Moundville Township

Moundville Township

Moundville township comprises congressional township No. 34 of range 32. One of the so-called "long towmsliips" of the county, it is also one of the best. By far the greater portion of the township is prairie, which has been transformed from native pastures, covered with rank grass and weeds, to fertile fields, blooming and fruitful.

Like other portions of Vernon county, a great deal of the wealth of Moundville towmship lies under the ground: Coal! The kind of coal locally and technically known as Fort Scott coal is found in considerable quantities in the western part of the township, and nearly every land owner has his own coal bank. The mounds are full of it, too, and everywhere there is coal, easily reached, in great abundance, and good in character and quality.

coal is found under the limestone, which must he stripped off before the mineral can be readily obtained. The coal in the mounds is of much better quality than the surface coal. That taken out at Moundville is excellent.

Early Settlers

One of the first land entries in Moundville township was made June 6, 1856, in section 14, by John J. Baxter, and consisted of a forty-acre tract on the west side of little Drywood, southwest northeast section 14. The first entry was by Judge James Grace, October 27, 1853, lots 5 and 6 northeast quarter, and 6 and 7 northwest quarter, section 1. J. M. Justus entered the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter section 23, February 23, 1855.

A very singular character was this man, John J. Baxter. He was a minister of the gospel when he first settled in Vernon, and belonged to a denomination known as the "Two-Seed Baptists." He was a forcible, eloquent speaker, and with a strong, musical voice, was celebrated as singer. Old settlers say that when John Baxter turned himself loose on, "Am I Soldier of the Cross?" or "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood," he could be heard, on a still night, from one Drywood to the other. After a time Baxter embraced the doctrine of Universal Salvation, though still claim¬ ing to be a Baptist.

But singularly enough, Baxter's greatest renown was as a fighter. In early days to be a good fighter was about as creditable as to be a good preacher, and the bully of the community was as important a personage as was to be found. The fighting was uniformly done with fists and feet; pistols were not in vogue. John Baxter "cleaned out" everything in the country. A man of stalwart proportions, mighty of bone and muscle, he was quick and active, and struck rapid and powerful blows. When he let go his powerful right arm, which he facetiously termed his "call to the uncoverted," it invariably prostrated whatever it came in contact with.

Baxter was not quarrelsome, and was seldom the aggressor in a contest. But the country was full of drunken, quarrelsome fellows, who prided themselves on their pugilistic ability, and were usually "spoiling for a fight." They were more than anxious to tackle the fighting preacher, for the novelty of the thing for one reason, and because his fame had gone abroad throughout the land. Baxter was a very clever man. he was quick to resent an insult, and whenever he was offended he pun¬ ished the offender, and whenever he was tackled for a fight, the tackier was speedily accommodated. Often he whipped two com¬ mon men with all ease, and on one occasion three men ''pitched on" him. and after the contest was over were laid up three weeks for repairs.

After a few years sojourn on Dry wood Eev. Baxter left the country and went down into Jasper. Here he got into a hard fight with the Johnsons, and was forced to leave. He then went over into Dade county and built a mill on Turnback creek. A b.ig fight here resulted in a victory, but the sheriff coming up with re-enforcements Baxter fell back to Texas. In the Lone Star State he fought according to the custom of the country, and there was a funeral ; but Baxter did not ride in the front wagon, neither did he wait to attend it. He came North again and located in the southeastern corner of Kansas, giving his name to the famous Baxter Springs, on the site of which he lived. Here in a big fight he was killed.

A sad case of accidental loss of life in earlv davs was long remembered by the people. An old man named James H. Barnett, who was one of the first settlers in Moundville township, was frozen to death on the 29th of March, 1844. Mr. Barnett, Judge William Hudson and Eeid Hudson had been down on Spring river and were returning home. A heavy snow storm came up and blew in their faces and it grew very cold. The party became chilled and bewildered and wandered aimlessly about over the trackless prairie waste, until at last, near the Bound Mound, in the edge of Barton county, old man Barnett lay down and froze to death.

