Daviess County, Missouri - Chapter 16: Those Who Served the County, and the Coming of the Iron Steed, 1882

Of The Iron Steed County Judges

1866 - Baily H. Coffey, presiding justice; Peter Bear, William Bristow. 1868 - Peter Bear, presiding justice, William Bristow, G. M. Keene. Bailey H. Coffey resigued August 28, 1868, and from that time Bear and

1872 - The County Court, by a new law passed, instead of being composed of three judges was made a board of supervisors, and they organized themselves into a County Court, August 6, 1872.

gJuDGES, 1872. TOWNSHIP. supers, 1873. Gabriel Feurt, chairman...... Dales theses B. H. Cotfey, chairman. Nathan E. Reed............. Washington ...... William Adams. Wathats Nichole. joccsas xceais Lincola: s2caesien Nathan Nichols. William Wael «occ 3 scveest sas Benton soccwasees Henry Ramey. JON AVG? sn 6s: cone tigsis 3 MarlOmrsace incase: J. E. Grantham. Benjamin G. Kimball........ Grand River...... B. G Kimball. Robert C. Williams.......... Grant or Jamesport.. R.C. Williams. William Simithwas.cec.e aan sos JACKSODS cs cis eee William Smith. John D. Coulson............ WRN :ss0 acne B. F. Stout. William Prewett......... Sera bh o)-b3 hy eee William Prewett. Wesley: ééi..0.6cceuneddawe-ae Jefferson ......... Wesley Lee. edd GUIMNET io wadena cee newt CO Paiva. aead.c Gans 8. R. Gurney. George BE. Barkdolls css. s.00..8beridan... coe. sa George E. Barkdoll. John: A, THe les isis ssi aw sens BGRTOC eens es Gecs John A. Tuggle. Thomas: W. Reed 63 isescs sees HGrrigOn sss sc00< Thomas B. Tuggle.

1837 - William Bowman. His first deputy was William P. Peniston, appointed July 29, 1837. 1838 - William Morgan. He resigned September, 1839. His deputies

1839 - John Pinkerton. His deputies were Charles Blakely, December 9, 1839; Marshall Kk. Howell, February 2, 1840, and Jonathan Ballinger» June 25, 1840. i

1858 - The county was divided into four assessor districts and thus numbered, District 1, B. G. Kimball; No, 2, Lemuel Sturm; No. 3, William Rogers; No. 4, McClain Wilson.

Probate Judges

1855 - Gabriel M. Keene, appointed November 20, 1855; held the oftice until 1866, and until the Probate Court was abolished and the Court of Common Pleas was established in its stead.

Congressional

The present Congressman from this, the Tenth Congressional District, is Hon. George H. Burrows, Greenbacker, who was also supported by the Republican party, that party not making any nomination. He was elected in 1880 over Charles H. Mansur, the Democratic candidate, by a plurality of sixty-five votes, and succeeded Hon. Gideon F. Rothwell.

The Tenth Congressional District is composed of the following counties; to-wit, Randolph, Chariton, Linn, Sullivan, Mercer, Grundy, Livingston, Daviess and Harrison.

Circuit Judges Cirouit Attorneys

' From the first of January, 1873, the circuit attorney's office was discontinued, and the county attorneys of the various counties of the cireuit assumed the prosecution of cases in their respective counties at the sessions oF the Cireuit Court.

Railroad Suit

The people of Daviess county had been very restless over the locations _ of the two railroads which passed through the county. The subscription of sixty thousand dollars on what was ealled the " Ten-mile Strip," and the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars subscribed to the Omaha & Chillicothe road, was especially a sore spot. The former culminated in opposing not only the sixty thousand dollars, but also the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars subscription. What was known as the " Seligman bond suit," against Daviess county, was ordered to be contested, and one thousand dollars appropriated in April, 1873, to defend Daviess county in that matter, and also the suits which might be brought by the bondholders to recover on the other bonds held by the Southwestern Railroad Company, or whoever held them.

