles above Big creek. Among other early spttlers were Jesse Tevault, H. Bert, John McGraw, W. Beatty, John Mayberry, John Rilfe, John Woollard, Ned Munson, Malicah L3de, and men by the name of Splawn^-Buckaridge and Weldon. It may be imagined that among these pioneers were found many peculiar characters. Splawn was an old trapper, in regard to whom it is said that he never lived in a house but camped out as circumstances required. Anticipating trouble from the Indians, these families in the vicinity of Hardwick's erected a small fort or block house, in which 'they proposed taking refuge, in case any hostile indications manifested themselves among the surroundiri|f tribes.

The next settlement was made in what is now Sugartree township* Nehemiah Woolsey, his son Noah Woolsey, and several families by the name of Casner, made their wa}" up the south side of the Missouri river to the mouth of Gabbin's branch, about two miles above the present town of Waverly. Here they crossed the river by means of canoes to the Carroll county side. Close to the bank of the river a hut of logs was raised as a temporary shelter until more comfortable homes could be provided. Samuel Williams was an early member of this settlement. The Indians soon manifested a jealousy toward the intruders. They began to grow bold and troublesome, stealing whenever possible, from the few pigs on which the pioneers depended for subsistence. The settlers, notwithstanding their small numbers, determined to put a stop to these encroachments. On the next visit of the Indians, who pilfered the scanty stores of the settlement, and carried off some minor articles, the whites collected, armed and equipped themselves, and started in pursuit. The enemy were overtaken, and made but a feeble resistance. Under the circumstances the Indians were punished mildly, and escaped with a good whipping with gun-sticks and ramrods in the hands of the whites.

At this time, 1818, wild game of every description was abundant throughout the country. Bear, deer, buffalo, elk, geese, brant, ducks, and other members of the animal and feathered tribes, could be had for the shooting. The streams were also well filled with various kinds of fish. The stream known as Moss Creek attracted early notice from the remarkable abundance of fish found in its waters. When the pioneers were fatigued with the exciting chase after game over bluff and prairie, recreation was found in capturing the finny tribes by means of hooks, line.s, and gigs. The green moss, from which the creek receives its name, springing from its rooted bed in the stream and spreading over the water's surface, gave it the appearance of a grassy meadow. Its banks were the haunts of large numbers of deer, and many a proud buck met his death at a shot from the unerring rifle of the ambushed hunter, and dyed the waters of the stream with his life-blood. If game was plenty pork was scarce, and venison formed a considerable portion of the food of the settlers. If a settler by chance killed and cured more than one hog a year, he was considered by his neighbors as extravagant and aristocratic, and he was brought to his senses by the taunts of the neighborhood that he was " putting on style," a charge which was dreaded more than any other by the Democratic members of the pioneer community. Cattle were few in number, and readily brought from twenty to thirty dollars. Much of the time during hunting and fishing seasons was occupied in securing a supply for the winter. The com raised furnished bread. But little money was required, a condition of things which admirably suited the situation of the settlers. The only purchases required to be made w'ere coflfee, tea, sugar, and such groceries as formed the luxuries of pioneer life. Buckskin was used for clothing. The skins of the game killed were carefully preserved, stretched and dried, and with beeswax, formed the principal article of trade, and w^as considered "land office money," from the fact that many of the settlers who had not realized enough of gold and silver to pay for their lands when their obligations became due, actually deposited skins and beeswax at the land agent's office in Franklin to pay their indebtedness to tlie government. Each of these articles were valued at twentyfive cents per pound, and the fact of their deposit at the agency in lieu of money gave doeskins and beeswax the appellation of " land-office money."

The nearest point for trading at the time of the early settlements was Old Chariton, near the mouth of Chariton river, a noted place in the early history of this section of the state, and at one time thought to be destined to become a great commercial center of the west. This town was laid ofT by Gen. Duff Green, afterwards editor of the Washington Telegraphy the leading paper of the Jackson adtninistration, and a house stands in the old town built of the remains of the once grand edifice of General Green. To this point the early settlers were obliged to resort in order to obtain such necessaries as they could not do without. ' The first road through the county was a continuation of the road from St. Louis, passing through the Boone's Lick settlement, and crossing Grand river, near the present ferry. It continued its course through Carroll county, close by where Hardwick's mill now stands, and westwardly through Sugartree bottom, to Crooked river, striking other points farther west. These roads and trails were some times continued far beyond civilization by the Indians in their migrations to and from the various settlements. The Indians displayed great judgment in marking out these trails, and in selecting the nearest due course to any particular point. The road referred to above was much traveled in after years by traders on their way to Santa Fe, and other western trading posts. The main trail leading from St. Louis, had the appearance to the new settlers of a solid road-bed expressly intended for commerce between St. Louis and some important city far in the interior. The Indians had so long been accustomed to trail over it, that it was worn at least .six inches below the surface, and almost of uniform width from one end to the other. With the settlement of the county and the advance of a permanent population, the roads became changed, and at this time there is little of the old trail used for road purposes. The old land-mark, over which roving bands of Indians and westward bound emigrants so often journeyed in the pioneer history of the county, is now almost entirely obliterated.

