Historicetl Review

The State Historical Society of Missouri COLUMBIA, MISSOURI COVER DESCRIPTION: The George Caleb Bingham portrait of Robert Eaton Acock recently was presented to the State His­ torical Society of Missouri by the Ralph D. Churchill family of Dallas, Texas. This portrait gives the State Historical Society eighteen canvases executed by Bingham, one of the nation's most famous and important nineteenth-century artists. The Society owns the largest public collection of Bingham's works in the United States. The subject of the portrait, Robert Eaton Acock, was born in North Carolina and he spent his younger years in Kentucky. He emigrated to Polk County, Missouri, in the late 1830s. A prosperous farmer, Acock became one of the largest landowners and slaveholders in Southwest Missouri. Acock also achieved political prominence. A Democrat, he served four terms as Polk County's representative to the state legislature: 1838-1840; 1840-1842; 1852-1854; and 1854- 1856. He also served one term as state senator for the eigh­ teenth district, 1842-1846. Acock was a delegate to Missouri's 1845 constitutional convention, a member of the committee to locate the state insane asylum (1847) and president of the 1860 Democratic state convention. An article concerning Acock is included in this issue of the REVIEW. Bingham's 30" x 25" portrait of Acock presently is on display in the State Historical Society Art Gallery, open to the public 8:00-4:30, Monday-Friday, excepting legal holidays. MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW

Published Quarterly by

THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI COLUMBIA, MISSOURI

RICHARDS. BROWNLEE EDITOR

MARYK. DAINS ASSOCIATE EDITOR

JAMES W. GOODRICH ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Copyright © 1979 by the State Historical Society of Missouri Hitt and Lowry Streets, Columbia, Missouri 65201

The MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW (ISSN 0026-6582) is owned by the State Historical Society of Missouri and is published quarterly at 5601 Paris Road, Columbia, Missouri 65201. Send communications, business and editorial correspondence and change of address to the State Historical Society of Missouri, Corner of Hitt and Lowry Streets, Columbia, MO 65201. Second class postage is VOLUME LXXIII paid at Columbia, Missouri.

The REVIEW is sent free to all members of The State Historical NUMBER 3 Society of Missouri. Membership dues in the Society are $2.00 a year or $40 for an individual life membership. The Society assumes no responsibility for statements made by contributors to the magazine. APRIL 1979 THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI

The State Historical Society of Missouri, heretofore organized under the laws of the State, shall be the trustee of this State—Laws of Missouri, 1899, R.S. of Mo., 1969, chapter 183, as revised 1973.

OFFICERS 1977-1980 WILLIAM R. DENSLOW, Trenton, President RUSSELL V. DYE, Liberty, First Vice President MRS. AVIS TUCKER, Warrensburg, Second Vice President REVEREND JOHNF. BANNON, St. Louis, Third Vice President SHERIDAN A. LOGAN, St. Joseph, Fourth Vice President MRS. VIRGINIA YOUNG, Columbia, Fifth Vice President DR. NOBLEE. CUNNINGHAM, Columbia, Sixth Vice President ALBERT M. PRICE, Columbia, Treasurer RICHARDS. BROWNLEE, Columbia, Director, Secretary and Librarian

TRUSTEES Permanent Trustees, Former Presidents of the Society WILLIAM AULL HI, Lexington RUSH H. LIMBAUGH, Cape Girardeau ELMER ELLIS, Columbia GEORGE A. ROZIER, Jefferson City LEO J. ROZIER, Perryville

Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1979 JAMES W. BROWN, Harrisonville ALFREDO. FUERBRINGER, St. Louis RICHARD J. CHAMIER, Moberly JOHN K. HULSTON, Springfield ILUS W. DAVIS, Kansas City MRS. MARY BANKS PARRY, Columbia WILLIAM R. DENSLOW, Trenton ARVARH STRICKLAND, Columbia

Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1980 LEWISE. ATHERTON, Columbia W. W. DALTON, St. Louis ROBERT A. BOWLING, Montgomery City *RICHARD B. FOWLER, Kansas City FRANK P. BRIGGS, Macon VICTOR A. GIERKE, Louisiana R. I. COLBORN, Paris MRS. JEAN TYREE HAMILTON, Marshall

Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1981 FRANCISM. BARNES III, St. Louis W. WALLACE SMITH, Independence ROBERT S. DALE, Carthage RONALD L. SOMERVILLE, Chillicothe GEORGE MCCUE, St. Louis JOSEPH WEBBER, St. Louis ROBERT M. WHITE, Mexico EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The twenty-seven Trustees, the President and the Secretary of the Society, the Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, President of the University of Missouri and Chancellor of the University of Missouri-Columbia constitute the Executive Committee. FINANCE COMMITTEE Five members of the Executive Committee appointed by the President, who by virtue of his office constitutes the sixth member, compose the Finance Committee.

WILLIAM AULL III, Lexington, Chairman LEWIS E. ATHERTON, Columbia ELMER ELLIS, Columbia WILLIAM R. DENSLOW, Trenton GEORGE A. ROZIER, Jefferson City LEO J. ROZIER, Perryville •Deceased NEW SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS

The State Historical Society of Missouri is always interested in obtaining new members. For more than seventy years thousands of Missourians who have be­ longed to the Society have been responsible primarily for building its great research collections and libraries. They have given it the support which makes it the largest organization of its type in the United States. The quest for interested new members goes on continually, and your help is solicited in obtaining them. In every family, and in every community, there are individuals who are sincerely interested in the collection, preservation and dissemination of the his­ tory of Missouri. Why not nominate these people for membership? Annual dues are only $2.00. Life Memberships $40.00.

R ichard S. Bro wnlee Director and Secretary State Historical Society of Missouri Hitt and Lowry Streets Columbia, Missouri 65201 A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR Dear Members: Without the private and state papers of Wash­ ington, Jefferson, Adams, and many others, we could not really understand the thoughts and motives of the men who forged our independence over two hundred years ago. Fortunately, those unusual men recorded many of their impressions of the period in diaries, jour­ nals, and letters that have been preserved. Manuscript sources have played an important part in the understanding of our nation's heritage. Similarly, private papers, government documents, and other assorted written records in the joint collection of the State Historical Society's Manuscripts and the Univer­ sity of Missouri's Western Historical Manuscript Collection have been instrumental in the reconstruction of Missouri's rich and colorful history. As director of this joint collection, may I urge the members of the State Historical Society to look for manuscripts to augment the over twelve million items now available in our library for scholars and interested citizens. These materials include the available state and personal papers of Missouri's governors, United States Senators and Representatives, and thousands of diaries, journals, scrapbooks, photograph albums, pictures and account books kept by the ordinary men and women of our state from the days of its first settlement to the present. These manuscript items need not be old. Letters concerning our recent wars and economic crises, as well as contemporary diaries and journals will provide the primary historical source materials for historians of the future. For several years our program for the acquisition of manuscripts has been curtailed because of a lack of storage space. Storage facilities have been acquired recently, and we are now actively seeking manuscripts and manuscript collections. If you know of any items that should be added to our collection, please let the Society know about them. Richard S. Brownlee, Director State Historical Society of Missouri and University of Missouri Western Historical Manuscript Collection SOCIETY TO PRESENT AWARDS

At the Annual Meeting in October the Society will confer three awards. An engraved citation and a medal­ lion will be awarded to a member who has given distin­ guished service to the Society and to the State of Mis­ souri in the promotion and dissemination of knowledge concerning the history of our region. A second en­ graved citation and a one-hundred-dollar cash award will be given for the REVIEW article during the calendar year which has contributed most in depth in a scholarly and popular sense to the history of our State. The two- hundred-fifty-dollar Floyd C. Shoemaker History Award will be presented to a Missouri senior high school student who has written the best historical article that relates to Missouri events or personalities. The distinguished member will be selected by a three-member committee appointed by the Society president. One member of the selection committee will serve for two years and two members for one year. No active officers or trustees of the Society, with the excep­ tion of past presidents, may be nominated for the Dis­ tinguished Service Award. Nominations should be made in writing to Richard S. Brownlee, director of the Society, any time during the calendar year. The prize- winning article will be selected by three historians ap­ pointed by the editor of the REVIEW. The selection com­ mittee will be changed each year with the exception of one member who will be replaced after two years. Articles submitted for the Floyd C. Shoemaker History Award will be judged by the Department of History of the University of Missouri-Columbia. CONTENTS

ROBERT EATON ACOCK: THE GENTLEMAN FROM POLK. By James W. Goodrich 281

HISTORY OF ' 'LA SALINE' ': SALT MANUFACTURING SITE 1675-1825. By DavidD. Denman 307

PANTHER HOLLOW AND DEAD ELM SCHOOL: PLANT AND ANIMAL PLACE NAMES IN MISSOURI. £y Walter A. Schroeder 321

FIGHTING WORDS FROM THE FRONTIER: THOMAS HARDEMAN ON THE ELECTION OF 1824-1825. By Nicholas P. Hardeman 348

THE CARTOON COLLECTIONS AT THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

By Laura Peritore 363

HISTORICAL NOTES AND COMMENTS

News in Brief 378

Local Historical Societies 379

Gifts 389

Missouri History in Newspapers 392

Missouri History in Magazines 394

In Memoriam 397

Editorial Policy. 399

BOOK REVIEW 400

BOOK NOTES 403

NEW SALEM BAPTIST CHURCH Inside Back Cover Robert Eaton Acock: The Gentleman From Polk

BY JAMES W. GOODRICH*

Although he has remained an obscure figure in the history of Missouri, Robert Eaton Acock actually proved to be an important person during the 1830-1860 period. Like many of his contemporaries who achieved prominence, Acock became the subject of a portrait executed by Missouri's most famous nineteenth-century artist, George Caleb Bingham. Individual and family portraits were popular additions to the homes of many well-to-do Missourians in the pre-Civil War era.

* James W. Goodrich is the associate director of the State Historical Society of Missouri and an associate editor of the MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW. He has received the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in American History from the University of Missouri- Columbia.

281 282 Missouri Historical Review

Besides being works of art, these portraits allowed people to retain a visual record of themselves or loved ones. Photography would become a popular substitute for individual or family pictures, especially after the invention of the carte de visite.l Bingham's portrait of Robert Eaton Acock recently was present­ ed to the State Historical Society by the Ralph D. Churchill family, of Dallas, Texas. A descendant of Acock, Ralph D. Churchill's great­ grandfather was Benjamin F. Robinson, an Indian agent, lawyer, legislator and Confederate, who married Acock's daughter, Helen Ewing Acock. Because of the Civil War troubles in Missouri, Robin­ son and his family in 1863 migrated from Westport, Missouri, to Texas. Among their possessions was the Bingham portrait of Acock. The portrait remained in the Robinson family until the death of Chur­ chill's aunt, Mabelle Ewing Robinson, in 1975. It then became the property of the Churchill family who presented it to the Society in 1978.2 Unfortunately, the date of the portrait's completion cannot be ascertained. However, Acock was a member of the state legislature in 1844 and 1855, and in those years Bingham maintained a studio in the state capitol during legislative sessions. The price that Bingham charged Acock for the portrait can only be conjectured. In 1834 the artist charged $25 for a portrait but had increased the fee to $50 five years later.3 Acock probably paid this latter amount. Today, extant Bingham portraits, depending on condition, may be appraised as high as $18,000. Similarly, Bingham's genre or landscape paintings have dramatically increased in value. In May 1847, S. W. Bailey wrote Abiel Leonard that Bingham was in St. Louis. Bailey commented that: He [Bingham] told me he offered you a landscape painting which I have seen for $30 at Boonville he says that you declined it he sent it here and asked $50 but not meeting with a bidder he sent it to New York where it sold for $80 as soon as offered for sale.4 Bailey failed to mention the landscape that Bingham had tried to

1 William Welling, Photography in America (New York, 1978), 143. 2 Ralph D. Churchill to Richard S. Brownlee, November 15, 1977; Brownlee to Churchill, June 28, 1978, Fine Arts Accession File, State Historical Society of Mis­ souri, Columbia. 3 E. Maurice Bloch, George Caleb Bingham: The Evolution of an Artist (Berkeley, Calif., 1967), 20. Colonel Edward Cresap McCarty paid $50 for his Bingham portrait in late 1855; see, ibid., 20, note 26. 4 S. M. Bailey to Abiel Leonard, May 5, 1847, Abiel Leonard Papers, 1769-1918, Western Historical Manuscripts Collection, University of Missouri-Columbia. Hereaf­ ter referred to as Leonard Papers, WHMC. Robert Eaton Acock 283 sell Leonard. However, the year before, 1846, Bingham had sold one of his genre paintings entitled Jolly Flatboatmen to the American Art- Union of New York City. The Art-Union bought the painting, in­ cluding the frame, for the grand sum of $290.5 In 1978 a later Bing­ ham canvas of the same subject sold at auction in Los Angeles, Cali­ fornia, for $980,000. This figure represents the largest amount of money ever paid for a work by an American artist.6 Robert Eaton Acock, indeed, exemplified a man of prominence who would take the opportunity to have Bingham paint his portrait. A successful and powerful politician from Southwest Missouri, he was also a wealthy farmer, land speculator and money lender. Acock had been born in Warren County, North Carolina, probably in 1799.7 His grandfather, also named Robert, fought as a private in the North Carolina line during the American Revolution.8 After the war the elder Acock, his son Robert Acock, Jr., and his family moved to Todd County, Kentucky. Robert Acock, Jr., served as Todd County's sheriff in 1823.9

5 Bloch, George Caleb Bingham, 86. A few years earlier, the Art-Union acquired Bingham's Fur Traders Descending the Missouri for $75; see, ibid., 79. 6 Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1978. 7 Ronald V. Jackson, Gary R. Teeples and David Schaefermeyer, eds., North Carolina 1800 Census Index (Bountiful, Utah, 1974), 1; U.S. Census, 7th Report, 1850, "Polk County Missouri." This 1850 census gives Acock's age as fifty-one. Two of his children Thomas and Benjamin live with him. Aged 21 and 19 respectively, the sons were born in Kentucky. 8 Anderson C. Quisenberry, comp., Revolutionary Soldiers in Kentucky (Baltimore, 1974), 158. 9 Marion Williams, The Story of Todd County, Kentucky, 1820-1970 (Nashville Tenn., 1972), 269. 284 Missouri Historical Review

The 1830 census taker listed Robert Eaton Acock as a resident of Todd County engaged in agriculture. He had married Margaret Walker Ewing and by 1830 she had given birth to three children. The tall, erect, dignified and "fairly well educated'5 young man provided for his family through farming. He owned eight slaves to assist him with his agricultural pursuits.,0 In the late 1830s, Robert Eaton Acock, his family (then num­ bering four children) and their slaves left Todd County and emigrated to Polk County, Missouri. That county had been organized on March 13, 1835, and its boundaries were established a week later. Acock originally purchased land in Looney Township, the first settled por­ tion of the county.11 His initial purchase occurred in 1838 and totaled 320 acres. The next year Acock purchased another 631 acres. Both transactions took place at the Springfield land office where reportedly Acock's wife's uncle, Finis Ewing, processed grants.12 By 1850 Acock had become one of the most successful farmers in the Southwest. He owned 1,900 acres of land, 300 of which were improved, and the cash value of the farm totaled $9,000. The agricultural census taker figured the value of his livestock at $9,915. Acock owned 12 horses, 157 asses and mules, 10 milk cows, 10 working oxen, 113 other cattle, 60 swine and 1 sheep. His produce for the year ending June 1, 1850, was estimated as follows: 25 bushels of wheat, 6,000 bushels of Indian corn, 500 bushels of oats, 2 tons of hay, 200 pounds of wool and 300 pounds of butter.13 To assist with the farming operation, Acock and his two sons worked at least thir­ teen of their eighteen slaves.14 Even though he operated a profitable farming business, Acock found the venture as perilous as did the struggling owners of small acreages. He, too, could be a victim of the weather and bad growing conditions. In May 1857, for example, he wrote to a son-in-law that he

10 J. F. Snyder, "The Democratic State Convention of Missouri in 1860," MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW, II (January, 1908), 121; U.S. Census, 5th Report, 1830, "Todd County, Kentucky"; Georgia Blatherwick to Mabelle Robinson, February 18, 1973, copy in Robert E. Acock Papers, State Historical Society of Missouri Manu­ scripts Collection, Columbia. 11 History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade and Barton Counties, Missouri (Chicago, 1889), 286. The present boundaries of Polk County were established in 1845, while Acock served as a state senator. 12 Record U.S. Land Sales, IV, 667, 688; ibid., V, 53, 61, 269, Missouri State Ar­ chives, Jefferson City, Missouri; Georgia Blatherwick to Mabelle Robinson, April 1, 1973, copy in Acock Papers. Acock purchased an additional 589 acres from the Springfield land office from 1848 to 1856. 13 U.S. Census, 7th Report, 1850, Products of Agriculture, "Polk County, Missouri." 14 Ibid., Slave Schedule, "Polk County, Missouri." Robert Eaton Acock 285

had ordered eighty-five acres of corn replowed and planted anew, and that he feared he might have to do it a third time.15 The previous February, after a long illness, Acock had decided to sell some of his stock.16 He advertised the sale in the February 14 edition of the Bolivar Weekly Courier. Beginning on March 17, he would sell about 100 cattle, "consisting of choice milk cows, oxen, with a variety of stock cattle." Acock also planned to sell some horses, hogs and "one proof Jack, not inferior to any in Southwest Missouri, and a quantity of corn."17 Interested buyers needed to have cash or sign twelve-month notes plus interest "with approved security," on any sum over five dollars.18 On the 17th he sold $1,000 worth of livestock but at low prices. His "milk cows with fine calves did not average $15." On March 18, he sold another twenty-five head of stock and one day later, one hun­ dred head sold at "fair prices." A few days later he sold three hundred barrels of corn at two dollars a barrel, and shortly thereafter could have realized five dollars a barrel because of a scarcity of that grain. Acock, however, did not sell any corn at the increased price and in so doing he exhibited a humanitarian impulse. After his March sale he had retained sixty to seventy barrels of corn to feed his hogs and work animals. But corn soon was at a premium in Southwest Missouri because poor planting conditions had ruined many crops. Acock recounted the severity of the problem and his own feelings: . . . had thought I would not sell any more but the actual scarcity of bread-stuff (and not for the sake of High prices) has made it absolutely necessary to turn my work animals upon the grass and issue my corn out in bags-full to those who need it worst never charging more than seventy-five cents a bushel. If I had the 1500 bushels sold at 40 cents a bushel I think it is likely I would sell all at one dollar a bushel and it would be taken much more thankfully and do the people more good than it did at the price I sold it for in March but as I have but little I determined not to sell higher than I did in the first settlement of the county. The people go to Arkansas for corn and it is getting scarce and high there. There is almost a panic. . . .19 By 1860 Acock had increased his landholdings to 2,900 acres. The cash value of his farm remained at $9,000, while the value of his livestock had decreased to $3,000. When the census taker for

5 R. E. Acock to B. F. Robinson, May 17, 1857, Acock Papers. 6 Ibid. 7 Bolivar Weekly Courier, February 14, 1857. 8 Ibid. 9 Acock to Robinson, May 17, 1857, Acock Papers. 286 Missouri Historical Review agricultural products tabulated Acock's livestock, he arrived at the following figures: 12 horses, 18 asses and mules, 15 milk cows, 10 working oxen, 40 other cattle, 60 sheep and 70 swine. For the year ending June 1, 1860, Acock's farming operation had produced 150 bushels of wheat, 5,000 bushels of Indian corn, 500 bushels of oats, 3 tons of hay, 120 pounds of wool and 700 pounds of butter. In ad­ dition, Acock's slaves planted and dug 50 pounds of Irish potatoes and 20 pounds of sweet potatoes.20 These figures illustrated that Acock still farmed successfully. Acock's use of his slaves also contributed to his profitable farming operation. In 1860 he owned twenty-three slaves, reportedly the largest number "south of the Osage."21 Twelve of the slaves were over ten years of age, eight being males. Thus, Acock had a sizable work force at his disposal. Apparently, the Polk Countian treated his slaves well and on one occasion he expressed a business-like concern over their health. In early January 1858, he wrote that the flux and fever had sickened his blacks. One of the young slave children had died. An older slave named Stan "had the longest case of fever lasted him thirty days and did not walk for six weeks." Tending to his slaves required more time than Acock found convenient. However, he wrote, ". . . both duty and interest required me to stay at home and give them medicine and attend to them and it probably was the means of saving some of them."22 Besides his own farming operation, Acock displayed an interest in other Polk Countians' agricultural activities. In 1858 he assisted in the formation of the Polk County Agricultural and Mechanical Society and at the fairs served as a judge for a number of the classes.23 Acock also submitted entries of his own products. For example, in 1860, he won a premium for growing the best beets. He also won premiums for the best single buggy harness, the best four-year-old mare and colt, the best draft mule and the best mare.24 The 1859 Polk County Agricultural and Mechanical Society's fair also brought premiums to Acock's second wife, Lucy McCulloch Acock. Acock's first wife had died sometime following 1840. After remaining a widower for over fifteen years, he married a second time

20 U.S. Census, 8th Report, 1860, Products of Agriculture, "Polk County, Missouri." 21 U.S. Census, 8th Report, 1860, Slave Schedule, "Polk County, Missouri"; Snyder, "The Democratic State Convention in 1860," 121. 22 R. E. A. to Maj. B. F. Robinson, January 9, 1858, Acock Papers. 23 Bolivar Weekly Courier, June 25, 1859. 24 Ibid., October 27, 1860. Robert Eaton Acock 287

Scene at the County Fair

on June 9, 1858, to twenty-nine-year-old Lucy C. McCulloch, a resident of St. Clair County, Missouri.25 Besides winning premiums at the fair, Lucy McCulloch Acock, like her husband, served as a judge for a number of the classes.26 She also gave birth to a daughter sometime in 1860 or 1861.27 Acock's initial land purchases in 1838-1839 were augmented by further acquisitions in the ensuing years, many of which obviously were speculative. On January 28, 1840, he bought for $40 three town lots in the Polk County seat, Bolivar, about nine miles south of his farm. But he never established a business or built a home on any of them. Two years later in January he purchased 40 acres for $100 from his relative, Mordecai Acock, and then in November, he purchased from another relative, John Acock, 40 acres for $70. In 1846 the families of Smith and Stockton sold Acock 240 acres for $256.95.28 Through shrewd land investments such as these, Acock acquired, as his friend John F. Snyder recalled, "some of the best land in Polk county. . . ."29 While Acock pursued his agricultural interests and land speculation, he also loaned money, usually at 10 percent interest. For instance, on October 11, 1838, he became the security of Henry Tar- button's past due note of $31.28, and loaned Tarbutton an additional $27.25 at 10 percent per annum. In return, Tarbutton pledged a

' Ibid., June 19, 1858; Columbia Missouri Statesman, July 16, 1858. ' Bolivar Weekly Courier, June 25, 1859. ' Georgia Blatherwick to Mabelle Robinson, February 18, 1973, copy in Acock Papers. Polk County Deed Book Records, copies in Acock Papers. ' Snyder, "Democratic State Convention in 1860," 121. 288 Missouri Historical Review

Nathaniel Leonard

Mo. St. Bd. ofAgric. wagon, geese, ten hogs, a cow and yearling and a horse called "George," as collateral. Other Polk Countians borrowed from Acock through the years, often providing as collateral their crops, livestock or farms. No figure seemed too small for Acock to loan. Indentures ranging from $25 to $300 appeared throughout the Polk County cir­ cuit court records for the 1840s and 1850s.30 The Polk Countian did not restrict himself to loaning money solely to county residents. His personal banking business reached all the way to Central Missouri. On two occasions Cooper Countian, Nathaniel Leonard borrowed money from Acock. In 1842 Leonard owed Acock at least $500. Acock expected to be paid in specie, and Leonard had indicated that Acock was collecting from still other Cen­ tral Missourians. In May 1842, Leonard wrote his brother, Abiel: "I must pay Acock when he comes his rounds which will be some time in the next month."31 Leonard continued to borrow from his Polk County lender. Some five years later he wrote his brother that: "My note to Acock & the interest up to the 1st of June will amount to

30 See, for example, indentures between Acock and James Ross, Nathan Witt, Jeremiah Blankenship, Joyce Smithson and Cyrus Patterson in the circuit court record books. Copies in the Acock Papers. 31 Nathaniel Leonard to Abiel Leonard, May 22, 1842, Abiel Leonard Collection, 1786-1909, State Historical Society of Missouri Manuscripts Collection, Columbia. Robert Eaton Acock 289

$2450. "32 These financial dealings illustrated that Acock had im­ mersed himself in a form of private lending very common in Missouri during the early and mid-1800s. Prosperous Missourians, through such dealings, assisted in keeping the fragile economic system working and allowed agrarians to recoup from losses or financial hardships. Of course, in most instances, the borrower had to repay with interest and faced the future with uncertainty if the notes could not be paid. Those who failed to repay Acock usually found themselves facing suits. In 1841 Acock's attorney brought suit in the circuit court against James Able, John Isbell and Ephraim Jamison for $274.29. The court not only required the debt to be paid, but also assessed the defendants $163.28 damages. Similar cases occurred during the 1840s and, in each instance, Acock either collected the debt plus damages, or the defen­ dants settled out of court.33 He continued to lend money during the 1850s. For instance, he wrote his son-in-law, Benjamin F. Robinson, a postscript to a January 9, 1858 letter: "Keep the money in perfectly safe hands at the best percent you can get from the safest man and I would not care they had a few thousand more [,]"34 Acock's successes in farming, land speculation and money lend­ ing did not prevent him from pursuing a political career. Immediately after he settled in Polk County, he became involved in Democratic politics, a passion he would continue to nurture throughout his life. He stood for election five times and emerged victorious on every oc­ casion. For four terms he represented Polk County in the state legislature, and he served as the state senator from the eighteenth district for one four-year term. The Polk Countian first won election in 1838 as the county's representative to the Tenth General Assembly. He defeated two op­ ponents by a vote of 386-275.35 Standing for reelection in 1840, he won again. Before that term ended, he announced as a candidate for state senator from the eighteenth district which comprised Polk, Henry, St. Clair and Dallas counties. On election day he received 993 votes, while his two opponents garnered a total vote of 876.36 Acock did not announce for political office again until 1852, when he re­ turned to the state capitol as the Polk County representative after

32 Nathaniel Leonard to Abiel Leonard, May 17, 1847, Leonard Papers, WHMC. 33 Circuit Court Book A, Polk County Courthouse, Bolivar, Missouri. Copies of Acock's suits are located in Acock Papers. 34 R. E. Acock to Maj. B. F. Robinson, January 9, 1858, Acock Papers. 35 Record Group 650, Capitol Fire Document Collection, Box 382, folder 16,213, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City, Missouri. 36 Ibid., Box 383, folders 16,236 and 16,238. 290 Missouri Historical Review defeating his opponent by 252 votes. Two years later he won reelection by a margin of 68 votes.37 In the legislature, while debating bills, representatives often referred to each other as the "gentleman from,"—in Acock's case, Polk. The term "gentleman," however, did not always apply to the Polk Countian. When the occasion warranted, he abandoned his "dignified, courteous and very hospitable" manners to become a staunch, irascible, hard-headed politician.38 Three issues that par­ ticularly interested him and his constituents provide a sketch of his political and philosophical beliefs throughout the years. The issues in­ volved interest rates, representation in the house and internal im­ provements. In 1845, while Acock served as state senator for the eighteenth district his colleagues in the upper house considered the law on in­ terest rates. Acock proposed an amendment that would allow the lender to receive 10 percent per annum interest if agreed to by the borrower. Additionally, if default occurred and suit was brought for nonpayment, the county in which the case was tried could extract an additional 10 percent. James Young, the lieutenant governor and president of the senate, reportedly "with a good degree of real democratic energy," opposed Acock's amendment. He charged that the Polk Countian only wanted the law changed to benefit the usurious money lenders and intimated that Acock was one of them. Acock replied that the lieutenant governor's comments stemmed from an incident between the two during the previous term. Young had asked Acock for a loan of "several hundred dollars," but Acock supposedly did not have the money. The reporter for the Fayette Boon's Lick Times reconstructed the scene: Here the Lieut. Gov. came again, explained the whole mat­ ter and was much excited; the chair called him to order .... The only regret of a spectator is, that after having gone so far, they should stop short of an Irish wedding. The amendment was rejected.39 Acock, no doubt, possessed the "several hundred dollars." He simply was not going to lend it to Young, when he could command a higher interest from some other person. In 1847, state law reduced the interest that could be charged to

37 Ibid., Boxes 386, 387, folders 16,348 and 16,358. 38 Snyder, "Democratic State Convention in 1860," 121. Snyder presents a brief sketch of Acock in this article and refers to his manners. 39 Fayette Boon's Lick Times, March 8, 1845. Robert Eaton Acock 291 individuals to 6 percent and an attempt to increase the rate to 10 percent occurred in each of the two terms in which Acock later served as state representative. During the 1854-1855 term, he spoke to the issue. At present, the lender could not charge more than 6 percent, according to state law. But the law, Acock stated: ... is disregarded in every county of the State. Ten per cent is charged and received every where, and public opinion justifies it. This bill will only legalize what is now by custom; it fixes the rate at six per cent, but by agreement may be ten per cent. It leaves it to the will and wish of the parties. Acock continued his appeal. He said that people with "religious scruples" would not loan at a rate higher than 6 percent. However, "the larger proportion of the people; less scrupulous, charge more." The people approved of 10 percent, so it should become the law. Polk County's representative maintained that no one could prevent men from dealing in bills of exchange and "those more managing will make a greater per cent than six." The state, he reminded his colleagues, charged 10 percent for school money as did some incorporated companies. He thought it "best to give all the same right and privileges." Surrounding states also allowed a higher percentage and if Missouri did not, then capital possibly would be drained away. Acock completed his remarks by informing the representatives that: ... in 1845,1 voted for this same law, and in 1852, I voted to re-enact it, and at no time have my constituents cen-

Missouri State Capitol as it Appeared in 1850 292 Missouri Historical Review

sured me for doing so.—Then believing my course meets their approbation, I shall vote as I have done heretofore, in favor of re-enacting the law of 1845.40 Acock certainly spoke from experience as a money lender. He had been loaning money at 10 percent ever since his arrival in Missouri. Such action definitely was not against his scruples. His views on the matter, regardless of how personal, prevailed in the house. During the evening of February 20, the bill to reenact the 1845 interest law passed by a 62-54 vote.41 The senate passed the bill and Governor Sterling Price signed it into law on February 28, 1855.42 During his elected political career, Acock jealously guarded the rights of his county or district. He especially personified this, when he won election as a delegate to the 1845 constitutional convention. Along with Samuel H. Bunch, he represented the convention's twenty- third district which encompassed Polk, Hickory, Camden and Niangua (Dallas) counties.43 Missouri, by 1845, had gravitated to sectional antagonisms. The interests of the older, more settled parts of the state clashed with the interests of the newer, less populated frontier regions. The sectional divisions particularly were evidenced during the constitutional con­ vention. As one student of the convention has so aptly remarked: The constitutional controversy was principally between these two sections, and the division of votes between them . . . was usually very clear, except where some practical ad­ vantage . . . caused the typical philosophy of the regional to be abandoned.44 One of the most important subjects considered by the convention concerned representation in the lower house of the legislature. Since 1821 the legislature in its regular sessions periodically had addressed the issue. But the problem still remained unsolved. The frontier coun­ ties, often referred to as "wolf scalp counties" firmly believed that each county should have one representative in the house. That this type of representation would be unequal did not matter. They insisted "that each county have a separate representative even though that meant that several thousand people in one county had no more

