Holt County, Missouri - Chapter 7: Platte County Railroad. - Kansas City, St. Joseph, 1917

Chapter 7: Platte County Railroad. - Kansas City, St. Joseph

The people of Holt County early recognized the importance of railroads, and manifested their interest in an enterprise of this character, even in ante-bellum days.

The first railroad commenced in the county was what was known as the Platte County Railroad. It had been constructed as far as Savannah, in Andrew County, when the breaking out of the war caused a suspension of further operations. The grading and masonry were about completed through the southern part of the county to Forest City, but the road was never finished. Holt County subscribed seventy-five thousand dollars towards the building of this road, and issued bonds for half that amount. These bonds were promptly paid after the war, but, as before stated, the road was never completed.

The next enterprise in the way of railroads was inaugurated by the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad Company. This road was projected and completed through the county, at the expense of the company, in 1869. It enters the county at its southeast extremity and winds its way at the foot of the bluffs to a point four miles above Forest City. It here diverges into the bottom and makes but one deviation from a straight line for a distance of nearly thirty miles, when it reaches a point two miles below Phelps, in Atchison County.

The Nodaway Valley Branch of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad was completed in 1880. This branch intersects the main line at Bigelow, passes through Mound City and Maitland and leaves the county at Section 21 in Clay Township.

The Tarkio Valley Branch leaves the main line at Corning and passes into Atchison County a short distance northeast of that town. It is evident from the foregoing that Holt County is pretty well fixed for railroad facilities, although served by one railroad system - the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company, which has since come into possession of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs line and its branches. There are eleven stations in the county, located in the following named towns: Forbes, Forest City, Oregon, Bigelow, Napier, Fortescue, Craig, Maitland, Mound City, Corning and Curzon.

The Oregon Interurban

For many years Oregon smarted under the indictment that the town was guilty of not being located on a railroad line. This matter seems not to have been taken into consideration when the town was laid out - or perhaps those who located the county seat expected the old Platte County Railroad to reach Oregon by way of Savannah, building across the hill country instead of following the water courses as railroads generally do when in the process of building.

As early as December 20, 1881, the citizens of Oregon seem to have realized the necessity for railroad connections, for at that time a meeting was held in the court house calculated to inaugurate a movement looking to the consummation of plans for building a line to connect with the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs road at Forest City. A committee consisting of Dr. G. A. Fiegenbaum, George Anderson, E. Van Bushkirk, James Limbird, Dr. J. T. Thatcher, Clarke Irvine and T. H. Parrish, was appointed to look after the matter further.

It was intended at the time to build a line costing about $75,000, but because of the difficulty in raising that sum the enterprise had to be abandoned. Other efforts were made at various times and the enthusiasm became so great in 1891 that several loads of ties were bought and unloaded on a vacant lot in Oregon. But as before, the prospective cost of the enterprise was too great and there was no railroad built that year.

But the long-wished for railroad became a realization in 1908, when the public spirited citizens of Oregon, tired of the piffle of outside promoters, took matters in their own hands and organized the company which built the standard gauge line connecting their home town with the Burlington's main line at Forest City.

The movement was started March 5, 1907, at which time there was such a substantial interest manifested that George Custer, a civil engineer, was engaged to begin the survey, which he did May 9.

The Oregon Interurban Railway Company was incorporated Nov. 12, 1907. The incorporators were C. D. Zook, B. F. Morgan, T. C. Dungan, Jacob Bucher, Henry C. Cook, W. H. Richards, Daniel Zachman, L. I. Moore and W. A. S. Deer. The officers chosen were B. F. Morgan, president, and L. I. Moore, secretary-treasurer. These, with C. D. Zook, T. C. Dungan, Jacob Bucher, Dr. Jonas Whitmer, W. H. Richards, Alex VanBuskirk and W. A. S. Deer constituted the first board of directors. The company was incorporated for $60,000.

and the following year, June 10, a contract for the construction of the line was let to W. W. Wogan. The first grading was done on the C. E. Meyer place a short distance from Oregon August 3, 1908, and the event was appropriately celebrated.