Early in the year 1818, the government lands located in the county, were advertised to be sold. An opportunity was thus offered for the settlers to secure for themselves and families a permanent home. A land office was opened at the Boone's Lick settlement (now Franklin,) whither some of the settlers repaired and purchased tracts of land. The spirit of speculation became rife, and excessive purchases were sometimes made- ^lany fell short in meeting their obligations to the government for the lands they had bought, and this failure on their part was the means of aiany losing their lands altogether, and the very homesteads they had

-erected for their families. Others again entered into a compromise with the government through its agents, by which the money already paid was transferred to certain lands they preferred, and the right, title and interest to other lands was relinquished to the government. To the settlers, the only prospect of getting money was by their own labor - a slow process, and poor foundation to build on in a country in comparative infancy, and where money was so scarce. The bank bills of all the states were taken and passed among the citizens at par. Occasionally, but not very frequently, a United States bill could be seen. Gold and silver were seldom seen and circulated, except in payment of land, and the necessary expenses incident to the business of the land office.

On the first of July, 1820, the public lands of Carroll county were made subject to private entry, at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. In addition to the land which had never been sold, tracts were also included once sold but forfeited by default of payment. Many of the settlers had come in and located since the land sales of 1818, quite a number of whom had made improvements on vacant land, with the expectation of afterward securing possession. These settlers hurried to the land office, eager to purchase the lands they had selected before they should pass into the hands of speculators. Not unfrequently two neighbors would select the same tract, and each secretly gather sufficient money together to enter the quantity desired. If either started off on a journey, the other, always on the alert, would also immediately, day or night, undertake the journey to the land-office, anxious to be the first to secure the prize. In some cases men started late in the day, expecting to evade their neighbor, and get one night's start. If by any means the other got wind of his departure, he not unfrequently started post-haste on his trail, crossed Grand river by ford or otherwise, traveled all night, passed neighbor number, one about morning, who supposed that he had secured start enough to enable him to take a few hours' rest, arrived first at the land office, and entered the coveted tract. In such cases, neighbor number one, on reaching the land office, would, in a deep sense, realize the applicability of that passage of Scripture which says "The first shall be last and the last first." It sometimes happened that both would meet at the land office in quest of the same piece of land, in wffiich case the lands to be entered were sold to the highest bidder by the register and receiver. Several tracts brought more than they cduld be sold for, after improvement was made, for many years afterward. The excitement in such cases generally left in the families a feeling that lasted for a generation.

During the year 1818 the town of Bloomfield was laid out in the forks of Wakanda creek, on the southwest quarter of section seven, Eugene township. The town, however, was never established on a satisfactory basis, and no trace now remains. A store was kept here at one time by

Lewis N. Rees. The low and wet situation of the town probably interfered with its growth. The settlers reasoned that the location of the town rendered it liable to inundations. It had another disadvantage, in being peculiarly subject to chills and fever, the disease generally prevalent throughout the settlements. Not a family in the settlements but had its case of ague, and several of the same family were generally rendered useless for months by the tenacious and enervating nature of these malarial diseases. A chill in the morning, a hot fever at noon, and an apparently healthy condition of the system in the evening, with a ravenous appetite, marked the progress of the disease. The following day was but a repetition of its predecessor. This lasted for weeks and months, and many of the settlers, most of whom had located along the creek in the timber,, became discouraged and impatient, and at last resolved to seek other points, more congenial to health and Jcomfort. Thus Sugartree bottom became almost depopulated, and was generally considered as unfit for the residence of man.

Nothwithstanding the sickness and trials of the settlers, the population slowly increased, and in a short time twenty families, gathered from almost as many different states, had settled permanently within the present limits of Carroll county. Joseph Johnson, Humphrey Smith, and Joseph Fowler settled in the neighborhood of the present town of Carrollton, and with Standley and Turner already mentioned, were the pioneers, of Carroll township. Indian depredations were committed, and two sons of Mr. Splawn, Mabe and John, met their death at the hands of the savages. This circumstance created deep excitement. Mr.Standley and the other settlers in Carroll township collected together, and built a small block house, near the residence of Mr. Standley. It stood on the point of the hill in the southeast part of the present town of Carrollton. The excitement soon died away, peace and quiet were established, and necessity never required the use of the block house. During the winter of 1820-21, Alexander Bogard is said to have been captured by the Indians,, and his release effected by the whites, who pursued the Indians to their campon the north side of Bogard's (correctly spelled Bogart) mound, where a skirmish or small battle is reported to have taken place, resulting in the discomfiture of the red-skins and the release of the prisoner. This extensive mound, eight miles north of Cairollton, was early known under its present name. It is claimed by some that the mound received its name from another circumstance. A man named Bogard, when on a hunting excursion in the vicinity of Big Creek and near this mound, became lost. The weather was dark, misty, and drizzly. After procuring a sufficiency of game he started for his home in the settlement. Becoming bewildered he lost the points of the compass, and at every step imagined himself nearer home. Eere he was aware of it he stood on the summit of the mound..