40 Jefferson City Weekly Jefferson Inquirer, February 24, 1855. 41 Journal of the House, Mo. 18th General Assembly (Jefferson City, 1855), 228, 336,329,331-334,343. 42 Journal of the Senate, Mo. 18th General Assembly (Jefferson City, 1855), 327. 43 Journal of the [Constitutional] Convention of the State of Missouri (Jefferson City, 1845), 3-4; Jefferson City Jefferson Inquirer, November 19, 1845. 44 Priscilla Bradford, "The Missouri Constitutional Controversy of 1845," MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW, XXXII (October, 1937), 35. Robert Eaton Acock 293

George Caleb Bingham depicted a Missouri political scene of the 1850s. This engraving of his painting is entitled Stump Speaking.

representation than a few hundred in another."45 The older counties, on the other hand, wanted representation based on population. Acock epitomized the "wolf scalp" beliefs and had arrived at the convention determined to "get county representation."46 His ap­ pointment to the committee on legislative power, which dealt with this matter, placed him in an enviable, albeit minority position. Nevertheless he argued, cajoled and stubbornly adhered to the prin­ ciple of county representation. Franklin Cannon, the chairman of the committee on legislative power, on November 29, reported to the convention. Among its suggested changes, the majority of the committee had deleted the one per county representative method in favor of representation based on the "free white population." The house would not exceed 100 mem­ bers and the state senate would contain 33. When Cannon finished his report, Acock rose and addressed the convention, declaring that he disagreed with the report and that he might issue a minority position.47 On December 4, during discussion about the article on legislative power, an amendment to the committee report was made to reinsert the plan that each county have one representative. Acock favored the amendment, but it was defeated by a 40-25 vote. He then moved to

45 Ibid., 37. 46 Jefferson City Jefferson Inquirer, December 19, 1845. "Ibid., December 3, 1845. 294 Missouri Historical Review strike the second and third sections of the committee report. He wanted to insert: The House of Representatives shall consist of members to be chosen by the qualified voters every two years; the num­ ber of representatives shall never exceed one for every three thousand free white male inhabitants, but each coun­ ty shall have one member.48 Acock supported his position, according to an observer, by stating that it "was just and right, and in accordance with the prin­ ciple of representation set forth in the constitution of the U.S." He used as examples various states including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama and other states that "favor strongly the sparsely populated counties." The majority report, he intimated, would cause "large fractions" of population to be unrepresented. The reporter for the Jefferson Inquirer recalled Acock's argument: Suppose, said he [Acock], 2300 is fixed as the ratio,—what will be done with two adjoining counties that contain each 2200? They must be added together, and then 2100 go unrepresented,—being a fraction under the amount proposed to be fixed. This will be the operation to a greater or less extent on the small counties.49 James O. Broadhead immediately saw an inconsistency in Acock's argument. He told his fellow delegates that using Acock's numbers "one for every three thousand free white male inhabitants" would only produce 77 members, while Missouri contained 96 coun­ ties. As a delegate from a large populated county, he would "submit to nothing else but equal representation." But James A. Green, who also favored one county represen­ tation, commended the Polk Countian: "The deep and profound at­ tention with which the speaker [Acock] was listened to, clearly evince his abilities as an orator of no ordinary character. . . ."50 The debate on representation continued with amendments being introduced, argued and tabled or defeated. At times voices grew loud and accusations were hurled. One student of the constitutional con­ vention has estimated that over 100 proposals were suggested to solve the impasse.51 Acock's position and the stances taken by other delegates from the newer, sparsely populated "wolf scalp" counties

'Ibid., December 12, 1845. 1 Ibid. ' Ibid. Bradford, "Missouri Constitutional Controversy," 40. Robert Eaton Acock 295 clearly reflected the beliefs that one county representation would potentially ensure consideration of their individual problems. The endless debate produced frayed nerves as the subject took up most of the convention meetings for a month. A member, James W. Morrow, remarked that the "extraordinary course" of the debate sur­ prised him: For three days gentlemen have been debating, and debating what? Not the proposition before the convention certainly. Neither the proposition of the committee on legislative power, nor the amendment of the gentleman from Polk, (Mr. Acock) has received any attention from them. Gentlemen have been pursuing a shadow and after three days pursuit it still eludes their grasp.52 As the debate dragged on, it became evident that a compromise must be reached. W. C. Jones provided the language for the solution. Each county would have one representative regardless of its size if it contained an adequate number of white inhabitants. A set ratio ac­ cording to population would provide additional representation.53 Acock, however, still spoke out for one county representation. What particularly rankled him was that some contiguous counties without enough white inhabitants to fit within the established ratio would be formed into districts. Thus, these counties would not have an actual representative. On December 15, Broadhead, angered by the "sordid, selfish in­ terest that governed some," moved to adjourn sine die. His motion was declared out of order, but his displeasure with Acock did not sub­ side. Dr. F. W. Y. Thomas, who viewed Jones's proposal as primarily favoring the newer counties, admonished Acock and "expressed his regret that there were men here, who in getting advantage, wanted it for all time to come."54 Acock responded to both Broadhead and Dr. Thomas. He had come to the convention to retain county represen­ tation and he had "yielded much." He reportedly said: In the proposition of Mr. Jones of N.fewton], there were thirty counties that would have no member. He asked where would the members from those counties be distributed? He referred to the poll tax paid in Polk in con­ trast with St. Louis—and showed that in St. Louis there were, in 1841, but 2,500 who paid a poll tax, yet by some magic they had made one man four or five men.55

52 Jefferson City Jefferson Inquirer, December 23, 1845. 53 Perry McCandless, A History of Missouri, Volume II: 1820-1860 (Columbia, Mo., 1972), 240; Bradford, "Missouri Constitutional Controversy," 42. 54 Jefferson City Jefferson Inquirer, December 18, 1845. 55 Ibid. 296 Missouri Historical Review

James O. Broadhead

Arguments continued about representation although the delegates of the "wolf scalp counties" were not that displeased with Jones's apportionment ratio. When Green offered an amendment on December 19, stipulating that after the constitution was passed, an enumeration of white inhabitants would be conducted and repeated every four years, the delegates from the frontier sections of the state decided to support the measure. Acock voted for the total proposition because it came "from his friends and he was disposed to go for it." The final vote on representation was 54-9.56 Finally that subject was behind the convention. Illness overcame Acock on Saturday, December 20. He had con­ tracted "typhus fever," and on January 5, 1846, the Jefferson Inquirer reported that he "is now on the recovery." His roommate and opponent over representation, Dr. Thomas, had given Acock medical aid. Although his health improved, he never attended another meeting of the convention, and when the Jefferson Inquirer published the 1845 constitution, Acock's name was not among the signers.57 Whether Acock was pleased or displeased with the final draft of the constitution remains unknown. Since representation still favored the less populated rural counties he had to be somewhat content with

56 Ibld- J- ^c 57 Ibid., January 21, 1846; Journal [Constitutional] Convention, Appendix, 25. Robert Eaton Acock 297

that portion of the constitution, even though he failed to retain one representative for each county. But he probably found displeasure in the fact that no provision for internal improvements had been in­ corporated in the document. Internal improvements for the Osage River region had been a most sought after item by the delegates from his area. Whether he actively campaigned for or against the constitution also remains unknown. Statewide, when the vote occurred, the con­ stitution went down to defeat 33,675 to 25,215; and, Polk County voted against it, 540 of the 698 votes cast there being in the negative.58 Internal improvements were especially important to the people of Southwest Missouri, but all Missourians and their legislators in the mid-1840s expressed interest in one type of internal improve­ ment—some kind of economical form of overland transportation. By 1854 the state had extricated itself from the woes of the panic of 1837. Once again it experienced economic growth, and this naturally led to a revived interest in efficient transportation facilities. Railroads ap­ peared to provide the type of transportation desired.59 By 1851, state-wide interest in railroads had increased to such a degree that legislators began to consider a policy of state aid to ensure immediate construction of rail lines. In that year the general assembly appropriated $3,500,000 worth of bonds that were loaned to the Han­ nibal and St. Joseph and the Pacific railroads. In addition, local com­ munities provided financial support. The ready optimism of the citizenry, however, turned to pessimism as costs overran estimates, and both public and private financial losses occurred. Still, the state advanced more aid through state bonds. When Acock returned to the house of representatives in 1852, he faced con­ sideration of yet another loan to the railroads. He also faced a legislative decision on how to allocate the federal government's land grant for railroads. This grant pertained to the even-numbered sec­ tions of land, six sections wide on each side of the proposed routes of the Hannibal and St. Joseph and the Pacific railroads. A few years later, Acock would find himself dealing with another federal grant for the Southwest Branch of the Pacific, a route directly involved in his area of the state. Throughout the deliberations over state and federal aid, the realities of railroad construction became evident, starting with the

58 Bradford, "Missouri Constitutional Controversy," 50. 59 McCandless, History of Missouri, 1820-1860, 144-150, presents a concise over­ view of the railroad issue. See, also, Paul W. Gates, "The Railroads of Missouri, 1850- 1870," MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW, XXVI (January, 1932), 128. 298 Missouri Historical Review initial problem of cost overruns. One student of the period has stated that: "Construction progress was slow as costs exceeded estimates by as much as 30 to 100 per cent."60 Other problems also surfaced. In 1852 the legislature undertook a second loan of $4,750,000 to aid the North Missouri, the St. Louis and Iron Mountain, the Pacific and the Southwest Branch of the Pacific. This placed an additional burden on the state's financial resources. Because of the risk involved, loans to the railroads became unpopular with the people. But the legislature was forced to continue its aid. If it did not do this, then the original in­ vestments were lost and no rail lines of any significance would be con­ structed. Local governments also subscribed to railroad stock, believing that a rail line would prove economically advantageous to their com­ munities. In time most of this stock proved worthless. By 1855, the cry arose that corruption existed in railroad building. The general assem­ bly during that year appointed a commission to investigate suspicions of corruption and bribery before granting further aid. Though find­ ings proved inconclusive on these two points, one chilling fact was documented: less than one hundred miles of railroad had been com­ pleted. Only the Pacific had constructed its road from St. Louis to Jefferson City. The Hannibal and St. Joseph had a number of miles of road under construction. Nevertheless, the commission advocated fur­ ther state aid and authorized $11,000,000 more to be expended in bonds. The problems of railroad construction remained, and by the time of the Civil War, Missouri's general assembly had chartered 104 railroad companies. Only a few of these companies ever completed their proposed roads and, according to one historian, few ever began construction.61

McCmdless, History of Missouri, 1820-1860, 147. Ibid., 146-147. Robert Eaton Acock 299

As Polk County's representative from 1852 to 1856, Acock often spoke to the railroad bills. During the September 18, 1852 meeting of the extra session of the legislature, he addressed the Pacific Railroad proposal, its terminus, and what it would mean to Southwest Missouri. A decision before the house concerned whether the Pacific's terminus should be south or north of the Osage River. He believed that half of the federal land grant would be lost to Missouri if legislators approved any other but a southwestern route. The grant, he contended, should benefit the "whole people." He further remarked that: ... if the claims of the south-west are now passed over it may be best that she be no longer represented in the coun­ cils of the State, but apply the per diem of her members to making [internal] improvements. Lands along the river he correctly contended were worth more than Southwest lands because of the accessibility of markets. If the road construction occurred in the Southwest, it would increase the wealth of that section. The geographical position of the Southwest, he main­ tained, was superior to that of any other section. Manufacturing would find the Southwest an "advantagious" area in which to locate. If the railroad line went to the Southwest, Acock said, "it could be built as the greatest interest is felt on the subject." The intention of Congress, he implied was: . . . that the road should go where the land could be sold to the best advantage, and if justice is now done, he would vote for the extension of state credit to aid the construction of other roads.62 Acock was only one of many representatives who spoke out con­ cerning the federal land grant and the railroads. On September 21, the extra session had recessed until December 13.63 Two days later Acock received his committee assignments for the remainder of the extra session and the regular session. Besides appointments to the education and claims committees, he chaired the important Committee on In­ ternal Improvements.64 The introduction of the North Missouri Railroad bill, on Decem­ ber 18, caused the Polk Countian again to address his colleagues. He questioned the introduction of the bill at that time and contended that St. Louis members of the house wanted to divide the northern and

62 Jefferson City Jefferson Inquirer, September 25, 1852. 63 Journal of the House, Mo. 17th General Assembly, Extra Session (Jefferson City, 1852), 127, 129. 64 Ibid., 134. 300 Missouri Historical Review

southwestern representatives on the railroad bills. Acock angrily remarked: There was many ways to get up a fight, and this might be one. . . . this morning a proposition is made from away up north to bring this bill before it is printed, and thus get a fight between the south-west and north, and then those who have come in at the eleventh hour, claim to be its peculiar friends. Then, Acock said that despite this, he favored the North Missouri bill and, whether included with other railroad bills or taken separately, he planned to vote for it.65 Since part of the 1852 bonds went to the Southwestern Branch of the Pacific, Acock, of course, was extremely pleased. No doubt his chairmanship of the internal improvement committee proved beneficial, but the spirit of legislative compromise played an even more important part. Once his primary interest—the Southwest Branch—was assured, however, Polk County's representative on at least one occasion refused to compromise, and in that instance another of the numerous rail lines hopeful for a loan was thwarted. On February 22 the Platte County Railroad bill received house consideration. Representatives spoke for and against the bill and a supplemental senate bill. One of the principal proponents, John W. Kelly, requested the favorable consideration by the southwestern delegation because the Northwest had voted for the Southwest Branch. But members from the Southwest did not favor the supplemental bill. Acock, who had professed support for the Platte County branch, spoke. At this time he planned to vote no, as his constituents requested; he also denied that he had ever pledged "to go for those cross roads in order to get the Southwestern road." St. Louisan Francis P. Blair, Jr., was "astonished" by the op­ position from the Southwest, and "especially at the gentleman from Polk." Blair chastised Acock: Now he shelters himself behind what he terms the will of his constituents, and goes against the very measure he had voted for, the friends of which had united and supported his project. To this charge Acock simply replied that an attempt to secure in­ structions had failed. Blair was not to be appeased. In a lengthy discourse he spoke about a number of the opponents. Again referring to Acock, he said:

65 Jefferson City Jefferson Inquirer, December 25, 1852. Robert Eaton Acock 301

Francis P. Blair, Jr.

The gentleman from Polk . . . has also been provided for, most magnificently provided for by grants of land, 1,300,000 acres, and the credit of the state to the tune of $1,000,000, and now when those who helped him, ask for favors in return, he pleads that his constituents have in­ structed him not to accord them. . . . When his instructions suit his own wishes, then he will obey, otherwise he will not. Blair's castigations did not sway Acock or the rest of the opponents. When the final vote was taken on the Platte County Railroad bill, it met defeat, 63-52.66 Acock continued to battle the railroads in 1855. During that legislative term a senate bill was introduced to provide relief for the Pacific Railroad and other companies. The bill, in particular, loaned the Pacific $200,000 at 6 percent interest, payable at the end of four and six months. Acock believed it best to oppose the bill "from the word go." If he understood the bill correctly, he "would just as soon take the $200,000 out of the treasury and present it to the company." He cautioned the members of the legislature to be "on their guard." Previously he had voiced opposition to bringing the bill before the house. And Acock did not want to discuss it at this time. Quite simply,

66 Ibid., February 26, 1853. ft- 302 Missouri Historical Review he "did not believe the money, if voted to the company, would be ap­ plied to build one more foot of road. "67 Francis P. Blair replied that the "gentleman from Polk" should not speak out about what he did not understand. The company had to spend an equal amount of money before it could use the bonds. Blair and Acock would clash again over the subject, but for the moment the bill was referred to the Committee on Internal Improvements.68 When the committee reported the bill, Polk County's represen­ tative attacked it. Though he favored railroads, he opposed "ex­ travagant appropriations" and he advised that the third section of the bill be stricken. That section allowed railroad companies to issue bonds at the real market value or pledge the bonds for loans to con­ tinue operating. Acock supposedly noted the Pacific Railroad president's report stating the bonds would not sell for more than half their face value. According to Acock: "It was therefore time to stop issuing bonds."69 During the afternoon session of February 9, the Pacific Railroad debate continued. James S. Rollins moved to amend the bill to ensure that the state would receive mortgages for the loan. After Rollins end­ ed his discussion Acock rose and told the members that they misun­ derstood his opposition. His referral to the president's report had been misinterpreted. To correct this he restated the portion of the report that said if "the state kept this for mortgage, she may probably realize by sale . . .[half the cost] she had advanced." Acock also believed that the Rollins amendment strengthened the bill and assured that the state's credit would not be weakened. Therefore, he would vote for the amended bill.70 Acock's concern over protecting state loans and credit was well founded. Railroad construction during the 1850s was plagued by in­ creased costs and staggering overruns. A number of companies that had received charters and subscribed stock never laid a mile of track. Consequently charges of corruption and waste were commonplace. Bonds, therefore, proved to be risky ventures, a problem Acock noted when he approved of Rollins's amendment. He would continue to guard against what he considered improper use of state funds, while at the same time propose legislation that he believed would benefit the Southwest section of the state.71 By the time the Eighteenth General Assembly had concluded its

' Jefferson City Weekly Jefferson Inquirer, February 10, 1853. ! Ibid. ' Ibid.; Glasgow Weekly Times, February 22, 1855. 1 Jefferson City Weekly Jefferson Inquirer, February 17, 1855. Ibid., March 3, 10, 1855; Journal of the House, Mo. 18: a Gen, Assy., 440. Robert Eaton Acock 303

James S. Rollins

Courtesy Ruth Rollins Westfall deliberations, Acock had decided not to seek reelection. Even so he continued to be active in Democratic politics, attending county and district meetings and campaigning for candidates who exemplified his political beliefs.72 In 1858, however, he reluctantly allowed himself to be considered as a state senatorial candidate. His friend and political ally, Dr. John F. Snyder, had announced his campaign for Polk County representative.73 Acock attended the district senatorial convention held at Buffalo in early May. The Democrats convened a meeting and Acock, "the old * wheel-horse' " addressed the members. He recounted "every progressive step" of the state's internal improvement system. The financial affairs of Missouri, he explained, "had year by year become entangled, interwoven and identified with the railroad interest. ..." He had opposed this and believed his actions correct since he placed the interests of the people and Missouri above any special interests. When it became time for the Democrats to vote for a candidate for the state senate, only two names were mentioned: Acock and Dr. J. F. Powers, of Hickory County. On the first ballot Acock received 524 votes to Powers's 347. Polk County's "old wheel-horse" then received the nomination by acclamation.74

72 Bolivar Weekly Courier, May 31, 1856, February 6, 1858. 73 Ibid., May 8, 1858. 74 Ibid. 304 Missouri Historical Review

A few days later, however, Acock decided not to run for office. On May 10, 1858, he wrote Snyder: Taking all things into consideration it will be out of my power to make the canvass for the senate. I know the nomination was tendered me believing I would make an ac­ tive and vigorous canvass and as I cannot do this I would do injustice to my Democratic friends and to my own feelings .... I therefore respectfully decline .... my private business will require all my time even were my health good.75 Acock's health, no doubt, was a prime consideration in his decision. He had been ill during the 1845 constitutional convention, and he had missed meetings as a legislator because of illness. By 1858 his health was failing. B. F. Massey, a political ally of Acock and Snyder, testified to this in a letter to Snyder in July 1858: "Old man Acock I suppose is as happy as a man can be in such hot weather. Some of his friends ought to caution him against any very great exer­ tion at least until frost comes."76 The editor of the Bolivar Weekly Courier announced Acock's decision not to campaign for state senator in the May 24, 1858 issue:

75 R. E. Acock to Doct. Jno. F. Snyder, May 10, 1858, Dr. John F. Snyder Collec­ tion, Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis. 76 B. F. Massey to J. F. Snyder, July 3, 1858, Snyder Collection.

An Engraving of George Caleb Bingham's Painting, Canvassing For A Vote Robert Eaton Acock 305

We learn by a letter from Col. Acock (who is now at St. Louis) to Dr. Snyder . . . that he refuses to accept the nomination tendered him by the Buffalo convention. It seems that neither the Col's health, private business, or in­ clination will permit him to make the canvass. We knew before the nomination . . . that he did not desire to become a candidate. . . .77 Acock left the life of an elected politician for the moment. He at­ tended to his farming operation and money lending. Perhaps an event even more important to him occurred the following June—his marriage to his second wife, Lucy C. McCulloch. Nevertheless, his political following remained. On June 25, 1859, the Bolivar Weekly Courier reprinted a letter from "Southwest" to the editor of the Springfield Advertiser. Southwest Missouri never had a citizen elected governor. Acock, according to the writer, deserved the opportunity to become the first governor from the area. He wrote, "... I would call prominently before the Democracy, an old, tried and conservative warhorse of the party. . . . Robert E. Acock has been fighting the battles of the good cause for many, many years. . . ,"78 Acock returned to the political scene in 1860. On April 9, he at­ tended the Democratic State Convention held in Jefferson City. Fac­ tionalism was rampant within the party, as the issues of slavery in the territories and the presidential candidacy of Stephen A. Douglas divided the party. Shortly after the convention opened, the anti- Douglas faction (of which Acock was a member) and its opposition began feuding.79 When the convention chose its permanent officers, the anti- Douglas faction placed its men in all but one of the positions. Acock attained the presidency of the convention.80 Dr. John F. Snyder, Acock's friend for many years and a member of the convention recalled: "In accepting . . . [the presidency] Acock undertook the task

77 Bolivar Weekly Courier, May 24, 1858. 78 Ibid., June 25, 1859. As involved as Acock became in Missouri's political scene, not all of his activities could be addressed in this article. Those interested in further exploration of his political life should consult the legislative j ournals of the general assem­ blies in which he served, plus the contemporary newspapers, in particular the Jefferson City Jefferson Inquirer, the Jefferson City Jefferson Examiner, the Jefferson City Weekly Jefferson Inquirer and the Bolivar Weekly Courier. The Dr. John F. Snyder Collection at the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, also contains correspondence relative to Acock's political life. 79 A concise report of the Democratic State Convention of 1860 appears in Robert Shalhope, Sterling Price: Portrait of a Southerner (Columbia, Mo., 1971), 138-141. Dr. John F. Snyder, a participant in the convention, recalled the events of the convention in his "Democratic State Convention in 1860," 112-130. 80 Shalhope, Sterling Price, 139; Snyder, "Democratic State Convention in 1860," 114. 306 Missouri Historical Review

that his strength was totally inadequate to accomplish for no body of respectable men anywhere could have been more boisterous and refractory. . . ."81 By the second day, April 10, Acock suffered com­ plete exhaustion. Snyder remembered that his voice "could not be heard ten feet away." The old, physically weak Polk Countian relinquished his duties to Sterling Price, and even Price had difficulty in maintaining order.82 According to one historian: "Acock's feebleness proved to be a blessing to the Douglas faction, since his resignation enabled Price to guide debate in favor of the Illinois senator."83 Acock and his friends only achieved two victories during the con­ vention. One of their leaders, Claiborne Fox Jackson, won the guber­ natorial nomination and the delegates to the national Democratic con­ vention were under no instructions when they voted for the party's presidential nominee.84 Acock's health did not significantly improve after the state con­ vention. Snyder recalled that he was still "in very feeble health" in late September. He regained some strength during the winter of 1860- 1861. In March 1861, however, his condition declined. After being sick for a few days, "the gentleman from Polk" died during the evening of March 15,85 bringing to an end the life of a prominent and important Southwest Missourian.

81 Ibid., 121. 82 Ibid.; Shalhope, Sterling Price, 140. "Ibid., 141. "Ibid., 140, 141. 85 Bolivar Weekly Courier, March 16, 1861.

Side Lights at Jefferson City

Kansas City Citizens' League Bulletin, February 1919. The midday sun shone through the unshaded windows into the faces of the Republican members of the senate. The suave Senator Gardner rose and blandly asked the majority members for relief. He suggested that perhaps they, like Joshua, might make the sun stand still; or perhaps they might change the angle of the new building, or would they be gracious enough to have something done to prevent the sun from blinding the eyes of the Republican senators, as the senate and the state of Missouri was very much in need of the enlightened services of the Republican minority. [Lieutenant] Governor Crossley replied that shades had been ordered and Senator Casey closed the discussion with the remark that it would do the Republicans good to see the light oc­ casionally. History of "La Saline": Salt Manufacturing Site 1675-1825

BY DAVID D. DENMAN*

When the first French hunters and settlers entered the Mississippi River Valley, their major concern for survival was the procurement of an adequate, year-round supply of foodstuffs. They relied principally upon meat. However, to keep sufficient stocks of meat for later con­ sumption, salt became the most important ingredient for pickling and preserving. Moreover, Europeans considered salt an absolutely necessary condiment in their daily life. So much so that, together with sugar, it was contemporarily felt that no ". . . civilized people would be content to live without them."1 Thus, one of the most important con­ siderations in any attempt at sedentary colonization centered around finding an abundant supply of salt. Exigencies arising from the processing of meat for preservation required prodigious quantities of salt. For example, it required a

*David D. Denman is currently an M.A. candidate in History at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He received a B.A. degree in Anthropology from UMC. 1 Captain G. Imlay, Topographical Description of the Western Territory of North America (London, 1792), 113.

307 308 Missouri Historical Review minimum of four pounds of salt to cure hams of twenty pounds, and approximately fifteen pounds per 100 weight of salt pork or beef. Settlers and hunters required much more salt than realistically could be imported from French Canada or, later in time, shipped upstream from New Orleans. Fortunately for them, salt springs existed at various locations in the Mississippi River Valley. The largest of these was on the west bank of the Mississippi River a short distance upstream on a tributary called Saline Creek. The Saline Creek empties into the Mississippi River approximately eight miles below present-day Ste. Genevieve (see map). This salt spring became the first source for the supply of salt exploited by the French in the Louisiana colony. The Illinois settlements quickly obtained a dominant position as a supply source for meats and grains to many of the incipient settlements and posts, in the Mississippi Valley throughout the eighteenth century. Without the benefit of the salt spring (hereafter referred to as la saline) in the vicinity, the immense trade in salted meat probably would have been impossible. The presence of la saline was known from prehistoric times. The

La Saline and vicinity [ca. 17951 History Of "La Saline" 309

Mississippian Indian culture had exploited extensively the spring from approximately 800 to 1500 A.D. They evaporated the salt impregnated water in large ceramic "salt pans."2 Use of the salt spring by native Indians continued into the historic contact period. They told the French of the existence of the salt springs. In all probability the Jesuit missionaries among the tribes of the Illinois Confederacy first learned of the existence of la saline. In 1677, Father Claude Allouez recorded the springs' location in the area where the Illinois Indian tribes made salt.3 However, no records exist that prove Allouez particularly referred to la saline. Ten years later one of La Salle's companions, Joutel, probably became the first European to write about visiting the spring. He inspected the site at the insistence of his Indian guides.4 Another of La Salle's men, Henry Du Tonty, provided notes for a crude map of the Middle Mississippi River Valley in the late seventeenth century. On this map he noted the location of the stream he called "saline," a French word for salt spring.5 By the turn of the eighteenth century the existence and location of the salt springs was common knowledge. Not until 1703, however, did any permanent Indian or French settlement occur near the spring. In that year the Kaskaskia tribe of the Illinois Confederacy moved to a point between the Kaskaskia and Mississippi rivers on the east bank, virtually due east of the Saline Creek. Previously the Kaskaskia tribe had migrated from the large encampment of the Illinois Confederacy on the Illinois River to a place on the west bank of the Mississippi River near present-day St. Louis.6 Frequent raids by the Sioux had prompted the Kaskaskia to move their village site.7 Not only did the new Kaskaskia site prove more defensible, but it encompassed part of the traditional territory of the Illinois Confederacy tribes. French missionaries and traders moved with the tribe to the Kaskaskia location, forming the nucleus of the foremost French set­ tlement in the Illinois territory during the early eighteenth century.

