Arrow Rock Township

Arrow Rock Township

This town, one of the oldest in the county and country, is situated on the right bank of the Missouri river, on a high and commanding plateau overlooking a magnificent forest valley on the opposite or Howard county side, that stretches away for miles. It is situated in a rich farming, horticultural and stock country, which contains also unlimited natural resources.

The place was formerly called "Me Arrow Rock." As such it was know by the early French voyageurs, and the trappers and hunters. This name was given to the large rock or cliff at the town. Upon the formation of the town it was christened after the rock.

There are divers versions of the origin of the name. One is that the rock or bluff was much frequented by the Indians hundreds of years ago,, who here obtained the material (flint) out of which they manufactured their arrow-heads and lance-heads. Every year, it is said, the Indians came for many miles to "the arrow rock" to obtain flint. Another version is that ages ago the Indians on this side of the river repelled an attempt to cross on the part of a hostile tribe on the other side. The river being narrow at this point it was selected by the would-be invaders as the best crossing place. The Indians on the Saline county side took position on the high bluff bank and defied their adversaries, who, from their strong bows, let fly clouds of flint-pointed arrows at them. Many of these arrows,. it is said, came a little short of their intended destination and fell at the foot of the bluff Afterwards the site was found to abound in these arrowheads, which all pointed one way as they lay upon the earth, and the first whites that landed at the bluft'gaveit the name it now bears. There is a

Another version of the origin of the name is that given by Mr. Nowlin, an old citizen. The Indians, in the long ago, were in the habit of crossing the river at this point, in the summer, from their encampments in the bottom, on the opposite side, where the heat, at that season, was uncommonly intense and severe. This side of the river gained, they would repair to the high bluffs, to cool off. One particularly rocky point was a favorite resort, for there a cooling breeze almost constantly swept and fanned the swarthy brows of the perspiring savages. This point was called the " Windy Rock," or the "Airy Rock," and the latter designation became the more common. When Mr. Ferrell established his ferry he called it the "Airy Rock Ferry." In time this name became corrupted or changed to Arrow Rock, and was thus known ever after. It is said that the Tennesseeans pronounced the word arrow as if it was spelled arry, or airy, and when they heard the place called Airy Rock, understood it to mean Arrow Rock.

Mr. J. T. Pattison states that the first ferrying was done here by Mr. Becknel, in 1811. The crossing was made by having two canoes fastened together and a platform on top. Mr. Becknel afterward represented Saline county in the Missouri legislature. On the 23d of May, 1829, a meeting was held at the Arrow Rock ferry, for the purpose of receiving propositions, made by different parties, wishing to donate land for the town site; and Joseph Huston, Peyton N. Nowlin, Rudolph Hawpe, Joseph Patterson, and Benjamin Huston were appointed commissioners to select a town site, and receive deed to the same. They made choice of the present location, which was deeded to them on the 10th day of June, 1829, by Burton Lawless and Nancy, his wife, and by John Bingham and Mary, his wife, and containing fifty acres. Also, the free use and benefit of all the springs and water that may be on any of the lands of said Lawless, near and adjoining the said town tract of land, for the benefit of the citizens of said town in general. M. M. Marmaduke (afterward governor of the state) was county surveyor, and was employed by said commissioners to lay out the fifty acres into town lots. The first dwelling house built on the fifty acres donated for the town site, was built by Joseph Patterson, in the fall of 1829. The same timbers are yet in the house, which has been remodeled, and is now occupied.

In 1839, the county seat was removed to Arrow Rock. (See general history.) Thereafter it gradually increased in importance, and in time became the most important town in the county. It was a great shipping.

In 1859, a branch of the Bank of Missouri was established at Arrow Rock. The first officers were W. B. Sappington, President, and W. L. Boyer, Cashier. After the breaking out of the civil war. Gen. Fremont ordered the money of this bank to be removed to the vaults of the parent bank, at St. Louis. The officers refused to obey orders, but took the specie in the bank to a certain hole in the ground, where it was buried and remained for a year or so, under the sod and the daisies, where moths did not corrupt, nor bushwhackers and militiamen break through and steal. It was at last resurrected and taken to the State Bank, at St. Louis, where it remained in safety until the close of the war. (The old State Bank of Missouri, at St. Louis, in 1878, suspended, causing a loss to the citizens of this county of about $100,000.)

Arrow Rock had a newspaper in 1860-61, the Saline County Herald, removed to that place from Marshall. In May, 1861, the editors and proprietors. Col. G. W. Allen and his son James, having enlisted in Gov. Jackson's Missouri State Guard, the paper was suspended. The press and material were boxed up and stored in a house which was burned by Blunt's guerrillas in their attack on Arrow Rock, in 1864.