He again made an effort to reach home, and started in what he judged to be the right direction. After wandering for hours till nearly ready to sink from exhaustion, to his surprise he again found himself near the top the mound, a few yards from the point from which he started. A third, fourth, and fifth attempt met with like success. Some strange magnetism seemed always to draw the lost man toward the summit of the mound. Several days and nights were thus spent, the sky continuing cloudy, and a hazy mist rendering it impossible to distinguish one direction from another. At length the clouds broke, the sun appeared, and Bogard made a fresh start for home where he arrived finally in safety.

Abraham Hill, with his five sons, crossed the Missouri from the south side of the river on the 17th of May, 1819. Two canoes lashed together and covered with puncheons formed a rough raft on which the family and their goods were conveyed safely over the turbid waters of the Missouri. Several other families crossed at the same time. Having reached the northern side of the river without accident, they immediately selected a location and erected their tents some three miles east of the village of Miles Point, until such time as they could prepare for themselves more permanent dwellings. The camp, (without design, however, on the part of the settlers,) was located on, or near, a bear trail which led to an island in the river, a circumstance which gave rise to an incident in which Mrs. Hill, the wife of Alexander Hill, had opportunity to display her courage. Mr. Hill and a young man by the name of Samuel Todd, Mrs. Hill's brother, who had accompanied the Hill's to Missouri from the state of Tennessee, left the camp one day, only Mrs. Hill and the children remaining behind to receive visitors. Late in the evening a bear of huge proportions was seen approaching leisurely along the trail, coming directly toward the defenseless abode of the pioneers. Mrs. Hill was a lady of extraordinary courage and presence of mind, and quickly prepared for the emergency. Understanding that bears are averse to the smell of gunpowder and are apt to beat a hasty retreat at the first scent of that article, she seized her husband's gun, discharged it at the enemy, and before the echoes of the report had scarcely died away in the neighboring timber, the gun was reloaded and the valiant defender of the camp was prepared for another shot. Mr. Bruin, however, pausing only a moment to reflect that " discretion is the better part of valor," turned face about and rapidly made his disappearance in the undergrowth. The Hill's were the first settlers of Cherry Valley township.

Another interesting incident is told in connection with Mrs. Hill, the truth of which rests on an undoubted basis. On a visit to a neighbor in the early history of the settling of the County she came upon a swarm of bees which settled directly in her path. Mrs. Hill concluded that this was an opportunity of securing a stock of bees too good to be lost. She accord- ingly alighted from her horse, gathered the swarm in her capacious apron, took the bees home, and for many years afterward was well provided with bees and honey as a reward for her courage and forethought.

In the early history of the settlements mechanical conveniences were few and of an inferior character. Few of the settlers had been regularly trained to the use of tools, and in consequence, every man became his own mechanic. Vessels and articles required for household use were hewn out of blocks and logs of wood. Although these articles presented a rough and uncouth appearance, they answered ever)' purpose, and the families were as happy in their use as are the most favored people of later generations with the multiplied devices of modern invention. The great disadvantage the pioneers labored under was the need of mills. Grain was at first reduced to flour and meal by means ot a mortar. The grain was put in and pounded for hours with a pestle, and when sufficiently beaten the finer particles were separated from the coarser by a common sieve, the finer being used for making bread, and the coarser for hominy. This process became slow and wearisome, and other methods were introduced. A kind of hand-mill rapidly supplanted the old mortar. It was constructed by putting the flat sides of two large stones together, the upper one well balanced on a pivot. A hole was made in the top of the upper stone, into which was forced a round pin used as a handle to put the mill in motion by one hand, while the other hand was used to feed it. Simple as were mills of this kind, they were, however, very scarce at first and were used only by a few. The majority clung to the old mortar and pestle, the noise of which could sometimes be heard long after the usual hour of retiring, busy in the preparation of the meal and hominy for the morning's breakfast. The constant employment of about one member of each family was required to keep the family provided with bread.

The increase of population demanded a quicker process in the manufacture of breadstuflfs, and Malicah Lyle and John Woolard, both somewhat proficient in the use of tools and possessing no little mechanical genius, arranged a hand-mill on a large scale, to which afterwards a horse was attached. This mill was in all probability the first of the kind constructed in the county, and stood near the Wakanda and a short distance west of Hardwick's mill. On the increase of population in Sugartree Bottom, Isaac Lowthan and . William Huddard, both Englishmen, and meii of means, suggested a plan and built a tug mill near Mr. Woolsey's residence. The mill proved a great accommodation to the members of that settlement.