2 David Bushnell, "Primitive Salt-Making in the Mississippi Valley," Man, XIII (1907), 17. 3 Reuben Gold Thwaites, ed., Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents: Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 1610-1791 (Cleveland, 1896), LX, 163. 4 B. F. French, ed., "Joutel's Historical Journal of Monsieur De La Salle's Last Voyage to Discover the River Mississippi," Historical Collections of Louisiana (New York, 1846), I, 181. 5 Edmund Robert Murphy, Henry Du Tonty: Fur Trader of the Mississippi (Baltimore, 1941), 92-93. 6 Wayne C. Temple, "Indian Villages of the Illinois Country: Historic Tribes," Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers (1958), II, 34-35. 7 Sister Mary Borgias Palm, The Jesuit Missions of the Illinois Country, 1673- 1763 (Cleveland, 1933), 40-41. 310 Missouri Historical Review

Geographically the chosen site proved ideal for continued European colonization. It became a logical stopping place along the water route from French Canada to the newly established colony near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The broad belt of alluvial bottomland was well suited to agriculture. On the upland hills, a short distance away, large groves of trees abounded. The unique advantage of having the salt spring just across the river contributed to the ultimate growth of Kaskaskia. Father Gabriel Marest, one of the Jesuit missionaries, un­ derscored their importance when in 1712 he wrote that "Besides the beauty of the place, we also have salt-springs in the neighborhood, which are of great benefit to us."8 The French colonists and the Indians made frequent trips to la saline to boil off salt. Andre Penicaut, a member of an exploratory ex­ pedition in 1700, described the activity at la saline: ". . .we found La Petite Riviere de la Saline, [so named] because there are two springs of salt water. Here is where the French and Illinois come to get their salt."9 In this early period, the demand appeared infrequent and relative to the immediate needs of the incipient settlement. However, the thriving trade in skins and peltries from this region depended, in part, upon a steady supply of salt. The initial export trade from the Illinois country consisted almost entirely of skins and peltries.10 The process of curing and tanning animal skins required large amounts of salt, particularly for the more bulky hides. A heavy hide, such as bear or buffalo, required fully one- third of its weight in salt to adequately preserve it from decay. The saline, therefore, provided an ideal site to carry out the final steps of curing and tanning. The area also provided an excellent hunting ground. Joutel stated that buffalo, in search of salt water, churned up the ground near the spring.11 Thus, colonists found it convenient to use la saline as a center for hunting and the processing of hides. Penicaut's narrative mentioned a "settlement" at the salt spring.12 He may have referred to an encampment of hunters and trappers. The Illinois colony grew rapidly during the 1720s. The rich bot­ tomlands quickly yielded surplus wheat when tilled and sown by the colonists. Cattle and swine appeared well adapted to the climate and

8 Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, LXVI, 291. 9 Richebourg Gaillard McWilliams, trans, and ed., Fleur de Lys and Calumet: Being the Penicaut Narrative of French Louisiana (Baton Rouge, 1953), 39-40. 10 N. M. Miller Surrey, "The Commerce of Louisiana During the French Regime, 1699-1763," Columbia University Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law LXXI,no. 1(1916), 288. 11 French, "De La Salle's Last Voyage," 181. 12 Mc Williams, Fleur de Lys and Calumet, 39-40. History Of "La Saline" 311

A Jesuit Missionary Preaching to the Indians thrived on the thick growth of native grasses. Livestock required minimal care and ranged free, returning occasionally for small quan­ tities of salt. The habitants of the Illinois country found an accessible outlet for their surplus foodstuffs during the early 1720s. The rapidly growing settlements on the Lower Mississippi River, including New Orleans, depended on the annual shipment of grain and meat from the Illinois country.13 Salted buffalo supplemented the exported domestic meats. In 1722, Benard de La Harpe met two pirogues descending the river with 5,000 pounds of this commodity.14 By 1732, a substantial yearly trade existed between the Illinois country and the rest of Louisiana. In that year, 200 quintals (quintal = 100 pounds) of salt beef, 600-700 hams and 2,000 quintals of flour were boated down the Mississippi River.15 To preserve the beef and hams required over 6,000 pounds of salt, boiled from nearly 20,000 gallons of water at the salt spring. A large volume of cart traffic on the road between the river ferry to la saline and Kaskaskia indicated the activity at the salt works. Public records of Kaskaskia frequently referred to the road.16 Ac-

13 Surrey, "Commerce of Louisiana," 289. 14 Jean-Baptiste Benard de La Harpe, The Historical Journal of the Establishment of the French in Louisiana, trans, by Joan Cain and Virginia Koenig, ed. by Glenn R. Conrad, University of Southwestern Louisiana History Series #3 (Lafayette, La., 1971), 200. 15 Surrey, "Commerce of Louisiana," 289. 16 Natalia Maree Belting, "Kaskaskia Under the French Regime," Illinois Studies in the Social Sciences, XXIX, no. 3 (1948), 22. 312 Missouri Historical Review cording to these records, carters often strayed from the poorly marked road, destroying crops in the adjacent fields. Ultimately, residents laid out and marked a broad thoroughfare.17 During the early 1730s, Ste. Genevieve was established on the western bank of the Mississippi River, just a little north of the point opposite Kaskaskia. Settlers located the village on a broad fertile loop of land in a bend of the river. Saline Creek flowed into the river at the lower point of this bend, four miles below the village. The salt trade contributed an important factor in the mercantile life of the new village. Merchants in Ste. Genevieve quickly grasped the advantage of controlling the manufacture of salt. As recorded in 1765, "... several persons belonging to this village [Ste. Genevieve] have works here, and make great quantities of salt for the supply of the Indians, hunters, and the other settlements."18 La saline was under private ownership at least as early as 1766. In that year, Jean La Grange sold la saline, ten black slaves, cattle and kettles to Daniel Blouin, a merchant of high standing in the Illinois country.19 The decade of the 1760s witnessed a complete political trans­ formation in the North American colonies. In 1765, the British

17 Ibid. 18 Captain Philip Pittman, The Present State of the European Settlements on the Mississippi (London, 1770; reprint, Cleveland, 1906), 50. 19 Louis Houck, History of Missouri (Chicago, 1908), I, 342.

A Primitive Leather Worker History Of "La Saline " 313

assumed control of the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, ceded to them in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris. At approximately the same time, the Spanish received, by a separate treaty, the west bank. The political transition had very little overt effect on the Illinois country. Neither Britain nor Spain initiated any policy of colonization, but were satisfied with administrative and nominal military control of the two opposing shores of the Mississippi River. The English officers of the Fort Chartres garrison, near Kaskaskia, anxiously described their recently acquired territory, and reported to their superiors the relative merits of the British side of the river. They uniformly reported the coveted lead and salt deposits on the west bank. In 1765, Captain Thomas Stirling, commander of the English garrison at Fort Chartres, commented in a letter to General Thomas Gage, commander in chief of North America, "... they [Spanish] have the advantage of the Salt Springs, and Lead Mines with which this Colony is Supplied, on their Side, none of those has been yet found out here."20 Lt. Alexander Fraser, another English officer of the garrison, echoed his sentiments, lamenting the fact that the salt spring was on the Spanish side of the Mississippi River.21 The Spanish hesitated in showing their presence in Upper Louisiana. Finally, in 1769, Don Pedro Piernas, lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana, ascended the Mississippi River, and sent back to New Orleans a detailed report of the new colony. Piernas left the first good description of the salt works at la saline. "It is a site composed of four or five houses, which were built by some industrious habitants for the working of the salt and its storing, and were sufficient for the supply of the country."22 This description implied that a permanent work force resided at la saline. In the early 1770s Captain Thomas Hutchins, on a geographical expedition to the western country, noted the presence of a "hamlet" called "the Saline" at the mouth of a creek four miles below Ste. Genevieve.23 Available documents indicate that slaves largely comprised the settlement. As part of the deed of sale in 1766, Daniel Blouin purchased ten slaves in addition to the salt works. These slaves may have been the primary labor force at la saline. A document

20 Clarence Walworth Alvord and Clarence Edwin Carter, eds., The New Regime, 1765-1767, in Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield, 111., 1916), XI, 126. 21 Jacob Piatt Dunn, ed., "Documents Relating to the French Settlements on the Wabash," Indiana Historical Society Publications, II, no. 11 (1894), 9. 22 Louis Houck, The Spanish Regime in Missouri (Chicago, 1909), I, 71-72. 23 Thomas Hutchins, Topographical Description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina (London, 1778; reprint, Cleveland, 1904), 110. 314 Missouri Historical Review

*s£PZ*4JV of f&e several \HIage s m ffo ILLINOIS COUNTJIV, mtJbParfeftfo River Mifsifsippi &c. ft

This early map appeared in Thomas Hutchins, A Topographical Description of Vir­ ginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina (1778), reprinted by Burrows Brothers Co., Cleveland, in 1904. History Of "La Saline" 315

Pioneer Trapper

of 1783 provides stronger evidence for this assumption. It mentioned a Frenchman as "boss" over a slave work force at la saline. The latter document also implied slave cultivation of lands around the salt works. Cutting the wood needed to feed the salt furnaces left large tracts of land in the immediate vicinity essentially cleared of forest cover. Perhaps settlers put into cultivation a large percentage of the suitable land, such as the bottomlands adjacent to Saline Creek. The 1783 document lists three men as owners of salt works on Saline Creek: Jean Datchurut, owner of la saline, and two Ste. Genevieve merchants, Louis Bolduc and Jean Valle.24 In 1787, Don Henri Peyroux, military commandant of Ste. Genevieve, purchased la saline. Almost immediately Peyroux petitioned for, and received, a grant of 7,760 acres from Manuel Perez, lieutenant governor of Western Illinois, that "... he may have sufficient quantity of timber for the great consumption of the Saline. . . ,"25 Peyroux's interest in the salt works proved strictly speculative. He never resided at the site, preferring to lease the works annually in return for a specific amount of salt. The greatest number of historical documents survive from the

24 Houck, History of Missouri, I, 342, 346-347. 25 American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive of the Congress of the United States in Relation to Public Lands (Washington, D.C, 1860), VII, 804- 805. 316 Missouri Historical Review

1790s period. The most illuminating is a 1795 contract, in which Peyroux leased the property to John McClenahan and John Lafoucade.26 This lease agreement details the property and tools used in the salt evaporation process. It noted the composition of la saline site as one salt furnace, two dwelling houses, a salt storing building, cart house (a barn for the working oxen) and a lumber house (presumably for the storage of cord wood for the furnace). The rest of the equipage consisted of, A large vessel for holding salt water, two other vessels, five large [indecipherable word] to convey water, two large spoons for taking out salt from the kettles, four other salt spoons, one large coal raker, one large hoe, one large pick, two shovels, two hand barrows, two ladders, two vessels for holding salt water, one iron shovel, one wooden pump thirty five feet long, one old pump, twenty five iron kettles for salt boiling, eight iron boxes, two pairs of oxen, fifty hogs, four axes, four carts, four augers, one handsaw, one drawing knife, a foot adz, and three iron wedges.27 Also included in the lease agreement were five slaves, ostensibly to do the bulk of the physical labor at the salt works. To obtain the lease, McClenahan and Lafoucade agreed to give Peyroux sixty bushels of salt each month.28 In addition, the lease implied that the land about la saline would be cultivated as it was cleared of forest cover. Jean Valle, civil commandant at Ste. Genevieve, later stated that much of the land was "... inhabitated and cultivated; that there were several farms on the same and many buildings and houses. . . ."29 Settlement in the vicinity of the salt works grew rapidly during the decade of the 1790s. A partial list of inhabitants in 1799 noted twenty- six men in the Saline Creek area. Their occupations included twelve "saltmakers," three coopers (who probably labored at the salt works) and three merchants.30 The magnitude of the work force employed directly or indirectly at the saline revealed how large the salt works had become by the end of the eighteenth century. Rapid advancement of settlement in the Trans-Alleghany West accounted for the swift ex­ pansion of the salt works. By 1790 Kentucky had a population of over 70,000, and settlements in Ohio, Tennessee and Indiana contributed substantially to the census figures. A small number of settlers

26 John Lafoucade and John McClenahan vs. Henry Peyroux in St. Louis Court House Papers, folio 31, #44, Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Missouri. 27 Ibid. 28 Ibid. 29 American State Papers: Public Lands, VII, 804-805. 30 Houck, Spanish Regime, II, 293-294. History Of "La Saline" 317 penetrated as far as the Mississippi River by the late 1790s. The burgeoning population created a growing demand for salt. The Saline Creek works represented the only source for export salt beyond the Alleghany Mountains in the initial period of the Anglo-American migration. Boonesboro, in the Upper Ohio River Valley, was one of the first settlements west of the mountains. In 1778 a group of fifteen volunteers from Boonesboro made the long trip to la saline in order to bring back a load of salt to the settlement.31 However, this practice appears uncommon since salt springs abound­ ed in eastern Kentucky and other places in the Ohio River Valley. Frequently, the presence or absence of salt determined the settlement of a region. The need to be close to a source of salt led to settlement either in the immediate neighborhood of a salt spring or along a trade route where it could be readily procured by sale or barter.32 Captain G. Imlay, a commissioner for laying out land, stated that "... its [salt] scarcity and high price, in some measure discouraged the settlement of the country."33 Nonetheless, the Upper Ohio River Valley became self-sufficient in the production of salt within only a few years of its initial settlement. The Lower Ohio River Valley and the Cumberland River Valley in Tennessee and western Kentucky imported heavily from la saline. In 1802, Francois Michaux, who traveled extensively throughout the region, expressed the situation as it existed in western Tennessee,

31 Houck, History of Missouri, II, 255-256. 32 Isaac Lippincott, "Early Salt Trade of the Ohio Valley," Journal of Political Economy, XX (December, 1912), 1029-1052. 33 Imlay, Topographical Description of Western Territory, 119. 318 Missouri Historical Review

"Although this country abounds with saline springs, none are yet worked, as the scarcity of hands would render the salt dearer than what is imported from the salt pits at St. Genevieve. . . ,"34 The salt works on Saline Creek capably produced significant quantities of salt for the export trade. That industry presented all of the prerequisites to commercial expansion: a sufficient work force (primarily slave), fully developed physical plant and easy access to the primary transport routes (Mississippi, Ohio and Cumberland River systems). Travelers made numerous references to the trade in Ste. Genevieve salt along the Lower Ohio and Cumberland rivers during the 1790s and the early years of the nineteenth century.35 In 1797, Moses Austin described the trade in Ste. Genevieve salt: "... from thence [Ste. Genevieve] [it is] shipped up and down the river Missisipi as well as up the Ohio to Cumberland and Kentuckey."36 La saline, and the other attendant salt works, reached the apex of their com­ mercial existence in the late 1790s and the early part of the first decade of the nineteenth century. In 1808, Christian Schultz, a traveler noted for the excellence of his descriptive writing, remarked that forty-six kettles of twenty-five gallons each were then in use, producing about 15,000 bushels an­ nually. The proprietor informed Schultz that ". . .he expected two dozen more kettles in a very short time, which he intended to set up immediately."37 Peyroux retained control over la saline reaping the benefits of this extraordinary period of development. In 1796 Don Francesco Valle succeeded him as military commander at Ste. Genevieve.38 Peyroux moved to New Madrid to take up command at that post. Soon after the Louisiana Purchase he left for France never to return. He placed the salt works in the hands of a succession of lessors, intending to con­ tinue his profitable arrangement. This disposition proved satisfactory until 1808, when one of the lessees of la saline brought a suit for

34 F. A. Michaux, Travels to the West of the Alleghany Mountains {London, 1805), reprinted in Reuben Gold Thwaites, Early Western Travels, 1748-1846 (Cleveland, 1904), III, 280. 35 M. Perrin Du Lac, Travels through the Two Louisianas (London, 1807), 82-83; Christian Schultz, Travels on an Inland Voyage, 1807-1808 (New York, 1810), II, 73-74; Amos Stoddard, Sketches, Historical and Descriptive of Louisiana (Philadelphia, 1812), 218,401-402. 36 Moses Austin, "A Memorandum of Moses Austin's Journey," American Historical Review, IV (April, 1900), 541. 37 Schultz, Travels on an Inland Voyage, II, 73-74. 38 Houck, History of Missouri, 1,349. History Of "La Saline " 319 damages against Peyroux before the United States Territorial Court.39 Judgement favored the plaintiff, and to satisfy the $9,000 in recoverable damages, the salt works, together with the 7,760 acre grant, were sold to John Scott in 1812 for $8,600. Four months later Henry Dodge and Edward Hempstead each bought one-third interest in la saline.40 While under the ownership of these three Americans the trade in Ste. Genevieve salt rapidly declined. The events which led to this shrinking market actually began in 1803. In that year the United States government had taken control over the Indian territory in southern Illinois and Indiana.41 Salt springs were known to exist on this land within the current boundaries of Gallatin County, Illinois, as early as 1778. Because of pressure from native tribes no serious attempt had been made to exploit them.42 The government retained control of the land about the salt springs in southern Illinois, reserving them from public sale. Several of the springs were then leased to private in­ dividuals who immediately set up the apparatus to manufacture salt in large quantity. Gradually, salt produced from these works (called the United States Saline) began to dominate the trade of the Lower Ohio and Cumberland rivers. Ste. Genevieve's industry proved unable to compete with the imposed low price of salt produced at the springs leased from the government. The government purposed to make the greatest quantity of salt at the lowest price possible to the consumers. Salt from the United States Saline generally could be purchased for 75 cents a bushel, while Ste. Genevieve salt sold for $4 to $5 per bushel. Moreover, the total output from the United States Saline rapidly out­ stripped la saline. The estimated output from the Gallatin County springs totaled 130,000 bushels in 1810, while the output from la saline never exceeded 15,000 bushels.43 Thus, Ste. Genevieve lost the trade to Kentucky and Tennessee. With outside markets cut off, la saline continued to supply the ex­ panding local population in parts of Missouri and Illinois. The trade generated by the growing settlements on both banks of the Mississippi River insured an increasing demand for salt. Because of its ad­ vantageous geographical position, la saline retained control of this market in competition with the large salt works located on the Ohio

39 Lafoucade and McClenahan vs. Peyroux. 40 Abstract of title of land on Saline Creek and Mississippi River, in Ste. Genevieve Papers, Misc., Missouri Historical Society. 41 George W. Smith, "The Salines of Southern Illinois," in Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the year 1904 (Springfield, 111., 1904), 248. 42 Ibid., 246. 43 Lippincott, "Early Salt Trade," 1043. 320 Missouri Historical Review

River. The latter had to transport their product upstream, which in­ creased their cost and rendered their salt noncompetitive. Even with its markets severely curtailed, la saline still appeared in firm control of the local markets at the beginning of the 1820s. The works produced from 10,000 to 14,000 bushels of salt annually, with 100 to 150 kettles in active use.44 As late as 1822, a force of seventeen men with 150 kettles processed 12,000 bushels.45 In the next year, however, workers used only 70 kettles, and by 1825, all production had ceased. One primary factor contributed to the demise of la saline and other salt works throughout the Ohio River Valley as well. The in- troducton of the steamboat on western waters made it cheaper to im­ port salt from abroad through the port of New Orleans.46 Shipping goods upriver against the current no longer proved an arduous, ex­ pensive process. Steamboats required only days for a trip which previously took months by keelboat. Salt from the Ste. Genevieve works appeared unable to compete economically for even the local market. Thus, an industry, that spanned over 125 years, closed abruptly.

44 American State Papers: Public Lands, III, 580. 45 Ibid., Finance (Washington, D.C, 1858), IV, 220. 46 Ibid., 137; Alphonso Wetmore, Gazetteer of the State of Missouri (St. Louis, 1837), 171. The puma is depicted by Charles W. Schwartz.

Panther Hollow and Dead Elm School: Plant and Animal Place Names In Missouri

BY WALTER A. SCHROEDER*

One day, over a century ago, a pioneer woodsman was on his way home in the Ozarks near the Arkansas line. Crossing the soft wet ground at the base of a hill, he spied tracks of the puma, or painter, as he would call it. In the course of conversation this discovery was reported to family and friends who conjured up mental images of pan­ thers in that hollow. The following month our woodsman told his family he would be hunting again up in the "panther hollow," and from then on Panther Hollow in Oregon County had a name. By such incidents, in innumerable variations and forgotten over

•Walter A. Schroeder is an instructor in the Department of Geography, University of Missouri-Columbia. He has the B.A. degree in Geography from the University of Missouri-Columbia and the M.A. degree in Geography from the University of Chicago.

321 322 Missouri Historical Review the course of time, native plants and animals were used to name places throughout Missouri. Some places were more deliberately named from environmental features, but the majority are simply "descrip­ tive" or "topographic" names, whose time and origin of naming are vague at best. Missouri is rich in a great variety of place names. Between 1928 and 1945, Robert L. Ramsay and seventeen of his graduate students at the University of Missouri-Columbia compiled a comprehensive statewide survey of place names.1 Each student took a block of coun­ ties, collected all place names, recorded locations and thoroughly traced the origin of each name by local inquiry. The place names in­ clude names of cities, towns, villages, post offices, communities, townships, schools, churches, rivers, creeks, hollows, hills, valleys, sloughs and ponds,—in short, all the names by which Missourians have identified natural and cultural features in the landscape. This place-name collection does exclude street and other names within cities, an exclusion fitting the goals of this article. Naming streets after trees is a long-standing custom in any fair-sized Missouri town. The reason for the tree names is more often one of expedience in finding many names in a very short period of time and not one of association with the local environment of the street. At the conclusion of the sur­ vey Ramsay gathered these 32,324 names into an alphabetized card file which forms the reservoir of place names used in this article.2

' Adolph E. Schroeder, "Robert L. Ramsay and the Study of Missouri Place Names," paper read at the Associated Meeting of the American Name Society and the Midwest Modern Language Association, November 3, 1978, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The survey took the form of seventeen Master's theses and one "pre­ liminary study" for the doctoral dissertation: Orvyl Guy Adams, "Place Names in the North Central Counties of Missouri," 1928; Anne Eliza Atchison, "Place-Names of Five West Central Counties of Missouri," 1937; Margaret Ellen Bell, "Place-Names in the Southwest Border Counties of Missouri," 1933; Katherine Elliott, "Place-Names of Six North East Counties of Missouri," 1938; Martha Kennedy Ewing, "Place Names in the Northwest Counties of Missouri," 1929; Mayme Lucille Hamlett, "Place-Names of Six Southeast Counties of Missouri," 1938; Mayme Lucille Hamlett, "Place Names of Counties in Southeast Missouri" (a preliminary study for the doctoral dissertation), 1945; Eugenia Lillian Harrison, "The Place Names of Four River Counties in Eastern Missouri," 1943; Bernice Eugenia Johnson, "Place Names in Six of the West Central Counties of Missouri," 1933; Esther Gladys Leech, "Place-Names of Six East Central Counties of Missouri," 1933; Robert Lee Myers, "Place-Names in the Southwest Counties of Missouri," 1930; Anna O'Brien, "Place Names of Five Central Southern Counties of Missouri," 1939; Fauna Robertson Overlay, "Place-Names of Five South Central Counties of Missouri," 1943; Nadine Pace, "Place Names in the Central Counties of Missouri," 1928; Cora Ann Pottenger, "Place Names of Five Southern Border Counties of Missouri," 1945; Frank Thomas Ewing Weber, "Place-Names in Six South Central Counties of Missouri," 1938; Ruth Welty, "Place Names of St. Louis and Jefferson County," 1939; and, Gertrude Minnie Zimmer, "Place Names of Five Southeast Counties of Missouri," 1944. 2 Copies of the card file are in three locations: the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection at the University of Missouri-Columbia; the State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia; and the Board of Geographic Names of the Department of Interior in Washington, D.C. Plant and Animal Place Names in Missouri 323

Ramsay suggested that: "A fascinating map might be drawn of the tree names in the State, which would clearly distinguish a pine and cypress region in the south, a cedar, hickory, and linden section mainly in the west, and an oak division in the north and east."3 Although Ramsay's hypothesized regions are not quite accurate, distinctive regions of plant and animal place names may indeed be distinguished. What follows is an attempt to develop these fascinating maps for specific tree and animal names. Naming places after trees, animals and other environmental features is only one way of naming places. Names honor great people, significant events, first settlers in a neighborhood, and sometimes names are given just because they sound good, or show approval or disapproval of a place.4 Names from the environment, however, com­ prise a large proportion of all place names. A random sample of the Ramsay card file indicates between 6,000 and 8,000 environmental names in Missouri. Names from the environment are among the first given in a region of new settlement. As explorers penetrate a little-known region and they need to refer to places, they most commonly select a name from the environment. A place might be high, low, rocky, muddy, saline, iron-producing, inhabited by bears, covered with prairie grass, good for beaver trapping or maple-sugar making, shaped like a diamond, midway between two known places, etc. Some of these, naturally, were translated or transliterated from Indian names.5 The Lewis and Clark expedition, moving up the Missouri River in 1804, noted 89 places within the present state of Missouri by a name, and of these, 54 are environmental names. Among these are Otter Island, Bear Creek, Sand Creek, Blackbird Creek, Chicot or Stump Island, Snake Bluffs, Isle des Vaches, and Nodawa (Snake) River. Most of the remaining are from French surnames or are Indian names of unsure meaning.6 Buffalo was one of those names describing the environment in the earliest days of exploration and settlement. Buffalo Creek in Pike

3 Robert L. Ramsay, Our Storehouse of Missouri Place Names (Columbia, Mo., 1952), 85. 4 Robert L. Ramsay, Allen Walker Read and Esther G. Leech, "Introduction to a Survey of Missouri Place-Names," The University of Missouri Studies, IX (January, 1934), 18-22; also George R. Stewart, "A Classification of Place-Names," Names, II (March, 1954), 1-13. 5 Ramsay indirectly allows that most place names conferred by primitive peoples, including Indians, were from the environment. Ramsay, Our Storehouse of Mo. Place Names, 82. 6 Elliott Coues, History of the Expedition under the command of Lewis and Clark (New York, 1893), I, 4-47. 324 Missouri Historical Review

County appears on maps shortly after the turn of the nineteenth cen­ tury. Although the bison disappeared quickly with settlement of the river region, Buffalo Creek is still there and has produced a herd of Pike County names, all presumably given after buffalo were no longer seen in the county: Buffalo Fort and Buffalo Knob (both two miles south of Louisiana), Buffalo Springs, Buffalo School, Buffalo Presbyterian Church, Little Buffalo Creek and Buffalo Township. Such names are "extensions," that is, extended from one original name to other features nearby. Examples also could be given for pan­ ther, bear and wolf, formerly so important, but today rare or extinct in Missouri. Interestingly, most of the panther, bear and wolf place names describe remote, less accessible, heavily wooded and hidden places. All 27 panther names, save three, are low-lying places, as caves, creeks, dens, hollows, sloughs and swamps. Seventy-seven of the 85 bear place names and 46 of the 51 wolf place names are for such secluded locations. Panther and wolf seem not to have been con­ sidered appropriate for schools, because only Panther Valley School (Webster County), Wolf Grove School (Caldwell County), Wolf Island School (Mississippi County) and two Wolf Schools (Lawrence and Vernon counties) can be located among the few thousand school names. No churches bear the word panther or wolf. Less discrimination accompanied the bear and buffalo, for eleven schools and five churches carry bear or buffalo words in their names. The huge buffalo, usually seen in herds, seems to have required larger Plant and Animal Place Names in Missouri 325

features for naming. The Missouri map displays 32 Buffalo Creeks and Buffalo Rivers, but not a single Buffalo Branch or Buffalo Hollow. As Missouri forests were cleared for fields and pastures, the set­ tler made land-value judgements on the basis of tree species. In the Ozarks blackjack lands and pine lands, with accompanying thin and droughty soils, were considered proof of agricultural unfitness of the soil, while bur oak was a "farmer's guaranty of first-class soil."7 Tree identification, therefore, was essential for selecting land for agricultural settlement. Also, some species were useful for lumber, and maps appeared, for example, showing the location of "pineys" or "pineries," i.e., pine stands. Eventually, tracts of land became known by their dominant cover and tree place names appeared. Elm Woods was a strip extending north and south across the central part of Sullivan County.8 Elm Lands referred to the land between the North and South rivers in Marion County, noted for its magnificent elms.9 Sometimes a solitary tree was so conspicuous in the landscape that it served as a point of reference. Elms, as a natural invader of prairies, stood out in the open landscape. Missouri has eleven Lone Elms and two Elm Trees. Pines and cedars also may incline to loneliness, or perhaps as evergreens they are more conspicuous in seasonal landscapes. One of the more famous lone trees in Missouri is Signal Tree, a pine high on a ridge in Stone County, named by Harold Bell Wright in The Shepherd of the Hills.10 Lone Pine Tree in Dunklin County, evidently a planted pine because pines are not native there, was a regional landmark for years, even serving as headquarters for the Murrell clan of desperadoes. The site later became Pine City after the lone pine, which in turn was abandoned for Holcomb when a post office was established there.11 Some tree species more normally grow in groves. No fewer than seventeen counties have places called Locust Grove, but not one has a "Lone Locust" or a "Locust Tree." Planted trees provide an undetermined number of tree place

7 Carl O. Sauer, The Geography of the Ozark Highland of Missouri (Chicago, 1920), 59. 8 Walter Williams, The State of Missouri, An Autobiography (Columbia, Mo., 1904), 524. 9 Elliott, "North East Counties," 118; R. A. Campbell, Gazetteer of Missouri (St. Louis, 1874), 356. 10 Myers, "Southwest Counties," 185; Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills (Chicago, 1907). 11 Hamlett, "Six Southeast Counties," 84, 107; Mary F. Smith-Davis, History of Dunklin County, Mo. 1845-1895 (St. Louis, 1896), 112-113. 326 Missouri Historical Review

Cedar Pyramid in St. Charles County provided an excellent example of a place name derived from a conspicuous solitary tree and its unusual landscape.

names, and when these names are mapped with others, the result is a distorted view of the natural range of a species. The shortleaf pine, for example, was planted well beyond its native range in Missouri, as shown today by two Pine Groves in Marion County and the Pine Ridge Picnic Grounds in Callaway County. Tree plantings also were made within the established natural range of the tree. Place names derived from such man-made plantings may be impossible to deter­ mine unless the plantings were geometrically set out (as many pine plantations), clustered around buildings and in cemeteries and farm yards (common with elm, cedar, walnut, locust, pecan and others), or historically recorded. Cedar Valley Church, a "regular" Christian Church in Butler County, was organized in 1889. Reportedly, mem­ bers named it for the grove of cedars nearby "which was started by Nathan O'Ferrell who brought the young trees from Iron Co., Mo." Unfortunately, this house of worship burned in 1904 and was not rebuilt, "as there was some contention among the members over the use of musical instruments."12 Perhaps the cedars O'Ferrell planted have outlived the discordant church. A long-forgotten Lawrence Countian planted a large number of catalpa trees along a road, and the vicinity later was known by the slangy "Talpa."13 Trees introduced to Missouri from the Orient brought the possibility of exotic place names to rural Missouri. Alan- thus, a town, school and township in Gentry County, is from Ailan-

Pottenger, "Southern Border Counties," 63. Myers, "Southwest Counties," 144. Plan t and A nimal Place Names in Missouri 327

thus, the genus name for the tree-of-heaven, a very vigorously growing and spreading tree with showy blossoms and seed clusters. Apparently no rural place in Missouri bears the tree names of gingko or maidenhair, or mimosa, perhaps because these imports primarily have been planted in already existing cities, and city streets, at best, would bear their names. Different trees are associated with different site characteristics. In Missouri pines and blackjack oak occur naturally on thin sandstone soils and dry, southwest-facing hillsides, while cedars manage to sur­ vive on rocky precipices, bluffs and droughty ridge tops. Place names reflect these environmental relationships, for there are no fewer than 15 Cedar Bluffs, one each of Cedar Cliff, Cedar Mound, and Cedar Crest, and plenty of Cedar Hills, Mountains, Ridges and Glades. Similarly, one may travel along Chestnut Ridge and Beech Ridge (both trees need well-drained soils), but cross through Cypress Swamp and pause at Sycamore Spring. The sugar maple, tolerant of deep shade in dense forests, gives us refreshing Maple Shade School and Maple Glen School. Confusion may arise from too many of the same place name. Post office officials would regularly turn down a proposed post office name, if that name was already in use in the state. Cherryville in St. Francois County, when petitioning to be a post office, became Wor- tham, because a Cherryville already existed in Crawford County.14

14 Zimmer, "Southeast Counties," 294-295; J. Tom Miles, comp., Brief authentic history of St. Francois County, first published in Farmington News, September 13 to November 15, 1935 (reprinted, n.d.), 57-58.