The Civil War

A victim of the Civil "War - among the thousands of other vic¬ tims - was Alexander Morgan, a young man who was killed by the jayhawkers in this township in the fall of 1862. Though young Morgan had never taken up arms for either side, he was regarded as a Southern sympathizer, and the jayhawkers claimed that he was "a rebel spy." Jo Ury accused him of "packing news," and he was marked as a doomed man. At the time he was mur¬ dered, Morgan had been riding with his sister, going eastward across the prairie between the two Drywoods, in the southern part of this township, east of the Gammons farm. Presently Miss Morgan discovered she had lost a veil, or shawl, and her brother rode back to search for it. She never after saw him alive. The jayhawkers were following him, and he ran into them. They shot him dead and tumbled his body into a ditch, where it was found a few hours later. As her brother did not overtake her soon, Miss Morgan stopped to wait for him ; in half an hour she turned back hoping to meet him, but fearing the worst, and her forebodings were justified. Morgan's father lived at Fort Scott at the time.

Not long after the Price raid, in the late fall of 1864, a Federal soldier, who was returning to his command at Fort Scott, was killed on what is best known as the Brothers farm (sec. 14), a little west of Little Drywood, and four miles northeast of Bronaugh. The soldier was sick and was caught and killed by some bushwhackers. The body was buried where it fell.

In the fall of 1863 William Kuhfuss, a German, who lived four miles south of Moundville, was killed by a detachment of Company B, Fourteenth Kansas, under Lieut. James Morris. Mr. Kuhfuss had been in the Confederate army a short time, but was not re¬ garded as a strong partisan. Mr. Green Walton, a citizen of this county, had enlisted in the Fourteenth Kansas, at Fort Scott, and came over to remove his family, with the detachment men¬ tioned as an escort. The Federals went to the house of Kuhfuss, who at first hid under a bed, but finally came out and was made a prisoner. His horses were taken and he was shot.

At the close of the Civil War the house of Wilson Davenport (who came in 1860), near Moundville, was the only building be¬ tween Fort Scott and Drywood, and there was but few others in this township; but within a few years afterward, or by the 1st of January, 1869, quite a number of settlements had been made in Moundville township, for the most part on tracts hitherto unim¬ proved.

John Wray lived east of Little Drywood, on the southern part of section 1 ; T. B. Kelly was in the northern part of the township, on the north line of section 2; N. S. Howard on the southeastern part of section 3; Wilson Davenport on the northern part of section 4.

South and a little west of Moundville, on section 5, were J. M. Ashbaugh, a mile south of the village; R. K. Hill, three-fourths of a mile south of Ashbaugh; S. D. Allis, a little west of Hill; Isaiah Rusk joined Hill at the Rusk school house.

J. M. Moore came to a tract of raw prairie two miles south of Moundville (sw. % sec. 4) in May, 1869. Jesse Brothers was then living on the center of the same section. James Skaggs was a mile to the southwest (ne. % sec. 7), and east of him, on section 8, lived Bailey.

On section 16, a mile or more northeast of Bronaugh, lived G. C. Hardy, and on the same section were Kenneth Monroe, Peter Schanholtzer, Peter Cohenour, David Cohenour, M. E. Pike, and J. A. Vivion.

Mrs. Martha Pine lived on the west side of Drywood, in section 23 ; across the creek, on section 24, were James Bradley and Jacob Funderburk. Rev. John Hale lived on the southern side of sec¬ tion 2, west of Drywood, and near him was his son-in-law, John Hawkins, who gave his name to the Hawkins branch. Isaac Veach lived in the southwestern part of the township, and built the first house between the two Drywoods.

John H. Wilker settled on the northwest quarter of section 11, soon after the war. Here he improved a valuable farm and died in the summer of 1884.

Organization

Moundville township was first organized by the county court March 6, 1867, on petition of Harvey Karnes and others. The original boundary lines were different from those as at present established. The eastern line was two miles west of the present, or a mile west of Little Drywood; the western took off what are now the two eastern tiers of sections in Harrison, then ran clown Big Drywood to a point opposite the new corner of section 19-35-32. The northern cut off three miles off the southern part of Deerfield. The first election was ordered held at Karnes' store house, in Moundville village; judges, John Brown, Wilson Daven¬ port, and W. T. Powell. The first justice of the peace was Wilson Davenport, who was appointed June 4, 1867.

