Jackson County, Missouri - Chapter 5: Organization of the County, 1881

Chapter 5: Organization of the County

St. Louis County included what is now the eastern part of Jackson in iSij - Then Howard County - Then Cooper - Then Ltllard - Then Lafayette - And then Jackson - Jackson County organized December ij, 182b, and included what is now Cass and Bates counties - First County

- The territory which now bears the name of Jackson county, Missouri, was first embraced in the county of St. Louis except the western part which belonged to the Osage Indians. The eastern boundary of the Osages at that time commenced at a point on the Missouri River near the mouth of the Little Blue and thence ran directly south. The boundaries of St. Louis county fixed by an act of the Territorial Legislature of Missouri, December 31, 1813, included a strip of land lying south of the Missouri River and containing about twenty-five counties as at present organized. The- boundaries as fixed by the aforesaid act were as follows : "All that portion of the territory bounded north by the south line of the county of St. Charles, east by the main channel of the river Mississippi, south by a line to commence in the main channel of the Mississippi immediately opposite to the upper hne of a tract of land owned by Augustus Chouteau which is about half way between the mouths of the Plattin and Joachim rivers ; thence running in a direct line to a point on the dividing ridge bfetween those waters where Wright's road falls into the road leading from the town of Herculaneum to the Mine a Burton; thence along said road to a point thereon immediately opposite a noted spring called the " Dripping Spring," which spring is situated about two hundred yards south of said, road ; thence on a direct course to the mouth of Mineral Fork of Grand River, thence such a course as shall leave all the persons now settled in that settlement, usually known by the name of the Richwood settlement to the south of said course or line in the county of Washington, thence southwest to the western boundary line of the Osage purchase; thence northwardly on said line to the river Missouri, thence down said river Missouri in the main channel of the same to the southwest corner of the county of St. Charles shall compose one county and shall be called and known by the county of St. Louis."

"All that part of the county of St. Louis and all that part of the county of St. Charles and bounded as follows, to wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Great Osage River, thence up said river and in the middle of the main channel thereof unto the Osage boundary line thence north with said boundary line to the river Missouri, thence up the river Missouri and in the middle of the main channel thereof to a point opposite the mouth of the Kansas River, thence with the Indian boundary line (as described in a proclamation of the governor issued on the ninth day of March, 181 5) northwardly one hundred and forty miles, thence eastward with said line to the main dividing ridge of high ground between the rivers Mississippi and Missouri, thence with said ridge of high ground to the main fork of the river Cedar, thence down said river to the Missouri, thence down the river Missouri and in the middle of the main channel thereof to the mouth of the

Great Osage river, the place of beginning is hereby laid off and erected into a separate and distinct county, which shall be called and known by the name_ of Howard county. William Head, Benjamin Estill, David Jones, David Kincaide and Stephen Cole, be and are hereby appointed commissioners with full powers and authority to point out and fix upon the most suitable place in said county whereon to erect a court house and jail and the place whereon they or a majority of them shall agree, shall be and is hereby declared to be the permanent seat of justice for said county of Howard."

Howard county remained with the above described boundaries from January 23, 1816, to December 17, 1818, when a part of it was laid off and named Cooper. The act entitled ' ' An act establishing a part of the county of Howard into a separate and distinct county by the name of Cooper county," was as follows : " Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Territory of Missouri, that all that part of the county of Howard bounded as follows, to wit : beginning at a point in the middle of the main charftiel of the Missouri River opposite the middle of the main channel of the Osage River at its mouth, and running thence to the middle of the main channel of the Osage River at its mouth ; thence up the Osage River along the middle of the main channel thereof to the Osage boundary line ; thence north with said boundary line to the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River ; thence down the middle of the main channel of said last named river to the beginning, is hereby laid off and established into a separate and distinct county, which shall be called and known by the name of Cooper county. William Weir, Luke WiUiams, Julius Emmons, ^el Owen and Charles Canole be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners of the said county of Cooper, with full power and authority to point out and fix upon the most suitable place in the said county of Cooper whereon to erect a court house and jail for said county of Cooper.

From December 17, 1818, to November 16, 1820, the boundaries of Cooper remained unchanged, but at the latter named date a county called " Lillard," in honor of a State Senator by that name, was laid off, including the territory now included within the present counties of Lafayette, Johnson, Henry, part of St. Clair, Bates, Cass and Jackson.

An act estabUshing the county of Lillard : " Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri that, all that part of the county of Cooper lying and being within the following bounds, to wit : beginning at a point in the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River opposite the range line between ranges twenty- three and twenty-four; thence with said line to the termination thereof; thence due south to the middle of the main channel of the Osage River; thence up said river in the middle of the main channel thereof to the western boundary hne of the State, and thence north with said boundary line to the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River ; thence down said river in the middle of the main channel thereof to the place of beginning, shall be, and the same is hereby laid off and erected into a separate and distinct county, which shall be known and called by the name of Lillard. John Duston, James Bounds, Senr., David McClilland, James Dillard and David Ward, be, and are hereby appointed, commissioners with full power and authority to select the most suitable place in said county whereon to erect a court house and jail, and the place which they, or a majority of them, shall agree to erect a court house and jail on, as aforesaid, shall be, and is hereby declared to be, the seat of justice of Lillard county.

