Chariton County, Missouri - Chamton Township, 1883 (part 1 of 2)

Chamton Township

Boiuidury - Physical Features - Old Settlers - Chariton - Its Early History - OKI Residents - Kev. Jno. M. Peck - His Visit and \Vhat He Saw - Schools - Woman Preacher - Incidents - Tobacco - Decline of Chariton - Monticello - Its History- Thorutonsburg - Louisvillc-on-Misjoiiri- Mai! Facilities - Comparison - Jud^e John M. Davis - Forest Green - First German Settlement.

The oouiity was ofioiniilly nrganized with Grand Iviver, BulValo Lick, Prairie and Chariton towuships. In 1840, the county was again divided into Misfsouri, Bowling (ireen, Brunswick, Triplctt, Cunningham, Yellow Creek, Salt Creek, ^Mendon, and Muscle Fork townships. These townships were composed of what was theii called Butl'ulo Lick township, with one voting precinct located at Brunswick.

There are now (188.3) sixteen townships, to-wit : Bee Branch, Cockrell, Cunningham, Yellow Creek, Clark, Mendon, Salt Creek, Muscle Fork, Triplett, Brunswick, Keytesville, Bowling Green, Wayland, Charlton, Salisbury, and ^Missouri townships.

In giving the history of the townships, we shall have more regard to their importance and early settlement in the order of time, than to their alphabetical arrangement. ^Ve shall Itegin with Clniriton, it being the first settled in the county and including within its area the homes of those early pioneers who sutlered and braved and endured so much, that their descendants might enjoy the fruits of their labors, theTr patience and tiieir privations. AVithin this township was located the first seat of justice ; here were gathered the pioneer lawyers, the judges, the doctors, the officials, and that heterogeneous class of adventurers, who follow in the wake, but never in the forefiont of civilization. Here too were witnessed the first eflbrts ut farming and the building of the embryo mill and manufactories, which were but an earnest of what may be seen in the county now. Here too occurred the first marriages, the first births, and here, too, repose the asiies of the earliest death In fact, Chariton towusliip was

Ciiat'iton towiishii) takes its name from Grand Chariton river, which skirts a portion ot" ii^ western IjouiidarN'. It is hounded on the north by Keytesvilie and Salisbury tdwuships ; on tlie east by H>)ward county ; on the snuth by Srdine county, from which it is separated by the Missouri river, and on the west by ]Mis.--ouri township.

The eastern part of the towndiip is rolling : the northern jnirt is high land, descending into bottom land. The soil is rich and highly productive. But little rock is found in the township. Timber is abundant and occupies a larger area of the township than prairie land. This township is traversed l)_y Grand Chariton river, Little Chariton river, East fork of Chariton river and Doxie fork.

Old Skttlers

Among the early settlers of Chariton township were liirani Craig, Col. John M. Bell, Samuel Forest, John Toolev, Joseph Vance, William Crawford, John Fowler, James Fowlei', Thomas ^yatson, Abram Lock and his sons, Thomas, John I)., N. P., IL P. aud Wm. AL Lock.

For the names of other old settlers in Chariton township, the reader is referred to the succeeding pages of this chapter and also to the address of Charles J. Cabell, which will lie found in our chapter entitled "Old Settlers' Reunions."

The early settlers of the county, in speaking of the ab.ove named town, alway:^ called it " Old Chariton," not because there was another and a newer town bearing the same name, but because it was the oldest and first settled town in the county. It was located in Chariton township, on the Chariton river, about one mile from the junction of that stream with the Missouri, and on sections 5 and 6, township 51, range 17. Duff Green and Sabrct Johnson were the original proprietors of the town site. It was laid out in the spring .of 1817, nboiit t\v.) yc.a-> later t!i:u\ Old Fninlvlin, iti Iloward oouiity. It l)eiiig the most u'cstoi-ii town op. the Mi-smiri livcr when founded, it grew rapidly jind gave promise of rivrilling even St. Lmiis, a? :i place of coiiiiiiercial iriiportaiice. So anihitious was the little town, and so bright seemed its future, that "William Cabecn, a slioemaker, as already stated in the liistory of Howard coun1^', sold hi> property in St. Louis, n block near the court-liouse, for $o,000, and invested the money in Chariton. The St. Louis proixrty is now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, wliile Chariton, tiic onee lunbitions and thriving little city, is but a thing of tlie past, living oidy in the memory of the few old settlers, who knew it. in tlic days of its prosperity. The town contained about 1,200 people at one time, which was the greatest number that it ever contained. At this time it had seven dry goods and general stores, two saw and grist mills and three hotels. Upon the authority of IJobertson Moore, who nf)w resides at Glasgow, the old town of Chariton, when first located, was within four hundred yards of the [Missouri river. The river, hov.evcr, has receded until the town site is now fully one mile from its banks. Mr. Moore settled in Chariton in 1S17. lie says that it was generally understood bv the earlv settlers, at the time of L(!wis and Clart's expedition in 18n4, that the Missouri river ran where Chariton w.is afterwards locatcil. He further states that the river was fordable in 1S17, in the month of August, above Glasgow, at what has since l)een known as the Ba^dor Banks place.

John iL Peck, D.D., visited Chariton in January, 1819, and while there was a guest of General Dutl' Green. In speaking of his visit in his memoirs, he has this to say of the towTi, of its location ajid people : -

"Chariton, cmitaining about thii'tv families, has been laid oil' on ,t stream of the same name. In the winter of 181tj-17 it was tlie wintering ground of a trilic of Indians. The following summer three or four log cabins were erected. Within a year the increase has been rapid, and, in view of trade and business, it is thought to be superior to any situation on the Missouri river. The Chariton consists of tjireo principal streams or branches that take their rise in the great prairies i'liv in the north, each of whi(.'h when not unusually low is navigable for keel-boats. These bi-anches unite their waters in or.e noble channel as they approach the town, forming a stream navigaljle for steamboats, and a safe harbor at all seasons.

lies the town site, the lowci- end ot' the circle toucljiiig on the I\Iissouri. On the east s^ide of the town-phit lies ;i range of hills or hlutVb. giving a romantic and variegated appearance. Sunie like pyramids rise abruplly into the air, and from their summits show one of the most delightful prospects in nature. Ascending one ol' these Iduffb. which rose majestically fiom the town site, I had an extensive view of the surrounding country. To the west ami northwest tlie prospect is almost boundless.

"There are several very respectable and intelligent families in this town, and several umpiestionably pious. At night I Cidled the attention of the ladies to the t'ornnition of a ' Female Mite Society,' to aid the ' United Society for the Si)read of the Gospel,' in sustaining some of our preachers in tra\elling and preaching in destitute settlements. This ' uiite society ' was organized the following week, with twenty-two members, who subscribed $3(). The ofticiating persons chosen were Mrs. Luoretia M. Green, president; ilrs. Henrietta C. D. Finlev. secretary : Mrs. Polly Allen, treasurer; and Mrs. ]\hiry Ann Campbell and ]Miss Ann Green, assistant directors. In the following spring the first Sabbath school west of St. Louis was commeueed in Chariton. It became au.xiliary to the - Philadeljihia Sunday and Adult School Union," which was the progenitor of the American Sunday School Unir)n. About this period the Baptist missionaries held some correspondence and had some thoughts of making Chariton a station for the ' ^\'estern Mission.' ""

From the above extract, we learn several interesting facts concerning Chai'iton - lacts that are altogether relial_>le - because they were written. c<Mitemporancously with the existence of the things therein mentioned.

The doctor says that the town contained a population of about thirty families in January, 1810, which would probaldy make the number of inhabitants reach 175 persons, all told, at that time. He also says that a tribe of Indians wintered upon the town site in 181t)-17. and that during the following summer, which was the summer of 1817, three ov four log-cabins were erc^cted. It is known that the Sac and Iowa Indians were here then, aiid that these tribes remained in the count_\' (going out in the sueiinier and returniuL'' in the fall ami winter) until 18i8. Tlie lowas liad camped in the neighborhood of wlieie old Chariton was afterwards built, for inan\- years, and had doubtless wintered in that locality in 181(5-17. Their inot-t noted chief was White Cloud, who possessed many good traits of eiiaractei-. and was a fine looking Indian.

Wahoochce was the chief of the Sacs. The doctor speaks of orgaiiizintr ti " Female ^lite Society," giving the names of the otlieers, and says iu the spring of 18:?0 the first Sabbath school west of St. Louis was commenced in Chariton.

Among the early business men of Chariton were the firm of John Ross & Co., composed of John Ross, AViHiam Glasgow and Joliii Anil; General Dutl" Green, :uid Stephen Donalioe. all of whom had general stores. Captain White opened the first saloon. Joseph Brewer was a manufactni-er of hats. Lewis Green, a slave, who was at one time the property of DiilF Green, but at the tinie of which we speak, the proiperty of Jolm Moore, was the blacksmith. Frederick Beanbrick was the tailor, and the onl}- German settler, at that date, in the county. Isaac Campbell and Robertson Moore were the hotel-keepers. .Tames Sample,* a brother-in-law of Duff Green, and Duff Green himself, were the lawyers. Henry Bins was the carpenter, cabinetmaker, and Santa Fe trader. James Keytes, who afterwa.rds founded Kcytesville, was among the early residents of the town, and administered to the spiritual wants of the people as a Methodist preacher. The Baptists began tlie erection of a church edifice, but never finished it. This was the only building of the kind ever undertaken in the place. Among the pioneer, if mit tiie first, physicians, were Doctors Julm Holman. John Bull,t and Iloclor \\'illis Green, a brotlier of Dufl'Grecn. As early as 1820, tlierc was what was called a " Lf)an Office Bank" established in Chariton, with Colonel Henry T. Williams as manager and cashier. This institution collapsed in 1822, and was the occasion of some little excitement among those who were pecuniarily interested in it.

Kofrt-'r.--, who \v:i-^ also :i Baptist minister. He was an Eiiglislmiaii hj birtli and ediK-ation, ami was regarded as an oracle in that cornnnmity.

"The village all declared how ranch he knew; 'Twas certain he could write, and ciplier too ; Lauds he could mea^^ure, terras and tides pre^age; Aud even the .story rau that he could gauge."

