Blue Township

Blue Township

Blue township was organized May 22, 1827, the order of court fixing the boundaries as follows : ' ' Commencing on the Missouri River at Prine's Ferry and running with the western boundary of Fort Osage township to the southern boundary of the county, thence west with said boundary to the southwest corner of the county, thence due north with the State line to where it crosses the main fork of Big Blue, thence with said creek to its junction with the Missouri River, thence down the middle of the main channel of the Missouri to the point of beginning." Subsequently the township has been reduced to its present geographical bounds by cutting off the counties of Cass and Bates from Jackson, and still later by the organization of the townships of Washington, Prairie and Brooking. The present boundaries of Blue township are north by the Missouri River which separates it from Clay county, east by Little Blue which separates it from the townships of Fort Osage and Sni-a-bar, north by Prairie and Brooking, and west by the townships of Brooking, Westport and Kaw, from the last two being separated by the Big Blue.

There is considerable timber, especially along the creeks and the Missouri River. The land is high and rolling, some of the bluffs along the river attaining a height above the river of over three hundred feet. Limestone quarries are abundant in all parts of the township, furnishing superior advantages for building and other purposes. Rock Creek rises southwest of Independence and flows north, emptying into the Missouri near the mouth of Big Blue. Springs of pure water issue from the hills, and water courses are abundant in every locality.

No more favored spot can be found than Blue township, especially for agricultural, stock raising, horticulture and the general requisities to a good home. The proximity to market, the excellent facilities for communication with the east and west, the fertility of the soil, the healthfulness of the surroundings, and the intelligence and moral culture of the citizens are combined in a greater degree, and exist to a more desirable extent than in any other locality in Jackson county. The Missouri Pacific, Chicago & Alton and the Narrow Gauge Railroads run through the very heart of the township, and connect Independence by the most complete arrangements with all the large cities in the State. The well cultivated farms, adorned with beautiful and costly homes, orchards, shade trees and lawns, furnish a picture perfectly grand.

Most of the history of Blue township centers in Independence, and with the origin, growth and development of that town may be found nearly all the important history of the civil township of Blue.

Many of the land owners who now reside in the country near Independence have been citizens of the town and vice versa. Independence has been the market, post-office and trading point for the farmers round about from the location of the town to the present time and the rapid growth of Kansas City does appear to retard Independence, but much unlike Westport it has continued to successfully compete with other business centers in the vicinity and hold its

James Lewis came in an early day and at present lives about six miles northeast of Independence; Harmon Gregg lived about four miles northeast of Independence; Daniel P. Lewis removed to the Piatt Purchase and was judge of the County Court there ; John Betcher lived four miles northeast of Independence ; William Baxter and Thomas Staylon with their families live northest of Independence; Aaron Overton died in Texas several years ago; Daniel Monroe lived on the bluff overlooking the river three miles north of Independence ; Gan Johnson lived on a farm three miles south of Independence, he died many years ago; Williamson Hawkins lived six miles south of Independence, he was murdered about the year 1838, and the murderer was hanged at the county seat; John Davis lived southeast of Independence, he was once County Judge in an early day ; Gabriel Fitzhugh was a Baptist preacher and lived two miles west of Independence ; Col. Thomas Pitcher was prominent in the Mormon trouble ; the Nolans and Pitchers were Kentuckians; Samuel C. Owens was a prominent merchant in Independence ; John O. Agnew was of Irish descent and a prominent merchant in Independence; the Flournoy's were prominent men in the town and county ; Robert Rickman came from Tennessee and lived a highly respected citizen, he died at Independence in 1880; John Smith was a justice of the peace ; Adam Hill settled two miles west of Independence where he still resides ; Joseph H. Reynolds was from Lincoln county, Kentucky, and came to Independence in 1834, where he still resides; Maj. E. A. Hickman was from Kentucky, and has for many years been one of the prominent citizens of Jackson county ; George Dickerson, Stephen Adams, and Jabez Smith came from Virginia and brought with him about 450 slaves ; Thomas H. Wilson, Moses G. Wilson, John F. McCauley is now living in San Francisco, Robert Gwin came from Tennessee, as did William McCormick and Dr. Armstrong.