By the act of the Legislature February 16, 1825, the name of Lillard was changed to Lafayette, and the western boundary thereof was the middle of range number twenty-nine. By an act of the General Assembly, approved February i6, 1825, the county of Jiickson was laid off. The act was entitled " An act definining the limits of the several counties in this State ;" s^tion 30 reads as follows : be it enacted, that all that portion of the country bounded as follows, to wit : beginning at a point in the middle of tiie main channel of the Missouri River due north of the termination of the line running through the middle of range twenty-nine west ; thence due south with said line to the middle of the main channel of the Osage River; thence due west to the western boundary of this State ; thence north with the said western boundary line to the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River ; thence down said river in the middle of the main channel thereof to the beginning, shall comprise the county of Jackson. Provided, That the territory included within the bounds above named shall continue to be attached to and form part of the county of Lafayette for all civil and military purposes until the same be established and organized as a separate county by law.

The organization of Jackson county, though also including the present counties of Cass and Bates, was effected by an act entitled, " An act to organize the county of Jackson," approved December 15th, 1826, which was as follows:

"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, that the county of Jackson, heretofore attached by law for all civil and military purposes to the county of Lafayette, be, and the same is hereby declared to be erected into a separate and distinct county, and that all rights and privileges granted by law to separate and distinct counties, be and the same are hereby extended to the said county of Jackson.

2. David Ward and Julius Emmons, of the county of Lafayette, and John Bartleson, of the county of Clay, be and are hereby appointed Commissioners for the purpose of selecting the seat of justice for said county, and the said Commissioners are hereby vested with all the powers granted to Commissioners under the law entitled 'an act to provide for organizing counties heretofore established.'

3. The said county of Jackson shall be added to and form a part of the first judicial district and that the circuit courts for said county shall be held on the third Mondays of March, July and November in each and every year until otherwise provided for by law.

4. The courts to be holden in the said county shall be at the house of John Young, until the tribunal transacting county business shall fix on a temporary seat of justice for said county.

6. The said county of Jackson shall be attached to and compose a part of the Thirteenth Senatorial District, and shall, in conjunction with the counties of Clay, Ray and Lafayette, elect one Senator at the general election in eighteen hundred and twenty-eight.

r The reader will now inquire how and when it transpired that Jackson county was circumscribed within its present limits. The answer is briefly as follows : When by act of the Legislature March 3d, 1835, the county of Van Buren was defined then the present southern boundary of Jackson county was established and in the following language : Beginning at a point on the middle of range twenty-nine, where the same intersects the township line between townships

It will be remembered that Van Buren county was subsequently named Cass. In the same act it is further stated that : "The northern boundary of Van Buren as constituted by the foregoing section shall be the permanent southern boundary of Jackson county ; and all the territory included in the county of Bates shall be, for all civil and military purposes, attached to the county of Van Buren (now Cass) until the said county of Bates shall be organized into a separate and distinct county by law. David Ward, of Lafayette, Samuel Hinck and Wilham Brown, Jackson county, are hereby appointed Commissioners to select the permanent seat of justice for said county."

We have thus followed the organization of counties in which Jackson was concerned, from December 13, 1813, to March 3, 1835, during which time the counties of which Jackson formed a part, were reduced from the size of the State of Massachusetts to its present limits. The organization, early settlements and first elections have been alluded to in a former chapter ; but in order that a county should be fully organized, and legally qualified to transact business, the county court must be qualified, accordingly we give herewith the names of the Judges appointed by Governor John Miller, together with their commissions and oath of office. When this has been perused the student of Jackson county history will have followed each step in the laying off and organization of the county.

State Of Missouri County Of Jackson

At a special term of the county court, for the county of Jackson, begun and held at the house of John Young, in said county, on the 21st day of May, 1827, agreeably to public notice, where (in pursuance of an act of the Legislature of this State, entitled an " act to amend and alter an act entitled an act to establish Courts of Justice and prescribe their powers and duties," approved 2d January, 1827,) the following gentlemen, to-wit: Abraham McClelland, Richard Fristoe and Henry Burris, Esquires, being appointed Justices of the County Court, for this county, and each of the said parties having been duly qualified according to law, produced the following commissions, and the said commissions being read in open court, took their seats as the Justices of the County Court within and for the county of Jackson.

Know ye, that reposing especial trust and confidence in the integrity, learning and abilities of Abraham McClelland, I have nominated, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do hereby appoint him a Justice of the County Court of the county of Jackson, and do authorize and empower him to discharge the duties of said office according to law ; to have and to hold the said office with all the privileges and emoluments of the same of right appertaining unto him, 'the said Abraham McClelland, for the term of four years, and until his successor is duly commissioned and qualified., unless sooner removed for misdemeanor in office.

