South Fork Township (part 2 of 3)

On the 2d of October following the Mormons were overpowered, and compelled to lay down their arms and agree to leave the county with their families by January 1st on the condition that the owner would be paid for his printing press.

Leaving Jackson county, they crossed the Missouri and located in Clay, Carroll, Caldwell and other counties, and selected in Caldwell county a town site, which they called *' Far West," and where they entered more land for their future homes.

Through the influence of their missionaries, who were exertin<y themselves in the East and in different portions of Europe, converts had constantly flocked to their standard, and *' Far West," and other Mormon settlements, rapidly prospered.

In 1837 they commenced the erection ot a magnificent temple, but never finished it. As their settlements increased in numbers, they became bolder in their practices and deeds of lawlessness.

During the summer of 1838 two of their leaders settled in the town of De Witt, on the Missouri River, having purchased the land from an Illinois merchant. De Witt was in Carroll county, and a good

Upon its being ascertained that these parties were Mormon leaders the Gentiles called a public meeting, which was addressed by some of the prominent citizens of the county. Nothing, however, was done at this meeting, but at a subsequent meeting, which was held a few days afterward, a committee of citizens was appointed to notify Col. Hinkle (one of the Mormon leaders at De Witt), what they intended to do.

Col. Hinkle upon being notified by this committee became indignant, and threatened extermination to all who should attempt to molest him or the Saints.

In anticipation of trouble, and believing that the Gentiles would attempt to force them from De Witt, Mormon recruits flocked to the town from every direction, and pitched their tents in and around the town in great numbers.

The Gentiles, nothing daunted, planned an attack upon this encampment, to take place on the 21st day of September, 1838, and, accordingly, one hundred and fifty men bivouacked near the town on that day. A conflict ensued, but nothing serious occurred.

The Mormons evacuated their works and fled to some loo- houses where they could the more successfully resist the Gentiles, who had in the meantime returned to their camp to await reinforcements. Troops from Saline, Ray and other counties came to their assistance, and increased their number to five hundred men.

Colonel ; Singleton Vaughan, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Sarshel Woods, Major. After some days of discipline, this brigade prepared for an assault, but before the attack was commenced Judge James Earickson and William F. Dunnica, influential citizens of Howard county, asked permission of General Jackson to let them try and adjust the difficulties without any bloodshed.

It was finally agreed that Judge Earickson should propose to the Mormons, that if they would pay for all the cattle they had killed belonging to the citizens, and load their wagons during the night and be ready to move by ten o'clock next morning, and make no further attempt to settle in Carroll county, the citizens would purchase at first cost their lots in De Witt and one or two adjoining tracts of land.

Col. Hinkle, the leader of the Mormons, at first refused all attempts to settle the difficulties in this way, but finally agreed to the proposition.

In accordance therewith, the Mormons without further delay, loaded up their wagons for the town of Far West, in Caldwell county. Whether the terms of the agreement were ever carried out, on the part of the citizens, is not known.

The Mormons had doubtless suffered much and in many ways - the result of their own acts - but their trials and suflferings were not at an end.

In 1838 the discord between the citizens and Mormons became so great that Governor Boggs issued a proclamation ordering Major- General David R. Atchison to call the militia of his division to enforce the laws. He called out a part of the first brigade of the Missouri State Militia, under command of Gen. A. W. Doniphan, who proceeded to the seat of war. Gen. John B. Clark, of Howard county, was placed in command of the militia.

The Mormon forces numbered about 1,000 men, and were led by G. W. Hinkle. The first engagement occurred at Crooked river, where one Mormon was killed. The principal fight took place at Haughn's Mills, where eighteen Mormons were killed and the balance captured, some of them being killed after they had surrendered. Only one militiaman was wounded.

In the month of October, 1838, Joe Smith surrendered the town of Far West to Gen. Doniphan, agreeing to his conditions, viz. : That they should deliver up their arms, surrender their prominent leaders for trial, and the remainder of the Mormons should, with their families, lenve the State. Indictments were found against a number of these leaders, including Joe Smith, who, while being taken to Boone county for trial, made his escape, and was afterward, in 1844, killed at Carthage, Illinois, with his brother Hiram.

Florida War

In September, 1837, the Secretary of War issued a requisition on Governor Boggs, of Missouri, for six hundred volunteers for service in Florida against the Seminole Indians, with whom the Creek nation had made common cause under Osceola.

The first regiment was chiefly raisecl in Boone county by Colonel Richard Gentry, of which he was elected Colonel ; John W. Price, of Howard county, Lieutenant-Colonel ; Harrison H. Hughes, also of Howard, Major. Four companies of the second regiment were raised and attached to the first. Two of these companies were composed of Delaware and Osage Indians.

October 6, 1837, Col. Gentry's regiment left Columbia for the seat of war, stopping on the way at Jefferson barracks, where they were mustered into service.

Arriving at Jackson barracks, New Orleans, they were from thence transported in brigs across the Gulf to Tampa Bay, Florida. General Zachary Taylor, who then commanded in Florida, ordered Col. Gentry to march to Okee-cho-bee Lake, one hundred and thirty-five miles inland by the route traveled. Having reached the Kissemmee river, seventy miles distant, a bloody battle ensued, in which Col. Gentry was killed. The Missourians, though losing their gallant leader, continued the fight until the Indians were totally routed, leaving many of their dead and wounded on the field. There being no further service required of the Missourians, they returned to their homes in 1838.

Mexican War

Soon after Mexico declared war, against the United States, on the 8th and 9th of May, 1846, the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma were fought. Great excitement prevailed throughout the country. In none of her sister States, however, did the fires of patriotism burn more intensely than in Missouri. Not waiting for the call for volunteers, the " St. Louis Legion ** hastened to the field of conflict. The " Legion" was commanded by Colonel A. R. Easton. During the mouth of May, 1846, Governor Edwards, of Missouri,

Fort Leavenworth was the appointed rendezvous for the volunteers. By the 18th of June, the full complement of companies to compose the first regiment had arrived from Jackson, Lafayette, Clay, Saline, Franklin, Cole, Howard and Callaway counties. Of this regiment, A. W. Doniphan was made Colonel; C. F. Ruff, Lieutenant- Colonel, and Wm. Gilpin, Major. The battalion of light artillery from St. Louis was commanded by Captains R. A. Weightman and A. W. Fischer, with Major M. L. Clark as field officer ; battalions of infantry from Platte and Cole counties commanded by Captains Murphy and W. Z. Augney respectively, and the ** Laclede Rangers," from St. Louis, by Captain Thomas B. Hudson, aggregating all told, from Missouri, 1,658 men. In the summer of 1846 Hon. Sterling Price resigned his seat in Congress and raised one mounted regiment, one mounted extru battalion, and one extra battalion of Mormon infantry to reinforce the "Army of the West." Mr. Price was made Colonel, and D. D. Mitchell Lieutenant-Colonel.

In August, 1847, Governor Edwards made another requisition for one thousand men, to consist of infantry. The regiment was raised at once. John Dougherty, of Clay county, was chosen Colonel, but before the regiment marched the President countermanded the order.

A company of mounted volunteers was raised in Ralls county, commanded by Captain Wm. T. Lafland. Conspicuous among the engagements in which the Missouri volunteers participated in Mexico were the battles of Bracito, Sacramento, Canada, El Embudo, Taos and Santa Cruz de Rosales. The forces from Missouri were mustered out in 1848, and will ever be remembered in the history of the Mexican war, for

Missouri as an Agricultural State - The Different Crops - Live Stock - Horses - Mules - Milch Cows - Oxen and other Cattle - Sheep - Hogs - Comparisons - Missouri adapted to Live Stock - Cotton - Broom-Corn and other Products- Fruits- Berries - Grapes - Railroads - First Neigh of the " Iron Horse " in Missouri - Names of Railroads - Manufactures - Great Bridge at St. Louis.

Agriculture is the greatest among all the arts of man, as it is the first in supplying his necessities. It favors and strengthens population ; it creates and maintains manufactures ; gives employment to navigation and furnishes materials to commerce. It animates every species of industry, and opens to nations the safest channels of wealth. It is the strongest bond of well regulated society, the surest basis of internal peace, and the natural associate of correct morals. Among all the occupations and professions of life, there is none more honorable, none more independent, and none more conducive to health and happiness.

" In ancient times the sacred plow employ'd The kings, and awful fathers of mankind ; And some, with whom compared your insect tribes Are but the beings of a summer's day.

As an agricultural region, Missouri is not surpassed by any State in the Union. It is indeed the farmer's kingdom, where he always reaps an abundant harvest. The soil, in many portions of the State, has an open, flexible structure, quickly absorbs the most excessive rains, and retains moisture with great tenacity. This being the case, it is not so easily affected by drouth. The prairies are covered with sweet, luxuriant grass, equally good for grazing and hay ; grass not surpassed by the Kentucky blue grass - the best of clover and timothy in growing and fattening cattle. This grass is now as full of life-giving nutriment as it was when cropped by the buffalo, the elk, the antelope, and the deer, and costs the herdsman nothing.