Location

The whole trouble arose from the location of the roads. |The companies secured the bonds and then violated the plain provisions of their contract in the location of the roads, and trusted to brow-beat the people and secure the spoils of a deliberate fraud. The president of the Chillicothe & Omaha road seems to have been what was known as a railroad shark, utterly devoid of principle, to accomplish personal ends and personal gains. Several indignation meetings had been held by the people, and two of the judges of the County Court had been indicted for delivering the bonds to the Railroad Company. The indictment was afterwards quashed. Judge Bear and County Clerk Bostaph were accused of secretly signing the bonds, and Keene and Morris of delivering them. Quite a meeting was held at the court-house. This was in May, 1872, and in March and April previous, meetings had been held in Harrison and Monroe and other parts of the county. June 15, 1871,' the court declined to turn over the Benton township bonds ($20,000) to the Omaha & Chillicothe Railroad Company for non-fulfillment of contract. The railroad was to pass through the center of the township, and it simply tonched the south part. This killed the old town of Pattonsburg and destroyed the value of its property by locating a station and depot something over a mile distant from the town, which was to have been a point on the line of the road. This deliberate act of treachery caused the loss to the company of this $20,000, but the people of Pattonsburg and,the township lost fully as much. The feeling of the people finally culminated ina series of meetings in the spring of 1872, all over the county. Twenty petitions were presented at the March term of the County Court, of which the following is a copy : -

'Your petitioners represent that they believe the bonds issued to Chicago & Southwestern Railroad Company are unjust, and therefore, we ask your honorable body not to levy any tax to pay the interest on these bonds until the suits now pending against their payment are decided by law."

The twenty petitions presented had nine hundred and forty-one names attached to them. Another lot of petitions, the County Court was informed, would be ready for presentation at the May term, and eight more were presented at that time. About three-fourths of the voting population had their names signed to these petitions. The first batch came trom the townships of Washington, Liberty, Lincoln, Grand River, Colfax, Sheridan, Jefferson and Monroe. Four of these; viz, Washington, Jefferson, Liberty and Grand River, had more petitions in circulation, but not ready for delivery. The excitement was intense, and very plain talk as to the duty of the County Court, was freely indulged in. The plain fact was, the people had taken hold of the swindle in dead earnest, and proposed to see it through.

The following shows their actions and wishes: '* Now at this day comes John A. Brown, Thomas R. Tuggle and McClain Wilson, and present their petition, which petition is in words and figures as follows; viz.,

" We, the undersigned, as members of a committee selected by the taxpayers of Daviess county to defend against the railroad tax being levied on the taxpayers of said county, which suits are known as the railroad bond suits, now pending in the Circuit Court of Daviess county, Missouri; your petitioners would respectfully represent to your honorable body that it is the desire of a large portion of the citizens of Daviess county that we, the said committee, request your honorable body to assume the prosecution of said injunction suits on the part of the people, and against the railroad company, and assume the management and liabilities as already incurred by said committee and managers of said suits. We would further represent that we have already employed three attorneys, and paid said attorneys six hundred dollars, which amonnt we donate to the prosecution of said suits, and would respectfully request that said attorneys be retained in said suits under the control and direction of your honorable body. All of which we respectfully submit, and will ever pray, ete.

Mass Meeting

On the 4th day of March quite a large number of the citizens of Colfax, Jefferson and Sheridan townships held a mass meeting in opposition to paying the interest on the railroad bonds, but while in that action they were right, their onslanght on the County Court and clerk was not of a kind ealculated to give them credit, either for sound judgment or fair play. The speeches, as reported, smacked too much of buncombe on the part of the orators of the occasion. The railroad companies had proven false to their promises, and then had tried to compel a full compliance on the part of the county to the contract, but there never was shown any evidence that the action of the County Court had been in anywise dishonest, or that the court had received any bribe for any action performed. Contracts have sometimes to be carried ont to a certain extent even when it is known that fraud exists, but it is not for man or the County Court to usurp the law in advance of trial. The delivery of those bonds made the county act its part in carrying out a contract, valid on its part, to the end. It was then for the railroad company to fulfill their part. They failed to do this. The county had done its part, and had valid grounds to compe! the railroad companies to do theirs. The meeting was largely attended, and the following are the preamble and resolutions offered, which were unanimously carried.

