Holt County, Missouri - Chapter 5: Public Buildings and Improvements - First Court, 1917

Chapter 5: Public Buildings and Improvements - First Court

PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS - FIRST COURT HOUSE - SECOND COURT HOUSE - THIRD AND PRESENT COURT HOUSE - COURT HOUSE REMOVALBUILDING REMODELED - JAILS - PUBLIC SQUARECOUNTY POOR FARM.

Notwithstanding the fact that a large number of the people in every county have very little practical experience in the courts and although they have the legal capacity to sue and be sued, never improve their opportunities, and never appear in court unless it be on compulsion as witnesses or jurors, yet as the one great conservator of peace and as the final arbiter in the case of individual or neighborhood disputes, the court is distinguished above and apart from all and every other institution of the land, and not only the proceedings of the court, but the place of holding'court is a matter of interest to the average reader. Not only so, but in many counties the court house was the first and usually the only public building in the county. These first court houses were not very elaborate buildings, to be sure, but they are enshrined in memories that the present never can know. Their uses were general, rather than special, and so constantly were they in use day and night when court was in session, and, when it was not in session, for judicial, educational, religious and social purpoes that the doors of those court houses, like the gates of gospel peace, stood open night and day, and the small amount invested in those old logs returned a much better rate of interest on the investment than do those stately piles of brick and granite which have taken their places.

The memorable court house of early times was a house adapted to a variety of uses, and had a career of great usefulness. School was taught, the gospel preached and justice dispensed within its substantial walls. Then it served frequently as a resting place for weary travelers, and indeed its doors always swung on easy hinges. In the old court house were located the several county offices. In it met that assemblage known as the district court, where the vocal, and not unfrequently muscular pioneer attorneys had full scope for the employment of varied powers, both physical and intellectual.

But not only as a court room was the old building used. If the old settlers are to be believed, this rude structure often rang on the pioneer Sabbath, with a more stirring eloquence than enlivens the pulpits of the present time. Many of the earliest ministers have officiated within its walls, and if these old walls could speak, they would tell many a strange tale of pioneer religion, that is now lost forever. The old court house ministers came of different faiths, but all eager to expound the simple truths of a sublime and beautiful religion, and point out for comparison the thorny path of duty and the primrose path of dalliance. Often have those old walls given back the echoes of those who sang the songs of Zion, and many an erring wanderer has had his heart moved to repentance thereby, more strongly than ever, by the strains of homely eloquence.

With Monday morning the old building changed its character and men came there seeking not the mercy of God, but the justice of man. The scales were held with an even hand. Fine points of law were often ignored, but those who presided knew every man in the county, and they dealt out substantial justice, and the broad principles of natural equity prevailed. Children came there to school,. and sat at the feet of teachers who knew but little more than themselves; but, however humble the teacher's acquirements, he was hailed as a wise man and a benefactor, and his lessons were heeded with attention. There were people of the county went to discuss their own affairs, and learn the news so far away to the eastward. In addition to the orderly assemblies which formally gathered there, other meetings no less memorable occurred. It was a sort of forum, whither all classes of people went for the purpose of loafing and gossiping and telling and hearing something new.

As a general thing the first court house, after having served the purpose of its erection, was torn down and conveyed to the rear of some remote lot, and thereafter was made to serve the purpose of an obscure cow stable in some dark alley. There is little of the poetic and romantic in the makeup of western society and the old court, after it was superceded by a more elabor* ate and showy structure, ceased to be regarded with reverence and av/e. It was then looked upon as only the aggregation of so many hickory or oak logs, and the practical eye of the modern citizen could see nothing in it, but the aforesaid logs, and, in his estimate of its value, calculations relative to the number of horses, hogs, or number of bushels of grain, which these reconstructed logs would accommodate, were the only conditions bearing on those estimates.

In a new country, where every energy of the people is necessarily employed in the practical work of earning a living, and the always urgent and ever present question of bread and butter is up for solution, people cannot be expected to devote much time to the poetic and ideal. It therefore followed that nothing was retained, as a useless relic, which could be turned to some useful account, but it is a shame that people of modern time have such little reverence for the relics of former days. After these houses ceased to be available for business purposes and their removal was determined on, they should have been taken to some other part of the town or city and located on some lot, purchased by public subscription, where they might have remained to have at least witnessed the semi-centennial of the country's history. It is sad, that in their haste to grow rich, so few have care, even for the early 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 consolation in old age, as it reminded the owner of the trials and triumphs of other times, and its presence would go far toward reconciling the coming generation with theirs, when comparing its humble appearance with the modern residences, whose extensive apartments are beginning to be too unpretentious for the enterprising and irrepressible young American.