The town of Moundville is situated on a large mound of about 1,500 acres in extent, and was originally located on lot 10 of the northeast fractional quarter of section 5-34-32. It now comprises also a tract off of the west end of lot 10 northeast quarter of section 4, the limits of the town having been extended since the completion of the railroad.

Moundville was laid out by Harvey Karnes (and Mary M. Karnes, his wife) on the 8th of March. 18G0. The surveying was done by F. M. German, then the county surveyor of Vernon county. It was named for the mound on which it is situated. Karnes himself had a little house and farm west of the place a few hundred yards, and opened a small store here at the time of the laying out of the town. James Jones lived about forty rods south of the town site.

The town had a few houses when the war broke out, but it soon decayed. Mr. Karnes enlisted in the Confederate army and did not return until hostilities had ceased. In the summer of 1866 the town started up. There was a lot sale, at which Colonel Pitcher, of Nevada, was the auctioneer and Andrew Jones the clerk. Harvey Karnes built the first business house; Dan Arnold the first residence, which was also used as a hotel; 0. J. Sullivan the first blacksmith shop, and Dr. Ashbaugh was the first post¬ master. Prior to the establishment of the postoffice the citizens of the surrounding country received their mail matter at Nevada, where there was a box kept called "the Mound's box," into which all letters and papers for persons in this vicinity were thrown, and the collection was brought out by whosoever chanced to call for it.

For a number of years Moundsville comprised one store, a blacksmith shop, a postoffice and a few dwelling houses, but in 1882 it sprang forward and soon became a village of respectable proportions.

The Nevada & Minden Railroad, now the St. Louis, Nevada, Pittsburg, Coffeyville, Conway Springs & Larned branch of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, was finished to Moundville and the first cars ran about middle of May, 1886. Mr. Vandervoort was the first agent. The completion of this road was of inestimable

A good stone steam mill, owned at the time by W. T. Powell, was burned about Christmas Day, 1884, entailing serious damage to the business interests of the place. The erection of this mill was begun by Mr. Karnes.

The publication of the Moundville ' ' Enquirer ' ' newspaper was begun in the spring of 1886. The first numbers were printed in Sedalia, the "copy" being sent up by mail from Moundville.

At this time, 1911, Moundville is one of the prettiest villages to be found in the State of Missouri; the natural location, com¬ bined with the stately shade trees and well kept lawns, and the substantial business buildings, make a lasting impression on the mind of any wayfarer who happens to make this a stopping place, be it for ever so short a time, and makes him wonder if this is not a reproduction of Goldsmith's "Auburn" when it was in all its pastoral beauty. The population numbers something over 300, and possesses a fine graded school with an enrollment of 100 scholars who are instructed up to and including the tenth grade. Mr. Barlow is the principal and is assisted by Mrs. Ida May Phillips and Miss Maud Walden. There are at present three church buildings in the town, the Methodist Episcopal Church South, the Methodist Episcopal Church North, and the Christian; the Baptists have under way a house of worship which it is ex¬ pected will be completed this year.

The business interests are represented as follows : The Mound¬ ville State Bank, capital stock $10,000 ; W. L. Gray, president ; W. H. McCappree, cashier. Two general stores, J. F. Matthews & Sons, and E. D. Edwards. Two hardware stores, J. F. Hammond and J. W. Butterfield. Two lumber yards, J. "W. Butterfield and Leonard & Cole. The grain dealers are Lipscomb & Co. and Huffirn & Co.. Two feed mills, J. H. Ward and Frank Bros. W. H. McCalester is the proprietor of the livery stable. P. S. Myers, harness shop. J. H. Ward & Son and M. A. Smith are contractors and builders. D. M. Perkins, barber ; R. Williams & Son and Frank Maynerd, blacksmiths; W. T. Phillips, real estate and in¬ surance, and for nineteen years has been the postmaster. Dr. O. P. Farrington looks after the health of the community, while Mrs. Grove, of the Grove Hotel, looks after the interests of the traveling public.

There are three local coal companies in active operation the year round and employ an average of ten men. The operators are A. S. Brown, John Smith, and D. K. Perkins.

Cooper College

Moundville, the location of this college, is a thriving little village of 400 inhabitants, situated ten miles southwest of Nevada. It poses on one of the most elevated points, and in the midst of the richest agricultural districts of the great Southwest. As from an observatory, the eye delights to dwell upon the beau¬ tiful orchards, green meadows and rich grain fields in a high state of cultivation, stretching for miles on every side.

