Johnson County, Missouri - Chapter 5 (2 of 2 so headed), 1881

Public Buildings - Court House - General Remarks. Uses of Court House - Names of Early Preachers - School in Court House - First order of court to build Court House in 1838 - County Jail - When built - The condition of the present Buildings.

Court House . - Not withstanding the fact, that probably a good majority of the citizens in every county, have very little experience, if any at all, in the proceedings of courts, and although they have the legal capacity to sue and be sued, never improve such opportunities, and never appear in court unless it be on compulsion as witnesses or jurors, yet, as the one great conservator of peace, and as the final arbiter in the case of individual or neighborhood disputes, the court is distinguished above and apart from all other institutions of the land, and not only the proceeedings of the court are eagerly sought and read, but the place of holding court is a mat¬ ter of interest alike to the reader and citizen of the county. The county seat is looked upon also as the seat of justice, where all transactions aim at the summum bonum of the county, and there is no exfarte in the cases of arbitration.

This county, like many of her sister counties at an early day, con¬ structed the county clerk's office in advance of any other public buildings* The first court houses, though not very elaborate, were nevertheless commodious, and used for various purposes. Often the old court house was so constantly in use, besides special court purposes, when court was not in session, for judicial, educational, religious and social purposes, that the doors of that old building, like the gateway of the gospel of grace? stood open day and night, for meetings of any sort that would better the moral and religious condition of the people. Here the pioneer preachers, with a coufi de main planted the principles of some of the wealthiest and most prosperous churches of the county, and the amount invested in that old building, in after years returned a much better rate of interest on the investment than do many of the more costly superstructures of the present time. Long will the memory of the old settlers cling, like the ivy to its favorite wall, around the approaches of the old court house of Johnson county. It still stands a weather beaten structure, and although it has passed into private hands, still that august appearance of former years, will never be lost to those who assembled under its roof. In that old court house, school was taught, the gospel preached, and justice dis¬ pensed within its substantial walls.

On the Sabbath days, ere any church spires pointed heavenward in Johnson county, the zealous and ardent Christian ministers of those times called their little flocks together, and there in the simplest, but impressive language taught the way of righteousness. The poor and the rich alike occupied often the rude old seats without preference of association. Among some of the preachers who expounded the simple and sublime truths of the religion of Christ were, Allen Wright, Chas. Morrow, W. P. C. Caldwell, and Thos. Mulkey, who, perhaps were the instruments in God's hands of leading many an erring wanderer in the paths of sin to repentance, and faith and obedience to God. On Monday, the scene was changed. If court was not in session, weighing the conduct of men in the scales of justice,

" Here the village master taught his little school, " and the children looked upon their teacher as a wise man and a great bene¬ factor. Mr. Z. T. Davis was one of the early teachers who occupied the court house. The poet has said:

The cause of education is coeval with the county's settlement and con¬ tinuous with its growth and development. rt he duty to educate was a germ planted in the hearts of the pioneer settlers, and was so nurtured and fostered, that it grew from its embryonic state, at first orphan-like, with¬ out any house of its own, to what we see around us in the form of more than one hundred and fifty school buildings of the county.

The county buildings have changed with the times. The pioneer log cabin is superseded by the elaborate and handsome dwelling. The plain and innocent boys and girls of those times are the men and women of to-day. Some one has said that circumstances make the man, but we rather think that circumstances only develop what is in the man. Those that lived then and now can best tell. At first the county had no public buildings. The first county court met April 13, 1835, at the residence of Mrs. Rachel Houx, near Columbus, but was moved to Warrensburg in August of the following year, where it has been continued to the present time. The next court convened at Henry Colbern's, then at the resi¬ dence of Y. E. W. Berry, and at other places till a court house was erected.

Further along, as the orders of the court show, the building did not proceed very rapidly, and that James Campbell was also appointed by the court one of the "undertakers" to complete the work. The work was completed and accepted by the court, as can be seen by an order of court in July, 1842.

After the war some improvements were made about the court house, but the change of business to the new town of Warrensburg cast the die, and soon the public buildings were deserted in Old Town. The principal building had already become useless and unsafe for the county records, and early after the war a move was made to secure an appropriation for a new court house. The county court made a futile effort to raise money to construct a new court house, in 1866, and ever since then, to the present, there has been considerable agitation on the subject of building a new court house.

The present court house, which is a frame building, was donated to the county by the citizens of the town of Warrensburg, and the seat of jus¬ tice established in New Town, and the last session of court held in the old court house was in December, 1875.

County Clerk's Office. - At an early day the first demand of the people was not whether they should assemble to do business in a suitable build¬ ing, or in the open air, but rather the safety of the county records.

Ordered that the house be built in the town of Warrensburg, for the purpose of a clerk's office, to be eighteen feet square, of good hewed oak logs, and cov¬ ered with rafters and three feet boards, and finished according to the plan to be exhibited by the commissioners on the day of sale; and it is further ordered that the sheriff let out the building of the same by public outcry, to the lowest bidder on the first day of our next term; and it is further ordered that the undertaker enter into a bond with good security for his faithful performance.

The old log house is a thing of the past. In after years the offices were kept in the court house, which was ready for use in 1842. However, it was found that as the county developed and business increased the room in the court house was insufficient for the purpose, so in August,

1860, the court ordered a new building. James McCown was the com¬ missioner to supervise the work. The offices were completed in 1861, for which the contractors, Messrs. Davidson, Heberson, and Ruth received the sum of $5,000. The buildings were of brick and supposed to be fire¬ proof, but too insignificant in size and convenience, for a clerk's office. When the court was ordered to the new part of Warrensburg, all the county offices soon followed. Since then the office building has been rented. In 1871, the office was kept by S. P. Sparks, in a little brick building on the west side of Holden street. At present the county rents a building for $300 per annum, in which the clerk, treasurer, probate judge, and circuit clerk hold their offices. The other county offices are in other parts of the city.

The county jail was not needed for several years after the settlement of the county, nor considered of much moment, on account of having but few nefarious persons to incarcerate, until 1846, when an appropriation was made, and a brick jail constructed, which stands in Old Town, and is now used for a dwelling. The jail was completed in 1847. John Price was the supervisor of the plan. The contractor, G. F. Brown , received $900 for his work. This building was abandoned, as unfit for use, in 1875. The sheriff remarked: " It is only fit to keep honest men." Since then a calaboose, vulgarlyt called the "cooler," was erected near the present court house, and on the Fourth of July, 1875, received the first inmate for drunkenness. At present, a stockade surrounds the cell, so that criminals take exercise in beating up stones for grading the streets. A vote was taken Tuesday, April 2, 1881, for the purpose of appropriating' $15,000 to build a jail, but it was lost. The vote stood 217 for, and 1645 against the appropriation. The jail is not sufficiently strong to inspire evil doers with much fear. The people need a jail. When this has been said, the subject has been fully exhausted.