Forbes Township

Forbes Township

Forbes is the name of a Station on the Eaili-oad, in the Sou;^- ern portion of the County. Xo town has been laid out here, as yet ; but from the fact that North of this point is a fertile and well settled country, it is not unlikely that quite a village will one day spring up here. For fruit raising, no portion of Holt County offers better inducements than does the vicinity of Forbes.

This is an old village, six miles East of Oregon. It contains one Store, a Church building, owned by the Methodists ; and perhaps half a dozen residences. The adjoining country is populous and fertile.

Whig Valley

Whig Valley is the name of a settlement in the North-eastern portion of Holt County, and is one of the most attractive settlements in the North-west. The population is intelligent and enterprising to an extraordinary degree, wldle the soil, surface, topography and general advantages are all that could be desired. Several Schools are in operation. A Farmers' Club holds regular meetings, and Church organizations exist, which hold weekl}' meetings for

Grows the most liartly and productive fruits, (rejecting all others, )tsueh as Apples, Pears, Clierries, Plums, Peaehes, Quinces, Grapevines, Currants, Gooseberries, Blackberries. Haspljei'ries and Strawberries.

Sole Agents For Holt Countt

worship. This neighborhood is mostly rolling prairie, and its only disadvantage is scarctity of timber. Coal, however, has been discovered near by, in Nodaway County, and it is believed will be found in Whig Valley. This Valley lies along the Nodaway river, which separates Holt and Nodaway counties This stream is here a fine, clear, rapid stream, and will atlcrd an unlimited amount of water power.

A liailroad is in contemplation from Oregon up the Nodaway valle}-, through this Settlement ; thence North to (_ larinda, Iowa. This Ivoad when completed, would open up to trade one of the richest valleys in tlie West, if not in the world. From W hig Valley Northward it would pass through important coal fields, and through considerable bodies of fine timl)er. Whig Valley is well watered. Indeed, I doubt if one quarter section can be found in the neighborhood without one or more living springs.

The population of this Valley has more than doubled during the past 3ear, and from present judications the increase will continue for years to come. Lands in this vicinity unimproved, ore worth from ten to twelve dollars per acre. Improved farms are hard to buj' at any price,

While the Western and South-western boundary of our County for about forty miles, is washed by the Missouri river, yet owing to the fact that the wide alluvial bottom of that stream is on the Eastern side at this point, we have but three steamboat landings ; and they, on account of the frequent changes in the channel of the stream, are somewhat uncertain. There is a landing in the neighborhood of Dallas, in the Soul^h part of the County ; one at a point opposite Iowa Point, Kansas ; one opposite White ( loud, Kansas ; and one at or near Corning. The Iowa Point landing aftbrds facilities for transportation to the region of county adjacent to Oregon, from which it is some six miles distant. AA'hite Cloud landinu' is near enough to Forest City and Rush Bottom to afford them ample facilities for the shipment of freight. These river landings give competition in the carrying trade, and are of great advantage to our farmers and business men.

The Missouri river has not been considered a good stream for navigatinp;, in the past. It is full of shoals ; and the quick-sands, of which its bed is composed, are constantly shifting. The channel in consequence is exceedingly uncertain and dangorous ; but since the settlement of the Territories West of us, and the greater number of boats that are demanded in the carrying trade, the channel seems to be improving, and river men predict that it will continue to improve. So that we may hope with each succeeding year to derive increasedjbenefits from our position in relation to it.

The religious element in our society is quite strong. Most of the denominations known to the Christian world, have representatives here. It is probable that the North Methodist. - so called here to distinguish them from the Methodist Church South - has the largest number of communicants, though there is but little difference in point of numbers between them and the Baptist.

The Methodists have two Circuits in the County, embracing a membership of about four hundred and fifty persons. They have fourteen points where preaching is kept up regularlj- They own two Church buildings, the aggregate value of which is $11,000 ; also one Parsonage, valued at ^800. This denomination has been increasing very rapidly since the war.

The i>aptists have six or seven regularly organized congregations in the County, with a membership about the same as the Methodists. They own two good, substantial brick Churches, one at Forest City and one at Nichol's Grove, and are part proprietors of one other. Most of the congregations have been organized since the close of the war, under the efforts of Eev. G. W. Huntley, of Forest City, who has been unremitting in his labors, since be came to the County, some two years since.

The Presbj'terians have an active organization at Oregon and Forest City ; at the former point thej^ own a good Church edifice, and have a large membership.

The German Methodists have an active organization in the County, and own two substantial brick Churches and at least one Parsonage. I have been unable to obtain any statistics of their organization, but presume they are but little inferior in numbers to any of the other denominations.

The Reformers or Christians have large membership in the County, and a number of places where preaching is held regularly. They are part owners of one good Church building.

There are several other denominations in the County, who are organized and doing good work, but I have not been able to obtain the necessary information to give the facts in regai'd to them, and therefore must pass them,

Sabbath Schools

Good Sabbath Schools are in operation in almost every school district, under the control, in many cases, of Union Superintendents - that is, the different denominations unite in their support. In the larger towns, the different denominations control their own schools. Our people are as moral and free from rowdyism as any people in the West. Gambling, horse-racing and drunkenness are not common, while the rights of property and of conscience are respected. I think I have heard less profanity in our County town during a three years' residence, than in any town of its size I have

Agent For Wheeler & Wilson'S

Missouri has but recently adopted the System of Public Schools in use throughout the Eastern States, and our people are as yet to some extent unfamiliar with its workings. The School System, however, is becoming better known each year, and is therefore constantly growing more effective as a means for the education of our people.