" The first houses built west of the Little Blue were on a farm now owned by Messrs. Pugsley and Staples, three miles east of Independence. These two cabins were built by Andrew Wilson and Henry Burris. Wilson also built the first mill in the county. The earliest settlers were Andrew Wilson, Henry Burris, Jacob Gregg, Osborn, Stayton, Swearingen, Adams, Jeffreys, Chiles and others. As the city of Independence began to build up, there were many others, and I give some of their names : S. D. Lucas, S. C. Owens, the Westons, the Nolands and the Flournoys.

" The first post-office established in the county was at Independence, in 1827 ; first marriage remembered was Joseph Moon to Betty W^ilson ; first birth remembered was Lucinda Wilson ; first death remembered was John Wilson ; first minister was Joab Powell, a Baptist minister; the first physician was Flenory ; first lawyer was Judge Hicks ; first teacher was Rev. William Ferrial, a Methodist minister. He taught in a pole cabin, dirt floor, covered with boards, being put on with weight poles, there being no nails to nail them. This was the first school that I attended. Religious meetings were held at the cabins and groves. There were no churches until about 1830, no Sunday-schools earher than 1835.

" The'Mormons commenced coming to the county about 1829, and cleared their Temple Lot at Independence. They were driven from here to Clay county. In those early days, there were many fights, for that was the way they had of settling difficulties, and seeing which was the best man.

" In those days the ladies made all the clothing, by spinning and weaving cotton, wool and flax. This being the case, the first thing a young man thought of was to get him a wife to make his clothes, for there were no clothing stores then. But when a young man gets married now, he must have plenty of money to commence on. As to the hardships of pioneer life, I cannot say that it was hard in Jackson county, there being plenty of deer, turkeys and other game, and also plenty of wild honey. As to money, they needed but very litde, as there were none of the unreasonable taxes and special interest collected as they have now, and none of the large salaries to pay the county officers that are now paid. There were a great many Indians passing through the county in those days, camping and hunting. There were also a great many large wolves and snakes. As to the early settlers, I consider them all as good men as ever lived in any county."

"In the first settling of Jackson county, the first thing any immigrant did was to select^a piece of land for a home, put up a log cabin, then go to work making a farm. Making the farm was a specialty until it had attained sufficient size for all the crops commonly raised on farms in this county, and as opportunity would present put other improvements on the place.

The life of the early settler was one of hard toil, with many disadvantages, inconveniences and hardships. The soil was rich and yielded abundant crops. Taking in view the implements used in the cultivation of the land, it was astonishing what wonderful crops were raised. All the work done on the farm was with oxen. The land was all plowed with ox teams ; all the hauling of timber, going to mill and market, and not unfrequently to church, was done with oxen. The only farm work that was done with horses was plowing the corn crop and garden. Wheat was raised in the greatest abundance, and was tramped out on a dirt floor and cleaned by the wind and ground in an old horse mill and bolted by hand, that is by turning the bolt with one hand and feeding the flour in with the other.

Mills in those days were very rude structures indeed, and very scarce. Sometimes a farmer would have to go ten or twelve miles to one of those rude specimens of a corn crusher, and have to remain on the ground three or four days before he could get his grain ground; frequently would have to go home without, and resort to the hominy, mortar and grater for bread. The meal made at those mills was anything but a good article. One man said that he got some corn ground and it was so course he planted some of it and it came up. Saw mills were very scarce; the demand for lumber could by no means be supplied. It was nothing uncommon to see the floor of a man's house laid with logs split open and hewed with a broad ax. One old man built a little mill on the Sni. The neighbors used to tell it on him that he would fill up the hopper and start the mill of a morning, then go out and plow his corn until noon, replenish the hopper at noon, then go back and plow until night. He also had a saw mill attached One day a neighbor was at his house, which stood about a half mile from his mill ; he had a man at the mill running the saw ; he invited the neighbor out in the yard to listen how nice his saw ran. They stepped out, and all at once the saw stopped. The owner remarked, " there, now, she has struck a knot." The prairie sod was so strong it took from five to six yoke of cattle to break it... A sod plow, in those days, cut a furrow about sixteen inches wide with wooden mold-boards. The plow used for breaking the old land consisted of an iron bar with a shear welded to it, a wooden mold joined to the shear and fastened at the back end with a couple of pins to one of the handles.