Early in 1861, after the firing on Fort Sumter, certain citizens of Arrow Rock and vicinity fired on some steamboats that were ascending the river, and supposed to contain Federal arms and munitions of war.

The majority of the people of Arrow Rock were strong southern sympathizers during the war, and were often charged by the Federals with "giving aid and comfort to the enemy." Accounts of certain military operations in the place are given elsewhere.

Since the war and "reconstruction," the town has gradually and completely recovered from the prostration into which it then fell, and has made very much of improvement and advance, keeping step with the universal advancement of the entire county.

M. E. Church South

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Arrow Rock, (now called M. E. South), was organized about the year 1831. Some of the first members were W-m. Brown and wife. Miss Nancy Fretwell, Mrs. Mary Bingham, Rudolph Hawpe and wife, Joseph Patterson and wife, Benj. Huston and wife, Jesse and Margaret Reid. A frame church was built in the year 1849, at a cost of $2,000. It was dedicated in 1850 by Rev. James Mitchell. Names of pastors - Jesse Greene, - ^Jameson, - Dodds, B. F. Johnson, W. R. Bewly, and others. Present membership, one hundred. Since the organization of this church the great division between the Northern and

Southern Methodists has occurred. Information concerning this church has been derived from Mrs. Margaret Reid, its oldest living member, and a worthy Christian lady.

Cumberland Presbyterian

This church was organized December 12, 1853. The original members were J. E. Ancell, Elisha Ancell, Sam'l Oldham, J. H. Sutherlin, Samuel Stewart, Margaret W. Wallace, Lucinda Ancell, Susan West, Catharine S. F. Steel, Catharine Wallace, Sarah }. Brownlee, Laura E. Neill, Mary L. Stewart, Elizabeth Turley. A frame house of worship was built in the year 1867, at a cost of $2,250. It was dedicated the same year by Rev. E. D. Pearson. The pastors have been P. G. Rea, R. S. Read, W. D. Mahon, M. B. Irvin, J. E. F. Robertson. Present membership, 51.

Civic Societies Masonic

Arrow Rock Lodge No. 55, A. F. and A. M., was organized October 17, 1842, by A. T. Douglas, G. V. The charter members were P. WNowlin, E. C. McCarty, John Piper, Joseph Huston, Rudolph Hawpe, Benj. Huston, Wm. Roper, Thos. McMahan. The first officers were Rudolph Hawpe, W. M.; Benj. Huston, S. W.; Wm. Roper, J. W.;Jos. Huston, treasurer; W. S. Long, secretary; John Piper, S. D.; Bernis Brown, J. D; Henry Nave, tiler. The present officers are C. M. SutherUn, W. M.; P. T. Reynolds, S. W.; A.Neff,J. W.; H. S. Wilhelm, treasurer; G. H. Bowen, secretary; J. C. Thompson, S. D.; G. W. Herrold, J. D.; S. C. McClain, tiler. B. F. Thompson and H. T. Montgomery, stewards. Present number of members, 42. The lodge meets in a brick hall, built by the lodge in 1868, at a cost of $4,000. This was the first Masonic lodge organized in Saline county.

Odd Fellows

Friendship Lodge, No. 40, 1. O. O. F., was organized August 23, 1849, by the Grand Lodge of the state. The charter members were Abner Trigg, J. A. J. Aderton, H. V. Bingham, James E. Ancell, B. H. Hawpe, and Thos. M. Davis. The first officers were Abner Trigg, N. G.; J. A. J. Aderton, V. G.; B. H. Hawpe, Secretary; H. V. Bingham, Treasurer. The present- officers are Hugh Cragg, N. G.; E. T. Alexander, V. G.; P. H. Goetz, P. Secretary; W. M. Tyler, Recording Secretary; W. M. Putch, Treasurer. The number of members at this time is twenty-five. The hall is a two-story brick, built in May, 1868, by Ancell & Fitzgerald, at a cost of $3,000. There have been several other lodges started from

