Lincoln Township

Lincoln Township

Lincoln township is bounded on the north by the Iowa state line, on the east by Atchison and Nodaway townships, on the south by Atchison and Nod¬ away and Green townships and Atchison county, and on the west by Atchison county, Missouri. It contains about sixtv-eight miles, being ten miles from north to south, by about seven from east to west. It was one of the later sub¬ divisions of Nodaway county, and was first proposed in 1865, by a division of Atchison township, which up to that date included the northwest portion of the county. The county court record says :

"A majority of the legal voters of Atchison township present a petition to the court to have Atchison township divided into two townships, to be known as Atchison and Lincoln, said townships beginning on the Iowa line, and in the center of the Nodaway river, running to the section line between sections 8 ancl 17 (township 65, range 37) and run with said line to the county line west, thence with the county line to the state line, thence to place of begin¬ ning, and to call the name of said territory Lincoln township."

Physical Features

Originally, the eastern portion of this township was timber land, with two groves toward the central portion, while the remainder of the domain was rich prairie land. Mill creek crosses the northern borders, runs southeast and there unites with the Nodaway river. Several small streams tributary to Mill creek run through different portions of the township. These streams with occasional springs furnish the territory with an abundance of water. There is but little waste land within Lincoln township and the soil compares with that of the remainder of the county. With the exception of some in the western part, the land is very rolling and in some places quite broken. About one-half of the township at an early day had timber on its surface. Stone is found in sufficient qualities to provide ample building material, while there are some traces of soft coal, but not in paying veins to mine.

Past And Present

There are now many good school houses within this township and these are mentioned in the Educational chapter, as well as the churches and lodges, which are found under their respective headings. The population of Lincoln township in 1900 was1 two thousand two hundred and thirty-six.

Early Settlement

To Joseph Hutson belongs the honor of being the first to locate in Lincoln township, as now defined, and he was also the first white man to settle west of the Nodaway river in the county. He came in from Clay county, Ken¬ tucky, and purchased a full section of land, section 32, township 66, range 37, It is situated almost two miles west of the present site of the sprightly town of Dawson. He erected his cabin in the grove about a fourth of a mile east of Mill creek. The date of his arrival was October 29, 1840, and that night snow fell to the depth of four inches, but fortunately it all disappeared the next day and there was no more until about Christmas. The grass remained fresh and green, and the winter finally proved to be the mildest in the history of the entire state. During that first winter Mr. Hutson lived in his humble cabin and managed to clear up about six acres of timber land. Plows were then made of wooden mould boards, and sold at twenty-seven dollars and fifty cents each ; they were made five miles north of Savannah. Prairie sod could not be broken with these plows with less than five yoke of oxen or bulls, and frequently seven yoke were hitched to the plow, which was about seven feet long. The six acres of virgin soil thus plowed by the hardy pioneer was planted to corn the following spring. He also broke out twelve acres of prai¬ rie, which he sowed to wheat. He raised fifty bushels of corn to the acre.

B. L. Hutson, John Bagley, Silas Davidson and James Sunseford settled about two and one-half miles to the east of this first settler in the township. Thev all opened farms up in the timber on the Nodaway river, and all arrived in 1841. Thomas Heddy and Elisha Heddy, his brother, and Wiley Crowder also came that year.

Doctor Benjamin Parker located on an adjoining farm and followed the plow, there not being enough people (sick) to enable him to support him¬ self by his profession.

Tohn Smith located on the Nodaway bluffs north of the Lamar claim. Other settlers were George Oster, Abijah Hampton, William Taylor, Julia Oster, William Berget and William Wiet.

fore this was eaten up, two more would pull out for the mill. They usually went with ox teams, three and four yoke to the wagon. They went to Hughes' mills, fifty miles distant. It required about six days to make the round trip. Pioneers were also accustomed to grate £orn on a grater, espe¬ cially during the first winter. When going to the mill, they laid in a supply of groceries at White Hall, near Savannah, Missouri. Mail was only had from the White Hall office and letter postage was twenty-five cents a letter. Going to mill, the farmers took guns along and. stopped to kill game which, at meal time, they cooked on the camp fire beside the loaded wagon.

Joseph Hutson's first neighbor was near Quitman; the second was at Graham; the third at Bennetts Lane, where all the blacksmithing was done. Three years later, in 1842, Mr. Hutson built a blacksmith shop himself. He made the first set of mill irons for a mill on Hutson's creek, long since styled Mill creek. He would weld three bars four inches wide and one inch thick with two strikers, for the spindles and gudgeons of the mill corn-cracker.

The first person on the west side of the Nodaway river to die was Mrs. Henry Lamar, who passed from earth August 23, 1842; the next was Rufus Lamar, her eldest son, and they were both buried in ground selected for the purpose on a little ridge near the Nodaway river. In the absence of mills to cut lumber, Mr. Hutson had to saw boards for the coffins out of black walnut timber, with a whip-saw.

John M. Lamar, Sr., settled in the timber, five miles north of present Dawson. He was a native of Anderson county, Tennessee, born July 6, 1804, and died -August 16, 1877. He came to what is now Nodaway county in May, 1842. At the date of his coming the land in this part of the county had not been surveyed, but on account of the ignorance of the people concerning the fertility of the soil of prairie lands, it had been "passed up" and reported to the general land office as "lost land," meaning unfit for use, hence not profit¬ able to be even surveyed. What a mistake it was ! As one views the rich, wrell-kept farms of this section today, it is hardly conceivable how such land could be deemed worthless.