Courtesy R. L. Elgin, St. James

Cedar Hill Baptist Church, near Edgar Springs in Phelps County 328 Missouri Historical Review

No such arbiter existed for the names of creeks, branches, ridges and other natural features, so two Cedar Creeks flow through Madison County and two Cypress Swamps stand in Stoddard County. The three Elm Branches in Cass County and the two Pine Hollows and two Pine Hollow Schools in Shannon County must have prompted residents on more than one occasion to ask, "Which one?" The names of places also change because of changing conditions. Turkey Creek in Dade County most probably was named before ap­ preciable settlement of the county. It has since become known as Maze Creek, after a family who lived along its course.15 Another former Turkey Creek, in St. Francois County, became Slime Branch, after a lead mill emptied waste into it. The change completely alters one's mental image of the creek.16 W. N. Barron, a lumberman in Butler County, intentionally relieved the commonness of certain tree place names by conferring Latin botanical terms to townsites and sidings along the Butler County Railroad: Celtis (hackberry), Fagus (beech), Hicoria (hickory), Ilex (holly), Nyssa (gum), Platanus (sycamore), Quercus (oak), and Ulmus (elm). Barron explicitly chose those unusual names because "we didn't want the government to insist on changing the names selected on account of duplication.'''7 Some animal place names in Missouri remain in a French- language form. Loutre (otter) Island, minus the apostrophe, figured early in Missouri history as a settlement along the Missouri River in southern Montgomery County. Five boeuf names have been trans­ ferred from Boeuf (buffalo) Creek in Franklin County. L'Ours (bear) Creek in Osage County has been corrupted into the present Loose Creek, but Bear Creek Island at its mouth in the Missouri River, has been translated.18 On the maps in this article only "boeuf" of the French names is plotted with the English words. Not all plant and animal place names come from plants and animals. A surprising number are family names, a fact which can only be established by field work in the locality.19 Bear's Grove and Bear Branch in Lafayette County were "doubtless named for John Bear

15 Myers, "Southwest Counties," 197, 146. 16 Zimmer, "Southeast Counties," 258. 17 Ramsay, et al., "Introduction to a Survey," 36-37. 18 Weber, "South Central Counties," 69; Elliott Coues, ed., The Expedition of Zebulon Montgomery Pike (New York, 1895), II, note on p. 370. On some early maps it is written L'Ours (male bear), while others have L'Ourse (female bear). 19 Ramsay and his investigators worked by an "iron-clad rule" that every place with a topographical or descriptive name "must be visited and looked at before any opinion about its origin is expressed." Ramsay, Our Storehouse of Mo. Place Names, Plan t and A nimal Place Names in Missouri 329

The Black Bear as Depicted by Charles W. Schwartz

... a farmer from Virginia, who settled there in 1844."20 Bearclow Cave and Bearclow Springs (Texas County), understandably often corrupted to "Bearclaw," come from the Bearclow family who owned the land.21 Also in Texas County is Maples post office, from J. J. Maples, postmaster and merchant.22 John Cherry, a pioneer in Lawrence County is responsible for Cherry Creek.23 Pine School on the prairies of Saling Township, Audrain County, was named for a family in the school district.24 Cotton Chapel (Marion County) bears the name of a Reverend Cotton who organized the congregation.25 Cotton, a former station on the Missouri Pacific Railroad north of Bagnell in Miller County, was on land owned by a Mr. Cotton, whence the name.26 Wolf Branch (Clark County), Wolf Hollow (Ozark County), Wolf Creek (Warren County) and Wolf's Branch (Taney County), all come from surnames. The informer for Wolf's Branch, notes the name is from "a family of Wolfs who were early settlers and lived on the banks of the creek."27

Twenty-one maps accompanying this article show the distribution of thirteen plant (mostly tree) words and seven animal words used in Missouri place names. Each dot on a map represents one place name with a plant or animal word in the name. Distributions are mapped by county units. While a dot within a county indicates a place name in

20 Atchison, "West Central Counties," 16-17. 21 O'Brien, "Central Southern Counties," 9. 22 Ibid., $\. 23 Myers, "Southwest Counties," 65. 24 Leech, "East Central Counties," 130. 25 Elliott, "North East Counties," 87. 26 Weber, "South Central Counties," 32. 27 Bell, "Southwest Border Counties," 202. 330 Misso uri Historical R evie w that county, the dot does not indicate the exact location of the place name within the county. The maps for pine, beech and cypress are for trees whose natural distribution geographically was restricted to a part of the state. The maps for cedar, white oak, bur oak, maple/sugar, elm, cherry and sycamore are for trees whose natural distribution was statewide, or very nearly so. The maps for chestnut, cotton and laurel are for plants not native to the state.28 The remaining maps—for bear, elk, buf- falo/boeuf, wolf, panther, eagle and turkey—are for animals whose natural range was effectively statewide.29 Places with the word "pine" in their names are concentrated in the eastern Ozarks and in the White River country south of Springfield. This distribution coincides well with the geographical ex­ tent of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) at the time of settlement as mapped from the field notes of General Land Office surveyors.30 (See Figs. 1 and 2.) The natural distribution of pine in the Ozarks is very well known because of prolonged and intense efforts of pine reforestation within its original range. Pines were so distinctive and useful to early Missourians that 122 places bear the word "pine." On the Missouri map are thirteen Pine Groves, six Pine Creeks, eight Pine Hills, as well as Pine Flats, Pine Ridges, Pine Bluffs, Pine Views and even a "Pine Run Creek" in Stone County. Also included are 25 Pineys, Ozark dialect for pine stands.31 If pines were not native north of the Missouri River, why were places there named for pines? Pine Hall School in Montgomery Coun­ ty takes its name from the material used in its construction,32 while a few miles away "the many pine knots in the original building" gave Pine Knott School its name.33 Pine School in Audrain County honors a family name, and elsewhere planted pine trees provided names

28 For maps of the distribution of tree species in the United States, see Elbert L. Little, Jr., Atlas of United States Trees: Volume 1, Conifers and Important Hardwoods, Misc. Publication No. 1146, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (Washington, D.C, 1971); Volume 4, Minor Eastern Hardwoods, Misc. Publication No. 1342, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (Washington, D.C, 1977). 29 For the history and distribution of major wildlife species in Missouri see Rudolph Bennitt and Werner O. Nagel, "A Survey of the Resident Game and Furbearers of Missouri," The University of Missouri Studies, XII (April, 1937). 30 Franklin G. Liming, "The Range and Distribution of Shortleaf Pine in Missouri," Technical Paper No. 106, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Central States Forest Experiment Station (Columbus, Ohio, 1946). 31 In addition to piney, Bell notes that the Ozark characteristic of "fondness for the diminutive ending" also is shown by the environmentally descriptive adjectives clifty, brushy, caney and gravelly. Bell, "Southwest Border Counties," 75-76. 32 Leech, "East Central Counties," 130. 33 Ibid. Range of Shortleaf Pine in Missouri

Fig. I

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4 332 Missouri Historical Review

(Marion and Callaway counties). How "pine" moved into Sullivan and Mercer counties in North Missouri is not at all certain; the pines growing today in extreme northern Missouri are not the shortleaf pines of the Ozarks. The beech (Fagus grandifolia), like pine, is a geographically restricted species, naturally occurring only on the sandy, better drained soils in the lowlands of southeastern Missouri. Because all nine beech place names are taken directly from a beech tree or grove in the vicinity, the beech map reflects clearly the natural distribution of beech in Missouri. (See Fig. 3.) Although a major forest tree of the eastern United States, the beech apparently was not a favorite planting of Missourians. Most probably could not identify it.34 Cypress, however, is highly recognizable. Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) originally was found only in southeastern Missouri, but in contrast to beech, it is associated with swamps and other poorly drained sites. (See Fig. 4.) Most cypress place names, therefore, are water features: four Cypress Lakes, one Cypress Slough, four Cypress Swamps, two Cypress Creeks and one Cypress Branch. Four cypress place names occur in the opposite corner of the state, in Harrison and Daviess counties. Ramsay's investigator concluded only that a cypress place name there "doubtless derives its name from the timber of that species" or from "trees along [the] banks."35 Were cypress trees plant­ ed by settlers and did they grow to a respectable size before 1839, when Cypress Creek was used to define a township? Was Cypress School in Harrison County built of cypress wood, and if so, why? Is it possible this unusual, deciduous needleleaf would be misidentified? The case is more puzzling considering the small number of migrants to these northern counties from southeastern Missouri or more southern locations where cypress is native. The eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is an example of a tree native to the entire state. Cedar names, some 165, are the most common tree names in Missouri, except for the large oak family. Missourians readily identify cedars and find cedar wood very useful. Cedar names are notably concentrated in the Ozarks and northeastern Missouri, reflecting the relative abundance of cedars in the nineteenth- century landscape of these regions. (See Fig. 5.) Its combustible mass makes it particularly susceptible to fire, and its thin bark and shallow roots may be injured by even relatively light surface fires. Repeated

34 The European beech (Fagus sylvatica), not native to Missouri, is planted in the state as an ornamental. 35 Ewing, "Northwest Counties," 66; The History of Dnviess County (Kansas City, 1882), 248. Plan tandA nimal Place Names in Missouri 333 nineteenth-century burning of the rolling, open lands of western and northern Missouri, by natural or man-made fires, probably kept the cedar population in check. Such fires would have been less effective on cedar growth in the roughest blufflands along the Mississippi River, the lower Missouri River and along the deeply entrenched Ozark streams. Because widespread burning no longer is practiced, cedars are growing to larger sizes and becoming more numerous.36 Cedars now spangle abandoned fields and poorly maintained pastures and stand vigilantly in old rural cemeteries. Long rows of them, usually volunteer but sometimes planted, line fence rows and road­ sides. An outstanding example is the mile-long column of old cedars parading north from Warsaw along the county road to the Harry S. Truman Dam. If settlers were naming the land today, perhaps they would select even more cedar names. No other state boasts so many species of oak as Missouri.37 To which of the 34 native species and hybrids do the more than 400 oak place names in Missouri refer? To simplify mapping, only the specific names "white oak" and "bur oak" are mapped to uncover the distribution of the Quercus genus in Missouri. (See Figs. 6 and 7.) White oak (Quercus alba) is noted for its sweet acorns which pioneers sometimes boiled for food and which everywhere were a favorite mast of hogs. This most useful of all hardwoods in Missouri is so highly regarded that if oaks as a family are the kings of the hardwoods, then white oaks are the "kings of kings." While this oak is a major com­ ponent in Missouri forests, there are only 46 white oak place names, probably because of the cumbersomeness of two words and its reduc­ tion to just "oak." The white oak map reflects the statewide distribution of the tree. Most white oak names are White Oak Creeks and White Oak Schools. Bur oak is much less common as a place name. Fire and drought resistant, this oak (Quercus macrocarpa) competes well in the prairie- forest transition of western and northern Missouri and, although present, is less important in the upland forest mix. Such relative im­ portance is suggested on the bur oak map. In fact, Burr Oaks, the name of a former country store in Howell County and so far removed

36 August P. Beilmann and Louis G. Brenner, "The Recent Intrusion of Forests in the Ozarks," Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, XXXVIII (September, 1951), 261-282. On the relative importance of cedars in the Ozarks also see Julian A. Steyermark, "Vegetational History of the Ozark Forest," The University of Missouri Studies, XXXI (1959). 37 Carl Settergren and R. E. McDermott, "Trees of Missouri," Bulletin No. 767, University of Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station (Columbia, Mo., reprint, 1977), 3. CEDAR

WHITE OAK

Fig. 7 Plan t and A nimal Place Names in Missouri 335

Courtesy E. E. Bryant, Charleston

These pictures, to left and clockwise, show the damaged tree being cut down, the large log sec­ tions, and the stump and log section under the shelter at Big Oak Tree State Park.

Courtesy E. E. Bryant, Charleston

Walker-Mo. Res. Div.

from the other bur oak names, is specifically taken from the setting of an 1874 novel; there were no known bur oak trees in the vicinity.38 Big Oak Tree State Park in Mississippi County took its name from a giant bur oak. Acknowledged as the largest of its species in the United States, it stood 143 feet tall and almost seven feet in diameter. The big bur oak, damaged by lightning beyond saving, was sawed down in 1954.39 Incidentally, all the bur oak place names in Missouri retain the two-r nineteenth-century spelling, burr oak. Bur oak also is known as mossy cup oak, but no mossycup oak place names are known in the state. The sugar maple (Acer saccharum), also called hard maple or sugar tree, provided a major source of sugar for the pioneers and early

38 Pottenger, "Southern Border Counties, 49-50. The novel is Opening a Chestnut Burr, by Edward Payson Roe. 39 Information from the Division of Parks and Recreation, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Jefferson City, Missouri. 336 Missouri Historical Review

settlers. Actually, Indians tapped maples before white settlers,40 but it is doubtful any place names derive from Indian words for the tree. Early settlers took over former Indian sugar camps and applied the words "maple" or "sugar" to these sites. Native to all the state except the extreme northwest and the ex­ treme southeast, sugar maple has since been widely planted by Missourians, if not for sugar, then for its full shade and brilliant autumn foliage. Rural families used to know of maple or sugar groves in the woods around them and would repair to them in early spring to set up temporary camps for sugar-making. Single trees would not do; groves were necessary. Among its place names Missouri can count 31 Maple Groves, 16 Sugar Groves, 9 Sugar Camps and a "Les Sucreries" in French-settled Ste. Genevieve County. Maples so closely were identified with sugar that, not surprisingly more names come from the product (78 "sugars") than from the tree (56 "maples"). Some of the maple names may refer to other kinds of maples. "Sugar" may refer to sorghum or even a sweetheart, but such suspicions are not borne out by inspection of the Ramsay card file. Maple and sugar place names seem somewhat more numerous in counties bordering the Missouri and Upper Mississippi rivers. (See Fig. 8.) Sugar maple competes well in the shade of dense forests. The rough Missouri and Mississippi riverbreaks had, and still have, some of the densest forests.41 The American elm (Ulmus americana) also is native to all Missouri. At the time of white settlement it was a major component of several types of forests, from the Ozarks into the ravines and creek bottoms of the northern and western plains. Because its seeds are distributed easily by wind, it invades prairies.42 Before the Dutch elm disease spread into the state in recent years, magnificent elms shaded farm houses, courthouse lawns and lined residential streets of cities and towns. While most of these large elms are now gone from the landscape, 108 place names bear witness to this once-favorite tree. There are 29 Elm Groves, 11 Elm Springs and 12 Elm woods. Elm Limb School in Dade County makes one wonder if the "branch" of Missouri's 17 Elm Branches refers to a part of the tree or to a stream,

40 Elliott, "North East Counties," 370-371, who cites Frederick W. Hodge, ed., Handbook of the American Indians North of Mexico, in Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30 (Washington, D.C, 1905), Pt. 1, 803-804. 41 James E. Wuenscher and Algird J. Valiunas, "Presettlement Forest Composition of the River Hills Region of Missouri," The American Midland Naturalist, LXXVIII (October, 1967), 487-495. 42 George Bernard Richmond, "Germination and Establishment of Ulmus americana L. in Native Prairie" (unpublished Master's thesis, University of Missouri- Columbia, 1962), 46-48. Plan t and A nimal Place Names in Missouri 337

as we normally assume. Is "Elm Branch Creek" (Pettis County) redundant? Elm combinations are especially numerous and imaginative. Missourians have named an Elm Park (Jackson County), Elm Point (St. Charles County), Elm Pond (Oregon County), Elm Prong (Daviess County), Elm Hollow (Oregon County) and a Dead Elm School (Dade County). One hopes the adjective of the last example described the elm, sad as that is, and not the school and its young scholars. Elm place names especially are clustered in west central and northeastern Missouri, where the elm may have been more con­ spicuous as it encroached upon the open prairie landscapes. (See Fig. 9.) Other species of elms occur in Missouri, and elm place names could have come from them. The black cherry (Prunus serotina) also grows statewide but provides us with many fewer names than elm. Those names are clustered in two counties. (See Fig. 10.) In Crawford County in the Ozarks, all the names except one are extensions from Cherry Valley, one of the central stream valleys in the county where iron mines were opened in the nineteenth century. The lone exception is Cherryville, which appropriately lies in Cherry Valley. In Shelby County the Bender family place became "notorious around 1873 by reason of the discovery of the bodies of eight mur­ dered persons on their premises. The vicinity at that time became known to many Shelby Co. people as Cherry Dell, as a pretty or fan­ tastic name for an unsavory neighborhood."43 Later, Mennonites moving into Shelby County chose "Cherry Dell" for their com­ munity, but finding it already in use for the Bender place, selected "Cherry Box," apparently for no specific reason.44 The sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) attains the greatest girth of all hardwoods in the United States.45 The largest known sycamore in Missouri today, a real giant with a circumference over 25 feet and a height of 89 feet, stands proudly just south of Carthage in Jasper County.46 Despite its size and the high visibility of its white or

43 Elliott, "North East Counties," 72, citing interviews and Shelbyville Shelby County Herald, July 31, 1935. 44 Elliott, "North East Counties," 71. 45 Sycamores are on record that attain a diameter of 11 feet and a height of 170 feet. Extremely large trees are commonly hollow and the cavities were used by settlers as shelters and storage places. Robert W. Merz, "Silvical Characteristics of American Sycamore," Misc. Release No. 26, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Central States Forest Experiment Station (1958). 46 List of champion trees of Missouri issued periodically by the Missouri Department of Conservation. MAPLE / SUGAR

Fig. 8

Fig. 9

CHERRY

• • T n. • • • T-ir—rr-iJ

Fig. 10 SYCAMORE

Fig. II Plan t and A nimal Place Names in Missouri 339 multicolored trunk in its usual habitat along creeks and in bottom lands, the sycamore provides few place names. (See Fig. 11.) All of these are water features (branch, cave, creek, hole, hollow, spring), except where used by itself (e.g., Sycamore, a community in Ozark County, or Sycamore School and Sycamore Church). The distribution may be sparse, but the description of Sycamore Hole in Ripley County is a vignette of human ecology of past times: "A deep bayou in Logan Cr., e. of Matthew School, where Highway 14 now crosses this creek. It was the old family washing place, the community fishing grounds, and the baptising pool for the early settlers. A very old sycamore tree was cut down when the Highway was made."47 American chestnut (Castanea dentata) is not native to Missouri, but it was once planted extensively.48 The notorious chestnut blight virtually eliminated it in Missouri as elsewhere. However, a few isolated mature trees still remain in the state from which nuts are collected annually in a continual attempt to develop a blight-resistant strain. Only eight chestnut place names, of which five are Chestnut Ridges, remind us of this once commercially important tree. All chest­ nut names occur in the Ozarks, except Chestnut Grove School in An­ drew County in northwestern Missouri. (See Fig. 12.) This school reportedly was not named for the tree but for the prominent Chestnut family of the neighborhood.49 Like the tree, however, Chestnut Grove School has long since disappeared from the landscape. Chestnut place names possibly came from the swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii) of southeastern Missouri. Only Chestnut Cemetery in Ripley County falls within the natural range of swamp chestnut oak, and research by Ramsay's investigators does not help on this point. Like chestnut, the cotton plant was not native and had to be in­ troduced by immigrants. Cotton place names are predictably con­ centrated in southeastern Missouri cotton country. (See Fig. 13.) Cot­ ton Rock School in Oregon County supposedly got its derisive name "because very small patches of cotton were cultivated among the stony fields."50 But the same name, Cotton Rock School, in Callaway County and well outside the real cotton-growing region, surely comes from outcrops of "cotton rock" in the bluff lands of the Missouri River. Cotton rock, a soft, fine-grained limestone which weathers to a smooth surface, was formerly quarried in the mid-Missouri river

47 Pottenger, "Southern Border Counties," 292-293. 48 Settergren and McDermott, "Trees of Missouri," 30. 49 Ewing, "Northwest Counties," 147. 50 Pottenger, "Southern Border Counties," 174. CHESTNUT

Fig. 12

Fig. 13 LAUREL

Fig. 14 BEAR

Fig. 15 Plan tandA nimal Place Names in Missouri 341

counties.51 Two other cotton names located beyond the cotton- growing region derive from family names, as explained earlier. "Cot­ tonwood" is not included in the map of cotton place names. A third example of flora not native to Missouri, but represented in its place-name collection, is laurel. While the beautiful mountain laurel was known to Kentuckians and Tennesseeans entering Missouri, it is not a directly useful plant and its propagation in Missouri is not easy. Only four places in Missouri bear the word "laurel." (See Fig. 14.) Laurel, a former post office in Marion County, is believed to be a stock name,52 like today's "Glenview" or "Bel Air," given because it is currently popular and "sounds good." Laurel City, a town laid out near Kahoka in Clark County, is explained as "ideal for a beautiful location. . . . Laurel was early a mark of distinction."53 Laurel Ridge School in Miller County was named by one Miss Texana Curty, its first teacher, no reason given.54 Only Laurel, a former railroad station in Ralls County, supposedly received its name from laurel thickets.55 The laurel oak grows on the Gulf Coast Plain, but it will not grow in Missouri; nor did many early settlers come from this region to bring knowledge of the tree into Missouri. Bear is one of the most common and geographically dispersed place names from animals in Missouri. (See Fig. 15.) Although the black bear formerly ranged throughout Missouri, its numbers diminished with settlement. By the mid-nineteenth century bears were uncommon except in the Ozarks and southeastern Missouri, where they remained well into the twentieth century.56 Scattered reports of bears continue to come in from the more isolated parts of the southern Ozarks, into which bears may be moving from Arkansas. Eighty-five bear names represent all natural regions of the state, and no less than seventy-three of these include streams in their names: Bear Creek, Bear Branch and Bear Hollow. The more imaginative bear names in­ clude Bearthicket School (Laclede County), Great Bear Rough (Platte County), and Bear Grass Hollow (Carter County), named after bear

51 A. G. Unklesbay, Geology of Boone County, Missouri, in Missouri Geological Survey and Water Resources, Vol. XXXIII, 2nd series (Rolla, Mo., 1952), 19-20. 52 Elliott, "North East Counties," 210. 53 Ibid., citing Kahoka Clark County Courier, October 2, 1936. 54 Weber, "South Central Counties," 63. 55 Leech, "East Central Counties," 88. The laurel family (Lauraceae) includes spicy, tropical plants as cinnamon, avocado and camphor as well as the aromatic Missouri sassafras and the Mediterranean sweet bay whose leaves were the laurel used by Greeks to crown their leaders and athletes. The evergreen mountain laurel of the southern Appalachians is not in the laurel family but in the heath family (Ericaceae). 56 Daniel McKinley, "The History of the Black Bear in Missouri," The Bluebird (Audubon Society of Missouri), XXIX (Fall, 1962), 2-16; also Bennitt and Nagel, "Resident Game and Furbearers," 3. 342 Missouri Historical Review

grass rather than Ursa. Missouri has two Bear Wallows (one each in Butler and Washington counties) but can claim only one Buffalo Wallow (Ripley County). Bear names occur less frequently in the more open country of northern Missouri and the Kansas tier of counties. A conspicuous gap also occurs on the map in the heart of the Ozarks where the bear may have persisted in numbers to a later date. This suggests that the bear names are very old, dating from exploration rather than agricultural settlement of the land. The American elk, or wapiti, also ranged statewide at the turn of the nineteenth century, and, like the other large animals, its numbers decreased rapidly as settlement progressed. It was gone from the Cuivre River country north of St. Charles by 1820, from rough, wooded Warren County by 1825, and from the Missouri River region by the 1830s. The last large elk herd roamed in Northwest Missouri (Holt County) in 1841. Elk were sighted in the Bootheel as late as 1865 and in the central Ozarks (Texas County) in 1886, the last confirmed sighting of native elk in Missouri.57 The town of Elk Grove in Caldwell County, founded in 1876, "received its name from the fact that there were so many wild elk roving through the timber there."58 If that were the case, it must have been from memory of the elk in the timber rather than from their ac­ tual sighting in 1876. Similarly one questions the explanation for Buck Elk Creek in Osage County: "Elk were common here in early days and have been seen occasionally of late years." That statement came from two informants to the researcher whose study was finished in 1938.59 The map of elk place names shows a distribution somewhat com­ plementary to the bear map. (See Fig. 16.) Elk names tend to be clustered in counties or groups of counties in which bear names are not clustered, and vice versa. The exceptions are McDonald, Osage and Montgomery counties, where the residents seemed to have been equally impressed with bear and elk. Of the 70 elk place names in Missouri, 39 are for water features, as Elk Creek, Elk River, Elk Springs and Elk Hollow. The map does not include any place named after elk, not having elk in its name, as Buck Creek. One would guess that some of the many Missouri place names bearing the words "buck" or "doe" refer to elk rather than to deer.

57 Daniel McKinley, "The American Elk in Pioneer Missouri," MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW, LIV (July, 1960), 356-365. In the mid-1970s, the Missouri Department of Conservation reported a lone elk with cattle near Rock Port in extreme northwestern Missouri and an earlier lone elk in Osage County. Both are now dead. 58 Ewing, "Northwest Counties," 72. 59 Weber, "South Central Counties," 24. Plan t and A nimal Place Names in Missouri 343

BUFFALO /BOEUF

Fig. 17

The American buffalo, or bison, disappeared completely from Missouri with the advance of settlement. In fact, the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804 first sighted buffalo near the mouth of the Kansas River. The shrinking range did not escape comment by an editor of the expedition's history.60 The buffalo place-name map is distinguished by concentration of buffalo or boeuf in a few counties. (See Fig. 17.) Probably all the buffalo names of Pike County are extensions from the very early named Buffalo Creek. Similarly, all the names of Mc­ Donald County are extensions from another early named Buffalo Creek. The cluster of buffaloes in Ripley County derives largely from yet a third Buffalo Creek, tributary to the Current River. Some doubt lingers, however, whether the Ripley County creek was named for the animal. Some say the name came from "the abundance of buffalo fish found in the lower part of the stream."61 Most Missourians know of Buffalo, county seat of Dallas Coun­ ty, founded in 1839. While its name has usually been associated with

' Coues, History of the Expedition under the command of Lewis and Clark, I, 34. Pottenger, "Southern Border Counties," 47. 344 Missouri Historical Review

the town's location on the eastern edge of Buffalo Head Prairie, some believe Joseph Miles, who built the first house, named the site for Buf­ falo, his birthplace in New York.62 Just as Missouri does not honor the American elk with a place name bearing its "proper" name wapiti, so also has the state failed to use "bison" when commemorating the buffalo. Perhaps this shows the language of common folk is responsible for most environmental place names. An even better example of this last point is "wolf." Missourians regularly confuse the wolf and the coyote, often using wolf to refer to both animals, and to wild dogs. Although both wolf and coyote ranged at times over the entire state, a line from St. Louis to Barry County in southwestern Missouri fairly well separated their natural ranges. The coyote appeared to the northwest, the eastern gray wolf to the southeast and neither in the southeastern lowlands.63 "Wolf" oc­ curs throughout the state as a place name, befitting its popular usage for both animals. (See Fig. 18.) In contrast, not a single "Coyote Creek," nor coyote-anything can be found on the place-name map. Apparently, some of the wolf names, especially in North and West Missouri, referred mistakenly to the coyote. The French "loup" rarely remains as a place name untranslated, and it is not considered on the wolf map. Missourians use "panther" for the puma, also known as mountain lion or cougar. Panther, often pronounced "painter" or "panter," serves most frequently as a place name in the Ozarks. (See Fig. 19.) The panther was known in all wooded parts of the state until the mid-nineteenth century. Increased land clearing for agriculture so reduced its numbers that only a few remained in southern Missouri past the turn of the century. The last confirmed panther kill was in Dunklin County in 1927.64 No place names using "cougar" or "puma" occur in Missouri. The place name "eagle" occurs in major habitats of the bald and golden eagles today—along the Mississippi River bluffs north of St. Louis, in the White River hills of southwestern Missouri and in the deeply dissected sections of the eastern Ozarks. (See Fig. 20.) Eagle also could have been chosen as a stock name, symbolic of the country or of patriotism, as in North Eagle School in Linn County. At the time of settlement wild turkeys were found in all parts of

62 O'Brien, "Central Southern Counties," 21. Elva Murrell Hemphill, Early Days in Dallas County (n.p., 1954), 8. 63 Bennitt and Nagel, "Resident Game and Furbearers," 170. 64 Daniel McKinley, "The Mountain Lion: A History of Missouri's Big Cat," The Bluebird, XXVIII (Winter, 1961), 6-12. WOLF

PANTHER Fig. 18

Fig. 19

TURKEY Fig. 20

Fig. 21 346 Missouri Historical Review

the state but were less abundant in the less thoroughly forested lands of west central and northern Missouri. The turkey place-name map suggests this former relative density. (See Fig 21.) By 1910 turkey range had contracted to the Ozarks and its borders,65 from which it has made a remarkable comeback both in numbers and extended range. Of the 54 turkey place names, no less than 36 have Turkey Creek in their name plus seven additional Turkey Branches and Turkey Hollows. Very few eminences bear turkey names, among them Turkey Hill in Bollinger County, Turkey Ridge School in Pulaski County and Turkey Knob in both Ozark and Ripley counties. The west part of Marion County is represented by Turkey Shin "because of the number of wild turkeys abounding there, and because the early inhabitants made regular hunting excursions there."66 Shannon County boasts a Turkey Oak School named "from the chinquapin oaks which were called Turkey Oaks' because the fowls used to roost in them."67

Naming the features of the natural and cultural landscape is a more complex process than most realize. Ramsay and his investigators frequently uncovered more than one explanation for a place name. In some cases a story, often humorous, obviously was contrived much later as an alternate explanation. Place names from the environment, including plants and animals, suffer further from their antiquity. The first place names may be so old that the real reasons for their existence remain speculative. Ripley County's "Panther Creek," as previously mentioned, provides such an example. Other names merely are assumed to be descriptive as, "named for the oaks in the vicinity." Assuming that most plant or animal place names are descriptive of the environment at the time they were chosen, then it should be possible to relate the geographic distribution of such names to the distribution of the actual species. The maps support this generalization. For some species, such as pine and beech, the correlation is very good. For others with a statewide distribution, such as maple/sugar, cedar and turkey, the maps seem to indicate varying densities in the statewide distribution. For still others, as buffalo/boeuf and cherry, the maps falsely suggest concentrations in the species' distributions. In the case of laurel, the map indicates the presence of a plant, actually nonexistent in the state.

65 Bennitt and Nagel, "Resident Game and Furbearers," 57. 66 Elliott, "North East Counties," 384-385, citing Campbell, Gazetteer of Missouri, 356. 67 O'Brien, "Central Southern Counties," 134. Plan t and A nimal Place Names in Missouri 347

Plant and animal place names also produce a historical geography.68 Buffalo, bear and elk may now be gone from the state, but their place names tie us to a Missouri of a century or more ago. The "pineys" of the Ozarks, the hundreds of local sugar camps and even the Dead Elm of Dade County also are gone, but their names and others help reconstruct a Missouri environment of the past.

68 For an excellent example of the use of place names to reconstruct a former environment, see L. Waibel, "Place names as an aid in the reconstruction of the original vegetation of Cuba," Geographical Review, XXXIII (July, 1943), 376-396.