The plowman would invariably have a wooden paddle hanging on one of his plow handles, and every few rods have to stop and throw his plow down, and with his paddle, push the dirt off the mold-board. The corn crop was cultivated with shovel plows, made by the smiths living in the country. They were anything but good mechanics. Every farmer did his own plow-socking, and some of them were wonderful to behold. Sometimes you would hear a man tellmg about " another" socking a plow, and after he had completed the job it looked so frightful, he said, he chained it to a tree, and that it got loose and killed some of his cattle.

All the wearing apparel was manufactured at home. Men, women and children worked incessantly. While the men were engaged improving their farms and in cultivating their crops, the women were engaged making cloth to clothe the family. Every farmer had some sheep, and every year planted a cotton patch. There were no carding machines, nor cotton gins, in the country for a number of years. The seed was picked out of the cotton by hand, and wool was both carded and spun by hand and woven into cloth ; all of this caused incessant labor, under the circumstances impossible to avoid. If there was a great scarcity of money among the people, the plan upon which they were working, manufacturing everything at home, it required but little money to answer their purposes.

Thus it was in other days in Jackson county. The hum of the spinning wheel and the noise of the loom could be heard almost the year round at every farm house. But as time rolled on the fruits of this great and incessant toil began to be happily realized. Cotton jeans, carding machines and saw and grist mills began to spring up in all parts of the country where necessity required them, which lightened the burden of the people and removed many of the inconveniences under which they had formely been laboring. The erection of school houses and churches, and the people building better houses to live in, and many other things went to show that the country was gradually emerging from the pioneer age and was on the great highway of prosperity. And thus it was ; on she went, increasing in population and wealth until the breaking out of the war, at which time J ackson county ranked among the first counties in the State. At that time Jackson county could boast of .as much fine stock - horses, cattle and mules - as almost any place in the Union. A great many farmers for several years had been making mule raising a specialty, and had large droves of mules on hand when the war broke out ; but, alas, all was wreck and ruin and devast- ation during that unhappy period. Jackson county was a battle field ; and at the close of the war all the fruits of the labor of these long years Of toil was swept away, and Jackson county was again as a wilderness."

Christopher Mann The Oldest Man In Missouri

"I was born Sept. 15, 1774, in Virginia, and when about two years old moved to Kentucky with my parents. My father's name was Jonas and my mother's name was Agnes and her maiden name was Williams. At this time Kentucky had a very few settlers, and my father was among the first.

"When my father crossed the Alleghany Mountains from Virginia to Kentucky, they had one pack horse to carry the small children and household goods. My sister and myself were tied to a bed, which was thrown over the old gray horse, and thus we traveled day after day, father ahead leading the horse and mother walking behind carrying some articles on her shoulders. I was reared in Kentucky and saw Daniel Boone many, many times. I saw him in his hunting dress on the chase with six dogs and three sons with their guns. Daniel Boone hunted animals for their furs and sold them in markets east of the mountains. Boone lived there many years, but, finally, after a few settlers had come into the present State of Kentucky, he said; "I must move away; a settler has come within seventy miles. This is no place for me." I left Kentucky for Ohio when about twenty-four years of age, where I married Miss Betsie Rusk, by whom I had seventeen children - seven of whom are still living. Their names were as follows : Peggy, Ann, Peter, Jonas, David, John, James, Sallie, Nancy and Washington (still living in California now over seventy years old) ; Andrew Jackson (living in California), Christopher (living in California), Elson (living in California), Samuel (living in California), Betsey (married to Wni. Mayes and still lives in California), Julia (married to Ezekiel Robinson and still lives in California). Some of my children died while infants. My first wife died in 1844 in Jackson county.