Good Templars Patrons Of Husbandry

Worthy Grange No. 99, P. of H., was organized March 26, 1873, by J. R. Cordeel. The charter members were W. M. Price, T. W. Russell, Dr. A. Nefi; N. H. Huston, J. R. Dickson, J. L. Smith, Jas. Thornton, John Neff, W. S. Jackson, Mrs. T. W. Russell Mrs. W. S. Jackson, Miss Kate Dickson, W. H. Huston, Jas. West, L. R. Reynolds, J. Bingham, S. F. Crockett. The first officers were W. M. Price, Master; T. W. Russell, Overseer; A. NefF, Lecturer; N. H. Huston, Steward; J. R. Dickson, Asst. Steward; J. L. Smith, Chaplain; Jas. Thornton, Treas.; W. S. Jackson, Secy.; Jno. NefF, Gatekeeper; Mrs. T. W. Russell, Ceres; Mrs. W. S. Jackson, Flora; Miss Kate Dickson, Pomona; Mrs. A. E. Price, Lady Asst. Steward. The present officers are N. H. Huston, Master; J. L. Howell, Overseer; R. E. Richart, Lecturer; J. Diggs, Chaplain; W. R. James, Steward; J. N. Jameson, Asst. Steward; W. Davis, Treas.; J. R. Dickson, Secy.; R. T. Huston, Gatekeeper; Mrs. Loxiise NefF, Ceres; Mrs. M. Edwards, Flora; Mrs. M. E. Price, Pomona; Miss .Delia McMahan, Lady Asst. Steward. The grange meets in a hall built in 1876 by themselves principally. It is a frame, and cost about $1,000. The secretary writes that this was the first grange organized in Saline county. Worthy Master Price was chosen chairman of the executive committee of the Missouri State Grange at its first meeting, held at Knob Noster, Mo., and was appointed grain agent for the state, which position he still holds.

This town, once the capital and the metropolis of Saline county, and known far and wide, has become, by the mutations of time and the progress of events, so reduced in size and population as to now be but a wreck of its former greatness. Although its population, in its most flour- ishing days, was but a few hundred, it was still a place of considerable importance. In addition to its being the seat of justice of the county, where all public business was transacted, it was a favorite outfitting depot and starting point for many traders, explorers and adventurers, who traveled to and from Santa Fe, in early days, and who preferred this place to Independence, in Jackson county, as a port from which to set sail for their long voyages over the prairie seas.

Jonesboro was also visited by the early settlers from Grand Pass, and from other parts of this county, and by the people of Cooper and Pettis, who came here for the few supplies they were compelled to buy.

The room in which court was held, when the place was the county seat, was the upper story of a double log building, which was situated on a kind of elevation or second bank of the creek (Salt Fork). The lower story was divided into two rooms, in one of which a grocery was kept, and in the other, a livery stable. To this latter room, juries retired for deliberation, after the horses had been .led_.out. But in that very unpretentious court room were gathered, from time to time, some of the best and brainiest men in Missouri. Judge Todd, Abiel Leonard, Hamilton R. Gamble, Gen. DufF Green, John E. Ryland and other able lawyers and good men, were members of this court. The hotel, at which the lawyers and court attendants stoppe^d, was a simple structure, plain as to adornment, circumscribed as to' accommodation, substantial as to fare, reasonable as to rates. There was plenty of food always to be had, and the establishment was rarely without a very fair article of Kentucky whisky, unadulterated, uncontaminated and untaxed.

But with the departure of the county seat to Arrow Rock departed the glory of Jonesboro. Its stores and Galbraith's mill drew people thither for a time, but as time passed other stores were established and other mills were built, and the place dwindled and shrank away until its size was insignificant, its streets were vacated, "nettles and brambles grew in the fortresses thereof," and the old court house became a habitation for bats and a court for owls.

Here, too, was the great mustering ground of the Saline county militia in the days when the yeomanry of the land were required to assemble on stated occasions and at designated places to drill, and " in time of peace prepare for war." From these musters and by reason of the requirements of the militia laws, there sprang a bountiful crop of military titles, and generals, colonels, majors, and captains became as plenty as blackberries in their season.

Zoar Church

At Jonesboro is this reverend old church, now nearly sixty years old. It was organized by the Baptists in the year 1827, with nine members, whose names it is now impossible to obtain. The first church was built in 1831. It was composed of logs, and was 40x20 feet in size, costing perhaps $200. Tiie congregation met in this house ^for eighteen j'ears, or until 1849, when a new church building was erected at an expense of $1,000. Eleven years thereafter another house of worship, the present one, was built at a cost of $1,500. The pastors have been Peyton Nowlin, Thomas Fristoe, David Anderson, Wm. Bell, Thornton Rucker, Wm. Gentry, J. D. Murphy, Thos. Hudson, John C. Hamner, Wm. Cleaveland. J. L. Tickenor, C. T. Daniel, J. L. Tickenor. The present membership is 120. There has been no cessation of preaching for any length of time, since the organization, as far as known at present. During the war, Rev. J. D. Murphy was pastor, and services were continuous, the pastor residing at Jonesboro. On one occasion the church was surrounded by the militia during preaching. The services were closed, and the men inside were made to fall in, and were marched off.