In testimony whereof I have hereinto set my hand and caused the great seal of the State of Missouri to be affixed. Done at the city of Jefferson, this first

Know ye that reposing special trust and confidence in the integrity, learning and abilities of Richard Fristoe, I have nominated and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, do hereby appoint^ him a Justice of the County Court for the county of Jackson, and do authorize and empower him to discharge the duties of said ofifice according to law. To have and to hold the said office with all the powers, privileges and emoluments to the same, of rights appertaining unto him, the said Richard Fristoe, for the term of four years, and until his successor is duly commissioned and qualified unless sooner removed for misdemeanor in office.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the great seal of the State of Missouri to be affixed. Done at the city of Jefferson this first day of May, A. D. 1827, of the independence of the United States the fifty-first, and of the State of Missouri the seventh.

Commission Of Judge Henry Burrows

Know ye, that reposing special trust and confidence in the integrity, learning and abilities of Henry Burrows, I have nominated, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do hereby appoint him a Justice of the County Court for the county of Jackson, and do authorize and empower him to discharge the duties of said office according to law. To have and to hold the said office with all the powers, privileges and emoluments to the same of right appertaining unto him, the said Henry Burrows, for the term of four years and until his successor is duly commissioned and qualified, unless sooner removed for misdemeanor in office.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the great seal of the State of Missouri to be affixed. Done at the city of Jefferson, the first day of May, A. D. 1827, of the independence of the United States the fifty-first, and of the State the seventh.

Personally appeared before me, Joel P. Walker, one of the acting justices of the peace for said county, the within named Abraham McClellan and took an oath to support the constitution of the United States and of the State of Missouri, and to demean himself truly, faithfully and impartially as a judge of the County Court for the county of Jackson during his continuance in office. Sworn to before me this i8th day of May, 1827.

Personally appeared before me Abraham McClellan an acting justice of the County Court Vvithin and for the County of Jackson the within named Richard Fristoe, and took the oath to support the Constitution of the United States and of this State and to demean himself truly, faithfully and impartially as a judge of the County Court for the County of Jackson during his continuance in office.

Personally appeared before me Abraham McClellan an acting judge of the County Court within and for the county of Jackson the within named Henry Burrows, and took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and this State and demean himself truly, faithfully and impartially as a judge of the County Court for the County of Jackson during his continuance in office. Sworn to before me this 21st day of May, 1827. [Signed.] Abraham McClellan."

The court thus qualified appointed Abraham McClellan president thereof and Lilburn W. Boggs clerk pro tempore. The court being now organized proceeded to the discharge of public business.

Some of the general properties that belong to counties and townships will doubtless be interesting and profitable to the intelligent reader. So much depends in business and civil transactions upon county limits and county organizations that for the general reader we should not do justice without giving some explanation, before proceeding further, of the county and township system.

"A county," says Webster, "is a circuit or particular portion of a State or kingdom separated from the rest of the territory for certain purposes in the administration of justice." It is legally defined to be "A civil division of a State or kingdom for political and judicial purposes formerly governed in England by the earl or count from whom it derived its name." Another authority says: "In Great Britain and some of the British colonies and in all the States of the Union except Louisiana which is still divided into parishes, a county is a politic;! 1 division nearly corresponding to a province of Prussia or a department of France."

It is synonymous with shire with which designation it is often interchanged in England but never in Ireland. This division in England though popularly attributed to Alfred was probably earlier since several counties as Kent, Sussex and Essex, are nearly identical with ancient Saxon kingdoms. There are fifty-two counties in England and Wales, thirty-three in Scotland and thirty-two in Irelaiid. The county is an administrative division and its principal officers aie a lord-lieutenant who has command of the militia; a castor rotulorum, or keeper of the rolls or archives; a sheriff, a receiver-general of taxes, a coroner, justices of the peace, an under-sheriff and a clerk of the peace. The assize court, county court and hundred courts are the chief judicial tribunals. There are in England four counties, Palestine, Chester, Lancaster and Durham, the earl of which had all the jura regalia, or rights of sovereignty in the shire. The first two of these have been long annexed to the crown, and Durham previously governed by its bishop was annexed in 1836. In the United States there are in each county, officers who superintend its financial affairs, a county court of inferior jurisdiction and stated sessions of the supereme court of the State."

With regard to the origin of dividing individual States into county and township organizations, which, in an important measure, should have the power and opportunity of transacting their own business and governing themselves, under the approval of, and subject to, the State and general government, of which they both form a part, we quote from Elijah M. Haines, who is considered good authority on the subject.

In his "Laws of Illinois, Relative to Township Organizations," he says : " The county system originated with Virginia, whose early settlers soon became large landed proprietors, aristocratic in feeljng, living apart in almost baronial magnificence on their own estates, and owning the laboring part of the population. Thus the materials for a town were not at hand, the voters being thinly distributed over a great area.

