Linn County, Missouri - Chapter 14, 1912

Human Interest Chapter - A Red-Hot "Hoss" Race - Mr. Alexander's Game Ride - A "Hair Finish" - Famous Statesman - Benton and Linn - Mrs. Linn's Presentiment Saves Husband's Life - Sketch of Benton - His Visit to Linneus - He Answers a Question - "Give the Boys a Chance!" - The Duel With Lucas - Thirty Years in Congress - Humor of the Court - A Wise Janitor - Argued With a Juryman - First Execution in Linn County - End of "Tennessee Tom" - A Haunted Locality - The Howell Case - "The Taylor Boys" - (See History of Browning).

The people of the pioneer days were great lovers of sport. They didn't have football and baseball and theaters and things of that character, but they had other features that sent the red blood surging through their veins, and were fully as satisfactory to them as some of the latter day diversions are to the people now on earth. There was cock fighting, archery tournaments, foot races and occasionally a good old-fashioned fist fight. These events would be announced beforehand and they would serve to bring the farmers in for many miles around. But the kingly amusement of the day was a horse race. Some man would get hold of a runner that could beat everything in his neighborhood. If a horse were developed that could beat auy animal in the county that meant a great deal of fame for its owner. But as certain as night followed day the next county would bring out a good horse, and then there would be fun for the jDioneers. In those days, while money was not very plentiful, it was the habit of the people, young and old, to wager all they could afford on the result of the race. As a rule some straight stretch of ground, a quarter or a half mile long, was selected as the course. This would be carefully rolled and sometimes ropes would be put up along the course to keep the crowd from surging out in front of the horses. There would be two judges at each end of the course. If the jockies or riders signalled "go" the judges at the starting point figured on what the distance might be between the horses there and what it was at the end of the course, and this discrepancy at the start was deducted at the end.

A noted race was pulled off at Linneiis in the summer of 1852. Quite a lot of people had settled about Linneus then and the race brought visitors from far and near. One of the horses was a black mare owned by Willis Park. The animal was ridden by Bill Alexander, the famous horseman, who is now about eighty-four years old and is living in Oregon.

Weldon was a small man, with sharp, earnest features, pretty close to seventy years of age, but full of vitality and as enthusiastic over a horse race as a youngster. Weldon was confident that his horse would win with a fair deal, but was afraid if he trusted it to a jocky that the rider might "throw off" on the race.

Weldon 's horse was heavily backed by the men who came from Livingston and Daviess counties. The black horse was the favorite of the people from Linn, Chariton and Macon counties. Well-to-do people bet thousands of dollars on the result, and boys bet half dollars, quarters, horse whips, spurs or anything they had. The course was about 600 yards, laid off and managed in the method described. It happened that the two eager horses and riders secured a "nose to nose" start. Great cheers ascended from the throats of the big crowd. Everybody at the starting end rushed pell-mell along withthe horses, who kept almost squarely abreast until nearly under the wire, when Alexander dropped his reins, leaned forward and gave the black mare the spurs as far as they would go in. The frightened animal made a mighty leap forward, which caused it to beat the sorrel horse by just a half a head as it passed the judges.

A terrific roar went up from the crowd. Hats were thrown in the air and the winners danced for joy. The crowd swarmed around Alexander and his black racer. Many men threw their arms around the horse 's neck, and were extravagant in their expressions of delight.

Although it was the greatest race ever run in north Missouri there was no contest over the result. It was admitted that both riders had ridden fairly and showed themselves to be expert managers of race horses. Alexander, by a little strategy, had succeeded in coming in just ahead and the way he did it was regarded as entirely fair. Weldon also received enthusiastic congratulations because of his plucky ride and was almost as much of a hero that day as Alexander.

Barton, Benton, Linn and Vest were among the United States senators from Missouri about whom the old-timers never tire of telling stories. The campaigns and speeches are the subjects of frequent dis- cussion among the older politicians of the state. Here is a storj- that came down from the early days to Walter Williams, dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, and as its subject was Senator Lewis F. Linn, for whom Linn county was named, it will be pertinent to tliis history. As will be noticed in the biographical sketch of Senator Linn in this volume, he began his career by practicing medicine and was called Dr. Linn. Mr. William 's story of Dr. Linn is as follows :

