Randolph County, Missouri - Chapter 15: Townships, Continued, 1920

Jackson township is the middle township on the northern border of the county. It is somewhat irregular in shape, and is less in size than a congressional township, having an area of 17,400 acres, or 271/2 square miles. It is watered on the west by the East fork of the Chariton and Walnut creek, and on the east by Hoover and Mud creeks. Almost every acre of the soil is susceptible of cultivation. Prairie and timber land are about equal. Its valuable minerals consist of coal, limestone and fire clay. The farms generally are in good condition. The prairie is undulating, and in its wild state, produce a strong, healthy and vigorous growth of native grasses. In a state of cultivation it yields generously to the care and culture of the husbandman, all the grains, grasses, roots and fruits usually cultivated in this latitude.

The early settlers in Jackson township settled generally along the course of the streams, and in the timber ; in fact the pioneers throughout this Western country all sought the timber and water. The prairies were not settled until many years had passed. Many of the pioneers were poor, and did not have teams sufficient to break the prairie, as it required from three to four good yoke of oxen to draw the plow, and coming as they did from Kentucky and other States, which were originally covered with dense forests, they naturally located conveniently near to or in the timber. The old settlers now say, the prairie land has undergone a great change since they first came to the county; it then appeared to be of a cold, wet, and clammy nature, and did not possess the same productive quality that it now has. As the country became opened and settled, and the prairie were grazed and trodden by stock, their productive qualities were greatly improved until they are now considered the better farming lands.

Jackson township is not so well watered naturally as some other townships. The streams generally vein the western and southeastern portion of it. Walnut creek, the East fork of the Chariton River, Hoover and Mud creeks, and their tributaries, all take their rise in this township, and all flow southwest and southeast excepting Hoover creek, which flows northeast.

The early settlers included some of the following names: Henry Owens, from Kentucky; Isaac Reynolds, from Kentucky; John Coulter, from Kentucky; Robert Stevens, from Kentucky; William McCanne, from Kentucky; H. J. McCanne, from Kentucky; Thomas McCanne, from Kentucky; Nathaniel Sims, from Kentucky; Benj. Poison, from Kentucky; James W. Lamb, from Kentucky ; Milton Durham, from Kentucky ; Stokely W. Towles, from Kentucky; Leonard Hill, from Virginia; John Hore, from Virginia; George W. Hore, from Virginia; David McCanne, from North Carolina ; L. C. Davis, from North Carolina ; Jonathan Hunt, from Virginia ; John Ancell, from Virginia ; Frank Ancell, from Virginia ; C. F. Burckhartt, from Virginia; Frank Sims, from Tennessee; William Bailey, from Tennessee; John H. Penny, from Virginia.

Among the oldest settlers were Henry Owens and James W. Lamb. Mr. Lamb came in November, 1837, from Casey County, Kentucky, and followed farming and later kept a hotel in the town of Jacksonville. In 1837 there were no settlements on the prairie. A road ran north and south through the township, called the "Bee Trace," so called from the fact that it was the route traveled by the old pioneers who hunted wild honey, which was worth at that time twenty cents a gallon.

Mr. Lamb occupied his time after his arrival in the township, cutting timber and splitting rails at thirty-seven and a half cents a hundred, and sawing planks with a rip saw at $1.50 per hundred feet. Tobacco was raised at an early date, and taken to Glasgow, where it was sold to the merchants and shipped to St. Louis and elsewhere, for $1.50 per hundred pounds. Bacon was worth $2.25 per hundred.

After remaining here a few years Mr. Lamb went back to Kentucky and while there, married. After his marriage he determined to return to Randolph County, and in 1842 he started upon his journey of nearly 600 miles, with ouly $10 in money, his wife, a horse and buggy, and nearly traveling 26 days, he arrived at his new home, having spent all his money, excepting seventy-five cents. Deer were so numerous from 1835 to 1840 that oftentimes 30 and 40 could be seen at one time.

Humphrey and Brock erected the first saw mill in the township, which was soon destroyed by fire, and immediately rebuilt, when it was sold to George W. Jones, who combined it with a grist mill. Jones sold to Benjamin Sims. The mill was located about half a mile north of Jacksonville, at a spring, which furnished water during the dry seasons for many of the citizens of the town.

