Pettis County, Missouri - Chapter 15: Cedar Township, 1919

The name Cedar was applied to this township in the summer of 1877, probably, on account of the cedar shrubs which grew abundantly on Cedar Bluff, near the junction of Cedar Creek and Muddy. The township perpetuates the shrubs that once grew abundantly on the hillsides. The Lexington branch of the Missouri Pacific railroad runs north through the western part of this township.

Cedar township contains 19,200 acres and lies in township 46, range 21, and is bounded on the north by Longwood and Hughesville, on the east by Bowling Green, on the south by Sedalia, and on the west by Dres¬ den. Prior to 1872 this was included in Mt. Sterling township.

The Legislature of Missouri, at its adjourned session, 1872, passed a law which was approved March 18, 1872, allowing counties the right to adopt township organizations, giving the County Court power to divide the counties into townships.

After the township law was repealed, in 1877, the County Court ordered that the municipal townships remain as they were, and that they be named instead of numbered, and on the seventeenth day of July, 1877, this township was named Cedar, and bears the name to the present time. The voting precinct is at Georgetown.

The largest stream is the Muddy, which rises in the southwest part of the township, making many turns in its course as it flows in a north¬ easterly direction. Smelser flows from the northwest and unites with the Muddy in the northern part of section 4. This creek bears the name of one of the pioneer settlers, whose daughters cleared a small farm in the woods. Brushy is the name of a small stream in the southwestern part of the township, which takes its name from the abundance of brush along its course. Big Cedar is in the southeastern part of the township, and flows northwest until it reaches a point north of the old village of Georgetown, where it flows north until it unites with the Muddy. The little stream is quite shallow and contains some beautiful shoals. Little Cedar rises near the northern limits of Sedalia and flows north, uniting with Big Cedar just north of Georgetown. Reed's Branch rises near the eastern part of the township and flows northwest and unites with the Muddy in the southern part of section four.

The greater part of the township was at an early day brush and tim¬ ber. Wheat and corn yields annually a good crop on this soil. The prairie land lies principally in the southern and eastern parts. The soil is generally of a black mulatto loam and much heavier than the timbered soil. Blue grass grows abundantly on both soils, and large flocks of sheep graze on this grass the greater part of the year without any additional food.

The following is a list of the early settlers who were here prior to the organization of the county: Richard Hurt, W. W. Cross, George McClure, Henry Rector, Capt. O. Kidd, Amos Fristoe, Col. Chas. Cravens, Hiram Scott, John Ellis, Richard Bird, Bethel Allen, Thomas Ferguson, J. W. Beaman, Thomas Beaman, Wm. O'Brien, James Anderson, John O'Bannon, Martin Sitton, Thomas Wasson, James Ramey, W. K. Ramey, Thomas Martin, Henry Rains and Reuben E. Gentry. The last named gentleman came to this neighborhood prior to the formation of Missouri as a State. The early settlers held the first courts and transacted all their legal business at a place on Muddy, called "Pin Hook." It was first called by this name by an early adventurer from Tennessee, who said it resembled a hard place in his native state by that name. Pin Hook was the center of the first settlement of the county and was for a time the county seat. Here the first courts were held in an old building joined to a log cabin which was used for a store. The first store was kept here by Messrs. Marmaduke and Sappington, after which Clifton and Watson Woods kept the store in the same house until they moved their goods to the village of Georgetown. In those days there was but little demand for doctors. The first person who dared to practice the healing art was a pretender by the name of Doctor Bidstrap, a Dane.

The first marriage of this old settlement was in the winter of 1821, Miss Malinda Ramey to Thomas Brock. The first death was that of Thomas Brock in 1822.

Some of the first physicians of the township were Doctors Wilkins Watkins, Thomas Steeples, William J. Westefield, Montgomery, Bell and Carter.

G. Heard was the first teacher in the township. Milton Thomson taught the second school, in the house of Reuben E. Gentry. After this he taught several terms in a log cabin. Mr. Thomson was educated at West Point. For several years good select schools were supported by the citizens at Georgetown. There were several public schools supported in the township. This first county fair was held in Maj. Wm. Gentry's pas¬ ture in 1857 ; Col. Thomas Houston, president, and John F. Philips, sec¬ retary. This was the initiation of county fairs.

Many of the early settlers may be known by their early land entries. The following is a partial list of the original entries. Reuben E. Gentry entered the northeast quarter of section 11, George R. Smith entered the northeast quarter of section 10, Warren Reavis entered the northeast quarter of section 5, David Thomson entered the southwest quarter of section 7, James Ramey entered the northeast quarter of section 20, Mentor Thomson entered the west half of the southeast quarter of section 29, William Gentry entered the east half of the southeast quarter of sec¬ tion 29, Milton Thomson entered the northwest quarter of section 26, James Brown entered the northeast quarter of section 14, Solomon Reed entered the east half of the southwest quarter of section 10, Zadok Powell entered the east half of the northwest quarter of section 19, George Heard entered the west half of the southwest quarter of section 20,

Here the first churches of the county were organized. These primi¬ tive Christian people were plain in their worship, meeting often in dwell¬ ings or in the groves.

The first church organization effected was Calvinistic Baptist in faith. Elders Jacob Chism and Wm. Jennings were the pioneer ministers who organized this church.

Solomon Reed sold an acre of ground to church people for six dollars. They built a log cabin on the land and called it West Liberty Church. This building was free for all denominations. Revs. Finis Ewing, Rook¬ ing and McCorkle held revival services successfully in this old log cabin church. Elder Allen Wright taught the reformation introduced by Alex¬ ander Campbell. It was through the efforts of this man that the Chris¬ tian Church was organized at Georgetown. This organization was the first of its faith in Pettis County and from this church sprang the others in the county.