" The county organization, where a few influential men managed the whole business of the community, retained their places almost at their pleasure, scarcely responsible at all, except in name, and permitted to conduct the county concerns as their ideas or wishes might direct, was moreover consonant with their recollections or traditions of the judicial and social dignities of the landed aristocracy of England, in descent from whom the Virginia gentlemen felt so much pride. In 1834 eight counties were organized in Virginia, and the system extending throughout the State, spread into all the Southern States, and some of the Northern States; unless we except the nearly similar division into 'districts' in South Carolina, and that into ' parishes ' in Louisiana, from the French laws.

" Illinois, which with its vast additional territory, became a county of Virginia on its conquest by General George Rogers Clark, retained the county organization, which was formally extended over the State by the constitution of 1818, and continued in exclusive use until the constitution of 1848.

" Under this system, as in other States adopting it, most local business was transacted by those commissioners in each county, who constituted a county court with quarterly sessions.

" During the period ending with the constitution of 1847, ^ large portion of the State had become filled up with a population of New England birth or character, daily growing more and more compact and dissatisfied with the comparatively arbitrary and inefficient county system. It was maintained by the people that the heavy populated districts would always control the election of the commissioners, to the disadvantage of the more thinly populated sections - in short, that under that system, ' equal and exact justice ' to all parts of the county could not be secured.

"The first legal enactment concerning this system provided that, whereas, ' particular townships have many things which concern only themselves, and the ordering of their own affairs, and disposing of business in their own town, therefore the freemen of every township, or a majority part of them, shall have power to dispose of their own latds and woods with all the appurtenances of said town, to grant lots, and to make such orders as may concern the well ordering of their own towns, not repugnant to the laws and orders established by the general court.

" They might also (says Haines) impose fines of not more than twenty shillings, and ' choose their own particular officers, as constables, surveyors for the highways and the like.'

" Evidently this enactment reHeved the general court of a mass of municipal details, without any danger to the power of that body in controlling general measures of public policy.

' ' The New England colonies were first governed by a General Court or Legislature, composed of a governor and a small council, which court consisted of the most influential inhabitants, and possessed and exercised both legislative and judicial powers, which were limited only by the wisdom of the holders.

" They made laws, ordered their execution by officers, tried and decided civil and criminal cases, enacted all manner of municipal regulations, and, in fact, did all the public business of the colony. Similar provisions for the incorporation of towns were made in the first constitution of Connecticut, adopted in 1639 ; and the plan of township orgajiization, as experience proved that it was remarkably economical, and that it was adapted to the requirements of a free and intelligent people, was universally adopted throughout New England, and went westward with the emigrants from New England into New York, Ohio and the Western States."

Thus we find that the valuable system of township and county organization had been thoroughly tested and proven before there was need of adopting it in Missouri or any of the broad region beyond the Mississippi River, but as the country began to settle up, and eastern people began to move westward across the mighty river, county and township organizations followed in quick succession, and those different systems became more or less modified as the tastes and requirements of the people demanded. Experience and the demands of the people brought about these changes - not suddenly, but gradually, until the system reached its present state of efficiency and perfection.

The subsequent subdivision of territory into separate and distinct counties was not the work of a day. It was in the interests of the older counties to retam the territory attached to them and the movement to detach territory and form new counties usually originated with the settlers living in the sparsely setded regions. Of course, these movements were not at first successful.

The Legislature began by organizing counties along the Mississippi River. As each new county was formed it was made to include, under legal jurisdiction, all the country bordering on it from the west, and required to grant to the occidental settlers electoral privileges and an equal share in the county government.

Government Surveys

No person can intelligently understand the history of a country without a the same time knowing its geography, and in order that a clear and correct idea of the geography of Jackson county may be obtained from the language always used in defining different localities and prices of land, we insert herewith the plan of Government Surveys as given in Mr. E. A. Hickman's Property Map of Jackson county : "Previous to the formation of our present Government the eastern portion of North America consisted of a number of British colonies, the territory of which was granted in large tracts to British noblemen. By treaty of 1783 these grants were acknowledged as valid by the colonies. After the Revolutionary War when these colonies were acknowledged "Independent States," all public domain within their boundaries was acknowledged to be the property of the colony within the bounds of which said domain was situated.

Virginia claimed all the northwest territory including what is now known as Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. After a meeting of the representatives of the various States to form a Union, Virginia ceded the northwest territory to the United States Government. This took place in 1784 ; then all this northwest territory became Government land. It comprised all south of the lakes and east of the Mississippi River and north and west of the States having definite boundary hnes. This territory had been known as New France and had been ceded by France to England in 1763. In the year 1803 Napoleon Bonaparte sold to the United States all territory west of tl^e Mississippi River and north of Mexico, extending to the Rocky Mountains.