No State or territory has a more complete and rapid system of natural drainage, or a more abundant supply of pure, fresh water than Missouri. Both man and beast may slake their thirst from a thousand perennial fountains, which gush in limpid streams from the hill-sides, and wend their way through verdant valleys and along smiling prairies, varyino- in size, as they onward flow, from the diminutive brooklet to the giant river.

Here, nature has generously bestowed her attractions of climate, soil and scenery to please and gratify man while earning his bread in the sweat of his brow. Being thus munificently endowed, Missouri offers superior inducements to the farmer, and bids him enter her broad domain and avail himself of her varied resources.

Next in importance to the corn crop in value is live stock. The following table shows the number of horses, mules, and milch cows in the different States for 1879 ;-^

It will be seen from the above table, that Missouri is the Jiffh State in the number of horses ; Jifth in number of milch cows, and the leading State in number of mules, having 11,700 more than Texas, which produces the next largest number. Of oxen and other cattle, Missouri produced in 1879, 1,632,000, which was more than any other State produced excepting Texas, which had 4,800,00. In 1879 Missouri raised 2,817,600 hogs, which was more than any other State produced, excepting Iowa. The number of sheep was 1,296,400. The number of hogs packed in 1879, by the different States, is as follows : -

Average Weight Per Head For Each State

From the above it will be seen that Missouri annually packs more hogs than any other State excepting Illinois, and that she ranks third in the average weight.

We see no reason why Missouri should not be the foremost stockraising State of the Union. In addition to the enormous yield of corn and oats upon which the stock is largely dependent, the climate is well adapted to their growth and health. Water is not only inexhaustible, but everywhere convenient. The ranges of stock are boundless, affording for nine months of the year, excellent pasturage of nutritious wild grasses, which grow in great luxuriance upon the thousand prairies.

Cotton is grown successfully in many counties of the southeastern portions of the State, especially in Stoddard, Scott, Pemiscot, Butler, New Madrid, Lawrence and Mississippi.

Broom corn, sorghum, castor beans, white beans, peas, hops, thrive well, and all kinds of garden vegetables, are produced in great abundance and are found in the markets during all seasons of the year. Fruits of every variety, including the apple, pear, peach, cherries, apricots and nectarines, are cultivated with great success, as are also, the strawberry, gooseberry, currant, raspberry and blackberry.

The grape has not been produced with that success that was at first anticipated, yet the yield of wine for the year 1879, was nearly half a million gallons. Grapes do well in Kansas, and we see no reason why they should not be as surely and profitably grown in a similar climate and soil in Missouri, and particularly in many of the counties north and east of the Missouri Kiver."

Twenty-nine years ago, the neigh of the " iron horse '* was heard for the first time, within the broad domain of Missouri. His coming presaged the dawn of a brighter and grander era in the history of the

State. Her fertile prairies, and more prolific valleys would soon bo of easy access to the oncoming tide of immigration, and the ores and minerals of her hills and mountains would be developed, and utilized in her manufacturing and industrial enterprises.

Additional facilities would be opened to the marts of trade and commerce ; transportation from the interior of the State would be secured ; a fresh impetus would be given to the growth of her towns and cities, and new hopes and inspirations would be imparted to all her people.

Since 1852, the initial period of railroad building in Missouri, between four and five thousand miles of track have been laid ; additional roads are now being constructed, and many others in contemplation. The State is already well supplied with railroads which thread her surface in all directions, bringing her remotest districts into close connection with St. Louis, that great center of western railroads and inland commerce. These roads have a capital stock aggregating more than one hundred millions of dollars, and a funded debt of about the same amount.

Missouri Pacific - chartered May 10th, 1850; The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Eailroad, which is a consolidation of the Arkansas Branch ; The Cairo, Arkansas & Texas Railroad ; The Cairo & Fulton Eailroad ; The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway ; St. Louis & San Francisco Railway ; The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad ; The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad ; The Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad ; The Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Blufis Railroad ; The Keokuk & Kansas City Railway Company ; The St. Louis, Salem & Little Rock Railroad Company ; The Missouri & Western ; The St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad ; The St. Louis, Hannibal & Keokuk Railroad ; The Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska Railway ; The Quincy, Missouri & Pacific Railroad ; The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway; The Burlington & Southwestern Railroad.

The natural resources of Missouri especially fit her for a great manufacturing State. She is rich in soil ; rich in all the elements which supply the furnace, the machine shop and the planing mill ; rich in the multitude and variety of her gigantic forests ; rich in her marble, stone and granite quarries ; rich in her mines of iron, coal, lead and zinc ; rich in strong arms and willing hands to apply the force ; rich m water power and river navigation ; and rich in her numerous and well-built railroads, whose numberless engines thunder along their multiplied track- ways.

Missouri contains over fourteen thousand manufacturing establishments, 1,965 of which are using steam and give employment to 80,000 hands. The capital employed is about $100,000,000, the material annually used and worked up, amounts to over $150,000,- 000, and the value of the products put upon the markets $250,000,000, while the wages paid are more than $40,000,000.

The leadino" naanufacturing counties of the State, are St. Louis, Jackson, Buchanan, St. Charles, Marion, Franklin, Greene, Lafayette, Platte, Cape Girardeau, and Boone. Three-fourths, however, of the manufacturing is done in St. Louis, which is now about the second manufacturing city in the Union. Flouring mills produce annually about $38,194,000 ; carpentering $18,763,000 ; meat-packing $16,- 769,000 ; tobacco $12,496,000 ; iron and castings $12,000,000 ;-liquor3 $11,^45,000; clothing $10,022,000; lumber $8,652,000; bagging and bags $6,914,000, and many other smaller industries iu proportion.

Reat Bridge At St. Louis

Of the many public improvements which do honor to the State and reflect great credit upon the geniiis of their projectors, we have space only, to mention the great bridge at St. Louis.

This truly wonderful construction is built of tubular steel, total leno"th of which, with its approaches, is 6,277 feet, at a cost of nearly $8,000,000. The bridge spans the Mississippi from the Illinois to the Missouri shore, and has separate railroad tracks, roadways, and foot paths. In durability, architectural beauty and practical utility, there is, perhaps, no similar piece of workmanship that approximates it.

The structure of Darius upon the Bosphorus ; of Xerxes upon the Hellespont ; of Csesar upon the Rhine ; and Trajan upon the Danube, famous in ancient history, were built for military purposes, that over them might pass invading armies with their munitions of war, to destroy commerce, to lay in waste the provinces, and to slaughter the people.

But the erection of this was for a higher and nobler purpose. Over it are coming the trade and merchandise of the opulent East, and thence are passing the untold riches of the West. Over it are crowd- ing legions of men, armed not with the weapons of war, but with the implements of peace and industry ; men who are skilled in all the arts of agriculture, of manufacture and of mining; men who will hasten the day when St. Louis shall rank in population and importance, second to no city on the continent, and when Missouri shall proudly fill the measure of greatness, to which she is naturally so justly entitled.

Education

Public School System - Public School System of Missouri - Lincoln Institute - Officers of Public School System - Certificates of Teachers - University of Missouri - Schools - Colleges - Institutions of Learning - Location - Libraries - Newspapers and Periodicals - No, of School Children - Amount expended - Value ol Grounds and Buildings - " The Press."

The first constitution of Missouri provided that **one school or more shall be established in each township, as soon as practicable and necessary, where the poor shall be taught gratis."

It will be seen that even at that early day (1820) the framers of the constitution made provision for at least a primary education for the poorest and the humblest, taking it for granted that those who were able would avail themselves of educational advantages which were not gratuitous.

The establishment of the public-school system, in its essential features, was not perfected until 1839, during the administration of Governor Boggs, and since that period the system has slowly grown into f\ivor, not only in Missouri, but throughout the United States. The idea of a free or public school for all classes was not at first a popular one, especially among those who had the means to patronize private institutions of learning. In upholding and maintaining public schools the opponents of the system felt that they were not only compromising their own standing among their more wealthy neighbors, but that they were, to some extent, bringing opprobrium upon their children. Entertaining such prejudices, they naturally thought that the training received at public schools could not be otherwise than defective ; hence many years of probation passed before the popular mind was prepared

Every year only adds to their popularity, and commends them the more earnestly to the fostering care of our State and National Legislatures, and to the esteem and favor of all classes of our people.

We can hardly conceive of two grander or more potent promoters of civilization than the free school and free press. They would indeed seem to constitute all that was necessary to the attainment of the happiness and intellectual growth of the Republic, and all that was necessary to broaden, to liberalize and instruct.

For noble youth there is nothing so meet As learning is, to know the good from ill; To know the tongues, and perfectly indite, And of the laws to have a perfect skill, Things to reform as right and justice will; For honor is ordained for no cause But to see right maintained by the laws."

All the States of the Union have in practical operation the publicschool system, governed in the main by similar laws, and not differing materially in the manner and methods by which they are taught ; but none have a wiser, a more liberal and comprehensive machinery of instruction than Missouri. Her school laws, since 1839, have undergone many changes, and always for the better, keeping pace with the most enlightened and advanced theories of the most experienced educators in the land. But not until 1875, when the new constitution was adopted, did her present admirable system of public instruction go into effect.