"Whereas, some of our county officers have assumed authority contrary to, and in defiance of the well known wish of a large majority of the taxpayers of the county in burdening them with a debt of hundreds of thonsands of dollars.

"Whereas the County Court of Daviess county has clandestinely issued bonds of said county to the amount of $150,000 to the Chicago & Southwestern Railroad Company, without any authority from the people, and contrary to all laws by which such bonds are authorized to be issued, and have transferred said bonds to the aforesaid railway company, contrary to the best interests of the people. We, the taxpayers and voters of said townships therefore do resolve

"1st, Resolved, that we, the citizens of the Ten-mile Strip ot Daviess county, will and do demur to the $60,000 subscription and do refuse to pay the interest or principal of the same.

"9d, That such actions of the county judges and clerk is in our estimation reprehensible, and we feel catled upon in our own defense to demur against such actions.

" 3d. That we refuse to pay the interest on said bonds, or any part of them, and that we will contest the legality of said bonds in the Supreme Court of the United States.

"4th, That this meeting requests Judges Keene and Morris, and County Clerk Bostaph to resign their offices, and respectfully asks them to do the

"5th. That this meeting indorses Judge Feurt in dissenting trom the action of Judges Keene and Morris in the order of the court of January 25th, 1871.

"6th. That a copy of these proceedings be published in the Gallatin papers. That if they refuse, we will withdraw our support from said. papers.

"7, That we, the voters of Jefferson, Colfax and Sheridan townships, do earnestly ask the codperation of all other townships to join with us in these remonstrances.

"Meeting permanently organized by electing Ira Bacon, chairman; M. JBenson, secretary; and S. Reed Gurney, corresponding secretary. On motion adjourned to meet on the first Saturday in April at the same place, at one o'clock p. m. Ira Bacon, President."

Another Bad Trait

Another bad trait in the character and management of these railroad companies, was their determination to pay no taxes. Nine times out of ten the counties had subscribed as a free gift about two-thirds of the money to build the road, quite that, when the value of the right of way and depot grounds were added free of cost, and notwithstanding these gifts they tried to swindle the people out of the payment of ajust tax. This was the last straw on the camel's back. State commissioners were appointed, and an assessment was made of the value of railroad property, and that assessment ery seldom exceeded the amount of money subscribed by the counties to the building of the roads. The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad held as gifts, large bodies of land, in Daviess county which they had declined to pay taxes on for several years. Up to 1872 these taxes amounted to over $10,000, and the collection of this tax was decided upon. This road had also taken up a portion of overflowed and swamp lands which belonged to the county and a settlement of that wasdemanded. Al these things seemed to kindle the fire of discontent among the people. An honorable and conscientious discharge of their duties and obligations to the people would have resulted in millions of dollars to them. They thought because the bonds were voted they were safe, and instead of trying to make friends of the people, sought to rob them of their property, by failure of contract, false valuation in assessments, and by haughty and domineering actions. This, at last, aroused the people, and in asserting their manhood they made it uncomfortable for the railroad companies. In the end the roads were the losers, not of their own property, but of the gifts which had been given them.

The assessed valuation of the Chicago & Southwestern Railroad Company in this county for 1871-72 was $332,514, and of the Omaha, Chillicothe & St. Lonis, the saine year, $342,704. The refusal to tax the people for the money to pay the interest of the bonds in the hands of the South- western Company or their agent caused the suit to be commenced against the county spoken of in the opening of this article. Matters had come to a head, and the people proposed to try conclusions in the courts.

"Petition: To the Honorable County Court of Daviess County, Missouri, your petitioners represent that they believe the bonds issued to the Chicago & Southwestern [Railroad Company, are unjust and therefore we ask your honorable body not to levy any tax to pay the interest on these bonds until the suits now pending against their payment are decided by law. Which petition is received and ordered to be filed."