He was a ninn of rigid discipline, and, in some respects, quite eccentric. 'J'lie other teaclier rejoiced in tiie jiecuiiar and unique cognomen of Jfijui Brov.'ujolui. One dav tlic larger boys of Brownjohu's school cojichided they ^\'ou]d go over and " clean out,'" as they said, the boys of Rogers' school. Thev went over en vias^e, when the schools we)-e dismissed at noon, aud two of the largest and l)ravest representatives of each scliO(^l did the fighting for all their comrades. William F. Davis, brother of Judge Jolm ]M. Davis, was the pugilist. of Kogers' school, and Brownjohu's forces were represented by another boy equally as large aud courageous. The battle was fought, and Davis came out victorious. Of course Kogers heard of the fight, and as sorui as school couveued in the afternoon, he called Davis to Iiim, as he had a number of times for similar oll'enccs, ai|d was iu the act of inllictiug corporal punishment upon him, when Davis, thinking that his teacher might not whip him if ho told him all about the fight, told him that the boys of Brownjohu's school had said that his teacher - meaning Rogers - "was nothing but an old Tory," aud he (Davis) took it up and whipped him for it. Rogers, who tlieu had the instrument of torture in his hand - a long, black ruler - ready to use it, stopped andtold Davis that iniderthe circumstances he would notpunish him. Rogers, although some forty years had passed since our revolutionary war, felt very keenly the force of the epithet " Old Tory," and was more sensitive, doubtless, upon the subject because he was by birth an Englishman. The incident serves to illustrate the oftrepeated saying, -' It is owing altogether to whose ox is gored." A man by the name of Pierce was also an early teacher.

A Woman Preachkr

In 1824, !i strange woman came to Chariton and wanted to preach for the people. The proposition was so new and startling in its character, that the citizens of the town concluded she was not in her right mind, and advised her to leave as soon as she could. The idea of a woinairs pi-eacliiiii,' h;id not, ;il that dny, been heurd of, o^ificciallv in this Western county, and the sovereigns ol' tlie soil Ihonglit the hare proposition upon her part showed ineontestilde proof of her lunacy. They thought that women should -

General Dull" Green was one of tlie most prominent and entcrpi'ising men ofthe town. He had a imrsonal diSieulty witli a man named John Campliell, and ^hot him through the body. Camphel! was riding througli tiie principal street of the town, when Green, who was .standing ill the door of his own business house, with a ritle in his hands. raised it and shot him. Campbell, however, did not fall from his horse, but rode onto the office of Doctor Holtnan, where he was lifted from his saddle and taken into the office. Campbell afterwards recovered and lived to accomplish a daring and rennirkable feat, as the following facts testify : Campbell paid his addresses to a yountr lady in tlie vicinity - a Mi.^s Amanda Pepper - whose father wus ()i;i)osed to her marriage with Campbell. Campbell and the young lady beeaine greatly attached. It was the custom in those days for the pioneer to keep his gun in a I'ack, on the inside of his house, over the door. Pepper always kept his gun in the rack when not using it. One afternoon, Campbell, [irepared with a gun, mounted his horse in Chaiaton and went to the house of his intended. When lie halted at the door, he saw the old gentleman in the house, who in.^tantly rose from his seat and .attempted to get hi.s gun. Campbell seeing him, presented his gun, and told him that if he moved lie would kill him. At the same lime, Campbell called to Mis? Amanda, and told her if she intended to go with him. to come and get up liehiud him. She mounted behind him "in hot ha-.te,"' and Canqibell rapidly disap[)eared down the road in company with his lady love, whom he married. The irate father was indignant emnigh to shoot Camiibell, but I'eariiig that he would kill liis daughter, whose person alone shielded tlie object of hi.s hatred, did not fire.

Tobacco

Judge John M. Feazle, who now (18S3) resides in Glasgow. Howard county, Missouri, came to Old Charitou, in 1833, from Virginia. and put up written notices through the town and county, informing tho people that lie woiilil iMirchase ail the tohacco tiit-y would raise lor three \ cars, and pa-\- tliom two dollars and a halt' a hiiiidrpd lor it. From this period llio ranncrs lieiian to raise tohat'co : Imt little was raised het'ore. Since then, (.'hariloii county has been one of the l»anner tohacco counties of all the ciniiities in tlic United States. (See chapter on A^rieultiire. )

In 1^25, the fortnnos of the little town, whicli had been so suecessfully planted in the wilderness, beizan to wane. The Chariton river had overflowed its banks, and ehise upon the reciHling waters came sickness and death to man}' of the inhabitants of the town, an<I to many of those who lived near its banks. Thatdreadc'il tlisease, malaria, which has in all ages of the world proven to be more destructive to armies than the sword or bullet, and tnore fata! in its ravages u[)ou human life than anything else, decimated the ranks of tlicse jiioueers after each flood I'rom the ri\'er. They, however, continued to dwell in Old Chariton. b( lie^-^ng that the felling of the forest trees in the immediate vicinity of the town, the o|)eiilng up of the county for settienieut, and the drainage of a i'aw of the swami)s and lagoons along the hanks of the river, would o:ive a more heaUhful climate. The s;!me condition of atTaii'.s existed year til'ter yea)-, until about 1840, when the town was abandoned, men leaving without even efiecting a sale of their pro])erty, and, in a few instances, leaving their half finished houses to rot and fall to the ground. Many of the inhabitants went to Glasgow, two miles below, which is o?ie (if the highest and m(/St healthful locations on the river. The first attem{)t to locate another town in the vicinit} of Chariton oci-nrred in 1831. During that year, 1831, Doctor John Grtives founded the town of Monticello, one mile east of Chai'iton. The doctor erected a building for a store, which was the only business house in the town, and, while building his dwelling house, he lost his lite. lie and a hired hand had crossed the Chariton river to get a load of sand, and wiiile returning in a canoe the doctor was drowned. Jt)shua Belden took charge of the doctor's business, and afterwards married his widow.

The town was beautifully located, and was regarded as a healthful situation. A number of gentlemen of wealth and S(jcial standing resided there. Among these were Walker Lewis, .Judge John M. Feazle, Stephen AV. Lewis, U'm. A. McClure, Judge John A. Clark, John P. Morris, Joshua Belden, and John A. Halderman. The town occupied section 4, township .')!, range 17. The next effort to build another town was made by R. B. 1'hornton, in 183'>, at what was culled the roiiit," :it the iiioiitli of tlie Cliariton, where the fen-y w;ib looatei!, on the Missouri river. This was on section 8, township .il, i'aii:^e 17.

The tir^t business house at this place was [)Ut np byjolin Mulligan. I'lie terry was riin l>y Andrew Thrash and R. B.Thornton. The new town was christened Tiiorntonsburg. and named after Mr. Thornton, who was one of the proprietors of the ferry. The first business house was put up by Mulligan. Other business houses were erected by Carson & Hays, and ntliers. Captain Thomas .Tovce, in the course of a few years, oaine from Ijouisville, Jventui.-ky, to Thorntoiisbnro'. }Ie owned or had some interest in the land upon which the town was located, and because involved in litigation with I'lirash and Thornton. The matter was finally settled, and Joj'ce christened the town anew, uauiing it Loni-ville-cm-Missouri. Tiie proprietors of the new town were Thornas Joyce, Tilly Emerson, and R. B. Thornton. Joyce did this in ISlO, after Glasgow was hiid out and settled two miles l»elow, and nuide every ellbrt to advance tlie interest of the town, thinking that Louis\ilie-on-Missouri would outcrop Glasgow, and lie the t'uture great city of the [Missouri valley. Like Old Chariton and Monticello, the town soon became a thing of the past, while Glasgow, its most dreaded rival, still survived.

Mail Facihtiks

There were no mail facilities west of old Cliariton until 1833, and no mails on the north side of the Missouri river through this section of country until that time. James Wilson was the original contractor for carrying the mail westward from Chariton. His >on was the tirst mail-bo3' put on the route between the towns of Chariton and Liberty' in Clay county, Missouri. The distance was one hundred and thirty miles by the route travelled. After two or three months Charles Manns succeeded Wilson's son, and he in turn was succeeded by John M. Davis, the present Judge Davis, who was then a lad of tifteen years. Davis carried the mail three months, commencing October 9, 1833, and never missed a trip, and never failed to be at a [lost-oilice when the mail was due. It required six days to make the round trip. The mail left Chariton on W'cdnesday, was taken to Keytesville, and then to Grand River, where the boy in ch;u-ge remained all night ; thence next morning to Carv's post-olTice, in Carroll county, and then to Henry Brewers' ferry on Crooked river, where he again stayed over_ night ; next n;orning lie took hi-(.':iki'ast :it EichiiioiKl, }iay county, reacliing Lilicrty the same evening ; lea%ing L/ilicrty Saturday morning he returned hy tlio same route, ari'iving at Cliariton on tlie al'ternoon of tlie following ]\Ionday. The eon)pen>atioii to the mail carrier was $9 per month, his hoard and e.\pen^scs paid, the carrier providing his own horse. The \\"e>t\vard hound mail-l)ag wouhl usually contain ahout three pecks of mail matter ; the mail for the ea-;t, coming from Liberty imd way places, would generally measure about as much as would h'll an ordinary silk hat, consisting exclusively of letters, for there were then no [ninting presses west of Old P'rankliu, Howard count}-. There is, perhaps, no one fact tliat im[)resses itself more torcibl}' upon our mintis of the marvellous growth of the A\'estei-n country than that which is presented by the in.-^titution ju,-t here, of a brief conijiarison. John M. ].)avis and his ponv were then the only means of tran.--i)orting the United States mail a ilistancc of 130 miles. Davis was a mere boy, physically weak and unable to do a man's \vork, but [josses'^ing a man's pluck and a man's energy, he alone, the boy that he was, was the all-sutllcient guardian and jirotec'oi' of the United States mail. cari-\ing it on horseback and delivering it in person to the most distant an<l remote settlement of the great West. I'lie mail whicli he carried, and which was the accumulation of a week, was not more than (.'iiough to convenienth' till the uld-tashioned ordinarv mail or saddle-bags.