"I lived and farmed in Indiana for many years. I made a flat boat near the old battle field of Tippecanoe and with the boat shipped my farm produce to New Orleans.

"I came to Missouri, Jasper county, in the year 1838, and after living there about five years, came in 1843, to Jackson county and settled on land now owned by H. M. Vaile. I bought the land of Nicholas Crenshaw to the amount of eighteen 8o's or 1440 acres. I lived here many years and then reriioved to the Monroe farm which overlooks Wayne City. The farm is known as the Daniel Monroe place. August 5, 1863, the bush-whackers came and robbed my house, turned my family out, and burned the house to the ground. They came to me and told me if I would remain and watch my house while they burned a few of my neighbors' houses, they would not burn mine ; but when they came back they burned mine also. They asked me if I was not a black Abohtionist, and when I told them : "I am a Union man, sir ! " one of the bush-whackers struck me with his revolver and broke out two of my teeth.

" After the war I bought the Gov. Gilpin farm, where I now live. It is one and a half miles northwest of Independence, Sec. 27, Tp. 50, R. 32.

" I was married a second time to Mrs. Lydia Ann Dean, March 24, 1848. The names of the children are : Mary (died when two years of age), Frances Jane, William Franklin, Wilson B., Louisa L., Sallie R., James M., Alice B., and Lydia Anora. The youngest of my children will be only fifteen years old on the ist of July, 1881.

" My health is good, and I expect to live a longtime yet. I never took a dose of medicine in my life. I am a Republican, ajid have been a hard shell Baptist for eighty years. I have always been a hard working man, and put up as many as six cords four foot wood in one day. I have cut and split 500 rails in a day. I have voted for every President of the United States at every election since the time of Washington. I have voted for the man who was elected each time, except when Harrison was elected, and at one other time. I voted for President James A. Garfield at the election Nov. 2, 1880. I started to the polls on foot, but before I reached there Mr. Z. S. Ragan overtook me and persuaded me to ride to Independence. I shall always vote the Republican ticket for President if I live a hundred years longer. I drank some whiskey but never was intoxicated in my life. I never sat and played cards and bet on games in a saloon. I detest drunkards and gamblers. I have not much of an education, can spell all kinds of common words, but cannot read my letters. I was in the Black Hawk War and in the battle of the Big Woods. I was out on that campaign thirty days and received therefor thirty dollars in cash and one hundred and sixty acres of land. I was in the Home Guards during the Civil War of 1861-5.

' ' My father's family consisted of seven boys and six girls. My father was a native of New Jersey, and grandfather was a native of Germany.

" My height is just one quarter of an inch less than six feet and my average weight has been one hundred and sixty-five pounds, I have weighed one hundred and ninety, but now weigh one hundred and fifty pounds. I could hold my breath one minute and a half, and can yet. I use no spirits, but use tobacco. I could walk to Independence, and I think I could walk to Kansas City. I can do light work on the farm even now. I never had a decayed tooth, but have had some drawn by a dentist, though never had the toothache.

' ' When I went to Ohio it was a territory, and when I left, I went boating on the Ohio River. I enlisted in Jackson's War, but my father paid and would not let me go ; he paid $110 to another man to go in my place. I removed again to Kentucky and then again to Ohio."

It might be remarked that Mr. Mann is now a hearty, healthy, and intelligent man, possesses a complete command of his mental faculties, and can remember all the important incidents of his long and eventful life. He talks readily and intelligently on all subjects. He has a full head of hair, walks with a firm and steady step, though his sight is imperfect in consequence of weak eyes. He appears as an ordinary man of about sixty or seventy years. He says that he wants his last days to be his best days.

"The first grist mill in Jackson county was built in the southwest part of Blue township, in Sec. 29, Tp. 49, R. 32, about five miles from Independence. The mill was run for the purpose of accommodating the farmers in the vicinity. James Kimsey was the builder and owner of the mill for several years.

