Jackson County, Missouri - Chapter 17: Old Settlers of Jackson County, 1920

Chapter 17: Old Settlers of Jackson County

DANIEL MORGAN BOONE-ADDRESSES BY W. H. WALLACE. GEORGE C. BING¬ HAM, JOHNSON LYKINS - PRIZES AWARDED - RECOLLECTIONS BY J C McCOY -MEMBERS PRESENT-"OLD SETTLERS" BY MARTIN RICE-OLD PERSONS PRESENT - RE-REGISTERED LIST.

ec. 30, 1871. It was called to order by Dr. Lykins, and Walter Bales was made chairman and Daniel Geary secretary. On motion of Col. R. T. Van Horn, the settlers of 25 years proceeded to organize the "Old Set¬ tlers Historical Society of Jackson County.'' The following names, with date of residence, were then recorded: David Dealy, Feb., 1823; John R. Swearingen, March 6, 1825; John Majors, March 6, 1825; settled in afayette County in 1819; Thomas Pitcher, Nov. 10, 1826; William Mul key, 1826; Mobillon W. McGee, 1827; William Dealy, Feb., 1823- Walter

1837, William Bales, born in county Dec. 28, 1834; John C. Evans born m county April 28, 1833; John L. Dealy, born in county Aug. 26 1845- Daniel Dealy was elected president; Dr. Johnson Lykins, vice-president' and John C. McCoy, recording and corresponding secretary

From Its Original Site To City Hall, Independence City Hai.L, Independence, Mo

A resolution was adopted that any citizen of twenty-five years' resi¬ dence could become a member of the society by subscribing his name to the roll.

Resolved, That the officers of this society be, and they are hereby authorized, to take such steps as may be necessary to the permanent or¬ ganization of this society under the laws of Missouri and all such other action as may be necessary to the permanent organization of this society and carrying out of the object of the same, viz: the collection and pre¬ servation of the history of the settlement of Jackson County and western Missouri, its preservation and compilation.

Resolved, That the secretary be authorized to keep the list of mem¬ bers open for the enrollment of the names of those desiring to become members, and who come within the rule prescribed - a residence of twentyfive years - at any time, and all such are hereby made members of this society.

Resolved, That the President or Vice-President and Secretary shall have authority to call meetings of this society at any time and that six members shall constitute a quorum to do business.

Resolved, That John R. Swearingen be appointed Assistant Secre¬ tary at Independence, to receive the names of members and perform all the duties necessary for the eastern portion of the county, in the same manner as the regular Secretary.

R. T. Van Horn, John W. Polk, John C. Groom, Kersey Coates and Theodore S. Case were appointed a committee at that meeting to draft a constitution and by-laws for the society. After some other business by the society a paper was read by John C. McCoy.

This first paper was by John C. McCoy and is worthy a place in the lasting records of Jackson County: My Old Friends and Neighbors: You will agree with me, I think, that it is eminently right and proper for us to have occassionally a social friendly gathering of as many of the few remaining survivors of the first settlers of this favored region as can make it convenient to meet together, where we may interchange friendly greetings and recall almost forgotten memories of incidents and persons once familiar in "Aul Lang Syne," and at these meetings, like stand points

01 mile stones by the roadside in life's journey, look back along the track of our past journey. A retrospect down the long dim outline of our past pilgrimage will doubtless be reflected with shadows and sunshine, with dark clouds and clear sky - will recall many long forgotten incidents and memories, some of them casting a shadow of sadness and gloom, and many of them lighted up with the joys and blessings of other days. From half a century to three score years and ten (and some even longer) have we been steadily borne onward as we hope toward a better land.

Not inappropriately might we compare a few venerable survivors like a few scattered trees of the old primeval forest, scattered by the storms and covered by the frosts of many winters, one after another their companions have lost their verdure, withered and have fallen, but what a vigorous dense growth has taken their place, what a wonderful trans¬ formation has the face of nature undergone within the recollection of us all.

Those of us who, during the past half century have been eye witnesses of the gradual but rapid development of this goodly land, can appreciate the change. In early youth we removed to and settled in a country uni¬ versally known over the continent as the "Great West." We have until today remained citizens of this region, but are to-day citizens of the "Great Center." All of the vast territory almost unknown and untraveled, lying from the Mississippi westward to the Paciflc ocean, was once known as the "Great West." Towns, steamboats, postofflces and children were named "Far West," in honor of that wonderful country. Persons hailing from that far-off country were regarded with peculiar interest in the old states as travelers from a distant land, and in the hall of Congi'ess and in deliberative assemblies they were addressed as "gentlemen from the Far

Col. Bartleson, Gov. Boggs, Joab Powell, Jim Baxter, Tom Rule and a host of the first pioneers of this region, long years ago chased that vanishing phantom land over the western plains, the snowy range, the Sierra Nevadas, and lost sight of it forever in the broad Pacific. Only one of the number, as far as I know, holds on to the chase, poor Tom Rule, who used to preach a pretty fair backwoods hardshell sermon, and boasted that with only hickory withes and a jack-knife he could make a very good mustang, his face, what little of it could be seen besides hair, looking very much like a small piece of buffalo meat, and with hair standing out like porcupine quills. He was spurring and belaboring his jaded mustang in an easterly direction, evidently, as I conjectured, bound to head off his favorite "Far West" as it came 'round the world from sun-rise; he may have given up the chase however at old Davy Burges', where he expected to spend the night. The panorama which has been unrolled before the eyes of old settlers who still survive, by the westward rolling wave of civilization and empire, has been so rapid and wonderful that we may with propriety exclaim : "A nation is born in a day."

The very ground upon which we now stand was only a few years ago a wild uncultivated wilderness, now transformed as if by magic into the busy, crowded, proud city we see it today. Truly, "the wilderness and the solitary place have blossomed like the rose." Let us endeavor to re¬ call some of the features of the landscape then and now. A clearing or old field of a few acres lying on the high ridge between Main and Wyan¬ dotte, and Second and Fifth streets, made and abandoned by a mountain trapper. A few old, girdled, dead trees standing in the field, surrounded by a dilapidated rail fence. Around on all sides a dense forest, the ground covered with impenetrable brush, vines, fallen timber and deep impassable gorges. A narrow, crooked roadway winding from Twelfth and Walnut streets, along down on the west side of the deep ravine toward the river, across the Public Square to the river at the foot of Grand avenue.

A narrow, difficult path, barely wide enough for a single horseman, running up and down the river under the bluff, winding its way around fallen timber and deep ravines. An old log house on the river bank at the foot of Main street, occupied by a lank, cadaverous, specimen of human¬ ity, named Ellis, with one blind eye and the other on a sharp lookout for stray horses, straggling Indians and squatters, with whom to swap a tincup of whisky for a coon skin. Another old, dilapidated log cabin below the Pacific depot. Two or three small clearings and cabins in the Kaw bottom, now called West Kansas, which were houses of French mountain trappers. The rest of the surroundings was the still solitude of the na¬ tive forest, unbroken, only by the snort of the darting deer, the barking of the squirrel, the howl of the wolf, the settler's cow-bell and mayhap the distant baying of the hunter's dog, or the sharp report of his rifle.

This, my old compeers, is a brief and imperfect outline of the place in which we now meet, and which many of us will recognize as it appeared to US then, I need not attempt to describe the picture as it appears to us now.^ It is spread out before us. The ceaseless hum of the busy, restless multitude, the rumble and clatter of a hundred locomotives and trains and a thousand vehicles of all degrees. The continual scream of the steam whistle and a thousand other sounds all contribute to make up a medley of discordant music, far different from that once heard by us around the "old field," from the sonorous cow-bell and the melancholy howl of the wolf, and tells us unmistakably, that something has happened in the neighborhood of the "old field," and we are confirmed in the con¬ viction, when we look around us - miles of crowded thoroughfares lined with stately, magnificent buildings, the court house, the opera house, the towering Broadway and other hotels; the church spires and schools, and the greatest monument of genius and enterprise, the great iron' bridge spanning the river, in short a wilderness of houses has crowded in and

Well, my dear old friends, have you become accustomed and recon¬ ciled to the scenes which now surround us? They call it progress and manifest destiny and all that. We have this day called a halt at our mile¬ stone, to take a look backward along the line of march, and this reminds m_e that this writing was designed to be a short historical sketch of men and events, which were notable in this region forty years ago. As a his¬ torical sketch I confess it is a failure thus far, and without spinning my yarn to a length which would probably put some of my friends to dozing,

The treaties between the United States government and the Osage and Kansas Indians, ratified in 1825, extinguished the Indian title to all the country lying in western Missouri, and what is now the State of Kan¬ sas, except the reservations for these two tribes situated in the latter State. These treaties opened the border counties lying in Missouri terri¬ tory for the settlement of the whites, and the people were not slow to avail

Fort Osage (Sibley), situated on the river near the northeast corner of the county of Jackson, was established in 1803 by Merriweather Lewis, the first Governor of Louisiana after its purchase, and continued as a military and trading post until the country was settled. Before 1825, Francis Chouteau, father of P. M., and brother of Cyprien Chouteau, both now of Kansas City, had a trading post on the south bank of the river about three miles below the city. In 1826 every vestige of his im¬ provements was swept away by the great flood which occurred in the Missouri River that year. This flood made a clear sweep of all improve¬ ments situated in the bottoms, but was no higher than that of 1844 - and this reminds me that perhaps P. M. Chouteau, the present city collector, is the oldest resident, still living, in this county although not an old man. The county seat was located, and the town of Independence begun in 1827. When I passed through the town four years afterward, the square was thickly studded with stumps of trees. Westport was laid off into lots in 1833, J. C. McCoy, proprietor. Westport Landing is situated about three miles north of the town on the river, and has grown to be a place of considerable importance. A town was laid off there which was named Kansas City first in the year 1839, but the proprietors of the ground dis¬ agreed in some particulars and the town made but little progress until 1846, when it was laid out on a larger scale a second time (not with a grape vine), since which time it has been increasing with varying pros¬ pects.