Look at the facilities ami apjioinlments which arc now alforded by the government for i he transpoi-tation and dh-tribul ion of the mail along the same route. The noisy, iron horse has superseded the quiet, modest pony, travelling almost with the ra[)idit}- of the winds. The robust and health}'-looking route agent, who receives his $1KI i)er month, dresses tastefully in his >u\t of Idue and rides in a comfortable car, has long since superseded John Davis, who wore his suit of homespun butternut, receiving for his services $9 per month. We oi)serve, however, the more marked and greater change in these evidences of the growth and development of the country, in the amnuiit of mail matter tht-n and now. Three pecks in Imlk of mail ma.tter was sent westward then once per week ; now, alrmg the same route is distributed, perhaps, no less than one ton per dav, saving nothing of the many t(His which chilly go westward through Omaha and Kansas City. Block the railroa(.ls .it either one of the [daces named, for a week, and the amount of mail matter that would accumulate could never be moved and distributed were it not for the irreat number of these roiul.s wliioli iliverire from these great centre.s. The trusty jjo.-itbov, liowever tlcet of foot maj' he his steed, ami the old-f'ashioMeLl staire coach, however expeditious, would 1)C powerless to grapple with tliis mountainous aud eon-^lantlj increasing jiile of matter.

Forest Grkkn

was laid out hy John G. Forest, norlheast quarter of section 17, township 52, range 17, in 187;), on the K. and ]v. Railroad, which now connects Glasgow and Salisbury. The first hou.'>e was erected in ^lay, 1873, by M. Guerin, for a general store. Covey llerylbrd wus the first postmaster, Frederick Weisenhani Mas the lirst i)Iacksniith. D. Gochcy was the first carpenter. The town al present ( ISSo) contains two business houses, one blacksmith, one pli\>ician, a tobacco factory, a hotel, post-ofBce, and public scIiddI. L. P. Nichols was the lirst principal of the school. Silas Moore is the j)resent principal.

First Gkrman Sk Tti.E.Mknt

^Ve have already stated in this chapter that Frederick Deanbrich was the only German settler in Chariton county from 18"20 to 1S35. The first German settlement proper was made in 1888, four miles north of Glasgow, in the forks of the Chariton river, by Louis Coleman, John ZoUah and Doctor Louis Mycr.

Boundary - Physical Features - 01(1 Settlers - John G. Moore Killed by a Negro - Keytesville - Its Locution and Early History - Its Business Men - Town Prospered Between the Years 1832 and 1842 - Fires - Colonel Thomas H. Benton - Incorporation ^Secret Orders - Public Schools - Banks and Bankers - Public Buildings - Old Court House - New Court House - Jail - Poor House - Keytesville Cemetery - Postmasters - Business -^Keytesville and Other Towns in 1837 - Antiquities.

This townsbij) is bouiidcJ on tlie ncirth by Salt creek, Muscle Fork and Bee Branch townsliips, on the east by AVayland and Salisbury townships, on the south by Chariton and Missouri townships, and on the west by Bowling Green and Brunswick townships .

Physical Featuke8

Pileytesville township embraces seventy-five square miles, and is greatly diversified. The southeast portion of it comprises a large section of excellent farming land known as the forks of the Chariton. A consideraljle portion of the township, however, is too steep and broken for successful cultivation; Many of the peaks rise to an altitude of many feet, and have a number of Indian mounds on their summits. All of this region was originally in timber, but it has been partly cleared and the rest culled to supply the saw-mills, of which there are several in this part of the county. The portion of tlie township lying on the west side of the Muscle fork contains some of the finest upland prairie in the county. The northeastern part of the township is of a nietlinm fertility, is very thickly settled and beautifully diversified witii fields and groves. About two-fifths of the entire township is wooded. The streams are the Grand Chariton river, the Muscle fork of the Chariton, South Puzzle creek. Long Branch creek, running into the Muscle fork. Long Branch creek run- (422)

Old Skttleks

On the night (jf December 24, LSl).3, I was living at my father-inlaw's, John G. Moore, deceased, about one and one-half miles west of Keytesville, Chtiriton countv, Missouri. About nine o'clock of that night I was calbni b_\ ^L-s. Moore, she telling me that something was going on wrong about the premises, and asked me to go out and see what was the matter. 1 did so, but discovered liotliing unusual. Returning to the hou~e, I stayed there some time, when Mrs. Moore asked nie to go out and see after Mr. Moore, as she felt very unc-.is}' about him. Li company with a ^Ir. Binford I went out and around the premises when we met with Mr. Moore who asked us to go to the cabins with him. Cioing into one of the cabins, we found a lot of neorroes around the tire and Louis standing up who, upon our entrance saluted Mr. Moore ^-ery cordially, saying: "How are you, Massa Johnny." Mr. Moore replied to him and at the same time remarked to him : "Louis, what is that you have in your hand there?"' On the instant Louis said : " I belong to the United States army," drew his pistol and fired hitting Mr. Moore. Louis then sprang through the door. Mr.'^Binford and myself pursued him : when some little di;^taiice from the (.-abiii we ciuiglit him Ijy each arm, he llirowiiig himself forward with such force ;is to cause liiiu and mjscif to fall to thc'grouiid. ]\Ir. iNIoore, wiiile we were down, came up and fired one shot when Loui.s spi-ang up and ran around the house, myself iind Binford pursuing, while Mr. Moore went the other way to head him off. When Mr. Moore met him he tired again, wiicn Louis sprang over a fence and made ids escape. Upon returning to the house we found Mr. Moore was hit, and becoming weak upon entei-- ing the door fell forward u[)oii ins face. I thea went for Dr. Dewey, of Keytesville, who, upon his and cxandnation of the wound, said that he was fatally shot and could not live ovei- two or three hours; ho died during tiiat night, 'i'he next un)rning I went to Keytesville and got a warrant and jilaced it in the hands of the .sheriff, Mr. Caiman, who faileil to capture Louis. The next we heard of Louis he was at some point in Iowa, and we were informed that if we would pay the reward, $.iOO, we could get him. We applied to General Rosencrans for military protection, and expected to go after Louis and l)ring him to Missouri, hut being refused bv hira the needed protection, all efforts to capture and punish Louis were abandoned.

Keytesville, tiie county scat of Chariton county, was laid out in 1832, and located originally on the North .V, North-West ^ section 4, township 53, range IS. Caleb Woods was the original proprietor of a portion of the land iipon which the town is located. Woods went from Chariton county to Oregon at an early day. In 1830, James Keytc, an Englishman, and a Methodi.st preacher, purchased the land upon which the town was located, a(id in 1832 donated fifty acres to the countv, upon which the court-house and other public buildings were erected iu 18o;5-34. The county seat was moved from Chariton in 1833, the first term of the Circuit Court being held in Keytesville on July KJth, 1833. As early as 1831 Jlr. Keyte erected a log-cabin near the bank of ^luscle Fork, where the residence of Hugh Bartz now stands. At the same time, or soon after, he built a small business house, in one corner of his yard, and put it in charge of his sister, Miss Sarah Keyte, who not only attended to the store and post-office, but often carried the mails between Old Chariton and Keytesville.

After the town was laid out, a snndl log-house was put up east of the court-house by Thomas Givens, designed as a business house, with Wni. A. Wilson in charire. The next business firm was that of the

Jtuiies Keyte erected a mill (water mill) on the old sight of the present mill, and sold a half interest to dohn B. Anderson above mimed. The original blacksmith was Peter Lassin, uDane. Theodore Crane started a pottery. The first physician was Doctor David Pettigrew, who died in 1847. The first lawyer was Wm. F. Davis, brother of Judge J<ihn M. Davis. 'Squire I\IcDoiia!d was the 6rst tailor.

Piigh Price, father of General Sterling Price, came from ]\andolph county, Missouri ( but originally from Virginia), in flie fall of IS.'U, and settled on a firm, about a mile south of Keytesvillo. His two sons. Sterling and John K. Price, who lun.l attained their majority, came with him. In lSo'2 these sons married, John marrying a daughter of General Owen, of Howard county, and Sterling a ^liss lle:id, ol" Randolph county. Soon after their marriages the old gentleman ga\e to each son a share of his property. John moved to and Sterling remained here. John, however, before leaving, had erected a hotel in Keytesville - a frame building. This he sold to Sterling, who soon after, in 1835, embarked in the mercantile luisiuess with Walter G. Childs, his brotlier-in-law ; in the nietintime he operated the hotel. General Price remained in Keytesville till 184G, when he went to Mexico, in command of a regiment. (See hi'~toiv of State.) He returned to Chariton county in 1847, and in 1848 moved to Bowling Green jirairie, where he owned a large farm. Heie he li\cd until his deatli, wliich occurred in 18iJ7.

General Price was one of the most talenteil and distinguished men of]Missoiiri. He represented Chariton county in the General Assembly, was Governor of the State, and a member of the United States Congress. He was a gallant soldier in the Mexican war, and when the war of 18<')1 was inaugurated, he espoused the cause of the South, and clung to her failing fortunes with the tenacity of a brave and true soldier. Although he has been dead ipiite a number of vears, his memory is still fragrant in Chariton county, and especially amonir the old settlers of Keytesville, who knew him long ami well. A biographical sketch of General Price will be found in the historv of Bowling Green township.

Iveytesviile ]trospered from ls;i2 to about 1842, when the rising town of Bninswiek began to attract attention, and gave much promise of becoming a great business ))oint. Keytesville has had several small tires. The largest occurred on the 18th of April, 1880, when almost the entire block on the north side of Bridge street was destroyed.

Col. Thomas H. Bentox

In the fall of LS49 Keytesville was honored with the presence of the distinguished gentleman whose names stands above. He was advertised to speak at Brunswick, but learning that the choler;i was in town, he went to Keytesville, where he remained two days, and addressed the people upon the political issues that were then before the country.

Keytesville was incorporated under an act incorporating towns and villages, February 3d, 1868, with the following named trustees : John Gaston, Andrew Mackay, Jr.. M. G. Holeomb, F. M. Redburn and E. M. Burr. In March, 1883, it was incorporated as a city of the fourth class. The following were the ofUcers chosen ; - -

Present officers - M. W. Anderson, M. W. ; R. H. Tisdale, recorder. Regular meetings second and fourth Tuesdays in each month. Present membership, tifty-tive. One death occurred since organized, tive withdrawn and two suspended.