Cancer

St. Louis Republic (1896), 369. Mental worry, says Dr. Herbert Snow, of the Cancer Hospital, is the chief exciting cause of cancer. In 1888 in England the number of deaths from cancer was 17,506, of which 6,984 subjects were males and 11,222 females.

What Laclede Needs

Laclede Blade, May 30, 1908. More granitoid sidewalks. Less style and more sense. Fewer dogs and more children. Fewer knockers and more pushers. Less loafing of able-bodied young men. More merchants that will advertise. More public spirit and less old-fogyism. Less talk of hard times and more hard work. A better feeling generally among her people. More people who buy goods here instead of sending to the large cities. The ostracising of people who can pay and yet won't pay their honest debts. More citizens who will live within their incomes and not contract debts they cannot pay. More men who smile as sweetly at their own wife as they do at some other fellow's wife. More people who earn an honest dollar and fewer non-producers who try to live by their wits. Less discussion of public issues by curbstone politicians who don't save a cent and are incapable of "saving the country." A merchant's dead beat organization to protect local business men from thieves that buy goods and never intend to pay for them. Fighting Words From The Frontier: Thomas Hardeman On The Election of 1824-1825

BY NICHOLAS P. HARDEMAN*

Andrew Jackson, Presidential Candidate, 1824-1825

Thomas Hardeman and Andrew Jackson had a number of com­ mon elements in their backgrounds despite the seventeen-year dif­ ference in their ages. Both had known lean times in early years on frontier farms, and each had been actively involved in the American Revolution—Hardeman as a soldier at King's Mountain and Jackson as a boy participant. Both men moved to the Cumberland Basin of western North Carolina in the 1780s, settling in the French Lick or Nashville area. They became acquainted with each other and served together as Davidson County delegates to the Tennessee State Con­ stitutional Convention in 1796. Immediately following, they took up their respective senatorial positions, Jackson in the Congress of the United States and Hardeman in the Tennessee legislature.

•Nicholas P. Hardeman is professor of History at California State University, Long Beach. He has the B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Cali­ fornia, Berkeley. Professor Hardeman is the author of Wilderness Calling: The Harde­ man Family in the American Westward Movement, 1750-1900, published in 1977.

348 Fighting Words From The Frontier 349

During the War of 1812 three sons and a son-in-law of Thomas Hardeman served as officers under General Jackson at New Orleans. Both Hardeman and Jackson had legal training (although Thomas never practiced law), and the two occasionally were business associates. As slaveholding planters with humble backwoods roots, they shared the same political philosophy. Perhaps it was not sur­ prising that, when political maneuverings in early 1825 blocked Jackson from the presidency, the aged Thomas Hardeman of western Missouri came to his defense. Hardeman, a fifth-generation descendant of settlers in the Old Dominion, was born in Albemarle County, Virginia Colony, January 8, 1750. One of his frontier associates portrayed him as a sturdily built man, five feet ten inches in height, with blue eyes, round ruddy face and sandy hair.1 He was strong-spirited, proud of his humble origins, intensely loyal to his friends, and, during much of his life, deeply com­ mitted to the Baptist faith and teachings of his father. In later years, however, he became a Deist and a sharp critic of the clergy. As a measure of his toughness and endurance, Thomas, at the age of eighty years, traveled on horseback up to fifty miles a day over hundreds of wilderness miles. During his youth and young manhood, Thomas Hardeman drifted westward in successive stages from Albemarle to the Dan River area, Watauga, and the Cumberland Basin. From Davidson County, North Carolina (later Tennessee), he was elected to numerous political offices, including delegate to the United States Constitutional Ratifying Convention at Hillsboro, North Carolina, and represen­ tative to the legislature of the "Territory South of the River Ohio." After serving for several years in Tennessee state offices, Hardeman moved from the Nashville area to the less settled environment of near­ by Williamson County, where he farmed, built a sawmill and grain mill, and acquired lands to help give his large brood of children a start in life. Shortly after the War of 1812, he moved onward to the frontier of west central Missouri. In that "Elk Heaven," as he called it, he hunted, raised corn and hogs, and ferried Santa Fe traders across the Missouri River in partnership with his son John. Years later he re­ turned to Tennessee, where he died in 1833.2 The descendants of Thomas and his wife Mary Perkins Har-

1 Statement of Col. John Reeves, Lyman Draper Manuscripts, 31 S 349, in Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison. 2 A fuller account of the life of Thomas Hardeman is contained in Nicholas P. Hardeman, Wilderness Calling: The Hardeman Family in the American Westward Movement, 1750-1900 (Knoxville, Tenn., 1977), chapters 1-5. 350 Missouri Historical Review deman caught the fever of frontiering and remained afflicted by it for four generations. In Tennessee, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas and Mexico, on the Santa Fe and Oregon trails, along the Panama and Oregon routes to the California gold fields, in western campaigns of the Civil War, on the great cattle trails from Texas to Nebraska and Wyoming, and in late-nineteenth-century Indian campaigns, they compiled a record of western exploits unequaled by those of any other known family.3 Missouri, "Mother of the West," became the home of a number of Hardeman clan members, including the highly vocal Thomas, when the controversial election of 1824-1825 took place. During the same year that his son and business partner John Hardeman engaged in friendly exchanges with Henry Clay about agricultural ex­ perimentation,4 Thomas scored the well-known Kentuckian for his alleged "Corrupt Bargain" with John Quincy Adams. Self-appointed heirs to the presidential throne (vacated by James Monroe) came galloping out of no less than six states in 1824. South Carolina's John C. Calhoun, secretary of war, pondered the cam­ paign question but opted for a race with fewer rivals, the vice

3 Ibid., passim. 4 Henry Clay to John Hardeman, Washington, D.C, January 22, 1825, copy in Glen Hardeman Papers, State Historical Society of Missouri Manuscripts Collection, Columbia, Missouri.

John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson Fighting Words From The Frontier 351

presidency. Incumbent Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins and Governor DeWitt Clinton, both of New York, became early possible candidates and early dropouts. The outgoing president dubbed William H. Crawford of Georgia, secretary of treasury under Monroe, as his successor to the high office, and the enfeebled Republican congressional caucus so ordained. But discontented Republican senators and representatives and disgruntled states would not rest their cases. A champion of the northern seaboard states, austere John Quincy Adams, was entered for the top political prize. Two candidates from the West were included, that personable com­ promiser, Henry Clay of Kentucky, and the nation's most renowned living military hero, Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. Nationalists all, with sectional feelings only slightly camouflaged by the one-party Republican politics of that time, they squared off for battle; and the American political structure would never be the same again. The outcome in both popular and electoral votes proved a majority for no one and an inconclusive plurality for Jackson. Ac­ cording to the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution, in the event of failure of any candidate to secure a majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives, with one ballot cast by the entire delegation

Henry Clay appears left and William Harris Crawford, right. Both are from the Dictionary of American Portraits. W. J. Edwards engraved the print of Clay from a daguerreotype by Mathew Brady. The print of Crawford was engraved by Stephen H. Gimber, from a painting by John Wesley Jarvis. 352 Missouri Historical Review

of each state, would select a president from the three top contenders. Jackson had received ninety-nine electoral votes, Adams eighty-four, Crawford forty-one and Clay thirty-seven. Thus Clay, the powerful Speaker of the House which would make the decision, was at once denied a chance at the crown and cast in the role of kingmaker. Crawford was eliminated from the top three because of his failure to recover from a paralytic stroke which he had suffered some months earlier. Thus the new president would be either Jackson or Adams. Jackson clearly had wider and stronger national support in both the electoral college and the popular mind, but the decision did not rest with either. On February 9, 1825, the House elected John Quincy Adams to the presidency. Three days later the new chief executive ap­ pointed Henry Clay as secretary of state, and critics raised the cry of corruption. Was there a "Corrupt Bargain?" Historians doubtless will never answer this question with certainty since there are various kinds of ac­ tivities which people decline to record in documentary form. A Clay- Adams agreement of this incriminating sort most assuredly would have been one of these unwritten accords. Some scholars have assumed such an arrangement from the blank space in Adams's diary on the date of his meeting with Clay. Both Adams and Clay would have had personal, as well as philosophical, reasons to make such an agreement. Adams's possible motives included securing the coveted presidency for himself; in addition he distrusted a potentially dangerous westerner who was largely untried and unknown in his at­ titudes toward major national issues. In using his power to swing the vote to Adams, Clay could have had several immediate and compelling objectives, including the plum of secretaryship of state. Since four consecutive presidents, John Quincy Adams among them, had moved up to the office of chief executive from the secretary of state post, it appeared that holders of the latter office, in the eyes of the nominating party caucus at least, were "heirs apparent" to the presidency. Furthermore, Clay probably reasoned that he would have a better chance of succeeding Adams to the presidency than in trying to follow Jackson. There had never been a president from outside the big power states of the East. Two west­ erners in close succession would be a highly unlikely prospect. And what of the strong hatreds which these contenders from the West felt toward each other? Clay could not have been optimistic about per­ sonal favors from the vengeful Jackson, since he had publicly criticized the Tennessean's military foray to Florida in 1818. Finally, Clay, author and vigorous proponent of the nationalistic American Fighting Words From The Frontier 353

System, must have entertained apprehensions about the views of the politically enigmatic Jackson on tariffs, internal improvements and national bank policy. As William G. Morgan has shown in a comprehensive assessment of the historical and historiographic writings on the "Corrupt Bargain" charge,5 the subject has been analyzed from numerous viewpoints. Several additional observations appear to be justified, however. The fact that Clay declared his preference for Adams before leaving Kentucky to go to Washington, D.C, does not rule out the possibility of a bargain. The political world has been replete with bargains designed to persuade some persons either to change or adhere to previously stated positions. Thomas Hardeman advanced the view that Clay may have foreseen an electoral college stalemate in advance and laid his plans accordingly. Perhaps a more persuasive argument in support of the bargaining notion is found in a sentence from the private, and one might add in­ timate, correspondence of Henry Clay. "My position in regard to the Presidential election is highly critical, and such as to leave me with no path on which I can move without censure."6 For a largely untrue statement, this may have spoken volumes about what Clay had planned to do and how he would rationalize his actions to his closest friend, and above all, to himself. As one voting member of the House, Clay's position mathematically would have been no more "highly critical" to the election than that of any other member. Unless, of course, he had decided to wield greater influence than one vote in his own state's delegation, which he obviously had. That is politics. Fur­ thermore, he probably could have backed either Jackson or Adams without censure if he had not accepted a cabinet appointment from the one he supported. He could not have known that he would positively incur such censure unless an appointment had already been offered. That too is politics. There were other paths on which he could have moved without censure, but his advance knowledge that he would be "censured" for what he had chosen to do is significant. Bargaining of some kind probably occurred between Adams and Clay, given the spoils or patronage philosophy which had been com­ mon to American national politics. President Washington had packed federal positions with Federalist partisans. But was the bargaining

5 William G. Morgan, "John Quincy Adams vs. Andrew Jackson: Their Bio­ graphers and the 'Corrupt Bargain' Charge," Tennessee Historical Quarterly, XXVI (Spring, 1967), 43-58. 6 Henry Clay to Francis T. Brooke, Washington, D.C, January 28, 1825, in Calvin Colton, ed., The Private Correspondence of Henry Clay (New York, 1885), 111. 354 Missouri Historical Review

... V '* S9*£^

ARK K&*%&?'' ARK.. /^xx&rr

J Crawford Mm Clay mM Adams EE3 Jackson

Election of 1824 The electoral votes were divided in New York, Delaware, Maryland, Louisiana and Illinois. The markings indicate the can­ didate receiving the highest number in each of these states.

corrupt, and if so, was all the corruption on one side? Adams had talked confidentially and at some length with Clay and the latter's representative, Robert P. Letcher. Jackson's supporters also con­ ferred with the Speaker of the House before the decision, although Jackson's known personal correspondence is devoid of any hint of bargaining in the matter. Agents of both sides tried to bargain elsewhere, particularly with the New York delegation, which cast its vote for Adams. Political figures who needed favors found and offered some quid Fighting Words From The Frontier 355 pro quo as standard procedure. In the eyes of the Jacksonians, the problem was a simple one. The wrong decision was rendered. In the 1860s President Lincoln bargained away cabinet posts. Andrew Jackson, himself, during his presidency, proved more than mildly sympathetic to the spoils system, although his record in the patronage matter was a moderate one. Crying "Foul!" had a more credible ring when the nation's highest office was at stake and when the front run­ ner for that office was believed to have been politically "jobbed" or "dealt" out of it. Hindsight would demonstrate that Clay erred badly if indeed he jostled for the high political prizes in 1825. The feeling, the temper of the times proved so strong that he would be kept in waiting for the presidency during the remaining twenty-seven years of his life. As for Adams, his narrowing political base, the changing mood of the nation and the decline of the caucus as a nominating medium would probably have denied him the presidency in the future despite his renowned eloquence. Thus he seems to have profited by becoming a one-termer rather than a no-termer as a result of Clay's influence in the House. Whatever the causes, nature and ethics of Clay's power play, Jackson's supporters responded promptly and pungently. Thomas Hardeman's scathing blast from western Missouri is an example of the outrage felt by partisans. However, it employed a not-so-common line of reasoning in its distinction between "ballot" and "discretion." In view of Judge John Overton's long-time, pro-Jackson posture,7 the question naturally arises: Did he solicit this letter from the Missouri frontier? There is no ready answer. As head of the "Nash­ ville Junto" of 1824 and a similar organization of Jackson partisans formed in 1827 (the latter known by critics as the "Whitewashing Committee"), Overton actively solicited and disseminated statements in support of his candidate. Yet no correspondence appears in the Overton, Jackson or Hardeman papers which indicate that such solicitations occurred in the interim between these "juntos." Un­ fortunately Overton burned much of his political correspondence,8 presumably to keep critics from "prying" into his or his associates'

7 John Overton, lawyer, Nashville judge, banker, planter, land speculator, slave trader, and supervisor of internal revenue for the state of Tennessee, was called "the wealthiest man in Tennessee." He was an advisor of Andrew Jackson in political, marital, real estate, and other matters. Overton and Jackson had roomed together in the Donelson home, and, with James Winchester, were cofounders of Memphis. Overton County, Tennessee, is named in honor of John Overton. For a fuller account of the Jackson-Overton relationship, see Frances Clifton, "John Overton as Andrew Jackson's Friend," Tennessee Historical Quarterly, XI (March, 1952), 23-40. 8 W. W. Clayton, History of Davidson County, Tennessee (Philadelphia, 1880), 99. 356 Missouri Historical Review

John Overton

Tennessee State Libr. & Archives, Nashville campaign activities. To solicit such a letter would have been like him; but Thomas Hardeman would have been inclined to write such a blast on his own in support of his old friend and political ally. The logical place to address it would have been to the head of the former "Nash­ ville Junto." Hardeman had acquired his literacy late in life, at the same time his children were educated. He used it frequently and pointedly, as if enjoying his newly learned medium of expression. In the Missouri press and in a number of letters, he espoused his deistic views at con­ siderable length, vigorously attacking the clergy as well as political op­ ponents. His original spelling is preserved in the following letter to John Overton of Nashville, Tennessee: Fruitage9 Howard County Missouri 24th June 1825 Dear Sir I believe the late occurrence in Washington, has excited alarm in the republican ranks throughout the United States. All honest truehearted republicans must feel the effects of a precedent that on a

9 Fruitage Farm on the Missouri River five miles west of Old Franklin, Missouri, was owned by John Hardeman, who lived there with his family and his father Thomas. John moved to this site from Franklin, Tennessee, in 1817 and built a well-known Elizabethan show garden on the frontier. From this point Hardeman's Ferry carried Santa Fe traders across the Missouri to Arrow Rock, where the southwestward overland journeys to Mexico began in the 1820s. Figh ting Words From The Fron tier 357 future occasion may reach themselves, however consoling it may be to a party for the present. When the people have not elected a president and the election devolves upon the house of representatives, the con­ stitution10 says,

10 Amendment XII, ratified in 1804. 358 Missouri Historical Review sovereignty in the body of the people and perfectly accord with the principles of a free and representative government. By adding the votes already given to either of the candadates in the first balloting by the people, in each district but in different states, to those retained in the electorial colleges in other states for the identical same candidate and by such fair, honest, and honorable procedure, the candadate who is the choice of a majority of the people will always be elected by the house of representatives and the sovereignty secured where it ought to be in the body of the people of our nation. There are other con­ siderations of magnitude worthy of remark. That the conventions of a number of the states, having at the time of their adopting the con­ stitution, expressed a desire in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its power, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added, and as extending the ground of public confidence in the government would best insure the beneficent ends of its in­ stitution. Resolved &c. Here follows the amendment, Article XI [IX]. The enumeration in the constitution of certain rights shall not be con­ strued to deny or disparage others retained by the people. And is not their sovereignty one of the most essential of all the rights retained by the people? Certainly it is and ought to be forever preserved inviolate. Article XII [X]. The powers not delegated to the united states by the constitution nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states, respectively or to the people. Is it not evident that no discretionary powers were ever intended to be given to the house of representatives by the constitution but those that are clearly and emphatically ex­ pressed? and was it not easy to say that the house of representatives shall choose immediately by ballot either of the 3 returned candadates which they think best qualified to fill the office of president? This language would have put the question beyond all doubt and showed at once that the sovereign power was constitutionally in the house of representatives without usurpation which is not the case but misaplication of the terms used in the constitution which means that the house of representatives shall choose the president by ballot (not by discretion) that being the mode of choosing the president by the people themselves, and if in the act of doing their own business they could not use discretionary powers until their votes come to a tie I see not how their representatives (if honest) could use discretionary powers any sooner and then at that crisis of the canvass discretionary powers must be used for there are no umpire or casting votes in sover­ eignties as in other cases of legislation. But least there should be some great leading demagogues at the head of each party to prevent discre­ tion when it ought to be used to elect a president before the fourth Fighting Words From The Frontier 359 day of march next following, the constitution has wisely provided that the vice president shall act as president that the people may always have a government in being ready to act as the exigencies of the government may require. What are state rights and state votes? are they not the rights and votes of the people composing the states? I know of no rights nor votes but what apertain to the people: and to talk of those rights and votes without ascertaining and supporting them is to talk of mere sounds without realities. - What is the sovereignty of each state? is it not the will of a majority of the people composing those states? and are not their will ascertained by their votes and would it not be fair and honest in their representatives to allow and support their votes and when they act otherwise have they not deceived the people and cheated them out of their votes and is not such conduct a great dereliction of public duty and a base desertion of the confidence reposed in them? I cannot believe from what has already transpired that this pretended discretion was used for the benefit of the people of the united states, but for the pecuniary interest and aggrandizement of Mr. Clay. n By forming a coalition with the friends of Mr. Adams he could obtain the secretary's office and by that means lay the foundation steping stone by wich according to his own showing, he can be translated to the presidential chair. And if the friends of Mr. Adams support him in the next election for a president, the summit of the coalition may be discerned without the aid of

11 Over similarly strong words by John Randolph, he and Henry Clay would fight a duel in 1826. Bad aim on both sides prevented injury to either party.

Washington, About 1830 360 Missouri Historical Review prophecy. !2Is it possible that the enlightened states of Ohio, Kentucky and Missouri can be duped and so completely jilted by a man, whose actions so palpably prove his design upon the presidency. For ac­ cording to his own writing, he had formed his plans before he took his departure from Kentucky. Was he not then paving the way for his own advantages and elevation least he should be mistrusted by the citizens of Kentucky of acting inconsistently with their wishes concerning the presidential election? He mentions to Messiers Brooke13 [?] and Critendon14 that he should support Mr. Adams and afterwards to Senator Johnson15 of Louisiana that if he should be returned to the house of representatives the number would be so small by which he would be carried into the house that he would not permit himself for a moment to constitute an objection to an election by the house of representatives. Is it not clear that Mr. Clay at this early period discovered that there would be no election by the people and that the election would devolve upon the house of representatives, and that he could not, with the least degree of propriety, plead the discretionary [?] powers of the house in his own case and therefore laid his plans ac­ cordingly. By his aid [of] those pore little nonentities who represented the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Missouri he has been inabled to lay the foundation of his own elevation to the presidency independently of the will of a majority of the good citizens of those states. - This great demagogue's course is at war with his own position, on a former occasion, he had supported what is called the compensation law against the will of his constituents he promised them on his return to the house of representatives, to use his influence to have this law re­ pealed. And if I mistake not, he then said (in a mount) that the will of his constituents ought to be obeyed no matter how he come by the evi­ dence, so he knew it, and did he not know that if himself were out of the way, that Genl. Jackson would have been the choice of a very large

12 Thomas Hardeman himself was later accused of involvement in the spoils system. He allegedly urged President Jackson to appoint a friend to public office in Missouri. Columbia Missouri Intelligencer, January 22, 1831. 13 This name, which is not clear, may be a reference to Judge Francis T. Brooke of Fredericksburg, Virginia, an intimate correspondent of Clay's for over fifty years. Clay became acquainted with him while studying law under Attorney General Robert Brooke at Richmond, Virginia, in the 1790s. Colton, Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, passim. 14 John Jordan Crittenden, member of the United States Senate from Kentucky, 1817-19; member of the State of Kentucky House of Representatives in 1825; uncle of Thomas Theodore Crittenden of Crittenden Compromise fame; and long-time friend of Henry Clay. Ibid., 117-118. 15 A slight misspelling of the name of United States Senator Josiah S. Johnston of Alexandria, Louisiana, close friend and correspondent of Henry Clay. Ibid., passim. Figh ting Words From The Fron tier 361 majority of the citizens of Kentucky?16 He knew this as well as he knew that it did not answer his interest to obay it. But this great demagogue has always envied that excellence in Genl. Jackson that he himself never could aspire to. The General has defended the blood and treasure of his country from domestic savage violence and from foreign distruction, while in its own possession, [?] and altho the genl. has used no means but what was absolutely justifiable on the ground of national defence. Yet this demagogue calls him a military cheiftain, not calculated to govern civil society. But I believe it is as necessary to defend our blood and treasure as it is to possess them for when once distroyed these great statesmen, those civilians, may plead the civil law of nations before foreign despotic courts until doomsday without ever having them restored to our nation again. Nor do I believe we should have experienced the distruction at Washington17 the last war with England, if Genl. Jackson had been president nor half the blood and treasure that was sacrificed for want of military talents in the chief executive: altho I believe he was second to none as a statesman, but our old friend Mr. Jefferson.18 - It was sectional interest and sectional feeling raised thereon and so streniously supported by the northern States that made Kentucky so fearfull of a northern president. And this I take to be the reason why the legislature of Kentucky modestly instructed their representatives to give their vote as a state to Genl. Jackson,19 yet this great demagogue, Mr. Clay, found means to elude these instructions by saying that the legislature had no collection of the people after he left Kentucky by which they could ascertain their will, altho the members come from every county [undecipherable] the subject had been canvassed in every public meeting for 12 or 18 months previous to the meeting of the [undecipherable] he allows them to have no knowledge of their will altho he is sufficiently informed himself to lay the foundation of his own preferment the legislature is ignorant of their own rights. As a member of the union, he winds and twists round like a snake in the grass until he faces about and tells the legislature they did not instruct him, nor had they any right to instruct a member of the legislature of the united states. It appears to me that Mr. Clay's

16 This was probably an accurate statement. Furthermore, it is probable that the citizens of most of the other states which went for Clay and Crawford would have sup­ ported Jackson over Adams. 17 A reference to the capture and burning of Washington, D.C, by British naval and military forces in August 1814. 18 Thomas Hardeman and Thomas Jefferson had known each other in Albemarle County, Virginia Colony, where both had lived for a number of years at the same time. Hardeman was a long-time supporter of the political and religious views of Jefferson. 19 The Kentucky legislature instructed that state's members of the House of Representatives to cast the vote of Kentucky for Jackson. 362 Missouri Historical Review courses may be aptly compared to an artfull, intriguing whore's chas­ tity. Let her tell her own story and she is the most innocent being upon earth. She is as chaste as maiden ice frozen upon pure water, and she will appeal to her God for the truth of her assertions [?]. And let Mr. Clay tell his own story, and he is the most pure and the best enlightened statesman upon earth. He finds fault with every candidate but himself. He is the paragon of everything useful in government, and for the truth and rectitude of his conduct, he makes a solemn ap­ peal to his God. Will the enlightened states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Missouri submit to be giled by Mr. Clay like the husband of such an intriguing whore?20 John Overton, Esquire Yours respectfully Thos. Hardeman

20 The foregoing letter is in the Overton Manuscripts, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee, and is printed by permission of that agency.

Poetry Is Consolation

Joplin Daily News-Herald, January 7, 1901. Poetry is the consolation of mortal men. They live cabined, cribbed, confined, in a narrow and trivial lot—in wants, pains, anxieties, and superstitions, in profligate politics, in personal animosities, in mean employments—and victims of these and the nobler powers untried, unknown. A poet comes who lifts the veil, gives them glimpses of the laws of the universe; shows them the circumstance as illusion; shows that nature is only a language to express the laws, which are grand and beautiful, and lets them, by his songs, into some of the realities.—Poetry and Imagination.

Force Not A Reformer

Joplin Daily News-Herald, January 6, 1901. Chirivari parties are now considered hot stuff in Carthage society circles. When a couple gets married the game is to buy a tin pan and join a crowd who have done likewise. You repair to the abiding place of the pair where you serenade them by beating the pan with your fist. After the crowd is tired they go inside to test the bride's skill as a cook. If it is good it costs the groom four-times the price of all the tin pans to buy grub to fill up the crowd. In any event the pans are left for the newly-wedded pair to begin housekeeping with. The idea is considered to be of Republican origin since it combines utility with the successful pursuit of a good time. Let the good work go on. Artist Daniel R. Fitzpatrick poses with one of his editorial cartoons.

The Cartoon Collections At The State Historical Society

BY LAURA PERITORE*

Over the past thirty years, the State Historical Society of Missouri has developed one of the finest editorial cartoon collections in the United States. Such a collection is of interest and value for several reasons. As an historical artifact, the editorial cartoon expresses the ideas and sentiments of a time as powerfully as any written statement. One of America's foremost historians, Allan Nevins said, ". . . the

*Laura Peritore is an assistant acquisitions librarian at the State Historical Society of Missouri. She has the B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara. This article is based on a research paper, prepared under the direction of Professor Francis Flood, for the M.L.S. degree from the University of Missouri- Columbia.

363 364 Missouri Historical Review

political cartoon is a valuable item in the documentary outfit of the historian." Besides reflecting historical events, editorial cartoons, at times, actually have influenced the course of history. For example, Thomas J. Nast's famous attack on the Tweed political machine contributed to its collapse.1 An art student can trace the evolution of the cartoon as a unique art form by examining the Society's collections which span a period of more than one hundred years. The American cartoon took its earliest inspiration from the works of Honore Daumier, Francisco Goya and Thomas Rowlandson. The very earliest, such as Benjamin Franklin's famous "Join or Die" (1754), actually were broadsides, separate publications of woodcuts or copper engravings. Broadly allegorical, stilted and not very humorous, they were ferocious in their attacks because they lacked the restraining influence of publisher and ad­ vertiser.2 Individual cartoons continued in popularity with the in­ troduction of lithography. Characters and conversational balloons cluttered these late-nineteenth-century cartoons which in general were crudely drawn and lacked a central idea and identifying symbols.3 The rise of politically conscious weeklies (Puck, Harper's, Leslie's), as the chief cartoon medium, superseded lithographers such as Currier and Ives. These weeklies, featuring such cartoonists as Nast, Joseph Keppler and Bernhard Gillam, marked a distinct im­ provement in the style and power of American editorial cartooning. Symbols, as shorthand clues to a whole parcel of ideas, helped sim­ plify cartoons stylistically and also allowed briefer verbal ac­ companiment. Themes changed from antebellum emphasis on regionalism to a concentration on reconstruction issues, the rise of the city, melting pot humor and party politics.4 Then at the turn of the century, under the leadership of William Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, the daily newspaper began to replace the weeklies. New printing technology allowed cartoons to be reproduced in larger than one column size. The new livelier, muckraking daily journalism called for the use of more graphic illustration.5 Daily

1 Rollin Kirby, "Editorial Cartoon: Political Cartoonists," American Mercury, LIX (November, 1944), 546. 2 "Political Cartoons of the Past," Hobbies, LXII (March, 1957), 35. 3 "Pageant of American History Via Cartoons," Saturday Review of Literature, XXVII (April 22, 1944), 12-13. 4 "Cartoon Journey to America's Past, F. J. Meines Collection of Old American Humor," Travel, LXXXV (October, 1945), 8-11. 5 Allan Nevins and Frank Weitenkampf, A Century of Political Cartoons (New York, 1944), 53. Cartoon Collections 365

deadlines encourage artists to draw on current topics for immediate distribution.6 Some observers claim that editorial cartoons reached their zenith between 1890 and 1930 when they held a featured position on the front page.7 After that time, they were relegated to the back pages, and clever talent left the editorial page for the more lucrative comic strip. Those who remained felt somewhat restrained by editorial policy and the reactions of advertisers and special interest readers.8 Despite these criticisms, the working cartoonists of today carry on the tradition of illustrating the American free press, a practice begun over a century ago. The Society's collections of original editorial cartoons document the history of the cartoon as well as the history of the country. The collections include original cartoons which are separate works, easily accessible, large in size, easily reproduced and of some artistic value. The Society's 5,800 plus cartoons comprise four separately acquired collections: the Daniel Fitzpatrick, the S. J. Ray, the Peter Mayo and the "Society Collection." The first two contain the works of one car­ toonist alone, while the Mayo and Society collections are composites which represent the work of many cartoonists.

THE FITZPATRICK COLLECTION Daniel R. Fitzpatrick initiated the tradition of strong, impressive cartooning that has marked the editorial pages of the St. Louis Post- Dispatch. Born in 1891 in Superior, Wisconsin, Fitzpatrick's youth gave no hint of his future success. Failing to graduate from high school, he held a succession of manual jobs but retained a deep desire to be a cartoonist. Supported by his family, he spent two years at the Chicago Art Institute where he studied anatomy, life drawing and car­ tooning. After a brief stay in the art department of the Chicago Daily News (1911-1913), Fitzpatrick found his permanent home. He became an editorial cartoonist for Joseph Pulitzer's St. Louis Post-Dispatch after an unusual meeting of minds. Publishers and editors seldom tolerated departure from editorial policy. Fitzpatrick, however, did achieve some measure of independence as evidenced by his non- participation in the newspaper's campaign for Thomas E. Dewey in 1948.