"The first school house in the county was erected in Sec. 29, Tp. 49, R. 32. This was a private enterprise built by subscription. Also the first school house erected under authority of the school law of the State was at the same place. James Kimsey preached the first sermon in the county in the first school house above mentioned. The first distillery in this township, as also in Jackson county, was put up on Sec. 29, Tp. 49, R. 32.

" The first orchard planted in Jackson county was planted on Sec. 29, Tp. 49, R. 32, among which was one chestnut tree.. This orchard was in full bearing m the year 1849, and contained four hundred large trees. At the present time there are a few of those old apple trees standing. The chestnut tree is now a large and flourishing tree. The above named trees were planted by James Kimsey."

In 1827 James Brock was married to Henrietta Pitcher in an old house tl^en standing on Sec. 28, Tp. 49, R. 32. This is said to be the first marriage in Jackson county."

Wayne City

" The above is a plat of a town called Wayne City, in the County of Jackson, State of Missouri, lying on the bank of the Missouri River, on a tract of land belonging to the heirs of William Avert, deceased, bounded as follows, to wit :

" Beginning at a' rock on the bank of the river and running down the river bank north 31^^°, east 56 poles; thence south 58^°, east 22 poles; thence south 31^°, west 56 poles; thence north 58^", west 22 poles, to the beginning. Containing 7 j-W acres. The bearings of the streets and alleys and lanes of the lots are parallel, or at right angle with the exterior lines. The lots are all of the same size, 55 feet by 127 feet.

Geo. W. Rhoades Samuel D. Lucas

The town of Livingston was laid off in Tp. 50, R. 31, by Henry Chiles, and recorded April 29, 1837. It was laid off on the south bank of the Missouri river, but no town was built there.

New Independence

The town of New Independence on the south bank of the Missouri, about six miles from the county seat in Blue township, was laid off by R. S. Mize, June 9, 1855. This town was never built up.

The New Salem Baptist Church

This church was organized either in 1826 or 1827, the records of the church up to 1843 have been lost. The following facts were given by Bro. Stephen Adams, who united with the church in the year 1828, and is now the only living member who belonged to the organization at that time. Pastors having served the church since the organization : Thomas Stayton, John Jackson, James Savage and William Ously. In 1843 the church record gives the names of pastors in the following order : Joab Powell, Lewis Franklin, Rev. Saunders, William White, Henry Farmer, Edward Wood, T. N. O'Brien, G. L. Black, Thomas Montgomery, J. L. Hampton, J. J. Robinson, E. H. Foster and H. B. Turner. The present pastor is John W. Sage. Book A of the church records commences with the organization in 1826-7, and continues to August, 1843, under the name of the "Salem Church." Book B commences with August, 1843, and ends with May, 1868. The names of the members of the church in 1845 were as follows: Absalom Powell, Elizabeth Powell, Rebecca Powell, Stephen Adams, Mary Adams, Nelson Adams, Anna Adams, William Rice, Sarah Belcher, Thos. J. Belcher, Martha Powell, Elizabeth Williamson, C. C. Rice, Jane Rice, Johnson Lacy and Sarah Lacy.

On the 31st of March, 1845, the church was dedicated by Lewis Franklin, H. P. Thompson and A. P. Williams, and the name of the church was changed to "New Salem Church." The church membership was scattered during the war. The church building was burned in 1870 and a good commodious brick, 45x60 feet, erected in 187 1.

At the present time the church membership is eighty- five. Rev. John W. Sage was called to the pastorate in January, 1881. This church is situated on the Lexington road, five miles north east of Independence. Among its early mem- bers were the names of some of the first settlers west of Little Blue. The ravages of the civil war of 1861-5, are now nearly obliterated from the county, and especially from Blue township.

Railroads have been built, public and private structures erected, the minds and feelings of the people have been changed from the prejudices and animosities engendered by civil strife, to the kindly and generous feelings of neighbors and friends. Nor yet those exciting and bitter contentions which pervaded the politics of the county for some years subsequent to the war; but it is admitted by all, that no time since the Border troubles of 1855, has there been in this locality such kindly feeling in the political parties, such fellowship between the churches and such a desire to forget the differences of the past, as at the present time. The inhabitants of Independence and Blue township have a bright future in store' for them.