Public Schools Of Klytesvillk

The public school of Keytesville M'as organized after the war of 18(51, and has been increasing in interest and public favor ever since. The average attendance of pupils is 300. The enrollineiit numbers about 500, which includes the school children of the district. One hundred of this number are colorctl children, about lialf of wliom attend school.

Present teachers in, charge of the school are, G. W. Newton, principal ; Miss Anna Miller, Miss Addie Veatch, Miss Ettie V. Hays, J. R. Austin.

Banks And Bankers

There have been but two banks in Keytesville, the Bank of Keytesville, established in 1871, and the Fanners" Bank of Cliariton county, both of which are still in existence.

Farmer^' Bank of Chariton county, commenced business December 1, 18S0. OtBcers: L. M. Applegate, president; Judge J. B. Ilydo, vice-president; J. C. Miller, cashier. Statement made on 10th day of May, 1SS3 : - Resources. -

Notwithstanding tlie tact tluit a laruo niinilu'r, proliably a majority of tlic people in every county, liave very litllf practical experience in the courts, and ulth(iui;h the\' have the legal capacity to sue and he snetl, ne\"er improvo their opportunities, and never apj'car in court, unless it be on compul.-ion as witnesses and jurors ; yt't as the one great conservator of the peace, and as the final arhiter, in case of individual or neighborhood disputes, the court is distinguished above and apart from all and cvcr>- other institution of the land, and not only the prot-eedings of the court, but th.e place of holding the court, is a matter of interest to the averai^e reader. Not only so, liut in man}' counties, the court-house was the tirst and nsnally the only public building in the count\'. The tirst court-houses were in)t very elaborate buildings, to be sure, but they are enshrined in memories the preseut can never know. Their uses were general, nither than special, and so constantly were thev in use, daA' and night when the court was in session, for judicial, edueatif>\Kd, religions ami social purposes, that the doors of the (dd conrt-lionses, like the gates of gospel grace, stood o[)en, niglit and dav, and the snnill annnmt invested in th.ose old hewn logs and rcmirh l.ienches, returned a much better rate of interest on the investment, than do the stately jhles of brick or granite which have taken their places. The inennu-able court-house of early times, was a house adapted to a variety of purposes and had a career of great usefulness.

School was taught, the gospel preached and justice disi)ensed within its rude, but substantial walls. Then it served frec[uently as a resting place for weary travellers, and, indeed, its doors always swung on easy hinges.

If the old settlers are to be believed, the old court-houses, when tirst erected in this \Vestern country-, ot'ten rang on the pioneer .Salibath with a more stirring elocpience, than tint which enlivens the pulpits of the present time. ^lany of the earliest ministers otEciated in their walls, and if they could but speak, they woidd doubtless tell many a strange talc of pioneer religion, that is now lost forever.

To those old court-houses, ministers came of ditlerent faiths, but all eager J^o expound the simple truths of a sublime and beautiful religion, and point out for compai'ison the thorny path of duty, and the priuirose way of dalliance. Often have the walls of the old court- house jrivtii \K\c\i tlic echoes of tliose who sang the songs of Zioii, and many an ening wanderer, has had his heart moved to repentance thereby more strongly than ever by the strains of homely eh)quence. With Monday morning, the old Ijuilding changed in character, and men went thither, seeking not the mere}' of God, bnt the justice of man. The scales were held with an even hand. Those who presided knew every man in the county, and they dealt out substantial justice and the broad principles of natural equity prevailed.

Children went there to school and sat at the feet of teachers, who knew little more than tb.emselves ; but, however humble the teacher's acquirements, he was hailed as a wise man aud benefactor, and his lessons were heeded with attention. The old people of the settlement went there to discuss their own ail'aii's and learn from visiting attorneys, the news from the great world so far away towards the East. In addition to the orderly assemblies which formally gathered there, other meetings no less notable occurred. It was a sort of u forum, whither all classes of persons went for the i)urpose of loafing and gossiping, and telling and hearing some new thing.

There is little of the poetic and romantic in the make up of Western society and the old court-house, after the building of the new one, ceased to be regarded with reverence and awe. In a new country, w^here every energy of the peo[)le is necessarily employed in the practical work of earning a living, and the always urgent and ever in'oscnt question of bread and Ijutter is up ffir solution, peo]ile cannot be expected to devote much time to the poetic and ideal. It therei'ore follows, that nothing was retained as a useless relic, which could be turned to some utility ; but it is a shame that the people of modern times have such little reverence for the relics of former days. After these houses ceased to be available for business purposes, they should have been preserved, to have at least witnessed the semi-centennial of the country's history. It is sad, in their hurry to grow rich, so few have care even, for the work of their own hands. How many of the early settlers have preserved their first habitations? The sight of that humble cabin would be a source of much consolation in old days, and its i>resence would go far toward reconciling the present generation with their lot, when comparing its lowly appearance with the modern residence whose extensive apartments are l)cginning to be too unpretentious for the enterprising and irrepressible "Young Americans."

Histouv Of Howaud Axd Chariton Counties

Chariton county has had but two court-houses. The first courts were held at Old Chariton tor the sjiace of aliout eleven years, Init no court house was built. The first court-house, wiiich we ha\'e called the " Old Court-House," was erected in 1832-33, at Ke}tesville. It was Iniilt of brick, and was two stories in height, and squai'e in sliape. The building contained four rooms, one below and three above - tlie court-room below, the jury and other rooms above. This Iniilding was destroyed during the war of 1801, an account of wiiich we have already given in this chapter.

The new court-house is one of the largest and handsomest buildings of its kind in tiie State, and was erected upon the sight of the old house in 18G6. It is also of brick, is 110 by 62 feet, two stories high, and cost nearly $75,000. It is located in the southwestern part of the town, on a commanding elevation - overlooking a large section of countrv towards the west and south.

The present jail was erected in 1872, at a cost of $11,000. It is a brick structure, two stories high and snl)stantially built, the sherift''s residence being connected therewith.

Poor-House

is located on section 11, township 53, range 19, four miles nearly west of Keytesville, and two and a half miles northwest of Daltou. It was built in 1868, the building and farm costing originally about $35,000.

Keytesville Cejietekv

Thf cemetory is just north of tlie town. It is oncloscd witli a ffMcc. hut tiie older portion of tlie liurial ei'ouiids are over with weeds, briars and undeigrowtli^ Maiu' "f the graves ave in a iiegleeled condition ; tlie lioad and foot stones arc moss-covered, and u uuniber of thcni are broken and lie in pieces among the leaves and weeds. Among the earliest inscriptions which arc now scarcely decipherable, we noticed the following: -

There are many nice monuments scattered over the grounds, some of which are of the finest marble, and have carved upon them beautifully wrought images, either suggestive of the character of the deiiartcd one, or simply beautiful as designs, symljolizing some one of the passions of love, hope, purit}", etc.

By f:ir the most attractive monument now to be seen in the cemetery is the statue of Willie Amos Hill, son of Wm. E. Hill, who was born May 31st. 1855, and died Octotier 17th, 1870. TJiis statue was made in Curacus, Italy, by Muldoon, Doyle ^Ic Co.. and cost s;],00i). It is fashioned out of the whitest and purest of Italian marl^le, and being in a prominent place near the entrance to the grounds, it is at once seen and admired by the stranger. The statue surmounts a block of marble, which is about tivefeet in height. The figure itself, is in a standing position, life size, with the right arm resting upon a pedestal. The left, foot is casually crossed over the right, and the left hand is quite naturally thrust into the pocket of his pants. Every thing about the figure seems to be easy, graceful and perfect. The coat, vest and pants, look as natural as though they were before you on the person of a living man. So true to nature has been the artist, that he has chiseled the ver}' wrinkles in the arms of the coat and the legs of the pants, not even omitting the seams of the clothes and boots which had been worn by the deceased while living. The head of the statue is uncovered, with hair smoothly parted, and the face, which is said to be -s facsimile of the original, is looking towards the east. Although this exquisitely wrought picture is nothing more than cold and lifeless marble, it is an exact image of him for whom it was fash-

Busixf.Ss Housks Kkytesvii.Lk And Otukk Towns In 1837

Wetmore has this to say of KeytesviUe and other towns in 1837, in his Gazetteer, published at that date: " KeytesviUe is the seat of justice for this county, and is the princii)al town in it. The old town of Chariton was built at an early period, a little above the mouth of the Chariton river, and within a near view of the Missouri. This location proved an unfortunate one, and the place was found so sickly that it is now a deserted village. It is within a half a mile of the continence of the two ))rincipal forks of the Chariton river, and on the wide bottom made by the Missouri and these two rivers. An attempt was made to erect, out of Chariton, two or three other towns in its vicinity. But the business men interested in the trade of the rich and populous country embraced within Howard and Chariton, and at suitable distance from the landing of the great bend of Missouri here, have tixed on a new site within the western boundary of IIow-

:irdcouiit\', iiir.l they :irc coniineiiciiip; tlieir business operations tlicro. An excellent house of entertainment will remain at Old Chariton for the acconimodiition of travellers, and the steam saw-mill will continue as a useful contributor to the growth of the new town below. From Old Chariton tlie traveller crosses the cast fork of the Chiuiton on an excellent bridge and pursues his route towards Keytesville, to which place it is seventeen miles. After travelling about six miles the road runs through a beautiful and very rich timbered country for eleven miles to Keytesville. This town is happily situated on the left bank of the Muscle fork, a branch of the main Chariton, within the timbered country and on a high site. To the south, a fine view opens over a prairie as ricli as any part of the glol)e, and snfKciently rolling for the convenience of farming operations. Much of the prairie is already occupied, and the improvements add to the natural beaut}' of the view from Keytesville. There are in Kej'tesville a good court-house, four st.jre>, with a general assortment of merchandise in each, and tluec taverns, and all the various mechanics' shops that are requisite in a farming country. Where the main road to the upper counties issues frrmi the town and crosses a good bridge, a saw-mill and grist-mill, with two pairs of stones, run the whole year. This is a convenience that is peculiar, and in Missouri but few places enjoy the same advantage. Although Chariton has not settled as rapidly as some of the counties, the lauds of which were in market at an early period, yet there is a large portion of the county that is first-rate land, and nuicii of it remains subject to entry at the minimum price of one dollar and a quarter per acre. There are many springs in this county, and some salt water. One salt spring, the property of Major Ashb}-, is strong enough for the manufacture of salt. Tlie mill-sites in Chariton are numerous, and there are four mills lieing ])uill in addition to the one already mentioned at Keytesville. Mr. Kcyte, the original proprietor of Keytesville, is beginning anf)ther tou'u at the mouth of Grand river, which he calls Brunswick. The site is an eligible one, and will probably become the point of lauding and shipment for the fine back country north and east of the position chosen for that purpose. One and a half miles from Keytesville, on the Grand Chariton, is a mill-site unoccupied, of great value, having a rock bottom and one bank of solid rock. There is supposed to be water sufBcient for a saw-mill and one or two large merchant mills. * * * The imi)rovejnent and settlement of Chariton countv have been greatly retarded by the military bounty-lands within it.

beinir owned to u fneiit e?di?nt by non-icsidents. Those persons who would he disposed to purchiise :ind settle on these lands might look in vaia for tlio owners, wlio reside in some distant quarter of the Union."

