Lincoln County, Missouri - Chapter 8: County Officers, 1888

Chapter 8: County Officers

Of those who lived in the county and represented the Senatorial District in the Legislature: Carry K. Duncan was elected in 1824; Hans Smith, 1834; Henry Watts, 1838; James Finley, 1840; M. H. McFarland, 1856; Thomas G. Hutt, 1880. All of these served four years, except Henry Watts, who died in office, and James Finley, who filled the unexpired term.

Members Of Constitutional Conventions

Malcolm Henry, Sr., in 1820, when the original constitution, on the admission of the State into the Federal Union, was prepared and adopted; 1845, Thomas W. Hutt, of Lincoln County, and Edwin D. Bevitt, of St. Charles, Democrats, ran against Charles Wheeler, of Lincoln, and J. D. Coalter, of St. Charles, Whigs. The latter gentlemen were elected, but the constitution they helped to frame, was, on submission to the people, rejected; 1864, Alexander H. Martin; 1875, A. V. McKee. The constitution then framed was ratified by the people, and has since been the organic law of the State.

Representatives In Congress

Prior to 1848 the representatives in Congress for the State of Missouri were elected at large. The first elections for congressmen by districts were held in 1848, and since that time Lincoln County has been represented in Congress, as follows: William Y. N. Bay, 1848-50; Gilchrist Porter, 1850-52; Alfred W. Lamb, 1852-54; Gilchrist Porter, 1854-56; Thomas L. Anderson, 1856-60; James S. Rollins, 1860-64; George W. Anderson,

Circuit Court Clerks

JohnBuland, 1819-20; Bennett Palmer, first half of 1821, to his death in August; Francis Parker, 1821-48; Thomas G» Hutt, 1848-54; Alexander H. Martin, 1854, to his resignation in 1869; William Colbert, 1869-87; Benjamin F. Beed, present incumbent, elected in 1886.

County Court Clerks

Bennett Palmer, from organization of the court, January 15> 1821, to his death, in August following; Francis Parker, 1821-54; N. H. Meriwether, 1854, to his death in March, 1857; James A, Ward, 1857-58; Francis C. Cake, 1858-75; William A. Woodson, 1875-87; Jesse J. Shaw, the present incumbent, elected in 1886,

David Bailey, 1819-23; Daniel Draper, 1823-25; William. Hammock, 1825-26; Austin C. Woolfolk, 1826-27; Daniel Draper, 1827-29; Walter Wright, 1829-32; H. Watts, 1832-34; Freland W. Bose, 1834-35; Benjamin Ford, 1835-39; William. Sitton, 1839-42; John A. Woolfolk, 1842-43. From the latter date until 1873 the sheriffs of the county were ex-offlcio collectors of the revenues thereof. In 1872 the separate office of collector was established, and the following is a list of the collectors from that date: William W. Shaw, 1873-75; Peachy G.

School Commissioners

The office of recorder, in Lincoln County, was never separated from that of the circuit court clerk until 1886, when J. H. Alexander, the present incumbent, was elected recorder. He assumed the duties of his office January 1, 1887.

The following is a list of the judges of the circuit court and also of the justices and judges of the county court. Of the latter the time that each individual officer actually served, as shown by the records, is given, and may not in all cases cover the whole time during whirl) they held offioe. Tim count I court whs sometimes composed of Beveral officers, only two or three of whom met to hold the sessions. The list bas been obtained by an actual and careful search of the records of the proceedings of the court

Probate Judges

In 1825 Gabriel P. Nash was appointed for four years by the Governor. Before the organization of the county court in 1821, the circuit court exercised probate jurisdiction, and from that time forward, excepting the administration of Judge Nash, the county court exercised probate jurisdiction until 1870, when the probate court, as it now exists, was created by law. Since then the judges have been Solomon R. Moxley, 1870-74; E. N. Bonfils, 1874-78; Benjamin W. Wheeler, 1878; re-elected in 1882, and again in 1886 - present incumbent.