In 1867, there was paid to Teachers in the County, seven thousand, nine hundred and thirteen dollars ; while two thousand, six hundred dollars were expended in the building and repairing of School Houses. The average salary paid to Teachers this year, is $31,00 per month - male Teachers averaging S44,00, and females about $15,00. We have now School Houses in almost every School District in the County. The majority of these are not all that could be desired in point of convenience, being old and dilapidated , but new and good School Houses are being erected, and the disposition seems to be to have good Schools as soon as proper buildings can be erected.

We have a class of excellent Teachers in this County, many of whom have adopted Teaching as a profession. Some of our Tciichers are equal to the requirements of the best grade of Eastern Public Schools. The School term here is only about four months for the free Public School, each year. Some Districts, however, levy tax, and continue their Schools for a longer period. Good Private Schools are common during the period of vacation of the Public Schools. We have one very excellent Private Select School at Oregon, which it is hoped will prove the nucleus for a first class educational institution at no distant day. Tl:e interest in Education is constantly increasing, and at no remote period our Schools will

Pears, Apples, Cherries, Plums, Grapevines, Currants, Gooseberries, Strawberries and Osage ()ranfj;e Plants. We are prepared to fill all orders for Fruittrees and small Fruits at reduced rates. Our stock will be warranted true to name and in good thrifty cfMniition.

J. S. Hart & Co

be as good as iu any part of the nation. Teachers' Institutes are held semi-annually, and much interest is manifested among Parents and Teachers, in regard to them. No person need hesitate to come here on account of School privileges, as the foundation for a good English education can be laid here now, and the Schools will continue to improve from year to year, until they will be equal to the East, at no distant day.

Our Population

Holt County contains a population of 10,624, as shown by the census taken by our Assessor, last Fall. We have a mixed population. There are a few native Missourians, and persons who immigrated here from the Southern States before the war; this class however, is small. A majority of our population are from the Eastern States - i. e. from States East of Missouri. We have also a large German element in our population. These Germans are principally Farmers, and are as industrious, sober and enterprising as any people we have. The political complexion of the County is Republican by a large majorit3^ No indication of proscription, however, is manifested in private life, so far as I have been able to observe. We have a few colored persons in the County, but not more than may often be seen in Eastern counties of the same population. The}' are generally quiet, industrious and inoffensive. They have one School at Oregon, in this County. We have very little of the rough elements of frontier life in our population ; some little, perhaps, in some of our river bottom settlements, yet less than usual in so comparatively new a country. Our people are principally engaged in agi-icultural and horticultural pursuits, and are emphatically an industrious and sober people.

Wages Of Laborers

It is dificult to give the exact rate of wages in any new country, so many circumstances conspire to prevent uniformity. Common farm laborers vary from eighteen to thirty Ave dollars per month. I presume the average will not vary much from thirty dollars "wet and dry," including board and washing. Day labor is more uniform, one dollar and fifty cents per day being the usual price for good hands. Mill hands get from one dollar fifty to two fifty, according to their experience. Wood choppers during the winter months are in demand and get from one dollar to one dollar and twent^'-five cents per cord, they furnishing their own board and lodging. Mechanics are better paid of coarse, and in nearly eveiy trade can find abundant and steady employment at fair wages. From two fifty to three dollars per day is the usual rate at which carpenter work is paid by the day, though mo&t mechanical labor is done by the job or contract. Board can be obtained at either of the Hotels in Oregon for four dollars per week, and good country board for from two fifty to three dollars.

Labor of all kinds is in demand or^ account of the very considerable immigration now coming in, and it is believed that prices of labor will rule higher the coming season than heretofore,

I shall not attempt to give the wages of the dififerent mechanical occupations, as they fluctuate constantly as the supply and. demand deminislies and increases.

Rent Of Land

Land is rented here usually for grain rent, and one third of the grain raised is the usual rate. Some owners of farms demand a certain number of bushels per acre as rent, usually fifteen bushels of corn. Persons who desire to rent farms must come in the fall, as long before spring the demand is so great that the season's engagemeitts are all made.

Plans, Specifications And Contracts

Holt County has neither McAdamized or Fhxnk Kouds, and perhaps in no countr}^ in the world are the}' less needed. The under drainage is so nearly perlect that the roads at almost every season of the year, are good. Nothing bat frost will ever produce mud. I have seen the roads dry everywhere, after a three days' rain, on the second fair day. We only need to have our roads graded to make them tie most perfect natural roads in the world. Our roads during the late civil war were stidly neglected, bridges became out of repair, and deep gullies were washed in almost every hillside ; but since the advent of peace they have been gradually repaired, until they are in fair condition. We have good material for McAdamizing wherever the travel will warrant it. There is at the foot of the Missouri blulfs at many points, a layer of excellent coarse gravel which is well adapted for all road purposes ; while we have an abundance of stone easily broken when ilrst taken from the quarry, but which become hard, after exposure ; and makes a most excellent roail bed. We have no mirey sloughs such as are found in many parts of the West, and which during the Spring months make travel a terror to the traveler. Our spring branches may in their floods cut out deep gullies in our friable soil, but never get mirey,

During the past j^ear an Agricultural and Mechanical Society has been organized, and last Fall held their first Fair, at their Grounds near Oregon. The Exhibition was a success, and the Societ}' became permanently established. They own line Grounds, and during the present season expect to erect good and permanent Elxhibition i:ialls. This is a joint stock Association, and the majority of our best and. most substantial Farmers are among its

Dry Goods At Mound City Glenn & Glenn

Stockholders. J. G. Cowan, Esq., is the President, and is one of our best Farmers, has done much for our Couuty, in the matter of stock importation. He is the owner of a line herd of improved cattle, among wliich are some of the best thorough bred stock from the most celebrated Kentucky and Illinois herds. The Secretary of the Society is C. W. Bowman, Esq., of Oregon ; and the Treasurer W. A. Mackoy, Esq., of the same place.