Provisions were made not only for white, but for children of African descent, and are a part of the organic law, not subject to the caprices of unfriendly legislatures, or the whims of political parties. The Lincoln Institute, located at Jefferson City, for the education of colored teachers, receives an annual appropriation from the General Assembly.

For the support of the public schools, in addition to the annual income derived from the public school fund, which is set apart by law, not less than twenty-five per cent, of the State revenue, exclusive of the interest and sinking fund, is annually applied to this purpose.

ers, County Clerk and Treasurer, Board of Directors, City and Town School Board, and Teacher. The State Board of Education is composed of the State Superintendent, the Governor, Secretary of State, and the Attorney-General, the executive officer of this Board being the State Superintendent, who is chosen by the people every four years. His duties are numerous. He renders decisions concerning the local applix3ation of school law ; keeps a record of the school funds and annually distributes the same to the counties ; supervises the work of county school officers ; delivers lectures ; visits schools ; distributes educational information ; grants certificates of higher qualifications, and makes an annual report to the General Assembly of the condition of the schools.

The County Commissioners are also elected by the people for two 3'^ears. Their work is to examine teachers, to distribute blanks, and make reports. County clerks receive estimates from the local directors and extend them upon the tax-books. In addition to this, they keep the general records of the county and township school funds, and return an annual report of the financial condition of the schools of their county to the State Superintendent. School taxes are gathered with other taxes by the county collector. The custodian of the school funds belono-ing to the schools of the counties is the county treasurer, except in counties adopting the township organization, in which case the township trustee discharges these duties.

Districts organized under the special law for cities and towns are governed by a board of six directors, two of whom are selected annually, on the second Saturday in September, and hold their office for three years.

One director is elected to serve for three years in each school district, at the annual meeting. These directors may levy a tax not exceeding forty cents on the one hundred dollars' valuation, provided such annual rates for school purposes may be increased in districts formed of cities and towns, to an amount not exceeding one dollar on the hundred dollars' valuation, and in other districts to an amount not to exceed sixty-five cents on the one hundred dollars' valuation, on the condition that a majority of the voters who are tax-payers, voting at an election held to decide the question, vote for said inerease. For the purpose of erecting public buildings in school districts, the rates of taxation thus limited may be increased when the rate of such increase and the purpose for which it is intended shall have been submitted to a vote of the people, and two-thirds of the

Local directors may direct the management of the school in respect to the choice of teachers and other details, but in the discharsre of all important business, such as the erection of a school house or the extension of a term of school beyond the constitutional period, they simply execute the will of the people. The clerk of this board may be a director. He keeps a record of the names of all the children and youth in the district between the ages of five and twenty-one ; records all business proceedings of the district, and reports to the annual meeting, to the County Clerk and County Commissioners.

Teachers must hold a certificate from the State Superintendent or County Commissioner of the county where they teach. State certificates are granted upon personal written examination in the common branches, together with the natural sciences and higher mathematics. The holder of such certificate may teach in any public school of the State without further examination. Certificates granted by County Commissioners are of two classes, with two grades in each class. Those issued for a longer term than one year, belong to the first class and are susceptible of two grades, ditfering both as to length of time and attainments. Those issued for one year may represent two grades, marked by qualification alone. The township school fund arises from a grant of land by the General Government, consisting of section sixteen in each congressional township. The annual income of the township fund is appropriated to the various townships, according to their respective proprietary claims. The support from the permanent funds is supplemented by direct taxation laid upon the taxable property of each district. The greatest limit of taxation for the current expenses is one per cent ; the tax permitted for school house building cannot exceed the same amount.

Among the institutions of learning and ranking, perhaps, the first in importance, is the State University located at Columbia, Boone County. When the State was admitted into the Union, Conoresa granted to it one entire township of land (46,080 acres) for the support of "A Seminary of Learning." The lands secured for this purpose are among the best and most valuable in the State. These lands were put into the market in 1832 and brought $75,000, which amount was invested in the stock of the old bank of the State of Missouri, where it remained and increased by accumulation to the sum of 4100,000. In 1839, by an act of the General A^sserably, five commis- sioners were appointed to select a site for the State University, the site to contain at least fifty acres of land in a compact form, within two miles of the county seat of Cole, Cooper, Howard, Boone, Callaway or Saline. Bids were let among the counties named, and the county of Boone having subscribed the sum of $117,921, some $18,000 more than any other county, the State University was located in that county, and on the 4th of July, 1840, the corner-stone was laid with imposing ceremonies.

The present annual income of the University is nearly $65,000. The donations to the institutions connected therewith amount to nearly $400,000. This University with its different departments, is open to both male and female, and both sexes enjoy alike its rights and privileges. Among the professional schools, which form a part of the University, are the Normal, or College of Instruction in Teaching ; Agricultural and Mechanical College ; the School of Mines and Metallurgy ; the College of Law ; the Medical College ; and the Department of Analytical and Applied Chemistry. Other departments are contemplated and will be added as necessity requires.

The following will show the names and locations of the schools and institutions of the State, as reported by the Commissioner of Education in 1875: -

Number Op Teachers

The fact that Missouri supports and maintains four hundred and seventy-one newspapers and periodicals, shows that her inhabitants are not only a reading and reflecting people, but that they appreciate -' The Press," and its wonderful influence as an educator. The poet has well said : -

But mightiest of the mighty means, On which the arm of progress leans, Man's noblest mission to advance, His TFoes assuage, his vpeal enhance. His rights enforce, his wrongs redress - Mightiest of mighty '^ the Presa.

Chapter Xil Religious Denominations. '

The first representatives of religious thought and training, who penetrated the Missouri and Mississippi Valleys, were Pere Marquette, La Salle, and others of Catholic persuasion, who performed missionary

In the course of time, the seeds of Protestantism were scattered along the shores of the two great rivers which form the eastern and western boundaries of the State, and still a little later they were sown upon her hill-sides and broad prairies, where they have since bloomed and blossomed as the rose.

Baptist Church

The earliest anti-Catholic religious denomination, of which there is any record, was organized in Cape Girardeau county in 1806, through the efforts of Rev. David Green, a Baptist, and a native of Virginia. In 1816, the first association of Missouri Baptists was formed, which was composed of seven churches, all of which were located in the southeastern part of the State. In 1817 a second association of churches was formed, called the Missouri Association, the name being afterwards changed to St. Louis Association. In 1834 a general convention of all the churches of this denomination, was held in Howard county, for the purpose of effecting a central organization, at which time was commenced what is now known as the General Association of Missouri Baptists.**

To this body is committed the State mission work, denominational education, foreign missions and the circulation of religious literature. The Baptist Church has under its control a number of schools and colleges, the most important of which is William Jewell College, located at Liberty, Clay county. As shown by the annual report for 1875, there were in Missouri, at that date, sixty-one associations, one thousand four hundred churches, eight hundred and twenty-four ministers and eighty-nine thousand six hundred and fifty church members.

Congregational Church

The Congregationalists inaugurated their missionary labors in the State in 1814. Rev. Samuel J. Mills, of Torringford, Connecticut, and Rev. Daniel Smith, of Bennington, Vermont, were sent west by the Massachusetts Congregational Home Missionary Society during that year, and in November, 1814, they preached the first regular Protestant sermons in St. Louis. Rev. Samuel Giddings, sent out under the auspices of the Connecticut Congregational Missionary Society, organized the first Protestant church in the city, cousistinoof ten members, constituted Presbyterian. The churches organized by Mr. Giddings were all Presbyterian in their order.

No exclusively Congregational Church was founded until 1852, when the "First Trinitarian Congregational Church of St. Louis" was organized. The next church of this denomination was organized at Hannibal in 1859. Then followed a Welsh church in New Cambria in 1864, and after the close of the war, fifteen churches of the same order were formed in difierent parts of the State. In 1866, Pilgrim Church, St. Louis, was organized. The General Conference of Churches of Missouri was formed in 1865, which was changed in 1868, to General Association. In 1866, Hannibal, Kidder, and St. Louis District Associations were formed, and following these were the Kansas City and Springfield District Associations. This denomination in 1875, had 70 churches, 41 ministers, 3,363 church members, and had also several schools and colleges and one monthly newspaper.

Christian Church

The earliest churches of this denomination were organized in Callaway, Boone and Howard Counties, some time previously to 1829. The first church was formed in St. Louis in 1836 by Elder R. B. Fife. The first State Sunday School Convention of the Christian Church, was held in Mexico in 1876. Besides a number of private institutions, this denomination has three State Institutions, all of which have an able corps of professors and have a good attendance of pupils. It has one religious paper published in St. Louis, '* The GhriS' tiaUf** which is a weekly publication and well patronized. The membership of this church now numbers nearly one hundred thousand in the State and is increasing rapidly. It has more than five hundred organized churches, the greater portion of which are north of the Missouri River.

Cumberland Presbyterian Church

In the spring of 1820, the first Presbytery of this denomination west of the Mississippi, was organized in Pike County. This Presbytery included all the territory of Missouri, western Illinois and Arkansas and numbered only four ministers, two of whom resided at that time in Missouri. There are now in the State, twelve Presbyteries, three Synods, nearly three hundred ministers and over twenty thousand members. The Board of Missions is located at St. Louis. They have a number of High Schools and two monthly papers published at St. Louis.