While public domain was the property of the colonies it was disposed of as follows: Each individual caused the tract he desired to purchase to be surveyed and platted. A copy of the survey was then filed with the Register of lands, when by paying into the State or Colonial treasury an agreed price, the purchaser received a patent for the land. This method of disposing of public lands made lawsuits numerous, owing to different surveys often including the same ground. To avoid these difficulties and effect a general measurement of the territories, the United States adopted the present mode, or system, of land surveys, a description of which we give as follows :

In an unsurveyed region a point of marked and changeless topographical features is selected as an initial point. The exact latitude and longitude of this point is ascertained by astronomical observation, and a suitable monument of iron or stone to perpetuate the position. Through this point a true north and south line is run, which is called a Principal Meridian. This principal meridian may be extended north and south any desired distance. Along this line are placed at distances of one-half mile from each other, posts of wood or stone, or mounds of earth. These posts are said to establish the line, and are called section and quarter-section posts. Principal meridians are nmmbered in the order in which they are established. Through the same initial point from which the principal meridian was surveyed, another line is now run and established by mile and half-mile posts as before, in a true east and west direction. This line is called the Base Line, and like the principal meridian, may be extended indefinitely in either direction. These lines form the basis of the survey of the country into townships and ranges. Township lines extend east and west parallel with the base line, at distances of six miles from the base line and from each other, dividing the country into strips six miles wide, which strips are called townships Range lines run north and south parallel to the principal meridian, dividing the country into strips six miles wide, which strips are called ranges. Township strips are numbered from the base line and range strips are numbered from the principal meridian. Townships lying north of the base line are "townships north," those on the south are " townships south." The strip lying next the base line is township one, the next one to that, township two, and so on. The range strips are numbered in the same manner, counting from the principal meridian east or west as the case may be.

The township and range lines thus divide the county into six-mile squares. Each of these squares is called a congressional township. All north and southlines north of the equator approach each other as they extend north, finally meet ing at the north pole ; therefore north and south lines are not literally parallel. The east and west boundary lines of any range being six miles apart in the latitude of Missouri or Kansas, would, in thirty miles, approach each other 2.9 chains, or 190 feet. If, therefore, the width of the range when started from the base line is made exactly six miles, it would be 2.9 chains too narrow at the distance of thirty miles, or five townships north. To correct the width of ranges and keep them to the proper width, the range lines are not surveyed in a continuous straight line, like the principal meridian, entirely across the State, but only across a limited number of townships, usually five, where the width of the range is corrected by beginning a new line on the side of the range most distant from the principal meridian, at such a point as will make the range its correct width. All range lines are corrected in the same manner. The last and west township line on which these corrections are made are called correction lines or standard parallels. The surveys of the State of Missouri were made from the fifth principal meridian which runs through the State, and its ranges are numbered from it. The State of Kansas is surveyed and numbered from the sixth. Congressional townships are divided into thirty-six square miles, called sections, and are known by numbers, according to their position. The following diagram shows the order of numbers and the sections in a congressional township :

Sections are divided into quarters, eighths and sixteenths, and are described by their position in the section. The full section contains 640 acres, the quarter 160, the eighth 80 and the sixteenth 40. In the following diagram of a section the position designated by a is known as the northwest quarter ; t is the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter ; d would be the south half of the southeast quarter, and would contain 80 acres.

Jackson county, Missouri, lies north of the south line of township 47 north, and west of the center of range 29 west from the fifth principal meridian, and extends to the Missouri River on the north, and to the western side of range 33 on the west, where it joins range 25 east from the sixth principal meridian, from which Kansas is surveyed. Congressional townships, as we have seen, are six miles squares of land, made by the township and range lines, while civil or municipal townships are civil divisions, made for purposes of government, the one having no reference to the other, though similar in name. On the county map we see both kinds of townships - the congressional usually designated by numbers and in squares ; the municipal or civil township by name and in various forms.

By the measurements thus made by the government, the courses and distances are defined between any two points. St. Louis is in township 44 north, range 8 east, and Independence is in township 49 north, range 32 west; how far, then, are we apart on a direct line? St. Louis is 40 townships east - 240 miles - and five townships south - 30 miles; the base and perpendicular of a right-angled triangle, the hypothenuse being the required distance.

In the organization of Jackson county into townships, no regard was had to the congressional township boundaries; the county lines, rivers and creeks have, as a rule, determined the limits of civil townships in this county. The "township," as the term is used in common phraseology, in many instances, is widely distinguished from that of "town," though many persons persist in confounding the two. " In the United States, many of the States are divided into townships of five, six, seven, or perhaps ten miles square, and the inhabitants of such townships are vested with certain powers for regulating their own affairs, such as repairing roads and providing for the poor. The township is subordinate to the county." A " town " is simply a collection of houses, either large or small, and opposed to " country."