"Wuerras, It being the opinion of this court that the stock subscribed aud bonds issued in the name of the county of Daviess, State of Missouri, to the Chicago & Southwestern Railway Company, and also the stock subscribed and bonds issued for and in behalf of the people of a certain strip of country in said county of Daviess, of the width of ten miles, to said railway company, were so subseribed and issued in violation of Jaw and in fraud of the rights of taxpayers, and are invalid, null and void; it is, therefore, ordered as follows: Ordered that said bonds, nor any of them, nor the interest thereon shall be paid, nor shall any tax be levied or collected of the people, either in the county of Daviess, or in said strip of country in said county, for the purpose of paying the same or any part thereof, and it is further ordered that all money now in the hands, or that nay hereatter come into the hands, of any officer of, or agent for said county, intended for the payment of said bonds or any part of them, or the interest thereon due, or to become due, shall be held and safely kept by said officer or agent nntil this court shall make other and different order or orders in relation thereto."

Law Suits

The question as to the rights of the people has been decided in their favor, against what may be called " One-horse railroads," but the larger combinations have yet too much power. However, a little more unjust tariff, a little heavier pressure of their power, as monopolies, and what a county has done a State can do. The suit was brought and set for trial at the session of the United States Court in Jefferson City on Monday, April 28th, 1873, and several witnesses were suinmoned from Gallatin and other parts of the county. One of the main points in this suit by the county, was that the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in bonds turned over to the Chicago & Southwestern Company, were not voted for that road, but in favor of the Leavenworth & Des Moines. The failure of that company to push their work gave the former company the advantage. They had reached Trenton, Grundy county, in June, 1871, and a road-bed was graded to Chillicothe, with forty thousand dollars from this latter city, voted to them, Their destination was really Kansas City, with a line direct trom Chillicothe to Lexington Junction, or bearing east, 7a Carrollton, for the same point. The Company, however, did not hesitate to change their route for Gallatin if money could be made. The action uf the County Court gave them the bonds, and after going south of Trenton half a mile, they turned and took a southwest course for Cameron. Had the company been satisfied with the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, it is not likely there would have ever been any trouble about the payment of the bonds, but they wanted more, and the sixty thousand dollar Ten-mile Strip was voted them. They then failed to carry out their contract as to location, building the line not for the convenience of the people or where it was promised, but where it would be cheaper for them. This is what caused the difficulty.

At the same session of the County Court, April 21, 1873, the judges declined to levy a tax to pay the interest on the St. Louis & Omaha bonds and they, too, went by default. The suit at Jefferson City was for five hundred and thirty-five dollars, accrued interest on a portion of the Daviess county bonds, issued to the Chicago & Southwestern Railroad Company, and was a sort of a test suit as to the validity of the bonds. Judges John A. Tuggle and 8S. R Gurney were appointed agents of the connty to employ counsel and defend the suit. This order of the court was accepted, and two law firms in St. Joseph were employed in the case.

The County Court being fully sustained by the people in their determination to resist the payment of the bonds the matter drifted along and the compromise began to take shape in 1874. The county had offered to pay thirty-three and one-third cents, and money being wanted, the Chicago & Southwestern accepted this offer for a portion otf their bonds. This action of the road had its effects, and one bond for $1,000, of the Omaha road was also offered at the same rate, with the prospects of more. Had the county possessed, at that time, the money, it is likely all the bonds could have been redeemed at one-third the amount of their face.

All during the year 1875 the suits progressed, and Daviess county brought suit against the Omaha road for the taxes of 1872, 1873 and 1874, and the Circuit Court decided against the county. The suit was at once carried to the Supreme Court. The county got judgment against the Omaha road in the Clinton county Cireuit Court. The Sheriff advertised to sell all found within Daviess county February 6, 1876, but an appeal stopped the sale.

western bonds were compromised, some $20,000 having been taken up before. The total amount taken up being $86,000, and they cost the county in round numbers, $26,000. By this arrangement and the defeat of the $69,000 of bonds on the Ten-mile Strip brought the bonds held by that road down to $70,000. The court proposed to settle that balance in the same way, or no pay.