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Georgetown was organized by Rev. Oeschsli in 1866. He and Revs. S. Alexander, A. P. Salloway and Hanson were the early ministers.

The churches of the present day in Cedar township are as follows: Bethany Baptist, in Georgetown. It was organized in February, 1887, in a school house. Rev. J. D. Bryant is the present minister. The build¬ ing is a frame, fifty by thirty feet, and is worth about $1,000. Present membership is fifteen. This congregation has a Sunday school with an attendance of twenty-five.

The Georgetown Methodist Church is located on Boonville and Spring Street. This is one of the old churches of the county, the church organ¬ ized in an old brick building built by Absolam McVey, who burned the brick and lime himself. This building was erected in 1852 and was used for lodge and school purposes also. Building was built by subscription, one of which was ten pounds of beeswax. Church has a good member¬ ship and Sunday school has six classes and six teachers, an enrollment of sixty with average attendance of forty.

Mount Harrison, a Union Church, situated five miles north of Sedalia, has a fair attendance. Rev. Dinwiddie, is serving, at present, as pastor. Building is a good frame, with a seating capacity of about 200. Sunday school is regularly attended with membership of about thirty.

Cedar has one German Lutheran Church, located on the north end of the township. The building is a substantial frame, well built, equipped and cared for. The membership is 100 with Sunday school attendance of 120.

Cedar has kept pace with other townships in the county in her public schools. The buildings are well built and cared for, the children are well disciplined and thoroughly taught. There are five public schools in the township. Sunny Side has an enrollment of eighteen and Beulah Luther is the teacher. Tangle Nook enrolled twenty-four pupils this year and Ruth Burford is teaching the school. Georgetown has an en¬ rollment of fifty-four and Leota Alexander is the teacher. Smelser en¬ rolled, this September, twenty-three, and Naomi Walch is the teacher. Bothwell enrolled twenty-three and Mary L. Witt is the teacher. This is the latest school house built in the township and bears the name of one of our distinguished citizens, a lawyer, John H. Bothwell. There is a residence on the school grounds, in addition to the school house, for the teacher.

Cedar is hardly an average agricultural township. Its lands are more broken than the other townships of the county, are hilly and rocky. The bottom lands, however, are the rich lands of the county. Wheat, corn and other small grain is successfully raised. It is a good stock-raising district. All of the farmers raise sheep, cattle and hogs.

This township has one of the leading stock farms in Missouri and one which compares favorably with any other in the United States. It is a 520-acre tract of land, the home of N. H. Gentry, known as "Wood Dale Farm." Mr. Gentry raises nothing but thoroughbred stock. He is the originator of the Berkshire hog in Missouri. When a mere boy he read of this wonderful hog and told his mother he was going back to Kentucky and buy the best stock he could find. He did so and began breeding this hog in Pettis County on Wood Dale Farm. His success has been remarkable. The swine from this herd, exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, were awarded more prizes and more money than those of any other herd of any other breed. Mr. Gentry has had equal success with thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle and Merino sheep.

much beautiful natural scenery in Pettis County it was not appreciated and preserved for use and enjoyment by the pioneer settlers or by the later inhabitants, and generally, the fine groves and woods were cut away and the cliffs of rock quarries for the stone used for bridges, roads and foundations.

A notable exception is found in the bold, picturesque bluffs and beautiful woods at the Both well Lodge on Stonyridge Farm, six miles directly north of Sedalia.

This property, in a wild condition, was acquired by John H. Bothwell, a prominent lawyer and business man, who has had much to do with Sedalia's development for the past fifty years. He soon began to improve the property, but with constant and thoughtful attention to the preserva¬ tion and the growth of vines, trees, undergrowth and wild flowers and to the protection of the rocky cliffs, caves and other unusual picturesque features of the place. During the year of 1897 a frame cottage, for a tenant or care taker, w'as erected, and a barn with stables was built and the stone walls for the first two-story building of the Lodge were constructed and in 1898 the building was completed.

For the following twenty years the Lodge and its environs called Stonyridge Farm were used by Mr. Bothwell and his friends as a retreat from city life and business cares, and the picturesque beauty and grand view of the place made it so attractive that visitors and sight-seers came from near and far to view and enjoy.

The Guest's Register, at Bothwell Lodge, contains the names of many hundreds of guests - registered from thirty-six states and some from foreign countries - who have been entertained there within the twenty years, from 1898 to 1918, and the simple hospitality extended to all friends and guests has made the social life there quite notable.

Since the years of first construction work there has been continuous improvement of the property. The roads and paths on the farm and the approaches to the Lodge have been continuously improved; new build¬ ings have been erected for the farmer's use ; and in 1913 and 1914, there was constructed a fine, three-story, stone building as an addition to the Lodge located about seventy feet westward from the first building, with a connecting terrace and stone pergola.

In 1918 there has been erected a fine stone garage at the Lodge and other attractive structures have been erected at different times. The property has been equipped with water works, electric and gas sys-

The making of a good rock road from Sedalia and the construction of a concrete bridge across Cedar Creek, by the public, and the building of the fine little school house and teacher's cottage near the Lodge, by Mr. Bothwell, have made the valley and ridges about Stonyridge Farm most accessible and attractive, and all who visit or who drive through the valley are interested in the bold ridge, the dense green woods and the picturesque buildings on the edge of the bluff at Bothwell Lodge.