The first church that was built in the toWnship was also located at this spring by the Christian denomination in 1852, and was a union church.

The town site was owned by William McCanne, Jr., John W. McCanne, St., and Henry Owen, who donated 50 acres to the railroad company, provided they would locate a depot upon it. This was about the year 1858. The town was named after Hancock Jackson, who was an early settler in the county, and who filled besides several county offices, the position of Lieut.-Governor of Missouri. The first business house was erected by J. J. Humphrey and was occupied by him as a general store.

Samuel Ridgeway opened the first hotel, and continued to occupy it until his death, which occurred in 1880. Dr. Burckhartt was the first physician. Thomas Demster was the pioneer shoemaker. The first church was erected in 1867 by the Christians. Thomas Griffey and Robert Skinner were the first blacksmiths.

Masonic Lodge, No. 44 was organized in Jacksonville in June, 1866, with the following charter members: James A. Berry, James A. Holt, James M. Hannah, J. H. Pety, David Halliburton.

Moniteau is the middle township on the southern border of Randolph county. It contains a fraction over 37 square miles, and was cut off from the townships of Prairie and Silver Creek after the construction of the Missouri, Kansas and" Texas Railroad, from Hannibal to Sedalia. Soon after this event a depot was established in the present territory of Moniteau, on lands then belonging to Edward Owens, called Higbee, and soon a village was laid out on lands belonging to Edward Owens and Joseph Burton. A post-office was also established, and the growth of the future town was begun. This growth was afterward accelerated by the location of the Chicago and Alton Railroad through its borders, crossing the Missouri, Kansas and Texas road near the center of the town. These arrangements having been completed, a petition was numerously signed by citizens of the vicinity, asking the county court to organize another township, to be called Moniteau, as it would be located on the head waters of Moniteau creek.

The Moniteau, Silver and Bonne Femme creeks take their rise in the borders of this township. Along the borders of these streams the country is broken and hilly, covered with black and white oak timber. Where the bottoms and valleys are broad enough for cultivation, the land is found to be very rich and productive. Even the land that cannot be cultivated is covered with a heavy growth of valuable timber composed of sugar maple, walnut and cottonwood. As the dividing ridges of these streams are approached, a sightly and fruitful country is presented, now occupied by substantial farmers, and highly improved. For grazing purposes it seems in many respects, better than regions adjoining, which have a richer and deeper soil. Clover and timothy produce well with cultivation; but blue grass, the first to come in the spring, the most nutritious while it lasts, and the last to be affected by the frosts, is the spontaneous production of this region.

Bituminous coal underlies the surface and crops out at intervals along almost all the streams. The proximity of the railroads to these deposits of "black diamonds," makes either enterprise a safe and profitable investment and coal mining is carried on extensively at Higbee.

Moniteau was first settled by Virginians, Kentuckians, Tennesseeans and North Carolinians, among whose virtues were temperance, industry, probity and hospitality. Of these were James Dysart, John Dysart, Dr. William Walker, Rev. Jesse Terrill, Montgomery Whitmore, J. Higbee, George Yates, Nicholas Dysart, Christopher Dysart, M. M. Burton, Maj. J. B. Tymony, Joseph Burton, Edward Owens and George Quinn. Edward Owens was the oldest man in the township at the time of his death. Among other settlers were John Turner, William B. Tompkins, Lynch Turner, Joseph Wilcox, Jacob Maggard, Charles McLean and Thomas Dawkins.

John Turner erected the first mill that was put up in the township. It was an old-fashioned horse-mill; was located in the northern portion of the township, and was running as early as 1828.

Thomas Dawkins taught the first school about the year 1830; the school house, a small cabin, stood near a small stream - one of the forks of Silver creek. Dawkins was from Kentucky, and was much thought of as a teacher.

The name of James Higbee, a worthy citizen of Moniteau, now deceased, gave the title to the station which has grown into a lively, progressive and thriving town. Higbee is situated about three miles north of Howard County line, at the crossing of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas and the Chicago and Alton Railroads. It possesses good facilities for shipping second to no place in North Missouri. It stands on an open ridge two miles wide, between the Moniteau and Bonne Femme creeks.