But my friends I find that the historical part of this sketch must be curtailed. Your patience is doubtless already exhausted, and the space I ought in decency to claim has more than been exhausted, and I beg leave, therefore, to wind up my uninteresting yarn very rapidly, taking na thought of my going. I will in addition merely mention some of the most interesting and important events which now occur to me which have transpired in this county, viz:

This little war has been overlooked by modern historians, not even mentioned by them for the last thirty years. I will at some future time try to rescue from oblivion the heroes and daring deeds of that glorious campaign. Suffice it now only to say that it was a military raid from the border against the Osage Indians. Some of those ruthless savages committed murder upon several hogs belonging to settlers near Westport. The command numbered 560 officers and men, consisting of one major-general, two brigadiers, four colonels, besides lieutenant colonels, majors, captains, lieutenants, chaplains, surgeons, etc., od infinitum, be¬ ing 98 officers to command 432 privates. It is needless to tell you that the expedition was a success. Old Girand's squaws, paposses, and six other savages, if still living, have a sorrowful recollection that the way of the transgressor is hard. I will take occasion ere long to sharpen my pen and chronicle a few of the interesting facts connected with that famous war, but for the present, my old friends, I beg that you will allow me to close this hastily written, imperfect sketch to permit those of you who have fallen asleep during its delivery to wake up, and with a hearte t expression of the hope that we all may meet again, if not here amid the transitory, vanishing scenes of earthly conflict, at least in that better land where weary, way-worn travelers may forever be at rest.

A meeting of Old Settlers was held in Kansas City the latter part of March, 1872. There was a large attendance of members of the society, the men who first broke the sod of Jackson County, and those who drew from the bowels of the earth the first fruits of the abundance that has since given its fertile fields the proud name they now bear. On account of the absence of the president, the vice-president of the association. Dr. Lykins, called the meeting to order, and in a short address announced its objects, which were to take what further steps were necessary to perfect

The proceedings of the first meeting, held at Kansas City, December 30, 1871, was ordered read, but owing to some oversight they had been left and their reading was therefore dispensed with.

The following new members were announced. The dates after each name indicate the time at which they first became settlers Alexander Harris, November, 1839; David Waldo, May, 1828; James D. Meador January, 1845; Redmon G. Silvers, born. May, 1833; Samuel Ralston' October, 1842; Thos. B. Swearingen, born, November, 1843- Benjamin F Wallace, October, 1833; Beverly Todd, 1844; Samuel Robinson, born November, 1833; John Lewis, July, 1830; William McCoy, June 1838- Edwin P- Hickman, November, 1830; James B. Yager, June, 1837; John Dickey, March, 1846 ; John M. Wallace, October, 1833 ; John C. Wallace May, 1843 ; Wiley M. Aiken, February, 1841 ; W. T. McLellan, October 1844; Porter McLannahan, August, 1841; Edwin A. Hickman, October'

On motion, David Waldo, E. A. Hickman and the editors of the Inde¬ pendence papers, with Theo. S. Case, J. C. McCoy, and the editors of the Kansas City press, were appointed a committee to select historical notes.

Resolved, That we invite all friends to give us short written sketches of any and all of the old or early settlers of Jackson, and of any event; and that such communications be addressed to the Chairman of our His¬ torical Committee.

On motion, E. A. Hickman, John Wilson, J. J. Robinson, J. A. Lobb and Henry Parker were appointed a Committee of Arrangements for holding the next meeting of the Society.

It was also carried that a meeting should be held on the 4th of July, on the fair grounds at Independence. The committee were empowered to select speakers and arrange interrogatories for historical facts.

A committee, consisting of Geo. Sinclair, W. C. Adams, Warham Easly, Benj. F. Wallace, were appointed to enroll the names of old set¬ tlers as members, and forward them to the secretary, after which, and the transaction of some minor business, the Society adjourned.

July 4, 1872, was a day long to be remembered by both the young and old of Jackson County - ^the events of which mark an epoch in the history of the county, over which the most pleasing recollections will ever linger. It was the assembling together of the old settlers - ^the pio¬ neers who laid the corner stone of the present magnificent structure, and have been spared to witness its grandeur - who came to this section, some of them half a century ago, when it was a perfect wilderness, in¬ habited only by the red man.

They were met also by a younger generation, who, even in this latter day, reverence old age, and had come from every household to do honor to the pioneers of Jackson County.

The weather was all that could be desired - bright, genial, pleasant, and all nature seemed inclined to smile upon the scenes of the day. At an early hour the road leading to the fair ground was literally thronged with wagons, carriages, buggies, horsemen and pedestrians. At a later

The gray-haired grandfather and grandmother, familiar with the events of the last century, were there perhaps for the last time - the middle aged man was there with his wife and bouncing children - young men, gallant beaux, blushing damsels - rosy lipped angels and innocent prattling children were all there. The farmer, the mechanic and the pro¬ fessional man for one day had laid aside business and assembled to honor the old settlers.

The members of the I. O. O. F. of Independence had formed in pro¬ cession, preceded by the band, and followed by an array of children marched to the grounds, where the first order of the day was the recep¬ tion of the Kansas City delegation, after which a number of old settlers formed in line inside the amphitheater. Then followed an eloquent ad¬ dress m behalf of the youth to the Old Settlers by Capt. Turner A. Gill, of Kansas City, responded to in the most appropriate manner by Col. S. H. Woodson, of Independence. A sketch of the life of Dan'l M. Boone* of Jackson County, was given by that venerable old settler. Dr. Johnston Lykms, of Kansas City. A com.plete sketch of Independence, the county seat of Jackson, was read by John McCoy, of Independence. It was intensely interesting. A sketch of the lives of Judge Brooking, Richard Fristoe and others, was read by Rev. J. J. Robinson, of Raytown, and highly appreciated, as was also a sketch of the lives of S. C. Owen Small¬ wood Noland and SamJ D. Lucas, by Wm. McCoy. The historical sketch

Just before the premiums were awarded, calls were made for Mr. Lynchburg Adams, the oldest settler in the county, who responded in a few interesting, appropriate and touching remarks.

Then came the most interesting event of the day - the awarding of premiums. Mr. Henry Noland and Elizabeth Noland received the ele¬ gant silver pitcher, as having resided the longest time in the county as man and wife. They were married on the 11th day of January, 1826, her maiden name being Elizabeth Pitcher - so the old pioneer was a sec¬ ond time made happy with a Pitcher. In consequence of there being no justice of the peace in the county at that time, the couple were compelled to go to Clay County to have the ceremony performed. They were both Kentuckians, and had lived for forty-six years in this county, as husband and wife.

The splendid silver goblet was awarded to Mr. Lynchburg Adams, as being the oldest settler in the county, having been here nearly fiftythree years.

This closed the programme, and the immense throng dispersed, per¬ fectly satisfied that a pleasant day had been enjoyed, and one that will often be reverted to with feelings of pride and pleasure. The meeting of old friends, who will perhaps see each other no more in human form, the respect paid them by the younger and still younger generation, the happy strains of music, gushing songs, and the delightful repast, all com¬ bined to render the occasion a peculiarly happy one. May the old settlers of Jackson live to witness many more scenes of a similar nature!

