Grundy County, Missouri - Chapter 2: Pioxeees, 1881

The Pioneers

The early settlers are entitled to a high and honored place in the pages of history. Many, many days of toil have been devoted to gathering the facts which shall embalm the memory of this band of civil heroes who gave to' Grundy county its first step in the progress of civilization, and who, in all the phases of life, have proven themselves not only true sons of toil but noble men and respected citizens. If the time spent in trying to secure facts and reliable information necessary to make this history complete has been one of incessant toil to the author, it has, also, been no less a work of love on his part, for in the records of the past, and when the light of civilization and progress first dawned upon this section of our common country, and in the early reminiscences which have been secured, he has found much which brought to mind many bright and glowing incidents of early days, and of those who taught him what life was and is, and what might be in the vista of the far oft' future, but who have now gone to the home beyond.

Memory is ofttimes treacherous, and a confusion of dates has not been the least of the troubles which has fallen in the pathway of the compiler. Reliable dates of the early settlement of the county are all important to those who take an interest in the progress of events, and who desire of its early days a correct and succinct history.

Many of these old settlers have removed to other States and climes; very many have crossed the "dark river "to the impenetrable and mysterious beyond; while those Mdio are left are weak in body, with memory sadly at fault on many facts of deep interest. IS'evertheless, they liave been willing, so far as health and memory would permit, to imjmrt all the incidents and trials of early years, and with a spirit of cheerfulness that makes it a pleas- lire to record them. 'They are to-day, as in olden times, the same self-sacrilicing people. It is well that in the sordid, grasping avaricionsness which characterizes so many of the present generation, that they should have yet within them, by consanguinity, the leaven which made the grand old pioneer stand out so prominently in unselfish and heroic sacrifices as " God's noblest work." '

What May Have Been

Tliere may have been a few settlers somewhere on the southern line of Grundy county, but when or where they settled, if at all, is not of record earlier than 1835. It has been reported that a few families had made a home there so close to the border of Livingston county that when the Grundy county line was run they found themselves just over the border, for there are no foot-prints of man found on this side of the line, not even an initial spot where the historic cabin iniHit have been erected.

Forty-eight years have passed since the first settler placed his foot upon the soil of Grundy county, and the date was October, 1833. All previous to that date is a blank, unsolved mystery.

The first white man who came to Grundy county to make it his home was Gen, W. P. Thompson, of Ray county, who came here the last of October, 1833, and was followed in a few days by Jno. Scott and Harvey Meek, who settled on the M-est side, northeast of Edinburg, on the Thompson River, at that time known as the West Fork of the East Fork of Grand River. Dr. Thompson's was the first cabin in the woods, quickly followed by others, and the Tliompson settlement became the pioneer one of the county. They proved an energetic class of citizens, and Gen. Thompson, perhaps better known as Doctor Thompson, for years was the most prominent man in this whole section of countiy.

We can find notliing to dispute the point that Moore's settlement contained the first white invaders of the soil of Grundy county, east of Grand River. They occupied the land which is now the flourishing city of Trenton, the metropolis of Grand River Valley, and built cabins thereon in the spring of 1834. The family of Levi Moore was a large one, consisting of a wife and a number of children, besides his four sons-in-law. Their names were Wm. Cochran, John Thrailkill, George Tetherow and Yancy Stokes. The first had a family, and Mr. John Thrailkill had just married. Wm. Thrailkill came at the same time. They came from Randol])h and Howard counties, and their cabins were located near the bluff's. Of course this settlement soon began to grow, and not only this part of the county, but other sections began to receive their quota of the hardy and venturesome pioneers.

Next is found in the early spring of 1835 tliat the Ileatlierleys, whose reputations were not of tlie most savory kind, with the Watsons and Hawkinses, settling in the southeast corner of the county. Then the Dohbinses and others on the east side, near where Lindlev now is. Settlers, however, while dropping in, were not numerous. There were miles of wooded hills and bottom-lands and open prairie between the cabins of the pioneers. It was weeks, and sometimes months, before the lonely occupant of tlie wilds would see a sign of a human being outside of his own family. These settlers of and '35 1>ecame, many of them, of much note in the county. Cochran and Thrailkill held some offices in the early organization of the county, the latter, Mr. Thrailkill, being the first sheriff. But the man of grandest note at that day was Dr. Thompson. He came from Kay county, in the full prime of his manhood, a man of noble mould and a character so self-sacrificing as to win the love of all his neighbors and retain it until the earth covered all that was mortal of his giant frame. He practiced as a physician for many years, and that practice was immense, literally covering hundreds of miles in extent. The west fork of the Grand River was named after him. He died in 1848. Both Harvey Meek and John Scott, who came with Dr. Thompson from Ray .county, were hardy, progressive men, who fully met the demands of a pioneer's life. Humphrey Best was another of the early immigrants, and settled here in 1835. It is reported of him that he was the first man to break prairie in the county. Cochran owned most of the site of Trenton. He bought it at government price and sold it to Jas. R.Merrill, for $400. It is worth something over a half million dollars to-daj'. That old pioneer. Uncle Levi Moore, outlived nearly all of those who came to the county past middle age. He was of a lively, jovial character, was loved and reverenced by the young folks, and never more happy than when telling the wonderful stories of pioneer life, or joining in the fun and frolic going on around him. He lived to be one hundred years of age and died in 1875. His farm became known as the Lomax and Jacob land, and among his many descendants are his two sons, Capt. John Moore and James Moore. Among the few other settlers scattered through this section are found the names of George Peery, and his sons William, Archibald and a daughter Louisa, Jewett Harris, Pliilii^ Wild, George" Bunch, Humphrey B.est and others. There were three other Peerys, Evan and his son William N., and a Thomas. The latter was a Methodist minister who preached in the Bain settlement off and on all the winter of '37-38. Mr. George Peery^ wdio settled on the w^est side of the river in 1835, was held in the highest respect by his neighbors and was for years a leading spirit in advancing the social and material interests of Grundy county. He lived to the good old age of ninetv years and died, in the vear 1874, leavino- a large familv, and his death seriously mourned. Jewett Xurris finding himself rather cramped for room, several settlers gathering within a mile or two of liim, after living here several years left for a pioneer's life in Minnesota. Before leaving he had become quite a pnblic man. Ilis neighbors believed in him, and he was made a member of the first connty court and thrice elected State Senator. He was both merchant and farmer, and is reported as doing well in his new home.