The present city officials of Higbee are: Mayor, Lee Thomason; clerk, Richard L. Hines; collector, Joseph W. Burton; assessor, Walter Davis; street commissioner, Oscar Fowler; health commissioner, George M. Nichols; marshal, W. Isaac Williams; fire chief, John Egly; aldermen, Roy Compton, Jenkin Williams, Clarence Leland, John Little.

Prairie township lies in the southeastern corner of Randolph County. It is the largest township in the county, and has an area of about 88 square miles. The amount of prairie and timber land is about the same. As the township is bounded on two sides by Monroe, Audrain, Boone and Howard counties, Prairie is in the front rank of townships, and is settled by a progressive and prosperous people. The soil is a black loam with substratum of clay. The land has an undulating surface, drains itself readily in seasons of protracted rainfall, and retains sufficient moisture for the sustenation of vegetation in periods of protracted drouth.

It is watered by the tributaries of Salt River on the north and east sides of the "divide" and by Perche and the tributaries of Moniteau River on the southwest. These streams take their rise within its territory, but before they leave it, form large, deep creeks that contain water during the entire year, however dry the season. The smaller streams being numerous, supply stock water for every part of the district. Coal is abundant throughout the district and several mines are worked.

It is often the case in the east that coal lands are unfit for anything but coal, but such is not the case in Missouri. Land overlying coal beds is frequently as rich and productive as any other land in the country, and this is peculiarly the case in Prairie township.

Among the old settlers of this township were John Hamilton, James Martin, R. P. Martin, Mrs. Chisham, William Butler, Joel Hubbard, Rice Alexander, Hugh C. Collins, Dr. Presley T. Oliver, Jackson Dicker son, Joseph Davis, Moses Kimbrough, Aaron Kimbrough, Thomas Kimbrough, A. Hendrix, Benjamin Hardin, Asa K. Hubbard, Presly Shirley, Jeremiah Bunnel, Thomas Stockton W. S. Christian, Granderson Brooks, Archibald Goin, May Burton, John Sorrell, Henry Bumham, William Croswhite, John Kimbrough, Bluford Robinson, Wiley Marshall, A. W. Lane, Durett Bruce, Reuben Samuel and Joseph Wilcox.

Nearly all of the above named pioneers were from Kentucky and many of these men were great hunters, notably so were Durett Bruce, Joe Davis, Cy Davis, Uriah Davis, H. C. Collins, John Sorrell and James Martin. The latter in his early manhood was very athletic and was probably the only man who ever caught an unwounded deer by running after it on foot. Durett Bruce, who came to the township in 1837 lived to a great age. He was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, eight miles south of Lexington, March 1, 1789. His father's name was Benjamin Bruce; he was a native of Scotland, and a kinsman of Robert Bruce, one of the Scottish chiefs, whose deeds of bravery and feats of manhood have been immortalized by the incomparable pen of Jane Porter.

Mr. Bruce married Miss Sarah Stephens, daughter of Col. Stephens, April 13, 1813. In 1834, October 10th, he came to Boone County, Missouri, and after raising two crops, he settled in Randolph County. Hearing that the wolves were numerous, and very destructive to sheep, he brought with him to the county 15 sheep, 18 hounds, and a cur dog, and was never annoyed by wolves after his arrival. He was in the War of 1812 and served under Gen. William H. Harrison six months and Gen. McArthur four months.

In early life Mr. Bruce was apprenticed to the trade of locksmith, a pursuit which he followed until he was past 95 years old. In 1869 he located in the then new town of Moberly, where he died.

The first mill in Prairie township was owned by Jesse Jones, and was located about three miles southwest of Renick. The first church edifice in the township was called Dover church, and was occupied by different denominations. The first school was taught by Col. John M. Bean, a Kentuckian, at a place called Oak Point. Lynch Turner was the first officiating minister of the Gospel.

Renick, the most important town in the township, was located in 1856, after the North Missouri Railroad, now the Wabash, had become an established institution. It is situated on a high rolling prairie, on the "Grand Divide", the waters on the east side of the town flowing to the Mississippi and those on the west side to the Missouri. The Wabash Railroad passes diagonally through the town, the depot being convenient to the business portion of it. It lies six miles south by east of Moberly. Its citizens are a thorough-going and enterprising people. During the Civil War, nearly all the houses in the town were destroyed.