About the middle of April, 1820, a snow fell to the depth of about sixteen inches.. The snow disappeared in a few days under the rays of a warm sun, making the roads very heavy and disagreeable to travel.

may not be an uninteresting incident to transmit to future generations. The promptings of nature in the pioneer settlements were found to be much the same as have characterized the human race from time immemorial. The lads and lasses, laying aside their natural timidity and embarrassment, began to cultivate each other's acquaintance, and the arrows of Cupid not unfrequentl}' were dispatched with certain and deadly aim. One Benjamin Roe became enamored of a young and blooming damsel, Margaret Irvan, and his affection being returned, the two mutually a^eed to become one. All the preliminaries having been arranged, the day was set for the performance of the ceremony. As may be imagined the whole settlement took a pardonable interest in the event. Guests were invited from the whole settlement, and some from across Grand River in Chariton county. The wedding took place at the residence of the bride's father on little Wakanda Creek, near where the late Samuel H. Miller resided. The whole company, male and female, including the happy pair, were clothed from head to foot in buckskin, at that time the material most generally in use for wearing apparel. The two hopeful candidates for matrimonial bliss took their places and were solemnly pronounced man and wife. The festivities of the evening closed with a dance. The violin prepared for the occasion was composed of one huge board dug out in the center. The instrument was homely and unlike any in use at the present day. The plain bow was made from a crooked stick and the hair of a horse's tail. It may be supposed, however, in spite of the rudeness of the musical instruments that the buxom lasses and lads enjoyed themselves no less the merrily. The dance was kept up till the " wee sma' hours " of morning, when the guests departed with many pleasant reminiscences of the occasion and well wishes for the future happiness of the bride and groom. The second marriage in the county, of which any account is given, occurred on the 15th of April, 1820, during the prevalence of the heavy snow storm of that month, to which reference has been made already. The bride on this occasion was the daughter of Mordecai Lyle.

Supplementary to the foregoing sketch it is proper to state that there is at present residing in Sugar Tree Bottom, John Casner, now the oldest living settler in the county. He states that he was born in Washington county, Virginia, October 24, 1801. At an early age he removed with his father's family to Cumberland county, Kentucky. In 1818, Mr. Casner states, his father, Jonas Casner, removed to where Carroll county now is, landing on the north bank of the Missouri in section 14, township 51, range 24, on the 16th day of November. The Casner family consisted of Jonas, the head, his wife, and six children: Henry, John, Eben, William, and two daughters, Charlotte and Judy. -

Mr. Casner states that positively his father was the first white settler in Carroll coimty. He says that when they arrived here, he and his father and brothers explored the country from Grand to Crooked River, and there was not a white man to be found. Mr. Jonas Casner opened a farm, entering it at Old Franklin, the following year, but never perfecting the title thereto, allowing it to go back. The river was crossed on a canoe raft, made by fastening two canoes together by a sort of platform, and loading the household goods, together with all the other freight thereon.

At that time game and Indians were plenty. Bears, panthers, wolves, deer, and elk, abounded. John Casner states that though but about 18 years old at the time he has killed two and three bears a day. The bears stayed on the uplands in summer, but wintered in the river bottoms in the great hollow trees then there to be found. About February the females gave birth to their cubs. The settlers would cut down the trees, kill the mother bear and take the cubs and make pets of them. In the early settling of the country nearly every family had its pet bear. Sometimes a panther or a wolf was the pet, but these animals were never entirely tamed. Bear bacon, as cured bear meat was called, was a favorite dish. " I don't want anything better," says Mr. Casner, " than a bear bacon and lye hominy." The breast of a wild turkey, fried in bears oil, was also regarded as a rare dainty.

On one occasion, Mr. Casner states, a large panther followed his wife to her house, and as she entered the door caught her by the dress. The house dogs chased the animal away and the next day Casner and his brothers killed it. It measured eleven feet from tip to tip, the largest animal of the kind ever killed in the bottom. Wm. Mann and John Casner were bear hunting north of Carrollton at another time and saw a panther lying by the side of the road ready to spring. Casner shot and wounded him and the dogs dispatched him.

Mr. Casner states that the first white person that died in the county to the best of his recollection, was his little sister, Judy Casner, who was burned to death, by her clothing taking fire, in the year 1819. The first white child born was a son of Jesse Mann, in May, 1819; its mother cooked breakfast for her family the following morning. A little after, Mrs. Hill bore a child.

There was much sickness and distress among the settlers in the year 1820. In the month of September a Mrs. Nutting died without attention. John Casner put her in a rude coffin, dug her grave, and buried her himself unassisted except by one woman. This was the first burial in the Woolsey grave yard. There were no doctors and no medicines in that day. The first doctor was not a doctor. He was but a quack. He Stilled more than he cured, and the settlers ran him off. He was known to give half a teaspoonful of calomel at a dose. He administered nothing but cathartics and emetics. Lobelia he called "lady puke." Old

Mr. Jacks, a Cumberland Presbyterian, is the first preacher that Mr. Casner remembers. He came over from Lafayette county. He had a slave that was a preacher.