6 "Political Cartoons: The Old Days," New Republic, CXXXIV (March 12, 1956), 14. 7 Henry L. Smith, "The Rise and Fall of the Political Cartoon," Saturday Review, XXXVII (May 29, 1954), 9. 8 "Political Cartoons: The Old Days," 15. 366 Missouri Historical Review

For his independence Fitzpatrick gained a reputation as a political radical.9 Some of his opinions did not meet the general agreement of his midwestern audience—for example, his support of Franklin D. Roosevelt's social programs. Not an idealogue, he op­ posed other FDR measures on principle, such as the court-packing scheme. Rather than maintaining faithfulness to any political position, Fitzpatrick believed in attacking what he regarded as a wrong principle. This included corruption in the Democratic or Republican regime, and the practices of Benito Mussolini on the right or Joseph Stalin on the left.10 In the thirties, Fitzpatrick created an outstanding series of cartoons entitled "Rat Alley," exposing vice and corruption in St. Louis, reminiscent of Nast's historic attack on Tam­ many Hall. Except for the "Rat Alley" series, Fitzpatrick cartoons are iden­ tifiable by economy of line and uncluttered composition. He depicted general themes by simple, striking symbols and used the figure

9 Ralph Coughlin, "Foreword," in Cartoons by Fitzpatrick (St. Louis, 1947). 10 Thomas B. Sherman, "Profile of a Cartoonist," in Daniel R. Fitzpatrick As I Saw It (New York, 1953), xiii.

This cartoon by Fitzpatrick appeared in the St. Louis Post- Dispatch, March 6, 1933.

*V A %Ar Alt*®? ZASBMSMt, Cartoon Collections 367

"Everyman" as representative of the common man. According to historian, William Murrell, The concentrated intensity of D. R. Fitzpatrick's cartoons . . . has won him first rank in his art. He has a truly en­ viable faculty of reducing any noisy situation to a few quiet lines.11 Fitzpatrick received numerous awards and honors during his 45- year career with the Post-Dispatch and after his retirement. In 1926 and 1945, he captured two Pulitzer Prizes, the most valued cartooning award. He was presented an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Washington University, where he had continued his art training, and a citation from the University of Missouri for distinguished ser­ vice to journalism in 1958.12 In the same year, KETC-TV, St. Louis educational television, filmed a sixteen-part documentary on Fitz­ patrick, his life and work.13 His cartoons have been collected, reprint­ ed, translated and enjoyed all over the world.14 Artistically, Fitzpatrick's work was grounded in traditional training and his personal study of, and fascination with, the drawings of Goya, Daumier, William Hogarth, Gustave Dore and Rem­ brandt.15 In 1924, he won the John Frederick Lewis Prize of the Philadephia Academy of Fine Arts, and in 1941, the Moscow Museum of Modern Western Painting hung eight Fitzpatricks with its Auguste Renoirs and Paul Gauguins.16 Also in 1941, the Associated American Artists Galleries in New York exhibited ninety of his cartoons. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted that, "As far as is known, it was the first time a living American newspaper cartoonist's work has appeared in a comprehensive exhibit in a gallery."17 This exhibit was followed by one at the St. Louis Art Museum in 1946 featuring war related car­ toons. In 1945, Mitchell White, coeditor of the Mexico Evening Ledger and a close friend of Fitzpatrick, arranged to place 1,302 original car­ toons in the permanent trust of the State Historical Society of Missouri.18 This collection included a selection of cartoons drawn be-

11 William Murrell, A History of American Graphic Humor (New York, 1944), II, 253. 12 John Chase, Today's Cartoon (New Orleans, 1962), n.p. 13 Editorial Cartoons 1913-1965 from the editorial page of the St. Louis Post- Dispatch (St. Louis, [1965]), 3. 14 Sherman, "Profile," xiv. 15 Ibid., xii. 16 "Cartoonist, D. R. Fitzpatrick," Time, XXXVII (May 5, 1941), 48. 17 5/. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 13, 1941. 18 "Tribute to L. Mitchell White," MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW, LI (April, 1957), inside back cover. 368 Missouri Historical Review

tween 1928 and 1946. Most concerned Missouriana, while others dealt with World War II themes. Following the Society's annual meeting on April 25, 1945, members and guests viewed a part of the collection. On March 10, 1953, an additional 144 cartoons became the property of the Society, bringing the total collection to 1,446 items. When the history of the last three decades in the State and nation is written someday, one chapter of this history will list the names of men who have interpreted for the people the meaning of these times. And near the head of this chapter should come the name of Dan Fitzpatrick. Here is an artist with the historic viewpoint, a draughtsman with a mind that strikes down to the essence of the day's problem.19

S.J. RAY COLLECTION S. (Silvey) J. Ray, a native Missourian, never wandered far from his home soil. Born in 1891 in Chariton County, Missouri, the young­ est of nine children, he spent his entire artistic career on the staff of the Kansas City Star. Like Fitzpatrick and many of the older cartoon­ ists who learned journalism on the job, Ray's education was limited to grammar school and one year at the Art Students' League in New York. Ray's 48-year career with the Star began as junior member of the art staff in 1915. At that time, newspaper technology remained years from computerized justification and wire service photographs. Newspapers relied on line drawings based on photographs rather than reproduction of photos themselves. At the time of Ray's retirement, he recalled these early days. He told about the practice of dividing a photo among the art staff, a portion to be copied by each and the whole to be assembled just prior to deadline time. In 1932, Ray began the job as chief editorial cartoonist; he held that position until his re­ tirement in 1963.20 In those 31 years, Ray produced almost 10,000 editorial cartoons. His style has been described as distinctive, drawn with strong lines, full of action and vigor.21 Painter and illustrator F. R. Gruger taught Ray detail and authenticity during his year at the Art Students' League. Ray's admiration for the Iowa cartoonist J. N. "Ding" Darling is reflected both in his strong action-filled style and his con­ servative political slant. An article in the Star described him as being from the conservative school and stated that his favorite targets in-

19 Biennial Report of the State Historical Society of Missouri, in ibid., XXXIX (July, 1945), 471. 20 Kansas City Star, May 12, 1963. 21 Ibid., February 5, 1970. Cartoon Collections 369

S. J. Ray titled this cartoon, "Take a Good Look Dear, You May Not Recognize Me Later."

^3g>G

eluded unorthodox political ideas, embodied by Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini. Ray also excelled in the positive depiction of nature's tranquility and harmony. He spent almost all his working and retirement years on forty acres of wooded countryside, so it is not sur­ prising that he liked doing nature cartoons best.22 Ray received many patriotic awards and honors during his lifetime, although he remained a very private person, never seeking to cultivate the friendship of the powerful. Once he refused a luncheon invitation at the Pentagon because of the great distance to Washington, D.C. The Treasury Department cited him for distinguished service because his cartoons promoted the sale of bonds during World War II. In 1951, he received from the Freedoms Foun­ dation, Valley Forge, a medal for outstanding achievement in bringing about a better understanding of the American way of life. The State Department reprinted and distributed abroad many Ray cartoons in an effort to counteract Soviet propaganda during the 1950s.23 A small number of Ray cartoons are scattered in various collec­ tions. For example, five appear in the Huntington Library.24 Through

22 Ray quoted in ibid., May 12, 1963. 23 Ibid., February 4, 1970. 24 Carey S. Bliss, Curator, Huntington Library, San Marino, California, to the author, March 5, 1974. 370 Missouri Historical Review personal correspondence with Ray in 1963, the State Historical Society secured 1,829 originals drawn by this native son between 1931 and 1963. These works cover his entire career at the Star and represent a unique pictorial documentation of three decades of American history. According to a Star editorial, In his active career he has dramatized the main currents of his times and the great men and villains who have shaped one of the most portentous periods of human history.25 Ray, himself, viewed his role with less awe and more humor. He said that being an editorial cartoonist, "... is like having a ringside seat at a great show, watching the antics of the human race."26 THE PETER MAYO COLLECTION The third editorial cartoon collection, to find a permanent home at the State Historical Society, bears the name of its donor, Peter Mayo. This unusual man, an architect by profession, entrepreneur and honorary member of the American Association of Editorial Car­ toonists, began his collection with encouragement and early con­ tributions from Chicago Tribune cartoonists Joseph Parrish and

25 Editorial in Kansas City Star, May 14, 1963. 26 Ibid., February 5, 1970.

Daniel Fitzpatrick (left) and Peter Mayo (right) As They Appeared in 1964 Cartoon Collections 371

Carey Orr. From these modest beginnings, Mayo became fascinated with the collection of "History in Pictures" and actively sought worth­ while additions through correspondence and travel. Eventually, Mayo gathered an outstanding collection of over 1,600 originals, covering the time span 1813-1964, international in scope and unlimited in point of view.27 Like the best art patrons and collectors, Mayo realized the aes­ thetic and educational value such a private collection had to offer and so sought to make it available to all through the Society. He bequeathed over 1,500 cartoons and six zinc plates in 1964 and added 155 cartoons and twenty-one zinc plates in 1966. In sheer numerical size, scope and dollar value, the Mayo Collection is one of the most outstanding of its kind. Only the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library house equivalent collections. The State Historical Society's guardianship of such a resource stands alone among midwestern historical societies.28 The breadth of scope in terms of time, place and opinion makes this collection even more important to the historian, journalist, artist or interested student. The collection provides an opportunity to survey the evolution of artistic style in editorial cartooning and to isolate regional idiosyncrasies. From it one may study the evolution of popular thought regarding race, immigration, political corruption, the role of women and many other themes in social history. The Mayo Collection represents most of the acknowledged greats of cartooning. Included among the 218 cartoonists are Thomas Nast, Joseph Keppler, Bernhard Gillam, Frederick Opper, Rollin Kirby and Carey Orr. Thomas Nast (1840-1902) played a very important part in the history of American cartooning for three reasons. His cartoons, created for Harper's Weekly between 1862 and 1885, recorded the hope and later disillusionment of the Reconstruction. Second, Nast changed American cartooning style forever with his liberal use of sym­ bol to elucidate and simplify a metaphor. The GOP elephant, Democratic donkey and Tammany tiger remained as his long-lived creations. Simpler representations replaced the cluttered, detailed car­ toons of earlier years, which used so many characters. Third, Nast demonstrated the power of the cartoonist to change public apathy to roaring indignation. This ability to influence public opinion,

27 "Mayo Cartoon Collection is Available to Research Scholars," MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW, LIX (July, 1965), 474-475. 28 Results of a questionnaire mailed to fourteen libraries, including the historical societies of the five states contiguous with Missouri. 372 Missouri Historical Review especially exposing corruption, followed in the best tradition of muckraking journalism. According to Rollin Kirby, "Here for the first time, a great criminal and his gang were brought to justice largely through the efforts of a cartoonist."29 Fortunately the Mayo Collec­ tion includes one cartoon by this important American cartoonist, dated April 28, 1898. Joseph Keppler (1838-1894), an Austrian immigrant, founded the now famous Puck weekly. Some of the targets of Keppler's acid wit included papism, special privilege of all kinds and foes of the Democratic party. For example, of the three Keppler originals in the Mayo Collection, one criticizes the "Dingley Tariff." The dates of these three are 1891, 1892 and 1893. Not only did Keppler establish the first successful weekly humor magazine in the United States, but he packed it with cartoons and provided a forum for many graphic satirists including Bernhard Gillam (1859-1896).30 Two early Gillams (1880) appear in the Mayo Collection. Nevins credits Nast, Keppler and Gillam with upgrading the car­ toon artistically: . . . they were carefully drawn and composed. Keppler and Gillam, like Nast, had a wonderful eye for expression, and gave speaking likenesses to prominent politicians. Their cartoons at their best had imagination and grace as well as trenchantly vigorous satire.31 Also featured in the Mayo Collection is Frederick Opper (1857- 1939) who began his cartooning career at the age of 19, with a front page cartoon in the weekly Wild Oats. Besides editorial cartooning, he created the comic strip, "Happy Hooligan."32 Twenty-nine early Op­ per cartoons, drawn mainly during the last two decades of the nineteenth century, appear in the Mayo Collection. Few have political themes and most present commentaries on the foibles of human nature. The Mayo Collection includes twenty-one cartoons by the noted Rollin Kirby (1875-1951). Kirby is famous for his creation of three symbolic characters: the silk-hatted figure of the "Republican Party," "Mr. Prohibition" and "Bluenose," none very sympathetically por­ trayed. This three-time Pulitzer Prize winner strengthened the "single figure school" of cartooning with such creations.

29 Rollin Kirby, "Editorial Cartoon," 546. 30 Stephen D. Becker, Comic Art in America (New York, 1959), 293; Murrell, A History of American Graphic Humor, 65-70. 31 Nevins and Weitenkampf, A Century, 15. 32 Murrell, A History of American Graphic Humor, 27. Cartoon Collections 373

Rollin Kirby titled this cartoon, "Contemplated With No Enthusi­ asm."

Carey Orr, editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune from 1917 to 1965, encouraged Mayo's collecting and provided guidance to many young, aspiring cartoonists. Called the "cartoonist's car­ toonist," he believed that the best cartoons are based on idea, skilled artistry and terse caption and that cartooning is the perfect, balanced blend of the graphic and the literal.33 Among his many ac­ complishments, Orr pioneered colored cartoons on March 5, 1932, and won the Pulitzer Prize in I960.34 Most of the twelve Orr cartoons in the Mayo Collection treat one theme: criticism of Democratic economic policy. Through many variations, "tax eaters" are depicted as burdens on the taxpayer. The list of cartoonists represented in the Mayo Collection reads like a "Who's Who in American Editorial Cartooning": Edmund Duffy, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner; Rube Goldberg, whose name is now synonymous with his fantastic mechanical contraptions; Vaughn Shoemaker, who won the 1928 Pulitzer with a prescient warning of the coming European conflict; Walter Krawiec, incisive in­ terpreter of events on the American scene for Chicago's Polish Daily News; the Christian Science Monitor's Guernsey LePelley; and the unique Frank Interlandi.

33 Chase, Todav's Cartoon, n.p. 34 Ibid. 374 Missouri Historical Review

In contributing the collection to the Society, Mayo hoped to make it available to as many persons as possible; to provide tax relief to cartoonists who continued to contribute to the collection; and to establish a center to show the relationship between cartoons and history as well as cartoons and journalism. After a visit to the Society in March 1964, Mayo chose it as the repository for his collection. The State Historical Society announced and celebrated the acquisition of the collection at the annual meeting and luncheon on October 17, 1964. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Mayo made the presentation and Daniel Fitzpatrick served as the featured speaker for the occasion.35

THE SOCIETY COLLECTION Establishment of the Mayo Collection inspired the expansion of the Society Collection. In 1964, only Don Hesse and Bill Mauldin car­ toons comprised the small collection. In scope, the Society Collection covers a shorter, more recent time span, from 1952 to the present. Geographically, it focuses on Missouri cartoonists. (Tom Engelhardt, St. Louis Post-Dispatch—643 cartoons; Don Hesse, St. Louis Globe- Democrat—86; Bill Mauldin, St. Louis Post-Dispatch—14.)36 Don Hesse described his profession and what he viewed as a decline in its impact: The cartoonist, by nature, is not an egg-walker. His type of art demands attack. . . . Now, when he ridicules Hoffa or some politician, he's more apt to get a nice letter from the victim asking for the original for his collection.37 While in the military service, Hesse received his earliest training. After his discharge, he joined the St. Louis Globe-Democrat as chief editorial cartoonist in 1951. He received several Freedoms Foundation Awards, the Christopher Award (1955) and the National Headliners Award (I960).38 Hesse's style and slant may be best summed up in the words of the Globe-Demoncrat's editor, Hamilton Thornton, Don Hesse has done more than any other editorial car­ toonist in the U.S. to make the conservative viewpoint come alive with pulsing vigor. . . . Don has a clean-cut, graphic, first-glance type of execution. ... He packs a jolting sharp punch in his pencil.39

35 Columbia Sunday Missourian, October 18, 1964. 36 For a complete listing, see Laura Peritore, "The Editorial Cartoon Collections in the Library of the State Historical Society of Missouri" (unpublished Master's thesis, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1974), Appendix B. 37 Chase, Today's Cartoon, n.p. 38 Mimeographed biographical sheet provided by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 39 Quoted in Chase, Today's Cartoon, n.p. Cartoon Collections 375

"Me and My Shadow," by Carey Orr

Reprinted, Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune

L£AD£fi?J> AT ^UMM/7~ J=>VSW ^•TOCArr/i.e; O/* One of Rube Goldberg's me­ Bowser /A/7-0 OC&A-A/, chanical contraptions is portrayed 0/=- •S &&A/&S/V& fr/JSM /SJ7~a in this cartoon entitled, "Total

ew VACATVOSV jrrrtjvxs Disarmament Machine." O?JT7V/V'&; £Z«7~CO*/JS/G~ /100/c/sv <&/AiA/r CT ASAVY /**/£> A/& motets (/A/fF'O/*/*?^ //*~ro f^iL tAt7t> jrrXTnesstAA/'s Af/&/* &A77 £X/*OS//V<5 P//L£ a^^OCATJSr >v///cv A/StT/OSSS- Of? \sSOA>l£> 7WJ&0 tsv/As cr Atr~ O/V& - 376 Missouri Historical Review

The most popular cartoonist in the English-speaking world, Bill Mauldin, at 23, had published a book of his famed "Willie and Joe" cartoons and had won the first of two Pulitzer Prizes.40 Though his daily feature, "Up Front," appeared in the military paper, Stars and Stripes, it also was syndicated in 100 papers in the United States. His characters, Willie and Joe, represented the archetypal combat soldier team—bedraggled, hollow-eyed, bearded, dirty—the lowest men in the Army hierarchy. Traveling with his company between Anzio, Cassino and Southern France, Mauldin became the spokesman and ally of the G.I. His activities created some problems with the higher echelons, including General George Patton, who disliked Mauldin's caricatures.41 Having reached a peak so early, Mauldin encountered some problems adjusting to civilian life. He wrote several books and articles, served as a Korean war correspondent, acted in two movies and ran for the U.S. Congress. Eventually, he settled into his second career as editorial cartoonist, assuming Fitzpatrick's position at the Post- Dispatch when he retired in 1958. Soon after, Mauldin was awarded

40 Ibid. 41 W. Lang, "Mauldin: Top Cartoonist of the War," Life, XV (February 5, 1945), 52; Bill Mauldin, The Brass Ring (New York, 1971), 247-249.

//r"~

. <•*'«& elitism*. ct^lMttMnSW |, |

"The Public Be Damned," by Tom Engelhardt

GHceUkt&xrr Cartoon Collections 311

his second Pulitzer Prize. In 1962, he moved to the Chicago Sun- Times. Mauldin's replacement at the Post-Dispatch, Tom Engelhardt, is one of the youngest cartoonists in the collection and the most faithful in continuing to add new cartoons each year. Engelhardt often focuses on local issues, such as the Eleven Points River Project and the razing of the St. Louis Post Office. CONCLUSION Through a combination of generous gifts from local cartoonists and a farsighted acquisitions policy, the State Historical Society has developed one of the largest cartoon collections in the country. These cartoons provide a rich and enduring resource for students of art, history, politics and journalism.

For the Invalid

JamesportSemi-Weekly Gazette, January 1, 1904. A raw egg is one of the most nutritious of foods, and may be taken very easily if the yolk is not broken. A little nutmeg grated upon an egg, a few drops of lemon juice ad­ ded, some salt and a dash of cayenne pepper vary the flavor and tend to make it more palatable when not taken as a medicine.

Important Local Happenings

Columbia Missouri Herald, January 9, 1903. No Marriage Licenses—Following the unusual demand Christmas week for marriage licenses, there was a slump in the matrimonial market and no licenses were issued last week. Circuit Clerk Hall says the cold weather and bad roads also have something to do with it.

Enforced Economy

Jerico Springs Optic, February 12, 1909. A friend of Pat's was caught in a shower near his cottage and asked shelter from the elements. Pat opened the door. One of the first things the friend saw was rain coming steadily through a hole in the roof. "Pat, boy," said he, "for why don't ye fix th' hole in the roof?" "The hole in the roof, is it?" asked Pat, spearing for an excuse. "Oh, yis I would, ye know, but whin th' rain is comin in I can't fix it, an' whin it don't rain it don't need fixin'." HISTORICAL NOTES AND COMMENTS NEWS IN BRIEF

The American Association for State and delivered a paper entitled "An Ar­ and Local History held its annual chivist's View on the Research Use and meeting, September 17-18, at Springfield, Disposition of Senators' Papers." Illinois. During the meeting the National Awards Committee announced that Missouri's DeKalb County Historical The Missouri Folklore Society has an­ Society had been voted a 1978 certificate nounced its new officers for 1979. They of commendation "for continued and are Michael Patrick, Rolla, president; successful pursuit in collecting, preserving Ruth Barton, Columbia, Rosemary and disseminating the history of the coun­ Thomas, St. Louis, and Lloyd Young, ty." The Society carries on a number of Springfield, vice presidents; John W. programs, and it has produced ten Roberts, Columbia, secretary; and publications relating to county and town­ Eugene Levy, Columbia, treasurer. ship histories. The State Historical Society of Missouri extends its congratulations to the officers and mem­ The Office of Historic Preservation, bers of the Society upon receipt of this Missouri Department of Natural Re­ prestigious award. sources, reported additional sites that have been entered on the National Regis­ ter of Historic Places. The sites include The Antioch Community Church in the German-American Bank Building, Clay County celebrated its 125th an­ in Buchanan County; the Clinton House, niversary, September 22-24, 1978. in Clay County; Big Bend Rural School, Following a revival meeting conducted by Crawford County; the Pelster House- Rev. Moses Lard, a congregation of the Barn, in Franklin County; Pearson Creek Disciples of Christ organized in 1853. Six Archaeological District, Greene County; years later, members erected a frame the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Depot, church building which still stands. The in Holt County; the Finks-Harvey Plan­ Antioch Community Church Historical tation, in Howard County; the Walter E. Society restored the original building in Bixby House, St. Mary's Episcopal 1968. The celebration included worship Church and Sacred Heart Church, School services, a basket dinner and a songfest. and Rectory, all in Jackson County; Dr. Ralph Elliott, senior pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, La­ North Shore Baptist Church, Chicago, fayette County; the Gilbreath-McLorn Illinois, served as the principal speaker. House and Macon County Courthouse and Annex, both in Macon County; the Mathew H. Ritchey House, in Newton Ms. Lynn Gentzler, senior manuscripts County; Concordia Log Cabin College, specialist for the Western Historical Perry County; Lindenwood Hall, St. Manuscripts Collection, University of Charles County; the General Daniel Bis- Missouri-Columbia, participated in the sell House, the William Long Log House Conference on the Research Use and and Barretts Tunnels, all in St. Louis Disposition of Senators' Papers, held in County; the Neff Tavern Smokehouse, in Washington, D.C, September 14-15. Ms. Saline County; and St. Francis de Sales Gentzler served on the archivists panel Church in the city of St. Louis.

378 Historical Notes and Comments 379 LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETIES

Adair County Historical Society plans for compiling and publishing a Some 120 persons attended the Decem­ book about the history of Bellevue Valley ber 1 dinner meeting in the Student and the surrounding area. Union at Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville. Dr. Leon Karel, Bethel German Communal Colony professor of Humanities at Northeast Officers for 1979 are Rodney Robert­ Missouri State University, presented a lec­ son, president; Doris Marquette, vice ture illustrated with slides on the Indians president; Shirley Gumc, secretary; Lori of the region. Committee reports included Schieferdecker, reporter; Lucille Bower, the work of the genealogy committee in historian; and Virginia Gibson, treasurer. compiling cemetery records and the museum committee which manages a Bollinger County Historical Society museum in the courthouse. The Society met on January 14 at the courthouse in Marble Hill. Members Affton Historical Society discussed plans for a bus tour in April. Members held their regular quarterly The tour, designed to acquaint residents meeting on January 25 at the Affton with places of historical note, will feature Presbyterian Church. Reports included the northeastern part of the county. The an up-date on work in progress at Society is compiling material for the Oakland, the Society's historic home. second issue of The Echo. Articles and The February 20 meeting of the Ladies pictures for the publication should be sent of Oakland featured a kitchen shower for to the editor, Mrs. Linda Zimmer, Route Oakland. 1, Patton, Missouri 63662. Membership in the Society reached a total of 164. Andrew County Historical Society The Society and Tom Carneal, of the History Department, Northwest Missouri Boone County Historical Society State University, Maryville, have been Dr. James W. Goodrich, associate working on a historic sites survey of director of the State Historical Society of Andrew County. The project began with Missouri, presented the program at the a short story of 25 sites the group January 28 meeting in the Columbia considered worthy of recognition, and Public Library. He spoke on "The Story Carneal finished the book with details in Behind the Publication of the Missouri catalog form. Historical Review." The Society announced two new publications for sale. Andrew County Buchanan County Historical Society Marriages 1856-1870 sells for $6.00. A The Society reported receiving a grant catalog of gravestones in the Fillmore, for a project entitled, "A Comprehensive Missouri, cemetery is available at $5.00 Study of the Blacks in St. Joseph, per copy. Add 75 cents for postage and Missouri." handling for each book. Orders may be Officers of the Society are Mary Jane sent to Mrs. Martha Marcum, 306 W. Blair, president; Rose King, vice pres­ Main Street, Savannah, Missouri 64485. ident; Jan Overstreet, treasurer; and Mrs. Richard Gillip, secretary. Bellevue Valley Historical Society The Society held its quarterly meeting, Carondelet Historical Society December 20, at the Caledonia United Members enjoyed refreshments, en­ Methodist Church. Members discussed tertainment and gifts at the annual 380 Missouri Historical Review

Christmas party, December 10, in the Civil War Round Table of Kansas City Southern Commercial Bank, St. Louis. The Round Table held its November 28 meeting at Twin Oaks Restaurant in Kan­ Carroll County Historical Society sas City. Colonel John Barrett, professor Members of the Society met on the of History at Virginia Military Institute, grounds of the museum in Carrollton, Oc­ Lexington, Virginia, presented the tober 29, to dedicate a tree in honor of program. He spoke on "Sherman's "Arbor Day." Helen Dodd, of Bosworth, Carolina Campaign.'' president of the Society, presided over the meeting. Paul West, of Carrollton, spoke Civil War Round Table of St. Louis on "Arbor Day" and told about the Colonel John Barrett was the guest Missouri and national champion trees in speaker at the November 29 meeting in Le Carroll County. Members of the Chateau. He spoke on the activities of Carrollton Boy Scout Troop, Clarence Gen. William T. Sherman after his march Avery, Mrs. Marie Tanzberger, Katie to the sea. Marie Adkins, Pearl Edwin Lowrance, The program at the January 24 meeting Charles Brockmeier and Mrs. Willard featured "Dining with Mr. Lincoln." Dr. Huffman also participated in the Wayne Temple, of Springfield, Illinois, ceremonies. an authority on Abraham Lincoln, pre­ A carry-in Thanksgiving dinner sented the program. preceded the November 16 meeting at St. Mary's Catholic School in Carrollton. Civil War Round Table of the Ozarks Mrs. Ruth Staton arranged for a display The Round Table met, November 8, at of modern needlework. the 89er Restaurant, Springfield. Nancy Officers of the Society for 1979 are Bessler, manager of the media produc­ Mrs. Ruth Auwarter, president; Mary tions department at Southwest Missouri Hazel Miller, first vice president; Charles State University, Springfield, gave the Brockmeier, second vice president; Mrs. program. She presented a slide show and Sally Griffith, secretary; and Mrs. Ruth talk on the USS Monitor. Craven, treasurer. Jack Randall, Round Table member and past president, addressed some 50 Cedar County Historical Society persons at the December 13 Christmas The Society held its October 30 meeting meeting. He spoke on the colorful career at the Christian Church in El Dorado of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Springs. Mrs. Esther Anderson gave a The program at the January 10 meeting talk on antiques and collecting. She featured "Medicine During the Civil discussed different kinds of antiques, War." Dr. Thomas P. Sweeney, a local glassware and furniture and the period in radiologist, was the speaker. which they were produced. Mrs. Alberta Goodwin presented the Clark County Historical Society program at the November 29 meeting in Mrs. Roy Smith presented the program the Stockton Methodist Church. She at the November 28 meeting in Sevier spoke on genealogy and methods for ob­ Library, Kahoka. She displayed many of taining family information. her hand-pieced and hand-quilted quilts and told how they were made. Chariton County Historical Society The Society held its January 21 meeting Clay County Museum Association at the Dulaney Library in Salisbury. The Association held a potluck dinner Members brought old shoes for a show and meeting on December 17 it the and tell program. museum in Liberty. Officers elected for Historical Notes and Comments 381

1979 were Ron Fuenfhausen, president; Creve Coeur-Chesterfield Historical Kermit Karnes, first vice president; Dale Society Plumb, second vice president; Myrtle Members met for a dinner meeting on Schlickelman, secretary; Howard E. January 19 at Creve Coeur Country Club. Ferril, treasurer; and Sam Laffoon, The following officers for 1979 were in­ historian. stalled: Darrell Clester, president; Gary Jerry Naylor, president of the Heart of Hall, vice president; Jean Jecmen, America Numismatic Association, pre­ treasurer; Gladys Hezel, recording sented the program at the January 25 secretary; and Jerry Balducci, cor­ meeting. He spoke on coin collecting. responding secretary. The Society held its February 20 Clinton County Historical Society meeting at Creve Coeur City Hall. Father Seventeen members attended the William Faherty, author of St. Louis Por­ November 11 meeting at the American trait, was the guest speaker. Bank of Plattsburg. The program The Society announced plans to open featured "Wild Game and Hunting both museums, Lake School and the Stories in Clinton County" as told by Hackmann Log Cabin, on Sundays, 1:00 various members. The group discussed to 3:00 P.M., June through September. plans for the December 9 and 10 Christ­ For group tours by appointment, call mas homes tour and bake sale. Mrs. James Schneider (314) 878-3140.

Cole Camp Area Historical Society Dade County Historical Society Over 25 members and guests attended On January 2, the Society met in the the December 11 meeting at the Cole courthouse, Greenfield. The Society an­ Camp Community Center. The Society's nounced that the permanent foundation board of directors has appointed a for Hulston Mill in Hulston Mill museum committee which will collect and Historical Park, near Greenfield, had preserve items of historic interest and been completed. keep the Society informed as to possible museum sites. E. L. Eickhoff, Jr., pre­ sented a program illustrated with slides Dallas County Historical Society on "Flying the Hump." He discussed the The Society met on December 15 in the World War II military operation of sup­ courthouse, Buffalo. Mrs. Etta Mahaf- plying gasoline to China by air transport. fey, a 91-year-old native of the county The fuel was needed for bombing mis­ and a self-taught violinist, entertained the sions against Japan. Eickhoff served as group with several selections on the a pilot on some 170 flights during the violin. Officers elected were Mrs. Lucille operation. Jackson, president; Lawrence Holt, vice president; Mrs. Leni Howe, secretary- treasurer; and Ida Garner, chaplain. Concordia Historical Institute On February 11, the Institute held a ser­ vice of dedication for its new facilities. Dunklin County Museum Dr. Robert Hirsch, a member of the On October 28 and 29, a special exhibit synodical board of directors, delivered the at the museum in Kennett featured glass festival address in the chapel of Con­ and china from local collectors. Mrs. cordia Seminary, St. Louis. Then a Charles Brown, assisted by Mrs. Helen processional moved from the chapel to White and friends of the museum, coor­ the Institute facilities. The Institute's dinated the exhibition. The museum is women's auxiliary served refreshments af­ located in the old City Hall and Masonic ter the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Lodge building. 382 Missouri Historical Review

Eastern Jasper County Historical Sites This spring the Society's museum in Society Trenton will be open for guided tours Officers of the Society for 1978-1979 conducted by board members. Local are Major Dean T. Henry, president; clubs and organizations may schedule a Renick Motley, vice president; and Nellie meeting in the museum and plan a tour as Fern Palmer, secretary-treasurer. a program.