Sketch Of The Life Of A Son Of Daniel Boone

The following sketch by Dr. Johnston Lykins, of Kansas City, was read at the Old Settlers meeting at the fair grounds, near Independence, July 4, 1872 :

"I am called upon to speak of the life and incidents in the life of the late Daniel Morgan Boone, son of the far-famed pioneer of our sister State, Kentucky. In the discharge of this duty, I can, at present, give but a glance at the character of this strange and wonderful man, whose w'orth and merit were only understood by his compeers, and whose mem¬ ory is fast passing away. But I promised, should my life be prolonged, to gather up the facts and events of Daniel M. Boone's life, and place them in your hands for perpetuation. In order to fully comprehend the worth and character of the man of our subject, it is necessary that we should glance back to that period where the past is as dark as the future. At the time of the landing of our forefathers on the Atlantic shores and settlement at Jamestown, our great West was utterly unkno\vn to civil¬ ized men. No one from the walks of literature, or culture, had ever looked upon its grandeur, or gazed upon its beauties. The mighty river which sweeps by our northern boundary had never mirrored the face of other than the wild and rude nomad of its banks. Far removed from the din of commerce and the clatter of busy man, it slumbered in the embraces of an unwritten age, powerless to assert its beauties, or to extol its muni¬ ficent wealth in climate, soil, minerals and all that challenges fitness for the seat of empire.

"About the year 1673, Marquette, the French Jesuit, in pursuit of savage tribes to save or enlighten, was the first to near the shores of the mighty Missouri, and to gaze upon its angry and turbid waters. Close upon the track of this disciple of Loyola and herald of the cross, followed the devotees of Mammon, the fur traders of France, Spain and other lands were established at Portage De Sioux, St. Louis, Kaskaskia and bt. Charles, and while our State was yet a province of Spain and after¬ ward of France. The objects sought by these early comers to the Mis¬ souri Valley were purely mercenary and for the Indian trade, and in no sense in the promotion of agriculture or civilization, and hence their numers were small, confined for many long years to the wants of the Indian trade It matters not that the rich and varied soil tempted to the plow and the sickle. For these the happy and volatile Frenchman, and the gay and chivalrous Spanish cavalier had no taste. They sought only the rich furs of our plains and streams, and found in Indian life a happy escape rom the trammels and conventionalities of civilized societies. For these the mighty West might have remained a wilderness for ages to come. At the time of which we speak no honey-bee, the accompaniment of civil¬ ized man, had ever been seen this side of the Mississippi, or had ever sipped the honey of Missouri's flowers ; no tiller of the soil with his family had ever crossed the Father of Waters or built his rude cabin within this mighty valley. Laclede, the ancestor of the great Chouteau family, had not yet pushed his heavy batteaux against the stubborn current of the Mississippi from New Orleans to St. Louis, and long before the cele¬ brated Lewis and Clark had reached this port in the month of June, a s ranger - a strange being - was discovered on the east bank of the Mis¬ sissippi opposite St. Louis making signals. After many hours of fruit less effort a canoe was dispatched for him. That stranger, strange being a mere stripling, was Daniel Morgan Boone, the representative, the pio¬ neer, the leader and forerunner of the noble, toiling sons of the plow and he axe who have since filled our mighty State.

white man with his family had dared to pass beyond the confines of their settlements east of the Ohio River. All the country from the Ohio to the Mississippi, was a wild wilderness, destitute alike of men or tenement, save him of the war-club and scalping-knife. Across this trackless and forbidding desert, occasionally a straggling trapper from the Spanish posts of the Mississippi, had found his way to Kentucky, and told won¬ drous tales of that far-off and goodly land. To these young Daniel Boone, our subject, listened with quiet delight, and they filled him with the same thirst for adventure which had inspired the bosom of his noble father with the desire to cross the Alleghany Mountains and penetrate the goodly land of Kentucky. The mind of young Daniel Boone was at once made up. Like his father, for him the wild beasts of the forest, nor the more fearful red savage, had any terrors. He resolved to go, but there was no one of like nerve or taste to accompany him, and he deter¬ mined alone to brave the dangers of the way. Being eighteen years of age (a mere boy of his day), in the month of May, in or about the year 1787, mounted on a pony, he addressed himself to this perilous task by boldly steering without compass, chart or path for the Spanish post of St. Louis. When Columbus headed his little fleet out of the port of Palos, in Spain, in search of an unknown world, he had trustworthy ships and skilled companions in the art of navigation. Our young Boone when he turned his back upon Fort Hamilton, a post on the big Miami, just west of Cincinnati, and plunged into the dark wilderness forest, was alone. With a courage tamely denominated heroic, he went forward, rafting streams, killing his food by the way, sleeping in the dense jun¬ gles by night undisutbred by the howl of the wolf, the hooting of the owl or the scream of the panther. On the 30th day from Fort Hamilton, and without having seen a single human being, he stood and beheld the majestic Mississippi, before him. He had so far won, but closely scan¬ ning the view far and near, he could perceive no signs of human beings and human habitation. He was perplexed, and knew not whether he was above or below St. Louis, the object of his search. He encamped and rested. He reflected that St. Louis was a trading post, and the tracks of the Indian horses might indicate the direction of the post. On closely in¬ specting a buffalo trail near by, he found that the pony tracks mostly ascended up the river. He pursued the trail, and came in sight of St. Louis on the opposite side of the river. There was no ferry and it was with great difficulty that he made his presence known. At length, to his delight, a canoe came and landed him safely in the little Spanish village where a most generous welcome was extended to him. Of the heroism

0 this exploit I cannot now speak, much less can I here properly dwell upon the influence his coming at that time has had upon the destinies of our now great and prosperous State. Among these simple villagers, as a trapper, he made his home for some years. But of his life and various incidents connected therewith, I shall not now speak, reserving that part the influence which he exerted in promoting the early settlement of the upper Louisiana territory, now the noble State of Missouri. After having exp ored the country from St. Louis to the mouth of the Kansas as a lapper, e devoted his attention to the procuring of the removal of his nen s rom Kentucky to this then garden portion of the world. To his noble father, Col. Boone, then an exile from the beautiful land of Ken¬ tucky, and a sojourner in the wilds of Western Virginia, he sent messages concerning the goodly land which he had found, and he came in 1795, drawing after him by his influence many of those hardy pioneers whose sons now fill our State. Daniel Boone, the younger, occupied himself in mducing emigrants to come from Kentucky and all parts of the country, he meeting the caravans of new comers in the wilderness and piloting' em to this Eden of the West, and that the great pioneer of Kentucky, and the younger pioneer of Missouri, with their united influence and friends came to people our great State, and to found a Commonwealth destined to become the proudest and greatest of the American Union. Kentucky has re-claimed and borne back to the land he loved so well the bones of her own great pioneer, and all that great State was moved when the remains of her noble Boone were laid to rest in her soil. The remains of our own great pioneer, no less worthy of a monument, rest in our midst, near Westport, within twelve miles of this spot, in an unmarked grave. Surely the pen of some historian will not suffer the memory of

This strange man, strange in his meek and quiet spirit, strange in e neatness and benevolence of his nature, in his heroism and disinter- ^ted goodness-first opened his eyes to the light of day, beyond the Blue Mountains, on the banks of the Yadkin, N, C. After a pilgrimage of over ree score years, almost upon the western line of the State, and upon e, en, very verge of civilization, he closed them in death. Too generous to be accumulative, too liberal to hoard up, he died shorn of property an destitute of wealth. To this association I commend the task of per¬ petuating in history his memory, to the Legislature of our noble State that of erecting over his remains a monument."

July 4, 1874, there was another Old Settlers' meeting at the fair grounds, near Independence, when it was estimated that at least 3,500 of the inhabitants of Independence, Kansas City, and other places en¬ joyed their Fourth.

The train from Kansas City on the Missouri Pacific leaving at 9:45 a. m. was crowded to its utmost capacity. Two extra coaches were added, each seat counted its three excursionists, the aisles and platforms were thronged, and upon the "round whirligig" of each brake was perched a happy, thoughtless picnicker, intent only upon getting to Independence, and of spending the day with one grand hurrah for the gay festivities, speeches, races and songs which were to constitute the celebration for Jackson County, 1874.

The Kansas City Delegation

arriving at the place of destination found the gay throng already assem¬ bled, and, in an interest common to all, shook hands in friendly grasp and commenced the occasion in earnest. The grounds, though large in the extreme, were filled even to the smallest and most inconsiderable stand¬ ing room. In the center of the inclosure was erected a large square lunch stand, and this was crowded around the day long. The speakers' stand had been in use for many years, the steps leading to the platform were broken, and the stand itself was fast crumbling to the ground.

The amphitheater was the scene of busy life from morning till nearly midnight. The seats were filled with thousands of- visitors, each with programme in hand, watching and awaiting the ceremonies.