Methodist Episcopal Church

In 1806, Rev. John Travis, a young Methodist minister, was sent out to the " Western Conference," which then embraced the Mississippi Valley, from Green County, Tennessee. During that year Mr. Travis organized a number of small churches. At the close of his conference year, he reported the result of his labors to the Western Conference, which was held at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1870, and showed an aggregate of one hundred and six members and two circuits, one called Missouri and the other Meramec. In 1808, two circuits had been formed, and at each succeeding year the number of circuits and members constantly increased, until 1812, when what was called the Western Conference was divided into the Ohio and Tennessee Conferences, Missouri falling into the Tennessee Conference. In 1816, there was another division when the Missouri Annual Conference was formed. In 1810, there were four traveling preachers and in 1820, fifteen travelling preachers, with over 2,000 members. In 1836, the territory of the Missouri Conference was again divided when the Missouri Conference included only the State. In 1840 there were 72 traveling preachers, 177 local ministers and 13,992 church members. Between 1840 and 1850, the church was divided by the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1850, the membership of the M. E. Church was over 25,000, and during the succeeding ten years the church prospered rapidly. In 1875, the M. E. Church reported 274 church edifices and 34,156 members ; the M. E. Church South, reported 443 church edifices and 49,588 members. This denomination has under its control several schools and colleges and two weekly newspapers.

Presbyterian Church

The Presbyterian Church dates the beginning of its missionary efibrts in the State as far back as 1814, but the first Presbyterian Church was not organized until 1816 at Bellevue settlement, eight miles from St. Louis. The next churches were formed in 1816 and 1817 at Bonhomme, Pike County. The First Presbyterian Church was organized in St. Louis in 1817, bv Rev. Salmon Gidding. The first Presbytery was organized in 1817 by the Synod of Tennessee with four ministers and four churches. The first Presbyterian house of worship (which was the first Protestant) was commenced in 1819 and completed in 1826. In 1820 a mission was formed among the Osage Indians. In 1831, the Presbytery was divided into three: Missouri, St. Louis, and St. Charles. These were erected with a Synod comprising eighteen ministers and twenty-three churches.

The church was divided in 1838, throughout the United States. In 1860 the rolls of the Old and New School Synod together showed 109 ministers and 146 churches. In 1866 the Old School Synod was divided on political questions springing out of the war - a part forming the Old School, or Independent Synod of Missouri, who are connected with the General Assembly South. In 1870, the Old and New School Presbyterians united, since which time this Synod has steadily increased until it now numbers more than 12,000 members with more than 220 churches and 150 ministers.

This Synod is composed of six Presbyteries and has under its control one or two institutions of learning and one or two newspapers. That part of the original Synod which withdrew from the General Assembly remained an independent body until 1874 when it united with the Southern Presbyterian Church. The Synod in 1875 numbered 80 ministers, 140 churches and 9,000 members. It has under its control several male and female institutions of a high order. The St. Louis Preshyteriani a weekly paper, is the recognized organ of the Synod.

Protestant Episcopal Church

The missionary enterprises of this church began in the State in 1819, when a parish was organized in the City of St. Louis. In 1828, an agent of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, visited the city, who reported the condition of things so favorably that Rev. Thomas Horrell was sent out as a missionary and in 1825, he began his labors in St. Louis. A church edifice was completed in 1830. In 1836, there were five clergymen of this denomination in Missouri, who had organized congregations in Boonville, Fayette, St. Charles, Hannibal, and other places. In 1840, the clergy and laity met in convention, a diocese was formed, a constitution, and canons adopted, and in 1844 a Bishop was chosen, he being the Rev. Cicero S. Hawks. Through the efforts of Bishop Kemper, Kemper College was founded near St. Louis, but was afterward given up on account of pecuniary troubles. In 1847, the Clark Mission began and in 1849 the Orphans' Home, a charitable institution, was founded. In 1865, St. Luke's Hospital was established. In 1875, there were in the city of St. Louis, twelve parishes and missions and twelve clergymen. This deuomnation has several schools and colleges, and one newspaper.

United Presbyterian Church

This denomination is made up of the members of the Associate and Associate Keformed churches of the Northern States, which two bodies united in 1858, taking the name of the United Presbyterian Church of North America. Its members were generally bitterly opposed to the institution of slavery. The first congregation was organized at Warrensburg, Johnson County, in 1867. It rapidly increased in numbers, and had, in 1875, ten ministers and five hundred members.

Unitarian Church

This churcn was formed in 1834, by the Rev. W. G. Eliot, in St. Louis. The churches are few in number throughout the State, the membership being probably less than 300, all told. It has a mission house and free school, for poor children, supported by donations.

Roman Catholic Church

The earliest written record of the Catholic Church in Missouri shows that Father Watrin performed ministerial services in Ste. Genevieve, in 1760, and in St. Louis in 1766. In 1770, Father Menrin erected a small log church in St. Louis. In 1818, there were in the State four chapels, and for Upper Louisiana seven priests. A college and seminary were opened in Perry County about this period, for the education of the young, being the first college west of the Mississippi River. In 1824, a college was opened in St. Louis, which is now known as the St. Louis University. In 1826, Father Rosatti was appointed Bishop of St. Louis, and through his instrumentality the Sisters of Charity, Sisters of St. Joseph and of the Visitation were founded, besides other benevolent and charitable institutions. In 1834 he completed the present Cathedral Church. Churches were built in difi'erent portions of the State. In 1847 St. Louis was created an arch-diocese, with Bishop Kenrick, Archbishop.

In Kansas City there were five parish churches, a hospital, a convent and several parish schools. In 1868 the northwestern portion of the State was erected into a separate diocese, with its seat at St. Joseph, and Right-Reverend John J. Hogan appointed Bishop. There were, in 1875, in the city of St. Louis, 34 churches, 27 schools, 5 hospitals, 3 colleges, 7 orphan asylums and 3 female protectorates. There were also 105 priests, 7 male and 13 female orders, and 20 conferences of St. Vincent de Paul, numbering 1,100 members. In the diocese, outside of St. Louis, there is a college, a male protectorate, 9 convents, about 120 priests, 150 churches and 30 stations. In the diocese of St. Joseph there were, in 1875, 21 priests, 29 churches, 24 stations, 1 college, 1 monastery, 5 convents and 14 parish schools :

Theological Schools Administration Of Governor Crittenden

Nomination and election of Thomas T. Crittenden - Personal Mention - Marmaduke*8 candidacy - Stirring events - Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad - Death of Jesse James - The Fords - Pardon of the Gamblers.

It is the purpose in this chapter to outline the more important events of Governor Crittenden's unfinished administration, stating briefly the facts in the case, leaving comment and criticism entirely to the reader, the historian having no judgment to express or prejudice to vent. - son City, July 22d, 1880. Democratic nomination for a State office in Missouri is always equivalent to election, and the entire State ticket was duly elected in November. Crittenden's competitors before the convention were Gen. John S. Marmaduke, of St. Louis, and John A. Hockaday, of Callaway county. Before the assembling of the convention many persons who favored Marmaduke, both personally and politically, thought the nomination of an ex-Confederate might prejudice the prospects of the National Democracy, and therefore, as a matter of policy, supported Crittenden.

His name, and the fame of his family in Kentucky - Thomas T. being a scion of the Crittendens of that State, caused the Democracy of Missouri to expect great things from their new Governor. This, together with the important events which followed his inauguration, caused some people to overrate him, while it prejudiced others against him. The measures advocated by the Governor in his inaugural address were such as, perhaps, the entire Democracy could endorse, especially that of refunding, at a low interest, all that part of the State debt that can be so refunded ; the adoption of measures to relieve the Supreme Court docket ; a compromise of the indebtedness of some of the counties, and his views concerning repudiation, which he contemned.

Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad Controversy

By a series of legislative acts, beginning with the act approved February 22, 1851, and ending with that of March 26, 1881, the State of Missouri aided with great liberality in the construction of a system of railroads in this State.

Among the enterjDrises thus largely assisted was the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, for the construction of which the bonds of the State, to the amount of $3,000,000, bearing interest at 6 per cent per annum, payable semi-annually, were issued. One half of this amount was issued under the act of 1851, and the remainder under the act of 1855. The bonds issued under the former act were to run twenty years, and those under the latter act were to run thirty years. Some of the bonds have since been funded and renewed. Coupons for the interest of the entire $3,000,000 were executed and made payable in New York. These acts contain numerous provisions intended to secure the State against loss and to require the railroad company to pay the interest and principal at maturity. It was made the duty of the railroad company to save and keep the State from all loss on account of said bonds and coupons. The Treasurer of the State was to be exonerated from any advance of money to meet either principal or interest. The State contracted with the railroad company for complete indemnity. She was required to assign her statutory morto-ao-e lien only upon payment into the treasury of a sum of money equal to all indebtedness due or owing by said company to the State by reason of having issued her bonds and loaned them to the company.

In June, 1881, the railroad, through its attorney, Geo. W. Easley, Esq., paid to Phil. E. Chappell, State Treasurer, the sum of $3,000,- 000, and asked for a receipt in full of all dues of the road to the State. The Treasurer refused to give such a receipt, but instead gave a receipt for the sum " on account." The debt was not yet due, but the authorities of the road sought to discharge their obligation prematurely, in order to save interest and other expenses. The railroad company then demanded its bonds of the State, which demand the State refused. The company then demanded that the $3,000,000 be paid back, and this demand was also refused.