Daniel Devaul came in March, 1835, bringing a wife and eight children. He first settled near the river on the east side, known since as the Old Benson tract, Devaul having sold his claim to Samuel Benson, in 1838. Daniel Devaul was a man of great energy of character, and was of much value as an early settler, for he could turn his hand to almost anything. He believed in pushing things and built, with the assistance of his son, James K. Devaul, the first store-house erected in Grundy county. It was a fine building for those days. Generally the cabins were built of round logs, but in this new store building the logs were all hewn square and fitted nicely, and the plastering was done with real lime mortar. This last w^as, also, a decided innovation, for up to that time, according to the language of the native poet,

It was located on the ground now known as the Ridgeway property, and on that part where the vineyard and nursery now stand, in the southeast corner of the present town-site. On a visit to Richmond, Ray county, in the fall of 1838, Mr. Devaul persuaded James I. Lomax and his brother-inlaw, Thomas Jacobs, to bring a stock of goods to the settlement and open a store, agreeing to rent the log palace aforesaid to them for a place of business. They accepted the ofter, and Lomax and Jacobs opened the first store in Grundy county. The settlement up to tliat time had been called Moore's and sometimes the Bluff's, but on the opening of the store was afterwards generally known as Lomax's store. Still, the old familiar name would crop out quite often, 'when a settler would call out to his neighbor, " I am going down to the ' Blufts,' can I do any tiling for you?" Mr. Devaul continued actively engaged during his stay in the settlement. He had the great misfortune to lose his wife early in Februai-y, 1837, but resided here until the gold fever broke out in 1849, then left for Califoi-nia. He remained a while in ^Nevada prospecting, but eventually went to California, settling near San Jose, where he died in 1871. He left a large family here, among whom James R. Devaul, a resident of Grundy county since 1835, is the oldest; Mrs. Capt. Woods, a daughter, now sixty-one years of age, is a woman of fine presence and remarkable pi'eservation - looks not over fifty - with all the openness and frankness of the " old time " settler. James R.

Devaul is still living, now an honored resident of Trenton, but lived for a number of years in what is now Lincoln township. He was the first justice of the peace in that township, and was elected a second time, but declined to serve. In what was called the lleatherly War, in 1830, James II. Devaul, then a young man of twenty-two yeai's, carried Brigadier-general Thompson's recpiisition for two companies of militia to Ray count}'. General Thompson was the Dr. Thompson previously spoken of Mr. Devaul acted also under orders of the general, in taking charge of the wagons filled with stores and ammunition and their escort, and bringing them to this county, from Livingston, to General Thompson's home. Lomax and Jacobs did business for several years. Mr. Jacobs is dead and Mr. Lomax is now a resident of California. They, however, did not long have a monopoly of the mercantile business of those early days. William Thi'ailkill & Brother started a store the following year and they were followed by James L. Henshaw. This latter store was located not far from the Lomax store, and on the Ridgevv'ay property. It is said that some of the logs heWn for the Lomax store by Daniel Devaul, are yet doing duty as a part of a residence on Trenton Avenue. Lomax hauled his goods from Richmond with ox wagons. Previous to the of)ening of tlie Lomax store, most of the trading was done at Glasgow, on the Missouri River. Some few went to Richmond, and later to Brunswick, but the main trading-point was Glasgow. The farmers loaded their wagons with skins of all kinds, such as deer, coon, mink, muskrat, and with venison and venison hams, honey, etc., and brought back their winter supply of groceries, a little flour and some whisky. The historian will mention right here that the latter article was not used in those days for intoxicating purposes. The Old Pioneer was the advance-guard of civilization, but he left it to a later, and by some called a more cultured, era to introduce wliisky as a beverage, and to furnish to this higher type of civilization the "common drunkard." Goods were hauled in those davs from Glasgow at sixty cents per one hundred pounds, and the merchant would fill a wagon with skins and produce and bring back goods, thus loading both ways.

The Iieatherly Gang

In 1836 the Heatherlys, who were known to be hard cases, had organized into a regular band of horse-thieves, and, becoming bolder, were making raids wherever they would likely meet with success. In the fall of 1836 a man by the name of Dunbar and a corajjanion were robbed of their horses, and in the defense of their property were both killed and their bodies thrown into the Medicine River. For fear of the consequence of the discovery of this terrible crime which was traced to them, they gave out that the Indians, the lowas and Sacs, were on the war-path killing and scalping, and their way lighted by the burning cabins of the settlers whom they had murdered. This report caused the wildest excitement, for the people, having no defenses, were powerless against the supposed army of savages then so near. The settlers at Moore's and Thompson's settlements assembled and those at Moore's hastily cut logs and raised a sort of a blockhouse for protection. Gen. Thompson ordered out the militia, two companies having been ordered from Ray county and two from Clay, while a number joined from this and Livingston. A reconnoisance in force soon dispelled the fears of the people, but the settlers were determined to investigate the cause of this false alarm, which was traced to the Heatherly gang, who had stated men had been murdered. The bodies of the two men Avere found in Medicine River and the Heatherlys, a man by the name of Hawkins and a negro were arrested. They had murdered these men, stolen their horses and outfit, stripped them of their valuables and consigned their bodies to the river, and to cover up their crime cliarged it to a party of Indians, on a hunting expedition, composed of the above named tribes. These facts were gathered from one of the gang, Hawkins, who turned on his companions in crime, as State's evidence. The gang were sent to the penitentiary. The four militia captains who commanded the companies under General Thompson all became men of note in the political history of the State, Captain David R. Atchison, one of tl:ke four, becoming a United States Senator in 1844.