IL is not claimed^ for Holt County that it has no disadvantages. It must be remembered that even Eden possessed a forbidden tree, and that the Serpent found an entrance. How then can we expect to find a country since Adam's expulsion from Paradise, that is perfect?

The North-eastern portions of this County are to a considerable extent, destitute of timber. In some places, lire wood will have to be hauled seven or eight miles, to supply any considerable demand. Fortunately those portions of the (Jounty destitute of timber are not distant from the coal mines of Nodaway County, and must eventuallj' be supplied with fuel from these Fencing material, of course, in the section referred to, is scarce, and the lack must be supplied l>iy hedges. Fortunately we have the Osage Orange, which with proper care is all that could be desired We liave several thousand acres of uncultivated lands that want men to buy and improve them. We have 3Iill Sites that are unoccupied on all our streams that want improvements to be made upon them. We have Farmers who are attempting to cultivate three acres where they have only capa(nly for the proper cultivation of one. We want men to buy them out, and divide these plantations into smaller and more manaueable farms.

We have no need of Doctors or Lawyers ; already those professions are over crowded, yet men of real al)ility could succeed here, as they can anywhere. We have good Physicians, however, and a health}' country, while onr Attorneys are up to the standard. We need especially more Flouring ^lills. Now a considerable portion of our breadstntfs must be brought in from other Stales. We raise an abundance of grain, which is shipped to distant markets, worked up, and shipped back t(\ us. T4iis expensive operation should be discontinued, and must be, at no distant day. We need a manufactory of Agricultural Implements. Every Plow, KoUer, Corn I lanter, or Reaper, used in the County, is now brought from distant States. But, it will be asked, will it pay to manufacture in Holt County? Page County, Iowa, is nearly destitute of timber, has no Railroad facilities or river transportation, and with no greater population than ours. Agricultural Implements are manufactured there, and it is found to pay. Holt County has an abundance of excellent white, burr and chinque-pin oak, excellentl}'^ well adapted to the manufacture of Agricultural iVIachinery. We have a Railroad and river to bring to us the iron and steel, and to convey to distant markets our manufactured articles. I can see no good reason why money could not be made by an Agricultural Implement manufactory located here.

We need, in short, earnest, honest, industrious men in all the avocations of life ; men who are not afraid of work ; men who will take hold of the plow and not look back ; men who will swing the axe and use the spade, without fear that by so doing the}- will soil their hands or degrade their manhood. We want true men, true women ; men and women of generous impulses, noble aspirations.. For all

Ten yoars since establislied an Agency for the sale of the Cciehratcd.iarKsnn Wacon. They make wagons a speciality and have ample capital which anable.s iliem to accumulate and thorouglily season their lumher; while it is a well estal)lished fact that tlie neighborhooti of Jackson, Micliitjan - where their manufactory is situated - furnishes the best material for wagons of any portion af the country. These, witli their other facilities, have enabled tliem twice to reduce the price of wagons during the past ten years, conseiiuently every man on the frontier who has had tf> purchase a wagon has been directly benefitted.

During the past I'i months they have added ijlu worth of improvements to every wagon they sell which is the equivalent of a reduction in prices to that amonnt.

The Jackson Wagon is now of better proportion, lighter, draft and better material than any other in the market. The work and material in eacli wagon is fully warranted.

We can ami do sell at prices which will allow competitors no proflits. Farmerslook to your interests. Buy a Jackson Wagon and thereby save money.

such, Holt County has a welcome. Here, men are respected for their intrinsic worth, more than for any of the circumstances of bii'th or position. W^e have no need of Dandies or professional Loafers. We have no need of more Saloon keepers, no need of men who seek to live iiy their wits. Ouis is an industrious people ; they earn what tl'ey consume, and have no alHnity for Loafers. Of course we have Loafers, but as few, 1 ventnre to assert, as has any other country of the same population in the world.

Skillful workmen of every mechanical occupation, are needed. They can earn good livings here, and if economical and industrious, may soon secure for themselves homes among us.

How To Get Here

Those w"ho live in the States directly East will have the choice of three routes, in immigrating to Missouri. From the Southern portions of (Jhio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, the best route is via St. Louis, and the JS^orth Missouri Railroad to 3Jacon City; thence by the Hannibal & St Joseph Eailroad to St. Joseph ; there close connection is made with the St. Joseph & Council Blurts iiailroad, which runs through Holt County. From the Northern and Eastern States, there are two routes open, one via Chicago, and thence over the (\ B. & Q. Railroad to Hannibal, and over the Han. & St. Josepli Railroad to St. Joseph. Or, via the Great Western Railroad to Quiney, thence over the Htmuibal & St. Joseph Railroad to St. Joseph. From Iowa, Minnesota, or Wisconsin, the route will be over the North-western Jioad to Council Blurts, thence over the Council Bluffs Railroad to any of the Stations in Holt County. The Railroads referred to are all first class, and make close connections. The fare to St. Soseph from any point East can be ascertained at any Railroad Station ; and from St. Joseph to Forest City in Holt County, it is but one dollar and fifty cents.