The historian must be true to his calling and represent things in their true light, and leave the facts of their consideration to the present and future generations. The more important events of the civil war can be found in connection with subjects relating thereto, but the civil condition of affairs here can be gathered more correctly than otherwise from the following extracts :

1. Each member of the association shall subscribe his name to its Constitution, and shall pledge himself faithfully to labor to promote its object, as therein expressed.

2. The president, or in the event of his absence, the vice-president, shall preside at the meetings of the association ; and if neither of these officers should be present, any member may be called to the chair as president pro tempore.

3. The President shall appoint all standing committees, shall preserve order, and shall perform such other duties as usually devolve upon the presiding officers of deliberative bodies.

4. The captain may, at any time where he shall deem it necessary, call out a part or the whole of the members of this association, to aid the civil authorities in the discharge of their duties, or to render any other service that may be deemed essential to the maintenance of good order, or the attainment of any of the other objects of the organization.

5. The captain shall have exclusive control and command of the members of the association, when called out to aid the civil authorities in their efforts to execute the laws or enforce obedience thereto, to arrest offenders against the laws, or to perform any other official duty, in the performance of which they may require assistance. And on all occasions, where said authorities are present, he and the members of this association under him, shall hold themselves in subordination, and shall act as auxiliary thereto. But if said authorities are absent, or cannot be consulted, the captain, or the officer in command, shall exercise discretionary power, and shall thereafter report his action to said authorities, and to the executive committee of the association.

6. In the absence of the captain, the first lieutenant, and, in his absence, the second lieutenant, shall take command, and exercise all the powers conferred upon the captain.

7. The secretary shall keep a record showing, as far as practicable, the proceedings of the association, shall file . and preserve all reports of standing and special committees, and all other papers relating to or connected with the business or interests of the organization, shall under the direction of the President, correspond with other similar associations, at all times when such correspondence may be deemed necessary or advisable, shall receive and keep an account of all funds belonging to the association, and pay the same to the treasurer, taking his receipt therefor and. charging him therewith, and shall furnish the captain with a hst of

8. The treasurer shall receive from and receipt to the secretary for all funds that shall come into his hands, and shall pay out the same on the order of the president, countersigned by the secretary ; but no such order or warrant shall be drawn by the president except by order of the association, or by direction of its executive committee.

9. Connected with the association shall be the following standing committees : An executive committee, a vigilance committee, a finance committee, and a committee on membership, the first two of which shall consist of five members each, and the latter of three each.

10. The executive committee, together with the president of the association, shall, as often as occasion may require, consult and advise with the captain touching the service he may be required, or that he may deem it advisable to perform, and he, or the lieutenant in command, shall, as far as practicable, submit to said committee such places, purposes and views as he may have or entertain, with reference to the objects and interests of the association. And said committee, together with the captain or other officer in command, shall have full authority to devise and execute such schemes and plans for the attainment of the ends of the organization, as they may deem advisable. And said committee shall, at the first meeting in each month, or oftener, should they consider it necessary, report to the association, giving an account of their labors, as far as may be deemed advisable, and shall make such recommendations relative to the workings of the organization, as they may consider important, or calculated to increase its efficiency and usefulness.

II. The vigilance committee shall use all appropriate means to ferret out offenders against the laws of the land, and discover their haunts and places of retreat; and shall without delay, as often as they obtain information which they regard as reliable, and believe may prove serviceable, report the same to the executive committee, or to the captain or the president of the association. They shall also closely observe and watch the conduct and movements of suspicious characters who may at any time be found in this community, and do all in their power to detect and prevent the commission of crime ; and shall make such reports and recommendations to the association, as they believe important, or of useful tending. And for the purpose of aiding them in the discharge of their duties, they may, should they see proper, employ other discreet members of this association, whose co-operation they may desire, and may delegate to them any of the powers they themselves possess by virtue of these by-laws.