The railroad company then brought suit in the United States Court for an equitable adjustment of the matters in controversy. The $3, 000,000 had been deposited by the State in one of the banks, and was drawing interest only at the rate of one-fourth of one per cent. It was demanded that this sum should be so invested that a larger rate of interest might be obtained, which sum of interest should be allowed to the company as a credit in case any sum should be found due from it to the State. Justice Miller, of the United States Supreme Court, who heard the case upon preliminary injunction in the spring of 1882, decided that the unpaid and unmatured coupons constituted a liability of the State and a debt owing, though not due, and until these were provided for the State was not bound to assign her lien upon the road.

Another question which was mooted, but not decided, was this: That, if any, what account is the State to render for the use of the $3,000,000 paid into the treasury by the complainants on the 20th of June? Can she hold that large sum of money, refusing to make any account of it, and still insist upon full payment by the railroad company of all outstandhig coupons ? ^

Upon this subject Mr. Justice Miller, in the course of his opinion, said : '* I am of the opinion that the State, having accepted or got this money into her possession, is under a moral obligation (and I do not pretend to commit anybody as to how far its legal obligation goes) to so use that money as, so far as possible, to protect the parties who have paid it against the loss of the interest which it might accumulate,

March 26, 1881, the Legislature, in response to a special message of Gov. Crittenden, dated February 25, 1881, in which he informed the Legislature of the purpose of the Hannibal and St. Joseph company to discharge the full amount of what it claims is its present indebtedness as to the State, and advised that provision be made for the '* profitable disposal" of the sum when paid, passed an act, the second section of which provided.

** Sec. 2. Whenever there is sufficient money in the sinking fund to redeem or purchase one or more of the bonds of the State of Missouri, such sum is hereby appropriated for such purpose, and the Fund Commissioners shall immediately call in for payment a like amount of the option bonds of the State, known as the " 5-20 bonds," provided, that if there are no option bonds which can be called in for payment, they may invest such money in the purchase of any of the bonds of the State, or bonds of the United States, the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad bonds excepted."

On the 1st of January, 1882, the regular semi-annual payment of interest on the railroad bonds became due, but the road refused to pay, claiming that it had already discharged the principal, and of course was not liable for the interest. Thereupon, according to the provisions of the aiding act of 1855, Gov. Crittenden advertised the road for sale in default of the payment of interest. The company then brought suit before U. S. Circuit Judge McCrary at Keokuk, Iowa, to enjoin the State from selling the road, and for such other and further relief as the court might see fit and proper to grant. August 8, 1882, Judge McCrary delivered his opinion and judgment, as follows :

*i First. That the payment by complainants into the treasury of the State of the sum of $3,000,000 on the 26th of June, 1881, did not satisfy the claim of the State in full, nor entitle complainants to an assignment of the State's statutory mortgage.

That the State was bound to invest the principal sum of $3,000,000 so paid by the complainants without unnecessary delay in the securities named in the act of March 26, 1881, or some of them, and so as to save to the State as large a sum as possible, which sum so saved would have constituted as between the State and complainants a credit pro tanto upon the unmatured coupons now in controversy.

**Third. That the rights and equity of the parties are to be determined upon the foregoing principles, and the State must stand charged with what would have been realized if the act of March, 1881, had been complied with. It only remains to consider what the rights of the parties are upon the principles here stated.

<' In order to save the State from loss on account of the default of the railroad company, a further sum must be paid. In order to determine what that further sum is an accounting must be had. The question to be settled by the accounting is, how much would the State have lost if the provisions of the act of March, 1881, had been complied with ? » * - I think a perfectly fair basis of settlement would be to hold the State liable for whatever could have been saved by the prompt execution of said act by taking up such 5-20 option bonds of the State as were subject to call when the money was paid to the State, and investing the remainder of the fund in the bonds of the United States at the market rates.

** Upon this basis a calculation can be made and the exact sum still to be paid by the complainant in order to fully indemnify and protect the State can be ascertained. For the purpose of stating an account upon this basis and of determining the sum to be paid by the complainants to the State, the cause will be referred to John K. Cravens, one of the masters of this court. In determining the time when the investment should have been made under the act of March, 1881, the master will allow a reasonable period for the time of the receipt of the said sum of $3,000,000 by the Treasurer of the State - that is to say, such time as would have been required for that purpose had the officers charged with the duty of making said investment used reasonable diligence in its discharge.

The Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad is advertised for sale for the amount of the instalment of interest due January 1, 1882, which instalment amouiits to less than the sum which the company must pay in order to discharge its liabilities to the State upon the theory of this opinion. The order will, therefore, be that an injunction be granted to enjoin the sale of the road upon the payment of the said instalment of interest due January 1, 1882, and if such payment is made the master will take it into account in making the computation above mentioned."

Killing Of Jesse James

it abroad, causing the European press to teem with leaders announcing the fact to the continental world, was the '* removal" of the famous Missouri brigand, Jesse W. James. The career of the James boys, and the banditti of whom they were the acknowledged leaders, is too well-known and too fully set forth in works of a more sensational character, to deserve further detail in these pages ; and the removal " of Jesse will be dealt with only in its relation to the Governor.

It had been long conceded that neither of the Jameses would ever be taken alive. That experiment had been frequently and vainly tried, to the sorrow of good citizens of this and other States. It seems to have been one of the purposes of Gov. Crittenden to break up this band at any cost, by cutting off its leaders. Soon after the Winston train robbery, on July 15, 1881, the railroads combined in empowering the Governor, by placing the money at his disposal, to offer heavy rewards for the capture of the two James brothers. This was accordingly done by proclamation, and, naturally, many persons were on the lookout to secure the large rewards. Gov. Crittenden worthed quietly, but determinedly, after offering the rewards, and by some means learned of the availability of the two Ford boys, young men from Eay county, who had been tutored as juvenile robbers by the skillful Jesse. An understanding was had, when the Fords declared they could find Jesse - that they were to "turn him in." Robert Ford and brother seem to have been thoroughly in the confidence of James, who then (startling as it was to the entire State) resided in the city of St. Joseph, with his wife and two children 1 The Fords went there, and when the robber's back was turned, Eobert shot him dead in the hack of the head! The Fords told their story to the authorities of the city, who at once arrested them on a charge of murder, and they, when arraigned, plead guilty to the charge. Promptly, however, came a full, free and unconditional pardon from Gov. Crittenden, and the Fords were released. In regard to the Governor's course in ridding the State of this notoripus outlaw, people were divided in sentiment, some placing him in the category with the Ford boys and bitterly condemning his action, while others - the majority of law-abiding people, indeed, - though deprecating the harsh measures which James' course had rendered necessary, still upheld th Governor for the part he played. As it was, the "Terror of Missouri " was effectually and finally *« removed," and people were glad that he was dead. Robert Ford, the pupil of the dead Jesse, had

Histoet Op Missouri

The killing of James would never have made Crittenden many enemies among the better class of citizens of this State ; but, when it came to his

Pardon Of The Gamblers

The case was different. Under the new law making gaminghousekeeping a felony, several St. Louis gamblers, with Robert C. Pate at their head, were convicted and sentenced to prison. The Governor, much to the surprise of the more rigid moral element of the State, soon granted the gamblers a pardon. This was followed by other pardons to similar offenders, which began to render the Governor quite unpopular which one element of citizens, and to call forth from some of them the most bitter denunciations. The worst feature of the case, perhaps, is the lack of explanation, or the setting forth of sufficient reasons, as is customary in issuing pardons, This, at least, is the burden of complaint with the faction that opposes him. However, it must be borne in mind that his terra of office, at this writing, is but half expired, and that a full record can not, therefore, be given. Like all mere men. Gov. Crittenden has his good and his bad, is liked by some and disliked by others. The purpose of history is to set forth the facts and leave others to sit in judgment; this the historian has tried faithfully to do, leaving all comments to those who may see fit to make them.

History

Introductory - What Time has Done - Importauce of Early Beginnings - First Settlements made in the Timber - Parts of the County first Settled - Names of Pioneers - Postal and Mill Facilities - County Organized and Named - The Name - James Monroe.

Introductory

History " is but a record of the life and career of peoples and nations. " The historian, in rescuing from oblivion the life of a nation, or a particular people, should " nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice. " Myths, however beautiful, are but fanciful ; traditions, however pleasing, are uncertain ; and legends, though the very essence of poesy and song, are unauthentic. The novelist will take the most fragile thread of romance, and from it weave a fabric of surpassing beauty. But the historian should put his feet on the solid rock of truth, and turning a deaf ear to the allurements of fancy, he should sift with careful scrutiny the evidence brought before him, from which he is to give the record of what has been. Standing down the stream of time, far removed from its source, he must retrace with patience and care, its meanderings, guided by the relics of the past which lie upon its shores, growing fainter, and still more faint and uncertain as he nears its fountain, ofttimes concealed in the debris of ages, and the mists of impenetrable darkness. Written records grow less and less explicit, and finallv fail altogether, as he approaches

Memory, wonderful as are its powers, is yet frequently at fault, and only by a comparison of its many aggregations can he be satisfied that he is pursuing stable-footed truth in his researches amid the early paths of his subject. It can not then be unimportant or uninteresting to trace the progress of Monroe county from its embryotic period to its present proud position among its sister counties. To this end, therefore, we have endeavored to gather the scattered and loosening threads of the past into a compact web of the present, trusting that the harmony and perfectness of the work may speak with no uncertain sound to the future.