These two townships, lying in the same neighborhood and only separated by the Blackwater river, may have their history written in one chapter. Their settlements were intimately connected, and their general history is nearly the same, and Salt Fork was formed from Blackwater only recently.

At the November term of the county court, held at Old Jefferson in 1826, the boundaries of Blackwater were established, it being formed from Arrow Rock. It then comprised a large extent of territory, reaching westward into what is now Salt Pond township, and northward into Marshall and Clay. In Blackwater, Renault's men continued their search for valuable minerals, begun on Finney's creek. About the year 1819, nearly one hundred years thereafter, Chas. Lockhart, who was from Cooper county, prospected through this township and the Blackwater country generally, continuing the search begun by the Frenchmen.

At Jonesboro, in Salt Fork township, in 1824, Alex. Galbraith had a water-mill on the Salt Fork, the first of the kind in Saline county. Galbraith was the first settler in that section, and built the first house, but when he came is not certainly known. The settlers from all the adjacent country helped him in his enterprise. Henry Nave, who then lived in the Big bottom, says that he gave him a week's work, and " we all assisted him what we could." Mrs. Adkinson, then a young wife of seventeen, says the other settlers in the "Jonesboro country " at that time were Walker Adkinson (her husband), Jas. Robinson, Samuel Davis, Richard Scott, who " lived up the creek," Henry Galbraith, " west ' of us," and

History Of- Saline County

Wyatt Bingham. In two or three years Dr. Geo. Penn came and lived on the hill just above Jonesboro. Asa Finley lived near the mouth of Blackwater.

Mrs. Ann Adkinson, the lady referred to, was a daughter of 'Cornelius Da\'is, and was born in Kentucky in 1807. She moved with her father to Missouri in 1810, and settled at New Madrid. The earthquake broke him up, and he received a " New Madrid certificate," which he located five miles above above Booneville in 1819. In the spring of 1821, he located in the Big bottom, opposite the town of Old Chariton. In 1823, she married Mr. Walker Adkinson, a native of Halifax county, Virginia, born in 1789, who had removed to Missouri in 1819 with Joseph Robinson. The marriage ceremony was performed by Esquire Geo. Tennille. Mr. A. died in 1844. In March, 1824, Mr. and Mrs. Adkinson left the Big bottom and settled on Salt Fork, near Jonesboro.

In her neighborhood, Mrs. A. says, the first school house was at Wyatt Bingham's, and John Scott taught the first school, in 1829. The first house was built by a son-in-law of Alex. Galbraith's, on the Stephen Smith place, about 1821. The first church built was Zoar, near Jonesboro, about 1825 ; the next was Smith's Chapel. In that day wild beasts of many different species infested the country, and panthers were quite plentiful. Mrs. A. started her children to school one morning, and shortly after she heard the scream of a panther. For some time she was veryuneasy, but the children were not harmed. The scream of a panther, says Mrs. Adkinson, is very much like that of a person calling in distress.

Mr. Wm. A.Findley, guardian of his sisters and his brother, Walker H.. Firiley, settled with them December 24, 1829, near Jonesboro, on section 22, township 49, range 20, being a tract of land entered by him. " Here," Mr. Walker Finley says, " I labored for about ten years. At that time the country^ seemed to be almost a wilderness. There were only small neighborhoods and they few and far between. The winter of 1830-1 was the severest ever known in Missouri. Snow fell the last of November, 1830, and remained on the grofind till the first of March. No such snow storms have I ever witnessed since, and much of the temperature was extremely cold. The snow at that time, on a level, was iromfour to jive feet deep, and drifts on the prairie were from ten to twenty-five feet in depth. At that time most of the people lived in moderate-sized houses; they were their own architects, and built to suit their means and surroundings. The snow was so terrible, and the quantity so large, that it. would bank up and close their windows - if they had any, and not unfrequently reach the ' button-pole ' or the eave of the house, and mechanical means had to be used to remove the obstruction. The decade following 1830 was one of well-regulated seasons. The springs and summers were pleasant ; the winters were regularly cold and severe, with continued snows from the last of November and first of December, with but little variation, till the last of February or the first of March, when spring would come in with all its verdant glories, and with the rays of sunshine to warm the earth and cheer the people of Missouri, and especially of Saline county.