Excelsior Springs Historical Museum Harrison County Historical Society Museum members are collecting in­ The Society met on January 9 at the formation on Excelsior Springs for the Bethany Trust Bank with 16 members city's centennial in 1980. The group also present. Lewis Israel presented the has made plans for an expert to evaluate program on early American railroads. Of­ the large murals at each end of the ficers elected were Orville Kelim, museum's vaulted ceiling. The museum is president; David Howery, first vice housed in the old Clay County Bank president; Zoe Nickols, second vice building at 101 E. Broadway. president; Vesper Nina Mcintosh, sec­ retary; and Robert Mcintosh, treasurer. Florissant Valley Historical Society Members held their annual meeting on Hazelwood Historical Society January 21 at Taille de Noyer. The The Society will be working in president gave the annual report and cooperation with the newly appointed plans were discussed for the Society's ac­ Hazelwood Historical Commission. The tivities for the coming year. first project, "Above Ground Archeology in Hazelwood," is designed to bring Franklin County Historical Society Hazelwood's past into the present. The December 10 meeting in St. Joseph's School Auditorium, at Neier, Phoebe Apperson Hearst Historical featured "A Country Christmas." Rev. Society Anthony Bukauskas, pastor of St. The Society held its annual business Joseph's church, spoke on the history of and social meeting on December 3 at the the area. George Saum gave a report on home of Mrs. W. A. Bruns, Sr., near St. hybrid corn. Members recalled Christmas Clair. A carry-in dinner for members and traditions in Franklin County. their families preceded the meeting. Of­ ficers elected were Ralph Gregory, Friends of Historic Boonville president; Kenneth G. Middleton, vice The Friends met November 16, at the president; Mrs. Mabel Reed, secretary- home of Howard and Meo Kelly in Boon­ treasurer; and Mrs. Helen Ely, historian. ville. Ben and Flossie Smith showed slides of their trip to Germany. Henry County Historical Society Members held their December 21 Dr. Shelby Hughes, a retired physician Christmas meeting and festivities at the who practiced over 40 years in Henry home of Paul and Gladys Darby, Boon­ County, presented the program at the ville. November 16 meeting in the museum, Clinton. He discussed the progress of Grundy County Historical Society medicine in the past 50 years. The Society reported two recent monetary contributions—$1,000 for the Heritage Seekers of Palmyra endowment fund of the Grundy County Officers of the group for 1979 are Paul Museum and $300 from Farmers Mutual Dowlin, president; J. Warren Head, first Insurance Company. vice president; Mrs. Claude Pollard, Historical Notes and Comments 383 second vice president; Miss M. L. Bates, program on "Everything You Always recording secretary; Mary E. Glen- Wanted to Know about the Jackson dinning, corresponding secretary; and County Historical Society." Mrs. Mary M. Zoller, treasurer. Members heard annual reports and held election of officers at the annual meeting, Historical Association of Greater Cape January 28, at the Independence Cinema. Girardeau Officers reelected were Phil K. Weeks, Paul Kirk, on the music faculty at president; Dr. Benedict K. Zobrist, Jerry Southeast Missouri State University, Page and Mrs. W. Coleman Branton, vice Cape Girardeau, presented the program presidents; Oliver Thornton, treasurer; at the November 13 meeting in Glenn and Sue Gentry, secretary. Following the House, Cape Girardeau. He demon­ meeting refreshments were served at the strated and displayed early musical in­ Society archives in the Independence struments. Square Courthouse. At the January 8 meeting of the Association, a representative from the Jasper County Historical Society Cape Girardeau Rotary Club gave a The Society met on December 3 at the program on the club's historic marker city hall in Purcell. Mrs. Sharon Manning project in the city. gave the program on the tri-state area of Purcell, Alba and Neck City. Historical Society of New Santa Fe Grant Mallett, history instructor at Johnson County Historical Society Barstow School, was the guest speaker at Officers of the Society for the coming the November 14 meeting in the Santa Fe year are Roland West, president; Laura Bible Church, Kansas City. He brought Waisner, vice president; Vivian Eller, artifacts and related his experiences when secretary; Golda Gauchat, membership his class researched and carried out a chairman; and Mike Terry, treasurer. Dr. "dig" at the site of the blacksmith shop in Rik Whitaker serves as the new editor of New Santa Fe. the Society's bulletin. Officers of the Society are Michael Welch, president; Margay Welch, vice Kansas City Westerners president; William Day, recording sec­ The Posse met October 10 at retary; Ann O'Hare, corresponding sec­ Homestead Country Club in Prairie retary; Norma Webster, treasurer; and Village, Kansas. Milton F. Perry, acting Mrs. Virginia Goodman, historian. director, Clay County Parks and Recreation Department, presented the Historical Society of Polk County program. He showed slides and talked on The Society held its November 14 meet­ "Restoration and Preservation of the ing at the Joe Davis Restaurant, south James Farm Home and Surrounding of Bolivar. Projects of the Society include Property Near Kearney, Mo." compilation of material for publication of In October the group learned that it had a cemetery book and collection of items received the "Heads Up" award from for a future museum. Westerners International, Tucson, Arizona. Jackson County Historical Society Will Jones, director of the Museum The Society held its annual dinner on Service Center, Independence, was the November 28 at the Sheraton-Royal guest speaker at the November 14 Hotel, 1-70 and Truman Sports Complex, meeting. He discussed the efforts of the Kansas City. Mr. and Mrs. Edwin B. National Park Service to upgrade and Constant presented an illustrated preserve the park system. 384 Missouri Historical Review

At the December 12 meeting, the Hominy" at the January 21 meeting in the program featured "Listen to the Land." Jones Memorial Chapel, Mt. Vernon. Mr. Dr. Robert Manley, of Lincoln, Spencer formerly owned Spencer's Old Nebraska, used slides, narration and Time Hominy plant in Aurora. guitar accompaniment to entertain the Officers of the Society reelected for group with Western folk music. 1979 are Fred G. Mieswinkel, president; Officers for 1979-1980 are Jack Bernet, Eugene H. Carl, first vice president; Mrs. sheriff; Payson Lowell, chief deputy Cecil Spencer, second vice president; Mrs. sheriff; Robert Patrick, deputy sheriff; Charles R. Stark, secretary-treasurer; and Chuck Law, chip keeper; Fred Lee, Mrs. Joy Brown, corresponding tallyman; and Don Bates, range writer. secretary.

Kirkwood Historical Society Macon County Historical Society On November 18, Ernest Jones, prin­ Over 30 members attended the quar­ cipal of Henry Hough School, presented terly dinner meeting at the New Cambria the Society with a quilt made by third School, on December 7. The group grade students and teachers as a bicen­ discussed placing the Blees Military tennial project. Each third grader Academy on the National Register of designed and cross-stitched a square for Historic Places. the quilt, which is displayed at History Society officers for 1979 are Laurence House, the Society's historic property in Phelps, president; Mrs. Gerald B. Kirkwood. Morrow, vice president; Flossie Burkhart, The Women's Association presented secretary; and Mrs. Howard Gilleland, the annual pot pourri and silver tea at treasurer. History House on December 10. The com­ bined Christmas party and fund-raising Missouri Historical Society event featured golden elephants, hand­ On December 1, Raymond F. Pisney made gifts and preserved foods. assumed the duties of director of the The Society held its annual meeting, Society. Mrs. Frances Stadler, who had December 12, in the city hall annex been serving as acting director, will con­ building in Kirkwood. Mrs. Betty Robert­ tinue to serve as assistant director in ad­ son Uhl spoke on the early days of dition to her regular responsibilities as ar­ aviation in St. Louis County. Officers chivist. Before joining the Society, Pisney elected were John H. Davison, president; had been executive director of the Eric Kuhlmann, vice president; Mildred Woodrow Wilson Birthplace Foundation, Marsalek Carr, secretary; and William L. Inc., Staunton, Virginia. Hayse, treasurer. Officers of the Society for 1978-1979 are I. A. Long, chairman of the board; J. Lafayette County Historical Society Terrell Vaughan, president; James H. Some 40 members and guests attended Howe III, first vice president; Mrs. the Society's November 12 meeting at the Howard F. Yerges, second vice president; West Central Electric Building near Taylor S. Desloge, financial vice Higginsville. Gilda Fiora presented the president; Whitelaw T. Terry, Jr., program on coal mining in Lafayette treasurer; Mrs. M. V. McDonald, County. Begun in the 1840s, coal mining assistant treasurer; and Mrs. R. Russell became one of the county's most im­ Hogan, secretary. portant industries. The Society's annual winter lecture series featured the theme, "Ar­ Lawrence County Historical Society chitecture." Members and their guests at­ Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Spencer presented a tended the three-part series in the program on "The Art of Making Society's auditorium. Esley Ian Historical Notes and Comments 385

Hamilton, an architectural historian, Faherty, author of St. Louis Portrait, was presented the first lecture, January 26, on the guest speaker. "History of Homes in St. Louis County." At the January 17 meeting in Jefferson On February 23, Buford Pickens, Savings and Loan Building, Ballwin, the professor emeritus at Washington Univer­ program featured Eloise Pillman slides sity, St. Louis, discussed "The Ar­ and local history notes by Til Keil. chitecture of the Louisiana Purchase Ex­ position." The third lecture on March 23 featured "Eads Bridge," by Howard Pemiscot County Historical Society Miller, assistant professor of History at Blair Buckley, public defender of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Pemiscot and New Madrid counties, presented the program at the September 26 meeting in St. John's Episcopal Morgan County Historical Society Church, Caruthersville. He explained the Officers of the Society for 1979 are duties of his office. Mrs. Nita Brown Marriott, president; James D. Ritchie, vice president; Mrs. At the October 24 meeting, the Orlyn White, secretary; and William W. program featured "Hotels of Past Williams, treasurer. Years." Margaret Rone, of Hayti, related some of her experiences while growing up in a hotel which her parents operated. Newburg Historical Society Jasamyn Garrett, of Hayti, showed The Society reported that it meets the slides and told about her trip to Greece at third Thursday of each month at 7:30 the November 28 meeting. Members P.M. in the museum, Newburg. decided to change their meetings to the fourth Thursday afternoon of the month. Newton County Historical Society The Society met January 25, at At the February 11 meeting in Seneca Colonial Savings and Loan in Caruthers­ City Hall, the program featured a panel ville. Mary Crews Joplin gave a program discussion on genealogy. Panel par­ on the history of Joplin Floral Company. ticipants were Larry James, Betty Bell and Donna Jane Whitchurch. Perry County Historical Society Nodaway County Historical Society On December 3, the Society held its an­ The Society met on November 20 at its nual Christmas bazaar to raise money for home museum in Maryville. Mark Rob­ the continued restoration of the Faherty bins, a local ornithologist, showed slides House in Perryville. Restoration of the and talked about one of his trips to Kenya ground floor nears completion and the and Madagascar. search for appropriate furnishings has begun. Over 25 members and guests attended the December 18 meeting and pre- Christmas party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Growcock, near Maryville. Phelps County Historical Society The Society reported that one room of Over 25 members attended the Novem­ its museum has been restored. The group ber 19 meeting at the home of Jessie plans future restoration work at the Rucker in Rolla. Mrs. Freda Lomar gave residence which was built in 1846. the program on historic New Harmony, Indiana. Old Trails Historical Society Officers elected were Maude Gaddy, The Society held its November 15 president; Blanche Donaldson, vice meeting at the Daniel Boone Branch president; Jessie Rucker, secretary; and Library in Ellisville. William Barnaby Helen Carroll, treasurer. 386 Missouri Historical Review

Pioneer Heritage Association president; Bruce White, vice president; The Association held its regular and Alvah Renfro, treasurer. monthly meeting on January 4 in the museum, Bucklin. The program featured a tape recording by Opal "Gizzard" Raytown Historical Society Lake, who related his memories of The Society held its regular quarterly historical events in the Bucklin area. meeting and annual oyster stew supper on January 24 at St. Matthews Episcopal Pony Express Historical Association Church, Raytown. A group from The Association held its annual election Raytown South High School provided of officers on December 10 at Patee musical entertainment. George Kirch- House Museum in St. Joseph. Officers hofer, senior vice president of the elected were Gary Chilcote, president; Raytown Bank and past president of the Delia Lamb, first vice president; Ray Society, installed the 1979 officers. They Waldo, second vice president; Josephine are George Crews, president; Arthur Wood, treasurer; Jeanne Patterson, Lowell, first vice president; Robin Frank, corresponding secretary; Mary Chilcote, second vice president; Nancy Riggs, recording secretary; Irene Danner, secretary; Evelyn Novak, corresponding parliamentarian; and Ellen Lacy, secretary; and Stan Novak, treasurer. historian. On December 17, the Bode School St. Charles County Historical Society Choir presented a Christmas program for On January 25, the Society held its members of the Association. The choral quarterly dinner meeting at Immanuel group, directed by Mrs. Carolyn Clark, Lutheran Hall in St. Charles. A com­ performed traditional Christmas music. mittee, composed of Royce Schierding, Members viewed Thomas Edison's first Shirley Hutchings and Harry Smith, gave movie, The Great Train Robbery, at the a slide program and reported on its find­ January 7 meeting. ings concerning the acquisition and preservation of the old St. Charles City Pulaski County Historical Society Hall. The Society is sponsoring a contest for The Society sponsored its 18th annual the best painting of the old stagecoach antique show, March 16-18, at Stegton's stop on the courthouse square in St. Charles Convention Center. Some 45 Waynesville. Jack Graham heads the dealers participated in the show. project.

Ray County Historical Society St. Joseph Historical Society The Society held its annual carry-in din­ Members of the Society held their an­ ner and meeting, January 18, at Rich­ nual meeting, November 19, at the St. mond High School with 27 persons in at­ Joseph Senior Citizens Center. Officers tendance. Milton Perry reported on elected for 1979 were Norman Burmont, restoration progress at the Jesse James president; Ellery Bennett, first vice home in Clay County and gave a slide president; Marion Clements, second vice presentation on the recent excavation of president; Radiance Zollinger, treasurer; the original burial site of Jesse James near Glenda Kelly, recording secretary; Ethel the home. Glen Brooks and Jim Pease en­ Blomfield, corresponding secretary; and tertained the group with ballads. The Ann Henkoski, historian. Society's major project for 1978 was the On December 17, the Society's board of start of a complete survey of historical directors hosted the annual Christmas sites and landmarks in Ray County. reception at Missouri Valley Trust Com­ Officers reelected were Milford Wyss, pany in St. Joseph. Historical Notes and Comments 387

St. Louis Westerners Stone County Historical Society George R. Brooks, a former director of The Society held its November 5 the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, meeting in the log cabin at the Kimberling and past president of the Westerners, was Hill's Country Club. The cabin is thought the speaker at the January 19 meeting in to be one of the oldest buildings in the the Salad Bowl Cafeteria, St. Louis. He county. Leonard Williams reported on the spoke on "An Evening with Jedediah meeting with the board of the Stone Smith: The Southwest Expedition of County Library. Bill Kuhl volunteered to 1826." photograph old buildings in the county for the Society. Shelby County Historical Society The Society held its annual dinner and Vernon County Historical Society election of officers on October 10 at the On October 15, Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Shelbyville Methodist Church. Members Kelso hosted a Society field trip at their discussed the restoration of the old opera River Bend Ranch. Mr. Kelso led some 25 house in Shelbina. Dr. Virginia Norris, of members over historic Timber Hill to view Columbia, gave a talk on "Missouri, an Indian rock carving. Land of Milk and Honey" and showed The Society held a special meeting, Oc­ slides of Shelby County and the surround­ tober 29, in the Nevada Library. Mrs. ing area. Officers elected were Mrs. Jessie Reva Stubblefield, curator of the Bates Mae Greenwell, president; Mrs. Okla County Museum, Butler, was the guest Peoples, vice president; Hazel E. speaker. She discussed Harmony Mission Hawkins, secretary; Marjorie Bowling, and other area history. treasurer; and Gladys Powers, historian. Karen Bradley, regent of the Elizabeth Carey Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, gave a slide presen­ Smoky Hill Railway and Historical tation at the November 15 meeting. En­ Society titled "Milestones in Missouri's Past," Officers of the Society for 1978-1979 the show featured Missouri's historic are Thomas L. Johnson, president; Allen trails. D. Maty and Gary W. Graves, vice The Society held its annual business presidents; Charles G. Pitcher, secretary; meeting on November 26 in the City- and Henry R. Marnett, treasurer. County Community Center, Nevada. Members showed slides from recent field Stoddard County Historical Society trips and of area historical subjects. Members of the Society held their an­ nual old-fashioned supper on October 19 Webster Groves Historical Society in the Bloomfield High School Cafeteria. The Society sponsored its 4th annual Local attorney, Elvis Mooney spoke on antique show and sale, November 18 and "Why We are Like We are in Stoddard 19, at Hixson Junior High School. The County." event raised over $2,000 for the Society's Mrs. Bradford Holifield, a local projects. teacher, presented the program at the Members held their annual Christmas November 16 meeting in the Bloomfield party on December 12 at the home of Mr. Community Building. She discussed the and Mrs. Rice Green in Webster Park. origin of Thanksgiving. The Society's board of directors presented On December 21, the Society met for its "century home" plaques to nine home annual Christmas dinner and program. owners. The plaques, which bear the seal Mrs. Jewel Lewis gave the program on the of the Society, the first owner's name and birth of Jesus. Following the program, the date the home was built, recognize the group sang Christmas carols. homes documented as over 100 years old. 388 Missouri Historical Review

Wellington Historical Preservation quarterly dinner meeting at the Westport Association United Presbyterian Church. Diane The Association met on October 29 at Davidson and Barbara Magerl presented the American Legion building in slides and commentary on "Missouri Wellington. Mrs. Ronald Fahrmeier Town 1855." They represented the Friends presented the program on the history of of Missouri Town 1855, an activity and local churches. research oriented group founded to Officers elected were Jean Hough, promote the reconstructed pioneer village president; Mary Borgman, vice president; located at Lake Jacomo in Jackson Coun­ Sue Fantz, secretary; Joyce Schaberg, ty. Over 115 persons enjoyed the dinner treasurer; Eunice Thurmon, historian; and program. Louise Fahrmeier, publicity; and Janice Officers elected were Robert H. Gosnell, ways and means. Russell, president; Arthur E. Lowell, Roy C Ranck and Ovis N. Fitts, vice presi­ Wentzville Community Historical Society dents; Beverly Shaw, corresponding Some 50 persons attended the Novem­ secretary; Opal C Watts, recording ber 20 dinner meeting at Thornberry's secretary; Adolph R. Pearson, treasurer; Cafeteria in Wentzville. Guest speakers, and William A. Goff, historian. Fred L. Donna Hafer and Mrs. Dorothea Rob­ Lee was reappointed as publications erts, of St. Charles, spoke on Haviland editor. antique dishes. A show and tell exhibit of unusual antiques highlighted the White River Valley Historical Society program. Warren A. Jennings, professor of The Society announced that Beta Nu, History at Southwest Missouri State honorary teacher's sorority, became the University, Springfield, was the guest first lifetime commercial/institutional speaker at the December 10 meeting in the member of the Society with a $100 School of the Ozarks College Center, donation. Point Lookout. He addressed the group Westport Historical Society on "The Peopling of Missouri Before the On November 17, the Society held its Civil War."

Rooftop Porch

Laclede Blade, May 30, 1908. The wind played a freak at the home of Mrs. Lyons Thursday evening by lifting up the porch and placing it on top of the house.

Prophecy Fulfilled

Columbia Statesman, September 4, 1908. The Ashland Bugle thinks a prophecy has been fulfilled, that the Ashland and Columbia Automobile line, known as the Frazier Flyer, was prophesied by Nahum, Chapter 2, verse 4, seven hundred and fifty years B.C., as follows: "The chariots rage in the streets, they jostle one another in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches, they run like the lightings." Historical Notes and Comments 389 GIFTS

Gerald L. Barnett, Kansas City, donor: Material on the Dorsey, Curl and Barnett-Shipley families. R Mrs. Betty Berndt, Kansas City, donor: Berndt: The Lineage ofE. A. Paul Berndt, by donor. R

Mrs. Harold Biggs, Columbia, donor: Photograph of Broadway, Columbia, and postcards of Mexico, Missouri. E

H. Riley Bock, Fayette, donor: Souvenir program, University of Missouri vs. University of Kansas football game, November 28, 1895, R; typescripts of Civil War letters of Albert O. Allen to Jap Pinnell, December 3, 1863, July 18, 1864, and Robert Lane LaValle to Sidney S. LaValle, November 22, 1862, all loaned for copying. M Mrs. Virginia Botts, Columbia, donor: Materials concerning Columbia, Missouri businesses and the Bryan-Akers family, R; photograph of Richard Nixon and Bill Bangert. E Trenton Boyd, Columbia, donor: Postcard of Lafayette County Courthouse, loaned for copying. E

Betty L. Bridges, Webb City, donor: The Higgs Family: Maryland to Missouri, by donor. R

Dr. Richard S. Brownlee, Columbia, donor: Ration books from World War II and scrapbook containing clippings about historical clocks. M

Judge Paul E. Carver, Neosho, donor: Copy of a diary kept by Dr. W. I. I. Morrow, 1837, when he went from Tennessee to the Indian Territory with a company of Indians for their relocation. M Kenneth E. Corbin, Whitewater, donor: The James Corbin and Ale Hatfield Lineage, by donor. R Louise Coutts, Fayette, donor: "Arnette Busy Bees, 1928-1978." R Daniel Family, donor, through Miss Berthe Daniel, Springfield: Daniel Family Papers, 1870-1976: letters, diary, daybook, scrapbook and photographs of the Daniel family of Osceola, Missouri, and collateral families, M; Osceola Sun, February 21, 1878-July 7, 1881. N Mrs. E. T. Dorr, Dobbins, California, donor: "The Probate Papers and the Children of Charles Bradshaw of Andrew County, Missouri," and "Probate Papers, Census Records, A Will of the Bradshaws," both compiled by Edith M. Musgrove and donor. R

These letters indicate where the gift materials are filed at Society headquarters: R refers to Reference Library; E, Editorial Office; M, Manuscripts Collection; N, Newspaper Library; A, Art Room; and B, Bay Room. 390 Missouri Historical Review

Clarke Dunlap, Los Angeles, California, donor: Material concerning the Dunlap family. R

J. Fisher, Kansas City, donor: Photocopies of letters and official reports relating to airplane crash at Chillicothe, Mo., August 1976, in which Congressman Jerry Litton was killed. M

Mrs. Wilbur F. Gleckler, Quincy, Illinois, donor: A Stone's Throw from Blarney: A Brief, Anecdotal Family History with a Genealogy of the Descendants of James Dromey and His Wife Catharine (Mahoney) Dromey, by John H. Dromey, Martha Dromey, Mary D. Gleckler and Will Gleckler. R

J. Hurley Hagood, Hannibal, donor: "Roland family trip by covered wagon, 1881-83, from Spalding Springs, Mo. to Eureka Springs, Arkansas," by donor. R

Joseph L. Haw III, Caledonia, donor: The Haw Family Ancestry, by donor. R

Mrs. W. B. Hilliard, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, donor: Blackburns: Today and Yesterday, compiled by Frances Blackburn Hilliard. R

Helen Cooper Howe, Cincinnati, Ohio, donor: The Fam ily Tree of Nicholas Fluetsch, compiled by donor. R

Mrs. John L. Hukill, North Highlands, California, donor: Richard Hukill and Letticia Parr and Some of Their Descendants. R

R. H. Kirk, Mendota, Illinois, donor: The Descendants of Alphonsus Kirk in America, by Nancy M. Galpin Kirk. R

Isabel B. Limpp, King City, donor: History of the Limpp Family, by Kenton A. Poynter. R

Frances Lee McCurdy, Columbia, donor: Books concerning Huntsville, Missouri. R

The Maneater, donor, through Andy Maykuth and Evan Davies, Columbia: Bound volumes of the University of Missouri-Columbia student newspaper, The Maneater, August 24, 1976-May 2, 1978. N

Mr. and Mrs. Forrest Meadows, Bethany, donors: "Grave Index for I.O.O.F. Miriam Cemetery, Bethany, Harrison County, Mo.," and records for 27 cemeteries in Harrison County. R

Arthur Paul Moser, Springfield, donor: "A Directory of Towns, Villages and Hamlets Past and Present of Gasconade County, Mo.," compiled by donor. R

Nodaway County Historical Society, donor, through Thomas W. Carneal, Maryville: * 'A Historic Inventory of Nodaway County, Missouri." E Historical No tes and Commen ts 391

Mrs. Jack L. Oliver, Cape Girardeau, donor: Oliver Family Papers, 1873-1977: personal, legal and business correspondence, genealogical and misc. papers pertaining to the Oliver family of Cape Girardeau County and the Watkins family of Ray County, Missouri. M

Maynard Osa and Venta Plummer, Seneca, donors: Concerning Mark Plummer Genealogy, by donors. R

Caroline Pearman, Columbia, donor: Records and correspondence of Floyd Pearman, State FDA and Tenure Super­ visor, Farm Security Administration, Columbia, Missouri, 1936-1942. M Julia Petershagen, Holts Summit, donor: "Oren David Van Vacter A Family Book of Records," compiled by William A. Van Vacter. R

Salem United Church of Christ and Mrs. Cleo Messerli, California, donors: "Salem United Church of Christ 1848-1978." R

Smithsonian Institution, donor, through James S. Hutchins, Washington, D.C: Xerox copy of Saint Louis Commercial Advertiser, July 11,1827. N George Spencer, Columbia, donor: Correspondence concerning recovery of Blind Boone's piano in 1971. M Inez Stevens, Versailles, donor: "John D. and Martha Ann Stevens Family," compiled by donor. R Robert E. Sublette, Bayonne, New Jersey, donor: Material on William L. Sublette. R Mitchell J. Tising, High Point, donor: High Point Community History 1776-1976. R

Susan Wagner, St. Louis, donor: Foundations of a Community: Oakville Before the Turn of the Century, by Bar­ bara Messmer Waddock, Laura Ann Beiter and donor. R Mrs. Nancy Welty and Mrs. Dorothy Lynde Grove, Columbia, donors: "1853-1864 Membership Lists of Union Christian Union Church, Ray County, Missouri," copied and indexed by Mrs. Bob Grove. R Dorothy L. Williams, Alexandria, Virginia, donor: Material on the Baker-Frazier families. R

Little Known Facts About UMC

The University of Missouri-Columbia M Book (July 28, 1975). 1952—Freshmen women were allowed to stay out later on Friday and Saturday nights, although they had to be in their dorms by 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 392 Missouri Historical Review

MISSOURI HISTORY IN NEWSPAPERS

Brunswick Brunswicker November 9, 16, 23, 30, December 7, 14, 21, 28, 1978, January 4, 11, 1979—Old area photographs. January 4—"John Stewart Carries on One of Town's Oldest Businesses [Stewart Printers]," by Dorothy Jones. January 18— "Ross Myers Recalls Legion's History [of Rucker-McAllister American Legion Post No. 7]," by Dorothy Jones.

Butler Bates County News Headliner January 11, 1979— "Bates County rich in Indian lore," by Reva Stub- blefield. January 18—Old area photograph. Carrollton Daily Democrat November 27, 1978—"Boy Scout Cabin Has Served Youth," by Harold Calvert. Gainesville Ozark County Times November 2, 1978-January 25, 1979—"Ozark Reader Fireside Stories of the Early Days in the Ozarks," by S. C. Turnbo. November 30—Old area photograph. December 14—"A Brief History of Thornfield Missionary Southern Baptist Church, Organized, 1891," by Joyce Scott. Hannibal Courier-Post January 3, 1979—"Defunct court's [of common pleas] history colorful," by Laurie Vincent. Kansas City Star November 26, 1978—"[Ernest] Hemingway at The Star—Author's Traits in For­ mation," by Dale Wilson. December 3—"A Reunion in a Dead Town [Nyhart in Bates County]," by Jan Paschal. January 7, 1979—"New Life for Kansas City's Grand Old Homes," by Giles M. Fowler, photographs by Roy Inman. Kansas City Times November 10, 24, December 8, 1978, January 12, 26, 1979—Postcards from the collection of Mrs. Sam Ray featured respectively: Armour Packing Company; St. Joseph Hospital, at 7th and Pennsylvania; RLDS Auditorium . . . world headquarters in Independence; Walnut Street north from 10th, downtown Kansas City; and Baltimore Avenue north from 11th Street, downtown Kansas City. Linn Osage County Observer January 10, 1979—"The Paydown Mill [in Maries County] Symbol of an Age," by Joe Welschmeyer. Oak Grove Banner November 2, 1978-January 18, 1979—"Lick Skillet," a historical series by Dorothy Butler. Historical Notes and Comments 393

Paris Monroe County Appeal November 2, 1978-January 4, 1979—"Farm Journal and Account Book of Thomas M. Conyers," a series.

St. Louis Globe-Democrat November 11-12, 1978—"The man [John J. Pershing] who whipped the Kaiser," by Mary Kimbrough. November 72—"Daughters of Charity came to St. Louis 150 years ago." January 20-21, 1979—"Mounties [St. Louis Mounted Police] have helped cut crime in Forest Park," by Mary Scarpinato. January 28—" 'Sermons in stones' the [St. Louis] Cathedral mosaics," by Alan W. Akerson, pictures by Robert Arteaga.