Masonic Lodge, No. 186, was organized October 19, 1867, with the following charter members: G. A. Settle, A. E. Grubb, S. A. Mitchell, James Hardin, Benjamin Terrill, J. R. Alexander, R. Davis, T. Y. Martin, R. P. Martin, J. Y. Coates, S. S. Elliott, William Butler, G. R. Christian.

Clay Thompson, who came from Kentucky about the year 1856, erected the first house in the town; he also opened the first business house and hotel. William H. Marshall was the first blacksmith, Peter Hoeman the first shoemaker. William B. McLean was the first physician in that region of country.

Salt River is the northeastern township of Randolph County. About one-fifth of the surface is prairie, the balance is timber land. The prairie is generally level or gently undulating. The timber land is more uneven, and in the vicinity of the streams is somewhat broken and hilly.

The territory is well provided with streams and stock water is abundant throughout the year. Mover, Mud, Flat, McKinney, Lick, and Painter creeks, with other less important streams, take their courses through the township and every farm is convenient to some stream that contains water the year round. Nevertheless, for greater convenience, ponds, wells and cisterns are dug on the farms for the use of stock. Living water is found at short distances below the surface, giving a permanent and inexhaustible supply.

Among the early settlers of the township were H. G. Robuck, M. McKinney and Strother Ridgeway. The farms in this township are generally small, averaging in size from 100 to 200 acres, and very few ex- ceed the latter amount. It is essentially a farming and grazing country. The quality of the soil is rich and productive and easily cultivated.

The reliable staple crops are com, w^heat, oats, timothy and blue grass. The latter is used almost entirely for grazing and is rarely mowed for hay.

The improvements on the farms are generally good. Farmers have neat and comfortable farm houses to take the place of less sightly edifices built in the earlier history of the township.

Union is the middle township on the eastern border of Randolph, joining Monroe County on its eastern boundary. It has an area of about 29 square miles. Flat creek, Coy branch. Elk Fork, Sugar creek. Mud creek and Coon creek, branches of Salt River, penetrate its territory in every direction and fertilize its fields and farms. There is no district in the county, of the same dimensions that is better watered.

The first settlers of the township were George Burckhartt, father of Judge G. H. Burckhartt, Clemen Jeeter, Dr. Burton, George Chapman, Nade Chapman and William Haly. These men left the impress of their toil and industry on the country they settled and improved.

The lands of this township are unusually fertile and will compare favorably with the best lands in any part of the state. The territory is about equally divided into prairie and timber lands. Each division is equally well adapted to cultivation and pasturage. The crops of every kind are heavy and the live stock raised is of superior quality.

Coal is found in large beds and of very excellent quality in various parts of the district. Limestone, brick and potter's clay are also found.

The yield of crops is as follows : Corn per acre, average, 40 bushels, extra, 70 bushels; wheat, average, 15 bushels, extra, 25 bushels; --ats, 25 to 35 bushels per acre ; hay, average, one ton, extra, two tons.

Milton, the only village in the township, is about 75 years old. Its trade has been of a purely local character, there being no facilities for shipping. It is, however, eligibly and pleasantly situated on Elk Fort. Until about 1878, four ministers made their homes in Milton, to-wit: Eld.

J. A. Holloway, of the Christian church, Rev. Peter Parker and Rev. W. D. Hutton, of the M. E. Church South, and Rev. W. L. T. Evans of the Missionary Baptist Church. The latter, a most estimable and much beloved man, died about 1879. Dr. R. R. Hall was the first physician.

Silver Creek is one of the four townships into which Randolph County was originally divided. It was made the smallest in extent if territory, because it embraced the most thickly settled portion of the county at the time of its organization. This fact, taken in connection with its location along the border of Howard County, which was settled first, leads us to infer that it is the oldest settlement in the county. Although originally the smallest in area, it gave up 18 square miles of its territory to the township of Moniteau when the latter was organized. It is situated in the southwest corner of the county.

While it has no railroad running directly through it, its people, taken as a whole, are as well accommodated with railroad facilities as those of any other township, except Sugar Creek.

Within a mile and a half of its northern boundary are the stations of the Wabash Railroad at Huntsville and Clifton Hill. Not far from its eastern boundary the Chicago and Alton Railroad crosses the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, at Higbee, and on the south, at Armstrong, in Howard County, is another depot of the Chicago and Alton Railroad. The township is literally surrounded by railroad stations without any railroad running through it, a circumstance which gives to all its people a great uniformity of railroad advantages.

