Clear Creek Township

Clear Creek Township

counties, on the north by Bacon township, on the west by Walker, on the south by Virgil. About two-thirds of the township - chiefly the northern portion - is prairie. The timbered tracts lie in the southern or southeastern portion, along Clear creek, with a small tract in the northeast corner, on a branch of Kitten creek.

The general surface of the township slopes from north to south into the Clear creek valley. In the northern part there are beautiful undulating farming lands; the central portion dips more rapidly, while in the southern portion runs Clear creek from southwest to northeast.

Clear creek - from which stream the township is named - enters from the south about midway from east to west on the township line (southwest corner section 34), and leaves the town¬ ship in the east at a point about midway between the northern and southern boundary lines. It receives in this township, soon after entering, the waters of the West Fork, which flows along the southern line for three miles or more ; also Fly creek and Stone Coal branch, which come in from the south, in the south¬ eastern portion of the township, and empty into the main stream, the first a mile and a half and the second half a mile from the point where it leaves the county; and the Melton branch which ' comes in on the north side, half a mile above the mouth of Fly creek. The West Fork receives Robinson's creek, which flows along the west side of the township for four or five miles.

The Clear creek sandstone is the chief formation along Clear creek and throughout the greater part of this township. It is generally of fine quality and a good article of gritstone. Grindstones equal, if not superior, to the famed Berean stones of Ohio, have been obtained from the exposures along this stream.

In the southeastern portion along Clear creek there is found a good quality of limestone, of the variety known to geologists as the Keokuk limestone - because the same kind of stone was first found and described at Keokuk, Iowa - and this stone is reasonablv abundant. Prof. Broadhead savs there are occasional outcrops of this stone as far north as in section 13, where Clear creek leaves the county, and thence up the stream to the old White Oak mills, in the northwest southwest section 26. He gives us a section of the earth at the White Oak mills, going down about ninety feet, which he says is as follows :

" First, a few feet slope from the top; then twenty-five feet Clear creek sandstone, tolerably fine grained, with some micaceous beds (containing mica), and containing fossil remains of plants - the stone occurring generally in even flags which make good grindstones ; then twenty-one feet of slope, with a thin coal seam in the lower part ; then outcrops of shale and fragments of coal ; then thirty-three feet of slope to the water in Clear creek, the low^er twelve feet being carboniferous limestone."

Three-quarters of a mile south the Professor observed twelve inches of coal in place, about fifteen feet below the Clear creek sandstone ; the coal was capped by light blue shale. A mile east of the mills Prof. Broadhead gives us another section of the rocks, etc., as follows :

" First, five feet of sandstone; twelve feet of drab, sandy shales ; five feet of thin layers of sandstone ; two inches of rotten coal ; thirty-two and one-half feet of deep blue shale, with bi¬ tuminous layers, and a seam of bituminous coal ten feet from the top ; one and one-half feet of shales mingled with concre¬ tions or lumps of pyritiferous limestone, from six to eighteen inches in diameter ; two and one-half feet of black shales ; six inches of rough, sandy pyritiferous limestone, containing a fossil gastropod (or snail) ; four and one-half inches of coal; two inches of black slate; two feet of fire clay."

The four and one-half -inch vein of coal is probably the same as that at the mill, and the seam in the large shale formation is doubtless the same as that half a mile south of the mill, which also appears in the creek banks a mile above.

The learned Professor states that the sandstone here is of firm texture and generally very durable. It is sometimes ripple marked and full of wavy lines, such as would be formed by gently flowing mud, for there is absolutely no clay in its com¬ position. He suggests that it may be fucoidal - that is, made by sea weed.

"Even, firm, and durable beds were observed at White Oak mills. Formerly very good grindstones were made here, as well as at several other places in the neighborhood, and were quite an article of export. The rock forms an excellent grit, suitable for grindstones and coarse whetstones and may in the future be

History Of Vernon- County

In the northeast part of the township (northwest southeast section 7), near Kitten branch, there are two fine sulphur springs. One discharges three quarts and the other three gallons a minute. The water is very pleasant.

First Settlers

The first settler in Clear Creek township was James Fergus. In the fall of 1837 he came over from St. Clair county and built a cabin on the southeast quarter of section 24, within a quarter of a mile of the Cedar county line, and a mile south of where Clear creek leaves the county. His daughter, Virginia, who was born May 13, 1839, was the first white child born in the township. Mr. Fergus was the first elected sheriff of Vernon county, and died in office, October 13, 1859.

Some years after Mr. Fergus settled in this township, the Packard brothers came to the country. There were three of them, Alanson, Phineas and Horatio; all were from Ohio, and they must have emigrated to Missouri about the year 1840. Alanson Packard lived in 1844 in Cedar, near the point where that county corners with St. Clair and Vernon. His brothers lived in the southwest part of this township, south of Clear creek - Phineas on the northwest quarter of section 36 and Horatio on the southwest quarter of section 25.