An Invitation

Holt County extends to the Immigrant a most cordial welcome. Honest men in whatever position in life will lind themselves received with cordiality and kindness. We want new comers, and reject no man who is willing to do his part in the work of settling up this, a comparatively new country. Men who have good homes and established business connections elsewhere, are not advised to sever those connections for the sake of establishing new connections here. But all who are designing to Emmigrate are invited to visit Holt County before settling. Let them come and stay long enough to post themselves thoroughl}' in regard to our soil, and the advantages we possess, and in nine cases out of ten they will cast their lot among us.

Fortunes cannot be made in Holt Count^^ without labor or capital. Men who do work, or who will make ordinaril}^ judicious investments of their capital, will find no difficulty in making money. Our County has increased in population about one hundred per cent during tlie past two years, and the increase will doubtless be equal or greater, during the next two years. Lands will increase in value in the same ratio. Men who buy ten dollar lauds this Spring may confidently rely on an appreciation to fifteen or twenty during the next two years.

Town property in almost any of our towns will probably increase in the same ratio M'ith farming lands. We have no town in Holt County to-day that is not behind the country, i. e. the County is populous enough to support double the population now in each of the towns of the County.

To the Vineyardist and Fruit Grower, we have this to say : You can find no section of Missouri where fruit - except Peaches - is so sure a crop, and where prices average so high. The market

J. R. Avillis. P. M. Willis

Agents for the Rock Island Plow; the Champion Reaper and Mower; the Tornado Thresher ; Also, for the World and Ohio Reapers aud Mowers. VVe keep on hand Planters, Shelters, &c.

Millinery And Millinery Goods Mrs. J. Curry, - - Oregon, Mo

To the Farmer, we offer rich soil, good markets, and every advantage he could expect to find in a new country, with many of the advantages of older countries.

A New Paper. - Since putting the first pages of this pamphlet to press, another newspaper has been established at Forest City? under the editorial management of its publisher, Mr. Thos. II, Frame.

Mr. Frame will publish a first class paper, under the title of th "Holt County Journal." It will be Democratic in politics. Mr. Frame is an old newspaper manager and will without doubt make his Journal a success. He promises to devote a great deal of his space to the local interests of the county. This enterprise will be of great value to Forest City as well as to the county at large, and we bespeak for him a liberal patronage.

An Omisson. - In the advertisement of Messrs, Bender & Markle, in another portion of this pamphlet, the locution of the firm was omitted. They will be found on Felix Street, opposite the St. Joseph Daily Union Office, St. Joseph, Mo.

To The Public

The author desires to say to the citizens of North-west Missouri that he has determined - encouraged by the success he has met in his "Description of Holt County" - to continue the work until he shall have described in the same manner each of the Counties of the Platte Purchase. His aim in this Pamphlet has been Accuracy. No attempt at fine writing has been made. My design has been to give an answer to CA'ery question an Emmigrant might desire to ask, and to answer each question so accurately that it could not be objected to, should the Emmigrant become a citizen of the Count}'.

My next Pamphlet will be for Andrew Count}-, and will consist of a Pamphlet uniform with this, of not less than fortj^ pages, and I will print at least twenty-five hundred copies. These copies will be circulated among my advertisers, and among the people of that County. This will be a better medium for advertising in Andrew Count}' for a single edition, than any other that now exists. I shall have for sale copies of each of my Pamphlets, which I will mail to any address, on receipt of twenty cents. Or will furnish ten or more copies to one address for fifteen cents each. Persons desiring to insert advertisements, will address for terms :

The Journal is a firm and eonsistaut Democratic organ, endeavoring at all times to guard the liberties of the people against scheming and unprincipled demagogues. It will work vigorously for tke growth and prosperity of the county and will be literally a county paper.

Source changes here: from History of Holt County, Missouri : from the Time of the Platte Purchase to the End of the Year 1916 : Preceded by a Short History of Missouri : Supplemented by Biographical Sketches of Prominent Citizens, by Historical Publishing Company, published 1917; 5,005 words in this source stream.

Forbes Township

The Nodaway River, which forms the eastern boundary of the township, was declared a navigable stream, by act of the Legislature, in 1839. A chute was formed by the Nodaway River and an arm of the Missouri, on the east side of Nodaway Island; and, in the days of steamboating, was a noted thoroughfare for that class of vessels. The steamer Watosa of St. Joseph, running between that city and Omaha, was sunk in the Nodaway Chute, about 1865. The bell of this boat was hung in a steeple on the Nodaway, near the state ferry, by Richard Danelsbeck. The Watosa was designed to run between points below Hollister's Mill, in the northeast corner of Nodaway Township, and is, by the sinuosities of the stream, about twenty miles distant from the mouth of the Nodaway. While referring to this river, before entering on the history proper of Forbes Township, it may be as well to state that, as early as 1839, there existed on the same, with a western landing on the northeast quarter of township 59, range 37, in what is now Forbes Township, a ferry owned and operated by a man by the name of Rose, and known as Rose's Ferry. This has long passed out of existence. A ferry is now in operation at the mouth of the Nodaway River.