There arealxtnd.-uit evidences to [)rovc tli;it this Western country, and in fact nearly the entirely continent of America was, at some remote period of the world's history, thickly populated with a comparatively enlightened race of people. The burial mounds along the rivers and water courses, and on benches overlooking fertile valleys, that were formerly the beds of lakes or rivers, are tilled with human bones and strange relics of an extinct race. Some of these mounds present evidences of great labor in their construction, and the same general features that characterize them show that they were erected by one nation of peoi)le ff>r one general purpose. Specimens of earthenware, silver and coj'iper ornaments, ancient weapons, skeletons and bodies in a partial state of preservation have been taken from them in large numbers. Those ancient people were an entirely different race from the Indians, and lived at such a remote period that not the slightest tradition in reference to them has ever been found among even the most intelligent aboriginal tribes. They were small in stature and were evidently inclined to the pursuits of peace rather than of war. They had large cities and a comparatively dense population, by whom the arts and sciences were cultivated and the earth made to bring forth its fruits for their subsistence. A large cemetery was discovered at an early day on the ^Nleramec river, in St. Louis county, from which many partially preserved skeletons were exhumed. They had been buried in stone coffins, and, in some instances, the bones were nearly entire. The length of the bodies were determined bv that of the coffins, which averaged from three feet and a half to four feet. In Tennessee two l)odies were found in a limestone cavern, and neither of them exceeded four feet in height. The teeth were separated by intervals, and were small, long, white, and sharp. The hair seemed to have been sandy or inclined to yellow. Great pains had been taken to preserve the bodies, and much labor had Iieen expended in making the funeral robes in which they were folded. Two splendid blankets, Avoven with the most beautiful feathers of the wild turkey. arranged in regular stripes and compartments, encircled them. The cloth on which these feathers were woven was a kind of linen of neat texture, SDiuctiiiir like that which is m.'uh' IVoin the tiKres of" the iicltlo. One ol' these persons, a female, had evitleiitly died from the effects of a blow on the skull, as the marks of eoagulateil blood could still he traceii where the blow fell, wlien the body was exhumed. The skulls and faee bones of all tiie mound builders were of a peculiar shape, somcwluit reseinliling tiie head of a sijuirrel or fox. ami very small, the face and chin protruding, the forehead ntirrow and retreatiDg. There evidences to show that this pigmy race of peo[)le lived contemporaneously with the mastodon, that immense antediluvian animal which has been extinct for unnumbered centuries. The pottery which had been taken from the mounds was unbaked, the glazing was incomplete and looked as though it had been moulded hy liand. A drinking cup taken from a mound in St. Charles county, is thus described by a gentleman who owned it: "It was a smooth, TvelL moulded, and of the color of common gra\' stoneware. It had been rounded wiih great care, and yet. t'rom slight indentations on the surface, it was manifest it had been ^\-rought in the palm of the liand. It would contain about two (juarts, and had lieen used to hold animal oil, for it had soaked through and varnished the externa! surface. Its neck was that of a squaw, known by the clubbing of the hair, after the Indian fashion. There seemed to have been an attempt at wit in the outlet. It was the horrible and distorted mouth of a savage, and in drinking you would be obliged to place your lijis in contact with those of madam, the squaw."

The curiosities here mentioned are but two or three among the thousands which have been found in many parts of Missouri; indeed. the State is rich in the relics of a pre-historic race, there being scarcely a single county that has not produced one or more of these silent, but unmistakal)le memorials of that strange j)eople. What became of the mound-builders is a question that will probaldy never be settled. That they were exterminated by a stronger and more wtir-like race there is but little doubt ; but, then, who were their destroyers, and what, in turn, became of them? They were certainly not our modern Indituis or their progenitors, for in that case some tradition of so great a conquest would have rem.ained among them. When we contemplate this subject the mind runs far back into the misty realms of imagination and is not satistied. It is an insoluble mystery which eternity alone can unravel. One who studied the subject long and earnestly, and assisted his studies by observation, says : " Here must hivve been a race of men on these charming plains that had every call from the scenos that siurouncied thoin to contented existence and tranquil meditation. Unfortunate, as men view the thing, they must have been. Innocent and peaceful they prohahly wore, for had they been reared amidst wars and quarrels, like t!ie present Indians, they \vor.ld d<)ul)tless have mainlaincd their ground, and their posterity reinairied unto this day. Besidetiieni moulder the huge lioncs of their conteniporarv beast, which must have iieeu thrice the size of the elephant. » *

"The unknown race to whicli these bones belong liad, I doubt not, as many projects of ambition and hoped as sauguiueh' to have their names survive, as tlie great of the present day."

Mr. Charles Yeatch. present (1S83) postmaster at Keytesvilie, has a magniticent variety of antiquities, consisting of ?,000 relics, 1,(K)0 minerals, and 2,000 specimens of beetles. Mr. Veach has spent ten or twelve years in the collection of these relics, and can now congratulate himself upon the fact that his years of patience and labor and careful research have yielded him such an aljundant harvest. lie lias had cabinets made e>[iecially for the presei'vation of these strange but unique Indian and pre-historic memorials. Each class of minerals and relies have been caretuUy and tastefully arranged in an infinite variety of drawers, placed in tiers, varying in cajjacity and size. The beetles are inclosed in glass cases and make a brilliant display. Among the latter ma}' be seen the gorgeous winged butterfly, together with the most intiiiitesimal insect that buzzes through the air or crawls upon the earth.

Among these strange and fascin.-iting specimens we noticed a si)ade, which was plowed up iu Keytesvilie township, and is thirteen inches in length ; a stone mall from rio\vard county that weighs thirteen pounds, one beautitully shaped axe of varigated granite, a number of fleshers from Chariton and Howard counties, a pestle and bowl from Chariton county, paint stones from mounds in Bee Branch township, iron ore iuqjlements, tlints of all colors and sizes, scrapers, chisels from Kentucky, points of arrows from the most delicate to the largest size, drills, spear-heads, beads, amulets, sharpening, banner, and pc»lishing stones, seven large stone pipes, models from the Sioux triiie consisting of arrows, sewing awl, and medicine liag of the chief Brave Bear, who was hung in Yankton iu 1882. We saw also the war club of the Sioux Indians, and a scalping-knife with u case nuide of deer's foot, also the pipe out of which Brave Bear smoked just before his execution, and a bear's skull which was f(jund in a cave near the I'y- reuees in France. This vast collecliou of .stones, which have hecii so exquisitely wrought and tu.stetully designed, are silent, yet eloquent, evidences of the intelligence and taste of these pre-historic designers. There are mounds in Koytesville, Bowling Green, Briius\yick and Triplett townships, in Chariton county, some of which have been explored to a slight extent.

Boundary - Physical Features - Old Settlers - Brunswick - Its Early History - Mills ami Manufactures - Banl<s aud Bankers - Kiireka Lodge, No. 73 - Chapter, No. 37 - Brunswick Lodge, No. 34, 1. 0.0. 1'. - Kuigbts of Houor - Jerusalem Encampment - Report of Public Schools of Brunswick - County Seat Question - German Settlements - War P.erainiscence of ISO 1 - Growth and Trade - Grand Kiver - Additions to Brunswick - Clippings from t lie first issues of tUeUni/isu'icA-f)- - Business Houses and Exports - Number of Steamboats - Destructive Fire - Correspondence between the citizens of Brunswick and Colonel Thomas H. Benton.

Boundary

This is one of tlie f:ouchcrn tier of towiishi[)s, and is bounduu on the north by Mendon, Sail Creek and TrinlctL townsiiii^s, on tiic east l)v Kevtesvilie and Dalton, on the south liy the Missouri river, and on tlie west by Triplett township and (Irand river.

This township contains about seventy-two square miles, and has a very irregular shape. Its water facilities are good - having- the Missouri and Grand rivers on the southern part of its territory, while iSalt, Brush, Lake and Palmer creeks water other portions of the same. There is a diversity of prairie and timijer, bottom and npland. The bottom land is of first quality in all places not too low or too wet for cultivation ; the upland, much of it, is productive prairie. The timbered portion of the upland consists of a line of rather steep blufis, becoming less broken, as they recede from the river. About one-third of the whole area is timber. Sandstone and limestone are found in abundance. Coal is found in many places in the hills, and has been worked a little. Several Indian inc)unds are found on the bluif line.

Old 8Ettleks

which has a greater population tliai) anv other town in the count_v. Having in the early years ot" its scU lenient, not only a market in the town of Brunswick, Init also an excellent shipping point (tjie city being oiiginally located on the banks of the Missonri river), the agricultural resources of the township were early developed, and especially was this the case with tobacco, which was in ante-bellum days perhaps the chief resource of wealth to the farmer. ilauy hogs were also raised in this township, and were taken to Brunswick and wei-e sold to [lork packers, v,ho shipped the meat by way of the river to Eastern and Southern markets. The old settlers were geuei-allv from Kentucky and Virginia, and occasional!}' one was found IVom one of the Carolinas. Aiiiong the earliest settlers in this township were Caton Usiior, from Kentucky : George Ashby, from Kentucky ; Preston Gaines, from Kentucky ; flalcb Martin, from Kentucky ; John llibler and sous, from Kentucky: John Ellison, IVoni Kentucky ; Jesse Gray, from Kentucky; Jesse Ashby, from Kentucky : and John AA'. D. Letti'cll, from Kentucky. All of the above setiic^l in the township prior to 1840, and a few cume as early a? 182.">. William Feuick, from Virginia; AVilliam Fleetwood, from North Carolina ; and Clark Banning, from Tennessee, were also among the earl\' settlers. Lisbon Ap[ilegate, Creed Chapma!i and his brother, and John Allega and his boys may be counted amongst the pioneers.