At about 10 o'clock the attention of the multitude was called to the speakers' stand and the speeches began. The introductory address was delivered by of Kansas City, who spoke in an earnest manner, claiming the attention of his hearers from the beginning to the end of his very interesting and elaborate discourse. He spoke as follows:

"Ladies and Gentlemen: - There are times when the feelings of the human soul are so intense that they find no adequate expression through the medium of ordinary language. There are occasions in the history of every struggling, aspiring young man when, suddenly becoming the re¬ cipient of some feeble token of the regard or esteem of his fellow men, there swells up in his bosom a tide of gratitude so deep and so high, that the tongue itself is drowned in its flow, and he stands perfectly mute in the presence of his benefactors. Thus stands your unworthy speaker to¬ day. For appearing before you as the humble receiver of the unex¬ pected and unsolicited confidence and esteem of the Old Settlers, the hoary headed sages of my county, whose bare recognition I have always regarded as a lasting eulogy, I am unable to return any fit thanks for the honor they have conferred upon me, but must content myself with simply assuring them that, deep down in the inmost recesses of this heart of mine, there dwells a sense of gratitude which no circumstance will ever erase, no lapse of time can ever obliterate, and which no poor words of mine could possibly describe.

"To me there is something peculiarly beautiful, as well as becoming, in those little civilities and courtesies which are generally paid by a rising to a retiring generation. Surely there is no more appropriate custom in all the code of common politeness than that which requires that the young should bow in reverence to the old. Yea, I may say, no more sacred or binding duty in all the code of Ethics than that which teaches that we, who are in the morning or meridian of life, should look up ^vith profoundest respect to those at its close - confessedly the worthiest of earth to become the objects of our veneration. Rhetoricians may talk as they please of hill and dale, and mountain and river; of the roaring cataract; the belching volcano ; the bespangled firmament above, or the surging ocean beneath, as objects of beauty, grandeur or sublimity, but to me the purest type of the grand or sublime to be found in all the wide domains of the handiwork of God, is simply the Creator's culminating work in its ripeness - the venerable gray-haired old man. To look upon one of these old warriors, who has withstood the rifts and shocks of time, and it may be for three score and ten years like some giant oak, bared his breast to the storms and forked lightnings of earth, now that the tempest is past and the quiet eve of life is about him, calmly leaning upon his staff, standing upon the boundaries of two worlds and looking back with com¬ placent memory to the one and forward with bright anticipation to the other, is certainly the sublimest spectacle that has ever greeted these eyes of mine.

"How eminently appropriate then, to set aside a great celebration day like this, that we who are in the prime of manhood and womanhood may turn aside from the din and hurly-burly of the world to commemo¬ rate the heroic lives of that little host of aged ones, who still honor us with their presence, to pay our grateful homage at their feet, hold up their noble examples once more for our imitation, and as they pass rap¬ idly down the rugged hill, attempt to smooth their pathway in front of them, not forgetting at the same time to cherish a hallowed memory for those who are gone and to decorate their graves with the freshest and sweetest flowers we can pluck. As I sat at my window a few evenings since, meditating upon the sacred duty of this hour, I looked out, and yonder blazing king of day, that now hangs in meridian glory, had just finished his fiery course and hidden himself behind the western hills; I looked up, and immediately there sprang forth from the blue canopy of heaven a whole generation of stars and seemingly bowed their heads in reverent awe at his glorious departure. So, thought I, should the genera¬ tions of men bend themselves in lowly, continual obeisance when one of our stately fathers has run his course through the brief day of life, and gone down forever in the night of death. I looked again, and the soft majestic moon rolled slowly on in her orbit, and in a few hours had buried herself beneath the horizon, and immediately another myriad of glittering orbs came silently forth, and though they shone still more brightly in the 'azure glow of night,' drew around them a deeper and heavier mourning as they sang together a melancholy requiem that the beauteous queen was no longer one of their number. So, thought I, should even children's children gather around and attune their voices to plaintive strains when one of our gentle mothers has accomplished her holy mission on earth, and, drawing about her the drapery of death, lays her down to peaceful slumbers in the tomb. If there is a single one in that vast concourse of young men which I have the privilege of represent¬ ing upon this occasion who does not indorse the sentiments now being expressed, but who is so lost of all nobility as to attempt (as, with shame and sorrow, I have often heard them) to cast a reproach upon the dignity and sacredness of old age, he certainly deserves to be held up as the object of the just scorn and execration of every grateful being. Let him be assured that no bright future awaits him ; his way is not upward, it is groveling and downward, and his end will be bittnerness - yes,

If, as some have seriously feared, that accursed day shall ever arise in the history of this g'reat Republic, when the youth of the land shall have advanced so far beyond their fathers as to cease 'to rise up before the hoary head,' and 'young Americanism' shall have gone so far as to openly scoff and jeer at the venerable Elishas in Israel, then may you bid a long farewell to all our boasted freedom ; then may you wipe completely out all that this hallowed day commemorates ; then may you appropriately strike up the funeral dirge of moral and social happiness, and through the black darkness of universal anarchy, sound out the death knell of American liberty.

"But I am not only reminded upon an occasion like this, of the dignity of age and the veneration which is due it, but being told that it was also a time for the interchange of practical experience, I am reminded of my own checkered but mostly delightful stay in this the county of my adop¬ tion. When as a mere child, something more than seventeen years ago,

I exchanged village for rural life and came with my father's family to this portion of Missouri, it seemed to me that I had suddenly been ush¬ ered into the very Eden described by the pen of Moses. And indeed if there is anything in universal prosperity, anything in overflowing abund¬ ance or aught in the rapturous intercourse of a united brotherhood, it certainly came as near it as ever did a favored spot on the broad earth. Joy then seemed to loom up in every soul ; unity was the watchword upon every lip, and fraternal affection the ruling passion in every breast. Barns and storehouses were filled with plenty, and the winepresses of the land burst forth with new fatness.' Neighbor met neighbor in those days not as now miser meets miser, each to scan the purse of the other, but as brother meets brother with his heart in his hand. The very ani¬ mals and rocks and hills and glens seemed to catch the joyous spirit of the times, and to revel in the all pervading beautitude.

"When as a school boy I roamed our rolling prairies and gathered the flowers with which they were fretted, methinks now they breathed to heaven the fragrance of brotherly love ; when as a barefoot I stood in the running brook, I can distinguish even now in its warbling waters the ac¬ cents of by-gone purity, and when I lay me down to rest on the green grass under the shade, I hear piercing the silent air the mellow cooings of the dove of peace, and all around, beneath and above are bathing in the broad sunlight of happiness and prosperity.

"But so delightful a reign was not destined to be perpetual. It is a sad truth, that the choicest blessings are shortest in their visits to unde- love of earth for the bitterest hatred of hell, plunged into the din and smoke of the contest and amidst expiring groans and demoniacal yelln reveled ofttimes hand to hand in the bloody work of death. Where once was heard the merry prattling of the child or the sweet music of a mother's voice, the widow's cry and the orphan's wail rent the air. Our fair land, accustomed only to the light tread of the sons of peace, trem¬ bled beneath the heavy tramp of mustering squadrons, and its luxuriant verdure, hitherto bedecked solely with the white hoarfrost of morning or the silvery dew of evening, was dyed with the crimson tinge of human gore. Fire, Sword, Rapine, Death went on with their terrible work, until at length a poor, homeless fugitive, the last to cross the borders of my country, I cast back a long lingering look, not at a paradise but at a wide waste wilderness, where on many a silent chimney the solitary owl screeched out the shrill moan of our departed glory.

"But it has been beautifully said that 'there is no night without a morning.' After four years of scourging the hand of a beneficent Provi¬ dence was reached down and the blackened cloud at least partially re¬ moved, and as we gazed upward we beheld once more the glorious sun of liberty peeping through its crevices. But, alas, its first rays fell upon an impoverished, ruined, but thank Heaven, not a downcast or disspirited people. The highest type of manhood is seen, the noblest feats of heroism are performed, not in the full blaze of prosperity when all goes well, but in the deep, dark hour of adversity when the man is crushed to the very earth, but when like eternal truth he rises again, shakes off the dust of oppression and prepares to regain his fortunes and vindicate him¬ self in the eyes of the world. Such, without the slightest reference to either contending party, are the evidences of manhood which have por¬ trayed, and the deeds of heroism which have been achieved under the most trying circumstances in the noble old county of Jackson. They are mentioned not in the effort to recall any unpleasant remembrance or to awake in any breast the bitter feeling of the war, but because I conceive that there is to be found in the history of those times the crowning glories of many of our Old Settlers, and because by this just comparison we can then see the hardships they have endured and the obstacles they have overcome in the progress of the last ten years. I mention it, because I know at least one young man who is proud that it was not his lot to be reared in the sickly lap of luxury, but that he was called upon to share the necessity and watch the bright examples of just such a race of heroes. No, far be it from me, to attempt to throw an apple of discord into an assembly like this, for even this morning I have beheld if possible a still grander exhibition of Christian manhood than the one just mentioned, in that, I have seen the conquered and the conqueror 'clasp hands across the bloody chasm,' and that hardest of all divine injunctions, 'forgive thine enemies,' beautifully and practically illustrated.