What Time Has Done

Fifty-three years have passed since Monroe county was organized. Most wonderful have been the changes, and mighty have been the events and revolutions, the discoveries and inventions, that have occurred within this time.

Perhaps since " God formed the earth and the world, " and tossed them from the hollow of his hand into space, so many great things have not been accomplished in any fifty-three years. Reflection can not fail to arouse wonder, and awaken thankfulness, that God has appointed us the place we occupy in the eternal chain ©f events. Tennyson and Browning, Bryant and Whittier, Lowell and Longfellow have sung. The matchless Webster, the ornate Sumner, the eloquent Clay, the metaphysical Calhoun and Seward have since reached the culmination of their powers and passed into the grave. Macauley, Theirs, Gizot and Fronde have written in noble strains the history of their lands ; and Bancroft and Prescott and Hildreth and Motley have won high rank among the historians of the earth. Spurgeon and Beecher and Moody have enforced, with most persuasive eloquence, the duties of morality and religion. Carlyle and Emerson, Stuart Mill and Spencer have given the results of their speculations in high philosophy to the world. Mexico has been conquered ; Alaska has been purchased ; the center of population has traveled more than 250 miles along the thirty-ninth parallel, and a majority of the States composing the American Union have been added to the glorious constellation on the blue field of our flag. Great cities have been founded and populous countries developed ; and the stream of emigration is still tending westward. Gold has been discovered in the far West, and the great Civil War - the bloodiest in all the annals of time - has been fought. The telegraph, the telephone and railroad have been added to the list of the most important inventions. In fact, durin^'' this time, our country has increased in population from a few millions of people to fifty millions. From a weak, obscure nation it has become strong in all the elements of power and influence, and is to-day the most marvelous country for its age that ever existed.

Importance Of Early Beginnings

Every nation does not possess an authentic account of its orio-in. Neither do all communities have the correct data whereby it is possible to accuratelv predicate the condition of their first beo-innino-s. Nevertheless, to be intensely interested in such things is characteristic of the race, and it is particularly the province of the historian to deal with first causes. Should these facts be lost in the mythical traditions of the past, as is often the case, the chronicler invades the realm of the ideal and compels his imagination to paint the missing picture. The patriotic Roman was not content until he had found the " first settlers," and then he was satisfied, although they were found in the very undesirable company of a wolf, and located on a drift, which the receding waters of the Tiber had permitted them to preempt.

One of the advantages pertaining to a residence in a new country, and one seldom appreciated, is the fact that we can go back to the first beginning. We are thus enabled to not only trace results to their causes, but also to grasp the facts which have contributed to form and mold these causes. We observe that a State or county has attained a certain position, and we at once try to trace out the reasons for this position in its settlement and surroundings, in the class of men by whom it was peopled, and in many chances and changes which have wrought out results, in all recorded deeds of mankind. In the history of Monroe county we may trace its early settlers to their homes in the Eastern States and in the countries of the Old World. We may follow the course of the early backwoodsman, from the " Buckeye " or " Hoosier " State, and from Kentucky and Virginia on his way West, " to grow up with the country," trusting only to his strong arm and willing heart to work out his ambition for a home for himself and wife, and a competence for his children. Again, we will see that others have been animated with the impulse to move on, after making themselves a part of the community, and have sought the newer porilO HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY.

We shall find something of that distinctive New England character, which has contriI)utcd so many men and women to other portions of the West. We shall also find many an industrious native of Germany, us well as a number of the sons of the Emerald Isle, all of whom have contributed to modify types of men already existing here. Those who have noted the career of the descendants of these brave, strong men, in subduing the wilds and overcoming the obstacles and hardships of early times, can but admit that they are worthy sons of illustrious sires.

First Settlements Made In The Timber

The first settlements in the county were invariably made in the timl)er or contiguous thereto. The early settlers did so as a matter of necessity and convenience. The presence of timber aided materially in bringing about an early settlement, and it aided in two ways ; first, the country had to depend on emigration from the older settled States of the East for its population, and especially Kentucky and Tennessee. These States originally were almost covered with dense forests, and farms were made by clearing off" certain portions of the timber. Almost every farm there, after it became thoroughly improved, still retained a certain tract of timber commonly known as " the woods." " The woods " was generally regarded as the most important part of the farm, and the average farmer regarded it as indispensable. When he emigrated to the West, one objection was the scarcity of timber, and he did not suppose that it would be possible to open up a farm on the bleak prairie. To live in a region devoid of the familiar sight of timber seemed unendurable, and the average Kentuckian could not entertain the idea of founding a home away from the familiar forest trees. Then again the idea entertained by the early immigrants to Missouri, that timber was a necessity, was not simply theoretical. The early settler must have a house to live in, fuel for cooking and heating purposes, and fences to inclose his claim. At that time there were no railroads by which lumber could be transported. No coal mine had yet been opened, and few if any had been discovered. Timber was an absolute necessity, without which material improvement was an impossibility.

The most important resource in the development of this Western country was the belts of timber which skirted the streams ; and the settlers who first hewed out homes in the timber, while at present not the most enterprising and progressive, were, nevertheless, an essential factor in the solution of the problem.

Along either side of the various streams which flow across the country, were originally belts of timber ; at certain places, generally near the mouths of the smaller tril^utaries, the belt of timber widened out, thus forming a grove, or what was frequently called a point, and at these points or groves were the first settlements made ; here were the first beginnings of civilization; here "began to operate those forces which have made the wilderness a fruitful place and caused the desert to bud and blossom as the rose."

Much of the primeval forest has been removed for the building of houses and the construction of fences ; other portions, and probably the largest part, have been ruthlessly and improvidently destroyed.

Parts Of The Country First Settled

As early as 1817 parties came into what w^as then Pike county, and in the vicinity of Middle Grove located tracts of land, but no permanent settlement was made within the boundaries of Monroe county until 1820. The first settlement was begun in the county about three and a half miles east of Middle Grove, by Ezra Fox, Andrew and Daniel Wittenliurg and others. For many years afterward this was known as Fox's settlement. About the same time a settlement was commenced between the Middle and North forks of Salt river between Paris and Florida, by Joseph Smith, Sr., Alexander W. Smith, Joseph Smith, Jr., Samuel H. Smith and others. This was designated by the early settlers as the "Smith settlement." Not long subsequent to the formation of these settlements others were begun, namely : On the Elk fork, south and east of Paris, by the McGees and others. On the Middle fork, east of Madison, by Daniel and

Urbin East and others. On the North fork, in the vicinity of Clinton, by Robert Martin, Col. Gabriel Jones, Caleb Wood and others, and also in the neighborhood of Florida, by Robert Greening, Samuel Nesbit, William Wilkerson, John and James Dale and others.

As early as 1820 Benjamin Young settled on the South fork not far from Santa Fe. He was the only settler in that portion of the county until 1828. Only eight families were living in this settlement when the county was organized. For eleven years after the first settlements were commenced, the history of the county is connected with that of Ralls. These were years of toil and hardship, of hope and disappointment, of genuine hospitality and true friendships. There was no squinting at aristrocracy among the people, no formalities, all were on one common footing, grappling with nature in a united effort to reduce it to the uses of civilization. Rude cabins with puncheon floors or without even this resemblance of a floor, without windows, except a hole closed with apiece of greased paper to let in the light, were built, forests were felled and cleared away by the united efforts of the pioneers. Immigration came in slowly ; gradually the settlements began to lose that distinctiveness of separation which characterized them during their earliest years ; gradually the monotony of the wide stretches of country intervening between the settlements was broken up by rude cabins of the pioneers, scattered here and there ; gradually the settlements were linked together. There were no trading places, blacksmith-shops nor mills in the county for a number of years. The settlements supplied their few wants at the trading posts or towns on the Missouri or Mississippi rivers. The first blacksmith shop in the county was opened on the Louisiana road, near where Upton's old shop now stands, by Charles Eales. Among the first, and perhaps the first store in the county, was opened in the fall of 1830, one-half mile south of Florida, near where Hickman's mills now stand, by Maj. W. N. Penn. The town of Florida was laid out during the winter of 1831. Robert Donaldson, John Witt, Dr. Keenan, Joseph Grigsby, W. N. Penn and Hugh A. Hickman were its founders. Soon after the town was laid out Maj. Penn moved his stock of goods to the site, and became the first merchant of Florida.

It is said that the first mill in the county was built by Benjamin Bradley, about two miles north-east of Florida. It was simple in construction, and was run b}^ horse power. Some amusing incidents are told to illustrate the slow operation of grinding on these mills, but our space will not permit us to reproduce them here. Some of these mills are yet to be seen in the county - memorials of the old time.