The tirst mill erected in the towusliip was a band mill, and was put up before the year 183U by Jesse Ashby, about three miles north of the town of Brunswick.

This town was laid out by James Keyte, in lSo(i, on the iK)rthwe-.t quarter of section 11, township .''3, range 20, which was ,at that time one mile below the mouth of Grand river. James Kevte was also the founder of Keytesville, the county seat of Chariton count v, for whom the town was named. Brunswick, when originally laid out, was located in the bottom, on the iianks of the Missouri river, and about four hundred yards south of the pi-esent site. The banks, however, began to crumble and fail into the river, and in the course of twenty years, the business houses and the few residences that were then near the river were moved to the base of the bluffs. Mr. Kevte, who was an Englishman, named the town after Brunswick (Tennis), near Manchester, England.

Janios Kcyte. wliich \v:is used as a store of jreiicral merchandise. Mr. Kejte also erected a saw-mill alioiit the same time, which was undoubtedly the iirst mill ot the kini.l erected in tlie township. Among the pioneer butiiness men, who located there soon after the town was laid out, were Peter T. Abell, John Basey, Perkins and Conwell. Abell, Perkins and Conwell had general stores, aud Basey opened the tirst hotel. Abell also operated a hotel in connection with his store. Capt. James Usher opened the first dram-shop in the town. E. B. Clements was also [iroprietor of a dram-shop. The men above menlioned, with possibly two or three accessions, constituted the business men of Brunswick, until about the year 1840. During this year, Doctor M. C. Spencer, and a man by the name of Threldkill, kept hotels. Wilson Elliott was the wagtm-maker in 1840. Moses Short and Elhauen Short, were the tjrick-nsakers. Doctor Edwin Price, brother of General Sterling Price, was one of the earliest and the most prominent phy.sicians of Brunswick. He lived there until his death. Mrs. A. E. Cross, the widow of Doctor Henry Cro-s,and a daughter of Doctor Price, now resides in Brunswick. K. B. Price, a son of Doctor Edwin l^rice, is a prominent bu.--iness man, and a banker of the city of Columbia, Missouri.

Brunswick did not grow very rapidly from the time that it was laid out, until 1840, as there were but twenty-five votes polled in the town in the spring of th-at year, which iudlcateil a population of about 12') persons; this we state upon the authority of Judge John M. Davis, who now ( 1882), resides in the town. The first postmaster in the town was James Keyte, the founder, who held the position until his deatii, which occurred in the fall of 1844. The pork-iiacking interest of the town from 1838 to 1841 was qisite extensive. Among those who bought and packed pork were Peter T. Abell, who failed in business on account of it, in the spring of 1841 ; Pugh Pri(;e, brother of General Sterling Price and Perkins and Gates, who also failed in the spring of 1841.

Aiiiasa Silrey and Joseph Silrey will be remembered i)y tiie oldest inhabitants as the men who operateci the cooper shop. Broady Barrett, George Dupey, and R. G. Beazley were among the early buyers and shippers of tobacco. Thomas E. Gilliam and A. Johnson, were the first manufacturers of chewing tobacco in the town. Joseph Winters and Joseph Caton were the first tailors. Nuthan Harrv was the first saddler. Colonel Peter T. Alieli aud Colonel C. AV. Bell were the first lawyers to practice in the town. The first churrli edifice was built bv the Methodi.st Episcopnl Cliur('li South, tlie EijiscojKilians and I'lesbyteriaiis erectins houses of woi'ship soon after. Tlie pioneer school teaoher of the town was Judge John M. Davis, who opened a school on the 19th of June, 1840, for a term of five months. The school numbered about thirty pupils, among whom were, John, Ben, Charles and yamuel Spencei', Sterling Trice, nephew to Geuer;il Sterling Price and Beverley Price, 'William Turner, Elias, Samuel, William and Asa Elliott, Isaac and Snnuie! Ilililcr, James, Edward and John Keyte, William Penick, Ann E. Price, Eliza Basey, Mat Spencer, Camilla and Beitie Price, Bettic Penick, and others. The school building was a log house, and stood south of wliere Grand river now runs.

Mills And Manufactures

There was no grist mill located in Brunswick, until after the war of 18H], when Patrick Smith erected a steam flouring mill and carding machine.

The first bank that was opened in Brunswick was the Brunswick Branch of the Merchants' Bank of St. Louis, about the year 1856. This was controlled by a jiresident and board of directors. The president was Adamjintine Johnson, the ca.shier was George W. Outcalt, and the clerk of tlie bank, was William C. Applegate. It suspended business during the civil war of ISGl.

The next bank was a private institution and opened in the fall of 1865, by W. H. Plunkctt. This was succeeded In' the Chariton County Exchange Bank.

Statement of the Chariton County Exchange Bank, Bnniswick, Missouri, June 30, 1883. S. Mauzey, president ; R. II. Hodge, vicepresident. Chartered, 1877: Resources -

Old Chapter, organized September 10. 1^47, with the following charter members: J. W. Smith. S. B. Kyle, T. P. Wilkerson, - Hobson, N. A. Grublts, C. F. Buudurant, W. C. Ilill, A. Johnson, Samuel Q. Anderson. Charter was surrendered in Ajiril, 1851, and reorganized January 30, 186S.

Knights of Honor, Chariton Lodge, No. 2112. org:inized March 20, 1880, with the following charter members: E. P. McDonald, John Keuchler, Louis Benecko, AVm. S. Land, Jos. U. B. Hedger, Otto

Eate per cent levied fur building purposes . Assessed value of property in the tlislrict Amount ou hand at beginning of school A'ear (deficit) . Amount received for tuition fees ....

County Seat Qucstiox

The question of moving the county seat from Keytesville to IJiiinswick was more or less discussed by the people of the latter place from 1845 to the beginning of the late civil war. It was perhaps more generally agitated from 1848 to 1554, but the matter was nevet left to a test vote. The consequence was, as it always has been over -uch questions, an unpleasant feeling sprang up between the two towns, which exists to .some little extent even now.

Among the curious Jiiomenloes of tiie great civil war u'hieh have been preser\-ed by accident or otherwise, by the people (if Brunswick, is the following : -

" We, the undersigned citizens of Brunswick, pledge our sacred honor to maintain and defend the stars and stripes, which now lioat ou what is now known as the Douglas pole, anil to maintain the same in its position, and that we will not suller any traitorous hand to lower or disturb the same. If by accident, or otherwise, the same shall he destroyed, to erect another in its stead. We further pledge ourselves to protect and hold sacred the rights of both person and property of all Union men in our midst, and further guarantee that their social and political opinions shall be held inviolate. All the foregoing we solemnly pleilge our IxMior to Lieutenant-Colonel Robert White sliall be carried out in good faith.

Growth And Trade

Brunswick grew more rapidly and prospered in a more substantial and flattering manner between the years 1840 and 185G, or until the building uud completion of the Hannibal and St. Joe railroad, which passed east and west through Linn county, and about nineteen miles north of Brunswick. The population of the town was perhaps as rrreat in 1856 as it has been at any time since. Its trade was quite extensive, and a large area ot" territory contributed to the wealtii and importance of its merchants, who were active and energetic business men. Mucii business was drawn from the counties of Linn, Mercer, Sullivan, Grundy, Livingston, ))art of Carroll, and even as far nortii as the Iowa State line. The counties named generally did their shipping at Brunswick, by way of the jNIissouri river, and received their goods, when purchased at St. Lonis or P^astern cities, from the Brunswick warehouses, where they were transiiorted by steamboats. A gi)od ferry was operated on the Missouri river at that time south of Brunswick, and quite a trade was enjoyed also from Sidine countv.

Grand Rivek

It was thought at one time, that Grand river would add something to the material prosperity of Brunswick, but the result proved to be anything else than satisfactor}' to the parties interested.

It was thought by many river men and steamboat men, that Grand river coukl be made a navigable stream and upon a representation of these facts to tiie Missouri State Legislature, that body in the winter of 1838, passed an act ap}iro])ri;iting money to ascertain the fact of its navigaliility. A commission was appointed and reported that tlie river was navigable as far as the town of Bedford. Several small steamers were plucky enough to attempt the ascension of the stream and actuallv ran up as high as Utica and Bedford. Among these, was tlie gallant little craft Bedtbrd, which went up the river in the spring of 1840 to Utica. After a few experimental trips had been made, during high water, the continued navigation of the stream was abandoned.

Additions To Brunswick

Since Brunswick was laid out, there have been a number of additions ; the name and date of each will be found below : - "Western Addition, laid out in March, 1847. Northern Addition, laid out in January, 1847. Woodson's Addition, laid out in January, 1847. Brinker's Addition, laid out in January, 1858. Keytc's Addition, laid out in January, 1859. Haigler's Addition, laid out in January, 1858. Price's Addition, laid out in January, 18fJ7. Aill Addition, laid out in January, 1873.

Business Iiousics And Troff.Ssion'Al Mex

"The hotel recently occupied by John li. Price, has been thoroughly renovated and lilled with n.ew beds, bedsteads, bedding, (-Ic. The proprietor is fullv prepared to entertain m;in and beast with tlie best the market can atl'ord. liates board : 25 cents per iTieal ; 7-t cents per day ; $1.2.") per day for man and horse : Si.-'iO per week ; $.3.50 per week l)Oard and lodging; $7.00 [icr week man and horse.