Prosecuting Attorneys

Following are brief biographical sketches of many of the county officers, as given by Dr. Mudd in the county atlas, together with necessary changes and additions to make them complete at this time:

Increase Adams came from Maine. He conducted a mercantile business several years in Louisville, and left this county in 1860, to reside in Mexico, Audrian County, where he died June 5, 1874, aged about sixty -five years.

Joseph Benson Allen was born in Truxton, this county, December 12, 1841; commenced the practice of law in 1860; served in the Eighth Illinois Volunteers during the war. Now resides in Troy and is president of the Temperance Benevolent Association.

18-0; moved to St. Louis, July, 1842; to Lexington, Ky., in lMt>; graduated at Transylvania University, July, 1849; came the following month to St. Louis County, whore he taught school; came to Troy in May, 1852, and commenced the practice of law. Besides offices named above, wras probate clerk for four years preceding his election as judge, and held other positions of trust.

James H. Britton was born in Page County, Va., July 11, 1817. His early training wras in the mercantile business. He married in 1838, came to Troy in 1840, and commenced business. Besides the offices named he was for a time postmaster of TroyT; in 1848 he was secretary of the State Senate, and during the session of 1856-57 was chief clerk of the House of Representatives. In 1857 he was appointed cashier of the Southern Bank of St. Louis, and moved to that city; in 1864 he was elected its president. He held several other positions of trust, among them the office of president of the Life Association of America, and that of treasurer of the Illinois & St. Louis Bridge Company.

Warner Edward Brown was born in Union County, Ark., February 6, 1847; came to Wentzville in 1856; served in the Confederate army the latter part of the war. He graduated in medicine at Washington University, Baltimore, February 22, 1870, and located at Chain of Rocks. He abandoned the practice of medicine years ago and engaged in farming. He was commissioner of the Chain of Rocks bridge, and the principal originator of the project.

Francis C. Cake was born in Deerfield, Cumberland County, N. J., November 9, 1820, came to Troy October 16, 1840, and engaged in mercantile business until 1849. April 12 of that year he started to California by way of the plains, prospected from Nelson Creek in the northern mines to Sonora in the southern: was in Sacramento before there was a frame house erected in the city. He returned to Troy by way of Panama and New York. In 1857 he was appointed on the staff of Gov. Rob-

Richard Gladney was a native of South Carolina, and came to this county with his parents when quite young. He went to California in 1870, and shortly afterward died.

George Webb Huston was born April 18, 1810, in New Market, Shenandoah County, Va. He came to Troy in 1834, was elected State registrar of lands in 1856, and held the office for four years. He died in April, 1862.

John R. Knox was born in this county September 16, 1836, was admitted to the practice of law in 1859. He traveled for his health about three years prior to his death, which occurred in Austin, Tex., May 3, 1876.

Charles William Martin was born in Campbell County, Va., September 29, 1810. He came to this county in 1838. He died at his home, near Troy, July 14, 1888, in his seventy-eighth year.

Francis Parker was born in Windsor, Vi, April 27, 1797. His grandfather, William Parker, came from the county of Londonderry, Ireland, about the year 1750, settled at Londonderry, N. H., and served throughout the entire war of the Revolution.

in 1M 1; and in 1M7 lie came to Jonesboro, Union County, 111., whore lie held several important county offices, and where he married, in L S 11*, Miss Catharine Olapp, by whom lie had eight children. He came to this county in 1821, and married his second wife, Miss Sarah Cochran, of this county, in 1833. By reference to the list of county officers it will be seen that he was county clerk for thirty-two years, and circuit clerk for twentysix years. He died September 4, 1868. He was greatly esteemed as an honest, industrious and capable officer, and a sincere and earnest Christian.