Early Settlers

The first white settlers of Forbes Township were also the first to locate within the limits of Holt County. These were Peter and Blank Stephenson, brothers, from Indiana. Blank brought with him a wife. Peter was unmarried. They arrived in the spring of 1838, and settled on the southeast quarter of section 7, township 59, range 37. This section is contiguous to the present eastern boundary of Lewis Township, and is about five miles southeast of the site of the present town of Oregon. The farm is now the property of Solomon A. Meyer. Immediately on their arrival, the stephensons put in a crop of corn. In the fall of the same year came, also from Indiana, John Russel with his wife and seven children, R. H. Russel, later judge of the Probate Court of Holt County, a younger brother, and, at the period of his arrival, an unmarried man, John Sterritt, wife and two children, one of whom, W. H. Sterritt, was afterward a prominent merchant of the town of Oregon, and James Kee, also from Indiana. At the period of the arrival of these new-comers, Blank Stephenson and wife and his brother Peter were the only white people living west of the Nodaway River, and the arrival of the new-comers was hailed with a welcome which only pioneers know how to extend and to appreciate.

John Sterritt settled on the northwest quarter of section 8, township 59, range 37, directly north of John Russel's. Peter, Blank Stephenson's brother, settled in the same section. He moved away during the Civil war, about 1864, and, going south, settled in Dade County, Missouri, near Golden City post office. There was no other arrival until the 9th of October, 1838, when William R. Russelr the first born of the white population of Holt County, first saw the light on the above described farm of his father, within the limits of what is now Forbes Township. In the following spring and summer settlers began to flock in. Among others, came from Indiana, Mrs. Rachel Jackson, a widow with a large family of children, among them Alexander Rogers, a grown son by a former marriage. Mrs. Jackson, who died in January, 1882, at the advanced age of upwards of ninety years, was, at the period of her demise, a resident of Council Bluffs, Iowa, where she kept a hotel for several years. She was said by those who knew her for more than a generation, to be a woman of rare executive ability and great force of character. The place which she settled is the southwest quarter of section 5, township 59, range 37, now in the northern tier of Forbes Township sections, was in that day included within the limits of Nodaway Township. This farm was afterwards purchased by Judge George McIntyre, and the house built by Mrs. Jackson was an interesting curiosity to the growing generations. It was a substantial double log house, each room eighteen feet square, with a hall between them nine feet wide. The white oak logs of which the building is composed were afterwards weatherboarded. This, at the period when it was first built, was the best house in the county.

Mrs. Jackson, in an early day, here kept the first house of public entertainment in the county. Here, also, convened the March term of the Circuit Court of Holt County, just one year after the organization of that body in the house of William Thorp, on the northwest quarter of section 12, township 59, range 38, of Lewis Township, where it first assembled, March 24, 1841. On the 4th day of March, 1841, just twenty days before the assembling of the county court, the house of William Thorp was also the scene of the inauguration of the first Circuit Court of Holt County, the proceedings of which are elsewhere detailed.

Mrs. Jackson's house was, on several subsequent occasions, used to accommodate these courts, and was long a noted locality in the early days of Holt County. Of Mrs. Jackson's children by her second marriage, several afterwards became representative men in the country. Andrew, the eldest son, is the founder of Jackson's Point, now Mound City, in Holt County. In 1853, he moved to California and settled in the Susane Valley, midway between Sacramento and San Francisco, where he was, for years, a leading grain merchant; Franklin Jackson, his brother, became a prominent insurance man of San Francisco; Wilson Jackosn, a fourth son, died young; Ellen, her eldest daughter, married Alexander Record, later of Glenwood, Iowa; Mary, another daughter, was the wife of Abijah Duncan, since dead; Margaret, the youngest, died young.

Indian Scare

It is related that the first born of Holt experienced, in early infancy, a narrow escape from the consequences of what proved to be a groundless terror on the part of a number of the community of settlers: It appears that one Vesser, an itinerant trader, had killed an Indian in a remote part of the county, and an undue apprehension, on the part of the small band of settlers had been awakened, that the Indians would wreak their vengeance upon them. Alexander Rogers, above referred to, was especially persuaded that such would be the case. John Sterritt and John Russel had both gone to the bottom-lands, some miles distant, to look after their cattle which were there being wintered on the rushes that grew rankly in that locality.

The only men about the settlement then were R. H. Russel, Isaac Massey and Alexander Rogers. The alarm was given late in the evening, and these three, with the women and children, promptly fled through the snow to the neighboring woods. In the course of their flight the infant, William Russel, began to cry. This so terrified Rogers that he promptly expressed himself in favor of smothering the child, whose screams, he believed, would reveal their presence to the murderous Indians. The indignation of the mother and jeers of the men, however, triumphed over his insane alarm, and the sacrifice of an innocent babe was averted.

After a halt of some hours in the cover of a dense wood, about midnight, the snort of a horse which happened to be in the party was instantly construed into a signal of the approach of the blood-thirsty red-men. In an instant all was excitement, and the valiant Alex again bethought him of that baby and of the possibility of its again giving a scream. Fortunately the destroying savage proved to be an antlered buck whose glaring eyeballs gleaming in the pale starlight, had startled the horse. By no means, however, satisfied of their safety, the fugitives proceeded through the snow to the Nodaway River, a distance of four miles. Crossing this stream on a raft, the men left the women and children on the Andrew County side, and returned. On their arrival they found John Sterritt and John Russel, who had just got back from the bottom. They immediately went to work and barricaded and otherwise fortified the house, which was a log building, on the Russel farm.