In about the year 1824, Noah Woolsey was crossing a family in acanoe boat. The family consisted of a man and his wife and four children, one of the latter being an infant. It was night and a heavy storm was blowing. The boat - if it could be called a boat - went to pieces in the middle of the river and the man and his wife and three of the children were drowned. The next morning the negro preacher referred to found the infant safe and sound on a feather bed which had blown against a drift on the Lafayette side.

The Indians in the country when the Casners came to Carroll county were the Saukees (or Sacs), the Foxes, the lowas, and a few Raws and Osages. The latter chiefly^ inhabited the south side of the river. The noted Black Hawk was sometimes here, but the chief, the best known, was Wapacola. The Indians would come down from Iowa and other portions of the northern country about Christmas and remain in the Missouri river bottom until the following spring.

The Agriculture Of Olden Times

TJp to 1830 not much farming had been done in the county, and indeed not a great deal attempted. Every settler had his " truck patch," wherein grew potatoes, a little corn, a few vegetables, etc.; and he had also a corn field corresponding in extent to the length of time he had been in the county, his means or his desires.

Corn was the principal crop, and if enough of this was raised to supply the family with pone, Johnny cake, and honey, the settler was satisfied. There was no wheat raised of any consequence. Children have been bom in Carroll county who were ten y^ears old before they ever saw a wheat biscuit.

The first farms were opened up in the timber. The timber was all cut down. That which would make rails or fencing was so utilized. The rest was piled and rolled together and burned. The stumps of the saplings were grubbed up, and then the land was plowed. The plow used was a very simple affair, with sometimes an iron point, and sometimes without, and alway a wooden mold-board. Noah Woolsey used a plow made from the fork of a tree. The soil in the bottoms was like an ash heap for mellowness, and almost anything in the shape of a plow would serve to fit it for the reception of the seed corn. There was, of course, the usual difficulty in plowing regarding the stumps, and as the most of the pioneers were not profane men, their sufferings at times were intense !

Abraham Hill is doubtless entitled to the distinction of having raised the first crop of wheat in the county, and opening the first field, ljut Mr.

... - Curtis was wont to dispute the honor with him, and doubtless with some reason. Both had fields opened about the same time. Hill's land was where now is Cherry Valley township, and Curtis' farm was on the Wakanda, near the Hardwick mill settlement.

Cotton was raised quite successfully, although not extensively, in the first years of the settlement of the county. As the county grew older more of it was planted. As it was all hand-ginned its conversion from the raw material into fabrics was slow and tedious, whereupon Noah Woolsey imported the machinery and put up a cotton gin. To this establishment the settlers carried their cotton for many 3'ears and had it ginned, Mr. Woolsey only charging them the most reasonable prices. Cotton has been raised in the county in considerable quantities as late as 1865. During the civil war many thousand pounds were made.

Flax was among the first crops raised. The seed was rarely sold, and the crop was cultivated for the bark, of which linen was made, or linsey. Upon the first settlement acres upon acres of nettles were found in the bottom lands. They were treated as flax, and the bark therefrom was spun and woven into cloth, usually mixed with wool or cotton. Mrs. Hill, wife of old Capt. Hill, wove a web of cloth entirely from nettle flax, as it was termed. As soon as cotton was raised and sheep brought into the country, flax began to be grown, and in time the use of nettle flax was discontinued.

To be a good flax-breaker was at one time considered a great accomplishment among the men, and the wonian who was a good flax or cotton spinner was the envy of many of her sisters.

Prior to the year 1833 and subsequent to 1820 the territory now embraced within the boundaries of Carroll county, was included in and a part of Ray county. The county was divided into two townships, called Missouritan and Grand River, the former lying along the river. Afterwards Missouritan was called Wyaconda or Wakanda.

The first representative in the state legislature from this county when it was part of Ray - or at least among the first was Martin Prdmer, the trapper and hunter mentioned on other pages of this history as one of the first whites to visit the county. The stories told of him would fill a large volume. He was of the frontier genus and David Crockett species, or rather of the " half horse and half alligator " kind of men. He called himself "the Ring-Tailed Panther," or as he expressed it, "the Ring- Tailed Painter," and he rejoiced in the cognomen. He was uneducated, unpolished, profane, and pugilistic. At musters and other gatherings

Palmer would invariably get half drunk and as invariably have a rough and tumble fight. At the first session of the legislature he attended, held at St. Charles, some of the members engaged in a free and easy knockdown. Governor McNair ran out and into the crowd and commanded the peace " in the name of the state of Missouri," when Palmer hauled off and knocked him down, sending his excellency " galley-west," and half a rod away.

Wetmore's Gazetteer (1837), relates the following incident in the career of the ring-tailed member from Ray: As the time approached for the second meeting of the legislature, of which he was a member, Palmer loaded a small keel-boat with salt from the works in this county, and set sail from the mouth of Blackwater for the capital, intending to accomplish tvyo things - legislation for his constituents and a profitable commercial transaction for his own benefit. Having taken the helm himself. Palmer manned his craft with his son and a negrOj and started on his voyage. Uniting as he did, business and politics, while afloat on the river, he stood astride of the tiller with a newspaper in hand (about six weeks old), out of which he was spelling with all his might, the leading points of a political essay.