Life A Century Ago

Joplin Daily News-Herald, January 4, 1901. One hundred years ago a man could take a ride on a steamboat. He could not go from Washington to New York in a few hours. He had never seen an electric light or dreamed of an electric car. He could not send a telegram. He couldn't talk through the telephone, and he never heard of the hello girl. He could not ride a bicycle. He could not call in a stenographer and dictate a letter. He had never received a typewritten communication. He had never heard of the germ or worried over bacilli and bacteria. He never looked pleasant before a photographer or had his picture taken. He never heard a phonograph talk or saw a kinetoscope turn out a prize fight. He never saw through a Webster's Unabridged Dictionary with the aid of a Roentgen ray. He had never taken a ride in an elevator. He had never imagined such a thing as a type setting machine or a typewriter. He had never used anything but a wooden plow. He had never seen his wife using a sewing machine. He had never struck a match on his pants or anything else. He couldn't take an anaesthic [sic] and have his leg cut off without feeling it. He had never purchased a 10-cent magazine which would have been regarded as a miracle of art. He could not buy a paper for a cent and learn everything that had happened the day before all over the world. He had never seen a McCormick reaper or a self-binding harvester. He had never crossed an iron bridge. In short there were several things that he could not do and several things he did not know.—Memphis Appeal. 394 Missouri Historical Review MISSOURI HISTORY IN MAGAZINES

Bittersweet, Winter, 1978: "Fact and Fancy of My Home Town [Cabool]," by Patsy Watts. Bulletin, Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, October, 1978: "Modernization and the Anti-Monopoly Issue: The St. Louis Transit Strike of 1900," by Steven L Piott; "Missouri Farmers and World War One: Resistance to Mobilization," by Christopher C Gibbs; "The Development of a Market Economy: Bates County, Missouri, 1875-1890," by Russell J. Clemens; "Frederic Remington's Stirrings in Kansas City," by Peggy and Harold Samuels.

Chicago History, Fall, 1978: "[Ulysses S.] Grant and [Mark] Twain in Chicago: The 1879 Reunion of the Army of the Tennessee," by Charles H. Gold. City, January, 1978: "Kidnapped! [the Mary McElroy story]," by Patricia Levine; "Opening and Closing Nights For a Grand Hotel [the Coates House in Kansas City]," by Leland C May. Civil War Times Illustrated, January, 1979: " 'The fire of hatred' [reminiscences of the Civil War in Missouri and service in trans-Mississippi campaigns]," by John Calvin Williams; "A Texan at [the Battle of] Wilson's Creek," by Roger Q. Mills, reprinted. Clay County Museum Association Newsletter, December, 1978: Letters from Joseph D. Gash to his family in North Carolina, submitted by Helen Smither.

Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly, Winter, 1978: "The Saxon Lutheran Memorial [in Perry County] A Case History in Preservation," by Gerhardt Kra­ mer; "A Swedish Pastor Among Germans: Niels Albert Wihlborg, 1848-1928," by Ferdinand Reith.

Echo, October, 1978: This new publication of the Bollinger County Historical Society featured illustrated historical and genealogical articles. English Westerners' Tally Sheet, July, 1978: "Melvin Baughn—A Terror to the People of Kansas and Missouri," by Robert J. Wybrow. Farmland News, January 15, 1979: "[Absolom H. Riggs] Home [in DeKalb County] a shelter for four generations," by Mildred Grenier, photos by Jim Tucker. Florida Historical Quarterly, October, 1978: "Legislating A Homestead Bill: Thomas Hart Benton and the Second Seminole War," by Michael E. Welsh.

Historic Kansas City News, December, 1978: "Early Kansas City Architects: [Henry] Van Brunt and [Frank] Howe," by Sherry Piland. Interim, December, 1978: "Grace [Episcopal] Church was in Jeff City before there were railroads," by the Rev. Harvel Sanders. Jackson County Historical Society Journal, December, 1978: "Louis George She Remembers the Man and His Library," by Clara Winslow Sandusky; "[Kansas] City's Early Day Transit Line Ran Along Old 'Ninth Street' Incline," by Frances Bush; "Union Point, Planned in 1855, Forgotten Townsite," by Lois Allen. Historical Notes and Comments 395

Journal of the West, October, 1978: "River and Rail: Competition in the Upper Missouri Basin," by Kenneth M. Hammer; "The Kansas and Neosho Valley Railroad: Kansas City's Drive for the Gulf," by H. Craig Miner; "Aban­ donment [of the Mt. Ayr, Iowa-Grant City, Missouri branch of the C. B. & Q.] In The Corn Country," by Richard C Overton.

Journal, Saint Joseph Historical Society, November, December, 1978: "Saint Joseph Landmarks Series," by Virginia Griffin.

Keys to Springfield, Missouri, November, 1978: "[St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad] Engine Number 4524," by Hayward Barnett. , December, 1978: "Our Limestone Legacy," by Hayward Barnett.

Lawrence County Historical Society Bulletin, January, 1979: "Howard Family," by Dr. Allen H.Welch.

Mark Twain Journal, Winter, 1978-1979: "Me and the Clemenses," by P. O. Selby. Meramec Miner, October, 1978: "Meramec History." Missouri Life, November-December, 1978: " 'A Scene Truly Terrible:' [New Madrid] Earthquake," by Richard T. Haynes, illustrated by Michael Haynes; "All for a Dollar a Year [the Gilman City Guide]," by Loren Reid. , January-February, 1979: "Missouri's Famous [George Washington Carver, Harry S. Truman, Stan Musial, Mark Twain and Walt Disney]," by Bob Priddy, drawings by Michael Halbert; "The Longest Ride [the Pony Express]," by Ray Pomplun. Ozarks Mountaineer, November-December, 1978: "The Castle at Hahatonka," by Lin­ da Todd; "Brandsville A peach of a Town [in Howell County]," by Maxine Cur­ tis. , January-February, 1979: "Cedar Creek [in Taney Coun­ ty]," by Emmett Adams; "The Ozark Travels of Zebulon Pike," by Will Town- send; "Shopping in old Everton [in Dade County]," by Fred E. Schmickle; "Ozarks Health Spas and Springs," by Milton Rafferty; "Memories of Mon­ arch [in Laclede County]," by Kirk Pearce.

Pemiscot County Missouri Quarterly, January, 1979: "People's Furniture Company, Caruthersville, Missouri, 1908," reprinted; "Robert Emmerson Lee (Bob) Smith," by Oma Smith; "Postmasters of Pemiscot County"; "Mattie Thrupp," by Catherine Kaiser.

Pioneer Times, July, 1978: "Ox Train Trip West in 1864 The Diary of Garland J. Mahan Part III"; "Order No. 11," by Lew Larkin, reprinted; "Abstracts of Original Concessions at New Madrid and Little Prairie Part II," by Tom Turpin; "The Shelton Family," by Peggy Smith Warman.

Prairie Gleaner, December, 1978: "Organization of the Church of Christ at Gilead [Pet­ tis County]."

Rural Missouri, January, 1979: "Former Missourian Laura Ingalls Wilder," by Mary Wade. 396 Missouri Historical Review

St. Joseph Magazine, January, 1979: "The [Buchanan County] Courthouse Comes Full Circle," by Bill Scott; "From Lombardo to Haggard [the Frog Hop Ballroom]," by Dennis Spalding. , February, 1979: "Eugene [Field] and Julia [Comstock]: A Love Story," by Mildred Grenier; "Savannah: A Place to Live," by Michael Mcintosh.

St. Louis Bar Journal, Winter, 1979: "Joseph Pulitzer: Lawyer—Client—Advocate," by Keltner W. Locke. Saint Louis Commerce, November, 1978: "the house that Mr. [Samuel] Cupples built," by Jane Priwer. , December, 1978: "from Hardscrabble [U.S. Grant's log cabin in St. Louis County] to the White House," by Mary Duffe, drawings by Hazel Lee. St. Louis Genealogical Society Quarterly, Winter, 1978: "The Ledger of J. W. Cramer, M. D., Jackson, Mo.," by Larry Hoehn. Washington University Magazine, Fall, 1978: The issue featured articles on the history of Washington University in commemoration of its 125th anniversary. Waterways Journal, December 16, 1978: "Despite Her Fame, Sprague Had Infamous Start," by Jack E. Custer. , January 13, 1979: "The Federal [Barge Line] Fleet Ren­ dezvouses in St. Louis," by James V. Swift. , January 20, 1979: "The Mishawaka Was a Powerful Boat for Her Day," by James V. Swift. Westport, October, 1978: "George Thoman and the Battle of Westport," by Fred Lee. Whistle Stop, Fall, 1978: "Pursuing The Gleam [Harry S.] Truman's First Senatorial Election," by Gene F. Schmidtlein.

Six-Mile Rate for Autos in Dust

Jerico Springs Optic, February 26, 1909. Jefferson City.—Six miles an hour is the pace set for automobiles when they strike dusty roads, in a bill presented by Representative Polk of Iron County. The autos can hit the high places until they strike the dusty places when the chauffeur must gear the machine down to what is only a good walking gait.

Earthquake

JamesportSemi-Weekly Gazette, May 13, 1904. "Pete Bailey," says the Paw Paw Bazoo, "reports a terrific earthquake out his way Friday night. As we have been unable to find anybody else who felt the earthquake we infer that Pete has been hanging around the drug store again." Historical Notes and Comments 397 IN MEMORIAM

T HARTLEY POLLOCK National Board of Fire Underwriters. He T. Hartley Pollock, St. Louis lawyer, helped establish a firefighting academy at died December 29 in Birmingham, the University of Missouri-Columbia. Michigan. Born February 12, 1908, in Mr. Wornall attended the University of Putnam County, Missouri, Mr. Pollock Missouri-Columbia and was a member of was graduated from the University of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity and a Missouri and Harvard University School charter member of the University Club, of Law in 1934. He was admitted to the where he conducted the NitWit Show for Missouri Bar that year and practiced 25 years. In addition, he was a charter before the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. member of the Kansas City Democratic District Court of Eastern Missouri and Association, a former president of the the U.S. Supreme Court. He was a part­ Friends of Art, Native Sons of Kansas ner in the St. Louis law firm of Pollock, City, Jackson County Historical Society Ward, McGinnis, Mohrman & Ward. and the Kansas City and Missouri chap­ Mr. Pollock organized the Legal Aid ters of the Sons of the American Society of St. Louis and St. Louis County Revolution. Mr. Wornall was a member and served as president from 1962 to of the Society of Fellows of the Nelson 1965. He also was a past president of the Art Gallery, the State Historical Society Missouri Bar Association, the Missouri of Missouri and the Grace and Holy Alumni Association of St. Louis and the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. He served as Bar Association of Metropolitan St. chairman of the restoration project at the Louis. A member of the Missouri Law John Wornall House in Kansas City. School Foundation and the State Mrs. Mona Belle Wornall of Kansas Historical Society of Missouri, he also City survives her husband. served on the board of directors of the Friends of the University of Missouri AGUADO, EDWARD, St. Louis: July 9, Library. 1906-October2, 1978. Mr. Pollock is survived by his wife, ANDREWS STEPHEN S., Overland: July Sybil M. Pollock of St. Louis, and a son, 10, 1912-January 21, 1977. Frank G. Pollock of Birmingham, Michigan. BLANTON, C L., JR., Sikeston: January 23, 1899-November 26, 1978.

FRANCIS WORN ALL BRUUN, MRS. OLIVE WINSHIP, Kansas Francis "Brick" Wornall, former City: January 25, 1901-December 15, director of the Kansas City Fire Depart­ 1978. ment and insurance agent for the R. B. Jones Corporation, died January 9, in CARTER, B. R., Warsaw: November 21, Kansas City. A descendant of 1893-September 11, 1978. distinguished early-day Kansas Citians, he CASEY, MRS. FERD, Potosi: May 18, took an active role in the betterment of 1900-April 29, 1977. Kansas City and in the community's civic and social activities. COOPER, DR. M. E., Columbia: March Mr. Wornall became director of the fire 23, 1902-June 29, 1978. department in 1940, during the Pen­ FELTMANN, JOHNH., Washington: Oc­ dergast cleanup campaign. He served as tober 27, 1896-May30, 1978. vice president of the United Campaign Committee, reorganized the fire depart­ FIZZELL, ROBERT B., Kansas City: Sep­ ment and called for an inspection by the tember 20, 1889-June22, 1978. 398 Missouri Historical Review

GOLDBERG, DR. I. E., Braymer: Sep­ ROHLFING, WALTER, St. Louis: July 24, tembers, 1905-November 3, 1978. 1905-August25, 1978.

HARDY, DAVID R., Kansas City: SHELDON, H. R., Pueblo, Colorado: August 4, 1917-September28, 1976. June 26, 1899-January 6, 1978. HUNGATE, H. L., Red Oak, Iowa: July SHEPPARD, LT. GEN. ALBERT D., 18, 1899-October 13, 1978. Doniphan: Died September 25, 1978. LAY, MRS. A. LAWRENCE, Clayton: November 21, 1900-April 20, 1978. SNOW, R. B., Ferguson: July 22, 1907- October 18, 1978. LETHEN, MRS. ARNOLD J., St. Louis: April 28, 1896-December 3, 1978. STIS, CHARLES, Hematite: November 3, 1884-January 9, 1979. MARLEY, JOHN S., Kansas City: May 10, 1890-March 10, 1978. TAYLOR, ARTHUR B., Independence: December 16, 1893-January 31, 1978. MEERS, HERBERT, St. Charles: October 16, 1903-July5, 1978. VANCE, LAWRENCE L., Lafayette,

MUSCHANY, CLAUDE, St. Charles: California: January 16, 1911-June 4, February 11, 1895-September 19, 1977. 1978.

O'BRIEN, DR. PAUL F., Chesterfield: WILLIAMS, MRS. ROY D., Boonville: December 18, 1898-October 8, 1978. October 6, 1890-October 22, 1978.

More Pie, Less Pie-ty

Columbia Statesman, January 24, 1908. A Columbia lawyer the other day related this story of his student days long ago in the University: Several of us boys were boarding on the south side with a good old brother whose sincerity we could not question, but who always insisted on saying grace about a yard long at each meal. When rations ran low for a while, some fellow in the crowd tried to remedy the matter by putting a note under the brother's plate, asking him to "Please give us less prayer and more pie." There was a noticeable improvement in the bill of fare for a while.

Full Requisition

Canton Weekly Press, September 18, 1862. A full requisition for a regiment calls for the following articles of clothing and equipment: 1015 great coats, 1015 trousers, 1015 blouses, 1015 bootees, 1015 caps, 2030 shirts, 4030 stockings, 2030 great coat straps, 1015 knapsacks, 1015 haversacks, 1015 canteens, 939 privates coats, 343 mess pans, 68 Sibley tents, 28 Wall tents, 170 common tents, 1 hospital tent, 162 axes with handles, 136 spades, 136 camp kettles, 20 bugles, 10 drums, 10 fifes, 10 camp colors, 1 national color. Historical No tes and Commen ts 399

EDITORIAL POLICY

The MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW is always in­ terested in articles and documents relating to the history of Missouri. Articles pertaining to surrounding states and other sections are considered for publication when they involve events or personalities having a significant bearing on the history of Missouri or the West. Any aspect of Missouri history is considered suitable for publication in the REVIEW. Genealogical studies are not accepted because of limited general reader interest. In submitting articles for the REVIEW, the authors should examine back issues for the proper form in foot­ noting. Originality of subject, general interest of the ar­ ticle, sources used in research, interpretation and the style in which it is written, are criteria for acceptance for publication. The original and a carbon copy of the article should be submitted. It is suggested that the author retain a car­ bon of the article. The copy should be double-spaced and footnotes typed consecutively on separate pages at the end of the article. The maximum length for an ar­ ticle is 7,500 words. All articles accepted for publication in the REVIEW become the property of the State Historical Society and may not be published elsewhere without permission. Only in special circumstances will an article previously published in another magazine or journal, be accepted for the REVIEW. Because of the backlog of accepted articles, publication may be delayed for a period of time. Articles submitted for the REVIEW should be ad­ dressed to: Dr. RichardS. Brownlee, Editor MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW The State Historical Society of Missouri Corner Hitt and Lowry Streets Columbia, Missouri 65201 400 Missouri Historical Review

BOOK REVIEW

K. C: A History of Kansas City, Missouri. By A. Theodore Brown and Lyle W. Dorsett (Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Company, 1978). 303 pp. Illustrated. Bibliography. Indexed. $13.50. The authors of this volume believe that several generations of Kansas Citians have created a mythology to explain their city's origins and growth, a mythology based on two conflicting assumptions. One holds that "natural advantages" made urbanization inevitable at the spot "where the Missouri River makes its last great eastward turn." The second emphasizes the human factor, intelligent decision making by local leaders. The result, according to Brown and Dorsett, has been "a kind of urban heroism or business genius which owes nothing to determinism," insufficient, in their opinion, wholly to explain Kansas City's development. They feel that Kansas City did not emerge in a vacuum, but rather as a part of a national urban system, and they con­ clude that even "this element gives the story more substance and plausibility, but still leaves it incomplete, and so it must remain." Brown and Dorsett have written an analytical monograph. They have examined the town's physical location and expansion within a discernible time frame, explaining the speed and direction of growth and the social use of the space. Racial minorities receive attention, along with a variety of reform efforts. Although they have examined numerous topics, the authors' major themes have focused on economic development in general and business and political leadership in particular. During the border conflicts of the 1850s, a leadership core emerged that directed Kansas City's fortunes through that dangerous period and the Civil War. These men worked harmoniously toward one goal, a connection with an eastern railroad, and its achievement Historical Notes and Comments 401 helped Kansas City to develop into a regional center. And Brown and Dorsett conclude that "Organization, unity and luck were the keys to successful city promotion on the frontier." During the 1870s and 1880s, rapid population and business growth disrupted the former leadership core. Acquisition of at least three major railroads more than fulfilled the purpose that had held the community together. As a result, the business leadership splintered in­ to different interest groups, resulting in political conflict rather than cooperation, and the addition of several newspapers destroyed the ef­ fectiveness of the one publication that had earlier reflected community solidarity. According to Brown and Dorsett, the late 1880s represented a "chronological dividing point between the frontier town and the ur­ ban community." A depression and the resulting decline in real estate values racked the city, demonstrating to businessmen and politicians the need for a new community policy. On July 29, 1887, businessmen met and organized the Commercial Club of Kansas City, later the Chamber of Commerce. They agreed that acquisition of new manufacturers would strengthen the city's economy. They compiled economic information about the city and distributed it with literature explaining the advantages of locating there. In addition, the Club stressed the need for lower insurance and transportation rates for businessmen. This led to the creation of the Kansas City Insurance Company and the promotion of navigational improvements on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to provide competition for railroads. Kansas Citians also recognized the need to finance existing social organizations and create new ones, like the Young Men's Christian Association and the Bureau of Consolidated Charities. Such organizations, in the authors' words, provided "a measure of social cement in the confused rush of the city." Kansas Citians now became less concerned with growth and more determined to create an ordered economy and society that would produce a definite social structure controlled by the city's elite. This transition fostered many changes, and one of these was the passage in 1925 of a new city charter that included the city-manager form of government. Thomas J. Pendergast found that the city government's organization helped solidify his political power because now there were fewer council seats. This made it easier for Pendergast to take command of city government, which he did. Pendergast's machine maintained itself in power until 1939-1940, when it collapsed after his indictment and imprisonment for income tax delinquency. A unique reform government replaced the Pendergast politicians. 402 Missouri Historical Review

Traditionally, urban reformers have been elected to cut spending and untangle financial records. Then, such organizations lose popular sup­ port and disappear at the next election. The Kansas City reformers, however, selected L. Perry Cookingham as city manager, and, under his leadership, created a positive image of government that, according to Brown and Dorsett, filled "out the austerities of the traditional reform image with the warmth and human response which had often reflected the best impulses in boss rule." Cookingham's resignation in 1959 resulted in four years of chaotic administration, which ended in 1963 with the election of Ilus W. Davis as mayor and the appointment of Carlton F. Sharpe as city manager. These two men organized the public and private sectors to contribute energy, imagination and money to make Kansas City a "liveable city." Three criticisms of this volume seem in order. First, the authors label the 1880s as a transitionary period for Kansas City, and for this they offer evidence of a newly emerging and identifiable social struc­ ture and leadership core. They also mention the formation of numerous voluntary groups and the positive contributions these made to urban life. However, Brown and Dorsett fail to identify the leader­ ship and financial support for these groups. One would suspect, as Peter R. Decker has explained in his recent white-collar mobility study of San Francisco, that the city's businessmen did this within the white community and among minorities as well. Second, the authors' analysis indicates a limited use of sources after the late 1960s. For example, on page 199 they state that Tom Pendergast played a major role in helping Franklin D. Roosevelt obtain the presidential nomination at the 1932 Democratic National Convention. In 1974 in this journal J. Christopher Schnell shattered this traditional story. Moreover, their account of the Liberty Memorial makes no mention of Kevin McShane's M.A. thesis at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (1969), based on the papers of the Liberty Memorial Association. Third, while the authors have explored numerous subjects, the ac­ tivities of businessmen and politicians tend to dominate their book, making it more an examination of a city's leadership than a broad- based urban biography. Though Brown and Dorsett have already published much of this analysis in other books and articles, they have added enough new information and provided an overall synthesis to make this volume a worthwhile study. The general public and historians will find it useful.

Missouri Western State College Patrick E. McLear Historical Notes and Comments 403

BOOK NOTES

Maverick with a Paint Brush: Thomas Hart Benton. By Wilma Yeo and Helen K. Cook (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Com­ pany, Inc., 1977). 125 pp. Illustrated. Not indexed. $6.95.

Maverick with a Paint Brush is a very readable hardback book on the life and works of artist Thomas Hart Benton. Author Wilma L. Yeo is a free-lance journalist, creative writing teacher and children's book author. Coauthor Helen K. Cook is a feature writer and graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Born in Neosho, April 15, 1889, Thomas Hart Benton was the son of Congressman Maecenas E. Benton and was named for his father's uncle, one of Missouri's first two U.S. Senators. Despite the name, the younger Benton followed his artistic talents and interests. His works, portraying American people in real life, aroused much criticism. Striving to keep American art American, Benton painted numerous murals and illustrated several books. Before his death, his paintings had become universally famous. The book may be purchased at most bookstores for $6.95, or from the publisher, Doubleday & Company, 501 Franklin Avenue, Garden City, New York 11530.

The Story of Monsanto, Faith, Hope and $5,000: The Trials and Triumphs of the First 75 Years. By Dan J. Forrestal (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977). 285 pp. Illustrated. Indexed. Appendixes. $9.95.

On November 29, 1901, John F. Queeny established Monsanto Chemical Works in St. Louis, Missouri. He invested $1,500 of his own money and borrowed $3,500. Seventy-five years later the company reported more than $4lA billion in annual sales, employed nearly 60,000 employees and had plants and offices in 43 countries of the world. The company's history is related in this hardback volume which provides insights into the creation and nourishment of a sci­ ence-based company in competitive 20th-century America. If not available in the bookstore, copies may be ordered for $9.95 from the publisher, Simon and Schuster, A Division of Gulf & Western Cor­ poration, Simon & Schuster Building, Rockefeller Center, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020. 404 Missouri Historical Review

History of the First Presbyterian Church, Marshall, Missouri. By Louise Walker Hall Bagby (n.p., n.d.). 32 pp. Illustrated. Not in­ dexed. $2.50. The First Presbyterian Church, featured in this paperback booklet, has the oldest church building in Marshall. According to the bronze plaque which marks the building, the congregation was organized, August 31, 1840. Construction of the present church struc­ ture began in 1871. Dedicated the "Rock Church" in 1882, it was en­ tered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Copies of the booklet may be obtained for $2.50 each, from Mrs. George Bag- by, 526 E. Arrow, Marshall, Missouri 65340.

Bicentennial History of Willow Springs Missouri. By Ella Lilly Horak (n.p., n.d.). 40 pp. Illustrated. Not indexed. $2.50. A spring, surrounded by willow trees near Highway 60 in Howell County, gave this town its descriptive name. Early travelers enjoyed the site, which became a popular camping spot. Ella Lilly Horak relates numerous incidents from the town's history in this paperback publication. The booklet may be purchased for $2.50 from the Cham­ ber of Commerce, 114 E. 2nd Street, Willow Springs, Missouri 65793, or Mrs. Ella Lilly Horak, 700 E. 6th Street, Willow Springs, Missouri 65793.

"A Harvest of Memories": (tHawk Point Tells Its Story." By Don Gordon and Jim Hall (n.p., n.d.). 79 pp. Illustrated. Not in­ dexed. $5.00, plus 50 cents postage. The authors compiled the history of Hawk Point, Lincoln Coun­ ty, from newspaper accounts, town records and word of mouth stories. The first post office was established here on February 20, 1840. "A Harvest of Memories," includes histories of the town, government, churches, schools, clubs, businesses and professions, crimes and tragedies. Some 200 brief genealogies of area residents complete the paperback volume. Copies may be purchased for $5.50, from James R. Hall, Route 1, Box 98, Kingsville, Missouri 64061.

Harrison County Bicentennial History Book. By Harrison Coun­ ty Bicentennial Committee (Marceline, Mo.: Walsworth Publishing Company, 1976). 633 pp. Illustrated. Indexed. $22.00. Harrison County was organized in 1845 and named for a deceased member of Congress, Albert G. Harrison. The county seat, Historical Notes and Comments 405 platted the same year, initially was called Dallas, but the county court soon changed it to Bethany. This hardback volume relates the history of the county in over 400 pages. Nearly 200 additional pages feature family biographies. Many excellent photographs illustrate the work. Copies may be pur­ chased for $22.00 from the Extension Office, Harrison County Court­ house, Bethany, Missouri 64424.

Historic Sites in Franklin County Missouri. By Malcom C. Drummond (Harland Bartholomew and Associates, 1978). 120 pp. Illustrated. Bibliography. Not indexed. Maps. $13.50. Sponsored by the Franklin County Historical Society, this hard­ back publication contains a brief history of the county. Each of the seven chapters features a specific area in the county. A map at the beginning of the chapter pinpoints the historic sites in that area. Each site is identified and illustrated with either a photograph or line drawing. Well over 300 illustrations are included although regrettably some did not reproduce well. Historic Sites in Franklin County Missouri sells for $13.50. It may be obtained from Elton Grannemann, 727 Miller, New Haven, Missouri 63068.

Tales of Nodaway County. Compiled by the Nodaway County Historical Society (1977). 256 pp. Illustrated. Not indexed. $10.00. A collection of stories and unusual tales of Nodaway County, 1837-1977, is published in this hardback volume. It contains eight chapters and features area towns and villages, culture, business, health, medicine, recreation, memorable personalities and many other interesting topics. The history may be purchased for $10.00 from the Nodaway County Historical Society, Maryville, Missouri 64468.

Carroll County, Missouri. By the Carroll County Historical Society (Marceline, Missouri: Walsworth Publishing Company, 1976). 138 pp. Illustrated. Not indexed. $12.50. A hardback bicentennial publication, this book features a section on the 200th anniversary celebration of the American Revolution, cen­ tennial farms, family genealogies, area "Men of Honor" and lists senior citizens and marriages in Carroll County, from 1851 to 1861. Copies may be purchased for $12.50 each, from Pearl Edwin Low- rance, Box 266, Carrollton, Missouri 64633. 406 Missouri Historical Review

Lindbergh Alone. By Brendan Gill (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1977). 216 pp. Illustrated. Not indexed. $11.95. On May 20, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh left New York in a single- engine airplane, called the Spirit of St. Louis. His destination was Paris, France. The successful completion of this trip the following day earned for the pilot a $25,000 prize offered to the first aviator to fly across the Atlantic from New York to Paris without stopping. The author examines Lindbergh's accomplishment, the public reaction to the famous flight and the forces which led the pilot to at­ tempt the feat. The hardback book is illustrated with over eighty photographs, many never before published. A copy of Lindbergh Alone can be purchased for $11.95 from bookstores or the publisher, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 757 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10017.

Laclede's Landing: A History and Architectural Guide. By Carolyn Hewes Toft and Osmund Overby. Photographs by Robert C. Pettus (Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Inc., 1977). 32 pp. Illustrated. Map. Not indexed. $3.25. The Landmarks Association of St. Louis, publisher of this booklet, played a major role in a ten-year campaign to save the Laclede's Landing area. The Landing finally was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 25, 1976. The area is the only surviving portion of the street pattern laid out in the original survey for the French village which grew up around the trading post, established by Pierre Laclede Ligueste and Auguste Chouteau in 1763. The booklet contains the history of the Landing and an ar­ chitectural guide arranged geographically for convenience to the visitor on foot. Illustrated with excellent black and white photographs, the paperback volume also contains footnotes and a foldout map which presents an architectural survey of the area. The book may be purchased for $3.25 from Landmarks Association of St. Louis, 611 OliveStreet, Suite2187, St. Louis, Missouri 63101.

See Our New President Sworn In

Joplin Daily News-Herald, February 19, 1901. For the presidential inauguration ceremonies at Washington, D.C. March 4th, 1901, the Frisco line will sell first class round trip tickets at [the] rate of $31.70. Tickets on sale February 28, March 1st and 2d, with final return limit of March 8, 1901. W. H. Bevans, agent. HISTORIC MISSOURI CHURCHES

New Salem Baptist Church

In November 1828, a presbytery composed of Elders David Doyle and John Granalge met at Tyre Martin's home in Boone County and organized New Salem Baptist Church. The 36 founding members previously had obtained a joint letter of dismissal from Little Bonne Femme Baptist Church to constitute a new church. The congregation chose Dr. David Doyle as pastor, and he served New Salem until his death in 1859. Members acquired a site for a meet­ ing house, some 8 miles south of Columbia, on the land of Peter Bass. By late in 1830, the congregation held services in the small unfinished brick church, built with subscriptions, labor and material donated by members. During the next decade as resources permitted, members added a plank floor, windows and a pulpit and completed the structure. The congregation increased and by early in 1848 the brick building had become too small. A building committee supervised the work of expanding the church by moving each end wall out five feet. Completed in 1850, the enlarged structure served for 25 more years. As the con­ gregation grew, members of New Salem founded the following churches: Mt. Zion, 1841; New Liberty Primitive Baptist, 1842; Mt. Pleasant, 1858; and Log Providence, African Church of New Salem, 1866. The old brick meeting house began to deteriorate as the church approached its 50th an­ niversary. Members voted to build a new structure in November 1876. A building committee received subscriptions, disposed of the brick church and superintended the construction of the new building. During construction the congregation held services in the Ashland Methodist Church. In November 1878, Dr. Pope Yeaman preached the dedicatory sermon for the 35' x 56' frame church, which cost $1,860. The following year, 29 members of New Salem withdrew to constitute the Ashland Baptist Church. Although the church building remained substantially the same for the next 50 years, the congregation experienced periods of growth and decline. In November 1928, New Salem held a two-day centennial celebration. The church has witnessed notable changes in more recent times. In 1959, the church and adjoining cemetery, established prior to the Civil War, became separate incorporations. That same year, the congregation undertook modernization of the 1878 structure, raising the church to add a full basement. Sunday school rooms were built and a furnace replaced the four wood stoves. The church dug a deep well, added facil­ ities in the basement and sold the old parsonage in Ashland in 1961. A modern parsonage reached completion the following year. During the nation's bicentennial year, the church adopted a new constitution. Having celebrated its 150th anniversary in November 1978, New Salem Baptist Church honors its heritage and continues as one of the largest rural churches in the area.