Jackson County, Missouri - Chapter 6: Old Settlers of Jackson County, 1881 (part 2 of 2)

Meeting Of Old Settlers, May 2 2, 1880

It was a gala day for the Old Settlers of Jackson county. Their meeting was at the Fair Grounds in Kansas City. The plain, old, substantial farmer, arrayed in th,e primitive homespun, was there with his bright, happy, and healthful family. The old and the young mingled together in a gay and joyous holiday. Here and there beneath the great forest trees were noted groups of Old Settlers, who recounted to each other the scenes of bygone days. The gray-haired pioneer recounted his battle with life, and the Usteners drank deep of the historic lore of half a century ago.

The silvered locks of the lordly old man blended in the scene with the auburn curls of youth and beauty. Friends who had not seen each other for years shook hands in a warm and friendly grasp, and the deep, cheery tones, " How are you ? " and " God bless you my old and true friend," rendered the picture a pleasing and happy one. Relatives met after a lapse of many years and greeted each other with warm demonstrations of joy. The day itself was beautiful and of the right temperature for a pic-nic. The forenoon was spent entirely in hunting up old friends and relatives, and in pleasant converse. At twelve o'clock preparations were commenced for the pic-nic dinner. Baskets loaded to the fullest capacity, were brought from the wagons and buggies. The tablecloths were spread on the grass and work of unburdening the baskets began. All over the southern portion of the grounds, groups, of five to twenty, were soon engaged in the pleasing pastime of devouring the good things prepared by the thrifty house-wife. There were no formalities about the meal ; everybody, stranger or friend, was invited to join and dine with one of the many groups, there was enough, and to spare. The generous hospitality tendered by the honest yeomanry of Missouri, permitted no one to go away hungry. Chicken, ham, mutton chops, pies, cakes, pickles, jellies, ice-cream and all other edibles found in the house of the old settler, were on the bill of fare.

The preparations by the executive committee had been ample and complete, except the arrangement made for speakers Generals Doniphan and Atkinson did not arrive, and there were no orators of the day. The other arrangements, including chairs and seats provided in the grand stand, were most ample and satisfactory. Here was stationed the splendid band that discoursed excellent music all day long.

Wallace Laws Esq. , had provided a large register, in which the names of the Old Settlers could be registered. Swings, lemonade stands, and other convenien-- ces, for pleasure and comfort were provided. About two o'clock it was announced that some of the Old Settlers would make a few remarks on the subject of old times. Hon. Jacob Gregg, one of the Oldest Settlers in Jackson county, was the first speaker. He said that he came here a long time ago, among the first. He could remember when spinning-wheels and looms occupied almost the entire attention of the female portion of the inhabitants ; now such articles were a curiosity. He could also remember when on a Sabbath the young folks went to church, they carried their shoes and stockings in their hands, until within a short distance of the meeting-house, then sat down and put them on. He remembered when Kansas City was a corn-patch. No idea of its present dimensions entered the heads of the primitive settlers. He could have bought the entire land upon which the city now stands for a mere song.

Alexander Majors was the next speaker. Mr. Majors came here in the month of March, 1825. The Indians then owned all the lands in the western portion of the county. He was only old enough to drive a yoke of oxen and ride the near steer. The progress made by the county since he came here had been remarkable. The railroad in his time was something unheard of and the iron horse was en tirely unknown to the hardy pioneer. Mr. Majors made quite a lengthy speech, full of good points and interspersed with anecdotes that elicited laughter and applause from all present.