Today, as we look around us, instead of -beholding a howling wilder¬ ness, we see a land of prosperity and plenty, and can count over the teem¬ ing thousands of the second county in the great State of Missouri. In ten short years by a series of triumphant progress almost unprecedented in the history of nations, we have emerged from the desolation of war, and now with a population of more than 60,000 inhabitants stand out to the gaze of an admiring world a little empire within ourselves, larger and stronger than the petty republics of ancient Greece, the primitive cradle of the liberties we now enjoy. Agriculture, science and all the peaceful arts again flourish in our midst, whilst upon our western bor¬ der, on the banks and commanding the commerce of the valley of what is really 'the father of waters' there rises upon a thousand hills a hustling, growing metropolis that one day bids fair to bring the blush of shame to the cheek of ancient Rome, as she sat upon only seven hills, on the banks of the classic but insignificant Tiber. Whatever else may be said, har¬ mony is again restored, the sweets of peace are again within our fruition, the olive branch again blooms upon the grave of the past, and even though a gauzy cloud may now and then bedim our sky, let us look for¬ ward with hope to a bright future, and once more in the pure atmos¬ phere of free, open, independent thought and action, look up and thank the Giver of all Mercies that ours is indeed the citizenship of the 'land of the brave and the home of the free.' sion, to pay a passing tribute to what is doubtless far the noblest reflec¬ tion suggested by an occasion like this, for otherwise I should feel that I had come infinitely short of my duty, and fallen far below the dignity of this hour. There are those nice, flippant, airy, modernized ones, who have doubtless sneeringly called this 'the meeting of the old fogies.' Old fogy! I must confess that, to me, there is something noble in the term. They possess a god-like element of character, which, to our reproach be it said, seems now to have almost gone out of date - in a lax, vacillating, degenerate age - you ahvays knoiv just ivhere to find them! See you yonder mountain, firmly planted in its base? It may not be covered with a particle of moss, nor be decked with the green foliage of herbs and trees ; it may not be decorated with all the fantastic lattice-work and ginger¬ bread of modern civilization ; but there in its native, unadorned simplicity it stands; and all the storms and tempests of heaven may come and beat against it, but there it remains, unmoved and unshaken. Thus have I seen what you call the old fogy stand; and, though the billows of error beat against him, the machinations of men assailed him, and the whips of parties cracked around him, he stood there, and all the powers of earth and hell combined, couldn't move him. To come plainly to the point, as I here gaze down into the wrinkled faces of the sires of a former genera¬ tion, I am reminded of those time-honored, immutable, glorious prin¬ ciples of our government, handed down to us, bedewed with tears, hal¬ lowed by the prayers and stained in the blood of our forefathers, and of which to our shame be it confessed, we are too often the ungrateful recip¬ ients. I am reminded that there was a time in the history of this nation, when all the miserable sham and deceit, and wire-working and trickery of policy and party were unknown, and when men planted themselves upon eternal principle ; a time when there were 'giants in the land' who had but one heart, one purpose, one country, one God; a time when rulers ruled not for sordid pelf alone; when patriots struggled not for ambi¬ tion, but for the good of their race, and when we stood out not a 'byeword and hissing' to the nations, but the wonder and admiration of the world. How, if I had time, could I dwell upon so delightful a theme! How could I wish for my country a return of those happy days ! Oh, how I could pray heaven for the gift to my own lax times of a few such im¬ mortal men ; men who would dare to stand at the post of honor, men who lived not for themselve^ but for others; men who cared not for majori¬ ties; men, who, in the midst of threats, and scorns, and ridicule, would not be afraid to do their duty ; men who stand like mighty invincible rocks.

and roll back the tide of error and iniquity that now engulf the land. Would to God that I had an archangel's voice, for louder than ten thun¬ ders, would I sound it out through the length and breadth of this fair land, calling the young men to action, calling them away from the giddy whirl of modern life, to a just appreciation of the sacred trusts committed to their care. My fellow comrades, ye who hear me now, gather around, and here behold in the person of our fathers, the embodiment of that which is really substantial and sublime. Here contemplate types of grander proportions and more unfading beauty than ever yet the painter drew upon the glowing canvass, or the 'Grecian chisel awoke from out the sleeping marble.' Here let us come to emulate their example, and, like so many solar stars, place them high in the northern sky, and w'hile the way is still lighted up, by the aurora borealis of their own effulgent lives, press onward to the attainment of their virtues. Yes, as valiant soldiers, let us come and take our places in the ranks of war, with the few battlescarred veterans who still remain with us as our standard-bearers; and when amid the roar and smoke of the mighty contest, the tattered ensigns shall drop from their trembling hands, let us catch them as they fall, and bear them on to victory or to death.

"I am happy that my poor effort on this occasion is now to receive a response from just the kind of a man I have attempted to describe - ^the living portrayer of those independent traits and graces which we are all bound to love and admire - a man who always reminds me of an inexor¬ able old Roman soldier at his post ; a man who would not turn aside from the path of duty were all the execrable shapes of the infernal world to impede his progress; a man, who, in America's second but darkest hour of affliction, like the immortal Lafayette, threw aside his own self-inter¬ est, overcame the power of prejudice and maganimously and defiantly bared his breast to the tyrant's bolt, in the cause of the oppressed. Let me assure you, sir, you have your reward. So long as there breathes a disinterested patriot's soul on Missouri soil; so long as the undying artist may perpetuate his genius on the painted canvas; so long as there lives a tongue to lisp the name of the true and brave; just so long shall you dwell in the fond memory of thousands; just so long shall your unfading produc¬ tions embellish the walls of our habitations, and just so long shall the voices of an admiring people dwell with delightful rapture on the name of George C. Bingham."

"In responding to the kind, considerate and eloquent address, which as a representative of the young men of this portion of the State, you have delivered to your gray-haired seniors of the same section, who in accordance with their annual custom, are here assembled, I state but the truth in affirming, that I feel myself but poorly qualified to meet the just demands of the occasion.

"The reminiscences growing out of the trials and struggles of the past - its successes, reverses, triumphs and defeats - constitute the history with which they are associated. This, so far as it relates to them, must soon reach its last chapter and last page, thence forward to be laid on the shelf, to form a portion of those annals which give to each succeeding generation the experience and garnered thought- of its predecessors; tending thus to make the sons wiser than the fathers, and by so doing, force onward and upward that march of human progress, the measured step of which, we have reason to believe, will continue with accelerated pace when our mortality shall put on immortality, and the temporary sleep of the grave give place to the ceaseless activity of an endless life.

"On the other hand those whom you represent have but recently entered upon the stage of active life. Your history is yet to be made. How its fair and uninscribed pages are to be filled up, whether they shall exhibit a record of manly and patriotic deeds, of ill-directed and abor¬ tive efforts, or worse still, be blurred with transactions such as disfigure the sad and dark portion of the history of our tempted and erring race, are matters which yet belong to the unknown, and which the future only can reveal.

"Men who have supposed themselves drowning, and thus perishing without disease in the vigor of manhood, have testified, that all the trans¬ actions of their lives, both good and bad, passed in review before them in that brief and terrible moment.

"It is well known that very aged men, in the act of throwing off the wornout habiliments of this life, have frequently imagined that they were school boys again, conning over their lessons, or sporting on the lawn with the associates of their childhood. It seems indeed to be a law of our nature that impels us, as we approach the end of our earthly pil¬ grimage, to look back and survey the route over which we have traveled, recount the adventures and dangers, the mishaps and successes which have marked our journey, and by the blessed faculty of memory, with which we are so highly endowed, walk amidst the scenes, and enjoy anew the society of long-buried companions of our early life.

"Those of US who have chalked down our three score years, and our still more advanced and more venerable associates, have but little more to anticipate in our earthly future. The hopes which gave energy and elasticity to our movements in our younger days, can impel our sluggish blood no longer. They have either perished beneath the relentless tread of a harsh experience, or been realized by a reasonable fruition. They have nothing further to promise us in the brief space that intervenes between us and the terminus to which we are ticketed, and which marks the finale of all sublunary desires and expectation.

"But it is far different with you, and those whom you so creditablyrepresent upon the present occasion. All that now appears to you is tinged with the roseate hues of the morning.

"From our own early experience we can safely venture the assertion that the active fancy of yourself, and of each of your young associates, is daily teeming with plans and purposes looking to the future, and abounding in promises of rich results, all seemingly assured to your yet inexperienced minds by the cheering fallacies of hope. Some of you have diligently qualified yourselves for the learned professions, and expect to achieve wealth and distinction therein.