While Silver Creek contains less level land than the other townships,, it may be safely asserted that the most fertile tracts in the whole county lie within its borders. The surface ranges from the gently undulating tohilly near the margins of the streams, and with the exception of a few white oak ridges and hickory flats in the northeast, and an occasional one in other parts, the soil of the entire township is of a black, rich, sandy loam, interspersed with limestone, which does not predominate in any locality so as to interfere seriously with cultivation, but is generally distributed so as to furnish the requisite supply of this material element of natural fertility.

tain on its soutliern margin, washes the northern boundary of the township, and Silver creek with its tributaries flows from east to west through the central and southern portions. The names given to these streams, from the latter of which the township takes its name, are significant of the purity and palatable qualities of their waters and of the perennial fountains which dot their margins and spring spontaneous from the fertile hillsides in many other parts of the township.

About one-third of the township is prairie land, lying mostly south of Silver creek and along the Howard county line. Of the magnificent forests that originally covered the remaining two- thirds of the township, all has given way to cultivated fields.

Mt. Airy is located on the public road leading from Huntsville to Eoanoke, about seven miles from the former place and twelve miles from Moberly. There is plenty of coal in this township.

Mr. William Mathis, better known as "Uncle Billy Mathis," emigrated from North Carolina in the year 1827 and erected his cabin, in primitive pioneer style, on 80 acres of land entered at government price, within five miles of where Mt. Airy now stands. He was married when he came to the state, but never had any children. He was there before the county was organized, and William Holman, Abraham Gross and James Dysart were here when he came, the first of whom was engaged in running a horse mill.

About the year 1837, Capt. William Upton, another old settler, opened a store at his place in connection with D. C. Garth, who lived at Hunts- ville, and had another store there. A blacksmith shop and a tobacco factory were soon after erected, and the place was first called Uptonsville. The enterprising people of the vicinity, however, were not long in obtaining a postoffice, which was christened Mt. Airy, a name which it has ever since borne. Captain Upton, several years before the late war, sold out his farm and store and moved south of the Missouri river.

Judge James Head, one of Silver Creek's pioneers, a resident when the county was organized, and one of the judges of the first county court, founded Roanoke on the Howard county line in 1836. The place at first went by several names, as suited the fancy of the settlers, such as Head's Store, and Van Buren, the favorite and successful Democratic candidate for the presidency for that year. But when the postoflBce was established there, at the suggestion of Judge Head, it was named for the residence of a favorite statesman of his native state - the celebrated John Randolph, of Roanoke. Judge Head emigrated to Randolph County, from Orange County, Virginia, several years before the county was organized. He was accompanied by his sister, Mrs. Fannie Medley and her husband, Jacob Medley, who settled near himi, and was the first collector of Randolph County. Judge Head lived on his farm adjoining Roanoke, and carried on business in the town, until 1849, when he moved to Lockhart, Texas, where he died in 1875, at the age of 82 years. He was followed to this state in 1831 by his father and mother, and all his remaining brothers and sisters, except Mrs. Minor Rucker, who came with her husband and family in 1837. They all settled in Randolph County. His father, John Head, and his brother, John Head, Jr., settled in Silver Creek, two miles north of Roanoke, the former on the farm where he resided until his death in 1852. All the others settled in and around Huntsville. These were Dr. Walker Head, who was twice elected to the legislature from this county, and at the time of his death in 1845, he had just been elected a delegate to the state convention, to revise the constitution. Mrs. Emily Chiles, Mrs. Sarah D. Allen, Mrs. Amanda Garth, and Mrs. Harriet Rucker were other members of the family. Mrs. Martha Price, the youngest daughter, was single when she came to the state, and was married to General Sterling Price, at her father's residence in Silver Creek township, in the year 1838.

Robert Smith, who operated a tobacco factory, half a mile east of Mt. Airy, was an old settler. He came to Huntsville in 1837, where he remained six years, and then moved to Silver Creek.