At the November term, 1841, of the county court the following was issued: "Ordered that R. M. Barkhurst be appointed superintendent for building a court house in the town of Oregon, and that he let the same to the lowest bidder on the 13th day of the present month, at the house of G. Ray."

At the December term, 1841, held at the house of G. Ray, it was "Ordered, as the order passed at the last term of said court was not entered of record, it is now ordered to-wit: Ordered that a court house be built in the town of Oregon, in Holt County, of the following description and dimensions: A frame house, 20x26 feet, two stories high, to be set on a rock wall eighteen inches thick and thirty inches high, eighteen inches thereof under ground, and that above ground to be laid in lime mortar; the sills to be 8x10 inches square, the posts to be eight inches square, rabbitted. The first story nine feet high in the clear, with three windows, two of which to contain fifteen lights each, and one of twelve lights, the glass of all to be 10x12 inches. One outside door, to be folding panel of three feet eight inches wide, one and one-half inchs thick, a transom sash over it with four lights, the glass 10x12. One flight of winding stairs, neatly cased up, and stair door paneled. The weather-boarding to be of walnut plank, five-eights of an inch thick jointed. The second story to be seven feet in the clear, with three windows of twelve lights each 10x12 inches; with two rooms in the upper story, with a ledge door leading from head of the stairs into each of the other rooms ; all the doors to be neatly cased up, etc. ; with sufficient locks to each door; the roof to be of walnut shingles; a trap door in the ceiling leading to the garret; the floors to be of oak plank, one inch thick, well seamed, etc.; the whole house to be lathed and plastered inside, two coats and a whitewash ; the entire building to be completed by June 10, 1842, and to be set up on lot 5, in block 7, in the town of Oregon, fronting twenty feet on Nodaway street and twenty-six on Washington street."

At the same time it was ordered that the sum of $659 dollars be appropriated for the building of said court house to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, arising out of the sale of lots in the town of Oregon.

The contract for building this house was let to Jesse Carroll. The appliances for facilitating labor irvthose days, were few, and not everything was readily attainable in this primitive condition of things in the country, and the contractor was under the necessity of asking an extension of time, wherein to complete the house, which extension was granted by the court. We also find by an order issued July 6, 1842, that the contractor of the court house was authorized to make an additional door and five windows, and to make moulding to the doors and windows, to make shutters to the windows, etc. ; for all which said work, he was "to charge a reasonable price."

On the 3d day of October, 1842, R. M. Barkhurst, superintendent of the building of the court house, in the town of Oregon, reported to the county court, that having examined the work done by Jesse Carroll, the contractor, he finds the same done according to contract, except a coat of whitewash, which said contractor agreed to have done immediately. Whereupon, the court ordered that the building be received.

Second Court House

Before the lapse of the first decade in the county's history, its progress and growing importance seemed to warrant the erection of a temple of justice more in harmony with its advancing fortunes, and, in October, 1850, a second court house was deter* mined on. Accordingly, on the first day of November term, 1850, the contract for a brick building forty-four feet square and two stories high was let to H. Watson for $4,995. Judges Watson, Gibson and Dozier, then occupied the county bench. The building was a plain but neat structure, with hip roof and stood in the center of the beautiful public square, for which the town of Oregon is justly and widely celebrated. Further appropriations to properly complete the structure raised the entire cost to about $6,000. The foundation for this court house was surveyed by S. C. Collins.

The Third Court House

Early in the summer of 1881, it was determined by the county court, in obedience to the wish of a large majority of the taxpayers, to erect a new court house, or rather to remodel and reconstruct the old building which had stood for thirty years, no discreditable monument of the enterprise and progressive spirit of the day and generation in which it was built. Accordingly at the May term, 1881, the contract was let to Moses Bennett, for the erection of three new additions and the remodeling of the court house of the city of Oregon, for the sum of $8,500. Subsequently a further sum of eleven hundred dollars was appropriated to properly complete the structure. The work of taking down the old building was commenced early in June, and the business of reconstructing immediately followed, under the direction of Levi Zook, architect and superintendent. By the 13th of December, 1881, the edifice was completed, received by the court and occupied. With the exception of the foundation and portion of the brick wall of the first story the building was entirely new and no vestige of the original house was recognizable in the elegant structure whose faultless proportions graced the site of the comparatively homely building which till recently stood on its foundations.