In a few days, however, it became apparent that the scare was absolutely groundless. No Indians were in the immediate neighborhood, and those in other parts of the Purchase had not, if they were conscious of their existence, the slightest idea of in any way molesting the settlers. Thus, the first stampede from the settlement proved happily the result of a causeless alarm at which the pioneers could afford to laugh, as the almost daily increasing neighborhood pursued the even tenor of its way. William R. Russel, whose escape from the effects of terrors of Rogers, which produced the incident above detailed, not only survived his infant flight, but grew to manhood, and later became a resident of San Bernardino County, California, where he was successfully engaged in the nursery business.

In the summer of 1840 George and Augustus Borchers started, within the present limtis of Forbes Township, the "Pioneer Store" of Holt County. The senior member of this primitive and original mercantile enterprise of this county has been dead for some years. They were the first Germans to settle within the limits of Holt County, and the first foreigners naturalized there. They bore the character of men of strict integrity, as well as of sterling business capacity. Their initial start in business was, of course, in keeping with the demands of the settlement, and necessarily on a very small scale. Their store stood on the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of section 7, township 59, range 37, on a farm later the property of George Meyer, within the present limits of Forbes Township, but included, in that day, in the area of Nodaway, the eastern of the two original townships into which the county, on its organization, was divided. They continued to do a fair business here for about twTo years, when the newly established town of Oregon absorbed their trade.

It appears that Blank Stephenson was the first to hold the office of constable within the limtis of Holt County, at that period included within the limits of Buchanan County. This was in 1839. His first official experience is rather amusing, and was as follows : He started on the track of a horse thief, and pursuing him as far as English Grove, a locality now included within the present limits of Atchison County, he halted for the night. Awakening the next morning, the astute constable was amazed to find that the thief had overtaken him, and made a second haul by stealing his horse. The baffled official was thus reduced to the necessity of walking back home, where his crest-fallen appearance, in due time, failed not to excite the derision of the community, in which his first exploit long after remained a standing joke.

The unfortunate Blank Stephenson met a tragic and untimely end. In the month of July, 1840, as he was in the act of crossing his yard fence with a load of kitchen wood in his arms, he was struck by lightning and instantly killed. The first violent death of a white person in the county was thus the visitation of Providence on the head of the first settler. It appears that this untimely victim of the thunderbolt, though a person of honorable impulse, was a man of turbulent disposition and powerfully atheltic frame. On that very morning he had prepared himself for a fisticuff encounter with another who claimed the championship of the neighborhood, and was almost in the act of starting to the scene of the anticipated fight, when he was suddenly and terribly conquered by an invincible adversary. The spot on which transpired this lamentable occurrence was near the site of Borcher's store, on the farm above described as the property of the George Meyer estate.

Blank Stephenson was the first who obtained a license to sell whisky in the county. This was granted March 21, 1841, by the first county court. The instrument granted to George Drane and Blank Stephenson license to keep "grocery" for the term of twelve months by paying ten dollars.

In 1839, William, the father of John and Peter Stephenson, came out from Indiana, and remained in Holt County, residing in Forbes Township up to the period of his death, which occurred at the age of fifty-two years, in December, 1841. With their father, in 1839, came William Stephenson, Jr., who died of the measles while serving in the Mexican war. John for many years lived four miles from Oregon. Mike and also Alexander Stephenson died in 1843.

First Preacher

The first to preach the gospel within the limits of what is now Holt County, was the Rev. William Thorp, a Hardshell Baptist minister from Clay County. It is believed that, inasmuch as the bulk of the population were at that time residing within what is now included within the limits of Forbes Township, that it was, in that locality, that the reverend pioneer preached his first sermon.

First Church Organized

The first church or class of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Holt County was organized by Rev. Edwin Peary, at the residence of Elias Davidson, two miles north of the present town of Forbes and five or six miles southeast of Oregon. This was in the winter or spring of 1841. Besides the minister and his wife, the members of this organization were Benjamin Davidson and wife, John Robison, George Scott and wife, William Robison and wife, Josiah Pierce and wife, Chloe Pierce and Frances A. Pierce, a daughter of the two last mentioned, and perhaps a few others.

The first Sunday School in the county was organized in 1841 by Rev. William Hamilton, of the Iowa and Sac Mission, in an old log cabin school house.

First School

The first building erected for the special purpose of a school for the instruction of youth, was a rude log house, which stood within the limits of what is now Forbes Township, in the northwest quarter of section 7, township 59, range 37, on a farm adjoining the east boundary line of Lewis Township, and later owned by John Stephenson, and about three miles southeast of Oregon. This building was put up in the spring of 1840, by the residents of the neighborhood, and was completed in the course of one day, each man appearing on the appointed morning with his logs and whatever other material he was assigned to bring.

The original structure, which was afterwards slightly improved, was necessarily of the rudest description. Benches were extemporized from puncheons split from linden logs; the floor was of similar material and construction. Greased paper, in the long, narrow aperture created by the removal of a log from the wall of the building for the purpose of affording a window, supplied the absence of glass. The house was eighteen feet square. The first teacher to exercise his vocation in this primitive temple of the muses was Gilbert Ray; then a man by the name of Scoville. He was shortly after succeeded by another by the name of John Worley, from Indiana. Among the pupils who first attended this school were Elias and Cassandra Davidson, Henry, Sarah and Milton Russel, children of the pioneer, John Russel, who died in 1861 ; Henry and Eliza Sterritt, children of John Sterritt, who died in 1846, and James and Mike Stephenson, children of Wm. Stephenson, Sr., who died in the early part of the winter of 1841. The site of this pioneer structure, which was torn down in 1846, still betrays an unmistakable relic of its existence in the debris of a long-fallen chimney of ponderous stone, as well as the occasional presence of a rock of comparatively larger dimensions which probably served to underpin the corner of this ancient and long extinguished structure, amid whose former area grew, in wild luxuriance, the hazel bush, the tall weeds and wild flowers which, in their rocky neighborhood, blossom and wither in safe exemption from the farmer's plowshare.