Thus ended what was called the Heatherly War, and by which name it is known to this day. The gang was efl'ectually broken up, and they were the only desperadoes that ever had a footliold in Grundy county.

Continuing To Arrive

Immigrants continued to arrive, and the years 1836, '37 and '38 were memorable ones, for they brought to Grundy county some of her best and foremost citizens. They came from all parts of the country, but chiefly from Kentucky, Virginia and Ohio. They most always came in squads of from five to fifteen families each, generally settled in the same neighborhood, forming a company of old time acquaintances, which their new home and widely diffused population cemented more firmly together in bonds of friendship and brotherly love. James Bunch, who has been mentioned as belonging to the Thompson settlement, put up the first horse-mill in the county. It was patronized extensively by the Bain settlement on the east side, and the west side settlers. Mr. Bunch, however, while furnishing the mill did not furnish the motive power - each customer hitched on his own animal and ground away until he was through. The next took his turn and owned the mill for the time beino:. The toll for the use of the mill was oneeighth. Samuel Benson, and his nephew William Benson, came in the fall of 1837. So, also, did Evans and William N. Peery, who came from Yirginia; William McCammon, William Metcalf, Elisha Inman, 'the Oxfords, Grubbs, Applegates and Winns, who made their homes on the west side of the river, while on the east side came those sturdy pioneers of Lincoln township, who settled some six miles north of Ijomax's store, Jesse and Riason Bain, Samuel Kelso, Henry Foster and William Dille. This was called for a lon^^ time the Bain settlement. These all came, as we have said, in the fall of 1837; they represented as noble a band of pioneers as ever walked in the van of the onward march of civilization, and their descendants have proven themselves worthy sons of noble sires. At that time the Bain settlement was the most northerly one in the county. Mr. Samuel Benson, who bought the Devaul property, the present site of the city of Trenton, owned the ferry across Grand River, put up a horse-mill, the second in the county, which was the stand-by of the people for miles around, and by his great hospitality and kindness of heart placed himself among the leaders of men of other days. William Metcalf became county judge and sheriff, Kelso was a leading spirit, and Elder McCammon stands out in the broad expanse of to-day as a beacon-light which has guided many and many of the old settlers to a haven of rest.

Then came^ the Merrills, Landys, Houstons, Townsends and George McCready, all of whom were originallj^ from Maryland, adding to the population and wealth of 1838. There came, also, the same year, James Weldon, who settled up the river, and from whom the east fork of the Grand River takes its name, who proved a worthy addition, because of his being a persevering and progressive man. Thomas ]^. Carnes, the Kirkendalls, Stokes, Moores, Cochrans and Woods moved here in the spring of '38, and also may be added the names of A. C. and Larkin Fields, John and Jethro Sires, Robert Hobbs, Judge John McHargue, John Priest, the Ashbrooks, Schoolers, Collins, Renfroes, Rooks, Holloway, Lydas, Drinkards, Spears, Winters, Andersons, Perkins and Chrismans, who all called Grundy county their home from and including the year 1839, and here add the names of the Warrens, Kilburns and Merrimans, of Wilson township.

A sad and terrible accident happened to Jethro Sire, one of the last named settlers, December 9, 1873, he having been killed by the falling of a tree on him while engaged in felling it. He made a mistake as to the way the tree would fall, and before he could turn, on discovering it, the tree crushed him, breaking his neck and one arm and killing him instantly. He had proven, in a residence of thirty-four years in the county, a kindly neighbor and an upright man.

From the south part of Trenton township, now Jackson, there were few sturdier men than James May, John Henry, John Roberts and Peter Conner, who made their appearance in 1839. They belong to the true pioneer stock. The latter named, Peter Conner, left some years after for California, and never returned, living and dying in that great El Dorado of the West and of the Pacific slope. All of the above named are now dead, but they left the footprints of their energy and progressive spirit in the broken prai- lies and the clearing- of the woodlands. There were many othei-s of that early day of whom we have been unable to gather satisfactory record, but who^ like their neighbors, came to make a home in the valley of the Grand River.

The Evanses came in 1842 or '43, William and Thomas, long known as substantial farmers and upright citizens. Tlie principal settlement was between Grand River and Honey Creek. Some good farms were located near Honey Creek.

The settlers were sometimes disturbed by the prowling wolves which occasionally made the nights hideous, and warned owners to take care of their stock - more especially at that time hogs or pigs. Mr. John Priest, who came in the year 1839, relates one of his scrapes with the wolves. He had a fine sow and a lot of pigs, eleven in all, taken in one night. John said a pig or two wouldn't have made him mad, but this going the entire hog, pigs thrown in, was too much for his temper. He took a few pones of corn-bread, blanket and rifle, and tracked the wolves through the snow to their den, some twelve miles distant. There he laid in wait, and within two days and a half he was back home, with the scalps of the two old wolves and eight cnbs. Those scalps paid his taxes that year. It wasij't equal to the expected pork crop, but John said he felt satisfied, for besides paying his taxes there was the sweet revenge.

Wm. T. Cornwell settled here in October, 1839, some two miles north of the Bain and Kelso settlements; his son, B. B. Cornwell, is now living on the old homestead. Wm. Cornwell came from Tennessee to Grundy county,, but was reared in Virginia. He was born in the year 1800; married in Tennessee, November 21,1824, to Miss Jane Payne, and died in Grundy county, Lincoln township, March 18, 1874. B. B. Cornwell, of Lincoln township, was twelve years of age when he came here with his father, in 1839. He was born in Smith county, Tennessee. Mrs. Jane Cornwell, the wife of Wm. T., and mother of B. B. Cornwell, died at the latter's residence, on the old place, February 25, 1880, leaving one daughter, two sons, thirty-two grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. Mr. Cornwell was a prominent citizen in his township.

In 1839 the Rev. Thomas Thompson settled on the Weldon River, near where Spickardsville now stands. He was one of the first settlers in Franklin township, the father-in-law of Geo. A. Spickards, an early settler of the same township.