" In September, 1830, in company with my sister, Phil Houx and David Morrow, I went from Wyatt Bingham's to Lexington. By an earlj^ start we made the trip in a day, then called sixty miles. There were only two or three settlements between Jonesboro and Lexington. Cornelius Davis lived near where Marshall now is. The Hayeses, Owenses, Hunters and Gillettes were on Salt Pond creek; Johnson Grove, and Page and Samuel Walker were on the Tebo. The trail or road was not more than eight or ten inches wide. It led through the praipe, on which, in many places, the grass was taller thafl a man on horseback. I returned home after an absence of one week, without missing the road.

" The seasons since that time have been variable ; snows have not remained all winter. Wheat has often been sown in January; but the spring has often been of the same character as the winter, to the detriment of the prosperity of the farmers.

"At that time, (183()) game was plentiful; deer were abundant. I might stand on an elevated piece of prairie, between the mouth of Salt Fork and Marshall, and count "on various other elevations, twenty, forty and sometimes sixty deer, in a herd, quietly feeding. It Is probable that these animals were more numerous at that day tiian domestic stock, in this county. It was nO trouble to kill deer then; three or four a day was not considered very great work. *****

" The first marriage I remember, after arriving in Saline county, was that of Claiborne F. Jackson and Miss Sappington, February 17, ]831. The next jvas Dr. George Penn and Miss Chambers, daughter of Colonel Benjamin Chambers, the first county clerk, and then Judge N. B. Tucker to Miss Smith, daughter of Gen. Thos. A. Smith. The mortality of the county was certainly very slight; there were not many people to die. Samuel Brownjohn, an Englishman, died near Jonesboro, in the year 1 830, and was buried near where he died, Jonesboro. The business men of the county, when I first made my appearance here, were Dr. Sappington, Col. M. M. Marmaduke, (afterwards governor). Col. William Lewis, Gen. Thos. A. Smith, Wyatt Bingham, Nathan Harris, Asa Finley, Judge Huston, Benjamin Huston, Nowlin, Hawpe, the Thorntons, the Naves (or Neffs ), the Beattys, the Browns, the Harveys, the Davises, the Lawlesses, Adkinson, Marshall, and a number of others, who were identified with the interests of Saline county. So far as I know, all of these have passed away, except Henry Nave, Andrew Brownlee and Ephraim McClain, all of whom have attained an advanced age.

" The first birth of a male child that I remember was that of Peter Thornton Reynolds. The first female child was a daughter of John Thornton. The first school house I noticed was built before I came to the county, near Wyatt Bingham's. It was not designed by an architect from St. Louis or the east. Five or six men built it in about two days. It was a natural school house, as it was built of round logs with the bark on, and the teachers were pioneers, unaccustomed to any other kind of houses but those built of logs. The first of these at my time were Green Finley, Mr. Adams, and afterward Mr. A. Trigg. About twenty scholars was the largest number those teachers had, and they received about twenty dollars per month. I was one of the pupils of the first two named. The first sermon of which I was an auditor was preached by Rev. Justinian Williams, a Methodist, at the house of Wyatt Bingham, who was absent at that time. There was circuit preaching by ministers of the same denomination, Revs. Ben. Johnson, Millice, and others. There was no regular preaching by other denominations. There were occasional services by the Baptists within the bounds of our communitj^, first by Riv. Peyton Nowlin, and afterwards by Rev. Abner Gwinn.

About that time the Cuiiiberland Presbyterians had preaching by Rev. Archibald McCorkle, Rev. L. Burns, J. L. Wear, and Henry Weedin, at the houses of Asa Fiijley, W. B. Wear, Wm. Burk, and Robt. Wallace, with an occasional sermon by Henry and Robt. Renick, Robt. Sloan, and Wm. Kavanaugh. A Cumberland Presbyterian church was organized in 1833, either' at the house of Asa Finley or at the old Salt Fork campground, near Richard Marshall's, with Wm. Burk and Wm. B. Wear as ruling elders, and Rev. Daniel Buie in charge as pastor. In the course of a very few years a church edifice was built on the south of Blackwater, about two miles from the mouth of Salt Fork, being a hewed-log building, and considered adequate to the wants and demands of the people at that time. This structure remained in a somewhat unfinished condition until about 1847, when it was destroyed by fire from one of our then large burning prairies. Those prairie fires were greatly dreaded by the people. Another church was then built about half a mile east of the line in Cooper county, in the year 1848, at a cost of, say $1,200. This church is honored and respected by all for the good work it has done in elevating the moral tone of society and the promotion of the cause of Christianity in our neighborhood. I am proud to say that I have been a member of this church since 1833. Rev. Robert Crockett is in charge of this church at this time, and has been for several years an honored and an honoring member."