Other Early Settlers

Prominent among the other early settlers of what is now Forbes Township, were Smith McIntyre, who arrived in 1839, and died in 1881, on his farm, in the southeast quarter of section 6, township 59, range 37, of Forbes Township ; Judge George

McIntyre, his brother, who lived on the quarter adjoining on the east, in section 5. John Stephenson, from Indiana, came in 1840. In the same year, came Thomas Ramsay, who settled the farm later owned by N. F. Murray and now the property of L. R. Cunningham. About the same period, Joseph Brownlee, from Virginia, settled in the Missouri River bottom. He was the first man to start a steam saw mill within the limits of the township. This was about a mile and a half below the present town of Forbes.

In 1840, also came James Foster, one of the first attorneys admitted to the bar of Holt County. He was born in County Monahan, Ireland, February 18, 1818. In 1837, he came to the United States, and settled in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 1839 he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court, at Booneville. In the following year, he moved to Holt County, and settled in Forbes Township, making his office and residence at the Widow Jackson's, where he continued to make his home, till the founding of the town of Oregon, the county seat, when he took up his abode and continued to reside there in the practice of his profession, for many years. His professional standing in the state was high, and his personal popularity great. He represented Holt County in the legislature of 1848-49. A strong sympathizer with the cause of the South, during the period of the rebellion, he moved his residence from Oregon. At the close of the war, he returned, but a few years after again left, moving his residence permanently. In 1841, Felty Worley settled on the farm subsequently owned by J. Huiatt. J. Frank Worley, who came at the same time, assisted in the development of the bottom land. In the same year came Abraham Brown and his sons, E. R. Brown, A. M. Brown and Dr. M. D. Brown, all of whom are dead.

Abraham Brown settled the northwest quarter of section 10, township 59, range 37, in what is now Forbes Township. In that year of his arrival he planted on this farm the first apple orchard ever set out in Holt County. The trees were grafted on crabapple stocks. Josiah Pierce, with his sons, Charles, Lorenzo and Silas, came from Maryland in 1841, and settled in the present Forbes Township. Elias and Benjamin Davidson were also early settlers. Robert Patterson, a large land-owner, who resided on the southwest corner of section 4, in the same township and range, settled there in 1841. William G. Patterson was also an old settler. W. D. Taylor and Squire P. Shambaugh settled in Forbes Township, in 1843. Charles Shambaugh, a brother of the latter, also came about the same time. John and Daniel Huiatt settled in the neighborhood in 1846. George Meyer, the fruit man, came from Lewis Township in 1857, and settled in Forbes Township on the splendid farm in sections seven and eight which was his home for about a quarter of a century. Henry

First Physician

The first to practice medicine in what is now Forbes Township, was Doctor John C. Norman, the pioneer physician of the county. Previous to the laying out of the town of Oregon, to which he afterwards moved, he made his headquarters and office at the Widow Jackson's tavern.

John M. Briggs, a native of Tennessee, who afterwards moved to Iowa, where he died in 1877, started in 1840, the first blacksmith shop within the limits of what is now Forbes Township. His stand was about six miles southeast of the site of Oregon.

Buildings And People

The first frame building erected for a residence in the county was put up by John Russel, on what was afterward the George Meyer farm. It was a one-story house, with three or four rooms. The class of citizens who settled in what is now Forbes Township, with a fair share of the roughs and restless characters who float everywhere in the van of civilization, were generally men of enterprise and often persons of substance, for that early day. The descendants of many are living representatives of the best class of the inhabitants of the county.

About the year 1846 organized gangs of outlaws rendered property in horses very unsafe ; and, though an eminently lawabiding people, the better class of citizens were reduced to the necessity of associating themselves into companies for the purpose of putting down the source of these outrages. The people inhabiting that section of the county now known as Forbes Township were especially sufferers by these robberies. About one hundred of these organized themselves into a vigilance committee, of which William Thorp was chosen captain and James Craig (later Gen. Graig, of St. Joseph), lieutenant.

For a while it seemed difficult to fix suspicion on any individual. It, however, began to be remarked that a quiet and seemingly inoffensive citizen, by the name of George Carter, who had formerly resided in the neighborhood, occasionally returned to visit his friends; further, that these visits were periodical, and, also, it began to be the subject of remark that, whenever George favored his Holt County friends with a visit, his sympathetic nature was sure to be wounded by hearing, shortly after his arrival, of some of their horses having been stolen. The strangeness of the coincidence soon became the subject of general remark. Suspicion was directed against Carter, and immediately acted on. He was arrested, tied up and severely whipped. He finally yielded to the pressure of circumstances, and disclosed the whole business, giving the name of an unsuspected accomplice, by the name of Bass, who was forthwith arrested and subjected to the same discipline. The thieves were then given three days in which to leave the county, an injunction with which they promptly complied. This effectually broke up horse-stealing in these parts.