Having daily trains, it is connected with the great trunk lines of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and Missouri Pacific, two of the leading thoroughfares of the West. This beautiful sec¬ tion of Vernon county, lying between the Drywoods, attracted the first settlers of the county by the rare cluster of advantages it possessed, as if nature had fallen in love with herself, and with lavish hand had scattered her best gifts upon it.

The site of the town being lifted above the surrounding plain and embowered in orchards and groves, is thus free from miasmatic atmosphere and unhealthful water that exists in less favored localities. Nature's benefaction has been supplemented by the enterprise of the inhabitants, giving a high order of practical hygiene, and insuring the most favorable conditions of good health.

A more picturesque and entrancing landscape is not to be found between the Mississippi river and the Rocky mountains, where salubrious air, genial climate, mineral wealth, and an industrious and enterprising population unite to advocate and foster the higher elements of nature. The school house was the most imposing and important building of the place, and at no time has there been a lack of interest in the progress of local education. From the foundation of the town, schools have been cherished and the people have been restless under the claims of higher culture.

most among whom was AY. H. Cooper, deceased, after whom the school was named, met and organized a company for the pur¬ pose of raising funds with which to provide a suitable building for liigh-school work. This company succeeded in securing $6,000 and a two-story brick, modern building, imposing in appearance, was erected just west of town, in a beautiful, most pleasing and sufficiently retired location.

C. H. Miles, a man of large and successful experience in edu¬ cational work, was elected president, and on September 5, 1892, at the M. E. Church in Moundville, Cooper College was organized with an enrollment of fifteen students. The college building was completed during the year, and school opened in the new building September 4, 1893, with an enrollment of twenty-six students in attendance, which number during the session in¬ creased to forty-one. During the school year 1894-95 the en¬ rollment reached ninety-two, and for eighteen years the school continued to prosper, maintaining an attendance of nearly one hundred students.

During these years Air. Aides, the president, had become owner of the property, and in 1909 poor health compelled him to give up the work and the ownership passed to other hands. The new management being unable to find a party willing to undertake the task of keeping up the school for the revenue in sight, sold the property to the Aloundville village school district Alay, 1911.

The village of Bronaugh, which comprises the northwest quarter of section 20, the south half of the southwest quarter and the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 17, was laid out in the spring of 1886 on the building of the Nevada & Alinden railroad, now the Joplin branch of the Alissouri Pacific railroad, by the Bronaugh Town Company. It was named for AY. C. Bronaugh, the owner of the land where it was built, a resident of Henry county.

The village was incorporated as a city of the fourth class in 1897. Its population in 1911 is 450. AYith its location and the extremely rich soil of the country surrounding, which is underlaid with heavy veins of coal, combined with the enter¬ prise of the people living in and adjoining Bronaugh, it is des-

The Bronaugh "Journal" is a live newspaper, which shows careful and painstaking labor for the benefit of Bronaugh and vicinity. W. W. Dorris is the editor. J. L. Skaggs and G. Funk are the real estate men. The contractors and builders are Rube Havens, John Linthicum, Arthur Stevens, T. D. Gilmore and C. R. Sheer.

The secret and fraternal orders are represented by the A. F. and A. M. Vernon Lodge, No. I. O. O. F., No. 660; Modern Woodmen of America, Knights and Ladies of Security, Eastern

Bronaugh Christian Church. This church was organized in June, 1904, with nineteen members. At first there were no elders. The deacons were J. C. Lucas and J. V. Shault. Myrtle Doores was secretary. In 1910 a house was built and dedicated August 21, 1910, by J. R. Crank. The ministers that have served the church are: W. G. Hearne, J. R. Crank and J. Dejarnette. The church is enjoying a steady growth and the membership is now about eighty.

Moundville Christian Church. The Moundville Christian Church was organized April 12, 1883, with sixteen members, of which seven were men and nine were women. The first board of officers was as follows: Elders, E. T. Dennly and W. S. Creel; deacons, H. W. Narvoss and R. M. Coulter. The first house of worship was built in 1884, with a dedication service conducted by M. M. Davis. The building cost $2,382. The church is in a prosperous condition.