While engaged in this labor, the boat reached a point in the river opposite the famous Hardeman's Garden, five miles above Old Franklin, and the assemblyman was warned by his vigilant son, who was on the lookout, that there was a "sawyer ahead." Deeply engrossed with a string of polly syllables. Palmer replied: "Wait a minute till I spell out this other crack-jaw word; it's longer than a gun-barrel." The current of the Missouri, however, was no respecter of persons or words; the river "went ahead," and the boat ran afoul of the nodding obstruction, and was thrown on her beams-end. The next whirlpool turned her keel uppermost. The cargo was discharged into the deep, and the salt not only lost its savor, but its identity. The negro, in a desperate struggle for life, abandoned the ship and swam to shore; but the statesman, like a true politician, determined to stick to his craft, as he would to his party, and succeeded in keeping uppermost for some time. Having divested themselves of their apparel, to be in readiness for swimming, the father and son continued astride the keel until the wreck was landed at the town of Franklin. Here the*member from Ray, who was long and lean, was supplied with a suit of clothes by a gentleman who was short and fat. Palmer's new raiment hung as loosely about him as the morals of the average politician.

The father and son were invited into the habitation of a worthy gentleman to rest and refresh themselves. While recounting their perils, at the breakfast table, the lady who was administering coffee inquired of the shipwrecked legislator if his little son had not been greatly alarmed. The "Painter" of the circle-striped-tail variety replied:

" No, madam. I'm a raal Ring-Tailed Painter, and I feed all my children on rattlesnakes' hearts fried in 'painter's' grease. There are a heap of people that I would not wear mournin' for if they was to die; but your husband, marm, hez a heart ez big ez a court house. When we wuz a floatin' bottom uffermost (an unpleasant predicament for the people's representative) past Hardeman's garden, we raised the yell like a team of bear dogs on a wild cat's track, and the black rascals on shore, instead of cornin' out to help us, stood thar and grinned as if they had ketched a fat buck 'possum. Now, marm, I wish God Almighty's yearthquakes would sink Hardeman's d - d old plantation - beggin' your pardon for swearin', marm.

" I s'pose you wouldn't like me to spit on this kiver-lid you've spread on the floor to keep it clean; I'll go to the door; out in Ray we don't mind puttin' anything over our puncheon floors. The river, marm, I find, is no respecter of persons; for, notwithstanding I am the people's representative, I was cast away with as little ceremony as a stray dog would be turned out of a city church; and upon this principle of democratic liberty and equality, I told McNair, when I collared him and backed him out of the rumpus at the capital, when he was likely to spile the prettiest kind of a fight. 'A governor,' says I, 'is no more in a fight than any other man.' I slept with Mac once, just to have it to say to my friends on Crooked river that I had slept with the governor."

About the year 1830 the " Ring-Tailed Painter " removed to Texas, took part in her war for independence, and at its close was chosen a member of the council of the then republic on the strength of his legislative experience in Missouri.

1. All that portion of territory within the county of Ray, within the following boundaries, to-wit: beginning in the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river, opposite the range line dividing ranges twenty-five and twenty-six; thence down said river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the mouth of Grand river; thence up said river in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the township line, dividing townships fifty-five and fifty six; thence west with said line, to the line dividing twenty-five and twenty-six; thence south with said range line to the beginning, be, and the same is hereby declared to be, a separate and distinct county, to be called and known oy the name of Carroll county, in honor of Charles ChrroU of Carrollton.

2. John Morse, Felix Redding, and Elias Guthrie, of the county of Chariton, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, for the purpose of selecting a seat of justice for the said county of Carroll ; and the said commissioners are hereby vested with all the powers granted to commissioners, under the law^ entitled " an act to provide for the organizing counties hereafter established," approved January the 14th, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.

3. The said county of Carroll shall be added to, and form a part of, the fifth judicial circuit; and the county courts of said county shall be held on the first Mondays of February, April, July, and October; and the circuit courts for said county shall be holden on the Thursdays before the first Mondciys in February, June and October.

4. The courts to be holden in said county, shall be held at the house of Nathaniel Carey, in said county, until the tribunal transacting county business, shall fix a temporary seat of justice for said county.

5. All that portion of territory lying north of the said county of Carroll, which has heretofore been a part of the county of Ray, shall be, and the same is hereby attached to the county of Carroll, for all civil, judicial and military purposes.

6. All suits which have been commenced against citizens residing in the said county of Carroll, shall be prosecuted and decided as though this act had not passed, and all taxes due from citizens residing in said county, shall be collected as though this act had not passed.

7. The governor may, by and with the advice and concurrence of the senate, appoint three persons, to hold and exercise the offices of justices of the county court of said county; and the persons so appointed and commissioned shall continue in office until the next general election, and until their successors in office will be duly appointed and qualified, as the law directs; and said court, after the organization thereof, will, moreover appoint all county officers, the appointment of which is not otherwise provided for by existing laws, or the constitution of this state.