"It may not have been fifty years ago," said a gentleman whose years did not seem to warrant the belief that he was in active life much longer than fifty years ago, "and it may have been longer when Dr. Linn was the colleague of Colonel Benton in the United States Senate. I was reminded by a chance circumstance in which he and Mrs. Lynn played a part. She, like her husband, was a great favorite for many years in Washington society and deservedly so - not more on account of her personal attractions than her intellectual qualities. On the occasion when the incident to which I have referred occurred Senator and Mrs. Linn were to be guests at a formal dinner by the president at the White House. Early in the evening Dr. Linn, feeling somewhat ill, concluded to remain in his lodgings. Mr. Webster called at the moment. He was requested to escort Mrs. Linn and convey to the president his regrets as not being able to be one of his guests. At the proper hour Mrs. Linn, escorted by Mr. Webster, was conveyed in her carriage to the WTiite House. The company had not long been seated at the table when Mrs. Linn remarked to Mr. Webster, by whose side she was seated, that she feared she had not done right in leaving the doctor, and that she felt an inclination, if she could do so without marring the occasion, to return to her hotel. Mr. Webster made some observation designed to dissuade her from departing then, saying that if she felt so disposed she could leave at an earlier hour than tlie rest of the company.

"So strongly did the impulse grow on her that soon after she made it known to Mr. Webster and so urgent was she that he did as she requested and quietly made known to the president her wishes. Mr. Webster accompamed her to the carriage, and at her request, returned to the table. Her instruction to the driver was to proceed rapidly to her home, and twice on her way she enjoined him to drive faster. Arriving at the spot, without waiting for the groom to open the carriage door, she in the quickest manner opened it herself and sprang to the room where she had left her husband. As she entered she beheld her husband on the bed and the clothing in flames. A moment more would have been too late. Dr. Linn was in a stupor and in some manner, which was never perfectly explained, the bedclothes had taken fire. He was ill for a number of days. His life was saved, apparently, through his wife's presentiment, which I think was as remarkable as any on record. Mrs. Linn related the facts to Mr. Webster in my presence on his calling the next morning. His observations after Mrs. Linn had finished the narration of her first impulse to leave the president's table, her struggle to repress it, the growth of the presentiment till it overmastered her, the ride homeward, her anxiety for greater haste, her bursting into the room, her husband's danger and rescue - to which Mr. Webster listened with absorbing attention - were characteristics of the man - solemn and impressive beyond my ability to repeat."

In the summer of 1856 Hon. Thomas H. Benton made a campaign tour in northern Missouri, speaking at Bloomington, Macon county, Linneus, in Linn county, and other places. It was the last political campaign of the famous statesman. He was running for governor. Benton's opponents were Trusten Polk, the Democratic candidate, and Eobert C. Ewing, the Whig candidate. While Benton found many friends in Linn county, he also run across many who were opposed to him. Polk was elected. Edward Hoyle was the host of Benton during his visit to Linn county.

Walter Williams, dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, says of Benton: "All in all, Benton was the greatest man Missouii has produced. ' '

The following sketch, compiled from interviews with men who have met Benton, and from other sources, will give the generation of today some idea of the man who did so much for the history of Missouri :

Thomas Hart Benton died April 10, 1858, at the age of seventysix. His remains lie in one of the large cemeteries at St. Louis. No Missouri statesman since Benton's time has exerted as great an influence upon the nation. He stood in a class by himself. It was his boast that he was not like other men. Had he lived in Cromwell's time and in his country there would have been a titanic struggle between Benton and the great Puritan for leadership. They were alike in some respects. Each thought himself called by a high destiny to do a great work that no other hand could do. Each was imperious, dominating, irascible when contradicted or opposed. Each thought his personal enemies men who were actuated by evil spirits, opposers of the Lord.

parts of Missouri, as have been suggested, bitter antagonism towards him. Everybody liked to hear Benton, but he had arrived at that stage of his career when everybody did not agree with him. There was a marked feeling of hostility against him at Bloomington, the adjoining county seat in Macon county. It is possible the great statesman felt it. But he never feared a hostile crowd. Benton was a fighter in every sense of the word. He was in a rough-and-tumble melee on the streets of Nashville, where knives and pistols were used. When the smoke of combat cleared away it was found that General Jackson had been shot in the shoulder, Jesse Benton had been severely stabbed. Thomas Benton had been stabbed and thrown down a stairway and others, including the "innocent bystander," carried marks of the deadly encounter.