A Mormon Family

There are pretty strong evidences that a few Mormon families lived for a short time in Franklin township some years previous to its reported first white settler, James Weldon. The arrival of these families dates from the time of the settlement of the Mormon colony wliich located in Daviess county in the spring of 1836. These were, undoubtedly, an offshoot of that colony, and settled near the river. The families found it too lonesome, and seemed to have left in tlie fall. The Indltui hunters of that day reported that these feinilies lived on the east side of the river for several moons, and then left for tlie Grand River. It is believed they joined the main body at their settlement in .Daviess county. These families antedate the arrival of Mr. Weldon some two years. The story is given not as the record of actual settlers, but to show that a white tamily had trod the soil of Franklin township as early as 183G. The object of this work is to give the facts and a faithful record, so far as they can be gleaned from young and old, and from the written records of the past. There is no doubt that the families lived there, for Mr. Weldon found evidences enough to convince him of the fact. What was learned all tended to confirm the belief that they joined their friends in Daviess county.

New Settlements

In 1839 new arrivals, consisting of several families, settled in Lincoln township, about three miles east of the Bains and Kelsos, and quite a number of other families joined them in the winter of '39 and '40. The county now, 1839, began to be generally settled, with, perhaps the exception of the northwest section. The west part of Washington and the north part of Taylor townships, or what are now known by tliese names, had very few settlers np to the organization of the county, in 1841, but all other sections improved rapidly and very evenly, excepting the Lomax store, which seemed to be recognized as the central headquarters, and from it radiated the political power which controlled the count}'-. It improved faster than any other colony of settlers in its general welfare, and its population increased more rapidly. The fact is, an embryo Trenton was under way. It was the location. The Grand Kiver, a mile and a half below the junction of the Thompson and Weldon rivers, assumed proportions that made its water-power valuable. The high bluft", with its circular mound in the bend of the river, gave a bold, picturesque site for a town and a healthy residing place for its inhabitants. A strong desire to have the county seat located on the Big Muddy, between three and four miles northeast of its present location, was entertained by the settlers in that neighborhood, claiming it to be nearer the center of the county, which had been decided as being in the northwest corner of section two, township sixty-one, range twenty-four, and the commissioners first located it near where said settlers wanted it, but there was so much dissatisfaction that a new commission by the county changed the decision of the State commissioners and located it on the present site. It is now about three and a half miles southwest of the actual center of the county, and the Grand River is to blame for that.

Harrison and Franklin townships began to gain in population in 1840. Those who came in the year previous were doing well; some splendid land was to be had at government price and a good share of it was preempted in the first named year. Jake Faulkner, Franklin Woods and Thomas Tucker settled in the first named township, and the following well kno\^Ti persons claimed Washington township as their home: Henry Woods, Robert Hobbs, the Templers, Jennings, John Barr, James Sperry and Andrew Weldon. Thomas Pembertou took possession of Myres township in 1840. He remained monarch of all he surveyed but a short time before he was surrounded by neighbors who began to settle in all parts of the township, not, however, in very large groups.

Their Relative Position

The leading townships, up to the organization of the county in 1841, proved to be in the following order, by the names afterward given them: Trenton, Lincoln, Marion, Wilson and Madison. The latter claimed to lead Wilson, but it was, on examination, proven to be a mistake. Then we record the remainder of the townships in this order: Liberty, Jackson, Jefierson, Myres, Franklin, Harrison, Washington and Ta3dor. The townships are given in this shape to show more particularly how the county was settled, and where the bulk of the population and wealth was to be found in the old townships. Thus we find Trenton, the largest of the old townships, decidedly the greatest in wealth and population, as it included two-thirds of Lincoln and all of Jackson. Marion came next, and it claimed half of Liberty and all of Wilson, Then came Liberty, Madison, Jefferson, Franklin, and Washington. There were several settlements made on the east side of the county. What are now known as Myres, Liberty, Marion and Wilson townships were improving more rapidly than any part of the county excepting Trenton and the j^artnow known as Lincoln. There were no roads laid out in the several townships, but the settlers had made their way through the woods in the direction they wished to go and these had become beaten tracks. The southeastern part of the county M-as settling quite fast, and along the Medicine Eiver, and following it up to the northeast part, seemed to be a favorite portion of the county. The tradingpoint for those in Wilson and Marion townships, or what was then Marion, was principally at Brunswick. The northeast settlers came to the Lomax store. This latter place began to be recognized as a trading-point in 1839 and 1840. The cabins in the county were generally miles apart, and, in fact, up to 1850 there were no villages in the county, always excepting the county seat. The Whitifields, Perkinses and Hooks, Lyda, Beckner, William Anderson, John and Jacol) Halloway, Michael Chrisman and others were to be found in Marion township and in Liberty. They soon gathered to a point for a village settlement and Lindley proved to be the point. We have spoken heretofore of the Indian luinting parties in the settlement of the Bains and Kelsos. The principal hunting-ground oft" ot the Grand River, where the white settlers first encroached upon them.

was the country lying between Big Muddy Creek and Medicine River, and along the bottoms of No Creek. This country up to 1840 continued to be a wilderness, with the exception of a few settlers, and was a splendid country for game of all kinds.

Coonrod Woltz and Jacob Thrailkill settled in what is now Myres townsliip, in 1840, and helped along the other settlers in improving that section of the country. Myres, which was then a part of Liberty, was a good body of land with a sufficiency of water for stock purposes, but like the northwest township, Washington, it has been slow of settlement. It was a splendid hunting-ground for years after the more southerly portion of the county was settled. The Brassfields, however, went in the southern part and commenced to make an opening in the wilderness. They were a large family and hard workers, clannish to some extent, keeping and being within themselves. They were the leading settlers in that section for several years. D. L. Winters settled in the same township in 1840, and for years took a leading part in the affairs of that section of the country. William Warren of Wilson township, "Uncle Billy" as they called him, was among the first in the settlement of that township and came there in 1839. Wilson township had an energetic population and she still retains it, ranking third up to 1880 in wealth in the county, and probably holds her own yet- After the Heatherly War, peace reigned within her borders, and she has proved conclusively that she had no use for that class of citizens, and that horse-thieves and murderers have not proved indigenous to her soil.