John Bright came from Indiana in 1842; John N. Lamar from Tennessee in 1842; Ransome Spencer from Ohio in 1842; Hiram Bagley, John Griffy and Franklin Parker from Ohio in 1842; Amos Halsey from Missouri in 1843; William Wyatt from Indiana in 1843; William Hudson from Ohio in 1843; George Sizemore from Kentucky in 1843; William Bates from Kentuckv in 1843 ; Monroe Cottrell from Kentucky in 1843 > John Rose from Ken- tucky in 1845 : Aaron Wallace, Joseph Wallace, Howard Reynolds, James Roberts, James Livingood and Nickol Owens from Tennessee in 1845; Elisha Walters from Indiana in 1845; Jesse Roberts from Kentucky in 1845 ; John Seevers from Tennessee in 1850; Daniel and William Seevers from Tennessee in 1850; James Wade from Tennessee in 1850; Mansel Graves from Kentucky in 1850; James W. Adams from Ohio in 1850.

The towns of the township of Lincoln are Dawsonville and Elmo. Dawsonville is located about two and a half miles northwest of Burlington Junc¬ tion, on section 5. township 65, range 37. The land on which it is built was originally owned by D. N. McCrea and W. M. Walker. It was named in honor of Hon. Lafe Dawson, of Maryville. For some time the citizens called the place Dawson, but the railroad company called it Dawsonville, and the postoffice was established as Dawson, hence the place is now commonly known as Dawson. The place is located within a beautiful natural grove, with the line of the Wabash railroad running through the edge of the town. In 1880 the place had a population of about one hundred and fifty, and the enumeration is now about the same. The date of its platting was December 20, 1879, and it was executed by E. A. Garvey, civil engineer for the Wabash road, who laid out the plat. The land owners gave one-third of the lots to the com¬ pany and its engineer for laying off and platting in legal form the place. The first train of cars reached Dawson September 2, 1879. Ei the same month the first business house was erected by Mr. Burnett for a general store : he received his first invoice of goods before the depot was built and landed the merchandise on the ground from the freight cars. He also had charge of the postoffice the first year after its establishment. The second building was a blacksmith shop run by Isaac Weddel and the next was a building removed from Lamar station by Alonzo Reese. A. S. Thompson then erected the first boarding house. Then followed a law office and justice of the peace head¬ quarters for D. V. McCrea, Esq. The town at once become a fine shipping point and during the years 1881-82 there were shipped from this place two hundred fifty thousand bushels of corn alone. Besides this there were two hundred cars of cattle shipped out. Less than one mile from Dawson was a fine water mill owned by H. Burnett, which was of much service to the settlers in that locality. The Nodaway was spanned by a nine-foot dam giving ex¬ cellent water power.

The first marriage at Dawson was August 10, 1880, when Mitchell H. Bailey and Louisa A. Messengale were united. The first birth was March 3, 1881. a son to Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Daugherty. The first to die in the new town was Andrew J. Maines, September 26. 1881. The pioneer physician was Dr. J. H. Woodward.

The reader will learn of the schools of the township and Dawson by reference to the Educational chapter, as also of church activities under the proper heading.

Village Of Elmo

Elmo (first called Ebbony, next St. Elmo and finally Elmo), situated on the line of the Wabash railroad, almost twenty miles northwest from Mary¬ ville, stands on land originally owned by Isaac Hesser and the State Bank of Missouri. The land was purchased by the railroad and the Western Improve¬ ment Company, who laid out the town in December, 1879. The first building was the depot. W. C. Eeker built a hotel at once and conducted it two years. J. R. Nelson then added a stock of general merchandise and James Brown started the first blacksmith shop. The Masonic hall building was removed from Lamar to Elmo in the early history of the place.

Of the early events, it may be recorded that the first marriage took place here September 17, 1880, when J. A. Maloney married Miss R. A. Manley.

The first birth was a son to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Livengood. The first death was that of Morris Kane, who was thrown from a handcar by a passing engine backing against it in the darkness of the night.

Scott's addition to Elmo was platted in September, 1881. The town has always been a good shipping and trading point. Dr. -T. L. Martin was a pioneer physician, as was also Dr. S. Collins.

The present population of Elmo is placed at four hundred. The business and social interests are fully represented by a good class of men, as follows :

At one time there was a Grand Army of the Republic post here, but so few and aged are the members now that they only meet on the birthday an¬ niversary of the few survivors of the post, who served in the great Civil war. This post is known as Marshall No. 162.

The town was incorporated in April, 1904, and the following have served as its mayors : T. M. Tudder, A. A. Reece, T. M. Tudder, J. S. Severs. Among the postmasters serving at Elmo are these : S. R. Johnston, R. E. Davis, W. E. Scott, F. D. Hurst, S. P. Lamar, L. P. Colvin. The present postmaster is S. R. Johnston. The town is now supplied with a good four-room brick school house, two stories high, built about 1900.

The following are the churches: Methodist Episcopal (South), Method¬ ist Episcopal and Christian. At one time the Church of God had a church organization at this point.

Lamar Station

This place was platted in January, 1871, by John Lamar, on section 27, township 66, range 37, but with the change of route and the building of Burlington Junction and Elmo it lapsed into decay, some of the buildings being moved to other towns near by.