"Sometime during the summer of 1829, half a century ago, when I was a youth about eighteen years old, I was standing in front of the principal hotel, kept by Ignatius P. Owens, in the small town of Fayette, Howard county, Missouri, listening to a conversation going on between two gentlemen, who were sitting on the sidewalk, under the shade trees. They were talking about the ' Great West' - the land we now live in : its prospects and its destiny. One of them was a merchant, I think, from Boonville, then a small village situated on the south bank of the Missouri River; the other was a tall, fine-looking young man, with sandy colored hair, approaching to red; if I mistake not, a young lawyer, who came west to cast his lot with the early pioneers. While sitting there, the gentleman from Boonville took from his pocket two cigars, and then also took from his pocket something, the like of which I had never before seen, and few, if any others, had ever seen west of the Mississippi River. He rubbed it on the sole of his boot, and lo ! there was combustion fire. It was the friction match, a new invention, and wonderful discovery of how to produce fire. Previous to that, our resource to produce fire was the flint and steel, the punk and tinder. Fifty eventful years, with their lights and shadows, have come and gone since then. The tall, good-looking young man, who came to cast his lot with early pioneers, had remained, and been one of them to this day ; their people have been his people, and their cause his cause, and their God his God. And now, my old friends, you will, no doubt, think that thus far this simple story is very tame and pointless; and so it is; but I expect to be able to give it some in- terest by pointing out to you, in this assembly, that tall, bright-haired Kentuckian, now the gray-haired veteran of three score years and ten, who I expected would make an address to the Old Settlers to-day - General A. W. Doniphan."

Dr. Winfrey, an old pioneer of 1843, ^^^ ^^^ '^^^' speaker. The doctor said he crossed the Missouri River at St. Joseph, when that place was a little village. When he arrived here, there were only a few straggling houses, here and there, and little did he imagine, at that time, that Westport Landing, as it was then called, would ever amount to such a place as Kansas City is to-day. The - doctor dwelt upon the fact that the geographical situation of this city would make it a great metropolis in spite of anything that could result to the contrary. Following the doctor's remarks, Martin Rice, of Lone Jack, Van Buren township, read the following original poem, which has since elicited the most favorable comments from all who have seen it. We deem it of great value, not only as a literary production from one of the Old Settlers, but also from the authentic history it contains :

Old Settlers' Poem By Martin Rice

The rough hewn puncheon floor : The chimneys made of stigk and clay Are seen no more ; gone to decay ; The men that built them, where are they ?

(And things are changing still;) And streets and alleys then were not ; Its greatest thoroughfare was - what ? A ground-hog walk or a possum trot Which led from hill to hill.

And then - ah, yes, what then ? The world will still be moving on; But we, whose cheeks are growing wan, Will not be here : we'll all be gone

The land will be bereft. The places which we here have filled. The fields which we have cleared and tilled. Our barns, though empty or though filled.

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

And lived as much at ease, As men in those enlightened days With all their strange, new-fangled ways. Which wealth and fashion now displays,

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

Although their coats were plain ; And when in office they were placed, They proved themselves not double-faced - The people's trust was not misplaced,

Upon this mountain shore A mark the traveler may see In coming years and know that we Have lived and passed the road that he May then be passing o'er.

The last speaker of the day was Rev. Father Donnelly who related some interesting personal reminiscenses of his early pioneer life in this county. Father Donnelly has been a Catholic priest in this county for many years.

Old Persons Present

John Christerson, of Jackson county, can lay claim for being the oldest pioneer within its limits. He was born here in 1819 and has lived in the coiinty ever since his birth, making a total residence of sixty-one years.

David Tyburn, of Clay county, comes next on the list. He is from Kentucky where he was an infant. The date of his arrival is also 18 19, and he was reared in Clay county where he has lived about sixty-one years.

Margaret Christerson was the first white female child i)orn in this county. This occurred in the year 1824 in what is now Sni-a-bar township. She is still a resident of the same township.

Adam Christerson has lived in Jackson county since 1825. He was born in 1794 and was the oldest man on the grounds. Alexander Majors of Platte county has resided there ever since 1825, and is sixty-six years old.