The boundaries as set forth in the foregoing, remained those of the county until March 20, 1835, when the legislature changed them to conform to the following: Beginning in the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river, opposite the range line dividing ranges twenty-five and twenty-six; thence down said river to the mouth of Grand river; thence up said river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the township line dividing townships fifty-five and fifty-six; thence west with said line to the line dividing ranges twenty-five and twenty-six; thence south with said range line to the place of beginning.

First Entries Of Land

As a matter of interest to the inhabitants]of the different townships, we have had prepared by O. J. Kirby, deputy county clerk, a table of the

Judicial Circuits And Judges

By act of the general assembly, approved January 11, 1822, the state of Missouri was divided into four j'udicial districts (Judicial districts were subsequently divided into j'udicial circuits). The counties of Cole, Cooper, Lillard, (Lafayette) Clay, Ray, Chariton, Howard and Boone, composed the first district.

The counties composing the first judicial circuit, with the exception of the county of Franklin, and the counties composing the fifth judicial circuit constituted the first judicial district.

The Hon. John F. Ryland was judge of the fifth judicial circuit from 1831 till 1837. In the latter year by act of the general assembly. Saline, Lafayette and Jackson, being south of the Missouri river, were stricken from this circuit, and attached to the sixth judicial circuit, of which Hon. John F. Ryland was the judge. The fifth judicial circuit was then formed from counties lying north of the Missouri river, Carroll being one of them.

The Hon. Austin A. King, of Ray county, was appointed judge of the circuit in 1837, and served with distinguished ability tiU his resignation in 1848, to assume the duties of governor of Missouri - an office to which he was elected by the people.

By act of the general assembly, approved March 27, 1845, the fifth judicial circuit was declared to embrace the counties of Clinton, Clay, Ray, Carroll, Caldwell, Harrison, Daviess and DeKalb.

Judge King having been nominated by the democratic party as its candidate for governor in 1848, resigned and on the 17th of July, of that year Gov. Edwards appointed Geo. W. Dunn, judge of the fifth circuit in his (King's) stead. Dunn, it will be remembered, had been circuit attorney, and filled that position when appointed. In 1849 Judge Dunn was re-appointed and Mordecai Oliver* was appointed circuit attorney for four years. Judge Dunn served for thirteen years, acceptably and well. Of a truth a Daniel had come to judgment and he judged his people with wisdom, fairness, and ability. He still lives at Richmond, Ray , county, and is still in the service as judge of that district.

Upon the establishment of what was known as the "Gamble Government" in Missouri, in 1861, Judge Dunn at first refused at take the oath of allegiance to that government, and was deposed. Ex-Governor Austin A. King was appointed by Governor Gamble in Judge Dunn's stead, and discharged the duties of the office, which, owing to the disturbed condition of affairs at that time, were arduous and perilous ofttimes until 1863. In the latter year Judge Dunn was elected to the position, took the oath of office, and administered its duties until 1865. In that year he was legislated out of office by the adoption of the Drake constitution. Judge Dunn's successor was Walter King, who had been lieutenant colonel of 4th Cavalry Missouri state militia, and was a son of ex-governor King. King was succeeded by Hon. Jonas Clark, of Livingston county, who served by appointment until the 1st of January, 1869, when, having been elected the previous fall, he assumed the office by election until 1875, when he was relieved by Hon. E. J. Broaddus, of Livingston, who served until January 1, 1881, when Hon. James Davis, also of Livingston, was called to the bench and is the present incumbent of that position.

In 1866 the circuit was called the seventeenth and was composed of the counties of Harrison, Daviess, Livingston, Worth, Carroll, and Caldwell. By act of legislature of March 15, 1872, the district was made to retain its number, but was constituted as at present of the counties of Livingston, Caldwell, and Carroll.

First Circuit Courts In Carroll

The first circuit court for this county was begun at the residence of Nat Carey, "the same being the place designated by law," in July, 1833. The Hoh. John F. Ryland, afterward of the supreme bench, presented his commission as judge from Hon. John Miller, and court was opened in due form.

Joseph Dickson, then the county clerk, was appointed by the judge clerk of the circuit court, and John Curl was the Sheriff in attendance. The latter returned into the court a venire for a grand jury, and the following persons were chosen: Charles Palmer, foreman; John Riflfe, Sr., Turpen' T. Thomas, John Eppler, Isaac Eppler, Stephen Smart, Edward Farr, John Standley, Sr., Geo. Adkins, John Smart, James Curl, Thomas Booth, Samuel Turner, Wm. Turner, Wm. Adkins, Isaac Willborn, Johh Casner, Noah Woolsey, Alexander Hill, Claiborne Purman.

The grand jury having received the charge from the court, "retired to consider of their indictments and presentments." One of this same grand jury, now living, states that the jury went out of doors and "fooled around awhile," when they returned and told the judge that they had no presentments to make, and His Honor discharged them. They thought of finding indictments against two or three parties for "fist-fighting," but on reflection and deliberation it was considered that too many of themselves were not without sin in this particular, and -the)'^ thought it best, under all the circumstances, to judge not lest they themselves should be judged.