The most important features connected with this system of township surveys should be thoroughly understood by every intelligent farmer and business man ; still there are some points connected with the understanding of it, which need close and careful attention. The law which established this system, required that the north and south lines should correspond exactly with the meridian passing through that point ; also, that each township should be six miles square. To do this would be an utter impossibility, since the figure of the earth causes the meridians to converge toward the pole, making the north line of each township shorter thiui the south line of the same township. To obviate the errors, which are, on this account, constantly occurring, correction lines are established. They are parallels bounding a line of townships on the north, when lying north of the principal base ; on the south line of townships when lying south of the principal base, from which the surveys, as they are continued, are laid out anew ; the range lines again starting at correct distances from the principal meridian. In Michigan these correction Hues are repeated at the end of every tenth township, but in Oregon they have been repeated with every fifth township. The instructions to the surveyors have been that each range of townships should be made as mUch over six miles in width on each base and correction line as it will fall short of the same width where it closes on to the next correction line north ; and it is further provided that in all cases, where the exterior lines of the townships shall exceed, or shall not extend six miles, the excess or deficiency shall be specially noted, and added to or deducted from the western or northern sections or half sections in such township, according as the error may be in running the Unes from east to west, or from south to north. In order to throw the excess of deficiencies on the north and on the west sides of the township, it is necessary to survey the section lines from south to north, on a true meridian, leaving the result in the north line of. the township to be governed by the convexity of the earth, and the convergency of the meridians.

compass and chain along the banks. " The instruments employed on these surveys, besides the solar compass, are a surveying chain thirty-three feet long of fifty links, and another of smaller wire, as a standard to be used for correcting the former as often at least as every other day, also, eleven tally pins, made of steel, telescope, targets, tape measure and tools for marking the lines upon trees or stones. In surveying through woods, trees intercepted by the line are marked with too chips or notches, one on each side; these are called sight or line trees." Sometimes other trees in the vicinity are blazed on two sides quartering toward the line ; but if some distance from the line the two blazes should be near together on the side facing the line. These are found to be permanent marks, not only recognizable for many years, but carrying with them their own age by the rings of growth around the blaze, which may at any subsequent time be cut out and counted as years ; and the same are recognized in courts of law as evidence of the date of the survey. They can not be obliterated by cutting down the trees or otherwise, without leaving evidence of the act. Corners are marked upon trees if found at the right spots, or else upon posts set in the ground, and sometimes a monument of stones is used for a township corner, and a single stone for section corner; mounds of earth are made where there are no stones nor timber. At the corners the four adjacent sections are designated by distinct marks cut into a tree, one in each section. These trees, facing the corner, are plainly rriarked with the letters B. T. (bearing tree) cut into the wood. Notches cut upon the corner' posts or trees indicate the number of miles to the outlines of the township, or if on the boundaries of the township, to the township corners." When Jackson county was first divided up into townships it contained three, two of which, Fort Osage and Blue, were each larger than the present county. The following order of the County Court, bearing date of "Tuesday, 22d May, A. D. 1827," defines first, the boundaries of Fort Osage, Blue and Kaw townships respectively : The court met pursuant to adjournment, all the members (Abraham McClelland, Richard Fristoe and Henry Burris) present.

jsi. Fort Osage Township. - To commence eastwardly at the eastern line of this county ; thence running with the Missouri westwardly to Brine's Ferry on the Missouri ; thence southwardly by a direct line so as to strike Little Blue at Fristoe's Fish Trap ; thence up the said creek to the mouth of the Cedar Fork ; thence due south to the southern boundary of the county ; thence east to the southeast corner of the county; thence north to the beginning - all of which territory lying within the limits of the above described boundary shall compose the township of Fort Osage.

2d. Blue Township. - To commence on the Missouri River at Brine's Ferry and run with the western boundary of Fort Osage township to the southern boundary of the country ; thence west with said boundary to the southwest corner of iad county ; thence due north with the State line to where it crosses the main fork of Big Blue; thence with said creek to its junction with the Missouri River ; thence down the middle of the main channel of the Missouri to the point of beginning - all which described territory within the aforesaid limits shall constitute the township of Blue.

3d. Kaw Township. - To commence at the mouth of the Big Blue, thence up said creek to the state line, thence north with said line to the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River, thence down said river to the point of beginning ; all of which territory contained within the above boundary shall compose the township of Kaw."

On the same day the County Court recommended to the Governor of the State for the justices of the peace for Fort Osage township, William J. Baugh, Jesse Lewis and Joel P. Walker ; and justices for Blue township, WiUiam Yates,

The boundaries of these townships have undergone many and material changes, till at the present time they contain only a portion of what they contained in 1827. At that time Fort Osage contained its present territory, together with Sni-a-bar and Van Buren townships, and the whole eastern portion of Cass and Bates counties.

Blue township contained what is now Blue, Brooking, Prairie and part of Washington, also more than a half of Cass and Bates counties. Kaw township then contained its present dimensions, Westport and a part of Washington.

Soon after the county was organized and the County Court qualified, public roads received considerable attention as will be observed from the follwoing reports of road commissioners and petitions for roads. The first commission of road viewers consisted of the following named persons :

"On petition of twelve householders, inhabitants of Jackson county, presented to the Court by Mr. Aaron Overton, praying for the appointment of suitable persons to view and mark out a road from Joel P. Walker's on the "Six Mile" by the nearest and best way to the county seat of this county. It is therefore ordered by the Court that David Lynch, Jacob Powell, David Dealy, Daniel Musno and William Williams be appointed commissioners for that purpose.