12. The member or members of the vigilance committee, or other person or persons co-operating with them, who may be instrumental in detecting, and the member or members of the association who shall be actively employed in arresting any offender against the laws of the land, shall be entitled to receive all rewards offered by the State, county or municipal authorities, or by individuals, for the arrest of such offender ; and shall also receive such further rewards as may, by a vote of this association, be appropriated out of its funds.

13. After the organization shall have been perfected, all applications for membership, shall be submitted to the committee on membership ; and they shall recommend the acceptance or rejection of the applicant; but said organization shall not be considered as perfected to this extent, until it shall have been so declared by resolution of the association, adopted and spread upon its records.

14. The committee on finance shall examine and report upon all claims presented against the association, except such as may be accredited by the executive committee, and paid by their order. They shall also devise and recommend some plan for raising funds to defray the expenses of the association, and to pay

15. Each member of the association shall labor to increase its usefulness and efficiency; to preserve its unity and harmony; to maintain law, order and fraternal feeling in our midst, and to promote its objects as set forth in its constitution; and the act of signing said constitution shall be considered as a solemn pledge, to that effect.

16. The regular meeting of the association shall be held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month ; but the president may call special meetings as often as he may consider it necessary.

And Commotion

"It is known to most of our readers that some efforts have been recently made to allay the uneasiness which every one has felt in regard to the condition of affairs in our county.

"For some weeks back a growing anxiety existed lest by some misapprehension of the desire and intent of the civil authorities, difficulties might arise that would again involve us in the wild and reckless confusion that prevailed during the war. It was thought that the Sheriff had indictments in his hands against many of the returned Confederate soldiers, upon which he was bound to procure their arrest, and they themselves being under the same impression, and fearing that in case of their arrest they might be taken for trial to the neighboring State of Kansas, or might not otherwise have an impartial examination, many of them had absented themselves from their homes, and might be induced to resist the necessary enforcement of legal process. Such being the case, it was easy o perceive that a single collision would put the matter beyond remedy, and, hence, it was sought on the part of a few of our citizens to bring about a conference between these parties and the Sheriff (Major Williams) in the hope that the erroneous impression which they had as to the number of indictments against them might be corrected, and that they might be induced to repose confidence in' the declarations of the Sheriff, that he did not desire to molest or interfere with them any further than his duty as an officer of the law required. A meeting was accordingly agreed upon to take place some miles east of town one day last week, it having been mutually understood that no arrests on the one hand nor violence on the other, would be attempted. The assemblage was not as full as was desirable for want of sufficient notice, and after a frank and^ candid explanation by Major Williams of his position and his great desire to avoid undue excitement and disturbance, he proposed to them to relieve him of the duty of arrest by voluntarily coming forward and giving bail for their appearance at Court, such of them as could do so, and then return to their homes, where he pledges himself they should remain undisturbed, unless under new infractions of the law.

These overtures were received in a spirit of confidence, and a definite reply promised at a succeeding meeting on the following Saturday, at which time a formal acceptance of the proposition was given and is now in process of being carried out in good faith. We think, in view of the results attained, our citizens may well congratulate themselves, and rejoice at the happy termination of those scenes of strife and bloodshed which have so lately seemed to be impending over us, and that each one should regard it his duty in the future to co-operate with

The Sheriff has had a difficult task to perform between such contending elements. We have no acquaintance with him and are in no wise governed by personal reasons when we assert that much credit is due him, but we do so because we have watched his course at times that are best calculated to show men's characters.

' ' We hope that the people in the county will give their confidence to the Sheriff, because we beheve he is earnest in the assertion that he makes, and we shall continue to do so until we see something to induce us to believe to the contrary. Upon the other hand we believe that the late agreements have been entered into by the bush-whackers with an equally good faith, and with a determination to become quiet and good citizens, who would protect Major Williams from insult or injury as quickly as any citizen in the county in the legal performance of his duty.

' ' Let every good citizen rejoice that the last cause of discord has been removed from our midst, that henceforth we are to have quiet and order, and let us hope that business and good will will revive among us."