The southern, or southeastern portion of Blackwater township, near Ridge Prairie, began to be settled about the year 1826. The first settler was Stephen Dial, in that year,, from South Carolina ; he staked his claim on section 12, township 48, range 20. Richard Howard came in 1830, Irom Virginia, and settled on section 11, township 48, range 20. Dick and Branch Jeffries, and James Bruce, remained a while in the neighborhood, but did not locate.

The first male child born was Watson Dial, in 1826, a son of Stephen and Deborah Dial. The first female child is believed to have been Elizabeth Bruce, daughter of James and Jane Bruce.

The first school house was built by the neighborhood, in 1839, near Richard Howard's. It was composed of logs, and one end was " flared " and converted into a huge fire-place. Its roof was fastened by weightpoles, instead of nails. No money was expended in its construction.

Regarding the first manufacture of cloth in the neighborhood, it is stated that Mrs. Deborah Dial, having no loom, and there being no artisan in the community sufficiently skilled to make one, she took her warp and woof to Harmon Bailey's, in Cooper county, eight miles away, and there wove her web.

The mill used by the settlers was on Muddy creek, in Pettis county, sixteen miles away. Supplies were drawn from the river, ten or twelve miles off. Economy was everywhere inculcated, enjoined, and practiced.

When Uncle Dick Marshall's daughter was married, her father called her to him, after the wedding supper, and said: " Now, Linda, you hear - don't let your face be seen in a store for six years! Do you understand?"

The chimney to Richard Howard's first cabin pulled the smoke in instead of sending it out. On windy days the children, which all told numbered only sixteen, were sent under the bed to save their eyes from the smoke!

There were not many doctors, and no lawyers, no taxes, and no divorces. Nearly all the first settlers, by dint of industry and economy, amassed a competency and some of them gained wealth, and their mere word was worth as much as their descendants' " bond and security."

Among the many incidents narrated of Blackwater township history, it is said that when Judge W. B. Napton was building his place, "Elk Hill," he directed the carpenters to shingle the rooijrom the "comb " down, and grew indignant because they would not obey him! The judge is one of the most profound lawyers and able jurists that ever sat on a supreme bench, but one of the workmen remarked, " he don't know everything."

Ridge Prairie

A historical sketch of this place and its neighborhood has been furnished by Mr. S. W. McCorkle, and is here given. The. town is in the southern portion of Blackwater township :

Ridge Prairie gets its name from our first postoffice, which was at 'Squire Hancock's, and by " pony purse," was brought weekly from Arrow Rock. The office got its name from the prairie which extended from the Sappington farm, one-half mile west of our village, to the Sam Bridge-

Stephen Dial was the first settler on the prairie, about 1830. James Bruce began a settlement about the same time, where F. Plumer now lives. Two years later Richard Howard settled one-half mile north of the present village. About this time Dr. Sappington, Uncle Dick Marshall and Ben. Jones settled between Blackwater and the river, in the direction of Arrow Rock.

This almost entire, oeautiful prairie, remained unentered for the next ten years, owing to the conviction in the minds of the immigrants, that there was " not timber enough in the country to fence it." They also thought the timbered land much richer. These ideas have been exploded long since, and hence every nook of prairie land is eagerly utilized.

The village sustains two mercantile houses, one drug store, two blacksmith shops, and several dwelling houses. Our growth has been retarded, by several influences: First, our people had the habit of going to the river to buy their goods, and hence, were slow to patronize a village, home merchant. Second, the merchant failed to buy their produce, hence necessitated their going to the river.

But while the village failed to build up, the surrounding country has steadily improved. The last acre of land will soon be enclosed, to produce either grain or grass, for private use. Stock and grain raising are quite remunerative. Lands remain very low, selling from three dollars to thirty dollars per acre, the minimum for unimproved, the maximum for highly improved farms, including elegant mansions, barns, &c.

Schools. - For many years, owing to the scarcity of people, and their great distance from each other, our educational facilities were exceedingly limited. Our first school was taught by a widow lady, Mrs. Lavina Howe, just over in Cooper county, in her dwelling house. This was in 1834. Our next was taught by Rev. Thornton Rucker, a Baptist minister of sacred memory, in a small cabin built for the purpose in a grove, three-quarters of a mile northeast of our village location. He taught two wmters - 1838 and 1839. Our next school, the following winter, was taught by Rev. Wm. B. Wear, a Cumberland Presbyterian piinister, also of sacred memory, in his own house, who settled and then lived on the splendid farm now owned by S. R. Cockrell, and the widow of the late R. V. Harvey. The next two winters, by way of accommodation, the school went back into the edge of Cooper county, and was taught by another minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Rev. A. McCorkle. Next winter, by compromise, it was taught in a deserted cabin, on the farm now owned by L. M. Nelson, midway between the extremes of the settlement. Thus our school was portable until the year 1846, when a log cabin, of diminutive dimensions and humble pretensions, was reared near the site of our rather commodious house, which supplanted it in 1857 or '58. This last is located in West Ridge prairie, and the upper story owned and occupied by the Odd Fellows.