Registered List A Relic

J. S. Davenport of Jackson county exhibited an old rusty plow point made on the Little Blue River, forty years ago, by a blacksmith named Cockrell. That plow broke up the entire farm formerly owned by Rufus Montgall, but now known as^the Joe Thompson farm. The plow-point is certainly a historic relic of by-gone days and is highly prized by its owner.

All in all this was one of the most enjoyable meetings ever held by the Old Settlers Association, and will be remembered for a long time. There were at least five hundred in attendance.

" As will be seen, by a letter published elsewhere, it is proposed by the people of Kearney, Clay county, to give a grand dinner to the surviving soldiers of "Doniphan's Expedition to Mexico." This is a move in the right direction. Nearly a quarter of a century since, these gallant men responded to the bugle call. Old Ray sent her bravest sons, and they proudly bore their banner where the foe was the thickest; and many, like General Henley, whose honored remains lie within sight of our city, sealed their valor with their blood. Clay and Clinton, and Lafayette, and Jackson, and, in fact, the whole State, was represented in that band, whose marches across the plains and through Mexico, gave them a world wide reputation, and added luster to the American name. Since then time has set his seal upon many of its best and bravest. Their chief still lives, buoyant and stout of limb as when he was welcomed by the spontaneous outburst of a hundred thousand voices in St. Louis, and himself and worthy followers the recipients of an ovation, second only to a Roman triumph. But in the gathering now proposed, many will be missed, whose e|..itapns have been written, whose silent resting places have been bedewed with tears, and whose names are as dear to us as household words.

'' The warm heart of friendship will throb in manly bosoms, gray hairs will bow over the recollections of friends gone to the vale of shadows, and the grasp of manly hands will be tightened by the tumultuous rush of feelings warmed into life from the misty realms of the past.

" A new generation will surround them, gray-haired veterans of a war that added luster to our history, and will listen to the eloquence of their honored chief, whose voice and sword has always belonged to his common country. It will be worth a score of every day gatherings, to be present upon this occasion, and we sincerely hope that every one of the members of General Doniphan's command,

Old Catholic Cemetry, Kansas City

One by one the marks by which the old timers note the increase of the_ city's growth are disappearing. One by one the old landmarks - if any institution of this infant giant of towns can properly be called old - are going, swept out of sight and obliterated by the never-ending march of progress. The last to go is the old burying ground on Penn street. Notwithstanding the fact that every inch of the ground has been made sacred by the tears of mourners and sanctified by the prayers of bereaved ones, the cemetery must be vacated, a writ of restitution served on the silent tenants of the hill top, to make room for their animated successors. No matter that each tree and shrub in the little plot of ground derived a portion of its vitality and growth from the overflowing fountains of the orphan's heart, or that each flower has been bedewed by the tears of parents for their loved, ones, the homes of the dead must make way for the residences of the living.

Little did the old Catholic fathers dream, as they dedicated the ground to its holy purposes, that in thirty years their secluded, out-of-the-way little cemetery would be in the center of the most prosperous, rapidly growing, and altogether the most phenomenal city of America, or of the world. The old graveyard, where lie the buried hopes of a generation, is in the way, and must go, taking with it all the tender,

Clustering Memories Of The Past

In less than a year, in all probability, the cemetery will be graded down to the street level, and its site occupied by dwelling houses, or perhaps business blocks. The cemetery has not been used for five years, the last interment being made in 1877. The spot has been unkept and uncared for since that time, the grading of the streets rendering the place difficult of access, and the building up of the neighborhood with dwelling houses has made it neccessary to "improve" the graveyard, and it was decided last fall to begin the work of removing the coffins this year. The frost, in coming out of the ground this spring, loosened the earth on the embankments made by grading the streets and the soil caving away exposed several coffins. Certain ghouls of the daily press of Kansas City, in their thirst for a sensational article, which thirst is as reprehensible as it is common, magnified the scare and attempted to horrify the public. The enbankments were boarded up and the work of exhumation and removal of the dead to St. Mary's on the hill began. Already thirty-two graves have been opened and orders for the removal of twelve more are made. The work will be carried on rapidly to completion. Rev. D. J. Doherty is giving lots in the new cemetery gratis to those who desire to have the remains of their friends removed. After the first of June the officers of the church will have all the bodies of the unknown dead, and of those whose friends are unable to bear the expense, removed, and by the first of October the cemetery will be vacant.