The next petition of the same kind was during the August term of court and read as follows: "On petition of twelve or more householders, inhabitants of this county, presented to the Court, by Edwin F. Hicks, praying for the appointment of suitable persons to view and mark out a road from the public square of the town of Independence to intersect the Missionary road , on the east side of Little Blue, crossing Little Blue at Fristoe's fish trap. It was ordered by the Court that John Cornett, John Cook, James Ross, Perry Brock and Joshua Yates, be appointed commissioners to view and mark out said road the nearest and best way, and make their report to this court on the first Monday in September next."

"We the undersigned, commissioners appointed to view and mark out a road leading from the wagon ford of Little Blue to Prines Ferry, in pursuance of an order of Court to us directed, we have viewed and laid out and do report for public use the following road, to-wit : Beginning at the wagon ford of Little Blue and running near a west course with very little variation from the present road as now traveled as the nearest and most practicable route from the said wagon ford of Little Blue to Prines Ferry, and to the greatest ease and convenience of the inhabitants, and as little as may be to the prejudice of any person or persons.

Before the first general election had transpired another township was formed from the south part of Ft. Osage township. This township was named Harmony from the name of the mission to the Indians. It included about one-half of Bates county. The county there was first settled in 1818 by missionaries sent to the Osage Indians by the American Board of Foreign Missions. Harmony mission was established August 2, 182 1, and maintained with good success until 1835 when it was abandoned, the Indians having removed farther west and south. The missionaries traveled from New York in keel boats and landed near the present site of Papinville. The Indians received them in the most friendly manner and the missionaries had no difficulty in taking possession of the three sections of land which the government had donated them. They selected for their establishment a beautiful location above high water level partly timber and partly prairie near a little brook which they called Missouri Branch; this with the Marais des Cygnes (Osage) river which at this place is about two hundred feet wide running over a gravelly bed and easy of access afforded plenty of water. They built a mill, store, blacksmith shop, church and several dwelling houses, also planted an orchard of apple trees. They called the settlement Harmony Mission and dwelt among the Osage Indians for many years, doing what they could to teach arid civilize them. After the Indians were removed to the Indian Territory, the missionaries broke up the establishment and located in different parts of the county where some of them who were then young still reside with their descendants. In 1861 and subsequent years of the war it suffered greatly, being on the border it became the prey of the Kansas Jayhawkers, and Missouri Bushwhackers In 1863 Gen. Ewing issued his famous "General Order No. 11," ordering the inhabitants to leave the county within fifteen days, and when that time had expired nearly every inhabitant had crossed its border, and for three years its history was a blank. During these years the prairie fires swept over the land adding to the desolation. In the spring of 1866 some of the former inhabitants returned, but with a very few exceptions not a vestige of their old homes was left, save the chimneys rising above the beds of rank weeds.

"Ordered: That there be established in this county a new township with the following boundaries and be denominated the township of Harmony. To commence at a point on Grand river where the eastern line of Ft. Osage township crosses the same, thence with the meanderings of Grand River westwardly to the line between Ft. Osage and Blue townships, theuce with said line southwardly to the southern boundary of the county, thence with the said southern boundary of the county eastwardly to the southeast corner of the county, thence with the eastern boundary of Ft. Osage township northwardly to the point of beginning on Grand River, all the territory comprised within the aforesaid limits shall constitute the township of Harmony, and it is further ordered by the court that the northern boundary of the Harmony township shall be the southern boundary of Ft. Osage township. And that the clerk be directed to certify the same to the Secretary of the State. May 5, 1828."

At the first general election held in Jackson county, for Governor, August 5th, 1828, the number of votes cast by the four townships were as follows, the names of the votes having been given in the preceding chapter :

The Presidential election which occurred on the first Monday of November, 1828, at which selection Andrew Jackson was elected President of the United States, the election in the respective townships, was held at the following named places : The election in Fort Osage township was held at the house of Joel P. Walker. For Kaw township at the house of William Johnson. For Blue township at the Court House. For Harmony township at the Harmony Mission School House at Harmony on the Marais des Cygnes River; and the judges of the elections in the respective voting precincts were for Fort Osage, Thomas Williams, Stuart Lewis and Zebadiah Baker ; for Blue, Aaron Overton, William Yates and Solomon Flournoy ; for Kaw, Andrew P. Patterson, James Welch and William Lewis ; for Harmony, Nathaniel B. Dodge, Amasa Jones and Samuel B. Bright

At the same sitting Eli Wadkins was ordered recommended to the Governor for Justice of the Peace for Fort Osage township in place of William J. Baugh who had removed. Doubtless the election was held as arranged, but as very few are now alive who witnessed that election and there are few records of the event no positive statement can be made.