"Citizens!" cried Benton to his Bloomington hearers, "you have heard in these latter days some talk about ' anti-Benton ! ' Well, I have read somewhere of ' anti-Christ ! ' And Benton is here to tell you that he never entertained a high opinion of the antis!"

There was a pugnacious woodsman in the audience and he wasn't afraid to ask the lion-like statesman a question. He had journeyed a long ways for the purpose. Pushing through the big crowd he made his way right up to the stand where Benton was spouting tire and ashes like a volcano, and pointing a long, skinny forefinger fiercely, cried :

' ' I understand, sir, that you voted for the Wilmot proviso. Now, my people sent me fifty miles today to ask you if that was so. I want to carry back home with me a straight-out answer, yes or no!"

The crowd became silent. There were others who wanted to hear the answer to that significant question. Benton drew a long breath and roared back:

"You want a straight-out answer, sir, and you shall have it! Benton is not ashamed of anything he ever did in the halls of legislation. Go home, sir, and tell your people that Benton was not in the house the day the vote was taken, but he left a speech to be read before the body, and that speech of Benton's killed it, sir - killed it dead!

The crowd about the stand was so dense that some boys were unable to get close enough to see. Benton, always alert, noticed this and exclaimed:

"Stand back, you old men, and give the boys a chance! It will be something for them to tell their posterity that they have seen and shaken hands with Benton!"

Senator Benton survived his defeat for governor two years. He devoted that time to literary work relating to his experience in the senate and his observations of governmental affairs. North Carolina was his native state. There he was born March 14, 1782. When he was a boy of eight Benton's father died, and a few years later the family removed to Tennessee, near Franklin. In later years a great battle was fought there between the national forces and the Confederates, and many Missouri soldiers were in the fray.

It was while living at Franklin that young Benton rebelled against farm life, and began the study of law. While absorbing Blackstone, Benton established himself in a cave on his mother's farm and applied himself so assiduously to his book that he often failed to appear at meal time.

The affair at Nashville, referred to above, ruined Benton's prospects in Tennessee. A few months after it occurred he was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the United States army, and left for sei-vice in Canada. The early declaration of peace led to his resignation and return. Two years later he arrived in St. Louis, and ever after called that city his home.

Benton immediately became active in public affairs, and to further his ambitions he founded a newspaper known as The Missouri Inquirer. In this he persistently demanded statehood for Missouri, and, incidentally, flayed persons who had won his antagonism, a characteristic that followed him all throiigh life. One particular enemy he stirred up was Charles Lucas, and eventually there were two duels fought by Benton and Lucas on "Bloody Island," a place of many duels. The second encoimter resulted in Lucas ' death in 1817.

With Senator Benton's arrival at the national capital his real career began. He was in an atmosphere that accorded with his ambitions. He began to do things, and was immediately recognized as one of the really great men of the time. For five full terms, or thirty years, he represented Missouri uninterruptedly in the National congress in a way that permitted neither his constituents at home nor the country at large to forget him for one single moment. Young, strong and courageous, and from a new, far Western state, Benton brought to the staid, bewigged old senators of the East the vitalizing atmosphere of a region destined to become the greatest in the nation.

Maj. A. W. Mullins furnished the compiler of this history with this curious incident which occurred in a court of the old Eleventh Judicial Circuit: county seat. He was intensely interested in all manner of court proceedings, and never hesitated to ask questions when he wanted to know anything. The expressions of a jury were a favorite study to Tom, and he could tell almost to a certainty by them how a case would go. Tom seemed to feel it as a part of his official duties to keep tab on matters, and the lawyers would ask him all sorts of questions about trials in which they were engaged, and Tom would answer them with the gravity of a United States senator. He was never slack in his real duties of keeping the fire going, the windows washed and the floor swept up, but he seemed to find plenty of time to learn all there was to know about the case.

"It was at a time when Judge Burgess was on the bench. I was defending a man for murder. The circumstances were such as to elicit the greatest interest throughout the county. It seems the defendant had caught a man visiting his wife and had immediately armed himself with the old-fashioned rectifier of domestic troubles, a double-barrelled shotgun, and with it had blown a hole through the head of the Lothario.

"The unwritten law wasn't quite as famous in Missouri at that time as it became later on, and some features of this case made it a rather serious one for my client. Of course, we hoped for an acquittal, but there was a very grave doubt. I went to Tom after the e^^.dence was all in and asked him what he thought about the case.

