McDonald County, Missouri - Chapter 3: County Organization, 1897

Prior to 1833 Crawford county embraced all of Southwest Missouri. In that year Green county was organized and for two years Springfield was the county seat of the present area of McDonald county.

In 1835 Barry county was establishedwhich included all of the territory which is now Barry, McDonald, Newton, Jasper, Lawrence, Barton, Dade, and part of Cedar counties. After considerable strife over the location of the county seat, the town of Mount Pleasant was established and the county seat located there. It was about one and one-half miles west of the present site of Pierce City. In connection with this place we give the following interesting reminiscence which was published in the Newton County News in July 1896:

"Away back in the thirties Newton, as well as a number of other counties, was a part of Barry county and the county seat of Barry was Mt. Pleasant and was located about one and one-half miles west of Pierce City. The court house was built of logs. A fine spring was one of the at- tractions of this county seat. Barry county then embraced the large territory of what is now Barry Lawrence, Newton and McDonald counties, and a part or all of Jasper county. Capt. Ritchey, of Ritchey was born in thafc county seat and his father, the late Judge Ritchey, was elected constable the same day on the Democratic ticket. Newton county was cut off from Barry in 1837 and since that time McDonald county has been formed from part of Newton. The farm on which Mt. Pleasant was located was settled by an old gentleman known as Uncle Sampson Lanna. After Barry county had been divided up into other counties Mt. Pleasant was no more a county seat, and a man by the name of Wilds purchased the farm in 1870 and intended to build a castle above the spring, but through some misfortune he committed suicide and the castle was never built. Nothing remains now of the once county seat except the spring, which continues to furnish its pure beverage as when in days of yore the county officers quenched their thirst at its fountain. The train passes just by the old county seat spot now, but nothing can be seen but a big field of waving corn and shocks of wheat. ' '

The first session of the county court was held at Mount pleasant, February 16, 1835, and Barry county was divided into townships. Nearly all of the present limits of this county, also the southwest part of Newton county was designated as Elk River township. It was bounded as follows: Commencing at the southwest corner of the State thence north on the line between Missouri and the Indian Territory to the divide between Lost creek and Elk River, thence east on said divide to the line between Ranges 30 and 31, thence south to the State line, thence west on Arkansas line to the corner stone between Missouri and Arkansas. The remainder of this county, a strip eight and one-half miles wide off the east end, was included in Indian creek township, which also, embraced a considerable part of the present limits of Barry county. Thus we see that Elk River township has the distinction, by several years, of being the oldest township im the county. This section of country, however remained but a short time subject to the jurisdiction of Barry county. By an act of the State Legislature, December 31, 1838, Newton county was established, and McDonald became a part of that county. The boundary of Newton county extended two and one-half miles further east than our present line between this county and Barry, that is to the southwest corner of section 26. T.21. R. 29 thence north, instead of the center of section 33 as it now is. The north line was fixed on the section lines running due west to the Nation line from the intersection of the four corn-

Pursuant to the report of the commissioners and. the order of the county court, the town of Neosho was laid out in November, 1839 and the county seat established at that place. For the next decade this was a part of Newton county.

An act was passed March 3, 1849 providing for the establishment of McDonald county, and the organization was completed under that act, but was attached to Newton county for the purpose of electing a representative until 1857.

Considerable trouble was experienced in establishing the county seat, a more extended account of which will be given in the history of the towns. The commissioners to select a county seat were James Mayfield, Oliver Hickox and Joseph Pearson, of Newton county. They met at the house of J. C. McKay, which stood near the confluence of the two Sugar creeks, and his residence was designated as temporary court house. An election was called which resulted in the selection of Rutledge as the county seat where it remained until premanently located at Pineville in 1857. During this contention between the two rival towns two sets of officers were claiming title and rival courts were carried on, one at Pineville, the other at Rutledge.

The first election resulted in the selection of Murphy Brown of Rocky Comfort, John Oliver and Abram Testerman as county judges, Burton McGhee, clerk, A. A. Hensley, sheriff and Tillotson Pearson treasurer. These officers organized court at Rutledge in 1849, but Brown refused to take part in the transactions being of the opinion that the court should be held at Pineville. J. K. Mosier, William Duval, Jr., and Benjamin Cooper organized court at Pineville, which was then called Maryville. John B. King served as clerk, A. D. Flinn, sheriff and collector, and J. J. Hackney, treasurer. Court was held at J. C. McKay's residence, above mentioned. Little but trouble and confusion resulted from these rival courts and officers and many of the people refused to pay taxes until the dispute was finally settled a few years later. The transactions of the Pineville court were generally ignored, but according to the statement of some of the old residents, a few of the warrants were paid several years later. The circuit courts were held regularly at Rutledge. The first set of county judges were succeeded by A. Z. Holcomb and William Moffett, Testerman succeeding himself. Moffett served two terms. Joshua Wimpey, also, served as judge about this time, but I have not been able to get the names of any others.

McDonald county was attached to Newton county for legislative purposes until 1856. In that year an election was held and Thomas Jones was elected as the first member of the House of Eepresentatives from McDonald county. Burton McGhee was his opponent in the race. Jones died at Jefferson City the next year and Smith Elkins was elected to fill the vacancy.