The following constables were appointed May 31, 1828, and their term of office commenced July 8, 1828 : James W. McClellan, constable for Fort Osage township; Solomon G. Flournoy, for Blue township; William Lewis, for Kaw township.

The next township formed was Boone, the order of court defining its boundaries given in the month of May, 1830: "In the petition of several inhabitants of Fort Osage township, it is ordered that the following district cr country be erected into a separate township and to be knovvn by the name of Boone township, "to wit: Beginning east of the county line between townships number forty-seven and forty-eight, thence running due west until it intersects the line of Blue township, thence south to the main channel of Grand River, thence down Grand River to the county line, thence north to the beginning. It is further ordered that Joel P. Walker and David G. Butterfield be appointed as justices of the peace in said township, and Isaac Dunaway constable." At the general election in 1830, polls were opened at the following places :

" On petition of sundry inhabitants of the township of Fort Osage, praying for the division of said township, the Court doth order that said township be and the same is hereby divided and formed into two distinct townships as follows, to-wit : Commencing on Little Blue creek at Benjamin Mayor's mill, on the upper road lead ing from Independence to Lexington, thence on a line with said road east to the line of Lafayette county, and that all that section of territory lying north of the aforesaid road, and within the boundaries of the aforesaid Fort Osage township, be and the same is hereby erected into a separate township to be known and designated by the name of Shne-bar township, and that all the territory of land lying on the north of the aforesaid road and within the boundaries of Fort Osage township, be known and designated by the name of Fort Osage township."

Still remained within the boundaries of Jackson county, after the organization of Van Buren (now Cass), was attached to "Shne-bar" township.

An order of the County Court, February 9, 1836, defines the boundaries of a new township, largely from Blue township, and called Washington. The order is as follows :

"On application of the inhabitants of the south and of Blue and Kaw townships, in Jackson county, the Court orders that a new township be formed out of said townships, said new township to comprise the following bounds, to-wit : Commencing at Cummins' mill on Big Blue, so as to include said mill, thence running due west to the boundary line, thence south with said boundary line to the corner of Van Buren (now Cass) county^ thence east with said county line to a point opposite the head of Little Cedar Fork of Little Blue, thence dowa said Cedar Fork until it intersects the main fork of Little Blue, thence a straight direction to the beginning, all which territory lying within the limits of the above described boundary shall compose the township of Washington."

Van Buren township was laid off by order of court May 3, 1837. " The court divides ' Shnee-a-bar ' township in this county into two townships by an east and west line running through the center of township 48 in all the ranges that were included in ' Shnee-a-bar ' township and make all the county south of said line that formerly belonged to Shnee-a-bar township into a new township to be called 'Van Buren.'" All of the above order was made on the petition of the inhabitants of Shnee-a-bar township.

Prairie township was ordered organized June 4, i860. "Now at this day comes William Dapuy and S. Maddox and presents a petition of sundry citizens of the west part of Van Burnen township in Jackson county, praying the court to divide said township of Van Buren into two municipial townships by the following line, viz. : Beginning at the farm owned by Thomas M. Field and running southward along the line of the county road and terminating at the Cass county line at the southeast corner of the farm formerly owned by Col. James A. Fisher, which said petition being by the court here seen and understood and for the reasons set forth in said petition the court doth divide said municipal township of Van Buren by the line above set forth making all that part of Van Buren township west of said line into a new township to be called by the name of ' Prairie ' township, in Jackson county, Missouri, and the territory included in said new township shall be known in law as Prairie township, of Jackson county, Missouri."

Westport township was established by order of court May 17, 1869, ^^'^ '^e following is a copy of the order : ' 'The court orders that a new municipal township be formed out of that portion of Kaw township described as follows : Beginning at the southwest corner of section 18, township 48, range 33, thence north along the State line to a point 60 chains north of the southwest corner of section 18, township 49, range 33, thence east at a variation of 80° 30' to the center of Big Blue River, thence south in the center of said river to where it intersects the south line of 14, township 48, range 33, thence west along the south hne of sections 15, 16, 17 and 18 to the place of beginning, and that said township be called Westport township."

Brooking township was organized by order of County Court, March 13, 1872. "The court orders that a new municipal township be formed out of that portion of Washington and Blue townships described as follows : Beginning at the mouth of Round Grove Creek, thence up said creek to where it crosses the half section line running east and west through the center of section 29, township 49, range 32, thence with said line to the range line between ranges 31 and 32, thence south to line of Prairie township, thence west to Little Blue Creek, thence up said creek to where the south line of section 22, township 48, range 32 crosses the same, thence west with said line to the half section line on south side section 19 of said township, thence north to the center of said section, thence west to Big Blue Creek, thence with said creek to place of beginning, and that said township be called Brooking.

The Court on the same day appointed T. L. Cassell constable for the new township of Brooking to serve till the general election, and till his successor should be qualified. He was required, in accordance with the custom to give bond in the sum of one thousand dollars.