The first passengers were hauled over the road January 28, 1909, when a party of Oregon Odd Fellows was taken to Forest City to attend a meeting of the lodge in that city. The road at this time was not entirely completed and regular passenger service was not inaugurated until April 26. The first carload of freight was received February 4, 1909, by Martin & Son. The second carload shipment was received April 6, by Ruley & Kunkel.

The Oregon Interurban is one of the few successful short line railroads in the country. It is operated principally by steam, that motive power being used for freight and most of the passenger service, A small passenger coach, propelled by a gasoline engine is in operation part of the time, when travel is light.

A handsome little depot on the northern outskirts of Oregon, nestled close to the switch yards, engine houses and other structures necessary to the operation of the road, gives that portion of the city of Oregon a metropolitan appearance. The people of the town feel that they have reason to be proud of this enterprise and there are many strangers who have expressed the belief that this pride has just cause for existence.

Public Schools

It is doubtful if there is a resident of Holt County who is not proud of the excellent school system which has been built up by an active and competent corps of educators. It is a far cry from the pioneer school house of pioneer days to the present modern, convenient, healthful school buildings.

The pioneer school house was built of round logs, the space between them chinked and then daubed with mud. About five feet from the west wall, on the inside, and several feet high, another log was placed and run across the building. Puncheons were fixed on this log and in the west wall, on which the chimney was built. Fuel could then be used of any length not greater than the length of the building, and when it was burned through the middle, the ends were crowded together. In this manner was avoided the necessity for much wood chopping. There was no danger of burning the floor, as there was none. The seats were made of stools or benches, constructed by splitting a log, hewing off the splinters from the flat side, and then putting four pegs into it from the round side for legs.

paper, which answered for a window. Wooden pins were driven into the log running lengthwise immediately beneath the windows, upon which laid a board, and this constituted the writing desks.

In those days there were no public school funds, and but little private funds, the teacher taking his pay, like the primitive preacher, in almost anything, such as potatoes, corn, rails, pigs, chickens, etc. The agreement between the teacher and the patrons provided that he should teach a "common school for a term of three months, viz. : spelling, reading, writing and arithmetic." The patrons on their part agreed to furnish a suitable school house, firewood and to board the pedagogue. In addition they were to pay $1.50 for each pupil. School was to commence when twenty pupils had been enrolled.

The old subscription schools as well as the log-cabin school houses, have long since passed away and are now only a memory. There are now (1916) sixty-three schools in Holt County. Some of them are brick, but the greater number are neat frame buildings, constructed with special reference to the wants and demands of the present age. Among the things which a modern school house must have are light and ventilation, which are so necessary to the health of the pupils. Besides these we have the convenient seat, desk, blackboard, maps, reference books and a number of other helps which are considered indispensable to the proper training of the youthful mind.

In addition the present day student lias the advantage of teachers who have had wider experience, been better trained in their profession and who have more advanced ideas on scholarship than did the pioneer teacher who expounded the three R's in the days of yester years.

The office of school commissioner was created in 1865. The names of those who have held the office will be found in the chapter devoted to county officers.

The settlement of the county and the organization of the first churches were almost contemporaneous. The plow had scarcely begun to turn the sod, when the pioneer preacher commenced to labor in the new field. In the western country as well as in the Orient and the isles of the sea, marched the representatives of the Christian religion in the front ranks of civilization. Throughout the centuries which comprise this era, have the Christian missionaries been taught and trained to accompany the first advance of civilization, and such was their advent in Holt County. In the rude cabins and huts of the pioneers, they proclaimed the same gospel that is preached in the gorgeous palaces that, under the name of churches, decorate the great cities.

different, in the effect it produced at least. The Christian religion had its rise, and the days of its purest practice, among the humble minded people, and it is among similar surroundings in modern times, that it seems to approach the purity of its source. This is best shown in the days of pioneer life. It is true, indeed, that in succeeding times, the church has attained greater wealth and practices a wider benevolence. Further, it may be admitted that it has gained a firmer discipline and wields a more general influence on society, but it remains true, in pioneer times, we find a manifestation of Christianity that we seek in vain at a later period and under contrasted circumstances. The meek and lowly spirit of the Christian faith - the placing of spiritual things above vain pomp and show- - appear more earnest amid the simple life and toil of a pioneer people, than it can when surrounded with the splendors of wealth and fashion.