The lower part of Trenton township seemed slow of settlement, yet there is very little land found in Grundy county superior to that found east of the Grand E-iver, in the bottoms and on the ridges that lie along that river and Honey and 'No creeks. It is really a farmer's and stock-raiser's paradise. Reuben Merriman is one of the early pioneers in that section, and a few others gathered around him, but there were so many strong attractions further north, that the section of the county now known as Trenton and Lincoln townships was more rapidly settled than the lower portion, but it would take a very close observer, so far as the land is concerned, to say why this was so, or where those superior attractions were found. Undoubtedly the county seat location was one of the reasons of its rapid increase and the fighting qualities of the Trentonites and the Liucolnites called forth the greatest activity and a desire for settlers. It is pretty clear that the old pioneers who made the fight in Lincoln, or what is now Lincoln township, had no cause to weep over their failure, nor of their descendants in the fighting qualities of their ancestors. Trenton won as much by what nature had done for her, as by her determined effort to have the county seat. Tetherow made a gallant fight, but Lomax held the fort, planted by nature and man. Those were good old times, and the early settlers had their battles in public life and enjoyed them as much as the men of to-day.

The presidential election of 1840 has had no parallel in the history of the country. The log cabin and hard cider campaign of that memorable year, a year of song and story, was an entirely new element in the political history of the countr3^ It was claimed that the crash of 1837 was due to the administration of Martin Yan Buren, and was brought on by his extravagance, and " Old Tippecanoe," Wm. Henry Harrison, was not only a soldier boy but a farmer. One verse of a song which was intended to show the extravagance of Van Buren's administration of office, and which song was sung with a wild enthusiasm in the campaign was as follows, speaking as coming from the president:

" Bring forth, he cries, the glittering plate, We'll dine to-day in royal state; He speaks, and on the table soon Tliey placed the golden fork and spoon. Around him bends a servile host, And loud they shout the welcome toast,

Henry Cla}^, of Kentucky, was the leader of tlie Whig party of those days and he was made the target for Democratic thunder. Tlie songs were not all on one side; but the charge of royalty was the winning card of the Whigs. However, the Democrats got off a good many songs against Clay and his party, and a verse is given to show the tactics of the opposition. Here it is:

" There's Harry Clay, a man of doubt. Who wires in and wires out; And you cannot tell when he's on the track If he's going on or coming back."

This was the kind of work that the Old Pioneers of Grundy took part in, and you will not find a man among them but what claims that campaign to be the "boss." Those were good old times; they had big meetings, barbecues were held and the political days of Jackson, Yan Buren and Harrison were the ne plus ultra of all presidential campaigns, and there has been nothing like them of late years.

So the old pioneer revels in the times of long ago, and he is not far out of the way. Those days were as full of wrangling and bitterness as those of the present, but it was a square fight for principle only, and the spoils were not considered. Money was not the mighty power which has controlled the elections of the last decade. It did not rule Congress, buy legislatures or elect presidents. It had the will to do it, but its representative power, the old United States Bank, was crushed and tariff and protection was the principal question which divided parties, and, it might also be added, extravagant expenditures. The people of those days believed in economy. In talking with one of the oldest residents of the county he said that it was generally believed that Van Bnren's administration had been extravagant, and so much of the country was new and the old settlers had to struggle so hard to get even corn bread and bacon that the " golden fork and spoon " charges did the business that year for the Democracy.

There were two old settlers located north of Madison who made their homes in what is now called Harrison township. Their names were Charles W. Scott and Alvin Johnson. The former came in the fall of 1834:, and probably was nearly the first settler west of tlie East Fork or Weldon Branch of Grand River. He has proven himself a good farmer and neighbor. Mr. Johnson came a year or two later, lives on section ten about a mile fioni Mr. Scott. He is hale and hearty, has a good memory, and can relate much of the earl}^ history of Grundy county, and also of the State. In Taylor township we find the Grubbs, Woods and others and their descendants who have some of the finest farms in the township.

There was a general settlement all over the county in 1841 at the time of the organization of the county in that year, but Taylor, Washington, Myres, Harrison, Jefferson and Jackson, or the country composing the townships now known by these names, was but thinly settled. Trenton, Lincoln, Madison, Marion and Wilson secured the largest population up to that time, and in fact to this day they seem to hold their own as the leading townships in wealth and population. Such has been in a measure the history of the early pioneers of this beautiful country, and those who are living can look back wdth interest to the days which tried the nerve, the muscle and the indomitable will of the fathers and mothers who had the infancy of Grundy county in their keeping.

In closing this part of our history, covering but a short period, less than a decade, there has been much given founded more upon traditions than facts. The early pioneers made history, but took no care to j^reserve it. This is a sad loss to the country. Those years, and the lives and the actions of the heroes and patriots then living, were of the greatest importance. Then it Avas that the foundation was laid and a noble and enduring superstructure was to be reared, upon which the moral, physical and political future of the county was to rest. There were no stirring events, or remarkable happenings, but it was a time of self-reliance, of persevering toil, of privation, of suffering, that was endured with heroic fortitude, believing in a future rew^ard of successful labor, of the good time coming when the woods and the open prairie would resolve themselves into well-cultivated farms, and their humble cabins into residences befitting their improved financial condition. The}' had come into the boundless wilderness poor in purse, but rich in faith and powerful in endurance, and their future was before them. All coming poor, their social lives were lives of brotherly love and neighborly feeling, and they worked harmoniously together. If trials and troubles came to some they liad the heartfelt sympathy of their neighbors, and that sympathy was expressed in acts and deeds, as well as in words. If a settler lost his rude cabin by fire his neighbors would at once come together and assist him to erect another, and that, too, with such willing ness and hearty rendering of their services as would cheer the hearts of those who had suffered. This was the way they lived and moved in early times, and not in this county alone, but wherever the track of the pioneer was found, or the ring of the ax heard, there you would find a neighbor and a friend. Tliis sj)irit prevailing, wuth unity of action and concentration of purpose, has made Grundy county rich and prosperous. There were laws to protect them, but the civil authorities were too weak to be of much force, and so the spirit of self-preservation to shield them from grievances was the spirit of brotherly love and neighborly affection.