The first public road established in the county was what is now known as the "Old London Trace." Traces of it are yet to be seen. It beojan at Fox's settlement, followed aloni>: down the dividino; ridge between the Elk Fork and the South Fork, crosshig the latter near where the Louisiana road now crosses the same stream, thence throusrh White's neighborhood and on to New London. This road was surveyed and laid out by Alexander W. Smith, Robert Hickland and J. C. Fox, pursuant to an order of the county court of Ralls county. ^

Postal And Mill Facilities

The early settlers of the county, for several years after they built their cabins, had neither postal nor mill facilities, and were compelled to travel from 25 to 50 miles in order to reach a post-office, or to get their meal. Their usual way of sending or receiving tidings from their friends and the news of the great world, which lay towards the east and south of them, was generally by the mouth of the stranger coming in, or by the settler who journeyed back to his old home, in Kentucky or Virginia. Postage at that time was very high, and if the old settler sent or received two or three letters during the year, he considered himself fortunate. His every-day life in the wilds of the new country to which he had come to better his condition, was so much of a sameness that he had, indeed, but little to communicate. His wants were few, and these were generally supplied by his rod and his gun, the latter being considered an indispensable weapon of defense, as well as necessary to the support and maintenance of himself and family. No wonder that the pioneer loved his " old flint lock," and his faithful dog, whose honest bark would so often - ** Bay deep-mouth'd welcome as he drew near home."

During the years 1829-30 emigration came in rapidly. The inconvenience of being so remote from the county seat, New London, and the hope of more rapid settlement, induced the pioneers during the latter part of the year 1830 to take steps to secure the organization of a new county. The subject was laid before the General Assembly of the State, was favorably considered, and on January 6, 1831, the following act was passed creating a new county : " All that portion of the territory within the county of Ralls lying within the following boundaries, to wit : Beginning on the township line between towu- ships 52 and 53 at the first sectional line east of the range line between ranges 7 and 8, thence with said sectional line on a parallel with said range north, to the southern boundary of the county of Marion ; thence west along the Marion county line with the township line between townships 56 and 57, to the range line between 12 and 13, it being the eastern boundary line of Randolph county, thence south with said range line to the township line between townships 52 and 53, thence east with said township line to the place of beginning, be and the same is hereby declared to be a separate and distinct county, to be known and called by the name of " Monroe county " (Laws of Missouri). These boundaries have not been materially changed.

The same act appointed Hancock S.Jackson, of Randolph ; Stephen Glascock, of Ralls, and Joseph HoUiday of Pike, commissioners to select the seat of justice for the county. These were men possessing integrity and purity of character. Joseph Holliday afterwards removed to the county, where he lived and died, respected by all who knew him. Hancock S. Jackson was afterward elected Lieutenant- Governor of the State, and was one of the most highly respected men in the State.

The first entries of land were made by the following persons : - Township 53, range 8, George Markham, in 1819 ; township 54, range 8, Bennet Goldsberry in 1818 ; township 54, range 8, John Hicklin, in 1819 ; township 54, range 8, Joseph HoUidav, in 1818 ; township 54, range 8, Benton R. Gillett, in 1819 ; township 54, range 8, Andrew Rogers, in 1819 ; township 55, range 8, Daniel McCoy, in 1819 ; township 54, range 9, Joseph R. Pool, in 1819 ; township 55, range 9, James Adams, in 1819.

The Name

A great dramatist intimates that there is nothing in a name ; but a name sometimes means a great deal. In many instances, it indicates, in a measure, the character of the people who settle the country and have given to it its distinctive characteristics. Names are sometimes given to towns and countries by accident; sometimes they originate in the childish caprice of some individual, whose d ctate by reason of some real or imaginary superiority is law. Whether the policy of naming counties after statesmen and generals be good or bad, the Missouri Legislature has followed the practice to such an extent, that fully three-fourths of the counties composing the State bear the names of men who are more or le.^s distinguished in the history of the country.

The Names Of Pioneers

When we consider that more than half a century has passed since the men whose names we append below, pitched their tents within the present limits of tiie county, it will be readily understood how difficult has been the task of collecting them.

In placing these names upon record we have doubtless made mistakes and omissions, but feel confident that the errors will be overlooked, when it is remembered that we have spared no little effort to be accurate and perfect.

They who in the early dawn of Western civilization first *« bearded the lion in his den, " opened a path through the wilderness, drove out the wild beasts and tamed the savage Indian, are entitled to one of the brightest pages in all the record of the past.

The old pioneers of Monroe county - the advance guard of civilization - have nearly all passed away; those remaining may be counted on the fingers of one hand. A few more years of waiting and watching, and they, too, will have joined -

Fresh hillocks in the cemetery will soon be all the marks that will be left of a race of giants who grappled nature in her fastness and made a triumphant conquest in the face of the greatest privations, disease and difficulty. The shadows that fall upon their tombs as time recedes are like the smoky haze that enveloped the prairies in the early days, saddening the memory and giving to dim distance only a faint and phantom outline, to which the future will often look back and wonder at the great hearts that lie hidden under the peaceful canopy.

Pioneer Life

The Pioneers' Peculiarities - Conveniences and iQconveniences - Tlie Historical Log Cabin - Agricultural Implements - Household Furniture - Pioneer Corn-bread - Hand Mills and Hominy Blocks - Going to Mill - Trading Points - Hunting - Bee Trees - Shooting Matches andQuiltings.

The people in the early history of Monroe county took no care to preserve history - they were too busily engaged in making it. Historically speaking, those were the most important years of the county, for it was then the foundation and corner stones of all the county's history and prosperity were laid. Yet this history was not remarkable for stirring events. It was, however, a time of self-reliance and brave, persevering toil ; of privations cheerfully endured through faith in a good time coming. The experience of one settler was just about the same as that of others. Nearly all of the settlers were poor ; they faced the same hardships and stood generally on an equal footing.

All the experience of the early pioneers of this county goes far to confirm the theory that, after all, happiness is pretty evenly balanced in this world. They had their privations and hardships, but they had also their own peculiar joys. If they were poor, they were free from the burden of pride and vanity; free also from the anxiety and care th^t always attends the possession of wealth. Other people's eyes cost them nothing. If they had few neighbors, they were on the best of terms with those they had. Envy, jealousy and strife had] not crept in. A common interest and a common sympathy bound them together with the strongest ties. They were a little world to themselves, and the good feeling that prevailed was all the stronger because they were so far removed from the great world of the East.

Among these pioneers there was realized such a community of interest that there existed a community of feeling. There were no castes, except an aristocracy of benevolence, and no nobility, except a nobilitv of generosity. They were bound together with such a strong bond of sympathy, inspired by the consciousness of common hardship, that they were practically communists. (98)

Neighbors did not even wait for an invitation or request to help one another. Was a settler's cabin burned or blown down? No sooner was the fact known throughout the neighborhood than the settlers assembled to assist the unfortunate one to rebuild his home. They came with as little hesitation, and with as much alacrity, as though they were all members of the same family and bound together by ties of blood. One man's interest was every other man's interest. Now, this general state of feeling among the pioneers was by no means peculiar to these counties, although it was strongly illustrated here. It prevailed generally throughout the West during the time of the early settlement. The very nature of things taught the settlers the neeessity of dwelling together iu this spirit. It was their only protection. They had come far away from the well established reign of law, and entered a new country, where civil authority was still feeble and totally unable to afford protection and redress grievances. Here the settlers lived some little time before there was an officer of the law in the county. Each man's protection was in the srood will and friendship of those about him, and the thing that any man might well dread was the ill will of the comrauuit}'. It was more terrible than the law. It was no uncommon thing in the early times for hardened men, who had no fears of jails or penitentiaries, to stand in great fear of the indignation of a pioneer community. Such were some of the characteristics of Monroe county.

House And Home Comforts

The first buildings in the county were not just like the log cabins that immediately succeeded them. The latter required some help and a great deal of labor to build. The very first buildings constructed were a cross between " hoop cabins " aud Indian bark huts. As soon as enough men could be got together for a '' cabin raising," then log cabins were in style. Many a pioneer can remember the happiest time of his life as that when he lived in one of these homely but comfortable old cabins.

A window with sash and glass was a rarity, and was an evidence of wealth and aristocracy which but few could support. They were often made with greased paper put over the window, which admitted a little light, but more often there was nothing whatever over it, or the cracks between the logs, without either chinking or daubing, were the dependence for light and air. The doors were fastened with old-fashioned wooden latches, and for a friend, or neighbor, or traveler, the string always hung out, for the pioneers of the West were hospitable and entertained visitors to the best of their ability. It is noticeable with what affection the pioneers speak of their old log cabins. It may be doubted whether palaces ever sheltered happier hearts than those homely cabins. The following is a good description of those old landmarks, but few of which now remain : -

" These were of round logs, notched together at the corners, ribbed with poles and covered with boards split from a tree. A puncheon floor was then laid down, a hole cut in the end and a stick chimney run up. A clapboard door is made, a window is opened by cutting out a hole in the side or end two feet square and finished without glass or transparency. The house is then ' chinked ' and ' daubed ' with mud. The cabin is now ready to go into. The household and kitchen furniture is adjusted, and life on the frontier is begun in earnest.