"Weary lawyers with endless tongues" were not numerous at the first session of the Carroll court. Only two attorneys, John Wilson and Amos Rees were enrolled and permited to practice as attorneys and counselors at law and solicitors in chancery. No wonder the old settlers in these days of much litigation and worry and strife long for a return of many of the practices of the olden time.

The first civil suit was entitled: "Wm. P. Thompson, complainant, against Hiram C. Meek and John D, Stothart, defendants," and was a proceeding in chancery. The record states: "The defendants filed their several answers to the defendant's bill of conlplaint, and the complainant filed thereto his replication. The cause is, on motion of the complainant, set for hearing at the next term of the court, until which time this cause is continued."

After the approval by the judge of the report of the commissioners locating the county seat, and other proceedings incident thereto [see account thereof in proper place], the court adjourned " till court in course."

Second Term Of The Circuit Court

This term was begun November 21, 1833, at the house of Nathaniel Cary, with Ryland as judge, Dickson as clerk, and Curl as sheriff*. The grand jury was composed of the following citizens:

There were only two cases on the docket for trial - the continued case of Thompson vs. Meek & Stothart, and a new cause, that of James Marsh TJs. Malachi Lyle and William Turner. Both cases were continued.

became that famous Missourian of illustrious renown, of whom every schoolboy in the land reads, when he studies the history of his countr)-, now, in the sere and y^ellow leaf of life, living in retirement at Richmond, Ray county.

At the March term of the court, 1834, which was the last held at Nathaniel Cary's, there were two cases on for trial - James Lucas Wm. Hubbard, an appeal case, and Wm. McCausland and Alexander McCausland vs. Samuel Todd, "in covenant." At this term, also, was found the first indictment, which was entitled, "The State of Missouri vs. James Lucas, Sr., John Lucas, and James Lucas, Jr." Indictment: Malicious mischief. A true bill. The order of the court was, that the defendants "be recognized for their personal appearance on the first day of the next term of this court." John Lucas and James Lucas, Jr., being in law infants, under the age of twenty-one, the court ordered that James Lucas, their father, enter into a recgnizance for their appearance at the next term. This was done, and Mr. Lucas gave a bond of $400, with Nathaniel Cary and Russell Bryant as sureties, and the cause was duly continued.

Proclamation was duly made that the next term of court would be held . " at the. county seat, at the house of John Standley," after which court adjourned.

During the time court was held at Cary's the judge and the attorneys were quartered in the same house where court convened; for Uncle Nat's domicile was dwelling-house, court house, and hotel, all in one, a sort of concentrated building. Litigants and jurymen fared as they could - not sumptuously but satisfactorily. As court only lasted one day, they brought a " snack" with them for luncheon and returned home at night.

The July term, 1884, was held at Standley's residence, on the 24th day of the month, as were the November term, of the same year and the March terpa, 1835. The first term held in the court house of the county was on June 25, 1835. Ryland, judge; Dickson, clerk; Curl, sheriff, resigned and James Trotter was appointed elisor.

At this term indictments were found against Thomas Taylor, for assault with intent to kill (accused afterwards acquitted) and against Wiley C. Williams, Coleman Younger, Thos. Arnold, and Anderson Martin, for .betting. Gen. John B. Clark, Sr., afterward member of congress, was admitted to practice.

In January, 1839, Carroll county became a part of the eleventh judicial circuit, and Thos. C. Burch, was commissioned by Gov. Boggs, the judge thereof. In December of the same year James A. Clark was appointed in Burch's stead. The district then embraced the counties of Daviess, Livingston, Carroll, Chariton, Macon, and Linn. B. F. Stringfellow, who attained great notoriety afterward, during the " Kansas troubles," was circuit attorney. At the first term of this court the following attorneys were admitted to practice: Geo. W. Dunn, afterward judge of the court; Robt. C. Ewing, a prominent whig politician and candidate for governor in 1856; Robt. D. Ray, now on the supreme bench of the state, and James Savage.

In March, 1841, Carroll again became a part of the fifth circuit, with Austin A. King as judge. Hon. Peter H. Burnett* having resigned the office of circuit attorney, Geo. W. Dunn was appointed in his place.

In 1872 the legislature abolished the office of circuit attorney and established that of county attorney in lieu thereof. The county attorneys since that time have been Laurence K. Kinsey, T. J. Whiteman, and L. A. Halliday.

Mormon War

The winter of 1834-5 was intensely cold and was long remembered as the cold winter. In the winter of 1830-1 there had been a deep snow, which fell on Christmas and for three days following and lasted until in March; but the cold was not so severe as in 1834-5. In the latter period " the cold Friday and Saturday " in January, 1835, were often referred to. The old settlers assert that cattle had their horns frozen so that they dropped off and in some instances their legs were frozen up to the knees. Pigs and fowls perished in great numbers, and even game was frozen to death in the woods.