Women Pioneers

The pioneer cabins were, perhaps, as worthy of mention as many other matters tliat have been, or may be given in this work. Rude and primitive were they in style, with, in many cases, the earth for their floor and the roof thatched and held down with weight-poles. Yet, as simple and unadorned as they were, they proved to be the best that could be built with the tools at hand. It is to be doubted much if there can be found in the palaces of to-day more happiness, more refinement - that which is bred in the heart, not its outward show - than was found in the cabins of the early pioneers of this western countiy. That the people of early times were happy in all that constitutes the real wealth of afi'ection is plain enough. The heroes and heroines of those days joined hands to make the wilderness blossom like the rose. There was no waiting until the cage was built to secure the bird, but the latter joined its mate and helped to finish the rugged house, furnished with the smiles of a loving heart, greeting her partner in life with the work of willing hands, and while the one went into the forest to clear the way for bread and a future competency, the other in the homely cabin was keeping her true womanly talents at full play, not only in doing culinary work, but weaving and spinning, making her own garments and those of her husband and children. Many have read in our day of the " Old Pioneer," and his struggle in the early j-ears of his life, heavy trials, misfortune, and ultimately his success, but little has been recorded of his noble companion, the light of his cabin, the one to cheer him in his misfortune, nursing him in sickness, and in health giving her whole strength to labor for their future welfare and happiness. There was little luxury or ease for the pioneer's wife of those early days, but whatever her destin}^ might be, it was met mth a firm faith and a willingness to do her whole duty, living in the love of her husband and children, and trusting in Providence to receive her final reward for the unceasing labor of years, well and nobly performed.

tare of tliose cabins of old. Houses M'ere built one-ancl-a-lialf stories high, in many cases, that they nii^ht have a " loft " to store away things and sometimes to sleep in. A house-raising in those days meant something. It meant the very hardest kind of work in getting the heavj' logs in their ])laces, and the settlers for miles around would come, to the number of twenty or thirty, and the cabin would go up with a rush and with cheers. And right in that brush, "just over there," was a jug of good old whisky. It was there to be drank, and it was, but they went home sober. The newcomer had his house, and he and his wife took possession witli the hearty cono-ratulations of the neic-hbors and an earnest wish for their welfare. The cabin had no iloor yet, windows had yet to be cut out, if the logs had l)een all of a length ; but they went to housekeeping and were as hopeful and happy as could be over their new home. The windows were covered by a light quilt to keep the wind and rain out, the puncheon floor was to be laid, the stick and mud chimney set up, a table and chair or two, or stools made of a split log. Math auger-holes bored to put in the legs. Some shelves made of the same material, holes bored and pins put in, to hang up their clothes or other things, and that pioneer heroine was ready to meet her friends and neighbors, and the world at large, in a roomy and comfortable home. A housekeeping outfit of that style in these days would send a young woman into hysterics, make her declare she would go right home to her pa - and pi'obably for herself and that young man it would be the best place for her. Cornbread and bacon was the principal food the first year. They generally had a cow, and with this they were content. Often living miles from the mill, they took a bag of corn and went on a horse to have it ground, and if they didn't have a horse of their own would go to a neighbor's and borrow one for the occasion. And the wife often went, because the husband had notime to go, sometimes swimming the horse across the river, as was often the case when Bunch's mill was the only one for miles around, and the cabin was on the wrong side of the stream.

A Wedding Tour

From Mrs. Capt. Jarvis "Woods, one of the female pioneers, who came to Grundy county with her father, Daniel Devaul, in 1835, is given a short account of what the wives of the early settlers performed as their part of the work for the regeneration of the wilderness. The old lady is hale and hearty, claims that her early days were as full of happiness as hard work, and she holds in slight contempt the effeminate beauties of the present day, who lack the courao^e and the will to do - that was the Morions trait the young women of olden times possessed, and what made them the equals of, and fit wives and associates for the men of those days. The wedding tour of Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis Woods was a horseback ride of about six miles, ending in the woods at a temporary log shanty. There the young bride jumped from her horse and took possession of lier home. It was built of slabs or puncheons, placed against a large white oak tree, and they were kept in their places by heavy logs placed against them. And in telling the author of this bridal tour and her new home, Mrs. Woods said she was just as happy as she could be. The floor of her home was of mother earth. Her chief cooking utensil was an iron bake-pan, used in old times to make pones of corn bread and to bake an occasional biscuit. The writer was shown this relic of olden time. It is doing dut^' now as a lye pot. This young bride also had a skillet, and with a gourd, or a tin cup or two, she had her culinary outfit. It would give a farmer's bride of to-day a chill of absolute despair if she were introduced to such an establishment. Well, that was the bride's home for six short (not long) weeks before their new palace residence was completed. This happened in February, 1838 - the couple being married on the 26th of February by Squire Thrailkill, and the road to their home was simply a not over-beaten pathway in the woods. She milked the cow, and cooked, and sewed, wove and spun, and went to mill, thus doing her part and keeping her end of the line taut. They made tlieir bread literally by the sweat of their brows and led haj)py and contented lives. They were the first couple married in Grundy county, A calico or a gingham dress in those days was a piece of finer}' good enough to visit in or go to church, but you would oftener see a new homespun dress do duty on the same occasions; then these fine dresses would last a year or two, and it only took eight j'ards for a dress. Hoop-skirts had not 3'et put in an appearance and pin-backs were of another day and generation. So with a multiplicity of duties the young wife kept on her way. By and by, when a family had grown up around tiiean, cares began to increase and the wife and mother was often compelled to sit np night after night that the husband's and the children's clothes might be mended, their stockings darned, and the preparations for the coming morning's work made ready. Then it was discovered that a woman's work is never done. The household was asleep. Tlie tired husband and father was resting his weary .limbs in dreamland, the children were tossing here and there on their beds as restless cliildren always do. Nature itself had gone to rest and the outer world was wrapped in darkness and gloom, but the nearly exhausted mother still sewed on and on, and the midnight candle was still shedding its pale light over the work or the vigils of the loved and loving mother. And this is the record of the thousands of noble women, the female pioneers, whose daily presence, loving hearts, earnest work and keen judgment, made tlie work of civilization and progress one of success. And tlie question has oftentimes been asked, '"what would the men of the olden times have done if the women of the olden times liad not been with them?" and the reply comes back, "Ah! yes, what would they have done?"