Phillips, aliay Jim Pliillii>>, alias Black Jim, VLquandam doggery keeper, cidevant lioi'se-racer ami tieky black-leg, taking with him tiic dauglilcr of an honc-t old coiintniiian, who \va^ iiired in the i'amily, for \niyjiose.s at which virtue shiiiiks back ajipalied ! He ha,s let'l me and seven children, v;hol!y di-jiendent n|ion the charity ot our friends I'or subsistence. He is a man about thirly-tivc years of age, inclined to corpuU'n<;y, about tive feet ten inches high, very dark hair, eyes and skin, the latter so strikingly assimilating the shade Ethopian, as to justify the taniiliar ."-'Oifir/y./e? of Black Jim. It is too often the case with poor huma.uity, when alfectioii's liowers become withered, hoj)e's vestal liame dimmed and all our fairy \*r?ioTis of bliss fade from us, we .shroud ourselves in gloom and melancholy, and brood darklv over disappointment, imt 1 thank my God that I have suflieient fortitude to bear with misfortune, and sensibilities .sufliciently retined to ajipreciate an accursed ini'juiti/. 1 therefoi'e pray the public press to give Jim such noioriety by its scorpion lash as to niake liis couch ot f^in the very hot-bed of iro. Betsy Piulivfs."

Tlic first steaml)Oiit th:it passed ii[) the river in 1840, was the Julia, oil the r)th of March. The last one down was the Amelia, on the lltli ot" December. The whole niimhei- of steamboat arrivals and departures tor the _year w.-is 5o4. Of this number the packet Rowena, Captain Jewett, made forty-four ; the next best were the St. Joseph and Highland Mary* each thirty-four. Fifty-five diflereut boats wore at the Brunswick landing.

Uestkuctive Firk

This lire occurred on the morning of Ajiril 10th, 18,")0, before day. Those sutTering from this fire, were H. G. Brent & Co., R. H. Dickey & Co., S. &H. Weil, B. N. Jones & Co., Hathaway & Anderson, A. L. Kerr & Co. and J. B. Hodge.

Believing that the t'oUowing correspondence between Colonel Thomas H. Benton and a number of the old citizens of Brunsv.'ick will be read with interest, we here reproduce it.

Dear Sir: We, a portion of your fellow citizens of this vicinity, without political distinction, learning that you are on A'our way to Kansas (^itv to open the question of the Central Pacific Railway, would most respectfully ask vou to designate a day when we may have the pleasure of hearing yon speak in Brunswick. Very truly, etc.,

Genllemen - Your very acceptable invit:Uii)n has been received, aiid will be complied with, i>ut not at tlii> time. A long absence from home leaves me no time to turn lo the right or left, or stop a day in this voyage to the West, undertaken solely to see a small pioneer party set out to explore the route to the Pacific, ^vhich is recommended by Fremont and Leroiix, and whicli the map sh/ws to be the shortest and most direct and most central between the United States and the Pacific Ocean. Your invitation comes, as such a one should do, from the citizens generally ( from the body of the community), without regard to political uistinctiuii. Iliippily we have a subject to occupy us which i« inilejieiulfnt of p:irty, and in ^vhich all citizens may imite heart and hand and woi-k together cordially and zealously to jjrodnce a grand consummation which is to redound to the i)enetit ofeverj- ]>art of the community, and to every section of our country, and to the whole Union, and even Europe and Asia, and to the latest posterity. It is now thirty-five years since 1 liave been al work upon this subjrct, that of commercial communication between the Mississippi - the mode of communication varied only to suit tlie progress of events, but the object always the same. I Ijegan witli water communicalions oil the line of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, when we owned nothing but Oregon beyond the Kooky Mountains, and the steam-car unknown. Now, when California is acquired, the steam-cars already run over more miles in the United States (all ma.de by St.ates or individuals) than would make six diiferent roads to the Pacific Ocean from our frontier. I change the mode and the line, and go for the car and San Francisi'o, and that upon the route closest to the parallel of thirty-nine degrees, which the nature of the ground will admit of. I caught the idea from Mr. Jefferscm, who, in his message to Congress proposing the expedition of Lewis and Clark, presented the commercial communication as the leading oliject, and the one that gave Congress constitutional jurisdiction of the case, and the extensimi of geographical science as the incident to the pursuit of that main object. That was before we acquired Oregon or set u[) anv claim to territory on the Pacific Ocean ; now we have both Oregon and California, and besides the commercial ol>ject have another in the dutv of communicating with the citizens in these distant possessions, and stretching a liL'ament of union from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

" Wlieii I first wrote upon this project it was a subject of ridicnilt, with II great many ; but that had uo ellVct upon lue. It is my prerogative to disregard unworthy opposition, and to vanquish it. I have continued steadily at my w(n'k tor al)out tlilrty years, and now see success in view. ]>ut I liad something more than ridicule lo encounter, and that was the unwise action of the Federal Go\ernmcnt. In I^'^IS it nia'le a treaty of joint occui>ation of the Columbia with the British for ten years. I v.-as not then in the Senate, but denounced. that treaty as unjust and injurious, as it would postpone our settlement lV)r ten years and give the British a foothold whicli mi^fht require a ' vigorous ctl'ort of policy or of arms to remove.' In 1828 that treatv of joint occupation was indetinitely renewed. I opposed it to tiie uttermost in tiie Senate, but in vain. The administration and the enemies to the gro\vth of the A^'est were too strcnig for me. lu 184(', untiertlic administration of Mr. Polk, this unfortunate treaty was alnngated after it had nearly produced war between Great Britain and the United States ; and I iiad the satisfaction to give it the last lick in that year, as I had given it the first in IS] 8 - twentv-eight years before.

" In the vear Isi^i I l.iegan another work in Congress whicli was deemed chimerical - that of a road to Santa Fe. Solitary and alor.e I bean to work upon that road, and accomplished it, having obtained appropriation of $30,000 for nnu'king it out, treating with the Indians for safe passage through their country, and conciliating the wood will of the New Mexican autliorities in Santa Fe. Persevero ance and a good cause crowned my etibrts with success, and I have never doubted of eventual success; and the [leriod seems now to iie approaching for the grand consummation. The public mind seems to be eftcctuallv roused up to it, and that all over our Union and in Europe also. The British Minister (Lord John Kussell) told onr late mini^ter, ^Ir. Abbott Lawrence (as Mr. Lawrence told me), that this euter[)rise, it accomplished, would have a greater intlnence upon human affairs than any event since the discovery of the New World by Columbus- - in whicli opinion Mr. Lawrence concurred, and told me it would be one of his cherished objects for the remainder of his life.

" Haviu"- lately spoken fully on this subject at Kansas City, Westport and Independence, a report of which you will see in the newspapers, I say uo more until we meet. " Yours truly,

We have given you the iihove letter in full becjuise it, was written 1)V one of the ablest and most distinguished men, not only of Ivlissouri, but of the United Stutes in iiis day; aiid!)ecause it was written to citizens of Brunswick, tiie names of wliom arc all well remembered bv the old settlers of the town. The letter shows that its author was a man of great v/isdom and furesiglit, and that he had earlv conceived the idea of not onh' establishing conimercial intercourse between the Mississippi river and the Pacific coast, but that he had, with unabated zeal, advocated the measure for thirty years.

Ciiaptek Viii

Boundary - Physical Features - Early Settlers - Wiuter of 1830-3i - Incidents - Kindness of Old Settlers - First School - Tornado of 1S30 - Kecollections of a Pioneer Woman - Salisbury - Its History - Business Houses - Fires of 1ST7 and 1882 - Tornado of lS7i' - Secret Orders - Town Incorporated - First and present; City Oflicers - Public School - Crimes and Casualties.

It is bouiuled on the north l)y Jveytesville and Wayland tvtwnjhips ; on the east by Randolph county ; cju the south by Howard count}' and Cliaritou township ; and on the west b}' Keytesville township.

Amoufr the water courses of this townsliip, are Silver creek, Bee branch. Shannon branch. Puzzle creek. East and IVliddle I'orks of Chariton river. The township comprises al>out two-thirds prairie and one-third timber, the timber being in greater abundance tlian it \\as tifty years ago. 'The soil is admirably adapted to agricultural purposes, the township being accounted one of the best and most productive in the county.

Old Settlers

Among the early settlers of Salisbury township, was Captain -lames Heryford, ^vho was a native of Virginia, but came from Tennessee to Chariton county in ISIT. Mr. Il.-ryford erected the tirst horse mill, the first cotton gin, and the tirst distilleiy, that were built in the county. These were located in section IS, on the bank of Puzzle creek. The horse mill was put up in 1S22 ; in \6oi, this mill was (4;.4) converted into a cotton gm, and in 1830, it was acain clian,2;ed into what was tlien called, a duublc-goared, cog-wheel mill. The distillery wos located rt'iout forty steps below the mill and was erected in 1824. A great many farmers raised their " patch " of cotton and grew it successfully until the winter of 1830, since which time, but little cotton has been raised in the county.

Winter Of 1830-31

That 3'ear - the winter of 1830-31 - will be remembered by the old settlers, as the year when there fell the deepest snow that the people living here had ever seen - and in fact, nothing has been seen like it since. It began to snow on the 25th day of December, 1830, and continued to fall until it averaged three and a half feet in depth on level ground. This snow remained on the ground until the 15th day of March following. It was especially severe on wild animals, quails and wild turkeys. Hundreds of deer were killed, and mauv of thom died for want of fo<id. Turkeys and quails met a similar fate.

About three hundred yards from his father's house, amono- some sumac bushes, a sow had nnide u bed, where she renuiined duriui;- the storm, with her pigs. The snow being so deep, the old gentleman could not very well reach the spot until he had dragged a large lo"- through the snow, with his ox team, to the place and back. This made a path about the width of the log. A few daj-s after the snowhad fallen, Captain Wra. Heryford, who was then a small hov of twelve years, went to feed the sow and pigs as usual, when he saw a deer upon the very spot attempting to eat the sumac berries which were hanging from the bushes over the bed. The deer got into the path, and followed it on to the house in its eftbrts to get away, and was driven into the barn where it was caught and kept for some weeks.

Captain Heryford says, during the snow, a Hock of quails was fed by him regularly, every d;iy under his father's mill-shed. This flock became quite tame and he supposes that it was the only one that did not perish, or was not killed in the county, during the snow, as he heard of no other after the snow had thawed uwav.

when 1 returned to Chariton county, where I then resided, I found that the snow had destrf)jed nearly all the iiojrs in the country. In many places tlie snow had drifted to the depth of forty feet. l~)urinf; the fall of the snow a heavy wind blew from the northwest, and all the snow drifted from the open prairies, leaving the ground almost bare. The snow lodged in the hollows on the southeast of all those high open jdains, and souie hollows that 1 knew to be from thirtv to forty feet deep had the appeai-anee of level plains. In some steep, abrupt hollows, I saw snow as late as the lirst of June, not yet melted ; and from all appearances the snow had not been less than fortv feet deep.