The property first came into the possession of the church in 1834. On the 5th of April of that year. Father Roux, one of the advance guards of civilization, purchased forty acres of land of Pierre La Liberte, one of the first settlers, for sixty dollars. Ten acres of the tract was deeded to the church. A log structure was at once erected, and for many years was used as a place of worship by the devout of the parish. This log church was torn down some years since when Penn street was graded. On another part of the lot Father Donnelly put up his historic log cabin. As was customary when Kansas City consisted of but one or two houses, the church yard was used as a burial ground, and thus it was that the graveyard grew up around the log church. The record of interments was begun January i, 1846, although it is probable that one or two burials had been made prior to that date. The record shows that people were brought from distant points in the territory of Kansas, for funeral services here.

The First Entry

is in the handwriting of Father Donnelly, the pioneer in the cause of religion. The death was of an Indian girl known as Mary, who was of the tribe of Ottawas. The funeral services were conducted by Bishop Edward Barron, who was visiting Father Donnelly at the time. As a historical reminiscence it might be interesting to note that Bishop Barron was a brother of Sir Henry Winton Barron, Waterford, and was vicar apostolic of Liberia and of the Guineas. In 1845 he resigned his charge on account of ill-health and came to America and to the West to recuperate. In 1854, during the yellow fever season in the South, Bishop Barron, with the spirit of self-sacrifice characteristic of his brotherhood, went to Georgia to care for the sufferers, and on the 12th of September of that year died in the cause of humanity.

The entries on the book are very infrequent during the early days, the next being dated June ist, an explanatory note saying that the burial occurred during Father Donnelly's absence. The early occupants of the graveyard were principally French settlers and Indians. Among them was Mary Montredieu, also of the Ottawa tribe. A little incident connected with this girl was very frequently related by Father Donnelly. One evening he noticed some one in the burying ground near a grave, and going out found an Indian lad, a brother of the girl, planting a little sapling near the head of the grave. The tree grew and is now one of the largest in the cemetry. During the year 1849 several entries on the record are by Rev. A. Lannier. In 1850 Father Donnelly returned from Independence to again assume charge, and all subsequent entries are made by him. December 23, 1853, Pierre La Liberte, the original owner of the graveyard, was laid away to rest. In the list of burials which follows a great number of the deaths are shown to have been from violent causes, banks caving in, falling trees, and the bullet reaped almost as large a harvest, proportionally, as now. One very suggestive entry states that the person who was buried was killed in a riot on Delaware street. The names of several persons designated as slaves appear on the book previous to 1861. The Bluff street bridge also had an example for its fatality in 1858. Patrick Kelly was buried, his death resulting from a fall from the "Market street bridge." In 1859, Dr. Benoist Troost was interred, his age being seventy-two years. War times came on and the burials multiplied. The first victim of the unpleasantness whose name appears was John Boland, who was killed, so the record shows, by a train falling through "a bridge burned by the secession rebels near St. Joseph."

May 14, 1873. - I am obliged to close this volume at this date. The foregoing records preserve the names of all persons interred in the Catholic cemetry to this date. The total number is about 1,406. Not only must I commence a new volume, but in a few months, begin to bury the dead in a new cemetery already paid for. B. Donnelly.

The new record which follows the entries are made by Father Donnelly until the time when Father Doherty took charge of the pastorate. The last interment in the old cemetry was a man killed by a boiler explosion in West Kansas. The whole number was 1,886, the last being made December 20, 1876. The first in the new cemetry was January 2, 1877.