The first attempt to start a town within the limits of what is now Forbes Township, occurred April 17, 1843, when Abraham Brown laid out the town of Dallas, on the northeast quarter of section 28, township 59, range 37, one mile above the mouth of the Nodaway River. This, though it never in its best days amounted to much of a town, was for many years a noted shipping point, and during certain conditions of the river, when Iowa Point was not readily accessible, served as an entrepot for Oregon. A hemp press and several large warehouses for several years stood on the site of this prospective town. Long before the decadence of the hemp interest in Missouri, it had lost even itse nominal existence, and was only remembered among the things of the past. The only attempt to sell goods in the place was made by James Whitehead, who kept a small store at the landing for about a year. Insignificant as it was, however, Dallas was not too small to provoke rivalry, and a competitor in the prospective town of West Union struggled into an ephemeral existence only, however, to blink out ingoloriously and without a requiem. On the 12th of April, 1844, H. Utt, Henry H. Utt and E. M. Samuel laid out this town. Its location was between Dallas and the mouth of the Nodaway River. Corner lots could not be given away, and while the friends of the would-be founders gloried in the enterprise of these enthusiastic rivals of the Dallas interests, they almost universally condemned their judgment. West Union fell still born, and few now living in or out of the county have any recollection of the prospective existence of such a place.

The third attempt to start a town in the territory of Forbes Township was an enterprise of much later date, and has proved a success. This, the town of Forbes was laid out in 1869, by Levi Devorss, on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 29, township 59, range 37. Since that period, additions to the original site have been made. As early as 1839, Jonathan Keney pre-empted the quarter on which the town stands. This was, afterwards, entered by Thomas Mulholland, who, in the early part of 1851, sold it, together with adjacent lands, amounting, with a tract at the same time conveyed by Edward Mulholland, to 290 acres, to Levi Devorss, who had previously resided in Buchanan County, Missouri. The idea of locating a town at this point was prompted by the presence of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad (now the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad), which was completed to this point in the summer of 1868, the first train of cars running through the site of the town August 9, 1868. The depot at this point is nineteen miles north by west of St. Joseph ; and the elevation of its site is eight hundred and sixty-seven and nearly onehalf feet above the level of the sea.

The original house of the town is the farm residence of Levi Devorss, at the foot of the bluff at the north extremity of the village. The first building erected after the laying out of the town was a small store erected by William Herron, on what was afterwards Devorss' addition to the original town. Herron & Taylor sold goods here during the summer in which the road was building. They soon after erected a larger building in which, for the period of three years, they continued to sell goods. The style of the firm was Herron, Taylor & Meyer. W. D. Taylor and George Meyer, both representative citizens and large farmers of the township, were included in this firm. In 1871. W. D. Taylor, in partnership with S. M. Shirley, put up a twostory brick house twenty-six by sixty feet area, in which they opened a stock of goods, and where they continued to transact mercantile business till 1881, when they closed out, and rented the building to John Ross & Co.

In 1876 Shirley & Taylor put up, in the town of Forbes, the first steam flouring mill ever built in the township. It was a frame structure, of considerable extent, and was fitted up with three runs of burrs. This mill was hardly under way before it was accidentally destroyed by fire. About thirty steps beyond was a warehouse, in which was stored a considerable amount of merchandise, also the property of the firm. To this building the fire communicated, and the whole was soon wrapped in flames, involving a total loss of about $7,000.

The first postmaster of Forbes, or as the office was for many years styled, Elm Grove, was Levi Devorss, the father of the town. He was appointed August 28, 1868. His successors, in regular order, have been: S. M. Shirley, N. Swiget, Jacob Meyer and Charles Scott, appointed in 1881. On the resignation of Meyers, John Ross, his late partner in business, discharged the duties of the office till the appointment of his successor.

Educational

The people of Forbes have always appreciated the importance of education and encouraged every scheme calculated to promote that interest in their midst. One of their first enterprises was the erection of a school building in 1869. This was a small frame building twenty-two by twenty-four feet area, and was afterward occupied as a dwelling. It was erected by the Rev. Mr. Bloomer, a Protestant Methodist preacher, and cost $560. The first who taught in this school was Lud Wyet. The second teacher was Charles Coursen. He taught two years, from September, 1870, when he was succeeded by William Keizier, who, in turn, was succeeded by William Morrison. The Rev. Mr. Bratcher, of the church of the United Brethren, taught two terms. A1 Ewing taught from the fall of 1877 to close of the term. He was succeeded in the fall of 1878, by T. J. Owen, the last who taught in the old school building. In 1878 and 1879 was erected at a cost of three thousand dollars the present elegant structure of the Forbes public school. It is a spacious twostory brick edifice on a commanding elevation overlooking the village, and the wide extent of bottom land stretching far westward to the Missouri River. The first session of the public school opened in this building with Professor A. G. Young, M. D., as principal, assisted by Mrs. Young. In the fall of 1880, Samuel O'Fallon commenced the school. He was assisted by Miss Belle Young. After the Christmas holidays he resigned, and was succeeded by Galen B. Anderson, who taught the school to the close of the term.

The Forbes Postoffice

Forbes came into existence by reason of the building of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad and was given its name in honor of one of the civil engineers who helped locate it. The railroad was completed in 1868 and in the summer of that year Levi Devorss came up from Buchanan County and purchased 290 acres from Edward Mulholland, in August, 1868, and laid out the town. The plat was filed April 3, 1869. On the

28th of August, 1868, the postoffice came into existence, under the name of Elm Grove. Mr. Devorss was the first postmaster, his commission being signed by Alex. W. Randall, then postmaster-general under President Grant. Devorss was followed by S. M. Shirley, N. Swiget, Jacob Meyer, Charles Scott, John Ross and others. A. G. Young was the postmaster in 1885, and was succeeded by J. R. Wilson