Churches. - Owing to the fact that our churches out-rank our village in years, we have no village church. And because there are services all around us, at convenient distances, nearly every Sabbath, we rarely enjoy a sermon in our school house. On the east, two and a half miles, stands Salt Fork Church, the oldest in the country, built in 1848. On the west, one mile, stands a Baptist Church, of thirty years standing.

Heath's creek was named from Mr. Heath who made salt from the springs along its bank at an early day, and sold it wet and dripping for $1.60 ber bushel to the settlers. Elk Lick white sulphur springs, is situated on Heath's creek, near the county line, and before the war was something of a watering place and resort, to which people came from a distance. The proprietor, Jas. Witcher, erected a comfortable hotel for the accommodation of his guests. It was a noted place for political meetings, " stump speakings " and other political gatherings.

Upon one occasion, an old line ^hig relates, Frank Mitchell, whig candidate for congress, kept his opponent and Gov. C. F. Jackson at bay all day, at this spring. Another time, according to the same authority, Gov. Jackson made a speech against know-nothingism, at the same place. James Harris, described as a "little, slow sleepy-looking man, a school teacher and a relative of the Boone county Harrises," replied, and did it so well that his friends raised a big hurrah for "the little sleepy man" when he had finished.

In the eastern portion of the township, according to Mrs. Wood, Gervas Smith, and other pioneers, the early settlers in that portion of Salt Fork were Wyatt Bingham, Gen. Smith, Maj. Milton Wood, P. Thornton, Asa Finlej% Gen. W. B. Miller, Nathan Harris, Col. Wm. Davis, Thos. Gaines, Judge Napton, R. P. Shelby, James H. McAllister, James Hunt, and John B. Dedrich. Some of these settled in what is now Blackwater.

Early marriages were those of Madison Wood and Angeline Thornton, Mr. Herron to a daughter of Maj. Wood, Judge W. B. Napton and Miss Malinda WiUiams, John G. Miller and Miss Margaret Williams, daughters of Judge Williams, of Tennessee.

The first deaths were a man named Wilhelm, who was buried on Major Wood's farm, and a child of Mr. Bingham, that was buried in the old family burying ground on the Trigg farm.

The early physicians were Drs. Sappington, Penn, Hutchinson, Todd, Hicks, Hall, and Lawless. The latter was the first that moved into the neighborhood.

The first minister was Gary Hickman, of Maryland, Old School Presbyterian, who preached first at Marshall. The Methodists and "Campbellites " had held camp-meetings in the vicinity previous to Hickman's meetings.

The first school was taught on the Bingham farm, by a teacher named Parsons. Here was one of the first school houses; another was near the James Smith place, and was a small frame building.

Jonesboro and Oliver's mill were early milling, points. Some of the first settlers went to "Pin Hook," Pettis county, to mill, the trip requiring two days, over the rough roads and unbridged streams. Game of all kinds was plentiful. Major Thomas Gaines killed 110 deer in one season. Wild turkey became so tame as to come around the cabin door of Mrs. Wood.

Bethlehem Church

This church, of the Christian denomination, was organized in 1870. The original members were C. G. Clark and wife, Rufus Clark, Burr Harris, D. S. Merry, wife and daughter, A. H. Hanley and wife, Samuel and Agnes Barley, W. W . Woodson and wife, Elisha Woodson and family, Thomas Settles and wife, Samuel McDaniel and family, James R. McDaniel and wife, Angeline Garrel, Kittie Bauldin, J. M. Jones and wife, and Lizzie Hurt. A frame church, 40 by 36 feet in size, was built in the fall of 1871, at a cost of $2,400. It was dedicated by Elder James Wright. The pastors have been James Wright, Samuel McDaniel, Pinkerton, Hancock, Phillips, Chappel, Schouse and Hudson, and Bro. C. Q. Shouse, the present preacher. The present membership is about eighty. This church has had preaching regularly since its organization, and Sunday-school during the summer season.