"The tempting bait of official position which inspires alike the low craft of the politician, and the nobler ambition of the statesman, may reasonably be supposed to obtrude itself occasionally in the prospect which lies open before you. This is as it should be. Such aspirations are in complete harmony with the great design of our being, and stimulate to exertion that period of human life most capable thereof. And although the result of individual exertions in myriads of cases may fall immeas¬ urably short of the expectations which prompted them, it is nevertheless, to human effort impelled by human aspirations that we are indebted for all those real, tangible and grand results which we now behold around us, and which confer the practical blessings of an advanced civilization on so many millions of the human race. Many of the most important and most wonderful of these results are to be credited to the genius, energy and perseverance of those whose surviving representatives and co-lab¬ orers are to be seen in the venerable forms and time-scarred visages which are here assembled. Within the comparatively brief period com¬ mencing with their birth, we shall scarcely go beyond the truth in affirm¬ ing that more has been accomplished by man for the benefit and amelior¬ ation of his race than can be properly credited to the aggregated human effort of any preceding 500 years. When they drew their first breath.

the locomotive which draws the freight of nations over every quarter of our globe, had no existence even in the dreams of its immortal pro¬ jector.

"The use of steam in propelling water craft was equally unknown, and had any one, at that period, predicted that the person was then liv¬ ing who would see the lightning of heaven subdued and put in harness by the genius of man, and its fiery speed utilized in transmitting instan¬ taneous intelligence over every quarter of the inhabited earth, he would have been regarded as the wildest visionary that ever merited quarters in a lunatic asylum. But these and other miracles of human invention equally wonderful - and all contributing to the advancement of our race - by no means transcend in importance the redemption from savage sway, and the opening to emigrants from all lands, of this vast western territory which we inhabit. For this service, the millions who are to suc¬ ceed us, and whose ballots are destined to shape the future policy of our great republic, will not fail to give a due portion of credit to the hearty pioneer - 'the old settler' - who boldly ventured beyond the confines of civilization, and by the stroke of his ax, or the crack of his rifle, first broke the silence of the primeval forest.

"Daniel Boone and his hardy and adventurous associates, and the old time-worn settlers who are here today, are as fully entitled to the grati¬ tude of our coming generations as the statesmen who have given organic form to our republican institutions, the generals who have led our armies to victory, or the Morses, Fultons and Stevensons who have enriched the world by their inventions. They have been leaders in a field which made leadership pre-eminently the position of hardship, danger and privation, requiring the constant exercise of those qualities of the head and heart which form the elements of the hero. In the full vigor of early manhood, they tore themselves from the associations in which they were reared, and boldly ventured out into untrodden paths to make available to civilized man the locked-up wealth of a region whose products are now burdening the channels of commerce, and feeding the hungry of distant lands. No discouragements were allowed to impede them in their perilous journeyings. Through malarious swamps and mountain passes, they pushed onward until their stakes were fixed on the virgin soil which was to be the future homes of themselves and children. Their unerring rifles fur¬ nished them the means of immediate subsistence. The axe and a few simple tools were all that they required in the construction of their primi¬ tive log cabins.

"These up, and affording shelter to their wives and little ones, the clearing and the corn field next appeared. The golden grain gathered therefrom, and the porkers fattened thereon, soon secured them the well known and substantial luxuries of frontier life. The dressed skins of the wild deer furnished the men and boys with outer garments, than which none could be better adapted to resist briers, brush, and the frosts of win¬ ter. The spinning wheel and the looms were set in motion in every cabin, and the fleece of a few sheep, and products of the flax or cotton patch were constantly being wrought by steady and dexterous female hands into shirts for the men and gowns for the women.

"Thus, without commerce or intercourse with the civilized world, from which they had separated, each sparse settlement, formed by their location, became a self-sustaining community, supplying from its own unaided resources those essential wants of life beyond which the temper¬ ate desires of its members seldom, or never extended.

"Against all assaults of the red men, banded together for their ex¬ termination, they heroically defended their infant settlements and suc¬ cessfully maintained their right to dwell upon and cultivate the soil which savage possession would have continued a perpetual wilderness. And it is this right to occupy and bring into use the unappropriated soil of the earth, thus bravely defended and maintained by our Old Settlers, which now constitutes the real basis of the title to every acre of land lying within the limits of our broad domain.

"It would be folly in me here to attempt even a brief recital of their heroic deeds of self-sacrificing services in the cause of civilization. Many of them occupy a conspicuous place in the written history of their coun¬ try. Others will go down to posterity in traditions from father to son, and furnish material for the poet, novelist and painter for unnumbered years to come.

"Well merited, therefore, is the honor which you have so elegantly recognized as due to their venerable survivors who yet linger with us and give interest to this occasion by their presence. And when those of you have the good fortune to survive the dangers, accidents, and diseases which strew the journey of life with the wrecks of miortality, shall be¬ come the old men of Jackson County, and as such meet together as these >7enerable citizens now do, may your restrospections be as pleasant and sat¬ isfactory as theirs, and a life of patriotic devotion, integrity and useful¬ ness equally entitle you to the remembrance and gratitude of posterity." formed in line and, headed by the band, marched in procession around the ring. This concluded and an hour of recess was allowed for dinner. Baskets filled with home food were hauled from their hiding places in the wagons, clean white cloths were spread upon the grass, gay couples ranged in order around the tables and the grounds fast assumed the look and shape of a real old-fashioned picnic.

After the sandwiches were disposed of the merry assembly was again called to order and Jacob Greggs, esquire, of Sniabar township, was intro¬ duced. He delivered a very interesting speech.

'T was appointed to prepare for presentation to you on this occasion brief sketches of the early French settlers of Jackson County. For this service the notice was too short and unexpected, and urgent business in¬ tervening, I have been unable to do more than to get up a list of the names of those early and hardy comers to our pleasant county, and have to beg your indulgence for further time and opportunity for sketches which may appear in the papers.

"Almost forty-five years ago, almost in youth, with a young wife and child, I came to this region and found here the most lovely and fer¬ tile country - in its almost virgin state - to be found anywhere under the broad expanse of heaven. The best country, the best people, and let me say, the best wives, sisters and mothers in the world.

"Reference was made by the eloquent young gentleman who, in be¬ half of a younger generation addressed us Old Settlers, to the days of the past, and here allow me to say that when the early pioneers took posses¬ sion of this land, we found on its highways no stage coaches or daily mails, on its rivers no steamboats, no railroads, no telegraph lines, no steam power in use, no cities, no towns, no churches or school- houses, or improvements of any kind, save the rude and hasty structures prepared by our hardy and daring pioneers. In surrendering this, our noble charge, to you, a younger generation, to you young men before me, we do it with a mournful pleasure, because we are passing away. We pause today to recall with pleasure the remembrance of the wooed and cherished ones, the long list of our loved fellow pilgrims who sleep by the wayside of the past, and are admonished that our rest draws near. But in turning from you, perhaps never again to thus stand before you, I gladly and proudly point to a wilderness found by us fifty years ago, now budding and bios- soming as the rose, with exultant feelings of joy, to the great net- work of railroad everywhere bisecting our country; to our multiplied telegraph lines flashing intelligence to every land ; to our cities, our towns, our stately churches, our palatial halls of education, our floating palaces, and that type of civilization, intelligence and refinement present and before me today - a land filled with arts, sciences and wealth. So have we, your sires, discharged our trust.

"Such is the charge we surrender, as one by one we lie down to rest - a heritage - a land - the soil, the climate, the locality of which will compel this to become the cradle of the highest type of civilization, the center of the greatest activities, of commerce, the arts, sciences, and hu¬ man progress, and from which shall go out a moral, religious and po¬ litical power to bless the world."

In the meantime the judges had been busily engaged in receiving, taking down and counting the votes and names for the different prizes to be awarded. When completed they ran as follows:

For parent or parents of greatest number of children born in Jackson County, silver pitcher, goblet and waiter, value $41. The contestants were few, as follows, David Daily carrying off the prize:

As the two first and oldest names recorded had already been the recipient of one prize, and as none were allowed to recive but one, the chair was placed in the hands of the third, Mr. John Bogard, he having resided in the county over 52 years.

For the oldest native born citizen of Jackson county, then a resident, set of silver knives and forks. The following names were found recorded, which resulted in the first, Mrs. Margaret Christeson, now in her fiftieth year, having been born and lived since in the county :

The presentation speeches were made by Mr. Richard R. Reese, now of Leavenworth, Kansas, but for years one of the old Jackson County boys, in a fluent and acceptable manner, and as each would receive and bear off his or her prize, cheer upon cheer would ascend from the crowds around ; and though there were many disappointed faces to be seen, the utmost good humor prevailed throughout, and none seemed to em'y the other or to begrudge him the present.

Next in order came the foot race, booked for which there were six contestants, all of whom were over 65 years of age: Henry Donahue, Thomas Pitcher, Henry Tull, George W. Clair, Samuel Ralston and Ben¬ nett Hail.