At first glance, the new court house suggested the idea of a Greek cross, so nearly equibrachial is its ground plan. Careful observation, however, reveals the fact that such is not the case. The main building was forty-five feet square. In the center of the north front, the area of the base of the tower, which rises to an altitude of about seventy-five feet to the head of the eagle which crowns its summit, was fifteen feet square. Near the middle of the east, and also of the west side of the building, was a projection fifteen feet by twenty-two, extending to and taking in the second and mansard stories. In the center of the south side, which was the rear of the building, was another extension fifteen feet in length and projecting nine feet. Approaching the building by the front or north entrance the fifteen by fifteen foot vestibule, which constituted the ground floor of the tower, paved with stone slabs, revealed the presence of a massive and elegant double stair case leading on either hand to the upper stories. The bannister and newels of this staircase were of black walnut, elegant in design and massive in construction. A hall ten feet wide ran from the north to the south vestibule. On the west side of this hall, with windows looking north and west was the circuit clerk's office, a room twenty-six by sixteen feet. South of this, on the same side of the hall was the probate court room sixteen feet square, with a window looking southward and another westward. Both these rooms opened into the extension above described, fifteen by twenty feet, which was a fireproof room designed for the accommodation of vault and safes of the two offices. The rooms on the east, or opposite side of the hall were of corresponding size and similar proportions and appointments and accommodated respectively, the larger the county clerk's office, and the smaller, the county collector's office. Like their neighbors on the opposite side of the hall, both these rooms opened into a fireproof vault, fifteen by twenty-two feet in dimensions, located in the east extension.

The ceiling of the ground floor was ten feet in the clear. Ascending to the second floor, a double swinging folding door, ot handsome design opened from the stair landing into the circuit court room, a spacious apartment, forty-five feet square, with a fourteen and a half foot ceiling. In the center of the rear end of the room was an alcove nine feet deep and fifteen long, directly over the south or rear vestibule, of corresponding size. Two lateral apartments, one on the east and another on the west side of the room accommodate themselves to the proportions of the vault or safe rooms below.

The third or mansard story, from the nature of its design, was somewhat smaller than the area of the lower floors. Its dimensions were thirty-nine feet square, and the lateral rooms or recesses of the same were of correspondingly reduced proportions.

The external appearance of the building was no less attractive in the harmony of its proportions, than the internal construction and appointments of the same, while the faultless taste displayed in the light relieved by dark drab coloring, with which the walls were painted, and fanciful coloring of the mansard roof, rendered the building not only striking in appearance, but sufficiently up to the standard of correct taste to meet the approval of the most fastidious critics. Near the summit of the tower were four circular dial spaces, four and a half feet diameter, and facing the cardinal points. A clock was to have been placed in the tower, at a later date. The handsome weather cock which crowned the summit of this clock tower, was not unworthy of passing notice. The design is an elaborately gilt eagle, with extended wings, measuring four feet from tip to tip. It was purchased in Detroit, Michigan, and placed in position at an expense of about fifty dollars.

Though there were many court houses in the country at that time which were much larger and which perhaps cost many times the expense of erecting this building, Holt County enjoys the satisfaction of possessing not only the cheapest structure of the kind in the state, considering its actual value, but one which compares in point of external appeparance with the best in the land.

The records of the adjourned term of the county court, under date of December 13, 1881, set forth the following in reference to the new court house.

"Said Levi Zook not having made any charge for his services as superintendent of the improvements on said court house, the county court hereby tender to the said Levi Zook their sincere thanks for this faithful and attentive supervision of said improvements."

In times past when interest in public affairs showed an inclination to lag the agitation for the removal of the court house to Mound City has often come to the fore. There has been a

Mound City, claiming that it being the larger town and situated on a line of railroad, should be entitled to the county seat. The agitation continued for a ncmber of years in one form and another. Some very good people became estranged from some very good friends over the arguments which took place on this subject. Oregon's side of the argument was to the effect that the move was entirely unnecessary and that the money it would cost would be a foolish expenditure of funds.

The matter came to a climax when a petition for the removal of the court house to Mound City was filed with the county courc July 24, 1907. It was signed by the required number of voters and, although the proposition was opposed by attorneys for the City of Oregon, the court ordered the matter submitted to the qualified voters of the county at the regular election in 1908. The result of the vote showed 1,935 for the removal and 1,748 against it. As a two-thirds majority was required the proposition was lost.

Although the court house that had served up to that time had been considered amply sufficient for all needs at the time it was built, the growth of the county, including the increase in population, made imperative the necessity for more room for the public officials and a more modern building for their use.

Several efforts to have the structure overhauled or remodeled at public expense having failed, the citizens of Oregon took the matter in their own hands and raised the necessary money with which to make the improvement. On July 5, 1911, there appeared before the county court a delegation of citizens headed by C. D. Zook, Mrs. Lizzie Roecker, T. C. Dungan and others, who represented 160 citizens of Oregon and vicinity. They offered the court a donation of $10,000 with which to rebuild the temple of justice. The offer was accompanied by a certified check for $8,530 which amount was to be placed in the county treasury and expended by the county court. Tentative plans for the improvements were presented.