A Few Moke

Then there was Mrs. Liuney, one of the first who ti-od the soil of Grundy county. She, too, can tell you of the times when the loving strength of a woman's heart, and the willing hands of the wife and mother, were put to sore tests to meet the trials, vexations and privations of a pioneer's life. She is the mother of Mrs. P. W. Bain, of Lincoln township, and she can give you many a story of the olden time. Then we have Mrs. Mary Jones, who came from Kentucky in 1839, Mrs. Davis, and Mrs. Devaul, the wife of James K. Devaul. The latter was married March 2d, 1837, but in Daviess count}', at the home of the bride's parents - had the ceremony been performed this side of the line it would have been the first wedding in Grundy county. However, James Devaul was the first resident of the county united in the silken bonds of matrimony. Then there was another wedding tour attached to this marriage. Young Devaul had a horse and rode it over to Daviess county; he was accompanied by Kobt. Benson, Henry Henderson and Boone Best as liis " best men," but he didn't have another to bring back his new made bride. But the next morning a horse was borrowed, the bride's clothes'were tied up in two bundles and equally divided between the young couple, and with the blessing of the old folks and the good wishes of kind neighbors they started on a wedding tour of twenty-five miles, and on their return trip the brother of the bride. Marshal Howel, was added to the trio who formed the escort coming over. The old man, Daniel Devaul, promptly met them on the west bank of the Grand River with a canoe, and escorted the young couple over and to their home. They got into the canoe with their bundles, and leading the horses into the river compelled them to swim over, and that was the end of the wedding tour. Mrs. Devaul, Jr., went right to housekeeping. There wasn't any fooling around. The young bride didn't come to be set up into a corner to be looked at, or to simper return congratulations to callers. She came, in the lanffuaije of even earlier davs, " to boss that ranch." Bossing in those days was slightly different from what is known at this time. It meant hard work and constant watchfulness, and it took a powerful sight of the heart's afi'ection and a strong will to make a person willing to become a boss, and that is why the women of those early years should be known in history, as well as men, as "Pioneers."

Daniel Devaul had, some little time before, lost his wife, and the family needed a woman's love and care, and so Miss Sarah Howell, of Daviess county, became Mrs. James R. Devaul of Grundy, and did a mother's part to the half orphaned brothers and sisters of her young husband, and did it well. This history speaks of only a few of the women pioneers of Grundy county. They are those the author has met, and from whom he has gathered the reminiscences of their early life, its trials and its happiness. There were many otliers who are now sleeping quietly beneath the sod, who performed their earth's allotted work nobly and well, who carried the crosses of this earthly pilgrimage iincom]ilainingly to the end, and they have gone to their reward. But the memory of their loving kindness will never be forgotten by those who were with them, and who hope to meet them in the happy beyond. May God bless the women pioneers now living! They one and all, living or dead, deserve a place in the history of our country, and the author of Grundy county's history has contributed these few words to the noble band who made civilization a possibility^ in this countr3^ It is not much, but it is a pure token of esteem and veneration for the few whom he has met, and a cherished memory for those who have gone before.

Marriage Record

" This is to certify that on the third day of January last, I did join John B. Howard and Rebecca Williams in the marriage covenant. Given under my hand this 27th day of March, in the year of our Lord, 1841.''

" I do hereby certify that on the 14th day of January, 1841, I did solemnize the bonds of matrimony between Ansel Brassfield and Susannah Brassfield, both of this county. Witness the undersigned being an ordained

We find that Joseph Thrailkill and Elizabeth W. Ilarsha were united in marriage, February 25th, 1841, by Henry Blaisdell; and John S. P. Marshall andlSTancy Young, both of Grundy county, on the same day, February 25, 1841, by Malilon H. Harlan, justice of the peace.

These were the first marriages recorded, the next of record being in April following. One certificate reads as follows, P. G. meaning preacher of the gospel :

The Coffins

We liave spoken of tlie death of Mrs. Daniel Devaul in a previous chapter. She died early in February, 1837, some two j^ears after the arrival of the family in Grundy county. There were no coffin storerooms in those days, neither were there any cabinet-makers, but such work needed was done with an ax, a broad-ax and a whip-saw. Mrs. Devaul's coffin was made out of a wagon box belonging to Mr. Samuel Benson and furnished by him. It was the only resource for boards to be found in the settlement. Another death occurred soon after in the Thompson settlement, near the river, in Madison township. It was of an old lady by the name of Downey, and her coffin was made of plank cut out by a whip-saw. She died at the residence of Dr. William P. Thompson. These are the earliest deaths of record, but while many more followed in later years, these tell of tlie sorrows of those days and the best arrangements that could be made for the loved ones in death.

A Cheaper Market

In one respect the early settler had a few advantages not possessed by the poor mortals of to-day or of those even of a generation back. While they endured the privations with which they were encompassed with heroic fortitude and a patience which exalted them, these old time heroes and heroines could get the necessaries of life at a good deal less cost than their favored children and grandchildren of this day. They did not purchase any silks or satins, in fact a calico or gingham was considered fine enough for church wear, or visiting, and even these would give way to the enduring, durable homespun, when an extra quality of yarn and coloring had been secured for weaving. But it was not of this alone we would speak. There was any quantity of good land lying around loose at government price, $1,25 per acre, anxious to be tickled with a hoe that it mio:ht lauorh with a harv-est. The financial crash of 1837 had completely demoralized values. Property shrank to such amazing smallness as to put many people in doubt as to whether they possessed anything except their lives and their families. The necessaries of life were cheap, and they who sufl:ered most in those days were of the class called wealthy. The farmer and the mechanic had*little to complain of. Their wants were few and the supplies cheap; if corn .was at a low figure, tea, cofl:'ee, sugar and whisky were also cheap. And i-ight here we will quote, from an article contributed to the Grundy County Times by the Hon. George H. Ilubbell, tlie prices which he gave for many purchases, and the market prices of the many necessaries of life as late as 1842, The article was contributed and read at the celebration of the fourth of July in the centennial year, 1876, and j)ublished in the issue of the Times of July 13. It was a histoiy of (rrundy county, in a condensed form, from its settlement to that date and a production well worthy of record and preservation. Tiie aiithoi- would here acknowledge many other extracts taken from the same source.