" During the melting of the snow, which was very gradual thi-ongh the month of March and a portion of April, I went out with William Martin, who was my partner in raising hogs, on Yellow creek, in Chariton county, and, to our astonishment, wc found the timbered bottoms strewn v,-ith the skeletons of dead stock and fowls. I distinctly remendjer one lot of t\\'enty -eight two-year-old hogs, wliich we had, that were very fat in the fall. After a diligent search we found three living skeletons - all that was left alive of them. So poor were they that a coui)le of Indians descrii)ed them as having no width at all and as crooketl as a bow - sliowing with their lingers bent that they meant humpbacked.

" The skeletons of turkeys (tliat is, their leg and wing bones) lay all over the !>ottom so plentiful that I supposed the last turkey M-as dead ; but while we were hunting our hogs we saw three live turkeys, while I have no doubt we came across the l>ones of tive hundred dead ones. We also Ibund many dead deer, and, from the signs, I concluded that they had been killed by the wolves, which were very plentiful and were the only animals in the woods that were fat after the melting ot that snow.

" I remember running my horse after a wolf that winter, and, when just about to overtake him, not noticing, I ran ri^ht into a snow-drift in the head of a hollow, thirty feet deep, to all a[)pearances. I had my rifle on my shoulder, and my horse plunged into the drift thirty or forty yards before I could stop. I got off the horse and beat the snow down as well as I could in my back track, being entirely under the snow for many minutes. When I got my head out, so that I could see, I saw the wolf swimming through the drift which was about two hundred yards wide. I brushed the snow from the barrel of my gun and tired at the wolf's head, as that was tlie only part of him that visible, l)Ut uiissetl him. The snow heing light, the wolf h:id sunk in it so f:ir that (Jiilv his head :uid neck could bo seen above the surface. This jjut a stoj) to the race.

"During the time the snow was on the ground 1 travelled from Jefferson City to my home in Cliariton county. I came as far as Booiiville in company with Lilburii W. Boggs, Smallwood Y. Nolen and others. 1 rode a common sized mule and went behind in all places where the snow was drifted. I shall never forget how the snow would part ou each side vi' the mules jaws ; it could just keep its nose out of the snow bv raising its head as high as it could. I had to stand up in my stirrups at all the drifts to keep the snow out my face. Now, this is so, antl if I had my witnesses I could prove it by gentlemen ' semldy setters,' as the old negro called them in Jefferson City, and by Governor h. W. Boggs, who was in the party.

"After passing Boonville I swapped my mule for a horse, and then made my wa}- home very well, as the road lay tiirough a timbered country, where the snow, although deep, was not drifted."

Moses Kitchen was born in Caswell county. North Carolina, ami came to Chariton county in 1829, and located in what was then known as Buffalo Lick township, near the Randolph county line. The first apple orchard planted in the township was set out by Moses Kitchen. The trees, tssenty in number, were purchased in Howard county, ami were known as the " Aruett " a[<ple trees. ]Mr. Kitchen brought with him from North Carolina, his tobacco seeds, called " Beat the Beater," and the following summer he set (uit 8,000 hills, from which lie raised 3,30:^ pounds of tobacco. This was considered a large crop, and commanded a price of four dollars per hundred pounds. During the winter of 1829, Mr. Kitchen spent Christmas week in hunting bee-trees and killing deer. He killed eleven deer and found seven bee-trees. That Christmas week was so warm that the farmers did their work without their coats. During the winter of 1830-31, while the deep snow was on the ground, the present Thomas S. Kitchen, son of Moses, shot and killed a wild turkey in his horse-lot. It was a very large gobbler, and had a beard that measured nine inches in length. He noticed that the turkey's bill or mouth was fastened by a large ice-ball, which had probably lieen accumulating there for two or three weeks. Although tlie turkey could not eat, it was pecking away at the corn-cobs in the lot, when he shot it. He was greatly disappointed to find that the turkey was so poor that it could not be eaten, and had to be thrown away. Thomas S. Kitchen

Ciuigbt u cat-ti-ih in the East fork of the Ciinritou river, in 1S30, th;it weighed 120 ponnds. Minks were so numerous on the banks of the same stream tliit Kitciien succeeded in tr;ip})ing sixty-four one winter, within a distance of two miles u[) and down the l)anks.

Kindness Of Old Settlers

Mr. Kitchen relates the following: In 1S35, a man named Alexander Daman lost his cabin and all his houseliold goods by tire. Daman lived in the edge of Randolph county. Tiio neighbors, Mr. Kitchen being one of them, heard of the misfortune, and all got together, ou a certain dav, inunediately after the (jcenrrenee, and jiroceeded to the place in a bodv. They cut logs, erected and finished a larger and better house than tlie one that was destroyed by tire, and had it ready for occupancy tiiat evening. But this was not all. Each man took with him what he could spare from the wants of his own family, sucli as a ham, a piece of bacon, a blanket, a quilt, cujjs and saucers, knives and tbrks, plate^, and, in fact, prepared him for keeping house in a more comfortable manner than he was before llie fire. Sucli were tlie old settlers, and such were some of tlieir true-hearted deeds - deeds the record of which should be preserved and handed down to the latest generation. James Taylor came from Kentucky in 1824. Achilles Finnell came from the same State in 1822. Charles Herryman came from Tennessee in 1823 'and became a Santa Fe trader some years afterwards. William Richardson and his sons were Xortli Carolinians. Andrew King emigrated from Kentucky in 1822. James McHargue was from North Carolina, and came in 1827. ilrs. ]\Iary Profit came from Kentucky' and was an early settler. James M. Harelson came among the pioneers, and had the honor of erecting the first frame dwelling-house that was put up in the township. The first v.lietit was raised l)y Achilles Finnell, in 1834, and called the "Golden ChuH'."" McHargue was the first . postmaster in the township, taking charge of an office at his home as early as 1838.

James Ryan settled in the townshi[) in the fall of 1817. and died before the war of 1861. His children arc still living, but are scattered. Samuel Dinsmore located in the forks of the Chariton rivers in 1820. His wife, Rebecca, is still living, and took the premium at the last fair ill Cliariton cnunly for being the oldest lady settler in the county. George Wolfskales, t';itlier-ia-l:i\v of Ry;ui :ind Diusinore above named, opened :i tarni in the edge of Chariton and Howard counties. He died before the war of 1S61. Among other old settlers were Peterson Parks, Robert Hays, Samuel C. and Jonathan T. Burch, Joseph Holsea, Wm. McColliini, David Gentry, Stokeh' Bunch, Elijah Boone, John Watson, the two Martins, Brurnmett, John Tillotson, Kichard Tillotson, Thomas Henderson. Win. Lee, Samuel S. Ellington, John P. MeAdams, Samuel and Thonuis Williams, Martin Hurt, Stephen Phelps, Samuel, Joseph and Gideon Goocli, Harrison Dennis, and James Winn.

One among the (irst schools in the township was taught by Captain Abner Finuell, about the year 1826. The building was located on the southeast quarter of section 19. Finuell had been one of the early militia captains, and was killed in the late war. Eliza and Rebecca Hays, Ethelred Parks, P. B. Parks, William, Daniel and John Y. Heryford, wei'e among the puijils who attended this pioneer school.

Tornado Of 1830

About the 10th of September, 1S30, Chariton county v/as visited bv a tornado, which swept through a portion of Salisbury township. Had the township been as thickly settled as it is now (1883), there would have been great destruction of life and property. The wind came from the southwest, and blew towards the northeast, levelling houses, trees, and everything in its path, and destroying a few lives. The storm was accompanied by lightning, hail and rain, the hailstones averaging as large as hen's eggs. Thomas S. Kitchen informed the writer that after the storm had passed he picked up a hailstone in his father's yard that was too large to be put into a pint cup.

Mrs. Elijah Parker, who resided in ]Mr. Kitchen's neighborhood, had an arm broken hy the storm, and her house blown down. A small flock of geese ^vere in the yard at the time, and were never heard of afterwards. .

Recollection'S Of Pio.Veek Women

Nitlluuiitl mid X:iucy IMorri^, her luotliei's niiiiden name beiiiir Williams. She came to Chariton county, in 1837, with her husband and family, and located in what is now known as Salisbury township, between the East and Middle forks of the Chariton river.

Among her ueigbbors, those who were already living iii-that section of country when she came, weie Isaac Runnymire, James Drinkard, Isaac Cupp, John JIanstield, John Winn, the Scribners, David McCollum, Elias Gentry, Elijah Emery, and Daniel Joluis.

The first schofil teacher to follow his calling in her neighborhood was John P. JIcAdams, who emigrated to the county from Virginia. The first term of his school was attended by George W. and Nancy J. Williams, ilezekiah, David and Columl)us Philpott, John and Susan EUinglon, James Bi-umuial and others.

The pioneer church was Mount Nebo, built by the Baptists, and located almut three miles west of the present town of Salisbury. The minister who otilciated at this church at the period mentioned, 1840, was Polder Felix Kedding, who labored long and faithfully in the cause of Lis Divine Master. Doctor James Brummtd was the first physician to locate in the iiciLrhliorhood. He was a great walker, and alwa3's travelled on foot to see his patients when they did not reside too far from his home. The doctor was wantonly and brutally murdered during the war of l.'>(il.

Mrs. Williams says there was much true-hearted hospitality among her neighbors, and tliat her jjioneer days, although spent in a wild country, where she was deprived of many of the comforts and luxuries with which the people f>f to-day are surrounded, were her happiest days, and that she, even now, in the quietude of her home, often lingers in thought, longingly and lovingly over the scenes and incitlents of those early years.

She remembers one David Gross, who was the only Hddler in all that immediate section of country. David was quite an origiual genius, and alw'ays carried warmth and sun.^hine wherever he went. He was apprecitited also for his bon/tomie, and was intensely fond of and well versed in all the rural games and enjoyments which were i)artici[)ated in by the people of that time.

"In wrestling nirable.in running swift, In shooting steady, in .swimming strong; Well made to strilje, to leap, to throw, to lift, And all the sports that shepherds are among."