The offer of the people of Oregon brought forth a protest from taxpayers in the northern part of the county. An objecting petition was presented to the county court July 14, 1911, by James Kennish, F. E. Burnett and others in which it was claimed that the donation was unlawful and that the only way the building could be improved was by the expenditure of public funds. It was further claimed that the donation was made for selfish purposes by the donors who lived and had property in Oregon. The whole proceeding was characterized a selfish enterprise.

remodeling the court house was let August 28, 1911, to Charles Harrison, general contractor. It was signed by H. E. Wright, presiding judge of the county court and by Charles D. Zook, who had been named as superintendent of construction. The contract price was $5,050 and the plans were made by Eckel & Aldrich of St. Joseph. The work included a four-room addition on the south, including two vaults, basement and a sky light in the circuit court room. A sub-contract provided for a low pressure heating plant at a cost of $2,300. This work was done by the Bragg-Munn Hardware Company of Oregon.

After the rebuilding of the structure the arrangement of the several offices was considerably changed. Entering the building from the north one finds the offices of the circuit clerk and recorder the first to the right of the entrance. The first office to the left is the county collector. The second office to the right is the probate judge and the second to the left is the county treasurer, county clerk and county court. The second floor is taken up principally by the circuit court room. To the left of this room is the quarters of the county surveyor and ex-officio highway engineer. The sheriff and prosecuting attorney have their offices in the southeast corner of the second story.

Early Members Of The Bar

Some of these lawyers afterward gained renown and prominence in other cities. Many of them have held high places in their profession after leaving Holt County.

The first jail in the county was a log structure at the county seat. It stood in block eight, one block from the northeast corner of the court house square, and was put up by Jesse Carroll shortly after the completion of the first court house.

The second jail was built in 1859, of stone, and in 1876 it was remodeled with brick, the building being enlarged and otherwise improved in light and ventilation. The architect in each instance was Jesse Carroll. The jail occupies the southeast corner of the public square, is two stories high and contains six rooms, two of which are cells for prisoners. The jailer and his family reside in the building.

Public Square

One of the most attractive features of the town of Oregon is the public square of two and a half acres, in the center of which the neat and substantial structure of the present court house rears its elegant proportions.

In an early day E. Van Buskirk, Esq., was appointed court yard commissioner, and under his instructions the ground was plowed up and set in blue grass. The county, however, made no appropriation for further improvement than building, in 1852, a fence around its limits.

The presence of the beautiful grove which envelops the entire area of the park in a dense shade when the trees are clothed with foliage is due to the voluntary and individual enterprise of the citizens of the town. In 1856 at the instance chiefly of William Zook the square was set in cottonwoods. In the dry season of that year most of these perished, only a few, indeed, surviving. In the following year the citizens, headed by J. Levy - later a resident of Omaha, and, at that time, bookkeeper for Peter & Ovelman, merchants of Oregon - turned out and determined that their court yard should be planted with at least one specimen of every tree indigenous to the county. This idea was promptly acted upon and enlarged. Not only were there native trees, but several foreign varieties were planted in this charming enclosure. A few varieties have died and some of the larger cottonwoods have been culled out. The whole number planted amounted to about two hundred and forty. Many of these trees attained a height of from forty to fifty feet, and the whole, in the summer season, affords a shade so dense as to almost entirely obscure the view of the building from the surrounding streets. The old plank fence built around the park by the county in 1852 gave place in the spring of 1877 to an elegant balustrade enclosing the entire area and protected by an external chain. This was erected chiefly by the liberality of the citizens of the town and was completed at a cost of $1,200. An iron fence was built around the square in 1896. It did duty until 1916 when the streets surrounding the park were paved by the town of Oregon. The elevation of the site of the court house is 1,113 feet above the sea level.

In the spring of 1873 a tract of 145 acres in Lewis Township, one mile northwest of Oregon, was purchased from Jeptha Martin, and a spacious and comfortable two-story brick house erected thereon, for the purpose of affording a retreat for the poor and afflicted of the county, who were unable to maintain themselves. The entire cost of the farm and improvements was $10,077. It is claimed that no county has had better success in securing faithful and efficient managers. The first superintendent appointed was J. G. Cottrell. He served till 1877, when he was succeeded by Adolph Ware, who continued to manage the institution till 1879, when Philip Kollmer was appointned. He served until 1886. He was succeeded by George Reeves, 1886-1887 ; N. L. Pierce, 1887-1891; Alf Gentry, 1891-1893; G. W. Foster, 1893- 1895; A. J. Carson, 1895-1904; Sebourn Carson, 1904-1913; Chris Fuhman 1913-1917.