' ' The jury was out three days. I had several talks with my friend Tom, and while he always frankly admitted that it was a very grave situation, yet he insisted that in the end the defendant would be acquitted. I wondered from whence came his confidence, but did not ask. Towards the close of the third day Tom came to me in high spirits.

"Inside of five minutes there was a knock on the jury room door and that sinister signal that means so much for weal or woe. Tom was way up at the front grinning with confidence. I took hope from the expression of his face. Sure enough the jury reported in our favor. Our man was acquitted, just as Janitor Tom had confidently announced he would be. I confess that my curiosity was keenly aroused. I hunted up Tom to learn how it all happened.

and waited until I got a chance to talk to him. You see, he was the fellow who was hanging 'em up. I got him out to one side this noon and told him what an awful shame it would be to have to try this case again. That me and the judge and the other tax-payers would have to put up the money and that we couldn't stand the expense. I told him that the fellow what was killed got about what was coming to him anyhow; that I had known him a long time and that he was a worthless cuss and a good deal better off where he was than if he had been upon earth among decent people. He saw that I was talking sense, and as he is a pretty level headed fellow he told me he guessed he'd give in. I didn't promise him anything, but if you would like to give him a few cigars sometime I am certain that he would appreciate it.' "

The first execution in Linn county occurred in July, 1866. Judge Lynch presided. The culprit was a young negro who had recently come from Saline county. His name in Linneus was "Tennessee Tom," Tennessee being his native state. The \dctim was a little school girl, who told what had happened, and in a short time afterwards indignant men left their work and searched the coimtry for the black man. "Tennessee Tom" was apprehended in a few hours, taken to the court room, along with a number of other negroes, and identified by his victim.

He had also been seen by others. The general sentiment was in favor of immediate punishment. Some citizens, however, advised that the negro be turned over to the authorities and dealt with through the channels of the law. The feeling was too bitter to follow this course and "Tennessee Tom" was marched over to a grove in the eastern part of town, one end of a rope tied about his neck and the other thrown over the limb of a tree. There was a short shift and the black man's body was soon quivering in death. The body hung until nightfall, when some negroes took it down and buried it. "Tennessee Tom" protested his innocence to the last and yet he seemed rather indifferent to his fate.

The tree on which the negro was hung died soon after the execution, and many superstitious ones regarded it with awe. For a long time afterwards the negroes avoided the place after dark. Each ghost that appeared to a negro was said to emanate from the sinister spot where "Tennessee Tom" met his dramatic end.

Next to the Taylor case the killing of Mrs. Minnie Hall and her four children the night of January 19, 1899, was the most sensational. Mrs. Hall lived with her children in a cottage about five miles southwest of Brookfield. On the night mentioned her house was discovered to be on fire. Neighbors rushed to the rescue and found Mrs. Hall and her children in the mass of flames dead. Nettie, the oldest girl, had marks indicating she had been struck by a blunt instrument. Some one noticed there were tracks in the snow. These tracks were followed. They lead direct to Brookfield and around the railroad yards, and from there to the Babb Hotel. The party following the tracks entered the hotel and found Joseph A. Howell, a cousin of Mrs. Hall, just ready to retire. He was arrested and taken to the Linneus jail. Evidence began to shape up against him, and he was charged with the murder of little Nettie. Howell had taught school at Prairie Mound, and was regarded as a man of good education and integrity. He had well-to-do folks near Ironton, Ohio. Maj. A. W. Mullins, of Linneus; O. F. Libby, of Laclede, and T. M. Brinkley, of Brookfield, were employed to defend the accused. C. C. Bigger, prosecuting attorney of Linn county, was assisted by A. W. Myers, an experienced lawyer of Brookfield. The trial was at Linneus. It attracted great attention. At every session the hall where court was held was taxed to accommodate the crowd. Howell was found guilty and sentenced

Before the next trial there was a change of venue to Trenton. T. M. Bresnehen had succeeded Mr. Bigger as prosecuting attorney and had charge of the ease for the state. Mr. Bigger and Mr. Myers, however, were still retained to assist the prosecution, and Judge George Hall and 0. G. Bain of Trenton added to the state's force. The defense was reinforced by the law firm of Harber & Knight, of Trenton. At the first trial at Trenton there was a hung jury, but at the next trial Howell was convicted and again sentenced to death. The ease went to the supreme court again, but this time the lower court was affirmed and the execution of Howell followed.