From some unaccountable cause, however, but the first three ran for the prize, which consisted of a gold-Leaded cane, valued at $15, which fell to the lot of the first, Mr. Henry Donahue, aged 70 years.

This last concluded the long and very agreeable programme provided for the day's entertainment, and gradually the buggies began to fill, horses were saddled and harnessed to the old country wagons, and by twos and threes the vast crowd began to move homeward.

Many of the residents of Kansas City boarded the return train at 3:30, though the majority were determined to "see it out," and the train leaving Independence at 9:50 p. m. found many weary picnickers in wait¬ ing at the depot.

Matters, however, in the meantime were varied. A large number of the excursionists received and accepted a courteous invitation from Mr. Vaughn, of Narrow Gauge fame, and indulged in a delightful ride for a few miles up the road.

Others sought the city of Independence and time passed pleasantly in the watching of fireworks, etc., and for hours did the dull old town resound with Kansas City shouts. But when the time came to go home they were all there and the train left the depot bearing away many a full stomach and an aching head.

As far as heard from none regretted the visit and in the minds of the many thousands who attended, the Jolly Old Settlers will ever re¬ main fresh, while "The Fourth, of 1874, at Independence," will never be forgotten by the picnicking people of Jackson County.

"From a brief notice we receive intelligence of the death of Daniel Boone, one of the earliest pioneers of Jackson County, Missouri, and of the State of Kansas, which occurred at his old homestead, eight miles south of Kansas City, February 22, 1880. Deceased was a grandson of the famous Kentucky and Missouri pioneer, and son of Daniel Morgan Boone, who was, without doubt, the first actual resident householder within the limits of the State of Kansas, and who died at the same old homestead about the year 1834.

"For almost half a hundred years I had been on terms of intimate friendship with him and honored the sterling worth and guileless life of my worthy old friend and fellow pioneer. I may not call the news of his death sad. His earthly pilgrimage had extended beyond the ordinary limit of three score years and ten. His active work on earth was finished and believing, as I do, in the wisdom of the conclusion of the King, that a 'good name is better than precious ointment and the day of death bet¬ ter than the day on one's birth,' why then should we contemplate the departure of such an one to his long home, with sadness and regret? The same wise King hath said : 'Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.'

"Deceased was born in St. Charles County, Mo., Aug. 27, 1809, and in 1826, his father, Daniel Morgan Boone, lived in the lower part of Kan¬ sas City, near the mouth of the small creek below the gas works, that point being the agency for the Kanzan Indians ; and at that point resided Benito Vasques, who was United States agent, and Daniel Morgan Boone, the

"Early in 1827, they removed, and established the agency at a point about eight miles above Lawrence, on the north bank of the Kansas River. It was here that I first met my friend, who is now deceased. Daniel Boone was then about twenty, while I was nineteen. From that day till the day of his recent death, through the long lapse of half a century, dur¬ ing which the wild wilderness of our youth had become transformed into smiling fields and busy marts of commerce and all the appliances of human industry and progress, we were friends in the true meaning of the term. I can use none other more expressive of our relations during that long period.

"In 1832 our old friend was married to Mary Philbert, who is still living in the enjoyment of health and vigor, mental and physical, at that pleasant, unostentatious, hospitable homestead. She, too, has a personal history full of interest connected with the early settlement of these west¬ ern wilds. The panorama unrolled to our vision and the experiences of half a hundred years would form the subject and theme of an epic worthy of the grand old Homer. Eulogies are delivered in set speeches, by chosen and gifted orators, on the demise of great men of the earth and those holding high official trusts and the inanimate clay is consigned to earth, the rappings and blaze of funeral pomp. All proper and right, if the eulogies pronounced tell the truth, and the whole truth, and if the sable badges of mourning represent the true sorrow of the multitude.

"Not so, however, was it with our deceased old friend, Daniel Boone. His humble eulogy was more appropriate, more eloquent and more touch¬ ing, pronounced by tearful eyes and loving hands, and the heartfelt sympathies of lifelong friends who surrounded his bedside and cheered him as his feet met the waters of the dark river. It would be a pleasant and grateful task to write an obituary of such an one ; but none is needed. It is already graven on the hearts of his friends, 'Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his.' "

The old settlers met at Kansas City, in the county court room, includ¬ ing men who have lived in and around Jackson County from twenty-five to fifty years, who date their arrival with the earliest pioneers who set¬ tled in this section of Missouri. At the morning session a committee was appointed to prepare the programme for the evening. William 0. Shouse was selected as chairman and C. D. Lucas, secretary. In the afternoon the old settlers again assembled and the committee made a report which was adopted and the proceedings had in regular order as suggested in the report. The first question under consideration, the advisability of forming themselves into an association was discussed by R. N. Hudspeth, J. C. McCoy, F. R. Long, William Jarboe and others.

They then adopted the name of "Historical Society of Old Settlers.'' The society was understood to include all the old residents of Jackson, Clay, Cass and Platt Counties, Mo., and Wyandotte and Johnson Counties, Kan. Jacob Gregg was elected president. He is now one of the oldest residents in Jackson County, was sheriff in an early day and has served in the State Legislature. D. C. Allen, of Clay County, was elected first vice-president, Chas. D. Lucas, second vice-president, J. C. McCoy, secre¬ tary, and Joseph S. Chick, treasured An executive committee was ap¬ pointed with powers to appoint various sub-committees to arrange for the meeting on the 22d day of May at the fair grounds in Kansas City. The committee consisted of Wallace Laws, Col. Theo. S. Case, Col. A. B. H. McGee, Col. R. T. Van Horn and Judge F. R. Long. By request Judge Adams, secretary of the Historical Society of Kansas, addressed the meet¬ ing, giving valuable suggestions as to the mode of operation for the gathering of historical facts. Judge Adams was then invited to be pres¬ ent at the reunion. May 22d.

A resolution was adopted appointing John C. McCoy, Col. Case, L. B. Dougherty, D. C. Allen and E. A. Hickman a permanent committee on history, with a view of collecting historical facts connected with the early settlement of this portion of the West.

The following is a list of the names of those present and the date at which they settled in this locality, some of them running back fifty years or more:

By request J. C. McCoy then read an address to the society. The fol¬ lowing was delivered before the pioneers of Jackson County, April 24, 1880: "This reunion of Old Settlers is to me as it is no doubt to all present an occasion of great and profound interest. Aside from the opportunity it affords us for an interchange of friendly greetings and the renewal of old friendships and the expression of words of mutual sym¬ pathy and cheer as we draw near the end of life's journey, it may not be inaptly regarded as a pleasant way-station, a halting place, where we may take our bearings and view the surroundings, a high point from whence we may note and fix upon land-marks that shall safely guide us to our haven of rest. Only a few years more will come and go, before such a meeting as this will cease to be held altogether, and when the small remnant of the pioneer band who first entered this goodly land shall have passed over to another and w'e may hope a better one. In this regard, then, this meeting of Old Settlers has no ordinary significance. It means, not only a reunion of old familiar friends, but a sort of leave taking, an adieus to the scenes and the recollections of our early boyhood, our mature manhood and our autumn days whose chilling blasts have so plentifully sprinkled our heads with withering frosts.

"Half a hundred years have elapsed since many who are now here first entered this beautiful, bountiful land, known then as the farthest "Far West." The broad boundless area lying westward and a very large proportion of that lying eastward and northward, was then a wide, waste wilderness, clothed in the garb of nature's own handiwork, unknown and almost untrod by civilized man undisturbed and unmarred by the ax or plowshare, the pick and shovel. But all this is now changed. Instead of the lonely wolf howl and the scream of the panther, the hills and valleys now resound with the shrill warning of the steam whistl'e, the rumbling and rattle of the locomotive with its long, swift flying train, and the ceaseless hum of the busy multitude over the vast wild region from the Mississippi to the Pacific, and from the Northern Lakes to the Gulf. Civilization and enlightened human progress, like a broad wave has swept across plain and mountain, hill and valley, in its onward, resistless, west¬ ward flow, obliterating our ancient land marks, uprooting our grand old forests, spanning our rivers with iron bridges, building throughout its entire length and breadth a network of railroads, cities, towns and vil¬ lages. Churches and school houses have sprung up until we find our¬ selves today no longer in the Far West, but in the great mid-continental center of commerce and trade. Nearly all these marvelous results have been accomplished within the last twenty years.