John Osborn emigrated from Orange County, Virginia, in 1835. He purchased dry goods and other family supplies at Old Chariton, in Chariton County. Allen Mayo, Daniel McDavitt and William Ferguson were Mr. Osborn's earliest neighbors, having preceded him in the settlement.

Rev. William H. Mansfield resided one mile northeast of Roanoke, on a farm of 200 acres which he settled in 1831, and was one of the oldest men in Silver Creek township at the time of his death. He was born in Orange County, Virginia, and resided in this county fifty years. He was married in 1814, in Virginia, to Miss Salina Eddings, and they had thirteen children. Mr. Mansfield was a veteran of the War of 1812, and drew the usual pension. He took a just pride in having participated in the stirring events of that great national drama, in which his valor and patriotism contributed to win imperishable honor for Americans and vindicated our national motto, "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." He never departed from the political faith which inspired his early manhood, and in his old age he adhered with unwavering fidelity to the principles which in his youth he drew his sword to defend. He was a devoted Christian, and a member of the Missionary Baptist church for nearly three-quarters of a century. He was ordained a minister of the gospel in 1832, and for more than forty years valiantly carried the banner of the Cross, until increasing age and corpulency compelled him to abandon the active duties of the ministry, when, under a conscious conviction of having finished his appointed work, he retired to the shades of a more private life. Being seldom away from home he was very often called upon to perform the marriage ceremony, and was noted for his clemency towards runaway couples, whom he never declined to unite, unless prevented by a legal barrier. He was remarkable for his sociability and hospitality, and always gave his friends a dinner on Christmas Day, and on New Year's 1878, he celebrated his golden wedding.

Mrs. Salina Mansfield, his wife, was the oldest woman in the township at the time of her death. She was much beloved on account of her social and Christian virtues, and, like her husband, was a zealous Christian and member of the Baptist church.

This is one of the original municipal townships, and was organized in 1829. Its general shape is that of an L, a strip six miles long and two miles wide forming the lower extension of the letter, while a strip four miles wide and six and a half miles long composes the upper extension. The township contains about thirty-six square miles. It has been much reduced from its original limits, other townships having been formed from it. The narrow strip of the township reaches to the eastern border of the county, while the greater body of land hes six miles west of that boundary.

The "divide" runs through its territory in a north direction, in the eastern central portion of the township. The eastern part, therefore, contributes its waters to the Mississippi river, while the streams of the western part are tributary to the Missouri.

Among the earliest settlers having made their homes in the county before it was originated were Reuben Cornelius, Benjamin Hardin, Malcom Galbreath and T. N, Galbreath. The latter lived in Prairie township. In 1822, when he first settled there, and even at a much later period, elk, deer, bear, wild turkeys and grouse were abundant for game, while wolves, foxes, wild cats and panthers were numerous. Col. P. P. Ruby, T. P. White, John Hannah, Alexander Jones, John Grimes, Elijah Williams, Patrick Lynch, W. H. Baird and Eli Owens were among the early settlers.

Wild honey proved a profitable crop, and could be found with little labor. In 1823, or 1824, Mr. Whittenburg built a mill in the southeastern part of the county, and Mr. Goggin one within the present corporate limits of Huntsville. These were draught or hors3 mills, grinding corn alone. Previous to that meal was ground on hand mills or grated on graters prepared for the purpose. Little wheat flour was used, and what was consumed was brought from Old Franklin, more than forty miles distant.

The land is diversified with prairie and timber ; comparatively little of it is so broken as to be unfit for cultivation, and all of it is adapted to grazing.

In the early settlement of the county the native grasses held possession of the soil, and blue grass was unknown. When the lands were enclosed, and the trampling and grazing of stock had killed the native grass, blue grass began to make its appearance; showing that it is an indigenous growth in this soil, and neither cultivation nor grazing will destroy it.

The township settled up slowly, owing, in great part, to its remoteness even from local markets and the want of adequate transportation to foreign marts. The farmers fed their grain and grass to live stock, and depended upon the "drovers" to purchase their cattle, horses and hogs. After the construction of the North Missouri Railroad, settlements became

The creeks in this township are numerous, but as the land lies along the dividing ridge of eastern and western waters, these streams are small.

The variety of agricultural products is not surpassed by any other country in the world. While there are other lands that may produce one, two or even three crops in larger proportion, there are non that will yield so generous a harvest of such a great variety of productions.