The new county bonds ordered by the court were at hand April, 1876, and the proposition was to take the new bonds at par, and the old bonds to be taken in pay at the rate of three for one. This arrangement to go into effect, as soon as accepted by the railroad companies.

The suit of the Omaha road for $8,000 of conpons was decided against the county the seme month, but in the case of Seligman the matter was compromised at forty-five cents on the dollar and the case dismissed. The suit against the Omaha road for the back taxes, also went against the county, and it was promptly carried to the Supreme Court. So far, though, the county had not won every time, they had good success in their fight, and the railroad companies began to understand that in a question of law the county could stand the pressure fully as long as the roads. The County Court moved cautiously. They wished to compromise all the bonds possible with cash, and by a decision of the county attorney, given in January, they had the legal right to use the excess of county revenue to pay the county debt, no matter in what shape the debt stood.

In the meantime Benton township, which had voted twenty thousand dollars to the Chillicothe & Omaha road upon certain conditions, which were not fulfilled, peremptorily declined to pay either interest or principal of the sum voted. That the company had acted in very bad taith was clear enough, and the attempt to get the bonds in the face of a violated contract and broken pledges, was getting rascality, and a brazen cheek down to a pretty fine point. The Bentonites contested the suit and beat the railroad company in the Cirenit Court. This did not suit the itinerant president of this Chillicothe fraud, called a railroad, and the suit was appealed to the Supreme Court. The county attorney, Mr. Rush, promptly met the company at Jefferson City, and there again won his case, the Supreme Conrt reafirming the decision of the court below. So Benton township was happy, and not only twenty thousand dollars was saved, bnt a good deal of interest and costs. This was decided at the January term, 1877, of the Snpreme Court at the above named city.

to one railroad company, and twenty thousand dollars to another, which would seem to hold out the belief that honesty would have been decidedly the best policy to pursue.

San Francisco Route

The Wabash & Omaha, which had been making Pattonsburg its terminus, came into new hands, and in March, 1879, the contract was let to finish this road to Omaha, Nebraska. Work was commmenced and pressed forward with vigor, and the great San Francisco route from St. Lonis x/@ Omaha was opened in October, for through traffic from St. Louis to the pebbly shore of the great Pacific Ocean. Thisroad, which first started outas simply a local road, has become the trunk line across the continent. In the meantime the County Court was busy pushing the the compromise on one side, and fighting the roads through the court, on the other. For once the stubborn principles of a County Court won. The railroad companies awoke to the fact that two could play at law as well as one, and for bull-dog grip and tenacity the Daviess County Court was a success. The court fought the companies step by step, and froin one court to another, and the railroads at last agreed to compromise, and some two-thirds of the bonded debt of the county was paid off. Compromise bonds to the amount of one hundred and twenty-six thonsand dollars were in readiness and all the spare cash and the work of reducing the railroad bonded debt of the county was pushed with vigor. The County Court made Gabriel Feurt and John A. Tugyle commissioners, and their stern integrity of character and firmness of purpose soon brought the railroad eompanies to terms. These men were not made of purchasable stuff, but knowing their rights they had the nerve to see that they were respected. These suits were in court and the troubles continned tor some six or seven years, when the matter was brought to a close. The court compromised over two hundred and filty thousand dollars of bonds and coupons, and the railroad bonded debt of the county has been reduced to one hundred and seven thousand dollars. There are two trunk lines of railroads passing through the county, and their value to the people is hardly to be computed. The contest would never have been opened, on the part ot the people, had not the railroad companies not only violated the pledges but boldly proclaimed their intention of riding over the people, and alsc compelling them to pay for broken faith, violated contracts and a spirit ot deviltry bordering on the incarnate. Three hundred thousand dollars would have been willingly paid without a murmur, had the spirit of right and justice controlled the men who managed the the affairs of these com panies.

The foregoing is a concise and suecinet description cf the birth, growth and development of the first railroads built through the county, and is a sufficient statement, for this voinme, of the public spirit of the citizens in voting aid tor the construction of the roads, as well as the public services, the zeal and determination manifested by the citizens in the first snecessful railroad enterprises of the county,