Salt Fork Church

This church, under the control of the Cumberland Presbyterians, and in the new Lebanon Presbytery, was organized at an early day. Its first members were Asa, James, Dabney and Wallace Finley; Mollie, Elizabeth, Mary and Margaret Finley; Thomas, Rhoda, Porus and Nancy Finley; Rhodes and Polly Marshall; James and Lorena Burke; Margaret Wallace, K. J. Steele, W. H. and Mary C. Finley, and Miss Margaret Wallace. A frame church, costing $1,200, was built in 1848; the informant states that it was "built before dedications had come in fashion in this region." The pastors have been Wm. Barnett Wear, Archibald McCorkle, W. E. Burke, Robert Crockett, with many others as assistants. Number of members at present, 100. The first and second camp-meetings of this congregation were held on the north side of Blackwater, about one mile northeast of the Marshall bridge, in 1840-41. In 1842, Rev. A. McCorkle deeded and dedicated two or three acres of land to the church, where the Salt Fork church now stands, and the annual campmeetings were held there ever after. But few years have since passed in which the members have not had their annual communication and revival meeting. "Many hundreds of persons," says the chronicler, "old and young, black and white, have there dedicated themselves to God, ^ large percentage of whom have died triumphantly and joined the church on high."

Saline Church

Missionary Baptist, was organized in 1861, and re-organized in 1869. The original members were P. I. Parsons and family, Mr. H. Sellers and wife, J. C. Hansborough and daughters, B. F. Lyon, Mrs. Hansborough, John T. Woodson, J. M. Yager and wife, Wm. Murphy and wife, and others. The congregation as yet has no church building, but services are held in a school house in the neighborhood. The pastors have been B. T. Thomas, N. T. Allison, I. B. Dodson, J. L. Tichenor, E. T. Shelton. Rev. Tichenor is the present pastor. Number of members at present, 41. Have had regular preaching once a month, since the re-organization. The organization of 1861 was broken up by the war, and not re-organized until 1869.

This church was first organized in the year 1843, at the house of Nathaniel Bridgwater, in Cooper county. The first members were Mr. Bridgwater and his family of eight children; Nick Harlow and his wife, son, and daughter; Rev. J. F. Clark; Jesse Alhson, wife and daughter; Rev. Thornton Rucker, wife and two sons; Carter, Martha, and Elizabeth Dix. A frame church, costing about $500, was built in the year 1848 or 1849, by Mr. Grear. The house was newly sided, ceiled, roofed, and painted, in 1879. The pastors of this church have been Thornton Rucker, Abner Gwinn, Isaiah Williams, J. F. Clark, Rev. Sands, Wm. Gentry, A. P. Williams, Rev. Hudson, J. B. Dodson, I. B. Payne, W. R. Green, and Sheldon Whipple.

This church, called the Blackwater arm of the German Baptist church - often termed the "Tiinker" or "Dunkard" church - was organized, July 17, 1873. The first members were David L. Williams, Leah C. Williams, J. and C. Smith, J. T. Shores, S. Evans, N. Evans, H. Evans. H. Van Buskirk, M. Turner, and Amanda Turner. No house of worship has ever been built. The pastors have been D. L. Williams and John Umphlet. The present number of members is thirty-four. The informant states, that this is a branch of the " Brethren " or German Baptists, commonly called Dunkards. " Their peculiar tenets are that they take the New Testament for their guide in theology,- church government, and disciplinary rule; and they believe that the Master meant, in all things, just what He said; that all of His commands are to be observed; that there are no 'non-essentials,' and that we are accountable in proportion to our loyalty or disloyaltj- to God."

Salt Fork Churches

SALT FORK CHURCHES. smith's chapel. This is one of the oldest Methodist churches in Missouri, and the oldest in Saline county. It was organized in 1824. Some of the first members were Wyatt Bingham and wife, Adam Steele and wife, Walker Adkinson and wife, and Benj. Brown. A frame church, costing about $a,000, was built in the year 1857. Dr. C. E. Smith donated the land and $300. The site was in the brush. J. T. and D. A-. Stoufier were the contractors. The brush was cleared off and located, and the work was paid for when completed. The pastors have been Revs. Mr. Pace, Lee, Millice, Ben. Johnson, Best, Nichols, JLacy, Anderson, James and Thos. Wallace, Tom. Finney, Wm. Protsman, Joseph Dines, J. D. Reed, Warren Wharton, Nathan Talbot, Lowe, A. M. Rader, "Josiah Godby, W. B. McFarland, J. D. Blevens, John R. Bennett, J. F. Hogan, M. Duren, W. M. Bewley. The first presiding elder on this district was Rev. Redmon. During the war there was no regular preaching for about four years.