"Our old slow going modes of locomotion and travel, of cultivation of soil, of harvesting and handling its products, in the diffusion of knowl¬ edge, in the mechanic arts, in the contrivances and labor saving inventions to help carry on the various industries and the necessary household duties, and in all the departments of trade, commerce and manufacturing, everything has been changed. The world now moves by machinery and steam and electricity - and its inhabitants now live, move, work, think, preach and pray by machinery - for one can now hold familiar converse with friends many miles 'distant, or listen to a sermon delivered in a dis¬ tant city while comfortably seated at his own fireside. What think you would have been the emotions of good old Joab Powell, who emigrated from the Sni country to Oregon in 1843, and who was credited with selecting his text on one occasion from the "two-eyed chapter of the oneeyed John," or of old uncle Jimmy Savage had they been assured that this mode of preaching the gospel could, and would be practiced during his lifetime. Little doubt we have but that in the extremity of their disgust and in behalf of outraged common sense they would have ex¬ claimed: "Now, Gabriel, blow your horn, and take us out of this pestilent atmosphere, to where we can get a good breath of God's own fresh, wholesome air." We need only to open our eyes and look around us to realize something of the triumphs of ambitious man over nature's obstacles. The rough unsightly hills and deep gorges of primitive times, once scattered all around where we now meet have melted away, and in a great measure been leveled down before the pick and shovel of the stal¬ wart omnipresent Irishman.

Baptist Church, Oak Grove, Mo Christian Church, Oak Grove, Mo

the original surface of the surrounding ground ; and if the earth were again restored to its original level, nothing of the proportions of the large and costly court house would be visible except its dome. All around us is the great and growing city. When we came fifty years ago the nearest newspaper office was 130 miles east of this (the Boonelick Monitor, pub¬ lished at Fayette, Howard County, by James H. Birch).

"I need not tell you or attempt to enumerate the number of those luminaries now shedding abroad their bright rays around us and away off toward the setting sun. Their name is legion and the State of Kan¬ sas alone, that old American desert, now rejoice in the light of nearly three hundred periodicals and publications. Leaving out of the estimate the military cantonment, Leavenworth, the entire white population of the State of Kansas fifty years ago numbered less than sixty souls. It now numbers nearly 1,000,000, and the old mythical desert has become the banner wheat producing state in the Union. The wild denizens and countless herds that once roamed over those plains from time immemorial, have all taken their flight before the shrill scream of the locomotive and the steam thresher. The long straggling line of the yearly outgoing and incoming caravans of white-topped prairie schooners with its herds and boisterous, jovial happy crowds of American and Mexican greasers, no longer winds its slow length across those plains. I doubt whether there was then a stationary steam engine west of St. Charles. We were then destitute of a thousand things, that people nowadays consider indispens¬ able, and yet I can't see but people were just as happy and contented then as now. I think the average man was gifted with an allowance of brains fully equal to the man of the present day, and I am very sure they were better and came nearer the Divine standard ; were more honest, more given to practice of hospitality and the virtues that ennoble and adorn mankind. It is true that knowledge has greatly increased, but we may have grave doubts whether the true wisdom that looks beyond to the higher sphere of excellence has had any increase.

"Will some tell us this is the bliss of ignorance? One can now make the journey around the earth with more safety and more expeditiously than he could then travel from the mouth of Kaw River to the Pacific. It required two years of great privation, danger and fatigue for Lewis and Clark in 1804-5 to make the journey from St. Louis to the Columbia and back with all the needful aid of the government in men and money. The world is now moved by steam, machinery, electricity and the thousand subtile and incomprehensible agencies provided by an all-seeing, wise and beneficent Creator for the well-being of his creatures. Where is the limit, the height and depth, the boundless scope that has not been reached or attempted by the daring ambition and irrepressible intellect and genius of the human race? Truly, it would seem that in this evening of the nineteenth century of the Christian era the time had arrived predicted in the last chapter of the book Daniel, 'when many shall run to and fro in the earth and knowledge be increased.' And yet, there are a few trans¬ cendency wise men and scientists, who tell us this world and the human race has existed many millions of years, and will continue to exist many more. I won't dispute it. I am only too thankful that they allow us to have a beginning and ending at all. But more than that, they tell us that all the stupendous results just spoken of have been accomplished by being descended from baboons. Ah ! what a fall is this, my countrymen, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

"Never, is my unfaltering and emphatic answer in behalf of the Old Settlers, although I am sorry to confess that I have in my long experience, known a few men who did have very strongly marked characteristics of the hog. But, enough of this. When an old backwoodsman, who couldn't tell the difference between a thoroughbred Pegasus and a spavined cart¬ horse, takes to quoting poetry, its time to put on the brakes. I said that it was a great pleasure to me to recall the faces, the incidents and pleasant memories of by-gone years, to draw comparisons between the past and present. In doing this, the question naturally arises, whether with all the wonderful discoveries and inventions, wrought out and set in motion by scientific knowledge and the genius of man, the sum of human happi¬ ness has been increased.

"Whether the average man comes nearer the divine standard today than he did fifty years ago? With the increase of knowledge and wealth has there been a corresponding increase in the virtues that alone make man god-like? These are questions profoundly impressive and full of interest to the old timer - and which we fear are fully answered "not so." We have listened to speeches and discourses as grandly eloquent and logical, in the unpretentious court house and the humble meeting house of the backwoods, as we ever heard in the halls of legislation or under the tall church spire. There is a very large amount of knowledge, so called, of the present day, that it would be a great blessing to the human race were it unlearned and obliterated altogether. It would greatly thin out our over crowded penitentiaries, jails and alms houses. No my friends, we need have no fears to institute a comparison from a moral or a social stand point between the people with whom we mingled in the days of our youth, and those who now occupy their places. As for me it is a source of unalloyed pleasure and profound interest to recall the faces and scenes of my boyhood, my youth and early manhood, of the boy, the careless, joyous, happy boy, plodding along to the small log school house, embowered in the shade of the grand old forest near the cool sparkling spring, to listen again to the sonorous cow bell, to reconstruct the almost forgotten picture of the unpretentious but comfortable log house with its surroundings of out houses and fields of waving grain, to listen again to the hum of the spinning wheel and cast shy, furtive glances toward the red-cheeked maiden who so daintily trips back and forth as she deftly whirls around the big wheel and gathers her woof on the spindle. Talk of your modern dancing schools! was there ever a school teaching the poetry of motion and posture like unto or equal to this. Then the ceaseless clatter of the everlasting loom, without which no con¬ siderable housewife could consent to live a day ; and the old familiar tread¬ mill or pull-round horse mill, and the gossipy miller and the old log meet¬ ing house where we all went on Sundays to show our Sunday clothes and take no notice of the girls dressed out in their brilliant ginghams, calicoes and linseys. Ah ! well ! no need to proceed further with this topic. Every one of you old veterans know how it is yourself. It is very true that "distance lends enchantment to the view" - and perhaps the distance of time (not place) leads us to view with undue partiality and favor the per- sons and faces familiar to us in our early life; but we have reason to rejoice and thank God that we can do so conscientiously. We do not say that all men in our early days were good men and true, but we do say that the proportion of the bad to the good was much smaller than now; that the vast increase of population, wealth and knowledge has also brought with these elements of civil progress a vastly disproportioned increase of crime in a thousand new and varied forms then unknown, per¬ meating our whole land and yielding a rich and perennial harvest of rogues and criminals of high and low degree. We need then have no fear to institute a comparison between the social, moral, physical or mental standing of the men of our early days and those who swarm around us. "Nearer my God to thee." And now my old friends do we fully realize the vast changes that have been wrought all around us, for better or worse? All, all is changed, and we old pioneers, too, are changed. Our once vigorous, buoyant, elastic step is changed to the slow, cautious plod¬ ding of the weary as we pick our way along the down grade of life. Our dark locks are changed to iron-gray and white. Our early dreams, our aspirations and our hopes are changed, a few to full fruition many to ashes of disappointment and sorrow, and the bright air castles of our youth are vanished to the baseless fabric of a vision. Our home circles and our familiar friends who have passed on before us are changed, we fully hope, in their new sphere of existence, "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest." That we, too, who still linger on the way may with our loins girded, and our lamps burning, in God's own good time have with them one other happy, unending reunion, is the fervent wish of one of the Old Settlers."

The meeting of Old Settlers, May 22, 1880, 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 the 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 Set¬ tlers, who recounted to each other the scenes of bygone days. The gray¬ haired pioneer recounted his battle with life, and the listeners drank deep of the historic lore of half a century ago.

The silver 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," rend- ered 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 picnic. The forenoon was spent entirely in hunting up old friends and relatives and in pleasant converse. At twelve o'clock preparations were com¬ menced for the picnic 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 pleasant 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 hos¬ pitality 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 Doni¬ phan 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.

How many changes it's passed through - And we old friends are changing to - There's been a change in me and you And still that change goes on.

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. Until the grain will clean.

As men in those enlightened days With all their strange, new-fangled ways, Which wealth and fashion now displays, The mind of man to please.

But ere, my friends, we hence embark, We fain would place some lasting mark, 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 reminiscences 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 county 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 1819, and he was reared in Clay County where he has lived about sixty-one years.

Margaret Christerson was the first white female child born in this county. This occurred in the year 1824 in what is now Sniabar 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.