Jonathan Riggs was a native of Campbell County, Ky., and the son of Rev. Bethuel Riggs, the first Baptist preacher of this county. He came to this county in 1812, and made an honorable record during the war. He married Miss Jane Shaw, by whom he had eleven children. After the war he settled north of the Cuivre, on the Troy and Auburn road, where he died in 1834. He was a brigadier-general of militia.

William Sitton, a brother of the preceding, was born April 26, 1778. He was a captain in the army during the War of 1812, and was at the battle of New Orleans. He died in 1865. The last vote he cast was for John C. Breckinridge, for president.

Hans Smith was a native of Pennsylvania, and came to this county in the summer of 1828, just two years before he was elected to the Legislature. He was a brilliant orator and a very popular man. He went to Arkansas in 1846 or 1847, and was shortly afterward elected to the State Senate. He finally went to Texas, engaged in mercantile business in Austin, and was drugged, robbed and murdered.

John Snethen was born in Estill County, Ky., and came with his father to Montgomery County in 1808. During the War of 1812 he was in the forts in Howard County, and went to school with Kit Carson. He married Miss Euphemia Wells, sister of Judge Carty Wells, by whom he had six children. He was a merchant of Troy for thirty-seven years.

David Stewart was born in Montgomery County, Ky., January 24, 1798 ; came to this State and settled near Palmyra in 1829, and came to this county the following year. He was a brigadier-general of the militia. He and his wife were both killed by a runaway horse attached to a buggy, while on their way to church at Louisville, on Sunday, June 11, 1871. He was a prosperous farmer, and enjoyed, to the day of his death, the confidence and esteem of all who knew him; he was a sincere Christian gentleman.

Robert Stewart came from North Carolina, and was an early settler; he accumulated considerable property and died in this county. Henry Watts was born in Kentucky, and at an early age came to this county. He was colonel of militia, and was under marching orders with his regiment in Gen. Jonathan Riggs' brigade for the Black Hawk War, in 1832. He died in 1840.

of Now Castle Academy nine months; went next year to Bedford County, and taught school. He came to Alexandria, in this county, in 1825 ; went to Jefferson County, Ky., in 1828, taught school one year, and returned in IH2\) to Troy, where he lived until his death, January 21, 1873. He was brother of Capt. Otis Wheeler. He held the office of justice of the peace from July 31, 1829, to within a week of his death, when he resigned it - a period of forty-four years. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College, both in law and literature, in the. class of 1818. John Wilson was born in Muirkirk, Prince George's Co., Md., and came with his parents to this county about 1856. He served in the Confederate army during the late war, and lost an arm in battle. He was a brother of Maj. James Wilson, of the Federal army, who was killed at Pilot Knob. He died in June, 1877, of consumption.

Richard Wommack was born in Halifax County, Ya., January 10, 1804, and departed this life at his residence in Lincoln County, March 25, 1880. He moved with his parents to Tennessee, where his father died, and from there moved with his mother to this county in October, 1823. He was married three times; first to Miss Cynthia Smiley; in 1831 to Mrs. Harriet Gilmore, and in 1873 to Mrs. Mary Morris; had ten children. He held prominent positions in public affairs ; was a liberal and public-spirited citizen, and lived an exemplary life. He held the office of assessor two terms, that of sheriff four terms, and that of representative in the Legislature four terms. Of him it can truthfully be said to all the world, with all that the language can imply, " This was a man."

Richard Henry Woolfolk was born in Jefferson County, Ky., in October, 1803; studied medicine in his native State, and came to Troy in 1825; established and maintained a good practice in this and St. Charles Counties for about twenty-five years. In May, 1828, he married Miss Helen B. Wells, sister to Judge Carty Wells. He died in this county.

Morgan Wright was born in Bourbon County, Ky., and came at an early day to this county ; he was a brother to the late Edward Thomas J. Wright; he married a daughter of Judge James Duncan, of this county, and died at his home in Clark Township about the year 1852.

For information concerning other prominent county officials the reader is referred to " bench and bar," and the biographical department of this work.