*'The one-legged bedstead, now a piece of furniture of the past, was made by cutting a stick the proper length, boring holes at one end one and a half inches in diameter, at right angles, and the same sized holes corresponding with those in the logs of the cabin the length and breadth desired for the bed, in which are inserted poles.

"Upon these poles the clapboards are laid, or linn bark is interwoven consecutively from pole to pole. Upon this primitive structure the bed is laid. The convenience of a cook stove was not thought of, but instead, the cooking was done by the faithful housewife in pots, kettles or skillets, on and about the big fire-place, and very frequently over and around, too, the distended pedal extremities of the legal sovereign of the household, while the latter was indulging in the luxuries of a cob-pipe and discussing the probable results of a contemplated deer hunt on Salt river or some one of its small tributaries."

The people of to-day, familiarized with "Charter Oak" cooking stoves and ranges, would be ill at home were they compelled to prepare a meal with no other conveniences than those provided in a pioneer cabin. Rude fire-places were built in chimneys composed of mud and sticks, or, at best, undressed stone. These fire-places served for heating and cooking purposes ; also, for ventilation. Around the cheerful blaze of this fire the meal was prepared, and these meals were not so bad, either. As elsewhere remarked, they were not such as would tempt an epicure, but such as afforded the most healthful nourishment for a race of people who were driven to the exposure and hardships which were their lot. We hear of few dyspeptics in those days. Another advantage of these cooking arrangements was that the stove- pipe never fell down, and the pioneer wiis spared being subjected to the most trying of ordeals, and one probably more productive of profanity than any other.

Before the country became supplied with mills which were of easy access, and even in some instances afterward, hominy-blocks were used. They exist now only in the memory of the oldest settlers, but as relics of the "long ago," a description of them will not be uninteresting: -

A tree of suitable size, say from eighteen inches to two feet in diameter, was selected in the forest and felled to the ground. If a cross-cut saw happened to be convenient, the tree was " butted," that is, the kerf end was sawed off, so that it would stand steady when ready for use. If there was no cross-cut saw in the neighborhood, strong arms and sharp axes were ready to do the work. Then the proper length, from four to five feet, was measured off and sawed or cut square. When this was done the block was raised on end and the work of cutting out a hollow in one of the ends was commenced. This was generally done with a common chopping ax. Sometimes a smaller one was used. When the cavity was judged to be large enough, a fire was built in it, and carefully watched till the ragged edges were burned away. When completed the hominy-block somewhat resembled a druggist's mortar. Then a pestle, or something to crush the corn, was necessary. This was usually made from a suitably sized piece of timber, with an iron wedge attached, the large end down. This completed the machinery, and the block was ready for use. Sometimes one hominy-block accommodated an entire neighborhood and was the means of staying the hunger of many mouths.

In giving the bill of fare above we should have added meat, for of this they had plenty. Deer would be seen daily trooping over the prairie in droves of from 12 to 20, and sometimes as many as 50 would be seen grazing together. Elk were also found, and wild turkeys and prairie chickens without number. Bears were not unknown. Music of the natural order was not wanting, and every night the pioneers were lulled to rest by the screeching of panthers and the howling of wolves. When the dogs ventured too far out from the cabins at night, they would be driven back by the wolves chasing them up to the very cabin doors. Trapping wolves became a very profitable business after the State began to pay a bounty for wolf scalps.

Those who years ago improved the fishing advantages of the country never tire telling of the dainty meals which the streams afforded. Sometimes large parties would get together, and, having been provided with cooking utensils and facilities for camping out, would go off some distance and spend weeks together. No danger then of being ordered off a man's premises or arrested for trespass. One of the peculiar circumstances that surrounded the early life of the pioneers was a strange loneliness. The solitude seemed almost to oppress them. Months would pass during which they would scarcely see a human face outside their own families.

On occasions of special interest, such as election, holiday celebrations, or camp-meetings, it was nothing unusual for a few settlers who lived in the immediate neighborhood of the meetins^to entertain scores of those who had come from a distance.

Rough and rude though the surroundings may have been, the pioneers were none the less honest, sincere, hospitable and kind in their relations. It is true, as a rule, and of universal application, that there is a greater degree of real humanity among the pioneers of any country than there is when the country becomes old and rich. If there is an absence of refinement, that absence is more than compensated in the presence of generous hearts and truthful lives. They are bold, industrious and enterprising. Generally speaking, they are earnest thinkers, and possessed of a diversified fund of useful, practical information. As a rule they do not arrive at a conclusion by means of a course of rational reasoning, but, nevertheless, have a queer way at getting at the facts. They hate cowards and shams of every kind, and above all things, falsehoods and deception, and cultivate an integrity which seldom permits them to prostitute themselves to a narrow policy of imposture. Such were the characteristics of the men and women who pioneered the way to the country of the Sacs and Foxes. A few of them yet remain, and although some of their descendants are among the wealthy and most substantial of the people of the county, they have not forgotten their old time hospitality and free and easy ways. In contrasting the present social affairs with pioneer times, one has well said : -

" Then, if a house was to be raised, every man ' turned out,' and often the women, too, and while the men piled up the logs that fashioned the primitive dwelling-place, the women prepared the dinner. Sometimes it was cooked by big log fires near the site where the cabin was building ; in other cases it was prepared at the nearest cabin, and at the proper hour was carried in to where the men were at work. If

" We were all on an equality. Aristocratic feelings were unknown, and would not have been tolerated. What one had we all had, and that was the happiest period of my life. But to-day, if you lean against a neighbor's shade tree he will charge you for it. If you are poor and fall sick, you may lie and suffer almost unnoticed and unattended, and probably go to the poor-house; and just as like as not the man who would report you to the authorities as a subject of county care would charge the county for making the report."

Of the old settlers, some are still living in the county in the enjoyment of the fortunes they founded in early times, " having reaped an hundredfold." Nearly all, however, have passed away. A few of them have gone to the far West, and are still playing the part of pioneers. But wherever they maybe, whatever fate may betide them, it is but truth to say that they were excellent men as a class, and have left a deep and enduring impression upon the county and the State. " The}^ builded better than they knew." They were, of course, men of activity and energy, or they would never have decided to face the trials of pioneer life. The great majority of them were poor, but the lessons taught them in the early days were of such a character that few of them have remained so. They made their mistakes in business pursuits like other men. Scarcely one of them but allowed golden opportunities, for pecuniary profit, at least, to pass by unheeded. What now are some of the choicest farms in Monroe county were not taken up by the pioneers, who preferred land of very much less value. They have seen many of their prophecies fulfilled, and others come to naught. Whether they have attained the success they desired, their own hearts can tell.

To one looking over the situation then, from the standpoint now, it certainly does not seem very cheering, and yet- from the testimony of some old pioneers, it was a most enjoyable time, and we of the present live in degenerate days.

At that time it certainly would have been much more difficult for those old settlers to understand how it could be possible that sixtyiive years hence the citizens of the present age of the county's progress would be complaining of hard times and destitution, and that they themselves, perhaps, would be among that number, than it is now for us to appreciate how they could feel so cheerful and contented with their meager means and humble lot of hardships and deprivations during those early pioneer days.

The secret was, doubtless, that they lived within their means, however limited, not coveting more of luxury and comfort than their income would afford, and the natural result was prosperity and contentment, with always room for one more stranger at the fireside, and a cordial welcome to a place at their table for even the most hungry guest.

Humanity, with all its ills, is, nevertheless, fortunately characterized with remarkable flexibility, which enables it to accommodate itself to circumstances. After all, the secret of happiness lies in one's ability to accommodate himself to his surroundings.

It is sometimes remarked that there were no places for public entertainment till later years. The truth is, there were many such places ; in fact, every cabin was a place of entertainment, and these hotels were sometimes crowded to their utmost capacity. On such occasions, when bedtime came, the first family would take the back part of the cabin, and so continue filling up by families until the limit was reached. The young men slept in the wagon outside. In .the morning, those nearest the door arose first and went outside to dress. Meals were served on the end of a wagon, and consisted of corn bread, buttermilk, and fat pork, and occasionally coffee, to take away the morning chill. On Sundays, for a change, they had bread made of wheat " tramped out" on the ground by horses, cleaned with a sheet, and pounded by hand. This was the best the most fastidious could obtain, and this only one day in seven. Not a moment of time was lost. It was necessary that they should raise enough sod corn to take them through the coming winter, and also get as much breaking done as possible. They brought with them enough corn to give the horses an occasional feed, in order to keep them able for hard work, but in the main they had to live on prairie grass. The cattle got nothing else than grass.

Agricultural Implements

An interesting comparison might be drawn between the conveniences which now make the life of a farmer comparatively an easy one, and the almost total lack of such conveniences in early days. A brief description of the acommodations possessed by the tillers of the soil will now be given.

Let the children of such illustrious sires draw their own comparisons, and may the results of these comparisons silence the voice of complaint which so often is heard in the land.

plows." The mold-boards were generally of wood, but in some cases they were half wood and half iron. The man who had one of the latter description was looked upon as something of an aristocratic. But these old " bull plows " did good service, and they must be awarded the honor of first stirring the soil of Monroe county, as well as that of the oldest counties of the State.