In 1858 Smith Elkins was a candidate for reelection, his competitors for legislative honors being Dr. Wm. C. Duval, Claudius B. Walker and Moses Pollard. The first three were Democrats and Pollard a Know Nothing. Dr. Duval was elected by forty-five plurality. In 1860 he was again elected by a majority of 145, his opponent being James A. Scott. The doctor threw all of his influence while in the legislature against secession until May 10, 1861, when he followed the majority of his party in casting their lot with the Southern Confederacy. He attended the legislature in their assembly at Neosho and took part in the proceedings, but was never connected with the Southern army except as a surgeon.

Burton McGhee served as clerk until 1854 when he was succeeded by A. A. Hensley, who was reelected in 1858 and held the office until the county government was suspended by the Civil War. Hensley was sheriff and collector between 1849 and 1854. W. C. Price served one or two terms, about this time, and Demps Lauderdale occupied the office when the war broke out. He became a Captain in the Confederate army -and died during the war of consumption. Joseph Hackney, Sr., was treasurer at Pineville, and Tillotson Pearson, at Rutledge. J. P. La- Mance held the office one or two terms before the war.

From the entries made immediately after the war, and from the statements of the older inhabitants, it appears that the county was divided into seven municipal townships, as follows: Buffalo, Cooper, Elk River, Pinevile, Richwood, Rutledge, White Rock. It is not possible to get the metes and bouuds of the old divisions, but from the best information Buffalo was located somewhat as at present occupying the northwest corner of the county, Cooper embraced the ^southwest corner. Elk River and Rutledge covered substantialy the present limits of Elk River, Mc Millin and Prairie; Pineville, the central part, Richwood the northwest, and White Rock was practically as at present.

This closes the history of our county up to the beginning of the Civil War, and contains as complete a list of the county officers and the leading events as it is possible to obtain. In 1863 the court house was burnt and nearly all therec- ords destroyed, so that the chief source of information is that derived from the old settlers who located here years before the war, and on whose memory those old days and scenes of long ago are indelibly impressed. In a few years more those old residents will have passed away and their descendants will turn with pride to the works of history that have collated and preserved for all future time these interesting reminiscences of men and times long past.

The people who had located here were generally from the south, more being from Tennessee than any other one state, and had brought with them the manners and customs peculiar to those localities. They lived in primitive style, compared to the present, and were nearly selfsustaining. A cook stove was a rare exception, nearly every one cooking by the fire place and oven. This, by the way, was not so inconvenient as might be imagined. Many a delicious "pone", rare venison saddle and luscious gobbler has been cooked in this way, and the smell that ascended to heaven was enough to tempt the appetites of the gods.

A sewing machine had never been heard of, while the clank of the loom and humming of the wheel furnished music almost as sweet, and more homelike, than our present organs and pianos. The oldfashioned linchpin wagons, with the box shaped like a canoe, many with wooden spindles, could be heard for miles as they groaned and screaked over the rocky roads. They raised their own cotton and wool, spun and wove it into cloth and made their own garments. The latter was the women's work. Of course every family cultivated enough tobacco for home consumption. Wheat and corn were produced and, as we have seen, there were a number of mills to do the grinding. Distilleries were quite numerous and manufactured the pure and unadulterated corn juice at twenty-five cents a gallon. The good people, both saints and sinners, could take their corn to the still and lay in a good supply of the great household panacea without a cent of cash. One didn't have to get ' 'sick" and tell a lie and sign his name to it, then get a doctor to tell one and sign his name to it in order to get a drink of a decoction miscalled whisky. No, he just followed the injunction of St. Paul, and took a little for his stomach's sake, and his oft infirmities, and of a quality that would have met the approval of that learned apostle. In this new country subject to chills and malaria, and the scarcity of doctors and drugs, no doubt this pure liquor drove disease and death from many a home.

directly from the mast, while deer, turkey and other game were found in abundance. As to shoes, every neighborhood had a tannery and every man was a shoemaker. One man told me that his father said his store bill before the war did not average more than five dollars a year. His family was quite large, and they lived comfortably. Instead of doing without, they simply produced what was required. It is by no means intended to convey the idea that all the people were poor or lived so plainly. Many families were quite aristocratic, had well furnished houses, and gold watches and jewelry were worn quite extensively. Several parties owned slaves and carried on quite extensive plantations. Almost any McDonald county farmer, along in the fifties could raise a hundred dollars any day, and real estate mortgages were unknown. People were honest in their dealings and paid their debts, and the latch string to every cabin hung on the outside. People were hospitable, extremely so. Partly because it was born and bred in them, partly because, being isolated, and the settlements scarce and far between, it was regarded as a treat to have a neighbor or stranger stop to dinner or over night. The familiar "Halloa, stranger, git down an' hitch yer hoss, and come in 'nstay all night. The ole woman T have supper drecly. Boys, take the critter and feed it, ' ' has greeted the ears of many a weary traveler, and he would rest as secure as tho' guarded by a regiment of soldiers. Those are days to be remembered with pleasure; A bright period in the history of our county.

But the question is asked, how did they make any money? As before stated, there were but few families in the county, and their farms were very productive. The range was exceedingly fine, and all kinds of stock could be raised with little or no outlay. A farmer could gather up his hogs and cattle in the spring after the grass was good, and drive them to St. Louis. There was range all the way and it mattered little that it took a long time to make the journey. What his produce brought was clear profit. He frequently returned with several hundred dollars. Horses were raised and taken directly to the southern market where they would bring from $75 to $100. Thus an industrious man could soon acquire quite a snug sum of money.