Dr. Badger relates, as portraying the character and mode of living of some of the first settlers of this quarter of the state, that in the fall of 1844 he went to the house of Phineas Packard, in what is now Clear Creek township, to borrow a cross-cut saw, belonging to Alanson Packard, of St. Clair. Accepting an invi¬ tation to dinner, the Doctor seated himself on a three-legged stool at a clap-board table. Surrounding the family board were the Doctor, Mr. and Mrs. Packard, and their eight children, grown up boys and girls, some standing and some sitting on stools. The table furniture consisted of two-thirds of an iron kettle and three battered tin cups. The kettle contained a boiled chicken and a quantity of thick soup, while on one corner of the table were piled three pones of corn bread, constituting the bill of fare.

breeches, a hunting knife, and severing a leg of the chicken and filling a cup with soup, he placed them before the Doctor ; the corn pone was next handed round. There were not cups enough to go around. The boys and girls understood this, and each formed from the soft part of the bread a miniature fort or bas¬ tion on the board, and into this enclosure a ration of soup was poured, and "sopped" out with another piece of bread at will. Occasionally a little crevasse, or break in the levee, occurred and a small stream of gravy would trickle forth, but it was soon suppressed by the swift motion of a finger, and the rift in the embankment closed. The host and Dr. Badger ate with their pocket knives; the rest used their fingers.

Phineas Packard, though a poor, rough man, was a worthy one, and reared a respectable family. He was a sincere Christian, and Dr. Badger testifies that the Packard family was one of the happiest he ever knew, even if they were without knives and forks or plates and spoons.

It is difficult to determine at this late day the names of all of the very first settlers in this township, and the location of the settlements in their proper and regular order. It is certainly known, however, and may with confidence be stated, that among the first were J. A. Neafus, William Collins, James Craig, Rev. R. A. Blakey, Conrad G. Carr, and Lawrence Drenning. All these were here before March, 1857, when Judge H. P. Mobley settled here and the majority lived in the lower part of the township.

Judge "Coonrod" Carr, as his Christian name was some¬ times pronounced, was from Illinois, and finally died in that State while on a visit ; he was one of the first justices of the Cernon county court. Mr. Neafus was from Callaway county, Kentucky, originally, but came directly from Henry county. J. T. Sullivan came with Blakey to the country. Judge Mobley was from Hickman county, Kentucky.

Maj. H. W. Corker was an early settler in this township, and made persistent efforts to establish a grist mill on Clear creek. He tried first to run a water milk then he employed steam to drive his machinery, but both schemes failed, and in 1855 he gave up the attempt and removed over into Walker township.

It was a log building and stood on section 34, near the residence of Mr. Blakey. There were no public schools until after the war, but there were private schools at private houses before that time. William French, of St. Clair county, was one of the first teachers.

One of the first townships in old Bates county comprised the eastern portion of what is now Vernon and was called Clear Creek. The voting place was at Judge James Overstreet's, down in Virgil, and some of the early justices of the peace were Isaac Smith, Judge Overstreet and Samuel Dunnagan, who lived at Dunnagan's Grove, near the Barton line.

During the war it was six of the jayhawkers to half a dozen of the bushwhackers, and between the two the people of the township had a rough time of it. Some of them were driven out, after having their horses taken, their stock driven away, and their houses plundered.

Marchbanks' and Taylor's bushwhackers found occasionally a snug refuge in the Cedar creek timber in this township, but there were never any encounters between them and the Federal forces. The Cedar county militia '"made it hot" for the Con¬ federate sympathizers here - the unarmed portion, at least - but they did more foraging than fighting.

The old Blakey graveyard on section 34 is the oldest cemetery in the township. In August, 1886, the name was changed and the Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association organized, with J. M. Carr, president; John Kelly, vice-president; George H. Mobley, secretary and treasurer; John Kelly, George IT. Mobley and William A. Brim, trustees.

Bedrick. The village of Dedrick, located on the Eldorado branch of the M., K. & T. K. R., is a local trading and shipping point of some importance, containing general stores and other conveniences.

Mount Vernon M. E. Church South is located on section 20, Clear Creek township. The organization of this church was ef¬ fected about the year 1861. The following were the original

Towns And Towxships

Buford, S. Hill, A. M. Sullard and their wives; Mrs. Easley, Mrs. Julia Lancaster and Mrs. S. Morgan. In 1884 a frame church building was erected which cost $1,000.

Oak Grove, Baptist. December 20, 1885, this church was or¬ ganized with the following members : S. P. McCrary and wife, Jasper McCrary and wife, Stephen Easley, Samuel Nance and wife, Josephus Collins and wife, James Roberts and wife, Frank Beauchamp and wife, William Hurt and wife, Mrs. Sadie Corbin, John Stephens, Charles Gardner, Nancy Holland and Jane Hardin.

Veve Branch, Reorganized Latter-Day Saints. The branch of the above named church was organized in Clear Creek township January 17, 1892, with the following officers: Joseph Sterling, president; R. T. Walters, priest; G. M. Shearer, teacher, and W. H. Lowe, deacon. The same year a church building was erected twenty-six by forty feet, costing $620 and located on section 15, range 29 in Clear Creek township. The present officers are W. H. Lowe, president; Joseph Sterling, elder; L. B. Click, teacher; Reuben Gliek, deacon. The membership now numbers ninetysix and the enrollment in Sunday school is fifty.