But we may take a comparison less wide, and instead of contrasting the Christian appearances of a great city with that of the pioneers, we may compare that of seventy years ago here in the west with that in the present time of well developed wealth and taste for display, and we find much of the same result.

The comparison is perhaps superficial to some extent, and does not fully weigh the elements involved, nor analyze them properly. We simply take the broad fact not to decry the present, but to illustrate the past. So looking back to the early religious meetings in the log cabins we may say: "Here was a faith, earnest and simple, like that of the early Christians."

It is not the purpose here to give a detailed history of the organization of all the churches in the county. Such matters of detail are given, as far as obtainable, in the history of the towns and townships. It is the intention here to speak only of the early churches and ministers, of those Christian ministers who first proclaimed the gospel of the Savior in Holt County, and of some of the organizations effected by them, and of the trials and privations which they suffered in common with the old settlers among whom they labored.

The first preacher in Holt County was the Rev. G. B. Thorp, a Hard-Shell Baptist. He officiated in the first meeting house that was erected in the county. It stood on section 36, township 60, range 38, on Mill Creek and was erected in 1843. The building has long since disappeared. This church is mentioned more fully in the chapter devoted to Lewis Township. The first church erected in Oregon was built by the Baptists and Christians.

One of the first ministers to officiate as such, among the pioneers of the county, was Bishop Marvin, who spent the early years of his ministry in Northwest Missouri. The Bishop was then a young man with headquarters in Oregon, and labored in behalf of the M. E. church. He held services about the years

1842 and 1843, in the house first used as a court house, located opposite the southwest corner of the court house park and later the site of the general merchandise store of W. H. Sterrett.

When in Oregon Bishop Marvin was entertained at the home of William Zook. In 1874 the old settlers of the Platte Purchase held a reunion in St. Joseph. Bishop Marvin, who then lived in St. Louis, had been invited to be present upon that occasion. But owing to his ministerial duties, which called him elsewhere at that time, he could not attend. But he expressed his regrets in a letter to Col. James N. Burnes, president of the Old Settlers' Reunion, from which the following quotations are taken :

"For the early settlers of Northwest Missouri I feel a regard that amounts to enthusiasm, and increases with time. The early years of my ministry were spent in that part of the state. In 1842 I passed the present site of St. Joseph, on the way to a field of labor quite on the frontier. It embraced all the country west of the Nodaway River. You will remember at that time there was no St. Joseph. In subsequent years I labored in Clay, Platte and Buchanan Counties. I shall never forget the uncalculating, unbounded hospitality of the 'old settlers.' Many of them were in their first rude cabins, but those cabins had the rarest capacity for entertaining both friend and stranger of any houses of their size I ever saw. I often saw them crowded, but to the best of my recollection I never saw one of them full ; there was always room for a fresh comer. I recollect once in the Platte Purchase I was wedging myself into a bed already occupied by five children, when one of them waked sufficiently to exclaim, 'Mamma, mamma, he's a scrougin me!'

"I make no doubt that the ministry and church have done more to quicken thought and create a thirst for knowledge in the west, than is generally understood. Ministers of the gospel in the new communities, being above the average of people in culture, and dealing in truths of a character to elevate the mind and provoke inquiry, have, as an incident of their calling, toned up the popular mind, encouraged a taste for reading and created a demand for schools."

Bishop Marvin died in 1878. During his pastorate in one of the St. Louis churches, he delivered his famous lecture on Catholicism, which have since been accepted as a standard defense of the Protestant faith.

About the same time that Bishop Marvin came to Holt County, or soon after, another minister of the gospel, the Rev. W. C. Caples, of the M. E. Church, did missionary work in Northwest Missouri, extending the field of his labor to Holt County, Mr. Caples was an earnest, sincere and eloquent preacher, and did much for the cause of Christianity. Bishop Marvin spoke of him in laudatory terms. Mr. Caples went to St. Joseph in 1852

Among other ministers who officiated at an early day in the county was the Rev. Alexander Spencer, who also was of the M. E. Church. The Rev. E. A. Carson was the first Presbyterian clergyman to conduct services in the county. He was a Virginian by birth and spent his declining years in Savannah, Andrew County, Missouri. The first Sunday School was organized by the Methodists. Mrs. Sarah Hill raised the sum of $33 by subscription to buy a library for this school.