The article says: "The situation as regards general business had up to 1842 been depressed for several years. Tlie monetary crisis of 1837 still hovered over the land. For nearl}' five years prices of goods and products of every description had ruled very low and the prospect for a raise still seemed far from encouraging, and the time somewhat distant. In 1842 I paid five dollars for the first cow I ever owned, and $7.50 for a good cow and calf in trade. Horses were also cheap; while the best could be iiad for $40, could be purcliased at from $25 to $35. Working cattle were down to what they called in those days almost notliing, $22 buying a good yoke. Hogs, dressed, without much regard to weight, were held at the enormous price of $1.25 to $1.50 each - neither were they full of trichina. Garnered wheat only brought from 35 to 40 cents a bushel; corn 50 cents per barrel, delivered, and a good veal calf, 75 cents. You could go out into the woods and cut down a bee-tree, gather the honey and bring it to market, and you got 25 cents a gallon for it; it was tliought the bees got well paid for their boney. And such honej', so clear and transparent that even the bee-keeper of to-day with his patent hive and his Italian swarms would have had a look of envy covering his face from ear to ear on beholding it. The wild deer came forward and gave us their hams at 25 cents each, and the settlers generally the bargain by taking the skin also, which, when not cut up into strings or used for patches, brought another quarter, cash or trade, as demanded. It was also a habit in those days for farmers to hel]) each other, and their sons to work in the harvest field or help to do the logging to prepare for a new seeding. Tins was a source of wealth to the early settler and to liis rising famil3\ They raked in 25 to 50 cents a day and board. That was wealth. It was the foundation of their future prosperity. It was the first Gij^g laid to hatch them a farm, and it was guarded with scrupulous care. Economy was often whittled down to a very fine point before they could be induced to take or touch that nest-egg, the incipient acre of the first farm. And then again, a day's work meant something besides getting on the shady side of a tree and three hours for nooning. It meant labor in all its length, and breadth, and thickness, from holding the breaking-plow behind two yoke of oxen, to mauling rails. Right here we will mention that rails were made at 25 cents a hundred. Just think of splitting rails at 25 cents a hundred! It is enough to take the breath away from every efleminate counterjumper in the State. This covers a good deal of what the old pioneer had or received for labor and fai*m products."

Store Goods

In some respects the inei'cliants held a better hand in the game of life, and in others they didn't. They wanted from tifteen to twenty-live cents a yard for calico, and from twenty-live to seventy-live cents for gingham, but, as said before, those early settlers were a self-sacrilicing peoj)le, and they let the merchants not only ask these prices, but allowed them to keep these goods upon their shelves to give their stores the appearance of carrying a large stock. The fact is, the merchants of those days didn't coin money from their calico and gingham departments. Trade and burter were their "best holt." Plere is where they got in their best work, growing up and thriving, like a veritable Yankee, by what they called " dicker." Ten pounds of good Rio coffee for a dollar, and from sixteen to twenty pounds of coffee for the same sum of money, were standard pi-ices. When they sold a calico or a gingham dress pattern tliey threw in their profit by giving a spool of thread (200 yards), hooks and eyes and lining. In the thread business, however, it was only a few years after before thirty and fifty yard spools took the place of the former of 200 yards. Tea could be bought for from tw^enty to fifty cents a pound; soap was "powerful " cheap, either by the gallon or by the bar; saleratus took the place of baking-powder and was as low as five to eight cents; and whisk3% good old whisky, one drink of which would make a man love his neighbor as himself, was eighteen cents a gallon by the barrel, and from twenty to twenty -five cents per gallon retail. It is questionable, to the writer, whether the extravagances and the high prices of the present age, with all its boasted improvements, taken in connection with its varied and high taxes, the increased cost of living, are a fair equivalent for the good old days of hog and hominy, of venison and honey, of jeans and linseys, of low prices, and of peace, plenty and happiness. In those days of log houses and log churches ajid schools, when puncheon floors, and puncheon stools their softest seat, when a skillet and a kettle with a big fire-place, did duty for a modern $75 stove, with its new tangled hot water arrangement and extra ovens, and wagons without springs served as carriages, the people were as happy as to-day and far more contented. That these improvements are desirable all will grant. It must be borne in mind that the increased wants and extravagances of the present era, and the accumulated wealth of the country, is what has made these things not only a pleasure but a necessity.

In closing the record of the old pioneers the names of those who figured in the history of the county at that early period will be of interest. It was impossible to get all, and if familiar names to some are missing it is because the author failed to find them or hear of thein, while many names will be found in other parts of the work that ai*e not recorded in this list:

Old Settlers' Poem

The rough-hewn puncheon floor; The chimneys made of stick and clay Ai'e seen no more - gone to decay - The men who built them, where are they?

The country changing still; How many changes it's passed through - And we, old friends, are changing, too - Theie's been a change in me and you

The land will be bei-eft. The places which we here have filled, The fields which we have cleared and tilled. Our barn, though empty or though filled,

Some things he ne"er had seen. The way in which we cleaned our wheat. When two strong men with blanket-sheet Would winnow out the chaff and cheat. And twice or thrice the thing repeat.

Although our homes were mean. Our neighbors then were neighbors true,. And every man his neighbor knew, Although those neighbors might be few

Or wear the victor's crown; Though tar above the clouds we tread, Other clouds there are still o'erhead, And on the mind there is the dread.